Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/30/2018

Last night a car exploded on the street in Allentown, Pennsylvania, strewing wreckage and body parts across the surrounding area. Eventually it was determined that three people were killed by the blast, among them the likely perpetrator. In addition to local and state police, fifty agents from the FBI and the ATFE are on the scene. An Allentown city councilman cautioned citizens “not to speculate as to what has occurred here.”

In other news, Spain rescued 675 migrants off the coast in the Mediterranean over the weekend.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Dean, DV, ESW, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

USA
» 4 Hurt, Horse Killed in Car-Buggy Crash in Central Virginia
» Allentown Car Explosion: Police Confirm at Least One Death; Investigators Swarm Scene
» Allentown Car Explosion: FBI Believes No ‘Remaining Threat to Public Safety’
» Facebook & the New Face of Regime Change
» ‘Father of the Web’ Reveals Plan to Take Back Internet From Big Tech’s Centralized Control
» Feds: Bomb Squad Converge on 2nd Scene in Aftermath of Deadly Allentown Car Explosion
» ‘Google Manipulates 25% of World’s Elections’
» How 57,000 Communists and Socialists Are Taking Over the Democratic Party
» Insanity: Watch Violent ANTIFA Mob Attack Open Carry March at Kent State
» Judge Jeanine: Calls Out the Republicans for Caving to the Dems [Video]
» Kanye West Rocks Libs…wears Trump Hat on Snl Stage…
» Kanye West Booed During Pro-Trump Political Speech on SNL
» Kanye West Says He Was ‘Bullied’ Backstage at ‘SNL’ For MAGA Hat, Riffs About Trump, Democrats After Feed Cut
» Mean Girls Actor Lindsay Lohan is Back in News for All the Wrong Reasons
» Physically Attack Alex Jones & Boo America at Anti-Free Speech Event
» Still No Motive on Anniversary of Las Vegas Massacre; Strip Goes Dark in Commemoration
» Teacher Fired for Ignoring Insane School Policy Against Zeroes
» Tech Expert Epstein Warns: Google Can Affect Midterm Election
» The Pentagon is Building Technology Allowing Troops to Control Machines With Their Minds
» Witness of Allentown Car Explosion: ‘I Ran Away, Seeing Body Parts … Still Can’t Believe It’
 
Canada
» Canadian Paper Publishes Anti-Brett Kavanaugh Cartoon of Republican Man Sexually Assaulting Justice
» Canada PM Trudeau Calls 10pm Cabinet Meeting With NAFTA Deal Announcement Imminent
 
Europe and the EU
» 350 Euro Fines for Drivers of Highly Polluting Diesel Cars From Monday
» A Manifesto to Reform the EU, The Front Against the Nationalism is Born
» Brexit Live: Johnson Attacks May’s Brexit Plan — ‘It’s Deranged and Preposterous’
» Catalans Deeply Divided a Year After Independence Referendum
» EU is the New Soviet Union! Britain’s Foreign Secretary in Astonishing Attack on Brussels
» EU: Politicizing the Internet
» Finland: Alma Media: Green League Continues to Slide in Polls
» France: ‘Middle Finger Affair’ Macron Lands in ‘Embarrassing’ Picture Controversy
» Italian University Leftists Put Up Posters Calling for Assassination of Salvini
» Italy: Suspected Suicide ‘Raped and Murdered’
» Italy: Candy Bought by China’s Haier
» Italy: Bourse Tumbles, Spread Soars on Deficit
» Marine Le Pen Warns: France is Becoming a Totalitarian State, Our Judges Are Politicised
» Meet the Polish Tiger
» Merkel Fights for Globalism, Warns Trump Against ‘Destroying’ The United Nations
» Nigel Farage Should Have Led the Brexit Talks — Tory MP
» Propaganda 101: Tommy Robinson Secretly Recorded His Interview With Sky News In Order to Catch Them Peddling Fake News
» UK: ‘Blood Everywhere’ — Man Stabbed in ‘Face’ On London Underground
» UK: First Official Report Into Death of Kevin ‘Bunny’ Crehan, Who Died in Bristol Prison, Completed
 
North Africa
» Egyptian Activist Amal Fathy Sentenced to Jail for Sexual Harassment Video
 
Middle East
» No Israelis in Kuwait, Confirms Authorities
 
South Asia
» “Historic Judgment” As India’s Nationwide Biometric ID Database Ruled Constitutional
 
Far East
» North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Gives Dogs to South Korean President
 
Latin America
» Julian Assange Supporter Trying to Plan Classical Music Concerts for WikiLeaks Founder Outside Embassy of Ecuador
 
Immigration
» African Migrant Threatens to Set His Foster Home Alight Because He Wants 250 Euros Italian Welfare
» Angela Merkel is Now More Popular Among Migrants Than Among Germans
» Four Migrants Convicted of Skinning a Man’s Penis With a Knife in Denmark
» France’s Automatic Asylum Policy for Child Migrants Raising Costly Dilemma
» Hungary: UN Migration Pact Worst Possible Way to Tackle Migration
» Nearly 700 Migrants Rescued Off Spain Over the Weekend
» Syria Foreign Minister Tells U.N. Country is Ready for Refugee Return
» UK: Over 100,000 Pounds of Onions Destroyed After Illegal Migrants Found in Delivery Lorries
 
Culture Wars
» And They Came for Somebody Who Actually Gets Things Done: Linus Torvalds
» Harvard, Google, NSF, Springer, And Others Need a Vigorous Rat Control
» New Public School “Morality Test” Coming Soon
» Tim Gowers’ Conceptual Thinking Sucks
» Yale Prof: Communism is a ‘Religion’ With ‘Sloppy Theology’
 

4 Hurt, Horse Killed in Car-Buggy Crash in Central Virginia

DILLWYN, Va. (AP) — Police say four people were hurt, three seriously, when a car rear-ended a horse-drawn buggy in central Virginia.

Virginia State Police said the horse was killed in the crash Sunday morning in Buckingham County.

Police say 18-year-old Haley Taylor was driving a 2002 Honda when she rear-ended the buggy. Her car flipped, and the buggy was destroyed.

Taylor, who suffered minor injuries, was charged with reckless driving. It wasn’t immediately clear if she had obtained an attorney.

Police say an 18-year-old male was driving the buggy, and a 16-year-old boy and 20-year-old woman were inside. All three were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Allentown Car Explosion: Police Confirm at Least One Death; Investigators Swarm Scene

Almost 12 hours after a fiery car explosion in Center City Allentown, police confirmed at least one fatality and at least 50 investigators remain on the scene scouring for evidence.

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim could not confirm the number of fatalities, and said he did not expect to release information anytime soon.

District Attorney Jim Martin also declined to release information about the explosion or ongoing investigation.

The FBI has also responded to the scene.

“We are working with our law enforcement partners to assess the situation & determine the cause, with public safety the Bureau’s highest priority,” the agency said in a tweet.

Police, emergency crews, fire police and investigators from throughout the county remain at the scene, as well as officials with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The LANTA bus station in the 100 block of North Sixth Street has been turned into a makeshift command center with armored vehicles, dozens of police cruisers, mobile command units and even portable bathrooms. Several portable tents were also erected where officials gathered to process evidence.

Streets around the explosion site between the 100 block of North Seventh and Eighth streets remains closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and police are asking the public to avoid the area. Residents who live in the affected area are asked to continue sheltering in place.

At the scene, an Allentown police officer who declined to give his name said he expected investigators would need several days to process evidence from the main explosion site…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Allentown Car Explosion: FBI Believes No ‘Remaining Threat to Public Safety’

Almost 12 hours after a fiery car explosion in Center City Allentown, police confirmed at least one fatality and at least 50 investigators remain on the scene scouring for evidence.

Here are five things we know about the car explosion on Turner Street.

1.   Allentown police received calls for a car explosion at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night in the 700 block of Turner Street.
2.   Allentown police confirmed Sunday morning that at least one person is dead, after earlier saying there were “multiple fatalieis.” Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim could not confirm the number of fatalities.
3.   Residents who live in the area from Seventh to Eighth streets and Linden to Chew streets were asked to shelter-in by Allentown police. Officials also told the public to avoid that area until further notice.
4.   Authorities say they will hold a news conference sometime at 4 p.m. to update the latest in an Allentown car explosion that claimed the life of at least one victim, Allentown Mayor Ray O’Connell said.
5.   The FBI’s Philadelphia office says in a Tweet that there is not believed to be any remaining threat to public safety. They are continuing to investigate along with the ATF and Allentown police.
5.   A shelter has been set up at Cleveland Elementary School at 424 N. Ninth Street. By 10 a.m., 11 people who live in the vicinity of the explosion had already visited the shelter, according to the Red Cross.
6.   Allentown City Councilman Courtney Robinson put out a statement Sunday morning. “The explosion last evening at Turner and Hall streets is a tragedy and something that has shocked us all,” Robinson said. “Please stay clear of the area as the investigation is ongoing. I would also ask all of you to try not to speculate as to what has occurred here.”
 

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Facebook & the New Face of Regime Change

Facebook and the National Endowment for Democracy have agreed to stop the spread of what the United States government and its corporate media denounce as misinformation, that is to say information in conflict with the establishment narrative.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Father of the Web’ Reveals Plan to Take Back Internet From Big Tech’s Centralized Control

This week, Berners-Lee will launch, Inrupt, a startup that he has been building, in stealth mode, for the past nine months. Backed by Glasswing Ventures, its mission is to turbocharge a broader movement afoot, among developers around the world, to decentralize the web and take back power from the forces that have profited from centralizing it. In other words, it’s game on for Facebook, Google, Amazon.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Feds: Bomb Squad Converge on 2nd Scene in Aftermath of Deadly Allentown Car Explosion

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — 69 News has learned federal authorities and the bomb squad have converged on a second scene in Allentown in the aftermath of a deadly car explosion.

Late Sunday morning, a 69 News photojournalist saw agents from the FBI, ATF and the bomb squad converge to the area of North Lumber and Chew streets, just a few block from Saturday night’s blast in the area of 7th and Turner streets.

At this point, authorities are not saying whether the second scene is connected to the explosion.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

‘Google Manipulates 25% of World’s Elections’

WASHINGTON — Throughout history totalitarianism has been associated with storm troopers, blitzkriegs and superior firepower, but a bestselling author and filmmaker says it’s creeping into American culture, subverting privacy rights, instituting censorship, imposing speech codes and threatening free elections — without a government action or a shot being fired.

This “existential threat” facing the U.S. is posed by unaccountable tech monopolies involved in the most massive surveillance programs in the history of the world in which they have romanced citizens to turn over their most precious secrets, which will soon make Google the next $1 trillion monopoly, says Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, author of “Clinton Cash” and producer of the new film “The Creepy Line.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

How 57,000 Communists and Socialists Are Taking Over the Democratic Party

The Epoch Times has made this video of my recent expose of the Communist/Socialist plan to massively infiltrate the Democratic Party.

The Communist Party USA explained plans on May 23 to subvert the Democratic Party, alongside socialist and communist organizations including Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, LeftRoots, and others. In some U.S. states, communist party members are barred from becoming elected officials, yet through this latest effort, democrats may unwittingly vote communists into office.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Insanity: Watch Violent ANTIFA Mob Attack Open Carry March at Kent State

Police, Second Amendment demonstrators physically attacked with bottles, clubs, even fake hand grenades in attempts by Antifa to spark other side to fight back so media can declare new Charlottesville weeks from election

Infowars sent reporters to Kent State University in Ohio on Saturday to cover an Open Carry Event on campus, where Antifa showed up instigating violence to spark a new Charlottesville situation in an attempt to blame the violence on gun owners, but their attempts failed.

“It’s really sad, because I think a lot of this is fueled and stoked by the media, the leftist media outlets that decided to post fake, lying, libelous articles on Kaitlyn Bennett’s Open Carry rally, trying to say this rally somehow has something to do with fascism or racism when everyone here has disavowed any of that.”

One Open Carry demonstrator said the violence would likely be blamed on Second Amendment supporters.

“How much of the hundreds of Antifa people that showed up here are literally a repeat of history from the 1970s, that being bussed-in agitators?” he asked.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Judge Jeanine: Calls Out the Republicans for Caving to the Dems [Video]

Judge Jeanine is spot on with her assessment that the Republicans caved to the Dems…She specifically calls out Jeff Flake for lacking the nerve to refuse to cave to the Democrats.

Jeff Flake was cornered by radicals who screamed at him and then cornered by his fellow Senators to make a deal. He totally caved to key Democrats like his good friend Senator Chris Coons:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kanye West Rocks Libs…wears Trump Hat on Snl Stage…

Tells Leftist Crowd He Won’t Allow Democrat Chains…Hat Symbolizes: “You cant’ tell me what to do”

The Full Video of What Kanye Said is Amazing!

He says he was bullied backstage for wanting to weat the MAGA hat. He speaks about freedom of thought and freedom to NOT follow the leftist ideology. Powerful!

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kanye West Booed During Pro-Trump Political Speech on SNL

The 41-year-old West, wearing a red Make America Great Again hat in support of President Trump, began to lecture the audience — chastising the Democratic party for creating black welfare and calling it a “Democratic plan.”

NBC cut the feed and went to credits, running short on time, before West finished his musical performance — but West went on to deliver a speech in spite of the fact that he was no longer on the air.

But the full rant was captured on video by former SNL castmember Chris Rock, who was sitting in the audience. Rock can be heard saying “oh my God” at one point, while others in the crowd jeered the performance.

[Comment: Kanye is encouraging blacks to think for themselves and to realize they have been deceived by Democrats for decades.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kanye West Says He Was ‘Bullied’ Backstage at ‘SNL’ For MAGA Hat, Riffs About Trump, Democrats After Feed Cut

Kanye West delivered a speech about President Trump and other political topics to the “Saturday Night Live” audience in the room following one of his performances early Sunday evening.

After he performed “Ghost Town” at the end of the 44th season premiere for “SNL,” West, who wore a red “Make America Great Again” hat, said he was bullied backstage due to his choice of headwear.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Mean Girls Actor Lindsay Lohan is Back in News for All the Wrong Reasons

The one-time teen idol, currently in Russia, posted an unsettling video of her ‘interacting’ with a family she claimed came from war-torn Syria.

“Hey everyone, I just want to show you a family that I met,” she said in the video, “a Syrian refugee family that I’m really worried about. They really need help.”…

Lohan proceeds to follow the family as they get up to leave. “Look what’s happening, they’re trafficking children. You’re ruining Arabic culture by doing this.”

“I’m with you boys, don’t worry. The whole world is seeing this,” the actor adds. “Are you from Pakistan?” Lohan is punched in the face by the mother of the children after she attempts to ‘wrest’ one of the boys.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Physically Attack Alex Jones & Boo America at Anti-Free Speech Event

Democrats hosted anti-free speech event to build Alex Jones straw man

Alex Jones went to the 2018 Texas Tribune Festival to defend his name and free speech at a Buzzfeed-led event called “The Political Rhetoric of Donald Trump and Alex Jones,” and was accosted by deranged leftists for noting that America is waking up to Big Tech’s censorship tyranny.

The anti-free speech event was even sponsored by Walmart, and other aspects of the event was also sponsored by MSNBC:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Still No Motive on Anniversary of Las Vegas Massacre; Strip Goes Dark in Commemoration

One year after the deadliest mass shooting in US history, experts are no closer to determining why the attacker, 64-year-old gambler Stephen Paddock, laid down a hail of bullets at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, killing 58 concertgoers and injuring over 400 who suffered gunshot wounds.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Teacher Fired for Ignoring Insane School Policy Against Zeroes

When students do not hand in an assignment, they get a zero pretty much everywhere in the world — but not at West Gate K-8 school in Port St. Lucie, Florida, apparently. In mid-September, an 8th grade social studies teacher was fired from the school for refusing to follow a bizarre policy requiring her to give students who handed nothing in a 50 percent score. Then, the school lied about it.

The teacher feels a calling to be involved in teaching. And she genuinely loves her students. But apparently, not being willing to let them escape accountability for failure to do their work can be a firing offense at West Gate school in South Florida. Indeed, official lies notwithstanding, school policy required her and all other teachers to give students a 50 for doing absolutely nothing!

According to WFTV, a local ABC affiliate, Diana Tirado lost her job on September 14 over the incident. But before leaving, she left a note for the students so they would know what happened. “Bye Kids,” she wrote on the board, sharing a picture on social media. “Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in. Mrs. Tirado.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Tech Expert Epstein Warns: Google Can Affect Midterm Election

Tech giants have more power and influence than most people realize.

Psychologist and tech researcher Dr. Robert Epstein explained in a new article for the Epoch Times 10 ways that Google and Facebook could affect the midterm elections. In the article, Epstein described some of his experiments, saying that he could shift people’s opinions based on how content is filtered, ordered, or weighed. If a user is undecided on an issue, tech media is capable of influencing their decision. From company partnerships to search engine manipulation, Epstein estimated that millions of undecided votes could be affected by Facebook and Google.

“Google can adjust its algorithms to favor any candidate it chooses no matter what the activity of users might be,” Epstein argued. In his ten methods for influencing elections, Epstein stressed that it is almost impossible to track or detect manipulation thanks to the secret algorithms.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Pentagon is Building Technology Allowing Troops to Control Machines With Their Minds

Authored by Ethan Huff via NaturalNews.com

Transhumanism is well on its way to becoming a reality in the United States military, as the Pentagon has announced that it’s working on a new “neural interface” technology that would connect human brains directly to machines as a way to control them.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Witness of Allentown Car Explosion: ‘I Ran Away, Seeing Body Parts … Still Can’t Believe It’

Stephanie Connelly was in Center City Allentown on Saturday evening shopping at a neighborhood store when she heard an explosion that rocked the ground.

She said she immediately thought of the massive gas explosion several years ago that claimed five lives and went running toward the sound.

“My friends and I all looked at each other and ran as fast as we could,” Connelly said Sunday morning. “We’re thinking about people and their pets. No one knew what was going on.”

Connelly and her friends ran to the scene just north of the PPL Arena between Seventh and Eighth streets where officials say a car exploded, killing at least one person.

The burning hulk of the car was nearly unrecognizable, she said, and flaming parts littered the street. She heard a second explosion — then a third one as people screamed for help and ran for cover, Connelly said.

The grisly scene that she saw next — several body parts strewn across the street — shook her to the core.

“I ran away, seeing body parts, and I couldn’t believe this is real,” a sobbing Connelly said.

“This is real life and I’m shaking and freaking out while I’m running. I still can’t believe it.”

Connelly said the car was parked at an alley between Turner and Hall streets, just west of the LANTA bus station.

Officials have released few details about the explosion, though city police did confirm at least one fatality. FBI agents, police, emergency crews, fire police and investigators from throughout the county remain at the scene, as well as officials with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Canadian Paper Publishes Anti-Brett Kavanaugh Cartoon of Republican Man Sexually Assaulting Justice

The Canadian Chronicle Herald, a newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, published an anti-Brett Kavanaugh cartoon that went viral Saturday, depicting a Republican man sexually assaulting Lady Justice.

[Comment: First comment to the article nail it: Each of the following rules, all fully adopted and practiced by today’s Democratic Party, were discussed at length by Hitler in “Mein Kampf,” published in 1925:

  • Propaganda should appeal to the heart, not the intellect.
  • It should be understood by the least educated members of society.
  • It should contain one central message, to be repeated over and over.
  • Pictures and drawings, even crude sketches, speak louder than words, and the fewer words the better.
  • The views of the opposition should be denounced categorically, never entertained.
  • A big lie is more effective than several small ones. Even once exposed, it still carries a “force of credibility,” a lingering doubt that at least some aspect of it might still be true.
  • Accuse your opponents of what you yourself are doing.

]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Canada PM Trudeau Calls 10pm Cabinet Meeting With NAFTA Deal Announcement Imminent

As previewed yesterday, ahead of tonight’s midnight deadline for a Nafta deal between the US and Canada, it appears that a deal has been agreed upon according to unconfirmed reports, with the only outstanding items being approval from Trudeau and Trump.

To that end, moments ago Canada’s CTV reported that Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called a cabinet meeting for tonight at 10pm, “as senior Canadian officials appear to be close to a NAFTA deal.” Trudeau arrived at his office around 7 p.m., where high-level staff and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland have been working since early Sunday morning to secure a NAFTA deal.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

350 Euro Fines for Drivers of Highly Polluting Diesel Cars From Monday

From Monday 1 October, anyone driving into the Brussels-Capital Region in a diesel car that has classed as having Emission Standard Euro 0 or Euro 1 will be fined 350 euro. The 9 month period of grace since the introduction of a low emissions zone in the whole of the Brussels-Capital Region ends at midnight on Sunday.

The low emissions zone bans the most polluting diesel cars from all the 19 municipalities that make up Brussels. The only exceptions are two short stretches of the Brussels Orbital Motorway in Anderlecht and Watermaal-Bosvoorde (the rest of the motorway is in Flemish Brabant).

There will be a further transitional period of three months during which drivers of the affected vehicles will be issued with no more than one fine and will be given the chance to buy a car that is less polluting or to find an alternative means of transport.

From 1 January 2019 the rules will be tightened still further with diesel cars that have Emission Standard Euro 2 being banned from the capital. Brussels hopes to ban all diesels from its streets by 2030.

Cars entering the Brussels-Capital Region will be checked using cameras equipped with number plate recognition technology. Currently 184 cameras are in place by the end of the year the Brussels regional transport agency Brussel Mobiliteit hopes to have 300 such cameras in place.

A transitional period

During the 9-month transitional period, the authorities have made a number of modifications to and carried out tests on the camera system in order to ensure that everything was is order.

In June 3,000 Brussels owners of cars that are banned under the Low Emissions Zone rules received letters informing them of such in June. The drivers of the cars that will be banned from January will receive letters in November.

To find out whether you can still drive into Brussels without being fined check out the Mobiel Brussel website that is also available in English.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

A Manifesto to Reform the EU, The Front Against the Nationalism is Born

La Stampa publishes a preview of the appeal signed by Renzi and other progressive leaders eight months ahead of the European elections: “The Union has been stifled by populists, it’s time to restore it.”

If it is true—as we witnessed yesterday—that Emmanuel Macron is Europe’s number one antagonist of Salvini and his allies, then it’s only normal that like-minded representatives will join in the French leader’s opposition out of fear for an escalation of nationalism and an unraveling of the EU as set forth by its founding fathers, Spinelli and Adenauer. This danger has led Matteo Renzi to sign an appeal yesterday with other progressive leaders (which La Stampa received ahead of time) that may even be the precursor to a European-centric list for all Europeans. The list, although not yet formed, will be challenging to complete, let alone take shape in Italy. “But when Matteo puts something in his head,” his friends insist, “it is difficult for him to stop at the first obstacle.”

Given the turbulent times the Democratic Party finds itself in, we shouldn’t rule out another debate in the next few weeks, of which Carlo Calenda will be the frontrunner: to create or not to create a list under the logo of the Democratic Party with reference to a New Europe—or something along those lines—and shared with other European progressive forces. It would be a bold move to highlight the critical nature of this historical moment, throwing one’s heart over the fence with this unprecedented and extraordinary initiative…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Brexit Live: Johnson Attacks May’s Brexit Plan — ‘It’s Deranged and Preposterous’

BORIS Johnson has attacked Theresa May’s Brexit plan with a political hand grenade, branding the Prime Minister’s proposals to leave the EU “deranged and preposterous” as the Conservative Party Conference begins today.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Catalans Deeply Divided a Year After Independence Referendum

For Jaume Casamitjana, last year’s banned independence referendum in Catalonia marked a watershed in his feelings about Spain, while for Alexandra Lopez-Liz, it pushed her to take a stand against the separatist movement.

A year after the contested October 1, 2017 referendum, disagreements over separatism have deepened in the wealthy northwestern region of Spain, which is home to some 7.5 million people and has its own distinct language.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

EU is the New Soviet Union! Britain’s Foreign Secretary in Astonishing Attack on Brussels

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sensationally compared the EU to the Soviet Union as he attacked Brussels’ hardline stance over Brexit.

Mr Hunt, who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum, made the remark as he addressed the annual Tory conference in Birmingham.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

EU: Politicizing the Internet

[…]

The EU has now decided that these “voluntary efforts” to remove terrorist content within an hour on the part of the social media giants are not enough: that legislation must be introduced. According to the European Commission’s recent press release:

“The Commission has already been working on a voluntary basis with a number of key stakeholders — including online platforms, Member States and Europol — under the EU Internet Forum in order to limit the presence of terrorist content online. In March, the Commission recommended a number of actions to be taken by companies and Member States to further step up this work. Whilst these efforts have brought positive results, overall progress has not been sufficient”.

According to the press release, the new rules will include draconian fines issued to internet companies who fail to live up to the new legislation:

“Member States will have to put in place effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for not complying with orders to remove online terrorist content. In the event of systematic failures to remove such content following removal orders, a service provider could face financial penalties of up to 4% of its global turnover for the last business year”.

Such astronomical penalties are likely to ensure that no internet company will run any risks and will therefore self-censor material “just in case”. …

The Commission states that it is specifically interested in funding projects that focus on the, “development of technology and innovative web tools preventing and countering illegal hate speech online and supporting data collection”; studies that analyze “the spread of racist and xenophobic hate speech in different Member States, including the source and structures of groups generating and spreading such content…”; and projects that develop and disseminate “online narratives promoting EU values, tolerance and respect to EU fundamental rights and fact checking activities enhancing critical thinking and awareness about accuracy of information” as well as activities “aimed at training stakeholders on EU and national legal framework criminalising hate speech online”.[1] One just wonders which member states and what “hate speech” will be held accountable — and which not.

The EU seems fixated, at least for the internet, on killing free speech.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Finland: Alma Media: Green League Continues to Slide in Polls

The Green League has yet to halt its downward spiral in polls.

Alma Media on Thursday reported that popular support for the opposition party fell by 0.8 percentage points to 12.3 per cent between August and September. The Green League, however, continues to poll well above its 8.5 per cent vote share in the previous parliamentary elections in 2015.

Maria Ohisalo, the interim chairperson of the Green League, says she is nonetheless confident that as the elections draw closer voters will wake up to the importance of two of the party’s key objectives: combating poverty and climate change…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

France: ‘Middle Finger Affair’ Macron Lands in ‘Embarrassing’ Picture Controversy

French public is angry with Emmanuel Macron after the cheerful President posed for photos with young men at Saint Martin, one of whom showed the middle finger to the cameras.

The controversial pictures were made during Macron’s visit to the Caribbean island, devastated after hurricane Irma last year.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italian University Leftists Put Up Posters Calling for Assassination of Salvini

Members of the far-left Autonomous University Collective (CUA) have sparked controversy after releasing posters of populist Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini calling for his assassination.

The far-left group debuted the poster at a university event in Bologna this week which bears the caption, “Assassin. Take aim at this,” and shows a picture of Salvini with a target around his head, Il Giornale reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Suspected Suicide ‘Raped and Murdered’

By 2 Romanians in Pescara

(ANSA) — Pescara, September 28 — A 33-year-old Pescara woman found dead in the underpass of the Abruzzo city’s rail station on August 30 2017 did not commit suicide as hitherto thought but was raped and murdered by two Romanians, cold case investigations have found, according to the IL Centro newspaper.

The suicide verdict was reached because the woman suffered from psychiatric problems, sources said at the time.

But an investigative breakthrough has enabled prosecutors to open a probe for homicide, sexual violence and abandoning incapable people against the two Romanians suspected of the crime.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Candy Bought by China’s Haier

Buys out 2 Italian partners

(ANSA) — Milan, September 28 — Haier Electronics of China, world leader in white goods, on Fridau bought Italian home appliance maker Candy for 475 million euros.

The Qingdao-based household refrigerator and home freezer manufacturing company said it had bought out the two Italian partners in Candy, which makes washing machines and fridges.

Candy is a large family-owned Italian company based in Brugherio, near Milan, that manufactures domestic appliances.

Candy’s appliances such as washing machines and fridges are known more through their continued marketing of the Hoover and Kelvinator brands, with over 80% of sales outside Italy.

Haier Group Corporation is a Chinese collective multinational consumer electronics and home appliances company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong province, China. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including air conditioners, mobile phones, computers, microwave ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, and televisions.

According to data released by Euromonitor, the Haier brand had the world’s largest market share in white goods, with 10.2 per cent retail volume market share, in 2014.

This was the sixth consecutive year in which Haier had been the market share leader for major appliances.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Bourse Tumbles, Spread Soars on Deficit

We’ll press on even if EU gives thumbs down says Salvini

(ANSA) — Milan, September 28 — The Milan stock exchange suffered big losses and Italy’s bond spread shot up on Friday after the government said it would increase government spending and allow the deficit-to-GDP ratio to rise to 2.4% over the next three years from an initial figure for next year of 0.8%.

But Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said the government would press on even if the European Commission gives the budget, with its larger-than-expected deficit, a thumbs down.

The Milan stock exchange’s FTSE Mib index shed 3.72%, with bank stocks hit particularly hard.

Some 22 billion euros in share capital went up in smoke due to the market’s dim view of Italy’s first populist government’s first budget.

The spread between Italy’s 10-year BTP bond and the German Bund closed up 32 points on 267 basis points on Friday, with the yield on the BTP up to 3.13%.

Earlier in the day it had risen to 281.

The spread closed on 235 points on Thursday. Interior Minister Salvini shrugged off concerns about the response of the financial markets. “The markets will have to deal with it,” Salvini said, describing the government’s DEF economic blueprint as “a step toward civilization”. Anti-migrant Euroskeptic League leader Salvini added that the government would “press on” if the EC gives the thumbs down to the budget package because of the deficit figure. “We consider ourselves to be working for the country’s growth, to give back faith, hope, energy and work,” Salvini said. “So I’m happy with what we’ve done over the last four months and what we will do over the next four years”.

The other deputy premier, anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio, said Friday that the government was not looking for a fight with the Commission.

“Now dialogue will start with the EU and the big private investors and we do not intend to have a clash,” Labour and Industry Minister Di Maio said.

He said European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici’s warning about debt was part of that dialogue.

“The concerns are legitimate, but the government is committed to keeping the deficit-to-GDP ratio at 2.4% and we want to pay the debt… the debt will come down,” Di Maio said. A deficit of 2.4% is well above the target of 1.6% for 2018 that the Commission agreed with the previous centre-left government and three-times the 0.8% deficit pencilled in for 2019.

Technocrat Economy Minister Giovanni Tria is said to have wanted to keep the deficit under 2% but he seems to have caved in to pressure from the M5S and its government coalition partner, Salvini’s League party.

Both Di Maio and Salvini have hailed the budget’s inclusion of first steps towards a universal basic income, the M5S’s flagship pledge, and an overhaul of the unpopular 2011 Fornero pension reform, the League’s hobby-horse, as well as tax cuts.

In a move towards a dual-rate flat tax for everyone, another key League vow, the budget slashes the tax rate on the self-employed to 15%.

Di Maio said he was not concerned about losses on the Milan stock exchange and rises in Italy’s bond spread in response to the deficit.

“I’m not worried because over the next few days we want to meet all the private and public entities that represent the market and reiterate that the 2.4% contains 15 billion euros of investment — the biggest investment plan Italy has ever had,” he said.

Moscovici said earlier Friday that debt makes nations poorer.

“I want to continue dialogue with the Italian authorities, saying that respecting the rules is not for us, it’s for them, because when a country gets into debt, it makes itself poorer,” Moscovici told French TV network BFM. “If the Italian people continue to get into debt, what will happen? Interest rates will increase and servicing the debt will cost more.

“The Italian people must not be mistaken — every euro more of debt is a euro less for highways, for schools, for social justice”. The Commissioner stressed, however, that he does not want a showdown with Italy over the budget.

“It’s likely that the structural deficit will increase and we have various (possible) responses (once we have evaluated the budget),” Moscovici said.

“But my reflection this morning is a simple one — we have no interest in a crisis between the Commission and Italy. “Sanctions are theoretically possible, they are foreseen in the treaties, but sanctions are not my spirit and they never have been.

“The rules should be respected and these rules are not stupid. If the debt rises, we create an unstable situation”.

Premier Giuseppe Conte said Friday Premier Giuseppe Conte said Friday that the spread will fall when markets get to know the etails of the 2019 budget bill.

Conte added “we want to cut debt but with growth”.

“I not fear an EU rejection” of the budget,” he said.

He also said the resignation of Economy Minister Tria had never been on the cards and the government would “last until 2023”.

When asked about President Sergio Mattarella’s rumoured intervention to persuade Tria to stay on to calm the markets, Conte urged journalists not to set up the president as a “counterpoint” to the government.

Asked about Moscovici’s stressing the importance of cutting debt, Conte said “I don’t look to the expectations of EU commissioners”.

Conte added that Italy was in “dialogue” with the EU and stressed “we’re not a problem for Europe”.

He added that reform of of public contracts will be launched “within a month”.

European Commission Vice President for the Euro Valdis Dombrovskis said Friday Italy was breaking EU budget rules.

“What has emerged this far from the discussion in Italy does not appear to be in line with the Stability Pact,” he said.

“It is important that Italy keeps to responsible budget policies to keep (interest) rates low”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Marine Le Pen Warns: France is Becoming a Totalitarian State, Our Judges Are Politicised

Marine Le Pen reacted to the ordering of a psychiatric evaluation by the French legal system saying it is becoming a “totalitarian system”. This is her translated statement to broadcaster CNEWS on the treatment she’s received.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Meet the Polish Tiger

Poland recently became the first country in nearly a decade to graduate from emerging-market status and enter the ranks of the world’s developed economies. In September it joined countries such as the U.S., Germany and South Korea in the FTSE Russell index of advanced economies. For Poland, the first country in East-Central Europe to join the index, the distinction is the fruit of a long effort to build a flourishing market economy on the ruins of the communist system that the Solidarity movement helped topple in 1989.

It is especially gratifying for me as Poland’s prime minister. Thanks to the efforts of millions of Poles, our economy and financial markets now meet the highest standards of integrity, transparency and sound regulation demanded by international investors.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Merkel Fights for Globalism, Warns Trump Against ‘Destroying’ The United Nations

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday warned U.S. President Donald Trump against “destroying” the United Nations.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Nigel Farage Should Have Led the Brexit Talks — Tory MP

Nigel Farage should have been given a peerage and appointed chief Brexit negotiator after Britain voted to leave the EU, a Conservative MP has said.

Wellingborough MP Peter Bone hailed the former UKIP leader, and insisted that “we would have been out by now” if Mr Farage had been leading talks with the EU.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Propaganda 101: Tommy Robinson Secretly Recorded His Interview With Sky News In Order to Catch Them Peddling Fake News

Regardless of what you think about Tommy Robinson his examples of the MSM in action, pushing their own agenda with no regard for the truth is telling.

Sky ran an interview with Tommy Robinson in which they use the caption “ I do not care if I incite fear of muslims “ However Tommy Robinson never said this. He actully said “I do not care if IT incites fear” Sky have taken an answer about Holland giving school kids a video to watch about Muslim grooming gangs which was banned in this country, and moved it onto the end of another question. Disgusting media propaganda. Thank goodness we have mobile phones to record things on, his friend recorded it secretly, otherwise no one would be none the wiser. See Tommy’s explination with actual clip here and the whole 75 min interview unedited here.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: ‘Blood Everywhere’ — Man Stabbed in ‘Face’ On London Underground

A man was stabbed while he was sat on a Central Line train on the London Underground between Stratford and Mile End, British Transport Police have confirmed as a wave of violence grips the capital.

The victim was “stabbed in the face” and there was “blood everywhere”, according to witnesses. British Transport Police (BPT) said detectives are currently appealing for information.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: First Official Report Into Death of Kevin ‘Bunny’ Crehan, Who Died in Bristol Prison, Completed

Crehan died in prison after being jailed for attacking a mosque with bacon

The first official report into the death of Knowle West man Kevin ‘Bunny’ Crehan has been completed, the Bristol Post understands.

The document is an initial report written by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, the prisons watchdog, and has been submitted to the Avon Coroners.

This now means an inquest into the death of the 35-year-old can now take place, following almost a year of speculation about the circumstances surrounding his death….

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

Egyptian Activist Amal Fathy Sentenced to Jail for Sexual Harassment Video

Campaigner arrested in May after she uploaded a video to Facebook detailing how she was harassed during a visit to her bank

The Egyptian activist Amal Fathy, who posted a video on Facebook alleging sexual harassment, has been given a two-year suspended jail sentence on charges of spreading false news and possessing indecent material.

Fathy, who has already spent 141 days in prison, was sentenced on Saturday to one year in jail for each charge, and given a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($560) for making “public insults”.

“We will challenge the ruling,” her lawyer Doaa Mustafa told the AFP news agency, adding that Fathy could pay 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,120) to have her sentence suspended.

However, Fathy is still in detention awaiting trial in another case in which she is accused of “membership in a terrorist group”, her lawyer added.

In the 12-minute video uploaded in May, Fathy explained how she was sexually harassed twice on the same day and criticises the Egyptian government for its lack of progress on addressing the issue.

In the first instance, she says, she was harassed by a taxi driver who “kept adjusting his mirror to look at me and made disgusting comments towards me”.

Fathy, 33, also describes how a bank adviser sexually harassed her while trying to sort out a credit issue.

“We were better off 70 years ago,” she says, adding that “women used to walk around in miniskirts and if someone was to even look at her, she could just call an officer and they would take him to court.

“It’s infuriating, those that blame the way that women dress. Women dressed the same way 70 years ago, this didn’t happen then.”

On 11 May, two days after the post, police stormed and searched Fathy’s home in Maadi in Cairo.

She was then held at Maadi police station in Cairo, along with her husband and three-year-old child, who were both later released.

Fathy was charged with “disseminating a video on social media to publicly incite overthrowing the government”; “publishing a video that includes false news that could harm public peace”; and “misusing telecommunication tools”.

‘Outrageous case of injustice’

Speaking after the sentencing on Saturday, Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s North Africa Campaigns Director, said: “Amal Fathy is now facing a disgraceful sentence simply for her courage to speak out against sexual harassment.

“This is an outrageous case of injustice, where the survivor is sentenced while the abuser remains at large.

“She is a human rights defender and sexual harassment survivor, who told her truth to the world and highlighted the vital issue of women’s safety in Egypt.

“She is not a criminal and should not be punished for her bravery.”

In a second trial, Fathy faces allegations of “using a website to promote ideas calling for terrorist attacks”; “intentionally disseminating false news that could harm public security and interest”; and “belonging to a banned group”.

The allegations of “belonging to a banned group” are related to Fathy’s membership of the April 6 Youth Movement, which played a significant role in organising the 2011 uprisings against then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The movement was banned by Egypt’s court of urgent matters in April 2014.

UN criticism

A United Nations report in 2013 said that 99.3 percent of women in Egypt have experienced some form of sexual harassment.

Despite several anti-harassment movements, a report by Human Rights Watch five years later still found that “sexual harassment and violence against women remained endemic” in the country.

A poll conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation also reported in 2017 that Cairo was one of the most dangerous cities in the world for women.

On Friday, seventeen UN human rights experts criticised Egypt for its use of anti-terrorism laws to detain activists fighting for women’s rights and against fraud, torture and extrajudicial killings.

The experts’ joint statement, unusual for attracting such a large number of signatories, named activists who had been detained for months, and highlighted Fathy’s case.

“We are gravely concerned at the human rights defenders’ prolonged periods of detention, reportedly arising from their peaceful and legitimate defence of human rights,” they said.

The 17 independent experts all investigate rights for the UN Human Rights Council, which wrapped up a three-week session on Friday without any scrutiny of Egypt.

“The systematic targeting of human rights defenders is yet another indication that the Egyptian government is operating a zero-tolerance approach to dissent, which is often suppressed under the pretext of countering terrorism,” they said.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

No Israelis in Kuwait, Confirms Authorities

Authorities denied the rumors circulating on social media about the entry of Israeli citizens in Kuwait for shooting a documentary film about the Bedoun residents of Sulaibiya area.

According to local report, security authorities clarified that the Twitter post of Israeli media figure Edie Cohen about the entry of Israelis in Kuwait for shooting a film on Bedoun residents in Sulaibiya area is not accurate.

Kuwait ban the entry of Israeli citizens in the country.

           — Hat tip: ESW [Return to headlines]
 

“Historic Judgment” As India’s Nationwide Biometric ID Database Ruled Constitutional

Authored by Nicholas West via ActivistPost.com

As the march toward a cashless (and privacy-less) society accelerates forward, a new high watermark has been reached…

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Gives Dogs to South Korean President

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given South Korean President Moon Jae-in a pair of white North Korean Pungsan dogs, the latest sign of improving ties between the two countries.

The canines, both about a year old, passed through the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the village of Panmunjom into South Korea on Thursday, the South Korean presidential Blue House said in a statement on Sunday. They carried three kilograms of dog food to “help with their adaptation,” it added.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Julian Assange Supporter Trying to Plan Classical Music Concerts for WikiLeaks Founder Outside Embassy of Ecuador

A Julian Assange supporter wants to coordinate classical musicperformances outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to “afford some beauty” to the WikiLeaks founder inside.

Australian-born Mr Assange has been within the building, in Knightsbridge, since 2012.

Gordon Parnell, a 62-year-old Canadian who has lived in Mexico since 1991, said he wishes to show his support for Mr Assange, which is why he is attempting to find talented individuals or ensembles to entertain him.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

African Migrant Threatens to Set His Foster Home Alight Because He Wants 250 Euros Italian Welfare

On 24 September, another incident implicating an African migrant occurred in Italy, Secolo D’Italia reports.

A 19-year-old Ethiopian who threatened to set fire to his asylum seeker’s foster home, out of frustation over not having received a payment of 250 euros was arrested.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Angela Merkel is Now More Popular Among Migrants Than Among Germans

While the right-wing Alternative for Germany sees a massive growth in support, the situation for Angela Merkel is completely different. Like French President Emmanuel Macron, her support is reaching new lows every month.

But there’s certainly one group that loves the German Chanchellor: People with migrant backgrounds.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Four Migrants Convicted of Skinning a Man’s Penis With a Knife in Denmark

Four people have been sentenced to several years in prison for holding down and roughly assaulting a 44-year-old man in Danish Tinglev. Among other things, they flayed the skin of his penis with a sharp knife, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.

The attackers were a 55-year-old man, his brother-in-law and daughter and son-in-law. They are also sentenced to expulsion.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France’s Automatic Asylum Policy for Child Migrants Raising Costly Dilemma

France’s population of newly-arrived child migrants has skyrocketed in recent years, rising from 4,000 in 2010 to up to as much as 25,000 by the end of this year. Each child costs the French state between 40,000 and 50,000 euros annually, and they are actively used by their immigrant parents as means to establish a foothold in France.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary: UN Migration Pact Worst Possible Way to Tackle Migration

Adopting the current comprehensive migration pact currently under discussion in the United Nations would be the worst possible step when it comes to tackling the challenge of migration, Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister, said at a session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Nearly 700 Migrants Rescued Off Spain Over the Weekend

MADRID (AFP) — A total of 675 migrants, including children and babies, were rescued off the Spanish coast over the weekend, a government spokesman told AFP.

On Saturday, 405 were picked up from what are often unseaworthy people smugglers’ vessels, with seven children and babies among the African migrants.

The rescuers were unaware of any who were in serious medical condition or lost overboard.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Syria Foreign Minister Tells U.N. Country is Ready for Refugee Return

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, told the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday that the country was ready for the voluntary return of refugees who fled during the more than seven-year conflict.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Over 100,000 Pounds of Onions Destroyed After Illegal Migrants Found in Delivery Lorries

British authorities were forced to destroy over 100,000 pounds of onions which were “contaminated” by illegal migrants discovered hiding in delivery lorries.

Border Force officials discovered more than twenty illegal migrants who identified themselves as being from Afghanistan, Albania, Iran, and Iraq — all Muslim-majority countries — in two separate incidents in the Port of Poole, the Dorset Echo reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

And They Came for Somebody Who Actually Gets Things Done: Linus Torvalds

One aspect of the #MeToo phenomenon initially was that it tended to take down seemingly still powerful but now over the hill jerks, such as Harvey Weinstein.

I recently watched part of one of Harvey’s last movies, Tulip Fever, which was a huge flop, even though it probably would have been a hit if he had released it in the 1990s. It had all the hallmarks of Weinstein’s Oscary old movies — Judy Dench cameo, Tom Stoppard screenplay, interesting historical setting (17th Century Amsterdam at the time of the Tulip Mania and the peak of Dutch painting), and lots more nudity and sex than other 2010s movies. But there isn’t much market for these kind of middlebrow grown-up films anymore, plus everybody of a certain age and 3 digit IQ has already seen a million Weinstein-type movies so there are few surprises (although Christoph Waltz is pretty funny as the kindly burgher widower who marries orphan Alicia Vikander).

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Harvard, Google, NSF, Springer, And Others Need a Vigorous Rat Control

Electronic tools make it easier for dishonest SJW terrorists to perform Stalinist purges

Ted Hill (*1943) is not only a veteran from Vietnam but also a famous mathematician who has done probability theory and wrote a well-known paper on Benford’s law (about the frequency of first digits of numbers), among many others. …

Now, men are more likely to be extreme than women. The standard distribution of men’s IQ is some 10% higher than the female standard deviation. It’s similar for other quantities. Men are vastly more likely to receive a scientific Nobel prize or a Fields Medal. They’re also more likely to be homeless, killed during physical work, and so on. …

OK, Dr Hill has learned about the insufferable situation and the witch hunts that the feminists and similar radical neo-Marxists instantly launch whenever someone dares to say something that is related to this basic “heresy” — that men and women are different. Their paper whose copy still exists on the arXiv (thanks, Edwin!) — explaining a possible mechanism that causes the male variation to be greater — was accepted at various places at various points, they were promised that the journals and places would respect the meritocratic rules and wouldn’t be intimidated by the political activists. …

But the reality was different. Some hysterical neo-Marxist scumbags have always emerged, threatened Hill, his co-authors, or those who were going to publish their paper, and under the pressure, most of the “verbally courageous and honest” people surrendered, lost their spine, and de facto joined the dishonest feminist filth. In the process, they have violated pretty much every ethical rule that scholars have held dear for hundreds of years. …

But these days, people rely on the electronic formats and the data are increasingly stored “centrally” on Internet servers. So it was possible to make the paper vanish altogether. Almost no one had any saved or printed copy at home. This dependence on the Internet servers obviously increases the risk that some evil players may totally rewrite the facts, rewrite the history. …

The story shows that the real threat for the integrity of the scholarly process aren’t politicians. It’s the feminists and other extreme activists masquerading themselves as scholars. In some cases, they even deserve the label of scholars for unrelated reasons (Amie Wilkinson is somewhere in between — a weak scholar for her age, ludicrously so in comparison with Ted Hill). But they just suck as scholars at the ethical level. They suck as human beings. They need to be removed because they threaten the basic prerequisites of a healthy scholarly environment.

The independence of the universities etc. has been overdone. Politicians have the duty to defend the universities against the intruders-activists who pretend to be scholars but whose real key mission is to execute the Stalinist or feminist terror against genuine independent scholars within the system. The names of many of these terrorists from this terrible story are known. Donald Trump and others have the moral duty to work hard for these terrorists to be sent to Guantanamo Bay.

And that’s the memo.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

New Public School “Morality Test” Coming Soon

A new globalism-promoting “morality” test to be used by government schools in the United Arab Emirates has education watchdogs sounding the alarm. The standardized assessment will center on so-called “social and emotional learning,” a new frontier in education that is meant to scientifically indoctrinate students with government-approved attitudes, values, and beliefs. Meet the Moral Education Standardized Assessment (MESA).

Pushing students to the “correct” beliefs and values is the goal. In fact, the test creators and the government make that clear, saying the effort is supposed to “develop responsible, cultured, engaged adults ready for the wider globalized world.” The so-called “global objective” of the scheme, they said, is to “develop student awareness of the shared human experience and make them messengers of the values they embody.”

ACT Chief Commercial Officer Suzana Delanghe could barely contain her glee.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Tim Gowers’ Conceptual Thinking Sucks

Four days ago, I discussed — and many of us talked about — the retroactive silent erasure of Ted Hill’s already published article from an electronic journal because the paper implies conclusions that are considered politically undesirable. The focus was on the sociology and dirty politics. …

Hill’s paper

[…]

The main spirit of Hill’s paper could be said to be equivalent to:

If you need some really exceptionally good men, e.g. because women insist on them (or because you want your nation to discover a breakthrough of relativity’s caliber), then your clan of men should better do more experimentation. The experimentation and therefore higher variability should become (and actually has become) a part of the men’s nature in the long term.

It’s really common sense and even some extreme leftists — e.g. Lee Smolin — have verbally understood this simple argument. Variability, experimentation, and risk is good whenever the average is not good enough. The point is that being an average member of her sex is pretty much good enough for women but not for men, so Nature does more experiments with men because the experiments increase the probability of being sufficiently highly above the average. …

However, Hill does have an explanation — a not really new one — why women are more selective. (I don’t claim any co-authorship in this observation.) Plain English maybe enough for that: It’s because they spend more time (like 9 months) with the pregnancy, not to mention some expected extra years with nursing the baby etc. The choice of the right sperm will affect their life for a long time, and it will affect the value of a “product” that results from a year or years of work. …

Now, Gowers also writes:

There is also a counter-narrative that says that people on the far right keep on trying to push discredited claims about the genetic basis for intelligence, differences amongst various groups, and so on, in order to claim that disadvantaged groups are innately disadvantaged rather than disadvantaged by external circumstances.

OK, we are told that there is a “counter-narrative” — these people are all about narratives and brainwashing, not about the truth or intelligent debates. What is the content of this counter-narrative? It’s a mixture of a tautology with a would-be insulting description of the people who believe in that tautology and an insulting, untrue description of some facts. …

After several sentences trying to question whether Hill’s paper is mathematics at all, we read:

I was worried that I would find [Hill’s arXiv preprint] convincing, …

Oh, I see. So Gowers was worried that he would find the paper convincing. That says quite something about Gowers. How could an honest, let alone curious mathematician be worried that the paper he reads is convincing? Let me tell you the answer. He couldn’t. A proper mathematician or scientist is always worried that the paper he reads turns out to be wrong or a waste of time — simply because it’s a bad thing to waste one’s time! …

You never assume any facts, you only assume other “narratives” picked from your ideology, i.e. other “desired conclusions”. So your claims are in no way on par with Hill’s and your apparent inability to see this simple point proves that you are either a very weak thinker or a brutally dishonest person pretending to think something completely different than what you believe — or both. At any rate, you suck, Mr Gowers.

And that’s the memo.

[The censored item:

An Evolutionary Theory for the Variability Hypothesis

https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04184

See also:

Harvard, Google, NSF, Springer, and others need a vigorous rat control

https://motls.blogspot.com/2018/09/harvard-google-nsf-springer-and-others.html ]

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Yale Prof: Communism is a ‘Religion’ With ‘Sloppy Theology’

Panelists at Princeton University condemned communism on Tuesday, likening it to a “religion” with “extremely sloppy theology” and honing in on its “inhuman” nature.

The school’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions hosted a panel discussionentitled “Consequences of an Idea: Assessing 100 Years of Communism.” The event was co-sponsored by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

The panel included Yale history and religious studies professor and immigrant from communist Cuba Carlos Eire, Princeton math professor and Socialist Republic of Romania immigrant Sergiu Klainerman, and Skidmore College political science professor Flagg Taylor.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

10 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/30/2018

  1. An Allentown city councilman cautioned citizens “not to speculate as to what has occurred here.”

    Why shouldn’t they speculate? Or is Allentown a powder keg about to explode?
    Please explain mr. councilman.

  2. About the car, could it be an ally ak bar, moment?
    Though it only killed 3 people so far, maybe not.

  3. Allentown Car Explosion: FBI Believes No ‘Remaining Threat to Public Safety’

    Allentown City Councilman Courtney Robinson put out a statement Sunday morning. “The explosion last evening at Turner and Hall streets is a tragedy and something that has shocked us all,” Robinson said. “Please stay clear of the area as the investigation is ongoing. I would also ask all of you to try not to speculate as to what has occurred here.”

    If that last request was made by a public official in the UK we would all know precisely who was responsible.

      • I agree we are constantly fed a large portion of BS , misinformation and disinformation by many of our ‘investigative agencies’, after major incidents.

  4. Obviously, nothing occured. The explosion that happened did not happen. Nothing was mentioned about possible IEDs in the car because the explosion that did not happen was not caused by the possible IEDs that were not in the car.

    In other news, today’s rain did not happen.

    (parody/off)

  5. I’m not sure where to post this, but I thought readers would enjoy this amazing photo. Here in a nutshell is everything that’s wrong with France and the rest of the EU.

    I cannot even imagine what that jerk Macron was thinking when he posed for this picture. It is really frightening to think that he is the political leader of France. Didn’t anyone ever explain to him about “optics?”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6226585/President-Macron-poses-smiling-man-showing-middle-finger-Caribbean-visit.html

    • He obviously has a thing for Black men. It’s not like he’s trying to hide it either. I don’t have a problem with anything except the hypocrisy. If that’s the way Macron / Maricon swings, that’s his business, but he shouldn’t be trying to force it on the rest of Europe.

Comments are closed.