The CSU — the sister party of Angela Merkel’s CDU — received the largest number of votes in today’s state elections in Bavaria. However, it failed to gain an absolute majority, dropping 10%-12% (depending on which article you read), its worst result in more than sixty years. The AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) will enter the state parliament for the first time with about 10% of the vote.
In other news, the Italian coast guard rescued seventy migrants in the Mediterranean and brought them safely to the island of Lampedusa.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Dora, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
Record Low Unemployment in Hungary — Orban: We Are No Longer “Losers” But Proud Patriots
Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party Fidesz gained the majority in the Hungarian Parliament, the country’s unemployment rate has fallen to 3.5 per cent.
And according to Orban, it is now time for Hungarians to see themselves as winners.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Bring Your Rage”: Brooklyn Witches to Hex Kavanaugh, Rapists and Patriarchy in Occult Ritual
A “metaphysical boutique and occult” bookstore in Brooklyn is hosting a coven of witches on October 20 to perform a hex on brand new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, rapists “and the patriarchy which emboldens, rewards and protects them,” according to Newsweek.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Short History of Artificial Intelligence
Analytics has never been sexier in the world of business. Big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are all terms that fill executives with excitement at their potential, or with dread at falling behind.
Yet as recently as three years ago, an online job search would have returned very few AI-titled jobs. Now there are hundreds. What changed? What do these terms mean, really? How seriously should they be taken?
AI is essentially 60 years old. From 1960 on, top scientists, particularly at MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford began attempting to replicate human intelligence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
About That Facebook Purge… Then They Came for NoisyRoom
There is an old adage out there in journalism and it should apply to blogging too that reads something like: “Report the story, don’t be the story.” I find myself along with many others today being on the wrong end of that quote, unfortunately.
I started NoisyRoom.net on 9/11/2001 in support of those who perished in the deadly terrorist attack carried out by Islamists that sunny day. Over the years, I have written on counter-terrorism, geopolitics and a whole range of political issues. I have made quite a few friends along the way… many that I respect and admire a great deal. I’ve also made some notable enemies including Media Matters.
For years I have used both Facebook and Twitter to primarily put out news links to people who might not see them, therefore disseminating actual news, not propaganda. Once in a while, I get fooled, but not often. I have also opened up my blog to numerous colleagues who have sought a place where they can be heard that won’t censor them for their political stances.
A few months ago, I came to the realization that the small amount of advertising income I made off the site was no longer worth it. Google was dictating to me what stories I had to delete from my site to receive income from them. Approximately a month after I ditched them, Google banned me for a practice they called ‘scraping’. That is the practice of taking content from other blogs and media sources without permission and without attribution. I have never done that. But any excuse will do if you want to get rid of someone. That one did nicely for Google…
In reality, I believe Facebook purged far more than 800 sites. They took anyone that wrote for these sites or was an editor or connected in any way and deleted all their pages. I only had two but some had many more. Facebook probably used keyword searches to remove those they did not like. They deleted people who had not posted in months by the way, so they are going back in time to justify their censorship.
It wasn’t just Facebook that purged either. Twitter purged some of the same people as well. I’m still on there… for now, but I hold no illusions that it could end at any time. Both platforms are silencing conservatives the way they did Alex Jones, who I do not care for, but I defended had a right to free speech. Jones was the canary in the social media coal mine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bloody Battle Breaks Out on Portland Streets as ANTIFA Clashes With “Patriot Prayer”
Hillary Clinton and Maxine Waters have called for incivility and confrontation, and Antifa is happy to oblige.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Box Office Fail: Flag-Free ‘First Man’ Flops
First Man tanked at the box office, coming in well below expectations, with just a $16.2 million opening weekend.
At worst, the story of Neil Armstrong’s historic trip to the moon was projected to do much better, anywhere between $19 million and $21 million. Keep in mind, though, that those projections are usually downplayed as a means to save face and to inspire free publicity when a film over-performs.
In other words, $16 million is a catastrophe for a movie that probably cost $100 million to $125 million to produce and publicize.
Directed by Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle, First Man roared out of elite film festivals with a ton of buzz and rave reviews. The movie took a big tumble, though, when moviegoers learned that one of the most iconic moments of the last century was arrogantly removed for touchy-feely and oh-so woke globalist purposes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats Use Hitler’s Propaganda Technique
Folks, I guess I should let this go. But, it still blows my mind that the American left is committed to branding Brett Kavanaugh, without a shred of evidence, a sexual predator for the rest of his life. That is incredibly cold, calculating and evil.
Adolf Hitler said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” This propaganda technique has been embraced by the Democratic Party. Here are three huge lies Democrats continue to invest billions worth of media to deceive the public. Big lie number one: America’s cops are racist and routinely murder blacks. Big lie number two: Trump colluded with Russia to steal the presidency from Hillary. Big lie number three: Brett Kavanaugh is a serial rapist.
Let’s address Democrats’ big lie that cops kill blacks for being black. Harvard professor Roland Fryer analyzed over 1,000 officer-involved shootings across the country. Fryer concluded that there is zero evidence of racial bias in police shootings. Inner-city black communities are plagued by criminals, not police.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Flipping Congress by the Power of Beelzebul
A recent article posted at The Huffington Post by religion reporter Carol Kuruvilla announced the group Vote Common Good (VCG), was beginning a bus tour to selected cities in America to challenge conservative evangelical Christian support for President Trump.
Who and what is Vote Common Good and what issues do they see as problematic for Christians supporting President Trump specifically and the Republican Party generally? Not surprisingly the “who” of Vote Common Good reads like a progressive, leftist, Marxist list of who’s who. The Executive Director of VCG is Doug Pagitt, he of the once dubbed Emerging Church movement, and author of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, among other books.
Kuruvilla quotes Pagitt giving readers his motivation for steering VCG: “Evangelicals care about the least of these, and I believe them when they say it…but they vote for politicians that invoke policies that don’t care for the least of these.” Here Pagitt is being deceitful either through his personal ignorance or deliberate obfuscation concerning the issue of immigration. Either way this is social gospel 101 which is to say not the biblical gospel.
The social gospel takes biblical language such as “the least of these” and super charges it with progressive Marxist meaning and liberation theology…
Pagitt and his cohorts’ carefully choreographed meltdown over the current media driven crisis concerning immigration is better suited for Broadway than it is for national discussion. Nevertheless, true Christians should take this opportunity to give solid biblical reasons for why we must oppose what the left, masquerading as Christians is attempting to do. The reason I say this is: (1) Immigration MUST be regulated. A nation simply cannot and should not allow for mass invasion by whoever shows up at its borders. (2) There must be a vetting process for the safety of a nation’s citizens which its government is bound by law and morals to protect as a primary mission. (3) God has established sovereign nations, and recognizable borders and the enforcement of them is consistent with God’s design…
Realize this is not a political war but a spiritual war. The demon-possessed Leftists don’t merely want to achieve political victory and rule society with “progressive” ideas; they seek to destroy humanity, obliterate human life, mass murder babies, outlaw Christianity, demonize people based on the color of their skin, and even decimate all crops, forests and food sources on the planet by eliminating CO2 from the atmosphere. They are at war with humanity, and they merely pretend to be interested in politics as a means to accomplish their complete destruction of life on Earth.
There is a reason why black Americans are leaving the Democrat Party by the thousands. There is a reason why the #walkaway movement is growing day by day. There is a reason why older Americans are leaving the party they have been a part of for decades. That reason is because the Democrat Party has become the party of Beelzebul. For those not familiar with the word, Beelzebul is Satan in the New Testament.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Internet Censorship Just Took an Unprecedented Leap Forward, And Hardly Anyone Noticed
While most indie media was focused on debating the way people talk about Kanye West and the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an unprecedented escalation in internet censorship took place which threatens everything we all care about. It received frighteningly little attention.
After a massive purge of hundreds of politically oriented pages and personal accounts for “inauthentic behavior”, Facebook rightly received a fair amount of criticism for the nebulous and hotly disputed basis for that action. What received relatively little attention was the far more ominous step which was taken next: within hours of being purged from Facebook, multiple anti-establishment alternative media sites had their accounts completely removed from Twitter as well.
As of this writing I am aware of three large alternative media outlets which were expelled from both platforms at almost the same time: Anti-Media, the Free Thought Project, and Police the Police, all of whom had millions of followers on Facebook. Both the Editor-in-Chief of Anti-Media and its Chief Creative Officer were also banned by Twitter, and are being kept from having any new accounts on that site as well.
“I unfortunately always felt the day would come when alternative media would be scrubbed from major social media sites,” Anti-Media’s Chief Creative Officer S.M. Gibson said in a statement to me. “Because of that I prepared by having backup accounts years ago. The fact that those accounts, as well as 3 accounts from individuals associated with Anti-Media were banned without warning and without any reason offered by either platform makes me believe this purge was certainly orchestrated by someone. Who that is I have no idea, but this attack on information was much more concise and methodical in silencing truth than most realize or is being reported.”
It is now clear that there is either (A) some degree of communication/coordination between Twitter and Facebook about their respective censorship practices, or (B) information being given to both Twitter and Facebook by another party regarding targets for censorship. Either way, it means that there is now some some mechanism in place linking the censorship of dissident voices across multiple platforms. We are beginning to see smaller anti-establishment alternative media outlets cut off from their audiences by the same sort of coordinated cross-platform silencing we first witnessed with Alex Jones in August.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gretchen Whitmer, the far-left Democratic Party candidate for governor in Michigan, posted a picture of herself wearing a hat designed to look like President Trump’s signature, “Make America Great Again” hat. The only difference is, instead of bringing manufacturing jobs back to Michigan, Gretchen’s idea of making America Great Again is killing babies.
In a post that Whitmer used to promote herself on Facebook to the pro-abortion voters in Michigan, she can be seen wearing the Planned Parenthood hat. But was it smart for Whitmer to wear a hat suggesting killing babies is the equivalent of Trump’s pro-American Make America Great Again message, and will it bring her more votes, or will it encourage moderates and conservatives to go to the polls to vote for her opponent, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Middleman Pleads Fifth as Republicans Close in on Clinton-Justice Russia Collusion Conspiracy
Congressional Republicans are collecting evidence to show an extensive, election year, anti-Trump conspiracy between Hillary Clinton operatives such as Fusion GPS and Barack Obama appointees at the Justice Department and the FBI.
The investigation took a new turn last week. Fusion co-founder Glenn Simpson decided to invoke the Fifth Amendment rather than testify under subpoena before a special House Republican task force.
The Republicans see Mr. Simpson as the key middleman between Justice and the Clinton campaign. He orchestrated the Democrat-financed dossier on which the FBI built its early investigation of candidate Donald Trump. Republicans believe the unproven dossier, with its charge of extensive Trump-Russia collusion, is a sham perpetrated by Democrats and the press.
“Glenn Simpson was an absolutely essential figure in launching the entire Russia collusion hoax,” a Republican congressional staffer told The Washington Times.
Mr. Simpson decided to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during the same week that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein balked at testifying. Republicans want information about his May 2017 meeting with then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. He said in a memo that Mr. Rosenstein talked of secretly recording the president, The New York Times reported.
“You know we’re getting close when first Rosenstein is a no-show, and now Glenn Simpson is taking the 5th,” tweeted Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican.
Mr. Simpson testified to two congressional committees last year and then urged the release of transcripts.
But his attorney, Joshua A. Levy, informed the House task force last week that he would defy a subpoena. Mr. Levy hasn’t responded to attempts by The Times to obtain a comment.
What has changed?
As they dig deeper and talk to Obama people who worked with Mr. Simpson, Republicans believe some of his congressional testimony hasn’t been truthful.
For years Mr. Simpson and Fusion’s other former Wall Street journalists have worked in secret to hand out juicy tidbits to news bureaus — as long as no company DNA is left behind.
But the unverified dossier disrupted their business model.
The Fusion GPS exposure started in 2017 when Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican, unleashed his subpoena powers. He forced Democrats to acknowledge that the crown jewel of Fusion’s research — the dossier — was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
For the first time, the public learned that former British spy Christopher Steele’s dossier, with its tales of Trump-Russia conspiracies that remain unconfirmed, wasn’t an intelligence report. It was opposition research that used Democratic money to tap a host of unknown Kremlin agents as sources…
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Protester in Blue Hat Tries to Sucker Punch Man During Argument, Instantly Regrets it
Two guys were arguing about something and the guy wearing a blue hat tried to sucker punch the other. What happened next was hilarious! The guy who throws the sucker punch is blocked by the friend of the man he’s trying to punch.
The big guy on the left, in the video, reaches out one hand to block the punch and catches the guys fist in mid-air. This looked like it was straight out of a kung-fu movie!
I believe this occurred during a far left vs far right incident in which a group named Antifa was clashing with a group called the Proud Boys. Both groups are polar opposites of each other and whenever they’re in the same vicinity, there’s always violence.
As the Antifa guy goes to punch the Proud Boy, the Proud Boy’s friend blocks the punch mid-air and sends the guy away.
The guy who caught the punch does not escalate the violence, but instead, he had stopped it.
The person who instigated the violence by throwing the first punch walked away with his head still attached to his shoulders and learned a hard lesson not to punch people just because you don’t agree with them. Watch the video:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Robert Spencer: A Paul Revere of Our Times
Robert Spencer’s new book The History of Jihad from Muhammad to ISIS is a clarion call to Western Civilization. We are under assault by Islam from all sides in a war that has raged since 632, the date of Muhammad’s death. In trying to raise the alarm, Spencer is clearly one of the Paul Reveres of our time. But who is willing to listen?
Spencer’s opening observation sums up his book.
“There is no period since the beginning of Islam that was characterized by peaceful co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims . . . There has always been, with virtually no interruption, jihad. Nor is jihad in Islamic theology primarily, or even prominently anything but warfare against non-believers.”
The rest of Spencer’s well researched and thoroughly documented book are the details, fascinating, convincing and frightening details that more that substantiate his case.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The FBI Doesn’t Want Users to Know Who Hacked Facebook
The FBI has asked Facebook not to reveal who may be behind a recent hack that exposed highly sensitive personal information of 14 million users, according to a Facebook security update Friday.
A hack on Facebook, which originally was reported to have affected 50 million users, now has been confirmed to have only affected 30 million. That said, the hack “appears to be the worst hack in Facebook’s 14-year history,” according to Business Insider’s Rob Price.
Hackers took advantage of an intersection of three different and distinct bugs in Facebook’s website to gain “access tokens” to users’ accounts, according to Guy Rosen, the vice president of product management at Facebook.
“We’re cooperating with the FBI, which is actively investigating and asked us not to discuss who may be behind this attack,” Rosen wrote in a post entitled “An Update on the Security Issue.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Maoist Ties of Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley
Boston City Council member and activist Ayanna Pressley created nationwide shockwaves when she defeated long-time incumbent Mike Capuano by a convincing 17 points in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District.
At least part of Pressley’s success can be traced to her long-time association with the Boston chapter of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA-Boston), which is aligned with the Communist Party of China (CCP). The CPA-Boston endorsed and campaigned for Pressley.
The CPA-Boston—a major player in Boston politics—bills itself as part social services agency and part political advocacy organization. With a significant budget, a paid staff, and hundreds of volunteers, CPA-Boston can and does, significantly influence elections across the city.
Like its San Francisco counterpart, CPA-Boston originated in the Maoist movement that swept Chinese-American student and youth groups in the late 1960s and early 1970s. CPA-Boston founders were mainly members of I Wor Kuen (IWK), a pro-Chinese regime group centered in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and New York.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Soros Working Group Spreadsheet
This is quite the research project and will demonstrate just how pervasive chaos and activism really is. Asra Nomani of the Wall Street Journal performed intensive investigations and her work was published by the WSJ with the title ‘George Soros’ March on Washington’. Now the question becomes, does this information get some cultivation by the FBI, the IRS or the Justice Department to see what laws were broken or consequence should apply? No answer at this point.
But let’s check out just one of the Soros organizations, shall we? Not only is money spread around in grant form but people are too… sheesh.
Anti-government, anti-Trump activism is here to stay. It is political insurgency… maybe even terrorism. At least those like Senator Paul and Congressman Scalise are victims of physical harm. Hillary, what about that civility thing again?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The United States appears to some Americans to be on the brink of something that in the past was the theme of many works of fiction including books and motion picture about the end times — the terrifying 1984, the overly violent Clockwork Orange, the disturbing A Handmaid’s Tale, the realistic doomsday thriller Children of Men, and other works that provide readers and moviegoers with a glimpse of what mankind will eventually face when governments topple and tribalism replaces the greatness of liberty and freedom with distrust, extreme cynicism, mob rule and routinely violent civil disobedience.
During the last three presidential administrations — George W. Bush 43, Barack Hussein Obama, and current President Donald Trump — Americans have witnessed the slow but steady decline of the great political experiment that was the United States’ Constitutionally protected Representative Republic.
Starting with the last election cycle, there were groups of radicals who fearlessly attacked the nation’s conservatives in what seems like a throwback to the 1960s campus protests and street riots in the biggest and most populace cities in the U.S.
Once the election was over, these same groups, their leaders, the news media and the entertainment industry continued their hateful verbal attacks, physical attacks on anyone opposing them, and expansion of the once independent, broadcast and print news outlets that is now recognized as being the propaganda machine for the Democratic Party. The media also shills for the radical left, the secret and mysterious Deep State (a/k/a the Shadow Government), and the already deeply entrenched radical Muslims.
Muslim refugees are allowed into the U.S. with opened arms despite their threat to the lives and property of the American people. So too are undocumented illegal aliens from Mexico and other Central American countries who possess higher violent crime rates than most of the Middle Eastern countries.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Falsely Accuses 9-Yr-Old-Boy of Groping Her in NYC Deli… Security Camera Tells Different Story
It’s not easy being a male in the #MeToo era. As a mother of daughters, I’m profoundly aware of how sexual assault is a very real thing. My husband and I have done our best to discuss best practices when it comes to handling potential issues with unwanted sexual advances and sexual assault, that could take place at school, in the workplace, in social situations, or even in public places. Because I’m a mother of daughters, doesn’t mean I’m blind to the reality of how easily women can destroy a young man over false accusations of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.
The case of a horrible woman who accused a little 9-year-old boy wearing a school backpack, that happened to brush by her as he passed through a deli with his mom and little sister, is a perfect example of an unhinged woman who didn’t think twice about falsely accusing a little boy with his mother in a public space, when no such event took place.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In a setback for the global #MeToo movement, a former member of Austria’s parliament was convicted this month of libel against a man she publicly accused of sexually harassing her on Facebook.
In an unprecedented case, a judge at the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in Vienna ruled that Green Party politician Sigrid Maurer libeled the owner of a city craft beer store because she couldn’t prove that he actually posted the harassing messages on his Facebook account.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Voters in Germany’s economically dominant southern state of Bavaria delivered a stunning rebuke to the ruling Christian Social Union, in an election that delivered another crushing blow for the parties in Angela Merkel’s grand coalition in Berlin.
With all eyes on Sunday’s Bavaria election, moments ago the first exit polls showed a historic collapse for the ruling CSU party, which has ruled Bavaria continuously since 1957, and which saw its share of the vote collapse from 47.7% in the 2013 election to just 35.5%, losing its absolute majority and suffering its worst result since 1950, as voters defected in their droves to the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel’s arch-conservative sister party in Bavaria has crashed to its worst result for 68 years in state elections, according to exit polls, piling further pressure on the German Chancellor’s beleaguered coalition.
The Christian Social Union (CSU), which has ruled the wealthy southern state almost single-handedly since the 1960s, is projected to lose its absolute majority after dropping more than 10 percentage points to around 37 per cent of the vote.
The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won its first seats in the Bavarian parliament, scoring more than 10 per cent in spite of the CSU’s efforts to fend it off with a hardline stance on immigration and law and order.
The Social Democrats, who are Merkel’s coalition partners in Berlin, also slumped to a historic low with less than 10 per cent, as the Greens doubled their vote share to leapfrog them in second.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bavarian Election Exit Poll: Merkel Allies See Huge Losses as Greens and Populists Surge
The Christian Social Union (CSU) is projected to win the Bavarian election but the allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has seen huge losses in support while the Green Party has surged.
An exit poll released by Infratest dimap shows the centre-right CSU as the winner of the election with 35.5 percent of the vote, which constitutes a massive 12.2 percent loss compared to the previous Bavarian election in 2013.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Boris: May’s Brexit Deal Would be ‘Greatest National Humiliation Since Suez’
Leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson, widely seen as the Brexit wing of the Tory Party’s greatest hope to oust Theresa May and take control of the Brexit negotiations, has warned implementing her proposed deal with the EU would be Britain’s “greatest national humiliation since Suez”.
Writing for the Belfast Newsletter, the former Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary argued that the “fatal error” of Theresa May and her team was their failure to “challenge the EU’s position that the only way of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland — an objective we all share — is for Northern Ireland to have the same regulations for trade as Ireland and the rest of the EU.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Booms and Extends Its Lead as the Global King of Currencies Two Years After Brexit Vote
Before the people of the United Kingdom voted by majority to leave the European Union, concerns were raised about the potential damage the decision would have on Britain’s place as the global leader in the foreign exchange markets.
As a global market worth trillions of pounds per day, foreign exchange is the crowning jewel of London’s financial services industry.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Exodus: British Jews Join Global Flight and Leave for Israel
The number of British Jews leaving the UK and seeking a new life in Israel has risen seven percent on last year’s figures, mirroring a sharp increase in Russian Jews also fleeing Europe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fearful of Swine Fever, France Plans Fence on Belgian Border
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) — France will start putting up fencing along part of its border with Belgium this weekend to prevent wild boars spreading African swine fever, a virulent livestock disease that could disrupt Europe’s large pig industry.
France has been on alert for African swine fever since Belgium detected the virus last month among wild boars a few kilometers from the French border.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Finland’s Net Payments to EU Down in 2017
Finland paid 50 euros per inhabitant to the European Union in 2017, making a total of 275 million euros — some 19 million euros less than the previous year.
Finland paid in 275 million euros more to the European Union than it got back in funding in 2017, representing a 19-million-euro drop in its net EU contribution from the previous year, according to European Commission statistics.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Arnaud Beltrame swapped himself with a hostage during a standoff
French hero Arnaud Beltrame, who sacrificed himself to save a hostage from an Islamist terrorist, won’t have a place named after him because it may upset Marseille’s huge Muslim community, Valeurs Actuelles reports.
On 24 March 2018, an ISIS terrorist stormed a supermarket in Trèbes, armed with a handgun, a hunting knife and three homemade bombs. He shot two people dead and took others hostage.
During the negotiation with the police, the terrorist accepted Beltrame’s offer to swap places with the last hostage, a female cashier.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French hero Arnaud Beltrame, who sacrificed himself to save a hostage from a Islamist terrorist, won’t have a place named after him because it may upset Marseille’s huge Muslim community, Valeurs Actuelles reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Certifier in Breast Implant Scandal Set for Retrial
PARIS (AFP) — A French appeals court on Wednesday ordered a retrial for a German safety certifier accused of negligence after approving breast implants which were later found to be susceptible to rupturing.
In the far-reaching health scandal which emerged in 2010, implants from the French firm Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) were found to be made with industrial-grade silicone gel, cheaper and more dangerous to women than medical-grade silicone.
The certifier, TUV Rheinland, was originally cleared of any liability by a court in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence in July 2015.
But on Wednesday the Court of Cassation, France’s highest for determining the correct application of laws, said TUV had “an obligation of vigilance” with regards to products it certifies…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
German Man Murdered by Turkish Cyclist in Hanover Because ‘He Was in the Way’
A 40-year-old German man was murdered because he was in the way, when a 28-year-old Turkish cyclist passed by. The pedestrian died yesterday in hospital.
The Turk beat the man from Hanover into a coma. He later died from his injuries. The 28-year-old dismounted his bicycle and attacked the pedestrian in Limmer Street in Hanover’s Linden-Nord district, because he had allegedly obstructed him as he crossed the street.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Has Had Enough! Attacks EU’s Guy Verhofstadt in New Video — Our Goal is to Protect Europe
response to the affronts to our country,” Government Spokesman Zoltan Kovacs announced on his blog, About Hungary, referring to — among other things — the European Parliament’s report about Hungary.
“The government of Hungary will not leave unanswered the offense committed against Hungary in the Sargentini Report,” according to an official statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Islam Doesn’t Belong to Germany as a Tolerant Islam is Western Wishful Thinking — AfD Party
In a based speech, Alternative for Germany MP Gottfried Curio, told what the party’s stance on Islam is. (Read further below).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Alitalia to Become Newco With State and Fs
To be flag carrier again
(ANSA) — Rome, October 12 — Alitalia may become a newco with the State taking a stake along with rail company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), Premier Giuseppe Conte said Friday.
He said the troubled carrier, which is running out of money despite a government bridge loan, could “create synergies with FS” and there would be the possibility of having a single rail-plane ticket.
This would not be a State rescue but a relaunch of the airline, Conte stressed.
Labour Minister Luigi Di Maio met unions and said “I will safeguard the workers”.
Di Maio said there had been many expression of interest from potential business partners, also from airline companies.
The other deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, said “there’s not going to be any cheap sell-off, but a serious relaunch”.
He said “we need an efficient flag carrier at the service of the country”.
Sources at Conte’s office reiterated: “Alitalia will be a flag carrier, the government is united on that”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Romanian Woman Deported for Bothering Tourists
Posed as mime artist in Florence
(ANSA) — Florence, October 12 — A 24-year-old Romanian woman who posed as a mime artist and bothered tourists in Florence by begging has been deported, police said Friday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Black Shirt WWII Cemetery Plaque Found Smashed
In Savona
(ANSA) — Savona, October 10 — A new plaque commemorating the Fascist Black Shirt militia who died in WWII along with other war dead was found smashed in two in Savona cemetery when council workers arrived to remove it Wednesday morning.
The inclusion of the Fascist militia along with the other fallen had caused a row.
The plaque was going to be taken to a lab for the removal of the Black Shirt names.
But it was found removed from its place on the wall and smashed in two on the ground.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Jihadists’ Slaughter Three Refugee Women in Greece — Including a Young Girl
‘Jihadist human traffickers’ slaughtered two women and a young girl in Evros Greece, local media say. Evros is near the Greek — Turkish border. Several points along it are being used as paths for human traffickers to sneak into Greece.
A few days ago a farmer whose field is 50 meters along the border, faced a horrible spectacle. Three young women were slaughtered near the river Evros, two of them were bound by the arms and legs, another victim was found 40 meters away.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leftist German Politician Says ‘Old White Men’ Threaten the Future and Could Destroy Europe
Katharine Schulze, a far-left politician and leader of Germany’s Greens, held a Facebook rant against ‘old white men’.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has defended her deputy after he was roundly condemned for staying in his car with the doors locked during the Westminster terror attack.
Sir Craig Mackey, who was Acting Commissioner at the time of Khalid Masood’s attack outside the Palace of Westminster, told an inquest he was at the scene when the jihadist struck, but remained in his car with the doors locked and watched as he fatally stabbed unarmed PC Keith Palmer, as he had “no protective equipment, no radio, [and] two colleagues with me who [were] quite distressed”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Abducts Intoxicated Woman With Broken Jaw to Rape Her at His Home in Bradford, England
A 40-year-old man has been put on trial for rape of a woman he found intoxicated, covered in blood, with cracked teeth and suffering a broken jaw after a night out in Bradford, England.
According to the Telegraph and Argus, Shaid Hanif told Bradford Crown Court that he had stumbled upon the woman who was staggering about injured and alone in the early hours of the morning after a night out, so he phoned for a taxi and took her home with him.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Never before in recent history have so many Germans wanted to leave their homeland. 55 per cent said in a survey that they would like to try their luck in another country — many saying forever.
The desire: In addition to better weather, the would-be emigrants hope for a new home, a stable political situation and a better income.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Multicultural Bradford: Man Rapes Blood-Covered Stranger With Broken Jaw
Shaid Hanif faces jail after being found guilty of raping a woman he found intoxicated, covered in blood, and with cracked teeth and suffering a broken jaw after a night out in Bradford, England.
Bradford Crown Court heard the 40-year-old “used the woman, who was a total stranger, for his own gratification”, after coming across her by chance outside a Jurys Inn hotel, according to local media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pictures: Pope Francis Makes Seven New Saints, Including Paul Vi, Oscar Romero
ME — Pope Francis canonized seven new saints Sunday, including Pope Paul VI, who concluded the Second Vatican Council, and Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated while celebrating Mass in 1980.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Researchers Discover Neanderthal Child Was Devoured by a Giant Bird
The oldest human remains discovered in Poland were found a few years ago, but it’s only recently that scientists have uncovered the unfortunate fate of the Neanderthal to whom they once belonged.
It was only this year that researchers discovered that the bones, found amid the remains of animals, actually were once those of a Neanderthal child. A Neanderthal child, it turns out, that was eaten by a giant Ice Age-era bird, reported Science in Poland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Cancels Traditional Christmas Concert and Increases Promotions for Islamic Events
Sweden’s, and perhaps the world’s largest outdoor Christmas concert “Oh Holy Night”, which traditionally airs on Swedish national TV on Christmas Eve each year, has been cancelled, SVT news reports.
This is most likely yet another example of Swedish traditions being suppressed in order not to offend migrants who don’t hold Christian beliefs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Centre-Right Leader Abandons First Bid to Form Government
STOCKHOLM (AFP) — The leader of Sweden’s centre-right Moderates party on Sunday said he had failed a first chance to form a coalition government after last month’s general election left the country in a state of political deadlock
Ulf Kristersson’s Moderates party is part of a centre-right bloc called Alliance which received marginally fewer votes on September 9 than the previous governing centre-left coalition.
Both blocs have struggled to form a majority after refusing to make a deal with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, a party which was linked for years to far-right groups…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Police Think They Can Reduce the Number of Shootings With “Stop Shooting” Campaign
Together with the city of Malmö and the prison services, the police are now launching a new project to stop all shootings.
In relation to the population, there are 4-5 times more fatal shootings in Sweden than in most other European countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Police Chief Defends Deputy Who Stayed in Car During Terror Attack
Muslim convert mowed down pedestrians before fatally stabbing a police officer.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Bloodbath: Hainault Stabbing Sparks Murder Probe as Two Knifed
A stabbing in Hainault, London, has turned into a murder investigation after a man was killed on the street and another left fighting for his life.
Emergency crews were scrambled after reports two men had been stabbed in Hainault, north east London around 10.20pm on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Young Girl Raped by Adult Man Near Train Station in Västerås, Sweden
A young girl was raped in the Sigurd area in Västerås on Friday night, Swedish media outlet Fria Tider reports.
The girl was was pushed to the ground, after which the perpetrator raped her, police say on their website.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Extremist Persecution of Christians, April 2018
Two days later, Christian homes in the region were attacked again. “Some Muslim villagers had a meeting in one of the mosques. They incited people against us. After the meeting they set fire to a wood store owned by my brother, and four other houses,” said another Christian resident. Police responded by arresting five Christians as they tried to put out the fire. — Egypt.
On April 27, the government made the death penalty “mandatory” for anyone who blasphemes against Islam… And in the case of blasphemous remarks or sacrilegious acts, according to the law, the death penalty is now mandatory.” — Voice of the Martyrs, Mission Network News, Mauritania.
A Christian nun who was driven out of her convent in Qaraqosh, Iraq by the Islamic State was denied a visa from the nation that provided refugee status to tens of thousands of Muslim men. — United Kingdom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Russia Raises the Stakes in Syria
Russia’s sudden deployment of S-300 surface-to-air missiles in Syria last week raised the stakes in Syria significantly for the U.S. and Israel.
While it is easy to conclude things have become far more dangerous, the fact is that there are certain important aspects of the situation on the ground that we just don’t know.
Before we consider what we don’t know, it is important to understand what we do know about what has happened since a Syrian surface-to-air missile crew shot down a Russian IL-20 spy plane on September 17.
Russia deployed forces and aircraft to Syria in 2015 to prevent the defeat of the Iranian-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war. Shortly after Russian forces arrived in Syria, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow to work out a deconfliction mechanism with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That mechanism enabled the Israeli Air Force (IAF) to continue attacking Iranian military targets in Syria, as it had been doing since the outset of the war in Syria without coming into direct conflict with Russia.
On September 17, the IAF bombed Iranian-Hezbollah targets in Syria’s Latakia region. According to Israel, the IAF informed the Russians of its plan to attack 12 minutes before the raid took place, sufficient time for all Russian air and other assets to avoid danger.
Ten minutes after the time that Israel claims its jets completed their mission and returned to Israeli air space, a Syrian crew manning a Russian-made S-200 surface to air missile battery shot down a Russian IL-20 spy plane. 15 Russian crew members on board were killed.
Rather than carry out an investigation of the Syrian action, the Russian Defense Ministry and some Kremlin spokesmen immediately blamed Israel for the attack…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Kurds Call on European Nations to Take Back 900 Captured Islamic State Fighters
Kurdish fighters in Syria say they have captured around 900 Islamic State fighters from various European countries and are now calling on those countries to take the jihadis back.
A spokesman from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) operating in Syria has claimed that the group has now captured far more Islamic State foreign jihadis than previously reported, nearly double the figure of 520 released only a month ago, the Times of Israel reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As There is ‘No Respect for Women in Islam’, Muslim Woman in Mathura Adopts Hindu Dharma
Anuj Jaisingh | HENB | Mathura | Oct 12, 2018:: A 24-year-old Muslim woman, Arshi Khan from Mathura in the Northern Indian State — Uttar Pradesh, adopted Hindu religion on Thursday, while claiming that women do not have any respect in Islam.
Soon after converting, Arshi filed an application with the SSP office claiming that she had taken the decision to convert to Hinduism on her own and because of her faith and love for Lord Krishna. Talking to the media, she said that her decision was influenced by the fact that “in Islam women have no respect”.
Her statement says that “while Hindus pray Goddess Durga, Laxmi and Sita, there is no place for women in Islam” is bound to invite the ire of the Muslim community and Mullanas.
She said that she had changed her name from Arshi to Arushi.
Arushi aslo describes herself also as an earnest devotee of Lord Banke Bihari, i.e. Lord Krishna.
Though many Muslim organisations narrated the ‘Arshi to Arushi’ conversion as nothing but a ‘match fixing’ for netting more Muslim girls into Hindu fold; the Hindu oraganisations called the matter a genuine ‘home coming’ and showing the new horizon for the Muslim women to relive with dignity and security.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
South Korean President Moon Jae-in Says North Korea is in Trouble
(Bloomberg) — North Korea’s economy is in such dire straits that the reclusive nation can’t afford to go back on a promise to Donald Trump to wind down its nuclear program, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in an interview with Le Figaro.
Speaking to the French daily ahead of a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, Moon explained why he believes North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will deliver on the pledges made at his historic summit with the U.S. leader in June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Africa’s Youngest Billionaire Abducted in Brazen Early Morning Hotel Raid
Africa’s youngest billionaire was kidnapped in a shocking early morning assault in the streets of Tanzania outside of an affluent hotel Thursday morning in what appeared to have been a carefully planned abduction.
Tanzanian police remain on high alert and are reportedly scouring the country for 43-year old mogul Mohammed Dewji — who runs the METL group, a family business that operates across six African countries in diverse industries as trading, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and petroleum, and financial services, among others.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In a speech given for the 17th Francophonie summit, Emmanuel Macron spoke of Africa as being the “epicentre” of the French language, French newspaper Le Figaro reports.
Yesterday, the 17th Francophonie summit has kicked off in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Emmanuel Macron attended it and gave a speech.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
S. African Newspaper Apologises for ‘Tainted’ Scoops
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — One of South Africa’s leading newspapers admitted Sunday it had run “tainted” scoops during the presidency of Jacob Zuma which turned out to be largely false, but insisted it had been the victim of political manipulation.
“We admit here today that something went wrong in the process of gathering the information and reporting” of several top stories, Sunday Times editor Bongani Siqoko wrote in a column.
“What is clear is that we committed mistakes and allowed ourselves to be manipulated by those with ulterior motives… We apologise.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ecuador Partly Restores Internet Access for WikiLeaks Founder Assange
(Reuters) — Ecuador has restored partial internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who took refuge in the country’s London Embassy more than six years ago, WikiLeaks and an Assange lawyer said separately on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Is There a Right-Wing Surge in South America?
Right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro seems about to win Brazil’s presidential elections. Conservative presidents are also in power in Argentina, Chile and Colombia. Is a “new right” emerging in the region?
Jair Bolsonaro is not yet president. First, he will have to win another runoff election on October 28. But his enormous lead in the first round of Brazil’s presidential elections has caused a great deal of excitement among his supporters, as well as serious concerns among his opponents.
These are concerns that Chilean President Sebastian Pinera wanted to dispel during his trip to Europe when he declared at an economic forum in Madrid that presidential candidate Bolsonaro was “on the right economic track.” And in Argentina, Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie commented that “Brazilians have freely exercised their democratic rights and have chosen the future rather than the past.”
Both statements were met with much criticism in the region and dismissed as “premature.” Nevertheless, given the conservative governments of Macri in Argentina, Pinera in Chile, Duque in Colombia and possibly soon Bolsonaro in Brazil, many observers are asking the question whether these developments could be described as a surge of right-wing conservativism across Latin America…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Economic Crisis Leaves Kids Without Food
As the economic crisis in Venezuela deepens, the number of children asking for money or food in the streets is sharply on the rise. For some children, it means skipping school to find something to eat. They target supermarkets and restaurants and work on corners begging for money just to survive. Adriana Nunez Rabascall has a report from Caracas, Venezuela, narrated by Cristina Caicedo Smit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Workers’ Party Campaign in Brazil Needs a Miracle to Win
Way behind in the opinion polls and struggling to shore up second-round support from other political parties, Fernando Haddad’s presidential campaign has reached crunch point.
His Workers’ Party, or PT, had hoped that support for the candidate would start flooding in shortly after the results came out Sunday night. But their expectation of a broad “democratic front” has not materialized. The backing has arrived in dribs and drabs, with the majority of parties opting to stay neutral. In practice, this allows their members to vote for Bolsonaro or cast a blank ballot.
[Comment: The lame stream media has been freaking out about Bolsonaro.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Jihadist Human Traffickers” Slaughter Three Women in Greece
Among refugees killed was a young girl
‘Jihadist human traffickers’ slaughtered two women and a young girl in Evros Greece, local media say. Evros is near the Greek — Turkish border. Several points along it are being used as paths for human traffickers to sneak into Greece.
A few days ago a farmer whose field is 50 meters along the border, faced a horrible spectacle. Three young women were slaughtered near the river Evros, two of them were bound by the arms and legs, another victim was found 40 meters away.
He immediately called the police. The police officers found a military type knife near the bodies which was used by the murderer.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Asylum Seeker Injures Several People With a Knife on Austrian Train
An 18-year-old Afghan “asylum seeker” attacked passengers on a train in Feldkirch in Vorarlberg in the small hours of Saturday 13 October, injuring them with a folding knife, Austrian news outlet VOL.at reports.
The Afghan asylum seeker immediately attacked a 27-year-old German for no apparent reason after he had boarded. When other passengers tried to calm the 18-year-old Afghan, he pulled out the knife and stabbed a 44-year-old in his back.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Four African Migrants Attack German Train Driver and Several Passengers Over a Cigarette
On Thursday morning, four African men attacked several travellers on an S26 suburban train. A 24-year-old German man had to be admitted to hospital with a broken nose.
According to initial findings, a physical altercation between four people at the Südkreuz railway station, the S-Bahn line S26, took place around 9:20 a.m.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Ends Beacon ‘Riace Model’ For Migrant Integration
The interior minister has ordered migrants in Riace be redistributed across Italy after its mayor was arrested. The mayor’s vision was hailed across the globe as a model for reviving towns and integrating refugees.
Italian authorities will begin transferring some 200 migrants on Monday from the small Calabrian town of Riace, according to Italy’s Interior Ministry.
Riace gained international fame in the wake of the migration crisis when Mayor Domenico Lucano welcomed migrants to the sparsely populated town in a bid to boost local development.
However, Italian police arrested Lucano earlier this month on suspicion of mismanagement of public funds and facilitating sham marriages — allegations he has staunchly denied…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
More Than Thousand Greek Parents Sign Letter: “We Don’t Want Migrant Children in Our Schools”
According to the Greek webpage Kathimerini, 1,130 parents living with their children on the Greek island of Chios, sent a letter of protest to the principals of their schools, in which they declared that they do not want their children to study together with migrant children.
The letter of protest was also communicated to various high ranking officials on the island of Chios.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moroccan Migrant Goes on Drunken Lorry Rampage in Northern Italy
Italian police pursued an inebriated Moroccan migrant at the wheel of a lorry on a miles-long chase late Thursday, as the man crashed into parked cars, road signs, fire hydrants, and even the doors of houses along the route.
The chase occurred in the town of Legnago, in the northern Italian province of Verona, and finally ended with the arrest of the driver. The migrant reportedly had hijacked a garbage truck, forcing the driver out of the vehicle and driving off in a “mad rush” and provoking suspicions of a terrorist act.
After the high-speed pursuit lasting “ten kilometers,” the Carbinieri military police were finally able to stop the 31-year-old driver by setting up a roadblock. The man crashed into one of the police cars at full speed, sending the car into another civilian vehicle with a woman inside.
Four police as well as the young woman sustained injuries described as non-life-threatening.
The Moroccan has been charged with crimes of attempted murder, property damage, resistance of arrest, and aggravated injuries to a public official. The man reportedly already has a criminal record with precedents for vandalism, theft, and brawling.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Women Having Fewer Children, Migrant Birthrates Significantly Higher
For a country to maintain its current population, a replacement rate of 2.2 children per woman is needed. In Sweden, the number of children per woman is 1.78.
However, 2016 saw Sweden have the second highest population growth of any EU country as a result of mass migration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Updated: 70 Migrants Rescued and Taken to Lampedusa
70 migrants were rescued from a boat and disembarked on Lampedusa early this morning, news reports read.
The vessel was 18 nautical miles off Lampedusa.
The NGO ship Mare Jonio answered an alert issued by Malta and went to rescue the distressed migrants, however by the time it arrived, the vessel had drifted closer to Lampedusa and the Italiaan Coast Guard had brought the people ashore.
[Comment: Article dated October 13, 2018.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biological Male Wins World Championship in Women’s Cycling
A biological male who identifies as a transgender woman won a women’s world championship cycling event on Sunday.
Rachel McKinnon, a professor at the College of Charleston, won the women’s 35-39 age bracket at the 2018 UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships in Los Angeles.
McKinnon, representing Canada, bested Carolien Van Herrikhuyzen of the Netherlands and American cyclist Jennifer Wagner to take home the gold.
McKinnon celebrated the victory on Twitter, writing: “First transgender woman world champion…ever.”
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
British Couple in ‘Gay Cake’ Case Urges Christians to Take a Stand for God
The Christian couple that recently won a Supreme Court free speech victory in the ‘gay cake’ controversy are urging their fellow Christians to “take their stand for the word of God.”
Last week, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of Ashers Baking Co, which declined to bake and decorate a cake with a pro-gay marriage message.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Earlier today I attended a matinee showing of Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer. After the movie ended I sat in my car for a few minutes, mentally digesting the enormity of what I’d just seen; exiting the theater parking lot, a compulsion came upon me to write a review and to post it this same day. This is it, sort of.
For upon further contemplation I decided that a “review” is grossly insufficient (in that regard, suffice it to say that the screenwriting, cinematography, and acting stands up to any of the best produced by major Hollywood studios).
Rather, I decided that writing a context is more fitting, as it will convey the personal and culture-changing potential of this film.
What follows will resonate strongest with those of us who believe that there is such a thing as Satanic evil extant in the universe and that it operates on this earth, including by and through human beings.
But it will also resonate with those who are open to the concept of evil, but believe it is merely some organic or spontaneous force, and so is without particular origin, purpose, and without designs or goals.
Even those who entirely dismiss any conception of evil will find benefit in what follows, for the entire purpose of this “context” is to encourage people to see the movie.
For you see, this is a film of such power that it compels each of us to contemplate our own conscience.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Nina L. Khrushcheva via Project Syndicate
From China to Saudi Arabia, today’s authoritarian regimes are suddenly and covertly abducting people, including well-known figures and high-ranking officials, to be detained or worse. It’s an old and effective tactic for silencing opponents, but those reviving its use may end up regretting their decision.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What’s most interesting to me are the constant interruptions by the stupid women who wish to be subjugated under sharia.
In Bavaria the Greens came a strongish second, and the AfD fourth. The AfD result is being written off in some quarters as a disappointment. Would one of our European commentators care to elaborate? (Or is that all in hand for tomorrow?)
As far as I know in Bavaria the AfD stood for election for the first time in the party’s history (Bavaria holds elections only once in five years and the AfD was founded in 2013), so their candidates are relatively new to politics. This lack of experience may account for publicly visible struggles among members of the Bavarian AfD which in turn may be a reason for the relatively small percentage of votes that was achieved. Another maybe more important reason might be that in Bavaria the “Freie Wähler” (roughly translated “free voters”) are a strong conservative/right wing force (about 11.5%) whose politicians have been much longer in the business than the AfD. They attracted voters who otherwise might have voted for the AfD. Furthermore some people apparently were afraid that the CSU could lose too many votes and the Greens get too strong, so they voted for the CSU against their better judgement. All in all I think the result of the AfD is not so very bad.
As for the Greens – well, there are still many people who simply consider the current mass migration a good idea and feel themselves represented in the best possible way by the Greens. These people are often civil servants who do not feel as keenly as others the negative impact migration has for example on our social system (the reasons for that have something to do with the structure of said system – who pays for what and in what way), they earn more money than the average German and therefore live in neighbourhoods with few migrants and apart from that do not have to compete with migrants if they are looking for a flat and so on. Also many people still believe the Greens are serious about protecting the environment, this being a big issue in Germany especially after the extremely hot and dry summer we had.
If the AFD can’t attract at least 50% of the vote then Germany is kaput.
Theresa May is Merkel’s poodle and there is no hope for Britain
either.
Australia ,America and the Visigrad 4 are the free world’s only hope of perhaps overcoming and remaining free of the global Islamic caliphate..
The Greens have their strongholds in the bigger cities whose inhabitants are often newbee bavarians with no ” folkloristic” roots. They were attracted by the hightech industry, make good money and as pointed out by Lavinia, they do not live in culturally enriched environments, but spend their time off tracking bikewise or footwise through the fabulous landscapes of Bavaria.
A migrant from Uzbekistan afternoon in St. Petersburg raped a 12-year-old girl.
About this and other incidents:
https://regnum.ru/news/2500499.html
But the Russian media prefer to focus on the “horrors” of Sweden and Germany.
Wait, so Brave Sir Craig had two other cops with him in the car, and it didn’t occur to them that they could overpower one guy with a knife? What a pathetic excuse for a man!
I heard they were civilians.