Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/23/2018

A French helicopter and two ships rescued eleven migrants in the English Channel who were on their way to Britain. Meanwhile, fourteen Iranian migrants in two different vessels crossed the Channel and landed in Kent.

In other news, Jair Bolsonaro, the populist president-elect of Brazil, says that he will meet with National Security Adviser John Bolton next week in Rio de Janeiro.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Did the IMF Reveal That Cryptocurrency is the New World Order End-Game?
» Eurozone Growth Stumbles, German Economy Contracts, Meanwhile UK Tops GDP Growth
» US Economy Unstoppable Thanks to Donald Trump
 
USA
» Authorities Are Using a “Mysterious New Tool” That Can Unlock Virtually Any Cellphone
» Democrats Use Vote Fraud to Play Their Last Hand: Global Warming
» Driver Stabbed in Hip in Edgewater Road Rage Incident
» ESPN Loses 2 Million Subscribers This Year
» ESPN Loses Two Million More Subscribers in Fiscal 2018
» Facebook Filed a Patent to Predict Your Household’s Demographics Based on Family Photos
» Soros Foundation Takes Aim at Facebook, Calls for Congressional Oversight
» The Merchants of Venom
 
Europe and the EU
» A Giant Mammal Relative: The Fossils of the New Species of Dicynodont
» Brits No Longer Trust the Mainstream Media and Its Presenters, Report Shows
» EU Bows to Italy? “Our Goal is Not to Sanction the Italian Authorities,” Commissioner Says
» EU’s Sargentini Report “Condemns Hungary for Its Anti-Migration Stance”
» France Revolts Against Macron: Rioters in Violent Clash With Police in Tax Fury
» Gerard Batten Surprised Over Farage’s Interest in UKIP After Coup Launch
» Hungarian Government Defends Nikola Gruevski’s Asylum
» Income Inequality, Financial Crisis and the Rise of Europe’s Far Right
» Italy Braced for Wrath of Beaten All Blacks
» Low Sentence for Africans Who Raped Two Defenseless Dutch Girls for Hours in Belgian Hotel
» Merkel: EU States Must Prepare to Hand National Sovereignty Over to Brussels
» More Than 10,000 Women and Girls in Finland Have Undergone FGM
» National Socialism — Nazism — is Not Nationalism — it is Socialism!
» Poland is Both Pro-European and Pro-American, Prime Minister Says
» Security Organisation Releases Report Slamming Swedish Electoral System
» Steve Bannon Plotting to Drive a ‘Stake Through the Vampire’ of the EU With Election Plan
» The EU’s Political Correctness and ‘Censorship’ Will Backfire — Hungarian Prime Minister
» The European Court of Human Rights Submits to Islam
» Tommy Robinson Appointed UKIP Advisor on Prison Reform and Rape Gangs
» U.K. Companies Consider Microchipping Employees
» UK Govt Pledges £50m to Stop FGM Abroad, Yet Still Zero Convictions for Cutters and Enablers at Home
» UK: May Will Not Resign if Her Brexit Deal is Rejected in Parliament
» UK: Poll Suggests Among Both Remain and Leave Voters May’s Brexit Deal is Near Universally Unpopular
» Video Games in East Germany: The Stasi Played Along
 
Middle East
» Does Iranian Law Allow for Child Abuse?
» ENI, Big Shot in the Gulf, Carried Out for the Piaggio Aero Affair?
» Sydney ISIS Terrorist Ahmed Merhi Claims He Was a Volunteer Nurse and Didn’t Fight — as Details of His Squalid Cell Are Revealed While He Awaits Death by Hanging in Iraq
» Turkey Says EU Overstepped Brief by Calling for Kurdish Leader’s Release
 
South Asia
» New Species of Shark Identified in Indian Ocean
 
Far East
» D&G Taken Off Chinese e-Commerce Over Advert Row
» Ghosn’s Income Under-Reporting ‘May Reach $71 Million’
» Too Marxist for China? Radical Students Rattle Communist Leaders
 
Australia — Pacific
» From a Mum Who Drove Four Kids Into a Lake to a Toddler Bashed to Death by His ICE-Addict Stepdad: Australia’s Long List of Helpless Infants Killed in Tragic Circumstances
» Sydney Islamic Extremist, 22, Laughs, Gives the ISIS Salute and Refuses to Stand for a Judge as He is Jailed for Helping a Teenage Terrorist Shoot Dead a Police Worker
» The Law Does Apply to Them: Leaders of Muslim Sect Who Claimed They Had the Right to Illegally Bulldoze Pristine Land for a Religious Hideaway Concede Defeat — and Now Face Jail for Contempt
» The Moment a Man in a Burqa and a Woman in a Motorcycle Helmet Walk Into a Bank — So Can You Guess What Happens Next?
» ‘You’re a Danger’: Thug, 22, Is Jailed for Mowing Down Seven Kids and a Mother in a Stolen Ute — as His Horrific Criminal History is Laid Bare
 
Latin America
» Brazil President-Elect to Meet With Bolton
» Ecuador: $550 Million Needed to Respond to Venezuela Exodus
» Venezuela Fuel Shortages Get Worse as Tanker Staff Flee
 
Immigration
» “We Are Arabised!” — Only One of 103 New Pupils at Berlin School Speaks German at Home
» Filmmaker Exposes Media Lies on “Highly Organized” Caravan [Video]
» France: Refugee Acquitted of Rape ‘As He Has Different Cultural Norms’ — His Female Victim Attempted Suicide
» French Authorities Save Migrants During Attempt to Cross Into UK From Calais
» Germany Sets Out New Law to Find Skilled Immigrants
» Italy: Whistleblower Who Reported Migrant Transport NGO Smuggler Links Lives in Fear After Death Threats
» Italy: Former Olympic Village Becomes Migrant No-Go Zone Run by Far-Left Groups
» Migrants Plan Stampede; Trump Says He’ll Close the Border
» Populists Attack UN Global Compact on Refugees
» Swedish Government Spent €1000 on Rent Per Migrant — Per Day
» Tijuana Mayor Declares Crisis at Border; DHS Warns of Criminals, Gang Members Among Caravan
» Trump Signs Order Closing Border With Mexico, Authorizing Lethal Force
» UK: Two Migrant Boats Land in Kent as ‘Brazen’ Sea Crossings Surge
» UK: Theresa May Pledges to Curb Low-Skilled Migration: ‘Only the Brightest and the Best’
 
Culture Wars
» Parents Outraged Over Transgendered Sexualization of 5-Year-Olds
 
General
» 200-Million-Year-Old Huge Mammal Disrupts Evolution Theory
» Astronomers Detected Water on a Planet Only 179 Light-Years Away, And it’s a Big Step in Understanding Surrounding Exoplanets
 

Did the IMF Reveal That Cryptocurrency is the New World Order End-Game?

The very core of the movement toward global crypto, I believe, is the destruction of anonymity in trade through a “cashless society”.

There are two kinds of globalist schemes:

First, there are the schemes they spring on the public out of nowhere haphazardly in the hopes that the speed of the event along with some shock and awe will confuse the masses and make them psychologically pliable. This strategy loses effectiveness quickly, though; the longer the plan takes to implement, the more time the people have to reconsider what is actually happening and why.

Second, there are schemes they slowly implant in the collective psyche of the citizenry over many years, much like subliminal messaging or hypnosis. This strategy is designed to make the public embrace certain destructive ideologies or ideas as if these ideas were their own.

The cryptocurrency scam is of the second variety.

I have been suspicious of the cryptocurrency narrative of a “decentralized and anonymous monetary revolution” since 2009, when I was first approached by people claiming to be “representatives” of bitcoin and asked to become a promoter of the technology. After posing a few very simple questions and receiving no satisfactory answers, I declined to join the bandwagon or act as a frontman…

It was odd that bitcoin was built around the SHA-256 hash function created by the National Security Agency, and that the entire concept was remarkably similar to what was described in an NSA paper published in 1996 titled ‘How To Make A Mint: The Cryptography Of Anonymous Electronic Cash.’

Then, there were globalist institutions like Goldman Sachs coming out publicly in praise of crypto and blockchain tech. And, finally, central banks began entertaining the notion of moving into crypto, but they made it sound like they were approaching the idea half-heartedly, like it was a potential hobby.

So what ties the entire crytpo-scheme together? The International Monetary Fund has now openly revealed their affinity with crypto technology, and thus revealed the new world order end game.

In a paper published last week by IMF head Christine Lagarde titled “Winds Of Change: The Case For New Digital Currency”, the IMF builds its argument for why central banks including the IMF should embrace crypto as the future of monetary policy.

As I warned last year, the shift into crypto was not at all a “revolution” against the globalists, but a con designed by the globalists in part to get liberty proponents to become unwitting salesmen for the next phase of the economic control grid. But how do they intend this end game to play out?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Eurozone Growth Stumbles, German Economy Contracts, Meanwhile UK Tops GDP Growth

Eurozone growth remains slow, and has performed worse than expected in the latest figures released Friday which saw the Euro currency stumble as slowing German exports were shown to be behind the European powerhouse’s first GDP contraction since 2015.

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

US Economy Unstoppable Thanks to Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump received his highest approval rating on the economy, 53 per cent. With US unemployment at the lowest in decades, jobs reports just keep getting larger.

Black Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans all have the lowest unemployment rate in the history of the US.

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

Authorities Are Using a “Mysterious New Tool” That Can Unlock Virtually Any Cellphone

Your cellphone is a gold mine of information about where you have been, who you have been talking to, and what you have been doing online. And now a “mysterious new tool” is enabling law enforcement authorities all over the nation to get access to that information on virtually any phone. So if you end up going to prison someday, it could be the evidence that is pulled out of your cellphone that ultimately puts you away. Of course most Americans never even consider that their own cellphones could be systematically gathering evidence against them. For most of us, cellphones are simply extremely convenient tools that allow us to communicate effectively with the rest of the world. But if the authorities decide to investigate you, your cellphone is going to be one of the first things that they want, and what they find on there could put you behind bars for a very, very long time. There are some people out there that are still operating under the assumption that the data on their cellphones is safe from the prying eyes of law enforcement authorities. That actually has not been true for a long time, and now a new tool is enabling them to unlock virtually any cellphone. The following comes from WHIO…

These are basically “hacking devices”, and it may take a number of hours, but they will eventually get into your cellphone.

These hacking devices reportedly cost between $15,000 and $30,000, so they are quite expensive, but apparently law enforcement agencies all over the nation have been heavily buying them.

Because if you can get into the cellphone of a suspect, it often provides everything that is needed to solve a case…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Democrats Use Vote Fraud to Play Their Last Hand: Global Warming

After two years of trying to pin the tail on the Donald to no avail, the democrats cranked up voter fraud to make a last ditch effort to suspend the workings of our Republic.

With Florida receiving the lion’s share of the limelight of midterm election ballot mishandling, little attention has been paid to other states where vote irregularities have cropped up. From California, Arizona and New Mexico to Wisconsin and Georgia, numerous breaks in chain of custody of ballots has cast a shadow on the results of races for state and congressional seats.

Every instance where republicans looked to have a solid or a tight lead, thousands of ballots appeared out of nowhere to be included in the final tally. Serendipitously discovered after the polls had been closed for hours, they added a glut of democrat votes that turned the tide in a number of California races. And election officials didn’t even blink an eye. By the way, those officials were all affiliated with the democrat party. […]

Republicans had better take up the challenge and not rest until the vote fraudsters are incarcerated, otherwise Representative Matt Gaetz may be right that the Right is under siege and may lose the battle in 2020.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Driver Stabbed in Hip in Edgewater Road Rage Incident

Anne Arundel County police are searching for a woman and a teenager in connection with a stabbing during a road rage incident in Edgewater.

County police said officers were called around 10:45 a.m. Thursday to Route 214 at Muddy Creek Road, where a man had been stabbed in the hip.

Police said the victim was involved in a road rage incident wherein two vehicles stopped and the drivers got into an argument. A teenager got out of the car, stabbed the victim in the hip and the suspect vehicle fled, police said.

Police described the suspect vehicle was a dark green Jeep Compass or Patriot.

The victim was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening stab wound, police said…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

ESPN Loses 2 Million Subscribers This Year

According to Disney’s recently released annual report, sports network ESPN has lost 2 million domestic subscribers over the course of 2018.

Disney’s report revealed that the company’s sports network, ESPN, currently has 86 million subscribers. This is down two million from the 88 million subscribers to the sports commentary and news station in 2017.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ESPN Loses Two Million More Subscribers in Fiscal 2018

Yesterday Disney announced in its yearly 10K filing that ESPN lost another two million subscribers in fiscal year 2018.

ESPN now has 86 million subscribers, down from over 100 million subscribers in 2011.

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

Facebook Filed a Patent to Predict Your Household’s Demographics Based on Family Photos

Facebook has submitted a patent application for technology that would predict who your family and other household members are, based on images and captions posted to Facebook, as well as your device information, like shared IP addresses. The application, titled “Predicting household demographics based on image data,” was originally filed May 10, 2017, and made public today.

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

Soros Foundation Takes Aim at Facebook, Calls for Congressional Oversight

The head of billionaire George Soros’ foundation called for congressional oversight of Facebook, after the social media giant finally took some responsibility for hiring a PR firm to smear its critics as agents of Soros.

“So @facebook decides to drop a turkey on Thanksgiving eve, with admission that Definers was tasked by company leadership to target and smear George Soros because he publicly criticized their out of control business model. Sorry, but this needs independent, congressional oversight,” Open Society Foundations head Patrick Gaspard tweeted on Wednesday night.

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

The Merchants of Venom

Media’s advanced case of Trump Derangement Syndrome

Have you listened to the “news” broadcasts of CNN or MSNBC lately? Almost 100% of the air time on those stations is devoted to anti-Trump and anti-Republican bashing, it’s like no other news is happening in our country and around the world. You could, in all honesty, call those media outlets, “Merchants of Venom”.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A Giant Mammal Relative: The Fossils of the New Species of Dicynodont

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden have discovered the fossils of a new species of dicynodont, a giant mammal relative.

During the Triassic period some 200 million years ago, mammal-like reptiles called therapsids co-existed with the ancestors of dinosaurs, crocodiles, mammals, pterosaurs, turtles, frogs, and lizards. The dicynodonts are one group of therapsids.

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

Brits No Longer Trust the Mainstream Media and Its Presenters, Report Shows

Britain’s TV newsreaders have seen the biggest fall in trust over the past year a new report shows.

The likes of news pundits Jason Farrell, Kay Burley and Piers Morgan saw the biggest fall in the past year, with trust declining FIVE percentage points from 67% in 2017 to 62% now.

The Ipsos Mori report says trust in TV news hosts “to tell the truth” has fallen by five per cent. Journalists also are revealed to be among the five least-trusted professions, coming above only ad executives, politicians and government ministers.

They have dropped by one per cent over the past year and are now trusted by 26 per cent of people to tell the truth, the survey found.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

EU Bows to Italy? “Our Goal is Not to Sanction the Italian Authorities,” Commissioner Says

On Friday Pierre Moscovici, European Economic Affairs Commissioner, said that a deal could be found on the Italian budget rejected by the European Commission as “the door is always open”.

The Commissioner stated: “Our door remains open and I am convinced that we will be able to find an accord on shared solutions in the interest of the Italians and the eurozone”.

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

EU’s Sargentini Report “Condemns Hungary for Its Anti-Migration Stance”

Hungarians are clearly concerned about national identity and security issues related to migration when it comes to the future of the European Union, an official of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Friday.

At a series of consultations on the future of Europe organised by France, the Hungarian government gave a briefing concerning the views of ordinary Hungarians at forums held in eleven Hungarian cities sent to the European Council, Judit Varga, state secretary for EU relations, told a press conference.

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

France Revolts Against Macron: Rioters in Violent Clash With Police in Tax Fury

Access to the French port ring road and A16 was blocked with “out of control hooligans” ran onto the road, alongside “yellow vest” protesters demonstrating against the French President’s plans to hike fuel duty in the country. In the melee, police called to secure the area scuffled with protesters, causing a traffic nightmare, a police source told AFP in the sixth day of action from the “yellow vests” — so-called after the high-visibility safety jackets drivers are required to carry in their cars. The source said: “These incursions are criminal and irresponsible — they are acts of vandalism.”

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

Gerard Batten Surprised Over Farage’s Interest in UKIP After Coup Launch

Nigel Farage has announced that he will be writing to the National Executive Committee (NEC), UKIP party’s ruling body, asking them for a vote of no-confidence in UKIP Leader Gerard Batten over Batten’s appointing Tommy Robinson as Special Personal Advisor on rape gangs and prison reform.

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

Hungarian Government Defends Nikola Gruevski’s Asylum

The immigration and asylum office “did not make any mistake” and the information it provided concerning the asylum case of former Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski was “precise, professional and legitimate”, the interior minister told the press on Wednesday.

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

Income Inequality, Financial Crisis and the Rise of Europe’s Far Right

Citizens around the world are seeing their national wealth concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. But rather than calls for redistribution, this global trend has prompted many electorates to respond with a surge of support for the far right.

Income inequality has increased in nearly all regions of the world over the past four decades, according to the World Inequality Report 2018. Since 1980, the global top 1 percent of earners has experienced twice as much of the global growth as have the poorest 50 percent.

While these ratios differ markedly between geographic regions (with the least disparity in Western Europe and the most in the Middle East), the trend toward concentrating wealth among the rich remains constant. And although the bottom half has also experienced gains from global growth overall, the bottom 50 percent received just 10 percent of global income in 2016 versus the 20 percent that went to the top 1 percent.

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

Italy Braced for Wrath of Beaten All Blacks

ROME (AFP) — Italy coach Conor O’Shea concedes his side are braced for a ‘David against Goliath’ challenge against world champions New Zealand in their final November Test on Saturday at the Stadio Olimpico.

The All Blacks arrive in Rome having lost 16-9 to Ireland in Dublin last weekend, a further wake-up call for the world’s top team after a defeat by the Springboks back in September.

But even if New Zealand’s aura of invincibility has started to wane less than a year out from the World Cup, O’Shea is expecting another rough ride from a side the Italians have never beaten in 14 previous meetings.

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

Low Sentence for Africans Who Raped Two Defenseless Dutch Girls for Hours in Belgian Hotel

Four men with African backgrounds have received a relatively short sentence for the rape of two Dutch girls in Belgium.

The girls, aged 20 and 21, were visiting the city of Antwerp during a weekend in March this year. In a nightclub they met Mohamed S. and Lamine N., both of African heritage.

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

Merkel: EU States Must Prepare to Hand National Sovereignty Over to Brussels

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that European Union (EU) member states must be prepared to transfer powers over to Brussels at a debate on the ‘tensions’ between globalisation and national sovereignty.

“Nation states must today be prepared to give up their sovereignty,” Merkel said, speaking at an event organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin on Wednesday.

“In an orderly fashion of course,” Merkel said, explaining that — while Germany had given up some of its sovereignty in order to join the EU, national parliaments were in charge of deciding whether to sign up to international treaties.

[Comment: When will each nations public wake to that fact their puppet politicians are traitors to their own countries?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

More Than 10,000 Women and Girls in Finland Have Undergone FGM

Public health watchdog THL says that there is a significant risk for girls in Finland to be subjected to genital mutilation.

THL data shows that more than 10,000 girls and women living in Finland have already undergone the barbaric procedure.

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

National Socialism — Nazism — is Not Nationalism — it is Socialism!

WIKI: National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), more commonly known as Nazism (/’n??tsi?z?m, ‘næt-/), is the ideology and practices associated with the Nazi Party—officially the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP)—in Nazi Germany…

Note the words Socialist and Workers in the NAZI party’s name.

Both words throughout history described parties of the political left, of communism, socialism, and fascism, NEVER of the political right.

You will never find socialist or workers appended to the names of any party on the right or the political center.

What they had in common was, they all imposed CHANGE on their citizens with the promise of HOPE.

The HOPE never materialized. The change always did.

What followed was poverty, misery, and millions of dead.

America avoided that bullet November 8th, 2016.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Poland is Both Pro-European and Pro-American, Prime Minister Says

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Germany’s Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz together took part in a discussion in Hamburg entitled “A European Perspective for the Future of Transatlantic Relations.”

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

Security Organisation Releases Report Slamming Swedish Electoral System

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has criticised Sweden’s electoral system noting voter privacy concerns, missing ballots, and the way in which unions fund the Social Democrats.

The report, released on Wednesday, examines concerns raised following the Swedish national election in September by OSCE elections observers who raised concerns over “undemocratic” aspects of the Swedish electoral system.

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

Steve Bannon Plotting to Drive a ‘Stake Through the Vampire’ of the EU With Election Plan

The mastermind behind Trump’s presidential campaign explained he believed there will be chaos as right-wing and populist groups continue to rise throughout the EU. He said: “It will be like the intensity of Brexit which came over like a summer storm.” Currently, Mr Bannon is preparing to support right-wing and populist parties participating in the European Parliament elections next year.

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

The EU’s Political Correctness and ‘Censorship’ Will Backfire — Hungarian Prime Minister

In a Friday morning interview with Kossuth Radio, the Hungarian Prime Minister criticised migrant debit cards, political correctness and censorship in Europe.

Viktor Orban said he was surprised by the handing out of migrant debit cards. “The issue of the migrant debit cards came as a surprise even for weather-beaten veterans like me,” the Prime Minister said.

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

The European Court of Human Rights Submits to Islam

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on October 25 that to state that the Islamic prophet Muhammad “liked to do it with children” and “… A 56-year-old and a six-year-old?… What do we call it, if it is not paedophilia?” goes “beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate,” and could be classified as “an abusive attack on the Prophet of Islam which could stir up prejudice and threaten religious peace.”

The Court’s judgment has a long history.

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

Tommy Robinson Appointed UKIP Advisor on Prison Reform and Rape Gangs

UKIP leader Gerard Batten has appointed Tommy Robinson as “Special Personal Advisor On Rape Gangs & Prison Reform.”

The UKIP Member of the European Parliament for London said:

“I have appointed Tommy Robinson to be a personal special adviser on two subjects which he has great knowledge.”

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

U.K. Companies Consider Microchipping Employees

A number of companies in the United Kingdom are considering mass microchipping their employees, a move that is raising concerns about the possible monitoring of U.K. residents. At least two microchip firms — the U.K.’s BioTeq and Sweden’s Biohax — have reported that they are working with several major British companies to insert the tiny, hidden information and tracking devices into the bodies of employees.

The rice-grain sized chips are inserted between the thumb and the forefinger of employees, and are used by companies to ensure security at facilities and to store employee data. However, critics note that the chips can also be used to track individuals and to monitor their personal information without permission.

The U.K. Independent reported that the use of microchips “has become popular in Sweden, where more than 4,000 people have had chips implanted beneath their skin over the last five years” through Biohax. “A partnership with the Swedish national railway system means people are able to use the Biohax chips as a replacement for paper tickets and plastic travel cards.”

Biohax said that it is presently negotiating with a number of U.K. legal and financial companies, which want the chips implanted in employees to tighten up on security. “These companies have sensitive documents they are dealing with,” Biohax founder Jowan Österlund told the U.K. Telegraph. “[The chips] would allow them to set restrictions for whoever.”

Österlund added that “in a company with 200,000 employees, you can offer this as an opt-in. If you have a 15 percent uptake, that is still a huge number of people that won’t require a physical ID pass.”

But critics fear that should companies gain momentum with the chips, they could do away with “opt-in” and require employees to take the chip.

[Comment: No one should “opt in”. Let this satanic test run fail.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK Govt Pledges £50m to Stop FGM Abroad, Yet Still Zero Convictions for Cutters and Enablers at Home

The British government has pledged an extra £5o million in foreign aid to stop female genital mutilation (FGM) globally — while the UK has failed to convict a single person despite thousands of victims reported annually.

The Department for International Development (DfID) made the announcement Friday that British taxpayers will be fronting £50 million — “the biggest single investment worldwide to date by any international donor,” according to the department — to stop the practice by 2030, focusing on Africa.

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

UK: May Will Not Resign if Her Brexit Deal is Rejected in Parliament

Theresa May has repeatedly refused to say she will resign as prime minister if her Brexit deal fails in the House of Commons.

Mrs May declined to say whether or not would step aside if MPs reject her Brexit proposals in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday.

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

UK: Poll Suggests Among Both Remain and Leave Voters May’s Brexit Deal is Near Universally Unpopular

A poll of British voters has revealed widespread discontent with the prime minister’s Brexit deal, with more people saying it does not honour the 2016 referendum than saying it does, and many even arguing May’s ‘deal’ is actually worse than the status quo.

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

Video Games in East Germany: The Stasi Played Along

In East Germany, a gamer scene emerged just before the fall of communism. Teenagers met at a computer club to swap and play C64 games. The state watched with interest.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Does Iranian Law Allow for Child Abuse?

Creating laws to protect children from sexual abuse continues to be a difficult process in Iran. Abuse cases are rarely publicized in the country, although Iran is a signatory of the UN convention on child rights.

In a recent case in Iran, a victim anonymously posted a story on Twitter of abuse he experienced at the hands of a teacher 17 years prior. He was able to find support on social media from people who had similar experiences of abuse.

He was inspired to finally share his story only after he saw a case of sexual abuse publicized in a news report from the southern Iranian city of Shoushtar. A gardener with “psychiatric problems” reportedly molested children and took pictures of his victims. A journalist published the pictures in the report.

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

ENI, Big Shot in the Gulf, Carried Out for the Piaggio Aero Affair?

Eni has done a big hit obtaining a share of 25% of a large offshore concession of three fields in Abu Dhabi.

Last November 13 Eni signed an agreement with the company of Abu Dhabi, Adnoc which provides for a share of 25 per cent in a mega offshore concession, the Ghasha, which includes three fields per trillion cubic meters of gas. When fully operational, writes La Stampa, the wells will be able to produce up to 1,5 billion cubic meters of gas per day and 120 thousand barrels of high-value condensates.

This is how Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi: “confirms the confidence in our upstream model, based on the integration of exploration and development. Abu Dhabi has chosen the Italian company because it guaranteed a rapid transition from exploration to production, as was successfully done in Egypt with the Eastern Mediterranean gas field, the Zohr “.

Eni then signed an agreement with the Emirati company, Mubadala (the sovereign fund Mubadala is interested in the construction of the Piaggio Aero drone P.2HH), for the sale of 20 per cent of the Eni share in the Nour concession, off the Delta del Nile in Egypt.

Egypt and Israel, however, always writes the press, have signed an agreement to bring Israeli gas on the Egyptian coast, where, in Damietta, there is a large plant for liquefaction of ENI that could become a hub for transport to all Europe.

Russia, in all this business, is not watching and Vladimir Putin intends to set up a military base in Egypt and probably also in Tobruk.

Eni and Italy can thus counter the French expansion from the South, where gigantic deposits of gas exist yet to be explored and thus restore equilibrium in the Libyan Fezzan.

What is certain is that with this agreement the negotiations for the construction of the Piaggio Aero drone should also be unblocked, ensuring the continuation of the Italian company’s activities and the retention of the seats of 1200 workers.

Piaggio has put in place a new drone, the P.2HH, with the aim of selling it to both the emirates and the Italian Air Force for a cost of 766 million euros that should be taken over by the Italian government and paid in 15 years , for the development and purchase of 20 aircraft and 10 ground stations. The same sum would be assured by Abu Dhabi.

The slowdowns in the funding of the program had annoyed and not a little Abu Dhabi that would have sensitized Italian politicians and soldiers so that Leonardo could enter Piaggio as soon as possible.

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

Sydney ISIS Terrorist Ahmed Merhi Claims He Was a Volunteer Nurse and Didn’t Fight — as Details of His Squalid Cell Are Revealed While He Awaits Death by Hanging in Iraq

Sydney terrorist Ahmed Merhi who has been sentenced to death in Iraq is being held in a crammed prison cell while he tries to whitewash his history with Islamic State.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey Says EU Overstepped Brief by Calling for Kurdish Leader’s Release

ANKARA (AFP) — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday accused the European Union’s top diplomat of overstepping her brief by calling for the release of jailed Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas.

“She exceeded her limits a little,” Cavusoglu told CNN-Turk television a day after Federica Mogherini expressed hope that Demirtas, who has been held in Turkey for two years on terror charges, would be freed soon.

Demirtas, 45, one of two former co-leaders of the leftist Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was arrested in November 2016 over alleged links to Kurdish militants.

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

New Species of Shark Identified in Indian Ocean

A new species of a deep sea shark has been found in the northern Indian Ocean, the first such discovery in India since 2011 when the Mangalore houndshark was identified.

The Pygmy false catshark is currently known only from deep waters (200-1000m depth) and has a length of about 65cm. It is dark brown without any prominent patterns.

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

D&G Taken Off Chinese e-Commerce Over Advert Row

Dolce & Gabbana furore won’t become diplomatic case, China says

(ANSA) — Rome, November 22 — Dolce & Gabbana’s products have been pulled from Chinese e-commerce platforms after the Italian fashion house was hit by a row over an allegedly racist and sexist ad campaign and incendiary messages purportedly posted by co-founder Stefano Gabbana on Instagram.

Dolce & Gabbana were boycotted by the three Chinese giants in the sector, Tmall, JD.com and Suning, cross-border operators NetEase Kaola and Ymatou, and luxury e-commerce companies such as Secoo, Vip.com and Yhd.com, media outlets and shopping platforms said.

Due to the row, Dolce & Gabbana on Wednesday had to call off a major show in Shanghai, just hours before it was scheduled to begin, as several celebrities said they would not be attending.

Meanwhile a Beijing government official said Thursday that the clamor about the advertising campaign that has offended many people in China must not become a diplomatic case. “That is not a diplomatic question and I won’t let it become a diplomatic question,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a press conference when asked about the case.

The controversy arose after videos posted on the Italian fashion brand’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as its Weibo profile in China.

In the first video published on Sunday, a young model in a red dress attempts to eat pizza with chopsticks.

She prods the pizza to the sound of stereotypical Chinese music, before a narrator offers advice such as “just use your chopsticks like pliers”.

In the second and third episodes of the campaign, the same model tries to eat a cannoli and a bowl of spaghetti and this time the narrator appears to mispronounce the brand’s name, with some seeing this as a way of poking fun at the Chinese pronunciation of Dolce & Gabbana.

Also, a voiceover asked “is it too big for you?” while the model attempted to eat cannoli.

The videos sparked a social media outcry Weibo users accused the label of trivializing the country’s culture and depicting Chinese women in a racist and sexist way. The young woman in the video was said to have a stereotypical ‘naive’ appearance with small eyes, and she was described using double entendres. The video for “The Great Show” was taken down within 24 hours but it had already been shared widely on social media, where the hashtag #BoycottDolce began to circulate.

In addition, Gabbana was quoted as describing China as a “foul-smelling, dirty and ignorant mafia” in private Instagram comments that the recipient made public.

The messages quickly went viral on social media The fashion house has said its account and that of Gabbana had been hacked and denied posting the messages.

“We are very sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorized posts”, the company said on its Instagram account.

“We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China”.

On his personal account, Gabbana pasted the words “not me” over images of the alleged derogatory comments.

Chinese luxury consumers account for an estimated 500 billion yuan — around 72 billion dollars — in annual spending, making up nearly a third of the global luxury market, according to a report released by McKinsey last year.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Ghosn’s Income Under-Reporting ‘May Reach $71 Million’

TOKYO (AFP) — Nissan’s disgraced former chairman Carlos Ghosn under-reported his income by a total of $71 million — much more than initially suspected — Japanese media reported Friday.

The Brazil-born tycoon is now reportedly set to face a new charge from prosecutors, after he was sacked as Nissan chairman Thursday to top a spectacular fall from grace for the once-revered boss whose fall has stunned the business world.

Prosecutors arrested Ghosn Monday, accusing him and fellow executive Greg Kelly of understating the former chairman’s income by around five billion yen ($44 million) between June 2011 and June 2015.

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

Too Marxist for China? Radical Students Rattle Communist Leaders

BEIJING (AFP) — The Chinese Communist Party has faced and crushed a myriad of dissidents over its decades-long rule, from pro-democracy reformers to human rights advocates and outspoken religious leaders.

But Chinese authorities are now facing an unlikely challenge spawned from their own efforts to indoctrinate the population with the ideology of the party: young Marxists.

“After I started university, I became very sensitive to the treatment, rights and interests of workers,” a student activist at Peking University told AFP, requesting anonymity.

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

From a Mum Who Drove Four Kids Into a Lake to a Toddler Bashed to Death by His ICE-Addict Stepdad: Australia’s Long List of Helpless Infants Killed in Tragic Circumstances

A string of horrific baby killings is just the tip of the iceberg in a deepening child abuse crisis — and an ‘overwhelmed’ system is failing to protect them, safety advocates say.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Sydney Islamic Extremist, 22, Laughs, Gives the ISIS Salute and Refuses to Stand for a Judge as He is Jailed for Helping a Teenage Terrorist Shoot Dead a Police Worker

An unremorseful Islamic State supporter who helped a teenage terrorist kill NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng has been jailed for at least 28-and-a-half years.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

The Law Does Apply to Them: Leaders of Muslim Sect Who Claimed They Had the Right to Illegally Bulldoze Pristine Land for a Religious Hideaway Concede Defeat — and Now Face Jail for Contempt

Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali and his brother Diaa are facing jail for contempt of court after refusing to stop work on building an Islamic retreat north of Sydney.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

The Moment a Man in a Burqa and a Woman in a Motorcycle Helmet Walk Into a Bank — So Can You Guess What Happens Next?

Political candidate Avi Yemini and Australian Liberty Alliance president Debbie Robinson walked into a Melbourne ANZ bank to test the reaction of security guards when it came to facial coverings.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

‘You’re a Danger’: Thug, 22, Is Jailed for Mowing Down Seven Kids and a Mother in a Stolen Ute — as His Horrific Criminal History is Laid Bare

A driver in a stolen ute who mowed down seven children and a mum waiting to cross a busy Victorian intersection has been labelled a danger to the community.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Brazil President-Elect to Meet With Bolton

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro says he will meet with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton next week in Rio de Janeiro.

“We will certainly have a productive and positive conversation on behalf of our nations,” Bolsonaro tweeted Friday.

Read more here: #storylink=cpy

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

Ecuador: $550 Million Needed to Respond to Venezuela Exodus

QUITO, Ecuador — Officials in Ecuador say it will cost the small South American nation $550 million to respond to the influx of Venezuelan migrants.

Vice Minister Santiago Chavez said Friday the price of health, education and other services migrants require is quickly adding up.

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

Venezuela Fuel Shortages Get Worse as Tanker Staff Flee

Venezuela’s fuel shortages are worsening as mass resignations at the state oil company’s tanker fleet have delayed gasoline shipments.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s refineries are running at less than a quarterof their capacity, forcing the country to rely on imported gasoline. Once the cargoes are unloaded at import docks, smaller ships distribute fuel to terminals along the coast, where its loaded on trucks to refuel inland stations. But as Venezuelan tankers lose engineers and helmsmen, delivery delays are becoming increasingly frequent, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

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

“We Are Arabised!” — Only One of 103 New Pupils at Berlin School Speaks German at Home

Headmaster Astrid-Sabine Busse (61) of a Berlin school is sounding the alarm, saying: “We are Arabised!”

Of the 103 first graders that came to her school in Berlin’s Neukölln suburb, only one speaks German at home. It is a result of working class Germans leaving the area, migrant family reunifications and tax measures.

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

Filmmaker Exposes Media Lies on “Highly Organized” Caravan [Video]

Documentary filmmaker Ami Horowitz gives the lowdown on the migrant caravan on Lou Dobbs Tonight:

It’s important to let people know the truth about what’s at our southern border. It’s not the picture of women and children that the mainstream media wants to portray (see video below). The bleeding heart liberals and Democrats want you to think it’s perfectly fine to open our borders to everyone. The problem is that what you’ve been told is a lie.

There are over 500 criminals within the caravan and it is NOT made up of mostly women and children. Horowitz embedded himself into the caravan and found out the truth about how “highly organized” it is:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

France: Refugee Acquitted of Rape ‘As He Has Different Cultural Norms’ — His Female Victim Attempted Suicide

According to the defense the refugee has ‘different cultural norms’ or ‘cultural codes’ and could have misinterpreted the contact with the girl

A refugee from Bangladesh was tried by a French court and was acquitted of the rape of a high school girl. The verdict was handed down yesterday.

The young man also sexually assaulted another young girl. He was charged with both cases but acquitted of the rape.

According to the defense the refugee has ‘different cultural norms’ or ‘cultural codes’ and could have misinterpreted the contact with the girl.

Experts who investigated the man, described him as narcissistic and self-centred and that in the male culture of Bangladesh, his country of origin, “women are relegated to the status of sexual object”.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

French Authorities Save Migrants During Attempt to Cross Into UK From Calais

The regional maritime service said in a statement to AFP that a helicopter, rescue ship and a maritime patrol aircraft had saved 11 migrants overnight whose ramshackle boat was in distress off the coast of the northern French town of Wimereux. “Substantial measures” were taken by French authorities to rescue the migrants, the maritime service stressed. Four of the migrants were rushed to hospital with hypothermia while the others were handed over to border police in the nearby border town of Calais, a major hub for migrants.

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

Germany Sets Out New Law to Find Skilled Immigrants

The German government is slowly delivering on its promise to hash out a new immigration law to fill the massive gaps in the market for skilled labor. But experts say the law can only do so much.

Germany is short of nurses, care workers, construction workers, carpenters, electricians, and IT specialists. And businesses have long been demanding that the government make it easier for skilled workers, including those from outside the European Union, to move to Germany — notwithstanding a political climate that has become toxic for many immigrants.

German unemployment is currently at a low, with only 2.2 million out of work. And according to Stefan Hardege of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), some 60 percent of businesses say that the lack of employees is a threat to their growth.

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

Italy: Whistleblower Who Reported Migrant Transport NGO Smuggler Links Lives in Fear After Death Threats

A former member of security staff for a migrant transport NGO in Italy has received death threats after blowing the whistle on allegations that the NGO had been cooperating with people traffickers.

Pietro Gallo received the death threat in the mail earlier this week saying that he was worried for his family now that far-left extremist open borders supporters clearly knew where he lived, Il Giornale reports.

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

Italy: Former Olympic Village Becomes Migrant No-Go Zone Run by Far-Left Groups

The former Olympic village in the northern Italian city of Turin has become a no-go zone according to reports that say the area has become filled with migrants and police “do not enter”.

The three buildings within the village were built to house athletes during the 2006 winter Olympics, but are now increasingly used by newly arrived migrants along with far-left activists in their so-called “social centres,” Il Giornale reports.

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

Migrants Plan Stampede; Trump Says He’ll Close the Border

Once again, events have proven President Trump right — and CNN’s anti-Trump agitator Jim Acosta wrong — about the “migrants” who have besieged Tijuana. They’re an invading army, posing as refugees seeking “asylum” because they “fear” being killed, seeking illegal entry into the United States.

Who and what the migrants are was the bone of contention that led to Acosta’s temporary suspension from the White House press room. Trump had called them an invasion force of illegal aliens. Acosta said they were refugees.

Trump was right. The spokesman for an open borders group trying to push the migrants into the United States said they intend to storm the border and force their way into the country.

Human Stampede Coming

The migrant horde, as the mayor of Tijuana called it, is using his town to stage their final push into the United States.

Tijuanans are angry about the deluge of migrants that are befouling their city, and have confronted the mostly Honduran invasion force by singing the Mexican anthem and raising the Mexican flag. “Out! Out!” they’ve shouted.

Problem is, when they are out, the migrants don’t plan to march home. They’re coming here.

They plan to stampede the border and simply enter the United States illegally, as President Trump has been warning…

Early this week, a leftist federal judge blocked Trump’s order to deny asylum claims to the illegal-alien border, but the U.S. Supreme Court has said the president has the authority to decide who enters the country.

[Comment: Sponsored by Soros.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Populists Attack UN Global Compact on Refugees

The UN migration pact continues to be at the center of political debate in Germany. A second UN agreement on refugees is also now under fire, with the far right saying it will facilitate an unregulated refugee influx.

There are currently around 68 million displaced people worldwide, according to the United Nations. Most of those are internally displaced, still in their own country but driven from their homes. But some 25 million have fled across borders and entered neighboring countries, or to countries further afield.

Nearly 70 years after the passing of the Geneva convention on refugees in 1951, these figures are at a record high. To combat this suffering, the UN Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) intends to bundle international efforts. Its aim is to improve living conditions for refugees and provide relief to host countries.

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

Swedish Government Spent €1000 on Rent Per Migrant — Per Day

While tens of thousands of elderly Swedes are homeless, and over 300,000 pensioners are starving, the Swedish government spent €1000 a day on rent per migrant.

In 2015, Stockholm hosted a number of “unaccompanied refugee children”. Entrepreneurs requested up to €1000 in rent per migrant from the city, which did not protest, but with taxpayers’ money paid the price requested.

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

Tijuana Mayor Declares Crisis at Border; DHS Warns of Criminals, Gang Members Among Caravan

The mayor of Tijuana declared an international humanitarian crisis on Thursday following the arrival of more than 6,200 mostly Central American migrants — with more on the way.

During a press conference, Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum called on the United Nations and other international groups to step in and assist with the massive influx of migrants, reports AZ Central. Up to 10,000 migrants could eventually end up in Tijuana, according to the federal government.

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

Trump Signs Order Closing Border With Mexico, Authorizing Lethal Force

Yesterday we reported that president Trump had authorized troops stationed at the border to act in a law enforcement capacity to “perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary” to protect border agents, including “a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention. and cursory search.”

That wasn’t all: speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the president said on Thursday that he also signed an order to close the U.S. border with Mexico, adding that he’s authorized troops to use lethal force against migrants who attempt to enter the U.S.

“If they have to,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, claiming that at least 500 criminals are among migrants trying to enter the U.S. “So I’m not going to let the military be taken advantage of. I have no choice. Do I want that to happen? Absolutely not. But you’re dealing with rough people.”

Trump also said that he would welcome a partial shutdown of the government over “border security.”

According to Bloomberg, Trump signed the order two days ago and that “I’ve already shutdown parts of the border” warning that the entire border may be closed if conflict with migrants escalates.

“If we find that its uncontrollable,” he said, “if we find that it gets to a level where we are going to lose control or people are going to start getting hurt, we will close entry into the country for a period of time until we can get it under control.”

“The whole border,” he clarified. “I mean the whole border. And Mexico will not be able to sell their cars into the United States where they make so many cars at great benefit to them, not at great benefit to us.”

Still, details were missing as the White House hasn’t released the order and Trump wasn’t clear about his directive.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Two Migrant Boats Land in Kent as ‘Brazen’ Sea Crossings Surge

Two dinghies carrying 14 illegal migrants have been picked up by the coastguard near the Kent coast.

UK Border Force intercepted one dinghy carrying six men and one woman at around 1:30 am on Thursday, “all of whom presented themselves as Iranian,” the Home Office said in a statement.

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

UK: Theresa May Pledges to Curb Low-Skilled Migration: ‘Only the Brightest and the Best’

The Prime Minister is heading to Brussels tomorrow for a crucial EU summit, when the 27 EU leaders will vote on the Brexit draft withdrawal agreement. If the vote passes, the next hurdle will be to get the draft through the House of Commons. Ahead of the critical talks, Mrs May will announce curbs on low-skilled migrants and plans to abolish the cap on highly-skilled workers so that the UK will attract “the brightest and the best”, The Telegraph reported.

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

Parents Outraged Over Transgendered Sexualization of 5-Year-Olds

Sex training targeting younger and younger children accelerates

Public schools across America are pushing transgendered sexual education on children as young as five. Alex Jones reports:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

200-Million-Year-Old Huge Mammal Disrupts Evolution Theory

Large mammals were theoretically not supposed to have existed around then

Remains of an ancient mammal which was the size of an elephant and lived 200 million years ago has been discovered, throwing scientists’ understanding of evolution into question.

The massive herbivore is believed to have existed in the Triassic Period some 200 million years ago. What is odd about the finding is that large mammals were not supposed to have existed at this point. Scientists had believed that large mammals died out at the end of the Permian Period 251.9 million years ago.

After this, only smaller mammals existed as the dinosaurs became the dominant species on Earth, with mammals regaining the crown about 50 million years ago.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Astronomers Detected Water on a Planet Only 179 Light-Years Away, And it’s a Big Step in Understanding Surrounding Exoplanets

Gathering detailed information on exoplanets is extremely difficult. The light from their host star overwhelms the light from the exoplanet, making it difficult for telescopes to see them. But now a team using cutting-edge technology at the Keck Observatory has taken a big leap in exoplanet observation and has detected water in the atmosphere of a planet 179 light years away.

The solar system at the heart of this features a star called HR 8799, and its planets: HR 8799 b, c, d, and e. The system is 179 light years away in the constellation Pegasus.

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

One thought on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/23/2018

  1. “Russians” “designers” condemned for terrorism.

    Yesterday, the Moscow District Military Court (MOVS) announced the verdict in the case of the preparation for the terrorist attack on the 2017 Confederations Cup. According to the investigation, the action was intended to be performed by former students of the College of Architecture, Design and Reengineering, associated with the Islamic State (IS) banned in Russia.

    Yesterday, the Moscow District Military Court (MOVS) announced the verdict in the case of the preparation for the terrorist attack on the 2017 Confederations Cup. According to the investigation, the action was intended to be performed by former students of the College of Architecture, Design and Reengineering, associated with the Islamic State (IG) banned in Russia.

    According to the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Moscow, the brothers met Golub in college, and then all three, using Telegram, began to correspond with extremists who were in Syria. The latter, according to investigators, ordered a loud action for young people on the eve of the Confederations Cup in Russia, held in summer 2017 (the tournament was held in four cities, including Moscow). The investigation believes that Golub, who secretly converted gas pistols into battle ones, was supposed to arm the brothers, and those were planning to attack the fans. Throw grenades at them, and then open fire with pistols to the fans. Then one of the three had to commit a self-explosion.

    https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3811145

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