Massive “Yellow Vest” protests took place in France again this weekend, with more than a hundred thousand people taking to the streets. Armored vehicles were deployed in Paris, and hundreds of people were arrested.
In other news, during testimony before a congressional committee, former FBI Director James Comey admitted that the Steele dossier — which was used to justify a FISA warrant for surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016 — was unsubstantiated.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dora, 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.
Vibrant competition is absolutely essential in order for a capitalist economic system to function effectively. Unfortunately, in the United States today we are witnessing the death of competition in industry after industry as the biggest corporations increasingly gobble up all of their competitors. John D. Rockefeller famously once said that “competition is a sin”, and he was one of America’s very first oligopolists. According to Google, an oligopoly is “a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers”, and that is a perfect description of the current state of affairs in many major industries. In early America, corporations were greatly limited in scope, and in most instances they were only supposed to exist temporarily. But today the largest corporations have become so huge that they literally dominate our entire society, and that is not good for any of us. Just look at what is happening in the airline industry. When I was growing up, there were literally dozens of airlines, but now four major corporations control everything and they have been making gigantic profits…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela: When Fiat Money Reaches Its Intrinsic Value
Plunging oil prices and extreme socialist policies have brought the country to its knees
Over the last years, Venezuela has become a modern poster child for the failure of socialism and with good reason. It offers an abundance of lessons and stern warnings for many western nations, but it also provides a very insightful and relevant reminder for individual investors too.
Economic, social and human costs
Within the space of 5 years, a combination of plunging oil prices and extreme socialist policies have brought the country to its knees, together with its increasingly desperate citizens.
Despite the fact that Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil deposits and is also rich in coal and gold, the country today faces one of world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the UN. Its downhill path began with the Hugo Chavez presidency, during which billions were pumped into populist programmes. This economic mismanagement, the push for nationalization and centralization and ultimately the country’s descent dramatically accelerated with the election of its next socialist President, Nicolas Maduro.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“I Know Where All the Bodies Are Buried”: Clinton Foundation CFO Spills Beans to Investigators
The CFO of the Clinton Foundation, thinking he was “meeting an old professional acquaintance,” admitted to investigators that the charity had widespread problems with governance, accounting and conflicts of interest, and that Bill Clinton has been commingling business and personal expenses for a long time, reports The Hill’s John Solomon.
Clinton Foundation CFO Andrew Kessel made the admissions to investigators from MDA Analytics LLC — a firm run by “accomplished ex-federal criminal investigators,” who have been probing the Clinton Foundation for some time.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“The Creepy Line” — a New Documentary on the Immense Power of Tech Giants
The Creepy Line, a new documentary by director M.A. Taylor, is now streaming at Amazon Prime. It provides an interesting and revealing look at how Google and Facebook influence their users’ view of the world, and how the users we often presume to be the customers of these companies aren’t really the customers. The users are, in fact, the product being sold to third parties.
The Creepy Line takes its title from a description of Google once uttered by Google executive Eric Schmidt who said Google’s mission was to “get right up to the creepy line and not cross it.”
In truth, though, by pioneering the “surveillance business model,” Google has arguably been stepping over “the creepy line” for years. Not that this has been much of a problem for the company. Few users seem motivated to stop using Google products.
It is perhaps in its basic explanations of how this surveillance model works that The Creepy Line is most interesting: the filmmakers explain in simple terms how a small number of companies have come to compile extensive data profiles of many hundreds of millions of human beings, and how that user data is the realproduct being sold by the companies that compile it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A College Kid Running for 13th Ward Alderman Gets a Lesson in the Chicago Way
The history of the little guy being squashed by massive Chicago political clout at election time is just too long to print without weeping.
But the story for today is so amazing that some Chicago election officials have never seen the like.
“No one can remember anything approaching this,” said an election official.
Really?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biometric Scanning is Now at Atlanta International Airport
As of December 1, Delta Airlines rolled out biometric scanning for air travel at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Terminal F.
International passengers will be able to use facial recognition scans from “curb to gate” to get through every facet of their air travel.
While the face scans are lauded as a great way to save time, they really aren’t as you’ll see below.
I’m sure any travel-weary person can think of many ways that air travel could become more convenient and efficient. I mean, one of the strangest paradoxes of our technologically advanced world is that it’s 2018 and air travel is the most miserable experience. It becomes more miserable every year and no one even wants to hear comedians talk about it anymore because miserable air travel is such a foregone conclusion.
Not to be mean, but people have already lined up before the biometric scanners like sheep, seemingly without even flinching at the new development. Or rather, more like deer in the headlights. Nothing new here…just your friendly neighborhood facial scans. ZAP!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bush Funeral Illustrates Usefulness of Liberal Republicans to the Left
Writing in Political World for Yahoo News, liberal writer Matt Bai began his weekly column, supposedly about the death and funeral of the late President George H.W. Bush, talking about the Trump presidency. As he put it, “In this moment, of course, Bush’s death became another opportunity for us all to reflect on … Trump.”
For those on the Left, almost any event of any significance is “another opportunity” to trash Trump. Bai’s “reflection” is blunt: “Trump, alone among any presidents I can recall, exhibits no obvious sign of underlying goodness.”
Bai’s use of the Bush funeral as a way to castigate Trump was not unique among the media, who cast themselves as objective journalists, but who are really ideological warriors for progressive politics. Philip Rucker of the Washington Post likewise used his own coverage of the Bush memorial to micro-analyze every Trump movement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California’s ‘Grand Theft Election’
On election night, California Republicans were heading for victories. Less than one month later, while ballots are still being counted, half of California’s Republican Congressional races were flipped by Democrat challengers, none of whom have ever held an elected public office.
California Democrats have created the perfect storm with pre-voter registration for teenagers, and illegal aliens, felons, and inmates now able to vote. San Francisco also now allows illegal aliens to vote in a local election. Remember how the city spent more than $300,000 to register 49 non-citizens to vote?
We have same-day voter registration and voting allowed now in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles automatically registers to vote people obtaining or renewing a drivers license.
I live in one of the five California Counties which now do an all-vote-by-mail absentee ballot—Whether you like it or not.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dick’s May Have to Close Stores Due to Anti-Gun Decisions
I’ve written more about Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2018 than I ever thought I would. When the year started, we thought the company would have gotten the message that taking anti-gun stances wasn’t conducive to profits, but it didn’t.
So Dick’s doubled down after Parkland and purged the rest of the AR-15s from its stores and then instituted a discriminatory policy against legal adults.
And it’s biting it right in the kiester, too.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Censors John Stossel Video About Socialist Violence
In an apparent effort to protect the idea that collectivism is a viable economic policy proposal, Libertarian pundit John Stossel said that Google censored his video on the ills of Socialism.
“This morning Google told me that it would not allow my YouTube video “Socialism Leads to Violence” to be viewed by young people,” he said in a Townhall column. “It violates ‘community guidelines,’ said the company in a computer-generated email.”
Google is the owner of YouTube.
Stossel speculated that Google could be harboring anti-capitalist bias, and that it could be built into the very algorithms that dictate what internet users see when they run an internet search.
“Google’s power comes from its dominant search engine. We assume that whatever appears at the top of our searches is the ‘best’ or most popular result. But is it?” Stossel wondered.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
High-Ranking Military Commander Busted in FBI Child Sex Trafficking Sting
Earlier this week, the FBI Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation Task Force held a sting to catch alleged sex traffickers and made multiple arrests in the process. During the sting, a high-ranking Air Force Colonel was ensnared by federal agents.
The undercover sex bust unfolded Tuesday night at a Cobb County hotel at which Lt. Col. Willie Newson, 47, was arrested. According to authorities, Newson thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl at the hotel. He was actually meeting undercover agents pretending to be a child.
Georgia Department of Defense spokeswoman Desiree Bamba told AJC.com that Newson is on the command staff of Maj. Gen. Jesse T. Simmons Jr., who is the commander of the Georgia Air National Guard. Newson also was formerly the commander of the 165th Communication Flight of the 165th Airlift Wing, according to the official.
“Lt. Col. Newson’s alleged actions do not reflect the values we uphold in the Georgia National Guard,” she said.
As WSB-TV reports, the “undercover officer that Newson spoke with gave him the opportunity to stop communicating several times.” However, Newson continued to pursue who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
The Air Force Colonel was using a popular dating app to pursue the child.
On Tuesday, Newson was arrested on multiple charges stemming from the child exploitation charges. After he was taken into custody, he immediately bailed himself out for $20,000.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
James Comey Admits Steele Dossier Unverified Months After FISA Warrant Granted
The transcript of former FBI Director James Comey’s closed-door Friday interview with the House Judiciary Committee was released Saturday. An admission by the fired deep-stater appears to confirm a belief Republican investigators have held since President Donald Trump was elected to the White House: The FBI failed to adequately verify the anti-Trump dossier used to surveil Trump campaign members during the 2016 presidential election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joke of the Day: President Trump and Democrat Nancy Pelosi Go Ice Fishing
The President and the head of the Democrat Party, Nancy Pelosi, are arguing extensively over allowing immigrants into our country. Nancy, of course, wants free access to everyone who wants to come in, while Donald wants us to secure our borders and insure only the right people come in.
Instead of going to a costly, time-consuming nationwide vote on the matter, they agree to a 3-day ice fishing contest to settle the issue whoever catches the most fish at the end of the 3 days will have his or her process implemented.
The two decide that a remote frozen lake in northern Minnesota would be the ideal place. No observers on the fishing grounds, but both would need to have their catches verified and counted each night at 5 PM so they use a neutral park ranger station.
After Day 1, Trump returns to the station with a total of 10 fish, while Pelosi comes back with nothing.
Day 2 finishes and Trump catches another 20 fish, but Pelosi once again comes back with nothing.
That night, Pelosi and her liberal cronies get together and accuse Trump of being a “low-life, cheating piece of scum.”
Instead of fishing on Day 3, they are going to follow Trump and to spy on him and figure out how he is cheating.
Day 3 finishes up and Trump has had an incredible day, adding 40 more to his total.
That night, Pelosi and her democrat cohorts get together for the full report on how Donald was cheating.
Pelosi stands up to give her report and says, “You are not going to believe this. Trump is cheating because he’s cutting holes in the ice!”
And this, my friends, tells you the difference between a businessman and a career government politician.
God **Bless* *America**!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Newly Elected Muslim Congresswoman Didn’t Disclose Funding She Received From George Soros
Last month, Michigan voters in the 13th district, elected Rashida Tlaib to the be their next United States Congresswoman. Tlaib will be filling the seat of the disgraced Democrat Congressman, John Conyers, the longest running member of the House before he was quietly run out of DC amidst several sexual assault allegations against him.
After winning the election, Tlaib, Michigan’s first Muslim member of Congress, wrapped herself in the Palestinian flag—not an American flag, but instead, a Palestinian flag. The pro-Palestine, anti-Israel Congresswoman hasn’t even been sworn in on the Quran yet, and her ethics are already being questioned.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) did not disclose the name of the source of funds for a fellowship that was paid by liberal billionaire George Soros—as required by the House ethics committee—and also disclosed a lesser amount than she received, according to a review of tax and financial disclosure forms.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ocasio-Cortez Compares Her Victory to Moon Landing, Other Historic Events
Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) compared her victory to the likes of the moon landing, the civil rights movement, and the electrification of the country…
We should add a word of caution to those who consider Ocasio-Cortez an uninformed radical leftist. She is that for sure, but her views are shared — unfortunately — by far too many Americans. Many French in the late 1700s no doubt considered the views of the Jacobins, the Illuminati, and other radical secret societies in France to be as “looney” as those of Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow leftists, until the madness began.
It is really no laughing matter.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tap Water Amoebas Turned Woman’s Brain Into “Bloody Mush” — Doctors
Organisms likely infected brain by way of a neti pot
A Seattle woman unwittingly injected deadly brain-eating amoebas into her nasal cavity when she rinsed out her sinuses with tap water, according to a new report.
Doctors performing brain surgery on the 69-year-old woman in January were shocked when what they had initially thought was a tumor, based on a CT scan, turned out to be a swarm of deadly amoebas munching away at her insides.
“When I operated on this lady, a section of her brain about the size of a golf ball was bloody mush,” Dr. Charles Cobbs, neurosurgeon at Swedish Medical Center, told the Seattle Times. “There were these amoeba all over the place just eating brain cells. We didn’t have any clue what was going on, but when we got the actual tissue, we could see it was the amoeba.”
The unnamed woman died a month after the surgery from the infection, called granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, according to a case study published this month in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Media: A Stain on Journalism
During the coverage of former President Bush’s funeral observances, the mentally deranged Marxist media used this time to attack President Trump. They lamented that President Trump is unqualified to hold the office of president, and he has forever damaged the integrity of the highest office in the land.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Mueller Investigation Continues
by Bill O’Reilly
While the destroy-Trump media is celebrating the Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn revelations, the American people still have not been told by Special Counsel Robert Mueller what the deuce is going on.
From what I can ascertain at this point, Mueller is out to embarrass President Trump and give his Congressional opponents opportunities to disrupt Donald Trump’s tenure in office.
I still can’t figure out what exactly former National Security advisor Flynn did. But it can’t be really bad because Mueller is recommending no prison time for him.
Not so for Michael Cohen, who worked for Donald Trump as an attorney. Mueller wants Cohen to serve years in prison because he lied.
Better build more prisons fast if that’s the new standard.
Here’s the real deal: if Cohen paid two women who had affairs with Mr. Trump using campaign money — that’s big. And a felony.
But if it was private settlement money, that’s legal.
Also, if Donald Trump promised Russia something in return for some campaign help — that’s big.
But if he wanted to build condos in Moscow as a private business deal, that’s legal.
So far, there’s plenty of smoke in this case all of which has obscured reality. It is up to Mr. Mueller to clear that smoke and provide provable facts regarding the President of the United States. If Mueller cannot do that, the case should wrap up; too much chaos.
The corrupt media will keep this thing going up until the 2020 election so a democrat can become President.
Mueller can’t do that but is certainly not being forthcoming about a situation that is harming the country.
If you are a patriot, Mr. Mueller, you need to start spelling this out so fair-minded Americans can understand.
That is your sworn duty and you can’t redact your way out of it.
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Trashy CNN Anchor Uses Vulgar Term on-Air… Tries to Walk it Back
Don Lemon is constantly pushing the boundaries reporting. The latest attempt is no exception…
CNN’s Don Lemon appears to use a sexual slur, tells Chris Cuomo:
“Don’t be a chickenhead” Notice how Cuomo looks shocked and then laughs.
“Chickenhead” is a slang term used to describe a person who performs fellatio.
Right after saying it he tries to walk it back:
“I don’t know what that means, I just said it. I have no idea”
Our previous report on another Don Lemon moment that raised eyebrows:
CNN anchor Don Lemon refused to apologize for calling white men on the right the biggest terror threat (see video below). Instead, he lectured conservatives in a very condescending way. How can CNN continue to have this man as an anchor on their news? It’s unbelievable!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
125,000 French Take to Streets as Trump Trolls Macron; Protester’s Hand Blown Off in Graphic Video
Update3: As the evening wore on, French officials said that 125,000 protesters took to the streets during “Act IV” of the Yellow Vest anti-government demonstrations, with 10,000 protesting in Paris. In total, 1,385 people were arrested amid an incredibly heavy police presence.
17 members of French law enforcement and over 100 protesters were injured, including a man whose hand was blown off after reportedly picking up a grenade fired by police.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Censis Report Claims ‘Italy Gripped by Fear and Bitterness’
It is an annual report by the Censis research agency that has claimed Italy is “increasingly gripped by bitterness”.
The report says that 69.7 per cent of Italians would not be happy to have a Roma neighbour with 52 per cent sharing the belief that more is done for migrants than for the Italian people.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ancient, Unknown Strain of Plague Found in 5,000-Year-Old Tomb in Sweden
In a nearly 5,000-year-old tomb in Sweden, researchers have discovered the oldest-known strain of the notorious bacterium Yersinia pestis — the microbe responsible for humanity’s perhaps most-feared contagion: the plague.
The finding suggests that the germ may have devastated settlements across Europe at the end of the Stone Age in what may have been the first major pandemic of human history. It could also rewrite some of what we know of ancient European history.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brit Foreign Secretary Cautions Against Stopping Brexit, Social Unrest Risk
One of the United Kingdom’s most senior lawmakers has warned cancelling Brexit or having a second referendum could lead the nation into “social instability”.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt — a convinced Remainer who is now working to support the Prime Minister’s so-called Brexit deal despite apparent misgivings initially — spoke in the context of massive social unrest in otherwise stable democracy France when he said he couldn’t “rule out” unrest in Britain if there was not a Brexit in some form.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Color of Outrage: Yellow Vests Rallies Sweep Across France and Abroad (Photo, Video)
France has been gripped by rallies as Yellow Vests demand new concessions from the government. Hundreds of protesters, including the movement’s leader, were detained during the demonstrations.
Yellow Vest mayhem has hit the country for the 4th consecutive weekend. Protests in the capital this Saturday resulted in clashes between demonstrators and police, with officers resorting to tear gas. Hundreds were detained and taken into custody in the capital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Does the Netherlands Have a Problem?
“Right-wing extremists are growing more confident. They continue to focus on protesting against the perceived Islamisation of the Netherlands, the arrival of asylum seekers and the perceived loss of Dutch identity…” [emphasis added] wrote Dutch authorities in a September threat assessment.
Islamization in the Netherlands, however, is not merely a “perception” of “right-wing extremists” but an increasingly established trend. The threat assessmentby the country’s National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism, for example, shows that Islamic terrorism has been growing for several years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Mounted Police and APCs Deployed as ‘Act IV’ Of Yellow Vest Protests Unfolds
A total of 615 Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) have been arrested in Paris so far, with 508 of them remaining in custody as French police attempt to lock down the streets of Paris and make preventative arrests to quell potential violence.
This story is receiving regular updates as events unfold.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Made the Wrong Choice? Marine Le Pen Has Higher Approval Rating Than Macron in Two Polls
More polls show Le Pen having more support than the failing Macron.
In the midst of the 2018 Yellow Vests Revolution of France, more polls show Populist Rassemblement National leader Marine Le Pen continuing to emerge with more support than the current President in crisis, Emmanuel Macron.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Calls for Macron to Resign Increase as Yellow Vests Protests Continue — 514 People Arrested
Calls for Macron to resign increase as he deploys riot police to use tear gas on, and begins the arrest of Yellow Vest protesters.
514 protesters have already been arrested as riot police now using tear gas on protesters in a locked down Paris.
[Comment: The arrest number turned out to be higher. However, I think that this article has value.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Unrest: Macron Too Arrogant to Quell the Riots, Analysts Say
As France braces for Saturday’s ‘Yellow Vests’ rally, President Emmanuel Macron shunned the chance to address the discontent, sending his PM to the front lines. The president’s arrogance could be making matters worse, experts say.
Chants of ‘Macron resign!’ have become common among yellow-clad protesters opposing the French President’s pro-business reforms — but the man at the center of the people’s grievances is nowhere to be seen. After condemning the violence which marred last Saturday’s protest, Macron is keeping an extremely low profile and will not address the nation until Monday, to avoid “adding fuel to the fire,” according to the National Assembly president, Richard Ferrand.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Improvised Explosives, Molotovs Found by French Police on Eve of Yellow Vest Protests
French police in Montauban say they have discovered three improvised explosive devices along with 28 Molotov cocktails in possession of Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protestors as the French government spokesman warns of people wanting to “overthrow power”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In Pictures: Yellow Vest ‘Act IV’ Protest Violence Spreads Across Macron’s France
For the fourth straight week, the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) movement has protested across France, with violence and vandalism erupting once again in Paris and spreading to cities across the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvini to Meet 12 Top Business Associations Sunday
Groups involved in protest in Turin on Monday have been invited
(ANSA) — Rome, December 6 — Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini will meet on Sunday with the heads of 12 business associations that took part in a protest in Turin on Monday to complain about the budget and say they are in favour of the TAV Turin-Lyon high-speed rail link, sources said Thursday. The meeting with Salvini and Cabinet Secretary Giancarlo Giorgetti will take place at the interior ministry, the sources said. Salvini hit back on Tuesday at Confindustria after its leader criticised the government.
“Some people were silent for years while entrepreneurs and artisans were getting massacred,” Salvini said.
“Now they should let us work (in peace)”.
During the demonstration Confindustria President Vincenzo Boccia suggested that Premier Giuseppe Conte should quit if he is unable to convince his two deputies, Salvini and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), to bring down the deficit enough to avoid an EU infringement procedure.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Contract With M5S Could be Revised-Salvini
May be possible to re-calibrate programme minister tells ANSA
(ANSA) — Rome, December 6 — Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the contract of government that his League party signed with its coalition partners in the 5-Star Movement (M5S) could be revised in the future.
“It could happen,” Salvini told an ANSA forum when asked about this hypothesis.
“Maybe what was decided in May 2018 can be re-calibrated in September 2020.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Girls Allegedly Enslaved, Forced Into Prostitution at Roma Camp
Suspect allegedly wanted to sell unborn child of one victims
(ANSA) — Foggia, December 5 — Six residents of a Roma camp in the southern city of Foggia have been detained by police for allegedly enslaving at least three Romanian girls and forcing them into prostitution, sources said on Wednesday. The victims are aged 16 and 17 and one of them is seven-months pregnant, the sources said.
The suspects, who are also Romanian, are a couple, their three children, two of whom are minors themselves, and 26-year-old woman who is the partner of one of the other defendants. One of the arrested people allegedly proposed selling the unborn child of the pregnant girl for 28,000 euros, investigators believe.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kramp-Karrenbauer Voted in as New CDU Leader to Replace Merkel
Often referred to as Angela Merkel’s “protege” and even “Mini Merkel,” CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been chosen as the conservative German party’s next leader. READ MORE: https://on.rt.com/9k1j
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Over 1 in 4 Risk Poverty or Exclusion in Italy — ISTAT
But stats agency reports drop in extremely deprived households
(ANSA) — Rome, December 6 — ISTAT said Thursday that it estimates that over one in four people in Italy were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2017. The statistics agency added, however, that the situation improved slightly last year with respect to 2016. It said the proportion of Italian residents considered ‘at risk’ dropped to 28.9%, down from 30% in 2016.
ISTAT said that the percentage of people at risk of poverty went down from 20.6% to 20.3%.
It said the percentage of those living in seriously deprived households dropped from 12.1% to 10.1%.
ISTAT said that the income of the poorest 20% of the Italian population rose by 7.7% in real terms in 2016 with respect to the previous year, helping to reduce inequality.
It said the earnings of the wealthiest 20% went up 1.9% in 2016 with respect to 2015.
The statistics agency said the earnings of the wealthiest segment of the population were 5.9-times higher than those of the poorest, down from 6.3-times more previously.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Salvini Hits Back at Pamela Anderson: She’s Better in a Swimsuit
Italy’s ever popular Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, strikes back at former celebrity Pamela Anderson after she attacked him on Twitter. You may remember Ms. Anderson from her days as a Baywatch ‘babe’ back in the 1990s.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Severely Stabbed Swede Loses 5 Litres of Blood — Afghan Perpetrators Walk Free
On New Year’s Eve last year, Sebastian was severely stabbed and injured. Two asylum seekers from Afghanistan, a 19-year-old and a 25-year-old, were arrested for attempted murder, but were then released and now they have disappeared without a trace.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The EU is in a “Weak and Vulnerable State” According to European Affairs Expert
Speaking to British newspaper the Express, Ian Kerns speculated that a financial crisis “would be enough to destroy the single currency.”
“Does that happen in the next six months? Does it happen three years from now? Five years from now?”, asks the European affairs expert.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Tavistock Institute: The World’s Lies and Propaganda Machine
Interview with Dr. John Coleman about the Tavistock Institute — “The World’s Lies and Propaganda Machine”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Weighs in on France Chaos: ‘End Paris Agreement, Return Money Back to the People’
U.S. President Donald Trump has weighed in on the growing chaos in Emmanuel Macron’s France, calling it “very sad” and suggesting it is time the scrap the Paris climate agreement and “return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Brexit is the Biggest Challenge Facing London, Ahead of Pollution and Housing, Says Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan said responding to the impact of Brexit is the “biggest challenge facing London” and trumped other priorities for City Hall.
In an interview with the Standard, the Mayor spoke of his realisation of how the negative impact of Brexit would “permeate” throughout the capital’s economy and public services.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Corbyn Slams ‘Neoliberal’ EU, Claims Labour Will ‘Respect’ Brexit
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has risked causing ructions within his party by slamming the European Union (EU) for its “failed neoliberal policies”.
The 69-year-old socialist was a lifelong Brexiteer before he was elected Labour leader — much to the chagrin of his largely “centrist” parliamentary colleagues — voting in favour of leaving the European Economic Community (EEC) in the 1970s, against the Maastricht Treaty which transformed the European Community into the EU in the 1990s, and against the Lisbon Treaty which handed the nascent supra-state sweeping new powers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Free Lollies: Lower Voting Age to Six to Tackle Bias Against Young, Says Academic.
It’s a Guardian headline, since you ask.
The head of politics at Cambridge University has called for children as young as six to be given the vote in an attempt to tackle the age bias in modern democracy. Prof David Runciman said the ageing population meant young people were now “massively outnumbered,” creating a democratic crisis and an inbuilt bias against governments that plan for the future.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Tuesday, the UK Parliament is slated to vote on whether PM Theresa May’s Brexit deal should survive or die.
All the signs are that politicians in the House of Commons will choose overwhelmingly to stop the agreement May has struck after 18 months of talks with the EU.
And so, in what seems like a desperate last minute play, May’s government (that is whoever remains loyal to her) has issued a dramatic letter of warning to the country warning of the consequences of a ‘no’vote and the case of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sharks Circle Theresa May as Crucial Brexit Vote Looms
With practically all British political opinion in accord that prime minister Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement will fail to pass a vote in the House of Commons next week, machinations in her Conservative party are gearing up about who will lead them after her apparently inevitable departure.
As ever, the name of former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is on everyone’s lips, with a recent survey by the Conservative Home website — seen as the house journal of the party — confirming his status as the most popular putative leader among party activists with 24% of support from the 1,472 respondents to the monthly poll.
[Comment: I don’t write the headlines, folks.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Where is Macron? French President Nowhere to be Seen as Paris Prepares for Historic Protests
As France braces for another round of violent protests this weekend, embattled French President Emmanuel Macron is a missing man.
He has kept away from the limelight this week, as his government attempts to deal with the issues being protested by the “yellow vest” protesters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Armenian Snap Elections Seen as the Final Chapter of the Velvet Revolution
On December 9th Armenian citizens will cast their votes in snap parliamentary elections triggered by the inability of the National Assembly to nominate and elect a new Prime Minister in the two-week period following Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation on 16th October 2018. Following the events of spring 2018, that later were dubbed as Velvet Revolution, Pashinyan was elected as Prime Minister of Armenia. Pashinyan and his Civil Contract Party (CC-*) lacked a majority in parliament, which was still controlled by the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK-EPP). Following their inability to carry out policies and reforms necessary to transform Armenian political and economic life, as well as because of controversial bills adopted by the parliament, Pashinyan resigned and caused the constitutional crisis in order to call extraordinary parliamentary elections. It is believed that these snap elections are the final chapter of the Velvet Revolution and after this, Pashinyan and his supporters can put into practice their ambitious vision and policies related to attempt to transform Armenia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s Encryption-Busting Law Could Impact Global Privacy
AUSTRALIA’S PARLIAMENT PASSED controversial legislation on Thursday that will allow the country’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies to demand access to end-to-end encrypted digital communications. This means that Australian authorities will be able to compel tech companies like Facebook and Apple to make backdoors in their secure messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and iMessage. Cryptographers and privacy advocates—who have long been staunch opponents of encryption backdoors on public safety and human rights grounds—warn that the legislation poses serious risks, and will have real consequences that reverberate far beyond the land down under.
For months, the bill has faced criticism that it is overly broad, vaguely worded, and potentially dangerous. The tech industry, after all, is global; if Australia compels a company to weaken its product security for law enforcement, that backdoor will exist universally, vulnerable to exploitation by criminals and governments far beyond Australia. Additionally, if a company makes an access tool for Australian law enforcement, other countries will inevitably demand the same capability.
The new law also allows officials to approach specific individuals—such as key employees within a company—with these demands, rather than the institution itself. In practice, they can force the engineer or IT administrator in charge of vetting and pushing out a product’s updates to undermine its security. In some situations, the government could even compel the individual or a small group of people to carry this out in secret. Under the Australian law, companies that fail or refuse to comply with these orders will face fines up to about $7.3 million. Individuals who resist could face prison time.
Australian lawmakers nonetheless lauded the bill, saying it will enable crucial capabilities in organized crime and anti-terrorism investigations. Even the bill’s opponents within parliament, who had initially called for significant amendments to the draft, eventually relented…[…]
[Oz has a new China-type outlook??]
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has pushed for asylum decisions to not include considerations of the applicant’s character, it has been revealed.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Danish PM to Attend UN Migration Pact Conference as Ministers Refuse to Go
Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will attend the UN conference in Morocco. Rasmussen ended uncertainty after two minister refused to attend it.
“I have not previously participated in conferences of this kind and I don’t see myself as a participant in this one,” Minister for Immigration and Integration Inger Støjberg said earlier.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Congresswoman Helps Illegals Into Country
A second Democrat in Congress is helping flood the nation with future voters for her party by helping them submit (possibly phony) asylum claims.
This time, it’s Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), an Indian immigrant who bragged on Twitter that she helped a handful of the illegals jump the border.
Last time, it was campaign staffers for Representative Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), the new wunderkind of the Democratic Party, whom the faithful hope is the next Barack Hussein Obama. Project Veritas divulged that O’Rourke’s senate campaign workers used campaign funds to help migrants in the caravan that surged through Mexico this fall.
But in both cases, left-wing Democrats are the culprits.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Doctors Without Borders’ Permanently Cancels Migrant Ferry Operations
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have announced after months of setbacks that they will be permanently cancelling their migrant ferry activities in the Mediterranean sea.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France, Germany Tell EU States “Take Migrants or Pay”
Hungary PM says he doesn’t need migrants for economy to work
A new German-Franco document that was presented on Thursday, states that EU countries that refuse to take refugees should pay to escape their responsibility, Reuters reports.
The measure is seen as a form of “alternative solidarity” in which EU member states pay into the EU’s budget for developmental projects in Africa.
The document aims to prevent renewed conflicts over taking migrants. By paying off their responsibility to take migrants, EU rows with countries that don’t want to take migrants or refugees could be prevented.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French Family Adopts ‘16-Yr-Old’ African Migrant With Receding Hairline and Bags Under His Eyes
A French school teacher “adopted” what appears to be a 30-year-old grown man posing as “16-year-old refugee” to live with her and her four daughters in their home.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Priest Says Salvini Supporters Are ‘Killing God’ By Opposing Mass Migration
An Italian parish priest has said he will close his church on Christmas in protest against a decree by interior minister Matteo Salvini reining in illegal immigration, accusing his supporters of “killing God.”
Father Paolo Farinella, the pastor of the parish of San Torpete in the northern Italian city of Genoa, will close his church from Christmas through the feast of the Epiphany in protest against the so-called “Salvini law” promulgated in Italy that toughens the country’s immigration policies and facilitates deportations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Adopts Hardline Immigration Law
The Italian Parliament has approved a tough new immigration and security law that will make it easier to deport migrants who commit crimes and strip those convicted of terrorism of their Italian citizenship.
Italy’s lower house of parliament, the Camera dei Deputati, voted 396 to 99 on November 28 to approve the new law, which was sponsored by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The law had previously been approved by the Italian Senate on November 7. The measure was promulgated by President Sergio Mattarella on December 3.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Number of ‘Non-Lethal’ Weapon Licences Doubles in Germany
The number of basic weapons licences issued in Germany has more than doubled since the onset of the migrant crisis.
By October 2018, Germany issued 599,940 small arms certificates compared to 261,332 in 2014 — a rise of 130 per cent.
The data was collated by the interior ministries from Germany’s 16 states, all of which had seen rises.
However, these basic weapons, or small arms, certificates are only for ‘non-deadly’ firearms, such as gas pistols, flare guns, irritant sprays, or any other legally restricted device not intended to cause fatality — and even flare guns.
The German state is very strict on their uses, with them only being allowed in an emergency, and not to be taken in public.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Petition: The UK Should Not Agree the UN’s Global Compact for Migration
- Parliament will consider this for a debate
- Parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate
- Government responded
- This response was given on 7 December 2018
The Global Compact for Migration will support global co-operation on migration without affecting the sovereignty of all countries to control their own borders.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Quebec Says Ottawa Owes it $300 Million for Costs Related to Refugee Influx
MONTREAL — Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he made progress during Friday’s first ministers’ meeting on his demand that the federal government pay $300 million in compensation to cover the cost of refugees arriving in the province.
Legault said Ottawa had previously offered to cover only the cost of lodging the asylum seekers — about half of what Quebec was seeking.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Headline — World Revolts Against UN Migration Scheme
The governments of Bulgaria and Slovakia are the latest in a series of nations rejecting the UN mass-migration pact.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s New Government Promotes Christ in Schools
The Italians don’t have anyone like the Nebraska principal who recently tried to ban even candy canes and red and green items at Christmastime. But they do have a war on the season, as some Italian schools have moved to prohibit Nativity scenes and crucifixes in the name of “inclusiveness” and “respect for other cultures.”
This prompted a backlash from the ruling patriotic government, with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini calling the move “idiocy” and writing that the Christmas displays are “not just about religion, but about history, roots, culture.” He added, “I will not give up! Long live our traditions, and may they spread!”
Chiming in was Education Minister Marco Bussetti, who said, “For me, the crucifix is a symbol of our history, our culture, our traditions”; moreover, he told “a meeting of 180 teachers and school leaders from across the country he believed the same to be true for Christmas trees and nativity displays at this time of year,” reports Breitbart.
This comes as the “Italian media is describing an ‘open war’ on nativity scenes in the classroom, where local administrators were forbidding the Christian imagery [from] being displayed in schools across the country,” Clash Daily adds. “Parents in Venice, however, protested the decision[,] which was blamed on ‘lack of funding.’“
The site continues, “This explanation was quickly shot down by the populist Lega party[,] who said that local officials had set aside 50,000 euros for Nativity scenes at schools.”
Funding excuses are often the last refuge of cowards; they justify monetarily what they can’t defend morally.
There are other cop-outs, too. For example, Italian website Aleteia blames a “malevolent atheism” that continually uses the now stale excuse, “There are students of other religions, [sic] we must respect them.” (It should be mentioned that aiding these anti-theists are naïve sorts genuinely imbued with cultural/religious-equivalence doctrine.)
A case in point is a school in Terni, Italy, that canceled its traditional nativity recitation, claiming it was “‘a sign of respect’ for pupils from other cultures,” Breitbart also informs. Yet reacting to this, local populist Lega Party representative Valeria Alessandrini pointed out, “‘Only by respecting [our own traditions] … can we make others understand everyone is free to practice their own faiths but that it is also required they respect the history and culture of the country in which they live,’“ Breitbart relates.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
John Taylor Gatto Interviewed by Alex Jones
Interview about the education system aka communist indoctrination centers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Re “Voting rights for six-year-olds” – six-year-olds may be better reasoning than all those Hollywood comedians, celebrities, socialites and pundits… or the Academy frauds teaching “women studies”, “ethno-mathematics”, “bivalved Mollusca rights” and the like.
I wonder if it’s written in this article? Google quite tolerably translates from Russian – please read.
https://www.volgograd.kp.ru/daily/26918.5/3964751/
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When protesters leave Paris streets, migrants arrive and begin to rob
…And before my eyes, the police thrashed in the blood of young guys in yellow vests who tried to help me find my way to the hotel. And this is me, a veteran of the Paris pogroms of 2005, when migrants staged riots over the death of two teenagers – people from North Africa. But then the police only defended themselves and pushed aside the protesters. But I never shot at unarmed people with their hands up. Rubber bullets near the Louvre and many armored personnel carriers. Hundreds arrested. Weeping tourists. For the first time I saw the French police, which was given the order: do what you want.
…There was a real France. People from Normandy, Brittany, Provence. Farmers, workers, middle class. All of them work hard, so demonstrations are only on Saturdays. What do they want? Ordinary things. Reduce unbearable taxes and prices, increase taxes for the rich, safety, dignity and preservation of traditions. You wonder why migrants do not go out? What for? They are the electorate of the current government. They live on our taxes. This middle class pays for their accommodation, education, medical services, mosques. But migrants come at night to smash shops, rob, break bus stops.
Here is a portion of your linked report. Very Russian describing the very French:
Hmmm…I wonder how the Canadians were able to persuade the “brave motorcyclist”? Probably dinned him with courtesy.
James Comey, Man of Steele!