The Polish government is considering blocking George Soros’ acquisition of Poland’s second-largest radio station. Mr. Soros is competing with several other potential buyers, including supporters of the ruling party, in his attempts to acquire the station.
In other news, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a church bombing in the Philippines that killed at least 20 people.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Srdja Trifkovic, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Elizabeth Warren is making it exceedingly clear that she is a socialist, and that is quite frightening considering the fact that she could potentially become our next president. Unless some really big name unexpectedly enters the race, there is a decent chance that Elizabeth Warren could win the Democratic nomination in 2020. And if she ultimately won the general election, the Democrats would likely have control of both the House and the Senate during her first two years in the White House as well. So that means that the proposal that you are about to read about could actually become law in the not too distant future.
After AOC’s proposal to raise the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent received so much favorable attention, it was just a matter of time before Democratic presidential candidates started jumping on the “soak the rich” bandwagon, and the first one to strike was Elizabeth Warren.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The sad truth is that we have definitely lost our way as a nation
It is difficult for me to write this article, and I will warn you in advance that some of the things in this piece are going to make you cringe.
Today, there are an increasing number of signs that the very fabric of our society is rotting away all around us. We witnessed a very clear example of this last week when Kyrsten Sinema paraded around on the floor of the U.S. Senate looking like a hooker, but far more telling is what is going on behind closed doors all across America. The stories that I am about to share with you barely made a blip on the news, but they should have, because they are all indications of how far our nation has fallen.
Let’s start in Colorado…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Member Killed After Pulling Gun on Cops at School
A member of an Antifa-related organization was killed after he pulled a weapon on Eugene, Oregon police at a middle school.
“An armed man involved in a custody dispute was shot to death by Eugene police during a struggle just outside Cascade Middle School Friday morning,” said KOIN. “Authorities said they were called to the school shortly before 10:30 a.m. to escort the man from the school. As they were walking him out, authorities said, he produced a gun.”
Charlie Landeros was a far-left activist who used they/them/theirs pronouns. He had recently lost custody of his child, which is reportedly why he was at the school in the first place. He had a loaded pistol in his person, and extra 9mm ammunition in his backpack.
[Comment: File this article under “positive news”.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Manipulates Search Results on ‘Controversial’ Topics, Report Says
[…]
While Google products mostly rely on algorithms to shape search results, the company also engages in manual interventions, according to Daniel Aaronson, senior strategist for the Trust & Safety Product Strategy department at Google Search.
“In extreme cases where we need to act quickly on something that is so obviously not okay, the reactive/manual approach is sometimes necessary,” he said in the discussion thread.
This account appears to conflict with Pichai’s Dec. 11 testimony to the House Judiciary Committee: …
Since online platforms commonly rely on users to report content violations, the mechanism appears to favor those who want to police speech.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Google May Face Rico, Defamation Lawsuits Due to SPLC Partnership, Lawyers Say
In recent years, the far-Left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has faced a slew of lawsuits regarding its deceptive practice of branding mainstream conservative and Christian groups “hate groups” on par with the Ku Klux Klan. Google has decided to partner with the SPLC, even encouraging employees to work for the organization. Conservative lawyers told PJ Media this partnership may make the tech giant vulnerable to defamation and racketeering lawsuits.
This month, Fortune reported that Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, launched a program that will pay Google employees to do pro bono work for nonprofit groups for up to six months. The company aims to achieve 50,000 hours of pro bono work this year. Google.org names the SPLC as one of its partners for “inclusion.” Google.org started funding the far-Left group in 2016, and has given the organization $250,000, specifically to fund a “total redesign of the Teaching Tolerance website.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Great Disinformation Campaigns From History That Live on and Prosper Today
[…]
At the same time, the Soviet Union put in place a propaganda countermeasures campaign, painting the Nazi regime as a fascist “conservative” movement and therefore not a socialist movement at all. This not only survives as a widespread false concept today, but also, because of its success as propaganda, it has been built upon using a variation on the central theme.
A quote often attributed to the UK war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill (though probably not said by him) is: “The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists.” This has come to fruition, as a number of today’s socialist movements have adopted many of the early Nazi tactics used in their rise to power.
One need look no further than today’s Antifa (Anti-Fascist) organizations for a perfect example. …
This past October, Antifa held large demonstrations in the famously left-wing Portland, Oregon, where they were filmed verbally attacking an elderly man in his vehicle and abusing an older wheelchair-bound woman, among many other similar acts. This, while police stood by watching innocent people being abused and taking no action.
This association or cooperation seems to run even to the highest levels within the Democratic Party, with the son of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine being widely reported to be affiliated with Antifa following his arrest after a protest involving the group. Sen. Kaine was the Democratic vice-presidential running mate of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
High School Students Disqualified From Debate After Quoting Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson
A pair of Utah high school seniors lost a debate round because they read quotes from Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro and clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, who were deemed “white supremacists” by the judge.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hillary Clinton Signals 2020 Run as Deep State Moves Against Roger Stone Ahead of Trump Takedown
Alex Jones breaks down the latest developments in the arrest and indictment of Trump advisor Roger Stone, and Infowars reporters are on the ground in Florida to bring you other critical content surrounding the Deep State’s efforts to take down Stone, and ultimately, President Trump himself.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘I’m Not Going to Enforce That’: Sheriffs Disobey New Anti-Gun Laws — Refuse to Disarm Citizens
In reaction to the tragic shootings throughout 2018, Washington state has passed and is planning to pass a slew of new anti-gun bills that will make them one of the most regulated states in the country. But these bills are being met by resistance from an unlikely group. A handful of sheriffs is standing up to the “unconstitutional” nature of the bills and is promising disobedience.
Sheriff Bob Songer is one of these sheriffs who is outspoken about his resistance. During an interview with the Guardian, published over the weekend, Songer told the newspaper that the anti-gun legislation passed last November “is unconstitutional on several grounds. I’ve taken the position that as an elected official, I am not going to enforce that law.”
Songer—like every single sheriff and law enforcement officer in the country—swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, and now he’s overtly honoring it by protecting the Second Amendment.
[Comment: Kudos to such people for honoring their oath to the Constitution and refusing to follow diktats of communist putzes who “pass” anti-constitutional pretend laws.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lefties Threaten to Boycott Starbucks if Former CEO Runs for President
Correction: Howard Schultz is the former CEO of Starbucks, making the boycott even more asinine.
Where will they write their screenplays?
Over the weekend, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced he is “seriously considering” a run for president as an Independent in 2020.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meet the Man Behind a Third of What’s on Wikipedia
Steven Pruitt has made nearly 3 million edits on Wikipedia and written 35,000 original articles. It’s earned him not only accolades but almost legendary status on the internet.
The online encyclopedia now boasts more than 5.7 million articles in English and millions more translated into other languages — all written by online volunteers. Pruitt was named one of the most influential people on the internet by Time magazine in part because one-third of all English language articles on Wikipedia have been edited by Steven. An incredible feat, ignited by a fascination with his own history.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Offended Muslims Demand Nike Remove “Allah” Shoes
Thousands of offended Muslims have signed a petition demanding that Nike remove a “blasphemous” and “offensive” shoe that they claim has “Allah” inscribed on the sole.
They claim that the logo on Nike’s Air Max 270 trainers resembles the word “Allah” in Arabic script, “which will surely be trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth.”
The resemblance is minimal, but 6,000 people have signed a petition which asserts, “It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe. This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslim’s and insulting to Islam. Islam teaches compassion, kindness and fairness towards all.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Telling Fired Journalists “Learn to Code” Is Now “Abusive Behavior” On Twitter
Update: As quickly as Twitter’s actions went viral, their PR group rushed into action to explain why there is no hypocrisy here and that the answer is “nuanced.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump to Deliver State of the Union Address February 5
President Donald Trump on Monday accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) invitation to deliver his State of the Union address before the House chamber on February 5. The set date comes after the White House and congressional leaders reached an agreement to end the partial government shutdown last Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: ‘Harry Potter’ Star Daniel Radcliffe Rails Against Tom Brady for Having a MAGA Hat
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe went on the attack against New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the NFL star’s apparent support of President Donald Trump.
Daniel Radcliffe, who fancies himself a big NFL fan, scoffed at the Patriot’s long winning record and said the “whole world” is rooting against them in the upcoming Super Bowl.
“The whole world is rooting against the Patriots … sorry,” Radcliffe told Variety.
But Radcliffe also had a particular message for five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
“Take that MAGA hat out your locker,” the actor angrily said. He added that Brady should “stop winning things.”
Radcliffe insisted that the whole country is against Brady because he has kept a red Donald Trump campaign hat in his locker. “I feel like that was the moment when we were like, as a country, ‘Oh, c’mon, dude, we all want to be behind you, you’re awesome, don’t put that in there.’“
[Comment: UK’s fake mass media is even more rabidly anti-Trump than American fakestream media.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube to Crack Down on ‘Conspiracy’ Videos
YouTube claims it will stop recommending conspiracy videos.
Following complaints over the number of unwelcome videos appearing in recommendations, the Google-owned site says it plans to try and banish them.
It says ‘borderline’ videos that come close to violating community guidelines or those which ‘misinform users in a harmful way.’ will now be excluded.
‘We’ll begin reducing recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways—such as videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat, or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11.’
YouTube says the decision affects less than 1 percent of videos — but this will still impact millions of clips.
[Comment: It is getting so bad that in the near future, any video that says Trump won the election fairly will be demonitized by labelling it a conspiracy video.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Brexit Planners Could Use Martial Law Against Civil Disobedience
Legislation would give ministers the power to impose curfews, travel bans, confiscate property and deploy the armed forces.
Brexit planners are examining the possibility of martial law in Britain in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit, it has emerged.
Whitehall officials are looking at how to use powers available under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to stop civil disobedience after the UK leaves the EU.
According to a report in The Sunday Times, the legislation gives ministers the power to impose curfews, travel bans, confiscate property and deploy the armed forces.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Martin Rees, a well-respected British cosmologist, made pretty bold statement late last year when it comes to particle accelerators: there’s a small, but real possibility of disaster.
Particle accelerators, like the Large Hadron Collider, shoot particles at incredibly high speeds, smash them together, and observe the fallout.
These high speed collisions have helped us discover lots of new particles, but according to Rees, this isn’t without its risks.
In his 2018 book, called On The Future: Prospects for Humanity, he gives some pretty bleak outlooks.
“Maybe a black hole could form, and then suck in everything around it,” he writes, as Sarah Knapton reported over at the Telegraph. “The second scary possibility is that the quarks would reassemble themselves into compressed objects called strangelets.”
“That in itself would be harmless. However under some hypotheses a strangelet could, by contagion, convert anything else it encounters into a new form of matter, transforming the entire earth in a hyperdense sphere about one hundred metres across.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Euro Watchdog Investigates Yellow Vest Protest Policing ‘Human Rights Issues’
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has travelled to Paris to speak with the French government about the Yellow Vest protests after footage and images of the government’s heavy-handed attempts to break the protests flashed around the world.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Forget Brexit: Italy vs France Raging Row Could Tear Apart the EU
THE EU could be torn apart by the bitter row between France and Italy, branded by a political expert the “gravest political crisis” involving the two countries since World War 2.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Mother’s Partner Charged Over 7-Yr-Old’s Murder
Boy allegedly beaten to death, sister injured
(ANSA) — Naples, January 28 — The partner of the mother of a seven-year-old boy who was allegedly beaten to death at the weekend near Naples has been detained and has been charged with murder and attempted murder after also injuring the boy’s sister, sources said on Monday.
The suspect denied committing murder during questioning overnight and said the boy fell down a flight of stairs, the sources said.
His version of events is being compared with that of the dead boy’s mother and his sister, who was injured and taken to hospital.
The head of the ward there said her injuries were “chilling”.
“Her face is all swollen and there was blood on her scalp, injuries probably caused by a brutal beating,” said the surgeon.
The suspect is said to be a 24-year-old who was born in Italy to foreign parents.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bolzano Health Authority Asks for ‘Race’ In Questionnaire
Case reported to local newspaper by teachers
(ANSA) — Bolzano, January 28 — Teachers in the northern city of Bolzano have reported that the local health authority asked for the “ethnic group or race” of students in a questionnaire related to psychiatric services.
“We understand that these are standard forms drafted in the United States,” the teachers told the Alto Adige newspaper.
“But what we cannot work out is how come no one in the Bolzano health authority realized or questioned this”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Man Killed Sister’s Boyfriend ‘Because He Was French and Non-Muslim’
Samir Kouider has been sentenced to 30 years in jail for the murder of his sister’s French, non-Muslim boyfriend.
The assize court in Gard rejected Mr Kouider’s appeal after forensic evidence contradicted the 29-year-old’s claim that his killing of Kevin Roudesly, 21, had been an accident.
Having delivered “several different versions” of the story since his arrest on New Year’s Eve, 2013, Kouider this weekend told the court he had shown up outside Roudesly’s residence in Avignon on December 28 only with the intention of locating his younger sister Imène, after she ran away from her aunt’s house two days earlier…
But the defendant’s insistence he had “no intention” of killing Kevin and that he carried out the deadly actions only “in the fury of the moment”, were contradicted by forensic evidence, with a doctor’s report informing the court the victim “had his jugular vein sliced and his lungs skewered by the blade”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Orban Refuses to Pressurise China and Russia, WSJ Writes
According to the Wall Street Journal, in a meeting with US Ambassador David B. Cornstein, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the American diplomats that he refuses to pressurise China and Russia, and would rather stay neutral like Austria.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland May Block Soros Group From Buying Big Radio Station
Poland’s government signaled it would try to prevent a takeover of the country’s second-largest radio station by a group that includes billionaire financier George Soros.
Soros has teamed up with publisher Agora SA to place a bid for Radio Zet. They are vying against Fratria, a publisher of a pro-government weekly Sieci, as well as PMPG Polskie Media SA and Polish businessman Zbigniew Jakubas, according to Wirtualnemedia.pl portal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boris: If MPs Vote to Delay Brexit They Will Face a Backlash
Brexiteer Boris Johnson has come out swinging in his weekly Telegraph hit, claiming that he has heard that Theresa May will pursue a ‘Freedom Clause’ in her deal and that those MPs seeking to delay and block Brexit risk facing a “backlash” and increasing the prospect of a No Deal Brexit.
Hitting out at those backing the Yvette Cooper/Nick Boles amendment, Boris writes: “If MPs really vote to delay Brexit (a thin disguise for killing it off) they will risk an incalculable backlash from those who voted Leave.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boris Blinks First: Brexit Rebel Indicates He Will Support PM May’s Surrender Plan
Former foreign secretary and London mayor Boris Johnson has indicated he would support the British prime minister’s Brexit deal if she is able to win fresh concessions on a so-called “freedom clause” from the European Union.
Johnson, for a time the de facto leader of Britain’s small number of Brexit-supporting Tory Members of Parliament, has made much political capital since he quit the government in July by attacking the Prime Minister’s “worst deal in history” Brexit plan, but now says he could support her if she could change just a few words in the proposed agreement with Brussels.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cabinet Brexiteer: ‘Taking No Deal Off Table a Thinly Veiled Attempt to Stop Brexit’
Cabinet Brexiteer and former Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has denounced efforts to take a clean, No Deal Brexit “off the table” as a poorly disguised bid to stop Britain from leaving the EU at all.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ex-Brexit Secretary Warns Parliamentary Democracy at Stake as Over 100 MPs Move Against Brexit
With over 100 MPs poised to block a No Deal exit from the European Union, former Brexit secretary David Davis has warned that Remain diehards risk throwing Britain’s parliamentary system into chaos.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Tips for Serious Travelers
by Srdja Trifkovic
My “Letter from Egypt,” with a comprehensive analysis of the country’s political, economic and social situation is coming in a few days’ time. For starters, let me present our readers with a few practical tips on how to make the most of this incredible country without spending many thousands of dollars/euros and without being herded around with thousands of others.
Preliminary remarks: You don’t need to apply for a visa before traveling, they will issue one at the airport upon arrival for $25. Make sure to get an international driving license. Never pay the initial asking price for anything, and always assume that 50% or less is probably realistic. Carry enough cash at all times, as ATMs may be hard to find and are often out of service. Have plenty of small notes, 5 and 10 Egyptian Pounds (LE) for baksheesh — one LE is around 6 cents, $1 is ca. 17 LE. One dollar bills are more than welcome for heftier tips (bar tenders, pool attendants). Drink only bottled water, which is available everywhere and cheap. Start taking probiotics a week before leaving, and don’t stop until returning home. Get a prepaid SIM card from Orange EG when you arrive. Bring your own GPS with Egypt uploaded, better than Google Maps.
1. Make Hurgadha your holiday destination and base camp for a two-week, all-inclusive package tour in winter. It is on the Red Sea, away from the Nile Valley, but it It is the most economical and comfortable take-off point for ventures into central and southern Egypt, inc. Luxor, southern Nile Valley and Aswan. (For Cairo, Alexandria and their environs you’ll need another trip, or to relocate to a northern base after a fortnight at Hurghada.) Plan to go between early January and late February, when the prices are low, the temperature ideal (74-78F during the day, dropping to well below 50 at night), sunshine pleasant but not oppressive, and last-minute all-inclusive prices ridiculously low. (From mid-March on you risk dust storms.) My two-week package from Belgrade was 500 euros ($600). It’s truly All-Inclusive, inc. a three-hour return flight on Air Cairo’s new Airbus 320, a spacious room (more like a mini-suite, really) in a well-tended complex, and unlimited food, wine, beer and cocktails, 24/7. The Long Beach Resort is comfortable, safe, and clean; it’s pretty much the same with all other hotel complexes in Egypt’s premium Red Sea resort. The food is not Cordon Bleu, but it is wholesome, fresh and honest. For all three main meals it comes in the form of multiple table spreads (which included roast duck last Thursday, pan-fried sole Friday, filet mignon last night). The substantial Smörgåsbord of European and Middle Eastern delicacies contains something for every taste. In the morning the spread includes fresh eggs on demand (any style) that taste free-range, freshly squeezed juices, and an array of fresh salads and fruit. To burn the calories, a well-equipped gym is open 24/7, while two of the five pools are heated and mostly deserted.
2. Once established in Hurgadha, relax for a couple of days by the poolside and then proceed to explore central Egypt…
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
Netanyahu Tells Moavero Iran Wants Destabilised Middle East
Prime minister lauds cooperation with Italy, EastMed pipeline
(ANSA) — Jerusalem, January 28 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday with Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi, where the leaders discussed topics including Iran, bilateral cooperation, and the EastMed gas pipeline.
Netanyahu spoke about “Iran’s efforts to militarily entrench itself in Syria and its attempts to destabilise the Middle East”.
He highlighted bilateral cooperation between Israel and Italy and said the two leaders spoke about the EastMed gas pipeline, with which he said “Israel intends to export its own natural gas to Europe, passing through Cyprus and Greece”.
On Sunday, Moavero paid tribute to Holocaust victims at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
He expressed “shame” on behalf of Italy for the 1938 racial laws and also touched on the topic of migrants.
“The Shoah was infinitely more horrible. It’s also true, however, that the root is a lack of ability to understand and demonstrate humanity,” Moavero said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NewsGuard Linked to Saudi Arabia’s PR Machine
Newsguard, the beltway establishment-backed “news rating” browser plugin that assigns websites a green or red rating based on their “trustworthiness,” claims to care about integrity in news. But one of the project’s top investors operates a D.C.-based subsidiary that has been trying to manipulate American news media on behalf of Saudi Arabia and its brutal military intervention in Yemen.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy to Pull Out of Afghanistan in Year — Defence Sources
But Moavero says ‘first I’ve heard abt it’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — Italy could pull its contingent from Afghanistan within a year, defence ministry sources said Monday — but Foreign Minister Enzo Moavaro Milanesi said this was the first he had heard of it.
“(Defence) Minister (Elisabetta) Trenta has instructed the Interforce Operating Command (COI) to assess the start of planning to withdraw the Italian contingent in Afghanistan,” the sources said.
“The time frame could be 12 months,” they said.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement’s (M5S) MPs on parliamentary foreign affairs committees welcomed Trenta’s decision as “very positive”.
M5S No2 Alessandro Di Battista hailed the reported move as “splendid news”.
But League sources said “let’s do what is needed to restore peace and stability. At the moment no decision has been taken but only an assessment by the competent minister”.
The M5S and the League are the two government partners.
Trenta’s request to assess the pullout was “shared with the premier’s office”, government sources said Monday evening.
The Trump administration’s announcement late last month that it wanted to halve US troops in Afghanistan from 14,000 to 7,000 had repercussions on Italian plans for a reconfiguration of its own 800-strong contingent, sources said Monday.
A reduction had already been envisaged but thus far a complete closure of the mission had not been discussed, they said.
Italian soldiers have been in Afghanistan since 2003.
Asked about Trenta’s reported move, Moavero said “I’m learning of this now, that she reportedly said it today. She didn’t talk to me about it”.
“As soon as I get back to Rome,” he said on a visit to Israel, “or as soon as I manage to hear from Minister Trenta, we’ll talk about it again”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Keep Alert on Muslim Neighbor. And Think About the Way to Survive Under an Islamic Attack.
Delhi: Neighbor Muslim man stabs Hindu woman to spot death, injured husband & son died later in hospital.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Three Muslims Held for Sexually Harassing a Hindu Woman in Moving Bus in Kolkata
Hindu Girls and Women are not safe in Kolkata for these Quran followers: Three Muslims held for sexually harassing a Hindu woman in moving bus. Police averted a Nirbhaya Repetition promptly.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Claims Responsibility for Philippines Church Bombing That Killed at Least 20
The ISIS terror group claimed responsibility Sunday for a double bomb attack on a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines that killed at least 20 people and wounded 111 others.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors ISIS’ online activity, said the militants claimed responsibility via their Amaq propaganda agency.
The deaths included 15 civilians and five troops. Among the wounded were 17 troops, two police, two coast guard and 90 civilians.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Says ‘Things Are Going Very Well’ With North Korea
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “things are going very well with North Korea” and he plans a second summit with leader Kim Jong Un to try to broker a deal that would entice the North to give up its nuclear weapons.
“We’ve agreed to meet sometime probably the end of February. We’ve picked a country, but we’ll be announcing it in the future. Kim Jong Un is looking very forward to it and so am I,” the president told reporters Saturday at the White House.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The man at the centre of a violent clash during an anti-Australia Day protest on Saturday claims he was attacked for no reason, and had been standing peacefully when he was dragged to the ground.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Mark Latham will push to ban the burqa in banks, airports and all government buildings if he’s elected into the NSW upper house in March. My Latham said it is a social and security issue.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Stonnington Council in Melbourne’s inner south-weat copped backlash from residents and divided councillors over a spending stoush between foreign aid and local parks and roads.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Bolton’s Notepad Reveals Trump is Considering Sending 5,000 Troops to Colombia Amid Venezuela Crisis
The White House is seemingly open to sending up to 5,000 troops to Colombia as President Donald Trump squares off with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
During a press conference on Monday, reporters spotted national security adviser John Bolton carrying a notepad that appeared to say: “Afghanistan —> Welcome the Talks. 5,000 troops to Colombia.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Fears ‘Bloodbath’ In Venezuela
Pope Francis said Monday he was frightened that Venezuela’s political crisis could evolve into a “bloodbath.”
“What I am afraid of is a bloodbath,” the pope told reporters during a 50-minute press conference aboard the papal plane returning from Panama, adding that “the problem of violence terrifies me.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Reject Italy’s Call to Take in 47 Rescued Migrants Aboard Ship in Mediterranean Limbo
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — The Netherlands on Tuesday refused a request by Italy to take in 47 migrants on board a Dutch-flagged rescue ship that Italian ports have refused to allow to dock.
The Sea Watch 3 ship, run by a German NGO, rescued the mainly sub-Saharan African migrants off Libya more than a week ago and it is currently sheltering from bad weather off Sicily.
The Mediterranean nations of Italy and Malta have both refused to let it dock.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Secret Service: People-Smugglers May Arrange Mass Drowning to Garner Western Sympathy
According to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the Italian secret services are warning of the possibility of people-smugglers purposely causing a disaster at sea in order to garner sympathy from the West and resume the flow of migration.
Such a move could be a repeat of other major humanitarian disasters such as a shipwreck which killed around 700 migrants on April 18th, 2015, and led to the commencement of Operation Sophia and an outpouring of support for migrant ferry NGOs operating in the Mediterranean Sea.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
[…]
One of the best chroniclers declared, “The protagonists felt a grandeur in the storm that battered them. Decadence was exorcised in the violence of their feelings … Hate, evil, and fear encompassed them as well as courage and sacrifice. Their combat was epic and its issue was the life of the Republic.”
It seemed inconceivable that the political thunderstorm would relinquish its destructive onslaughts on the public sphere so the sane minds of reason and maturity could claim their rightful place in political debate.
The incident in question is known as the Dreyfus Affair, an 1890s political drama in France …
Which brings us to the subject at hand, the most recent political affair involving a clutch of high school students. …
There are perhaps only two occupations in the country that do not have to face the consequences of failure: professors and pundits.
Since so much of what passes for journalism in the United States seems to be a thin masquerade for political preaching, a more accurate way to characterize reporting of the Covington Affair is to classify much of it as propaganda. Thus, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and hosts of equal and lesser organizations leaped into Covington coverage, only to slink away sheepishly when their journalists and editors discovered what they had “reported” was factually wrong. …
Which leaves them and the rest of America’s media establishment free to continue working as though nothing had happened. After all, America teems with Covingtons; virtually every day offers possibilities for a diligent media scrounger to fill out a template to advance the narrative. And, who knows, if you’re lucky, you might even stumble across something resembling the Dreyfus Affair, with all its drama, glory, and magnitude.
Reporting on that would really establish one’s reputation. Regardless of whether or not you told the truth.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
‘Conservative’ MP Trying to Abolish 461-Year-Old Tradition of Parliamentary Prayers
Crispin Blunt, the “Conservative” MP for Reigate, is seeking to abolish the 461-year-old tradition of Parliamentary Prayers.
Prayers have been said in private before the beginning of parliamentary business in the House of Commons and House of Lords since 1558, according to tradition, but Blunt and three allies have proposed scrapping them as “not compatible with a society which respects the principle of freedom of and from religion” in an Early Day Motion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Covington and Killing Conservative Dissent
Imagine if you could just disarm your adversaries. In political debate this could mean, as an example, striking from their lips words that could possibly sway others. Now consider that in the recent media smearing of the Covington Catholic High School boys, “Build the wall!” was treated like “hate speech.” The sporting of MAGA caps was practically framed as incitement to riot, with Congressman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) actually proposing banning teens from wearing them.
It doesn’t end there. In 1987, race hustler Jesse Jackson led hundreds of Stanford students in a chant of “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Western Civ. has got to go!” Back then they were talking about a course, but now the Left wants to make even the term verboten. Talking points synchronized, no small number of leftists now claim the term “Western Civilization” is a “dog whistle to white nationalists.”…
But the Left has long engaged in language manipulation, and for good reason. As the old book The Tyranny of Words instructs, the side that defines the vocabulary of a debate wins the debate.
Nonetheless, while leftists steal the language like a pirate, conservatives echo them like their parrot. Conservative commentators will even use the liberal-disgorged euphemism “undocumented immigrant,” apparently oblivious to how this is like calling a rapist an undocumented husband.
Another good example is our “gender” benders. As I wrote in 2017, “Many today likely would agree with an Internet commenter I came across who, addressing the distinction between gender and sex, quite self-assuredly wrote, ‘‘Sex’ is what you do; ‘gender’ is what you are.’ In reality, though, ‘gender’ was rarely used vis-à-vis people until relatively recently. Rather, its definition was as presented in my 1975 edition American Heritage School Dictionary: ‘n. In grammar, one of a number of categories, such as masculine, feminine, and neuter, into which words are divided.’“
Why was “gender” co-opted? Well, would we now be having the Gender Wars and arguing about how many dozen “genders” there are if we hadn’t applied the term to humans in the first place? Remember, it was cemented in people’s minds that there are only two sexes. A different word was needed to advance the agenda.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Seeing Red: MAGA Hats Trigger Media, Celebrities, SJWs Into Fits of Hate, Intolerance
Simply wearing a red MAGA cap makes you fair game for verbal and physical attack. That is the growing sentiment of a disturbingly large portion of the media elites and an even larger portion of vocal academics at the prestige universities. Ditto for the swarms of radical students they’ve indoctrinated. And double dittos for the hyper-emotive Hollywood prima donnas and the thought police of the LGBTQ mafia.
Yes, whether you are white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or Martian, and whether you’re man, woman, child, or vegetable, if you dare don a red baseball cap with President Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” slogan, you have put yourself beyond the pale, according to the “tolerance” moralists. By placing a MAGA cap on your head, you have aligned yourself with Nazis and the KKK, they say. You’re a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic bigot. As such, you have no rights, and deserve any punishment that the “social justice” vigilantes (SJVs) mete out. You deserve to be doxxed, so that you, your family, your friends, your school, your community, your employer can be subjected to physical and mental harassment, by anonymous cyber-bullies online as well as by real-life street bullies. If you are subjected to violence and death threats, well, that’s what you get for wearing that hat, say the apostles of tolerance, peace, and unity.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Man Investigated by Police for Retweeting Transgender Limerick
A docker from Humberside has been investigated by police over a limerick he posted on Twitter after an officer claimed it constitutes a ‘hate incident’ against transgender people.
Harry Miller, 53, from Lincoln was contacted on Wednesday by a community cohesion officer following a complaint that had been made about the plant and machinery dealer’s social media posts.
Citing 30 potentially offensive tweets, the PC singled out a limerick Mr Miller had retweeted which questioned whether transgender women are biological women. It included the lines: “Your breasts are made of silicone, your vagina goes nowhere.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Webster University Considers ‘Witnessing Whiteness’ Program on White Privilege
Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, is considering the implementation of “Witnessing Whiteness,” a new program that will encourage white students to discuss and come to terms with their own racism and white privilege.
Witnessing Whiteness was introduced by Webster University’s new Chief Diversity Officer, Vincent Flewellen, who has organized a the same program as the Director of Equity and Inclusion at Washington University, according to the university’s school newspaper.
The program is based on the book Witnessing Whiteness: The Need To Talk About Race and How To Do It by Shelly Tochluk, and would require all participants to be white. The workshop is said to “help educate and shine light on racial injustices that happen in the world.”
Best comment to the article is from Travis: “If you’re white and this stuff doesn’t worry you, then you’re ignorant. Read up on Communist China and “struggle sessions”. Because that’s exactly what these classes are. Now go take a look at what the struggle sessions led to. Wake up. If we don’t pull our heads out of our asses and put a stop to this cr*p right now, we could very well find ourselves being marched out of our homes into “re-education camps” tomorrow. People think it can’t happen here. It can. I don’t hate anyone. I’m not advocating violence towards anyone (if anything, it seems to almost always be white or jewish people spearheading this stuff. shame that blacks and hispanics seem to get blamed) I’m simply saying that white people need to grow a damn spine and stand the hell up and say “This is not acceptable, and we are not going to allow it.” How sad and pathetic is it that we haven’t already done that en masse? We’re allowing these people to brainwash our children into hating themselves, hating us, hating their ancestors and their history and their heritage. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! I don’t believe in white washing our history. Both the good and the bad should be taught. But this is not that. This is propaganda designed to humiliate and demoralize, and if we cared about our children and their future, we would all be mad as hell about this. Why aren’t we?”
[Comment: Communist garbage white guilt program of indoctrination. White kids should not sign up for this rubbish and need to stop swallowing this cool aid. It is poison. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Whistleblower: UK Fire Brigade Setting Harder Entry Test for White Men
A whistleblower has accused an English fire brigade of setting entry test pass marks significantly higher for white men than for women and ethnic minorities in order to meet diversity quotas.
West Midlands Fire Service requires white men to achieve 70 percent in a verbal, numerical, and mechanical reasoning test before they can progress to an evaluation of their physical fitness, while female candidates, black candidates, candidates with Asian roots, and other ethnic minorities only need to make 60 percent, an anonymous source who spoke to the Daily Mail claims.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chapter Sixteen: The Communism Behind Environmentalism (Part I)
[…]
The views espoused by the United Nations Environment Agency led by Strong appear almost identical to Marxism: “Private land ownership is a principal instrument of accumulating wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice. Public control of land use is therefore indispensable.” [15] Maurice Strong chose to settle down in Beijing after retirement and died in 2015.
Natalie Grant Wraga, a late expert on the Soviet Union, conducted an in-depth study on the issue and wrote: “Protection of the environment may be used as a pretext to adopt a series of measures designed to undermine the industrial base of developed nations. It may also serve to introduce malaise by lowering their standard of living and implanting communist values.” [16] In fact, environmentalism does not originate only from the former communist bloc. It goes deeper and relates to the overall goal of communism to undermine the cause of freedom around the world. …
Professor Judith Curry, former dean of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, stated in a Senate testimony in 2015 that a scientist employed by NASA said to her: “I was at a small meeting of NASA-affiliated scientists and was told by our top manager that he was told by his NASA boss that we should not try to publish papers contrary to the current global warming claims, because he (the NASA boss) would then have a headache countering the ‘undesirable’ publicity.” [57]
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Davos Elite Wants to Give Amazon, Google and Facebook Even More Power
A group of mostly rich countries used the World Economic Forum in Davos to call for negotiations on digital trade. This is ‘next big thing’ in trade talks: trying to create global rules to govern rapidly increasing online trade and accompanying flows of data (the so-called ‘oil’ of the new economy).
The massive rise in new technologies and online communications is transforming the world economy. And of course, it’s true that new technology carries with it the power to transform many people’s lives, to help our efforts to wipe out poverty, deliver healthcare and education for all, and halt environmental destruction.
But, in the wrong hands, this technology can also do precisely the opposite. What’s being dubbed the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ at Davos is energising global corporations, as they look for new ways to harness our data, cut their costs and increasingly monopolise global trade. To create a set of rules which actually gives these big tech companies — from Facebook, Amazon and Google to new platforms like Uber and AirBnB — permanent power over these new technologies, anywhere in the world, would be a disaster.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Species of Shark Found in Fish Market
Another week, another new shark species! While many can believe that scientists find new species in the ocean, swimming around freely… that isn’t always the case. In fact, it is rarely the case. The place where most researchers find new species is in fish markets.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201901291071921441-muslim-girls-sterilisation-london/
“Grandpa is old – he doesn’t care …”
I posted a link to this video a few days ago somewhere in the comments.
In Russia, there is genre of rhymes in the style of “Noir”, like your Limerick. There is a character whose name is “Grandpa.” In the end, the “Grandpa”, who is tired of everything, throws a grenade through the window of the municipality.
I think the English and Swedish “grandfathers” are also ripe for the “molotov cocktails”
The irony is that he is absolutely right.
Nothing good ever comes of being a Cassandra.