Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/17/2019

According to a recent poll, the most pressing issues for Swedish young people are climate change and mass immigration. Poll results indicate that girls tend to be worried about climate change, while boys are more concerned with immigration.

In other news, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that international officials who are attempting to prosecute members of the U.S. military will be denied visas to enter the United States.

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

Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Dora, Insubria, KS, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

Financial Crisis
» Workers at the Lower End of the Pay Scale Finally Are Getting the Most Benefit From Rising Wages
 
USA
» An Analysis of the Recent Climate Change Hysteria
» Atlanta Family Plotted Terror Attacks on US Service Members From Isolated Desert Compound, Feds Say
» Did Trump Appoint Jack the Ripper as Guardian of a Girls’ School?
» Ex-Putin Adviser Found Dead in D.C. Hotel Had Complete Neck Fracture
» ICYMI: Washington State Joins New Jersey in Trying to Keep Trump Off Its 2020 Ballot
» Missouri Lawmaker Proposed Mandatory Ownership of AR-15
» Pompeo Pulls Visas for International Criminal Court Officials Targeting Americans
» Reuters Admits They Sat on Bombshell Beto O’Rourke Story for 2 Years
» Southern Poverty Law Center Bias Exposed
» Trump’s Budget Reaffirms Commitment to Work-Based Welfare Policy
» Two in Three Colleges With Confucius Institutes Violated the Law by Not Reporting Chinese Funding
 
Europe and the EU
» Big Pro-Catalan Rally Staged in Madrid
» CERN Transfers Grant to Pisa Due to Sexist Physicist
» Christian Converts From Islam Regularly ‘Bullied’, ‘Threatened’ In Netherlands
» France: Informant on Terror Watchlist on Trial for Murder of Pregnant Wife
» France: Gilets Jaunes: Paris Acte 18 Protests Turn Violent
» Italy: TELT Calls for TAV Tenders Published
» Italy: Salvini Says Islamic Extremism Only Kind Worth Attention
» Italy: ‘Dickheads’ Put Faith in the Govt — Berlusconi
» Mammoth Cloning Project Takes a Step Forward
» Marine Le Pen Spars With Leftist Former Italian PM on Salvini, Brexit
» Mass Migration and Climate Change Top Concerns for Swedish Youth
» Rome Hits Pause on East Med Gas Pipeline
» UK: May: Back My Deal or ‘We Will Not Leave the EU for Many Months, If Ever’
 
Middle East
» Iran Inches Closer to Its Goal: “Wipe Israel Off the Map”
 
Far East
» Vatican Tries to Reassure Xi Jinping Prior to Vatican Visit
 
Australia — Pacific
» Pope Francis Reiterates Condolences for ‘Horrible Attack’ On NZ Mosques
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Media Silence Surrounds Muslim Massacre of Christians
 
Latin America
» Brazil’s Bolsonaro in US to Cement Alliance With Trump
» German “Right Wing” Journalist Left to Rot in Venezuela Prison Freed
» Venezuela’s Maduro Asks Entire Cabinet to Resign Amid Political Tensions
 
Immigration
» Actually, We Can’t Afford Not to Build the Wall
» MPs Demand UK Govt Speed up Pro-Chain Migration Bill
» NGO Migrant Ferry Finds No Migrants After Three-Week Search
 
Culture Wars
» Alimony Awarded to Lesbian in Italian Legal First
» Tumblr Traffic Tanks 30% After Banning Booty
 

Workers at the Lower End of the Pay Scale Finally Are Getting the Most Benefit From Rising Wages

The recent jump in paychecks has come with an unusual characteristic, as workers at the lower end of the pay scale are getting the greater benefit.

Average hourly earnings rose 3.4 percent in February from the same period a year ago, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report last week. That’s the biggest gain since April 2009 and seventh month in a row that compensation has been 3 percent or better.

What has set this rise apart is that it’s the first time during an economic recovery that began in mid-2009 that the bottom half of earners are benefiting more than the top half — in fact, about twice as much, according to calculations by Goldman Sachs. The trend began in 2018 and has continued into this year, and could be signaling a stronger economy than many experts think.

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

An Analysis of the Recent Climate Change Hysteria

[…]

Sociologist Stanley Cohen identified the pattern of moral panic in a 1972 book titled, Folk Devils and Moral Panics. First, he identified the five stages of the panic as follows. I added in italics the names of the appropriate agent, agency, or factor as it relates to the moral panic of global warming.

Something or someone is perceived and defined as a threat to social norms and the interests of the community or society at large.

The Club of Rome identified industrial development using resources at an unsustainable rate as the threat. They do this by burning fossil fuels and the by-product, CO2, is raising the global temperature to catastrophic levels.

News media and members of the community/society then depict the threat in simplistic symbolic ways that quickly become recognizable to the greater public.

The UN created the IPCC that produced the false science using their computer models that isolated CO2 as the cause of global warming.

They then deliberately distorted their findings by the creation of a Summary for Policymakers. …

Cohen then identified “five key sets of actors: involved.”

The threat that incites the moral panic, which Cohen referred to as “folk devils”;

The folk devil is CO2 coming from those evil planet-destroying industries driven by their selfish, self-serving, profit motive.

Enforcers of rules or laws, like institutional authority figures, police, or armed forces;

The biggest was UN Agenda 21 created through the bureaucrats of national weather offices. They even built in a Principle (15) that allows them to act even if there is no evidence.

“In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”

We don’t need evidence. If we decide it is a threat, then it is a threat.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Atlanta Family Plotted Terror Attacks on US Service Members From Isolated Desert Compound, Feds Say

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted five relatives from Atlanta, charging them with plotting terrorism after kidnapping a toddler and retreating to an isolated desert compound in New Mexico.

The defendants, whose site was raided last summer, have long been accused by authorities of planning terrorism, but the indictment is the first time they’ve been formally charged with such allegations. The Clayton County boy, was found dead at the compound on what would have been his 4th birthday.

Previously, the relatives, who had lived around Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties, were held in federal custody only on firearm charges. The new indictment doesn’t specify the group’s plans, but says they intended to kill members of the FBI and the U.S. military.

“The superseding indictment alleges a conspiracy to stage deadly attacks on American soil,” New Mexico U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson said in a news release. “These allegations remind us of the dangers of terrorism that continue to confront our nation, and the allegation concerning the death of a young child only underscores the importance of prompt and effective intervention by law enforcement.”

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

Did Trump Appoint Jack the Ripper as Guardian of a Girls’ School?

You’d think so, if you observed the reactions by the climate-change establishment to President Donald Trump’s appointment, back in September, of Will Happer as Senior Director for Emerging Technologies on the National Security Council, and the prospect of Trump’s forming a Presidential Committee on Climate Security, headed by Happer, under the National Security Council, to bring the evidence for and against dangerous manmade global warming to the table for review. …

I guess “climate denier” is some kind of code for someone who dares to question “scientific consensus”—you know, like that idiot Galileo, who bucked consensus to insist that Earth revolves around the Sun, not vice versa, or those idiots Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who won the Nobel Prize for overturning the scientific consensus that ulcers were caused by excess stomach acid.

Because … because … “scientific consensus” EQUALS “science.” Just ignore that second word. It really doesn’t contribute anything. …

So just who is this Happer guy, and why in the world did Trump get suckered into thinking he should head a Committee on Climate Security?

He’s “Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics at Princeton University, … a specialist in modern optics, optical and radiofrequency spectroscopy of atoms and molecules, radiation propagation in the atmosphere, and spin-polarized atoms and nuclei.” He got his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton in 1964 and taught and did research at Columbia and Princeton, then was Director of Energy Research in the U.S. Department of Energy under the Bush-1 and Clinton-only administrations, then returned to Princeton as “Eugene Higgens Professor of Physics and Chair of the University Research Board from 1995 to 2005” and from 2003 “held the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Chair of Physics until his retirement in 2014.”

Yeah, yeah, but what does Happer know about climate? …

Let us be perfectly clear about this. The only aspect of science that links CO2 to putative global warming (a.k.a., climate change) is AMO: Atomic, Molecular and Optical physics. …

In other words, what passes for “no formal training in climate science” is Happer’s long career in AMO, the field that is not part of any traditional course in climatology, and the only one that has any relationship to the greenhouse effect.

I.e., without the kind of expertise Happer has, there could be no understanding, no theory, of how CO2 might warm the planet. Or, to put it differently, Happer has precisely the kind of expertise, in AMO (not to be confused with Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, another important driver of climate ups and downs, but don’t mention that or you’ll be named a climate denier), that is indispensable to the kind of “climate science” the alarmist “consensus” requires.

Oh, but what does he know about national security?

Gee, I suppose he might have learned a little about it while from “1987 to 1990 he served as Chairman of the Steering Committee of JASON, a group of scientists and engineers who advise agencies of the Federal Government on matters of defense, intelligence, energy policy and other technical problems …” and from “2002 to 2006 he chaired of the National Research Council’s Standing Committee on Improvised Explosive Devices that supported the Joint Improvised Explosive Devices Defeat Organization of the Department of Defense.”

Is Will Happer well qualified to head that panel? You decide.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Ex-Putin Adviser Found Dead in D.C. Hotel Had Complete Neck Fracture

WASHINGTON — Newly released documents show that a former adviser to Russia’s president sustained a complete fracture of his neck “at or near the time of his death” in a Washington hotel room in 2015.

The documents from the city’s medical examiner were released to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed nearly two years ago.

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

ICYMI: Washington State Joins New Jersey in Trying to Keep Trump Off Its 2020 Ballot

“Resist we much,” as Al Sharpton famously said on MSNBC. And with Blue America, they’re doing it non-stop. They’re still sour and angry over their 2016 loss. They still cannot accept or tolerate Donald J. Trump being in the position that should’ve gone to Hillary Clinton. This is what happens when you don’t expect to get punched in the mouth. So, with 2020 on the horizon, some blue states are trying to do a few things to make it more difficult for Donald Trump to stay on their respective ballots. For starters, they’re rehashing the tax return debate.

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

Missouri Lawmaker Proposed Mandatory Ownership of AR-15

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (WCMH) — A Missouri lawmaker has proposed mandating ownership of AR-15 rifles as well as handguns.

Andrew McDaniel introduced House Bill 1108 in February. The bill titled the “McDaniel Militia Act” would require residents between 18 and 35 to own an AR-15 type rifle. It also provides for a 75 percent tax credit toward the purchase.

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

Pompeo Pulls Visas for International Criminal Court Officials Targeting Americans

International officials trying to prosecute American military personnel will not be allowed to enter the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday.

“We are determined to protect the American, allied, and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecutions for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department.

Pompeo’s decision puts personal pressure on the International Criminal Court, a European-based tribunal that is trying to investigate whether “war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed” since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The top diplomat said that the court, which was established by a treaty that the United States voted against, is “attacking America’s rule of law” by second-guessing the government’s existing mechanisms for enforcing a “strict” code of conduct for U.S. troops.[…]

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

Reuters Admits They Sat on Bombshell Beto O’Rourke Story for 2 Years

Reuters reported late on Friday night that their reporter who broke the story about Democrat Beto O’Rourke belonging to a hacker group had the story for two years and agreed to sit on it until after O’Rourke’s Senate race against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

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

Southern Poverty Law Center Bias Exposed

The co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a deep-pocketed, left-wing civil rights organization, was fired on Wednesday.

Morris Dees, a prominent lawyer who founded SPLC in 1971, was reportedly forced out due to workplace misconduct, though the organization didn’t specify what that misconduct was.

The Los Angeles Times reported: “A letter signed by about two dozen employees—and sent to management and the board of directors before news broke of Dees’ firing—said they were concerned that internal ‘allegations of mistreatment, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and racism threaten the moral authority of this organization and our integrity along with it.’“

Dees’ firing is an important development. Dees has been the face of the SPLC while it has transitioned from investigating genuine hate groups to casting a wide net that lumps in mainstream organizations like the Family Research Council, a social conservative organization, with the Ku Klux Klan.

Yet, despite serious issues with how SPLC defines hate groups, the organization is constantly cited by the media as an authority, during which time, Dees has been continually praised for his work.

One prominent journalist in the 1990s called Dees the, quote, “Mother Teresa of Montgomery.”

YouTube has used SPLC as a part of its trusted flagger program.

Large media outlets like CNN, ABC, and NBC frequently publish the SPLC’s hate map.

GuideStar, a nonprofit tracker, at one point used the SPLC hate group tracker, but dropped this later, citing its “commitment to objectivity.”

There is certainly a good reason to suspect, beyond Dees’ ousting, some of SPLC’s work as having a deeply partisan agenda rather than being committed to casting light on genuine hate groups.

Though it received little media attention, SPLC recently settled with and had to apologize to Maajid Nawaz, an anti-Islamist activist who was maligned by the organization as an anti-Muslim extremist.

Nawaz was not an anti-Muslim extremist, but in fact a Muslim who turned away from the radical Islamist views of his youth and now uses his organization, Quilliam, to fight extremism.[…]

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

Trump’s Budget Reaffirms Commitment to Work-Based Welfare Policy

President Donald Trump issued an executive order last April that called for policy reforms to, among other things, “improve employment outcomes and economic independence.”

Nearly one year later, the president’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 doubles down on this goal by renewing policies to promote work in means-tested welfare programs.

Trump’s “Budget for a Better America” proposes to strengthen work requirements in programs such as food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, to help work-capable adults move toward greater self-support.

Many Americans agree with the president’s goals.

Nearly 90 percent of Americans say they agree with the principle that adults who are able to work should be required to work or prepare for work in exchange for government assistance. Americans see work requirements as one important way for welfare programs to merge compassion and fairness.

Americans also broadly recognize work as a fundamental source of well-being in their own lives.

Most report that work gives them a sense of identity, as opposed to being something they just do for a living. In fact, more than two-thirds say that they would work in a paying job even if they didn’t need the money.

Job satisfaction has been consistently high (at around 90 percent) since Gallup started polling on it in the early 1990s.

These positive feelings toward work should come as no surprise.

As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes in his book “The Happiness Hypothesis,” humans have a “basic drive to make this happen,” and one way this commonly manifests itself is through work.

In other words, work empowers us to connect and engage productively with our environments, and thus provides us with a sense of meaning and purpose.[…]

[NOTE: Only your mother and Occasional Cortex think you ought to get money for nothing]

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

Two in Three Colleges With Confucius Institutes Violated the Law by Not Reporting Chinese Funding

Confucius Institutes, the Chinese government-funded language and culture centers hosted by many American colleges, have fallen on hard times.

Academic groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum have sounded the alarm about their potential to spread propaganda and stifle the academic freedom of faculty, leading several colleges to shutter their institutes in the past year.

Colleges are also seeking to prevent their internal conversations about Confucius Institutes from reaching the public, by demanding steep fees for public records. The University of Massachusetts-Boston demanded $1,500 from The College Fix, for example.

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

Big Pro-Catalan Rally Staged in Madrid

Tens of thousands of supporters of Catalan independence have rallied in Spain’s capital Madrid in protest at an ongoing trial of 12 separatist leaders.

Many waved Catalan flags and had placards reading “Self-determination is not a crime”.

Protest organisers said 120,000 people marched in Madrid. Spanish police put the number at just 18,000.

[Comment: Article dated March 16, 2019.]

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

CERN Transfers Grant to Pisa Due to Sexist Physicist

Alessandro Strumia axed last yr

(ANSA) — Rome, March 11 — The CERN particle physics lab in Geneva has decided to transfer to Pisa University a 1.8 million euro grant from the European Research Council (ERC) after sexist remarks made by former CERN physicist Alessandro Strumia.

CERN axed Strumia last year after he said gender politics has warped hirings and promotions in the world of physics to such an extent that women less deserving than their male counterparts have got jobs they are less qualified for.

Pisa University lecturer Strumia sought to explode the myth that physics was biased in favour of men, but CERN said it thought the presentation, with its attacks on individuals, was unacceptable in any professional context and was contrary to the CERN Code of Conduct.

It, therefore, decided to remove the relevant slides from the online repository.

Strumia said he himself had been a victim, allegedly rejected by the National Nuclear Physics Institute (INFN) which allegedly hired two female researchers instead of him with fewer research papers to their name.

He also said Oxford University extended the duration of exams in favour of women and Italy gave preferential treatment to them in its grants for scientific subjects.

CERN said these claims were “highly offensive” and suspended Strumia with immediate effect.

In a statement, CERN said: “CERN is a culturally diverse organisation bringing together people of many different nationalities.

“It is a place where everyone is welcome, and all have the same opportunities, regardless of ethnicity, beliefs, gender or sexual orientation.

“Indeed, diversity is one of the core values underpinning our Code of Conduct and the Organization is fully committed to promoting diversity and equality at all levels.

“CERN always strives to carry out its scientific mission in a peaceful and inclusive environment.

The INFN also suspended Strumia with immediate effect.

It said the measure had been taken “pending the results of inquiries into the case”.

The INFN said it had “decided to proceed with the immediate suspension because Prof Strumia made, in an international public context, statements injurious to the image of the institute and, even worse, discriminatory and openly damaging to the reputation of female and male researchers at the INFN, in violation of its ethical code and the code of conduct aimed at safeguarding the dignity of the institute’s people”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Christian Converts From Islam Regularly ‘Bullied’, ‘Threatened’ In Netherlands

Dutch Christian relief organizations report that Muslim immigrants who convert to Christianity are regularly threatened or bullied, with some saying they get death threats “every single day.”

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

France: Informant on Terror Watchlist on Trial for Murder of Pregnant Wife

35-year-old Adil Aazizi faces murder charges for the shooting of his pregnant wife in 2016, as new information reveals the suspected Islamist was also an informant for French security services.

The murder of 29-year-old Leila, who was shot in the head, took place on June 2nd in 2016 at the home of the married couple in Bonnières-sur-Seine.

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

France: Gilets Jaunes: Paris Acte 18 Protests Turn Violent

More than 200 people were arrested in Paris this weekend after Acte 18 of the gilets jaunes protests turned violent, with shops smashed, and fires lit on the Champs-Élysées.

Official figures from the ministry of the Interior show that there were 32,300 protesters across France yesterday (Saturday March 16), of which 10,000 were in Paris. This means numbers were up by almost 4,000 compared to the previous weekend.

In Paris, 237 people were arrested, and 200 taken into police custody. Around 60 people were reported to have been injured, including 42 protesters and 18 law enforcement officers.

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

Italy: TELT Calls for TAV Tenders Published

2.3 bn euros

(ANSA) — Turin, March 15 — The calls for tenders for the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail (TAV) link by the TELT company were published in the European Gazette on Friday.

The estimated cost of the work is 2.3 billion euros.

The TELT tender calls are for the base tunnel for the major new link, which is opposed by the 5-Star Movement (M5S) but backed by its government partner, the League.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Salvini Says Islamic Extremism Only Kind Worth Attention

After NZ attack

(ANSA) — Naples, March 15 — Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday that “the only extremism that merits attention is the Islamic kind”, in response to a question about whether the domestic terrorist attack in New Zealand that took place Friday is something to be concerned about in Italy as well.

The department of public safety said Friday there was a risk of copycat incidents or reprisals after the Christchurch attack that killed at least 49 people.

The shooter put the names of a number of extremists on his gunds including Italian neo-fascist Luca Traini who shot six North African migrants.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ‘Dickheads’ Put Faith in the Govt — Berlusconi

1 in 2 Italians still trust govt, ‘makes my head spin’

(ANSA) — Matera, March 15 — The one in two Italians who still have faith in the 5-Star-League government are “dickheads”, centre-right opposition Forza Italia (FI) leader Silvio Berlusconi said Friday.

“Italians, look in the mirror and ask yourselves: ‘Am I a dickhead or an intelligent person?’, he said on the election stump in Basilicata.

“Answer: ‘You’re a dickhead’,” said the former three-time premier.

“One Italian in two still has faith in this government, they’re numbers that make my head spin,” said the FI leader.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Mammoth Cloning Project Takes a Step Forward

New findings indicate that the resurrection of mammoths is not a fantasy, a research team including members from Kindai University is saying, after cell nuclei extracted from the 28,000-year-old remains of a woolly mammoth were discovered to retain some function.

When placed in the ova of mice, the nuclei developed to a state just before cellular division, according to a paper published Monday in the British journal Scientific Reports.

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

Marine Le Pen Spars With Leftist Former Italian PM on Salvini, Brexit

French populist leader Marine Le Pen squared off against former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, slamming the him on Brexit and his term as PM.

The pair faced each other on the French television programme L’emmision politique earlier this week and the debate between the pair quickly became heated, with left-wing former PM Renzi launching an attack against the Rassemblement National (National Rally, formerly Front National) leader, Il Giornale reports.

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

Mass Migration and Climate Change Top Concerns for Swedish Youth

Mass migration and climate change are the most important issues for young people in Sweden, according to a poll, with girls and boys being radically split on the two issues.

The survey, entitled ‘Young Opinion’, was released by polling firm Kantar Sifo and shows that half of all girls aged 13 to 26 believe that climate change is the most important issue facing the country while for men, the issues of mass migration and healthcare were the most pressing, Expressen reports.

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

Rome Hits Pause on East Med Gas Pipeline

The EU is ready to finance the 2,200 km long project to unite the gas reserves of Israel and Cyprus with Greece and Italy, but our government opposes

Regional tensions between Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Israel are growing over ownership of offshore fields in the eastern Mediterranean. In December 2018, the four countries signed a $7 billion agreement to provide Europe with natural gas. The deal, known as “East Med”, would help Europe diversify its energy portfolio, while simultaneously reduce its reliance on Russia. The pipeline linking these eastern Mediterranean gas resources will cross from Israel and Cyprus into Greece and Italy, and would be about 2,200 kilometer long. The pipeline is expected to reach Otranto, Italy, via Crete and the Greek mainland. The town is about 30 kilometers south of Melendugno, near the controversial TAP gas pipeline project.

The “EastMed-Poseidon” project (Poseidon is the name of the stretch between Italy and Greece) has already been approved by the previous Italian governments: the former Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, had signed a joint declaration with colleagues in Greece, Cyprus and Israel. The European Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete also blessed the agreement, given that the EU has committed itself to co-financing the construction. The signing of the definitive agreement was expected by the end of March, but now Italy has said it wants to take some time. Matteo Salvini initially supported the project during his visit to Israel last December : “I believe in this project and I invite Italian companies to participate,” he said. “There is no environmental impact. Having greater supplies of gas helps reduce the cost of the bill for Italians”. Meanwhile, Five Star Movement has come under fire from environmental activists after endorsing the TAP gas pipeline project. About 30 associations have signed a letter to Conte, Di Maio and the Minister for the Environment Costa asking to block the work, and as such, this is why government has decided to hit pause on the project. Italy’s Minister of Environment has ordered a new environmental impact assessment…

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

UK: May: Back My Deal or ‘We Will Not Leave the EU for Many Months, If Ever’

Theresa May has penned a public warning to MPs to back her twice-rejected Brexit deal with the European Union, or else “we will not leave the EU for many months, if ever.”

The Prime Minister’s proposed Brexit deal with the EU received the heaviest defeat of any Government in Britain’s recorded history in January, and was rejected again by slightly less crushing but still overwhelming 149 votes on March 12th.

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

Iran Inches Closer to Its Goal: “Wipe Israel Off the Map”

by Majid Rafizadeh

Iran’s military activities and clear public threats to annihilate Israel continue to grow in frequency and intensity. These moves not only instill fear, as they are doubtless meant to do; they also threaten to disrupt the international community. With such dire promises of conflict, it would be expected that the international news media and politicians throughout the world would have something to say about this situation. Instead, Iran’s continued abusive behavior continues to be cozied up to at worst, or at best, ignored.

One of the core pillars and revolutionary ideals of the Islamic Republic is destroying the Jewish state. It is also one of the religious prophecies of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and his successor, the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Israel will be eventually erased from the face of the earth. As Iran’s theocratic establishment believes that the Supreme Leader is Allah’s representative on earth, whatever words or desires the Supreme Leader utters are considered wishes, which must be brought to life by Allah’s true believers.

While they progress toward destroying Israel, not only do Iranian leaders believe that they are inching closer to fulfilling a religious prophecy, they also see that they are gaining strategic and geopolitical victories — in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip. The Deputy Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, recently threatened on Iran’s Channel 2 TV that Israel is “vulnerable and bringing itself closer to death”.

Salami recently made it vehemently clear the strategy of the Iranian government, stating:…

           — Hat tip: KS [Return to headlines]
 

Vatican Tries to Reassure Xi Jinping Prior to Vatican Visit

ROME — The Vatican’s number-two man said China should not be afraid of the Catholic Church as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to travel to Rome this week.

Reuters reported Sunday that “senior Vatican sources” relate that the pope has made known to the Chinese president his willingness to meet with him, but that Chinese officials have not yet requested a meeting between the two leaders.

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

Pope Francis Reiterates Condolences for ‘Horrible Attack’ On NZ Mosques

Pope Francis emphasized his distress over last Friday’s “horrible attack” on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, promising prayers and nearness to victims and their families.

After his midday Angelus address on Sunday, the pope reiterated the message of his recent telegram to the people of New Zealand, telling the crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square that prayers and “gestures of peace” were needed to counteract the hatred and violence in the world.

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

Media Silence Surrounds Muslim Massacre of Christians

Political leaders and public figures were falling over themselves this weekend to condemn the mosque attacks in New Zealand, while dozens of Christians were slaughtered by Muslims in Nigeria to the sound of crickets.

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

Brazil’s Bolsonaro in US to Cement Alliance With Trump

WASHINGTON — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in Washington on Sunday to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, and cement a budding conservative-populist alliance that, in part, aims to ramp up pressure on Venezuela.

The far-right leader flew out of Brasilia early Sunday with six ministers, among them Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes and Justice Minister Sergio Moro, Brazilian media reported. They touched down at Joint Base Andrews, on the outskirts of Washington, at 3:40 p.m.

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

German “Right Wing” Journalist Left to Rot in Venezuela Prison Freed

German journalist Billy Six has been freed after 119 days in solitary confinement in Venezuela, thanks to the intervention of the Russian government and the AfD (Alternative for Germany). His parents accused the Merkel government of not caring about their son because he is stigmatized as “right wing”.

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

Venezuela’s Maduro Asks Entire Cabinet to Resign Amid Political Tensions

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has asked his entire Cabinet to file their resignations as he struggles to maintain control of the country amid a two-month long political crisis.

In a tweet Sunday, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Maduro asked for the resignations so he could engage in a “deep restructuring” of the government to “fortify the nation” against “any threat.”

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

Actually, We Can’t Afford Not to Build the Wall

President Trump launched another battle for border security on Monday, calling for $8.6 billion in funding for the Wall in his proposed federal budget for next year. Predictably, top Democrats came out swinging, bashing a border wall as “expensive and ineffective.”

Truth is, the Democrats aren’t leveling with the public about the billions we are already forced to spend on shelters, food, diapers, medical care and child care for migrants sneaking across the border and claiming asylum. Not to mention the costs of public schooling and health care provided free to migrants once they are released into communities.

By deterring illegal crossings, the Wall will pay for itself in less than two years. It’s a bargain.

Look what it costs us when a Central American teenager crosses the border illegally without an adult. Uncle Sam spends a staggering $775 per day for each teen housed at a shelter at Florida’s Homestead Air Reserve Base.

There they get medical care, schooling and recreation. They stay, on average, 67 days before being released to a sponsor. Now do the math. That’s almost $52,000 per teen. American parents would appreciate the government spending that money on their kids. Imagine the government handing you a check for $52,000 to defray the costs of raising your teenager.

There are bigger costs ahead. The number of illegal border-crossers just hit an 11-year high. More than 76,000 people in February alone. US and Mexican officials predict hundreds of thousands more in the coming months.

The migrants use the word “asylum” as their get-in-free card. When they say it to a border agent, they gain entry to the US 80 percent of the time, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. The government temporarily houses them before eventually releasing them with an immigration court date. But half never go on to file an asylum claim, instead disappearing into all parts of the US, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions noted.[…]

           — Hat tip: Dora [Return to headlines]
 

MPs Demand UK Govt Speed up Pro-Chain Migration Bill

Dozens of MPs in Britain are demanding the Home Office speed up progress on a bill that would slash chain migration restrictions.

A total of almost 70 MPs urged Home Secretary Sajid Javid to end “delays” over the refugee family reunion bill, in a letter declaring it “important” that his ministry act quickly because migrants from the third world are missing out on spending holidays like the Muslim festival of Eid with family members in Britain.

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

NGO Migrant Ferry Finds No Migrants After Three-Week Search

Sea-Eye, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which ferried migrants to Europe, has claimed that despite a three-week search off the coast of Libya, they were unable to find a single migrant to “rescue” before returning to port in Mallorca.

The Alan Kurdi migrant ferry, named after the young boy of the same name who drowned and washed ashore in 2015 during the height of the migrant crisis, returned to Palma de Mallorca after three weeks at sea looking for migrants but finding none, Mallorca Zeitung reports.

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

Alimony Awarded to Lesbian in Italian Legal First

In Pordenone

(ANSA) — Pordenone, March 15 — Alimony has been awarded to the ‘weaker” partner in a lesbian civil union in a legal first in Italy, sources said Friday.

A Pordenone court awarded the regular ‘divorce cheque’ to one of two women whose relationship began in 2013 and who got a civil union two years ago under Italy’s new law.

The better-off woman will pay 350 euros a month to to the worse-off one.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Tumblr Traffic Tanks 30% After Banning Booty

Microblogging website Tumblr has seen a 30% drop in traffic since being removed from the iOS App Store in November — followed by a self-imposed ban on adult content in December.

The Yahoo!-owned social media network came under fire after Download discovered that a large volume of child porn had slipped past the site’s filters. The company admitted that “a routine audit discovered content on our platform that had not yet been included in the industry database.”

After their efforts to block child porn failed, Tumblr announced in December a complete ban on NSFW material from the platform.

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

23 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/17/2019

  1. NZ time the Prime Minister enthused over that over one and half million sites with details about the tragedy have been pulled down.

    https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/03/new-zealand-police-request-personal-data-from-kiwifarms-users-who-shared-shooter-manifesto-video/80039/ kiwifarms from what I understand is a blog in the good old USA and I have just been blocked in finding it.

    NEW ZEALAND POLICE REQUESTED PERSONAL DATA FROM KIWIFARMS USERS WHO DISCUSSED SHOOTER MANIFESTO, VIDEO

    Posted on March 17, 2019, 3:30 am By Billy D

    New Zealand Police

    The Christchurch shooter’s manifesto and live-feed video have been censored from many websites at the request of New Zealand police. They’ve been attempting to gather data on the users who have shared and discussed the shooter’s manifesto and the video of the shooting. One such location that caught the police’s attention was Kiwifarms, which is one of the few places that have discussed and shared the information about the shooter in an uncensored fashion.

    Journalist Nick Monroe shared an e-mail online, as well as forwarded the e-mail from Kiwifarms’ administrator, from the New Zealand police department, where Detective Senior Sergeant, John Michael, reached out to the forum’s administrator on March 17th, 2019 to request Kiwifarms user data.

    Replying to @nickmon1112

    🚨🚨BREAKING: @nzpolice demand **USER INFORMATION** (“IP addresses, email addresses”) from Kiwi Farms regarding the New Zealand attack https://kiwifarms.net/threads/2017-03-17-new-zealand-police-we-would-like-to-preserve-any-posts-and-technical-data-including-ip-addresses-email-addresses-etc.54376/

    THIS IS AN INFRINGEMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTIES ISSUE NOW

    Kiwi Farms Administrator has provided me a forwarded copy of the DEMAND FOR USER INFORMATION from @nzpolice

    INFORMATION ABOUT USERS

    WHO TALKED ABOUT IT

    765
    5:48 PM – Mar 17, 2019

    460 people are talking about this

    The Kiwifarms administrator shared the e-mail on the forums, which read…

    “Good afternoon

    “I am hoping that you can help us with an investigation the New Zealand Police are working on.

    “On 15 March 2019 there was a shooting in New Zealand with multiple fatalities at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

    “The alleged offender in this matter is a […]

    “At around the time of the shooting there were a number of posts and links posted on kiwifarms.net relating to the shooting and […]

    “We would like to preserve any posts and technical data including IP addresses, email addresses etc linked to these posts pending a formal legal request .

    “Could you please advise what legal process you require for this request and also confirm preservation of the data requested pending legal process.”

    The Kiwifarms administrator responded to the e-mail from the New Zealand police department, and promptly told them that he would not be complying with their request and that he would not be handing over the IP addresses, personal identifying information, or other privacy data of users, and that the police department was duly overstepping their bounds in order to censor the entire internet, writing…

    “Is this a joke? I’m not turning over information about my users. The person responsible for posting the video and manifesto PDF is myself.

    ”I feel real bad for you guys, you’ve got a quiet nation and now this attack is going to be the first thing people think of for the next 10 years when they hear the name New Zealand, but you can’t do this. Tell your superiors they’re going to make the entire country and its government look like clowns by trying to censor the Internet. You’re a small, irrelevant island nation barely more recognizable than any other nameless pacific sovereignty. You do not have the clout to eradicate a video from the Internet and you do not have the legal reach to imprison everyone whose posted it. If anyone turns over to you the information they’re asking for they’re not only cowards, but they’re fucking idiots.

    […]

    “If you’re wondering, no. Kiwi Farms has nothing to do with New Zealand. Our name is a pointed jab at some of the mushmouthed autistic people we make fun of. Absolutely nothing about our community is NZ oriented.

    “And I don’t give a single solitary redact] what section 50 of your faggot law say about sharing your email. redact] you and redact] your shithole country.”
    Detective John Michael meekly responded by saying…

    “Appreciate your quick response.

    “Will definitely consider what you have said.”

    The exchange ended there, and Kiwifarms opted not to hand over the user data.

    Even Republican GOP candidate for the 37th congressional district in Los Angeles, California, Rob Bassilian, chimed in to note bad it looks that the New Zealand police are trying to pilfer personal user information from forum board users.

    Elsewhere, nearly every major web service is censoring information about the New Zealand shooting that isn’t coming from mainstream news media.

    The entire YouTube search algorithm has been completely censored so that the only information being posted about the Christchurch shooting is from mainstream media.

    Reddit has begun purging and banning certain sub-reddit communities, while places like Bitchute and Twitter are also censoring and removing informationrelated to the shooting.

    It’s not unlike the blackout that took place during the early days of #GamerGate, only this time it’s on a much larger, global scale and affecting nearly every major social media network.

    The New Zealand police have been working overtime to prohibit people from reading the shooter’s 74-page manifesto, which is essentially a meme-culture inspired missive where he attributes Spyro 3 for helping him embrace nationalism, and points to Fortnite as the guide for helping him learn how to shoot.

    The brunt of the manifesto reveals that ultimately he wanted to weaponize mainstream media in order to get them to use the shooting in order to create more societal fractures that would result in a race war. So far, the media has played into his hand doing everything he said he wanted them to do, including moving to legislate more strict gun laws.

    Some people are calling the fruition of his manifesto “accelerationism”.

    Regardless, the New Zealand police are intent on trying to censor as much of the information as possible to prevent the general public from accessing the manifesto or watching the video feed of the shooting.

    Many other sites have been blocked, New Zealand blog owners seem to be going through and removing some comments, so as not to allow “hate” speech, yet one of the blogs I follow in its General Debate, “Those lacking in empathy will probably not appear” and now doing full moderation. It can be the owner’s choice, or is another pressure exerted, and then being held liable.

    • A number of comments from a blog, that is now considered right wing.

      Can you believe that SKY NZ have pulled *SKY NEWS AU* off air and repaced it with some crap from Fox Sports, because of concerns Australia might breach suppression orders in relation to showing images of ozzie retard Brenton Tarrant!

      What do we pay our subscriptions for? To be told by this pack of cockheads what we can and cannot watch. No wonder this outfit is struggling to keep customers.

      https://twitter.com/SKYNZ/status/1106749477543530498
      ———————
      When ISIS was at full steam we had the media covering all their heinous acts, and sensationalizing acts of terror in Europe. This coverage surely impacted, rightly or wrongly, on the opinions of folk here in NZ towards people of Muslim faith.
      Now the MSM scream outrage, but yet continually show and sensationalize the sad events in Christchurch.
      The MSM here in NZ is despicable.
      —————–
      Wow, it appears that zerohedge is being blocked in NZ. Seems the coalition have flicked the switch and turned us into an authoritarian police state. Try it yourself:
      https://www.zerohedge.com/
      —————–
      Seems dissenter has been blocked in NZ as well.

      🚨New Zealanders threatened with 10 YEARS IN JAIL if they have the shooting video. 🚨
      “Anybody found “knowingly” in possession of objectionable material can receive a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.”
      14 YEARS IN JAIL if you are a “dealer” of the video
      We would also like to remind the public that it is an offence to distribute an objectionable publication and that is punishable by imprisonment.
      — New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) March 15, 2019

      So who decides what is objectionable? Are all the ISIS propeganda videos likely on some NZ ‘enthusiasts’ computers similarly objectionable? Are all videos featuring people being killed (such as news reports of foreign events) objectionable or are some OK? Is there a proscribed list somewhere that can be consulted?
      ————–

      Mention of liveleaks affected.
      In part I can see some aspects need warnings, that is graphic and sickening, and one can not unsee what has been seen.
      As mention so that media can control just what is released to the public and the spin to be applied.

      • Had some English guy on the tv this morning who is acting Race Relations Conciliator or somesuch saying NZ needs to enact hate speech laws. Maybe he should go home if he wants to live in an Orwellian Police State. He’s a professor to boot so one of those entrenched lefties sucking the life out of western universities.

        The socialists are showing their colours, even the gun grab comments are essentially recycled bilge from overseas socialists.

    • From an article in a major NZ paper, the “NZ Herald”.
      Admittedly its circulation as many of the major papers are dwindling, as they have for a long time now, with that media attitude.

      If you see any of your friends posting racist statements on social media, however lightly, report them. Report them hard. Report them to the social network, report them to local authorities if necessary. Do not risk witnessing it all escalate while you sit quietly at home, thinking “there’s that guy being a dick again”. Don’t let the emoji or the “lol” at the end of their sentence fool you. It’s hatred, it’s racism, and it has no place anywhere near any of us.

      It’s not enough to unfriend them or unfollow them, it’s not enough to distance yourself from them. Call them out for being racist, name them, tag them, shame them, report them, all the way to police if need be. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12213510

      This is also spun on radio, tv, and pushed by some politicians.
      Stasi, Gestapo, KGB. People’s Republic of China, North Korea, EU would be proud of this “health and safety” move.

      Solzhenitsyn’s “The Gulag Archipelago” needs to be more widely read.

      • So every racist is a potential mass murderer?

        That seems to be the subtext.

        Fine. Okay. I’ll bite. Every person with Communist sympathies is a potential mass murderer. Confirmed by walking around in a Che Guevara T-shirt, celebrating an actual mass murderer – a shockingly common sight.

      • ‘The Whisperers’ by Figes is perhaps the second most important primer on life under socialism.

    • Peter, “Reuters corrupt too”

      Sorry sir, but that has been true since Adams dog was a pup.
      Same as 99% of mainstream media.

      • “Adams dog was a pup”???
        I hadn’t heard that one before but it’s a good one…

  2. A spontaneous anti-migrant rally in Yakutsk – a mosque under police protection.

    The reason for the unauthorized rally was a crime against a resident of Yakutsk, committed by the natives of Central Asia.

    https://pikabu.ru/story/stikhiynyiy_antimigrantskiy_miting_v_yakutske__mechet_pod_okhranoy_politsii_6579722

    If they were Russians, they would have been beaten by riot police with batons. But with the Yakuts so impossible! (They look like your North American Indians)

    • It is good to see Russians are not afraid to form a rally against a mosque in the cold of winter.

  3. “Tumblr Traffic Tanks 30% After Banning Booty”
    The funny thing is, as far as I’m told, as soon as you tag a tumblr post as “sfw” (safe for work), it gets greenlit no matter what the actual content of the post is. So it doesn’t really prevent erotic material from being posted.
    Considering Tumblr is a spawning ground for radical sjws, the best thing that could happen is for it to be shut down eventually.

  4. “Mammoth Cloning Project Takes a Step Forward” in my understanding the process could be used for the revival of the thylacine and, as far as there are DNA samples avaiable, the moa or dodo, etc. And arguably it might be more favourable to first restore animals that have died out due to human activity and the DNA isn’t as ancient yet? This process could then possibly help them understand the process even better, so that they could use it for the mammoth project.
    I know there’s a smilar project for the thylacine going on, but perhaps they should join forces for a while.

  5. Simon (the master) says “Do this” “Do that” “This” “You are out”
    Remember that game?

    “– the instruction from our betters has been the same every time. Don’t get angry, they say. Don’t exaggerate the threat of terrorism, they counsel. And don’t dare suggest that any book or idea, whether it is the Koran itself or pamphlets handed out at more questionable mosques, contributed to this attack. ‘These killers have nothing to do with Islam’, as the tiresome, silencing mantra goes. Our role after Islamist terror is to manage our anger, put politics on hold, lay a flower or two, and then go back to our everyday lives. ‘Don’t look back in anger’, as the anthem went after Manchester.

    This time the response could not be more different. Now we are actively invited to feel anger. Now we are told we must look for the source material that inspired this hateful individual and then condemn it and censor it. Now we are told that we must organise against the new fascism. After Islamist terror the key instruction from the self-styled guardians of correct moral thought is that we should forget politics and just grieve. Now we’re told to get political, take terrorism seriously, physically protest against the new hatefulness: there has already been a protest in London against Islamophobia and there will be one today at News UK, home to The Times and the Sun, such is the shrill, censorious, media-blaming hysteria of the ghoulish opportunists of the New Zealand horror. – the instruction from our betters has been the same every time. Don’t get angry, they say. Don’t exaggerate the threat of terrorism, they counsel. And don’t dare suggest that any book or idea, whether it is the Koran itself or pamphlets handed out at more questionable mosques, contributed to this attack. ‘These killers have nothing to do with Islam’, as the tiresome, silencing mantra goes. Our role after Islamist terror is to manage our anger, put politics on hold, lay a flower or two, and then go back to our everyday lives. ‘Don’t look back in anger’, as the anthem went after Manchester.

    This time the response could not be more different. Now we are actively invited to feel anger. Now we are told we must look for the source material that inspired this hateful individual and then condemn it and censor it. Now we are told that we must organise against the new fascism. After Islamist terror the key instruction from the self-styled guardians of correct moral thought is that we should forget politics and just grieve. Now we’re told to get political, take terrorism seriously, physically protest against the new hatefulness: there has already been a protest in London against Islamophobia and there will be one today at News UK, home to The Times and the Sun, such is the shrill, censorious, media-blaming hysteria of the ghoulish opportunists of the New Zealand horror.
    https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/03/18/new-zealands-ghoulish-opportunists/

    Good debate through the comments section too.

    Much thanks to Baron&Dymphna, and though I sort of knew of what you went through in a previous time, I have more of the direct experience and “feelings” now.
    Thank you for persevering through those times, staying true, and so encouraging others to keep on with love, seeking truth, all wrapped in wisdom. Thank you.

  6. ** the importance of prompt and effective intervention by law enforcement. **

    Don’t hold your breath waiting for “law enforcement” to intervene when witnessing police auxiliaries AntiFa thugs attacking peaceful demonstrators.

  7. I think that one can conclude that the Swedish girls are easily swayed by propaganda while the boys are dealing with reality on the ground. I guess the jokes about dumb blonds reflect reality.

    • Yes, and like the proverbial first man Adam, many men simply acquiesce to the demands of these swayed girls and allow evil things to destroy their nation rather than have the spine to demand what is right.

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