Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/20/2019

The two major political parties in the UK are weaker than they ever have been before in the wake of the Brexit debacle and their failure to address other issues that are important to voters. Britons are increasingly willing to vote for the new, smaller parties.

In other news, French architects are answering President Macron’s call and proposing modernist designs for a rebuilt Notre Dame cathedral, including a glass roof, a steel spire, and possibly a minaret.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, JD, JJ, Reader from Chicago, Vlad Tepes, 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
» Americans Are Financially and Mentally Unstable: Crippling Debt is Linked to Chronic Depression
» Less Than 25% of College Graduates Can Answer These 4 Simple Money Questions
» The Eurozone Slowdown is Worse Than the Global One
 
USA
» “Secret” 3G Intel Chip Gives Snoops Backdoor PC Access
» Brzezinski’s Warning to America
» Caitlin Johnstone Debunks All the Assange Smears
» California Authorities Discover a Massive Illegal Pot Farm Close to the Freeway Housing 40,000 Plants Worth $20 Million and Multiple Dogs — But Find No One at the Scene When They Serve a Search Warrant
» Former CIA Analyst: U.S. Intelligence May be ‘Biased’ Toward Democrats
» Illinois County Board Passes Ballot Measure for New State
» Intel’s Management Engine is a Security Hazard, And Users Need a Way to Disable it
» Just Outside Denver, Black Male (Oghaleoghene Atuno) Deliberately Targets Two White Boys in Hit-and-Run Racial Assault
» Mark Levin: ‘Obvious From Day One There Was No Collusion’
» Mike Huckabee to Mitt Romney: ‘It Makes Me Sick You Could’Ve Been Potus’
» New Intel Based PC’s Permanently Hackable
» Pete Buttigieg Expresses Support for ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban
» Pete Buttigieg Serious About Carbon Tax to Fight Climate Change
» Report: 26 States Now Ban or Restrict Community Broadband
 
Europe and the EU
» “We’re All Sick and Tired of Five Star: “ New Crisis Erupts in Italy’s Government
» Anti-Mass Migration Populist Vox Party Banned From Spanish TV Debates
» Dutch Politician Wants Halal Beach in the Hague — Says “Muslims Feel Uncomfortable With Scantily Clad, Ugly People”
» France: Here Come the Architects: Modernists Want Glass Roof, Steel Spire, Or Minaret for Notre Dame
» France: Paris to Hire Security Guards to Patrol Unsafe Public Spaces
» Germany Wants Nuclear Bombers
» Germany: Antisemitic Incidents Surge in Berlin With Over 1,000 Cases in 2018
» ‘Hypocrite’ Emma Thompson Flew 5,400 Miles From Los Angeles to Join London Eco-Warrior Protest
» Lancet Journal Warns of Impending ‘Climate Armageddon’
» Meet Colossus: The Robot That Saved Firefighter Lives at the Notre Dame Inferno
» Mystery Figure at Notre Dame Cathedral Fire (Video)
» Populists on Course to Become Largest French Party in EU Parliament Election
» Spanish Populist Party Banned From TV Debate
» The Ideological Roots of Modern Socialists
» UK: Billionaire Branson Congratulates May for Stopping Clean, No Deal Brexit
» UK: Conservatives, Labour Have ‘Never Been in Such Jeopardy’ Over Failure to Appeal to Voters
» UK: Pink Climate Boat Towed Away After Dame Emma Thompson Rallies Activists
» What Really Caused the Notre Dame Cathedral Fire?
 
North Africa
» Salafists Raise Fears by Increasing Presence on Egypt’s Political Stage
» Yellow Vest Violence Erupts Again, Spreads to Libya; 137 Arrested
 
Russia
» Stolen Archives Show the True History of Russia Collusion
 
South Asia
» Libertarian ‘Seasteaders’ Face Execution in Thailand for ‘Violating National Sovereignty’
 
Australia — Pacific
» Huge 2.5 Metre Tiger Shark is Caught at a Popular Sydney Beach After a Spate of Attacks on Swimmers
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Prime Minister and Entire Government of Mali Resign as Islamist Violence Surges
» South Africa: Moment Carjackers Drag Tourist From Car by Her Hair in Johannesburg (White)
 
Immigration
» Angel Mom Wendy Corcoran: My Son ‘Forever Separated From Us, ‘ Illegal Alien ‘Returned Home to His Family’
» Armed Militia Rounding up Migrants at Southern Border
» Greece: A “No-Go” Zone in Athens?
» Italian Convert to Islam and Moroccan Migrant Arrested Over Terror Plot
» Vigilantes or Patriots? FBI Arrests Head of Militia Rounding up Illegal Migrants at US Border
 
Culture Wars
» Always Get it in Writing
» Atheists Exploit Holy Week to Claim ‘Jesus Did Not Exist’
» Buttigieg Pushes Slavery, Unplanned Labeled “Propaganda” By Gulag
» Mayor Pete Buttigieg: ‘Think of Something Really Gay — That’s How Gay I Am’
 

Americans Are Financially and Mentally Unstable: Crippling Debt is Linked to Chronic Depression

Americans have become increasingly dependent on debt while at the same time suffering from record high rates of chronic depression. But they probably have a lot to do with each other — perhaps more than we originally thought.

In 2018, 36% of Americans admitted to losing sleep over money concerns. That number feels low, as 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck with only a handful of those having any kind of emergency fund in place to protect them from a job loss or recession. And a recent analysis says that people who suffer from mental health issues are three-and-a-half times more likely to be in “problem debt” than those without such conditions, analysis suggests.

This link between poor mental health and poor financial health was even stronger for certain conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute said, according to the BBC. It said those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) were six times more likely to have serious money troubles.

The institute analyzed data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, which had responses from 7,500 people in England. This revealed an estimated 1.5 million people were struggling with mental health and debt issues at the same time. Those surveyed admitted to using credit and borrowing money to buy things that made them temporarily happy if they were stressed or felt depressed.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Less Than 25% of College Graduates Can Answer These 4 Simple Money Questions

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com

Americans have become numb to financial intelligence. This is no more evident than a recent Sallie Mae survey, which indicated that college graduates can’t even answer simple questions about financial concepts, such as interest.

The statistics are not looking good for the United States, a nation deeply indebted, addicted to consumerism, and woefully ignorant about it all. Not long ago, SHTFPlan reported that a mere 1 in 10 Americans is actually capable of getting an A on a basic financial security test.

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

The Eurozone Slowdown is Worse Than the Global One

One of the most repeated messages among European financial analysts this week is this: “we are in a global slowdown”.

However, the sentence hides important nuances and very relevant differences. The European Union suffers a severe slowdown. The rest of the world only a moderate reduction in the pace of growth.

Data from the United States tell us something very different from what we get from the Eurozone.

Retail sales rose 1.6% in March in the US and the implied annualized growth rate for the first quarter remains above 2.1%. If we look at the employment data, the United States only sees a slight moderation in employment growth … But we are talking about the creation of 196,000 jobs, a figure that indicates much better growth. than other similar economies. The same applies to the latest manufacturing and service indices: They remain above 50 (in expansion).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“Secret” 3G Intel Chip Gives Snoops Backdoor PC Access

Intel Core vPro processors contain a “secret” 3G chip that allows remote disabling and backdoor access to any computer even when it is turned off.

In a promotional video for the technology, Intel brags that the chips actually offer enhanced security because they don’t require computers to be “powered on” and allow problems to be fixed remotely. The promo also highlights the ability for an administrator to shut down PCs remotely “even if the PC is not connected to the network,” as well as the ability to bypass hard drive encryption.

“Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new vPro, might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until now,”reports Softpedia.

Jeff Marek, director of business client engineering for Intel, acknowledged that the company’s Sandy Bridge” microprocessor, which was released in 2011, had “the ability to remotely kill and restore a lost or stolen PC via 3G.” “Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded within the main processor which has it’s own operating system embedded on the chip itself,” writes Jim Stone. “As long as the power supply is available and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro processor, which runs on the system’s phantom power and is able to quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on them.”

Although the technology is being promoted as a convenient way for IT experts to troubleshoot PC issues remotely, it also allows hackers or NSA snoops to view the entire contents of somebody’s hard drive, even when the power is off and the computer is not connected to a wi-fi network.

It also allows third parties to remotely disable any computer via the “secret” 3G chip that is built into Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors. Webcams could also be remotely accessed.

“This combination of hardware from Intel enables vPro access ports which operate independently of normal user operations,” reports TG Daily. “These include out-of-band communications (communications that exist outside of the scope of anything the machine might be doing through an OS or hypervisor), monitoring and altering of incoming and outgoing network traffic. In short, it operates covertly and snoops and potentially manipulates data.”

Not only does this represent a privacy nightmare, it also dramatically increases the risk of industrial espionage.

The ability for third parties to have remote 3G access to PCs would also allow unwanted content to be placed on somebody’s hard drive, making it easier for intelligence agencies and corrupt law enforcement bodies to frame people.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Brzezinski’s Warning to America

The liberal world order, which lasted from the end of World War 2 until today, is rapidly collapsing. The center of gravity is shifting from west to east where China and India are experiencing explosive growth and where a revitalized Russia has restored its former stature as a credible global superpower. These developments, coupled with America’s imperial overreach and chronic economic stagnation, have severely hampered US ability to shape events or to successfully pursue its own strategic objectives. As Washington’s grip on global affairs continues to loosen and more countries reject the western development model, the current order will progressively weaken clearing the way for a multipolar world badly in need of a new security architecture. Western elites, who are unable to accept this new dynamic, continue to issue frenzied statements expressing their fear of a future in which the United States no longer dictates global policy.

At the 2019 Munich Security Conference, Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, underscored many of these same themes. Here’s an excerpt from his presentation:…

The president of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass, summed up his views on the “weakening of the liberal world order” in an article that appeared on the CFR’s website. Here’s what he said:

“Attempts to build global frameworks are failing. Protectionism is on the rise; the latest round of global trade talks never came to fruition. ….At the same time, great power rivalry is returning…

There are several reasons why all this is happening, and why now. The rise of populism is in part a response to stagnating incomes and job loss, owing mostly to new technologies but widely attributed to imports and immigrants. Nationalism is a tool increasingly used by leaders to bolster their authority, especially amid difficult economic and political conditions….

But the weakening of the liberal world order is due, more than anything else, to the changed attitude of the U.S. Under President Donald Trump, the US decided against joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership and to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. It has threatened to leave the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. It has unilaterally introduced steel and aluminum tariffs, relying on a justification (national security) that others could use, in the process placing the world at risk of a trade war….America First” and the liberal world order seem incompatible.” (“Liberal World Order, R.I.P.”, Richard Haass, CFR)

What Haass is saying is that the cure for globalisation is more globalization, that the greatest threat to the liberal world order is preventing the behemoth corporations from getting more of what they want; more self-aggrandizing trade agreements, more offshoring of businesses, more outsourcing of jobs, more labor arbitrage, and more privatization of public assets and critical resources…

Globalization has fueled the rise of populism, it has helped to exacerbate ethnic and racial tensions, and it is largely responsible for the hollowing out of America’s industrial core.

[Comment: Translation: Populations around the world should accept their transition to serfs and should fall in line with our globalist goals of a new fuedal world order.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Caitlin Johnstone Debunks All the Assange Smears

Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com,

Have you ever noticed how whenever someone inconveniences the dominant western power structure, the entire political/media class rapidly becomes very, very interested in letting us know how evil and disgusting that person is? It’s true of the leader of every nation which refuses to allow itself to be absorbed into the blob of the US-centralized power alliance, it’s true of anti-establishment political candidates, and it’s true of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Corrupt and unaccountable power uses its political and media influence to smear Assange because, as far as the interests of corrupt and unaccountable power are concerned, killing his reputation is as good as killing him. If everyone can be paced into viewing him with hatred and revulsion, they’ll be far less likely to take WikiLeaks publications seriously, and they’ll be far more likely to consent to Assange’s imprisonment, thereby establishing a precedentfor the future prosecution of leak-publishing journalists around the world. Someone can be speaking 100 percent truth to you, but if you’re suspicious of him you won’t believe anything he’s saying. If they can manufacture that suspicion with total or near-total credence, then as far as our rulers are concerned it’s as good as putting a bullet in his head.

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

California Authorities Discover a Massive Illegal Pot Farm Close to the Freeway Housing 40,000 Plants Worth $20 Million and Multiple Dogs — But Find No One at the Scene When They Serve a Search Warrant

Local California authorities were left bewildered on Thursday by a large illegal cannabis farm that took them an entire day to seize and contained some 40,000 pot plants, valued at a staggering $20million.

The illicit farm — located on the 2500 block of McCallister Street in Riverside — reportedly emitted a strong odor that prompted an anonymous source to contact authorities, Riverside Police Department Officer Ryan Railsback explained to KTLA.

The property sits approximately nine miles outside of Riverside and roughly eight miles outside of Corona. It is surrounded by trees and a few sprinkling of houses and is five minutes away from the Riverside Freeway.

Detectives were granted a search warrant, which gave them access to the property on Thursday. The size of the property meant the search extended well into Friday.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Former CIA Analyst: U.S. Intelligence May be ‘Biased’ Toward Democrats

Former Central Intelligence Agency analyst John Gentry has written a scathing indictment of “unprecedented” attacks on President Trump.

Gentry published his evaluation in the quarterly International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. His criticisms were both institutional and individual; people called out included CIA Director John Brenan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former deputy CIA director Michael Morell.

“A considerable body of evidence, much of it fragmentary, indicates that many CIA people have left-leaning political preferences,” Gentry said, while hedging, “less evidence shows that political bias influences CIA analyses.” Gentry observed:

In 2016 observers of U.S. intelligence began to wonder if the CIA’s once-firm prohibition on partisan politics had changed, and to ponder whether a new kind of politicization had arisen: namely, institutionally embedded, partisan bias.

“The attacks on Trump were unprecedented for intelligence officers in their substance, tone, and volume,” he wrote. “Critics went far beyond trying to correct Trump’s misstatements about U.S. intelligence; they attacked him as a human being.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Illinois County Board Passes Ballot Measure for New State

On Tuesday, I wrote about how there was a move afoot to create the 51st state by basically cutting Illinois off from Chicago. It’s an interesting plan, though not one I see likely to happen.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s not being taken seriously.

County board members passed a referendum question which will go on the 2020 ballot. It asks if people support separating the rest of the state from Cook County.

It asks this: “Shall Effingham County coordinate discussions with the remaining 101 Counties of the State of Illinois, with the exception of Cook County, regarding the possibility of forming a new state and ultimately seeking admission to the Federal Union as the 51st State, pursuant to the provisions of the United States Constitution?”

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

Intel’s Management Engine is a Security Hazard, And Users Need a Way to Disable it

Intel’s CPUs have another Intel inside.

Since 2008, most of Intel’s chipsets have contained a tiny homunculus computer called the “Management Engine” (ME). The ME is a largely undocumented master controller for your CPU: it works with system firmware during boot and has direct access to system memory, the screen, keyboard, and network. All of the code inside the ME is secret, signed, and tightly controlled by Intel. Last week, vulnerabilities in the Active Management (AMT) module in some Management Engines have caused lots of machines with Intel CPUs to be disastrously vulnerable to remote and local attackers. While AMT can be disabled, there is presently no way to disable or limit the Management Engine in general. Intel urgently needs to provide one. This post will describe the nature of the vulnerabilities (thanks to Matthew Garrett for documenting them well), and the potential for similar bugs in the future. EFF believes that Intel needs to provide a minimum level of transparency and user control of the Management Engines inside our computers, in order to prevent this cybersecurity disaster from recurring. Unless that happens, we are concerned that it may not be appropriate to use Intel CPUs in many kinds of critical infrastructure systems.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Just Outside Denver, Black Male (Oghaleoghene Atuno) Deliberately Targets Two White Boys in Hit-and-Run Racial Assault

First it was Landen Hoffman (a five-year-old white boy) targeted in Minneapolis at the Mall of America by a black man who was looking to kill.

Now, a black man has targeted two white kids in the suburbs of Denver, deliberately running them over in a hit and run. [Security Video Leads To Arrest In Hit-And-Run That Injured 2 Boys, Denver CBS, April 16, 2019]:…

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Mark Levin: ‘Obvious From Day One There Was No Collusion’

Conservative radio and television host Mark Levin told Breitbart News Thursday that it had been “obvious” from the start of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that there had been no collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government, and that the inquiry was to be a pretext for impeachment.

Levin had been predicting for nearly two years that Mueller would not find any basis to indict Trump, but that he would produce a report that Democrats and the media would seize upon to argue for impeaching the president.

In June 2017, Levin said on his radio show, the Mark Levin Show: “Mr. Mueller may be investigating individuals and so forth, but his purpose for being unleashed against the president of the United States is to make the case for impeachment, not indictment. This is very, very important to understand.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mike Huckabee to Mitt Romney: ‘It Makes Me Sick You Could’Ve Been Potus’

Mike Huckabee lashes out his 2008 GOP rival Mitt Romney after he ‘begged Trump for Secretary of State’ but said he was ‘sickened by White House’s dishonesty’ in Mueller probe

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee lashed out at Mitt Romney on Friday after the Utah Senator blasted President Donald Trump for his ‘appalling’ conduct outlined in the Mueller report.

Huckabee retweeted a post in which Romney said he was ‘sickened by the dishonesty’ in reference to the probe into possible collusion with the Russians during the 2016 election, adding that he felt similarly about Romney’s running for president in 2012.

‘Know what makes me sick, Mitt? Not how disingenuous you were to take @realDonaldTrump $ and then 4 yrs later jealously trash him & then love him again when you begged to be Sec of State, but makes me sick that you got GOP nomination and could have been @POTUS,’ Huckabee posted to his 1.27 million Twitter followers.

Huckabee continued his Twitter tirade, sharing an article claiming Trump’s reactions to the probe were ‘nothing but a president frustrated at being wrong accused and wrongly investigated over a very effective hoax.’

The former former Fox News host added: ‘There were some Republicans (like Mitt) who really didn’t understand what the Mueller report revealed.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Intel Based PC’s Permanently Hackable

So you think no one can access your data because your computer is turned off. Heck it’s more than turned off, you even took the main hard drive out, and only the backup disk is inside. There is no operating system installed at all. So you KNOW you are safe.

Frank from across the street is an alternative operating systems hobbyist, and he has tons of computers. He has Free BSD on a couple, his own compilation of Linux on another, a Mac for the wife, and even has Solaris on yet another. Frank knows systems security, so he cannot be hacked . . . . . . . or so he thinks.

The government does not like Frank much, because they LOVE to look at everything. Privacy is a crime don’t you know, and it looks like Frank’s luck with privacy is about to run out.

The new Intel Core vPro processors contain a new remote access feature which allows 100 percent remote acess to a PC 100 percent of the time, even if the computer is TURNED OFF. Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded within the main processor which has it’s own operating system embedded on the chip itself. As long as the power supply is available and and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro processor, which runs on the system’s phantom power and is able to quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on them.

This is being touted as something that makes IT administration easy. It is being advertised as something that will allow IT professionals the ability to remotely troubleshoot a PC no matter what is wrong with it. It allows IT professionals to view the contents of hard drives, check the memory, or hunt for problems on a machine without actually being in front of it. And to that, I call B.S, outside of snooping it’s only real world applications would involve accessing a recovery partiton and restoring the computer to out of box state, installing software outside the knowledge of the main operating system, and secretly placing or deleting files.

But the intelligence agencies LOVE THIS. Because Frank is going on vacation soon and they know it. They have listened to all of his calls. They KNOW frank is a terrorist, because they have never been able to access anything Frank has done with a PC, and who would hide their use, other than a criminal? Frank keeps his computers up to date, and THREE of them now have Core vPro processors in them, and when Frank is gone, they are going to get their chance to access ALL of his files because the main backup hard disk went into the newest machine.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pete Buttigieg Expresses Support for ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban

Mayor Pete Buttigieg believes that an assault weapon ban should be “on the table” as part of the 2020 presidential campaign.

“We can draw a line, and that’s not unconstitutional, it’s common sense, and that’s why I think assault rifles need to be on the table too,” he told voters in Iowa on Wednesday.

Buttigieg said that it made sense to draw a line on what kind of guns that Americans could own as part of the Second Amendment.

[Comment: It seems every time a Democrat speaks of his “agenda” it seems to curiously mirror the agenda of gobalist elite. Note how globalist owned media are hyping this guy.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pete Buttigieg Serious About Carbon Tax to Fight Climate Change

Mayor Pete Buttigieg wants the country to take climate change seriously, proposing a nationwide carbon tax to help reduce emissions.

“We’re going to have to have a carbon tax,” he told voters in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday.

He estimated that the federal government would have to spend as much as $10 billion to help develop solutions for climate change but said that the spending was worth it to prepare for a “multi-trillion dollar emergency.”

Buttigieg acknowledged that taxes were not popular but proposed to offer immediate rebates to consumers to ease the burden.

[Comment: It seems every time a Democrat speaks of his “agenda” it seems to curiously mirror the agenda of gobalist elite. Note how globalist owned media are hyping this guy.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report: 26 States Now Ban or Restrict Community Broadband

Many of the laws restricting local voters’ rights were directly written by a telecom sector terrified of real broadband competition.

A new report has found that 26 states now either restrict or outright prohibit towns and cities from building their own broadband networks. Quite often the laws are directly written by the telecom sector, and in some instances ban towns and cities from building their own broadband networks—even if the local ISP refuses to provide service.

The full report by BroadbandNow, a consumer-focused company that tracks US broadband availability, indicates the total number of state restrictions on community broadband has jumped from 20 such restrictions since the group’s last report in 2018.

Frustrated by slow speeds, limited availability, high prices and terrible customer service, more than 750 communities across the country have built their own broadband ISPs or cooperatives. Studies have shown these locally owned and operated networks tend to offer lower prices, faster speeds, and better customer service than their private-sector counterparts.

Instead of competing by offering better service—private sector telecom giants like Comcast and AT&T have routinely turned to a cheaper alternative: easily corrupted state lawmakers. In exchange for campaign contributions, lawmakers frequently and uncritically pass on model legislation written by industry and distributed by organizations like ALEC.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“We’re All Sick and Tired of Five Star: “ New Crisis Erupts in Italy’s Government

Just when the acrimony between the two leaders of Italy’s populist governing coalition appeared to be fading, a pair of explosive corruption scandals involving senior members of both the League and the Five Star Movement have triggered a new crisis as tensions between the two parties flare.

As frustration with M5S grows, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, considered by many to be the most influential figure in contemporary Italian politics, is once again clashing with his fellow Deputy PM Luigi Di Maio, prompting senior officials within his own party to push for elections in June to try and capitalize on the League’s growing popularity and push M5S out of the government.

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

Anti-Mass Migration Populist Vox Party Banned From Spanish TV Debates

The leader of the right-wing populist Vox party who has vowed to “make Spain great again” has been banned by the Spanish election authority from the only confirmed televised debate ahead of country’s general election on April 28th.

The Atresmedia network has been ordered to exclude Santiago Abascal — Vox’s party leader — from its debate following a ruling that was made by Spain’s Central Election Board which held that his presence at the debate wouldn’t be ‘proportional’ to votes cast for the party during the 2015 elections, when the recently founded party failed to win representation in the country’s national parliament.

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

Dutch Politician Wants Halal Beach in the Hague — Says “Muslims Feel Uncomfortable With Scantily Clad, Ugly People”

Party of the Unity politician Arnold van Doorn demands that the Dutch government opens a beach area which should be “halal”, Jihad Watch reports.

According to Van Doorn the Dutch beach needs to have a non-degenerative area for Muslims where people are not allowed to walk naked, since Muslims feel “unpleasant with scantily clad, ugly people”.

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

France: Here Come the Architects: Modernists Want Glass Roof, Steel Spire, Or Minaret for Notre Dame

Modern architects have begun circling the charred remains of Notre Dame, proposing that it should not be faithfully restored, but rebuilt with “contemporary” features such as a glass roof, steel spire, or even a minaret.

With leading academics and professionals in architecture generally being hostile to building or restoring anything in styles predating the infamous Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) and the Bauhaus school, they were quick to pounce when President Emmanuel Macron’s prime minister announced there would be a competition to “ask the question of whether we should even recreate the spire as it was conceived… Or if, as is often the case in the evolution of heritage, we should endow Notre-Dame with a new spire”.

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

France: Paris to Hire Security Guards to Patrol Unsafe Public Spaces

The city of Paris has announced new measures to improve safety in low-income areas, including hiring security guards to patrol various public spaces.

The city plans on hiring around 35 security officers to patrol areas like public squares, subway station entrances and other areas in some of the city’s northern neighbourhoods where migrants often camp and the streets have become dangerous for women, Le Parisien reports.

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

Germany Wants Nuclear Bombers

Germany’s armed forces are currently studying the possibility of acquiring nuclear bombers capable of using the new American B61-12 atomic bombs.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon itself plans to deploy these new atomic bombs in the German region of Eifel, in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The German air force already has multi-tasking Tornado warplanes, which are already capable of deploying American atomic bombs. But those aircraft are going to be replaced, possibly, by European-developed Eurofighters, or by United States manufactured F/A-18 Super Hornets.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Antisemitic Incidents Surge in Berlin With Over 1,000 Cases in 2018

The number of antisemitic incidents in the German capital continues to grow with experts warning that incidents are becoming more violent.

The non-governmental group Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) released a report this week saying that last year there were 1,083 antisemitic incidents which marked a 14 per cent increase from 2017, Die Welt reports.

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

‘Hypocrite’ Emma Thompson Flew 5,400 Miles From Los Angeles to Join London Eco-Warrior Protest

DAME Emma Thompson was accused of hypocrisy last night after jetting 5,400-miles to take part in London’s eco-protest.

The Oscar-winning actress flew back to London from LA to support the eco-warriors plotting to take down Heathrow today.

The Extinction Rebellion group are calling for flights only to be used in emergencies.

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

Lancet Journal Warns of Impending ‘Climate Armageddon’

The Lancet journal has joined the ranks of the most crazed climate propagandists, warning of a climate meltdown comparable to nuclear war.

In its review of David Wallace-Wells’ The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, the once prestigious medical journal underscores the extreme nature of the author’s predictions, only to insist that things are actually worse than what he describes.

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

Meet Colossus: The Robot That Saved Firefighter Lives at the Notre Dame Inferno

A robot named “Colossus” played a key role in helping save the lives of firefighters at the recent Notre Dame blaze, according to The Independent. When the commander of the Paris fire brigade told his firefighters to retreat because the building’s temperatures had grown too high, he instead enlisted the help of a 1,100 pound tank-like robot with the ability to venture into places and conditions that would quickly kill a human being.

The robot utilizes a water cannon capable of firing more than 660 gallons per minute, which it sprayed at the walls of the cathedral in the midst of the blaze.

Gabriel Plus, a spokesman for the Paris fire brigade said: “Time was against us, the wind was against us and we had to get the upper hand. The priority we set was to save the two belfries. Imagine if the timber of the belfries had been weakened and the bells had collapsed. That was really our fear. In the beginning, it was not impossible to imagine that the cathedral structure could collapse.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mystery Figure at Notre Dame Cathedral Fire (Video)

A mystery figure seen hours after the Notre Dame cathedral fire had already started.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Populists on Course to Become Largest French Party in EU Parliament Election

The populist National Rally could win the most European Parliament seats of any French party, with their campaign spearheaded by one of the youngest candidates in the race.

The National Rally (Rassemblement National/RN) has been polling strongly for several months, often neck and neck with the Republic on the Move (La République en Marche!/LREM), the party of French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to some recent polls, the party is expected to be in the running to win the most seats, with 23-year-old Jordan Bardella, the leading RN candidate, being dubbed the “crown prince” of the party, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.

Bardella gave an interview to the Financial Times in January saying, “we are going to fight to go to the European Commission to reclaim our four levers of sovereignty that are to us essential — our borders, economic and legislative sovereignty, and budget control.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Spanish Populist Party Banned From TV Debate

Spanish nationalist-populist party VOX has been dropped from an upcoming televised debate due to pressure from the electoral commission, despite surging national support and major regional success.

Party leader Santiago Abascal was due to join four other top candidates at the April 23rd event, hosted by private broadcaster Atresmedia, but will no longer be allowed to participate after smaller regional parties brought a complaint.

Interestingly, it was reportedly the only debate in which Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had committed to taking part ahead of April 28th parliamentary elections.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Ideological Roots of Modern Socialists

More often than not, socialism is associated with Marxism. But this is a misconception, as Marxism is an ideology of communism, an extreme and exceptional current of socialism. Marxism left a significant ideological imprint in socialist doctrines; nevertheless, it did not constitute a mass movement of the Left.

The reality is trivial: Marxism belongs to the Left, but the mainstream of the Left’s ideologies is not Marxian.

Ironically, the main currents of socialism emerged as a reformation, a revision of Marxian thoughts. Those revisionists can be divided into two groups: conformists and non-conformists. To the latter group belong, for example, revolutionary syndicalists and Bolsheviks who emancipated themselves from the determinism of Marxian materialist conception of history and saw a violent revolution as the only means to overthrown capitalism. The former group — Social Democrats — constitutes the majority of the socialist movement in Europe then and now.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Billionaire Branson Congratulates May for Stopping Clean, No Deal Brexit

Richard Branson has congratulated Prime Minister Theresa May for “standing up” to the “extreme right-wing” of her party by stopping a clean Brexit, saying he would “dearly love” a second referendum.

The billionaire businessman who lives on a private island told Reuters, “I take my hat off to Theresa May for standing up to her extreme right-wing and not allowing a no-deal Brexit to happen because I think that would have done irreparable damage to Great Britain and a lot of damage to Europe, as well.”

[Comment: Buffoon Branson let the cat out of the bag. This was May’s role all along — to appear incompetant but really ensure no Brexit.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Conservatives, Labour Have ‘Never Been in Such Jeopardy’ Over Failure to Appeal to Voters

British voters are drifting away from the two legacy establishment parties because divisions over Brexit, the economy, and social issues are not being answered by Labour and the Conservatives, a new analysis of voting trends has found.

The two main political parties which have enjoyed a stranglehold in an effective two-party system for a century of British politics are seeing their voters increasingly dissatisfied and willing to vote for new, smaller parties.

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

UK: Pink Climate Boat Towed Away After Dame Emma Thompson Rallies Activists

A pink boat used by Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists to blockade Oxford Circus has been towed away by police after five days at the heart of the climate demonstrations in London.

The boat, which became a symbol for the ongoing disruption, was dismantled on Friday afternoon, several hours after Dame Emma Thompson used it as a stage to rally protesters.

Dame Emma Thompson has rallied cheering Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists blocking London’s busiest shopping street and declared “our planet is in serious trouble”.

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

What Really Caused the Notre Dame Cathedral Fire?

Following the horrifying fire that badly damaged one of the world’s great treasures, the mainstream media is pushing the storyline that the fire that ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was caused by an “electrical short circuit.” But the story in the Daily Mail lacks any evidence to back up that claim.

A French judicial police official said investigators brought in to work out the cause of the inferno made the claims — despite them not having been given access to the church yet for safety reasons. The official, who spoke anonymously about the ongoing investigation, said the monument is still being consolidated with wooden planks to support some fragile parts of the walls. Only after it is fully made safe will investigators will be allowed a closer look in order to accurately determine the cause of the fire… .Only after (the Cathedral) is fully made safe will investigators will be allowed a closer look in order to accurately determine the cause of the fire.

Did you get that? “Investigators” brought in to determine the cause of the tragic blaze have not yet been given access to the burned-out cathedral. Nevertheless they are already announcing the results of their investigation. Even as the embers were still glowing on the day of the fire, French prosecutors were ruling out arson. On what evidence were they able to make that judgment?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Salafists Raise Fears by Increasing Presence on Egypt’s Political Stage

(Cairo) An administrative court will rule on April 27 in a lawsuit on whether the nation’s Salafists, a group of ultraorthodox Muslims, should be allowed to preach at the mosques. The lawsuit was filed by well-known lawyer Samir Sabri who says he is alarmed at the extent of Salafist presence at the mosques. “They [the Salafists] use houses of Islamic prayer to increase their political outreach, especially in the Egyptian countryside,” Sabri said. “They also use the mosques to generate money for bankrolling their activities.”

The lawsuit and the expected ruling come as the Salafists gain new ground day after day, using the vacuum left on Egypt’s political and religious stage by the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The Brotherhood saw its political heyday in mid-2012 when Morsi, a senior member of its command office, was elected president, fulfilling a decades-old dream of his movement which was founded in 1928…

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

Yellow Vest Violence Erupts Again, Spreads to Libya; 137 Arrested

More clashes broke out on Saturday between Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protesters and French riot police during the 23rd straight week of protests across France. Police had arrested 137 protesters by 15:40 CEST (3:40 PM local time), according to Euro News.

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

Stolen Archives Show the True History of Russia Collusion

Numerous examples are provided in a soon to be released book, Judgment in Moscow, by the heroic Soviet dissident, Vladimir Bukovsky. He makes use of extensive first hand documents that he personally stole from Russia’s Central Committee (C.C.) archives, which have never before been accessible to Americans.

The media must be tripping over themselves to see what Bukovsky reveals…right?

Well, not so much. Because the C.C. documents demonstrate, irrefutably, that the American Establishment was the one willingly and repeatedly colluding with Russia — an inconvenient fact.

This is history that the mainstream media don’t want Americans to know. Bukovsky’s book was actually first published over two decades ago in many languages and countries. But not in America.

Random House said it would publish it but then demanded that Bukovsky fundamentally alter its content — downplay the infiltration of the West by Russia! Show how insignificant Russian actions were! — that Bukovsky had to walk away. Afterward, no American publisher would touch it.

That’s especially remarkable, given Bukovsky’s accomplished life. He spent over a decade in gulags, psychiatric wards, and labor camps and wrote a worldwide bestseller on it, To Build a Castle: My Life as a Dissenter. He then went on to be an adviser to President Reagan and a personal friend of Prime Minister Thatcher.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Libertarian ‘Seasteaders’ Face Execution in Thailand for ‘Violating National Sovereignty’

Despite its location just outside of Thailand’s territorial waters, leaving it outside the reach of the country’s laws according to international maritime law, the world’s second “seastead” was raided by Thai police earlier this week as the country’s military-dominated government pressed charges of violating national sovereignty against the two bitcoin enthusiasts who had lived there.

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

Huge 2.5 Metre Tiger Shark is Caught at a Popular Sydney Beach After a Spate of Attacks on Swimmers

A 2.5 metre tiger shark has been caught at a popular Sydney beach after a string of attacks on swimmers.

The predator was caught using a new SMART drum line at Dee Why Beach in the heart of Sydney’s Northern Beaches region last week.

The mechanism consists of a floating barrel with two lines attached to it. One line is attached to an anchor on the sea floor, while the other features a large baited shark hook.

A small amount of bait is used to only attract sharks that are very close and stop them from swimming further into a beach.

The capture comes after a Melbourne doctor was mauled to death by a tiger shark in November last year and a 12-year-old girl lost her leg to a tiger shark in September.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Prime Minister and Entire Government of Mali Resign as Islamist Violence Surges

Mali’s prime minister resigned along with his entire government on Thursday following criticism over their handling of an upsurge of violence in the centre of the country and a massacre last month that left 160 people dead.

A statement from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s office said he had accepted Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga’s resignation and that of his government two weeks after mass protests erupted over the rising tide of violence.

Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties had submitted a motion of no confidence against the government on Wednesday, blaming Maiga and his administration for failing to clamp down on the unrest.

“A prime minister will be named very soon and a new government will be put in place after consultations with all political forces” from both the ruling and opposition sides, the statement from Keita’s office said.

The president had on Tuesday said in a televised address that he had “heard the anger”, without explicitly naming the prime minister.

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

South Africa: Moment Carjackers Drag Tourist From Car by Her Hair in Johannesburg (White)

The incident was filmed by a CCTV camera at the security gates to a residential complex in Randburg located in the city of Johannesburg in the north-eastern South African province of Gauteng.

[Comment: Note the carjackers were driving a BMW SUV and the young white lady was in an econobox VW.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Angel Mom Wendy Corcoran: My Son ‘Forever Separated From Us, ‘ Illegal Alien ‘Returned Home to His Family’

When her son’s alleged killer was deported from the United States this month, Angel Mom Wendy Corcoran said her family “knew early on that it was a real possibility” that they may never see justice in the courts.

The Angel Family has continued to grieve after 22-year-old Pierce Corcoran was killed in a car crash in Knoxville, Tennessee, allegedly caused by 44-year-old illegal alien Francisco Eduardo Franco-Cambrany just days before New Year’s Eve last year.

Following the fatal crash, some eyewitnesses said the illegal alien would have fled the scene if his car had not been totaled. And despite the crash leading to Pierce’s death, Franco-Cambrany was not mandated to undergo a toxicology report.

Two days after burying Pierce, Wendy said her family discovered that there was no toxicology report conducted — a potential key to the case that may have resulted in a drunk driving, reckless driving, or vehicular manslaughter charges.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Armed Militia Rounding up Migrants at Southern Border

A New Mexico militia operating along the border with Mexico has been stopping groups of migrants who have illegally entered the country, holding them at gunpoint, and then handing them over to Border Patrol agents, according to the New York Times.

Known as The United Constitutional Patriots, the group has long operated along the southern US border, attempting to stem the flood of undocumented migrants entering the country. According to KVIA, the group rounded up more than 350 people this week who had crossed the border in West El Paso, Texas — one town over from Sunland Park, New Mexico. The US Border Patrol has not confirmed the exact number.

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

Greece: A “No-Go” Zone in Athens?

An assault on members of the Hellenic Coast Guard during a drug raid in Athens on April 4 highlights a growing problem in Greece. Some opponents of the far-left Syriza-led government attribute the increasing drug traffic in the country to a dangerous alliance between political anarchists and illegal immigrants. The anarchists might be considered the Greek equivalent of the “far left”. According to Reuters:

“Many self-proclaimed anarchists — the word stems from the Greek ‘anarchia’ or absence of authority — say they are pacifist, but certain groups have few qualms about using violence. Six years of recession have fuelled a new wave of left-wing militancy, according to officials, anarchists and court testimony.”

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

Italian Convert to Islam and Moroccan Migrant Arrested Over Terror Plot

Two Islamic State sympathisers have been arrested in Italy after investigators discovered they were plotting to carry out a terror attack.

Police arrested the two men, an Italian convert to Islam and a migrant from Morocco, last week before they were able to carry out attacks on Italian civilians, newspaper Il Giornale reports.

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

Vigilantes or Patriots? FBI Arrests Head of Militia Rounding up Illegal Migrants at US Border

Federal agents have detained the head of New Mexico’s people’s militia group, whose volunteer forces have ‘helped’ US border agents detain hundreds of illegal immigrants along the US-Mexico border, for illegal possession of arms.

Larry Mitchell Hopkins, who runs the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) was arrested on Saturday on charges of possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon, the FBI said. No other information was shared with the public. The 69-year-old is due to appear in US District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Monday.

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

Always Get it in Writing

Babydoc observes that the diversity dumbing-down rot is now infecting medicine:

I was just informed today that it didn’t matter that my medical decision on a particular issue was correct, because “the reality is the perception of the nursing staff” who were upset because I made them feel stupid by showing them the correct answer.

Babydoc should be sure to ask for instructions for how to behave in the event of similar future conflicts in writing. A medical institution that is literally on the record stating that the feelings of the nursing staff are to be prioritized over the medical treatment of the patient is a massive malpractice suit in the making.

And if you’re not terrified by these developments, you should be. Iatrogenic deaths are going to absolutely skyrocket now that diversity has invaded the medical sector.

           — Hat tip: JJ [Return to headlines]
 

Atheists Exploit Holy Week to Claim ‘Jesus Did Not Exist’

Professional atheists and God-slayers love to target important Christian feasts to try their hand at debunking the foundations of Christianity, and this Easter is no different.

Writing for Raw Story, former evangelical Christian Valerie Tarico and atheist activist David Fitzgerald teamed up this Holy Week to insist that “the evidence that Jesus ever existed is weaker than you might think.”

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

Buttigieg Pushes Slavery, Unplanned Labeled “Propaganda” By Gulag

The LGBT identity poster-child finally unveils a policy — and its authoritarian to the core. And, nearly 100 abortion workers have sought a new job after seeing “Unplanned”.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mayor Pete Buttigieg: ‘Think of Something Really Gay — That’s How Gay I Am’

Mayor Pete Buttigieg acknowledged that he would face challenges as an openly gay presidential candidate if he ultimately faced President Donald Trump in the general election.

“I’m from Indiana, I’m gay as a — I don’t know, think of something really gay — that’s how gay I am,” he said in an interview with TMZ’s Harvey Levin.

Levin warned Buttigieg that Trump campaign would most certainly turn homophobic.

“I’m used to bullying,” Buttigieg replied. “I think you confront it, initially, and move on.”

He said that as a presidential candidate he would focus on calling out Trump’s behavior but remain intent on changing the subject to his own agenda.

Buttigieg quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. saying that “darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.”

Levin, who is also gay, asked Buttigieg if he was worried that his homosexuality would be a “dealbreaker” for many Americans.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

8 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/20/2019

  1. Re Angel Mom Wendy Cormorant… John Wick is our future. Across the West ordinary citizens can no longer trust the police or courts or civil society to deliver justice. We should meditate on this daily. It’s the law of the jungle. Vigilante justice is the only justice now. Just accept it and plan accordingly. Stay away from crowds. Get armed up and have it at hand in your car. Take basic self-defense and firearms courses. Most important, don’t speak to police; they’re not on your side. Best solution — move to a country that has zero migrants and a living rule of law, i.e. Poland, Hungary, Korea, Japan, Chile.

    • Gun Training:

      I live on the US-Canada border next to a large American city.

      There are quite a few places in this city where anyone, even non-US citizens, can learn to shoot a gun in an indoor shooting range. It is very reasonable in price and a lot of fun.

  2. Alas, I will be submitting an article to the news feed on the latest Islamist atrocity.

  3. Re: Dutch politician wants halal beach in The Hague. Never mind ugly naked people, many non-muslims feel uncomfortable with women whose faces they can’t see, and men with beards but no mustaches, which looks ridiculous (no apologies to some Christian sects who do this!)

    Re: Germany wants nuclear bombers. I don’t have a problem with this, but can’t resist quoting Tom Lehrer, “The MLF Lullaby”, c1965:
    “Sleep baby sleep, in peace may you slumber,
    No danger lurks, your sleep to encumber,
    We’ve got the missiles, peace to determine,
    And one of the fingers on the button will be German…
    Once all the Germans were warlike and mean,
    But that couldn’t happen again.
    We taught then a lesson in 1918,
    And they’ve hardly bothered us since then”.

  4. Well, what do your media say about Sri Lanka?
    Our media – carefully avoid calling religious affiliation “extremists.” They write that their goal is to break the delicate balance in the East.
    Well, except that the Russian-language Israeli press writes everything without cuts.

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