Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/29/2019

The Lega, the party of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, is reportedly close to finalizing a deal with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. If the deal goes through, the two parties will form an alliance to cooperate in the European Parliament.

In other news, Pope Francis told an interviewer that he has always been a conservative.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, robyt, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

Financial Crisis
» EU Confirms Italy Risks Massive Fine Over Debt, Sending Euro to Session Lows
 
USA
» Another Woman Goes Traveling Alone, Almost Dies
» Archbishop: Pope Francis is ‘Lying’ About McCarrick, ‘Contradicts Himself’
» Are Facebook, Twitter, Google Evil or Just Everywhere? What We Have to Do About Big Tech.
» Contempt for Barr: ‘Mind-Bendingly Bizarre’
» Gallup: Trump Leadership Rating Jumps, Beats Obama on Issues, Ideology
» Is the Liberal Hour Ending in the West?
» It’s Not Your Imagination: The Journalists Writing About Antifa Are Often Their Cheerleaders
» Kim Foxx Throws the Book at Old White Guy Over False Police Report, Let Jussie Smollett Off for Same Crime
» Man Sets Himself on Fire Near White House
» Microsoft’s ElectionGuard a Trojan Horse for a Military-Industrial Takeover of US Elections
» Moving Closer to Mob Rule: No Choice, No Voice
» NBC Polling Data Shows Sanders Voters Are ‘Low Information’ And Sanders Voters Aren’t Happy
» Phil Robertson, Unashamed: ‘The Evil One’ Is Running the Democrat Party
» PJW: YouTube Broke Their Own Search Engine
» Police: 80 California High School Students Attack Officers, Cause Lockdown
» Robert Davi: Comparing Jon Voight to John Wilkes Booth for Praising Trump ‘Is an Atrocity’
» Ted Cruz: Leftists Used to ‘Defend’ Free Speech. Today They ‘Silence’ It.
» Third Man Arrested in Connection With Waupaca County Explosion
» This is Not “Normal”: There Have Been More Than 500 Tornadoes in the U.S. During the Last 30 Days
» Trump-Hating GOP Rep. Justin Amash Fires Off Unhinged Tweetstorm Attacking AG Bill Barr
» Viganò: Pope Francis is Lying About McCarrick
 
Canada
» Canada Moves to Ratify North American Trade Deal Ahead of Visit by U.S. Vice President
 
Europe and the EU
» “Yellow Vest” Facebook Group With 350,000 Members Frozen on European Election Day
» Council of Europe Assembly Rejects Far-Right Political Grouping
» EU Council Chief Brags Brexit Was ‘Vaccine’ Against Euroscepticism
» Farage: ‘Liberal’ EU is ‘Killing and Destroying’ European Democracy
» Italy Should Give UN ‘Tough Response’ Salvini Tells Conte
» Italy: Top Magistrate Palamara Denies Corruption Accusations
» Italy: Far-Left Extremist Arrested in Connection With Salvini Party Office Bombing
» Italy’s Salvini Calls for ‘Tough Response’ To UN After it Criticizes Migrant Policy
» Italy: Salvini Pushes Domestic Agenda of Tax Reform After EU Election Landslide
» Jacob Rees-Mogg Assaulted by Remainer Thugs in London
» League Close to Deal With Farage — Zanni
» Merkel Warns of Populists’ Rise in Europe
» Pope Francis: ‘I Am a Conservative’
» Ratings Fail: CNN Fires All London Correspondents, Asks Them to Reapply for Jobs
» Scandal-Plagued Former Austrian Populist Leader Wins Right to Sit in EU Parliament
» Sweden Muslim Foundation Files Police Complaint After Mohammed Cartoons Discovered
» The Lessons of Europeans to EU Supporters
» UK: Brexit: Boris Johnson Ordered to Appear in Court Over £350m Claim
» UK: Farage Warns Tories That Brussels Will Not Budge on Soft-Brexit Treaty
» Who Really Are the Syrian White Helmets?
» WikiLeaks Issues Statement About Julian Assange Being Moved to Prison Hospital Unit, Express ‘Grave Concerns’ For His Health
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Israel to Hold Fresh Election as Netanyahu Fails to Form Coalition
 
Middle East
» Former Iranian MP Reports: “Obama Gave US $1.7 Billion With $400 Million in Cash in Suitcases” [Video]
» Islam’s Greatest Victory: The Fall of Constantinople
» Latest Attempt to Prosecute President Assad at ICC is Further Criminalisation of “International Justice”
» Reporters Persecuted in France as Part of Global War Against Journalists
 
South Asia
» New Species of Wasp Identified in Goa
 
Far East
» Mass Stabbing Attack on Schoolgirls in Japan Kills Two, Injures 16
 
Australia — Pacific
» ‘It’s About One Man Who’s Allegedly Done Something Horrific’: Top Cop is Accused of ‘Demonising’ Males by Saying ‘All Men’ Are to Blame for Courtney Herron’s Murder
» ‘We Thought We Were Gonna Get Killed’: Gang Storm a Couple’s Home and Hold a Woman at Knifepoint While Bashing Her Husband
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Somali Parents Sending Their Kids Back to Africa to Escape London Knife Crime Epidemic
 
Immigration
» DHS Flying Illegal Aliens to U.S. Cities, Releasing Them Into Communities
» Humanity Repeating Mistakes With New Walls Says Pope
» John Cleese: London is Not an English City Anymore
» Pope Francis Holds Up Sweden as Model of Successful Immigration
» Suspect Behind Lyon Parcel Bomb Attack is an Illegal Migrant From Algeria
» Texas Teacher Put on Leave Over Immigration Tweets to Trump
» The Latest: Border Activist Who Helped Migrants Now on Trial
» UK: John Cleese Did an Oopsie
 
Culture Wars
» #AgeGapLove is Latest Effort to Normalize Pedophilia by Grooming Children
» Christian Schools That Fear Their Own Bible
» Church Official Quits: ‘No Longer a Christian Place’
» How the Left is Erasing America’s History, Culture, Institutions and Blessings
» Nationalism vs. Globalism is Good vs. Evil
» NYC Education Officials Were Demoted ‘For Being White,’ Bombshell Lawsuit Claims
» Two Journalists Warn That “Weak Christianity” Is Killing the West
» World Health Org Declares Transgenderism is Not a Mental Illness… But Gaming Addiction is
 

EU Confirms Italy Risks Massive Fine Over Debt, Sending Euro to Session Lows

Following an unconfirmed report on Monday that Italy faces a €3.5 billion fine from the European Commission unless Europe’s largest sovereign debtor curbs its debt levels, moments ago Bloomberg confirmed that the Commission has indeed put Italy’s debt once again in its sights, sending a letter to the Italian finance minister in which it warned Italy that it has not made sufficient progress towards compliance with its debt-reduction obligations, and is at risk of disciplinary measures in accordance with EU law.

The Commission specifically asked Italy to provide explanations about 2018 debt by May 31, which the Commission will take into account in its final report on the matter. In response, an Italian Finance Ministry spokesman said minister Giovanni Tria “received as expected” a letter sent by the European Commission on the nation’s debt and “stands ready to reply.”

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

Another Woman Goes Traveling Alone, Almost Dies

Progressive delusion that the world isn’t a very dangerous place highlighted yet again

In yet another case of its kind, a woman went hiking on her own into a dense forest in Maui only to go missing for 17 days and almost die.

35-year-old yoga instructor Amanda Eller went missing on May 8 after she set off into the forest wearing just a thin top, a sports bra and a pair of yoga pants.

She left her keys, wallet and phone inside her Toyota RAV4 and decided to take a different route back to her vehicle instead of retracing her original path.

However, Eller lost her bearings and instead of making her way back just kept going deeper into the jungle.

She subsequently suffered a broken leg after falling 20 feet off a cliff and also had cuts to her feet as a result of losing her shoes during a flash flood

Eller managed to survive by sleeping in a boar’s den and eating moths.

The yoga instructor, originally from Maryland, was rescued by two men in a rescue helicopter who spotted her waving from beside a creek.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Archbishop: Pope Francis is ‘Lying’ About McCarrick, ‘Contradicts Himself’

A former Vatican nuncio has accused Pope Francis of lying about not knowing Theodore McCarrick’s history of homosexual abuse, saying that the pope contradicts himself.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who released an 11-page bombshell report last August in which he declared that in 2013 he had personally informed the pope of McCarrick’s misdeeds and of sanctions imposed in him by Pope Benedict XVI, says now that Francis is lying about what he knew.

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

Are Facebook, Twitter, Google Evil or Just Everywhere? What We Have to Do About Big Tech.

Is social media a threat, or a menace? That seems to be the question many are asking today. Where just a few years ago, companies like Facebook or Google were seen as white knights of progress, now there seems to be a lot more skepticism about their effects and their intentions.

I saw this firsthand last week when I spoke at a conference on free speech and social media at Stanford Law School, where I talked about my new book, “The Social Media Upheaval.” As I discuss in my book, the rise of social media has brought about a lot of change, and much of it isn’t appreciated.

In the book, I note that although our society generally supports free speech quite strongly, we do regulate speech that is too dangerous — like incitement to riot — or speech that is false and defamatory, and we often regulate things that are addictive, or invasions of privacy. Social media tends to have all of those characteristics to varying degrees. Some of that is because of how it is structured.

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

Contempt for Barr: ‘Mind-Bendingly Bizarre’

Will Alexander blasts Dems living in ‘fragile anti-Trump echo chambers’

Democrats are failing the Barr exam. While Bill Barr grapples with the cerebral acrobatics of time-tested law, Democrats clown around in the political circus. Barr functions in the real world. Dems live in partisan bubbles that float inside fragile anti-Trump echo chambers.

The two worlds are clashing.

When the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Barr in contempt of Congress and threatened to do the same to former White House Counsel Donald McGahn after his no-show on Tuesday, they screamed to the world that they’re not serious people.

Barr is dead serious. And he smells a rat.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Gallup: Trump Leadership Rating Jumps, Beats Obama on Issues, Ideology

More Americans believe that President Trump has the personality and leadership qualities to be president than two years ago, and he topped former President Barack Obama’s rating for working on issues most important to them, according to a new survey.

Gallup found that 47% agree with Trump on the issues, edging Obama at the two year mark of his presidency. In April 2007, 45% agreed with Obama on issues, said Gallup.

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

Is the Liberal Hour Ending in the West?

Hillary Clinton called them “the deplorables.” Barack Obama called them losers who “cling” to their Bibles, bigotries and guns.

To President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission, they are “these populist, nationalists, stupid nationalists… in love with their own countries.”

Well, “stupid” they may be, and, yes, they do love their countries, but last week they gave Juncker a thrashing, as they shook up the West and the world.

Elections in the world’s largest electoral blocs — the 28-nation EU, and an India of 1.3 billion people — showed that the tide of nationalism continues to rise and spread across Europe and Asia.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

It’s Not Your Imagination: The Journalists Writing About Antifa Are Often Their Cheerleaders

On February 1, 2017, Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to give a talk about free speech at the University of California, Berkeley. But he was prevented from speaking by a group of 150 or so masked, black-clad members of a then-obscure movement calling itself “Antifa.” The protestors caused $100,000 worth of damage to the campus and injured six people as they threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. Nine months later, again at Berkeley, an “anti-Marxist” rally descended into violence as approximately 100 masked Antifa members harassed journalists and beat rally organizers and attendees.

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

Kim Foxx Throws the Book at Old White Guy Over False Police Report, Let Jussie Smollett Off for Same Crime

This is Kim Foxx country!

From The Daily Mail, “Frail Chicago businessman, 76, charged with the SAME crime as Jussie Smollett was fined and now has a criminal record, while the disgraced actor who cost the city $130,000 by refusing to admit culpability had all charges dropped”:

A frail businessman was arrested and charged with the same crime as Jussie Smollett, and admitted his crimes straight away to save Chicago police an investigation, but now has a criminal record.

Robert Racky pleaded guilty to filing false police report last month, after calling the cops in August 2018 saying he been carjacked. In fact, he had been booted by the city for unpaid parking tickets.

The frail 76-year-old, who opened the first rooftop club outside the home of the Chicago Cubs in Wrigleyville in 1988, was thrown in jail for two days before a lawyer posted his bond.

He couldn’t afford to pay the bail himself because of a slew of financial problems and was suffering from crippling bronchitis at the time.

Racky admitted his crimes straight after he was arrested and saved the city a lengthy investigation, but was still dragged through the courts and will now likely end his life with a rap sheet.

It was his first offense. Now questions are being raised as to why Racky was subjected to different standards to Smollett.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Man Sets Himself on Fire Near White House

While we had grown somewhat used to seeing horrific self-immolation scenes across various authoritarian regimes in Asia, the US Secret Service confirmed that a man has set himself on fire a short distance away from the White House today.

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

Microsoft’s ElectionGuard a Trojan Horse for a Military-Industrial Takeover of US Elections

Earlier this month, tech giant Microsoft announced its solution to “protect” American elections from interference, which it has named “ElectionGuard.” The election technology is already set to be adopted by half of voting machine manufacturers and some state governments for the 2020 general election. Though it has been heavily promoted by the mainstream media in recent weeks, none of those reports have disclosed that ElectionGuard has several glaring conflicts of interest that greatly undermine its claim aimed at protecting U.S. democracy…

However, according to Jonathan Simon, election forensic analyst and author of CODE RED: Computerized Elections and the War on American Democracy, this public relations campaign is likely just cover for more insider control over U.S. elections. “It’s encouraging that after close to two decades of ignoring the security issues with computerized voting, there’s suddenly a scramble to protect our next election that suggests those issues are finally being taken seriously,” Simon told MintPress. “Unfortunately the proposed solution is just more computerization and complexity — which translates to more control by experts and insiders, though of course that is not part of the PR campaign.”

[Comment: Brought to you by the same folks that pushed “Newsguard”, which only pushed the globalist narrative in media as being “legitimate”. Electionguard is the same thing — to ensure that only globlaist approved candidates wkill win elections.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Moving Closer to Mob Rule: No Choice, No Voice

The Electoral College system is under attack as never before. With Nevada about to join the other fourteen states in joining the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, we are moving closer to both the possibility of mob rule and, unfortunately, a terrible confrontation.

Democrats were stunned by their loss in 2016. They were sure they had the election won months before it took place. People were chosen, plans were made. But, it didn’t happen. The states chose differently… by people, by region, by interests, by values. It was designed that way. It was constructed to give voice to every state’s burdens, every state’s concerns. The Electoral College was devised to give every state a voice in choosing the President of the United States, the only national election. A pure democracy does none of that.

[Comment: What these governors are doing is unconstitutional. If all the governors did this the electoral college would be useless. America would be a democracy, not a Republic. The governnors and other politicians who advocate this should be doing serious jail time. The constitution is the highest law in the land, and the elctoral college was designed to prevent mob rule.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NBC Polling Data Shows Sanders Voters Are ‘Low Information’ And Sanders Voters Aren’t Happy

An NBC poll which debuted Sunday on “Meet the Press” revealed a characteristic about Bernie Sanders (I-VT) voters that wasn’t exactly flattering.

It turns out, the less you pay attention to politics, the more likely you are to support the socialist option for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

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

Phil Robertson, Unashamed: ‘The Evil One’ Is Running the Democrat Party

Duck Commander Phil Robertson expressed hope for Donald Trump remaining in office and Americans returning to faith while slamming the Democrat Party as run by “the Evil One” when he joined Breitbart News Daily radio on SiriusXM Patriot 125 Tuesday.

“If everybody just stepped back and looked at the Democratic Party and what they’re into, they are now into gross sexual immorality and perversion, they’re into murder, and they are into a continuing nonstop barrage of lies,” said Robertson. He said add those up, “Well, Jesus said 2,000 years ago that the Evil One is the father of murder and lies…so that is who is running the Democratic Party, the Evil One.”

He then remarked that most people would call the Democrat Party “crazy,” but countered that to say, “what they actually really are, are very, very evil.” Robertson said “that’s what it’s all about” then pushed further, “they’re so evil, they seem like they’re mentally ill.”

[Comment: He is right. Look at the Commicrat Party’s rabid antics, devoid of any logic.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

PJW: YouTube Broke Their Own Search Engine

PJW explains how YouTube is so obsessed with enforcing soft censorship, it’s willing to do so at the expense of its top independent creators.

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

Police: 80 California High School Students Attack Officers, Cause Lockdown

Bear Creek High School in Stockton, California, was placed on lockdown last week after an estimated 80 students attacked police officers who arrived on campus to detain one student for fighting with school staff.

Stockton police estimated that about 80 Bear Creek High School students were involved in a physical altercation with police officers on Friday morning as the officers were detaining one student for fighting with school staff, according to Stockton Record.

Video footage captured the chaotic brawl, which shows scores of students surrounding the officers in what appears to be an attempt to stop them from detaining the student. Moments later, one student in the crowd can be seen throwing a garbage can at the officers while the others jeer and shout.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Robert Davi: Comparing Jon Voight to John Wilkes Booth for Praising Trump ‘Is an Atrocity’

Veteran actor Robert Davi ripped left-wing actor Albert Brooks for comparing Jon Voight to Abraham Lincoln’s killer after the Hollywood icon praised President Donald Trump.

“To denigrate Voight and to [see] that Albert Brooks compared Jon Voight to John Wilkes Booth is an atrocity,” Robert Davi said in a video shared to Twitter on Monday. “John Wilkes Booth was a traitor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln as we know.”

Davi then called on Hollywood figures such as director and producer Norman Lear to “speak out” against Brooks’ smear against Voight.

“The continued beratement of Donald Trump and his supporters or people who have a different ideology of the left eliteness of Hollywood, they live in a different society than a John Doe that’s in Arkansas or the coal mines of Pennsylvania or Ohio,” Davi continued.

“There are differences of opinion. Respect them!” he urged.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ted Cruz: Leftists Used to ‘Defend’ Free Speech. Today They ‘Silence’ It.

“It used to be the Left defended free speech”.

[Comment: Naturally. When in the minority, they defended free speech — especially them being allowed to insult, tear down America. Now they are infested at the top, it is “shut up while we tear down America”.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Third Man Arrested in Connection With Waupaca County Explosion

WAUPACA, WI (WSAU) — A third individual has been arrested in connection with the deadly explosion of a homemade device over the Memorial Day weekend

Sheriff’s officials say a 60-year-old Marion man was charged with homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon on Tuesday.

That’s in addition to the 43-year-old Clintonville man and 38-year-old new London man who were arrested on Monday on similar charges.

Officials have not released the names of those involved as the case remains under investigation.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

This is Not “Normal”: There Have Been More Than 500 Tornadoes in the U.S. During the Last 30 Days

Since 1998, there has been an average of 279 tornadoes during the month of May. So the fact that we have had more than 500 over the last 30 days means that we are running way, way above normal…

The mainstream media has been using the term “uncharted territory” to describe the unusual tornado outbreaks that have been happening in the middle of the country, but I don’t think that truly captures the historic nature of what we are witnessing.

Over the last 30 days, there have been more than 500 tornadoes in the United States. That is not normal. In fact, Tuesday was the 12th day in a row when at least eight tornadoes were spawned, and that is a new all-time record. Community after community in the Midwest now looks like a “war zone”, and billions upon billions of dollars of damage has already been done. But this crisis is far from over, because forecasters are telling us that more powerful storms will roar through the middle of the country on Wednesday.

Since 1998, there has been an average of 279 tornadoes during the month of May. So the fact that we have had more than 500 over the last 30 days means that we are running way, way above normal…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump-Hating GOP Rep. Justin Amash Fires Off Unhinged Tweetstorm Attacking AG Bill Barr

According to his financial disclosure forms, Amash is a co-owner of Dynamic Source International, a Chinese company that supplies Michigan Industrial Tools Inc., his father’s Wyoming-based business.

Dynamic Source International is based in YUHANG DISTRICT HANGZHOU ZHEJIANG CHINA.

No wonder Amash is such a Trump-hater and wants him out of the White House. Trump’s trade policies will help American workers but may not benefit the Amash family business— especially their business interests in China.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Viganò: Pope Francis is Lying About McCarrick

Archbishop Viganò informed Pope Francis of ex-cardinal McCarrick’s homosexual predation upon the pope’s inquiry into it. Now Francis says he never knew anything about McCarrick’s immoral activity. Vigano alleges that Francis is lying.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Canada Moves to Ratify North American Trade Deal Ahead of Visit by U.S. Vice President

OTTAWA (Reuters) — Canada moved to ratify a new North American Trade deal by formally presenting it to parliament on Wednesday, less than 24 hours ahead of a visit by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented the bill to the House of Commons, confirming a Reuters story from Tuesday that said the legislation would officially be offered up to parliament on Wednesday.

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

“Yellow Vest” Facebook Group With 350,000 Members Frozen on European Election Day

On Sunday, polling day in the European elections, the largest Facebook group associated with the “yellow vest” protests in France, with more than 350,000 members, was frozen so that members could not publish or share information in it.

The group, named “France in anger—Map of rallies” (France en colère—Carte des rassemblements), is used by its members to organize locations for “yellow vest” demonstrations against the Emmanuel Macron government and to share news articles, political statements and videos of police violence.

At 12:29 p.m. on Sunday, one of the group’s administrators posted a notice informing members that “following automatic changes introduced by Facebook beginning on May 6, 2019, notifications for Yellow Vest groups hardly appear, giving the impression of inactivity of the movement.” The message provided instructions for members to manually override the changes introduced by Facebook to show notifications for new activity.

The administrators further announced that “we have been encountering major technical difficulties since this morning,” without providing further information. “We are not able to find a durable solution at present. We are therefore taking the delicate decision to put the group on pause. We hope for a resolution of the situation at the end of the evening.” The freeze lasted until the early hours of yesterday morning.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Council of Europe Assembly Rejects Far-Right Political Grouping

Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly refuses to recognize nationalist alliance of lawmakers from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy

STRASBOURG, France — The Council of Europe’s assembly on Thursday rejected the creation of a political grouping of far-right European parties as nationalist movements look to make gains in this week’s European Parliament elections.

The Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly has no binding powers, but brings together around 300 lawmakers from 47 states to make recommendations on rights and democracy.

The Council of Europe is separate from the European Union and its parliament, and includes nations such as Turkey and Russia.

“The assembly’s bureau today decided not to recognize the formation of new political grouping of New European Democrats/Europe of Nations (NDE/ENL),” the council said on its Twitter account.

Led by Austrian lawmaker Martin Graf of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the NDE/ENL group looked to bring together nationalist lawmakers from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany’s AfD party and Italy’s League.

The request to recognize the new grouping was made last year.

“The Council of Europe was founded to protect democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The FPOe, AfD and the League want to destroy democracy,” said German Social-Democrat and assembly member Frank Schwabe.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe currently has six political groupings. The delegations are chosen to equally represent the political parties.

           — Hat tip: robyt [Return to headlines]
 

EU Council Chief Brags Brexit Was ‘Vaccine’ Against Euroscepticism

Roadblocks to delivering Brexit have acted as a “vaccine” against Euroscepticism in the European Parliament elections, Donald Tusk has said.

While populist, pro-national sovereignty parties made some significant gains in last week’s elections, the European Council chief bragged that the bloc still boasted “a pro-European majority” in parliament.

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

Farage: ‘Liberal’ EU is ‘Killing and Destroying’ European Democracy

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said that the self-professed “liberal” European Union in fact “crushes” democracy by taking the power away from European citizens and giving it to a political elite.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked Mr Farage, who led his Brexit Party to European Parliament election victory last week, how it is considered a “liberal” position to remain in the “German Empire, which is basically what the EU is,” rather than for the UK to seek independence and freedom.

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

Italy Should Give UN ‘Tough Response’ Salvini Tells Conte

Minister cites ‘interference’ over criticism of security decree

(ANSA) — Rome, May 29 — Deputy Premier Interior Minister Matteo Salvini addressed a letter Wednesday to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi to call for a “tough stance by the Italian government” after criticism of his proposed new security decree made by six UN Rapporteurs.

Salvini called the observations by the UN officials “inappropriate pitch invasions in a pre-election period”, especially as they concern a draft of the decree that has not yet been discussed by the Cabinet. The criticism was published in the run-up to last week’s European elections.

He also asked about the Italian contribution to the UN budget.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Top Magistrate Palamara Denies Corruption Accusations

Former ANM chief says he never interfered in appointments

(ANSA) — Rome, May 29 — Senior Italian magistrate Luca Palamara on Wednesday denied any wrongdoing after several newspapers reported he is under investigation in Perugia for alleged corruption. The case reportedly regards the appointment of the new chief prosecutor of Rome, which is before the Italian judiciary’s self-governing body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM).

Palamara, a former CSM board member and the former head of magistrates union ANM, called the accusations “defamatory” and said he had asked to be questioned by Perugia prosecutors.

“I would never, I stress never, barter with my job, my profession for anything and I am too respectful of the CSM’s prerogatives to interfere in its decisions, in particular the selection of the Rome prosecutor and the members of his or here team,” he said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Far-Left Extremist Arrested in Connection With Salvini Party Office Bombing

Police in northern Italy have arrested a far-left extremist in connection with the bombing of an office belonging to the League party of populist Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini.

The arrest comes after a long and in-depth investigation by the anti-mafia prosecutor’s office of Venice which determined the identity of the suspect who is believed to be close to the far-left anarchist scene, Il Giornale reports.

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

Italy’s Salvini Calls for ‘Tough Response’ To UN After it Criticizes Migrant Policy

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is calling for a “tough response” to the United Nations, and hinting that Italy may reassess its contributions after the body criticized Italy’s policies toward migrants from Africa.

Salvini, who also serves as minister of the interior in Italy’s coalition government, wrote to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte Wednesday calling criticism by U.N. officials “inappropriate pitch invasions in a pre-election period,” according to ANSA.

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

Italy: Salvini Pushes Domestic Agenda of Tax Reform After EU Election Landslide

Populist Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini said he will be using the momentum of his European Parliament election victory to push forward on several key domestic policies including tax and justice reform.

Mr Salvini has said that while he is not interested in triggering a snap general election — despite pushing his coalition partners, the Five Star Movement, into third place in the EU elections — he has made it clear that the Five Stars must listen to his policy proposals unless they want to risk another national poll, according to a report from newspaper Il Giornale.

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

Jacob Rees-Mogg Assaulted by Remainer Thugs in London

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg became the latest target of Remainer thugs after he was doused with water following an event in London this evening.

Rees-Mogg was assaulted after he left a speaking engagement at the Friends’ Meeting House in central London.

A man with a bullhorn tells the Somerset MP, “In you go Jacob, you horrible little man. Take your fascism with you,” as Rees-Mogg gets into a car.

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

League Close to Deal With Farage — Zanni

Italian MEP confident agreement can be wrapped up next week

(ANSA) — Brussels, May 29 — League MEP Marco Zanni said Wednesday that the Italian rightwing party is close to reaching an agreement with Nigel Farage’s Brexit party for an alliance at the European level. Zanni said that a meeting with Farage “went very well” adding that “we’ll see if we can wrap things up with him next week”. “We have got to a good stage (in talks). We are convinced we can wrap things up,” he continued.

“It’s obvious that he has to say that he has more than one option… (but) it’s a good agreement.

“It’s beneficial to all of us to be together. I am confident that we can wrap things up next week, aside from what is said in public”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Merkel Warns of Populists’ Rise in Europe

Chancellor also condemned the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany

(ANSA-AP) — BERLIN, 28 MAG — Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany has to be more vigilant when it comes to nationalist movements across Europe because of the country’s Nazi past. Merkel, who was interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Berlin, said in excerpts released Tuesday that Germany has to face up to populists who are finding mainstream support and recount “what history has brought.” Referring to populist parties across the continent that were boosted by European Parliament elections on the weekend that, Merkel said, “in Germany, obviously, they always have to be seen in a certain context, in the context of our past, which means we have to be that much more vigilant than others.” Merkel, speaking Monday, also condemned the rise of anti-Semitism in the country, saying Germany “always had a certain number of anti-Semites among us, unfortunately.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Francis: ‘I Am a Conservative’

Pope Francis said he has always been a doctrinal conservative and takes accusations of being a heretic with a grain of salt.

“I have always defended doctrine,” the pope told Mexican reporter Valentina Alazraki in a lengthy interview released Tuesday by Vatican News. “I am a conservative.”

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

Ratings Fail: CNN Fires All London Correspondents, Asks Them to Reapply for Jobs

Reports indicate the struggling cable news outlet is set to lay off all of its London correspondents, contradicting previous reports that indicated they would cut international programming but move many of these employees to Atlanta.

Earlier today, television and cable website Adweek reported that CNN International was expected to cut back the programming it produces and airs in London and replace at least 90 minutes of content per day with American content, and new details have surfaced indicating darker tidings for the once-respected outlet, as CNN will now lay off all its London based correspondents and allow them the opportunity to reapply to maintain some level of employment.

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

Scandal-Plagued Former Austrian Populist Leader Wins Right to Sit in EU Parliament

Former Austrian vice-chancellor and populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Strache has, through preferential voting, secured the right to sit for his party in the European Parliament.

Strache, who was forced to resign as both vice-chancellor and leader of the FPÖ due to the so-called “Ibiza-Affair” that has since brought down Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s government this week, received over 37,000 preferential candidate write-in votes, which is enough to give him preferred candidate status. This was despite Strache being in last place, at number 42, on the European Parliament election list, Die Presse reports.

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

Sweden Muslim Foundation Files Police Complaint After Mohammed Cartoons Discovered

A Muslim organisation in the Swedish city of Växjö have complained to local police after claiming to have found posters in an area of the city that caricatures the Muslim prophet, Mohammed.

Members of the Växjö Muslim Foundation made reports to the local police saying that they had discovered several posters depicting and insulting the prophet Mohammed in the Araby area of the city in Nydalavägen, Hjalmar Petris road and the Ulriksberg promenade, Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.

Police spokesman Robert Loeffel labelled the posters as being offensive to the local Muslim community but did not divulge what was actually portrayed on the posters themselves. The police did say that they were considering the posters as a crime, describing it as hate against an ethnic group.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Lessons of Europeans to EU Supporters

by Lorenzo Vita

Europe is not as its hardline pro-Europe supporters dreamt it. There is another Europe which has surfaced from these elections and which questions the entire structure which for years had been considered sturdy and permanent. And it is the European citizens themselves who have launched an unequivocal signal to those parties representing the pro-EU establishment. From Paris to Warsaw, from Athens to London, from Berlin to Rome. The hope now is that Brussels and the European capitals will learn from the lesson given to them by their voters. It is not a radical lesson; it is not a lesson brought on by the feared extreme right-wing wave that the media announced, nor the left-wing turn that many envisaged. It is a lesson imparted through the democratic system and the clear choices coming from the different European fronts which have brought to us a clear picture of the feelings sweeping through the Old Continent.

Every nation has given this European Union a lesson, Every area of the continent has given a signal. And now it is the European Union’s top executives who must draw their conclusions. For months, the United Kingdom was considered a country that had made a mistake. The media depicted the British as a deluded people who had been drawn in by their Pied Piper, Nigel Farage. And yet, we received news of the contrary: the heart of Great Britain still wants Brexit and proved it by voting for the Brexit Party as well as by its support for the Conservative party, which although reduced, still points in a direction favouring the divorce between London and Brussels…

While London reminded the world it is in favour of Brexit, France imparted another lesson: the Country’s revolt against Emmanuel Macron was not a flash in the pan. And the Nation’s skin is actually changing; on the one hand it is granting increasing support to Marine le Pen, while on the other its abstention can also be read in an anti-Macron light. And there we were, thinking the country was in the hands of pro-Europe supporters and that Paris was the cradle of the EU locomotive. France confirms it is a Euro-skeptical Nation despite its President becoming the symbol of the great EU bureaucracy. And the image that we are left with is that of a government which has completely lost touch with its people.

Another lesson comes to us from the Visegrad Group. The eastern wind continues to blow on the European Union. And Viktor Orban, accused of being against Europe, of being isolated, of having no allies, actually proved (once again) to be a decisive leader for EU’s present and future. The percentage of votes obtained on Sunday by Fidesz confirmed it is one of the pillars of the European People’s Party and above all, it emphasized that a great proportion of Hungarians do not approve of Europe as devised by Brussels. As don’t the rest of the people of Eastern Europe who have clearly expressed they have no intention of bowing to Europe’s dictates, on cultural topics nor on the subject of immigrants. The lesson of the people of Visegrad is that that part of Europe will not give in to the pressure exerted by Brussels. It would seem neither in the short nor in the long term.

Yet another lesson was given by Italy. Yesterday’s vote, which cannot be denied resulted in a sweeping victory for the Lega party is, above all, a warning to the pro-Europe establishment. Those parties who deeply criticize the European Union make up over half of the Italian electorate. The country is obviously oriented towards the right, ranging from softer to more extreme positions; if we sum up the votes of Lega, Movimento Cinque Stelle and Fratelli d’Italia, the parties which more than the others have criticized the EU’s choices, the picture we are left with is one where the majority of the Country is strongly critical of Europe. And this is an important signal for everybody which should not be underestimated.

However, the Germans have also imparted their lesson. Germany, the very heart of the European Union, appears deeply tentative with regard to the EU bureaucracy. Germany is amongst those countries which have benefitted most from a united Europe and the Eurozone and Angela Merkel was certainly the Chancellor who more than any other tied the German agenda to that of the EU. And yet, the elections have seen CDU support fall drastically (22,6%) compared to five years ago when the Christian Democrats were at 30%. If we consider the Green party’s booming results and the fact that the AFD was able to maintain a consolidated 10%, what we are faced with is a completely changed Germany which, while still pro-Europe, comes starkly into with some of the EU’s current policies.

If to these lessons we add that of abstention in the Balkans, which confirms the dislike of south-eastern Europeans for the European Union, as well as that of Greece who abandoned Alexis Tsipras and has waged war against those who carried out the pro-Europe dictates, a clear picture emerges: the people of Europe have chosen to launch a very clear signal. Europe stands: but it is not that depicted by its unrelenting supporters. And it must try and change if it does not want to end up completely defeated.

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

UK: Brexit: Boris Johnson Ordered to Appear in Court Over £350m Claim

Boris Johnson has been ordered to appear in court over claims he lied by saying the UK gave the EU £350m a week.

The Tory leadership candidate has been accused of misconduct in public office after making the claim during the 2016 EU referendum campaign.

It is a private prosecution launched by campaigner Marcus Ball, who crowdfunded £200,000 for the case.

A source close to Mr Johnson called the case a “politically motivated attempt to reverse Brexit”.

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

UK: Farage Warns Tories That Brussels Will Not Budge on Soft-Brexit Treaty

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has warned Conservative Party leadership hopefuls who believe they can renegotiate a better exit deal with Brussels that Eurocrats will not change “one dot or comma” of the withdrawal treaty.

Mr Farage, who led his party to victory in last week’s European Parliament elections, directed his comments to foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, a Remain supporter who said he now backs Brexit, and who said that should he become prime minister that he would go back to the EU and negotiate a better deal which could then gain enough parliamentary support to pass in the House of Commons.

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

Who Really Are the Syrian White Helmets?

By Asma Samir

Amid years of chaos, destruction and a bloody civil war in Syria, emerged a group of rescue and search workers known as the White Helmets. Founded in late 2012 early 2013, the White Helmets describe themselves as “former tailors, bakers, teachers, painters” and other blue-collar workers and ordinary Syrian men and women who had come together to form the “Syria Civil Defence” also known as (aka) the “White Helmets.”

That despite the presence and operations (since the 1950’s) of the government civil defence organisation (Syria Civil Defence) operating across the country. With its nearly “3,000 members,” the White Helmets operate only in “rebel-held” areas across Syria to rescue civilians trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Despite claiming to be “a non-partisan organisation” the White Helmets was established by former British army officer James Le Mesurier — a veteran of “NATO interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo” — and trained by the “Turkish AKUT Search and Rescue Association.”…

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

WikiLeaks Issues Statement About Julian Assange Being Moved to Prison Hospital Unit, Express ‘Grave Concerns’ For His Health

The health of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has deteriorated so drastically that his lawyer says it is not possible to conduct a normal conversation with him.

On Wednesday, WikiLeaks issued a statement expressing grave concerns about the situation.

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

Israel to Hold Fresh Election as Netanyahu Fails to Form Coalition

Israeli lawmakers have voted to dissolve parliament after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government.

The vote triggered a fresh election, which will be held on 17 September.

Mr Netanyahu was unable to reach a deal for a fresh right-wing coalition following last month’s election.

At the heart of the impasse was a military conscription bill governing exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.

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

Former Iranian MP Reports: “Obama Gave US $1.7 Billion With $400 Million in Cash in Suitcases” [Video]

Imam Mohamad Tawhidi tweeted out about the video below:

Former Iranian MP Alireza Zakani says that the Obama Administration gave us $1.7 Billion with $400M in cash in suitcases.

He says Trump had a good reason to end the Iran deal because Obama gave us interest on top of it (from US taxpayer money).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Islam’s Greatest Victory: The Fall of Constantinople

Six centuries ago, the last remnant of Imperial Rome fell to the Muslim hordes.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Latest Attempt to Prosecute President Assad at ICC is Further Criminalisation of “International Justice”

In March 2019 two law firms filed cases at the ICC against Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad and unnamed members of the Syrian government. Toby Cadman of Guernica Chambers and Rodney Dixon of Temple Garden Chambers were the protagonists in this latest attempt to criminalise the Syrian President and government.

These law firms are basing their case upon the testimony of 28 “refugees” from Syria who claim they were “forced” to flee to Jordan during the war that has been waged against Syria by a collective of interventionist mafia states that form the U.S coalition, determined to achieve regime change in Syria.

Syria is not a signatory to the ICC in the Hague but precedent was set by the ICC when a preliminary investigation was opened into military leaders of Myanmar for alleged crimes against humanity involving deportation of Rohingya people. Refugees fled to Bangladesh which is party to the Rome statute that established the ICC, as is Jordan where more than 1 million Syrian refugees now reside. Guernica Chambers and Rodney Dixon are clearly hoping that the Rohingya precedent will open up the legal avenue for their case.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Reporters Persecuted in France as Part of Global War Against Journalists

by Simon Chandler

2018 was a bloody year for journalists. Including the brutal murder of the Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi, 95 media professionals were killed, either as a result of targeted killings, crossfire incidents, or bomb attacks. This is 13 more than were killed in 2017, and while it doesn’t beat the record of 155 set in 2006 at the height of the Iraq conflict, there has been a steady upwards trend since the ‘90s.

Such deaths go hand-in-hand with the persecution of journalists. In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that 2016, 2017 and 2018 set consecutive records for the number of reporters jailed worldwide, with all three years seeing 251 or more imprisoned for doing their jobs. And while such authoritarian governments as those in Turkey, China and Egypt are generally the worst offenders on this account, recent events have shown that journalists are also being bullied in Western nations….

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

New Species of Wasp Identified in Goa

A new species of wasp from the genus Kudakrumia has been recently identified by scientists in Goa.

The wasp, Kudakrumia rangnekari, was named after Goa-based researcher Parag Rangnekar.

“A species being named after me comes as a complete surprise. Mixed feelings at the moment, of joy and for some unknown reason slightly uncomfortable,” Mr. Rangnekar said. The new species was collected in the forests of Western Ghats.

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

Mass Stabbing Attack on Schoolgirls in Japan Kills Two, Injures 16

A homicidal maniac wielding two knives, one in each hand, attacked schoolgirls awaiting a bus in Japan. “I will kill you,” the man screamed as he attacked schoolgirls waiting at the bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 16 before killing himself.

The police in Japan have not released much information about the attacker just yet. According to Market Watch, most of the victims were schoolgirls who were lined up at a bus stop near Noborito Park in the city of Kawasaki when a man in his 50s began slashing them with knives. City officials, quoting police, said that the suspect was captured but has already died from a self-inflicted cut to the neck.

The mainstream media is not widely reporting on this story (although they have touched on it) because the killer used knives to take the lives of other humans. It could also be because the attacker was coming for schoolgirls at a local Catholic school, said Masami Arai, an official at the Kawasaki city office. Arai said three of the injuries were serious and 13 others were not life-threatening.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘It’s About One Man Who’s Allegedly Done Something Horrific’: Top Cop is Accused of ‘Demonising’ Males by Saying ‘All Men’ Are to Blame for Courtney Herron’s Murder

Victoria’s assistant police commissioner Luke Cornelius responded to Courney Herron’s death by suggesting it was a reflection on male behaviour. He has been slammed for this.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

‘We Thought We Were Gonna Get Killed’: Gang Storm a Couple’s Home and Hold a Woman at Knifepoint While Bashing Her Husband

A woman whose home was stormed by four thugs during a two-day crime spree over the weekend says claims was held at knife-point with her husband and 65-year-old mother-in-law.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Somali Parents Sending Their Kids Back to Africa to Escape London Knife Crime Epidemic

Hundreds of Somali teenagers are being sent back to East Africa by their parents in order to avoid becoming victims of London’s spiraling knife crime epidemic.

One mother told the BBC how her son was stabbed four times in just 17 days in London.

“They damaged his bladder, his kidneys, his liver. He’s got permanent damage,” she said, adding “He was safer there [in Somaliland] than he was here, 100 per cent more safe than in London.”

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

DHS Flying Illegal Aliens to U.S. Cities, Releasing Them Into Communities

Releasing them directly into communities without going through ICE

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is flying border crossers and illegal aliens into cities across the United States and releasing them directly into American communities, reports claim.

A report by the Associated Press (AP) states that aside from DHS releasing nearly 200,000 border crossers and illegal aliens into about four American communities since December 2018, the agency is flying border crossers and illegal aliens into U.S. cities and then releasing them:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Humanity Repeating Mistakes With New Walls Says Pope

Francis bemoans plight of women in interview with Mexican

(ANSA) — Vatican City, May 28 — Pope Francis has said that humanity is repeating the mistakes of the past by erecting new walls in an interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa.

“We’ve already had one, the Berlin Wall, which gave us so many headaches and suffering,” the pope said.

“It seems to me that man does what animals don’t do. Man is the only animal who falls down the same hole twice. We do the same things again. “Whoever builds walls ends up a prisoner of the walls he builds… Instead, those who build bridges make friends, shake hands, even if they stay on the other side”. The pope also bemoaned the plight of women. He said that “women are still in second place” in society and often that this can mean “to be the object of slavery”, giving he gives the example of women who are forced in prostitution and murdered.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

John Cleese: London is Not an English City Anymore

Monty Python star reiterates criticism of mass immigration

Monty Python icon John Cleese has stoked controversy by reiterating his belief that London is no longer an English city due to mass immigration.

In a tweet to his 5.6 million followers, Cleese said, “Some years ago I opined that London was not really an English city any more. Since then, virtually all my friends from abroad have confirmed my observation So there must be some truth in it.”

“I note also that London was the UK city that voted most strongly to remain in the EU,” he added.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Francis Holds Up Sweden as Model of Successful Immigration

Pope Francis said Sweden is a model of good immigration policy and is “full of Latin Americans.”

The issue of immigration is “a priority in the world today,” the pope said in an extensive interview released Tuesday by Vatican News, and in his mind Sweden is an example of immigration done right.

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

Suspect Behind Lyon Parcel Bomb Attack is an Illegal Migrant From Algeria

Authorities say motive unknown.

The suspect behind a parcel bomb attack in Lyon, France that injured 13 people has been named as Mohamed Hickem M., a 24-year-old illegal immigrant from Algeria.

Authorities say that the motive for the attack remains unknown and they have not uncovered any links to Islamism.

Police say Hickem constructed the IED and left it outside a bakery on Friday. The parcel contained the explosive substance TATP and was packed with ball bearings and screws to inflict maximum damage.

However, the bomb only packed a “relatively weak explosive charge” and didn’t have enough force to kill anyone. The youngest victim was an 8-year-old girl who suffered superficial injuries.

Hickem moved to France with his family two years ago but became an illegal migrant when his temporary visa expired and his application for a student visa was rejected.

[Comment: “Motives unknown”. Really?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Texas Teacher Put on Leave Over Immigration Tweets to Trump

A teacher in Texas has been placed on paid administrative leave after officials claim she tweeted to President Trump warning about illegal immigrants at her high school.

The Fort Worth school district placed an English teacher at Carter-Riverside High School on leave when it was determined she was behind the tweets, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.

One of the tweets requested Trump assist with removing “illegals from Fort Worth” and listed her phone numbers. Another post from the same account said that “Mexicans refuse to honor our flag.”

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

The Latest: Border Activist Who Helped Migrants Now on Trial

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The Latest on the federal trial against a border activist charged with harboring migrants in Arizona (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

A lawyer for a border activist being tried in Tucson for helping two migrants with water, food and lodging says prosecutors must prove his client intended to break the law to be found guilty.

Defense attorney Greg Kuykendall told jurors in his opening argument Wednesday afternoon that Scott Daniel Warren only intended to provide basic human kindness.

The 36-year-old Warren was arrested in 2018 when Border Patrol agents found him at a property used to provide aid to immigrants in Ajo, Arizona.

He’s charged with harboring migrants and conspiring to transport and harbor two Mexican men found with him who were in the U.S. illegally.

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

UK: John Cleese Did an Oopsie

John Cleese is a racist.

I mean, he lives in the Caribbean surrounded by black people whom he describes as “superb” and “kind”.

But left-wing celebrities who live in the whitest areas of the UK said he was a racist so it must be true, right?

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

#AgeGapLove is Latest Effort to Normalize Pedophilia by Grooming Children

How happy and innocent the new buzz words and phrases sound. “Age gap couple” is the catch phrase as the hashtag #AgeGapLove starts to trend on twitter. This is part of a new TV series by British channel My5 that chronicles relationships between older men and young girls, some as young as 16.

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

Christian Schools That Fear Their Own Bible

Star Parker encourages college student who invited her to speak and paid the consequences

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point,” observed writer and theologian C.S. Lewis.

Hayley Tschetter, a student at a small Christian university, University of Northwestern, St. Paul, knows what this means. She stands alone today with her convictions against a university establishment trying to shut her down.

Tschetter felt there should be a voice on campus taking on the great issues in today’s culture war, so she started a campus chapter of Young Americas Foundation (YAF), which the university approved.

Her first invitee to inaugurate the new program was conservative Star Parker — me.

But her excitement was quickly dashed when the university rejected my appearance, writing in an email, as reported by the YAF, “we really don’t bring speakers who radically hold beliefs that UNW as a whole would not agree with.”

Given that I was asked to discuss abortion and the sanctity of life, what was there that those at this Christian university could not agree with?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Church Official Quits: ‘No Longer a Christian Place’

Says children being ‘sacrificed on the altar of trans ideology’

A vicar with the Church of England who also serves as a governor at a CofE school has quit both of his jobs over concerns about the evident capitulation to “transgender” ideology.

“[W]e’re being coerced to think and speak a particular way,” lamented John Rogers in a video released by Christian Concern/The Christian Legal Centre. “[W]e’re being told we must go down a particular route.”

According to the organization, earlier this year, leadership at the school — which has not been identified — agreed to allow a child under 12 announce to his class that he would be “transitioning” to a girl. The head teacher allegedly told the school’s governors that the child’s parent was insistent that other parents should not be advised until the day of the announcement.

Therefore, the boy made the announcement unbeknownst to parents and “governors were informed by the head teacher that this was de-facto policy and the change would be done that way.” Children were also read the books “Big Bob, Little Bob,” a story about about a boy who dresses as a girl, and “Red: A Crayon’s Story,” in which the red crayon prefers to be blue.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

How the Left is Erasing America’s History, Culture, Institutions and Blessings

“Socialism or barbarism!” That’s the classic Marxist theme, the title of many far-left books, and the stark existential choice posed by socialists of all stripes: Either adopt our enlightened way — or sink into barbarism.

However, as with most everything else on the left, this is pure projection since history proves that, intentionally or not, barbarism is precisely the end result of socialism.

Really? you ask. I know socialism ignores all the laws of economics and always seems to fail, but BARBARISM?

Yes, barbarism. And we’re not talking just about the unprecedentedly barbaric death toll of over 100 million during the 20th century’s global bloom of communism, nor more recently about the once-thriving, now-socialist-hellhole nation of Venezuela.

We’re talking about the looming reality that today’s ever-more-leftwing Democratic Party, right here in the United States, if given the power it craves will lead America into a historic level of barbarism and destruction.

That’s the compelling case laid out in May’s groundbreaking issue of Whistleblower magazine, titled “THE NEW BARBARISM: How the left is erasing America’s history, culture, institutions and blessings.”…

In fact, as Whistleblower reveals, one doesn’t have to scratch very far beneath surface appearances to discover that in every meaningful way, today’s far left, which has already taken over — one might even say “raided and devoured” — the Democratic Party, is now dragging America down a barbaric road to ruin.

Fox News’tucker Carlson, commenting recently on the wildly unrestrained, ongoing coup attempt against the Trump administration, sums up the current zeitgeist this way: “It’s as if facts no longer matter at all — only emotion, ambition and the overriding will to power. These apparently are the new rules in Washington.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Nationalism vs. Globalism is Good vs. Evil

Nationalists are portrayed by MSM and globalist elites as “stupid” or “bigoted” for loving their own countries. Dan Lyman joins Alex via Skype to explain why this is really a spiritual battle between good and evil.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NYC Education Officials Were Demoted ‘For Being White,’ Bombshell Lawsuit Claims

Longterm white execs replaced by less-qualified minorities, suit alleges

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza’s crusade against “toxic” whiteness at the city Department of Education created an “Us vs. Them’’ culture that saw three longtime officials demoted in favor of less-qualified persons of color, a blockbuster $90 million lawsuit claims.

“If you draw a paycheck from DOE … get on board with my equity platform or leave,” Carranza thundered to employees assembled in the rotunda of the agency’s Lower Manhattan headquarters last June, according to the suit, filed Tuesday in state supreme court.

That “totalitarian threat” was just the most direct example of Carranza’s push to overhaul the leadership at the top and attitude throughout the DOE since he took the helm last year, claims the suit, levied against the department and Carranza by the trio of demoted white female executives.

“Under Carranza’s leadership, DOE has swiftly and irrevocably silenced, sidelined and punished plaintiffs and other Caucasian female DOE employees on the basis of their race, gender and unwillingness to accept their other colleagues’ hateful stereotypes about them,” wrote the group’s lawyer, Davida S. Perry, in the filing.

Plaintiff Lois Herrera, who started at the DOE in 1986 as a guidance counselor and worked her way up to lead its Office of Safety and Youth Development, claims in the suit that she saw a sea change almost immediately after Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Carranza in April 2018.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Two Journalists Warn That “Weak Christianity” Is Killing the West

They’re from arguably the most anti-Christian part of the West, and they have a message: A lack of robust Christianity is killing the West.

The warning was issued on Herland Report TV, where journalist Hanne Nabintu Herland interviewed fellow Scandinavian Iben Thranholm. “The general theme of the episode is that Western values have become almost entirely materialistic in essence,” commentator Raymond Ibrahim reports. As a result, Westerners are seeking purpose and meaning.

They’re finding it, too: in New Age or pagan age beliefs — and Islam.

“Because pure materialism is ultimately dissatisfying — ‘man shall not live on bread alone’ — more and more Western people are turning to any number of metaphysical ideologies, from Islam to paganism — anything, as long as it’s not Christianity,” Ibrahim continues. “Because many of these ideologies are intrinsically hostile to Christianity, Western culture, which was founded on Christian principles, has become suicidal — hence the current situation, especially in Europe.”

Ibrahim then quotes Thranholm, writing: “You cannot understand the world only from a political viewpoint. We are in a spiritual warfare and not just a political struggle… It has become a taboo to speak about religion due to this anti-religious ideology that claims that religion has no value. As long as we remain in this spiritual crisis, I don’t think Europe will be able to defeat Islam. The reason why Islam is so successful here is because we have a spiritual vacuum.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

World Health Org Declares Transgenderism is Not a Mental Illness… But Gaming Addiction is

Playing too many video games is a mental illness but believing you’re the opposite sex is not, the World Health Organization declared on Tuesday.

From TIME Magazine, The World Health Organization Will Stop Classifying Transgender People as Having a ‘Mental Disorder’:

The World Health Organization (WHO) will no longer categorize being transgender as a “mental disorder”, after a major resolution to amend its health guidelines was approved May 25.

The United Nations’ health agency approved a resolution to remove “gender identity disorder” from its global manual of diagnoses, in a move that will have a “liberating effect on transgender people worldwide,” says Human Rights Watch. According to the newly-revised version of the International Classification of Diseases (known as ICD-11), published by the WHO, “gender identity disorders” have been reframed as “gender incongruence.” Gender nonconformity is now included in a chapter on sexual health, rather than being listed with “mental disorders” as was the case previously. Activists are now hoping that the ICD-11 will be implemented by the WHO’s 194 member states over the next three years.

Whoever made these guidelines is mentally ill.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

11 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/29/2019

  1. “In other news, Pope Francis told an interviewer that he has always been a conservative.”

    There’s no Taqiyya in Catholicism — well, not scripturally.

  2. “Pope Francis: ‘I Am a Conservative’” HA! That has to be THE joke of the year!

    • But that is somewhat true, but in a different contest. What you want to conserve and preserve ? Bergoglio was/is a peronist in his own country (I mean not a revolutionary against the establishment). “conservative” is just another word with different meaning according to the contest, for example communists today in Cuba are of course conservatives, not revolutionary.

      • This ‘pope,’ as a Peronist, tells conservatives he is a conservative, then tells the Leftists he is with them. It’s a matter of expedience … whatever the circumstances and situation of the moment require, and the audience in front of him.

  3. “Another Woman Goes Traveling Alone, Almost Dies” I don’t think a “woman traveling alone” is the problem. The fact that naive people without any kind of survival skills education go travel alone is the problem. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman or a couple for that matter.

    • Rasmussen: The damned are always on the left. That’s why “sinestre” (as in sinister), mean “left.”

      The saved are always depicted on the right, so, we’ve got nothing to worry about.

  4. re: Man Sets Himself on Fire Near White House

    This has to be a case of Spontaneous Combustion. That’s the final stage of liberal ‘exploding head’ syndrome … and it all starts with TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), for which the chief trafficer and transmission belt is the ‘mainstream’ media.

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