Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/15/2019

Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria, is now under criminal investigation due to the “Ibiza Affair”. A videotape of the incident was recorded several years ago, but released only recently. Two other members of FPÖ are also under investigation.

In other news, priests wearing hard hats celebrated the first Mass in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris for the first time since April’s catastrophic fire.

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

Thanks to Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

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

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

Financial Crisis
» How Central Banks Are Losing Credibility, In Three Charts
 
USA
» Accused Murderer OJ Simpson Launches Twitter Account — Threatens “Getting Even” — on Anniversary Week of Nicole’s Murder
» Alex Jones Offers $1M Reward as FBI Investigates Child Pornography Planted on His InfoWars Server
» As Middle East Heats up to the Boiling Point, Expert Warns Terror Attacks by Iranian Sleeper Cells Embedded Across America Could ‘End Our Freedom of Movement’, for Years!
» Dark Phoenix Had the Biggest Second Week Drop of Any Superhero Movie
» FEC Chair Who Scolded Trump for Saying He Might Take Oppo Research From a Foreigner Used to Work for Deep State Law Firm Perkins Coie
» For Salvini U.S. Trip is Dream Come True… If He Sees Trump
» Former Campaign Staffer Held in Shooting Death of Ex-Arkansas State Senator: Reports
» Heat Wave Left Baker Beach in SF Swamped With 3 Dumpsters Worth of Trash
» How OS/2 Powered the NYC Subway for Decades
» In Court, Facebook Blames Users for Destroying Their Own Right to Privacy
» Oregon Church Hosting Antifa Summer Camp for Children
» Pinterest Blacklists PJMedia, Other Conservative Sites and This is Just the Tip of the Censorship Iceberg
» Sick and Mean: New Netflix Show Starring Gaten Matarazzo Will Punk Unemployed People Who Think They’ve Landed a New Job
» The Touchscreen Infotainment Systems in New Cars Are a Distracting Mess
» Trump to Move USDA Personnel From D.C. To Where Food Grows
» We Need to be Big So We Can Invent the Future (And Own That Too): Google CEO Begs Regulators Not to Split Company Up So That it Can Dominate Advances in AI and Quantum Computing
 
Europe and the EU
» Austrian Far-Right Leader Under Criminal Investigation Over Video Scandal
» Chance of No-Deal Brexit Increases, Likely UK-EU Free Trade Deal, Says Poll of Economists
» France: Priests Wear Hard Hats at Notre-Dame
» French Billionaires Waffle on Notre Dame Rebuild as US Donors Foot the Bill
» Italy: Irregularities at Half of Ethnic Restaurants Inspected — Cops
» Italy: Ferrarini Continues to Grow Abroad
» Italy: Ornella Muti Gets 6 Months for Attempted Fraud
» Le Maire Says FCA-Renault Merger Talks May Reopen
» Sweden Increases Security at Malmö Police Stations After Explosions Across City
» UK: ‘Many Horrible People Have Been Popular’: Tory Muslim Chief Compares Boris Johnson to Hitler
» UK: ‘Khan is a Disaster’: Trump Says London ‘Needs New Mayor ASAP’ After Three Killings in 24 Hours
» UK: Boris Johnson’s Secret Deal With Brexit Tories Revealed — But Farage Warns He Won’t Deliver
» UK: London: Ten Arrests After Two Teens Killed in Separate Stabbing and Shooting
» UK: London Police Open Third Homicide Investigation in 24hrs After Stabbing
» UK: Police Handing Out Blunt Knives to Domestic Violence Victims to Reduce Stabbings in the Home
» UK: Police to Take No Action Over Comedian Jo Brand’s Battery Acid Joke
 
Balkans
» Kosovo’s ‘Field of Blackbirds’: The 630-Year-Old Reason Eastern Europeans Resist Islam
 
South Asia
» Eastern Himalayas, A Treasure Trove of Balsams, Yields 20 New Species
 
Far East
» Hong Kong Extradition Bill: Protesters Vow to Push Ahead
 
Latin America
» Brazil: Mum and Lesbian Lover Tear Off 9-Year-Old Son’s Penis Then Behead Him ‘As He Reminded Her of Her Dad’
» Venezuela Crisis: Migrants Dash to Cross Peru Border
 
Immigration
» Florida’s Desantis Signs Controversial Sanctuary Cities Ban Into Law
» Hundreds of Illegal Aliens From Ebola-Stricken Congo Who Arrived in San Antonio Last Week Quickly Fan Out Across Country
» Intel Officer’s Emergency Message to Donald Trump
» Italian Police Praise New Salvini Security Decree
» WHO Refuses to Declare Ebola Outbreak ‘International Emergency’ As at-Risk Migrants Pour Into Texas
 
Culture Wars
» Archbishop: Abortion is Not ‘Health Care’
» Drag Show at Iowa Public Library Features Kids Giving Drag Queen Dollar Bills
» Facebook’s Process to Label You a ‘Hate Agent’ Revealed
» Google Attends PRIDE Showing Liberal Bias (Video)
» InfoWars Crashes Drag Queen Story Time at Texas Library
» Leftists Triggered by Questions and Media Lies Are Pushing America Closer to Civil War: Increasingly Violent Left Won’t be Able to Survive the Terror They’re Unleashing Upon America
 

How Central Banks Are Losing Credibility, In Three Charts

While central banks have yet to lose control over the stock or bond market, an eventuality which even the world’s biggest bond manager warns is just a matter of time, they sure have lost control over what is arguably an even more important market metric: inflation expectations.

Take the euro-area, where despite years of NIRP, QE and corporate bond purchases, inflation expectations have slumped to a record low, adding pressure on the ECB to step up policy support for the region’s economy, even though it was the ECB’s “policy support” ever since the arrival of Mario Draghi, that has led the continent’s inflation expectations to this dismal state.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Accused Murderer OJ Simpson Launches Twitter Account — Threatens “Getting Even” — on Anniversary Week of Nicole’s Murder

Previously accused of double murderer, OJ Simpson, and ex-felon OJ Simpson announced his arrival to the world of social media:

“Hey Twitter world this is yours truly and Im coming soon to twitter and you’ll get to read all my thoughts and opinions on just about everything. Now there’s a lot of fake OJ accounts out there, so this one @theRealOJ32 is the only official one, so it should be a lot of fun. I got a little getting even to do, so god bless and take care.

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

Alex Jones Offers $1M Reward as FBI Investigates Child Pornography Planted on His InfoWars Server

The FBI has informed Alex Jones someone planted child pornography on the servers for his Infowars website and on Friday the controversial radio host offered a $1 million reward for any information leading to an arrest.

Federal authorities have been conducting a child pornography investigation for several weeks after they reviewed emailed threats made against Jones that contained links to child pornography websites, according to his attorney Norm Pattis.

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

As Middle East Heats up to the Boiling Point, Expert Warns Terror Attacks by Iranian Sleeper Cells Embedded Across America Could ‘End Our Freedom of Movement’, for Years!

With what’s being called a ‘major escalation’ happening now in the Middle East after explosions aboard two oil tankers were initially being blamed upon Iran, we’re going to take a look at a new video warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin who recently used the St. Petersburg Forum to address his deep concerns about ‘the fiery serpent of nuclear war’ and the very real potential of a global catastrophe with the world now seemingly hurtling towards a major war breaking out in that region.

Yet while Putin issued his sharp warning to reporters and other attendees at the Forum as heard in the video directly below, he also says that he sees the light at the end of the tunnel towards peace and looks forward to working with President Trump to achieving that long desired result. Yet as we’ll see below, what happened in the Gulf of Oman Thursday could put an end to that. And as we hear below from one US Air Force strategist, with Iranian sleeper cells embedded all across America, a war against Iran could lead to terror attacks all across America that could end the freedom of movement of Americans, for years!

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Dark Phoenix Had the Biggest Second Week Drop of Any Superhero Movie

Dark Phoenix‘s problems are now the stuff of legend. It had the worst opening of the X-Men franchise, by a lot, and it stands to lose around $100 million. Director Simon Kinberg is taking responsibility for the flop, and we can add this new disappointment to the list.

Dark Phoenix just had the lowest second week drop of any superhero movie. It earned $14 million on its opening day last Friday, and $2.348 million on its second Friday. That’s a drop of 83.2%, relieving DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and its 81% drop for the title. (Finally, some good news for BvS!)

As Forbes noted, Dark Phoenix‘s 83.2% drop from Friday-to-Friday was just shy of the 84% drop for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II in its second Friday. Of course, one major difference there is fans had already rushed to see the final Harry Potter movie, giving it an opening weekend of $169 million in July 2011. Dark Phoenix only had an opening weekend of $33 million.

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

FEC Chair Who Scolded Trump for Saying He Might Take Oppo Research From a Foreigner Used to Work for Deep State Law Firm Perkins Coie

Well isn’ t this interesting.

On Thursday afternoon Ellen Weintrab, a DEMOCRAT Chair of the Federal Election Commission posted a statement online condemning President Trump for suggesting he may accept oppo research from a foreign government.

Democrat Weintraub was appointed by George W. Bush during a recess appointment.

One more fun fact about Weintraub — she worked for the DNC-Hillary Clinton-Deep State law firm Perkins Coie prior to being elected to FEC chair.

Per the FEC:

Commissioner Weintraub took office on December 9, 2002, after receiving a recess appointment; she was renominated and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on March 18, 2003. Commissioner Petersen was nominated and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on June 24, 2008.

Prior to her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Weintraub was Of Counsel to Perkins Coie LLP and a member of its Political Law Group. Before joining Perkins Coie, Ms. Weintraub was Counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Ethics Committee). Ms. Weintraub received her B.A., cum laude, from Yale College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Is this why Weintraub said nothing when Hillary Clinton paid for a junk Russian dossier and hid the payments by funneling the money through her law firm PERKINS COIE, worked with Ukrainians to obtain dirt on Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort and reportedly had foreign intelligence agencies spy on the Trump campaign?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

For Salvini U.S. Trip is Dream Come True… If He Sees Trump

Italy’s Matteo Salvini is off on his first official trip to the U.S., but the populist leader still doesn’t know if he’ll get the prize he wants most: an audience with Donald Trump, the man he cites as his political inspiration.

The deputy premier, the dominant force in his country’s quarrelsome ruling coalition, will sit down Monday in Washington with both Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. Salvini’s official schedule does not include a meeting with President Trump.

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

Former Campaign Staffer Held in Shooting Death of Ex-Arkansas State Senator: Reports

A former campaign staffer has been arrested in connection with this month’s shooting death of former Arkansas state Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, according to reports.

Arkansas State Police identified the suspect as Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, 48, of Pocahontas, Ark., and said that criminal charges were pending, but did not say whether they were seeking any other suspects in Collins’ death.

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

Heat Wave Left Baker Beach in SF Swamped With 3 Dumpsters Worth of Trash

Temperatures made a rare midsummer surge into the 90s in the Bay Area earlier this week, and as San Franciscans flocked to Baker Beach to cool off, they left behind a trail of trash. Lots of trash.

“Baker Beach was one of several park sites with excessive trash due to the additional visitation. For every full can, there were at least three times as much trash overflowing next to it,” said Shalini Gopie, a spokeswoman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Park maintenance workers ultimately collected 60 cubic yards of trash from Baker Beach, according to Gopie — enough to fill three large dumpsters, she said.

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

How OS/2 Powered the NYC Subway for Decades

Vintage technology has powered the innards of the NYC subway system for decades—and sometimes, it surfaces in interesting ways. This one’s for you, OS/2 fans.

In a Tedium article from this past March, Ernie wrote about IBM’s big bet on a microkernel for operating systems, a bet that included a variant of its well-known-if-less-remembered OS/2. His article demonstrates how big the bet was. However, IBM’s confidence in its operating system prowess led others to take similar chances.

No bigger bet was made than the one by the MTA, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, who needed some process to eliminate tokens while moving into an era where everything was expected to be digitized. The result was the iconic MetroCard. A thin slice of yellow plastic with a prominent black strip, the MetroCard has been a staple of New Yorkers wallets since its introduction in 1993.

The story of how the current method for accessing New York’s subway is interesting for its insights into public infrastructure and the way it serves the public. Before we can touch that topic, it’s helpful to understand how the current system came to be. Because when you build something as important as the infrastructure to the NYC subway, it needs to work.

You pretty much get just one shot—and any mistakes will likely cost billions to repair and frustrate that lives of millions. Among many choices, one of the most robust turned out to be one of IBM’s most high-profile failures…

Despite the failure of OS/2 in the consumer market, it was hilariously robust, leading to a long life in industrial and enterprise systems—with one other famous example being ATMs. Waldhauer said, “Thinking about all the operating systems in use [in the MTA], I’d have to say that OS/2 is probably the most robust part of the system, except for the mainframe.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

In Court, Facebook Blames Users for Destroying Their Own Right to Privacy

The courtroom debate, first reported by Law360, took place as Facebook tried to scuttle litigation from users upset that their personal data was shared without their knowledge with the consultancy Cambridge Analytica and later with advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign. The full transcript of the proceedings — which has been quoted from only briefly — reveal one of the most stunning examples of corporate doublespeak certainly in Facebook’s history.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Oregon Church Hosting Antifa Summer Camp for Children

A Portland area church is hosting a social justice summer camp to indoctrinate children into Antifa.

The camp, called Budding Roses, features a masked child in their flyer.

According to their Facebook page, “Budding Roses is a volunteer collective of educators, students and activists who provide free social justice summer camps and year-round workshops for Portland-area youth in 4th-8th grade.”

[Comment: Another “cold” church; ie a social justice church.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pinterest Blacklists PJMedia, Other Conservative Sites and This is Just the Tip of the Censorship Iceberg

This week we learned from a brave whistleblower that Pinterest, a site known primarily for recipes and home decorating ideas, is blocking content from websites that their Orwellian-monikered Trust and Safety team in San Francisco find offensive—by dishonestly labeling them as po*n sites. PJ Media is one of several conservative sites being blocked by the platform.

What was revealed at Pinterest this week, however, is just the tip of the censorship iceberg—and things will likely only get worse as our nation becomes increasingly polarized and the Big Brothers of Big Tech become more emboldened and less secretive about their hostility toward conservatives.

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

Sick and Mean: New Netflix Show Starring Gaten Matarazzo Will Punk Unemployed People Who Think They’ve Landed a New Job

Being unemployed is not a joke.

Mocking someone who is out there working to find a job is not a joke.

Netflix has a new show with Gaten Matarazzo where they punk people who think they have landed a job.

What a sick joke!

Who thinks of this crap?

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

The Touchscreen Infotainment Systems in New Cars Are a Distracting Mess

New cars’ “infotainment systems” are a mess of dangerous touch screens and inscrutable icons. More knobs, please.

When I’m in charge of a car company, we’re going to have one strict rule about interior design: Make it so it doesn’t cause you to crash the car.

You’d think this would already be in effect everywhere, but no. Ever since the arrival of the iPhone, car designers have aspired to replicate that sleek, glassy aesthetic within the cabin. And it never works, because you tend to look at a phone while you use it. In a car, you have this other thing you should be looking at, out there, beyond the high-resolution panoramic screen that separates your face from the splattering june bugs.

If a designer came to me with a bunch of screens, touch pads, or voice-activated haptic-palm-pad gesture controls, I’d trigger a trapdoor that caused the offender to plummet down into the driver’s seat of a Cadillac fitted with the first version of the CUE system—which incorporated a motion sensor that would actually change the screen as your finger approached it. And I’d trigger my trapdoor by turning a knob. I wouldn’t even have to look at it.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump to Move USDA Personnel From D.C. To Where Food Grows

D.C. is the ultimate big government town. Food doesn’t grow there. A swamp does.

The USDA, under Trump, is trying to actually move personnel closer to where food does grow.

Employees at USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) intend to move from Washington, D.C. to an unspecified area in the Kansas City region by the end of 2019, the Washington Post reports.

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

We Need to be Big So We Can Invent the Future (And Own That Too): Google CEO Begs Regulators Not to Split Company Up So That it Can Dominate Advances in AI and Quantum Computing

Google’s CEO has made an appeal that the company should not be broken up, as federal regulators and Congress are directing increasing scrutiny at the tech goliath.

Google’s massive size allows it to invest in future technologies without worrying about ‘short-term profits,’ CEO Sundar Pichai insisted in an interview with CNN Business on Thursday.

‘Scale does offer many benefits, it’s important to understand that,’ argued Pichai. ‘Big companies are what are investing in technologies like AI the most.’

Pichai even hinted that if Google were subject to antitrust regulation, it would spell doom for American innovation, allowing competitors like China to seize the advantage.

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

Austrian Far-Right Leader Under Criminal Investigation Over Video Scandal

The former leader of Austria’s far-Right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is under criminal investigation over a corruption video that brought down the country’s government, it has emerged.

Heinz-Christian Strache resigned as Austrian vice-chancellor last month after a video was made public in which he appeared to offer government contracts to a Russian oligarch in return for financial support.

Public prosecutors confirmed this week that he is under criminal investigation on suspicion of breach of trust in connection with allegations which emerged in the video.

Two other Freedom Party politicians, Johann Gudenus and Marcus Tschank, are also under investigation in connection with the video, prosecutors said.

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

Chance of No-Deal Brexit Increases, Likely UK-EU Free Trade Deal, Says Poll of Economists

The chance of the UK leaving the EU in a clean break, ditching Theresa May’s EU-approved withdrawal treaty, has increased, according to a poll of economists conducted by Reuters.

“The possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit appears to have risen,” Howard Archer at economic forecasting group EY ITEM Club told Reuters after the median forecast for the chance of a no-deal Brexit had increased from 15 per cent in May to 25 per cent in the June poll.

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

France: Priests Wear Hard Hats at Notre-Dame

The first Mass has been held at Notre-Dame cathedral since the devastating fire in April.

There were fears the 800-year-old cathedral could be completely destroyed during the fierce blaze.

Firefighters managed to save the structure and much of its interior.

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

French Billionaires Waffle on Notre Dame Rebuild as US Donors Foot the Bill

French billionaires who promised nearly $1 billion to rebuild Notre Dame haven’t contributed a single penny to the effort in the two months since they made their headline-grabbing commitments, according to the Associated Press, citing church and business officials.

Instead, American donors have been footing the bills for up to 150 workers employed by the cathedral following the April 15 fire that destroyed its roof. Some $4 million collected via the charitable foundation of the Friends of Notre Dame is being handed transferred to the cathedral in the first payment to date towards the reconstruction.

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

Italy: Irregularities at Half of Ethnic Restaurants Inspected — Cops

Expired food, poor hygiene- Carabinieri NAS health investigators

(ANSA) — Rome, June 14 — NAS Carabinieri health police on Friday said almost half of the ethnic restaurants and deposits of imported food inspected as part of a nationwide operation had irregularities including expired products, food that had been defrosted and then re-frozen, poor hygiene, unreadable labels and banned imports.

In total, irregularities were found in 242 structures, investigators said.

In particular, a reported 48% of inspected restaurants, especially in ‘all you can it’ venues, did not meet the required criteria.

Twenty-two activities were closed, 477 law violations reported and 128 tons of food seized in the operation, investigators said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Ferrarini Continues to Grow Abroad

Historic brand stars at Las Vegas Eataly,Summer Fancy Food in NY

(ANSA) — Rome, June 12 — Leading Italian food company Ferrarini, an historic label based in Reggio Emilia, is continuing to grow abroad, showing renewed competitive vigor and investing in exports.

As of June the brand will be sold at high-end Italian food market and restaurant chain Eataly in Las Vegas with symbolic Italian-made products including seasoned Parma ham from Lesignano de’ Bagni (Parma), salami and mortadella as well as non-GMO butter obtained from milk produced at the Ferrarini farms, which is very much appreciated in US stores.

“Over the last two years the American market has registered a strong increase in sales”, stressed the president of Ferrarini Spa, Lisa Ferrarini.

Ferrarini said the brand’s products can also be found at Eataly restaurants as well as in all of the Eataly stores in the US, including in New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.

“Educating international markets” to appreciate the taste of high-end Italian products “is a distinctive trait of our group”, the president of Ferrarini Spa said.

“We want to promote Italy’s food culture and train retailers through constant tastings with our dedicated personnel in the countries where we are present, thanks to which consumers can get acquainted with the values and history of typical Italian products and learn to appreciate and consume them”.

The president explained that the company’s products in the US, in particular at Eataly stores, have always been sold as “high-end products, 100% Made in Italy, whose trustworthiness is guaranteed by a label with over 60 years of history”.

“This year as well we will be presenting our products to retail and restaurant specialists in North America during the Summer Fancy Food Show, the most important event of the food and wine industry of North America, which will be held in New York on June 23-25”, she concluded.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Ornella Muti Gets 6 Months for Attempted Fraud

Bunked off Italy tour date for Putin, Costner dinner in Russia

(ANSA) — Rome, June 13 — Actress Ornella Muti got a definitive suspended jail term of six months and a 500-euro fine for attempted fraud as the supreme Court of Cassation upheld an appeals court verdict.

Muti, 64, was again convicted of cancelling an Italian tour date with a false sick note in 2010 to attend a gala dinner in Russia with President Vladimir Putin and US actor Kevin Costner.

The actress was first given the suspended jail term of six months and the 500-euro fine by the Trieste appeals court two years ago, which upheld a lower court’s verdict two years previously.

The court said the sentence would only be suspended if Muti paid Pordenone’s Teatro Verdi 30,000 in damages for fraudulently calling off her show.

Muti modeled as a teenager and made her film debut in 1970 in La moglie più bella (The Most Beautiful Wife). She has primarily worked in Italian films but she made her English-speaking film debut as Princess Aura in Flash Gordon in 1980. American movies she appeared in include Love and Money (1982), Casanova (1987), Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1989), A Season of Giants (1990), Oscar (1991), Once Upon a Crime (1992), Somewhere in the City (1998) and To Rome with Love (2012).

She is mostly known to the French for appearing in a television commercial of Giovanni Panzani pasta. She was voted “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” in 1994 by a worldwide poll of readers of the magazine Class.

In 2008, Muti introduced her own line of jewelry. She opened new shops in Paris, Milan, Rome, Riga, Moscow and Almaty.

She reportedly once insured her breasts for $350,000.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Le Maire Says FCA-Renault Merger Talks May Reopen

French finance minister says Nissan’s blessing is needed

(ANSA) — Paris, June 13 — French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that talks for a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Renault could be revived if it is possible to obtain the blessing of the French carmaker’s current partner, Nissan. “(The talks) could resume after confidence is recreated (with Nissan),” Bloomberg quoted Le Maire as telling FranceInfo TV. Le Maire added that he would meet Renault President Jean-Dominique Senard on Thursday to discuss the company’s strategy.

Last week FCA said it was withdrawing its proposed merger with Renault due to “the political conditions in France”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Increases Security at Malmö Police Stations After Explosions Across City

Police in Malmö have announced increased security measures around local police stations following a series of explosions in the Swedish city.

Filip Annas, press officer for Police Region South, announced the measures, saying that there would be an increase in the number of officers patrolling outside of police stations in the city, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.

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

UK: ‘Many Horrible People Have Been Popular’: Tory Muslim Chief Compares Boris Johnson to Hitler

Mohammed Amin, the Conservative Party’s Muslim chief, says he’ll quit after 36 years if Boris Johnson becomes prime minister, as he believes the former foreign secretary doesn’t have the “basic morality and integrity” for the job, RT.com writes.

Johnson won more MP votes than his three closest rivals combined in a Tory leadership vote on Thursday, but Amin contends that popularity is not an adequate measure of a candidate’s worthiness for the role of prime minister.

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

UK: ‘Khan is a Disaster’: Trump Says London ‘Needs New Mayor ASAP’ After Three Killings in 24 Hours

U.S. President Donald J Trump has said that the UK’s capital city “needs a new mayor ASAP” after three killings and three non-fatal stabbings in just 24 hours of Sadiq Khan’s London.

President Trump wrote: “LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster — will only get worse!”

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

UK: Boris Johnson’s Secret Deal With Brexit Tories Revealed — But Farage Warns He Won’t Deliver

A POWERFUL group of Brexiteer MPs have backed Boris Johnson as new Tory leader — so long as he sticks to their terms.

But the price for their support is ditching Theresa May’s deal and going for a no-deal EU exit, they have warned him. Boris Johnson has also been told in clear terms in their ultimatum that he and the Tory party will be finished if he fails to get Britain out by October 31. The Brexiteer MPs in the European Research Group (ERG) will quit and join Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party — sparking a seismic change in British politics. Writing in the Sunday Express, Mr Farage warns he fears the former London Mayor “will not deliver on his promises”. And he added “Tory defectors would be welcome in the Brexit Party.” Additional demands from the ERG include giving Mr Farage and senior Brexit Party members seats in the House of Lords, as well as welcoming them into the Conservatives after Brexit.

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

UK: London: Ten Arrests After Two Teens Killed in Separate Stabbing and Shooting

The Metropolitan Police Service has made ten arrests after two teen males were killed 12 minutes apart in different parts of London on Friday.

The first incident, a stabbing, took place on Deeside Road in Wandsworth, south-west London, at 4.42pm. Emergency services were unable to save the victim, believed to be in his late teens, and he died at the scene, reports the Metro.

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

UK: London Police Open Third Homicide Investigation in 24hrs After Stabbing

London’s Metropolitan Police Service has launched its third homicide investigation in 24 hours after a man in his thirties was fatally stabbed in Tower Hamlets, east London, on Saturday.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: “At the scene a man, aged 30s, had suffered stab injuries. He was sadly pronounced dead at the scene at 2.37pm. A crime scene has been established.”

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

UK: Police Handing Out Blunt Knives to Domestic Violence Victims to Reduce Stabbings in the Home

Victims of domestic violence will have their kitchen knives replaced with blunt utensils to prevent their partners attacking them in their own home.

Nottinghamshire Police are piloting the scheme where around 100 ‘no point’ knives will be handed to victims who have either been threatened or attacked with a knife.

Police are concerned about the high level of knife-related incidents that happen in the home, and are hoping the new scheme has the potential to save lives.

Domestic violence knife crime makes up more than 17 percent of incidents reported to Nottinghamshire Police.

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

UK: Police to Take No Action Over Comedian Jo Brand’s Battery Acid Joke

The Metropolitan Police Service has confirmed that it will not be taking any further action over comments made by comedian Jo Brand when she joked about throwing battery acid at politicians.

Police had opened an investigation on Friday into the comments made on Tuesday on BBC Radio 4’s Heresy programme. The remarks were prompted by the spate of assaults committed by leftists who threw milkshakes at right-wing European Parliament election candidates, including at Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.

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

Kosovo’s ‘Field of Blackbirds’: The 630-Year-Old Reason Eastern Europeans Resist Islam

Why Eastern Europeans are much more reluctant to accept Muslim migrants than their Western counterparts can be traced back to circumstances surrounding a pivotal battle, that of Kosovo, which took place on June 15, 1389, exactly 630 years ago today. It pitted Muslim invaders against Eastern European defenders—the ancestors of those many Eastern Europeans today who are resistant to Islam.

Because the jihad is as old as Islam, it has been championed by diverse peoples throughout the centuries (Arabs in the Middle East, Moors (Berbers and Africans) in Spain and Western Europe, etc.). Islam’s successful entry into Eastern Europe was spearheaded by the Turks, specifically that tribe centered in westernmost Anatolia (or Asia Minor) and thus nearest to Europe, the Ottoman Turks, so-named after their founder Osman Bey. As he lay dying in 1323, his parting words to his son and successor, Orhan, were for him “to propagate Islam by your arms.”

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

Eastern Himalayas, A Treasure Trove of Balsams, Yields 20 New Species

Between 2010 and 2019, botanists and taxonomists working on Impatiens — a group of plants commonly known as Balsams or jewel-weeds — discovered 23 new species from the eastern Himalayas. Consisting of both annual and perennial herbs, balsams are succulent plants with high endemism. Because of their bright beautiful flowers, these group of plants are of prized horticultural significance.

The details of the new species, including several new records, have been highlighted in the book , recently published by the Botanical Survey of India.

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

Hong Kong Extradition Bill: Protesters Vow to Push Ahead

Protesters in Hong Kong have vowed to push ahead with a rally on Sunday, despite the government’s decision to suspend its controversial bill to allow extradition to mainland China.

Protest leaders urged Chief Executive Carrie Lam to resign and permanently scrap the plan.

The proposed bill led to mass demonstrations and sparked some of the worst violence seen in years.

Protesters are concerned at increased influence by Beijing in Hong Kong.

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

Brazil: Mum and Lesbian Lover Tear Off 9-Year-Old Son’s Penis Then Behead Him ‘As He Reminded Her of Her Dad’

A MUM and her lesbian lover tore off her nine-year-old son’s penis before beheading him because he reminded her of her dad.

Mum Rosana Cndido, 27, and Kacyla Pessoa, 28, of Brazil, stabbed the boy over a dozen times and removed all the skin from his face before butchering his body.

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

Venezuela Crisis: Migrants Dash to Cross Peru Border

Thousands of Venezuelans have rushed to cross into Peru in a bid to beat the introduction of tougher migration laws.

Under new laws introduced on Saturday, Venezuelans need to have a passport and visa to enter Peru.

Authorities say about 6,000 Venezuelans crossed from neighbouring Ecuador alone on Thursday, three times the daily average.

Some four million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to the United Nations.

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

Florida’s Desantis Signs Controversial Sanctuary Cities Ban Into Law

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial measure on Friday that blocks localities from becoming sanctuary cities and mandates they cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

“I am proud to sign the bill presented to me by the Florida Legislature to uphold the rule of law and ensure that no city or county jurisdiction can get in the way of Florida’s cooperation with our federal partners to enforce immigration law,” DeSantis said in a statement on Friday.

“This is about public safety, not about politics. We must do everything within our power, and use all the tools available to us, to ensure that our communities are safe.”

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

Hundreds of Illegal Aliens From Ebola-Stricken Congo Who Arrived in San Antonio Last Week Quickly Fan Out Across Country

Hundreds of illegal aliens from ebola-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo were dumped in the streets of San Antonio, Texas last week.

The aliens didn’t speak English and according to a local reporter, San Antonio is in desperate need for French speaking volunteers.

“City confirms hundreds of migrants from the Congo have arrived in SA. The city is in desperate need for French speaking volunteers,” reported Jaleesa Irizarry of Kens 5 San Antonio.

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

Intel Officer’s Emergency Message to Donald Trump

Securing the border issue of national security, not budget by Congress.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Police Praise New Salvini Security Decree

Italian police have praised the new migration and security decree drafted by populist interior minister Matteo Salvini, saying that the measures will work to better protect Italian policemen on the street.

National secretary of the FSP state police Valter Mazzetti commented on the new measures saying, “We welcome the decree,” adding that the proposals were a path towards reversing “the tendency to always be ‘against’ the cops”, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.

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

WHO Refuses to Declare Ebola Outbreak ‘International Emergency’ As at-Risk Migrants Pour Into Texas

Migrants from Congo busing into San Antonio unvetted.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Archbishop: Abortion is Not ‘Health Care’

Archbishop Joseph Naumann has decried attempts to repeal the Hyde Amendment, insisting that American taxpayers should not be coerced into funding the killing of unborn babies.

The Kansas City archbishop, who is also the head of the U.S. Bishops Pro-Life Committee, told Catholic News Agency (CNA) Thursday that the government has no business obliging citizens to fund abortion.

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

Drag Show at Iowa Public Library Features Kids Giving Drag Queen Dollar Bills

AMES, Iowa, June 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — A public library in Ames, Iowa, hosted “family-friendly” entertainment offered by drag performers who accepted cash tips from children in attendance.

In the city that is home to Iowa State University, the public library offered music and dance drag performances by amateurs and professionals. Adults and children were in the audience on April 6 to watch gyrations, lip-synching, and exotic costumes during an evening that included “all-ages” performances that were followed by a “teens only” show featuring “sparkles, costumes, free snacks, and mingling!” According to local reports, more than 240 people attended the fourth such event organized by the library.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Facebook’s Process to Label You a ‘Hate Agent’ Revealed

Facebook monitors the offline behavior of its users to determine if they should be categorized as a “Hate Agent,” according to a document provided exclusively to Breitbart News by a source within the social media giant.

The document, titled “Hate Agent Policy Review” outlines a series of “signals” that Facebook uses to determine if someone ought to be categorized as a “hate agent” and banned from the platform.

Those signals include a wide range of on— and off-platform behavior. If you praise the wrong individual, interview them, or appear at events alongside them, Facebook may categorize you as a “hate agent.”

Facebook may also categorize you as a hate agent if you self-identify with or advocate for a “Designated Hateful Ideology,” if you associate with a “Designated Hate Entity” (one of the examples cited by Facebook as a “hate entity” includes Islam critic Tommy Robinson), or if you have “tattoos of hate symbols or hate slogans.” (The document cites no examples of these, but the media and “anti-racism” advocacy groups increasingly label innocuous items as “hate symbols,” including a cartoon frog and the “OK” hand sign.)

Facebook will also categorize you as a hate agent for possession of “hate paraphernalia,” although the document provides no examples of what falls into this category.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Google Attends PRIDE Showing Liberal Bias (Video)

Big Tech all in with identity politics and political correctness.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

InfoWars Crashes Drag Queen Story Time at Texas Library

Drag Queen reader backs out of event, but Antifa still determined to ensure event goes on.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Leftists Triggered by Questions and Media Lies Are Pushing America Closer to Civil War: Increasingly Violent Left Won’t be Able to Survive the Terror They’re Unleashing Upon America

MSM Is The Propaganda Arm For Democrats — ANTIFA Is The Paramilitary Arm

In this June 11th story over at Conservative Firing Line that Whatfinger News had linked to on their website on Wednesday, they reported upon one of the latest incidents of violent and out of control leftists attacking Conservatives after gun rights activist Kaitlin Bennett attended a ‘Picnic with Pete’ event in Iowa and along with her fiance and cameraman were assaulted in a now-viral video viewed over 1.5 million times.

As their story reported, after Bennett began asking some rally participants about the stories of child drag queens that continue to make headlines in the news and if they believe its child abuse for parents to put their underage children through hormone replacement therapy, the assaults began.

Just the latest sign that many on the left are now completely out of control, triggered into violence by mere questions, as this important story over at CNS News that The Liberty Daily had linked to on their website Wednesday had reported, thanks largely to the mainstream media and the continuous and never-ending lies coming from their mouths, America is now a completely divided country with even Rush Limbaugh warning the left is herding America towards civil war.

And with ‘deep state traitors’ potentially facing criminal charges in the weeks and months ahead as the DOJ’s investigation into the genesis of the Russian collusion hoax heats up, as Infowars had reported in this story back on June 6th, the Democrats have fully activated their ‘militant wing’ Antifa and they’ve seemingly declared ‘open season’ on Conservatives.

As Susan Duclos had reported in this May 14th ANP story, with Antifa going so far as to create no-go zones for reporters in Portland, Oregon while the MSM doesn’t report anything at all upon antifa’s violent actions against Conservatives nor their very fascist tactics, Susan had warned that’s all for a reason as both are two sides on the same team, the Democrats…

Dr. Eoin Lenihan, who studies Curriculum Development, International Education and Online Extremism, and authored “Let’s Teach! : A Guide for New and Innovative Educators,” mapped the online social interactions of of 58,254 Antifa Twitter accounts and found that journalists from liberal publications such as Huffington Post and The Guardian, worked hand in hand with known Antifa members.

Dr. Lenihan published his results, with screen shots, graphs and examples of the working relationsip between the journalists and the known, self-identified Antifa accounts, via a Twitter thread, showing the connections, and the fact that at least one journalist from Huffpo was used to nationally dox (release personal information) of those targeted by Antifa members, well before law enforcement investigation found those people either innocent or guilty.

So with many on the left already carrying out violent attacks upon peaceful, law-abiding Conservatives and Christians while so-called comedian Jo Brand in the UK recently suggesting protesters hurl acid instead of milkshakes at Conservative politicians, it’s clear that anything can happen in the days ahead so it’s best to be prepared for just that, anything.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/15/2019

  1. “The Metropolitan Police Service has confirmed that it will not be taking any further action over comments made by comedian Jo Brand when she joked about throwing battery acid at politicians”

    As leftists say, “It’s OK when we do it.”

    • Indeed, Peter. I’ve heard Ms Brand make hateful jokes about men, which if they were made by men about women, would have them banned, if not prosecuted.

  2. The FPÖ isn’t FAR right, it is right, actually the only really right-wing Party in Austria. Oh, and the District Attorney’s office in Vienna is dark red-red-green. Just sayin’.

  3. “Brazil: Mum and Lesbian Lover Tear Off 9-Year-Old Son’s Penis Then Behead Him ‘As He Reminded Her of Her Dad’” this goes faaaar beyond “simple” homicide, an eye for an eye would be too little justice for such monsters. This is yet another case of the possibility that abuse turns people gay, more studies should be done on this.

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