Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/22/2019

A Syrian “refugee” named Alaa Sheikhi has been convicted of murdering a German man named Daniel Hillig in Chemnitz last year. The murder of Mr. Hillig sparked a series of demonstrations in Chemnitz, followed by the false reports of a “manhunt” of foreigners in Chemnitz. Mr. Sheikhi was sentence to nine and a half years in prison.

In other news, almost fifty illegal migrants were intercepted off the coast of Sussex and Kent after crossing the English Channel in boats.

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. I 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.

USA
» Ann Coulter: Media Blackmailing America, Vote Out Trump or Our ‘Hysteria and Madness Will Go on’
» AP Source: Prison Staff Members Subpoenaed in Epstein Probe
» Exclusive — Jeff Landry: State Attorneys General ‘Have Had Enough’ of Big Tech
» GOP Sets Another 2020 Money Record, 1,900% Increase in Online Fundraising
» Hasbro Has a New ‘Monopoly: Socialism’ Game and Socialists Are Not Happy
» ‘I Am Not Suicidal, ‘ Says Man Who Exposed Hillary’s Ties to Google
» Jeffrey Epstein Had Painting of Girl Lying With Big Cat at New Mexico Home, In Latest Odd Art Reveal
» Joe Walsh in D.C. For Meetings About Possible Trump Challenge
» Judge Jeanine Pirro on Epstein’s Death: ‘You Get a Broken Hyoid When Someone Tries to Strangle You’
» Judge Sets Friday Hearing on Jussie Smollett Special Prosecutor Matter
» Jussie Smollett Case: Hearing Held on Chicago’s Lawsuit Against ‘Empire’ Actor
» Mother’s Chilling Warning After Man and Woman ‘Posing as Child Protective Services Workers Turned Up at Her Washington Home and Tried to Kidnap Her Four-Year-Old Son — Whose Name and Birthday They Knew’
» Must-See Interview: Google Whistleblower Exposes Big Tech’s Agenda
» New Kind of Blood-Sucking Leech Discovered in Washington DC
» New York Times Editor’s Antisemitism, Racism Exposed
» Obama’s Harvard Professor: Trump is a ‘F*****g Racist’; Wants to ‘Reverse Outcome of the Civil War’
» Ocasio-Cortez Mocks Middle America in Effort to Delegitimize Electoral College
» Party Bosses Reward State’s Attorney Kim Foxx for Jussie Smollett Scandal
» Portland Desperate as City Becomes Dangerous, Dirty Homeless Camp
» R. Kelly Prosecutors Play Their Hand… Evidence That He Took Girls Across State Lines for Sex
» These Numbers Are Daunting’: DNC Chair Panics Over Trump Campaign Raising $200 Million
» Trump Unloads on NBC Reporter: “ This Guy is the Most Biased Reporter.”
» Watch: Portland Antifa Exposed
» Why the New York Times is Unreformable and Must Die
» World Famous Porn Star Found Living as a Bum in Las Vegas Tunnels
 
Canada
» Canadian Political Debates Officially a Farce
 
Europe and the EU
» Chemnitz Trial: Syrian Jailed Over Stabbing That Sparked German Far-Right Riots
» Electric Vehicles Won’t Help UK Meet Emissions Targets: Time to Get Out and Walk, Warn MPs
» France: Extreme Left-Wing Anarchists Arrested for Planning to Attack G7 Hotel
» Italy: Others Talk of Posts, We About Budget — Salvini
» Italy: Full-Term Govt or Elections Says PD Chief Zingaretti
» Leaving the Euro Would be Good for Italy — Borghi
» ‘Neutral’, Unelected EU Commission Launches Scathing Attack on ‘Unelected’ UK PM
» Scottish Man Becomes Embroiled in Hilarious Argument With Alexa Over His Accent
» Sweden: Bombings and Explosions Up 45 Percent in 2019
» Sweden: Pair of Underage Teens Raped at Summer Music Festival
» Teen Accused of Attempted Attack on Swedish Populist Leader Prosecuted
» The Truth About Greta
» Trump Tells Off Denmark: “You Don’t Talk to the United States That Way”
» UK: Heartbreaking Scene as Terminally Ill Man, 84, Is Granted His Dying Wish — to be Taken From Hospital to See His Dementia-Sufferer Wife of 60 Years for One Final Time
» Whoops! UK Govt Statistics Office Undercounted EU Migration by 240,000
» Wind Power is Collapsing in Germany
 
Middle East
» The Widespread Desecration of Christian Graves
 
Far East
» ‘Imminent Threat’: N. Korea Has Mini-Nukes, Japan Says
» Rebel Media in Hong Kong: Avi Yemini’s Final Thoughts on Protests
 
Australia — Pacific
» Cardinal Pell’s Child Sex Abuse Conviction Upheld
» Weigel: Cardinal Pell Ruling an ‘Australian Disgrace’
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» WaPo: Islamist Militants ‘Targeting Christians’ In Burkina Faso
 
Latin America
» The “Lungs of the Earth” Are Literally Being Burned Away as Unprecedented Wildfires Absolutely Ravage Our Planet
 
Immigration
» Austria: Afghan Migrant Arrested for Arson Attack Against Freedom Party (FPÖ)
» Dover Migrant Crossing: Dozens Intercepted in Fresh Spate of Dangerous Channel Crossings
» Germany: Authorities Conduct Large Scale Human Trafficking Raids
» Illegal Migrants Cheer After Italian Court Overrules Matteo Salvini and Forces Italy to Accept Migrants From NGO Taxi Ship
» Kamala Harris Suggests Anchor Baby Policy Enshrined in U.S. Constitution
» Migrants Are Being ‘Radicalised’ By NGOs Pushing Them to Raise Their Demands, Warns UN Refugee Official After Rescue Ship Trying to Dock in Italy Snubbed Spanish Offer of Asylum
» One Quarter of Germans Now Come From Migrant Backgrounds
» The Latest: Portugal Offers to Take 35 People From Med. Ship
» Trump: ‘Very Seriously’ Looking at Ending ‘Ridiculous’ Anchor Baby Policy
» Wikipedia Has ICE Facilities Listed Under ‘Concentration and Internment Camps’ Section
 
Culture Wars
» AOC, Omar, Tlaib Silent as Palestine Outlaws LGBT Activity in West Bank
» In Latest Medical Insanity, Planned Parenthood Now Offering Transgender Chemical Injections on First Visit
» Newsweek: Time to Rethink Taboo on Cannibalism?
» Study Finds ‘Ideological Similarity, Hostility, And Discrimination’ Rampant in Academic Philosophy
 

Ann Coulter: Media Blackmailing America, Vote Out Trump or Our ‘Hysteria and Madness Will Go on’

News media outlets are essentially threatening Trump’s supporters with continued “hysteria” if the president is reelected, said Ann Coulter.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

AP Source: Prison Staff Members Subpoenaed in Epstein Probe

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed up to 20 staff members at the jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, amid mounting evidence that guards failed to keep watch on the financier as he awaited trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls, a person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The subpoenas suggest authorities may be pursuing criminal charges against employees at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where Epstein took his own life on Aug. 10. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because grand jury proceedings are secret.

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

Exclusive — Jeff Landry: State Attorneys General ‘Have Had Enough’ of Big Tech

Louisiana Attorney General (AG) Jeff Landry told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview Wednesday that many state attorneys general have “had enough” of big tech, and they will “take action” after significant investigations.

AG Landry spoke with Breitbart News as a Wall Street Journal report revealed that many state attorneys general could launch an antitrust investigation into America’s largest technology companies as soon as September. The report suggested that they could focus on whether these companies stifle competition by using their concentrated marketplace powers. The attorneys general would likely issue civil investigative demands, which act similarly to subpoenas, to tech giants and other companies.

Landry told Breitbart News that the attorneys general have had several bipartisan meetings, including meetings with the Department of Justice (DOJ), over issues regarding big tech. He also said that they met with Attorney General William Barr. The Louisiana Republican said that they will “take action” after gathering evidence against big tech.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

GOP Sets Another 2020 Money Record, 1,900% Increase in Online Fundraising

The Republican money train continues to haul in record cash.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party received $20.8 million in July, the largest ever for a non-election year July.

So far, the party has brought in $117.9 million for the 2019-2020 cycle.

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

Hasbro Has a New ‘Monopoly: Socialism’ Game and Socialists Are Not Happy

A few weeks ago, my wife and I took a deep breath and then reluctantly replied “sure” to our kids’ request that we play Monopoly for family game night. As most of us can attest, Monopoly requires a level of commitment that no family game night should require, and it’s not really that fun of a game to begin with. Hasbro’s new “Monopoly: Socialism,” though, sounds like a hoot and a great way to continue to teach my kids why socialism is for the math— economics— and history-challenged among us.

Sadly, I have been completely unaware of this new game that mocks socialism as only a brilliant capitalist company can. It was only after stumbling across a Twitter thread composed by a deeply offended socialist that “Monopoly: Socialism” entered my consciousness. So, thank you, Twitter and upset socialist dude.

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

‘I Am Not Suicidal, ‘ Says Man Who Exposed Hillary’s Ties to Google

On Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted out a study on Google bias from Ph.D. psychologist Robert Epstein. Epstein supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, but after the Trump tweet, Clinton attacked his professional reputation. Epstein responded with a tweet storm exposing Clinton’s ties to Google. At the suggestion of many conservatives online, the psychologist posted a statement in the unlikely (?) event he gets “suicided” by Hillary Clinton.

“Okay, this is sort of funny… It’s been suggested that I remind people that I AM NOT SUICIDAL!!! I love my life, wife, 3 awesome sons, 2 awesome daughters, my research, etc. etc. Everyone got that???” Epstein tweeted.

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

Jeffrey Epstein Had Painting of Girl Lying With Big Cat at New Mexico Home, In Latest Odd Art Reveal

Odd and often creepy details continue to surface in the aftermath of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide, giving a glimpse of the twisted extravagance that was a staple of his life — right down to the art he chose to display on his walls.

The latest revelation involves a massive painting showing a young woman of indeterminate age wearing a wedding ring and cuddled up beside a roaring big cat. A photo of the artwork was taken by a contractor who worked at Epstein’s sprawling New Mexico home in 2013 and provided exclusively to Fox News. The contractor requested anonymity in order to speak freely. (The contractor said the animal was a tiger, although it didn’t appear to have stripes.)

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

Joe Walsh in D.C. For Meetings About Possible Trump Challenge

WASHINGTON — As Joe Walsh, the conservative talk show host and former GOP House member from a suburban Chicago district strongly considers challenging President Donald Trump, he held meetings here Thursday about a potential campaign.

Walsh was in D.C. “meeting with people who are really interested in getting behind a possible campaign,” Lucy Caldwell, who is advising Walsh, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

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

Judge Jeanine Pirro on Epstein’s Death: ‘You Get a Broken Hyoid When Someone Tries to Strangle You’

“You get a broken hyoid when someone tries to strangle you,” said Jeanine Pirro about the death of Jeffrey Epstein, host of Fox News Channel’s Justice with Judge Jeanine and author of the forthcoming book, Radicals, Resistance, and Revenge: The Left’s Plot to Remake America, in a Tuesday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.

The death of Jeffrey Epstein was claimed to be the result of suicide by Barbara Sampson, chief medical examiner of New York City, NY.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Judge Sets Friday Hearing on Jussie Smollett Special Prosecutor Matter

Two months after he ordered the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Jussie Smollett and the controversial decision to drop criminal charges against the “Empire” actor, a Cook County judge may have picked someone to carry out the probe.

Judge Michael Toomin has set a hearing Friday morning, and with no other matters pending in the case, speculation is that Toomin has selected someone to fill the role of special prosecutor.

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

Jussie Smollett Case: Hearing Held on Chicago’s Lawsuit Against ‘Empire’ Actor

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Jussie Smollett case returned to federal court Tuesday morning for a hearing on the city of Chicago’s $130,000 lawsuit against the “Empire” actor.

Officials said false claims of an attack made by Smollett cost the city more than $130,000. That money was spent on investigating the alleged racist and homophobic attack.

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

Mother’s Chilling Warning After Man and Woman ‘Posing as Child Protective Services Workers Turned Up at Her Washington Home and Tried to Kidnap Her Four-Year-Old Son — Whose Name and Birthday They Knew’

A mother from Washington state has issued a chilling warning after she says two strangers posing as Child Protective Services caseworkers tried to abduct her son.

Jessi McCombs, of Marysville, says she was going about her morning on Monday when a man and a woman showed up at her door to take custody of her young son.

She says the pair someho knew her name, her four-year-old boy’s name and date of birth, and falsely claimed that he had injuries.

McCombs refused to hand over her son, Liam, and asked the purported CPS staffers to present their credentials.

The pair beat a hasty retreat after being unable to produce any documents proving their affiliation with the state agency, according to McCombs.

The Marysville Police Department has since launched an investigation into the chilling incident.

McCombs has posted a warning on social media about the alleged would-be kidnappers and talked to local media outlets about her terrifying ordeal as a lesson to other parents in the area.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Must-See Interview: Google Whistleblower Exposes Big Tech’s Agenda

Find out how the tech elite want to control you in this groundbreaking discussion.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Kind of Blood-Sucking Leech Discovered in Washington DC

It’s a headline that’s made for a late night talk show monologue or a Saturday Night Live sketch — scientists have discovered a new species of blood-sucking leech in the place that could be considered the motherland of blood-sucking leeches — Washington DC. Of course, they’re not the same kind of blood-sucking leeches … or are they?

[Comment: First thought was of Gang of Four.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New York Times Editor’s Antisemitism, Racism Exposed

A New York Times political editor has a years-long history of antisemitic and racist comments on his Twitter page, a Breitbart News investigation has found.

Tom Wright-Piersanti, who has been a Senior Staff Editor at the New York Times for more than five years according to his LinkedIn page and according to his Twitter page oversees the newspaper’s political coverage, has made a series of antisemitic and racist tweets over the years. Many of them are still public on his Twitter page as of the publication of this article, but some have since been deleted.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Harvard Professor: Trump is a ‘F*****g Racist’; Wants to ‘Reverse Outcome of the Civil War’

“If you’re silent, you’re complicit”

Long time anti-Trump professor Laurence Tribe called the President a “f*****g racist” Wednesday, and declared that Trump wants to “reverse the outcome of the Civil War.”

Tribe linked to a Daily Kos hit piece, which declared that Trump was racist for suggesting he is looking into ending US birthright citizenship, meaning that babies born in the country wouldn’t automatically become US citizens.

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

Ocasio-Cortez Mocks Middle America in Effort to Delegitimize Electoral College

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) openly mocked the Electoral College, and as a consequence, Middle America’s voice, in an Instagram video posted Monday.

The freshman lawmaker posted a sarcastic video to social media, offering commentary as she drove by empty fields in an effort to delegitimize the importance of the Electoral College and, as a consequence, the Americans it gives a voice to…

As Breitbart News has previously explained, the Founding Fathers designed the Electoral College as a safeguard against mob rule, essentially preventing high population areas — such as the modern day Northeast Coast and California West Coast — from determining the outcome of presidential elections. It gives flyover America a proportional voice in choosing the leader of the nation— something critics, such as Ocasio-Cortez, seem to overlook.

[Comment: Each day comrade ocassional-cortex proves herself to be a rabid Anti-American.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Party Bosses Reward State’s Attorney Kim Foxx for Jussie Smollett Scandal

Democratic Party bosses have enthusiastically endorsed the re-election bid of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, giving a symbolic high five to Jussie Smollett, the TV star who claimed he was assaulted on the streets of Chicago and humiliated the city.

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

Portland Desperate as City Becomes Dangerous, Dirty Homeless Camp

Residents call for action.

[Comment: Are these the same residents that elected the leftists currently in power?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

R. Kelly Prosecutors Play Their Hand… Evidence That He Took Girls Across State Lines for Sex

Prosecutors in the R. Kelly cases revealed some of the evidence they have to prove R. Kelly took underage women across state lines for sexual purposes.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, federal prosecutors in New York have more than a dozen flight records, birth certificates for a number of women, hotel receipts, bank records, medical records and various other business documents. They also have Uber records, photos and text messages.

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

These Numbers Are Daunting’: DNC Chair Panics Over Trump Campaign Raising $200 Million

President’s fundraising machine hauled in more donations than every Democrat candidate COMBINED.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Unloads on NBC Reporter: “ This Guy is the Most Biased Reporter.”

The video below is one of those classic Trump moments where you get his brutally honest opinion. It’s awesome!

President Trump unloads on NBC News reporter Peter Alexander for his obnoxiousness and Democrat activism:

If you’d stop being an organ of the Democrats.

This guy is the most biased reporter.

You are so obviously biased.

NBC News has less credibility with guys like you than CNN.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Watch: Portland Antifa Exposed

Share this exclusive report to show the world who Antifa really is.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why the New York Times is Unreformable and Must Die

Even before The New York Times launched its “All Slavery, All the Time” project, no one could accuse that paper of skimping on its race coverage, particularly stories about black males killed by white(ish) police officers.

Here’s one you haven’t heard about. I happened upon it by sheer accident.

Antwon Rose II was a 17-year-old boy shot by an East Pittsburgh police officer in June 2018 after he bolted from a jitney car that had been stopped by the officer. The Times published about a half-dozen stories on Antwon Rose — or as the Times calls him, “Antwon, who was unarmed.”

After the officer was acquitted on all charges in March of this year, the Times ran an article by Adeel Hassan on the verdict.

Here’s what you would learn from the Times:…

[Comment: Their “reporting” much worse than you think.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

World Famous Porn Star Found Living as a Bum in Las Vegas Tunnels

Today you are rich, glamorous, famous, happy and ignorant, tomorrow you’re just a bum. Let this be a lesson to all the young ladies seeking carnal pleasure and money out there. Had she had a family, children, God and honor, she would have lived a normal life now.

This is what you get when you live in the moment and care for nothing. What did she think that she would be able to shoot porno all her life? This is what pornography does to women, permanent irreparable damage.

Jenni Lee was one of the most successful porn actresses in the world.

But last month she was found living in the tunnels under Las Vegas fighting for survival.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Canadian Political Debates Officially a Farce

Taking part in the debate will be the leaders of the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, the NDP, the Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois. Maxime Bernier, the leader of the newly formed Peoples Party of Canada, has been excluded for not meeting the debate criteria the elites set down. If nothing else, Bernier’s exclusion illustrates how much Canadian voters, real ordinary people, don’t matter. The Green Party has been around since the 1980s and currently has about 18,000 members. The PPC on the other hand, created in late 2018, has 40,000 members. That doesn’t matter.

Bernier should not be worried about being excluded from what is obviously a rigged debate. And CPC leader Andrew Scheer should think twice before wanting to participate. As far as the English language debate is concerned, the presence of the Bloc is irrelevant. It was a given that in the debate, Trudeau, Singh and May would all be ganging up on Scheer who has a good chance of forming the next government. Singh and May have zero chance of governing but would have power if the Liberals wound up with a minority government and needed the help of one or both of the NDP and the Green Party. Lizzie May could end up as the adult in the room and it would be fun to watch her interactions with Justin.

It is one thing to realize all the debate’s participants will be going after Scheer. But it is quite another to decide to have five conservative-hating moderators, members of a union that has announced a campaign against the CPC. Scheer really should back out of a debate that has been formally rigged against him. But he is too much a part of the establishment to do that.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Chemnitz Trial: Syrian Jailed Over Stabbing That Sparked German Far-Right Riots

A Syrian man has been sentenced in Germany to nine and a half years in prison over the fatal stabbing of a man in Chemnitz last year.

Alaa Sheikhi, 24, was found guilty of “joint manslaughter and serious physical injury” over the death of Daniel Hillig, a 35-year-old carpenter.

A second suspect, an Iraqi, is thought to have fled Germany after the attack.

The case led to violent protests in Chemnitz, where far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has strong support.

Ahead of his sentencing on Thursday, Sheikhi denied any responsibility for the death of Hillig.

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

Electric Vehicles Won’t Help UK Meet Emissions Targets: Time to Get Out and Walk, Warn MPs

Electronic cars will not help the UK government meet its carbon emissions target, with MPs warning people will have to ditch their cars entirely.

A report (PDF) by the Science and Technology Committee was highly critical about the lack of policies in place to deliver the net zero target by 2050, adding that the UK is not even on course to meet its existing legally binding targets for 2023 to 2032.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

France: Extreme Left-Wing Anarchists Arrested for Planning to Attack G7 Hotel

Five extreme left-wing anarchists have been arrested for planning to attack a hotel that serves as a temporary barracks for security forces during the upcoming G7 summit in Biarritz.

Earlier this week, four men and one woman aged 24 to 46 — all known members of the extreme left anarchist movement — were arrested and taken into police custody after intelligence services found that they were discussing a possible attack on the location of the police hotel over social media, BFMTV reports.

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

Italy: Others Talk of Posts, We About Budget — Salvini

Ask M5S abt Zingaretti’s 5 conditions says League chief

(ANSA) — Rome, August 21 — League leader Matteo Salvini said Wednesday “the others in these hours are talking about posts, seats. We about the budget, about how to cut taxes and help the Italians”.

Hw told rteporters “you’ll have to ask the 5-Star Movement (M5S)” about the five conditions for an alliance set by Democratic Party (PD) leader Nicola Zingaretti.

Zingaretti laid down five points to discuss with the M5S: “loyal membership of the European Union; full recognition of representative democracy, starting from the central role of parliament; development based on environmental sustainability, a change in the management of migrant flows, with Europe as a full protagonist; and a turning point on economic and social recipes, in a redistributive line, which will open a season of investments.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Full-Term Govt or Elections Says PD Chief Zingaretti

Sets 5 conditions for M5S, M5S says top party

(ANSA) — Rome, August 21 — Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) chief Nicola Zingaretti on Wednesday called for a government fit to last the remaining three years of the legislative term, saying that if that were not possible, a general election was better. Speaking ahead of government consultations with President Sergio Mattarella Thursday, Zingaretti said after a PD summit: “a possible new government must be a turning point, lasting the term, or it is better to go to the polls”.

Mattarella is set to consult all parties on the way forward after Premier Giuseppe Conte resigned after nationalist League leader Matteo Salvini puled the plug on a 14-month alliance with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).

He will talk to the PD and the M5S separately on Thursday and if they both come out in favour of a long-term government he may give the green light to a premier-designate to explore that possibility.

Zingaretti laid down five points to discuss with the M5S: “loyal membership of the European Union; full recognition of representative democracy, starting from the central role of parliament; development based on environmental sustainability, a change in the management of migrant flows, with Europe as a full protagonist; and a turning point on economic and social recipes, in a redistributive line, which will open a season of investments.” It is uncertain whether the M5S will accept these terms.

The PD directorate gave Zingaretti a mandate to open talks to verify the possibility of “a turning-point government for the legislative term”, marking “discontinuity” with the M5S-League government.

The motion granting the mandate was approved unanimously.

Zingaretti said “I have never demonised the M5S, but we must recognise that there are profound differences with them”.

The PD leader said he could rule out any “under the table stitch-ups” or “shady deals” to cobble together a short-term government.

He also said the PD was “united” and would go to see Mattarella “all together” to verify the conditions for a “new turning point government, useful to the country”.

Zingaretti ruled out the idea of the PD backing a second government led by Conte. “Discontinuity means that obviously we don’t want to and can’t join a government that proposes a Conte #2, the continuation of a government that we fought,” he said.

“Everyone should get behind the need to start a new government”.

Zingaretti added: “with respect to a government that went into crisis, we must give life to a new government that is a new team, but united on the programme”.

Asked if he might be premier of this possible new government with the M5S, he said he already had two “weighty” jobs to do, as PD leader and Lazio governor.

The M5S, for its part, said Wednesday it was the top party in parliament, with the most seats gained in the 2018 general election, and would speak about possible ways forward towards either a new government or a general election after President Mattarella concludes his consultations with political parties Thursday evening.

“Following the crisis opened by Matteo Salvini,” the M5S said in a statement, “the M5S deems it opportune in this highly delicate phase to await the outcome of the consultations which head of State Sergio Mattarella will lead.

“In these hours we are receiving appeals from many sides and the M5S takes the opportunity to remind all political forces that it is the top party in parliament, with a relative majority.

“Tomorrow, at the end of the consultations, we will communicate our evaluations”.

M5S leader Luigi Di Maio has so far not said if he is in favour of a PD tie-up, or against it.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Leaving the Euro Would be Good for Italy — Borghi

League budget panel chair tells German magazine Capital — DPA

(ANSA) — Berlin, August 21 — Leaving the euro would be good for Italy, the League’s House budget committee chair Caludio Borghi told German magazine Capital on Wednesday.

“Certainly,” according to a Capital communique reported by news agency DPA, “an exit could only be done if I had the democratic legitimacy to do so, for example by winning an election with more than 50 percent or if I were forced to do it for reasons of national security”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

‘Neutral’, Unelected EU Commission Launches Scathing Attack on ‘Unelected’ UK PM

The European Commission, the notionally neutral body which serves as the sole initiator of EU-level legislation as well as the bloc’s executive, has launched an astonishing attack on the British prime minister.

Phil Hogan, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, disparaged Boris Johnson as “an unelected prime minister” — a slur seemingly based on poor knowledge of the British constitution, in which prime ministers, like Irish taoiseachs, are not directly elected — with delusions of Churchillian grandeur, The Times reports.

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

Scottish Man Becomes Embroiled in Hilarious Argument With Alexa Over His Accent

A Scottish man has been filmed embroiled in an argument with an Alexa device — after it ignored his request.

The hilarious video, filmed by Tracey McGuinness on Monday, shows her mum’s fiance Billy, 64, struggling to get an Alexa to play John Lennon music.

While Amazon’s Alexa device has become a staple feature in many homes, the device is known to sometimes struggle with accents.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Bombings and Explosions Up 45 Percent in 2019

Swedish police say that the number of explosive incidents and bombings in Sweden from January to July has increased 45 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

Statistics released by the police show that Sweden saw a total of 83 explosive incidents during the period from January to July, a number that has increased to 120 this year, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports.

[Comment: Clearly Sweden has a problem with white power types./ sarcasm]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Pair of Underage Teens Raped at Summer Music Festival

Over the weekend, pair of girls thought to be around 15-years-old were allegedly raped at a summer music festival. At least a dozen others at the festival were reported to have been victims of sexual assaults.

According to Aftonbladet, the two rapes took place close to 8 pm at the “We Are Sthlm” music festival in the Swedish capital on Saturday. Both rapes were captured by CCTV cameras.

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

Teen Accused of Attempted Attack on Swedish Populist Leader Prosecuted

A teenager who is accused of attempting to attack Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson with a large firecracker will face charges in court.

The attempted attack, which took place during the European Parliament election campaign earlier year in May, saw the alleged perpetrator throw a firecracker near the car of the SD leader following a speech made by Åkesson in Mariestad, broadcaster SVT reports.

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

The Truth About Greta

She wants you to panic.

Greta is just a human shield for the real agenda of the people who pull her strings.

Neo-feudalism disguised as environmentalism. The raw lust for power and control disguised as right-on hipster activism.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Tells Off Denmark: “You Don’t Talk to the United States That Way”

President says he won’t allow the US to be treated the way it was treated under Obama.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Heartbreaking Scene as Terminally Ill Man, 84, Is Granted His Dying Wish — to be Taken From Hospital to See His Dementia-Sufferer Wife of 60 Years for One Final Time

A husband terminally ill with cancer has fulfilled one of his dying wishes to see his wife of almost 60 years for one last time.

Derek Oliver, 84, used to visit his wife Eirwen, 85, who has dementia, at her care home in Pentre, Rhondda Cynon Taff, in South Wales every day.

However he was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the start of this year and became bed-bound stopping him from visiting Eirwen.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Whoops! UK Govt Statistics Office Undercounted EU Migration by 240,000

Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has admitted its own figures underestimated long-term migration between 2009 and 2016 by almost a quarter of a million.

The statistical agency discovered the error after examining Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data and comparing it to their own estimates based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS), according to The Times.

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

Wind Power is Collapsing in Germany

According to Wind Europe, Germany’s public authorities are not applying deadlines and many wind farm projects are getting stuck in legal disputes, with at least 750 megawatts of onshore wind projects currently in legal proceedings. Over 70 percent of the legal objections are based on species conservation, especially the threat to endangered bird species and bats, a growing concern around the world. Besides species protection, 17 percent of legal cases deal with noise protection. Another 6 percent of lawsuits deal with monument protection.

The German government also forced the wind power industry to cut costs, introducing a market-based tendering model. The economic and legal risks have made investors leery about investing in wind projects without the massive government-mandated subsidies that the wind industry enjoyed.

Since the federal government also removed some privileges they had provided for community wind farms, there are no longer enough participants for the public auctions.

[Comment: Wind power will never reach a level where it can survive wthout massive geovernment subsidies.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Widespread Desecration of Christian Graves

Although the persecution by members of some religions of live human beings, such as Jews and Christians, is certainly more monstrous, attacks on inanimate religious symbols possibly give an even clearer indication of a deadly hate borne for the “other.”

Consider, for instance, extremists desecrating and destroying Christian cemeteries and their crosses. While the act itself is largely “symbolic” — in that no living person gets hurt — it is also reflective of a committed hatred that transcends, say, responding to a physical threat. While the persecution of a Christian can be motivated by particular circumstances — conflicts, sexual attraction, convenience, gain, and so on — attacks on inanimate symbols would seem to reflect a hatred for Christianity and its followers that needs no “reason” and seemingly gains nothing.

From one end of the Middle Eastern world to the other — and in Arab, African and Asian nations, and increasingly in the West — this sort of hate has become a regular occurrence, seemingly “normalized.” A brief list follows, ordered by desecrations committed by formal terrorists, such as ISIS, al-Qaeda and similar organizations; informal terrorists, such as religious mobs; and theocratic governments.

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

‘Imminent Threat’: N. Korea Has Mini-Nukes, Japan Says

North Korea has miniaturised nuclear warheads and made them small enough to fit on ballistic missiles, Japan believes.

Tokyo defence chiefs warn in a new white paper that North Korea’s military activities pose a ‘ serious and imminent threat’ .

In last year’s report Japan said it was ‘ possible’that North Korea had achieved miniaturisation, but Tokyo now appears to have upgraded its assessment, according to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Rebel Media in Hong Kong: Avi Yemini’s Final Thoughts on Protests

Avi Yemini of TR News reporting for The Rebel wraps up in Hong Kong, and talks about his impressions of the people protesting for democratic demands and against the Chinese Extradition Bill.

Thank you for supporting this unique coverage. For all of our videos from Hong Kong and to help by chipping in, please visit HongKongReports.com.

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

Cardinal Pell’s Child Sex Abuse Conviction Upheld

Vatican notes his right to appeal again

(ANSA) — Vatican City, August 21 — The Vatican has stressed that the most senior cleric in the world to be convicted of child sex abuse, Cardinal George Pell, has the right to appeal to Australia’s High Court after his appeal was rejected on Wednesday.

“While reiterating its respect for the Australian judicial system, as stated on 26 February after the first instance verdict was announced, the Holy See acknowledges the court’s decision to dismiss Cardinal Pell’s appeal,” a statement released by the Vatican said. It added that “the Cardinal has always maintained his innocence throughout the judicial process and that it is his right to appeal to the High Court.” Pell had been convicted of one count of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and four counts of an indecent act against a child under the age of 16 and was sentenced in March to six years in prison.

The charges were for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in 1996 when he was archbishop of Melbourne.

One victim testified in court while the second victim died of a heroin overdose at the age of 30 in 2014. The Vatican statement ended by saying that “together with the Church in Australia, the Holy See confirms its closeness to the victims of sexual abuse and its commitment to pursue, through the competent ecclesiastical authorities, those members of the clergy who commit such abuse.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Weigel: Cardinal Pell Ruling an ‘Australian Disgrace’

An Australian court’s rejection of an appeal by Cardinal George Pell of his conviction for historic sexual abuse “calls into the gravest doubt the quality of justice in Australia,” writes noted Catholic intellectual George Weigel in a stinging analysis Wednesday.

There is something “seriously wrong” with criminal law in the state of Victoria, Weigel writes, “where legal process now bears a parlous resemblance to what prevailed in the Soviet Union under Stalin.”

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

WaPo: Islamist Militants ‘Targeting Christians’ In Burkina Faso

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Islamic militants have been singling out Christians for execution in a remarkably honest exposé of the situation.

Post writer Danielle Paquette noted that jihadist death squads have been checking people’s necks for Christian symbols, killing anyone wearing a cross, crucifix, or some other Christian image.

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

The “Lungs of the Earth” Are Literally Being Burned Away as Unprecedented Wildfires Absolutely Ravage Our Planet

We have never seen anything quite like this. This week the skies above Brazil’s largest city turned black in the middle of the afternoon due to the massive wildfires that are currently raging in that country. But the wildfires aren’t actually happening anywhere near Sa~o Paulo. In fact, the smoke that turned the skies black actually came from fires that were happening more than 1,000 miles away. Can you imagine how powerful the fires have to be in order to do that? And it isn’t just Brazil — right now horrific fires are scorching vast stretches of our planet from South America all the way up to the Arctic. Some of the fires are producing so much smoke that you can actually see it from space. And in the process, irreversible damage is being done to our ecosystems.

I know that this number is hard to believe, but there have been more than 72,000 wildfires in Brazil so far in 2019, and most of those fires are happening in the Amazon rainforest. I understand that many of you may not care what happens in Brazil, but you should. Approximately 60 percent of the entire Amazon rainforest is in Brazilian territory, and that rainforest produces approximately 20 percent of all the oxygen in our atmosphere. So essentially the “lungs of the Earth” are being burned away right in front of our eyes…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Afghan Migrant Arrested for Arson Attack Against Freedom Party (FPÖ)

A migrant from Afghanistan has been arrested on suspicion of an attempted arson attack against an office of the populist Freedom Party (FPÖ).

According to Austria’s Kronen Zeitung, the attack which occurred in St. Pölten saw four masked men hurl rocks and Molotov cocktails at the FPÖ party headquarters for Lower Austria in a blatant attempt to burn it to the ground.

During the attack, one man holding a Molotov cocktail caused another attack to catch fire after he accidentally bumped into him. The whole ordeal was captured on CCTV.

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

Dover Migrant Crossing: Dozens Intercepted in Fresh Spate of Dangerous Channel Crossings

DOZENS of migrants were rescued off the south coast today as they tried to cross the Channel in small boats.

UK Border Force officers intercepted the first boat at around 4am and took it back to Dover before rescuing a second vessel. Twenty-five migrants made the dangerous crossing overnight. A further 24 people — including four children — were later intercepted at Winchelsea Beach in East Sussex.

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

Germany: Authorities Conduct Large Scale Human Trafficking Raids

On Wednesday, nearly 2,000 police and customs officers searched apartments and businesses in what’s being described as massive human trafficking raids in Berlin.

German prosecutors say that they’re looking for suspected human traffickers who exploit foreign workers mostly within the construction industry.

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

Illegal Migrants Cheer After Italian Court Overrules Matteo Salvini and Forces Italy to Accept Migrants From NGO Taxi Ship

Illegal migrants scooped up off the coast of Libya cheer after an Italian court interfered and forced Italy to accept more migrants from the NGO taxi ship Open Arms.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kamala Harris Suggests Anchor Baby Policy Enshrined in U.S. Constitution

Despite Harris’s claim, the U.S. Supreme Court has never explicitly ruled that the children of illegal aliens must be granted automatic American citizenship, and many legal scholars dispute the idea.

Many leading conservative scholars argue the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment does not provide mandatory birthright citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens or noncitizens, as these children are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction as that language was understood when the 14th Amendment was ratified.

Breitbart News Senior Legal Editor Ken Klukowski has noted that Trump may have two routes by which an executive order ending birthright citizenship is constitutionally upheld:

[Comment: the ‘D’ after the name stand for Deceptive, not Democrat.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants Are Being ‘Radicalised’ By NGOs Pushing Them to Raise Their Demands, Warns UN Refugee Official After Rescue Ship Trying to Dock in Italy Snubbed Spanish Offer of Asylum

A UN refugee official has expressed concern over the increasing ‘demands of some migrants’ after dozens of them refused to dock in Spain in favour of Italy.

Vincent Cochetel, the UN’s special envoy for the Central Mediterranean, warned that migrants were becoming more radical as a result of NGOs pushing them to raise their demands.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

One Quarter of Germans Now Come From Migrant Backgrounds

The number of migrant-background residents in Germany has reached a new all-time high of 25.5 percent, and 42 per cent of children are of migrant backgrounds.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Latest: Portugal Offers to Take 35 People From Med. Ship

MILAN (AP) — The Latest on migration into Europe (all times local):

6:55 p.m.

Portugal is offering to take 35 people from the Ocean Viking rescue ship, following an appeal by the European Commission.

The Portuguese government said in a statement Thursday that France, Germany, Romania and Luxembourg are also ready to take some of the 356 people, mostly Africans, who were rescued in the Mediterranean off Libya.

The Ocean Viking carried out four rescues off Libya from Aug. 9-12. It is in its 13th day without being permitted to disembark the rescued people. The ship’s stated capacity is 200 passengers.

The Portuguese government statement says Portugal has taken in 132 rescued migrants since last year.

It says Portugal is always ready to help, but adds that a comprehensive European solution to the challenge of migration is needed.

___

3:35 p.m.

Police in North Macedonia say they have detained 45 migrants in a van close to the border with Serbia and arrested the driver on suspicion of people-smuggling.

A police statement Thursday said 42 of the migrants are Pakistanis, two are Afghans and one is Syrian. They were spotted getting out of a van near a border crossing. The van driver was identified as a man from North Macedonia.

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

Trump: ‘Very Seriously’ Looking at Ending ‘Ridiculous’ Anchor Baby Policy

President Trump says he is “very seriously” looking at ending the current policy of birthright citizenship in the United States, whereby hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children to illegal aliens — often referred to as “anchor babies” — are rewarded with American citizenship every year.

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Trump said his administration was reviewing an executive order to end the “ridiculous” birthright citizenship policy.

“We’re looking at that very seriously — birthright citizenship. Where you have a baby on our land, you walk over the border, have a baby, congratulations the baby is now a U.S. citizen,” Trump said. “We’re looking at it very, very seriously.”

“We are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously,” Trump continued. “It’s, frankly, ridiculous.”

[Comment: Under Mexican law, children born to Mexican parents are Mexican citizens, even if born on foreign soil. US is actually violating international law by automatically defining these children as American citizens. ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Wikipedia Has ICE Facilities Listed Under ‘Concentration and Internment Camps’ Section

Likely will not be edited or removed any time soon

Wikipedia, the online Encyclopedia, which has been routinely accused of left wing bias, has a list of ICE facilities under a section titled “concentration and internment camps,” and is keeping it there despite critics requesting it be removed.

The list of ICE facilities reappeared on the concentration camps page after Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, used the rhetoric to describe US holding centers on the border with Mexico.

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

AOC, Omar, Tlaib Silent as Palestine Outlaws LGBT Activity in West Bank

Luay Zreikat, a spokesman for Palestine Police, said LGBT activities are “harmful to the higher values and ideals of Palestinian society.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

In Latest Medical Insanity, Planned Parenthood Now Offering Transgender Chemical Injections on First Visit

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, just so happens to also be the nation’s second largest provider of “gender affirming hormone care,” which it apparently makes available to patients as early as the first visit, according to shocking new reports.

Even though transgender chemical injections are very likely to cause permanent sterility or other lifelong health problems such as osteoporosis (bone loss) and even cancer, Planned Parenthood has decided to administer them as quickly as a patient wants them because it’s the “woke” thing to do.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Newsweek: Time to Rethink Taboo on Cannibalism?

Since cannibalism is found throughout the animal kingdom and therefore is something natural, perhaps it is time for humans to rethink the “ultimate taboo” against eating human flesh, Newsweek proposes in an article Wednesday.

There is nothing necessarily unethical or unreasonable about eating human flesh, declare psychologists Jared Piazza and Neil McLatchie of Lancaster University, but careful reasoning over the merits of cannibalism is often “overridden by our feelings of repulsion and disgust.”

While not going so far as to recommend cannibalism, saying “there is no need to overcome our repulsion for the foreseeable future,” the two authors suggest that humans could master their aversion for human flesh if they needed to.

[Comment: Buffoons. Elite want Soylent Green to be the future for deplorables. Soylent Green, with a side order of kuru.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Study Finds ‘Ideological Similarity, Hostility, And Discrimination’ Rampant in Academic Philosophy

A new study surveying close to 800 academic philosophers finds that the field is rife with “hostility” and “discrimination” toward individuals with opposing viewpoints. The paper, which examines “distribution of and possible bias against political viewpoints in philosophy,” backs up previous findings in the field, according to one researcher.

The study, forthcoming in Philosophical Psychology, is titled “Ideological Diversity, Hostility, and Discrimination in Philosophy.” It is authored by Uwe Peters, Nathan Honeycutt, Andreas De Block, and Lee Jussim. The researchers are located in the United States, England and Belgium.

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

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/22/2019

  1. Antifa is being whitewashed. A report on the BBC World Service this morning (23 August, 2019) stated that Antifa’s activities started as a response to White Supremacy and acts as part of the “Resistance” movement. The BBC surely gets worse in its disinformation and outright lies. Antifa might be a comparatively recent arrival on the American stage but it has been in Europe for a long while and its footsoldiers are very, very, violent. I first came upon them in Budapest in 1990 when they were engaging in a demonstration. The police appeared terrified. I first saw their graffiti in Amsterdam in the late 1980s.

    We have our own version in the UK calling itself “Unite Against Fascism.” It is a front for the infamous Socialist Workers Party,an anarcho-Trotskyite rabble. Its original leader was one Wayman Bennett who later became chair of the SWP.

    According to the BBC, the villains are the White supremacists. Might one ask who they might be?

  2. Just last night my husband and I were watching DW News and this story came on. The reporting was exactly the German Gov’t line in that “foreigners” were being chased down in the streets and the poor Syrian was falsely accused.
    It was truly remarkable.
    I said to my husband “what you just watched is total German propaganda and the man that debunked that story in the German gov’t was fired…”
    I won’t continue to tell you what I also said.

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