Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/16/2019

A media report in the UK claims that Muslims have begun leaving Britain because of Brexit. The author, a Muslim journalist, says the Muslims are afraid for their safety in the wake of Brexit.

In other news, a Catholic bishop in Texas has denounced Netflix as blasphemous for releasing a Christmas special in which Jesus is depicted as a homosexual.

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

Thanks to 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.

Financial Crisis
» Dow, Nasdaq Surge to Record High as Apple Avoids New China Tariffs
 
USA
» Ancient ‘Coal Dragon’ Is Now the Oldest Parareptile Ever Found
» City Attorneys Ask Federal Judge to Toss Jussie Smollett Countersuit
» Detroit Hit With Lawsuit Alleging Thousands of Irregularities on Voter Rolls Including Dead People
» Impeachment Backfiring: Second Democrat Leaves the Party in 24 Hours
» In March 2018 Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale Warned the Tech Giants: Stop Targeting Conservatives!… Today, Nothing Has Changed. It’s Time for Parscale and Republicans to Act
» Nunes Blasts Schiff for Being a Serial Liar: ‘It’s Clear You Are in Need of Rehabilitation; It’s Crucial You Admit You Have a Problem’
» Police Tell Woman Homeless Guy Has Right to Attack Her; Seattle Mayor Caught Flubbing Police Hires as Officers Flee
» Rand Paul: Impeachment Charade Could ‘Destroy the Country’
» The Main Source for Christopher Steele’s Garbage Dossier Was Subject of “Open FBI Counterintelligence Investigation” But DOJ Did Not Tell the FISA Court
» West Haven Man Arrested for Trying to Join ISIS: Feds
 
Canada
» Canada Secretly Grants Visas to Terrorists & War Criminals
» Trudeau Government Wants to Enforce Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus to Include More Canadian Content
» Two Men Fired After Using the Word ‘Eskimo’ In a Private Conversation
 
Europe and the EU
» Greta Thunberg Documentary Set for Hulu Amid Train Controversy
» Hundreds of Dead Birds Found in Mystery Mass Death
» Media Claims ‘British Muslims Have Begun to Leave the UK’ After Boris Win
» Orban: “EU Climate Policy Shouldn’t Burden Central and Eastern Europe”
» Orban: Hungary Ready to Build New Central Europe
» PewDiePie Says “F*** Twitter” As He Slams Social Media Virtue Signalling
» PewDiePie Calls Out Media Over YouTube ‘Quit’ Lies
» Poland: Mushrooms With Cancer-Killing Properties Roped Into War Against Deadly Illness
» Switzerland: Algerian Man Arrested After Invading Women’s Home to Rape Her
» Train Company Snaps Back at Greta Thunberg Over Misleading Pic
» UK: Boris Welcomes New MPs to Westminster, Gets Brexit Rolling
» UK: Brexit Secretary Pledges EU Trade Deal by End of 2020
» UK: Claim: ‘Snob’ Emily Thornberry Called Brexit Voters ‘Stupid’
» UK: Rather Than Learning Lessons of Defeat, Labour Moves to Select Corbyn Loyalist as Next Leader
» UK: Terror Attack Shows De-Radicalization Programs Failing
» UN Climate Hoax Conference Comes to an End With China, India and the US Blamed for Holding Up Progress
 
Middle East
» Turkey Gives NATO the Middle Finger, Threatens to Shutter Critical Military Bases Over Sanction Threats
 
Russia
» George Soros Listed as 2nd Most Influential Figure in Ukraine
 
South Asia
» India: Tiny Frog Species Spark Off Curiosity in Coldspots
» New ‘Netherworldly’ Freshwater Fish Named for Thai Conservation Visionary
 
Australia — Pacific
» New Australian Shrimp Species Scales Waterfalls, Changes Gender and Eats Using ‘Nets’
» New Species Named for Dunedin Woman
» US, Australia Lead Revolt Against UN Global Climate Tax, Sparking Anger
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Muslim Militia Wipe Out 1,000 Christians in Year
 
Immigration
» Antifa Congressional Candidate Wishes “Cancer on Obama” For Deporting Migrants
» Baby Jesus Depicted as Caged Refugee Child in Toronto Church’s “Detained Christ” Nativity
» France Overtakes Germany in Asylum Requests for the First Time Since 2015
» Greece Calls on EU States to Take in More Asylum Seekers
 
Culture Wars
» 13 Academics Sign Letter Claiming Term “Quantum Supremacy” Is Racist
» Bishop Denounces Netflix as ‘Blasphemous’ Over Gay Jesus
» Obama Says Men Should Let Women Run Countries
» Ontario Street Preachers Under Investigation After ‘Inappropriate Comments’
» Seattle Hires Transgender Stripper to Perform at Homeless Strategy Conference (Video)
» Seattle: Taxpayers Fund Transgender Stripper’s Performance at Homelessness Conference
» Trans Activists Target Olympic Cyclist Inga Thompson for Saying Women Shouldn’t Have to Compete With Biological Men
 
General
» Another Day, Another Exoplanet, And Scientists Just Can’t Keep Up
 

Dow, Nasdaq Surge to Record High as Apple Avoids New China Tariffs

The stock market today rallied as the partial China trade deal avoided tariffs that would have otherwise kicked in Sunday. Apple (AAPL) and Cisco (CSCO) were among big gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 1.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Dow Jones industrials advanced 0.7%. All three indexes hit record highs. Small caps tracked by the Russell 2000 gained 0.9%. Volume was tracking higher on the NYSE but lower on the Nasdaq vs. the same time Friday.

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

Ancient ‘Coal Dragon’ Is Now the Oldest Parareptile Ever Found

A unique fossil that is “literally a black piece of coal” found in the dump of a 19th-century coal mine is revealing new insights about life before the rise of dinosaurs. It has also unseated a fossil found by a P.E.I. boy as the oldest known species of an ancient group called the “parareptiles.”

The new species, Carbonodraco lundi, was a small, lizard-like predator that scampered about in ancient swamps, snatching and stabbing insects and other prey with a sharp pair of fangs.

The animal, which was about 25 centimetres long from nose to tail, lived more than 306 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period in what is now Linton, Ohio, according to a new study by researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa published recently in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

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

City Attorneys Ask Federal Judge to Toss Jussie Smollett Countersuit

Chicago city attorneys have asked a federal judge to toss out a countersuit brought by former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, claiming the actor’s criminal case stemming from an alleged racist and homophobic attack has not yet concluded.

Smollett — who is being sued by the city — filed a countersuit last month claiming he was maliciously prosecuted by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, which charged him with filing a false police report after Chicago detectives determined he’d orchestrated the January attack on himself.

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

Detroit Hit With Lawsuit Alleging Thousands of Irregularities on Voter Rolls Including Dead People

Democrats insist voter fraud is insignificant and that voter ID is not needed. They should take a look at a legal dispute currently taking place in Detroit.

A watchdog group that fights for election integrity is currently suing the city for gross irregularities on their voter rolls.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Detroit Sued Over Voter Roll Irregularities, Including Thousands of Deceased Registered Voters

The city of Detroit has been hit with a lawsuit alleging numerous voter registration irregularities including thousands of dead people on its voter rolls, according to a complaint.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Impeachment Backfiring: Second Democrat Leaves the Party in 24 Hours

State Senator John Yudichak of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania said that he will be switching his registration to become an Independent. He will caucus with the Republican majority.

Yudichak has criticized an increasingly liberal Democratic caucus that has led to this decision.

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

In March 2018 Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale Warned the Tech Giants: Stop Targeting Conservatives!… Today, Nothing Has Changed. It’s Time for Parscale and Republicans to Act

In March 2018 Trump 2020 Campaign Manager Brad Parscale warned Facebook to keep the playing field level.

Hey @facebook @Twitter @Google we are watching. ?? This is your opportunity to make sure the playing field is level. #MAGA

— Brad Parscale (@parscale) March 7, 2018

Dozens of conservative websites have been banned and shutdown by Facebook and YouTube. Without online pro-Trump voices it will be difficult for Republicans to win.

If people do not have the correct information how are they expected to make the correct decisions?

A year-and-a-half ago Brad Parscale told the tech giants he was watching them. The tech giants never stopped targeting conservative publishers. It’s time for the Republicans to act. It’s time to end this criminal activity by the far left tech giants.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Nunes Blasts Schiff for Being a Serial Liar: ‘It’s Clear You Are in Need of Rehabilitation; It’s Crucial You Admit You Have a Problem’

Ranking member of the House Intel Committee Devin Nunes (R-CA) blasted the committee’s chairman Adam Schiff in a letter and told him he is “in need of rehabilitation” after lying through his teeth for years about the Steele dossier, Russian collusion, FISA abuses and more.

Nunes told Schiff he has a serious problem with lying and told him, “It’s crucial that you admit you have a problem.”

Nunes wrote: “After publishing false conclusions of such enormity on a topic directly within this committee’s oversight responsibilities, it is clear you are in need of rehabilitation, and I hope this letter will serve as the first step in that vital process.”

“As you know, your misguided validation of the FISA warrant was part of a years-long pattern in which you touted Christopher Steele’s credentials and reliability,” Nunes added.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Police Tell Woman Homeless Guy Has Right to Attack Her; Seattle Mayor Caught Flubbing Police Hires as Officers Flee

About 20 miles northeast of Seattle lies the sleepy suburb of Monroe. As the plague of Seattle’s homeless problem spreads, new homeless camps have begun popping up in Monroe. One woman has been making complaints with the local police, and has begun taking pictures of the camps as proof. This nearly landed her in the hospital, as one of the homeless guys took offense to her photography. Even more alarming was the initial response from the police.

My Northwest reports:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Rand Paul: Impeachment Charade Could ‘Destroy the Country’

Democrats don’t like Trump and his demeanor, so they have decided to criminalize politics.”

Senator Rand Paul warned Sunday that the Democrats’ vendetta against the President, and their obsession with impeachment could end up destroying the country.

“You know, we’ve seen the evidence. We’re going to hear the evidence repeated, but we won’t see any new evidence so I think all of America has seen this. We’ve found this is a very partisan exercise.” Paul said, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union.

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

The Main Source for Christopher Steele’s Garbage Dossier Was Subject of “Open FBI Counterintelligence Investigation” But DOJ Did Not Tell the FISA Court

The major source for the entire effort to spy on candidate and President Trump was under investigation himself but no one bothered to tell the courts. A week ago today the FISA report was finally released with more than 450 pages covering the crimes and broken policies the FBI and DOJ took to obtain a warrant to spy on candidate and President Trump. Each day since more and more information is uncovered and discovered as a result of the report.

One of the more shocking facts from the FISA report is that there was only one person who supplied information to Christopher Steele and he said that the information he provided was all garbage.

The primary sub-source stated that his information came from word of mouth and hearsay and a conversation he had with friends over beers:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

West Haven Man Arrested for Trying to Join ISIS: Feds

WEST HAVEN, CT — A West Haven man has been arrested after authorities say he was attempting to travel to the Middle East to join and fight for ISIS. Amhad Khalil Elshazly, 22, of West Haven, has been charged by a federal complaint with attempting to provide material to support ISIS, U.S. States Attorney for Connecticut John H. Durham announced.

Elshazly was arrested Sunday in Stonington where he was expecting to board a ship to travel to Turkey and transit to Syria to be with ISIS, according to authorities. He appeared in federal court in New Haven on Monday and was ordered detained.

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

Canada Secretly Grants Visas to Terrorists & War Criminals

It seems in Canada even war criminals and terrorists can get special favours with the right connections.

According to an investigative report by Global News, Canada has a secret program that allows “high-profile” foreign nationals entry via visa so long as it is in Canada’s national interest, even if they previously were a security concern, took part in war crimes, organized crime, or any other human rights violation.

In total, roughly 3000 individuals have received visas through the program since 2010, with over 2100 being granted since 2015.

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

Trudeau Government Wants to Enforce Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus to Include More Canadian Content

The Trudeau government is planning on insisting that streaming companies include more Canadian content. They want to introduce the new legislation by next year. The change is meant to affect companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus.

The new rules are meant to be enforced through Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. According to National Post, Guilbeault was asked to “introduce legislation by the end of 2020 that will take appropriate measures to ensure that all content providers, including internet giants, offer meaningful levels of Canadian content in their catalogues.”

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

Two Men Fired After Using the Word ‘Eskimo’ In a Private Conversation

Two Canadian men were fired from their jobs after one of them used the word ‘Eskimo’ in a private conversation.

The two men were boarding a flight from Labrador to Newfoundland when Dave Beck said the word “Eskimo.”

His friend Thomas Scott responded by asking, “Can you smell him?”

The conversation was overheard by by Innu Nation member and former Labrador MP Peter Penashue and other passengers.

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

Greta Thunberg Documentary Set for Hulu Amid Train Controversy

A Hulu documentary is in the works about 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Tentatively titled “Greta,” the film will depict Thunberg’s rise as a passionate protector of the environment, according to Deadline, which notes that a documentary team has been following her since she started a Swedish school strike in August 2018.

The teen, who was named Time magazine’s youngest Person of the Year last week, has built an audience of nearly 3.7 million Twitter followers along her mission to speak out on climate change.

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

Hundreds of Dead Birds Found in Mystery Mass Death

Hundreds of birds found dead on a north Wales road are to be tested to discover how they died.

About 225 starlings were discovered with blood on their bodies in a lane on Anglesey, North Wales Police said.

Dafydd Edwards, whose partner found the birds, said it was as if “they had dropped down dead from the sky”.

[Comment: Article dated Dec 11, 2019.]

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

Media Claims ‘British Muslims Have Begun to Leave the UK’ After Boris Win

British Muslims have “begun to leave the UK after Boris Johnson won the election” according to the alarmist headlines of a journalist writing for a major newspaper — without offering hard evidence of the assertion.

Writing for the Metro, a once fairly neutral but increasingly left-biased newspaper distributed for free on public transport throughout Britain, Basit Mahmood claimed that British Muslims “have started the process of leaving the UK over fears for their ‘personal safety’ now Boris Johnson is Prime Minister for five years”. The story was widely shared on social media by those expressing anger at the Conservative landslide victory.

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

Orban: “EU Climate Policy Shouldn’t Burden Central and Eastern Europe”

Following last week’s European Union Summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared the talks to be a success, saying that realizing ‘climate-neutrality’ on the European continent wouldn’t have to come at the expense of Central and Eastern European countries.

Orban hailed Hungary as a “climate champion”, saying that it was among the EU member states to have made the largest reductions in CO2 emissions in the past 30 years, Hungary Today reports.’

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

Orban: Hungary Ready to Build New Central Europe

Hungary stands ready to build, together with its neighbours, including Romania, a new central Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Timisoara (Temesvar), in western Romania, on Saturday, marking the 30th anniversary of the Romanian revolution that started in the city.

The aim is to turn central Europe into one of the most successful and most competitive regions in the world, Orban told a gala evening in regional business centre CRAFT. In such a future central Europe, cities would be connected by motorways and high-speed trains, the prime minister said. Everyone in the region would have a job and it would again be home to those who had left it to go work abroad, he said, adding that the point of concern would be deciding “what to do with guest workers coming from western Europe.” “If we cooperate, it will be possible, and this is what will be the new European reality,” Orban said.

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

PewDiePie Says “F*** Twitter” As He Slams Social Media Virtue Signalling

YouTuber PewDiePie has sensationally quit Twitter, explaining in a video that the site rewards disingenuous virtue signalling and actually prevents people from being virtuous.

In a 7 minute video entitled ‘I hate twitter’, Pewds, real name Felix Kjellberg, explains the concept behind Aristotle’s understanding of virtue and what it takes to be truly virtuous.

He slammed social media for gamefying dishonesty and fakery by encouraging the expression of fake virtue.

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

PewDiePie Calls Out Media Over YouTube ‘Quit’ Lies

PewDiePie has called out the media for falsely reporting that he is quitting YouTube.

The 30-year-old Swedish star, real name Felix Kjellberg, posted a video announcing that he is taking a break from YouTube because he is tired.

“I’m taking a break from YouTube next year,” said Kjellberg. “I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind. I’m tired. I’m feeling very tired. I don’t know if you can tell.”

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

Poland: Mushrooms With Cancer-Killing Properties Roped Into War Against Deadly Illness

Polish scientists have found a natural way to kill cancer by utilising properties fond in mushrooms. Even better, it happens to grow in Poland, in the Bialowieza Forest.

Mushrooms are a popular culinary ingredient around the world, from Poland to Japan. As well as being tasty, the edible varieties have many nutritional benefits. They contain vitamin B and selenium, a powerful antioxidant that helps to support the immune system and prevent damage to cells and tissues, among other substances.

As researchers around the world have looked for a cure for cancer, some have become interested in the power of mushrooms.

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

Switzerland: Algerian Man Arrested After Invading Women’s Home to Rape Her

Swiss police arrested a 28-year-old Algerian migrant earlier this week after he broke into a women’s home in the village of Holderbank and tried to rape her.

The victim was fast asleep before she was woken up by man trying to rape her with his hand cupped around her mouth and nose, Swiss daily newspaper 20 Minutes reports.

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

Train Company Snaps Back at Greta Thunberg Over Misleading Pic

Climate activist Greta Thunberg and Germany’s national railway company created a tweetstorm Sunday after she posted a photo of herself sitting on the floor of a train surrounded by lots of bags.

The image has drawn plenty of comments online about the performance of German railways.

Thunberg posted the tweet late Saturday with the comment “traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home!”

But German railway company Deutsche Bahn suggested that Thunberg may not have spent the whole time sitting on the floor.

And the 16-year-old Swedish activist later sought to draw a line under the matter by tweeting that she eventually got a seat and that overcrowded trains are a good thing.

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

UK: Boris Welcomes New MPs to Westminster, Gets Brexit Rolling

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to welcome 109 new Conservative Party MPs to Westminster on Monday before kick-starting his plans for exiting the European Union.

The Conservative Party won the December 12th general election with an strong 80-seat majority, many of the new Members of Parliament coming from Leave-backing constituencies that traditionally voted Labour.

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

UK: Brexit Secretary Pledges EU Trade Deal by End of 2020

Brexit secretary Michael Gove has said that the new Conservative Brexit government will agree on a trade deal with the European Union by the end of 2020, as scheduled.

Mr Gove made the assurances on Sky New’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, saying the country’s new relationship with the EU “will be concluded next year”.

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

UK: Claim: ‘Snob’ Emily Thornberry Called Brexit Voters ‘Stupid’

Labour MP Emily Thornberry has threatened to sue former colleague Caroline Flint who said the staunch Remainer had called Brexit voters “stupid”.

While Labour continues the autopsy of its election campaign after experiencing its worst loss since 1935, former Labour MP Caroline Flint said a significant factor was Labour Leavers rejecting the party’s anti-Brexit stance.

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

UK: Rather Than Learning Lessons of Defeat, Labour Moves to Select Corbyn Loyalist as Next Leader

Jeremy Corbyn fired the starting gun on the race to replace him as the leader of the Labour party in the early hours of Friday morning as the scale of their massive defeat became imminent, but rather than learning lessons from the right-wing landslide the early favourite is Corbyn loyalist Rebecca Long-Bailey.

Frequently described as a “Corbyn loyalist”, Salford and Eccles Member of Parliament Rebecca Long-Bailey pushed aside former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend as favourite to win the race. British bookmaker Betfair, one of several which offer odds on political events put Long-Bailey at 9/5 (35 per cent likelihood) to be the next Labour leader Monday, climbing 9/2 on Friday.

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

UK: Terror Attack Shows De-Radicalization Programs Failing

He was a British jihadist who had been through a de-radicalization program. But Usman Khan, on supervised early release from prison, killed two people and wounded several others near London Bridge on Nov. 29.

Patrick Dunleavy, a former deputy inspector general for the New York State Department of Corrections described Khan as the “tip of an iceberg that threatens western democracies.”

“Khan spent eight years in prison for his part in a radical Islamic terror cell that plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange,” Dunleavy wrote for the Investigative Project on Terrorism, for which he serves as a senior fellow.

“Khan was a close disciple of Anjem Choudary, the fiery radical Islamic clergyman who was sentenced to 51/2 years in a U.K. prison for providing material support to ISIS. Choudary served less than half his original sentence when he was released on ‘license,’similar to parole, in October 2018,” he wrote.

But now authorities are reviewing release conditions for dozens of convicted terrorists because of Khan’s attack.

“Unfortunately, there are many more convicted terrorists roaming the U.K. streets who have never renounced the twisted ideology of a jihadist. Of the 400+ Islamic terrorists released in recent years, nearly 70 percent refused to take part in any de-radicalization program while incarcerated,” Dunleavy wrote.

Khan “professed a desire to be de-radicalized, but now that looks like it was just a ruse to attain an early prison release.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UN Climate Hoax Conference Comes to an End With China, India and the US Blamed for Holding Up Progress

The nuts and flakes who believe the world is getting hotter and the sky is falling surprisingly couldn’t come to an agreement about how the world was going to take more money from rich nations and pass it along to poor nations and somehow save the planet.

The Daily Mail reported on Sunday that the UN Summit on climate change was at risk of collapse after weeks of negotiations —

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey Gives NATO the Middle Finger, Threatens to Shutter Critical Military Bases Over Sanction Threats

Turkey Gives NATO The Middle Finger, Threatens To Shutter Critical Military Bases Over Sanction Threats French President Emmanuel Macron complained during the NATO summit in London earlier this month about Turkey’s decision to buy a Russian missile-defense system and its invasion of Syria, musing about how Turkey could justify its continued membership in the alliance if it counties to flout its interests at every turn.

These comments, only the latest round of complaints about Turkey’s behavior toward its Western NATO allies, inspired speculation about whether NATO could formally expel Turkey. But aside from whatever legal complications might lie in wait, we posit that there’s another more fundamental reason why NATO likely won’t be able to expel Turkey. Because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would likely quit first.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

George Soros Listed as 2nd Most Influential Figure in Ukraine

A prominent Ukrainian news organization has named George Soros, the man behind the far-left, pro-globalization Open Society Foundation, as the second-most influential figure in Ukraine, just behind the country’s head of state — Volodymyr Zelensky.

In its recent piece titled “Top 100 most influential people and events in Ukraine”, the Kiev-based newspaper Vesti ranked George Soros, the Hungarian-American billionaire financier, and social engineer, as the country’s second-most influential figure.

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

India: Tiny Frog Species Spark Off Curiosity in Coldspots

A new species of frog — Sphaerotheca magadha — also known as the Magaha burrwoing frog — has been discovered in the Jounghi Nawadih village in the Kodarma district of Jharkhand.

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

New ‘Netherworldly’ Freshwater Fish Named for Thai Conservation Visionary

At first glance, Garra surinbinnani looks like a stout, brown minnow with the face of a boxer who’s gone one too many rounds. But the deep gash in its forehead studded with blue spikes is a natural feature whose function remains a mystery.

Discovered by Florida Museum of Natural History researchers, this freshwater fishmakes its home in the fast-flowing, rocky streams of Western Thailand, a region that the species’ namesake, the late conservationist Surin Binnan, devoted himself to protecting.

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

New Australian Shrimp Species Scales Waterfalls, Changes Gender and Eats Using ‘Nets’

Researchers have described an unusual species of shrimp found in north Queensland, which scales 100-meter high waterfalls, changes gender, and uses nets on its front legs to eat.

A distinctive feature of the shrimp, Australatya hawkei, are the small “nets” on its front legs used to catch plankton to eat. Because dirty water blocks up the nets, the shrimp are only found in places with clean water.

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

New Species Named for Dunedin Woman

A moth named Barbara — no, it is not the sequel to the film A Fish Called Wanda.

Ichneutica barbara is the latest species of moth to be officially identified and is named after Otago Museum Royal Society Rutherford Discovery fellow and Ahi Pepe MothNet leader Barbara Anderson, who is passionate about all things moths.

The moth was named by Landcare researcher Robert Hoare, of Auckland, who recently published a revision of New Zealand’s Noctuids.

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

US, Australia Lead Revolt Against UN Global Climate Tax, Sparking Anger

United Nations negotiators expressed disbelief, then anger Sunday as the COP25 climate talks in Madrid, Spain, looked set to end with no agreement on anything of substance.

The only unanimous decision reached by the 25,000 delegates was the backing for another identical conference in 12 months’ time to revisit the agenda in a program that first started in 1991.

Negotiators from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) pointed the finger of blame at Australia and the United States as well as Brazil and Japan for resisting the call for financial reparations to be sent to “victims” of climate change as well as other major industrial nations which see no reason to support U.N. global climate tax demands.

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

Muslim Militia Wipe Out 1,000 Christians in Year

Fulani Muslim herdsman have been attacking Christian villages in northern Nigeria.

More than 1,000 Christians have been murdered by Islamic militia in Nigeria within the last year and more than 6,000 since 2015.

It’s the key finding of a new report, “Your Land or Your Blood,” from the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, according to the Church Times.

The report was presented at the International Organisation for Peace and Social Justice crisis conference in London last month.

The founder of HART, Baroness Caroline Cox, said the perpetrators are Muslim Fulani herdsmen who “seek to replace diversity and difference with an Islamist ideology which is imposed with violence on those who refuse to comply. It is — according to the Nigerian House of Representatives — genocide.”

One pastor, not identified in the report, said: “Every day we carry new corpses to the cemetery. They kill farmers. They destroy our homes and churches. They kidnap and rape women.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Antifa Congressional Candidate Wishes “Cancer on Obama” For Deporting Migrants

A Socialist Democratic Congressional candidate in Texas has wished “cancer” on former President Barack Obama for his role in deporting migrants and not stopping climate change.

34-year-old Justin Lecea, whose Twitter bio features red and black flags to represent Antifa and also Lecea’s preferred pronouns, is running in Texas’ 20th district.

“People are criticizing me for wishing cancer on Obama,” tweeted Lecea. “I say that having lost a parent to brain cancer after 12 years of fighting, and getting to see just how terrible our Healthcare system is, and I still think he deserves it or worse.”

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

Baby Jesus Depicted as Caged Refugee Child in Toronto Church’s “Detained Christ” Nativity

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Well, not really. Case in point: the nativity scene at Toronto’s Eastminster United Church.

Now called “The Detained Christ”, the church’s Christmas display depicts the baby Jesus inside a cage and wrapped in a solar blanket.

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

France Overtakes Germany in Asylum Requests for the First Time Since 2015

France, for the very first time since the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, has overtaken Germany in the number of asylum requests they’ve received.

At the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless people (Ofpra) recorded 80,075 requests for asylum, while Germany received close to 890,000 requests Le Monde reports.

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

Greece Calls on EU States to Take in More Asylum Seekers

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called on EU states to take in migrants and asylum seekers from the Greek islands, which are currently overcrowded. “We need to develop a European asylum and migration pact, like what the [European] Commission promised, we need more burden sharing,” he said in an interview with the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper, adding that some asylum applications should be processed in other countries.

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

13 Academics Sign Letter Claiming Term “Quantum Supremacy” Is Racist

13 academics have signed a letter asserting that the scientific term “quantum supremacy” is racist and shouldn’t be used.

Yes, this actually happened and it’s not the Onion.

A Google computer recently achieved quantum supremacy by managing to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years.

However, instead of celebrating this accomplishment, some academics were instead triggered by the use of the term “quantum supremacy”.

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

Bishop Denounces Netflix as ‘Blasphemous’ Over Gay Jesus

The Catholic bishop of Tyler, Texas, has denounced Netflix as blasphemous over its release of a Christmas Special titled The First Temptation of Christ portraying Jesus as gay.

“Respect is the last thing they are thinking about, every Christian should denounce this film, it is blasphemy against the Son of God who suffered & died even for all who deny that He is Lord of the Universe,” said Bishop Joseph Strickland in a tweet Sunday. “His prayer for them…. ‘Father forgive them they know not what they do.’“

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

Obama Says Men Should Let Women Run Countries

The world would be better off if women ran every country, Barack Obama argued.

“Now women, I just want you to know; you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you’re better than us,” Obama said in Singapore at a private event on leadership.

[Comment: As in Sweden?]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ontario Street Preachers Under Investigation After ‘Inappropriate Comments’

Two men wearing sandwich-board style signs are being investigated by Waterloo Regional Police. The signs had quotes from The Bible on them. One read, “the judgement of the great whore” (Revelation 17:1) and the other, “she that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives” (Timothy 5:6). The two men were also yelling “inappropriate comments” at women walking by them on Thursday afternoon.

Most of the confrontations the two men were engaging in were with young women crossing at the corner of King and University. Karen Nancarrow was stopped at the light when the two men began accosting her she told CBC.

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

Seattle Hires Transgender Stripper to Perform at Homeless Strategy Conference (Video)

Someone in King County’s Department of Community and Human Services thought it would be a fabulous idea to blow taxpayer money on hiring a transgender stripper to perform at the agency’s annual conference that usually centers around homelessness.

Watch: (at your own risk)

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Seattle: Taxpayers Fund Transgender Stripper’s Performance at Homelessness Conference

Despite complaining about a lack of money, King County leaders used taxpayer dollars to fund the performance of a transgender stripper at a recent conference on homelessness.

Yes, really.

Beyonce Black St James was hired to twerk in attendees faces and expose his/her breasts as the audience cheered and handed over dollar bills. The stripper also gave lap dances and kissed attendees.

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

Trans Activists Target Olympic Cyclist Inga Thompson for Saying Women Shouldn’t Have to Compete With Biological Men

The perpetually outraged trans activist community has latched onto a new target: former Olympian Inga Thompson.

Thompson competed in numerous Olympic games and other cycling events through the 1980’s and 90’s. She now has her own non profit to help women in sports and, up until the other day, served on the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association board of directors. Her crime against humanity? She has dared to come out and criticize male-to-female transgenders who are competing against women.

Her comments were from a Save Womens Sports article:

Inga Thompson of the Inga Thompson Foundation, a three-time Olympic cyclist, is gathering support from athletes to push the IOC to change its policy. We spoke with Inga about her efforts to preserve women’s sports. Inga said, “I feel that the International Olympic Committee and USOC will do nothing until there are no more biological women on the podium. I wholeheartedly and without reservation support transgender women competing in sports, in their own category.”

And that was it.

Soon after, the transgender community threw their tantrum.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Another Day, Another Exoplanet, And Scientists Just Can’t Keep Up

As finding alien worlds has gotten easier, learning every single detail scientists can has become, perhaps surprisingly, a bit of a waste of precious time of instruments and computers alike.

To date, scientists have discovered 4,104 confirmed exoplanets. But for every confirmed planet that astronomers nail down, there are handfuls of maybe-planets in the data, whispers in the data that might come from stars hiccuping or pairs of stars dancing or would-be stars that didn’t quite make the cut. And scientists no longer have the resources to analyze every potential planet’s identity crisis.

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

22 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/16/2019

  1. Funny that. I thought it was the other way around? Who in their right mind would invade their own hard won through the centuries country with barbarian savages whose sick ideology demands kill or convert the unfortunate host population? PC is evil. Women need to stop aborting and start embracing heterosexuality. No wait…..

  2. re UK: Terror Attack Shows De-Radicalization Programs Failing

    Memo to Patrick Dunleavy, formerly of NY State Department of Corrections :

    “the twisted ideology of a jihadist” is Mohammed’s ideology, basic Islam.

  3. “Trans Activists Target Olympic Cyclist Inga Thompson for Saying Women Shouldn’t Have to Compete With Biological Men”

    Well here’s the thing: transwomen who undergo hormone therapy and surgery are no stronger than your average woman. I know people don’t like to hear this, but hormones, especially the sex hormones, have a far greater influence on our bodies than we like to admit. Similarily transmen taking testosterone gain a lot of muscle strenght and after roughly two years hormone therapy you can’t tell the difference between a young man and young transman in strenght (and other aspects, but this is not about that).
    So in that light transwomen should absolutely be allowed to compete with other women in competitions.
    Who needs to be banned are these groups:
    1) pre-transition transpeople (no sane transsexual is going to expose themselves during the transition anyway)
    2) mentally ill people who confuse their condition with transsexuality
    3) those African women who have naturally high testosterone levels (they should have their own competition group as their muscle strenght is close to a man’s, but they’re in no way, shape or form men).

    I’m not excusing the backlash in any way, though, I’m always, especially when it comes to public events like sports or politics, for a calm discussion where both parties listen to the arguments of the other and try to come up with a solution acceptable to both.

    • How many different Olympic Games would you like?

      Let’s get back to the centre of all this rather than trying to accomodate all the ramifications of a fundamentally wrong idea.

      Outside sociology departments it is generally accepted that biological sex trumps an individual’s personal feeling about themselves. Sex has been going for a zillion tears whereas gender, as a cultural challenger to sex rather than as a grammatical category, has only been around for 60 years or so.

      I suggest that a castrated man, or an uncastrated man who decides to identify as a woman, should not be called a transwoman but a transman, and that only as an honorary title.

  4. Very good news that Muslims are leaving the UK, as over the past 10 years and more Britain has suffered a massive intake of people from Islamic countries which has begun to distablise the indigenous society, with possible grave results, and as far as the Government along with the EU are concerned they have pushed Multiculturalism beyond any sence or reason. It was T. Blair whilst Prime Minister that loosened the strings to allow an influx of mass immigration into the uk. The Islamic ideology is completely alien to the Christian way of life and it is strongly suggested that the present number of Muslims in Europe will destroy its way of life. Another Otterman Empire cannot be allowed to flourish in Europe.

    • Between Muxit and ( The author, a Muslim journalist, says the Muslims are afraid for their safety in the wake of Brexit ) preceding porky;
      Holding sides in, Sir ! You’ve won the internets today, as far as I’m concerned.

  5. Muslims trust lala that most Western EU countries will eventually settle for some kind of partition. Especially Sweden because seemingly the Swedes have “no experience” and it will make sense to them.

  6. LOL!!!! what the [dickens] is “Canadian” content and how and why do they think it’s different from all the other junk on Netflix??

  7. The UK is a free country – Leave or stay, you can do what you will. No one will stop you doing what you need to do. The sane can’t be said for certain countries (especially if you are a woman).
    How can this be inferred as another snipe at the ‘British Muslim’ community other than a prelude for them to use the race card again.
    Boris hopefully will address and balance the skewed inequalities we have with minorities holding the majority to ransom with stupid hate speech laws yet they can maim with the blade with impunity.

    • It is easy to imagine Boris knows he is running against time. So much had been left undone for so long now.

      • I know, but when disparities of ethnicity in a conflict arise the race card is always produced. Frequently the term of islamaphobe is used too, which is more of a red herring.

      • Not half as sorry as the Muslims. They are a sorry lot. If they were a race they would have been disappeared without a trace at least fifteen hundred years ago. Make them a single race now and see change.

  8. It is working just fine for them in India. They already got Pakistan in the last partition, and breeding like rats, love jihad, and plain old terrorism will eventually get them another partition of India. The rohingya in Myanmar are also using the same tactic with some success. Rinse and repeat until they have the whole of the subcontinent.

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