Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/20/2019

A Swedish judge has ruled that two culture-enrichers from Eritrea who were convicted of gang-raping a woman cannot be deported. It seems that the unfortunate “youths” deserted from the army in their homeland, and would face punishment if they were forced to return there.

In other news, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced that the decisions by numerous counties and localities to declare themselves 2nd Amendment Sanctuaries have no force of law.

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

Thanks to Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, 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, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close at Record Highs Again as Wall Street Buoyed by Trade Optimism
» Poland: Retail Sales Up 5.2 pct y/y in November — Stats Office
 
USA
» Biden Doubles Down on ‘Sacrificing’ Oil and Gas Jobs Over Climate
» Conservative Students ‘Swatted’ As Officers Swarm Dorm Over False Report
» December Democratic Debate: Bernie Sanders Calls Israeli PM Netanyahu ‘Racist’
» Despite Viewership Woes, CNN Retains Stranglehold on 58 Airports
» Florida Republicans: “Pardon Roger Stone, Jail Antifa, Charge Deep State”
» Florida Man Friday: Worst Cleanup on Aisle Six Ever
» Franklin Graham Slams Christianity Today: My Father Billy Graham ‘Voted for Donald Trump’
» Harvard Law Prof.: Delaying Impeachment Trial is Highly Unconstitutional
» Hillary Celebrates Trump Impeachment Coup
» How Democrats Could Undo Trump’s Lasting Legacy in the Courts
» Instagram ‘Fact Checks’ Meme Saying Hillary Killed Jeffrey Epstein
» John Durham is Investigating Former CIA Director John Brennan’s Role in 2016 Election Interference and His Lies to Congress! (Video)
» Luongo: Pelosi’s Coup Attempt is Now Open Warfare, “There Will be Casualties”
» Marc Faber (“Dr. Doom”) Sees Socialism in America This Decade!
» Only the Damage to America is Real
» Report: Dems’ Fracking Ban Would be ‘Catastrophic’ To US Economy
» Trump Scores Huge Legislation Victory as Democrats Obsess Over Impeachment
» Virginia AG Declares Second Amendment Sanctuary Cities Have ‘No Force of Law’
 
Canada
» Whack Job: Police Seek Help Locating Dollarama Masturbator
 
Europe and the EU
» Belgium: Employers Plead for Interim Government
» Britain’s Golden Age: Boris Gives Blueprint for Post-Brexit Revolution
» Email Blackmail Brouhaha Tears UKIP Apart as High Court Refuses Computer Seizure Attempt
» France Braces for Holiday Travel Chaos Amid Pensions Strike
» German Parliament Passes Resolution to Ban Terror Group Hezbollah
» Google Fined 167 Million Euros by France for Engaging in Anti-Competitive Behavior
» ‘Guardians of Memory’ Patrol Jewish Cemeteries in France to Protect Them From Anti-Semitic Attacks Following Spate of Vandalism
» Humiliation for Nicola Sturgeon as Support for Scottish Independence Plummets
» Khan’s London: Hanif Brothers Sentenced for Gun Dealing in ‘Gun-Free’ UK
» More ‘Asian’ Grooming Gang Members Sentenced in Telford, England
» Netherlands Climate Change: Court Orders Bigger Cuts in Emissions
» Notre Dame Cathedral Will Not Host Christmas Mass for First Time Since the French Revolution
» Polish Supreme Court Says the Country Might Have to Leave the EU
» Pope Pledges to Fight Child Abuse With Guterres
» Report: Children as Young as One Wearing Islamic Veil in Swedish City
» UK: And Then There Were None: Anti-Brexit Group Disbands After Winning No Seats in Election
» UK: Boris’s Brexit Bill Reportedly ‘Gina Miller-Proofed’, Clears First Hurdle in Commons
» UK: Nigel Farage Explains What is Happening to the Populist Movement… Globalists in Crisis Mode
» UK: Racing Driver Attends Speed Awareness Course for Going 2mph Too Fast on the M6
 
Middle East
» Twitter Removed Nearly 6,000 Saudi-Backed Accounts for Platform Manipulation
 
South Asia
» The Anti-Hindu… Anti-India Jihadi Dance in Uttar Pradesh and Some Other States in India
 
Far East
» China Has Opened 27,000 ‘Football-Specialised Schools’ To Train Nearly 30 Million Pupils to Play the Sport as it Hopes to Win the World Cup
 
Australia — Pacific
» A Tale of Two Prime Ministers: Former Leader Tony Abbott Puts on His Uniform and Fights Fires South of Sydney While PM Scott Morrison Kicks Back in Hawaii in His Shorts and Thongs
» Skin Infections, Rotting Fish and Stained Bedsheets: Inside the Australian Town Entering Its Third Month Without Clean Water After Its Dam Turned Toxic Due to Bush Fire Ash — as Desperate Residents Pray for Rain
 
Latin America
» New Species of ‘Titi Monkey’ Is Discovered in Brazil Plateau After Deforestation Drives Them Out of Their Natural Habitat
» UN Peacekeepers Left Hundreds of Children After Impregnating Mothers in Haiti
 
Immigration
» ‘Buy Your Way’ To Australia: Billboard in Chinese Shows How Wealthy Foreigners Are Encouraged to Splurge Cash on Visas
» Greek Authorities Clash With Rioting Migrants on Samos Island
» Less Than 10 Percent of Migrants Ordered to Leave Belgium Are Deported
» Netherlands: Convicted Immigrant Rapist Charged With Three More Sex Offenses
» Sea Watch Ship to Resume Migrant Rescues
» Swedish Judges Refuse to Deport Two Eritrean Refugees Who Gang-Raped a Woman for Hours — Because They Ran Away From the Army There and Would Face Punishment
 
Culture Wars
» “Ethnic Studies Now!”: Harvard Students Demand New Department, Tenure for ‘Underrepresented’ Profs
» Breaking: U.S. Army Investigates Cadets Over OK Hand Gestures, Finds No Wrongdoing
» Doctors Resist Attempt to Force Them to Do Abortions
» JK Rowling is Cancelled
» Mark Hamill Slammed for Liking JK Rowling’s “Transphobic” Tweet
» Sweden Launches Original Communist Party With No Multiculturalism, LGBT, Climate Change Just Like in USSR
» Transgender Player Vents Fury After Being Dropped From Australia’s Women’s Handball Team ‘Because Teammates Didn’t Want to Get Changed and Shower With Her’
» UK: 12-Year-Old Boy Going on Puberty Blockers, Demands Womb Transplant
» Vatican: No, There is No ‘Opening’ To Same-Sex Unions
 

Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close at Record Highs Again as Wall Street Buoyed by Trade Optimism

Stocks closed at fresh all-time highs Friday, following on from the record highs that were set in the previous session after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. and China would sign their “phase one” trade agreement in early January.

In a tweet Friday, President Donald Trump said he had “a very good talk” with President Xi Jinping of China about the trade agreement and said China had started “large scale” purchases of agricultural products.

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

Poland: Retail Sales Up 5.2 pct y/y in November — Stats Office

Poland’s retail sales increased, in real terms, by 5.2 percent year on year and fell by 2.4 percent month on month in November 2019, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) said on Friday.

Economists polled by PAP expected November’s retail sales to grow, in real terms, by 4.4 percent year on year and decline by 3.2 percent month on month.

In current prices, sales grew 5.9 percent year on year in November versus 4.2 percent growth expected.

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

Biden Doubles Down on ‘Sacrificing’ Oil and Gas Jobs Over Climate

Former Vice President Joe Biden said during Thursday’s Democratic debate that he is willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of blue-collar jobs in oil and gas in an effort to help fight climate change.

One of the moderators during Thursday’s debate asked Biden if he would “be willing to sacrifice some of” the growth that “three consecutive American presidents” have seen in the economy.

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

Conservative Students ‘Swatted’ As Officers Swarm Dorm Over False Report

UPDATED: Once again, right-of-center students at St. Olaf College harassed

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Several conservative students at St. Olaf College had their lives turned upside down Sunday after a false report that alleged that they had guns and ammunition in their dorm prompted campus public safety officers to enter their home and search it.

Despite the students telling the officers they had no guns and no ammunition and felt they were the victims of a malicious prank — as right-of-center students have faced open hostility on campus for several years — the officers continued to raid the dorm and upend some of its contents.

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

December Democratic Debate: Bernie Sanders Calls Israeli PM Netanyahu ‘Racist’

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “racist” in front of a national audience at the Democratic debates Thursday night.

The Vermont senator was fielding a question about how he would handle US foreign policy in the Middle East when he made the shocking declaration.

“We must understand that right now in Israel we have leadership who has been indicted for bribery, who, in my view, is a racist,” said Sanders.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Despite Viewership Woes, CNN Retains Stranglehold on 58 Airports

CNN is suffering from a steep decline in viewership, but the network still has a lock on at least one captive audience: travelers in 58 airports around the country.

The network has enjoyed a monopoly on dozens of airport televisions since 1991, despite suffering from low ratings that have managed to erode even further in the Trump era. That problem even made headlines last month, when the network’s primetime lineup hit a three-year low for the week of Nov. 25. CNN drew 643,000 viewers for the period, compared to 1.3 million for MSNBC and 2.2 million for Fox News. That means CNN drew just 15 percent of the available audience, compared to 53 percent for Fox.

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

Florida Republicans: “Pardon Roger Stone, Jail Antifa, Charge Deep State”

We asked over a half-dozen candidates in hotly contested seats in the Sunshine State where they thought about pardoning Roger Stone, listing Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, and charging deep state leakers like McCabe / Comey / Clapper / Brennan with treason for their actions against President Donald J. Trump.

Knowing how these candidates feel on these issues gives us an idea on how the electorate in the state of Florida will approach the hot-button issues that are going to be critical in forming the voting patterns in the Sunshine State.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Florida Man Friday: Worst Cleanup on Aisle Six Ever

If you had feared that all the holiday shopping and decorating and whatnot would have meant that Florida Man was just too busy to get into much trouble — fear not!

Instead, I found more stories than ever this week, thanks in no small part to sharp citizens just like you who send me this stuff throughout the week.

So without further ado, join me now on the craziest-ever…

Florida Man Friday!

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

Franklin Graham Slams Christianity Today: My Father Billy Graham ‘Voted for Donald Trump’

Celebrated evangelical pastor Franklin Graham revealed Friday his father, Billy Graham, voted for Donald J. Trump in 2016 because he believed he was the best man for the job.

“My father knew Donald Trump, he believed in Donald Trump, and he voted for Donald Trump,” Graham wrote on Facebook early Friday. “He believed that Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation.”

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

Harvard Law Prof.: Delaying Impeachment Trial is Highly Unconstitutional

“It would do violence to the rule of Constitutional law that is supposed to serve all Americans”

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz called out Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to delay President Trump’s Senate trial on impeachment as “unconstitutional” Thursday, saying that it is ‘hard to imagine more of a denial of basic due process’.

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

Hillary Celebrates Trump Impeachment Coup

Pelosi says she has ‘spring in my step’

Hillary Clinton fired off a celebratory tweet Thursday, a rarity for someone who has spent the vast majority of the past three years facing crushing defeat and rejection.

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

How Democrats Could Undo Trump’s Lasting Legacy in the Courts

Now let’s talk about the future. While unlikely in 2020, at some point the Democrats will again control the presidency and both Houses of Congress. We also know that to today’s cutthroat, “woke” Left the end justifies the means. Considering this, do you really think they’re going to let the rulings of some black-robed lawyers — people without an army or police force and who constitute (in theory) the “weakest branch” — stymie their agenda? Not a chance.

The first thing the Left would do is pack the SCOTUS. Know that the number of justices is not constitutionally mandated but is set statutorily by Congress and at times has been more or less than nine.

In other words, a leftist legislature could raise the number to whatever was necessary to ensure an ironclad liberal majority (let’s say, 15), let its fellow traveler president nominate hard-left candidates for those positions and then confirm them. And, “Voila!” the Democrats have a judicial rubber stamp for their whole agenda.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Instagram ‘Fact Checks’ Meme Saying Hillary Killed Jeffrey Epstein

Instagram ‘fact-checked’ and censored a clearly satirical meme that joked about Hillary Clinton being responsible for the death of Jeffrey Epstein.

The meme, posted by street artist Lushsux, features images of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

“I killed Saddam Hussein!” says Bush.

“I killed Osama Bin Laden!” Says Obama.

“I killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!” says Trump.

“I killed Jeffrey Epstein!” says Clinton.

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

John Durham is Investigating Former CIA Director John Brennan’s Role in 2016 Election Interference and His Lies to Congress! (Video)

The New York Times reported tonight that federal prosecutor John Durham is investigating former CIA Director John Brennan’s role in the 2016 election. Durham has called for Brennan’s emails, call logs and other documents.

And Durham is investigating John Brennan’s lies to the US Congress on the use of the Clinton Dossier to spy on Donald Trump during the election and after.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Luongo: Pelosi’s Coup Attempt is Now Open Warfare, “There Will be Casualties”

The Democrats declared war this week. Not on Donald Trump but on the United States and the Constitution.

What started as a coup to overturn the 2016 election has now morphed into a Civil War as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Fran-feces) presided over the passage of a bill which creates a clear Constitutional Crisis.

And that means we have multiple factions vying for control of our government, the definition of a Civil War.

In passing these articles of impeachment against President Trump Congress has arrogated to itself powers it does not have.

The first article asserts a motive to Trump’s actions to invalidate his role as chief law enforcement officer for the country. It doesn’t matter if you like him or any President having this power, he does have it.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Marc Faber (“Dr. Doom”) Sees Socialism in America This Decade!

According to Marc Faber, socialism can develop under many different conditions, but it will usually emerge in systems that have great wealth inequality — the majority of the citizens aren’t prospering financially. You might think that the situation only applies to a nation like Venezuela or North Korea, but the growing wealth gap is an issue that’s as relevant in America as anywhere else.

Tearing at the fabric of America’s freedoms is wealth disparity that’s been literally widening for decades across multiple generations and presidential administrations. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the net wealth held by the top 0.1% of earners has steadily increased while the piece of the American pie held by the bottom 90% has relentlessly declined:

We observe that the first piece of the puzzle is in place for a socialist takeover in America. The average U.S. citizen won’t know the statistics, but they can at least observe the difference in lifestyle and opportunities between themselves and the wealthy elite. This can easily foster an extreme form of populist resentment that certain ambitious politicians will radicalize and use to their benefit.

The next step, according to Marc Faber, is for a demagogue like China’s Mao Zedong or Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh to ascend to power and overthrow the existing elite; in modern-day America, that would translate to dismantling Washington.

Once the existing form of government is removed, the new leader is now able to introduce unapologetically socialist policies at will. If that sounds unlikely, remember that Dr. Faber has witnessed and researched what most people haven’t: countries where 50% of the economy is government spending. This is a hallmark of extreme socialist policy, and it’s now over 40% in the U.S.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Only the Damage to America is Real

Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog

Lots of news outlets labeled yesterday’s House vote to impeach President Trump “historic”. It was. But what was historic about it was not that Donald Trump became the third president to be impeached. What was historic was the way it was done. That was a first.

Because it was not the House that impeached President Donald Trump, it was the Democratic Party. Which just happened to have the majority in the House. They appear to think that this is all that’s needed, which is a big mistake and an even bigger gamble. A gamble on the value and future of the US Constitution and the entire political system.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Report: Dems’ Fracking Ban Would be ‘Catastrophic’ To US Economy

Most of the top Democratic presidential contenders have called for eliminating hydraulic fracturing, but such a ban would be “catastrophic” for the U.S. economy, according to a report released Thursday.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute found that a fracking ban would double gasoline prices, raise the average cost of living by $5,561 per person, and throw 19 million people out of work over a five-year period.

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

Trump Scores Huge Legislation Victory as Democrats Obsess Over Impeachment

‘Gold standard trade deal’ passes; “Trump is keeping his promise to replace the failed NAFTA”

President Trump scored a major legislative victory Thursday, as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) passed in both chambers of Congress and now heads to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

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

Virginia AG Declares Second Amendment Sanctuary Cities Have ‘No Force of Law’

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued a legal opinion declaring that the second Amendment sanctuary city decrees of more than 100 localities in Virginia have “no force of law,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Friday.

Herring’s advisory opinion comes as the vast majority of Virginia’s 95 counties have declared themselves sanctuary jurisdictions from strict gun control legislation currently making its way through the state legislature. The bills, backed by Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, would ban the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 and mandate that current owners register their weapons with the government.

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

Whack Job: Police Seek Help Locating Dollarama Masturbator

Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who appears to have masturbated in the aisle of a Dollarama on December 13 in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Police say the incident, which took place at around 4 pm at Place Belvedere, occurred in front of a child. The suspect, seen dressed in black, allegedly wanked as he walked down the aisle way.

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

Belgium: Employers Plead for Interim Government

Pieter Timmermans, CEO of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises, has pleaded for an interim government that would work on a few core issues like employment, pensions, climate, energy and mobility. This government should be limited in ministers, time and focus. Former deputy prime minister and current MEP Kris Peeters made a similar proposal this week. Belgian political parties have been trying to form a government since the 26 May election.

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

Britain’s Golden Age: Boris Gives Blueprint for Post-Brexit Revolution

At the annual State Opening of Parliament, the Queen announced his new Government programme centred on getting the country out of the EU next month and transforming the public services.

In a hint of the scale of his ambition following is landslide general election win, the Prime Minister insisted he had a vision for the country for the next decade.

“This is not a programme for one year, or one Parliament it is a blueprint for the future of Britain. Just imagine where this country could be in ten years’ time,” he told MPs.

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

Email Blackmail Brouhaha Tears UKIP Apart as High Court Refuses Computer Seizure Attempt

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has suffered a data breach after allegedly having 143 party email accounts accessed amid demands made by blackmailers, the High Court in London has been told (PDF).

UKIP is suing former party leader Richard Braine, former general secretary Tony Sharp and one-time party returning officer Jeff Armstrong, and, in Mr Justice Warby’s words, “a former member who has IT skills” called Mark Dent.

Although the lawsuit is ongoing, an interim judgment from the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court reveals claims of illicit email access and blackmail. It also reveals the chaos tearing apart the party that put Nigel Farage onto the political map.

Amid “internal political strife” in mid-October this year, Armstrong was accused by party comrades of trying to block a group of candidates, the so-called “Batten Brigade”, from standing in internal elections to UKIP’s National Executive Committee.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

France Braces for Holiday Travel Chaos Amid Pensions Strike

Cancelled trains, packed roads, frazzled nerves: Travellers across France scrambled on Friday to begin Christmas vacations upended by a weeks-long transport strike over a pensions overhaul that unions have vowed to defeat.

Hopes of a holiday truce were dashed after talks between the government and union leaders this week failed to ease the standoff, with train operator SNCF warning of massive cancellations ahead of the holidays.

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

German Parliament Passes Resolution to Ban Terror Group Hezbollah

The German parliament has passed a non-binding resolution to encourage the government to ban the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist group.

The Bundestag voted overwhelmingly for the resolution with no parties voting against the measure, although the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), along with the Greens and the far-left Die Linke, abstained from voting, the Times of Israel reports.

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

Google Fined 167 Million Euros by France for Engaging in Anti-Competitive Behavior

Google has been fined $167 million by France’s competition authority for engaging in “anti-competitive behavior” and unclear advertising on the Google Ads page. Google is already paying close to 1 billion euros to French authorities as the result of a fiscal fraud probe.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Guardians of Memory’ Patrol Jewish Cemeteries in France to Protect Them From Anti-Semitic Attacks Following Spate of Vandalism

Lionel Godmet is one of a growing number of individuals in France’s Alsace region who have started patrolling Jewish cemeteries after a recent spate of anti-Semitic vandalism.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Humiliation for Nicola Sturgeon as Support for Scottish Independence Plummets

YouGov, polling for The Times, found that just 44 percent of respondents would vote yes in a future referendum on leaving the UK. The survey, which excludes people who responded ‘I don’t know’, shows a movement of voters towards No returning to similar levels as during the 2014 referendum. It marks a significant change from the last time YouGov carried out the survey for the The Times, which found that 49 percent of respondents said they would vote in favour of independence while 51 percent would no.

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

Khan’s London: Hanif Brothers Sentenced for Gun Dealing in ‘Gun-Free’ UK

Brothers Aamir and Yunus Hanif have been sentenced for possession of and conspiracy to sell illegal firearms in Shepherd’s Bush, west London.

27-year-old Aamir and 26-year-old Yunus, both of Bentworth Road, W12, were sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court for conspiracy to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited ammunition.

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

More ‘Asian’ Grooming Gang Members Sentenced in Telford, England

More child sexual exploitation convictions have been secured against four South Asian-origin grooming gang members who abused a vulnerable girl from the age of 12 in Telford, England.

According to a West Mercia Police statement, 33-year-old ringleader Mohammed Ali Sultan, formerly of Victoria Avenue in Wellington, was convicted of rape and three charges of indecent assault and received was given an eight-year sentence.

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

Netherlands Climate Change: Court Orders Bigger Cuts in Emissions

The highest court in the Netherlands has upheld a ruling requiring the government to slash greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% of 1990 levels by the end of next year.

The case was brought six years ago by the Urgenda environment group in a bid to force ministers to go well beyond EU targets.

However, the chances of the government reaching the target look slim.

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

Notre Dame Cathedral Will Not Host Christmas Mass for First Time Since the French Revolution

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will not be hosting Christmas Mass this year for the first time since the French Revolution. The cathedral was very seriously damaged in a fire on April 15.

“This is the first time since the French Revolution that there will be no midnight Mass (at Notre Dame),” cathedral rector Patrick Chauvet told the Associated Press. Chauvet noted that there was even a Christmas service amid the carnage of World War I, “because the canons were there and the canons had to celebrate somewhere,” referring to the cathedral’s clergy.

Instead of holding it at the cathedral, Christmas Mass will take place at the congregation’s temporary home near the Louvre. Chauvet will hold the service and Notre Dame’s choir will perform.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Polish Supreme Court Says the Country Might Have to Leave the EU

The left-leaning Polish Supreme Court has warned that the country could have to leave the European Union over its judicial reform proposals.

The new proposals that have been put forth by Poland’s ruling national-conservative Law & Justice Party are said to tighten the disciplinary responsibility of judges while changing the rules for choosing the first president of the Supreme Court, Do Rzeczy reports.

[Comment: Join the Brexit Club!]

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

Pope Pledges to Fight Child Abuse With Guterres

Hunger, climate crisis also feature in video message

(ANSA) — Vatican City, December 20 — Pope Francis on Friday pledged to do everything possible to stop the sexual abuse of minors in a video message recorded after a audience in the Vatican with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The message also touched on many other issues, included the climate crisis, hunger and inequality. “We cannot, we must not look the other way in the face of injustice, inequality, the scandal of hunger in the world, of poverty, of children who die because they lack water, food, the necessary care,” Francis said.

“We cannot look the other way in the face of any kind of abuse of children. We must all fight this scourge together. “We cannot close our eyes to the many brothers and sisters of ours who, due to conflict and violence, misery or climate change, leave their countries and often meet a sad fate”.

The Catholic Church has been hit by a long string of scandals regarding the sexual abuse of children by clergymen in many parts of the world.

“We must not remain indifferent to the trampled and exploited human dignity, to the attacks against human life, both that which has not yet been born and that of every person in need of care,” Francis continued.

“We cannot, we must not look the other way when believers of various faiths are persecuted in different parts of the world.

“The use of religion to incite hatred, violence, oppression, extremism and blind fanaticism, as well as to force people into exile and marginalization, cries out for revenge before God.

“But the arms race and nuclear rearmament also cries out for revenge before God. And it is immoral not only the use but also the possession of nuclear weapons, which are so destructive that even the mere danger of an accident represents a grim threat to humanity.

“We must not be indifferent to the many wars that continue to be fought and which claim so many innocent victims”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Report: Children as Young as One Wearing Islamic Veil in Swedish City

A report has claimed that an area in the Swedish city of Borås has seen the rise of Islamisation due to the arrival of large numbers of Somalian migrants.

The report claims that the district of Norrby, identified as a “vulnerable area” — or no-go zone — by Swedish police, has seen a process of Islamisation in recent years, with 37 per cent of its inhabitants having been born overseas and 20 per cent of them being from Somalia, Nyheter Idag reports.

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

UK: And Then There Were None: Anti-Brexit Group Disbands After Winning No Seats in Election

The anti-Brexit party The Independent Group for Change, formerly Change UK (CUK), will be disbanded after winning no seats in the 2019 general election.

Party leader and former Conservative parliamentarian Anna Soubry made the announcement in an open letter to members on Thursday, confirming that the management council had “unanimously agreed to begin the process of closing down The Independent Group for Change”.

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

UK: Boris’s Brexit Bill Reportedly ‘Gina Miller-Proofed’, Clears First Hurdle in Commons

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill cleared its first hurdle in the House of Commons on Friday, with the legislation reportedly “Gina Miller proofed” to stop non-elected EU loyalists from interfering in the democratic will of the people.

Members of Parliament have voted 358 to 234 in favour of the second reading of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, with a majority of 124.

The bill is a notable departure from the exit legislation put forward by former Prime Minister Theresa May. Mrs May had included a number of “Soft Brexit” clauses that aimed to appease Labour when she oversaw a minority government that, even when propped up by Northern Ireland’s Brexit-supporting Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), had only a thin and often illusory majority in the House of Commons.

New measures in the bill include legally prohibiting the government from delaying Brexit any further by extending the transition period, which puts No Deal back on the table if the EU will not accept a mutually agreeable trade deal.

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

UK: Nigel Farage Explains What is Happening to the Populist Movement… Globalists in Crisis Mode

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has a stern warning for the globalist elite who thought they had Europe and the UK in a stranglehold.

Celebrating the results of the historic election in the UK last week, Farage declared that this key victory was proof that the faceless EU bureaucrats were being rejected, and that the revolt against globalism is spreading.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Racing Driver Attends Speed Awareness Course for Going 2mph Too Fast on the M6

A British racing driver who has competed in the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours race where cars regularly pass 200mph has been ordered to attend a speed awareness course for driving 52mph on the M6 in a 50 zone.

Oliver Webb, 28, from Manchester announced on his Instagram page that he had been caught speeding in the early hours of the morning on the M6 motorway.

At the time, the 70mph limit had been reduced to 50mph and he was caught driving at 52mph.

Instead of being hit with three penalty points, he was invited to attend a speed awareness course.

Webb revealed on Instagram: ‘Speed awareness course tomorrow, first one ever and for 52 in a 50 on the M6 at 3am in the truck lane.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Twitter Removed Nearly 6,000 Saudi-Backed Accounts for Platform Manipulation

Twitter Inc said on Friday it has removed 5929 accounts for being part of a state-backed information operation from Saudi Arabia.

According to a statement published by the company, the nearly 6000 accounts represented the “core portion of a larger network of more than 88,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour across a wide range of topics.”

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

The Anti-Hindu… Anti-India Jihadi Dance in Uttar Pradesh and Some Other States in India

“Heavy” stone pelting by Jihadi protesters against CAA returning from Friday prayers at mosques, caused violence in Uttar Pradesh. 9 protesters killed, 60 policemen injured.

HT Online | Lucknow | Dec 20, 2019:: At least nine people died in clashes with the police as violence over the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act spread to 14 locations across Uttar Pradesh on Friday, taking the national death toll in the protests over the newly enacted law to 17 so far.

Three people died in Meerut, two in Bijnor, and one each in Varanasi, Ferozabad, Sambhal and Kanpur on Friday. Three people, one in Lucknow and two in Karnataka’s Mangalore, were killed on Thursday. Five deaths have been reported from Assam in the agitation so far.

An eight-year-old boy died in Varanasi on Friday after a lathi-charge by police led to a stampede. Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP), OP Singh, said at least 50 policemen were also injured across the state in “heavy” stone pelting by protesters returning from Friday prayers at mosques…

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

China Has Opened 27,000 ‘Football-Specialised Schools’ To Train Nearly 30 Million Pupils to Play the Sport as it Hopes to Win the World Cup

Millions of elementary and secondary school pupils now receive one football lesson per week after the nation launched a so-called ‘football revolution’ on campus in 2014, an official said today.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

A Tale of Two Prime Ministers: Former Leader Tony Abbott Puts on His Uniform and Fights Fires South of Sydney While PM Scott Morrison Kicks Back in Hawaii in His Shorts and Thongs

Mr Abbott, who has volunteered with the Rural Fire Service for more than a decade, was pictured at the Bargo BP service station wearing the yellow uniform of his Davidson squadron.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Skin Infections, Rotting Fish and Stained Bedsheets: Inside the Australian Town Entering Its Third Month Without Clean Water After Its Dam Turned Toxic Due to Bush Fire Ash — as Desperate Residents Pray for Rain

Residents of Tenterfield, NSW, have not had access to clean drinking water since October 3, when the town’s main water supply became tainted with bushfire smoke and ash.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

New Species of ‘Titi Monkey’ Is Discovered in Brazil Plateau After Deforestation Drives Them Out of Their Natural Habitat

A new species of monkey has been discovered on the Parecis Plateau in southwestern Brazil.

A subspecies of titi monkey, the new primates were first documented in 1914 but were misclassified because their dark fur made them resemble the ashy black titi.

The discovery was initially made by Mariluce Messias of the Federal University of Rondonia, who began studying titi monkeys in the region in 2011.

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

UN Peacekeepers Left Hundreds of Children After Impregnating Mothers in Haiti

Peacekeepers from the United Nations impregnated countless women in Haiti and left hundreds of children, according to new research by the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti published originally in The Conversation as well as the Journal of International Peacekeeping.

The researchers led by Sabina Lee, a professor at the University of Birmingham, and Susan Bartels, a scientist at Queen’s University interviewed roughly 2,500 Haitians and found 265 who were willing to share their stories about peacekeepers fathering children in Haiti.

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

‘Buy Your Way’ To Australia: Billboard in Chinese Shows How Wealthy Foreigners Are Encouraged to Splurge Cash on Visas

Australian visas are being adverstised ‘for sale’ to rich foreigners at a time when Sydney is on water restrictions and migration growth is straining infrastructure.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Greek Authorities Clash With Rioting Migrants on Samos Island

Greek authorities on Thursday were forced to deploy tear gas and stun grenades to disperse rioting migrants at the overcrowded Vathy asylum center on the island of Samos, new reports have revealed.

Roughly 300 migrants from various African countries are reported to have started fires and thrown stones at police who attempted to quell the unrest that broke out Thursday morning near the Vathy migrant reception center, Reuters reports.

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

Less Than 10 Percent of Migrants Ordered to Leave Belgium Are Deported

Most migrants ignore orders to leave country.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Convicted Immigrant Rapist Charged With Three More Sex Offenses

An immigrant man previously convicted of rape appeared in a Dutch court on Thursday, facing three new charges of sex crimes.

Mourad T., an immigrant man who in September 2015 was sentenced to 27 months in prison for rape, appeared in court on Thursday, facing three separate charges of sex offenses, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports.

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

Sea Watch Ship to Resume Migrant Rescues

Sea Watch 3, a German ship that rescued migrants in the Mediterranean sea, has won an appeal in a Sicilian court after a five-month detainment in a port on the Italian island, Deutsche Welle reports. The charity organisation celebrated its victory and announced it would resume its rescue missions. The two other rescue ships, Alex and the Mare Jonio, remain detained in the Sicilian port of Licata.

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

Swedish Judges Refuse to Deport Two Eritrean Refugees Who Gang-Raped a Woman for Hours — Because They Ran Away From the Army There and Would Face Punishment

A Swedish judge has refused to deport two Eritrean migrants convicted of aggravated rape because they are military deserters and will face punishment if they are sent back.

The men, aged 30 and 32, were convicted in a Stockholm court this week of raping the woman for hours in an apartment in the city while threatening her with a knife.

The pair were sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to pay the victim £11,000 each, and prosecutors also requested they be deported for a minimum of 15 years.

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

“Ethnic Studies Now!”: Harvard Students Demand New Department, Tenure for ‘Underrepresented’ Profs

Last week, Harvard dean took a seat on the floor to listen to and write down the demands of a group of protestors who were demanding structural changes to the university, including the addition of an entire department and tenure for a particular professor based on her race.

On December 12, about 50 students at Harvard University protested in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. One student was speaking through a megaphone while others were holding banners saying things like, “Ethnic Studies Now!” The students’ grievances included the recent denying of tenure to Romance Languages and Literatures associate professor Lorgia Garcia-Peña, along with a demand for the creation of an ethnic studies department at Harvard University.

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

Breaking: U.S. Army Investigates Cadets Over OK Hand Gestures, Finds No Wrongdoing

The U.S. Military academy has concluded its investigation into cadets who flashed the “OK sign” during a live broadcast of an Army-Navy football game.

The findings of the West Point investigation were that “the cadets were playing a common game, popular among teenagers today, known as the ‘circle game’ and the intent was not associated with ideologies or movements that are contrary to the Army values.”

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

Doctors Resist Attempt to Force Them to Do Abortions

Christian doctors are opposing an attempt by the left in several states to force them to do abortions in violation of their beliefs and conscience.

The non-profit legal group Becket said Dr. Regina Frost and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations are part of an appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of a ruling by a New York judge that struck down a Trump administration rule that protects conscience rights for doctors and other health professionals.

Becket noted the Department of Housing and Human Services in May issued a conscience rule “to better enforce longstanding, bipartisan laws that, for decades, have promised to allow religious doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals to serve patients without being required to violate their consciences.”.

Planned Parenthood and several states, including New York, sued, and a federal court on Nov. 6, 2019, struck down the Conscience Rule.

Becket explained the rule would hold HHS funding recipients “to agreements that they made under existing federal statutes to accommodate religious health professionals.”

“My faith is at the heart of who I am. It is what drives me to put the needs of women and their children first every day, and to serve everyone in my care with dignity and respect,” Frost said in a statement released by her advisers.

“If the government forces me to violate my faith and my medical judgment to perform abortions, I will have no choice but to leave the profession I love and the patients I serve.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

JK Rowling is Cancelled

JK Rowling got cancelled by the very ‘woke’ outrage mob she helped create.

Should we care?

No.

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

Mark Hamill Slammed for Liking JK Rowling’s “Transphobic” Tweet

Star Wars icon Mark Hamill faced a Twitter backlash merely for ‘liking’ a tweet by JK Rowling deemed “transphobic.”

The Harry Potter author was blasted yesterday after she tweeted her support for Maya Forstater, who lost her job at the Centre for Global Development, a think tank that campaigns against inequality, because she dared say that biological sex exists.

“Men cannot change into women,” said Forstater, aiming her comments at the person pictured below, SNP councillor Gregor Murray, who claims to be a transgender woman.

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

Sweden Launches Original Communist Party With No Multiculturalism, LGBT, Climate Change Just Like in USSR

Not only do the defectors regard these phenomenons as having been “rammed down workers’ throats” by the establishment, but they also want to discard the name “Communist” as “drawn down to the dirt”. Now this is what we’re talking about! This is real communism! Many in the alt-right movement down-talk all this modern mass schizophrenia as “communism”, they say antifas, gays, multiculturalism, climate change, all this nonsense is communist but we wrote an extensive article about it explaining that this is NOT communism and these are just the products of Satanic capitalism and furthermore we endorse communism in its original European form.

Almost half of the members of the Communist Party in Malmö are resigning. Instead, they plan establish a new workers’ party that doesn’t put as much emphasis on things like multiculturalism, LGBT issues and climate alarmism, which have become the staples and rallying calls of today’s left.

Nils Littorin, one of the defectors, explained to Lokaltidningen that today’s left has become part of the elite and has come to “dismiss the views of the working class as alien and problematic”. Littorin suggested that the left, as a movement, is going through a prolonged identity crisis and that his group, instead, intends to stick to the original values, such as class warfare.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Transgender Player Vents Fury After Being Dropped From Australia’s Women’s Handball Team ‘Because Teammates Didn’t Want to Get Changed and Shower With Her’

The athlete, 30, was thrust into the spotlight in 2017 after she was rejected from the women’s AFL team because tests showed she had too much testosterone to qualify for the female leagues.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

UK: 12-Year-Old Boy Going on Puberty Blockers, Demands Womb Transplant

A 12-year-old transgender girl has started puberty blocking treatment, as her mother says she “knew from the age of three” that she wanted to be female.

Ash Lammin, who was born a boy, is embarking on a lengthy journey to transition to female at an NHS-run clinic and is one of the youngest in the country to do so.

She has researched the process in depth and says that she eventually wants a womb transplant so that she can be a mother when she’s older.

Her mother, Terri Lammin, 43, said that Ash “insisted she was a girl from the moment she could speak”.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Vatican: No, There is No ‘Opening’ To Same-Sex Unions

ROME — The Vatican issued a hasty denial Thursday after a number of news outlets published stories suggesting that the Church was reinterpreting the Bible to allow the possibility of homosexual unions.

Many newspapers and online outlets published stories this week after the release of a 300-page book by the Pontifical Biblical Commission titled Who Is Man? An Itinerary of Biblical Anthropology, which dealt with, among other topics, the issue of homosexuality in the Bible.

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

3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/20/2019

  1. How did Sweden treat its own objecters or defectors of military service?
    A schoolmate of mine was enlisted after his medical studies accomplished.
    He fled the MP s after him and went to Peru and South Africa where he worked pro bono( wealthy family)Only after a long bureaucratic process of years his condemnation was revoqued and he was rehabilitated.
    Rule of law only applies to Whitey, right?

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