Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/12/2020

According to a French media outlet, a record 1,457 cars were torched on New Year’s Eve in France. An earlier record of 1,290 carbecues had been set the previous year.

In other news, Extinction Rebellion protesters gathered outside the Australian embassy in London to demand the ouster of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

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

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

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

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

USA
» “A Ridiculous Choice” — FISA Court Sparks Firestorm, Appoints Conflicted, Anti-Trump Attorney to Oversee FBI Fixes
» Farmers Are Buying 40-Year-Old Tractors Because They’re Actually Repairable
» Former Marine, 37, Is Arrested After ‘Posing as Security Detail for Marine One and Breaching Two Airport Checkpoints to Get Close to Helicopter Shortly Before the President Flew in it’
» Is Alternative Energy That Effective?, Part 3
» Visalia Couple Left Bikes in Yard to Lure Thieves, Beat Them With Bats and Post Videos to YouTube: Police
 
Canada
» Antifa Informant Exposed: Schoolteacher Kurt Phillips of Drumheller
» Extinction Rebellion Ends Hunger Strike After UBC Clarifies Commitment to Fossil Fuel Divestment
» NDP Statement on Plane Tragedy Condemns Trump, Not Iran
» New ‘Value of Alberta’ Conference to Explore Autonomy for Province
 
Europe and the EU
» France 2019 Saw Record 1,457 Cars Burned on New Year’s Eve
» France Protests: PM Offers Pension Compromise in Bid to End Strike
» Hundreds of Millions of Broadcom-Based Cable Modems at Risk of Remote Hijacking, Eggheads Fear
» Hungary Offers Free IVF Procedures With Goal of 2.1 Birthrate by 2030
» Italy: Veneto Top for Healthcare Quality, South Improving
» Oops! Facebook Bug Reveals That Greta Thunberg’s Posts May Not be Her Own
» Pope Francis: Children Crying in Church Are a ‘Beautiful Sermon’
» Scotland: Extinction Rebellion Target Glasgow Petrol Station in Latest Protest
» UK: Conservative Philosopher Roger Scruton Dies at 75
» UK: Cambridge Extinction Rebellion Protester Found Guilty After London Demonstration
» UK: Queen Calls Crisis Summit, William Reportedly Saddened by Split From Brother
» UK: Satanic Sheep Killer Strikes Again
 
North Africa
» Outflanked by Russia and Turkey, Europe Has Little Say in Libya’s Future
 
Middle East
» Canada Sends Investigators to Iran to Probe Downed Airliner
» Iran Anti-Government Protests Erupt Over Shooting Down of Ukrainian Passenger Plane: ‘Death to the Dictator’
» UK Ambassador Denies Protesting in Tehran, ‘Arresting Diplomats is Illegal’
 
Far East
» Hong Kong Demonstrators Are the Real Social Justice Warriors
» Shen Yun Shatters Communist Party Narratives, Prompting Attacks by China’s Regime—leeshai Lemish
» US Strategy of Deterrence With Iran Sends Message to North Korea: Experts
 
Australia — Pacific
» Delingpole: Australian ‘Climate’ Fires Are Pure Fake News Propaganda
» Extinction Rebellion Campaigners Protest Outside Australia’s London Embassy Demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison is Fired for His Handling of the Bushfire Crisis
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Gunmen Kidnap Four Catholic Seminarians in Central Nigeria
» Sudan Starts Cracking Down on Bashir’s Party
 
Immigration
» Spanish Police Arrest 47 People Linked to Human Trafficking Gang Which Used UK Short-Stay Visas to Smuggle Moroccan Migrants Into Europe
» Stowing Away in a Lorry Through Calais is Still Top Tactic for Migrants Sneaking Into Britain, New Figures From France Reveal
» UN Refugee Mission Head Warns of Growing Displacement of People in Libya
 
Culture Wars
» California 8th Graders Taught Anal, Bondage, Sex Involving Blood in Sex-Ed Class
» Lancet: The Only Way to Stop Racism is ‘To Eliminate Whiteness All Together’
» The Church of Tolerating Everything
 

“A Ridiculous Choice” — FISA Court Sparks Firestorm, Appoints Conflicted, Anti-Trump Attorney to Oversee FBI Fixes

Update: President Trump has also noticed the ridiculous choice of Kris as FBI overseer…

The President appears to be referencing Maria Bartiromo’s report from earlier this morning.

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

Farmers Are Buying 40-Year-Old Tractors Because They’re Actually Repairable

John Deere makes it difficult to repair its new tractors without specialized software, so an increasing number of farmers are buying older models.

When a brand new John Deere tractors breaks down, you need a computer to fix it. When a John Deere tractor manufactured in 1979 breaks down, you can repair it yourself or buy another old John Deere tractor. Farming equipment—like televisions, cars, and even toothbrushes—now often comes saddled with a computer. That computer often comes with digital rights management software that can make simple repairs an expensive pain in the a**. As reported by the Minnesota StarTribune, Farmers have figured out a way around the problem—buying tractors manufactured 40 years ago, before the computers took over.

“There’s an affinity factor if you grew up around these tractors, but it goes way beyond that,” Greg Peterson, founder of the farm equipment data company Machinery Pete told StarTribune. “These things, they’re basically bulletproof. You can put 15,000 hours on it and if something breaks you can just replace it.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Former Marine, 37, Is Arrested After ‘Posing as Security Detail for Marine One and Breaching Two Airport Checkpoints to Get Close to Helicopter Shortly Before the President Flew in it’

A former Marine who was kicked out of the military 10 years ago has been charged with impersonating one of the soldiers guarding President Trump’s Marine One helicopter.

Brandon M. Magnan, 37, was arrested by the Secret Service and charged on Monday after he allegedly breached two checkpoints at Palm Beach International Airport and posed as a member of the security team assigned to Marine One.

Magnan, a resident of Naples, Florida, was charged on January 6 with false personation of officer or employee of the United States, according to The New York Times.

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

Is Alternative Energy That Effective?, Part 3

Keep in mind that air pollution is not just caused by the activities of man. Plants and animals die and create methane gas. Volcanos produce particulates, methane, CO2 and many other pollutants. The 2010 eruption of the Icelandic volcano erased all the CO2 and particulate savings of every person on the planet for the previous five years in just two days of its over two-week eruption. It shut down air travel over Europe for over a week.[3] This is the kind of devastation that a single volcano can do. All this hype about cars and planes polluting our world to a point that in twelve years the planet will die is insane! There are over 1500 active volcanos spewing this stuff into the atmosphere 24/7 plus there are 30,000 volcanos on the continental ridge doing the same thing. What man does to contribute to the CO2 level is minuscule in comparison.

The leftist wackos that are pushing the New Green Deal have no clue as to what they are demanding. Planes don’t fly on solar or electric power and the economic disaster that would follow the grounding of all airplanes would plunge the world into a depression that would make 1929 look like a hiccup. All of the industries that are involved with air travel would have to shut down and that would trickle out to virtually every other industry, housing, clothing, transportation and the list goes on and on. They may fifty to sixty years from now but not now. Big trucks and ships can’t operate on solar either. They want to stop raising cattle too. What will that cost us in jobs, food supply and all the related industries that will be affected?

Their idiocy would plunge the world back to the early 1700s! These ideas are why Democrats should never be in charge of anything. They’ve destroyed Detroit which used to have the highest per capita income in the nation. They’ve turned California into something worse than a third world nation where people are relieving themselves in the isles of grocery stores,[5] as well as in the streets and sidewalks. Oregon has the same problem but then they are governed by the same liberal idiocy.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Visalia Couple Left Bikes in Yard to Lure Thieves, Beat Them With Bats and Post Videos to YouTube: Police

Police arrested a man and woman Wednesday who they say left a bicycle unattended in the front yard of their Visalia home, then attacked would-be thieves who tried to steal it with baseball bats and posted videos of the assaults to YouTube in recent months.

Corey Cornutt, 25, and Savannah Grillot, 29, were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy in connection with the series of at least four beatings, which took place between July and November near their home in the 200 block of East Dove Avenue, according to the Visalia Police Department.

“In the videos, it appears as if the suspects planted a bicycle in the front yard of their residence, unsecured, and waited for someone to try and steal the bicycle,” police said in a written statement. “Once someone tried to steal the bike, the suspects would rush from the house and assault the individual with a baseball bat.”

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

Antifa Informant Exposed: Schoolteacher Kurt Phillips of Drumheller

In a show of incompetence, the CBC’s 5th Estate has accidentally released the identity of a longtime Antifa informant. This is someone who works with, employs, and shares information with the members and supporters of the violent Antifa movement: Schoolteacher Kurt Phillips.

The CBC was intending to cooperate with Phillips to conceal his identity, however when facial images were matched up, none other than Kurt Phillips, a Catholic School teacher in Drumheller Alberta was exposed as the mastermind behind ARC Collective.

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

Extinction Rebellion Ends Hunger Strike After UBC Clarifies Commitment to Fossil Fuel Divestment

A group of University of B.C. students ended their five-day hunger strike on Friday after receiving a clarification from the school on fossil-fuel divestment.

The hunger strike, which started Monday to coincide with the beginning of the term, was organized by Extinction Rebellion UBC, the university’s branch of the U.K.-based, non-violent group of climate change activists that has launched chapters around the world. The group wants politicians to take urgent action on climate change and disappearing wildlife, and for governments to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025.

The strikers were demanding the UBC board of governors make a public commitment to sell all fossil-fuel company stocks in UBC’s $1.71 billion main endowment pool. The UBC board has been studying fossil-fuel divestment and the details of transferring $380 million of the main university endowment into the university’s fund to back the school’s sustainable future, established in 2017.

[Comment: Article dated January 11, 2020.]

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

NDP Statement on Plane Tragedy Condemns Trump, Not Iran

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s late response to Friday’s news of Iran admitting to accidentally shooting down the Ukranian plane that killed 176 was released Sunday evening. The statement condemns “Trump’s actions” without once mentioning Iran shooting down the plane.

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

New ‘Value of Alberta’ Conference to Explore Autonomy for Province

A one-day “Value of Alberta” conference examining Alberta’s place in Confederation is taking place next week, as tensions in the province remain high following the province’s overwhelming anti-Liberal and anti-Trudeau vote, which saw nearly 70 percent of the province vote solely for the Conservative Party.

Event spokesperson Becca Polak see the event will help Albertans look at the ways the Canadian government is stunting Alberta’s growth as a province.

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

France 2019 Saw Record 1,457 Cars Burned on New Year’s Eve

France saw 1,457 vehicles set on fire across New Year’s Eve, surpassing the previous record of 1,290 vehicles torched across the country in the previous year, according to figures seen by French radio broadcaster Europe 1.

The figures show a 13 per cent rise in the number of car burnings from 2018, with French police allegedly attempting to keep the number of burned cars under secrecy so as not to “create an escalation”, Europe 1 reports.

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

France Protests: PM Offers Pension Compromise in Bid to End Strike

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has offered a concession to unions in a bid to end nationwide strikes against proposed pension reforms.

In a letter, Mr Philippe said he was willing to withdraw a proposal which would raise the age at which workers can claim their pension from 62 to 64.

One of France’s largest unions, the CFDT, welcomed the announcement saying it showed a willingness to compromise.

However, the CGT union called the proposal “a smokescreen”.

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

Hundreds of Millions of Broadcom-Based Cable Modems at Risk of Remote Hijacking, Eggheads Fear

A vulnerability in Broadcom’s cable modem firmware has left as many as 200 million home broadband gateways in Europe, and potentially more worldwide, at risk of remote hijackings.

Four Danish researchers have demonstrated how a miscreant could exploit the hole, CVE-2019-19494, the wild: essentially, a victim is tricked into opening a webpage or similar containing malicious JavaScript. This code subsequently connects to the web server built into the vulnerable modem on the local network. The script then alters the contents of the modem’s processor registers, by overwriting the stack, to redirect execution to malware smuggled in with the request.

At that point, the code can attempt miscreant-in-the-middle attacks, manipulate the firmware, change DNS settings to redirect connections to phishing pages, snoop on traffic, launch distributed denial-of-service assaults, and so on. A DNS rebinding technique is needed during the infection to bypass browser security mechanisms. This involves the script connecting to what the browser thinks is a legit internet-facing system, but the address actually resolves to the local IP address for the modem.

The end result, the team says, is that crooks can remotely take over vulnerable Broadcom-based cable modems without netizens or ISPs realizing; the victim simply has to surf to a dodgy website, or similar. The method is a little fiddly to pull off, we note, so crooks may not bother with it.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary Offers Free IVF Procedures With Goal of 2.1 Birthrate by 2030

Starting this year, the Hungarian government is set to offer free in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures for couples wanting children in order to boost the national birthrate to 2.1 children by 2030.

The Hungarian government has taken control of six private fertility clinics and plans to purchase new buildings in order to meet demands of the estimated 150,000 couples across the country who have fertility issues but want to have children, La Croix reports.

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

Italy: Veneto Top for Healthcare Quality, South Improving

33 indicators measures from admissions to screenings

(ANSA) — Rome, January 8 — Veneto is the top Italian region for healthcare quality, according to the latest LEA minimal assistance levels survey out Wednesday.

Veneto took over from Piedmont which slipped to fifth in the standings.

Campania and Calabria, while still at the bottom of the rankings, have shown a sharp improvement in their scores, the report said.

The report, referring to 2018 and based on 33 indicators ranging from hospital admissions to screenings, will shortly be published by the health ministry.

In the standings, Veneto scored 222 out of 225 and was followed by Emilia Romagna (221), Tuscany (220), Piedmont (218), Lombardy (211) and Liguria (211). Next came Umbria (2010), Abruzzo (209), Marche (206) and Basilicata (191).

Lagging regions improved their scores with Lazio rising from 180 points in 2017 to 190 in 2018, Puglia up from 179 to 186, Molise up from 167 to 180 and Sicily up from 160 to 171.

At the bottom of the standings were Campania, which surged from 153 to 170 points, and Calabria, up from 136 in 2017 to 162 in 2018.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Oops! Facebook Bug Reveals That Greta Thunberg’s Posts May Not be Her Own

A bug in the code of a Facebook update rolled out last week accidentally made it possible to see which accounts were responsible for posts to Facebook Pages, including those of celebrities and politicians, for a period of several hours.

“All it took to exploit the bug was opening a target page and checking the edit history of a post. Facebook mistakenly displayed the account or accounts that made edits to each post, rather than just the edits themselves,” explained Wired.

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

Pope Francis: Children Crying in Church Are a ‘Beautiful Sermon’

ROME — Pope Francis told the parents of young children about to be baptized Sunday to let the infants cry in church since that noise is a “beautiful sermon.”

On the Catholic feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which commemorates Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by His cousin, St. John the Baptist, the pope baptized 32 children in the Sistine Chapel. All the infants were born during the past year to families of Vatican employees and diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

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

Scotland: Extinction Rebellion Target Glasgow Petrol Station in Latest Protest

Members of climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion blocked the entrance to a petrol station for about 20 minutes this afternoon.

The protesters held up a large banner saying ‘Fuelling our extinction’ in the entrance to Shell on Eglinton Toll.

Motorists were blocked from using the petrol station for about seven minutes before the activists moved.

After letting a few cars in, they then blocked the entrance again for another seven minutes and repeated this move a third time.

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

UK: Conservative Philosopher Roger Scruton Dies at 75

The conservative philosopher and writer Sir Roger Scruton has died at the age of 75 following a six-month battle with cancer.

In a statement published on Sir Roger’s website on Sunday, his family said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Sir Roger Scruton, FBA, FRSL.

“Beloved husband of Sophie, adored father to Sam and Lucy and treasured brother of Elizabeth and Andrea, he died peacefully on Sunday 12th January. He was born on 27th February 1944 and had been fighting cancer for the last 6 months. His family are hugely proud of him and of all his achievements.”

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

UK: Cambridge Extinction Rebellion Protester Found Guilty After London Demonstration

A Cambridge Extinction Rebellion protester has been fined for his part in climate change demonstrations last year.

After a two-day trial, Jason Scott-Warren was yesterday found guilty (Friday, January 10) of disobeying a Section 14 order during the ‘April Rebellion’ last year.

The huge demonstration saw climate change activists protest across the world, including in several key parts of London.

Demonstrators brought parts of the capital to a standstill, and some were arrested and charged for their activity.

[Comment: Article dated January 11, 2020.]

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

UK: Queen Calls Crisis Summit, William Reportedly Saddened by Split From Brother

Queen Elizabeth II has called a family crisis summit to resolve the Meghan and Harry issue, while Prince William has reportedly expressed his “sadness” at the broken bond with his only brother.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Satanic Sheep Killer Strikes Again

Ewe is found stabbed to death with inscribed pitchfork and [upside down] cross made out of hay in Hampshire’s New Forest just weeks after animal was found with its entrails removed

A sheep has been stabbed to death and dumped in the middle of a road along with a cross made of hay and straw in a national park where spates of animal killings have sparked fears of a Satanic-style cult.

Police are probing the sheep’s death after it was discovered with a broken pitchfork left on its body and the peculiar cross.

Its owners say they are horrified by the killing in Cadnam, a village in Hampshire’s picturesque New Forest National Park.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Outflanked by Russia and Turkey, Europe Has Little Say in Libya’s Future

by Alasdair Lane

Resource rich but chronically unstable, Libya is a magnet for foreign intervention. Russia, Turkey, and a host of others have waded into the North African nation’s bruising civil war. But Europe, a continent with strong historical ties to the region — not to mention critical strategic interests — is all-but absent. It was European involvement that brought down Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011; but today, EU leaders seem unwilling to make a decisive play in the country’s future.

Since the fall of Gaddafi almost a decade ago, Libya has known little peace. In 2016, extended periods of unrest boiled over into civil war. From the east, military strongman Khalifa Haftar — leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) — exploded forth with his anti-government insurgency. In the months since, he has rolled back the forces of Tripoli’s Government of National Accord (GNA), and now controls large swathes of the country.

But this is not a war of just two combatants. Nations near and far have been drawn into Libya’s conflict, hoping to carve out influence in the strategically situated and oil rich state. On the side of GNA prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj, Turkey has committed vehicles and troops — the latter of which will operate, Ankara says, in a “training and advisory” capacity. Haftar has won the official backing of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt; and the unofficial support of Russia…

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

Canada Sends Investigators to Iran to Probe Downed Airliner

Speaking at a memorial event, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there would be “justice and accountability.” Fifty-seven Canadians were among the 176 dead after Iran accidentally shot down a passenger plane.

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

Iran Anti-Government Protests Erupt Over Shooting Down of Ukrainian Passenger Plane: ‘Death to the Dictator’

Anti-government protests erupted across Iran late Saturday, where thousands of demonstrators called for a regime change with chants of “death to the dictator,” following the state’s reluctant admission that it shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane.

Iranians have expressed anger toward the government since the downing of the plane early Wednesday and the misleading explanations from senior officials that initially denied culpability. Iran finally accepted “full responsibility” for unintentionally shooting down the aircraft on Saturday.

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

UK Ambassador Denies Protesting in Tehran, ‘Arresting Diplomats is Illegal’

The UK’s ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire denied that he had taken part in a street protest in Tehran before he was detained by authorities.

Tweeting on Sunday morning, the senior diplomat said: “Thanks for the many goodwill messages. I can confirm I wasn’t taking part in any demonstrations! I went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of the flight #PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects — some of the victims were British. I left after 5 mins when some started chanting.

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

Hong Kong Demonstrators Are the Real Social Justice Warriors

TAIPEI, TAIWAN—The longer I listened to the half-dozen Hong Kong democracy demonstrators describing their lives and goals, the more I thought the self-described social justice warriors permeating American campuses should pay close attention to these young people.

These Hong Kongers were the real social justice warriors fighting for something genuine—democracy and freedom—with their lives and futures on the line. They made our homegrown crew seem childish revolutionary wannabes, junior varsity Quixotes tilting at windmills that were non-existent until they invented them.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Shen Yun Shatters Communist Party Narratives, Prompting Attacks by China’s Regime—leeshai Lemish

What is Shen Yun, and why does the Chinese Communist Party try so hard to stop its performances?

[(Video.) See also:

American Thought Leaders — The Epoch Times

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmWhuFRkZKu0g-e1xrlakVA?feature=emb_subscribe_title ]

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

US Strategy of Deterrence With Iran Sends Message to North Korea: Experts

There are several factors at play that could affect North Korea, Gordon Chang, commentator and author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told The Epoch Times. He noted that Iran pays $3 billion annually to Pyongyang for various forms of cooperation—about 10 percent of North Korea’s gross domestic product.

“Soleimani’s death means Kim could temporarily lose these important revenue streams,” Chang said via email.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Delingpole: Australian ‘Climate’ Fires Are Pure Fake News Propaganda

The narrative that this has anything to do with ‘climate change’ is the purest eco-propaganda fiction. Here is the truth about Australia’s bush fires.

This is about politics, not climate

Australia’s leftists have never forgiven Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party (ie Australia’s conservatives) for winning the general election in May 2019. That’s because it was billed as the ‘climate election’, which the left was supposed to win.

As I wrote at the time, in Australia — as in the U.S. and the UK — the left thinks global warming is an election-winning issue. But the voters just aren’t interested.

Everyone — encouraged by Australia’s left-leaning print media and rabidly left-wing state broadcaster ABC — was convinced that this was the election that was going to be won on climate change. Greenpeace actually billed it as a “climate election”. Australia’s Labor party, campaigning on a strongly anti-climate change agenda, was going to oust the incumbent Liberal (i.e. conservative) government because public concern about the environment was so overwhelmingly strong.

Didn’t happen though, did it? Instead, the Liberals won.

Now all the losing losers who lost in Australia are taking their revenge by demanding the resignation of Scott Morrison (aka ScoMo), supposedly because of his mishandling of the fires. They couldn’t beat him by fair means so now they’re trying to do it by foul means…

What’s really causing the fires. 1. Arsonists

Since the start of the bush fire season last November, Australian police have arrested nearly 200 alleged arsonists. Whether it’s ‘arson jihad’ (as recommended by ISIS) or deranged greenies trying to draw attention to the ‘climate emergency’ or bored kids or even perfectly innocent people who were just trying to light a barbie in the bush doesn’t much matter: the point is that a lot of these fires were indeed man-made.

Just not man-made in quite the green propagandists’ understanding of the phrase.

What’s really causing the fires. 2. Fuel Load

There’s too much combustible material in the Australian bush. Back in the day, the Aborigines burned it off; so, following their example, did the early settlers; so, until quite recently did most rural Australians. But then the environmentalists stuck their oar in with their fashionable notions — borrowed from Rousseau via the German ecologists and the Nazis — that nature should be left in a wild and pristine state, unsullied by man. So these idiot ‘uni’ graduates with their soft science degrees infiltrated the news media and the universities and local government — and made it harder and harder for landowners to clear the undergrowth and excess trees round their property, even if it was for potentially life-saving purposes like creating fire breaks.

Amazingly, the greenies are denying that this is the main cause of the fires — an extraordinarily outrageous and brazen lie which I shall deal with in a separate piece.

But there’s far too much evidence for it to be denied. Here is an excellent piece on the subject in the Spectator by Tim Blair:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Extinction Rebellion Campaigners Protest Outside Australia’s London Embassy Demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison is Fired for His Handling of the Bushfire Crisis

Extinction Rebellion campaigners gathered outside Australia’s London embassy this afternoon to demand Prime Minister Scott Morrison is fired for his handling of the bushfire crisis.

The catastrophic fires have killed at least 26 since they began in October, with an estimated 2000 homes destroyed in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Morrison, who opted to go on holiday to Hawaii in the midst of the crisis in December, has been widely criticised for his lack of action in the catastrophe.

Hundreds of protesters arrived outside the Australian Embassy on the Strand in London this afternoon to urge the Australian government to ‘act now’ in response to the ‘ecological emergency’.

[Comment: Article dated January 10, 2020.]

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

Gunmen Kidnap Four Catholic Seminarians in Central Nigeria

Unidentified gunmen stormed the Good Shepherd Catholic Major Seminary this week, abducting four students, in Kaduna State, central Nigeria.

The armed assailants arrived at the seminary around 10:30pm last Wednesday, according to Father Joel Usman, registrar of the seminary, and began shooting at students, professors, and staff members.

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

Sudan Starts Cracking Down on Bashir’s Party

by Amr Emam

The government of Sudan has decided to seize the assets of the formerly ruling National Congress Party of toppled President Omar al-Bashir. The assets to be confiscated will include the headquarters of Bashir’s party in all Sudanese states, as well as the media institutions of the party also everywhere in Sudan. The media institutions contain several newspapers; TV channels; radio stations, and media companies. The decision to confiscate the assets of Bashir’s party dates back to December of last year when the new government of Sudan approved a law for the dissolution of the National Congress Party and the seizure of its assets.

New chapter

Disbanding the National Congress Party and the confiscation of its assets turns a new leaf in Sudan’s political life and gives this poor African nation a new political beginning, one free from the shadow of the man who ruled Sudan with iron and fire for decades in the past.

Bashir, who was overthrown by the military in April last year after months of mass protests, ruled Sudan for 30 years. He mounted the country’s saddle after a military coup that brought the Islamists, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood, to power. During these 30 years, the mismanagement, corruption, and religious extremism of Bashir’s regime turned Sudan into a fearful country where poverty was common and freedom was rare.

The disappearance of Bashir’s party from Sudan’s political stage will open the door for eradicating the covert networks of power, operating within the Sudanese state, ones that continue to be controlled by Bashir’s backers…

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

Spanish Police Arrest 47 People Linked to Human Trafficking Gang Which Used UK Short-Stay Visas to Smuggle Moroccan Migrants Into Europe

Nearly 50 people have been arrested after police smashed a human trafficking gang which used UK short-stay visas to smuggle Moroccan migrants into Europe.

Police say the gang made around one million pounds from their crimes by charging each migrant trafficked from North Africa up to £7,000.

The 47 arrests took place during a joint operation led by Spanish police and Royal Gibraltar Police officers coordinated by EUROPOL.

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

Stowing Away in a Lorry Through Calais is Still Top Tactic for Migrants Sneaking Into Britain, New Figures From France Reveal

The images of boats dangerously overloaded with people desperate to reach our shores may capture the headlines.

But migrants are far more likely to try to enter Britain in the back of lorries than chance the perilous sea crossing, figures from the French authorities show.

At least 23,000 were caught in lorries in Calais or the Channel Tunnel last year.

In comparison 3,339 crossed by boat, the French estimate, with 1,391 of those stopped.

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

UN Refugee Mission Head Warns of Growing Displacement of People in Libya

Jean-Paul Cavalieri, head of the Libya mission for the UNHCR, has warned that deteriorating conditions across Libya are producing over 200,000 displaced persons.

Cavalieri made his comments to Italian media this week, saying that many Libyans have been forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing conflict in the country which will likely add to the estimated hundreds of thousands of migrants already in Libya, Il Giornalereports.

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

California 8th Graders Taught Anal, Bondage, Sex Involving Blood in Sex-Ed Class

Students were reportedly taught about the extreme topics as part of a mandatory class

California has blazed a trail for what is packaged as social progress, especially with their sex education, being one of four states—New Jersey, Colorado, and Illinois—to add mandatory LGBT history into their curricula.

Now, comes a shocking addition to their sex-ed material: anal sex and “kinky” sex, including ‘blood play.’

A Facebook post containing a picture of the index of the textbook, named SEX, showed the relatively extreme sexual acts reportedly taught to young teenagers.

The textbook allegedly contained a chapter on anal sex—which has become increasingly normalized in more progressive school districts.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Lancet: The Only Way to Stop Racism is ‘To Eliminate Whiteness All Together’

The once prestigious Lancet medical journal has published a bizarre book review asserting that “white Americans continue to mobilise to maintain or extend the exclusive advantages whiteness offers those who can become white.”

The Lancet selected Rhea W. Boyd, a Minority Health Policy Fellow at Harvard’s School of Public Health, to review a 2019 book called Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl, whose thesis is that “right-wing backlash policies have mortal consequences — even for the white voters they promise to help.”

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

The Church of Tolerating Everything

I am helping my good friend Coach Dave Daubenmire prepare for the big gun rally planned for Richmond, Virginia on January 20th. In twenty days armed men from all fifty states in America are planning to descend on New Virginia. Old Virginy never would have countenanced a Governor like this one. Famously he’s down with executing born babies. Now he wants to take everybody’s guns.

The whole world was privy to the execution by shotgun of two virtuous Christian men just four days ago. If it weren’t for a good man with a gun would more Christian people have died Sunday morning? Whether we like it or not the devil’s violence is coming to church with us. What are we going to do about it?

Are we going to continue to sleep walk in our comatose state believing that bigger and bigger government is the solution to everything? Or are we going to start stepping up and taking personal responsibility for ourselves and those we love. Here’s what Sunday’s hero, 71 year old Jack Wilson, said, “I feel like I killed evil.” Well, good for Jack. I watched the video of his heroic deed a number of times. Based on the reaction of the congregation and the pastor that is depicted in the video I’d have to conclude that their response would be “I feel like I bowed and groveled to evil.”

We must not fail to learn the lessons of White Settlement, Texas. The government failed in every way. The government knew the gunman intimately. He was no stranger to them as a dangerous criminal. Trusting that institution right now is a BIG mistake. If men truly care about all that is good, true and beautiful we will follow Jack Wilson’s lead and equip ourselves with the instinct and tools to “kill evil.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/12/2020

  1. Surely the French and Western Europeans in general are organising beyond just pension rights? Why wait for the Big Bang?

  2. Carbecue? I like that and it is added to the lexicon. I’ll use it in a sentence-Let’s go down to the avenue and enjoy the vibrant diverse cultural enrichment at the carbecue.

  3. Regarding the carbeques: Certainly, only internal combustion engine vehicles were torched, right?

  4. And again you, Kafka!
    ================================
    The Russian immigrant complained to the FSB of the Russophobia and was expelled from Russia

    The FSB banned Eva Repina, a repatriate from Uzbekistan, from entering the Russian Federation until 2039, reports IAC “Sova”.

    A woman collected on the VKontakte network insulting remarks about Russians and non-Muslims, sent them to the administration of the resource and demanded to punish aggressive authors. Repin sent a similar complaint to the Federal Security Service.

    However, the siloviki were not interested in xenophobes, but in Repina. The FSB tried to hold her accountable under Article 282. CC and Art. 20.3.1 Administrative Code, but lost the courts and expelled the repatriate from Russia.

    A native of Angarsk, a woman in the 90s ended up in Uzbekistan. In 2017, she came to Norilsk, found a job, was planning to get married and planned to get a Russian passport.

    Now the complaint against the decision of the FSB is being considered by the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction of Kemerovo.
    https://www.rod-pravo.org/russkaya-repatriantka-pozhalovalas-fsb-na-rusofobov-i-byla-vydvorena-iz-rossii/
    ============================
    Explanation: When the USSR collapsed, a law was passed that who in which country was in February 1992, turned out to be his citizen. Therefore, many Russians were citizens of Bantustan.

    282 article The incitement of ethnic hatred
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0 % B5_% D0% BC% D0% B5% D0% B6% D0% BD% D0% B0% D1% 86% D0% B8% D0% BE% D0% BD% D0% B0% D0% BB% D1% 8C % D0% BD% D0% BE% D0% B9_% D1% 80% D0% BE% D0% B7% D0% BD% D0% B8

    More details about the case of Eva Repina
    https://www.sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2020/01/d41924/?fbclid=IwAR3Vbv-C_14P7-_OBpO45Uy6mmTBZh55BVAg4TVW82aqEAa7Coant95UAuc
    ===============
    By the way, I previously met her on the net in counter-jihadist publics.

    Now she has a closed type of profile (it is impossible to leave a message for her) and she only comments about pets.
    That’s how Russia breaks the ridges of its children.

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