Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/3/2012

Detectives at the FBI held a transatlantic conference call with their counterparts at Scotland Yard to discuss progress in tracking down the hackers of the “Anonymous” activist group. Anonymous, however, eavesdropped on the call, and later posted a recording of it on the Internet.

In other news, the severe cold snap in Europe continues. Record low temperatures have killed more than 200 people across the continent, according to some reports. In parts of central and northern Europe the temperature has plunged close to forty below — which is the same reading in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Gaia, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JP, Kitman, Steen, 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.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

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

Waking up to Reality in Gellerupparken

Gellerupparken, a culturally-enriched suburb of Aarhus in Jutland, has featured prominently in several previous articles about immigrant violence in Denmark. Our Danish correspondent TB sends his translation of an article about a former apologist for Islam who woke up to the reality of the Religion of Peace while living in Gellerupparken.

The translator includes this note:

This story from B.T. is not new — October 2011 — but it’s a real beauty, if you ask me. First of all because it lies right in the footpath of the recent articles I have translated about Vollsmose, but also since this article is about a former Multi-Culti Pro-Islam Front Fighter (he was actually the Vice President for The Multicultural Society) who suddenly realized the hard way that he had in fact been fighting for the devil. Now he has turned 180 degrees, and become a fierce Islam-critic.

Another ‘funny bonus’ to this one is the update appended by B.T. at the end of the article. It’s a sure bet they (the journalists) must have been busy that day answering phone calls from angry ‘undressed’ Muslims. I guess they might even have felt a little uncomfortable. You never know what these peaceful new arrivals from exotic countries might do if they are not obeyed…

And the translated article from B.T.:

Vice President for The Multicultural Society has turned 180 degrees

Was stoned out of Gellerupparken: “Now I know Islam!”


[Photo caption: Dan Ritto was formerly pro-Islam and was even the Vice President of the Multicultural Association. Today he has turned 180 degrees in his attitudes toward religion, after he — by his own admission —learned what Islam is all about. (Photo: Brian Rasmussen) ]

By Charlotte Nielsen
Sunday 30 October 2011

Six years ago Dan Ritto was the Vice President of the Multicultural Association. Today he is a cynical Islam-critic.

Something flies past his face and hits the ground a few feet in front of him. In a brisk pace he continues towards his apartment. Yet another object passes and lands close to his feet.

He picks it up and studies it in the dark. Then a stone hits his jacket, and he understands what is going on. Someone is throwing stones at him. Someone is trying to stone him out of Gellerupparken.

“I was so puzzled about it. People also began to yell at me when I walked in the area, and I understood absolutely nothing about it. Then I thought to myself that I had to learn more about Islam. So I read the Koran.”

It’s late in the year 2007, and Dan Ritto is living in Gellerupparken.

He left off studying to be a Catholic priest in London and began a ‘career’ as a keen debater and blogger with several blogs about society, politics and religion.

Based in Gellerupparken he started actively working with integration. As the Vice President of Multicultural Association, he had a lot of contacts in the notorious ghetto area of Aarhus.

Back then, when eating in the Bazar Vest, Muslims usually stopped by and talk to him. They regarded him as one of their own. Today, five years later, he no longer lives in Gellerupparken.

Its been a long time since he resigned from the Multicultural Association. He is still an active commentator and blogger, but today Dan Ritto has turned 180 degrees. He has become an Islam-critic. Why? Because he now knows Islam, he says.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/2/2012

Much of Europe is in the grip of a polar deep freeze as icy weather moves south, all the way to the Mediterranean. Snow is expected in Rome and Florence, and Athens has already experienced snow and gale-force winds. The temperature dropped to —25° C (-13° F) in Vienna, and that’s not counting the wind-chill factor. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are trapped in snowed-in villages in the mountainous areas of the Balkans. Temperatures in southern Norway and Sweden fell close to the freezing point of mercury.

In other news, protestors in Cairo expressed attacked the interior ministry building and had to be driven away with tear gas. The mob was angry because of a riot and stampede that caused at least 74 deaths at a stadium after a soccer match.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to Egghead, Erick Stakelbeck, Fjordman, Insubria, JP, Kitman, The Observer, 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.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

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

Socialists on Ice

Our newest Swedish correspondent (see “When is a Swede Not a Swede?”) returns with some thoughts about the history of socialism in Sweden, and its likely future:

Socialists on ice

The rise and fall of socialism

Some might argue that Jesus was the first socialist. Other may pick the thoughts of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as the starting point for this ideology.

When Marx argued for socialism, it was a moral view — the poor were exploited as cheap labor without having any influence over their own situation or society as whole.

The rise of socialism developed across the whole world, both in nations governed by socialists and elsewhere. Everyone benefited from the equality, the abolition of slavery, increased rights for women, better health care, and an education that made the population almost 100 % literate.

After two world wars, the world was divided into a socialist totalitarian bloc and the free world, which tried to manage with different degrees of socialism. The United States evolved into a superpower with a flavor of the free market, and the Scandinavian nations became leading role models for social engineering and welfare states.

During the 1970s Sweden, the country where I live, had completed the project. There were ice-skating rinks, swimming pools, free guitar lessons, great education, and health care.

I was a socialist back then, and many among us were proud of our achievements. We began to work on other challenges, such as improving our ice-skating skills or guitar-playing.

But this was a nightmare for some socialists. They consider themselves to be the true champions of the oppressed, and brave to take up the fight against the establishment.

What happens when socialists are the establishment and the poor and oppressed have all the privileges they could possible want? The high income tax in the welfare state has not only deprived people of the resources they need to voluntarily help others, the government has also wiped out the need for charity.

The global market was the solution. Just as in selling or buying steel, paper and shoes, there are plenty of victims and oppressors in other parts of the world.

The Not-So-Distinguished Imam

In the investigative report below, a German television program reveals that a prominent and respected imam has been padding his résumé a little bit. Well, more than a little bit, actually…

Many thanks to Sheik Yermami for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Durance Not So Vile in Norway

Our Norwegian correspondent The Observer sends his translation from an article in VG.no. about the utopian prison, Bastøy. Our translator includes his own observation:

This article gives you a good insight into the prevailing mentality found among the Norwegian elite. It’s a proper example of logic and reasoning from this northern ‘la-la land’.

Notice that the so-called ‘experts’ are very positive towards the ideas promoted in this article. It’s also worth keeping in mind the Norwegian TV documentary Hjernevask, which brilliantly exposed how far removed from reality a lot of these ‘researchers’ and ‘experts’ are.

Maybe even Breivik will be transferred to Bastøy sometime in the future?

Oh, by the way: “Bastøy is an island surrounded by idyllic scenery in the Oslo fjord.”

The Observer also sent along a link to this video about life on Norway’s version of Alcatraz. It was uploaded on MRCtv in March 2011, when Breivik was still in the planning stages:


The person who uploaded this video is puzzled:

This is just beyond parody. I mean the idiot running the place literally says “We had a chainsaw murderer here on the island. Eventually he was allowed to work in the forest with a chainsaw”. What is wrong with the people of Norway?

Well, beyond a bad case of terminal self-righteousness, Norway is a very small, very isolated and homogeneous country. Its small size and its oil wealth permit it to run a variety of experiments in social psychopathology, whether it be in education, healthcare, or parenting. These utopian schemes are neither possible nor practical in a huge, polyglot federation like the United States – much as our leftists want to resurrect Rousseau here, also. For our polarization and public strife let us be thankful.

It was the ‘compassion’ of Norway’s elites that led them to foist upon their own citizens hordes of unassimilated resentful immigrants. Dealing with these foreigners themselves was never part of their plan; things might never have been exposed had not Breivik’s murderous acting-out upon their own children brought home so forcefully an unintended consequence of ignorant, arrogant do-goodism.


And now, on to the paean to Norwegian penology from the perspective of VG.no:

Here Mr. Sandberg is shown a video of prisoners having a barbecue: “This is a concept that we should embrace.”

Parliament (VG Nett) — Parliamentarian politician Mr. Per Sandberg of the FrP (the progress party) believes that the open prison on Bastøy is a concept that the correctional services in Norway should embrace.

Last Tuesday VG wrote about the inmates at the prison at Bastøy who have built their own little society with all the institutions and recreational activities that can be found on the outside.

The TV channel MAX followed the lives of the inmates over a three day period in the TV documentary “Insider”.

The FrP and Mr. Sandberg have been staunch supporters of tougher prison conditions, but he smiles when he sees the prisoners at Bastøy having a barbecue.

“I think it is very positive. Here we have a situation where optimism is created and the criminals are given a chance to adjust to normal life. Statistics also show that these types of prison conditions lead to fewer escape attempts and fewer repeat offenders — and the community benefit from this,” Sandberg says to VG Nett.

He believes that the prison on Bastøy is ideal for criminals convicted of serious crimes.

“Here the prisoners enjoy a high degree of freedom, but at the same time they are isolated from the rest of society. I believe that most people want serious criminals to be mentally prepared for life in a law-abiding society,” Sandberg says.

“The way criminals serve their time should be tailored to each individual offender, but I think we should focus more on open prisons,” he adds.

“Overwhelmingly positive”

Shadow Minister of Justice from the Conservative Party (Høyre) André Oktay Dahl can reveal that there is a broad consensus in Parliament for such criminal rehabilitation centers and that the prison on Bastøy is an example to follow.

The Anti-Fascist Waltz Comes to Vienna

Last Friday a group of Austrian and German fraternities caused a big brouhaha when they met in Vienna for their annual ball. Public disapproval of the event was so severe that the “anti-fascists” were moved to attack the particpants physically, and even threw firebombs.

Our German translator JLH has translated two articles about the controversy, and includes this explanation:

I have translated two short articles concerning the annual grand ball held by the WKR — the Vienna Corporation Ring — one of those glittering affairs many of us may hear about, but never attend.

This ball — part of the Fasching/Mardi Gras/Carnival season in Vienna — reflects elegance, wealth and good works to further education. Representatives of about twenty corporations and academic organizations attend, and luminaries from the fields of science, politics and economics from Austria as well as Germany and other places are invited. It began in 1952 in the post-war British zone of occupation and has always been held on the Friday before the last Saturday of January. Along with another Vienna grand ball — the Rudolfina Redoute — it claims to be the largest celebration of its kind in the world. Since 1987, it has been held in the grand hall of the old imperial palace — the Hofburg. UNESCO declared the tradition of balls to which it belongs to be one of the cultural heritage treasures of Austria on its list of such treasures worldwide.

Well, sic transit gloria mundi, as they say or, as Forest Gump put it: s*** happens. UNESCO, no doubt hearing from a little left-wing or Islamist bird, discovered to its horror that this ball was considered a hate-fest, because — besides all the depraved capitalists and over-educated fops — it was attended by such ravening right-wing types as the head of the FPÖ! They might as well be from the — gasp! — Tea Party. UNESCO took no half measures; it struck the whole tradition of Vienna balls from its list of cultural treasures. The people administering the Hofburg decided it would not be available for this function after this year.

This year, Forest Gump’s prediction came true with a vengeance. The Friday before the last Saturday of January fell on the 27th — the day of remembrance for the Holocaust. Reasonably or not, the organization stayed with their traditional date of 59 years. You can get a little attached to routine when your history goes back to the 1200s, and your city was the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor, the King of the Romans, the King of the Germans, the Archduke of Austria, the Kings of Spain, Hungary, Portugal, Galicia, Croatia and Lodomeria and the Grand Prince of Transylvania, and your connection to the French Revolution was that well-known Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette.

That was all the so-called Antifa and other leftists — those well-known defenders of Jews and Israel — needed. They hit the streets with an energy equal to an Occupy crowd invading a bank. The result is described in one of the enclosed articles.

Then the left-leaning, PC-appeasing, so-called Israelite community in Vienna, which resembles actual Israelis as much as the Indianapolis Colts resemble real horses, filed a complaint against Strache for something he apparently was overheard to say while there. That is the second short article.

Anyway, it is in some ways a tempest in a teapot, but the winds on the surface of the tea are blowing from the left, just as they are in Cologne and elsewhere.

The first translation concerns the reaction of the antifas to last week’s event, and is taken from Junge Freiheit via SOS – Österreich:

The Naked Hatred of the Antifa
by Der Patriot, January 30, 2012

From Schottengasse, we had to push through on foot. Directly in front of us drumming and roaring await. We can only try to bypass by way of the deserted Mölkersteig. Thee is a short moment of tense peace before violence rules in the Inner City.


Demonstrators are waiting in Herrengasse. Nazi shouts and spitting are the overture to what follows. In front of Café Central, activists are blocking the street. A clueless policeman suggests getting to the Hofburg by way of Minoritenplatz — the route is secure. The information is wrong.

A crowd of demonstrators comes running from Ballhausplatz. In their eyes is pure hatred for those who are on the wrong side this evening. Young girls scream and spit. Blows, jostling and beer cans rain down on the perceived opponents. With our last energy, we run to the police barrier. There is help of any sort from the officers.

After three-quarters of an hour of running the gauntlet, we are in the Hofburg. “Were you attacked too?” asks a student in tails with color band and skullcap in German colors. It is the most remarkable moment of the evening, when those who have arrived feel something like relief for the first time.

“We ran like rabbits,” says a young man with a head covering. “The ladies were spit on, fell down. A shame.”

It’s hard to believe. This eye-witness account comes not from a rightist source. This report was volunteered by an undercover journalist from the Kurier! Imagine a future when this young hate-guard from the red-greens is sitting at the levers of power in the Viennese town hall.

Explosives, fire-bombs, violent attacks, street blockades which paralyze traffic in the Inner City, the most awful insults of police and ball attendees…and nonetheless organizers of this demonstration complain like fellow human beings about the — we would say tame — actions of the police. What does these leftists want? Call up anarchy in Vienna and declare all non-comrades to be fair game?

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The banner in the photo reads:

Revolutionary-Communist Youth…
Fascism and civil democracy are two forms of civil dictatorship!
Build up the militant Antifa!

[Does this have anything to do with “Arbeit macht frei” and “all animals are created equal”?]

The second article, also from Junge Freiheit, describes the condemnation of the FPÖ by the Jewish community in Austria:

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/1/2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced that the US combat role in Afghanistan will end next year, a year before the complete withdrawal of American troops.

In other news, in the middle of the night unknown assailants set off a bomb outside a police station in the culturally enriched city of Malmö in southern Sweden. The blast blew a hole in the wall of the station and did extensive damage to the inside of the building, but no one was injured.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to Fjordman, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JP, Kitman, Nilk, 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.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

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

The Prodigal Returns

I’m back in the saddle again — or at least trying to get there. Right now one foot is stuck in the stirrup while the hoss drags me alongside, banging my head on rocks and stumps.

Do you realize just how many emails y’all send me, in the space of a mere 24 hours?

I noticed while I was away that Newt got the sap kicked out of him in Florida, and the Director of National Intelligence says that Iran is likely to attempt terrorist attacks on American soil. I learned these things from glancing over the front page of the WaPo on the newsstand this morning. There may have been other news items below the fold, but I didn’t read them — I wasn’t willing to pay actual money for a paper.

I won’t have time for anything except the news feed tonight, plus trying to catch up with all this email. More or less normal service will resume in the morning.

Many thanks to all of you who sent those kind notes in response to Dymphna’s post.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/31/2012

This, the final news feed for January, was scheduled for posting before I left to go out of town, so there may be urgent breaking news which isn’t included.

If you have been leaving comments that haven’t been approved, it’s probably because Dymphna has not been at the computer. Be patient; when she is feeling well enough, she’ll take care of them (assuming they deserve approval, of course).

Pay attention to some of the news about the financial crisis — important doings are afoot in the EU.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, ESW, Fjordman, Gaia, JP, Kitman, Nick, 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.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

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

Traveling Shoes and Answers

Y’all remember the Baron has a temporary part-time job now, right? This is a 99.9% telecommute situation with occasional face-to-face meetings as necessary. These tête-à-tête confabs will be rare. Given that he hates to sleep anywhere but in his own bed, I, for one, believe his assurances in this regard.

Thus did the Baron put on his traveling shoes this afternoon and head out to meet with his new bosses. He should return by Thursday, maybe even earlier.

Before leaving he scheduled a newsfeed for tonight; it will appear magically at the appointed time. He also asked me to explain why comment moderation will be spotty for the duration — i.e., my time in the chair is limited by the pain in me derrière.

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This new job is such a blessing! While it’s not permanent or full-time, the pleasure the Baron gets from even this partial return to work is delightful to behold. Sometimes I think I ought to tie an anchor to his foot to keep him from floating off…

There’s another aspect to this job: it is one answer to a question I’d reluctantly begun to ponder as the year turned.

Michael Coren on the Shafia Case

Michael Coren talks to Megyn Kelly about the recent verdict in the Shafia murder case. They also discuss the near-universal effort by the Western media and political leaders to deny the nature of Islamic “honor killing”.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

No Christians Wanted in Vollsmose

Here’s another story about what life is like for infidels in Vollsmose, a culturally enriched neighborhood of Odense on the Island of Funen in Denmark. The article was kindly translated by our Danish correspondent TB, who includes this note:

Here is yet another article about the situation in Denmark. This time it is about a Christian priest who has been forced out of the former Danish area in Vollsmose, a suburb of Odense. His name is Massoud Fouroozandeh. I have heard him in the radio and read about him in the papers several times. He is a former Muslim, originally from Iran (came here as a refugee when he was 15 years old), and the founder of the Christian Church of Love in Odense.

Massoud is about the most gentle, mild, lovable, tolerant, likeable and friendly person possible. He represents everything the Muslims postulate that Islam is all about. Yet, apparently, by some kind of mysterious and invisible force, he is automatically rejected by the Islamic body when doing what the Muslims keep telling us constitutes the core principle of The Religion of Peace; promoting peace, tolerance and respect towards his fellow man. Now isn’t that just a paradox?

The translation from BT:

Christian priest harassed out of Vollsmose

It may seem peaceful to hang a crucifix in the rearview mirror of your car. But such a thing is not tolerated in Vollsmose. Here it resulted in a burned out car and lethal harassment.

Through the last few days www.bt.dk have revealed how ethnic Danes are suffering smear campaigns in the troubled Odense ghetto, Vollsmose. According to a police officer, nine out of ten burglaries are directed against people with Danish names. Now it turns out that merely to profess to the Christian faith can be fatal in the district. Christian pastor Massoud Fouroozandeh found that out the hard way.

“The problems began a few years ago when I was told by a couple of young immigrants that I should not drive around with the crucifix I had on my rearview mirror,” says Massoud. He was originally born in Iran, from which he fled as a 15-year-old. Of course, it took more to scare the hardened priest, who continued to drive around with his crucifix.

Provocative and unreasonable

“I thought it was provocative and unreasonable, and they obviously should not be allowed to decide what I should and should not do. But a few months later someone torched my car and cut up the seats with a knife. Of course it was because of the crucifix . I was furious, but I would not submit to them.”

Therefore the stubborn priest also placed a crucifix in his new car.

“I believe that one should turn the other cheek, so it was probably my kind of revenge, and I actually felt that it compelled some respect in the neighborhood.”

But the war had only just begun

Massoud thought he had prevailed, but the reality was, that the war had only just begun.

“Bring it on, Baby!”

The video below shows Rep. Allen West speaking to his constituents a few days ago in the 22nd District of Florida. Col. West directed a few choice words at Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats:


Hat tip: Nick.