In a speech today, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly emphasized his intention to keep stimulating the American economy through the Fed’s monetary policy. The stock market responded tepidly to his words, and the spot price of silver rose sharply after Mr. Bernanke spoke.
In other news, a Swiss magazine published an article that discouraged its readers from visiting Ireland, saying that 70% of Irish people have scarcely a tooth in their heads, thanks to inbreeding.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Diana West, Erick Stakelbeck, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, Mary Abdelmassih, McR, Vlad Tepes, 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.
When I was a kid back in the ’50s and ’60s, “blue laws” were still in force in Virginia, both at the state and the local levels. These laws were fairly common in the South in those days, when Baptists and Methodists were predominant in public life — as is still mostly the case.
Blue laws in Virginia meant that you couldn’t buy certain things on Sundays. Alcohol was the main target, but there were other items whose sale was restricted on the Sabbath. Some counties were completely “dry” — they forbade the sale of alcoholic beverages on any day of the week. If you lived in one of those counties and had a taste for the sauce, you had to drive to another county to stock up, or make contact with a moonshine distributor. White lightning is still common today, especially in the more mountainous regions of the Commonwealth.
Widespread opposition to the blue laws arose in the 1970s, and most of them were repealed. But some counties — Pittsylvania is one — still prohibit the sale of booze on Sunday.
The impulse behind these laws was religious, but they weren’t framed using religious terms. They simply reflected local sentiment as expressed in legislation at the state or county level. Thus they were completely constitutional.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I bring all this up because of a controversy that erupted recently in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, has been attacked as “anti-Semitic” because of his support for a ban on ritual slaughter (both kosher and halal) in his country.
Regular readers know how laughable it is to accuse Geert Wilders — who is regarded by serious Jew-haters as a “tool of the Zionists” — of anti-Semitism. But it gets worse: Manfred Gerstenfeld described Mr. Wilders as “a guy who is at forefront of the anti-Semitism movement in Europe”.
I dread broaching the topic in this space, because I know all too well what discussions like this one can turn into. Rational thought is discarded, civil discourse is thrown out the window, and we get caught between the Scylla of a angry Jews and the Charybdis of angry Jew-haters.
However, given the stature of Geert Wilders in the European Counterjihad movement, this conversation can’t be avoided.
The background to the story is this: an animal rights party in the Netherlands proposed a bill requiring that all livestock must be stunned before being slaughtered. The lower of house of the Dutch parliament passed the bill last year, but it failed in the senate. Mr. Wilders and the PVV support such a ban.
Halal and kosher laws require animals to be conscious when they are killed. Every year thousands of cattle in the Netherlands are slaughtered according both forms of religious law.
A prominent Dutch rabbi recently attacked Mr. Wilders for his stance. According to Yahoo News:
Rabbi Warns Dutch Populist Wilders Over Ritual Slaughter Ban
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Israel’s leading rabbi has warned Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders that his party’s support for a ban of ritual slaughter of animals in the Netherlands is “anti-Semitic” and could drive away the country’s Jewish community.
[…]
Some of his most outspoken supporters are in the conservative, pro-Israeli movement in the United States. Wilders calls himself Israel’s “greatest friend” and has also proposed creating a national Dutch holiday to commemorate the victims of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
In a letter to Wilders on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger called on Wilders’ Freedom Party to stop backing a ban on ritual slaughter.
It is the strongest public condemnation yet of Wilders’ position on the policy and comes two weeks before the Netherlands holds a general election September 12 in which he is expected to take a sizeable portion of the vote.
Human rights activists in Europe are lamenting the behavior of the new socialist government in France. They say its policies vis-à-vis the gypsies are as bad — or even worse — than those of the previous government headed by Nicolas Sarkozy.
The socialist government resumes the policies of its predecessor regarding gypsies and clears illegal settlements.
Unimpressed by protests from relief organizations and angry objections coming from left-wing circles, the socialist Interior Minister Manuel Valls continues clearing illegal gypsy settlements with the help of the police.
Last Tuesday, a settlement with 180 inhabitants was cleared in a suburb of Lyon. The authorities indicated that the private plot of land being occupied by them will be needed for construction purposes. After this, the gypsies settled in a nearby park. The first police actions that took place in the region of Lille at the beginning of this month sparked loud protests from left-wingers, and in contrast, Valls had the approval of the right wing. This strengthens again the suspicion of his critics that the new interior minister continues to apply the repressive policies against immigrants coming from Romania and Bulgaria. This very policy caused France to be denounced in the EU during Sarkozy’s term on the grounds of discrimination.
Things have gotten so out of control in culturally enriched “quarters” of Marseille that a socialist deputy in the French Parliament has called for the government to send the army into the city.
‘It’s not the army’s job to control the [Mohammedan] quarters,’ according to [French president] Hollande
‘It’s not the army’s job to control the quarters.’ Just as [interior minister] Manuel Valls did earlier that same day, the President of the Republic has swept aside a proposal by a socialist deputy from Marseille who had appealed for sending the military to fight against drug trafficking.
The PS [Parti Socialiste] senator and mayor of the city’s 15th and 16th arrondissements, Samia Ghali, spoke out on Thursday, during an interview given to La Provence, after a 25-year-old man was killed Wednesday evening with a burst from a Kalashnikov in the northern neighbourhoods of Marseille. Since the beginning of this year, fourteen persons have been killed in the city during such settling of accounts, and nineteen in the entire Marseille region.
‘The gendarmerie may be present in certain zones, and they are. And it is the job of the police — who, by the way, need to be reinforced at Marseille — to do what is necessary to eradicate this sort of violence, crime and trafficking,’ declared François Hollande during a press conference with the head of the Spanish government, Mariano Rajoy.
On the occasion of a trip through the Paris region dedicated to education, the prime minister [Jean-Marc Ayrault] invoked the necessity to ‘show the government’s determination not to let things drift off course’ in this city. Therefore, the 6 September meeting of an interministerial committee dedicated at the preparation of an ‘action programme for the Marseille metropolitan area.’ ‘It is beyond question that the army should respond to such crime. There is no interior enemy’ at Marseille, asserted the interior minister, who favoured ‘a global response [to crime], deep and strong’ at a press conference.
Later that same day, police sources stated that a new directeur départemental de la sécurité publique (DDSP) will soon be appointed in the Bouches-du-Rhône [département — Marseille etc]. Pierre-Marie Bourniquel, presently the DDSP in the Gironde [département — Bordeaux etc], who earlier held this function in the Alpes-Maritimes [département — Nice etc], will replace Pascal Lalle at Marseille.
‘Today, given the war-style weaponry used by the [criminal] networks, only the army can intervene. Primarily to disarm the dealers. And then to block the clients’ access to the quarters, using roadblocks, as in times of war. Even if this takes a year or two, it needs to be done,’ claims Samia Ghali in La Provence.
‘After another bloody summer, we need to speak up with the truth. I think the authorities do not realise the severity of the situation. The killings following each other at Marseille are becoming a national media attraction,’ deplores the deputy, whose arrondissements have just been classified by the interior minister as belonging to the zones de sécurité prioritaire (ZSP).
For her part, UMP déléguée générale Valérie Rosso-Debord assesses in a communiqué that ‘the statements made by Samia Ghali, who demands that the army be deployed, must make the state react. […] This city does not need symbols, but a real security policy which frees it from the track of delinquency and banditry it is on.’
On April 28, 2009 the White House staged a “photo op” over Manhattan using Air Force One and an accompanying fighter jet. Neither the mayor nor the general population of New York were informed in advance that a large jet would be buzzing their city, so the flyby understandably provoked some concern. In fact, it generated a brief panic on the ground until the federal government explained what was going on.
Vlad Tepes has created a retrospective video of the infamous photo-op. After forty months watching the malevolent incompetence of the Obama administration, one can only speculate what the real motives of the White House were in engineering this fiasco:
By the way — can you believe that we have endured forty months of Hussein?
And, even worse, that he is within a couple of percentage points of winning re-election?
During talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao reiterated China’s support for the Eurozone during the current financial crisis. He says that China has confidence in the euro, and will continue to buy up invest in Europe.
In other news, Australian troops experienced their worst day of combat losses since the Vietnam War, as five soldiers died in two separate incidents in Afghanistan. Three were shot dead by an Afghan soldier at a patrol base, and the other two died in a helicopter crash.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, JP, 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 attack took place at 6:20 p.m. in the Becker Street, which is part of the “painters’ district” in Friedenau. Here where the streets bear the names of artists like Cranach and Rubens live the Rabbi with his wife and two children. Neighbors who live in the same building are horrified. “We are shocked by what happened,” says a 68-year-old neighbor, “and in the presence of his little daughter.” The district is of middle-class style, but there are certain problems with an “accumulation” of Arab youths who live in a new block of flats in the nearby Dürer Square. The block near the Friedenau train station was inhabited by Arab families, whose children went in groups and were often aggressive. The worst times were some years ago, but then the inhabitants created the citizen’s initiative “Dürer-neighborhood” in order to make improvements in the district.
“Everything got better after the apartment house was renovated,” the pensioner said. This initiative ceased to exist two years ago. The owner of the trattoria in Becker Street, in which the rabbi is a regular customer, confirms that there are problems with the Arabs. “The rabbi is a peaceful, quiet and courteous man. Where do we live, that someone is beaten because of his faith?” the Italian restaurant owner asks angrily. The rabbi had dinner in his restaurant that night, and at that time he saw “Arab youths” walking nearby and lighting their cigarettes. He noticed nothing about the attack, because a hedge obstructed the view. “The rabbi ran towards me, he had wounds on his face,” the owner said. Dürer Square is one block away, surrounded by the railway station underpass, an Aldi-Market and pastel-colored apartment blocks
Jewish community sees an increased number of attacks
After the attack against a rabbi in Berlin, a debate on anti-Semitism and possible causes for the attack has erupted. The four perpetrators, who according to the police were youths of Arab origin, have not yet been detained. The Jewish community in Berlin announced that they are planning to develop their own data bank to register anti-Semitic incidents from 2013 on. “The verbal attacks against Jews have increased,” said Gideon Joffe, the chair of the community.
[…]
Rabbi Walter Rothschild spoke about a “new dimension”. He himself has been already attacked and also received insulting emails. Rothschild additionally reported that he no longer wears the traditional Jewish head covering (kippah) in public.
THE GANGSTER CITY: Malmö woke up after another night of burning cars. Five cars burned during the night in various parts of the city. Most Malmö residents hardly raise their eyebrows over such things anymore. The inhabitants are hardened, and they have been forced to get used to an almost chaotic situation. But according to sjuklövern [seven-leaf clover, the seven-party system], the only thing to do is to like this situation.
For the fourth time in five evenings, a car was set ablaze on Professorsgatan, Hermodsdal [Fosie, Malmö; Google Maps]. On earlier occasions, bottles and stones were thrown at rescue services, so they waited for the police before driving all the way to the car, and then extinguished the fire.
On Hårds Väg, Rosengård [Malmö; Google Maps], in the parking area next to the railway, four cars were totally destroyed in a fire (see reader photo above). According to an AP [avpixlat.info] reader living nearby, the fire was like an explosion. The car blazes have even generated an argument about whose responsibility it is to remove the wrecks.
This news clip from Australian TV reports the latest official crime statistics for Victoria, which show that African immigrants, particularly those from Somalia and Sudan, are responsible for an overwhelmingly disproportionate number of crimes in their adopted home.
The only conclusion that can possibly be drawn? These newscasters are racists.
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
A Norwegian reader named Sigfadr was unable to post this comment here last Friday, the day the Oslo court handed down its verdict on Anders Behring Breivik, so he sent it to us in an email.
Today is a great day for Norway. The revolutionary and violence-loving man Anders Behring Breivik was judged to be criminally sane and sentenced to imprisonment and detention. Detention, for the kind of man that Breivik represents, in practice means that he will never get out as long as he lives.
The court has withstood the formidable pressure and baffling demands from those in power to contaminate certain political opinions. Demands mainly put forward by the state, by Attorney General Tor Aksel Busch. The Attorney General pled for acquittal and a transfer to compulsory psychiatric care. This, on the basis of a psychiatric report so weak that the court in its reasons for the judgment took the trouble to pick it apart point by point. This the court did so thoroughly and utterly that many in retrospect will wonder whether the report was simply commissioned.
The second psychiatric report the Attorney General has opposed tooth and nail since the day it was first thought of. In contrast to the first report this one chose to compare Breivik’s thoughts to reality, not to a multi-cultural dream as the first report did. As is natural enough, it concluded the contrary: Sanity.
The fact that the Norwegian judicial system chooses reality as the correct basis for comparison when assessing a person’s ability to perception is as it should be.
The court has handed down a judgment that 99% of the population can presumptively live with.
It’s probably a great day for the bereaved. Breivik’s horrific actions were not explained away by disease. He was not acquitted, which would have been the consequence of a transfer to compulsory psychiatric care. He is thereby punished and held accountable for all the lives that were taken. The relatives have now someone to blame. The incomprehensible is made comprehensible. Comprehensible, here only in the sense of the opposite of incomprehensible. Psychiatric illness is for most people largely incomprehensible.
The offender is by today’s judgment held responsible and punished for all the pain, grief and suffering he alone has caused the victims, their families and society as a whole.
It’s a great day because the responsibility for the cruel actions by this is placed where it belongs. With the individual Breivik. He is by this judgment not a sick person, involuntary and weak, trapped in bad company and unable to do other than be inspired and used by cynical “hate-mongers” and ideologues. (He is a criminal mass murderer.)
Needless to say, devout Muslims were offended by this initiative, and one of them responded by… Well, you know what devout Muslims tend to do when they’re offended.
David Menzies talks about this and related matters on his SUN TV program. Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
An Iranian official has acknowledged for the first time that the Islamic Republic of Iran is using its military power to assist the Assad regime in Syria. A general in the Iranian army says that Iran is fighting a war in Syria that is both cultural and military.
In other news, the unexploded WWII bomb that was unearthed in Munich on Monday could not be defused, and had to be detonated. The resulting explosion caused damage to some of the surrounding buildings, but no one was injured.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, 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.
Update: Michael Laudahn has written to say that this report is a translation of a report from Avpixlat , which was based on the DN article. It was not, as I mistakenly assumed, his own work. The introductory text below has been changed to correct this error.
The following report by Michael Laudahn about the residential habits of Sweden’s top politicians is based on an article from today’s Dagens Nyheter, which has the following header:
This is where the politicians who govern Stockholm live
Stockholm’s politicians — especially the most powerful ones — shy away from the city’s immigrant-packed low-income areas. For example not one bourgeois alderman lives outside the city centre. — A democratic scandal, according to author Per Wirtén
Mr. Laudahn’sThe Avpixlat report is below.
Segregation in Sweden by Michael Laudahn
In an article today, Dagens Nyheter [DN] provides an overview over where Stockholm’s politicians live, and the result is — hardly surprising, but still mind the double standards — that they live far from the city’s immigrant-packed areas. Among those governing the municipality, not one lives outside the [picturesque, all-Swedish] city centre [Three samples: one, two, three].
Alas, DN — considering their demonstratively bourgeois and [European!] liberal attitude — has then turned to leftist extremist Per Wirtén, for the political analysis of this state of the matter. And confided this responsibility, nobody would have to fear that Wirtén would drive into the political ditch. Basically, it all centres around socio-economic matters and the consequences of a capitalist society. Any potential relation to Sweden’s irresponsible immigration policy is from the outset excluded.
In his article, Wirtén frets primarily about how this looks, and states that it is a democratic problem. He beats around the bush, but does not manage to speak out about what is self-evident — NO Swede with a Swedish background who can afford to live somewhere else resides voluntarily in the exclusion areas packed with immigrants. Why should politicians be different in this respect from other Swedes?
The remarkable thing here is the hypocrisy. Wirtén, leftist that he is, wants to demonstrate that there still are more Social Democrats [S] among local politicians living in the suburbs than bourgeois politicians. ‘This does make a difference,’ states Wirtén optimistically. Yes, possibly in the degree of hypocrisy. Those shouting most loudly about socioeconomic exclusion, children’s poverty, etc. are the red-greens, and the distance to their own choice of life — to live in totally different areas — makes it all the more obvious.
During his time, S speaker Göran Persson was out there, during his election campaign, in the million-dollar ghettos, and he was asked the question if he would live there himself, something he didn’t have a problem lying about, before the rolling cameras: Sure, he could imagine doing that, said Persson, because there were so many nice people. A little later, when Persson needed an apartment in Stockholm, as a complement to his country estate, he of course called Wallenstam and obtained a rental contract for a fine inner-city address.
A rabbi and his daughter have been attacked and threatened on the street in Berlin. As is generally the case in Modern Multicultural Europe, the assailants were not National Socialists, but “presumably of Arab origin”.
Many thanks to Hermes for the translation from Die Welt:
Youths beat Rabbi in Berlin
A rabbi was beaten and insulted by youngsters in the heart of Berlin. His little daughter was threatened with death, presumably by youngsters of Arab origin. The state security (office) investigates.
A rabbi from the Jewish community in Berlin-Schöneberg was attacked by four youngsters and insulted by anti-Semitic insults, all this in the presence of his little daughter. On Tuesday the 53-year-old rabbi was walking evening in Becker Street with his 6-year-old daughter when, according to information given by the police, youngsters of presumably Arab origin attacked him, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
This case sparked horror. The mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit (SPD — German Socialist Part) labeled this as “cowardly attack”. The European Jewish Congress also stepped with a reminder of the attack against the Jewish school in Toulouse in March. On that occasion, an Islamist killed seven people.
Because the rabbi was wearing a traditional Jewish head cover (kippa), the youngsters asked him whether he was a Jew, and after this, they suddenly blocked the way of the father and his daughter, and injured him with multiple blows to the head. The youngsters insulted the victim and his faith, and also threatened his little daughter with death. All this happened on Tuesday at about 6:20 p.m.
Wowereit and Henkel are shocked
After this, the perpetrators escaped towards Ruben Street. The injured rabbi received outpatient treatment in a hospital. The State Security Police have initiated an investigation.
[this post is dedicated with great affection to LN, who has suffered greatly at the hands of the Culturally Enriched who swarmed — swarm even now — over his country. They squatted on and ruined what should have been his “golden years”. As he might say — one never knows with him — “bah, humbug!” but I salute his courage anyway]
As many of our readers know, I can’t post much due to chronic fatigue and the various other karmic burdens my body has managed to accrue ever since my misspent infancy. However, I can — and do — lie abed of a morning looking through Twitter, finding various treasures I’d not have seen otherwise.
Perhaps a more accurate title for this post would be “Just One More Gypsy Vacation, etc” At any rate, this is simply the one I happened to discover today. In the end, we can only tell the news we know — at least those accounts which dare be told, eh?
One of the joys of the internet is flipping off that obscene Happy Face lid screwed down over the news the MSM doesn't want you to see.
The story that follows is from a blog in Swedish — thank you, once more, Google Translate for opening so many doors. This one is called (I think) “Sweden Confidential”. The tale has a happy ending: bad guys get caught and go to prison, but it will send the p.c. crowd into spittle-flecked rage because Interpol cooperation nabbed these deprived unfortunates depraved criminals who prey on old people because they’re easy: the elderly are such soft targets when you have neither morals nor a conscience.
The emphases and asides below are just my editorial kibitzing — D:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Detective Mats Wahlberg is at the police unit in Vårgårda who work with aging offense*, and he says that this type of crime against the elderly are common. — It’s very lucrative, and then it’s a lot older who have some form of disability — maybe go with a walker or have impaired vision and hearing. They are easy victims.
[* Help, Swedish readers: is there really a police unit dedicated just to crimes against the elderly? If so, pretty cool…]
Three Romanians who conducted a theft tour in western Sweden were sentenced yesterday by Alingsås District Court to prison terms of between 1½ and 3 years. A 46-year-old woman and two 25-year-old men stole from a total of 26 different people at more than 20 locations. Overall their haul came to over 300 000.
In many cases, there were several offenses on the same day.
The convicted have admitted to some of the crimes they are sentenced for. They also said that one of the purposes of coming to Sweden was to commit crimes.
The thefts seem to follow the old-tried-and-true methods that petty criminals use in America: one perp to distract the victim while the others focus on grabbing the PIN codes at ATMs. But these three had an extra touch: the third could steal your wallet, bank card and all.
The evidence in Vårgårda Commission investigation against the convicted based mainly on pictures and videos from cameras. — It’s a long process — and everything to find concrete evidence and partly to find identities.
This is done through international police collaboration, and then to get them arrested in his absence and wanted. All persons have been arrested abroad, says Detective Mats Wahlberg.
Theft [committed] by the three Romanians convicted occurred between March 2011 and February 2012.
But that’s not all you can find on this Swedish website. Look at this!
They have a separate page dedicated to helping victims of multiculturalism in Sweden, from which this image is taken. It’s a wonderful idea:
[Full disclosure: not only do I know the chief editors of Dispatch International, but I have been assisting with some of the copy-editing for the initial launch of the paper. Therefore my opinion is hardly disinterested!]
Tomorrow the new online/print newspaper Dispatch International will be offering a free trial issue to interested readers. The paper will appear in English, Swedish, Danish, and German. Both print and internet versions will be available.
Lars Hedegaard (Denmark) and Ingrid Carlqvist (Sweden) are the editors-in-chief of Dispatch. Their experience in the Danish and Swedish Free Press Societies guarantees that this newspaper will cover topics and points of view that the MSM won’t touch.
The Norwegian government has decided to allow soldiers to wear hijab as part of their official uniform. The directive was made all-inclusive by permitting the turban and yarmulke as well, but the move is a blatant attempt to pander to the Islamic grievance lobby.
It seems that the Muslim community in Norway has managed to coax the authorities into granting them yet another special concession. This time it’s the option for female Muslim soldiers to wear the hijab if they wish to do so.
My guess is that several prominent Islamic figures in Norway will now silently ‘encourage’ female Muslims to join the armed forces of so that they can really take advantage of this Islamic victory and rub it in our faces.
The translated article:
It is now allowed to use hijab and turban in the Norwegian military
Turban, hijab and kippah can now be worn with Norwegian military uniforms
The defence ministry has given the heads up for the new directive which allows certain symbols to be worn in conjunction with the military uniform, the regional newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad reports.
“The decision to allow religious symbols to be worn with military uniforms was approved on July 1,” says Major Tor Simen Olberg, the advisor for ‘Feltprosten’ who is responsible for the department of military chaplains.
Among the newly approved symbols are turbans which may be worn by Sikh soldiers. For soldiers belonging to the mosaiske trossamfunn, namely Jews, it is now permissible to wear a kippah or alternatively a smaller round cap on the head. This garment can also be worn underneath the standard military beret.
Female Muslim soldiers now have the option to wear the hijab if they wish to do so.
Hurricane Isaac made landfall today south of New Orleans as a Category 1 storm, bringing with it strong winds, massive quantities of rain, and a ten-foot storm surge. Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away across the Gulf of Mexico in Tampa, Mitt Romney became the presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention.
In other news, an unexploded bomb from World War Two was uncovered last night in the center of Munich, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding area as bomb-disposal experts attempted to defuse it.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Vlad Tepes, 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 United States commenced hostilities against Afghanistan in the fall of 2001 to put a halt to atrocities like those described in the news video below.
The question is this: Why are these savages still in control of entire provinces of Afghanistan?
If, after eleven years, two thousand American lives, and untold billions of dollars, the mightiest and best-equipped military in the world can’t accomplish its assigned mission, why hasn’t it been pulled out?
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
Dichiarazione di Bruxelles 2012 Per salvaguardare le libertà dell’individuo ed i Diritti Umani
Al fine di preservare la Libertà di Parola, le Libertà Civili e la Democrazia contro ogni tentativo di danneggiare o usurpare questi principi universali, chiediamo ai leader di tutte le nazioni di appoggiare questa Dichiarazione di Bruxelles 2012 per la Salvaguardia delle Libertá Individuali ed i Diritti Umani:
Ribadendo che i Diritti Umani e le Libertá Civili sono universali, individuali, identici, inalienabili ed auto-evidenti a prescindere da qualsiasi punto di vista filosofico, culturale o religioso;
Considerando che ogni onesto difensore della Democrazia ha il diritto e l’obbligo di mantenere e difendere la Libertà d’Espressione, le Libertà Civili e i Diritti Umani;
Afffermando il fatto irrefutabile che la Sharia cosí com’é definita ed applicata é incompatibile con la Libertá di Parola e direttamente opposta ad esso, alle Libertá Civili ed ai Diritti Umani e in quanto tale incompatibile con i principi fondamentali della democrazia (come stabilito nella sentenza della CEDU del giorno 13 febbraio 2003);
Riconoscendo che la dichiarazione nota come “Dichiarazione del Cairo dei Diritti Umani nell’Islam - CDHRI”, conosciuta anche come “Dichiarazione del Cairo”, limita tutti i Diritti Umani in funzione della legge Islamica e delle norme e restrizioni imposte della Sharia (CDHRI articoli 22, 23, 24) con il pretesto che “tutti gli esseri umani sono una famiglia in cui sono uniti i membri nella loro subordinazione ad Allah” (CDHRI primo articolo);
Osservando che l’Organizzazione per la Cooperazione Islamica - OIC, in qualitá di autore della dichiarazione del Cairo e suo più grande sostenitore ha dimostrato, con la sua continua attività, di essere la principale organizzazione politico-religiosa impegnata a limitare la Libertà d’Espressione, le Libertà Civili e i Diritti Umani, e di rafforzare la Sharia Islamica in tutto il mondo;
Osservando che ogni affermazione o promozione della Dichiarazione del Cairo o qualsiasi collaborazione con l’OIC che conduca ad un aumento dell’imposizione della Sharia Islamica, identifica i responsabili come attivi avversari della democrazia, della Libertà d’Espressione, delle Libertà Civili e dei Diritti Umani;
Osservando che il ricadere in una qualsiasi di queste definizioni rende illegittimo ogni tentativo da parte del perpetratore di discutere o negoziare questioni inerenti alla Libertà d’Espressione, alle Libertà Civili e ai Diritti Umani in ogni loro forma, sia locale, nazionale o internazionale.
I firmatari richiedono solennemente ai loro governi e alla società civile:
In a translated essay posted earlier tonight, the German writer M. Sattler described the origins of the permissive attitude towards the Turkish Muslim extremists who make up a group known as the “Gray Wolves”.
The following article by Felix Strüning outlines the statistical evidence for the increasing alienation of resident Turks from mainstream German culture. Surveys of German Turkish attitudes demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the multicultural model for the “integration” of Muslims in Germany. Not only has Multiculturalism failed to make Turks an integral part of German life and culture, it has manifestly increased the separateness of the German Turkish community.
This piece was published last week in Citizen Times. See the original article for the accompanying graphs and footnotes.
Turks in Germany 2012 Study on German-Turkish life and values
by Felix Strüning
According to a study by the Interior Ministry in 2009, Germany is home to around 4.3 million Muslims, which equates to a population share of 5.2 percent. About 45 percent of them have German citizenship. The largest group of Muslims, consists of just under 2.7 million people, of Turkish descent. A recent poll by Information GmbH has investigated their German-Turkish life and values for the third time in detail.
Attitudes toward Germany
Regarding the respondents’ attitudes toward Germany and Germans, at least in terms of the stated desire for integration, a positive development can be seen: After all, 78 percent (2010: 70%) are willing to “integrate absolutely and without exception into German society.” At the same time, 95 percent of the Turks in Germany (TiG) find it important to preserve their Turkish culture in Germany, and 87 percent (2010: 83%) think that Germans ought to be more considerate of the particular circumstances of the Turks.
Islamization, separation and devaluation
On the other hand, there are clear trends of separation and Islamization: 62 percent of TiG (1.5 times as much as in 2010) would prefer to be together exclusively with Turks. Also an indicator of poor integration motivation is the 46 percent who said they would leave Germany if they wouldn’t receive aid money in the case of unemployment (see Figure 1).
Increasing numbers of Turks want more mosques (55%); among 15- to 29-year-olds, up to 70 percent want more mosques. Moreover, almost half of the TiG hope that there will be a Muslim majority in Germany soon. Also, the number of those who believe that Islam is the only true religion has increased (see Figure 2).
The devaluation of different ways of life has also increased slightly: almost a fifth of the TiG consider atheists to be inferior human beings; this figure is up to 30 percent among the youngest respondents. Also, anti-Semitism has increased (see Figure 3). Additionally, more than half of the respondents think that homosexuality is a disease, and 73 percent reject it.
Our Canadian correspondent Rembrandt Clancy has translated another essay by the German writer M. Sattler. The author suggests that Mao’s “auto-aggressive” Cultural Revolution exerted direct influence on the culturally destructive ’68 generation in Germany, and hence on the current regime of political correctness.
The translator includes this informative introduction:
Below is an essay by M. Sattler entitled “No Fight against the Right” originally posted at Politically Incorrect (21 August 2012). Its focus is on the selectivity with which the “left-doctrinaire”, multicultural state protects the perpetrators of ultra-nationalistic, anti-Semitic or xenophobic doctrines, while reacting against native “fascistic” Europeans. As Michael Coren points out in his description of the behaviour of the multicultural Toronto police at the recent al-Quds Day rally in Toronto, this phenomenon is not limited to Germany. There the Toronto police interfere with ordinary peaceful citizens to the advantage of protected “fascistic” groups. See the Gates of Vienna post “The Police Have Become Political”.
Another companion piece to this essay is a video posted on Gates of Vienna called “The Better Lenin”, in which it is argued that National Socialism and the Left constitute the same system. In a similar vein, Sattler suggests that Left and Right are mirror images forming “…a typical pair of opposites providing divergent answers to the same question.”
The following two definitional points are intended to assist English-speaking readers of Sattler’s essay.
The Grey Wolves (Graue Wölfe) is the designation for members of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) founded in 1961. They also call themselves the “Idealists” (Turkish, Ülkücüler). The goal of the Grey Wolves is to unite all Turks by the establishment of a Turkish nation stretching from the Balkans through Central Asia into Xinjiang in China. German Intelligence (der Verfassungsschutz) of North Rhine-Westphalia, which monitors the Grey Wolves, alleges that the organisation is contributing” to the emergence of a parallel society in Europe” and sees it as “a hindrance to the integration of the Turkish population” (Source: Metapedia). Enemies of the Grey Wolves are made up largely of the Kurds, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, and the Americans. The Turkish ethno-nationalist movement can “howl their fascistic slogans”, as Sattler puts it, because “those responsible can file suit with reference to the anti-discrimination law” [Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ)].
The Bunte Republik (The Multicoloured Republic of Germany) is a political expression in Germany. M. Sattler uses it repeatedly in place of the official name for Germany, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany), hence ‘The Multicultural Republic of Germany’. The word play is on Bund (Federal) and Bunt (multicoloured, coloured, mottled, spotted). The ersatz expression carries the connotation that the multicoloured state is really a colourless, tedious and artificial construct. But originally the pun was a serious, albeit propagandistic phrase. The controversial former President of Germany, Christian Wulff, used the trite bund/bunt clang association in the multicultural context of his presidential inaugural speech (2 July 2010): “We must further internationalise our country. We can practise that here at home in our Bundesrepublik (Federal Republic), in our bunten Republik Deutschland (Multicoloured Republic of Germany)” [Official Source: Web Site of the Federal President]. Since the irony of the expression is central to Sattler’s emphasis on the culturally “auto-aggressive” and destructive effects of multiculturalism, the original German expression “Bunte Republik” is maintained in the translation.
The author, M. Sattler, makes periodic contributions to Politically Incorrect and in June 2012 Gates of Vienna posted a translation of another of his thoughtful essays called “Escape Into Dictatorship”.
The translated essay from Politically Incorrect:
No Fight against the Right By M. Sattler
The anti-fascism of the Bunten Republik [Multicoloured Republic] makes distinctions according to criteria of nationality: German right-wing extremism is opposed, Turkish right-wing extremism is tolerated. By contrast, the anti-fascism of East Germany was a universal anti-fascism: right-wing extremism was a generalised enemy, independent of a particular nation. The reasons for these entirely divergent stances are to be sought in the ideological backgrounds of these two left-doctrinaire states.
1. The Anti-fascism of East Germany
The anti-fascism of East Germany arose from its Marxist-Leninist tradition and its self-conception as part of the communist world revolution: The goal of the Marxist-Leninist worker’s struggle is in fact the worldwide overcoming of national identities through the construction of a social identity defined by class struggle. The Fascism founded by Mussolini formed the direct counter-thesis to that: in response to Lenin’s October Revolution, Mussolini called for overcoming of the class-antagonisms, not by struggle, but by national solidarity within the great totality. Both ideologies, Marxism-Leninism and Fascism, therefore deal with the same themes of “class” and “nation”. They form a typical pair of opposites providing divergent answers to the same question. Marxist-Leninist communism means necessarily rejection of its laterally reversed mirror image; that is, uncompromising anti-fascism, and vice versa [“laterally reversed mirror image”, des seitenverkehrten Spiegelbilds, can also mean a mirror image reversed left to right].
Since Marxism-Leninism strives to overcome the idea of nation and for the internationalism of the working class, it can combat Fascism consistently only in an anti-nationalistic way; that is, it does not differentiate Fascism by the criterion of nationality, into a “good” and a “bad” Fascism. It attacks the enemy, right-wing nationalistic fascistic thinking, on a worldwide basis: in Italy under Mussolini; in Poland after the military putsch of 1926; in Germany of the late 1920s; in the 1930s in Thailand and Japan and in Spain under Franco; in the 1950s and ‘60s in Turkey and in the 1970s in Chile. The anti-fascism of the Marxist-Leninist East Germany also stood in this tradition of a universal, worldwide oriented anti-fascism until 1989.
Dymphna and I got home from the Great Outback late this afternoon. I was hoping to put up some regular posts this evening, but it took me until almost midnight to catch up with the email and the skype messages. So more or less normal service will resume in the morning.
Meanwhile, you can read about Neil Armstrong and rockets from Gaza. Also, a man in Uganda broke into an Ebola ward and stole a cell phone from a dying Ebola patient. Cosmic justice has since intervened, and the thief is a now patient in the same ward, dying of Ebola himself.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, CSP, Diana West, Fjordman, JD, McR, 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.
We might have tried to post whilst away, but our retro 1930's motel "cabin" (remember those?) had no internet connection. A humongous TV which turned out of be of some interest since the hurricane in the Gulf is looming toward New Orleans. I would say "shades of Katrina" but with Bobby Jindal in the governor's chair the state is in good hands. Not only that, but the corrupt Nagin is gone from New Orleans, which must give citizen morale a huge boost! Besides, (I think) the Army Corps of Engineers has been busy repairing and replacing in the years since Katrina showed the government's ineptitude with the levees.
New Orleans is a bowl - a sinking bowl at that. It's an open question how long before it sinks so low before it becomes uninhabitable. Visit while you can - after Isaac of course... by the way, folks who live in Hurricane Territory don't say, in this case, "Hurricane Isaac". It's just "Isaac" to them, or "Andrew", Katrina, or "Camille"...
So why would anyone in their right mind ever have founded this city? The answer is complicated by culture and commerce, but the simple answer is: the confluence of the mouth of the mighty Mississip and the Gulf of Mexico.
Many of us were raised on the stories of the river, the same one from which Samuel Clemens drew his pseudonym: "Mark Twain". Among his many jobs, he'd been a navigator on the Mississipi. Being able to discern the depth at any given spot on the river required dropping a piece of weighted twine inscribed with markings that allowed the person using it to see where the twine hit the mud - in other words, sounding the depth of the water. This permitted the captain to know if he was in any danger of getting caught on the ever-shifting mud bottom.
Once again, the country watches and waits to see what Isaac does. At least the bottom half of the country does. Over in California they're dealing with earthquakes. Hard to say which disaster I'd rather face.
The news feed is light tonight because Dymphna and I are going away early in the morning, and I had to cut off the inputs early.
We’ll be back soon, and Dymphna is taking her postage stamp-sized computer with her, so there may be some light posting in the interim. But not by me — with my severe presbyopia, my eyes go crossed just trying to look at that ittty-bitty screen.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, JP, 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.
Our Swedish correspondent PMP has sent a report about two different aspects of the Somali community in Sweden. The first aspect involves the intimidation of Somalis by gangs of unspecified ethnicity. The second aspect features a story about a young “person of Swedish background” who was brutally beaten and burned by Somali “youths”.
First, a subtitled news video about the harassment of Somalis in the town of Forserum. Many thanks to Michael Laudahn for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Recently there has been a huge media focus on the persecution of Somalis in the small town of Forserum. Just today the headlines hit the front page on a major newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet. Yesterday, it was represented in a news highlight in the mainstream media.
Stones had been thrown at the windows of the local Somali organisation. People had shouted ‘n*****r’ and other defamatory words.
Somalis are upset after harassment and violence towards their group.
Now, most recently, we learned about another event in Sweden. 18-year-old Rudolf Moilanen, was on his way home late at night. He was sitting alone in a bus station in Swedish Jordbro. several men arrived at the bus station who spoke English with each other. First they beat Rudolf unconscious. Then they poured fuel on his body, and lit it on fire. Then, they kicked his body down a hill.
Miraculously, Rudolf has woken up, and is alive, but will be injured for life. In the hospital he could give details about the event. Just the other day, a Somali youth was arrested as a prime suspect in the crime. Rudolf believes the others were Arabs.
18-year old Rudolf was beaten unconscious and set on fire.
Now, in the media, there has been an almost complete silence about Rudolf’s religion. There appeared a brief article here and there, but every effort seemed to be made to forget this case as soon as possible.
Luckily, alternative media has kept the case alive and reported on its developments.
On his program earlier tonight, Michael Coren talked to Hans Rustad of Document.no about today’s verdict in the trial of Anders Behring Breivik.
Mr. Rustad discussed the judge’s remarks, and the part the trial played in the campaign of surveillance and intimidation that is currently being waged against conservatives who oppose mass immigration. The vilification of Islam-critics is occurring not just in Norway, but across Scandinavia and in the rest of Western Europe.
Pay close attention — you’ll hear Fjordman mentioned.
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
A former designer of fashion accesories for a New York firm confronted his former boss outside the Empire State Building this morning and shot him dead. He himself was shot and killed by police a few minutes later. Nine bystanders were wounded, but whether by the perp or by stray police bullets is not yet clear. None of the injuries is thought to be life-threatening.
In other news, a retailer in Dubai is offering the world’s most expensive cupcake for sale. It is covered in real gold flakes, and sells for €800 (about $1000).
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Diana West, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, 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.
A small town in southern Sweden has experienced a wave of particularly destructive vandalism by “youths”. No one has any idea about who might be doing these things, or why.
Our Swedish correspondent PMP has written a report based on a news article in Jnytt.se.
This is a mystery, according to Swedish media. Someone has destroyed a youth center, but no one has the slightest clue about who could be behind it.
Mysterious vandalism in Sweden by PMP
The mess shown above happened just recently to a youth center in a small town in the south of Sweden named Huskvarna. What we do not learn from the official article is that there is a heavy presence of immigrants in the specific area where this took place (Öxnehaga), with around 34% of inhabitants who live in the area being immigrants.
From the official local newspaper Jnytt.se we learn that the staff arrived at the youth center after the weekend. On Monday it was more or less completely destroyed.
Christer Zachrisson, who works at the center, says: ‘I have worked in youth centers since the 1980s, and never seen anything like this. What kind of people do something like this?’
Apparently some people had broken into the premises between Friday night and Saturday morning and destroyed most of the center. They had also stolen the balls from billiards game, which they used to have fun and break all the windows.
The vague speculation continues, with a local woman who says, ‘Someone sought to destroy our things. And they have been successful.’ The main article, however, quickly reinforces the party line: ‘We suspect everyone to be guilty of this. We cannot say exactly who did this,’ as Zachrisson expresses.
Over the past few days, when I really should have been working, I spent a few hours making graphics, which is what I love to do more than anything else. I’m not sure if these images will ever be relevant to any particular post, so I’ll just put them here, where readers can see them — and steal them, if they seem useful to you.
The first one is a modified version of the notorious photo of Barack Hussein Obama with his head obscured by a teleprompter. For anyone who hasn’t already seen this moving and iconic image, it may be found here.
Just for fun, I altered the photo to reveal its underlying truth:
The second image is less jocular. It depicts a revenant figure of evil, a shade returned from the pit to glower at us all as the Twelfth Imam climbs out of his well:
Michael Coren and Robert Spencer discuss a homophobic Muslim pop singer, a Canadian who converted to Islam before being killed in jihad in Dagestan, the role of BIMA at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and sundry other topics relevant to the Counterjihad.
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
It’s been a long time since I was able to keep up my other blog. I’ve made yet another start on doing so — the Neighborhood of God was once a source of pleasure for me, but as my fibromyalgia continued to complicate things, I’d tell myself… oh I’d tell myself any number of things.
I’ll go back when —
I’ve reduced the clutter around me.
I’ve finished my thank-you notes.
I have more energy.
I’ve caught up on the backlog of posts that I owe to people.
My gardening chores are more nearly done.
Or, as Momma used to say, when the cows come home.
Well, they came home all right. They’re mooing out by the gates in my old neighborhood and I need to tend them.
Besides, all four of my followers are waiting there, too. They’ve given up asking, and I’ve given up hiding.
Besides, it could be that the homeopathy remedy one of our readers sent to me, plus the tinctures given by another reader… hey, come to think of it, they’re both in California!… it could be that their magic has done something or other. But it not those, then the beneficence of prayers — that I “may stand in the sunshine of God’s love” — have tipped the balance.
That particular prayer was sent in my direction by the same fellow who gave me the funds for this netbook on which I write this announcement to Gates of Vienna readers. And by chance, the Baron thinks it is the netbook which has made the difference.
It is probably all those things and more. If homeopathy isn’t your thing, or if you believe herbs can’t help, or the efficacy of prayer sends you striding away, that’s okay with me. I’ll trust in my own experience here. I have a bit more energy and I’m in less pain.
Oh, and another piece of input from a reader: a news report — in The Daily Mail perhaps — written by a doctor who has fibromyalgia herself. She said that cutting out oxalates from her diet had reduced the pain. It wasn’t welcome news! I already follow a carb-restrictive fibroglycemic diet. But it seems to help, darn it.
The thing is, if I am able to continue to write in both places, then I am at last home free. And in the final analysis, that’s all that matters.
TNPWTA — Things Nice People Won’t Talk About — continue to increase as the politically correct strictures tighten around the neck of the body politic in this country. Here for your edification are several examples of the insanities — I use that word advisedly — that hollow out our government.
First, that now-classic example of verbal paralysis at the top:
That video is just one version of an infamoous exchange between this Obama appointee and Congress. There are lots more, especially as you dig down into the citation for contempt of Congress that Holder has finally been awarded for his continued evasion of responsibility in the “Fast and Furious” debacle. Holder lied and people really died. But what does he care? Just a white guy and a buncha Mexicans. None of what he has publicly termed “my people” were hurt.
But if they really are his people, why isn’t anyone investigating the murderous conditions in Chicago?
Maybe all those gang murders were a response later in the day to our President’s increasing frankly delusional utterances made on their turf. Those who cannot speak — e.g., children — act out their distress. Or maybe these bottom feeders just felt like killing people. Why, I’ll bet Obama might say, “they could be my sons”. Hey, he was in Chicago as a “community organizer” long enough to increase the population a bit, no?
An obscure factor is in play here: all the gang leaders are in jail. It was they who kept a rein on the lower ranks, those who are by nature less intelligent and more impulsive than the incarcerated. The law wisely cut the heads offs those chickens and now they run around headless… and heavily armed. Whatever you may think of those “leaders” — such as they were — removing the brains didn’t make the corpus any smarter. The streets are deadlier than ever. Tough guy and potty mouth Mayor Emmanuel doesn’t seem to have a plan.
Moving on to more recent outrages news here ya go — The Washington Timesreported this one the other day:
You don’t have to have a severe intellectual disability to work at the Justice Department. But it helps.
No, that’s not editorial hyperbole. For real, “Hiring of persons with targeted disabilities,” is the memo in question, issued on July 31st under Eric the Bolder’s signature. It’s hard to say which is worse — the unfortunate targets of that disturbing memo or the ways in which such candidates are interviewed and hired.
This memo is a refinement and response to Presidential Executive Order 13548, which dates back to 2010. You’ll notice that #13548 is simply restating, with more emphasis, something Clinton signed when he had ahold to the Executive Pen:
Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities
This Executive Order requires compliance with Executive Order 13163 [note: that was one of Clinton’s Eos back in 2002 -D] and achievement of the goals set forth therein over 5 years, including an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities to be employed by the Federal Government with targeted disabilities.
Thus the original EO #13163 is merely regurgitated ten years later, but with numbers added. And then Holder waits another two years to issue his “targeted disabilities” memo from hell?
Another “Why”: I’ve not the foggiest idea.
Machiavelli might have been able to tell us, or to plumb the depths of this administration’s “decisions” but what grade would he have given them? These boys seem to operate on the Whim Theory of Governance. Whim governance in this case appears to be driven by the crisis du jour. Whatever they think might help in the moment to increase the chances of retaining power. Perhaps this is just another part of the campaign-driven frenzy to drill down to still another “niche voter”, i.e., the severely disabled and the people who love and care for them. With this attempt to re-elect Holder’s boss looking wobblier than ever, each and every vote counts. And you can bet ACORN is ready to drive these targets disabled citizens to the voting booth.
The Times skims the dirty details [my emphasis]:
According to a July 31 policy memo titled “Hiring of persons with targeted disabilities,” otherwise problematic mental deficiencies are no barrier to jump-starting a career at Justice. The memo lists a number of “targeted disabilities” that trigger special hiring privileges in compliance with President Obama’s Executive Order 13548. Among them are people with “severe intellectual disability,” “psychiatric disability” or other undefined “current severe physical, intellectual or mental conditions.” Most employers would balk at even minor mental disabilities in hiring a lawyer, let alone severe ones. But the policy states that the Cabinet department run by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. must “achieve a work force from all segments of society,” which includes those who are teetering on the edge of sanity.
But here’s an even dirtier devil in the details:
The disabled are eligible for direct hiring in a “streamlined, non-competitive appointment” process that the policy lauds as a “win-win” for the department and the applicant.
Translated, that means these “targets” will be hired in secret, and probably without evidence of anyone being ultimately responsible for the selections…
Of course, this preferential treatment is a lose-lose for the other, perhaps vastly more qualified applicants who were never let in the door, as well as for American taxpayers who cannot benefit from a superior level of public service.
The old ways — merit and competition — are replaced by… targets. Those mean civil service exams and pesky background checks they used to require? Poof! Such benchmarks discriminate against the intellectually challenged (that’s pc speak for “incredibly stupid”). Those mean-spirited draconian measures will be discarded as we move away from “freedom and justice for all” as our national motto and hustle toward the more inclusive “it’s not fair” whinge of those currently in charge.
To repeat: this “streamlined, non-competitive” folderol translates into jobs assigned behind closed doors, sans transparency, sans merit, sans… well, to be blunt, sans sanity.
There will be no barriers now on the severity of psychiatric disorders in our brave new Obamian Utopia. Or rather, by now, our stale and increasingly dystopian governance by ideological dikta. So what if you don’t feel safe with the disturbed running the Department; that’s your problem. And the current employees who might be disturbed having a “psychiatrically challenged” supervisor? Well, they know where the door is.
This would be funny if it weren’t so… so utterly insane. Here is what Holder is “targeting” — and please bear in mind that some of these disabilities could be worked around. For example, I knew a blind lawyer with a flourishing private practice. I doubt seriously if he’d ever have considered his impairment an across-the-board “right” for special government preference. But then he had integrity because, having read Weber’s The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (or had it read to him) he would never have applied for a bureaucratic job in the first place.
At any rate, observe your own reaction. At which point in reading these “targets” does your own jaw drop?
The Oslo court has declared that Anders Behring Breivik is sane and inspired by an evil, right-wing extremist Islamophobic ideology, which also happens to be exactly what the entire political establishment from the state broadcaster NRK and national newspaper VG to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg wanted the judges to say. So far, none of the involved parties have indicated that they will appeal this decision to a higher court.
In the end, Breivik received three months in jail for each of the human beings he killed in cold blood, which believe it or not is the maximum punishment possible in Norway. This is being hailed as a great victory for Norway’s glorious and humane justice system.
I admit that I have mixed feelings about this sentence. First of all, if Breivik actually is sane enough to be held accountable for his actions, sentencing him to a mere three months in jail for each of his murder victims is a sick joke that makes a mockery of the entire Norwegian justice system. It’s the symptom of a society that values the right of brutal criminals over the rights and well-being of their victims.
I have never met Breivik, but to the best of my abilities I would say that he represents a difficult case somewhere between insanity — as his very twisted worldview sometimes indicates — and the calculated cynicism he displayed during his terror attacks. He might have been declared sane in the USA, for instance.
However, it is not and should not be up to random journalists to decide this legal matter, which it sadly looks like it partially was in the Breivik case. We have to question whether we live in a democracy, a society ruled by the people, or a pressocracy, a society ruled by the press and those who control it.
The simple truth is that the outcome of this trial has been largely dictated by the mass media, who conducted an extremely aggressive campaign to overturn the first report of the court-appointed psychiatrists stating that Breivik is criminally insane. We were eventually presented two different reports with diametrically opposite conclusions, and the judges chose to simply overlook the first one of these entirely.
The official statements of the female head judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen and her co-judges closely mirrored what many pro-Multicultural newspaper columnists have written over the past year, parroting the line that Breivik was part of a dangerous and delusional Internet-based “right-wing extremist” subgroup and that his massacre on July 22, 2011 was basically the logical conclusion of reading Islamophobic blogs.
Today, I published at Frontpage Magazine an essay about increased surveillance of Islam-critics in Norway, which is now also seen in several other Western countries. Unfortunately, it is likely that this trend will get worse after the latest court ruling in Oslo. Siv Alsén, a senior advisor in the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), openly admits that the security services are now closely monitoring anti-Islamic websites and groups, since they are seen as a security threat.
Til norsk presse:
Jeg gav følgende kommentar per epost til Aftenposten, men de publiserte ikke alt:
The Norwegian court has handed down its verdict: Anders Behring Breivik has been ruled officially sane, and will be sent to jail rather than committed to a psychiatric establishment.
Before and during the trial it was widely reported that Mr. Breivik would serve a maximum of twenty-one years in prison. That is not the case, however — his sentence is indefinite. Our Norwegian correspondent The Observer explains the confusion surrounding the sentence:
Breivik was handed a forvaringsdom (literally meaning ‘custody sentence’) which gives the authorities the opportunity to keep him locked up indefinitely. There are inmates in Norway who have been locked up for almost 40 years, due to the fact that they were handed (forvaringsdom). If a person receives a 21- year forvaringsdom, he could in theory be locked up for life.
“In a forvaringsdom the court shall affix a time frame that generally shall not exceed 15 years and cannot exceed 21 years. Following a request from the prosecution, the court nonetheless can extend the sentence by up to 5 years at a time. The application for an extension instituted by the court shall occur no later than three months before the expiration of the sentence. There should also be determined a minimum period of detention which must not exceed 10 years. Containment is currently the only remedy the Norwegian courts have at their disposal to impose a real life sentence as there is no upper limit for the duration of such a judgment…
“Containment is one of the so-called ‘criminal sanctions’ introduced to the Norwegian courts in 2001. Offenders that the courts considered accountable (criminally sane) can be sentenced to forvaring (custody) if there is a real risk that the offender might repeat the crime or is considered to be a danger to society.”
Most criminals in Norway are not handed forvaringsdom, however — only a small percentage. If you receive a non-forvaringsdom sentence, you are normally let out of prison after having served only two thirds of the sentence, and in some cases even sooner.
People who receive forvaringsdom are generally psychopaths, etc.
Mr. Breivik’s primary goal was to be declared sane, so he will begin his stretch behind bars without appealing the verdict. Except that he won’t be behind bars — his incarceration will take place in a well-appointed suite of rooms resembling the accommodations at a modest Nordic hotel.
The Observer offers these additional comments on today’s news:
A man in New Zealand named Phillip Russell became enraged when his wife’s pet pig damaged his power saw. Mr. Russell vented his anger by throwing an ostrich egg at his wife, bruising her chest. He pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and was sentenced to six months in jail.
In other news, a man in Nepal became enraged when he was bitten by a cobra. He chased down the snake and bit it back, killing the reptile. He is now being treated in a hospital, and his life may be in danger. Police say he will face no charges for killing the cobra, which is not a protected species in Nepal.
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A petty quarrel between two teenagers in a Hamburg school escalated into an attack with scissors on a classmate who tried to intervene. Is anyone surprised that the assailant’s name is Abdoul?
Notice that at least one serious incident involving rape or violence occurred every single day last year in the schools of Hamburg.
Many thanks to Hermes for translating this article from Die Welt:
Student stabbed classmate with scissors
As the 15-year-old student attempted to mediate in a dispute between two classmates, Abdoul B. attacked him in his back with a pair of scissors.
A 16-year-old stabbed and severely injured a classmate during a lesson in the District School “am Hafen”. The 15-year-old victim had engaged in a mediation [between two classmates], but then the attacker thrust the scissors into his back.
The youngster had come to blows with another classmate and had thrown a chair at him. After committing the aggression, the 16-year-old escaped from the school, but was detained shortly afterwards in his home in Billstedt. The injured youngster is being treated in a hospital.
The [female] teacher could not stop them
It was not clear why Abdoul B. (16) and his coeval classmate Aresh R. began to quarrel during the German grammar lesson. It was said in the afternoon that it must have been an issue of “minimal importance”.
What is certain is that the quarrel between them escalated. The teacher intervened after a chair flew, but she was unable to control the two students.
What happened next was explained by the witnesses as follows:
In a speech today, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly emphasized his intention to keep stimulating the American economy through the Fed’s monetary policy. The stock market responded tepidly to his words, and the spot price of silver rose sharply after Mr. Bernanke spoke.
Alas, DN — considering their demonstratively bourgeois and [European!] liberal attitude — has then turned to leftist extremist Per Wirtén, for the political analysis of this state of the matter. And confided this responsibility, nobody would have to fear that Wirtén would drive into the political ditch. Basically, it all centres around socio-economic matters and the consequences of a capitalist society. Any potential relation to Sweden’s irresponsible immigration policy is from the outset excluded.
During his time, S speaker 
Tomorrow the new online/print newspaper 
