Repugnant: St. Joan of Arc is rewritten as a transgender icon

By Monica Showalter

Is nothing sacred to the left?

Suddenly, St. Joan of Arc has been rewritten into a transgender icon, according to wokester elites in the arts, who’ve decided to culturally expropriate the Catholic saint and national patroness of France for the god of transgenderism on multiple fronts. They’ve even expropriated from the title of Robert Graves’s most famous bookI, Claudius. Instead of being the Maid of Orleans, the Liberator of France, and a great symbol of feminine chastity, beauty, innocence and courage, she’s now some creature whose bravery consists of contemplating her genitals and displaying her wokeness in the trendy new definition of heroism. It’s similar to a trend seen several years ago, when every historic character was suddenly declared ‘gay’ in a bid to normalize gayness, when the facts in most cases were simply not there.

According to the Daily Wire:

Critics swarmed Twitter following an announcement from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre about a new play — “I, Joan” — that portrays the legendary martyr Joan of Arc as “a legendary leader, who in this production, uses the pronouns ‘they/them.’”

The Globe shared a statement “on identity” from the theatre’s artistic director Michelle Terry, who argued that Joan of Arc had been presented in that way in the past. “Regardless, theatres do not deal with ‘historical reality’. Theatres produce plays, and in plays, anything can be possible,” she added.

Here’s the tweet put out by the Globe to advertise its new oeuvre:

We see a sultry, sexily unwashed image of a shirtless figure with huge broad masculine arms and wrists, combined with bound breasts, and an androgynous face with sensuous red lips partially concealed by chain mail to convey mystery. So the new Joan was either a boy who claimed to be a girl, or a girl who claimed to be a boy, with perhaps the latter more likely as St. Joan famously cut her hair short and wore soldier’s armor and chain mail to go into 15th century battle to save France. They are claiming “non-binary.”

It’s an incredibly insulting reading on St. Joan, who was never all about worshiping herself. “I, Joan”? That’s so gross. It was always “Joan for France,” and Joan for others in the story of St. Joan of Arc, which was why it was so compelling. The historic Joan (and there are records) was so compassionate, so considerate of others, she never wielded weapons herself while in battle. She was known for her focus and compassion for those wounded in battle. As a child, according to Mark Twain’s biography of her, and it is a good one, she gave up her porridge to homeless vets roamring around the country in the wasteland that France had become in the wake of the Hundred Years’ War.

As for Joan’s wearing of men’s attire and cutting her hair short, there was a reason for that, too, according to historical records: She was extremely beautiful. She wore the armor and cut her hair to deter rape, which was a live possibility in Medieval-era France. Subsequent artistic depictions of her as boyish or homely in centuries that followed are unintentionally inaccurate. Joan was beautiful.

According to the National Catholic Register, they know their reading is fake, but they don’t care:

In a statement Friday, the play’s artistic director, Michelle Terry, said, “History has provided countless and wonderful examples of Joan portrayed as a woman. This production is simply offering the possibility of another point of view.”

Terry argued that play adaptations make “anything possible” because “theatres do not deal with ‘historical reality.’”

The play, which is described by the theater as “queer and full of hope,” opens on Aug. 25 and will feature actress Isobel Thom in the leading role. Thom identifies as non-binary.

The play will follow Joan’s role in the Hundred Years’ War between France and England, although it is unclear what historical events will be included. 

It’s a wretched confusion of poetic license and the changing of a few details for dramatic effect with outright lies. The creators claimed that Shakespeare did it, so they can, too. But poetic license is hardly the same as turning a story on its head. Poetic license was in the way the award-winning Sound of Music film changed a few details, making the captain figure a martinet instead of the old softie he was in real life, to intensify the drama and conflict in the story, or the way singer Gordon Lightfoot did the same in his ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” which had a few details altered, to make the song more emotional. 

The “I, Joan” monstrosity is grossest of all when we read what its creators had in mind as they sell their play to the public:

The men are all fighting, again. An endless war. From nowhere, an unexpected leader emerges. Young, poor and about to spark a revolution. This is Joan.

Rebelling against the world’s expectations, questioning the gender binary, Joan finds their power and their belief spreads like fire.

Join us in the wooden ‘O’ and feel the heat of the sun and the pulse of Joan’s passion. With open hearts and raised voices, dance and cheer with us as we rediscover Joan’s story. It’s alive, queer and full of hope.

Written by Charlie Josephine (Bitch Boxer) and directed by Ilinca Radulian (Co-Director, Richard III, Globe).

This production includes strong language.

‘Oh if we can just quiet the world for a moment. And listen within. There’s a voice guiding you. And until you can hear it, I’ll be it for you.’

So the voices guiding Joan were never the voices of saints telling her to save France in battle, they were “voices” that told her to go alter her gender. And everyone has these voices, everyone needs to change sex for … wokesterism. They’ve cut out God and holiness entirely from the story of St. Joan and replaced it with the delusional voices of trangenderism as the new god. 

It doesn’t get more loathesome than this.

It probably won’t go over well in France, to say the least, where St. Joan is the country’s national patroness. A few will probably notice that it’s the English pulling this wokester crap, putting Joan to death a second time, same as they put her to a grisly, fiery death in the historic event. 

The rest of us can’t stand it, either. Mark Twain, who was likely an atheist, spent thousands of hours researching the life of the historic Joan and found in his research the unmistakeable conclusion that something dramatic and spiritual had happened. 

According to Dr. Kelly Scott Franklin, writing in Catholic World Report:

Mark Twain was still alive when the Church beatified Joan of Arc in 1909. To a certain extent, his novel remains a puzzling act of devotion from a complicated man. For the great American author, there was no one like St. Joan. He marveled at her confidence in God’s Will, her courage, her simplicity. And in her he saw an example for all time. We can hear Twain’s own voice in the words of his narrator describing Joan: “It took six thousand years to produce her; her like will not be seen in the earth again in fifty thousand. Such is my opinion.” 

St. Joan deserves a lot better than she’s getting from the wokester patrol trashing her story in England. She got it with Twain, who was America’s greatest writer. She’s definitely not getting it with these wokester clowns at the Globe.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/08/repugnant_st_joan_of_arc_is_rewritten_as_a_trangender_icon.html

Trial begins for Chechen attackers who brutally beat Belgian teen for dating Chechen girl

In what prosecutors are describing as a hate crime, on Oct. 11, 2021, in the Belgian city of Namur, a 15-year-old Belgian named Ethan was beaten to within an inch of his life by three young adults and two minors. The perpetrators, who were of Chechen origin, filmed the attack in which they beat the teen for nearly an hour, hitting him approximately 50 times until his face was “deformed.” Now, a court trial is underway to hold the perpetrators accountable for the attack, with prosecutors seeking between seven and 10 years in prison for those responsible.

The reason behind the assault had to do with Ethan’s relationship with a Chechen girl, with the group issuing warnings to Ethan weeks before the attack.

“He had been told that he could not establish a relationship with a Chechen, that it does not happen,” said Me Gravy, counsel for Ethan’s parents, who are civil parties in the case. 

The family released a photograph of their son Ethan after he was transported to the hospital, with the harrowing injuries showing his lips and eyes swollen shut.

The parents of Ethan are seeking €1,500 euros on a provisional basis and other monetary damages due to their son being incapacitated for a period of more than four months due to the assault, according to Belgian media outlet DHnet.

On the day of the incident, shortly before 4 p.m., Ethan was accosted near Namur station. One of the Chechen’s, seen by prosecutors as the primary person looking to target Ethan, claimed that he had met Ethan at random on the day of the attack, saying, “We met by chance. Relationships like that (between Ethan and the Chechen girl) do not happen at home. I asked him for his phone to check his exchanges with the little girl, who is a sister of a friend. I didn’t like the conversation. We then went to the citadel. I didn’t like their exchanges, and I lost my temper.”

The defendant denies the fact that the victim was beaten for an hour by five people, all who are involved in practicing boxing and mixed-martial areas (MMA). Ethan, after being forced to apologize on his knees, reportedly received around 50 blows all over his body, mostly in the face. Despite the denials from the accused, the terrible beating was filmed and broadcast on social networks, however, all the videos have since being deleted. 

As the beating was coming to an end, the main perpetrator allegedly told him, “You will be the example, tell the others that if they touch a Chechen, they will be punished. Same thing or worse.” The perpetrator now denies he uttered such a phrase.

Once in the hospital, Ethan could no longer open his mouth or his eyes, as his face was “distorted” from the blows.

The lawyer representing Ethan describes the attack as an “honor crime” and said, “Ethan is lucky to be with us today. He could have lost his life that day.”

The prosecutor in the case said that the attack amounted to a hate crime, saying Ethan was targeted “due to hatred and contempt for non-Chechens.” As a result, the crime merits sentences of 10, eight and seven years against the three oldest perpetrators. A second defendant admits to having been present, but claims to have wanted to separate the main perpetrator and the victim. He says he regrets not having ended the scene. The last defendant claims to have arrived only after the beatings.

The lawyers for the defendants are seeking acquittals on some of the counts and suspended sentences. The judge will decide the sentences on Sept. 5.

Honor killings and cases of extreme violence have been seen in Europe’s Chechen community for years, including in France and Germany. Notably, a Chechen teenager beheaded Samuel Paty, a French history teacher, after Paty “insulted” Islam.

https://rmx.news/article/trial-begins-for-chechen-attackers-who-brutally-beat-belgian-teen-for-dating-chechen-girl/

Finnish tank tourists accused of treason

The price of petrol in Finland is becoming increasingly prohibitive for ordinary people, with many driving to neighboring Russia to fill up cheaper there. In their home country, they are labeled as “traitors”.

Fuel trips to Russia to fill up on cheaper petrol are gradually being equated with high treason in public opinion, reported the Finnish television station YLE .

With fuel becoming more expensive in the country, many solve the problem by driving to gas stations in neighboring Russia, often saving up to a few hundred euros.

According to YLE, Finnish customs have nothing against “tank tourists”, but they carefully check all cars to ensure that drivers do not carry petrol in cans. If this is the case, however, motorists will be turned back at the border crossing point. According to the deputy chief of customs inspection in Niirala, canisters are found in cars every week and have to be returned.

Finnish journalists questioned the sagacity of labelling Finns who struggle financially as traitors. “Are the fuel tours to Russia funding for Russian special operations in Ukraine and treason, or a sensible, necessity-driven move?”

YLE claimed nonetheless that many Finns were opposed to buying fuel from Russia because they were not prepared to “finance Putin”, reiterating statementsby Finnish PM Sanna Marin. The fact remains that many more admitted that petrol in Finland was significantly more expensive or simply unaffordable. For many it is of vital importance to buy fuel in Russia, because at current prices households cannot cope, the broadcaster underscored.

A significant proportion of those who go to Russia to fill up have dual citizenship, according to YLE. So they go not only to buy fuel, but also to visit Russian relatives.

After Finland joined Western sanctions against Russia, petrol and electricity prices in the country skyrocketed. The RIA Novosti news agency estimated the cost to local companies at more than 3.5 billion euros after they left the Russian market due to EU sanctions.

https://freewestmedia.com/2022/08/15/finnish-tank-tourists-accused-of-treason/

German conservatives finally take on the country’s left-wing public broadcasters

For those unfamiliar with German domestic politics, the country’s media landscape is greatly dominated by taxpayer-funded media networks ARD and ZDF. Everyone in Germany has to pay to run these two behemoths through mandatory fees, a fact that conservatives have grown increasingly frustrated with since the apparent left-wing bias on both networks has grown stronger every year.

Now, a series of corruption scandals is opening the door for conservatives to go on the offensive. Under Angela Merkel, it is hard to imagine a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician willing to speak up against these powerful media empires. After all, talking about defunding them or canceling mandatory fees would have been portrayed as the type of “assault on the free media” that only the likes of Donald Trump could possibly imagine promoting. However, a lot has changed, especially after CDU was relegated to the opposition.

CDU Chairman Friedrich Merz has called for a comprehensive reform of the public broadcasters to address the perceived weakness and failures of “this part of our media” following the resignation of ARD Chairwoman and RBB Director Patricia Schlesinger. Schlesinger has been fingered in a corruption scandal in which prosecutors say she secured a lucrative job for her husband and billed taxpayers for her expensive taste in office furniture. There are also suspicions that she billed taxpayers for her luxurious trip to London during her tenure at ARD and RBB.

In a guest article, Merz claimed the Schlesinger affair is having a serious impact on a public battered by inflation and an ongoing energy crisis. He writes that the public “is less and less willing to accept without objection the audacity with which individual representatives use this system” and “the one-sidedness with which parts of the public broadcasters report and comment.”

The Schlesinger scandal has the potential to “finally deprive public broadcasting in Germany of its legitimacy and public acceptance,” warned the CDU leader.

For years, the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) has called for reforms to the two media giants, citing their biased coverage, refusal to invite AfD on the influential political debate shows, and the tax burden they placed on German taxpayers. However, the far more powerful CDU is now only wading into the debate. Notably, during the federal election last year, these same political talk shows were accused of planting left-wing activists to “finish off”the CDU’s chancellor candidate, Armin Laschet, who lost a close election. The channels have funded pro-transgender content aimed at children, constantly promote mass immigration, and attack nearly all aspects of conservatism, leading to extreme frustration, especially for the voting bloc in Germany forced to pay for content they actively oppose.

In a sign of how far the CDU has come in its position, Merz wrote in his guest post that it should be questioned whether the two networks should exist at all. However, at the very least, both networks need dramatic reform.

To give public service broadcasting “broader acceptance among the population again,” Merz called for five concrete reform steps, first insisting that an oversight system must finally be established to make abuse more difficult.

“The real, structural problem lies in the lack of control,” wrote Merz, adding that broadcasters should work more transparently.

“The salaries of all those responsible must be disclosed, as must the payment flows to the numerous production companies. That also, and especially, applies to the moderators of the well-known talk shows and entertainment programs.”

Merz additionally pointed to the bias seen on these networks, writing that “responsible editors also express their one-sided sympathy in their programs and quite openly on their social media channels. With their type of journalism, they delegitimize the advantages of public radio and television and contribute to its loss of reputation, especially in that part of the population that no longer feels represented.”

In addition, Merz claimed that public broadcasting had no legitimacy to implement a gender language against the will of the vast majority of the population. “Neither individual speakers nor commentators and moderators have the right to deviate from the generally accepted rules of use of the German language,” he added.

The two networks are unlikely to go anywhere for the time being, but Merz’s guest post could mark a new sea change. Corruption scandals are eroding the lofty position the networks occupy in the public imagination. Conservatives in the United Kingdom have scored victories against a very biased left-wing BBC, but it took years of raising awareness among the public before any real action was possible.

https://rmx.news/commentary/german-conservatives-finally-take-on-the-countrys-left-wing-public-broadcasters/

Afghan ex-president predicts flight of millions of people from Afghanistan to Germany

A year after fleeing Afghanistan in the face of the takeover of power by the radical Islamic Taliban, ‘former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani predicts a large movement of refugees from his country. “Millions will try to flee Afghanistan,” Ghani told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag. According to the report, most of the refugees would try to get to Germany.

Ghani, who lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates, also said that he still considered himself the legitimate head of state of Afghanistan – and would therefore appreciate being welcomed by the German government. “If they are interested in solutions, I have a lot of in mind,” Ghani said.

Ghani said he was convinced that the majority of refugees were heading for Germany. Whether they make it to Germany depends “also on the traffickers”. These are “part of a criminal network”. The possibility of getting to Germany is “a question of affordability”.

Ghani explained what he saw as a likely massive movement of refugees by saying that many people in Afghanistan were losing “a sense of belonging” and hope. After 44 years of uninterrupted violence, the people of Afghanistan had had enough of being “a battlefield”, Ghani said. Moreover, the health system in his homeland is currently collapsing due to the pandemic.

https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article240470815/Afghanistans-Ex-Praesident-sagt-Flucht-von-Millionen-Menschen-voraus.html

The Basic Math Problem that Undoes Global Warming Hysteria

By Maker S. Mark

If someone proposes a solution to an “existential problem” that has no chance of success, should we be forced to take the problem seriously?

If the climate alarmists truly believe there is a climate emergency, then they should be able to answer the first basic question about “the plan.”  Are the numbers in the plan even remotely achievable?  Remember: based on their screeching, we have only twelve years before we all die from “man-made climate change.”

To answer that question, let’s break part of the plan into the most basic math problem: can we replace 25%, 50%, or 75% of the cars on the road in ten years?  To understand the theoretical possibility, we will simplify this to how many years will it take to replace all vehicles on the road in the U.S.

I will start with how many vehicles are on the road today in the U.S.  According to this link, in 2020, there were 286 million.  I will round that to 300 million to simplify the math.

How many total vehicles are sold every year in the U.S.?  This link answers that an average of a little fewer than 15 million vehicles are sold in the U.S. every year (assuming sold vehicles and production capacity are related).

It is 300M / 15M/year = 20 years.  This assumes two important things: first, there are no new additions into the economy of drivers and vehicles.  Second, that we can convert all production to electric vehicles overnight.

If you believe that we are all going to die in 12 years, we are eight years too late in converting to all electric vehicles even if the underlying assumptions were possible.

This simple math problem shows that the people that are screaming the loudest do not have a serious solution to the existential problem of “man-made climate change.”  The automobile situation in the U.S. alone cannot be resolved in twenty years, let alone in ten years.

How many electric vehicles are produced in the US? From this link, we produce fewer than 1 million.  I will round up to one million for my calculation.

The simple math problem is, how many years will it take to replace all the cars in the U.S. with electric vehicles (total in the U.S. rounded up / average production volume per year)?

Here is where the math gets a little more fun:

If we are currently producing 1 million electric vehicles a year, and we are struggling to attain the materials to hit that number, what is the maximum number of electric vehicles we can produce without a “magic wand”?

I will be generous and say we can at best expect to triple production to 3M a year.  If we need 300M to be produced (300M / 3M/year = 100 years), that means that it will take 100 years just to replace all the vehicles on the road.  Companies are already struggling to get the minerals needed for batteries.  When we try to go from 1M to 2M, it will get worse and more expensive.  I can’t even image the costs and environmental impact of trying to go from 2M to 3M.  My prediction is that in ten years, the best we can hope to achieve in the U.S. is replacing 10% to 15% of the vehicles on the road with electric vehicles.

Unserious people, who can’t do this basic math, definitely cannot comprehend the complex science involved in studying the climate.  The numbers don’t lie.  Their solution will not solve the “man-made climate problem” without a magic wand to replace every vehicle in the U.S. in one or even two generations.

Members of the Biden administration have taken to saying we need the pain to get the gain.  I demonstrate for you now that it is not possible to produce enough vehicles in 12 years or in 25 years.  Therefore, this is definitely all pain and no gain.  By destroying the U.S. fossil fuel industry, it does seem they are determined to destroy the U.S. economy from within.

Therefore, why are they pushing this agenda and this ridiculous solution?  If you believe that the “man-made climate catastrophe” is around the corner, how will destroying the U.S. and the world economy help?  Simple answer is “it won’t.”  The U.S. is the most innovative nation in the history of the world.  If you take us out of the equation, serious problems cannot be solved.

For those who say the globalists have a plan, I can assure you based on this high-level math that they do not have a serious plan to address “man-made climate change” (if they really believe it).  It will probably take trillions of dollars injected into the world economy and thirty to forty years to replace all gas-powered vehicles with electric (assuming we can find the minerals and components to manufacture the batteries).

Without the magic wand referenced repeatedly by globalists, there is no way to produce enough electric vehicles to make a difference.  The real question then becomes, why are they pushing to convert to electric vehicles (it won’t help in time) to solve an “existential problem”?  I think we have to “follow the money” to find out.

Personally, I will continue the work on the math problems and real science to dispel the myth of “man-made climate change.”  I recommend we not listen to people who are unwilling or unable to complete basic math problems when solving for this so-called crisis.  The unserious solutions will do nothing to help an unserious problem.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/08/the_basic_math_problem_that_undoes_global_warming_hysteria.html

US oil dynasties fund climate activists

According to a media report, the heirs to three US oil dynasties finance climate activists and non-governmental organizations that promote climate protest actions. Descendants of oil barons Getty and Rockefeller allegedly feel responsible for preventing “eradication” on Earth. That may not be the real reason however.

Descendants of the oil billionaires have been paying hundreds of green activists $25 000 a year each for their protests around the world, Britain’s Daily Mailreported August 10. Aileen Getty, Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert and Peter Gil Case fund such salaries through their non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Aileen Getty, granddaughter of Getty Oil’s founder, now has over $1 million through her Climate Emergency Fund paid to activists. The wealthy heirs to the Rockefeller family, Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert and Peter Gil Case, whose ancestors founded Standard Oil in 1870, have spent over thirty million dollars on the Equation Campaign.

They all pay the activists, who, according to the Daily Mail, have caused disturbances with their actions around the world, especially in recent months, and finance the relevant NGOs. Lambert and Case, for example, put eco-activists from groups like Just Stop Oil on the payroll for $25 000 each and also funded the organization themselves. The descendants of oil baron John D. Rockefeller also established a fund to support anti-fossil fuel protests.

In recent months, thousands of activists have taken to the streets around the world to protest. The environmentalists also rioted and caused destruction, including in the US, Europe, the UK and Australia. Tires of SUVs were punctured in the US, UK and Australia, and famous oil paintings were vandalized in EU countries by the very activists who are on the payrolls of oil heirs’ non-profit organizations.

The Daily Mail questioned this type of funding: “Three American oil scions have been bankrolling mobs of eco-zealots who have terrorized the world by slashing tires, blocking traffic and attacking firms. Aileen Getty, Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert and Peter Gill Case, who are heirs to their families’ huge fortunes, are paying the salaries for thugs through their non-profits in an apparent bid to offset their relatives’ legacies.”

A typical heir

Aileen Getty is a typical rich, spoiled American heir who hopes that funding eco-terrorists will drive up the price of oil. Screenshot from YouTube

In 2019, Aileen Getty donated $500 000 to Extinction Rebellion climate activists. She herself is convinced that “a comprehensive disruption of everyday life” is necessary for actions. Getty conforms to the stereotype of idle, rich heirs: She contracted HIV from an extramarital affair and has survived numerous drug overdoses.

She told the New York Times that she wanted to support the effectiveness of the activists she sponsored and has so far donated $1 million from her own wealth to the Climate Emergency Fund. In her opinion, the civil disobedience spurned by such grassroots organizations is just a warning signal and the destruction is minimal compared to what is at stake.

She told the newspaper: “Let’s not forget that we’re talking about extinction. Don’t we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect life on Earth?”

The Daily Mail also pointed out that scaremongering by various scientists are also financed by the oil heirs. In the US, the Climate Emergency Fund of the NGO Scientist Rebellion made $100 000 available for consultant salaries and travel expenses. Eco-warriors need money since they spend their lives protesting. Without funding, we would therefore not see the likes of Greta Thunberg making a fuss.

NASA climate researcher Peter Kalmus, who also belongs to this organization, brought together around 1000 scientists in 25 different countries who blocked traffic and chained themselves to landmark buildings.

‘Wreaking havoc on ordinary people’ to keep oil prices high

According to the Daily Mail, Kalmus justified his involvement in Scientist Rebellion’s concept of disrupting citizens’ everyday lives as follows: “He spent 16 years looking for ways to save the planet and came to the conclusion that the best way to do it is to wreak havoc on ordinary people.”

Last year in June, the Wall Street Journal reported that climate activists were driving up the price of oil: “Some investors are wagering that Wall Street’s preference for green energy will depress spending on oil extraction, setting the stage for supply shortages and higher fuel prices. The bets come as money managers line up trillions of dollars for wind, solar and other renewable programs and expenditures on oil projects tumble. The drop in fossil-fuel spending is becoming so severe that energy companies could struggle to quench the world’s thirst for oil, some analysts say.”

More recently, US sanctions against Russia have also helped to keep oil prices high.

https://freewestmedia.com/2022/08/15/us-oil-dynasties-fund-climate-activists/

Shooting in Vienna, Austria: An Iraqi and a Syrian allegedly threw stones at victims beforehand

Savage incident in the middle of Vienna at 8 am! After several shots were reportedly fired in the Schweizer Garten, the police had to be called in. In the course of a manhunt, two suspects and two victims of a completely insane “quarrel” were found.

The police did not give any information about the nationality of the two victims (17, 18) in their statement. The two suspects are a Syrian (24) and an Iraqi (33).

The victims stated that several persons had attacked them abruptly. Both were threatened with a jackknife and a glass bottle and stones were thrown at them. Furthermore, one of the suspects allegedly fired several shots with a pistol. The older of the two was allegedly beaten with a belt and kicked. Afterwards, all involved fled the scene. One victim was injured by the incident and taken to hospital by a Viennese ambulance.

A blank pistol was found on the suspects and seized. The pistol is said to belong to the Syrian, and a temporary weapons ban was imposed on him. In the area of Wiedner Gürtel, several cartridge cases of a blank pistol were found and seized. A search for the other suspects was unsuccessful. The two suspects did not confess to the charges. By order of the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office, the two were taken to a prison.

https://exxpress.at/schuesse-in-wien-iraker-und-syrer-sollen-zuvor-opfer-mit-steinen-beworfen-haben/

Rape Gang Victims Were Branded ‘Troublemakers’, ‘Child Prostitutes’ by Police: Survivor

West Yorkshire Police

Politically correct police officers and local officials who failed to tackle mostly Muslim, South Asian heritage rape gang groomers dismissed their victims as “child prostitutes” and “troublemakers”, a survivor has revealed.

The issue of so-called grooming gangs, largely consigned to obscure regional reports by the establishment media again after a number of high-profile scandals in towns and cities including RochdaleRotherham, and Telford enjoyed a brief spell in the spotlight, has been highlighted again over the course of the Conservative Party leadership contest, which will decide the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Rishi Sunak, the favourite to replace Boris Johnson among Tory MPs, has claimed he would establish a task force to investigate grooming gangs and introduce a new type of life sentence for predators, while Liz Truss, the favourite among ordinary party members, has claimed she would see that the police officers and officials who ignored or even condoned abuse are finally held to account.

Samantha Smith, a survivor of grooming, has made the most of the issue’s time in the sun to shine a spotlight on exactly how bad the authorities’ response was before the scandals began to break, and how police and local officials “did absolutely nothing to bring my abusers to justice.”

“I was made to feel unworthy of help or support, as though the abuse I experienced was my fault. My social workers even spelled it out. ‘Your behaviour and actions have led you to where you are today,’” she recalled in an article for the Daily Mail.

“I had no idea that I was not alone, but one of more than a thousand children in Telford who had been sexually exploited over decades while the police and youth workers, whose job it is to protect us, not only failed to act but all too often blamed us as the architects of our own trauma,” Smith added, describing how inquiries into the scandal had established that the abuse was “not investigated because of nervousness about appearing racist.”

“Meanwhile, the largely working-class white victims were treated as no-hope cases who were destined to fall into a life of crime, branded ‘troublemakers’ or even ‘child prostitutes’ by police,” she lamented, noting that “[t]eachers and social workers were found to have been actively dissuaded from reporting abuse”.

Police Superindepent Tom Harding, who infamously claimed that the scale of abuse in Telford was “sensationalised” before official probes established that it was every bit as bad as whistleblowers claimed, was singled out by name by Smith.

There is no indication that Hading ever faced any real consequences, however — indeed by 2020 he was a Chief Superintendent, and received high praise from senior officers at the police force covering Telford ahead of a move to a neighbouring Welsh force.

Moreover, the Indepenent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is supposed to serve as the official watchdog for English and Welsh police forces, has just dropped an investigation into three Greater Manchester  Police officers referred to them after an enquiry into grooming in their force area, with the IOPC declining to respond to press enquiries from Breitbart London as to whether they have ever recommended sanctions against specific officers over rape gang failures.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/08/14/rape-gang-victims-were-branded-troublemakers-child-prostitutes-by-police-survivor/