‘Politically correct’ Germany needs a turning point in ‘irresponsible’ migration policy, AfD leader claims

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The experiment of ideology-driven multiculturalism pursued by the German government and its predecessors has failed, and a rapid change in migration policy is now required to prevent the New Year’s Eve riots in Berlin from becoming a blueprint for the entire Federal Republic, the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) opposition party, Alice Weidel, has said.

In an opinion piece for the Junge Freiheit news outlet published on Saturday, the AfD leader lamented the “civil war-like conditions and the state’s loss of control” witnessed across the German capital at the turn of the year, which she claimed reveals the “deep contempt” some newcomers have for their host country.

“The willingness to use violence against police officers, rescue workers, and passers-by that became clear that night is shocking,” Weidel said, referring to the 145 people arrested for civil disorder that resulted in multiple injuries to emergency service responders — 100 of those arrested do not possess a German passport and 11 are of dual nationality, according to the latest update from Berlin authorities.

Weidel claimed the latest incident of civil unrest only proved further how uncontrolled mass immigration “imports violence and crime, and destabilizes the receiving society.” She added that Germany’s way of life and its values “are seriously endangered” and called on the public to rise above the fear of needing to be “politically correct” and accept that multiculturalism across the country has failed.

The AfD leader suggested a multi-faceted approach to tackle the issues caused by uncontrolled mass migration. However, she remained pessimistic that Germany’s traffic light coalition would listen, claiming unrestricted immigration has now become a “state doctrine” among Germany’s mainstream political parties.

First, the “irresponsible policy” of open borders initially pushed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel must end. Greater oversight must be implemented to ensure that asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, economic migrants who entered the country illegally, and economic migrants who hold a criminal record are swiftly returned to their country of origin.

Second, the Berlin Senate and mainstream media must wake up to the existing problems the country is facing regarding multiculturalism. She claimed the “manipulative language” used by large swathes of the media to describe the events on New Year’s Eve — talk of the need for “firecracker bans” and calling those involved “youths” instead of commenting on the fact that the majority of the mayhem was instigated by those with a migrant background — must be stamped out.

“Not naming facts does not solve any problems, and politicians’ routinely spun phrases are a mockery for all citizens who care about the safety of their children and families,” the AfD leader said, adding that those who sought to cry “racism” at those brave enough to state facts were essentially attempting to “exonerate violent criminals.”

Lastly, Weidel insisted that those who immigrate to Germany “have a duty to integrate,” claiming integration to date has failed miserably.

“Integration only succeeds if the rules and values ​​of our society are accepted,” she wrote.

Weidel also stated that Germany’s “cuddly justice” must come to an end to deter those thinking that breaking the law is acceptable. She called for the federal government to stop advertising the country to economic migrants across the world with “higher social benefits, excessive promises of residence, and easier naturalization.”

“The social problems that became visible to everyone in our country on New Year’s Eve must therefore be tackled and solved without hesitation,” she concluded, warning that the civil unrest witnessed in Berlin cannot be allowed to spread across the country any time soon.

https://rmx.news/germany/politically-correct-germany-needs-a-turning-point-in-irresponsible-migration-policy-afd-leader-claims/

Gun violence: More risk in Chicago and Philadelphia than Iraq, Afghanistan

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A striking statistic: young Americans are several times more likely to be injured by a gun in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia than they are while serving as a soldier in a foreign country.

Brandon del Pozo, an assistant professor of medicine at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island and his co-authors in the JAMA Network Open of the American Medical Association made the revealing statistical comparison. The researchers explained: “In 2020, the homicide rate in US cities increased by 30 percent. For the first time, firearms became the leading cause of death among children, adolescents and young adults.”

Brandon del Pozo and his co-authors therefore came up with the idea of ​​using combat mortality statistics from GIs in the Iraq war and Afghanistan as a benchmark for young men from minority groups aged between 18 and 29 years.

The study identified a population of 129 826 young men residing in the top 10 percent of violent crime-affected US cities of Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York. Among them, there were 470 murders and 1 684 gunshot wounds in 2020 and 2021.

Young men in Chicago’s most violent districts were more than three times as likely to be killed by a gunshot compared to soldiers sent to Afghanistan, the researchers found, while those in Philadelphia’s most violent area were almost twice as likely to be shot to death.

In all districts of the two cities studied, young black men overwhelmingly face the risk of firearm-related death, the findings showed.

“These results are an urgent wake-up call for understanding, appreciating and responding to the risks and attendant traumas faced by this demographic of young men,” the study leader said.

The gun murder data showed black and Hispanic men represented 96 percent of those who were fatally shot, and 97 percent of those injured in a shooting, according to the report.

For the scientists, the statistical finding is clear: “Adult young men who lived in the district (zip code; ed.) most affected by violence in Chicago had a 3,23-fold higher risk of being fatal victims of a firearm attack than a deployment in Afghanistan […].” In Philadelphia’s most violent areas, the risk was still almost twice as high as in Afghanistan, at a factor of 1,91. The comparative figures from Afghanistan came from the years 2001 to 2014, and from the Iraq war for the years 2003 to 2014.

The incidence of nonfatal firearm injuries in Chicago and Philadelphia was lower than in a military operation in Afghanistan, but about the same as for US soldiers in Iraq. New York and Los Angeles fared somewhat better.

Overall, young men in Chicago’s crime hotspots have a 1,3 percent annual risk of being the victim of a firearm murder. Together with non-fatal injuries, this risk increases to 5,8 percent annually. This overall risk was 3,2 percent in Philadelphia, 0,7 percent in New York, and 0,6 percent in Los Angeles.

Philadelphia’s residents are 44,1 percent black, 35,8 percent white, 13,6 percent Latino and 7,2 percent Asian. According to the 2021 US Census Bureau American Community Survey, the population of Chicago, Illinois was 36,1 percent white, 28,5 percent black and 6,9 percent Asian.

Chicago however, is considered the most gang-occupied city in the United States, with a population ranging from 100 000 active members from over 70 gangs, with more than 150 000 members. Gang warfare and retaliation is common in Chicago. Gangs were responsible for 61 percent of the murders in Chicago in 2011 already. Since then, the problem has only become bigger.

Former Chicago Police Superintendent, Garry McCarthy, blamed Chicago’s gang culture for its high murder rates and other violent crime, stating “It’s very frustrating to know that it’s like 7 percent of the population causes 80 percent of the violent crime… The gangs here are traditional gangs that are generational, if you will. The grandfather was a gang member, the father’s a gang member, and the kid right now is going to be a gang member”.

https://freewestmedia.com/2023/01/09/gun-violence-more-risk-in-chicago-and-philadelphia-than-iraq-afghanistan/

Germany: Suspected Islamist terrorist claimed to be a Christian during asylum proceedings

The suspect in the Islamist terror trial in North Rhine-Westphalia, Monir J., is officially registered as a Christian with German authorities. This is shown by documents obtained by the newspaper WELT. The official record was made at the beginning of 2017 as part of an asylum procedure. The 32-year-old from Iran is said to be a convert, according to security circles. Photos that J. posted on social media in 2017 show him wearing a necklace with a cross pendant.

Investigators are examining how this information fits with the alleged Islamist convictions of the arrested man. The Düsseldorf prosecutor general’s office accuses Monir J. and his 25-year-old brother of planning an Islamist-motivated attack. According to this, they wanted to procure poisonous substances – cyanide and ricin – “in order to kill an unspecified number of people with them.” On Sunday, the Dortmund district court issued arrest warrants.

In 2015, Monir J. had arrived in Germany and applied for asylum. He was finally granted protection status in September 2017. This residence permit is valid until the end of July 2023. The initiation of revocation and readmission proceedings was rejected in 2021.

Meanwhile, the suspicion of terrorism against the Iranian brothers has been substantiated. They are said to have been involved in the construction of bombs and the corresponding instructions. WELT learned from security circles that there are new indications for this after the evaluation of seized evidence.

Investigators suspect that Monir J. is a follower of a Sunni Islamist ideology. He is said to have been a member of corresponding forums on the internet. State security officers are investigating whether there are also concrete links to terrorist militias such as the so-called Islamic State (IS). Shiite Islam is the state religion in Iran. Sunni Muslims and Christians are in the minority.

At the weekend, special police forces had searched Monir J.’s flat in Castrop-Rauxel. Due to indications of possible toxic substances for attack plans, the premises were cordoned off extensively. However, no such substances were found in the living quarters. On Monday, there are to be further searches in garages in North Rhine-Westphalia to which the brothers had access.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the highly toxic ricin is listed in the war weapons list under “biological weapons”. Cyanide is also highly toxic; even the smallest amounts have a lethal effect on humans.

Monir J.’s brother, who was also arrested, was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted murder by the Dortmund Regional Court in January 2019. However, the man had been allowed to stay overnight with Monir J. at the weekend. At the time, the brother allegedly threw a large branch from a bridge onto the A 45. Due to his addiction, the asylum seeker had been transferred to an addiction clinic in Hagen for therapy after initially serving his sentence in prison.

https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article243102431/Castrop-Rauxel-Verdaechtiger-gab-in-Asylverfahren-an-Christ-zu-sein.html

France: Choirboys threatened with death in the collegiate church of Saint-André in Grenoble – “man” arrested

At around 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, a 57-year-old man was arrested by the Grenoble police on the Place aux Herbes in the town centre of Grenoble. He is suspected of threatening choirboys with death in the collegiate church of Saint-André.

[…]
Alerted by parishioners and provided with the exact description of this man, police officers therefore arrested a man matching the description of the perpetrator a few minutes later. A suspect who was said to have been recognised by witnesses to the scene. The 50-year-old, who is unknown to the judiciary, strongly denies that he is the man who threatened the choirboys. He was taken into police custody for “repeated death threats on grounds of race, ethnicity, nation or religion”. Le Dauphiné

https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/01/08/grenoble-un-homme-suspecte-davoir-mime-un-geste-degorgement-tout-en-regardant-les-enfants-de-choeur-de-la-collegiale-saint-andre-avant-de-quitter-les-lieux/

The simplicity—and sublimity—of Pope Benedict’s funeral

Image: Pope Francis. YouTube screen grab.

By Marianna Trzeciak

Rod Dreher had a jaundiced view of Pope Francis’s choices to eulogize Pope Benedict. On the contrary, it was a very subtle, but still meaningly, even sublime, homage to the former Pope.

Beautiful choirs ushered the worldwide audience into the Funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict. Then the singing paused, and the spoken words of the First Reading were released almost in a torrent of passion:

The Lord says this: “Is the potter no better than the clay? Can something that was made say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’? Or a pot say of the potter, ‘He is a fool’? Isaiah 29: 16.

And, so, Pope Francis permitted a First Reading that underscored the raison d’etre of Benedict’s short pontificate: to subvert positively the “dictatorship of relativism” that treads upon God’s Truth and upon His authoritative, yet beneficent, loving relationship with humankind.

As is the case with most Catholic funerals, the responsorial psalm was chosen to comfort the grieving. Here, it was Psalm 22 (aka Psalm 23), “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”

The Second Reading was from the First Letter of Saint Peter, and it ended with

You did not see him [God], yet you love him; and still without seeing him, you are filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described, because you believe; and you are sure of the end to which your faith looks forward, that is, the salvation of your souls.

This second reading was a gracious nod to Pope Benedict’s own statements in his lifetime that, although he was in reverent awe of God, and so had a necessary human quality of fear of the Lord at the thought of meeting His Maker, Benedict nevertheless considered Jesus his friend, Who walked alongside him and Who wanted his salvation.

The Gospel reading was the famous biblical scene from Luke 23, wherein the “good thief” gave Jesus His proper due and Jesus died committing His Spirit into the Hands of God the Father.

At Pope John Paul II’s funeral, Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, focused his homily and choice of readings on his late friend’s energetic, peripatetic, and philosophically evangelistic papacy (go out into the world to testify to Christ).

Pope Francis, in his brief homily, deftly and sublimely encapsulated Benedict’s concern with what Francis called “the total synkatabasis of God.” As Jonathan Liedl wrote in the National Catholic Register, Benedict’s theology was focused on “the person of Christ, once described [by Benedict] as the one ‘in whom God’s love descends upon human beings.’”

And so Francis spent most of his homily showing the relationship of God the Father’s Hands with those of God the Son, and on

…the “condescension” and closeness of God, who is ready to entrust himself to the frail hands of his disciples, so that they can feed his people and say with him: Take and eat, take and drink, for this is my body which is given up for you (cf. Lk 22:19). The total synkatabasis of God.

Tucked within this homily is a whispering lament that Francis will no longer have his friend on earth to assist him in meekness:

….[T]he Lord quietly bestows the spirit of meekness that is ready to understand, accept, hope and risk, notwithstanding any misunderstandings that might result.

With a complimentary likening of Pope Benedict to Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope Francis finished his homily with a loving smile as he described Benedict’s self-envisioning when Francis said,

Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/01/the_simplicityand_sublimityof_pope_benedicts_funeral.html

France: Turks cut the throats of sheep and pour its blood everywhere to cleanse the house of the “djinns”

On Christmas Day, about ten people decapitated and hanged several animals on the construction site of a house in the La Nacelle neighbourhood in Corbeil-Essonnes. A 33-year-old man is on trial for the illegal slaughter without stunning and without respecting hygiene conditions.

(…)

About ten people of Turkish origin report to the police and initially pretend to be organising a barbecue. The 33-year-old responsible for the slaughter and transport of the sheep was arrested and taken into police custody. He comes from Corbeil-Essonnes and is a Turkish citizen. On the same morning, he had bought the sheep for 600 euros from a breeder in Seine-et-Marne and loaded them into his van.

According to a police source, the man explained that he had cut the sheep’s throats “without anaesthesia” and “to protect them from demons” in the house under construction. The blood was therefore to be poured on the floor, he told investigators in Evry-Corbeil. This tradition is sometimes used unofficially in the name of Islam to “cleanse” a house of “jinns” (demons), but is not approved by all Muslims.

www.leparisien.fr / https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/01/08/essonne-ils-egorgent-des-moutons-et-repandent-leur-sang-pour-purifier-la-maison-des-demons/

France: A Tunisian illegal migrant suspected of killing his wife was wounded after threatening police officers with a gun and shouting “Allah Akbar”

The man, a 39-year-old Tunisian, had left the Var region with the couple’s three children a few days before the discovery of the dead body of his 31-year-old wife, also a Tunisian national, in their flat in Saint-Raphaël. The autopsy had dated the date of death as December 20 or 21.

(…) “He was waiting for them and threatened them with a handgun”, after which police fired a first shot, the Bobigny prosecutor’s office told the AFP news agency. “He continued to threaten them, shouting Allah akbar, and there was another shot from the police,” this source continued, explaining that the man had been “hit in the hand and the carotid artery”.

The family had been trying to legalise their situation in France. Le Parisien

https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/01/08/pierrefitte-sur-seine-93-suspecte-davoir-tue-sa-femme-un-migrant-clandestin-tunisien-de-39-ans-neutralise-par-balles-apres-avoir-menace-les-policiers-avec-une-arme-de-poing-en-criant-allah-a/