Here’s the news we’ve all been waiting for: the iconic Swiss Army Knife will now be offered without the knife!
At least in Britain. Yay!
According to the Guardian, Victorinox will soon introduce “the first range of bladeless products designed specifically for activities where a blade would not be required.” Why? To help combat the “plague of knife crime” that has afflicted the United Kingdom in recent years, of course, though that isn’t precisely how Victorinox is presenting the knifeless Swiss Army Knives.
Carl Elsener, the company’s current CEO, explained: “In some markets, the blade creates an image of a weapon. I have in mind creating a tool that would be useful for cyclists. Cyclists have a need for specific tools but not necessarily a blade.” He added, “We already have a tool specifically for golfers.”
Finally! Common sense knife control! In all seriousness, I’ve been writing about this for years. But what is meant by “some markets?” And does anyone really think the little 3” (or 1”) blades are dangerous? More dangerous than a three-iron? Or a crazed bicyclist, for that matter? I mean, besides being small and not particularly sharp, the blades don’t lock. They fold in, likely only harming the would-be attacker, Allahu Akbar.
Swiss Army Knives without the knives. Boy Scouts of America without the “Boy.” That’s the world in which we now live. What’s next, Mr. Potato Head without the potato … or the head?
Worse, we are suffering from men without courage, politicians without integrity, souls without character, minds without sanity … and communication without truth.
Unfortunately, in that sense, the knives are out for all of us. No matter what Victorinox does.
lberto Tarradas is the youngest member of the Catalan parliament. This would be impressive enough, but he is also president of VOX in Gerona. We recently had the chance to talk with Tarradas about his campaign for re-election, Catalan identity, and some issues facing his constituents.
How is the campaign going leading up to the election on May 12?
Compared to the last elections—in which there was a lot of violence from the extreme Left—this campaign has been much calmer, and we have been able to visit all the towns in Gerona. What’s more, we can see that there is a lot of enthusiasm.
Catalonia is the only place where VOX grew in votes in the general elections. What makes VOX stronger in Catalonia?
Our message is always the same across Spain. What differentiates Catalonia is that here we are more advanced in terms of decadence than other places in Spain. This is because separatists have promoted, for the last ten years, policies of the ‘call effect’ and open borders. They have managed to change the social reality, and there has been an increase in crime levels—making them higher than in the rest of Spain—thanks to a massive influx of foreigners. This has been driven by everyone, from Junts, with the Nous Catalans (New Catalans), to the separatists of ERC and the socialists of PSC.
In order to understand Vox’s appeal here, it is important to recognize the fact that Islamism that is already a reality in many of our neighbourhoods. A few days ago, we denounced a Muslim-run bar in Figueras where women were forbidden to enter. It is a barbarity that no one had publicly criticized, but when we ask the other candidates who call themselves ‘feminists’ and claim to defend women to do so, they refuse to condemn this fact. It is a symptom of what is happening, especially considering that in Catalonia there are more than three hundred mosques, and in a third of them Salafism is being preached, that is, there are more than a hundred mosques that preach the most radical version of Islam. Nobody wants to talk about this; Islamism is being whitewashed.
It is curious that this has been promoted by those who claim to defend the essence of being Catalan.
Yes, but that is how it has been. In places where there is a growing Islamic population and where Islamism is advancing, our freedom is lost—especially that of women—our identity, and our Catalanness. However, the separatists who are so concerned about defending what is Catalan are not concerned that there are streets where there is not a single sign in Catalan, not a single Spanish shop, or where none of our languages are spoken.
Everything that is happening in Catalonia proves that VOX was right when we were the only ones to denounce that the policies that have had harmful consequences on our neighbourhoods. It is not only a question of insecurity; it is also a loss of identity. We were in Salt this week, and the community festivals are the Muslim ones—they are no longer ours. In Girona, almost half of the births are not Spanish; we are talking about demographic substitution and loss of identity. Separatism only defends its business, not Catalanness.
According to the polls, the Socialist Party of Catalonia will be the leading political force. Are there still people who believe that the PSC is a party that defends Spain despite its continuous pacts with the separatists?
Curiously, when the election campaign begins, the PSC gives its rallies in Spanish, says it will defend the freedom of parents to educate their children in Spanish, and denounces the advance of separatism. When it governs, the PSC votes 80% the same as the separatists and is against the sentence that obliges 25% of the subjects in schools to be in Spanish. They are not an alternative to anything and in these elections there will be a transfer of votes from ERC to PSC, that is to say, the separatist voters are comfortable voting for the socialists. However, where we are growing the most is in the places where people used to vote for the socialists, humble and working-class neighbourhoods that are suffering from squatting and crime, and which in some cases have a foreign population of more than 50%.
Squatting has reached unsustainable levels; how has this been allowed to happen?
Half of all squatting in Spain takes place in Catalonia. This is the consequence of a government that is more concerned with protecting the squatter than the poor families and is even considering expropriating houses to solve the housing problem. The police can do nothing, and the time to get your house back is on average four years. There are entire blocks of occupied buildings and even entire streets, as we have seen in Figueras. This does not only affect the person who has lost their house, it is a problem for all the neighbours who suffer the degradation of their neighbourhoods and drug trafficking. That’s why we propose a “kick in the ass,” which would force squatters out within 24 hours.
Can amnesty and the return of Carles Puigdemont revive the pro-independence process?
Certainly. The socialists said that amnesty was going to serve to pacify things and avoid greater evils, but the truth is that they are going to try again. The only way to pacify things was what we did, demonstrating all over Spain and putting those responsible in the dock. The amnesty makes them stronger because it validates their story and they are going to go back to their old ways, although they have not stopped encouraging separatism from the government. For example, 1.4 million have been approved for TV3, to continue making pro-independence propaganda, but there is no money for health care, and you have to wait more than four months to be treated by the public health system. Separatism is nothing more than a business.
A British schoolgirl has reportedly been raped during a family holiday to a Greek island. The 16-year-old is said to have been attacked in a bar when she went to the toilet.
She was on holiday on the Greek island of Crete when the horror sex attack took place on Wednesday, May 8. It is understood the matter has since been reported to police.
After his act, the perpetrator hurried to disappear, while the 16-year-old in a state of shock went with her mother to the police station where they reported her rape.
Officers are now hunting for a man in connection with the incident, Proto Therma reports. It is believed they are looking for a 28-year-old man from Pakistan
Zum Fremdschämen: Der türkische Generalkonsul Cemil Yıldırım besucht den obersten katholischen Geistlichen in Lyon. Beim gemeinsamen Foto streckt er seinen Zeigefinger aus. Dieser sog. Tauhid-Finger wird auch beim Gebet gezeigt,hier aber klare Provokation und Machtdemonstration. pic.twitter.com/o1MFNulCZ9
Translation: Shameful to watch: The Turkish Consul General Cemil Yıldırım visits the head of the Catholic clergy in Lyon. He stretches out his index finger during the joint photo. This so-called tauhid finger is also shown during prayer, but here it is a clear provocation and demonstration of power.
🇫🇷 #Lyon : Le consul de Turquie, @TC_LiyonBK Yıldırım 🇹🇷 fait scandale dans son pays après avoir fait le signe Tawid de l’index sur une photo avec l’archevêque de Lyon @MgrdeGermay. Un geste islamique provocateur. Et nous évidemment pas un mot dans nos médias… on ne voit rien. pic.twitter.com/ZOeu7AIeJl
Translation: Lyon: The Turkish consul, @TC_LiyonBK Yıldırım 🇹🇷 causes a scandal in his country after making the Tawid sign with his index finger in a photo with the Archbishop of Lyon. @MgrdeGermay . A provocative Islamic gesture. And of course we don’t hear a word about it in our media … we don’t hear about it.
After the Second World War, Germany passed strict laws against any attempt to overthrow the country’s constitutional order. At the same time, it adopted a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism.
Last week, however, the German state tolerated a rally that proclaimed both extreme antisemitism and the desire to topple German democracy.
The rally, which took place in Hamburg, was not organised by national socialists, but by a militant Islamist union. Of course, it is not OK to be a nazi – not in Germany, or anywhere else. But it appears that it is quite acceptable to be an Islamofascist – not just in Germany, but in most EU countries nowadays.
The rally called for the imposition of Sharia law and the establishment of a caliphate, but German Chancellor Scholz, who is also a former mayor of Hamburg, only reacted to the rally after severe public outcry. He did so in a mild, vague manner. So far nobody amongst the organisers has been arrested or prosecuted.
On the other hand, both the ruling socialist party and the German state have been very active in going after the AfD (Alternative for Germany), which steadily appears second in all polls ahead of June’s European Elections. Only during the last month, two senior AfD members have been brought to Justice.
In April, lawmaker Bjoern Hoecke, head of the AfD in the eastern state of Thuringia, appeared in court facing up to a year in jail for ending a campaign gathering in 2021 with the words “Everything for Germany.” It is a phrase that in the past had been used as a slogan by the SA, the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party.
Last week, a regional court in Lower Saxony convicted Rotenburg AfD leader Marie-Thérèse Kaiser for incitement to hatred. Her “hate crime” is that in 2021 she made mention of a “gang rape culture” amongst Afghans and posted state statistics showing that Afghans in Germany are particularly heavily involved in gang rape.
Kaiset was convicted according to the rationale of an EU Parliament’s 2024 resolution calling for hate speech to become an EU crime. “Those who attack human dignity cannot invoke freedom of speech,” her judge said. Interestingly enough, those are the exact words of the EU resolution’s rapporteur, Maite Gazapaurtundhua of Renew Europe.
The AfD has also found itself in the crosshairs of the German domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). In a longstanding legal feud, the agency has been trying for years to establish that the party is a far-right organisation.
Lately, there have also been calls to defund the AfD – based on a recent decision to do the same with the extreme-right Homeland (formerly called NPD). In fact, the establishment would like to do away with the second-largest German party altogether. In early 2024, the co-chief of the ruling SPD came out in favour of discussing an outright ban.
So, in Germany anti-constitutional rhetoric and groups are illegal, unless they are of Islamist origin, in which case nothing really happens. What is more, to sound the alarm over a demographic and cultural invasion that threatens the very cornerstones of Western societies is no longer allowed.
And what about the people? According to the latest Deutchlandstrend survey, 41 per cent of Germans believe that immigration, asylum, and integration policies pose the biggest challenge to the EU. Amongst others, they appear particularly concerned about the Islamist threat to women’s rights and freedom of expression.
Maybe Germany’s ruling elites should consider prosecuting half of the Germans too.
Addressing the New Culture Forum’s 2024 annual conference, Harrison Pitt, host of the NCF’s weekly discussion show “Deprogrammed”, argues that the Government needs to restore British privilege and place British people first.
The abbey of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives (Calvados) was desecrated on the night that fell between the 8th and 9th of May 2024. This desecration caused a great stir in the local parish, especially as it was committed on the night before Ascension Day. A report was filed and an investigation initiated.
The abbey of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives was raided and vandalised on the night before Ascension Day. In the early morning of May 9, the sacristan discovered the damage after opening the doors of the religious building, where a mass was due to take place a few hours later.
Vandalism to the tabernacles
She discovered that several tabernacles had been the target of break-ins or attempted break-ins. However, the perpetrators had not succeeded in breaking into the tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament. However, as it was doused with hot candle wax and broken open, it is now unusable. In the sacristy, the chasuble – a cupboard containing liturgical vestments – was also vandalised and chasubles were scattered on the floor.
The parish priest of the region, Father Donat Nsabimana, was alerted by a parishioner and had to cancel a first mass in Sainte-Marguerite-de-Viette in order to call the gendarmerie and go to the desecrated place where he had planned to celebrate a service in the late morning.
The city of Krefeld has decided to allow Muslim communities to announce the Islamic call to prayer over loudspeakers once a week in future. This was reported by German broadcaster WDR. Salih Tufan Ünal, Chairman of the Union of Turkish and Islamic Communities (ATIB), commented on this new agreement and emphasised its importance. As a native of Krefeld with family roots in Turkey, Ünal has a personal connection to the city and its Muslim community. According to Ünal, the imam of the Yunus Emre Mosque in the Stahldorf district of Krefeld will in future call people to prayer once a week, always on Fridays, via the permanently installed loudspeakers. Before signing the contract, the city of Krefeld consulted with various lobby groups, including representatives from politics, religion and the neighbourhood. The contract stipulates that noise limits must be observed during the call to prayer and that a fixed contact person is appointed for the neighbourhood. Salih Tufan Ünal explains that the call to prayer will now be heard once a week, on Fridays between 12 noon and 3 pm, for a maximum of five minutes. Technically, it has only been possible to broadcast the call to prayer in two of Krefeld’s six mosques. However, this decision is not uncontroversial. Prof. Dr Mouhanad Khorchide, Head of the Centre for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, expressed doubts about the priority of this step and warned of possible fears and concerns.
After a lecture at the University of Hamburg on the subject of anti-Semitism and hostility towards Jews, a 56-year-old woman was attacked and beaten. The victim then defended herself, kicking and biting the attacker ( aged 26), Hamburg police said on Friday. According to the German-Israeli Society, the 56-year-old victim is one of its board members. The woman is also the wife of the lecturer. According to reports, the thug is believed to be from Somalia. The altercation occurred on Wednesday evening during a public lecture series, during which, according to police reports, there were initially repeated heckling. After the end of the event, the 56-year-old female attendee and several women from the audience got into an argument, during which the Somali woman suddenly attacked the lecturer’s wife and punched her in the face. The woman was treated medically.
The police brought criminal proceedings against both opponents on suspicion of assault. The State Security Department of the State Office of Criminal Investigation is investigating. The University of Hamburg condemned the attack. ‘We are deeply shocked and condemn this anti-Semitic act of violence utterly,’ said University President Hauke Heekeren on Thursday. ‘The incident is absolutely unacceptable and abhorrent.’ Jewish students, staff and guests must be safe at universities ‘without ifs and buts’.
‘Law and order must be enforced at universities,’ the German-Israeli Association (DIG) also demanded. According to the DIG Hamburg, the attacker presumably comes from the pro-Palestinian milieu. The ‘cowardly attack’ is part of an increasing escalation of the situation. There have also recently been pro-Palestinian actions at other universities and colleges in Germany.
The left-wing radical militant group Antifa has claimed responsibility for an attack in Stuttgart on two Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) lawmakers. Miguel Klauß and Hans-Jürgen Goßner, two of the party’s members of the Baden-Württemberg regional parliament, were injured on Wednesday, May 8th, while campaigning in the city centre. .
Sogar am Tag des Grundgesetzes machen linksextremisten keine Pause mit ihrer Gewalt gegen unsere Bürgerpartei #AfD. Wann kommen Solidaritätsbekundungen der anderen Fraktionen im Stuttgarter Landtag? Oder ignoriert man wieder die Gewalt gegen die AfD? https://t.co/nhkmp9nsRS
The anti-immigration politicians had set up an AfD information stand as part of a festival celebrating the 75th anniversary of Germany’s 1949 constitution. Up to half a dozen left-wing activists arrived on the scene and held up a banner right in front of AfD’s booth, blocking its view. A scuffle ensued, insults were traded, and the two lawmakers were physically assaulted—one of them suffered head injuries, the other neck injuries, but neither required medical assistance.
Antifa—notorious for using physical violence to attack and intimidate people it disagrees with—proudly acknowledged that the assault had been committed by its members, calling their action a “creative disruption.”
Germany is facing a wave of attacks on politicians who are campaigning in June’s European elections, as well as three regional elections to be held in the eastern states of the country in the autumn. AfD members are the most frequently assaulted group, yet a recent attack against Social Democrat Matthias Ecke garnered the most attention from both mainstream parties and the media, who blamed AfD for “inciting hatred” and “sowing discord” in society.
Miguel Klauß criticised the media for not reporting on cases involving the AfD, or belittling such incidents by relegating stories to the regional section of news websites. “If someone from the SPD and Co. is hit with a gym bag, there are special broadcasts and press conferences,” he tweeted.
So sind die Medien. Trifft es die AfD, gibt's eine Berichterstattung im regional Teil. Trifft es jemand von SPD und Co mit einem Turnbeutel, gibt's Sondersendungen und Pressekonferenzen https://t.co/cgBwOttYAL
While Social Democrat (SPD) Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser did not denounce the attack on the AfD lawmakers, she denounced the beating of Ecke, saying “offenders who actively attack political activists must feel the full force of the law. That means swift, consistent proceedings and punishments.” Following the incident, Faeser called for a meeting with her state-level colleagues to discuss the rise of political violence across Germany.
The meeting was held on Tuesday, but did not go down well with the centre-right opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), according to a report by Die Welt. “Ms. Faeser is just making noises in public, but she doesn’t do anything to protect politicians,” a CDU interior minister told the publication, criticising their federal counterpart for doing nothing but giving her state-level colleagues half-baked advice on what they should be doing to address the problem of political violence.
The opposition party also criticised the fact that Faeser wanted to explain the conclusions of the meeting alone to the media at a press conference. The uproar forced the minister to cancel the media event and organise a new one, this time with the participation of CDU lawmakers.
