Month: July 2024

 In what feels like a dystopian movie, Switzerland’s new portable death “pod” to allow people to kill themselves is on track to claim its first victim this year. 

In a July 16 press conference, Florian Willet, chief executive of pro-euthanasia organization The Last Resort, announced that Switzerland will “soon” use its portable suicide pod to end a life for the first time. 

“Since we have people indeed queueing up, asking to use the Sarco, it’s very likely that it will take place pretty soon,” Willet said, eerily describing it as a “beautiful way” to die.   

The pod is called Sarco, short for sarcophagus, the name of the coffins in which ancient Egyptian pharaohs were buried. The futuristic-looking 3D-printed capsule was first unveiled in 2019 for assisted suicide in Switzerland but was met with controversy.  

It’s founder, Philip Nitschke, who has been nicknamed “Dr. Death” for his attempt to “glamorize” suicides, explained how the pod works in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.  

Once a person is inside the pod, they are asked who they are, where they are and if they know what happens when they press the button. 

The death in the pod can also be activated by a button, gesture, voice control, or blink of the eye for those who cannot vocally or physically communicate due to severe illness or mobility issues.  

After they answer, a voice says, “If you want to die press this button.” Once the button is pressed, the pod is flooded with nitrogen causing the oxygen to plummet from 21 per cent to 0.05 per cent in the air in less than 30 seconds. 

“They will then stay in that state of unconsciousness for … around about five minutes before death will take place,” Nitschke explained.  

However, he warned that, “Once you press that button, there’s no way of going back.” 

The death inside the pod is filmed, and the footage is handed to a coroner. 

The push to debut the pod this year comes after the pod was banned earlier this month after prosecutors questioned the legality and ethics of the pod, pointing out that it is unclear who is responsible for the death and who operates the pod.   

Switzerland has allowed assisted suicide since 1942, with its only requirements being that the person freely chooses death, is of sound mind, and that their decision is not motivated by selfish reasons. 

The county’s broad euthanasia policy has made it a tourist attraction from those around the world who wish to end their lives.  

In addition to the legal question of who is responsible for the death, pro-life organizations have condemned the pods for trivializing death and undermining the dignity of life.   

“Philip Nitschke’s device has been condemned by a broad range of commentators,” James Mildred, director of engagement for pro-life organization Christian Action Research and Education (CARE), said.  

“Many people feel that it trivialises, and even glamourises, suicide,” he explained.  

“We believe that suicide is a tragedy that good societies seek to prevent in every circumstance,” Mildred continued. “There are ethical ways to help human beings that don’t involve the destruction of life.” 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/switzerlands-new-portable-suicide-pod-set-to-claim-its-first-life-soon/?utm_source=most_recent&utm_campaign=usa

Just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in France, the TGV network, the country’s intercity high-speed rail service, has apparently been deliberately targeted.

The “massive attack” has affected 800,000 passengers, SNCF Chief Executive Jean-Pierre Farandou said on July 26 at a press briefing.

Three separate fires were reported close to the tracks on the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed rail lines. The incidents have caused severe disruption to train traffic throughout the network.

Paris’ Montparnasse station, a major hub for Westbound trains, was experiencing significant difficulties. A large number of trains have had to be diverted or cancelled.

The Belgian railway operator also announced disruption to rail traffic between Brussels-Midi and Paris Nord and Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Delays of 45 to 90 minutes could be expected and the problems may last all day, the transit company said.

On the morning of July 26, the SNCF, France’s national state-owned railway company, said: “Last night, SNCF was the victim of several concurrent malicious acts affecting the LGV Atlantique, Nord & Est.

“Arson attacks were started to damage our facilities. The South East LGV is not affected, a malicious act [there] has been foiled.

“Our teams are on-site to carry out the diagnosis and begin repairs.”

The SNCF asked travellers who could postpone their trips not to go to stations and promised to refund or exchange disrupted journeys.

All customers were to be informed by text message of the situation regarding their train journeys.

The travel chaos came just as many people were wanting to get to Paris for the opening ceremony of the Games.

Some trains have been diverted to conventional, non-high-speed lines, as was the case for the morning service between Lille and Strasbourg.

⚠️Suite à cette attaque massive visant à paralyser le réseau des lignes à grande vitesse, un grand nombre de trains sont détournés ou supprimés. Les voyageurs concernés seront contactés par mail ou SMS. Nous demandons à tous les voyageurs qui le peuvent de reporter leur voyage et… https://t.co/yt5cCtHSqW

— SNCF Voyageurs (@SNCFVoyageurs) July 26, 2024

This situation was predicted to last at least until July 28 while repairs were being carried out and it was expected normal traffic should resume the following day.

Laurent Nunez, the Paris Police Prefect, announced heightened security measures and extra manpower across the Paris railway network to prepare for an influx of passengers.

Pour vous donner une petite idée du bordel en Gare Montparnasse ce matin (meme si on ne se rend pas trop compte).

Je n’ai pas vu ca depuis l’annonce du confinement par Macron en mars 2020.

Bon courage à la #SNCF et aux voyageurs ! pic.twitter.com/XAxJOxwxRk

— PresidentGab (@PresidentGab) July 26, 2024

Patrice Vergriete, Transport Minister of France, said the attacks were “co-ordinated acts of malice

“I strongly condemn these criminal actions, which will compromise the holiday departures of many French people. A big thank you to the SNCF teams, on the bridge to restore traffic conditions as quickly as possible,” he said.

Images on social media showed the Montparnasse train station packed with stranded travellers as the Olympics were due to start and as the peak holiday season began.

🇫🇷 7h30 Gare Montparnasse à Paris, 1er jour des JO. Plus de trains. 👇 #sncf pic.twitter.com/PZYl9QF7n9

— 75 Secondes 🗞️ (@75secondes) July 26, 2024

In May, three European intelligence services warned that Russia was plotting numerous sabotage acts across Europe.

They said Russia had prepared covert bombings, arson attacks and other damage to infrastructure on European soil, directly and via third parties.

In April, the Czech Republic transport minister, Martin Kupka, also warned that Russia was trying to sabotage European railways by hacking into their signalling systems.

On Friday, French newspaper Le Figaro reported that the modus operandi used to disrupt the SNCF network is similar to the actions of the far-left, according to a security source.

French high-speed train system ‘under massive attack’ (brusselssignal.eu)

It should be borne in mind that the story about the faked hate crime in Germany that Robert Spencer reported on here was not singular. In March, a similar incident occurred, also in Germany, that you may have missed. A Pakistani family of five, returning from what they said was a night out visiting friends, claimed to have found that their house had burned down. On the outer walls still standing, there were two daubed warnings: “Auslander Raus.” This means “Foreigners get out.” So it seemed fairly clear: one more innocent Muslim family narrowly escaped death at the hands of right-wing Islamophobes. Had the entire family not been out at the time of the fire, they might well have all been consumed in the flames. German politicians rushed to offer their sympathy to the family. The SPD, the Left, and the Greens — all expressed their solidarity with, and sympathy for, these innocent and endangered Muslim migrants. Fingers were pointed at the anti-Muslim immigrant party, the Alternative für Deutschland, presumably for encouraging the murderous arsonists. A great time was had by all those who took this as a morality play, with the Pakistanis representing Good, and the AfD party representing Evil.

Alas, the real story was quite different. More on this morality play, with the Pakistanis no longer the innocent victims that they were initially assumed to be, can be found here: “Germany: 5 Pakistani family members arrested after setting fire to their own house and then blaming ‘Nazis,’” by John Cody, Remix News, March 20, 2024:

In December of last year, the story broke in Germany of a Pakistani family targeted in an arson attack by right-wing extremists on Christmas Day. It had the makings of a perfect story for use by the left, including “Nazis” targeting an innocent foreign family on Christmas day.

Police now say it was all a lie and that the arson attack was carried out by the foreign family against their own house for insurance money. Five family members have now been arrested, including the house owner and his brother-in-law. They are also accused of spraying racist graffiti in the house, including “foreigners out” twice.

After the house fire in Wächtersbach, which is located between the cities of Frankfurt and Fulda, politicians from the Greens and the left attended candlelight vigils denouncing racism, while outpourings “solidarity” against “Nazis” came in from all directions.

Police and fire department investigators initially suspected right-wing extremists were responsible for the arson attack. The Pakistani family was not home during the incident and told police they were visiting a friend, which meant none of them were injured in the attack.

The fire, which investigators now say was set by the family, raged for eight hours on Christmas day in 2023, with damage estimated at €350,000.

Prosecutors say that the family used the right-wing slogans to lead investigators away from the Pakistani family, according to German newspaper Bild.

The investigators focused their efforts on the 47-year-old homeowner, who police noticed had fresh burns on his arm despite claiming he was not home during the fire. Prosecutors believe the family set the fire to claim insurance money.

AfD reacts to the arson arrests

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Hesse, the German state where the arson attack took place, has since commented on the case in a statement:

“It was a slap in the face to many thousands of AfD voters. Just a few weeks ago, the citizens had placed their trust in us with a great election result (in Hesse). In some communities, we are even the strongest force, even ahead of the governing parties. For our political competitors, the house fire was obviously a welcome opportunity to inflict hatred and agitation on our party and our voters. Almost reflexively, the SPD, the Left and the Greens classified this crime as politically motivated.

“Waechtersbach’s mayor (a member of SPD), who is said to have known the affected Pakistani family to be well integrated, took the same line. At this point, we can also answer the question of what the AfD would do differently. In this case, we would raise the bar for successful integration a little higher. Anyone who attracts attention with criminal acts in their freely chosen host country at least raises doubts about successful integration. But we now trust that the German judiciary will make an appropriate assessment. And an apology from the protagonists of the vigil is now in order.”…

What a farce — those candlelight vigils with participants denouncing “racism,” those solemn expressions of solidarity, those warnings about “Nazis” in our midst — because anyone who is opposed to Muslim immigrants must surely be a “Nazi.” And those angry attacks on the AfD, all of it built on the lies of the Pakistani arsonists.

It would not be the first time foreigners in Germany have put lives at risk with an arson attack to claim insurance money. Just a month before this attack, in November 2023, a father and son stood trial for injuring 17 people when they intentionally burned down their poorly performing fashion business to claim insurance money….

In this case too, the arsonists were Muslims. Set fire to your house, or your failing business, collect the insurance money, and on top of it, get the sympathy of all decent people as you sorrowfully recount what those racists and Islamophobes did to you. What could be better?

https://www.frontpagemag.com/germany-another-fake-attack-claimed-by-muslims/

Teams of researches have discovered a lost crusader altar in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, supposedly built on the site of Jesus’s crucifixion in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

In a rear corridor of the church a stone slab daubed in graffiti weighing several tons had been leaning against a wall for an unknown period of time.

However, after it was turned around, it was found to be decorated beautiful ribbon ornaments which enabled its identification as the former front panel of the medieval Crusader altar, consecrated in 1149 and which seemed to have been lost after a fire in 1808.

Scientists were left surprised as the church, which is open to the public, is visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists every day, with the slab in plain sight for visitors.

Ilya Berkovich from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OAW), who conducted the research alongside the Israel Antiquities Authority said: “We know of pilgrimage reports from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries about a magnificent marble altar in Jerusalem.

“The fact that something so important could stand unrecognised in this of all places was completely unexpected for all concerned.

“In 1808, there was a major fire in the Romanesque part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Since then, the Crusader’s altar was lost – at least that’s what people thought for a long time.”

https://www.gbnews.com/science/archaeology-breakthrough-lost-alter-jesus-empty-tomb-discovered

The way in which the altar was decorated also provided researchers with a key link between Rome and Jerusalem with a production technique known as “Cosmatesque.”

This procedure for marble decoration was practised exclusively by guild masters in papal Rome, who passed the skill down from generation to generation. For the Pope at the time, the Cosmatesque art was a cherished status symbol.

Only a few Cosmatesque works of art are known outside of Rome, and so far only one outside of Italy, in Westminster Abbey. The Cosmatesque altar now rediscovered in Jerusalem must also have been created with the Pope’s blessing.

By sending one of the Cosmatesque masters to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to make the new high altar in Christianity’s holiest church, the Pontif supported Christianity’s claim to the city: Berkovich added: “The Pope thus paid tribute to the holiest church in Christianity.”

Berkovich continued: “With an original breadth of more than 3.5 meters, we have discovered the largest medieval altar currently known.”

He added He hopes that further research in the papal archives will reveal more details about the history of the altar and possibly even the identity of the Cosmatesque master who created the artwork.

https://www.gbnews.com/science/archaeology-breakthrough-lost-alter-jesus-empty-tomb-discovered

Mass immigration is an existential threat to indigenous Britain. Are the Leeds riots Britain’s future? Will ethnic violence break Britain? On this week’s #NCFDeprogrammed, hosts Harrison Pitt of the European Conservative magazine and Connor Tomlinson of the Lotus Eaters podcast are joined by Ben Habib, former co-Deputy Leader of Reform UK and former Brexit Party MEP. In a wide-ranging discussion he argues that Reform UK must democratize.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and various ministers are facing fierce backlash after it was revealed that they spent enormous amounts to travel to the European Football Championships, courtesy of the German taxpayer. Germany’s Left Party has also gone on the offensive, noting that Scholz’s wife, SPD politician Britta Ernst, also flew with them and sat in the VIP section, which was allegedly against regulations.

Top ministers were often seen in the stands during matches, including Scholz, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who are all SPD politicians, along with Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, of the Greens. Nearly all of them were present when Germany’s national team lost to Spain in the quarter-finals of the European Football Championships in Stuttgart.

However, a range of cabinet members were seen at various games involving the German team, including in Munich, Frankfurt, and Dortmund.

The total cost for flights to the games hit €531,008.86, which was released after a Left Party politician Sören Pellmann request the data from the government. The costs also include a flight taken by Baerbock, of the Greens, who flew to Luxembourg on official government business after a game despite a ban on night flights. This amounted to a short-haul flight, which the government is looking to ban, and was followed by subsequent short-haul flights from Baerbock.

The Left Party is slamming the government, noting that they are using the German air force to shuttle top politicians to sporting and entertainment events.

“Anyone who causes costs of over half a million euros for six alleged business trips is either completely irresponsible or completely out of touch,” says Pellmann. He added that the air force should “not be the alternative travel option for an evening entertainment program of the federal government… but the air force is probably the more pleasant means of travel for the ministers and the chancellor because of the rail cuts.”

The German government has been under notable pressure over its decision to cut the country’s rail budget despite facing severe problems. There have been nearly endless stories regarding how the country’s rail system has seen a record number of delays, with every second train now late.

Corruption from Scholz?

The cost of the airline tickets is not the only element of the scandal, with Scholz’s wife, Britta Ernst, also accompanying her husband to three different matches. The question now is whether she was entitled to the “honorary tickets” which ministers receive but which are only reserved for representatives of constitutional bodies.

Ernst does not belong to any of those constitutional bodies, even if her husband is the chancellor. Since Germany was the host country, the UEFA issued the honorary tickets to German government VIPs. They are free and cannot be purchased by members of the public, and only 30 were available per game.

German newspaper Welt writes that the regulations state that these special tickets are “exclusively personal and not transferable, not even spontaneously,” according to an internal letter from government director Guido Large to the chairman of the Bundestag’s Sports Committee, Frank Ullrich (SPD).

“In it, Large, who works for the Bundestag administration, explains the exact rules for how a stadium visit for members of the Bundestag works. The letter states quite explicitly: ‘Personal or official accompaniment is not possible,’” writes Welt.

In other words, Ernst had no right to attend the games with Scholz using those honorary tickets improperly, according to Large.

When Welt questioned the federal government about why Ernst received the ticket, the response from the government, according to Welt, was “surprising”:

“The highest representatives of the five federal constitutional bodies – including the Federal Chancellor – are permitted to be accompanied by another person, such as their spouse, at other events, in line with state practice,” said a spokeswoman for the federal government.

However, this directly contradicts what Large said about the tickets, which expressly forbids any “personal” accompaniment. Welt pressed the government numerous times, asking them to point to any written text that might support their claim, but the government has not produced any documentation in support of their claim.

Now, there are calls for Ernst to pay back taxpayers, with the Left Party stating that Scholz’s wife would have to pay back the tickets for the games and the multiple use of the flight service out of her own pocket.

“While real fans had to dig deep into their pockets, the chancellor’s wife sat in premium seats several times — and for free or at the public’s expense,” said First Parliamentary Secretary Christian Görke.

https://rmx.news/article/german-government-splurged-e531000-on-plane-tickets-for-euro-football-championships/

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday spoke for the first time about the interior ministry’s decision to ban the right-wing magazine Compact. At a press conference, Scholz defended the ban, saying “freedom of the press includes being able to say a lot of nonsense, but there are limits that you can’t overlook.”

Seemingly contradicting himself many times on the matter, he said he is a “champion of press freedom,” which is of “the utmost importance for democracy in Germany,” but then went on to say there are “of course opinions that are forbidden in Germany,” including, for example, the glorification of national socialism or anti-semitism.

Der @Bundeskanzler hat offenbar ein komisches Verständnis von Pressefreiheit. #CompactVerbot pic.twitter.com/GyEx20eiT0

— Vadim Derksen (@realDerksen) July 24, 2024

Compact magazine, an anti-establishment, government-critical publication, was banned on Tuesday, July 16th, for “inciting hatred” and “aggressively propagating the toppling of the political order.” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called it “a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene.”

However, the move seems more like the action of a government that wants to silence voices it disagrees with. Experts on constitutional law say the ban amounts to nothing less than an attack on the freedom of the press. Editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsässer emphasised that no court cases brought against Compact could substantiate the accusations of racism, antisemitism, or incitement to violence—claims he rejects.

Olaf Scholz says authorities prepared the ban very carefully, examined all possible legal questions, and the decision was made “for good reason.” When asked whether editorial offices in Germany could now be closed, the chancellor said there are “crimes that must not be committed.”

However, Compact magazine is not accused of having committed crimes. It wasn’t banned under the Criminal Code, which regulates the press, but under association, law which is not protected by the freedom of the press.

The magazine filed a lawsuit against the ban on Wednesday.The German Compact magazine should not be confused with the U.S. publication of the same name.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/scholz-praises-press-freedom-while-saying-some-opinions-are-forbidden/

Seven individuals were detained in Belgium following a series of 14 raids conducted across multiple cities as part of a counter-terrorism operation aimed at preventing an attack ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, which are set to begin tomorrow. The raids took place in Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, and other locations within the country.

The detainees are suspected of involvement in a terrorist group, financing terrorism, and planning an attack. Most of those arrested hail from Central Asia and are identified as members of the “Islamic State – Khorasan,” a group active in Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan.

The purpose of these operations is largely preventative, intended to eliminate any potential risks before the start of the Olympic Games. However, Belgian authorities have noted that while the suspects’ objectives remain unclear, there is no current evidence suggesting that the Olympic Games are a specific target.

Belgium has raised its terrorist threat level to level 3 out of a possible 4, indicating a serious threat. This heightened alert follows the killing of two Swedish football fans prior to the Belgium-Sweden match in October of last year. The attacker, who posted a video on social media, claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State.

https://www.novinite.com/articles/227373/Terror+Threat+Looms+Over+Paris+Olympics%3A+Seven+Arrested+in+Belgium

Two young people were allegedly raped in Gera in November last year. Three suspects have been identified.
The victims are two young women aged 17 and 18. They told the police that the offence took place after a dance event in a flat in Heinrichstraße in Gera. A witness had previously reported the sexual assault on the two young people to the police.

Several men are said to have been involved in the offence. According to the information, the two women had met some of the men during the dance event. The 17-year-old and the 18-year-old were in Gera at the end of last year as part of a student exchange programme. They are originally from the Czech Republic, according to the police and public prosecutor’s office.

The police investigated intensively in the weeks and months that followed and carried out a total of seven house searches in December 2023. In the meantime, eight people were investigated by the police.

After evaluating all the evidence and investigation results, the list of suspects shrank. Only three people from Syria, aged 22, 25 and 30, were suspected of the offence.
In July 2024, the public prosecutor’s office brought charges against the three men. The two main perpetrators are accused of rape and the third is accused of sexual assault. At the request of the public prosecutor’s office in Gera, arrest warrants have since been issued for the main perpetrators.

On July 17, one of the wanted men, a 30-year-old, was arrested by the police. He was brought to court on the same day, but the arrest warrant was suspended subject to conditions.

The second man wanted by warrant has not yet been arrested. However, a manhunt is underway for him.

Schülerinnen von Asylbewerbern vergewaltigt: Haftbefehl gegen einen Täter außer Vollzug gesetzt (tag24.de)

By Jack Hellner

I don’t know how we can offset the devastation.  Studies show that the Earth’s rotation may change from 1 millisecond per century to 2.6 milliseconds per century by the year 2100 if we don’t reduce our emissions. 

If my calculations are correct, that means that in 60,000 years, our use of oil, natural gas, and coal will change the rotation of the Earth by one second.  How could we ever handle such a huge change?  How can anyone tell if these calculations are remotely correct or verify what they say is the cause?  The answer is, we can’t.  It is all a massive scam to make the government bigger and to control our lives.

Everyone should remember that the politicians and bureaucrats who say they can control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity forever say they aren’t responsible for  the rapid inflation in food and oil prices.

I wonder why any of us oppose their policies and don’t trust what they tell us. 

#ClimateCrisis is making days longer, study finds. #ClimateScience #GravitationalDrag #HumanCausedGlobalHeating

The climate crisis is causing the length of each day to get longer, analysis shows, as the mass melting of polar ice reshapes the planet.

The phenomenon is a striking demonstration of how humanity’s actions are transforming the Earth, scientists said, rivalling natural processes that have existed for billions of years.

“We can see our impact as humans on the whole Earth system, not just locally, like the rise in temperature, but really fundamentally, altering how it moves in space and rotates,” said Prof Benedikt Soja of ETH Zurich in Switzerland. “Due to our carbon emissions, we have done this in just 100 or 200 years. Whereas the governing processes previously had been going on for billions of years, and that is striking.”

Human timekeeping is based on atomic clocks, which are extremely precise. However, the exact time of a day – one rotation of the Earth – varies due to lunar tides, climate impacts and some other factors, such as the slow rebound of the Earth’s crust after the retreat of ice sheets formed in the last ice age.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, used observations and computer reconstructions to assess the impact of melting ice on the length of the day. The rate of slowing varied between 0.3 and 1.0 millisecond per century (ms/cy) between 1900 and 2000. But since 2000, as melting accelerated, the rate of change also accelerated to 1.3ms/cy.

“This present-day rate is likely higher than at any time in the past few thousand years,” the researchers said. “It is projected to remain approximately at a level of 1.0 ms/cy for the next few decades, even if greenhouse gas emissions are severely curbed.” If emissions are not cut, the slowing rate will increase to 2.6 ms/cy by 2100, overtaking lunar tides as the single biggest contributor to long-term variations in the length of days, they said.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/07/now_climate_change_is_ruining_the_earth_s_rotation.html