’Frohe Weihnachten’, which is German for ‘Merry Christmas’, is the traditional greeting heard all throughout Germany.
Strangely, that was omitted from an official Christmas card from Annette Widmann-Mauz, Germany’s Minister for Migration, Refugees and Integration.
There was a photograph of the minister with several employees and included a Christmas tree in the background. However, otherwise it was a relatively un-festive card.
The card’s message, “No matter what you believe in, we wish you a contemplating time and a good start of the New Year,” was cause for criticism.
In Germany, Christmas is traditionally the largest holiday, so it seems amiss that Widmann-Mauz would omit Christmas from the official card.
Especially when she has congratulated other faiths on their holidays and didn’t miss wishing a happy Ramadan to those of the Muslim faith.
After much internet disapproval, including some saying there is nothing ‘Christian’ in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and that she is not right for her job, Annette’s office wrote on Twitter:
Moroccan-French journalistZineb El Rhazoui says she has received death and rape threats for saying “innoccous” things like: “Islam has to submit to French laws, humour, reason and any form of criticism just like any other ideology, sect or religion”.
According to the former cartoonist of Charlie Hebdo“There is no valid reason for Islam to be an exception”.
Women who SPEAK about Islam in France are threatened with Rape & Death!
Do Americans understand this is happening here in the USA too?
Not only do Jihadists threaten my life for criticizing Islam BUT Leftist media libels me & helps Terrorists locate me and my loved ones – WHY? pic.twitter.com/uf4HgKNDo6
“Conservative”Erick Erickson suggested Thursday that folks at all levels of our military are so outraged that they won’t have the chance to die in Syria as a result of President Trump pulling out that they might stage a coup to keep the war going.
“If we lived in a lesser country than our great nation, today is the day we really would be talking about a military coup,” Erickson tweeted. “Soldiers down to the enlisted ranks are raising hell about the President’s Syria decision.”
Erickson later claimed he wasn’t advocating for a coup but merely saying our country is so great because “we live in a stable democracy where the military can disagree and still carry out orders.”
He also said everyone criticizing him is a Russian bot:
An investigation has been launched in Canada after it was revealed that one of the Abu Sayyaf militants who beheaded Canadian tourists John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, in the Philippines is still actively posting on the social media site.
Screenshots captured on Facebook page of Bhen Tatuh appear to show the jihadis holding the decapitated heads of the Canadian tourists, as well as pictures with the ISIS flag and a suicide vest.
Facebook, which has made an active effort to silence Conservatives, Jews, and Christians, was unavailable for comment as to why they are allowing jihadi killers to use their platform to post terrorist propaganda.
Something must be said about how Facebook has found it necessary to ban Conservative Jewish journalists like myself, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, and other Conservatives like Alex Jones, Gavin McInnes, Tommy Robinson, but if you’re a terrorist, you’re allowed to use Facebook. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Louis Farrakhan, and Iranian dictators who chant “death to Israel” and “death to America” all have verified Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Are freedom loving Conservatives a bigger threat than Islamic terrorists who are decapitating innocent young women?
Last week, Facebook banned Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a post critical of Islamic terrorists.
How is it that a Jewish Conservative journalist and the Israeli Prime Minister’s son get banned on social media for posting facts about Islam, actual Islamic terrorists are allowed to post pictures of themselves beheading innocent people?
Through their pro-Sharia terms of service, Facebook and Twitter are clearly signaling that it’s ok to be a terrorist, but not ok to be a Conservative, or a Jew.
President Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria has been met with some push back among neoconservatives and the media. Although the move seems consistent with the presidents previous statements about the conflict, that didn’t stop some from expressing shock over the decision. Undoubtedly, the two loudest voices among Republicans were Senators Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio.
Graham called the move an “Obama-like” mistake. Rubio, apparently trying to establish himself as the leading figure of the neoconservative movement, went as far as calling the president’s decision a “retreat.” Graham and Rubio have both expressed past support for using the US military to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The response from many in the media hasn’t been too different from that of the neocons. CNN’s Erin Burnett strongly condemned President Trump’s decision. She said the president was giving Vladimir Putin an early Christmas present by withdrawing US soldiers from Syria. However, she failed to articulate why she believes the lives of US soldiers are less valuable than the alleged disruption between the US and Russia.
Burnett wasn’t the only CNN personality to attack the president for his decision. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria also bashed the withdraw of US troops from Syria. He claimed President Trump was making an even bigger mistake than former president George W Bush’s “mission accomplished” fiasco during the Iraq War. It’s worth noting that Zakaria is one of many prominent members of the media who supported the decision to invade Iraq.
Anchors from other networks also condemned the president’s choice to withdraw troops from Syria. Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade called Trump’s decision “stunning and irresponsible.” He also suggested the president was “cutting and running.” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough expressed similar sentiments on his show this morning.
The reaction of the neoconservatives and like minded members of the media shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The two groups have united numerous times in the past, salivating at the idea of a ground war to overthrow Assad in Syria. Thankfully, peace has prevailed.
United States military forces have been in Syria for over four years. The first known instance of American troops fighting on the ground in Syria occurred in July of 2014, as part of a hostage rescue operation. The Global War on Terror has already cost US tax payers nearly 6 trillion dollars. To provide that number some context, the combined value of the entire US housing market is worth about 30 trillion dollars.
Elsewhere, President Trump’s decision has been met with praise. Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul both applauded the president’s withdraw of troops from Syria. Senator Paul saidthe president’s decision is another example of Trump keeping his campaign promises. Paul further defended the move, saying the president’s decision in Syria illustrates why he won the 2016 election.
This article contains the personal opinions of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Mess of Media. This disclaimer appears on all articles that feature the personal opinions of the author, as Mess of Media is an unbiased and nonpartisan source of information.
Debate has been raging about whether white South African farmers deserve special attention under Australia’s humanitarian visa program. Like many issues in Australia, it is split along partisan lines. Conservatives highlight horrendous violence suffered by farmers and say they would integrate well in Australia while progressives say the motivation is more about race. According to police figures, 71 people were murdered on South African farms in the year to March 2017, but farmers say that figure does not reflect the full extent of the violence.
A woman was killed and nine other people were seriously injured as a car rammed into a group of commuters waiting for a bus in the western German town of Recklinghausen. Police say the driver might have attempted suicide.
A passenger car suddenly strayed into the oncoming lane and plowed through the people at a crowded bus stop midday on Thursday, the witnesses said, describing the scene as “chaotic.”
Ten people were taken to hospital in serious condition, with one woman later succumbing to her injuries.
The police believe that the collision was intentional, with spokeswoman, Ramona Hörst, saying that were “first indications of a possible suicide attempt by the man.”
The driver survived the crash and was released from his wrecked car by the firefighters. According to other reports, the man wasn’t trapped in the vehicle.
The incident comes in wake of a string of ramming attacks in Europe, with radicalized assailants using vehicles to target civilians in France, Spain, Sweden, and other countries.
Germany saw its deadliest vehicle attack in December 2016. Twelve people lost their lives and 56 others were wounded when a Tunisian national plowed his truck through a Christmas market in central Berlin.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
In a truly fitting turn of events, news broke Thursday that Claas Relotius, a German journalist named CNN’s 2014 “Journalist of the Year” made up at least 14 stories contributed to German publication Der Spiegal.
“The reporter contributed around 60 articles to Der Spiegel, one of the leading German magazines for investigative reporting,” according to Fox News. “He previously worked for other publications in Europe and won awards such as CNN Journalist of the Year in 2014.”
CNN, which has been branded a fake news by President Donald J. Trump and millions of ordinary Americans – and curiously wonders why on a daily basis – awarded a bona fide fake news writer an award for the quality of his journalism. Sometimes the jokes write themselves.
“The fabricated articles include a phone interview with the parents of free agent NFL player Colin Kaepernick and a story about an American woman who claims to have volunteered to witness the executions of death row inmates,” according to the report.
Relotius’ web of lies began to unravel in November when a reporter with whom he worked on a story about an Arizona border militia realized that Relotius had fabricated interviews.
According to the report, residents of Fergus Falls, Minn. were enraged to find that Relotius wrote an entirely fabricated story about their town after spending nearly three weeks investigating there. The story, which fabricated people, quotes, and nearly everything about the town cast President Donald J. Trump in a negative light. It was titled “Where They Pray for Trump on Sundays.”
The report said that Relotius admitted that he is unwell.
“I am sick and I need to get help,” he reportedly told Der Spiegel.
A 20-year-old Syrian refugee has been charged for terrorist activities and by the correctional court in Charleroi, Belgium.
Newspaper HLN reports that the man, named Ahmed A., tested a bomb in his back garden in Mouscron.
The Syrian national was already monitored after an FBI warning, Belgian officials said. The charges against the man are: Preparing a terrorist attack and participating in terrorist activities.
After his arrest the man told via a translator that the explosives were to be used for fishing, but these remarks were rejected by the magistrate.
She said the man was tracked down after his online search for terrorist activities and his research into making explosives.
The Syrian refugee’s lawyer called the man ‘a peaceful refugee’ instead of a terrorist and said the test in his back garden wasn’t serious.
But according to the magistrate the man liked the activities of ISIS on Facebook and Telegram. The prosecutor demanded five years in jail. The verdict is on 16 January next year.
Tom's Blog 