As Germans flirt with idea of first Green chancellor, a key opposition figure warns of the party’s ‘cultural Marxist’ agenda

Leaders of the Green party Annalena Baerbock (L) and Robert Habeck present the draft of their party's electoral program in Berlin on March 19, 2021 © AFP

By Damian Wilson, a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street editor, financial industry consultant and political communications special advisor in the UK and EU.

With Germany’s federal elections less than six months away and Angela Merkel’s alliance in disarray over corruption and mishandling of the pandemic, the Greens have surged in the polls, sparking the idea of a new Green Chancellor.

Spring has arrived with a burst of new growth for the German Greens, giving rise to the biggest potential upset in Germany’s politics since the war – the election of the nation’s first Green chancellor.  

One poll has the ruling Christian Democrats and Christian Socialist alliance just two points ahead of the Greens, but not everyone is blown away with the idea. Leading German opposition figure Gunnar Beck says he’s “very concerned” at the surge in Green votes with the federal elections less than six months away. 

Because the Greens are not about vegetarianism and driving electric cars in Germany, they promote an ideology steeped in the radical left and that, he says, is worrying. 

Speaking exclusively with RT.com, the Alternative für Deutschland Euro MP warned, “The Green Party is not about ecologism.

“It is now a cultural Marxist, internationalist party so they would press for a much more centralised EU state, fiscal union, ever-more money printing by the European Central Bank, solidarity in more policy areas, the green transition... in short everything that is subsumed beneath the term ‘The Great Reset’.

“The trouble is that many of the ideas coming from the Greens have never been tried and young voters have a great deal of misplaced confidence in them. They don’t know about the cost and the cultural and economic consequences of Green policies, so there will be widespread disenchantment after a few years of this radical cultural Marxism. 

“In terms of migration, for instance, the Greens have made no secret of the fact that they would like to see Germany transformed beyond all recognition and I think we could see much more immigration than even the very high levels we’ve seen under Angela Merkel.” 

While Merkel’s government has been rocked by a series of recent scandals involving top politicians profiteering from government contracts for protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, the CDU/CSU partnership has lost its shine for many, but Beck believes it’s not game over… yet. 

He suggests the current favourite for the top job, CDU boss Armin Laschet, will be replaced by popular CSU leader Markus Söder as the Union’s candidate, giving a much-needed boost to the alliance. 

“It’s quite possible that they will choose a new candidate in Söder to run for Chancellor, instead of Laschet and this should help revive the fortunes of the CDU-CSU somewhat,” Beck says. “The alliance will come through the election but quite probably with fewer seats, whereas the Greens should improve on their last result quite significantly. The most likely outcome is a new coalition of the CDU/CSU with the Greens, in which case the Greens would be very influential in a lot of key cabinet posts. 

“So irrespective of whether they get the largest share of the votes or come in a close second I think the Greens would have a profound effect on German policy in every respect. I think broadly they will continue Merkel’s policies but at a much faster pace.” 

For Beck, the outlook is grim. 

“Sadly, a lot of damage could be done on the way to bringing home to people what Green policies actually entail in terms of rising inequality and reduced living standards.

“And that is something we should all be concerned about.”https://www.rt.com/news/519644-german-green-chancellor-cultural-marxist/

 

South Africa: Limpopo pastor farts on congregation to heal them with ’G-d’s power’

Christ Penelope, who founded Seven Fold Holy Spirit Ministries, farts on his congregants as a healing ritual that he claims cures all spiritual and physical problems.

Self-styled pastor Christ Penelope, who founded Seven Fold Holy Spirit Ministries, reportedly farts on his congregants as a healing process that cures all spiritual and physical problems.

The pastor from Giyani, Limpopo, gained viral attention after a photo of him sitting on a congregant’s face and allegedly farting made the rounds on social media.

However, the pastor has defended himself saying it is the demonstration of G-d’s power after he was accused of hiding behind religion to perpetuate his disgraceful actions.

In an interview with Drum, Penelope said his unorthodox, and stinky healing ritual is a demonstration of G-d’s power.

He claims that he is following the divine example of putting people in need of a miracle into a deep sleep before giving them the healing they need.

"It started with Master Jesus when he stepped on Peter. It is the demonstration of G-d's power. Just like G-d made Adam go into a deep sleep, it is a similar thing. G-d did anything with the body of Adam while he was on the ground in deep sleep. He was not feeling anything," Penelope told Drum.

He says it’s important that the fart be near the person’s nostrils so that the “healing power” can enter the body and do its work.

After stepping or sitting on the congregants whilst they are in “deep sleep”, Penelope claims when the congregants wake up, they say they didn’t feel anything.

The man of the cloth said that people who are sick are healed after his fart ritual.

ol.co.za/news/south-africa/limpopo/limpopo-pastor-farts-on-congregation-to-heal-them-with-gods-power-c9fbae67-375c-4df8-a411-6e2ab5938eda

Why effective handling of Boko Haram deserters matters

 

Why effective handling of Boko Haram    deserters   matters

The fact that thousands have left the group is an advantage, but only if they are properly reintegrated.

In the highly volatile Lake Chad Basin area, the decision by many recruits to leave Boko Haram means the group’s ranks are shrinking. This is a positive sign for efforts to reduce terrorism. However, it should go hand in hand with a regional strategy on disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration, repatriation and resettlement. This will lay the foundation for a transition from conflict to peace.

Young people and adults from the four Lake Chad Basin countries (Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria) join Boko Haram – made up of Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (JAS) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) – for various reasons.

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) research shows that some joined willingly, inspired by the group’s religious rhetoric or narrative on state neglect, or for socioeconomic opportunities. Others were conscripted or abducted and held captive in Boko Haram strongholds. This variety of reasons accounts for the diversity of ex-Boko Haram associates.

Although accurate figures are difficult to find, ISS data suggests at least 2 400 desertions in Chad, 1 000 in Nigeria, 584 in Cameroon and 243 in Niger. Motives for leaving Boko Haram include individual circumstances, safety concerns and the groups’ internal dynamics, among others.

On the individual level, some people disengage because their expectations – based on religious ideals or economic opportunities – have not been met. For others, poor living conditions in the camps are a factor. The exposure to intensifying military offensives such as air strikes by Lake Chad Basin countries and the effective deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force make the situation untenable.

Boko Haram also imposes harsh restrictions on members, along with permanent surveillance and corporal punishment for those suspected or convicted of deviating from the groups’ rules. These rules include ‘immorality’, stealing, drug abuse, etc. Within the group, the uneven application of rules fosters a sense of injustice. In some cases, the death penalty is applied. Inter-faction rivalries and violence have also caused people to leave.

ISS research in the Lake Chad Basin reveals that people who split from Boko Haram face a dangerous journey to reintegration. Personal experiences reflect three major problems with the way deserters are managed on their path to reintegration.

First, government initiatives aimed at disarmament, reintegration and resettlement are nationally focused, even though the conflict affects the whole Lake Chad Basin region. Operation Safe Corridor for example, continues in Nigeria amid difficulties and Niger has graduated its first beneficiaries of the Goudoumaria rehabilitation centre. Cameroon’s facilities have also started operating and Chad is continuing with direct reintegration of low-risk former associates into its communities.

Approaches must however that take account of the regional nature of the crisis given that Boko Haram’s recruitment, movement and attacks are transnational. And when members decide to leave, the process of disengagement also takes place across national borders.

Second, the uncertainty surrounding the fate of people who leave Boko Haram discourages others from making the same decision. The third problem is that communities aren’t centrally involved in reintegration processes even though they facilitate disengagement and are the first point of contact for ex-Boko Haram associates. Reconciliation depends on communities’ approval and agreement – it cannot be dictated.

The fact that thousands of individuals associated with or kidnapped by Boko Haram are deserting is an advantage for Lake Chad Basin countries in their efforts to stabilise the region. The trend means that the group is being progressively deprived of vital human resources and logistics. It also provides a potential source of information about Boko Haram’s financial and recruitment strategies.

Approaches that capitalise on these benefits must go hand in hand with strategies to protect communities from attacks and reprisals, and forceful recruitment by Boko Haram.

Desertions also need to be effectively managed. The way in which ex-Boko Haram associates are received and screened must be predictable and based on standard reception-screening-profiling mechanisms. Regional standards and protocols along with enabling legislation should guide demobilisation in the four Lake Chad Basin countries.

Specific policies on the role of women and children in violent extremism are also needed. To build societal resilience to groups like Boko Haram, community participation should be prioritised throughout the rehabilitation process, including design, implementation and evaluation. Through cooperation and sharing lessons, countries in the Lake Chad Basin region can develop national and regional strategies that work.

Remadji Hoinathy, Senior Researcher, Akinola Olojo, Senior Researcher and Malik Samuel, Researcher, ISS Regional Office for West Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin

This article was produced with the support of the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of Denmark as well as the Hanns Seidel Foundation’s Regional Representation for West Africa.

https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-effective-handling-of-boko-haram-deserters-matters

 

Dante redacted for modern sensitivities

A new Dutch translation of the The Divine Comedy by the medieval Italian author, Dante Alighieri, has attracted attention for having removed references to the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

The epic poem describes a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, during which Dante describes the various actions, experiences and choices that accounted for the presence of souls in different parts of these realms. The text is populated by historical characters.

Mohammed is depicted in Hell as having been a ‘Sower of Discord and Scandal’.  His body is split and disembowelled, representing the division in religion for which Dante holds him responsible. A number of other figures are likewise depicted in this context, although Mohammed appears to hold a uniquely prominent place in the scene.

Translator Lies Lavrijsen said in an interview that the removal of Mohammed from the text would give the translation the ‘widest possible accessibility’, with especial reference to ‘a younger audience’. Leaving the passage would have ‘hurt’ many readers, she said, noting the recent murder of Samuel Paty in France. 

Paty, a schoolteacher, was murdered in October 2020 after having used controversial cartoons about Mohammed during a class on freedom of expression.

The head of publisher Blossom Books, Myrthe Spiteri, said that the inclusion of Mohammed was superfluous to the overall narrative. She added that ‘founding a religion cannot be reprehensible’.

However, some critics, such as Italian literary scholar Elisabetta Sala, condemned the removal of Mohammed from the famous text, terming it ‘cultural vandalism’. Speaking to the conservative Catholic website, Church Militant, she commented on the possible incongruity of removing the references to Mohammed while other transgressors – including those whose conduct would today be unremarkable – remain damned. ‘The funny bit, though, is that Lavrijsen leaves other people, such as popes and homosexuals, suffering in Hell. She’s already become a conservative and a reactionary, as one day we’ll have to remove them too and perhaps get rid of Hell itself!’

https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/03/30/dante-redacted-for-modern-sensitivities/

Oxford University May Scrap Sheet Music for Being Complicit in ‘White Supremacy’

 Oxford University May Scrap Sheet Music for Being Complicit in ‘White Supremacy’

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Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

The University of Oxford is considering proposals that would remove sheet music from its curriculum over woke claims that teaching the Western form of musical notation has roots in “colonialism” and “complicity in white supremacy”.

In response to widespread Black Lives Matter protesters and riots last year in the United Kingdom, music educators at Oxford University have joined the wider iconoclastic movement which has been sweeping through British academia.

The music department at the prestigious and ancient university has seen calls to remove music notation from the curriculum as professors seek to focus less on white European heritage and culture, according to documents seen by The Telegraph.

The woke educators went on to claim that musical notation itself is a “colonialist representational system” that has “complicity to white supremacy”. The claim is similar to leftist pronouncements in America that mathematics is inherently racist.

The Oxford academics went on to pronounce that teaching the piano or conducting orchestras could cause “students of colour great distress” as the skills involved are closely tied to “white European music”.

Professors at the university said that the classical music which is taught at Oxford, which includes Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert, among others, is too focused on “white European music from the slave period”.

The assertion is somewhat dubious, as Western classical music, as well as the practice of sheet music notation, predates the Atlantic slave trade, stemming back to musical traditions from the medieval period such as Gregorian chanting.

In response to student demands “arising from international Black Lives Matter demonstrations,” the Oxford faculty is also considering placing a heavier emphasis on “non-Eurocentric” musical traditions such as Hip-Hop and Jazz, as well as “African and African Diasporic Musics” and “Global Musics”.

The curriculum could also place more importance on pop music and culture, with suggested topics including “Artists Demanding Trump Stop Using Their Songs” at campaign rallies and “Dua Lipa’s Record-Breaking Livestream”.

Mocking the woke push from the university, London mayoral candidate and Heritage Party leader David Kurten said: “For goodness sake. Oxford is supposed to be one of our top Universities that promotes academic rigour and excellence. It should not be peddling woke nonsense like ‘classical music is racist and ‘sheet music is non-inclusive'”.

The proposals come amid a wider push throughout British academia to “decolonise the curriculum” in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In February, for example, the University of Leicester caused uproar after it proposed cutting courses in Medieval English literature — removing seminal works such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf — in favour of focusing more heavily on texts relating to sexuality, diversity, race, and ethnicity.

The woke push has also seen the introduction of speech codes, with the University of Manchester telling staff to refrain from using gendered words such as “father” or “mother” in favour of more “inclusive language”.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/03/29/oxford-university-considers-scraping-sheet-music-for-being-complicit-in-white-supremacy/

Attackers came to kill and not to rob

 

South Africa: Houtkop farm attack: Attackers came to kill and not to rob

Crime Correspondent

March 29, 2021

Houtkop farm attack: Attackers came to kill and not to rob

A farm attack took place on Monday 22 March 2021, on the JakkalsRand smallholding in the Houtkop area in Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Corlene van Wyk (42) was savagely attacked and left for dead by two black attackers.

The woman was overpowered when she went outside the house to see if the washing was dry.

She was pushed from the porch by one attacker who started to assault her whilst the other went inside the house and started to ransack.

The attacker who was in the house then came out and shot at her at point blank range four times, she was hit in the leg and arm. The last shot was aimed at her head but miraculously the bullet only grazed her head.

She then fell down and pretended to be dead. With her one hand, which was hit by a bullet, she had over her face and the blood streamed down, bringing the attackers under the impression that their victim was dead. The attackers then fled on foot.

The woman was alone at home during the attack. Her son was at school and her husband at work. After the attackers fled she managed to make a desperate call to her husband for help and is currently in hospital where she is being treated for three bullet wounds, concussion and cuts to her upper body. She already had 2 operations and more may follow.

A further tragedy followed when the vehicle driven by Mr Ben Pretorius (70) with his granddaughter Bernice (13) as passenger was involved in an accident with a bakkie driven by a community member involved in a search operation for the suspects. Mr Pretorius and Bernice had to be airlifted to hospital and are being treated in the same hospital where the woman is being treated.

Bernice is making progress but Mr Pretorius is still in critical condition.

Renee Jain (50), a manager at Cape Union Mart, was murdered during a home invasion robbery on the De Vierde Liefde estate at Wolseley on Friday 26 March at about 2300. 

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/gauteng/houtkop-farm-attack-attackers-came-to-kill-and-not-to-rob/

What do the banks’ think about Expropriation Bill?

 

South Africa: #CitizenAbuse – What do the banks’ think about Expropriation Bill?

Both the government and South Africa’s financial institutions must make clear their positions regarding the mortgage bonds on properties that may be expropriated under the terms set out in the Expropriation Bill.

This is the view of the Institute of Race Relations.

With all indications being that the Expropriation Bill will be passed, its practical implications need to be spelt out. The Bill makes provision for the expropriation of property at ‘nil’ compensation in various circumstances, and the probability of compensation being significantly below market value in most others.

Bonds to purchase property are a major financial obligation for countless South African households – an arduous one that is taken in the expectation of accumulating assets and building financial security. 

In instances where bonded properties are taken, what responsibilities will be imposed on the dispossessed bondholders? The Bill suggests that bonds will be terminated, but does this imply that outstanding debts will be cancelled? Or is the expectation that bondholders will need to continue servicing their bonds until they are paid off, even if the asset has been taken?

What position do banks take? In the event of a seizure of a client’s property, will they require payments to continue?

These are seminally important questions for millions of South Africans. Will their government and the financial institutions in whom they have trusted respect or disregard their interests? This is no longer a conceptual issue, but is poised to become a very real avenue for the abuse of South Africa’s people.

The Institute of Race Relations will be pressing both the government and financial institutions to spell out their positions clearly and unambiguously on this.

The Institute of Race Relations is a 91-year-old South African civil society body and think tank promoting freedom and working against #CitizenAbuse.

https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/03/29/citizenabuse-what-do-the-banks-think-about-expropriation-bill/