Christmas Week: Adeste Fideles

Now see here...

I'm sure it's nothing:

In a rerun of the Bastille Day terrorist attack in Nice, a truck driver plowed a 7-ton semi through a bustling Monday evening Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, causing mass carnage for which the Islamic State quickly took credit.

Berlin police said on Twitter, according to a computer-assisted translation by The Washington Times, that “12 people lost their lives.” The same tweet put the injury toll at 48.

According to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Berlin Mayor Michael Muller said “the situation is under control” with a suspect in custody and the public threat over.

The Berlin police said the truck contained two men, one of whom “died on the spot.” A man suspected of being the driver “was arrested in the vicinity.”

“The backgrounds are still unclear,” the Berlin police wrote on Twitter. But according to the German newspaper Die Welt, “indications are gathering that the arrested truck driver is Pakistani.”

 
One would think that the Germans learned something from the French.



Also in Germany:

A 12-year-old boy tried to detonate a nail bomb at a Christmas market in Germany, authorities said.

And:

A gunman dressed in black stormed into the prayer hall of a mosque frequented by Somali immigrants and opened fire, wounding three people before fleeing, a Zurich police spokesman said Monday.

Police, who rushed to the scene in a central neighbourhood known for trendy cafes and the city’s red-light district, were also investigating a possible connection to the discovery of a corpse at nearby Gessner bridge over the Sihl River, police spokesman Marco Bisa said.

Authorities weren’t considering the attack as terrorism, he said. Police also said it was too early to determine whether there might be any link to an incident in Berlin also on Monday, where a truck rammed into a Christmas market, killing at least nine people.

This is a pattern of behaviour that even the victims will not admit exists:

That Oraby hates Copts simply because they are Christian came out clearly towards the end of her tirade, when she said: "They [Copts] must learn very well that the Crescent [Islam] must be above the Cross [Christianity]."

**

A seven-year-old girl calmly walked into a Damascus police station before blowing herself up, Syrian media has reported.

The explosion in the bustling Midan neighbourhood of the Syrian capital wounded three police officers, said the Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government.

‘A seven-year-old girl entered the police station, carrying a belt that was detonated from afar,’ the paper posted on its Facebook page.

A police source told Al-Watan that the little girl had appeared lost and asked to use the bathroom when the explosives went off.

A clip filmed at the scene of the incident, in the centre of Damascus, shows parts of the building reduced to rubble in the blast.

At one stage in the report, the camera shows the child’s remains, which have been blurred out.

The girl’s explosive device was reportedly detonated by her handlers, who were outside the building at the time….

But in the midst of this, there is decency:

A Muslim businessman erected the tallest Christmas tree in Baghdad as a show of solidarity with Iraqi Christians struggling during this holiday season.

Yassir Saad said he erected the tree in order to join "our Christian brothers in their holiday celebrations and helping Iraqis forget their anguish, especially the war in Mosul," according to the Associated Press (AP). Mosul remains a flashpoint in the war between Iraqi state forces and the Islamic State (ISIS).

Saad told the AP the 85-foot-tall artificial tree, with a diameter of 33 feet, cost around $24,000. The tree is in the center of an amusement park in Iraq's capital city.

"This tree represents love and peace," teacher Saba Ismael told her visiting students. "I wish all Iraqi Christians could return to Iraq and live normal and peaceful lives."

Would that people were this good and civil. 

A Turkish policeman killed a Russian envoy:

A Turkish policeman fatally shot Russia's ambassador to Turkey on Monday in front of a shocked audience at a photo exhibit and then, pacing near the body of his victim, appeared to condemn Russia's military role in Syria, shouting: "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!"

In other news: 

Amnesty International says its research has found that scores - possibly hundreds - of refugees and asylum-seekers have been sent back to Syria and Iraq.

"This is absolutely illegal, both under Turkish and international law, because you cannot forcibly return someone to a place where their lives and rights are in danger," said Andrew Gardner, the head of Amnesty in Turkey. 

"The EU needs to wake up to the fact that on its own borders, international law is being broken on a regular basis. 

"And the EU needs to wake up to the fact that its gatekeeper in Turkey is violating the rights of refugees in detaining them secretly and arbitrarily - and returning them to Syria."

 Now that Trump has officially won, can everyone get on with life?

It took quite a while for Texas to get to it, thanks to the need to replace four electors who didn’t show up for the vote today, as well as conduct three (!) rounds of voting to elect a chair and another for secretary. It took two hours and fifteen minutes to finally get to business; it was a bit like watching a House vote with a three-hour window. Nevertheless, the Lone Star State finally cast its votes for the statewide winner of the popular vote, Donald Trump. Trump got 36 of the 38 votes, with Ron Paul and John Kasich getting one each.

That puts Trump’s total at 304, and all of his states have completed their voting. At this point (5:35 pm ET), Hillary has lost four electors, with the possibility of losing more in California.

The state of North Carolina is thinking of vetoing a law that allows pretend men and women use bathrooms they ought not to:

North Carolina's governor-elect said on Monday a deal could soon bring the repeal of a state law limiting bathroom access for transgender people, following nine months of economic boycotts and protests over legislation protested as discriminatory.

Under the law adopted in March, North Carolina was the first U.S. state to ban transgender people from using government-run restrooms that match their gender identity. The law, which catapulted the state to the forefront of U.S. culture wars over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, has been blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses and the relocation of major sporting events.

In a surprise development, incoming Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said on Monday that Republican legislative leaders agreed to call a special session as soon as Tuesday to repeal the law, known as House Bill (H.B.) 2.

"I hope they will keep their word to me," Cooper said in a statement. "Full repeal will help to bring jobs, sports and entertainment events back and will provide the opportunity for strong LGBT protections in our state." 

Earlier on Monday, the city council in Charlotte, the state's largest city, voted to remove local non-discrimination measures that triggered the state's bathroom legislation. The city this year added protections for marital and familial status, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity.

Noting that state law pre-empted their efforts, city council members urged the state legislature to repeal HB 2 immediately. 

There are many issues that affect many people. That this should be a priority means that an agenda, not something of great import, is at play.



Also:

Ehrhard told the painful story of Dr. Kathleen Levinstein, a professor of social work at the University of Michigan, whose daughter became convinced she was really a man trapped in a woman's body. Transgender activists with Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) pressured her to take sex-altering hormones and cut off her breasts. Only after it was too late did Levinstein realize the irreversible mutilation of her daughter's body. The hormones also did not bring peace, but rather further psychological confusion.

"She has been taken advantage of. Healthy organs were amputated," Levinstein wrote of her daughter. "It is a crime not just against women, but particularly against disabled women. So many of these young women who are 'transitioning' are also autistic."

No! It can't possibly be an agenda! 

But... but... Brexit!

When British voters were still trying to decide whether they should support or oppose Brexit, the "Remain" camp told them that doing so would result in a horrific economic collapse. Oh yes, the country's economy would go down the drain. There was no stopping it. Brexit meant financial ruin.

Well, as it turns out, the opposite is actually happening:

This week is forecast to be the busiest yet for retailers as shoppers leave it to the last minute to buy presents.

Because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, buyers have effectively been given an extra Saturday of spending on Christmas Eve, bumping up sales to unprecedented levels.

Cash withdrawals this month are at an all-time high and stores say they expect records to tumble.

And now, helping the right way:

The Latin-liturgy chanting, beer-brewing Benedictine monks of Norcia, Italy, the birthplace of St. Benedict, are living and praying in temporary structures after an earthquake in August damaged their buildings and a big quake in late October razed their basilica, except for the facade.

The monks have not been able to brew beer since before the summer quake, but in a newsletter to supporters in mid-December, they reported that bottles shipped earlier to the United States are available for Christmas gift giving. Their U.S. online store has all the details.

The purchase of beer will help the monks rebuild and will help the devastated town of Norcia.

(Merci beaucoup)