The news feed is light tonight. It’s possible that most of our tipsters are busy wrapping presents. Or rushing around doing last-minute Christmas shopping. Or sitting with a loaded shotgun, waiting for Santa to come down the chimbley…

The big story of the day is that the Islamic State claims to have shot down a Jordanian fighter jet and captured its pilot before he could be rescued. American officials confirm that the plane was shot down, and that the pilot was captured, but say that ISIS was not the culprit.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Andy Bostom, Fjordman, Jerry Gordon, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley and the “Meshugga Muslim” Jihad Against the Police

by Andrew Bostom

Maimonides referred to Muhammad—Islam’s prototype jihadist—as a bellicose “ha-meshugga,” “Madman,” whose objective was “procuring rule and submission,” whereby “he invented his well known religion.” The Hebrew term, ha-meshugga, as historian Norman Stillman has observed wryly, was, and remains, “pregnant with connotations.”

Reflecting upon Maimonides’ timeless wisdom, we must have the intellectual fortitude to contemplate, with candor, from a non-Muslim perspective, whether Islamic jihadism and “madness”/”madmen” may interact in a complementary, even synergistic manner.

***

At 2:45 p.m., Saturday, December 20, 2014, Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley approached two people on a street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. After requesting that they follow him on Instagram, he told them, “Watch what I’m going to do.” Within 2 minutes, at 2:47 p.m., Brinsley reached the passenger window of a marked police car, and fired a lethal barrage at the heads of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. Fleeing into a nearby subway station, pursued by police officers, Ismaaiyl Brinsley stopped, and shot himself, fatally, in the head.

Immediate post-mortem accounts riveted, appropriately, on Brinsley’s history of mental illness, personal failure, and paroxysms of violent anger—he even wounded his Baltimore area girlfriend, just before departing by bus for New York City, that fateful Saturday morning. However, by Saturday, Brinsley had focused his vengeful rage on the recent deaths of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. According to the now rigidly enforced narrative, Brinsley executed Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in cold blood due, solely, to his warped perception of their “shared culpability” in the tragic deaths of Garner and Brown.

Although, doubtless, the aforementioned psycho-social factors contributed in significant measure to Brinsley’s heinous actions, major media reportage and “pundit” commentaries have scrupulously—and selectively—avoided any serious discussion of his Muslim background, and related pursuits, all of which can be gleaned from his social media accounts (see here; here; here; and here). This willful lacuna in media coverage and analysis is unacceptable given the current spate of Muslim jihadist violence targeting Western institutions of authority, notably, the police (see here; here; and here). Whether such violence is fueled, additionally, by mental illness, etc., or not, we know that Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, official spokesman for, and a senior leader of, the Islamic State, openly encouraged Western Muslims to attack non-Muslims within their own societies in a September 22, 2014 pronouncement.Consistent with traditional, authoritative Islamic jihad war jurisprudence’s designation of even enemy non-combatant “harbis” (those non-Muslims from the “dar al-harb” [“lands of war”] not submitted to Islamic law) as licit targets of sanguinary attacks, al-Adnani, gave broad license to murderous assaults on Western “disbelievers”:

— Hat tip: Andy Bostom [Return to headlines]



Woman Arrested After Damaging Satanic Display at Florida Capitol

A woman was arrested Tuesday after she began to tear down a display by the Satanic Temple in the lobby of the Florida Capitol.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that 54-year-old Susan Hemeryck told two Florida Department of Law Enforcement Capitol Police officers that she “was sorry and had to take down the Satanic display”, adding that it was “not right.”

The paper reported that when Hemeryck tried to remove the display, an officer stopped her and told her to put it back, saying that she was violating the law. Hemeryck responded that she “could not take it anymore” and began trying to tear down the display before she was arrested.

The display, which shows an angel falling into flames with the message “Happy Holidays from the Satanic Temple”, had been erected Monday as a satire by an atheist group to counter a nativity scene which had already been taken down.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Inside Houellebecq’s Muslim-Ruled France

Polygamy, Islamic state schools, and a Muslim president — this is the vision of France in 2022 laid out by the country’s most notorious author Michel Houellebecq in his new novel. The Local is the first to bring you details of a book set to cause a storm when it’s published next month.

The Saudis fund the Sorbonne Islamic University in Paris, French primary and secondary teachers have to convert to Islam, and education stops at 11 for girls, who are destined for domestic chores, marriage, and child-bearing.

The state funds only the primary sector, and all education after that is private, with the Gulf monarchies pumping money into Islamic schools, while secular schools slowly wither for lack of funds.

Polygamy is legal, and the removal of women from the workplace means that the country’s stubbornly high unemployment finally plummets.

Mohammed Ben Abbes of the Muslim Fraternity party has beaten Front National leader Marine Le Pen to the presidency with the help of the Socialists, the centrists, and even Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right UMP.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Recalling the Fate of Bulgaria’s Turkish Minority

Thirty years ago, the communist regime in Sofia started to assimilate the Turkish minority by force. Bulgarian turks had to change their names and were no longer allowed to speak Turkish in public.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Sweden: ‘Avoid Politics for Christmas Peace’: Expert

Ban political discussions at Christmas and go easy on the alcohol — two tips from Swedish experts for a peaceful and cordial family festive season after a stormy political autumn.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Hundreds of Civilians Killed in Months of Fighting in Libya

Hundreds of civilians in Libya have been killed in fighting since late August, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning commanders that they could face prosecution for possible war crimes. The conflict has driven at least 120,000 people from their homes and triggered a humanitarian crisis, said the joint report by the U.N. human rights office and U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Could Regulatory Zeal and Politics Upend Israel’s Offshore Gas Development?

We wrote about the significant prospects of Israel’s development of offshore natural gas in the Levant Basin in the Eastern Mediterranean in a December 2011 NER article, Will Israel Win the Energy Prize in the Levant Basin?, We cautioned about the regulatory risks given recommendations of the Sheshinski Commission.

Yesterday, these Sheshinski recommendations may have been upended by a ruling regarding Israel’s Cartel Law by the head of the independent Israel Anti-trust Authority (IAA). Dr. David Gilo of the IAA effectively ruled that the Noble Energy — Delek consortium constituted a monopoly and would be forced to sell the Leviathan or Tamar fields in Israel’s offshore Exclusive Economic Zone. Globes, Israel Business reported in an article, Regulator decides Tamar and Leviathan form monopoly:…

290 Heritage Sites in Syria Have Been Damaged by the War, UN Says

UN agencies have expressed concern that cultural sites and artifacts, which date back to the dawn of civilization, may be lost forever in the conflict zones of Syria and Iraq.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) said Dec. 23 that satellite images show 290 cultural sites in Syria have been damaged by the war. UNITAR said 24 sites are completely destroyed, 104 are severely damaged, 85 are moderately damaged, and 77 are possibly damaged.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



ISIS Reportedly Shoots Down Jordanian Plane Over Syria, Pilot Captured

Islamic State group fighters shot down a warplane on Wednesday believed to be from the U.S.-led coalition over Syria and captured its pilot, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft was shot down near the northern city of Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s de facto capital. The Observatory said the warplane was part of the U.S.-led coalition, adding that the captured pilot is an Arab.

If true, it will be the first warplane shot down by ISIS since the U.S.-led coalition began its airstrikes against the group in Syria three months ago.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Islamic State Captures Jordanian Pilot After Warplane Shot Down in Syria

(Reuters) — Islamic State fighters took a Jordanian pilot prisoner after his warplane was shot down in northeast Syria on Wednesday, the first captive taken from the U.S.-led coalition battling the jihadi group.

Jordan’s armed forces said one of its pilots had been captured after a coalition air raid over the province of Raqqa.

“Jordan holds the group (IS) and its supporters responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life,” said a statement read out on state television.

It said the plane had crashed during a Jordanian air force “military mission against the hideouts of the terrorist group”.

Jordan’s government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani told satellite TV station Al Hadath the jet fighter “was shot at from the ground by rocket missiles and was brought down” and that an attempt to rescue the pilot before he was captured failed. He did not elaborate…

Turks Celebrate Father Christmas as Local Hero

It’s almost 6,000km (3,730 miles) from the North Pole and there’s not an elf in sight.

But trace the roots of the sleigh-riding chap in red and you will arrive in the southern Turkish town of Demre. This was the home of the man whose legend inspired Father Christmas.

The story begins in the 4th Century, when Demre was called Myra and the region Lycia.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



US Says ISIS Not Responsible for Downing of Jordanian Fighter Jet

U.S. officials confirmed reports Wednesday that a Jordanian fighter jet was shot down in the fight against Islamic State militants in northern Syria and that the pilot had been captured.

But officials denied claims made by the terrorist organization that it was responsible for the downing.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command said a Jordanian F-16 was shot down in the vicinity of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, or ISIL.

It was not immediately known how the warplane was shot down. CENTCOM said evidence “clearly indicates” that ISIS did not down the plane…

Ukraine Contact Group to Meet, Restart Peace Talks

Russia, Ukraine and representatives of the OSCE are meeting in Belarus in an attempt to initiate peace talks. The group will discuss withdrawing military equipment from eastern Ukraine and the exchange of prisoners.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Indonesia: Rising From the Ruins — The Rebuilding of Aceh

With almost 170,000 casualties, Indonesia bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami. Most those killed were in Aceh province. DW takes a look at how things have changed in the city of Banda Aceh ten years on.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



More Than 50 Die in Militant Attack in India’s Assam

At least 52 people have died in Assam in eastern India after separatist militants gunned down tribal settlers in the region. All those killed were workers at local tea estates.

The death toll after militant attacks in India’s remote eastern state, Assam, has risen to 52, local police officials told reporters. A police inspector in the state’s main city, Guwahati, told the Associated Press that rebels executed a series of five coordinated attacks on Tuesday, gunning down 37 members of indigenous tribes, also known as Adivasis, in Sonitpur district and 15 others in Kokrajhar. 80 more were injured, out of which 20 were in “critical condition,” police said.

“This is one of the most barbaric attacks in recent times with the militants not even sparing infants,” state Chief Minister Tarum Gogoi told the French news agency AFP, referring to the 12 children that were killed in the incident.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attacks, calling them “an act of cowardice.” The federal home minister, Rajnath Singh, would travel to the region to assess the situation, he said.

The violence has been blamed on members of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), a separatist militant organization that has been violently campaigning for a separate country for the Bodo people, an indigenous tribe native to eastern India.

The guerillas have been targeting Muslim settlers and other tribe members who work in Assam’s tea plantations. Earlier this year, 10,000 people fled their homes following sectarian violence that left more than 45 people dead.

In 2012, similar ethnic clashes took place in Assam, killing over a hundred and displacing 400,000. The state has a history of ethnic violence between its communities. An influx of immigrants from across the border in Bangladesh has also compounded the problem.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Arrest Warrant Sought for Ex-Korean Air Executive in Nuts Scandal

South Korean prosecutors are seeking an arrest warrant for the former Korean Air executive Heather Cho who sparked outrage by kicking a flight attendant off a plane for serving macadamia nuts the wrong way.

The warrant would cover charges of violating aviation safety rules, including a change in a flight plan, assault on a plane, coercion and interference in the execution of duty, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ office said Wednesday.

A decision will be taken on issuing of the warrant early next week after a review procedure, the prosecutors’ office said.

Cho, the 40-year-old daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, resigned from her post as vice president at the company in the aftermath of the incident earlier this month on a flight from New York’s JFK airport to South Korea’s Incheon International Airport.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Japan Parliament Re-Elect Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister

Japan’s parliament has re-elected Shinzo Abe as prime minister with an overwhelming majority. Resurrecting the country’s flailing economy is his “top priority,” the leader has promised.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Japan: Vagina Artist Megumi Igarashi Indicted on Charges of Obscenity

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged a feminist artist who makes objects shaped like her vagina with distributing “obscene” data, according to her lawyer, in a case that has sparked accusations that authorities are out of touch.

The charges follow Megumi Igarashi’s arrest this month after she raised funds online to pay for a genital-shaped kayak that she made on a 3-D printer.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Ebola Crisis Likely to Last a Year, Says Expert

West Africa’s Ebola crisis is likely to last until the end of 2015, says a leading researcher who helped to discover the virus.

Peter Piot, who has just returned from Sierra Leone, told the BBC that he was encouraged by progress there and by the promise of new anti-viral therapies.

But he also warned that vaccines would take time to develop.

The current Ebola outbreak, the deadliest to date, has so far killed more than 7,300 people.

Prof Piot was one of the scientists who discovered Ebola in 1976 and is now Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Turkish Soaps Invade Latin America, Land of ‘Telenovela’

The tortured romance between Sehrazat and Onur, the central drama of Turkish soap opera “Thousand and One Nights,” is taking Chilean television by storm and reshaping prime time in Latin America, the land of the “telenovela.”

In exchange for the money she desperately needs to treat her son’s leukemia, Sehrazat, a widowed architect, reluctantly agrees to spend the night with Onur, her powerful boss, who falls hopelessly in love with her, setting off a torrid chain reaction that has captivated Chileans for months.

Dubbed in Spanish by Chilean actors, “Thousand and One Nights” has achieved an audience share not seen in years in the South American country, reversing the sinking fortunes of the channel airing it.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



More Than 1,000 Migrants, Fives Bodies Picked Up From Mediterranean

Italian authorities said Wednesday they recovered a total of 1,026 survivors and five bodies during several Mediterranean migrant rescue missions over the past 24 hours.

One dead migrant was brought to the Italian navy’s Etna vessel by a Maltese merchant ship, authorities said in a statement. Four more victims were transferred to the Orione patrol boat from a Cypriot motor boat.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR estimated earlier this month that 3,419 migrants had died in Mediterranean crossings since January 1, making it the deadliest sea route for migrants.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



U.S. Judge Throws Out Arizona Sheriff’s Immigration Suit Against Obama

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit brought against Barack Obama by an Arizona police chief who called the U.S. president’s sweeping immigration reforms unconstitutional, saying the plaintiff lacked legal standing in the case.

Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the demand by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for a preliminary injunction to halt the policies.

Arpaio, who calls himself “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” filed the case last month, saying Obama had overstepped his powers by bypassing Congress and ordering the changes himself.

— Hat tip: Fjo rdman [Return to headlines]



Bone Density Drop in Modern Humans Linked to Less Physical Activity

The relatively lightly built skeletons of modern humans developed late in evolutionary history, and may have been the result of a shift away from a nomadic lifestyle to a more settled one, according to a new study.

These findings may shed light on modern bone conditions such as osteoporosis, the scientists said.