Archaeologists may have discovered St. Nick’s bones

Via Billy

Turkish archaeologists believe they may have discovered the remains of St. Nicholas — from whom the legend of Santa Claus emerged — beneath a church at his birthplace in southern Turkey, an official said Thursday.

St. Nicholas was born and served as a bishop of what is now the Turkish Mediterranean town of Demre, near Antalya, in the 4th century. He was buried in the area formerly known as Myra, but his bones were believed to have been stolen and taken to the southern Italian town of Bari.

Archaeologists, however, have recently discovered what they think is a temple below the church and now believe his remains may be lying there, Cemil Karabayram, the head of Antalya’s Reliefs and Monuments authority, told The Associated Press by telephone.

More @ AP

Catalonia 'civil war' warning as independence declaration fears grow

Via Billy

The EU’s budget commissioner has warned of the risk of “civil war” in Catalonia, as fears grew over a looming independence declaration and major banks prepared to relocate their headquarters.

As another day passed with no sign of dialogue and pro-independence parties pushed for the declaration of a Catalan Republic as early as Monday, Gunther Oettinger, the budget commissioner, urged the two sides to talk.

"The situation is very, very disturbing. A civil war is planned in the middle of Europe," Mr Oettinger said in Munich.

”One can only hope that a conversation will be made between Madrid and Barcelona soon,” he continued, adding that the EU could only mediate talks “if asked”.

More @ The Telegraph

Good riddance! Pentagon banishes left's 'hate' attack dog

Via Billy

Group 'has no credibility to be used as resource for anyone, especially America's military'

The Pentagon has officially disassociated itself from one of the left’s most vicious attack organizations, which is known for unleashing damaging and unsubstantiated claims about conservative organizations as a standard business practice for years.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, routinely attacks conservatives, such as its labeling the staunchly American values-based Alliance Defending Freedom and Liberty Counsel, and the family promoting Family Research Council as “hate” groups because of their religious beliefs. The organization has been linked to domestic terrorism and attempted mass murder.

For years, the Department of Defense used SPLC materials for its training on extremism.

Specifically, the DOD’s Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, or DEOMI, conducted training on “hate groups” with SPLC materials, according to Liberty Counsel.

More @ WND

Council of Economic Advisers Chairman: Reducing Corporate Tax Rate to 20% Could Help Lift GDP to 4%

Via Billy

Kevin Hassett, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, says that lowering the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, as part of President Donald Trump's tax reform proposal suggests, could help lift GDP by 4 percent in the first year.

Speaking to the Tax Policy Center and the Tax Foundation, Hassett said the plan is pro-growth, pro-work, and will increase economic output and growth.

The plan lowers the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, which will contribute to GDP growth.

More @ The Washington Free Beacon

Nigel Farage on Catalonia

3 Southerners praised by President Kennedy - Washington, Jefferson, and Lee – are being maliciously portrayed as immoral racists – vile men whose memorials should be demolished.

 

A few years ago Stephen Fry, English actor, writer, and comic, hosted a televised tour of America, traveling from location to location in a London cab. His junket into the “Deep South” was introduced this way: “For years, I’ve been intrigued and bewitched by what seems to be America’s most charactable region. A place of cotton, courtesy, Gospel music, mint juleps, divine accents, and sultry Southern belles. I’m heading South to find out what makes old Dixie so distinctive.” This genial caricature of the South was largely held throughout America until the late 1950s when electronic media basically replaced print media.

At that time, the public began getting its news from a select few television networks located in New York. Without any serious competition, Manhattan networks controlled news coverage to the extent that they alone could decide what was reported and how it was interpreted. Their dominance was such that they were not overly concerned with accuracy. This marked the emergence of “fake news.” The South was the first victim of the power of these immense news networks.

More @ The Abbeville Institute

The Palmyra Massacre: Union Total War Policy in Missouri 1862

 

This war differs from other wars, in this particular. We are not fighting armies but a hostile people and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.”—Union General William T. Sherman.

Some of the first indications of Union leanings toward a Total War philosophy occurred in Missouri, which had since 1854 already experienced armed cross-border conflicts between Missouri partisans and Kansas “Jayhawkers.” A majority of Missouri’s population was of Southern origin and sympathy. 

By June 1861, Union forces had preemptively occupied St. Louis, the capitol in Jefferson City, and other strategic centers. However, most Missouri State Legislators were able to escape to Neosho, Missouri, and voted for Secession on October 31. 

One of the thirteen stars in the Southern Cross honors Missouri. Pro-secessionist Governor Claiborne Jackson and former Governor Sterling Price left to form the Missouri State Guard and join with Confederate forces in Arkansas. Other Southern sympathizers engaged in partisan warfare in Missouri. These Confederate partisans were generally treated as outlaws by Union officials. 

This outlaw status and mistreatment of their families and other Missouri civilians by Federal troops spawned the bloody vengeance raids of William Quantrill and William Anderson. More than one thousand military engagements took place in Missouri during the war. Missouri was the scene of the most drastic and repressive military actions ever directed against civilians in U.S. history. The Palmyra Massacre of October 1862 was only one of several incidents.

More @ The Tribune

No future for Africans in Europe

Via 4 Branch

GEFIRA asked in an exclusive interview the opinion of an expert on Africa about the current situation in Italy, about the “asylum seekers” coming mostly from sub-Saharan countries. Professor Anna Bono recently made headlines in Italy with a book that completely debunks the ongoing narrative of “poor Africans” running away from starvation and knocking on wealthy Europe’s doors through Sicily or other ports of southern Italy.

Prof. Anna Bono has been a researcher in African history and institutions at the University of Turin until 2015 after living many years in Africa. She has collaborated as an expert on Africa with a number of Universities and Institutions, including the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and written over 1600 articles, essays and books on topics such as international relations and cooperation with Africa, as well as demographics and migrations.
 
GEFIRA: Can we identify one of the more specific events as the beginning of the ongoing biblical numbers arriving in Italy?

                                                                  More @ GEFIRA

Higher Education Expert Criticizes ‘Diversity Component’ in University Ranking

Via Billy

Richard Vedder—director of a higher education think tank, the Center for College Affordability and Productivity—took issue with the "environmental" factor that comprises 10 percent of a college's WSJ/THE score, which considers the number of international students at a university, and the racial and ethnic diversity of the campus's student body and staff.

"While I believe having students of diverse backgrounds is useful in promoting a full learning experience, there are few American schools that do not largely achieve that already (although the number of poor students at top schools is typically relatively small). The WSJ diversity component to me is not measuring quality but rather is catering to political correct racist instincts (and I bet a majority of the WSJ's editorial board, not involved in this undertaking, would agree)," wrote Vedder at Minding the Campus.

More @ The Washington Free Beacon

Man Shielding Woman From Vegas Gunfire In Haunting Image Identified as Army Soldier

 

Here’s a story of heroism from the Las Vegas massacre – and there were many – that you might not have heard details about yet.

A haunting image seen around the world from the horror that night showed a man shielding a woman lying on the ground, comforting her as chaos reigned around them. He even reportedly tried to cover her eyes so she couldn’t see the people around them being shot.

It is at once a saddening image of a rightfully terrified woman and an inspiring image of a man willing to sacrifice himself to protect her.

More @ The Political Insider

Adios, Columbus

Via Billy

 

The controversy surrounding the Columbus Day holiday is part of a culture war that includes the removal of Confederate monuments and the NFL protests.  Columbus Day is being renamed Indigenous Peoples Day in many locations.  The battles being fought over Columbus Day are already being fought over Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July.  The very foundation of America is under assault.  Many powerful elite organizations are taking part in this attack and have been for decades.

More @ American Thinker

Giving amnesty to Dreamers would be immigration’s Trojan horse

 

What’s so difficult about amnesty for illegal immigrant youth who, as then-President Barack Obama put it, were “brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants,” raised here from a young age and are now facing “the threat of deportation to a country that (they) know nothing about”? Well, there’s more to the story.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals activists recently stormed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office demanding a “clean” amnesty bill with no enforcement provisions, revealing a more ambitious goal than simply alleviating the suffering of youth brought here as children. They want the door left open.

More @ Press Herald

Pelosi Thanks ‘Dreamer’s’ Parents for Bringing Family to U.S. Illegally

Via Billy

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) thanked a "Dreamer's" parents Wednesday for bringing him to the United States illegally.

Pelosi made the remark during a town hall with CNN's Chris Cuomo where she took a question from "Dreamer" Adrian Reyna.

Dreamers are individuals who were brought illegally to the United States as children. Former president Barack Obama's administration provided cover to Dreamers from possible deportation to their countries of origin with the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) executive order in 2012.

More @ The Washington Free Beacon

NRA to Congress: Let ATF Re-Evaluate Bump Stocks; Do Your Job, and Pass National Reciprocity

 

The National Rifle Association (NRA) released a statement on October 5 calling on Congress to allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) re-evaluate bump stocks while Congress gets on with the work people have been waiting for since January 3: national reciprocity.

In other words, the NRA is calling on members of Congress to squash talk of more gun control by moving the bump stock discussion back where it began in 2010: with the ATF.
The NRA statement begins:

More @ Breitbart

Sheriff: Unlikely Paddock could have pulled off the elaborate plan alone

 

 Breitbart

Those seeking to know the motive of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock have had little more to chase than hints and shadows.

Unlike many other mass killers, Paddock led such a private life that no one seemed to know him well, and those who did had no sense he was capable of gunning down 58 people and injuring hundreds more at a country music festival before killing himself.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said that he was surprised Paddock had provided so few clues, and that has proved challenging.

Clark County Sheriff did share on Wednesday night said Paddock had rented an apartment in another high-rise above another music festival a week earlier, though he could not say why.

And he said he felt it was unlikely Paddock could have pulled off the elaborate plan alone, though investigators have no idea who may have helped him.

Black Lives Matter Students Shut Down the ACLU's Campus Free Speech Event at William & Mary

Via Billy

Students affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement crashed an event at the College of William & Mary, rushed the stage, and prevented the invited guest—the American Civil Liberties Union's Claire Gastañaga, a W & M alum—from speaking.

Ironically, Gastañaga had intended to speak on the subject, "Students and the First Amendment."

The disruption was livestreamed on BLM at W&M's Facebook page. Students took to the stage just a few moments after Gastañaga began her remarks. At first, she attempted to spin the demonstration as a welcome example of the kind of thing she had come to campus to discuss, commenting "Good, I like this," as they lined up and raised their signs. "I'm going to talk to you about knowing your rights, and protests and demonstrations, which this illustrates very well. Then I'm going to respond to questions from the moderators, and then questions from the audience."

More @ Hit & Run

Justice Department Announces Success of Immigration Judge Surge

Via Billy

A surge in judges has led to a noticeable increase in the number of successfully handled immigration court cases, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) released statistics showing that approximately 2,700 more immigration cases were addressed thanks to the mobilization of more than a hundred immigration judges, a move prompted by executive order.

More @ The Washington Free Beacon

Black Americans Should Welcome, Not Fear, Trump's America

Via Billy

 

The Washington Post recently published yet another propaganda screed masquerading as journalism, this time lamenting the fear supposedly plaguing the black community in the era of Donald Trump.

Showing impressive intellectual contortionism, the Post manages to drive this narrative while remaining largely free of fact and substance.

After pointing out that Trump received only 8% of the black vote in the 2016 election, the Post notes that the majority of blacks are worried about losing their civil rights under Trump. They reportedly fear his campaign to “Make America Great Again” will “negatively impact the black community’s access to quality public schools, job opportunities that pay a livable wage and affordable health care, child care and housing,” and will “have a negative impact on the ability to keep black children from mass incarceration and over-policing.”

More @ The Patriot Post