Free Republic

SNIPPET: "While these various elements of the jihadist network are distinct, the Internet brings them together, especially at the grassroots level. Videos, websites and online magazines indoctrinate aspiring militants in the jihadist ideology and provide a forum for like-minded individuals and groups."

Our offspring and culture is the most successful feature of the History of Mankind. Ancient Rome and Greece have nothing on Scandinavia of today, nor what we did some centuries after Rome came down. No, I'm not a Racist - and I furthermore am more than a true friend of Italy and Greece. But I do not believe there's a point in denying the fact that Viking Culture has played a major role in shaping the World of today. Have a look at it. Britain, North America, Scandinavia, Germany, etc. in one way or another, all were formed by the...

WASHINGTON -- In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News. American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group. According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held. As the...

BRUSSELS—A six-point plan drafted by France and Germany has suggested corporate tax "coordination," an EU financial transactions tax and the redeployment of EU funds in troubled countries as ways to spur growth and jobs. Following Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of nine euro-countries, including France, in which the ratings agency warned that austerity and budget cuts are not the way out of recession, Paris and Berlin have teamed up once more and drafted a six-page paper called "Ways out of the crisis—strengthen growth now!" The paper—seen by EUobserver—is supposed to be discussed at the EU summits on 30 January and...

Europe's Left has suffered a calamitous six months. Socialist governments have met historic defeats in Portugal and Spain. Greece’s Pasok party was toppled by an EU technocrat Putsch. Ireland’s soft-Left Fianna Foil lost every seat in Dublin. Almost 97pc of the European Union’s population is now governed by conservative or Right-leaning coalitions, or EU-imposed mandarins. All that is left to social democrats is Austria (8.4m), Denmark (5.5m), and Slovenia (2.1m). The whole machinery of the European Union (EU) system is under the control of the Right, with variants of Rhenish corporatism in the Council, and pre-modern Hayekians at the European...

Things aren't looking good in Euroland While we are waiting for Mario and Merkozy plus, just a quick thought on one of the EMU break-up reports hitting my desk daily, and sometimes in twos and threes. (Ah, how I look back to those halcyon days when it was just we happy few, we band of brothers, tiny handful of Little Englanders, Danes, Swedes, cheese-eating Souverainistes, and Czech patriots, against the crushing force of orthodoxy.) The Dutch bank ING has had another go at the numbers, calculating that the Greek Drachma would fall by 80pc against the D-Mark in a full-blown...

Situations may be precarious at times but truly this is merely a lack of prayer as preparation for you are my houses of preparation of my will. So know my will by the preparation of your hearts before me for I AM The LIGHT of your path and way in Me ! John 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John 8:12 New International Version (NIV) Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony 12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk...

SURRENDER COMPLETELY AND RECEIVE MY LOVE FOR YOU ! My surrender to you is eternal , for as My Sacrifice was a promise and a statement of My Love coming down through the Father ! It is Now time for You to SURRENDER wholeheartedly to Me . I need to see a heart opened forth right and true ; to discern My Presence ! That you make " ALL " Known to Me ~ free for release and in this surrender as you raise your hands and lower your defenses and pride I WILL COME ! And My SPIRIT ,...

A dear friend of the Tundra Tabloids mentioned the following concerning this story in the FPN.DK. We were both aghast at the ease in which portions of society, in the willingness to be tolerant, would so brazenly discriminate against members of its own society. KGS NOTE: Remember folks, rejection of Islam, just the saying no to it, is tantamount to charges of discriminationa and bigotry….islamophobia. Chipping away at the host society’s foundation, one little piece at a time, until that society finally accepts that it has no right to be different to the immigrants to whom it has extended a...

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A shipwreck discovered in the murky waters of the Baltic Sea is believed to be a legendary 17th century warship whose captain went down with it in battle rather than surrender to the enemy. Deep Sea Productions, an underwater research team, said Wednesday it believes the 25-meter (82-feet) wooden wreck it found off the island of Oland this summer is the ship Svardet, which sank when Sweden was defeated by a Danish-Dutch fleet in a 1676 naval battle. Malcolm Dixelius, a member of the research team, said that wood samples show the wreck is from the 17th...

Why are cities like Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm so expensive? Simple answer: - Why are you so poor? To a 20 year old office secretary who works there, Stockholm is not expensive. She can easily afford a 79 SEK sushi lunch and then do some shopping before it's back to work again. She owns a chic French car and a €200 000 apartment and her dad probably owns two homes and a nice leisure boat as well as a summer house in the magnificent archipelago of that Nordic city. There is nothing wrong with Scandinavian price levels.

Looks like there are never enough Muslims in Denmark. The cartoon riots seem to be forgotten. Islam in Europe 28 students from the 8th and 9th grades of the Regnbueskolen high-school in the Aarhus suburb of Hammel visited the London Central Mosque as part of their London trip. “It was a great experience! It was experiencing the religion from within, gave us insight into Islam in a totally different way than we had imagined. We think everybody should try it, especially those who are repulsed by other religions, since it was an experience we’ll never forget. To visit the mosque...

It's a rocky road out there for bicyclists riding car-dominated streets and freeways. With potholes, angry drivers, and the constant threat of a swift pancaking all posing hurdles, biking means always moving against the flow of traffic. But in Copenhagen, one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, an oil company is making things just a bit easier for the two-wheeled commuters. Norwegian energy company Statoil ASA has installed bicycle care stations at select gas stations in Copenhagen, reports Copenhagenize. The bike stations were installed using unused wall space at existing gas stations, and feature a pull-down shelf to...

Americans are familiar with the high taxes on items such as cigarettes and alcohol — conversationally referred to as “vice taxes.” Taxes of this type serve a twofold purpose. On one hand, they raise revenue for the state, like any other tax. On the other, they attempt to deter the abuse of such substances, which are or can be dangerous to the body. Denmark levied a similar new tax on saturated fats on Saturday, which the country hopes will bring in revenue and make unhealthy foods a less attractive item to consumers. The tax is 16 kroner — which translates...

The Food Police have stormed Denmark, where it is now a little more expensive to eat fattening food. The country’s so-called “fat tax” went into effect on Saturday. The tax rate is 16 Danish kroner per kilogram of saturated fat in a food – in terms Americans can understand, that’s about $6.27 per pound of saturated fat – and it kicks in when the saturated fat content of a food item exceeds 2.3%. The complex formula takes into account the amount of fat used to produce a particular food, not the amount that’s in the final product, according to Ole...

"...critics say that theocrats in Tehran intend to use the mosque to establish a recruiting center for the militant Shia Muslim group, Hezbollah in Europe..." The city council of Copenhagen has given its final approval for the construction of the first official "Grand Mosque" in the Danish capital. The mega-mosque will have a massive blue dome as well as two towering minarets and is architecturally designed to stand out on Copenhagen's low-rise skyline. Unlike most mosques in Europe, which cater to Sunni Muslims, the mosque in Copenhagen pertains to Shia Islam. The mosque is being financed by the Islamic Republic...

Lord Kinnock's daughter-in-law Helle Thorning-Schmidt is to become Denmark’s first woman prime minister after winning a knife-edge victory in the country’s general election. As the first votes came in on Thursday night, her centre-left coalition, which was the strong favourite to win, at one point fell behind the government, but pulled ahead by the end of the night to win 89 of the country’s seats next to the 86 seats won by the coalition led by Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen. Addressing victorious Social Democratic Party members last night, Ms Thorning-Schmidt, 44, said: “Today is the day things change in...

Denmark Sperm bank turns down redheads The world's largest sperm bank has started turning down redheaded donors because there is too little demand for their sperm. By Richard Orange 4:41PM BST 16 Sep 2011 Ole Schou, Cryos's director, said that there had been a surge in donations in recent years, allowing the facility to become much more picky about its donors. "There are too many redheads in relation to demand," he told told Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet. "I do not think you chose a redhead, unless the partner - for example, the sterile male - has red hair, or because the...

On the front page of today’s edition of [Danish newspaper] Ekstra-Bladet you can see the headline ‘Here, sharia law applies’, and a map of the areas of the country where the imams and so-called cultural societies have established an alternative judicial system based on sharia law. One of these areas is Gellerupparken, where I used to live and participate in what I thought was an effort to integrate immigrants into society. A feature article in the newspaper says that according to experts, these areas will, in the course of 10-15 years, be anti-democratic. I’ll stipulate that depending on what you...

FULL TITLE: English are 'hardest working nation in Europe' and take the fewest paid and public holidays If you’re feeling over-worked and in desperate need of a holiday you’re not alone - the English are the hardest working nation in Europe, taking the least number of paid and public holidays, according to new research. The survey revealed workers in England get a minimum of just 28 days leave, compared to residents in Sweden and Portugal, who are given the most, with 39 days. The average leave and public holiday entitlement is 34 days across Europe, according to research by Hotels.com....

To anyone sane of mind, it's pretty obvious that something, basically, is wrong about the way large parts of European and American economy is run today. Scandinavia is an exception - and a bigger one than most people are aware of. Our German neighbors are beginning to realize this and lately Chancellor Merkel have been very successful in restoring economic growth on German soil. Presently, the German economy, after 20 years of a sad standstill, is growing at a pace nearing that of Sweden. Scandinavia (including Finland) taken as a whole is today the World's 10th largest economy despite it's...

Often the Left is so predictable. While Norway mourns the deaths of the 92 (so far) shooting victims, kook bloggers at FireDogLake, Democratic Underground, and elsewhere are already labelling the alleged killer to be "right wing." This meme appears to have started with a comment made by a Norwegian political science professor who speculated that the shooter might be "right wing." Even Sarah Palin is now being blamed for the shooting because the suspect reportedly favored the creation of a European Tea Party. The media keeps repeating the mantra that the shooter is "right wing." But what does it even...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark on Friday approved a decision to re-establish permanent customs checkpoints at its borders, removing the last hurdle to a plan aimed at stopping crime and illegal immigration but which has been strongly criticized in Europe as violating visa-free travel rules. The 17-member parliamentary Finance Committee announced the approval after lawmakers voted to reject an opposition motion to abandon it. Germany and the European Union say border checkpoints violate EU rules on unrestricted travel in the Schengen zone and regulations on free movement within the bloc. In Denmark, opponents say it is a sop to nationalists, business...

Denmark has tightened its border controls in a move which opponents claim could sound the death knell for the EU’s principle of free movement. The Scandinavian country deployed an extra 50 customs officers at crossings on the German and Swedish borders in an attempt to curb cross-border crime and illegal immigration. Danish custom officers check a unindentified driver from the Netherlands at the Danish-German border in Padborg, Denmark This figure will rise to 98 by the end of the year. Denmark, which belongs to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone, also plans to increase video surveillance at crossings and build four...

CHICAGO (AP) -- A federal jury convicted a Chicago businessman on Thursday of helping plot an attack against a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad but cleared him of the most serious charge accusing him of cooperating in the deadly 2008 rampage in Mumbai. The jury reached its split verdict after two days of deliberations, finding Tahawwur Rana guilty of providing material support to terrorism in Denmark and to the Pakistani militant group that had claimed responsibility for the three-day siege in India's largest city that left more than 160 people dead, including six Americans.

After news that Britain's beloved Marmite has been removed from supermarket shelves in Denmark it emerged Thursday that Australia's favorite spread, Vegemite, has also been added to the Scandanavian country's banned list. Denmark has ordered Vegemite, along with Marmite and Ovaltine, off its shelves because food authorities have never confirmed claims that it is a "rich source of Vitamin B" and folate.

According to the marketing slogan it is a taste that you either love or hate. But Danes will no longer get the chance to make up their own minds on Marmite after the British delicacy was banned under food safety laws. The strongly flavoured dark brown spread made from brewer's yeast has joined Rice Crispies, Shreddies, Horlicks and Ovaltine prohibited in Denmark under legislation forbidding the sale of food products with added vitamins as threat to public health. Many well known breakfast cereal and drink brands have already been banned or taken off supermarket shelves after Danish legislation in 2004...

- Perhaps, but Northern Europe didn't get rich by adopting policies resembling what Obama today is doing to the US.

COPENHAGEN - DENMARK, which already counts Greenland and the Faroe Islands as its Arctic territories, is planning to lay claim to the North Pole, a daily reported on Tuesday, quoting a leaked foreign ministry paper. 'The country is expected to lay claim to the continental shelf in five areas around the Faroe Islands and Greenland, including the North Pole itself,' the strategy paper reads, according to the online version of the Information daily, which said it obtained a copy of the strategy document set for publication in June. If Denmark's 'Arctic Strategy 2011-2020' is adopted, the claims would put the...

The controversy has been stirring Denmark for some days. “The economists behind the report on the cost of immigration oppose the government,” writes Information, accusing the government and its majority of exploiting the economists’ work for political ends. Drawn up at the government’s request, their report is now being used by the Danish People’s Party — the far-right party supporting the Liberal-Conservative majority in parliament — and the integration minister to call for further restrictions on immigration. Denmark is already applying the most restrictive immigration laws in Europe. The conservative daily Jyllands-Posten revealed this report on April 28 under the...

The European Union is warning Denmark its plans for customs checks may violate EU law and the Schengen free travel agreement. Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, telephoned Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen Friday morning, then followed up with a letter saying the commission had "grave concerns" that Denmark's plan would hinder the smooth functioning of Europe's single market. Member countries may not institute systematic border checks. They can sometimes institute spot checks, but Barroso wrote that the country must demonstrate that the measures are necessary. Denmark says the checks are needed to fight cross-border crime and...

Denmark was on a collision course with the European Union on Thursday as it defended a plan to unilaterally enforce stricter border controls, a policy which reflects growing resentment across Europe toward the EU “open-border” policy. "We see a rise in cross-border crime: drugs, east European gangs, human trafficking, money smuggling... And one of the efficient ways to fight this is border control," Danish Finance Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said Wednesday on Danish television, adding that the enforcement measures would “be put in place as soon as possible.” Danish authorities have planned to invest over €20 million in more customs...

COPENHAGEN - Denmark's government says it will install permanent control stations along its borders to curb crime and illegal immigration. Police and customs officials will use the stations to do random checks of cars and passports, and increase the use of scanners designed to detect illegal immigrants hiding in vans. Finance Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen says control booths will be erected at crossings to Germany and Sweden and in harbours and airports. The agreement was made to meet demands from the government's nationalistic ally, the Danish People's Party, and is expected to be approved by Parliament. Hjort Frederiksen insisted Wednesday...

Statement by Lars Hedegaard on his conviction for “hate speech” Copenhagen, May 5, 2011 It is with great sadness I have to report that Denmark’s reputation as a haven of free speech and a bastion of resistance to sharia encroachment is irreparably tarnished. Denmark is my country and I used to be proud of it. On May 3 the Eastern Superior Court in Copenhagen convicted me of hate speech under Denmark’s infamous Article 266 b of the penal code – a rubber provision that may be stretched to serve any political purpose dear to the hearts of the ruling elites....

Freedom of speech and women's rights just took a major hit in Denmark earlier today when the public prosecutor found Lars Hedegaard, the President of the Danish (and International) Free Press Society, guilty of "hate speech" under section 266b of the Danish penal code. Hedegaard's crime was to note "the great number of family rapes in areas dominated by Muslim culture in Denmark." ...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - On Mohammed's birthday, Denmark's Muslims marched to the city square under a banner that said "Islam is peace and love." But elements of Denmark's Muslim community have radicalized. Two years ago on the same spot as a peaceful demonstration, Muslims met a pro-Israel demonstration with Hitler salutes. There were shouts in Arabic of "takbir," which means "conquest," and "kill the Jews." Fostering Radicalism Americans may think of Denmark as the tough nation that stood up to Islam over the publication of Mohammed cartoons. But Denmark is also infected with the some of the same multiculturalism that has...

Did you know that the EU has ensured that there has been no war between its members for last 60 years?

In the 1700s, the courtesans of Queen Catherine of Russia gave her tours along the Volga river where she witnessed a happy and thriving bourgeoisie living in clean and prosperous villages. But this was all a show to cover disease, poverty, and misery that lay just behind the facade that had been erected for her benefit. This is the origin of the phrase Potemkin Village, a place where a politically generated appearance covers a less impressive underside. Europe is today filled with Potemkin Villages, none as successful as Denmark. Denmark is often cited as an exemplary country within the EU,...

Why do Americans drive around in Fred Flintstone vehicles and what's the underlying problem behind the vast majority of Brits buying Fords and Vauxhalls year after year? Why does your tap water taste like sh*t and why don't Italians tear down buildings that no longer are in use? What's the idea of building a house out of cardboard? Denmark has the highest wages on Earth. Norway can compete. OK. But why is it that every time I visit our dear western neighbors I feel sorry for people driving wrecks instead of Volvo V70s? Is the V70 a far too sophisticated...

Around a.d. 1000, Scandinavia was Christianized. This clip could be said to feature how the Christian nation of Sweden was secured. Most historians would say Denmark is an even older Christian nation. The flag of Denmark is commonly considered to be the oldest existing flag on Earth.

Søren Pind prepared to further tighten immigration laws Either foreigners make an effort to become Danish or they can just stay away from Denmark, according to Søren Pind, the new immigration minister. Only hours after taking over as immigration minister after Birthe Rønn Hornbech was fired yesterday, Pind declared himself ready to tighten up the immigration laws. According to Pind, it should be set in stone that Denmark has room for foreigners that adopt and respect Danish values, norms and traditions; if they don’t, they shouldn’t be here at all. “The way I see it, when you choose Denmark, you...

At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success. Born into a working-class family, he has risen - thanks to opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a lawyer. Instead, Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain to the next generation of young, impressionable Muslims. This week he stood outside Westminster Cathedral to call for the execution of the Pope as punishment for 'insulting Islam'. He fulminated against Benedict XVl, adding: "Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment." It's a long way from days as...

Many Americans of today enjoy a high standard of living, but unemployment is on the rise and no signs of economic recovery is in sight (please correct me if you think I'm wrong). In order to make things worse, USA has also elected a certain Liberal named Obama for president. By and by, America, a nation which still is admired by many over here in Europe (I'm Swedish by the way), a nation which once ruled the World, is becoming more and more like a backyard of today's international business scene. Yes, it IS that bad. I live in Gothenburg,...

Tonight in Copenhagen I attended a demonstration sponsored by the Danish Iranian group Frit Iran (Free Iran) against a proposed "Grand Mosque" to be built in the capital city of Denmark. The Iranian group says the mosque will be funded by and tied to the government of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and will increase radicalism in the country. The city government is debating whether the project can go forward. The mosque would have a capacity for some 3,000 worshipers.

Danish ship patrolling the Gulf of Aden under NATO operational control captured 16 suspected Somali pirates who were sailing a hijacked vessel, the Danish navy and NATO said on Sunday. "The Esbern Snare warship on Friday morning captured a pirate group which operated from a hijacked ship," the Danish Navy operational control (SOK) said in a statement. The Danish crew spotted a small suspicious vessel while patrolling off the Somali coast Friday and decided to investigate it. "After boarding the vessel it became clear that those (aboard) were 16 suspected pirates and two Yemeni hostages," NATO's Allied Maritime command said.

Four steps down and into Holy Water. A deep breath and a firm grip on the vicar’s hand as body and face submerge, to emerge again in the Christian faith. 43-year-old Safiya has taken a controversial decision; in baptism she has taken the final step in putting her Muslim past behind her. “It is not an easy choice, but necessary for me if I am to feel a complete person,” says an enthusiastic Safiya as she takes in a standing ovation from members of the Free Church of Love. An Iranian, Safiya has joined the ranks of the 100-150 other...

LOS ANGELES — A notorious criminal case that waited 400 years to go before a jury resulted in no definite answer to the question of whether the defendant — Hamlet Prince of Denmark — was sane when he committed murder.

Somali accused of attempting to kill Kurt Westergaard with axe The Somali man who threatened Mohammed cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with an axe and a knife took the stand at the court in Aarhus today. The man, 29-year-old Mohamed Geele, is charged with intending to commit an act of terrorism, attempted murder, assaulting an officer on duty and violating the weapons law. He denies the charges of attempted terror and attempted murder, but admits to breaking into Westergaard’s house on January 1 last year. Geele told the court that he felt provoked by Westergaard’s indifference to allegations that his Mohammed drawings...

The crew members of a Danish weapons ship boarded but not hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean have been kidnapped, TradeWinds can reveal. In what represents a major departure from Somali pirates' usual modus operandi, the six seafarers have been snatched and moved to a seized Taiwanese fishing vessel which is operating as a morthership [sic]. It had been hoped that a search of the 1,780-dwt Leopard (built 1989) by members of the Turkish Navy would turn up the two Danes and four Filipinos who had hid in a citadel when they came under attack west of the Gulf...

Traditional Christmas in Copenhagen Copenhagen is a Christmas city, not just because Greenland (part of Denmark) is the home of the 'Julemand' (Santa) and Denmark the home of the Christmas stamp (and indeed it is), but because this holiday is the most eagerly anticipated by all Danes who have passed down its simple pleasures and traditions from generation to generation.