The recent sexual assault in Cologne of women on New Year’s Eve has shocked the nation. As many as 1000 men, allegedly set upon women and made them run a gauntlet as they were grabbed, their clothes ripped, and their bodies groped. Police sources and witnesses have said that many were refugees — triggering renewed objections over a spate of rapes and assaults of women in the country attributed to recent immigrants. To make matters worse for the government, newspapers are reporting that one man told police “I am Syrian. You have to treat me kindly. Mrs Merkel invited me.” The result has been a rising tide of criticism of Merkel for her open-door policy. Yet, that criticism may now be muted by a move by the government to crackdown on anti-immigration comments as a form of “hate speech.” As we discussed today with the effort to ban Donald Trump, free speech is being rolled back in Europe under hate crime and anti-discrimination laws as an alarming rate. It is particularly worrisome when the government is under attack on an issue like immigration and responds by prosecuting people for such criticism. News reports indicate that 18 of the 31 known suspects from Cologne were asylum seekers, including “nine Algerians, eight Moroccans, five Iranians, four Syrians, an Iraqi, a Serbian, an American and two German nationals.
We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here) and England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. We have seen comedians targeted with such court orders under this expanding and worrisome trend. (here and here).
Prosecutors are charging people who are “inciting hatred” in Germany by speaking out against immigrants and their impact on German society. Prosecutors and judges are determining what criticism will be allowed and what will be treated as criminal. In the meantime, the government has reached a deal with Facebook, Google and Twitter to crackdown on Internet speech. It is an effort to create the artificial appearance of agreement and tolerance by denying free speech to critics.
While it is still not clear how many of the Cologne attackers were immigrants (as many as 22 have been identified as refugees), the incident has been a flashpoint as numerous stories of women and girls being harassed about their clothing or assaulted by immigrants. For example, a 26-year-old Berlin man’s home was raided by police, who confiscated his computer and phones after he had posted the image of a dead 3-year-old Syrian boy on a Turkish beach and wrote “We are not mourning, we are celebrating!” A disgusting comment and one that is worthy public condemnation. However, it is also an act of free speech.
Nevertheless, many citizens are celebrating the denial of their own free speech rights. So long as they disagree with the speakers, there appears little concern over the rising tide of censorship and criminalization of speech. People are now unsure what they can say about immigration, which is precisely the chilling effect that governments seek in such measure. The result is a forced silence . . . which is golden for governments like Merkel’s that do not like what they are hearing.
Po,
Every President “inherits” the current state of affairs and is tasked to lead us to a better, future state. No leader that is worth a salt blames their failure to lead on the previous leader. Obama sold Hope and Change and he takes credit for successes and passes the buck on failures.That is not leadership that is failureship.
Dieter- I know all about Köln. Been living on the Rhine river for more than 25 years, speak German and celebrated my birthday in Cologne last year. I also wouldn’t go there on NYE or Karnival but my daughter would/did. So, I’m sure you can see my concern when the police and media try to cover up events like this. I just want to know what’s going on.
randyjet,
Let me see if I understand you correctly, Bush and his team “took off 8 years” and bad things happened as a result. Obama and his team on the other hand were all over it “every day” and bad things happened as a result.
Isn’t this Obama’s 2nd term pivot to Asia? Great, what you are stating is Obama’s direct leadership in the region has N. Korea advancing to unconfirmed H-bomb testing, Iran launching missiles in the Straits of Hormuz and China taking over the South China Seas.
Wow, that is so much better. LOL!
Olly – other than crying out of one eye, Obama’s strong suit is foreign affairs.
Olly, no matter how bad Obama is, and believe me, he is no choir boy, it is hard to beat Bush on both fronts, foreign affairs and economy.
It would be fair to acknowledge that in light of what he has inherited,and history will certainly show it, Obama is clearly one of our greatest presidents…and this from someone who did not vote for him the second time.
It is a fact that had we not invaded Iraq and ruined it, much of what we face internationally would not be.
Worse yet, Iraq is now the property of Iran, and they needed shoot no weapon to get it.
I see that some folks have a problem with memory or rational thinking. Obama is a major success compared to most other presidents. He and the Democratic Congress put in place the economic policies that ended W Bush’s depression. Then unlike Bush who lost interest in getting Bin Laden on his first day told the CIA JOB ONE is getting Bin Laden. He DID. Then my wife now has health care insurance which she could not get before. The cash for clunkers bill put me back to work. As for the nukes of North Korea, that happened on BUSH’S watch and you can thank BUSH for that. Clinton had gotten a deal that stopped the program, but Bush came in and cancelled it! Of course, our dumbest President and worst in history, had no plan as to what to do next.
As for Iran launching missiles, they have been doing that for YEARS. The Red China has claimed those areas of the South China seas for theirs for as long as they have existed. Hell, even the Nationalist Chinese do that. The Vietnamese among others are NOT happy,but they like us have little they can do about this. You will notice the SEA IS CALLED the South CHINA SEA! They only happen to live there.
I think it is wrong headed to crack down on anti-immigration speech, it is just speaking against government policy.
@Personanongrata
1, January 8, 2016 at 8:01 am
“If the German government (Europe) were truly concerned with the plight of the immigrants/refugees seeking safe harbor from the destruction of the very fabric of their society it would stop supporting the criminal US/NATO/Saudi/Qatar war on Syria which is the reason the vast majority of Middle Eastern peoples have sought safe harbor in Europe in the first place.”
Well, if you’re going to get all rational and humanitarian about it, you make an important point, of course.
The problem with your approach, however, is that it’s at essential odds with the desire of the US Military-Industrial Complex for what it has characterized as US “full-spectrum dominance” of the world.
https://nsnbc.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/the-usunnato-race-for-global-full-spectrum-dominance-14/
You forgot, by the way, to mention Israel’s criminal participation in the war on Assad and the Syrian people and the refugee crisis resulting from it:
“In a new report from the UN, it is revealed that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were maintaining regular contact with members of the so-called Islamic State since May of 2013. Initial reports from the IDF stated that this was only for medical care for civilians, but that story fell apart when the UN observers identified direct contact between IDF forces and ISIS soldiers, including giving medical care to ISIS fighters. Observations even included the transfer of two crates from the IDF to ISIS forces, the contents of which have not been confirmed at this time. Further the UN report identified what the Syrians label a crossing point of forces between Israel and ISIS, a point of concern brought before the UN Security Council. This report from the UN strengthens the claims by the Syrian regime that Israel is heavily involved in operations within the nation.”
http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/02/19/un-report-reveals-how-israel-is-coordinating-with-isis-militants-inside-syria/
Insofar as criminalizing criticism of the German government’s refugee policies is concerned, those supportive of it seem to think that as long as you don’t wear a Nazi armband while doing it, it’s perfectly OK to go along with whatever authoritarian law-and-order repression the German government deems necessary.
olly Well what exactly to you think Kerry could do? But not to worry,we had W Bush who took off 8 years and we got 9/11, Iraq, and North Korea’s so called A bombs, and not to mention the worst recession since the Great Depression. ALL of that happened on his watch.
*at the hands of their partner
*treat our women
karen..
With the exception of 3 people, all hailed from countries with extremist positions against women. I feel very sorry for the women in their families, because we’re all getting a snapshot of how these men treat women.
———————————————
karen
1 A sexual assault every 107 seconds
2- Leading cause of death for pregnant women in America, MURDER, mostly at the hand of hands of their partner.
In light of that, karen…we get a better snapshot of how our men treat out women…and your silence about it suggests you support them in it!
It is obvious to me that what sells, for purposes stated and unknown, is rank islamophobia.
That number of 1000 is news to me….until yesterday it was ranging from a dozen to a hundred.
Now it is a 1000. The idea that it matters a little whether 1000 or 15 is silly at best. The higher the number, the higher the reaction, hence the need to inflate the numbers.
Anybody with a little ability to think would realize that it is simply impossible, emotionally and practically that 1000…or even 100 people would be engaged in such action in a modern, highly policed city as the European city.
Last week we were told about the rape epidemic in some other European countries…today it is Cologne…tomorrow it will be another place…
What a silliness!
And as usual, some looooooove the story and make sure to spread it and condemn far and wide.
Meanwhile…of specks and logs…
“”How often does sexual assault occur?
There is an average of 293,066 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year.
Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted.
Here’s the math. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)–there is an average of 293,066 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year.
There are 525,600 minutes in a non-leap year. That makes 31,536,000 seconds/year. So, 31,536,000 divided by 293,066 comes out to 1 sexual assault every 107 seconds.
According to our dimwitted friends’ logic, based on those numbers above, America is Muslim.
It is the same everywhere…
Black men and their dicks…
Arabs and their knives…
White women tied into the clearing
All to rally the klan and their sheets!
Nick Spinelli. I am honored that you consider me to be in the class of Martin Luther who was an elitist and an apologist.
Personanongrata:
“If the German government (Europe) were truly concerned with the plight of the immigrants/refugees seeking safe harbor from the destruction of the very fabric of their society it would stop supporting the criminal US/NATO/Saudi/Qatar war on Syria which is the reason the vast majority of Middle Eastern peoples have sought safe harbor in Europe in the first place.”
You don’t think thousands of people being murdered by their leader, Assad, would drive people to seek asylum? Assad killed almost 8,000 people between January and February alone, while ISIS killed less then 2,000 in the same time period. That’s one of the reasons why our efforts to help Syria have been so tepid. Whom do we support? Assad? ISIS? The other extremists? It’s hard to pick a side when Syria is such a vat of extremism. If you GOOGLE “terrorist trained in Syria” you will get an overwhelming number of hits. The actual, good people are sandwiched between murderous extremists on all sides.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/islamic-state-has-killed-many-syrians-but-assads-forces-have-killed-even-more/2015/09/05/b8150d0c-4d85-11e5-80c2-106ea7fb80d4_story.html
Put your arm up in a roman salute, they put you in prison in germany.
Now instead of being unfree under nazis, or unfree under communists, now they are unfree under capitalists. but we are told it is all freedom and democracy etc.
we know that is a lie. Germans dont want this crop of refugees and scabs any more than the last one. Merkel is a tool of the globalists, not a German leader. It is her job to keep a lid on dissent and she does it the same old ham fisted way they have done it there before.
But the bankers want them you can be sure of that, and NATO has to house them somewhere because the Turks wont take them, the Arabs wont take them, etc. It is a deliberate extension of the US military industrial security and zionist complex’s nation wrecking policies and schemes, to now force this on Germany. First wreck Syria, why not Germany too? Destabilizing the whole world– that is the neocon – globalist game plan. Then the rich men safe in their compounds will be even more powerful than they are today. From Paul Wolfowitz to George Soros, birds of a feather.
Riesling. Major train stations in Europe such as the one in Koeln have long attracted the small criminals (the big ones stay in their mansions on New Year’s Eve). At the Koeln station and the nearby Cathedral you are repeatedly warned to be aware of pickpockets. Only if my presence there would be absolutely necessary on New Year’s Eve or Carnival I would not be there for a million Euros.
Based on the range of asylum seekers among those arrested for this heinous crime against women, Germany needs to improve its vetting of asylum process. What will be the repercussions? Deportation? With the exception of 3 people, all hailed from countries with extremist positions against women. I feel very sorry for the women in their families, because we’re all getting a snapshot of how these men treat women.
And this is what happens when we erode Free Speech. Now they can crack down on speech critical of government, under the guise of hate speech laws.
We must guard against succumbing to this trend.
There were warnings about Syrian refugees. I do not know if this is the case in Germany, but in some countries the refugees are admitted while they undergo their scanty background check. Some of them are good people, some are from ISIS, and some are just extremist. It’s difficult to expect such a crushing tide of people to instantly assimilate, when they come from a country where subjugation and abuse of women is the norm.
Nick
Festering, morning coffee and polemics. Wrong side of the bed again?
It is fascinating to watch the apologists here. Riesling is a common sense woman in Germany. I have gotten to know and trust her judgment. Dieter is an education elitist and apologist.
Obama the Stone Cold Drone Killer and Merkel the Rapist Protector are both recent, illustrious, Nobel Peace Prize winners. The fundamental issue is the disconnect of elitists, be they political, media, education w/ the masses. When that happens, the environment is ripe for demagogues. These are very dangerous times, I got out of the stock market a couple months ago for the first time in my adult life. Nationally and globally the feces is hitting the fan this year.
Anyone who is familiar with Cologne’s carnival festivities knows that harassment of women by drunk German punks, albeit on smaller scales, has happened during carnival as long as memory goes. There is no doubt on my mind that there were drunk German punks in the crowd on New Year’s Eve.
@KFCFlemming
Sorry, I can not see them talk about “1000 men, allegedly set upon women and made them run a gauntlet as they were grabbed, their clothes ripped, and their bodies groped. ”
Yes, there have been crimes and also sexuel harrasment there, but not by a group of 1000 men.
Sorry EOD 2 me