UPDATED: Radical Islamist attacks followers of "Rev." James Martin

As Walt pointed out a mere six weeks ago, homosexuality -- the lifestyle and the acts, not the people suffering from this disorder -- is condemned in Islam, just as it is in Christianity. A Catholic (in name, anyway) priest who begs to disagree is Father James Martin, S.J., the leading apostle (in America) of all things gay. He is called out by name in the video in "Bad shepherds are leading the faithful to hell!", WWW 1/8/21.  

The ever-increasing number of "Pride events" -- days, weeks, months, parades, festivals and other queer-ins -- has given rise to an increasing number of anti-gay types who are sick, sore and tired of all this "We're here, we're queer!" nonsense. 

One person who has acted on his righteous indignation is a follower of the Prophet -- Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese background -- who is now the subject of a massive manhunt in Germany after a suspected "Islamist terror attack" at a Berlin Pride event last night.

One woman is dead and at least 29 injured after a van drove into a crowd. The suspect then attacked people with a blade that "might have been a machete." [It might have been a scimitar too, but "machete" is easier to spell. Ed.]

Herr Ballout was known to die Polizei and had previously "committed a number of crimes." He is still at large, but the cops have taken several people into custody in relation to the attack, according to German media. Die Zeit reports that some of those taken into custody have now been released, while others remain in custody.

Inspector Katzenjammer of the Berlin constabulary reportedly told journalists that if police cannot assign suspicions of a crime to those detained, then they must be released within 48 hours. It's still unclear if the suspect named as Abdul Ballout is believed to have acted alone, or with accomplices. 

Equally unclear, to hear the cops tell it, is the motive for the attack. But, warns the German Minister of the Interior, "We cannot rule out the possibility of copycat attacks." 

An angry German Chancellor Fred Merz (pictured) added that extremists "have no place in our society", vowing to do everything in the government's power to see justice served.

UPDATE ADDED 27/7/26 @ 0515 FMT: Die Polizei found the killer yesterday, hiding in a shed in the Spandau district of Berlin. They shot and killed him. No trial. 

One bleeding heart liberal has already commented that this shows why we need Pride Parades. Well, it does get `em all together in one place so you can attach them en masse, if you are so inclined.

Further reading: "Trans woman BEGS to return to the US after fleeing Trump's America to be placed in notorious Islamic asylum center in the Netherlands: 'I will be hurt or killed'", Daily Mail, 26/7/26. Thanks to the good folks at Blazing Cat Fur for the lead.

WINNING! "The war is over!" POTUS orders 5000 troops back to USA

Just ahead of next week's 81st anniversary of V-E Day, President Trump announed that 5000 American troops will be withdrawn from Germany. "We won the war!" POTUS said. "The Krauts will never be able to have nuclear weapons -- not ever! Our mission of making the world a safer place is accomplished. So our brave men and women and others can come home to the welcome they deserve!"

In social media posts on Thursday, President Trump said German chancellor Friedrich Merz was "doing a terrible job" and had "problems of all kinds", including on immigration and energy, but that the US of A was tired of helping them and wouldn't waste any more money and lives doing so. The President has also suggested pulling American troops from Italy and Spain. 

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the order to remove American troops from Germany had come from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. "This decision follows a thorough review of the Department's force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theatre requirements and conditions on the ground," he said. "We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months."

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told the German Press Agency in Berlin that "the presence of American soldiers in Europe, and particularly in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the US." He added that the American withdrawal from Europe and also from Germany "foreseeable".

Reichskanzler Merz [no relation to Fred Mertz of the old I Love Lucy show. Ed.] added "Auf wiedersehen, sweethearts!"

German elections: AfD rises to best result ever

We apologize for not having posted anything much in the last few days. We have been preoccupied with the Bergoglio death watch, which seems today to be a bit premature. Lord have mercy on him, and let your will be done. 

There is also the dizzying pace of the changes being wrought by President Trump. It's hard to keep up. And frankly, some things the Donald is doing -- the threatened tariffs, the apparent sell-out of Ukraine --  look wrong-headed. There may be method in his madness, but we'll wait and see. For now, we'll hold the applause.

We cannot, however, delay our congratulations to Alice Weidel and her Alternativ für Deutschland party for their best-ever showing in last weekend's election.

See that huge aqua-tinted area, roughly corresponding to the old East Germany, on the map? Those are seats in the Reichstag won by the AfD!

Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU got more seats -- those coloured in black -- but Germany's 2025 election has revealed a strong trend to the hard right. 

It is notable that the AfD's strength is mainly in the east, where millions of people remember what it was like to be governed by Communists. Their rejection of the socialism and liberalism of Angela Merkel and her successor Olaf Scholz.

AfD doubled its support from 10.4 to 20.8% in just four years, and is now the second biggest political force in the German parliament. Meanwhile, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's socialist SPD had its worst performance in decades, only securing 16.4% of the vote. The loony left Green Party, once considered the "coming thing", drew only 11.6% of the vote.

No wonder "Fred" Merz and Frau Merkel are seen here watching in horror as the results came in. The AfD dominates eastern Germany, apart from pockets like Berlin and half of Leipzig. In the west, the vast majority went conservative black, especially in Bavaria where Herr Merz's conservative sister party, the CSU, swept the landscape. 

Alternativ für Deutschland is spreading in the west too, and loyalty to the old mainstream parties is a thing of the past. The AfD, demonized as "far-right" by the (((controlled media))), has, for one in five Germans, become "normal". 

Even though it came second, the AfD is blocked from being part of the next government because of a "firewall" constructed by Germany's main parties, who have refused to co-operate with any party seen as "extremist". 

The same strategy -- refusing to join in any coalition with any right-wing group -- has been employed to keep Marine Le Pen's National Rally out of power in France. The firewall -- Brandmauer in German -- has worked since the end of WWII, but AfD joint leader Tino Chrupalla says, "Anyone who erects firewalls will get grilled behind them." 

The cuckservative CDU/CSU did not win enough seats to form a majority government. Herr Merz must therefore find a coalition partner, but has vowed to keep the firewall in place. He told the meeja that he believes the only reason the AfD exists is because of "problems such as migration and security that need to be addressed:" Ya think?! "We need to resolve these problems," he said, "then that party, the AfD, will disappear." 

AfD leader Alice Weidel insists it is a libertarian, conservative movement, not racist. Its big increase in public support has coincided with a series of deadly attacks in the past nine months, all by Islamic extremists who Angela Merkel's minions welcomed into the Fatherland as "refugees" and asylum-seekers. What the AfD wants to do is send them back where they came from, in a policy dubbed "remigration". 

Herr Merz will now go into talks on forming a government with the Social Democrats, who came third. He has already flirted with the AfD in the Reichstag, relying on their votes to push through a motion on migration. Now that the AfD has more than 150 seats, many CDU/CSU supporters believe it is time for the firewall to go. Stay tuned.