French Haters: Russia Stole Our Flag

Earlier this week Vladimir Putin's United Russia party mocked the White House by launching a "straight pride" flag meant to counter the "gay fever" sweeping the United States. France's Manif Pour Tous says Russia stole their design.

“We just discovered it in the press,” the group’s president Ludovine de la Rochère told BuzzFeed News. “Our logo has been used without our permission. The person who is in charge of the partnerships works directly for me so I would know for sure if there was any partnership between United Russia and the Manif Pour Tous. Since it is a political party, we would never have agreed to make a partnership with it,” she said. “Also, we disagree with the way they use our flag. For us, it is the flag of children’s rights.”

Manif Pour Tous is backed by the neo-Nazi National Front and NOM's Brian Brown.

France Warns Citizens About US Travel

Via Bloomberg:

The French shouldn’t be too French when they visit the U.S. That’s the advice being doled out by the French government to its citizens visiting America. Along with warnings about slower speed limits, higher drinking ages and hurricanes in Texas, the French foreign ministry adds a note of warning against being too “Latin.” “It’s recommended to adopt a reserved attitude toward those of the opposite sex,” it says. “Comments, behavior, and jokes, which might be harmless in Latin countries, can lead to criminal cases,” the ministry’s website says. Reinforcing French views of American prudishness, the website notes that even minors can be accused of sexual harassment, and asks that children use toilets reserved for their sex in the U.S. Among other advice to the French in America: “keep calm in all circumstances” since some states authorize the carrying of weapons. It asks visitors to avoid raising their voice or making sudden or aggressive gestures at the police.

The US State Department offer no specific warnings to Americans visiting France.

The Avener - Fade Out Lines

This mellow dance track from French house producer Tristan Casara has been a huge hit all over Europe in recent months and is starting to land on summer playlists in the US. I'm getting a kind of Everything But The Girl vibe.

Headline Of The Day

Via the London Standard:

The co-pilot who deliberately crashed a plane into a mountainside in the French Alps was suffering from depression and 'a personal life crisis,' according to reports. Andreas Lubitz, 28, had deliberately put the Germanwings airliner into a descent after the captain left the cockpit, French prosecutors said after analysing evidence from the recovered cockpit voice recorder. 150 people were killed, including babies, 16 schoolchildren and the flight's cabin crew and pilot. The head of Lufthansa, Germanwings parent company, admitted Lubitz had taken a long break from pilot training, while German media reported he had been battling mental health issues. Investigators are focusing on his "personal, family and professional environment" to try to determine why he locked his captain out of the cockpit and reset the autopilot to take the doomed plane from 38,000 feet to just 100ft. According to German newspaper Bild, Lubitz was going through a "personal life crisis", while the Der Spiegel newspaper said he had taken a break in training because of "burnout-syndrome".

More from the Daily Mail:

Yesterday, the boss of Germanwings admitted Lubitz had slipped through the ‘safety net’ and should never have been flying. It was also revealed that the fitness fanatic had suffered from depression and ‘burnout’ which had held up his career. He reportedly received a year and half of psychiatric treatment and was at one point recommended to be examined by a doctor before flying. But, incredibly, he passed his psychological assessments and was later considered fit to fly. Germany’s Federal Aviation Office confirmed this morning that Lubitz had a medical condition noted in his pilot’s records which required him to have a regular examination. It was reported this morning that during his education at the Lufthansa Flight School in Phoenix, Arizona, he was listed temporarily as 'unfliable'. It was suggested today that Lubitz - who had worked for Lufthansa as a cabin attendant for nearly a year before being accepted for flight training - may have been teased by other pilot's over his previous role. A friend said: 'His nickname was "Tomato Andy" - a reference to his past employment as a flight steward'.

And from Sky News:

Prosecutors investigating the Germanwings crash have said there were indications the co-pilot hid his illness from his employers. In a news conference on Friday, the prosecutors said that Andreas Lubitz hid a sick note on the day the Airbus A320 crashed into a mountainside during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. The torn-up note, dated on the day of the crash on Tuesday, was found in the 27-year-old's flat in Dusseldorf. The prosecutors added that documents showed he was receiving medical treatment, but that no suicide note or claim of responsibility for the crash was found.

FRANCE: Prosecutor Says Airliner Was Crashed Deliberately By Co-Pilot

Via ABC News:

A Marseille prosecutor says the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps appeared to have crashed the plane deliberately. Prosecutor Brice Robin said the action of manipulating "what is called the flight monitoring system in order to embark on the descent of the plane", could "only be deliberate". "I repeat, when he was alone, in charge of the Airbus, the co-pilot started the flight monitoring system to get the plane to descend," he said. "The action on this altitude selector can only be voluntary, I repeat action on this altitude selector can only be deliberate."

The German citizen, left in sole control of the Airbus A320 after the captain left the cockpit, refused to re-open the door and pressed a button that sent the jet into its fatal descent, Mr Robin said. He said that "one can then hear several calls from the commander asking to be allowed into the cockpit", but there was no answer. "He knocked on the door and there was no answer from the co-pilot either," he said. "One can then hear the noise of human breathing within the cockpit, and that human breathing noise can be heard until the final impact which means that theoretically the co-pilot was alive.

German Jetliner Crashes In Southern France, All 148 Aboard Feared Dead

Via the New York Times:

A German plane carrying at least 142 passengers and six crew members to Düsseldorf from Barcelona crashed on Tuesday in southern France, the French civil aviation authority confirmed. The wreckage of the aircraft, an Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, was located by a French military helicopter near the town of Prads-Haute-Bléone, according to Eric Héraud, a spokesman in Paris for the aviation authority, the Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile. The pilots declared an emergency at 10:47 a.m. and descended rapidly to around 5,000 feet from a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, while flying over the town of Barcelonnette in the Alpes de Haute-Provence region, Mr. Héraud said. President François Hollande of France said that many of the victims were German. “The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, suggest that there might not be any survivors,” he said.

Germanwings is owned by Lufthansa.

PARIS: City Bans Filming Of Action Films

Via BBC News:

The filming of movie action sequences has been restricted by authorities in Paris following last month's attacks in the French capital. "There's a problem with these action-type scenes, as the actors in uniform could be targets for terrorists," said police commander Sylvie Barnaud. "Also, the actors could pose confusion for the general public - during this highly sensitive period." She said the use of fake weapons and pyrotechnic effects were also banned. Tensions remain high following the attacks in January which left 20 people dead, including three gunmen. Armed police and soldiers continue to guard sensitive sites, including synagogues, media offices and large shopping areas. Paris is a popular destination for film-makers, with its wide boulevards and dramatic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Louvre pyramid. Official statistics provided by city authorities showed there were 930 film shoots in Paris last year, including approximately 20 international productions.

It's not known how long the restrictions will be in place.

Paris Mayor To Sue Fox News

Via Politico:

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is planning to sue Fox News for its inaccurate reports on Muslim "no go zones," she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday. "When we're insulted, and when we've had an image, then I think we'll have to sue, I think we'll have to go to court, in order to have these words removed," Hidalgo told Amanpour in an interview. "The image of Paris has been prejudiced, and the honor of Paris has been prejudiced." When asked to clarify which network she planned "to take to court and sue," Hidalgo replied: “Fox News, that’s the name.” Hidalgo's remarks come after Fox News ran multiple reports describing areas of Paris (and England) that were governed by Sharia law and off-limits to non-Muslims. The network has since apologized for making "regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in Europe—particularly with regard to England and France."

French hate speech laws include forbidding the incitement of hatred based on religion, ethnicity, and national origin. It's not yet clear on what grounds the Paris mayor's suit might be based.

Bill Donohue Melts Down On Fox News

"I should sue the Pope for plagiarism because if you match word-for-word what I said and what he said, it's almost identical."

Pope Francis On France Attack: There Must Be Limits On Freedom Of Expression

Via Yahoo News:

Pope Francis said Thursday there are limits to freedom of expression, especially when it insults or ridicules someone's faith. Francis spoke about the Paris terror attacks while en route to the Philippines, defending free speech as not only a fundamental human right but a duty to speak one's mind for the sake of the common good. But he said there were limits.

By way of example, he referred to Alberto Gasparri, who organizes papal trips and was standing by his side aboard the papal plane. "If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch," Francis said, throwing a pretend punch his way. "It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others."

Francis insisted that it was an "aberration" to kill in the name of God and said religion can never be used to justify violence. But he said there was a limit to free speech when it concerned offending someone's religious beliefs. "There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others," he said. "They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Dr. Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit."

Bill Donohue is doing cartwheels.

I am obviously delighted that the pope has taken the same position I have on this issue. Radio chatterbox Hugh Hewitt doubted last week whether a single bishop would side with me. What does he have to say now? Regarding the pope’s quip about punching those who offend us, here is what I said to Megyn Kelly last week: “If a woman has been beaten by her husband for 20 years and one day she goes out and she blows his brains out, I think we’re going to say she’s a murderer and we ought to try her. On the other hand any sensible person would say why don’t we look at the whole issue here.”

Bill Donohue: If Someone Kills the Piss Christ Artist, It Will Be His Own Fault

Piss Christ was hammered into pieces in 2011 by Catholic protesters during its display at a French gallery.

Today's New York Daily News

This was topic #1 across Teabagistan yesterday.

LIVE VIDEO: Paris Solidarity Rally

UPDATE: The live-stream has concluded.

Bryan Fischer: God Probably Killed Those French Cartoonists For Blaspheming Jesus

LIVE VIDEO: French Terrorists Killed

FRANCE: Paris Police Surround Gunmen In Two Separate Hostage Standoffs

Via CNN:

French authorities waged two intense standoffs with gunmen in and around Paris early Friday afternoon -- one involving the two brothers wanted in the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the other a hostage situation at a kosher grocery store near eastern Paris' Porte de Vincennes. It was not immediately known if the two situations were related, but both underscored France's nightmare and anti-terrorism fight.

The hostage situation spurred police anti-terror units and the French internal security directorate, known as the DGSI, to race to the scene in eastern Paris, the city's prosecutor's office said. Hostages were taken after a shooting there or nearby. CNN affiliate France 2 aired live video of police tactical teams getting into position at the scene of the standoff.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officers had also surrounded a building about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast in the town Dammartin-en-Goele. Authorities have expressed a high degree of certainty that they have surrounded the Kouachi brothers -- the suspects in Wednesday's killing of 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo -- in Dammartin-en-Goele, which is northeast of Paris and a few miles from Charles de Gaulle Airport. Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre Henri Brandet tweeted that it's not confirmed whether or not the brothers are holding anyone hostage.

All US cable news outlets are covering the situation live.

Tweet Of The Day - Catholic League

Despite what Donohue claims above, it is Hewitt who destroys in a segment that aired nationwide today on the Salem Radio Network. (Salem is the parent company of Twitchy, Townhall, and other far-right sites.) Hewitt, perhaps obviously, is himself a far-right Christianist, which only makes his truly brutal evisceration of Bill Donohue much, much more enjoyable. Hit the link and listen - it will make your day. Infighting is funny, y'all.

Last Night In New York City

FRANCE: Neo-Nazi National Front Party Sees Opportunities In Wake Of Attack

France's neo-Nazi National Front Party is already working to capitalize on nationalistic and racist sentiment in the wake of yesterday's terror attack by Islamic extremists. Via Slate:

For the first seven hours after the attack on the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, the National Front, France’s far right political party, kept an old feature about the influx of Roma and “gypsies” into French cities on its website. Then, shortly after noon, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the increasingly popular party with the slogan “The French Come First,” appeared in front of three French flags and hammered out her demands—and a selfless offer. It is time for “frank and clear responses” against “inaction and denial,” she declared. In other words: The country’s two main political parties have failed to stem the Islamist tide, and you the voters now have all the evidence you need that France requires new leadership. “I intend to assume this vital responsibility so France can defend itself in the war that has been declared upon her,” she continued. Marine Le Pen told a talk show host on Thursday morning she was “still waiting for her phone to ring” with an invitation from the prime minister to participate in Sunday’s national unity march. But Le Pen’s phone has remained silent. Government leaders are gambling that they don’t need her and can keep the National Front at a safe distance from its street-level display of strength and solidarity. For now, she will continue to taunt them from the other side of the barricades.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Last month the Kremlin lent the National Front €9M in the first installment of a reported €40M payment presumably meant to help tilt France's government to the far right. The National Front is a backer of the anti-gay Manif Pour Tous and has supported its numerous, vicious and often violent rallies, as have hate group leaders Brian Brown and Tony Perkins.  Founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has been convicted six times for inciting racial hatred, including for denying that the Holocaust took place. Last year he "joked" that his critics, who include Madonna, will be in the next "batch" headed for the gas chambers.  He has also "joked" that ebola is the "solution" to Europe's immigration problems. In 2013 Le Pen's daughter, Marine Le Pen, herself a failed candidate for France's presidency, praised the man who committed suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral in protest of same-sex marriage. In February of last year Le Pen's granddaughter, 24 year-old Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, led a massive anti-gay march through the streets of Paris. In January of last year the youth leader for the National Front called for France to institute anti-gay laws similar to those in Russia.

Bill Donohue Takes His "French Writers Had It Coming" Crusade To Fox News

Since declaring that the French victims of terrorism had it coming to them for insulting religion, Catholic League head Bill Donohue has been strongly denounced by the Washington Post and numerous other outlets, even the right-wing National Review. But last night Donohue got a sympathetic ear on that bastion of free speech, Fox News.