Terrorists in the Indian city of Hyderabad exploded two bombs in a marketplace today, killing at least twelve people and wounding dozens of others. No organization immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, although the terrorist group known as Indian Mujahideen is a prime suspect.
In other news, Daniel Pipes says that Philadelphia is in the midst of a burqa crisis, with fourteen recent robberies or attempted robberies being carried out by suspects wearing full female Islamic garb.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, Nilk, The Observer, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
20 Signs That the U.S. Economy is Heading for Big Trouble in the Months Ahead
Is the U.S. economy about to experience a major downturn? Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of signs that economic activity in the United States is really slowing down right now. Freight volumes and freight expenditures are way down, consumer confidence has declined sharply, major retail chains all over America are closing hundreds of stores, and the “sequester” threatens to give the American people their first significant opportunity to experience what “austerity” tastes like. Gas prices are going up rapidly, corporate insiders are dumping massive amounts of stock and there are high profile corporate bankruptcies in the news almost every single day now. In many ways, what we are going through right now feels very similar to 2008 before the crash happened.
Back then the warning signs of economic trouble were very obvious, but our politicians and the mainstream media insisted that everything was just fine, and the stock market was very much detached from reality. When the stock market did finally catch up with reality, it happened very, very rapidly. Sadly, most people do not appear to have learned any lessons from the crisis of 2008. Americans continue to rack upstaggering amounts of debt, and Wall Street is more reckless than ever. As a society, we seem to have concluded that 2008 was just a temporary malfunction rather than an indication that our entire system was fundamentally flawed. In the end, we will pay a great price for our overconfidence and our recklessness.
So what will the rest of 2013 bring?
Hopefully the economy will remain stable for as long as possible, but right now things do not look particularly promising.
The following are 20 signs that the U.S. economy is heading for big trouble in the months ahead…
#1 Freight shipment volumes have hit their lowest level in two years, and freight expenditures have gone negative for the first time since the last recession.
#2 The average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen by more than 50 cents over the past two months. This is making things tougher on our economy, because nearly every form of economic activity involves moving people or goods around.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: Public Salaries Cut to Save Budget
2013 growth estimate lowered from 1,8% to 0,7%
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, FEBRUARY 20 — Starting next month, the Croatian government will lower by 3% the salaries of some 250,000 state employees to avoid new foreign debts and keep deficit estimates of its public finances to 3% of GDP, Finance Minister Slavko Linic announced on Wednesday. He also further lowered previous growth estimates of the country’s economy in 2013.
“Soon it will be necessary to draft a budget in which growth estimates will be lowered from the current 1,8% to 0,7%, which will have negative repercussions on fiscal revenues’, said Linic. “In order to maintain the deficit to 3% we are forced to reduce spending, starting with salaries in the public sector which will be lowered by 3% of gross value”.
“It is clear that as far as development in 2013 is concerned we can only count on state investments as the private sector does not believe it can give a contribution”, he added.
On Tuesday, Social Democratic Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic promised that teachers, in particular those teaching elementary and middle schools, will be the only ones not to suffer salary cuts. A few months ago the government had unilaterally cancelled collective labour agreements of public employees scrapping Christmas bonuses and reducing benefits, without however touching salaries, which have remained unvaried for the past three years. Unions have announced they will oppose the salary cuts and have not ruled out strikes.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
European Bank CEO Admits: “The Whole Thing is Doomed”
As the European parliament attempts to create a budget and Draghi repeats how the temporary lull in European growth is merely a prelude to a growth renaissance in the second half of the year (not to be confused with the verbatim lie rehashed by European dignitaries in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009), it appears a few leaks of truthiness are seeing daylight in the disunion. In a shockingly frank interview, the CEO of Saxo Bank describes the Euro’s recent rally as illusory and that “the whole thing is doomed,” as the continent is not supported by a fiscal union. As Bloomberg reports, Lars Seier Christensen says he would be a “seller of the EUR at anything near 1.40,” noting that “right now we’re in one of those fake solutions where people think that the problem is contained or being addressed, which it isn’t at all.” Confirming that the only thing holding the farce together is political not economic efforts, he sums the situation up perfectly: “people have been dramatically underestimating the problems.”
Via Bloomberg,
Lars Seier Christensen, co-chief executive officer of Danish bank Saxo Bank A/S, said the euro’s recent rally is illusory and the shared currency is set to fail because the continent hasn’t supported it with a fiscal union.
“The whole thing is doomed,” Christensen said yesterday in an interview at the bank’s Dubai office. “Right now we’re in one of those fake solutions where people think that the problem is contained or being addressed, which it isn’t at all.”…
Public-sector debt is at record levels, having more than doubled from 40 percent of gross domestic product in 2008. The European Commission, which is due to update its forecasts this week, sees it rising to 97.1 percent of GDP next year.
“It’s the political world that has been extremely supportive of the euro, not for economic reasons but for political reasons,” said Christensen, a long-time critic of the single currency who now lives in Switzerland.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Qatar Sets Sight on Ex Athens Airport
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, FEBRUARY 21 — Qatar has signed a suitability accord with the Greek state privatisation agency TAIPED to take part in an international tender for the disused Elliniko airport in Athens which will take place by June, according to Deputy Minister of Development, Notis Mitarakis. The agreement between Qatar and Athens runs along three lines: the creation of a reserve fund between the two countries; the works to be carried out by the private sector, and the privatization program.
Qatar has already taken part in the first phase of the international tender by way of a Qatari Fund Diary, an offshoot of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA.) In the running alongside Qatari Diary is the Israeli company Elbit Cochin Island Ltd, Lamda Development SA of the Greek group Latsis, and London and Regional Properties, all of whom have already signed a suitability accord. Nevertheless Qatari Diary is in a strong position.
According to Kerdos online it has more than 100 billion dollars in reserves and is the most solid company of all who have expressed an interest in Elliniko. As well as this Mitarakis says that the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has his sights set on a group of islands in the Ionian sea which he wants to buy and develop into tourist resorts. The islands lie between Kefalonia and Itaca and include the island of Oxia.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Privatization Plan Finally Underway
28 lucrative projects to launch later this year
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, FEBRUARY 21 — After years of false starts and setbacks a privatization program of state owned companies in Greece — which is a Troika condition in exchange for aid, is underway.
As many as 28 projects will get going in 2013 with a completion target of the end of 2014.
The agency responsible for the plan — the National Valuation of State Property (Taiped) aims to rake in 19 billion euro by 2015 and 50 billion by 2020 against the 1.8 billion euro that it has so far brought in, to much criticism. Taiped is making up lost ground now, observes newspaper Kathimerini. Up for sale are Greece’s lottery company ‘Opap’ the postal service, the state gas company Depa and gas network manager Desfa, as well as infrastructure grants on the country’s ports, airports and motorways — all of which should top up Greek coffers to the tune of 5 billion euro. According to Kathimerini, Opap, Depa and Desfa are expected to pull in the majority of the revenue. Successful sales would hit 100% of the 2.5 billion euro forecast for this year and about 25% of the target set for the period up to 2016. However, if privatization programs fail to reap the rewards, target goals for 2013 won’t be met, in turn triggering a clause with Greek creditors for new austerity measures. Other important projects involve the privatization of motorways and the development of the disused Elliniko airport in the south of Athens.
As well as reducing national debt, these projects — in ‘greenfield’ areas of little infrastructure — should stimulate growth.
ßFrom 2015 privatization is set to focus exclusively on state property assets. So far Taiped has banked 100 million euro, with much more to come in the current year from the sale of Greek real estate abroad and in the use of tourist complexes such as the Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni, the Xenia chain of hotels and other significant properties such as the former royal estate of Tatoi and the peninsula of Prasonisi in Rhodes. Roughly 1,000 properties will go under the hammer with an estimated net worth of between 6 and 7 billion euro.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Killing the Dollar: G20 & IMF Push for Global Fed, Global Currency
While headline stories about averting the dangers of an international “currency war” dominated news coverage of the recently concluded G20 meeting in Moscow, the real unreported story is that the global gathering of central bankers and finance ministers is pushing forward with their plan for “supersizing” the International Monetary Fund. The end goal is to transform the IMF into a global Federal Reserve, with the ability to flood the world with huge new volumes of loans and currency. It would also wield vast financial regulatory powers.
The IMF’s unit of account, or “currency,” known as a Special Drawing Right (SDR), is being readied for eventual adoption as the replacement for the U.S. dollar in international transactions, to lead the way toward eventual adoption of the SDR or some other designated unit as the global currency, much in the same way that the euro was foisted upon the people of Europe as a replacement of their national currencies.
The mainstream media seem intent on keeping the public fixated on the latest Kardashian frolics, sportsmania, and Democrat-Republican political mudwrestling, while coverage of the G7, G20, and IMF confabs that are determining the economic fate of the world receive short shrift. And the little reporting of these events that does leak out usually amounts to little more than regurgitation of the pre-scripted talking points of the conference principals. Over the past four years, The New American has published numerous articles detailing the radical plans currently underway for the total destruction of the dollar and the plans for supersizing the IMF into a global Fed. (See the linked stories at the bottom of this article).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Schiff: ‘The Pound Gets Pounded’ And Gold Will ‘Hit the Fan’ During Obama’s Second Term
As the global currency war intensifies, the majority of attention has been paid to the 17% fall of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar over the past few months. The implosion has given cover to the sad performance of another once mighty currency: the British pound sterling. But in many ways the travails of the pound is far more instructive to those pondering the fate of the U.S. currency…
While the American media has poked fun at the Bank of England’s backtracking, they somehow do not understand that the Federal Reserve would be doing the same if not for the advantages given to us by the dollar’s reserve status. Our ability to monetize the vast majority of the annual government deficit while exporting our inflation through half trillion dollar trade deficits and the overseas sale of hundreds of billions of Treasury bonds annually means that we do not yet face the pressures bearing down on the Bank of England.
As far as the United States is concerned, the U.K. is the canary in the coal mine. What they are going through now, and what they may be about to go through, we will surely experience in the years ahead. The only difference is that the leeway afforded to us by our special status simply gives us more rope to hang ourselves. When the noose finally tightens, the fall will be that much more painful.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Scores of Jobless Algerians Arrested During Protests
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRUARY 21 — Algerian police have arrested dozens of young, jobless Algerians during protests aimed at pressing the government into providing better access to employment.
Demonstrators gathered in Ouargla and Laghouat outside local branches of the National Employment Agency, which they blame for its ineffective policies on employment. Police intervened after attempting to convince the protestors to call the rally off. Police have clamped down more heavily in recent weeks on protest rallies involving jobless Algerians, with dozens of arrests and subsequent convictions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Stocks Plunge as Fed Members Admit Endless Bond Buying Will Not Fix Economy
During the January meeting of the Federal Reserve, some members of the central bank admitted the obvious — a tidal wave of nearly worthless paper money will not turn the economy around and the Fed’s bond-buying program will create dangerous inflation and “foster market behavior that could undermine financial stability.”
Fed minutes reveal “a number of participants” in disagreement with the bond-buying scheme. An ongoing review of the practice “might well lead the committee to taper or end its purchases before it judged that a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labour market had occurred.”
The Fed is currently tossing around billions of fiat dollars every month in a scheme it insists will remedy the economy and put an end to massive unemployment. In January, the privately owned Fed said it would continue to buy $85 billion in bonds every month.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Aaron Swartz Files Reveal How FBI Tracked Internet Activist
A blogger has published once-classified FBI files that show how the agency tracked and collected information on internet activist Aaron Swartz.
Swartz, who killed himself in January aged 26, had previously requested his files and posted them on his blog, but some new documents and redactions are included in the files published by Firedoglake blogger Daniel Wright.
Wright was given 21 of 23 declassified documents, thanks to a rule that declassifies FBI files on the deceased. Wright said that he was told the other two pages of documents were not provided because of freedom of information subsections concerning privacy, “sources and methods,” and that can “put someone’s life in danger.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Citizens Applaud Defeat of Firearms Ban in Massachusetts
Obama and the Democrats in Congress would have us believe most Americans are for “sensible” restrictions on the Second Amendment. A town meeting in Massachusetts on Wednesday night, however, turned this assumption on its head.
A majority of people attending a town hall meeting in Westford, Massachusetts, responded to the withdrawal of an assault weapons ban by city government with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Vice Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Robert Jeffries was surprised by the reaction. “I thought there would be a [negative] reaction,” he told WBZ-TV in Boston. “But I also thought maybe some other towns in Massachusetts might have also tried something similar and none of them did. So it left us isolated as the only ones.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Coulter: Hispanicked GOP Elite: They’ll Respect US in the Morning
Don’t anyone tell Marco Rubio, John McCain or Jeff Flake that nearly 80 percent of Hindus voted for Obama, or who knows what they’ll come up with.
I understand the interest of business lobbies in getting cheap, unskilled labor through amnesty, but why do Republican officeholders want to create up to 20 million more Democratic voters, especially if it involves flouting the law? Are the campaign donations from the soulless rich more important than actual voters?
Without citing any evidence, the Rubio Republicans simply assert that granting 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens amnesty will make Hispanics warm to the GOP. Yes, that’s worked like a charm since Reagan signed an amnesty bill in 1986!
True, Romney lost the Hispanic vote, but so did John McCain, the original Rubio. (McCain lost Hispanics by 67 percent compared to 71 percent who voted against Romney.)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Daniel Pipes: Philadelphia’s Burqa Crisis
N.B.: The Washington Times title is “When burqas become accessories to crime: Criminals can hide behind Islamic garb” and it contains small differences from this version
Philadelphia, the city where I live, has quietly and unassumedly become the capital of the Western world as regards female Islamic garb as an accessory to crime.
First, a tutorial on Islamic coverings, all of which tend to be called veils in English but fall into three main categories. Some (the abaya, hijab, chador, jilbab, or khimar) cover parts of the body, especially the hair, neck, and shoulders, but reveal the face and identity of the woman; some cover the face (the yashmak) but show the body shape; and some hide the whole body, including the identity and gender of the wearer. The latter — our topic here — is better described as a full-body cover than a veil: it in turn has two types, those that cover the person entirely (the chadari or burqa) or those with a slit for the eyes (the haik or niqab).
By my count, the Philadelphia region has witnessed 14 robberies (or attempted robberies) of financial institutions in the past six years in which the thieves relied on an Islamic full-body cover. They took place in January 2007, June 2007, May 2008, November 2009, October 2010 (two), February 2011, June 2011, December 2011, January 2012, March 2012 (two), and April 2012 (two). The most violent attack took place on May 3, 2008, when Police Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski was killed with an AK-47 in a shoot-out following a successful robbery using burqas; the police then killed one of the criminals.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats to Women: You Are Too Stupid to Protect Yourselves
[WARNING: ** Disturbing content **]
As reported at Townhall.com, the Colorado State House recently passed a series of new gun laws. Part of the debate dealt was on legislation which would eliminate concealed carry rights on college campuses. Here’s what Democrat Joe Salazar had to say: (link to video)
If a man is coming at you and trying to tackle you to the ground, I think that pretty much eliminates any guesswork on his intent, don’t you think? The comments by Salazar go beyond offensive, and they show that protection of innocent people is NOT the aim of liberal policies. It never has been…
This lead to the testimony of Amanda Collins, as reported by Townhall.com. While in college at the University of Nevada-Reno in 2007, she was brutally attacked and raped. Collins had a concealed weapons permit but was NOT carrying her gun, because it was against university policy. She became a tragic victim, and as she points out, NOTHING that Rep. Salazar said would have helped her.
“I can tell you that a call box above my head while I was straddled on the parking garage floor being brutally raped wouldn’t have helped me one bit. The safe zone? I was in a safe zone and my attacker didn’t care.
“A whistle wouldn’t have gotten anybody’s attention. It was isolated, it was late at night. It’s really frustrating that I’m supposed to hand over my own protection to a man but they’re not able to guarantee our protection and the comments that this representative made about women not knowing if they’re going to be raped or accidentally shooting the wrong person was extremely offensive because he specifically targeted female students. So, is he saying that all women are unable to make sound decisions in the midst of that, that we should go against our God given gut instinct that something was wrong? I knew something was wrong the moment I was grabbed from behind.”
Here’s the full interview: (video)
[…]
Collins, in one sentence, cuts to the heart of the matter when she said, “I was legislated into being a victim.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic Lawmaker Suggest That Rape Victim Women Should All be Disarmed and Have No Self Defense
(NaturalNews) It’s one thing for Americans who don’t believe in the Second Amendment to refrain from carrying or owning a firearm for self-defense if they choose to do so, but it’s a completely different thing for an anti-gun politician to push for laws that disarm Americans and put them at risk of harm from criminals.
That is especially true for women, who are often victimized by much stronger, much larger men.
But that doesn’t matter to Colorado state Rep. Joe Salazar. As far as he’s concerned, even women at risk of being raped should not be allowed to carry a gun.
Get a whistle, not a gun
While arguing for the disarmament of college students recently on the floor of the state Legislature, Salazar said guns weren’t the answer for women at risk — “call boxes” and “whistles” were better protective choices.
“It’s why we have call boxes, it’s why we have safe zones, it’s why we have the whistles. Because you just don’t know who you’re gonna be shooting at. And you don’t know if you feel like you’re gonna be raped, or if you feel like someone’s been following you around or if you feel like you’re in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that gun and you pop … pop around at somebody.”
In Salazar’s world, absurdity obviously knows no bounds.
To his way of thinking, potential rapists would back off if they encountered a woman in a “safe zone.” If she were near a “call box” or had a “whistle,” her protection would be exponentially stronger because, you know, rapists pay attention to such things when planning their criminal acts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Designer’s Scarves Empower Muslim Women
Ithaca College will host Nancy Hoque, designer and founder of sixteenR.com, an online store that sells scarves for Muslim women. Hoque will address the campus at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Handwerker Gallery. She will speak about the use of the scarf as a tool of empowerment, perceptions of the headscarf and the evolution of Muslim women’s identities. SixteenR.com produces scarves based on the belief that style for the modern Muslim woman is evolving to incorporate fashion from the West as well as traditions from the preceding generations…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
First Space Tourist Plans Independent Mars Mission
An organisation led by Dennis Tito, the first ever space tourist, has announced its intention to launch a mission to Mars in 2018 — though just who or what will be on board remains to be seen.
Tito paid $20 million to be the first paying guest of the International Space Station in 2001, marking the start of the space tourism industry. Now he has formed the Inspiration Mars Foundation, which plans to launch “an historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days”, according to an announcement in advance of a press conference next Wednesday.
The announcement does not give many more details of the mission, but other speakers lined up for the press conference give some clues. Jonathan Clark of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in Houston, Texas, a former NASA crew surgeon and recent advisor on Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic skydive from near the edge of space, will probably speak about the health risks of a long-term space mission, which hints at the possibility of a crewed mission.
Also speaking are Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum of Paragon Space Development, a company with expertise in life support in extreme environments. The pair were both members of the Biosphere 2 mission, a controversial attempt at simulating a space colony two decades ago, and have previously proposed landing a greenhouse on the moon to grow flowers there.
Speculation ahead of the announcement is rife. Wired reckons the mission will aim to be crewed. NBC is more cautious, suggesting that the plan might be to put plants or animals on board instead, as pulling a crewed mission together in five years would be expensive and risky. The 2018 date is particularly favourable because the orbits of Earth and Mars will be closely aligned, but NASA recently scrubbed a launch that year in favour of a 2020 sequel to its successful Curiosity rover. Bottom line: it’s hard to get to Mars in a hurry.
We also don’t know whether the mission is meant to land on Mars or merely orbit the planet. Space Adventures, which booked Tito’s ISS trip, has been selling moon fly-bys since 2005, though none has taken place so far. But even an uncrewed return mission to the surface of the Red Planet would make history if it brought Mars rocks back to Earth.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gun Control Was — Historically — About Repressing Blacks
Preface: I was raised to be against guns. My parents hated guns, and believed that they only lead to crime and accidental shootings.
I was raised in a blue state, and I have long been deeply influenced by leading voices for non-violence, such as Gandhi and King. So — until recently — I was pro gun-control.
As such, I was stunned to learn about the historical background behind gun control campaigns.
The Real History of Gun Control
UCLA Constitutional law professor Adam Winkler — whose commentary has been featured on CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, and numerous other outlets, and who is a contributor to The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post — notes (via the Wall Street Journal):
[The history of gun control in America] was a constant pressure among white racists to keep guns out of the hands of African-Americans, because they would rise up and revolt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) I really didn’t want to cover this subject, but a warning has to be issued to Natural News readers. Infowars writer Paul Joseph Watson has uncovered proof that a U.S. based company called “Law Enforcement Training, Inc.” has been selling millions of dollars worth of “no hesitation” targets to the Department of Homeland Security.
These targets (see images below) are used to train DHS employees to shoot American citizens and they depict pregnant women, old men, children and even young moms with guns. The purpose of the targets, according to the company that sells them, is to “eliminate any hesitation” that U.S. government employees might normally feel in shooting to kill pregnant women, children and old men. (I’m not making this up. The government’s plan to murder Americans is now right out in the open…)
InfoWars reports they have been informed the “no hesitation” targets were “strictly for Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.”
How stupid do they think we are? This puzzle isn’t difficult to assemble, folks. We’ve got the U.S. government already on record purchasing 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition to be used domestically, inside the united states. The government is also purchasing thousands of full-auto assault rifles, calling them “personal defense weapons.”
On top of that, there are hundreds of thousands of multi-body coffins being stored right now at FEMA camp facilities, and there’s also strong evidence that FEMA camps are being activated with core staff coming on line.
And then we’ve also got the feds saying they want Americans to turn in all their guns and completely disarm themselves so that only the government has guns.
Um… how much evidence do you need, folks? I’m just wondering how so many Americans can still be living in a state of total denial about all this. It is abundantly clear that the current occupying government of America — which is an illegitimate occupying force of anti-constitution traitors and criminals — literally has a plan to mass murder tens of millions of Americans by either gunning them down in the streets, or rounding them up and stuffing them info FEMA coffins (or mass graves).
This plan was openly talked about by Obama’s mentor This plan was openly talked about by one of President Obama’s mentors, in fact, a key member of the “Weatherman” group of communist-leaning terrorists. Bill Ayers and his cohorts planned a communist takeover of America followed by the rounding up of resistance forces who would then be “re-educated” or terminated. This is all spelled out in great detail in this video interview of Larry Grathwohl, an undercover operative working for federal law enforcement agencies. He infiltrated the Weathermen organization and learned what they really wanted to accomplish.
Watch his testimony in this video:
[…]
Get out of your state of denial and wake up to what’s happening This has all reached the point of un-deniability. All of you who have sat back and watched this murderous police state being rolled out while you were paralyzed in a state of denial now need to come to your senses and realize this is real. Our government has been taken over and “occupied” by enemy forces who are openly attempting to destroy the Bill of Rights, eradicate the Constitution and put in place a communist / fascist system of dictatorial control.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is Millionaire Space Tourist Planning Trip to Mars?
Buzz is building about a planned 2018 private mission to Mars, which may launch the first humans toward the Red Planet.
A nonprofit organization called the Inspiration Mars Foundation — which is led by millionaire Dennis Tito, the world’s first space tourist — will hold a news conference on Feb. 27 to announce the 501-day roundtrip mission, which will aim for a January 2018 launch.
“This ‘Mission for America’ will generate new knowledge, experience and momentum for the next great era of space exploration,” Inspiration Mars officials wrote in a media advisory yesterday (Feb. 20). “It is intended to encourage all Americans to believe again, in doing the hard things that make our nation great, while inspiring youth through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and motivation.”
Tito made history in 2001, plunking down a reported $20 million for an eight-day trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
On March 3, Tito will give a talk called “Feasibility Analysis for a Manned Mars Free Return Mission in 2018” at an aerospace conference in Montana, the NewSpace Journal reported today (Feb. 21). The NewSpace Journal says it obtained a copy of the paper Tito plans to present in Montana and gives a summary of its main thrust.
Tito’s paper discusses “a crewed free-return Mars mission that would fly by Mars, but not go into orbit around the planet or land on it. This 501-day mission would launch in January 2018, using a modified SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket,” the NewSpace Journal writes. “According to the paper, existing environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) technologies would allow such a spacecraft to support two people for the mission, although in Spartan condition.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Karl Rove and His Plans to Turn America Into the USSR
Newt Gingrich is not pleased with Karl Rove’s latest strategy for the Republican Party.
In an op-ed published by conservative magazine Human Events on Wednesday, the former House speaker and Republican presidential candidate spoke out against the Rove-backed Conservative Victory Project, an offshoot of Rove’s American Crossroads super PAC that aims to block fringe candidates from winning GOP congressional primaries.
“I am unalterably opposed to a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states,” Gingrich writes. “This is the opposite of the Republican tradition of freedom and grassroots small town conservatism. … It should be repugnant to every conservative and every Republican.
Karl Rove’s plan is Stalinist.
His plans are EXACTLY the same as Stalin used to take over the Russian communist party in the 1920s.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Who Beheaded Christians in New Jersey Charged With Murder, Desecrating Human Remains
Jersey City, New Jersey — A Muslim man is behind bars tonight and is facing murder and desecration charges after beheading two Egyptian Christians and cutting off their hands.
Reports state that 28-year-old Yusuf Ibrahim of Jersey City killed 25-year-old Hanny F. Tawadros and 27-year-old Amgad A. Konds earlier this month by shooting them in the chest at close range. He then beheaded the men and chopped off their hands, and took off with the car belonging to one of his victims…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Care is a Killing Machine and Millions Will Die
Genocide is here
This week I gasped in horror when I learned that Obama care had ordered Medicare to cut reimbursement for 4 million diabetic seniors by 66%. It also reduced all the companies that were supplying blood sugar monitoring supplies from 1000 to 15. I also learned via the research of Elizabeth Vliet M.D. that one of her 80 year old patients was told he was not covered anymore by Medicare when he went to the pharmacy so couldn’t get his medication. His choice was to pay cash or die.
Pause for a second and snap out of being mildly annoyed and grow a backbone and a few fangs over this. Just with Diabetic and Heart patients alone you are talking many millions of people, mostly seniors with coverage simply cut off or largely cut back — setting them up to die. That is unless they are millionaires and can afford expensive medication out of pocket. This is called as in the days of Nazi Germany, targeting a group of people for extermination and murdering them.
Millions will suffer and many will die just representing the pull back of coverage with Diabetic and Heart disease patients. Think about all the other diseases and seniors represented with dramatic or total cut backs by Medicare. Just as in Britain’s socialized medicine now, state-of-the-art drugs will be denied for all kinds of common cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and others.
Obama care is nothing more than a padded door to the ovens for the most needy and for our seniors. Obama plays all kinds of games and has lied from the very beginning about this health care assault weapon. He said over and over that people would still have freedom to choose their doctor — that health care freedom and options would continue and there was no such thing as death panels. Liar — liar and liar! IPAB — Independent Payment Advisory Board is nothing but UN elected bureaucrats Obama has put in place to control all health care and order all cuts and limits on people and groups. As with the IRS, the IPAB is Obama’s SS and true Death squad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Organizers Plan Ad Blitz on Gun Plan
President Obama’s new grass-roots advocacy group will target more than a dozen members of Congress with online ads this week for failing to voice support for his plan to expand background checks to all gun buyers, organizers told USA TODAY.
The advertising push is part of a so-called national day of action planned Friday by Obama’s backers to rally support for background checks. It will mark the first large-scale test of Organizing for Action’s ability to mobilize the president’s army of 2.2 million campaign volunteers to press for legislative change.
Obama and a group of his closest advisers launched Organizing for Action (OFA) in late January to transform his campaign operation into a tax-exempt group to advance his second-term priorities, including gun control, immigration and climate change.
Comment by wypatriot
READ THIS If They Pass Any Law…THEY ARE BREAKING THIS LAW! — PRAY TO GOD THIS GETS AROUND TO THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES POPULATION.
Efficiency of Militia Bill H.R. 11654, of June 28, 1902 also known as the Dick Act of 1902 — Gun Control is FORBIDDEN!
Were/Are you aware of this law? DICK ACT of 1902 — CAN’T BE REPEALED (GUN CONTROL FORBIDDEN) — Protection Against Tyrannical Government. This Administration, a criminal Cabal, is counting on the fact that the American Citizens don’t know this, their rights and the constitution. Don’t prove them right. The Dick Act of 1902 also known as the Efficiency of Militia Bill H.R. 11654, of June 28, 1902 invalidates all so-called gun-control laws. It also divides the militia into three distinct and separate entities. (SPREAD THIS TO EVERYONE) The three classes H.R. 11654 provides for are the organized militia, henceforth known as the National Guard of the State, Territory and District of Columbia, the unorganized militia and the regular army. The militia encompasses every able-bodied male between the ages of 18 and 45. All members of the unorganized militia have the absolute personal right and 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms of any type, and as many as they can afford to buy. The Dick Act of 1902 cannot be repealed; to do so would violate bills of attainder and ex post facto laws which would be yet another gross violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The President of the United States has zero authority, without violating the Constitution, to call the National Guard to serve outside of their State borders. The National Guard Militia can only be required by the National Government for limited purposes specified in the Constitution (to uphold the laws of the Union; to suppress insurrection and repel invasion). These are the only purposes for which the General Government can call upon the National Guard. Source.(url)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio Officials: Poll Worker May Have Voted Six Times
Melowese Richardson is the Ohio poll worker who admitted to casting two votes in November for President Obama. Now, Ohio officials are investigating if she voted in the names of four other people as well and cast a total of six ballots in the 2012 election,according to Fox News. The investigation is part of a wider one into a number of cases of alleged voter fraud in Hamilton County, Ohio. Richardson says she filled out and submitted an absentee ballot on her granddaughter’s behalf, and her granddaughter has confirmed that claim, saying, “It wasn’t a big deal.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Oklahoma House Passes Firearms Freedom Act
In response to proposed federal laws outlawing firearms, legislators in Oklahoma have put forward House Bill 2021, the Firearms Freedom Act. It sailed through a House Public Safety Committee on a 13-0 vote and is one of at least two dozen gun-related bills that are moving through the Legislature.
Sponsors of the bill say the legislation is designed to make sure the federal government does not violate the Second Amendment rights of Oklahomans.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Reaping the Whirlwind: The Colorado Model and Gun Control
On February 18, the Democrat-controlled Colorado House of Representatives passed all four gun control bills over an out-numbered Republican minority’s noisy and occasionally emotional protests… These four bills are headed to the Senate where Democrats hold a 20-15 advantage over Republicans. And Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is expected to sign at least three if not all four of the bills, making them laws of the state.
In covering the bills for the Associated Press, Ivan Moreno noted that “the vote [on] Monday in Colorado’s gun control debate is part of the shift in the region’s politics to the left.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Retired Cop: Desensitizing Police Training is Brainchild of Sick Social Engineers
A retired Houston cop believes that the recent production of “non traditional” shooting targets at the request of law enforcement and the government indicates that there is a disturbing ongoing program to desensitize police.
T.F. Stern, writing on his website The Moral Liberal, states that the cardboard cutouts of pregnant women, children, and elderly citizens, for police target practice can only have been created by a “sick mind”, with the intention of having police officers or Homeland Security “goons” completely disregard humanity.
Whether consciously intentional or not, “Maybe it’s the natural progression, a downward spiral of perversion,” Stern states, the result is to have police “feel nothing’s wrong in shooting a pregnant lady or an old man with a shotgun inside his own home.”
The company that produced the images, Law Enforcement Training Inc., even admitted this much, asserting the products helped override “hesitation on the part of cops when deadly force is required on subjects with atypical age, frailty or condition,” and to “break that stereotype on the range, regardless of how slim the chances are of encountering a real life scenario that involves a child, pregnant woman, etc.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sheriff Responds to Attacks Over “Second Revolution” Comments
Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has defended his comments on The Alex Jones Show earlier this week under criticism from local reporters who said his remarks that strict gun legislation could lead to a “second American Revolution” were inflammatory.
Clarke told Jones’ listeners that he would consider any federal order to confiscate guns as “an act of tyranny,” and said that he would refuse to enforce it in his county.
“I believe that if somebody tried to enforce something of that magnitude, you would see the second coming of an American Revolution, the likes of which would make the first revolution pale by comparison.” the Sheriff urged.
That comment did not sit well with hacks at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who accused Clarke of engaging in “attention-grabbing media appearances” on a “conspiracy-peddling radio show.”
In a piece clearly designed to draw some much needed readership from Infowars’ audience, one reporter makes several baiting remarks about Alex Jones, while extensively quoting from our article on Sheriff Clarke’s comments earlier this week.
When the Sentinel reporter questioned Clarke’s appearance and his comments, the Sheriff responded in an email stating “I didn’t know I needed your approval… When did people stop being entitled to their opinion?”
On the topic of the “Second Revolution” comments, Clarke told the newspaper “I’m sure in 1776 that idea seemed way out there, too, at the time,” the sheriff wrote. “The American people will decide when to push back, not me.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Weighs Bill That Would Buck Gun Control
Rep. Steve Toth, a Republican from The Woodlands, recently filed HB 1076 “The Firearms Protection Act.”[/caption]A Texas legislator proposed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to enforce federal gun-control measures pushed by the Obama administration.
Rep. Steve Toth, a Republican from The Woodlands, recently filed HB 1076 “The Firearms Protection Act.”
If the state Legislature passes it, the measure would ban state, county and municipal authorities, including district attorneys, from enforcing any future federal gun control laws.
It would also allow Texas police officers to arrest federal law enforcement agents who attempt to enforce any federal bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines within the state.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Army Begins Receiving Chem-Bio Shelters
The first of more than 100 chemical biological protective shelters have been delivered to the U.S. Army by Smiths Detection under a $40 million contract.
The self-contained, mobile shelters provide 400 square feet of protective, sterile work space for medical personnel to perform preventative and emergency care in the field. The shelters can also be used in homeland security operations following natural disasters.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Council of Europe Says Italy Must Find Jail Alternatives
‘Putting everyone in prison not the answer’
(ANSA) — Brussels, February 21 — Construction of new jails is not the answer to Italy’s problems with prison overcrowding, the Council of Europe’s high commissioner for human rights said Thursday.
“If you put everyone in prison, for any offence, the result is overcrowding, and horrible conditions,” said Nils Muiznieks. “The construction of new prisons is not the solution,” he added. “For this you need to develop alternative measures” to jail sentences.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has also strongly denounced Italian prison conditions, calling them “unconstitutional” while urging politicians and voters to make prison reform a priority political issue.
“No one wants to deny the gravity of the emergency,” Napolitano has said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EP Speaker Schulz Warns Italians Against Voting Berlusconi
German says ex-premier took country to ‘abyss’
(see related story on election campaign) (ANSA) — Berlin, February 21 — European Parliament Speaker Martin Schulz has warned the Italian people against voting for three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right alliance in Sunday and Monday’s general election.
The MEP told German tabloid Bild that Berlusconi had “already sent Italy to the bottom of the abyss once with the actions of an irresponsible government”.
Berlusconi was forced to resign as prime minister in November 2011 when Italy’s debt crisis threatened to spiral out of control and his government was replaced outgoing Premier Mario Monti’s emergency administration of unelected technocrats.
Schulz and Berlusconi have had several run-ins in the past.
In December Schulz said that Berlusconi was bad for Italy and for Europe.
Berlusconi compared Schulz, who is German, to a Nazi concentration camp guard during an angry exchange at the European Parliament in June 2003.
Schulz added in the interview that “a lot is at stake” in the upcoming vote, including the risk of losing confidence that has built up in Italy on the international stage and on the money markets since Monti took power.
“I have great faith that Italian voters will make the best choice for their country,” Schulz said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
European “Democracy” Full Frontal — EU Parliament Head Tells Italians Not to Vote for Silvio
To say that Germany does not love Silvio Berlusconi would be an understatement. But not even we thought European “democracy” would stoop so low as to tell Italians not to bring Bunga back or else. As Reuters reports, the German president of the European Parliament, once compared to a Nazi concentration camp guard by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, warned Italians on Thursday not to back the scandal-ridden media tycoon at the ballot box. Martin Schulz is the latest in a line of German politicians to express fears about a possible Berlusconi comeback largely due to worries he will halt Rome’s reform drive that has helped to lift investor confidence in the euro zone. “Silvio Berlusconi has already sent Italy into a tailspin with irresponsible behavior in government and personal escapades,” Schulz was quoted as saying in German daily Bild.
Ironically, as today’s PMI data confirm, it is somewhat hypocritical of Germany to accuse Italy of anything since in the Zero-Sum mercantilist union, it is only Germany, now that France has careened off the cliff, that benefits from everyone else’s misfortune. The irony is that Germany should be rooting for Silvio — after all they need that EURUSD some 1000 pips lower to boost German exports, and when all hell breaks loose with Italian bond spread, Germany will simply inject another €500 billion in current account liquidity via Target2 (even if it means crushing PIMCO and their long Italy bond position). To pretend that anything in Europe at this moment is about solidarity is hypocrisy of the nth degree.
Anyway, back to the Europe where any trace of a majority popular opinion must be promptly crushed as in any true totalitarian despotism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
German Minister Says No Interference With Italy’s Vote
But Schaeuble says Italy ‘made progress’ under Monti
(ANSA) — Rome, February 21 — Germany will not try to interfere with the Italian election campaign, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a speech Thursday in Berlin.
However, Schaeuble did point out that under outgoing Premier Mario Monti, “Italy made progress,” Bloomberg reported.
Speaking about the economic crisis plaguing Europe, Schaeuble stressed that “we are not yet out of the woods” and that countries must work collectively “to ensure the stability of the euro”.
That might be seen as a shot at the cooperative abilities of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has gone on the offensive against Germany in the days leading up to the national election Sunday and Monday.
He has accused Germany of treading on other countries’ rights and interfering in the Italian vote.
Berlusconi said Monti had even sought and won the blessing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to form a post-election pact with the centre left.
Earlier Thursday, European Parliament Speaker Martin Schulz, who is German, warned the Italian people against voting for Berlusconi.
In a newspaper interview with German tabloid Bild, Schulz said that Berlusconi had “already sent Italy to the bottom of the abyss once with the actions of an irresponsible government”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German Views on Italian Elections Contested
Monti backtracks on Merkel, Schulz says don’t vote Berlusconi
(ANSA) — Rome, February 21 — Alleged or overt German views on the Italian general election were contested Thursday.
In the first episode, outgoing Premier Mario Monti changed tack by saying German Chancellor Angela Merkel was not interfering in Italy’s election campaign — a day after he appeared to drag her into the run-up for Sunday and Monday’s vote.
Monti said Wednesday that he did not think Merkel would be pleased if Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left coalition wins the vote.
This prompted the German government to say it would not intervene in the election campaign.
Centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, meanwhile, said Monti had won Merkel’s blessing to form a post-election pact with Bersani.
“Neither I nor Berlusconi need Merkel’s blessing,” said Monti, who took the helm of an emergency government of unelected technocrats in November 2011 and is standing on a reform platform backed by centrist parties.
“I am very aware that Chancellor Merkel would not intervene in the Italian elections. It’s not true and it’s not even close to being true”.
The second episode involved an old Berlusconi sparring partner, European Parliament Speaker Martin Schulz. The German Social Democrat warned the Italian people against voting for Berlusconi’s centre-right alliance in the general election.
He told German tabloid Bild that Berlusconi had “already sent Italy to the bottom of the abyss once with the actions of an irresponsible government”.
Berlusconi was forced to resign as prime minister in November 2011 when Italy’s debt crisis threatened to spiral out of control.
Schulz and Berlusconi have had several run-ins in the past.
In December Schulz said that Berlusconi was bad for Italy and for Europe.
Berlusconi compared Schulz, who is German, to a Nazi concentration-camp guard — ‘kapo’ — or Jewish inmate co-opted for guard duty — during an angry exchange at the European Parliament in June 2003.
Schulz added in the interview that “a lot is at stake” in the upcoming vote, including the risk of losing confidence that has built up in Italy on the international stage and on the money markets since Monti took power.
“I have great faith that Italian voters will make the best choice for their country,” Schulz said.
At the end of Thursday, however, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Germany will not try to interfere with the Italian election campaign.
However, Schaeuble did point out that under Monti “Italy made progress”.
Speaking about the economic crisis plaguing Europe, Schaeuble stressed that “we are not yet out of the woods” and that countries must work collectively “to ensure the stability of the euro”.
That might be seen as a shot at the cooperative abilities of Berlusconi, who has gone on the offensive against Germany with his claims it is treading on other countries’ rights and interfering in the Italian vote.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Hedegaard: The Assassin at the Door
Lars Hedegaard, editor of Dispatch International and Danish free speech advocate has a personal commentary on confronting Islamic terrorism when he opened his door on February 5th. It mirrors his views expressed in our Iconoclast interview with him about the attempted assassination. Mr. Hedegaard, a journalist and historian, is the founder of the International Free Press Society and editor in chief of Dispatch International. [. . .] In my home country of Denmark, the reaction to the failed murder has mainly been one of horror. Nearly all leading politicians and media have condemned it. To be sure, some newspapers have availed themselves of this opportunity to emphasize what a despicable racist I am, but at least they express their satisfaction that I’m not dead. Not so in Sweden, where I work most of the time. The Swedish media have either hinted that I have invented the incident in order to set myself up as a martyr—which would have required a major conspiracy involving the Danish police and Security Service—or they seem disappointed that my delivery man was not a better marksman. What’s next? Unfortunately, the attempt on my life is one in a wave of political assassinations or attempted assassinations that has swept Europe since Ayatollah Khomeini issued his so-called fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989. Some have been killed—among them the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Others, like writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali, have been forced to flee Europe or go into hiding. I am determined not to be silenced, come what may. I refuse to live in a world ruled by the gun. Mr. Hedegaard, a journalist and historian, is the founder of the International Free Press Society and editor in chief of Dispatch International.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: Algerian Man in Waterford Made Death Threats to Michigan Lawyer After Islam Protest
Irish court hears claim that Ali Charaf Damache threatened to kill Majed Moughni
An Algerian man living in Ireland threatened to shoot an American lawyer who organized a Michigan rally against terrorism in the name of Islam. Waterford Circuit Court has heard that 45-year-old Ali Charaf Damache denies charges of threatening to kill a man in America…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Audit Court Probes Rome Council Derivatives
Contracts ‘date back years’
(ANSA) — Rome, February 20 — Italy’s Audit Court said Wednesday it has launched an investigation into the use of derivatives by the City of Rome.
As the court officially opened its new judicial year, the probe was announced by Raffaele De Dominicis, the prosecutor for the Regional Audit Court of Lazio, the province centred around Rome.
The probe, still in its preliminary stages, involves derivative contracts that were signed several years ago, De Dominicis told a news conference.
The announcement comes several weeks after a Milan judge convicted four foreign banks for their role in a derivatives fraud against the city of Milan between 2005 and 2007.
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG, and Depfa Bank Plc., which have denied the charges, were convicted in late December of overseeing fraud by their staff in the sale of derivatives to the city of Milan.
The trial involving the four banks began in May 2010, when the banks were accused of defrauding the city government by hiding how much they made on the derivatives.
The complex financial instruments have also been in Italian news recently as part of a crisis at Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank.
Besides poor and possible criminal management, prosecutors are probing loss-making derivatives trades which could cost Italy’s third-largest bank some 720 million euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Monti Concerned That Ideology May Prevail if Left Wins
(AGI) Rome, Feb 21 — Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said that if Pier Bersani’s centre-left coalition wins the February 24 elections he fears many Italians may think they will favour unemployed and weaker citizens, but the cultural stance of some members may lead ideology to prevail over actions.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Monti Blames Parties for Comedian’s Political Success
(AGI) — Rome, Feb 21 — Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti has said that he fears an electoral victory by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which was founded by comedian Beppe Grillo. “Grillo deserves all our attention and I understand that the traditional parties are worried. They are right, but if they had pushed through the necessary electoral reform, Grillo would not be so successful now,” he told the on-line newspaper Corriere.it.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Ex-Informant Sparks New PST Probe
Claims broadcast nationwide this week by a man who worked as an informant for Norway’s police intelligence unit PST have set off a new probe into whether PST has engaged in illegal surveillance. The investigation is being carried out by the parliamentary commission charged with monitoring the activities of Norway’s secret intelligence-gathering services.
The commission (called EOS-utvalget) released a statement that it had decided to conduct the probe into the former PST informant’s claims at its own initiative. Several Members of Parliament and other top politicians already had expressed concerns over the claims, and Justice Minister Grete Faremo said she wanted some answers as well. She indicated that PST itself asked for the probe.
Long and troubled history
PST and its intelligence-gathering methods have stirred controversy for years, especially in the 1990s after the government-appointed Lund Commission revealed illegal surveillance by PST. That led to the forced resignation of Faremo, who also was justice minister at the time in an earlier government, and now it can seem as if history is repeating itself.
Faremo says she doesn’t think PST has done anything illegal this time, but she wants more information and told newspaper Dagsavisen on Thursday that she “can well understand that questions have arisen around the secret intelligence service.”
The questions came after former PST informant Christian Høibø went public on Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK)’s Brennpunkt program earlier this week and described how he infiltrated extremist organizations and reported back to PST. Høibo’s tactics and activist roles in the organizations already have set off debate, with questions also raised over his credibility. PST, meanwhile, was the target of stinging criticism by another government-appointed commission just last year, when it was described as an introverted organization with the wrong focus.
Suspicions of illegal surveillance
The new investigation of PST mostly concerns Høibø’s claims that he, among other things, took copies of some of the membership and subscription lists of organizations he infiltrated, and delivered the lists to PST. That raised concerns among several politicians including Audun Lysbakken, leader of Norway’s Socialist Left Party (SV), that PST sought such information and registered it. PST is not allowed to register persons solely on the basis of political alliance or membership in a political organization.
| — Hat tip: The Observer | [Return to headlines] |
4:50 pm Ben Wilkinson @Ben_Wilkinson_
Girl 4 says some of abuse happened in her living room. Says she once “encountered” four men…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Developer Defends Decision to Release Mosque Image
A developer has denied he is scaremongering by releasing an artist’s impression of an alternative proposal for mosque on green space he wants to build houses on. Dalbir Singh Sanger’s motives for releasing the artist’s impression of the large place of worship on the Evergreen Field in Wanstead site were questioned last week when it was noticed the building bore a striking resemblance to an existing mosque in Beirut. Mr Sanger is facing a battle to gain approval for homes on the High Street site, amid local opposition and council restrictions…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Galloway: “I Don’t Debate With Israelis”
The sinister new racism of the Left looks awfully like the old one of the Right:
George Galloway walks out of a debate at Christ Church college at Oxford University on Wednesday. He was speaking for the motion that ‘Israel should withdraw immediately from the West Bank’. When the Respect MP for Bradford West learned that Eylon Aslan-Levy, a student opposing it, was an Israeli citizen, he leaves, saying ‘I don’t debate with Israelis’. (VIDEO)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Girl, 12, “Drugged and Taken for Illegal Abortion”, Old Bailey Hears [Bullfinch Trial]
A 12-YEAR-OLD girl was drugged and taken for an illegal abortion, the Old Bailey heard this afternoon. The unnamed witness known as Girl 4 today began to give evidence via video link at the Oxford child sex exploitation trial. She says she was raped and exploited by brothers Mohammed and Bassam Karrar between the ages of 11 and 15…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Imam in Court Over Loans for New Mosque in Brentwood
AN imam is being sued for failing to return thousands of pounds to angry donors after plans for a new mosque in Brentwood fell through. Miah Rahman allegedly promised to use the cash to build the Muslim temple because worshippers had to use a local community hall…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The National Council of the Muslim Council of Britain met on 16 February 2013 at the Hyderi Islamic Centre — one of its affiliates — underscoring the MCB’s commitment to intra-faith unity.
Amongst the many issues it discussed, the body agreed to adopt the following resolutions:
1. We are appalled by the visit to Britain of the leader of France’s Front National, Marine Le Pen, due on 19 February. Le Pen is at the forefront in stoking hatred towards Muslims and calling for a restriction of their freedoms. Britain fortunately has a tradition of tolerance and accommodation that rightly scorns Le Pen and her ilk. However the danger is that it will embolden the extremist right wing in the UK. The Muslim community fails to understand why a Government that is ready to invoke banning or exclusion orders on Muslims on flimsy grounds of ‘hate speech’ has not been alert to the actual harm to community relations caused by Le Pen’s visit.
2. Child grooming is an appalling crime and should be treated as such. This is a societal ill that sadly affects all communities. Nevertheless, the recent cases highlight the need for the Muslim community also to seriously tackle the issue of child protection, family cohesion and our community’s social fabric. The MCB along with its affiliates is undertaking a programme of activities to deal with the issue…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Terror Fundraising Suspect Released on Bail
AN Oxford man arrested yesterday on suspicion of fundraising for terrorism has been released on bail. Officers swooped on an address in the city and arrested the 23-year-old suspicion of fundraising for the purposes of terrorism, contrary to Section 15 of The Terrorism Act 2000, and on suspicion of failing to disclose information in order to make a gain, contrary to Section 3 of the Fraud Act 2006. The man, from Oxford, was questioned by officers from the South East Counter Terrorism Unit at a police station in the Thames Valley Area…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Terror Police Swoop on Oxford Man
A MAN has been arrested in Oxford on suspicion of fundraising for terrorism. The 23-year-old was arrested today on suspicion of fundraising for the purposes of terrorism, contrary to Section 15 of The Terrorism Act 2000 and on suspicion of failing to disclose information in order to make a gain, contrary to Section 3 of the Fraud Act 2006. The man, who is from Oxford and was arrested at an address in the city this morning, is being questioned by officers from the South East Counter Terrorism Unit at a police station in the Thames Valley Area. Police said the arrest related to the investigation of activity overseas and there was no perceived threat to the local community…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican to Maintain Improving Ties With Lefebvrists
‘Relations to pass on to next pope’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, February 21 — The Vatican will maintain its improving ties with the ultra-traditionalist Lefebvrist breakaway group once a new pope is installed, a Church spokesman said Thursday. “Relations with the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) will be passed down from the Holy Father to the next pope,” said Father Federico Lombardi. The Vatican forged a draft with the SSPX last June that aims to formally reunite the group with the Catholic Church.
SSPX broke away from the Church over theological differences stemming from the changes it adopted with the Second Vatican Council of some 45 years ago.
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication imposed on four SSPX bishops which he said “could have prejudiced the opening of a door for dialogue” with the leaders of the society.
The move came just days after one of the four, British Bishop Richard Williamson, was shown in an interview with Swedish television claiming that the facts were “hugely against six million Jews having been deliberately gassed” during the Holocaust, sparking a wave of controversy and strong protests from Jewish communities across the world. The excommunications were imposed when the four bishops were consecrated in 1988 in defiance of Rome by the SSPX’s late founder, French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Unearths Tomb for Pharaonic Minister in Luxor
CAIRO, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) — Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim Ali announced new discovery for a tomb of a Pharaonic minister that dates back to the period of King Ramses II, who ruled Egypt from 1304 B.C. till 1237 B.C., official news agency MENA reported on Wednesday. The tomb belongs to ancient minister Khai of Upper and Lower Egypt in Luxor governorate, MENA quoted Ali as saying in a press conference…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Shooting Between Police and Salafites in Tunisia
(AGI) — Tunis, Feb 21 — Two Tunisian police officers were wounded in a shooting with four presumed Salafites in Sidi Bouzid — a town near Tunis where two years ago the revolution began — hospital sources reported. Earlier, the four armed men failed to stop at a road block in Sabbala, an area north of Sidi Bouzid. The four were then intercepted near a mosque.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Livni Quits Opposition Benches for Netanyahu’s Right
She will be the next Justice Minister in charge of negotiations with the Palestinians. Her party colleagues accuse her of betraying the movement and voters.
Tel Aviv (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Hatnua party, has dropped her opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is joining his Likud-led coalition, which includes the rightwing Ysrael Beitenu party. She will serve as the new Justice Minister and chief negotiator with the Palestinians.
Within her party, which won seats in the 120-member Knesset, her decision has been controversial. Most members heard about her appointment from the media, and many of her colleagues accuse her of betraying moderate voters.
For Ms Livni, the change in direction was necessary to fulfil the party’s ideals. A deal with Netanyahu was not about a cabinet post but a chance to pursue the party’s aims.
Elected to the Knesset for the first time in 2001 under the Likud banner, Livni left the party in the mid-2000s and became a supporter of a two state solution with the Palestinians.
In 2005, she was among the co-founders of Kadima, a party created by Prime Minister Sharon that included former labour and right-wingers.
Still, her moderate position has changed a few times. In 2008, she backed the government’s decision (Cast Lead) to go into Gaza, saying that there was no humanitarian crisis in the Strip.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Attack in Damascus ‘The Work of an Al Qaeda Group’
(AGI) — Damascus, Feb 21 — The Syrian foreign minister has stated that the attack in Damascus which killed 50 persons is “the work of an armed terrorist group tied to Al Qaeda.” He added that such groups receive financing and logistic support from abroad.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hezbollah and Iranian Terrorist Cells Exposed in Cyprus and Nigeria
The trial of Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, 24 year old Lebanese Swedish Citizen in Cyprus has exposed the Hezbollah agenda for terrorist attacks against Israeli tourists as well as targets in the EU. The revelations underline the call for listing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in the EU by the Bulgarian Former Minister. His declaration followed the findings of an investigation into the suicide bombing of a tourist bus in the Black Sea resort of Burgas on July 18, 2012 that killed 5 Israelis, a Bulgarian bus driver and injured dozens. These episodes in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Nigeria underscore the long arm reach of Iran’s Quds Force in conducting operations through Hezbollah in Lebanon. While some EU members dither about the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, Nigeria’s secret police said Wednesday they broke up a terrorist group backed by “Iranian handlers” who wanted to assassinate a former military ruler and gather intelligence about locations frequented by Americans and Israelis. Hezbollah and its Iranian overlords are seeking to perfect Islamic terrorism on several continents including Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Grohe to Supply to UAE’s First Eco-Friendly Mosque
Grohe has signed an MoU with AWQAF and the Minor Affairs Foundation to use its range of sanitary fittings at UAE’s first eco-friendly mosque.
As part of the regional implementation of Grohe’s water sustainability project, The Grohe Green Mosque initiative (across KSA, Syria and Jordan), this partnership will see Grohe donate its sustainable fittings to the Khalifa Al Tajer Mosque in Deira, with the intention of reducing water consumption in the mosque…
[JP note: Lipstick on a pig.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Even before its opening day, this exhibition was put on the list of the season’s main events. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow offers an exhibition of classical Muslim art called Allah’s 99 names, which is to last from the 20th of February till the 26th of May.
The visitors will be able to enjoy masterpieces from the collection of the Marjani Foundation in Support and for the Development of Scientific and Cultural Programmes…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Hyderabad Blasts: Alleged Indian Mujahideen Operative Surveyed Area of Blast in 2012, Says Report
Hyderabad: Fourteen people were killed and nearly 80 injured on Thursday evening in twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar, a busy suburb of Hyderabad. (Read) It is the same area that an alleged terrorist had admitted to surveying in October last year on an assignment from the terror group Indian Mujahideen, according to a statement by the Delhi Police.
At the time, the Delhi Police had released a report that said the man, named Maqbool, who was arrested from Hyderabad and was part of an Indian Mujahideen cell, had surveyed three places in and around Hyderabad, including Dilsukhnagar, in 2012 on the instructions of Riyaz Bhatkal, an alleged senior Indian Mujahideen operative.
The police report said, “About a month before Ramzan in 2012, Maqbool helped Imran in doing a recce of Dilsukhnagar, Begum Bazar and Abids in Hyderabad on a motorcycle. This was done on the instruction of Riyaz Bhatkal.”
So far, no organisation has claimed responsibility for the twin blasts in Hyderabad.
For NDTV Updates,
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
India: Madhya Pradesh: Hindu Fundamentalists Attack Christians Even in the Privacy of Their Homes
In two separate incidents, Pentecostal clergymen are accused of forced conversions. For the president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), India’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship and praying at home does not violate the penal code.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — Two more anti-Christian incidents in Madhya Pradesh illustrate the latest trend among Hindu fundamentalists. In addition to filing false charges over forced conversions, they are now attacking Christians in the privacy of their homes even though “praying in one’s home is not a crime,” Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) Sajan George said.
Pentecostal Christians were attacked in two separate incidents on 16 and 18 February. Last Monday, members of the Hindu ultranationalist Bajrang Dal stormed the home of a man, Hiralal, in the village of Roshni, where they beat up Rev Iliyas Buck who was leading Bible studies. After the attackers called police, the clergyman was taken into custody and charges of forced conversion were laid against him. He was eventually released a few hours later.
Last Saturday, Hindu nationalist from the Bajrang Dal and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) broke up a prayer meeting in the village of Gulai. After beating up the clergyman conducting the service, Rev Isaac, they took him away later in the evening to Khalwa where they resumed their beating. Later, they handed him over to police who kept him in jail overnight.
Although the Indian constitution recognises freedom of worship, incidents of this kind have become more frequent across the country.
What happened in Madhya Pradesh “reflects a lack of political will to stop the perpetrators of the attacks,” said Sajan George.
“We should investigate the activities of armed militant groups like the Bajrang Dal, the RSS and the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) under the 1967 Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act,” a law that is aimed at suppressing groups involved in illegal activities that threaten India’s integrity and sovereignty.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India’s Hyderabad Hit by Two Explosions
Two explosions have killed 12 people in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, in what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh labelled as a “dastardly attack”.
The blasts that hit the city in Andhra Pradesh were 10 minutes apart, police said. Television images showed casualties being rushed to hospital.
India’s home minister said bombs had been planted on bicycles 150m (500ft) apart near a crowded fruit market.
Major cities have been put on alert as police probe the cause for the blasts.
“The number of dead has increased to 12 and the injured are 57,” home secretary RK Singh said after a high-level security meeting following the attacks.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the number of casualties may rise.
The explosions hit just after 19:00 (13:30 GMT) within a radius of 150m, home minister Sushil Shinde said. There was a possible third blast reported shortly afterwards, Hyderabad police told the BBC.
Appeal for calm
No group has so far said it carried out the attack.
Authorities had received intelligence about possible attacks in the country but no specific information as to where or when they might occur, Mr Shinde said.
The information had been passed on to the states, he added.
Prime Minister Singh has urged the public to remain calm.
“The guilty will not go unpunished,” he tweeted.
He has directed federal agencies to extend all possible help to the state authorities in the relief effort, and offered 200,000 rupees (£2,500) to the next of kin of each person killed.
Meanwhile, Australia’s cricket team says it has held talks about its players’ safety with Indian authorities in the wake of the deadly twin bombings. The second Test of the India-Australia series is due to start in Hyderabad on 2 March.
“The safety of the squad is of paramount importance and Australian team management and Cricket Australia staff are liaising with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, local authorities and the Australian High Commission to ensure we have all the appropriate information,” the team said in a statement on Thursday.
Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra state have been put on high alert following the blasts, with measures such as increased police presence on the streets and random vehicle searches.
It is the first major bomb attack in India since a September 2011 blast outside Delhi’s High Court killed 13 people…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Calls for ‘Sufficient Forces’ To Remain in Afghanistan
‘Bad guys still out there’ says Di Paola at NATO summit
(ANSA) — Brussels, February 21 — Italian Defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola told a NATO summit Thursday that it is too soon to say when all forces should return from the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. “We can’t say ‘let’s all go home’“ at the end of the mission “because the bottom line is the bad guys are still out there,” said Di Paola. “We must maintain sufficient armed forces capable of dealing with instability risks”. As other nations, including the United States, cut back on their operations in Afghanistan, Italy is expected to keep a training contingent in the country.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
China’s ‘Leftover Women’, Unmarried at 27
Over 27? Unmarried? Female? In China, you could be labelled a “leftover woman” by the state — but some professional Chinese women these days are happy being single.
Huang Yuanyuan is working late at her job in a Beijing radio newsroom. She’s also stressing out about the fact that the next day, she’ll turn 29.
“Scary. I’m one year older,” she says. “I’m nervous.”
Why?
“Because I’m still single. I have no boyfriend. I’m under big pressure to get married.”
Huang is a confident, personable young woman with a good salary, her own apartment, an MA from one of China’s top universities, and a wealth of friends.
Still, she knows that these days, single, urban, educated women like her in China are called “sheng nu” or “leftover women” — and it stings.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese State Media Threatens Britain With ‘Severe Punishment’
Senior British leaders should avoid “pointless posturing” over issues including human rights and Tibet or face the consequences, the Global Times warned.
The editorial followed reports last weekend of a split in the Cabinet with William Hague, the Foreign secretary, and Nick Clegg arguing that Britain should take a firmer line with China.
“If Britain and China start competing over who can be tougher against the other, can Britain be the winner?” the editorial asked.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Nitrogen Pollution Soars in China
Emissions from transport and industry have increased faster than those from agriculture.
Nitrogen-containing pollutants from agriculture, transport and industry in China has increased by more than half in 30 years, a study shows, adding to concerns about the country’s deteriorating environment.
“Rapid economic growth in China has driven high levels of nitrogen emissions in the past few decades,” says Zhang Fusuo, an agriculture researcher at the China Agricultural University in Beijing and a co-author of the study.
Once emitted into the air, key nitrogen pollutants — ammonia and nitrogen oxides — can be transformed to secondary pollutants such as ammonium and nitrates, and then washed to Earth by rain and snow. The process, known as nitrogen deposition, can do great damage to ecosystems, causing soil acidification, fertilizing harmful algal blooms and threatening biodiversity, says Zhang. But until his study, “there was little direct evidence for the magnitude of the problem in China”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Muslim Rebels Set Conditions Before Resources Exploration in Bangsamoro
MANILA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, has set conditions before any exploration of natural resources in the soon to be Bangsamoro areas could push through, its senior official said Wednesday. Muhammad Ameen, head of the MILF Secretariat, clarified that the MILF is investor-friendly, “but certain conditions must be met first before we can engage them or our people will suffer in the course of time.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
No Perth Press Conference for Wilders
RIGHT-WING Dutch MP Geert Wilders has cancelled a press conference during his visit to Perth, where he had also cancelled a speaking engagement after the venue scrubbed his booking.
A spokesman for the event organisers, Q Society of Australia, told AAP that Mr Wilders would not front the media while in the West Australian capital, following his scheduled arrival on Wednesday. The controversial politician, who wants a ban on Islamic immigration and says the religion is incompatible with freedom, received a standing ovation on Tuesday in Melbourne, where he began his Australian tour…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
7 Killed in Mosque Attack in Kenya’s East
A Kenyan official says gunmen have opened fire at a mosque in Kenya’s east, killing seven people. Maalim Mohammed, the county commissioner of Kenya’s Garissa county, said Thursday that about eight gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles shot at a mosque in the village of Malele near the Kenyan-Somali border…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Muslim Youths Hope for Peaceful Elections
MOMBASA, KENYA — As Kenyans prepare for their March 4 national elections, they are paying special attention to preventing the post-election violence that rocked the country in 2007. Young people from the six counties comprising the Kenyan Coast province are working to promote peace and security during this election season…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Asks US for List of Gun Owners
The Mexican government is asking the U.S. government to hand over a list of all guns owned by residents in Border States.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Australian: Sex Assault on Campus: Resident Asylum Seekers to be Questioned
Police will question a group of up to 80 asylum seekers being temporarily housed at Macquarie University following the alleged indecent assault of a student as she slept in her student accommodation in Sydney’s north.
A NSW Police spokesman said the group of male asylum seekers, believed to be from Sri Lanka, would be questioned with other people staying on campus after an intruder broke into the 20-year-old woman’s room in Marsfield and allegedly assaulted her early on Thursday morning.
Police said the woman was woken about 3.20am by a man who was indecently assaulting her in her room. The man fled from her room when she began screaming.
Detectives set up a crime scene at the student accommodation on Thursday and forensic police examined the student’s room.
They say they are looking for a man aged between 20 and 25, with a thin build, dark skin, and dark short curly hair.
He was not wearing a shirt and had on a pair of grey tracksuit pants.
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Asylum: Journey Through a Broken System
When it comes to seeking asylum, Greece is the gateway to Europe. But the Greek asylum system is a mess. Paul Mason spoke to one man who has spent more than a year on the road — in squats, living rough and for a time in detention — about the experience of trying to claim asylum on Europe’s frontier.
It was hard to forget Mohamed Lamhoud. I met him in a shattered factory in Patras, Greece, squatting there alongside hundreds of other young, male migrants. Their clothes were filthy; many had wounds consistent with being beaten up, or fleeing being beaten up. They were drinking and washing from a standpipe.
“They want Europe. It is a hope, an objective. For some, Europe is paradise — you have to reach it,” he says. Nothing the Greek state, or the European Union can do will stop the migrants coming.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by James Delingpole
Some of you may have caught an impassioned, frustrating and despairing piece I wrote the other day wondering why I bother. It was a variation on the point I made in this blogpost on Obama’s mendacity, which I’ll repeat because it seems to me a pretty accurate diagnosis of just how deeply we’re in it
[…]
Anyway, I’ve since had a lot of emails of support, especially from America where I think people — some of the people: the 50 per cent that didn’t vote for Obama, that is — are even more alive to this problem than we are in Britain. But the one that touched me most was this one, which I hope “Duncan” won’t mind if I repeat here because it was so touching it almost made me cry.
Im a wee man in the street,,I attained no qualifications from school when I left it, II joined the infantry as boy soldier 6 days before my 16th birthday, I did 6 years 163 days and left still with nothing, after a succession of the usual piss jobs, I arrived at where I am now, a 45yr old lorry driver, yeah thats where I fit in this ****** up system, So I really am a wee prole man of the lower echelons.
I Dont know whether you’re above post is a serious question or just rhetorical, yes Im waffling here so let me get to my point. You are where you are in this life and I where I am, fair play to you, but we are both awake and both actually give a **** about stuff that matters, from where I am I have almost nothing to Offer, people like you however Have a voice and can articulate people like myselfs hopes, fears and protest, if people like you cave in and sell out there’s no hope for any of us,
The most despairing aspect to all of this “everythings ******” problem is that we all know that the majority are opposed to all this insane socialist humanity destroying straight jacket thats been slowly ratcheted around us as a race, we long for a chance to vote our way back to sanity, but there is no one whoo is offering us that option, we need men of moral conviction and integrity to build us a platform to hoist a. Clear banner that we can get behind You are one of those men, they say that all evil needs to be able to prosper is for good men to do nothing, Part of the solution or part of the problem and all that, Anyway whatever, if selling out is what people choose I myself can lie straight in my bed night knowing yes I Maybe uneducated but I have integrity for I Know right from wrong and I choose to be with right even although it causes me harm
This is why we fight. We are the silent, decent majority. Let us never forget it. And let us never let our political class forget it either.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bilderberg Pushing Global ID Card
At a recent reception in Washington, D.C., an AMERICAN FREE PRESS source overheardThomas E. Donilon, a White House national security advisor and past Bilderberg member, speaking of Paul’s retirement and the good chance that the global card could now beshepherded through Congress. Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), would not object to the plan, added the individual with whom Donilon was talking. He was referring to the fact that Senator Paul has backed off from the strong pro-nationalist positions of his father because he is fantasizing about being elected president in 2016.
The World Resources Institute conveniently reported that the U.S. is failing to meet its international commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions by 2020. Thus, the United Nations (UN ) could impose penalties on this country, acting as a global “department of energy” under the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST ).
The report was praised by Michael A. Levi, a senior fellow for energy and the environment atthe Bilderberg-controlled Council on Foreign Relations. Levi added that the Senate should commit to ratifying the sovereignty-surrendering LOST. Under such legislation, the UN could police America’s coastal and inland waterways.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Global Elitism: The Character Traits of Truly Evil People
Global Elitists tend to see themselves as a separate breed of human being; a superior class with superior faculties, and thus, born to “rule” over the rest of us. In their writings they often espouse the teachings of Plato’s Republic, and the concept of the “Philosopher Kings”. They believe that some men and women are endowed with a genetic predisposition to leadership, and that the average person does not have the intelligence to determine his own destiny. They see the rest of humanity as a blank canvas, and themselves as the artists. We are to be “molded” and our social dichotomies are to be manipulated.
In reality, they are no smarter than the rest of us. Rather, they inherent positions of wealth and influence, and automatically assume this makes them superior. Their ability to mold society is derived entirely from their extensive capital and their complete lack of morality. If they were not in the top.1% of the worlds rich, they would be treated like common criminals for their behavior, but sadly, in our day and age money often buys undue respect. Imagine a private club of John Wayne Gacys or Charles Mansons, except with 80% of the world’s wealth at their disposal and the means to purchase good publicity and legal immunity. That is essentially what we are dealing with…
“Gradually, by selective breeding, the congenital differences between rulers and ruled will increase until they become almost different species. A revolt of the plebs would become as unthinkable as an organized insurrection of sheep against the practice of eating mutton.” — Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society (1953) pgs. 49-50
“Speaking of a future at most only decades away, an experimenter in intelligence control asserted, ‘I foresee a time when we shall have the means and therefore, inevitably, the temptation to manipulate the behavior and intellectual functioning of all the people through environmental and biochemical manipulation of the brain.’“ — Zbigniew Brezinski, Between Two Ages, America’s Role in the Technotronic Era 1970
Pursuit Of Zero Conscience
Elitists believe that conscience is a hindrance to success, instead of a worthwhile virtue. They knowingly and deliberately abandon their moral compass because they see it as an unnatural restriction, an obstacle that makes getting what they want more difficult. Conscience, however, never quite disappears in anyone. In order to reconcile their wretched mindset with that distant nagging sensation of guilt, they claim that their actions are “for the greater good of the greater number”. They desperately want to believe that they are serving the future of mankind, and that we should “appreciate” their guiding hand, even though the things they do seem far more hateful than helpful. They would condescend to call this “tough love”.
They further attempt to avoid the fact of their own dysfunction by trying to elicit criminality in others. If they can convince the masses that morality is “relative” and that right and wrong are subject to “interpretation”, if they can convince us to ignore our own inner voices which are inborn, then their monstrosity could eventually be considered normal, even preferable. For in a world of moral relativists, the man with a conscience becomes the criminal, the outcast, and the elites become the heroes they always wanted to believe themselves to be.
“The tenth rule of the ethics of rules and means is that you do what you can with what you have and clothe it in moral arguments. …the essence of Lenin’s speeches during this period was “They have the guns and therefore we are for peace and for reformation through the ballot. When we have the guns then it will be through the bullet.” And it was.” — Saul Alinsky (Barack Obama taught the amoral philosophies of Alinsky as an organizer in Chicago. Hillary Clinton made Alinsky the topic of her undergraduate thesis)
[Comment: Well worth reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Peanut Oil in Vaccines Behind Widespread Peanut Allergy Epidemic
In his book The Doctor Within, Dr. Tim O’Shea argues that vaccines are largely responsible for both the advent and increased prevalence of peanut allergy, noting that many vaccines and even antibiotic drugs contain excipients derived from peanut oil. Since it is a relatively inexpensive oil to produce, refined peanut oil became widely adopted as an excipient of choice in the production of vaccines during the 1960s, and it is still widely used today for this purpose.
But peanut oil’s role in triggering the peanut allergy epidemic we see today cannot go unstated, as its introduction at the turn of the 20th century eventually caused a sudden and very apparent wave of anaphylaxis, which had never before been seen. Anaphylaxis, of course, is the general term used to denote allergic reactions to food, and can include severe and sometimes violent reactive symptoms, including but not limited to convulsions, seizures, and even death.
The more peanut oil was used in vaccine and drug production, it turns out, the more the population began to suffer from serious food allergy symptoms. Utilizing peanut oil as an excipient was great for the drug and vaccine industries, of course, as it works as an effective preservative and adjuvant for vaccines. But for those who ingest or are injected with it, peanut oil-based excipients and adjuvants can be the precipitator of a very serious and permanent peanut allergy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Don’t expect anything to happen re the Hyderabad bomb. What did Singh do about the murder and displacement of thousands of Bodos and inhabitants of Nagaland
by Bangladeshi Moslems? Zilch!!! What did Singh do about all the incursions over the Pakistani border ? Zilch !!!. At least the Burmese are trying to tackle the filthy
Bangladeshi invaders on and over Myanmar’s western border, although the evil
Obama has already had his 2 dollars worth, supporting the Moslem Bangadeshis
of course.