Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/16/2013

Officials say there are still no suspects and no clear motive for yesterday’s Boston Marathon bombings, although a 20-year-old Saudi national is still in police custody, and is reportedly cooperating with his interrogators. A third victim died from her injuries in yesterday’s attack, which consisted of homemade bombs devised from pressure cookers containing nails and ball bearings along with explosives.

Members of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad reportedly danced in the streets of Gaza when the news of the Boston bombings reached them.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, JP, TV, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Greek Casinos Suffer From Crisis and Illegal Gambling
» IMF Revises Down Italy’s GDP, Calls Gridlock ‘Recovery Risk’
» IMF: Greece Will See Recovery in 12 to 18 Months
» Italian Treasury Calls Early End to 9-Billion-Euro Bond Sale
» Italy: Former Nomura Boss Probed, 1.8 Billion Seized Over MPS
» Italy: ‘Shocking’ Number of Firms Have Failed Says Main Business Lobby
» Nearly 9 Billion Euros in Italian Bonds Sold at Auction
 
USA
» 3 Teens Arrested in Alleged Assault of California Girl Who Committed Suicide
» Analysis Finds Monsanto’s GM Corn Nutritionally Dead, Highly Toxic
» Are We Being Compromised by Barack Obama’s Murky Past?
» Army Lieutenant Colonel Warns Officers About Christian Pro-Family ‘Domestic Hate Groups’
» Authorities Guarding Man at Local Boston Hospital
» Backlash to Soros’ Drugging of America
» Bloody Boston
» Boston Marathon Bombing: Who Do They Plan to Blame?
» Boston Massacre: Obama Looks to Tax Day for “Rightwing” Terror Explanation
» Boston Marathon Explosions: Pakistan Taliban Says it Was Not Behind Bombs
» Boston Marathon Blasts Kill Two and Injure Many More
» Californians Sign Petition to Ban and Confiscate Firearms
» Eyewitness: Authorities “Must Have Known” About Bombing
» Gun Owner Stops Home Invaders Dead
» Leave it to Beaver Star Frank Bank Dies the Day After His 71st Birthday
» Muslims Are Celebrating Obama Rather Than Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack
» National Guard to Occupy Area of Boston
» Obama Signs Law Gutting Insider Trading Regulations for Congress
» Obama Adversaries to be Blamed for Boston Attack?
» Official Story Unraveling for Boston Marathon Bombing
» Pennsylvania Group Warns Homeschooling Families May be Subject to Investigation Under Proposed Bill
» Police Raid Boston Home Linked to Burned Saudi Student Who Was ‘Acting Suspiciously’ Near Marathon Finish Line After Bombs That Killed 3 and Injured 144
» Report: Bombs in Pressure Cookers
» Temecula: Mosque Construction Hits a Slowdown
» The Politics of Emotions: Don’t Think. Feel.
» U.S. Investigators Hunt for Clues in Marathon Bombing
» Witnesses Recount War Zone at Boston Marathon as Bombs Left 26th Mile Littered With Disembodied Limbs and ‘Shoes With Flesh Still in Them’
» YouTube Censors Family Guy Clip Which Predicted Boston Marathon Attack
 
Canada
» Aboriginals Support Canada Islamic Charity
 
Europe and the EU
» Euro Judges Rule That Terror Suspect Wanted in America Can’t be Deported From Britain to the U.S. Because it Would be Bad for His Mental Health
» Italians Not Impressed by M5S Strategies for Government
» Italy: ILVA Steel Plant Referendum Fails to Make Quorum
» Italy: Renzi Shoots Back Amid PD Infighting
» Italy: Casaleggio Says Will Back Prodi if Wins M5S President Vote
» Italy: Fiat-Chrysler Alliance Profitable for Turin Giant
» Italy: Grillo’s Grassroots Party Chooses Investigative Reporter as Candidate for Country’s Next President
» State-Owned Russian Giant Takes Chunk of Italian Refinery
» UK: Big Ben to be Silenced for Baroness Thatcher’s Funeral
» UK: England is Drifting Towards Grave Civil Unrest
» UK: Human Rights Court Blocks Extradition of UK-Based Terror Suspect to US
» UK: London Book Fair Opens With Turkish Culture Under Spotlight
» UK: President Obama Snubs Margaret Thatcher Funeral
» UK: Second University Sounds Alarm Over Segregation at Muslim Student Events
» UK: University Probing Muslim Group After it ‘Forced Male and Female Students to Sit in Separate Areas During Public Talk on God’
» UK: Victim’s Shocking Injuries After He Was Doused in Petrol and Turned Into a Human Fireball by Paranoid Schizophrenic Who Went on to Attack Two More Men
 
Balkans
» Croatia: Center-Right in Surprise Win for EP Candidates
 
North Africa
» The Necessity of Revolutionary Violence in Egypt
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Turkey First State With Ambassador to Palestine
 
Middle East
» Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah Celebrate Boston Terror Attack
» Jordan Extremist Praises Marathon Bombings
» Syria’s Jabhat Al-Nusra Seeks Direct Relationship With Al-Qaeda Leadership
» Syria: Britain Funds Rebels Overseeing Aid Inside Occupied Areas
» UK Sends Military Aid to Syria Rebels: Hague Aims to Tear Up Arms Embargo as He Claims Chemical Weapons Have Been Used in the Country
 
Russia
» Russia is Investing $50 Billion in Its Ambitious Space Program
 
South Asia
» Afghanistan: Burqa Sales Down in Kabul
» Keeping Nepal’s Tongue-Piercing Festival Alive for the 5th Time
» Tremors Jolt Pakistan, India, Middle East
 
Far East
» Rice Imported From China Loaded With Toxic Levels of Lead
 
Australia — Pacific
» Doveton Mosque: V Convenes Special Hearing Over Permit ‘Blunder’
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Ahmadinejad in West Africa
» Muslims, Christians Invoke Liberia’s Future
» Nigeria: Boko Haram — Northern Rulers Presents Paper on How to End Insurgency
» Nigeria: Dokubo Dismisses Mend’s Mosque Attack Threats
» Nigeria: Don’t Dare US, Northern Youths Warn Mend
» Nigeria: Stand Against Terrorism, Aregbesola Tasks Muslims
» Somalia: Al-Shebaab to Launch More Attacks After Mogadishu Court Assault, Spokesperson
» Somalia: Wave of Suicide Attacks Leaves 29 Dead in Mogadishu
 
Latin America
» Argentina Slams British Military Drills in Malvinas
» Trinidad and Tobago: Hinn: I Will Preach to Muslims
 
Immigration
» Illegal Immigrant DUI Killer Ruled Incompetent Because of His ‘Unique Cultural Background’
» Julian Brazier: Only Reducing Immigration to Much Lower Levels Than Emigration Can Halt a Social Crisis
» The 100 Million Immigrant Amnesty Equation
 
Culture Wars
» Christian Printer Threatened With Lawsuit Over Refusal to Publish Profane Homosexual Magazine
» Family Groups Warn of Dire Consequences if High Court Affirms Homosexual ‘Marriage’
» Grand Jury: Abortionist Murdered ‘Hundreds’ Of Children; M.E.: Adam Lanza Murdered 20
» Homosexual Activist to Present ‘Lion of Judah’ Painting to Obama During ‘Easter Prayer Breakfast’
» ‘Married’ Homosexuals to Stand Trial After Adopted Children Report Being Raped
» UK: Aidan Burley Was Right About the Olympics Opening Ceremony Being ‘Leftie ****’ — and Here’s the Proof

Greek Casinos Suffer From Crisis and Illegal Gambling

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 15 — The free fall observed in Greek casinos’ results continued in the first quarter of 2013.

According to sources their turnover has shrunk by 14.6% to 77.4 million euros and the volume of bets has dropped by 13.7% to 438.7 million euros. Sector professionals blame the crisis as well as illegal gambling as daily Kathimerini reported.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

IMF Revises Down Italy’s GDP, Calls Gridlock ‘Recovery Risk’

But country on right track, to see growth in 2014

(ANSA) — Washington, April 16 — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday that it has revised down its 2013 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for recession-hit Italy.

It forecast negative growth of 1.5%, 0.4% more than in January.

It said Italy’s GDP should increase 0.5% in 2014. It also predicted unemployment will reach 12.0% this year, from 10.6% in 2012.

The IMF also faulted Italy’s political uncertainty as a short-term threat to the recovery of the global economy.

The risks are “largely tied to developments in the eurozone, including uncertainty regarding repercussions following events in Cyprus and Italian politics,” the IMF said.

Italy has been without a government for nearly two months following inconclusive elections in February that produced a hung parliament. Nevertheless, the IMF said Italy was on the right fiscal track for the year. By the end of 2013, the better part of its financial measures aimed at weathering the euro crisis will be carried out, providing the prospect for growth in 2014, the IMF said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

IMF: Greece Will See Recovery in 12 to 18 Months

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 16 — Greece will see a gradual recovery of its economy over the next 12 to 18 months, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s representation in the troika, Poul Thomsen, told a conference in Athens on Monday as daily Kathimerini reports. “Next year will be better,” Thomsen said at the Economist conference, where he said that Greece’s fiscal adjustment had been “exceptional”. “I think the glass is half full,” said the IMF official, who added that Greece’s partners had already provided 185 billion euros in bailout loans and that they would continue to “do whatever is necessary” to support the Greek fiscal adjustment program “despite difficulties.” Thomsen said that the Greek economy could experience an export-led recovery.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italian Treasury Calls Early End to 9-Billion-Euro Bond Sale

Surprise popularity to close auction two days early

(ANSA) — Milan, April 15 — The auction of inflation-linked Italian government bonds was so popular and demand so high that the sale will end two days early, official said Monday.

Fully 8.984 billion euros of the four-year bond, bearing a minimum return of 2.25%, were sold Monday, the first day of what was slated to continue to Thursday.

Instead, sales will close at 17:30 local time on Tuesday, official said.

The bond issue was so popular that within the first 90 minutes of sales Monday morning, almost three billion euros worth of the paper was snapped up.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Former Nomura Boss Probed, 1.8 Billion Seized Over MPS

Japanese bank involved in suspect derivatives deals

(By Paul Virgo) (ANSA) — Rome, April 16 — Italian prosecutors seized 1.8 billion euros of assets held by Nomura on Tuesday and said they had put the Japanese bank’s former chief executive in Europe, the Middle East and Africa under investigation in relation to a probe into a financial scandal at Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS).

Nomura was involved in one of a series of suspect derivative and structured-finance deals that left a hole of around 720 million euros in the balance sheet of Italy’s third-biggest lender.

Prosecutors said Sadeq Sayeed, the former head of Nomura International plc, was being probed along with another manager from the Japanese investment bank, Raffaele Ricci. The prosecutors said the Nomura seizure regarded 88 million euros of hidden commissions received by Nomura and 1.7 billion euros of funds deposited with Nomura by MPS by way of collateral for a loan.

They stressed that the individuals were under investigation but the Japanese bank as an institution was not. Judicial sources said that the validity of the so-called Alexandria derivatives contract MPS has with Nomura has been suspended. Around 14 million euros belonging to former MPS chairman Giuseppe Mussari, former general manager Antonio Vigni and former finance chief Gianluca Baldassarri were seized on Tuesday too. Sayeed, Ricci, Mussari, Vigni and Baldassarri are being probed for crimes including usury, aggravated fraud, obstructing banking watchdogs and issuing false statements. Mussari last year resigned from MPS and stepped down from his subsequent post as chairman of the banking association ABI after the scandal exploded in January. Baldassarri is under house arrest.

Police and prosecutors investigating the MPS scandal were at the offices of the Bank of Italy for “activities linked to the investigation” on Tuesday.

Bank of Italy officials are not implicated in the probe but are cooperating with investigators.

“The presence of finance police in the headquarters is connected to the collaboration provided for some time to the judicial authorities in relation to investigations into obstructing regulatory authorities, in which the Bank of Italy is the injured party,” read a Bank of Italy statement. There are also suspicions senior MPS managers were involved in reports of bribes and corruption regarding the nine-billion-euro acquisition of rival bank Antonveneta in 2008.

David Rossi, MPS’s communications chief, committed suicide last month by throwing himself out of a window at the bank’s headquarters in Tuscany. He was not being probed.

MPS, which is the world’s oldest bank still doing business, revealed losses of more than three billion euros last year. Before the derivatives scandal broke, the Italian government had approved a 3.9-billion-euro bailout loan to the troubled bank, which may be converted into equity if the bank cannot make its payments to the State.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: ‘Shocking’ Number of Firms Have Failed Says Main Business Lobby

Rome, 16 April (AKI) — Almost twice as many companies went bust in the last quarter of 2012 compared with the same period of 2007, Italy’s main business association Confindustria said on Tuesday, warning of a “liquidity crisis”.

A total of 3,596 firms went bust from October to December last year, compared with 1,800 in the same period of 2007, a figure Confindustria’s director-genreal Marcella Panucci described as “shocking”.

Italy is facing a “liquidity crisis” amid the third credit crunch since 2007 and a third of companies do not have enough cash as bank loans have dwindled over the past 18 months, Panucci said.

“The banks are ever-more selective, loans are decreasing and interest-rates rising. A third of companies have inadequate liquidity to meet their operational needs,” he stated.

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that Italy’s economy would shrink by 1.5 percent this year as the country remains in the grip of the longest recession since 1993. GDP will increase by just 0.5 percent in 2014, the IMF said.

The IMF also predicted Italian unemployment will climb to 12 percent in 2013 from 10.6 percent in 2012.

In an effort to help the economy rebound, prime minister Mario Monti’s government earlier in April approved a plan to make some 40 billion euros in arrears payments from Italy’s public administration to private companies.

Confindustria president Giorgio Squinzi criticised the plan as “insufficient” and “watered down”.

“Italy’s public administration owes companies far more — probably three times as much,” Squinzi said.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

Nearly 9 Billion Euros in Italian Bonds Sold at Auction

Strong demand for inflation-linked government debt

(ANSA) — Milan, April 15 — Just under nine billion euros in new Italian inflation-linked bonds were sold Monday amid unexpectedly strong demand.

The exact figure was 8.984 billion euros. The Italian Treasury said that the new bonds, bearing a minimum return of 2.25%, went so quickly that their sales might end early. The sale of the four-year bond had been slated to end on Thursday.

Within the first 90 minutes of the bonds going on sale, almost three billion euros worth of the paper had been sold.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

3 Teens Arrested in Alleged Assault of California Girl Who Committed Suicide

[WARNING: * Disturbing Content * ]

Eight days after allegedly being sexually battered while passed out at a party, and then humiliated by online photos of the assault, 15-year-old Audrie Pott posted on Facebook that her life was ruined, “worst day ever,” and hanged herself.

For the next eight months, her family struggled to figure out what happened to their soccer loving, artistic, horse crazy daughter, whose gentle smile, long dark hair and shining eyes did not bely a struggling soul.

And then on Thursday, seven months after the tragedy, a Northern California sheriff’s office arrested three 16-year-old boys on charges of sexual battery.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Analysis Finds Monsanto’s GM Corn Nutritionally Dead, Highly Toxic

Is GMO corn nutritionally equivalent to non-GMO corn? Monsanto will tell you the answer is a big ‘yes’, but the real answer is absolutely not.

The 2012 report, entitled 2012 Nutritional Analysis: Comparison of GMO Corn versus Non-GMO Corn, found numerous concerning and notable differences between GMO and non-GMO corn, none of which are particularly surprising. First, the report found that non-GMO corn has considerably more calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, and zinc.

1.   Non-GMO corn has 6130 ppm of calcium while GMO corn has 14 — non-GMO corn has 437 times more calcium.
2.   Non-GMO corn has 113 ppm of magnesium while GMO corn has 2 — non-GMO corn has about 56 times more magnesium.
3.   Non-GMO corn has 113 ppm of potassium while GMO corn has 7 — non-GMO corn has 16 times more potassium.
4.   Non-GMO corn has 14 ppm of manganese while GMO corn has 2 — non-GMO corn has 7 times more manganese.

As far as energy content goes, non-GMO corn was found to ‘emit 3,400 times more energy per gram, per second compared to GMO corn’, as reported by NaturalNews. Overall, the paper found that non-GMO corn is 20 times richer in nutrition, energy and protein compared to GMO corn.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Are We Being Compromised by Barack Obama’s Murky Past?

By James A. Lyons

Since he first became a presidential candidate, President Obama must have spent millions of dollars in legal expenses to combat dozens of so-called “birther” challenges seeking the original documents pertaining to his birth. As president, he famously issued an electronic document on the White House website in 2011; the document purported to be his long-form birth certificate, though it is apparently a forgery. In addition, he has taken great pains to hide the paper trail of passport records, college transcripts, and other data — all of which a prospective employer might require of a job applicant.

The public’s right to know is but a minor consideration. Our overriding concern should be what unfriendly foreign intelligence adversaries, particularly Russian, may have obtained on our president’s background.

Among all the foreign intelligence agencies, Russian intelligence (SVR) has a long history and has made a science of studying the backgrounds of American presidents. Therefore, we must assume that since Russian intelligence is particularly skilled and a persistent practitioner of this art, it is possible to the point of certainty that, using all their resources and “black-bag” tactics, they have long had the biographical background data that President Obama and his team of lawyers have been so diligent in concealing from the American public.

The Russians most likely would have started collecting data during Obama’s university years, when he professed radical Marxist views. They were certainly focusing on him by the time of his celebrated speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

By that time, Russian intelligence had easy access to the true facts concerning Obama’s birth, parentage, and childhood; his mentor (communist Frank Marshall Davis); and his college performance, as well as who provided his finances. They also would have obtained the information on his passport history and his complete political career and associates.

It is recognized that among all the intelligence agencies, Russian intelligence is the most skillful in looking for information and points of leverage — which are then exploited cleverly and “gently” by Russian statecraft…

           — Hat tip: TV [Return to headlines]

Army Lieutenant Colonel Warns Officers About Christian Pro-Family ‘Domestic Hate Groups’

Fort Campbell, Kentucky — An Army lieutenant colonel recently issued an email alert to notify his subordinates of certain ‘domestic hate groups,’ which include Christian pro-family organizations.

Reporter Todd Starnes obtained a copy of the email, which was sent by an unnamed official stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. It was received by approximately three dozen soldiers under his command.

“Many events have been taking place across the country — just want to ensure everyone is somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army values,” the email begins. “When we see behaviors that are inconsistent with Army values — don’t just walk by — do the right thing and address the concern before it becomes a problem.”

It then provides a list of various “domestic hate groups,” lumping “anti-gay” and “anti-Muslim” individuals with Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Confederate, Neo-Nazi, racist Skinhead and White Nationalist groups. The email then breaks down each group in a detailed description…

“All anti-Muslim hate groups exhibit extreme hostility toward Muslims,” it outlines. “The organizations portray those who worship Islam as fundamentally alien and attribute to its followers an inherent set of negative traits. Muslims are depicted as irrational, intolerant and violent, and their faith is frequently depicted as sanctioning pedophilia, marital rape and child marriage.”

“Anti-Muslim hate groups allege that Muslims are trying to subvert the rule of law by imposing on Americans their own Islamic legal system, Shariah law,” the correspondence continues. “Anti-Muslim hate groups also broadly defame Islam, which they tend to treat as a monolithic and evil religion. These groups generally hold that Islam has no values in common with other cultures, is inferior to the West and is a violent political ideology rather than a religion.”

Among the plethora of organizations listed as being “anti-Muslim hate groups” include Christian Guardians, Concerned American Citizens, 9/11 Christian Center at Ground Zero and Christian Action Network.

Tony Perkins of Family Research Council said that he was shocked by the email alert to Army officials.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Authorities Guarding Man at Local Boston Hospital

(Fox News) — The deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon that killed at least three and injured 176 is believed to be an act of terrorism, senior White House officials told Fox News.

Two explosions tore through the finish line of the world-famous race just before 3 p.m., going off simultaneously as throngs of onlookers watched runners complete the 26.2-mile trek. The timing of the blasts immediately sparked suspicions of a deliberate act.

“When multiple devices go off, that’s an act of terrorism,” a senior administration official told Fox News, just moments after President Obama delivered a statement to the nation and did not use the word “terror.”

Authorities searched an apartment in the nearby Boston suburb of Revere as part of the investigation into the explosions. FoxNews.com saw federal, state and local law enforcement entering the building late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

Sources confirmed to FoxNews.com that the apartment being searched in connection to the bombings is on the fifth floor of the building.

A source close to the investigation confirms to FoxNews.com the man whose apartment was searched is considered a person of interest in the case, and is the same person of interest Fox News confirmed earlier authorities are guarding at a local hospital.

The source confirmed to FoxNews.com that the person of interest is Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, a 20-year-old Saudi. His Facebook page identifies him as a current or former student at the New England School of English. He is believed to have entered the country on a student visa.

The source stressed that Alharbi is a person of interest, not a suspect, and said he suffered serious injuries in the explosion.

Investigators were seen leaving the Revere house early Tuesday carrying brown paper bags, plastic trash bags and a duffel bag, according to the Associated Press.

The Pakistani Taliban, which has threatened attacks in the United States because of its support for the Pakistani government, denied any role in the marathon bombings Tuesday.

The group’s spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, denied involvement in a telephone call with The Associated Press. He spoke from an undisclosed location.

Federal investigators said Monday no one had claimed responsibility for the devastating attack on one of the city’s most famous civic holidays, Patriots Day.

“There is no suspect,” said Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said Monday amid reports of the person of interest. “There are people we’re talking to.”

A first responder source confirms to Fox News that five total explosive devices were found in the Boston area, including the two that exploded. Authorities spent the next several hours sweeping the area for additional devices.

Davis said at an evening press conference the bombing killed “at least three,” and multiple reports said one of the dead was an eight-year-old boy. A source tells the Associated Press the boy’s mother and sister were also injured as they waited for his father to finish the race.

A first responder source tells Fox News all of the victims were either bystanders or marathon runners, and that two of the deceased were adults.

In addition to the deaths, 176 people were injured, 17 critically…

[Return to headlines]

Backlash to Soros’ Drugging of America

The most successful campaign initiated by billionaire hedge-fund operator George Soros has been the legalization of marijuana. California has been the focus of most of his efforts. But there are indications that the campaign has gone too far, too fast in Colorado, prompting a backlash from the black Democratic mayor of Denver, who fears his city is becoming a new capital for the marijuana industry.

During my recent trip to Denver to cover the National Conference for Media Reform, I visited a “Native Roots Apothecary,” an official dispensary of “medical marijuana” in Denver, and discovered that a Colorado resident can get two ounces of marijuana a day (at an average of $150 an ounce), and “self-medicate” for almost any reason. Even a heavy marijuana user goes through only a quarter of an ounce a day. So fears are growing that “medical marijuana” is quickly becoming integrated into the illegal drug business. It was not supposed to happen this way, but state “regulation” of the industry has been a tragic joke.

Colorado has been in the news lately for passing new “gun control” legislation, at the urging of President Obama. But the state is also becoming known as a magnet for drug activity and a destination for what is called “drug tourism.”…

Jared Loughner, who in 2011 shot former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and subsequently pleaded guilty to 19 charges of murder and attempted murder, was a heavy marijuana smoker. Documents recently released in the case by the Pima County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Department, after Freedom of Information requests from news organizations, reveal that Loughner’s parents knew that he had been smoking marijuana and using cocaine.

Ironically, therefore, “medical marijuana” may be creating more cases of deranged individuals with even more serious mental problems and sicknesses, leading to dangerous and irrational behavior and “gun violence.”

But look for the liberals to blame the guns, not the drugs.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Bloody Boston

What we have witnessed from the President and his administration has been a display of weakness in the face of threats from the Middle East and elsewhere around the world.

In his short statement following the bombing of the Boston marathoners on Monday, the President did not say either “terror” or “terrorist.” This is an administration that has virtually banished these words, but an unidentified “White House official” did say that it was an act of terrorism within hours after the blast.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Boston Marathon Bombing: Who Do They Plan to Blame?

The Boston bombing already has the makings of a subversive and highly exploitable false flag event, and certain undertones remind me of the now exposed Operation Gladio, a false flag program utilized by NATO governments (including the U.S.) for decades which involved multiple bombings and mass shootings of high traffic public areas across Europe that were then falsely blamed on “left-wing terrorists”. The operation was exposed in the early 1990’s by the Italian government, and then quickly swept into the dust bin of history.

Vincenzo Vinciguerra, a far-right terrorist linked to Gladio and currently serving a life-sentence for the car bomb murder of three policemen stated during sworn testimony on Gladio in March of 2001:

“You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game…”

“The reason was quite simple. They were supposed to force these people, the Italian public, to turn to the state to ask for greater security. This is the political logic that lies behind all the massacres and the bombings which remain unpunished, because the state cannot convict itself or declare itself responsible for what happened…”

The methods used in Europe to demonize “left-wing” political movements could just as easily be used to demonize what some call “right-wing” political movements here in the U.S. Let’s look at some of the facts surrounding the Boston incident so far:…

So, just to clarify, the Boston police on the suggestion of…someone, decided to run bomb squad training, bomb sniffing dogs, and rooftop spotters on the exact same day that the Boston Marathon happened to be bombed…just because?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Boston Massacre: Obama Looks to Tax Day for “Rightwing” Terror Explanation

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod set the stage for what is sure to come — responsibility for the terror attack in Boston yesterday will ultimately be pinned on so-called rightwing terrorists. Axelrod pointed directly at the liberty movement.

“I’m sure what was going through the president’s mind is — we really don’t know who did this — it was tax day,” Axelrod told Chris Todd, host of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC, the preferred network for liberals and Obama sycophants. “Was it someone who was pro — you know, you just don’t know. And so I think his attitude is, let’s not put any inference into this, let’s just make clear that we’re going to get the people responsible.”

The domestic terror script — long ago formulated and hammered into shape deep within the national security state, notably the Department of Homeland Security — is designed to implicate constitutionalists and other dangerous enemies of the state.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Boston Marathon Explosions: Pakistan Taliban Says it Was Not Behind Bombs

The Pakistan Taliban has denied responsibility for the bomb attacks which killed three people and wounded more than 100 in Boston.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) wasn’t involved in carrying out the Boston attacks,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the group told The Daily Telegraph. “ We will issue a fuller statement only when those who have done this make any claim.” He also told the AFP news agency that the TTP supported attacks on the US. The group claimed it was behind the botched 2010 attack on Times Square and has close ties with al-Qaeda…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Boston Marathon Blasts Kill Two and Injure Many More

Update CBS News in the US are reporting that a Saudi national is being questioned by the FBI. He denies any involvement in the attack. In a press conference just now, President Obama has made clear that the Federal Authorities do not know who is responsible for the attack on the Boston Marathon. But it was noticeable that he did not call it a ‘terrorist’ attack.

Meanwhile in Boston, the authorities there have denied reports that anyone is in custody—there had been chatter in the US media that a Saudi male was under arrest in Boston. So far, no individual or organisation has claimed responsibility for this attack.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Californians Sign Petition to Ban and Confiscate Firearms

Media critic and social analyst Mark Dice shows how people are literally in a trance as he gets trendy liberals in California to sign a petition banning their birthrights. The public’s zombie-like mental state is what will allow Obama to get his gun ban through. However, some of these people were not just in a trance and nodded their head as they expressed vehement support for repealing the Second Amendment and enacting door to door gun confiscation. The following clip is a stark reminder of how our liberties are in peril and how many Americans are part of a cult of authoritarians masquerading as liberals.

In the video below, Mark shows how ill-informed people really are as they comment on news stories about the U.S. and Russia nuking China (both of which never really happened). This also underscores how people are totally out of touch, self-centered, and have zero knowledge of anything outside of their own petty day to day issues.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Eyewitness: Authorities “Must Have Known” About Bombing

Despite police refusing to acknowledge that they had any warning of the bombing attack on the Boston Marathon, eyewitness Ali Stevenson says authorities “must have known” of a threat because they announced a drill beforehand and had spotters on the roof at the start of the race.

Stevenson has gone into further detail about what he experienced in the morning at the start of the race, when participants in the marathon were told by police to stay calm as loudspeakers announced a bomb drill.

“At the starting line this morning, they had bomb sniffing dogs and the bomb squad out there,” he said. “They kept announcing to runners not to be alarmed, that they were running a training exercise,” Stevenson told AL.com.

However, during a press conference, Boston police told Infowars reporter Dan Bidondi that there was “no specific intelligence” regarding an attack and that no drills took place besides the usual precautions taken for a big event.

When Bidondi again attempted to ask police about why people were being told to remain calm before the bombs exploded, there was no response.

“They kept making announcements saying to the participants ‘do not worry, this is just a training exercise’“ said Stevenson, who is the University of Mobile’s Cross Country Coach.

“Evidently, I don’t believe they were just having a training exercise, they must have known,” Stevenson told Local15 News. “They must have had some sort of threat or suspicion called in,” adding that spotters were stationed on roofs of buildings and that bomb sniffing dogs were going up and down the finish line.

Stevenson said the level of security he witnessed was unlike anything he had experienced as a marathon runner before in major cities such as Chicago, Washington D.C., and London.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Gun Owner Stops Home Invaders Dead

But media coverage quiet on racial, 2nd Amendment overtones

When a group of black men were planning a home-invasion robbery in Fayetteville, N.C., on Friday, they stuck to an M.O. that had succeeded all over the country, but made one fatal error: They chose the wrong home.

The residents of the targeted house were home at the time and armed. After what local authorities report as a “gun battle,” two of alleged robbers died.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Leave it to Beaver Star Frank Bank Dies the Day After His 71st Birthday

Just a day after his 71st birthday, TV star Frank Bank has died.

The actor played the bully Clarence ‘Lumpy’ Rutherford on the hit series Leave It To Beaver.

The news of his death surfaced on Saturday when Jerry Mathers, his former co-star from the 1957 — 1963 sitcom, posted to his Facebook page: ‘I was so sad to hear today of the passing of my dear friend and business associate Frank Bank, who played Lumpy on Leave it to Beaver.

‘He was a character and always kept us laughing,’ the 64-year-old wrote. ‘My deepest condolences to Frank’s family.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Muslims Are Celebrating Obama Rather Than Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack

Obama’s unofficial protection of the Muslim Brotherhood; his stamping out of the word ‘terrorism’ is what is really celebrated in the Muslim terrorist world.

In the 11-plus years since 9/11 there has been no successful terrorist attack on American soil. Indeed, even yesterday the person or persons behind the IEDs only succeeded in detonating two bombs out of a reported seven.

That’s because authorities have foiled terrorists on American soil some 29 times since September 11, 2011.

What the Muslims celebrating the Boston Marathon terrorist attack are really celebrating is that the American people have a president who enables terrorism by refusing to use the ‘T’ word.

In other words, as if by refusing to name it, the act of terrorism and the lives it claims do not exist.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

National Guard to Occupy Area of Boston

Bay State residents can expect the massive security surge prompted by the marathon bombing to continue throughout the week, with Copley Square under lockdown, the Common converted into a National Guard staging area and a flood of law enforcement officials patrolling Boston — even as city officials urged residents to return to work as normal.

“The city of Boston will be open, but it will not be business as usual,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, later adding that life in the city is “not going to be easy, simple or regular.”

Patrick said the National Guard has secured a 15-block crime scene and is limiting access in the area, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken over the probe into who planted the explosives.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Obama Signs Law Gutting Insider Trading Regulations for Congress

Yesterday President Obama signed a law that gutted the reporting requirements originally included in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. Before these changes were made the STOCK Act required congressional staffers to disclose their finances to the public to help ensure they were not engaging in corrupt practices.

But on second thought, President Obama and Congress decided that congressional staffers should be able to escape transparency.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Obama Adversaries to be Blamed for Boston Attack?

Rahm Emanuel’s call to “never let a serious crisis go to waste” is really going to come to the fore this week if yesterday’s Boston Marathon attack is blamed on Barack Obama’s political opposition, with Democratic operatives having previously urged the President to exploit terror in order to reinvigorate his presidency.

Suggestions that the bombing could have been the work of Tea Partiers or anti-tax protesters have swirled despite the fact that the only suspect being questioned in response to the attack is a Saudi national.

Numerous establishment media outlets have also savaged Alex Jones for suggesting that the federal government could have been complicit in the bombing. Jones’ logic is based on a fact that the New York Times reported on last year, that many of the recent domestic terror plots in the United States “were facilitated by the F.B.I.,” a history that goes back until at least 1993 when the FBI gave terrorists real explosives with which to conduct the first WTC bombing.

Indeed, under the auspices of Operation Gladio, the idea of governments carrying out acts of terror and blaming them on political adversaries to alter the political climate was far from a “conspiracy theory,” it was an admitted fact.

Operation Gladio was a NATO cold war “stay behind” project designed to demonize political opposition and “force the public to turn to the state to ask for greater security,” according to the testimony of former Gladio agent Vincenzo Vinciguerra. In 2000, an Italian parliamentary investigation found that the 1980 Bologna train bombing, which killed 85 people, was carried out by “men inside Italian state institutions and … men linked to the structures of United States intelligence.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Official Story Unraveling for Boston Marathon Bombing

It’s now becoming clear that members of the Boston bomb squad had advanced notice of the horrific bombing that took place at the marathon today. As an eyewitness reports, once the bombs went off, officials began announcing, “this is just a drill!” This logically means they were all informed of the “bomb drill” beforehand. Otherwise, why would they respond with, “this is just a drill” ?

According to Local15TV.com, a University of Mobile’s Cross Country Coach said there were bomb-sniffing dogs at both the start and finish lines, long before any explosions went off. He said:

“They kept making announcements on the loud speaker that it was just a drill and there was nothing to worry about. It seemed like there was some sort of threat, but they kept telling us it was just a drill.”

Regardless of what you might think is behind this right now, the real proof will be found in what Obama calls for in response to the bombings.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Pennsylvania Group Warns Homeschooling Families May be Subject to Investigation Under Proposed Bill

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — A pro-family organization in Pennsylvania is expressing concern over a proposed bill that would require an investigation into homeschooling families in certain situations.

SB32 was recently presented in the Pennsylvania legislature by Senator Andrew Dinniman, and is meant to amend the Public School Code of 1949.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Police Raid Boston Home Linked to Burned Saudi Student Who Was ‘Acting Suspiciously’ Near Marathon Finish Line After Bombs That Killed 3 and Injured 144

Detectives last night raided a home in Boston in connection with the explosions at yesterday’s marathon which killed three and injured 144.

Authorities are still unsure who was behind the blasts — which have been described as small, home-made devices — but have a number of leads which they are following.

Agents, including the FBI and bomb disposal officers, swooped on an apartment in the suburbs of the city after a man, said to be of Saudi origin, was arrested at the scene.

The 20-year-old suspect is under police guard in hospital, where he is being treated for burns and shrapnel wounds to his legs, after he was tackled to the ground by a civilian who believed he was acting suspiciously.

Law sources told the New York Post that after the man was grabbed by police, he smelled of gun powder and said, ‘I thought there would be a second bomb’ before asking, ‘Did anyone die?’

The Saudi man, believed to be a student, was tackled by a bystander by the scene who thought he was acting suspiciously.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Report: Bombs in Pressure Cookers

WASHINGTON — The explosives used in the deadly Boston Marathon bombing were contained in 6-liter pressure cookers and hidden in black duffel bags on the ground, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

One of the explosives contained shards of metal and ball bearings, and another contained nails, the person said.

A second person briefed on the investigation confirmed that at least one of the explosives was made out of a pressure cooker. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Temecula: Mosque Construction Hits a Slowdown

Construction of a mosque in Temecula has slowed and an official says more than a half-million dollars must be raised to complete the first phase of the two-phase project. The concrete foundation for the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, on Nicholas Road near Calle Medusa, was completed in December. Not much work on the planned 25,000-square-foot structure has taken place since then and construction equipment at the site sits idle. Emad Rasheed, chairman of the mosque’s board of directors, said things are still moving along, if slowly…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

The Politics of Emotions: Don’t Think. Feel.

Oscar Wilde said: “The emotions of man are stirred more quickly than man’s intelligence.”

That single sentence by Mr. Wilde, from a very long time ago, explains everything you need to know about the American left, indeed, leftists around the world.

They are ruled by emotions. In my opinion, that explains their overly abundant use of profanity and vulgarity to express themselves.

As I said above: they are ruled by their emotions. Rational, reasoned thinking is nowhere to be found when these folks get their hormones flowing.

Those who populate the left side of the political spectrum are easily manipulated and they are manipulated quite often. They are the “Useful Idiots” so often employed by the Marxists to further their agenda around the world and especially in the United States.

It should be obvious why the word “idiot” is used in describing them. Simply because they seem to be incapable of “reasoned” thinking.

For instance… have you paid attention to how the leaders of the left have manipulated their followers over gun control legislation? They are using pure, raw, emotion. It is of no concern to them that the laws they are proposing will not do a single thing to reduce gun violence n America.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

U.S. Investigators Hunt for Clues in Marathon Bombing

(Reuters) — Two bombs packed with ball bearings tore through crowds near the finish of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and triggering a massive hunt for those behind an attack the White House said would be treated as “an act of terror”.

Officials said more than 100 people were wounded by the devices, which were packed with gunpowder and shrapnel to maximise injuries, according a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation who declined to be named…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Witnesses Recount War Zone at Boston Marathon as Bombs Left 26th Mile Littered With Disembodied Limbs and ‘Shoes With Flesh Still in Them’

[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]

Witnesses have described how twin bomb blasts turned the 26th mile of the Boston Marathon into a war zone, littering the final stretch of the race with disembodied limbs, wounded runners who lost their legs, and a lone shoe with flesh still in it.

Surgeons spoke about operating theaters that looked like battlefield hospitals as 140 injured victims poured into the city’s hospital’s — many with wounds only seen in combat.

Reports suggest that the small, homemade explosives were packed with ball bearings that tore off feet, ankles, calves and entire legs and they exploded just outside the crowded finish line.

So far ten of the victims are feared to have lost limbs in the worst terror blast in the worst terror atrocity on US soil since 9/11 — two brothers lost a leg each in the blast.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

YouTube Censors Family Guy Clip Which Predicted Boston Marathon Attack

Media floats erroneous claim that issue is an “abhorrent hoax”

UPDATE: YouTube has now censored a commentary video which merely pointed out that a recently broadcast episode of Family Guy contained scenes eerily similar to those that unfolded during the Boston Marathon attack. YouTube deleted the video claiming it contained, “spam,” “scams” or “commercially deceptive content,” when it contained none of these things. YouTube has also placed a strike against the host channel and threatened to delete it.

In addition, it is now being claimed that the whole issue is an “abhorrent hoax” merely because the two scenes from the same episode were spliced together. The fact that the episode depicted people being killed at the Boston Marathon, in addition to a separate clip which depicted two explosions, is not a hoax.

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane created a cartoon which made fun of terrorist bombings and depicted mutilated Boston Marathon runners, yet he is labeling people who merely talk about the episode as “abhorrent”.

Tivo and others are now removing the episode from their systems, which is strange given that the episode is supposedly a “hoax” and doesn’t exist, according to the media…

An episode of the popular show Family Guy which was first aired less than a month ago eerily predicted aspects of the Boston Marathon attack, depicting the main character detonating two bombs in addition to winning the marathon by killing the rest of the participants.

The episode, named Turban Cowboy, centers around Peter becoming embroiled with terrorists who plan on blowing up bridges in Boston. The show aired on March 17, just under a month ago on the Fox network and has been repeated in recent days.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Aboriginals Support Canada Islamic Charity

TORONTO — Fostering meaningful community relationships, Muslims and aboriginal Canadians have come together in the city of Ottawa to show support for an Islamic charity in the area. “The Islam Care Center reaches out to the community and offers services so we are serving a broad variety of people in the community and, in many cases, we are dealing directly with members of the Aboriginal community as well,” Omar Mahfoudhi, Executive Director of Islam Care Center, told OnIslam.net…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Euro Judges Rule That Terror Suspect Wanted in America Can’t be Deported From Britain to the U.S. Because it Would be Bad for His Mental Health

Terror suspect and Broadmoor patient Haroon Aswat, the trusted lieutenant of radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, has won his legal battle to avoid being kicked out of Britain.

The extremist’s proposed extradition to the United States would breach his human rights, the European Court of Human Rights ruled today.

Aswat, who claims to be a schizophrenic, is wanted by the U.S. authorities for plotting to set up a jihadi training camp in Bly, Oregon.

He had claimed that the jail term he might face in America — up to 50 years without parole — breached Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which bans ‘inhuman or degrading treatment’.

Today a Strasbourg court said they agreed with him because he has mental health problems.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Italians Not Impressed by M5S Strategies for Government

But Grillo’s base pleased, survey says

(ANSA) — Rome, April 15 — While a majority of Italians are not impressed with the parliamentary strategies of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), its own members are overwhelmingly pleased, according to opinion poll released Monday.

The survey by SWG market researchers found that about 62% of Italians do not approve of the strategy taken by the anti-establishment M5S MPs, who are refusing to cooperate with established parties to form a new government.

However, 76% of those who say they are members of the movement, led by comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, support his strategies.

Although a general election was held in February, Italy still has no government after Grillo refused overtures from the Democratic Party (PD) to form a coalition.

The survey also found that 43% of those surveyed approved of the rookie parliamentarians elected under the M5S banner, a much lower approval rating than the 92% approval reported by party members.

The survey was conducted by Trieste-based SWG for RAI 3 television between April 9 and 10 and involved a panel of 1,500 adults giving it a margin of error of +/- 2.9%.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: ILVA Steel Plant Referendum Fails to Make Quorum

81% favor total shutdown, but only 19.5% cast ballots

(ANSA) — Taranto, April 15 — An advisory referendum on the troubled ILVA steel plant in Taranto failed to win the necessary quorum of votes to make it binding, election results released Monday revealed.

A referendum held Sunday queried voters in the southern Italian port city whether they would like to see the steel plant partially or entirely shuttered, but only 19.5% of the electorate bothered to vote. In Italy, referenda are valid only if at least 50% of eligible voters cast ballots.

But those who did vote expressed a strong preference for shutting down Italy’s largest steel plant, which is accused of causing illness, death and severe environmental damage through years of toxic emissions. Eighty-one percent of the vote favoured total shutdown of the plant. In a second poll, 92.6% of the voters approved of a partial shutdown, or closure of the smelting areas, considered the major source of pollution. In the Tamburi neighborhood, which is most exposed to the emissions, only 14.57% of eligible voters marked ballots.

ILVA is a major source of employment in an economically depressed area of southern Italy. A court-ordered partial shutdown and the seizure of manufactured parts have sparked strikes, demonstrations, government intervention, as well as a legal row between Taranto judges and the State government.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Renzi Shoots Back Amid PD Infighting

Florence mayor ‘attacked for saying what Italians are thinking’

(ANSA) — Florence, April 15 — Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi shot back at fellow members of the center left on Monday as tension within the Democratic Party (PD) continued to rise over a series of controversial statements by its rising star.

“I sense a lot of bitterness. And personally it seems unfair to be attacked like this only for saying what’s on my mind and the minds of millions of Italians,” said Renzi in an online statement. The 38-year-old, who has been compared to a young Tony Blair, was blasted as “pitiful” and told he would never be a statesman on Monday for openly criticising PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani over the handling of the impasse caused by February’s inconclusive general election.

“As long as I’m able, I will do my part to make Italy competitive and hopeful again. I commit to making the PD a winning party,” he added. Bersani defeated Renzi in the centre-left leadership primaries in December. But Bersani conducted a colourless campaign and, although his alliance came first in the vote by a narrow margin, it failed to win a working majority in the Senate. Italy still has no government after Bersani did not garner support for a post-election pact with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and ruled out forming a grand coalition with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) party.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has tried to break the deadlock by asking a group of 10 ‘wise men’ to prepare a government programme capable of winning cross-party support that was presented on Friday Renzi has said Bersani’s approach means Italy is “wasting time” that should be used to combat the country’s economic ailments and argued the PD should either open talks with Berlusconi or ask to return to the polls. Bersani hit back at the weekend, saying he would not accept such insults even from his father, prompting Renzi to respond that he was “asking for the insults”. The Florence mayor also angered members of his own party by rejecting the possibility that two of its high-profile members could become the next Italian president. He ruled out former Senate Speaker Franco Marini on the grounds that he failed to win re-election to parliament in February. He also gave the thumbs down to PD Senator Anna Finocchiaro, a former equal opportunities minister, after she was recently photographed getting her bodyguards to carry her shopping for her on a trip to Ikea. “I find the attack Matteo Renzi directed at me to be truly pitiful, both for the tone and the content,” Finocchiaro said Monday, stressing that she had not touted herself as a presidential candidate. “And I find it unacceptable and despicable that it should come from a member of my own party. “My opinion is that someone who behaves like this might win elections, but he does not have the human qualities that are indispensable to be a real political leader and statesman”. The bitterness within the PD has reached such levels that there have been talks of a split. Bersani has said there is no danger of this and Renzi has said he will not leave the PD even if fellow party members try to kick him out. Another senior PD member, former education minister Beppe Fioroni, pleaded with Renzi to stop his attacks on the party’s top brass. “In this way Matteo Renzi keeps putting the PD constantly in tension,” Fioroni told Rome-based daily La Repubblica. “I invite him to stop because wére close to breaking point.

“If we get there, there won’t be a split, but an implosion.

It won’t be just the party that suffers, but the whole country”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Casaleggio Says Will Back Prodi if Wins M5S President Vote

Grillo’s guru had ruled out political candidates

(ANSA) — Turin, April 15 — Gianroberto Casaleggio, the guru behind the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo, said the party would back former centre-left premier Romano Prodi if enough members supported him in an online vote. “We will always support the decisions of the Movement, so if the Movement chooses Prodi, we’ll vote for him,” said Casaleggio, backtracking on earlier statements.

Hours earlier Casalegio said that M5S shouldn’t choose any of the political candidates that had been shortlisted, which would rule out Prodi as well as former European commissioner and Radical Party heavyweight Emma Bonino. In an online poll Monday, the M5S voted on a shortlist of candidates to replace Giorgio Napolitano as Italian president next month, with no deal in sight between the top parties that emerged from an inconclusive February general election.

The Italian media are looking at the party vote, whose results will come out Tuesday, for an idea of what a possible consensus candidate could be for the two parties that came out just ahead of Grillo in the general election, Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) party.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Fiat-Chrysler Alliance Profitable for Turin Giant

Italian icon continues merger preparations

(By Sandra Cordon)(ANSA) — Rome, April 15 — Italian icon Fiat, which once rescued bankrupt American automaker Chrysler, is continuing preparations for a full merger with the division that has become increasingly important to its bottom line.

Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of Turin-based Fiat, says that the integration of the two companies is coming, but the timetable is not yet clear.

“The merger with Chrysler is inevitable,” Marchionne told a recent shareholders meeting.

“I hope that by the end of the year, we will have more certainty about how to achieve it”. Fiat took over bankrupt Chrysler in 2009 and, with an initial 20% stake in the company, turned its fortunes around. It now owns about 60% of Chrysler which these days, thanks to its strong sales in North America, is helping to keep Fiat afloat.

Marchionne has frequently said that a full merger between Fiat and Chrysler is necessary and many expect it will occur by the end of 2015.

However, the challenge for the automaker is finding the revenues for Fiat to finalize the transaction.

The recession in Italy, which has caused a big drop in spending, and financial troubles across Europe have taken their toll on Fiat.

While Fiat — which was born in the northern city of Turin more than 100 years ago, in 1899 — is keeping a strong market share in Italy, its profits have been hit hard by the continent’s economic troubles.

However, the overall balance sheet has been supported by strong earnings from the Chrysler division.

Sales of Chrysler models have increased by 5% in the United States in March 2013 compared to March 2012, carving a new record of 36 straight monthly gains.

The previous record had been set between February 1992 and December 1994.

Sales of the Fiat 500 in the United States rose 3% in March compared with March 2012, the 13th straight gain for the new version of the iconic sub-compact.

Marchionne has said that profits for fiscal 2013 are expected to come in at between 1.2 billion euros and 1.5 billion euros ($1.5 million US to $1.9 million US) on revenues between 88 billion euros and 92 billion euros. And while 2012 was the worst for vehicle sales in Italy since 1979, Fiat still managed to nudge up its market share at home.

Marchionne has said vehicle deliveries this year for Fiat and Chrysler combined should reach somewhere between 4.3 million to 4.5 million.

That’s a significant increase from last year’s sales of about 4.2 million autos, which make the combined companies the seventh largest automaker in the world.

Growth is again expected this year in North America — forecast to account for about half of 2013 sales — as well as expansions in Latin America and Asia, while sales in Europe are forecast to decline. Last year, Fiat and Chrysler sold 2 million vehicles in North America, 1 million in Europe, 979,000 in Latin America and 115,000 in Asia.

Fiat designs, produces, and sells vehicles all over the world under such well-known brand names as Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Abarth, as well as luxury and performance brands Ferrari and Maserati. It is also involved in producing auto components through Fiat Powertrain, Magneti Marelli, Teksid, and Comau.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Grillo’s Grassroots Party Chooses Investigative Reporter as Candidate for Country’s Next President

Rome, 16 April (AKI) — Members of former comic Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement have chosen highly TV presenter and investigative reporter Milena Gabanelli as its candidate to be Italy’s next president, the party said Tuesday.

War-zone doctor Gino Strada, the founder of the Italian medical aid charity Emergency, came second in Monday’s online vote by Five Star members.

Gabanelli presents the Report programme on state broadcaster Rai’s third channel, which highlights scandals including corruption, squandering of public funds.

Rome’s mayor Gianni Alemanno has announced he will Gabanelli and Report over allegations its Sunday edition that the Naples mafia had infiltrated contracts for electric bus services and the capital’s new metro line.

Gabanelli’s win means she will be backed for by Five Star’s 163 members of the Italian parliament in a vote starting on Wednesday to appoint a successor to Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, whose seven-year mandate ends in mid-May.

She beat other candidates who had made a shortlist in a separate vote last week. They included former centre-left premier Romano Prodi, former European commissioner Emma Bonino and Nobel Literature Laureate Dario Fo. Grillo also made the shortlist but withdrew his name from it.

A two-thirds majority is needed in the first three ballots to elect a new president, after which a simple majority is enough. Regional representative also take part in the voting.

Grillo’s movement holds the balance of power in the deadlocked parliament after February’s inconclusive election and has refused to enter any coalition government with the traditional parties, which it blames for Italy’s problems.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

State-Owned Russian Giant Takes Chunk of Italian Refinery

Moratti family keeps majority stake in Saras oil deal

(ANSA) — Milan, April 15 — Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft said Monday that it intends to take a combined 21% holding in petrol refinery Saras, owned by Massimo Moratti, chairman of soccer’s Inter Milan.

The deal, worth a total of almost 274 million euros, includes a 13.7% stake taken immediately by Rosneft, which also gave notice of plans for a public purchase offer to buy a further 7.3% of the refinery.

Saras, which operates one of Europe’s largest refineries, lost money in the past fiscal year.

Gian Marco Moratti and Massimo Moratti, chairman and chief executive officer respectively of Saras, have reportedly been discussing a partnership with Igor Sechin, chairman of Rosneft. Monday’s deal may eventually lead to the Russian oil giant supplying crude oil for the Saras refinery in Sarroch, on the southern tip of Sardinia near Cagliari, according to media reports.

Gian Marco Moratti, whose family retains just over 50% of shares in Saras, recently said that his was the only petrol refinery group in Europe without a partner that owns petroleum.

“If we find one and if they want to take a minority stake, so be it,” Moratti said at the time.

The Moratti brothers inherited Saras from their father, Angelo Moratti, owner of the ‘Grande Inter’ side that won a string of Italian titles and two European Cups in the 1960s.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

UK: Big Ben to be Silenced for Baroness Thatcher’s Funeral

Big Ben will fall silent on Wednesday as a mark of respect for Baroness Thatcher’s funeral.

It is the first time that the bells of Big Ben and the Great Clock at the Palace of Westminster will have been halted in this way since the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965. The announcement came from John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in a statement to MPs, many of whom had asked the Parliamentary authorities to make a special tribute to the former Conservative prime minister…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: England is Drifting Towards Grave Civil Unrest

by Thomas Pascoe

Were it not for smartphones, England would be close to a state of civil disorder. It is a kingdom divided against itself, but it has so far lacked a single point of controversy around which public discontent can calcify. At the same time, a generation, drained of intellectual vitality and moral vigour, tweets and fidgets its way through a life mediated entirely by the internet. The curious belief that clicking a button can change the world has, for now, largely replaced the civil unrest of earlier generations…

England, as we knew it, ceased to be sometime in the closing years of the last millennium No country can be the same when its principal city and most of its positions of note are occupied chiefly by people who are ignorant of its history, resentful of its traditions and who scorn its national religion. These people are not immigrants, but the English themselves. Trying to build a new Jerusalem requires a unity of purpose we now lack. I worry that we are building a bonfire instead.

[Reader comment by sammy88 on 15 April 2013 at 5:12 pm.]

Yes, to your question regarding Geert Wilders. We need more people like him to stand up against Islam. We also need people like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, who are now being called ‘Islamophobic’ because they criticise Islam.

The biggest threat to Islam is free speech. [JP emphasis.] This is why freedom of expression is severely limited in Muslim-majority countries. They know that the status quo will be under threat if they let the light in. Although we are relatively much more free in the West, we are clearly not as free about Islam. At the very least there are attempts, like those launched recently on scientists like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins to depict them as bigots for criticising a bigoted religion (George Orwell must be spinning in his grave) or your safety is threatened (see Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Theo van Gogh) or you’re even put in prison by your own government. This is all part of the same effort to silence criticism of this religion. […]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: Human Rights Court Blocks Extradition of UK-Based Terror Suspect to US

European court of human rights bars Haroon Aswat’s extradition on account of his severe mental illness

Extraditing a UK-based terror suspect to an American “supermax” high security prison would constitute “inhuman or degrading treatment”, the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled. The Strasbourg court barred the removal of Haroon Aswat, whose nationality is unknown, from Broadmoor psychiatric hospital to the US on account of his severe mental illness…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: London Book Fair Opens With Turkish Culture Under Spotlight

LONDON, April 15 (Xinhua) — The three-day London Book Fair opened Monday at the Earls Court, attracting publishers from about 60 countries. According to Steven Williams, CEO of the book fair’s official Public Relations agency Midas, books from three countries, Armenia, Georgia and Croatia, came to the book fair for the first time. “About 250 seminars will be held and we hope that the number of visitors could be at least the same with last year,” he said. At the London Book Fair this year, the market-focus country is Turkey…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: President Obama Snubs Margaret Thatcher Funeral

US leader won’t attend or send senior member of his administration

US President Barack Obama will snub Lady Thatcher’s funeral by failing to send a single senior member of his administration, The Sun can reveal.

Ageing former Secretaries of State James Baker, 82, and George Shultz, 92, will lead the US delegation, the White House will announce today. The slight comes as German leader Angela Merkel also declines the official invite. She will send her foreign minister instead. But Downing Street is most angered by rejections from Obama, First Lady Michelle and Vice-President Joe Biden…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: Second University Sounds Alarm Over Segregation at Muslim Student Events

A Second university in a matter of weeks has launched an investigation into claims that Muslim students are enforcing segregation between men and women at public events.

Leicester University voiced concern after photographs emerged showing hand-written signs directing male and female students to sit in separate sections at a public talk on the existence of God organised by the university’s Islamic Society.

The meeting was addressed by Hamza Tzortzis, an Islamic speaker who tours university campuses, who was at the centre of controversy over segregation at University College London (UCL) last month. UCL announced that it was banning his organisation, the Islamic Education & Research Academy (IERA), from its campus after a debate he was addressing descended into farce over the issue of segregation.

The latest row erupted after photographs were published on the internet showing sheets of A4 paper attached to a door reading “brothers” and “sisters” with arrows pointing in opposite directions at the entrance to the event in Leicester.

A separate notice on the website of the University of Leicester Islamic Society (ULISoc), makes clear that while its meetings are open to the public it has a policy of “segregated seating for brothers and sisters at all co-attended events”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: University Probing Muslim Group After it ‘Forced Male and Female Students to Sit in Separate Areas During Public Talk on God’

A university is probing claims that some of its Muslim students are enforcing segregation between genders, it emerged today.

Leicester University spoke of its concerns over photos showing hand-written signs requesting that male and female students sit in separate areas at a public talk by the university’s Islamic Society.

The meeting — which discussed God’s existence — was addressed by Islamic speaker Hamza Tzortzis, who speaks at various campuses and was involved in controversy at another university last month.

As reported by MailOnline, University College London banned his Islamic Education & Research Academy group from its campus after the organisation segregated men and women during a debate.

The latest incident in Leicester saw A4 sheets of paper attached to an entrance door with the words ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ and arrows pointing in opposite directions, reported the Daily Telegraph.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

UK: Victim’s Shocking Injuries After He Was Doused in Petrol and Turned Into a Human Fireball by Paranoid Schizophrenic Who Went on to Attack Two More Men

[WARNING: **Disturbing Content **]

This is another victim of a paranoid schizophrenic who was jailed for life for setting people on fire.

Mitchell Dean, 22, was jailed for life after he sprayed lighter fluid onto Russell Banks, 22, and Robert Laszewski, 21, before throwing a lit match at them.

Now another of his victims, David Chaplin, has described how he too was attacked by Dean — and has suffered life changing injuries after he became a ‘wall of fire’.

Dean, 22, who was sentenced yesterday, was obsessed with fire and witchcraft and will now spend the rest of his life detained in a mental health hospital under a ‘restricted order’.

He poured petrol over him and set him alight before calmly walking away after David spurned his advances.

[…]

The pair had been friends for about three-and-a-half years, but during that time Dean, of Laindon, had become increasingly obsessed by fire, demons, spells and the devil.

He would regularly go to fields in Billericay, Basildon and Langdon Hills where he would arrange sticks and wood into shapes, before setting light to them and chanting the devil’s name. Dean referred to the practice as ‘art’.

In the days running up to the horror attack, jurors at Basildon Crown Court heard how Dean had begun talking about sacrificing animals by setting them ablaze.

His obsession with fire then took a sinister twist when he decided to punish David by setting him alight when he rejected his advances after a night of drinking alcohol.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Croatia: Center-Right in Surprise Win for EP Candidates

On historically low turnout of 20.7%

(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB — Just 20.7% of 3.7 million voters turned out for Croatia’s European elections Sunday ahead of the country’s full adhesion on July 1. In a surprise upset, the right-wing opposition won over Social-Democratic Premier Zoran Milanovic’s candidates to represent Croatia at the European Parliament. The country has a right to 12 MEPs. Voter apathy was due to a five-year recession with -2% growth in 2012 coupled with continued negative news from the eurozone, analysts said. Also contributing to voter indifference is the fact that Croatian MEPs will only have a one-year mandate ahead of next year’s elections to renew the entire European Parliament.

The ballot was a first test for Milanovic and his SDP party after his election a year and a half ago. His candidates obtained 31.7% of the votes and five seats, while center-right Christian Democrats from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) obtained 33.1% of the vote and six MEPs. The newcomer Croatian Labor party (HL, populist leftists) is sending one MEP to Strasbourg with 5.8% of the ballots. With unemployment at a 10-year high of 22%, analysts said the results punished Milanovic for his austerity policies of cutting civil servant wages and raising taxes, neither of which have restarted the country’s stagnant economy. “We did not reach our objective, which was to win, but the results are satisfactory”, commented Tonino Picula from the SDP.

Milanovic faces a further and more significant test during Croatia’s administrative elections on May 19.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

The Necessity of Revolutionary Violence in Egypt

Since the removal of the dictator Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian people envisioned a new socio-political and economic order only to see a reconfigured neo-colonial order with the Muslim Brotherhood at its helm. Consequently ordinary people have met state violence with the necessity of revolutionary violence on the street.

‘All politics is a struggle for power; the ultimate kind of power is violence.’ — C. Wright Mills

Violence is related to notions of justice. In Egypt there are two forms of justice that we have been fighting for since 25 January 2011: social and retributive. Their absence has been compounded by the on-going application of structural forms of violence against us: primarily economic and judicial. As a result, Egyptians increasingly see the state as having lost its monopoly over what Weber calls the ‘legitimate use of physical force.’ Weber used this concept in his article ‘Politics as a Vocation’ to describe a population’s sanction of state forces to use violence against it to maintain ‘order.’ In Egypt, this sanction has come under question repeatedly, as successive regimes have allowed its forces to shoot at us on the streets and to torture us in their cells, while punishing none of the police perpetrators of crimes against the revolution.[1] Despite the glorification of an eighteen-day revolution as non-violent, violence has been a part of this revolution since the first stone was thrown on 25 January 2011 — followed three days later by the torching of police stations on the Friday of Rage — and until today. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly clear that violence is a necessary means in the effort to undo the logic of a state dominated by elites and their foreign backers, who disregard the revolutionary demand of ‘bread, freedom, and social justice.’

[…]

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Turkey First State With Ambassador to Palestine

Turkey’s consul general to the Palestinian Authority has presented his credentials to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and will become the first ambassador recognized by Palestine, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported on Monday.

The move comes after the Palestinian upgrade to non-member observer state at the UN General Assembly in November.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah Celebrate Boston Terror Attack

Jerusalem, Israel —- April 15, 2013 … Shortly after terror bombs exploded and murdered over 12 people at the Boston Marathon, members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah were reported to be dancing in the streets of Gaza, handing out candies to passerbys.

A number of Palestinians had danced in the street in celebration of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center and Washington resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans.

The head of an Islamic terror organization in Jordan — the Muslim Salafi group says he’s “happy to see the horror in America” after the bombing attacks in Boston.

“American blood isn’t more precious than Muslim blood,” said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaeda-linked plot to attack US and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003.

“Let the Americans feel the pain we endured by their armies occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and killing our people there,” he said today…

           — Hat tip: TV [Return to headlines]

Jordan Extremist Praises Marathon Bombings

(TIMES OF ISRAEL) — The head of an extremist Jordanian Muslim Salafi group says he’s “happy to see the horror in America” after the explosions in Boston.

“American blood isn’t more precious than Muslim blood,” said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaeda-linked plot to attack U.S. and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003.

“Let the Americans feel the pain we endured by their armies occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and killing our people there,” he said early Tuesday.

A Mideast counterterrorism official based in Jordan said the blasts “carry the hallmark of an organized terrorist group, like al-Qaeda.” He did not give actual evidence.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Syria’s Jabhat Al-Nusra Seeks Direct Relationship With Al-Qaeda Leadership

Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s announcement that his group had merged with the Syrian group Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) marks a remarkable development in the modus operandi of armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Middle East.

The announcement not only confirmed what analysts have been saying for months about the link between ISI and JAN, but was remarkable in the sense that JAN leader Abu Mohammed al-Joulani hastened to refute the announcement of JAN’s merger with ISI, al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq, and instead “renewed the bayaa” (oath of allegiance) to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Syria: Britain Funds Rebels Overseeing Aid Inside Occupied Areas

Britain has stepped directly into the Syrian crisis, funding scores of civilian rebels to oversee hundreds of millions of pounds in aid deliveries inside occupied areas.

The government wants to counter growing fears that militant jihadists are the only force capable of establishing a civilian administration in areas no longer under regime control — and by extension in any future “free Syria”. Among the disasters to have struck rebel-held areas and which its multi-million pound aid package is trying to counter are outbreaks of typhoid, cholera and other diseases in Aleppo, as well as widespread looting…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK Sends Military Aid to Syria Rebels: Hague Aims to Tear Up Arms Embargo as He Claims Chemical Weapons Have Been Used in the Country

Britain will try to tear up the EU arms embargo against Syria next month so weapons can be supplied to rebels in the country, William Hague announced yesterday.

The Foreign Secretary claimed chemical weapons have been used in Syria and said Britain and France want to be able to ‘take urgent action’ in the event of future atrocities.

He announced that Britain will supply 34 vehicles, including five armoured 4x4s, and 20 sets of body armour to those seeking to overthrow dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Mr Hague revealed that he will press the case for an end to the EU arms embargo in talks with foreign counterparts in Istanbul on Saturday…

Critics have warned that arming the rebels will be especially problematic because many opposition groups have been hijacked by Al Qaeda supporters.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Russia is Investing $50 Billion in Its Ambitious Space Program

President Vladimir Putin has announced a space initiative to put a person on Mars, build a moon base, and shoot down any foreign threats.

Putin and other leaders laid out a new timeline like this: Launch from Vostochny in 2015, launch a manned mission by 2018, and by 2030 have the ability to take out threats from other countries through space. Also they want to start a permanent moon base.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Afghanistan: Burqa Sales Down in Kabul

Young women, who can now go to school or work, are more likely to reject the garment that covers their bodies from head to toe. Afghan production has also been undermined by cheaper imports from China. Brisk sales continue however in areas where the Taliban presence is still strong.

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Afghanistan’s homegrown burqa industry has seen a sharp drop in demand because of an increase in imports of cheaper Chinese-made burqas and a decline in demand, except in the southern region of the country where it remains high.

In the capital, women, especially the younger ones, who can now go to school or have a job, have stopped wearing the garment that envelops women from head to toe, including the eyes shaded by a net.

Hajji Husain, a veteran burqa maker, told AP that he used to dye between 30 to 40 burqas, but now he only dyes a few garments on a good day.

“The reason is that now more people are going out with bare faces and fewer with burqas, it is out of fashion,” he explained.

The other reason that is undermining Afghan production is the arrival of Chinese imports.

Costing half or even a third of locally produced garments, imported Chinese burqas also come embroidered, which means Afghan seamstresses only have to sew on the cap and netted veil for the garment to be ready.

In the areas where the Taliban presence is still strong, the situation is different. Here, the burqa, seen in the West as a symbol of women’s oppression, continues to be required and sold.

However, for human rights activists, the burqa is not a crucial problem. Much more important, they argue, are issues like domestic violence, forced marriages and a society that continues to deny to women any freedom.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

Keeping Nepal’s Tongue-Piercing Festival Alive for the 5th Time

KATHMANDU, April 16 (Xinhua) — Juju Bhai Baasa, 32, was a bit nervous on Monday when he had to have his tongue pierced in front of a huge crowd of locals and devotees to keep the centuries-old festival of Bode in Bhaktapur in the eastern part of this capital city. The festival dates back to Malla period in the early 17th century. “It was highly scary five years ago, but it’s not that much now. I’m nervous, but it’s manageable,” Juju Bhai told Xinhua before he was dressed up in the traditional attire for the tongue-piercing ritual. Juju Bhai already did it for the last four years but every occasion was an ordeal for him. Just like during the last four times, he had to observe three-day fasting before a priest would pierce his tongue in front of the public…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Tremors Jolt Pakistan, India, Middle East

Tremors were felt across Pakistan, India, Dubai, Sharjah Ajman and other areas. The Met Office told that the intensity stood at 8.0 while the origin was Pakistan-Iran border area.

No loss of life has been reported in any part of Pakistan.

US Geological Survey (UGSS) said the tremor hit at 10:44 GMT at a depth of 15.2 km. The epicenter was in southeast Iran.

It was located 201 km (125 miles) southeast of the Iranian city of Zahedan and 250 km northwest of Turbat in Pakistan.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Rice Imported From China Loaded With Toxic Levels of Lead

Imported rice is heavily contaminated with lead because it’s irrigated with heavily polluted waters This story further supports my warning to avoid foods grown in China unless you know the concentration of metals in those foods. China remains the world’s most polluted agricultural hub, and a wide array of metals are routinely found in samples from China, including cadmium, lead, arsenic and sometimes mercury.

China refuses to enforce environmental regulations in its country, and in some cases the river water used for irrigating crops for export contains industrial waste in the form of heavy metals, solvents and dangerous organic compounds.

This has led to the rise of so-called “cancer villages” across China, where cancer rates are skyrocketing due to chronic exposure to toxic chemicals.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Doveton Mosque: V Convenes Special Hearing Over Permit ‘Blunder’

THE Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has convened a special hearing to determine whether a permit has been wrongly issued for a Doveton mosque. On March 12, Casey Council approved an application by an Afghan group for a mosque in Green Street. Last week, the council’s planning manager Duncan Turner informed councillors that VCAT had advised there were no appeals within the 21-day appeal period and therefore the permit had been granted. But Pastor Danny Nalliah from Catch The Fire Ministries said his church lodged an application against the council’s decision with VCAT on March 28 and received confirmation from VCAT the same day…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Ahmadinejad in West Africa

While on a tour of West Africa, set to include unspecified bilateral deals, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been defending his country’s controversial nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran has no use for an atomic bomb. He was speaking during a visit to Benin on Monday, the first stop on a three-nation West Africa tour, and called nuclear energy a “divine gift” providing affordable electricity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Muslims, Christians Invoke Liberia’s Future

Muslims and Christians Friday converged at their various places of worship in observance of the National Fast and Prayer Day for the successful rebuilding of the country. Muslim leaders at various prayer centers converted their regular Friday Prayer sermon to a national prayer service entreating the Almighty Allah to bless the nation…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Nigeria: Boko Haram — Northern Rulers Presents Paper on How to End Insurgency

Traditional rulers from the northern part of the country met yesterday night with President Goodluck Jonathan behind closed doors where they presented a position paper on how they believed the activities of Boko Haram can be checked.

The northern leaders were led to the meeting by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III and included the Shehu of Borno, Tor TiV, Gbong Gwom Jos, Emir of Bauchi, Emir of Lafia and Ona of Abaji. Others include, Emir of Gwandu, Lamido of Adamawa, Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Emir of Borgu, Etsu Nupe, Aku Uka of Wukari, Shehu of Borno, Emir of Fika, and Emir of Bauchi…

[Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najeem Hussein Adamu] “In a nutshell, what we sought to do is to give our views having regards to our background, our knowledge of various societies, various communities what we think should be done to resolve the crisis and ensure sustainable peace in the country. The issue of amnesty came up, it formed part of the strategies we are recommending but of course it has to be done properly with better appreciation of the situation rather than haphazardly which people think should be the case. We believe that we have to give very serious consideration and make sure that whatever we do is sustainable” he said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Nigeria: Dokubo Dismisses Mend’s Mosque Attack Threats

Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo yesterday dismissed Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) threats on attacking mosques and Islamic institutions. Dokubo, who addressed journalists yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, was reacting to the threat by the MEND to attack mosques and Islamic institutions. Dokubo, who arrived the State House shortly after the federal government’s delegation to 2012 hajj of which he is a member had submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan, warned against throwing the nation into a religious crisis…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Nigeria: Don’t Dare US, Northern Youths Warn Mend

Angered by last Sunday’s threat by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, to commence bombing of mosques and killing of Muslim clerics as from May 31 over the terror campaign and killing of Christians by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, northern youths yesterday, promised to deal a deadly blow on the militants should they carry out its devilish plan even as former agitators and clerics in the Niger-Delta differed on planned attack…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Nigeria: Stand Against Terrorism, Aregbesola Tasks Muslims

The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has called on every Muslim in the country to stand against the belief that Islam is a religion of terror, massive alienation and mindless killings. This was the message of the governor to the Islamic organisation Jama’atu Izalatil-Bid’ah wa Iqamatis — Sunnah (Organisation Eradicating Propagating Sunnah), which paid him a courtesy visit in Osogbo on Monday.

Aregbesola said Islam by its nature rejects force, compulsion and violence that some characters are now impugning to it by their behaviours. The governor said the mode of attracting people to one’s faith is by good deed, good character, love, accommodation rather than by violence and compulsion…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Somalia: Al-Shebaab to Launch More Attacks After Mogadishu Court Assault, Spokesperson

Mogadishu — Somalia’s al-Shebab rebels have threatened further attacks after coordinated bombings and shootings that killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu at the weekend. Shebab spokesperson Ali Mohamud Rageh told the media that their fighters will double the number of attacks against the government…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Somalia: Wave of Suicide Attacks Leaves 29 Dead in Mogadishu

A series of suicide and bomb attacks has ripped through Mogadishu, two of them hitting a court complex and another striking a target near the Somalia capital’s international airport.

As many as 29 victims were reported to have been killed in the blasts, which were blamed on al-Qaeda’s army in Somalia.

“Al-Shabaab suicide bombers have attacked the court and regional headquarters area,” said Abdirahman Mohamed, an intelligence officer in Mogadishu. “At least one of them detonated himself, leaving several dead.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Argentina Slams British Military Drills in Malvinas

BUENOS AIRES, April 15 (Xinhua) — The Argentinean government Monday denounced Britain for holding military exercises in the disputed Malvinas Islands, known to the British as the Falklands. “Argentina’s Foreign Ministry has found out that the British government plans to carry out new military exercises from April 15 to 26 in occupied Argentinean territory, including missile launches from the Malvinas Islands,” an official statement said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Trinidad and Tobago: Hinn: I Will Preach to Muslims

A tsunami of praise, worship, Holy Ghost anointing and healing swept through the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo at the weekend, as American televangelist Pastor Benny Hinn’s miracle crusade attracted thousands. Hinn was a special guest of Woodbrook Pentecostal pastors Osbert and Angela Williams. They were joined by other leaders from the Full Gospel hierarchy like Oswald James and broadcaster Margaret Elcock for the weekend event…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

Illegal Immigrant DUI Killer Ruled Incompetent Because of His ‘Unique Cultural Background’

[WARNING: * Disturbing Content *]

A self-confessed illegal immigrant in Milford, Mass., faces up to 15 years if found guilty of vehicular homicide but it’s a big “If.” As it stands right now, Nicolas D. Gauman has been found incompetent to stand trial because he doesn’t speak English and doesn’t understand the American legal system. Critics say Guaman had an accomplice — Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

In August 2011, 34-year-old Ecuadorean Nicolas Guaman, who admits he’s in the country illegally, decided to get behind the wheel of a borrowed 2004 black Ford pick-up truck and go for a drive. The only problem was he was drunk, at nearly three times the legal limit.

Guaman allegedly failed to yield at a stop sign and struck a motorcycle being driven by 23-year-old Matthew J. Denice. Denice was trapped under the wheels and pulled under Guaman’s truck, and Guaman continued to drive, attempting to flee the scene, dragging Denice more than a quarter-mile. Gauman finally ran his truck up on a curb and dislodged Denice’s body… and then backed his truck over it while he was trying to escape.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Julian Brazier: Only Reducing Immigration to Much Lower Levels Than Emigration Can Halt a Social Crisis

Julian Brazier is MP for Canterbury. His pamplet An Overcrowded Land was recently published by Conservative Way Forward.

Before the death of Margaret Thatcher — rightly — overtook the political landscape, the dominant domestic issue was the battle over benefits, especially Housing Benefit. Yet arguing whether or not the tax-payer should be subsidising spare bedrooms for tenants, in a time of austerity, is obscuring the real issue: we face by far the worst housing shortages since World War Two. These are reflected in continuing exceptionally high house prices, typically seven times income (against a multiple of three to four times in past generations). Furthermore, rents are so high that over half of local authorities in England have a median private rent for a two bedroom home that is higher than 35% of median take home pay.

The sad truth is that young people at all economic levels see little prospect of ever enjoying the standards of housing their parents do. This is a national tragedy and it stems largely from the open door immigration policy of the last Labour government. Under Labour, on paper, 2.2 million more people settled in this country than left it — but, in reality, with the end of embarkation controls, the figure was almost certainly much higher. In just five years, the Government Actuary’s Department has raised its population estimate for 2051 from 69 million to a staggering 79 million…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

The 100 Million Immigrant Amnesty Equation

Our U.S. Congress leads this nation over a demographic cliff, an environmental inferno, into standard of living cave and a quality of life purgatory. The approaching amnesty for 20 million illegal alien migrants working and residing in our country in violation of our laws — ultimately ends up becoming 100 million more immigrants added to America.

Astoundingly, no one in Congress sees the final folly, the eventual outcome, the end result and the catastrophic final curtain. Why don’t they see what I see? Why don’t the American people understand it like I recognize it? How can so many Americans be so completely out of touch with the final result of an amnesty?

Once that many people reach America’s shores, everything changes for every American citizen both immigrant and native-born alike. Why am I frightened out of my wits at the prospects and final outcome of this looming amnesty? Answer: I witnessed firsthand the poverty, illiteracy and cultural chaos already prominent that decays countries like the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Holland and Belgium with their own overloads of immigrants. I witnessed the disenfranchisement of immigrants and native-born alike. Nothing ever quite fits for those countries as the wrestle with incompatible cultures, religions and entrenched poverty.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Christian Printer Threatened With Lawsuit Over Refusal to Publish Profane Homosexual Magazine

County Armagh, Ireland — A Christian printer in Ireland is facing the threat of a lawsuit after declining to publish a profane homosexual magazine.

Reports state that Nick Williamson of Bluefire Media in County Armagh was approached last month by editor Danny Toney of MyGayZine for a printing quote. However, as the two communicated via email, and Williamson realized that the publication was to promote homosexuality and was timed to release with the Belfast pride parade in June, he would not provide the quote.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Family Groups Warn of Dire Consequences if High Court Affirms Homosexual ‘Marriage’

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexual “marriage” to some degree, it is believed that the decision will have a direct affect on commerce in the nation.

“The business world — the small businesses: wedding cake bakeries, photographers and bed and breakfasts [will be] … forced to accommodate behaviors with which they disagree,” LaBarbera said.

However, he asserted that not only will marriage-themed businesses be forced to accommodate homosexuality, but every type of business across America…

A Kentucky t-shirt screening company was also recently punished for declining to complete a work order involving t-shirts that were to be worn at a local homosexual pride parade. One trolley driver in Maryland got out of the marriage business altogether because of his refusal to violate his faith. Bakers and florists are also appearing in the news as being investigated by the government for declining to provide services for homosexual “weddings.”

Crampton said that not only will more of these types of situations pop up, but the government may become more active in cracking down on violations.

“Not only will they not tolerate religious folks saying no to homosexuals, not only will they find or run out of business or force to bow the knee the little businesses [who refuse to accommodate the homosexual lifestyle, they will seek them out and target them,” he stated…

The men also noted that another aspect of society that will be affected by the ruling will be the educational system.

“In our public schools, there will be a requirement — with no exceptions — that same-sex relationships will be not only taught as equal, but in many respects superior to opposite sex relationships,” Crampton said, noting that children will be indoctrinated to accept the homosexual lifestyle.

As previously reported, the Chicago Board of Education recently approved a new sex ed policy, that mandates that beginning in kindergarten, children will learn about homosexuality and gender identity. Additionally, a couple in Massachusetts produced a thirty-second advertisement last year that warned that schools will be affected by the legalization of same-sex “marriage” as their young son brought home a book that showed two men kissing on the cover.

“If [it] is approved, same-sex marriage could be taught in local … schools, just as it was in Massachusetts,” the commercial warned. “Don’t make the same mistake and think that gay marriage won’t affect you.”

LaBarbera advised that not only will the children be affected, but their teachers as well.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Grand Jury: Abortionist Murdered ‘Hundreds’ Of Children; M.E.: Adam Lanza Murdered 20

[WARNING: ** DISTURBING CONTENT **]

[Editor’s note: This story contains graphic photos of babies allegedly murdered in the abortion clinic of Dr. Kermit Gosnell.]

(CNSNews.com) — Two recent cases of mass murder — one gaining a great deal of national media attention, the other very little — both specifically targeted children.

In Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 20-year-old Adam Lanza broke into the Sandy Hook Elementary School and, according to the Connecticut Medical Examiner, murdered 20 6- and 7-year-old first graders. He also murdered six adult staff at the school and shot his mother four times in the head as she slept in the home he shared with her.

In Philadelphia, Pa., over a course of decades, according to a Pennsylvania grand jury, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, a wealthy abortionist who specialized in terminating the lives of babies late in pregnancy, murdered “hundreds” of born babies by either suctioning out their brains or slitting the backs of their necks to sever their spinal cords.

Gosnell also deputized assistants to kill born babies for him.

[WARNING: ** DISTURBING CONTENT **]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Homosexual Activist to Present ‘Lion of Judah’ Painting to Obama During ‘Easter Prayer Breakfast’

Washington, D.C. — The leader of a prominent homosexual activist organization will present a painting representing Jesus Christ to Barack Obama this morning during the president’s annual Easter prayer breakfast.

As the White House extended an invitation to Cindi Love of the group Soulforce to participate in the event, Love says she will present Obama with the painting on behalf of artist Latimer Bowen Ramsey.

Soulforce is a religious organization that promotes homosexuality nationwide. It was founded by Mel White, the former ghost writer for Billy Graham, Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell, who later came out as a homosexual. Soulforce is also behind the youth tour “Equality Ride,” which visits Christian colleges and universities across the country to urge students to become open and accepting of the homosexual lifestyle.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

‘Married’ Homosexuals to Stand Trial After Adopted Children Report Being Raped

[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]

Glastonburg, Connecticut — Two homosexual men will stand trial on allegations that they raped at least two of their adopted children after they withdrew a plea deal under the direction of their attorneys.

George Harasz, 49, and Douglas Wirth, 45, were arrested in November 2011 after two of their nine adopted sons, ages 5 and 15, accused the men of repeatedly raping and abusing them.

Following an investigation, the men were charged with two counts of sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor, and other felony charges. All nine children were subsequently removed from the home.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

UK: Aidan Burley Was Right About the Olympics Opening Ceremony Being ‘Leftie ****’ — and Here’s the Proof

by Toby Young

Aidan Burley, the Conservative MP for Cannock Chase, was widely condemned for describing last year’s Olympic opening ceremony as “Leftie ****” on Twitter, not least by David Cameron who said it was “an idiotic thing to say”. In fact, Burley was right — as this article in yesterday’s Observer proves. Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, who is described at the foot of the article as “the writer of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony”, it is an attack on Margaret Thatcher for being — wait for it — insufficiently British

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]