As part of its dispute with Britain over Gibraltar, the Spanish government has instituted extra border controls at the border with enclave. European Commission President Barroso warned Spain that such actions between EU countries are illegal. In related news, the Royal Navy has sent several ships to Gibraltar as part of Mediterranean maneuvers.
In other news, North Korea has officially abandoned socialism and communism, replacing them with the concept of “Juche revolution”. The country is no longer a “Democratic People’s Republic”, but a de facto monarchy, to be ruled forever by the line descended from its founder Kim Il-sung.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, KP, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Krugman Admits Keynesian “Economics” Is About Empowering the State
In a recent screed posing as a blog post, Paul Krugman lets the cat out of the bag: the essence of Keynesian “economics” is giving the Political Classes more power. He writes:
…the hatred for Keynesian economics has less, I think, to do with the notion that unemployment isn’t a proper subject of policy than about the notion of shifting power over the economy’s destiny away from big business and toward elected officials. (emphasis mine)
In other words, an economy really should be the plaything of the Political Classes, as though they had the brilliance and expertise to make things any better. Furthermore, whenever libertarians speak of things like market processes, people like Krugman throw in the term “big business,” which supposedly means that the two are the same. So, either Krugman is ignorant about what we mean by markets, a price system, and entrepreneurship, or he is patently dishonest. Or both.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Multinational Corporations and the Loss of Sovereignty
Through the 1980s, a global economy was developing, and there was increasing pressure from multinational corporations and their globalist political allies for initiatives such as NAFTA and GATT. Though Herman Daly (formerly a senior economist with the World Bank) and theologian John B. Cobb, Jr., didn’t like the direction NAFTA and GATT were taking, in their 1989 book, FOR THE COMMON GOOD, they wrote: “The World Court needs to be strengthened so that in the future, nations such as the United States cannot ignore its judgments with impunity…If the economy becomes more and more global with economic decisions not controlled by any political body, then World Government in a strong sense will be needed…The transferable birth quota plan (Boulding 1964; Daly 1974; Heer 1975) proposes that scale and distribution of the rights to bear children be determined by the community at large, but that these rights then be traded in the free market.
This plan is based upon the perception that the right to reproduce can no longer be treated as a free good. It must be seen as a scarce good in a full world. As with other scarce goods, reproduction rights must be subject to distribution and allocation…Foremost is the problem of appropriate punishment for those who have children without certificate. The alternatives range…to forced surrender of the child for adoption…The United States should accept the rulings of the World Court and the judgments of the United Nations…This is a vision of a shift of power from the nation-state both upward to regional and global agencies and downward to similar communities. It is a vision that is increasingly gaining acceptance and seems in some ways likely to be realized.”
By 1992, a former Citicorp chairman, Walter Wriston, wrote THE TWILIGHT A SOVEREIGNTY, in which he claimed: “A truly global economy will require…compromises of national sovereignty…There is no escaping the system.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
6 Dead, 28 Wounded Across Chicago Since Friday Night
Violence spread across the gun-controlled city of Chicago since Friday night. Six people were killed and 28 were wounded, including a 7-year-old boy. The boy was shot in the arm and was apparently all right. The most recent fatal shooting was Sunday night.
[See link at URL]
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A promising Australian student, who was on a baseball scholarship in the United States, was allegedly gunned down by a gang of teenagers in what has been described as a ‘senseless attack’.
Chris Lane was returning from a visit to his girlfriend’s in the small town of Duncan in Oklahoma on Friday, when he was shot in the back by three teenagers and left to die in the gutter.
Chief of Duncan Police Department Danny Ford said the baseball fanatic, who was originally from Melbourne, was fired upon ‘for the fun of it’.
According to police investigators, one of the alleged killers had left a chilling message on Facebook prior to the shooting.
It read: ‘Bang. Two drops in two hours.’
The three suspects, aged 15, 16 and 17, have been arrested.
According to Sky News, the 16-year-old allegedly confessed to the killing saying it had been done ‘for the fun of it’.
The three are due to face first degree murder charges, which carry a potential death penalty in Oklahoma.
Chief Ford added:’They wanted to be Billy Bob Badasses’.
[…]
NOTE: Billy Bob?? So the three killers are white boys, right? Oops, not exactly. Two are black, one is white. Prosperous Duncan OK has a 90% white population with approximately 1% black, and a police chief who knows how to keep his job.
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Barack Obama: Basically Dishonest, Incompetent and Corrupt
“It is very sad that our first African-American president will be judged in history as the most inept, corrupt, wasteful, subversive, destructive and divisive president ever. A man twice elected because of the color of his skin rather than the content of his character.” Email sent by Daniel Johns
When historians investigate the rise, failure and fall of Barack Obama, it may uncover a plethora of unpleasant realities that Americans on both sides of the political aisle refused to investigate. Clearly, power brokers awarded him a free pass from personal accountability and responsibility because of his skin color. Obama never showed competence as a business man, or running a company, as a distinguished educator, honored lawyer or success at anything other than rhetoric.
His only job before ascending to the position of U.S. Senator from Illinois: community organizer. Before that, he lived out of the United States in Muslim countries and attended Islamic schools until the age of 11 or so. No one knows. He “earned” sub-par grades in high school and in college at Columbia and Harvard. No one knows where he acquired the money to attend such prestigious and expensive institutions—or how he obtained scholarships or passed entrance tests to merit admission. In fact, no one knows anything of his youth other than he smoked or snorted a lot of drugs like marijuana and cocaine. That’s about the only thing he ever admitted.
[…]
Since his election, more Americans entered into poverty than any time in history. Over 14 million Americans cannot secure a full time job and another 7 million suffer half-time jobs at minimum wage. All the while, an estimated eight million illegal aliens enjoy full time jobs because the president of the United States refuses to enforce employment laws for anyone living in America in violation of immigration laws.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Forced Mass Drugging of US Troops an Underreported Scandal
Soldiers being forced to pop pills by exempt officer class
The mass drugging of US troops is one of the most underreported scandals of the modern era, with soldiers not only being used as guinea pigs in a brave new world of pharmacological experimentation, but also having their rights stripped as a result.
Sgt. Joe Biggs recently joined the Alex Jones Show to describe in shocking details how he witnessed soldiers in Afghanistan displaying careless ignorance of the threat posed by IED’s because the troops were high on Percocet, a prescription painkiller based on oxycodone, a Schedule II narcotic analgesic which is derived from opium.
While US troops are supposedly guarding the poppy fields in Afghanistan (even as opium production continues to hit record highs),increasing numbers of American soldiers are becoming hooked on opiates, some of which are being prescribed to them.
Other drugs like Mefloquine are also causing soldiers to go on killing rampages, such as last year’s incident when Robert Bales shot dead 17 Afghan civilians including nine children. Drug abuse is also a core factor behind the shocking rise in soldiers committing suicide. A full third of all military suicides are attributed to side-effects from medication
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Free Cheese in a Socialist Mousetrap
“There is always free cheese in a mousetrap.” — Retired Marine Colonel Martino
Public Citizen.org, self-described as “advocates for a healthier and more equitable world,” sent a fundraising letter to Democrat voters, claiming that “millionaires who run the largest corporations on Earth want to slash the social insurance programs the rest of us rely on.” By slashing, they are referring to the logical proposal to increase eligibility age for Medicare, to correlate Medicare to income, and to modernize/privatize it.
Who are these “mega-corporations” that apparently want to destroy our healthcare? Public Citizen points out that CEOs of AT&T, Boeing, Dow Chemical, Exxon, Mobil, General Electric, JPMorgan, and Wal-Mart have no idea “what it’s like to worry if you can retire with dignity and security.”
So far, class division and envy rhetoric, blaming the “evil” rich for the world’s problems and social injustice, has worked for progressives because they appeal to the lowest information voters, people who watch “reality” television and take their news information from comedians on the alphabet soup channels, the media machine of the Democrat Party.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
She makes a polarizing pitch that ignores trends in voter turnout
No one thinks racial discrimination has vanished from American life or the human condition. But as for minority voting, Mrs. Clinton is the one who hasn’t been paying attention. In particular, she must have missed the May 2013 Census Bureau study on “The Diversifying Electorate—Voting Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin in 2012 (and Other Recent Elections).”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama administration on Friday asserted a bold and broad power to collect the phone records of millions of Americans in order to search for a nugget of information that might thwart a terrorist attack. In a 22-page “white paper,” the Justice Department for the first time detailed its legal rationale for a massive National Security Agency data collection program that it claimed is both constitutional and subject to federal oversight. The report, which echoes assertions the administration has made to Congress, said the law and subsequent court decisions bestow broad power on the government to seek telephone records “relevant” to investigations of suspected terrorism…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Public School Promotes 5 Pillars of Islam
By Todd Starnes
Parents at a Wichita, Kan. elementary school were shocked to discover a giant wall display inside the building promoting the five pillars of Islam.
The large exhibit was erected before the start of the school year as part of a religion component being taught at Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet School, a school district spokesperson told Fox News.
“The bulletin board that originally caused the concern does represent the 5 Pillars of Islam — in a historical context of their studies,” the spokesperson said.
The district said the photograph of the bulletin board is misleading because it is “without context.”
“There is also a painting of the Last Supper hanging in the school as part of the study of art and the Renaissance period,” the spokesperson said. “A photo take of a bulletin board without context is misleading, and some have taken it out of context without having all the information.”
Nevertheless, the school has removed the Islamic bulletin board until the subject matter is taught later this fall.
School officials said the study of Islam is part of their “Core Knowledge” magnet curriculum.
Students also study Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
“The students study civilizations throughout time, throughout the world, and cover religion with a focus on the history and geography in the development of civilizations,” the spokesperson said.
“The purpose is not to explore the matters of theology, but to understand the place of religion and religious ideas in history,” the spokesperson added. “The Core Knowledge goal is to familiarize, not proselytize; to be descriptive, not prescriptive.”
If in fact, the purpose was not to teach theology, why was the school teaching the five pillars of Islam?
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Study: US Has the Worst Income Inequality of Developed Nations
Total annual income of the top 1 percent income earners in the United States has more than doubled from 9 percent in 1976 to 20 percent in 2011, reports the study published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.
While income of the top 1 percent rose by 135 percent in the United States and United Kingdom from 1980 to 2007, it increased 105 percent in Australia and 76 percent in Canada. In many other developed countries, the levels are close to those in the late 1940s.
By comparison, the income for the 95th to 99th percentile in the United States rose just 3 percentage points, write economists Facundo Alvaredo, Anthony Atkinson, Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez.
Basically, the richer you were, the richer you’ve become.
Other countries have experienced new technologies and globalization but have not seen such large income increases of their wealthiest citizens, they note. Instead, tax policies and treatment of capital income have caused the growing income disparity.
The United States cut the income tax rate for the top 1 percent by 47 percentage points. Countries such as Germany, Spain, or Switzerland, which did not significantly cut tax rates, did not see increases in top 1 percent income shares.
The United Kingdom also cut taxes for its wealthiest, yet the share going to its top 1 percent is not as large as in the United States, the study authors explain.
[…]
NOTE: Chile, Mexico and Turkey are the only countries with more income disparity than the U.S. America’s middle class is disappearing into the black hole created by disastrous, corrupt economic decisions. Stuck on Stupid.
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The American Right to Revolt Against Tyranny: Part C—Founders & John Locke
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? — Patrick Henry
The Founding Fathers were in favor of the right to revolt against tyranny. This is obvious despite widespread current attempts by progressives to suggest armed revolt and the 2nd Amendment would be opposed by the Founders today. But how logical would be the notion that Americans could own guns, but not use them to defend themselves?
Or that Americans could arm to defend their lives and liberties, but only against invaders—not against tyrants? Of course, such a position is transparent nonsense. In fact, the American Revolution itself is the most eloquent testimony illustrating the right to bear arms against government subjugation imaginable.
Consider the definition of Tyranny in Locke’s Second Treatise on Government:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Jew-Hating Dem Behind the ‘Million Muslim March’
A group known as the American Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) has been making headlines with its attempt to organize a “Million Muslim March” on Washington, D.C. on the 12th anniversary of 9/11. Predictably, a statement released by the group explaining the event offers a disturbing welter of demands, anti-Americanism and victimhood:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Time Reporter’s Call to Kill Assange Typical of Political Class
Government Deals with Embarrassing Information By Targeting Whistleblowers … and Journalists
Under both Bush and Obama, when bad government policy leads to bad results, the government manipulates the data … instead of changing policy.
As part of that effort — on the one hand — “reporters” who never criticize the government in more than a superficial fashion are protected and rewarded. And the government has repealed long-standing laws against using propaganda against Americans on U.S. soil. And the government also manipulates social media. More proof here and here.
On the other hand, the government has taken to protecting criminal wrongdoing by attacking whistleblowers … and any journalists who have the nerve to report on the beans spilled by the whistleblowers.
The Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all other presidents combined.
And it goes out of its way to smear whistleblowers, threaten reporters who discuss whistleblower information and harass honest analysts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
TSA to Purchase 3.5 Million Rounds of Ammunition
The Transportation Security Administration is set to purchase 3.5 million .357 SIG caliber bullets, enough for its agents to fire 9,400 rounds a day, every day of the year.
According to a solicitation issued by the agency on August 16, the TSA is looking to buy “3,454,000 rounds of .347 SIG Caliber Training Ammunition”.
Although TSA agents in airports are currently unarmed, last month the TSA announced its plan to hire the use of a firing range within a 20 mile radius of LaGuardia Airport in order to train TSA workers.
The federal agency’s huge bullet buy could signal an expansion of its controversial Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) program, where teams of armed TSA officers patrol railroad stations, bus stations, ferries, car tunnels, ports, subways, truck weigh stations, rest areas, and special events.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Verizon Rewarded for Records Release With $10 Billion Government Contract
Verizon’s willingness to give the federal government unfettered access to its customers’ phone records is paying off handsomely for the telecommunications giant.
Verizon announced on August 16:
The U.S. Department of the Interior has selected Verizon to participate in a $10 billion, 10-year contract to provide cloud and hosting services. This is potentially one of Verizon’s largest federal cloud contracts to date.
Verizon is one of 10 companies that will compete to offer cloud-based storage, secure file transfer, virtual machine, and database, Web, and development and test environment hosting services. The company is also one of four selected to offer SAP application hosting services.
Each of the 10 agreements awarded under the Foundation Cloud Hosting Services contract has a potential maximum value of $1 billion.
Put simply, not only has Verizon not suffered a loss of customers since revelations of its collusion with the National Security Agency’s dragnet surveillance of millions of Americans’ phone records, but now the company is being paid billions for its cooperation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Apple Taxes in Italy Only Three Million Euros
$41.7 billion US earned globally, but Italian earnings low
(ANSA) — Milan, August 14 — Despite earning $41.7 million US in its global operations in 2012, Apple said Wednesday that it lost money in Italy.
And as a result, the global giant’s two subsidiaries in Italy paid just three million euros in taxes in Italy last year.
Apple’s retail stores in Italy reported a pre-tax profit of 11.5 million euros on sales that almost doubled last year to 250 million euros from 127 million euros in 2011.
But costs involved in expanding its Apple retail outlets helped it to write down its taxes.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ataturk Museum Reopens in His Greek Birthplace
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, AUGUST 19 — A museum dedicated to the founder of the modern Turkish state has reopened in Thessaloniki, his native city in northern Greece, following a year’s restoration work as local media reported. Greek and Turkish government officials said the museum, at the house where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born in 1881, would help efforts to strengthen ties between the two historic rivals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Barroso Warns Spain Against ‘Illegal’ Gibraltar Border Tax
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, AUGUST 19 — A tax at the Spanish border with Gibraltar — threatened by current Spanish government — would be “illegal”, European Commission President Jose’ Barroso warned Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy in a telephone conversation on Monday.
Barroso also said Spanish authorities must “respect European Union law” in its dispute with the United Kingdom over the ex-British colony and current protectorate.
The EC president also informed Rajoy of details on the mission of technical observers expected at Spanish controls at the La Verja border crossing with Gibraltar in mid-September.
The EC received consent from the Spanish government for the mission, which is intended to make observations and find solutions.
Barroso also telephoned British Premier David Cameron last Friday in an effort to temper the row between Spain and the UK, which escalated last week after Spanish authorities failed to lift recently introduced border controls.
Britain mulled legal action against Spain over the extra border checks in Gibraltar, which have caused long tailbacks, a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said on last Monday.
Action via European Union courts would be “unprecedented”, the spokesman added.
Spain has said it may take the case, and other longstanding issues including a dispute over waters, to the United Nations.
Madrid said its checks are essential to stop smuggling and it could not relax border controls.
Madrid also said the UK has no right to protest since it is not a signatory to the Schengen Agreement creating a border-free Europe in 1995.
“Our controls are legal and mandatory under Schengen,” a spokesman for Spain’s foreign office explained.
The latest row came after Gibraltar created an artificial reef which Spain says will hurt fishing.
“The Commission expects the two member states to engage in dialogue as two members of the European Union,” EC spokesman Olivier Bailly was quoted as saying in the Spanish press.
The EC also “maintains that it is up to (Spain and the UK) to find a solution for overcoming obstacles,” Bailly added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Can We Build a Real Golem? These Academics Think So
In Jewish and Czech folklore, the golem is an artificial, human-like creature that’s animated by magic. Now some scientists want to try their best to create a real-life version of the golem.
The Beyond Artificial Intelligence conference, to be held at the University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic this November, is calling on researchers to submit papers on how to best create an “Artificial Golem Intelligence.”
Although the official conference subject is Artificial General Intelligence, organizers are happy to explore the relevance for building real-life golems, as seen in the call for papers below.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Writes Anti-Islam Graffiti on Palace of the Popes
Faces seven years prison in France
[…]
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Norway’s Reindeer Police Suspect Herd Murder
Norway’s Reindeer Police suspect foul play after a herd of 24 reindeers was found dead in the mountains of far northern Norway. “The Reindeer Police have been at the scene and have found evidence that suggests that the animals were killed intentionally,” Andreas Haugaasen of the Western Finnmark Police told Finnmark Dagblad.
The Reindeer Police, created in 1949, is a 14-strong branch of the Norwegian Police tasked with protecting Sami reindeer herders.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Breivik’s Mother Told Her Story Before She Died
The mother of Norway terrorist Anders Breivik is to give her side of story for the first time as a book of interviews carried out in secret before her death is published.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Holy See has taken the unprecedented step of releasing the meditation delivered to the cardinal-electors, behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel, immediately before the start of the voting that concluded in the election of Pope Francis. Only the Holy Father could have given permission for the publication of Cardinal Prosper Grech’s meditation. The Cardinal’s hard-hitting meditation includes a warning to the future pope about the schisms being created in the Church by priests:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Al-Qaida Targeting European Railways
Al-Qaida is plotting attacks on Europe’s high-speed rail network, German newspaper Bild reported on Monday, citing intelligence sources. According to Bild, the militant group was possibly targeting trains and tunnels, with the intention to sabotage railway tracks and the electric cabling.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rights Group Blasts Oprah Over Crocodile Bag
After initially gaining sympathy for her alleged snub in a Zurich luxury boutique, billionaire chat show queen Oprah Winfrey is now being blasted by Swiss animal rights groups over her interest in a crocodile leather handbag.
Winfrey suggested she was the victim of racism when a saleswoman refused to show her the bag, priced at 35,000 francs ($37,700), while she was visiting the Swiss city for Tina Turner’s wedding last month.
The American celebrity, whose fortune is estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes magazine, expressed interest in a crocodile bag at the Trois Pommes shop but she said the assistant, who did not recognize her, indicated the bag would be too expensive for her.
The Swiss animal rights group Four Paws (Vier Pfoten) was critical of the fact that Winfrey would want to buy a crocodile bag and called on Trois Pommes to withdraw the item from sale.
“We do not know if Ms. Winfrey actually wanted to buy the bag,” Chantal Häberling, spokeswoman for the group, told the 20 Minuten newspaper.
But she should know that crocodiles suffer for the production of such bags, Häberling said.
“The animals are kept in extremely small enclosures,” she said.
To kill them the animals are beaten with a hammer on the head in some farms and “it sometimes takes two hours before they are dead.”
Animal rights activists are especially curious to know why Winfrey would want to see a crocodile bag given her avowed support for animal rights.
PETA, the world’s largest animal rights group, named Winfrey “person of the year” in 2008 after she spoke out against the wearing of fur.
But the organization has also campaigned against the “heartless millions” made in the fashion industry from the use of exotic animal skins.
Meanwhile, the saleswoman from Trois Pommes who dealt with Winfrey has denied that she showed racism or that she told the star that she could not afford the 35,000-franc bag.
“This is something I would never say to a customer,” she told the SonntagsBlick newspaper.
“Good manners are the alphas and omega of this business.”
The employee said she was only trying the show Winfrey other bags in the same style.
The saleswoman, who has been backed by the head of Trois Pommes luxury chain, Trudie Goetz, said she has not been able to sleep since the controversy blew up late last week.
“I feel like I’m in the middle of a hurricane.”
Goetz has described the incident as a “misunderstanding” but Switzerland Tourism, concerned about the country getting a black eye for racism, issued an apology to Winfrey on Twitter, adding that “this person acted terribly wrong”.
American website Politico reported over the weekend that Winfrey got worldwide attention when she commented on the alleged discrimination she received in Zurich during a TV interview about her new political movie, The Butler.
In addition to promoting her movie, Winfrey is ramping up her political involvement, including hosting a fundraiser for a Democratic Party candidate for the New Jersey Senate contest, the website noted.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: British Warship in Gibraltar, Tension With Madrid
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, AUGUST 19 — British royal navy warship HMS Westminster docked in Gibraltar on Monday, accompanied by two auxiliary ships, while another two military vessels are deployed in front of the Rock of Gibraltar. The visit, part of a long-planned vessel deployment in the Mediterranean, came a day after Spanish fishermen staged a protest off the British territory against a concrete riff placed by authorities in disputed waters.
Spanish fishermen told the media other protests and ‘surprise’ demonstrations are planned after the demo on Sunday against the barrier made of 70 concrete blocks. The concrete reef was placed at the end of July by the government of the main Gibraltarian minister, Fabian Picardo, reportedly to encourage the repopulation of sea-life, in a move slammed by Madrid as damaging the Spanish fishing industry.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Headscarf Protest Against Racist Attacks
Several Swedish politicians and media personalities were among those donning headscarves on Monday to support an anti-islamophobia campaign, called #hijabuppropet.
The campaign was triggered by an assault on a pregnant muslim woman in the Stockholm suburb of Farsta at the weekend.
An unknown attacker approached the woman in a car park, yelling racist abuse, ripping off her hijab (muslim veil) and slamming her head against a car. The woman was knocked unconscious and then hopitalized with concussion.
“In Sweden we brag about being the most equal society in the world,” she adds, “and we still have this problem. It’s embarrassing. The people that are doing this are no better than the clothes police in Afghanistan who force women to put on the hijab, and here they are forcing women to take off the hijab. Just let the women be.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Headscarf Outcry After Pregnant Woman Beaten
A pregnant woman wearing a headscarf was harassed and assaulted in a south Stockholm suburb at the weekend, prompting a call on Monday urging woman to bear headscarves in show of support, regardless of their religious affiliation.
The woman was hospitalized with a concussion late on Friday night after having her head slammed into a car and passing out, she told Sveriges Television (SVT).
“She was wearing a headscarf and she thinks her faith is the reason she was assaulted,” Klas Jensgård of Stockholm’s southern district police told the TT news agency.
No arrests have been made in the attack, which took place shortly before midnight in the south Stockholm suburb of Farsta.
Speaking with Sveriges Radio (SR), a friend of the pregnant woman explained that the victim had her headscarf ripped off during the incident. Several other women have since come forward with their own accounts of being harassed because they wear headscarves.
The incident, which also involved racist taunts, has sparked a call for all women to don headscarves in a show of solidarity with the pregnant woman.
In an opinion piece published in the Aftonbladet newspaper on Sunday, the organizers of the “hijab outcry” (‘hijabuppropet’) urged Justice Minister Beatrice Ask to take measures to “ensure that Swedish Muslim women are guaranteed the right to personal safety and religious freedom, without being subject to verbal and physical attacks”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘The Country We Called Sweden No Longer Exists’
Tax cuts and the sale of the health care system to venture capitalists signify a new, dangerous spirit of egoism that threatens to ruin Sweden’s once cherished welfare state, warns Swedish rapper, actor, and writer Dogge Doggelito.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Plans by police in London not to arrest shoplifters who take goods worth less than £50 have been scrapped after being branded a ‘looters’ charter’ by shopkeepers.
Police in Hammersmith and Fulham — home to the Westfield shopping centre, Britain’s worst shoplifting hotspot — said that the radical scheme would allow them to focus on more serious offences.
Officers told businesses and town hall bosses they should deal with low-level crimes themselves rather than calling 999.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A secret plan to sell confidential medical records to private companies for as little as £1 has been drawn up by officials.
– — From next month, GPs will start sending detailed NHS patient records to a central database for the first time under the new General Practice Extraction Service (GPES).
Yet doctors do not have to tell patients about the project, described by campaigners as an ‘unprecedented threat’ to medical confidentiality.
The records — held for every person registered with a GP — will contain details of medical conditions, as well as ‘identifiable’ information including a patient’s NHS number, postcode and date of birth.
Private firms such as Bupa can then apply to the Health Service to buy and use data from the records for research.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK’s Biggest Child Sex Gang Uncovered as 45 Men Are Arrested Over Abuse of Girls as Young as 13
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Police have arrested 45 men believed to be involved in the biggest child sex ring ever seen in the UK, it emerged today.
The arrests come after a year-long investigation into sex abuse allegations across three towns in West Yorkshire.
Most of the suspects — said to be white and Asian — are in their 20s but some of are said to be middle aged, up to their 60s.
Members of the gang are alleged to have abused four girls — some as young as 13 — over several years.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: At Least Six Killed in Arab-Berber Clashes
At least 30 wounded in tribal violence in desert border town
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, AUGUST 16 — At least six people were killed and 30 were wounded in clashes between Arabs and Tuareg Berbers, authorities in the Algerian border town of Bordj Badji Mokhtar said Friday.
Police arrested at least 40 people after an altercation over a store theft escalated into an armed confrontation between the two rival ethnic groups that engulfed the entire town.
Police in riot gear struggled for hours to quell the violence as people faced off with sticks, knives and crowbars, looting and setting cars on fire. The number of wounded could be higher as many avoided seeking medical care, authorities said. Police in riot gear have been deployed throughout the town to prevent further violence.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Arab States Ready to Replace Cuts to Egypt’s Foreign Aid
(AGI) Jeddah, Aug 19 — According to the government in Riyadh, the Arab states have announced they are ready to replace any possible cuts to Egypt’s foreign aid.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Cairo Cracks Down on Al Jazeera Channel
Offices of the network have been shut down, its reporter was arrested and its license may be revoked
The military interim government in Cairo is cracking down on a key adversary — satellite news network Al Jazeera, which is widely seen as being biased in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Interim Government Bans Vigilante Groups
(AGI) Cairo — Egypt’s interim government banned anti-Morsi “popular committee” vigilantes accused of “illegal acts” on Sunday .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Assiut Bishop Says Christians Paying Highest Price
It’s not only us against Morsi, 33 mln Egyptians wanted resignation
(ANSAmed) — VATICAN CITY — The Coptic-Catholic bishop of Assiut, Kyrillos William Samaan, has told the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that Islamists are taking “revenge” on Christians. “This is absurd, of course. 33 million Egyptians had demanded his resignation. We Christians were not the only ones to demonstrate against Morsi,” Bishop Kyrillos said, commenting on the recent attacks on Christians in Egypt.
He noted that numerous places of worship had been attacked in recent days, and that in the city of Sohag extremists had even raised an Al-Qaeda flag on the Church of Saint George. ACN said that about thirty churches had been attacked recently, with a spike since the violence starting on August 14, and that Assiut is one of the dioceses suffering the most. Islamists have destroyed the Monastery of the Good Shepherd, several Christian shops and the bookshop of the Protestant Bible Society organization, he noted.
However, he noted, many Muslims have stood up for Copts and this serves as a reason for hope.
“This is the true Egypt: Christians and Muslims are united,” Bishop Kyrillos continued.
The Bishop stressed, however, that the climate had changed considerably for Egypt’s Christians since the fall of Morsi. “We feel at home again in Egypt,” Kyrillos explained.
Nevertheless, he added, all Egyptians should raise their voices in support of Christians, and that otherwise they will be the ones to pay the price of democratization.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Police Followed Norms But Islamists Are Violent, Activist
Brutal revence by terrorists, says Ibn Khaldun director Dalia Ziada
(ANSAmed) — ROME — Egyptian police complied with international regulations during the dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies (ICDS) executive director Dalia Ziada told ANSAmed in an email exchange. Ziada attributed the huge death toll and continuing violence to Islamists’ “brutal revenge reaction”, calling the Muslim Brothers ‘terrorists’
The ICDS executive director called the evacuation of the two squares occupied by those calling for a reinstatement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi “inevitable”, noting that her center had conducted a survey of Cairo and Giza inhabitants two weeks ago showing that some 63% supported the clearing out of the squares, and that for “security reasons” the police could not allow the sit-ins to continue.
“We documented 44 torture crimes that the Muslim Brotherhood leaders ordered and their supporters executed” in a single month, she said. “The victims who survived the systematic torture and were able to escape told us that they were tortured because they are supportive of the fall of Morsi.” Ziada went on to say that police had found weapons at the camps after they had been evacuated and had used loudspeakers to “tell the people at the sit-in to leave and they kept doing so for at least one hour. Then, tens of the people at the strike (mostly women) left peacefully through an evacuation path and they were not touched or harmed in any way”. Only after these preliminaries did the security forces begin using tear gas and — after coming under fire from the protestors — did they use bulldozers.
The ICDS executive director attributed the high death toll to the “brutal revenge reaction” by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian authorities were forced to clear the squares occupied by those calling for the reinstatement of ousted president Morsi, “especially after arsenals of weapons and mass graves containing the bodies of people dead for weeks and bearing signs of torture were found in the immense camps,” ANSAmed was told by Egyptian ambassador to Rome, Amr Helmy.
Images of mass graves and corpses found in the Cairo camps of Morsi supporters have gone viral online, as has evidence of torture attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood. A video showing the mass graves is found on the site of the television station El Balad (www.el-balad.com/585622#.Ug378-Dg42k). After 20 corpses were found in an advanced state of decomposition — thus dating back to before the clearing out of the square by security forces the day before yesterday, explained Dalia Ziada — the police ordered that the area in front of the Rabaa mosque be dug up, where they discovered mass graves containing dozens of corpses. On her Facebook page, the activist comments on a video of a charred corpse whose fingers had been cut off found in the same mosque (www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaE7Wl5rsIM).
On the issue of former Egyptian interim Vice President for International Affairs Mohamed ElBaradei’s resignation Wednesday following the crackdown, Ziada remarked that it was unfortunate but not surprising, as since he had entered politics in 2010 he had done “nothing better than tweeting”. “Always when it comes to critical moments he runs away,” she said.
Ziada said that time would be needed before Egypt could regain stability, noting that Al-Azhar, the interim government and the military had “called upon the Muslim Brotherhood several times” to sit down and try to reach a compromise, but that the group had refused to do anything but “continue with violence”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Mubarak Will be Freed Soon, Lawyer Says
(Reuters) — Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president overthrown in an uprising in 2011, will be released from jail soon after a prosecutor cleared him in a corruption case, his lawyer and a judicial source said on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Violence Against Christians and Opponents
Several amateur videos show Islamists clash with police using guns, rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades. Some videos also show summary executions of army and police officers. A nun in Bani Suef (Upper Egypt) tells AP about the brutality of Islamic extremists during the attack on a Catholic school. Last Wednesday, Islamists raped teachers and forced three nuns to parade as war trophies in front of a crowd.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — In the past few days, amateur videos have appeared online showing various attacks and lynchings by members of the Muslim Brotherhood following the clearing of pro-Morsi camps in Cairo and in major Egyptian cities. Such videos show peaceful protesters but also armed men with machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades and guns, killing policemen, burning churches and humiliating nuns.
In one report, a small Egyptian television TV station put together a series of incidents that began last Wednesday. In the video, one can see extremist militants at the Nadah Square camp shooting at police with automatic rifles. Some scenes were made by members of the Brotherhood, and include the execution of some army officers and the lynching of a driver, taken from his car and butchered to death. In one scene, a Christian religious building is set on fire on Wednesday afternoon. Over three days, 58 churches and 162 shops and homes were destroyed.
Evidence for Muslim Brotherhood violence is not only provided by videos but by eyewitness accounts published in Western media.
One of the most dramatic incidents occurred on Wednesday as well, at a school run by Franciscan nuns in Bani Suef (Upper Egypt), when hundreds of extremists stormed the facility where they raped two teachers. Three nuns were also paraded before an Islamist crowd as prisoners of war.
Yesterday Sister Manal, head of the school, gave an interview of over an hour to the Associated Press (AP) in which she described in detail the brutality of the Islamists.
The nun said that she and two others sisters, Abeer and Demiana, were only saved by the intervention of a young Muslim woman, who had taught at the school. With her husband, she convinced the members of the Muslim Brotherhood to let the three nuns go.
During the interview, Sister Manal also complained about the behaviour of the police, which did not show up despite numerous calls for help.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
For Egypt’s Christian Churches, Western Media With Their Lies Help Islamists
In two separate statements, the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic Churches condemn the recent violence and offer their support to the government. They call on Western media to show the true picture of Egypt without fomenting sectarian clashes. Only unity between Christians and Muslims can save the country.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — The Coptic Orthodox and Catholic Churches offer their full support to the police and to the government.
Both condemn media falsifications spread by Western countries, which give space to terrorist and bloodthirsty organisations responsible for attacks against 58 churches and 160 Christian buildings (pictured).
“We request that the international and western media provide a comprehensive account of all events with truth, accuracy, and honesty,” said the statement made on behalf of Tawadros II.
In representation of the Catholic Church, Bishop Isaac Ibrahim, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Catholic Copts, slammed the “those media that promote lies and falsify the truth in order to mislead world public opinion.”
Both communities would like to thank everyone, especially Muslims, who defended Christian churches, homes and shops, even at the cost of their life, from attacks from Islamic extremists.
The two statements follow in full:
Statement of the Catholic Church in Egypt
With pain, but also with hope, the Catholic Church in Egypt is following what our country is experiencing: terrorist attacks, killings and the burning of churches, schools and state institutions. Therefore, out of love for our country and in solidarity with all lovers of Egypt, Christians and Muslims, we are trying to do our best to communicate with friendly organizations around the world to clarify for them the reality of events taking place in our country. We would like to express the following:
- Our free, strong and conscious support for all state institutions, particularly the Armed Forces and the police for all their efforts in protecting our homeland.
- Our appreciation of sincere nations to understand the nature of events while flatly rejecting any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt or to influence its sovereign decisions whatever the direction might be.
- Our thanks to all Egyptian and international media that report the news and events objectively and impartially while condemning those media that promote lies and falsify the truth in order to mislead world public opinion.
- Our thanks to our honorable Muslim compatriots who have stood by our side, as far as they could, in defending our churches and our institutions.
- Lastly, we address the international conscious and all national leaders that they understand and believe that what is happening in Egypt now is not a political struggle between different factions, but a war against terrorism.
- In conclusion, we express our condolences to all families and relatives of the victims. We ask the Lord to heal all the injured.
A Statement from the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt about the situation in Egypt
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt is following closely the unfortunate incidences occurring in our nation and confirms its strong stance with the Egyptian law enforcement, the armed forces, and all civil Egyptian institutions in confronting violent armed organizations and dark malicious forces, both internal and external. The attacks on our government entities and peaceful churches are terrorizing our citizens both Coptic and Muslim. These actions stand against all religions, morality, and humanity.
We value the stance of the friendly and loyal countries who understand the nature of these events. We strongly denounce the fallacies broadcasted by the western media and invite them to review the facts objectively regarding these bloody radical organizations and their affiliates instead of legitimizing them with global support and political protection while they attempt to spread devastation and destruction in our dear land. We request that the international and western media adhere to providing a comprehensive account of all events with truth, accuracy, and honesty.
Our sincere condolences are extended to all the victims and martyrs of duty that gave their lives, and we pray for the recovery of all those injured and afflicted. We persevere in our strong national unity and repulse any attempts to polarize our great nation into a secular conflict. We absolutely reject even partial foreign interference in our internal affairs. As the hand of evil extends to burn, kill and destroy; the Hands of God are nearer to protect, strengthen, and build. We have full faith and confidence in the Divine intervention that will navigate the Egyptian people in this delicate time of our history to a better tomorrow and a brighter future filled with justice, peace, and democracy that the people of the Nile Valley so rightly deserve.
Long live Egypt, free and proud.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Militants Kill 25 Egyptian Policemen in Sinai
Suspected militants on Monday ambushed two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen in Egypt’s northern Sinai, killing 25 of them execution-style and wounding three, Egyptian state television and the Associated Press reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Officials in Egypt Said to Order Release of Mubarak
The judicial authorities in Egypt have ordered the release of former President Hosni Mubarak, who has been detained on a variety of charges since his ouster in 2011, according to state media and security officials on Monday. It remained possible, however, that the authorities would find other ways to keep him in detention.
The development threatened to inject a volatile new element into the standoff between the country’s military and the Islamist supporters of the deposed President Mohamed Morsi as Egypt entered the sixth day of a state of emergency following a bloody crackdown by the military in which hundreds of people have been killed.
It was unclear how Egyptians — particularly those who have welcomed the military action against Mr. Morsi — would respond to the release of a despised autocrat whose downfall united Mr. Mubarak’s secular and Islamist foes. News of the legal maneuvers came at a time of sustained bloodletting.
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Only in Egypt: Muslims Defending Churches, Christians Protecting Mosques!
Cairo, Egypt-After a long stressful day due to increasingly crazy events and ever changing news, I had to quickly return home before curfew, which the government imposed to reduce the chances of Muslim Brotherhood violence in the streets.
As I entered my home, I heard the bells of the nearby church ringing in a strange way. Next came screams and the sound of many gunshots. I t old my children to stay away from the balconies, and got ready to defend my family against any possible attack.
But my curiosity as a journalist kept on pushing me to get out and cover the story despite the risk because I know that journalists are most targeted by the Muslim Brotherhood gangs, even more so than police and army members, because they are present in an unmarked way with no badges or uniforms and work to uncover the facts of the Muslim Brotherhood to the public. The Brotherhood have already killed a dozen journalists and wounded many others.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi King Abdullah Sends Three Field Hospitals to Egypt
(AGI) Jeddah, Aug 18 — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah sent 3 fully equipped field hospitals to Cairo in support of the Egyptian government. The Saudi king has always been hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is instead supported by the preceding Emir of Qatar.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sniper Kills Egyptian Police General in Sinai
(AGI) Cairo, Aug 19 — A sniper has killed an Egyptian police general near El-Arish, not far from where 24 security force agents were killed earlier on Monday, state-owned news agency Mena reported. General Ahmed Galal died on the spot. In El-Arish, an officer was killed when gunmen attacked a bank near the military prosecution offices.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Iconoclast: Hosni Mubarak’s Release From Jail and His Muslim Brotherhood Prophecy
Remember back in February 2011, when the Arab Spring erupted in Tahrir Square and Egyptians were rallying in the millions demanding the removal of Egyptian President and strongman Hosni Mubarak? Mubarak under intense pressure from the Obama White House, Secretary of State Clinton, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff relented and said he wouldn’t run in September 2011 for President in Egypt. The White House demanded that the transition start immediately…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: 64 Journalists Assaulted in July
Concerns cited by Tunis Center for Press Freedom
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, AUGUST 14 — Freedom of the press came under attack in Tunisia during the month of July, when many political protests were held and 64 journalists suffered assault in connection with their work. The Tunis Center for Press Freedom reports that 40 attacks were carried out on male journalists and 14 on female ones. The attacks were on both those working for print publications and those working in the audiovisual sector.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadist Leader to U.S.: ‘Islam is Coming’
During a radio interview Sunday, a representative of al-Qaida in the Gaza Strip sent a message to the United States: “Islam is coming and there is no other choice.” That sentiment was expressed by Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadiya Salafiya in the Gaza Strip, speaking on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s WABC Radio. Jihadiya Salafiya represents al-Qaida in the Gaza Strip. Saqer further stated that after battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the thousands of foreign jihadists currently in Syria could turn their ire on what he called the many other “enemies of Islam,” including Israel and the United States. “Islam is coming and there is no other choice,” he told Klein about America and Europe. “Because we think Islam will come and this is something that no one can prevent,” he stated.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup
Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, the National Security Archive is today posting recently declassified CIA documents on the United States’ role in the controversial operation. American and British involvement in Mosaddeq’s ouster has long been public knowledge, but today’s posting includes what is believed to be the CIA’s first formal acknowledgement that the agency helped to plan and execute the coup.
The explicit reference to the CIA’s role appears in a copy of an internal history, The Battle for Iran, dating from the mid-1970s. The agency released a heavily excised version of the account in 1981 in response to an ACLU lawsuit, but it blacked out all references to TPAJAX, the code name for the U.S.-led operation. Those references appear in the latest release. Additional CIA materials posted today include working files from Kermit Roosevelt, the senior CIA officer on the ground in Iran during the coup. They provide new specifics as well as insights into the intelligence agency’s actions before and after the operation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jordanian Islamists March in Support of Egypt Brotherhood
(ANSAmed) — ROME, AUGUST 16 — Islamists in Jordan protested on Friday against violent crackdown on Egyptian protesters and showed support with embattled Muslim Brotherhood. Several thousands marched from King Hussein mosque in downtown Amman, including top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Protesters chanted slogans against the Egyptian army and expressed anger against Jordan government for supporting the military action against the Islamist in Egypt.
“The massacre of Egypt will only make the Islamists stronger.
They are disolusioned to think by killing hundreds they will win,” said Hamam Saeed, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood as he marched among protesters.
Jordan security forces was present in the area but remained at distance. Several hundreds of independents and leftist activists also marched in the Jordanian capital.
King Abdullah was the first Arab leader to visit Egypt after the army brought down former president Mohammad Mursi, in a clear support to the army. His stand echoes that of gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, Emirates and Kuwait, which sent billions of dollars in the hours after bringing down Mursi in show of support.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Army: Key Region Near Latakia Re-Conquered
Rebels had launched offensive on Assad feud start of August
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — The Syrian army has regained full control of a key region conquered by rebels in an offensive launched at the beginning of August in the province of Latakia, a stronghold of the Assad family, military sources were quoted as saying Monday by the Sana news agency. ‘Armed force units gained full control of Mount Nabi Ashia and the areas nearby’, said the source, adding that troops killed ‘dozens of terrorists’ in the operation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Moscow Mayoral Candidate: Russia to Defeat Antichrist
Adding to a growing pile of Russian electoral oddities, a Moscow mayoral hopeful tackled apocalyptical topics in an interview this week, saying that he expected Russia to lead the world in the victory against the Antichrist. “I can say as a believer that I believe in the Apocalypse from the point of view of faith. And I think we must prepare,” Mikhail Degtyarev of the Liberal Democratic Party said, Lenta.ru reported Friday. “I believe that we’ll defeat the Antichrist — I’m sure of it — and that Russia will lead the fight against the Antichrist,” said Degtyarev, who is deputy head of the science and technology committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Meteor Explosion’s Dust Cloud Lingered in Atmosphere for Months
When a meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February, pieces of the bus-sized space rock hit the ground while its detonation shattered windows, set off car alarms and injured more than 1,000 people.
Masked in the chaos, however, was an enormous plume of dust that the Russian meteor left behind in Earth’s atmosphere. This cloud, which had hundreds of tons of material in it, was still lingering three months after the Feb. 15 explosion, a new study has found. Scientists created a video of the Russian meteor explosion’s dust cloud to illustrate the phenomenon.
“Thirty years ago, we could only state that the plume was embedded in the stratospheric jet stream,” Paul Newman, chief scientist for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s atmospheric science lab, said in a statement. “Today, our models allow us to precisely trace the bolide and understand its evolution as it moves around the globe.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India’s Transgenic Monsanto Cotton Fields Fail
Ever since Monsanto introduced genetically modified (GM) cotton in India in 2002, the company has been hounded by a string of controversies. Over a decade later, there is still no consensus in the country on BT cotton, and more broadly on GM crops as a whole. Cotton is still the only GM crop in the country, and it’s so pervasive that nearly 90% of all cotton produced in India is genetically modified.
For Monsanto though, the troubles are far from over. The company’s seeds have been banned in one Indian state, with anti-GM activists demanding a larger ban. Reports have linked BT cotton to the suicide of over 10,000 farmers in India’s cotton belt.
[…]
See 15 minute video with maps at URL.
[NOTE: This report is from May 2013. New chorus, same refrain: “When them cotton balls get rotten/You can’t pick very much cotton…” Especially if you’re having to step over the farmers’ dead bodies.]
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Fukushima Apocalypse: Years of ‘Duct Tape Fixes’ Could Result in ‘Millions of Deaths’
Even the tiniest mistake during an operation to extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan could lead to a series of cascading failures with an apocalyptic outcome, fallout researcher Christina Consolo told RT.
Fukushima operator TEPCO wants to extract 400 tons worth of spent fuel rods stored in a pool at the plant’s damaged Reactor No. 4. The removal would have to be done manually from the top store of the damaged building in the radiation-contaminated environment.
In the worst-case scenario, a mishandled rod may go critical, resulting in an above-ground meltdown releasing radioactive fallout with no way to stop it, said Consolo, who is the founder and host of Nuked Radio. But leaving the things as they are is not an option, because statistical risk of a similarly bad outcome increases every day, she said.
RT: How serious is the fuel rod situation compared to the danger of contaminated water build-up which we already know about?
[…]
As a comparison: Chernobyl was one reactor, in a rural area, a quarter of the size of one of the reactors at Fukushima. There was no ‘spent fuel pool’ to worry about. Chernobyl was treated in-situ…meaning everything was pretty much left where it was while the effort to contain it was made (and very expeditiously I might add) not only above ground, but below ground.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea: From Republic to Monarchy, Pyongyang ‘Will be Governed Only by Kim’
North Korea’s Parliament passes a constitutional amendment that identifies the country’s government with the ruling family, attacks the “bourgeois who traffic in foreign currency” and eliminates the concepts of socialism and communism, replacing them with the delusional “Juche revolution.”
Pyongyang (AsiaNews) — North Korea and the Workers’ Party “will be forever kept alive only thanks to the Baekdu bloodline.” This is the fundamental concept of the constitutional amendment approved by the North Korean Parliament, which has established the end of the concept of “People’s Democratic Republic” to adopt that of the hereditary monarchy. The revision overturns the 10 “fundamental principles” that are the basis of the Workers Party, the only political body in the country.
The “Baekdu bloodline” is a direct reference to its namesake mountain, sacred to Koreans, where according to legend the Korean was born people during the period and the first kingdom of Gojoseon in 2333 BC. Communist propaganda has made it the cradle of the Revolution, according to the national historiography, it is from here that Kim Il-sung (the founder and father of the country) would have organized the anti-Japanese resistance. It was also here that Kim Jong-il, his son, was said to have been born, when it was actually in Russia.
The revision of the principles is not limited to changing the national status, but attacks “the bourgeois who traffic in foreign currency” and eliminates the concepts of socialism and communism, which are replaced in an official manner by the sole dogma of “Juche revolution.” The latter is the sum of the thoughts of Kim Il-sung, a mixture of economic autarky (which eventually proved disastrous for the country) and exasperated militarism.
A Catholic source who operates on the border told AsiaNews: “This is a real ideological boundary. With this revision the government makes it clear that the end of the regime is unthinkable as long as there are direct descendants of Il-sung to put on throne. Moreover it excludes the possibility of a military coup or an internal revolution. Henceforth North Korea is identified entirely with the Kim family. “
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Dies in Congo Prison
Tjostolv Moland, one of two Norwegian men imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo on murder, espionage and conspiracy charges was found dead in his cell on Sunday, Congolese and Norwegian authorities said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As she languishes in a police cell in Peru after being caught with cocaine worth £1.5million, Melissa Reid has been telling the world that she only become a drugs mule after being forced at gunpoint.
But today The Mail On Sunday can reveal that she was regularly partying in Ibiza in the weeks before her arrest with a convicted criminal who lost an eye in a gangland feud.
Facebook pictures show Melissa, 20, smiling happily as she poses with heavily tattooed Shane Knowles, 37, and other friends on the hedonistic Spanish holiday island.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
2000 Syrian Refugees to be Transferred to US From Jordan
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, JORDAN, AUGUST 19 — Jordan and the UN are in talks to transfer 2000 Syrian refugees to the United States as part of resettlement programme to ease the burden on host countries, UN officials said today.
According to Andrew Harper, representative of UN agency for refugees, an increasing number of western countries are showing interest in hosting Syrian refugees including Canada, Australia and some European governments, he said.
“UNHCR is in talks with Jordan in order to determine which cases of Syrian families are most difficult cases to be part of the 2000 refugees heading to the US. It would be the cases of those who can not return to their country,” added Harper.
Last month, Germany announced it was going to accept 5000 Syrian refugees for resettlement in its territories.
The conflict in Syria has driven nearly one million Syrians out of their homes to neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and some Arab countries in north Africa including Egypt.
Harper said he hoped that Syrians would eventually return to their homes after the conflict is resolved.
“We are hoping of a political end to the conflict. The Syrian have their homes and relatives waiting,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Another 77 Migrants Rescued Off Lampedusa
(AGI) Palermo, Aug 19 — Another 77 migrants were rescued from their boat by Coast Guard patrols 40 miles off the coast of Lampedusa. The group included eight women. On Sunday alone, 195 migrants landed on the island and 250 reached Portopalo di Capo Passero, in the province of Syracuse.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Asylum Seeker Protests Anger Many Swiss
The mayor of the tiny Swiss village of Kestenholz glances sadly around the empty asylum centre, his gaze resting on two massive metal bunks crammed with 12 bare mattresses.
Swiss register marked drop in asylum seekers (16 Jul 13)
“I really don’t understand why this wasn’t good enough,” Arno Buergi says, furrowing his brow.
Only two of the 12 male asylum seekers brought to this northwestern village last Friday are still staying at the makeshift centre.
The others left shortly after they were ushered down the hard concrete driveway into the underground military shelter, heading to the train station in the nearby town of Solothurn in protest at living conditions they described as “unworthy of a human being”.
“There’s no air, no windows and 30 people sleeping together . . . that’s not the way it should be,” Turkish Kurd Abdullah Ochalan complained to public Swiss radio RTS before the protesters were cleared out of the train station early Tuesday.
The protest made international headlines, especially as it came just days after revelations that another Swiss town was restricting access to some public spaces for asylum seekers.
The men’s quarters of the Kestenholz centre are cramped and the air is stuffy, but the living room, kitchen and bathroom are spacious and well-equipped.
“I think the accommodation is good,” says Buergi, who took over as mayor just a week before the scandal broke.
Walking around the shelter in a tee shirt, shorts and flipflops, he rests a hand on the flat-screen TV and nods towards the fussball table in the next room.
“The shelter is OK.,” agrees Claudia Haenzi, the head of social affairs in the canton of Solothurn.
“It’s completely new and renovated, so it’s possible to live there.”
The shelter, she says, is only a temporary solution while the village and canton search for more suitable housing.
Human rights activists warn though that Switzerland, which in recent years has faced a spike in refugee numbers, is increasingly using its multitude of military shelters to house asylum seekers for ever longer periods.
Denise Graf of Amnesty International’s Swiss section says she knows of asylum seekers who were holed up for nine months in such shelters, which “stink, there’s no air, no light, and its always noisy.”
But in the idyllic town of Solothurn, many people were outraged by the protest of the asylum seekers — from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey — and Haenzi says police ended the demonstration because they feared the men would be attacked.
“Our system is the only one I know of where people are given an apartment, food and even money if they choose to go back home,” says 50-year-old Maria Lutherbacher.
“Switzerland does too much already,” she says.
“They shouldn’t complain.”
Fabio Jeger, also 50 and who heads a logistics company, agrees.
“I did my Swiss military service for several years, and lived in such buildings,” he says.
“It’s not a first class hotel, but you can live there.”
The asylum seekers should be grateful for what they are given in Switzerland, he says, pointing out that “it’s surely better than the situation that they have at home”.
Others though lament the lack of compassion.
“I think many are too quick to pass a harsh judgement on these people, who most often are really refugees,” says 58-year-old Solothurn local Brigitta Huegin.
“Lots of people here say that if they’re not happy they can just go back to where they came from, but often that is just not possible.”
Matthias Schneeberger, 36, who is waiting for a train home to Bern at the end of his workday in Solothurn, meanwhile, says he understands that people might get upset at the protest.
But it is wrong to compare housing conditions in the countries asylum seekers come from and the lodgings they are offered in Switzerland, which has been spared war and hardship for centuries, he insists.
“When you come here and see all of the wonderful infrastructure we have here,” he says, “it must be difficult to be asked to live (underground).”
Nina Larson/AFP (news@thelocal.ch)
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Minister Warns About Free Movement of People Within EU
The European Union needs to make new rules to combat excesses in the free movement of people, Dutch social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher says in an article in Saturday’s Volkskrant.
The resettlement of so many people from eastern Europe in the west has had a ‘disruptive effect on poor and less well educated people in richer EU countries like the Netherlands and Britain,’ the article, written together with British commentator David Goodhart, states.
Their work and income is being threatened by new arrivals who are used to much lower wages and are not familiar with the welfare state, the Volkskrant article says.
Code Amber
The article sounds a ‘code amber’ alert for the European labour market. ‘Our weakest citizens are in a jobs face-off with more able people from elsewhere,’ the article states.
‘We have to think about how we can protect the position of this vulnerable group without hurting the principles of non-discrimination’. Some 12% of agricultural workers in the Netherlands and 7% of those in business services come from central and eastern Europe, the article states.
Moaning about foreigners is a ‘recognisable reflex’ but the issue needs to be looked at seriously, the article states. ‘Otherwise they will poison the atmosphere and stir up hatred of foreigners.’
Joint issue
Asscher and Goodhart say Brussels has failed to take the negative aspects of the free movement of people seriously and need to put them ‘high on the agenda’.
‘If we want to continue to profit from the benefits brought by the free movement of people, then we have to be prepared to counteract the negative effects — from displacement to exploitation. That is in the interests of all EU citizens,’ the article concludes…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Plans Aegean Islands Campsites
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, AUGUST 9 — Immigrants unlawfully pouring into Greece in hopes of finding asylum or going to other countries will be sheltered in campsites on islands in the Aegean, GreekReporter website writes quoting Greek Minister of Shipping and the Aegean Miltiadis Varvitsiotis as saying.
Talking to the Greek radio station Vima 99,5, the minister said tents and chemical toilets will be set up in the spaces of temporary accommodation.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has authorized ministers to make decisions without consulting Parliament and an order for the release of money for the campsites was expected to be given.
The minister also called the local port services to cooperate with the medical associations, as well as with the local lawyers’ associations.
Greece is being inundated with immigrants because the country is the closest southernmost entry point and government officials said the European Union isn’t doing enough to help. Human rights groups have complained that many immigrants are being kept in detention camps in intolerable conditions and that some vessels carrying them have been pushed back away from the shore by the Coast Guard.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigrant Detention Centre Closed After Destroyed in Revolt
Detainees demolished facility after death of young Moroccan
(ANSA) — Isola Capo Rizzuto, August 19 — An immigrant processing centre in southern Italy was shuttered after immigrants detained there tore it apart in revolt on August 10. The death of a Moroccan immigrant at the identification and expulsion centre in Isola Capo Rizzuto, located in the ball of Italy’s boot, sparked rioting in the centre where 51 immigrants were being held. The inmates demolished the centre’s furnishings and video-surveillance system, as well as gauged deep holes into the walls.
After suppressing the violence, Crotone police determined that the centre was no longer habitable and the immigrants were transferred to other centres in Italy.
The young Moroccan who died was struck by sudden illness.
Preliminary results of an autopsy found he suffered from heart disease. (photo: archive picture of detained immigrants in Italy)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian President Applauds Refugee-Rescue Citizens in Sicily
Locals swam out to help boat of Syrians
(ANSA) — Rome, August 16 — Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday praised residents of Pachino in Sicily who swam out to sea to help Syrian refugees reach the beach safely. “The images aired yesterday by television channels of dozens of swimmers that from the beach pushed out generously to assist refugees coming from Syria, many of which were children, to reach the shore and safety, do Italy proud”, Napolitano said.
This shows how “when faced by tragedy, which is experienced on a daily basis on (stepping-stone island of) Lampedusa and elsewhere with arrivals of those escaping from wars and persecutions, a sense of humanity and solidarity prevails in Italians, stronger than any sense of prejudice of fear”, he added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Law Making Undocumented Immigration a Crime May be Reviewed
Politicians opening to reform, Kyenge says
(ANSA) — Reggio Calabria, August 19 — Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge said that politicians were opening up to the possibility of reforming a law passed during ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s administration to make clandestine immigration a crime.
“I believe this law must be revisited because we need to have an approach that is based on the person,” said Kyenge on the sidelines of an event in Reggio Calabria.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Poles and Romanians Immigrate Most to Denmark
One in five new immigrants in the second quarter of this year came from either Poland or Romania.
In the second quarter of 2013, some 9,160 foreign nationals immigrated to Denmark, of which 1,857, or 20.2 per cent, were from Poland or Romania and almost two thirds of whom were men.
On the other side of the equation, 5,028 Danish nationals returned to Denmark from abroad, giving a total immigration figure of 14,189 — the highest figure for a quarter since statistics on the subject began in 1983 and compared to 12,371 in the second quarter of 2012.
The total number of immigrants and descendants of immigrants in Denmark is now at 606,703, an increase of 21,116 or 3.6 per cent on last year…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. And Mexico Sign Secret Deal to Aid Illegal Aliens in U.S. Workplaces
The Obama administration entered into an agreement with Mexico’s government that it will prevent discrimination against illegal aliens in U.S, workplaces and the U.S. will educate them about their civil rights and minimum wage laws, an “Inside the Beltway” watchdog that investigates and exposes government corruption and criminal activity reported on Tuesday.
The U.S.-Mexico agreement wasn’t signed by President Barack Obama or anyone connected with immigration enforcement or homeland security; it was signed by the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said officials with Judicial Watch, a public-interest organization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Truth Johnny Depp Wants to Hide About the Real-Life Tontos
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
How Comanche Indians butchered babies, roasted enemies alive and would ride 1,000 miles to wipe out one family
S C Gwynne, author of Empire Of The Summer Moon about the rise and fall of the Comanche, says simply: ‘No tribe in the history of the Spanish, French, Mexican, Texan, and American occupations of this land had ever caused so much havoc and death. None was even a close second.’
He refers to the ‘demonic immorality’ of Comanche attacks on white settlers, the way in which torture, killings and gang-rapes were routine. ‘The logic of Comanche raids was straightforward,’ he explains.
‘All the men were killed, and any men who were captured alive were tortured; the captive women were gang raped. Babies were invariably killed.’
Not that you would know this from the new Lone Ranger movie, starring Johnny Depp as the Indian Tonto.
For reasons best know to themselves, the film-makers have changed Tonto’s tribe to Comanche — in the original TV version, he was a member of the comparatively peace-loving Potowatomi tribe.
And yet he and his fellow native Americans are presented in the film as saintly victims of a Old West where it is the white settlers — the men who built America — who represent nothing but exploitation, brutality, environmental destruction and genocide.
Depp has said he wanted to play Tonto in order to portray Native Americans in a more sympathetic light. But the Comanche never showed sympathy themselves.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Video: The New Common Core Obama Math Standard: “3 X 4 = 11”
Earlier this year President Obama detailed his new educational initiatives aimed at “closing America’s school readiness gap.” As with all things Obama, it seems that “readiness” is yet another doublespeak term that suggests exactly the opposite of the traditional definition.
At a recent school meeting in Grayslake, Illinois curriculum director Amanda August discusses the new federally mandated Common Core education standards, which are currently being implemented into school districts across the nation.
Here’s how we’re readying America’s children for a highly competitive globalized marketplace:
But even under the new Common Core… even if they said 3 X 4 was 11, if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer, really in words and in oral explanations, and they showed it in a picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focusing on the how and why.
It’s no matter if a student comes to the conclusion that 3 x 4 = 11. So long as they can explain how they made this erroneous determination they go home with an ‘A’.
Is it any wonder that, as Michael Snyder notes, our high school students are as dumb as rock, failing to answer the most basic of questions? A study conducted by none other than Common Core shows just how far we’ve fallen at America’s pedagogic institutions:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Daniel Greenfield: Tribalism, Post-Tribalism and Counter-Tribalism
Excerpt: The left has shrunk down to a social welfare movement obsessed with perfecting the municipal governments and non-profits that administer cities filled with savages. Its self-image is elitist, but its horizons are hopelessly petty. It reflexively backs absurd identity politics causes because there is nothing else for it to do except embrace its own dissolution.
| — Hat tip: KP | [Return to headlines] |
The Technological Evolution of Nonlethal Weapons
The concept of a weapon that is designed merely to temporarily incapacitate, with little or no lasting injury, is relatively new.
In a way, the development of nonlethal weaponry (NLW) can be seen as an inevitable byproduct of the rise of democracy in the world. In nations ruled by autocracies of one kind or another, the citizenry must be kept in line with ruthless efficiency. Not even the smallest challenges to the established authority structure can be ignored. Critics are hunted down, jailed, tortured, murdered, dumped into mass graves.
Where power is (at least theoretically) vested in the people, on the other hand, dissent is generally tolerated, even encouraged. Killing one’s countrymen, even if they are political opponents, is considered really bad form. There are laws against it. And elected officials hesitate to raise too heavy a hand, lest they alienate constituents, get voted out, and be stripped of their power and all those nice perks of office.
But this doesn’t mean that there is no demand for crowd control. It remains just as much a necessity. Groups of citizens may be allowed to gather and raise their collective voice in protest, but they are not allowed to stage assaults on the people’s representatives.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
@UK: Police Forced to Scrap ‘Barmy’ Plan to Not Arrest Shoplifters Who Take Goods Under £50 After Business Owners Branded it a ‘Looters’ Charter’
Not (all) the usual underclass suspects but the lower end of the entitlement class supplementing the family grocery shop with the occasional shoplifted bag of frozen chips – have observed this subprime looting on several occasions over the last few weeks.
This news feed is now 5 months old. Therefore ALL news items in it are dated.
Why should I remove this particular item? I might as well remove the entire feed, and all the other old feeds. I’m not going to do that, so here it stays.
It’s unfortunate that it distresses you. But ANSA still has it posted as well, and so do a lot of other sites.