The city of Harbin in northwest China experienced its second day of severe toxic smog. The city, which has more than twelve million inhabitants, kept primary schools closed again due to the health hazard, but high schoolers were allowed to return to class.
In other news, Japan registered a trade deficit for the fifteenth month in a row, with the yen dropping by 25% against the dollar.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, KP, Steen, 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.
Are Monetary & Banking Crises Inevitable in the Near Future?
Contrary to a widespread belief, socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe did not collapse because of the clever geostrategic maneuvers of the Reagan Administration. Neither did the East Bloc break up because its leaders were incompetents who put into practice the wrong plans. Particular politicians and policies — East or West — had next to nothing to do with it.
The East Bloc fell apart — and had to fall apart, no matter what anyone did — because of an obscure principle of economics known as “the impossibility of rational economic calculation under bureaucratic central planning”. Socialism failed — and must always fail — because, without prices for goods and services generated by a free market, central planners cannot allocate resources and manpower intelligently. But central planners cannot allow a free market to set prices (otherwise there could be no central planning). In the long run, this self-imposed bureaucratic blindness to the real values of people and things results in monumental waste, the failure of central plans to deliver sound capital investments and advancing standards of living, and finally the collapse of those societies that allow politicians and bureaucrats, rather than free entrepreneurs and workers, to direct the course of economic affairs.
Although this principle had been recognized by other economists for almost a century theretofore, it received systematic exposition in Ludwig von Mises’s seminal treatise, Socialism, first published in the 1920s. So, during the heyday of central planning from the 1920s to the 1980s, no one should have been unaware of the problem. Nonetheless, the political elite and the intelligentsiia ignored it, just about everywhere. In the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, where Stalin and his successors imposed industrial-strength central planning through police-state terrorism and slave labor in the Gulag, the price was higher than in (say) the United States, to which Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to administer only a diluted dose of the same poison. But a price there was, paid as usual by common people.
Economic theory also teaches that any scheme of fiat currency and fractional-reserve central banking is just as inherently flawed, incapable of permanent existence, and inevitably doomed to disaster as all-around, full-blown socialism, because fractional-reserve central banking systematically subverts the free market’s structure of prices through expansion of currency and credit — which results in redistribution of wealth, misallocation of scarce capital, and collapse in either depression or hyperinflation followed by depression. This is no new insight. The problems fractional-reserve banking causes were widely discussed in the 1800s; and the whole subject of political versus free-market money was exhaustively examined by Ludwig von Mises, in his treatise The Theory of Money and Credit, first published in the 1920s. (Probably the best book on this subject now available for the average reader is Murray Rothbard’s The Mystery of Banking.) But, throughout the Western world during the 1900s and even unto the present moment, the political elite, high finance and big business, and their hired intelligentsiia have generally ignored these problems — doubtlessly because irredeemable currency and fractional-reserve central banking have served their short-term interests, and the costs of the system have always been paid by picking the pockets of the common man.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Detroit’s $320 Million Federal Aid Package
Right before the government shutdown, Detroit received a pledge for a $320 million federal “aid package”. The Obama Administration wants to make it perfectly clear: this is not a bailout. That word is too toxic during this time of fiscal instability in Washington. This is relief. A stimulus. It is a hand-up, not a hand-out, and, as the NY Times reports, this will not be the only federal infusion that Detroit receives to get back on its feet.
Some questions immediately come to mind:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Letta Tells EU it Must Deliver Rewards, Not Just Rigor
Sacrifices only acceptable if end can be seen, says premier
(ANSA) — Rome, October 22 — Premier Enrico Letta told the European Union on Tuesday that it had to deliver rewards and the hope that the economic crisis is ending, as well as diktats on financial rigour, ahead of this week’s EU summit in Brussels.
Letta has been lobbying for the EU to put greater emphasis on stoking growth and fighting unemployment since he was sworn in at the helm of a left-right grand-coalition government in April.
Under the emergency technocrat administration of Letta’s predecessor, Mario Monti, Rome adopted EU-mandated austerity policies that helped move Italy out of the centre of the eurozone debt crisis, but deepened the country’s longest recession in over two decades.
“Discipline in public finances is needed, but it’s only socially acceptable if there is a reward, a turning point, an exit (from the crisis), a prospect for the future,” Letta told the Lower House. “The right way to emerge from the crisis is to combine greater responsibility with greater solidarity”. He added that he would seek “political clarification” on delays in the process to set up a banking union for the eurozone.
“The mechanisms must be adopted by April, they must not be put back,” he said. He added that Italy’s efforts to put its financial house in order would put it in a strong position when it takes the duty presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2014.
“We have to be ready, strengthened by the sacrifices made in recent years and proud of our European credentials,” Letta said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Japan: Tokyo Registers 15th Consecutive Trade Deficit
The “Abenomics” have relaunched exports but devalued the yen too. Increase in prices for imports, dominated by energy demand after block on nuclear power plants . Experts, however, are positive : “In the long run it will recover”.
Tokyo ( AsiaNews / Agencies) — For the 15th consecutive month Japan ‘s trade balance showed a deficit of 932 billion yen ( $ 9.5 billion ) : This is an increase of 64 % compared to a year ago. The forecast deficit by economists and experts, however, was at a figure of around 919 billion .
The deficit stems from the aggressive economic measures undertaken by the government of Shinzo Abe nick-named “Abenomics”. While this had given a much needed boost to exports — the main motor of the Japanese economy — it has effectively devalued the national currency which today is down by 25% against the U.S. dollar .. The move has raised sales, up by 11 , 5%, but has affected import prices, which rose by 16.5 %.
According to analysts, imports grew mainly due to increased domestic demand for energy: the Fukushima disaster of 11 March 2011 forced the government to shut down nuclear power plants across the country , pushing the demand — and price — of other forms of energy up.
The prospects are not entirely negative. Last month, the data for the April-June period showed economic expansion of 0.9 %, which, in the long run, may turn into a +3.8% . Martin Schulz, from the Institute research Fujitsu, argues that “in the face of these factors, Japan could record new trade deficits for some time . But if this is accompanied by a recovery in domestic demand then it is a positive factor ..”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Shutdown Specter: US Fumbling Puts China at Risk
The whole world looked on as the United States embarrassed itself for three weeks with its government shutdown. China, the only other superpower, profited from the domestic dispute — but as Washington’s largest creditor, it also has cause for concern.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s calculates the shutdown inflicted $24 billion (€18 billion) in economic damage. But the true damage here is of a political nature, with China, the world’s other superpower, now openly expressing its doubts about the US.
There are many reasons for China’s current self-assuredness, and one of them is embodied by a grand, granite-colored building at 32 Chengfang Street in Beijing. This is the headquarters of China’s central bank, and every month its accounts receive around $3 billion from Washington, in interest on American treasury securities — debt of the world’s largest economy held by its second largest.
The Chinese government is sitting atop a mountain of cash unlike anything seen before. Its foreign currency reserves totalled $3.66 trillion at the end of September, $163 billion more than in June. Two more quarters of such inexorable growth would see that figure nearly reaching the $4 trillion mark.
Around one third of China’s foreign currency reserves — even the People’s Bank of China doesn’t cite an exact figure — are invested in US bonds. That makes China the US’s largest foreign creditor, and that fact poses a problem for Beijing as well.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Global Financial Death Spiral?, Part 7
There is a “contagion” of thought — almost hypnotic — whereby the contagion is so strong “that an individual readily sacrifices his personal interest to the collective interest” to the point where the person “is no longer himself, but has become an automaton who has ceased to be guided by his will.” They exhibit “impulsiveness, irritability, incapacity to reason, the absence of judgment and of the critical spirit [critical thinking], the exaggeration of the sentiments [emotions]…” “They most often have only a very distant relation with the observed fact.” — Psychiatrist Gustave Le Bon; The Group, 1895.
Conservative analysts have known since early in Obama’s first term his progressive Keynesian policy was not working and would not end well for America. However, most Americans were so enamored with the president’s apparent mesmerizing charisma, slick Washington-speak and blame-shifting to President Bush or Republicans, that they never saw through Obama’s glaring duplicity. Incredibly, most Americans happily reelected the one person most responsible for systematically destroying the U.S. economy; and their lives.
That’s beginning to change, as a Gallup poll found a major slide in Obama’s economic approval rating from 42 percent in June, 2013 to 35 percent in August. Sixty-two percent strongly disapproved. Although not quite as bad, a similar drop in approval occurred for his tax and budget deficit approval. That is encouraging, but the raw facts should put his approval rating down near the bottom. The reason why Obama’s poll numbers remain high, however, is because Americans have been educated not to respond to facts, but to emotion. Obama is handsome and he emits a seemingly caring attitude. Although very few jobs have been created, he wants to create more jobs. Emotion is at the heart of progressive ideology. Facts and reality are irrelevant.
[…]
There is another major obstacle that is always getting in progressives’ way to creating their utopian world. Progressive ideology is diametrically opposed to the intent of the U.S. Constitution. There is no way progressives can succeed without destroying the U.S. Constitution. That is why progressives claim that the constitution is outdated and was written for a horse and buggy society. Therefore, they believe it should be a “living” document that changes as societal needs change.
[Comment: Recommended reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Economy Adds 148,000 Jobs, As Unemployment Dips to 7.2%
American employers added 148,000 jobs in September, according to a delayed report released Tuesday by the Labor Department. The pace of growth was somewhat slower than what economists had been expecting.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent the previous month.
Federal Reserve officials and economists are closely watching the report for any signs of weakness. But the numbers may not offer the most current picture of the economy.
| [Return to headlines] |
12 Unspoken Rules for Being a Liberal
There may be no official rule book for being a liberal, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t rules. There are actually quite a few rules liberals go by and the more politically active liberals become, the more rigidly they tend to stick to their own code of behavior. These rules, most of which are unspoken, are passed along culturally on the Left and viciously enforced. Ironically, many liberals could not explain these rules to you and don’t even consciously know they’re following them. So, by reading this article, not only will you gain a better understanding of liberals, you’ll know them better than they know themselves in some ways.
1) You justify your beliefs about yourself by your status as a liberal, not your deeds. The most sexist liberal can think of himself as a feminist while the greediest liberal can think of himself as generous. This is because liberals define themselves as being compassionate, open minded, kind, pro-science and intelligent not based on their actions or achievements, but based on their ideology. This is one of the most psychologically appealing aspects of liberalism because it allows you to be an awful person while still thinking of yourself as better than everyone else.
2) You exempt yourself from your attacks on America: Ever notice that liberals don’t include themselves in their attacks on America? When they say, “This is a racist country,” or “,This is a mean country,” they certainly aren’t referring to themselves or people who hold their views. Even though liberals supported the KKK, slaughtering the Indians, and putting the Japanese in internment camps, when they criticize those things, it’s meant as an attack on everyone else EXCEPT LIBERALS. The only thing a liberal believes he can truly do wrong is to be insufficiently liberal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Are ObamaCare Enrollment Pressures Unconstitutional?
As each day passes, the various facets of Obamacare are getting implemented in order to be fully operational by January 1, 2014. But we are hearing about the difficulties in the implementation caused primarily by either 1) the website fiasco; 2) low number of enrollees; and 3) people wanting to pay the penalties in order to avoid having to pay for intentionally overpriced health “insurance”.
In order to achieve adequate and targeted enrollment in Obamacare those representing the Government have begun to be aggressive. They are choosing to use all methods at their disposal to pressure, cajole, and otherwise push people to “do the right thing” and buy the mandated insurance product. This began in earnest last spring, as the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was given millions at her disposal to dispatch “navigators” and “in-person assisters” to help enroll more Americans into Obamacare. But the very act of doing so may be rendering Obamacare unconstitutional.
It is worthwhile to remember that the only way in which the law of Obamacare was saved from being declared unconstitutional was the that that there is no penalty associated with Obamacare, which would have made it subject to the Commerce Clause. It was ruled to be a “tax” derived from not purchasing the mandated health coverage. In reaching his conclusion, Justice Roberts accepted the Administration’s argued position that there is absolutely no negative interference whatsoever on anyone opting to pay the “tax” rather than buy the product.
Therefore, any attempt by the administration or any of the implementing bodies to pressure, threaten or even imply some sort of wrongdoing by those choosing to not buy insurance would be clearly unconstitutional.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa, Gets a New Name, A New Focus
The Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa, is changing with the times.
The 30-year-old institution is now known as the Museum of Danish America.
Board members approved the name in recognition of declining immigration from Denmark and the need to expand the museum’s focus, said John Mark Nielsen, executive director.
“We recognize that the immigrant experience is changing,” he said.
Nielsen said many supporters of the museum had come to feel that the old name placed too much emphasis on the immigrant generation and was not inclusive enough for the future.
The museum devotes gallery space to exhibiting contemporary Danish and Danish-American artists on a rotating basis. It has revamped its core exhibition to include stories such as the boat lift of Danish Jews during World War II and the controversy over a Danish newspaper’s 2005 cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This year’s featured exhibit on Danish Modern furniture and household design underscores the expanded vision to include more recent tales of Danish culture, said curator Tova Brandt.
Nielsen said the name change was not done lightly.
“We are not just a museum that tells the story of immigrants, although this will always be the genesis of our narrative,” he said. “We are not just a museum focusing on Danish-Americans. We want to embrace those Danes living and working in our country, and we want to include those Americans who, for whatever reason, have become fascinated by Danish culture and its expression in the United States.”
The new name was ratified at a recent board meeting in Elk Horn, where the museum is situated on 30 acres of restored prairie in the heart of the nation’s largest rural settlement of Danes.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Is Healthcare.gov a Smoke Screen for CGI Gun Registry Built in Canada?
Look out Americans! Obama may be giving the Canadian company behind healthcare.gov’s glitch-ridden website a pass for reasons other than you may think. CGI is famous in the U.S. as ObamaCare website builders, and infamous in Canada as the company that built the $2.7 billion plus busted gun registry.
Make that the $2.7 billion plus Canadian LIBERAL Government gun registry for which the Canadian taxpayer is still paying through the nose some 20 years later.
President Barack Obama who threw temper tantrums in getting his way on last week’s government shutdown, is curiously calm when it comes to a $292-plus million website that’s still bogged down by a potential 5 million lines of bad code.
Could it be that the website that doesn’t work is a diversion for something else Obama doesn’t want people thinking about, like a computer driven gun registry?
In 1993, the Liberals passed Bill C-68 (the Firearms Act). Over half of all registered handguns in Canada were prohibited without any evidence provided that these handguns had been misused. Almost overnight, owning a firearm, an ordinary rifle or shotgun in The Land of the Maple Leaf became a criminal offence for those not holding a valid licence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Liberals: Coarse, Crude, Dangerous, Ugly People
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
There’s a lot of talk from pundits on cable news networks about the uncivil tone that’s become the norm in the District of Criminals aka Washington, DC.
We hear the worn out “Passions run high on both sides” and other blather. We also hear and read the true nature of those who identify themselves as liberals or liberal progressives who belong to and support the Democratic/Communist Party USA, all excused away by each other — expecially Minstry of Propaganda talking heads on cable TV and the Internet:
[…]
The people of this nation have been subjected to toxic propaganda for nearly a half century refined by communists in the USSR and still being implemented by the Communist International around the world, not just here in the U.S. They didn’t go away after the phony, scripted ‘Tear down that wall, Mr. Gorbechev’ nonsense. “Contrary to a widespread belief, socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe did not collapse because of the clever geostrategic maneuvers of the Reagan Administration. Neither did the East Bloc break up because its leaders were incompetents who put into practice the wrong plans. Particular politicians and policies — East or West — had next to nothing to do with it.” Dr. Edwin Vieira, Are Monetary Banking and Crisises Inevitable In the Near Future? (2005)
[…]
But, how? How did this sickness get such a grip on our country? Jeri also wrote Masters of Seduction, a self-published book no “conservative” publishing house would take even though her writing is top notch professional and backed up by footnotes. This is a 20 page summation of the book I encourage people to read. [url]
[Comment: warning: Graphic quotes from leftists.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Soldiers Attempt to Lure 12-Year-Old Girl for Sexual Purposes in Missouri
By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: One of these nice lovers of children is named Mohammed twice so we can only be thankful it was a 12-year-old and not a 6-year-old. “Two men training at Fort Leonard Wood are in custody after deputies say they tried to abduct a 12-year-old girl in Pulaski County Friday afternoon. Mohammed Mahmoud Omar Mefleh, 34, and Antoine Clela, 31, were charged with enticement of a child and harassment.”
| — Hat tip: KP | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim City Councilman Pleased as Candidates Back School Holidays
Proposal Would Add 2 Muslim Holidays To Public School Calendar
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — With both mayoral candidates supporting the addition of two Muslim holidays to the New York City public school calendar, one city councilman may finally get his wish.
As WCBS 880’s Jim Smith reported Sunday, Councilman Robert Jackson (D-7th) is the only Muslim on the City Council. He has been pushing days off in the school calendar for Muslim holidays for years, sponsoring a resolution that passed the City Council unanimously back in 2009.
He has called for adding Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, which honors the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his first-born son Ismail, according to published reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) Locked in a battle with an extremely drug-resistant superbug last year, doctors at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center played one last card. They turned to colistin, as it’s named, an antibiotic that is not a new creation. In fact, it was actually discovered growing in a beaker of fermenting bacteria in Japan in 1949, just a few years after the end of World War II.
What made doctors so desperate that they had to turn to an old drug with dangerous side-effects? (colistin is known to cause kidney damage, the Washington Post reported). A significant lack of new antibiotics from drug manufacturers.
There are so few new antibiotics in the Big Pharma pipeline, despite a global epidemic of superbugs acquired in hospitals that have quickly grown resistant to existing antibiotics, that doctors have had to turn to older, though more dangerous, standbys.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ObamaCare Success Stories That Aren’t
President Obama invited a number of people to stand behind him as he delivered his speech on the state of Obamacare at the White House Monday morning. One of them, Janice Baker, a small business owner from Delaware, introduced the president, and Obama spoke of Baker and the others gathered there as people who have benefited from Obamacare. But after reading the White House-provided descriptions of each of those behind the president, it’s clear the administration was stretching to present people who, beyond supporting Obamacare, have actually gained from it in any tangible way.
For example, a Pennsylvania man named Malik Hassan was in the group, and this is the White House description of his situation, in full: “Malik Hassan works at a restaurant in Philadelphia. Hassan, who does not receive coverage through his employer, is looking forward to enrolling for health coverage this fall. He recently used Healthcare.gov. to process his application and is waiting for the options for potential plans in Philadelphia.”
So, Hassan is employed, not covered, and has not yet succeeded in finding coverage through Obamacare. That is, in the White House’s estimation, an Obamacare success story.
Then there is Nathaniel Hojnacki, who recently finished his schooling. Here is the White House description of his situation, again in full: “Nathaniel Hojnacki recently received his Master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University SAIS and is in an employment situation without benefits. Hojnacki recognizes the importance of coverage and is planning to enroll after he explores his coverage options on the DC exchange.”
So, Hojnacki has a job, does not have coverage, and is planning to explore finding coverage through Obamacare. Another success story.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ObamaCare, Don’t Sign, Don’t Pay the Fine
Recently, there have been many attempts to get a handle on why there is so much public discontent. I think all the reasoning can be boiled down to one idea: Americans feel powerless. Millions of us look at Washington, D.C. and see one thing and one thing only, namely a ruling class that is completely out of touch with ordinary Americans and their concerns.
Fortunately that same ruling class, in their unbridled hubris, has made a critical error. They’ve presented the public with an extraordinary opportunity to give the federal government one of the grander smack downs that any public could give any out-of-control government. And all the American public has to do to give Washington that smack down is…nothing.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Study: Poor Children Are Now the Majority in American Public Schools in South, West
A majority of students in public schools throughout the American South and West are low-income for the first time in at least four decades, according to a new study that details a demographic shift with broad implications for the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Great American Wind Power Fraud
Both wind and solar are unreliable sources of energy and produce so little as to lack any justification for their existence
In early October, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Healthcare, and Entitlements held a hearing on the Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC). The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) was there to argue for an extension of the subsidy. According to lobbying disclosures, in 2012 the AWEA had spent more than $2.4 million to protect the subsidy which was set to expire, but which received a one-year extension as part of the deal struck to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”
Arguing that wind energy is an important element of the mix of energy provided by coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectric facilities, the facts are that in 2012 coal accounted for 37 percent of total generation, natural gas represented 30 percent, and nuclear contributed 19 percent. Wind power accounted for just 1.4 percent of U.S. energy consumption in 2012 and only 3.5 percent of the nation’s electricity generation.
Since the PTC was first enacted two decades ago, it has cost taxpayers $20 billion dollars.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Winning: Yale Study Found Tea Partiers Know More About Science Than Liberals
Liberals just follow the fellow sheep and conform to whatever is “cool”.
Conservatives think for themselves.
The researcher has never even met a tea partier, he only knew what the libs on the TV told him.
A finding in a study on the relationship between science literacy and political ideology surprised the Yale professor behind it: Tea party members know more science than non-tea partiers.
Yale law professor Dan Kahan posted on his blog this week (http://www.culturalcognition.net/blog/2013/10/15/some-data-on-education-religiosity-ideology-and-science-comp.html) that he analyzed the responses of a set of more than 2,000 American adults recruited for another study and found that, on average, people who leaned liberal were more science literate than those who leaned conservative.
However, those who identified as part of the tea party movement were actually better versed in science than those who didn’t, Kahan found. The findings met the conventional threshold of statistical significance, the professor said.
Kahan wrote that not only did the findings surprise him, they embarrassed him.
“I’ve got to confess, though, I found this result surprising. As I pushed the button to run the analysis on my computer, I fully expected I’d be shown a modest negative correlation between identifying with the Tea Party and science comprehension,” Kahan wrote.
“But then again, I don’t know a single person who identifies with the Tea Party,” he continued. “All my impressions come from watching cable tv — & I don’t watch Fox News very often — and reading the ‘paper’ (New York Times daily, plus a variety of politics-focused internet sites like Huffington Post & Politico). I’m a little embarrassed, but mainly I’m just glad that I no longer hold this particular mistaken view.”
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Disbelief at Riot Suspect’s Release
The man whose arrest earlier this month resulted in rioting in the Meulenberg area of the Limburg municipality of Houthalen-Helchteren has been released from custody. Although the Examining Magistrate in charge of investigating the case released the man on Friday, news of the release only emerged on Tuesday morning. The Judicial Authorities in the Limburg city of Hasselt say that the man was released as he has no direct involvement in the rioting.
The socialist Mayor of Houthalen-Helchteren Alain Yzermans told journalists that “I must say that we were speechless when we heard of this decision.” “All the legal procedures have been followed correctly, but the message it sends to the police and the population is incomprehensible. The person that was the trigger for the whole series of events is now free”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Airways Mulls Lawsuit Against Alitalia Aid Package
IAG says ‘flagrant’ case
(ANSA) — Rome, October 22 — “Flagrant” State aid that will flow to Italian flag-bearer Alitalia could be grounds for legal action, the parent company of British Airways said Tuesday.
International Airlines Group (IAG), which includes the airlines Iberia and British Airways, is considering taking legal action over a bailout package for the Italian carrier, according to the group’s chief executive Willie Walsh.
In a statement in London, Walsh said that IAG is considering a legal challenge to the “flagrant State aid”.
Last week IAG warned that it suspected State aid was involved in the bailout package and urged the European Commission to intervene.
Last Friday the EC asked for more information about the Alitalia aid package — particularly, a controversial injection of 75 million euros from Italy’s post office — which was recently approved for the troubled airline.
The EC last week expressed concern it had not been given advance notice of measures approved by major shareholders to keep the airline aloft, in order to confirm these were compatible with EU law.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Left-Wing Activists Guilty of Assault and Data Theft
A long-awaited trial of members of Redox and Antifascist Aktion resulted only in suspended sentences for four of the seven accused
A trial of members of the far-left community at Copenhagen City Court concluded today with guilty verdicts for assault and illegal possession of sensitive information. Four members of the organisation Redox were found guilty of illegally possessing private information obtained as part of their systematic surveillance campaign of members of the far right.
Three were given 60-day suspended sentences while the fourth, who was also found guilty of assault, was given a five-month suspended sentence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Restarts Membership Talks With Turkey After 3-Year Break
The European Union agreed Tuesday to restart membership talks with Turkey next month after a three-year break. EU European Affairs ministers meeting in Luxembourg said the talks would resume on November 5.
The 28-nation bloc had agreed to the resumption in principle in June in order to breathe new life into Ankara’s long-stalled effort to prise open the EU door. But it then postponed the restart in protest over Turkey’s tough crackdown against a wave of anti-government demonstrations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Launches Space Metal 3D Printing Project
The European Space Agency has rolled out a new initiative to refine 3D printing techniques to make space-grade metal parts. The project, called AMAZE, aims to spur innovations that could one day allow astronauts to print their own metal tools aboard the International Space Station or let engineers on the ground to print entire satellites.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Arrests Arnhem Men on Their Way to Syria
Two men from the Dutch city of Arnhem were arrested in Germany in August on suspicion of travelling to Syria to fight in the civil war, the Dutch public prosecutor confirmed on Tuesday.
The confirmation came after a report in tv news programme Nieuwsuur on Monday evening. Around 100 Dutch nationals are thought to be serving with rebel groups in Syria.
According to Nieuwsuur, the two men, aged 21 and 26, were arrested on the request of Dutch authorities. They have yet to be extradited to the Netherlands, news agency ANP reports.
The men were arrested in Kleef in a car stocked with military clothing, cash, iPhones and sim-cards, Nieuwsuur said. One man is reported to have an older brother already in Syria.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maradona Slammed for Obscene TV Gesture at Tax Man
Presenter ‘worse’ says PdL whip
(ANSA) — Rome, October 21 — Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona was slammed Monday for a making an obscene gesture against the Italian tax man on a top-rated public TV show here.
The ex-Napoli and Argentina legend made the classic Italian ‘umbrella’ sign — the equivalent of a British V-sign or America’s middle-finger ‘flipping the bird’ — at revenue agency Equitalia on Sunday-night talk show Che Tempo Che Fa after he was handed a 39-million-euro bill for unpaid taxes last week.
Equitalia called the episode “absurd” while former minister Renato Brunetta, House whip for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party, said Maradona had been “indecent” but presenter Fabio Fazio “even more so”.
Consumer group Codacons said Fazio and the RAI3 channel should be “punished” and claimed like Brunetta that Fazio had egged Maradona on.
Brunetta had a bust-up with Fazio the previous week about Fazio’s salary, which the PdL whip claimed was too high, prompting many media watchers to say other RAI stars got a lot more.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Pensioner Hands in Purse With 7,000 Euros
‘I wouldn’t have slept at night’, 78-year-old tells police
(ANSA) — Milan, October 22 — A pensioner on Tuesday handed in a purse he found containing 7,000 euros to police near Milan.
“I wouldn’t have slept at night if I’d kept it,” the 78-year-old was reported to have told officers.
The owner, a Swiss woman who dropped it in a supermarket carpark, gave him a 700-euro reward.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Sweep Roma Camps for Stolen Kids Says Northern League
Party urges ‘immediate action’ after Greece ‘mystery girl’ case
(ANSA) — Rome, October 22 — The anti-immigrant Northern League on Tuesday called for immediate sweeps of Italy’s Roma camps to see if there were any stolen children like a young blonde ‘mystery girl’ whose self-styled parents were charged with abduction in central Greece Monday.
“The Northern League has presented an urgent petition to (Interior) Minister Angelino Alfano so that immediate inspections are carried out in all the Roma camps in our country to see if there are situations similar to those recently found in Greece,” said Deputy House Whip Gianluca Buonanno.
Irish police on Tuesday took a young blonde girl from a Roma family in Dublin.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Left-Wing Thugs Have a Free Hand in Denmark
For decades the violent far left has been able to operate with near impunity in Denmark because of its excellent political connections and influence in the established media. The men and women of violence call themselves “antiracists”, “antifascists” or “environmentalists”. In reality they are revolutionary communists bent on the eradication of capitalism, says Kim Møller, Denmark’s leading authority on extreme left organizations and activities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Prosecutors Deny Bomb Caused Gdansk Mosque Blaze
UPDATE — Prosecutors have dismissed earlier reports that a bomb caused the fire last Wednesday that damaged part of a mosque in Gdansk, northern Poland.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Suggest Beer After a Workout
Researchers at Granada University in Spain have found that beer can help the body rehydrate better after a workout than water or Gatorade. Professor Manuel Garzon also claimed the carbonation in beer helps to quench the thirst and that its carbohydrate content can help replace lost calories, The Telegraph reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
David Cameron today condemned Facebook as ‘irresponsible’ after lifting a ban on gruesome videos of people being beheaded by Jihadists.
The Prime Minister said the social network was wrong to secretly change its policy and must justify its actions to parents and users of the site.
The U.S. firm had banned footage of decapitation on its site in May citing concerns that it would cause long-term psychological damage.
But Facebook, which is open to anyone over the age of 13, now claims its users should be able to watch as long as they condemn these videos, not celebrate them.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Cameron said: ‘It’s irresponsible of Facebook to post beheading videos, especially without a warning.
‘They must explain their actions to worried parents.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yes Man: MEP’s Odd Voting Record Raises Suspicion
Dumitru Zamfirescu, a member of the European Parliament, hasn’t voted “no” in the last 541 votes held in the assembly. Colleagues suspect the Romanian nationalist is more interested in collecting attendance bonuses than in what he’s actually voting on.
The EU, after all, pays members of the European Parliament to vote: Along with their basic salary of approximately €8,000 ($11,000) per month, they receive an additional €152 a day simply to attend plenary sessions. Moreover, anyone who takes part in at least 50 percent of the votes receives a further €152 a day. Money for nothing, in some cases.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
F.A.Q. On U.S. Aid to Egypt: Where Does the Money Go, And How is it Spent?
This article has been updated to reflect new developments. It was first published on Jan. 31, 2011.
The Obama administration is reportedly preparing to cut much of the $1.55 billion in annual aid that the U.S. sends to Egypt…
Yes. The State Department said in August that it had put a hold on some of the programs financed by the $250 million in annual economic aid to Egypt, including training programs in the U.S. for Egyptian hospital administrators, teachers and other government workers. The administration is now planning to cut off all economic aid that goes directly to the Egyptian government, U.S. officials told the New York Times on Tuesday, but not aid for education, hospitals and similar activities.
What about the military aid?
We don’t know the details yet, but it appears most of the military aid will be cut off, too. The administration, which delayed a scheduled delivery of four F-16 fighters to Egypt in July, is now planning to halt more deliveries, including helicopters, tanks and fighter jets.
[Comment: Is not the peace agreement with Israel and Egypt ( Anwar Sadat) contingent on the US matching the aid to Israel with the aid to Egypt?]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Miracle and an Outrage in Washington
By Caroline B. Glick
If you happen to be in Washington, DC, between now and January, you can see a piece of Jewish history that was never supposed to see the light of day. The National Archives is now exhibiting restored holy books and communal documents that belonged to the Jewish community of Iraq.
In 1940, the Iraqi Jewish community numbered 137,000 people. Jews made up more than a quarter of the population of Baghdad. A 2,500-year-old community, Iraq had for centuries been a major center of Jewish learning. The Babylonian Talmud was written there.
The yeshivot in Karbala and Baghdad were considered among the greatest in the world.
According to Dhiaa Kasim Kashi, a Shi’ite Muslim interviewed in the 2008 book Iraq’s Last Jews, by the 1930s, the Jews of Iraq had become leaders in every field. “All of Iraq’s famous musicians and composers were Jewish,” he said.
“Jews,” he continued, “were so central to commercial life in Iraq that business across the country used to shut down on Saturdays because it was the Jewish Shabbat. They were the most prominent members of every elite profession — bankers, doctors, lawyers, professors, engineers, etc.”
All of this began to end with the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. Due to rampant Islamic Jew hatred, Arab leaders were drawn to the Nazis. For their part, the Nazis were quick to capitalize on their popularity. The German ambassador to Iraq, Fritz Grobba, cultivated Nazi sympathizers in the Iraqi military and organized a pro-Nazi military coup in April 1941…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar: Supreme Court Upholds 15-Yr Sentence Against Poet
During Arab Spring, Mohammed al-Ajami wrote ‘We are all Tunisia’
(ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 21 — The Qatari Supreme Court has upheld a 15-year sentence against poet Mohammed al-Ajami, 36, his lawyer said Monday.
Calling it a “politically motivated sentence”, defense attorney Néjib al-Naimi said he hoped the emir would “grant clemency”.
Ajami in 2012 was sentenced to life in prison for alleged sedition and insulting Qatar’s rulers in his poetry. His sentence was subsequently reduced to 15 years. At the time, human rights group Amnesty International said the sentence was “an outrageous violation of freedom of expression”. In his 2011 poem ‘Tunisian Jasmine’, Ajami wrote: “We are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Activists Oppose Women Getting Behind the Wheel
In a move aimed at countering the request of three female members of Shoura Council seeking driving rights for women, several women activists in the Kingdom have drafted a letter to be submitted to the Royal Diwan listing out several points on why women should not be allowed to drive in the Kingdom.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria “Fully Collaborating” With Chemical Weapons Mission
(AGI) Damascus, Oct 22 — Syria is “fully collaborating” with the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal, said Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations mission for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
by Robert Ellis
The EU Commission’s progress report deals with a polarized society and a government that takes repressive measures against citizens who assert their democratic rights.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UN: Amnesty Call for Release of Qatari ‘Jasmine’ Poet
Mohammed al-Ajami sentenced to 15 years for ‘seditious’ poem
(ANSAmed) — DOHA, OCTOBER 22 — The United Nations and Amnesty International have called for the release of Qatari poet Mohammed Rashid al-Ajami, whose 15-year sentence for writing an allegedly seditious poem was upheld on appeal yesterday. The country’s Supreme Court upheld the sentence against the author of the poem ‘Tunisian Jasmine’, who was arrested in 2011 on charges of inciting to overthrow the government and insulting the emir of Qatar.
“We are all Tunisia in the face of repressive elites”, said the poem inspired by the Arab Spring, which was sparked by Tunisia’s so-called Jasmine Revolution of January 2011.
Ajami in 2012 was sentenced to life in prison, and his sentence was subsequently reduced to 15 years. In Geneva, United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) spokeswoman Cécile Pouilly called the sentence “disproportionate”.
“We demand that Ajami’s right to freedom of expression be respected, and we demand his immediate release”, she added.
“Sentencing a person to a long period of detention for the contents of a poem is a serious violation of freedom of expression”, Amnesty International Italy spokesman Riccardo Noury told ANSAmed.
“This sentence is a slap in the face in the light of Qatar’s declared appreciation of the arts and its declared support for the protection of human rights at the international level”, Noury added.
Various human rights organizations including Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House and Human Rights Watch have condemned the lack of freedom of expression in Qatar, which is home to the Al Jazeera network and which is to host the football World Cup in 2022.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Brunei Introduces Death by Stoning Under New Islamic Laws
Brunei is to introduce a raft of tough sharia punishments including death by stoning for adulterers and amputation.
The Sultan of Brunei on Tuesday announced the phased introduction of tough Islamic punishments including death by stoning for crimes such as adultery, in the monarchy’s latest step towards conservatism.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah — one of the world’s wealthiest men — said in a speech that a new Sharia Penal Code which has been in the works for years had been gazetted on Tuesday and would “come into force six months hereafter and in phases”.
Based on the details of particular cases, punishments can include stoning to death for adulterers, severing of limbs for theft and flogging for violations ranging from abortion to consumption of alcohol, according to a copy of the code.
“By the grace of Allah, with the coming into effect of this legislation, our duty to Allah is therefore being fulfilled,” said the sultan, now 67 years old.
An all-powerful figure whose family has ruled the languid, oil-rich country of 400,000 for six centuries, the sultan first called in 1996 for the introduction of sharia criminal punishments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Sultanate of Brunei to Introduce Sharia-Based Rules
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s policy of ‘Islamisation’ continues. Within six months, rules such as stoning for adultery and amputation for thieves will come into force. The new Penal Code will apply only to Muslims, but residents fear greater repression.
Bandar Seri Begawan (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Death by stoning for adultery, amputation for thieves, flogging for other crimes such as abortion and alcohol consumption are just some examples of the progressive Islamisation of Brunei, a sultanate located in Southeast Asia. Over the next six months, a new Sharia-based Penal Code will come into force.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (pictured), one of the richest men in the world, made the official announcement this morning, reflecting a more conservative shift in the kingdom. “By the grace of Allah, with the coming into effect of this legislation, our duty to Allah is therefore being fulfilled,” the sultan, 67, said in a speech.
For centuries, the sultan’s family has ruled over this small but oil-rich kingdom of 400,000 people. In power since 1967 when he was 21, the sultan in 1996 called for the introduction of Islamic law and punishments.
Compared to other countries in the region such as Indonesia and Malaysia, a more conservative and fundamentalist form of Islam is already dominant in Brunei. The sale and consumption of alcohol are prohibited in public and the authorities carefully monitor the activities of other religions.
The new Sharia-based Penal Code would apply only to Muslims, but it is unclear whether it would be applied with extreme rigor or more tolerance.
The country has a dual legal system with civil courts based on English law and Shariatic courts enforcing family and inheritance laws.
Brunei is 70 per cent Muslim and ethnically Malay; 15 per cent is made up of non-Muslims of Chinese origin, followed by indigenous peoples and other minority groups.
Despite reassurances that judges would have wide discretion in applying the code, a substantial part of the population is afraid that Sharia will be enforced in a rigid and inflexible way. Yet, this has not been enough to hold back the sultan’s ‘Islamisation’ push for the country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China: Harbin Shuts Schools, Scraps Flights on ‘Hazardous’ Smog
The northeastern Chinese city of Harbin closed schools and grounded flights as air pollution in the municipality that’s home to 12.6 million residents reached “hazardous” levels.
The city, capital of Heilongjiang province, shut kindergartens, primary schools and junior high schools for a second day today, while allowing high school classes to resume, the Harbin Daily reported, citing local authorities. More than 2,000 schools were closed yesterday, according to the newspaper that’s controlled by the city government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: After Westgate, Interpol Chief Ponders ‘Armed Citizenry’
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month’s deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya — and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Noble said there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called “soft targets” are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
250 Land in Siracusa, Woman Gives Birth Onboard
(ANSAmed) — SIRACUSA, OCTOBER 22 — Two coast guard cutters arrived at the Sicilian port of Siracusa on Tuesday with some 250 migrants onboard. The migrants, reportedly Syrian and Egyptian nationals, were rescued on Monday afternoon south-east of Capo Passero by vessels patrolling the area as part of the ‘Mare Nostrum’ surveillance operation following two migrant-wrecks in October in which at least 400 people died.
A woman onboard gave birth to a little girl. Both were transferred to the local Umberto I hospital after their arrival.
Another heavily pregnant woman is also being treated at the hospital Another boat with some 150 migrants on board off Sicily is currently being monitored by a Navy ship. The migrants will be taken to a Sicilian port with Italian vessels.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens: Obama to Push Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill
You should be aware that if you are an American and you are an opponent of amnesty for illegal aliens now living in the United States, you are a demagogue.
Don’t believe me? Well take a look at Obama’s answer to a reporter’s question concerning so-called “immigration reform” which, translated, means: “Amnesty” for illegal aliens hiding (in plain sight) in the US today. Here’s what the Prez said:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Letta Demands Immediate EU Action on Migrant Crisis
Union ‘can’t look on’ when faced with disasters, says premier
(By Paul Virgo) (ANSA) — Rome, October 22 — Premier Enrico Letta on Tuesday demanded action from the European Union to help Italy with its migrant crisis, after two boat disasters that claimed around 400 lives this month. “The European Union has been distracted for too long and it isn’t any more,” Letta told the Lower House. “I hope that immediate acts follow. Italy will work for this”.
Letta added that Italy would not accept “cut-price compromises” at this week’s summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, at which he will raise the issue of the Mediterranean migrant crisis. “Europe, because of its history and its deepest, noblest roots, cannot look on at such tragedies,” Letta said referring to this month’s migrant-boat disasters near to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
“If it does, it dies”.
Letta said his government will demand four commitments from the EU at the summit on Thursday.
They are: acceptance that the situation in Lampedusa is a European problem; immediate measures to implement the Eurosur surveillance programme and beef up the activities of EU border agency Frontex in the southern Mediterranean; a plan of action to manage the migrant crisis; and dialogue with countries on the southern side of the Mediterranean. Lampedusa is the main port of entry into Europe for migrants smuggled by boat from Libya or Tunisia.
Each year, thousands of people make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in often rickety and overcrowded vessels.
Letta said the upcoming summit would be “an opportunity to talk about a different Europe” after many debates in the Italian parliament “in which we have talked about Europe being consumed by its contradictions and having lost its soul”. Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, meanwhile, called for more solidarity from EU member States in dealing with migrants. “The reception of immigrants is a fixed point, but we cannot keep them all because, in a time of crisis, we have to concern ourselves with giving a dignified future to the Italian people,” Alfano saod.
A spokesperson for European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said the content of Letta’s speech “converged with the priorities previously announced by the Commission”. Malmstroem herself, on the other hand, threatened Italy with sanctions if more is not done to improve conditions at the overcrowded Lampedusa migrants’ reception centre.
She said the 30 million euros in additional EU funding Italy recently received should be used to improve conditions on the island’s massively overcrowded holding centre, which has been swamped with migrants who are rescued at sea or wash ashore after fleeing North Africa.
“Italy is making efforts to improve the overall situation,” Malmstroem said in an interview with Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. “I think (those funds) could also be useful to alleviate the conditions in the Lampedusa centre”. The United Nations human rights agency in Italy has blasted deteriorating conditions at the centre, which was severely damaged in a 2011 fire that destroyed part of the facility and reduced its capacity to only 250 people from its original capacity of 850. On Tuesday Letta also told the EU that it had to deliver hope that the economic crisis is ending, as well as diktats on financial rigour. Letta has been lobbying for the EU to put greater emphasis on stoking growth and fighting unemployment since he was sworn in at the helm of a left-right grand-coalition government in April. Under the emergency technocrat administration of Letta’s predecessor, Mario Monti, Rome adopted EU-mandated austerity policies that helped move Italy out of the centre of the eurozone debt crisis, but deepened the country’s longest recession in over two decades. “Discipline in public finances is needed, but it’s only socially acceptable if there is a reward, a turning point, an exit (from the crisis), a prospect for the future,” Letta said.
“The right way to emerge from the crisis is to combine greater responsibility with greater solidarity”. He added that Italy’s efforts to put its financial house in order would put it in a strong position when it takes the duty presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2014.
“We have to be ready, strengthened by the sacrifices made in recent years and proud of our European credentials,” Letta said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Malstroem Could Sanction Italy for Lampedusa Condition
EU commissioner urges government to spend on better migrant care
(ANSA) — Rome, October 22 — Italy is “making efforts” to improve its migration situation, but could still face European sanctions if more isn’t done to improve conditions at the overcrowded Lampedusa migrants’ reception centre, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Immigration Cecilia Malmstroem warned Tuesday. “Italy is making efforts to improve the overall situation,” acknowledged Malmstroem.
But she said it would be well advised to use the 30 million euros it recently received in extra European Union support to improve conditions on the island’s massively overcrowded Imbriacola holding centre, which has been swamped with migrants who are rescued at sea or wash ashore after fleeing North Africa.
Otherwise, Italy could be slapped with charges of failing to meet its obligations towards migrants as set out in European rules, Malmstroem warned during an interview with Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
“I think (those funds) could also be useful to alleviate the conditions in the Lampedusa centre,” said Malmstroem.
A shipwreck near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, in which 366 migrants — mostly Syrians, Somalis and Eritreans — lost their lives on Oct. 3 has focused international attention on the plight of migrants and conditions on Lampedusa.
The EU quickly offered an additional 30 million euros in funding to assist with handling the waves of migrants who continue to arrive in Italy, often on rickety boats.
“It is my firm intention to ensure that all member States effectively implement EU legislation, which provides for dignified conditions and humane shelter for migrants: otherwise, I will not hesitate to have recourse to infringement proceedings,” warned Malmstroem.
She said she understood the pressures facing border countries such as Italy, which is often the first point of arrival for migrants.
But they receive financial help to meet their obligations from the EU, she said.
“At the national level, States have the responsibility to control the borders and rescue boats in distress, fulfilling international law…they receive funds and assistance from the EU to do it,” she said.
The United Nations human rights agency in Italy has blasted deteriorating conditions at the centre, which was severely damaged in a 2011 fire that destroyed part of the facility and reduced its capacity to only 250 people from its original capacity of 850.
Earlier this month, exasperated migrants held at the Lampedusa reception centre protested their conditions, complaining they were being forced to live “like animals”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gay Rights Supporters Wage a Quiet Campaign to Push Republicans to the Middle
The behind-the-scenes effort is being led largely by GOP mega-donor Paul Singer, a hedge fund executive whose son is gay, and former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, who revealed his homosexuality in 2010, long after he had left the GOP leadership.
Singer’s advocacy group, the American Unity Fund, has been quietly prodding Republican lawmakers to take a first step toward backing gay rights by voting for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The measure, which is expected to come to the full Senate for a vote as early as this month, would ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
A lesbian couple have walked free from court despite neglecting their daughter — letting her waste away to little more than two stone.
Doctors found the girl, who was eight years old at the time, was stunted and weighed half the normal amount for a child of her age.
The child’s mother, 40, was looking after the girl in the Looe area of Cornwall with her 25-year-old lover, after separating from the father.
Both women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had attempted to feed up the girl and believed her condition was due to ‘fussy eating’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Newark Mayor Orders Removal of Christian for Objecting to State’s First-Ever Homosexual ‘Marriage’
NEWARK — The mayor of Newark, New Jersey ordered the removal of a Christian man from city hall on Monday for raising an objection in the name of Jesus Christ against one of the first-ever homosexual ‘weddings’ in the state.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Planned Parenthood to Teens: ‘Nothing Bad or Unhealthy’ About Promiscuity
“Big number” of sex partners “says nothing” about you.
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
“Hi kids, Planned Parenthood here, using your parents’ tax dollar to tell you about the joys of sleeping around! Now you may have heard that copulating like amnesiac wildebeests in season is something to be frowned upon. Nothing could be further from the truth! Cheap, loveless sex — wherever you can get it — is a cornerstone of a healthy, happy adolescence. Just be sure to stop by your local Planned Parenthood for condoms! No time for the condoms? We’ll catch you on the flipside. (Remember, there are no adverse mental or physical health effects from abortion.) So get out there and rack ‘em up!
OK, the pitch didn’t exactly go like that, but the effect was the same. Planned Parenthood advertised the message to teens this week via its teen Twitter and Facebook accounts by asking, “Is promiscuity a bad thing?”
As the nation’s largest abortion mill you can guess Planned Parenthood’s answer is, “Nope. Much as you like.” Creating demand is as important to the business model as protecting the absolute right to kill infants up to and including the moment the baby is born (ie. past Planned Parenthood marketing campaigns included strategies such as attempting to erase pro-life/pro-choice terminology.) But the “women’s health” organization brought to bear the weight of indisputable authority in the person of “Alex at Planned Parenthood.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Zwarte Piet is a Throwback to Slavery, Says UN Working Party Chief
The head of the UN’s human rights committee said in an interview with television show EenVandaag that she would object to the character of Zwarte Piet if she lived in the Netherlands.
Verene Shepherd, who is Jamaican, said in the interview that the UN working group cannot understand why ‘people in the Netherlands do not see this is a throwback to slavery and that in the 21st century this practice should stop.’
Last week it emerged the committee is looking into the Sinterklaas celebrations and the role of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) following complaints that it is racist.
Investigation
‘As a black person, if I were living in the Netherlands I would object to it. As a member of the working group, I am obliged to do further investigation,’ Shepherd said.
‘If we find out our information is wrong, we will change our position. But the information we have at the moment from the people of the Netherlands is that it is racist, a throwback to slavery and it should not happen.’
Every year the discussion flares up about the role of Zwarte Piet, played by a white person in black face make-up with a wig, red lips and gold earrings. This year protestors are trying to have the traditional Sinterklaas procession in Amsterdam banned because of the role of Zwarte Piet. This year’s procession is expected to include 500 Zwarte Piets.
Meanwhile, research by opinion pollster Maurice de Hond shows 92% of the Dutch do not associate Zwarte Piet with slavery and 91% oppose any efforts to change his appearance. In Amsterdam, however, 65% oppose efforts to make Zwarte Piet less of a stereotype.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Christian Violence and the Silence of “Moderate” Muslims
Just as attacks occurred two days ago in Egypt, many more have occurred in Philippines, Central Africa, Mali, Nigeria, and Syria in recent months. Most believers in Allah and the Qur’an are peaceful people who only want to live in peace and freedom. However, why is it that these masses of moderates never protest? Why is it that no Muslim association or group has ever been set up to condemn Salafist violence and terrorists who kill themselves to become “martyrs for Islam”?
Milan (AsiaNews) — An Italian man, who recently came back from the Philippines, told me that on the big island of Mindanao, hundreds of extremists came at night from the island’s interior and from smaller islands to attack a suburb of the city of Zamboanga, looting and burning houses and huts. They retreated taking dozens of hostages, leaving behind dead and wounded victims. The Italian said that targeted killings and kidnappings are frequent, but perhaps this is the first time that such a large-scale attack on Christians was carried out. Fear of new attacks has spread and nothing will be as before. The government is bound to send in the army and more fighting, revenge attacks and destruction are to be expected. Those who can have fled to other parts of the country, as people’s lives and the economy are on hold. From Gulf countries, money is being sent to ulemas, mosques and Qur’anic schools to train young people to fight and accept to become “martyrs for Islam” against the Christian state. Salafists want an autonomous region for the Muslim minority on the island of Mindanao, which would join Malaya and Malaysian Borneo to form a single Islamic state.
All this does not make its way into front-page news, and yet there is more. Three days ago, an attack was carried out against a Christian wedding in Giza, in southern Cairo, that left four people dead and 18 wounded according to the latest report.
In Bangladesh, people have always adhered to a moderate form of Islam. At present, foreign missionaries and nuns are still allowed in, but in recent years, a number of Islamist movements and groups have stirred people up. They have called on the government to make the Sharia (Islamic law) the law of the land, holding up the country for days with non-stop strikes and demonstrations that often result in unnecessary violence (travellers and workers are stopped, beaten, stabbed and killed sometimes). The small Christian, Hindu and Buddhist minorities are under pressure and have to endure every day specious sentences, acts of injustice, and violence. As Bangladesh’s upcoming general election draws near, many fear the worse.
The Central African Republic is “one of the most destabilised states in the continent” because of foreign Muslim gangs (from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Sudan) who seized power in the capital Bangui, ousting President Bozizé. As Mondo e Missione (October 2013) reported, “during the offensive by Seleka forces (the ruling Islamists), hospitals and health centres were looted and medical staff fled. The health situation is dramatic. [. . .] Christians are being targeted by Islamic soldiers,” a Protestant clergyman said, “tied, beaten and forced to hand over money to save their life . . . . Seleka rebels have ravaged and plundered places of worship, killing and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee, targeting especially Christians.” In four dioceses in Central Africa, at least half of all Church assets have been heavily looted, destroyed or taken away. “Everywhere, people are leaving,” Mgr Juan José Aguirre, bishop of Bangassou, said. “Civilians are killed and girls raped. They stole everything they could in the dioceses: cars, motorcycles, even refrigerators, television sets, blankets. They destroyed everything: from educational centres to children’s facilities.” And “In Bohong, foreign Seleka soldiers did not spare a single hut belonging to non-Muslims residents,” a report issued by the Diocese of Bohong said. “Throughout the city, except on the Muslim side, the same scene can be seen: roofless, empty homes and blackened walls . . . .”
Needless to say, what happens elsewhere in Black Africa is not much different. Northern Mali is for intents and purposes ruled by Islamist gangs. The south was saved only by the intervention of French Special Forces. In Nigeria, the frequent attacks by Boko Haram against churches and Christian institutions lay bare a plan to expel non-Muslims from all northern states. In September 2013 alone, about 500 Christians were the victims of such violence.
The West is deluding itself when it says that “this is not the real Islam.” Indeed, what is the real Islam? Since terrorists and Salafists say they are Muslims and acting in favour of Islam, only a violent Islam has taken central stage. I know that most believers in Allah and the Qur’an are peaceful people who only want to live in peace and freedom. I have visited every Islamic country, from Indonesia to Morocco, from Somalia to Senegal, from Mozambique to Egypt and Turkey. I have heard Christians and even missionaries, nuns, priests and local bishops always say the same thing. Still, we have the right to ask, why is it that these masses of moderates never protest? Why is it that no Muslim association or group has ever been created to condemn Salafist violence and terrorists who kill themselves to become “martyrs for Islam”? In Italy, there are two to three million Muslims, whose right to religious freedom is recognised. Why is it they never protest against systematic violence committed by their co-religionists?
Such questions are not meant to cause offense. I just want to make sure that people in Italy will not come to accept what Domenico Quirico, La Stampa envoy to Syria, said. Held captive for months by Islamic guerrillas, he wrote, “We refuse to realise that moderate Islam does not exist, that the Arab Spring is over and that its new phase involves an Islamist and jihadist plan to build the Great Islamic Caliphate, a political plan that is being implemented starting in Syria with weapons, armies, and money.”
We, believers in Christ and the Catholic Church, continue to pray, engage in dialogue, accept and show solidarity towards Muslims in need, but we are also entitled to ask certain questions and raise certain issues.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Exoplanet Hunt Faces Conundrum as Count Nears 1000
Update, 22 October 2013: The number of known exoplanets jumped from 999 yesterday to 1010 today thanks to a host of new worlds discovered by the Super Wide Angle Search for Planets collaboration. Like many others, these planets are roasting-hot Jupiter-like worlds. The search for a habitable, Earth-like planet continues.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
For Sale: Balloon Rides to Near-Space for $75,000 a Seat
You don’t have to climb aboard a rocket ship to be a space tourist anymore. For $75,000, a company called World View Enterprises will loft you 19 miles (30 kilometers) up into Earth’s atmosphere using a high-altitude balloon. While the gentle ride won’t earn passengers their astronaut wings — outer space is generally considered to begin at an altitude of 62 miles (100 km) — it will afford spectacular views of the blackness of space and the curvature of our planet, World View officials say.
Virgin Galactic is charging $250,000 per seat aboard its six-passenger SpaceShipTwo, while a ride on XCOR’s one-passenger Lynx vehicle costs $95,000. Neither spaceship is fully operational at the moment, though both could be flying customers in the next year or so, officials with each company have said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mr. Cameron is not (yet) a practicing Muslim. A self-described “vaguely practicing” Anglican, he becomes rather less vague and unusually forceful and emphatic when the subject turns to Islam. At the Westgate mall in Nairobi, the terrorists separated non-Muslim hostages from Muslims and permitted the latter to leave if they could recite a Muslim prayer—a test I doubt Mr. Cameron could have passed, for all his claims to authority on what is and isn’t Islamic.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Meteorite Study Suggests Mars Atmosphere Trapped in Rocks, Not Lost in Space
The atmosphere of Mars may not have escaped into space billions of years ago, scientists say. Instead, the bulk of Mars’ carbon dioxide gas could be locked inside Martian rocks.
Most of Mars’ carbon dioxide vanished about 4 billion years ago, leaving a cold planet covered in a thin veneer of gas. But a new analysis of a Martian meteorite claims that some of the carbon dioxide disappeared into Mars itself, and not out into space as previous studies have suggested.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Researchers Keep Mum on Botulism Discovery
Scientists have discovered a new strain—the first in 40 years—of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that is ultimately responsible for causing botulism. And although they have reported their findings in a scientific journal, the investigators have taken the extraordinary step of withholding key details of the discovery.
That’s because the toxins made by C. botulinum are the most dangerous known to humankind and currently there is no antidote for a toxin generated by the new strain. The fear is that malevolent organizations or rogue governments might use the information to reverse engineer their own version of the new bug, making it a potent and real bioterrorism threat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |