Nelson Mandela, the former prisoner, anti-apartheid activist, and first post-apartheid president of South Africa, has died at the age of 95. Based on mainstream media reports, there is no indication that Mr. Mandela was ever a communist or a member of a red terrorist organization, nor was he an admirer of communist dictatorships.
In other news, the stolen cobalt-60 that was recovered in Mexico was found in a field outside its protective container. It is thought that the thieves had no idea what it was they had stolen, and may have absorbed a fatal dose of radiation.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, Kitman, Nilk, Steen, 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.
A Cash-Strapped Europe’s Latest Craze: Rented Clothes
Renting and leasing of consumer products with the intention of testing them out or keeping them after a specific period is nothing new, and has been the basis for viable business models in the US, and around the world, with companies such as Rent-A-Center and Aaron’s for decades. However, renting and leasing clothes is something that only a materially cash strapped people would engage in. Such as those of Europe, where the depression has been going on for five years and has manifsted itself in record unemployment month after month, and youth unemployment that in many cases is well over the 50% mark. In this context one has no choice but to live thrifty, even if that means renting, and leasing, second-hand clothing.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Can Congress Cope With Sequester? Doomsday Fears Fade, As Round 2 Nears
As the year comes to a close, Congress remains divided on how to handle a new round of across-the-board cuts. Facing a Jan. 15 deadline to pass a new budget bill — or risk another partial government shutdown — lawmakers are bickering over what the spending levels should be in the new year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Central Bankers Don’t Want Their Names Published
A promise by the European Central Bank to publish the minutes of its meetings has been delayed by the “complexity of the issue,” one stumbling bloc being whether to publish the names of the central bankers or not, ECB chief Mario Draghi said Thursday in a press conference.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: 270,000 Workers Earn Less Than 500 Euros Per Mont
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, DECEMBER 5 — Up to 270,000 workers in Greece are receiving monthly salaries of less than 500 euros, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said Thursday. Vroutsis was quoting figures from the ministry’s Ergani database, which records hirings and firings. According to the same registry, as daily Kathimerini online reports, a total of 196,695 companies currently employ 1,371,450 workers on open-ended contracts. Ninety percent of the businesses employ up to 10 workers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Household Purchasing Power Sinks 9.4% Since 2008
Down almost 5% from 2011 to 2012 alone
(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — Italian households have seen their purchasing power sink 9.4% from 2008 to 2012, Italy’s social security agency (INPS) revealed on Thursday.
Acute recession squeezed buying power 4.9% from 2011 to 2012 alone.
Over four years since the global financial crisis hit in 2008, disposable income fell an average of 1.8% per year, but saw a loss of 2% from 2011 to 2012.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Nearly 50% of Retirees Get Under 1,000 Euros in Soc Security
2.26 million receive less than 500 euros per month
(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — Nearly half of retirees receiving benefits from Italy’s social security agency INPS receive less than 1,000 euros per month, the agency revealed Thursday in its 2012 social report.
A total of 45.2% of INPS retirees, or 7.2 million, get pension payments under 1,000 euros per month. Of those, 2.26 million — or 14.3% of all INPS pensioners — see less than 500 euros per month. Just over 650,000 INPS retirees receive more than 3,000 euros per month.
The data do not reflect retirement benefits from private or other outside pension funds.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco Tourism in Decline, Affected by European Crisis
2012 contribution to GDP down for third year in a row
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, December 5 — The tourism industry’s contribution to Morocco’s GDP fell in 2012 for the third year in a row, as the wait continues for the 2013 budget to come together, amidst tentative optimism due to an influx of large investments. According to data from the High Commission for Planning, in 2012 the tourism sector contribution to GDP was 6.9 percent, falling from 7.1 percent in 2011 and 7.3 percent in 2010.
According to government analysts, the drop should be taken into consideration along with the adverse global economic situation affecting European markets, from which Morocco draws the majority of its tourism, having essentially confirmed their flow of hard currency (equivalent to 57 billion dirhams), but influencing to a lesser extent the national economy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The IMF plots outright wealth confiscation across the entire globe
Two “solutions” mentioned by the IMF are “repudiating public debt” which amounts to nothing less than sovereign defaults on government bonds, or “inflating it away,” which is what the massive creation of currency out of thin air, better known Quantitative Easing (QE) policy, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, is all about.
Yet the most outrageous part of the IMF’s proposal has been reduced to two sentences. “The sharp deterioration of the public finances in many countries has revived interest in a ‘capital levy’ — a one-off tax on private wealth — as an exceptional measure to restore debt sustainability. The appeal is that such a tax, if it is implemented before avoidance is possible and there is a belief that it will never be repeated, does not distort behavior (and may be seen by some as fair).”
As despicable as the proposal itself is, amounting to nothing more than outright confiscation by an elitist cabal of government and bank officials, note the method these would-be gangsters would employ. “If it is implemented before avoidance is possible,” means they would be willing to appropriate billions of dollars of individual wealth in a globally coordinated effort — after secretly agreeing to do so.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Ikea Receives 20,000 Applications for 400 Jobs
A flood of more than 20,000 jobseekers applying for just 400 jobs at a new Ikea megastore in Spain overwhelmed the local office’s computer servers.
The outletis to open next summer in Alfafar, a town in Valencia, and started accepting applications on Monday.
“Our server collapsed. It wasn’t able to handle that many applications,” said Ikea Spain’s Rodrigo Sanchez. “We never expected to have so many applications in such a short time.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Stunnning Chart: Today’s Stock Market is Eerily Reminiscent of 1929…
With the Holiday shopping season off to a slow start according to preliminary retail sales numbers and with the stock market sitting near all time highs, one can’t help but wonder what will happen when investors realize the economy isn’t really doing as well as we’ve been told by the experts.
The evidence suggests that we can expect devastating global economic changes in 2014 as a result of our national debt, further impoverishment of the working class, and massive new tax burdens resulting from President Obama’s health care legislation. The fundamentals, by most accounts, are indicative of an economy on the cusp of atotal detonation within the next year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Between ObamaCare, Iran and last quarter’s uptick in U.S. economic growth, taxpayers these days may be distracted from several dangers to come. But households from the United States to Europe and Japan may soon face fiscal shocks worse than any market crash. The White House and New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio aren’t the only ones calling for higher taxes (especially on the wealthy), as voices from the International Monetary Fund to billionaire investor Bill Gross increasingly make the case too.
In his November investment commentary for bond giant Pimco, Mr. Gross asks the “Scrooge McDucks of the world” to accept higher personal income taxes and to stop expecting capital to be taxed at lower rates than labor. As for the IMF, its latest Fiscal Monitor report argues that taxing the wealthy offers “significant revenue potential at relatively low efficiency costs.” The context for this argument is the IMF’s expectation that in advanced economies the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product will reach a historic peak of 110% next year, 35 percentage points above its 2007 level.
Between 2008 and 2012, several of the developed world’s most fiscally challenged nations (including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain) increased top personal income tax rates by an average of 8%. In the United States, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts pushed the highest federal income tax bracket to 39.6% from 35%.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Economy Grew at Rate of 3.6% in Third-Quarter Revision
The economy expanded much faster than first thought in the third quarter, as the government on Thursday revised its estimate of growth in the period to a 3.6 percent annual rate from 2.8 percent.
That was significantly better than the 3.1 percent pace economists had been expecting, and it marked the best quarter for growth since the first quarter of 2012, when output jumped by 3.7 percent. It also marked the first time since then that growth had exceeded 3 percent.
Much of the improvement came from additional stocking up on inventory by businesses as well as a slightly improved trade picture.
| [Return to headlines] |
Weapons of Last Resort: ECB Considers Extreme Crisis Measures
The European Central Bank wants to spur lending by banks in Southern Europe, but conventional methods have shown little success so far. On Thursday, ECB officials will consider monetary weapons that were previously considered taboo.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bratton is de Blasio’s Pick for New York Police Commissioner
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio was expected to name on Thursday morning William J. Bratton to lead the New York Police Department, according to two people with knowledge of Mr. de Blasio’s decision. The move will return Mr. Bratton to the helm of the nation’s largest force at a time of historically low crime rates and a deepening rift between officers and the public. The appointment has been highly anticipated and will most likely be among the most consequential for Mr. de Blasio, who turned discontent with the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices into a key part of his winning election run.
Mr. Bratton rose to international prominence after his first tenure as police commissioner in New York in the mid-1990s and had been considered a front-runner since Mr. de Blasio began mentioning his name on the campaign trail.
The selection of Mr. Bratton, a well-known and generally well-regarded figure in law enforcement, appeared to reflect the tricky spot Mr. de Blasio finds himself in as he moves to reshape the Police Department’s street tactics, while sustaining the decline in serious crime.
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City Presses Charges Against Veteran for Raising Chickens
Leo Hendrick, war veteran, father and owner of Spartan Arms, moved his family to Northwood five years ago in hopes to live a more healthy and self-sufficient life. Through hunting, gardening and raising small animals like chickens and rabbits, Hendrick has become almost completely food independent.
“We were sick of corporate farming, GMOs and pesticides,” Hendrick told Storyleak. “The price of groceries just keeps going up too so this is really the only way me and my family can survive.”
Unfortunately for Hendrick, once city council learned of his family’s chickens, a Worth County sheriff’s deputy arrived at his home late August to present a letter demanding he remove all animals from his property within 10 days…
“They actually told me that I just needed to ‘fit into society’ and comply,” Hendrick said. “The mayor even told me that government intruding into lives like this was okay and needed, which I didn’t agree with.”…
With the trial set for Dec. 13, Hendrick soon learned that the judge had banned him from bringing up any significant point during his trial including the benefits of homegrown food, other cities that allow residents to raise chickens and the fact that few people agree with the ordinance, showing a clear attempt by the city to stop any juror from nullifying the case.
“They had a whole list of things that I couldn’t talk about. I was pretty upset when the judge upheld all of that,” Hendrick said. “I felt that the judge and the prosecutor were both working against me.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Confirmed: Obama WH Turned Down Offer to Build O-Care Website for Free — Blew a $1 Billion Instead
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Bill Hemmer on America’s Newsroom today that an internet giant offered to build the Obamacare website for free.
This was confirmed during testimony today before a Congressional committee. Issa, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman, said the Obama White House turned down the offer.
Bill Hemmer: Was it proven today that an internet company offered to build the website for free but the government passed on it? Was that true? Did that happen?
Rep. Darrell Issa: It was stated under oath that it was true. No one argued that it wasn’t.
The Obama administration blew over a billion dollars so far to build the failed Obamacare website.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congressman Fears Obama Could Suspend Election Laws
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) fears that the Obama administration’s refusal to enforce immigration laws could lead to Obama himself failing to enforce election laws, a concern voiced amidst calls by some for Obama to run for a third term in office.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, Gowdy asked Simon Lazarus, senior counsel to the Constitutional Accountability Center, “If the president can fail to enforce immigration laws, can the president likewise fail to enforce election laws?”
Lazarus responded “no,” to which Gowdy shot back, “Why not? If he can suspend mandatory minimum and immigration laws, why not election laws?”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Connecticut Deadline to Register Your Assault Weapon is Jan. 1
Connecticut residents who own guns categorized as assault weapons under firearm regulations have until the end of the month to register the weapons with the state before risking felony charges in some cases.
The registration requirement was included in gun control regulations approved in April as part of a state response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The law expanded the number of firearms prohibited in Connecticut and banned the sale of ammunition magazines that carry more than 10 rounds.
Although the law did not require gun owners who had previously purchased the weapons and magazines to get rid of them, it did require them to register the equipment with the state. The deadline for declaring the guns and high capacity magazines is Jan. 1.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dallas Cops Required to Keep Mum for 3 Days After Shootings
Directive follows case in which cop was embarrassingly caught in lie
The rule change arrived on the heels of an October 11 incident in which a Dallas police officer fired on a mentally ill man, Bobby Gerald Bennett, absent of any provocation, then lied about it.
In that incident, which was captured by a neighbor’s front porch surveillance camera, the officer reported he fired on Bennett because he had charged the officer aggressively with a knife. The neighbor’s footage embarrassingly showed otherwise…
However, Don Tittle, one of the attorneys representing Bobby Bennett, says it’s nothing more than a thinly-viewed measure allowing cops time to get their stories straight.
“If the goal is to seek the truth in an incident, then why would a witness to a police shooting be treated differently than a witness to any other incident?” Tittle reportedly asked. “No other witness is told, here, you have three days to get back to us. And, by the way, here is a copy of all the video of the incident so you can get your story straight.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Darrell Issa: Health Site May Top $1 Billion
Rep. Darrel Issa (R-Calif.) on Wednesday said he believes the troubled HealthCare.gov website will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion before it is fully operational.
“The fact is, eventually they’ll get this website working, at the cost of probably over a billion dollars,” Issa, chair of the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer. “They’re probably closer to $700 million now and they’re going to spend a lot more doing the hard parts on the back end.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Tax Per Mile Scheme Surfaces Again in Congress
If implemented, the federal gas tax will nearly double
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, is investigating a wealth confiscation system that “looks to the future and helps provide a more stable funding base for the next one hundred years.”
Blumenauer has introduced H.R. 3638, federal legislation that will establish a Road Usage Fee Pilot Program to study an automobile mileage-based fee scheme. The bill was introduced on December 3.
Once implemented, the plan would nearly double taxes on gasoline from 18.4 cents to 33.4 cents per gallon.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Details of the Obama Forgery Exposed
Douglas Vogt: Barack Hussein Obama’s Certificate of Live Birth
So far, the managed mainstream media has ignored the October 18, 2013 filing of two affidavits, one public and the other sealed, that identify twenty-(20) points of forgery on the most controversial document concerning the most controversial figure of our time: Barack Hussein Obama. In my view, this is undoubtedly the most detailed and compellingly damning document ever created pertaining to the controversy surrounding the long form birth certificate. It provides critical insight into the people behind the forgery, their methods, and more importantly, their mistakes.
Douglas Vogt, an author and the owner and operator of a scanning business who also has an accounting background, invested over two years conducting an investigation into the authenticity of Obama’s Certificate of Live Birth. Mr. Vogt, along with veteran typesetter Paul Ivey, conducted exhaustive research of the document provided to the White House Press Corps on April 27, 2011 — not the online PDF, a critical distinction that must be understood.
Using their combined experience of 80 years in this realm, they conducted extensive examinations of the “copy” that was used as the basis for the PDF document. They acquired the same type of equipment that was used back in the late 1950s and early 1960s in an attempt to recreate the document presented as an “authenticated copy” proving the legitimacy of Barack Obama. Instead, they found 20 points of forgery on that document and detail each point of forgery in the affidavit.
Even more interesting, Mr. Vogt claims to have identified the “signature” of the perpetrator, or the woman who created the forged document, hidden within the document itself. Her identity, in addition to the identity of other conspirators and their precise methods are contained in a sealed document supplementing the public affidavit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Cop Arrested for Wearing Guy Fawkes Mask at ObamaCare Protest
A Florida police officer who was protesting US President Obama’s newly implemented healthcare law has been arrested because he refused to take off a Guy Fawkes mask he was wearing at a demonstration…
The statute Harrell was charged under was originally signed into law in an attempt to criminalize the Ku Klux Klan without violating the white supremacist group’s right to free assembly or free speech.
Chapter 876 Section 12 of Title XLVI under Florida law classifies “wearing mask hood, or other device on public way” as a crime. Stating in full: “no person or persons over 16 years of age shall, while wearing any mask hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter upon, or be or appear upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other public way in this state.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How the NSA is Tracking People Right Now
How the NSA tracks cellphones http://t.co/Rz1RYebY3A pic.twitter.com/jXEg5WxtdI
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 4, 2013
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
John Boehner Signs Up for ObamaCare
Wait a minute. Didn’t Boehner lead the Republican charge against Obamacare?
Establishment Republicans like to pretend they’re opposed to big lumbering government socialist programs, but that didn’t stop Boehner’s wife from collecting confiscated wealth.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Speaker John Boehner, who lead a token fight against Obamacare, has signed up for the plan.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Join Me: Former, Current Football Players or Coaches Who Pledge to Boycott the NFL
The recent decision made by the NFL refusing to allow a proposed commercial during the upcoming Super Bowl in January of 2014 regarding the rifle manufacturer Daniel Defense which is clear political discrimination preventing viewers the chance to think about the real purpose of the 2nd Amendment.
The commercial was said to be offensive when it is the opposite promoting the family and a man’s God given right to protect his wife and children without showing a single gun to avoid confrontation and it was well produced and creative, unlike most commercials aired during the Super bowl.
I am a former player and Varsity high school football coach from 1998-2013 and lifelong fan who pledges to participate in the total boycott of the NFL and I am asking other former players and coaches at any and all levels to join this crucially important boycott.
It is apparent that the NFL is being used as a tool to keep people distracted from politics and reality instead of just simply entertainment purposes only like it should.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Liberals Talk Race and Crime — And Hilarity Ensues!
On a break from pretending to believe they live in a country bristling with violent white racists, the Non-Fox Media have been trying to debunk stories about the “Knockout Game,” in which young black males approach random strangers and try to knock them out with one punch.
The left’s leading line of defense against the Knockout Game is to argue that young black males have always been violent, so, hey, this is nothing new.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Low Information Voters in the Information Age
As a former college teacher, I know why idealistic young people vote with their hearts and not based on logic or with their pocketbooks. They have yet to mature into serious tax paying adults.
They lack a solid economic education because they are no longer required to take Economics classes in school and, if they do, are often exposed the entire semester to endless graphs that contribute very little to their understanding of how the economy works ; they are unable to put all the puzzle pieces together, they just build beautiful graphs.
Young voters are easily duped and charmed by charismatic, good-looking politicians who deliver scripted and articulate speeches devoid of truth and logic.
They are naïve and idealistic, holding jobs that pay so little that their meager contributions to society get lost in the economic translation.
They still don’t know how the economy works, where money comes from, how it is created, who sets the interest rates, how international trade is handled, or how the so-called Federal Reserve System’s fractional reserve banking creates/prints money out of thin air to the detriment of their pockets.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New NSA Revelations Another Limited Hangout Whitewash
In unveiling new Edward Snowden revelations about NSA spying, the Washington Post has once again whitewashed the fact that the content of all our communications have been stored and analyzed under the Echelon program since the 1990s.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
NSA Reportedly Collects 5 Billion Cell Phone Location Records a Day
The NSA collects nearly 5 billion records a day on the locations of cell phones overseas to create a huge database that stores information from hundreds of millions of devices, including those belonging to some Americans abroad, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Documents provided to the Post by NSA leaker Edward Snowden detail how this database is able to track people worldwide and map out their relationships with others.
The NSA inadvertently gathers U.S. location records, along with the billions of other records it collects by tapping into worldwide mobile network cables, the Post reported.
The database and projects designed to analyze it have created a mass surveillance tool for the NSA, allowing it to monitor individuals in a way never seen before.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
When George W. Bush was president of the United States, many of the left fell prey to what columnist Charles Krauthammer called “Bush Derangement Syndrome”: “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.” With Bush out of office, BDS has waned somewhat.
Unfortunately, it has been replaced by a converse condition, just as grave and dangerous to the mental stability of its victims: “Obama Worship Syndrome.” Primarily affecting low-information voters and members of the mainstream media, Obama Worship Syndrome attributes impossible capabilities to Obama’s political opponents, finds excuses for every Obama failure in everyone around him and praises the president as the finest politician — nay, human being — of our time.
On Monday evening, for example, CNN’s Piers Morgan considered whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could run for president as an overweight man. Morgan, with stars in his eyes, asked crisis-management expert Judy Smith, “After the perfect Barack Obama — who’s a perfect physical specimen to many people’s eyes — does it matter?” After toweling himself off, Morgan then asked whether Americans could even stomach “a regular kind of guy who likes cheeseburgers and beer, but appears to be a straight talker?”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Calls on Bartenders to Help Sell Health Care Reform
President Obama wants young bartenders to give their customers a tip — sign up for health insurance under Obamacare.
Speaking at a White House Youth Summit on Wednesday, the president continued to enlist Americans from all walks to life to join in the effort to sell health care reform.
“No matter how much I care, the truth is, for your friends and your family, the most important source of information is not going to be me. It’s going to be you,” the president said. “If you’re a student body president, set up a conference on campus. If you work at a nonprofit, open your doors and use your email list to help people learn the facts. If you’ve got a radio show, spread the word on air. If you’re a bartender, have a happy hour — and also probably get health insurance because a lot of bartenders don’t have it.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police Chief Asks to be Paid in Bitcoin, City Approves
The city commission in Vicco [Kentucky] approved a measure on Monday to begin paying the city’s police chief in a virtual currency, a move officials say is likely the first of its kind in the nation.
Police Chief Tony Vaughn appeared before the commission last month to officially request that his salary be paid to him in Bitcoin, a new virtual currency which exists only on the Internet and this year has gained significant traction, with its value rising by the end of November to more than $1,000 per coin, according to USA Today. The currency was valued at less than $100 at the beginning of the year.
The city commission in Vicco opted last month to hold off on approving Vaughn’s request in order to research the issue. Commissioner Claude Branson on Monday said officials did their homework, and there doesn’t seem to be any logistical or legal issues to paying Vaughn in Bitcoin.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Psychiatric Insanity: Over 20% of Young Boys Labeled ‘ADHD’
(NaturalNews) It’s no secret that, increasingly, Big Pharma, in cahoots with traditional medicinal practitioners, have created a society of near-zombies with all of the mood altering medications they push on the public. But even these figures are shocking.
According to recently published information from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an astounding 20-plus percent of all 14-year-old boys in the United States have been diagnosed, at one time or another over the course of their lives, with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — a condition that is, of course, treated with dangerous medications.
As reported by CNSNews.com:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Technocracy is Failed Mind Control
Addled researchers look forward to the day when your brain, connected to a massive computer that is “a super brain,” will have instant access to so much information it will ascend to a new level of knowledge and power…and then Greater Reality will emerge.
But on what assumptions is this fantasy based?
First, you can “download” information from the super brain. You can perceive it all and somehow incorporate it. Translation: the super brain will impose itself on you. This is called mind control, plain and simple.
You’ll be able to “think with the super brain,” which directs your thought patterns and your conclusions. Again, mind control.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Horrific Story That Prompted David Horowitz’s Conservative Transformation
[WARNING: * Disturbing Content *]
David Horowitz, author of The Black Book of the American Left and the founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, has spoken at length about how he was raised by “card-carrying communists” who always “described themselves as progressives.” He followed in their footsteps, becoming one of the founders of the New Left in 1960s, which he described as an organization “formed by children of communists who wanted to get away from the taint that Stalin had put on (communism), and revive the vision.”
So what made the born-and-raised communist become the staunch conservative and defender of American liberties that he is today? Among other things, he explained on the Glenn Beck Program Tuesday, it was a deadly encounter with the Black Panthers.
It began in the early 1970s, Horowitz explained, when he was introduced to the leader of the Black Panther Party by “a Hollywood producer.”…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The IRS and SEC Want to Snoop Through Your Email Without a Warrant; Don’t Let Them
We’ve talked a lot about ECPA reform — which is the incredibly outdated “electronic communications privacy act” which actually makes sure that you have less privacy than other forms of communication. This isn’t necessarily on purpose, but because the law was written in the mid-1980s when email itself was a relatively new concept. It includes some bizarre distinctions between opened and unopened emails and if a message has been “left on a server” for more than 180 days (at which point it’s considered “abandoned” and not subject to a warrant). Obviously it never anticipated the kind of internet we have today. It also goes against basic 4th Amendment principles and treats electronic messages differently from physical messages.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tim Berners-Lee: Spies’ Cracking of Encryption Undermines the Web
World wide web inventor dismayed about US and UK attempts to undermine privacy and security, revealed by Edward Snowden.
Tim Berners-Lee is known as the gentle genius with the mild touch, a man who is strikingly modest despite having created one of the epochal inventions of the modern age, the world wide web. But get him on the subject of what the National Security Agency and its British equivalent, GCHQ, have been doing to crack encryption used by hundreds of millions of people to protect their personal data online, and his face hardens, his eyes squint and he fumes.
“I think that’s appalling, deliberately to break software,” he says in an entirely uncharacteristic outburst of ire. Of all the reasons he is concerned about Edward Snowden’s disclosures relating to UK and US spying on the web — and there are many, as we shall see — it is the cracking of encryption revealed by the Guardian in partnership with the New York Times and ProPublica that seems to rile him most.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
American White Supremacist David Duke Told to Leave Italy
‘Risks forming hate group’
(ANSA) — Belluno, December 5 — American white supremacist David Duke has been told to leave northern Italy for being “socially dangerous”. Citing a 2009 EU law, police say the former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan poses a risk to “set up an organization devoted to the extermination of the black and Jewish races”. According to local media, the former Louisiana state representative and two-time US presidential candidate had been living near the northern city of Belluno since February, 2011, having entered the country with a student visa using his middle name Ernest. In addition to discovering that he was not enrolled in any scholastic program, authorities found that in 2009 he was arrested while promoting his book “Jewish Supremacism” in Prague for Holocaust denial and promoting the suppression of human rights. That charge, authorities said, made his stay in the Europe’s borderless Schengen zone illegal. His lawyer has vowed to fight the order at Italy’s Council of State.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Berlusconi Denies He Might Run for Bulgaria in European Bid
Billionaire ex-premier says ‘it never crossed his mind’
(ANSA) — Rome, December 4 — Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday denied reports he might run for the European Parliament as another country’s candidate.
“It never crossed my mind”, said the three-time premier and media mogul. “I read about it in the newspapers and I’m astonished no one thought to call me for confirmation”.
The leader of a small, centre-right Bulgarian party said earlier Wednesday he wants Berlusconi to be a candidate for the group in next year’s European elections.
“Silvio Berlusconi is more patriotic than all of our MEPs put together,” Order, Law and Justice (RZS) party leader Yane Yanev told BTV network.
Berlusconi was ejected from the Italian Senate last week and is ineligible to stand in fresh elections after Italy’s Supreme Court upheld a tax-fraud verdict against him, making it definitive.
European citizens can run in any EU country in European elections, which has led to speculation Berlusconi could stand outside Italy to get around his ban on holding public office and re-acquire the immunity from arrest he lost when he was stripped of his seat in parliament.
Bulgaria was mentioned as a possibility, given Berlusconi’s warm relations with former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. But the move is seen as unlikely, with some reports saying the 77-year-old billionaire would be ineligible in Bulgaria anyway because of his ban in Italy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The alleged murderers of Lee Rigby told police they cut his throat with a knife because ‘this is how we kill our animals in Islam’, a court was told today.
Michael Adebolajo said in an interview that ‘the most humane way to kill any creature is to cut the jugular’, the Old Bailey heard.
He allegedly also told detectives that he and Michael Adebowale targeted Fusilier Rigby because he was the first soldier that they saw while waiting near Woolwich Barracks on May 22 this year.
The two men decided to attack a soldier as ‘the most fair target’ because members of the military voluntarily put themselves in danger, the jury was told.
Adebolajo, 28, and Adebowale, 22, are accused of mowing Fusilier Rigby down in a car before hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives in front of multiple witnesses…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Muslim Poet Under State Protection for Criticising Islam
Danish police are protecting an 18-year-old Muslim poet who has generated profound anger with a best-selling book condemning Islam and its influence over his parents’ generation of immigrants. Yahya Hassan, of Palestinian extraction, received death threats after he was beaten up in Copenhagen. His poems have reignited a debate on freedom of expression — an issue close to Danish hearts after the controversy over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Traffic Shutdown as Bodil Approaches
A Copenhagen Airport spokesperson has told public broadcaster DR that no more flights will be leaving the airport until 6am tomorrow morning. The airport says that it is still letting arriving flights land but arriving passengers risk long waits on board because not all of the airport’s jet bridges are currently in use.
The storm Bodil is expected to hit Denmark today, bringing windspeeds of over 100 km/h and gusts over 140 km/h.
The storm is expected to bring widespread travel disruption and elevated sea levels of up to four metres along the west coast, and two metres on the northerly coasts of the Danish islands.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Seen as Least Corrupt EU Country
Denmark is perceived as the least corrupt country in the EU, while Greece is seen as the most corrupt. The Berlin-based NGO, Transparency International (TI), on Tuesday (3 December) published its 2013 corruption perceptions index, covering 177 countries.
The ranking is based on expert opinion of public sector corruption on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Seven of the 28 EU member states scored below 50.
Denmark scored 91. Finland and Sweden did well.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Farmers Urge ‘Adoption’ of Pigs to Protect Italian Ham
8,000 jobs lost in 2013 says Coldiretti
(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — Pig farmers and ham-makers from across Italy gathered in front of parliament Thursday urging institutions to “adopt a pig” to protect Italy’s prosciutto from foreign clones.
The demo followed a massive protest against food piracy at the Brenner Pass Wednesday.
Continuing its ‘Christmas Battle, Choose Italy’, farmers’ association Coldiretti said 8,000 pork-sector jobs were lost this year alone. “In Italy, two hams out of three come from pigs in Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain without the source being highlighted on the label,” said Coldiretti chief Roberto Moncalvo.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
French Bill to Legalize Bulk Internet Spying Moving Through National Assembly
Jeremie from La Quadrature du Net writes, “Yesterday the 2014-2019 defense bill passed first reading in the French National Assembly. It marks a strong shift towards total online surveillance. If passed, the bill will not only allow live monitoring of everyone’s personal and private data but also do so without judicial oversight, as the surveillance will be enabled through administrative request. The bill also turns permanent measures that were only temporary.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
High Winds Batter Scotland as Hamburg Braces for Storm
English coastal areas are being evacuated and the flood barrier protecting London will be lifted tonight after warnings of the worst tidal surge in 60 years.
The Environment Agency said people were at risk of being swept into the sea and were being removed from high-risk areas in places such as Great Yarmouth on the east coast. More than 40 severe flood warnings were issued for England and Wales, the Environment Agency said on its website today. Thirty-five of the alerts, which mean there could be danger to life, were in the Anglian region, the most easterly in England.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy 69th Out of 177 Countries for Perceived Corruption
Outranked in EU only by Bulgaria, Greece
(ANSA) — Berlin, December 3 — Italy placed 69th out of 177 countries in this year’s Transparency International’s rankings of perceived corruption in the public sector released on Tuesday.
The NGO’s annual report showed that Italy’s perceived corruption index improved just by one point from last year — 43 compared to 42 registered in 2012 — on a scale from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100.
Italy ranked 72nd last year out of 174 countries surveyed.
Only Bulgaria and Greece fared worst than Italy in the EU, with 77 and 80 points respectively.
Transparency International is a global civil-society organization dedicated to combating corruption.
“The real situation in Italy is better…because of the new laws against corruption,” the organisation’s Italy section chief Maria Teresa Brassiolo told ANSA.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Making Him Do Community Service ‘Ridiculous’ Says Berlusconi
Convicted ex-premier says he is above talking to social workers
(ANSA) — Rome, December 4 — Three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday a person of his stature is above doing community service, which he is expected to do following a tax-fraud conviction.
“It is almost unthinkable that a citizen of my age, one who has been a businessman, the owner of a soccer team and a politician, should be considered in need of rehabilitation by talking to social workers,” Berlusconi said at a book launch for journalist Bruno Vespa. “It’s a ridiculous thing, ridiculous for the country,” he added.
The Senate last week voted to eject the billionaire media mogul following a binding, four-year sentence for fraud at his Mediaset group from the supreme Cassation Court. The sentence was commuted to one year for an amnesty, which the 77-year-old has said he will opt to spend performing community service.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Police Allege Tax Fraud by Chinese Factory Owners
Poor labour and living conditions found in two plants in Umbria
(ANSA) — Perugia, December 5 — Two Chinese textile company owners under investigation for alleged tax fraud were also accused Thursday of housing workers in appalling living conditions in the central Italian region of Umbria.
The pair, who police allege evaded 2.4 million euros in taxes, set up dormitories on the same site as their factories in Fabro, about 40 km southwest of Perugia.
Authorities say they discovered about 80 employees, all believed to be Chinese, working and living in very poor conditions there.
The mattresses in the factories’ dormitories were filthy, the dining room unhygienic and littered with spoiled food and workers were required to live and work in a small area and not permitted to leave, police said.
One of the two owners was also alleged to have hired illegal labour.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lots of Guns, Little Violence: Shooting Highlights Armed But Peaceful Iceland
Until Monday, when cops killed a man in a Reykjavik suburb, Iceland’s police had never fired a shot during an operation — despite roughly a third of Icelanders owning guns.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Breivik Lawyer to Head Left-Wing Think Tank
The lawyer who represented the Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik in his trial in 2011 has been appointed to head a new left-leaning think tank in Norway.
Geir Lippestad, one of the country’s most prominent defence lawyers, has been appointed chairman of Agenda, which is being launched to act as a left-wing counterpart to Civita, an influential right-wing policy institute.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Teen Jihadi Reported Injured in Syria
Two teenaged Norwegian sisters who ran away from home in October, saying they wanted to help rebels in Syria, are indeed in the war-wracked country, a lawyer for their family confirmed Thursday.
The youngest, aged 16, is injured and has to be treated before she and her sister can leave Syria, the lawyer, Geir Lippestad, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. Norwegian media reported the 16-year-old had a bullet wound.
The other sister is aged 19. Both are from a family of Somalian origin living in Norway.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: All Train Traffic Cancelled in the Southern Province of Skåne
Class 3 warning for Storm Sven in the south
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI, has issued a class 3 warning for Storm Sven in southwestern Sweden. Hurricane strength wind gusts and heavy snow fall is expected to move in tonight with the storm reaching peak strength during the evening and early morning. Roughly 28,000 people were without power Thursday evening, news agency TT reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Democrat Reports Rappers to the Police
A member of the Sweden Democrats has filed a police report against two Swedish rappers for a song that allegedly threatens party leader Jimmie Åkesson, Swedish Radio’s P3 channel reports.
In the song, called Black Doves And Wilted Lilies, rapper Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité sings: “Dunk Jimmie yellow and blue,” a Swedish expression that’s akin to saying “beat someone black and blue.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Teen That Dared to Speak Out Against Young Swedes’ Sex Crimes
Fed up with the spiral of sex crimes among young Swedes, high school student Mårten Gasslander, 18, wrote an op-ed about the responsibility of assailants — and society. Our Swede of the Week warned of a generation of “gloomy girls and desensitized boys”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Police Threaten Guardian Editor With Terrorism Charges Over Snowden Leaks
British police have launched an investigation into whether the Guardian committed “potential” terrorism offenses by publishing the incriminating NSA and GCHQ documents leaked earlier this year by Edward Snowden.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Soldier of Allah’ Tells of War Between Muslims and Britain
THE self-proclaimed extremist accused of the bloody murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby claimed to be a “soldier of Allah” in a long-running war between Muslims and Britain during a rambling and sometimes angry justification of his actions, a court has heard. In more than an hour of recorded police interviews, Michael Adebolajo railed against a “corrupt” political leadership and overseas British military action — but then asked for Allah’s forgiveness if what had happened had been “displeasing” to him…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Engineers Use Radio Beams to Remotely Disable Vehicle Engine
The RF Safe-Stop system, demonstrated in this graphic, fires electronic pulses towards a targeted car. The pulses immobilise the engine. It can be triggered at a distance of up to 165ft and police, as well as governments, have already expressed an interest in using the system.
In a move that could spell the end of high-speed car chases, joyriding, and even terrorist attacks, a UK company has created a system that can stop vehicles at the press of a button.
The RF Safe-Stop system uses blasts of electromagnetic pulses to remotely shut off any car engines that targeted by the device.
The system was created by Chelmsford-based e2v Technologies and could also be used to stop the engines in boats because it can be triggered up to 165ft away.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lee Rigby Case: Muslim Fanatic Said He Killed Soldier in ‘Most Humane Way He Could’
Michael Adebolajo tells the court Mr Rigby died because he was simply the first soldier they spotted and it was as if “Allah had chosen him”
An Islamist fanatic admitted trying to decapitate Drummer Lee Rigby because “the most humane way to kill any creature is to cut the jugular”, a jury has heard. Michael Adebolajo, 28, told police he was not sure “how I struck the first blow” but added “I struck at the neck and attempted to remove the head”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Men Tried to Behead Soldier Lee Rigby in ‘Humane’ Way, Court Told
A man on trial for the gruesome murder of a British soldier tried to behead him because he thought it the most “humane” way to kill him, comparing it to halal butchery, a court heard on Thursday.
Michael Adebolajo, who has described himself as a “soldier of Allah”, said he and his accomplice, Michael Adebowale, targeted 25-year-old Lee Rigby in May as he walked to his barracks in Woolwich, south London, because he was the first soldier they spotted.
The murder trial at London’s Old Bailey court has heard that the pair ran Rigby over with a car and then attacked his unconscious body with knives, Adebolajo attempting to behead the soldier with a meat cleaver.
Adebolajo, 28, and Adebowale, 22, both Britons of Nigerian descent, deny murder.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Storm Batters Norway’s South Coast
Bridges, roads, airports and schools were shut in Norway on Thursday, as powerful winds, at times hitting hurricane strength, battered the country’s south-west coast.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Clinton’s Al-Qaeda Mercenaries in Bosnia Tortured Serbs
[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]
These are the concentration camps and war crimes you never hear about when the enemedia, academia and the “intelligentsia” discuss the Bosnian war. Clinton sent American troops into Bosnia to fight for these savages.
Ali Hammad, former Al Qaeda warrior in Bosnia: We were torturing Serbs in concentration camps, hammered them alive, drove rusty nails through their genitals Posted on November 30, 2013 by Grey Carter, By There Must Be Justice (thanks to Armaros)
[Comment: WARNING: Graphic Content.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
American Teacher Killed in Benghazi
An American citizen who was working at an international school was shot and killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi Thursday morning by unknown assailants, a school board member told Fox News.
The State Department identified the victim as Ronald Thomas Smith II, and confirmed that he was a teacher at an international school in Benghazi. “We can confirm that a U.S. citizen was shot and killed in Benghazi,” a State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in the statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gunmen Kill American in Libya’s Benghazi: Sources
(Reuters) — Gunmen have killed a U.S. citizen working at an international school in the Libyan city of Benghazi, medical and security sources said on Thursday. The attackers shot the American man, who was an instructor or teacher at the Benghazi school, while he exercised in the morning, the sources said.
No one claimed responsibility for the shooting. The U.S. ambassador to Libya was killed in late 2012 when Islamist militants assaulted the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: US Teacher and 3 Army Officers Killed in Benghazi
In 4 separate attacks; 2 other officers killed on Wednesday
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI- An American teacher at an international school in Benghazi was shot and killed Thursday morning, Libyan media report. Three army officers were also killed in separate attacks.
In the first, the member of the security forces Salah Werfalla was shot and killed by unidentified individuals. Hospital sources say the 28-year-old died in the Salmani area of head injuries resulting from the attack. In the second attack, the officer Ahmed Tarhuni was also shot and killed by identified individuals, while a secret services officer was killed when a bomb placed under his car went off. On Wednesday, two other officers — one from the navy and an employee of the passport office — were assassinated in Benghazi.
Libya’s second most important city has been hit by numerous politically-linked murders over the past few months in which members of the security forces, judges, activists and journalists have lost their lives.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Assembly Votes in Favor of Sharia Law
Libya’s national assembly has voted in favor of making sharia law the basis of all legislative decisions in the county, meaning the Islamic legal framework will inform all future banking, criminal and financial cases.
“Islamic law is the source of legislation in Libya,” stated the General National Congress in a statement released shortly after the vote was held. “All state institutions need to comply with this,” it said.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Libya’s national assembly has voted in favor of making sharia law the basis of all legislative decisions in the county, meaning the Islamic legal framework will inform all future banking, criminal and financial cases.
“Islamic law is the source of legislation in Libya,” stated the General National Congress in a statement released shortly after the vote was held. “All state institutions need to comply with this,” it said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry Visits Mideast to Push Stalled Peace Talks
RAMALLAH, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry started on Wednesday a new round of visit in the region, including Israel and the Palestinian territories, in a bid to push forward the stalled peace talks between those two sides, said a senior Palestinian official…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
20 Killed in Suicide Bombing Attack in Yemen
SANAA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — At least 20 soldiers were killed and more than 42 others injured when suicide car bombings rocked the Yemeni defense ministry in the capital Sanna on Thursday morning, officials told Xinhua. An official of the defense ministry said anonymously that the explosions were caused by suicide car bombings that damaged part of the wall of the ministry in downtown Yemen, adding that first car bomb hit the western gate of the ministry and the second one broke into the gate and exploded inside the ministry complex…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Business to Visit Iran
Austrian businesses are eyeing up commercial prospects in Iran amid expectations that trade sanctions against the country imposed by the United States and the European Union will be relaxed.
This weekend, a group of ten companies will visit Tehran, with the hope of securing business in the country after positive talks between Iran and the West raise the possibility of the country opening up economically.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium and France Raise Alarm on European Fighters in Syria
The Belgian and French interior ministers have said between 1,500 and 2,000 EU citizens have gone to fight in Syria and could become terrorists if they come back. The number given in June was just 600. The new total includes up to 150 Belgians and 400 French people, they noted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Says Foreign Syria Fighters From the Bloc Are Up to 2,000
Belgium’s interior minister says the overall number of fighters in Syria from the European Union could total up to 2,000. Joelle Milquet said Thursday after a meeting involving a dozen nations that the total was “estimated at, more or less, between 1,500 and 2,000.” She did not say how she got that number.
Milquet has been pushing for a united front within the 28-nation bloc to deal with the threat the increase of foreign fighters in Syria poses. Her French counterpart Manuel Valls said the estimate included over 180 fighters coming from France, double the total before the summer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Sunni Group Claims Hezbollah Commander’s Killing
Beirut, 4 Dec. (AKI) — A shady Sunni group,has claimed responsibility for the shooting to death of Hezbollah commaander Hassan al-Lakkis outside his home south of the Lebanese capital, late on Tuesday.
The hitherto unknown “Free Sunni Brigades in Baalbek” claimed responsibility for “this heroic, jihadist operation” in a message on Twitter.
The tweet hailed the assassination of “a commander in the Satan party [Hezbollah] Hassan Lakkis.”
At least one unidentified gunman, using a 9-mm weapon with a silencer shot and wounded Lakkis in the head and the neck five times as he was parking his car at a residential complex in Hadath, Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper cited a security official as saying.
Lakkis was rushed to a local hospital in a critical condition but died of his wounds at around 3am, the paper quoted the official as stating.
His funeral service was due to take place in Baalbek, east Lebanon, at 2 pm.
The militant Lebanese Shia group blamed Israel for Lakkis’ killing, saying it had tried to assassinate him several times previously.
Hezbollah’s claim was was swifly dismissed by the Jewish state as a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction.
“ Israel has nothing to do with this incident,” the Daily Star cited Yigal Palmor, Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman.
In a statement, Hezbollah paid tribute to Lakkis, describing him as “a Mujahid, self-sacrificing and a leader who loved martyrdom.”
It is not the first time that Hezbollah officials have been the targets of assassinations. Top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bomb near the Syrian capital Damascus in February 2008.
Hezbollah also pointed the finger at Israel for Mughniyeh’s slaying.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
John Kerry, the seemingly indefatigable US Secretary of State, is in Jerusalem in meetings with Israeli PM Netanyahu and later with PA President Abbas. Kerry has been on a whirl-a gig following the announcement of the P5+1 deal with Iran’s nuclear program on November 24th in Geneva. […]
Yuval Diskin, former director of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, featured in the controversial film, The Gatekeepers, was quoted by The Times of Israel that failure to achieve a two state solution “dwarfed’ the existential Iranian nuclear threat. Diskin spoke at a conference on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the discredited faux Geneva Initiative, allegedly based on prior permanent status discussions. […]
The Netanyahu government immediately dismissed these comments of Diskin, implying perhaps they were motivated by his being passed over for Mossad director. An official with the Netanyahu government was quoted by The Times of Israel saying:
Anyone who thinks the Palestinian threat is larger than the threat of a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran, which has made it its goal to destroy the State of Israel, is cut off from reality and lacks any strategic perspective.
The criticism by the marginalized Israeli left of the Netanyahu government, seeking to assure the country’s national security interests vis a vis final status negotiations with the PA, neglects the dissimilitude, corruption and total lack of integrity of the PA leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas. The left in Israel live in a virtual dream world denying the overarching Islamist threat facing Israel on virtually all of its borders. Diskin is reflecting the disingenuous approach of Israel’s left frantically promoting final status agreements that would suborn the national security interests let alone the existence of the Jewish nation. We trust that Secretary Kerry and Gen. Allen do not take seriously these views as indicative of the majority of Israel’s polity. They are most decidedly not ther case as reflected in Israeli polls. Most Americans polled support Israel, the only democratic ally and capable military force in the troubled Middle East. That support is reflected in serious questioning of the interim P5+1 Geneva agreement and strong bi-partisan support in Congress for strengthened sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program in pending Defense Appropriations amendments…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
by James Panero
On the explosion of Middle Eastern investment in Western art and an exhibition of Iranian art at the Asia Society
Qatar is estimated to have recently spent well in excess of $1 billion on Western art. These acquisitions reportedly include over $250 million for the last privately available version of Cézanne’s Card Players; $73 million for the “Rockefeller” Rothko, his White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) from 1950; $63 million for Andy Warhol’s The Men in Her Life from 1962; $310 million for a trove of Rothkos sold by court order from the collection of J. Ezra Merkin, a conduit for Bernard Madoff; hundreds of millions for post-war art from the estate of the dealer Ileana Sonnabend; and other record-breaking prices for works by Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst (one piece alone cost $20 million).
Mayassa is also reportedly behind the purchase of Three Studies of Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon, sold at auction in November for a record $142 million—a claim that Acquavella Galleries (the purchasing agent) has denied.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Three Aid Workers Killed in Yemen Attack That Also Killed 18 Yemeni Soldiers
Germany’s Foreign Minister says two German aid workers and a Yemeni employee have been killed in an insurgent attack in Yemen.
The attack Thursday at a heavily guarded compound in the capital of Sanaa also claimed the lives of at least 18 Yemeni soldiers. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the victims worked for Germany’s state-linked GIZ aid organization.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Starts Visa-Free Talks With EU
Turkey is starting visa liberalisation talks with the EU, a first step in a process that could last years. “This is a historic day for the Turkish people and the EU,” Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a joint press conference with two EU commissioners in Brussels.
Davutoglu said the talks, due to kick off in Ankara on 16 December, should not last longer than three years, after which Turkish citizens will be able to travel visa-free to the EU.
But EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who was standing beside Davutoglu, would not be drawn on a timeframe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Was Hassan Lakkis — The Hezbollah “Q” — On Mossad’s Kill List?
When we posted on the turmoil in Syria, we noted the assassination of a senior Hezbollah military leader, Hassan Lakkis. Was Lakkis taken out by Mossad, much like another Hezbollah terrorist mastermind, the late Imad Maghniyah was in a headrest bomb secretly placed in his Mitsubishi Pajero SUV that took his life on February12, 2008 when he entered the vehicle after a celebration of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. In a fascinating Foreign Policy article, “Israel’s Kill List”, Ronen Bergman, military and intelligence columnist for Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth and author of The Secret War with Iran provides background on the role of Lakkis as Hezbollah’s technical terroist mastermind equivalent to “Q” the fictional technical wizard in the James Bond novels and films and Mossad’s program for targeted assassination program. In the course of which Bergman provides insights in Lakkis’ role in establishment of Hezbollah terrorist cells in the US and Canada.. We interviewed Bergman about Israeli decision making regarding timing for a possible military option taking out key Iranian nuclear facilities in the February 2012, New English, Review, “Is The Clock Ticking on Nuclear Iran?” […] Bergman notes how Mossad took out Lakkis and the other targets on the Radical Front Kill List:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Western Allies Holding Talks With Syrian Jihadists
Britain and its western allies have held their first face-to-face talks with Islamist factions fighting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, including militant groups demanding a hardline Sharia state, as the secular forces they previously backed lose ground.
The meeting was held in the Turkish capital, Ankara, officials said, as the western alliance grows increasingly alarmed by the strength of jihadist, al-Qaeda-linked factions that now dominate parts of rebel-held territory.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rebel Broadcast: Web Channel a Key Source Amid Ukraine Protests
The online station Gromadske.TV has become the go-to site for Ukrainians critical of the Yanukovych regime. As protests heat up, its journalists and volunteers cover the news that state-backed stations will not.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian TV Slams Swedish Toilet Pedagogy
A Swedish children’s television programme about bodily functions has been drawn into the Ukraine-EU row. On Sunday, Russian TV showed clips from the show, which is presented by two characters dressed up as a giant turd and a stream of pee, to indicate how degenerate western Europe is.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Dumps on Sweden in TV Toilet Rant
A Swedish TV show which teaches children bodily functions has been used as the latest tactic by Russia to ward off pro-EU Ukrainians branding the programme as “singing genitalia” and an example of western decadence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
6 Injured in Bomb Attack at Foreign Forces Convoy in Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — At least six Afghan civilians were injured Thursday as a suicide bombing hit a foreign troops’ convoy in Maiwand district of southern Kandahar province, said a provincial source. “At around midday, a terrorist detonated his explosive-laden car at a Maiwand district bazaar when a NATO-led coalition force convoy was passing by the area. The initial reports by our police said the explosion injured six passers-by,” provincial government spokesman Jawid Faisal told Xinhua…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Army General’s Report Defends Decision to Build $36 Million Headquarters in Afghanistan
This past summer, the Army began investigating why the military spent nearly $36 million to construct a well-appointed 64,000-square-foot headquarters in southwestern Afghanistan that commanders in the area did not want and has never been used.
The two-star Army general in Kabul who conducted the inquiry has determined that the decision to commission the building was appropriate — and recommended that U.S. troops move in, after more work is done on the facility.
The finding has left some other senior military officers aghast.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: South Sulawesi: Islamists and Local Authorities Pull Down Protestant Church
Pangkep District leaders order the demolition of the GKSS’s only place of worship. For extremists, the building did not have the necessary permits. For the faithful, this was a “senseless operation” in violation of religious freedom. Christian activist slams the Indonesian president and government for failing to protect minorities.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — District authorities in Pangkep, in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi, tore down the place of worship used by the (Protestant) Christian Church in South Sulawesi (GKSS). Demolition took place in the early hours of the morning after local authorities issued an injunction on 28 November to stop all worship activities because the building would be closed shortly.
The faithful reacted with a mixture of dismay and disappointment, calling the authorities’ decision “nonsense”, especially since the (Protestant) Christian Church of South Sulawesi (GKSS) had officially applied to Pangkep District for a permit to renovate the roof of the “church”.
By contrast, the authorities justified their decision to have the church demolished by claiming that it lacked the infamous building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan in Indonesian), a legal requirement for building in Indonesia.
The matter is even more complicated when it comes to Christian places of worship (Catholic or Protestant) because the permit requires the explicit consent of Muslims who live in the area near the would-be Christian place of worship.
In reality, now as in the past, the permit issue was but a pretext to block new buildings or demolish existing ones.
Zakaria Ngelow, a history professor and member of the Synod of the Protestant Churches (PGI), called the demolition an act of “barbarism” because it was the only Christian place of worship in Pangkep District. The local community tried in every way to meet the legal requirements, he explained, but “so far these efforts have made €‹€‹little progress due to local opposition.”
Protestants have lived in the area since the early 1960s. In 1985, they set up their first semi- permanent place of worship inside a school. In 1989, the building became an actual house of prayer after the “verbal” approval by Pangkep’s district chief.
Problems started in 2011, becoming a hot issue in August of that year when the Islamic Forum launched a massive campaign of protest, accusing the GKSS of having turned the centre into an actual church in violation of the law. The extremist group used the request made by Christians to renovate the building, especially the roof, as a pretext to attack.
For Islamists, including people the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), renovation meant a change in use, turning the building into an actual place of worship, which required a building permit and the written consent of the Muslims.
For the GKSS, no new permit was necessary because the work did not entail the construction of a new building but simply work on the roof.
When the work got under way in late November to add another five metres, the authorities quickly stepped in to stop it, and this morning the building was torn down.
In an official statement sent to AsiaNews, Woro Wahyuningtyas, head of a Christian NGO, Network Indonesia, slammed the authorities’ demolition order and their “zero tolerance” towards the local religious minority.
All the efforts made by GKSS leaders to follow the rules, he added, were unsuccessful and were not taken into account by the authorities in Pangkep.
The story, he noted, is further evidence of the growing violence and abuses towards minority religious groups “without any intervention by President [Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono and the government.”
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation (86 per cent). Although the constitution guarantees basic personal freedoms, including religious freedom, minorities are increasingly becoming the victims of violence and abuse.
Protestants make up 5.7 per cent of the population and Catholics are just over 3 per cent. Hindus represent 1.8 per cent with another 3.4 per cent professing other religions.
Sharia is enforced in Aceh, the only province in the Archipelago to do so, but Islam is becoming increasing radical and extreme in the lives of many Indonesians in several other parts of the country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bitcoin Plunges 29pc as China Bans Banks From Trade
Bitcoin tumbled 29 per cent this morning as the Chinese government banned its banks from trading in the virtual currency. The crypto-currency was trading at around $1,225 this morning on the Mt.Gox exchange but fell more than $350 to a low of $870 after the announcement from China.
A sharp rise in interest from China was one of the main driving forces behind the 800 per cent surge in bitcoin’s value over the last two months. The world’s largest bitcoin exchange, in terms of volume, is now the Shanghai-based BTC China.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese State Media Brags of Plan to Establish “Death Star” Moon Base
Beijing wants lunar base to launch missiles against any target on Earth
A report appearing in the pro-regime China Times brags that China’s launch of the Long March-3B rocket earlier this week is part of a long term plan to turn the moon into a Star Wars-style “death star” from which the PLA could launch missiles against any target on Earth.
It all sounds like something straight out of The Onion, but upon checking the sources it appears that this is indeed what Communist Party officials have been discussing this week following China’s flagship launch of a lunar rover, which is Beijing’s first spacecraft to land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Number 2 Japanese Official: Protest is Terrorism
As we’ve previously reported, the Japanese government is reacting to Fukushima by introducing a bill which would ban journalism. The bill has passed the lower house, and is expected to pass the upper house this week.
A Japanese Senator notes:
The path that Japan is taking is the recreation of a fascist state. I strongly believe that this secrecy bill represents a planned coup d’état by a group of politicians and bureaucrats …
The bill would grant agencies which no longer even exist the power to classify secrets. And Japanese officials admit that it will be used to classify what’s really going on at Fukushima.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Our Warships Rival U.S Navy, Brags Chinese PLA
Beijing’s jingoistic rhetoric shows no signs of abating
Amidst tensions with the United States over the disputed Senkaku Islands, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is bragging that its aircraft carrier combat task force, led by the inaugural Liaoning warship, is now close to rivaling the U.S. Navy.
The article features on the China Military Online website, which is described as “the only authoritative media of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army,” acting with the “official authorization of the related departments of the state and the PLA.”
The report heralds the prowess of the Liaoning, along with its accompanying battleships, the “Shenyang” and “Shijiazhuang” missile destroyers as well as the “Yantai” and “Weifang” guided missile frigates.
The “combat effectiveness” of the fleet, once additional warships are added, will transform its firepower to a level, “very close to a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in its heyday,” states the report. Beijing plans to rival “the usual practice adopted by the U.S. Navy” by supplementing the combat force with a further two destroyers, an assault nuclear submarine and one supply ship.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Photos Show Scale of North Korea’s Repressive Prison Camps
[WARNING: * Disturbing Content *]
North Korea is showing no signs of scaling back its fearsome labor camp system, with torture, starvation, rape and death a fact of life for tens of thousand of inmates, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Satellite Images Reveal Scale of North Korea Prison Camps, Group Says
North Korea is pushing ahead with plans to expand its infamous labor camps for political prisoners, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International. The human rights group released satellite images reportedly showing continued expansion at two of the country’s largest political prison camps, including new housing blocks, production facilities, and reinforced perimeter security.
“The gruesome reality of North Korea’s continued investment in this vast network of repression has been exposed. We urge the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those prisoners of conscience held in political prison camps and close the camps immediately,” said Rajiv Narayan, Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
They’re Going to Dump the Fukushima Radiation Into the Ocean
Tepco is planning on dumping all of the radioactive water stored at Fukushima into the ocean.
The industry-controlled nuclear regulators are pushing for dumping the radiation, as well.
As EneNews reports:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fatal Stabbing at Melbourne Mosque
Forty worshippers have witnessed a stabbing attack at mosque in Melbourne’s north that left one man dead and two others injured. A Glenroy man aged in his 70s was fatally stabbed when he and two other men tried to stop a man from entering the Turkish Islamic and Cultural Centre in Dallas shortly before 11am on Thursday. Homicide police said the assailant, a Broadmeadows man, 22, had been refused entry to the mosque because he was in an agitated state…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
“Worshippers ran for their lives during a stabbing attack during morning prayers that has left one man dead and two seriously hurt at a mosque in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Horrified witnesses said the attacker went beserk in the Broadmeadows Mosque.
“It was crazy. A rampage,” one man said. “Six people locked themselves in the billiard room when they saw the knife and the president was locked in his office.”
Several men claimed the attacker was at the mosque with his sister when he went berserk.
“He was asking if people if they were Yahudi (Jewish),” a man said. “He then became agitated and not long after he pulled a knife.” “
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Tried to Rob ATM to Finance Jihad in Syria
COUNTER-terrorism officers have charged a figurehead of last year’s Muslim riots and infamous Sharia “whipping” case over an attempted ATM ram-raid in Sydney’s north.
In 2011, Fayad was one of two central leaders at the infamous riots in Sydney’s CBD though he worked with police and made public statements to try to quell the angry crowd. Earlier that year he told The Sunday Telegraph after the death of Osama bin Laden that the 9/11 mastermind “died a martyr”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nelson Mandela: Former South African President and Anti-Apartheid Leader, Dies at 95
Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years as a prisoner in South Africa for opposing apartheid, then emerged to become his country’s first black president, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and an enduring symbol of integrity, principle and resilience, died Thursday at 95.
The announcement was made by South African president Jacob Zuma, who said in a nationally televised address,” Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father. Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.”
Mandela had spent almost three months in a Pretoria hospital after being admitted in June with a recurring lung infection. He died at his Johannesburg home and Zuma said he would be accorded a full state funeral.
In Washington, President Obama called him one of the “most influential, courageous and profoundly good” people to ever have lived.
“He achieved more than could be expected of any man,” an emotional Obama said, in remarks from the White House, adding: “He belongs to the ages.”
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Nelson Mandela: South African Icon of Peaceful Resistance, Is Dead
Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and an enduring icon of the struggle against racial oppression, died on Thursday the government announced, leaving the nation without its moral center at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the country’s leaders.
Mr. Mandela spent 27 years in prison after being convicted of treason by the white minority government, only to forge a peaceful end to white rule by negotiating with his captors after his release in 1990. He led the African National Congress, long a banned liberation movement, to a resounding electoral victory in 1994, the first fully democratic election in the country’s history.
Mr. Mandela served just one term as South Africa’s president and had not made a public appearance since 2010, when the nation hosted the World Cup. But his decades in prison and his insistence on forgiveness over vengeance made him a potent symbol of the struggle to end his country’s brutally codified system of racial domination, and of the power of peaceful resolution in even the most intractable conflicts.
Years after he retreated from public life, his name still resonated as an emblem of his effort to transcend decades of racial division and create what South Africans called a Rainbow Nation.
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Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Icon, Dies Aged 95
Mr Mandela has suffered from a series of lung infections over the past two years and died at home. His wife, Graca Machel, and some of his three children, 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren were with him in his final days, with other family and friends in attendance.
The former president’s body will most likely to taken to the Waterkloof Military Base in Pretoria, where it will be embalmed and prepared for public display.
A memorial service at Soweto’s FNB stadium, where Mr Mandela made his last public appearance at the closing ceremony of the football World Cup in July 2010, is expected to be attended by tens of thousands of people including foreign heads of state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Boko Haram — WHO Doctor, 499 Other Suspects for Trial
Abuja — The Defence Headquarters, yesterday, presented a list of over 500 terror suspects, including a medical doctor working for the World Health Organisation to the Presidency for trial. The action followed last Monday’s attack of an Air Force Base and Maiduguri Airport by Boko Haram insurgents which claimed several lives, destroyed two helicopters and three decommissioned Air force fighter jets…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Silicon Savannah: Africa’s Transformative Digital Revolution
In the space of 10 years, mobile phones and the Internet have changed African nations more significantly than any development since their independence from colonial powers. Now a growing group of entrepreneurs want to take things further.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Somalis Fear South African Violence More Than War at Home
Ali Omar Mohamed fled Somalia’s civil war two years ago to seek a better life in South Africa. Now after being robbed at gunpoint and seeing scores of his countrymen murdered in xenophobic violence, he’s ready to leave.
Mohammed, a 21-year-old shopkeeper, is part of a growing tide of immigrants who say they prefer returning to a war zone rather than face the hatred and jealousy they are subject to in South Africa where they’re called “the enemy.”
Over the past six months, disputes between Somali shopkeepers and South Africans have deteriorated into looting and burning sprees of dozens of stores in parts of Johannesburg and the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, according to police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa Evacuation Plan: White Afrikaner Group Fears Genocide Upon Mandela’s Death
A section of the white population in South Africa is preparing for the worst scenario in case aging former South African President Nelson Mandela passes away. The national evacuation plan over possible genocide was drafted almost a decade ago.
Since Mandela was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison for actively opposing the segregationist policies of apartheid in the country, Afrikaners say over 3,000 white farmers have been murdered in revenge for the suppression enforced by its own National Party. Afrikaners say the government has never shown much desire to investigate the deaths.
And now as Mandela is in and out of hospital at age 95, Afrikaners and their supporters are preparing for the worst upon his death.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Idolatry of Nelson Mandela
by Daniel Greenfield
“Nelson Mandela is a life-long Communist. He even cobbled together a little book called “How To Be A Good Communist”. He co-founded and directed a terrorist organization, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). He never stopped admiring tyrannies and red dictatorships.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. “Appalled” At Latest Violence in Central African Republic
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — The United States said on Wednesday that it was “appalled” by fresh violence against women and children in the Central African Republic (CAR), vowing continued support for international efforts to bring peace to the country. “The United States is appalled by today’s reports of the murder of innocent women and children outside of Bangui,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.
At least 12 people were killed and 30 others were injured on Monday in Boali, 95 km north of the capital city of Bangui, where a mainly Muslim community came under attack…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Behind the World Cup: Brazil’s Crumbling Football Dream
It’s known as a football mecca, but as Brazil prepares to host the World Cup it’s clearer than ever that its infrastructure for the sport is crumbling. Now Brazilians have turned the global competition into a symbol for the country’s mismanagement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stolen Cobalt-60 Found in Mexico; Thieves May be Doomed
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s public-health scare turned into a logistical hurdle Thursday as authorities sought to safely put a stolen load of radioactive material back into its container.
As officials worked on the material, federal police and soldiers formed a cordon of several hundred yards around the field in Hueypoxtla where a container of highly radioactive cobalt-60 was abandoned after it was stolen from truck drivers transporting it to a storage facility in central Mexico.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the “extremely dangerous” cargo of pellets used in hospital radiotherapy machines had been removed from its protective casing, but “there is no indication that it has been damaged or broken up” and there is “no sign of contamination to the area.”
Mexican authorities estimated it could take a couple of days to safely contain and remove the cobalt-60 and that it does not pose a health risk to the public.
“At this moment the situation is not that serious, because the source has been located and it’s being protected,” said Benjamin Ruiz Loyola, a chemistry professor and hazardous substance expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The theft of the material sparked international concern because of the possibility that the cobalt-60 could be used in a “dirty bomb.” But by Wednesday afternoon, authorities had found the stolen Volkswagen cargo truck and the radioactive material.
President Obama’s national security team monitored the situation in Mexico “very closely” Wednesday, and there is no reason to believe the stolen truck posed a threat to the United States, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
“What’s most important is that the vehicle and equipment were recovered and the situation was resolved,” Carney said.
The drivers of the cargo truck were sleeping at a gas station this week when gunmen assaulted them and stole their truck. Mexican nuclear safety officials said they believed the carjackers did not know what they were stealing and that they may die from exposure to the radioactive material.
The IAEA said in its statement that it “would probably be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period in the range of a few minutes to an hour.” It is unclear how long the material was handled by the carjackers or others who found it later.
Mexican officials said members of one family who came across the container were checked for contamination but appeared to be fine.
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Cantor Relentless in Push for Amnesty for Illegal Alien Youth
House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) says he is continuing to try to grant amnesty to illegal alien youths via his GOP version of the DREAM Act, known as the KIDS Act.
“We should not be holding kids liable for the acts of their parents,” Cantor said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Bob Rayner, a reporter for the Times-Dispatch, wrote that Cantor described the push for the KIDS Act, something that would reportedly legalize the status of illegal aliens who are somehow determined to have been brought to America by no fault of their own, as a “one of his priorities.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Countries Offered €6,000 Per Head to Take in Refugees
BRUSSELS — The European Commission is proposing to pay EU countries €6,000 for each UN-registered refugee which they agree to resettle.
The idea, announced by the European Commission on Wednesday (4 December), is part of a package designed to stop people dying on sea crossings and being exploited by human traffickers.
It is aimed at the Syria crisis. Over 2 million Syrians are registered refugees, many of them living in overcrowded camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The EU resettled 5,000 of them last year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Conservatives Stir Up ‘Welfare Tourism’ Row
Several German conservatives are following the footsteps of their British colleagues, stoking fears about “welfare tourism” by Romanian and Bulgarians. A regional labour court in North Rhine-Westphalia last week ruled that a Romanian family had the right to social benefits even though they had found no job in Germany.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Immigrants’ New Attempt to Climb Ceuta Border Fence
One wounded, several detained, others fled to mountains
(ANSAmed) — MADRID — A group of at least 250 sub-Saharan immigrants were forced back by Moroccan security forces and Spanish police after a new attempt to scale the border fence between Morocco and Tarajal in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Only one of the immigrants managed to climb over the six-meter high double fence, sustaining a head injury after falling into Spanish territory, according to sources from a government delegation in Ceuta. Moroccan security forces stopped about 70 immigrants, while others fled to the mountains surrounding Ceuta and the nearby Moroccan city of Castellejos-Fnideq.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
New Boehner Hire Supports Path to Citizenship
House Speaker John Boehner’s new staffer in charge of immigration policy has significant experience in drafting immigration legislation and pushing for reform. She wouldn’t be coming to Boehner’s office if House Republicans weren’t serious about doing something on the issue. What that is remains to be seen.
Rebecca Tallent, former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will be coming to the speaker’s office from the Bipartisan Policy Center, where she has served as director of immigration policy. Her move “is affirmation of [Boehner’s] strong desire to move legislation in 2014,” BPC’s immigration task force cochairman, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: 100,000+ Ethiopian Immigrants Expelled
Campaign against illegals, 118,000+ expulsions in 1st month
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, December — More than 100,000 Ethiopians have been expelled in the first four weeks of Saudi Arabia’s campaign of forced repatriation of illegal workers, making Ethiopia the country hardest hit. Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dina Mufti estimated that nearly 50,000 more Ethiopians could be expelled in the coming days.
Following the decision by authorities to move forward with inspection and deportation of workers not in compliance with laws governing the Saudi kingdom’s labor market, on November 9 the Ethiopian community led violent clashes in Manfouah, a neighborhood south of the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. Three people were killed and 68 wounded in the clashes, while several cars were set on fire. Seven months prior, the Saudi government granted amnesty to nearly 1 million illegals. Col. Ahmed Al-Laheedan, spokesperson for the Saudi passport-granting authority, on Thursday told the Saudi Gazette that between November 4 and December 2 more than 118,000 illegal workers had been expelled. Repatriation of some of those individuals was blocked when digital fingerprints identified them as having possibly committed crimes during their stay in the country.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Combating Hate. Enabling Hate. The Hypocrisy of Our Anti-Hate Industry
by Mehrdad Amanpour
It’s reassuring to know that up and down the country, anti-hate warriors are battling intolerance to create a better, safer and more inclusive future for us all — a future free from racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance and prejudice of any sort. Brave, principled and competent sorts that they are. Or else you’d think so…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Proud Swedes Move Into Europe’s First LGBT Retirement Home
Europe’s first retirement home for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — the Rainbow House — has opened in Stockholm, with a ceremony attended by bishop Eva Brunne and Commissioner for the Elderly Joakim Larsson of the conservative Moderate party.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Satanists Are Trying to Combat Ten Commandments Display at Oklahoma Capitol
A Satanic group is looking to counterbalance the presence of a Ten Commandments display outside the Oklahoma state capitol with a monument of its own — a so called “homage” to Satan.
The Satanic Temple, a New York City-based religious group, officially offered a monument to the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission, a committee that manages the capitol’s grounds, according to a press release put out by the religious group.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Governor Candidate Wendy Davis Faces Major Backlash for ‘Invest in Kids’ Tweet
Wendy Davis, the Texas democrat who launched a filibuster on the Texas Senate floor last June opposing abortion restrictions, is weathering flak due to a recent ill-conceived tweet.
As governor, I’ll always make investing in our Texas children my first priority. #TeamWendy
— Wendy Davis (@WendyDavisTexas) December 4, 2013
Twitter users couldn’t resist pointing out the message’s irony, concocting the hashtag #KillWithWendie and continuing a trend at #AbortionBarbie.
Only if they aren’t aborted first, @WendyDavisTexas.
— Mike Millican (@Millican17) December 4, 2013
.@WendyDavisTexas You mean just the lucky few that survive your crusade to abort as many of them as possible, right? #abortionbarbie
— Bill Hobbs (@billhobbs) December 4, 2013
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
When I was a little boy, I didn’t know the difference between a cemetery and a seminary. But now I do.
The cemetery is where they bury dead people. The seminary is where they bury truth.
Take, for instance, a guy named Yamada, president of the McCormick Theological Seminary. As reported in the November/December 2013 issue of “The Layman,” this teacher of teachers, this preacher to preachers, says that Genesis 2:18-25 — in which God forms Eve from Adam’s rib — “is not about a man and a woman.”
Oh, no, says the seminary honcho: it’s only about God not wanting the man to be alone. The Lord could just as easily, implies this babbling schnook, have created for Adam a nice male “partner” to share the Garden of Eden with. I ask the reader’s pardon for this absurd blasphemy: I’m only reporting on Mr. Yamada’s prating at the recent “Marriage Matters” conference sponsored by the Presbyterian Church USA. The blasphemy is his, not mine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Segregation of Women and the Appeasement of Bigotry
by Nick Cohen
For over a week now, astonished reaction has been building to the decision of Universities UK to recommend the segregation of men and women on campuses. The astonishment has been all the greater because, in a characteristic display of 21st century hypocrisy, the representatives of 132 universities and colleges clothed reactionary policies in the language of liberalism…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Dyslexia’s Roots Traced to Bad Brain Connections
The neural basis of dyslexia may finally have been nailed — showing that the problem lies with faulty communication between different areas of the brain’s language network. The discovery may solve a long-running debate as to why people with dyslexia struggle to read and write.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Versus Sunni Muslim Pope Al-Tayeb on the Jews
by Andrew Bostom
Pope Francis’ “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), a 224-page document elucidating his views of the Church, and its mission, was just issued the week of November 24, 2013.
The Pope’s exhortation included a revitalized commitment to fostering relations between Catholics and Jews. He acknowledged the Jewish roots of Christianity, and how the Church continues to be enriched by Judaic values, while explicitly condemning the legacy of Christian anti-Jewish oppression. Sections 247-249 (pp. 184-186), entitled, “Relations with Judaism,” state, specifically:…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
The real story isn’t that he died or that he was a saint or a hero. He was a mixture of the ignoble and noble depending on the POV.
The real story is the genocide of the white population. A secondary story is that the press in Europe and America refuse to look at this genocide and present it to the white public as a prelude to their own fate.
The lack of candor by the SSM in reporting on Mandela’s past and his terrorist related activities as head of the MK- the terrorist arm of the ANC and the many killings of innocent South Africans that were carried out under Mandela’s signature – is a graphic example of how myopic and inverted, the world has become.
The architect for the demise of the Republic of South Africa is dead, but who will cry for its descendants?
I for one wonder if it is appropriate to celebrate Mandelas death, whether it is appropriate to sing songs calling for the deathand murder of blacks in south africa like he did to whites.
Now we will see if the hinted and sometimes out right promises from black south africans come to fruitation – driving the white man of the african continent.if so expect the genocide to go into full action. Iam amazed that the world sees this terrorist for a great man when the reality is thst wjen he was arrested and imprisoned, not amnesty wanted to touch his case due to his terrorist ativities . South africa at the time was lenient by not giving him the death sentence!
My understanding is that the black population has a few fractures in it. The Zulus are essentially pro-white. Other sub groups of blacks are also disinclined to trust the Bantu speakers.
It’s not all lost for civilization down there but it must be very close to the end. The innate hostility in group dynamics will kick in and the whites down there will either flee, die or triumph. There is no other set of outcomes.
When it comes to reporting on South Africa, the controlled media is ruthless in its manipulation and distortion of the facts.
One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. I’m not excusing the ANC’s violence, but under the circumstances, was it worse than what the RAF did to Hamburg or Dresden, or the USAAF to Tokyo? And Mandela and his colleagues were trying to end the brutal oppression of a majority by a minority in their own country.
Churchill and Gandhi were no angels (nor indeed FDR, as we’ve been reminded here over recent months), but I do believe the world would have been a nastier place today without them. Nelson Mandela, whatever his flaws and misjudgements, surely belongs in their company, particularly for (largely, though not entirely) preventing a bloodbath after the fall of minority rule in SA. He made me, as a white Brit, proud to be a part of the human race, and I shall be going to South Africa House in Trafalgar Square to sign the book of condolence.
The last public figure whose death made me feel personally bereaved was Leonard Bernstein (yes, I know he was a leftie like me, but that’s beside the point). Unlike Mr Mandela, I had the pleasure and privilege of briefly meeting Lenny a couple of times, and he had the gift of making you feel important. I believe Mandela also had this, and in both cases, I don’t think it was an act. Isn’t this reason enough to mourn his passing?
What was this brutal oppression you speak off? There was apartheid sure with the idea so that each group can govern themselves. They did not hve voting rights which is awful but brutal oppression is a stretch. In 50 years of apartheid rule there was 19000 political deaths of black people and according to TRC it was black on black mostly – the precious mandela and his wife winnie the main architects of that. Since 1994 there has been more than 47000.
Which country was their country? By what right do you say their country..the only indigenous people in south africa is khoi-san which have been largely killed by the xhosa amd zulus, neither of which are indigenous to south africa. As a matter of fact they arrived within the south african borders of today only 150 years before the first dutch people arrived. So whose country is it.
Mandela is an idol for those who wish to extirpate whites in nations as far flung as America, the UK, Australia, France and Greece…
He could have acted more like Mugabe but honestly mate, who’s to say what the blacks there will do now? Everywhere it’s been tried so far whites losing majority or power: they get slaughtered or are forced to flee. It happens in microcosm in places like Detroit and New Orleans.
I hate to rain on your parade, mark H, but you seem to have a slightly distorted assessment of reality. To compare what has happened in South Africa to the Second World war is unjustifiable. The war of 1939-1945 was a total war and in that situation, by definition, no holds are barred, by any participants. Don’t forget that Germany and Japan were not innocent parties. In Africa, events speak for themselves, I should not need to spell them out to anyone, just a little research should do the trick. But for starters we should look at the recent shootings of unarmed black miners by black South african police, the murders of thousands of white African nationals by blacks ( genocide) and the countless other murders in the country making it one of the world’s most dangerous nations. These matters are grossly under reported in the international media but if you work at it, the truth will appear. Having said that, if you are employed by the BBC, then your stance on the matter is understandable.
John- The blacks could hardly be said to “govern themselves” when they were excluded from mainstream politics, and forced to live in “homelands” which, by amazing coincidence, were always the poorest areas. And if torturing and killing political prisoners isn’t “brutal oppression”, we need a new dictionary.
I was aware that the indigenous people of the region had been largely killed or expelled by other tribes before the Boers arrived, and unlike some of my fellow-leftists, have never believed that white Europeans, or their descendants, are uniquely bad. If you’re interested, check out Jarred Diamond (an anthropologist working in Papua New Guinea) on the real reasons why Europeans- and some Asians- colonised so much of the globe: as they say in legal circles, it’s to do with means and opportunity rather than peculiarly dark motives. This did not excuse the minority of SA
whites’ taking the power and wealth from the blacks, whether or not many of them were recent arrivals.
TBM- I’m aware of the horrendous crime rate in SA, particularly rape and murder of whites by blacks (including the extremely corrupt police), and Mandela is to blame for not speaking out on these issues. But if he had not shown a statesmanlike- and, in the best sense, Christian- desire to discourage revenge (unlike some of his successors), there would likely have been much greater carnage twenty years ago. Sadly I fear this may happen now.
Somali asylum-seeker
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2519386/Somali-asylum-seeker-used-fake-ID-91-000-benefit-fraud-WONT-jailed-deported-seven-year-old-daughter-born-here.html
I remember a documentary on TV before Apartheid was ended. It showed “white supremecist” Afrikaaners saying that the ANC’s policies were “from the pit of hell”. By this the viewer was intended to infer the reference was to equality for blacks. However , (my admittedly limited) research into SA in this time, leads me to the confident belief that the man quoted was actually referring to the ANC’s communist roots, means and policies. The Zulus generally got better treatment from SA Police than the Xhose ANC, because though Black, they were not Communist.
This same doco then showed these 2 Afrikaaners being beaten by a group of Black demonstrators and begging the film crew for help as the demonstrators were returning and would surely kill them when the came upon them. The journalist and film crew walked off and sure enough, showed their corpses later on, as they had indeed been murdered.
Even then, as a young non-religious (at the time) socialist (without knowing it) westerner I wondered how the journos could form judge & jury, leaving these men to certain death. What gave them the right? Even now with Mandela’s passing I’m afraid all I can remember is the necklacing his wife Winnie supervised on the ANC’s opponents.
I would like to remember nicer things, but these two things are what have stuck.
Mandela was a hero, got rid of the foreign invaders(well, except the Bantus). Obviously, I don’t agree with the way how it was done, although, I do think most of the native/black on Dutch Afrikaaner/European violence is overstated, given they were still segragated, and a lot of Afrikaaners had guns. Most of the deaths were from black on black violence during the early 90s in South Africa, not many Europeans died, a lot fled due to fear, and that’s a good thing, because they didn’t belong there. Mandela didn’t advocate violence anyway, he did sabotage against government buildings/assets himself, but he didn’t target any people.
Now, if only we could get something like that in Europe, something that would lead to foreigners running back home, a European Mandela.