Amnesty International is concerned about the behavior of Christian militias in the Central African Republic. Christian attacks on Muslims have caused mass emigration from CAR into Chad, which critics label ethnic cleansing.
In other news, “youths” on a Belgian train gained control over the public address system for a brief period, and took the opportunity to announce over the loudspeakers that Jewish passengers would be required to disembark at Auschwitz.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, 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.
British and Dutch Authorities Claim £5.3bn Over Iceland Banking Crash
Claim against deposit insurance fund relates to money lost by savers who held accounts run by Icelandic bank Landsbanki
British and Dutch authorities have filed a claim of up to £5.3bn against Iceland’s deposit insurance fund over money that their savers lost when the country’s banking system collapsed in 2008.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans in Senate Muster Votes to Raise Debt Ceiling
Senate Republican leaders on Wednesday rescued a measure to raise the nation’s borrowing limit, overcoming a filibuster from members of their own party and averting a potential shock to the economy.
A vote to cut off debate on the debt ceiling measure passed 67 to 31, after a dramatic scene on the floor when Republicans managed to muster 12 votes in support, clearing the way for final approval.
The legislation required 60 votes to clear a procedural hurdle and break a threatened filibuster after Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said he planned to object to any effort to raise the debt ceiling with a minimum of 51 votes. But he failed in his attempt to unite Senate Republicans to prevent the increase.
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Spain: Fewer Jobs: Lower Wages Two Years After Reform
Trade unions and ILO slam reform, OECD praises it
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, FEBRUARY 12 — Two years to the day from Spain’s last labor reform, there are fewer jobs, more long-term unemployed, and fewer people paying into social security.
A negative balance according to trade unions and a “not very encouraging” picture according to the Savings Banks Foundation (Funcas), but the government says the reform is beginning to have positive effects within the context of a recovering economy.
Jobless benefit claims totaled 4,599,829 people as of January 2012, one month before the labor reform was enacted. Two years later, that number is at 4,814,435, up by 241,606 people or +4.6% as of January 2014. In the same period, the number of workers paying into the social security fund dropped by 769,627 people, or -4.5%, to a total of 16,176,610 people. A quarterly report by national statistics bureau INE showed 5,273,600 were unemployed when the reform was enacted in the fourth quarter of 2011, a number that rose to 5,896,300 in the same period of 2013, equal to 622,700 more unemployed people (+11.8%) in two years. Unions slammed the reform by the conservative administration of Premier Mariano Rajoy, which among other measures, has made it easier for employers to fire people without just cause, and cut unemployment benefits to 20 days per year worked.
“It has not created employment, nor has it stopped its erosion”, said the General Workers’ Union (UGT).
“The reform caused a rise in unemployment and worsened working conditions for all”, said the Comisiones Obreras (CcOo) trade union.
The government pointed out that its reform has slowed down wage increases, from an average of 1.98% in 2011 to an average of 0.57% in 2013.
The reform “is heading in the right direction because it brought about an increase in permanent hires, internal flexibility and wage moderation”, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in its December report.
“But it is does not go far enough to create jobs”, the OECD said.
To remedy this situation, the OECD proposed introducing collective layoffs without just cause as a way to ensure courts don’t nix company restructuring plans by ordering them to rehire everyone they just fired.
The OECD also suggested slashing obligatory benefits for permanent hires who are laid off.
The UN International Labor Organization (ILO) pointed out that unemployment has risen by 3.18% in two years, from 22.8% at the beginning of 2012 to a current rate of 26.03%. This translates into 1,049,300 more people out of a job than two years ago, with the heaviest losses affecting those aged under 25 (-27.7%) and immigrant workers (-14.6%). Part-time employment increased by 7.3% in the same period, while employment among people aged over 55 rose by 42.9%, from 400,000 employed in February 2012 to 576,000 currently employed.
“The reform has yet to prove itself in terms of job creation”, the ILO said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tea Party Scorns Republicans as House Lifts Debt Ceiling
House Republican leaders sought to shield themselves from blame for another round of U.S. fiscal uncertainty by advancing a debt-limit increase without strings. Small-government groups are blaming them anyway for yesterday’s vote. They’re accusing them of abandoning Republican principles and are vowing to extract a political price in this year’s congressional elections.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Is Going Bankrupt One City at a Time
If Obama had a city it would look like Detroit
Time to start watching U.S. cities go bankrupt. Prior to Detroit, there was Stockton, California, and, according to Stephen Moore, now the chief economist with the Heritage Foundation, there are more than sixty of the largest cities that “are plagued with the same kinds of retirement legacy costs that sent Detroit in Chapter 9 bankruptcy” last year.
“Keep an eye on ‘too big to fail’ cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York,” he warned. Among the twenty cities he listed in an August 2013 Newsmax article, he cited Compton and Oakland, CA, Harrisburg, PA, and Providence, RI. What these and other cities have in common is that “the vast majority are located in states with forced unions, non-right-to-work states.”
As Steve Stanek, a research fellow with the Heartland Institute, reported, when a federal judge, Stephen Rhodes, cleared the way for Detroit’s bankruptcy filing, in December, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFCCME) immediately filed a notice of appeal, but Detroit has more than 100,000 creditors. As its emergency financial manager, Kevyn Orr, said, “The reality is the city has no cash on hand to pay the magnitude of the debt we have, which is $12 billion — $5.7 billion of which has to do with health care obligations, $3.5 billion has to do with pensions, and $2 billion has to do with bondholders.”
At the time it declared bankruptcy, Detroit had 47 different public employee unions. The Detroit Water & Sewer Department had a farrier (a horse-shoer) who received $56,000 in pay and benefits every year even though the city had no horses in the department.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“He’s Wearing a Diaper!”: TSA Agent Humiliates Cancer Victim
A cancer victim who suffers from incontinence was humiliated during an incident last week when a TSA agent loudly announced “he’s wearing a diaper” to waiting travelers, before laughing and subjecting the man to a strip search.
The harrowing account of the man’s experience at the hands of everybody’s favorite federal agency is explained by his wife in a post over at CafeMom.com.
Suffering from OAB (overactive bladder) as a result of being afflicted with prostate cancer, the man has to wear an adult diaper but, according to his wife, has never had any problems with airport security in the past that couldn’t be solved with a simple explanation. She picks up the story;
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
19 Statistics About the Drugging of America That Are Almost Too Crazy to Believe
The American people are the most drugged people in the history of the planet. Illegal drugs get most of the headlines, but the truth is that the number of Americans that are addicted to legal drugs is far greater than the number of Americans that are addicted to illegal drugs.
As you will see below, close to 70 percent of all Americans are currently on at least one prescription drug. In addition, there are 60 million Americans that “abuse alcohol” and 22 million Americans that use illegal drugs. What that means is that almost everyone that you meet is going to be on something. That sounds absolutely crazy but it is true. We are literally being drugged out of our minds.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
221 Percent Increase in One Year? Why Are So Many People Renouncing American Citizenship?
The number of Americans that renounced their citizenship was 221 percent higher in 2013 than it was in 2012. That is a staggering figure, and it is symptomatic of a larger trend. In recent years, a lot of really good people with very deep roots in this country have made the difficult decision to say goodbye to the United States permanently.
A few actually go to the trouble to renounce their citizenship, and that is mostly done for tax purposes. But most willingly choose to leave America for other reasons. Some were very serious when they said they would leave the U.S. if Barack Obama got a second term, some (such as Jesse Ventura) are dismayed at how our freedoms and liberties are eroding and are alarmed at the rise of the Big Brother police state, some are absolutely disgusted by the social and moral decay that is eating away at the foundations of our society, and there are yet others that consider “the grass to be greener” on the other side of the planet.
Personally, I have a number of friends that have made the very hard decision to relocate their families thousands of miles away because they see what is coming to America and they believe that there isn’t any hope of turning things around at this point. I also have a lot of friends that are determined to stay in the United States no matter what. When it comes to the future of America, almost everyone has a very strong opinion, and these are discussions that we need to start having.
Once upon a time, the United States was seen as “the land of opportunity” all over the globe and it seemed like everyone wanted to come here.
But now that is all changing. As we have abandoned the principles that this country was founded upon, our economy has gone steadily downhill.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
3.3 Million Enroll in New Health Plans
Nearly 3.3 million people have signed up for health insurance through the marketplaces established by President Obama’s health care law, and about one-fourth of them are young adults, the administration said Wednesday.
The administration reported a modest uptick in the enrollment of young adults, a group avidly sought by insurers because they are usually healthier and need fewer costly medical services.
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50 of Bloomberg’s Mayors Quit After Gun Confiscation Plan Leaked
Nearly 50 mayors have jumped ship on former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” campaign over allegations that the group’s ultimate goal is outright gun confiscation, according to one former member.
As reported, Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik published a statement in last week’s Poughkeepsie Journal coming clean about the group’s true intentions, total disarmament of law-abiding gun owners.
“Under the guise of helping mayors facing a crime and drug epidemic, MAIG intended to promote confiscation of guns from law-abiding citizens,” Tkazyik said, confirming what many already suspected about the group.
“Nearly 50 pro-Second Amendment mayors have left the organization. They left for the same reason I did,” he also added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Admiral’s E-Mail on Photos of Osama Bin Laden’s Corpse: ‘Destroy Them’
(CNN) — Within two weeks of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the head of U.S. special forces issued orders that all photos of the body be either turned in or destroyed, a newly released document shows.
In an e-mail dated May 13, 2011, then-Vice Adm. William McRaven wrote the following: “One particular item that I want to emphasize is photos; particularly UBLs remains. At this point — all photos should have been turned over to the CIA; if you still have them destroy them immediately or get them to the (redacted.)”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
American Leaders Joke About Dead Veterans and Children (Video)
Video of American Leaders joking about dead veterans and children.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Barack’s Assault on Work Merely His Latest Stupid Insult Against Common Sense
Obama’s Diabolical Attack on Employment is a Clear Rejection of Mankind’s Genesis Mandate
The confounding statement by Obama’s spokesman regarding whether Americans under ObamaCare will choose to work is nothing short of appalling and nonsensical. Certainly, of all the myriad attacks Obama has launched against Americans, this may be the most fundamental and perverse. For what kind of a person, let alone leader, tries to persuade others that work is an option?
So what is Barack up to in his 2-term attack upon productivity? From a Marxist perspective, there are a number of reasons to oppose full-employment. First, since the US has a capitalist system, this must be overturned. Second, since capitalism is more highly productive than socialism, it must be shut down so as not to make Marxism suffer by comparison. Third, if Marxist revolution is needed to create a socialist utopia, then this will more likely happen if more people are out of work. Fourth, since unemployed people are more psychologically unwell, the more joblessness we have, the more dissatisfied will be Americans with the current system, and therefore more supportive of revolution.
Research has been done on why joblessness creates such misery. Therefore, if Obama cared about Americans, he would fight for higher employment, as studies prove the catastrophic psychological effects of joblessness:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Biggest Internet Attack Yet as Cybersecurity Bill Introduced in House
Expert declares “someone’s got a big, new cannon” and attack is start of “ugly things to come”
A huge denial of service attack occurred earlier today. It exploited a key vulnerability in the infrastructure of the internet, according to online experts, and presages things to come.
Hackers took advantage of a weakness in the Network Time Protocol, a system designed to synchronize computer clocks. The exploit sent a massive amount of data to servers.
It was predicted this technology would be compromised and allow the introduction of malicious attacks, according to Cloudfare, a content delivery network and distributed domain name server service.
CEO Matthew Prince posted a response to the attack on Twitter. He said that “someone’s got a big, new cannon” and the attack was the “start of ugly things to come.”
The mysterious attack arrived several days after the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act worked its way to the House floor. The legislation has unanimous approval of Republicans and Democrats.
HR 3696 will codify into law the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, a public-private collaboration within the Department of Homeland Security. The center will offer real-time cyberthreat information sharing across critical infrastructure sectors, according to Bank Info Security.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Black Residents Reject Trader Joe’s Because it Would Attract Too Many White People
The Trader Joe’s grocery chain has withdrawn plans to build a store in the heart of a predominantly black neighborhood after a black leadership group fought the move.
The Portland Development Commission was set to give the grocer a large discount on property that had been vacant for years, pricing it at just over $500,000, down from an appraised value of $2.9 million, according to The Oregonian.
The Portland African American Leadership Forum sent a scathing letter in December to city leaders, saying the plan would price residents out of the area and the group “remains opposed to any development in North/Northeast Portland that does not primarily benefit the black community.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bloomberg Caught in Secret Gun Confiscation Plan (Video)
This is huge inside info that shows the subversive plan behind Bloomberg’s nationwide movement to destroy the right of self-defense.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California Bill Proposes Mandatory Kill-Switch on Phones and Tablets
Politicians and law enforcement officials in California will introduce a bill on Friday that requires all smartphones and tablet PCs sold in the state be equipped with a digital “kill-switch” that would make the devices useless if stolen.
The bill is a response to a rise in thefts of portable electronics devices, often at knife or gunpoint, being seen across the state. Already half of all robberies in San Francisco and 75 percent of those in Oakland involve a mobile device and the number is rising in Los Angeles, according to police figures.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Child Interrogated and Suspended After Voluntarily “Turning in” Toy Gun at School
Officials demand 11-year-old undergo counseling and “psychiatric evaluation”
In yet another case of ‘zero tolerance’ insanity in schools, an 11-year-old boy was interrogated without the knowledge of his parents, and then suspended after he accidentally brought a plastic toy gun to school.
What makes this case stand out is that fact that 6th grader, Caden Cook, actually knew he shouldn’t have brought the toy with him to school and voluntarily turned it in, after finding he’d accidentally left it in his jacket pocket.
Instead of using their common sense, officials at Fredrick Funston Elementary School in Chicago freaked out and subjected him to interrogation and intimidation tactics, threats and accusations of lying, according to a report by The Rutherford Institute, a rights group whose attorneys have taken up the case.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Comcast Set to Acquire Time Warner Cable for $44 Billion
Comcast will announce a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable in an all-stock deal worth more than $44 billion that will unite the biggest and second largest cable television operators in the country, according to people briefed on the matter.
The surprise merger — expected to be announced on Thursday — is likely to bring to an end a protracted takeover battle that a smaller cable rival, Charter Communications, has been waging for Time Warner Cable, and will be the second major deal for Comcast in recent years.
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Rep. Earl Blumenauer grows frustrated with witnesses’ “inability to answer” direct questions about the real health risks of pot.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Portrays Gun Owners as Bio-Weapons Threat
Last January, Infowars reported on a “safety” exercise involving police, national guard and emergency management officials in Portsmouth, Ohio. The premise of that exercise was that individuals “disgruntled over the government’s interpretation of the Second Amendment” plotted to use weapons of mass destruction to terrorize the local community.
On Monday the investigative non-profit Media Trackers posted documents released by the Ohio National Guard’s 52nd Civil Support Team a full year after the exercise. The documents reveal a deliberate effort to portray Second Amendment supporters as racist right-wing terrorists who use chemical weapons on school children.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Empty Shelves in Atlanta Merely Foreshadow Future Mass Panic in America
Atlanta residents ransacked neighborhood grocery stores in frantic preparation for their second major snowstorm of the year, waging fights over food items and leaving destruction and empty shelves in their wake, a stunning precursor to what will ensue once a major crisis impacts the U.S.
After three inches of snow shut the city down two weeks ago, causing major havoc and leaving miles of cars stranded on immobile roadways, the residents of Atlanta took heed and shopped early.
According to people who Tweeted photos of barren store shelves, residents went crazy over essentials like milk, water and eggs, and in some cases “people were fighting. Yes fighting,” alleges one user.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Found Guilty of Corruption
A jury convicted former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Wednesday on 20 of 21 federal corruption counts, including bribery, marking a stunning fall for the feisty official who gained a national profile following Hurricane Katrina.
The 57-year-old Democrat, who led his city through the aftermath of the 2005 storm, was found guilty of charges that he accepted bribes, free trips and other gratuities from contractors in exchange for helping them secure millions of dollars in city work while he was in office.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
McAffrey wants to make sure officers are safe, but seemingly has no similar concerns about the public. Ticketing someone electronically — without ever interacting with the driver — will make the roads less safe. What if the driver is under the influence? There’s no way for the officer to make this determination without an interaction. What appears to be a minor moving violation may actually be the symptom of something more serious. The officer also won’t be able to determine whether the driver is licensed to operate a vehicle. Worse, the automated process will send the ticket to the vehicle owner rather than the actual driver, and negatively affect the wrong person’s driving record and insurance rates. And as for the “threat” McAffrey seems so worried police officers might confront, does it really make sense to protect the officer but leave the arguably dangerous person free to cause harm elsewhere?
Ultimately, the worst side effect of this bill is that it will lower the bar for ticket writing. Officers will be able to write more tickets for more violations (even minor ones that would previously go unnoticed) simply because they won’t be slowed by interactions with the public. Removing this friction will increase the number of tickets issued, whether truly warranted or not. Traffic cams spit out tons of tickets because the “decision” is binary and wholly removed from public interaction. Cops with an e-ticket platform will likely become indistinguishable from the unblinking eyes watching over many American cities. And once this new way of policing kicks in, the cities utilizing the method will find the increased revenue hard to resist, which will prompt even more questionable legislation and tactics further down the line.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
George Washington, The Original, Right-Wing Extremist
One can reasonably presume how today’s Left would characterize and attack the person I am about to describe to you. Without a doubt, he would be characterized as some sort of dangerous, right-wing, tea-bagging, homophobic, Christian Neanderthal who should be maligned, attacked, marginalized, silenced, and driven from power.
Character assassination has become the weapon of choice for those who so forcefully peddle the liberal/progressive ideology. It is relentlessly used to silence all those who stand in opposition to the myriad of ‘isms’ they champion as they seek to “fundamentally transform” the country and society. I sincerely doubt they would spare him.
He was the commanding General of the Army and later a two-term president. Unwavering and dedicated, he had a deep-set of personal beliefs and never faltered from his chosen path.
He called morality “a necessary spring of popular government” and while in command of the army he ordered “vice and immorality of every kind discouraged.” Accustomed to undertaking daily devotions, he ordered worship for the army every Sunday and had twenty thousand Bibles imported for the troops. He even had the audacity to state “to the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.” Can you imagine how those who worship at the altar of the ‘separation of church and state’ would react to such actions and utterances?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Harvard Study: Fluoride Lowers Children’s Intelligence by 7 IQ Points
The Harvard School for Public Health reports:
In a meta-analysis, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and China Medical University in Shenyang for the first time combined 27 studies and found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children. Based on the findings, the authors say that this risk should not be ignored, and that more research on fluoride’s impact on the developing brain is warranted.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Security to Purchase 141,000 Rounds of Sniper Ammo
‘Zombie Hunter’ bullets designed for deadly long range capability
The Department of Homeland Security is buying more bullets with a solicitation for over 141,00 rounds of sniper ammunition.
“What makes the .308 ammunition so deadly is the long range capability of the round,” notes James Smith. “The ability is called ballistic coefficient, or the efficiency of a projectile in overcoming air resistance as it travels to its target. According to Speer Reloading Manual Number 13, the .308 165 grain has the highest coefficient of any hunting rifle.”
The latest purchase further illustrates the fallacy of the DHS’ excuse that it is buying bullets in bulk in order to save money.
The federal agency will pay around $1.20 for each round, when a lower grain round could be acquired for around a quarter of the price.
The DHS has faced questions over the last couple of years as to the purpose of its mass ammo purchases which have totaled over 2 billion bullets, with some fearing the federal agency is gearing up for civil unrest.
The majority of the bullets purchased by the DHS were hollow point rounds (one order alone amounted to 450 million of them). Hollow point bullets just happen to be completely unsuitable for training purposes because they cost significantly more money compared to standard firing range bullets, contradicting claims by the DHS that the bullets were merely for training purposes and were bought in bulk to save money.
Large scale DHS bulk buys have contributed to ammo shortages across the country. In April last year, the Government Accountability Office announced that it would be investigating the issue, although no follow up has been forthcoming.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hypocrisy: Photo-ID Required for NAACP Rally But Not at the Polls?
Participants in a march and rally sponsored by the NAACP got a list of ‘‘do’s and don’ts’’ when they assembled last week. ‘‘DO wear a hat and very comfortable shoes’’ and ‘‘DO bring photo identification (driver’s license, passport or other valid photo ID) with you and keep it on your person at all times.’’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mississippi House Bill Protects Citizens From Local Gun-Control Ordinances
House Bill 314 needs another push from Mississippi gun owners. This is the bill most gun owners have anticipated and desired since House Bill 2 passed last year.
After House Bill 2 was signed by Governor Bryant and it became clear that the State Constitution recognized citizen’s right to carry a firearm, local governments began an assault on the Constitution. Gun owners were surprised when, local mayors, city aldermen, and county supervisors showed their true colors and began passing gun-control ordinances.
Below is a video of a Kosciusko, MS official who obviously has no understand of the State Constitution or the State laws that prohibit a city from enacting gun-control laws. Local officials like the Mayor and Board of Aldermen in Kosciusko are why we need House Bill 314.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mosque Set in Pocatello: Islamic Society Plans to Use Former Location of Restaurant
POCATELLO — For the past 25 years, the Islamic Society of Southeastern Idaho has been holding its services in a small apartment in Pocatello, but officials are hoping to change that in the near future.
The Islamic Society has been saving money for decades in hopes of establishing what would be the only mosque in southeast Idaho, and they finally have enough funds to do it, said Islamic Society General Secretary Daniel Hummel…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mosque Lawsuit’s Cost to County to Rise: Expense of Defense Already Tops $343,000
MURFREESBORO — The county’s $343,276 bill to defend itself from plaintiffs upset about a mosque approval will increase when county government attorneys respond to an appeal request to the U.S. Supreme Court.…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Most Common Coloring in Foods/Drinks Could Cause Cancer
It’s the most widely used food color in the world, though few know enough about caramel color to know it should be avoided. Aside from being brown, it bears no similarities to the sweet candy flavor it’s named after. As a matter of fact, not appetizing at all, it contains a potentially cancer-causing ingredient. A recent Consumer Reports study found that you may be receiving more of it than what’s generally assumed to be safe.
According to Consumer Reports:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Nagin, Former New Orleans Mayor, Guilty of Corruption Charges
Former Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans was found guilty on Wednesday of accepting payoffs for city contracts, becoming the first leader in the city’s history to be charged and convicted of corruption.
The jury deliberated for about six and a half hours in total before finding Mr. Nagin, 57, the Democratic mayor for two terms and the face of the city’s leadership during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, guilty in 20 of the 21 counts against him.
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Obama Signs Order to Raise Minimum Wage for U.S. Contractors
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors and again urged Congress to increase the minimum wage for the whole country.
The new policy raises the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015, from the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, which hasn’t been raised since 2009.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Review of Child Deaths in Texas Uncovers Lies at Child Protective Services
State records show that mistakes by Child Protective Services caseworkers contributed to the deaths of two children and the serious injury of another during the past year.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that investigations by the Office of the Inspector General document the cases. The investigatory body began regularly reviewing child fatalities for the first time in December 2012.
The newspaper obtained records from 95 child death cases that were reviewed by investigators. Of those, 71 indicated that CPS had been involved with the families before the child’s death. CPS was cleared of mistakes in all but two of the cases.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ron Paul: Will No One Challenge Obama’s Executive Orders?
President Obama’s state of the union pledge to “act with or without Congress” marks a milestone in presidential usurpation of Congressional authority. Most modern presidents have used executive orders to change and even create laws without Congressional approval. However President Obama is unusually brazen, in that most Presidents do not brag about their plans to rule by executive order in state of the union speeches.
Sadly, his pledge to use his pen to implement laws and polices without the consent of Congress not only received thunderous applause from representatives of the president’s party, some representatives have even pledged to help Obama get around Congress by providing him with ideas for executive orders. The Constitution’s authors would be horrified to see legislators actively adding and abetting a president taking power away from the legislature.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Second Possible Terror Attack on U.S. Power Plant Uncovered
After fresh attention was brought to an April 2013 sniper attack on a power plant in central California, bloggers are highlighting a second possible attack that occurred less than a week later at a nuclear facility in Tennessee…
Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft highlights another possible attack that occurred just days later on April 21, when a security guard at TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Spring City, Tennessee was involved in a 2am shootout with a suspect.
“TVA spokesperson Jim Hopson said the subject traveled up to the plant on a boat and walked onto the property. When the officer questioned the suspect, the individual fired multiple shots at the officer. The officer shot back, and when he called for backup, the suspect sped away on his boat,” reported WBIR.
Hoft asks if the two attacks were part of a coordinated campaign, while Front Page Magazine’s Daniel Greenfield suggests that the second incident has hallmarks of being a carefully planned act.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sid Caesar: Comic Who Blazed TV Trail, Dies at 91
Sid Caesar, a comedic force of nature who became one of television’s first stars in the early 1950s and influenced generations of comedians and comedy writers, died on Wednesday. He was 91.
From 1950 to 1954, Mr. Caesar and his co-stars on the live 90-minute comedy-variety extravaganza “Your Show of Shows” dominated the Saturday night viewing habits of millions of Americans.
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Sinkhole Swallows 8 Cars at Corvette Museum
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A sinkhole formed Wednesday under the National Corvette Museum here, swallowing eight cars, according to its executive director.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sinkhole Swallows 8 Corvettes at National Corvette Museum in Kentucky
The hole in Bowling Green is 40 feet wide and 30 feet deep. ‘We had several employees in tears,’ the museum’s executive director said. No one was injured.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tea Party Leader is Harassed While Testifying About Being Harassed by the IRS
Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of the King Street Patriots and True the Vote, testified about the intense scrutiny she and her family were subjected to shortly after she applied for tax-exempt status for her group:
“My life before I spoke out for good government stands in stark contrast to the life I now lead. As a wife, a mother, and small businesswoman working with my husband, raising our children and participating in my church and PTA, the government collected my taxes and left me and my family in peace. But when I helped found and led True the Vote and King Street Patriots, I found myself a target of this federal government. Shortly after filing IRS forms to establish 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations, an assortment of federal entities including law enforcement agencies and a Congressman from Maryland, Elijah Cummings came knocking at my door.
In nearly two decades of running our small business, my husband and I never dealt with any government agency, outside of filing our annual tax returns. We had never been audited, we had never been investigated, but all that changed upon submitting applications for the non profit statuses of True the Vote and King Street Patriots. Since that filing in 2010, my private businesses, my nonprofit organizations, and family have been subjected to more than 15 instances of audit or inquiry by federal agencies.“
Engelbrecht was audited by the IRS, ATF and received multiple visits by OSHA and ATF.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In a move both transparently political and utterly contemptuous of the rule of law, the Obama administration has yet again made changes to the healthcare law. The Treasury Department issued a fact sheet Monday, outlining the new regulations (laughingly referred to as “final”).
They now give employers with 50-99 employees until 2016 to comply with ObamaCare’s employer mandate. In addition, employers with 100 or more workers who originally had to cover 95 percent of them to be in compliance will only have to offer coverage to 70 percent of their employees next year, transitioning to the original percentage by 2016. In short, a law written and passed by Congress and signed by the president is becoming whatever the Obama administration wants it to be.
And as usual, the administration wants it both ways. Even as it disputes the idea that ObamaCare is causing many companies to eliminate employees as a means of getting below the 50-worker threshold when the mandate kicks in, Treasury officials warned that businesses must “certify” they are not eliminating workers to avoid that mandate. Employers will self-attest to this reality on their tax forms under penalty of perjury.
In other words the IRS, where not even a “smidgen” of corruption has occurred according to President Obama, could end up as the ultimate arbiter of any employer-employee disputes regarding reasons for an employee’s termination. And a decision in the employee’s favor could yield a one-two punch where a business owner is both cited for perjury and required to implement the business mandate from which he was previously exempt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Pentagon’s Bow to Islamic Extremism
By Raymond Ibrahim
“Caving to pressure from Muslim groups, the Pentagon has relaxed uniform rules to allow Islamic beards, turbans and hijabs. It’s a major win for political correctness and a big loss for military unit cohesion,” said a recent report.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tours of Mosque Promote Understanding
Before visiting the American Islamic Association, Gary Kopycinski always tells his religion students the learning experience will make them “bridge-builders” whenever they encounter people of different faiths.
The students at Marion Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, who already are interested in learning more about Islam and the Muslim culture, become even more engaged in the tour, according to Kopycinski, a theology teacher…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US ‘Catastrophic’ Ice Storm Rolls North
A “catastrophic” ice storm wreaking havoc in the American South is now poised to pummel the eastern seaboard, say forecasters. More than 350,000 people are reportedly without power and 3,000 US flights have been cancelled due to ice and strong winds.
Nearly empty roadways were reported as many heeded warnings to stay indoors. North Carolina and Virginia are bracing for up to 1ft (30cm) of snow as the storm rolls north.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Using Deception, Bloomberg Conspires to Completely Disarm Americans
Violent crimes will skyrocket if Bloomberg’s gun control agenda is realized
Founded in 2006 by Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Mayors Against Illegal Guns recruits U.S. mayors into its gun control agenda under the guise of “making communities safer” through gun control laws.
Yet as we’ve seen time and time again, gun control only encourages criminals who wantonly ignore laws to commit violence against defenseless Americans.
In Jan. 2013, over 42 people were murdered in Chicago, Ill., which has the strictest gun control laws in the country.
Chicago police seized over 7,400 guns used in crimes in 2012 alone even though only around 7,600 Chicago residents have firearm permits, clear proof that violent criminals do not obey gun laws.
Chicago’s politicians have practically granted criminals a subsidy by disarming the population, which makes it easier for criminals to beat, rape and kill residents. Bloomberg wants every city in America to be just like Chicago and he’s misleading the public into believing that gun control will make them safer.
Additionally, prisons will be filled with peaceful Americans who violated the victimless crimes that are gun control laws.
For example, a New Jersey judge sentenced former police officer Dustin S. Reininger to five years in prison after he was arrested in 2009 for carrying firearms in the back of his vehicle during his move from Maine to Texas.
Even though federal law provides safe passage for a driver transporting firearms through a restrictive jurisdiction such as New Jersey, the jury never heard about the law during Reininger’s trial. An appeals court also claimed that the law didn’t apply in his case because the SUV he was driving did not have a trunk.
This is what Bloomberg wants in America: citizens such as Reininger to be victimized by both the system and by criminals.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vast Study Casts Doubts on Value of Mammograms
One of the largest and most meticulous studies of mammography ever done, involving 90,000 women and lasting a quarter-century, has added powerful new doubts about the value of the screening test for women of any age. It found that the death rates from breast cancer and from all causes were the same in women who got mammograms and those who did not.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Washington Post Promotes the “Freedom” of Unemployment Due to ObamaCare
Now that the full court press to refute the findings of the CBO report which, as we reported, confirmed what was largely known — that as a result of Obamacare, the strapped US economy will have even fewer workers as millions will fall back on welfare state entitlements which make hard work obsolete — has failed, it is time for the propaganda to take a different track: one where not having a job, and in fact losing it due to Obamacare, is hailed as an act of nobility. Sure enough, here comes one of the administration’s favorites, the Bezos Times, with “They quit their jobs, thanks to health-care law” which does largely as its name suggests: highlights just how “enabling” and “liberating” Obamacare is for one’s life, once a person is no longer burdened by something as trivial as a job.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Where in the Constitution Does it Say Obama Can Rule by Decree and “Do Whatever He Wants”?
This week, Obama made another major change to the Affordable Care Act without getting congressional approval. At this point, it has become clear that Obama believes that he can change any law, for any reason, any time that he likes…
Charles Krauthammer is completely outraged by all of this. He says that this is the kind of “stuff you do in a banana republic”…
“But generally speaking you get past the next election by changing your policies, by announcing new initiatives, but not by wantonly changing the law lawlessly. This is stuff you do in a banana republic. It’s as if the law is simply a blackboard on which Obama writes any number he wants, any delay he wants, and any provision.
“It’s now reached a point where it is so endemic that nobody even notices or complains. I think if the complaints had started with the first arbitrary changes — and these are are not adjustments or transitions. These are political decisions to minimize the impact leading up to an election. And it’s changing the law in a way that you are not allowed to do.”
And he is right.
For those that have not read it, the U.S. Constitution states that the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed”.
If Obama wants part of Obamacare to be changed, he must ask Congress to change it.
He cannot change laws all by himself.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Wyoming Officials Prepare for Court Fight After EPA Ruling Hands Land to Tribes
Wyoming officials are gearing up for a potential court battle against the Environmental Protection Agency as they try to reverse a sweeping agency ruling that transferred more than 1 million acres of land — including an entire city of 10,000 — to Native American tribes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Yankees’ Derek Jeter Says Next Season Will be His Last
Derek Jeter, entering his 20th season with the Yankees, announced Wednesday on his official Facebook fan page that 2014 would be his final year playing professional baseball.
A Major League Baseball executive confirmed Wednesday that Jeter informed the Yankees’ principal owner Hal Steinbrenner of his plans to retire.
| [Return to headlines] |
‘You All Need to Leave’: SWAT Uses Fla. Woman’s Home Without Permission
A Jacksonville, Fla., homeowner said she was ordered out of her house by members of a SWAT team who were responding to an incident at a neighbor’s residence.
“The cop goes ‘You all need to leave, you can’t be in your house,’“ Deborah Franz said, describing the SWAT team response to her next-door neighbor’s loud fighting, to a local station. She did leave — for the whole six hours standoff that ensued between SWAT agents and someone in her neighbor’s home. Afterward, officers cleared the scene and allowed her to access her home.
What she found shocked her.
“I … came in the door and I stopped. I froze, because I realized somebody had messed with my TV,” Ms. Franz said, the local television station reported. But not just her television.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Husky Energy Makes First Major Canadian Crude Sale to India
Feb 12 (Reuters) — Husky Energy Inc, Canada’s third-largest integrated oil producer, said on Wednesday it made the first major sale of Canadian crude oil to India in the fourth quarter, even as its profit in the period dropped on weak refining results.
The company, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, sold 1 million barrels of crude oil from its White Rose field, off the coast of Newfoundland, in the quarter to state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corp. The sale is the first substantial shipment of Canadian crude to the subcontinent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Airbus Lands $8.3 Billion in Orders for A380
European airplane maker Airbus has clinched a $8.3 billion deal to produce its A380 model for a leading aircraft leasing group. The superjumbo aircraft is the world’s largest passenger plane.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Euro Party’s Le Pen Gains Supporters, French Poll Shows
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s anti-euro, anti-immigration National Front party, is gaining support among mainstream voters, a TNS-Sofres survey published today for Le Monde showed.
Forty-six percent of people polled said Le Pen is “the face of patriotic conservatives, with traditional values,” while 43 percent said she heads the “nationalistic, xenophobic extreme right,” the Sofres survey showed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
BBC Propaganda: “Why I Want a Microchip Implant”
Would you like to have an RFID microchip implanted under your skin? If you are anything like me, you would never allow such a thing to be done. But many others, especially among the younger generations, see things very differently.
RFID microchip implants and other forms of “wearable technology” are increasingly being viewed as “cool”, “trendy” and “cutting edge” by young people that wish to “enhance” themselves. And of course the mainstream media is all in favor of these “technological advancements”. For example, the BBC just published a piece entitled “Why I Want A Microchip Implant”…
We are rapidly entering a dystopian future in which it will be “normal” for technology to monitor our movements 24 hours a day. Most people will probably welcome this change, but it also opens up the door for an oppressive government to someday greatly abuse this technology.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Train Announcement Asks Jews to ‘Get Off at Auschwitz’
Horrifying anti-Semitic announcement on Belgian train bears striking similarity to 2012 incident; perpetrators have not been caught.
A Belgian train announced two weeks ago that Jewish passengers should get off at Auschwitz, according to Walla!, sparking complaints to local police. According to Luxembourg broadcast network RTL, the perpetrators — probably local teenagers playing an anti-Semitic prank — gained access to the speaker system at about 5 p.m. on a train from Namur to Brussels. One of them then announced, in French, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Auschwitz. All Jews are requested to disembark and take a short shower.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Royal Barnes uploaded YouTube clips that hailed attack as ‘brillliant day’; he also admitted inciting murder during Old Bailey hearing
A British Muslim who associated with one of Fusilier Lee Rigby’s murderers today pleaded guilty to posting videos on YouTube glorifying the killing. Royal Barnes, 23, of Hackney, east London, and his wife, Rebekah Dawson, 22, recorded and uploaded three videos shortly after the murder in Woolwich, south London, in May 2013…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgaria: Large Turnout in Plovdiv for Protest Against Muslim Court Claims on Property
More than 1000 people from all over Bulgaria, most of them from football clubs, took part in a February 7 2014 protest in Plovdiv against claims lodged in court on municipal property by the office of the Chief Mufti, spiritual leader of Bulgaria’s Muslims. The claims were lodged on the basis of changes to the Religious Denominations Act…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: PM to Skip Mosque Opening
Helle Thorning-Schmidt will stay away when controversial new mosque opens in May
When Denmark’s largest mosque opens in May in the Copenhagen district of Østerbro, PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt (S) will not be a part of the ceremony. The prime minister has declined an invitation to be part of the opening ceremony, Jyllands-Posten newspaper reports.
The mosque has been under close scrutiny because of its 150 million kroner in funding from the former ruling emir of Qatar.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: New Foreign Minister Wants to Adopt the Euro … Eventually
Lidegaard says that Denmark should adopt the euro when it is stable
If it was up to Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard (R), Denmark would be on the way to phasing out the kroner and adopting the euro.
“It is my personal opinion that Denmark should join the euro when the economic underpinnings of the euro’s stability and robustness are in place,” Lidegaard wrote in an answer to a question posed by parliament.
He added that it was “difficult to predict” when it would be the right time for Denmark to adopt the common currency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: ‘Bookseller From Brønshøj’ Charged With Terrorism
Convicted in 2007, man faces new charges of inciting terrorism
Said Mansour, a Danish/Moroccan citizen who was previously convicted on terror charges has once again been charged by Copenhagen Police with inciting terrorism. Mansour is often known as the ‘Bookseller from Brønshøj’ for his work in publishing terrorist tracts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Counter Terrorism Body Warns Fledgling Islamic Radio Station
The Dutch counter terrorism organisation NCTV is trying to have a fledgling Dutch Islamic radio station closed down for transmitting ‘jihadist ideas’. Internet based Radio Ghurabaa has been broadcasting Dutch and English language sermons for just three weeks but the NCTV fears it could lead Dutch youngsters to travel to Syria and take part in a ‘holy war’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Poll Says 1 in 3 Backs National Front Ideas
Support for Marine Le Pen steadily on the rise over last years
(ANSAmed) — PARIS — Over one in three French citizens polled — 34% — backed the ideas of the far-right National Front of Marine Le Pen in the latest TNS Sofres survey published on Wednesday. It is the highest level of support so far recorded and steadily on the rise.
Six in 10 of those polled — 59% — said they disapproved of the ideas of the National Front, according to the study commissioned by Le Monde daily, France Info radio and TV Capital Plus, which is carried out annually in France since 1984.
The level of support to far-right ideas has been steadily growing over the past few years, from 22% in 2011 when Marine Le Pen took the help of the party, replacing her father Jean-Marie, to 31% in 2012 and 32% in 2013. The image of the party’s president is increasingly popular with 56% of those polled saying they believed ‘she understands daily problems’ experienced by people in France and 40% saying she had ‘new ideas to solve them’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Fury in Italy: After U.N.’s Ban Says Marines Case Bilateral
Committees demand work stopped on overseas-missions decree
(ANSA) — Rome, February 12 — Italian politicians expressed fury on Wednesday after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the case of two Italian marines facing terrorism charges in Indian for allegedly killing two Indian fishermen on an anti-piracy mission was a “bilateral issue”.
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on Tuesday said Rome was appealing to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) after prosecutors in New Delhi requested the pair be charged under an anti-terror law.
“The High Commissioner for Human Rights has agreed to assess the petition,” Bonino added.
The marines have been unable to leave India, apart from two leave permits, for two years.
Italy claims their human rights have been infringed and has won backing from the European Union, which has said the case threatens India’s relations with the EU and the future of international anti-piracy missions.
Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone have been living and working at the Italian embassy in New Delhi pending charges for allegedly killing Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki after allegedly opening fire on their fishing trawler while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala in February 2012.
Italy has said use of the terror law equates Italy with being a terrorist State.
But Ban dealt a blow to Rome’s hopes of getting UN support late on Tuesday.
“It’s better for the question to be addressed bilaterally, rather than with the involvement of the United Nations,” Ban said.
His comments were seen as hand-washing by many in Italy and provoked an angry response.
The parliamentary defence and foreign affairs commissions requested Wednesday for the examination of a government decree on Italy’s international missions to be suspended until Bonino reports to lawmakers on Ban’s comments.
“The United Nations has once again confirmed its expensive uselessness with the secretary-general, a marginal, irrelevant figure on the world arena, refusing to make the kidnapping of our marines in India an international issue,” said Maurizio Gasparri, a Senator for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party. “Ban Ki-moon offends Italy by relegating the issue to the level of a dispute between our country and India, when we are faced with the arrogance of a pirate state with the respect to our soldiers”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Human Trafficking: The EU’s Dirty Secret
European Union citizens from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are the most common victims of human trafficking in Europe. Many of them are women who are sexually exploited.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
On January 8, 2013 someone broke into the Paris office of the Kurdish Cultural Center and assassinated three Kurdish women activists; Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK )co-founder Sakine Cansiz, 50, Dogan Fidan, 32 and Leyla Söylemez, 20. Crowds of Kurds in Paris shouted “Erdogan is the killer”, “We are all in PKK”, “Free Ocalan”.
An ANSA news report on January 10, 2013 cited a French Kurdish leader saying:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Tod’s, Fiat Presidents in War of Words
Business leaders clash over plans by RCS Mediagroup
(ANSA) — Turin, February 11 — A debate between two senior Italian business leaders turned nasty on Tuesday after Diego Della Valle, president of luxury shoemaker Tod’s, invited Fiat Chrysler President John Elkann to take an “internship” in his firm and learn “what it means to work for real”.
And in response, Elkann suggested that Tod’s was a “dwarf” among global luxury brands.
The dispute began after Della Valle sent a letter threatening directors of RCS Mediagroup with legal action over certain transactions including a capital increase plan approved by the board of the national publishing group.
Fiat is one of a group of major shareholders of RCS, the publisher of Italy’s best-selling newspaper Corriere della Sera, with 20.5% of the capital. Della Valle has a minority interest and owns 9%.
In response to Della Valle’s letter, Elkann suggested the Tod’s president mind his own business, which he told reporters outside a business meeting is struggling in a global market.
“I cannot think why Della Valle has concerns about RCS, I think Tod’s (should be) his worry. Compared to its competitors …(it) is a dwarf,” said Elkann.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Tax Agency Denies Sending House Seizure Notice to Suicide
‘Groundless’ reports says Equitalia
(ANSA) — Rome, February 12 — Italian tax agency Equitalia on Wednesday denied reports it had sent a man who committed suicide notice that his house was about to be repossessed because of tax arrears.
Equitalia said the reports were “groundless”.
It also denied sending the 70-year-old Abruzzo pensioner warnings to pay up.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Saccomanni Says Sales of State Assets to Net 8-9 Bn Euros
Government selling stakes in post office, air traffic agency
(ANSA) — Rome, February 12 — The Italian government will net as much as nine billion euros through the sale this year of assets such as stakes in the post office and national air traffic agency, Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said Wednesday.
“In relation to the first phase of privatization that will conclude later in the year, I consider it to be a reliable estimate that the overall financial benefits for the State will be in the order of eight billion to nine billion euros,” Saccomanni said in comments to the Senate’s committee on public works and communications.
He added that the present sale of minority stakes in such State agencies as PosteItalia and Enav does not mean the government can’t sell further shares in future.
The government earlier said it wanted to sell off a 40% share of the national postal service, Poste Italiane Spa, for at least four billion euros by the end of 2014 as part of efforts to raise much-needed capital to offset Italy’s huge debt.
A similar-sized share will be offered in Enav, the Italian air traffic control company.
Poste Italiane is a public company but is controlled by the Italian government with the sole shareholder being the economy ministry.
It offers both postal and financial services.
The government has also been discussing the sale of shares in numerous other holdings including energy company Eni.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Geert Wilders’ PVV Remains Biggest Party in Poll of Polls
Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV remains the biggest party in the latest poll of polls — an amalgam of four main opinion polls, Nos television says on Wednesday. The PVV would take between 25 and 29 seats in the 150-seat parliament if there were a general election tomorrow, the analysis shows. This would give the PVV between 16.6% and 19.3% of the vote.
Actual support for the PVV will not be put to a real test at next month’s local elections because the party is only standing in The Hague and Almere. However, Wilders has high hopes of the European elections in May, and is pressing home his anti-EU message.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Solidarity Campaign Launched for Woman Who Received Death Threats for Opening Wine Bar
Elou Akhiat, a 40-year-old of Moroccan origin, received hundreds of anonymous messages after she opened the Uva Dolce bar in Rotterdam last week.
“It needs to stop. There are far more secular Moroccans who drink and serve wine.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Boy Takes Parents’ Car to Visit Grandparents, Claims He’s a Dwarf
Feb 12 (Reuters) — A ten-year-old Norwegian boy came up with a novel excuse after he drove his parents’ car into a snowy ditch on Wednesday morning: he told police he was a dwarf who forgot his driving license. The boy lives near Dokka, a town about 110 kilometres north of Oslo.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Police Close Down Headscarf Case
Police are closing down the investigation into the case of the pregnant woman in the Stockholm suburb of Farsta who last August was knocked unconscious by an unknown assailant, who ripped off her headscarf and slammed her head against a car. A spokesperson for Stockholm police says there is a lack of evidence to pursue the case further.
The woman was left unconscious in the car park and later hospitalised with a concussion. The incident triggered a country-wide campaign against islamophobia called “hijabuppropet”, where several politicians and media personalities took part. Many other women wearing headscarves told about the abuse they meet from members of of the public.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The ‘Spanish Ancestor’ Rush for Citizenship is on
A bill grants it to descendants of 1492 expelled Jews
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV — A ‘Spanish fever’ of sorts has taken hold in Israel after the Madrid government submitted a bill to grant Spanish nationality to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled in 1492. While Spain’s parliament will vote on the bill in a few months, Spanish consulates on Monday were flooded with a first wave of incoming calls from potential citizens, as local media reported on how to apply for a Spanish passport, with Yediot Ahronot tabloid running a full-page how-to guide.
A Haaretz newspaper cartoon depicted the Spanish embassy in Tel Aviv under peaceful siege by Israelis in colorful football t-shirts, implying that their newfound passion for Spain has more to do with its football prowess than with any true desire for citizenship.
The descendants of the Spanish Sephardic diaspora number an estimated three million people now residing in France, Israel, South America, Turkey and the US. Should Spain narrow down the criteria for eligibility, such as to those who retained their original 15th-century family names, or whose families were registered in Jewish communities on Spanish territory, the number of potential applicants could shrink to several hundred thousand people.
While some Israeli commentators saw the move as a significant step towards closure of the trauma that saw their people expelled from Spain five centuries ago, with the rest forcibly converted to Christianity, others deplored the offer as they did when Germany, Poland and Romania made similar moves.
“It’s sad to see these Israelis who seem only to be looking for an excuse to run away, even to countries which historically did all they could to make Jews disappear from the face of the earth”, one Maariv newspaper reader commented.
The ‘Spanish ancestor’ rush saddens her, because it implies that for such people “Israel is just a temporary stop”, she added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK Police and Companies Will Have Access to Database of All England’s Medical Records
The UK government is currently building a database called care.data that will contain all of England’s medical records. It’s being promoted as providing valuable information for healthcare management and medical researchers that will lead to improved treatment.
Given the extremely sensitive nature of the material that will be stored, you might have expected this to be opt-in, but instead the UK government has chosen to make it opt-out. Not only that, but the relatively sparse information about what was happening was sent in the form of a generic, unaddressed letter that differs little from the dozens of junk mail pieces received by most households each week, and failed to include any easy-to-use opt-out form.
This has fuelled suspicions that the UK government is making it hard to opt out in order to keep the numbers enrolled in the database as high as possible. More recently, good reasons why people might want to avoid the scheme have emerged. For example, it was revealed that as well as being provided to research scientists, the database could also be bought by companies:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK Rolls Out Terror-Attack Plan
Front-line services being trained in new approach to dealing with decontamination of victims in direct aftermath of an event.
A quick wipe-down with a paper towel can help to stem contamination of casualties in the event of a terrorist attack. That research finding is just one of several simple recommendations in the UK government’s plan, now being rolled out, to treat mass civilian casualties in the immediate aftermath of a large-scale chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) attack, or an incident involving hazardous materials.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Storms: Man Dies Amid ‘Almost Unparalleled Natural Crisis’
A man has died apparently trying to clear a fallen tree as hurricane-force winds batter parts of the UK. The dead man, believed to be in his 70s, was killed after the tree brought down power cables in Wiltshire.
Residents in many parts of the UK have been warned not to go out.
The severe flood warnings remain for Berkshire, Surrey and Somerset, which have already been hit by severe flooding, with hundreds of homes evacuated.
Assistant chief of the defence staff Major General Patrick Sanders, who is co-ordinating the armed forces response, described the ongoing severe weather as an “almost unparalleled natural crisis”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Anti-Terror Police Investigating London Jihadi Search ‘Child Killer’s Former Home’
Counter terror police were today searching the suspected former home of the Briton who is believed to have staged a suicide bomb attack on a prison in Syria. Officers are examining an end-of-terrace house in Martyrs Avenue, Crawley after reports that the UK jihadi, who used the name Abu Suleiman al-Britani, carried out the deadly bombing.
The bomber’s real identity emerged today as Abdul Waheed Majid, 41. Bizarrely, the two-storey house was reported to be the former home of child killer Roy Whiting, a paedophile who kidnapped and killed seven-year-old school girl Sarah Payne in July 2000…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Alison Richardson (pictured) was caught on camera abusing a patient at The Priory hospital in Middleton St George, near Darlington.
Alison Richardson, a former care assistant who was convicted of manslaughter after stabbing her ex-partner in 1993, was caught on camera abusing a patient at The Priory hospital in Middleton St George, near Darlington.
A judge has said it was ‘disturbing’ Richardson had been employed to care for vulnerable people, despite disclosing her ‘very significant conviction’.
Footage shows Richardson jamming a bin on to the head of patient at the hospital following a ‘tussle’ in September 2012.
Darlington Magistrates Court yesterday heard on another occasion Richardson, 46, put her hands around the patient’s throat in a ‘throttling position’ before shaking her back and forth and poking her in the ribs.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Extremist Friend of Lee Rigby’s Killer Gloated Over Soldier’s Murder in YouTube Videos
An Islamic extremist friend of drummer Lee Rigby’s killer today admitted posting videos gloating over the murder on YouTube. Royal Barnes, 23, also pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to inciting terrorism by offering his three-door Vauxhall Astra on Facebook as a reward to anyone who killed a British soldier.
Barnes, who was a friend of Michael Adebowale, posted three videos on the internet describing the murder as “brilliant” and claiming that “British people will never be safe on the streets of London”. Another video showed him driving past the floral tributes to Mr Rigby in Woolwich and laughing as “this is where the British soldier died”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Fierce Debates as Britain Sinks Further Underwater
LONDON (AP) — Soggy Britain is being soaked again. The River Thames has burst its banks, rail lines have been washed away, villages have been turned into islands and soldiers are out on the front lines filling sandbags. As residents battled to save their homes — and British politicians battled one another — yet another storm hit the U.K on Wednesday, pummeling the west coast with torrential rain and wind gusts up to 106 mph (170 kph)…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Heathrow Airport Security Seizes “Toy Story” Character Woody Doll’s Tiny Toy Gun
Pay no mind to the “Toy Story” doll; security officers at Heathrow Airport aren’t playing around. This, after a traveler with a cowboy figurine fashioned after the “Toy Story” character Woody says workers at London’s largest international airport pulled him aside and proceeded to disarm the doll of his tiny, fake six-shooter.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lutfur Rahman: The Journey So Far… (His Campaign Video)
Not many words needed for this campaign video, really: watching is everything, seeing is believing. (Andrew Gilligan and I star at about 8 minutes in, secretly and evilly conspiring talking to each other about how the next four years would be storyville.)
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Raid Sussex Home of Suspected Syria Suicide Bomber
Abdul Waheed Majeed, from Crawley, is believed to be the first British citizen to carry out a suicide atttack in Syria
Police are searching a house in Crawley in connection with what is believed to be the first suicide attack carried out by a British citizen in Syria. It is understood Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, who used the nom de Guerre Abu Suleiman al-Britani while fighting with rebels, drove a truck full of explosives into a prison last week in a “martydom mission”. Officers were today examining the house in Martyrs Avenue, Langley Green, Crawley, West Sussex…
In 2007 three men from Langley Green — Omar Khyam, Waheed Mahmood and Jawad Akbar — were convicted for plotting to blow up Bluewater shopping centre and a gas network with a giant fertiliser bomb…
[JP note: Wiki on Langley Green: “Today the small neighbourhood is one the most multi cultural in Crawley and has a lively and friendly community.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley_Green,_West_Sussex See also http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/show-mosque.php?id=648 It is possible that the name of the street, Martyrs Avenue, where Mr Majeed allegedly lived, has its origins in the sixteenth century as there is an Old Martyrs, formerly Martyrs Farm, on the London-Brighton road north of Crawley. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/browse.aspx ]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
World War One: 10 Interpretations of Who Started WW1
As nations gear up to mark 100 years since the start of World War One, academic argument still rages over which country was to blame for the conflict.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Algerian President Warns Against Attempts to Destabilize Military
ALGIERS, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Tuesday warned against any attempts to destabilize the military. “No one has the right, whatever his position, to attack the People’s National Army or other state institutions,” Bouteflika said in a message of condolences to victims of a military plane crash that killed 77 people on the same day…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Jazeera Channel, The Art of Deception!
Electronic voice for the Muslim Brotherhood and their militias
Cairo, Egypt — The mostly hyped up Arab Spring was nothing more than a plan arranged by some foreign intelligence agencies to enable certain groups of radical Islam to attain power to implement the schemes of those countries. The suspicious role of Al-Jazeera Qatari channel in first inciting these revolutions, then amplifying them to spread is now exposed through Egyptian court documents.
The exposure of the Qatari role as a sponsor and a godfather of radical Islam groups and their extremists was only a matter of time.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Army Chief Sisi Goes to Moscow for Talks
Cairo — An Egyptian delegation that includes Defense Minister Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy headed to the Russian capital on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations, Egypt’s army spokesman said.
The visit comes in light of news that the two countries will sign an arms deal worth 2 or 4 billion dollars and in response to a visit made by Russians ministers to Cairo in November…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Walt Disney’s Egyptian Donald Duck Fired for Anti-Israel Twitter Rant
The Arab-language voice over for Donald Duck has been sacked by the Hollywood film giant after calling for Israel to be “demolished”.
The Walt Disney company has sacked an Egyptian voice-over specialist from his role as the Arab version of Donald Duck after he issued a virulently anti-Israel tweet calling for the Jewish state’s destruction. Wael Mansour, known in Egypt as a radio personality, trumpeted the news of his own dismissal in another Twitter post, in which he declared himslef “proud” of his sacking…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Martin Schulz Under Fire After Israeli-Palestinian Comments in the Knesset
A speech by European Parliament President Martin Schulz in the Israeli Knesset has sparked an uproar. His remarks about the conditions in the West Bank caused several right-wing politicians to walk out in protest.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
MKs Walk Out on EU Head’s Anti-Israel Speech
EU Parliament head’s speech sparks walk-out as he repeats PA claims on water discrimination, Gaza ‘blockade.’
A speech in Knesset Wednesday given by the head of the European Union Parliament caused outrage, and ultimately sparked a walk-out. Several MKs expressed upset as EU parliament president Martin Schulz, who spoke in German, repeated as fact Palestinian Authority claims of Israeli discrimination regarding allocation of water in Judea and Samaria, and of a “blockade” on Gaza…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
When Palestinian Protests Turn Violent [Letter From the Israeli Embassy to the Guardian]
In her feature on Palestinian children, Harriet Sherwood writes at length about protests in Nabi Saleh (Weekend, 8 February). She mentions that at least 140 people from the village “have been detained or arrested as a result of protest activity”, neglecting to mention terrorists, such as Ahlam Tamimi, who led a suicide bomber to a restaurant where he murdered 16 people, commenting later that she had hoped for a “larger toll”. When she was released as part of the Gilad Shalit deal, there were celebrations in Nabi Saleh…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
British Jihadists in Syria Cannot be Compared to George Orwell and Laurie Lee
by Douglas Murray
George Monbiot had a moving piece in yesterday’s Guardian in which he reflected on the UK government’s efforts to arrest and charge returning British subjects who have gone to fight the Assad regime in Syria.…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait: Jihadism Punishable With Up to 30 Years in Prison
Proposed anti-terrorism bill follows Saudi example
(by Alessandra Antonelli) (ANSAmed) — DUBAI — Kuwaiti lawmakers are debating an anti-terrorism bill that would punish anyone enlisting in foreign wars or aiding and abetting such enlistment with up to 30 years in prison and 80,000-euro fines.
The implicit aim of the bill is to prosecute Kuwait nationals taking part in the civil war in Syria, local analysts said. The bill presented by pro-government MP Nabil al-Fadhl, an outspoken opponent of hardline Islamists, also calls for prosecuting affiliates or sympathizers of extremist political, religious, or intellectual groups, both local and regional.
The draft law would also prosecute anyone promoting, supporting, or overtly sympathizing with the activities of extremist groups, even just verbally, Al Watan newspaper reported. Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz last week signed into law a similar bill, which had been ratified in December, and which makes anyone who sympathizes with radical political and religious movements, or who fights in overseas wars, punishable with 3-20 years in prison.
The Saudi law also makes “disturbing the peace”, “damaging the reputation of the State”, and “threatening the unity of the kingdom” a criminal offence.
Human rights activists criticized the measure as so broad and vague as to be applicable to all political dissent, including activities that have nothing to do with terrorism.
At least 12 human rights and political activists have been jailed in Saudi Arabia in the past two years.
In Kuwait, the debate has just begun. A commission made up of interior ministry delegates has been appointed to draw up a list of individuals, groups, and movements who are known supporters of armed tactics. Once approved by the government, the list will be released to the media.
The move follows on a New York Times report in November, documenting the money trail from Kuwaiti charitable organizations to pro-Assad forces in Syria. Kuwait replied at the time that the money came from hard-to-control private donations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanese Army Seizes Top Al Qaeda-Linked Militant
(Reuters) — Lebanon’s army on Wednesday arrested a senior al Qaeda-linked militant described by security sources as a “mastermind of car bombs” that have targeted several Shi’ite areas in recent months.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Look Behind the Iran Warships Headed to U.S. Borders
It’s easy to downplay or even dismiss the threat by Iranian warships said to be on their way to sail close to U.S. maritime borders if one merely looks at this move as taking place in a geopolitical vacuum.
The problem is that we are not residing in such a vacuum, and the majority of Americans are not understanding the significance of events that have been taking place since the planning phases of the “Arab Spring.” The American public is not getting the truth from the White House or the Western media that appears to be covering for, if not facilitating the Obama agenda.
How is this relevant to Iranian warships reportedly planning to prod the U.S. maritime borders? To understand why this is happening, we’ve got to understand the bigger picture.
The Obama agenda, as it is for now and as it has been since day one, is the Saudi agenda. That agenda calls for the toppling of various governments and the installation of an Islamic Caliphate under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Media: Turkey Still the World’s Leading Journalists’ Jailer
According to a report by the CPJ released today
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, FEBRUARY 12 — Turkey continues to be the world’s leading jailer of journalists for the second year in a row, as daily Today’s Zaman online reports quoting a report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday. According to the report, there are currently 40 journalists behind bars in Turkey and it was stated in the report that the authorities have continued to harass and censor critical voices, firing and forcing the resignation of almost 60 reporters in connection with their coverage of the anti-government protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in June 2013. “The government tried to censor coverage of sensitive events, threatened to restrict social media, and, in one case, used social media to wage a smear campaign against a journalist. (…).
The jailing of journalists, the conflation of criticism with terrorism, and the government’s heated anti-press rhetoric, which emboldened prosecutors to go after critics, marred Turkey’s press freedom record and thwarted its aspirations to be regarded as a regional leader and democratic model,” reads the report. The report states that along with the 40 journalists who are in prison at the moment, 59 journalists have also been forced out or fired by their employers after criticizing the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Olympic Skier’s Topless Photos Cause Storm in Lebanon
The Lebanese skier Jackie Chamoun, who was previously unknown to many in Lebanon and abroad, and has suddenly become a talking point for all the wrong reasons.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Over 300,000 Iraqis Displaced by Violence in Anbar Province: UN
BAGHDAD, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — Up to 300,000 people fled their homes in two major cities in the Iraqi province of Anbar since six- week-long battles began between anti-government militants and security forces, the UN’s refugee agency said on Wednesday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Police Investigating Possible British Link to Suicide Bombing at Syrian Prison
Anti-terrorism police are scouring a semi-detached house in a suburban community just outside London that media say is linked to a suicide bombing at a Syrian prison last week.
Officials declined to comment on the man’s identity Thursday. The government has become increasingly concerned by the issue of British Muslims traveling to Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar Scales Back Ambitions Amid Financial Constraints
Qatar has bought up banks all over the world, football clubs in Europe, and properties in the heart of London with some of the highest price tags on the planet.
Gulf commentator Kristian Coates Ulrichsen argues that Qatar needs to move “decisively away from the ‘no-expense-spared’ policies of recent years”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Expat Commits Suicide at Prophet’s Mosque
Police are investigating the suicide of an African expatriate at a washroom in the Prophet’s Mosque. The body of the 47-year-old private driver was found hanging from a metal wire tied to a toilet door…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The Rushdie Fatwa: 25 Years on
25 years after the Iranian fatwa, author Salman Rushdie is still hated by many Muslims but he is not being hunted down as aggressively as before. What remains unchanged is the challenge to the freedom of expression.
On February 14, 1989, Iran’s former religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a religious edict calling for the death of British-Indian novelist, Salman Rushdie, for writing the controversial novel, The Satanic Verses, which many Muslims regarded as demeaning their Prophet Muhammad.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Jihadist Rebels in Syria Strangle Woman to Death
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
CFR-supported militants massacre entire village
Chilling video out of Syria shows a woman being strangled to death by jihadist rebels, another shocking reminder that the west is on the same side as bloodthirsty extremists, while a separate rebel group that the CFR urged the United States to become allies with has slaughtered an entire village…
The group responsible for this massacre, Ahrar al-Sham, is the same militant outfit that the Council on Foreign Relations recently called on the United States to “befriend,” despite the fact that it openly swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda front man Ayman al-Zawahiri and is led by a man who helped plan the 9/11 attacks.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In Olympic First, Two Women in Line to Tie for Gold in Olympic Downhill
One of the favorites, Tina Maze of Slovenia, and a journeywoman skier, Dominique Gisin of Switzerland, were in a position to tie for the gold medal in the women’s downhill on Wednesday after all the top skiers’ runs were over. Lara Gut of Switzerland was in bronze medal position. It would be the first tie for a gold medal in Alpine skiing at the Games and the first gold medal for Slovenia at a Winter Games.
Gisin was eighth out of the gate, before any of the big names skied, and her time of 1:41.57 set the early pace. Gisin has won just two World Cup downhills, both in 2009.
Julia Mancuso of the United States was the first of the big names to ski, going 12th. But after a fast start, she lost time farther down the course, was thrown around in several turns, and was not nearly as clean as she was on other days here. She was out of the medals immediately.
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Victoria Nuland’s ‘Ukraine-Gate’ Deceptions
“That’s some pretty impressive tradecraft,” said Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland of the interception and leak of her now-infamous call to US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoff Pyatt. The call consisted of the two plotting to install a US puppet government in Ukraine after overthrowing the current, democratically elected government.
[…]
But the telephone call between the two, we learned yesterday, was not conducted on a secure, encrypted telephone line that the State Department requires for such sensitive conversations and communication. Rather, the call was made over unsecured cell phones and thus easily intercepted with basic equipment that is widely available to anyone. Therefore it was not “impressive tradecraft” at all that led to the capture and release of the conversation.
Nuland and Pyatt obviously knew that at the time, being the two parties to the call. They then either sat by and allowed US government official one after the other accuse Russia of going to great lengths to hack the call without admitting this fact, or they did inform their superiors but Administration officials decided to ignore this critical fact and push accusations against Russia anyway. You never want a serious crisis to go to waste, as it is said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Halts Suspected Reconstruction of Ancient Buddhas
(Reuters) — Afghanistan has halted conservation work at a site once occupied by ancient Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban because the team involved is suspected of secretly trying to rebuild one of the statue’s feet, the United Nations said. Any attempt to rebuild the statues without official permission could lead to the site losing its World Heritage status.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia’s Ethnic Tensions Rise as Its Economy Declines
Robust economic growth has long played a key role in smoothing over tensions between Malaysia’s different ethnic groups. But with that growth sputtering, resentment over the government’s preferential treatment of ethnic Malays may soon boil over.
In the capital Kuala Lumpur stands a poignant sign of Malaysia’s division. Two food courts, located barely 20 meters away from each other in the same shopping area, cater to different ethnic groups. In one, there are only food stalls run by Malays for their Malay customers. In another, all the shops are operated by ethnic Chinese serving food for Chinese-Malaysian diners.
Most Malay people are Muslims and cannot eat Chinese food, much of which uses pork, for religious reasons.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Peace Talks: What’s at Stake as the Government Tries to Negotiate With the Taliban
The Pakistani government has recently opened negotiations with domestic militants called the Pakistani Taliban designed to end years of fighting in the northwest that has cost thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorists Attack Pakistan Theater, Killing 13
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Terrorists threw grenades into a crowded movie theater in northwestern Pakistan Tuesday, killing 13 people, according to authorities.
The attack comes days after Pakistan began peace negotiations with Taliban terrorists fighting in the country’s northwest to end the violence that has killed more than 40,000 people in recent years. The Pakistani Taliban, formally called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is separate from the Taliban fighting NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand Constitutional Court Rejects Opposition Request to Annul Election
Thailand’s constitutional court has rejected an opposition call to annul elections held earlier this month. The court ruled there were insufficient grounds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UNESCO Stops Unauthorised Reconstruction of Bamiyan Buddhas
Organisation says actions of German archaeologists who have partially rebuilt one of the statues “border on the criminal”
The international community has reacted furiously to news that a German-led team of archaeologists has been reconstructing the feet and legs of the smaller of the two Bamiyan Buddhas, the monumental Afghan sculptures blown up by the Taliban in 2001. News of this reconstruction, which has taken place without Unesco’s knowledge or permission, was revealed during the 12th meeting of Unesco’s Bamiyan working group, in Orvieto, Italy, in December.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Did Penguin Recall a Book on Hindus?
The fact that a top publisher has acceded to the demands of a fringe Hindu group has come as a shock to many. (Penguin has refused to comment so far.) “This is deeply disappointing,” historian Ramachandra Guha tweeted. “Penguin should have appealed in a higher court.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Big Jump in China Exports Puzzles Analysts
China has posted a significant rise in its trade surplus, with both exports and imports surging much more strongly than expected by analysts. Many economists suggested the figures may be distorted.
It said exports jumped far more than expected, increasing by 10.6 percent to $207.13 billion (151.81 billion euros), while imports climbed by 10 percent to $175.27 billion. The strong export figures surprised many economists, with some suggesting they were driven by disguised capital flows instead of real demand.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cambodia Garment Worker Dreams of Better Future
Garment factories are the backbone of Cambodia’s economy, yet the people working the sewing machines make just a few dollars a day. Chem Chan is one of them, who despite hardship holds out hope for a better life.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japanese ‘Beethoven’ Admits Hiring Another Composer to Write Works
Acclaimed composer Mamoru Samuragochi, turns out not to have written some pieces and may not even be deaf.
An acclaimed deaf Japanese composer whose work is to be played during the Olympic skating competition turns out not to be the composer and appears to hear normally, says the man’s ghostwriter.
Mamoru Samuragochi, described by his promoters as a 21st-century Beethoven, acknowledged this week that he had paid a ghostwriter to compose some of his internationally acclaimed symphonies and other music.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Doonside Gang Rape: Racial Tensions Close to Boiling Point, Community Leaders Say
Racial tensions are close to boiling point in Sydney’s west following the shocking gang rape of a 14 year-old girl, community leaders have warned. The sister of the teenage victim desperately called for calm on Wednesday after friends encouraged her family to “go out there and fight”.
The victim, who is of Pacific islander background, told police she was assaulted by six men of African appearance in a Doonside park on Saturday night.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Central African Republic: ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Muslims
International peacekeepers have failed to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the Central African Republic, a human rights group says. Militia attacks have led to a “Muslim exodus of historic proportions”, according to a report by Amnesty International…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Extremists Attack Northeast Nigerian Town, Kill 39, Burn Mosque and 1,000 Homes, Villagers Say
KONDUGA, Nigeria — Hundreds of Islamic extremists posing as soldiers attacked a northeast Nigerian town for hours, killing 39 people and razing a mosque and more than 1,000 homes, survivors said Wednesday. In the ruins of the burned-out mosque, bodies covered in cloth lay ready for burial Wednesday, including three small shrouds covering children who did not look more than 10 years old…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Eritreans Enslaved in Torture Camps in Sudan and Egypt
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Hundreds of Eritrean refugees have been enslaved in torture camps in Sudan and Egypt in the past 10 years, enduring weeks or months of violence and rape and extorted by traffickers often in collusion with state security forces.
Some of the refugees have died, and many have been scarred for life — both physically and psychologically — as a result of mutilation, burning, beatings and sexual assault, according to dozens of testimonies collected by Human Rights Watch in a report published on Tuesday.
The report, I Wanted to Lie Down and Die: Trafficking and Torture of Eritreans in Sudan and Egypt, says state authorities have failed to identify and prosecute perpetrators, and have often colluded with them in the kidnap and abuse of refugees.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kenyan Court Charges 70 People With Being Members of Al-Shabaab
Charges follow raid on Mombasa mosque where Kenyan police suspect youths are being recruited to Somali militant group
A Kenyan court charged 70 people with being members of Somali militant group al-Shabaab on Wednesday, after they were arrested during a police raid on a mosque that sparked days of rioting in Mombasa. The 70 denied being members of the Islamist group, which is linked to al-Qaida, and other charges relating to terrorism, possession of arms, robbery and incitement to violence in a crowded courtroom 10km (6 miles) outside the port city…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa Police Clash With ANC Supporters at Opposition March
(Reuters) — South African police fired rubber bullets on Wednesday at stone throwing supporters of the ruling ANC who tried to confront members of the opposition Democratic Alliance party as they marched in central Johannesburg…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
DNA Results for the Nephilim Skulls in Peru Are in and the Results Are Absolutely Shocking
How can we explain elongated skulls that are thousands of years old that contain genetic material “unknown in any human, primate or animal known so far”? For months, many of us have been eagerly awaiting the results of the first DNA tests to ever be performed on the famous Paracas skulls.
The results for one of the skulls are now in, and the scientist that did the testing is declaring that this skull represents a “new human-like creature” unlike anything that has ever been discovered before…
The following quote from the geneticist that conducted the DNA analysis comes from Brien Foerster’s Facebook page. Please keep in mind that this geneticist was not told the history of these skulls in advance. So he was able to examine them without any preconceived notions. What he found was absolutely shocking…
“Whatever the sample labeled 3A has came from — it had mtDNA with mutations unknown in any human, primate or animal known so far. The data is very sketchy though and a LOT of sequencing still needs to be done to recover the complete mtDNA sequence. But a few fragments I was able to sequence from this sample 3A indicate that if these mutations will hold we are dealing with a new human-like creature, very distant from Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Terrorizes Switzerland Over Vote to Limit Immigration
The European Union is terrorizing voters in Switzerland and threatening retaliation against the tiny nation, which is not in the EU, after the Swiss voted on February 9 to limit immigration in a national referendum. Amid outrageous verbal attacks on the Swiss themselves — senior EU officials have been suggesting that “xenophobia” was behind the vote — out-of-touch European politicians and bureaucrats are even warning that Switzerland could lose its current bilateral access to the “common market” ruled by the emerging super-state in Brussels.
The EU, famous for ignoring the public to impose its will, has already started adopting the “consequences” promised by its apparatchiks. According to news reports, the unaccountable regime just suspended talks with Switzerland on incorporating Swiss utilities into the broader European energy market. “No technical negotiations on the electricity agreement are foreseen between Switzerland and the EU at the moment in light of the new situation,” European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen announced to reporters in Brussels on February 11. More pain has been promised.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Will Bring Amnesty Back After Election
They’ve lost what little trust I had in them. The Establishment Republicans in the US House of Representatives, I mean.
Let me be clear. If the GOP manages to pass amnesty for illegal aliens through the House of Representatives before November of 2016, they will have to ram it down the throats of the conservative base. If they are prepared to do that, then we invite then to, by all means, go for it. But they should be prepared to assume minority party status in a three party system afterwards.
I say that because conservatives are preparing to bolt the party and wipe the dust of the GOP off their feet on the way out.
If the conservatives pull out, you can stick a fork in the GOP, for it will be done.
It’s time also for the Tea Party to begin throwing it’s considerable weight around. I would respectfully suggest that the Tea Party leaders need to huddle and come up with new plans to further the conservative cause within the GOP and the Congress as a whole. We all know where “nice guys” finish.
In an article entitled: “Memo to Conservatives: Republicans Aren’t Your Friends” authored by Matthew Vadum at Canada Free Press, Mr. Vadum says the following: “Republicans are nice people. Too many Republicans think it’s wrong to criticize other Republicans. This failure to be forthright has had consequences. It has allowed the Republican Party to take up political space it has no business occupying as it embraces left-wing statist tyranny. Much of the time, the GOP is merely Democrat-lite.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration Groups Turn to Anger
Immigration reform advocates are done playing nice with House Republicans.
After holding their fire for years at the urging of the Obama administration, several immigration reform groups now plan to unleash their anger at the right.
A new, more aggressive campaign kicks off Tuesday, when these groups say they will begin confronting Republican lawmakers at public appearances, congressional hearings and events back in home districts. The goal: Shame Republicans in swing districts into taking up the issue — or make them pay at the ballot box in November.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jose Manuel Barroso: Switzerland Has Most to Lose From EU Immigration Curb
President of European Commission says it’s more important for Switzerland to have access to world’s biggest market than for the EU to have access to Switzerland
Switzerland stands to lose more than the EU from a vote to restrict immigration because it cannot enjoy all the benefits of the world’s biggest market without reciprocal access, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
In an interview for a Reuters Euro Zone Summit, Mr Barroso said the narrow Swiss referendum vote to restore quotas for migrants in breach of an agreement with the EU, would have “serious consequences” for relations between the wealthy Alpine nation and the 28-member union that surrounds it…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Immigration Vote Spreads ‘Hope’ In Britain
Switzerland’s vote to bring back quotas for European Union workers has galvanised Britain’s Eurosceptics. Observers say it will have implications for the country’s policy and own debate on immigration. The UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Eurosceptic Conservatives are pointing to the Swiss relationship with Europe to argue that Britain could also set its own quotas if it too were out of the EU.
“The Swiss people have taken advantage of their position outside the European Union to set their own immigration rules in their own national interest and I congratulate them for doing so,” said UKIP leader Nigel Farage in a statement. “Were the British people to be given their own referendum on this issue then the result would be the same — but by a landslide.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Government to Expand Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage
In a new milestone for gay rights, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. will issue a directive Monday expanding government recognition of same-sex marriages to all federal courtrooms and prisons, and some federal benefits programs.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Film, TV Industry’s Diversity Doesn’t Look Like America’s, Report Says
UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies issues ‘Hollywood Diversity Report.’ Its lead author says ‘Hollywood is woefully out of touch with an emerging America.’
Hollywood still isn’t reflecting the nation’s diversity in its entertainment products, and that omission is costing the industry considerable amounts in lost revenues. That’s the main conclusion of a comprehensive report about diversity in the film and TV industry released Wednesday by UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Left Redefines Abortion as End-of-Life Care
A story on Slate.com has redefined abortion as “end-of-life care.” The author is a medical student and mother who, with her husband, chose to have an abortion saying it was a “parenting decision” — not one of when life begins, but a decision of “how and when life should end:”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
TV Propaganda and the Mind Control Culture
Television’s reporting on politics is miserable by any coherent standard of journalism. The business of television has little to do with an accurate chronicle of events or the meaning of decisions and actions. In order to understand the objectives of the content producers and the basic purpose behind the cultural soothsayers, a review of Mind Control Theories and Techniques used by Mass Media, which is a well documented source that outlines how the mass media really operates, is useful. Examine the specifics and draw your own lessons.
“Mass media is the most powerful tool used by the ruling class to manipulate the masses. It shapes and molds opinions and attitudes and defines what is normal and acceptable. This article looks at the workings of mass media through the theories of its major thinkers, its power structure and the techniques it uses, in order to understand its true role in society.”
The conclusion of this account is a valid summary.
“Lippmann, Bernays and Lasswell have all declared that the public are not fit to decide their own fate, which is the inherent goal of democracy. Instead, they called for a cryptocracy, a hidden government, a ruling class in charge of the “bewildered herd.” As their ideas continue to be applied to society, it is increasingly apparent that an ignorant population is not an obstacle that the rulers must deal with: It is something that is DESIRABLE and, indeed, necessary, to insure total leadership. An ignorant population does not know its rights, does not seek a greater understanding of issues and does not question authorities. It simply follows trends. Popular culture caters to and nurtures ignorance by continually serving up brain-numbing entertainment and spotlighting degenerate celebrities to be idolized. Many people ask me: “Is there a way to stop this?” Yes, there is. STOP BUYING THEIR CRAP AND READ A BOOK.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ancestry of First Americans Revealed by a Boy’s Genome
The genes of a boy who died 12,600 years ago show that all indigenous people in the Americas seem to be descended from the same group of ancestors
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Durie: Why the Henry Jackson Society’s Attempt to Refute Jihadism is Flawed
When the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) on February 4, 2014 issued a monograph, A Guide to Refuting Jihadism: Critiquing radical Islamist claims to theological authenticity (HJS Jihadism Guide) I shared it with a colleague, Clare Lopez. I posed a question to her whether given the HJS authors and Muslim commentators, this effort was tantamount to Da’wa, especially given an endorsement by a bevy of Sunni Muslim scholars. Lopez did not think that the HJS monograph was helpful.
The HJS Jihadism Guide propounded these conclusions:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
This is a Monster: Sunspot Now Larger Than Jupiter… Continues to Unleash Solar Flares
As most Americans go about their daily lives without care or concern for what’s happening around them, 92 million miles away a catastrophic threat may well be in the making.
In January, the NOAA identified a sizable sun spot dubbed AR 1944. Within hours ofwarnings being issued about the potential for this particular region of the sun to cause earth-directed coronal mass ejections it sent an X-class solar flare our way. While powerful, that particular flare and the subsequent M-class flares were not strong enough to cause any significant disruptions on earth.
But as the spot rotated to the other side of the sun things got interesting… and ever more dangerous for the people of earth.
AR1944 has since been renamed to AR1967, and the region is now more active than it was in January. According to sky photographer John Chumack, AR1967 has grown considerably. It is now wider than Jupiter. That’s big. So big, in fact, that you can fit over 100 earth-sized planets into it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why Traffic to These Google Alternatives is Soaring
What you look for on the Internet reveals a lot about you, which is why a growing number of people are turning to services that do not track their searches and offer greater privacy protections than Google…
Ixquick, which started the same year as Google in 1998, and its sister site Startpage had fewer than a million visitors a day in January 2012 when Google changed its privacy policy to combine user information from its various services. Within two months the alternative sites saw traffic double. By spring 2013, the number of visitors was up to about 2.5 million a day. Then Edward Snowden’s revelations about government snooping led to a new wave of interest in the sites. Traffic today is more than five million users a day.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What have AI and others had to say about the widespread Muslim on Christian violence across Africa?
Pamela Geller: The vicious jihad in the Central African Republic rages on. The media’s silence is predictable and complicit. But give them time — if they can spin in it a way that favors the Muslim murderers (as they are doing in Myanmar), then they will cover it every which way but loose. –
See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/02/cnn-warns-ethnic-cleansing-central-african-republic-finally-right-wrong-bosnia-burma-redux.html/#sthash.neZKZo4a.dpuf
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2014/02/13/un-egyptien-arme-d-explosifs-arrete-dans-le-train-paris-venise_4366281_3224.html
An Egyptian has been arrested in possession of explosive material in a bottle. He was onboard a train Paris- Venice. He didn’t realise what it was.
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2014/02/13/un-egyptien-arme-d-explosifs-arrete-dans-le-train-paris-venise_4366281_3224.html
An Egyptian was arrested onboard a train, from Paris to Venice, in possession of explosives material in a bottle. According to the media, he didnt realise what it was. Although the bottle was deemed to be suspicious by customs, as it was wrapped in aluminium and plaster.
When the Swiss banned the construction of minarets in 2010 the EU and hand-wringing liberals in the West tut-tutted and foretold dire consequences for Switzerland. Nothing happened.
With the success of the referenda on deportation of foreign criminals the most recent limiting immigration from EU countries, dire consequences are also predicted by the same types. The Swiss economy, despite the huffing and puffing of Brussels bureaucrats, will not suffer in the least. Any jobs vacated by resident foreigners ( the resulting law enacted in 3 years time will in any event be prospective) would quickly be filled by daily commuters from southern Germany, northern Italy and nearby areas of France. The obvious target group of these Swiss referenda are unskilled immigrants of Maghrebi, Turkish and eastern Balkan origins. The fact that the deportation of foreign criminals includes welfare fraud as a prescribed crime ( in addition to murder, rape and drug trafficking) speaks volumes.
The real scandal is why all European countries haven’t enacted laws to achieve the same goals.