Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/3/2015

According to a spokesman for the Libyan military, kinetic activists for the Islamic State attacked oil fields in Al Bahi and Al Mabrouk, doing significant damage. As of last night, a pipeline connecting two fields had been hit, and oil installations were ablaze.

In other news, the Islamic State has reportedly threatened Twitter, and specifically its founder Jack Dorsey, for blocking ISIS’ accounts.

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

Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Papa Whiskey, Phyllis Chesler, Takuan Seiyo, 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.

USA
» A Well Regulated Militia?
» Chapel Hill Killer’s Rage Went Beyond Parking Dispute
» Chemotherapy Kills Cancer Patients Faster Than No Treatment at All
» Congressman Urges Protection for Power Grid: EMP Attack “Could Bring Our Civilization to a Cold, Dark Halt”
» Doctor Warns That Wireless Technologies Are Greatest Threat to Modern Health
» Ebola Nurse Nina Pham Used as PR Pawn, Damaged by Experimental Medications
» Hamas-Linked CAIR to Sue FBI Over Death of Friend of Boston Marathon Jihadi
» LAPD Chief Says Homeless Man Shot by Police Reached for Officer’s Gun
» Legal Cannabis Generating So Much Tax Revenue in Co That Government May Have to Give Some Back to Residents!
» Little-Known Laws That Cripple American Trade
» N. Idaho Sheriff Backs ‘Constitutional Carry’ Weapon Law
» Obama’s Empowerment of Islam
» Obama “Very Interested” In Raising Taxes Through Executive Action
» Obama to Expand Federal Control Over State, Local Police
» Scum of the Year Award Goes to George Soros — Video
» TSA Lies, Hides the Truth and Punishes Whistleblowers, Claim Federal Air Marshals
» West Virginia Senate: The 2nd Amendment is a Concealed Carry Permit
 
Europe and the EU
» 250 Swedish Military Vehicles Sold to Iraq
» Anti-Foie Gras Petition Lands Before European Commission
» Estonia’s Ruling Pro-Western Reform Party Wins Election
» Europe’s Lowest Minimum Pay is in Bulgaria (Eur 184)
» Five Danes on Forbes Billionaires List
» Government Finally Acts Against Left-Wing Law Firms Making ‘War Crimes’ Allegations Against Blameless British Troops
» Italy: Northern League Picks Zaia as Candidate, Sources Say
» Italy: Finance Ministry Says 80-Euro Bonus a Tax Cut
» Italy: Luxury Eyewear Maker Luxottica Reports Rise in Profits
» Italy: FCA Melfi Union Signs for More Jobs, Higher Pay
» Italy: Shares in Banca Carige Jump Amid Malacalza Investment
» Italy: PD’s De Luca Wins Campania Governor Primary
» Italy: Salvini Says Brussels ‘Worse Than Mussolini’
» Just Four Protestors at Sweden Anti-Islam Rally
» Marine Le Pen Accepts Madonna Drink Invitation
» My Children Were Being ‘Brainwashed Into Becoming Racist’: That’s What UKIP Hopeful’s Ex-Wife Told Family Judge
» Mysterious Mars Plume Discovery is Amateur Astronomy at Its Best
» Norway: Chairman of Nobel Peace Prize Committee Demoted
» OECD Women’s Pensions on Average Worth 28% Less Than Men
» Postwar Rape: Were Americans as Bad as the Soviets?
» Russian Threat Drives Denmark and Sweden to Military Co-Operation
» Spain Outstrips France and Italy in Wine Exports
» Sweden: New Passport Rules by Next Year?
» Sweden: Problem School in Malmö to Reopen on Tuesday
» Sweden: No “Natural Explanation” For the Flat Explosion
» TTIP: The Most Important 2015 Decision We’ll Make
» UK Police Find Body Parts of Missing Bristol Teen
» UK: Decline of the Stay at Home Mother: Just One Woman in Ten is a Full Time Mum
» UK: Five More Arrested After Police Find Dismembered Body in House a Mile-and-a-Half From Where Teenage Student Vanished
» UK: Give Shoplifters Softer Sentences if They Target Top Stores, Says Labour MP David Lammy But Boris Insists it is Not OK to Steal From ‘Swish, Posh Shops’
» UK: Jihadi John’s Brother Was Convicted of Handling Stolen Bikes and Was in Muslim Group Which Supported Hate Preacher Linked to Underpants Bomber
» UK: Oxfordshire Police and Social Services Face ‘Brutal’ Criticism in Report
» UK: The Education of ‘Jihadi John’
» Why the EU’s Plan to Ban Halogen Light Bulbs Should Make You Blow a Fuse
» Zurich and Geneva Become the World’s Dearest Cities
 
North Africa
» Egypt-Serbia: Fight Against Terrorism
» Libya: Military: ISIS Hits Strikes Oil Fields
» Russia, Egypt to Hold Joint Naval Drill in Mediterranean
» Will Egypt Go for Its Own Nuclear Weapon?
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Gazans Feel Trapped, Six Months After Israel-Hamas War
» Israel’s Enemies in America and Russia
» Obama Negotiates Israel’s Destruction
» Obama’s Threat of War Against Israel
 
Middle East
» 180 Americans Joined Islamic Militants in Syria, 40 Have Already Come Home
» How Islamic is the Islamic State? Not Very, Say Experts
» ISIS Threatens Twitter Employees Over Blocked Accounts
» Mutilated by ISIS … Terrified ‘Thief’ Has His Hand Hacked Off With a Cleaver in Front of Crowd in the Terror Group’s Syrian ‘Capital’
» Netanyahu Accuses Obama of Risking “Nuclear Arms Race” With Iran Deal
» Netanyahu Speech Unites Congress — And Diminishes Obama
» Netanyahu Tells Congress Iran on “March of Conquest, Subjugation and Terror”
» Obama Exceeds Chamberlain by Switching Allegiance From Ally to Enemy
» Renzi Says Italy to Open Consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan
» Saudi Arabia: Education Minister Says No to Sports for Girls
» Tikrit Battle Against ISIS: 30,000 Fighters Mount Anti-Islamic State Offensive in Iraq
» Turkey: President Erdogan’s Food Analyzed, Says His Doctor
 
Russia
» China Warns U.S. To Stop Its Ukrainian Proxy War Against Russia
» Moldova: Europe’s Next Powder Keg?
» Russia Ready to Build Aircraft Carrier Larger Than Ones in US Fleet
» US Govt Issues Logistics Support Tender for 300 Military Personnel in Ukraine
 
South Asia
» India Gang Rapist Says ‘Victim Should Not Have Resisted’
» Pakistan Polio Push: 471 Parents Arrested for Refusing to Vaccinate Kids
» West Misses Point — and Lesson — of Buddhist Anti-Muslim Sentiment
 
Australia — Pacific
» Video: Extremely Rare and Strange-Looking Goblin Shark Dissected by Researchers in Australia
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Boko Haram Video Shows Two Men Being Beheaded Accused of Spying
 
Immigration
» Boehner Caves on Amnesty: March 3, 2015 is Day That Will Live in Infamy
» Feds Crack Down on Chinese ‘Birth Tourism’
» Germany: Dresden Asylum Camp Cleared After Neo-Nazi Attack
» Hungary’s Premier Rejects Immigration, Multicultural Society
» Italy: Migration Jumps 43% in First Two Months Over 2014 Levels
» Why Can’t Refugees Travel to Sweden Legally?
 
Culture Wars
» Proper English Grammar is Now Racist
» School Textbook: “There’s No Such Thing as Reverse Racism” — Photo
» School Threatens to Suspend Kids if Parents Skip Meeting on Common Core Testing
 

A Well Regulated Militia?

Anyone who pays attention to contemporary debates and discussions among this country’s “constitutionalists” and “patriots” about the meaning of the Second Amendment soon comes upon the contention that the phrase “[a] well regulated Militia” does not refer to “regulation” by government. Instead, it supposedly means that the individuals who form a “militia” on their own are themselves to put it into proper order, in terms of organization, equipment, training, and discipline suitable for the purposes of a “militia” as they understand those purposes—without any control, direction, influence, assistance, or other participation by public officials.

A. Now, the effect of this theory on the goal of the Second Amendment—”the security of a free State”—indicates that more is involved in the theory’s promulgation than mere industrial-strength ignorance on the part of its proponents. Nonetheless, that ignorance should be exposed and examined…

By channeling those Americans who do become interested in the concept of the Militia into the blind alley of “private militia”—that is, faux “militia” which are not “well regulated” in the one-and-only constitutional sense of that term, and therefore can lay no claim whatsoever to governmental authority—the Forces of Darkness can demonize those Americans as “anti-government” extremists, even as “domestic terrorists”, and target them for harassment, and ultimately elimination, by “law enforcement agencies” acting in the name of government against the supposed enemies of government. In this way, the Forces of Darkness can gain three objectives:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Chapel Hill Killer’s Rage Went Beyond Parking Dispute

By Jonathan M. Katz

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — On the last day of Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha’s life, it was too cold to run.

The 19-year-old North Carolina State University sophomore was training with a friend for a half-marathon in Raleigh. But when her design class let out after noon that Tuesday, Feb. 10, the wind chill was 30 degrees — painful for a North Carolinian. Instead, she hopped into her red Toyota Corolla and set off on the 25-mile drive to the Chapel Hill condominium where her newlywed sister, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, had recently moved in with her husband, Deah Shaddy Barakat.

That evening, at 5:11 p.m., a woman who had just gotten off the bus near the condominium complex heard gunshots and screams and called 911. The Chapel Hill police arrived to find Mr. Barakat, 23, dead beside the front door, bleeding from the head. Yusor, 21, and Razan lay lifeless in the kitchen. An hour later, their neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, turned himself into the sheriff’s office in Pittsboro, 20 miles south.

Since then, in the absence of hard facts about Mr. Hicks’s motives, two competing narratives have emerged. The first, which spread almost instantly around the world on social media, was that the shootings were an anti-Muslim hate crime.

Mr. Hicks’s wife, Karen Haggerty Hicks, suggested another motive. The killings, she said at a news conference the next day, had nothing to do with the victims’ faith, but were “related to a longstanding parking dispute that my husband had with the neighbors.”

[…]

A motive for the shooting may never be known. But interviews with more than a dozen of the victims’ friends and family members, lawyers, police officers and others, make two central points: before the shootings, the students took concerted steps to appease a menacing neighbor, and none were parked that day in a way that would have set off an incident involving their cars.

If those accounts do not prove what kind of malice was in Mr. Hicks’s heart, the details that emerge indicate that whatever happened almost certainly was not a simple dispute over parking.

[But try as it may, the Times can offer nothing more than evidence that Hicks was an unbalanced middle-aged loser who was apparently insanely jealous of his neighbors’ youth, beauty, and success. The women’s hijabs were nothing more than a bit of pepper in the stew. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Chemotherapy Kills Cancer Patients Faster Than No Treatment at All

Dr. Hardin B. Jones, a former professor of medical physics and physiology at the University of California, Berkeley, had been studying the lifespans of cancer patients for more than 25 years when he came to the conclusion that, despite popular belief, chemotherapy doesn’t work. He witnessed a multitude of cancer patients treated with the poison die horrific deaths, many of them meeting their fate much earlier than other patients who chose no treatment at all.

After investigating this further, Dr. Jones found that cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy actually died more quickly, in most cases, than those who followed their doctors’ recommendations by getting the treatment. A few number-crunching efforts later and Dr. Jones exposed a fact that the conventional cancer industry doesn’t want the world to know about its multi-billion-dollar cash cow.

“People who refused treatment lived for an average of 12 and a half years,” stated Dr. Jones about his study’s findings, which were published in the journal Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences. “Those who accepted other kinds of treatment lived on an average of only 3 years.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Congressman Urges Protection for Power Grid: EMP Attack “Could Bring Our Civilization to a Cold, Dark Halt”

When it comes to an EMP attack, the question remains “when” not “if” the SHTF. Few other scenarios hold as much potential for disaster and disruption to the lives of everyone in society. At a moment’s notice, 300 million Americans could be made instantly desperate — and even likely to die in the aftermath. A single event could easily be enough to take down the power grid and render inoperable all the computers and electronic tools that individuals, businesses, banks and governments all rely upon.

Arizona Congressman Trent Franks recently reintroduced a bill intended to provide better security for critical infrastructure, with particular emphasis on the threat posed to the power grid by an EMP — which Rep. Franks points out could occur either naturally from a solar flare or by way of a targeted man-made weapon.

In reintroducing the bill this week, Franks said, “The Department of Homeland Security has the specific responsibility to secure the key resources and critical infrastructure in the United States, to include power production, generation and distribution systems. Yet thirteen years after this job description was enacted, our nation’s most critical infrastructure — and the systems that more than 300 Million Americans depend upon every day for basic activities — are still vulnerable to large scale blackouts.

“Anyone who understands how critical our power grid has become in modern America to feeding our families or keeping our children warm will understand why this act is so crucially important. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Act will enhance DHS threat assessments for geomagnetic disturbances and electromagnetic pulse blackouts which will enable practical steps to protect the vital electric grid that serves America….”

The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) resulting from an extreme solar flare or a targeted nuclear blast has the power to single-handedly wipe out the electric grid, and permanently disable nearly everything hooked up to it, from computers to electronic devices and much more.

Back in September, Frank layed out the consequences of an EMP attack:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Doctor Warns That Wireless Technologies Are Greatest Threat to Modern Health

(NaturalNews) Is a world filled with Wi-Fi signals a more dangerous, less healthy world? Yes, it is, according to a number of top experts who have spoken recently about the issue.

In this video, Dr. Stephen Sinatra, one of the nation’s top “integrative” cardiologists, says that “wireless technologies” are “the greatest threat to health in this millennium.”

He goes on to say that, by wireless technologies, he means cell phones, microwave ovens, baby crib monitors and Bluetooth devices, among others. He also notes that the biggest danger being posed by the wireless technology is the near-constant damage done to cell membranes’ receptor sites, which help keep cells healthy and functioning.

When microwaves and other electronic signals begin to permeate cell membranes, receptor sites begin to shut down, he said, allowing the cells to age prematurely, leading to more sickness.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ebola Nurse Nina Pham Used as PR Pawn, Damaged by Experimental Medications

(NaturalNews) She became the face of the Ebola crisis during its publicity peak last fall. But nurse Nina Pham, the first known case of an individual contracting Ebola within the U.S., is now suing the parent corporation of her former employer, which she says violated her personal privacy and left her chronically ill by exploiting and neglecting her during the outbreak.

Pham reportedly filed a lawsuit on March 2 in Dallas County against Texas Health Resources, the overseer of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital where she contracted Ebola while treating “patient zero” Thomas Eric Duncan. The 26-year-old nurse says she now suffers from constant nightmares, body aches and insomnia due to the experimental medications that were forced upon her while in isolation.

She also says the hospital was negligent in properly training both her and the other nurses in how to safely care for Ebola patients, resulting in her contracting the disease. According to Pham’s lawyer, the nurse is seeking damages for physical pain, mental anguish, medical expenses and loss of future earnings…

Despite being Duncan’s primary nurse, Pham says she was among the last to be informed that he had tested positive for Ebola. The entire hospital became stricken with panic as a result, leading to chaos and failed protocols that exposed Pham and her close nurse friends to a disease that could have killed them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hamas-Linked CAIR to Sue FBI Over Death of Friend of Boston Marathon Jihadi

By Robert Spencer

The Associated Press reported in March 2014 that according to an official report on the incident, the FBI agent who shot Todashev was “justified” in doing so, as “Todashev, a mixed martial arts fighter, flipped a coffee table in the air, knocking down the FBI agent and causing a bloody gash on the agent’s head. Todashev then ran past the two officers, into the kitchen and returned with a pole — a long metal handle of a broom or mop — that he pointed at the Massachusetts officer, the report said.”

This is just yet another attempt by the Hamas-linked terror organization CAIR to stymie counter-terror efforts.

Note also that AP once again calls Hamas-linked CAIR a “civil rights group,” and doesn’t see fit to mention its unsavory links to Hamas, the jihad terror convictions of several of its former officials, etc.

“Civil Rights Group To Sue FBI For $30M Over Chechen Man’s Death,” by Mike Schneider, the Associated Press, March 2, 2015:

ORLANDO, Fla. Leaders of a civil rights group said Monday that they plan to sue the FBI for $30 million on behalf of the family of a Chechen man who was fatally shot while being questioned about a Boston Marathon bombing suspect.

The Council of American-Islamic Relations Florida filed a notice stating its intention to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the FBI over the death of Ibragim Todashev.

CAIR officials said they hope the lawsuit forces the FBI to change aspects of its hiring practices, where it interrogates people and how it investigates its agents, who are rarely disciplined for such shootings.

[In 1914, the German-controlled Ottoman cleric Sheikh Shawish propounded the idea of “jihad of the heart” and “jihad of the pen.” To this, Muslims in the U.S. have added the “jihad of litigation,” in order to prepare the American battlespace for kinetic jihad later. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

LAPD Chief Says Homeless Man Shot by Police Reached for Officer’s Gun

LOS ANGELES — Police fatally shot a homeless man on Skid Row during a “brutal” videotaped struggle in which a rookie officer cried out that the man had grabbed his gun, the Los Angeles police chief said Monday.

Video showed the man reaching toward the officer’s waistband, Chief Charlie Beck said. The officer’s gun was found partly cocked and jammed with a round of ammunition in the chamber and another in the ejection port, indicating a struggle for the weapon.

“You can hear the young officer who was primarily engaged in the confrontation saying that ‘He has my gun. He has my gun,’“ Beck said. “He says it several times, with conviction.”

Then three other officers opened fire.

The man was black, as is the rookie officer who was just short of completing his probationary year on the force, police said.

[Here we go again — another pity party for some minority moron who felt obliged to resist arrest. Sharpton, Crump, et al., call your offices! — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Legal Cannabis Generating So Much Tax Revenue in Co That Government May Have to Give Some Back to Residents!

(NaturalNews) The Colorado legislature is desperately trying to finagle its way out of having to refund an excess of tax revenues generated from legal cannabis sales in the Centennial State. So much tax money has been brought into the state’s coffers since marijuana was legalized in 2014 that a portion of it will have to be refunded to taxpayers in accordance with Colorado’s Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights.

Passed in 1992, the voter-approved constitutional amendment requires the state of Colorado to refund taxpayers when the state brings in more tax revenue than allotted under the law. Based on a formula that looks at both inflation and population growth, any determined overpayments are directly refunded to taxpayers, a situation that has occurred six times since the amendment was passed, with more than $3.3 billion being disbursed.

The purpose of the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights is to protect Colorado taxpayers from being bilked by the government — once the approved threshold for a particular tax is reached, the government is prohibited from collecting any more and must refund any excess. Sounds perfectly fair, right? Except in the case of legal cannabis, both Republicans and Democrats are playing politics and attempting to revive Reefer Madness-era stigmas about marijuana in order to keep tax money that doesn’t belong to them.

According to reports, a bipartisan effort at the state level is seeking to create a new ballot amendment that, if voters approve it, will exempt cannabis tax revenue from having to be refunded once it exceeds the legal limit.

[Comment: Drooling over the extra money in the trough.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Little-Known Laws That Cripple American Trade

The harm that Britain’s protectionist Navigation Acts imposed on the colonies was a major impetus for the American Revolution.

But the United States did not abandon those unjustifiable restrictions. Even before the Bill of Rights was adopted, Congress in 1789 enacted similar protectionist restrictions on coastal shipping. It is centuries past time to eliminate such harmful restrictions and the Jones Act that is their modern progeny.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

N. Idaho Sheriff Backs ‘Constitutional Carry’ Weapon Law

A northern Idaho sheriff says he supports allowing residents to carry concealed weapons without needing a permit.

Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said on Sunday that the “Constitutional Carry” bill introduced by lawmakers last month aligns Idaho law with the true meaning of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Empowerment of Islam

It is true that Thomas Jefferson owned a Koran. He believed it to be important to understand the enemy. Jefferson also hosted a dinner meeting at the White House with an emissary from the Barbary States, but it was not a social visit, but an attempt to position the Iftar into submission after the USS Constitution captured ships from the Bey of Tunis during the first war with the Barbary Pirates. Jefferson’s knowledge of Islam, to that point, was primarily from 1786, after Barbary pirates attempted to blackmail America into monetary tribute. At that time, the Barbary emissary justified piracy with reference to the Koran, according to a report from Jefferson:

“The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.”

John Quincy Adams, writing of these negotiations, stated:

“The precept of the Koran is perpetual war against all who deny that Mahomet is the prophet of God. The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute; the victorious may be appeased by a false and delusive promise of peace; and the faithful follower of the prophet may submit to the imperious necessities of defeat: but the command to propagate the Moslem creed by the sword is always obligatory, when it can be made effective. The commands of the prophet may be performed alike, by fraud, or by force.”

Quincy Adams would later lament, “Such is the spirit, which governs the hearts of men, to whom treachery and violence are taught as principles of religion.”

The negative views of Islam were not restricted to only those early Americans. Montesquieu wrote that the Turks were despotic. William Blackstone wrote that religion could be used for despotism, as shown by “terrible ravages committed by the Saracens in the east, to propagate the religion of Mahomet.” Thomas Paine wrote of Islam in Common Sense, but only as a reference point for despotic attempts to stifle liberty: he said that divine right of kings was a “superstitious tale, conveniently timed, Mahomet like, to cram hereditary right down the throats of the vulgar.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama “Very Interested” In Raising Taxes Through Executive Action

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest confirmed Monday that President Obama is “very interested” in the idea of raising taxes through unitlateral executive action.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama to Expand Federal Control Over State, Local Police

The Obama administration released a plan to expand federal control over state and local law enforcement.

The plan released Monday, entitled Task Force on 21st Century Policing, advocates the federalization of police agencies across the country by forcing them to adhere to stricter requirements when they receive federal funding.

“The U.S. Department of Justice, through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services [COPS] and Office of Justice Programs, should provide technical assistance and incentive funding to jurisdictions with small police agencies that take steps towards shared services, regional training, and consolidation,” one of the numerous recommendations in the plan stated…

The plan follows the same strategy laid out by Common Core: expand federal power on the state and local level by adding more conditions to federal funding.

[Comment: Embrace. Extend. Extinguish. Consolidation under one hierarchy…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Scum of the Year Award Goes to George Soros — Video

The biggest money in the Net Neutrality debate is from the liberal foundations that lavish millions on self-styled “grassroots” groups pushing for more and more regulation and federal control.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

TSA Lies, Hides the Truth and Punishes Whistleblowers, Claim Federal Air Marshals

(NaturalNews) Everyone’s least favorite agency, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) — the one responsible for making passing through an airport as miserable and demeaning an experience as possible — has apparently made a policy of over-extending its internal administrative powers as well.

According to a recent National Review article, top-level TSA management figures “intentionally hid embarrassing information about supervisors’ misconduct and targeted employees who sought to expose the truth.”

This was accomplished by repeatedly and systematically invoking an agency-specific secrecy designation called Sensitive Security Information (SSI). Information can be kept from the public in the name of transportation security, but whistleblowers from within the agency and others are accusing TSA brass of using the designation to protect themselves from scrutiny.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

West Virginia Senate: The 2nd Amendment is a Concealed Carry Permit

On February 27 the West Virginia senate passed a bill to eliminate the need for obtaining a permit to to carry a concealed handgun, citing the 2nd Amendment as reason enough to exercise an “inherent right.”

Five other states—Alaska, Arizona, Montana, Vermont, and Wyoming—already recognize the 2nd Amendment as sufficient justification for carrying concealed. And on February 13, Breitbart News reported that the New Hampshire senate voted to rescind their requirement for a permit for concealed carry.

According to The Charleston Gazette, West Virginia senators voted 32-2 for passage of the bill to eliminate the permit requirement. Besides rescinding the permit requirement, the bill recognizes the age of legal concealed carry should be 18 years, not 21.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

250 Swedish Military Vehicles Sold to Iraq

Two-hundred-fifty Swedish tanks of the type BMP-1 are secretly being shipped to Iraq, Swedish Radio News reveals. It is illegal in Sweden to export weapons to Iraq, but the tanks are being sold via a company in the Czech Republic.

In 2010, the Swedish Defence Material Administration, FMV, sold 350 light tanks to a state-run Czech company. The vehicles were no longer needed by the Swedish armed forces, and the Czechs said they were going to be used by the Czech army. That is according to the person at FMV who was in charge of the sale.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-Foie Gras Petition Lands Before European Commission

‘Cruel, unhealthy’ practice still legal in five EU countries

(ANSA) — Brussels, March 3 — A delegation of three MEPs on Tuesday handed the European food safety commissioner a petition with 320,000 signatures urging the EU to ban the production of foie gras.

Fatty liver paté is obtained by force-feeding geese and ducks by ramming pipes down their throats three times a day and pumping up to four pounds of grain and fat into their stomachs, according to petition co-sponsor People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

This causes their livers to grow to 10 times their normal size, a practice which the petition signatories say is cruel and causes disease in the animals.

The signatures were collected by four animal rights NGOs and delivered by German independent leftist Stefan Eck, Dutch animal rights party MEP Anja Hazekamp, and British Labour MEP David Martin. The petition calls for the practice to be banned in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary and Spain — the only five countries in which it is still legal.

“We submitted a wealth of scientific evidence and formal appeals against the violations committed in the production of foie gras,” said Peter Stevenson from Compassion in World Farming NGO.

“The response has been pathetic,” he added.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Estonia’s Ruling Pro-Western Reform Party Wins Election

Eds: Updates with comment from prime minister, voter. Adds detai

(ANSA-AF) — TALLINN (ESTONIA) ? Estonia’s ruling Reform Party has emerged as the overall winner in the Baltic country’s general election dominated by economic issues and security concerns over Russia’s actions in Ukraine. With all votes counted, Prime Minister Taavi Roivas declared victory early Monday. Polls had predicted a close race between the governing center-right coalition and the opposition Center Party, favored by ethnic Russians.

Roivas’ pro-Western, liberal party won 28 percent of the votes to take 30 seats, three seats less than in the previous election but five more than the main opposition centrists.

The ruling coalition now holds 45 seats in the 101-seat Parliament, down from 52 after the previous election in 2011, meaning reforms in the government composition are expected although mainstream policies likely will remain the same.

Even though Estonia is a NATO member, many are worried that Moscow will try to increase its influence in the former Soviet republic, where one-fourth of its 1.3 million residents are ethnic Russians. All main political parties strongly support defense spending and a continuation of the NATO presence in Estonia, which together with neighbors Latvia and Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union for nearly five decades.

“I think NATO’s pledge to defend Estonia doesn’t mean anything. We’re located in a buffer zone and NATO just reacts too slowly,” said Ivari Manni, a 51-year-old designer who voted at a Tallinn shopping center. “Estonia should adopt a Swiss-style home army model, where guns are kept at home.” The main electoral differences focused on economic questions, including tax reforms. Estonia has continued to show strong growth even as many of its European partners are struggling.

All wage earners pay a flat 20 percent income tax, which opposition centrists want to change to a progressive tax system ? a move supported by the minority government partner, the Social Democrats.

The Reform Party is opposed to abolishing the current tax system, focusing instead on job creation to improve the economy of Estonia, a member of the eurozone since 2011.

Preliminary results showed a 63.7 percent turnout in the electorate of almost 1 million, up from 63.5 in 2011.

Some 176,000 votes were cast electronically, setting a record in the country, which pioneered online voting in 2005.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Europe’s Lowest Minimum Pay is in Bulgaria (Eur 184)

Eurostat: ten New Europe countries below EUR 500 mark

(ANSA) — TRIESTE — The minimum monthly salary in Europe varies from 184 euros in Bulgaria to 1.923 euros in Luxembourg, according to the data published by Eurostat.

In January 2015 ten EU states, all within the New Europe region, had their minimum salaries below the 500 euros mark: Bulgaria (184), Romania (218), Lituania (300), Czech Republic (332), Hungary (333), Latvia (360), Slovakia (380) and Estonia (390).

Amongst the countris for which the data was available, five had the minimum wage set between 500 and 1000 euros: Portugal (589), Greece (684), Malta (720), Spain (757) and Slovenia (791). In other seven EU countries the minimum wage was above 1000 euros: United Kingdom (1.379), France (1.458), Ireland (1.462), Germany (1.473), Belgium andthe Netherlands (1.502) and Luxembourg (1.923). The minimum salary in the United States is 1.035 euros, Eurostat reminded.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Five Danes on Forbes Billionaires List

Being a billionaire in Denmark is one thing, but being a billionaire in US dollars and ending up on Forbes magazine’s Billionaires List is quite another feat. That narrows the list down to five.

The annual list is led by the usual suspects Bill Gates, Carlos Slim Helu and Warren Buffet etc, but a little further down the list — ranked the 129th wealthiest person in the world — is Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the richest Dane.

Kristiansen’s fortune of about 65.1 billion kroner comes from his 75 percent ownership of toy giant Lego and 30 percent stake in Merlin Entertainment, which owns Legoland, the London Eye, Madame Tussauds and the Heide Park resort in Germany.

The second-richest Dane on the list is Anders Holch Povlsen (ranked 271st in the world), who has accrued a fortune of 36.5 billion kroner through his ownership of clothing giant Bestseller.

No rich Dane list would be complete without the king of bedding, Lars Larsen, whose Jysk empire has netted him a fortune of 25.9 billion kroner, making him the 435th richest person on the planet.

Tied with ‘Dyne Larsen’ at 435th is Niels Peter Louis-Hansen, the co-owner, majority share holder and deputy head of the medicinal company Coloplast.

Finally, ranked 690th in the world and as the 79th richest woman on the list, Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak enjoys a fortune of 17.9 billion kroner. Kasprzak is the owner and head of the Danish shoe producer ECCO, which sold over 20 million pairs of shoes in 2013.

But the Danes can only look with envy across the Øresund Sound to find the richest Scandinavian person. Stefan Persson, the owner of H&M, has a fortune of 163 billion kroner, making him the 28th richest person on the globe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Government Finally Acts Against Left-Wing Law Firms Making ‘War Crimes’ Allegations Against Blameless British Troops

Hallelujah! Finally, the Government is retaliating against Left-wing law firms who make vexatious allegations of ‘war crimes’ against blameless British troops.

This column has argued for years that the lawyers involved should be forced to pay the full costs of the unsuccessful cases they bring against members of the Armed Forces.

Now the Ministry of Defence has decided to do exactly that. On the orders of the Prime Minister, it is preparing to sue Birmingham-based Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) for millions of pounds and seeking to have its founder, Phil Shiner, struck off.

As regular readers may recall, for the past dozen years self-proclaimed socialist Shiner has made a fat living pursuing allegations of abuse by British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. His representatives have been greedily drumming up business in the backstreets of Basra and beyond, all funded out of the legal aid budget.

It is estimated that PIL has been paid more than £3 million by British taxpayers in relation to claims which have subsequently been proved to be false.

The MoD says that Shiner’s outfit and another firm, Leigh Day, deliberately misled a public inquiry into alleged atrocities in Iraq.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Northern League Picks Zaia as Candidate, Sources Say

Leadership of regional party split over Veneto region

(ANSA) — Milan, March 2 — The Northern League federal council unanimously chose Veneto Governor Luca Zaia as its candidate for the same post in the next regional election, sources said Monday as the meeting continued.

There are reportedly large rifts within the right-wing party over regional leadership, particularly between Zaia and Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi.

He has complained that Zaia and League leadership were attempting to undermine the autonomy of the Liga Veneta, which wants to obtain autonomy for the Veneto region.

Zaia had called the prospect of Tosi standing as an independent candidate “a hypothesis that Venetians would find…beyond their worst expectations”.

“I think that (Tosi) knows very well he can’t run against his own party’s candidate”.

Northern League leader Matteo Salvini had also lashed out at Tosi, calling his dissident remarks “madness”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Finance Ministry Says 80-Euro Bonus a Tax Cut

Disputes Istat report that tax burden jumped in 2014

(ANSA) — Rome, March 2 — Italy’s finance ministry argued Monday that an 80-euro monthly tax bonus for low-income earners should be viewed as a tax cut and not as a social program.

That means the tax burden last year actually fell to 43.1% in 2014 from 43.4%, it said, disputing an Istat report earlier Monday that said the tax burden rose last year to 43.5%.

The finance ministry suggested Istat considered the tax bonus as social spending which excluded it from calculations of the average tax level as a percentage of the overall economy.

Istat therefore missed a tax reduction in its calculations, finance officials argued.

They also pointed to the government decree of last May putting the tax bonus into affect described as an effort to reduce the tax burden and the so-called tax wedge.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Luxury Eyewear Maker Luxottica Reports Rise in Profits

Dividend of 1.44 euros per share

(ANSA) — Milan, March 2 — Luxury eyewear maker Luxottica on Monday said its 2014 net profits jumped 18% to reach 642.6 million euros.

The company said revenues rose by 6.7% over 2013 levels to reach 7.6 billion euros.

Luxottica, which produces such brands as Ray-Ban and Oakley, said it will offer shareholders a dividend of 1.44 euros per share.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: FCA Melfi Union Signs for More Jobs, Higher Pay

1,000 ‘structural hirings’ at southern plant

(ANSA) — Potenza, March 2 — A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) union on Monday signed a deal at FCA’s southern Melfi plant upping shifts from 15 to 20. The deal means “a total of 1,000 structural hirings, including the 700 already made,” as well as pay hikes, the RSA Uilm union said. The increases at the Melfi plant, about two hours southeast of Naples, will service production of the new Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X. FCA last week announced a production increase in Panda model cars at its Pomigliano d’Arco plant, where 12 workers who were put on reduced-hour contracts will now be back on the job full-time.

At the time, Fiom said Melfi workers weren’t happy about the agreement signed during nighttime negotiations with other labor unions.

FCA announced plans earlier this year to expand production of several models and boost sales, and Panda production at the Pomigliano d’Arco plant outside Naples will increase from 400 vehicles per shift to 420.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Shares in Banca Carige Jump Amid Malacalza Investment

Businessman tells La Stampa ‘possibility’ of greater stake

(ANSA) — Rome, March 2 — Shares in Banca Carige rose by more than 11% in trading Monday on Milan’s stock exchange amid reports the Malacalza family could increase its stake by as much as 24%.

Vittorio Malacalza, a powerful Italian businessman, said in a published report earlier in the day that his family business group took at 10.5% stake in the Genoa-based bank “for the good of the bank and the city”.

He also told La Stampa that “it is a possibility” that the Malacalza group stake could increase to 24%, giving it control over the bank that has been struggling to boost capital reserves since a major review by the European Central Bank late last year found it wanting.

The bank is trying now to raise 700 million euros to fill capital reserves to the levels required by the ECB.

Meanwhile, Carige President Cesare Castelbarco Albani said that the Malacalza investment will give the bank a significant boost.

“The contribution of their considerable business skills will be crucial for the future development of the Banca Carige,” said Castelbarco Albani.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: PD’s De Luca Wins Campania Governor Primary

Anti-mafia journalist Saviano had urged boycott

(ANSA) — Naples, March 2 -Francesco De Luca from the ruling Democratic Party (PD) has won Sunday’s primary to become the center-left candidate for governor of the southern Campania region, sources said Monday. De Luca garnered 52% of the vote, beating fellow PD member and MEP Andrea Cozzolino who garnered 44% and Socialist Marco di Lello at 4%.

Voter turnout of 157,000 was hailed as a satisfactory number by the PD.

Crusading anti-mafia journalist Roberto Saviano, who is from the Campania region and lives under police protection, had called for a boycott of the primary vote.

The center-right candidate will almost certainly stand against incumbent Governor Stefano Caldor from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI) party in May regional elections.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Salvini Says Brussels ‘Worse Than Mussolini’

Maroni says Northern League not closed to FI alliance

(ANSA) — Milan, March 3 — Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said Tuesday that Brussels is “much worse than Mussolini,” referring to Italy’s former fascist leader.

Salvini, who has been campaigning hard against the power of the European Commission and related authorities, told regional broadcaster Radio Padania that financial markets are also too powerful.

He said that too much attention is paid to the spread between interest rates in Italy and in Germany, the latter usually judged by investors to be a more secure investment.

Meanwhile, Northern League Governor Roberto Maroni said that he hoped an alliance with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI) might yet be possible.

Both parties are on the right wing of the political spectrum, and pundits say the right is being torn apart by divisions between rival factions.

In an interview with RAI Radio Two, Maroni said that the Northern League’s federal council on Monday “did not close the door” to regional cooperation with the FI, in part to smooth divisions on the political right.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Just Four Protestors at Sweden Anti-Islam Rally

Counter-demonstrators dramatically outnumbered anti-Islam protesters at a Pegida rally in Linköping in southern Sweden, with reports that just four people turned up to support the right wing group, while up to 400 others rallied in support of diversity.

The march went ahead on Monday night even after the local organizers dropped out at the last minute.

But among the Pegida representatives present in the town’s main square were several high profile names in Sweden: Dan Park, an artist who has previously been convicted of inciting racial hatred and Henry Rönnquist, the gallery owner who exhibited Park’s controversial pictures and the man who founded Pegida in Sweden.

Dan Park was also reported to have been present at the cultural centre in Copenhagen where a terror attack took place last month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Marine Le Pen Accepts Madonna Drink Invitation

Invitation may herald dialogue between singer and politician

(ANSA) Paris, March 3 — French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said Tuesday she will accept “with pleasure” an invitation by former foe Madonna to bury the hatchet between the two women.

Recently Madonna denounced what she said was the climate of violence, intolerance and anti-semitism sweeping through France and Europe with the rise in support for parties like Le Pen’s National Front “making me think of Nazi Germany”.

During a 2012 tour Madonna climaxed a concert by displaying a photo montage of Marine Le Pen with a Nazi swastika on her forehead.

However when asked about Le Pen this week Madonna said “I would like to have a drink with her, perhaps I misunderstood her”.

“I don’t want to fight a war, I want peace in the world, I would like to meet her and speak to her, to know what she really thinks about human rights issues not just in France but in the whole world,” said Madonna.

Le Pen for her part said “I accept with pleasure Madonna’s invitation, I appreciate people who act in good faith”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

My Children Were Being ‘Brainwashed Into Becoming Racist’: That’s What UKIP Hopeful’s Ex-Wife Told Family Judge

A mother who tried to ban her ex-husband from taking their children to Ukip events has claimed they were being brainwashed with racist and homophobic views.

She feared he was ‘abusing their childhood’ by ‘pumping them full’ of the party’s political beliefs.

Some ‘99.9 per cent of parents’ would recognise that children should not be involved in political activities, she claimed. Her allegations emerged after a judge lifted a ban on the father, who is standing as a Ukip candidate, from involving the children in rallies.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mysterious Mars Plume Discovery is Amateur Astronomy at Its Best

A mysterious plume of material reaching high into the Martian atmosphere has scientists buzzing about the Red Planet — and they have amateur astronomers to thank for spotting the baffling feature.

Wayne Jaeschke is a patent lawyer by day, but most nights, you can find him in his observatory, pointing a telescope skyward. In March 2012, Jaeschke spotted what looked like a dust cloud popping off the surface of Mars. Two years later, he is a co-author on a scientific paper investigating the nature of the perplexing Mars plumes.

“You know, 999,999,999 times out of a million, when the amateur astronomers see something in an astronomical photo, the professionals have seen it as well, or they have a theory for explaining it,” Jaeschke said. “But this is a rare case where no one has been able to explain it.”

Jaeschke said the confirmation of the plumes would not have happened without the amateur community and that it was crucial that he had so many people with whom to compare his finding.

Agustin Sánchez Lavega, a researcher at the University of País Vasco in Spain, has been in contact with Jaeschke for about four years, and has used Jaeschke’s data in the past. Lavega saw the photos of the plumes and, along with a small group of colleagues, began to investigate.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Chairman of Nobel Peace Prize Committee Demoted

The Nobel Peace Prize committee has elected a new chairman to replace Thorbjoern Jagland. The move is unprecedented in the long history of the award.

Norway’s Nobel Peace Prize committee gave no reason on Tuesday for its decision to demote chairman Thorbjoern Jagland. The former Norwegian prime minister, however, will remain a committee member.

Jagland, who is a renowned diplomat, was heavily criticized for awarding the prestigious Nobel to newly elected US President Barack Obama shortly after he became the committee chairman in 2009.

The 64-year-old will be replaced by deputy chair Kaci Kullmann Five, a former leader of Norway’s ruling Conservative Party.

A year after Obama received the prize, the committee’s relations with Beijing were sullied over Jagland’s decision to honor jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

There was more controversy in 2012 when he handed the award to the European Union for its commitment to “peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

OECD Women’s Pensions on Average Worth 28% Less Than Men

Gap ranges from 5% in Estonia to 40% Germany

(ANSA) Rome, March 2 — Women’s old age pensions in OECD countries are on average 28% lower to those of men with the gap ranging from 5% in Estonia to 40% in Germany, according to study results published Monday.

In Italy the difference in value of pensions between men and women is on average over 30%, due to women working fewer years, often part-time and in lower-paid jobs, according to the study.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Postwar Rape: Were Americans as Bad as the Soviets?

In the popular imagination, American GIs in postwar Germany were well-liked and well-behaved. But a new book claims that US soldiers raped up to 190,000 women at the end of World War II. Is there any truth to the controversial claim?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Threat Drives Denmark and Sweden to Military Co-Operation

Following a number of incidents suggesting an increased Russian presence in the Baltic region, the Danish and Swedish defence ministries have announced that the two countries will engage in closer military co-operation.

Peter Hultqvist, the Swedish defence minister, told the Swedish national broadcaster Sveriges Radio there is talk of sharing confidential documents and access to bases for training and refuelling.

“It’s about how the Navy and the Air Force can increase their information yield,” he said.

“But also how we can get better access to each other’s territorial waters and air space.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spain Outstrips France and Italy in Wine Exports

Spain is the biggest exporter of wine in the world, but why are exports mainly in bulk, rather than bottled?

Spain is a relative newcomer on the international circuit, compared to the French and Italians, yet it has beaten records to become the biggest wine exporter in the world.

According to data published on February 23rd by Spanish wine market observatory (Obervatorio Español de los Mercados del Vino — OEM) Spanish wine exports reached 22.8 million hectoliters in 2014, a 22.3 percent rise on 2013.

But while the volume of sales has increased, profits have fallen 2.2 percent since 2013.

According to the latest data, France is now the biggest buyer of Spanish wines; guzzling 5.8 million hectoliters in 2014, a 40 percent rise on the previous year, followed by Germany, Portugal and Russia.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: New Passport Rules by Next Year?

Current rules meaning Swedes can have an unlimited number of passports if they lose them, which some fear is being exploited by criminals selling passports on the black market, are to be tightened, news agency TT reports.

A government study proposes that a maximum of three passports should be able to be issued to the same person within a five year period. The study also calls for Sweden to push for harder identification checks at Schengen borders, with passport officers using fingerprint checks and facial recognition technology to make sure the data matches the biometric information stored in a chip in the passport.

The proposals will now be sent out for consultation, if approved they will be implemented next year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Problem School in Malmö to Reopen on Tuesday

Värner Rydén school in Malmö was closed on Monday on the grounds of threats and violence by pupils at the school. However, after a crisis meeting between management and staff, it was decided that the school will re-open on Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, Roine Selind, head of the Malmö branch of the teaching union, Lärarförbundet, told news agency TT that the troubled school will reopen.

“The pupils are welcome tomorrow. We have discussed the situation during the day with the employer and on what measures are needed. There are both urgent things to be done in the morning and longer-term measures,” says Selind.

Liberal Party leader Jan Björklund reacted strongly to the closure of the whole school — it becomes a punishment even for those students who behave, he believes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: No “Natural Explanation” For the Flat Explosion

The rescue services have not found any “natural explanation” for the explosion in a flat in Nyköping on Monday, which killed two men. The news agency TT reports that the Swedish intelligence service is helping out in the police investigation.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

TTIP: The Most Important 2015 Decision We’ll Make

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) — which the European parliament calls “the most ambitious and wide-ranging trade deal the EU has ever negotiated” — will have major benefits on both sides of the Atlantic, US Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford writes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK Police Find Body Parts of Missing Bristol Teen

Seven behind bars on suspicion of kidnapping, murder, abetting

(ANSA) — London, March 3 — British police have found severed body parts believed to belong to missing Bristol teenager Becky Watts, police sources said Tuesday.

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering the 16-year-old, while another five are behind bars on suspicion of aiding and abetting the offenders, the BBC reported. They are a five men aged 23-29 and three women aged 21-23.

The teen was last seen alive at her Bristol home on February 19.

The girl’s family said in a statement they had no idea why anyone would have wanted to harm her.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Decline of the Stay at Home Mother: Just One Woman in Ten is a Full Time Mum

The findings, published in an Office for National Statistics report, come at a time of continuing controversy over the pressure on mothers to go out to work and warnings over the welfare of children.

Specifically, the figures detail those who give their occupation as ‘looking after family or home’. It does not include unemployed women, who are classed as looking for work.

[Comment: All part of breaking apart the family structure. Strong family structures resist State encroachments and propaganda.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Five More Arrested After Police Find Dismembered Body in House a Mile-and-a-Half From Where Teenage Student Vanished

[WARNING: * Disturbing Content. *]

Police searching for missing teenager Becky Watts have discovered human remains and arrested five more people as they revealed they believe the student’s body was cut up.

Officers searching for the 16-year-old were called to a new location in the Barton Hill area of Bristol, around a mile-and-a-half from Becky’s home, where they made the grim find last night.

Two people arrested on suspicion of murder remain in custody today, while police last night arrested four men and a woman on suspicion of assisting an offender.

A 28-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of Becky’s kidnap. They were further arrested yesterday on suspicion of her murder and are still being questioned by police.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Give Shoplifters Softer Sentences if They Target Top Stores, Says Labour MP David Lammy But Boris Insists it is Not OK to Steal From ‘Swish, Posh Shops’

Thieves who target wealthy department stores should get lighter sentences than if they steal from a corner shop, a senior Labour MP claims today.

David Lammy, an ex-Government minister and barrister, said the likes of luxury goods shop Fortnum and Mason could more easily absorb the loss.

The London mayoral candidate wants the law to be changed so the seriousness of shoplifting is decided by the impact on the victim — rather than the monetary value of the item stolen.

But Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson today condemned the ‘absurd’ idea, insisting it was wrong to ‘minimise shoplifting from swish, posh shops’.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jihadi John’s Brother Was Convicted of Handling Stolen Bikes and Was in Muslim Group Which Supported Hate Preacher Linked to Underpants Bomber

Jihadi’s John’s younger brother Omar Emwazi was convicted of handling stolen goods in 2012, and also had links to a controversial street preaching group, it has been revealed.

Emwazi’s younger brother has previously posted his support online for radical preachers including Sheikh Khalid Yasin and Imran ibn Mansur, known as Dawah Man.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Oxfordshire Police and Social Services Face ‘Brutal’ Criticism in Report

[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content. **]

A total of 373 girls suffered sexual abuse in Oxfordshire but police and social workers blamed many for ‘bringing it on themselves’, a report into ‘indescribably awful’ child sexual exploitation has found.

Over 15 years hundreds of victims as young as 11 were groomed, raped and forced into prostitution by gangs of men ‘predominantly of Pakistani heritage’, a serious case review has found.

Today police and council bosses said they were ‘horrified’ and ‘ashamed’ by what happened between 1999 and 2014 but nobody has yet been disciplined over what happened.

David Cameron said this afternoon children in Oxford were abused on an ‘industrial scale’ with too many people and organisations ‘walking on by’.

The damning 114-page report said for years victims were in a ‘living hell from which they couldn’t extricate themselves’ after ‘hostile’ officials wrote some off as ‘difficult girls making bad choices’ when they begged for help.

One gang of Asian men was responsible for abusing and enslaving 50 girls, mainly from Oxford, but the men were also able to sexually torture girls for eight years after a series of missed opportunities to stop them.

Maggie Blyth, chair of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board, admitted years of errors ‘allowed offenders to get away with their crimes’ but she found no cases of neglect or misconduct by staff.

[…]

His report revealed that six girls who were being abused were reported missing 500 times in five years but the authorities failed to act, today’s report said.

The devastating 114-page report today also revealed:

1.   Girls were hooked on drink and drugs before being offered for sex in Oxford and across Britain
2.   The victims were ‘white girls’ and the perpetrators were ‘predominantly of Pakistani heritage’
3.   Girls were tortured with meat cleavers, baseball bats and sex toys by men who would also bite, scratch, suffocate, burn them and even urinate on them
4.   Those abused by gangs who went to social workers or police were often ‘disbelieved’ or told they were ‘bringing problems upon themselves’
5.   Children who said they were being abused were considered to be consenting to sex with adults and written off as ‘difficult girls making bad choices’
6.   Staff made ‘snide remarks’ and were ‘hostile’ to girls who came to them for help
7.   Professionals showed a persistent ‘lack of curiosity’, even in one case where a 12-year-old abuse victim linked to a gang was known to be using contraceptives
8.   Parents who complained their child was missing or had been raped were seen as ‘part of the problem’
9.   The perpetrators told one parent of a girl they habitually abused: ‘They threatened to kill me and behead my daughter’s baby’
10.   Some girls were raped repeatedly by groups in attacks that would last for ‘days at a time’ in guest houses and empty flats, and some were tortured with baseball bats, meat cleavers and sex toys.
 

[Comment: no cases of neglect or misconduct!?…]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: The Education of ‘Jihadi John’

By Maajid Nawaz

LONDON — LAST week, the man called “Jihadi John” by the world’s media was unmasked as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Muslim and naturalized British citizen from London. Not only that, but the Islamic State’s most notorious Western recruit was identified as a graduate in computer science from the University of Westminster.

Many were shocked that the apparent executioner in videos made by the Islamic State, or ISIS, was an educated, middle-class metropolitan. In fact, academic institutions in Britain have been infiltrated for years by dangerous theocratic fantasists. I should know: I was one of them.

[…]

Islamist “entryism” — the term originally described tactics adopted by Leon Trotsky to take over a rival Communist organization in France in the early 1930s — continues to be a problem within British universities and schools. Twenty years ago, I played my part as an Islamist entryist at college.

[…]

The poisonous atmosphere that my supporters and I created at Newham College grew so dangerous that in 1995 my self-appointed bodyguard stabbed to death a non-Muslim student on campus, to cries of “Allahu akbar!” The killer, Saeed Nur, was convicted of murder.

I was rightly expelled from the college, though my activism did not end there. I worked first in Pakistan and then in Egypt to recruit young military officers to Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s revolutionary agenda. In 2001, I was arrested by President Hosni Mubarak’s secret police. During four years in a Cairo prison, I gradually reconsidered the ideology of Islam, and eventually abandoned it. On my release, I took up the human rights and counter-extremism work that occupies me now.

[Good on him, but I fear he’s a voice in the wilderness. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Why the EU’s Plan to Ban Halogen Light Bulbs Should Make You Blow a Fuse

By James Delingpole

If you’ll forgive the pun, I’m incandescent with rage at what looks very much to me like yet another piece of typically, bullying, ill-thought-through piece of EU legislation which, in the guise of making things better for all of us, will only end up making things worse.

First, let’s consider the cost. While a halogen spotlight can set you back as little as £1, the LED bulbs that the EU wants us to replace them with can cost as much as £25 each…

One of the problems with the EU’s proposed ban is that it is going to be implemented before the replacement technology is ready. This is why a campaign group of manufacturers called LightingEurope is trying to delay the ban until at least 2018.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Zurich and Geneva Become the World’s Dearest Cities

The Swiss National Bank’s decision on January 15 to scrap an exchange rate ceiling with the euro means Zurich and Geneva have leapfrogged Singapore to become the most expensive cities in the world.

Officially, Singapore retained the dubious honour of being the world’s priciest city, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, with an index score of 129 (New York is the base at 100).

Paris came in second (126), followed by Oslo (124), Zurich (121), Sydney (120), Melbourne (118) and Geneva (116), but the survey did not take into account the recent jump in value of the Swiss franc, and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which published the twice-yearly study on Tuesday, admitted that “at today’s exchange rates, Zurich and Geneva would be the world’s most expensive cities, with indices of 136 and 130, respectively”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt-Serbia: Fight Against Terrorism

(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, 27 FEBRUARY — The Ambassador of Egypt to Serbia Menha Mahrous Bakhoum has said that the big “Egypt Economic Development Conference”, to take place next month in Sharm el-Sheik, will be an opportunity for further improvement of already excellent relations between Serbia and Egypt.

The Egyptian ambassador recalled that, a few days ago, she spoke with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, about preparations for this economic summit, at which, as she said, the presence of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic is expected.

One of the topics discussed with Vucic were the efforts for combating threats by ISIS in Libya, and as the ambassador said, the Serbian prime minister condemned the attacks on Egyptian citizens in Libya and is active at many levels in providing support of Serbia for the fight against “Daesh” (Arabic for ISIS) and terrorist groups in Libya.

The ambassador of Egypt reminded that two weeks ago the Islamic State published a video footage showing the beheading of 21 Egyptians in Sirte, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

“It was a barbaric act of a cold-blooded beheading of 21 Egyptians, just because of their faith,” she emphasized.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Libya: Military: ISIS Hits Strikes Oil Fields

Spokesperson: Bahi and Maboruk ablaze, pipeline damaged

(ANSAMed) — Cairo, March 3 — ISIS in Libya has targeted oil fields in Al Bahi and Al Mabrouk, damaging them to a “great extent”. Libyan sources quoted Ali Al Hassi, a military spokesperson at the sites, without specifying what kind of heavy weaponry was attacked. The pipeline connecting the two fields and Sidra, Libya’s largest oil depot, was damaged. The information is dated to Monday night, when the “fields” were described as still ablaze.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Russia, Egypt to Hold Joint Naval Drill in Mediterranean

Russia and Egypt have agreed to hold a joint naval drill in the Mediterranean and to carry out joint anti-terrorist exercises, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement following talks between ministers of the two countries.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and his Egyptian counterpart Sedki Sobhi agreed to sign a deal on military cooperation between the two countries. The agreement will “determine the vector of our military cooperation for years to come,” said Shoigu following the talks.

“The parties agreed to continue the practice of inviting Egyptian military to Russian exercises in the capacity of observers, and also to hold a naval exercise in the Mediterranean this year and an anti-terrorist exercise of rapid reaction forces,” Russia’s Defense ministry said in a statement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Will Egypt Go for Its Own Nuclear Weapon?

Egypt has seen two major upheavals in the last four years — the Arab Spring overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011, then saw its Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated president toppled in a coup d’état by General, now President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

President Sisi last week concluded a preliminary agreement with Russia to build a new nuclear reactor for the country. Simultaneously, Egypt’s courts issued injunctions declaring Hamas a terrorist organization. Both developments may have a great impact on Israel’s security.

Zack Gold of the Institute for National Security Studies, currently in Egypt, told Arutz Sheva he does not see this as reason to think Egypt is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability to keep up with Iran, particularly in the context of what some experts, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, worry will provoke a nuclear arms race in the region.

“The Egyptian reactor is a concept that has been in the works for years,” explained Gold. “This is just the initial stage of the project. It is not in any way related to the current negotiations with Iran. It is about Egypt’s need for energy. Egypt does not have enough gas. They want to diversify their energy market.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gazans Feel Trapped, Six Months After Israel-Hamas War

Half a year has passed since the end of the war in the Gaza Strip. With reconstruction moving slowly and borders mostly closed, hopelessness is spreading among those living in the ruins. Tania Krämer reports from Gaza.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Israel’s Enemies in America and Russia

De Carvalho describes Eurasianism as “a synthesis of the defunct USSR and the Tzarist Empire” that includes philosophical elements of Marxism-Leninism, Russian Messianism, Nazism, and esotericism. The last element is a reference to certain occult influences in Russia.

“In order to fulfill his plans,” de Carvalho explains, “he counts on Vladimir Putin’s strong arm, the armies of Russia and China and every terrorist organization of the Middle East, not to mention practically every leftist, fascist and neo-Nazi movements which today place themselves under the banner of his ‘Eurasian’ project.”

He says the historical roles played by Russia and China in sponsoring and arming terrorist groups help explain why global Islam has targeted the United States and Israel. “Some theoreticians of the Caliphate allege that socialism, once triumphant in the world, will need a soul, and Islam will provide it with one,” he notes.

In this global war for domination, however, he also identifies a “globalist elite,” including in the U.S. Government and society, which wants to destroy traditional Christianity and share in “the spoils” from the decaying West.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Negotiates Israel’s Destruction

The strangest thing about Obama’s efforts to achieve friendly relations with Iran, something he has tried to do since he first took office in 2009, is that Iran has made it abundantly clear since its Islamic revolution in 1979 that it hates America and, in tandem, Israel as well.

In an Iranian naval drill on February 25, Iran blew up a mock U.S. aircraft carrier near the entrance of the Persian Gulf. It was a full-size replica of the USS Nimitz. This is the antithesis of friendship, but just to make their position clear, Iranian Rear Adm. Ali Fadavi, commander of its naval forces, let it be known that “We have the most advanced sea mines which cannot be imagined by the Americans.”

But the Americans—in this case the President of the United States and his negotiators—have been making every concession they can to get an agreement that would limit Iran’s ability to produce its own nuclear weapons. Dr. Norman Bailey, an adjunct professor of economic statecraft at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C., recently wrote that “The U.S. looks set to present its allies with a dangerous fait accompli on Iran’s nuclear program.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Threat of War Against Israel

There is an old saying. If Islam was to lay down its weapons in the Middle East, there would be no more war in the region. If Israel was to lay down its weapons in the Middle East, there would be no more Israel in the region. When a threat against Israel rises, time and time again the small Jewish nation launching a first strike has saved them from annihilation.

The Democrat Party has been angry because the Republicans in the House of Representatives have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress, and ten members of the liberal left have stated they are going to boycott the speech. The Democrats later asked the leader of Israel to speak at a closed door session with only Democrats, and Bibi turned them down. President Obama has been setting the stage for a showdown with Israel, defending Islamic terrorist groups, and refusing to call the enemy by name, while verbally attacking both Christianity, and Israel. Obama has threatened sanctions against Israel for building on their own land in East Jerusalem, and now according to reports, President Barack Obama has threatened to shoot down Israeli jets if they attempt to embark on a military operation against Iran in an attempt to protect Israel’s interests in the region against a nuclear Iran.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

180 Americans Joined Islamic Militants in Syria, 40 Have Already Come Home

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — About 180 Americans have traveled to Syria to join Islamist militants and around 40 of them have returned to the United States, the U.S. National Intelligence director, James Clapper, said on Monday.

Clapper said not all those who went to Syria, where Islamic State militants and other factions are fighting each other and the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, had engaged in the Islamist campaign. Some might have been aid workers, he said.

The United States and its allies believe that more than 20,000 foreign fighters from more than 90 countries have gone to Syria. Islamic State forces have taken over large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that some Americans, radicalized and trained to stage attacks in Syria, may wreak havoc when they come home. Clapper said he was not aware of any plots in which returning fighters had been involved.

He told a forum at the Council of Foreign Relations that as long as such travelers did not become engaged in violence, it was their “privilege as American citizens” to return to the United States.

[How our government determines which of these creatures are engaged in violence and which are simply reading the jihadis bedtime stories is not quite clear. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

How Islamic is the Islamic State? Not Very, Say Experts

How group hand-picks what it wants from the Koran and accounts of Muhammad’s actions to wage its jihad

The Islamic State cherry picks sections of the Koran and misinterprets the accounts of the Prophet Muhammad in order to wage jihad and sign up new recruits, experts say.

It is estimated that 20,000 people have streamed into the territory in Iraq and Syria, where ISIS has proclaimed what it calls a ‘caliphate’, ruled by its often brutal version of Islamic law.

The group purport to recreate the conquests and rule of the Prophet Muhammad and his successors and maintains its worst brutalities — such as beheading captives — only prove its purity in following what it contends is the prophet’s example…

The Islamic State cherry picks sections of the Koran and misinterprets the accounts of the Prophet Muhammad in order to wage jihad and sign up new recruits, experts say.

It is estimated that 20,000 people have streamed into the territory in Iraq and Syria, where ISIS has proclaimed what it calls a ‘caliphate’, ruled by its often brutal version of Islamic law.

The group purport to recreate the conquests and rule of the Prophet Muhammad and his successors and maintains its worst brutalities — such as beheading captives — only prove its purity in following what it contends is the prophet’s example.

[Comment: “Experts”?. Duality of Koran always gets these “experts” confused. They are the ones who are in denial. Law of abrogation is clear — later verses supercede earlier versus when there is a conflict between them.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Threatens Twitter Employees Over Blocked Accounts

Isis supporters have threatened Twitter employees, including co-founder Jack Dorsey specifically, with death over the social network’s practice of blocking accounts associated with the group.

In an Arabic post uploaded to the image-sharing site JustPaste.it, the group told Twitter that “your virtual war on us will cause a real war on you”. It warned that Jack Dorsey and Twitter employees have “become a target for the soldiers of the Caliphate and supporters scattered among your midst!”

“You started this failed war … We told you from the beginning it’s not your war, but you didn’t get it and kept closing our accounts on Twitter, but we always come back. But when our lions come and take your breath, you will never come back to life.”

Twitter’s terms of service explicitly ban “direct, specific threats of violence against others”, and the company has followed YouTube in proactively shutting down Isis-related Twitter accounts, with the aid of the UK’s counter-terrorism internet referral unit.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Mutilated by ISIS … Terrified ‘Thief’ Has His Hand Hacked Off With a Cleaver in Front of Crowd in the Terror Group’s Syrian ‘Capital’

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have released sickening images of a young man having his hand hacked off after he was accused of stealing.

The images, understood to have been taken in the terror group’s de facto capital Raqqa, show the terrified young man being dragged out onto a public square in front of a bloodthirsty crowd.

The blindfolded victim is forced to sit in a chair in the centre of the square, where he is held in place by one of the jihadis, while two others use a large meat cleaver to brutally sever his hand from his arm.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Netanyahu Accuses Obama of Risking “Nuclear Arms Race” With Iran Deal

Benjamin Netanyahu tore apart diplomatic protocol on Tuesday by launching an extraordinary attack on Barack Obama, accusing the president of accepting a nuclear deal “that paves Iran’s path to the bomb”.

In a stinging speech before the US Congress, the Israeli prime minister excoriated Mr Obama in his own capital, denouncing every aspect of the president’s policy towards Iran.

Mr Netanyahu urged America to walk away from the “very bad deal” that he said was taking shape over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Invoking the history of Jewish struggle, from slavery under the Pharaohs to the Holocaust, the prime minister implied that Mr Obama was abandoning Israel to a “genocidal enemy” and said the supposed deal “could well threaten the survival of my country”.

Mr Netanyahu issued a thinly-veiled threat that Israel may launch unilateral strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities even if an agreement were signed, saying: “If Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netanyahu Speech Unites Congress — And Diminishes Obama

by Phyllis Chesler

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a passionate, inspiring, thoughtful, and “game changing” speech before the American Congress which lasted for about 45 minutes, during which time he was applauded 43 times, often for 15 seconds at a time. His words elicited many standing ovations.

The only other foreign leader to have spoken to Congress three times was Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister. In honor of that, Speaker of the House, John Boehner plans to present Netanyahu with a bust of Churchill.

Netanyahu received wild applause when he said: “The world should demand that Iran do three things. First, stop its aggression against its neighbors in the Middle East. Second, stop supporting terrorism around the world. And third, stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel, the one and only Jewish state.”

Israel’s Prime Minister again received rather thunderous applause and a standing ovation when he noted that Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel was in the audience—and when he said: “My friend, standing up to Iran is not easy. Standing up to dark and murderous regimes never is. Elie, your life and work inspires to give meaning to the words, ‘never again!’ And I wish I could promise you, Elie, that the lessons of history have been learned. I can only urge the leaders of the world not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

           — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler [Return to headlines]
 

Netanyahu Tells Congress Iran on “March of Conquest, Subjugation and Terror”

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, told Congress on Tuesday Iran poses a threat to the entire world.

“The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.

“That is exactly what could happen if the deal being negotiated is accepted by Iran. That deal would not prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. It would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons, lots of them.”

He said the Iran is playing a “deadly ‘Game of Thrones’“ and “poses a great threat not only to Israel but also to the peace of the entire world.”

“We must all stand together to stop Iran’s march of conquest, subjugation and terror,” Netanyahu said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Exceeds Chamberlain by Switching Allegiance From Ally to Enemy

In this scenario, why does the Leader of the Free World side with the menace rather than the underdog? We are watching the unraveling of order in the world as the Obama administration turns its back on a tried ally in favor of treating with a duplicitous regime bent on destroying the West.

President Obama and his blinded courtiers have stepped far beyond the appeasement strategies of Neville Chamberlain by issuing threats against tested friends.

No word defines this better than betrayal; betrayal of Israel, Europe and his own constituents, we citizens who elected him to stand for us not against us.

As reported by FoxNews, “…Obama is willing to leave some nuclear activity intact, backed by safeguards that Iran is not trying to develop a weapon. Iran insists its program is solely for peaceful energy and medical research.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Renzi Says Italy to Open Consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan

Premier says necessary to ‘beat terror together’

(ANSA) — Rome, March 2 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday that Italy will open a new consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and expressed solidarity for Kurdish forces fighting ISIS Islamist extremists. “We’ll open a consulate at Erbil and we’ll insist on support and aid,” Renzi said after meeting Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani at his office in Rome. “Because you win the challenge of terror every day, all together”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia: Education Minister Says No to Sports for Girls

Opposing statements by deputy, debate is open

Olympic Games 2012 Athletics, Track and Field [ARCHIVE MATERIAL 20120808 ]

(ANSAmed) — Rome, March 3 — No sporting activities for girls in public schools in Saudi Arabia. Azzam Al-Dakhil, Saudi Education Minister disappointed both country and world expectations, who were awaiting an announcement to the contrary.

On the sidelines of a meeting with his Welfare Minister colleague, Al-Dakhil responded “no” to reporters asking if he would introduce an hour of gymnastics in women’s institutions.

In theory, the prohibition that fully banned sports from Saudi girls’ schools was eliminated in 2013. In May of that year, the Saudi government declared via its official news agency that girls registered at private institutions could take part in gymnastics classes, provided they wore clothes “compliant to decency” and were supervised by a female instructor in accordance to the strict laws governing education in the kingdom.

The announcement was welcomed as a step forward, but activists and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, refuted it as insufficient.

“All Saudi girls and women should be able to enjoy social benefits, education and health, arising from the playing of a sport”, Minky Worden, Human Rights Watch Director of Global Initiatives said at the time, adding, “If the Saudi government can break this barrier in private schools, you can’t see why it can not also be done in the public schools”.

But today this and many other similar appeals have not produced the desired results. However, the debate is open, as shown last month as well, according to which the Women’s Education Deputy Minister of Education who said that the Ministry would is considering the possibility of introducing an hour of sports activity in public schools and the formation of ad hoc teachers.

Statements to the contrary made Monday by the Minister’s blunt denial but show that within the government, the question is currently the subject of serious reflection, which is offset by two fronts, one more liberal and the other super conservative. Last year, even the Shura Council, a consultative body of the government, asked the ministry to evaluate incorporating gymnastics into the programs of state institutions. Things could change shortly. In Other encouraging signs are the opening of the country’s first female sports in June at Khobar, and the participation Saudi female athletes for the first time in the 2012 Olympics.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Tikrit Battle Against ISIS: 30,000 Fighters Mount Anti-Islamic State Offensive in Iraq

Around 30,000 members of Iraq’s military and militias are participating in the offensive against Islamic State fighters in the militant group’s stronghold of Tikrit, Agence France-Presse reported. The force targeted jihadist positions in and around the Iraqi city Monday after launching the large-scale offensive to reclaim northern and western Iraq from the militant group.

“Security forces are advancing on three main fronts towards Tikrit, Ad-Dawr (to the south) and Al-Alam (to the north),” a senior army officer involved in the operation told AFP. “The attack is being carried out using fighter jets, helicopters and artillery targeting Tikrit to secure the advance and cut supply routes.”

The offensive was announced by Iraqi state television a day after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited troops stationed on Tikrit’s outskirts and made a speech in which he declared that the “zero hour” for Tikrit’s liberation was near, the New York Times reported. The prime minister also promised amnesty to local residents who had been forced to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, but said that they had a “last chance” to lay down their weapons and assist the government’s effort to stamp out the militant group from the area.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey: President Erdogan’s Food Analyzed, Says His Doctor

Meals checked before being served in the palace and abroad

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 3 — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s kitchen is under the strict control of his doctors, with a five-member emergency team permanently on call in the presidential palace, as daily Hurriyet online reports today. All food and meals are analyzed before being served to Erdogan in the palace, according to his personal doctor, Cevdet Erdol.

Erdol, also a Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy, said they also take measures about food safety and security not only in the palace and on trips within Turkey, but also during visits abroad. A new laboratory on food safety analysis is planned to be established in the new presidential palace, Erdol added. “We have established five-member emergency team that is on duty in the palace 14 hours a day. We have made a work plan on the health and nutrition of President Erdogan. Everything he eats, everything he drinks, is analyzed against radiation, chemical materials, heavy metals and bacteria,” he said. Erdol said assassinations of prominent figures are not conducted using bullets anymore, but food is widely used for this purpose.

Therefore, Erdogan’s food samples are being analyzed in laboratories in both Ankara and Istanbul. “We have not had any serious incident in analyzes so far,” said Erdol, adding that they were paying particular attention to purchasing food and hygiene materials from trusted sources.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

China Warns U.S. To Stop Its Ukrainian Proxy War Against Russia

A much-ignored huge news report from Reuters on Friday, February 27th, was headlined “Chinese diplomat tells West to consider Russia’s security concerns over Ukraine.”

China’s Ambassador to Belgium (which has the capital of the EU) said that the “nature and root cause” of the Ukrainian conflict is “the West,” and that “The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and take the real security concerns of Russia into consideration.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Moldova: Europe’s Next Powder Keg?

The war in eastern Ukraine continues to sow unrest in the European Union and NATO. Now, the focus is shifting to the tiny republic of Moldova on the EU’s eastern border, and the breakaway territory of Transnistria.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Ready to Build Aircraft Carrier Larger Than Ones in US Fleet

Though questions remain about how realistic the plans are, Moscow reportedly said Monday that it hopes to build its second aircraft carrier — which would measure about 10 percent larger than the ones currently in the United States’ Nimitz-class fleet.

The National Interest, citing Itar-Tass News Agency, reported that the proposed carrier would be able to hold about 100 aircraft and would use a catapult take-off system.

It is not uncommon for countries to make grandiose claims about military prospects. China is often in a similar stance with next-generation fighter jets and naval vessels. Russia appears to be no different.

[Ho-hum. “Giantism” has long been a Russian foible. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

US Govt Issues Logistics Support Tender for 300 Military Personnel in Ukraine

The US is planning to send about 300 military personnel to Ukraine from March to October to train the Ukrainian army, according to a tender on a US government website that requires logistics for the troops.

The US government has published a tender, saying it’s hiring services for the movement of equipment and approximately 300 US personnel in Ukraine, according to the Federal Business Opportunities website.

“The contractor shall provide all equipment, vehicles, and personnel necessary to provide ground transportation in accordance with the ordering clause,” the tender states.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

India Gang Rapist Says ‘Victim Should Not Have Resisted’

‘Death penalty encourages rapists to kill victims’ he tells BBC

(ANSA) — New Delhi, March 3 — A BBC documentary containing shocking statements by one of six gang rapists who sexually tortured a 23-year-old medical student on a bus in 2012 has sparked an outcry in India, sources said Tuesday.

The victim “should not have opposed resistance,” Mukesh Singh told BAFTA award-winning British filmmaker Leslee Udwin in a 16-hour interview on death row at New Delhi’s Tihar prison.

“If she had stayed calm she would have saved her own life,” the rapist said of the young woman, who died of her horrific injuries nine days after the brutal attack in which her male companion was beaten with an iron bar to within an inch of his life.

“Good girls should never be out at nine o’clock at night,” the convict said.

“People have a right to teach such women a lesson…the woman is always more guilty than the man”.

Singh went on to say the death penalty, which was introduced after that rape and murder case sparked a national and international outcry, will be a danger to women because “it will induce rapists to kill their victims to prevent them speaking out”.

Singh drove the bus where the horrific attack took place over the course of several hours.

He was convicted and sentenced to death along with co-defendants Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta, and Akshay Thakur. A fifth defendant was found dead in prison before he could be tried. The transcript of the interview was made public by British tabloids on Monday.

Udwin’s documentary is to be broadcast March 8, which is International Women’s Day.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistan Polio Push: 471 Parents Arrested for Refusing to Vaccinate Kids

Pakistan has arrested 471 parents for refusing to vaccinate their children against polio amid persistent and violent opposition to the government’s nationwide eradication efforts, officials said on Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

West Misses Point — and Lesson — of Buddhist Anti-Muslim Sentiment

True history, not the whitewashed versions currently peddled in American schools—demonstrates that for 14 centuries, Islam has, in fact, wiped out entire peoples and identities

Ongoing reports decrying “anti-Muslim” Buddhists seem to miss the point: this antipathy did not appear out of thin air but rather in response to Islamic aggression—the same Islamic aggression the rest of the world is trying to cope with.

Ashin Wirathu: spiritual leader of the anti-Muslim movement in Burma

A Financial Times editorial titled “Buddhist militancy triggers international concern” opens by describing the “traumatic first-hand view” of a Muslim woman whose home was attacked and possessions plundered by Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Says the woman: “If I could meet those responsible, I would ask: ‘Sir, does your Lord Buddha teach this?’“

Some paragraphs down, readers discover that her home was attacked during the course of “two days of clashes with Muslims,” which were “sparked by a street-corner disagreement between a Buddhist monk and a young Muslim,” and which left three people—religious identity unstated—dead.

So even this centerpiece story meant to demonstrate Buddhist intolerance begins with a quarrelsome “young Muslim” who may have been the one to initiate hostilities (unlike, for example, the habitual and unprovoked persecution millions of Christians and other minorities experience in the Muslim world.) But FT does not allow for that interpretation, arguing instead that the incident “is part of a wider trend: the rise of a new generation of militant anti-Muslim Buddhist organisations.” At no point does the editorial point out that Muslim minorities regularly provoke Buddhist backlashes.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Extremely Rare and Strange-Looking Goblin Shark Dissected by Researchers in Australia

This video shows the dissection of the rarest and most distinctive looking sharks ever to have been discovered.

The carcass of the terrifying looking creature was then donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney so that it could be dissected. The video shows McGrouther explaining the reason for the shark’s peculiar appearance and how it attacks and eats its prey in the wild.

Little is known about the goblin shark and the latest discover is only the fourth ever to be analysed by scientists at the museum.

What is known about these sharks is that they live deep down in the ocean depths, up to about 900 metres, and are rarely caught by humans.

The shark goblin shark, scientific name “Mitsukurina owstoni”, is known to have lived on the planet for millions of years, with fossils for the animals being discovered that dated as far back as 125 million years ago.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Boko Haram Video Shows Two Men Being Beheaded Accused of Spying

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

A video purporting to show the executions of two alleged spies has been released by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram.

One of the men is made to make a full confession, explaining his ‘crimes’ to the camera, before they pair are beheaded and their bodies shown to the camera.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Boehner Caves on Amnesty: March 3, 2015 is Day That Will Live in Infamy

“We were never going to win in Congress.”

That is the epitaph spoken by Speaker Boehner ally Representative Tom Cole on the collapse of House Leadership’s resolve to legislatively fight Executive Amnesty.

It may also be the final nail in the coffin for the notion of co-equal branches of government, as President Obama has already announced that he is considering using unilateral executive actions to ban ammunition and raise corporate taxes, on top of his massive Internet regulation announced last week.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Feds Crack Down on Chinese ‘Birth Tourism’

Airfare from the U.S. to China and a months-long stay in an Orange County, Calif., apartment: $80,000. A baby born a U.S. citizen: priceless.

In the largest operation of its kind, early Tuesday morning federal officials in Southern California served warrants at “Chinese birthing houses” or “maternity hotels,” where wealthy Chinese nationals paid up to $80,000 for the sole purpose of giving birth in the U.S. to obtain citizenship for their children, earning in-state tuition to U.S. universities for them and permanent U.S. residency for the parents.

“It is essentially citizenship for sale,” said Center for Immigration Studies analyst Jessica Vaughan. “Something U.S. citizens hold very dear and cherish is essentially being purchased by people for their own economic self-interests or potentially more nefarious purposes.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Dresden Asylum Camp Cleared After Neo-Nazi Attack

An asylum camp set up in front of Dresden’s Semperoper opera house has been cleared. Refugees and supporters moved just a day after radical PEGIDA members and neo-Nazis attempted to storm the site.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary’s Premier Rejects Immigration, Multicultural Society

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban denounced multiculturalism and liberalism Friday and vowed to fight a rising wave of migration that he said is threatening to turn his country into a “refugee camp.”

In his annual state of the nation speech, Orban called a multicultural society “a delusion” and defended his conservative government’s attempts to abandon “liberal social policies” that he accused of rejecting Christian culture.

           — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Migration Jumps 43% in First Two Months Over 2014 Levels

Interior ministry warns trends suggest another record year

(ANSA) — Rome, March 3 — The number of migrants arriving on Italian coasts by boat in first two months of this year was 43% greater than arrivals during the same time last year, interior ministry figures showed Tuesday.

With the arrival of 7,882 people sailing on flimsy boats and rafts — and hundreds of others drowning en route — officials say Italy is already on track to set another record in terms of migrant landings.

Most have been coming from Libya, where civil war has reduced security and border controls and cleared the way for human traffickers preying on refugees fleeing war in other parts of Africa and the Middle East.

The crossing is dangerous and last month, some 300 migrants died in one group that was fleeing for Europe with southern Italy the first point of landing.

The ministry said that some 67,128 immigrants are at present staying in Italian migrant reception facilities.

Most are in Sicily, with almost 14,000 people, while Lazio had 13% of the total, and Lombardy and Puglia have 9% each.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Why Can’t Refugees Travel to Sweden Legally?

Refugees should not be forced to make dangerous journeys to Europe in order to seek asylum, argues Liberal Party MEP Cecilia Wikström, who also wants to see other EU states joining Sweden and Germany in taking in more people from war-torn nations.

Together we can bring European solidarity to a new level. Europe must become a humanitarian superpower.

Refugees should not be forced to make dangerous journeys to Europe in order to seek asylum, argues Liberal Party MEP Cecilia Wikström, who also wants to see other EU states joining Sweden and Germany in taking in more people from war-torn nations.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Proper English Grammar is Now Racist

By Patricia L. Dickson

It seems like not a day goes by without me reading about some new absurdity. I ran across an article written by some left-wing lunatic who purports to be an English teacher and who is part of what she calls the “social justice movement”. She writes for a blog called Everyday Feminist. She claims that demanding that everyone speak proper English grammar is “grammar snobbery” and is oppressive and racist. Why is it oppressive and racist? Because the dictionary was written by a white supremacist, heteropatriarchal system:

“As educated (and — okay — snarky) activists, we’re quick to respond to “According to the dictionary” arguments with “Who wrote the dictionary, though?”

“We understand that a reference guide created by a white supremacist, heteropatriarchal system does nothing but uphold that status quo.”

“Similarly, we have to use that line of thinking when talking about the English language: Who created the rules? And who benefits from them?”

The author, Melissa A. Fabello, introduced two schools of thought on what she calls successful communication: prescriptive and descriptive grammar. Prescriptive grammar is the true, honest pure language that is correct and acceptable (oppressive grammar). Descriptive grammar is however a language is being used to communicate effectively is correct because that is the basic purpose of language (to communicate).

[…]

She claims that it is racist to demand that black Americans speak proper English Grammar because the use of “standard” English is considered a white attribute and is a form of Identity Erasure.

[I guess it’s oppressive “identity erasure” to require that the homies pull their pants up if they want to get honest work, too. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

School Textbook: “There’s No Such Thing as Reverse Racism” — Photo

[photo from textbook.]

A school textbook teaches students that “there is no such thing as reverse racism” and that women can never be as sexist as men.

The passage, which appears to be taken from a “multicultural education series” book entitled Is Everyone Equal, states, “STOP: There is no such thing as reverse racism or reverse sexism (or the reverse of any form of oppression). While women can be just as prejudiced as men, women cannot be “just as sexist as men” because they do not hold political, economic and institutional power.”

In a sense, the text is correct, there is no such thing as reverse racism. Racism is racism, whether the target is white, black or brown.

However, that’s not the message being communicated. The book is teaching students that only white people can be racist and that only men can be sexist because….patriarchy!

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

School Threatens to Suspend Kids if Parents Skip Meeting on Common Core Testing

Students at Detroit’s Coleman A. Young Elementary School were threatened with suspension after their parents failed to attend a “mandatory” meeting on an upcoming Common Core test.

After the parents of multiple students missed the school’s initial meeting, teachers scheduled a follow-up and sent out letters demanding they appear or face the consequences.

Derrick and Latrica Smoak, who spoke with WDIV-TV after receiving the letter, said that they were shocked to see educators making such a threat.

“I was like, ‘Wow, is this a joke?’“ Derrick said. “I really couldn’t believe what I was reading.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/3/2015

  1. I should try to explain something to people about Buddhism.

    In western countries, Buddhism has become confused with Marxism, but this is a primarily a western interpretation of Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayana sect has a concept of everyone “getting enlightened” together which probably leads people to the bogus idea that people are just one big group blob with no individuality, similar to communism. This form of Buddhism didn’t appear until after King Asoka in India.

    Theravada Buddhism, the form taught by the actual historical Buddha, has no concept of collective enlightenment and doesn’t support any particular political system. In fact it’s practically impossible for any king (or government) not to break at least the first two of the five precepts. For example, the 2nd precept is “I undertake the precept to refrain from taking what is not given” and collecting taxes using force would be “taking what is not given.” (Some people think that this precept means “don’t steal”, however that is wrong, because it implies that a king or government gets to define what constitutes “stealing”. In reality, all precepts are based on natural law which can’t be changed by legislation any more than the laws of physics can.)

    It is also considered “wrong livelihood” for a monk to “run errands for kings or ministers of state”, and monks are considered to be ascetics, apart from all other social structures, so by definition can’t be kings or ministers of state themselves. (The Dalai Lama and any other monks in a political position are undertaking wrong livelihood by the historical Buddha’s words.)

    The people in southeast Asia who are Buddhist aren’t the usual naive types that the majority of western Buddhists are. While violence and any sort of harm is to be avoided, they will defend themselves if it looks like there is no other choice. Even monks are allowed to hit people in self defense, just not allowed to use weapons or intentionally try to kill. However there is absolutely nothing prohibiting laypeople from having weapons or defending themselves.

    • Yes, as you say, there is no such thing as a Buddhist “collective” wherein those who have “attained” nirvana, would be banned from accepting this state until everyone else has attained this state.
      A few other points about Buddhism:
      1. The parent religion of Buddhism, Hinduism, has as one of its foremost scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita. The relating of the Gita takes place on the battlefield of Kuru (Kurukshetra) where the divine Krishna, the driver of the chariot of the Pandava prince Arjuna, insists that Arjuna must fight and if necessary, kill his opponents, because failure to do this and potentially lose the battle will have dire consequences for those who depend on him (family, etc.).
      2. Many Samurai warriors were practitioners of Zen, and some were de-facto Zen masters. There is much written about Zen and Swordsmanship, and how the two can be (and have been) reconciled.
      3. Richard Rose, a West Virginian farmer known as “The Backwoods Buddha” stated quite plainly (much to the consternation of the student who asked the original question) that “there is no spirituality in not-killing”.

      • The historical Buddha actually predates the Bhagavad Gita by a few hundred years, though it has probably had some influence on Southeast Asia which is culturally Hindu. The other stuff you mention is either Mahayana in origin (southeast Asia is Theravada) or in the case of the “backwoods Buddha”, probably comes from American Transcendentalism (which is another set of beliefs that are often claimed as “Buddhist” by people who like the beliefs but don’t like Jesus or organized Christianity and just want to dissociate themselves).

        What I’m getting at is that even with the form of early indian Buddhism practiced in places like Burma, you will get the idea that killing generally has bad results and should be avoided, but you won’t get the idea that you should just sit there and let yourself get slaughtered by murderous bandits.

        It’s just sad to see supposedly educated “journalists” write articles that suggest that all religions are the same. Fact is that Buddhism discourages killing anyone and has no concept of an “infidel” while Islam clearly encourages killing infidels, and even lying about it. The next thing you know we’re going to see claims that headhunting and cannibalism religions are the same as everything else.

        What is it going to take to get rid of this bogus neo-marxist conflict theory mentally where minorities are always morally superior and majorities are always wrong?

        • I agree 100%… well, almost…

          This:

          in the case of the “backwoods Buddha”, probably comes from American Transcendentalism (which is another set of beliefs that are often claimed as “Buddhist” by people who like the beliefs but don’t like Jesus or organized Christianity and just want to dissociate themselves).”

          is totally incorrect. “Backwoods Buddha” was a nickname given to Richard Rose, whose “claim” to being “a Buddha” was due to him having realized the Absolute, also known as the “Buddha nature”. He did not (emphatically) give himself that nickname. As such, he had no “likes and dislikes” of the nature you indicate; his “likes” and “dislikes” were of the hypocrisy and dishonesty of many aspects of the society in which he lived and grew up.

          As for the (latest) Buddha predating the Bhagavad Gita, I believe the Buddha existed around 2500 BC, and if my memory serves me well (which it often doesn’t) the Battle of Kurukshetra predated that. As for when the actual Gita was written (as opposed to being transmitted orally) I have no idea…

  2. My company’s pathetic HR-mandated online ethics training teaches me all about how I, as a white male, am an evil monster with no ethics out to oppress innocent women and non-whites while bankrupting the benevolent corporation.

    At least this year’s training omitted the standard evil white male in favor of a positive scenario where women and minorities used their high ethical standards to work with the government to preserve truth, justice, and the American Way!

    Re: Erdogan’s food analysis – speaks to the man’s paranoia and delusions of re-establishing the Ottoman Empire. If he hadn’t purged the military they would have done the right thing a few years ago.

    The Newsweek story about jihadis returning to the US is farcical. That behavior should be a guaranteed one-way ticket to Gitmo, no exceptions. All their privileges were forfeit as soon as they took up the cause of the most evil group on Earth.

    I was going to comment on the experts telling us that ISIS is un-Islamic, but it’s the usual gang of dhimmis and taaqyists pushing the, “tiny minority of extremists/no True Scotsman” lie.

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