British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned ministers in his government that they must resign if they favor British withdrawal from the European Union. However, a group of 50 anti-EU Tory backbenchers has promised to lead a rebellion against Mr. Cameron if he does not secure major concessions in his current negotiations with Brussels.
In other news, the PEGIDA candidate for mayor of Dresden did surprisingly well in yesterday’s election, gaining almost 10% of the vote.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Phyllis Chesler, 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.
103 Years Later, Wall Street Turned Out Just as One Man Predicted
In 1910, three years before the US Federal Reserve was founded, Senator Nelson Aldrich, Frank Vanderlip of National City (Citibank), Henry Davison of Morgan Bank, and Paul Warburg of the Kuhn, Loeb Investment House met secretly at Jekyll Island in Georgia to formulate a plan for a US central bank just years ahead of World War I.
The result of their work was the so-called Aldrich Plan which called for a system of fifteen regional central banks, i.e., National Reserve Associations, whose actions would be coordinated by a national board of commercial bankers. The Reserve Association would make emergency loans to member banks, and would create money to provide an elastic currency that could be exchanged equally for demand deposits, and would act as a fiscal agent for the federal government.
In other words, the Aldrich Plan proposed a “central bank” that would be openly and directly controlled by Wall Street commercial banks on whose behalf it would solely operate, instead of doing so indirectly, behind closed doors and the need for criminal probe of Yellen’s Fed seeking to find who leaked what to whom.
The Aldrich Plan was defeated in the House in 1912 but its outline became the model for the bill that eventually was adopted as the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 whose passage not only unleashed the Fed as we know it now, but the entire shape of modern finance…
None of this was rocket science: should the power to create money fall into the hands of a private few, or an entity working purely on their behalf (and lest there is any confusion, a multi-trillion bailout of the US financial system and the ongoing ZIRP/QE regime has benefited almost entirely that handful of people who stood to lose trillions in paper wealth should US banking as we know it end), it would “inaugurate a financial and industrial reign of terror.” It was clear as day 103 years ago.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Falling Japanese Yen Could Send Deflation Tsunami West
Soc Gen’s Albert Edwards warns on effects of Yen weakness
Albert Edwards, the renowned global strategist at Societe Generale famous for his bearish macroeconomic views, has warned that weakness in the Japanese Yen could start a wave of currency depreciations in Asia that will send a tidal wave of deflation heading West.
In his weekly strategy note out today, Edwards warned: “The US and eurozone remain a hair’s breadth from outright deflation. A weak yen could push them over the edge into deflation proper as China is forced to finally join the global currency wars.”
He believes that now that the Japanese Yen has fallen through the key 30-year support level for Yen/US dollar of Yen 120-122, it will quickly fall to Yen145/$. “We reiterate the particular vulnerability of China to yen weakness — in a replay of the events that led up to the 1997 Thai baht devaluation. China has big deflationary problems and cannot tolerate any further rise in the renminbi. Indeed, on one key measure (GDP deflator), China is already in outright deflation,” explained Edwards.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Demands Action From Greece to Cement Euro Membership
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded urgent action from the Greek government to cement its position as a member of the single currency.
Merkel said that fellow Group of Seven leaders meeting at Schloss Elmau, southern Germany, shared her goal of keeping Greece in the currency bloc and also backed her insistence that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must deliver an economic program that can satisfy the country’s creditors.
“There isn’t much time left, that’s the problem,” Merkel said at a press conference on Monday following the meeting. “Every day counts now.”
Creditors are growing increasingly exasperated with Tsipras’s negotiating tactics after he rejected the terms of an aid package last week that could prevent Greece being forced out of the euro. Tsipras’s government last week used a technicality to postpone a payment of about 300 million euros ($336 million) to the International Monetary Fund, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the Greek leader had misrepresented the creditors’ position in the talks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Credit Rating at Threat if Country Leaves EU, Moody’s Warns
The UK’s prized credit rating could be lost if the country chooses to leave the European Union, a leading ratings agency has warned.
The upcoming EU referendum poses a “political risk” to the economy, threatening to undermine the country’s economic strength and the ability of the government to make debt payments, the ratings agency has said in a new report.
Moody’s said that the UK’s Aa1 rating “would likely come under pressure” in the event of a withdrawal from the EU.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why This 2,073-Foot Chinese Building Could be an Omen of Economic Doom
Nothing suggests the height of human achievement and economic prowess quite like a skyscraper.
The newly completed 2,073-foot-tall Shanghai Tower is officially the second-tallest building in the world (behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa) and the tallest in China.
And taller skyscrapers are planned, such as China’s Sky City and Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower.
But as “cool” as all of these buildings are, glitzy construction booms have historically coincided with the beginnings of economic downturns, according to Barclays’ “Skyscraper Index.” (For all you economics wonks out there, basically, skyscrapers can be considered a sentiment indicator.)
Using Barclays’ index, we pulled together 10 skyscrapers whose constructions overlapped with financial crises.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
10 Reasons Why You Should Oppose TPP and TTIP
The U.S. Senate’s passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation on May 22 means that the TPA bill (also known as “Fast Track”) will soon be up for a vote in the House of Representatives. If the House follows suit and approves it, we can be certain that President Obama and his Republican supporters in Congress will move for expedited action on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), both of which, Obama has stated, are top priorities of his administration.
These twin, trans-oceanic agreements are massive schemes that propose a very radical transformation of the global politico-economic system, with revolutionary integration and convergence of the major Atlantic and Pacific nations. The TPP currently includes 12 Pacific Rim member states (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam), but is expected to expand to include more nations, including Communist China.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) proposes to begin “deep and comprehensive” integration between the 28 member states of the European Union and the United States. Over the course of the past several years, we have published many articles detailing the dangers posed by these (still officially secret) agreements. We are bringing together here, in abbreviated form, 10 of those reasons why every American — whether identifying as Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, Tea Party, liberal, conservative, or constitutionalist — should oppose both of these proposals.
1: Sovereignty will be lost.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership constitute an all-out assault on, and an existential threat to, America’s sovereignty and independence.
Even if all of the glowing economic predictions and rosy job promises of the TPP/TTIP promoters were true — and as we show below, there are many good reasons to disbelieve this prosperity propaganda — would it really be worth sacrificing our national sovereignty and independence for these purported benefits? Would it be worth sacrificing our liberty and our Constitution? Would it be worth subjecting ourselves and our posterity to the rule of international bureaucrats and judges? Those are not idle, speculative questions; they go to the core of what the TPP and TTIP are all about.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Can You be a Latino Politician if You Don’t Speak Fluent Spanish?
The prospect that he might be a running mate to Hillary Clinton made Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro a target over his Spanish speaking skills, something that many Latino politicians are all too familiar with.
In a story published Thursday, Politico paraphrased an unnamed source saying Castro’s ethnic background “may not be as effective in appealing to Hispanic voters as some believe.”
“Tim Kaine speaks Spanish much better than Julian Castro does,” the Clinton ally told Politico. Kaine is a Virginia Democrat who spent a year working in Honduras with Jesuit priests.
Castro is considered by many to be a potential running mate for Clinton, a 2016 presidential candidate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hillary Clinton and Ira Magaziner were on the board of NCEE which wanted, according to A HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT PLAN (1992), a “national system of education in which curriculum, pedagogy, examinations and teacher education and licensure systems are all linked to the national standards, and the standards are the same everywhere.”
Also in 1992, NCEE president Marc Tucker co-authored THINKING FOR A LIVING: WORK SKILLS AND FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, in which he wrote: “As this is written (1992), the former members of the Communist bloc in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are setting out to fashion new societies…Many of those countries have done a better job than we of building effective human resource development programs, and for that reason, may yet surprise the world in economic prowess.”
On August 2, 1992, Assistant Labor Secretary Roberts Jones announced that the federal government was preparing to deny aid and student loans to schools that fail to prepare their graduates with the skills needed to compete for jobs in the modern workplace, saying “This is a touchy subject.”
Three months later, NCEE president Marc Tucker wrote a revealing letter to his board member Hilary Clinton on November 11, 1992 saying he had just come from David Rockefeller, Jr.’s office where they were “celebrating” Bill Clinton’s election as president, as that would allow putting into place their agenda to integrate education into a national system of “human resources development…from cradle to grave…(for) everyone…We propose that Bill (Clinton) take a leaf out of the German book” (regarding required) “apprenticeship slots.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Former Scorpions Bass Player Admits Going to Snuff Parties
“Hostile” movie reflects elite murder parties.
Ralph Rieckermann, the former bassist for The Scorpions, admits he has attended elite snuff parties where people are murdered for the entertainment of the wealthy guests who pay up to $100,000 to attend.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Former EPA Scientist Speaks Out Against GMOs
A former senior scientist from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been speaking out against GMOs, but his voice is especially noteworthy among the many scientists who talk about genetically modified organisms. Why? Because he studied the impacts of altered crops on the environment. Read on to find out what this expert has to say about a genetically modified world and the ‘pesticide treadmill’ that biotech has us all running on.
Dr. Ramon Seidler’s credentials are nothing to sneeze at. He was a professor of microbiology at Oregon State University for 16 years before he worked at the EPA. He holds many honors, too, including being listed by the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England as one of the 2,000 outstanding World Scientists of the 20th Century.
During Seidler’s tenure at the EPA, he (along with other scientists) conducted GMO experiments that were contained in indoor environments. The experiments were meant to mimic what happens outside, just as if a farmer had planted a GM crop in Idaho, Michigan, or California. The gene transfer capabilities and survival rates of genetically modified seed were observed. He also observed transgenic DNA and Bt toxin products in agricultural ecosystems.
What he and his scientific peers found was that GE bacteria survived for years in soil, even after it was removed from the plants.
The former professor states that GE crops provide no significant increase in crop yields, but do pose several other major concerns: namely cross-pollination of non-GM species, and negative impacts to the environment. He calls these ‘side effects’ of broken biotech promises.
He also points out that one-third of the world already has the choice to ‘opt-out’ of GMOs because their food is labeled, and though Americans overwhelmingly want GM foods to be labeled, they are not.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hawaii to Shutter State Health Insurance Exchange
Hawaii will abandon its state-based health insurance exchange and transition to the federal marketplace, known as HealthCare.gov, the state announced Friday.
Gov. David Ige (D) announced Hawaii Health Connector, a private nonprofit, would be shut down because it “has been unable to generate sufficient revenues to sustain operations.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
IG Report: TSA Failed to Identify 73 Workers ‘Linked to Terrorism’
On the heels of Transportation Security Administration workers flunking a security test at airport checkpoints, the results of a new audit show that — while the agency keeps a robust system for screening commercial airport workers — it still failed to flag 73 airport workers “linked to terrorism.”
Apparently, TSA does not have access to all the terror watchlist information it needs to make those judgments.
“The TSA did not identify these individuals through its vetting operations because it is not authorized to receive all terrorism-related categories under current interagency watch-listing policy,” the June 4 Inspector General report stated.
According to TSA data, the people in question were working for major airlines, airport venders and other employers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jade Helm: Take Threat of Martial Law Seriously
Internet traffic is buzzing over JADE HELM, a U.S. military exercise scheduled this summer across Southwestern states, and involving the 82nd Airborne, Navy Seals, Green Berets, and other Special Ops.
The concern that this exercise will transition into martial law IS warranted. But since predicting future political events is as risky as predicting the price of gold, I acknowledge I may be wrong. Anyway, here’s what I believe people ought to know:
No drill this extensive has occurred before. A Jade Helm press release explained, “The diverse terrain in these states replicates areas Special Operations Soldiers regularly find themselves operating in overseas.” This seems disingenuous. The army has been operating in the Middle East continuously for 13 years, and has plenty of desert-terrain experience.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jail for Missed Days at School? The Madness of Truancy Laws.
We’ve seen it happen again and again: libertarians are derided over some supposedly crazy or esoteric position, years pass, and eventually others start to see why our position made sense. It’s happened with asset forfeiture, with occupational licensure, with the Drug War, and soon, perhaps, with libertarians’ once-lonely critique of school truancy laws.
People, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and other outlets are reporting on the case of Julie Giles of Sylvania, Georgia, who was arrested and put in shackles after her son Sam, who has been on the honor roll and won a “Student of the Month” citation, had nine unexcused sick absences when only six are allowed. Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak has reported on a 13-year-old straight-A piano prodigy charged with truancy in D.C. for taking ten days off to play on international concert stages, and another local mother charged with truancy because she took her son on an overseas trip for purposes of adopting his little brother.
In his 1980 bestseller Free to Choose, economist Milton Friedman (who was also a prescient critic of occupational licensing and the Drug War) had this to say about compulsory school attendance laws:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Campaign Aims to Resolve Vitamin D Deficiency Among Pregnant Women and Children
Thousands of studies have been done on the health effects of vitamin D, and research shows that it is involved in the biochemical function of all cells and tissues in your body, including your immune system and function.
When you’re deficient in vitamin D, your health can deteriorate in any number of ways, because your cells actually need the active form of vitamin D to gain access to the genetic blueprints stored inside the cell.
This is why vitamin D has such a potent impact on such a wide variety of health problems—from fetal development in the womb to cancer. Unfortunately, despite being easily and inexpensive to address, vitamin D deficiency is epidemic around the world.
It has been estimated that if vitamin D levels were raised among the general population, it could prevent chronic diseases that claim nearly one million lives throughout the world each year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
NRA: Gun Blogs, Videos, Web Forums Threatened by New Obama Regulation
Commonly used and unregulated internet discussions and videos about guns and ammo could be closed down under rules proposed by the State Department, amounting to a “gag order on firearm-related speech,” the National Rifle Association is warning.
In updating regulations governing international arms sales, State is demanding that anyone who puts technical details about arms and ammo on the web first get the OK from the federal government — or face a fine of up to $1 million and 20 years in jail.
According to the NRA, that would include blogs and web forums discussing technical details of common guns and ammunition, the type of info gun owners and ammo reloaders trade all the time.
“Gunsmiths, manufacturers, reloaders, and do-it-yourselfers could all find themselves muzzled under the rule and unable to distribute or obtain the information they rely on to conduct these activities,” said the NRA in a blog posting.
“This latest regulatory assault, published in the June 3 issue of the Federal Register, is as much an affront to the First Amendment as it is to the Second,” warned the NRA’s lobbying shop. “Your action is urgently needed to ensure that online blogs, videos, and web forums devoted to the technical aspects of firearms and ammunition do not become subject to prior review by State Department bureaucrats before they can be published,” it added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Says Supreme Court Should Never Have Taken Up Health Law Case, In Blunt Challenge
President Obama bluntly challenged the Supreme Court over a pending ruling on the validity of ObamaCare subsidies, complaining Monday that the court should never have taken up the case — and warning that a ruling against subsidies would be a “twisted interpretation” of the law.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Owner of House Blown Apart by SWAT Says: ‘This is an Abomination. This is an Atrocity’
“There was one gunman with a handgun and they chose to turn this house into something that resembles Osama Bin Laden’s compound.” Leo Lech is more than a little upset, and he is not afraid to express it with colorful language.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pesticide Commonly Used in U.S. Homes Triples Risk of ADHD Symptoms in Boys
Insecticides and over-the-counter insect repellents that contain pyrethroids also permeate the American marketplace and pose a threat to human health. Pyrethroids have now been proven to cause symptoms of hyperactivity and attention deficit in children. In fact, US researchers found that exposure to pyrethroids triples a boy’s risk of being diagnosed with ADHD. Experts at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital made the connection.
Since 2000, the use of pyrethroids for agricultural and home purposes has skyrocketed, mainly because they have been considered a safer replacement for the now-banned organophosphates which are more acutely toxic.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Retired NASA Scientists Take on Pope
With the papal encyclical on climate change scheduled for a June 18 release, the liberal media can be expected to portray the Vatican document as a major step forward for the United Nations agenda of controlling and taxing the use of natural resources by governments and people. But a group of retired NASA scientists is taking on the pope directly, armed with the expertise that has come through decades of planning U.S. space missions and dealing with the most complex and difficult issues of climate science.
Their verdict: the pope is risking his moral status and his credibility.
In fact, this group is directly warning Pope Francis that if he embraces the climate agenda of the United Nations, he will be violating both scientific principles and the religious values he embodies that are supposed to be reflected in direct aid for the poor people of the earth.
But the pope is apparently counting on his status as “the most popular person on the Earth,” in the words of Dan Misleh, executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant organization, to make the “moral” case that we live on “an abundant yet finite planet,” and that global limits to industrial growth have to be imposed on a worldwide basis.
The battle, now taking shape, will likely help determine whether U.S. sovereignty will be sacrificed in order to make possible a system of “global governance” or world government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Supersonic Parachute on NASA ‘Flying Saucer’ Apparently Fails in Test (Video)
NASA’s huge supersonic parachute isn’t ready to land astronauts on Mars just yet.
The 100-foot-wide (30 meters) chute — the biggest supersonic parachute ever deployed — was apparenty torn apart today (June 8) during the second flight test of NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) vehicle, which the space agency built as part of an ongoing effort to learn how to get superheavy payloads such as habitat modules down softly on the surface of Mars.
“Chute deployed, but did not inflate. We’ll study data from this test to learn & improve,” NASA officials said today via the agency’s Twitter account.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Amidst all the other emergencies, real and concocted here in the US, one has gone almost virtually unnoticed. But it’ s a kicker. The Bird Flu is sweeping the country like wildfire and has now killed 45 million chickens and turkeys here in the US… 20 million 2 months ago and 25 million last month. Nearly 80 percent of those are egg-laying hens, a reality that has been crippling for the egg industry. That’ s staggering. And to goose the visuals for a little perspective, take a gander:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Money Trail of Baltimore’s White Supremacist Politics
Exclusive: a former Baltimore political operative blows the whistle on the dark world of the city’s white supremacist political finance machine
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Online Privacy Lie is Unraveling
A new report into U.S. consumers’ attitude to the collection of personal data has highlighted the disconnect between commercial claims that web users are happy to trade privacy in exchange for ‘benefits’ like discounts. On the contrary, it asserts that a large majority of web users are not at all happy, but rather feel powerless to stop their data being harvested and used by marketers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Slide Toward “Velvet Glove” Fascism Continues
Sometimes we get the feeling the ruling elites are investing the laws they enact with a kind of impertinent, slap-in-your-face black humor. How else to explain the Orwellian names given to the liberty-crushing laws that have been put in place since the “war on terror” started?
The latest example is the misnamed “Freedom Act”, the purpose of which appears to be to make legal what was hitherto plainly illegal — inter alia whole-sale spying by the government on the citizenry. The legislation has been sold to the serfs as absolutely necessary to “prevent terror attacks”. As we have previously pointed out, the average US citizen is statistically far more likely to die from drowning in a bathtub or simply by falling from a chair rather than from a terror attack. No special laws have been proposed yet to save us from the evil of bathtubs and chairs, in spite of the danger evidently emanating from these deadly household furnishings.
Many people indeed begin to watch what they are saying once they are aware of being under constant surveillance. As we have previously argued, this undermines an important pillar of civilization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Three Questions to Change the Election
Starting now, as the presidential campaign heats up, let me offer three questions designed to shake up any public candidate meeting. A word of caution — do not take this action alone. Organize with at least three friends. Have each choose one of these questions to ask the candidates. If you have more people to join you, have others prepared to do a follow up question if they fail to answer. As you get your moment in front of the microphone, read the statement as I’ve provided below and then finish with the question shown in bold:
Property Rights Question
1 — Private property rights are under assault in communities and rural areas across the nation as local, state and federal governments move to enforce new planning development programs, particularly under the labels of Sustainable Developments or “Local Visioning.” If elected, what actions will you take to protect the unrestricted right of use, enjoyment and disposal of private property by its owners?
Regional Government Question
2 — It’s a growing situation that local elected representative government is being overshadowed by the establishment of non- elected boards, councils, planning commissions and regional governments. These non-elected organizations are, in effect, taking government further away from the people as they deal in backrooms, unseen and unapproachable. Yet, while not elected by the people, they are creating policy that affects private property, tax rates and much more, especially through the taking of federal grant money, which results in federal control over the use and outcome of that money. If elected, what actions will you take to eliminate these massive grant programs and to stop federal efforts to enforce creation of non-elected boards, councils and regional government boards?
Social Justice Question
3 — The term social justice is used more and more in today’s official society. The actual meaning of social justice is redistribution of wealth, much of which is imposed through the tool of political correctness. Social Justice is used to create class warfare and divisions in our society. It is now widely used in our public school curricula to replace actual academics with behavior modification methods designed to change the attitudes, values and beliefs of the children. The openly stated purpose of such programs as Outcome based education and Common Core is to create new global citizens who reject traditional American values of individual freedom, free enterprise and limited government. Such curriculum is enforced through a centralized Federal Department of Education, which has usurped local input. If elected, will you take action to shut down the federal Department of Education and return education policy to the states, making sure to end these orchestrated attacks on the attitudes, values and beliefs of the children?
Each of these questions pertain to one of the planks of Agenda 21. The three planks are 1. Social Equity; 2. Economic Prosperity; 3. Ecology (the assault on property rights). These are the infamous 3 E’s of Agenda 21.
Ask these questions in a public forum and watch those clueless candidates squirm. Most won’t have an answer. In fact most won’t even know what you are talking about. They will try to evade or put some positive spin on it. But you will know. You will understand that such candidates will never work to fix these problems. And so will the rest of the audience.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Does the Army expect that there will soon be “ disaster stricken” areas all over the country? As you will see in this article, a job advertisement has been posted on a federal website seeking workers that “ will provide emergency support to disaster stricken areas throughout the US” . This was originally reported by Shepard Ambellas of Intellihub, but it is not receiving nearly as much attention as it perhaps should. What parts of the nation does the U.S. Army believe will soon be “ disaster stricken” ? By itself, this job ad wouldn’ t be raising that many eyebrows, but when you combine this with the unusual number of “ military training exercises” that are taking place all around the country and with the very strange movements of military equipment that have been reported recently, it gives the appearance that the U.S. military is feverishly making preparations for something big.
You can find the job advertisement that I mentioned above right here. The following is an excerpt from that job posting…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
GM Salmon Susceptible to Disease, Slow Growth, GMO Scientists Alarmed That Biotech is Unpredictable
Although AquaBounty runs an illegal test “production facility” in Panama — actually a “run-down shed” from which GM salmon have already “escaped” — no commercial production of the GM salmon has taken place. Government regulators have approved the fish’s production in Canada, but that decision has been challenged by environmental and consumer advocacy groups. In the course of this legal fight, the groups obtained a partially redacted copy of a 400-page draft risk assessment from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, dated 2013.
This document notes that GM salmon are more vulnerable to the disease-causing bacteria Aeromonas salmonicida than non-modified salmon. According to the public interest groups, this susceptibility raises animal health, public health and environmental concerns that have not been analyzed by the FDA.
The Canadian document also found, that rather than growing faster, the GM fish at AquaBounty’s commercial facilities actually grew dramatically slower than non-modified fish. The fish also showed wide variation in growth rates and other markers of performance, suggesting that the genetic modification is not producing consistent results in the actual fish.
This evidence of shoddy genetic engineering raises serious concerns about the safety of the modified fish, the public interest groups warned, not to mention the GM salmon’s commercial viability.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bilderberg 2015: Full Attendee List & Agenda
The official Bilderberg Group website has released the full attendee list and agenda for this year’s conference. As ever, the list of topics to be discussed is so vague as to almost be meaningless. Infowars will have full coverage of Bilderberg’s detailed agenda later today and for the rest of the week.
63rd Bilderberg conference to take place from 11 — 14 June 2015 in Telfs-Buchen, Austria.
Telfs-Buchen, 8 June 2015 — The 63rd Bilderberg conference is set to take place from 11 — 14 June 2015 in Telfs-Buchen, Austria. A total of around 140 participants from 22 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media have been invited. The list of participants is available on www.bilderbergmeetings.org
The key topics for discussion this year include:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bilderberg 2015: Police Harass Reporters, Search Vehicle, Visit Hotel
Infowars reporters Rob Dew and cameraman Josh Owens were harassed by Austrian federal police at a checkpoint six miles away from where the secretive Bilderberg Group will meet later this week, with cops even visiting them at their hotel to check their passports.
Dew and Owens arrived in Telfs near to where the globalist confab is taking place to discover an unprecedented security operation in full swing days before Bilderberg members even arrive at the remote location in the Austrian alps.
Attempting to drive to their hotel, the two were quickly apprehended at a checkpoint a short distance up the mountain from Telfs where their passports, drivers license and booking papers were checked by police, who then demanded to perform a full inspection of their rented vehicle. Dew and Owens were then confronted by police as they tried to access their hotel before subsequently being approached by no less than eight federal police who again asked to check their passports and interrogated the reporters.
As we previously reported, police are already patrolling hike and bike trails well away from the luxury Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol where the Bilderberg Group meeting begins on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bilderberg Police Putting Small Town Under Martial Law
Security in small mountain community blown way out of proportion ahead of globalist confab. Just as Rob Dew and Josh Owens arrived in the small town of Telfs, Austria, they have seen one of the largest police show of force in recent memory.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British PM Risks Party Rebellion on EU Membership Talks
(LONDON) — Prime Minister David Cameron was put on notice Sunday that 50 of his own backbenchers will lead calls for Britain to quit the EU if he does not secure major concessions from Brussels.
A new group, Conservatives for Britain (CfB), has pledged to initially support Cameron’s bid to renegotiate London’s terms of membership of the 28-nation bloc.
However, the group also stands poised to lead the campaign to leave if the premier does not secure major changes, such as regaining control over free trade powers and British laws.
“Unless senior EU officials awake to the possibility that one of the EU’s largest members is serious about a fundamental change in our relationship, our recommendation to British voters seems likely to be exit,” Conservative lawmaker Steve Baker, the CfB’s chairman in parliament, told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
Cameron has pledged to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union then hold an in-or-out referendum on the outcome by the end of 2017.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cinema: The Islamization of Naples in a Documentary
‘Napolislam’ by Ernesto Pagano in movie theatres for Ramadan
The two Neapolitans, who have converted to Islam, star in a documentary by Ernesto Pagano — ‘Napolislam’, which is debuting on Saturday, June 13, at the Biografilm Festival in Bologna, explaining how the ongoing Islamization across Europe had been rooted in Naples for a while.
Among the stories is one focusing on Salvatore Muhammad, a former militant of the organized unemployed in Naples who, ‘‘after seeing how his movement dabbled in corruption and pork barrelling, converted to Islam- He believes it is the only solution for a more equal and just society’’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus: Gas Field ‘Commercially Viable’, Joint-Venture Says
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, JUNE 8 — The ‘Aphrodite’ natural gas field discovered in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has been declared commercially viable by the three companies owning rights on the field, known as block 12, the country’s Energy Ministry announced on Sunday as GreekReporter website writes.
“Noble Energy International Ltd, Delek Drilling Limited Partnership and Avner Oil Exploration Limited Partnership, holders of a license for the exploration of hydrocarbons in block 12 of Cyprus’ EEZ, have declared the commerciality of the ‘Aphrodite’ natural gas field,” the statement said. The discovery will allow Cyprus’ transition from the research to the development phase of its hydrocarbon reserves, the Ministry said, adding that they could be used for both domestic energy production and export through underwater pipelines to neighboring countries with which Cyprus has excellent bilateral relations. Texas-based Noble Energy, Israel’s Delek Group and its subsidiary Avner Oil Exploration must now submit a development and production plan to the Cypriot government, the Ministry said. The plan will include the companies’ proposal on the method, the development and production timeline, as well as the planning for hydrocarbons sales and marketing. The plan will then need to be approved by the government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Grave of Hans Christian Andersen Vandalized
The tombstone of world-renowned Danish author Hans Christian Andersen was defaced in Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro but police said it was not connected to the desecration of a Muslim cemetery outside of Copenhagen.
The grave of Hans Christian Andersen, who is almost universally regarded as the most famous Dane ever, was vandalized with a vulgarity over the weekend, Copenhagen Police confirmed early on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The co-CEOs of Deutsche Bank, buffeted by high-profile legal troubles, are resigning from their posts atop one of the world’s largest financial companies.
Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen, who have shared the chief executive job for the past three years, are leaving “early” after an “extraordinary” meeting of the bank’s board, Deutsche Bank (DB) announced Sunday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Do You Understand How Sweden is Being Run?
More than half of Swedes have little or no understanding of the cross-party deal struck in December that has had a crucial impact on Swedish politics. Here’s The Local’s guide to what’s been going on.
The centre-right Alliance parties, the Social Democrats and the Greens struck a deal to ensure the same kind of political chaos would not happen again. They agreed that if it looks like a future government budget won’t get enough support, then the main opposition parties either won’t vote for or won’t put forward a rival budget (leaving the Sweden Democrats’ vote irrelevant). But in the meantime, they agreed to implement the Alliance’s budget in January 2015, because it won the most votes.
Södertörn University political scientist Nicholas Aylott told The Local the deal was an “incredibly unique parliamentary agreement”. Like many analysts he argued that all the major parties had decided to put political stability first, rather than risk the uncertainty of a second election within a six-month period: “An election could have made things better for any of the parties, but it could also have made it worse”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: A Week of Violence in Tourcoing
There has been violence almost every night for a week in the northern city of Tourcoing. Cars burnt, trash cans set on fire, projectiles thrown at the police, after the death on Sunday (May 31) of Pierre-Elliot Zighem, 19, who was in a car being chased by the police. The car hit a tree, killing him and seriously injuring another passenger.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Teen Has ‘Near Miss’ With Pack of Wolves
A teenage boy in southern France has had “the fright of his life” after he was encircled by a pack of wolves, which residents say are no longer scared of humans.
At the stroke of midnight on Friday, a 16-year-old boy called Romain was awoken by the sound of barking dogs and mooing cows at his family’s property on the edge of the woods of La Blanche, not far from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France.
He took a tractor and a rifle out into the cattle field to see what was making the disturbance and found himself surrounded by a pack of wolves, reported French newspaper La Provence.
Fearing for his life, the boy fired the rifle in the air and managed to frighten off the pack, but was left trembling for hours.
The father of the boy confirmed that wolf pack — which is believed to number 13 — was becoming more of a threat in the area and could be seen rummaging through the family’s bins at nights.
“They’ve been getting used to us for months. They’re not scared anymore,” he told the paper, adding that wolves had killed one of his calves in recent weeks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French PM Under Fire for Champions League Trip
France’s PM Manuel Valls has been accused of caring more about the Spanish football team he supports than the country he leads after he took the government’s jet to the Champions League final on Saturday night.
Valls himself insists the trip to Berlin for Saturday’s final between Barcelona and Juventus was purely professional, but political opponents say it was “indecent”.
The Catalonia-born PM, an ardent fan of Barcelona, flew from the Socialist party conference in Poitiers, western France to Berlin on Saturday and then back to Poitiers.
But he came under fire for his choice of transport and the fact he attended a match that involved no French teams.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Anti-Islam PEGIDA Makes Surprise Gains in First Local Polls
Germany’s anti-Islam PEGIDA movement took nearly 10 percent of the vote in mayoral elections in its eastern stronghold of Dresden Sunday, a better-than-expected result for a group whose weekly demonstrations have steadily dwindled.
In what was PEGIDA’s first appearance at the ballot box, candidate Tatjana Festerling came fourth in the city’s polls, sparked after the conservative mayor resigned for health reasons, with 9.6 percent of the vote.
The only opinion poll published ahead of the election, by the Technical University of Dresden, had predicted she would secure between just one and two percent of votes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: PEGIDA Makes First Gains in Dresden Election
Germany’s anti-Islam PEGIDA movement took nearly 10 percent of the vote in mayoral elections in its eastern stronghold of Dresden Sunday, a better-than-expected result for a group whose weekly demonstrations have steadily dwindled.
In what was PEGIDA’s first appearance at the ballot box, candidate Tatjana Festerling came fourth in the city’s polls, sparked after the conservative mayor resigned for health reasons, with 9.6 percent of the vote.
The only opinion poll published ahead of the election, by the Technical University of Dresden, had predicted she would secure between just one and two percent of votes.
The surprisingly strong showing is likely to be hailed as a success by PEGIDA, which stands for “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident” and at its height brought up to 25,000 people onto the streets of Dresden, although later rallies attracted smaller crowds.
The group, founded late last year, has also been weakened in recent months by internal strife and scandal among its leaders, yet it still managed to spur PEGIDA clones in other cities, while also sparking often far bigger counter-protests.
The best score in Sunday’s first round went to Eva-Maria Stange, the joint candidate for the Social Democrats, Greens and far-left Linke, who took 36 percent, followed by a candidate from the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) with 31.7 percent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Google Exec Behind Ingestible ID Chips to Attend Bilderberg 2015
Former DARPA director and now Google executive Regina Dugan, who is helping to develop and promote the idea of an ingestible identification microchip, will be in attendance at the secretive 2015 Bilderberg conference in Telfs-Buchen, Austria.
Dugan’s name appeared on the official list of participants released today on the Bilderberg Group’s official website. One of the topics up for discussion will be “artificial intelligence.” Google Chairman Erich Schmidt along with Demis Hassabis, Vice President of Engineering for Google DeepMind, will also meet with over 100 global power brokers from finance, politics and academia during the elitist confab.
Dugan told an audience at the 2013 All Things D11 Conference that the company was working on a microchip inside a pill that users would swallow daily in order obtain the “superpower” of having their entire body act as a biological authentication system for cellphones, cars, doors and other devices.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘If Europe Isn’t Safe for Jews, It Isn’t Safe for Europeans’
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks calls to “broaden the agenda” when it comes to discussions of boycotts and anti-Semitism.
The agenda needs to be “broadened” beyond BDS and anti-Semitism, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, told Arutz Sheva on Monday.
Rabbi Lord Sacks spoke after taking part in a rountdable panel entitled “Islam and BDS in Europe: A Strategic Threat?” at the 2015 Herzliya Conference.
“We have to broaden the agenda, widen people’s attention spans, (and) create allies among the Christians and moderate Muslim communities, and make Europe itself realize that if Europe is not safe for Jews, it is not safe for Europeans, and if we cannot defend Israel in Europe then you will not be able to defend freedom,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kurds in Sweden Celebrate HDP Success in Turkey
Hundreds of people gathered in central Stockholm to celebrate the success of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, HDP, in the Turkish elections yesterday.
For the first time, a pro-Kurdish party crossed the ten percent threshhold needed to get into the Turkish Parliament, and here at Sergels Torg, in the heart of the Swedish capital, almost 1,000 people turned out to celebrate.
Dinar was one of them, and he said he hopes that this is a step for democracy for all of Turkey, for the whole Kurdish population, and that it means an end to the war that’s gone on for 33 years.
Kader Alp was also there and said that it felt a little unreal — had it really happened? she said, adding: “how could Turkey allow this with so much corruption. People have died, there have been bombings the whole time, this is unimaginable, quite simply,” she said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Busted: Gang That Used Voodoo to Exploit Women
Spanish National Police announced on Monday that they broke up a ring of human traffickers who used juju voodoo and animal sacrifices to coerce women into prostitution.
Officers rescued four victims and arrested six members of the organization that used juju voodoo rituals to sexually exploit women, according to a police report.
Traffickers reportedly promised the women from Nigerian jobs in Spain, only to force them into prostitution once they brought them to places such as Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and Palma de Mallorca in the Balearics.
The traffickers had put the women through a juju voodoo ritual that used the victims’ finger nails or public hair and involved animal sacrifice in front of idols in a temple in order to “guarantee that the women complied with everything they demanded, under threat of death to them and their families”.
Juju is a practice originating in West Africa, often characterized by amulets and spells. It has commonly been used to drive Nigerian women into sex trafficking in places like Italy and the United Kingdom by exploiting the women’s fears of the powerful ‘magic’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Investigator Calls for 10-Year Plan to End Men’s Violence Against Women
In a report submitted to the equality minister, Åsa Regnér of the Social Democrats, today, the government’s investigator of men’s violence against women, suggested that Sweden adopt a ten-year national strategy aimed at ending violence.
The investigator, Juno Blum, proposed instituting a national council and secretariat at the government’s administrative offices in order to coordinate the policy, according to news agency TT.
Despite political efforts made during recent years and clear legislation, the investigator stated that there is not enough coordination, that efforts against violence are often short-sighted, that prevention is missing, and that the work isn’t prioritized.
The investigator also found deficiencies in knowledge. For many of the careers that involve coming into contact with women and girls who are exposed to violence, basic education includes nothing about this issue.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Danes Are Revolting: Tax Administration Set on Fire
In Fredensborg, Denmark, ten official cars from the Tax Administration Office were set on fire and destroyed overnight in a protest. As ExstraBladet reports, police received notification Wednesday night at 3:09 a.m. that the Tax Administration offices on Kratvej were on fire. So far, there are no suspects. But, as Martin Armstrong notes, the police will undoubtedly hunt for someone retaliating against the Tax Man.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Two Million EU Signatures Back ‘Stop TTIP’ Initiative
Stop TTIP, a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) against the EU-US trade deal has reached 2 million signatures in 14 EU countries, its organizers said. An ECI needs only 1 million in seven countries to be oblige the EU commission to examine a legislative reaction.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: How Do You Change the Met’s Face?
There’s a very telling moment in the BBC’s landmark series on the Metropolitan Police, which begins on Monday on BBC One.
As teams of officers prepare for a street festival in Brixton, the south London suburb that is one of the hearts of black Britain, a commanding officer says the last image he wants to see that day is a cop in a confrontation with a black youth.
As the camera pans around the briefing room, there is a sea of white faces.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Britain’s top police officer controversially branded all sections of society ‘institutionally racist’ yesterday. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it is not only police forces which fail to represent the varied communities they serve. The judiciary, medical profession, media and government are all dominated by the white middle classes, he suggested. And the Scotland Yard boss admitted that there is ‘some justification’ for people to think of his London force as a racist organisation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Met Chief Accepts Force May be ‘Institutionally Racist’
Accusations of institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police are sometimes justified, the head of the force has admitted, as he said older white officers could be paid off in order to improve diversity.
Accepting criticism of his officers, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: “If other people think we are institutionally racist, then we are.”
But he said the police was simply reflective of society as a whole, where many institutions failed to reflect the community they represented.
Sir Bernard made the comments in a new BBC One documentary, The Met, which offers a warts and all look at the force, filmed over a 12 -month period across the capital.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pay Off White Officers, Says Met Chief
The country’s most senior police officer would like to pay off older white police officers so that they could be replaced by black and ethnic minority recruits. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the head of the Metropolitan police, said that he supported “incentivising” older officers to leave so that the force could become more representative, but there was not enough money.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Resign if You Back Brexit, Cameron Warns Party
David Cameron has warned eurosceptic ministers that they will have to resign if they want to campaign for Britain to leave the EU.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Bavaria on Sunday (7 June), the UK prime minister insisted that his government would not be “neutral” and planned to “get a deal that’s in Britain’s interest and then recommend Britain stays in it”.
“I’ve been very clear. If you want to be part of the government, you have to take the view that we are engaged in an exercise of renegotiation, to have a referendum and that will lead to a successful outcome,” he said.
A number of Conservative ministers are hostile to EU membership and many within the party hoped that Cameron would allow a free vote, repeating the tactic used by Labour premier Harold Wilson at the UK’s last referendum on the then EEC (European Economic Community) in 1975 of temporarily freeing ministers from the principle of ‘collective responsibility’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The EU and Algeria held their ninth Association Council yesterday in Brussels, renewing their intention to consolidate their bilateral relationship, not only through the implementation of the Association Agreement, but also through an ambitious political dialogue.
The two parties signed a protocol to the Association Agreement allowing Algeria to take part in 20 EU programmes, including COSME (SMEs), Horizon 2020 (research) and Creative Europe (culture and media).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Newspaper Reports That Israel Built, Exploded ‘Dirty Bomb’ With Nuclear Material in a Test
A major Israeli newspaper says the government built and exploded a “dirty bomb” with nuclear material inside it to see how such an attack would affect the country.
The Haaretz daily newspaper on Monday quoted researchers as saying the tests were for defensive purposes only. It quoted them as saying that high radiation was found at the center of blasts while small particles carried by wind don’t pose serious danger.
The newspaper said the experiment ended last year. It said the blast took place in Israel’s southern desert.
So-called “dirty bombs” are traditional explosives laced with nuclear material intended to contaminate a wide area.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As ISIS Brutalizes Women, A Pathetic Feminist Silence
by Phyllis Chesler
Oh, how the feminist movement has lost its way. And the deafening silence over ISIS’s latest brutal crimes makes that all too clear.
Fifty years ago, American women launched a liberation campaign for freedom and equality. We achieved a revolution in the Western world and created a vision for girls and women everywhere.
Second Wave feminism was an ideologically diverse movement that pioneered society’s understanding of how women were disadvantaged economically, reproductively, politically, physically, psychologically and sexually.
Feminists had one standard of universal human rights — we were not cultural relativists — and we called misogyny by its rightful name no matter where we found it.
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Body of Tareq Aziz Arrives in Jordan Monday
Former Iraqi politician to be buried in Christian town of Fuheis
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN — Body of former Iraq deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz is expected to arrive in Jordan on Monday where he will be buried in a local cemetery west of the capital, officials said.
The remains of former Iraqi top diplomat will be buried in the Christian majority town of Fuheis,15 km west of the capital, following authorities approval by Aziz family to bury him in the kingdom.
Home of Aziz family has turned to a major attraction in Amman as hundreds of supporters flocked to his house to offer condolences.
Body of Aziz is being flown to Amman on Royal Jordanian after it was transported from al Nassiria prison late last week, said Aziz lawyer Badee Aref.
“Procedures are being handled in order to have a burial ceremony for Aziz. We are thankful to Jordan for allowing him to be buried in its territories,” Aref told ANSA.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Delegation in Iran Barred From Speaking to Press
An EU delegation lead by Germany’s Elmar Brok was Sunday not allowed to meet foreign press in Tehran. Brok cancelled a planned interview with state-owned TV in return but said the “unhappy incident did not spoil the visit”. Irans FM Zarif accepted to visit the European Parliament in near future.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Delegation in Iran Barred From Speaking to Foreign Media
An EU delegation was stopped Sunday from speaking to foreign media in Tehran, with an Iranian security official threatening action against reporters and photographers if they tried to film the incident. Having called a press conference at their hotel in the capital, the plans of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament were disrupted, prompting an angry exchange on the street.
After being ushered off hotel premises, Elmar Brok, chairman of the committee, angrily told the security official: “You cannot stop me from talking to reporters.” But Brok, a German MEP, was pointedly warned he had no right to speak to media near the end of a two-day trip, which comes as world powers near a June 30 deadline for a deal on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.
Sunday’s incident occurred despite the group of seven EU lawmakers being invited to Tehran by their Iranian counterparts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Inside Mosul: What’s Life Like Under Islamic State?
Exclusive footage from Iraq’s second city of Mosul reveals how Islamic State wields power over people’s everyday life, a year after it was captured.
Secretly-filmed videos obtained by the BBC’s Ghadi Sary show mosques being blown up, abandoned schools, and women being forced to cover up their bodies.
Residents said they were living in fear of punishment according to the group’s extreme interpretation of Islamic law.
They also described IS preparations for an expected government offensive.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Troops Advancing Against ISIS in Key Refinery Town
Parts of the Iraqi city of Beiji have been taken back by Iraqi security forces and Iranian-backed Shiite fighters, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News Monday.
The unnamed official — who had been briefed on the latest intelligence from Iraq — told Fox that Islamic State fighters still occupy some areas in the city, a strategic focus because of its proximity to an oil refinery.
“They still have a foothold in both,” the official said, referring to both parts of the town and the refinery.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Saudis Are Ready to Go Nuclear
In the past two years, it has beaten Britain into fourth place in the world’s military spending league with a defence budget of around £37?billion (compared with the UK at around £34?billion). The military offensive in Yemen has seen Saudi Arabia deploy an estimated 150,000 troops — nearly twice the size of the British Army — while Saudi fighter jets, many of them British-made, have flown thousands of sorties.
Now the Saudis have raised the alarming prospect of the Middle East becoming embroiled in a nuclear arms race after the country’s blunt warning that “all options are on the table” if Iran fails to resolve the international stand-off over its nuclear programme.
Prince Mohammed bin Nawwaf bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s long-serving ambassador to London, says that for many years the kingdom upheld the policy established by the late King Fahd that Riyadh would not pursue a policy of developing nuclear weapons. “Then it became known that Iran was pursuing a policy that could be shifted to a weapons-of-mass-destruction programme,” Prince Mohammed explained in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph. “This has changed the whole outlook in the region.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trove Seized in Syria Raid Opens Window on ISIS, U.S. Says
American intelligence agencies have extracted valuable information about the Islamic State’s leadership structure, financial operations and security measures by analyzing materials seized during a Delta Force commando raid last month that killed a leader of the terrorist group in eastern Syria, according to United States officials.
The information harvested from the laptops, cellphones and other materials recovered from the raid on May 16 has already helped the United States identify, locate and carry out an airstrike against another Islamic State leader in eastern Syria, on May 31. American officials expressed confidence that an influential lieutenant, Abu Hamid, was killed in the attack, but the Islamic State, which remains resilient, has not yet confirmed his death.
New insights yielded by the seized trove — four to seven terabytes of data, according to one official — include how the organization’s shadowy leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, operates and tries to avoid being tracked by coalition forces.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Elections: Erdogan Says No Party Can Rule Alone
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the inconclusive election result means no party can govern alone.
His AK party is meeting to try to form a government after losing its majority in a general election for the first time in 13 years.
It secured 41%, a sharp drop from 2011, and must form a coalition or face entering a minority government.
Mr Erdogan has called on all parties to “preserve the atmosphere of stability” in Turkey.
The AK party is now likely to try to form a coalition, but no party has yet indicated it is willing to join forces with the AKP.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The AKP party lost its majority in Turkey’s elections on Sunday (7 June), putting the brakes on president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan to consolidate power.
With 99 percent of votes counted, the AKP won 41 percent, leaving it 18 seats short of single-party rule — the first time in 13 years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Pushes US Bailouts and Weapons for Ukraine
If you look at the track record of the interventionists you might think they would pause before taking on more projects. Each of their past projects has ended in disaster yet still they press on. Last week the website Zero Hedge posted a report about hacked emails between billionaire George Soros and Ukrainian President Poroshenko.
Soros is very close to the Ukrainian president, who was put in power after a US-backed coup deposed the elected leader of Ukraine last year. In the email correspondence, Soros tells the Ukrainian leadership that the US should provide Ukraine “with same level of sophistication in defense weapons to match the level of opposing force.” In other words, despite the February ceasefire, Soros is pushing behind the scenes to make sure Ukraine receives top-of-the-line lethal weapons from the United States. Of course it will be up to us to pay the bill because Ukraine is broke.
But Soros seems to have the money part covered as well. In an email to Ukrainian leaders, he wrote that Ukraine’s “first priority must be to regain control of financial markets.” Soros told Poroshenko that the IMF would need to come through with a $15 billion package, which was confident would lead the Fed to also come through with more money. He wrote: “the Federal Reserve could be asked to extend a $15 billion three months swap arrangement with the National Bank of Ukraine. That would reassure the markets and avoid a panic.”
How would the Fed be convinced to do that? Soros assured Poroshenko: “I am ready to call Jack Lew of the US Treasury to sound him out about the swap agreement.”
So George Soros will use his influence in the US government to put the American people on the hook for a bankrupt Ukraine — forcing us to pay for weapons, more military training, and Ukraine’s crippling debt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Subs Off Norway Can Hit Moscow in 17m’: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of the threat posed by US submarines “on permanent alert” off Norway. “They are equipped with missiles that can reach Moscow in 17 minutes,” he told Italy’s Il Corriere della Sera newspaper. “And you would call us aggressive?”
Putin’s comments came after Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Friday said that Norwegian involvement in Nato’s Missile Defence System was “necessary”, committing her country to taking a role in the network, a move certain to irritate Russia, which sees the system’s role out as an act of aggression.
In his interview, Putin denied that Russia was becoming more aggressive, instead suggesting that a growing Nato presence in Norway and other countries on Russia’s borders was forcing his country to respond.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India is Building Millions of Toilets, But That’s the Easy Part
MUKHRAI, India — Rameshwar Natholi received an unexpected gift from the government recently when workmen descended on his modest home in this rural village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and built a brand-new toilet in his front yard.
Natholi, a farmworker, said he never wanted one. Most people in his village have been relieving themselves in the open fields for years.
But as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Clean India” campaign to provide new sanitary toilets to more than 60 million homes by 2019, Mukhrai has been in the midst of a toilet-building boom since April.
More than 53 percent of Indian homes — about 70 percent in the villages — lack toilets. Poor sanitation and contaminated water cause 80 percent of the diseases afflicting rural India, and diarrhea is a leading killer of children younger than 5, UNICEF says.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysian Official Blames Deadly Earthquake on Mountain Climbers Who Posed Naked
A Malaysian government official has blamed last week’s deadly earthquake on a group of ten tourists whom he claimed “showed disrespect to (a) sacred mountain” by posing for photos naked at the summit last week.
Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the deputy chief minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah, told reporters Saturday that a special ritual would be conducted at a later date to “appease the mountain spirit.” Meanwhile, authorities said that five of the ten climbers were believed to still be in Malaysia and would not be permitted to leave on grounds of gross indecency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The U.S. State Department’s ‘Become-Liars-Like-Us-School-of-Journalism’
The country infamous for its running dog-mainstream media cheering anything Obama in a cacophony of barks, including the “fundamental transformation” of their own country, is now branching out through its State Department to the world.
Bureaucrats of the U.S. State Department, who have already taken it upon themselves to teach “ethics” to the “up and coming journalists” of India, are going to “embed” up-and-coming Russian journalists in American newsrooms.
Having gained control of the mainstream media on home turf, why not try for world media control?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Used A380 Superjumbos Threaten Airbus’s Drive for Sales
Airbus Group SE is set to face a fresh challenge in reviving sales of its flagship A380 superjumbo as used aircraft hit the market.
Malaysia Airlines Bhd. said June 2 it would like to dispose of two of its six A380s, deliveries of which began three years ago, while two built for failed carrier Skymark Airlines Inc. are seeking new owners. Thai Airways International PCL could also attempt to sell some of its six planes, all of them less than three years old, people familiar with the situation said.
Airbus hasn’t won a new airline customer for the world’s biggest commercial jet in almost three years and needs to sell close to 30 a year just to break even. In addition to aircraft deemed excess to requirements, some of the oldest A380s are poised come off lease, with five flown by Singapore Airlines Ltd., the model’s first operator, being offered to other carriers by asset-management firms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kim Jong-un: Trying to Make Sense of North Korea’s Leader
Outside North Korea, Kim Jong-un is depicted as a monster capable of throwing his uncle to the dogs (though Pyongyang has denied this). Or a buffoon who sends his goons around to a London hairdresser who dared to poke fun at his haircut. Or a portly playboy with a liking for Swiss cheese, fast cars and faster women.
But inside North Korea, he is a monarch, the supreme leader, with an almost god-like aura. His people applaud until their hands must be raw.
The state media reports how he travels the country and imparts his guidance, recently, for example, on farming terrapins.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Secret Life of Fidel Castro
A former security agent shows the leader lived large while preaching revolutionary sacrifice.
By Mary Anastasia O’Grady
For 17 years Juan Reinaldo Sánchez was part of the elite team of Cuban security specialists charged with protecting the life and privacy of Fidel Castro. But in 1994 his loyalty came into question when, with a daughter already living abroad, a brother jumped on a raft for Florida. Castro fired him. Sánchez was imprisoned for two years and tortured. In 2008 he defected to the U.S.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Home Away From Home: A Desi Senior Center in Queens
Not far from the bustling Bangladeshi restaurants and stores on Hillside Avenue is a mosque teeming with activity but not necessarily from worshippers. During the day, women and men sing songs at the “open mic,” take English classes, learn about civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and participate in group exercise. They eat meals, pray and celebrate their birthdays together. Sometimes they cry too.
These folks are members of the newly opened “Desi Senior Center,” a facility targeted to assist the growing and aging South Asian community in this Queens, New York neighborhood. (Desi is a term that describes anyone from South Asia — Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka). The program is attended mostly by Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants but is open to people of all faiths and backgrounds. It is housed in the basement of the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens, free of charge and is open to anyone 60 and up (though exceptions are sometimes made for younger participants.)
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s North Rebels as Migrant Arrivals Top 50k
Italy’s wealthy North vowed on Sunday that it would refuse to accommodate any more migrants as thousands more were rescued in the Mediterranean by a multinational flotilla of ships.
As another frantic weekend of rescues unfolded, at least 4,000 people were plucked to safety from packed fishing boats and rubber dinghies off Libya.
Mass drownings in the Mediterranean have claimed nearly 1,800 lives so far this year.
All of those rescued will be deposited at ports on Sicily or elsewhere in southern Italy in the coming days, lifting this year’s total of new arrivals on Italian soil to over 50,000.
The latest batch sent the migration crisis back to the top of the political agenda with three big northern regions vowing to defy the centre-left government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi by refusing to house any of the new arrivals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Huddled in their hundreds on the lower deck of a warship, these are the desperate migrants who claimed the Royal Navy had ‘saved their lives’ after being rescued off the North African coast.
Children as young as two and heavily-pregnant women were among the 1,200 migrants rescued by HMS Bulwark at various points along the Libyan coast yesterday.
They were plucked from nine vessels — six of them rubber dinghies — set adrift off the coast as ministers fear half a million more people are waiting to make the trip, all hoping to be rescued by the military.
As those rescued clambered aboard HMS Bulwark in the Mediterranean, many took the opportunity to disclose the harrowing journey they had faced since fleeing the country.
One of those rescued said: ‘It was no problem.’ Others said they felt like they had been in hell.
Yasin, 29, from Islamabad, Pakistan, summed up many of the migrants’ feelings. She said: ‘The Royal Navy has saved my life. I want to live in Europe because I feel safe here.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
“Marquette Warrior” Professor Exposes Campus PC
Free speech and academic freedom are under assault at Marquette University. The administration at this Catholic University is trying to fire the “ Marquette Warrior” blogger, Professor John McAdams, for exposing various embarrassments on campus, such as a mural glamorizing the cop-killer Assata Shakur, and how an instructor tried to ban “ homophobic” comments. In response to his blog post on the mural, the Marquette administration had it painted over. In response to his blog post on a ban on “ homophobic” comments in one class, the administration suspended and banned McAdams from campus, and is now trying to fire him.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bruce Jenner and the Culture of Insanity
by Matt C. Abbott
The current main pop-culture headline involves former Olympian Bruce Jenner “transitioning” into a woman. He’s on the cover of Vanity Fair as “Caitlyn,” and he’ll be receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPY Awards. Sadly, a large segment of our culture celebrates that which shouldn’t be celebrated. Jenner needs compassion — he obviously has a significant mental affliction — but he certainly doesn’t deserve an award for courage. There’s nothing courageous about a man living as a woman. On a related note, transgender activists in Canada are now lobbying to abolish gender references from birth certificates.
From the National Post:
The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has agreed to review complaints filed by the Trans Alliance Society and a handful of transgender and intersex individuals, who argue that doctors should stop assigning the sex of a baby based on a quick inspection of the baby’s genitals at birth when there’s a possibility they may identify under a different gender, or no gender, years later.
“Birth certificates (may) give false information about people and characterize them in a way that is actually wrong, that assumes to be right, and causes people … actual harm,” said Morgane Oger, a transgender woman in Vancouver and chair of the society.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It doesn’t matter that Bruce Jenner, famed Olympic athlete and member of the Kardashian family, thinks that he is female. He can never be female no matter what surgery he undertakes to make it reflect the fantasy in his head. Born a male, his body is a billion cells and nerve contacts whose DNA determines his true gender.
That’s why those who are buying into the pop cultural myth and news coverage of Jenner’s announced transformation should be greeted “Hello, Sucker!” It’s worse than just plain stupidity; it is the tip of a massive effort to alter society that dates back to those arrogant and deluded founders of communism who thought that, for it to succeed, the family as a key element of all societies, had to be eliminated.
Dr. Paul Kengor, Ph.D., is a leading scholar on Communism and the author, among other excellent books, of “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century” and, just out, “Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has sabotaged Family and Marriage.” ($18.95, WND Books, softcover)
The only way progressives—communists—know how to advance their agenda is to lie about it in every way. Even a short look at the lives of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the authors of Communist manifesto, Das Kapital, tells you what motivated their wish to destroy the family.
As Dr. Kengor points out, Engels had written that he “favored that marriage should not be a legal relationship, but a purely private affairs” noting that Engels “revealed a highly promiscuous attitude toward sexual morality and marital relationships.” Between the two men, they had many mistresses. Of the six children Marx fathered, four died before he did and two committed suicide. Both men leached off of Engel’s inheritance, never working a day in their lives. Marx’s family finally refused to lend him a dime; in brief, two men with a disdain for traditional marriage and widely held Judeo-Christian moral values.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spike TV Will Censor Clint Eastwood’s Caitlyn Jenner Joke During Awards Show
Clint Eastwood made a small joke about Bruce Jenner’s transition into Caitlyn Jenner while filming Spike TV’s “Guys’ Choice Awards” over the weekend, and now the network is saying it will cut the remark from airing.
While introducing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 85-year-old Eastwood compared Johnson with other athletes turned actors.
“…Jim Brown and Caitlyn Somebody.”
A head figure at Spike confirmed that the joke will be cut from the show when it airs later this month.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Versailles ‘Giant Vagina’ Causes Stir in France
Another row over art has kicked off in France this week after a massive sculpture, supposedly representing the “vagina of a queen”, has been installed on the gardens of the historic Versailles Palace.
Last year it was a giant butt plug in Paris, now its a giant vagina at Versailles that is causing a stir in France.
Artist Anish Kapoor has turned heads in France after he told a French newspaper that his latest piece of artwork represented “the queen’s vagina” taking power.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
One detail about PEGIDA in Dresden: it’s the same it’s happening in Sweden. Public demonstrations are empty, but votes keep rising.
The obvious inference is that people are afraid of being pointed out as “racists” and to be the subject of a witch-hunt, which in Sweden has destroyed the life of some people.
A rising party which gets less and less people in public demostrations should bring some red flags about the level of freedom.
George Soros rides again! Can’t this cashed up megalomaniac just leave things alone? Please George, do us all a favor and fall off your perch!