More than 1,800 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean and brought to safety in Italy, and thirteen migrant corpses were also recovered. Meanwhile, overnight 2,000 migrants attempted to enter the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain.
In other news, a spokesman for the police union in the southern Swedish city of Malmö says that staff shortages on the police force are putting the public at risk.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Phyllis Chesler, RRR, Srdja Trifkovic, 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.
An Expert That Correctly Called the Last Two Stock Market Crashes is Now Predicting Another One
A well-respected financial expert that correctly predicted the last two stock market crashes is now warning that we are right on the verge of the next one. John Hussman is a former professor of economics and international finance at the University of Michigan, and the information in his latest weekly market comment is staggering. Since 1970, there have only been a handful of times when a combination of market signals that Hussman uses have indicated that a major market peak has been reached. In 1972, 2000 and 2007 each of those peaks was followed by a dramatic stock market crash. Now, for the first time since the last financial crisis, all four of those signals appeared once again during the week of July 17th. If Hussman’s analysis is correct, this could very well mean that the next great stock market crash in the United States is imminent.
It was an excellent article by Jim Quinn of the Burning Platform that first alerted me to Hussman’s latest warning. If you don’t follow Quinn’s work already, you should, because it is excellent. When someone is repeatedly correct about the financial markets, we should all start paying attention. Back in late 2007, Hussman warned us about what was coming in 2008, but most people did not listen.
Now he is sounding the alarm again. According to Hussman, when there is a confluence of four key market indicators, that tells us that the market has peaked and is in danger of crashing. The following comes from Newsmax…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Copper, China and World Trade Are All Screaming That the Next Economic Crisis is Here
If you are looking for a “canary in a coal mine” type of warning for the entire global economy, you have a whole bunch to pick from right now. “Dr. Copper” just hit a six year low, Morgan Stanley is warning that this could be the worst oil price crash in 45 years, the Chinese economy is suddenly stalling out, and world trade is falling at the fastest pace that we have seen since the last financial crisis. In order not to see all of the signs that are pointing toward a global economic slowdown, you would have to be willingly blind. In recent months, I have been writing article after article detailing how the exact same patterns that happened just before the stock market crash of 2008 are playing out once again. We are watching a slow-motion train wreck unfold right before our eyes, and things are only going to get worse from here.
Copper is referred to as “Dr. Copper” because it does such an excellent job of indicating where economic conditions are heading next. We saw this in 2008, when the price of copper started crashing big time in the months leading up to the stock market implosion.
Well, now copper is crashing again. Just check out this chart. The price of copper plunged again on Wednesday, and it is now the lowest that it has been since the last financial crisis. Unfortunately, the forecast for the months ahead is not good. The following is what Goldman Sachs is saying about copper…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Impact of Recent Damage is Hard to Reverse, IOBE
Economy will sink back into recession at a rate of 2.5%
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JULY 24 — The Greek economy will sink back into recession at a rate of 2.5% this year, with unemployment starting to rise again after a year of decline, and consumer prices going up once more after three years of deflation, the quarterly report by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) said on Thursday as reported by Kathimerini online.
In its forecast for the rest of 2015, the prestigious foundation noted the need for economic and political stability in the long term starting from early fall and warned that the negative effects of recent developments will be hard to reverse, while conditions for healthy growth will be absent as long as there is no confidence and balance in the credit sector. Presenting the report titled “The Greek Economy,” IOBE Director General Nikos Vettas spoke of significant damage to the local economy, which having narrowly escaped the destructive impact of a disorderly default and eurozone exit, is now urgently seeking a new direction and course. The way to achieve this, Vettas said, is to adhere to the agreement with the country’s eurozone peers, adding that this should become a national cause and be implemented as early as possible. The report further forecasts that the lifting of restrictions to banking transactions can only take place gradually, following the return of confidence in the local credit system. These controls, along with the broader damage to confidence in the economy and the country will undermine Greece’s entire economic activity, it adds, with political instability increasing the risk of job and income losses.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Needs 20 Years to Tackle Jobless Rate: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has dampened the optimism over Italy’s recovery after saying it will take almost 20 years for the country to get its unemployment rate down to pre-crisis levels.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Lawless Manipulation of Bullion Markets by Public Authorities
This article establishes that the price of gold and silver in the futures markets in which cash is the predominant means of settlement is inconsistent with the conditions of supply and demand in the actual physical or current market where physical bullion is bought and sold as opposed to transactions in uncovered paper claims to bullion in the futures markets. The supply of bullion in the futures markets is increased by printing uncovered contracts representing claims to gold. This artificial, indeed fraudulent, increase in the supply of paper bullion contracts drives down the price in the futures market despite high demand for bullion in the physical market and constrained supply. We will demonstrate with economic analysis and empirical evidence that the bear market in bullion is an artificial creation.
The law of supply and demand is the basis of economics. Yet the price of gold and silver in the Comex futures market, where paper contracts representing 100 troy ounces of gold or 5,000 ounces of silver are traded, is inconsistent with the actual supply and demand conditions in the physical market for bullion. For four years the price of bullion has been falling in the futures market despite rising demand for possession of the physical metal and supply constraints.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Within three months we have seen the reality behind the meteoric rise in global equities as prices collapse under the weight of heavy leverage and insane speculation.
And the reality is stark. What’s worse, it will soon make its way to Western exchanges where millions of investors, pensioners and average Americans will witness what millions in China are living through today.
It won’t be pretty:
What a difference a month makes: back in June, Chinese farmers could barely wait long enough to open one (or more) brokerage accounts and leave the pig herd for good, filled with dreams of getting filthy rich and early retirement happy endings; farmers who said on the record that “it’s a lot easier to make money from stocks than farmwork.”
Alas, like with every rigged market (which in the New Normal is everymarket), dreams always turn into nightmares for the participants, and as we documented earlier, the same farmers who were giddy with delight a month ago realized that there is no such thing as a guaranteed “get rich quick” scheme, and the full extent of their naive stupidity:
“I have lost everything. I don’t know what to do… I trusted the government too much…” he exclaims, adding “I won’t touch stocks again, I have ruined everyone in my family.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Your in-Action Today, Condemns Your Children Tomorrow
Most of the responses we receive to our articles are from people over 70. The reason is obvious. They have seen much more than today’s clueless youth. They have seen more than young parents. They have seen more than business men and women in their 40’s and 50’s. The truth is, they have had a front-row seat to the destruction of American freedom and sovereignty.
The still-living 95-year old remembers’ pieces of the Roaring Twenties and the onset of the Great Depression. They watched as FDR, the second dictator of America, did away with the gold standard and gave the people worthless Federal Reserve Notes (a “Note” is evidence of debt, it is not an asset) in exchange for the gold.
The 95-year old observed the prolonged depression of the 1930’s, brought on by gross negligence of the Federal Reserve that triggered that depression. They’ve seen the dust bowl and the bread lines that no one in 75 years has seen since. They watched as World War II exploded on the scene and the great tragedies and injustices it produced in millions of lost lives and property and the great heroism of the 16,000,000 American men and women that had to fight that war. Over 400,000 Americans gave their lives to see that Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Mao did not become dictators of the world…
Unfortunately, the 95-year old missed what started the downward shift away from the Constitutional Republic that was the vision of our Founders. He missed the birth of the Federal Reserve, the Internal Revenue Service and the Progressive (socialist) Movement of the early 1900’s. This birth of evil triplets began the slide from a Constitutional Republic to an Absolute Democrat Monarchy, to where a declared socialist, Bernie Sanders and a hopelessly corrupt, privileged duchess, Hillary Clinton, are the flag-bearers of the Democrat (Progressive) party in 2015. Why? Because the freeloader voters have been bought off with other people’s money by the promises from Progressives, surfing for votes to remain in perpetual power.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Driver Pulled Over by Off-Duty Detective “I’ll Blow a Hole Right Through Your F***ing Head”
Have you ever noticed how plainclothes and off-duty police officers, often have a complete lack of awareness in regards to how they appear to the average citizen? Many of them don’t seem to realize that when you act like a cop, but don’t dress like one, you appear absolutely crazy and terrifying. However, one off-duty detective was recently recorded pulling over a driver, and he behaved in a way that would still be unbecoming of a fully dressed police officer.
The driver managed to catch the entire incident on his dash camera, which despite the date labeled in the video, happened last Sunday in Medford Massachusetts. After he accidentally committed a minor traffic infraction, the detective went ballistic.
The actions of some off-duty and plainclothes cops fall under the same criteria as no-knock raids. They can easily escalate an otherwise harmless situation into a lethal altercation, and get both cops and citizens killed for stupid reasons. This guy is really lucky to be alive. The detective has since been placed on leave by the Medford Police Department.
[Comment: Watch the video.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Drivers, Beware: The Costly, Deadly Dangers of Traffic Stops in the American Police State
Trying to predict the outcome of any encounter with the police is a bit like playing Russian roulette: most of the time you will emerge relatively unscathed, although decidedly poorer and less secure about your rights, but there’s always the chance that an encounter will turn deadly.
The odds weren’t in Walter L. Scott’s favor. Reportedly pulled over for a broken taillight, Scott—unarmed—ran away from the police officer, who pursued and shot him from behind, first with a Taser, then with a gun. Scott was struck five times, “three times in the back, once in the upper buttocks and once in the ear — with at least one bullet entering his heart.”
Samuel Dubose, also unarmed, was pulled over for a missing front license plate. He was reportedly shot in the head after a brief struggle in which his car began rolling forward.
Levar Jones was stopped for a seatbelt offense, just as he was getting out of his car to enter a convenience store. Directed to show his license, Jones leaned into his car to get his wallet, only to be shot four times by the “fearful” officer. Jones was also unarmed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
George Washington University Drops SAT/ACT Requirement for Admissions
George Washington University dropped its admission requirements for incoming freshman and transfer students on Monday. According to a statement on the school’s website, undergraduate applicants will no longer have to take the SAT or ACT to be considered for admission.
This new optional testing policy will be effective on August 1 and was made in response to findings from the university’s Task Force on Access and Success that predicted success at the university can be found in a student’s high school GPA or high school records, rather than in their standardized test scores.
For the 2016-2017 school year, incoming students will still have the option to send their test scores to the school. However, those who choose not to send in their scores will not be penalized.
[Comment: High school records and GPA are a better yardstick than private run tests.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Give Union Members Say in Political Donations
Republican lawmakers took a first step Monday toward trying to fundamentally change the way unions operate, introducing legislation that would restrict how they spend campaign money — and could keep cash away from Democratic candidates in 2016.
Their complaint: Unions are taking advantage of dues-paying members and sending their money to Democratic candidates whether members like it or not.
The Employee Rights Act, introduced Monday by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., would allow union members to tell their bosses they don’t want their share of dues going to certain candidates or causes, without fear of retaliation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hackers Can Disable a Sniper Rifle — Or Change Its Target
PUT A COMPUTER on a sniper rifle, and it can turn the most amateur shooter into a world-class marksman. But add a wireless connection to that computer-aided weapon, and you may find that your smart gun suddenly seems to have a mind of its own—and a very different idea of the target.
At the Black Hat hacker conference in two weeks, security researchers Runa Sandvik and Michael Auger plan to present the results of a year of work hacking a pair of $13,000 TrackingPoint self-aiming rifles. The married hacker couple have developed a set of techniques that could allow an attacker to compromise the rifle via its Wi-Fi connection and exploit vulnerabilities in its software. Their tricks can change variables in the scope’s calculations that make the rifle inexplicably miss its target, permanently disable the scope’s computer, or even prevent the gun from firing. In a demonstration for WIRED (shown in the video above), the researchers were able to dial in their changes to the scope’s targeting system so precisely that they could cause a bullet to hit a bullseye of the hacker’s choosing rather than the one chosen by the shooter.
“You can make it lie constantly to the user so they’ll always miss their shot,” says Sandvik, a former developer for the anonymity software Tor. Or the attacker can just as easily lock out the user or erase the gun’s entire file system. “If the scope is bricked, you have a six to seven thousand dollar computer you can’t use on top of a rifle that you still have to aim yourself.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Honeywell Home Controllers Open to Any Hacker Who Can Find Them Online
Security issues continue to crop up within the so-called “smart home.” A pair of vulnerabilities have been reported for the Tuxedo Touch controller made by Honeywell, a device that’s designed to allow users to control home systems such as security, climate control, lighting, and others. The controller, of course, is accessible from the Internet. Researcher Maxim Rupp discovered that the vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to take arbitrary actions, including unlocking doors or modifying the climate controls in the house.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kentucky Man Arrested After Shooting Down Drone
Hillview, Kentucky resident William H. Merideth describes his weekend: “Sunday afternoon, the kids — my girls — were out on the back deck, and the neighbors were out in their yard. And they come in and said, ‘Dad, there’s a drone out here, flying over everybody’s yard.’“ Merideth’s neighbors saw it too. “It was just hovering above our house and it stayed for a few moments and then she finally waved and it took off,” said neighbor Kim VanMeter. Merideth grabbed his shotgun and waited to see if the drone crossed over his property. When it did, he took aim and shot it out of the sky.
The owners showed up shortly, and the police right after. He was arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment before being released the next day. Merideth says he will pursue legal action against the drone’s owner, “He didn’t just fly over. If he had been moving and just kept moving, that would have been one thing — but when he come directly over our heads, and just hovered there, I felt like I had the right. You know, when you’re in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy. We don’t know if he was looking at the girls. We don’t know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Liberal Media Openly Calls for Mass Gun Confiscation in America: “the Second Amendment Must Go”
While many patriots and freedom minded individuals already know that most on the hard left want a full out gun ban, these liberal commentators and “journalists” were careful to mask their calls for gun control with empty platitudes about hunting and defending oneself. Luckily, at least one liberal news outlet just couldn’t control themselves and, in turn, revealed what kind of gun control most on the left are calling for.
In a disgusting attack on private gun ownership in America, complete with half truths and blatant lies, Air Force Veteran and hard left activist Sean Illing revealed how far liberals really want to go when they talk about “common sense” reform.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Drunk Driving Legislation Could Require Breathalyzers in All New Cars
Government will mandate US automakers to equip all new cars with alcohol breath-testing units.
Each year thousands of lives are lost as the result of drunk driving related car accidents. It’s a heart wrenching statistic and even more painful considering that drunk driving is preventable.
New York congresswoman Kathleen Rice is working to further drunk driving prevention and announced on July 14 that she will introduce legislation that could mandate US automakers to equip all new cars with alcohol breath-testing units. These breathalyzers, known as ignition interlock devices, monitor a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) and will prevent a car’s engine from starting if that BAC level surpasses a predetermined or legal limit.
[Comment: And if someone else blows into the device? Or if compressed gas is used?…Now everyone has to blow into such devices to start their cars?…]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Overjoyed and Angry at Jonathan Pollard’s Coming Release
Happy, furious and unbearably sad.
by Phyllis Chesler
And so, at long last, after thirty years, seven of which he spent in solitary confinement—the most barbaric of punishments—Jonathan Pollard will be pardoned and may live to breathe the air of freedom.
I am overjoyed, apprehensive, enormously sad, relieved, and angry.
Pollard’s cell door will not swing open until November and, unless President Obama decrees otherwise, he may not be allowed to make aliya to Israel for five years, lest he be given a hero’s (or a martyr’s) welcome.
Although I did not become an activist on his behalf, Pollard’s fate has haunted me for more than twenty years. Though he had teams of dedicated but incompetent lawyers, and dedicated and highly competent lawyers, and the support of compassionate rabbis, Pollard’s cause did not become fashionable for a very long time…
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Pope’s Popularity Falling in US, Says Financial Times
UK daily says Americans ‘have cooled’ on pontiff ahead of visit
(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — Americans, especially conservative Catholics, “have cooled” on Pope Francis, just two months ahead of the pontiff’s visit to Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC, British daily the Financial Times (FT) reported on Tuesday.
Pope Francis’ favourability rating has dropped from 76% in February 2014 to its current 59% level, according to a Gallup poll, the FT said.
Gallup said the drop among conservatives is due to the pope’s rising criticism of global capitalism.
A drop among liberals may be because Francis hasn’t moved quickly enough “to ease the Church’s rigid attitude on homosexuality, divorce, and female priesthood,” Gallup said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Remains of English Jamestown Colony Leaders Discovered
Scientists say they have identified the remains of four men who were among the early leaders of Virginia’s Jamestown settlement.
Jamestown was the first successful British colony that gave rise to modern day America.
The bodies were exhumed in November 2013 in the church where Pocahontas married Captain John Rolfe in 1614.
It took two years of detective work and the latest scientific techniques to identify the badly-preserved bones.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sanford Treasure Hunters Find $1m in Gold Off Florida’s Coast
When Eric Schmitt’s metal detector got a hit about 15 feet below the ocean’s surface, he didn’t think much of it.
Most of the time, the metal detectors uncover beer cans and lead fishing weights. But this time was different. This time, the treasure-hunter from Sanford struck gold, and a lot of it.
Schmitt and his family found 52 gold coins worth more than $1 million. The star of the haul was an extremely rare coin known as a “Tricentennial Royal” minted in 1715. It had been underwater since a fleet of Spanish ships foundered during a hurricane along Florida’s Treasure Coast 300 years ago, Schmitt said.
“These things were known as presentation pieces not meant to be circulated as currency,” Schmitt said.
That coin alone is worth about $500,000, according to Schmitt.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Spaceship Engine Like ‘Star Trek Impulse Drive’
Flying to the moon could take just FOUR hours thanks to a British invention that uses solar power to produce thrust.
The EM Drive, which has been compared to the impulse drive in Star Trek, was developed almost 15 years by British boffin Roger Shawyer but was originally mocked as being impossible.
Experts at NASA have since climbed down and admitted they believe it works while a scientist in Germany has been able to show how the invention produces thrust.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Le Monde Newspaper Says Rome ‘Degraded’
Criticism follows complaints in New York Times article
(ANSA) — Paris, July 28 — Rome has become an international capital city “degraded” by garbage, rough streets gutted by potholes, and abandoned construction sites, according to an article published Tuesday in France’s prestigious Le Monde newspaper.
The criticism comes on the heels of a similar article in the New York Times which turned a spotlight on the problems in the historic city where residents have long complained of problems with the transit system, garbage collection, and perceived political mismanagement.
It also came as Rome’s Mayor Ignazio Marino shuffled his city council, adding four new faces and reorganizing responsibilities.
Le Monde focussed on what a visitor to Rome might see.
“The capital of Italy seems to be nothing but desolation,” the French newspaper article said, under the headline “Rome, The Degraded”.
The lengthy article said that Rome has become one of the most visited cities in the world by tourists drawn to historic sites including the Colosseum and Forum as well as the Vatican City state.
But what they also see is “garbage bags left on a street corner, gutted by seagulls…potholes in the road, the grass growing between the cobblestones”.
Public parks are burned by the summer heat and lack of maintenance, construction sites left open and abandoned, and lengthy queues at the city’s international airport at Fiumicino.
“Chronic carelessness? Generalized indifference? Already in bad shape, the reputation of the city today is close to zero,” concludes Le Monde.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Will ‘Monster’ Tower Destroy the Romance of Paris?
(CNN) While the skyline of London surges upward on a tide of new and startling towers, its eternal rival in Paris has taken the opposite approach.
After the deeply unpopular Tour Montparnasse was built in 1973, skyscrapers were effectively prohibited by a 36-meter height limit for new buildings in the city.
The limit was designed to preserve Paris’ unique aesthetic, forged by Baron Haussmann’s 19th century renovation, which created its iconic boulevards, public gardens, and housing blocks ringed with balconies.
But in 2010 the height restrictions were lifted, and the serenity could now be shattered by a 180-meter glass triangle in the South-West of the city.
Called ‘Tour Triangle,’ the $555 million project from Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron — backed by Europe’s largest property group Unibail Rodamco — represents a radical and controversial departure from Parisian traditions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fraud and ID-Theft on the Rise in Sweden
Last year 65,000 fraud cases were reported and during the first half of this year, there has been a nine percent increase of cases compared to the same period last year, according to police.
The problem affected one in 150 Swedes last year and Jan Granqvist, chief of the police’s fraud center, told Swedish Radio News that this is becoming a serious societal problem.
“The consequence might end up being that we don’t trust each other. Which ID documents can you trust? I don’t see this problem being solved by the police alone, we need help from law changes and other factors in order to prevent this type of crime,” Granqvist said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: Berlin 007: 720 Left Germany to Reach Syria and Iraq
Intelligence chief: they don’t know they are just cannon fodder
(ANSA) — BERLIN — More than 720 extremists, most of them under 30, have moved from Germany to Syria and Iraq, to join the terrorists of the Islamic State (Isis), according to der Spiegel Online. Germany’s weekly quoted, as a source, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the domestic intelligence service in Berlin.
According to der Spiegel, over 20% are women. The number of ‘foreign fighters’ — those who actively fight on the of side of Isis jihadists — is increasing, currently about sixty people.
About one-third of them have returned to Germany. About 1 hundred Islamists have died in war zones, after leaving the most populous country in Europe. The death toll is reported to have doubled in the last 12 months, according to der Spiegel-online.
“Even this summer, the so-called Islamic State is proving to be dangerously attractive to young Islamists from Germany”, said the intelligence service chief Hans-Georg Maassen, speaking with der Spiegel-online. “Many of the young people who have left the country to reach Syria do not know that they’ll be used as cannon fodder. The intelligence is aware of more than 20 cases of suicide bombers, persuaded by Isis”, to commit suicide in order to kill.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Islamic Fashion Aims for Turnover Worth 484 Bln Dollars
Modest Fashion in Turin, where western brands advancing
ROME — Sober clothes hiding the woman’s shape, covering the body yet on trend and colorful. This is the essence of “Modest Fashion” — simple, sober and respects the values inspiring Muslim women and men — which in 2014 registered a turnover of some 300 billion dollars and should be worth 484 billion by 2019.
Islamic fashion will be at the center of the Turin Modest Fashion Round table organized at Palazzo civico on July 28 by the Turin municipality, Thomson Reuters and the Dubai Chamber.
The Muslim market is promising and immense and Western brands cannot ignore it as there are few labels completely dedicated to this sector of consumers. “Also, there is no certification — as in the sectors of Islamic finance and halal food -able to establish precise criteria for companies who want to invest”, Gianmarco Montanari, the director general for the economic development of the city of Turin and promoter of the event, told ANSAmed.
This and other issues will be discussed “at the round table that will be attended by representatives of Italian fashion, international operators of Islamic fashion, entrepreneurs and producers”, he said. After the Turin Islamic Economic Forum last year — the first international meeting, he recalled, promoted by an institution in Europe for an in-depth look at Islamic economy and finance — and the one next week on fashion, “we will host one dedicated to halal food in October”.
And numbers show the right direction. “Among countries with the highest number of Muslim consumers — he stressed — according to the latest data available (2013), there are Turkey (39.3 billion dollars), the United Arab Emirates (22.5 billion dollars), Indonesia (18.8 billion dollars), Iran (17.1 billion dollars), Saudi Arabia (16 billion dollars) and Nigeria (14.4 billion dollars).
European consumers should also not be underestimated “with France, Germany and the United Kingdom that exceeded 25 billion dollars of spending”, concluded Montanari.
The industry of Islamic fashion, explained Alia Khan, president of the Islamic Fashion and Design Council — an organization created for the development of the Islamic fashion industry worldwide — shows a real void of western production.
“There is little awareness and ability to attack this market which is still unexplored, also by Italian companies”. Brands like DKNY have launched collections for the holy month of Ramadan, “the first major brand to do so”, followed by fashion houses that have dedicated part of their lines to Islamic women, including “Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Victoria Beckham, Yohji Yamamoto and others”. High street brands “like Zara and Mango have launched a Ramadan collection this year, like H&M”.
But it is not enough, noted Khan, stressing the necessity of “more careful consideration of Muslim consumers who don’t feel like they are 100% understood”. The certification problem in unquestionable. Its organization is reportedly working on an “iFash” (Islamic fashion) label enabling international brands to invest on Islamic fashion, abiding by its requirements and enabling potential clients to know where to make their “modest” buys. Contrary to what some claim, ‘Islamic’ garments are rich, full of style and design and their demand is constantly expanding. Ignoring it would be a mistake.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Heat Wave Kills 200 Tonnes of Fish in Orbetello Lagoon
Fish suffocated from lack of oxygen in water
(ANSA) — Florence, July 28 — A recent heat wave has caused 200 tonnes of fish to suffocate from lack of oxygen in the Orbetello lagoon in the Maremma coastal area of Tuscany over three days, forest rangers said Tuesday.
“The lack of oxygen in the water which caused the animals’ death was certainly due to the great heat,” forest rangers said in a note.
“We are investigating possible responsibilities on the part of individuals who failed to enact necessary preventive measures”.
Fish already on the market is safe to eat and people can safely bathe at lagoon-area beaches, the rangers said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: GE Could Sell Gas Assets to Ansaldo in Alstom Bid
Offer allegedly aims to win EU approval for acquisition
(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — General Electric (GE) could sell its gas-turbine assets to Italian rival Ansaldo Energia in a bid to win EU approval for its plan to buy most of Alstom SA’s energy business, Bloomberg business news reported Tuesday. The US company has also offered to sell some of its intellectual property plus Alstom’s Power Systems Manufacturing unit to the Italian firm, the agency cited unnamed sources familiar with the situation as saying.
The alleged offer comes after EU regulators expressed concerns that GE’s Alstom acquisition would jeopardise competition in the energy sector. Ansaldo has refused to comment on the proposed operation pending an official response from EU authorities.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Pannella Reportedly Ousts Bonino From Radical Party
Ditched live on the air during radio interview
(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — Radical Party leader Marco Pannella expelled fellow founding member Emma Bonino live on the air on Radio Radicale party radio station, Corriere della Sera newspaper reported Tuesday.
“Mrs. Bonino works hard, but not with us,” Pannella said.
“She runs from one part of the world to the other, but what she actually does we only hear about through the rumor mill,” he went on to say of Bonino, a veteran politician who served as EU health commissioner in the 1990s, as trade minister under the second center-left government of Romano Prodi (2006-2008), and as foreign minister during the center-left government of Enrico Letta (2013-2014).
“Bonino can go anywhere, I can’t,” Pannella went on. “I’m trying to get to the president of the Republic, who is very busy,” he said.
“But if she wants a meeting, she gets in within five minutes,” Pannella said of Bonino, who was tipped earlier this year as a possible replacement for outgoing President Giorgio Napolitano.
“She acts like she has nothing to do with the Radicals,” Pannella said, adding he personally intervened to get her appointed to all her posts.
“She works a lot, but not for us,” he said. Bonino’s reply was reportedly curt.
“Are you out of your minds?” she scoffed at reporters querying her about her alleged ousting from the party.
Bonino recently recovered after being treated for breast cancer.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Camusso Bemoans Anti-Worker Campaign on Strikes
CGIL chief against tighter restrictions on strikes
(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — Susanna Camusso, the head of Italy’s biggest trade union confederation CGIL, said Tuesday that furore over recent strikes was the result of a anti-worker campaign. Premier Matteo Renzi proposed tighter restrictions on industrial action after strikes last week at the Pompeii archaeological site and by Alitalia staff caused mayor disruption. Rome’s transport service has also been thrown into chaos by a work-to-rule by metro drivers. “It doesn’t seem the right road to me,” Camusso said of the possible squeeze on strikes. “It smacks to me of the umpteenth summer campaign against the workers. “There’s no need to pass new laws. Using the existing agreements is sufficient”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: L’Espresso Journalists Probed Over Crocetta Wiretap
Piero Messina and Maurizio Zoppi broke story
(ANSA) — Palermo, July 27 — Two journalists from L’Espresso newsmagazine are under investigation in connection with an alleged wiretapped conversation between Sicily Governor Rosario Crocetta and his doctor Matteo Tutino, the Palermo prosecutor’s office said Monday. Piero Messina and Maurizio Zoppi broke the story earlier this month of the alleged conversation, in which Crocetta allegedly remained silent as Tutino said ex-regional councilor Lucia Borsellino “should end up like her (Mafia-slain) father”. The Palermo prosecutor’s office denies the wiretap exists, and Crocetta has strenuously denied the allegations in the article.
Both reporters could face charges of publishing false news, and Messina could face an additional charge of slander — a felony currently punishable with prison time — because he named an investigator as his source.
The investigator denied having leaked the wiretap.
Both reporters invoked their right to remain silent during interrogation by prosecutors earlier in the day.
L’Espresso has stood by its story and its reporters, saying the wiretap exists.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Turin: Anger as Muslim Rugs Taken From City Hall
Two councillors from Italy’s far-right Northern League provoked outrage on Tuesday after removing prayer mats that had been placed in Turin’s city hall for a Muslim conference.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Summons Swiss Ambassador Over Cross-Border Workers
Italians near Switzerland report border problems
(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — Switzerland’s ambassador to Italy was summoned to meetings Tuesday with Italian foreign ministry officials over border problems facing Italian workers.
The problems were reportedly in the Ticino canton, the southernmost state in Switzerland, where Italian workers have said they are finding difficulties crossing the border.
In a statement, Italy’s foreign ministry said that a 1999 European agreement on the free movement of citizens is being breached and contradicts “the excellent state of bilateral relations”.
According to Italian officials, the Swiss ambassador agreed and said he would press for a rapid resolution.
In June, concerns were raised by Ticino over the waves of migrants arriving Italy and moving north into other countries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: League Councillors Remove Muslim Rug in Turin City Hall
Councillors face wide criticism for action
(ANSA) — Turin, July 28 — Councillors from Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party faced criticism from political opponents on Tuesday after they removed a prayer rug that Turin’s city hall had provided for Muslim attendants of a conference.
Fabrizio Ricca and Roberto Carbonero from the Northern League said they had removed the rug because the city office is a secular building, while insisting they had nothing against Islam as a religion.
“If someone wants to pray, Turin has many religious centres where they can go,” League councillors said.
“Why is it that no one ever bothers to set up a chapel when conference participants are Christians?,” they added.
The city council had set up a Muslim prayer room during an international conference on Islamic fashion.
Michele Paolino, head of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) on Turin council, said the League’s action was a “violent gesture that offends believers of any religion”.
The president of Turin Council, Giovanni Porcino, sent the League councillors a letter condemning their “unjustified and unseemly actions”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Malmö Police Shortages ‘Putting Public at Risk’
Malmö’s summer of violence coupled with police staff shortages over the holiday season could be putting the public at risk in Sweden’s third biggest city, a police union said on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Sub Wreck an Imperial Russian Vessel
A wrecked submarine found off the coast of Sweden is likely a Russian vessel that ran aground a century ago, the Swedish Armed Forces told The Local on Tuesday afternoon.
Video footage by a group of salvage hunters purporting to show a wrecked underwater vessel in Swedish waters is likely that of a Russian so-called ‘Som class’ submarine (nicknamed ‘Catfish’) which sank in May 1916, an analysis by the Swedish Armed Forces suggested on Tuesday afternoon.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: 3-Year-Old London Child Deemed “Extremist” And Placed in Government Reeducation Program
The United Kingdom has gone batshit crazy. There’s simply no other way to put it. I warned about Britain’s “war on toddler terrorists” earlier this year in the post: The War on Toddler Terrorists — Britain Wants to Force Nursery School Teachers to Identify “Extremist” Children. Here’s an excerpt:…
Never fear good citizens of Great Britain. While your government actively does everything in its power to protect criminal financial oligarchs and powerful pedophiles, her majesty draws the line at toddler thought crime. We learn from the Independent:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cannabis is ‘More Likely to Trigger Psychosis in Men Than in Women’
Scientists at the University of York drew on key literature, as well as detailed analyses of data regarding admissions for cannabis psychosis across the NHS over an 11-year period.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: What a Can of Coca-Cola Really Does to Your Body in Just an Hour
The graphic was compiled by The Renegade Pharmacist, a blog run by a former UK pharmacist Niraj Naik and includes a seven-stop breakdown.
He reveals:
In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100 per cent of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavour allowing you to keep it down.
20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cameron Praises Vucic for Reforms and Dialogue With Pristina
Prime Minister’s decision to travel to Srebrenica was courageous
(ANSA) — BELGRADE — British Prime Minister David Cameron has praised the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic for making good reforms and developing dialogue with Pristina, in order to promote reconciliation with the other Western Balkan countries.
In a letter delivered today to Vucic by the British ambassador to Serbia, Denis Keefe, Cameron underlined the commitment shown by Serbia’s Prime Minister to dialogue toward the normalization of relations with Pristina, and his important and ‘courageous decision’ to go to Srebrenica on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in July 1995 at the hands of the Bosnian Serb troops commanded by Ratko Mladic. Vucic has thanked Cameron, stressing that the reforms made by the British government in order to boost employment in the private sector can be a model for Serbia.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Croatia: Belgrade Reports Campaigns Against Serbs
Serbian community’s leader, intolerance and racism growing
(ANSA) — BELGRADE — Serbian minority’s situation in Croatia is getting more and more difficult, and in the last three years, demonstrations motivated by racism, nationalism and intolerance, have occurred far more frequently. This ‘worrisome’ situation is reported by Milorad Pupovac, the president of Serbian Community in Croatia, where, according to him, campaigns against the Serbs are becoming more and more frequent.
In an interview with the daily newspaper Danas, based in Belgrade, Pupovac mentions, particularly, the increasing hostility towards the Cyrillic writing, that many Croats consider to be a symbol of the “Serb attacker” dating back to the fratricide war in former Jugoslavia during the 90s. These campaigns, Pupovac said, are hampering the Croatian government’s efforts to fulfil its duties towards the Serbian population and those linked to the country’s new commitments, since its accession into the EU two years ago.
Serbia’s representative to the Croatian parliament expressed sharp criticism of the military parade scheduled in Zagreb for August 4, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the “Operation Storm”. During this military offensive, at the end of the war between Serbia and Croatia (1991-1995), thousands of Serbs were killed and more than 200,000 people were kicked out of Croatian territory. These celebrations, Pupovac warned, may pose serious threat to Belgrade’s relationship with Zagreb.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus and Israel to Bolster Ties on Energy and Security
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, JULY 29 — Israel and Cyprus agreed on Tuesday to expand their cooperation on energy issues, including the use of pipelines and electricity grids to link to European markets, as both countries develop natural gas fields off their coasts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Nicos Anastasiades said they would seek to tap the potential of natural gas in the sea bed beneath both countries as Cyprus Mail reported. “There is palpably renewed energy in our relationship, I mean that figuratively and literally,” Netanyahu said. “…We think that by cooperating with each other we can take it out more easily, we can market it better, to the betterment of both our societies.” Israel has reported some of the largest natural gas discoveries worldwide in the past decade. Cyprus found gas offshore in 2011. Netanyahu, who arrived in Cyprus for a brief visit on Tuesday, said the two countries were exploring various options on collaboration, but did not elaborate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Calls ‘Day of Rage’ For Friday
(ANSAmed) — GAZA, JULY 28 — Hamas has called for a ‘Day of Rage’ on Friday after Israeli forces on Sunday fired stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets at Palestinian activists in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Hamas on Tuesday released a statement expressing indignation at repeated visits by Jews to the Temple Mount complex and called on Palestinians to face off against Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and all of the West Bank.(
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS “Ally” Turkey Seeks NATO Support as Two-Front “War” Escalates
NATO representatives met in Brussels on Tuesday after Turkey made a rare Article 4 request which compels treaty parties to convene in the event a member state is of the opinion that its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” is being threatened.
That’s the case in Turkey, where the security situation has rapidly deteriorated over the past two weeks following a suicide bombing in Suruc (claimed by Islamic State) and the murder of two Turkish policemen in the town of Ceylanpinar (at the hands of the PKK, which claims the officers were cooperating with ISIS). Ankara responded by launching airstrikes against both Islamic State and PKK.
In many ways, the suicide bombing and retaliatory action by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party — which both Ankara and the West have designated as a terrorist group — is representative of the complex web of alliances that makes understanding the conflict in Syria so difficult. As The Economist notes, the PKK “have been fighting an on-and-off guerrilla war against the Turkish government for decades,” but the group’s Syrian Kurdish militia arm (YPG) has helped the US coordinate airstrikes against ISIS targets near the border town of Kobani.
Complicating the issue further are long standing accusations that Turkey actively cooperates with ISIS.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen: Almost 2 Million Children Forced to Abandon School
Sana’a (Agenzia Fides) — Warfare continues in Yemen and among many serious consequences, children, some 2 million, are forced to abandon school. So far 3,600 schools are closed, and pupils and families have been moved to safer places. Among the schools closed, 248 raised to the ground, another 270 used as shelters for displaced persons and the remaining 68 occupied by armed troops. For the school system in Yemen, according to UNICEF, the impact of the situation is devastating. At the moment the United Nations organization is working to provide scholastic support for more than 2,000 children, supplying exercise books, pencils and school bags. For its part Yemen’s education ministry is trying to mobilise the necessary teachers and organise temporary premises, such as tents, to serve as classrooms. The next school year is due to start September 5 but it all depends on security conditions in the country. Prior to the present conflict, the rate of school attendance in Yemen was 79%, despite 2 million children denied schooling because of poverty and discrimination and an extremely poor quality of education. (AP) (27/7/2015 Agenzia Fides)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Medieval Prince Vladimir Deepens Russia-Ukraine Split
The legacy of a medieval prince has added a new dimension to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as both countries mark the 1,000th anniversary of his death.
Russians celebrate Prince Vladimir the Great as the man who converted their country to Christianity, but for some Ukrainians this represents an attempt to steal their history.
For them, Prince Volodymyr — as he is known in Ukraine — is an ancient Ukrainian leader who ruled from Kiev and Christianised the country that was then known as Kievan Rus, before Moscow had even been built.
Supporters of close Russian-Ukrainian ties cite the two states’ common origins in Prince Vladimir’s Rus. Some of them question Ukraine’s secular and religious independence.
Prince Vladimir is venerated as a saint in both countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Veto UN Tribunal on MH17 Crash
Srdja Trifkovic’s live RT interview, published 28 July 2015
Results of the ongoing investigation of the MH17 crash are almost preordained because the five countries taking part in it are all politically motivated to blame Russia, Srdja Trifkovic told RT in his latest live interview for the global TV network.
RT: Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said a tribunal [to be set up by the UN over the MH17 affair] would hardly deliver solid results. Are Churkin’s points valid concerns?
Srdja Trifkovic: Absolutely, because if we look at the actual five countries — The Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Malaysia, and Ukraine — they all have an axe to grind in the proceedings. Belgium and Netherlands are NATO members; Australia is a close ally of the U.S. It is greatly to be feared that this investigation will be politically motivated, and that its results are almost preordained. The second problem is that the experience we’ve had so far with UN tribunals has been most unsatisfactory. In particular I have in mind the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague, which is a political body par excellence. Let us just recall that it unsealed the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic at the height of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999. So the combination of the two — on the one side, an investigation which is most likely to be politically motivated and where it is absolutely impossible to even imagine that they would allow the possibility of Ukraine being the guilty party in the proceedings — and then the experience of these politicized tribunals…
RT: You’ve mentioned the UN tribunals. Vitaly Churkin also said that a tribunal on an air crash would be a first of its kind. So why are there calls for such a tribunal now?…
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Names US NGO ‘Undesirable’
Russian prosecutors Tuesday designated the National Endowment for Democracy, a Washington-based non-profit group funded by the U.S. Congress, as “undesirable” — making it the first foreign NGO to be banned in Russia under a controversial new law.
The decision, which was signed by Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Malinovsky, will be submitted to Russia’s Justice Ministry, which must enforce the ban on the NED activities inside Russia.
In a statement posted on its website, the Prosecutor General’s office alleged that the NED, using Russian businesses and non-commercial organizations under its control, participated in activities to delegitimize the outcome of elections, to influence government decisions and to discredit service in Russia’s armed forces.
“Taking into account the overall aim of the endowment’s work, prosecutors came to the conclusion that it presents a threat to the constitutional order of Russia, its defense capabilities and state security,” the statement read.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine: USSR Symbols Removed From Military Ranks
New “Cossacks” ranks to comply with NATO structure
(ANSA) — MOSCOW — New military ranks should reflect the “Ukrainian and Cossack traditions”, in order to break with the old Soviet order and comply with the hierarchical structure — created by NATO — of the armed forces: this proposal was made today by Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, during the presentation of the new uniform uniforms of the Ukrainian Army at the defence ministry headquarters.
“I do appreciate all proposals aiming to eliminate the Soviet legacy — Poroshenko said, quoted by Unian news agency -, we have to establish our Ukrainian traditions, and therefore new Ukrainian military ranks”. According to the head of state, for example, “replacing the rank of lieutenant with khorunzhiy”, a lieutenant of the Cossack cavalry, “fully respects the Ukrainian traditions and complies with the structure of NATO military ranks”. Poroshenko has also proposed to restore the rank of brigadier-general.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Plans to Provoke ‘End of the World’ By Attacking India to Try and Entice USA Into All-Out War
The Urdu document, passed to the American Media Institute from Pakistan reveals the scale of the ambition of ISIS, including targeting India and joining forces with the Taliban.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadi Attack Ends After 12-Hour Gunfight, 3 Militants Among 10 Killed at Gurdaspur, Punjab
HENB | NEW DELHI | JULY 27, 2015:: Islamic Terrorists belonging to suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Indian Mujahideen ‘combo module’ instigated by Pakistan intelligence agency ISI, stormed Dina Nagar police station in Punjab’ Gurdaspur district in the early hours of Monday, shot and killed one Superintendent of Police, Sardar Baljit Singh, police and others sources conveyed.
Seven persons — three civilians, Superintendent of Police (Detective) Baljit Singh and three home guards — were killed by the terrorists who engaged Punjab policemen from inside the building they were holed up in. With the killing of all the three Islamist militants holed up inside Dina Nagar police station in Gurdaspur, Punjab government declared the operation to be over at 5 pm, exactly 12 hours after the terror attack. Singh suffered injuries in the gun battle between security forces and the terrorists holed up in the police station in the town of Gurdaspur near the border with Pakistan, police officials said. Singh, who headed the detective branch of police in Gurdaspur, succumbed to his wounds in a hospital.
“It is a very serious terror attack,” says NSA Ajit Doval on Gurdaspur attack…
| — Hat tip: RRR | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistani Sunni Terror Leader Malik Ishaq Shot Dead in Punjab Police Shoot-Out
Malik Ishaq was shot dead along with the other Laskhar-e-Jhangvi militants, including senior commanders, in the eastern province of Punjab.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Leader Mullah Omar ‘Is Dead’
The leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has died, Afghan officials say, but the militant group has not commented on the claim.
The reclusive leader died two to three years ago, Afghan government and intelligence sources said. No further details were released.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fierce Fighting Erupts Between Chadian Army and Boko Haram
Heavy fighting pitted the Chadian army on Monday against insurgents from the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group on islands in Lake Chad, security and local sources said.
“Violent clashes” were under way near Baga Sola, one of the main Chadian towns in the lake that straddles Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, a Chadian security source told AFP, adding that Chadian forces had earlier “intercepted fleeing Boko Haram elements” around 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the southeast.
A source close to the local authorities said a “major search operation” was under way for Boko Haram militants hiding out on the lake’s islands.
According to the security official, the clashes between militants and Chadian forces erupted Saturday on Midi Koutou island, leaving six Boko Haram fighters dead and 15 wounded. A Chadian soldier was also said to have been killed…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Hunter Accused of Killing Much-Loved Zimbabwe Lion
A Zimbabwean conservation charity said Monday that a foreign tourist could face criminal charges after allegedly using a bow and arrow to kill a much-loved lion called Cecil.
The lion, which was a popular attraction for visitors to the Hwange National Park, was shot outside the park two weeks ago by the tourist, who was reported to have paid $50,000 (45,000 euros) to the holder of the local hunting rights.
Police and Zimbabwe Parks Authority both declined to comment on the allegations, which were made by the Zimbabwe Conservation Taskforce…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Kenyan Visit: Media Hides the Truth, Again!
During a speech on Sunday while still visiting his ancestral home, President Barack Obama claimed that he felt it was necessary to offend his Kenyan hosts when he called on the African country to reject ethnic divisions and government corruption. “I don’t want everybody to get too sensitive, but it’s time to change habits,” Obama added. “Kenya’s corruption is an anchor that weighs you down.” However, the president failed to mention the allegations of corruption in his own administration or within his own family.
While the news media played up Obama’s scolding of Kenyans over their civil rights record — especially when it comes to gays and lesbians — a number of reporters didn’t fail to notice how President Obama has a propensity for lecturing Americans, Israelis and Kenyans, while kowtowing to the Chinese, the Iranians and other less-than-cordial nations.
Recalling his family’s struggles during his usual verbose and lengthy address, Obama recounted how his grandfather worked as a cook for British diplomats. “He was referred to as a boy, even though he was a grown man,” Obama said. The president pointed to his own family’s progress from those humble beginnings, but avoided mentioning the names of his relatives since he has two relatives living as immigrant lawbreakers in the United States — an aunt and an uncle — who were never deported by U.S. officials even after one of them was arrested for a DUI.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
13 Bodies Found as 1,800 Migrants Rescued Off Italy
More than 1,800 migrants have been picked up in the Mediterranean and 13 bodies recovered as the exodus from north Africa by boat endures, Italy’s coast guard said on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘2,000 Migrants’ Tried to Enter Channel Tunnel Overnight
About 2,000 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel in the French port of Calais on Monday night in a bid to reach the UK, a spokesman for the company said.
“It was the biggest incursion effort in the past month and a half,” said the spokesman for Eurotunnel, which is battling often deadly efforts by migrants to reach Britain.
Calais, where the French end of the Channel Tunnel is located, has seen an explosion in the number of migrants living mainly in makeshift camps in recent years as they seek to escape war and poverty from countries including Eritrea, Libya and Syria…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU to Open Niger Shelters to Keep Migrants Out of Europe
Several shelters are to open in Niger for illegal African immigrants in a bid to dissuade them from trying to reach Europe and instead offering local alternatives, the French interior minister said Friday.
The centres proposed by the European Union, in cooperation with Niger, “should be an opportunity to bring ambitious development policies for migrants and for states,” said Bernard Cazeneuve in Niger’s capital Niamey after meeting President Mahamadou Issoufou.
The European Commission on Wednesday revealed a plan of action for immigration and asylum, in particular the opening of a pilot centre in Niger by the end of the year…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants on the Border Between Macedonia and Serbia
In 2015 nearly 160,000 landed in Italy and Greece
(ANSA) — ROMA, 28 LUG — Migrants walk on the railway tracks to catch a train heading to the Serbian border at the train station in Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 27 July 2015. Greece and Italy are the main entry points for Europe-bound asylum seekers and economic migrants. After they have reached the bloc, many start to make their way to wealthier countries in Western Europe. From the beginning of the year to mid-June, nearly 160,000 landed in both countries, according to IOM estimates.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
More Jobs Going to Foreigners in Sweden
Increasing numbers of new jobs are going to people born outside of Sweden, as the country’s native working population continues to shrink, new figures have shown.
The number of immigrants getting jobs in Sweden increased from 11,200 in January to 16,800 in June, figures from Sweden’s Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) showed on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poseidon Rescues 665 People on the Mediterranean
Poseidon, the Swedish coast guard’s contribution to the EU border security operation, Triton, rescued 665 people on the Mediterranean Sea early this week, reports news agency TT.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Big Questions: Germany and Refugees
German states are asking for more federal funds and looking at ways to help to deal with rising numbers of refugees. DW examines some of the most frequently asked questions on the country’s processes for asylum seekers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As Senate Moves to Defund Planned Parenthood, ‘Sponsors’ Scramble to Disassociate From Abortionists
Republicans in the Senate are moving swiftly forward with plans to defund Planned Parenthood as gruesome videos exposing the organisation’s involvement in fetal organ harvesting continue to emerge.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has appointed Sen. Joni Ernst to head up a group who will have the responsibility “to craft a measure to deal with these horrendous videos.”
Ernst has previously been targeted by Planned Parenthood, which conducted a $500,000 smear campaign last year during the mid term elections to publicise Ernst’s opposition to abortion.
The group, which includes Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) who have already introduced legislation to defund the ‘non-profit’ organisation, met yesterday afternoon to discuss the way forward…
Meanwhile, a host of companies have attempted to distance themselves from the abortion providers, with some even claiming that they have never donated or sponsored Planned Parenthood, despite being listed on the organisation’s website as having done so.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Planned Parenthood Demands Media Not Air Damning Footage
Planned Parenthood branches in several states are demanding local media refrain from airing damning footage obtained through recent undercover stings, in a frantic attempt to suppress negative criticism generated over their reported sale of aborted fetal tissue…
The threatening message to the press comes as Planned Parenthood hires “progressive” Washington DC public relations firm SKDKnickerbocker to assist with damage control, according to Politico, even as corporations like Ford and Coca Cola have vowed to stop donating to the organization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Ice Hockey Club Launches LGBT Appeal
A Swedish ice hockey club which frequently campaigns for gay rights has told The Local why they are appealing to sports clubs to join them at the annual Stockholm Pride Parade this weekend.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Transgender Beauty Queen Pammy Rose, 22, Reveals Her Struggle to Find Love
Pammy Rose, 22, from Seaham, County Durham, says she often has admirers approaching her in bars — but they quickly turn nasty when they discover she was previously Paul Witten.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
As a firm Islamo-sceptic (phobe?) I share my views with many people I know socialy, and of those I also know that many are like myself ‘gay’. We did not choose our orientation, and do not consider our innate sexuality a perversion. In addition we are valued and fully contributing members and taxpayers in our society, with political opinions and views (just like heterosexuals).
I avidly agree with most of the posts and articles, apart from the vehemently anti-gay rhetoric which does the site no favours at all. When the ‘time’ comes to defend our culture and values from the onslaught of Islam there will be many people like myself, gay, patriotic and appalled at the ravaged imposed by Islam on our culture and society. Many of my friends who feel the way I do about the dangers of Islam and are gay are worried that they are in a no win situation when they face bigotry from the ‘right’ and naked hatred from Islam. Gates of Vienna might be wise to accept that there are supporters who are not heterosexual, and did not choose their sexual orientation, as we may all of us kuffars one day be on the same battle lines. Will aperson’s sexual orientation be important when we are all fighting to prevent the destruction of Western freedom and democracy?
A gay patriot is a patriot. Period. What does sexual orientation have to do with love of country? However, many gays I know have turned belligerent against “the breeders”, seeking – it would appear to me – a better than equal status for their patriotism. They cured me of boycotting as a particularly brutal means of social control.It’s no longer enough to avoid the homophobes and leave them to their own devices, they must be destroyed financially and by reputation. Shaming and blaming are favorite weapons of the left.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision (legislating using the bedroom) will eventually mean that churches will be forced to perform wedding ceremonies for gays even though some churches find that morally wrong. Not gays themselves, but the forced ceremonies.They will have no choice: marry or face closure or worse. That is unconstitutional but so was the the recent ruling.
The bigotry on the right is a mirror image of the bigotry on the left. This reminds me a juxtaposition of images I saw recently: two angry groups pushed up against one another: the first was a group of white men, beer bellies and all, carrying Confederate flags (mainly because they were told they couldn’t) and the second was a group of young black men in their Che gear and carrying Black Panther signs.Hate can have a costume.
You’re right about homosexuality not being a choice. However many homosexual men I know, when they form groups, double down on the aggression that is part of being a man (IOW, not a bad thing in and of itself). Feeling the safety of numbers they go rogue -have been going rogue – more easily. It’s disturbing to watch.
Homosexuality is a drift from the norm and world wide it has always existed at about two percent. Cultures in general fear the “different”, be it bad or good. The top two percent in IQ are far deviant from the norm and suffer a similar alienation.
I figure there must be a reason for these extreme differences at the margins – from an evolutionary point of view at least. It’s the culture keepers’ job to figure that out and protect the vulnerable. In turn, the vulnerable need to accept their own place rather than elevate it to supernormal. In recent years, with the p.c. cultural marxists making the rules, the figures for the percentages of homosexuality have been artificially jacked up to make the needs of a tiny minority the rule for everyone else.
The same twist has been applied for feminists; matriarchy is NOT superior to patriarchy, it’s merely the other side of the same coin – the cruelties differ but they’re still hierarchical. In our current cultural climate this inflation of gays, women, etc., is part of a larger degradation of everything: religion, art, families, food, fashion, etc. Patrick Moynihan called it a deviancy downwards. He was using deviant in its real meaning – i.e., being out of the norm. When “out of the norm” is pushed and propagandized as “better than normal” we’re in trouble. It means that our final liberty – our individuality – is going to be scuppered.
By the way, you can tell something is seriously wrong with our culture’s portrait when the transgendered are lionized by the MSM as “courageous”; they go to the head of the “better than equal” groups.
But the former head of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins has called it what it is: a characterological disorder. From Breitbart’s Journalism section:
That’s my emphasis. “Transphobic”?? Really? Look at all the other cue words in that small paragraph. It’s stunning, in a literal sense: one feels bashed about the head. The Left may feel the sting of micro-aggressions but their weapons of choice are huge macro-aggressions, thrown about in large numbers.
Breitbart (Joel Klotkin,the author) goes on:
You seem to have bruised yourself jumping to conclusions.
My oft-stated position (a libertarian one) is that homosexuals and lesbians have the right to be left alone to do as they will with other consenting adults in private. That’s hardly “bigotry”.
I presume that your outrage was stimulated by the phrase “sexual deviance”. But I’ll stand by my use of the term: homosexuality is deviant, in the sense of “deviating from what is biologically natural”. And if the word “unnatural” has any meaning, a preference for same-sex encounters is unnatural, for a preponderance of it would lead to the rapid extinction of the species.
In evolutionary, Darwinian terms, homosexuality is detrimental to the genome. It might be expected that it would have been selected against to the point of becoming negligible. That it hasn’t suggests that there is some survival value in a recessive trait that fosters an urge to mate with one’s own sex. Perhaps in times of overpopulation, or other stress on the gene pool, it has utility, and that’s why it has persisted.
In any case, none of the above can be construed as “bigoted”. It’s simply a description of things as they are. Homosexuality is deviant and unnatural, if those two words have any meaning.