A staggering 153,000 migrants have landed in Italy so far this year, up 10% from the already stratospheric number reached at this point last year. 12,000 new arrivals were rescued off the Italian coast over the past weekend.
In other news, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Madura plans to meet with representatives of the opposition next Sunday. The meeting was brokered by Pope Francis in an attempt to avoid a political catastrophe which might turn Venezuela into a failed state.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, Reader from Indonesia, 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.
Renzi ‘Defying’ EU on Budget — Die Welt
Italian premier said won’t budge on 2017 budget
(ANSA) — Berlin, October 24 — Italy’s Premier Matteo Renzi is challenging the European Union rules under pressure on the domestic front ahead of a December 4 referendum on his constitutional reform law, conservative German daily Die Welt wrote Monday.
“Renzi defies Brussels” is the headline on a full-page article that says the premier “ignores the EU deficit rules” and that “openly stating he won’t stick to European law is a significant development”. EU rules clearly say “Brussels has the right to declare national budgets illegitimate, and even to impose sanctions,” the paper said.
Renzi said after a European Union summit in Brussels last Friday that Italy’s 2017 budget bill won’t change no matter what the EU has to say about it.
Italy “is not asking for flexibility”, Renzi added, but is invoking “exceptional circumstances” for spending on relief and reconstruction in the aftermath of a devastating August 24 earthquake in central Italy that caused billions in damage, plus spending on asylum seeker processing and reception. Italy and Greece bear the brunt of the refugee crisis as the first European landfall for people fleeing wars and persecution in Africa and the Middle East. “We didn’t discuss the budget, but I want to make it clear we have not asked for flexibility, because flexibility is only granted once,” the Italian premier explained. “We’ve made a spending request under treaty exceptional clauses for the earthquake and immigration”.
“But the substance of the budget measures won’t change,” he said, adding the budget will take care of Italy’s citizens not Brussels technocrats.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Are the Polls Rigged Against Trump? All of These Wildly Divergent Surveys Cannot Possibly be Correct
Some of these polls are going to turn out to be dead wrong. With just over two weeks to go until election day, some surveys are showing a very tight race, while others say that Hillary Clinton has a massive lead. For example, the tracking polls put out by Rasmussen, the L.A. Times and IBD/TIPP have all consistently shown that the race is either tied or Donald Trump is winning by a small margin. But Fox News has Hillary Clinton ahead by six points, Bloomberg has Clinton ahead by nine points, and the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll has Clinton ahead by twelve points. So what in the world is going on here? If the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll is correct, we are likely to see a landslide of historic proportions for Clinton, and this is what many of the experts are now projecting. But if Rasmussen and the L.A. Times are correct, the race could easily go either way. So who are we supposed to believe? Could it be possible that some of the polls are rigged against Trump?
Well, when you take a closer look at the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, it does appear that it is not as accurate as it could be. It turns out that those that conducted the survey purposely included 9 percent more Democrats than Republicans…
[Comment: Polls are being rigged to make public less supicious of massive voter fraud perpetrated by DNC and Soros.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“Clinton’s win was only possible through widespread vote fraud”
After applying various statistical models to subsets of 2016 primary voting data several academic researchers conclude Hillary Clinton’s win was only possible through widespread vote fraud.
Widespread allegations of election fraud and voter suppression across the United States during the 2016 Democratic Primary has sparked the interest of several academic researchers and what they discovered in their research is disturbing.
The researchers each performed independent studies in which a few different statistical was applied to analyze various subsets of vote data and of the studies came to the same conclusion.
Namely that Hillary’s win was could have only been possible a result of widespread election fraud.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California: Killing Home Ownership Through Virtuous Laws
When Pat Burns began his construction career in California in 1970, houses sprang forth from the ground in as little as two months, and it didn’t cost that much to get them started. Today, he says, cycle times ave doubled, and he estimates that fees, labor regulations, and more stringent building-code requirements add roughly $47,000 to a typical 1,400-square-foot home-and that’s if everything goes right.
The cumulative $75,000 in added costs from fees and building code requirements is just a fraction of what has contributed to the staggering price of housing in California. The rest comes simply from supply and demand, or more accurately, a lack of supply that has run into a torrent of demand. The collision of the two has helped create, in a convoluted way, the state’s ever-increasing fee structure that builders in California like Burns face.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
So, what needs to be done to fix the economy? Investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts contends, “The big issue in 2017 is how the government is going to get people to pay their taxes if the government is not viewed as legitimate? . . . We have a win/lose relationship between human productivity and labor productivity. If we want to get more labor productivity, and if we want a stronger stock market, then we need to change those models to win/win. The problem is you have folks like the Clintons who only know how to play in the win/lose model. They only know how to slap out government money, and they are deeply corrupt. They are very vested in the current model, and they don’t want to change. They think if you change the model, you are going to have to change to different kinds of people, which is true. You are going to need engineers instead of lawyers. They (Clintons) are not willing to change. They are not willing to bring more transparency to the system. They are basically addicted to privilege. The question is how do we change the leadership? It now appears the leadership is not willing to change without a crisis.”
Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with financial expert Catherine Austin Fitts, who is the publisher of The Solari Report.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Concern Grows Over Soros-Linked Voting Machines
(LIFEZETTE) Concern is growing over revelations that voting machines in a significant number of states will be controlled by a company tied directly to billionaire leftist George Soros and his personal quest to create a nationless, borderless global state.
The U.K.-based Smartmatic company has provided voting machines for 16 states, including important battleground states like Florida and Arizona. The chairman of Smartmatic, Mark Malloch Brown, is a former UN official and sits on the board of Soros’ Open Society Foundation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dems ‘In Their Own Words’ Confess ‘Voter Fraud’
Democrats are engaged in damage control in the wake of undercover videos from Project Veritas showing party operatives admitting to stoking violence at Trump rallies and being open to engaging in mass voter fraud, and the group says these videos are just the tip of the iceberg.
On Monday, Project Veritas released a video depicting Scott Foval, who later was removed from his job with the Democrat-linked Americans United for Change, admitting to inciting violence at Trump events, including a riot in Chicago that injured police officers and another that shut down a road near a Trump rally in Arizona.
Tuesday, a follow-up video depicted Foval bragging about Democrats busing in voters from other precincts to influence elections and at least entertaining other forms of voter fraud this year. Longtime Democratic operative Robert Creamer resigned as head of Democracy Partners that same day.
Creamer, who is married to Chicago-area Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., also served time years ago on a felony fraud conviction.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Warns Efforts to Stop 2016 Voter Fraud Could ‘Violate’ Federal Law
A U.S. Department of Justice press release warns individuals who may serve as poll watchers hoping to prevent voter fraud could violate voter intimidation laws.
Upon first blush, what may appear to be a middling warning that voter fraud and abuse will not be tolerated by federal law enforcement also casts a shadow over various lawful election activities with broad language apparently intended to caution individuals from performing their duties.
[Comment: Sounds like corrupt DOJ trying to ensure voter fraud can take place.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ANALYSIS: It’s now clear that the same leftist media which has systematically rigged everything — staged debate questions, staged polls, rehearsed audience comments at CNN, deep collusion with the Clinton campaign, total censorship of Wikileaks emails, etc. — is colluding with Clinton-linked terror operatives who are going to commit acts of mass violence that will be blamed on Trump supporters.
It’s a repeat of the exact same Trump rally violence that’s been caught on video by Project Veritas (ProjectVeritasAction.com), where democrat operatives openly admit they take money from the Clinton campaign to stage and carry out acts of extreme violence so they can be blamed on Trump.
Now, I fear, they are taking that false flag operation to a whole new level. It’s now obvious to me, after talking with the Washington Post reporter, that leftists operatives are going to pretend to be Trump supporters and then open fire on crowds of Clinton supporters using automatic weapons. Leftist propaganda rags like the NYT, Boston Globe and WashPost are readying their articles to blame Trump supporters such as myself, Dave Hodges and Alex Jones, declaring us guilty of using “inflammatory rhetoric” any time we discuss the proper role of the Second Amendment in defending democracy against criminal government regimes.
This is all being orchestrated in advance… scripted like everything else coming out of the (fake) leftist media. It may even involve a staged false flag attack at an actual Clinton rally where CNN cameras will be sure to cover the bloody mayhem. The anti-Trump narrative will be unleashed within minutes, consisting of a barrage of queued stories and the universal condemnation of Donald Trump who will be accused of “signaling” his supporters to carry out the act that was actually carried out by paid terrorists working for the democrats.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Prosecutor: Hillary Should Have Been Indicted
Project Veritas video provides evidence for a case against the DNC
Former Federal Prosecutor Joe DiGenova believes the recent Project Veritas video by James O’Keefe featuring DNC contractors explaining their dirty practices to foment violence at Trump events, is a prima facie case of federal and state criminal activity.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gay Couple Gets Death Threats for Supporting Trump
A gay couple interviewed at a Trump rally received death threats online after a video of them sharing their views went viral. WSJ’s Jason Bellini reports.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Here’s What Voter Fraud Looks Like in 23 States
Republican candidate Donald Trump is making accusations that the election is “rigged” against him, even suggesting the possibility of voter fraud.
Trump leveled this accusation in a tweet early Monday morning that read, “Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!”
As the debate rages, here are examples of voter fraud in 23 different states, as compiled by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Virginia
Just a few weeks ago, Harrisonburg, Va., claimed about 20 voter applications were submitted for dead people. A voter registration group called “HarrisonburgVOTES” is responsible for the applications, and the group is reportedly headed by Joe Fitzgerald, chairman of the Democratic Committee in Harrisonburg.
An investigation has been launched.
Colorado
An investigation in Colorado in September, 2016, revealed that dead people were voting in multiple elections. “We do believe there were several instances of potential vote fraud that occurred,” Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williamstold local news station CBS4.
An egregious example of illegal voter fraud in Colorado was that of Sara Sosa, a woman who died in 2009, yet “voted” in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Michigan
Two Democratic officials in Michigan, Jason Bauer and Mike McGuinness, were convicted in 2012 for involvement in an election fraud scheme. The two men attempted to put a fake “Tea Party” candidate on the ballot to split the conservative vote.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hillary Tops Middle East Forum’s ‘Islamist Money List’
(Breitbart) The Middle East Forum has released its 2015-16 “Islamist Money In Politics” list, charting the top ten recipients of contributions from Islamic organizations — and Hillary Clinton is at the top of the list.
According to the Middle East Forum, their list tracks political donations from “from individuals who subscribe to the same Islamic supremacism as Khomeini, Bin Laden, and ISIS.”
Clinton has received a total of $41,165 from individuals that the Middle East Forum describes as “prominent Islamists,” including $19,249 from senior officials of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates on November 15, 2014.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hollywood Elites Linked to Anti-Trump ‘Goon Squad’ And Voter Fraud
People for the American Way was founded by celebrity television executive Norman Lear (All in the Family, The Jeffersons) and other Hollywood elites. Among its executive boards are award-winning actors Alec Baldwin, Jane Lynch (Glee, 40 Year Old Virgin), Kathleen Turner, Seth McFarland, creator of Family Guy, and many others. One of the top people at PFAW is Anthony Podesta, brother of Democratic Party operative and Clinton campaign director John Podesta.
Although those operating in news media must be careful to avoid being tied to the DNC or nonprofit groups that support leftist causes and candidates, according the Center for Public Integrity says 96 percent of money given by journalists went to Clinton. Another new Bill Clinton sexual assault accuser goes public.
PFAW’s top donor is none other than George Soros and through him and his so-called news analysis web site, Media Matters, anti-conservative, anti-Christian and anti-Republican are attacked using easily refuted and phony “news stories.” It’s is Soros’ propaganda machine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How UMD’s Security Fee Censorship of a Milo Event Violates a Supreme Court Ruling on Free Speech
As a public university, the University of Maryland is bound by the ruling in the 1992 Supreme Court case, which determined that increasing security fees based upon the anticipated hostility of an audience rather than the content of the speaker’s message is a tax on speech and therefore a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.
“Speech cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob,” the Forsyth Court wrote, noting that “[t]hose wishing to express views unpopular with bottle throwers, for example, may have to pay more for their permit.”
It is important to note the distinction between a demand for increased security based upon the content of speech and a demand for increased security based upon the anticipated volatility of an audience’s reaction to said content. With regards to the incident at the University of Maryland, security fees were increased not as a result of the content of Milo’s speech, but out of concerns that their students wouldn’t be able to behave when faced with ideas that conflict with their own.
As the Court wrote in the Forsyth case, “Listeners’ reaction to speech is not a content-neutral basis for regulation.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
According to Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is making a huge mistake by signaling to voters that the presidential election is already won.
During an appearance on Fox Business, the former Governor of Arkansas was asked by host Stuart Varney is there was a “strategy on behalf of the Clinton campaign, helped by the media, for the media to say she’s won already, it’s all over, maybe they’re trying to depress the vote.”
Some Trump supporters have claimed that the Clinton camp is deliberately stoking the narrative that the election result is a foregone conclusion in an effort to kill the enthusiasm behind Trump’s campaign and make his supporters think their vote is worthless.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
John Podesta Wasn’t ‘Hacked, ‘ He Fell for an Email Phishing Scam
John Podesta didn’t have his email “hacked,” he fell for a phishing scam. Podesta had a Gmail account. Gmail’s servers were at no point hacked into or compromised. Podesta’s password was not guessed in some sort of brute force attack. He clicked a shady bit.ly link sent to him in an email and then typed his password into a phishing site.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leaked: Obama Team Kept List of Muslims for Top Jobs, Excluded Non-Muslims
This follows a pattern of the Obama Administration using race and religion to determine hiring
The newest batch of John Podesta’s hacked emails released by Wikileaks shows Obama’s transition team kept lists of Muslim and Asian candidates for jobs in the administration.
According to an email chain from 2008, John Podesta received lists of exclusively Muslims and Asians to be considered for jobs in the Obama administration. The email chain revealed that in this process, Middle Eastern Christians were purposefully excluded, or set aside in a separate list, with an aide writing,
In the candidates for top jobs, I excluded those with some Arab American background but who are not Muslim (e.g., George Mitchell). Many Lebanese Americans, for example, are Christian. In the last list (of outside boards/commissions), most who are listed appear to be Muslim American, except that a handful (where noted) may be Arab American but of uncertain religion (esp. Christian).
Also notable, there was concern that some of the Muslims suggested would not survive media scrutiny, with one aide writing, “High-profile Muslim Americans tend to be the subject of a fair amount of blogger criticism, and so the individuals on this list would need to be ESPECIALLY carefully vetted.”
[Comment: And right to the top of the pile if they were Muslim Brotherhood I’m guessing. Vetting? Clearly none since so many MB sympathizers / “ex”-members are in the administration.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ObamaCare Premiums to Soar by Double Digits
The Obama administration announced Monday that Obamacare premiums will increase by at least 25 percent in 2017.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, price hikes — which will vary state to state — are accompanying decreased participation by major insurance providers.
“Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market…” reports the Associated Press.
Roughly 1 in 5 consumers will only be offered plans from a single insurance company given reduced participation by those such as Humana, UnitedHealth Group and Aetna…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Indonesia | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Plans 150 Down-Ballot Endorsements
Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama is taking an unprecedented step into down-ballot races in the final two weeks before the 2016 election.
The outgoing Democratic president is set to endorse 150 state legislative candidates — part of an effort to flip Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country ahead of the 2020 redistricting battle. The endorsements will come in the form of TV and radio ads, mailers, recorded calls and statements.
[Comment: Seeking to install even more communists at the State level.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Justice Department Extorts Companies to Fund Left-Wing Activists
The report notes that while community organizing groups have been using aggressive, “terrorist” tactics for decades to force banks to provide funding for their operations, the Obama administration has brought the power of the federal government to bear on their behalf. Banks are threatened with lawsuits for racial discrimination based on the controversial “disparate impact” theory, and offered incentives to settle by paying left-wing groups directly, beyond the review or oversight of Congress.
The result, the GAI report says, is a system of political patronage:
The old time political machine has been replaced by these nonprofits and a system of patronage now operates with the imprimatur of the DOJ. The DOJ has instituted a system that provides significant funding for nonprofit “community organizers” through a pattern of extortive lawsuits. This system, wherein appointed attorneys can legally extract money from the private sector and redistribute the funds to third-party organizations outside of the appropriations process, shows an unprecedented and extraordinary disregard for Congressional authority.
Left-wing groups have long used the Community Reinvestment Act — signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and boosted by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s — to threaten bank mergers unless the banks fund their lending and activist operations.
Many of the organizations, including the non-profit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), control huge amounts of funding for use in mortgages that might not otherwise be granted. They also register their beneficiaries to vote.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Saint Louis University: Islamic Stronghold
The campus’s mistreatment of Col. Allen West for daring to say “radical Islam” is only the tip of the iceberg
Founded two centuries ago, Saint Louis University began as a Roman Catholic institution, but given its antics in recent years, one could be forgiven for believing that it might be better classified as an Islamic university. The most recent example of this transformation took place last month when more than a hundred students, egged on by campus administration, walked out of a speech by black former congressman Allen West because he dared to use the phrase “radical Islam.”
“Radical Islam” is the same expression that Muslim sympathizer President Barack Hussein Obama refuses to say. Obama, who claims to be a Christian, famously waxes poetic on the Muslim call to prayer, describing it as “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.” With his head firmly planted in the sand, the president is also reluctant to label Muslim terrorist attacks as such, preferring to use the fuzzy abstraction “violent extremism.”
At Saint Louis University the campus administration tried to dictate the contents of the national security-themed speech in late September sponsored by Young America’s Foundation (YAF), but West, an outspoken conservative who represented a Florida district in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2013 as a Republican, refused to buckle under pressure. An SLU administrator told conservative and Republican students promoting the event that advertisements for it could not contain the words “radical Islam.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
PHOENIX (AP) — A campaign finance violation complaint has been filed with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office against a newly formed independent political committee linked to hedge fund tycoon George Soros.
An attorney representing Republican incumbent Bill Montgomery’s re-election campaign for Maricopa County Attorney filed a complaint Friday, saying the Arizona Safety & Justice has violated a state election law.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
We the People: Hillary You Will Not Steal This Election
Don’t believe the polls. Trump is leading by more than the prostitute media wants everyone to know. I follow this circus everyday. Most of my time is spent on research. I firmly believe the only way at this point for Hillary the pathological liar to beat Donald Trump is vote fraud. That’s why WE THE PEOPLE must pledge to step forward November 9th if she is declared the winner. Trump must NOT concede the night of the election should the obscene ‘mainstream media’ and cable networks announce he lost.
If you do Facebook, go to Trump’s and post DO NOT CONCEDE THE ELECTION. Send him a tweet thing. There is an army out in America in every county you allegedly lost that will go to their county clerk’s office November 9th and begin going through voting records. That means a list of registered voters. Sign in log books for everyone who voted in your county. It means a difference of registered voters and vote cards in some areas. There are 3,142 counties in this country. More than 13 million Americans voted for Trump in the primaries. I’m sure we can find 3,142 Americans to do an analysis in their county if Trump allegedly lost that county.
I’ve done hundreds of counties after elections over the decades and I can tell you in every single case the list of registered voters never matches the number of votes cast. In some cases where I was able to drive to, some addresses listed on voter registration cards turned out to be empty lots with a half dozen or more people listed as living there. The Motor Voter Law of 1993 opened the flood gates for vote fraud. Despite we the people’s attempts over the years to get it abolished, it’s there and an open invitation for illegals to vote in OUR elections and they vote overwhelming for Democrats who promise them the fruits of your labor.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Brussels to Decide on Brexit: Warning Euro Judges Could Take Control Over Article 50 Terms
Unaccountable officials at the European Court of Justice may be called in to rule on the nature of Britain’s divorce talks with Brussels in a dynamite development.
Legal experts say European judges will likely have to pass verdict on whether Article 50, which begins the UK’s formal exit negotiations, can be revoked after activation.
If they were to rule that the notification could be withdrawn it would significantly strengthen the hand of europhiles like Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband who are calling for a parliamentary vote or even a second referendum on the deal Theresa May secures with Brussels.
Critics today branded the situation a “mess” and urged the Prime Minister to sidestep Article 50 altogether by passing an act of parliament repealing all EU laws.
Top lawyers have said that the controversial legal trigger for leaving the bloc, which has never been activated before, is a legal minefield because of its ambiguous wording.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Migrant Protest Wrecks EU Lesbos Offices
Migrants at an overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Lesbos have set fire to temporary EU offices.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hard Brexit ‘To Leave Brussels Coughing Up £13billion a Year to Trade With Britain’
EU COMPANIES could be slapped with annual tariffs worth almost £13billion if Brussels fails to agree a new trade deal with Britain once it ditches the bloc, a leading think tank has claimed.
British firms would face a lower bill of just £5.2billion — adding weight behind the argument that it’s in the EU’s best interest to dish out a favourable trade deal with the UK.
According to Civitas, all but five of the 27 EU states would face more tariffs on exports to the UK than British firms would pay to send their goods into the continent.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Driven From North Africa Into Spanish Seaside Resorts Popular With British Tourists
Holiday resorts popular with British tourists — including the Costa del Sol, Costa Brava and Costa Blanca — could be at risk, Spain’s foreign affairs minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo said.
He told Spanish newspaper ABC: “The loss of land in Syria and Iraq can force Daesh [ISIS] jihadists to Libya.
“With the loss of ground in Libya, the jihadist threat approaches our coasts and European shores.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Credit Suisse Pays 109 Mn to Settle Fake Policies Case
Deal with Italian authorities on suspected fraud
(ANSA) — Milan, October 21 — Credit Suisse has agreed to pay Italian tax authorities a total of 109.5 million euros to settle a case of suspected tax fraud involving bogus insurance policies, sources said Friday. The Swiss bank will pay 8.5 million for administrative breaches and a further 101 million for taxes, outstanding interest and sanctions. Credit Suisse was placed under investigation in Milan in March in a probe into huge alleged tax fraud perpetrated via fake insurance policies. Italian tax police had for some time been carrying out checks on 13-14,000 Italian clients who are believed to have taken some 14 billion euros abroad, police said. The transactions allegedly took place between Liechtenstein and Bermuda, police said, to dodge Italian tax authorities. During the period between 2008 and 2012, Germany, Brazil, and the United States began a series of investigations into the use of Credit Suisse accounts for tax evasion. In May 2014, the financial services company pleaded guilty to decades of conspiring to help US citizens “hide their wealth” in order to avoid taxes, and agreed to pay $2.6 billion in fines.
Commenting on Friday’s deal, Credit Suisse issued a statement saying “Credit Suisse AG favourably welcomes reaching this solution. The bank intends to continue to offer its services to the Italian clientele and reconfirms its commitment to Italy, which represents an important market for Credit Suisse AG. “With the present accord the investigation conducted by Italian authorities relating to the past cross-border activities of Credit Suisse AG with Italian clients is closed.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 8% Rise in ‘Underground’ Workers
1.5% higher than Q1 2015
(ANSA) — Rome, October 24 — Labour ministry inspectors found an 8% rise in off-the-books workers in Italian firms in the first quarter of 2016, the ministry said Monday.
This was a 1.5% rise in the number of ‘underground’ workers found in the same period in 2015, it said.
Fully 61% of firms were found to have committed some irregularity in registering workers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Stop the EUSSR! Hungary PM Slams Brussels ‘Sovietisation’ in Savage Attack on Federalism
Hungary PM Viktor Orban launched a scathing tirade against the direction of the European project as he called on elected leaders to “save” it from meddling eurocrats.
The firebrand leader, who has repeatedly clashed with Brussels over its migration policies, railed against a plot for an EU superstate, saying Hungary wanted to be “a European nation, not a nationality within Europe”.
And he said: “We must close the border to stop the mass migration that flows from the south.
“We cannot allow Europe to cut the roots that made it great and helped us survive the Soviet suppression. There is no free Europe without nation states and thousands of years of wisdom from Christianity.”
Polish leader Mr Duda, who has also clashed with Brussels over its increasing encroachment on his country’s sovereignty, then vowed to stand with his neighbours as eastern Europe launches a growing fightback against eurocrats.
He said to Mr Orban: “You can count on Poland, we march together in the toughest moments…two countries which were built on Christian foundations and are now free in the unified Europe.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘You Can’t Have Two Laws!’ Former Bishop Blasts Government for Even Considering Sharia Law
The Right Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, blasted the Government’s ongoing inquiry into the Islamic law system.
He warned Sharia law is COMPLETELY incompatible with the British justice system and that the Government is wasting its time investigating its legitimacy.
In written evidence to the Commons Home Affairs committee he said the investigation, put forward by Prime Minister Theresa May during her time as Home Secretary, could even jeopardise the entire justice system in the UK.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Top University Stole Millions From Taxpayers by Faking Global Warming Research
A global warming research center at the London School of Economics got millions of dollars from UK taxpayers by taking credit for research it didn’t perform, an investigation by The Daily Mail revealed.
The UK government gave $11 million dollars to the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) in exchange for research that the organization reportedly never actually did.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Daesh Equipped With US-Made Missiles, Attacks Syrian Army in Deir Ezzor
The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) was pictured by their official media wing on Satuday firing a U.S. manufactured anti-tank missile towards a Syrian Arab Army vehicle in the Deir Ezzor Governorate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The defeat of the ISIS mass-murdering Islamic Caliphate draws ever closer-thanks to the Russian air force and the ground forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, much to the anger of the of the terrorist-supporting British and U.S. regimes. The fighting to liberate Aleppo from ISIS and its U.S.-backed “moderate” Free Syrian Army terrorists is increasing, while in Iraq, the fall of Mosul appears imminent because ISIS is struggling to maintain its two fronts.
[Comment: Finally some good news. On the bad side, many may escape. Good chance that these murderers may be appearing at Western countries doorsteps as “refugees” — courtesy of Soros backed groups.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Climate-Friendlier Coolant Has Catch: It’s Flammable
Dr. Singh’s new coolant is also controversial, with critics questioning its safety and viewing it as the latest attempt by large chemical companies to play the regulatory system to their advantage. HFO-1234yf is already becoming standard in many new cars sold in the European Union and the United States by all the major automakers, in large part because its developers, Honeywell and Chemours, have automakers over a barrel. Their refrigerant is one of the few options that automakers have to comply with new regulations and the Kigali agreement.
It has its detractors. The new refrigerant is at least 10 times as costly as the one it replaces.
A number of rival manufacturers have filed suits to challenge the patent. Officials in India, which has a fast-growing car market, are deliberating over whether to grant patent protection.
And then there is the safety issue.
Daimler began raising red flags in 2012. A video the company made public was stark. It showed a Mercedes-Benz hatchback catching fire under the hood after 1234yf refrigerant leaked during a company simulation.
[Comment: That’s a big catch. Enviro-wackos are pushing to use this on all cars. If it leaks it catches fire in the engine bay. Didn’t the tiles fall off the space shuttle because they switched to environmentally friendly glue?]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela’s Maduro Meets Pope Amid Worsening Crisis
Venezuela’s government and the opposition are to meet on October 30 to try to resolve a political crisis, a papal envoy says. The announcement followed a private meeting between President Nicolas Maduro and Pope Francis.
The Vatican confirmed a meeting took place on Monday between the pontiff and the Venezuelan leader, amid a worsening political standoff between the government and the opposition, who want Maduro removed from office.
According to a Vatican statement, the pope urged Maduro to follow the path of “sincere and constructive dialogue” to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people.
The Vatican has been attempting to mediate a resolution to the political crisis, and opposition leaders on Monday met with Church representatives in Caracas…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Indonesia | [Return to headlines] |
Asylum Applications From 35 Turkish Citizens With Diplomatic Passports Confirmed
Germany says 35 Turkish nationals with diplomatic passports have sought asylum since the failed July coup. The revelations have the potential to weaken already fragile ties between Berlin and Ankara.
Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth told a news conference on Monday the figure included Turkish diplomats as well as their family members.
But he did not say if all the Turkish nationals had been based in Germany, adding that he couldn’t give further details about their identities or their motivation for applying…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Indonesia | [Return to headlines] |
‘Incredible Lie’ Marion Le Pen Says Migrants Aren’t Refugees and French Should Come First
In a controversial speech the far-right MP claimed European populations had been fed “propaganda” over asylum seekers and said most of those in Calais are not fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Record 153,000 Migrant Arrivals So Far in 2016
Heading to top 2014’s record 170,000
(ANSA) — Rome, October 24 — As many as 153,450 migrants have reached Italy so far this year due to a recent surge, pushing the number 10% higher than it was at the same stage last year, sources said Monday. It is also 1,300 higher than at this time in 2014, which went on to set a year-long record of 170,000 which now looks set to be beaten, the sources said. A further 4,300 migrants and refugees rescued in the last couple of days have not yet reached Italy. In the last three days, rescuers say, more than 12,000 asylum seekers have been rescued in the Strait of Sicily, indicating an increase projected to take the year-end total above 170,000. Migrant departures from Libya towards Italy have surged over the last few months.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Iraqi Terror Suspect Gets 3.5 Years for Illegal Immigration
Muhamad Majid still being probed for intl Islamist terrorism
(ANSA) — Bari, October 24 — A Bari court on Monday sentenced an Iraqi national to three years six months for abetting illegal immigration.
Muhamad Majid, 45, is also a suspect in an ongoing international Islamist terrorism investigation.
Today he was found guilty of providing lodging and fake IDs for dozens of Egyptian, Iranian, Moroccan, Pakistani, and Turkish nationals in Italy.
The prosecution had requested eight years in prison.
Majid had been arrested December 7, 2015, on charges of abetting illegal immigration as part of an international terrorism probe into at least 10 suspects, and was transferred to a maximum security prison near the southern town of Rossano Calabro where Italy holds many terror suspects.
Majid is thought to have aided people linked to an Italian cell of an Islamist terror group and “aiding the entry into Europe of people linked to Islamist fundamentalist combatant circles,” police sources said at the time of his arrest.
He had been released from an Italian prison in January 2015 after serving 10 years for international terrorism, and moved to Bari after winning an appeal against an expulsion order.
Wiretaps revealed he subsequently had telephone contact with numerous people believed to be linked to an Islamist terrorist group, and used what police believe to be code for explosives when he spoke of two kilos of “truffles” his wife sent him from Iraq.
During a February 2015 raid on a Bari apartment, police confiscated from Majid postcards he sent from prison in which he exalted the jihad, or Islamist holy war.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Refugee in Germany With 4 Wives, 22 Kids Sparks Social Media Fuss Over Welfare
A Syrian refugee who claims social benefits in Germany with his four wives and 22 children has sparked debates on social media, after the German press brought his story into spotlight.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands More Migrants Arrive in Italy Over Weekend
Massive migration into Italy continues unabated, as some 6,100 migrants were rescued at sea over the weekend as they attempted to cross the Strait of Sicily from North Africa into Italy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Fake Refugee Invasion Continues
Not content with bringing obviously lying “children” fake refugees into Britain from the Calais Jungle, the British government is now importing “asylum seeker minors” who don’t even claim to have any family in the country. Previously, it was claimed that the nonwhite invaders had to have “family” already present in the UK in order to qualify for the importation scheme-but even this pretense has now been abandoned.
– — From The Sun:
A FOSTER mum who took in a child refugee has told of her horror after discovering he was a 21-year-old jihadi.
Kind-hearted Rosie welcomed Jamal into her family after social workers said he was a 12-year-old orphan who had fled Afghanistan.
But she became suspicious when she noticed how hairy he was, and how adept he was at firing a rifle.
Jamal was rumbled when a dentist estimated he was a decade older than claimed. Taliban material and child abuse images were later found on his mobile.
This is what these “child refugees” pouring into the UK look like:
The dentist must have just been a xenophobe, because those are clearly some of the most helpless, innocent, small and vulnerable children I’ve ever seen.
When Rosie and husband Pete, 57, took in Jamal they all switched to halal meat…He roomed with a boy, aged 13. Two girls, 12 and 14, were also in the house.
Alarm bells rang when the family went swimming and Rosie’s 13-year-old commented on how hairy he was.
At a climbing centre he shimmied up ropes with ease, and at a shooting range he stripped a gun before firing it.
On a bus to college he was told to get off by a driver who didn’t believe he was 16. Rosie, who lives in the South East, said: “It’s ridiculous how everybody else could see it but not the social workers.”
“12-year-old refugee” or terrorist mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed? No one can say for certain.
Jamal’s behaviour worsened. He put the 13-year-old in expert holds, demanded cash and got calls from unknown numbers.
One day he claimed he couldn’t pray because there were too many posters on his wall. The interpreter told him, “What do you mean? Allah doesn’t mind?”
His last words to Rosie were: “I’ll kill you and I know where your children are.”
She added: “I can’t say he was a terrorist but I do think he came from a training camp. He was a great actor.
“Every day I check the car, and that all the house windows are shut. I panic because I know he knows our routine.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Revealed: The £450-a-Week- Devon Holiday Camp Hosting Teen Calais Migrants
Child refugees from the Calais jungle are being housed in a 17th-century manor house in rural Devon, The Telegraph can disclose.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Vatican is trying to help Venezuela’s governing party negotiate with the insurgent party because the Vatican does not want Venezuela to become a failed state. Really? I shudder to think what a failed state really looks like in the eyes of the Vatican. Mass murder, like in Jonestown, perhaps?
The insurgent party better tell the Vatican that Venezuela IS a failed state, and where has the Vatican been all those years? Then send the Vatican packing. The Vatican loves Socialism much too much to be impartial in this negotiation. Unless the Vatican rids itself of the current “ruling curia”, the Church, too, will become a failed church.
Is this report credible?
http://www.infowars.com/report-votes-switched-from-trump-to-hillary-in-texas/