After deliberating for three days, a jury in Norwich convicted three “British” men of abducting a 13-year-old girl and keeping her as a sex slave in Ipswich, raping her repeatedly. The convicted men (Mohammed Coefficient: 33%) will be sentenced at a later date.
In other news, newly-hatched Secretary of State John Kerry has promised $60 million in, ahem, non-lethal aid (since when has money killed anyone?) to the Syrian rebels. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI officially stepped down as pontiff.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, DF, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, LH, Vlad Tepes, 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.
Italy: MPS Shares Climb 2% After Issuing ‘Monti Bonds’
Troubled lender sells 4.1 billion euros to Italy’s Treasury
(ANSA) — Milan, February 28 — Shares in troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) climbed 2% on Thursday after the bank confirmed it had successfully issued 4.07 billion euros in so-called “Monti bonds”, part of a government-backed bailout for the bank after it failed to meet the capital requirements set by the European Banking Authority. The bond issue was fully purchased by Italy’s Treasury, MPS said.
Part of the issue, some 1.9 billion euros, will serve to substitute the remaining share of Tremonti bonds MPS sold in 2009 while another 171 million euros will go on interest payments for the Tremonti bonds, the bank said. Tremonti bonds were named after former economy minister Giulio Tremonti. MPS was generally outperforming other bank stocks Thursday, with shares in other leading lenders Mediobanca, Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit slightly lower or flat.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russians Eye Variety of Investments in Greece
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, FEBRUARY 28 — Russia views investment opportunities in Greece in a very positive light, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said during an official visit to Moscow on Wednesday as daily Kathimerini reported. After meeting with the board of the Russian Federation’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he added that Russia is the first country that the investment bill is being presented in. It will be debated in Greece’s Parliament in the next few weeks.
The Russians are responding very positively to the opportunities arising, showing their confidence in the Greek economy, said Kedikoglou.
Joined in Moscow by the Development Ministry’s general secretary, Serafim Tsokas, Kedikoglou discussed the prospects of cooperation with Russian investors in traditional fields such as agricultural products and tourism, as well as in new areas including alternative energy sources, the pharmaceutical industry and holiday homes for the Russian middle classes.
“This has not been a crisis of the Greek economy but of the European Union, and Greece has been chosen to be its victim,” said the vice president of the Russian chamber, Georgi Petrov, expressing the great interest of Russian businesspeople in investing in Greece.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sussing Sequestration Originator Will Get You Yelled at and Threatened
Even with the Obama-designed sequestration media hype spread as thickly as mayo on a Governor Chris Christie sandwich, only one out of four Americans believe the overworked sequestration will directly affect them.
Is this why the world’s first Celebrity President and his bully boy minion Gene Sperling, who got to yell at celebrated journalist Bob Woodward for a half an hour before threatening him “you’ll regret this” are losing their cool these days?
All Bob Woodward of Watergate fame was doing was working on a story questioning Obama’s account of how sequestration came about on the premise that it was Obama’s brainchild in the first place.
This was after Woodward posited in a MSNBC interview that Obama’s assertion of not being able to protect the country is a “kind of madness”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Why Won’t Anyone Speak Up for Britain’s Beleaguered Savers Any More?
Everyone knows it is not worth saving any more because returns are so poor as a result of interest rates having been at a historic low for four years. But if a deputy governor of the Bank of England gets his way, it could get even worse.
Paul Tucker has raised the extraordinary idea that the Bank might introduce ‘negative interest rates’ in an attempt to kick-start the sluggish economy. Under his plan, commercial banks would pay the Bank of England to hold their money.
The thinking is that banks would therefore be encouraged to lend more money to homebuyers and small businesses rather than sit on their cash, though whether things would work out like that is questionable.
The people who would definitely not gain are savers. In fact, they would be further penalised. A bank forced to pay to hold money with the Bank of England is hardly likely to offer you and me even a minimal rate of interest. They would probably expect to be paid for taking our money on deposit.
Six or seven years ago, such a prospect would have seemed utterly fantastical. Of course, it may still not happen. Charles Bean, another deputy governor at the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, yesterday admitted that ‘there is nothing to stop us’ introducing sub-zero rates, though he sounded less enthusiastic about the notion than his colleague…
Negative interest rates would not only finish off savers. If commercial banks started charging us to keep our cash, we would very likely stuff it under the mattress, thereby undermining the banking system.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Andrew Higgins’ “inspirational” muse must be the ignoble New York Times reporter Walter Duranty, who deliberately concealed Stalin’s campaign of mass starvation and murder (or “dekulakization”) of 14.5 million in the Ukraine, from 1930-1937 (see Robert Conquest’s magisterial Harvest of Sorrow , pp. 299-307). This travesty was compounded when Duranty was awarded a 1932 Pulitzer prize for his despicably whitewashed, agitprop “reporting”.
Eight decades later, ostensibly reporting on the recent failed assassination attempt against Danish journalist and historian Lars Hedegaard for the New York Times (or more appositely, the New Duranty Times, since the “paper of record” has never denounced Duranty’s illegitimate receipt of the Pulitzer), Higgins demonizes Hedegaard as a purveyor of “ anti-Muslim bile and conspiracy-laden forecasts,” while lionizing Copenhagen’s Islamic Society, in particular, its current leader, Imran Shah.
Higgins selectively quotes Shah’s statement, “we knew that this was something people would try to blame on us. We knew we had to be in the forefront and make clear that political and religious violence is totally unacceptable.”
However, as reported in an English language story at Jyllands-Posten on February 19, 2013, but not Higgins , it is only now, more than 7-years later, that Imran Shah and his predecessor, Ahmed Akkari, who formerly headed Copenhagen’s Islamic Society, have acknowledged their direct role in fomenting the murderous Muslim “cartoon riots”—which according to Jytte Klausen , resulted in 200 dead, and over 800 wounded—by disseminating particularly inflammatory images never included amongst the published Jyllands-Posten cartoons…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
Bullitt Residents’ Opposition Fuels Rejection of Islamic Cemetery
Rarely has a simple 10-acre tract of land so united a community. But the staunch opposition to a proposed Islamic cemetery near the eastern edge of Mount Washington wasn’t as uncomplicated as it appeared. Strongly voiced objections on religious grounds were numerous at a recent meeting of the county board of adjustments, but they were hardly the only reasons residents on and around Hubbard Lane wanted to stop the plan…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
City Wants Power to “Disarm Individuals” During Crisis
Guntersville (Ala.) Mayor Leigh Dollar is working with city officials to pass an ordinance that would give police the power to “disarm individuals” during a disaster, a chilling example of how the second amendment is being assaulted via the back door.
The new rule would allow authorities to confiscate guns of “unruly” people during an extreme weather event such as the April 2011 tornadoes or any other emergency.
“The ordinance states officers could disarm individuals, if necessary, reports ABC 31. “Dollar says the proposal is just way to give officers more authority to protect themselves.”
Dollar denied that the ordinance would be used to take away constitutional rights, but residents questioned why authorities would need to pass a new ordinance given that police already have the power to arrest citizens who are being “unruly,” whether armed or not.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congressman Murphy Seeks Probe of Al Jazeera
Rep. Tim Murphy, who holds a senior position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, has called on the Obama Administration to explain whether Al Jazeera’s purchase of Current TV from former Democratic Vice President Al Gore was given any federal review and scrutiny.
But Al Jazeera is working furiously to stop the mounting congressional interest and now has three lobbying firms working to stop any hearings or investigations into the deal.
Once known as the voice of Osama bin Laden, Al Jazeera is the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood and its various terrorist affiliates. Qatar, which owns Al Jazeera, supports foreign Jihadists, including Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
Rep. Murphy told Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski in a letter that “foreign ownership of media outlets” in the U.S. should be reviewed by the FCC and he questions what, if anything, the FCC did in regard to the Al Jazeera transaction. He says “the rules governing foreign ownership of U.S. news networks” would seem to apply in this case.
Murphy notes that the deal “would increase Al Jazeera’s broadcast footprint ninefold, beaming the channel into 40 million American homes.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DHS to Lease $10 Million Firearms Facility
While the second amendment is under assault from gun control legislation across the country, the Department of Homeland Security is gearing up to use some of the roughly 2 billion rounds of ammunition it has purchased over the last year, by leasing a $10 million dollar firearms facility in Boston.
“The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Procurement Operations, Federal Protective Service Acquisition Division, East Consolidated Contracting Group has a requirement for a firearms facility within 25-miles of the Boston, Massachusetts area for use by the Federal Protective Service, Region 1 (New England),” states a solicitation posted on FedBizOpps.
The proposed contract will consist of a 12 month initial base period followed by two 12 month renewal options and further 6 month option, a total of 3 and a half years. The cost of leasing the facility is listed as $10 million dollars.
Further details about the firearms facility are unavailable because the documents for the solicitation are listed as “sensitive/secure” and only authorized companies are allowed to view the attached PDF file.
As the DHS attracts increased media attention over its acquisition of massive amounts of ammunition, the agency is becoming increasingly less transparent and preventing the public from seeing details of its purchase activity.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Explosive Report: 98% of Newborn Babies Are Genetically Screened
“Newborn Screening in America,” a report from the Council for Responsible Genetics, states: “Before they are even a week old, ninety-eight percent of the 4.3 million babies born annually in the United States have a small sample of blood taken from their heels.”
The report continues: “These newborn bloodspots (NBS) are then screened for a variety of inherited conditions and may later be stored in state-operated databases…parents are often unaware of these screening programs and their consent options.”
This shocking national program, flying under the radar, is of course explained as a humane medical undertaking. But there is no across-the-board genetic treatment for any disease or illness. All the “maybe-possibly-in-the-future-cure” nonsense does nothing to justify this rank incursion on newborns and their unsuspecting families.
The report goes on: “With respect to [bloodspot] sample storage and use, there is also little transparency regarding storage procedures or the use of the samples after they have been screened…many states do not have clearly articulated policies about consent for the storage and use of samples or may not effectively communicate these policies to parents.”
Then there is the question of who now has, or will have in the future, access to all these millions of blood samples and the results of the genetic screening.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Feinstein Restates Vow to Grab “Personal Pleasure” Firearms From All Americans
Chief gun-grabber, Democrat senator Dianne Feinstein, went on MSNBC and told the former boss of the Federal Reserve’s wife that she will not rest until she bans so-called assault weapons.
“I recognize it’s an uphill battle,” she told Andrea Mitchell. “[But] the mothers, the women, the men of American have to make a decision as to whether their personal pleasure is more important than the general welfare.”
In other words, Americans exercising the Second Amendment are selfish pleasure-seeking hedonists who must be disarmed by the government.
“I intend to fight. I did it once before. If it doesn’t get done right now, be assured I will continue to press the case,” she said, according to the Washington Times.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Troops to Confiscate American Guns Under UN Treaty
“Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order … tomorrow they will be grateful.” -Attributed to Henry Kissinger during the 1991 Bilderberg meeting
For those who’ve been wondering how the domestic gun grabbers or the United Nations think they’re going to get away with gun control here at home, one need look no further than Article 15 of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty.
Many American troops are patriots who understand their oaths to uphold the Constitution, so they can’t be counted upon to confiscate guns. But foreign troops are another story.
Article 15 of the UN Arms Trade Treaty, if ratified, provides for foreign “assistance to implement the Treaty,” and mandates that nations who can provide requested support must do so if requested by member nations. That includes legal, financial, technical as well as “material” assistance to enforce a treaty that declares “recreational, cultural, historical and sporting activities” to be the “exclusively” recognized reasons for lawful private ownership, and which further recognizes the “inherent rights” of the State (i.e. nations under the treaty) to self-defense, but makes no mention of the rights of the individual.
Read the language of Article 15 for yourself:
[…]
Will foreign troops be going door-to-door to ensure compliance with new gun registry policies, imposed limits on ammunition and magazines, or in enforcing outright confiscation? Joint training exercises conducted between U.S. armed forces and various foreign armies have trained to do just that.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia State House Seeks to Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment
One hundred years ago, the United States ratified an amendment to the Constitution that changed the way America chose its senators. The amendment’s supporters said that senators directly elected by the people would not only be more democratic, but also less corrupt and less susceptible to special interest influence.
Instead of reducing corruption, however, changing the method of Senate selection provided entirely new avenues of political exploitation by fundamentally transforming our federal government. Most importantly, the amendment destroyed the federalist structure that the Founding Fathers installed to protect state sovereignty. Today, members of the Georgia state House of Representatives seek to restore state representation to the federal government by reviving the Founders’ original intent. The goal of House Bill 273 is “to protect the sovereignty of the states from the federal government and to give each individual state government representation in the federal legislative branch of government” by repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.
Of course, this resolution would not necessitate any action or response from the federal government should it pass, but it could spark a national debate on the concept of federalism, unconstitutional government, and the Founders’ original intent…
“Direct elections of Senators,” declared former Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat from Georgia, “allowed Washington’s special interests to call the shots, whether it is filling judicial vacancies, passing laws, or issuing regulations.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hagel Sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Defense
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was sworn in on Wednesday as the new Pentagon chief. In remarks to Defense Department employees, he deplored the uncertainty brought about by impending automatic cuts to the defense budget, and promised to do everything in his power to meet those challenges…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois State Rep Compares Gun Control to Population Control
During a debate in the State Senate of Illinois yesterday, state representative Jim Sacia compared Chicago politicians’ efforts for even more gun control to the castration of individuals as a means of population control. In the heat of a Senate discussion on the matter of increased efforts by Chicago to further curb gun possession, Sacia stated:
“Last year there were more people killed with hammers than assault rifles. Here’s an analogy, folks. I ask you to think of this. You folks in Chicago want me to get castrated because your families are having too many kids …”
After being reprimanded for his remarks, Sacia continued:
“It was not out of order, I used it as an analogy, representative! I used it as a representative! It’s an analogy! If you’re having too many kids, you want me to get castrated! It was an analogy.”
According to political analyst Chuck Sweeny, after the session ended, Sacia explained he stands by his words:
“I used the analogy because Chicago hates guns, it’s like I should be castrated because their families are having too many children,” Sacia said, adding that a friend of his from Chicago protested the castration analogy.
“If this bill passes with all the amendments”, Sacia told Sweeny, “concealed carry will be legal but you won’t be able to carry your gun anywhere in Illinois. You can’t carry here, you can’t carry there. I can’t begin to rattle them all off. What we’re doing now is debating each one , one at a time”.
The amendment debated on Tuesday was one that “bans guns anywhere near a school.” In response Sacia rightly pointed out that banning guns near schools creates “killing fields for crazies”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islam 101 One of Many Means of Promoting Diverse Understanding
A university is often called a marketplace of ideas. Every school year brings a fresh wave of students and, with it, a fresh blend of political ideas, social expectations, academic interests and religious zeal. To promote understanding and develop well-informed students, Grand Valley State University offers courses and programs for most — if not all — measures of diversity…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Lyons: The Islamic Cloud Over Brennan and Hagel
National security may not be a first priority
Two key national security nominations by President Obama are up for confirmation following Congress’ recess this week: former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense, and John O. Brennan, the president’s key counterterrorism adviser, to be the director of the CIA. Both candidates have had to address issues based on their past and current activities and associations. Troublingly, a number of questions still remain unanswered.
One explosive issue is a report by John Guandolo that broke last week on Tom Trento’s “TrentoVision Show” and also was carried by Glenn Beck on Feb. 11. The report stated that Mr. Brennan was converted to Islam while CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia from 1996 to ‘99. Let’s be clear: In America, a man’s religion can never be a condition to his holding a government position. It is protected by both the First Amendment and Article 6 of the Constitution. Therefore, even if it is true that he converted, Mr. Brennan’s religion should not be an issue.
However, according to Mr. Guandolo — a former SWAT team leader at the FBI, counterterrorism and Muslim Brotherhood specialist and Marine platoon commander — what should be an issue was the Saudis’ targeted recruitment of Mr. Brennan to the ideology of Islam while he was serving as the CIA station chief in Riyadh. This was not just a conversion but a political act by a foreign intelligence service.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Manning Makes His Plea for Role in WikiLeaks Documents
The US Army private accused of feeding documents to WikiLeaks has pleaded guilty to misusing classified material, but denies aiding the enemy. Bradley Manning faces life in prison if convicted of that.
Manning entered his pleas on Thursday, ahead of his June 3 court martial for the biggest leak of government secrets in US history. Though he pleaded not guilty to aiding the enemy, Manning did cop to a series of 10 lesser charges related to misusing classified information.
The documents he released to WikiLeaks, Manning said, “represent the underground realities of the conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Manning, a private working in Army intelligence, was arrested in May 2010 while serving in Iraq and charged with downloading thousands of documents, diplomatic cables and combat videos and forwarding them to WikiLeaks. The website began exposing the government secrets that same year, outraging US officials.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Morning Bell: Voting Rights at the Supreme Court Today
Section 5 was supposed to be temporary. It was supposed to transition the states into the new law and ensure that they were all implementing it correctly. As President Johnson said at the time, “if any county anywhere in this nation does not want federal intervention, it need only open its polling places to all of its people.”
The problem is, that federal intervention continues to this day. And that is what the Supreme Court is considering today — the outdated Section 5, not the whole Voting Rights Act…
But Section 5 outlived its purpose decades ago — and the federal government is still forcing some voting jurisdictions to justify all of their local rule changes. Von Spakovsky points out:
“[Section 5] effectively presumes that all voting-related actions by certain states and jurisdictions are discriminatory and therefore requires that they obtain pre-approval from the federal government for otherwise ordinary and routine actions, such as moving a polling station from a school that is under renovation to another one down the street or drawing new redistricting plans. This is a major and unusual imposition on state sovereignty.”
What was originally intended to safeguard individual liberty has become a way for the feds to attack state liberty. For the Department of Justice and many activists, Section 5 merely exists to bully local authorities.
Von Spakovsky says that if Section 5 were struck down, “The only change would be to curb the abuses of federal bureaucrats and check the power and influence of the liberal activist groups that rely on Section 5 to enforce their agendas.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Ex-Secret Service Agent: It’s Not Gun Control… It’s People Control (Video)
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino explains how we live in a post-constitutional world.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Reader Feedback to “The Rocket’s Red Glare”
The elitist controlled media lie, twist the truth, bury the truth, and misrepresent the truth — but the truth will out.
“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” — Winston Churchill (1874-1965) “The Gathering Storm”
I seldom “read the minutes of the previous meeting” and revisit past articles of mine, but some of the reader responses to my last article (“The Rocket’s Red Glare”) were so insightful and well-stated that I felt sharing and discussing them would be of interest and benefit. In addition, I feel that they are representative of what many people feel and reflect what they themselves would write, if they had the time and/or ability.
Am I advocating the start of an armed revolution? No, I am not — I most emphatically am not. What I am suggesting is that “we the people” batten down the hatches and prepare for a “worst case” scenario — that we prepare ourselves to act with alacrity and determination should the need arise. And if things continue as they are, then the need will arise — sooner rather than later.
In my last article I mentioned “Luciferian Inversion,” where what’s good is bad, and what’s bad is good — where American patriots are called “terrorists,” and foreign terrorists are called “freedom fighters.” I want to mention in passing that come any civil disturbance the media will portray American patriots as terrorists as a matter of course. It should be expected, and treated with the contempt it deserves.
Most of you are by now well aware of how thoroughly corrupted and one-sided the American (and global) media is. They are not “news gathering” resources, but are polished propaganda outlets for globalism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Retired General Tells Biden: Military Can Help With Gun Control Agenda
Ahead of a Senate hearing on gun control today, Vice President Joe Biden met with retired military officials to thrash out a strategy to win over public approval for the implementation of strict anti-gun measures.
Retired general Stephen Xenakis told The Hill that he suggested to Biden that members of the military could help the White House move forward with its gun control agenda.
“The vice president understands that when it comes to communicating with credibility on guns, the two groups with the most credibility are law enforcement and military officials,” he said. “We have experience with both having weapons and using them responsibly, so we can get that message out.”
Xenakis said that military officials would be on hand to pitch gun control talking points to the public.
“He has a plan and he’s working with leaders in Congress to get it done.” Xenakis said of the Vice President…
In related news, Republican Rep. Steve Stockman has vowed to further investigate allegations that the Obama administration has been employing “spambots” to send out fake twitter messages and emails to members of Congress to make it appear that there is a ground swell of support for gun control legislation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ron Paul: Gun Confiscation Will Lead to Revolution (Video)
Alex welcomes former Congressman Ron Paul to break down the use of force by federal agents to enforce unjust and unconstitutional laws.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Same Genetic Basis is Found in 5 Types of Mental Illness
The psychiatric illnesses seem very different — schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Yet they share several genetic glitches that can nudge the brain along a path to mental illness, researchers report. Which disease, if any, develops is thought to depend on other genetic or environmental factors.
Their study, published online Wednesday in the Lancet, was based on an examination of genetic data from more than 60,000 people world-wide. Its authors say it is the largest genetic study yet of psychiatric disorders. The findings strengthen an emerging view of mental illness that aims to make diagnoses based on the genetic aberrations underlying diseases instead of on the disease symptoms.
Two of the aberrations discovered in the new study were in genes used in a major signaling system in the brain, giving clues to processes that might go awry and suggestions of how to treat the diseases.
“What we identified here is probably just the tip of an iceberg,” said Dr. Jordan Smoller, lead author of the paper and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. “As these studies grow we expect to find additional genes that might overlap.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Science Offers a Very Long Trip to Mars for Two
A foundation seeks a man and a woman, preferably married, for a roundtrip to Mars in a capsule outfitted with a life-support system to recycle air, water, urine and perspiration. The journey would take 501 days.
The United States currently has no human spacecraft in operation, but several should be up and flying by 2017, just in time to catch a tight planetary alignment that would allow a ship to comes as close as 150 miles (240 kilometers) to Mars. The launch window opens on Jan. 5, 2018. The next opportunity would not arise until 2031.
“If we don’t make 2018, we’re going to have some competition in 2031,” said project founder Dennis Tito, a multimillionaire who in 2001 paid $20 million for a trip to the International Space Station. “By that time, there will be many others that will be reaching for this low-hanging fruit, and it really is low-hanging fruit,” added the 72-year-old Tito, who set up the nonprofit Inspiration Mars Foundation for the mission.
If the launch goes off on Jan. 5, 2018 as hoped, the capsule would reach Mars 228 days later, loop the planet’s far side and slingshot back toward home on a return leg that lasts 273 days and ends nearly with a bang: an unprecedented 31,764-mph (51,119-kph) slam into Earth’s atmosphere.
The mission, expected to cost upwards of $1 billion — what Tito says is about the tag for a robotic mission to Mars — would be privately financed by donations and sponsorships, in addition to the multimillionaire’s own investment.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
So Tolerant, We Are Stupid, Or Vice Versa
John Kerry is no JFK. On a nine-country tour of Europe and the Middle East, the newly-minted Secretary of State is promoting religious and political tolerance by showcasing the tolerant America and its multiculturalism. Tolerance is ‘something worth fighting for,’ he said.
John Kerry continued, “We live and breathe the idea of religious freedom and religious tolerance, whatever the religion — and political freedom and political tolerance, whatever the point of view.” He forgot to mention that this tolerance is one-sided, as long as conservatives agree with the liberal and Democrat points of view. If conservatives disagree with their talking points, they are racists and hate mongers…
Kerry’s first speech as Secretary of State promoted global warming fear mongering and population changes in a speech at the University of Virginia…
Global warming and population change/manipulation are enshrined in the U.N. Agenda 21, a form of global communism control operating on the premise that the environment must be protected from faux man-made global warming and destruction. Carbon-taxing citizens from developed nations, redistributing their property to third world countries with the help of the United Nations, and social engineering, moving people from the land into high-rise, congested living/walking/areas into the city would somehow restore the planet to its “pristine” condition. When the definition of “pristine” is evaluated carefully, a scary picture emerges in which man can no longer occupy the land it owns or desires to own, capitalism is a dirty word, and man becomes “persona-non-grata,” an unwanted person.
That is exactly what communists did to people in East Germany and behind the Iron Curtain when they moved people off the land.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The American Alliance Fighting Foreign Laws Which Threaten Our Constitutional Freedoms
European Free Speech advocates, among them Hedegaard, Westergaard, Vilks, Sabaditsch-Wolff, Bat Ye’or and Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), have argued for adoption of a version of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. (See their interviews in a collection by the author, The West Speaks). Yet, the reality is that our First Amendment has been under assault by Muslim advocacy groups, civil rights and even anti-discrimination groups under the guise of combating religious intolerance. Our State and Justice Departments have conducted dialogue on the subject with the 57 member Organization of Islamic Cooperation and EU foreign ministers in sessions in Istanbul and Washington. The OIC wanted the US to adopt UN Human Rights Commission Resolution 16/18 promulgated in March 2011 that would undermine the basic Constitutional guarantees of our fundamental freedoms of free speech and religious liberty. Muslim advocacy groups in America have engaged in Lawfare seeking to stifle free speech and basic rights of habeas corpus by intimidating individuals and organizations seeking to protect such basic Constitutional guarantees. One group in the US that has arisen to defend those liberties is the American Public Policy Alliance (APPA or “the Alliance”), a “non-partisan IRC 503 (c) (4) advocacy organization. The national spokesperson for the Alliance is attorney Stephen M. Gelé of the New Orleans law firm of Smith & Fawer. The mission of the Alliance is: “. . . To protect U.S. constitutional rights, safeguarding U.S. sovereignty and promoting government transparency and accountability, by working with legislators nationwide on policies and initiatives.” The Alliance seeks “to defend free speech, preserve and promote civil and human rights, maintain the integrity and supremacy of US and state constitutions, and aid and promote public safety.” Among its allies in furtherance of this mission is the non-partisan IRC 503 (c) (3) public policy educational outreach organization, the Washington, DC-based Center for Security Policy (CSP). In furtherance of the Alliance mission, it has sponsored several pieces of model legislation. They include: * American Laws for American Courts (ALAC) * Free Speech Defense Act (FSDA), “Rachel’s Law” * See Something; Say Something Act (SSSSA) * Terrorism as Racketeering and State Felony (TRSF) * Disclosure of Foreign Gifts to Higher Education Act (DFGHEA) and, * Female Genital Mutilation Act (FGMA)
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
The Truth About Assault Weapons Bans and Background Checks
With Senate Judiciary Committee meeting this week, it’s likely that new gun control bills will be drafted very quickly. There are in essence two parts to the bills: the part that deals with the “assault weapon ban” and the part that deals with “universal background checks.” The first one faces long odds of passage, but the second might well pass.
Democrats will undoubtedly push for an assault weapons ban. The ban has become a central tenant of the Democratic party, with Obama’s calls “to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets” and even Michelle Obama claiming crimes are being committed with “automatic weapons.” Senator Dianne Feinstein is pushing hard to reinstitute the earlier assault weapon ban, which she had originally enacted in 1994.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Government’s Secret Army: Foreign Troops to be Deployed After Martial Law is Declared
The US Air Force document entitled Psychological Operations published in 1999 explained how for the purpose of hiding in plain sight, psy-ops are a “low-cost, high-impact” way of conducting military operations without having to deal with questions by the American public.
The control of “selected information” being leaked out to the public through mainstream media, press conferences and other designated outlets has ensured that the targeted audience will support the governmental campaign out of ignorance. Of late, reports and rumors about foreign troops in America working with our armed forces have been surfacing. And in response, the US government has (at first) dismissed the claims. Now, official reports are confirming what eye witnesses have been seeing.
The question is: why are foreign troops training with US military forces for urban warfare, civil unrest and disturbance?
[…]
The US Army Military Personnel Exchange Program allocates US soldiers in exchange for officers from foreign nations for the purpose of cross-training due to an international crisis. This provides an international army for the global Elite that will potentially disarm American citizens, and more effectively work with the US military that are advancing the global Elite’s agenda to takeover America in the event of martial law.
Knowing that nearly half of active military will not cooperate with this foreign insurgency, the use of foreign troops begins to make sense. This new army will work with the members of the current US military that will take orders from the global Elite.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Vital to Canada Fabric
TORONTO — A prominent Canadian senator has praised the Muslim community as part and parcel of Canadian society, hailing Muslim contributions to serve their country.
“Initiatives such as these demonstrate that the Muslim community is a vital part of the fabric of Canada and should be recognized as such,” Senator Salma Ataullahjan told a fund-raising dinner at the Sayeda Khadija Center this week…
[JP note: Like a hole in the head.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Surplus Wind Power Costs Verified
QUEEN’S PARK — Recent filings to the Ontario Energy Board confirm surplus wind power is costing Ontarians a small fortune, Nipissing MPP and PC Energy Critic Vic Fedeli said today.
The province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) says unless market rules change, surplus wind power will cost electricity ratepayers up to $200 million a year. (Toronto Star, Feb. 27, 2013)
“We have lost literally billions selling our surplus power to Quebec and the United States — some estimates peg the number at over $500 million last year alone,” Fedeli said.
“The filings from the IESO only provide further proof that we need to cancel the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program which provides rich subsidies to wind producers, and that we need a moratorium on any further wind power development in Ontario.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
At least 20 terror suspects have had their British passports torn up on national security grounds to stop them entering the country, it emerged today.
In the last two years alone Home Secretary Theresa May has stripped British citizenship from 16 individuals considered to pose a threat to the UK.
Rules in place for a decade allow ministers to act to revoke passports in a bid to target the so-called ‘enemy within’.
The Home Office today defended the policy from claims it was equivalent to ‘medieval exile’, insisting the British citizenship was ‘a privilege not a right’.
Officials said that from 2002 to September last year 20 citizens were stripped of their passports. A report by the Bureaux for Investigative Journalism, published in The Independent today, suggested the number is 21, of which only two have successfully appealed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Benedict XVI Steps Down From Role as Pope
The first pope to resign in 600 years, Benedict XVI has told Catholics he will live out his life “simply a pilgrim.” He left the Vatican and flew to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfos to remove his ring.
At 1900 GMT, Benedict XVI ceased to be pope.
“Thank you for your love and support,” Benedict wrote in his final tweet. “May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives.”
The 85-year-old shocked the world earlier this month, becoming the first pontiff to step down of his own free will in 600 years. He cited his advancing age and declining strength as reasons for his resignation.
The Pope’s unprecedented decision has raised many questions about what role he will assume and how his life will look in the future.
He will receive two new titles — Roman pontiff emeritus and emeritus pope — but will continue to be addressed directly as “Your Holiness.”
The College of Cardinals is scheduled to meet early next week to discuss the current priorities for the church and to set the date for the conclave where the next pope will be elected.
Addressing tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered at the Vatican on the eve of his resignation on Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI gave an emotional farewell.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Terror Suspects Quietly Stripped of Citizenship… Then Killed by Drones
The Government has secretly ramped up a controversial programme that strips people of their British citizenship on national security grounds — with two of the men subsequently killed by American drone attacks.
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism for The Independent has established that since 2010, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has revoked the passports of 16 individuals, many of whom are alleged to have had links to militant or terrorist groups.
Critics of the programme warn that it allows ministers to “wash their hands” of British nationals suspected of terrorism who could be subject to torture and illegal detention abroad.
They add that it also allows those stripped of their citizenship to be killed or “rendered” without any onus on the British Government to intervene.
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British Exhibition Offers Journey to Islam
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — “We have seen a real diverse mix of people, of all ages, faiths and walks of life, coming to have a look at the exhibition,” Shaid Hussain, who organized the event with the Midlands Muslim Community and East Staffordshire Borough Council, told Burton Mail.
[….]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: ** EXTREMELY DISTURBING CONTENT **]
A drug addict who beheaded a British grandmother in a frenzied knife attack on the holiday island of Tenerife has been sentenced to 20 years in a secure psychiatric unit.
Homeless Bulgarian Deyan Deyanov, 29, was convicted of murder by a jury of nine at the Provincial Court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Friday.
He repeatedly stabbed and beheaded Jennifer Mills-Westley, 60, while she was shopping in the popular resort of Los Cristianos in the Canary Islands, Spain, on May 13 2011.
In a written sentence, magistrate Maria Jesus Garcia Sanchez imposed the toughest tariff available for the schizophrenic, who the jury found had diminished responsibility for his crime.
She also ordered that Deyanov, who was living rough when he randomly murdered Ms Mills-Westley, should pay her daughters, Sarah and Samantha Mills-Westley, 100,000 euros…
During a four-day trial, Deyanov denied murder and said he did not recognise himself in CCTV footage of the attack shown to the jury.
He also claimed to hear voices which tell him he is an ‘angel of Jesus Christ’, sent to create a new Jerusalem.
Asked if there was anything he wanted to say after the verdict was read out, Deyanov then declared to a hushed courtroom: ‘I am the second reincarnation of Jesus Christ and I will bring the fire of the Holy Spirit to bear against this court.’
The defendant said he had been using crack cocaine and LSD before his arrest, but had no memory of living in Tenerife.
But despite his schizophrenia, the jury found that Deyanov was guilty of murder under Spanish law because he took his victim by surprise and she could not defend herself…
The paranoid schizophrenic had been allowed to leave a specialist unit in Wales seven months earlier.
Asked if the family would talk to authorities in the UK to find out why Deyanov was released from hospital in Wales, she said: ‘We will be asking the Welsh Health Authority to conduct a full inquiry into what happened in particular around his treatment in the UK.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France: Police Close Paris Diner Selling Caterpillar Stew
Authorities in France have closed down a restaurant after inspectors on a routine visit found a pot full of boiling caterpillars, ready to be served up as grub.
The restaurant described by TF1 television as being of ‘African origin’ only had a licence to sell drinks and takeaway meals.
In an atmosphere of mild hysteria over horsemeat, authorities decided to take swift action.
Although the thought of eating caterpillars might make many of us squirm, they are a common dish in many parts of Africa. The little-finger sized creatures are an important source of protein and iron for many because fish and meat are often unaffordable.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Muslim Leader on Papacy: ‘A New Beginning is Necessary’
Dalil Boubakeur is one of France’s most prominent Muslims. [H]e discusses what retiring Pope Benedict XVI did wrong in bridging the Muslim-Catholic divide and how the two religions need to make a fresh start at interfaith dialogue.
[…]
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Your excellency, Pope Benedict XVI is stepping down on February 28. What do you wish for from the future pontiff?
Boubakeur: A reversal. Christianity under Pope Benedict XVI started becoming more doctrinaire. He was not able to understand Muslims. He had no direct experience with Islam, and he found nothing positive to say about our beliefs.
[…]
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In that speech, Benedict quoted the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, saying: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only bad and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” What did you think at that time?
Boubakeur: I knew that it was a lecture in front of students and professors, so he was sending an educational message. But the appearance was shaped by an outdated approach to the relationship between Christianity and Islam.
[…]
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Have any bitter feelings remained?
Boubakeur: It was wrong to remind people of the conflicts between Christianity and Islam, of these terrible confrontations that lasted for centuries. In doing so, Benedict made room for a dogmatic, misleading interpretation.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Criticism has to be allowed. The pope had reminded people of religious freedom when Christians in Arab countries were being discriminated against and persecuted.
Boubakeur: Correct. But sometimes this espousal came with an undercurrent of Islamophobia, when the criticism was made using terms that were otherwise disseminated by opponents of Islam. Benedict XVI repeated what he was told, but without personal sympathy. Where was the talk of brotherhood?
[…]
SPIEGEL ONLINE: One of your many publications is entitled “The Shock of Religions: Jews, Christians, Muslims — is Coexistence Possible?” In the book, from 2004, you answered the question positively. And today?
Boubakeur: Still the same answer. But it requires that, in order to coexist in a society, religions have to feel committed to the same values. It is only when no single belief exclusively receives preferential treatment that the conditions exist for a true democracy and conflict-free coexistence. So, with a new pope, one would hope to have a fresh start for dialogue between the religions.
| — Hat tip: LH | [Return to headlines] |
French Hold Dim View of Pope Benedict’s Reign
A quarter of French people believe the strength of the Catholic Church has plummeted during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI, according to a survey published on Thursday, the day the pontiff officially steps down.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Lurching Toward Anti-Semitism
CANDIDLY SPEAKING: There is growing resentment against Jews, who are blamed for imposing excessive emphasis on collective German guilt for the Holocaust
In the aftermath of the Holocaust, successive German governments have meticulously upheld their obligations to the Jewish people. Study of the Holocaust is a mandatory component of the German state education curriculum, Holocaust denial is classified as a crime and restitution commitments were honored and even exceeded. Chancellor Angela Merkel is a genuine friend of the Jews and despite intense political pressures and occasional minor vacillations has consistently supported Israel, describing its security as “part of my country’s raison d’être.” However, in recent years, as in other European countries, German public opinion has turned against Israel, perceiving it as the principal threat to global stability and peace. This hostility has increasingly assumed overt anti-Semitic tones…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Grillo Says M5S Politicians Youngest, Best Educated in Italy
‘Protest tsunami sweeping the country’
(ANSA) — Rome, February 28 — Members of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) are some of the youngest and brightest lights in Italy, party leader Beppe Grillo boasted Thursday on his blog.
“The tsunami that swept Italian politics has wiped out one of the oldest parliaments in Europe,” with an average age of 55 before this week’s election, wrote Grillo.
That compares poorly with the average age of 37 for newly elected M5S parliamentarians, said Grillo.
His party also boasts the highest level of politicians that have completed college — 88%, he said, compared with 67% among members of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and 40% within the Northern League.
His post came after the PD, struggling to gain the upper hand in Italy’s Senate, made overtures for an alliance with the M5S movement.
PD chief Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left alliance came first in this week’s election but it failed to win a working majority in the Senate because of the votes pulled by three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right bloc and Grillo’s M5S.
But the PD’s overtures were harshly rebuffed Wednesday by Grillo and many members of his anti-establishment movement.
Both Grillo, a former comedian, and Berlusconi have been criticised by international skeptics who say neither man is serious about improving conditions in Italy.
Earlier this week, the head of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), Peer Steinbrueck, caused a diplomatic kerfuffle when he said that “two clowns” — Berlusconi and Grillo — won Italy’s legislative elections.
Following the remarks, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano cancelled a scheduled meeting with Steinbrueck, who is the SPD’s candidate for chancellor in this year’s German federal elections.
Napolitano slammed Steinbruek’s comments as “completely misplaced, if not worse”.
Meanwhile, The Economist weekly in London, in its cover story scheduled for publication on Friday, suggested the Italian elections are threatening the future of the common currency.
“They should hold the clowns,” said the article. “The disastrous elections in Italy is threatening the future of the euro”. The cover of its international edition bears an image of Grillo and Berlusconi.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Islamophobia Has Been Trivialized in France’
Islamophobia continues to rear its ugly head in France, as was seen recently in a series of graffiti attacks against mosques across the country. But how bad is the problem? For this week’s Tête-à-tête we’ve asked two experts to offer their views on Islamophobia in France.
Sami Debah, president of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF): “We are seriously worried about the situation we have in France. When you see the results of surveys where 74 percent of people think that Islam is not compatible with French society, this view is reflected in acts of Islamophobia on the street, which rose by 38 percent between 2011 and 2012. That is an enormous jump. Symbols of Islam are being attacked. What’s worse is that there is a now an institutionalized Islamophobia. It is almost becoming legitimate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Grillo Commends Napolitano’s Tough Talk to German Politician
SPD leader called Grillo and Berlusconi ‘clowns’
(ANSA) — Rome, February 28 — Beppe Grillo, the comedian whose Five Star Movement won the most seats in Italy’s lower house of parliament after elections February 24-25, commended President Giorgio Napolitano for taking a stand against the head of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), who on Wednesday called Grillo and Silvio Berlusconi “clowns”.
After the remarks, Napolitano — who is on a trip to Germany — cancelled a meeting with the SPD leader, Peer Steinbruek, and said the politician’s comments were “completely inappropriate”.
Referring to Napolitano’s action, Grillo — considered a controversial figure for his populist, anti-austerity views — wrote in his blog Thursday: “In these years he (Napolitano) has been criticized for many choices, in my views mistaken, but yesterday in Germany I saw, at the end of his mandate, my president of the Republic. An Italian who stood up straight.
Hats off”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Secret Services Warns of Foreign Business Espionage
International firms may be targeting Italian brands, say spies
(ANSA) — Rome, February 28 — From food to fashion, the jewels of Italian business are increasingly being targeted by international firms bent on espionage or takeovers, says Italy’s secret services.
In a report to parliament Thursday, the country’s secret service agency warned that foreign competitors are in some instances attempting to steal trade secrets from some of Italy’s most success and high-profile brands.
Others are simply buying Italian firms right out from domestic ownership.
Fashion houses are under pressure — from Gucci to Ferragamo — while important food companies are being bought out by foreign interests, warned the report.
“The aggressive action of foreign groups,” could undermine Italy’s industrial, scientific and technological heritage as well as the ‘Made in Italy’ brand, the report said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy ‘Very Much in Favor’ of US-EU Free-Trade Zone
FM Terzi meets with US State Secretary John Kerry in Rome
(ANSA) — Rome, February 28 — Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said Thursday that Italy is “very much in favor” of President Barack Obama’s proposed free-trade agreement between the United States and the European Union.
“Italy is a strong supporter of this very big project within the European Union,” Terzi added. Negotiations on the US-EU accord, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are planned for summer and expected to go on for at least two years.
Obama announced the free-trade-agreement plan during his State of the Union speech earlier this month.
On Thursday Terzi was joined at the Italian foreign ministry by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in the capital for summits on the conflict in Syria and Palestinian-Israeli relations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jews Face ‘Volatile Synergy of Hate’ In Europe, Republicans Warn
Jews in Europe are facing a “volatile and potent synergy of hate” from radicalised Muslims and liberal political parties intent on implementing a secular agenda, Republican members of Congress have warned.
Representative Chris Smith, chair of the House human rights subcommittee, said that while Jews faced the threat of violent attacks from some Islamists they were also struggling against rising anti-Semitism “among European social-democratic and leftist parties”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Monti Warns Populism Could ‘Derail’ EU
Italy faces political deadlock after no clear winner in vote
(ANSA) — Brussels, February 28 — Outgoing Italian Premier Mario Monti warned on Thursday that there is a danger political populism could derail the European Union.
Monti travelled to Brussels Thursday to meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and other officials after Italy’s general election failed to produce a clear winner, prompting fears political deadlock in Rome could reignite the eurozone crisis.
Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left alliance came first but it failed to win a working majority in the Senate because of the votes pulled by three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre right and the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo.
Both Berlusconi and Grillo were accused of using populist rhetoric in the election campaign.
Monti, whose reform ticket backed by centrist parties did less well than expected in the election, said EU policies should be revised to help curtail populism. “There has to be a strategy… if we don’t want to allow the more simplistic forces, some would say populist ones but I don’t want to express a judgement, to try to derail European policies,” said the former European commissioner. Monti took the helm of an emergency administration of unelected technocrats after Berlusconi was forced to resign as premier in November 2011 when Italy’s debt crisis was threatening to spiral out of control.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) In a classic example of an anti-free-market collapse, fifty pharmaceutical companies are now halting supplies of drug medicines to the nation of Greece, causing severe shortages of over 200 popular pharmaceutical medicines there. Pfizer, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi and many other have all reportedly joined in the partial embargo out of a fear that the low-priced drugs sold to Greece would be intercepted and sold off to buyers in other countries where drug prices are kept artificially high due to Big Pharma’s monopolistic practices.
So instead of lowering the prices of drugs in nearby countries in order to stem the outflow of medicines from Greece, mega drug giants like GSK — a company that has already pleaded guilty to multiple felony crimes in the USA — are reportedly limiting or in some cases halting shipments to Greece, causing a nationwide collapse of chemical medicine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Benedict XVI Officially Leaves Office
Benedict XVI ceased to be pope at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. Eastern) Thursday when his resignation took effect, leaving the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church vacant while its leading clerics consider who should succeed him.
Benedict left the Vatican by helicopter on Thursday afternoon to spend the final hours of his scandal-dogged papacy and the first of his retirement at a summer residence used by popes for centuries. Onlookers in St. Peter’s Square cheered, church bells rang and Romans stood on rooftops to wave flags to see him off as he flew from Rome to the summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, a hilltop town southeast of the city. More carillons heralded his arrival there, and he was greeted by a vivid contingent of silver-suited firemen, gendarmes in red capes, and bishops in black and pink.
Addressing cheering well-wishers from a window at the residence, he said: “Dear friends, I am happy to be with you! Thanks for your friendship and affection! You know this is a different day than others.”
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UK: Conservatives Could Finish Third in the Eastleigh by-Election
David Cameron is struggling to secure even second place in Thursday’s Eastleigh by-election after Nick Clegg declared on Wednesday night that the Liberal Democrats were “on the cusp of a great victory”.
Senior Conservatives conceded that they could be pushed into third place by Ukip, despite the Prime Minister having pledged to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Child Sex Trial Hears How Girl Was Being “Groomed” By Abusers [Bullfinch Trial]
A TEEN went missing from a children’s home 126 times and it was the “general consensus” among staff that she was being groomed, the Old Bailey heard this morning. A social worker told the court he noted car registration numbers as he saw men picking up the girl outside the home. He was giving evidence at the Oxford child sex exploitation trial…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ipswich: Three Guilty in Chevallier Street Teen Sex Slave Case
THREE men have been convicted today of abducting a 13-year-old girl and forcing her to become their sex slave.
The girl, from a “troubled” family, was subjected to a string of assaults over four days after being trafficked from her home in London to a house in Chevallier Street, Ipswich, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones had told Norwich Crown Court.
Suran Uddin, 28, of St Matthew’s Row, Bethnal Green, London; Mohammed Sheikh, 31, of Seaton Point in Hackney, London; and Hamza Ali, 38, of Chilford Road, Waltham Forest, London, denied various sex offences during a three-week trial.
But following three days of jury deliberations, Uddin, Sheikh and Ali were today all found guilty of conspiracy to traffick in the UK, and supplying a class B drug to the victim.
Uddin was also convicted of two counts of rape.
Sheikh was convicted on a charge of causing a child to engage in sexual activity but was cleared of two counts of rape.
Ali was found guilty of a sexual assault but not guilty of rape.
The men will be sentenced at a later date.
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UK: Mosque’s Chilling Room Plan
A MOSQUE in Burton is seeking permission to create a body chilling room to be used to store the dead prior to their burial. The Jamie Hanfia Ghosia Mosque has applied for permission to create an extension at the rear of the building in Princess Street. Bosses at the mosque are hoping to be able to build the room to store bodies while they are prepared for burial, in keeping with Muslim beliefs…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Men Forced 13-Year-Old Girl to be Sex Slave
Three men have been convicting of abducting a 13-year-old girl and forcing her to become their sex slave. The girl was subjected to a string of assaults over four days after being trafficked from her home in London to Ipswich. Londoners Suran Uddin (28), Mohammed Sheikh (31), and Hamza Ali (38) all denied various sex offences during a three week trial…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: National Security Council ‘Neglecting Central Questions’, MPS and Peers Say
The government has been accused of neglecting the “strategic and security uncertainties” caused by PM David Cameron’s proposal to hold a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
A committee of MPs and peers said the issue should have been referred to the National Security Council (NSC)…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Now They Want Our Jewellery, Paintings and Furniture
London, England-A new wealth tax is being proposed by the leftist wing (The Liberal Democrats) of our coalition government that will come with unprecedented powers to enter our homes and root through our personal possessions to value rings, necklaces, paintings and furniture, anything that might raise more taxes. If we refuse to be inspected or get our own valuations wrong, we would be facing fines, maybe even a jail sentence.
This brainchild was conceived by the Lib Dems for their next election manifesto and is part of a series of measures planned to tax the better off. Taxpayers would be required to ‘self assess’ their net worth, which would be checked by inspectors under the auspices of HM Revenue and Customs. Currently this government department has no power to enter a person’s home.
This is already being done in France where a person’s ‘global assets’ — everything from his car to his mother’s antique silver fork was taxed at .25% when introduced, and inspectors there have the right to enter private homes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The NHS has paid out more than £2m in compensation to victims of a surgeon who is still allowed to work.
Rotherham Hospital has agreed damages settlements for four former patients of orthopaedic surgeon Manjit Bhamra, totalling just over £1m since last summer…
Despite the huge amount of public money paid in compensation, an Information Tribunal recently ruled Rotherham Hospital was right not to disclose information relating to its concerns about Mr Bhamra’s work on the grounds that it was the surgeon’s ‘personal information’.
The General Medical Council cleared the surgeon of any wrongdoing in 2011 and he retains a full medical licence and is working at another Yorkshire hospital. The GMC declined to comment on how it reached its decision.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Operation Bullfinch: Day 27: Live Trial Blog
Good morning. Today our coverage of the Bullfinch child sex ring continues…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Stephen Barclay is the Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire and a member of the Public Accounts Committee.
For the family of David Gray, the announcement that from April there will be legal requirement for foreign doctors to prove they can speak English to a safe standard before they can practice cannot come soon enough. The death of Cambridgeshire resident David Gray in February 2008 following a fatal overdose administered by Dr Daniel Ubani, a German doctor on his first and only shift in the UK brought the issue of language testing for foreign doctors to national attention in the most tragic of circumstances…
[JP note: Should?]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Last week, the Zionist Federation issued a strongly worded statement attacking George Galloway for refusing to debate with an Israeli student. The organisation clearly has no sense of irony. A few days later, the same ZF voted to reject the application by Yachad UK to affiliate to the self-proclaimed umbrella organisation for UK Zionist organisations…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Republika Srpska President Nominates Prime Minister
SARAJEVO, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) — Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), on Wedesday nominated a former female cabinet minister to be the next prime minister, local media reported. Zeljko Cvijanovic, former Minister of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation of Republika Srpska, was nominated as prime minister and will be responsible to form a new government, said Dodik at a news conference in Banja Luka, capital city of Republika Sprska…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ansar Al Sharia Tunisia Launches New Website
Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, the al Qaeda-linked extremist group responsible for the Sept. 14, 2012 assault on the US Embassy in Tunis, has launched a new website. The group advertised the impending launch of the site on various Facebook pages and other extremist sites for weeks. A screen shot of the new site can be seen at the top of this article…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Christian Churches Abandon “Useless” Dialogue With President
Catholic, Coptic, Orthodox and evangelical leaders avoid political exploitation and prefer to keep a spiritual role. In a statement, the religious leaders apologize and offer fasting and prayer for the success of dialogue.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — “The Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches have declined the invitation to the eighth session of the dialogue organized by President Mohamed Morsi.” This was confirmed to AsiaNews by Fr. Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic Church. The meeting was held on 26 February in Cairo. It was attended by some opposition leaders. The talks are part of attempts by Islamist leader to seek consensus among the representatives of the Christian minority and the non-Islamic opposition.
In a statement published in the Egyptian newspaper Le Messager delegates of the three Churches “apologize for the lack of participation in the session of meetings, but for now want to avoid any active role in political life and as requested by the President offer fasting and prayers for the success of the dialogue. “ Fr. Greiche, author of the press release explains that the Christian minority does not “want to boycott the offer of the President”, but are using their right not to participate in the sessions, which in the past produced”no useful ideas” for a real dialogue between the parties.
The meetings organized by the Islamist president began in September 2012 after the oceanic demonstrations against the Muslim Brotherhood accused of wanting to establish a new regime, Islamizing society and allowing the Salafis, but also common criminals, to carry out abuses against the Christian community. The last case concerns a shooting yesterday in front of the church of St. George in the Christian quarter of Dishna in the city of Qena (Upper Egypt). A man fired an automatic weapon against the religious building filling it with bullets. For the moment, there have been no reports of any injuries, but the case has triggered panic among Christian residents. He had previously been convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. (S.C.)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Govt Denies Intention to Rent, Sell Monuments
Egypt’s government has no intention of renting or selling any of the country’s monuments, the cabinet’s official spokesman stated on Wednesday. Reports of the cabinet’s intent to do that are merely based on a proposal someone made, the spokesman added. The finance ministry presented a proposal from a citizen called Abdallah Mahfouz for a project involving usufruct of archeological sites in Egypt including the Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx and Luxor temples…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Jihadi Group Calls for Boycott of Polls for Violating Sharia
The Jihadi Organization, a right-wing Salafi movement, said Wednesday that it is asking citizens to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections because the polls violate Sharia law. Furthermore, anyone who particpates in the elections are infidels…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Police Publicly Beat to Death Man Suspected of Killing Officer
Officers and police personnel arrested and beat to death a man they accused of killing a colleague at the site of funeral for the fallen captain in the southern governorate of Beni Suef
Egyptian policemen beat to death in public a man they believed was the killer of a police officer who was shot on Saturday morning in the Upper Egypt governorate of Beni Suef, according to Ahram’s Arabic news website reporter.
Investigations officer Captain Hesham Kamal El-Din Ta’ma was shot in Beni Suef city in the early hours of Saturday morning while he was breaking up a brawl involving firearms between two families in El-Ghamrawi and Ezbet El-Safih areas.
Ta’ma was transported to Al-Zahra’ Hospital in Beni Suef city, but succumbed to his injuries an hour later.
During the slain officer’s military funeral, several police officers and personnel, who had arrested Hossam Abo El-Regal, a man they accused of killing Ta’ma, in an apartment in Beni Suef city, then led him to the site of the funeral, tied him down in a mini-truck, and beat him to death as tens of mourners watched.
According to Ahram Online’s reporter on the scene, the officers and police personnel attacked Abo El-Regal in the presence of senior security and political officials in Beni Suef who were leading the procession, including General Ahmed Shaarawi, the governorate’s security director and and Maher Beybers, Beni Suef’s governor.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Fail to Prevent ‘Harlem Shake’ Parody Filming in Tunisia
Salafist Muslims tried to prevent the filming of current Internet craze the “Harlem Shake” at a Tunis school on Wednesday, but were driven off after coming to blows with students, an AFP correspondent said. When the dozen or so ultra-conservative Muslims, some of them women in veils, showed up at the Bourguiba Language Institute in the El Khadra neighbourhood, a Salafist bastion, students shouted “Get out, get out!” One of the Salafists, wearing military gear and carrying a Molotov cocktail he never used, shouted “Our brothers in Palestine are being killed by Israelis, and you are dancing.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisian Psychoanalyst-Professor Charged With Calumny
International petition for secular activist Raja Ben Slama
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRUARY 27 — A warrant has been issued against Tunisian psychoanalyst and university professor Raja Ben Slama to undergo questioning on calumny allegations.
The author of numerous books and publications, editor-in-chief of the online journal Alawan (‘the moment’, in Arabic) and one of the founders of the Freedom Manifesto and the Tunisian Cultural Association to Defend Laicism, said that “under Ben Ali I was never imprisoned nor put under pressure on account of my opinions. Things have changed now, but they will not succeed in silencing us”.
The psychoanalyst said in an interview with the radio station Shems that the charge is that of “criticizing constitutional drafting committee reporter Habib Khedher, a member of the Islamic party, for having falsified court records of a trial”.
The case is drawing a large amount of international attention after a petition was launched by Lilia Mahjoub, also a psychologist, supported by Raja Ben Slama’s brother, Fethi. The petition calls for “the defenders of freedom of expression in Tunisia and in other countries” to demand that Tunisian authorities refrain from prosecuting Raja Ben Slama for a crime of opinion, and that the warrant issued in her name be annulled, in the country in which the Arab Spring began.
Supporters of Raja Ben Slama underscore that the charges against her have come at a time seeing daily acts of violence by extremists go unpunished, while the Islamic leaders of Tunisia crack down on artists, intellectuals and journalists, “at any given chance, using ridiculous excuses”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Diplomats: EU Must Prevent E. Jerusalem Construction
Some 22 European consuls appeal to Brussels to intensify efforts to curtail Israeli settlements in West Bank; say they pose ‘single biggest threat’ to peace process
Nearly two dozen European diplomats have urged the EU to intensify efforts to block Israeli settlements in and near Jerusalem, saying that “such construction on occupied lands is the single biggest threat” to a Mideast peace deal, according to an internal report Wednesday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry Pledges $60 Million in Aid to Syrian Opposition Forces
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged an additional $60 million in aid to Syrian opposition forces Thursday, including food and medical support directly to armed rebels for the first time but turning aside their demand for weapons.
Kerry, on his first foreign trip as America’s top diplomat, said that the extra assistance would help “the legitimate voice of the Syrian people,” who have been trying in vain for nearly two years to topple President Bashar Assad. Kerry said Assad had “long ago lost his legitimacy…and must be out of power.”
The $60 million more than doubles the amount that the Obama administration has so far given to the political opposition in Syria, and, in a policy shift, some of the aid will be funneled directly to armed rebels for the first time.
[Comment: 60mil to help install another Muslim Brotherhood operation, just like Egypt]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rome Summit Pledges Non-Lethal Aid to Free Syrian Army
US offers food, medicine, and $60mln to aid transition
(ANSAmed) — ROME, FEBRUARY 28 — For the first time since the Syrian civil war began two years ago, today the international community — including the US, which has been the most reluctant so far to step up to the plate — pledged non-lethal aid to rebels fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Today, in the name of President Barack Obama, I can tell you the US will supply $60 million in aid to the Syrian opposition” to facilitate “the political transition” to democracy, US Secretary of State John Kerry said at the Friends of Syria summit in Rome. The new secretary of state is on a 10-day maiden voyage to Europe and the Middle East.
The aid falls short of supplying weapons, in fears that, as in Libya, they might end up in the hands of al-Qaeda-linked or pro-Iranian terrorist groups. Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said the international community “took a step forward”, emphasizing that “the suffering of the Syrian people impose the obligation on us to go beyond the efforts we’ve made so far in order to reach an actual turning point in the crisis.” They spoke at a joint press conference with National Syrian Coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib, whom they met for the first time at today’s summit.
The press conference followed on two high-level Friends of Syria meetings: the first included Kerry, Terzi, UK Foreign Office Secretary William Hague, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and their counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The second meeting included Khatib, who had originally canceled his participation following yet another civilian slaughter in Aleppo. Kerry and Terzi induced him to attend, guaranteeing that the meeting would have tangible results. “Look at the blood of the Syrian children, which is now mixed with bread from bombed bakeries, and not at the length of the combatants’ beards”, said Khatib, denying that the Syrian insurgency is inspired by Islamic fundamentalism. Some question whether the aid is enough to change the situation in Syria, while US reporters wanted to know whether Congress would approve it and if it will quickly reach its recipients. This is a pressing issue in the US, for this aid will supply the Free Syrian Army with food rations and medicines. Kerry was clear: he never said anything about supplying weapons, and denied a Washington Post report that the US might send armored vehicles. Both Kerry and Terzi castigated Assad, whose regime is being held responsible for 70,000 deaths so far.
Syria’s democratic future “won’t happen while Assad remains in power. Just this week he ordered more Scud missile attacks, mowing down dozens of human lives,” said Kerry.
The regime “must immediately cease indiscriminately bombing populated areas, which is a crime against humanity and cannot go unpunished,” Terzi said in the document recapping today’s decisions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Saudis Step Up Help for Rebels in Syria With Croatian Arms
Saudi Arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia and quietly funneled them to antigovernment fighters in Syria in a drive to break the bloody stalemate that has allowed President Bashar al-Assad to cling to power, according to American and Western officials familiar with the purchases.
The weapons began reaching rebels in December via shipments shuttled through Jordan, officials said, and have been a factor in the rebels’ small tactical gains this winter against the army and militias loyal to Mr. Assad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Pledges Aid to Syrian Opposition
US Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged $60 million (45.75 million euros) in “nonlethal” aid to the Syrian opposition. The news came during a meeting of the Friends of Syria Group at a meeting in Rome.
“We are determined to find a way forward to a better day that we know awaits Syria … a day that will not come as long as (President Bashar al-Assad) is in power,” the US secretary of state told reporters during a press conference on Thursday.
The international community has repeatedly called on Assad to find a peaceful resolution to the civil war fought by his military and opponents of the government. The violence has only escalated as the conflict nears two years of fighting that has claimed more than 70,000 lives, driven people out by the hundreds of thousands and destroyed the country’s cities.
Given Assad’s refusal to negotiate or lessen attacks on opponents and the civilian population, the United States has decided to give concrete support to opposition fighters in the form of food and medical supplies.
Kerry also expressed the United States’ support for establishing a peaceful transitional government that can help rebuild Syria once Assad gives up his “cold-blooded effort to cling to power.”
“Assad cannot shoot his way out of this,” Kerry said.
The decisive statement was the first major speech for the new secretary of state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The meteorite that crashed on Russia was hit by an unidentified flying object causing it to explode and shatter over the Urals, it has been claimed.
The bizarre theory is based on analysis of blurry footage of the space rock as it streaked across morning sky above the city of Chelyabinsk.
U.F.O enthusiasts insist a small ‘object’ can be seen colliding with the meteorite on its trajectory through the atmosphere, despite the fact there were no reports of Russia launching missiles to down the celestial intruder, they claim…
But on at least three films of the space rock ‘you can see how an object catches the meteorite’, he said.
This minuscule oblong-shaped object “flies into it — and the meteorite explodes and falls’.
He stressed: ‘Such a number of videos, made from different angles, leads us to believe that something has blown up the meteorite…’
[Comment: Also possible is that the Russians likely did shoot the meteorite, but are denying it to hide how advanced their capabilities have become.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh Sentences Jamaat-E-Islami Leader to Death for War Crimes
Islamist party to enforce general strike on day Delwar Hossain Sayedee is found guilty of crimes relating to independence war
A special tribunal in Bangladesh has sentenced to death the leader of an Islamic political party for war crimes during the country’s 1971 independence war. Prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was found guilty of committing mass killings, rape and atrocities during the nine-month war against Pakistan…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh War Crimes Trial: Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to Die
Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal has sentenced Islamist leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to death for crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence.
Arrested in June 2010, he was found guilty of mass murder, rape and other charges during the 1971 conflict. A leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, he is the most senior figure so far to be sentenced by the tribunal. The party rejects the court and has been staging a strike in protest. Critics of the tribunal have said that the charges against Sayeedi and others are politically motivated…
[JP note: See also this article from 2006: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-395585/Extremist-linked-cleric-given-green-light-enter-Britain.html
A Muslim cleric with links to Islamic extremists has been cleared by the Foreign Office to enter Britain this weekend to preach at one of London’s most influential mosques….]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bill Gates Continues ‘God’s Work’, Third World Vaccine Workers Shot Dead
In January 2013, Bill Gates told the world in an interview that he had no need for money and that he believed the global vaccination program was God’s work. “It’s not going to stop us succeeding,” says Gates. “It does force us to sit down with the Pakistan government to renew their commitments, see what they’re going to do in security and make changes to protect the women who are doing God’s work and getting out to these children and delivering the vaccine.”
His words came after several vaccine workers administering the polio vaccination in Pakistan were shot dead in January.
It appears that although Gates wants to carry on with what he calls ‘God’s work,’ people living in the third world are beginning to make their feelings abundantly clear. It appears that they don’t want his vaccines or his charity, as more shootings were reported in Nigeria…
They are right to be suspicious because it would not be the first time that vaccines were given with the intention of sterilizing women in the third world. In 1995, many third world countries were given a tetanus vaccine containing a birth control drug by the World Health Organization.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Clashes Over Bangaldesh Islamist’s Death Sentence
A controversial war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh has sentenced the Islamist leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee to death for crimes against humanity. More than two dozen people have died in clashes following the ruling.
The court in the capital, Dhaka, found Sayedee, vice president of the opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, guilty of mass killings, rape and other atrocities during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.
“The verdict has appropriately demonstrated justice,” state prosecutor Syed Haider Ali told reporters. “We are happy.”
“Justice has been done to those who lost their loved ones at the hands of Sayedee,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand Signs Agreement With Rebel Group, Pledging to Work Toward Peace Talks
BANGKOK, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) — Thai authority on Thursday signing a peace agreement with an insurgent group as a big step toward resolving the decades-old insurgency and violence in the border region. National Security Council (NSC) secretary general Paradorn Pattanatabutr revealed to Thai media on Thursday while he was in Malaysia that the Thai authority on Thursday has signed an agreement called “General consensus dialogue process for peace” with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) Coordinate, one of the leading insurgent group in the restive southern Thailand with the help by Malaysian authority who facilitating the meeting with the insurgents…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand Signs Breakthrough Deal With Muslim Rebels
Thailand has signed a breakthrough deal with Muslim insurgents for the first time ever, agreeing to hold talks to ease nearly a decade of violence in the country’s southern provinces that has killed more than 5,000 people.
The agreement was announced in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur between Thai authorities and the militant National Revolution Front, also known by its Malay-language name, Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Pattani. It is seen as a positive step, but it is unlikely to end the conflict because several other shadowy guerrilla movements are also fighting in southern Thailand and they have yet to agree to talks…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Environmentalist Beaten After Calling on Official to Swim in Polluted Creek
A Chinese environmentalist was allegedly subjected to a vicious five-hour attack after attempting to draw attention to the putrid state of the country’s waterways by challenging a local official to swim in a creek near his home.
Chen Yuqian, a 60-year-old resident of Pailian village in Zhejiang province, was one of at least three concerned citizens who last week called on Chinese environmental officials to brave the rivers they were supposed to be keeping clean.
A businessman from the same province vowed to pay 200,000 yuan (around £20,000) to his local environmental protection chief if he dared bathe in a rubbish-clogged river near Rui’an City.
Mr Chen, a farmer who has spent the last decade fighting pollution, posted his challenge on the internet, hoping it would trigger government action.
Instead, his daughter says he was severely beaten by a gang of baton-wielding men at around 6am last Sunday.
“My father was alone at home,” said 32-year-old Chen Xiufang. “Some 40 people turned up in plain clothes, some holding batons. The only thing they said was: “(You) used the internet, you always use the internet!”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda Sought to Establish ‘Low-Profile’ Islamist State in Northern Mali
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) tried to establish a low-profile Islamist state in northern Mali without drawing the attention of Western and regional powers, according to a document uncovered in Timbuktu and believed to bear the signature of the group’s leader Abdul Malek Drukdal.
The handwritten document, published by Algerie 1 news website, dates back to July 20, 2012 and describes a plan devised by the AQMI’s leader, to establish an Islamist state in the Azawad region, north of Mali.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Did You Know Rugby’s Responsible for the Death of Reeva Steenkamp?
[Some fun at the expense of lefty South African Mail & Guardian newspaper]
[The Mail & Guardian wrote:] “Sports like rugby — which academics such as Robert Morrell suggest was used after events such as the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879, which the British lost, to rebuild a shattered white masculinity — feature prominently in the masculine tribal pride at these schools [e.g. Pretoria Boys High, the school apparently attended by Oscar Pistorius]. The focus is on brotherly bonding and aggression.”
[…]
A “shattered” white masculinity? Hmm, can masculinity be shattered? Makes it sound like a frail piece of pottery, doesn’t it? I thought that in general masculinity was more like an over-cooked piece of steak chock-full of a steroid hormone from the androgen group called testosterone. Anyway, I suppose we’d have to ask “academic Robert Morrell”.
Who is he? I hear you cry. I didn’t know either, so looked him up. It says: “Professor Morrell is an author and researcher with an interest in men, masculinity and general gender studies.”
O [dreck] and onions, when I hear the phrase “men, masculinity and gender studies”, I have to tell you, whatever Dr Eve or Eusebius McKaiser might say, that I reach for my condoms and pistol (except I don’t have a pistol — or a cricket bat) and my heart fills with anguish.
I’m sorry, it gets worse. It turns out that our Prof Morrell completed his first degree at Rhodes University. Can you guess what it was in? Yup, you guessed it: a Bachelor of Journalism.
You know what that means, don’t you? There is no more moronic degree on God’s green earth than a journalism degree. (Hold the phone: when it comes to imbecility, Media Studies and Gender Studies might just beat it.)
[…]
| — Hat tip: LH | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Isiolo Muslims Endorse Uhuru
Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency bid has been boosted by support from the National Muslim Leaders Forum and the Council of Imams and Preachers under the Unity Party of Kenya umbrella. The groups endorsed his candidature a week to the March 4 election. The organisations yesterday joined Unity Party of Kenya Secretary general, A Abdirahman, in declaring support for the jubilee coalition candidate. Abdirahman said the party and Muslim organisations will support Uhuru’s candidature after consultations with members and the Jubilee camp. They said Prime Minister Raila Odinga had failed to honour some a memorandum of understanding signed before the 2007 election.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mali: Tuareg Checkpoint Targeted by Car Bomb
Bamako — A car bomb has exploded in the northern Mali town of Kidal, killing seven people, reports say. The attack has allegedly targeted a checkpoint held by a group of Tuareg which has come out in support of France’s military intervention. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Malians are too afraid to return home, said senior UN humanitarian official.
Although Islamist militants were driven out of Kidal and other strongholds, they have carried on staging raids and bombings…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Celebrating Femi Okunnu at 80 With Books on Islam in Lagos
THE presentation of Torchbearers of Islam in Lagos State and Actors and Institutions in the Development of Islam in Lagos State in honour of Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu who clocked 80 recently holds today at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, Lagos. Time is 12noon. The publications parade Prof. Siyan Oyeweso and Associate Prof. M.O. Raheemson as editors. The former Federal Commissioner for Works narrates what led to the birth of the books
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: ** VERY DISTURBING CONTENT **]
Mida Macia, 27, had parked on the wrong side of the road
Sickening video emerged today of South African police officers tying a man to their van and dragging him through the streets.
Mido Macia, 27, was found dead in police custody just two hours after being arrested for the parking dispute in the Daveyton township.
The incident brings fresh embarrassment to the country’s criminal justice system which is under intense international scrutiny due to the high profile Oscar Pistorius murder trial.
The taxi driver’s distraught family said all he had done was argue with the police over an alleged parking violation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa Launches Investigation Into Death of Man Dragged by Police Van
South Africa has opened an investigation into the death of a taxi driver who was filmed handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged. The incident has sparked outrage over police conduct.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate anounced on Thursday that it had opened a murder investigation into the death of 27-year-old Mido Macia of Mozambique.
“We are investigating an incident involving the death of a man, allegedly at the hands of the police,” the directorate’s spokesman said. “We are shocked by the footage which has been released.”
Video footage taken on cellphones by bystanders Tuesday shows Macia struggling with about half a dozen officers before being handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged to the station in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sudan: Doctors Perform Amputations for Courts — End Corporal Punishment, Reform Laws
Credible sources in Sudan have reported that government doctors amputated a man’s right hand and left foot by court order in Khartoum on February 14, 2013, in violation of the absolute prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments, four human rights groups said today. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), Human Rights Watch, REDRESS and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) called on Sudanese leaders and international actors to condemn the practice immediately, and to urge swift reform of Sudanese laws in conformity with Sudan’s international human rights commitments…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
ABSENT security at the navy base in Simon’s Town [South Africa] meant a civilian was able to access the docks, where he moved among the ships, taking photos of himself touching one of the submarines.
[…]
The man, who asked not to be named, says he walked straight past the deserted reception desk, through a turnstile and down to the dockyard. This is about a three-minute walk, but he spent an hour on the base before leaving.
[…]
“I did it to prove security is non-existent. That there were no armed guards whatsoever is quite alarming. I couldn’t believe it,” he says.
[…]
An SA Navy staff member, who asked not to be named, describes the security at the base as “pathetic”.
| — Hat tip: LH | [Return to headlines] |
Luis Fleischman: The Real Meaning of the New Argentina-Iran Agreement
There is a new deal brewing between Argentina and Iran in order to improve relations between the two counties which have been on shaky ground ever since the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and the Jewish community headquarters (AMIA) in 1994. Though Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy, was widely believed to have perpetrated these two attacks no individual has ever been brought to justice. However, Argentina issued arrest warrants and orders of extradition for several high officers in the Iranian government given their involvement in the attacks.
In January 2013, Argentina reversed course and signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran that deals directly with the terrorist attack on the Jewish headquarters but omits the attack on the Israeli Embassy.
The memorandum encourages the creation of a “Truth Commission” composed of international jurists who would analyze documentation that exists about the case. That commission would be composed of five members: two selected by Iran and two by Argentina. These four members could not be either Iranian or Argentinean and would have to have internationally recognized credentials. The fifth member would be appointed by agreement between the two countries following the same criteria…
| [Return to headlines] |
Obama Terrorizes Public With Illegal Alien Releases
Yet it gets even more cynical. The “most transparent administration in history” is not only releasing inmates, it is refusing to say how many have been released, and where those releases are taking place. Federal officials claim that the detainees are still being monitored, even as they continue to face charges. They also insisted that only nonviolent offenders will be let go.
That first claim is utterly disingenuous, if not an outright lie. How is an agency ostensibly so “devastated” by budget cuts that it is forced to release criminals into the streets better equipped to monitor individuals in numerous locations, as opposed to keeping track of a group of incarcerated detainees in far fewer locations?
As for only nonviolent offenders being released, it seems the definition of that term is also somewhat elastic. The New York Times profiled one “nonviolent” detainee named Anthony Orlando Williams. Mr. Williams became an illegal alien after overstaying his visa in 1991. In 2010, he was detained by a deputy sheriff in Gwinnett County, GA, not for being in the country illegally, but for violating his probation stemming from a 2005 conviction — for simple assault, simple battery and child abuse…
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who contended that “the administration is using the sequester as a convenient excuse to bow to political pressure from the amnesty groups,” warned that such a move “lessened the chances” of comprehensive immigration reform. “With this new action, the administration has further demonstrated that it has no commitment to enforcing the law and cannot be trusted to deliver on any future promises of enforcement,” he added.
In a coordinated scare tactic, DHS Secretary Janet A. Napolitano on Monday warned that, if the sequester occurs, as many as 5000 border agents will also be furloughed, increasing the chances that even more, and possibly more dangerous, illegal aliens will be roaming the countryside. “I don’t think we can maintain the same level of security,” Ms. Napolitano contended.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) cut right through the manufactured hysteria. In a letter sent to Ms. Napolitano, he outlined a host of alternative cuts Ms. Napolitano could make. Yet the most telling part of that letter was the revelation that DHS will have approximately $9 billion in unspent funds by the end of FY2013, “raising the question of why we would not start reclaiming these funds,” Coburn wrote.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Proposes Sex Ed for Kindergartners
CHICAGO — Chicago public schools students get their sex education in the fifth grade as most do in the U.S., but CPS wants to change that, so the instruction begins at age 5.
Parents who are uncomfortable with the new policy will be able to opt out. CPS says the curriculum will conform to each age group. For example, kindergartners through third graders will learn about their anatomy, all living things that reproduce, and appropriate and inappropriate touching. While fourth graders will focus on puberty and HIV/AIDs. It’s not until after fifth grade that teachers will lead discussions about human reproduction, contraception and abstinence.
The proposed policy follows the “national sexuality education standards” put together by four health organizations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Free Speech Means We Should All Have a Say
by Philip Johnston
A tolerant country is also one that does not try to shut down debate on controversial issues
Last weekend, my wife and I went to a musical staged by an amateur company for which our youngest son performs. In truth, without that family connection, the show — called Zanna, Don’t! — is not one that we would have normally booked to see. It is set in an alternative world where homosexuality is the natural order of things and heterosexuals are discriminated against. But if this sounds like heavy-handed gay rights propaganda, it was nothing of the sort: the songs were tuneful, the lyrics thoughtful and the dance routines terrific. It was a highly enjoyable evening’s entertainment…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Is America Governed by Space Aliens? Mad Scientists? Or by Some Kind of Weird Religious Cult?
By now you may have seen news video of federal Department of Agriculture employees being subjected to “cultural sensitivity training.” Attendance was compulsory.[VIDEO]
In the video we see some prat from a firm of “diversity trainers and consultants” lording it over a captive audience of USDA employees, who must do everything he says if they want to keep their jobs. He compels them to chant, in unison, “The Pilgrims were illegal aliens!” What do you call it when a whole roomful of people say and think the same thing at the same time? “Diversity!” Somebody in D.C. needs a dictionary — paid for by the taxpayer, of course.
But this little exercise in synchronized chanting and table-pounding cost you and me some $200,000. The “diversity expert” bragged about it. By the way, you can tell he’s a putz because he describes himself as “a citizen of the world.” That was stale in the 1930s; it’s pure foaming idiocy now. But at least he’s an expensive putz.
He works for a firm, Souder, Betances and Associates, that develops “strategies to implement inclusive behavior” and “reduce and eliminate prejudices and all forms of discrimination in the workplace” (the quote is from their Mission Statement), doubtless by suppressing all diversity of opinion and forcing everyone to have exactly the same opinion. I guess you’re supposed to keep on chanting their garbage until you actually believe it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
by Cristina Odone
Tomorrow the High Court will decide whether a Christian group that helps gays “overcome” their sexual inclination has the right to advertise its services. You may remember that Stonewall, the gay rights group, was allowed to run the slogan: “Some people are gay. Get over it.” on London buses. But when Core Issues Trust (CIT), a Christian group, decided to counter with a poster that read “Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!” Mayor Boris Johnson vetoed their campaign.
If the High Court ruling goes against CIT — as I fear it will — the judgement will prove a setback for free speech, as well as religious freedom. As Philip Johnston writes in today’sTelegraph, “Just as gays are entitled to extol their own sexual identity, so people who take another view, on whatever grounds, should be allowed to say so, shouldn’t they?”
Our newfound intolerance worries me — and I write more on this on my own website, Freefaith.com. All Britons, and not just those of faith, will be scared of speaking against the prevailing culture. We’ll watch our words and our backs, terrified of breaking the unwritten code upheld by the guardians of our illiberal establishment. The punishment is not just derision and verbal abuse; in some quarters expressing the wrong sentiment will mean I’ll get a criminal record or a fine. I might even have a minister call for my boss to fire me, as happened to Julie Burchill when she wrote something recently that offended the transgender lobby…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Who Are the Friends of Allah? (Part 1)
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: Allah the Almighty has said, ‘Whoever has animosity with a friend (wali) of Mine, I declare war upon him.”…
[JP note: Indeed.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
“non-lethal aid (since when has money killed anyone?)”
Probably just means they’re not sending weapons directly. Of course anything they do send will quickly be sent to Hezbollah in exchange for weapons.
“Negative interest rates would not only finish off savers. If commercial banks started charging us to keep our cash, we would very likely stuff it under the mattress, thereby undermining the banking system.”
Easy fix: ban cash transactions. European governments and banks have been thinking about that idea for years “to combat fraud”.