Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/6/2013

Well, the news feed is of normal length tonight — somehow I managed to collect all the tips after the power came back on. But the rest of the blog is fairly light, thanks to all that crystallized climate change outside my window…

The most interesting news story I noticed concerns a group of UN observers taken hostage by Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime. Mind you, these are the same rebels being supplied with money, weapons, and other assistance by Western governments. The article is from ANSA — does anybody know if it made it to the major MSM outlets?

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, DS, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, 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.

Financial Crisis
» $253.5b — Obama Borrowed Nearly 6X as Much in February as Sequester Cuts All Year
» Interest Rates in Italy and Spain Too High, IMF Says
» Italian Consumer Spending Drops to 2004 Level, Say Retailers
» Italy: Investigators Open New Branch to MPS Probe, Seize 6 Million
 
USA
» 9-1-1 Nightmare: Nurse Refuses to Do CPR
» American Foods Chockfull of Ingredients Banned in Other Countries
» Another State Implements Obama’s Gun Control
» Attorney General Holder: Prez Can Assassinate Americans on U.S. Soil
» Bullies in the Newsroom
» Help ‘Tending Wounds’ Sought for Black Attackers — ‘I Am Simply Holding US Responsible for the World That Produced Them’
» Kaiser Permanente Issues Warning on Genetically Engineered Food
» Liberals Are Simply Not Very Bright
» Obamacare Causing Universal Studios to Dump Universal Health Coverage
» Public Fed Up With Cops Shooting Their Dogs
» Save Lives! Restrict the 1st Amendment!
» State Rep: Surrender Your Guns for Obamacare?
» The Terror Threat From Pop-Tarts and Hello Kitty
» Troops Deployed Ahead of Economic Collapse & Gun Confiscation (Video)
» U.S. Army: Don’t Criticize Obama
» Universal Background Check: Registration and Confiscation
» Wannabe Dictator
 
Europe and the EU
» Benedict Accused of Inaction in Priest Sex Abuse in Italy
» Former NHS Worker Barred From Protest Over Health Service Cuts… Because She Backs UKIP
» Greece: ‘Lagarde List’; Ex Premier Papandreou to be Summoned
» How Medical Ripoffs Threaten Your Health and Financial Security
» Ireland: ‘You Decide Which of Your Parents Goes to Jail for Truancy’: Judge Tells Schoolboy to Make Agonising Decision
» Italy: Rome Flats of Every Size, Price Up for Rent During Conclave
» Italy: Bersani Says Govt With Centre-Right ‘Not Practicable’
» Italy: Bersani’s 8-Point Platform for ‘Government of Change’
» UK: Famed Desert Rats to Lose Their Tanks Under Army Cuts
» UK: Has Zoya Been Kidnapped? ‘Straight A’ Student, 18, Has Not Been Seen Since She Vanished at Her School Gates 9 Days Ago, As Police Release Five Suspects Without Charge
» UK: Npower’s Profits Surge 25% to £390m Just Months After it Imposes Huge Price Rises
» UK: Operation Bullfinch: Day 28: Girl Claims She Woke Up Naked Between Two Men
» UK: Please Help Me, I Don’t Want to be Cut Like My Sister: Heartbreaking Letter From Desperate 11-Year-Old Girl Who Learns Her Sister’s Genitals Were Mutilated by an Aunt
 
North Africa
» Algeria Bolsters Port and Airport Security
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Italy: Gaza: Hamas Vetoes Women at Marathon, UN Cancels
» Obama ‘Hates’ Netanyahu (Video)
 
Middle East
» Arab Spring: Europe Must Accompany it Financially, Monti
» Emirates: Strong Italian Presence at Boat Show
» Iran Orders Terrorists: Prepare for War — Fears Israel About to Attack Islamic Regime
» Obama Rewarding Turkey With Warships?
» Syrian Rebels Take UN Observers Hostage in Golan Heights
 
Russia
» Russia Carries Out Its ‘Biggest Nuclear Army Drill in Two Decades’ As Pentagon Plays Down Its Concerns
 
South Asia
» Gallup: Pakistani Disapproval of U.S. Leadership Soars in 2012
» India’s Ex-Air Force Chief Questioned in Finmeccanica Probes
» Muslim Anger Explodes Against Bangladesh’s Hindu Community
» Pakistan: Christian Woman Forced to Marry and Convert to Islam Living in Fear After Escape
» Two Italians Injured in Afghan Bomb Attack
 
Far East
» Borneo: Filipino Rebels and Malaysian Army Clash, Jakarta Closes Borders
» North Korea Threatens War
 
Australia — Pacific
» Controversial Church in Adelaide Banned From Public Preaching Without Permit
» Lord Monckton: Who Will Speak for the Workers the Left Have Left?
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Fourth French Soldier Killed in Mali
» Nigerian Army Chief Says Officer Had Prior Knowledge of Church Bombing
 
Latin America
» Dictators Not Immune to the Grim Reaper
» Hugo Chavez May be Dead, But the Great Cancer of Socialism Continues to Spread
» Venezuela: Ahmadinejad ‘May’ Attend Chavez’s Funeral
» World Leaders on the Death of Hugo Chavez
 
Culture Wars
» Atheist, 82, Hurls 5ft Crucifix Into Duck Pond After Church Plants it on Village Green
» Mark Crutcher, “NAACP Has Unholy Marriage to Planned Parenthood”
» Rising Breast Cancer Rates Caused by Abortion, Birth Control Pills, Says Experts
 
General
» Alien Moons Could Host Life Outside ‘Habitable Edge’
» Nuclear Energy Production Grows With 437 Plants Worldwide
» On Jupiter’s Moon Europa, Underground Ocean Bubbles Up to Surface
» The Cyber Wars Begin

$253.5b — Obama Borrowed Nearly 6X as Much in February as Sequester Cuts All Year

During the month of February — as President Barack Obama was warning Americans they would see dramatic effects in their lives if “sequestration” of some planned federal spending kicked in — the federal government’s debt climbed by $253.5 billion.

That one-month increase in the debt was nearly six times as much as the $44 billion in spending cuts the Congressional Budget Office estimates will take place in all of fiscal 2013 as a result of sequestration.

At the close of business on Jan. 31, 2013, the federal debt was $16,433,791,850,294.04, according to the U.S. Treasury. At the close of business on Feb. 28, 2013, the federal debt was $16,687,289,180,215.37. Thus, the federal debt increased $253,497,329,921.33 during the month.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Interest Rates in Italy and Spain Too High, IMF Says

EU needs banking union to ensure stability

(ANSA) — New York, March 6 — Interest rates in Italy and Spain remain too high in spite of European Central Bank (ECB) directives, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

“In spite of the ECB’s efforts, transmission of its monetary policy remains limited”, said IMF European Department Director Reza Moghadam.

Even before the latest eurozone GDP data and the Italian elections threw a long shadow over Europe, economists were having a hard time explaining why markets remain upbeat while labor and production slump, Moghadam added. “Growth will probably continue sluggish for some time, to the detriment of governments and banks”, he said. The ECB’s bond buying program relieves some of the pressure, but the EU needs a banking union to ensure financial stability, according to Moghadam.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italian Consumer Spending Drops to 2004 Level, Say Retailers

Confcommercio expects tough 2013

(ANSAmed) — ROME — Consumer spending in recession-hit Italy fell 2.4% in January with respect to the same month in 2012 and 0.9% compared to December, taking it below the level of late 2004, retailers association Confcommercio said in a report Wednesday. “The continuation of the crisis, which has already changed households’ habits, including in terms of the quality-price ratio of their spending, has led to a general reduction in demand,” the report said. The association said it fears the spending levels could get even worse.

“The first year-on-year data we have for the start of 2013 shows with a certain degree of clarity that a further deterioration cannot be ruled out, confirming the impression that 2013 will also be a particularly difficult year for the Italian economy,” the report said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Investigators Open New Branch to MPS Probe, Seize 6 Million

Magistrates looking into alleged insider trading

(ANSA) — Rome, March 5 — Italian police on Tuesday searched the homes of lawyers Michele Briamonte and Lorenzo Gorgoni in Lecce, Milan and Turin, and seized money and shares worth six million euros as the probe into alleged fraud at troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) widened. Briamonte and Gorgoni are MPS advisers, and are not themselves under investigation, judicial sources said. The police reportedly also carried out searches for documents held by members of MPS’s board of directors.

The operations regarded a new part of the probe, this time concerning suspected insider trading after board decisions was leaked to the media.

The news that the board on Thursday was taking legal action against Deutsche Bank and Japanese bank Nomura was leaked before the company filed suit in court on Friday, in violation of Italian finance law.

MPS is the alleged victim in the new part of Siena probe, judicial sources said. Also on Tuesday, Rome Finance Police searched Briamonte’s offices. The attorney, whose clients include the FIAT Group, works at the Grande Stevens law firm. Its founder, Franzo Grande Stevens, is a former consultant to late FIAT president Gianni Agnelli and former president of Juventus, the Fiat-owned Turin soccer club. MPS, the country’s third largest bank, was thrown into crisis in January when it emerged that a shady series of derivative and structured finance deals produced losses of 720 million euros.

It has since emerged that Siena prosecutors are conducting a series of probes into alleged bribery, corruption, tax evasion and other illicit operations at MPS, which were either related to the bank’s nine-billion-euro acquisition of rival Antonveneta in 2008 or the period following the takeover.

Investigators suspect MPS, which is also the oldest bank in the world still in business, struck a secret deal with Bank of New York that allowed it to mislead authorities and smoothed through its acquisition of Antonveneta, according to a February report by the Finance Police. Monte dei Paschi’s purchase of Antonveneta in 2008 precipitated an eventual state bailout and prosecutors in its home city of Siena are probing whether it deliberately overpaid and whether bribery was involved.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

9-1-1 Nightmare: Nurse Refuses to Do CPR

‘Is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?’

It’s nothing short of a 9-1-1 nightmare, as an emergency dispatcher begs a nurse to perform CPR on a woman who wasn’t breathing and eventually died.

The nurse not only refused to perform the CPR, she also refused to hand the cell phone to anyone else to help the dying woman. Now, a criminal investigation is underway.

Authorities have just released the chilling audiotape of the 9-1-1 call, where 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless at the Glenwood Gardens Retirement Facility in Bakersfield, Calif., was passed out on the dining-room floor.

When the dispatcher asks, “Is she breathing?” the caller replies, “‘Is she breathing?’ Barely.”

When asked to perform CPR, the nurse can be heard saying, “Yeah, we can’t do CPR at this facility.”

The dispatcher then says, “OK, then hand the phone to the passerby. If you can’t do it, I need, hand it to the passerby, I’ll have her do it. Or if you’ve got any citizens there, I’ll have them do it.”

“No, no, it’s not,” the nurse says.

Complete audio of the 9-1-1 call can be heard here:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

American Foods Chockfull of Ingredients Banned in Other Countries

More than 3,000 food additives — preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients — are added to foods in the United States.

While each of these substances are legal to use in the US, whether or not they are safe for long-term consumption — by themselves or in combination — is a different story altogether. Many have been deemed too harmful to use in other countries.

When you consider that about 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food goes toward processed foods loaded with these additives, it’s no wonder most people are carrying a hefty toxic load that can wreak havoc on their health.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Another State Implements Obama’s Gun Control

Senator even says rape victim doesn’t deserve chance to defend herself

Colorado lawmakers, who now admit Vice President Joe Biden has been pulling the strings behind their gun-ban votes, have even taken to committing Bidenisms as they implement the White House agenda for gun control…

Several lawmakers confirmed Biden’s intervention, including reports of pressure for the gun ban votes in exchange for promises of campaign cash and support during their reelection bids in 2014.

“What he essentially did was tell these Democrats to fall on their swords in order to pass the president’s agenda, which is ultimately about gun confiscation,” Saine said at the time. “What they need to realize is that these promises are almost never kept, and come next year, they will be left to face angry voters on their own.”

While some have asked why the administration has chosen to so forcefully insert itself into what should be a state issue, Saine said there is a very clear agenda at work.

“The consensus appears to be that Obama wants all of these gun bills passed in order to use as a model for other states to emulate,” she said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Attorney General Holder: Prez Can Assassinate Americans on U.S. Soil

Attorney general Eric Holder wrote the following to Senator Rand Paul yesterday:

“On February 20, 2013, you wrote to John Brennan requesting additional information concerning the Administration’s views about whether “the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”

“As members of this administration have previously indicated, the US government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so. As a policy matter moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat. We have a long history of using the criminal justice system to incapacitate individuals located in our country who pose a threat to the United States and its interests abroad. Hundreds of individuals have been arrested and convicted of terrorism-related offenses in our federal courts.

“The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no president will ever have to confront. It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States…

Specifically, Holder did not say “we are legally constrained by the Constitution from depriving people of life, liberty or property without due process of law, and from using military force on U.S. soil”. Instead, he said that the Obama administration was so far abstaining from using a power it already has as acurrent “policy” decision.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Bullies in the Newsroom

“Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today’s state-run media gives us knowledge of what is going on in America and around the world… or does it?

Although the media has a damaging 21 percent approval rating according to a recent Gallup poll (I am surprised it is that high), it still seems as though the locomotive of socialism runs full steam ahead, because, for the most part, the American people do not know we are a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. America is ruled by Law; not by opinion or the media’s false polling.

With their socialist-communist agenda behind their reports, they are attempting to bully anyone who stands against their propaganda into submission.

Let’s pull the curtain back on the media so you can see who is doing the reporting.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Help ‘Tending Wounds’ Sought for Black Attackers — ‘I Am Simply Holding US Responsible for the World That Produced Them’

[WARNING: ** Extremely Disturbing Content **]

The Washington Post is usually squeamish about reporting on black mob violence. But at least one of its contributors is not.

That is how we learned the reason why a group of 12 black people robbed and murdered a man at a Washington Metro station in November.

Otherwise, it could have been like the T-shirt says: “It’s a black thing. You wouldn’t understand.”

Before we get to the The Root article to explain it all from “an African-American perspective,” let’s turn to the U.S. Attorney for a few details of this lethal episode of racial violence.

It was a Friday night. And 12 black people from Maryland decided they were going to rob someone. An iPhone if they could. But with 12 people to share the loot, no one pretended this was just about money.

So they set out for a night of mayhem from the Metro Station in Hyattsville, Md.: Squirrel, J.R. Vez, Man Man, Isaiah, A.W., D.T. and others whose names we do not know because they are charged as juveniles. Squirrel had the gun.

First they needed a soft target. The Adams Morgan entertainment district of the nation’s capital had the two necessary advantages: Public transportation and a plethora of affluent victims that would not fight back.

The pickings were slim at first. But a few minutes after midnight, they met Olijawon Griffin at a local McDonald’s.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Kaiser Permanente Issues Warning on Genetically Engineered Food

Washington, DC — (ENEWSPF) — November 30, 2012. A health care institution is weighing in to warn people about potential dangers of genetically engineered (GE) food. On the heels of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ warning on pesticides, the nation’s largest nonprofit health care plan, Kaiser Permanente, has published in its print newsletter, Partners in Health, tips on limiting exposure to genetically engineered food. In the Fall 2012, Kaiser Permanente has published an article, “What you need to know about GMO: Limit exposure to genetically engineered organisms with these tips.”

In an interview with the Salem Weekly, an official with Kaiser indicated that the article does not represent Kaiser policy, but presents information that the plan thinks is important for its members to have.

In the piece that was written by a Kaiser nutritionist, readers are told, “Despite what the biotech industry might say, there is little research on the long-term effects of GMOs on human health, independent researchers have found that several varieties of GMO corn caused organ damage in rats. Other studies have found GMOs may lead to an inability in animals to reproduce.” The article suggests that eating USDA certified organic food can help limit exposure to GMOs.

Because of the widespread and growing allowance of genetically engineered crops contamination through genetic drift has become an increasing problem for non-GE and organic crops.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Liberals Are Simply Not Very Bright

The liberal-left’s belief in its own intellectual superiority is no more borne out by fact than is its pretense of tolerance. If we look at its stances on specific issues, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that in reality, the majority of liberals simply aren’t that bright. Take “gun control.” Liberals have been pushing it for decades. The best evidence we have strongly suggests that concealed-carry laws cut crime by allowing law-abiding citizens the best means available of protecting themselves from the criminal element as well as create a perception among would-be criminals that their intended victim might be armed and able to shoot in self-defense. John R. Lott Jr. has done some of the best work on the subject beginning with his landmark More Guns, Less Crime (orig. 1998; three editions).

Liberals will tell you that he didn’t control for this or that variable which only they can see, and claim that his studies have been debunked. He’s been blacklisted in academia; this Ph.D. economist who had held positions at Yale and Stanford prior to his major statements on gun laws will never teach at a university again. His conclusions have not been invalidated. All one need do is look at cities like Chicago with the strictest “gun control” laws in the country and a truly stratospheric crime rate compared with a town like Kennesaw, Ga. which requires its citizens to own guns and has a murder rate of virtually zero (really!)…

Liberal views on economics are steeped in denial. They actually seem to believe that the federal government can tax and spend the country back to genuine prosperity; they don’t question the Federal Reserve’s creation of fiat dollars out of thin air — a process which if it worked in the long run would have made Zimbabwe the richest nation in the world.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Obamacare Causing Universal Studios to Dump Universal Health Coverage

Universal Studios Orlando, and its companion, Universal Islands of Adventure, are for my money the greatest theme park ticket on the planet if you have two young sons, as I once did. Disney gives you princesses, magic tea-cups and folksy singing bears. Just down the road, Universal provides thrill rides featuring snarling dragons, the Terminator, Spiderman and the Hulk. I’m a 44 year old boy, and I still want to go back. So long as your boy is into anything more aggressive than Mister Rogers, Universal is the place for you.

Universal (and for that matter Disney as well) provide something else rather special: Cut-rate health coverage for part-time employees. According to the Orlando Sentinel, $18 per week buys part-timers what appears to be a high deductible, single-person plan, that pays the bills after a hospital visit exceeds $5,000.

But all that will end on Dec. 31. ObamaCare bans these sorts of deals — also known as “mini-med” plans — starting at the end of this year. Universal and any other employers providing this creative health care option for their workers will be forced to either switch them to more expensive coverage or dump coverage for part-timers. Universal has made the tough decision to drop the coverage, reports the newspaper, along with Orlando-based Darden restaurants (another industry that relies heavily on part-time help.)

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Public Fed Up With Cops Shooting Their Dogs

‘My 3 daughters, they don’t trust police officers anymore’

Many people consider dogs to be part of the family, and citizens in Colorado are tired of police shooting those family members.

It has happened at least a half-dozen times in the past five years, and now lawmakers have had enough.

Two Colorado state senators plan to introduce a bill requiring police departments to adopt policies and procedures for dealing with dogs.

Sens. Lucia Guzman, a Denver Democrat, and David Balmer, a Centennial Republican, say they want officers to distinguish between a barking dog and a dangerous dog.

Balmer says, “Landscaping companies, delivery companies — they deal with dogs all the time, and they don’t shoot dogs.”

The bill would require officers to take a two-hour training course and a one-hour refresher course every year. The legislation would allow pet owners to handle the pet before officers take action. It also includes exceptions for using force, when the dog is dangerous or there is a violent crime.

The bill was sparked by a series of dog shootings by police that caused public outrage.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Save Lives! Restrict the 1st Amendment!

David M. Huntwork applies liberals’ gun-control arguments to free speech

(Enter Stage Right) — President Obama and his progressive allies have recently told us that even the most draconian of gun laws must be passed because “If we save even one life from gun violence, it’s worth it.” While that’s an amazingly ignorant, infantile, and even downright silly statement, it does neatly sum up a nanny-state philosophy that is fueling a nationwide assault on the second “shall not be infringed” amendment as well as law-abiding gun owners across the nation.

By such simplistic liberal logic, the printed word is far too dangerous to be allowed outside the hands of a privileged few or the auspices of government control. In fact, entire cultures, nations, and peoples have been persuaded to commit atrocious acts of aggression and even genocide by simple concepts spread by the printed word and other mass message distribution devices. If you are going to start banning guns, then you better start banning ideas and the ways they are disseminated. And remember, if only one life is saved by such extreme actions “at least we did something.”

Simple words printed on pieces of paper have indeed shown themselves to be far more dangerous than the mere possession of firearms by a certain percentage of a population.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

State Rep: Surrender Your Guns for Obamacare?

Montana lawmaker Krayton Kerns warns that President Obama’s recent executive orders on gun control could lead to a chilling future scenario where Americans are forced to hand in their firearms in order to receive critical hospital treatment under Obamacare.

Republican Kerns, sponsor of a recently passed bill that prohibits “a healthcare provider from refusing or conditioning care if a person refuses to provide information relating to firearm ownership, possession or use,” blogs about his personal experience of ammunition shortages in gun stores before warning that his legislation could represent, “the single act which stands between your fundamental right to keep and bear arms and their confiscation.”

“On January 16, 2013, President Obama released 23 “Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions” of which Action #2, #14, #16, #17, #21, and #22 utilize the national healthcare system to collect gun ownership information. As Obamacare grows over the next decade, unwary citizens will voluntarily divulge firearm ownership information including serial numbers in exchange for routine healthcare. Through the power of incrementalism, placing this information in a federal database seems harmless at first,” writes Kerns.

“However, someday in the future, imagine a loved one in your care needing critical medical attention, so you rush into an Obamacare facility because no other option exists. Healthcare enforcers examine your medical records and announce the Public Safety Authority has handed down Rule 1040 declaring all semiautomatic rifles, including .22s, are applicable only for military purposes. You must surrender your previously identified Ruger, 10/22 prior to your loved one receiving treatment. With no other choice you do. Scoffers might dismiss my warnings as fear mongering; something which would never happen. If you believe me and I am wrong, America has lost nothing. If you ignore me and I am right, America has lost everything. How much are you willing to risk? Shouldn’t we stop this now?”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

The Terror Threat From Pop-Tarts and Hello Kitty

A few months ago, a five-year-old Pennsylvania girl was standing at a bus stop talking to her friend when she made the mistake of insisting a princess bubble blower is superior to a Hello Kitty Bubble gun. The little girl suggested to her bus mate, “I’ll shoot you, you shoot me and we’ll all play together.” That conversation resulted in the kindergartener that made the suggestion being reprimanded in the principal’s office, suspended for 10 days for making a “terrorist threat,” and mandated into a series of counseling sessions with a therapist.

Now we come to find out that a seven-year-old aspiring artist from Baltimore, Maryland, Josh Welch, is in need of some serious Pop-Tart-eating redirection. Seems Josh, who suffers from ADHD, was being creative with what was at hand and tried to sculpt his strawberry breakfast Pop-Tart “into a mountain” with his teeth. Josh’s venture into carving territory is what got him a two-day suspension from Brooklyn Park Elementary School, because from his teacher’s perspective the Pop-Tart resembled a gun.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Troops Deployed Ahead of Economic Collapse & Gun Confiscation (Video)

The economic collapse, and ensuing civil unrest is coming — or so we’ve been told. Why else would Homeland Security buy up more than 2 billion bullets, purchase more than 2700 tanks and stock pile weaponry all while government white papers outline preparations for a martial law containment of society?

Ahead of that breakdown of society, Washington and the powers that control it have deployed troops across America to train for domestic operation and acclimate the public to their presence. The friendlies, engaging in benign and innocuous activities, will foster trust among the people and let down their guard when things go dark later. It is classic psyops at work.

In that context, we see an acceleration of National Guard and regular Army troops used at public sporting events, in crowd control at festivals and operating with police in law enforcement checkpoints, all in violation of Posse Comitatus. Small examples of this have been occurring regularly in Texas, with a National or State Guard presence at kite festivals, Texas Independence celebrations and other public events.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

U.S. Army: Don’t Criticize Obama

Even civilians reminded commander-in-chief is the boss

A spokesman for the U.S. Army has sent an email to 6,000 employees with a strong subtext: Don’t criticize President Obama or any political party to members of the press.

The Weekly Standard published a copy of the email, distributed Friday by Stephen D. Abney, the chief public affairs official for the Army’s Joint Munitions Command, to all 6,000 employees he represents.

The email says:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Universal Background Check: Registration and Confiscation

Oklahoma Republic senator Tom Coburn knows that if a universal background check system is implemented it will eventually lead to registration of all firearms in the United States. Coburn is the main hurdle posited between Obama, his allies in Congress and the Democrat dream of America stripped of its historical right to own firearms.

The Canadian example: universal registration leads to confiscation.

In response to this snag, Obama has focused his attention on Coburn. According to The Hill, the president has so far called Coburn twice, but the senator has declined to provide details on the conversations.

Democrat Senator Charles Schumer — known as one the most fearsome opponents of Second Amendment rights in Congress — and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin are attempting to sidestep Coburn and have turned their attention to Illinois Republican Mark Kirk.

“Sen. Kirk is committed to finding a workable solution that gets a bipartisan bill,” Kirk’s spokesman Lance Trover said, The Hill reports. “The senator believes there is a workable solution for all sides.”…

The term universal background check (UBC) is “nothing more than a euphemism for firearms and human registration,” the website AmmoLand.com explains. “The fact is we should be very fearful of this. We are talking not only about government having a record of everyone who owns guns (and WHICH guns), but of their creating a national data base of human beings with every aspect of your life included.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Wannabe Dictator

When President Obama said, “I’m not a dictator” on the day the sequester was activated, March 1st, he should have finished the sentence, “but I intend to be one.”

Obama has never treated the office of the presidency as his predecessors did. They knew it was a temporary job, based on one term or two. They understood it was political in that they were expected to work with both parties and that involved compromise. Obama has shown no desire to compromise on anything and routinely has changed the terms of various agreements in order to negate them.

In politics, especially at that level, a man’s word is his bond and Obama’s word is dirt. He cannot be trusted. This may account for Speaker of the House John Boehner’s barely concealed contempt for the President. It does not help when virtually all the Democrats join in the festival of lies that passes for political dialogue these days or their rote repetition by a supine media, though this is beginning to decrease as even their adoration diminishes…

Alarms are rising about the unprecedented purchase of ammunition of the Department of Homeland Security. An astonishing 1.6 billion bullets are stockpiled, mainly 40 caliber and 9 millimeter. News of the purchase of 2,700 light-armored tanks suggests that the Obama federal government anticipates an armed rebellion by the citizenry.

Writing in Investors Daily, Andrew Malcolm noted that is enough “to shoot every American about five times, including illegal immigrants.” Other government departments, including Social Security, are reportedly being armed in a similar fashion.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Benedict Accused of Inaction in Priest Sex Abuse in Italy

‘Predator was moved to another parish, never reported’

(ANSA) — Savona, March 4 — Victims of pedophilia have appeared on Italian television with accusations that Benedict XVI knew of several cases of priest sex abuse in northern Italy while a high-ranking cardinal at the Vatican but never did anything about it. The accusers, who made their statements Sunday on Italian television program Le Iene, said that the Vatican failed to press charges against several priests in the city of Savona who victimized minors 10 years ago when then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was cardinal-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose role required investigating the sexual abuse of minors by priests. Presented as evidence on the program was a letter dated September 8, 2003 and addressed to Ratzinger in which Savona Bishop Domenico Calcagno, now a cardinal at the Vatican, informed him of a priest named Nello Giraudo who had been accused of pedophilia.

The priest, who was later transferred to another parish, was sentenced to one year in jail last year.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Former NHS Worker Barred From Protest Over Health Service Cuts… Because She Backs UKIP

A former NHS worker has been excluded from a protest rally to fight the closure of her local casualty unit because she supports UKIP.

Frances Raftery, 71, contacted a campaign group to say she would be attending their meeting to help them challenge changes to local NHS services.

The widowed grandmother revealed she was a UKIP member, but was left ‘incredibly distressed’ when she received a response making it clear she would not be welcome at the meeting, being held last night.

Karen Reissmann, campaign co-ordinator of Save Bolton Health Services, told Mrs Raftery the group represented ‘multi-cultural’ Britain and was ‘not for scapegoating any part of the community for the problems in the NHS’.

Her letter added that they had members ‘across the political spectrum. But concerns have been raised that we do not want to be used by a party that has had no contact in any of our activities in five months we have been in existence’.

The controversy is the latest involving claims of discrimination against UKIP members.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Greece: ‘Lagarde List’; Ex Premier Papandreou to be Summoned

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 6 — The Greek Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) is examining details of the bank accounts of the three relatives of former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou whose names were removed from the so-called Lagarde list of wealthy Greek depositors, and is to provide the parliamentary committee probing Papaconstantinou’s handling of the list with a report soon, daily Kathimerini reported. Once the committee receives the report, it will summon the relatives and also seek testimony from Papaconstantinou, the latter’s successor and current PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos and former Socialist Premier George Papandreou. Former technocrat Premier Lucas Papademos is not expected to be summoned. On Tuesday the committee heard the testimony of Nikos Lekkas, head of inspections at SDOE, who reportedly refuted claims by SDOE chief Stelios Stasinopoulos that Lekkas had linked Papandreou’s mother, Margarita, to a 550-million-euro account on the Lagarde list.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

How Medical Ripoffs Threaten Your Health and Financial Security

  • According to a scientific review, the practice of using a type of starch intravenously to replace lost blood volume in critically ill patients is based on studies “loaded with fraudulent data,” and may increase their risk of death or kidney failure
  • According to a British poll from last year, more than one in 10 scientists and doctors claimed to have witnessed colleagues deliberately fabricating data in order to get their research published
  • The Choosing Wisely campaign has issued a second report adding 90 medical tests and procedures that are best avoided, as they provide no benefit, or do more harm than good

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Ireland: ‘You Decide Which of Your Parents Goes to Jail for Truancy’: Judge Tells Schoolboy to Make Agonising Decision

An Irish teenage boy was ordered to make the heart-breaking decision to send either his mother or his father to jail for failing to ensure he attended school.

Judge Alan Mitchell told the youth he must choose who will be jailed for 21 days and who will receive a suspended sentence during a case brought against the boy’s parents at Galway District Court.

The 15-year-old from Galway is a repeat truant and continued bunking off even after he was made aware of the possible legal consequences for his parents.

Judge Mitchell said: ‘He can consider which of his parents he wants to go to prison for 21 days and which gets the suspended sentence.’

He added that if needs be the teenager should attend Galway District Court today to make the decision, reports the Irish Independent.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Italy: Rome Flats of Every Size, Price Up for Rent During Conclave

Landlords, entrepreneurs see papal election as opportunity

(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — As Catholic delegations, pilgrims, and the world’s media arrive in Rome ahead of the conclave to elect a new pope, savvy entrepreneurs are jumping on the business possibilities.

Ads for rental apartments, balconies for photographers seeking the perfect shot, restaurants and meetings rooms are all springing up on the Internet as Rome prepares for a papal conclave that could begin next week.

Many advertisements promise prime locations near the Vatican and options including women’s only rentals, apartments that are sure to be spacious and bright and rooms near a metro stop.

Some are even offering to rent space in their own homes, in order to cash in on the relatively rare papal election.

The price range seems to have something for everyone, from as low as 50 euro per day to share space, to as much as 8,000 euros for an apartment for the duration of conclave.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Bersani Says Govt With Centre-Right ‘Not Practicable’

Centre-left leader says grand coalition would lack credibility

(see related stories) (ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — Centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani on Wednesday again ruled out the possibility of forming a grand coalition with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right alliance.

“We do not consider a government with us and the right to be either practicable or credible,” Bersani said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Bersani’s 8-Point Platform for ‘Government of Change’

Leader outlines centre-left’s ‘essential’ conditions

(See related stories) (ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — Italian centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani on Wednesday presented an eight-point programme to senior members of his Democratic Party which will form the basis of a “government of change” that he intends to ask parliament to vote confidence in.

Bersani, whose came first in Italy’s general election but failed to win a majority in the Senate, said the programme constituted “essential” conditions for any prospective government.

Here are the eight points:

1. MOVES TO EXIT THE EUROZONE ‘AUSTERITY CAGE’ — Austerity brought on by the eurozone crisis have only exacerbated sovereign debt troubles and economic contraction in the affected countries, Bersani said. So budget discipline must be balanced with pro-growth public investment and greater flexibility in public finances in the medium term, he said.

2. URGENT EMPLOYMENT AND SAFETY-NET MEASURES — A dozen or so measures that include establishing a national minimum wage; a universal system of unemployment benefits; eased budget discipline for local governments to boost social welfare, schools and health facilities; and paying government suppliers billions in unpaid debts with special-purpose treasury bonds.

3. REFORMS FOR POLITICAL AND PUBLIC LIFE — Reforms aimed at streamlining and cleaning up government, including halving the number of parliamentarians, eliminating provincial governments, reducing MPs’ pay, slashing bureaucracy, instituting codes of conduct for politicians and electoral-law reform.

4. A NEW LEAF ON JUSTICE AND EQUALITY — New measures to crackdown on corruption, fraud, vote-trading, tax fraud and the lengthening statutes of limitations.

5. REGULATING CONFLICT OF INTERESTS — Passing conflict of interest reforms proposed by the Constitutional Affairs Committee under the last centre-left government of ex-premier Romano Prodi between 2006 and 2008.

6. GREEN ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT — A series of measures aimed at optimizing the waste cycle, renovating construction to meet new energy standards, the introduction of smart grids, and revamping abandoned structures.

7. CIVIL RIGHTS REFORM — Introducing automatic Italian citizenship for all people born on Italian soil and civil unions for same-sex couples under regulations similar to German law.

8. RESEARCH AND EDUCATION — Measures to tackle school dropout rates, improve the structural safety of schools, provide stable employment for teachers, and recruit researchers.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

UK: Famed Desert Rats to Lose Their Tanks Under Army Cuts

The Desert Rats, the most famous tank unit in the British Army, will be left without any tanks as a result of a shake-up of the Armed Forces brought about by the Coalition’s austerity drive, it emerged on Tuesday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: Has Zoya Been Kidnapped? ‘Straight A’ Student, 18, Has Not Been Seen Since She Vanished at Her School Gates 9 Days Ago, As Police Release Five Suspects Without Charge

The four men and a woman arrested in connection with the disappearance of an 18-year-old student from outside her school have been released without charge.

West Midlands police said the decision to release the five was taken following a number of sightings of King Edward VI student, Zoya Anwar, in the Digbeth area of Birmingham yesterday.

The A-Level student has not been seen since saying goodbye to friends outside her school in Handsworth, Birmingham, last Tuesday.

Despite the sightings the teenager from Walsall is yet to be found and officers continue to appeal for Zoya or anyone who knows where she is to contact them urgently.

The missing pupil is described as being of Asian appearance, 5ft 6in and slim, with shoulder-length black hair.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

UK: Npower’s Profits Surge 25% to £390m Just Months After it Imposes Huge Price Rises

Profits at energy giant Npower have surged by 25 per cent to £390million just months after it imposed punishing price rises on customers.

The company, which is owned by German utility firm RWE, saw profits from its UK customers and power stations soar by £77million from £313million.

In November, it increased gas tariffs by 8.8 per cent and electricity by 9.1 per cent, just as millions were turning on their heating to keep out the winter cold, pushing the average dual-fuel bill up by £108 to £1,352.

Bosses justified the price rise by blaming Government policy, specifically demands to support green energy through wind farms, provide free insulation to vulnerable homes, discounts for the poor and the cost of rebuilding the national network of cables and pipes.

It also argued that it had no choice but to pass on an increase in the cost of the wholesale gas it uses to run its power stations and provide central heating.

But Labour MP John Robertson, who sits on the Commons energy select committee, described Npower’s profits as ‘despicable’.

He said: ‘It is about time the energy companies stopped lying about their reasons for putting their prices up.

‘They say price increases are due to Government policies and yet they proudly announce despicable profits.

‘This has got to stop — they need to start investing in their own business, like all other businesses have to do, rather than ripping off struggling customers.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

UK: Operation Bullfinch: Day 28: Girl Claims She Woke Up Naked Between Two Men

A SCHOOLGIRL woke up naked in bed between two men after she “passed out” from drink and drugs given to her, a jury at the Old Bailey heard. The girl, who is now 16, told the court that when she was 14 she was “off her face” on alcohol and cocaine and could not remember how she ended up in the Nanford Guest House double bed. The girl — who can only be identified as Girl 5 — claims she had sex between the ages of 12 and 14 with four of the nine defendants accused of being involved in a child sex exploitation ring in Oxford…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]

UK: Please Help Me, I Don’t Want to be Cut Like My Sister: Heartbreaking Letter From Desperate 11-Year-Old Girl Who Learns Her Sister’s Genitals Were Mutilated by an Aunt

[WARNING: ** Extremely Disturbing Content **]

A heart-breaking letter from an 11-year-old girl begging for a charity for help to avoid female genital mutilation reveals the very real threat for many girls in the UK.

The girl’s cry for help was prompted by her discovery that her 12-year-old sister had been taken to her grandmother’s home in Gambia, west Africa for the procedure.

‘I really hope you can help me, not to have my private cut,’ she writes after discovering her sister’s horrific fate.

The letter, sent in 2010, was today published by campaigners in a bid to alert teachers to the importance of reporting suspicions of female genital mutilation (FGM) to the authorities.

In the letter to charity Equality Now, the 11-year-old girl says her sister ‘had her private cut’ by her aunties and grandmother in their native Gambia.

She explains how her mother, sisters and brothers came to the UK from west Africa in 2005 to join her father who was studying at university in the UK.

Five years later, as the family was watching a ‘TV programme on African culture showing girls having their privates cut’, she describes how her sister suddenly burst into tears and a few days later told their father what had happened.

‘She said it was done one weekend by my aunties at my nans house. Last Friday mum took her to our GP to have her checked and the doctor said it was done to her.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Algeria Bolsters Port and Airport Security

Security stepped up at production sites after In Amenas attack

(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 6 — Ever since the 1990s and the civil war that raged throughout the country, Algeria has spent vast amounts of economic and other resources on the security sector.

Security has taken on even more importance today, with such areas as Kabylie and the southern regions serving as a breeding ground for a strain of Islamic terrorism that has its eyes set beyond the country’s borders and is steadily gaining strength . As the recent In Amenas gas facility incident — where a group of terrorists killed a large number of workers before being killed themselves — shows, all of the country’s production sites are at risk of attack. Consequently, the government has drawn up a wide-ranging programme to bolster protection of this type of facility as much as possible, with special focus on ports and airports, seen as potential targets for armed Islamists. A plan has been launched to raise security standards across the country in general, including an extension of the buffer zones that protect facilities essential to Algerian communications systems. The measures have already been published in the official gazette and are gradually coming into force, with a focus on four ports — Téne’s, Chlef, Boumerde’s and Tlemcen — and seven airports: Tamanrasset, Tébessa, Tiaret, Sétif, M’sila, Mascara and Ouargla.

Although an increase in general security measures is the stated aim of the move, it is clear that the decision was made following the progressive deterioration of the situation in the Sahel, the vast stretch of sub-Saharan Africa where Islamic terrorism is trying to gain an ever stronger foothold, through activities which many times seek to draw attention to it.

The plan will not be managed solely by the central government in Algiers. Territorial structures such as municipalities will have to carry out the implementation decrees, drawing up the borders of the port and airport areas under their control, areas in which new constructions will be prohibited if not found to be in the general interest. Thus, only buildings for public use and not housing will be granted permission.

Along the same lines, constructions held to present a risk to the protection of port and airport facilities may be demolished after compensating the owners. Telecommunication systems and advertising billboards will be prohibited, with any existing ones assessed for compatibility with the security criteria adopted.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Italy: Gaza: Hamas Vetoes Women at Marathon, UN Cancels

‘They can’t run with men’. Pescante, huge step backwards

(ANSAmed) — ROME — Hamas has forced the UN to cancel the third international marathon which was scheduled to take place on April 10 in the Gaza Strip on the grounds that ‘men and women cannot run together’. The announcement was made in a statement by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) which was organizing the race. The agency said 807 adults had already subscribed to participate in the marathon — along with 1,500 students — including 385 women, 266 from the Gaza Strip, a record number for an annual event aimed at showing solidarity to Palestinians and raising funds for UN camps hosting at least 250,000 children, said the agency’s spokesperson Adnane Abu Hasna.

‘This is a bad day for sport’, said Mario Pescante the ‘foreign minister’ of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Fiona May, a former Italian champion, also expressed dismay: ‘The UN did the right thing in cancelling the international marathon in Gaza after Hamas’ refusal to make women participate’, she said. ‘Sports, and marathons in particular, are an occasion to unite and not divide. I really don’t understand why women should not take part in this event. Hamas’ decision goes against the spirit of sport’.

UNWRA explained that the ‘disappointing decision was taken after talks with Gaza’s authorities who were insisting against the participation of women’ in the marathon, a condition set by Hamas a few days ago. ‘We negotiated for a long time but failed’, said Abu Hasna. ‘We did not ask UNWRA to cancel the marathon and we did not ban it. We only set some conditions: we don’t want men and women to run together’, Abdessalam Siyam, secretary general of the Hamas government, told AFP. He cited Islamic law and tradition but did not explain why a similar ban had not been imposed in previous marathons.

In the previous editions women were allowed to compete although foreign athletes had to wear long sportswear while hundreds of Palestinian participated with their head covered and ample garments.

This year Hamas banned women over 16 from the marathon because they have to be separated from men. But youths are very disappointed. ‘Why should women be banned from the marathon? They know very well that girls swim beside men when they go to the beach, what is the difference?’ asked Noura Boulboul, 13.

Aymane Abdallah, a 16-year-old boy who competed in the 2012 edition, said he was sorry the marathon was cancelled as it represented ‘the expression of freedom and shows that in Gaza we are a civil population’.

Hamas’ decision goes against what is currently going on in sports. ‘At the London 2012 Olympics all Arab countries had at least a woman on their team’, said Pescante. ‘And I have just received a request from the Palestinians for a friendly match between their women’s national football team and Italy’.

The Gaza issue ‘will be discussed at length at the next international affairs meeting of the IOC which I chair, scheduled in May’, said Pescante. ‘This grave episode will certainly be analyzed at a forum to be held at the UN with secretary general Ban Ki Moon’.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Obama ‘Hates’ Netanyahu (Video)

Expert: ‘President is going to use money to force Israel to bow’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just two weeks left to forge a new coalition government, but the Obama administration is working feverishly to prevent him from succeeding and force him from office, according to Middle East expert Dr. Michael Evans.

Evans is the author of numerous books about the various crises in the Middle East, including “Atomic Iran: Countdown to Armageddon” and the book he wrote with WND’s Jerome Corsi, “Showdown with Nuclear Iran.” He told WND it’s very clear why Netanyahu hasn’t put a new government together.

“The biggest stumbling block is the Big O, Mr. Obama. Mr. Obama’s got his team over there. They’ve been over there a couple weeks, and they’re meeting with the opposition leaders,” Evans said. “This is fairly existential. Obama doesn’t dislike Netanyahu. He hates him. He hates him. Netanyahu has been able to succeed against Obama. How did he do it? He went directly to the House of Representatives and got 18 standing ovations. He went to the U.S. media. But now he’s come to power weakened. Obama’s come into power strengthened.”

Evans said the argument made by Obama emissaries to Israeli lawmakers is that Netanyahu won’t last much longer in power so Israelis would be smart to go with a new leader now so as to forge a better working relationship with the U.S. Evans said that’s just a smokescreen.

“Obama’s people don’t want Netanyahu back in office. Obama’s people want a divided Jerusalem. They want a Palestinian state. They want Judea and Samaria settlements to stop, etc., etc.,” he said. “Anything they can do to weaken Netanyahu, they’re doing and they’re succeeding at it.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Arab Spring: Europe Must Accompany it Financially, Monti

‘Can’t live on democracy alone, we must open our markets’

(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 5 — Europe must financially support fledgling Arab Spring democracies, because freedom without money is a moot point, Italian Premier Mario Monti told participants at a conference organized by the lay Community of Sant’Egidio on Tuesday. The challenge for Europe is to “economically accompany the ongoing changes, because you can’t live on democracy alone,” the premier said. “We must open our markets to the South, as we did in the 1990s with the East. Although our country is still in search of a new government following a normal electoral process, our attitude towards a part of the world that is so close to us will remain constant, lasting beyond the vagaries of changing leaderships.” Monti also called on Europe to face the issue of “Christian minorities that are being terrorized” in countries such as Syria. Europe must become the protector of minorities “in the name of democracy”, he added, emphasizing the importance of the challenge “of normalizing dialogue” with the Arab world as a whole.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Emirates: Strong Italian Presence at Boat Show

Regional market picking up, steering towards luxury yachts

(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, MARCH 6 — The Dubai International Boat Show, the most important nautical event of the Middle East, the region which has 30 of the world’s 100 largest yachts, kicked off on Wednesday . This 21st edition, which will last five days, will showcase 430 boats and deluxe yachts.

Italy will be well represented. The country has a close cooperation with the boat show: the Italian institute for foreign trade Ice, in cooperation with the sector’s association Ucina, has organized the collective participation of 20 Italian organizations and companies operating in the sector including those based in the Liguria district coordinated by the region, Liguria International and Wtc Genoa.

Prestigious groups which regularly attend the show will also be present, including the Benedetti group, San Lorenzo, Ferretti and Fincantieri.

After the financial crisis, the nautical market in the region is now picking up with a growing interest for the largest and most luxurious boats — a trend benefiting the Italian market.

‘According to data on the first 11 months of 2012, Italian exports towards the United Arab Emirates have increased by 35,3% for a volume exceeding 22 million euros, the director of the Ice office in Dubai, Ferdinando Fiore, told ANSA.

In 2011 Italian boat exports towards the UAE placed Italy second in after France and ahead of Germany as the main foreign providers in the sector.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Iran Orders Terrorists: Prepare for War — Fears Israel About to Attack Islamic Regime

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered all of the Islamic regime’s armed forces to prepare for war, WND learned Tuesday.

According to a source in the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit, the regime believes Israel is on the verge of an attack, which could then draw America into the conflict.

Hundreds of ballistic missiles are ready to be launched against Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, the source said, and all terror groups that have long been positioned in Europe and America are ready to act should war break out.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Obama Rewarding Turkey With Warships?

by Michael Rubin

Against the backdrop of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most recent outburst, word comes from the Turkish press that the Turkish government believes that the Obama administration will move forward with plans to give—not sell, but give—two frigates to Turkey. The transfer died in the Congress in 2012, when the Senate became sidetracked with sequestration and other last-minute issues. As Hürriyet Daily News explained:

           — Hat tip: DS [Return to headlines]

Syrian Rebels Take UN Observers Hostage in Golan Heights

To be released if Assad’s army withdraws from southern city

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MARCH 6 — A group of UN observers have been “stopped in the Golan Heights” by members of Syrian opposition fighters, according to a Youtube video in which rebels are seen in front of a UN vehicle.

The rebels say they will release the observers if Assad’s army withdraws from Jamlah in the Daraa province. The video shows the spokesman for the ‘Martyrs of Yarmouk’ brigade saying that “today on March 6 ,2013, we have taken into custody UN forces and will hold onto them until Assad’s (the Syrian president) troops withdraw from the Jamlah village.” The young man went on to say that “we are asking the United States, Europe and the (UN) Security Council to release those we have in our hands…to withdraw Assad’s troops from Jamlah, along the Israeli border. If this does not happen within 24 hours, we will treat them (the UN peacekeepers) as prisoners.” The name of the Syrian rebel brigade is in memory of the historical battle fought between Byzantine forces and the Islamic army in the seventh century A.D. near the Yarmouk river, which today runs between the borders of Jordan, Syria and Israel.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Russia Carries Out Its ‘Biggest Nuclear Army Drill in Two Decades’ As Pentagon Plays Down Its Concerns

Russia has conducted an exercise designed to test the transport of nuclear weapons near Europe, according to US officials.

The drill was the largest of its kind in two decades and was carried out as part of larger military drills last month.

It is said to have sparked concern inside the Pentagon and US European Command but a Defence spokesman played the incident down.

Lt Col Wesley P Miller said that there is ‘nothing to be concerned about because the Russians, like us, have routine exercises and inspections.’

But a US source said that the scale of the exercise and the number of weapons being moved was worrying, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

The official added that it comes at a time when the US nuclear complex is in urgent need of an upgrade with defence cuts looming.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Gallup: Pakistani Disapproval of U.S. Leadership Soars in 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With President Barack Obama’s first term characterized by strained relations between Pakistan and the U.S., more than nine in 10 Pakistanis (92%) disapprove of U.S. leadership and 4% approve, the lowest approval rating Pakistanis have ever given.

These findings are based on a survey conducted from Sept. 30-Oct. 16, 2012, in Pakistan. The survey directly followed massive demonstrations against the release of an anti-Muslim film made in the U.S.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

India’s Ex-Air Force Chief Questioned in Finmeccanica Probes

AgustaWestland allegedly bribed officials for chopper contracts

(ANSA) — New Delhi, March 6 — India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday questioned a former air force chief of staff in connection with a probe into suspected bribes for a helicopter contract with a division of Italy’s Finmeccanica defence giant.

Ex-Chief of Staff Shashindra Pal Tyagi was called by the CBI for probes into whether AgustaWestland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica, bribed its way to a contract for 12 AW-101 helicopters for the Indian air force. The CBI anti-corruption police have also questioned the former officer’s cousins Julie and Docsa Tyagi about their alleged contacts with European middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschkhe. Italian investigators have accused Gerosa and Haschkhe of paying bribes to swing the deal for the 12 choppers in favor of AgustaWestland.

The officer and his relatives have in the past denied any wrongdoing. Also on Wednesday, Defense Minister A. K. Antony told the Senate the contract with AgustaWestland is on hold pending results of the current investigation. “No decision has been made on whether to blacklist the company”, the minister told MPs.

The CBI also recently questioned managers at the Indian branches of Aeromatrix and IDS Infotech, which prosecutors believe acted as intermediaries by issuing false engineering contracts and routing bribes through the Mauritius Islands and Tunisia, sources close to the investigation said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Muslim Anger Explodes Against Bangladesh’s Hindu Community

Violence continues after the death sentence is imposed on the leader of an Islamic party convicted of war crimes. Homes and temples have been destroyed in various parts of the country.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) — Scores of homes have been set on fire, women and girls have been assaulted, temples have been desecrated and statues of the goddess Kali have been destroyed.

For days, Hindu communities in some areas of Bangladesh have been targeted by supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic party, after its leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee was sentenced to death for war crimes.

Acts of violence against the Hindu minority got worse yesterday during a hartal or strike called by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat’s main ally, to protest against the verdict.

In Khulna (a town in the country’s southwest), various activists from the Jamaat-Shibir (Jamaat-e-Islami’s youth wing) and the BNP led protesters towards Dhopapara, a poor area largely inhabited by Hindus. Rapidly, the Muslim extremists set fire to eight homes and looted ten stores before they were dispersed by police.

“Jamaat members entered my house and beat my mother, my wife and my three daughters,” said Amio Das, one of the victims of the attack. “They took our stuff and then set fire to the rest.”

In the village of Aditmari (in the northern district of Lalmonirhat), some fundamentalists stormed and looted the Hindu temple of Sree Sree Shoshan Kali Mandir, dedicated to Kali, destroying statues of the goddess.

The same occurred to a temple in the village of Lakhirpar and another in Satkania (Chittagong).

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

Pakistan: Christian Woman Forced to Marry and Convert to Islam Living in Fear After Escape

PAKISTAN — A 20-year-old woman and her family in Lahore are living in fear after she escaped from a forced marriage to a man who left her pregnant.

‘Sara’ reportedly told Release partners who are supporting her and her family that she had been abducted last year, forcibly converted to Islam and treated as a virtual slave by her attacker and his family. She managed to escape and return home — but is now pregnant. Her attacker has since visited her and threatened ‘dire consequences’ unless she comes back.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Two Italians Injured in Afghan Bomb Attack

Interpreter also hurt, no one in serious condition

(ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — Two Italian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were injured on Wednesday in a bomb attack on a military patrol in the western Afghan province of Farah.

The three were taken by helicopter to a United States camp hospital at Farah with arm injuries and are not said to be in a serious condition. The soldiers are part of the Italian contingent in the NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]

Borneo: Filipino Rebels and Malaysian Army Clash, Jakarta Closes Borders

The Indonesian authorities are concerned about the violence in Sabah, the scene of a fierce battle between the military and the Islamists. Focus on Nunukan regency, crossroads for trade and tourism between the two nations. Hundreds of plantation workers evacuated to prevent them from being involved in the conflict.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Indonesian authorities are on high alert, concerned by the escalation of violence in the Malaysian province of Sabah, in the northern part of the island of Borneo. Jakarta has stepped up security levels and strengthened border controls in the area of ??East Borneo. Since 4 February at least 200 Filipino militants belonging to the “Royal Army of the Sultanate of Sulu” are holed up in the town of Sabah and fighting against the military sent from Kuala Lumpur.

Mediation efforts by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Philippine President Aquino Benin have proved pointless, who in recent weeks have repeatedly urged the Islamist rebels led by Jamalul Kiram, “the Sultan of Sulu,” to abandon their weapons. Yesterday the Malaysian army launched a heavy air raid, ahead of a ground offensive, in contrast, the militia announced that they are ready to do battle “to the death”.

The authorities in Jakarta have focused attention on Nunukan regency in the province of East Borneo, an important commercial and tourist hub between Indonesia and Malaysia. At the same time the area is a recruitment center and hub for Filipino Muslim extremist groups who illegally enter Indonesian territory to trade in weapons or other objects through illegal “channels”.

East Borneo police chief Gen. Anas Yusuf, stresses that it is in place, “a coordinated operation between the parties” is in place to “minimize” any notion of “danger along the border” as much as possible. In particular, attention is being focused on the islands of Sebatik and Seimenggaris, a strategic center used by Islamists in Mindanao to provide aid and logistics to Filipino militants in Sabah.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that hundreds of workers in oil palm plantations in Sabah were evacuated for fear that they could be caught up in the ongoing conflict.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

North Korea Threatens War

On Tuesday, North Korea vowed it would cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War. Soon-to-be-imposed sanctions by the United Nations regarding the nation’s recent nuclear test and U.S.-South Korean joint military drills were cited as the reasons for the threat. Without going into details, the Korean People’s Army Supreme Command warned of “surgical strikes” aimed at unifying the Korean Peninsula and that they possessed a “precision nuclear striking tool.”…

Inflammatory rhetoric is nothing new for North Korea, especially when the U.S. and South Korea conduct war games on the Korean Peninsula. But the latest statement contains far more specific threats. Pyongyang has warned that it will block a communications line between North Korea and the U.S. at the border village separating North and South Korea and that the 60-year-old armistice agreement will be abrogated on March 11, due to ongoing U.S.-South Korean war games that began March 1. Those war games were characterized as a “dangerous nuclear war targeted at us” in the statement released by Pyongyang yesterday. “We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification,” it added.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Controversial Church in Adelaide Banned From Public Preaching Without Permit

“It’s obviously disappointing to hear the judges deny freedom of political communication,” said Samuel Corneloup, who along with his brother Caleb preaches at the Street Church in Adelaide, Australia.

“We’ve always wanted to be law-abiding citizens. What we always wanted were permits to preach in the mall, and the council repeatedly denied us,” Corneloup continued, according to The Australian. “We’re happy that, with this ruling, the council can’t reject us (for permits) because of our content, they can only reject us for obstructing people.”

As found in information available on their website, Street Church rejects many Christian denominations as having drifted from the true message of the Gospel.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Lord Monckton: Who Will Speak for the Workers the Left Have Left?

ROOTY HILL, Australia — “Oh, look,” said the minister, “There’s that Lord Monckton.”

I was in the Returned Servicemen’s League Club at Rooty Hill, a solidly working-class district of Western Sydney, where 2 million voters live. Amid the ranks of flickering slot machines, known locally as “pokies,” makeshift TV studios were set up in every corner.

The far-out left government of Julia “under the government I lead there will be no carbon tax” Gillard is likely to be ejected by the working classes the left no longer represent.

She was on a “meet-the-voters” visit. That morning I had tried to say hello to her as she came out of her hotel, but her security staff had manhandled me out of the way. The carbon tax, at a savage $23 a ton for carbon dioxide and $500 a ton for methane, is closing mines, farms and industries right across Australia.

Temporary TV studios were set up among the pokies. Tony Albanese, the minister of transport (his department is known locally as the Ministry of Silly Walks), was tucking into a hearty chicken schnitzel burger with fries. That day he had promised to build a new freeway from Sydney to Rooty Hill. But in the previous election the left had promised a new rail link that has not been built.

When the minister had finished eating, I went up to him and asked how it was going. “The carbon tax is in,” he said, “and the sky hasn’t fallen.” This is the official propaganda line one hears from ministers throughout Australia.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Fourth French Soldier Killed in Mali

(AGI) Paris, Mar 6 — A French soldier was killed this morning in Mali, the fourth since the beginning of operations in the African country. The soldier belonged to the 68th African Artillery Regiment based in La Valbone and was taking part in an operation to the East of the country, 100km away from Gao.

France has so far suffered limited losses in the operations that it launched mid-January to support Malian troops against Islamic extremists who took control of the vast desert region in the North of the country last year.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

Nigerian Army Chief Says Officer Had Prior Knowledge of Church Bombing

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerian military authorities say the commandant at a military college in Kaduna state had prior knowledge of the Nov. 25, 2012 bombing that killed 20 Christians at the institution’s chapel.

Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Isa knew of Islamic extremist plans to attack the St. Andrews Chapel at the Command and Staff College in Jaji, near Kaduna City, but did nothing to prevent it, according to Army Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika. At a press briefing earlier this month, the nation’s Army chief said Isa did not report the planned bombing to Army leadership.

Isa, who was subsequently redeployed and then forced into retirement after a preliminary investigation, denies the charges.

Ihejirika said investigations are continuing to determine whether the Muslim military officer’s silence about the planned bombing was an act of “negligence or a demonstration of his further involvement in the bombings.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Dictators Not Immune to the Grim Reaper

Shortly after Chavez’s death was announced, Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) tweeted the following:

“Hugo Chavez was a leader that understood the needs of the poor. He was committed to empowering the powerless. RIP Mr. President.”

But while Serrano came out openly to praise Chavez on Twitter, former U.S. Congressman, Citizens Energy Corp. CEO Joe Kennedy, the man who did more to enable the Chavez presence in America than any other, has seemingly gone to ground.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Hugo Chavez May be Dead, But the Great Cancer of Socialism Continues to Spread

(NaturalNews) Hugo Chavez is dead, leaving one less control freak tyrant desecrating our planet, but one more empty seat of corruption and power to be filled. Chavez died of cancer, we are told, but the cancer of his left-leaning philosophies continues to disease our world, even rearing its head in the United States of America where government policies increasingly mirror those of Chavez.

Elected by deeply deceived Venezuelan voters in 1998, Chavez then confiscated nearly all private business across the country, amassing a personal fortune of more than $2 billion while impoverishing his countrymen under a tyranny of centralized government power. Chavez ran the kind of government that would simply declare your entire company to be “government property,” then they would confiscate all your inventory, bank accounts and intellectual property while claiming it was “for the good of the People.”

The lesson with Chavez is the lesson humanity seems cursed to learn over and over again throughout human history: any centralization of power always — ALWAYS — leads to extreme abuses of that power.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Venezuela: Ahmadinejad ‘May’ Attend Chavez’s Funeral

Tehran, 6 March (AKI) — Iran’s hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he may attend the state funeral of late Venezuelan president Hugh Chavez on Friday, the official news agency Irna reported.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks Wednesday at a press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran after a meeting of his government, Irna said.

He called Chavez “a dear friend of Iran,” “symbol of all the brave fighters and revolutionaries of Latin America” and “an anti-imperialist figurehead”.

Chavez died on Tuesday from an infection after surgery at the age of 58 and had been had seriously ill with cancer for more than a year.

The self-proclaimed revolutionary served as Venezuela’s president for 14 years and was re-elected four times. He was a controversial figure on the world stage and in Venezuela, where he was loved by the country’s poor for delivering on his pledges to redistribute the country’s oil wealth.

A staunch critic of the US, the former bus driver and army paratrooper inspired a left-wing revival across Latin America, whose leaders issued statements mourning his passing.

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin hailed Chavez as “an outstanding leader and ruler, a close friend of Russia”.

The Palestinian Authority praised Chavez as a “loyal friend who passionately defended our rights to freedom and self-determination” in condolances to Venezuela sent by Fatah official Nabil Shaath, cited by Palestinian news agency Maan.

The US described his death as “a challenging time” for Venezuela a and like the UK and Canada said it looked forward to a constructive relationship with the next administration.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

World Leaders on the Death of Hugo Chavez

Condolences from Ban Ki-moon. For the governments of Latin America he was “a great friend.” The U.S. accused of poisoning him by injecting cancer that led to his death. For Russia, his death is “a tragedy.” The Academy of Social Sciences in China: “He continued his socialist ideals” after the fall of the USSR. China supported the social policies of Chavez in exchange for oil, spreading its influence throughout Latin America.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Political leaders from around the world are expressing condolences to the Venezuelan people following the death of their leader Hugo Chavez, last night after a two-year fight against cancer.

The fiery “commander” was 58 years old and had led the country for 14 years in controversial situations that earned him the passionate support of the poor, but also the disaffection and strong criticism of the business world, because of his socialist policies of nationalization and violence against opponents.

The presidents of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and other Latin American countries, have sent their condolences, remembering him as a “great friend” and terming his death “an irreparable loss”.

Ties with the U.S. were less cordial with Chavez describing Washington as “the devil” and “the enemy.” Barack Obama has sent a written message of condolences in which he expresses hopes that relations between the two countries can improve.

But yesterday the Caracas government ordered the expulsion of two military attache’s at the U.S. embassy for spying. The vice president in charge, Nicols Maduro, fears that the U.S. is preparing a coup during the power vacuum. The U.S. was even accused yesterday of having caused the death of Chavez by injecting him with the cancer from which he died.

One of the first messages of condolence was from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who expressed his participation in the mourning of Chavez’s family, the government and people of Venezuela.

The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitali Churkin called the death of the leader a “tragedy”.

There has been no immediate reaction from the Chinese government. In all these years, Beijing has supported Chavez’s social programs with tens of billions of dollars, in exchange for a share of the oil extracted from Venezuela. Thanks to this relationship with the leader, China’s influence in Latin American has become increasingly widespread.

On the Internet, Chinese bloggers have praised the hero who dared to defy the United States and “mourn the great fighter.” For scholars of the Academy of Social Sciences, Chavez proved it possible to continue the ideas of socialism in the 21st century, after the fall of the USSR and the changes in Eastern Europe.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

Atheist, 82, Hurls 5ft Crucifix Into Duck Pond After Church Plants it on Village Green

A retired lawyer was so offended when his local church placed a wooden cross in the village green for Lent that he threw it into a duck pond in anger.

The five feet cross was placed on the small green in the upmarket village of Brearton, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, for the duration of the Christian festival.

But retired lawyer Alan Pickard, 82, took exception to the ‘arrogance’ of St. John the Baptist Church, tearing the cross down and dumping it in the water.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Mark Crutcher, “NAACP Has Unholy Marriage to Planned Parenthood”

Yesterday’s,Twitters’ censorship of a Black Pro-life Group criticizing the NAACP has received national attention. Life Dynamics Inc. , a National Pro-life Organization in Denton, Texas responds.

On Jan. 28 , Black Pro-Life groups protested the NAACP Image Awards. They accused the NAACP of failing to represent the best interests of the black community — especially their ties to Planned Parenthood — a group the members say is “targeting the black community” by trying to control the population through abortion…

Mark Crutcher, President of Life Dynamics Inc., agrees and says the Twitter / NAACP reaction is similar to what happened years ago when Black Journalist, Samuel Yette published a book detailing high-level plans within the United States to use birth control and abortion as genocide against African-Americans. In 1968, Yette became the first African-American reporter hired by Newsweek Magazine. Three years later, immediately after his book was released to the public, Mr. Yette was fired.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Rising Breast Cancer Rates Caused by Abortion, Birth Control Pills, Says Experts

Advanced breast cancer cases are increasing in young American women overall and almost twice as fast among African-American women, according to a recent study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. And some experts believe the use of hormonal contraceptive steroids and abortions have a lot to do with the trend.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

Alien Moons Could Host Life Outside ‘Habitable Edge’

Astronomers have their fingers crossed that within the haul of data collected by NASA’s Kepler mission, which has already detected nearly 3,000 possible exoplanets, hide the signatures of the very first exomoons.

The discovery of alien moons will open up an exciting new frontier in the continuing hunt for habitable worlds outside the solar system. With the confirmation of exomoons likely right around the corner, researchers have begun addressing the unique and un-Earthly factors that might affect their habitability.

Because exomoons orbit a larger planetary body, they have an additional set of constraints on their potential livability than exoplanets themselves. Examples include eclipses by their host planet, as well as reflected sunlight and heat emissions. Most of all, gravitationally induced tidal heating by a host planet can dramatically impact a moon’s climate and geology.

In essence, compared to planets, exomoons have additional sources of energy that can alter their “energy budgets,” which, if too high, can turn a temperate, potential paradise into a scorched wasteland.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]

Nuclear Energy Production Grows With 437 Plants Worldwide

(AGI) Wien — Nuclear energy production was on the rise in 2012 with 437 nuclear reactors worldwide, IAEA said .

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]

On Jupiter’s Moon Europa, Underground Ocean Bubbles Up to Surface

The huge ocean sloshing beneath the icy shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa likely makes its way to the surface in some places, suggesting astronomers may not need to drill down deep to investigate it, a new study reports.

Scientists have detected chemicals on Europa’s frozen surface that could only come from the global liquid-water ocean beneath, implying the two are in contact and potentially opening a window into an environment that may be capable of supporting life as we know it.

“We now have evidence that Europa’s ocean is not isolated — that the ocean and the surface talk to each other and exchange chemicals,” study lead author Mike Brown, of Caltech in Pasadena, said in a statement.

“That means that energy might be going into the ocean, which is important in terms of the possibilities for life there,” Brown added. “It also means that if you’d like to know what’s in the ocean, you can just go to the surface and scrape some off.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]

The Cyber Wars Begin

…this article is about a weapon that has a capability more selective like a slow water torture… drip by drip, namely computer hacking and its possibilities. The weapon that America only minimally prepared to face becomes very serious indeed. Actually, millions of words mention cyber hacking of U.S. military secrets — despite the complex programs developed to cope with the problem. Recently, the news media revealed that the problem was more threatening than any one envisioned. The reason for the delayed revelations is American industry was fearful that, if known by their investors and stock holders, stocks prices would fall and investment capital would dry up. Industrial scientific secrets are their life blood going into the future. The problem of hacking is now so severe that Congress is latently awakened to the threat. China’s military cyber command’s units are used to stealing technology. Centered in Shanghai — no amount of complaints to the Chinese Communist Government make the slightest difference.

The threat is not just stealing our secrets, but the capability of expanding the technique that the Chinese have already developed to actually attack electrical systems relevant to functions and whole industries such as chemical, oil, gas, steel, drug manufacturing. But the worst threat is America’s electrical grid, which, if attacked, would shut down all electrical power throughout the nation and consequently render the United States helpless and that could be accomplished without using explosives or nuclear EMC attacks.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]

One thought on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/6/2013

  1. The “nurse” that “refused” to do CPR was following the dying woman’s wishes, according to the woman’s family. Also, the “nurse” was not, in fact, a nurse.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/05/spokesman-says-woman-who-refused-to-give-cpr-to-dying-87-year-old-wasnt-nurse/?test=latestnews

    It also appears the woman and her family CHOSE that place in part BECAUSE of their policy regarding such matters.

    All the talking heads can take the false outrage and shove it.

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