The Syrian “rebel” group al-Nusra Front has pledged its allegiance to Al Qaeda and Ayman al-Zawahri. The move is widely seen as bolstering Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s assertion that his regime is battling terrorists, and not rebels.
In other news, negotiations between the Greek government and the Troika have stalled over the issue of civil service dismissals. The Troika wants Greece to get rid of 7,000 public employees this year, but the move is being strongly resisted by the Democratic Left, a partner in the governing coalition.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to DS, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, 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.
France Has ‘No Choice’ But to Freeze Benefits
French central bank governor Christian Noyer said on Wednesday that France should freeze pensions, civil servant salaries and social benefits to save €40 billion by 2014 as it tries to cut a swollen public deficit and jumpstart growth.
Noyer told Europe 1 radio that France had to come up with €40 billion in savings this year and next, to reach the EU deficit limit of 3.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), saying Paris had to have “the same level of spending” in 2014 as in 2012.
Since spending would normally increase on its own by €40 billion, “we have to find 40 billion in savings,” he noted.
That would require an effort across the board, and specifically, that meant “freezing pensions, and extending a freeze on civil servant salaries and social benefits,” the central bank chief said.
“We are not in austerity, we are confronted today with the need for a very strict management of the public finances because our public deficit is too high,” Noyer explained.
“Generally speaking, we don’t have any choice. We cannot continue expanding the deficits and debt and dumping it on future generations,” he insisted.
The central bank chief also maintained that growth of the eurozone’s second biggest economy would come via structural reform of the labour market, as opposed to easing fiscal discipline, as has been suggested by several French ministers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Troika Talks Stuck on Overhaul of Civil Service
Foreign envoys want 2,000 layoffs of oath-breaking staff
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 10 — Greek government officials made progress in talks with troika envoys on Tuesday, with only the contentious issue of a civil service overhaul said to be pending, and are reportedly planning to draft new legislation to accelerate dismissals of some 2,000 oath-breaking civil servants by June despite objections by Democratic Left, the junior partner in the coalition.
The civil service overhaul, as daily Kathimerini reports, is to be thrashed out in a new meeting between Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and troika envoys beginning at noon on Wednesday. In the talks on Tuesday the troika reportedly insisted on a total of 7,000 dismissals this year and 20,000 by the end of 2014, a prospect Democratic Left vehemently objects to.
The troika’s stance on civil servants is unlikely to be so generous. The envoys reportedly want dismissals to begin with those accused of disciplinary offenses, with some 2,000 to leave by June. However, it appears that the troika has accepted Greek demands for oath-breaking civil servants who leave their posts to be replaced by new recruits. Stournaras’s talks with the troika on Tuesday, which lasted four hours, were briefly attended by Administrative Reform Minister Antonis Manitakis who said the troika asked him for “clarifications” about how the civil service overhaul would work.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Seeks to Cap Retirement Accounts So That No Individual Saves “More Than is Needed”
President Obama wants to make sure that people don’t save “more than is needed,” and his budget proposal includes steps that would limit the amount of money individuals can have in their retirement accounts.
My first thought when I read this headline was to shudder at how eerily similar the proposal sounds to the institutionalized theft that just happened in Cyprus where bank accounts over $130,000 had 40% their deposits simply confiscated. Only two weeks ago, I warned that this would find its way here eventually. I didn’t expect it to be so soon.
This is thinly veiled Marxism sold as “revenue generation,” and anyone who opposes the measure will be accused of not wanting a “balanced approach” to reduce the deficit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
One Out of Six Italian Families Live in Poverty, Says Survey
European Central Bank report looks at household wealth
(ANSA) — Rome, April 9 — One out of six Italian families live in poverty according to a pan-European report on household wealth by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday.
The European average of individuals living in relative poverty is 13%, while in Italy the number is higher at 16.5%.
Italian families have a level of wealth comparable to that of eurozone partners France and Germany, but are disadvantaged in terms of income, according to the survey. The average Italian family earns 34,344 euros annually, putting the country in ninth place in terms of yearly salaries among the EU member states.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland Still Expects the Bank of England to Bail Them Out if They Split From the UK
Scotland wants the Bank of England to bail it out if there is another financial meltdown — even if the country breaks away from the UK.
Scottish Nationalists are insisting they want to keep the pound as their currency and retain the Bank of England as the ‘lender of last resort’.
But an influential committee of peers has warned it would be ‘implausible’ for the Bank to accept risks over which it had no control. It also attacked one of the main parts of Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond’s economic blueprint as ‘fanciful’.
John Swinney, Scotland’s finance minister, had told peers that an independent Scottish government would expect the Bank of England to protect Scottish institutions if needed.
But the committee said: ‘This would require the Chancellor to put at risk taxpayers’ money from the rest of the UK for the benefit of institutions based, and possibly regulated in, an independent country.
‘The proposal for the Scottish Government to exert some influence over the Bank of England, let alone the rest of the UK exchequer, is devoid of precedent and entirely fanciful.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Bitcoin Bubble Explained: Understanding the Mathematics of the Inevitable Bitcoin Crash
If you’re a central banker, you hate bitcoin. You want to see it destroyed, of course, but more importantly you want to see it discredited. You want to portray it as a “pyramid scheme” that ultimately hurts a lot of people. And you want to promote the “safety” of government-backed banks (i.e. central banks).
How to accomplish this? It’s stupidly simple: Just start creating money out of nothing (i.e. crank of the U.S. dollar printing presses) and use that fake fiat currency to purchase billions of bitcoins at ANY price, driving bitcoin valuations sky-high.
Keep pumping money into bitcoins until the speculators (“fools”) jump on board, thinking they’re all going to get instantly rich by joining the latest new “free money fad.”
Stand back as the bitcoin valuations reach the stratosphere, suckering even more people into parting with their hard-earned cash by buying into the system.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Wall Street Ticking Time Bomb That Could Blow Up Your Bank Account
Cyprus-style confiscation of depositor funds has been called the “new normal.” Bail-in policies are appearing in multiple countries directing failing TBTF banks to convert the funds of “unsecured creditors” into capital; and those creditors, it turns out, include ordinary depositors. Even “secured” creditors, including state and local governments, may be at risk. Derivatives have “super-priority” status in bankruptcy, and Dodd Frank precludes further taxpayer bailouts. In a big derivatives bust, there may be no collateral left for the creditors who are next in line.
Shock waves went around the world when the IMF, the EU, and the ECB not only approved but mandated the confiscation of depositor funds to “bail in” two bankrupt banks in Cyprus. A “bail in” is a quantum leap beyond a “bail out.” When governments are no longer willing to use taxpayer money to bail out banks that have gambled away their capital, the banks are now being instructed to “recapitalize” themselves by confiscating the funds of their creditors, turning debt into equity, or stock; and the “creditors” include the depositors who put their money in the bank thinking it was a secure place to store their savings.
The Cyprus bail-in was not a one-off emergency measure but was consistent with similar policies already in the works for the US, UK, EU, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, as detailed in my earlier articles here and here. “Too big to fail” now trumps all. Rather than banks being put into bankruptcy to salvage the deposits of their customers, the customers will be put into bankruptcy to save the banks.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
WTO Cuts Global Trade Forecast for 2013
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has admitted that global trade volumes this year will likely fall short of its previous predictions. It said Europe’s struggle to combat its debt crisis was taking longer than expected.
The WTO global trade body said Wednesday there was no way of seeing 4.5-percent growth in global trade as predicted in its previous forecast. In its latest annual report, it predicted international trade activities to expand by only 3.3 percent throughout the current year.
The WTO thus indicated that only a meager improvement on 2012 was realistic: even against the year when exports were severely hampered by the financial turmoil in the 17-member euro area, the economic fallout from Japan’s earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident, and the impact of political unrest in the Middle East.
Trade growth this year would also remain well below the 5.3-percent rate that had emerged as the average growth figure over the past two decades.
WTO Director Pascal Lamy told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, that trade was expected to rebound to some five-percent growth only in 2014, with that figure taking into account the total volume of merchandise exported across borders and accounting for changes in prices and exchange rates.
The total value of goods traded last year amounted to $18.3 trillion (14 trillion euros) and marked no significant change from a year earlier because of falling prices for many traded goods.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
85% of Cops Say Gun Control is Useless, Detrimental
In a national survey of members of one of the largest groups for law enforcement professionals, an overwhelming majority of active duty and retired officers said that the Obama administration’s gun control proposals will either have no effect or will make things significantly worse.
In the survey conducted by PoliceOne.com, a stunning 85 percent of law enforcement professionals said that in their opinion, a federal ban on assault weapons would have no effect on crime, and would likely have a negative effect on their safety.
When asked whether a federal ban on ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds would reduce violent crime, 96 percent of law enforcement professionals said no.
The survey also revealed that nearly three times as many former and active police believe that a federal ban would exacerbate violent crime rather than help to reduce it.
In addition, twice as many believe that they will be less safe than more safe because of the gun control provisions.
When asked what they thought was the best course of action to prevent incidents such as the recent Sandy Hook school and Aurora Theater shootings, almost one third of law enforcement professionals said “more permissive concealed carry policies for civilians.” In addition, 86 percent said that they felt a legally armed citizen could have reduced casualties at both incidents.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) A breakthrough report on the nutritional density of genetically-modified (GM) corn crops demolishes all existing claims that GMOs are “substantially equivalent” to non-GMOs. Entitled 2012 Nutritional Analysis: Comparison of GMO Corn versus Non-GMO Corn, the paper reveals not only that GMO corn is greatly lacking in vitamins and minerals compared to non-GMO corn, but also that it is highly toxic and filled with deadly crop chemicals like glyphosate (Roundup).
The owners of the blog MomsAcrossAmerica.com say the report was shared with them by De Dell Seed Company, Canada’s only non-GMO corn seed supplier, which obtained it from a Minnesota-based agricultural company called ProfitPro. Overall, the paper found that non-GMO corn is 20 times richer in nutrition, energy and protein compared to GMO corn.
Concerning energy content, as measured in terms of ERGS, non-GMO corn was found in tests to give off 3,400 times more energy per gram, per second compared to GMO corn, an astounding variance. And as far as its overall percentage of organic matter is concerned, non-GMO corn was determined to have nearly twice as much of this vital component compared to GMO corn.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Coulter: Liberals Go Crazy for the Mentally Ill
The one clear thread that unites all the mass murders currently being exploited by the Democrats is that they were committed by visibly crazy people who were unaccountably not institutionalized. But Democrats refuse to do anything about crazy people. Apparently, the views of families with relatives murdered by severely disturbed individuals are no longer relevant when it comes to institutionalizing the mentally ill.
If liberals had a decent argument for taking guns away from the law-abiding while doing nothing to prevent schizophrenics from getting guns, they’d make it. Manifestly, they don’t, so they send out victims to make the argument for them, knowing no one will argue with a person whose child has just been murdered.
This allows liberals to act as if Republicans’ only counter-argument to their idiotic gun control proposals is: We don’t mind dead children.
The truth is the opposite. Republicans are pushing policies that will reduce gun violence; Democrats are pushing policies that will increase gun violence.All the actual evidence — mountains of it, in peer-reviewed studies by highly respected economists and criminologists and endlessly retested — shows that limits on magazine capacity, background checks and assault weapons bans will accomplish nothing. Only one policy has been shown to dramatically reduce multiple public shootings: concealed-carry laws.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Official Admits Plan to Confiscate Guns (Video)
Mike Martinez, the current Place 2 Austin City Council member who may become the next mayor, has publicly demonstrated his contempt for the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights.
In the video below, he promises to make gun confiscation — the ultimate and invariable result of registering and outlawing guns — a reality in Austin.
Emboldened by their authoritarian leaders in Washington and the White House, Democrats all over the country are coming out to denounce the right of Americans to own firearms.
Now that Mr. Martinez has shown his true colors and has proudly announced he is an avowed enemy of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Austinites need to make sure his plan to rob citizens of their birthright is not realized.
Mike Martinez needs to be run out of office. Austin needs to make sure he never sits in the Mayor’s Office on 4th Avenue.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DHS-Funded Course Asks Cops if They Will Confiscate Guns From Christians
Colorado troopers trained to consider Christians as dangerous terrorists.
Bob Livingston of Personal Liberty Digest has posted an email written by Colorado Undersheriff Ron Trowbridge.
In the email sent to a blogger, Trowbridge describes how Christians and so-called sovereign citizens are actively demonized by the government and troopers are trained to consider them dangerous, even terrorists.
The letter was also posted on the Red Statements website on April 5.
Trooper Joe Kluczynski, a CSP analyst with the Colorado Information Analysis Center, used training materials provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
Infowars.com has documented how the DHS works hand-in-hand with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, two organizations that specialize in churning out propaganda designed to demonize and marginalize patriot and constitutional groups.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FCC Chairman Wannabe Stars at Left-Wing Conference
Denver, Colorado: As I waited to film an interview with Susan Crawford, who is being promoted by the left as the next FCC chairman, she could be overheard expressing a burning desire to get on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program to attack the telecommunications industry. Crawford has written a new book, Captive Audience, which is popular and for sale here.
Free market advocate Adam Thierer of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University calls Crawford “the ringleader of the growing movement to impose centralized, top-down government control on America’s broadband infrastructure.” Broadband is also known as high-speed Internet access…
Free Press was co-founded by Marxist professor Robert McChesney, another favorite at the conference who has his own new book, Digital Disconnect, distributed for free to every conference participant. The book site features the late communist “historian” Howard Zinn saying that “Robert McChesney is one of the nation’s most important analysts of the media.”
When I tried to question this “media scholar” about foreign propaganda channels entering the U.S. media market, he became visibly upset, grabbed my camera, and walked away in disgust, saying other people wanted to talk to him. All of this was captured on film.[url] During the course of the conversation, such as it was, he tried to deny Al Jazeera’s relationship with al Qaeda.
[…]
Seton Motley, president of Less Government, believes the possible nomination of Crawford would be “a terribly dark day” for those who believe in free speech and a free market for Internet services. “The economic and First Amendment ramifications of a Crawford Chairmanship would be most dire,” he told Accuracy in Media. He said her proposals should be sent back to the “fevered swamps of Media Marxism.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Florida ALAC Bill Advances in Senate Hearing With Assist From Rabbi Hausman
Yesterday, Florida bill SB58, Application of Foreign Law in Certain Cases, was approved by a split vote of five to four at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Children, Family and Elder Affairs. The Committee hearing was chaired by Sen.. Eleanor Sobel (D). Vice Chair, Alan Hays is the sponsor of the Florida version of American Law for American Courts. There was public testimony by both opponents and supporters of SB58. There was testimony by retired senior military officers from the Vidal group and Rep..Larry Metz, the House Sponsor of HB351 who ably articulated the central purposes of SB58. Among those appearing in opposition were David Barkey, religious freedom counsel of the Anti-Defamation League, Carlos Osorio of the International Law Section of the Florida Bar Association and Ms. Linda Geller Schwartz of the National Council of Jewish Women…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Gun Control Lies Cannot Stand Up to Reality: Operation Paul Revere Entry Trailer
The mainstream media has been caught time and time again playing on the emotions of the public, ignoring the statistical reality behind the gun control issue. Scripted down to the very last word, the media will never tell you that only around 300 individuals are killed per year from rifles according to the FBI’s own data sheet — a number far less than even the deaths from hands and feet.
Instead, the mainstream media machine runs only on the fuel of highly filtered events that coincide with their preconceived topic of the year: the purported necessity of extreme gun control. You won’t hear about the shootings that have been stopped by law-abiding citizens with concealed carry permits, such as the incident in which another movie theater shooting was stopped by a legal citizen with a legal handgun. You also won’t hear about the fact that James Holmes intentionally drove to a smaller, farther away movie theater in order to avoid the venues that allowed for legal concealed carry holders to attend.
My name is Anthony Gucciardi, and I have been a contributor to Infowars.com for over six years now. In all of the years aiding in the fight against twisted and downright fabricated information spewed forth by the media machine that is dying at record numbers, I have never seen an issue pushed harder, faster, or as deceptively as gun control. There are contenders for sure, but the reality is that the number one thing the elite desire to be written in our future history books is how they conquered the once-brave United States population through disarmament.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Help Save Americans From Tyranny by Opposing S. 649
(NaturalNews) The progressive Left isn’t interested in compromise — ever — and nowhere is that more evident than the gun issue, as evidenced by their non-stop effort (which is really just a continuation of earlier efforts) to ban certain guns and limit magazines.
As such, political Lefties in the U.S. Senate have recently introduced S. 649, an anti-Second Amendment bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has positioned for quick action, according to Gun Owners of America, one of the nation’s leading gun-rights organizations. What’s more, the measure is even worse than the bad one GOA was expecting.
Reid is positioning the legislation to more easily pass the Senate
“We expected it to contain the Veterans Gun Ban, which would mean that you would sell, gift, or raffle a gun in America at the risk of a 15-year prison sentence because of something you didn’t know about the veteran/buyer,” said the group in a press release dated March 25.
“But, surprisingly to us, the Far Left has convinced Reid to include the original Schumer version of the Universal Registry Bill. This would ban private sales of firearms, unless purchasers first get the permission from the government,” the group said. “If Senators can pass this de facto registration bill, they will be well on the way to confiscation (see, for example, Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York, who has a gun owner registry and has called for gun confiscation). If this bill is passed, Senators will claim that they ‘broke the back’ of gun owners in America.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sitting next to a laughing Chuck Schumer on CBS’ Face The Nation, John McCain didn’t mince words — He and other Senate RINOs oppose the proposed Paul-Lee-Cruz-Rubio filibuster of any legislation that undermines the Second Amendment.
Almost turning red in the face, McCain mocked Senators Paul, Lee, Cruz and Rubio and said: “I would not only NOT encourage it [a filibuster of Obama’s assault on gun rights], I don’t understand it. What are they afraid of?”
We’ll answer that question for you, Senator McCain: The American people don’t trust “Maverick” RINOs who lock hands with Barack Obama and attempt to chip away at our Constitutional rights.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mississippi to Add Terrorism to Death Penalty Bill
Mississippi will add terrorism to the list of crimes that could lead to the death penalty, if a victim is killed.
Gov. Phil Bryant’s spokesman says the Republican intends to sign Senate Bill 2223, which will become law July 1.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New York Police Confiscating Firearms From People Taking Anti-Anxiety Medication
York State Police are suspending the handgun permits of people in the state who are prescribed anti-anxiety medication, according to Jim Tresmond of the Tresmond Law Firm in Hamburg, New York. Tresmond Law specializes in firearm litigation.
“We are representing a client right now who is impacted by this onerous activity of the government,” Tresmond told WBEN, a news talk radio station in Buffalo, New York.
“We were flummoxed by this whole matter,” the attorney said. “The HIPPA act is supposed to prevent this kind of thing from happening. It’s a gross invasion of our privacy rights.”
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Tresmond said the New York State Police are responsible for taking action against legal firearms owners. “Based on information the county received from the New York State Police, they’ve suspended the permits. The State Police instigates the proceedings.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Seeks $17.7 Billion for NASA to Lasso Asteroid, Explore Space
NASA unveiled a $17.7 billion spending plan for 2014 today (April 10) that continues major ongoing space exploration projects, while including funds to kick-start an audacious new mission to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon so astronauts can explore it by 2025.
The proposed NASA budget is part of President Barack Obama’s 2014 federal budget request and would restore the U.S. space agency’s funding back near its 2013 levels. The request is about $50 million less than NASA’s 2013 budget but would restore deep cuts from sequestration, leaving the agency with a roughly $1 billion increase from the $16.6 billion budget actually received for 2013.
NASA’s plan to send a robotic spacecraft to lasso an asteroid and tow it to the moon is a stand-out item in the 2014 budget request. The goal is to capture an asteroid and bring it closer to Earth so that a manned mission can explore the space rock by 2025 — a major U.S. spaceflight goal set by Obama in 2010.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Moves Closer to Gun Confiscation
ABC News reported earlier today that senators Joe Mancin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Republican Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania have reached a deal to impose universal gun registration on all Americans practicing their right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.
Mancin and Toomey announced the deal imperiling the free exercise of the Second Amendment during a news conference on Wednesday.
Senator Grassley says gun bill will change after a motion to proceed.
“This amendment is a genuine compromise,” Toomey said. “This is common sense. This is gun sense,” Mancin added, according to Fox News.
“Gun show sales will be conditioned on same background checks and paper record keeping requirements currently applied to retail sales,” ABC News reported.
Since the Sandy Hook massacre in December, Democrats have pushed to close to the so-called “Gun Show Loophole,” in other words they are working to outlaw private gun sales between individuals.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Student: Texas Professor Forced Class to Create Anti-Gun Material (Photos)
A professor at Midwestern State University is under investigation following an official complaint logged by a student who claimed that the class was forced to create anti-gun material and photographed doing so in order to make it appear that they were behind a campaign opposing firearms on campus.
Professor Jennifer Yucus is said to have coerced the students of her graphic design class into creating signs and posters for her own personal campaign against concealed carry rules on campus.
Yucus is then said to have used the material on websites and Facebook to publicize the campaign, as well as to encourage support for opposition to pro-gun legislation currently making its way through the Texas state legislature.
The complaint also indicates that the students were required to include the url of Yucas’ petition in the work, and were also extensively photographed at work, with the intention of making it appear that they were fully supportive of the campaign.
“Professor Yucus took photos of her students in the process of drafting and creating the posters, but did not say how these would be used,” says the complaint. “The posters were then hung in the hallways of the Fain Arts building, giving the impression of student support.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“We wish that the law would let us carry guns because we’re legal adults.”
One of the students who hid in a classroom with about 50 others during a mass stabbing at the Lone Star Community College in northwest Houston yesterday told reporters he wished “that the law would let us carry guns,” slamming the unconstitutional laws that prevented students from being able to defend themselves.
“I was in the classroom right next to it,” the unidentified man told a Fox News reporter.
Recalling the chaos inside the college as frightened students were forced to cower in fear and pack an overcrowded classroom, the second year student stated, “It was just kinda crazy… it sounded like a rock concert, or something… [we] heard somebody scream with pain or something, and we all went back in our room and took everybody that was in the hallways with us. So we put about 50 people in a classroom built for about 20.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Survivor of Communist Cuba Defends 2nd Amendment
In the past, I have corresponded with a few survivors of communist despotism, and what I have found is that most if not all immigrants that actually lived in a collectivized state with a disarmed population fight harder to defend the U.S. Constitution than half of the people who were actually born here. There are a lot of overgrown children in this country today who have NO understanding of the consequences of the path our society has been set on. They look to big government to take care of them because they are too lazy or apathetic to do it for themselves. They look to big government to protect them because they are cowardly and have no concept of self-defense. They look to big government as an attack dog that they can hide behind when they seek to impose their ideology and zealotry on the rest of us. They bow down to big government because they are afraid of becoming the “nail that sticks out”. They submit to authoritarianism because they have no honor, and, no sense of appreciation when it comes to the concept of true liberty.
These sad but useful idiots within our population love to argue in the name of the state, constantly claiming that the ongoing restrictions of our individual freedoms and constitutional rights are “for the greater good” of our society as a whole. They insist that even though the political measures being taken in the U.S. today are almost identical to those implemented in communist police states, this time “things will be different”. This time, the collectivists will “get it right”. Not surprising, though, is the fact that the vast majority of those that call for rights restrictions and socialized mega-government have never actually lived under the kind of system they are demanding. They have absolutely NO idea what it is really like, nor do they ever attempt to learn from those who comprehend full well.
Some people know. Some people have lived it. Some people have experienced the consequences first hand. And, for anyone with the intelligence to listen, this is what they have to say about gun control and the path to tyranny…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Tunnel People That Live Under the Streets of America
Did you know that there are thousands upon thousands of homeless people that are living underground beneath the streets of major U.S. cities? It is happening in Las Vegas, it is happening in New York City and it is even happening in Kansas City. As the economy crumbles, poverty in the United States is absolutely exploding and so is homelessness. In addition to the thousands of “tunnel people” living under the streets of America, there are also thousands that are living in tent cities, there are tens of thousands that are living in their vehicles and there are more than a million public school children that do not have a home to go back to at night. The federal government tells us that the recession “is over” and that “things are getting better”, and yet poverty and homelessness in this country continue to rise with no end in sight. So what in the world are things going to look like when the next economic crisis hits?
When I heard that there were homeless people living in a network of underground tunnels beneath the streets of Kansas City, I was absolutely stunned. I have relatives that live in that area. I never thought of Kansas City as one of the more troubled cities in the United States.
But according to the Daily Mail, police recently discovered a network of tunnels under the city that people had been living in…
[…]
So why aren’t our politicians doing anything to fix this?
For example, why in the world don’t they stop millions of our jobs from being sent out of the country?
Well, the truth is that they don’t think we have a problem. In fact, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson recently said that U.S. trade deficits “don’t matter”.
He apparently does not seem alarmed that more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities have been shut down in the United States since 2001.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Democrat Admits Obama Agenda is Total Gun Ban
Democratic Austin City Council member and potential next mayor Mike Martinez admitted during a speech that the Obama administration’s long term gun control agenda is focused on banning firearms altogether.
Pointing out a sign held by a protester which read, “stop gun ban!,” Martinez remarked, “someone needs to inform him that there is no gun ban currently, but because of the work we’re doing here today, we will make your sign legitimate shortly, so you hang on to that.” The crowd cheered as Martinez made his vow.
The event, which was was hosted in association with Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo who also gave a speech, took place on Saturday and was sponsored in part by Texas Gun Sense, a group pushing for stricter gun laws which would include universal background checks, limiting magazine capacities of semi-auto assault rifles and preventing guns being put in the hands of armed security guards on school campuses.
The man holding the sign, known as “Texas George,” continually had his free speech impeded by pro-gun control demonstrators who repeatedly blocked his sign, according to reports.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What Can be Accomplished in the 2016 Election?
Our country faces many political problems, and most if not all are driven by the “National Question.”
In short, our country’s elite are electing a new people. Due to mass immigration (both legal and illegal) the historic American people is being reduced to a minority. If that happens, you can forget about limited government or honoring the Constitution. It would be a whole new ballgame.
For more details, see my previous article
Get The Message, People! Demography Is Destiny!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Must Avoid ‘Withdrawal Through Fatigue’ Image Over Afghan Pull-Out
Britain’s departure from Afghanistan risks being viewed as the withdrawal of a country forced out by “fatigue”, MPs have said.
The House of Commons defence committee also accused commanders of being overly optimistic about the difficulties of safely pulling out thousands of troops as their combat mission ends. A report published on Wednesday by the committee warned that the way the withdrawal is viewed both at home and Afghanistan would be vital to determining whether British involvement in Afghanistan overall had been a success or a failure…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
This is the 18-year-old British hacker who joined in high-tech attacks on the CIA and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
A-Level student Mustafa Al-Bassam, who until now had his identity protected because of his age, previously admitted two computer crime charges relating to notorious hacker collective Lulzsec.
During the attacks on February 1, 2011, members of the loosely-organised group hijacked computers to overwhelm the systems of major bodies including Sony and newspaper publisher News International.
The so-called ‘distributed denial of service’ attacks (DdoS) work by overwhelming target servers with useless data and flooding computers with traffic.
Al-Bassam also pleaded guilty to a longer-running hacking campaign that saw data stolen from the systems of organisations including 20th Century Fox, Nintendo, the NHS, and the Arizona State Police.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France: Hollande Vows to Wipe Out World’s Tax Havens
French President François Hollande promised he would ‘eradicate’ tax havens ‘in Europe and the world’, as part of his government’s major anti-corruption push, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Hollande made the announcement as part of a move to ‘go all the way’ in cleaning up politics, in the aftermath of the downfall of former Socialist Budget Minister Jérome Cahuzac.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Paris, Hollande said that French banks would be required to declare all of their subsidiaries around the world.
He also announced the creation of a special prosecutors’ office to pursue corruption and tax-fraud cases, as well as a new government authority to monitor the assets and potential conflicts of interests of ministers, parliamentarians and other senior elected officials.
Hollande said there was “a need for a relentless battle against the excesses of money, greed and secret finance.”
“Tax havens must be eradicated in Europe and the world because this is a condition of saving jobs,” Hollande said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Louvre Staff Protest Over ‘Aggressive’ Pickpockets
France’s Louvre museum in Paris was forced to close on Wednesday after 200 staff members staged a walkout to protest against increasingly aggressive pickpockets who are now targeting both tourists and museum workers, a union source said.
France’s Louvre museum in Paris was forced to close temporarily on Wednesday after 200 staff members staged a walkout in protest against increasingly aggressive pickpockets who are now targeting both tourists and museum workers, a union source said.
Management sources at the museum said about 200 workers “exercised their right to walk out” on Wednesday. The museum said it had already lodged a complaint with prosecutors in December 2012 and demanded greater police presence.
According to Christelle Guyader, a representative of the SUD union, Louvre staff are increasingly fearful while on the job. “They are sometimes scared to work because they are confronted by organised gangs of pickpockets that are more aggressive, who enter the museum with minors who are given free entry into the museum,” she said. “Even when they are arrested by the police, they return a few days later.”
Several workers reported experiencing “spitting, insults, threats and beatings”. They said they had lodged several complaints, “which were not followed by action”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Strasbourg’s Great Mosque — A Tourist Magnet
Political wrangles delayed the start of building and led to restrictions. But now, with plans for an extension, the mosque has become a symbol of ecumenical progress in France
One woman asked why Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, changes dates every year. Then came a question about how Muslims calculate that the world is entering the year 1434. For Abdelrahman Binjalloun, a Moroccan-born pharmacist who doubles as a guide, the questions were routine. Since it was inaugurated last September after a three-decade controversy — and even while it was under construction — the Great Mosque of Strasbourg has become a tourist site, a destination for school excursions and a meeting place where French people come face to face with their increasingly numerous Muslim neighbours…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Report of German WWI Reparations to be Examined
By the country’s State’s chief legal council
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 9 — The president of the Greek State’s Legal Council, Fokinas Georgakopoulos, on Tuesday received from Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos a report published on Sunday which suggests that Greece is owed 162 billion euros in World War II reparations from Berlin.
Georgakopoulos, as Kathimerini online reports, will be examining the report, which was drafted by a team of experts in the Finance Ministry and leaked by To Vima newspaper on Sunday, when it was also picked up by German magazine Der Spiegel. He will deliberate on the legality of the claims and submit a report to the government. According to the report, experts found that Germany should pay Greece 108 billion euros for damage to infrastructure and 54 billion euros for a loan that the Nazi occupation forces obliged Greece to take in order to pay Berlin during the war. The reparations are equivalent to about 80% of Greek gross domestic product (GDP).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Talks Between Berlusconi and Bersani End Well, But Just Beginning
No names put forth for next Italian president, says Alfano
(ANSA) — Rome, April 9 — Tuesday’s hour-long meeting between centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani and centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi to discuss Italy’s next president and other issues reportedly went well, but was only a starting point.
“It seems to me it was a good meeting, but we are just at the beginning,” PD Deputy Secretary Enrico Letta said.
During the meeting, no names were put forth for the country’s president, PdL Secretary Angelino Alfano said.
However, “(the candidate) must be someone of unquestionable prestige and of recognized institutional competence,” Alfano said.
“The starting point must be widely shared,” Letta said.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano’s seven-year term ends mid May.
Presidents, who represent national unity and have the power to help governments form and vet laws, are usually expected to be voted by a broad majority.
Napolitano has been struggling to break Italy’s post-election stalemate but cannot dissolve parliament because of Constitutional curbs on a president’s powers in the last six months of his term, meaning that the job will likely fall on his successor.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
From Commentary, April 2013: The Decline and Fall of the BBC
Admired around the world, and nowhere more than in the upper reaches of the American media, the British Broadcasting Corporation has long enjoyed the unstinting support of Britain’s metropolitan media elite, whose views it both forms and reflects. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher considered it institutionally hostile to her person as well as to her agenda. Two decades later, Tony Blair went from being one of its favorites to its number-one target, largely though not exclusively because of the Iraq war, which the BBC opposed from the very first suggestion of military action against Saddam Hussein. By the time Blair came out in favor of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008, to the barely contained fury of the BBC’s news reporters and analysts, he had already become the despised outcast he is today in British metropolitan circles, spoken of by the BBC only in terms of opprobrium and bitter mockery…
It is hard to escape the conclusion that a certain self-regard and the smug sense of belonging to an organization of uniquely intelligent, educated, and cultured people is what lies at the root of the BBC’s institutional problems. Now the BBC has revealed itself as capable of the worst kind of bureaucratic malfeasance for such a trusted and exalted organization—trying to hide its role as an abettor of an evil man by slandering a good one. Some part of its reputation may never recover.
About the Author
Jonathan Foreman, a frequent contributor to Commentary, is the author, most recently, of Aiding and Abetting: Foreign Aid Failures and the 0.7% Deception.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Margaret Thatcher Did Not Divide, But Merely Highlighted the Divide Already There
LONDON, ENGLAND — London, England-Three hundred scruffy Glaswegians took to the streets last night popping champagne corks to celebrate Thatcher’s demise. In south London, they went a step further trashing and looting a few shops while brandishing signs like ‘the # is dead’. Meanwhile the head of the Durham Miner’s Association stuck a celebratory fat cigar in his bloated face; pompously claiming the former PM wreaked havoc on ‘MY people, MY communities’.
Then there are those calling for the highest honour of a state funeral instead of the ceremonial one planned. Even David Cameron, our silly left leaning so-called conservative Prime Minister described her as having ‘saved the country’ and as ‘one of the Great Britons’. It was ever thus — a country divided by the ideals of wealth creation and distribution.
In 1979, I came to London as a tourist and saw the garbage piled up 8 to 10 feet high in public squares and green spaces. It stank and rats scurried about proliferating on the feast handed to them by the striking unions. The working week was three days long and my then mother-in-law would often shop with a candle stuck to her trolley because electricity was rationed. She only bought what was absolutely needed and rarely anything for pleasure. Everything had to be serviceable. This was the case for everyone except for the exceptionally wealthy, since the top rate of tax was then an eye-popping 83%.
The opinion on wealth creation and distribution, then as now, was deeply divided. Many Britons I talked to at the time railed against the unions and the stranglehold they had on the nation. WW2 had cost the country dearly, rationing and persisting austerity coupled with the socialist Labour party at the helm, who fostered the centuries-old class divides for their own interests, meant the country suffered for decades. People wanted change and no politician conservative or leftist could deliver it. I remember a BBC producer telling me the unions would frequently show up at No. 10 Downing Street, have beer and sandwiches with the reigning PM and tell him how the country was going to be run.
Thatcher did what no politician had the guts to do which was to take on the intransigent unions, especially the militant and uncompromising Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Richest Man in France Ends Bid to be Belgian
France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, head of the LVMH luxury goods empire, has renounced his controversial bid to become a Belgian citizen, he told Le Monde newspaper on Wednesday. Arnault caused uproar in France in September last year when it emerged he had applied for Belgian citizenship. He was accused of seeking the move to avoid France’s proposed 75 percent tax, although this was firmly denied by Arnault himself.
In an interview with French daily Le Monde on Wednesday Arnault explained why he was giving up his quest.
“I underestimated the impact of this action, which I had been assured, would have been done with the utmost discretion,” Arnault said.
“Today I have decided to remove all doubt. I have withdrawn my request for Belgian nationality.” The billionaire also reaffirmed that his application was not motivated by a desire to escape the French tax man.
“I repeatedly said that I would stay a resident of France and would continue to pay my taxes,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Halal Sausages Laced With Pork
Sweden has found halal-marked salami for sale that contains more than 10 percent pork, which observant Muslims do not eat.
Swedish National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) said on Wednesday that the pork meat came from Slovenia.
“We are now going to inform the EU about our analyses and follow up with the company that sold this wrongly labelled salami in Sweden,” agency spokeswoman Louise Nyholm said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable that products that are labelled halal contain pork meat. There are a lot of people who absolutely do not want to eat pork meat, so it’s important that companies take responsibility and verify that their products are not sold on false grounds,” she added.
Observant Muslims avoid pork as its consumption is prohibited by Islam.
The agency did not disclose how much falsely marked meat had been sold or for how long it had been on the market.
The Islamic halal method of killing an animal requires its throat to be slit and the blood to be drained. The method is forbidden in Sweden because the animals are not anaesthetized before slaughter.
The food agency said the salami contained around 10 percent pork meat, far above the 1-percent level usually considered as contamination.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Michael Deacon visits Finchley, where the constituents Margaret Thatcher served for 33 years are paying their respects patriotically but quietly.
The scene in the office of the local Conservative Association said it all. Inside, a large but demure portrait hung on the wall; beneath it, on a shelf, stood a little row of framed photos of her smiling or cutting a cake. At either side of the photos were vases containing little Union flags. Draped beneath the shelf, dangling against the radiator, was a string of bunting. Outside, just a few bouquets…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Are Right-Wingers Nicer Than Left-Wingers?
by Harry Mount
I don’t mean in a Nazis vs Communists, Hitler vs Stalin, way. I mean in a moderate way: Conservative activists vs Labour activists, you might say. It’s difficult to imagine Conservative activists behaving like the people who celebrated Margaret Thatcher’s death in Glasgow and Brixton. That’s partly because it’s hard to think of any Left-wing leader who had as powerful an effect on the country as she did.
But, still, between them, Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan — with quite a lot of help from Edward Heath — led to a disastrous decline in British fortunes in the 1970s, as opposed to the Thatcher economic turnaround. But their deaths barely raised a whimper, let alone a distasteful celebration. Some Right-wingers will, presumably, feel a little private inner glow at the death of a properly wicked dictator, like Fidel Castro; but it’s difficult to imagine them taking to the streets to celebrate with such public gusto.
Why is this? Part of the reason is that conservatives accept the unfairnesses and shortcomings of the world as an inevitable reflection of the human condition. In their understanding that public spending cannot be infinite, that there must be some realistic restraint on altruistic impulses, they are often thought to be ruthless and heartless…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bullfinch Trial Day 43: Defence Case Closes at Old Bailey
The latest from the Oxford Mail. ALL evidence has now been heard in the Old Bailey trial of nine men accused of sexually exploiting vulnerable girls in Oxford. The last defendant to give evidence, Bilal Ahmed, finished testifying this afternoon to bring the defence case to an end.
According to the reporter’s live blog and twitter as his defence he denied having sex with Girl 5: and said ““It’s like a fantasy she has just come up with. . . I think she is confused. It’s all the alcohol and drugs she has been taking.”
The trial has run for 12 and a half weeks and evidence has come from six alleged victims. Five out of the nine defendants chose to take the witness stand.
Judge Peter Rook told the jury he hoped to send them out to consider their verdicts for the 66 charges on May 1 after speeches from barristers and he had summed up of the case. The jury will return on Tuesday morning when the prosecution will begin its closing speech. All defendants deny all charges.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: British Children Facing Bleaker Future Than Rest of Europe, Warns UNICEF
Children’s prospects in Britain are poorer than those in much of the rest of Europe because of the high rate of youth unemployment, teenage pregnancy and under-age drinking, Unicef warns today.
A report by the UN children’s fund has found that they are worse off overall than in many other industrialised countries, including less wealthy nations such as Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The charity ranked the UK 16th out of 29 developed countries — three places higher than in its last report in 2007…
[JP note: Perhaps Britain would be better off as a recipient of international development aid rather than a donor.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Baroness Thatcher’s Funeral Will Take Place on Wednesday April 17th
Downing Street have announced that the funeral of Baroness Thatcher will take place on Wednesday, April 17th. The funeral ceremony, with full military honours, will take place at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, following a procession from Westminster. The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the service, Buckingham Palace said.
Downing Street have a section of their website for messages of condolence a selection of which will be passed on to the Thatcher family.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bullfinch: Defendant Claims ‘It’s Mistaken Identity’
A CHILD sex suspect accused of “preying” on an underage girl has told the Old Bailey she must have got him confused with someone else because of drink and drug abuse. Bilal Ahmed was the last defendant to give evidence in the trial of nine men accused of sexually exploiting girls in Oxford.
The jury has now heard all the evidence in the case and will return on Tuesday when closing speeches are due to begin.
Ahmed, who took the stand yesterday, is accused of having sex with the alleged victim known as Girl 5 when she was 14 in 2011. He is suspected of giving her drugs and alcohol with his cousin and fellow defendant Zeeshan Ahmed before having sex with her…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Gulf War Hero Traces Wife’s Stolen Iphone… But Police Are ‘Too Busy’ To Arrest Thief
Gulf War hostage John Nichol has condemned police for failing to confront the thief who stole his wife’s iPhone — despite being told exactly where it is.
The £500 phone’s tracking software instantly revealed its location and the former RAF Tornado navigator passed the information to detectives.
But they were apparently ‘too busy’ to retrieve the phone. Instead, they bombarded Mr Nichol and his wife with phone calls asking them to fill in forms and offering victim support.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Relief — Job Vacancy — Mosque Relations Officer X3
Islamic Relief are recruiting for three positions for a Mosque Relations Officer. The full Job Description and advert can be downloaded below. Islamic Relief is an international relief and development Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), which aims to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest people…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Jobless Mother-of-10 Vows to Keep Having More Babies Despite Cuts to Her £30,000-a-Year Benefits
An unemployed mother-of-ten says nothing will stop her having more children despite cuts to her £30,000-a-year benefits.
Iona Heaton’s state handouts were reduced when partner Paul Brown got more work but the family still receive £21,000 a year in benefits on top of his salary.
Despite being housed in a £190,000 four-bedroom house and taking home, Ms Heaton, 44, said it is not enough to live on.
Her partner Paul earns about £1,000 a month from his work as job as a metal polisher.
She told The Sun: ‘I don’t know how the Government expects people to make do with current benefits.
‘It’s just not enough for a family as big as mine to live on.’
But Ms Heaton, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said she will not get a job because she will be worse off and said nothing will stop her having more children.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A SINGLE mother caught with £2million worth of cannabis in her home has been spared jail.
When detectives raided Lisa Dolan’s home and found 450lb of cannabis resin hidden in bags, she told them: ‘It’s not mine — I’m minding it for a couple days for £500.’
The 39-year-old added that she had hidden the vast haul — which made her home in Liverpool ‘positively hum’ with the odour — because it would be ‘easy money’.
But in an extraordinary decision, a judge allowed her to walk free from court with a suspended prison sentence.
After hearing her 13-year-old son would be taken into care if Dolan went to prison — the boy’s father is already behind bars — Judge Stephen Clark took pity on her.
‘We know compassion is a dirty word, but there is still room for it,’ he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Unison Members Join Celebrations of Baroness Thatcher’s Death
Representatives of one of Labour’s biggest union backers have joined celebrations of Baroness Thatcher’s death.
Members of Unison, which has given almost £4 million to Labour since Ed Miliband became party leader, displayed the public sector union’s banner at a street party in south London on Monday. Hundreds of people gathered at Brixton’s central square to drink, dance and chant their delight at her death with shouts of “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie: dead, dead, dead.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]
A teenage girl who was tricked into having sex with a woman who pretended to be a schoolboy today spoke of her outrage after learning her abuser had avoided prison.
Christine Wilson, 26, seduced two 15-year-olds — but a judge ruled that she deserved a lenient sentence because she genuinely believed that she was in fact male.
One of the victims, Megan Adie, said she was ‘devastated’ by the judgement, and warned that Wilson could prey on others now that she is walking free.
She was given three months of probation as well of community service during sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Megan, now 18, regarded Wilson as her ‘first love’ when they met, and allow the person she thought was a 16-year-old boy to take her virginity.
The victim, who has waived her right to anonymity in order to speak out, today said: ‘I’m absolutely devastated with the sentence Christine has been given.
‘She will be able to go back to her own house and lie in her own bed again. I will also be lying in mine, still trying to deal with what she has done to me.
‘I really hope the judge has really thought this sentence through because if Christine does this again, I hope he knows it’s on his conscience.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Thanks to Fiat Foreign Trade Sees Dramatic Growth
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, AAPRIL 9 — Over the first two months of 2013, Serbia’s foreign trade saw a dramatic growth against a year earlier, according to a bulletin published by the Belgrade-based Institute for Market Research (IZIT).
According to IZIT, Kragujevac-based Fiat Automobili car factory contributed the most to the positive trends of Serbian foreign trade in the first two months of the 2013.
Exports from Fiat Automobili’s department for the production of motor vehicles and trailers grew by a bit more than four times compared to the first two months of the 2012.
Serbia most important trade partners in exports for the January-February 2013 period were Italy, Germany, Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The share of these four countries in total export activities of Serbia over the period under consideration was 45.4 percent.
Italy’s share in total sales of goods imported from Serbia increased to 17.4 percent in the first two months of 2013, from 11 percent a year earlier.
When it comes to imports, Serbia’s most significant trade partners in the first two months of 2013 were are Russia, Germany, Italy and China.
In the first two months of this year, the total export-import activities have increased to about USD 4.8 billion, from 4.15 billion in the same period of 2012.
The growth in export was considerably more serious than in imports. In January and February of this year, exports increased by 33.7 percent to nearly USD 1.9 billion, from USD 1.4 billion in the first two months of the 2012.
At the same time, imports increased from about USD 2.7 billion to USD 2.9 billion, or by 6.8 percent.
Serbia’s foreign trade deficit dropped 21.3 percent to USD 1.05 billion in the first two months of 2013 against a year earlier.
Year-on-year, the export-import ratio improved significantly, to 64.1 from 51.2 percent.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Bans Slogans Threatening National Unity in Elections
CAIRO, April 9 (Xinhua) — Egypt’s Shura Council (upper house of parliament) on Tuesday banned using slogans which threat national unity in the election campaigns but keeping the deletion of a controversial clause that bans religious slogans, State-run Ahram Online reported. The council approved banning slogans that may lead to discrimination among citizens upon religion, gender or origin in the electoral campaign without stipulating “religious slogans” in the article…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Britain’s Foreign Office Condemns Cathedral Clashes
British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt has condemned violence that took place outside Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral on Sunday. Violent clashes broke out outside the cathedral on Sunday during a funeral for four Christians who were killed in sectarian violence over the weekend in a town northeast of Cairo…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Presidential Statement: Violence Started After Mourners Vandalized Cars
The Presidency issued a statement on Tuesday 9/4/2013 commenting the acts of violence, the sectarian strife in Khosous and the subsequent events outside Abbasiya Cathedral. The Presidential statement stated that all necessary measures were taken to end violence outside Abbasiya Cathedral, assailants will be held accountable…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
In Pictures: Savage Islamic Attack on St. Mark Cathedral Allowed by Egyptian Forces
by Raymond Ibrahim
Egypt’s Coptic Christians frequently accuse State Security and police of overlooking Muslim attacks on Christians and their places of worship, especially monasteries and churches. The Western mainstream media often ignores these accusations, or mentions them in passing as “unsubstantiated reports.” Last weekend’s assault on the St. Mark Cathedral — unprecedented in significance — was no different, except for the fact that there are many pictures demonstrating State complicity.
To recap: After last Sunday’s St. Mark Cathedral funeral service for Egypt’s most recent Christian victims of jihad — including one man set aflame — gangs of Muslims attacked the Christian mourners, resulting in the deaths of two more Copts, including one shot through the heart. Hundreds of Christians retreated back into the cathedral — both to get out of harm’s way, and to protect their holiest site. They were trapped there all night, enduring projectile and firebomb attacks. State Security also opened fire on the cathedral, including through tear-gas.
Several Egyptian media outlets and newspapers, especially the popular Youm7, have published a variety of pictures showing mobs, if not terrorists, attacking the cathedral in front of absolutely indifferent, possibly approving, security forces. Some of these pictures, with my captions, follow:…
| — Hat tip: DS | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Ceremony to Commemorate Martyrs’ Day
Tunis — A ceremony has been held Tuesday morning at the Martyrs’ Square of Séjoumi on the commemoration of the events of April 9, 1938, with attendance of Caretaker President Moncef Marzouki, National Constituent Assembly Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar and Interim Prime Minister Ali Larayedh.
Escorted by Defence Minister Rachid Sabbagh, they saluted the flag as the national anthem was performed and reviewed a detachment of the three arms paying them honours. Then, they placed a spray of flowers at the bottom of the martyrs’ memorial and recited the opening verses of the Quran to their memory.
The ceremony was also attended by several members of the government and the constituent assembly as well as national and political figures.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Arab Activists Face Execution on Iran’s Death Row
Minorities in Iran face stepped-up efforts to silence and stamp them out — including mass arrests and executions. An Ahwazi Arab activist seeking appeals for five men on death row shared his personal story with DW.
Of the 21 countries that practice the death penalty, Iran carried out the second-greatest number of executions in 2012 (after China), according to a report released by Amnesty International on Wednesday (10.04.2013). Beyond the 314 official executions in the Islamic Republic, the group cited reports of at least 230 additional secret executions.
One of the deadly offenses is “enmity against God,” a vague charge the Iranian state has used in political attacks against government opponents and minorities. About 40 to 50 percent of the Iranian population consists of ethnic or religious minorities, including Azerbaijanis, Kurds and Iranian Arabs, also known as Ahwazi Arabs. The roots of these minorities go back hundreds of years, and in the past they’ve have been tolerated and granted rights.
But minorities are increasingly seen as a threat to consolidation of a homogeneous Persian, Shiite nation. Under the hard-line administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran has increased arrests and executions of minorities — including against Ahwazi Arabs. After a trial widely viewed as unfair in June of 2012, four Ahwazi Arabs were executed, while the death sentence for five others was upheld this past January.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
At least 37 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a 6.1 magnitude earthquake near a nuclear plant in southern Iran on Tuesday, Iranian officials said.
The earthquake struck the town of Kaki some 96 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bushehr, a town on the Persian Gulf that is home of Iran’s first nuclear power plant, built with Russian help.
Authorities said it did not damage a nuclear plant in the region.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tribute to the ‘beautiful and bubbly’ British air stewardess who fell to her death from a Dubai skyscraper.
Evelyn Clarke, 28, who died from multiple injuries, is thought to have been on a night out with friends when she fell from a tower block window late on Sunday.
Miss Clarke worked for the airline Emirates and was living with friends in Dubai.
She is not thought to have had any personal problems and suicide is not suspected.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Rebel Group Al-Nusra Front Pledges Allegiance to Al Qaeda
Syria’s rebel al-Nusra Front has pledged alliance to al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri. The announcement from one of Syria’s most prominent rebel groups will further complicate western efforts to aid the Syrian opposition.
Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani formally confirmed on Wednesday that his rebel group was allied to al-Zawahiri in an audio recording posted online.
“The sons of al-Nusra Front renew their pledge to the Sheikh of Jihad Ayman al-Zawahiri and declare obedience,” al-Jawlani said.
The move is likely to fan fears that radical Islamists are gaining influence in Syria and bolster assertions from President Bashar al-Assad that the regime is fighting “terrorists.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Four Militants Killed in Russia’s Ingushetia
MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) — Russian special interior troops have killed four insurgents in the North Caucasian republic of Ingushetia, National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAK) said Monday. One serviceman was also killed, NAK’s website said.
The anti-terror operation started at 05:00 Moscow time (0100 GMT) in the village of Dolakovo. After the militants were blocked in a private household and refused to surrender, the fighting has started which lasted for three hours…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]
The harrowing stories of women and children locked up for so-called ‘moral crimes’ in Afghanistan’s notorious female prison have been revealed after cameras were allowed inside.
Mariam has been in Badam Bagh prison for three months after she shot a man who just raped her at gunpoint and then turned the weapon on herself — but she has yet to been charged.
Nuria has eight months left to serve of her sentence for trying to divorce her husband.
She gave birth in prison to her son and they share a cell together.
He is one of 62 children trapped in prison because of their mother’s sentences for ‘crimes’ such as refusing an arranged marriage or being with a man of their choice.
Some women are serving up to seven years for leaving their husband.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: 69 Vying for 10 Reserved Seats of Non-Muslims
Non-Muslim members are elected in proportion to the number of general seats won by political parties.
ISLAMABAD: Sixty-nine candidates, seven of them women, are vying for 10 seats reserved for non-Muslims in the National Assembly, according to the final list issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) here on Monday.
They have been nominated by 18 political parties in order of preference under Section 47A of the People’s Representation Act, 1976…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Xinhua) — Pakistan on Wednesday successfully launched the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, the military said. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a range of 900 kilometers, an army statement said. “Pakistan today conducted a successful launch of the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Hatf IV Shaheen-1 Weapon System,”a statement from the army’s Inter-Services Public Relations said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US Envoy Expresses Alarm Over Rising Threats, Attacks Against Muslims in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka expressed alarm at rising hate speech and attacks against Muslims in the island nation and warned that such sentiments should not be allowed to fester. Hate speeches, vilification and even attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and places of worship by Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist groups have occurred in recent months, and inaction by the government and police has spurred allegations that the government supports the campaign, which it denies…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Why Pakistan’s Nuclear Bombs Are a Threat
Pakistan’s controversial nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan — who allegedly transferred nuclear technology to North Korea — and his nuclear rhetoric still resonate with ordinary Pakistanis and Islamists alike.
North Korea owes a great deal to Pakistan, in particular to its former nuclear chief Abdul Qadeer Khan, who, in 2004, confessed that he sold nuclear secrets to Pyongyang. Experts say that without Khan’s help, North Korea would not be able to conduct nuclear tests.
Internationally, Khan is a controversial figure but in his country he is revered by millions and is fondly called the “father of the Islamic bomb.”
Although the nuclear controversy involving Pakistan and Khan has subsided, the Islamic Republic’s nuclear arsenal is a constant source of worry for the international community. Though Pakistan’s civilian and military establishments claim that their nuclear weapons are under strict state control, many defense experts fear that they can fall into the hands of terrorists in the event of an Islamist takeover of Islamabad or if things get out of control for the government and the military.
Pakistan, which conducted its nuclear tests in 1998, is battling with a protracted Islamist insurgency which threatens to paralyze the state. In the past decade, Islamists not only attacked civilians but targeted military installations and bases as well. Some international experts say that the Taliban and al Qaeda have their eyes on Pakistan’s nuclear warheads.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan’s Public Unfazed by North Korea’s Threats
Anti-missile batteries have been installed in central Tokyo and warships are being deployed to defend Japan, but most people think Kim Jong Un is not sufficiently reckless as to launch an attack on his neighbors.
From office blocks and apartment buildings in the Ichigaya district of central Tokyo, the pair of squat, olive-green missile batteries is clearly visible in the grounds of the Ministry of Defense.
Braced on extended legs and with their multiple launchers raised to the sky, the batteries’ launch tubes are still under their protective covers. But the interior of the tubes, where the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles sit in readiness, will only be revealed should North Korea take drastic steps that threaten the security of Japan and the Japanese people, the government has said.
And while they are keeping a watchful eye on events on the Korean Peninsula, people here are not too concerned about the vitriol emanating from Pyongyang on an almost daily basis.
The regime of Kim Jong Un is more bluster than a serious threat to the security of the region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea’s nuclear missile system is ‘primed and ready to launch’ as South Korea raised its alert levels to ‘vital’ today, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean peninsula may be slipping out of control.
The U.S. and South Korea believe dictator Kim Jong Un may test fire a nuclear-capable missile with a 3,000km (2,000-mile) range at any time and without issuing a standard notice to commercial aviation and maritime shipping so they can avoid the area.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place ‘anytime from now on’ and warned Pyongyang it could trigger a fresh round of UN sanctions, according to the Herald Sun.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mali Gives Hollande New Camel After First One Eaten
Malian authorities are set to give French President François Hollande a new camel after the first one he was given as thanks for France’s military intervention in Mali was killed and eaten by the family who was meant to look after it in Timbuktu.
Things have not been going well for French President François Hollande as of late. His approval ratings already abysmally low, Hollande’s leadership was called into question last week after his government became embroiled in a tax scandal. To add insult to injury, it has also recently been revealed that a camel he was given as thanks for France’s military intervention in Mali was slaughtered and eaten by the family meant to care for it in Timbuktu.
But there seems to be a small silver lining in the storm cloud that has settled over Hollande’s presidency — embarrassed over the whole camel business, Malian authorities are set to give the French leader an even better dromedary to replace the one that was devoured.
“As soon as we heard of this, we quickly replaced it with a bigger and better-looking camel,” said a local government official, quoted by the Reuters news agency. “The new camel will be sent to Paris. We are ashamed of what happened to the camel. It was a present that did not deserve this fate.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Abuja Communities Where Twins Are Born for Sacrifice
On a fact finding mission, Chineme Okafor journeyed into some remote villages around Abuja where twins are sacrificed to gods because it is considered a taboo to be born a twin in such communities, though the Scottish missionary to Nigeria, late Mary Slessor led a crusade that stopped the barbaric act decades ago.
Away from the hub of civilisation in Abuja, a neigbouring dry and dusty community on a string of semiarid topography within Kwali and Kuje area councils has become infamous for its centuries-old traditional practice of killing twins and children whose mother dies at childbirth.
The Bassa-Komo-Gbajingala indigenous clan in Abuja will no doubt be on a very close public scrutiny for a long time to come. The agrarian clan with a lifestyle built around subsistence farming, fishing and hunting has a cultural belief that loathes multiple births by its women just as the death of a woman during childbirth naturally puts the life of the baby born by such women on ‘death row’…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Boko Haram Amnesty — You’re on Suicide Mission, Christians Tell FG
Abuja — CHRISTIAN leaders, yesterday, opposed the Federal Government’s plan to offer unconditional amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect, describing it as a misplaced priority and an unjust cause. This came even as there is skepticism within the military circle that the amnesty will work out, adding that it may turn out to be a colossal failure and the Federal Government may end up embarrassing itself over its non workability. The Christian leaders asked the government to take urgent steps to compensate and resettle victims of Boko Haram attacks instead of wasting time and resources on a matter that would not yield any positive results at the end of the day…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
South Sudan Ambush Leaves UN Peacekeepers Among 13 Dead
At least 13 people have been killed by unidentified attackers in an ambush on a UN convoy in South Sudan. The UN has warned of an investigation into the deaths of the five Indian peacekeepers and seven civilians. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack on Tuesday, which saw armed gunmen open fire on UN vehicles in the restive eastern state of Jonglei…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tensions Over the Jubaland Process in Somalia Could Embolden Al-Shabaab
In the battle against Islamist fighters in Somalia, the liberation of Kismayo in October 2012 was symbolic of the progress made in ridding the country of Al-Shabaab’s influence. The port city and its environs is a melting pot of several clans, a business hub linking neighbouring countries and the Middle East, and, until its liberation, the base and financial nerve centre of Al-Shabaab.
Months after its liberation, however, the struggle over the control of Kismayo and its surrounding areas continues. Various stakeholders have an interest in the formation of Jubaland state — made up of the Gedo, Middle Juba and Lower Juba regions — and this has become a bone of contention capable of derailing the progress achieved thus far. Tensions have been simmering since the idea of creating a Jubaland state was first mooted by Kenya as a buffer zone between its territory and south-central Somalia…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Uproar as Uganda Minister Announces Plan to Ban Miniskirts
A Minister in Uganda has come under mounting pressure from women campaigners after announcing plans to ban miniskirts.
The government’s draconian measures form part of an anti-pornography bill that seeks to clamp down on sexual content available in the country. In a statement that swiftly drew outrage, the Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, said the measures were necessary to prevent men from being encouraged to sexually assault women…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil: Rio to Impose Hefty Fines for Littering
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 9 (Xinhua) — Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes announced on Tuesday that the city government will impose fines for randomly dumping garbage, a measure to clear the streets of Brazil’s second largest city of litter.
On a local news TV program, Paes said that even throwing an object as small as a soda can in the streets will be punished with high fines. “The idea is to change this bad habit of Rio’s residents,” he said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Margaret Thatcher Was ‘Unabashedly Racist’, Says Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr
The death of Margaret Thatcher has triggered a political brawl in Australia, with foreign minister Bob Carr facing calls to apologise to the Thatcher family after describing her as “unabashedly racist”.
Mr Carr has recounted his astonishment at Mrs Thatcher’s tirade against Asian immigration in the presence of his Malaysian-born wife, Helena. “I recall one conversation I had with her in her retirement where she said something that was unabashedly racist,” Mr Carr told ABC television “She warned Australia — talking to me, with Helena standing not far away — against Asian immigration, saying that if we allowed too much of it we’d see the natives of the land, the European settlers, overtaken by migrants. “She said, ‘I like Sydney but you can’t allow the migrants to take over, otherwise you will end up like Fiji where the Indian migrants have taken over.’ I was astonished.” Mr Carr, the former premier of New South Wales, said the comments were made by Mrs Thatcher after she left office…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Daniel Greenfield
The Associated Press, after putting up a brief defense of the English language, ceded the term “gay marriage,” then “illegal immigrant” and finally “Islamist.” The left has a long history with political language and the media, so these latest triumphs were only a matter of time.
“Don’t tell me words don’t matter,” Obama once said, while insisting that they meant the opposite of what we thought they meant. The left believes that words matter because they allow people to communicate the wrong sort of ideas. Change the words and you change the ideas…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
A Somali paedophile has been given thousands of pounds by a human rights court — and released on to the streets.
Ministers have spent more than a decade trying and failing to deport Mustafa Abdi, who is thought to have cost taxpayers more than £600,000 in jail costs and legal aid.
But yesterday Strasbourg judges ordered the British government to pay the convicted child rapist thousands of pounds in damages and legal costs.
The court said Abdi was ‘wrongfully detained’ for two and a half years, breaching his right to liberty.
Ministers had decided he should remain in jail while awaiting deportation because he presented a ‘high risk’ to the public. But it emerged he was released from prison in January this year because there was no prospect of him being deported any time soon.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Communist Party, Socialists Not Sure What the Big Deal is Over Melissa Harris-Perry
The Communist Party USA and the Democratic Socialists of America don’t see what the big deal is when it comes to MSNBC Host’s Melissa Harris-Perry’s latest 30-second spot advocating for society to move beyond its “private idea” of kids belonging to parents and families and to the notion that they belong to “whole communities.”
“How is she saying that? She doesn’t say that at all,” said Libero della Piana, who is one of the Vice Chairs of the Communist Party USA, when asked if he thought Harris-Perry was advocating the idea of children belonging to the government.
“She’s not saying children are the property of the community or anything else. She’s saying that they are our responsibility. I think that’s something most people would agree with. That’s why we have public education. I don’t think that’s a communist idea. Communists certainly support it,” he told Politic365.
(On a historical note, the tenth plank of the Communist Manifesto reads: “Free education for all children in public schools.”)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gosnell Worker Heard Baby “Screaming” During Live Birth Abortion
[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]
One of the employees who worked for infamous abortionist Kermit Gosnell described to a jury how she heard a baby “screaming” during a live-birth abortion, but the shocking story continues to receive virtually no national attention.
Asked to describe the screaming, Sherry West responded, “It wasn’t fully developed, It didn’t have eyes or a mouth but it was like screeching, making this noise. It was weird. It sounded like a little alien,” adding that the incident happened during the abortion of a baby that was 18-24 inches in length.
The baby was then left on a glass tray after which West told her co-worker to contact Gosnell and fled the room.
West explained that she preferred to think of the aborted babies, many of which were terminated after having already been born, as “specimens” because “it was easier to deal with mentally.”
Despite admitting that the incident, “really freaked me out.” West remains loyal to Gosnell despite the fact that the Philadelphia doctor faces a possible death sentence for his macabre role in running the Philadelphia Women’s Medical Society clinic.
As we previously reported, Gosnell’s clinic was a literal house of horrors in which he liked to keep mementos of dead babies such as severed feet.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Homosexuality: The Political Battering Ram
[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]
“I believe granting liberty to gay people advances a compelling government interest, that such an interest cannot be adequately advanced if “pockets of resistance” to a societal statement of equality are permitted to flourish, and hence that a law that permits no individual exceptions based on religious beliefs will be the least restrictive means of achieving the goal of liberty for gay people.” — Chai Feldblum, an open Lesbian who was nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by Barack Hussein Obama
The lid has yet again been blown off of the radical homosexual agenda. As the Supreme Court held hearings on the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, Obama spent $350 million on sexual indoctrination classes for children. The timing is impeccable.
Through the Personal Responsibility Education Program, students will be taught that no type of sex is wrong and the only “unsafe” behavior is becoming pregnant.
One can look to New York City, who implemented a similar type of sexual indoctrination on NYC schools in 2011. This curriculum is taught to grades 5, 8, and 10, which students receive standardized testing on.
Here are some examples of their twisted curriculum:
[…]
Within a year after this perversion was implemented, an article was released in the Wall Street Journal which revealed cases of sexual misconduct by teachers, and that the teachers’ unions were protecting the teachers who received little to no consequence for their crimes against children…
Keep in mind this is the same president who overlooked the ice investigation into the pentagon (5000 pentagon employees were investigated for child pornography), who appointed over 225 homosexuals and transvestites into key positions in government (including Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who “queerified” Harvard), and who appointed as a safe school czar Kevin Jennings who wrote the forward to a book entitled, Queering Elementary Education. Jennings’ hero was Harry Hay, an icon for NAMBLA (North American Man and Boy Love Association) whose motto is “sex before 8 before it’s too late” when marching in gay pride parades.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“… we must be wary of those who are too willing to end the lives of the elderly and the ill. If we ever decide that a poor quality of life justifies ending that life, we have taken a step down a slippery slope that places all of us in danger. There is a difference between allowing nature to take its course and actively assisting death. The call for euthanasia surfaces in our society periodically, as it is doing now under the guise of “death with dignity” or assisted suicide. Euthanasia is a concept, it seems to me, that is in direct conflict with a religious and ethical tradition in which the human race is presented with “ a blessing and a curse, life and death,” and we are instructed ‘…therefore, to choose life.” I believe ‘euthanasia’ lies outside the commonly held life-centered values of the West and cannot be allowed without incurring great social and personal tragedy. This is not merely an intellectual conundrum. This issue involves actual human beings at risk…” — C. Everett Koop, M.D. * *taken from the book KOOP, The Memoirs of America’s Family Doctor by C. Everett Koop, M.D., Random House, 1991
Florence Wald and American Hospice
Florence Wald is the most famous leader of the modern American hospice movement. She was born Florence Sophie Schorske in New York on April 19, 1917. She received a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1938 and an M.N. from Yale School of Nursing in 1941. She received a second master’s degree from Yale University in mental health nursing in 1956, and became an instructor at the school’s nursing program. In 1959, she became Dean of Yale’s School of Nursing. The Yale School of Nursing was founded in 1923 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Florence Wald, an agnostic and secular humanist, was an open advocate of euthanasia and assisted suicide, while Saunders, a devout Christian, opposed the practice and believed hospice made it unnecessary.
As productive and influential as Florence Wald was, she sharply disagreed with Dame Cicely Saunders’ life-affirming approach to end-of-life care and said: “I know that I differ from Cicely Saunders, who is very much against assisted suicide. I disagree with her view on the basis that there are cases in which either the pain or the debilitation the patient is experiencing is more than can be borne, whether it be economically, physically, emotionally, or socially. For this reason, I feel a range of options should be available to the patient, and this should include assisted suicide.”
Wald’s pro-euthanasia type of hospice is what is being delivered in many parts of this country, though many hospice professionals will strongly deny that. Those who do remain faithful to Dr. Saunders life-affirming vision, who relieve the suffering of the dying until a natural death occurs in its own timing, will say they do not hasten death. Those who do hasten death will say the same. The public often has no way of knowing which type of hospice their loved one will experience.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Our Children, Global Citizens, And the Collective
“Our Children Belong to the Collective” is a phrase that brings back bad memories and nightmares for survivors of communism. It is alarming when an MSNBC host says that your kid belongs to the collective. I’ve seen and experienced Hillary’s global village of “collective” children and did not like it. I do not like Agenda 21’s “collectivism,” global citizens, or Hillary’s secular village raising our children — it is a frightening prospect.
Former communist dictator Ceausescu and his wife brainwashed children through slogans in and out of school to believe that their parents were the President and his wife. Disparaging biological parents, community organizers and teachers encouraged the worship of the communist party and its absolute tyrannical leader as the only source of parental advice and guidance.
They were told to snitch on their parents; they were asked repeatedly how much money their parents had, what furniture, cars, hunting rifles, jewelry, paintings, cash under the mattress, conversations with each other, and who visited their homes.
Children, innocent and sincere, told the truth, without realizing that their honest answers would put away their parents for good, not understanding why their parents disappeared overnight, and heartbroken when sent to the many state orphanages where they would never see their parents again and the aggressive re-education into the communist utopia began…
Parents are not allowed in classrooms to see what lessons and revisionist history their children are taught. In Texas, parents are not permitted to view the CSCOPE socialist-indoctrinating curriculum. Common Core is attempting to nationalize and control the education of our children.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Photo of Gay Man Who Walked Through Muslim Suburb of Paris With Boyfriend Causes Shock
[WARNING: ** Disturbing Content **]
Battered and bruised picture prompts questions about rise of extremism in western cities
A photo of a bruised and beaten gay man who claims he received his injuries while walking through a Muslim suburb of Paris arm in arm with his boyfriend has provoked shock and fresh concerns about the rise of ethnic extremism in western cities.
“A man in Paris, France was reportedly beaten for walking with arm in arm with his boyfriend Olivier early Sunday morning. Wilfred de Bruijn, a French resident, says he was assaulted while walking in Paris’ 19th arrondissement. He says he sustained several injuries, including a missing tooth, broken bones, and fractured pieces of bone in his skull. He posted a photo of his wounds on his Facebook page with the caption “Sorry to show you this. It’s the face of homophobia,” reports Al Jazeera.
The 19th arrondissement of Paris is mainly populated with Muslim and North African immigrant families and who live adjacent to Orthodox jews. The area is known for suffering high rates of crime fueled by “gang warfare,” and ethnically-charged clashes are commonplace.
The 19th arrondissement was also the location of some of the worst scenes of unrest during the city’s riots in 2005. Muslim extremists also attacked a gay club in Paris last year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Black Hole Caught Snacking on ‘Super Jupiter’ Planet
In a cosmic first, astronomers have discovered a black hole chowing down on what may be a giant rogue planet.
The supermassive black hole didn’t finish off its meal, which scientists say was either a huge Jupiter-like planet wandering freely through space or a brown dwarf, a strange object that’s larger than a planet yet still too small to trigger the internal fusion reactions required to become a full-fledged star.
“This is the first time where we have seen the disruption of a substellar object by a black hole,” study co-author Roland Walter, of the Observatory of Geneva in Switzerland, said in a statement. “We estimate that only its external layers were eaten by the black hole, amounting to about 10 percent of the object’s total mass, and that a denser core has been left orbiting the black hole.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Global Governance 2025: Rewriting the Life of the Common Man as We Know it
The “change” promised to the masses by a 2008 electioneering Senator Barack Obama is blanket Global Governance of world populations. “The Fundamental Transformation of America” is its forced membership in the New World Order (NWO).
Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, published late in 2008 noted that “momentous change was ahead, with the gap between increasing disorder and weakening government structures widening”.
Prove to yourself that Global Governance is for real and not the stuff of conspiracy here and here.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saturn’s Dazzling Rings Make it ‘Rain’
It’s raining on Saturn, and the giant planet’s amazing rings are apparently the cause, scientists say.
A new study unveiled today has found that erosion from particles making up the icy rings of Saturn are forming rain water that falls on certain parts of the planet.
Scientists using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii have found that tiny ice particles that compose the planet’s distinctive rings are sometimes eroded away and then deposited in the planet’s upper atmosphere. The droplets then create a kind of rain on the planet.
“We estimate that one Olympic-sized swimming pool of water is falling on Saturn per day,” James O’Donoghue, an astronomer at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and an author of the study, told SPACE.com in an email.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tarneit Mosque to be ‘Vibrant, Social Hub’
CONSTRUCTION of a mosque will begin in Tarneit later this year. Wyndham Council approved the $6 million Wootten Road site development in July 2011 following an application for a place of worship and community facility by the Werribee Islamic Centre…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |