Six Americans have been killed in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan. One of the dead is a 25-year-old female diplomat. Three U.S. soldiers and two civilians were also killed, as well as an Afghan doctor.
In other news, a Muslim mob attacked a crowd of Christian mourners in front of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo at a funeral for Copts who had been killed in earlier violence. One Copt was killed, and 23 others were wounded.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Mary Abdelmassih, Steen, 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.
Greece: 2.5 Mln Taxpayers to Receive Notices of Debt
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 2 — Some 2.5 million taxpayers should be expecting to receive a notice that they have overdue debts to the state, the Finance Ministry’s general secretary for revenues, Haris Theocharis, said on Tuesday as reported by daily Kathimerini. The notices, which will be sent to taxpayers who have run up debts until the period of March 21, concern 2.5 million people with a total of around 21 billion euros owed to the state. Each debtor will be issued with a special identification number, which can be used to pay any arrears at banks and post offices, the notices say.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Troika-Barking Dog Ruby Free Again
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 1 — A stray dog named Ruby who hounded and barked at envoys of international lenders has been set loose on the streets of Athens again after being “arrested” by authorities who said it was because of reports a dog had bitten someone, and not that his supporters said was for his keen sense of sniffing out austerity measures. Ruby, as GreekReporter writes, is now free to ready his considerable barking skills again when envoys from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) return on April 4 with demands for more reforms that many Greeks despite, and that apparently Ruby can’t stand either. The male stray gained fame this month after barking menacingly as part of a pack of dogs at the Troika inspectors, although it’s common in Athens for loose gangs of dogs to be allowed to roam free and threaten, and even bite people in some cases. Ruby, who got closer to the Troika officials than any protester ever did, was later captured by municipal officials and freed on March 29 after being observed for two weeks and showing no signs of aggressiveness although there weren’t any Troika types around. A city statement said Ruby’s detention followed a complaint that he bit a man, and wasn’t linked with the ministry incident.
“Our four-legged fellow citizen is back on Ermou Street,” the City of Athens tweeted in response to suggestions that his removal was due to political pressure, the newspaper Kathimerini reported. “The reports circulating are completely inaccurate.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Arrivals From the US to Rise by Up to 40%
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 5 — Tourism bookings from the United States for Greek destinations are showing an increase of up to 40% this year compared with 2012, as daily Kathimerini reports quoting the head of the Hellenic-American Tourism Chamber, Giorgos Trivizas. Speaking at an event on Thursday in Athens concerning the US travel market, Trivizas attributed the rise to the drop in hotel rates, the increase in flights from the US and the end to the bad publicity that Greece had received in negative news stories. Arrivals from the US declined for a fifth year to 373,800 in 2012, according to Bank of Greece data.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Historic Athens Bookshop Closes Down After 128 Years
Due to economic woes
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 1 — The disastrous economic crisis Greece has been battling for over three years continues to reap victims in the cultural world, with books being hit particularly hard. On Friday, the historic Athens bookshop Vivliopoleio tis Estias announced it would be closing its doors once and for all after 128 years in business. The bookshop was opened in 1885 by the journalist Giorgios Kasdonis, who moved to Greece from Bucharest. In the same year the Estia publishing house — which will continue its operations — published its first book, the Anthology of the Adolescent.
Since then Estia has published over 11,000 works, including many from the most well-known Greek writers, from classics by Alexandros Papadiamantis and Costis Palamas to such contemporary authors as Thanasis Valtinos. Vivliopoleio tis Estias became from its very beginning a meeting place for writers, men of culture, journalists and politicians, and remained so for over a century. “It was a historic bookshop,” said the writer Vassilis Vassilikos, author of the famous novel Z. “The shuttering of a bookshop with such a history and long tradition is sad. I wonder what will remain in the end, only bookstore chains?”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Inflation Down to 1.7% in March
New estimate lowest since November 2010
(ANSA) — Rome, March 29 — Italian inflation fell to 1.7% in March from 1.9% in February, Istat estimated Friday.
It was the lowest rate since November 2010, the statistics agency said.
Inflation has now fallen six straight times, Istat said.
The drop is largely due to the decrease in fuel prices on an annual basis.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Primary Surplus 1.3% Up to 2.5% in 2012
Expected to continue this year
(ANSA) — Rome, April 5 — Italy’s primary surplus rose 1.3% to 2.5% of GDP in 2012, national statistics agency Istat said Friday.
Despite its huge debt mountain — currently almost 130% of GDP — Italy has been running a primary surplus for years and is expected to continue doing so.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fines Totalling Five Million Euros Likely in MPS Scandal
Troubled bank’s former directors face stiff penalties
(ANSA) — Rome, April 4 — Penalties totalling as much as five million euros may be levied against former directors of the troubled Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank, sources said Thursday.
The Bank of Italy, which has oversight responsibilities, is considering a fine of more than 500,000 euros each against both former chairman Giuseppe Mussari and Antonio Vigni for serious violations of their duties as senior managers, sources said.
Former head of finance Gianluca Baldassarri will likely be hit with a penalty of about 400,000 euros.
Last week, MPS revealed that its losses last year totalled 3.17 billion euros.
Italy’s third-largest lender is at the centre of a huge fraud probe after a scandal over shady derivatives operations exploded in January.
It has since emerged that a previously undisclosed series of derivative and structured-finance deals produced losses of around 720 million euros under Mussari’s watch.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Tax Burden Reached Record High of 52% in 4th Quarter
Average for whole of 2012 44%, up 1.4% on 2011
(ANSAmed) — ROME, APRIL 5 — Italy’s tax burden hit a record high of 52% in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 1.5% on the same period in 2011, Istat said on Friday.
The national statistics agency added that the average burden for the whole of 2012 also reached a record of 44%, up 1.4% on 2011.
The burden has risen after tax hikes contained in austerity measures by outgoing Premier Mario Monti’s emergency government to steer Italy out of the centre of the eurozone crisis.
The tax burden is usually higher in the fourth quarter because this is when many end-of-year payments are due.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Lombardy Region Considering Own Currency
‘New money would compliment the euro’ says Northern League
(ANSA) — Milan, April 4 — Northern Italy should have its own currency and control at least 75% of tax revenues generated in the area, Lombardy Governor and Northern League President Roberto Maroni said Thursday.
The regional authority will continue its study into implementing a separate currency for northern Italy, which Maroni said would be “complementary” to the euro.
Further, the national government would be asked to remit “to the region, not less than 75% of tax revenue,” generated in the north, Maroni said in a speech.
Taxes should also be collected by local authorities, who would be more competent than the national agency Equitalia, he added.
In tough economic times, he said, the region would benefit from a new payment system and its own currency.
The subject will be further studied with involvement from “key stakeholders, such as banks, associations, institutions, and chambers of commerce”.
Maroni’s Northern League — which exists to promote independence of the more wealthy, powerful north from the economically weaker south — is closely allied with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party.
Maroni has said that is because Berlusconi’s party has pledged that if it regains control of the government, it would remit the 75% of northern taxes demanded by the League.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Authorities Seize $50 Million in Gold From Private Owner: “Nearly a Ton” (Video)
After the theft of up to 40% of deposit accounts in Cyprus, a move that was approved and applauded by EU finance ministers, many Europeans who understand that the government will soon be coming for their savings as well are rapidly moving to extricate themselves from the global banking cartel. To do so, they are shifting paper assets and digital deposit accounts into tangible goods. One such tangible asset of last resort is gold, believed by many to be the only ‘currency’ that will survive the world-wide debasement of fiat paper currencies like the US Dollar, Japanese Yen and Euro.
But just because you own gold doesn’t mean you’re safe from the prying eyes and thieving hands of the government.
The following report from Italy highlights the growing trend in government confiscations of precious metals, investment assets, and critical resources.
When one obviously panicked family looking to get out of harms way before contagion spreads and financial Armageddon takes hold attempted to cross into Switzerland, customs agents on the border found much more than they expected.
After questioning the family and inspecting their vehicle police reportedly found one ton of gold hidden in the floor boards.
The nearly $50 million in gold was promptly seized by authorities.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
McDonald’s Prices Lowered in Italy to Help With ‘Crisis’
Signature burger to cost less than a cup of coffee
(ANSA) — Rome, April 2 — US fast-food giant McDonald’s said on Tuesday that it is lowering the price of its popular hamburger in Italy because of the country’s economic crisis.
McDonald’s has dropped the cost of its flagship product to 90 cents, “below the one-euro threshold and the lowest it has been since 2004,” the American food group said.
“In difficult times like the one Italy is going through now, the company has decided to offer a very concrete sign of its closeness to consumers,” says the fast-food chain.
The signature sandwich is the company’s second best-seller after the Big Mac and will cost less than a cup of coffee, “without changing its recipe or quality,” McDonald’s said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Offshore Leaks: Most Greek Offshore Firms Avoid Taxes
Icij report, only four over more than one hundred
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 4 — Only four out of more than one hundred offshore companies controlled by Greek citizens are legally registered with the country’s tax authorities, daily Kathimerini online reports citing a study by a global reporters’ network. The review, which was conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), showed that Greek officials have no knowledge whether the companies’ owners “a surprising cross-section of Greek society” declared any assets held by these entities or paid taxes on them. Following the publication of ICIJ’s findings, Greece’s finance ministry said it would examine the data to determine if any laws had been broken. Two of the offshore firms listed by the ICIJ were allegedly used to purchase and refurbish the legendary Christina O yacht, once owned by the Onassis family. The report also mentioned “a defense contractor working for the government and to top Greek executives who made a fortune on bonds sales.” Fighting rampant tax evasion has been at the heart of Greek efforts to shore up public finances. EU officials believe the country could generate budget revenues amounting to 5% of national output annually if it reforms tax collection and clamps down on tax cheats.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Privatizations: Greece Sells Four Properties Abroad
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 4 — Greece sold four properties outside the country, including the UK consul’s residence in London, as the government raises money to pay its debts as daily Kathimerini report citing Bloomberg. The townhouse in London’s Holland Park neighborhood was sold for 23.3 million pounds (27,1 million euros), the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund said in an e-mailed statement late Wednesday. A property in Nicosia, Cyprus, fetched 8.3 million euros and real estate in Bruxelles and Belgrade was sold for a combined 5.3 million euros. Greece has pledged to generate 11.1 billion euros from asset deals by 2016. Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said in January that property transactions rather than budget cuts should be used to improve Greece’s balance sheet. Real estate makes up about 75% of the state’s assets. The sales process for one property in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and another in Ljubljana, Slovenia, will start within 15 days, according to the statement.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Some 200 Italians on Offshore Leaks List
ICIJ reveals holders of wealth in overseas havens
(ANSA) — Rome, April 4 — Around 200 Italians are on a database of thousands of people holding wealth in offshore havens compiled by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with 36 international media organisations.
The so-called Offshore Leaks list includes Olga Shuvalova, the wife of Russia’s deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov, and Jean-Jacques Augier, French President François Hollande’s friend and campaign adviser during the 2012 elections. The news is a fresh blow to Hollande after it emerged that his former budget minister concealed a Swiss bank account for 20 years and repeatedly lied about it.
Italian weekly magazine L’Espresso, which is among the media partners of the ICIJ project, said one of the Italians was Gaetano Terrin, an accountant who worked at the studio of former Italian economy minister Giulio Tremonti.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Who’s Telling the Truth About the Economy?
“But let’s bear in mind and never forget that we have seen very serious dropping of our deficit over the past year. We’re making progress on that front.” U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison
Yes. The Outlaw Congress is made up of imbeciles and crooks. Ellison’s statement is so disingenuous, it would be laughable if the situation weren’t so serious. Ellison, like the majority of the Outlaw Congress has zero understanding of the U.S. Constitution or the disabilities of our monetary system. Then, there are useful fools like Paul Krugman, cheerleader of failed Keynesian economics first promoted by British economist, John Maynard Keynes, a sexual deviant among other perversions.
Dropping the deficit? The outrageous, out-of-control spending by the bandits in the Outlaw Congress hasn’t stopped. The impostor in the White House continues to approve trillions in unconstitutional spending — ALL borrowed: ‘U.S. Foreign Debt Up 78% Under Obama’. With the unconstitutional Obamacare kicking in, not only are we being raped in more taxes, the monstrous bureaucracy created will cost hundreds of billions for who knows how many years to come — all of which has to be borrowed since the people’s purse is overdrawn almost $17 TRILLION dollars. Not to mention skyrocketing health care premiums people aren’t going to be able to pay while they’re robbed to pay someone else’s medical care:
[…]
“In a previous article entitled “Why Is The World Economy Doomed? The Global Financial Pyramid Scheme By The Numbers”, I noted a couple of statistics that show why derivatives are such an enormous problem:
“-$212,525,587,000,000 — According to the U.S. government, this is the notional value of the derivatives that are being held by the top 25 banks in the United States. But those banks only have total assets of about 8.9 trillion dollars combined. In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 24 to 1.“
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Air Force Wants Energy Weapons to Cause ‘Bioeffect’ Changes at Human Molecular Level
The Air Force is preparing to spend millions researching how unknown “bioeffects” happen when the human body is blasted by radiowaves and high-powered microwaves — which the Air Force hopes could lead to exotic new energy weapons. Recently, the Air Force Bioeffects Division announced it’s exploring how radiation from non-lethal energy weapons causes changes to the body at the molecular level. The Air Force is pretty broad about what kind of weapons it wants to test: “directed energy, riot control agents, broadband light, acoustic sounds, and blunt impact materials.”
An award for a contract to conduct studies, laboratory tests and field experiments is expected in September, and tests in San Antonio are expected to last for seven years. If those weapons are developed by another nation and used on Americans, the Air Force wants to know what kind of unusual health effects its troops might encounter. But there’s a flipside. The announcement notes that discovering new bioeffects on the human body could have “defensive or offensive” uses, and lead to the “development and deployment of future DE [directed energy] weapons.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Calls for a New World Order
Vice President Joe Biden threw caution to the wind Friday as he shockingly declared, “The affirmative task we have now is to actually create a new world order,” adding yet another admission to an already long list of documented globalist bragging of plans for a centralized, one-world global government.
At the Export Import Bank conference in Washington, Biden stated, “The affirmative task we have now is to actually create a new world order, because the global order is changing again, and the institutions of the world worked so well in the post-World War II era for decades, they need to be strengthened, and some need to be changed.”
We are being constantly bombarded by braggart messages of the globalists’ conquest, all while citizens of certain countries have their savings funds looted and millions upon millions live in absolute destitution.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Christian Origins of Essential American Doctrines
In midst of the modern, mindless battle to drive religion completely from American life, a small and inconvenient fact has been ignored: Virtually every important, original American idea is a product of Christianity. Further, had these doctrines never been developed, the US would arguably not been nearly as productive, free or happy. These ideas involve property, liberty, and the rule of law.
Today the government bears down upon the Constitution, menacing the Bill of Rights and our entire way of life, offering to trade our freedoms for the supposed security of state control. Our very life, liberty and pursuit of happiness hang in the balance. We would do well to remember that the source of our original constitutional doctrines come from natural law, common law and our profound biblical heritage. For once we lose our freedoms, liberties and economic vitality, we are unlikely to taste these ever again. And do we not owe our children and the subjugated of other countries a duty to protect this irreplaceable inheritance? This article surveys some of the more important American doctrines which came down from a biblical antecedent.
I. Magna Carta, or the Great Writ, is considered the centerpiece of Anglo-American liberties. It is fascinating to therefore discover that this great work was negotiated and drafted between King John and the lords by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury who interpolated biblical ideas into the final draft. (Langton was the same person who introduced chapter and verse into the modern Bible.) Magna Carta offers the biblical idea of putting the law above the king. (see Why Separating Church & State is a Fool’s Errand: Consider Magna Carta’s Origins)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chrysler US Sales Up 5% in March, Record 36th Straight Rise
Fiat 500 sales notch 13th gain in a row
(ANSA) — New York, April 2 — Chrysler’s sales rose 5% in the United States in March compared to March 2012, notching a new record of 36 straight gains, the Fiat-controlled US company said Tuesday.
The previous record, 36, was set between February 1992 and December 1994.
US sales of the Fiat 500 rose 3% in March over March 2012, the 13th straight gain for the new version of the iconic sub-compact.
Last month the CEO of the two companies, Sergio Marchionne, said Fiat’s planned merger with Chrysler was “possible” by the end of the year.
If The Turin car giant reaches a deal with Chrysler’s union retirement trust fund VEBA to buy up its remaining stake in the Detroit No.3, he said, “the merger is technically possible by the end of the year.
On January 3 Fiat said it would exercise an option to raise its stake in Chrysler by 3.3% to 65.17%.
The second chunk to be taken from VEBA — after a first 3.3% share acquired in July — would cost $198 million, it said.
Fiat took control of tottering Chrysler after it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 and it has since increased its stake from 20% after meeting a series of performance targets agreed with the American government.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Depth of Bribery and Corruption Shock the Nation in New York Politics Scandal
Chicago, during the days it was ruled by Mayor John M. Daley and his Democratic political machine, was considered a hotbed of cronyism and corruption unequaled anywhere in the country (except, perhaps, in the nation’s capital, where such “qualities” are practically a requirement). And while things may not have changed much since then, Chicago at least now has a corruption rival: New York City.
In what some observers and media outlets are describing as a “stunning” and “wide-ranging political scandal,” a half-dozen highly-placed politicians have been accused of bribery in an attempt to rig this year’s New York City mayoral race.
CBS New York reported that “there were three distinct parts to the public corruption and bribery scandal,” but that in each of them “money flowed freely and, at times, city and state funds” — the people’s tax dollars — “paid the freight.”
“The charges we unsealed today demonstrate once again that a ‘show me the money’ culture seems to pervade every level of New York government,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told reporters.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
High Profile Jesuit Magazine Calls for Repeal of US Second Amendment
A respected and popular Catholic weekly magazine has made a landmark — and certainly controversial — call in its latest editorial. America is a national Jesuit weekly, founded in 1909 and based in New York. The magazine has an online edition and still maintains a print subscription. It is also the only national Catholic weekly magazine in the United States, according to the America website.
In the Feb. 25 edition of America, the editors argue that the only way to start a real conversation on guns is to first get rid of the Constitutional Amendment that guarantees the right to bear them. “It is time to face reality,” the editorial reads, in part. “If the American people are to confront this scourge in any meaningful way, then they must change. The Constitution must change. The American people should repeal the Second Amendment.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Missing Dogs, Ritualistic Killing Confound Idaho Officials
[WARNING: * Disturbing content *]
The mysterious disappearance of about 30 dogs in southern Idaho has baffled animal control officials and raised concerns among dog lovers after a German shepherd was found with its head crushed in a suspected ritual killing. The missing canines range widely in size, breed and age. “The dogs seem to vanish into thin air,” said Debbie Blackwood, director of the animal shelter in Twin Falls, Idaho. Officials say some 30 dogs have gone missing in recent months in Twin Falls and nearby communities in an agricultural region in south-central Idaho known as the Magic Valley. A man and his young daughter hiking along the north rim of the Snake River Canyon northeast of Twin Falls earlier this month discovered the remains of a German shepherd that had apparently been stoned to death, Blackwood said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Now, Pay Using Your Fingerprints Instead of Debit or Credit Cards
An average user carries dozens of credit or debit cards with him or her. However, if a new system called PayTango gets accepted, you will just need your fingers to pay for any transaction. Designed to replace credit card terminals at retail stores, the startup founded by four Carnegie Mellon University students, and backed by YC Combinator, PayTango links cards to your fingerprints.
Here is how it works. A customer simply places his index and middle finger on the biometric scanner on the PayTango terminal which is linked to a merchant’s point of sales system. If the user is registered in PayTango, the system recognizes the fingerprint, and completes the transaction. PayTango says that any card with a magnetic stripe can be registered.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Revealed: Aurora Shooter James Holmes Was Taking Prescription Antidepressants and Hypnosis Drugs
(NaturalNews) Once again the alternative press is proven correct with the assertion that the No. 1 cause of violent shootings is mind-altering psychiatric drugs. New information has been released about the prescription drugs being taken by James Holmes, the mind-controlled Aurora Colorado “Batman” movie theater shooter, and it reveals he was taking two mind-altering prescription medications, including a generic version of Zoloft…
Those search warrants reveal James Holmes was taking a chemical cocktail of psychiatric drugs, including:
* Sertraline, a generic version of Zoloft (antidepressant) * Clonazepam, a benzodiazepine drug known to have “hypnotic properties”
These two drugs produce devastating, dangerous side effects. For example, clonazepam causes increased violent behavior in individuals with schizophrenia. That’s the conclusion of a 1982 study entitled “Clonazepam treatment of chronic schizophrenia: negative results in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.”
Withdrawal from the drug causes anxiety, irritability, tremors and seizures. While on the drug, people can experience hallucinations, memory loss and “personality changes.”
What’s really important to note here is that alcohol consumption radically multiplies the side effects of clonazepam. According to Wikipedia, “Use of alcohol or other CNS depressants while taking clonazepam greatly intensifies the effects (and side-effects) of the drug. Side-effects of the drug itself are generally benign, but sudden withdrawal after long-term use can cause severe, even fatal, symptoms.”
According to the search warrants that have now been made public, police found “48 containers of beer and other liquor” in Holmes’ apartment. This means he was almost certainly combining clonazepam with alcohol.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The ATF Wants ‘Massive’ Online Database to Immediately Find Out Who Your Friends Are
The ATF doesn’t just want a huge database to reveal everything about you with a few keywords. It wants one that can find out who you know. And it won’t even try to friend you on Facebook first. According to a recent solicitation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the bureau is looking to buy a “massive online data repository system” for its Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information (OSII). The system is intended to operate for at least five years, and be able to process automated searches of individuals, and “find connection points between two or more individuals” by linking together “structured and unstructured data.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia Builds $1 Million “Super” Bus Stop: Plans 23 More
The city of Arlington just recently opened an impressive bus stop with a not-so-impressive price tag of $1 million.
The “super stop” in Arlington, Virginia is unlike any other bus stop. It has a custom designed roof made of glass and steel; a wall of etched glass; heaters in the floor; gorgeous landscaping, and concrete/stainless steel benches.
The bus stop has 10-inch high curbs, 90 feet of concrete and can shelter 15 people at a time while waiting for buses to arrive — all at a cost of $1 million.
The cost comes down to $575,000 for construction/fabrication and $440,000 for construction management and inspections, where federal/state money took care of 80 percent of the total price tag.
When Arlington citizens discovered the cost of the super stop, many were outraged.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Robin Stewart, a citizen who was waiting at the super stop. “From a citizen, from a voter, whoever put that budget through needs to get their butt canned. It’s an outrage.”
The super stop opened on March 11, and 23 more are planned for Arlington’s streetcars. The county has set aside $20.8 million for all of them, which is about $904,000 a piece.
The idea behind the fancy bus stops is to not only accommodate Arlington’s plans for its streetcars and buses (about 16,000 people use the Columbia Pike buses for transportation) but to also draw people to the area. New housing is expected to be built in the area over the next two decades, and the county hopes the bus stops will help it flourish.
“When you do a prototype, you end up heavily front-loading on the costs,” said Dennis Leach, Arlington’s transportation director. “These are more like high-capacity bus or rail stops.”
But citizens are concerned about the budget, saying that Arlington can build nice bus stops without having to spend $1 million.
“Oh my God. How much steel? How much cement? How much glass? One million? Bring them to court,” said Husain Hamid, who was waiting at the super stop. “People are hungry. People are sleeping on the street. It doesn’t need $1 million.”
Source: Washington Post
| [Return to headlines] |
We have been bombarded over the last few months with information as to the enemies that are a threat to the United States. Those that are paying attention don’t have to be told who the enemy is. Those that are not informed have to be told. Rush Limbaugh calls these uninformed voters. For the most part they look for the (D) after the name when voting and pay no attention to the character of the man/woman nor the platform behind that name.
The Department of Justice has declared that any person that believes that the government should operate according to the Constitution, as they have sworn to do, are probable terrorist. This may sound off the wall but they are training police, firefighters and employees of Department of Homeland Security that those that support what our Founding Fathers fought and died for are the biggest threat to America’s security. Here is a quote from a recent article concerning a DOJ training manual.
“A leaked training manual used in the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) program for law enforcement and funded by the Department of Justice lists political bumper stickers expressing opposition to the United Nations and support for the bill of rights as indications of terrorist activity.
The presentation documents, leaked to the Public Intelligence website, are entitled Terrorism Training For Law Enforcement and are marked “law enforcement sensitive.” The program is funded by grants from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance…
Another slide lists people who are “antigenetic engineering” as terrorists. Presumably, that includes people who are concerned about a new study which found that rats fed with genetically-engineered Monsanto corn suffered premature deaths.”…
The US has agreed to the UN Arms Treaty which calls for the disarming of anyone over the age of 55 because, as the report states: . “And as we do, our reflexes diminish, our senses become impaired and our cognitive skills weaken … Therefore, as we enter our twilight years — clinically speaking, age 50 and above [Global life expectancy is only 67 years] — science tells us that we are in no shape to be handling or using a deadly weapon.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Every 5th Muslim Wants Sharia
A study conducted by the analysis institute Capacent shows that 18 percent of Muslims in Denmark declare they ‘agree’ or ‘completely agree’ with the statement: “Sharia law should be integrated into Danish law”. About every fifth Muslim in Denmark does not want to take a stand against terrorism; six percent even support it. 55% of the Muslims think criticizing religion should be forbidden and 64% support curtailing freedom of speech. 60% of Muslims in Denmark never got to the mosque, or do so only during the holidays.Why does anyone aspire to create living conditions like those in Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan? Do the Muslims in Denmark, who want Sharia and severely restricted freedoms, really want to mimic Morocco, Gaza, Egypt & Libya? How can even six percent support terrorism? Have they really understood the hellish and frequent incidences in Iraq where Muslim terrorists are killing fellow Muslims? Would they applaud suicide bombers attacking innocent people in Copenhagen? I can”t help but wonder…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
EU Court Approves Limits to University Access
Italy’s ‘closed number’ practice not a violation of rights
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, April 2 — Rules which seek to limit the number of students enrolling at certain institutions don’t violate the right to study, the European Court of Human Rights said Tuesday ruling on a case brought by eight Italian students.
In its decision the court said that the so-called “closed number” rule, which limits the number of students which can attend university courses, is compatible with calls for the right to study embodied in the European convention on human rights.
The court found that the Italian rule did not exceed the wide margin given to EU member states to regulate university studies. The case was brought by eight Italian citizens, including one who had three times failed an entry exam for medical studies at the University of Palermo. Another six had failed enrollment exams for orthodontic studies despite having work experience as dental technicians. The eighth student had passed the necessary entry exams for orthodontics specialization but was denied entry on the basis that he had not taken a single university exam in the past eight years.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Inside Britain’s Sharia Courts
A new documentary that goes undercover in Britain’s Islamic courts reveals the shocking discrimination some women are suffering
Secrets of Britain’s Sharia Councils will be shown on Monday April 8th at 8.30pm on BBC1
In a terraced house in East London, just a stone’s throw from the glittering stadiums of the Olympic Park, a handful of people wait in a small reception room. A young Asian woman and her mother hitch their scarves over their heads while a Somali couple stare at the floor.
This is Leyton Islamic Sharia Council, the oldest and most active such council in the country where scholars hear about 50 cases a month, most of them marital disputes. Nine out of 10 cases are brought by women because, in an Islamic marriage, it is far easier for a man to divorce; the only way for a woman is through one of these Sharia councils. No one knows how many there are in Britain today, in mosques and in houses — one report estimates at least 85. Although they cannot enforce their judgments, these councils control the lives of many Muslim women who may only have had a religious marriage. Even if they had a civil marriage too, some feel the need for a Sharia divorce as a way of moving on with their lives and finding a sense of resolution.
A sign outside one of the rooms says “Arbitration”. Inside it looks like a court, a wall lined with religious books and a raised dais for the judge. The tension in here crackles as a couple, who do not want to be identified, argue in front of Leyton’s most senior Islamic scholar, Dr Suhaib Hasan, an elderly man with a white beard wearing long robes.
They have been coming here for a year now. The woman accuses her husband of refusing to work, ignoring the children and verbally abusing her, all of which he vehemently denies. When he is ordered to leave for a moment, she breaks down in tears. “I hate him, he has ruined my life,” she cries. “I cannot bear to even look at him.”
Dr Hasan’s face is impassive as he tells her to give her husband one more month to try and reconcile, with the help of Allah. The woman sobs as she begs him to grant the divorce as she only had a religious marriage and her fate is in the council’s hands…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 5-Star Movement Shuns Comparison With French National Front
Le Pen’s compliments like ‘praise from Mussolini’, says MP
(ANSA) — Rome, April 3 — An MP for Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) has shunned comparisons with the French National Front (FN) after receiving praise from the leader of the far right party, Marine Le Pen. Le Pen on Tuesday praised the “Eurosceptic” stance of M5S leader Beppe Grillo, who has called for a referendum on whether Italy should continue to have the euro as its currency.
“It’s a bit like having praise from Mussolini,” M5S MP Andrea Cecconi told Turin newspaper La Stampa.
“Le Pen is profoundly Eurosceptic. We aren’t. We think the role of Europe should be discussed and we’d like for the people to be able to express its opinion in a referendum”. The M5S holds the balance of power in parliament after capturing a huge protest vote in February’s inconclusive general election. photo: Marine Le Pen.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Wants Grand Coalition to Bring ‘Stability’
Ex-premier says if country returns to vote, PdL would win
(ANSA) — Rome, April 5 — Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, who continues to shun a return to voting booths to break Italy’s political deadlock, reiterated on his forzasilvio.it website Friday that a grand coalition with the centre left was needed to bring stability.
“A return to the polls by June is not our first choice because we know that the most urgent matter is to pull the country out of the crisis in the shortest time possible.
Therefore it is a priority and indeed, indispensable to immediately form a stable, strong government”.
However, Berlusconi said that if the country did return to the polls that his People of Freedom party (PdL) would prevail since they were “ahead in the latest surveys”.
“Only if the Democratic Party refuses this solution (of a grand coalition) will we have to turn to early elections. If the country votes, according to the latest polls, we would take the Senate and the House,” Berlusconi said.
Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who came first in the February 24-25 general election but does not have a majority in the Senate, has repeatedly refused forming a government with arch-enemy Berlusconi, who leads the second-biggest parliamentary coalition. On Friday, Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi who lost to Bersani in the primaries, reiterated that Bersani should swallow his pride and form a government with Berlusconi, or else agree to a snap election.
He argued that Berlusconi “trusted” the PD old guard much more than he did the younger PD generation that emerged from the election, “so it would be much easier for them to find an agreement” on a left-right coalition.
Support for Renzi continues to grow, according to a SWG opinion poll published Friday, and some political pundits have speculated that Renzi, who is younger and more moderate than Bersani, would have a broader appeal in the general elections if Italy returns to vote.
Berlusconi said that he would continue his tour of political rallies around the country, travelling to the southern city of Bari on April 13.
“As you all well know, I ask nothing for myself — no institutional role or government position. I only ask to be able to continue to perform the task that was entrusted to me by our constituents — that is to unite the center right and help lift our country out of this crisis that is the most serious we have experienced since the end of WWII,” Berlusconi said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Record Seizure From Wind-Farm King Linked to Mafia Head
‘Scorched earth’ policy closing around Messina Denaro
(ANSA) — Palermo, April 3 — Italian police on Wednesday made the biggest-ever assets seizure in the history of the country as they hit a Sicilian wind-farm mogul linked to the fugitive head of the Sicilian Mafia.
In a dawn raid across Italy, anti-Mafia police seized assets worth over 1.3 billion euros belonging to Sicilian wind-farm and solar-power magnate Vito Nicastri.
The National Anti-Mafia Directorate (DIA) said Nicastri was linked to Cosa Nostra’s reputed head, Matteo Messina Denaro.
The operation involved 43 companies or stakes in companies, 98 properties, seven vehicles and 66 financial assets, including bank accounts, credit cards and life-insurance policies, belonging to Nicastri, a leading player in the clean-energy sector.
“We have hit the heart of the grey area of Cosa Nostra,” investigators said.
As well as Sicily, assets were seized in Lombardy, Lazio and Calabria.
Investigators said the 57-year-old businessman from Alcamo, in western Sicily, “maintained constant relations with members of Cosa Nostra” in the provinces of Catania, Messina and Palermo, as well as having contacts with Calabrian crime syndicate ‘Ndrangheta. This relationship allegedly “facilitated his transformation from an electrician into a businessman specialising in the production of electricity from renewable sources, giving him a prominent position in the south (of Italy)”.
In a “tumultuous business dynamic,” they added, Nicastri had “relations” with companies in Luxembourg, Denmark and Spain.
The businessman, who was put under “special supervision” in which he will have to regularly sign in at police stations, has been involved in previous probes which revealed Cosa Nostra’s “huge” involvement in wind farms near Trapani, Messina Denaro’s home turf, investigators said.
The record assets seizure is the latest in the anti-Mafia prosecutors’ ‘scorched earth’ policy aimed at draining Messina Denaro’s resources and exposing him, police said.
Despite his life as a fugitive, Messina Denaro is still reportedly active as the closest thing the Mafia has to a chief following the capture of Bernardo Provenzano in 2006 after 43 years on the run.
On Tuesday the Il Fatto Quotidiano daily reported that Messina Denaro was planning to kill a prosecutor leading a case against police allegedly involved in suspected secret 1990s talks with the State to stop a bombing campaign that claimed the lives of magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
Details of Messina Denaro’s alleged assassination plan against Palermo prosecutor Nino Di Matteo were contained in two anonymous letters sent to Palermo prosecutors a few days ago, the daily said.
The government immediately ordered Di Matteo’s police protection to be beefed up.
The report was the first claim that Messina Denaro was planning to kill a prosecutor.
It came as a surprise in the light of the Italian police’s repeated reports they have severely dented the Mafia chief’s power by arresting associates and seizing assets.
In the last seizure before Wednesday’s, on January 25, hundreds of thousands of euros in olive-oil businesses, cars and bank accounts were confiscated or frozen.
They were in the name of Messina Denaro’s sister Anna and her husband, detained on Mafia charges, 43-year-old Vincenzo Panicola.
A wave of arrests over recent years have closed the net around the 50-year-old Messina Denaro, one of the world’s 10 most-wanted men, according to Interpol.
In 2011 the hunt kicked into a new gear when police issued a new identikit picture of him.
A year previously they were able to reconstruct his DNA.
Messina Denaro built up his power base in his native Trapani, in western Sicily, before beating Palermo chieftains to become Mob kingpin after ‘boss of bosses’ Provenzano was caught in April 2006.
His position at the top of Cosa Nostra was assured with the November 2007 arrest of Palermo boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, a veteran mafia chieftain who had appeared to be vying with the younger mobster for control of crime syndicate and had the apparent support of the ‘old guard’.
Messina Denaro had been expanding his criminal empire abroad and police found evidence of trips to Austria, Greece, Spain and Tunisia.
But police launched a major counter-offensive, implementing their ‘scorched earth’ campaign to try and flush Messina Denaro out, arresting scores of his underlings and seizing million of euros in assets.
“The circle is closing around the No.1 fugitive,” then interior minister Roberto Maroni said in 2010.
Palermo Chief Prosecutor Francesco Messineo added at the time that their aim of the strategy against Messina Denaro was to “dry up the water he swims in”.
Last May then National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Pietro Grasso, who has since become Senate Speaker after being elected for the centre-left Democratic Party in February elections, said the efforts had been so successful that “the Mafia effectively no longer has a No.1”.
Nicknamed ‘Diabolik’ after a cult Italian comic strip criminal, Messina Denaro sealed a reputation for brutality by murdering a rival Trapani boss and strangling his three-months pregnant girlfriend.
He is reportedly idolised by Cosa Nostra younger troops because of his ruthlessness and playboy-like charisma.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Priest Put Under House Arrest in Hospital Corruption Probe
Accused with two businessmen of false invoices for 14 million
(ANSA) — Rome, April 4 — A priest and two businessmen were put under house arrest on Thursday in relation to a probe into allegedly corruption at an Italian hospital company amounting to 14 million euros.
Father Franco De Caminada, who was the managing director of the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI) that runs a dermatology hospital in Rome and another near Viterbo, is accused of issuing false invoices and misappropriation.
Decaminada is suspected of embezzling four million euros out of the IDI.
Police also seized a property in Tuscany reportedly acquired with money diverted from the IDI’s accounts and carried out 14 searches in Rome and other cities.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia: Minister: Krsko Nuclear Plant Plan to be Reviewed
Omerzel new infrastructure minister, replaces Maher
(ANSAmed) — LJUBLJANA, APRIL 3 — The project to build a second reactor in the nuclear power plant of Krsko should be reconsidered, according to the newly appointed Slovenian Infrastructure Minister Samo Omerzel. The new minister was discussing the issue of investments and funds.
Omerzel was elected Tuesday by the Slovenian parliament with 49 votes while 29 lawmakers voted against him. Omerzel is replacing Igor Maher who stepped down over construction abuse charges just five days after being appointed to the cabinet.
The new minister, a 39-year-old engineer, is in charge of one of the ministries with the most well endowed budgets and with priorities including energy, infrastructure projects and the search for new investors. On the energy front, Omerzel wants to focus on completing work on the thermoelectric plant of Sostanj and the construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Sava river.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Runaway Camels Cause Traffic Chaos
A flock of camels escaped from a circus in south Sweden on Saturday, blocking traffic before wandering off to a nearby parking lot where they took a leisurely stroll around the cars.
Jörgen Sandqvist was among the many drivers heading for the city centre on Saturday afternoon when the road was suddenly blocked by several camels.
But neither the camels not the drivers seemed to have had the hump about it.
“There were at least four or five of them out taking a stroll. They seemed to have all the time in the world and were moving slowly despite all the attention,” Sandqvist told tabloid Expressen.
“I could hardly believe my eyes,” he added.
The camels had managed to get out of their temporary enclosure, which Circus Olympia had set up just next to route 117 on the outskirts of Hässleholm in south Sweden.
“We have electric fences but they still managed to tear down the fence and get out. They just went for a little walk,” circus owner Henrika Bengtsson told the paper.
Long queues quickly formed on the road and soon traffic was at a standstill in both directions, with several drivers trying to get the large and seemingly oblivious animals off the road.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: 24-Year-Old Lit a Man on Fire Just ‘For Fun’
A 24-year-old who lit a sleeping man on fire was convicted of assault after a video of the incident was posted on Facebook.
The incident took place in July 2011 when a man woke up in an apartment in Linköping, south Sweden to discover that he had red patches on his back, reported local newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten (Corren).
At first he thought it was some kind of allergic reaction but when the redness spread he went to the emergency ward where he was told it was, in fact, a burn.
It was not until the man saw a video clip on Facebook that he realized what had happened.
The clip showed the convicted 24-year-old spraying perfume on the sleeping man which he then lit on fire.
According to a district court, the 24-year-old sprayed and lit a flammable liquid on the sleeping man three times. He watched the liquid burn without attempting to put the fire out.
The court judged that the man must have realized that his victim would suffer skin burns.
Before setting the perfume on fire, the 24-year-old made sure his victim was asleep and defenceless by hitting him with a pillow.
The prosecutor sought a tougher penalty than the 24-year-old eventually received.
He pleaded innocent but was found guilty of assault and ordered to 180 days of supervision with community service. He must also pay 18,000 kronor ($2,800) in damages.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Future of European Space Travel
On the International Space Station, observing the Earth, exploring Mars: Germany and Europe are closely involved in current developments in space research. Will we soon see manned flights to the Moon again — or beyond?
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have big plans for 2013. For the scientists there, the forthcoming launch of new satellites for the European navigation system “Galileo” and commercial communication satellites is almost routine. Far more exciting for them are the numerous space probes and Earth observation systems which will enable researchers at both institutions to gaze into the depths of the universe, and better understand our own planet.
There’s a lot the researchers can learn about Earth from space. The ESA will soon be launching several Earth observation satellites. The small cube-satellite Proba-V, for example, will track developments in the plant world. The SWARM mission, comprising three house-sized satellites able to look deep beneath the Earth’s crust, will observe changes in the Earth’s magnetic fields.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Top Petrol Companies Probed Over Pump Prices in Italy
Shell, Tamoil, ENI, ESSO, Total among companies investigated
(ANSA) — Rome, April 4 — Petrol companies Shell, Tamoil, ENI, ESSO, Total Erg, Q8 and Api are being investigated by Italian finance police and prosecutors in the northern town of Varese over alleged illegal fuel-price increases.
The probe concerns accusations of price fixing and fraud brought up one year ago in an expose’ by Italian consumer association Codacons, covering the period of January 2011 to March 2012.
Investigators used internal records from the fuel providers and compared them to companies elsewhere in Europe, where prices are lower. They concluded that the source of the price hikes was linked to petrol companies’ investment funds in commodities such as oil, copper, silver and gold, as well as in exchange traded funds (ETFs), all of which were highly susceptible to speculation. Prices were also affected by investments in derivatives used to artificially inflate the cost of crude, investigators said. Petrol companies have consistently defended their pricing policies in Italy, arguing that they reflect international costs.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: From the People Who Brought You the Taser, The Headcam That Turns Every Policeman Into a Robocop
Police officers could soon be equipped with cameras attached to their uniform recording incidents as they happen and providing valuable evidence in the fight against crime.
Taser International, the manufacturer of stun guns now used in everyday police work, has developed the technology which it claims could be the next major advancement in policing.
The Axon Flex, is similar to the Glass project being developed by Google, and consists of a head-mounted camera worn by officers to record evidence from incidents as they work their patrols.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Give US Proper Policing — Not Silly Gimmicks
When the people ask for action, governments respond by giving them gimmicks.
Tony Blair was famous for demanding ‘eye-catching initiatives with which I can be personally associated’, but he is certainly not the only culprit.
The idea of elected Police Commissioners was conceived by the Conservatives to counter a growing — and justified — feeling that a once-respected service had become unresponsive and remote.
Predictably, the Commissioners have done little to change this state of affairs, which is rooted in decades of Left-inclined legislation and in the long-ago forced mergers of genuinely local constabularies into sprawling, remote bureaucracies.
Now the gimmick has spawned its own gimmick. Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes, has announced the appointment of 17-year-old Paris Brown, at £15,000 a year, to help police ‘stay in touch with young people’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Britain’s first youth police commissioner was facing urgent calls to quit last night after she tweeted a torrent of foul-mouthed rants boasting about her sex life, drug taking and drinking binges.
Paris Brown, 17, also posted violent, racist and anti-gay comments.
She was appointed last week to the £15,000 taxpayer-funded post to represent young people’s views on policing.
But politicians last night insisted that her position was untenable after her disgusting outbursts were revealed by The Mail On Sunday…
However Mrs Barnes defended her young adviser, and insisted that she should remain in her post.
‘You cannot condone any offensive tweets and I certainly would not accept anything like that now that Paris has been appointed but I wanted somebody for this job who was a typical teenager,’ she said.
Mrs Barnes, 67, also defended her own decision to appoint a youth commissioner, which was a manifesto pledge during her election campaign and £5,000 of the teenager’s salary comes from her own.
‘The idea of a youth commissioner was born out of my long experience in the world of policing, as a teacher and as a parent.
‘There is a growing gap between younger people and the police and other agencies of law enforcement. Young people are too often demonised by certain elements in the press and are often criticised mercilessly.
‘This new post is a practical step aimed at engaging with them. It is not a “gimmick”.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Marks & Spencer is reeling from a strategy disaster of poor-quality clothes aimed at the wrong customers, critics have warned, as the store prepares to register a slump in fashion sales.
Fashion-watchers, rivals and shoppers insisted the group needed to abandon cheap products and aim squarely at Britain’s aspiring middle-class women or risk losing ground.
Chief executive Marc Bolland is likely to face calls from shareholders for quicker action to stop the rot, as forecasters expect the group to report quarterly sales down 4.5 per cent.
One rival retailer declared the group had lost its way by trying to compete on price when it should be aiming to be a premium brand.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Attack Christian Funeral in Egypt, 1 Killed, 23 Injured
by Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) — Thousands of Copts attended the funeral service held today at St Mark Cathedral in Cairo for the Coptic victims killed by Muslims on April 4 and 5 in al-Khosous, Qaliubiya (AINA 4-6-2013). The service was attended by Christians from all denominations as well as Muslims.
Priests holding the service were unable to calm the Copts and at several times the service was interrupted by the wailing of the mothers of the victims, protests by angry Copts demanding retribution, and chants saying “no to the persecution and killing of Copts.” Political chants dominated the scene, demanding President Morsi to “Go Away,” and banners holding him responsible for the killing of Copts in al-Khosous were displayed.
After the funeral services ended, as coffins and attendants were leaving the cathedral, unidentified persons fired shots in front of the cathedral. It was reported that clashes took place between Copts coming out of the Cathedral and Muslims in the area, and that Muslims were on roof tops of neighboring buildings firing at them (video).
Muslim activists who were present at the funeral, such as renowned activist Alaa Abdel Fatah, and the Maspero Coptic Youth Unions, among others, tried in vain to bring the Coptic youth inside the Cathedral to avoid a confrontation with the Muslim attackers.
Fire broke out in one of the buildings inside the headquarters of the cathedral after Molotov cocktails were hurled at it. The fire was put out by the civil protection forces.
24 Copts were injured and were transported to nearby Demerdash Hospital. One of Copts, Mahrous Hanna Ibrahim, died from gun shots wounds to the head and neck after reaching the hospital.
Eye-witnesses reported there were no security forces guarding the Cathedral.
After fighting broke out, Security forces arrived late and blocked several roads leading to the Cathedral. Security fired tear gas at the Papal residence and the Cathedral, which was filled with hundreds of mourners. Several NGOs received calls from mourners inside the cathedral, saying they were in great danger of suffocation.
The Free Egyptian Party condemned the attack on the coffins in front of the Cathedral as being “collusion.” Mohamad Abu Hamad, former MP, accused the Muslim Brotherhood of shooting cartridges towards the petrol station neighboring the Cathedral.
Video shows street fighting and houses neighboring St. Mark Cathedral burning
The Council of Churches of Egypt condemned the attack on the cathedral of St. Mark, and said in its statement that attacks on places of worship are unacceptable. The statement called on state agencies to immediately intervene. Pope Tawadros II called on the need for “calm and the realization of the mind to maintain the safety of the nation, the lives and national unity.”
Also father Dumas Fekry of St. Georges church in al-Khosous confirmed this morning that since yesterday evening there was gunfire near the church, without casualties.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement issued this afternoon the funeral mourners were responsible for causing the clashes.
Late yesterday evening the head of Forensics examined Coptic bodies and reported that the four Copts killed at al-Khosous were shot by snipers from high places, based on the angle of the passing bullets.
| — Hat tip: Mary Abdelmassih | [Return to headlines] |
Post-Arab Spring Censorship on the Rise
More journalists, bloggers, musicians and other public figures are increasingly being summoned to court in an apparent crackdown on freedom of expression in Egypt and Tunisia. But they’re not going without a fight.
Egyptian TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who has been compared with United States news parody show host Jon Stewart, this past week had to answer to Egyptian prosecutors over charges of insulting Islam and President Morsi. Although an Egyptian administrative court threw out a lawsuit filed by a Muslim Brotherhood lawyer seeking to ban Youssef and his satirical political show, Youssef still faces other, similar charges.
Meanwhile in Tunisia, rapper Weld El 15 was recently sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for insulting the police. The two cases point to ongoing efforts by Islamist forces to use the courts to muzzle criticism of North African governments.
The fall of dictatorial regimes after the Arab Spring apparently hasn’t brought about any durable guarantees for freedom of expression. On the contrary, there seems to be an offensive against free speech in North Africa — yet this is being met with resistance, and the world is looking on.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ancient Site Unearthed in Iraqi Home of Abraham
British archaeologists said Thursday they have unearthed a sprawling complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham. The structure, thought to be about 4,000 years old, probably served as an administrative center for Ur, around the time Abraham would have lived there before leaving for Canaan, according to the Bible. The compound is near the site of the partially reconstructed Ziggurat, or Sumerian temple, said Stuart Campbell of Manchester University’s Archaeology Department, who led the dig. “This is a breathtaking find,” Campbell said, because of its unusually large size — roughly the size of a football pitch, or about 80 meters (260 feet) on each side. The archaeologist said complexes of this size and age were rare.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Inmates Gang-Rape Fellow Prisoner in Dubai Central Jail
Defendants stubbed out cigarette butts on prisoner, threatened him with sharp tools
Dubai: Four inmates have been accused of stubbing out cigarette butts on a 20-year-old prisoner before they raped him repeatedly over different periods in a cell inside Dubai Central Jail.
The four inmates, three Emiratis and a Bahraini, were said to have used physical force against the Indian prisoner and threatened to kill him before they raped him on different occasions last November.
The Indian prisoner claimed that the suspects beat him and threatened to kill him with sharp tools, then they stubbed out cigarette butts on his body before they raped him over a period of one month.
Jail wardens did not bring two of the Emirati suspects, 28-year-old A.G. and 24-year-old A.D., from their detention and produce them before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Bahraini, A.H., and 29-year-old Emirati, K.M., refused to be brought from Dubai Central Jail and attend Sunday’s hearing.
Chief Prosecutor Ahmad Mohammad Al Hammadi asked for the implementation of capital punishment against the suspects.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan Shuts University After Student Violence
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, APRIL 3 — Jordan has indefinitely shut down university of Muta in the southern city of Karak, following clashes between students that lead to death of at least one student and injury of dozens, official sources and witnesses said.
Anti-riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowds before arresting several students in possession of guns and sharp objects that were used in the protest. The clash is the latest in a series of university violence that gripped Muta and other Jordanian universities.
Ministry of higher education decided to shut down the university following spread of violence to nearby villages.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar: Al Jazeera to Train Imams in Communication
Deal with Min’y Islamic Affairs. But not the first with Qatar
(ANSAmed) — DOHA, APRIL 4 — The Al Jazeera network is set to train 200 imams and Muslim preachers in improving their communication skills with the public.
According to reports in the Doha press Tuesday, the news follows a signed agreement by the Qatar Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Al Jazeera.
“The agreement establishes a framework for the relationship between the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Al Jazeera and will be followed by other agreements for specific programs”, Al Jazeera media training chief Munir Daeim said.
The TV network has in the past made other cooperation deals with the Emirate, in particular with the Ministries of Labour and Urban Planning and with Qatar TV.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
In 2004, the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner was shot six times by terrorists in Saudi Arabia and left for dead. His cameraman, Simon Cumbers, was killed. Nine years on, Frank has taken a deep breath and returned to the country where he nearly died. Here he tells The Mail on Sunday what it was like to be back…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syria Becoming New Cradle for Foreign Extremists
Most of those who have travelled from overseas to fight Bashar al-Assad’s regime are from elsewhere in the Middle East, but between seven and 11 percent are from Europe, meaning hundreds are currently in Syria. Taking information from “martyrdom notices” on jihadist websites and hundreds of press reports over the course of a year, researchers from King’s College found that the biggest number came from Britain, with between 28 and 134 fighters. Ireland however produced the highest number per capita, with 26, thanks to a group of men of Libyan origin who also fought Muammar al-Gaddafi’s regime. Out of 249 foreign martyrdom notices, researchers identified eight referring to militants of European origin, including Ibrahim al-Mazwagi, a British-raised Libyan from north London who studied at the Hertfordshire University. Pictures on his Facebook page show him the 21-year-old in the team kit of the university American football team, the Hertfordshire Hurricanes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The first rule of Jihad Club is that there’s no talking about it. For the second rule, see the first rule. The culture of silence and terrorism denial is sometimes well meaning. Since the Bush days, experts on Islam have warned that the best way to defeat Islamic terrorists is to undermine their claim to fighting on behalf of Islam by refusing to call them Islamic. The sheer brilliance of this strategy was only partly undermined by its origins in Saudi Arabia, the country sponsoring Islamic terrorists, and by the fact that recruiting primarily takes place in media and channels completely immune to the voluntary speech codes adopted by the AP stylebook.
The average Al Qaeda recruit is utterly unaffected by whether the White House press secretary calls the group Islamic, Islamist or terrorist or militant. He similarly does not care whether Nidal Hasan’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood is called an act of terror or workplace violence. Such concerns exist only in the bubble of experts who offer shortcuts to fighting terrorism that don’t actually involve killing terrorists.
Muslims are more likely to see Al Qaeda as Islamic because it kills Americans, regardless of what the official representatives of the Americans call that killing. The reasons for this are to be found in the militant roots and practice of their religion. And the Americans who get to die, but do not get a vote on how their deaths will be described, know that Al Qaeda is a Muslim terrorist group. Only in the realm of the expert bubble is it thought that changing words can change how favorably Muslims will view the killers of Americans and how Americans will identify or misidentify their killers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UAE Child Protection Law Lands in Parliament
Named in honor of Wadima, 8-year-old girl killed by father
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, APRIL 1 — While the case of Wadima, an eight-year-old girl who died from abuse and torture suffered at the hands of her father and his partner, is once again making headlines amid the ongoing trial, the UAE parliament has this week begun debating a child protection law bearing the little girl’s name. The measure is a significant development in a society and region in which the family and the dynamics regulating its internal relationships are seen as an inviolable microcosm. The little girl’s case has catapulted the law beyond age-old traditions, pushing open a window onto a modernity not limited to the futuristic architecture of Dubai and Abu Dhabi skyscrapers. The Wadima Law has already been passed by the Council of Ministers and is now under debate in the National Federal Council (NFC) and the competent parliamentary commissions. The law’s 72 articles revise the world of and the mechanisms for the protection of children. Social workers will be able to enter homes, gather evidence and report cases which could result in the lifting of parental rights if children are held to be in physical or psychological danger. In addition to fines of up to 100,000 euros in the case of negligence and abuse, the law provides for jail sentences. Ten years is the maximum sentence for those found guilty of abuse or exploitation of child pornography. The Wadima Law also applies to those to whom children turn for help if the adult does not inform the authorities. Those found guilty will be subject to fines of between 1,000 and 10,000 euros. Despite the increased awareness of the issue of child protection in UAE society as a result of the Wadima case, the final draft and its application will be rough going, says Muna Al Bahr, from Dubai’s Foundation for Women and Children and a member of the NFC. Al Bahr told The National that “discussion of the law will spark heated debate, since it touches on deeply-rooted religious, social and traditional aspects”. The law will have to be drawn up by June. However, the debate may last longer, since Al Bahr is not the only member of parliament who has underscored the sensitivity of the issue and the need to fit it into UAE society.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Taliban Kill Six Americans
Taliban militants have killed six Americans, including a young female diplomat, in the deadliest day in Afghanistan for the US in eight months.
Three members of the military, two US civilians and an Afghan doctor died after being hit by an explosion while travelling to donate books to a school in the south.
In a statement, Secretary of State John Kerry paid tribute to Anne Smedinghoff, a 25-year-old foreign service officer with the US State Department, who was killed in the “despicable attack” in the province of Zabul.
He said: “She tragically gave her young life working to give young Afghans the opportunity to have a better future.”
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Officials said the suicide car bomber struck just as a coalition convoy drove past a caravan of vehicles carrying the governor of Zabul to the same event.
Another American civilian was killed in a separate insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said in a statement.
It was the deadliest day for Americans since August 16 2012, when seven American service members were killed in two attacks in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban insurgency.
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WikiLeaks to Release More US Documents
WikiLeaks is to publish more than 1.7 million US diplomatic documents, Julian Assange says. Source: AAP
WHISTLEBLOWING website WikiLeaks is to publish more than 1.7 million US diplomatic and intelligence documents from the 1970s, founder Julian Assange says.
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The Australian has been holed up in the tiny diplomatic mission for nine months as he seeks to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies.
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The new records, dating from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1976, have not been leaked and are available to view at the US national archives. They include many communications which were sent by or to then US secretary of state Henry Kissinger.
Many of the documents, which WikiLeaks has called the Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), are marked NODIS (no distribution) or Eyes Only, while others were originally marked as secret.
[…]
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“In Vitro Eugenics” Is Coming, Predicts Australian Bioethicist
Taking a peek into the future, an Australian bioethicist says that it will be possible to use stem cell technology to breed better humans in a Petri dish. Robert Sparrow, of Monash University, writes in the Journal of Medical Ethics that it is not too early to launch a debate about what he calls “in vitro eugenics”.
His starting point is research into the creation of sperm and eggs from stem cells. Mice have already been produced with “artificial” gametes and the production of humans may not be too far away. Up to now, reports of this research have highlighted its potential for creating gametes for infertile men and women or for allowing homosexual males to produce eggs or homosexual women to produce sperm.
The production of embryos using sperm and eggs generated with stem cells rather than through sex would also be useful in studying genetic diseases and for drug testing. But Dr Sparrow points out that it would be splendid for eugenics.
[Comment: Their vision of the future sounds like the one depicted in the movie ‘Gattaca’ (well worth watching) starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.)]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British licence fee pounds were hard at work on Good Friday as the BBC broadcast a show representing Jesus Christ as married to Mary Magdalene. To determine this on your own is one thing, but for the state owned broadcaster to do this, using money extracted from its people for the sole purpose of running itself, it is something else.
Good Friday is the day when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus and everything that is substantiated by that event. For the BBC to determine to run a show that challenges the core of the biblical accounts at that time, reveals the hatred and disdain that exists amongst BBC executives for the gospel message.
Whereas the BBC lefties who run the show at Broadcasting House clearly and frequently display their political and religious stripes, anti-Christian bias is seen throughout British made television programming…
Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph has criticised the BBC for its coverage of the Middle East. In 2007, the newspaper wrote, “In its international and domestic news reporting, the corporation has consistently come across as naïve and partial, rather than sensitive and unbiased. Its reporting of Israel and Palestine, in particular, tends to underplay the hate-filled Islamist ideology that inspires Hamas and other factions, while never giving Israel the benefit of the doubt.“
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Schools Push a Curriculum of Propaganda
By George F. Will
The real vocation of some people entrusted with delivering primary and secondary education is to validate this proposition: The three R’s — formerly reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic — now are racism, reproduction and recycling. Especially racism. Consider Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction. It evidently considers “instruction” synonymous with “propaganda,” which in the patois of progressivism is called “consciousness-raising.”
Wisconsin’s DPI, in collaboration with the Orwellian-named federal program VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America; the “volunteers” are paid), urged white students to wear white wristbands “as a reminder about your privilege, and as a personal commitment to explain why you wear the wristband.”
A flyer that was on the DPI Web site and distributed at a DPI-VISTA training class urged whites to “put a note on your mirror or computer screen as a reminder to think about privilege,” to “make a daily list of the ways privilege played out” and to conduct an “internal dialogue” asking questions such as “How do I make myself comfortable with privilege?” and “What am I doing today to undo my privilege?”
After criticism erupted, the DPI removed the flyer from its Web site and posted a dishonest statement claiming that the wristbands were a hoax perpetrated by conservatives. But, again, the flyer DPI posted explicitly advocated the wristbands. And Wisconsin’s taxpayer-funded indoctrination continues, funded by more than Wisconsin taxpayers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |