A massive influx of dollars and euros into Syria via rebel groups financed by the United States and the EU has caused severe inflation of the local currency. The Syrian pound has lost 85% of its value since the uprising began.
In other news, Miguel Angel Trevino, the kingpin of the dangerous Mexican drug trafficking gang Los Zetas, was captured by marines in a carefully planned intelligence operation just across the border from Texas.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, JD, JP, McR, 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.
Economy Will Implode — Jim Willie
Dr. Jim Willie of GoldenJackass.com says powerful forces around the globe are working to do away with trading in U.S. dollars because of massive money printing by the Fed. Dr. Willie says, “The world makes a reaction, and what they have done is create, slowly but surely, a U.S. dollar alternative for trade.” Dr. Willie’s sources say precious metals will be used to back a new currency and predicts, “The gold price will be $7,500 to $8,000, and silver will be between $150 and $250 per ounce.” This will be a disaster for U.S. Treasuries, and Jim Willie says, “All these Treasury Bonds will be sent back to the United States where they can choke U.S. bankers . . . they cannot refuse them.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Treasury: Debt Has Been Exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 Days
According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 12, which the U.S. Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt that is currently subject to a legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 has stood at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 straight days.
That means that for 56 straight days the federal debt has remained approximately $25 million below the legal limit.
Even though the portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit has not changed in almost two months, the Treasury has continued to sell bills, notes and bonds at a value that exceeds the value of the bills, notes and bonds it has been redeeming.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘American Betrayal’: Purged at Frontpage
by Diana West
On Monday, July 8, before catching a 5:45 am shuttle bus to Dulles to take American Betrayal to LA, I managed to scan a new, perfectly wonderful review by Mark Tapson posted at Frontpagemag.com. The timing was perfect. Along with the group Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Freedom Center was co-sponsoring one of my LA book events, which the piece duly noted, including a link to register for the Wednesday event.
Both Frontpage and the Freedom Center are David Horowitz enterprises.
Here is the review at Frontpage. Or, rather, here was the review at Frontpage.
What happened?
Later, when I couldn’t pull up the Frontpage review to send a link to someone, I thought it odd but didn’t worry much about it as I was very busy. Fortunately, Ruth King had already posted the review at Ruthfully Yours so I sent out the link to her site.
When I finally got around to asking about the disappeared review, I heard back that there was a “glitch.” OK. But when the piece never went back up I knew there was more than a “glitch.”
I was right.
The piece was purposefully removed from view — purged, censored as unfit for publication at Frontpage.
Why?
Managing editor Jamie Glazov replied: “Removing the review was an editorial decision. … We will be posting another review soon.”
Glazov also wrote: “… As I wrote to you, we have commissioned another review. If you are not happy with it and wish to reply we will of course open our pages so that you can respond. …”
Must be a lulu…
| [Return to headlines] |
Brothers Murdered Over ‘Free Zimmerman’ Sticker?
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office accused of covering up hate crime
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is facing accusations that it covered up a hate crime by denying that the murder of two brothers in a parking lot on Sunday night was related to the Trayvon Martin case, despite the fact that a sticker was placed on the brother’s truck which read “Free Zimmerman”.
At around 8:45 p.m. at the 7000 block of Normandy Blvd, Jacksonville, 24-year-old Andrew Austin Bohannon and 19-year-old Matthew Ryan Bohannon were sitting in their truck in the Golden Corral parking lot when they were approached by another car carrying multiple occupants.
After “some type of conversation” between the two parties, multiple shots were fired at the brothers. One was killed instantly while another was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital.
“Now rumors have spread that the deadly shooting is in retaliation to a bumper sticker placed on the Bohannon’s truck that said “Free Zimmerman,” reports FirstCoastNews.
The unknown shooters are still on the loose. Multiple people saw the incident and it was also captured on surveillance cameras, but the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is denying that the incident was a hate crime connected to the acquittal of George Zimmerman.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dershowitz: Zimmerman Has Defamation Case Against Florida Prosecutor
Outrage is growing over the jaw-dropping statement by Florida state prosecutor Angela Corey that George Zimmerman, acquitted of murder and manslaughter in the death of Trayvon Martin, is still a “murderer.”
Renowned civil-rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz told “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV that Zimmerman has reason to launch a defamation of character case against Corey.
“Clearly he is somebody who was acquitted by a jury on the grounds of self-defense and she shouldn’t be going around second-guessing the jury verdict and calling him a murderer,” the veteran Harvard Law professor said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Asks Civil Rights Groups, General Public for ‘Tips’ On Zimmerman
On Monday afternoon, the US Department of Justice appealed to civil rights groups and the general public across the country for “tips” on George Zimmerman in their pursuit of potential federal civil rights charges against the just-acquitted defendant in the Trayvon Martin killing. The DOJ actually went so far as to set up an e-mail address to allow such tips: Sanford.florida@usdoj.gov. The email address is slated to go operational by the end of the week.
Barbara Arnwine, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law told the Orlando Sentinel that the DOJ had held a Monday conference call “calling on us to actively refer anyone who had any information” that would help build a case against Zimmerman. “They said they would very aggressively investigate this case,” Arnwine stated.
According to Arnwine, the call began at 3:30 p.m. with Tom Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States DOJ, and representatives of the FBI on the line. Several prosecutors joined the call, too.
Arnwine listed off other organizations represented on the call, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the ACLU, and several “human relations” groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
George Zimmerman, Prosecutorial Abuse, And the Sorry Politics of Race
As a somewhat casual observer of George Zimmerman’s show trial, I was surprised that it ended with a “not guilty” verdict, given how the politics of race had so infected the entire saga from beginning to the announcement of the jury’s decision. After all, not only was Zimmerman indicted on charges that assumed he had intentionally pursued Trayvon Martin with personal ill will and animosity with his being in that supposed frame of mind when he shot the teenager, but the very President of the United States already had effectively declared Zimmerman guilty of a racially-motivated murder.
There will be no shortfall of commentary on the verdict and the outlandish media coverage (which declared Zimmerman to be a “white Hispanic” in hopes that the racial angle in the case could be most fully exploited), I would like to deal with another perspective with which I am more familiar, that being the prosecutorial abuse that helped drive this case. The politics of race, while front-and-center, did drive the push for criminal charges, but so did electoral politics, and specifically electoral politics that have defined the recent career of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Cordray Cave (Yet) Another Betrayal of Conservatives, Conservatism
Senate Republicans rejected pleas from conservatives to stand on principles against the “nuclear option” threatened by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), when they helped July 16 confirm Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Reid’s nuclear option would have, through a parliamentary maneuver, lowered the threshold for closing debate from 60 votes to a simple majority — effectively ending the filibuster as a tool for the minority party to delay the Senate action.
The majority leader needs a simple majority to change the rules, but he needs a two-thirds majority to end debate on rule changes.
If Reid ends debate by parliamentary assertion on a rules change, he will have broken the rules to change the rules.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jogger Kidnapped and Attacked Over Zimmerman Verdict
“I’m lucky I wasn’t killed, you know?”
A jogger claims he was knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital after being assaulted by three men who stated they were going to beat him “for Trayvon.”
Devin Dickey, a resident of Senatobia, Miss., a city 30 miles south of Memphis, Tenn., says he was stretching Sunday night when a car pulled up and one of its occupants asked him a question he couldn’t understand.
“I got closer to the car. He told me to get in the car, and I said, ‘No.’ You know what guys, I’m not gonna do that. I don’t want to,” said Dickey. “He looked at the driver and said, ‘Give me the damn gun.’“
Dickey had no choice but to enter the vehicle. The men drove him around then stopped, at which point Dickey was taken out of the car and asked if he knew Trayvon.
“He said, ‘Do you know who Trayvon is?’ I said, ‘No,’ thinking of somebody local. He said, ‘Trayvon Martin.’ I said ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘I’m going to beat your … For Trayvon.’ “
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Juror: Zimmerman Had Right to Defend Himself
Juror B37 said she believed Trayvon was the aggressor — and added she had “no doubt” that Zimmerman feared for his life during the confrontation in a Sanford housing complex.
“I think his heart was in the right place,” she said of Zimmerman. “It just went terribly wrong.”
“Do you think he’s guilty of something?” Anderson Cooper pressed.
“I think he’s guilty of not using good judgment,” she responded.
Zimmerman, the juror said, was “overeager to help people.” She added that she believed he was “was pretty consistent and told the truth” to investigators.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Professor Steven White on Saving Our Children From the ObamaGov
“I do not believe in Common Core Standards, and I will not be a party to their enforcement upon children”
Sher: Professor White, you were a teacher for many years in the California public schools. However, when you realized the corruption and programs’ design against the students (including “data-mining” them), you left that system and California at what was, then, the height of your career. Would you share what you discovered with my readers and how you went about changing your life’s path?
Professor White: They started out with changing curricula like Whole Language and Bilingual Education and they hadn’t started data mining our children at that stage yet. I saw the schools were going through changes, which included taking away basic learning skills from the children and the school board bringing in newer, younger and more liberal teachers while forcing the more seasoned educators out.
The stress and frustration got so bad that it started effecting my health. I went to another district and began formulating my own program called “The Master Educators Tutoring Service and XChange.” God knows it wasn’t easy or quick, but now it’s urgent that we pull our children out of public schools altogether. I know that thousands of school teachers are alarmed at the school system as it is today and want a way out. This is a way out, but we need supporters and sponsors to help us get to the teachers and help them gain a living salary which will wean them off of the Dept of Education domination.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
South Florida Muslims Invite U.S. Rep Joe Garcia, Community to Share Faith for Ramadan
By Paradise Afshar The Miami Herald
Shortly after sundown Monday night, Deming Schulberg found herself engulfed in the Islamic faith. Before heading inside the Masjid an Noor mosque to answer a call to prayer, she nibbled on dates, strawberries and grapes. “I feel welcome here,” said Schulberg, a Kendall resident whose hair was covered in a tan hijab, a headscarf. Schilberg was one of several non-Muslims who attended an open house at the mosque, including the iftar dinner, the name of the nightly meal eaten by Muslims during Ramadan, the holy month in the Islamic calendar when Muslims refrain from drinking and eating from sunrise to sunset. The fourth annual community iftar event has religious significance, but it also packs a social meaning…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ted Nugent: Zimmerman Verdict Vindicates Citizen Patrols, Self-Defense
…For reasons unknown, though I will comment on momentarily, after expressing racism and hostility on the phone to a friend in response to being followed, the suspect now changes course and turns towards George and immediately initiates a hostile verbal confrontation that quickly escalate to a violent physical assault. Within seconds, the suspect has overwhelmed George, has gained the advantage on top, pinning George to the ground, and further escalates the assault to deadly force by smashing George’s face, breaking his nose, and violently slamming his skull onto the concrete with all his youthful athleticism…
Based on all evidence available to them, the professional law enforcement officers did not hold George Zimmerman on charges later that night. They saw it for what it was: cut and dried self-defense.
And so it was for a few weeks until the race-baiting industry saw an opportunity to further the racist careers of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the Black Panthers. President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, et al, who then swept down on the Florida community refusing to admit that the 17-year-old dope smoking, racist gangsta wannabe Trayvon Martin was at all responsible for his bad decisions and standard modus operendi of always taking the violent route.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trayvon ‘Protesters’ Storm Wal-Mart, Assault Bystanders
Unrest continued for the third night in Los Angeles as protesters against the Zimmerman verdict stormed a Wal-Mart, attacked bystanders and stomped on cars.
“People protesting George Zimmerman’s acquittal marched along Crenshaw Boulevard on Monday night, stomping on cars, chasing bystanders and storming a Wal-Mart,” reports the LA Times.
“Several protesters made their way into the Wal-Mart as guards scrambled to close security gates. A short while later, Los Angeles Police Department officers wearing helmets and carrying batons swarmed the store as others marched through the parking lot.”
Footage shows demonstrators attacking moving vehicles, as well as stationary police cars, in a flashback to scenes witnessed during the 1992 LA riots. Protesters also lit fireworks in the middle of the road and threw rocks at store fronts while lashing out randomly at people in the street.
Some of the protesters were seen wearing t-shirts featuring an image of George Zimmerman which read “Wanted Dead or Alive” with the last word crossed out.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Witness Claims Youths Yelled ‘This is for Trayvon’ In Beating
Baltimore police say they are investigating a witness account that a group of black youths beat a Hispanic man near Patterson Park Sunday while saying, “This is for Trayvon.”
A witness posted the account on a community Facebook page, and police confirmed they are looking into whether the suspects’ reaction to the verdict in the Florida trial of George Zimmerman played a part in the incident. A police report on the beating does not mention the alleged comments.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Zimmermans Feel Chilling Effect of Obama’s Domestic Spying
The Zimmerman family now share the same fears as the untold number of journalists under unconstitutional, domestic surveillance by the Obama Administration.
As reported recently by Steve Watson, Robert Zimmerman, George Zimmerman’s brother, admitted that he is concerned that the Obama Administration is wiretapping his family’s phones during a July 16 interview on Fox News.
“We do have concerns and always have of having our phones tapped,” Zimmerman said. “Having our phones, you know, listened to by the administration or whomever because George’s now as we know continuously the subject of ongoing investigation.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Breivik-Linked Neo-Nazi Held in Paris Terror Probe
Share on redditMore Sharing ServicesFrench police arrested a notorious Norwegian neo-Nazi living in central France on Tuesday morning over fears he was plotting a massacre similar to that carried out by terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, according to a report by French radio RTL.
Keep ‘criminal’ French out of Norway: MP (03 May 13)
French writer quits job over Breivik essay (14 Sep 12)
French writer under fire over Breivik views (29 Aug 12)
Kristian Vikernes, nicknamed “Wolf” (or Varg in Norwegian) who is reportedly a sympathizer of Breivik was detained by anti-terrorist officers from France’s specialist DCRI unit on Tuesday morning at his farm in the rural Corrèze region in central France.
According to reports in the media, French intelligence services acted out of fears he could have been about to carry out a massacre, like the one committed by Breivik in Norway two years ago, when he killed 77 people in a bombing and mass shooting.
Later on Tuesday France’s Interior Ministry said Vikernes was detained because he “could have been preparing carry out a major terrorist attack”.
“He was a potential threat to society, as evidenced by the violence of his remarks, notably those intercepted on the internet,” the ministry added in a statement.
The initial probe, opened a month ago by anti-terrorism authorities in Paris has labelled Vikernes — who investigators say wrote antisemitic and xenophobic messages online — as “dangerous”, a police source told AFP.
Police acted after his French wife, the mother of his three children recently purchased four rifles. The wife has a license to own guns and is a member of a local shooting club but police feared the weapons had been bought for a far more sinister reason. The 25-year-old wife, named in French media as Marie Cachet, was also detained by police.
According to AFP officers seized several weapons at their home on Tuesday, including four 22 Caliber Long Rifles. Vikernes could be held in custody for the next 96 hours, as is allowed under French anti-terror laws.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said authorities had decided it was important to arrest Vikernes “to act before and not afterwards.”
“The DCRI (French domestic intelligence service) considered that messages he had posted on the Internet expressed huge violence,” he said.
“The purchase of weapons and cartridges by his wife showed that a terrorist plan was possible. To know more, to know what this plan could be… the DCRI considered it was important to arrest and question him.”
Vikernes — a convicted murderer
According to news website Le Point, Vikernes settled in France after serving part of a 21-year prison sentence in Norway for stabbing a friend in the 90s.
As a prominent part of Norway’s black metal scene at the time, Vikernes, who recorded music under the moniker ‘Burzum’, was also involved in burning down at least three Christian churches in the country.
Since moving to France, he has continued to write about the purported demise of European culture, attributing the decline to immigrant communities and supposed Jewish conspiracies.
In a blog entry published on Saturday, the neo-Nazi blamed a fatal train crash near Paris the previous day on “non-European scum” and made claims that “immigrant youths” had thrown stones at emergency services personnel, while robbing from victims of the crash.
He then claimed the fact that no media outlet in France had reported any incident of this type on a Jewish conspiracy between the French government and media.
In concluding, an angry Vikernes wrote: “I am so angry, and I have been the whole day, and I just don’t understand why Europe doesn’t revolt against this… It must stop; we must take actions to end this. Before it is too late.”
The neo-Nazi’s links to Breivik are unclear other than the fact it is believed Breivik sent him a 1,500-page “manifesto” entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence, that was attributed to the terrorist and contained details of the preparation for his attacks.
However, in a post on his blog Vikernes heavily criticised Breivik for killing innocent Norwegians. Nevertheless French police were clearly concerned that there was a link between the two.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Police Arrests Norwegian Neo-Nazi: Media
PARIS, July 16 (Xinhua) — A neo-Nazi linked to Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was arrested by French police on Tuesday in Correze, in southwestern France, local media reported. Kristian Vikernes, who is also a convicted murderer from Norway, had in the past received a copy of a manifesto from Breivik who killed 77 people in a bombing in central Oslo and a shooting spree on a nearby island in July 2011, media reports said.
He was placed into custody and anti-terrorist units were searching his home for explosives and weapons, radio RTL said.
The report added his wife, who was enrolled in a shooting club, has recently bought four guns. Vikernes, called also “Varg” (Wolf), was one of 530 supporters to receive Breivik’s manifesto of xenophobic, racist and terrorist ideas, according to the report. The man was sentenced to 21 years in prison in Norway in the 90’s for stabbing a friend. He was released in 2009 and moved to France.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Andrew Gimson Hears Nigel Farage Deny Trying to Destroy the Conservative Party
By Andrew Gimson
Somewhat to my surprise, I found Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP, sitting in the same small, cheerless office, on the fifth floor of Moss House, a nondescript block behind Claridge’s, where in December 2011 I had interviewed Lynton Crosby, who now works for David Cameron but was at the time running Boris Johnson’s campaign for re-election as Mayor of London.
Mr Farage explained the coincidence: the donor, Andrew Reid, who provides him with this suite of offices, had previously given the same accommodation to Mr Johnson’s campaign…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death after a fight broke out between two groups of teenagers in a park.
Four teenagers are being questioned on suspicion of murder today following the knife attack in South Yardley, Birmingham.
The young victim was rushed to hospital after being stabbed but later died from his injuries. Two 16-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old are in custody, West Midlands Police said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
An elderly woman admitted hurling abuse at Muslims when they arrived at their mosque for their Friday prayers. Audrey Rose, who is 85, was with her husband Ron waiting for a bus outside the mosque in Canterbury Street, Gillingham, when she started hurling abuse at a man trying to cross the road to get into the religious building.
Rose, of Port Rise, Chatham, was one of three people charged with hate crimes in Medway in the wake of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby. Extra police officers had been outside the mosque at the time in a bid to prevent potential reprisal attacks. The pensioner was arrested outside the mosque on Friday, May 24, after being repeatedly told by police to stop shouting abuse. She was handcuffed and put in a police van. She was later charged with racially aggravated harassment and admitted the offence when she appeared before magistrates in Medway.
The court heard how Rose started shouting abuse at one man about the way Muslims pray and also hurled further abuse about him leaving the country. Matthew Quantrill, prosecuting said: “On three occasions she was told to leave it by the officer, but would not stop and was arrested. “She then poked him (the officer) with her finger and he got a scratch on the hand.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Eric Pickles’ Oak Tree Warning
by Matthew Holehouse
Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, has warned the Tories against the dangers of introspection. The party will become “pointless” if it talks only to itself, he said last night at the launch of Renewal, a new group designed to broaden the appeal of the party among working-class voters. He said:
Our party’s logo is the oak tree. Now the thing about an oak tree is it needs to spread its roots out. The problem with the Conservative party — in its dark times — is when it just starts to talk only to the bit around the shade of the tree. We decide — what kind of Conservatives do we like the best? What kind of policies do we like the best? Which kind of Conservatives do we hate the most? In a way, if the Conservative Party just talks to itself, the Conservative Party becomes utterly pointless. We are at our absolute best when those roots go deep from the shade of the tree, deep into the meadow, spreading out our views. If the Conservative party does not represent the country it represents absolutely nothing.
Mr Pickles did not single out any specific issues. But it comes after backbench MPs drew up an “alternative Queen’s Speech” which proposed banning the burkha, privatising the BBC and reintroducing the death penalty…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Muslims’ Threats to Stab Pork Eating UK Prisoners
JAILED Islamic extremists have vowed to stab fellow inmates if they eat pork
Caged radicals issued the threats at maximum security Long Lartin prison, which has held fundamentalists including Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza. A prisoner at the jail said: “We are able to cook our own food here but if we attempt to cook pork in the communal kitchen it is deemed dangerous and even a threat to your life. “The kitchen is usually occupied by 90% Muslims and we have been told if we cook pork we will be stabbed.” The inmate, who told of the Islamic tyranny in lags’ mag Inside Time, also confirmed the Daily Star Sunday story that Muslim prisoners celebrated the murder of soldier Lee Rigby, 26, who was buried on Friday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Peterborough Mosque is First to Join Foodbank Network
On Sunday, 14 July the foodbank movement took a step further in Peterborough than anywhere else in the UK with the first Mosque joining as a distribution point. UKIM Masjid Khadijah & Islamic Centre on Cromwell Road became the first ever mosque within the UK to act as a distributor the Trussell Trust’s Foodbank network — in a clear demonstration that different faiths can work together to achieve common good. The timing was all the more significant as Muslims across Peterborough and around the world have recently begun fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. The food parcels are tailored to the dietary and religious requirements of the mosque…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
A hospital where patients died after being treated like ‘animals’ and families were forced to wash and feed their loved-ones will be one of 14 criticised today for giving abominable care.
Tameside General Hospital in Manchester offered ‘suboptimal standards of care across the organisation’, a damning report to be released this afternoon will say.
NHS England medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh is expected to describe poor care, medical errors and management blunders at 14 trusts investigated over high mortality rates.
He will also reveal there may have been 13,000 needless deaths across these hospitals since 2005, proving that the appalling Stafford hospital scandal was not a one-off.
Between 2005 and 2008 up to 1,200 deaths could have been prevented at the Mid-Staffordshire trust, where patients were forced to sit in their own faeces and drink from vases as staff neglected them.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Teachers ‘Denied Schoolboy, 10, Water on the Hottest Day of the Year … During Ramadan
An angry mother has accused a primary school of denying her child water on one of the hottest days of the year for fear of upsetting pupils observing Ramadan.
Kora Blagden, 32, claimed a teacher at her son Luke’s school refused to let the 10-year old drink from his water bottle because it was unfair to fasting classmates.
Many pupils at Charles Dickens Primary School, Portsmouth, Hampshire, are fasting during Ramadan, which means they refrain from taking food or water between sunrise and sunset for around 30 days, depending on the moon.
Mother-of-four Kora said: ‘Just before bedtime me and my sons Luke, ten, and Alfie, eight, were talking about Ramadan as we had seen it on the news.
‘Luke said to me he was told he wasn’t allowed to drink in class by his teacher.
‘The reason being, a child who is fasting had a headache and the teacher said it would be unfair if the other children drank in front of the pupil.
‘Luke was dehydrated when he got home and drunk three glasses of water straight away.’
The teacher made the ruling on Thursday when temperatures soared to 28C. (82 F.)
Ms Blagden confronted deputy head Lisa Florence before lessons began today and was given a verbal apology for the incident.
‘The deputy head said it was not what they had been told to do and it is only what children of Muslim faith do’
– Kora Blagden
She said: ‘I spoke to the deputy head and told them what Luke had said to me and I asked why this was allowed.
‘She said it wasn’t fair my son was refused a drink in lesson and therefore drank nothing in lesson time all day.
‘She said they will be speaking with Luke and the teacher, and stated she was sorry my children felt they could not drink.
‘The deputy head said it was not what they had been told to do and it is only what children of Muslim faith do.
‘I have no problem with that but I don’t wish my sons to be told they can’t drink water.
‘Personally I think it is very wrong.’
Charles Dickens is an inner-city school just streets away from the birthplace of the world-famous author of the same name.
The school said there was no ban on children from other religions having food and drink during Ramadan but refused to comment on this individual case.
Portsmouth City Council, which runs the 300-pupil school, also declined to comment.
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
Nicola McCormack claimed her car was smashed on both sides by a self-confessed drunk, on the seafront of Canvey Island, in Essex
She reported it to police, but no officers attended because ‘no one was hurt’
Essex, England police say other road traffic calls took priority on this occasion but they have reviewed their service to ensure ‘improved future performance’
A mother was horrified after police refused to arrest a drunk driver accused of smashing into her car while she attended a children’s party.
Nicola McCormack watched on in shock as the man crashed into both sides of her car before stumbling into the pub next door to carry on drinking.
But she was even more livid when police failed to respond to the incident even though they’ve launched a campaign to stop drink drivers.
Ms McCormack, 30, from Canvey Island, Essex was at a party for around 40 youngsters at Cheeky Monkey’s play centre on the seafront when the driver smashed into her car.
The man, thought to be in his 50s, then stunned onlookers by staggering from his vehicle into the Monico Pub next door to continue drinking.
Ms McCormack contacted the police after confronting the man in the pub who confessed to smashing her car and told them he was drunk.
But she was left gobsmacked when officers told her they could not attend because no one had been hurt, leaving the man free to get back in his car and drive off.
She said: ‘The police say they are trying to cut down drink driving but then they just let one get away. It is absolutely disgusting. They should’ve come out he was so dangerous in that condition being behind the wheel.
‘He could barely speak he was so drunk and just reeked of alcohol. He tried to park on one side of me and crashed into my car, tried to park on the other side and crashed into my car again and then crashed into some wheelie bins. It was just lucky that car park wasn’t filled with all the kids at the time
Police and crime commissioner Nick Alston, said: ‘It is very important that everyone reports crime to Essex Police.
‘Drink driving, if proven by a proper investigation, is a crime. ‘My understanding is that Essex Police is actively following up on the information provided to them about this particular incident.
‘It is important that the force does so, and I would also expect officers to ensure that anybody reporting suspicious behaviour of this kind is kept informed of the progress of the subsequent investigation.’
‘I entirely understand the concern and frustration of the person who reported this serious incident, and I will be asking the Chief Constable for more details about this matter.’
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
7 People Killed, 261 Injured in Clashes in Egypt
CAIRO, July 16 (Xinhua) — Seven people were killed and other 261 injured in clashes erupted late Monday in Cairo between the supporters of the ousted-President Mohamed Morsi and security forces, official MENA news agency reported Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Benghazi, The Muslim Brotherhood Connection & The Libyan Intelligence Report
Do not be deceived. You are being played
Here’s the kicker. According to a translation of the entire Libyan Intelligence report provided by Walid Shoebat, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and author of numerous books including, Why I left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam, and Why We Want to Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat it, the report stated: “In addition, there was extremely crucial information as to the financial sources of this group and the planners and executers of the operation which carried out the breaking and entering of the American Consulate in Benghazi and killing all occupants including the desecration of their bodies in revenge for the film which was produced by the Crusaders who produced the film that insults the Messenger Peace and Prayers be upon Him (emphasis mine).” See the entire translation at the end.
Oh, the anti-Muslim film, the infamous YouTube video surfaces again. This is disinformation on several levels.
Why? Because the Libyan Intelligence report, dated September 15, 2012, four days after the Benghazi attack, backs up the false claim that a YouTube video — an anti-Muslim film was the cause of the Benghazi attack — the same lie that the Obama administration, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former United Nation Ambassador Susan Rice, White House spokesman Jay Carney and then Central Intelligence Director David Petraeus told the world. Since then it has been revealed that the Obama administration knew within two hours that the Islamist militia group Ansar al-Sharia took credit for the attack and declined life-saving requests to help Americans in peril.
Blaming the film that corroborates the Obama-Clinton regime’s false Benghazi narrative is your first tip that this Libyan Intelligence document was apparently written as damage control and disinformation for the Obama administration or the Libyan officials were duped. Calling the “consulate” that wasn’t a consulate but a CIA outpost is another clue.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Disturbing news footage from Egypt shows members of the Muslim Brotherhood kicking and hitting a child in the street.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Rebels Pay in Dollars, Local Pound Collapses
Syria’s inflation rate rises following the flow of foreign currencies from Gulf States to anti-Assad rebels. Pound goes from 47 to 347 against the US dollar with the middle classes paying a heavy price.
Aleppo (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The Syrian pound has collapsed after two years of civil war. The growing presence of US dollars and euros is lowering the value of the local currency and pushing up inflation. The rise in fuel and food prices that had already devastated the regions most affected by the fighting, but the national currency has followed suit in the past month.
“Before the uprising the currency was stable,” said Hasan, a small trader. “It was 47 Syrian pounds to the dollar, and it barely went up or down. But in the past month, the Syrian currency has collapsed. When it was at its weakest a few weeks ago, we were selling 347 Syrian pounds to the dollar.”
About a year ago, the intensification of fighting in and around Aleppo led the regime to cut off oil supplies to rebel-controlled areas. This resulted in a significant increase in the price of fuel, which jumped from 44 to 325 pounds per litre.
The price of food, often dependent on that of gasoline for transportation from rural to urban areas followed.
With rebels capturing oilfields in the northeast of the country, rebel-controlled areas could be resupplied. However, this meant an influx of dollars. In fact, “Whenever the rebels take control of a new area, the dollar rises against the pound,” Hasan said. Yet, “the dollar goes down when the rebels bring money from outside and start spending it in Syria.”
In recent days, he said he also saw an influx of people who come to change euros. However, “I think the dollars are coming from donors in the Gulf States,” he explained.
With the civil war, the economy has virtually collapsed and dragged down foreign trade. People who can use dollars. The rebels rely on informal channels.
Middle class Syrians who did not exchange their savings for foreign currency before the collapse have seen them wiped out.
People with dollars have an interest in seeing it remain high, especially since it is traded on the black market at three times the official rate
The state news agency SANA reported that the government approved a bill on 10 July banning business deals in currencies other than the pound, with penalties ranging from three to ten years in prison.
When it realised that businesses were quickly taking their money out of the country through Turkish banks, it took steps to hoard Syrian pounds and toughen foreign exchange regulations.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Amasses ‘Full Combat Readiness’ Strategic Bombers
Straight out of Russian news, Vladimir Putin has called for the nation’s strategic bombers to enter a state of ‘full combat readiness’ following the ‘snap drills’ that were initiated after Israel bombed Russian-made missiles within Syria.
As I reported on Sunday, Russia’s large scale amassing of over 160,000 troops, naval ships, fighter planes, and strategic bombers has been virtually ignored by the mainstream media — with only Russian-based news services really reporting on the entire event. From the Israeli bombing of the Russian missiles to the ‘snap drills’ calling upon Russian forces to enter this period of ‘full combat readiness’, it appears that only RT has been analyzing the situation and looking at what’s going on based on military sources.
Originally being revealed by an anonymous intelligence individuals within the US military and shared with CNN as reported by the Israeli National News, the revelation that Israel was behind the strike on the Russian-made missiles in Syria may be behind the reason for the combat drill — assuming the Russians found out before the general public. Unfortunately, the US mainstream media is too busy covering the minor intricacies of what George Zimmerman ate for breakfast today to discuss the potential brewing of mega conflict.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kazakhstan: From Being Nazarbaev’s Minister to Political Foe, The Tale of Mukhtar Ablyazov
In charge of the much-coveted Energy Ministry in 1998, he was imprisoned for “political opposition”. Here is the tale of the controversial dissident who once belonged to Kazakh President Nazarbayev’s elite.
Astana (AsiaNews) — Mukhtar Ablyazov, the Kazakh dissident at the centre of an international controversy after Italy extradited his wife and daughter to Kazakhstan at the end of May, began his political career in 1998 as Energy minister. The Kazakh president thought he had found in him a member of the country’s future political elite. However, Ablyazov eventually broke ranks with the government, complaining about corruption, and set up the country’s first opposition party. His falling out, which some describe as “self-serving”, ended in his arrest.
During his stay in Kazakhstan’s notorious Derzhavinsk, Mukhtar Ablayazov was kept in isolation, beaten and denied access to his lawyers.
In May 2004, after serving 10 months of a six-year sentence, President Nursultan Nazarbayev pardoned him following demands from his family and the international community.
Ablyazov also agreed to give up his political ambitions in exchange for his release. Once free, he got back in business, climbed to the top of the BTA, Kazakhstan’s largest bank, but also spent millions of dollars in the past decade funding opposition groups and independent media, rekindling President Nazarbayev’s enmity.
In 2009, BTA Bank found itself in a serious crisis and the Kazakh president, in order to nationalise the bank, accused Ablyazov and his officials of embezzling US$ 6 billion.
On 2 February of the same year, the state bought a 78 per cent stake in the bank, but Ablyazov had already fled to London, where he was granted political asylum in 2011.
In London, Ablyazov and his family lived sumptuously but eventually he fled England too, ostensibly to avoid a jail sentence for failing to provide information about his financial assets. Lawyers for Ablyazov insisted though that he left the UK after receiving a death threat.
Radio Free Europe has described Mukhtar Ablyazov as a ‘wild ‘90s” oligarch, who took advantage of the break-up of the former Soviet Union through his connections with Nazarbayev.
Now he is the president’s number one political enemy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Violence Erupts in Bangladesh After Verdict Against Former Islamic Leader
90 year-old Ghulam Azam sentenced to 90 years in prison for war crimes. The verdict sparks explosions, clashes and scenes of urban warfare all over Bangladesh for national hartal (strikes) organized by supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamic Party) and secular activists of Gonojagoron Mancha. Four people die, including a child.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) — Four dead, including a 9 year old girl and dozens of wounded, buses, shops and private cars vandalized and set on fire. This is the provisional toll from the National hartal (strike) called in Bangladesh, after the verdict issued yesterday by the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka. The court sentenced 91 year old Islamist leader and former president of Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamic Party), Ghulam Azam to 90 years in jail, for his role in the crimes committed during the Independence War (1971). A ruling that left everyone unhappy: the supporters of the Jamaat, are demanding their leaders absolution, Gonojagoron Mancha civil rights activists instead say the sentence is too light and call for the death penalty.
The courts have recognized Azam guilty of all the charges: murder, torture of unarmed people, conspiracy, incitement and complicity in genocide. Being 91, by law the judges spared Ghulam the death penalty.
Yesterday, there were demonstrations inside and outside the courtroom. Gonojagoron Mancha activists gathered in Shahbagh, district of Dhaka considered the “Tahrir Square” of Bangladesh, calling for the death penalty. Today both the Islamic party that secular movement have called for a hartal, which as expected has turned into urban warfare.
Activists of Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir (student wing of the party), detonated 11 homemade bombs in Chittagong, nine in Comilla and one in Narayanganj. Of the four deaths, two are students of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, killed in clashes with the police. The others are a 60 year old man, who was killed in Dinajpur by bricks thrown by some picketers, and a 9 year old girl, knocked down in Gazipur by a bus trying to flee the violence.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
2 Years After Nuclear Disaster, Japan Spawns Freaky Fruits and Veggies
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
It might be wise to steer clear of vegetables from Japan’s Fukushima area for, oh, say a few hundred years. A Korean website assembled this image collection of produce from towns and villages surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And they are NOT pretty pictures. From Siamese-twinned corn cobs to what can only be called peaches with elephantiasis, the region’s agriculture appears to have taken a heavy radiation hit from the nuclear disaster in 2011.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Manila’s Deal With Muslim Rebels Leaves Everyone Unhappy, But Brings Hope for Peace
“There is a lot of grumbling,” a Catholic source tells AsiaNews. “There is a perception that money and positions of power are going to a group that did not live up to its commitments in the past. However, we must continue to hope in a better future. “
Manila (AsiaNews) — The peace agreement between the Filipino government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front “is not easy to understand. On the one hand, there is a lot of grumbling, especially among Christians, who do not trust what Muslims might do. On the other, there is hope that history, after 40 years, will not repeat itself and that we shall reach true peace,” a Catholic source, anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews.
After eight months of negotiations, representatives of the Filipino government and of Mindanao separatists signed in Kuala Lumpur a first basic agreement on the economic and political life of the predominantly Muslim province.
However, the final deal seems to have upset a good portion of the Filipino population, which accuses the government, and President Benigno Aquino, of “selling out” the natural resources of the area.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is an armed group that has been trying to achieve independence for mineral-rich Mindanao for the past few decades. The war has cost the lives of thousands of people and has prevented the parties from exploiting the area’s rich mineral resources worth an estimated US$ 312 billion.
At present, local per capita income is around US$ 599 a year, about a quarter of the national average and the lowest in the country’s 17 regions.
In Kuala Lumpur, where the talks were held, an agreement in principle was reached that would allocate to the newly formed local government 75 per cent of all revenues from gold, copper, zinc, lead and other mineral resources extracted from the autonomous areas.
In addition, half of the proceeds from the sale of locally generated energy would be in MILF’s hands.
Local taxes and annual grants to finance and manage autonomy are now on the table. However, the real hurdle will be the rebels’ disarmament, which is under discussion at present.
The government wants a complete ceasefire with all weapons handed in. The rebels want a certain margin to retain a local police force.
Christians, the source told AsiaNews, “have always been wary of these forms of agreement. It is an old story, which starts with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF, created in the 60s), the first group that sought Mindanao independence. Even though an agreement was reached, it did not lead to anything. After the signing, in fact, the group split, giving rise to the MILF, and now the thing is repeating itself. “
The danger, he added, “is that in the end people only talk about money. When autonomous regions are set up, the leaders of the various groups take money and positions of power, and show little interest in keeping the peace or their pledges.”
“Even now, the MILF split and its breakaway members have created another group (the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was set up in 2008 for the purpose of total independence). The fear is that in a few years we shall have to deal with them again.”
However, the source concluded by noting that “there is always hope that this time might be the beginning of something different and better.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Captures Kingpin of Dreaded Los Zetas Crime Gang
Mexican marines captured the leader of the nation’s most feared drug trafficking group, Los Zetas, along the northern border with Texas, marking a major blow to a crime gang with tentacles deep within the United States, authorities said Monday night.
Miguel Angel Trevino was detained before dawn near Nuevo Laredo, the border city across from Laredo, Texas, that is a stronghold for the drug trafficking syndicate, Eduardo Sanchez, a spokesman for the Interior Secretariat, said in a brief news conference.
Following a lengthy intelligence operation over a period of months, authorities launched an operation in which a naval helicopter forced a pickup truck carrying Trevino and two other men to stop along a remote dirt road at 3:45 a.m., Sanchez said. No shots were fired. The vehicle contained $2 million in cash, and eight firearms, he added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
North Korean Ship Caught Smuggling Weapons and Missile Material Through Panama Canal
Panama’s president said his country had launched a “major investigation” after anti-drugs agents raided a ship travelling from Cuba to North Korea and discovered “missile components” stashed beneath a cargo of sugar.
The seizure reportedly took place last Friday afternoon when Panamanian security forces boarded the Chong Chon Gang as it prepared to enter the Panama Canal, apparently on its way to North Korea. On Monday night, president Ricardo Martinelli gave details of the dramatic seizure, saying authorities had initially “suspected that drugs were being transported,” according to a report on Panamá América. “We had suspected this ship, which was coming from Cuba and headed to North Korea, might have drugs aboard so it was brought into port for search and inspection,” on the Atlantic coast of the country, he said. “When we started to unload the shipment of sugar we located containers that we believe to be sophisticated missile equipment, and that is not allowed,” Mr Martinelli said. “This is a canal of peace, not of war,” Martinelli told Radio Panamá on Monday night…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Soy Products Linked to Cancer in Lab Tests
As time goes by, people are steadily waking up to some of the proven facts about soy, such as the knowledge that most soy is GMO. If that is the case, one can deduce that to solve the problem one can simply buy organic soy products. While it’s true that organic soy is healthier for you than GMO soy, there are other facts about soy that pose serious health risks. Here are four facts that debunk soy as a healthy food choice.
Four reasons to phase-out most soy products on the market
1. Soybeans contain large amounts of toxins. Unlike with other foods where any toxins are destroyed or deactivated during cooking, the toxins in soybeans remain intact. Some of these toxins, or “enzyme inhibitors,” block the actions of enzymes needed for the digestion of protein. The enzyme inhibitors in soy are linked to cancer in lab animal tests. Test animals fed enzyme inhibitors developed enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including pancreatic cancer.
2. Soybeans can interfere with nutrient absorption during digestion. This is because soy is high in phytic acid, which has been shown to block absorption of minerals calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
@UK: Peterborough Mosque is First to Join Foodbank Network
Adds a dangerous dimension to Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare conditionality, no such thing as a free halal meal.