There was a scare at JFK Airport today when a package in the mail room set off sensors for the presence of VX nerve agent, and made two people ill. However, the FBI later reported that the problem was only a leaking container of nail polish remover, and the nerve agent scare was a false alarm.
In other news, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg spent an afternoon in disguise driving a taxi, in order that he might discover what his serfs citizens really think about the issues.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Jerry Gordon, 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.
Agent: IRS Still Targeting Tea Party Groups
The Internal Revenue Service is still targeting tea party and conservative groups in their applications for tax-exempt status, a full three months after the scandal first erupted.
“In plain English, the IRS is still targeting tea party cases,” an aide to Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told The Washington Examiner.
Camp, a Michigan Republican, released a transcript of testimony from an IRS agent who told a Ways and Means investigator that the agency was still targeting such groups, the Examiner reports.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The US Government is now attacking encryption email companies.
Lavabit is closing its doors for a reason not giving, but Ladar Levison (Owner and Operator) said,”to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit.”
After Silent Circle announced that in a preemptive move they will discontinue the mail service to prevent spying.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congress Exempts Itself From ObamaCare
(NaturalNews) I wish I could say I was shocked by President Obama’s decision to exempt lawmakers and their staffs from the ravages of his signature “healthcare reform” law, but I’m not.
For one, the president has issued so many waivers and exemptions to political allies since the U.S. Supreme Court mistakenly upheld the law as constitutional that it figured he would do the same for Congress. And two, back in May, the leaders of both parties were caught negotiating in secret to find a way to exempt themselves from a law the Legislative Branch passed [http://www.naturalnews.com].
Granted, the decision to largely exempt lawmakers “officially” came from a “ruling” issued by the Office of Personnel Management. But the OPM is part of the federal bureaucracy, and the federal bureaucracy is managed by the Executive Branch, which is headed by the president. Plus, it’s being reported that Obama personally intervened to ensure this “ruling” was issued.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Latest Bills Could Make California Toughest State on Gun Control
A spate of gun-control bills could put California in the lead when it comes to restricting firearms.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the gun-control bills, which include proposals to ban a wide range of semi-automatic rifles and strict new regulations on ammunition, could reignite the national debate that erupted after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last year.
“When we see movement on the California bills and the sort of tenacity that you had post-Newtown, it makes it really hard for the gun lobby to say the momentum has gone away. And it’s certainly something Congress pays attention to,” Kristin Rand, legislative director at the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. , told the paper. “You can’t underestimate how important it is for Congress to see movement in the states, especially big states like California.”
Gun-rights advocates tell a different story.
“While they may try to reignite their lost momentum, I don’t think anything California does is going to affect what Washington does,” said Larry Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms trade group coincidentally based in Newtown. “We constantly see a barrage of anti-gun, anti-industry legislation being introduced in California, far more than in any other state.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Nanotech Set to Track, Self-Destruct, And GPS Tag Guns Wirelessly
The U.S. government is developing new firearm nanotechnology that can track, disrupt, and even self-destruct firearms.
The technological system, known as a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), utilizes tiny devices that are implanted in guns and other weapons. These devices are more than chips; they are actual mechanical processes created by precision engineering that can affect the weapon’s operations. Media reports reveal the devices include miniature GPS systems designed to make guns easier to track and self-destruct systems that could cause them to explode if they receive a wireless signal.
The technology coincides with the ‘smart gun’ technology Anthony Gucciardi has broken down in the past, which can be used to ‘turn off’ weapons when in gun free zones or whenever designated by government.
Other capabilities being developed include software that could interfere with the operation of targeting systems. This could include laser sights that couldn’t lock onto a person in uniform. Another possibility is targeting systems or sights that simply stop working after a certain date or shut down if they receive a wireless signal…
The scary thing is that this technology is emerging right now, and it isn’t hard to imagine law enforcement or gun control zealots demanding that such technologies be built into all guns sold to the public. That way somebody could just push a button somewhere and thousands of guns could simply explode, or the targeting systems could stop working. They could also mandate that all guns contain a tiny transmitter that would make it easy for law enforcement to track down.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Met With Tech Executives on Thursday to Discuss Government Surveillance: Report
President Barack Obama quietly met with the CEOs of Apple Inc, AT&T Inc as well as other technology and privacy representatives on Thursday to discuss government surveillance, according to a media report.
Google Inc computer scientist Vint Cerf and civil liberties leaders also participated in the meeting, along with Apple’s Tim Cook and AT&T’s Randall Stephenson, Politico said late Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The session was not included on Obama’s daily public schedule for Thursday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Suspected Lethal Nerve Agent Discovered at JFK Airport Mail Facility Was Just Nail Polish Remover
Authorities believe the substance that sickened two customs agents at JFK Airport this morning was ordinary nail polish remover, a law-enforcement source told The Post. The incident, which forced the evacuation of two buildings near the airport’s perimeter, does not appear to be terror-related, the source said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The American Surveillance State is Here. Can it be Evaded?
“If, as it seems, we are in the process of becoming a totalitarian society in which the state apparatus is all-powerful, the ethics most important for the survival of the true, free, human individual would be: cheat, lie, evade, fake it, be elsewhere, forge documents, build improved electronic gadgets in your garage that’ll outwit the gadgets used by the authorities.” — Philip K. Dick, author of Minority Report
On any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways, by both government and corporate eyes and ears.
A byproduct of this new age in which we live, whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior. As I point out in my new book, A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, this doesn’t even begin to touch on the corporate trackers that monitor your purchases, web browsing, Facebook posts and other activities taking place in the cyber sphere.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What Counter Jihadists Do Saturday Nights in Santa Monica
Most folks chill out on Saturday nights; shopping at malls, dining out or catching a movie at a multiplex. That is most folks. A group calling itself Counter Jihadists Coalition of Southern California spend Saturday nights at a booth in the busy Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica engaging in what I call anti-Da’wah, coumntering the call to Islam. They endeavor to get the word out about what is inside the Qur’an, the Hadith, Mohammed’s exemplary bio and the ever reliable guide to Islamic doctrine and Sharia, The Reliance of the Traveller.. We number among the group members of the West Coast branch of The United West. They even have a Coptic Christian member who can translate Arabic spoken by Muslim passersby who either walk by muttering or engage the doughty band. We have written about their exploits organizaing protest rallies against Muslim Brotherhood front groups and notorious anti-Semitic speakers in Southern California. This Saturday evening marked the culmination of Ramadan with the Feast of Eid al-Fitr. So the group set up their booth laden with pamphlets and related materials elucidating the totalitarian creed that lies within the Islamic doctrine. A creed that denigrates all unbelievers and denies civil and human rights for women, those who leave Islam by choice, gays, and, of course, The People of the Book, Christians and Jews.. As Ramadan had ended the group prepared a poster from a recent score card of violence that occurred in the Ummah and elsewhere during Ramadan that they downloaded from the Religion of Peace website, The Ramadan Bombathon Scorecard for 2013. The Religion of Peace website notes:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
What it Means to be an NSA “Target”
New Information Shows Why We Need Immediate FISA Amendments Act Reform
An important New York Times investigation from today reporting that the NSA “is searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans’ e-mail and text communications into and out of the country,” coupled with leaked documents published by the Guardian, seriously calls into question the accuracy of crucial statements made by government officials about NSA surveillance.
The government has previously tried to reassure the public about its use of FISA Amendments Act Section 702 surveillance practices, emphasizing that, under Section 702, the government may not “intentionally target any U.S. citizen, any other U.S. person, or anyone located within the United States.” Indeed, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Feinstein, in a letter to constituents who wrote to her expressing concern about the NSA’s spying program, said this: “[T]he government cannot listen to an American’s telephone calls or read their emails without a court warrant issued upon a showing of probable cause.”
We’ve written before about the word games the government plays in describing its surveillance practices: “acquire,” “collect,” and “content” are all old government favorites. The New York Times report proves Feinstein statement is false, and it’s clear it’s time to add “target” to the list of word games as well.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Who Will Stop Rampant Police Brutality in America?
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
The level of violence against Americans by local law enforcement grows every day. It’s out of control:
Cops Raid Wrong House, Threaten Children and Kill The Children’s Dog
“Six children from Chicago are gonna remember this night as one of their most traumatizing experiences. The kids, aged 11 months to 13 years at the time, were rehearsing songs for the church choir with their grandmother Charlene Holly when eight armed officers burst through the door and started aiming guns at them, yelling “get on the ground!”.
“One of the cops even asked Charlene to show the 11 month old’s hands to them at gunpoint. When she asked for the reason of the raid, she was handed a warrant for Sedgwick M. Reavers, the tenant of the apartment one floor above the Hollys. The warrant clearly stated ‘The second floor apartment located at 10640 S. Prairie Ave. A yellow brick two flat building with the numbers 10640 on the front of the building.’ but the cops broke into the first floor apartment, cursing at the minors and telling them “This is what happens when your grandma sells crack”. After the raid, Charlene found their family dog Samson dead in the upstairs laundry room, where he was presumably dragged to with a dog pole by one of the officers. The family kept Samson in the basement and he couldn’t have reached the laundry room on his own.”…
WW2 Hero Refuses Medical Care, So Cops Kill Him In His Nursing Home
According to witnesses and staff, that 95-year old man was sitting in a wheel chair. It was murder. Five — seven hot shot coppers go after a 95-year old man who didn’t want medical treatment that was being forced on him. That is a matter for the courts, not trigger happy local cops. The staff begged the cops to let them calm down an obviously agitated old man. Instead, the cops killed him.
Honor Student Inexplicably Beaten by Police “I Awoke Spitting My Teeth Out On the Ground”. After being told twice by witnesses that young woman had nothing to do with two other girls fighting in the street, they beat her anyway. The two girls fighting who started the mess weren’t even charged.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
…But what if it turns out that Monsanto was wrong, and the GM crops aren’t actually safe…
This is precisely what a number of scientists have been warning of for years, and the latest to sound the alarm is Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute for Science in Society, who has concluded that, by their very nature, there is no way GMOs (genetically modified organisms) can be safe.
The Greatest Danger of Genetic Modification
According to Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, genetic modification interferes fundamentally with the natural genetic modifications that organisms undergo in order to survive. Under natural circumstances, this is done in real time as “an exquisitely precise molecular dance of life.”
Genetic engineering, which assumes that one protein determines one particular trait, such as herbicide tolerance or insect resistance, and can easily be swapped out with another, with no other effects, is dangerously simplistic or, as Dr. Mae-Wan Ho says, “an illusion.”
An organism’s genome is not static but fluid, and its biological functions are interconnected with its environment and vice versa, such that trying to control genetic changes via artificial modification is a dangerous game. Dr. Ho explained:
[…]
The Organic Prepper4 recently highlighted 10 GM myths that Monsanto wants you to believe … but which are actually far from the truth…
Myth #1: No one has ever proven that GMOs are harmful to people
The truth is that studies of GM food have shown tumors, premature death, organ failure, gastric lesions, liver damage, kidney damage, allergic reactions, and more…
Myth #6: There is no nutritional difference between GM food and non-GM food
A 2012 nutritional analysis of GM versus non-GM corn showed shocking differences in nutritional content. Non-GM corn contains 437 times more calcium, 56 times more magnesium, and 7 times more manganese than GM corn. GM corn was also found to contain 13 ppm of glyphosate, a pesticide so toxic that it may be carcinogenic in the parts-per-trillion range, compared to zero in non-GM corn.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Britain’s Foreign Aid Has Fallen Into Hands of Al-Qaeda, DfID Admits
The terror group’s Somali franchise, al-Shabaab, “confiscated” the equipment from DfID contractors in multiple incidents over at least three months before any action was taken.
The admission is contained in the small print of the department’s latest accounts, which say that £480,000 worth of “humanitarian materials and supplies” was written off following repeated “confiscations” by al-Shabaab.
The confiscations are one of a series of developments disclosed by the department, which will increase controversy over the British aid budget, the only item of government expenditure that is rising sharply in an era of cuts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The documents reveal a shocking story: just six months before Britain went to war with Nazi Germany, the Bank of England willingly handed over £5.6 million worth of gold to Hitler — and it belonged to another country. The official history of the bank, written in 1950 but posted online for the first time on Tuesday, reveals how we betrayed Czechoslovakia — not just with the infamous Munich agreement of September 1938, which allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland, but also in London, where Montagu Norman, the eccentric but ruthless governor of the Bank of England agreed to surrender gold owned by the National Bank of Czechoslovakia.
[Comment: Very interesting reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Norway PM Jens Stoltenberg Works as Secret Taxi Driver
Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg spent an afternoon working incognito as a taxi driver in Oslo, he has revealed.
Mr Stoltenberg said he had wanted to hear from real Norwegian voters and that taxis were one of the few places where people shared their true views.
He wore sunglasses and an Oslo taxi driver’s uniform for the shift in June, only revealing his identity once he was recognised by his passengers.
His exchanges with his passengers were captured on a hidden camera.
The footage — made in collaboration with an advertising company — has been posted on the prime minister’s Facebook page and made into a film which will be used as part of his campaign for re-election in September.
“It is important for me to hear what people really think,” he told Norwegian media.
“And if there is one place people really say what they think about most things, it’s in the taxi.”
Driving errors
Some of the passengers who appear in the film had been told to wait for the taxi — without being told who would be driving — while others were picked up randomly and from taxi ranks.
Most of them appear to realise very quickly that there is something different about their driver, with one saying: “From this angle you really look like Stoltenberg.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paypal Tests Mobile Payments Using Your Face for Verification
A new trial in the U.K. lets people pay for items using the PayPal app, a mobile phone, and a photo to prove their identity.
PayPal is rolling out a new trial for British consumers to see if they really can leave their wallets at home.
Recently kicking off in London borough Richmond upon Thames, the test includes 12 different merchants set up to accept PayPal payments, according to the company.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Reaches Out to Muslims at End of Ramadan
Pope Francis has urged Christians and Muslims to work together to promote mutual respect, particularly by educating new generations of believers.
He greeted Muslims around the world during his Sunday blessing of pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square in Rome.
He said that “our brothers” the Muslims had just concluded their holy month of Ramadan, dedicated to fasting, prayer and alms-giving.
The Pope spoke from his studio window overlooking the square.
The BBC’s David Willey in Rome says Pope Francis, who has made caring for the poor the landmark theme of his pontificate, addressed tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in scorching summer heat.
Unlike his predecessors who spent their summers in the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo outside the Italian capital, where the weather is slightly cooler, the Pope has chosen to continue working at the Vatican during the summer holidays.
Our correspondent says he is preparing major reforms of the Vatican bureaucracy as a result of scandals involving Vatican finances and clerical sexual abuse of minors.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A map of the U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa tells you everything need to know about Barack Obama’s failed foreign policy. It is worth noting that Britain and France also choose to close many of their diplomatic posts. The West, which has had a long history of coveting and controlling elements of the Middle East and the African continent, is in retreat.
It is historic and it speaks to the shrinking of their power to intervene and influence events in this vast region of the world. It is also so dangerous that contemplating the outcome is frightening.
Despite President Obama’s belief that “all wars have to come to an end”, the reality is that we are locked into a long war with the forces of Islamism, the most dangerous threat to civilization the world has seen since the last century.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greatest Threat to U.S.: These 6,000 Jihadists
Islamic fighters from many nations now concentrating in 1 place
JERUSALEM — At least 6,000 jihadist rebels in Syria, many affiliated with al-Qaida, now pose a major security risk to the United States and Europe, according to Obama administration officials and Mideast experts.
Most of the news coverage of the emerging threat fails to mention U.S. and Western support, including weapons transfers, to the Syrian rebels. Al-Qaida-linked groups reportedly are prominent among the rebel ranks.
On Tuesday, Michael Morell, the Central Intelligence Agency’s second-in-command, warned in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that al-Qaida groups in Syria, along with the civil war itself, pose the greatest threat to U.S. national security.
The Wall Street Journal reported Morell said there are now more foreigners flowing into Syria each month to fight with al-Qaida-affiliated groups than there were going to Iraq to fight with al-Qaida at the height of the war there…
Unmentioned by CIA official Morell or the major news media reporting on the Syrian rebel threat is that the U.S. and Western countries have supplied vast sums of weapons to the Syrian rebels and earlier to the rebels in Libya who toppled Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Terrorists Strike Obama’s Elementary School
Attack came on day he offered greetings to Muslims celebrating holiday
As President Obama offered greetings from the White House to Muslims celebrating the feast that ends the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Catholic school he attended in Jakarta was hit with a terrorist attack.
Asia News said the attack Wednesday came amid an escalation of tensions on the eve of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr.
Two Molotov cocktails were thrown inside the walls of the Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic School in South Jakarta by an assailant on a motorcycle, Asia News reported.
The attack on the school followed the double bombing of a Buddhist temple Sunday, which prompted a statement Tuesday from the Catholic Archbishop of Jakarta, Ignatius Suharyo, warning of further anti-Christian violence.
Suharyo appealed to Catholics in Jakarta to remain “vigilant.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Looks to Argentina for Common Front on Gibraltar
Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo will travel to Buenos Aires early next month with a view to discussing the ongoing crisis between Spain and Gibraltar.
Argentina, which recently assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, has already offered political support to Spain in the latest diplomatic standoff with the United Kingdom over its overseas colony Gibraltar. The government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has announced that it is prepared to organize a joint offensive with Spain over Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, which has once again become a burning issue for Buenos Aires in the past few years.
But at the same time the Spanish government has its own dispute with Argentina that could come into play as both countries seek common ground to confront London.
When García-Margallo meets with his counterpart, Héctor Timerman, it will also be to discuss the ongoing squabble over the Argentinean government’s expropriation last year of the YPF affiliate of the Spanish oil company Repsol.
But taking the Gibraltar dispute to the United Nations and demanding formally that London give up its sovereignty claims to Gibraltar is just one of the many options the Spanish government is studying. In June, the United Nations Special Decolonization Committee discussed the Gibraltar issue at its regular meeting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Spending $653k to ‘Reduce Tobacco Use’ Among Brazilian Women
The National Institutes of Health is funding a program to convince female “light-smokers” in Brazil to kick their bad habit, at a cost to American taxpayers of $653,190.
According to the World Health Organization, taxes levied on tobacco products yields the Brazilian government $2.2 billion annually, but this half-a-million dollar smoking-cessation grant is being taken from the pockets of American taxpayers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
19 Very Disturbing Facts About Illegal Immigration That Every American Should Know
Should we roll out the red carpet and allow millions upon millions of thieves, rapists, gang members and drug dealers to come waltzing into this country any time they would like?
Should we broadcast a message to the rest of the world that anyone that can find a way to enter this country and somehow get to a “sanctuary city” can sign up for a plethora of welfare benefits and live a life of leisure at the expense of hard working American citizens? Yes, those questions sound absurd, but what I have just described will essentially be official U.S. government policy if the immigration bill going through Congress becomes law. And unfortunately, Democrats now say that they have the Republican votes that they need to get “immigration reform” through the House of Representatives. If this amnesty bill becomes law, it will encourage even more illegal immigration and it will be one more step toward making the U.S. border essentially meaningless.
Right now, we desperately need the American people to contact their representatives in Congress and demand that they vote against this bill. Sadly, this is not likely to happen because most Americans have absolutely no idea how negatively illegal immigration is affecting this nation.
The following are 19 very disturbing facts about illegal immigration that every American should know…
#1 57 percent of all households that are led by an immigrant (legal or illegal) are enrolled in at least one welfare program.
#2 According to one study, the cost to U.S. taxpayers of legalizing current illegal immigrants would be approximately 6.3 trillion dollars over the next 50 years.
#3 The Obama administration has distributed flyers that tell illegal immigrants that their immigration status will not be checked when they apply for food stamps.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Front Page Wash Post Story Hides Fact That Alleged Murderer Was Illegal Alien
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Amidst a national debate about a potential amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants, the Washington Post featured a front page story about the prime suspect accused of carrying out a sickening murder, but refused to mention the fact that he was an illegal alien.
The article concerned pretrial filings in the 2010 killing of Falls Church teen Vanessa Pham. 27-year-old Julio Miguel Blanco Garcia is accused of murdering Pham after first approaching her with his one-year-old daughter in a shopping mall and asking to be taken to the hospital.
Pham agreed but when she took a wrong turn, Garcia became agitated and, fearing she was about to report him to the police, grabbed a butcher knife from his backpack and plunged it into Pham no less than thirteen times.
The car crashed into a ditch and Garcia grabbed his daughter before clambering out of the sunroof, leaving Pham to die. Garcia then cleaned the blood off his hands using a baby wipe.
The fact that Garcia was an illegal alien is central to the story — this was obviously a key factor behind Garcia’s fear that Pham would turn him over to the authorities and therefore a primary motivating cause behind the alleged murder — but the Post makes no mention of it whatsoever, nor does the police report.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ministers Treat Traditional Families as Their ‘Economic Enemy’, Says Nigel Farage
The traditional family where one parent stays at home to look after children is treated by ministers as their “economic enemy”, Nigel Farage has said
The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party said bringing in a marriage tax break would “allow people to make informed and compassionate lifestyle choices about how they bring up their children at home”.
The news comes after George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was accused of “patronising” stay-at-home mothers after saying that they had made a “lifestyle choice” and should not receive childcare vouchers.
In a Commentary for www.telegraph.co.uk/politics, Mr Farage said that the Government’s “nonsensical” policy was to target traditional families, where one adult goes to work and the other stays at home to look after the children.
He said: “Nonsensical Government policy seems to suggest that the real economic enemy to the Coalition isn’t the failure to cut red tape and empower small and medium sized businesses, but seems to be the concept of the traditional family, where one parent (of whatever gender — after all over a million households now have the woman as the main bread winner) goes out to work while the other brings up the children.”
Mr Farage said that couples in a marriage should be allowed to swap tax allowances between each other.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greenland’s Sole Muslim Resident Fasts 21 Hours
The only Muslim living in Greenland managed to fast for an incredible 21 hours as he marked the religious month of Ramadan. With the month drawing to a close, Lebanese citizen Wassam Azaqeer went to extra lengths to prove his faith, revealed an Arab TV report.
According to the report, Azaqeer, who lives in the Greenland capital Nuuk, is the only Muslim residing in the country, where the sun goes down for just a few hours a day at this time of year.
While the majority of Muslims partaking in the religious festival may have to fast for between 12-16 hours depending on where they live, Greenland’s geographical location — between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic — coupled with the month this year’s Ramadan fell, meant Azaqeer had to fast for 21 hours.
Azaqeer has spent many years in Greenland, where he runs his own restaurant in Nuuk. After his 21-hour fast, he had just two hours to prepare his food and offer Isha and Maghrib prayers. He said he was proud to be the only Muslim living in, fasting and praying in Greenland.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
How Drugs Pumped Into Supermarket Chickens Pose a Terrifying Threat to Our Health
Every second of every day, somewhere in the world the same scene unfolds. A batch of several hundred eggs, precisely arranged in uniform rows, moves along a conveyor belt, coming to a halt beneath a machine linked to a jumble of tubes. Once in position, the machine robotically lowers itself and then simultaneously punctures each egg with a rack of hypodermic needles. Through these needles, a mix of vaccines and antibiotics is injected into the egg — and so into the unborn chick inside, which three days later will hatch out. If the scene sounds like something from a science-fiction film, then that is hardly a surprise. Today, large-scale poultry production has precious little to do with green fields and ruddy-cheeked farmers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The al-Shabaab confiscations appears to be the tail end of a bigger story one of British Government/NGO corruption and the syphoning off of taxpayers money.
Think they recognised Stoltenberg because he was driving a taxi and wasn’t Pakistani, so it clearly had to be some sort of gimmick…