The Greek government is having trouble finding a contractor to build the first state-sponsored mosque in Greece. Firms that had previously shown interest in the project backed out, admitting that they were concerned about a popular backlash. Coincidentally, the unemployment rate in Greece rose to a record 27.6% in May.
To readers who have emailed me about what FrontPage Mag did to Diana West (pulling a friendly review of her book and substituting an extremely hostile one): Yes, I’m aware of what happened. Excerpts from Diana’s response are included in tonight’s news feed.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Jerry Gordon, Vlad Tepes, 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.
Greek Unemployment Rate Hits New Record High of 27.6 Percent in May
ATHENS, Greece — Unemployment in Greece has risen to a new record high of 27.6 percent in May, up from 23.8 percent in the same month last year.
The Hellenic Statistics Authority said Thursday the jobless rate rose from 27 percent in April this year. Young people were by far the worst affected, with unemployment among job-seekers aged 15 to 24 standing at 64.9 percent.
Greece has been depending on funds from international rescue loans since May 2010, after years of profligate spending and fiscal mismanagement left it with a massive budget deficit. In return, successive governments have imposed stringent austerity measures, including tax hikes and salary and pension cuts.
The country is currently in the sixth year of a deep recession.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
JP Morgan Faces Criminal Probe for Defrauding Investors
The biggest US bank is under investigation by the country’s Department of Justice over whether it knowingly sold shoddy mortgage bonds prior to the financial crisis and is in violation of securities laws.
JPMorgan Chase announced Wednesday in a quarterly regulatory filing it is under criminal and civil investigation. The bank “continues to respond to other MBS [mortgage-backed security] related regulatory inquiries,” the filing said.
The US’s largest bank is responding to the ‘parallel investigations’ by both the US Attorney’s Office and the Eastern District of California for overstating the quality of mortgages they sold to investors between 2005 and 2007, Reuters reports.
Neither the bank nor the federal branch have provided comment on the case.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
As Obama Rules and Acts Out of Order So Go His Followers
It seems the more reckless and fickle the Obama Administration is with the truth, the more reckless and fickle his minions around the country are in showing their support for his debilitating ways of governing. It’s like they’re following in their master’s methods and tactics in order to keep turmoil boiling on the streets of America.
The lowlife and corrupt Democrats Party (I refuse to call it the democratic party as they don’t believe in democracy and they support a zealot dictator who punishes Christians simply for being Christian) is doing everything in their power to kill or destroy the conservatives in America and the “sit on their hands, do nothing but ask for more donations to make their sitting more comfortable” RINO and Establishment Republicans who bicker and do nothing else to bring justice to the country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Diana West: If Frontpage Will Lie About This, What Won’t They Lie About?
I have not had time to respond to the massive hit piece against my book American Betrayal posted today at Frontpage.com.
I will.
I would like to point out in brief, however, the simple, lowdown mendacity of the “Editors’ note” — that would be editors David Horowitz, Jamie Glazov, perhaps others — that tops 7,000 words of misrepresenting, twisting, and omitting by Ronald Radosh passed off as a “review.”
(This is the Radosh m.o., by the way, as briliiantly exposed in 2008 by M. Stanton Evans.)
Here it is:
Editors’ note: Frontpage offered Diana West equal space to reply to Professor Radosh’s points below. She refused.
To say that this misrepresents the truth is one of those understatements of the year.
First of all, Frontpage doesn’t inform their readers that they are actually looking at Frontpage American Betrayal Review #2.
Frontpage posted an earlier review — Review #1. It was positive. They removed it — purged it. (It is archived at Ruthfully Yours.) This is unheard of. Quite commonly, controversial books rack up more than one review, more than one opinion. The commissars of Frontpage don’t permit “incorrect” opinion, however, so the positive review of my book was removed from the website. On my incredulous inquiry of Glazov, he proceeded to explain in emails to me that the reviewer, Mark Tapson, “lacks the expertise” to review the book, and later, that the problem was the review’s “inaccuracy.” I asked what was innaccurate in the review and received no reply.
Here is a brief recap of that egregious event. (I omitted the comments about the reviewer in that post but given the sludge Frontpage is hurling at me to misrepresent my actions, I am exposing the backstory to these and other events.)
So here we are at the lie of an Editors’ Note. Did I refuse to reply to “Professor Radosh’s” “points”?
Of course not. I refused to play in Frontpage’s tainted little sandbox, however.
Why would any self-respecting human being decide to legitimize the actions of these ossified totalitarians and enter into a debate as if nothing had happened, as if they had treated my work in a collegial fashion to which writers — citizens — in a free society are accustomed? I decided there was no reason to enable them, to promote their dirty tactics at their website.
Further, this was not the first time Frontpage’s commissars had enforced party line. Several years ago, when I weighed in on a controversy among colleagues in a post at my website, John L. Work, a blogger for Frontpage’s NewsReal page — a retired police detective and, now, fine novelist — was instructed by site editors not to “link” to my work anymore. Not wanting to take party-line enforcement from anyone, John, a good friend before and even an better friend since, resigned.
That’s the Frontpage Commissariat for you.
What I decided last night was that if, on reading Frontpage’s new and “correct” review by Radosh, I wanted to reply, I wouldn’t dignify Frontpage with my reply — and told them so. In other words, I would reply elsewhere.
That is not what the editor’s note tells readers.
If they lie about this, will you be surprised to learn the review is equally mendacious? I will attend to that later.
For now, for the record, here is the email exchange I had with Frontpage yesterday just before Radosh hit piece was unveiled, and that led them to lie about me in the Editors’ note.
The email sequence starts at the bottom. I note that Horowitz cc’d his email (immediately below) to three other people — presumably to display his cleverness…
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Government’s Mass Surveillance Justifications Are So Dumb They’re “Crazy Pants”
The government is spying on just about everything we do. It’s not just “metadata” (… although that is much worse than you think.)
The government has adopted a secret interpretation of the Patriot Act which allows it to pretend that “everything” is relevant … so it spies on everyone.
Former NSA head Michael Hayden just confirmed that the government spies on our communications:
[…]
The NSA isn’t the only agency which spies on Americans. Many other agencies — concerned only withdomestic issues — spy on Americans as well.
Moreover, Reuters reports that — since the late 1990s — the NSA has been funneling its spying information to agencies throughout the country to prosecute petty crimes:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Judge in Ft. Hood Military Trial Says Nidal Hasan Can Continue to Represent Himself
The military judge presiding over the court martial of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan ruled Thursday that the former Army major can continue to represent himself, despite claims from his court-appointed legal team that he is trying to get the death penalty.
The lawyers assisting Hasan, called “standby attorneys,” are supposed to advise him as he defends himself. But on Wednesday, they told the judge Hasan, who admitted in his opening statement that he was the shooter, appears to be trying to get himself convicted.
The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, however, said she believes this is “nothing more than their disagreement with Major Hasan’s trial strategy.”
The apparent death wish of Hasan, which brought his court martial to a temporary halt Wednesday, came as no surprise to veteran prosecutors who have handled high-profile cases involving terrorists.
Hasan is representing himself but is advised by a team of attorneys appointed by the military court trying him for the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting at a Texas military base that left 13 dead and 30 injured. On Wednesday, members of his legal team told the military judge the former Army psychiatrist appears to be angling for the death penalty as he represents himself in the military trial…
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Mostly-White Ohio Suburb Fighting to Prevent Mostly-Black Bus-Riders From Entering Community
A lily-white Ohio suburb is doing everything it can, including risking millions in federal highway funding, to keep mostly minority bus-riders from a nearby city from entering their community.
The showdown began in 2010 when the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority proposed adding three new bus stops in Beavercreek, a largely white suburb 15 minutes east of Dayton. These new stops would give Dayton bus-riders access to Beavercreek’s major shopping mall and nearby businesses, as well as a medical clinic and Wright State University.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Napolitano: Domestic Spying is Dangerous to Freedom
How is it that the government can charge Edward Snowden with espionage for telling a journalist that the feds have been spying on all Americans and many of our allies, but the NSA itself, in a public relations campaign intended to win support for its lawlessness, can reveal secrets and do so with impunity? That question goes to the heart of the rule of law in a free society.
Since Snowden’s June 6th revelations about massive NSA spying, we have learned that all Americans who communicate via telephone or the Internet (who doesn’t?) have had all of their communications swept up by the federal government for two-plus years. The government initially claimed that the NSA has gathered only telephone numbers and billing data. Now we know that the NSA has captured and stored the content of trillions of telephone conversations, texts and emails, and can access that content at the press of a few computer keys. All of this happened in the dark, with the permission of President Obama, with the knowledge and consent of fewer than 20 members of Congress who were forbidden from doing anything about it by the laws they themselves had written, and based on secret legal arguments accepted by a secret court that keeps its records secret even from the judges who sit on the court.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Administration Using Housing Department to Compel Diversity in Neighborhoods
In a move some claim is tantamount to social engineering, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is imposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diversity in America’s neighborhoods and then push policies to change those it deems discriminatory.
The policy is called, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.” It will require HUD to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedy it.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan unveiled the federal rule at the NAACP convention in July.
“Unfortunately, in too many of our hardest hit communities, no matter how hard a child or her parents work, the life chances of that child, even her lifespan, is determined by the zip code she grows up in. This is simply wrong,” he said.
Data from this discrimination database would be used with zoning laws, housing finance policy, infrastructure planning and transportation to alleviate alleged discrimination and segregation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Disclose Plans to Make Superflu in Labs
Who do these guys think they are, the Dr. Frankensteins of virology?
First, two teams of virologists more dangerous versions of the deadly H5N1 flu. Now they want to give the H7N9 virus, which has already sickened at least 134 people and killed 43 people in Asia, a few new capabilities: drug resistance, faster transmission between people and the ability to sneak past the immune system.
Flu researchers Ron Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote up a whole list of risky experiments they’re starting with the new H7N9 bird flu and then published their plans Wednesday in both and . About 20 other scientists also signed the letters.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Fort Hood Attack Was Terrorism. The Army Should Call it That.
By Shawn Manning
In November 2009, my Army Reserve Medical Detachment reported to Fort Hood, Tex., in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. As we waited in line at the base’s processing center, Maj. Nidal Hasan entered the building and fired rounds that would kill 13 people and an unborn child and wound 32 others, including me. After many setbacks, Hasan’s trial finally began this week, only to be delayed yet again on Wednesday…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. ‘Space Fence’ Will Cease to Operate, Site Says
by Bill Chappell
NASA A U.S. radar system that tracks thousands of objects orbiting Earth — from satellites to harmful debris — has been slated for shutdown, according to the Space News site. The ground-based network known as the “Space Fence” may cease to operate in October.
“This is your notice to begin preparing the sites for closure,” a memo from Air Force Space Command told the contractor that operates the arrays last week. The memo obtained by Space News continues, “A specific list of action items will be provided as soon as it is finalized. A specific date to turn off the mission system has not been established yet, but will be provided to you immediately upon determination.”
The pending shutdown is being blamed on the government’s sequestration cuts and on the Strategic Choices and Management Review that the Pentagon is using to find areas of potential savings. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered that broad review several months ago.
Efforts to award a contract to build an updated version of the Space Fence system, parts of which date from the 1960s, have been held up by budgetary concerns.
At a meeting with congressional lawmakers last month, Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, said his division is ready to award the contract to build a new Space Fence, but it hasn’t been able to make the decision official due to the review process.
“I can tell you from a personal perspective it’s a high priority for Air Force Space Command, and I think for the nation in terms of space situational awareness,” Shelton added. “So we’re hopeful that we’ll get authority to award that contract very shortly.”
As Space News notes, the very high frequency (VHF) radar arrays that make up the Space Fence are only one part of a U.S. network that tracks objects in orbit.
But, the site adds, “It is responsible for approximately 40 percent of all observations performed by the Air Force-run Space Surveillance Network,” citing the Secure World Foundation’s technical adviser, Brian Weeden.
In case you’re wondering just how much material is whizzing around the Earth, here’s the most recent data we could find, from NASA:
“More than 21,000 orbital debris larger than 10 cm are known to exist. The estimated population of particles between 1 and 10 cm in diameter is approximately 500,000. The number of particles smaller than 1 cm exceeds 100 million.”…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Construction Firms in Greece Reluctant to Build Athens Mosque
Greek authorities are having difficulty finding a construction company to build the first state-sponsored mosque in Greece.
A fourth tender for the construction of the 46,000-euro project in the Votanikos area will be made next month, according to the Infrastructure Ministry, Kathimerini reports, as all previous attempts have failed to attract any takers.
Kathimerini spoke to representatives of several smaller companies that had expressed an interest in the project previously and admitted they are concerned about the popular opposition to the construction of a mosque in Athens.
Only a few days after the government issued a tender for the construction of the mosque the Council of State heard an appeal against the project by Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus while residents in Votanikos have also expressed outrage for the building of the mosque.
Extremist-right party Golden Dawn has also threatened to fight against plans to build a long awaited mosque in the Greek capital.
“If a mosque is constructed for Islamist criminals in Greece, a front of 100,000 Greeks headed by Golden Dawn will be created,” Ilias Kasidiaris, spokesman for the far-right party, told supporters at a rally in May, AFP reported.
Athens is one of the few European Union capitals without a mosque.
The mosque will have no minaret, in order to adopt to the surrounding environment and it will be built in the Athens neighborhood of Votanikos.
It will have an area of just over 1,000 square meters and the capacity to accommodate 400 people, according to news reports.
Muslims in Greece are left to pray in basement apartments, garages or underground basements, as the Greek government has stalled for over a decade in building an official mosque.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The European Parliament is to spend £6million on a ‘youth camp’ to promote Brussels days before crucial elections.
Eurocrats are accused of ‘nothing short of bribery’ by organising the event for 5,000 16 to 30-year-olds ahead as voters prepare to go to the polls to elect new MEPs.
The bizarre event includes role play games, concerts and ‘idea labs’ to debate youth unemployment in the European Parliament’s Strasbourg headquarters.
But more than 700 MEP will also be able to sponsor 10 young people each to send to the event, which it is claimed could breach rules on ‘treating’ voters during election time.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Sends ‘Massive Amounts’ of Phone, Email Data to NSA
Germany’s BND intelligence service sends “massive amounts” of intercepts to the NSA daily, according to a report based on Edward Snowden’s leaks. It suggests a tight relationship has been developed between the two agencies — which the BND claims is legal.
Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Snowden and obtained by Der Spiegel revealed that the 500 million pieces of phone and email communications metadata collected by the NSA in Germanylast December were “apparently” provided with the BND’s approval.
The data was allegedly handed over at two collection sites as part of the operation titled “Germany — Last 30 days.” One of those collection sites has been identified as the Bavarian BND facility at Bad Aibling, which the NSA is said to have officially left back in 2004.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Napolitano Deplores Violence, Prejudice in Ramadan Greeting
Italian president praises freedom of worship
(ANSAmed) — ROME, AUGUST 8 — Italian President Giorgio Napolitano called for an end to religious prejudices and a celebration of freedom Thursday, to mark the end of Ramadan.
“Today’s celebration is cause for reflection on the historical achievements of our society, such as freedom of worship and the rejection of any form of discrimination and violence based on religious affiliation,” the president said in a statement.
“Only with determination and courage to safeguard these values, Italy and Europe will be able to build a more open, just and free society”. His message came at the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting on the Islamic calendar.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
America’s Alliance With Egypt is on Verge of Collapse
By Youssef Ibrahim
?America’s intricate alliance with Egypt, woven over four decades, is standing on the verge of collapse over the failure of the Obama administration to comprehend the revolution that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power in Cairo.
In a cascade of mutual recriminations over the past three days, President Mansour and his prime minister, Hazem Biblawi, described two senior American senators, sent as emissaries of President Barak Obama, as “delusional” and “liars.”
The two senators arrived with demands to release all Muslim Brotherhood leaders being held under arrest and to integrate the party into the new revolutionary government. Otherwise, they warned, the Obama administration will cutoff all financial and military aid to Egypt.
Spokesmen for both the presidency and the prime minister immediately took umbrage, joined by an array of press commentators, who accused the two Americans, Senators McCain and Graham, of “manufacturing facts” and of “unwelcome interference in Egypt’s internal affairs.” The flagship Egyptian newspaper, Al Ahram, said the senators engaged in “foolish statements that are unacceptable.”
Following a press conference in which Mr. McCain threatened sanctions, the leader of the Egyptian Popular Current party, Hamdeen Sabahi, who is a co-leader of the ruling National Salvation Front, described Mr. McCain as “a senile old man.”
On the streets, nationalist sentiment was not far behind. The ‘‘Rebel Movement’’ is pitching a new drive titled ‘‘Say No to US Aid’’, which runs at $ 1.5 billion a year. So grave is the situation that military sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Egypt may call off critical joint military maneuvers code-named Bright Star.
Bright Star, which has been taking place since 1981, comprises the largest such exercises in the region. The exercises have been jointly led by America and Egypt, with participation of Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and sometimes Turkey.
The confrontation emerging between the Obama administration and Egypt represents a startling collapse for a president who, in Mr. Obama, made his first presidential demarche a speech at Cairo reaching out to the Muslim world. Now the confrontation threatens to destroy the foundation of regional, military, intelligence and anti-terror alliances built over decades.
To Egypt the cost is steep. It would lose American investments in education, medical research, and industrial training, as well as access to trade and political-organizational mentoring for a generation of civilian and military professionals. President Putin beckons, but Russia today is not in a position to replace all, or even much, of that.
To America the loss, if the confrontation gets out of hand, would be larger than Egypt’s. It could plunge America into an era like that which obtained between 1952 and 1970, when Gamal Abdel Nasser used Egypt’s clout to fan Arab Nationalism and anti-Americanism across Africa and the Arab world…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Singer Labels Obama ‘Terrorist,’ Says He Works With Muslim Brotherhood
Egyptian belly dancer Sama Elmasry unleashed harsh criticism on the so-called leader of the free world in a video she produced titled, “You Obama, Your Father, Mother.”
– — From the Jerusalem Post:
“An example of the vitriol in the country can be seen in a new video clip featuring a song by Egyptian performer Sama Elmasry. Titled “You Obama, Your Father, Mother,” it attacks the US president for allegedly preferring Islamic radicals over the army. It has gone viral, with over 160,000 views since last week.
“The clip features Obama in traditional Islamic dress. Elmasry curses him while mentioning that he had called for former president Hosni Mubarak to leave immediately, seeming to imply that this proved he was pro-Brotherhood.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Head of US Air Force Secretly Visited Israel to Discuss Iran Strike
The Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, Mark Welsh, visited Israel last week as a guest of Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, Israel’s Walla News reported Thursday.
Welsh’s visit was confidential and hidden from the media’s inquiring eye at the request of the Americans, apparently due to tensions in the Middle East.
This was Welsh’s first visit to Israel in his current position, and among the issues discussed with Eshel was Iran’s nuclear program. According to Walla News, Israel has been training its air force to carry out a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities for at least a decade.
The Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army, Gen. Martin Dempsey, will arrive in Israel next week. Yesterday, officials confirmed that Dempsey’s visit will also focus on Iran.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Silencing a Secularist in Turkey
Erdogan has abandoned his moderate facade
by Sam Nunberg
The Turkish criminal courts have increasingly been used to further Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist agenda through hate-speech prosecutions. The May 22 sentencing of Turkish-Armenian Sevan Nisanyan continues this disturbing trend of strangling political and social discourse.
Mr. Nisanyan is a man of many interests and talents. Linguist, journalist and hotel entrepreneur, Mr. Nisanyan is not only known for his guidebook to small, affordable hotels in Turkey, but also was awarded the 2004 Freedom of Thought Award by Turkey’s Human Rights Association for advocating the open discussion on the Armenian genocide. In 2008, he authored “The Mistaken Republic: 51 Questions about Ataturk and Kemalism,” arguing that Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, established a fascist dictatorship under the guise of nationalism. Mr. Nisanyan continues to frequently publish witty critical posts against the authoritarian bodies of the Turkish government on his blog, often with direct critiques on the Erdogan regime.
Following the worldwide protests last September by Muslims enraged by the release of the satirical YouTube film “The Innocence of Muslims,” Mr. Nisanyan argued in a Sept. 29 post that such discourse should not be criminalized. While mocking Muhammad is “ugly,” it does not constitute a “hate crime.” Putting emphasis on the distinction, Mr. Nisanyan wrote:
“Mocking an Arab leader — who claimed that he contacted God hundreds of years ago and who gained political, financial and sexual profit from this — is not a hate crime. Almost at the level of kindergarten, it is a test case of the thing called ‘freedom of expression.’“
Mr. Nisanyan subsequently explained that his 377-word posting was spawned by Mr. Erdogan’s uproar over “that cheapo Muhammad film” and his demand that the West recognize “Islamophobia as a crime against humanity.”
The post not only prompted 15 separate criminal complaints, but Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, an Erdogan confidant, called on prosecutors to launch an investigation. Breeching the sovereignty of the Turkish judiciary, he declared, “I’m announcing a crime. This is a typical hate crime. It is a hate crime, and it is a crime that is defined in our penal code.”
On Oct. 15, Mr. Nisanyan appeared on CNN Turk’s “Contrary to the Questions” to discuss the “The Innocence of Muslims” riots and the Turkish government’s denouncements of the film. The Supreme Board of Radio and Television fined the private broadcast on the grounds that Mr. Nisanyan’s comments “insulted the Prophet Muhammad,” “exceeded the boundaries of freedom of expression” and were “insulting and injurious” to society…
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The Rise of the Bear: 18 Signs That Russia is Rapidly Catching up to the United States
The Russian Bear is stronger and more powerful than it has ever been before. Sadly, most Americans don’t understand this. They still think of Russia as an “ex-superpower” that was rendered almost irrelevant when the Cold War ended. And yes, when the Cold War ended Russia was in rough shape. I got the chance to go over there in the early nineties, and at the time Russia was an economic disaster zone. Russian currency was so worthless that I joked that I could go exchange a 20 dollar bill and buy the Kremlin. But since that time Russia has roared back to life. Once Vladimir Putin became president, the Russian economy started to grow very rapidly. Today, Russia is an economic powerhouse that is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Their debt to GDP ratio is extremely small, they actually run a trade surplus every year, and they have the second most powerful military on the entire planet. Anyone that underestimates Russia at this point is making a huge mistake. The Russian Bear is back, and today it is a more formidable adversary than it ever was at any point during the Cold War.
Just check out the following statistics. The following are 18 signs that Russia is rapidly catching up to the United States…
[…]
#14 Russia has introduced a new “near silent” nuclear submarine which is far more quiet than anything the U.S. has…
#15 While Barack Obama is neutering the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal, Vladimir Putin is working hard to modernize Russian nuclear forces.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh: There’s Actually a Train Under There…
Mass of people try to get on board as millions celebrate the end of Ramadan
Bangladeshis packed into — and onto — trains in the capital Dhaka tonight as they raced home to break their last fast of Ramadan.
The annual Muslim fasting period has come to an end and these commuters were trying to get home as quickly as possible to prepare for the festival of Eid al-Fitr, which begins tomorrow.
For the past month observant Muslims across the world have refrained from eating or drinking anything from dawn to sunset in a show of spiritual devotion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Separatists in Southern Thailand Suspend Peace Talks With Government
Officials in Thailand say a Muslim separatist group has suspended peace talks because the government has not responded to its recent demands.
Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said Thursday the National Revolution Front told Thai coordinators that they are waiting for a response before resuming negotiations. Pracha said they have not called off the dialogue.
The militant group, also known by the Malay-language initials BRN, has demanded that Thai authorities free prisoners related to the insurgency and stop arresting new suspects. They have also asked for international organizations to be allowed to observe the talks.
The government signed a breakthrough deal with the insurgents in February, agreeing to hold talks to ease nearly a decade of violence in the country’s southern provinces that has killed more than 5,000 people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two British Women in Acid Attack in Zanzibar
Two teenage British volunteers have had acid thrown in their faces in a late night attack on the island of Zanzibar.
The 18-year-old women were attacked as they were walking through the streets of Stone Town, the historical centre of the capital of the east African island, by two men on a moped.
The acid splashed their faces, chests and hands and they had to be flown to hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for treatment.
The two teenagers were working with the volunteering organisation i-to-i and had been out there on a four-week trip. They had been due to return home to the UK on Saturday.
Their parents are understood to have been informed.
The island is a popular destination for gap year students doing voluntary work.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mkadam Khamis said: “Police in Zanzibar have launched a manhunt, and we ask for public assistance in identifying the attackers.”
He added: “The motive for the attack on the volunteers, aged 18 years, has not been established.”
Saleh Mohammed Jidawi, a senior health ministry official, said that the women’s wounds were “not life threatening”.
The assault is the first against foreigners in the popular tourist destination, however, there have been a series of attacks in the archipelago, mainly on grounds of religion.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two Jewish Teens Targeted in an Acid Attack in Zanzibar
Motive for the attack still unclear. A friend suggests “Jewish girls walking around in Zanzibar always make a target.”
In the tourist filled location of Stone Town, Zanzibar, two Jewish British teens had acid thrown in their faces Wednesday by men driving by on a moped. The incident followed two previous attacks they had suffered at the hands of locals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Border Patrol Agents Warn: Politicians Helping Cartels in U.S.
In an open letter to the public in late July, several retired Border Patrol agents wrote on behalf of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers to warn that Mexican drug cartels are actively operating inside the United States spending millions every year to try to build their networks here. They argued that American politicians are protecting their activities as well.
“Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted representatives in place as a means to guarantee continued success,” the Border Patrol agents wrote.
“We must never lose sight of the fact that the United States is the market place for the bulk of transnational criminal businesses engaged in human trafficking and the smuggling, distribution and sale of illegal drugs. Organized crime on this scale we are speaking about cannot exist without political protection.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California in Severe Drought: Amnesty Would Admit 33 Million More People
Today, California houses 38 million people. It grows by 1,655 people every day of the year; virtually all that growth via legal and illegal immigration. Demographic projections show that immigration expects to add 20 million people with 30 years or less. (Source: www.capsweb.org)
If our wise and profoundly intelligent U.S. Congress passes the S744 Amnesty Bill, our country will be hit with a Human Katrina the likes of 33 million added people within a decade — by 2023. Not only will they give a free pass to 20 million illegal migrants, but they added another 500,000 legal immigrants annually to total 1.5 million which is a half million over the current one million annually today. On top of that, those immigrants expect to birth 900,000 babies annually to give our country a whopping 33 million+9million babies=42 million new additions to the USA within 10 years. (Source: Dr. Steven Camorata) If you add in the family-reunification with up to 10 per legalized illegal immigrant, folks, this story gets even more exciting: we could add another 10 million on top of the 42 million to reach 52 million additional people in a decade.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Elysium: Propaganda for Illegal Immigration “Reform”
Neill Blomkamp’s science fiction action film, Elysium, scheduled for release on Friday, August 9, is slick New World Order propaganda. Although the film’s director and star actor, Blomkamp and Matt Damon, disagree and say the film does not carry political weight, a number of commentators say this simply is not the case.
Scott Foundas, a film critic for Variety, characterized Blomkamp’s effort as pushing “one of the more openly socialist political agendas of any Hollywood movie in memory, beating the drum loudly not just for universal healthcare, but for open borders, unconditional amnesty, and the abolition of class distinctions as well.”
“It’s not just hypocritical to say this movie isn’t political, it’s hilarious,” Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture at the Media Research Center, told Fox News. “This is just the latest of several Hollywood movies this year to try and co-opt Occupy Wall Street plot-lines into their films. Filmmakers wear their politics on their sleeves, but it helps their careers to push liberal agendas.”
[Comment: This story was done in a Star Trek original series episode where the elites live in a city in the sky, while the masses toil on the planet surface.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Hegelian Dialectic and Its Use in Controlling Modern Society
Another form of the Hegelian Dialectic is Problem — Reaction — Solution. Most of us unwittingly fall victim to it all too often and sadly if we don’t stop, we will continue to lose our free will and liberties. It has been widely used by our governments and corporations around the world. You could say that in terms of controlling the masses, and society in general, it’s deployment has been an effective tool in keeping humanity in check.
Almost all major events in history employ the Hegelian Dialectic of: Problem — manufacture a crisis or take advantage of one already in place in order to get the desired Reaction of public outcry whereby the public demands a Solution which as been predetermined from the beginning.
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In order to avoid falling victim to the Hegelian Dialectic from now on you must remember the process involved. Anytime a major problem or issue arises in society think about who will gain or profit from it. Then remove yourself from the equation and take a step back to look at it from a third party perspective. See the so-called “problem”, look at who is reacting, why and in what way. Then look for who is offering up the solution.
When you do this from now on you’ll quickly see the real truth instead of the false truth they wanted you to see.
[Comment: Problem->Reaction->Solution. This is what is meant by “never let a crisis go to waste.”]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |