Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/3/2013

Speaker of the House John Boehner threw his support behind Barack Obama’s initiative on Syria, thus boosting the president’s chances of getting his much-desired war. Meanwhile, Senator John McCain said that all those shouts of “Allahu Akhbar!” coming from jihadis in Syria are the Muslim equivalent of a Christian’s saying “Thank God.” The senator also maintained that the “rebels” supported by the Obama administration are in fact moderate Muslims.

In other news, the latest statistics indicate that one out of every six children in Oslo is officially poor, with a strong correlation between a family’s poverty level and its immigrant origins.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Takuan Seiyo, The Observer, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Cyprus: Civil Servants Early Retirement Doubled
» Greece: Anarcho-Leftist Terror Might Target Troika Reps
» Greece Will Need 10 Years to Bring Unemployment Under 20%
» Italy: Payrolls Shrinking at Major Firms
» Real Estate: Chinese, Russian Interest in Greece Growing
» Renewed Growth in Production in China, But Not for Small and Medium Sized Businesses
» Thirty-One Spaniards Find Work in August
 
USA
» Fifty Years After His Speech: What Would MLK Say?
» Freedom of Speech as Long as You Agree With Me
» Joining Forces to Kill Law Enforcement
» Microsoft Buys Nokia’s Smartphone Handset Business
» New Details of Bin Laden Raid Leaked by Snowden
» Obama Congratulates American Muslims on Same Day He Moves for Military Action Against Syria
» Rebranding the IHT: ‘New York Times is the Stronger Name’
 
Europe and the EU
» Czechia: ‘Prosecutors to Investigate 80bn in Solar Grants’
» Fiat Threatens to Leave Italy Over Labour Row
» France: Rail Chiefs Launch €350m Paris Metro Clean-Up
» Germans Pay Dearly for ‘Energy Transformation’
» Greece: Six Firebombs Go Off in Athens; No Injuries Reported
» Italian Premier Eyes East, Pact With Slovenia and Croatia
» Italy Must Use EU Funds Better and Penalise Wastage
» Italy: Clear Strategies Demanded for Structural Funds
» Italy: Giulia Ligresti Plea Bargains 2 Yrs 8 Mo in Fonsai Probe
» Italy: Justice Minister Says Berlusconi Ban Law Deserves ‘Thought’
» Italy: More Racist Slurs Against Minister Kyenge
» Megashark Fossils Found Off Canary Coast
» Mixed-Race Adoption the Norm in Sweden
» Norway: One in Six Children in Oslo Are Officially Poor
» Switzerland: Outcry Ends Violent Offender’s Lavish Therapy
» UK: EU Exit Would Spark London Bank Exodus, Goldman Bosses Say
» UK: Rapist May Have HIV From Greater Manchester Victim
» UK: Sheffield United: Blades Are Fit for a Prince
 
North Africa
» Benghazi Alert: Syrian Sideshow Hides New FOIA Report — Obama White House Let Them Die
» Egypt: Christians Killed for Ransom
» Egypt: Al-Jazeera and ‘Pro-Muslim Brotherhood’ Channels Closed
» The Muslim Brotherhood’s Connection to Benghazi
 
Middle East
» Ban Ki-Moon Warns for Consequences of Syrian Intervention
» Boehner Says He Supports Obama’s Call for Action on Syria
» Britain Sold Nerve Gas Chemicals to Syria 10 Months After ‘Civil Unrest’ Began
» Educating John McCain on the Meaning of ‘Allahu-Akbar’
» Experts: U.S. Case That Syrian Government Responsible for Chemical Weapons is Weak
» French Public Opposes War Against Syria
» Kuwait: Health Minister Approves Clinics Segregation Plan
» Putin: US Chemical Weapons Claims “Utter Nonsense”
» Syrian Nuns and Priests Prepare to Fast and Pray
» Syrian Refugees Reach 2 Million Mark
» Syria: France Won’t Intervene if US Congress Votes Against
» Syria Will be the Waco of the Middle East
» Syria: The View From the UK
» The Pope Urges Respect for Islam
» Turkey Starts Trial Over 1997 Coup
» U.S. Intelligence Agencies Involved in Chemical Attack in Syria
» Video: Russell Brand Blasts Syrian War Disinformation
» War in Syria: ‘US Leave ‘Unreliable’ British Out in the Cold’
» Who Benefits From a War Between the United States and Syria?
 
South Asia
» Indian Supreme Court Postpones Appeal of Italian Couple
» Indian Report Says 1 Woman Dies Every Hour in Disputes Over Dowry Payments
» Indonesia: East Java: Civil Servants Forced to Pray to Allah
 
Far East
» Path of a Tyrant: Uncovering Genghis Khan’s Lost Legacy
 
Latin America
» Brazil TV Reports NSA Spied on Brazil, Mexico Presidents
» NSA Spying Violates Sovereignty, Says Brazil
 
Immigration
» 32 Pakistani Illegal Migrants Land in Southern Italy
» Norway: Criminal Refugees Active in Drug Trade
» Sweden First in the EU: Syrians to Get Permanent Residence in Sweden
» Sweden Offers Residency to All Syrian Refugees
» Syrian Crisis Will Worsen Refugee Problem — Letta
» Vinnie Jones Claims Immigration Has Made England Unrecognisable and ‘Not the Country I Grew Up in’
 
Culture Wars
» Film Tackles Islamophobia With Humor
» Football Players Say ‘Stop Racism’
» Miley is Not the Problem
» MTV VMAs 2013: It Was About Miley Cyrus Taking the Fall
» They Call Him Archbishop
 

Cyprus: Civil Servants Early Retirement Doubled

(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, SEPTEMBER 3 — In Cyprus the number of public servants taking early retirement doubled in 2012 compared to the year before, while the figure for this year is steadily rising, Cyprus Mail reports quoting the head of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Pavlos Papageorgiou, as saying on Monday. Speaking after handing over the PSC’s annual report for 2012 to President Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace, Papageorgiou said, despite the freeze on hiring and promotions in the public sector, the Commission still had plenty to do in 2012. According to the PSC head, 23 positions, announced before the freeze, were filled, while 1,162 promotions were completed.

Retirements in the public sector increased by 75% year-on-year due to the massive increase in early retirements, he said. In 2011, 344 public servants took early retirement while in 2012, this figure increased to 734. So far this year, retirements have already reached 730, meaning the final figure could top 1,000, said Papageorgiou.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Anarcho-Leftist Terror Might Target Troika Reps

Extreme leftists looking for new symbolic targets, experts say

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, SEPTEMBER 2 — Greek anarchists and other leftist extremists may be plotting to attack members of the troika (EU-ECB-IMF) due back in Athens on September 22, Newsit website and Ta Nea daily reported Monday. Extreme left terrorists, Newsit said, are looking for “targets in finance” against which to vent their rage at the sacking of thousands of civil servants under Premier Antonis Samaras’ drastic public sector reforms, as per Greece’s international creditors.

Anarchist or extreme-left terrorism has escalated in Greece under troika-induced austerity, with at least 18 high-profile attacks — causing in damages but no victims — at the rate of almost one a month over the past 22 months.

Targets using home-made bombs and sometimes machine guns have included the government, the judiciary, diplomats and embassies, government ministers, police officials, and banks.

The most recent occurred this morning, when an envelope packed with gunpowder exploded in the Athens home of Court of Appeals Judge Dimitris Mokkas, who deals with terrorist trials.

When a neighbor handed the judge a suspicious-looking envelope the day he returned from holiday, he threw it on the ground, where it burst into flames without causing any damages. The envelope resembled others sent in the past by radical anarchist organization Conspiracy of Fire Cells (SPF), which first surfaced in 2008.

New formations have sprung up since, such as Zero Tolerance (three 2011 attacks on as many politicians), the February 12 Movement (one unexploded bomb in the Athens subway on February 25 of last year), and the People’s Combatants Squadron (fired a Kalashnikov against Nea Dimokratia party headquarters on January 14).

Anti-terrorism experts fear such left-wing terrorists “will soon move from buildings to people”, according to Newsit. Greek police have beefed up security for troika representatives and other “objectives at risk”, and are on the hunt for the traffickers that supply terrorists with their weaponry, sources said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Greece Will Need 10 Years to Bring Unemployment Under 20%

According to a report by the main private sector union, GSEE

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, SEPTEMBER 2 — It will take at least 20 years for unemployment in Greece to drop below 10%, according to leaked extracts of a report on the Greek economy prepared by the country’s main private sector union, GSEE. According to the Athens-Macedonia News Agency, GSEE’s Labor Institute found that it would take two decades or more for unemployment, currently at 27.6%, to decline to pre-crisis levels. The study also suggests that by 2014 Greeks’ purchasing power will be half of what it was before the crisis began, with wages declining by a combined 41 billion euros over the last three years. The GSEE Labor Institute also suggested that domestic demand had already dropped to the same level as 1999. The report, which is due to be released in the next few days to coincide with the Thessaloniki International Fair, also indicated that Greece’s fixed capital stock declined between 2011 and 2013 for the first time since the end of the Greek Civil War more than 60 years ago.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Payrolls Shrinking at Major Firms

Large companies, employees suffering from economic crisis

(ANSA) — Rome, September 2 — Payrolls were shrinking at Italy’s biggest firms in June, the national statistical agency Istat said Monday.

Companies with at least 500 employees reduced wages by an average of 2.7% in June compared with the previous month, Istat reported.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Real Estate: Chinese, Russian Interest in Greece Growing

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, SEPTEMBER 3 — Chinese and Russian investors are showing increased interest in acquiring properties in Greece, mostly in Athens, as well as the islands of Rhodes, Crete and Corfu, according to a report by real estate agency Danos & Associates-BNP Paribas on the course of the property market in the first six months of the year. The Chinese and the Russians are motivated by the legal clause offering them a five-year residence permit if they invest at least 250,000 euros in the Greek property market, as daily Kathimerini notes. Yet Danos & Associates also records a recently increased interest on the part of British buyers, who are focusing their attention on the Cyclades islands and Corfu. Home buyers have a wide variety of options to choose from as the existing stock is particularly big, while expectations of a stabilization of the market this year have not materialized: House prices dropped by another 11.5% in the first half of the year, bringing the total decline over the last three years to an average of 28.7%. The report showed that Greece’s political stability along with the price drop have increased the appetite of foreign buyers, but it adds that for that interest to turn into acquisitions, the government will need to continue with its reforms program.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Renewed Growth in Production in China, But Not for Small and Medium Sized Businesses

PMI data for August reveals rebound in manufacturing sector. The government aims to achieve a GDP of 7.5% by 2013, vital to maintaining wages and jobs, and thus social stability. But economists warn economy must “disengage” from state and focus on less developed realities.

Beijing ( AsiaNews / Agencies) — After 4 months of recession, Chinese industrial activity is up again due to an increase in domestic demand. According to research carried out by Markit / HSBC , the Purchasing Managers ‘ Index ( PMI , productivity index) reached 50.1 points in August against 47.7 in July. Analysts had expected a value of around 50.6 points. Data below 50 indicates recession, upwards expansion.

The numbers indicate, however, that the growth of the world’s second largest economy is slowing down. In fact, many analysts believe that Augusts’ positive data does not indicate a real stabilization of the market, rather measures taken by the central government to push the economic production and achieve the growth target for the current year , equal to 7.5 % . This margin is vital to maintaining wages and jobs, and thus social stability. In this context, in recent months Beijing has launched a new stimulus plan made ​​up of tax cuts for small businesses, incentives for exporters and investment in infrastructure.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are still experiencing the greatest difficulties: the PMI index relative to these, in fact, is in the negative for the 17th consecutive month. The biggest problem for small industries remains access to credit, since only recently has industrial growth begun to effect reach the real economy and improve the populations’ purchasing power.

Economists and critics believe that the national economy needs to disengage from state giants (which comply with the Communist Party and which receive aid and tax breaks during each financial maneuver) and focus on smaller realities. Economic aid to the giants of industrial production, energy and telecommunications in fact is “fixing” data relating to the real economy , presenting values ​​that are growing , however, the result of mathematical games and not of real national wealth .

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Thirty-One Spaniards Find Work in August

Spain said Tuesday it had eked out a sixth straight month of shrinking jobless queues in August but the number of people registered as unemployed dipped by just 31 people.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Fifty Years After His Speech: What Would MLK Say?

My brother attended the red carpet premiere of his wife’s first big screen acting role at a Baltimore movie theater. Forced to park blocks away in the hood, after the movie my brother asked a friend to drive him back to his car rather than risk walking.

My brother said Baltimore black youths are out-of-control and extremely aggressive. He said if George Zimmerman was on one street corner and black youths were on the other, he would choose to walk past Zimmerman. “I’m not afraid of Zimmerman. I’m afraid of us!”

Our conversation came on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his historic remarkably inspiring, “I Have a Dream” speech.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Freedom of Speech as Long as You Agree With Me

Shortly after I arrived in the U.S., I realized that the freedom of speech Americans thought they had, was, let’s just say, with no intention of offending anyone, a figment of their naïve imagination.

I was naïve too, having escaped a communist dictatorship, I felt free to speak my objective opinion, thinking that there would be no harmful consequences since my freedom of speech was guaranteed.

I felt elated. I did not have to fear the security police day and night; and I did not have to be mindful constantly of what I said around friends, co-workers, strangers, distant, and close relatives.

Anything that disagreed with the communist regime’s tyrannical propaganda sent anyone to jail, a gulag, or worse yet, disappeared them permanently. If people had a strong constitution, when their jail or gulag time expired, they were set free and hopefully re-educated cheerleaders of the narcissistic president and his wife who thought themselves to be the grandiose parents of the nation. If people’s constitution was weak, they expired in jail from malnutrition, verbal abuse, and daily beatings.

As soon as I came in contact with educators, I realized, there was a problem with freedom of speech. The freedom to speak was not really free. You could speak your mind but you were ostracized, ignored, marginalized, or fired.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Joining Forces to Kill Law Enforcement

One of the bravest, dependable, loyal to America and innovative sheriffs in the country is under heavy attack from anti-American forces mentioned in the heading shown above as they try to bring him to his knees and strip him of his authority.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, State of Arizona explained in an online article published on Thursday, August 22, 2013 titled, “This Is Outrageous” in which he lays blame for most of the anti-American statements in the public domain on loose and porous borders and a lack of enforcement of existing laws for illegally crossing the border.

The title of his article, “This Is Outrageous” comes from his observations of drastic differences between the United States and Mexico in the enforcement and resulting actions by those two countries. Arpaio states”If you cross the borders into Mexico illegally you will be jailed for up to two years. But, if you cross the United States border illegally you could get:

  • A driver’s license
  • Access to Social Security and Medicare
  • Access to Food stamps and Welfare
  • Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house
  • Free education for your children
  • Free health care and Emergency Room visits

All of those benefits that are given gratis to illegal aliens who break our laws by entering this country illegally are approved by our president Barack Obama, and his administration, and approved by the U. S. Senate, the ACLU, all federal judges appointed by Obama, Ex-president Bubba Clinton and an overwhelming number of liberal communistic Democrats all across America. That is why Sheriff Arpaio called his article, “This Is Outrageous”, because that’s what it is. The sheriff goes on to say, “until we tighten the border and enforce existing laws for illegally crossing the border, millions of people will continue to traverse it every year.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Microsoft Buys Nokia’s Smartphone Handset Business

Microsoft late Monday announced it is buying Nokia’s smartphone and cellular handset business in a deal worth $7.2 billion.

As part of the deal, Microsoft will own the company which has been a leader in creating the Lumia line of smartphones that run Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. Microsoft is paying $5 billion to buy Nokia’s Devices & Services unit and an additional $2.2 billion to license Nokia’s patents for $2.2 billion.

The deal formally puts the two companies together after collaborating closely since Feb. 2011 to create handsets that compete with those from Apple and Samsung. The companies have made in-roads in many parts of the world, including Europe, but are still facing headwinds in the U.S. Windows Phone has already surpassed BlackBerry as the third largest smartphone platform according to some analysts.

The move is one of the boldest yet by CEO Steve Ballmer, who stated last month he plans to retire in 12 months. By buying Nokia’s handset business, Microsoft is showing it’s committed to turning itself into more of a devices company than a software company. The deal’s total value makes it the second largest ever done by Microsoft, just behind the $9.3 billion buy of Internet phone service Skype in May 2011, says S&P Capital IQ.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

New Details of Bin Laden Raid Leaked by Snowden

Navy Seals guided from SPACE, a top secret lab that had Bin Laden’s DNA and clandestine NSA operatives who bugged terrorist’s phones

According to a packet of classified intelligence documents that were leaked to the Washington Post by former NSA contractor-turned-Russian émigré Edward Snowden, the successful raid on Bin Laden’s lair was made possible in part thanks to a team of top secret operatives known as the Tailored Access Operation group.

The elite hackers are tasked with breaking into computers and cell phone networks and installing spyware and locator devices. Such implants on devices owned by Al Qaeda officials were crucial to enabling the Bin Laden raid, according to the Post.

Documents also reveal the existence of a top secret lab Defense Intelligence Agency Lab holding Bin Laden’s DNA that was able to confirm his identity within hours, and that a network of NSA satellites guided the SEALs on the raid and intercepted communications from the surrounding area.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Congratulates American Muslims on Same Day He Moves for Military Action Against Syria

The congratulating American Muslims video, aired Saturday at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) annual convention, highlighting “the myriad of ways the American Muslim community, and specifically ISNA leadership, has served as an effective partner in promoting inter-religious initiatives in the U.S. and religious freedom for minorities around the world.” (PRNewswire-USNewswire, Aug. 31, 2013).

That is, of course, unless you happen to be a Christian in Syria, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Somalia, Tanzania, Libya, Cameroon, the Netherlands, Kenya, Turkey, Algeria, Norway, Lebanon, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kosovo, South Africa, and even in the U.S., where on March 24, 2013, in Ashtabula, Ohio, a Muslim convert walked into a church service with a Koran and gunned down his Christian father while praising Allah. (url)

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Rebranding the IHT: ‘New York Times is the Stronger Name’

It is the end of an era at the International Herald Tribune, with the paper soon to be rechristened as the International New York Times. In an interview, journalists Stephen Dunbar-Johnson and Dick Stevenson discuss the name change and the future of independent journalism.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Czechia: ‘Prosecutors to Investigate 80bn in Solar Grants’

Hospodárské Noviny

Appeal court prosecutors are preparing to investigate the handing out of power station licences to firms just before a major cut in the price paid for solar electricity in late 2010 amid claims some were given to facilities that were not operational, reports Hospodárské noviny.

The first 20 power stations targeted by the investigation involves the allocation of licences that gave their holders the right to an estimated 80bn koruna (more than €3bn) in grants to be paid out over 20 years. The initiative may pave the way for the examination of a thousand additional cases.

Some investors in the sector who pledged that their facilities would achieve levels of productivity comparable with solar installations in California, which benefits from much more sunshine than the Czech Republic, are also suspected of exaggerating the performance of their facilities.

The business daily reminds its readers that during the “solar boom” in 2009-2010, the number of solar facilities multiplied by a factor of nine to reach 25,127 installations.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Fiat Threatens to Leave Italy Over Labour Row

Fiat, Italy’s biggest employer, has said it would pull out of Italy unless the government revamps labour relations laws.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Rail Chiefs Launch €350m Paris Metro Clean-Up

The time has come to tackle Paris’s grimey Metro, once and for all, according to transport chiefs, who announced this week a multi-million euro plan to rid the network and its stations of their infamous filth.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germans Pay Dearly for ‘Energy Transformation’

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel

The policy of “energy transformation” undertaken by Germany in the 2000 could result in a 20 per cent increase in the cost of electricity to consumers in 2014, announces Süddeutsche Zeitung, on the eve of the presentation of a report by the Federal Monopolies Commission, which has examined the impact of the shift to renewables. The daily calculates the additional cost to householders at €40 per year, even though “the market price of electricity has not been so low in years.”

The paradox is explained by the amount added to energy bills by funding for the “energy transformation” policy. As the daily points out, “the more extensive supply of energy has lowered the market price.” But to avoid losing money, the operators, who have to pay producers a fixed price for green energy, have passed on the difference between the fixed rate and the market price to their customers: “And the more market price declines, the more this cost weighs on consumers.”

Dissent over what Süddeutsche Zeitung describes as this “absurd” model is growing in Germany, and the daily is not the only critical voice in the German press. This week’s Der Spiegel has published a feature on the “Ghost in the power supply,” which is threatening to undermine the energy transformation policy. The outcry has reached a point where Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged that the 2000 law will be reformed after the elections on September 22, while her social-democratic rival Peer Steinbrück has described her management of the issue as “disastrous”, reports Der Spiegel.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Six Firebombs Go Off in Athens; No Injuries Reported

Six separate explosive devices believed to have been made of butane gas canisters went off in the Athenian neighborhoods of Kypseli and Egaleo overnight on Monday, though no injuries were reported, police said on Tuesday.

The homemade bombs destroyed four cars, a truck, two motorcycles and a garbage bin.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Premier Eyes East, Pact With Slovenia and Croatia

‘New backbone of foreign politics’, issue of LNG terminal

(by Beniamino Pagliaro) (ANSAmed) — BLED (SLOVENIA) — Italian Premier Enrico Letta during a trip to lake Bled, Slovenia, discussed the conflict in Syria, Italy’s controversial property tax IMU, an LNG terminal in Trieste and giving citizens a more active role in Europe’s decision-making process. But most of all Letta stressed the need for Italy to give its foreign policy a new ‘backbone’ by looking eastward.

With Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek Letta announced a new trilateral on the High Adriatic: Italy, Slovenia and Croatia will boost high-level relations. The next gathering has already been planned on September 12 in Venice with the presence of Zagreb’s prime minister just as the country has been admitted to Europe. Letta clarified his choice: ‘It’s an investment’, he said, a logic consequence of a role Italy already covers in Slovenia and Croatia as one of their top commercial partners. In 2012, for example, exports from Italy to Slovenia were worth 4,05 billion euros.

The Italian premier however vied to stress the attention shown — a whole afternoon at the Bled Strategic Forum, Slovenia’s version of Italy’s Cernobbio, organized by the foreign minister, means something. Relations with the Slovenian premier are friendly: both lead an unusual government coalition with difficult challenges ahead. The atmosphere appears one of detente although a recurring issue over the past few years, the LNG terminal which Gas Natural wants to build in Trieste against Slovenia’s wishes. Responding to a question on the issue during a press conference, Letta cited ‘in-depth analyses’ on the matter by the development ministries while Bratusek added nothing on the matter, sparking rumours of a possible positive turn of talks. On the other hand, Letta praised progress made by the Bratusek government and promised Italy’s interest in Slovenia’s privatizations, offering Piazza Affari’s spotlight for an upcoming road show. Among the dossiers at stake is for example Save, which is interested in Ljubljana’s airport.

‘Italy made plenty of efforts and we know well that efforts are requested and made but rewards are also necessary’, added the Italian premier after suggesting ‘a new way’ to elect the president of the European Commission, giving the main parties the possibility of naming a candidate ahead of elections. In spite of constant emergencies, the economic climate is savouring recovery — the OECD anticipated in Bled its interim report which sees the Eurozone recovering in the second semester this year and more stable in 2014 — and Letta wants to invest, starting with the closest partners.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Must Use EU Funds Better and Penalise Wastage

(AGI) Palermo, Sept 2 — Italy’s last chance “to stimulate growth and improve living conditions, combat unemployment figures and social exclusion will be through the new European funding programme which will begin in 2014,” said Labour Minister Enrico Giovannini in a video conference in Palermo.

“We need to figure out how to avoid wasting these structural funds. We need to have data, statistics, and analyses to plan, and also know how to discipline people who are wasting this money. “ .

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Clear Strategies Demanded for Structural Funds

Italy told to cut political interference in using EU funds

(ANSA) — Brussels, September 2 — Italy must find a way to reduce political interference in the use of European Union structural funds, the EU said in a document obtained Monday by ANSA.

Otherwise, political meddling will lead to “distortions” in administrative efforts to make the best use of funds, according to the documents related to the Structural Fund programs for 2014-2020.

The Structural Fund is a financial tool used to apply EU regional policies in member countries, particularly aimed at reducing regional disparities.

Last month, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn told ANSA that Italy should focus “on a few, clear priorities” when investing EU funding.

Brussels is awaiting for Italy’s draft partnership agreement on planning development resources and wants “to ensure a significant concentration of available resources on a few, clear priorities,” said the commissioner.

Italy is expected by September 30 to give the EC a draft including strategies to allocate European structural funds from the EU multiannual budget for 2014-2020.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Giulia Ligresti Plea Bargains 2 Yrs 8 Mo in Fonsai Probe

Ligresti also to pay 20,000 euro fine and forfeit assets

(ANSA) — Turin, September 3 — Giulia Maria Ligresti, a daughter of a fallen patriarch of an Italian insurance and real estate dynasty, plea bargained her sentence for involvement in the Fonsai insurance probe to two years and eight months plus a 20,000 euro fine in a Turin court on Tuesday.

In a deal approved by the Turin court, Ligresti also agreed hand over her real estate stakes in the Pegaso company and insurance policies. The value of these assets were not quantified during the hearing but sources close to the investigation estimate they are worth several million euros.

The Ligresti family are the former majority owners of the Fonsai and Milano Assicurazioni insurance companies. Giulia was among three members of the Ligresti family arrested in July for alleged involvement in cooking the books at Fonsai to the tune of 600 million euros in the 2010 balance sheet.

Salvatore Ligresti, the family patriarch and former honorary chairman of Fonsai, was put under house arrest along with two former executives from the insurance company.

Two of Ligresti’s children, Ionella and Giulia Ligresti, were arrested along with a former managing director of the company, Emanuele Erbetta.

An arrest warrant was also issued for a third child of Salvatore Ligresti, Gioacchino Paolo Ligresti, who is currently in Switzerland.

In August, Italian police seized over 250 million euros in assets from the Ligresti family, including luxury hotels from the Atahotels chain in Turin and Milan, bank accounts and insurance policies.

Fonsai is seeking 32 million euros in damages from the former majority shareholders in addition to a 245-million-euro payout approved in March.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Justice Minister Says Berlusconi Ban Law Deserves ‘Thought’

Cancellieri welcomes ‘non-partisan and competent’ views

(ANSA) — Rome, September 3 — Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said Tuesday that she was open to discussion of the constitutionality of a law threatening ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi with a ban from office.

That law is at the centre of a political crisis involving not only Berlusconi’s Senate seat but also the prospects of survival for the shaky left-right coalition government. “Many highly competent people and non-partisan (people) have voiced doubts,” on the law, Cancellieri said in an interview with Sky TG 24 television.

Since these jurists’ opinion carried more weight than hers, discussion of the law was “at least” warranted, Cancellieri said, while stressing that she herself did not think it breached the Constitution.

Next week the Senate will start weighing whether Berlusconi should be stripped of his seat as required under the law framed by former justice minister Paola Severino following his conviction on tax fraud.

Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party says it will pull the plug on its unprecedented alliance with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) if the PD members of a Senate immunity panel vote, as they have said they will, to strip the three-time premier of his seat.

Berlusconi’s ejection can only be authorised by a floor vote, expected in late October, but a panel vote against him would make that moot if the PdL follows through on its threat to scupper the coalition.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: More Racist Slurs Against Minister Kyenge

Mayor of village near Florence files complaint

(ANSA) — San Piero a Sieve (Florence), September 3 — The latest in a flood of racist slurs against Italy’s first black minister appeared on a wall in a village near Florence Tuesday.

The offensive remarks against Cecile Kyenge, minister of Integration, and the Democratic Party (PD) to which she belongs, were discovered in the village of San Piero a Sieve.

The remarks, including “Nigger, leave government,” led Mayor Marco Semplici to file a complaint.

The remarks “are a very serious occurrence” for the community, he said.

Other officials with the PD in the area said the remarks did not represent area residents.

Since her cabinet appointment in April, Kyenge has faced a steady barrage of racist slurs and attacks from politicians in the anti-immigrant Northern League as well as anonymous graffiti campaigns.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Megashark Fossils Found Off Canary Coast

Spanish scientists have discovered a large deposit of fossils belonging to the largest marine predator that ever existed. The megalodon, which measured between 14 and 18 metres (46—59 feet) in length and weighed 100 tonnes, ruled the Earth’s waters until it became extinct two million years ago.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Mixed-Race Adoption the Norm in Sweden

The British debate about the pro’s and con’s of so-called “mixed-race adoptions” is very different from the Swedish adoption experience. Here, the mixed-race adoptions are the norm, as virtually all children adopted in Sweden come from abroad.

In fact, when white children started being adopted from eastern Europe in the beginning of the 90s, there was a debate about the problems of “invisible” adoption, as these children were white caucasian, just like the adopting parents.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: One in Six Children in Oslo Are Officially Poor

One in six Oslo children grow up in families below the poverty line, according to a new report by Statistics Norway.

The agency points the finger at the capital’s high number of immigrants, who are over-represented in poverty statistics. As many as 67 percent of Somali children and 41 percent of Pakistani children come from families classed as poor, the agency reports.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Switzerland: Outcry Ends Violent Offender’s Lavish Therapy

A 17-year-old violent offender in Zurich is behind bars again following a storm of controversy about a lavish therapy programme that allowed him to live in a four-room apartment with a Thai boxing champion at a reported cost of 29,000 francs a month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: EU Exit Would Spark London Bank Exodus, Goldman Bosses Say

European banks would quickly relocate to the European continent from London if Britain exits the EU, Michael Sherwood and Richard Gnodde, the co-chief executives of Goldman Sachs International, have said. “Every European firm would be gone in very short order,” Sherwood told the Evening Standard newspaper.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Rapist May Have HIV From Greater Manchester Victim

A man who has been jailed for raping a woman is waiting to find out whether he has contracted HIV from her. Richard Thomas was sentenced to five years and four months after admitting raping the woman at her home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.

He knew she was ill but did not know she had HIV and collapsed when police told him, Liverpool Crown Court heard. Thomas, 27, of Sandringham Drive, Leigh, raped the woman after she had taken a sleeping tablet.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Sheffield United: Blades Are Fit for a Prince

A member of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has bought a 50 per cent stake in Sheffield United’s parent company for £1, The Star can reveal.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Benghazi Alert: Syrian Sideshow Hides New FOIA Report — Obama White House Let Them Die

Buried beneath the Syrian crisis coverage, the Mainstream Media ignores a shocking FOIA report that states conclusively that the United States had trained resources on hand to assist and defend Americans under attack during the Benghazi Massacre — as well as evidence of the White House stonewalling CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson. The fact that the Obama White House “let them die” leads to the logical assumption then, that it in fact “wanted them dead.”…

The road to war with Syria, Russia, Iran and China can be tracked back to the Benghazi attack and cover-up. A Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) provides more evidence that the Obama administration declined to activate available possible life-saving help in the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty and Sean Smith — and thwarted the FBI investigation thereby aiding the perpetrators escape from justice. There were two U S Marine Corps response options that were never called in or deployed to Benghazi — Marine Corps Embassy Security Group / Marine Security Guard [MCESG/MSG] and Marine Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams [FAST].

According to The information Paper obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) states:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Christians Killed for Ransom

by Raymond Ibrahim

Not only are the churches, monasteries, and institutions of Egypt’s Christians under attack by the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters—nearly 100 now have been torched, destroyed, ransacked, etc.—but Christians themselves are under attack all throughout Egypt, with practically zero coverage in Western media.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Al-Jazeera and ‘Pro-Muslim Brotherhood’ Channels Closed

Cairo, 3 Sept.(AKI) — A Cairo court on Tuesday ordered Al-Jazeera and three other television channels accused of sympathising with the Muslim Brotherhood to be taken off air.

The channels are the Egyptian arm of Al-Jazeera, the Brotherhood’s own station, Ahrar 25, and two other Islamist stations, Al-Quds and Al-Yarmuk.

Al-Jazeera’s Mubashir Misr and the other channels are accused of bias against the popularly-backed overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July, in favour of the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails.

Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr also posed a threat to national security, Egyptian officials said, cited by Egypt’s Al-Ahram Onine.

The closure of the television stations by an administrative court follows a crackdown on media seen as sympathetic to Morsi.

A day earlier, the Salafite El-Hafez channel was closed by the same judge, Hassouna Tawfiq.

Several channels were forced off the air following the military intervention.

On Monday, Egypt deported three foreign journalists working for Al-Jazeera’s English language channel, saying they did not have correct press accreditation.

The Doha-based network said in a statement on Sunday it was concerned over alleged harassment of the channel by the Egyptian authorities, citing “the series of detentions” of its staff and seizure of its equipment.

Police have detained a correspondent for Al-Jazeera’s Arabic channel, Abdullah El-Shami, since 14 August, and a cameraman for its Egyptian affiliate, Mohamed Badr, for over a month, Al-Ahram reported.

Morsi is in custody awaiting trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters last year.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Connection to Benghazi

On Wednesday June 26, 2013 reports began to pop up across the Arabic world citing an internal Libyan government memo that has not yet been acknowledged in the American press.

The memo is pictured here: *Photo Courtesy of Raymond Ibrahim

Multiple sources have confirmed this document details several confessions of the six Egyptians in Libyan custody for the 9.11.12 bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

The document details the involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi as being involved with and in the funding, support, planning, and execution of the attack.

What is unique about this document is that its content wasn’t leaked to the press in some sort of salacious move. This is simply an interdepartmental memo from the Libyan National Security offices in Tripoli to the Ministry of the Interior. Written solely as a perfunctory after-action report as the results of the Libyan investigation in the events of that night.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ban Ki-Moon Warns for Consequences of Syrian Intervention

(AGI) New York, Sept. 3 — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged caution, fearing that an armed intervention in Syria could worsen the situation in the country and further reduce the already slim chances of a diplomatic solution. “We must consider the impact of any punitive measures on the efforts aimed at preventing more bloodshed, and facilitate a political solution to the conflict,” he said.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Boehner Says He Supports Obama’s Call for Action on Syria

Speaker John A. Boehner said on Tuesday he would “support the president’s call to action” in Syria after meeting with President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., giving the president a crucial ally in the quest for votes in the House.

Mr. Obama summoned Mr. Boehner and other Republican and Democratic leaders to the White House as he intensified his push for Congressional approval of an attack on Syria. Conservative House Repubicans have expressed deep reluctance about the president’s strategy, and winning Mr. Boehner’s approval could help the president make inroads with a group thta has not supported him on most issues in the past.,

For Mr. Obama, who leaves on Tuesday evening for a three-day trip to Sweden and Russia, it is the next phase in a White House lobbying campaign that will have to extend beyond hawks like Mr. McCain to persuade lawmakers who are reluctant to get involved militarily in Syria.

[Return to headlines]
 

Britain Sold Nerve Gas Chemicals to Syria 10 Months After ‘Civil Unrest’ Began

BRITAIN allowed firms to sell chemicals to Syria capable of being used to make nerve gas, the Sunday Mail can reveal today.

Export licences for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride were granted months after the bloody civil war in the Middle East began.

The chemical is capable of being used to make weapons such as sarin, thought to be the nerve gas used in the attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb which killed nearly 1500 people, including 426 children, 10 days ago.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Educating John McCain on the Meaning of ‘Allahu-Akbar’

By Andrew G. Bostom

During a Tuesday (9/3/13) morning appearance on Fox News Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took umbrage (hat tip Ben Shapiro) at Fox News host Brian Kilmeade’s disgust with Syrian anti-Assad opposition groups shouting “Allahu Akhbar! Allahu Akhbar!” when their rockets apparently shot down a Syrian jet.

To Kilmeade, appropriately, such outcries illustrated the predominant jihadist influence within the coalition of groups opposing the Assad regime. Kilmeade stated,

I have a problem helping those people screaming that [Allahu-Akbar!] after a hit.

A perturbed, if typically feckless McCain replied, without any basic linguistic understanding, or supportive evidence of the rocket launchers’ alleged “moderation,” by making an immoral equivalence to Christianity:

Would you have a problem with an American or Christians saying “thank God? Thank God?” That’s what they’re saying. Come on! Of course they’re Muslims, but they’re moderates and I guarantee you they are moderates.

One of the English translators of the great 14th century Muslim jurist (d. 1350) Ibn Qayyim’s “The Way to Patience and Gratitude” opts for “Allah is Greater” as the specific translation of Allahu Akbar. On page 463, the following explanation is provided:…

           — Hat tip: Andy Bostom [Return to headlines]
 

Experts: U.S. Case That Syrian Government Responsible for Chemical Weapons is Weak

Intelligence Experts Around the Globe Are Sounding the Alarm that the Justification for Intervention Is Far from Established

Huffington Post reports:

Intelligence experts around the globe are sounding the alarm that the justification for intervention is far from established.

***

One of the world’s leading experts on chemical weapons, Jean Pascal Zanders, on Friday told The Huffington Post UK that he has significant doubts about the identity of the chemical agent widely blamed for the deaths in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

French Public Opposes War Against Syria

The French people — like the Americans — oppose war against Syria.

Agence France-Presse and the Local reported yesterday:

On the same day France dispatched a ship towards Syria a survey conducted by IFOP for Le Figaro newspaper shows the French hold a mainly negative view towards a possible military intervention in Syria by the country’s armed forces.

The poll revealed that 59% of the public are against French involvement.

The Windsor Start notes:

A new poll suggests nearly three in five French people would oppose France joining any military action in Syria.

The fact that the French government — like the American government — is willing to ignore its people’s wishes is stunning. (France was, of course, the empire which formerly ruled Syria as a colony.)

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kuwait: Health Minister Approves Clinics Segregation Plan

Health Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah approved a recommendation to allocate morning check-up hours at out- patient clinics in public hospitals for Kuwaiti patients only after following a similar experiment applied earlier this year at the Jahra Hospital which was described by senior ministry officials as “successful”. This was reported by sources who indicated that the plan “achieved its goals” in terms of easing pressure on public hospitals by adopting a nationality-based segregation system for clinical appointments.

The plan announced last March gives Kuwaitis priority in medical check-ups during morning shifts while makes it mandatory for foreigners to stop by at afternoon shifts for medical tests at all outpatient clinics in public hospitals. A decision to adopt the mechanism at all hospitals in Kuwait is expected to be settled at the nearest meeting for the ministry’s Council of Medical Zones, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to reveal insider information before they are officially announced.

The ministry began studying the proposal as part of the government’s attempts to improve the quality of services at its overcrowded medical facilities, in light of the lack of infra- structure development that is adequate with the pace of the country’s demographic growth. News about the proposal sparked negative reactions after being broken by the local press given its ‘discriminatory’ nature, leading ministry officials to come out later and explain that the plan will not be applied at emergency rooms and trauma centers at public hospitals and polyclinics which remain open to Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis equally throughout the day

[Return to headlines]
 

Putin: US Chemical Weapons Claims “Utter Nonsense”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared ‘utter nonsense’ the idea that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons on its own people and called on the US to present its supposed evidence to the UN Security Council.

Further to this, Putin told Obama that he should consider what the potential fallout from a military strike would be and to take into consideration the suffering of innocent civilians.

On Friday, Washington said a plan for a limited military response was in the works to punish Assad for a “brutal and flagrant” chemical attack that allegedly killed more than 1400 people in the capital Damascus 10 days ago.

The Syrian government has been denying all allegations of chemical weapons use, calling the accusation preposterous and pointing its own accusations against rebel forces, especially Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Nuns and Priests Prepare to Fast and Pray

(AGI) Vatican City — Syrian nuns and priests are preparing to fast and pray for peace on Sept. 7 as requested by the Pope ..

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Refugees Reach 2 Million Mark

The number of Syrian refugees has surpassed 2 million, half of whom are children, the UN refugee agency has said.

“Today, the number of Syrian refugees passed the threshold of two million, and with no sign of this tragic outflow ending,” the United Nation’s refugee agency said Tuesday (3 September). It noted that more than a million are children under 17 years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: France Won’t Intervene if US Congress Votes Against

‘We won’t intervene on our own’ says President Hollande

(ANSAmed) — PARIS, SEPTEMBER 3 — France won’t intervene in Syria if the US Congress votes against it, French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Syria Will be the Waco of the Middle East

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

Events are now moving rapidly to accomplish the next step in the agenda of the globalists that will lead us into the unimaginable horrors of World War III. With each passing day, each passing hour, the curtain is being lifted a little more to expose the true agenda of the psychopaths and sociopaths who are leading the charge of war in our name, with our money and despite our apparent collective reluctance illustrated by a recent poll about intervention in Syria, our tacit approval for what is about to take place.

Syria is about to become the international version of Waco, for it is the same lie that is being used now as it was then: “It’s for the children.” We know all too well how the children of Waco fared. It’s not about the children, and never was. If anything, it’s in spite of the children…

Based on the analysis of Gajendra Singh, a retired Indian diplomat with decades of experience in Middle East affairs and a working understanding of the ethnic makeup of Syria, the toppling of Assad would likely result in an internal bloodbath that would lead to the unchecked slaughter of twenty percent of their population of twenty million. That’s four million men, women and children.

But the bloodbath will not stop there, as unlike Libya, Iran and Afghanistan, Syria will explode and not implode. It will set off a chain of events across the region and across the world that will open Pandora’s box to World War III.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: The View From the UK

The Prime Minister should have read the wall and ‘delayed’ the vote. Unfortunately the terms Prime Minister Cameron and ‘smart’, from a proverbially marital sense appear together in ever decreasing amounts. It was the Mail that predicted the mutiny that was about to take place as Cameron’s motion for action was defeated 285 — 272 with 39 Conservative MP’s defecting along with 9 Liberal-Democrats.

The government immediately retreated but not without Education Secretary and future contender for the top spot Michael Gove making a fool of himself, shouting at rebel Tories “you’re a disgrace, you’re a disgrace.” Yep that’ll work for him really well when he’s trying to get their support to move up to the party leader spot later in the decade.

The problem is that, aside from the fact that intervention in Syria is a minefield that comparatively makes Iraqi involvement look like children’s sports day at a junior school; nobody has made a clear case for involvement. This in turn begs the question why? We know that both Cameron and Obama are capable of making a case so we have to believe that they don’t want to be honest, perhaps fearing the exposure of some darker motives.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Pope Urges Respect for Islam

Don Vincenzo writes:

I know not whether the next gaffe of Pope Francis will be liturgical or ecclesiastical, but what I do know is that the Holy Father lives, with regard to the situation in the Middle East, in a delusional world. See this recent piece by the Society of St. Pius X about the Supreme Pontiff’s remarks urging Christians to respect the teachings, symbols and values of Islam. In this delusional state, the Pope is far-too-quiet about the fate of Middle Eastern Christians, especially as our valiant Commander-in-Chief verges on sending Cruise missiles into Syria…

           — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey Starts Trial Over 1997 Coup

(AGI) Ankara — A trial has opened in Turkey of former army officers involved in the 1997 post-modern coup .

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Intelligence Agencies Involved in Chemical Attack in Syria

The situation in Syria is still in the focus of world media. Experts predict another U.S. aggression for “human rights”. Washington regularly declares its readiness to attack Syria. The official version — to punish al-Assad and Syrian army for the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population.

Meanwhile, the media has spread new proofs of the U.S. intelligence involvement to chemical attack near Damascus. Hacker got access to U.S. intelligence correspondence and published U.S. Army Col. ANTHONY J. MACDONALD’s mail. Macdonald is General Staff Director, Operations and Plans Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence the Army Staff. It’s about chemical attack in Syria.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Russell Brand Blasts Syrian War Disinformation

Appearing in an interview with Alex Jones that filmed today, Russell brings further credibility to the power of the alternatives news and the collapse of the mega media. In fact, Russell’s breakdown of just how distorted the media reporting on the events in Syria are coincides exactly with what I have been reporting on for a number of weeks now. Ultimately, this is a display of just how much of a difference we are making in the alternative news, and more importantly how many millions we can reach by continuing to push out the truth amid the volley of disinformation coming from the media.

We are continually making major strides in the informational battle against skewed news, and this fact is now even being admitted by the very high level officials who seek to send us into Syria-style scenarios that could very well initiate World War 3. One such powerful admission I was extremely pleased to hear about and bring to you was the admission by top Obama adviser and Trilateral Commission co-founder Zbigniew Brzezinski that it was actually the ‘global political awakening’ that was putting a wrench in the Syria war machine.

In other words, elite control freaks like Brzezinski know that we aren’t listening to their warmongering propaganda anymore, and instead we are craving the truth on all fronts. And it’s the public craving for the truth that is halting their entire plan to launch the United States and other nations internationally into a hot war with Syria — one that, despite the information being out there, virtually no one realizes is essentially a major combat scenario with Russia through Assad.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

War in Syria: ‘US Leave ‘Unreliable’ British Out in the Cold’

The Times

The US military has excluded their British counterparts from American meetings on how to tackle Syria’s use of chemical weapons against civilians, after UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s government last week voted not to take part in military strikes.

Quoting military sources, The Times reports that:

The role of senior British officers based at US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, has been downgraded because they cannot be trusted with high-level intelligence about a conflict with which they are no longer involved.

The decision will be a “severe blow to the pride” of the British Army, with their role taken by the French who have continued to pledge their support to military operations and who were praised by US Secretary of State John Kerry as America’s “oldest ally”.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Who Benefits From a War Between the United States and Syria?

Someone wants to get the United States into a war with Syria very, very badly. Cui bono is an old Latin phrase that is still commonly used, and it roughly means “to whose benefit?” The key to figuring out who is really behind the push for war is to look at who will benefit from that war.

If a full-blown war erupts between the United States and Syria, it will not be good for the United States, it will not be good for Israel, it will not be good for Syria, it will not be good for Iran and it will not be good for Hezbollah. The party that stands to benefit the most is Saudi Arabia, and they won’t even be doing any of the fighting. They have been pouring billions of dollars into the conflict in Syria, but so far they have not been successful in their attempts to overthrow the Assad regime. Now the Saudis are trying to play their trump card — the U.S. military. If the Saudis are successful, they will get to pit the two greatest long-term strategic enemies of Sunni Islam against each other — the U.S. and Israel on one side and Shia Islam on the other. In such a scenario, the more damage that both sides do to each other the happier the Sunnis will be.

There would be other winners from a U.S. war with Syria as well. For example, it is well-known that Qatar wants to run a natural gas pipeline out of the Persian Gulf, through Syria and into Europe. That is why Qatar has also been pouring billions of dollars into the civil war in Syria.

So if it is really Saudi Arabia and Qatar that want to overthrow the Assad regime, why does the United States have to do the fighting?

Someone should ask Barack Obama why it is necessary for the U.S. military to do the dirty work of his Sunni Muslim friends.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Indian Supreme Court Postpones Appeal of Italian Couple

Prosecutor fails to show in court for holiday murder case

(ANSA) — New Dehli, September 3 — The Indian Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday to postpone appeal proceedings for an Italian couple serving a life-sentence in the 2010 murder of their travel companion.

Tomaso Bruno and Elisabetta Boncompagni were convicted for allegedly killing their friend Francesco Montis during a holiday in the Hindu temple city Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The postponement of the Supreme Court hearing was due to the prosecutor’s failure to show up in court.

At Tuesday’s hearing, which lasted just minutes, the fathers of the defendants, Euro Bruno and Romano Boncompagni — who were present — expressed deep dismay and surprise. Defense lawyer Ranjeeta Rohatgi petitioned the court to set a new date for the hearing.

The Italian ambassador in New Dehli, Daniele Mancini and his staff — who are closely watching proceedings and the defendants’ families — were also present at the hearing. Tomaso Bruno’s mother, Marina Maurizio, stayed in Varanasi to be close to her son and his partner Elisabetta.

The High Court of Allahabad had rejected Bruno and Compagni’s petition for an appeal last October, but hopes were raised in February when the Indian Supreme Court accepted the request for appeal.

Indian authorities arrested and tried Tomaso Bruno from the northern town of Albenga and Elisabetta Boncompagni from Turin in February 2010 after discovering their travel companion, Francesco Montis, dead in a hotel room the three had been sharing in Varanasi.

Montis was found strangled in what investigators believe was a “love triangle” gone wrong.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Indian Report Says 1 Woman Dies Every Hour in Disputes Over Dowry Payments

An Indian report says a woman dies every hour in disputes over how much her family has paid in dowry to the groom for her marriage. The National Crime Records Bureau says more than 8,200 women were killed across India in such crimes last year even though Indian law prohibits the centuries-old custom of giving or receiving dowries.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Indonesia: East Java: Civil Servants Forced to Pray to Allah

New rule came into effect on 26 August in Situbondo District. For District Chief Dadang Wigiarto, praying enhances collaboration and work “thanks to divine intervention.” The rule requires officials to sign a register so that their participation can be verified. Political and community leaders have criticised the initiative, noting that praying is personal in nature and that any penalty should be removed.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) — A new regulation in an East Java district requiring all Muslim public servants, both men and women, to recite an Islamic prayer together before they start their workday has raised a storm of criticism and protest.

For Situbondo District Chief Dadang Wigiarto, it is important that employees gather in the mosque to recite the ‘Sholat berjamaah’ or common prayer in the local language, except staff on holiday or menstruating women.

In response to this, a group of district officials filed a formal complaint against the regulation; saying that praying is “personal” in nature and that no one can claim the power to impose it.

Syaiful Bahri, a member of the regional assembly, is leading the fight against compulsory prayer for public officials that District Chief Dadang Wigiarto imposed on 26 August 2013.

In his view, ‘Sholat’ has no connection with the government and no state body “may legislate” on the subject.

The recitation of the prayer, he insists, “gives no guarantee” that public officials will carry out their jobs better. It is a real “interference”, as well as an abuse of power, by higher-ranking government officials in the lives of citizens and workers.

Across the country, the practice of Sholat berjamaah is not regulated by laws or regulations. In Situbondo District, officials often meet to pray at the Al-Abror mosque, which is located within the administrative district in the city centre.

However, the district boss is convinced that praying can improve the quality of work thanks “to a sort of divine intervention by Allah.”

When they leave the mosque after the daily prayer, officials are required to sign a register to show that they complied with the requirement.

Human rights activists and secularist movements are deeply critical of the rulle. Subhi, a researcher at the Wahid Institute, is one of the many voices opposed to the regulation, claiming that it is “a serious violation of human rights and the free practice of religion.”

Prayer, in his view, is a “strictly personal” thing that “cannot be regulated by any rule” and should not entail any “punishment”.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Although it includes personal freedoms (including freedom of religion) among its basic constitutional principles, it has become more and more the scene of violence and abusive behaviour against minorities, including Christians, Ahmadi Muslims or others.

Although Aceh is the only province in the country that enforces Islamic law, the influence of the Muslim religion is becoming more radical and extreme in the lives of citizens in many other parts of the archipelago.

Extremist groups like the Islamic Defenders Front and the Indonesian Ulema Council have led this ‘Islamisation’ campaign. Inspired by the Sharia, they have tried to impose their views in different domains, ranging from a ban on alcohol to restrictions in the area of sexual morality.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Path of a Tyrant: Uncovering Genghis Khan’s Lost Legacy

As competing researchers race to locate Genghis Khan’s tomb, discoveries by German and Mongolian archaeologists are shedding light on his son Ögödei’s equally impressive accomplishments.

Over the past century, scores of adventurers and archaeologists have searched in vain for Genghis Khan’s grave. Today, expeditions with high-tech equipment are racing to make the find.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Brazil TV Reports NSA Spied on Brazil, Mexico Presidents

(AGI) Brasilia — Brazilian TV station Globo reports that the NSA spied on President Rousseff and Mexico’s President Nieto ..

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

NSA Spying Violates Sovereignty, Says Brazil

(AGI) Brasilia, Sept 3 — Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff said the U.S. NSA spying programme is ‘an unacceptable violation of sovereignty,” reported Brazilian Foreign Minister Luis Figuereido, over allegations of spying on Brazil and Mexico.

The two countries called on U.S. ambassadors to urge the White House to provide a prompt explanation over the espionage allegations.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

32 Pakistani Illegal Migrants Land in Southern Italy

(AGI) Roccella Jonica (Reggio Calabria), Sept 3 — Thirty-two illegal immigrants in a damaged vessel were picked up by the Italian coast guard at dawn on Tuesday off the coast of southern Italy. They were brought ashore at Roccella Jonica, near Reggio Calabria and have been identified as Pakistani men.

They included three minors.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Criminal Refugees Active in Drug Trade

Nearly all the foreigners arrested on narcotics charges by police in Oslo have either been residing illegally in Norway or have had asylum applications rejected. Criminals are also regularly infiltrating asylum centers in Norway, reports newspaper Aftenposten.

The recent eviction in the middle of the night of a man from the Refstad asylum center in the Løren district of Oslo was just one example of what police and those running the asylum center must deal with on a regular basis, according to Aftenposten. He was one of around 30 intruders who are discovered at the center on a weekly basis. Most are involved in the narcotics trade and other crimes in Oslo.

Abusing the system

A review conducted by Aftenposten of registered crimes carried out by asylum seekers shows that relatively few of the 15,798 persons now seeking refuge in Norway resort to crime. Those who do, however, constitute a major drain on the resources of both the police and the immigration officials in charge of Norway’s asylum system.

They also seem to be overrepresented in the crime statistics. Aftenposten reported that of the 394 Nigerians who have sought asylum in Norway so far this year, most are men and many of them are now “highly visible” in the Norwegian capital’s drug trade.

“They misuse the asylum institution to carry out crimes,” said one police source who is familiar with the drug trade and the involvement in it of men who claim to be refugees. Frode Forfang, director of the immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet), confirms that most of the foreigners caught dealing drugs are either rejected refugees or have been in the country illegally without seeking asylum.

He adds that “the vast majority who are arrested don’t qualify for asylum. We work quite closely with the police on this. Those with criminal records are also a priority for deportations.” Aftenposten reported that 530 Nigerians were deported last year, and another 299 so far this year. At least a third had criminal convictions, and their numbers were second only to deported Romanians…

           — Hat tip: The Observer [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden First in the EU: Syrians to Get Permanent Residence in Sweden

All Syrians who have arrived in Sweden as refugees are to get permanent residence. The Swedish Migration Board has made the decision as a result of the crisis in Syria, reports Swedish Radio News.

Sweden is the first country in the EU to grant permanent residence to Syrian refugees.

The decision also means that the nearly 8,000 Syrians who have temporary residence permits in Sweden are allowed to stay permanently. They will also have the right to bring over their families.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Offers Residency to All Syrian Refugees

Swedish migration authorities have ruled that all Syrian asylum seekers who have come to Sweden will be granted permanent residency in light of the worsening conflict in Syria. Sweden is the first country in the EU to offer permanent residency to refugees from Syria, news agency TT reported.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Syrian Crisis Will Worsen Refugee Problem — Letta

Italy warned Monday the European Union lacks an adequate approach for the refugee problem that will worsen in case of an international intervention in Syria.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Vinnie Jones Claims Immigration Has Made England Unrecognisable and ‘Not the Country I Grew Up in’

Actor and ex-footballer Vinnie Jones has said he would never return to England because immigration has transformed his former home into a unrecognisable country.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Film Tackles Islamophobia With Humor

Two comedians are tackling the sensitive topic of Islamophobia in the way they know best: laughter. Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah are the co-directors of “The Muslims Are Coming!” which tracks a group of Muslim-American stand-ups as they perform across the country and tackle people’s stereotypes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Football Players Say ‘Stop Racism’

An Italian football team has taken a bold step in fighting racism following a series of high-profile racist attacks within football and politics.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Miley is Not the Problem

Tweet: Miley Cyrus’ vulgar and obscenely sexualized performance at MTV’s Video Music Awards — in front of more than 10 million viewers, in a program marketed to pre-teens, teens and young adults — has been widely criticized as degrading both the performer and the audience that watched it. But, in reality, the real story is that so much of what was celebrated at the awards ceremony generated little commentary at all, let alone outrage.

In short, Miley Cyrus is not the problem.

Her lewd and vulgar antics even captured the front page of the New York Times on the day after her “performance.” But did most everyone miss the real story? Consider some of what was honored during that awards event. The winner in the “Best Male Video” category was a sex-song featuring homoerotic scenes in a celebration of reckless abandon and unrestrained sexuality. “Best Song with a Social Message” went to a rap performance titled “Same Love” that pushed the acceptance of same-sex “marriage,” portrayed its opponents as irrational bigots and downplayed the Bible as irrelevant for our day. The band Thirty Seconds to Mars won “Best Rock Video” for a vulgar and artfully incoherent video glorifying sadomasochism amid sexual themes and levels of self-abandon that understandably call to mind the demoniacs described in Scripture.

All of this only scratches the surface of behavior the MTV Video Music Awards proudly lauds and praises every year. …

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

MTV VMAs 2013: It Was About Miley Cyrus Taking the Fall

The 2013 edition of the VMAs was not about music. It wasn’t even about the symbolism I’ve described in past years. It was basically MTV saying: “There is nothing to celebrate in pop music this year, here’s an awkward, cringe-worthy display of everything that is wrong in the entertainment industry”.

I’ve written extensive articles about past VMA awards because they were filled with occult symbolism and messages. This year, not so much. It was about promoting major artists and their newest albums. But mostly, it was about providing a “shocking” moment that would get mass media talking for days. Miley Cyrus provided it.

Miley Cyrus’ display at the VMAs was qualified by many as “trashy” and “embarrassing”. It was indeed a strange sight to see. It was as if she was doing it on purpose to embarrass herself. Well, here’s a moment of clarity: It WAS done on purpose and, moreseo, it was ALL staged. People commenting on Miley Cyrus appear to forget one, massive detail: There is an enormous marketing machine behind Miley Cyrus and there always was…

As a product of Mickey Mouse programming, Miley underwent a classic “good girl gone bad” treatment. Once a good, wholesome daddy’s girl, Miley has turned into a bratty, sex freak who keeps sticking out her tongue and twerking for no reason. While most people are probably tsking at Miley, they do not realize that this whole thing coincided with the release of her new album — and that it was all ordered by her handlers. In other words, she was selected and programmed to be this year’s main example of a “good girl gone bad”, a process the occult elite wants the public to constantly witness. They want the masses to see innocence and wholesomeness turn into sleaze and trash. They want pop culture and the youth in general follow the same process. While alchemy is about turning stone into gold, the masses are made to witness the opposite process.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

They Call Him Archbishop

THE British Catholic blogger Mundabor writes about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent remarks on the legalization of sodomite unions. Mundabor writes:

Anglicanism has become a heathenish cult of man with no resemblance anymore to any Christian thinking worth[y] of the name. What a bunch of clowns, what a cartoon “religion”…

           — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/3/2013

  1. Actually, “Allah Akhbar” is what you say when you attempt something desperate. It means more like “This might work, it could work, God is so great that anything is possible”. And if it does work, the next thing you say is “Al hamdalillah”, which means something like “yes, yes, yes, thank God.”

    • I thought the next thing you reply would be:

      “Oh S@#t! The Americans/British/Israelis have a lock on us and their missiles/bullets/shells are raining down on us.”

Comments are closed.