A “Norwegian” man is suspected of being one of the planners behind the Westgate Mall terrorist massacre in Nairobi. The Norwegian intelligence services are currently searching for the suspect.
In other news, Congressional Republicans proposed a compromise on a funding bill that would have included a short-term increase in the debt ceiling. President Obama rejected it, however, and the stalemate continues.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, ES, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, Kitman, KP, Steen, 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.
Austerity Pushing Europe Into Social and Economic Decline, Says Red Cross
Critique of response to EU debt crisis highlights unemployment, widening poverty gap, and growing risk of social unrest
Europe is sinking into a protracted period of deepening poverty, mass unemployment, social exclusion, greater inequality, and collective despair as a result of austerity policies adopted in response to the debt and currency crisis of the past four years, according to an extensive study being published on Thursday.
“Whilst other continents successfully reduce poverty, Europe adds to it,” says the 68-page report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “The long-term consequences of this crisis have yet to surface. The problems caused will be felt for decades even if the economy turns for the better in the near future … We wonder if we as a continent really understand what has hit us.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Treasury Official: Obama Could Use Debt Crisis to Seize Total Power
President could declare national emergency, pass executive order
Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts warns that President Barack Obama could use the debt ceiling crisis to seize total power, by declaring a national emergency and passing an executive order in the name of preventing an economic collapse.
With the government still in shut down over the failure to pass a spending bill, the U.S. faces an October 17 deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, which currently stands at almost $17 trillion dollars.
According to Roberts, there is a chance that Obama could exploit the disastrous consequences of a default to push for dictatorial control.
Roberts says that one of two scenarios will happen if Congress fails to make a temporary deal with the White House to raise the debt ceiling.
Either the Federal Reserve would simply lend the Treasury the money, similar to how they propped up foreign banks with at least $16 trillion in bailout funds, or Obama would “declare a ‘national catastrophe’ and simply assume the leadership of the government.”
“This would mean that the President, on his own authority, could raise the debt ceiling. So, either of those two events would happen if it looked like no deal was forthcoming from the Congress. It could be that President Obama, or others in the Executive Branch, are planning to use this crisis to invoke that Executive Order,” Roberts told KingWorldNews.
This would essentially render the US Congress a ceremonial body with no power and turn Obama into a Caesar-like figure.
[Comment: “Never let a crisis go to waste”.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French Farmers Committing Suicide Every Two Days
Driven by financial distress
(ANSAmed) — PARIS — French farmers are committing suicide every two days, according to the first official survey on this issue released Thursday.
Carried out by the National Institute for Health Control (InVs), the survey logged 500 suicides among farmers during 2007-2009, equal to an average of 166 suicides a year. Of these, 417 men and 68 women aged 45-64, most of them dairy and cattle farmers, took their own lives.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death in the French agricultural world, after cancer and cardiovascular disease.
“Three main issues drive farmers to take their own lives”, said expert Marie-Thérèse Denieul. “These are increasing social isolation, the economic crisis, and an increase in government inspections and administrative burdens”.
French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll said that he is “aware that the financial difficulties being experienced by some farmers can create situations of distress”. He promised to “take determined action” to respond to this scourge.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Unions Demand Government Saves Alitalia From Bankruptcy
Rome, 10 Oct. (AKI) — Italy’s three biggest trade unions on Thursday urged the government to prevent troubled airline Alitalia going bust, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
The CGIL, CISL and UIL unions called on the government to “intervene immediately” to save a company “that is a strategic asset for the country’s development”.
Alitalia has lost nearly 700,000 euros a day since 2008 and the unions have warned the airline could default on its huge debts within days.
“There is a risk of collapse that could wipe out thousand of jobs in the sector,” said the unions.
“We must ensure the company survives. There is no alternative,” they added.
Unions were ready for “a major mobilisation” of worker to defend Alitalia, the unions said.
Alitalia, which is struggling to keep up payments on nearly a billion euros of debt, postponed until Friday a board meeting scheduled for 2pm local time on Thursday, without saying why.
The company, which has not returned a profit since 2002, needs a 300 million euro capital increase and 200 million euros of bank credit to stay afloat, trade unions said on Wednesday after a meeting with the company.
Earlier this week Italian energy giant ENI, a creditor which is owed around 30 million euros, threatened to stop supplying fuel to Alitalia.
Possible solutions could be for a state-controlled company such as the national train company to inject capital into Alitalia. Transport minister Maurizio Lupi said the government was working on solutions but was wary of breaking EU rules on granting state aid.
Alitalia’s largest shareholder, Air France-KLM, might raise its current 25 percent stake, but there are fears the French-Dutch carrier would want to cut thousands of jobs if it took over.
Air France-KLM tried to take over Alitalia in 2009, but the deal was scuppered by Italy’s prime minister at that time, Silvio Berlusconi, who asked 21 Italian investors to rescue the airline from bankruptcy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Rejects Republican Proposal for Short-Term Debt Limit Plan
President Obama on Thursday rejected a proposal from politically besieged House Republican leaders to extend the nation’s borrowing authority for six weeks because it would not also reopen the government. Yet both parties saw it as the first break in Republicans’ brinkmanship and a step toward a fiscal truce.
Twenty Republicans, led by Speaker John A. Boehner, went to the White House at Mr. Obama’s invitation after a day of fine-tuning their offer to increase the Treasury Department’s authority to borrow money to pay existing obligations through Nov. 22. In exchange, they sought the president’s commitment to negotiate a deal for long-term deficit reduction and a tax overhaul.
Mr. Boehner and his colleagues left after about an hour and a half without speaking to waiting reporters.
The Republican proposal could come to a vote as soon as Friday. But the White House and Congressional Democrats remained skeptical that House Republican leaders could pass the proposal.
| [Return to headlines] |
Peter Schiff Warns Yellen’s Nomination Means Any QE Taper Expectations Are “Delusional”
Now that Janet Yellen has been named to lead the Federal Reserve the global financial markets should factor out any possibility that the Fed will diminish their Quantitative easing program anytime during her tenure. In fact, financial forecasts should assume that not only is a taper off the table, but that the QE program is now more likely to be perpetuated and expanded.
Unlike her predecessors, Janet Yellen has never had a youthful dalliance with hawkish monetary ideas. Before taking charge of the Fed both Alan Greenspan, and to a lesser extent Ben Bernanke, had advocated for the benefits of a strong currency and low inflation and had warned of the dangers of overly accommodative policy and unnecessary stimulus. (Both largely abandoned these ideals once they took the reins of power, but their urge to stimulate may have been restrained by a vestigial bias against the excesses of Keynesianism). Janet Yellen, who has been on the liberal/dovish end of the monetary spectrum for her entire professional career, has no such baggage. As a result, we can expect her to never waver in her belief that stimulus is the answer to every economic question.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Social Security Administration Admits All Benefit Payments Are Contigent Upon Endless Cycle of Debt
(NaturalNews) If you have ever wondered what all the fuss over the future of Social Security has been about and thought that, no matter what, it will always be funded, because the system allegedly takes in more than it pays out, then a frank admission by the Social Security Administration in the wake of the federal government’s 17 percent shutdown should dispel that myth once and for all and expose the system as nothing more than the world’s greatest Ponzi scheme.
As recently reported by The Wall Street Journal:
The Social Security Administration has begun warning the public it cannot guarantee full benefit payments if the debt ceiling isn’t increased.
When asked by the public, the agency is notifying beneficiaries that “Unlike a federal shutdown which has no impact on the payment of Social Security benefits, failure to raise the debt ceiling puts Social Security benefits at risk,” according to a person familiar with the agency directive.
Gotta borrow more money to keep a fraudulent system afloat
In other words, without more deficit borrowing and spending, the Social Security system will simply run out of funds down the road and collapse. Feeling better about retirement yet?
[…]
But what’s truly alarming is how Social Security got in its current state of slowly bleeding itself dry: Congresses and successive White Houses long ago raided the Social Security trust fund in order to buy more votes while increasing their grip on power.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Millionaires on the Rise Amid Recession
Gap between richest and poorest growing
(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) — MADRID — In spite of the recession and financial crisis, the number of people in Spain whose assets are estimated to reach or top one million dollars — approximately 740,000 euros — are increasing, according to the latest report drafted by Credit Suisse. Their number has in fact risen from 335,000 people in mid 2012 to 402,000 mid 2013, according to the bank which is specialized in managing big estates.
The report found that Spain ranked eighth among countries where the number of wealthy residents has increased, by about 13% on annual basis. Stock market investments by Spanish nationals have also increased in the same period by 16.2%.
The report highlighted that even amid a major crisis, Spain continues to be among countries with the highest levels of income — over 123,000 dollars per adult, according to Credit Suisse.
Though big properties have reportedly withstood the crisis, salaried workers in Spain are seeing their income progressively decrease as the gap between the richest and poorest is growing.
Employees’ salaries have gone down 5% over the past year, according to national statistics’ institute Ine with the average gross salary just over 15,500 euros a year.
On the other hand CEOs at companies listed on the stock market in the Ibex 35 index have average salaries of over 562,000 euros a year, according to Ine. Moreover 24,000 Spanish nationals have estates estimated between five and 10 million euros while 12,500 are just one step away from being listed among the wealthiest. People with estates between 50 and 100 million (829 people) are fewer and even fewer are those estimated to be worth between 100 and 500 million (426). Only 35 are millionaires worth between 500 million and one billion while 16 were listed as multimillionaires.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘The Crisis Has Taken Root at Every Level’
A Red Cross study slams Europe’s response to the economic crisis over the past five years, saying the continent is in for a long period of unemployment, a widening poverty gap and a growing risk of social unrest.
In Europe today, 3.5 million people are actually receiving food from the Red Cross and Red Crescent. And we’re not the only ones distributing food. 43 million Europeans are not getting enough food to eat every day. 18 million are receiving EU-funded aid today. The crisis has taken root at every level: at household level, at community level and at government level — and across Europe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Three Million Spaniards Now Live in Dire Poverty, Says Cáritas
Catholic charity talks of people “left in dark” as Spain finally emerges from “tunnel” of recession
After five years of crisis, more than three million Spaniards are now living in dire poverty, as defined by monthly income of under 307 euros, according to a report by charity organization Cáritas.
Cáritas’ Living Conditions Survey, which is included in the organization’s Social Reality Observatory for 2012, shows that the percentage of the population now living below the breadline has almost doubled from 3.5 percent in 2007 to 6.4 percent last year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
“Let’s Move” Stamps Prompt Safety Concerns
Just when it seems like the world can’t become any more backwards, Linn’s Stamp News reports that the US Postal Service is set to destroy an entire stamp series featuring children doing activities because three of the stamps raise “safety concerns.” stamps The stamp series was part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative, which is supposedly aimed at solving the “epidemic” of childhood obesity. The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, a program designed to promote and encourage Americans to become physically active (why this program even exists is another discussion), took issue with the stamps because the children depicted in them were not wearing helmets or knee pads, which of course in today’s society is considered “hazardous.”
It’s impossible for one not to wonder how children participating in physical activities without a helmet is “bad,” or “unsafe,” but opening gunfire in public on an unarmed women with a one-year old child in the car is not only OK, but authorities consider it so OK, that Congress gave the police who carried out the heinous act, a standing ovation!
That’s right, a standing ovation. They actually referred to the murder as “heroic.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
10 News Investigators Find Memo Warning About Terrorist “Dry-Runs” On Airplanes
[…]
The pilots say the most recent dry-run occurred on Flight 1880 on September 2. The flight left Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. and headed to Orlando International.
Crew members say that shortly after takeoff, a group of four “Middle Eastern” men caused a commotion.
The witnesses claim one of the men ran from his seat in coach, toward the flight deck door. He made a hard left and entered the forward bathroom “for a considerable length of time.”
While he was in there, the other three men proceeded to move about the cabin, changing seats, opening overhead bins, and “generally making a scene.” They appeared to be trying to occupy and distract the flight attendants.
The 10 News Investigators contacted both US Airways and the Transportation Security Administration both confirmed the incident. US Airways says it won’t discuss the details of security measures, but that it works closely with authorities.
The TSA told us it takes all reports of suspicious activity aboard aircraft seriously, and the matter requires no further investigation at this time.
However, a current Federal Air Marshal who works flights every week says of the TSA, “They’re liars. They’re flat out liars.”…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
In a speech to the Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, November 23, 2010, Peter Dale Scott gave a history of the various directives concerned with government continuity during a state of emergency. He showed that these directives could be used to supersede the Constitution.[url]
The ease with which both the Bush and Obama regimes were able to set aside the due process protections of the Constitution that prohibit indefinite detention and execution without conviction in a trial indicate that Professor Scott’s concern is justified that these directives could result in executive branch rule.
Scott describes how the executive branch efforts to provide government continuity in the aftermath of a nuclear attack dating from the Eisenhower administration were gradually converted into executive or national security (later Homeland Security) orders that confer secret powers to the White House for any event that the executive branch considers to be an emergency.
Generally these various executive orders and directives refer to “national emergencies,” or “national disasters.” However, President Bush’s National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20 issued on May 9, 2007 use the term “Catastrophic Emergency.” [url]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Another Defensive Gun Use That the Gun Haters Will Ignore
No one ended up dead, so the gun haters won’t include it in the official score.
A would-be stun-gun robber outside a Concord bank was in for a shock of his own Monday when a local business owner pulled a real gun on the suspect.
Our hero was Gary Spencer, 36, of Spencer’s Extreme Cleaning Services. (Warning, music autoplays) He saw the robbery in progress and pulled the gun out of his wife’s purse to intervene.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Detroit Mayor Sentenced to 28 Years in Prison for Corruption
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison for corruption, the apparent last step after a series of scandals destroyed his political career and helped steer a crisis-laden city even deeper into trouble.
Kilpatrick, who served as mayor from 2002 until fall 2008, fattened his bank account by tens of thousands of dollars, traveled the country in private planes and even strong-armed his campaign fundraiser for stacks of cash hidden in her bra, according to evidence at trial.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Magic Trick: Promoting Diseases That Don’t Exist
The disease/treatment/profit machine requires more and more diseases, even if they aren’t real.
Here is an unspoken but largely accepted medical notion of what a disease is:
A group of physical symptoms shared by many people, which has a single cause.
For example, take the flu. Wikipedia lists the common symptoms: chills, fever, muscle pains, headache, coughing. For each type of flu, there is single virus announced as the cause. E.g., Swine Flu; H1N1 virus.
Drug companies develop medicines and vaccines to kill the virus or prevent it from gaining a foothold in the body. They sell the drugs and vaccines. Profits soar. Nice and neat.
Of course, many doctors don’t bother to test patients to see if they have a disease like seasonal flu. It’s too time consuming to take a blood sample and send it to a lab and wait for the results.
So the doctor makes an eyeball diagnosis based on symptoms and the season of the year.
As I explained in my previous article, “What happens when only 16% of flu patients have the flu?”, a cursory investigation of this practice can lead to embarrassing results.
Every year, many blood samples from patients are, in fact, sent to labs, and only a small fraction of these “flu cases” turn out to reveal any flu virus at all.
But this fact is blithely ignored.
You have hundreds of thousands of people in the US who display the general “flu symptoms,” but it turns out most of them don’t have the flu. They have a variety of other problems.
But admitting this is bad for business. How can drug companies justify making flu drugs and vaccines when most “flu cases” don’t have the flu?
The solution? Fake it. Pretend all people diagnosed with the flu actually have it.
Bottom line? Just because you have a group of people who have the same general symptoms…that doesn’t mean they have the same disease…and it doesn’t mean the same germ is causing their symptoms.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Nashua, N.H., School Bans Students From Playing Tag During Recess
In the game of tag at the Charlotte Avenue Elementary School, no one gets to be “it.”
The elementary school has banned kids from playing the childhood game during recess, tagging safety as a concern.
“We want them running, we want them jumping and releasing the energy, but just in a safe way,” Principal Patricia Beaulieu said.
(Recently, Infowars easily got 14 out of 20 people to sign a petition requiring pedestrians wear helmets while walking, demonstrating once again how the majority of the general public will accept almost any nanny state measure no matter how ludicrous.[url])
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s a Dictator — What More Evidence Do We Need?
Exclusive: Erik Rush says shutdown behavior shows ‘the tyranny of a narcissistic sociopath’
It is important to realize that the debt ceiling issue is a smoke soldier. It is only Obama and progressives in Congress (be they Democrat or Republican) who believe that failure to achieve a rise in the debt ceiling is equivalent to the Earth spinning off of its axis. The debt ceiling is an arbitrary, imaginary figure that only serves to facilitate progressives’ ongoing profligate spending. With regard to the government defaulting on its debt, this is simply laughable as well as an economic impossibility. Government debt as such doesn’t work the same way as that of a family or a business; there are constitutional provisions for America’s debt to be paid, no matter what — but far too few news-consuming Americans are aware of this.
“We will not capitulate — no, never! We may be destroyed, but if we are, we shall drag a world with us — a world in flames.”
— Adolf Hitler
It is Obama’s obstinacy that so many are finding troublesome. Cited as being unprecedented, this ought not be a surprise, since having a revolutionary Marxist in the White House is also unprecedented. His modality has become that of a dictator, as evidenced by those who have recognized this and articulated the same. On Monday, Arizona state Rep. Brenda Barton posted on her Facebook page that “Someone is paying the National Park Service thugs overtime for their efforts to carry out the order of De Fuhrer [sp],” likening Obama to Nazi despot Adolf Hitler.
By now, Americans have learned of some of the more tyrannical actions on the part of the Obama administration with regard to his enforcement of the partial government shutdown. As if petty actions such as going out of the way to curtail access to open-air memorials and parks weren’t enough, we have now learned that the Obama administration dispatched federal thugs to evict octogenarians who have lived for decades in homes that happen to be located on federal lands.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Thuggish Behavior, Part II
Predictably, my column last week, which expressed my extreme displeasure at the images of World War II vets being barricaded from visiting their memorial on the National Mall, produced a flurry of reactions, both positive and negative.
According to the latest Associated Press poll, 37 percent of America, against all odds, still supports Barack Obama — and I heard from more than a few of them. One man, who proudly displayed the letters “PhD” after his name, took great umbrage at my final statement in that column. I wrote: “If you are not incensed by the fact that your president tried to keep the courageous men who saved this nation from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan seven decades ago from seeing their memorial, then you are either an enemy of this country or you are a brain-dead idiot.”
The good “doctor” failed to indicate into which category he falls.
In that column, I also wrote, “Only after being faced with a negative public relations nightmare did the National Parks Department relent and allow these brave men to visit their memorial, which never should have been closed to them, or anyone else, in the first place.”
Cleary, I naïvely believed that even the Obama regime would not attempt to continue such boneheaded behavior after the negative PR that had ensued. However, I must admit that even I, who harbor no further illusions about Obama’s mean-spirited, partisan nature, was astonished by this week’s news.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Supporter Arrested After Aiming Gun at Female Impeachment Protesters
An 84-year-old Obama supporter was arrested by Gwinnett County Police at his home in Georgia Tuesday, after pointing a gun at two female “Overpasses for Obama’s Impeachment” protesters on Sept. 28.
SmithRoy Smith was charged with pointing a firearm at another and three counts of misdemeanor simple assault for driving up and aiming his handgun at protesters Toni Pendley and Marge Moore.
“He was looking straight at me,” Pendley told Channel 2 Action News.
Others near the scene witnessed the incident as well, reporting Smith’s description, vehicle description and license plate number to 911 dispatchers. Witnesses specifically described a black, balding man, with glasses, driving a maroon Mercury Grand Marquis.
“He just showed the ladies the gun like ‘move out of here, I’ve got a gun’,” the witness told the 911 dispatcher.
Smith not only aimed his firearm at the women, but also threw an unknown chemical liquid at Moore.
“I felt it on my foot… it burned, so I thought it was a household chemical,” Moore told WSB Radio.
Amazingly, only moments before the attack, a different vehicle filled with other tolerant Obama supporters threatened to kill Pendley and Moore as it drove past.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Only 17 Percent of Americans Think U.S. Is on the Right Track: Poll
The number of American voters who think the country is headed in the right direction fell by 11 percentage points over the past week, placing it at its lowest level in two years, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.
Just 17 percent of likely voters said they think the United States is on the right track, a sign that the ongoing government shutdown and fight over the debt limit is taking its toll on public confidence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Feds Order National Guard to Close I-495 to Derail Trucker Protest?
A conservative group claims it has spoken to sources within the Department of Transportation who admitted plans by the feds to order armed National Guard troops to close Washington DC’s Interstate Route 495 tomorrow in order to derail a mass protest and potential blockade being organized by a group called Truckers Ride for the Constitution.
The sensational claim is posted on the Freedom Leadership Conference website, as well as prominent conservative blog RedState.com. The annual Freedom Leadership Conference has previously been sponsored by the likes of Judicial Watch and Human Events.
According to Glenn Ryt, the plan to close the route that circles the nation’s capital will be implemented on Friday morning with the aid of armed National Guard troops from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia who will use trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles to block traffic entering the Beltway.
“These sources at the Department of Transportation have advised off the record that the DOT proposal included the confident belief that the Capitol Beltway shutdown will successfully achieve the twin goals of thwarting the trucker protest scheduled for a three day period starting on Friday, as well as deal another punishing blow to what they call “the crazy wing of the GOP” which refuses to capitulate to their demands to approve a budget that includes Obamacare funding,” writes Ryt.
Demonstrators under the banner of Truckers Ride for the Constitution will arrive in DC tomorrow morning to snarl traffic as part of “a shot across the bow that will ripple across all branches of government.” 10,000 truckers are expected to continually circle the Beltway for three days, taking up two lanes and keeping a third clear to allow access for emergency vehicles.
The group said speculation that the National Guard would block the Beltway was inaccurate, stating, “The Virginia State Police are working closely with our organization and have assured us that no such orders to the National Guard exist.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
By Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: The petty harassment of the Obama Blockade is a sign of impotence. It must satisfy its spite harassing individuals, throwing out senior citizens from their homes and denying the families of soldiers killed in its botched war money to help pay for their funeral expenses, because it can’t inflict a greater misery and torment on the country at large. And it can’t do that until it completely controls health care. The Berlin Blockade signaled that even with the numbers on their side, the Soviet Union did not dare roll the dice and fight the Allies over the spoils of war. The Obama Blockade is not a sign of strength, pettiness never is, it’s a sign of weakness.
| — Hat tip: KP | [Return to headlines] |
The Real Beneficiaries of Racial Preferences
By Robert Weissberg
Despite their public unpopularity and court ordered restrictions, racial preferences in higher education still manage to hang on and if anything, the Obama administration has pushed them even harder. To wit, on Friday September 27th, both the Department of Justice and Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter that strongly affirmed that using skin color in college admissions was still permissible. According to the letter…
| — Hat tip: ES | [Return to headlines] |
The Violent Side Effects of Antidepressants That Many Ignore
By Dr. Mercola
In light of a long list of mass shootings over the past several years, the causative role of psychiatric drugs in violent events will undoubtedly have to be evaluated and addressed at some point. Personally, I’d vote for sooner, rather than later.
Antidepressants in particular have a well-established history of causing violent side effects, including suicide and homicide. In a recent Scientific American1article, the author states:
“Once again, antidepressants have been linked to an episode of horrific violence. The New York Times2 reports that Aaron Alexis, who allegedly shot 12 people to death at a Navy facility in Washington, DC, earlier this week, received a prescription for the antidepressant trazodone3 in August.”
The drug in question, trazodone, has been associated with:4
“New or worsening depression; thinking about harming or killing yourself, or planning or trying to do so; extreme worry; agitation; panic attacks; difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep; aggressive behavior; irritability; acting without thinking; severe restlessness; and frenzied abnormal excitement.”
The naval yard shooting is just the latest event to bring questions about prescription medications to the fore, but it bears noting that in this particular case no evidence has yet been released confirming that the shooter had the drug in his system at the time of the massacre.
Still, questions about the safety, or lack thereof, of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs really need to be addressed regardless of whether they were instrumental in this particular case. Just last year, a Canadian judge ruled that a teenage boy murdered his friend because of the effects of Prozac.
When will such side effects be taken seriously? Just how many people have to kill themselves or others before a drug is considered too dangerous to be prescribed?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) We have already established that Healthcare.gov is not a functioning database application that allows people to shop for competing health plans. It is actually a government-run Trojan Horse that suckers people into creating accounts where they hand over:
- Name and address
- Email address and password
- Social security number
- Private bank account details
- Employer details and other information
During the enrollment process, your computer also hands over your IP address which is then tied to your social security number.
This IP address is then handed over to the NSA thanks to its new mega-black-hole data center in Utah, where your IP is cross-referenced with all website visits, including:
- “Anti-government” websites
- Porn sites
- Gambling sites
- File sharing sites
- “Terrorism” support sites
- Encryption service sites like Hushmail
- Chat rooms, message boards and more
Armed with this information, the NSA can then link your seemingly-anonymous online chats, comments and posts with your social security number. Linguistic algorithms can “score” your online posts to create red flags that call for additional investigations of anyone using words like “liberty” or “patriot.”
This information can then be turned over to law enforcement, as is found in the fine print of the Maryland Obamacare exchange, which states:
…we may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.
Thus, by enrolling in Obamacare, you are voluntarily surveilling yourself and handing over the data to the government while also AGREEING to terms of self-incrimination.
Ponder the implications of this for a moment…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What Does the Term, “Conservative” Define in the Political Spectrum?
Not much anymore. Is there such a thing as a Hegelian “Right”? The appointment of Carly Fiorina to the American Conservative Union’s Educational arm may reveal an answer. Her appointment caught this writer’s attention when it was reported in San Jose Mercury News, 9/29/13.
American Conservative Union Chairman, Al Cardenas, waxed eloquent about Carly Fiorina’s “conservative philosophy” saying, “It’s one thing to be a conservative among friends; it’s quite another to be an unapologetic public conservative in California.”
That description of a public unapologetic conservative in California doesn’t fit the Fiorina known here in Silicon Valley. The record shows no evidence of Fiorina Republicanism being aligned with the conservative wing of the GOP…
Fiorina’s loss may have reflected the fact of her being possibly the most disliked person in the public eye after running the iconic Hewlett-Packard Corporation into the ground resulting in massive joblosses. The family members of the founders of H-P refused to endorse her candidacy for Senate, they actively worked against her campaign by sending out letters explaining why.
[…]
“Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s reported “Getaway to Aspen parallels valley lifestyle, mindset” makes an astonishing remark in her opening address to a recent conference of tech leaders in Aspen, Colorado. Hailing the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s dialectic process, she claims to ‘use it every day. Karl Marx preached it, Nicolai Lenin implemented it in Russia in the early 20th Century and now we have Hegel’s dialectic preached and practiced in 21st Century high — tech industry. And all this time we were led to believe communism was dead! — Mary Thonpson
The reporter only touched the tip of the iceberg of the entire speech in which Fiorina elaborated re: her devotion the idea of the Hegelian Dialectic as a tool for decision making. She suggested the synthesis of the status of schools to be “charter schools.” The entire speech is still available on line.[url]
If anyone had a residual doubt that there exists a “right” which has been commandeered by forces more attuned to what has been identified with the “left,” the ACU appointing an admirer of Hegel should dispel those doubts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Group: Councillor’s Advice That Women Buddy Up “Archaic, Regressive, Offensive”
The chair of the transit commission suggests women should avoid walking alone as one way to protect themselves against sexual assaults.
“Would I prefer that that never had to happen? Of course I would. But do I think it’s a good practice? Yeah I do,” said Diane Deans. “At the end of the day, sexual assault still happens and women need to be vigilant.”
But Julie Lalonde, director of the anti-harassment group Hollaback Ottawa!, told CFRA News the advice is “offensive.”
“What we’re really trying to get people to understand is telling women they need to travel in pairs to stay safe is perpetuating a victim-blaming mentality,” she said in an interview on Thursday.
Lalonde says not only is it “archaic and regressive,” but it’s just not practical.
“Particularly as we get closer to the wintertime where it’s going to be dark at 4 or 4:30. So women cannot even come home from their nine to five jobs by themselves. I mean, it’s outrageous.”
Lalonde admits OC Transpo is addressing safety concerns more than it has in the past. A revamped initiative launched last month allows riders to request an alternate drop off point, along the route, in order to get closer to their destination any time after 7p.m. Previously it was only available starting at 9p.m.
Deans and OC Transpo general manager John Manconi have met with members of Hollaback Ottawa! to discuss increased safety and Lalonde says another meeting is scheduled for the end of this month.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
“Islamophobia Dictionaries,” New Mega-Mosques and Other Recent Events
A Survey of Islam in Europe: September 2013
by Soeren Kern
From Britain to Greece, and Spain to Slovenia, Muslim immigration and the accompanying rise of Islam are transforming the European way of life in ways unimaginable only a few years ago. What follows is a brief survey of 20 noteworthy stories involving Islam in Europe during just the month of September 2013.
In Denmark, construction crews raised the first-ever minaret on September 3 that will alter Copenhagen’s low-rise skyline in a colossal project to build the biggest mega-mosque in Scandinavia. The so-called Grand Mosque was made possible through a grant of 150 million kroner ($26 million) from Qatar. This gift has led critics voice concern that the mosque will become a mouthpiece for radical Islam in Denmark.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Alice Munro Wins Nobel Prize in Literature
Alice Munro, the renowned short-story writer whose visceral work explores the tangled relationships between men and women, small-town existence and the fallibility of memory, won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.
Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy said that Ms. Munro is a “master of the contemporary short story.”
Ms. Munro, 82, is the 13th woman to win the prize.
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Presseurop Rzeczpospolita
Brussels is preparing regulations concerning shale gas extraction. The pressure is growing for them to be restrictive,” writes Rzeczpospolita.
In line with European Parliament proposals passed on October 9, a compulsory environmental impact study will now be needed not only to start shale gas exploration, as is the case already, but also for gas prospecting, thus rendering it “costly and complicated”. The daily notes that by tightening the regulations
The EU has shot itself in the foot by condemning itself to expensive energy, which puts it in disadvantageous position in economic competition with the US, where cheap shale energy has allowed for increased employment even in textile and other high energy-consuming sectors.
Amendments adopted by the Parliament must now be approved by the EU Council.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Conflicts of Interest: Brussels’ Revolving Door for Top EU Officials
Senior European Commission officials have a penchant for changing sides when they join the private sector. They take up positions with Chinese companies, cigarette manufacturers or PR firms — and potential conflicts of interest are often ignored.
Serge Abou is a case in point when it comes to multiple conflicts of interest. The Frenchman served the EU in key positions for more than three decades. He was director-general for External Relations and director for Trade Defence Policy, then spent the last six years of his career as the EU ambassador in Beijing. After leaving EU service, Abou wanted to take a job with Huawei, China’s biggest telecommunications company.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch ‘Have No Idea’ About Scale of US Internet Espionage in NL
American journalist Glenn Greenwald, who helped publish reports on the US’s internet-based spying programme, says the Dutch ‘have no idea’ about the scale of the US espionage activities in the Netherlands.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Editorial: The Education of Tommy and Kevin
by Lars Hedegaard
The Quilliam Foundation has been exuberant since its October 8 announcement that it had a hand in the conversion of former EDL leaders Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll from street demonstrators to something approaching mainstream politicians.
One can only speculate what has motivated Robinson and Carroll to renounce their former organization and accuse it of being infiltrated by neo-Nazi thugs. If that is true, one would think that there would have been ways for the two charismatic leaders to cleanse the EDL and prevent undesirables from joining their street protests.
Also, if they were truly disgusted with the direction the EDL was moving, why didn’t they simply announce their resignation and concentrate on better things? Why did they choose to join forces with a Muslim organization? And why did Tommy Robinson declare that he would now seek instructions from the people at Quilliam as to the true meaning of Islam? Is he now admitting that he didn’t know what he was talking about when making all these speeches on the Islamic menace?
The fact that Quilliam had been in negotiation with the defectors long before their resignation is perhaps an indication of what may have taken place.
Quilliam was set up with help of the British government and has received public funding. The very government that has tried to wipe out the EDL by any means necessary — including arrests, jail sentences and the threat of financial ruin for its leaders and their families. It doesn’t take much ingenuity to imagine that Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll have received an offer they couldn’t refuse — particularly in view of the fact that they both have to stand trial by the end of the month.
The offer may have been something like this: A long prison sentence or resignation from the EDL and reeducation under the tutelage of the semi-governmental Quilliam Foundation.
So what do we know about Quilliam and its enigmatic guiding light, the British convert to Islam, W.H. Abdullah Quilliam, who set up the first mosque on British soil in the late nineteenth century?
Douglas Murray made this observation back in October 2009:…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Far-Right FN Party Tops Polls Ahead of EU Elections
A new opinion poll says that France’s National Front party (FN) could be set for a major electoral breakthrough in next May´s elections to the European Parliament.
A poll by Ifop for the French newspaper, Le Nouvel Observateur, found that 24 percent of those asked said they will vote for the party, which stands on an anti-immigration and anti-Muslim platform.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Legend Delon ‘Supports’ Far-Right
French actor Alain Delon said he supports France’s far-right party, the National Front, in an interview published in a Swiss newspaper on Wednesday. The movie star was popular in the 1960s and was once referred to as the “male Brigitte Bardot.”
French film star Alain Delon has come out in support of France’s far-right political party the National Front (FN).In an interview published on Wednesday in the Swiss daily Le Matin, the actor, whose career has seen him appear in some 100 films, described the National Front’s growth as “uplifting.”
Delon went to on to say that he “approves” the party’s progress, which he attributed to a general sense of gloom due to what, he called, was a lack of political action.
“The National Front, like the MCG [Geneva Citizens’ Movement] in Geneva, is very important…I encourage it and I perfectly understand it,” he said in comments published in the newspaper.
Both parties — the FN and MCG — must manage solid electorates if they are to move from words to actions, he said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Households Richer Than German Ones
Italy ranks 13th in global wealth study
(ANSA) — Milan, October 9 — Italian households are poorer than French and English families, but richer than German ones, according to a Credit Suisse Research Institute study released on Wednesday.
Italy ranked 13th among countries for average household wealth in the Global Wealth Report 2013, but did not appear among the top 15 in terms of the number of millionaires living within its borders. That list is topped by the US, France, the UK and Germany.
Despite crippling economic recession, average wealth in Italy rose 5.6% to 241,383 USD per adult, Credit Suisse found. But Switzerland ranks highest in the world in terms of average wealth, reaching a new record high of USD 513,000 per adult.
The bank research institute revealed that from mid-2012 to mid-2013, aggregate global household wealth increased by 4.9% in current dollar terms to USD 241 trillion — or USD 51,600 per adult. The report also found that household wealth is set to rise nearly 40% over the next five years, with emerging markets reaching 23% of the total by 2018.
“Our research shows that global wealth has doubled since 2000, quite compelling given some of the economic challenges of the last decade. We expect this trend to continue in the foreseeable future, driven largely by Emerging Markets’ strong economic growth and rising population levels, said Michael O’Sullivan of Credit Suisse Research Institute.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Arrested Vatican Prelate Fears Being Poisoned
Scarano claims to be in mortal danger, asks pope to be heard
(ANSA) — Rome, October 10 — The Vatican prelate arrested earlier this year for alleged involvement in a bid to bring 20 million euros into Italy illegally said in an interview published Thursday that he feared he would be poisoned for his revelations to investigators. “I have told of episodes that could put me in danger. I am trying to be stronger than the fear and nightmares that torment me, but despite my prayers, I am certain that I will die by poisoning,” Nunzio Scarano told the newspaper Libero in an interview conducted through Scarano’s lawyer Alba D’Antonio.
Scarano led a key Vatican accounting unit until a month prior to his June arrest in a probe over allegations he conspired with a former Italian spy and a financial broker to try to secretly repatriate the massive sum of cash, allegedly the fruit of tax evasion by a family close to the prelate.
The prelate, from the port city of Salerno near Naples, had been suspended before his arrest from his job as head of analytic accounts at the Holy See’s asset-management agency APSA after being named in a separate probe into receiving money in Salerno.
Scarano is currently being held in a hospital.
In the interview, Scarano characterized himself as “the scapegoat of a number of powerful Vatican (figures) against whom the pope, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, is already taking wise decisions”. Scarano called on Pope Francis to hear him “at least once” before judging and condemning him.
“His words against me have pained me deeply,” Scarano said after the pope said in July that he was hurt by the case and suggested he thought the prelate was guilty.
Regarding nearly three million euros found in his bank accounts, Scarano said: “they are donations and savings of 40 years of work and priestly ministry”.
Scarano called the funds “savings carefully treasured to carry out my final wish — a home for the sick”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Parliament Session Suspended After MPs Called ‘Thieves’
M5S member’s comment causes outrage
(ANSA) — Rome, October 10 — A session of the Italian Lower House of parliament was suspended Thursday after a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) called his fellow MPs “thieves”.
The incident took place during a vote on an amendment to a government bill to phase out State financing of political parties over three years.
The Internet-based M5S, which accepts no public funding and accuses the mainstream parties of creating a corrupt system, are critical of the reform, saying taxpayers money will still end up in the party coffers.
During the session M5S member Riccardo Fraccaro shouted out “they’ll still call you thieves” to the MPs of the other groups.
This prompted many MPs to leave the floor of the House and the session was suspended.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Rutte Forced Beatrix to Revise Anti-Wilders Speech
THE HAGUE, 10/10/13 — Premier Mark Rutte repeatedly amended the Christmas speech of Queen Beatrix in 2010 because it contained passages that were disagreeable about Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders, Trouw newspaper reported Wednesday.
The newspaper based its report on a priest, Huub Oosterhuis, a family friend of the Royal Family. “It was actually an anti-Wilders speech,” Oosterhuis acknowledged.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paul McCartney Talks About Beatles Split, Yoko Ono Drama and John Lennon Taking Acid While Recording
Paul McCartney admits he wasn’t pleased when Yoko Ono joined the Beatles in the recording studio as they were on the brink of a breakup during the height of their popularity.
“Those were very paranoid times, and let’s face it we didn’t welcome Yoko in the studio, because we thought it was guy thing,” he told Sirius XM radio during an interview with Howard Stern. “Actually, in the studio with us it was like ‘Uh, no, excuse me. Um, we’re working.’“
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rare Plant is Ancestor of Roman Perfumes
SEVILLE, SPAIN — A rare plant that grows along the coast in the eastern Mediterranean has been identified as the maternal ancestor of Reseda odorata, whose flowers were used by the Romans to concoct perfumes. “The location of one of the parts of its origin (the mother species), provides information about the evolutionary mechanisms which produce species which are later useful to humankind,” said Pedro Jiménez Mejías of the Pablo de Olavide University. Jiménez thinks that botanists may find new areas where the plant grows, in addition to Crete, Cyprus, and southern Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saving the West: Remember the Battle of Tours
In the year 732, on or around October 10, one of history’s most decisive battles took place, demarcating the extent of Islam’s western conquests and ensuring the survival of the West.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Stop Brain Cells in Mice From Dying in Potential Alzheimer’s Treatment Breakthrough
A team of British scientists has released a major study that could represent a breakthrough in the treatment of human neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: David Cameron Speaks Out During Visit to Yorkshire
Mr Cameron told the Telegraph & Argus: “I think the EDL is a hateful organisation and I think the recent resignations indicate what an extremist organisation it is.”
Bradford Council leader David Green had written to Mr Cameron calling on him to tighten up the legislation around the EDL’s demonstrations. In response, Mr Cameron said: “The police are allowed to ban marches on certain grounds, that’s set in law.”
He said: “As a country we have to balance the right to protest with the right of everyone else to go about their daily lives.”
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Muslims Hold Slovakian Woman as Slave, Repeatedly Rape and Assault Her
These rape and sex slavery gangs are bad, but even worse would be to let into the country anyone who would talk honestly about how such actions are justified within Islam, which would explain why there are so many such gangs. Better to pretend that there is no problem at all.
The Qur’an allows for the owning of sex slaves:
If you fear that you will not act justly towards the orphans, marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, four; but if you fear you will not be equitable, then only one, or what your right hands own; so it is likelier you will not be partial. (Qur’an 4:3)
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
When Swedes Are Molested, The Answer is Silence
by Ingrid Carlqvist
Erik Björkman, 22, was attacked because he was Swedish. He died last week, probably as a result of blows to his head. Last weekend Daniel Spansk was molested because he is a politician belonging to Svenskarnas Parti (The Party of the Swedes). The Swedish media didn’t mention any of these deeds with one word.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Condemns US Move to Freeze Military Aid
Egypt on Thursday condemned the US decision to withhold military and economic aid from its government unless it made “credible” progress on democracy and human rights. Meanwhile Washington stressed it was not severing ties with its ally.
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Inside Egypt’s Muslim Sisterhood
Women have long been active within Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood but this hasn’t translated into leadership roles within the group, which remains hierarchical and male-dominated
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: Popular Rage About to Explode, Activist Omar Radi
‘Unemployment and repression could lead to Egyptian scenario’
(by Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) — Rome, October 8 — The twin scourges of rampant unemployment and a lack of personal freedoms will soon drive Moroccans to stage mass demonstrations, journalist and activist Omar Radi told ANSAmed in a recent interview. “In Morocco there will soon be a scenario like Egypt, with rage and hunger driving people into the streets: there is a potential for violence, and the regime will respond with violence”, said Radi, one of the leaders of the February 20th Movement during the Arab Spring of 2011.
Currently a main contributor to the Mamfakinch blogger and militant collective, Radi is in Italy on the invitation of an Italian NGO called Cooperation for Development in Emerging Countries (Cospe), which organized an international festival in the northern city of Ferrara. Unfortunately, Radi explained, broiling social protests at home are “lacking a leadership”, for it has been decapitated by repression. “170 activists are still in prison”, he said.
Democracy in the kingdom of Morocco, which is an island of relative stability in the region, “is just an illusion: the people’s demands and protests are being repressed. Our system is anything but a democracy”, said Radi, who also served as vice president of anti-globalization association Attac Maroc. Among those arrested is journalist Ali Anouzla, editor of the Lakome website. He was put behind bars on charges of apology of terrorism on September 17, after publishing a video made by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb through a link to an article in Spanish daily El Pais. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on October 22, and risks six years in prison if convicted. In a recent editorial about his case, the Washington Post newspaper said that King Mohammed VI’s initially reformist stance following the spring 2011 uprisings — including constitutional changes and parliamentary elections that brought a moderate Islamist party to power — is being replaced by a return to “autocratic practices”.
The king never relaxed control over the army and the judiciary, and arresting a journalist while legitimately exercising his profession is a blatant attempt to “punish” him for brave reporting that is critical of the monarchy, the Post opined.
Morocco was also in the spotlight recently when authorities arrested a teenage couple for posting a photo of themselves kissing on Facebook.
The two kids are out on bail and are awaiting trial, but the issue of personal rights — such as that of not fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is being promoted by the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties — is not the only reason for discontent, Radi said.
Unemployment, which is officially under 10% but which is reportedly three times as high among young people, is fomenting almost daily protests in the capital, Rabat. About 2,000 people took to the streets on Sunday, according to AP news agency.
“Many people lack access to social and health care services”, while the cost of living is ever on the rise, Radi pointed out. The risk of violence is high, he said, because there is no leadership capable of channeling rising social tensions.
“The February 20th Movement de facto no longer exists”, Radi said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan Kidnapped: He Had Denounced Arms Smuggling in Libya
The kidnapping occurred this morning at dawn. Groups of former rebels, who now are paid by the Defence and the Interior Ministry suspected. Zeidan was concerned that Libya was becoming the basis for the smuggling of arms to Africa and Syria.
Tripoli ( AsiaNews / Agencies) — Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan (see photo) was abducted at dawn this morning by a group of armed men. According to various sources , the group is made up of former rebels , linked to the Ministry of the Interior and kidnapped the premier at the hotel Corinthia, where he lives . The groups would be Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room and the Crime Combating Committee.
The reasons for the kidnapping are not yet know. Two days ago in a television interview Ali Zeidan complained that his country is becoming a very important basis for arms trafficking in Africa. A month ago, visiting Britain , he sought the help of London to free Libya from weapons , suspecting that they are smuggled into Syria .
The kidnapping comes a few days after the operation of a commando of U.S. Marines , who captured Abu Anas al -Libi , a personality linked to al Qaeda and transferred him onto a U.S. warship . Al- Libi is accused of being among the perpetrators of the attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 .
The seizure of al-Libi provoked a storm of criticism against the Libyan government, especially by groups of former rebels who fought for the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and are now enrolled ( and paid for ) in the Ministry of Interior and Defense.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Al-Libi Blitz: Italy Approves Sigonella Deployment
UN says Libya is owed an explanation
(ANSAmed) — ROME — The Italian ministry of defense has authorized the deployment of 200 American troops and several aircraft at Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily.
The approval based on bilateral accords follows on the US capture of al-Qaeda leader Abu Anas al-Libi on Saturday in the Libyan city of Tripoli. The blitz, which was objected to by both Libya and Amnesty International, has caused a new international security alert. “In response to this new threat, US authorities have requested permission for the temporary deployment of military assets at the Sigonella base ahead of a possible evacuation of their fellow Americans”, the Italian defense ministry said in a note.
Al-Libi’s capture was “a violation of basic human rights”, Amnesty International said in a communique.
“If he is taken to the United States, the government must not impose the death penalty”.
Amnesty is “concerned over American interrogation methods including prolonged isolation and sleep deprivation”.
Libya has the right to know the circumstances of the arrest, said UN envoy Tarek Mitri. His statement followed on statements made by US Secretary of State John Kerry that the raid was legal and no explanation is owed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The head of the political wing of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, implicitly called on the Palestinian Authority Wednesday to cease peace negotiations with Israel immediately, claiming that continuing the talks would endanger the status of Jerusalem. Meshal, who is living in Qatar with other Hamas leaders, was in Ankara.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Press: Son of Kurdish Leader Muslim Killed
In clashes with Al Qaida militia to control North
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 9 — The son of Syrian Kurdish leader Saleh Muslim was killed Wednesday in clashes between Kurdish militants and an Al Qaida-linked group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Turkish news agency Anadolu reported Thursday.
Servan Musim, 20, reportedly died in Al Abyad near the border with Turkey. Kurdish and Al Qaida militants have been fighting over the past few weeks for the control of northern Syria which is mainly inhabited by Kurds.
Saleh Muslim, leader of the Democratic Union Party, the main Kurdish-Syrian political group, has recently accused Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan of helping armed groups close to Al Qaida, saying his claim was backed by ‘evidence’.
Muslim called on Ankara’s premier to ‘withdraw his dogs and jackals from Rojava’, Syrian Kurdistan. Ankara fears Kurds could create an autonomous entity along their borders.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Parliament Renews Permission for Military Operations Against Kurdish Rebels in Iraq
Turkey’s parliament has extended for another year a mandate allowing the military to carry out operations against Kurdish rebels based in neighboring northern Iraq. Legislators on Thursday voted for the measure at a time when talks aimed at ending nearly 30 years of fighting with the autonomy-seeking rebels appear increasingly fragile.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Jihadists Fighting in Syria and Afghanistan, “Learning the Trade” And Returning to Britain
Terrorism is “no longer over there, it’s here” according to a security expert. Dr Sally Leivesley told Daybreak terrorists were frequently fighting abroad in countries like Syria and Afghanistan, “learning the trade” and then returning to England.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Orissa Pogroms: India’s Justice System is “Criminal”, Christian Leader Says
A court in Phulbani sentenced seven innocent Christians to life in prison, whilst acquitting yesterday five people up on arson charges. In both cases, there was no evidence against the defendants. For Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, the Orissa pogroms are “sadly unique, for their violence and their total lack of justice.”
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — Yet another sham trial stemming from the 2008 anti-Christian pogroms in Orissa is evidence of a “criminal justice system” in which “local police are silent spectators and the authorities are completely useless”, this according to Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).
Yesterday, a court in Phulbani acquitted for lack of evidence five people accused of setting fire to a house during the 2008 violence in Kandhamal (Orissa).
However, just a week ago, the same court sentenced seven innocent Christians to life in prison for the murder of Hindu leader Laxamananada, whose death sparked anti-Christian violence five years ago. “There was no evidence of guilt against the seven,” Sajan George insisted.
In fact, the Orissa pogroms stand as a unique event in India’s history. They are “the largest case of violence against Christians in Indian history and the largest religiously-motivated attack in the state,” Sajan George said.
The numbers speak for themselves. More than 600 villages were looted; 5,600 homes were pillaged and robbed; 54,000 people lost their homes; 56 people were killed (at least 100 according to Church sources); nearly 300 churches were destroyed, as well as numerous convents, schools, hostels and welfare facilities.
More importantly, in addition to short-term damages, the 2008 violence left a lasting legacy on the justice system.
“Out of 3,232 complaints,” the GCIC president said, “only 828 have been converted into First Information Reports (FIR), which start the actual investigation that leads to a court case.”
Only 327 cases of these have gone to trial, 170 ending in acquittal and 86 convictions, but only for minor offenses. Ninety cases are still pending.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sri Lanka Criticizes Canada PM Over Decision to Boycott Commonwealth Summit
Sri Lanka has criticized Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to boycott a Commonwealth summit in the island nation next month over its human rights record. Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Thursday that Harper is “in a lone battle” and had failed to persuade other Commonwealth members to follow suit.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
3 Disturbing Fukushima Facts the Government is Covering Up
The mega Fukushima meltdown continues to assault the planet on a daily basis with barrages of radioactive fallout that have infiltrated everything from our international food supply to the Pacific Ocean. But instead of alerting us to this reality and helping us to be prepared for what’s coming, both the United States and Japanese governments have chosen to ignore and downplay the devastating affects of Fukushima in order to pretend that nothing is wrong.
And in return, of course, the result is the continued and unchecked nuclear contamination of the planet — and it’s getting worse. Let’s examine a number of deeply disturbing facts regarding Fukushima’s increasing emission of radiation, the advancing stages of meltdown, the downright insane management of the disaster, and of course how it is affecting us on a daily basis.
1. Fukushima Radiation Readings Continue to Hit New High
One of the most absurd lies put forth by TEPCO (Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.) and backed by the government is the notion that Fukushima is really nothing to worry about. In fact, the incident was classified as a ‘Level 1 anomaly’ before it was revealed that radiation levels were skyrocketing to new highs as recently as September 4th of 2013. And it was this same revelation last September that forced the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) to acknowledge this reality and change the classification of the Fukushima disaster to a Level 3 ‘Serious Incident’.
The radiation levels were high enough to kill an unprotected human within hours.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Japanese Report Nosebleeds in Health Scare
A substantial number of Japanese have suddenly begun suffering nosebleeds that some reports indicate are likely tied to radiation poisoning from the damaged nuclear plants at Fukushima.
The reports are based on a series of tweets, allegedly from Japanese citizens who report the nosebleeds, along with photos of blood-soaked rags and bandages. Many of the reports are flowing through Facebook.
If true, the damaged Fukushima plant continues to wreak havoc
One site says that Japanese doctors who have been treating those afflicted by the massive radiation released when the plant was damaged by a major earthquake-caused tsunami on March 11, 2011, know that their patients have radiation sickness, but they are being prevented from discussing it publicly.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fear, Tension Prevail in Somali Seaside Town Raided by Seal Commandoes
MOGADISHU, Somalia — The al-Shabab stronghold of Barawe, a coastal town in Somalia where U.S. Navy SEALs came ashore in a failed raid last weekend, is gripped by fear and tension as residents worry they’ll be accused of spying and the insurgents ready for another attack.
Foreign fighters and Somali members of al-Shabab have in recent years moved into the town, edged by red desert and emerald seas, as African Union peacekeeping troops and Somali government forces pushed the Islamic insurgent group from Somalia’s capital and other areas.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Westgate Operation Was Bungled — Uhuru
PRESIDENT Uhuru Kenyatta has admitted that the Westgate operation was bungled. The President made the admission on Sunday afternoon when he visited the police Recce Squad members at their Ruiru base and treated them to lunch.
Police now believe that the attack was planned in Norway and Somalia. They have written to the Norwegian embassy in Nairobi seeking its assistance in locating a Somali refugee who now resides in Norway.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Suspected of Role in Kenya’s Westgate Attack
Norway’s intelligence agency says it is investigating whether a Norwegian citizen was involved in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre.
The PST said it had sent investigators to Kenya to try to verify the claim.
It said it was opening an inquiry “based on information that a Norwegian citizen may have been involved”.
A Norwegian of Somali origin may have been involved in planning and carrying out the 21 September attack in which at least 67 people died, the PST said.
“The enquiry will primarily be aimed at helping prevent new terrorist acts and (determining) to what degree the Norwegian… was involved in the attack,” the agency said.
It added that it would also try to establish if the unnamed suspect had ties to Somalia’s al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda-linked militant group which said it had carried out the attack.
The PST said it was working to assess any potential threats to Norway and Norwegian interests.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Suspected in Kenya Attack
A Norwegian citizen of Somali origin is suspected of involvement in the terror attack on a mall in Kenya last month, authorities in Norway say.
The PST security service says it has received information suggesting the Norwegian “was involved in planning and carrying out the attack” that killed at least 67 people. It did not name the suspect.
The Somali Islamic group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the assault and said it was in retaliation for Kenya’s sending of troops into neighbouring Somalia.
PST said its agents were in Nairobi, working with Kenyan authorities investigating “to what degree” the Norwegian was involved and his links to al-Shabab.
But the agency said the main goal of the investigation was to prevent any future attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Possible Suspect in Westgate Mall Al Shabaab Massacre Sought by Norwegian Intelligence
A suspect in the Nairobi Westgate Mall massacre may be a Norwegian Citizen of Somali origin and a possible acquaintance of al Shabaab commander “Ikrima” sought in an unsuccessful US Navy Seal Team Six raid in Baarwe, Somalia last weekend. BBC reported that Norwegian Intelligence (PST) is investigating that possibility. Kenyan security authorities have also identified the remains of four of the Jihad perpetrators Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta apologized in a Star article in for the bungled operation that witnessed more than 62 civilians and six Kenyan security personnel killed, extensive damage and looting to the upscale mall in Nairobi. The Star report cited police allegations that the Westgate Mall attack may have been planned in both Norway and Somalia. These reports indicate the broad reach of Al Shabaab recruitment among disaffected Somali refugees and asylees in the West. One of the major UNHCR Somali refugee camps in Kenya at Dadaab might have been a staging area for the Westgate Mall attack.
The Long War Journal has this updated report on these latest developments, “Norwegian authorities looking for Westgate massacre suspect”…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Britain is being sued with France and the Netherlands by 14 Caribbean countries which are demanding what could be hundreds of billions of pounds in reparations for slavery. Around 175 years after Britain freed its last slaves in the West Indies, an alliance of Caribbean nations is demanding to be repaid for the ‘awful’, lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Alfano Says Italy Needs More EU Help
Regulations now mean too many migrants for Italy, says Alfano
(ANSA) — Luxembourg, October 8 — Europe’s current immigration laws are too hard on Italy, Angelino Alfano said Tuesday.
Italy’s deputy prime minister spoke outside meetings of European Union interior ministers where the issue of migrants was discussed in the wake of a shipwreck last Thursday morning off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
More than 300 are missing and feared dead while 155 people were rescued. Alfano, who is also Italy’s interior minister, said that under the present rules, Italy is struggling under the weight of enormous numbers of migrants who are rescued at sea as they arrive in emergency situations.
Northern European countries, in contrast, see migrants arriving overland, he said.
And the EU’s current refugee rules, established in the Dublin Convention, require applicants to lodge their asylum claim in the first EU country they enter — placing strains on Italy.
Alfano also called on the EU to adopt a strong action plan to help Mediterranean members cope with migrants.
“A European action plan is needed,” Alfano said.
“The EU has to be more involved in saving human lives. We are in the middle of the Mediterranean, we have saved thousands and thousands of people,” he added. “Now we are asking for the EU to give us a hand with the reinforcement of the border controls”. Between January 1 and September 30 this year, 30,100 migrants reached Italy on boats from North Africa, the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR says.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Letta Says ‘Disgrace’ Lampedusa Survivors Probed
Govt may change law criminalising undocumented migrants
(ANSA) — Rome, October 9 — Premier Enrico Letta said Wednesday it was a “disgrace” that the 155 survivors of last week’s migrant-boat disaster off Lampedusa were being probed on the basis of an Italian law that makes being an undocumented migrant a criminal offence.
Letta added that his grand-coalition government would consider changing this law, which is controversial even though many other developed nations have similar measures in place. “As premier I felt ashamed at such zeal,” Letta replied during a visit to Lampedusa with European Commission President Josè Manuel Barroso when asked about the fact prosecutors had put the survivors under investigation. “This is a huge human drama,” added the premier, a member of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
The prosecutors stressed that the opening of a probe was a formal procedure that did not mean charges would be pressed.
Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said he was not convinced about the need to change a law that experts says is rarely applied.
“I think we are doing the most important thing by working with the other European Union member States, the European Commission and the island of Lampedusa,” said Alfano, a member of the centre-right bloc that drafted the current migration legislation. “If legislative interventions were needed to avoid sea tragedies, they should be done immediately. I fear that this is not the solution to the problem”. On Wednesday Letta apologised for the conditions at Lampedusa’s migrant centre, which is massively overcrowded with many people forced to sleep outside as boats with new arrivals continue to land on the island.
The 850-person migrant centre has been reduced to a 250-person capacity since a 2011 fire destroyed part of the facility.
“I apologise for the inadequacies of our country in relation to a tragedy like this,” Letta told a news conference, promising the government would intervene.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy, Libya Agree on Sea Patrols
Immigration pact aimed at stopping boat disasters
(ANSA) — Rome, October 8 — Italy reached a pact Tuesday with the Libyan coast guard to enhance sea patrols in the hopes of halting the kinds of desperate migrant crossings that end tragically.
The pact comes just days after a shipwreck off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
More than 300 are feared dead and 155 survived last Thursday morning’s wreck.
The new arrangement will involve patrol boats donated by Italy to Libya for sea patrols, as well as enhanced training.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Grillo Blasts Own M5S Lawmakers Over Migrant Vote
Comedian unhappy at move to decriminalise illegal immigration
(ANSA) — Rome, October 10 — Beppe Grillo, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), on Thursday publicly chastised the Senators from his group who presented a petition to decriminalise illegal immigration.
The fact that being an undocumented migrant is a criminal offence in Italy has become a major issue after the survivors of last week’s migrant-boat disaster off Lampedusa were put under investigation, even though prosecutors said the move was a formal act that did not mean charges would be pressed.
It is feared that as many as 363 people, mostly Somalis and Eritreans, died in the disaster.
On Tuesday the M5S members on the Senate justice committee presented a petition for illegal immigration to be decriminalised in an amendment to another law.
The amendment was approved with the blessing of Premier Enrico Letta’s government, although some senior figures, including Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, has expressed doubts about changing the law.
Comedian-turned-politician Grillo, whose movement is the third-biggest group in parliament after its spectacular showing in February’s general election, said the M5S Senators on the committee had exceeded their authority.
“Their position on the committee was totally personal, it was not part of our programme,” Grillo said on his popular blog, which gave life to the M5S in 2009, in a statement also carrying the name of co-founder Gianroberto Casaleggio.
“We don’t agree with what was done nor how it was done.
“No spokesperson (of the movement) can claim to make such an important decision on an issue that causes such deep feeling at the social level without consulting anyone.
“If we had proposed abolishing the crime of illegal immigration, the M5S would have had the vote percentage of a telephone prefix (starting with 0) in the general election”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Refugees: Bulgaria Heading Towards Humanitarian Crisis
Sega, Standart
“Twenty thousand refugees are arriving in Bulgaria,” says Bulgarian daily Sega at a time when the country is already facing a rising tide of migrants, mostly coming from Syria and Afghanistan.
On October 9 alone, 121 people were stopped at the Turkish border, says the paper. Because of this, Sega explains, people smugglers are now attempting to reach Bulgaria by sea. A vessel with 24 Afghans on board was intercepted near Cap Kaliakra on the Black Sea coast.
“The living conditions of the refugees are deteriorating and it could soon turn into a humanitarian crisis, calling for extraordinary measures,” the paper says, adding that the Home Affairs ministry expects another 13,000 Syrian refugees to arrive before the end of the year. The most pessimistic outcome estimates that 40,000 refugees will need accommodation in Bulgaria by spring 2014.
Standart, another Bulgarian daily, for its part, devotes its front page to an idea suggested by Home Affairs Minister Tsvetlin Iovchev proposing to “feed the Syrians without paying VAT”. At the moment, supermarket chains wanting to donate aid to Syrian refugees are not doing so because they must pay VAT. Standart says that Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are the only remaining members of the European Union to apply VAT to humanitarian aid. The government is therefore, considering revising this provision.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
World Health Organization: 1 in 3 Somalis Are Insane
By Daniel Greenfield
Do we really need more Somali immigration? Aside from incidents like Westgate in which Somali terrorists kill non-Muslims, according to the World Health Organization, most of the country is insane.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Behavioral Psychology Behind Store Charity Appeals
B.F. Skinner was a founder of behavioral psychology which sees man as a soulless creature trainable like an animal. Its goal is behavior modification as in the field of Social Marketing.
Stevan writes that store charity appeals are part of “Social Marketing,” which trains people to act on the basis of emotion and conformity. Hence the “public shaming” if you don’t donate.
The purpose of Social Marketing is to modify behavior and create a conditioned response, a reaction without thinking.
Social Marketing is the primary tool of behavior modification for all institutions from governments to corporate advertisers. The aim is to to control behavior through positive or negative emotional reinforcements. As Social Marketing works at distance (i.e non physical stimulus) it must work on universal emotional memes.
Examples of negative memes include, fear, guilt, shame, social/gender conformity, social ostracism, disgust, anger, distrust and inadequacy (weakness). Positive memes are primarily social reinforcements and include, social proof, pride, patriotism and sexual desirability.
Practical examples include, climate change (fear), feminism (gender conformity), charities (guilt), discrimination (shame), terrorism (fear and patriotism), Facebook (social conformity), homophobia (inadequacy) etc.
Demographic research, market segmentation research and focus group studies are all designed to tailor Social Marketing campaigns to individual target populations.
Since the purpose of Social Marketing is to ‘modify’ behavior, negative reinforcements are far more effective as the message needs to create emotional discomfort in the target who then can alleviate the discomfort by changing their behavior.
People need to be aware of the extent of Social Marketing in order to protect themselves from this attack.
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Not All Marriages Are Created Equal
What Allen examined was high school graduation rates for children living in a household with same-sex parents versus married, opposite sex parents. (In Canada, same-sex couples have had all the benefits of marriage since 1997 and actual gay marriage since 2005.) As Regnerus summarizes, “the study is able to compare—side by side—the young-adult children of same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples, as well as children growing up in single-parent homes and other types of households.”
So what did Allen find? Three big effects:
- children of married opposite-sex families have a high graduation rate compared to the others;
- children of lesbian families have a very low graduation rate compared to the others;
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palliative Care: The New Stealth Euthanasia
Since the mid-1990s, several influential grant makers have collaborated to “change how we die in America.” Palliative care was their vehicle. However, the problem in palliative care is not strictly due to “the euthanasia movement,” as it is commonly known. Yes, there are a number of palliative care leaders who are affiliated with Compassion & Choices, (formerly known as the Hemlock Society) or who admit to being in favor of assisted suicide and euthanasia. But, there is an equal threat coming from a growing cohort of bioethicists, physicians (often at academic health centers), community organizers and hospital/hospice administrators. They usually claim to be “neutral” on decriminalization of physician assisted suicide, and some will even say they oppose it. In reality, they promote the hastening of death by blurring the line between passive euthanasia (withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment or death by overdose of opioids) and good, common-sense medical care.
Who’s funding the movement?
Much of the funding to promote passive euthanasia came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, beginning in the eighties, and from George Soros’ Open Society Institute, beginning in the nineties. RWJF funded infrastructure changes in the health care system, and Soros funded leadership development.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The EU Aims to Harmonize Tolerance
BRUSSELS. Powerful organizations specializing in humanism and paid by the EU have embarked on a new offensive to standardize national legislation. Though professional human rights activists often make fools of themselves, they do mean business when they demand a ban on, e.g., criticism of feminism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pulverized Asteroid Around Distant Star Was Full of Water
The first discovery of a rocky, watery object beyond our solar system shows how planets might get their oceans
A decimated planetary system around a distant star holds the relics of a giant asteroid that may have once been flooded with water. The finding offers intriguing clues as to how planets become habitable, and may also provide an unsettling peek at what our own solar system might be in for.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Samantha Lewthwaite dropped off the radar quickly enough, didn’t she?