Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/4/2013

A radical Muslim cleric was shot to death in Mombasa, sparking unrest among Kenya’s Muslims. A Muslim mob burned tires, set fire to a church, and fought with police. Muslims blame police for the shooting; the police, however, say they had nothing to do with it.

In other news, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has decided to disobey federal orders to shut down state parks that receive federal funds. He also refused to ban hunting and fishing on federal lands in Wisconsin.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, 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
» 30 Statistics About Americans Under the Age of 30 That Will Blow Your Mind
» George Soros: The Euro Crisis Might be Over, But Europe’s Nightmare is Getting Worse
» Greece: Four in 10 People Can’t Pay Property Tax
» Greek Government Tries to Save Defense Industries
» Italy: Rome Mayor Says Government Will Help City Avoid Default
» Jordan to Issue Eurobonds at $1.25 Billion
» Obama Plans to Use the 14th Amendment to Bypass Congress
» The Budget Fight and Obama’s Vindictive Streak
» US Banks Stuffing ATMs With 20-30% More Cash in Case of Panicked Withdrawals
 
USA
» “Revolution Beyond Borders” Comes to America
» Ben Carson: IRS Audits Threaten Freedom of Speech
» Border Patrol Loaning Predator Drones to Military, State, And Local Police
» Cleaning Reveals Long-Lost Napoleon Painting From 1813
» Congress Gives Standing Ovation to DC Cops for Executing Unarmed Mother
» D.C. Cops Running Drill on Same Day as Capitol Shooting
» Gov. Walker Ignores Washington Order to Close Parks
» Liberal New Republic Suggests Obama Use Military Against Tea Party
» Medical Insanity: Prozac Prescriptions Rise Sharply in Family Pets
» Money Tap Still Flowing for Members of Congress
» ObamaCare Subjects Entire Nation to Ransom Demands of Coercive Government
» Obamacare’s Failure to Launch
» Reps. Rangel and Jackson Exploit Cop Shooting to Criticize Shut Down
» The Bunker-Barry Mentality of Today’s White House
» The End of Family Privacy Rights
 
Europe and the EU
» Arms: Countries Bail Out of Fighter Deals
» Belgium: Groundbreaking Ceremony of a Mosque in Belgium
» French Woman Indicted on Terrorist Cell Links
» Italy: ‘Total’ Tax Dodger Nabbed Driving Ferrari
» Swiss Vote Reject Abolishing Military Service
» UK: GCHQ Faces Legal Challenge in European Court Over Online Privacy
» UK: The Tories Are Failing to Connect With Muslim Voters. This is Not Good Enough
 
Mediterranean Union
» Libya: 100 Scholarship Winners on Their Way to Italy
 
North Africa
» Brussels Wants Visa Negotiations With Morocco
» Clashes in Egypt Amid Anti-Military, Pro-Morsi Protests
» Egypt: Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Calls on Ashton to Work for Correcting U.S., European Stances Towards Egypt
» Moroccan Teens Arrested for Exchanging a Kiss on Facebook
 
Middle East
» About 400 Russian Mercenaries Said to be Fighting in Syria
» Caroline Glick: America and the Good Psychopaths
» The Army of Islam, Saudi Arabia’s Greatest Export
» The Mythistory of the Crusades
 
Russia
» Man Blows Himself Up on Ukrainian-Russian Border
 
South Asia
» India: Pogrom of Orissa, 7 Innocent Christians Convicted With False Accusations
» Norway Cuts Afghan Aid in Protest at Graft
 
Far East
» Anger as Apple Bans China Anti-Firewall App
» Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, Who Ousted U.S. From Vietnam, Is Dead
» The Hornets of Your Nightmares: Swarms of Massive Insects Kill More Than 40 and Injure 1,600 in China (Video, Photos)
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Kenya: Riots in Kenya After Cleric Slain
» Kenya: Muslim Rioters Torch Church After Police Kill Jihadist Cleric
» Muslims Clash With Police After Kenyan Cleric Shot Dead
» Nigeria: Boko Haram Forces 15,000 Pupils Out of School in Borno — Kills Over 170 Teachers, Students
» Nigeria: Children Slaughtered, Schools Under Siege
» Uganda Police Hunts for German Terrorist
 
Immigration
» Friday Official Day of Mourning in Italy
» Italy: Alfano Says 30,000 Migrants Rescued This Year
» Kyenge and Boldrini Improving Italy, Says UN
» UK Refuses Group Entry to France’s Syrian Refugees
 
Culture Wars
» Pakistan Blocks Nation’s First Gay Website
» The One-World Cult, Darwin, And Einstein
» UK: Interpal and Murtaza Khan
 
General
» Who Will Win the 2013 Nobel Prizes?
 

30 Statistics About Americans Under the Age of 30 That Will Blow Your Mind

Why are young people in America so frustrated these days? You are about to find out. Most young adults started out having faith in the system. They worked hard, they got good grades, they stayed out of trouble and many of them went on to college. But when their educations where over, they discovered that the good jobs that they had been promised were not waiting for them at the end of the rainbow.

Even in the midst of this so-called “economic recovery”, the full-time employment rate for Americans under the age of 30 continues to fall. And incomes for that age group continue to fall as well. At the same time, young adults are dealing with record levels of student loan debt. As a result, more young Americans than ever are putting off getting married and having families, and more of them than ever are moving back in with their parents.

It can be absolutely soul crushing when you discover that the “bright future” that the system had been promising you for so many years turns out to be a lie. A lot of young people ultimately give up on the system and many of them end up just kind of drifting aimlessly through life. The following is an example from a recent Wall Street Journal article…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

George Soros: The Euro Crisis Might be Over, But Europe’s Nightmare is Getting Worse

The euro crisis has already transformed the European Union into something radically different from what was originally intended. The EU was meant to be a voluntary association of sovereign and equal states that surrendered part of their sovereignty for the common good. It has turned into a relationship between creditors and debtors that is by its nature compulsory and unequal.

When a debtor country gets into difficulties the creditor countries gain the upper hand. The rules they have established merely perpetuate this state of affairs. That is liable to be politically unacceptable and it has the potential of destroying the European Union altogether.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Four in 10 People Can’t Pay Property Tax

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, OCTOBER 3 — Four in ten people in Greece estimate they will not be able to pay their tax duties, according to a survey conducted by MARC company on “Τhe trends in the property market”, which was presented today by the company’s managing director Thomas Gerakis in the Prodexpo conference on the development of utilization of estates. More precisely, as GreekReporter website writes, 25.1% of the people questioned responded negatively to the question, “Do you believe you will be able to pay taxes on property?” while an additional 20.3% responded, “Perhaps not.” On the contrary, 18.9% responded “Yes” and a 35.7% “Perhaps so.” A significant number of responders expressed their concern of being unable to pay off the home loan they have taken out. More precisely, 10.1% responded negatively to the question, “Do you think you will be able to make your home loan payments in the future?” while a 27.4% said “Perhaps not.” Some 29.9% said “yes” and 32.7% “Perhaps so.” Some 12.3% responded that they “are in arrears with the house loan they have taken out” and 19.9% that they make their payments “often with some delay.” Some 67.8% say they make their payments “always on time.” The survey also found that 56% of the people questioned believe that it is better to rent a house while only 32.3% estimate that it is better to have a house of your own.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Greek Government Tries to Save Defense Industries

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, SEPTEMBER 20 — While Greece’s international lenders are insisting on the sell-off of the country’s troubled and notoriously inefficient defense manufacturers, the government is still hoping to salvage control over at least parts of it, as GreekReporter website informs. The state of the companies — EAS, ELVO and LARKO — was discussed yesterday at a meeting hosted by the Finance Ministry with European Commission Economic and Financial Affairs director Gert Jan Koopman. The EU’s Competition Commission has demanded the closure of all three industries, while the government is trying to negotiate the consolidation of EAS and ELVO, arguing they are critical for their military operations despite being unable to produce what is needed in some cases. The government wants to split EAS into civil and military divisions, with the later remaining under State control. For ELVO the government wants to appoint an administrator to oversee the firm’s liquidation and sale of assets. Regarding LARKO, the government’s intention is to sell the company while safeguarding the jobs.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Rome Mayor Says Government Will Help City Avoid Default

No bailout or tax hikes, but rigor and spending cuts — Marino

(ANSA) — Rome, October 4 — Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino said Friday that central government will intervene to save the city from a default.

“It will not be a cash donation but rather supporting norms we have asked for to rationalize spending,” Marino explained. “The government thinks we are acting responsibly. I will be meeting (Economy Minister Fabrizio) Saccomanni soon, and I will be handing him a detailed outline of our plan of action.

“We intend to make a fresh start for our city on the twin tracks of rigor and administrative discipline, but without raising taxes. It would just be unfair on citizens right now. “We intend to control spending to get us past December 31 and then to enact a rigorous budget that will be under ministry oversight and will cut all the out-of-control spending items currently in the budget”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Jordan to Issue Eurobonds at $1.25 Billion

(ANSAmed) AMMAN, OCTOBER 3, 2013: The central bank of Jordan is expected to offer $1.22 billion worth of Eurobonds for sale in international market to finance government spending in vital sectors, government sources said today.

Three international banks have been selected to manage and market the bonds; Citibank, JP Morgan and HSBC, added and the sources.

The bonds are expected to be released for trading within a month in the US and European markets after the government completed necessary paper work with the World Bank.

The government is looking for new sources of funding to cover budget deficit at $2 billion and pay for interest on loans to local and international creditors.

Foreign debt has was recorded this month at $25 billion or $73 of the GDP, according to central bank figures.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Plans to Use the 14th Amendment to Bypass Congress

According to sources in Congress and the White House, Barack Obama is preparing to usurp the Constitutional power of Congress to control the purse strings of the federal government. The Obama plan entails using the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to bypass Congress on the upcoming debt ceiling debate and unilaterally raise the debt ceiling without the approval of Congress.

On Thursday Mark Levin cited several Congressional sources who have told him that Obama has no intention of negotiating with Congress on the debt, which is just under $17 trillion, the highest in U.S. history. When unfunded liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare are added in, the real debt is over $125 trillion — a figure so astronomically high that the country has no hope of ever paying it back. Uncontrolled spending has led the nation to this point.

According to Levin, Congressional sources say that Obama does not want any limits on his spending ability, in spite of the fact that the Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to control spending. Further, the use of the 14th Amendment to bypass Congress has never been done before. Thus, such an act would be an entirely new “interpretation” of the 14th Amendment and would raise a plethora of Constitutional issues concerning separation of powers.

The 14th Amendment is written in several main sections, one of which deals with debts incurred by the federal government. Nowhere does the Amendment give a president the power to raise the debt ceiling. Nowhere does the Amendment mandate that overall federal spending to be increased at the whim of a president, or anyone else in government, not even Congress.

The only mandate contained in the 14th Amendment regarding the national debt is that if the government runs out of money, the interest and principle on Treasury Notes, Bills, and Bonds, must be paid first before money is spent on anything else.

This means, simply, that the federal government must first make payments on the national debt before it funds anything else. Nothing is stated concerning raising the debt ceiling and borrowing more money, and certainly not spending more money in the middle of a debt crisis.

Thus, the use of the 14th Amendment to excuse such actions on Obama’s part would be illegal and an impeachable offense. Yet he is being urged, according to Levin, to break the law by advisers inside and outside of government, such as Bill Clinton, Dick Durbin, Nancy Pelosi, liberal law professors, and members of liberal think tanks.

It is also safe to assume that he is being urged to break the law by George Soros, given that the last time this subject was raised a couple of years ago, it was Soros who encouraged Obama to bypass Congress entirely, set the Constitution aside, and do whatever he wants.

[…]

[Return to headlines]
 

The Budget Fight and Obama’s Vindictive Streak

The president thinks negotiating with his “ideological” opponents on the budget is beneath him.

By Jonah Goldberg

[…] while Republicans can be blamed for starting the shutdown, it’s increasingly apparent that President Obama and the Democrats deserve the lion’s share of blame for not only prolonging it but also making it as painful as possible.

Obama has always had a bit of a vindictive streak when it comes to politics. I think it stems from his Manichaean view of America. There are the reasonable people — who agree with him. And there are the bitter clingers who disagree for irrational or extremist ideological reasons.

In his various statements over the last week, he’s insisted that opponents of Obamacare are “ideologues” on an “ideological crusade.” Meanwhile, he cast himself as just a reasonable guy interested in solving America’s problems. I have no issue with him calling Republican opponents “ideologues” — they are — but since when is Obama not an ideologue?

The argument about Obamacare is objectively and irrefutably ideological on both sides — state-provided health care has been an ideological brass ring for the Left for well over a century. But much of the press takes its cues from Democrats and sees this fight — and most other political fights — as a contest pitting the forces of moderation, decency, and rationality against the ranks of the ideologically brainwashed.

What’s unusual is the way Obama sees the government as a tool for his ideological agenda. During the fight over the sequester, Obama ordered the government to make the 2 percent budget cut as painful and scary as possible.

[…]

[Return to headlines]
 

US Banks Stuffing ATMs With 20-30% More Cash in Case of Panicked Withdrawals

Even as the fearmongering over the debt ceiling hits proportions not seen since 2011 (when it was the precipitous drop in the market that catalyzed a resolution in the final minutes, and when four consecutive 400 point up and down DJIA days cemented the deal — a scenario that may be repeated again), some banks are taking things more seriously, and being well-aware that when it comes to banks, any initial panic merely perpetuates more panic, have taken some radical steps.

The FT reports that “two of the country’s 10 biggest banks said they were putting into place a “playbook” used in August 2011 when the government last came close to breaching the debt ceiling. One senior executive said his bank was delivering 20-30 per cent more cash than usual in case panicked customers tried to withdraw funds en masse. Banks are also holding daily emergency meetings to discuss other steps, including possible free overdrafts for customers reliant on social security payments from the government…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“Revolution Beyond Borders” Comes to America

We are faced with a Marxist in the White House who is determined to crush the opposition. Can the Republican Party hold up under the pressure?

The famous GOP strategist Karl Rove, who lost $300 million betting on a Mitt Romney victory in 2012, says it appears that President Obama is on an “ideological crusade” against the Republican Party. Congratulations to Rove for recognizing the obvious. But where does Obama’s ideology come from? This is where Karl Rove, most Republicans, and even many in the conservative media fear to tread.

Professor Paul Kengor has the question: Has Obama ever been influenced by Marxist ideology? The answer in the affirmative helps explain why Obama is so determined to crush the political opposition and take complete control over the budget process in Washington, D.C.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ben Carson: IRS Audits Threaten Freedom of Speech

IRS audits are threatening Americans’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech, prospective presidential candidate Ben Carson claims.

Carson, the former head of neuroseurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, made his remarks after revealing he had received his first audit after his highly publicized criticism of government policies in front ot President Barack Obama.

Carson appeared on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” and told the host that whether his remarks prompted the audit or not, “the fundamental issue here is that the freedom of our citizens is being threatened.”

Carson, who is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, went on to say he thought the issue is a “much more serious thing than scandals such as Watergate, Iran-Contra, or Benghazigate.”

“Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, is one of the major principles of our country,” he pointed out.

According to the Washington Times, Carson said the IRS started with a look at his real estate holdings and then the inquiry morphed into a full-blown audit.

When asked if he thought the IRS audit was prompted by his anti-Obamacare remarks earlier in the year, Carson told the Washington Times, “I guess it could be a coincidence, but I never had been audited before and never really had any encounters with the IRS.”

Carson made the anti-Obamacare comments in February at a National Prayer Breakfast, where Obama was present. Carson revealed the news about his audit at an event in Alabama Monday night.

The February speech, in which he calmly laid out his policy critiques, became a YouTube sensation.

Carson wouldn’t be the first to be singled out by the IRS for taking a political stance. Last summer, the agency found itself in the hot seat for targeting conservative groups. Protests were held across the country, President Obama fired IRS Commissioner Steve Miller, and the FBI launched a full investigation into the tax-collection agency.

[Return to headlines]
 

Border Patrol Loaning Predator Drones to Military, State, And Local Police

Think state and local law enforcement aren’t watching you with high-tech federally-owned drones? Think again.

In a new post, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports that Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, released an updated list of times the agency has flown its Predator drones on behalf of other agencies — 500 flights in total over a three-year period.

Some of the more interesting revelations contained in the report — obtained by EFF as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit — include the fact that CBP drones flew more than 100 missions on behalf of the Department of Justice.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Cleaning Reveals Long-Lost Napoleon Painting From 1813

A long-lost portrait of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte has been discovered in New York after a cleaning revealed that it was a genuine 1813 work by Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, and not a copy as previously thought.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Congress Gives Standing Ovation to DC Cops for Executing Unarmed Mother

A video shows members of Congress giving a standing ovation to Capitol police for executing an unarmed mother with a baby who was brutally gunned down after driving erratically at a checkpoint near the White House…

Essentially, lawmakers were expressing gratitude for the cops protecting them from the deadly threat posed by 34-year-old Connecticut resident Miriam Carey, a dental hygienist who the media is now trying to demonize as mentally unstable yet whose boss Dr. Brian Evans said was a “happy” and “stable” individual. Friends described her as “friendly and dedicated.” Her former boss Dr Steven Oken said she was “always happy,” while neighbors said Carey was “a nice young lady, stable.”

As the mainstream media portrayed the incident as some kind of dramatic gun battle and car chase involving a deadly terrorist who had attempted to attack the White House, the truth began to emerge. Carey’s worst crime appears to have been driving erratically and freaking out at a checkpoint when police aimed guns at her head.

Contrary to initial media reports that Carey had somehow tried to breach sensitive White House property, the checkpoint was a temporary “outer perimeter” fence, making it quite possible that Carey was confused and frightened as to why she was being stopped in the first place. The temporary checkpoint may have been part of a drill that was running simultaneously.

Perhaps cognizant of the fact that cops routinely shoot unarmed innocent people for no reason whatsoever, Carey panicked and tried to escape.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

D.C. Cops Running Drill on Same Day as Capitol Shooting

A joint training exercise ending today, in addition to barricades and checkpoints placed at the White House, may have played a role in the horrific police execution of a woman today at the nation’s capitol. Capital Shield 14 trained first responders to “perfect their skills”.

According to a report featured on Army.mil, this is the last day federal, state, local and municipal agencies will be testing “interagency operability during a crisis impacting the District of Columbia,” as part of a joint exercise known as Capital Shield 14.

“Capital Shield 2014 is a joint training exercise in the National Capital Region, or NCR, that runs from Sept. 30 thru Oct. 3, and is hosted by the Joint Force Headquarters — National Capital Region, the army’s report says. The NCR includes Washington, D.C.’s metropolitan area.

The drill also “trains and prepares the Department of Defense to provide defense support to civil authorities and employ appropriate force protection measures as requested,” force protection measures necessary to protect the homeland like those employed today in the brutal shooting of the 34-year-old dental hygienist.

The ongoing drill might be one reason first responders were in a heightened state of alert when they shot the panicked mother at least 12 times, who was likely just lost in a maze of government shutdown and joint training exercise barricades and checkpoints.

According to the Washington Post, the woman ran into a security checkpoint at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The driver went about 20 yards, B.J. Campbell said, before rapidly turning the car around at the concrete security barriers.

The fact the woman, reportedly Miriam Carey from Stamford, Conn., was not armed didn’t stop media from reporting there were “shots exchanged” at the Capitol, nor did it stop officers from responding with lethal force, nor did it stop D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier from saying the officers “acted heroically.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Gov. Walker Ignores Washington Order to Close Parks

Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker has decided not follow Washington’s order to close several state parks that receive federal funding during the shutdown.

State officials say Wisconsin provides more than half of the parks’ funding, so they can be kept open with state money, The Hill reports.

The federal government allotted Wisconsin $701,000 for its state parks in fiscal 2013, which ended Sept. 30.

The state also has opted to disobey a Fish and Wildlife Service order to forbid hunting and fishing on federal lands. State officials said hunting can continue in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, according to The Hill.

Walker instructed his cabinet to “streamline things and make sure services are available,” Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp told The Hill.

“It was his direction that let me pursue this further to find out what rights do we have from the state’s perspective regarding contract language and long-standing agreements, and is there something that we’re legally grounded to do,” Stepp said.

[Return to headlines]
 

Liberal New Republic Suggests Obama Use Military Against Tea Party

On Tuesday, the liberal New Republic published an article that was a not-so-subtle suggestion that Barack Obama use military force against the Tea Party in the same manner Boris Yeltsin used it against hardliners in his government nearly 20 years ago.

“What is a president in a presidential constitutional republic to do when faced with an intransigent, bull-headed faction among his people’s representatives?” Julia Ioffe wrote.

She then gave a brief synopsis of the events that took place, saying Yeltsin faced a situation similar to what Obama now faces.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Medical Insanity: Prozac Prescriptions Rise Sharply in Family Pets

(NaturalNews) The culture of prescription drug addiction in America seems to be spreading to the pet population, as an increasing number of pet owners opt to medicate their furry family members into behavioral compliance with mind-altering mood medications like Prozac. A recent report by MyFoxNY.com explains that more pet owners are choosing to dope up their pets with calming meds in order to address behavioral issues rather than simply spend more time exercising and playing with them, which is what they really need.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Money Tap Still Flowing for Members of Congress

The government shutdown has placed thousands of federal workers on unpaid leave, but money is flowing to one group: Congress.

That’s right, despite causing the shutdown in the first place, members of the House and Senate are still drawing their paychecks — and some are even going ahead with scheduled fundraisers, building up their political war chests in hopes of holding on to their jobs after midterm elections next year.

“It looks terrible to be taking care of your campaign while you’ve got the government shut down,” said Bill Allison, editorial director for the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that tracks government transparency. “The idea that you’d be having a swank fundraiser, rubbing elbows with lobbyists and raising campaign money can really just be a terrible thing for Congress.”

But that hasn’t stopped several lawmakers from holding events, according to a Sunlight Foundation survey.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ObamaCare Subjects Entire Nation to Ransom Demands of Coercive Government

You’ve probably noticed I’m not covering pure politics anymore here on Natural News, but I am covering Obamacare and health issues quite intensely. And when it comes to Obamacare, you can’t separate the insane politics from the Affordable Care Act policies, so I’ll give you an advance warning that this article delves into some hard-hitting issues of what I believe is really wrong with America today.

For starters, the rhetoric over Obamacare and the government shutdown has reached a point of insanity. Obama himself has begun using “gun to the head” rhetoric, invoking highly-inappropriate violent imagery and trying to cast it upon his political enemies. Furthermore, with Obama’s approval, White House spokespeople have also begun characterizing Republicans as “terrorists, kidnappers and arsonists” for their taking a stand against Obamacare. Even the more mild characterizations depict Republicans as “holding the nation ransom” while behaving like “suicide bombers” for daring the question the sanity of government gone insane.

Click here to read 11 more violent metaphors currently being invoked by liberals against the GOP.

I’m no water-bearer for the Republican party, as you well know, but this poisonous rhetoric from a failed, desperate administration demands to be honestly answered. If we’re going to invoke these metaphors, after all, let’s do it accurately. Because if you get right down to it, Obamacare subjects the entire nation to the ransom demands of a criminal, coercive regime that seems more rooted in Soviet-style communism than American freedom.

[…]

Metaphors that make sense: the Obama administration is a mafia

What’s emerging right now in the actions and rhetoric of the White House is that there is no difference whatsoever between the philosophy of the Obama administration and the philosophy of a criminal mafia. Both the mafia and the Obama administration:

  • Use fear and intimidation to force people into surrendering their money.
  • Threaten the use of force to coerce you into capitulating to their demands.
  • Lie to the media and the public about their true intentions.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obamacare’s Failure to Launch

Despite repeated warnings, highlighted by Democrat Sen. Max Baucus’s (D-MT) prediction last April of “a huge train wreck coming down” if ObamaCare wasn’t implemented correctly, that train wreck is exactly what has come to pass. Furthermore, there are already signs that the unpopular law is becoming more unpopular in the process.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Reps. Rangel and Jackson Exploit Cop Shooting to Criticize Shut Down

Democrats are so desperate to keep the tax and spend carnival rolling they’ll even exploit the shooting of a reportedly mentally ill woman by D.C. cops earlier today…

Rangel told Politicker his “first thought” following the shooting was that “frustration” with House Republicans “ignited somebody already imbalanced and caused this type of thing.” Rangel arrived at this conclusion despite a lack of details about the incident.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Bunker-Barry Mentality of Today’s White House

The White House is under siege, and has been so since the 2013 sequestration. America’s top tourist draw continues to be held under siege by a malcontent community organizer who claimed the presidency in 2008, and his chip-on-the-shoulder wife.

Under sequestration even school children cannot get into their White House. You can no longer get into the White House unless you’re a Hollywood star, a favored world leader, a union boss or activist, unless allowed entry at the express invitation of a covetous Barack and Michelle Obama.

As of yesterday you can’t panic when you come upon a new White House Security random checkpoint — without suffering the loss of your life.

Internet video clearly shows that Miriam Carey, a 34-year-old dental hygienist from Connecticut with her 1-year-old daughter, Erica a passenger in the car, panicked as she drove her Infiniti luxury sedan near the hallowed vicinity of the 2013 White House.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The End of Family Privacy Rights

Education has been used to set up data trafficking of personally identifiable information in the United States. Our rights are being trampled on. Your children and grandchildren will be at an incredible risk in the future as federal legislation is being prepared that changes how we teach our children. These are the changes:

There will be no more grades like A,B,C,D or F; Curriculum will not be based on academics; Dispositions and values will be tested and remediated; Competition will be eliminated; Grade levels will be eliminated; The school year will no longer be based on 180 days; Your locally elected school board will become obsolete.

Your child must meet government standards which include changing your child’s values toward socialistic values. Data is given to large foundations and corporations for free so they can develop testing, curriculum, and software to change your child’s values toward government approved attitudes and values. This is a gross violation of your and your child’s individual freedom.

Most people, including our legislators, do not know that FERPA, Family Education Rights in Privacy Act, has changed. Your family privacy is NO LONGER protected. Your children’s personally identifiable information is being given out for FREE to large corporations to research how to “change your children into global citizens.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Arms: Countries Bail Out of Fighter Deals

De Standaard, De Volkskrant, Il Sole-24 Ore

Several European nations, which had previously committed to renew their fleets of fighter planes by purchasing new US-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), may no longer have the necessary funding, with some already cutting back.

In Belgium, for example, “The purchase of F-35s is stumbling over strong resistance from the Socialists,” says a front page article in daily De Standaard. Flemish-speaking Socialists from the SP.A and French-speakers from the Socialist Party (PS) are opposed to a proposal by Defence Minister Pieter De Crem (a Flemish Christian Democrat) to purchase the F-35s. They argue that, in times of crisis, the purchase of planes costing €62m each, “is crazy”, the paper reports. Critics also point out that the aircraft’s technological capacities will be outdated within 10 years.

The feeling is the same in the Netherlands. The government’s early July decision to buy 37 F-35s (down from 85 initially) and confirmed on September 17, is now at the centre of a battle between Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the parliamentary base of his labour coalition partner the PvdA. Backbenchers from the PvdA are accusing the government and the PvdA leadership of putting them before a “fait accompli”, writes Dutch daily De Volkskrant, which adds that the row is “still not over yet”.

The Dutch decision may be “good news for Lockheed Martin, but it is a lot less good for Italy and its ambition to play a lead European role in history’s costliest weapons programme,” writes Il Sole 24 Ore. F35s destined for Italy and Netherlands will be assembled in a 700m purpose-built factory in Cameri, but the initial order of 216 planes for the two countries has now shrunk to 125 (Italy has scaled back its order from 131 to 90). The cutbacks have shaken the future of Alenia Aermacchi and other Italian firms involved, notes the economic daily, adding that in order to justify Italy’s unswerving commitment to the programme, despite its delays, rising cost and growing hostility from the public —

Another blow to the programme has come from Norway, which is considering switching its F35 training and maintenance partnership from Italy to the United Kingdom. “Short of an improbable deal with Turkey or Israel, who have previously bought F35s, Cameri risks becoming a cathedral in the desert,” warns Il Sole.

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

Belgium: Groundbreaking Ceremony of a Mosque in Belgium

Turkish EU minister Bagis attends the ceremony, points to Islamophobia in Europe

Turkish Minister of EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis attended Thursday the groundbreaking ceremony of a mosque in Anvers province of Belgium. Turkish minister pointed to the Islamophobia in Europe and demanded more efforts to extend tolerance across the world. “We are the descendants of ancestors who lived in tolerance,” he stressed adding that he expected respect to Islam from everyone. Named ‘Mehmet Akif’, the mosque, with its capacity of 1,800 people, will include conference halls as well as study rooms and a dining hall.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

French Woman Indicted on Terrorist Cell Links

PARIS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — A French young woman suspected of having ties with a regional branch of al Qaeda based in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was indicted for conspiracy to prepare terrorist acts, a local media reported Friday. Citing its own source, the local broadcaster Europe 1, said the 21-year-old woman told police that she sent e-mails to AQAP offering it targets of attack but she did not receive any answer.Th e young woman was arrested on Tuesday morning at her apartment in Belleville district of northern Paris. She was also arrested by the Central Directorate of Homeland Intelligence or DCRI in February as part of an investigation over a Djihadist cell which recruited insurgents to go to Indonesia…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ‘Total’ Tax Dodger Nabbed Driving Ferrari

No declared income ‘for years’

(ANSA) — Vercelli, October 4 — Italian police stopped a Ligurian businessman who had not declared his income for years at the wheel of a Ferrari on Friday.

The man had not signed any hire documents for the Ferrari F430 Scuderia supercar, worth more than 120,000 euros, police said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss Vote Reject Abolishing Military Service

(AGI) Geneva, Sept. 22 — The Swiss voted against abolishing compulsory military service in a referendum promoted by the anti-military movement GSSE. According to gfs.bern, 73 percent of voters rejected the proposal.

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

UK: GCHQ Faces Legal Challenge in European Court Over Online Privacy

Campaigners accuse British spy agency of breaching privacy of millions in UK and Europe via online surveillance

The UK spy agency GCHQ is facing a legal challenge in the European courts over claims that its mass online surveillance programmes have breached the privacy of tens of millions of people across the UK and Europe.

Three campaign groups — Big Brother Watch, the Open Rights Group and English PEN — together with the German internet activist Constanze Kurz, have filed papers at the European court of human rights alleging that the collection of vast amounts of data, including the content of emails and social media messages, by Britain’s spy agencies is illegal.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: The Tories Are Failing to Connect With Muslim Voters. This is Not Good Enough

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps deserves credit for a smoothly run conference in Manchester this week. There were no mistakes and the debates in the main hall were well choreographed. Happiest of all it seemed to me that there were fewer lobbyists and more ordinary members. And I noticed an increasing number of young members, which is very welcome.

But I want to draw attention to one, unfortunate episode which seemed to me to symbolise a much bigger problem. On the Monday night I chaired a fringe meeting arranged by Engage, an organisation which tries to increase Muslim participation in British politics and society. The main presentation was made by its impressive chairman of trustees Sufyan Ismail, a successful businessman. He made a thought-provoking presentation, and I would summarise his argument as follows.

First, British Muslims are naturally Conservative: hard-working, family minded, very commercial people who instinctively want to stand on their own two feet. Second, very few Muslims vote Conservative. This is mainly for historic reasons connected to Labour attitudes towards immigration in the post-war era. Third, for younger Muslims that period is ancient history, and many of them are entrepreneurs and professionals and now natural Tory targets. Fourth, the Tory party makes little or no effort to win them over.

Mr Ismail then produced a devastating set of statistics which showed how important Muslims could be come the general election. He claimed that there are 77 marginal seats where Muslim voters could tilt the balance. The clearest case in point, said Mr Ismail, was his local seat of Bolton West, which has a 14,000 strong Muslim vote and the Tory candidate, Susan Williams, lost by only 92 votes in 2010 after a recount. This generated an interesting discussion between an intelligent audience and the other panellists, Elizabeth Oldfield of Theos and the Tory MEP Sajjad Karim…

[Reader comment by myechoagain on 4 October 2013 at about 1630 hrs.]

Who cares what you write about or what you think. We never voted for mass immigration, your lot imposed it on us. At least in the USA they have a constitution which reads… We the people.

Ignore us at your peril. There’s a start.

[Reader comment by Martin Adamson on 4 October 2013 at 0637 hrs.]

“Second, very few Muslims vote Conservative. This is mainly for historic reasons connected to Labour attitudes towards immigration in the post-war era.”

No Muslim immigrants in any country in the First World vote for parties of the right. In the last French elections 90% of Muslims voted Socialist. Same story in the USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Spain and Italy. That’s the whole reason they are here. All over the advanced world, leftists have supported Muslim immigration because they know that Muslims are a far more reliable and easily defraudable block vote than their former bedrock support, the indigenous working class. Any Tory that does not realise this basic fact about the contemporary world is too stupid to be entrusted with a pair of scissors, let alone a career in politics.

Furthermore, if the Tories wanted to win the Muslim vote, they would have to advance policies Muslims like, policies which would be complete anathema to anyone with the faintest degree of respect for western style liberal democracy.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Libya: 100 Scholarship Winners on Their Way to Italy

Sponsored by Italian government; in several universities

(ANSAmed) — ROME, SEPTEMBER 26 — One hundred Libyan students have won bursaries provided by the Italian government to study in Italy during the 2013/2014 academic year. The students will be arriving in Italy between October and November. Along with the head of the Libyan Graduates Association in Italy, Salah Zarough, and the association’s board of directors, they have met with Italian ambassador to Libya, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi. In addition to the University for Foreigners in Perugia, which will enable about fifty Libyan students to follow course in Didactics of Italian as a Foreign Language and Italian Language and Culture, the universities include: the University of Bologna, Florence, Siena, Ancona, Camerino, Turin, Rome and Milan. In addition to Italian language studies, scholarship winners will be studying engineering, tourism marketing archaeology and political science. Thanks to support from the University of Perugia, notes the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, 13 Libyan scholarship winners with previous teaching experience will be able to attend a special, 12-month course in Italian didactics.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Brussels Wants Visa Negotiations With Morocco

to facilitate temporary stays for studentes, businessmen

(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 04 — The EU Commission proposed to the Council to open negotiations between the EU and Morocco on an agreement to facilitate the procedures for issuing short-stay visas.

“This is a very concrete and important step in the cooperation between the EU and Morocco” said Cecilia Malmstrom, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs. “Easier access to visas will reinforce the social and economic development and mutual understanding between our countries and people” she added.

According to Malmstrom “recent decisions to establish a new migration and asylum policy in Morocco are yet another positive signal for our cooperation”, and the EU is “ready” to support the effective implementation of the recommendations by the National Human Rights Council in Morocco, to transform Morocco’s policies and practices on migration and asylum “to be fairer and in full respect of human rights”. The EU-Morocco Mobility Partnership, was signed in June this year and its implementation is currently on-going. It is in this context that the EU Commission now proposes to open negotiations for facilitating the issuing of short-stay visas to Moroccan citizens.

Some of the proposed facilitations are general for all applicants and other will benefit certain groups of people, particularly students, researchers and business professionals.

The EU Council must now discuss the Commission proposal. Once the mandate is adopted by the Council, the Commission will be able to start negotiations with the Moroccan authorities.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Clashes in Egypt Amid Anti-Military, Pro-Morsi Protests

Clashes have erupted in the Egyptian capital Cairo between thousands of supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi, the country’s ousted president, after Friday prayers.

Riot police fired tear gas and locked down Cairo’s Tahrir Square using tanks and barbed wire, as downtown shopkeepers pulled their shutters down.

One Egyptian army vehicle was seen firing live rounds at supporters from Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party close to Tahrir Square, Reuters reported. The agency also cited a medical source as saying that one Brotherhood supporter died from a gunshot wound. Clashes also broke out between those on opposite sides of the political divide in several other districts of the city.

Hundreds of Morsi supporters chanted slogans against the military and army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who removed him from power, when they clashed with opponents in Maniyal and Shubra. Both sides reportedly fired birdshot at each other. In Nasr City, home to Rabaa al-Adawiya square — one of two sites of an August 14 crackdown by security forces on Morsi backers in the capital — thousands more Morsi supporters gathered. Some carried banners with pictures of those killed in the crackdown, chanting “Revenge! Revenge!” Fighting also erupted in Egypt’s second city Alexandria and two Nile Delta cities. Mr Morsi was ousted on July 3 by the military following mass protests against his year-long rule. He has been held at an unknown location since then…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Calls on Ashton to Work for Correcting U.S., European Stances Towards Egypt

Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb has rejected any foreign Interference for restricting the will of the people. He said solving the Egyptian crisis emanates from the national will calling on the EU and US to correct their stances towards the Egyptian people. The Grand Imam said al-Azhar is a religious and educational institution, adding its stance emanates from its national constants. He said the stance of al-Azhar towards the June 30 Revolution was based on these constants.

This came during the Grand Imam meeting with EU Foreign Policy and Security Commissioner Catherine Ashton and her accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, Ashton said she understands the will of the Egyptian people, adding she has never described what took place in Egypt as a coup.

The Grand Imam said he appreciates the role played by Ashton to explain the situation in Egypt to the EU, noting that the EU now s has a better grasp of developments in Egypt.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Moroccan Teens Arrested for Exchanging a Kiss on Facebook

(AGI) Rabat, Oct 4 — Two teens of 14 and 15 years of age were arrested in the north-eastern city of Nador, after pictures of the young man and woman exchanging kisses were posted on Facebook. Nador Prosecutor’s Office charged them with attacking moral values. The Organization for Human Rights and Public Liberties, which spotted their photos and reported them to the authorities, said that their uncontrollable attitudes could become dangerous problems in the future.

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

About 400 Russian Mercenaries Said to be Fighting in Syria

(AGI) Moscow, Sept 20 — The deputy director of the Russian secret services, Serghei Smirnov, has told the Interfax new agency that between 300 and 400 Russian mercenaries are fighting in Syria. “The recruitment of mercenaries is a reality,” he reportedly said, warning that “They will certainly come back and that is a great danger.” .

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

Caroline Glick: America and the Good Psychopaths

In his speech on Tuesday before the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to get the Americans to stop their collective swooning at the sight of an Iranian president who smiled in their general direction.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the premier warned, “I wish I could believe [President Hassan] Rouhani, but I don’t because facts are stubborn things. And the facts are that Iran’s savage record flatly contradicts Rouhani’s soothing rhetoric.”

He might have saved his breath. The Americans weren’t interested.

Two days after Netanyahu’s speech, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel issued a rejoinder to Netanyahu. “I have never believed that foreign policy is a zero-sum game,” Hagel said.

Well, maybe he hasn’t. But the Iranians have…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

The Army of Islam, Saudi Arabia’s Greatest Export

An expert on international politics and blogger analyzes the new steps of the Syrian opposition increasingly divided in itself, and becoming more and more fundamentalist. The West tries to give a more “moderate” image of it. But its project is similar to that of al Qaeda.

San Diego (AsiaNews/Ich) — Recent developments regarding “rebel” groups inside Syria have shed further light on the ideologies and political aims of the militants waging war upon the Syrian state.

On the 24th September, under the moniker of the “Islamist Alliance”, 11 of the largest and most recognisable rebel brigades — a mix of supposed “moderate Islamists” such as Liwa al-Tawhid, the largest “FSA”-branded brigade in Aleppo, alongside more hardline Salafi/Jihadi brigades such as Ahrar al-Sham, and Al Qaeda ideologues Jahbat al-Nusra — released a joint statement denouncing the western-backed expatriates of the “National Coalition” (NC), along with its equally impotent military arm, the “Supreme Military Council” (SMC). Following this statement of intent, on the 29th of September, up to 50 rebel groups operating primarily in the area of Damascus merged to form Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam). The Damascus merger also included a wide-ranging demographic of militant groups, from the supposed “moderate”, to overt Salafist hardliners. Jaish al-Islam is dominated by Liwa al-Islam, a large rebel group formerly of “FSA” branding, and led by Saudi-backed Zahran Alloush. Liwa al-Islam were also a signatory to the aforementioned statement of denunciation toward the western-backed political opposition.

These announcements have effectively put-to-bed the western propagated myth that was the “Free Syrian Army”. Militant groups the west ostensibly touted as “secular moderates” yearning for “freedom and democracy” from a tyrannical regime; have now openly declared their Salafi/Jihadi fundamentalist ideology, with the ultimate aim of creating a Syrian state ruled by Islamic law.

Already, these announcements are being portrayed as an attempt by Saudi Arabia — yes, ever tolerant and inclusive Wahhabi-preaching Saudi Arabia — and other leading Salafi factions supporting the insurgency to steer “vetted, or moderate Salafi” rebels away from the Al Qaeda aligned groups; particularly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), who are now portrayed as simply “foreign jihadists” and have become the leading fall-guy in Western and Gulf media for every atrocity committed by the rebels. This false perception has been built as a result of a Western and Gulf initiated public relations campaign to “moderate” the image of the Salafi/Jihadi fundamentalists (as well as those more inclined to basic criminality, killing, and destruction) who may be more willing to meet the requirements of their Gulf donors and the United States. Yet, contrary to this divisive narrative, the same “moderate” Salafi’s who are now supposedly being encouraged to disassociate from their Al Qaeda affiliates have happily fought alongside — more often than not as a junior partner — the West’s supposed “number one enemy” (AQ) since the insurgency began in 2011.

In further contrast to the aforementioned “Awakening” narrative, Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN) — the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda ideologues — are still very much in the mix. Although various pundits and analysts have made efforts to publicise tensions between ISIS and JaN, the two groups still share a similar Jihadist ideology and cooperate in key areas, particularly on paramilitary operations; as do the hardline Salafi groups such as Ahrar Al-Sham, who in turn fully cooperate with the western friendly “moderates” forming the backbone of Jaish al-Islam. In the recent ISIS takeover of the “FSA” held town of Azaz from the western-friendly Northern Storm brigade (of John McCain fame), Liwa al-Tahwid quickly offered to broker a ceasefire and acted as interlocutor between the two warring factions. ISIS in turn, rejected any “FSA” authority and have since taken control of the town — not that Liwa al-Tahwid could have stopped them anyway.

These events directly contradict the notion that the new “Army of Islam” is in any rush to disassociate, let alone be able to wage war upon the ISIS or its extremist affiliates. Moreover, the leader of Jaish al-Islam, Zahran Alloush, publicly disowned his own “captain” after he warned ISIS there would be open conflict if they “continued this chaos”. The leader claimed that the comments were “dangerous” and designed to “cause strife between muslims”.

Furthermore, in a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Alloush, free of his “moderate” chains, lets loose on his ideals for a future Syria, in which he aspires to resurrect the Umayyad Empire (2nd Islamic Caliphate with Syria at its core and Damascus as its capital), and “cleanse” Damascus of “Majous” (pejorative Arabic term for Iranians) “Rafideh” (Shi’ites) and “Nusayris” (Alawites).

Rebel leaders openly espousing sectarian rhetoric has been a running theme throughout the conflict; in line with this trend, Alloush’s statement can be taken as a clear indication that his new “Jaish al-Islam” is not in the least bit concerned with abiding by a western-friendly moderate image. Alloush, like the majority of rebel leaders, is a fundamentalist Salafist, who looks on at the minorities of Syria as kafir (unbelievers) who must submit to his interpretation of Salafi Islam or be killed.

The western/Gulf media narrative surrounding this new “Islamist Alliance” is a re-hash of failed PR campaigns of the past, which attempted to mitigate the inherent fundamentalist ideologies of the insurgents waging war upon the Syrian state. In stark contrast to the Caliphate-inspired visions held by the majority of rebel leaders, Syria has been a pluralistic secular society for decades, the majority of its Sunni muslim population are conservative and have coexisted peacefully alongside the many other religions and ethnic minorities that make up Syria’s diverse society, history, and culture. The people of Syria do not aspire to a Saudi sponsored Salafi/Wahhabi leadership or doctrine of law. Contrary to the popular narrative emerging in western and Gulf media that this new force will represent an indigenous “moderate Islamist” coalition capable of taking on the foreign elements and Al Qaeda, the majority of Syrians will be repelled by the sectarian language and ideologies of Zohran Alloush; his groups overt affiliations and pandering to Al Qaeda ideologues; and his “Army of Islam”.

Considering the above context, the narrative of home-grown Salafis somehow being more amenable to the Syrian population than their ISIS/JaN fundamentalist colleagues becomes even less tenable. Alloush’s formation of Jaish al-Islam, alongside the “Islamist Alliance” denunciation of the western-backed political opposition, show a marked shift of the insurgency further toward the Al Qaeda ideologues fighting the Syrian regime, not further away from them.

Phil Greaves blogs at

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/The-Army-of-Islam,-Saudi-Arabia’s-Greatest-Export-29193.html

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

The Mythistory of the Crusades

by Ibn Warraq

These failures are unbearable for the Arabs whose only explanation for them is the one that they have been taught over the last seventy five years by intellectuals and frauds like Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, and Edward Said, namely, Western imperialism and colonialism, seen as a continuation of the Crusades.

Victimhood is exploited to the maximum to blackmail Western nations into giving economic aid, and eases the guilty consciences of the Arabs themselves: it is not their fault that they are such abject failures- it is all the fault of the Crusaders. It is the only way they are able to live with themselves and their moral, intellectual, and economic defeats. At the same time, invoking the Crusades reminds the Arabs of their past triumphs when they succeeded in routing the Crusades at, for example, the Battle of Hattin (1187).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Man Blows Himself Up on Ukrainian-Russian Border

KIEV, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — An unidentified man killed himself and seriously wounded two border guards when he blew himself up at the Ukrainian part of the border with Russia, authorities said Friday. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the incident occurred shortly after midnight at the Bachevsk checkpoint in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

India: Pogrom of Orissa, 7 Innocent Christians Convicted With False Accusations

The Court will issue the ruling on 3 October. The convicted Christians are held responsible for the murder of Hindu leader Laxamananda Saraswati, who unleashed the violent anti-Christian persecutions of 2008. The Maoists have claimed responsibility for the murder from the beginning, but the state authorities have always ignored the admission of liability.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) — An Orissa court condemned yesterday seven innocent Christians for the murder of Hindu leader Laxamananda Saraswati, who in 2008 triggered violent anti-Christian pogroms in the state. On October 3 the judges shall will pronounce the sentence. These men have been in jail for five years without any evidence against them and despite the Maoists having always claimed responsibility for the murder.

For Sajan George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the court’s decision is “a travesty of justice”. “It is shameful -he stressed to AsiaNews — that innocent fathers of families have been locked in jail for almost five years and subjected to trials for a crime they did not commit.”

Accused of having shot Laxamananda Saraswati, leader of the Hindu extremist movement Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the seven were arrested and tried by the Fast Track Courts, special tribunals established after the pogroms to speed up processes. However, these courts have used every procedural loophole to defer the hearings, to deliver the case to a regular Session Court, which has established their guilt.

According to government estimates, during the pogroms over 600 villages were looted; 5,600 houses burglarized and burned; 54,000 people lost their homes; 38 people were killed (but according to the Church, the victims are at least 100, -ed.). Almost 300 churches have been destroyed, as well as numerous convents, schools, hostels and care institutions. Surviving Christians still live in difficult conditions: peasants, farmers, artisans and workers have lost their jobs and suffer from the boycott of the Hindu majority. Many live on less than a dollar a day. At least 10,000 Christians live in real ghettos.

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

Norway Cuts Afghan Aid in Protest at Graft

Norway will cut its aid to Afghanistan in 2014 due to a lack of progress on women’s rights and efforts to combat corruption, a senior Norwegian official said on Friday. Norway’s aid will be slashed from an annual 750 million kroner (92.3 million euros, $126 million) to 700 million kroner, a reduction of about seven percent.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Anger as Apple Bans China Anti-Firewall App

The developers of the free app, OpenDoor, wrote to protest against the move. So far Apple has not released official statementsr. Cupertino had taken away one of the tools which internet users in China relied on to circumvent the country’s great firewall. Internet experts: Apple has taken their willingness to self-censor to a “whole new level”.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Chinese web users have criticized Apple after the company pulled an iPhone app which enabled users to bypass firewalls and access restricted internet sites. The developers of the free app, OpenDoor, reportedly wrote to Apple protesting against the move. China blocks users from accessing many websites and strictly polices internet access and censors web users on sensitive issues as Tiananmen, Tibet and Falun Gong followers.

So far Apple has not released official statements on the matter. The American based multinational corporation asks iPhone app developers to ensure that their apps “comply with all legal requirements in any location where they are made available to users”.

Chinese bloggers and citizen journalists told that Cupertino had taken away one of the tools which internet users in China relied on to circumvent the country’s great firewall. Many internet users all over the world were disappointed by the move by Apple.

OpenDoor is a browser app that reroutes its user’s traffic through its own servers to circumvent any blocks imposed by the user’s Internet Service Provider or the Great Firewall (GFW). Judging by its Facebook page, the tool is popular wherever the Internet is restricted: users from Iran to Pakistan sing its praises. Lead developer, who wishes to remain anonymous, states that the tool has been downloaded about 800,000 times, and that approximately a third of the downloads stem from China.

Apple removed the app because it “includes content that is illegal in China”. “It is unclear to us how a simple browser app could include illegal contents, since it’s the user’s own choosing of what websites to view,” the creator said. “Using the same definition, wouldn’t all browser apps, including Apple’s own Safari and Google’s Chrome, include illegal contents?”

Internet experts say that Apple has taken their willingness to self-censor to a “whole new level”. It is not the first time that Apple has removed apps from its China store for content that it deemed “illegal in China,” such as a news app by NTD (New Tang Dynasty), a U.S.-based television broadcaster founded by Falun Gong members, and an app that displayed banned books on Tibet by Wang Lixiong. Apple is not the only Western company in China that has struggled to balance its business interests and corporate responsibility. In 2006 and 2007, Yahoo faced congressional hearings in the US and a storm of criticism after it released user information that landed political dissidents in jail.

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

Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, Who Ousted U.S. From Vietnam, Is Dead

Vo Nguyen Giap, the relentless and charismatic North Vietnamese general whose battlefield victory at Dien Bien Phu drove France out of Vietnam and whose tenacious resistance to the United States in a long and costly war there eventually sapped America’s political will to fight, died on Friday in Hanoi. He was believed to be 102.

The death was reported by several Vietnamese news organizations, including the respected Tuoi Tre Online, which said he died in an army hospital.

General Giap was among the last survivors of a generation of Communist revolutionaries who in the postwar decades freed Vietnam of colonial rule and fought a superpower to a stalemate. In his later years, he was a living reminder of a war that was mostly old history to the Vietnamese, many of whom were born after it had ended.

[Return to headlines]
 

The Hornets of Your Nightmares: Swarms of Massive Insects Kill More Than 40 and Injure 1,600 in China (Video, Photos)

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

Swarms of deadly hornets have killed more than 40 people and injured more than 1,600 in northern China.

At least 37 patients are in a critical or serious condition in hospitals, according to Shaanxi provincial government.

Victims of the attack have been left with deep, dark craters in their skin the size of bullet wounds.

[Comment: These hornets are HUGE. Check out the photos — the sting injuries are shocking. Via pottery shipments from China these hornets are now in France and are decimating bee populations.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kenya: Riots in Kenya After Cleric Slain

Unknown Gunmen Shoot Muslim Cleric, Protests Ensue

NAIROBI—Rioters in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa clashed Friday with police after a Muslim cleric was murdered by unknown gunmen, exposing another flashpoint for a country already on edge from a recent terror attack at a shopping mall. The Mombasa-based cleric, Ibrahim Amar, and three other people were in a car when they were shot and killed Thursday night by gunmen in another vehicle, according to Mombasa Police Commander Robert Kitur. A fifth passenger survived the attack. Mr. Kitur said there had been no arrests made and that police weren’t linked to the shooting. “No officer was involved,” he said.

Mr. Amar’s murder was the second such killing of a prominent Muslim cleric in the past year, and comes at an unusually tense time for the country.

In September 2012, a Mombasa cleric named Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot dead while driving his minivan through Mombasa. Local police said then that they suspected that Mr. Rogo was assassinated as part of a power struggle with his al Qaeda allies. But family and followers of Mr. Rogo said they believed Kenyan police were behind the killing…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Kenya: Muslim Rioters Torch Church After Police Kill Jihadist Cleric

Rioters set fire to a church in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa Friday, in furious battles with the police sparked by the killing of a Muslim cleric, police said. Witnesses said one protester was shot and wounded, as armed paramilitary police moved towards a mosque, whose leaders have been accused of links to Somalia’s Islamist Shebab, insurgents who attacked a Nairobi shopping mall last month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Muslims Clash With Police After Kenyan Cleric Shot Dead

Youths in Mombasa set fire to church and burn tyres as they blame security forces for killing of hardliner Sheikh Ibrahim Omar

Young Muslims have set fire to a church, burned tyres and clashed with police in Kenya’s main port city of Mombasa after the killing of an Islamic cleric which his followers blamed on security forces. Sheikh Ibrahim Omar’s death ignited religious tensions in the commercial and tourism hub of east Africa’s largest economy, two weeks after Islamist militants killed at least 67 people in a raid on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall. Police said the imam was shot dead in Mombasa on Thursday night. He preached at a mosque that has in the past been linked to the Somali al-Shabaab Islamist group, which claimed responsibility for the mall attack. Omar was found dead in a car hit by more than a dozen bullets, television images showed. Youths torched a Salvation Army church and temporarily blocked the main road into the city, a witness said. Police in riot gear fired gunshots and teargas to break up the crowd…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Boko Haram Forces 15,000 Pupils Out of School in Borno — Kills Over 170 Teachers, Students

Since the beginning of 2012, at least 15,000 students have been forced out of schools in Borno State and over 70 teachers and 100 students killed or wounded following the increasing attacks on educational institutions by Boko Haram and affiliates. This was made known by Amnesty International in a report released on Thursday.

In the comprehensive report titled “‘Keep Away From Schools or We’ll Kill You’: Education Under Attack in Nigeria”, the global human rights group described the attack on educational institution as an absolute disregard for the right to life and the right to education, as well as a crime against humanity. As a result of the deadly attacks on teachers and pupils, almost all schools in Bama, Baga, Jajeri, Umarari Garnam, Mai Malari, Mungono and Gamboru were forced to close between February 2012 and June 2013, the report stated…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Children Slaughtered, Schools Under Siege

In the week that saw more than 50 students killed by gunmen in an agricultural college in Yobe State, Amnesty International publishes a new report assessing attacks on schools in northern Nigeria between 2012 and 2013. “Hundreds have been killed in these horrific attacks. Thousands of children have been forced out of schools across communities in northern Nigeria and many teachers have been forced to flee for their safety,” said Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s deputy Africa director…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Uganda Police Hunts for German Terrorist

Kampala — The Uganda police has said it is on the lookout for a terrorist of German origin who entered the country by bus on Tuesday morning from Limuru, Kenya. “Police … received information from very credible sources that a wanted terrorist of German origin, Mueller alias Ahmed Khaled, entered the country yesterday [Tuesday], the police said in a statement to the media on Wednesday. “As the Police, together with sister security agencies, hunt down this individual, we again call upon the public to take our terror alerts seriously…”‘ On Thursday management of the bus company suspected to have been used by the terrorist were questioned by police. The bus company denied aiding any acts of terrorism.

Last year the Uganda police issued a similar terror threat on Mueller alias Ahmed Khaled and another suspected terrorist only identified as Erogon. Elgon is said have been arrested in Tanzania after sneaking out of Uganda…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Friday Official Day of Mourning in Italy

The Italian government has ruled Friday an official day of mourning, after at least 100 migrants died trying to reach the coast of Sicily. The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, says Europe must take collective responsibility for Thursday’s disaster, in which a boat carrying hundreds capsized.

“We can’t leave one or two countries alone to deal with the problem. This is a European problem and I once again repeat my call to all members of the European Union, to accept responsibility for this refugee tragedy. And I do not accept at all that there are member states who say “we have no more room.” said Martin Schulz.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Alfano Says 30,000 Migrants Rescued This Year

Shelter spaces doubled to 16,000 to meet demand

(ANSA) — Rome, October 4 — More than 30,000 migrants have been rescued this year in waters off Italy, stretching the country’s ability to save and shelter new arrivals, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Friday.

Most of the newcomers arriving in boats from North Africa were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard and placed in reception shelters, he told the Lower House.

A doubling of shelter spaces to 16,000 to make room for the waves of new arrivals is very expensive, added Alfano, repeating his call for greater financial support from the rest of Europe.

Alfano spoke a day after a ship carrying as many as 500 migrants fleeing Somalia and Eritrea caught fire and capsized, claiming some 300 lives.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Kyenge and Boldrini Improving Italy, Says UN

Day of mourning for shipwreck victims shows positive change

(ANSA) — Geneva, October 4 — The influence of two women in the Italian cabinet was evident in the “big change” in attitudes that led to Friday being declared a national day of mourning for shipwreck victims, a United Nations agency said.

The government’s decision to call a national mourning day for more than 111 migrants from the Horn of Africa who drowned in a shipwreck Thursday off Italy’s coast, is a major step forward, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

This acknowledgement of the suffering of migrants and asylum seekers “marks a big and appreciated change in the attitude of the Italian authorities,” said Pillay.

Pillay also praised “the leading role…in this change,” played by Cecile Kyenge, Italy’s first black cabinet minister, and Laura Boldrini, president of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy’s Lower House.

Kyenge, who was named minister of integration in April, has endured a great deal of racist threats and attacks from other politicians because of her birth in Congo and desire to change Italy’s immigration laws.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK Refuses Group Entry to France’s Syrian Refugees

British border police on Friday ruled out group entry for some 60 Syrian asylum seekers at the French port of Calais who are trying to enter the UK. British officials said they could only examine the refugee claims on a case-by-case basis.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistan Blocks Nation’s First Gay Website

(AGI) Islamabad — Pakistan has pulled the plug on its first and only online resource for homosexuals.

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

The One-World Cult, Darwin, And Einstein

At one time, I presumed that a defining characteristic of liberals was wishful thinking. Unfortunately, it is not merely a case of liberals believing what they want to believe, as a child would do. They have been bewitched because they have opened their hearts to the seduction of pantheism and neopaganism. A vision of progress leading to a one-world utopia, combined with the idolatrous worship of nature, has captured their hearts and blinded their eyes.

Liberals have fallen under an evil enchantment, resulting in a spiritual bondage of their minds. Liberals indulge in magical thinking because they are spiritually bewitched. They hate us conservatives because we throw cold water on their delusions and call their nonsense by its right name. Liberals are as deeply in love with their enchanted dream as Gollum was in love with the enchanted ring that he called “my precious.”

The dream of a utopia of worldwide “oneness” accounts for an obsession by modernists with transnational associations. They see associations such as the United Nations and the European Union as building blocks for a world federation of states. They hope a world federation will lead to a centralized world government.

Conservatives believe in American national sovereignty and are opposed to the “one world” dreams of modernists. According to the natural law theory of the American founders, man was designed to live in nations, not in empires or international commonwealths. According to Montesquieu, national republics are more likely to provide their citizens with freedom and order and to protect their rights than are monarchies, empires, transnational commonwealths, and international associations.

[…]

The denial of the Western liberals about Hitler’s intentions is a good example of magical thinking. The present liberal insistence that Muslim jihadists pose no danger to us is likewise magical thinking. Liberals of the 50’s and 60’s similarly demonized those who warned about Communism.

The Communists were more deceitful than the blatant Nazis about their plans. However, almost every nasty thing the Communists did was predicted by J. Edgar Hoover in the 20’s. He simply read the published works of the Marxist-Leninists and believed that they meant what they said. The liberals refused to believe it, of course.

[Comment: Good article.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Interpal and Murtaza Khan

You have seen the hatred of homosexuals promoted by speakers at this Sunday’s Interpal event at the Edmonton Islamic Centre in London. Those vicious statements are part of a long record of Islamist diatribes on all sorts of issues. Terrorists are a favourite too, as shown in this post about a speaker at another recent Interpal event, Uthman Lateef. Now let’s take a closer look at the record on jihad and terrorism of Murtaza Khan.

A talk cheerily titled “Death and the Grave” sums him up well…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Who Will Win the 2013 Nobel Prizes?

For the physics prize, almost all of our respondents predicted that it will honor the discovery of the Higgs boson, announced tentatively in July 2012 and with greater confidence in March 2013.

Most of the physicists responding to our poll felt that the prize would go to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert, who independently invoked a new field—known today as the Higgs field—to explain why subatomic particles have mass. Their ideas were published within just weeks of each other.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

2 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/4/2013

  1. The Governor of Wisconsin is Scott Walker. Scott Brown was a US Senator from Massachusetts.

    • I thought, “Wait a second! I know that.”

      So it was a senior moment. I mixed up my Scotts. Thanks for the catch; I’ve fixed it.

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