Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/8/2013

The Kuwaiti director of public health has called for the detection of gays at the border to prevent them from entering the country. He proposes to use medical screening to identify them at the point of entry.

In other Kuwaiti news, several MPs in Kuwait’s parliament are calling for the death penalty for black magic. Some sharia scholars say that death is also the appropriate punishment for witchcraft and sorcery.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jolie Rouge, JP, Papa Whiskey, Steen, Takuan Seiyo, 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
» 12 Very Ominous Warnings About What a U.S. Debt Default Would Mean for the Global Economy
» How to Jack Up the Debt? Rile Seniors
» Italian Households’ Spending Power Crumbles
» US Default: Beijing and Tokyo Call on Washington to Guarantee Debt
» Will Democrats Use China Ultimatum as Excuse to Extend Borrowing Limit?
 
USA
» After Lengthy Discussion, Islamic Center Removes Application for Mosque in South St. Cloud
» CA Republican: ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban ‘Erases’ Second Amendment
» Cancer-Causing Chemical Found in Nearly 100 Common Soaps and Shampoos: Study
» Caroline Glick: Why Bother Being Jewish?
» Corrupt EPA Official Found Guilty of Money Laundering, Fraud
» Democrat Voters Confused: “I Didn’t Realize I Would be the One Who Was Going to Pay for it Personally”
» Feds Hold Seniors at Gunpoint During National Park Shutdown
» ‘Gestapo’ Tactics Meet Senior Citizens at Yellowstone
» Gov’t Shutdown Denies Military Families Money for Funerals
» James Stafford of Oil Price Intervies Tony Hayward (Ex-CEO of BP)
» Maryland Partners With Facebook to Censor Content ‘Without Societal Value’ In New Cyberbullying Law
» Members of Congress Seen Partying, Drinking on Capitol Hill All Week During Shutdown
» ‘Navigators’ Raise Identity Theft Risk
» Obama Asks Congress to ‘Lift These Threats’ Over Budget
» Obama to Nominate Yellen as Fed Chief, Administration Officials Say
» ObamaCare Shutdown Theater: President Holds Entire Nation Ransom With Contrived Closings
» Obama Says ‘Willing to Compromise’ In Long-Term, But No Fiscal Talks Now
» Police Arrest Veterans at NYC Memorial (Video)
» Robot Surgery Damaging Patients Rises With Marketing
» Shutdown! Whose Fault? Dont Ask Obama, Reid or Boehner
» Sixth Grade Assignment: Destroy the Bill of Rights
» State Department Finalized $5mil Order for Custom Crystal Wine Glasses Just Hours Before Shutdown
» Whistleblower Terminated From Northwestern for Revealing Human Experimentation
» Woman Calls 911 for Diabetic Fiance, Police Shoot and Kill Man Upon Arrival
» World War 2 Vets to Storm Barricades Surrounding Iwo Jima Monument
 
Europe and the EU
» Elusive Higgs Wins Physics Nobel, Shared With Englert
» France: Teenage Girl Crucified to “Expel the Demons”
» Ireland: Up to a Million Watch Love/Hate as Cat Scene Provokes Protests
» Italy: Milan Pickaxe Triple Killer Judged Fit for Trial
» Italy: 200 U.S. Marines Moved to Sigonella
» October and the Battle of Lepanto
» Peter Higgs and François Englert Win Nobel Prize in Physics
» UK: EDL Leader Tommy Robinson Quits Group
 
North Africa
» Egypt: Agriculture Min. Tells Italy to Re-Open Green Corridor
» The Shootings in Egypt Are an Incalculable Boost to Al-Qaeda
 
Middle East
» As Syrian Refugees Develop Roots, Jordan Grows Wary
» Jordan Rejects Israel Request to Build Airport Near Aqaba
» Kuwait: MPs Propose Death Penalty for Black Magic — Major Cause of Family Problems
» Qatar Threatens to Sue Guardian Over 2022 World Cup Exposé
» Qatar: Citizens Protest Zidane Headbutt Statue as UN-Islamic
» Saudi Arabia: Preacher Jailed for Torturing Young Daughter to Death
» Turkey: Ankara Builds Wall Along Its Border With Syria
» Turkey: Headscarves for Public Officials Legalized
» UAE: Dubai Sets Out to Become Capital of Islamic Economy
 
South Asia
» Bangladesh: Blast in Qur’anic School Reveals Bomb and Weapon Factory
» India: Stop Creating Muslim Misfits
 
Far East
» China to Ditch Its One-Child Policy as Ageing Crisis Looms
» North Korea Puts Troops on War Footing and Warns of “Horrible Disaster”
 
Australia — Pacific
» Australian-Born Radical Muslim Arrested Over Near-Fatal Shooting at Aarows Sex Club
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Central African Republic: Rebel-Backed Muslims, Christians Clash, Killing 14
» Extremists Kill Seven Civilians in Nigerian Mosque
» Kenya Identifies Mall Attackers, Including American
 
Latin America
» Brazil: Teachers’ Rio Protest Turns Into Pitched Battle
» WikiLeaks Founder Embraces Castro’s Cuba
 
Immigration
» A Fifth of Young Workers in Oslo Are Now Swedish
» Migrants at Lampedusa Holding Centre Protest at Conditions
» Signs Say National Mall Closed, But Immigration Reform Rally is a Go
» Test Cheating by Children of Asian Immigrants
» Why Mexican Governors Are Gung-Ho for Open Borders
 
Culture Wars
» ACLU Forces Removal of Portrait of Jesus Christ
» Italy: For 25% of Students: Religion Class Useless
» Kuwait: ‘Detect’ Gays by ‘Medical Screening’ At Border
» Paris to Host 2018 Gay Games in Wake of Debate in France Over Same-Sex Marriage
» Transforming America’s Schools Into Authoritarian Instruments of Compliance
 

12 Very Ominous Warnings About What a U.S. Debt Default Would Mean for the Global Economy

A U.S. debt default that lasts for more than a couple of days could potentially cause a financial crash unlike anything that the world has ever seen before. If the U.S. government purposely wanted to damage the global financial system, the best way that they could do that would be to default on U.S. debt obligations.

A U.S. debt default would cause stocks to crash, would cause bonds to crash, would cause interest rates to soar wildly out of control, would cause a massive credit crunch, and would cause a derivatives panic that would be absolutely unprecedented. And that would just be for starters. But don’t just take my word for it. These are the things that top financial experts all over the planet are saying will happen if there is an extended U.S. debt default.

Because they are so close together, the “government shutdown” and the “debt ceiling deadline” are being confused by many Americans.

As I wrote about the other day, the “partial government shutdown” that we are experiencing right now is pretty much a non-event. Yeah, some national parks are shut down and some federal workers will have their checks delayed, but it is not the end of the world. In fact, only about 17 percent of the federal government is actually shut down at the moment. This “shutdown” could continue for many more weeks and it would not affect the global economy too much.

On the other hand, if the debt ceiling deadline (approximately October 17th) passes without an agreement that would be extremely dangerous.

And if the U.S. government is eventually forced to start delaying interest payments on U.S. debt (which could potentially happen as soon as November), that would be absolutely catastrophic.

Once again, just don’t take my word for it. The following are 12 very ominous warnings about what a U.S. debt default would mean for the global economy…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

How to Jack Up the Debt? Rile Seniors

Obama and his bankster handlers will soon enough get back to the game of saddling the American people and their children’s children with debt. This will be accomplished by riling up millions of senior citizens and others dependent on Social Security.

On Monday, the Obama administration warned that unless the so-called debt ceiling is jacked up the government will not guarantee that checks will be in the mail.

This was echoed by the Social Security Administration after it consulted with the Treasury Department. Those two government agencies were mum on how specifically payment will be curtailed.

It is up to the Treasury to decide who gets federal money and who does not come October 17 when the debt limit is reached. Silence is part of the plan to scare seniors into calling their “representatives” and demanding their great grand children be saddled with even more debt so they will not be reduced to eating Friskies for dinner.

“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,” a Social Security spokesman told ABC News.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Households’ Spending Power Crumbles

Down 1.7% in first half of 2013

(ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 8 — The spending power of households in recession-hit Italy dropped 1.7% in the first half of 2013 compared with the same period last year, Istat said on Tuesday.

The national statistics agency added that families’ spending power fell 0.7% in the April-June period compared to the first three months of this year and 1.3% with respect to the second period in 2012.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

US Default: Beijing and Tokyo Call on Washington to Guarantee Debt

China’s deputy finance minister warns the United States to “maintain the creditworthiness of its Treasury bonds.” As the owner of US$ 1.28 trillion in US treasuries, Beijing is very worried. Japan shares its concerns, calls on the US government to solve the stalemate.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The budget stalemate in the United States and the failure to increase the debt ceiling, which pit President Barack Obama and Republican hardliners, are rattling Beijing, irritating the upper echelons of the Chinese government.

The world’s largest holder of US treasury bonds wants Washington to secure its investments. Japan shares China’s concerns. Together, the two Asian nations hold more than US$ 2.4 trillion in US securities and fear destabilisation of world markets.

Moreover, for many governments and investors the stalemate over the debt ceiling is far more problematic than the current shutdown of US federal agencies, following the failure of Congress to reach an agreement on the new budget.

“As the world’s largest economy and the issuer of the major reserve currency in the world, it is important for the US to maintain the creditworthiness of its Treasury bonds,” Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said yesterday in a tough warning.

This is important, he added, for the United States and the global economy, which is why Beijing hopes that before 17 October the US government will “take decisive and credible steps to avoid a default” and guarantee Chinese investments.

China, the largest foreign owner of US treasuries, had US$ 1.28 trillion worth at the end of July, followed by Japan, which held US$ 1.14 trillion, according to the US Treasury Department.

No wonder then that Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said “we hope this problem will be resolved without delay.”

A default by the United States could cause investors to abandon the dollar and that would raise the value of the yen.

And any failure on the part of the United States to honour its debt obligations could damage the dollar’s status as a reserve currency with devastating consequences on a global scale for investors.

However, Barack Obama and House Republicans are still locking horns. Democratic senators want to get to vote by the end of the week, a crucial step to ensure the president the authority to raise to 16.7 trillion US debt ceiling.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed optimism and reassured leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum (APEC) forum about his country’ stability.

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, the Chinese president said he was “ fully confident “ in China’s economy, saying that its economic growth remained healthy and robust despite its recent slowdown. At the same time, he said that Beijing was willing to sacrifice the pace of growth for structural economic reform.

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

Will Democrats Use China Ultimatum as Excuse to Extend Borrowing Limit?

Communist China’s just-in-the-nick-of-time ultimatum to the USA to approve an extension of the national borrowing limit before the federal government runs out of cash on October 17, reeks of the Chinese government’s little known top advisor Maurice Strong.

Just as the aging, Canadian original ‘UN Poster Boy’ got to tell world citizens what is “environmentally sustainable” and what is not, Maurice Strong gets to tell China what to do — about the United States.

Strong, an adviser to Communist China who spreads his time between Ottawa and Beijing, where he took up part-time residence in the aftermath of the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food scandal, has been fomenting for years that China would soon replace the US as world superpower.

Yesterday, just as President Barack Obama needed it most, China, the biggest foreign creditor of the United States, waded full-bore into the American budget crisis, warning Congress that it must resolve the Republican-Democrat standoff over the debt ceiling, tout suite.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

After Lengthy Discussion, Islamic Center Removes Application for Mosque in South St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD — The St. Cloud city council heard two hours of public testimony, during a public hearing this (Monday) evening, on a planned mosque, school and community center for the city’s southside. At issue was a request by the Islamic Center of St. Cloud to amend a Planned Unit Development to allow the 34,000 square foot complex in a residential neighborhood just off Clearwater Road. The property is currently zoned for duplexes and single family homes…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

CA Republican: ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban ‘Erases’ Second Amendment

California Assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly (R-33rd Dist.) says legislation awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s (D) signature not only bans “assault weapons” but “erases the Second Amendment.”

Donnelly was referencing SB374 — a bill which broadens the definition of an “assault weapon” and then bans all such weapons within the state.

Donnelly talked to Breitbart News about the bill on October 7:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Cancer-Causing Chemical Found in Nearly 100 Common Soaps and Shampoos: Study

(NaturalNews) If you use store-bought, conventionally-formulated shampoos, conditioners, body washes and other similar personal care products on a regular basis, you could be exposing yourself to high doses of a cancer-causing chemical that few people are even aware exists. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) recently published the findings of an independent study it conducted which found that 98 tested shampoos, soaps and other personal care products contained high levels of cocamide diethanolamine (cocamide DEA), a hidden foaming and thickening agent that is a known carcinogen.

Most NaturalNews readers are probably already familiar with some of the other more well-known chemical culprits found in personal care products, which include things like petroleum-based parabens or sodium lauryl sulfate, for instance. Many companies have already voluntarily phased these and other “big name” chemicals out of their products to meet growing demand for clean, toxin-free products. But there are still a number of other harmful chemicals out there like cocamide DEA that continue to be used in prominent personal care product brands, including some that are marketed as “natural” and organic.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: Why Bother Being Jewish?

Why should American Jews bother to be Jewish? According to a new Pew Research Center survey of the American Jewish community, more and more American Jews have reached the conclusion that there is no reason to be Jewish.

Outside of the Orthodox Jewish community, intermarriage rates have reached 71 percent. Thirty-two percent of Jews born since 1980 and 22% of Jews overall do not describe themselves as Jews by religion. They base their Jewish identity on ancestry, ethnicity or culture.

Whereas 73% of Jews say that remembering the Holocaust is an essential part of being Jewish, only 19% said that observing Jewish law is a vital aspect of Jewish identity. Fourteen percent say eating Jewish foods is indispensable for their Jewish identity. Forty-two percent say that having a sense of humor is a critical part of being a Jew.

Gabriel Roth, an intermarried Jewish author, welcomes these numbers. In a column in Slate, Roth claimed that the reason most cultural Jews keep traditions of any kind is a sense of guilt toward their parents and previous generations of Jews. He believes that it’s time to get over the guilt. Keeping such traditions has “no intrinsic meaning.”

“How much value can ‘Jewish heritage’ have if it signifies nothing beyond its own perpetuation?” he asked sneeringly..

Obviously, the answer is no value. To do something you feel is intrinsically meaningless just because your forefathers did the same meaningless thing is a waste of time. If Judaism has nothing to offer beyond lox and Seinfeld, then there is no reason to remain Jewish…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Corrupt EPA Official Found Guilty of Money Laundering, Fraud

The Justice Department has recently brought up ten charges on a former EPA project manager, Gordon McDonald. McDonald was initially responsible for cleaning up two New Jersey superfund sites, the Diamond Alkali in Newark and the Federal Creosote in Manville.

An EPA superfund site is set up when an environment is declared a hazardous waste site. The superfund cleanup is funded through taxes on petroleum and chemical industries, an environmental tax on corporations and other general tax revenues, including trust funds and hazardous waste superfunds.

After seven years of managing the sites, between 2000 and 2007, McDonald was investigated for laundering money and blowing taxpayer dollars, while he received kickbacks on the side. McDonald rigged bids, accepted kickbacks from subcontractors and awarded insiders with big money payoffs.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Democrat Voters Confused: “I Didn’t Realize I Would be the One Who Was Going to Pay for it Personally”

Back in 2008, when then-candidate Obama promised Joe the Plumber and the rest of America that he intended to spread the wealth around, most democrat and liberal voters embraced the notion of wealth redistribution under the guise of equality. A universal health care plan, that would be free for all Americans, was the promise from the candidate of hope and change.

Tens of millions of Americans jumped on the bandwagon waving their flags, fainting at his appearances, and fawning over his every word.

None ever thought about where the money would come from for all this new found wealth he promised to bestow upon them.

But those who understand that socialism, communism and governance by the collective are failed experiments, warned where that money would come from. It would be taken by force from the toils of the middle class, and it’d impoverish them in the process.

Now the myrmidons who once vehemently supported the policies of President Barack Obama without question are coming to the realization that when Obama spoke about spreading the wealth he actually meant their wealth too!

Cindy Vinson is one such supporter. This month, like many Americans who have health insurance through their employer or private insurers, Vinson got an unwanted awakening to the reality of government sponsored wealth confiscation and redistribution:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Feds Hold Seniors at Gunpoint During National Park Shutdown

“Gestapo tactics” used to detain tourists in locked hotel

Feds used “gestapo tactics” to treat senior citizens like terrorists during the shutdown of Yellowstone National park, placing them under armed guard in a locked hotel as panicked tourists thought they had been arrested, vowing never to return to America.

Pat Vaillancourt was part of a tour group of senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States who were in Yellowstone national park when the government shutdown was announced last week.

When the party briefly exited their tour bus to take photos of a herd of bison, they were aggressively ordered by armed National Park Service rangers to get back in the vehicle on the grounds that they were involved in “recreation,” and that this wasn’t permitted during the shutdown.

The group had booked to stay in a hotel within the park, which soon turned into a prison as the visitors were told to remain in the building until their stay expired, despite the fact that the tour guide had already paid the $300 fee to enter the park.

“We’ve become a country of fear, guns and control,” Vaillancourt told the Eagle-Tribune, adding “They looked like Hulk Hogans, armed. They told us you can’t go outside.”

The tourists were placed under armed guard and locked inside the hotel as NPS rangers stood outside the doors…

Last week, an unnamed park services official told the Washington Times that they had been ordered to, “make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Gestapo’ Tactics Meet Senior Citizens at Yellowstone

Vaillancourt was one of thousands of people who found themselves in a national park as the federal government shutdown went into effect on Oct. 1. For many hours her tour group, which included senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States, were locked in a Yellowstone National Park hotel under armed guard.

The tourists were treated harshly by armed park employees, she said, so much so that some of the foreign tourists with limited English skills thought they were under arrest.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gov’t Shutdown Denies Military Families Money for Funerals

DoD failed to notify Congress that they were refusing death benefits to military families

As if the public hasn’t suffered enough from the government “shutdown,” which was initiated by unnecessary political antics, now the families of fallen soldiers are literally paying the price in an unimaginable way. militarymom The Washington Times reports that at least five families, who have lost a family member in the never ending war on terror over the weekend, have been denied their death benefits.

Families of fallen soldiers typically receive a death gratuity of $100,000 within 36 hours of the soldier’s death. This government pay-out is meant to help families with funeral costs, transportation expenses and serves as a “transitional pay benefit” until the military’s survivor benefits kick in. It also allows the families to fly over the Del. Dover Air Force Base and view the coffins of their loved ones being unloaded.

This latest cut in spending has provoked outrage, causing the non-profit group “Family Communications and Logistics for Luke’s Wings,” which offers assistance to military families, to step up and take action.

The non-profit group announced they will dip into their savings to help pay for the families of fallen soldiers who wish to fly to Dover Air Force Base so that they may participate in the viewing of their loved ones’ caskets.

The non-profit organization’s manager, Jennifer Magerer, said the members of her group were “deeply saddened” by the government’s decision to cut funding for death benefits.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

James Stafford of Oil Price Intervies Tony Hayward (Ex-CEO of BP)

Did you ever wonder what happened to BP’s CEO Tony Hayward who was forced to resign during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?

We caught up with Tony the other day and spoke about his new company, Genel Energy and covered in great detail the opportunities within Kurdistan and Somaliland.

It’s a very interesting interview as Tony has a huge amount of knowledge on the sector and why geopolitics and relationships are so important when doing business in high risk venues.

[…]

an exclusive interview with Oilprice.com, former BP chief and current CEO of Genel Energy , Tony Hayward, discusses:

  • Why Kurdistan is a great place to be right now
  • Why the attacks in Erbil won’t shake investor confidence
  • What the next milestone will be—and when
  • How the relationship with Turkey is helping Kurdistan forge oil and gas independence
  • How Kurdistan’s oil and gas progress could benefit Iraq as a whole
  • What we can expect for future exploration
  • The massive geological potential and high political risk of Somaliland
  • What we can expect to find in Ethiopia
  • What makes Malta and Morocco high-impact prospects
  • Why investors should be excited about offshore Cote d’Ivoire
  • How to strike the right balance in frontier venues

[…]

[Return to headlines]
 

Maryland Partners With Facebook to Censor Content ‘Without Societal Value’ In New Cyberbullying Law

We saw Nova Scotia deliver the worst in cyberbullying laws (Canadian edition) earlier this year. Like most bad cyberbullying legislation, this one was prompted by the suicide of a teen. It’s too tempting for legislators to rush into action with no real idea on how to solve the problem, much less mitigate it, and the attendant public uproar contributes nothing in terms of clear thinking or common sense.

As a result, laws like Nova Scotia’s get passed — laws that rely on purely subjective measures. If someone feels offended, they can press charges, utilizing a non-adversarial process that allows the accuser to present his or her case directly to a judge, who then decides whether or not it’s actually cyberbullying. This opens the accused up to civil proceedings, criminal charges and a chance of being banned not just from social media but from the internet entirely, along with being banned from using electronic devices — like a phone.

Maryland’s anti-cyberbullying law (“Grace’s Law”) is also the byproduct of the charged reaction to a teen’s (Grace McComas) post-bullying suicide. Grace’s Law attempts to outlaw being a jerk while still pretending it doesn’t tread all over the public’s First Amendment rights. It grants exceptions for “expressing political views” and “conveying information” but that’s it. And if it’s a teen on the receiving end of “electronic annoyance” (whether or not the “annoyer” knows the target is a teen), expect the hammer to fall swiftly and crushingly.

Grace’s Law is now in effect and the state of Maryland has gone even farther, partnering with Facebook to help it censor the output of Maryland citizens, as Walter Olson details at Cato.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Members of Congress Seen Partying, Drinking on Capitol Hill All Week During Shutdown

Bartenders close to the capitol have told local reporters that members of Congress are keeping themselves busy during the government shutdown by partying and drinking, and generally having a great big knees up.

“I don’t think the public would be happy to know that they are actually enjoying this time.” one bartender at Hawk and Dove bar on Pennsylvania Avenue told WUSA9 News.

The barman added that members of Congress have been “cutting loose” all week, and started off with a party on the first night of the shutdown.

“There was a private party upstairs with a few Congress people and senators here that night.” the bartender stated.

WUSA9 also spoke to another bartender from a separate establishment who verified that members of Congress had been dropping into his bar all week, including on the day of the shutdown.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Navigators’ Raise Identity Theft Risk

Editor’s Note: As we predicted two weeks ago, Obamacare “Navigator” positions will attract identity thieves who can extract private information from Americans.

Growing concerns about identity theft and fraud have led the Illinois Department of Insurance to issue a public warning, just as the new health insurance exchanges enter their implementation phase.

Concern focuses on those charged with assisting Illinoisans with enrollment to the new health insurance exchanges, the so-called “navigators.”

Navigators will “educate consumers about the health insurance Marketplace, answer health coverage-related questions, and facilitate consumers’ selection of affordable health coverage through the Marketplace,” according to the navigator training manual.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Asks Congress to ‘Lift These Threats’ Over Budget

President Obama on Tuesday intensified his pressure on Republicans with a hastily scheduled news conference, calling on them to both fund and reopen the government and to raise the nation’s borrowing limit as the federal shutdown entered a second week.

“Let’s lift these threats from our families and our businesses, and let’s get down to work,” Mr. Obama said in the White House briefing room before taking questions from reporters.

Mr. Obama said that he was holding firm that he could not negotiate concessions to the Republican-led House for it to perform Congress’s constitutional responsibilities.

[Return to headlines]
 

Obama to Nominate Yellen as Fed Chief, Administration Officials Say

President Obama will nominate Janet L. Yellen as chairwoman of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, administration officials said Tuesday night, ending an unusually public search to fill one of the most important economic policy-making jobs in the world.

Mr. Obama’s other top candidate for the job — Lawrence H. Summers, a former adviser to the president — dropped out of the running in the face of opposition from Democratic senators.

Ms. Yellen, 67, who has been the Fed’s vice chairwoman since 2010, would be the first woman to run the central bank. A native of Brooklyn, she was previously president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a White House adviser, a Fed governor during the Clinton administration and a longtime professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her four-year appointment as chairwoman must be confirmed by the Senate.

[Return to headlines]
 

ObamaCare Shutdown Theater: President Holds Entire Nation Ransom With Contrived Closings

The government “shutdown” is a hoax. It is pure theater designed to make life as miserable as possible for Americans while the government keeps collecting taxes, racking up debt expenditures, running foreign wars and doing all the unconstitutional things government does these days. It is now becoming obvious to nearly all Americans that the Obama administration is running a pernicious, punitive, selective “shutdown” that’s designed to hold the American people hostage until Obama gets his way. His “ransom demand” is total capitulation to his demands for endless spending, the total takeover of medicine by Obamacare, and the centralization of power in the hands of the few…

Just yesterday, the government was caught in a total hoax of faking a shutdown of the Amber Alert website. The whole thing, much like everything else in the Obama administration, was utterly contrived.

The entire USDA website is now following the same hoax pattern, feigning death even though bandwidth providers never cut off service. This is yet another contrived example of “shutdown theater.”

What the Obama administration wants to keep open, of course, stays open. For example, an immigration rally has just been approved to take place on the “closed” national mall. What’s clear from this is that Obama’s cohorts will magically open federal lands for their own favored projects while selectively closing federal property for projects desired by the People.

I call it “crony shutdown-ism.”

Obama holds America hostage to his outrageous demands

Everything you are witnessing here isn’t a “government shutdown,” folks. This is Obama holding a gun to the head of the American people, keeping the nation hostage until Obama gets 100% of what he wants: unlimited debt spending, a socialist sick-care system called “Obamacare,” and a blank check from Congress to bury our nation in even more debt from which we can never escape.

What’s next, are they going to shut down all the interstates? Block deliveries of gasoline? Halt food supplies to local grocery stores? At what point does this “shutdown theater” equate to acts of state-sponsored terrorism against the American people?

The message from Obama is clear: Give me all your money or I’ll make life miserable for everyone. This is the tactic of a mafia organization, not a legitimate government.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Says ‘Willing to Compromise’ In Long-Term, But No Fiscal Talks Now

President Obama used a lengthy White House non-press conference Tuesday to once again accuse “extreme” Republican lawmakers of holding the nation for “ransom,” while offering a somewhat nuanced framework for fiscal talks in which he’s “willing to compromise” — but not negotiate.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Police Arrest Veterans at NYC Memorial (Video)

Police arrested numerous Vietnam veterans during a vigil at a war memorial in New York City last night after the protesters refused to adhere to a 10pm curfew.

The veterans had gathered at the Vietnam Memorial Plaza to protest the 12th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan by reading out the names of deceased US soldiers.

One video shows a man speaking about how veterans are committing suicide. “This is a sign of betrayal…it’s important you know that your government committed immense atrocities during the Vietnam war, we did it every day,” he states.

After the Park Service rejected the group’s application to hold a protest at the site, an all night vigil was planned. The group argued that its first amendment rights superseded the 10pm curfew.

Photographs show veterans being handcuffed and loaded into paddy wagons.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Robot Surgery Damaging Patients Rises With Marketing

Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver announced last year that Warren Kortz, a general surgeon on the medical staff, was the first in the Rocky Mountain region to use a technique known as robotic surgery to remove gall bladders through one incision in the belly button.

The operation, performed while the doctor sits at a video-game-like console, was “taking advantage of another breakthrough in robotic surgery” and is “easier on the patient,” the hospital said in a press release… What the hospital and Kortz didn’t reveal was the risk. Even as Kortz promoted robotic surgery, 10 patients he treated suffered injuries or complications between 2008 and 2011, according to an April complaint by the Colorado Medical Board. Five had arteries punctured or torn. Objects were temporarily left inside two, and others had nerve damage. One died and another needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The complaint charges Kortz with 14 counts of unprofessional conduct, including sometimes not advising patients on alternatives to the robot.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Shutdown! Whose Fault? Dont Ask Obama, Reid or Boehner

But there is always one person who gets into the facts and specifically finds out who really is responsible for the ultimate consequence of shutting down our government — in this one, Thomas Sowell stands clearly as that person.

As Mr. Sowell explains, “There is really nothing complicated about the facts. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted all the money required to keep all government activities going — except for ObamaCare.

“As for the House of Representatives’ right to grant or withhold money, that is not a matter of opinion. You can check the Constitution of the United States. All spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives, which means that Congressmen there have a right to decide whether or not they want to spend money on a particular government activity.”

Sowell makes the point that whatever the merits of ObamaCare happen to be at this stage of the presentation they are irrelevant because factually “the House of Representatives members constitutionally have the right to make spending decisions based solely on their opinion, regardless of whether it is a law. The whole point of having a division of powers within the federal government is that each branch can decide independently what it wants to do or not do, regardless of what the other branches do, when exercising the powers specifically granted to that branch by the Constitution.” …

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Sixth Grade Assignment: Destroy the Bill of Rights

Students are told that the Bill of Rights is “outdated” and must be “revised”

Sixth graders at the Bryant School District in Arkansas were given an assignment to “revise” the “outdated” Bill of Rights by deleting and replacing two amendments, using the “War on Terror” and the Patriot Act as a guide. Students weren’t taught about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights before they were assigned to destroy them. (Photo: Public domain)

Students weren’t taught about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights before they were assigned to destroy them. (Photo: Public domain)

The worksheet, which is the first Constitutional assignment of the school year, tells students that they will be on a “National Revised Bill of Rights Task Force” who will “prioritize, prune, and add amendments” for a “Revised Bill of Rights.”

“The government of the United States is currently revisiting the Bill of Rights,” the assignment states. “They have determined that it is outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer.”

The assignment assumes that our birthrights are not our property which we inherently own as human beings but are rather privileges granted to us by the state after being decided upon by a central planning committee.

Instead of teaching that the Bill of Rights merely recognizes the rights that we ALREADY have regardless of any government erected upon us, the teachers would rather instill the idea that the State is God into the minds of our youth.

As the history of the world has shown throughout the ages, people who don’t defend their rights will be enslaved.

This assignment, however, conditions children into believing that they are already slaves to the state and should be thankful of the “rights” the majority grants them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

State Department Finalized $5mil Order for Custom Crystal Wine Glasses Just Hours Before Shutdown

A $5million order for custom crystal glasses and bar accessories was placed for American embassies on the day before the government shutdown.

The State Department finalized the order for custom stemware on September 30, just hours before nearly one million federal workers were put on unpaid leave as a result of the on-going budget dispute in Congress.

The contract was awarded to Simon Pearce, a Vermont stemware company that makes hand blown crystal that retails for up to $85-per-wine glass.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Whistleblower Terminated From Northwestern for Revealing Human Experimentation

Why would a bright and promising cardiologist be fired from the University hospital that she had practiced at since 2000?

Apparently, protecting her patients is grounds for dismissal. At least, that is the case at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Despite being promoted to Valve Director in 2006, Dr. Nalini M. Rajamannan was terminated in 2008 after reporting the use of non-FDA approved, experimental medical devices being implanted in patients without their knowledge.

The doctor conducting these human experiments, Dr. Patrick McCarthy, was testing his own inventions, an IMR annuloplasty device and a Myxo annuloplasty device manufactured by Edwards Lifescience.

These devices had not been approved by the FDA and even now, many patients have no idea that they have these experimental devices in their bodies.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Woman Calls 911 for Diabetic Fiance, Police Shoot and Kill Man Upon Arrival

A Georgia man was shot and killed last Friday, when police, not paramedics, showed up to a medical emergency call made by the man’s fiance.

Alcia Herron called 911 for an ambulance shortly after her fiance, 43-year-old Jack Lamar Roberson, took diabetes medication that worried her.

According to Herron, police soon arrived on scene and opened fire on Roberson in front of the entire family, including Roberson’s 8-year-old daughter.

“They just came in and shot him. He didn’t say nothing, the police didn’t say nothing, anything, it was like a silent movie. You couldn’t hear anything, all you could hear were the gun shots go off and I seen them going into his body and he just fell down,” Alcia Herron told First Coast News.

According to the Waycross Police Department, officers received an attempted suicide call involving a combative man. Police Chief Tony Tanner alleges Roberson jumped towards his officers with two weapons after ignoring commands to drop them. Roberson’s mother and fiance dispute the officers’ claims.

“He didn’t have nothing in his hands at any time or period at all before they came, any time while they were here, anything,” said Heron.

Police have refused to comment on what weapons the man allegedly had but according to Roberson’s mother, police claim Roberson was holding two knives.

“If you’re any type of man you’ll come to me and you’ll tell me why you stood up there and told a lie. Two knives, we don’t own two decent knives,” Roberson’s mother said. “It’s pain, it’s a mother’s pain, her first born to be shot down in her face. My granddaughter’s got to have intense therapy.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

World War 2 Vets to Storm Barricades Surrounding Iwo Jima Monument

Confrontation with feds as outrage over shutdown builds

The federal government has barred World War II Marine veterans from visiting the Iwo Jima Monument near the Arlington National Cemetery this Saturday, prompting North Country Honor Flight executive director Daniel Kaifetz to ask protesters planning to attend a ‘Million Vets’ march in DC on the same weekend to help remove the barricades.

Honor Flight, which pays for veterans to visit war memorials, is the organization that made headlines last week after helping vets break through barricades to visit the World War II Memorial in DC. The barricades were subsequently reinforced and wired shut.

On Saturday, Honor Flight veterans plan to break through barricades that have been placed around the Iwo Jima Monument, setting up a potential confrontation with National Park Service employees.

Should the feds attempt to restrict World War II veterans from accessing the Iwo Jima Monument, which is located just outside the walls of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, it would be a public relations disaster for the Obama administration, which has been accused of being spiteful in using the government shut down to punish Americans as part of a political ploy to shift the blame for the impasse onto Republicans.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Elusive Higgs Wins Physics Nobel, Shared With Englert

When you have waited nearly 50 years, what’s another hour? As New Scientist and many others predicted, Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh, UK, and François Englert of the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, have won this year’s Nobel prize in physics for developing the theory of how particles acquire mass.

The announcement in Stockholm, Sweden, came after a short delay, perhaps because the Nobel committee was conducting its own Higgs hunt.

While the Higgs boson gets all the glory, it is the Higgs field that gets particle physicists excited. It interacts with each of the fundamental particles in different ways, giving them mass. For instance, the W and Z bosons experience the Higgs field as a thick treacle, making them some of the heaviest fundamental particles while the photon doesn’t feel its influence at all, so is massless. The Higgs boson is a quantum ripple in the field whose existence proves that the field exists.

Englert and his late colleague Robert Brout were the first to describe how this field might operate, but it was Peter Higgs who first predicted the particle that bears his name. The Nobel committee awarded them the prize “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles”, and also gave a nod to the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN for the actual discovery of the Higgs last year.

Brout is not eligible for the prize, as the Nobel is not awarded posthumously, while theorists Richard Hagen, Gerald Guralnik and Tom Kibble were not recognised, despite some calls for that to happen.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Teenage Girl Crucified to “Expel the Demons”

A trial has begun in which four former members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church are accused of torture for allegedly carrying out a week-long crucifixion-style exorcism on a 19-year-old girl.

Three men and a woman are accused of tying a Cameroonian teenager in the position of Christ on the cross and keeping her bound to a mattress for a week, believing that she was possessed by the devil. One of the accused is the victim’s former boyfriend. All four are facing charges of kidnapping and acts of torture and barbarism.

The victim, who is referred to only as Antoinette, was discovered by police at a housing estate in the southern Paris suburbs. She was reportedly emaciated, dehydrated, in a state of shock and showed signs of having been beaten. She testified that her captors fed her small amounts of oil and water to keep her alive.

Eric Deron, Antoinette’s former boyfriend, is the alleged instigator and prosecutors say he had delusions of being a prophet on a divine mission. According to the accused, Deron organized the exorcism after he was allegedly jumped by the victim who was babbling incomprehensibly. He reportedly saw this attack as a sign that she was possessed by the devil.

The four accused have denied all acts of violence against the victim claiming that she consented to the exorcism. The trial is set to go until Friday.

           — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo [Return to headlines]
 

Ireland: Up to a Million Watch Love/Hate as Cat Scene Provokes Protests

Nearly a million people watched Sunday night’s opening episode of the new series of Love/Hate in which the machine-gunning of a cat has led to protests from animal welfare organisations.

RTÉ confirmed that it has received 10 complaint emails and seven telephone calls about the scene.

A spokeswoman said the cat involved in the filming was not harmed. It had been led in the right direction with a fishing line around its neck and the impact blood spatter was created through CGI effects in post production. The cat was given an anaesthetic by a vet after the shooting scene was shot so that it would “play dead” for the cameras, she added.

[On Irish TV, more’s the pity / The bad guys machine-gunned a kitty / It raised cat-lovers’ hair / And they went on the air / And declared the whole thing to be sh!tty. — PW]

           — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Milan Pickaxe Triple Killer Judged Fit for Trial

Mental competence ‘not totally absent’ say psychiatrists

(ANSA) — Milan, October 7 — A Ghanaian immigrant who killed three people in a pickaxe rampage in Milan in May has been judged fit for trial despite telling psychiatrists voices from Africa told him to do it.

Mada ‘Adam’ Kabobo, 31, was said to be sufficiently “able to understand” what he was doing to face murder charges.

Psychiatrists told judges that Kabobo’s ability to control his actions was “greatly diminished but not totally absent”.

Kabobo was deemed a danger to himself and society.

Kabobo’s victims were a 64-year-old pensioner walking his dog; an unemployed 40-year-old standing outside a cafe; and a 21-year-old helping his father stack newspapers at their kiosk. Two other people were injured in Kabobo’s string of attacks, which lasted an hour before he was stopped by police.

Kabobo, who had not sought treatment for mental problems, told police “I never sleep”.

The Ghanaian, who has a criminal record, came to Italy illegally in 2011 and was later served an expulsion order.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: 200 U.S. Marines Moved to Sigonella

‘Potential threat’ after capture of al-Qaeda leader in Libya

(ANSA) — Rome, October 8 — The United States has moved 200 marines to a NATO base at Sigonella in Sicily amid tensions with Tripoli following a US raid that led to the capture of an al-Qaeda leader in Libya. The US said it was a “precautionary move” after the capture of Abu Anas al Libi. There were “potential threats” to US diplomats in Libya, where ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi in September 2012, military sources told CNN.

The fresh deployment followed the transfer of 500 American marines from Spain to Sigonella in May to be ready for rapid deployment if any new attacks occur in Libya.

Sigonella, which is southwest of Catania, is a major NATO base used by the US navy and air force as well as the Italian air force.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

October and the Battle of Lepanto

…1571, the year of the battle of Lepanto, the most important naval contest in human history, is not well known to Americans. October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrates the victory at Lepanto, the battle that saved the Christian West from defeat at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

…In October of 1564, the Viziers of the Divan of the Ottoman Empire assembled to urge their sultan to prepare for war with Malta. “Many more difficult victories have fallen to your scimitar than the capture of a handful of men on a tiny little island that is not well fortified,” they told him. Their words were flattering but true. During the five-decade reign of Soleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire grew to its fullest glory, encompassing the Caucuses, the Balkans, Anatolia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Soleiman had conquered Aden, Algiers, Baghdad, Belgrade, Budapest, Rhodes, and Temesvar. His war galleys terrorized not only the Mediterranean Sea, but the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf as well. His one defeat was at the gates of Vienna in 1529.

The Defense of Malta

Malta was an infertile, dusty rock with so few natural springs that the Maltese had to collect rainwater in large clay urns. The island could sustain only the smallest population. Yet this little island guarded the Mediterranean passage from the Islamic East to the Christian West.

From its excellent natural harbors, the galleys of the Knights of Saint John could sail forth and disrupt any Turkish assault on Italy. They could also board and seize Turkish merchantmen carrying goods from France or Venice to be hawked in the markets of Constantinople. The ladies of Soleiman’s harem, who accumulated great wealth speculating in glass and other Venetian luxuries, nagged the sultan to take Malta.

Soleiman had bigger goals than pleasing these matrons, and he knew that, in Turkish possession, the harbors of Malta would afford him a base from which to continue his raids on the coast of Italy. With the greater control of the sea that it would afford him, he would be able to bring Venice to heel. An invasion of Sicily would be possible. Soleiman’s greatest dream, however, the dream of all Turks, the dream his soldiers toasted before setting off on every campaign, was the conquest of Rome. There the Turks could transform Michelangelo’s St. Peter’s, then under construction, into a mosque, just as they had Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia more than a century before.

Although the sultan had led his army on twelve major campaigns, this time his age would keep him home. The Turks sailed for Malta in the spring of 1565, and on May 18, their fleet was spotted offshore. That night, Jean de la Valette, the seventy-one-year-old Grand Master of the Knights of Saint John, led his warriors into their chapel where they confessed and then assisted at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

“A formidable army composed of audacious barbarians is descending on this island,” he told them. “These persons, my brothers, are the enemies of Jesus Christ. Today it is a question of the defense of our Faith. Are the Gospels to be superseded by the Koran? God on this occasion demands of us our lives, already vowed to His service. Happy will be those who first consummate this sacrifice.”

Many of Valette’s 700 knights and their men-at-arms did just that. While Europe stood idly by, expecting the fortress to fall, the knights held their island against an Ottoman army of 40,000, including 6500 of the sultan’s elite Janissaries. Three-quarters of the Turkish army were killed over the four-month siege, before the Ottoman survivors turned and straggled back to Constantinople.

[…]

[Return to headlines]
 

Peter Higgs and François Englert Win Nobel Prize in Physics

Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and François Englert of the University Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for suggesting that an invisible ocean of energy suffusing space is responsible for the mass and diversity of the universe, a crowning recognition for the scientists who came up with what is now known as the Higgs boson.

They will split a prize of $1.2 million, to be awarded in Stockholm in December.

[Return to headlines]
 

UK: EDL Leader Tommy Robinson Quits Group

English Defence League leader and founder Tommy Robinson has left the group, saying he has concerns over the “dangers of far-right extremism”.

The EDL organises protests across the UK against “radical Islam”.

Mr Robinson said it was still his aim to “counter Islamist ideology”, although “not with violence but with better, democratic ideas”.

Several senior figures have quit, but an EDL spokesman said the group “will not die because they’re walking away”.

He added that supporters would spend the next few weeks discussing how to proceed.

‘No longer productive’

The EDL, formed in 2009, has organised marches and demonstrations in several cities across the UK, which have seen sometimes violent confrontations with anti-fascism campaigners.

Mr Robinson’s co-leader, Kevin Carroll, has also opted to leave.

Their decision follows discussions with the Quilliam group, which describes itself as a “counter-extremism think tank”.

Mr Robinson said: “I have been considering this move for a long time because I recognise that, though street demonstrations have brought us to this point, they are no longer productive.

“I acknowledge the dangers of far-right extremism and the ongoing need to counter Islamist ideology not with violence but with better, democratic ideas.”

He explained his motives for leaving, telling BBC Radio 5 live’s Nicky Campbell: “When some moron lifts up his top and he’s got the picture of a mosque saying ‘boom’ and it’s all over the national newspapers, it’s me, it’s when I pick up my kids from school the parents are looking at me, judging me on that.

“And that’s not what I’ve stood for and my decision to do this is to be true to what I stand for. And whilst I want to lead the revolution against Islamist ideology, I don’t want to lead the revolution against Muslims.

“I believe that the revolution needs to come from within the Islamic community and they need to stand up. And I believe this is a step forward not a step back.”

Mr Robinson also wrote on Twitter: “The most difficult day of my life! I thank EDL supporters for their messages of support. For me this is a step forwards not backwards.”

Quilliam said it hoped Mr Robinson would “invest his energy and commitment in countering extremism of all kinds, supporting the efforts to bring along his former followers and encouraging his critique of Islamism as well as his concern with far-right extremism”.

‘Caution’

Chairman Maajid Nawaz said: “As well as being a very positive change for the United Kingdom, this is a very proud moment for Quilliam. This represents not a change but a continuation for us, as challenging extremism of all kinds forms the basis of our work.

“We have been able to show that Britain stands together against extremism regardless of political views and hope to continue supporting Tommy and Kevin in their journey to counter Islamism and neo-Nazi extremism.”

Mr Robinson and Mr Carroll are due to face trial later this month, charged with obstructing police officers near the scene of the killing of soldier Lee Rigby.

           — Hat tip: Jolie Rouge [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt: Agriculture Min. Tells Italy to Re-Open Green Corridor

Abu Hadid, promising sector. Water, birth control top priorities

(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 7 — Rationalizing water resources, promoting producer cooperatives, training, introducing genetically modified organisms and birth control were among the priorities listed by Egypt’s Agriculture Minister Ayman Farid Abu Hadid who is in Rome Monday to attend the 40th annual meeting of the Committee for Food Security of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). ‘With a birth rate of 2 million newborns a year, Egypt is unable to feed a population of about 90 million inhabitants’, the minister said.

Agriculture is a strategic sector for the Egyptian economy, representing 40% of national GDP and employing 30% of the population. It is ‘a very promising sector also for investments’, Abu Hadid told ANSAmed. The minister is scheduled to meet his Italian counterpart Nunzia De Girolamo on the sidelines of the event.

‘Our objective is to re-launch Italian investments in Egypt and resume talks on the Green corridor’, he said. Launched in 2010, the Green Corridor pilot project should have involved the ports of Venice, Civitavecchia and Naples to help Egypt expand its fruit and vegetable exports towards Italy and then Europe.

The project was also aimed at opening up the Egyptian market to Italian produce. But the project was never developed.

A professor and researcher at the country’s agricultural research centre which he chaired for five years, Abu Hadid was appointed agriculture minister for a second mandate last July.

He was first appointed in January 2011 after Mubarak’s ouster.

The situation has not improved over the past two and a half years. On the table are issues ranging from the water emergency to a rise in production, plans to develop land from the desert, subsidies. ‘The first concrete problem I had to confront was the lack of fertilizers’, he said. ‘Fertilizers are exported by Egyptian producers on foreign markets as they can be sold at a higher price than in the domestic market. This has raised domestic prices and reduced available stocks’.

A key issue is being able to change perceptions, first and foremost of producers ‘who need to join forces and work in a system of cooperation’. The population also needs to change its state of mind. ‘The population’s annual growth is staggering and the system cannot bear it’, the minister said. ‘Only education can change things’.

Another important issue is training the workforce in the genetic engineering of production, he noted as ‘in a number of crops, like rice, flour or sugarcane we have reached the maximum level of productivity per hectare’.

Among the projects left behind by the Morsi presidency is the construction promoted by Addis Abeba of a dam which will reroute the Blue Nile and questions a 1959 treaty on water exploitation. ‘The issue has been dealt with in a very superficial manner’, said the minister concluding that ‘the road is cooperation and negotiations. Building a dam and a number of channels is very expensive. Exploiting rainwater and underground water is much less costly’.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

The Shootings in Egypt Are an Incalculable Boost to Al-Qaeda

by Peter Oborne

As Egyptian security forces shot dead 50 more protesters at yesterday’s big demonstrations, I was at a conference in Istanbul to discuss the country’s future. Egyptian exiles were present, showing deep concern as reported casualties mounted.

An increasing number of journalists and politicians are being forced to leave, and warned that they will be slung into jail if they return home. The security forces have killed well over a thousand protesters, and free speech has ended. Meanwhile the silence from the American and British governments has been deafening…

[Reader comment by ladymoneypenny on 7 October 2013 at 2.01pm.]

I do not understand your point Oborne. You seem a sympathiser for the rebels, mainly Al Quaeda. Or am I mistaken. Most of the people in Egypt, according to a Coptic escapee, a person I know personally, has told me time and again the people prefer the Army as it usually stands for the people.

THEY are NOT the ones brutally killing Christians, and burning the churches. They are NOT the ones forcing Islam on the population if they do not wish it. It is the Muslim Brotherhood and their ilk and they are being supplied by all those sympathisers like Obama who wants them to win.

Stop the arms selling and giving aid to these murderers. Stop this MB bloodshed and let the people decide. I am sick of this bowing and pandering to these islamic terrorists

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

As Syrian Refugees Develop Roots, Jordan Grows Wary

MAFRAQ, Jordan — For Jordan, a small desert nation that is one of the world’s driest, the recent home improvement trends at its biggest camp for Syrian refugees may prove particularly unsettling.

“If the Syrians stay, we will be destroyed,” said Raad al-Nisah, 30, who owns a small coffee stand in Marka, a neighborhood in Amman, the capital. “We will become minorities and guests in our own nation.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Jordan Rejects Israel Request to Build Airport Near Aqaba

(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, OCTOBER 7 — Jordan has refused to allow Israel construct an airport near the port city of Aqaba for aviation safety, a senior civil aviation official said today.

For several years, Israeli authorities have been contemplating to construct an airport near port city of Eilat, which borders Jordan city of Aqaba.

Aqaba is served with King Hussein airport, which is also used for charter flights heading to and from Israel.

In line with international aviation regulations, Israel is required to seek Jordan approval for constructing the airport because location is close to king Hussein airport. But Jordanian officials considered the airport direct threat to safety of the kingdom’s airspace, said director of civil aviation authority, Mohammad Qaran.

“We discovered that the proposed airport does not meet international standards for airports constructed in close proximity,” Qaran was quoted by Petra news agency.

“We informed Israel about our decision and asked them to look for alternative location” he added.

Jordanian officials in Aqaba were concerned that the Israeli airport could pose serious risk on safety of traffic. Currently, king Hussein airport serves south Jordan city of Aqaba and Israel’s city of Eilat.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Kuwait: MPs Propose Death Penalty for Black Magic — Major Cause of Family Problems

Several MPs demanded stricter penalties against sorcery and witchcraft as well as tougher measures to prevent smuggling of black magic paraphernalia. Meanwhile, at least one lawmaker suggested that Kuwait adopt the death penalty against those convicted of practicing witchcraft and sorcery similar to Saudi Arabia.

Black magic is recognized in Islam as mostly involving communication with jinn; supernatural beings mentioned in the Holy Quran and often linked to evil. Islam forbids practicing witchcraft and sorcery. “Since these practices are haram (prohibited by the Islamic Sharia), efforts should be taken to tackle the spread of this phenomenon in our society”, MP Ahmad Al-Azmi told Al-Rai on Sunday. He further blamed “citizens of certain expatriate nationalities” of “bringing their malicious ideas to our country”, and called for a “strong punishment in accordance with Sharia”.

Meanwhile, MP Mohammad Al-Enizy announced presenting a draft law to set a fiveyear jail sentence for people convicted in cases of witchcraft and sorcery, which can be extended to 15 years “if people were negatively affected by their actions”. “Practicing black magic has increased lately and is the cause of many family problems”, he said. “These practices are prohibited and sometimes classified in Sharia in the same category as blasphemy”.

MP Hmoud Al-Hamdan said in the meantime that he is preparing a draft to initiate death penalty against people who practice black magic. MP Dr Abdurrahman Al-Jeeran also identified capital punishment as “the penalty that most scholars agreed is most suitable for witchcraft and sorcery”. In another development, MP Dr Yousif Al- Zalzelah announced that he would not participate in any grilling motions against HH the PM Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak. “The PM is open to all opinions and welcomes dialogue with everybody to bridge gaps on all issues”, he underlined. Meanwhile, parliamentary sources said that a Cabinet reshuffle would be announced soon after two ministers refused ministerial portfolios and three Cabinet members were dismissed. The sources confirmed that the news about the reshuffle was 100 percent true and that highranking sources spoke of the reshuffle with some MPs.

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Qatar Threatens to Sue Guardian Over 2022 World Cup Exposé

Vice minister Al Mulla slams it as ‘conspiracy’

(ANSAmed) — DOHA, OCTOBER 8 — Qatari Deputy Labour Minister Hussain Al Mulla slammed as a ‘conspiracy’ a report denouncing the abuse of Nepalese migrant workers employed in the construction of stadiums and infrastructures for the 2022 World Cup to be hosted by Qatar recently published by British daily the Guardian. Al Mulla announced that his government intends to take legal action against the newspaper over the expose’.

In an interview to Doha daily Al Raya, Al Mulla denounced as ‘false’ the Guardian’s report. ‘If a foreign media outlet slanders Qatar and publishes negative propaganda, it crosses a red line’, he said. ‘It is necessary to investigate and show the world the truth’.

The Guardian published data provided by the Nepalese embassy in Doha according to which 44 Nepalese workers died from June 4 until August 8 this year. Al Mulla claimed casualties were 15 instead and said the death toll was not alarming. The newspaper denounced workers’ rights violations including unpaid salaries but the Qatari deputy minister said Nepalese workers ‘send billion of dollars home each year’.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Qatar: Citizens Protest Zidane Headbutt Statue as UN-Islamic

Calls for fatwa and removal of offensive depiction

(ANSAmed) — DOHA, OCTOBER 8 — Qatari citizens have called for Adel Abdessemed’s statue “Coup de Tete” (Head Butt) to be removed because it is offensive to Islam.

The five-meter statue depicting footballer Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest during the 2006 World Cup has been placed on the Corniche, a symbolic Doha location.

The statue is an invitation to idolatry, and Islam forbids making statues and depicting animals and people, protesters claimed. “We want a legitimate fatwa from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs against this statue! Because statues are not allowed in Islam and Zidane’s action was unethical”, one commentator wrote on Twitter.

“Who is this Zidane, to be honored with this statue? And what did he do for Qatar? Is it right that anyone who deserves to be honored should be honored against our religion and our creed?” wrote another.

In this conservative Islamic country that practices sharia or Koranic law, citizens don’t understand why the government has decided to erect a statue of two men, which is also a violation of Islamic principles.

The October 10 opening of a cycle of 14 Damien Hirst installations is bound to be controversial as well: titled “The Miraculous Journey”, it represents the phases of life and includes depictions of naked newborns. The show was organized by Qatar Museums Authority Chairperson Al-Mayassa, sister to the ruling emir.

“I think the cultural differences are a bit hard. There would be no issue with representing naked newborn in England. This is the first nude sculpture in the Middle East, and Sheikha Al-Mayassa has been very brave”, Hirst told the Doha News. “Having something like this is less bold than having a lot of nudity. There is a verse in the Koran on the miracle of birth. It is not against our culture or our religion”, Al-Mayassa told the New York Times of the show, Hirst’s first ever exhibition in the Middle East.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Arabia: Preacher Jailed for Torturing Young Daughter to Death

Riyadh, 8 Oct. (AKI) — A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a self-styled preacher to eight years in prison and 800 lashes for torturing his five-year-old daughter to death, according to a report in Dubai-based daily Gulf News.

The court in the city of Hawtat Bani Tamim, 160 kilometres south of Riyadh, also ordered Fayhan Al Gamdi to pay a million Saudi riyals ‘blood money’ to his ex-wife for killing their daughter Luma.

The court sentenced Tamim’s second wife to 10 months in prison and 150 lashes for failing to report to police his brutal abuse of Luma, Saudi daily Al Sharq reported on Tuesday, quoting a Human Rights Commission activist.

Luma died a local hospital intensive care unit of a fractured skull and other injuries.

The child had been whipped, subjected to electric shocks and branded with a red-hot iron, according to medical reports.

Under Saudi laws, the mother has the right to ask for blood money instead of the death penalty for the defendant, according to Gulf News.

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

Turkey: Ankara Builds Wall Along Its Border With Syria

To stem illegal migration and prevent spillover of violence

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 7 — Turkey is building a two-metre high wall along part of its border with Syria near an area of frequent fighting to try to stop people from illegally by passing its checkpoints and prevent smuggling, Turkish media report quoting government officials as saying on Monday.

The wall would span just a fraction of the 900-km border, but highlights Ankara’s growing concern about the spillover of violence from northern Syria, a battleground for myriad armed groups in a scramble to grab territory. Turkey, which is sheltering around a quarter of the 2 million people who have fled Syria’s conflict, is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fiercest critics and a staunch supporter of the rebels fighting against him. It has vowed to maintain its “open door” policy to those fleeing the fighting, although it has closed border crossings from time to time following clashes near the frontier. But refugees, smugglers and rebel fighters have been able to cross the border undetected in many remote areas, bypassing the main gates and leaving Turkey with a major security challenge.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey: Headscarves for Public Officials Legalized

National daily oath for students also removed

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 8 — Turkey’s government has officially lifted the ban on wearing a headscarf for public-sector workers and ended the reading of the national oath, which non-Turks have criticized for its nationalist language, in the country’s schools, as daily Hurriyet online reports. Kurds and other groups have long been angered by much of the oath, which ends with the phrase “Ne Mutlu Turkum Diyene” (How happy is he who says “I am a Turk”). According to the publication of the resolutions in the Official Gazette late yesterday, public officials will be permitted to don a headscarf, with the exception of officials wearing a uniform, meanwhile the Ministry of National Education has removed an article that required primary school students to tell an oath every weekday. The decision also was published in the Official Gazette late on Monday and entered into force. The student oath has been in force since 1933. The decision was unveiled by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 30 September as part of a wide range of reforms package. The secondary school students quit telling the oath last year. The student oath was as the following: “I am a Turk, honest and hardworking. My principle is to protect the younger to respect the elder, to love my homeland and my nation more than myself. My ideal is to rise, to progress. Oh Great Ataturk! On the path that you have paved, I swear to walk incessantly toward the aims that you have set. My existence shall be dedicated to the Turkish existence.

How happy is the one who says “I am a Turk!”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UAE: Dubai Sets Out to Become Capital of Islamic Economy

Economic development to focus on 7 areas

(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, OCTOBER 7 — Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktum and officials working in the emirate’s economy and institutions this past weekend launched a drive to become the capital of Islamic finance through diversification. With a clear reference to Islam’s “five pillars”, the economic plan is divided into “seven pillars”: finance, halal (i.e. in line with Islamic precepts) industries and tourism, the digital economy, the promotion of arts and fashion, the establishment of a standards and certification centre and an international centre for information and education — all rigorously Islamic. The total gross domestic product of the world’s Islamic nations is more than USD 8 trillion, equal to 11% of world GDP, with some 1.6 billion Muslims among potential consumers.

While over the past few decades it has been limited to specialist financial circles, Islamic finance has recently gained ground and currently enjoys a steadily rising 24% annual growth rate.

The 46 different initiatives that the plan includes will all be up and running in 2014. Some, such as the Dubai Global Sukuk (bonds) Center or the Global Islamic Economy Summit, are already operative. Two areas will be given particular attention. The first is the banking and financial sector, with the development of an operating and legislative platform that fills some of the current gaps and consolidates Dubai as a centre of excellence for the Islamic economy. The second is the promotion of halal industries — from food products to cosmetics, from pharmaceuticals to textiles and tourism. The World Halal Forum estimates this market to be worth some 2.3 billion dollars worldwide, with food products totalling 700 billion dollars per year. Many of the emirate’s hotels already refuse to serve alcohol and offer menus strictly in line with religious precepts, as well as related other services for religious observance. Italy has also made use of its solid position for international certification. In 2012 Halal Italia, the certification agency for Italian products made in conformity with Islamic precepts, received official recognition, enabling it to enter the Gulf market. In 2010, export value for the region was at 50 billion dollars.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Bangladesh: Blast in Qur’anic School Reveals Bomb and Weapon Factory

The madrasah was run by Hefajat-e-Islam, an Islamic fundamentalist group that has been very active in recent months. Amid the rubbles, police found homemade bombs and explosive material. A 25-year-old student died as a result of the explosion; six others were injured.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) — One person was killed and six were seriously wounded in an explosion yesterday morning in Chittagong at a madrasah (Qur’anic school) that belongs to Hefajat-e-Islam, an Islamic fundamentalist group that is very active in Bangladesh.

According to police, the educational facility was used to manufacture bombs and weapons. Agents found traces of explosive devices as well as three crude bombs, more than 30 homemade grenades and 18 bottles of picric acid.

The victim, Mohammed Habib, was 25-year-old. The six people injured tried to hide and get medical care covertly, but police found them and took them to hospital where they are under constant watch.

Police also issued a warrant for the arrest of seven people, including Nayeb-e-Ameer Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury, 70, founder of the madrassa. He is affiliated with the Islamic militant group Harkatul Jihad al Islami.

According to some experts, various extremist groups plan to disrupt the country’s upcoming general election, scheduled for the end of the year.

Hefajat-e-Islam (Protector of Islam) is one of these many groups, emerging in recent months from within the many madrassas that exist in Bangladesh.

These Islamists support the Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamic Party) and its fight against decisions taken by the country’s war tribunals.

Since February, they have been involved in general strikes (hartal) and violent action, generating tensions within the country despite widespread indifference.

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

India: Stop Creating Muslim Misfits

In the interest of Muslims, there is an urgent need to reform or shut down Darul Uloom Deoband, the internationally known Islamic seminary engendering obscurantism, sectarianism and religious orthodoxies harmful to Muslims. In a recent fatwa, it ruled that Shias, mainly Bohra Muslims, are non-Muslims, violating the egalitarian tenets of the Indian republic. Fatwas are Islamic legal opinions given in response to a query and, while not many Muslims follow them, they do influence the devout ones. The accepted view that no clergy exists in Islam is untrue, as a large number of clerics in Indian villages act as doorkeepers to Muslim minds…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

China to Ditch Its One-Child Policy as Ageing Crisis Looms

China’s new leaders are close to abandoning the country’s one-child policy, belatedly moving to avert an ageing crunch as the work force goes into sharp decline.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

North Korea Puts Troops on War Footing and Warns of “Horrible Disaster”

Pyongyang has put its forces put on high alert after U.S. warships entered the South Korean port of Busan in preparation for a joint military exercise with Seoul and Tokyo.

On Monday Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Pyongyang regime, called the exercise a “bellicose attempt to escalate the situation on the Korean Peninsula […] by openly threatening it with nukes,” referring to the presence of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. (The U.S. has a policy of neither confirming nor denying whether its ships are equipped with nuclear armaments.)

A North Korean military spokesman said that the U.S. would be “wholly accountable for the unexpected horrible disaster” that faced its “imperialist aggression forces.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Australian-Born Radical Muslim Arrested Over Near-Fatal Shooting at Aarows Sex Club

AN Australian-born man known to intelligence authorities for his extreme religious views has been charged over an alleged near-fatal shooting outside a sex club in Sydney’s northwest earlier this year.

Milad Bin Ahmad Shah al-Ahmadzai, 23, will appear before Goulburn Local Court today over the May 1 shooting and ambush of a 52-year-old man outside the Aarows nightclub on Bridge St, Rydalmere. The establishment is a 24-hour gay, bisexual and swingers club.

Ahmadzai was arrested at Goulburn prison yesterday and briefly appeared before a magistrate.

The victim sustained significant injuries during the ambush, including extensive damage to his back, foot, and groin.

He was walking back to his car about 1am when the alleged incident unfolded, with CCTV capturing the two men with their faces concealed firing a number of shots.

Aarows nightclub is a 24-hour gay, bisexual and swingers club in Bridge Street, Rydalmere. Source:Supplied

Ahmadzai has been under investigation by the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad’s Strike Force Maloney ever since , which is still searching for two accomplices.

He was charged with shooting with intent to murder, discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault in company with intent to rob while armed with a dangerous weapon, steal motor vehicle, damage property by fire and take/drive conveyance without consent of owner.

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
 

Central African Republic: Rebel-Backed Muslims, Christians Clash, Killing 14

BANGUI, Central African Republic — Fourteen people have been killed in violent clashes between Christians and Muslims in an isolated town in eastern Central African Republic that began last week, police and a senior Catholic official said yesterday. The mineral-rich but poor nation has descended into chaos since northern Seleka rebels seized the capital, Bangui, and ousted President Francois Bozize in March.

Residents of Bangassou, almost 500 miles east of Bangui, said Seleka fighters had backed the town’s Muslims during the clashes, in which four people were killed on Saturday. “All four of those killed were from the Christian community,” Bangassou’s Catholic bishop, Juan Jose Aguirre, said. Clashes initially broke out on Tuesday after Christians organized a march to protest against abuses by Seleka’s predominantly Muslim fighters based in the town, said Bangassou police official Edouard Mbiga. Muslim community members, backed by Seleka fighters, brought out weapons and blocked the march, Mbiga said. The situation deteriorated and there were 10 deaths on both sides.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Extremists Kill Seven Civilians in Nigerian Mosque

DAMBOA (Nigeria): Gunmen believed to be Islamic militants lured Muslims with a call to prayer and gunned them down as they entered the mosque in Damboa village in the latest killings reported in an Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria, residents and officials said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Kenya Identifies Mall Attackers, Including American

(CNN) — A spokesman for the Kenya Defense Forces has identified four terrorists who took part in the deadly Nairobi mall attack last month. They are: Khattab al-Kene, an American Somali; Abu Baara al-Sudani, from Sudan; Omar Nabhan, from Kenya; and a man identified only as Umayr.

Kenya’s Counter-Terrorism Office said Nabhan was related to former senior Al Qaeda in Somalia operative, Saleh Ali Nabhan, who was killed in a U.S. strike in southern Somalia in 2009. Both men were from Mombasa, Kenya.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Brazil: Teachers’ Rio Protest Turns Into Pitched Battle

(AGI) Rio de Janeiro, Oct 8 — A street protest mounted by around 10,000 teachers in Rio de Janeiro turned into a pitched battle between police and 200 anarchists who had infiltrated the procession. Barricades were set up, Molotov cocktails thrown and tear gas deployed. The clashes broke out when the demonstrators attepted to enter the city chambers. A bus was set alight and the American Consulate was damaged by vandals throwing Molotov cocktails. The protest had got off to a peaceful start. Teachers in Rio have been striking for several days over municipal approval of a promotions and wage adjustments programme approved by the city council.

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

WikiLeaks Founder Embraces Castro’s Cuba

Julian Assange is bracing for a new film, The Fifth Estate, which raises the question of whether the founder of WikiLeaks is a “hero” or “traitor.” But the film, scheduled for release on October 18, has been overtaken by events. Assange, supposedly an advocate of freedom of the press, has made common cause with one of the worst violators of press freedom in the world today — Castro’s Cuba.

This alliance with Cuba proves that Assange is a traitor to the cause of freedom of the press and a free society.

Operating from within the London embassy of the Marxist government of Ecuador, where he has been living for over a year, Assange recently participated in an on-line video conference with “journalists” from Castro’s Cuba, and wore a yellow ribbon in solidarity with the “Cuban Five” who were sentenced to prison in the U.S. for spying for Castro.

Assange also used the occasion to denounce the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba as “immoral.”

The hypocrisy has caught the attention of Humberto Fontova, whose new book, The Longest Romance: The Mainstream Media and Fidel Castro, has just been released.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A Fifth of Young Workers in Oslo Are Now Swedish

Swedes drawn across the border by the promise of higher salaries now make up a fifth of all young people working in Oslo, new figures from the University of Oslo’s Frisch Centre have shown.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants at Lampedusa Holding Centre Protest at Conditions

UNHCR denounces ‘extreme deterioration’ of situation

(see related stories) (ANSA) — Lampedusa, October 8 — Exasperated migrants held at a reception centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa protested at their conditions on Tuesday.

Migrants threw mattresses outside and tried to block departing buses after cramped conditions were rendered more difficult by several days of rain.

“We are tired of living this way, like animals,” they said.

Security forces present inside the centre kept the chaos from escalating further, though tension remained high.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR’s representative in Italy blasted deteriorating conditions at the centre, and called for immediate action, not just for the 155 survivors of last week’s shipwreck in which over 300 are feared dead, but for all the migrants kept there who fled wars and persecution in search of safety. “The extreme situation at the center has deteriorated, with entire families forced into the open for three days in the rain in a row, it is absolutely unacceptable,” wrote Lauren Jolles, the UNHCR representative in Italy.

Jolles made three demands — that renovation begin immediately to restore the centre to its original 850-person capacity, that migrants get transferred to other centres within 48 hours of arrival, and the network of migrant centres across Italy be strengthened.

The 850-person migrant centre on Lampedusa has been reduced to a 250-person capacity since a 2011 fire destroyed part of the facility.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Signs Say National Mall Closed, But Immigration Reform Rally is a Go

Even though isolated barricades with “closed” signs remained on the National Mall on Tuesday, the setup for the immigration reform rally said otherwise.

A giant stage with lights and an “Immigration Reform Now” banner was set up in the center of the mall, along with three large portable screens.

On one side of the mall, more than 100 porta potties were set up for protesters who will attend the rally today.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Test Cheating by Children of Asian Immigrants

Education Realist, who has much experience teaching and tutoring children in Silicon Valley, has an interesting post “Asian Immigrants and What No One Mentions Aloud.” She digs into news reports of scandals of cheating on important tests in schools, such as Advanced Placement, and finds a recurrent pattern of disproportionate Asian involvement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why Mexican Governors Are Gung-Ho for Open Borders

When I resided in Mexico, I learned that Mexican society (particularly the political/media/academic complex) strongly supports mass immigration (legal and illegal) to the United States.

Mexican politicians (of all stripes) find emigration quite advantageous, for several reasons.

Emigration allows Mexican politicians to export people rather than solve the problems in Mexico.

When Mexicans get into trouble in the United States, it allows Mexican politicians to score political points by loudly defending the paisanos (fellow Mexicans) while doing nothing concrete to help them.

Not coincidentally, immigration facilitates the movement of millions of dollars in remittances to Mexico. In fact, it’s one of the country’s biggest sources of income.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ACLU Forces Removal of Portrait of Jesus Christ

Jackson City Schools has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought on the by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The Freedom From Religion Foundation for hanging a portrait of Jesus on school property.

According to the Associated Press, terms of the settlement include the district permanently removing the portrait and paying the organization damages and legal fees totaling nearly six figures.

“Jackson (City Schools) had been maintaining and displaying a portrait of Jesus in public schools for several years. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU both sent a letter to Jackson schools requesting they remove the portrait because in was, in our opinion, clearly a first amendment violation of the establishment clause,” said James Hardiman, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio. “The superintendent issued some statements that he would not take the portrait down absent of court order. Following that statement, we filed a lawsuit.”

[Comment by oldsaltydawg “Those in the groups that sued should be tried for and convicted of Perjury which they are committing by asking for damages and for saying they do not like to take money from schools. The only one hurt by this act of UTTER STUPIDITY are the students and the tax payers. NONE of those suing had anything to do with the school or even the city of Jackson I know because I live near there.” ]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: For 25% of Students: Religion Class Useless

Survey shows ethical debate dominates

(ANSA) — Rome, October 8 — Religion class in school is useless, said about 25% of students surveyed in a study released Tuesday.

In fact, an entire class at a school in Genoa asked to be exempt from taking the religious studies course, says the survey conducted by Skuola.net.

Some students also complained that the course was a waste of tax dollars and one in four students said they treated the hour devoted to religious class as a free period.

The study also found that three in every five students said that religious class time was usually spent discussing such ethical issues as suicide, abortion and euthanasia.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Kuwait: ‘Detect’ Gays by ‘Medical Screening’ At Border

Top health official proposes measure to ban gays

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — The director of public health at the Kuwaiti health ministry has called for barring entry to gays at the border by identifying them through routine clinical screenings of foreigners coming into the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), Gulf News daily reported yesterday.

“We will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states,” Dr. Yussef Mendkar told Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai. The proposal is to be floated at a November 11 meeting of health officials in charge of immigrant workers.

Homosexual acts are banned in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the GCC member countries, as well as in Iran.

In more liberal Lebanon, homosexual acts are punishable with up to a year in prison, although application of the law is elastic. Lebanese censors have banned French film “The Stranger at the Lake” by director Alain Guiraudie from the Beirut Film Festival because it has gay characters.

Bahraini lawmakers have pushed for the adoption of tougher immigration measures against and prompt deportations of gays. In 2011, Bahrain arrested 127 people, mainly gays from the Gulf countries, for holding a fee-paying party in Hidd, a conservative village on Muharraq island in the north of Bahrain.

The party was busted by an undercover cop after neighbors complained the music was too loud. In Kuwait, lesbianism is legal but homosexuality is punishable with up to six years in prison, with the sentence increasing to 10 years if one of the partners is under 21.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Paris to Host 2018 Gay Games in Wake of Debate in France Over Same-Sex Marriage

Paris has won the bid to host the 2018 Gay Games, the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender community’s answer to the Olympics. The Gay Games, which expects more than 15,000 competitors, is held every four years and is taking place this year in the Ohio cities of Cleveland and Akron.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Transforming America’s Schools Into Authoritarian Instruments of Compliance

“To the degree that we take away play, we deprive children of the ability to practise adulthood, and we create people who will go through life with a sense of dependence and victimisation, a sense that there is some authority out there who is supposed to tell them what to do and solve their problems. That is not a healthy way to live.” — psychologist Peter Gray

These days, it is far too easy to rattle off the outrageous examples of zero tolerance policy run amok in our nation’s schools. A 14-year-old student arrested for texting in class. Three middle school aged boys in Florida thrown to the ground by police officers wielding rifles, who then arrested them for goofing off on the roof of the school. A 9-year-old boy suspended for allegedly pointing a toy at a classmate and saying “bang, bang.” Two 6-year-old students in Maryland suspended for using their fingers as imaginary guns in a schoolyard game of cops and robbers. A 12-year-old New York student hauled out of school in handcuffs for doodling on her desk with an erasable marker. An 8-year-old boy suspended for making his hand into the shape of a gun, in violation of the school district’s policy prohibiting “playing with invisible guns.” A 17-year-old charged with a felony for keeping his tackle box in his car parked on school property, potentially derailing his chances of entering the Air Force. Two seventh graders in Virginia suspended for the rest of the school year for playing with airsoft guns in their own yard before school.

Thus, it’s tempting, when hearing about the 7-year-old suspended for chewing his Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun to chalk it up to an isolated example of school officials lacking in common sense. However, as I point out in my book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, these incidents are far from isolated, occurring as they have for the better part of the past 30 years under the guise of maintaining safety and security in the schools. They are part of a concerted, top-down approach to creating a generation of obedient worker-bees content to be directed, distracted and kept in line.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 10/8/2013

  1. So what is this medical screening going to consist of? Investigating your ring?

    Hardly seems practical now does it?

    In order to prevent gay people from entering the country, you’ll have bunches of naked guys standing around with their trousers round their ankles & other guys with latex gloves & a tube of KY fingering their rear entrances.

    Nothing gay about THAT at all …

  2. Perhaps Quilliam’s new spokesman T’Omi Y’ Axli can explain why we fought to reinstate the Al Shabah family in the First Gulf War in the light of these new Islamic codes on law.

  3. “Jackson City Schools has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought on the by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The Freedom From Religion Foundation for hanging a portrait of Jesus on school property.”

    Wow! How did they know? Do they have a Jesus photograph somewhere. This stuff reminds me of the South Park hoo-hah over Mohammed. You remember? The South Park guys showed a giant Easter bunny in the cartoon. The characters in the cartoon said said that the Easter bunny wasn’t really an Easter bunny, it was actually Mohammed dressed in an Easter bunny suit. The Muslims got freaked out because it was “portraying Mohammed.

    So mess with the ACLU’s head. Tell them the painting isn’t Jesus, since no one knows what Jesus looks like. Tell them that the painting is Elmer Jones, a Cincinnati artist’s model from back in 1947 when was originally painted.

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