Hundreds of Indians (from the Subcontinent, not Native Americans) have entered the USA illegally to seek political asylum by crossing the border from Mexico. Some experts think that one of the reasons for the trend is that more Indians can afford the approximately $35,000 it takes to pay the people smugglers to bring them in. The fact that many Latin American countries don’t require visas may also help account for the new migration pattern.
In news from Paris, the man who allegedly fired shots in two separate incidents on Monday, critically wounding one man, has been identified and taken into custody. The incident has a Mohammed Coefficient of 0%, but the suspect’s name — Abdelhakim Dekhar — seems somewhat culturally enriched.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, Steen, 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.
Almost Six in 10 Italians See Themselves as Worse Off
But overall life-satisfaction levels steady
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — Almost six in 10 people in recession-hit Italy see themselves as worse off, national statistics agency Istat said in a report Wednesday.
The agency said 58.6% of people told a survey that their economic situation had deteriorated, compared to 55.8% in a study last year.
“The decline (in the economic situation) was general across that nation, although it was greater in the north,” Istat said.
The agency added, however, that overall life-satisfaction levels were steady at an average of 6.8 out of 10, the same as in 2012.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
By Timothy Lavin
Congress got to hear a lot of nice things about Bitcoin from regulators this week. The cryptocurrency’s market price has also touched record highs. If you think either development is good news for Bitcoin, you’re missing the point.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fake Employment Numbers — And 5 More Massive Economic Lies the Government is Telling You
According to a whistleblower that has recently come forward, Census employees have been faking and manipulating U.S. employment numbers for years. In fact, it is being alleged that this manipulation was a significant reason for why the official unemployment rate dipped sharply just before the last presidential election. What you are about to read is incredibly disturbing. The numbers that the American people depend upon to make important decisions are being faked.
ut should we be surprised by this? After all, Barack Obama has been caught telling dozens of major lies over the past five years. At this point it is incredible that there are any Americans that still trust anything that comes out of his mouth. And of course it is not just Obama that has been lying to us. Corruption and deception are rampant throughout the entire federal government, and this has been the case for years. Now that some light is being shed on this, hopefully the American people will respond with overwhelming outrage and disgust…
Well, is it really such a big deal that some of the unemployment numbers were faked?
After all, hasn’t the unemployment rate been consistently going down anyway?
Unfortunately, as you will see below, that is simply not the case. The following are five massive economic lies that the government has been telling you…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Fears New Troika Demands
Regarding suspensions and dismissals of civil servants
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS — With negotiations between the Greek government and the troika at a critical phase, today’s meeting between the Minister of Administrative Reform and the creditor representatives has caused some concern amongst government officials, who fear the possibility of additional troika demands. As daily To Vima online reports, the Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis believes that Greece has a solid case regarding reforms in the public sector: the list of the 12,500 civil servants comprising the first wave of suspensions is complete, the plans for the second wave of suspensions are being drafted, the target of 2,000 dismissals in September has been met and the evaluation of ministries and the organizations they oversee is going according to plan. The Minister of Administrative Reform hopes that the troika will take into consideration the progress and allow the two-month extension requested for the second wave of suspensions in the public sector. Mitsotakis has made the request in order to locate superfluous staff by using “rational criteria”. Despite the optimism though, there is a distinct possibility that the troika representatives will pose a number of additional demands, such as a complete list of dismissals up to 2014, which includes 4,000 dismissals from 2013 and 11,000 in 2014. The troika has expressed its doubts about the Minister’s claims regarding dismissals, since Mitsotakis has included ERT employees (before NERIT has even been finalized), contracted workers on “temporary orders” and the employees at defense industries EAS and ELVO. The next round of dismissals is likely to affect organizations and bodies supervised by the Ministries, local government and other public sector services (such as insurance funds and transportation).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Recession Will Continue Into 2014, OECD Says
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, NOVEMBER 20 — The recession in Greece is predicted to continue in 2014 and the economy will not recover before 2015, as GreekReporter website writes quoting an OECD report (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) published on Tuesday. OECD predicts recovery of the Greek economy in 2015, with a rate of 1.8%. As noted in the report, the development of the Greek economy is expected to return to positive levels from quarter to quarter during 2014. This forecast is based on the premise that competitiveness, exports and investments will increase. However, the domestic demand will be reduced because of the continuing efforts for fiscal consolidation and the low bank balance sheets. The negative aspect is that unemployment will remain high and so inflation will be kept in negative rates.
OECD advises however that fiscal consolidation should continue as planned due to the high level of debt. However, if growth proved less than expected, automatic stabilizers will be allowed to operate. The organization leaves the possibility open of a new debt reduction so that the sustainability of public finances is ensured. The report estimates that the reforms already made regarding the markets will improve the price competitiveness and the redistribution of resources to activities with an international orientation, even if additional reforms are required. Finally, a more efficient and fair tax system is a prerequisite for economic growth and social integration. The organisation estimates that in 2013, the budget deficit will stand at 2.4% of GDP, in 2014, at 2.2% of GDP and in 2015 at 1.4% of GDP.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Measuring Misery: Dollar and the New Fed Chair Janet Yellen
Because dollar bills are printed by the Federal Reserve without anything of real value to back them up and because even more dollars are loaned into existence by Federal Reserve member banks, the ones you have in your pocket are constantly losing their buying power. It’s like if you were playing a game of Monopoly and one of the players could simply print money and spend it into the game whenever he ran out.
Every time more worthless Monopoly currency is introduced, the value of the currency that is already in the game goes down because it is competing for the same properties on the game board.
In just this way, the Federal Government, in a criminal partnership with the Federal Reserve, has been devaluing the dollars that private folks work for and save.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
By Unilaterally Changing ObamaCare, Obama is Making a Mockery of the Constitution
Since when can a president change a law all by himself? By unilaterally declaring that certain provisions of Obamacare will not be enforced, Barack Obama is making a mockery of the U.S. Constitution. For those that have not read it, the U.S. Constitution says that the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed”. So when Obama declares that he will not enforce certain provisions of Obamacare for a year, he is directly violating the Constitution.
And as Stanford Law School Professor Michael McConnell wrote back in July, the Office of Legal Counsel for the Justice Department “has always insisted that the president has no authority, as one such memo put it in 1990, to ‘refuse to enforce a statute he opposes for policy reasons.’“ This is an open and shut case. If the U.S. Congress still had a shred of respect for the Constitution, they would immediately demand that Obama enforce the law as written. If Obama refused, they should immediately impeach him. We are a country that is run by the rule of law, and just because Obama’s new law completely screws up one-sixth of the economy does not mean that he can unilaterally change it. In our system, Congress makes the laws and the president enforces them. If we allow any president to unilaterally change laws whenever he does not like them, then that puts us dangerously close to having a dictator in the White House.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cockpit Computers Are Sapping Pilots’ Ability to Fly
Who’s flying your plane? Pilots’ manual flying skills have become dangerously eroded because they rely too much on automated systems. That’s one conclusion of a leaked report on air safety commissioned by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dept. of Education Spent $20.3 Million on 10 Equity Centers to Fight the ‘Isms’
(CNSNews.com) — The Department of Education (DOE) spent $20,396,892 over the last three years to set up and staff 10 Equity Assistance Centers (EACs) across the United States that work with school districts and state boards of education to fight “all of the —isms, like racism, ableism, orientation, etc.,” Velma Cobb, director of the EAC at Touro College in Lower Manhattan, told CNSNews.com.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Event to Explain Many Islam Misconceptions
This Thursday, ECU’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) will host Sheikh Ahmad Musa Jibril for a passport event titled “Muslims Love Jesus” at 5:30 p.m. in Bate 1032.
Sheikh Ahmad is a well-known and respected scholar in the Islamic community. He holds a degree in the Shari’a from the Islamic University of Madina, and a JD/LLM (Masters of Law) degree from Michigan Law School. He currently resides in Michigan. Durkhanai Khan, a volunteer for ECU MSA, said the event is a way of addressing some of the misconceptions people have about the Islamic faith, the hijab, oppression in their religion, and their view of Jesus.
“My friend came up with the idea for the event to try to do something that will clear up misconceptions,” said Khan. “Especially since there’s a lot of things that people don’t know about Islam…we want people to get to understand what Islam is and not what the media portrays.” Khan said the event is all about awareness and education. “We’re not trying to convert people, we’re not trying to do anything other than making people understand and telling people who we are. If they really get to understand what Islam is, they’ll see it’s actually a peaceful religion,” said Khan…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Father Arrested for Trying to Pick Kids Up From School
“You don’t need a reason as a parent to go get your children, they are our children”
A father was arrested for attempting to pick his kids up from school in a startling new example of how the state is increasingly treating children as its own property.
Making a stand against what he considered a dangerous and illegal new school policy that forces parents to wait in a line of cars outside until children are released at 2:35pm, Jim Howe tried to walk his kids out of South Cumberland Elementary but was arrested and now faces charges of disorderly conduct.
“You don’t need a reason as a parent to go get your children. They are our children,” Howe states in a video of the incident…
Video footage of the outside of the school clearly illustrates Howe’s point. The school has enforced a ludicrous policy which forces children to walk out into moving traffic rather than have their parents safely escort them to the car…
Critics of the encroaching nanny state will see this as yet another example of how the government treats children as its own property while parents’ rights are eviscerated.
This collectivist ideal was encapsulated earlier this year when college professor and MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry caused an outcry amongst conservatives by stating, “We have to break through our private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families,” as part of a promotional video for an MSNBC campaign entitled ‘Lean Forward’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Schools Won’t Censor Textbook Over Islam
After weeks of controversy and hours of debate, the Volusia County School district in Florida, decided to keep using a world history textbook that upset parents about its coverage of Islam. Critics suggest that the textbook in question, “World History,” whitewashes the history of Islam, especially as it relates to the 9-11 attacks, and is not as critical about Islam as it is about Christianity.
The controversy began in early November after parents posted their concerns on Facebook. They also tried to organize a rally ahead of the November 5 district meeting. That meeting was canceled over security concerns. Brian Vaughn, a Student Government representative at Spruce Creek High School, turned in a petition signed by more than 500 students from five high schools in support of the textbook and curriculum. The petition says: “We hope that the School Board will respect our voices in the process of education and reject voices of intolerance and censorship.”
During the hearing, the district did not take a formal vote, only saying that the book will continue to be used. Board member Linda Costello says she will continue to push for amore thorough review. Volusia County is close to Dayton Beach, Florida.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
George W. Bush Says Brother Jeb Should Run for President ‘If He Wants To’
In one of the few television interviews he’s granted since his departure from office, former President George W. Bush said that his brother, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, should “run for President if he wants to. He’d be a great one.” The 43rd president made the comments in an interview with Jay Leno Tuesday on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” where he appeared with his wife Laura.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Georgetown University to Host Member of Egypt’s Nazi Party
Will participate in event with Muslim Brotherhood leaders
Georgetown University is scheduled to host an event on Egypt that features a member of Egypt’s Nazi Party. Georgetown University’s Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Center for Christian Muslim Understanding is scheduled to host a Dec. 5 event on “Egypt and the Struggle for Democracy.” The event features a slew of speakerssympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Coptic Christian Ramy Jan, who cut his teeth on the Egyptian political scene as a member of the country’s Nazi Party, according to multiple sources. The event is scheduled to take place all day at Georgetown’s ICC auditorium and feature a keynote address by Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.)…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Healthcare.gov ‘May Already Have Been Compromised, ‘ Security Expert Says
Not only is healthcare.gov at risk, it may already have been compromised, a security expert testified before the Senate.
“Hackers are definitely after it,” said David Kennedy, CEO of information security firm TrustedSEC before a House Science, Space, and Technology committee hearing on security concerns surrounding the problematic Healthcare.gov website.
“And if I had to guess, based on what I can see … I would say the website is either hacked already or will be soon.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mars Meteorite Reveals 1st Look at Ancient Martian Crust
A meteorite found last year in the Sahara Desert is likely the first recognized piece of ancient Martian crust, a new study reports.
The Mars meteorite NWA 7533 is 4.4 billion years old and contains evidence of long-ago asteroid strikes, suggesting that the rock came from the Red Planet’s ancient and cratered southern highlands, researchers said.
“We finally have a sample of the Martian highlands, that portion of Mars that holds all the secrets to Mars’ birth and early development,” lead author Munir Humayun of Florida State University told SPACE.com via email.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Disdain for the Constitution Means We Risk Losing Our Republic
Since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, he has changed it five times. Most notably, he suspended the employer mandate last summer. This is widely known, but almost no one seems to have grasped its significance.
The Constitution authorizes the President to propose and veto legislation. It does not authorize him to change existing laws. The changes Mr. Obama ordered in Obamacare, therefore, are unconstitutional. This means that he does not accept some of the limitations that the Constitution places on his actions. We cannot know at this point what limitations, if any, he does accept.
By changing the law based solely on his wish, Mr. Obama acted on the principle that the President can rewrite laws and — since this is a principle — not just this law, but any law. After the crash of Obamacare, many Congressmen have implored the President to change the individual mandate the same way he had changed the employer mandate, that is, to violate the Constitution again.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
by Pawan Bali
We all sat in a circle, surrounded by the tranquility of a richly decorated mosque in Washington, D.C. We were for once away from all schisms- of religion, faith and nations. Ten American students, a Pakistani professor and an Indian journalist- we all sat in a circle to explore the space where divides end, and our unity begins. For these students at American University, the experience was a novel one—for most of them, it was their first ever visit to a mosque. Our group was a concoction of identities — Native Americans, Roman Catholics, Moroccan Jews, and me, a Sikh from the Indian side of Kashmir…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Racist Kimathi Remains in Government for Good Reason
Racism is an eminently effective tool. Its ugly dynamic is used by the ruling cabal and its propaganda machine to demonize political enemies and keep the fires of division burning. It is now virtually impossible to criticize the teleprompter reader Obama because to do so is uniformly and predictably portrayed by the government and its corporate media as the ravings of lunatic racists. The race card is nothing short of political genius.
Let us consider the case of Ayo Kimathi, the rabid white-hating racist who works for the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Kimathi is behind a website calling for a race war dedicated to “properly educating Black people to prepare for Racial Warfare.” The website argues that in “order for Black people to survive the 21st century, we are going to have to kill a lot of whites — more than our christian hearts can possibly count.”
Interestingly, Kimathi’s website portrays Obama as a “treasonous mulatto scum dweller.” This derogatory comment has yet to result in Kimathi’s dismissal from a government Obama supposedly oversees.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rising to the Level of Their Own Destruction
“Arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence … not a pretty cocktail of personality traits in the best of situations. No sirree. Not a pretty cocktail in an office-mate and not a pretty cocktail in a head of state. In fact, in a leader, it’s a lethal cocktail.” — Graydon Carter, Editor of Vanity Fair
The Peter Principle is a proposition that states that members of an organization will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability. In politics and politicians, the Peter Principle is expanded to include the adverse affects of power, money and corruption. In the case of the current American president, Barack Hussein Obama, it is abundantly clear that he was promoted (elected … twice) way beyond his limited capabilities of organizing communities. With a multitude of foreign and domestic problems and national scandals bearing down on him and the disaster that is Obama Care, he is floundering in panic, even resorting to the unconstitutional act of changing a law by presidential edict and more lying. His trust and credibility used up in a plethora of lies and distortions that have now been exposed, the true Obama is emerging, an image of a hopelessly flawed man whose past and inadequacies were covered up by a fawning press and an in-attentive, distracted and non-thinking electorate who was hood winked by Obama’s slick, glib and snake-oil oratory.
But in that emergence of the real Obama, something else is being exposed … liberalism and progressivism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Still Blaming Conservatives for Lee Harvey Oswald
by Daniel Pipes
In a brilliant 2006 analysis, Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism (Encounter), James Piereson showed how liberals turned the communist murder of John F. Kennedy, a liberal politician, into a stain on conservatives, and how this distortion then caused liberalism to evolve into the sickly phenomenon it is today. (For my summary of the book, see “Lee Harvey Oswald’s Malign Legacy.”)
As the 50th anniversary of the assassination approaches, liberals are still at it, pinning responsibility for the murder on the far-right culture of Dallas in 1963 and downplaying the ineluctable fact that the communist Lee Harvey Oswald in no way reflected that culture. They just do not give up. Here is an example from today’s New York Times, “Changed Dallas Grapples With Its Darkest Day.” First, Manny Fernandez sets up the right-wing culture of the supposed City of Hate:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Drivers Pulled Over at Random, Told to Turn Over Blood, Saliva Samples
Dozens of Texas drivers have been stopped at a police road block, where they were then directed into a parking lot and forced into surrendering blood, saliva and breath samples in a study that has upset civil liberties advocates.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration admitted it was attempting to conduct a government study meant to determine the number of drunk or drug-impaired drivers on the road at any given time.
“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” Kim Cope, who said she was forced to the side of the road while making her way to lunch, told NBCDFW.com. “I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into the parking spot.”
The tests were made even more mysterious when reporters, alerted to the situation by concerned drivers, were unable to find any officers in the Fort Worth Police Department who had been involved. The NHTSA only admitted its involvement after local media sought answers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Textbooks and Islam: The Finale
I attended the first couple hours of public discussion at Monday’s Volusia County School Board meeting, focused on the world history textbook that contains a chapter about the impact of Islam on civilization. Here’s our story about the meeting.
I’ve already written that I didn’t see anything wrong with the chapter on Islam. I mention this because that fact no doubt filtered my view of the comments various people made at the meeting. That stated, I thought the most thoughtful comments I heard came from Alfred Perkins, who described himself as “an historian, a Christian, a Republican.”
Perkins pointed out that omissions are inevitable in textbooks. If anything, he said, the chapter on Islam leaves out some of the contributions Islam has made to Western civilization in the areas of medicine and literature. Perkins also suggested that perhaps the school district should consider closing the time gap in its teaching of world history. Currently, a 6th-grade book teaches early world history, and contains much more about the influence of Judaism and Christianity. Perkins suggested the four years between the 6th-grade and 10th-grade classes is “too long a gap.” His concern makes sense to me. Regarding those who believe the chapter on Islam should be scrapped, or the curriculum significantly altered, Perkins said he is “dubious about their competence.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The Persecution of Wisconsin Conservatives
For the crime of supporting Gov. Walker, the Left demands blood.
Conservative political entities who supported Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are being subjected to a secret investigation. Special Prosecutor Francis Schmitz has issued a series of subpoenas to 29 conservative groups, demanding that they submit all documentation related to the recall campaigns mounted by unions and their supporters against Walker in 2011 and 2012. The investigation is being conducted under the auspices of the state’s John Doe law, which forbids the targets of subpoenas from revealing the contents of those subpoenas to anyone other than their lawyers.
The effort reeks of political intimidation. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two subpoenas they’ve reviewed demand “all memoranda, email . . . correspondence, and communications” within the targets of the subpoenas themselves, and between those targets and conservative groups such as the Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, and the League of American Voters.
In a transparent effort to determine an entity’s list of campaign donors, one subpoena demands “all records of income received, including fundraising information and the identity of persons contributing to the corporation.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Volusia Schools Will Keep Using History Book
DELAND — A world history textbook that sparked a heated controversy over the way it covers Islam will remain in Volusia County high schools, the School Board decided Monday after hearing four hours of public comments about its merits and shortcomings…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Communists Killed Kennedy
The media’s love affair with Fidel Castro apparently outweighs their love for President John F. Kennedy and his Camelot era. Otherwise, the communist role in the Kennedy assassination would be prominently noted during the 50th anniversary coverage of the JFK assassination.
Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was a communist member of the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee and, after his arrest, tried to reach Communist Party USA attorney John Abt to act as his counsel. “Before Mr. Abt could accept or reject the bid, Mr. Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby,” The New York Times noted.
William J. Murray writes in his book, My Life Without God, that his mother, atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, was a communist who was ordered to report to an office of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and destroy any references in the files to Oswald’s involvement with the group.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mother Fined $10 for Not Including Ritz Crackers in Kids’ School Lunch
Manitoba Government’s Early Learning and Child Care fined mother Kristen Bartkiw $10 because she neglected to include healthful Ritz crackers in her kids’ school lunches. Weighty Matters has more details:
She sent her children to daycare with with lunches containing leftover homemade roast beef and potatoes, carrots, an orange and some milk.
She did not send along any “grains”.
As a consequence the school provided her children with, I kid you not, supplemental Ritz Crackers, and her with a $10 fine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Angry French Farmers Set to Blockade Paris
French farmers are set to bring traffic in the capital to a standstill on Thursday, as their frustration at rising taxes reaches breaking point. Their announcement comes amid widespread protests and an “explosive” social atmosphere in France.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Two Killed in Total Refinery Explosion in Belgium’s Antwerp
BRUSSELS, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — Two people were killed Tuesday afternoon in an explosion at a Total refinery in Antwerp, northern Belgium, confirmed the French oil giant. The explosion occurred in a steam system of a gasoline production unit, Total said in a statement, deploring the death of two employees of a subcontractor company. Earlier reports quoting the company as saying that one people died and two others were missing following the incident which happened at about 1400 GMT. The leakage problem that existed for several days on the valve of a steam turbine should be the cause of the accident, reported local daily Gazet van Antwerpen…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Davos Forum Hires Norway Foreign Minister
The World Economic Forum has snapped up Norway’s former foreign minister Espen Barth Eide, appointing him as a managing director just two months after he stepped down from government.
Eide will be responsible for fostering relations between business and the public sector for the organisation, which is most famous for its annual get-together in the Swiss town of Davos, which brings together much of the global business and political elite.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-UKIP Leader Lord Pearson Warns of Islamist Threat
UK Muslim communities are home to “thousands of potential home-grown terrorists”, former UK Independence Party leader Lord Pearson has warned.
Such people “hate us with frightening religious fervour”, he said during a parliamentary debate on Islam.
Sharia law was “running de facto in our land” and calls for violence were not simply coming from a “few extremists”.
But faith minister Baroness Warsi said Lord Pearson was either “ignorant” or attempting to “distort” views of Islam.
Lord Pearson, who led UKIP from 2009 to 2010, called a special Westminster debate on Islam…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
First European-Made Drone With Finmeccanica’s Participation
First OK from ministers, also to be used on border patrols
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 20 — Europe will be manufacturing drones. Starting from the next decade, small, unmanned planes produced by Eads, Dassault and Finmeccanica will fly over the EU (and third countries which are potential clients) on military and civilian missions like border patrols and the fight against illegal immigration in the Mediterranean.
Seven European countries — Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Netherlands — have agreed to launch joint drone projects with the aim of producing the next generation of unmanned aircraft on a European scale as of 2020.
Defence ministers in Brussels approved a project to develop Male drones (medium altitude, long duration) which must now be approved — though the green light is considered a given — by heads of state and government at a summit in December which will be partly devoted to defence.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) was entrusted with a research programme on the civilian and military use of drones, considering for example how useful they would be in monitoring the Mediterranean.
Drones are essential in defence missions but are currently also used by real estate dealers to photograph properties on sale. They are currently produced only by the US and Israel.
As the sector is expanding, the European initiative intends to provide an alternative to US Raptor and Predator and Israeli SpyLite drones and do so very quickly. Iran is also working to produce its own drones: a prototype was recently presented to the press called Fotrso, a very big drone inspired by a Predator which recently crashed in Iran due to technical problems which Tehran claims it captured.
US drones have become sadly famous in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen as they were involved in operations to kill Islamic militants and activists wanted by the US.
Under President Barack Obama, unmanned aircrafts have become essential in the fight against international terrorism as they are very effective and spare the lives of US soldiers.
Their use however is also controversial with dozens, perhaps hundreds of civilian victims, ‘collateral damage’ or a war crime for some. US military drones are manned by expert pilots thousands of kilometers away from one of 22 US bases with special Joysticks (some are located in the desert) or in the Ramstein base in Germany.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: DNA of Paris Shooting Suspect is a Match: Prosecutor
DNA samples taken at the scenes of two shootings in the French capital on Monday were matched with a suspect arrested by police, the Paris prosecutor announced on Thursday. The man, named as Abdelhakim Dekhar, was jailed in 1998 for a gun crime.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gibraltar Backs UK Navy Deterrent in Ship Row
Gibraltar’s chief minister said on Wednesday he had urged Britain to deploy heavyweight navy assets to deter Spanish ships from incursions into its territorial waters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Graphene: The Quest for Supercarbon
Graphene’s dazzling properties promise a technological revolution, but Europe may have to spend a billion euros to overcome some fundamental problems.
Mr G gazes out from a recruitment poster hanging in an engineering building in Cambridge, UK. His cartoon cape billows out behind him, his sketched-in muscles ripple beneath his costume, his chest is emblazoned with a ‘G’ inside a hexagon — and his forefinger points straight at the viewer. “I want you for the Graphene Flagship!” declares the cartoon crusader, championing a material as super as he is.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Back to EU Court for Waste Water, Brussels Asked Fine
Proposed over 47,000 euros per day until situation is legal
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 20 — The European Commission is referring Greece back to the European Court of Justice for poor treatment of urban waste water, putting human health at risk.
The EU Commission is therefore asking the EU Court to impose fines, suggesting a lump sum of 11.514.081 euros and a daily penalty payment of 47.462 euros until the obligations are fulfilled. The final amount of the daily penalties will be decided by the Court. The lack of treatment means that the health of residents is being put at risk, as untreated waste water can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and viruses.
Untreated waste water also contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous which can damage the marine environment by promoting excessive growth of algae that chokes off other life.
Proper waste water treatment is recognised as an important factor in ensuring a thriving tourist industry, a key sector for the Greek economy. Construction works in three agglomerations in eastern Attica, which are co-financed from the EU budget, will not be complete before April 2014 (in Markopoulo), late 2015 (Koropi) and mid-2017 (N. Makri). Construction has begun for a facility in Lefkimmi, Corfu, but two other Attica agglomerations (Artemida and Rafina) have not yet agreed on a location where a facility should be built. Under EU legislation, the last deadline for completing such works was 2005. While fully aware of the difficult situation currently facing Greece, the EU Commission believes that not making this investment now would ultimately entail even higher costs to Greece in the future.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Taxpayer-Funded Mosque Planned in Athens
by Soeren Kern
Opponents of the mosque argue that Greek taxpayers should not be footing the bill for this project at a time when their massively indebted country is dependent upon foreign aid just to stay afloat. The Greek government appears to be worried about thinly veiled threats of violence by thousands of residents in Athens who have been pressuring government ministers to meet their demands to build a mosque or face an uprising.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
High-Speed Barcelona-Paris Trains From 15/12
Work almost finished, says Spain’s infrastructure minister
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 20 — A high-speed rail link (TGV) will connect Barcelona and Paris starting on December 15, Spain’s minister for infrastructure, Ana Pastor, told the Catalan radio station RAC1 Wednesday.
“Everything is expected to be ready for December 15.” The high-speed trains will cut travel time between Barcelona and Paris to 6 hours and 20 minutes. There will be two connections per day.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Matteo Renzi Wants Justice Minister Cancellieri to Resign
(AGI) Rome, Nov 19 — Democratic Party (PD) Secretay candidate Matteo Renzi reiterated his request that Justice Minister Annamaria Cancellieri resign. “The problem is not if she was issued a notice of indictment, which is certainly not a conviction, but the minister has lost the prestige and authority that are the necessary prerequisites to act as justice minister”, Renzi explained on Radio Capital on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Letta Says Obama Wants US to Stop Surveillance of Allies
Premier reports to parliament on NSA activities
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — Premier Enrico Letta said Wednesday that United States President Barack Obama wants his country to stop general surveillance of allied countries.
“Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed to me that the United States president wants to move away from putting into action surveillance of a general nature on communications of the institutions and citizens of allied countries,” Letta told the Lower House.
The premier reported to parliament after leaked documents in the media last month revealed monitoring of communications in allied nations, including those of governments and leaders, by the US National Security Agency.
Letta said it was necessary to have “maximum clarity” in US-Italian relations, while stressing that the American authorities had given guarantees that they had not used their monitoring activities on Italy in a “systematic way”. “It’s necessary to keep the compass of transatlantic relations steady,” Letta said. He added that the Italian intelligence agency checks suggested that Italian government and embassy communications had not been “compromised”. Letta also said the Italian public’s privacy had not been violated by the nation’s own intelligence services as part of their cooperation with foreign agencies.
“Our information services do not intercept data in ways that deviate from the our laws,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Jonella Ligresti Released to House Arrest in Fonsai Fraud
Trial set for December in accounting fraud case at insurer
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — Jonella Ligresti, who was arrested in July as part of a major fraud investigation involving the Fonsai insurance group, was released to house arrest on Wednesday.
Judges in Turin decided to release her to house arrest as investigators continue their probe of members of the family of former insurance magnate Salvatore Ligresti and their dealings with Fonsai.
Salvatore Ligresti and company officers are accused of corruption in the probe into alleged accounting fraud and market manipulation at the troubled Italian insurance group.
A trial date has been set for December for Salvatore and Jonella Ligresti and other suspects, including Fonsai manager Emanuele Erbetta.
The group are accused of involvement in accounting irregularities that enabled Salvatore Ligresti, according to the indictment, to acquire illegal dividends of 200 million euros.
The Ligresti family are the former majority owners of the Fonsai and Milano Assicurazioni insurance companies.
The family has been under additional scrutiny recently because of allegations that Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancelleri used her influence to see Giulia Ligresti released from jail into house arrest.
Cancellieri denied those allegations and won a parliamentary confidence motion on Wednesday.
Earlier this month Cancellieri admitted that she called judicial authorities regarding Giulia Ligresti’s medical state but denied influencing the decision to release her from jail.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Justice Minister Survives Confidence Vote
Cancellieri wins handily after premier backs her
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — Under-fire Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri on Wednesday survived a no-confidence vote for allegedly meddling in a corruption case involving family friends after receiving firm backing from Premier Enrico Letta who faced down his probable future party leader. Cancellieri won the motion, presented by ex-comedian Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), after Letta backed her on Tuesday, quelling many calls for her head from members of his centre-left Democratic Party (PD), the biggest group in parliament.
Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, hot favourite to become PD leader in a December 8 primary, led the calls for Cancellieri to go and challenged Letta not to attend a party meeting Tuesday night, rekindling speculation the fractious party was going to split on the issue. But the premier did attend and his call to support the minister prevailed.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, a former top PD member, had also publicly defended Cancellieri, a respected former city prefect who served as interior minister in the previous technocrat government of Mario Monti.
In the no-confidence vote, the M5S motion was supported by 154 MPs while 405 voted against and three abstained.
Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia and the New Centre Right (NCD) of Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Angelino Alfano — the larger and smaller products of a split in the three-time premier’s recently disbanded People of Freedom party — also backed Cancellieri. Earlier this month she admitted to parliament to calling authorities regarding Giulia Ligresti, a member of a powerful Italian business dynasty headed by Sicilian-born financier Salvatore Ligresti.
Salvatore and Giulia Ligresti along with another daughter, Jonella, were arrested in July for alleged involvement in cooking the books at the Fonsai insurance group.
Cancellieri denied influencing Giulia’s release from jail to house arrest, and insisted she only intervened to look after her health, as the woman had a history of depression and anorexia.
The minister subsequently said she had made similar “humanitarian” calls in 110 other cases.
Prosecutors have said Cancellieri’s interventions had no influence on Ligresti’s release to house arrest, but the pressure on the minister increased after fresh reports of phone conversations with the Ligresti family, including Salvatore’s doctor brother Antonino, emerged.
The minister said she regularly called Antonino about family medical problems.
But Cancellieri’s critics have said it is a case of people with friends in high places receiving better treatment from the Italian justice system than ordinary people.
The minister defended her actions defiantly ahead of the vote.
“I reject any suspicion that there is a class justice system that distinguishes between first and second division citizens, between rich and poor,” the minister told the House. “My duties as minister and my conscience would not have allowed me to behave differently in this case from the way I actually did behave. “There was no unusual zeal, nor were there any anomalies in the timing (of the processes), there was only ordinary activities of prevention that occurred autonomously. “There’s bitterness because my honour and that of my family has been touched. “I trust that parliament wants to confirm its confidence in me,” added Cancellieri, whose speech was greeted by only a ripple of applause. The minister’s son, Piergiorgio Peluso, is a former manager at the insurance group and received a whopping five-million-euro severance payoff after a short spell there.
He became a Swiss citizen shortly before the arrests of his relatives and evaded their fate, another part of the affair that the Italian press have suggested was suspicious.
Shortly after the confidence vote some of Salvatore Ligresti’s statements to prosecutors were leaked to the press, in which he claimed to have influence with media magnate and three-time premier Berlusconi.
In one leak that appeared set to keep the controversy alive, Ligresti allegedly said he successfully intervened on Cancellieri’s behalf to get the then premier to grant her wish to stay as commissioner in Parma after previous, sometimes tough jobs in Vicenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Catania and Genoa.
Cancellieri said the reconstruction of events conveyed in the leak was “false and devoid of all foundation”.
“This is persecution without limit, there is a design that I do not understand”. The case has rekindled debate on the allegedly uncontrolled publication of leaked police wiretaps and statements to prosecutors — especially ones that do not concern criminal activity.
But it has also bolstered concerns that the political class is stilly very out of touch with the public mood after a wave of scandals that has raised disaffection to new heights.
About 80 anticapitalist protesters demonstrated outside PD headquarters after the confidence vote, launching smoke bombs before they were dispersed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ligresti ‘Messenger’ Between Berlusconi, Cancellieri
Probed former Fonsai chairman ‘succeeded’ in helping justice min
(ANSA) — Milan, November 20 — The former honorary chairman of the Fonsai insurance group, under house arrest in a high-profile fraud case, told investigators that he acted as middleman between ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and embattled Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri when she was trying to keep her job as Parma prefect, according to testimony that emerged Wednesday. “I acted as the messenger of then prefect Cancellieri, whose term was running out in Parma, and who wanted to keep her position,” said Salvatore Ligresti, a titan of Italian industry with ties to media mogul Berlusconi. Ligresti added that his intervention was “successful”. Cancellieri was prefect in Parma in 1994, the year Berlusconi rode to political prominence with his center-right Forza Italia party and began his first of three terms as Italian premier. Cancellieri has been at the center of accusations she used her influence earlier this year to help Ligresti’s daughter Giulia out of jail and into house arrest amid suspicions of involvement in cooking the books at Fonsai.
Cancellieri, who has family ties with the Ligrestis, on Wednesday survived a no-confidence motion in the Lower House after allegations of improper meddling in the corruption case.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Smugglers Go Bananas for €60m Cocaine Haul
The 283kg of pure cocaine was found in a container in the north-eastern port of Genoa, news website AGI reported on Wednesday. The haul had been unloaded from a ship exporting bananas from the Dominican Republic and concealed behind a panel welded into the side of the container.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex-Wife Loses Alimony Over ‘Shopping Addiction’
A ruling by Italy’s highest court has denied a woman from Pisa the right to financial support from her ex-husband. The reason? Her “compulsive shopping” was a breach of the marital contract and considered to be on a par with adultery.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Letta Enthusiastic About TAV Italy-France Rail Link
‘Spoke to Hollande also about Turin-Nice line’
(see related) (ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — Rail links between Italy and France are not only a priority, they will promote “osmosis” between the two neighboring countries, Italian Premier Enrico Letta said Wednesday after his summit with French President Francois Hollande.
Protesters earlier clashed with police outside the French embassy in Rome over a controversial cross-border high-speed rail line, known as the TAV, which they say will destroy pristine landscapes and waste public funds.
“Of course we talked about the continuation of the TAV, but we also talked about another important infrastructure project: the Turin-Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nice line”, Letta told reporters. “This will make our countries even more osmotic”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
One-Third of German University Students Live With Parents
(AGI) Berlin, Nov 19 — Germany is experiencing the phenomenon of university students who never leave home. Unlike Italy, where young people increasingly live at home because they cannot find work, in Germany this is the case with university students. Under a front page article entitled “Hotel Mama” a Munich newspaper has dedicated the entire third page to the issue, saying that “university studies were once an adventure,” with the expected obligation of leaving home, but now a quarter of young people at university live with their parents.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
People With Autism More Likely to Hear Colors, See Sounds
People with autism may be more likely than others to have synesthesia, a condition in which people experience a mixing of their senses, such as hearing tastes and shapes, and seeing numbers in colors, a new study from Europe suggests.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stoning to Death is Now a Moderate Position in the UK
by Anne Marie Waters
George Orwell once wrote that “the present political chaos is connected with the decay of language”. Last week’s Orwell Lecture in London was delivered by the mealy-mouthed master of Islamic deception, Tariq Ramadan. Orwell would have recognized the phenomenon.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: ‘Racist’ Christmas Catalogue Sparks Outrage
Swedish department store Åhléns recalled its Christmas catalogue after complaints that two Perler bead figures looked like defamatory blackface figures.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Wild Boar Pack Mounts Road-Rage Attack
Police in central Sweden got a call Tuesday night from a man who was surrounded by a pack of angry wild boars on a country road.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Statoil Sued for Racist Discrimination
Petrol company Statoil is being taken to court by Sweden’s Discrimination Ombudsman after reporters secretly recorded petrol station staff refusing to hire cars to members of the Romani community.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Police Say More Gangs Recruit Children
Criminal gangs in Sweden are recruiting more young people, reports Swedish Radio International. To avoid jail time kids as young as 12 are being used by gang members in their twenties.
A police report says that youth gangs exist in all parts of Stockholm, but especially in the poverty-hit suburbs. Of Sweden’s 21 police authorities 17 confirmed that in their local area children are used by gangs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Jew Applies for Asylum — in Sweden
The problem of anti-Semitism in Malmö, southern Sweden has gained world-wide attention and in a recent survey from the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights, four in five Swedish-Jewish respondents said they are afraid to wear Jewish symbols in public.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Mehrdad Amanpour
Only 2 weeks to go until the Global Peace and Unity Festival (GPU) kicks off. Taking part in the ‘festivities’ (at least according to advance publicity) will be the usual hatemongers, all with form for promoting supremacism, Jew-hatred, misogyny and the now requisite killing of gays and apostates — albeit elsewhere or in an ‘ideal’ Islamic state (caveat 1). And without supporting ‘terrorism’ (caveat 2).
The GPU organisers have been unforthcoming with a definitive list of speakers, particularly with regard to confirming the names of anyone who isn’t a hate-preacher and might provide a cloak of legitimacy to their cause. However, according to the Daily Telegraph and the GPU organisers (hereand here), it seems that Labour’s shadow minister for justice, Andrew Slaughter MP will be there, sharing the podium with notorious hate-preachers such as Sheikh Said Rageah, Sheikh Muhammad Al Shareef and Sheikh Yusuf Estes.
I despair. The last thing that genuinely moderate and tolerant Muslims need is for people like Slaughter to legitimise this illiberal and hateful creed misrepresented as ‘real Islam’ and propagated aggressively within our Muslim communities…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bolton Council Apologises After Pork Product is Served to Muslim Youngsters in School Dessert
TOWN hall chiefs have issued an apology after a pork product was discovered in chocolate mousse being served to Muslim youngsters as part of their school dinner.
Bolton Council’s school meals service which provides dinners to many of the borough’s school is now working closely with Bolton Council of Mosques and an investigation is under way.
The incident only involved Gaskell Community Primary School in Thomas Holden Street, Bolton, and as soon as the ingredient — pork gelatine — was spotted, the dessert was withdrawn.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hull Named as the UK City of Culture 2017
City praised for “real understanding” of what title was about in a bid themed around “a city coming out of the shadows”
Hull has been named as the UK City of Culture 2017, gaining the unanimous backing of the judging panel and seeing off competition from Dundee, Leicester and Swansea Bay. The city was praised for showing “real understanding” of what the title was about in a bid built around the theme “a city coming out of the shadows”. The news is likely to trigger a surge of investment and tourism for the city as it prepares for a year of events and celebrations. “This is brilliant news for Hull and everyone involved in the bid there,” said Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: iEngage Cheers Extremists on Yet Again
iEngage is a group set up in 2008 by former MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala and Islam Channel CEO Mohamed Ali Harrath. It says its aim is “to help empower and encourage British Muslims within local communities to be more actively involved in British media and politics”. In practice, its mission is the protection and promotion of Islamist extremists and the denigration of their opponents. This Thursday it will stage a rally that perfectly sums up its record and mission. Consider what iEngage calls the “esteemed panel” of speakers
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Muslim Women More Likely to Suffer Islamophobic Attacks Than Men — Study
Study also found attacks were more likely against women wearing the niqab or other clothing associated with Islam
Muslim women are more likely to be subjected to Islamophobic attacks than men, especially if they are wearing the niqab or other clothing associated with their religion, a study has found. Maybe We Are Hated, a report on the impact of Islamophobic attacks, written by Dr Chris Allen, a social policy lecturer at the University of Birmingham, will be launched in the House of Commons on Wednesday. It is intended to look beyond the statistics and, for the first time, give a voice to the female victims of Islamophobia…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Morris Dancing Troop Britannia Coconutters Banned From Hometown Over Safety Concerns
Council bosses say the 156-year tradition must end after photographs taken covertly at the last event show spectators standing on the highway.
A Morris dancing tradition that dates back 156 years has been barred from its Lancashire hometown because of safety concerns.
Members of Britannia Coconutters, dressed in turbans, red and white kilts, clogs and blackened faces, perform 12 hours of dances at 20 pubs in Bacup, every Easter Saturday. But council bosses say the tradition must end, after photographs taken covertly at the last event show spectators standing on the highway. The group — affectionately known as the Nutters — traces its origins back to 1857 and has held an Easter Boundary Dance parade in its current form for 110 years. Their treasurer Neville Earnshaw said: “We are the envy of the folk-dancing world. We can dance in Dublin on St Patrick’s Day or Yorkshire — but we can’t dance in our own town.”…
The Nutters’ custom of blackened faces is believed to stem from dancers who had a pagan or medieval background disguising themselves from being recognised by evil spirits, or members’ historic connections with the mining industry. The Coconutters perform around 40 gigs a year and their youngest member 43-year-old Steve Esther dances alongside their oldest member 76, Dick Shufflebottom who has become an icon in the folk world after dancing for more than 56 years.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Research: EU Commission is Organising a EuroMed Event
To discuss cooperation with new programme Horizon 2020
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 19 — The European Commission is organising a regional Conference on 20 January 2014 in Cairo to promote and present the new Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 in the EuroMed region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria’s World Cup Celebrations Turn Deadly
Celebrations in Algeria after the country qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals has left at least 12 people dead and some 240 injured, authorities said Wednesday, with at least nine of the victims killed in car accidents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Attack in Sinai, 10 Soldiers Dead
One of bloodiest attacks since Morsi’s ouster
(ANSAmed)- ISMAYILIA, NOVEMBER 20 — Ten Egyptian soldiers are reported killed and 35 wounded in a car bomb attack on Wednesday near the northern Sinai city of el-Arish, a security official said.
Wednesday’s attack was one of the bloodiest in the Sinai peninsula since militants close to al Qaida have increased an offensive against security forces after Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Troops Killed in Sinai Suicide Attack
Eleven Egyptian troops were killed and 34 others were injured on Wednesday after a suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into an army convoy in the Sinai peninsula, security officials said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Troops Killed in Car Bomb Attack on Bus
At least 10 off-duty soldiers killed and 20 injured in blast near northern Sinai city of el-Arish
A car bomb on Wednesday tore through a bus carrying off-duty soldiers in the turbulent region of northern Sinai, killing 10 and wounding 20, security officials said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Soldiers Killed in Sinai Car Bomb Attack
Bomb hits army convoy in restive peninsula, where troops have been battling Islamist militants
At least 10 soldiers were killed and 35 wounded as a car bomb targeted an Egyptian army convoy Wednesday in the Sinai where security forces are battling Islamists, a security official said. The bombing took place near El-Arish, regional capital of North Sinai where attacks on security forces have mounted since the army’s ouster in July of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. A parked car blew up as the military convoy passed, the security official said. Wednesday’s bombing was the deadliest since an August 19 ambush by gunmen on a convoy of security forces that killed 25 policemen in the town of Rafah in North Sinai. That attack was the bloodiest in the Sinai Peninsula in several years…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Armed Men in Cars Assassinated National Security Officer
Interior Ministry’s Public Security Authority under General Sayyed Shafiq said that 5 armed men in two vehicles assassinated National Security Agency officer Mohamed Mabrouk Mohamed Abu Khattab as he was headed to work at the Nasr City security department.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Gas: Snam: Delivery From Libya Resumes
Group on Twitter, today 3.5 million cubic metres
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 20 — Gas delivery from Libya has been reactivated, the Snam group wrote on Twitter. The entry point in Gela, Sicily, is registering the first influx of gas from Libya and 3.5 million cubic metres are to be delivered on Wednesday, the group said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Prolonged Strike in Tripoli Until Departure Militias
Protest called as a sign of solidarity for victims of clashes
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, NOVEMBER 20 — An ongoing general strike in Tripoli will last until all militias have left the capital, the mayor of Tripoli Sadat Al Badri said on Tuesday night.
The three-day strike was called on Saturday night as a sign of solidarity for victims of clashes in Tripoli on November 15 in which 40 people died.
The bloody clashes exploded after militants from Misrata opened fire on hundreds of residents in the capital who were peacefully demonstrating against the presence of militias.
The mayor also called on citizens to gather for a big demonstration Friday against armed groups and to demand the presence of the army and police.
Following the local council’s appeal and daily citizens’ protests in Tripoli, Misrata militants have started to withdraw.
Due to the high tension, other groups including militias Jado, Nalut and Gharian are allegedly leaving the capital.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: EU Reaffirms Its Support for the Transition Process
28 Ministers encouraged the dialogue towards general elections
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 18 — The EU reaffirms its support for the transition process in Tunisia, assuring that under the privileged partnership, the EU remains available to strengthen its dialogue with the Tunisian authorities to make the best use of European instruments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Quds University Head Condemns Nazi-Style Demonstration on Campus
Sari Nusseibeh says he hopes Brandeis will reconsider its decision to suspend long-time partnership
Sari Nusseibeh, the president of the Palestinian Al-Quds University, on Wednesday condemned a November 5 Nazi-style demonstration by students affiliated with Islamic Jihad on the university’s main campus.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Brandeis/Palestinian University Partnership Suspended After Jihadist Rally
by IPT News
Brandeis University suspended a 15-year-old cooperative relationship with the West Bank-based Al-Quds University this week, after the Palestinian university president’s “unacceptable and inflammatory” response to a student demonstration which invoked Nazi imagery.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tourism: EU Launched “Beautiful Palestine” In the West Bank
Youth initiative to promote historic and touristic sites
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 07 — The European Union and Journalists without Borders (JWB) have launched the youth initiative “Beautiful Palestine” in partnership with young Palestinian journalists and photographers in an effort to discover and promote different historic and touristic sites in the West Bank. In the course of November and December, Palestinian youth will carry out voluntary activities across locations in the Nablus, Bethlehem, Salfit, Tulkarem and Jericho governorates and report on their experiences in an effort to promote domestic tourism.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UNRWA Can’t Pay December Wages
Services for Palestine refugees at risk, USD 36 mn budget gap
(ANSAmed) — NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 20 — The UN has announced it will not be paying wages next month to thousands of workers in the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) due to a growing financial crisis.
Undersecretary General Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council on Tuesday that the body had a budget gap of some 36 million dollars and was in a “terrible” situation. The head of the agency, Filippo Grandi, had warned the previous week of the impending danger. Feltman said that “UNRWA will be unable to adequately fund its core services… and will be unable to pay December salaries of its 30,000 teachers, medical personnel and social workers.” UNRWA is one of oldest UN agencies, created in 1950 to help Palestinians (about 750,000 at that time) who had lost their homes after the 1948 war and the proclamation of the State of Israel. It currently provides assistance to some five million people in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. The US and the EU have traditionally been UNRWA’s biggest donors to its two-year budget of more than 1.2 billion dollars. General Commissioner Grandi had said last week that, for the first time ever, UNRWA was working in an emergency situation in every location it provides services.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: 19 Killed in Spate of Car Bombs in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — Up to 19 people were killed and 62 wounded in a series of car bomb explosions across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Wednesday morning, a police source said. “The latest reports said that 19 people were killed and 62 wounded by the bomb attacks in Baghdad which included six car bombs,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
One of car bombs ripped through Tobji neighborhood in the western central part of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding six others, the source said, adding that the other one went off in the neighborhood, killing three people and wounding nine. Another car bomb detonated in Shaab neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 11, the source said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Doomed to Disappear, Khamenei Says
Supreme leader, regime imposed with force and cannot last
(ANSAmed) — TEHRAN — ‘The Israeli regime is based on very weak pillars’ and is ‘doomed to fail, to disappear’ as it a ‘regime imposed with force’ and no historic phenomenon ‘which emerged through the use of force can last’, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Wednesday in Tehran. He added that ‘this regime too will not continue to exist’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Hits Back at Greece Over Religious Freedoms as Haghia Sophia Spat Continues
The diplomatic spat between Greece and Turkey, prompted by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc suggesting last week that he would like to see Hagia Sophia become a mosque, continued on Wednesday with Ankara saying it had “nothing to learn from Greece about religious freedoms.”
Athens had reacted strongly to Arinc’s comment and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry responded in equally blunt terms to criticism from Greece. “Turkey has always paid utmost attention to the sanctity of places of worship,” it said. “On the other hand, negligence of Ottoman places of worship and cultural monuments in Greece is widely known. Athens is the only European capital said to be hosting a Muslim community numbering hundreds of thousands without a mosque open for worship.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Taxpayers to Pay for Spread of Turkish, Qatar Islamism
Millions of American taxpayer dollars will be spent promoting the Muslim Brotherhood brand of Islamism to counter the Al-Qaeda brand of Islamism. The U.S. is teaming up with the Islamism-promoting governments of Turkey and Qatar to try to influence Muslim youth in a more positive direction.
The U.S. and the Islamist government of Turkey have announced a $200 million fund for programs that will supposedly promote non-violence among Muslims in terrorist hotspots like Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
The total is to be raised over 10 years, with the U.S. provided $2-3 million (at first), along with Turkey, Canada, various European countries and “private sources.” The only other Muslim country mentioned as a partner besides Turkey is Qatar.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
24,000-Year-Old Body Shows Kinship to Europeans and American Indians
The genome of a young boy buried at Mal’ta near Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia some 24,000 years ago has turned out to hold two surprises for anthropologists.
The first is that the boy’s DNA matches that of Western Europeans, showing that during the last Ice Age people from Europe had reached farther east across Eurasia than previously supposed. Though none of the Mal’ta boy’s skin or hair survives, his genes suggest he would have had brown hair, brown eyes and freckled skin.
The second surprise is that his DNA also matches a large proportion — about 25 percent — of the DNA of living Native Americans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Americas’ Natives Have European Roots
The oldest known genome of a modern human solves long-standing puzzles about the New World’s genetic heritage.
The 24,000-year-old remains of a young boy from the Siberian village of Mal’ta have added a new root to the family tree of indigenous Americans. While some of the New World’s native ancestry clearly traces back to east Asia, the Mal’ta boy’s genome — the oldest known of any modern human — shows that up to one-third of that ancestry can be traced back to Europe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Oldest Human Genome Reveals Roots of First Americans
A 24,000-year-old boy from Siberia is helping redraw the Native American family tree. He is the oldest human to have his genome sequenced, and the results suggest that the first people to colonise the Americas were not simply east Asians. Instead, those early settlers had both western Eurasian and east Asian roots.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
3 Troops Killed, 7 Injured in NW Pakistan’s Suicide Blast
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — At least three security personnel were killed and seven others injured in a suicide blast that happened in Pakistan’s northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Wednesday morning, local media reported. Urdu TV channel Geo said that a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a security forces’ check post in Shawa area of North Waziristan, a militancy-hit area at Pakistan- Afghan border…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan MP Calls on US, Italy, Not to Leave Her Country
‘It would turn the human rights clock back by a decade’
(ANSA) — Rome, November 20 — If US and international troops leave Afghanistan, the human-rights clock will be turned back by at least a decade, Afghan MP and women’s rights activist Fawzia Koofi told ANSA in an interview on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old lawyer, two-term MP and chairwoman of the Afghan Lower House Commission on Women, Civil, and Human Rights was at Rome city hall to receive a prize along with eight other women.
“Afghan women have suffered terribly in the last few decades, and progress has been hard-won”, Koofi said.
“If US troops leave when the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission ends in 2014, Afghanistan will turn into a second Iraq and the clock for women and the social rights we have conquered will turn back by at least a decade”.
Established in 2001, the NATO-led ISAF mission helps the Afghan government train its army and police, and provides crucial security and logistics for humanitarian agencies and NGOs working on the ground in the war- and poverty-stricken country.
The daughter of an MP who was assassinated by the Mujahideens, or Islamist insurgents, during the Soviet occupation, Koofi is the first woman in the history of her country to be elected deputy speaker of the Lower House.
Her husband died under torture in a Taliban jail, and Koofi herself lives surrounded by bodyguards, having escaped several attempts on her life.
“I have learned to live with the constant death threats from the Taliban”, she told ANSA.
In September, she founded the Movement for Change in Afghanistan. It is aimed at youth, which make up 75% of the population. Italian aid has also been crucial, she says.
“Thanks to Italian aid programs, we have opened several female schools. Today just 20% of women can read and write, but we could reach equal literacy for both genders in the next 30-40 years”, she explained.
Education is essential, because poverty and ignorance are what drive young people into the arms of the Taliban.
“They pay better wages and create jobs”, she said. “This is why I hope you won’t leave entirely”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
As Afghan Pact is Reached, Kerry Says Apology Wasn’t Considered
Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the United States and Afghanistan had completed a bilateral security agreement that will be submitted to a grand council of elders in Kabul the next day, but he stated emphatically that there had been no discussion of an American apology to President Hamid Karzai or to his nation as part of the deal.
“President Karzai didn’t ask for an apology. There was no discussion of an apology,” Mr. Kerry said. “I mean, it’s just not even on the table.”
Mr. Kerry’s comments appeared to contradict statements from Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi, who said on Tuesday that Mr. Karzai would drop his opposition to future American counterterrorism raids on private homes in return for a letter by President Obama acknowledging military mistakes that have hurt Afghans and promising that they would not be repeated.
| [Return to headlines] |
India: Million-Dollar Gold Stash Found in Aircraft Toilet
Cleaners working on a commercial plane in eastern India have found 24 gold bars worth more than $1 million stuffed into a toilet compartment, officials said Wednesday.
India, which rivals China as the world’s biggest gold consumer, has witnessed a spike in smuggling after import duties were hiked three times this year to try to dampen demand for the precious metal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Suicide Attack Hits Afghan Army Check Post, Bomber Killed
GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — A suicide bombing went off Wednesday morning near an Afghan army security check post in the country’s eastern province of Ghazni, causing no casualties among the soldiers but leaving the attacker dead, said sources. “A militant driving a car set off his explosive-packed sedan near the army outpost in Mohammad Omar area of Muqur district early Wednesday morning. No member of the post or civilian were hurt in the blast,” the district governor Sahib Khan told Xinhua…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Cementing Status as Climate Bad-Boy
Sixty thousand Australians took to the streets this week to protest actions that have cemented the nation’s status as a climate bad-boy.
The conservative government elected in September has already moved to rip up most of the country’s carbon-reduction measures, or plans to. Now, at the UN climate talks in Warsaw, the Australian delegation — which notably lacks a government minister — has taken a hard-line approach, drawing firm boundaries it will not cross.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia Loosens Ties With Australia Over Spy Claims
Indonesia’s president said Wednesday he was freezing military and intelligence cooperation with Australia over media claims that Sydney tried to spy on him and his wife. The reports cite documents leaked by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientific Proof That Drinking Soda Makes Brains Hyperactive
A new study from Australia shows how sugary beverages increase hyperactivity in the brain. What the researchers found was that soda consumption alters hundreds of proteins in the brain — proteins responsible for healthy cellular function and DNA communication.
In the study, the brains of 24 rats were examined. The study, led by researchers Jane Franklin and Jennifer Cornish from the Macquarie University in Sydney, looked at tissue samples taken from one area of the rats’ brains. By the end of the experiment, drastic changes in the levels of nearly 300 different proteins were observed…
Franklin says, “Our research suggests that the long-term consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks in place of water can cause long-lasting changes to behavior and a profound change in the chemistry of the brain.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: New Details on Mall Attackers
By Nicholas Kulish
The attackers behind the siege of the Westgate shopping mall that left more than 60 people dead in September had been living in Nairobi and plotted the attack for several months, a Western official briefed on the investigation said Monday. Kenyan officials say they believe they have determined the identities of the four attackers who stormed the mall.
All four of the men are Somali citizens, though one of the men, previously identified as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, grew up in Norway. Remains recovered from the mall that are believed to be those of the attackers are still undergoing forensic testing at an F.B.I. laboratory, the Western official said. A Somali militant group, the Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia: At Least 20 Killed in Assault on Police Station
Beledweyne — At least 20 people were reportedly killed when Al Shabaab militants stormed a police station in Beledweyne town of central Somalia, with a suicide bomber firstly ramming an explosive-laden car into the compound on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports. Witnesses say a thunderous explosion had taken place at the police compound where Somali government troops and Djiboutian contingent are co-located, followed by heavy gunfire between armed militiamen estimated to be 10 and Somali-AMISOM forces at 10:05 AM in the morning. “I saw a car rushing toward the gate of the police station and exploded inside there. I immediately headed back to my shop,” a nearby shop keeper told the media shortly after the assault on the policemen ended…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘Chávez Ideas Will Solve Crisis’: Antonio Banderas
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas surprised CNN viewers when he criticized US President Barack Obama and suggested Europe and the US should apply the same economic policies as Venezuela’s late president Hugo Chávez.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: US May Have Let ‘Dozens’ of Terrorists Into Country as Refugees
Several dozen suspected terrorist bombmakers, including some believed to have targeted American troops, may have mistakenly been allowed to move to the United States as war refugees, according to FBI agents investigating the remnants of roadside bombs recovered from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The discovery in 2009 of two al Qaeda-Iraq terrorists living as refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky — who later admitted in court that they’d attacked U.S. soldiers in Iraq — prompted the bureau to assign hundreds of specialists to an around-the-clock effort aimed at checking its archive of 100,000 improvised explosive devices collected in the war zones, known as IEDs, for other suspected terrorists’ fingerprints.
“We are currently supporting dozens of current counter-terrorism investigations like that,” FBI Agent Gregory Carl, director of the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC), said in an ABC News interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC News’ “World News with Diane Sawyer” and “Nightline”.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more than that,” said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul. “And these are trained terrorists in the art of bombmaking that are inside the United States; and quite frankly, from a homeland security perspective, that really concerns me.”
[But —but — such scrutiny is “Islamophobic”! Call CAIR! Call the OIC! Call the ACLU! — PW]
| [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Border Checks Put Refugees at Risk
According to the human rights groups Fidh and Emhrn
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, NOVEMBER 20 — Stricter inspections along the Greek-Turkish border are forcing refugees from war-torn countries to choose increasingly risky escape routes, daily Kathimerini online reports quoting human rights groups as saying on Tuesday. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) expressed concerns about the impact of stricter patrols in a statement which was also signed by Greece’s National Commission for Human Rights. The statement, which followed visits to Greece and Turkey by members of FIDH and EMHRN, also referred to “serious human rights violations,” adding that several witnesses had attested to Hellenic Coast Guard officials “pushing back” migrants. It also referred to cases of abuse and violence by coast guard officials against migrants.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Worker Pelted With Stones by Scavengers at Landfill Near Athens
An employee at the capital’s main landfill at Fyli, northwestern Attica, was hospitalized on Wednesday after being pelted with stones by local Roma and immigrants who have been entering the grounds in recent months to scavenge for valuables.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Immigrants From India Stream Into US From Mexico
Hundreds of undocumented immigrants from India are taking an unusual route to the United States, illegally crossing from Mexico into Arizona to seek political asylum Those numbers are likely to rise in 2014, the head of a D.C.-based Asian immigrant rights group told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, said “it’s not clear” why immigrants from India are using the same route as Central Americans.
One reason may be that many South American countries don’t require visas, Eleanor Sohnen, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a D.C.-based think tank, told the Arizona Daily Star. Many can pay up to $35,000 to be smuggled into the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Alien Was on ‘Supervised Release’ When He Killed Border Patrol Agent
A Mexican national who entered the U.S. illegally to kill a U.S. Border Patrol agent has been given a hefty sentence after prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Marcos Rodriguez-Perez was previously given “supervised release” by U.S. authorities for illegally smuggling human beings into the US. While on supervised release, the illegal alien participated in the 2009 killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas, Jr., along with three other Mexican nationals who had also entered the U.S. illegally or otherwise played a role in the killing. The four admittedly took advantage of the unsecured U.S./Mexico border and lured, trapped, and murdered the young Border Patrol agent for the purpose of stealing his night-vision goggles.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal Immigrants Blockade Atlanta Office to Halt Deportations
Illegal immigrants blockaded a federal office that handles deportations in Atlanta Tuesday morning, and soon after a group of 12 illegal immigrants in Chicago chained themselves to the wheels of a bus they said was headed to the airport to finish deport people.
The moves mark the latest escalation in a campaign by activists to pressure President Obama to use his executive authority to stop almost all deportations. They argue he’s targeting rank-and-file illegal immigrants rather than those with criminal records.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Island Library Seeks to Unite Locals and Migrants
A library aimed at helping the children of Lampedusa, the landing point for thousands of migrants each year, better integrate with their foreign counterparts, is set to open.
Hundreds of children from migrant families are currently on Lampedusa as they await a decision on their asylum, with the local community now striving to come up with ways to help them better integrate.
They come from families, mainly from north Africa, who risked the perilous journey to the island in search of asylum in Europe. Others have been less fortunate, with many children being among the 366 migrants who died after their boat sank off the island’s shores in early October.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mark Zuckerberg, Undocumented Immigrants ‘Hack’ Immigration Reform
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is bringing young undocumented immigrants with engineering chops to Silicon Valley to “hack” immigration reform. Twenty young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children are taking part in a “DREAMer Hackathon” on Wednesday at LinkedIn’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to WSJ: Let’s Do Piecemeal Immigration Deal!
By Steve Sailer
The good news is that the Senate bill was a bipartisan bill. And we know what the component parts of this are. We’ve got to have strong border security. We’ve got to have better enforcement of existing laws. We’ve got to make sure that we have a legal immigration system that doesn’t cause people to sit in the queue for five years, 10 years, 15 years, in some cases 20 years. We should want to immediately say to young people who we’ve helped to educate in this country, you want to stay? We want you here.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Schoolgirls in Finland Forced Abroad for Arranged Marriages
Pupils from at least one school in western Finland have been forced into marriages. So far Finland has not specifically banned the practice.
Yle has learned that girls from immigrant families at a school in Western Finland have been sent abroad into forced marriages. Teachers say they are aware of the situation but are unable to do anything about it.
“I’ve encountered situations where marriages have already been arranged for girls who’ve come here from elsewhere. Some of them are actually pleased with the situation, but there are some who want to continue their studies,” says a teacher at the school.
The teacher points out that not all youngsters from other cultures are aware of Finland’s equality standards.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fastfood giant McDonald’s has apologised to a grandfather and his toddler grandson who were blasted by rap music peppered with explicit sex lyrics as they ate. A song by x-rated American rapper Rucka Rucka Ali blared out across the Haverfordwest restaurant of the chain, in west Wales, last Friday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The CofE Doomed? Only Because Its Surrendered to Phony Soullessness
by Ed West
[…]
My diagnosis of the Church of England is that it is too lefty (admittedly that is my diagnosis for everything). Whenever I attend and irrespective of the parish I go to, it’s a bit like being read the Guardian comment page…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
15 Years in Orbit: The International Space Station by the Numbers
Currently, the International Space Station is the largest structure in space ever built by human hands, and international crews have continuously occupied it since 2000.
$100 billion: The estimated total cost of the station
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
International Space Station Celebrates 15th Birthday in Orbit
The International Space Station celebrates its 15th birthday today (Nov. 20), marking the day in 1998 when a Russian rocket lifted the first piece of what is now the largest manmade structure ever built in space.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Bacterial Life-Form Discovered in NASA and ESA Spacecraft Clean Rooms
The previously unknown microbe was tough enough to survive stringent sterilization at two locations. Might it survive a trip to Mars?
High atop a platform inside a clean room at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) launch site in South America, scientists painstakingly searched for microbes near the Ariane 5 rocket due to launch the Herschel space telescope in May 2009. Only very unusual organisms can survive the repeated sterilization procedures in clean rooms, not to mention the severe lack of nutrients available. But the scientists’ careful inspection was fruitful, turning up a type of bacteria that had never been seen before.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Super-Material Shrugs Off Molten Metal
Textured surfaces repel liquid droplets faster than was thought possible.
Droplets already bounce off water-repellent surfaces, but scientists have engineered materials that speed up the bounce to repel water faster.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What 11 Billion People Mean for Water Scarcity
By the end of this century, Earth may be home to 11 billion people, the United Nations has estimated, earlier than previously expected. As part of a week-long series, LiveScience is exploring what reaching this population milestone might mean for our planet, from our ability to feed that many people to our impact on the other species that call Earth home to our efforts to land on other planets.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
I am not surprised that Andrew Slaughter is to share a platform with islamists. This is not a very bright move but Slaughter is not a very bright man. Before his surprise election to Parliament, he served for a while as Deputy Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council where he was regarded as a bit of a lightweight by the staff. The reason for this is, prior to his election, he occupied a very minor administrative post in the Councils Environmental Services Department and applied unsuccessfully for a post in the Committee Section. His application was not considered strong enough for him to be interviewed and it was rejected out of hand.
“UK: Muslim Women More Likely to Suffer Islamophobic Attacks Than Men — Study
….
It is intended to look beyond the statistics and, for the first time, give a voice to the female victims of Islamophobia…”
Because the statistics show there are virtually no attacks on muslims in Britain. Yet in Britain most of the racist murders involving muslims in the last 12 years, are murders where muslims were the perpetrators. http://4freedoms.com/group/uk/forum/topics/racist-attacks-by-fascists