Responding to questions about the controversial proposal that would allow women to drive, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia said that the issue was not a major concern. He said it was necessary to keep women from driving in order protect the country from “social evil”.
In other news, after the Italian senate voted to eject him, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the occasion marked the “death of democracy”.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, Michael Laudahn, 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.
“I Work at McDonalds, But I Can’t Afford to Eat There”
For Shawndraka Mack, a 100% pay rise from her current $7.60 “would do just fine.” While some employees turn to blood plasma donation, and most are on food stamps (and other benefits), the mother of two teenagers (on Medicaid) told Bloomberg Businessweek, “I love what I do, but I don’t want to work for nothing.” Between the 40 hours a week she works and the benefits, Mack explains, “I work at McDonald’s and I can’t afford to eat there. It’s crazy.” Of course, McDonalds has ‘tips’ for surviving on their state-subsidized wages but once again, despite Harry Reid’s extrapolated charts, the reality of raising the minimum wage is lost on most who never stop to think of where the ‘money’ comes from; and besides employees have little to no leverage as we explained here.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
European Banks Face 280-Bn-Euro Capital Shortfall: PWC
European banks will require 280 billion euros ($380 billion) of extra capital in 2014 to meet reforms aimed at avoiding a repeat of the global financial crisis, according to a report published Thursday.
The report by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers said that banks would be forced to turn to the market to raise 180 billion euros of the required capital, as other methods of securing the funds — including the sale of assets — would fall short of closing the gap.
“Between the requirements under Basel III and the ECB Comprehensive Assessment, European banks are facing another turbulent couple of years,” said Miles Kennedy, PwC financial services partner.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Expect Devastating Global Economic Changes in 2014
By any reasonable measure, I think it is safe to say that the last quarter of 2013 has been an insane game of economic Russian Roulette. Even more unsettling is the fact that most of the American population still has little to no clue that the U.S. was on the verge of a catastrophic catalyst event at least three times in the past three months alone, and that we face an even greater acceleration next year.
The first near miss was the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a possible “taper” of QE stimulus in early fall, which sent shivers through stock markets and proved what we have been saying all along — that the entire recovery is a facade built on an ever thinning balloon of fiat money. Today, markets function entirely on the expectation that the Fed will continue stimulus forever. If the Fed does cut QE in any way, the frail psychology of the markets will shatter, and the country will come crashing down with it.
The second near miss was the possible unilateral invasion of Syria demanded by the Obama Administration. As we have discussed here at Alt-Market for years, any invasion of Syria or Iran will bring detrimental consequences to the U.S. economy and energy markets, not to mention draw heavy opposition from Russia and China. Though the naïve shrug it off as a minor foreign policy bungle, Syria could have easily become WWIII, and I believe the only reason the establishment has not yet followed through with a strike in the region is because the alternative media has been so effective in warning the masses. The elites need a certain percentage of support from the general public and the military for any war action to be effective, which they did not receive. After all, no one wants to fight and die in support of CIA funded Al Qaeda terrorist cells on the other side of the world. The establishment tried to hide who the rebels were, and failed.
The third near miss was, of course, the debt ceiling debate, which has been extended to next spring.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jobs Disappearing at Italy’s Big Businesses
Employment down 1.3% at companies with over 500 workers
(ANSA) — Rome, November 28 — Employment continues to drop in Italy’s big businesses, the national statistics agency said Thursday. The number of workers at companies with over 500 employees was down 1.3% in September compared to the same month last year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Living in a Cave on the Edge of Spanish Society
Spain’s exit from the EU’s bank aid program is good news. Yet many young Spaniards are unemployed and struggling. One trained teacher finally said “enough” and made for a cave on the outskirts of Granada.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two Out of Three Elderly Italians Don’t Eat Enough
Economic factors to blame, says gerontology society
(ANSA) — Turin, November 27 — Two out of three elderly Italians do not get enough to eat, the head of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (SIGG) said Wednesday. “Malnutrition must be avoided at all costs, because it raises the rate of hospital stays by 25% and hastens mortality,” said SIGG President Giuseppe Paolisso. Paolisso was in Turin launching his new book, Save the Elderly, during the SIGG national assembly. Roughly one million Italians over 65 are at risk of malnutrition, said Paolisso, citing economic factors and poor budgeting as a cause. The SIGG president recommended preparing healthy meals at a minimum of 1.62 euros per day, roughly 50 euros per month. Recommended foods include fruits and vegetables in season, white meat, eggs, a variety of widely caught fish and legumes.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
CNN and MSNBC Lose Almost Half Their Viewers in One Year
It’s been a tough year for the liberal cable news outlets.
Data released Tuesday show CNN shedding 48 percent of total viewers since last November and MSNBC dropping 45 percent.
The numbers were even worse in the all important demographic of people aged 25 to 54 as CNN’s ratings dropped 59 percent and MSNBC’s 52 percent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Collapse of Journalistic Standards in JFK Coverage
Any hope that the media will practice civility and raise journalistic standards has been dashed by the sympathetic coverage given to a new book falsely charging an American president with mass murder and political assassinations.
The book, The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ, is based in part on the work of a communist operative, Joachim Joesten, who was assigned by the Soviet KGB to divert attention from the communist connections of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
But author Roger Stone maintains, in the face of the evidence, “I don’t think the Russian state was involved in any way” in the JFK murder.
A former conservative turned libertarian, Stone has been recognized over the years for his role as a “political trickster,” and has lately been promoting legalized marijuana, prostitution and homosexual marriage. He even appeared topless in a gay rights parade. His bio claims he “first tipped off the FBI to Governor Eliot Spitzer’s use of prostitutes.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama: Socialism for Agribusiness Moves Americans Out of Poverty
All the usual corporate players are behind passing this mammoth spending bill
Obama and crew are pushing for passage of a massive farm bill before both the House and Senate next week. Here is a tweet sent out by the White House today:
FACT: The Farm Bill helped keep 5 million Americans out of poverty last year — http://t.co/w1BsVPHBNn #SNAP, pic.twitter.com/O7KoHcUt4e
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 27, 2013
H.R. 2642, the Federal Agriculture and Risk Management Act of 2013, recently departed conference and will be acted upon by the House to confirm changes made in the Senate.
All the usual corporate players are behind passing this bill to make sure transnational agribusiness keeps receiving gravy from an increasingly beleaguered American tax payer.
Oxfam International, the NGO that has collaborated with globalist manipulator George Soros and takes money from the Rockefeller Foundation, worked over the summer to drum up political support for the bill.
The propaganda campaign rolled out by Democrats and a complaisant corporate media in favor of the legislation does not mention the expense and burden that will be imposed on average Americans as astronomical expenditures at the federal government level are headed for the stratosphere.
The so-called tea party faction in the House opposed to Obamacare tried unsuccessfully to bring their Democrat and big government Republican colleagues to their fiscal senses, but they were mowed down by the establishment.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saving Detroit, One House at a Time
In Detroit, whole neighborhoods have been left to decay under the elements. John George is on a mission to turn the ghost towns into vibrant community centers.
The city has fallen on hard times as corrupt public officials, the decline of the auto industry, racial tension, and a seemingly unending economic slump battered the once bustling metropolitan center. The maelstrom of trouble eventually led city officials to file for bankruptcy early this year.
But a mass exodus has been in the making for some time, with about 1.3 million people having fled the city since its population peaked at two million around 1950. These residents left behind nearly 80,000 houses, many of which appear to wear the cities woes on their walls.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
On Thanksgiving 2013, it may seem that the nation has little to be thankful for, but if you pull back from the headlines and other news, it is clear that Obama’s presidency is seriously damaged and will remain so until and after he is gone. That’s worth celebrating.
I must confess I am luxuriating in the knowledge of Obama’s present misery. I am enjoying it as someone who predicted he would fail — and fail spectacularly — and yet I know, despite his present unhappiness, he has no idea why it is happening.
The German word for taking pleasure in another’s failure or ill fortune is “schadenfreude.” Since this is generally regarded as unseemly, one usually keeps it to himself, but there is no need for that in Obama’s case. A small legion of conservative pundits has been warning about the consequences of Obamacare since Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
South Carolina Police Grab Innocent Cell User’s Data Through ‘Tower Dump’
Sheriffs in Richland County, South Carolina are currently defending the use of a controversial investigation method that grants them access to thousands of cell phone user’s data.
The technique, known as a “Tower Dump,” allows law enforcement to request all call, text and data transmissions from any specific time period from a cell tower’s provider. Search warrants obtained by WLTX News uncovered Richland County Sheriffs use of the technique during several cases including a 2011 vehicle break-in outside a sheriff’s home.
Although police must obtain and present a search warrant to cell providers in order to access the data, the amount of information gathered, especially on those not suspected of a crime, presents a clear constitutional violation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Knockout Game — NYT/NPR Say No Big Deal
The “knockout game” — and the media underreporting of it — combines the breakdown of the family with the media’s condescending determination to serve as a public relations bureau for blacks. The “game” is a dare in which a young man — all the perps appear to be male people of color, mostly blacks — tries to literally knock out an innocent bystander with one blow. Both National Public Radio and The New York Times say these reports of the “knockout game” being widespread are overblown and do not represent a trend. Really?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Washington Town Threatens Homes With ‘Eminent Domain’ Seizure
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — City officials want to expand the walking trail along the Sinclair Inlet. To do it, the city may seize five waterfront properties using eminent domain — and that has those homeowners seeing red.
“This is my home. Right now, I can’t think of anything I would take for it,” said homeowner John Haynes. “I want to stay right here.”
Spend a few minutes along Bay Street and you’ll understand why no one wants to leave. Stunning views of the Olympic Mountains and the Puget Sound says it all.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Obamascare: Our Entire Economy is About to Get Hit With a Sledgehammer *Micro Documentary*
American prosperity will continue to decline as long as Obamacare keeps transferring wealth to the mega banks.
With the Patient Affordable Care Act now actively being integrated into American society, many still have no clue what its after-effects will actually be.
Here’s the reality: The pain is coming and if you have yet to experience it in the form of higher insurance premiums, you can be assured that you’re going to feel it very soon in one way or another.
Our entire economy is about to get hit with a sledgehammer.
The following must share micro-documentary from Everything Investments details many of the changes to come, and despite what the mainstream media wants us to believe, or what those who are receiving free health care think they are getting from their government, the fact is that a dark cloud of economic malaise is going to descend upon our country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cops ‘Scared’ By Swedish Teens’ Sex Crimes Views
Swedish police are concerned that young people’s attitudes towards sex crimes are too lax, with officers in Stockholm receiving a significant rise in reported rapes in recent years.
In the southern suburbs of Stockholm alone, there have been 90 reports of various sexual attacks this year involving victims under the age of 18.
Police have put their foot down, claiming never to have seen so many reports of rape, and especially gang rape, in their years on the force.
“It’s as if the grey area of what’s ok and what’s criminal has become even more grey,” police officer Mihajlo Mrdjen told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN).
“I’m not exaggerating when I say I feel scared at times during interrogations. It can be a very insensitive setting, both for boys and girls.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EC Hearing Case Against Greece Over Landfills
Athens faces millions of euros in fines
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, NOVEMBER 27 — The European Court of Justice on Tuesday started hearing a case against Greece, which faces millions of euros in fines after consistently failing to restore dozens of illegal landfills operating across the country in line with European Commission waste management regulations.
According to the latest data submitted to EU officials by the Environment Ministry, as daily Kathimerini reports, there are 70 illegal landfills still in operation across Greece and another 326 that are in the process of being converted into sanitary landfills. The case brought against Greece by the EC is expected to last for several months, during which time Athens is expected to submit legal arguments defending its efforts to replace illegal landfills with sanitary replacements, but the country faces a lump fine of 28 million euros if it fails to convince the European court and possibly additional penalties of 71,000 euros per day if it continues to drag its feet.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Asks Italian Government to Clarify Telecom Italia Plans
Future of telecoms network in play after Spanish purchase
(ANSA) — Brussels, November 28 — The European Union asked the Italian government Thursday for clarification on its interest in the business plans of Telecom Italia.
A spokesman for the EU commissioner for internal markets Michel Barnier asked for more information about the so-called “golden share” held by the government in the telecommunications company.
The golden share, implemented in the 1990s after Telecom Italia was privatized, gives the government veto rights over the company, given its strategic national importance.
The EU is concerned about what conditions the government may be considering if it thinks a deal involving Telecom Italia and Spanish group Telefonica threatens national interests. Earlier this month, Premier Enrico Letta appointed a commission to audit Italy’s telecommunications network infrastructure and assess its technical needs.
Ownership of Italy’s biggest telecoms group and its telecommunications network have been cast into doubt recently as the company struggles with a string of poor results and a governance shake-up.
Spain’s Telefonica SA is raising its stake in Telco, the company that controls Telecom Italia, to 66%, giving it effective control of the unit, igniting a chorus of outcries across Italy.
Politicians of all stripes, as well as unions and agribusiness associations, have criticised the plan, some raising national security issues.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Exhibits: Mercati Di Traiano Celebrate Constantine the Great
Etchings by Serbian artist Mihajlovic, 1,700 years after Edict
(ANSAmed) — ROME — Once again, Rome is celebrating the 1,700 years since the Edict of Milan, which which Emperor Constantine the Great, who was born in Nis in what is now Serbia, declared the end of religious persecution and proclaimed the empire’s neutrality towards all creeds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-President Sarkozy ‘Could Launch Comeback in 2014’
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy could take advantage of next year’s local and European elections to launch a comeback, a former government minister and close aide told the popular Europe 1 radio station Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris Opens New Mosque in Goutte-D’or
To prevent Friday prayers in the street in multiethnic area
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, NOVEMBER 28 — A new mosque was inaugurated Thursday in Paris’s Goutte-d’Or neighborhood, just below Montmartre. The ‘Islamic Institute of Culture’ will include two prayer halls, a cafe, hammam and spa, as well as spaces for concerts, exhibitions and theater performances and classrooms for dance, music, cookery and theater classes.
Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe inaugurated one of the two prayer halls today, while the second will be ready by 2015. The new mosque, located at 56 Rue Stephenson and directed by the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, is expected to at least partially solve the issue of crowds of Muslims who gather every Friday in the nearby Rue Myrha and Rua Polonceau to pray in the middle of the streets of this multiethnic area in the northern part of the capital.
The situation has long been a source of traffic problems and disruption to public order.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Unable to Type on a Touchscreen? Airwriting May be the Solution (For Your Fat Fingers)
German researchers have developed a prototype glove that recognizes words written in mid air. The system could spell the end of the annoying practice of typing texts onto tiny touchscreens.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Golden Dawn Popularity Undented by Crackdown
Experts discuss reasons behind resilience of extremist party, two months after launch of probe
“Ochi” (No) Day, when Greece refused to be annexed by a Mussolini-led Italy in 1940, is celebrated in the country as a national holiday, but most prefer to brush aside the fact that Ioannis Metaxas was a dictator.
“Golden Dawn voters are drawn to power. A lot of them voted for the party because they wanted someone big and strong to stand up to the political status quo,” says Paschos Mandravelis, a liberal commentator.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Birth Rate Continues to Decline, Says ISTAT
More children being born to unmarried couples
(ANSA) — Rome, November 27 — Italy’s birth rate continued to decline in 2012 compared with the previous year, statistical agency Istat reported Wednesday.
More than 534,000 babies were born in 2012 — at least 12,000 fewer than were reported in 2011, continuing the steady annual decline in the birth rate that began in 2009, the agency said.
The exception to the declining birth rate was reported among foreigners living in Italy, said Istat.
The number of births to two foreign-born parents increased to just under 80,000 in 2012 and represented about 15% of total births.
Meanwhile, the agency also found one in four children — about 132,000 — was born to unmarried couples in 2012. Istat also noted a regional element, with higher rates of babies born to unmarried couples in northern areas of Italy including Bolzano province with 44% and the Val d’Aosta at 36%.
The number of babies born to unmarried parents fell to 31% in Tuscany and 33% in Emilia Romagna.
Woman are waiting longer to have children, with more than 7% of babies born to mothers over 40, compared to 11.1% of babies born to women under 25, the agency said.
In 2012, the average age of mothers was 31.4 years, higher than the 1995 average of 29.8 years. When foreign-born mothers are excluded, the average age of mothers climbed to 32 years in 2012.
Regional differences were again reported, with more younger mothers found in the South, especially Campania and Sicily, and older mothers found in the North.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Grillo Lashes Out in ‘Requiem’ For Berlusconi
Heaps vitriol on ex-PM who ‘sold, pauperized, despoiled’ Italy
(ANSA) — Rome, November 27 — Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader, comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, dedicated a vitriolic requiem to the alleged demise of three-time premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi ahead of a Senate vote later on Wednesday that is expected to strip him of his parliamentary seat after a tax-fraud conviction.
“I would like to be able to say we are on the eve of the downfall of a regime. But it’s just the end of a banal man-for-all-seasons, one who over the past two decades has been as functional to Anglo-American financial giants as to the Soviet KGB, with the Vatican, the troika, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Libya and the entire international banking system in between”, the post read in the characteristically grandiloquent style of Grillo’s blog.
Proceeding to compare the supposed downfall of Berlusconi to that of dictators such as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and Argentina’s Jorge Videla, the blog goes on to lash out at the man who “sold, pauperized, despoiled the country”.
Grillo ends his tirade with a warning and a promise: “The regime still solidly on its feet. The road is long and we will travel it until we will have changed the country”.
Berlusconi is expected to lose Wednesday’s vote as Premier Enrico Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and Grillo’s 5-Star Movement (M5S) have said they will back the ejection and should be able to form a majority.
The three-time premier has vowed to continue leading his revived Forza Italia party from outside parliament, as Grillo does.
The M5S leader is barred from office because of a 20-year-old conviction for vehicular homicide.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Mourns ‘Death of Democracy’
Senate votes on ex-premier’s likely ouster
(see related) (ANSA) — Rome, November 27 — Embattled three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday was “a bitter day of mourning for democracy” as the Senate was voting on ejecting him. The media mogul was addressing hundreds of supporters in front of his Rome residence, Palazzo Grazioli, as he awaited the final tally that looked destined to ratify a ban from office that kicked in after the Supreme Court handed him his first-ever binding conviction this summer for tax fraud at his Mediaset group. “That ruling cries out for vengeance before God and men,” said the ex-premier, repeating his oft-made claim of leftist judges out to get him. “The judiciary wants to rule in favor of socialism and against capitalism”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Financial-Aid Fraud ‘By Over Half of Rome’s Students’
‘Both universities and region suffer’ say police
(ANSA) — Rome, November 28 — Police said Thursday 62% of students at Rome’s three major universities are fraudulently receiving government aid. The report comes after investigators examined students’ financial records and need-based scholarship applications at La Sapienza, Tor Vergata and Roma Tre universities. The “thousands” of accused students are suspected of wrongfully cashing in on financial aid, “hurting the region and the universities,” said a police statement.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi’s Fiancée Asks Pope to Intervene in Senate Ouster
‘Francis, let me tell you his story’ says Francesca Pascale
(ANSA) — Rome, November 28 — The fiancée of Silvio Berlusconi has appealed to Pope Francis to intervene in the three-time premier’s recent expulsion from the Senate. “I’m launching an appeal to Pope Francis, an appeal for him to receive me and hear the story of Berlusconi,” Francesca Pascale told Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera. In the interview, 28-year-old Pascale said Berlusconi was “not depressed” but “angry, he has the anger of someone who’s been handed an unjust sentence”. On Wednesday the Senate voted to expel the 77-year-old ex-premier following his first-ever binding conviction in August for tax fraud at his Mediaset group.
Pascale said she had thought of writing a request for a pardon on the media mogul’s behalf. “Even his children agreed. Then we realized that would have been treasonous, given that he’s innocent. “I thought of going to President Giorgio Napolitano. Then I realized I would have found a shut door. “But if those doors were open I’d go and speak to the head of State, just as I’d run to speak with Pope Francis regarding Berlusconi’s case. “(Berlusconi’s ouster) was a day of unspeakable bitterness.
Berlusconi always hides his emotions with irony, even amid his own personal tragedies, but I’m not able. “Now I’d like to whisk him away, far away from those who hate him, to shield him from the blows of unjust humiliation. “I realize however that’s not his style. He wouldn’t recognize himself in the morning”. Pascale went on to ridicule Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, who used to be Berlusconi’s heir apparent, but last week broke ranks and formed the New Center Right (NCD) party that does not support bringing down the left-right government over Berlusconi’s legal woes. “All he had to do was wait and he would have become the natural successor. “Now the name of the NCD alone sounds more like a car-rental agency than a political party”.
She closed by excoriating Premier Enrico Letta, from the center-left Democratic Party, the biggest group in the Senate to back Berlusconi’s ejection: “He’s the worst kind of Communist, the kind who denies he is one”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Il Cavaliere No More: Expulsion Spells Berlusconi’s Demise
By voting to expel former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Senate has brought a long struggle to an end. The controversial former leader now faces new legal threats — and maybe even a lengthy jail term.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: ‘Vertical Cemetery’ Wins Praise for Originality
A “vertical cemetery”, in which the dead are buried in a modular high-rise tower, has been commended as “a highly original contribution” at an Oslo conference for Nordic cemeteries and graveyards.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Chess Star Arrives Home to a Hero’s Welcome
Victorious world chess champion Magnus Carlsen arrived back in his homeland of Norway on Wednesday evening to a hero’s welcome, with Oslo’s Gardermoen airport greeting the plane with a victory parade of water cannons.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Plunging Temps: Heavy Snows Wreak Havoc on Italy’s Harvests
Snow, ice, hail and sub-zero temperatures throughout the country
(ANSA) — Rome, November 27 — Italy is under attack by Attila, a current of frozen air from the Baltic Sea that brought plunging temperatures and copious snows throughout the Bel Paese on Wednesday, severely damaging harvests and shutting down schools in some areas.
Several cities in the storm-ravaged island of Sardinia — where rescue workers are trawling 40 kilometers of river in search of a farmer who went missing after last Monday’s flash floods — are experiencing sub-zero temperatures.
Coldiretti farmers’ association has called on the government to declare the worst-hit regions to be disaster areas after reports that vineyards have been crushed under the snow, greenhouses have been destroyed by hail, and fruit and vegetables have been damaged by frost.
Schools shut down in the Marche region, where snowfall reached 50 centimeters in some areas. Enel electric utility company sent 180 technicians to the field since dawn in an effort to repair lines frozen solid or downed by falling trees.
Another cold front from Eastern Europe is moving in, and authorities have advised motorists to drive with chains or snow tires and to keep checking traffic reports for possible blocked roads and highways.
Trains are circulating normally throughout the country.
The outlook remains dire as a Mediterranean cyclone called Neptune is set to sweep in from the south beginning on Thursday, bringing torrential rains and flood warnings to Sicily and the Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia regions. Another cold front, this time from the Atlantic, is gearing up to blanket vast areas of Piedmont, Lombardy, and Liguria in snow by Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Tolkien’ Biopic Will Look at Origins of ‘Hobbit, ‘ ‘LOTR’
With Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” set to hit theaters, the work of J.R.R. Tolkien is again about to satisfy millions of moviegoers. But what about the man who created it? Tolkien led a complicated and colorful life. Now a new Hollywood biopic looks to tell his story.
“Tolkien,” as the project is tentatively called, will examine the author’s life, particularly his formative years at Pembroke College and as a soldier in World War I, and how it influenced him and his work.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Headmistress Bans Excited School Children From Mentioning Christmas Until December
Headmistress Jane Porter at Whitehill Primary School in Gravesend, Kent said festive excitement was taking hold too early and distracting the pupils.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Shady Al-Suleiman to Speak on Two UK Campuses
In June this year the Australian speaker Shady Al-Suleiman, invited to speak at the FOSIS Annual Conference, was removed from the bill after concerns were raised over his views on jihad. Despite these concerns, this week Al-Suleiman will be speaking on two UK campuses, with events planned at Keele and Aston Universities…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Douglas Murray
What are the limits of modesty in our society? I found myself thinking about this after an unlikely visit — thanks to Channel 4 — to debate the niqab at the East London Mosque. The only man in the room and the only non-Muslim, I was joined on my side of the argument by two Muslim women who weren’t fully covered. Otherwise it was burkas and niqabs all round. It wasn’t easy when someone made a point because no one knew where to look…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Wales: Missing: Hard Drive Containing Bitcoins Worth £4m in Newport Landfill Site
A digital ‘wallet’ containing 7,500 Bitcoins that James Howells generated on his laptop is buried under four feet of rubbish
Buried somewhere under four feet of mud and rubbish, in the Docksway landfill site near Newport, Wales, in a space about the size of a football pitch is a computer hard drive worth more than £4m.
It belonged to James Howells, who threw it out when he was clearing up his desk in mid-summer and discovered the part, rescued from a defunct Dell laptop. He found it in a drawer and put it in a bin.
And then last Friday he realised that it held a digital wallet with 7,500 Bitcoins created for almost nothing in 2009 — and then worth about the same.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU: New Aid Models Needed for North Africa, Piebalgs Says
To keep up with rapidly changing dynamics in those countries
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 26 — The European Union is looking for new models of development aid for North Africa, because the ones now in place are too slow to keep up with the pace of change in those countries, EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told a session of the European Development Days conference on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Casablanca: The World’s Next Major Finance Hub?
FRANCE 24 reporters spent five weeks on the road from Tunis to Tangier on “A Tour of the Maghreb”. In Casablanca they met young traders who are working to make the country’s economic engine a major world player.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: for Muslim Scholar, Islam Does Not Know How to Engage in Dialogue, Must Learn From Christians
First Muslim guest at the World Council of Churches, a professor from Al Azhar is struck by the mutual respect and willingness to listen shown by Christian delegates. He would like to see Muslims behave this way. As am ambassador of Islam, he calls on Muslims to “open up to the issues of poverty and care for creation.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: After Strikes and Protests, Al-Azhar Throws Out More Than 200 Students
The authorities of the most important Sunni university have decided to crack down on student protests. Since September, students linked to the Muslim Brotherhood have blockaded the university. Their protest is directed at Grand Imam al-Tayeb and top university officials, whom they accused of supporting the military-backed interim government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fresh Benghazi Militia Clashes Kill Three Soldiers
Second attack in less than 24 hours after Libyan gunmen shoot unsuspecting soldiers
Three soldiers have been killed while a further three were injured in fresh clashes between the Libyan army and an armed militia group in the country’s east. Security forces said that fighting erupted when members of an armed group tried to enter Benghazi from the east. However, the allegiances of the group are not yet known.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: New EU Support for Advanced Status and Education
Package of 176.9 million after the formation of the government
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 22 — The European Commission adopted the second part of its 2013 action programme for Morocco, amounting to 176.9 million euros. The announcement comes shortly after the formation of the new Moroccan government, which will implement a package of reforms with the support of the EU.
The programme “Succeeding the Advanced Status II” of 87 million euros will seek to support efforts by the Moroccan government to converge its legislation with that of the European Union for the gradual integration of the Moroccan economy to the European single market.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Preserving a Kosher Taste of Tunisia’s Past
Over the last 50 years the Jewish population in Tunisia has been dwindling. For many the only Jewish restaurant in the capital, “Mamie Lily,” has become not just a culinary but also a cultural reference point.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Army Kills 4 Palestinian Militants in West Bank Clashes, PNA Condemns
HEBRON, West Bank, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) — The death toll of Palestinian militants from an overnight gun-battle with the Israeli army in the West Bank climbed to four, both Israeli and Palestinian official sources said Wednesday morning. The Palestinian source said a special Israeli force in coordination with the interior intelligence clashed with a group of Palestinian militants in Yatta town near Hebron for several hours until shortly before dawn. Three militants died after the clashes erupted and a forth militant holed up in a building but was killed eventually, the source added. Israeli Radio reported that the four militants were members of a radical Salafi militant group…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Court Fines Woman Over Not Circumcising Son
An Israeli rabbinic court has fined a woman hundreds of dollars for refusing to circumcise her baby son, officials said Thursday, in a landmark case that has sparked a new uproar over the role of religion in the Jewish state.
The case shines a spotlight on a long-running debate over religious coercion in Israel, where generations of leaders have struggled to find a balance between the country’s Jewish and democratic character.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
American Held in Dubai for Online Parody Video, Rights Group Says
An American man who works in the United Arab Emirates has been held in a maximum-security prison for months after posting a parody video about youth culture in Dubai, a rights group and family attorney said Wednesday.
Shezanne Cassim, 29, of Woodbury, Minn., was arrested in April and charged with violating a 2012 cybercrimes law that boosts penalties for allegedly challenging authorities, attorney Susan Burns said. He was moved to a maximum security prison in Abu Dhabi in June.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dual Citizenship Plan Leaves Turks Disappointed
The grand coalition wants to allow dual citizenship for people born in Germany. While Turks would be the main beneficiaries, Turkish groups, however, are disappointed and say the decision does not go far enough.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In the last few days, an Obama administration desperate to turn Americans’ attention away from the ObamaCare disaster has been touting its “historic” deal with Iran. Toward that end they released a document Saturday entitled, “Fact Sheet: First Step Understandings Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Nuclear Program,” outlining the details. Those “facts” have been rejected — by the Iranians themselves…
Both fact sheets do contain almost identical statements revealing one over-arching fact. The Iranian version: “This comprehensive solution would constitute an integrated whole where nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” The American version: “With respect to this comprehensive resolution: nothing is agreed to with respect to a comprehensive solution until everything is agreed to.”
In other words, despite all the triumphal posturing by this administration and their media cheerleaders, no actual deal exists.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Kurdistan’s Boom Laced With Pitfalls
Young Western Kurds are settling in Iraqi Kurdistan, the homeland that they hardly know. They want to be part of the development of the region, but at times encounter a strange and unwelcoming world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Lars Hedegaard
Sometime in 2014: An Islamic group nobody has ever heard of calls a newspaper to announce that a suitcase with a nuclear device has been placed in the middle of Brussels, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Paris or some other city and that it will be detonated unless the EU, Sweden, Denmark, England or France agrees to a number of demands.
These demands might be, e.g., massive public allocations for mosques, the introduction of an Islamic curriculum in schools, acceptance of sharia law, prohibition against criticizing Islam, unlimited and state-supported immigration of Muslims, a special tax on non-Muslims, a supreme Muslim council with the right to veto any law passed by parliament. The sky is the limit.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Children Targeted to Force People to Flee, Christian MP Says
It’s a war to destroy the Syrian state and disintegrate the country
(by Elisa Pinna). (ANSAmed) — ROME — A young Syrian Christian MP has accused rebel forces of targeting children and schools in government-held areas, especially ones with a Christian-majority population.
Some 11,000 children have already died in the conflict, but the Syrian deputy Maria Saadeh — in Rome to meet with Pope Francis and raise awareness in the West about “what is really happening in Syria” — said they have now become a target for Al-Qaeda-linked and jihadist groups fighting to overthrow the Damascus regime. “There have been five attacks alone on Christian schools over the past few days, injuring and killing children,” she said, claiming that it is a strategy “to get Christians — who are secular and moderate — to flee the country.” Some 450,000 of the just over two million Christians in Syria have left the country. Saadeh blames the media for the slanted take on what happens in Syria. “It is not a war against the regime, as the international media has long portrayed it to be, but a war to destroy the Syrian State by a group of extremists and criminals controlled by foreign powers,” she said. The deputy did not want to identify with the regime, but said that the top priority right now is to defend the State. “If the Syrian State collapses, it will mean the total disintegration of the country,” leaving 23 million citizens without wages, pensions, schools or healthcare in the hands of Al Qaeda-linked groups that are dreaming of a “Sunni caliphate”. Saadeh said that the rebels are destroying “the country’s administrative facilities, factories, agro-food system, and archeological sites.” “How can the West think that the killings, the car bombs, the attacks on civilians and the beheadings,’ she asked, “are synonymous with democracy?”.
The MP asked Europe to “reopen embassies and diplomatic channels in Syria, so as to be able to mediate and help the civilian population.” The defense of the State does not involve solely Syrians, she warned, since “we must work together against jihadist terrorism. Al Qaeda is operating in Syria now, but jihadist Islam has spread to Europe as well. The top goal must therefore be to halt the violence and stop fundamentalist groups from getting weapons and money.” Once stability has been restored, then elections and changes can be brought in, she said. “Syria’s political system has deteriorated and is outdated,” she noted, but it should be reformed “using democratic means and in compliance with national sovereignty.” Saadeh hopes to make her voice and views heard on this visit to Italy. She had tried to get to Rome in the past as well, but “the foreign minister at that time, Giulio Terzi, rejected my visa application without any official reason. Perhaps because my views are in contrast with the anti-Assad propaganda.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Women Drivers Responsible for Social Evil, Saudi Mufti Says
Top Saudi cleric says issue of granting women right to drive is not a major concern
Riyadh: The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia said a ban on women driving in the conservative Gulf state protects society from “evil”, in remarks published in the press on Thursday.
Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Al Shaikh, the kingdom’s most senior cleric called for “the matter to be considered from the perspective of protecting society from evil” which, according to him, included letting women drive.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Deploy 22 New Ballistic Missiles in 2014
Putin did not specify the type of new ICBMs to be deployed, but a source in the Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti on condition of anonymity that the missiles will be mobile and silo-based Yars ICBMs.
Yars is armed with the multiple-warhead RS-24intercontinental ballistic missile, which has considerably better combat and operational capabilities than the Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
6 Afghan Soldiers Killed in Blasts
KABUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) — Six Afghan army soldiers were killed and six others wounded in separate roadside bomb attacks over the last 24 hours, said the country’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday evening. “Four Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel were martyred and two others wounded in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in Arghandab district, southern Zabul province,” the ministry said in a statement. Two soldiers were killed in two IED blasts in Helmand and Logar provinces, while four ANA personnel were wounded in a bomb attack in eastern Laghman province, the statement noted…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Indiana Man Says Pizza Hut Fired Him for Refusing to Open on Thanksgiving
An Indiana man who worked at Pizza Hut for more than 10 years says he was fired because he refused to keep his store open on Thanksgiving.
Tony Rohr, the general manager of the Jackson Boulevard Pizza Hut in Elkhart, was told that Thanksgiving this year would be a mandatory business day, WSBT-TV reported.
“I said, ‘Why can’t we be the company that stands up and says we care about our employees and they can have the day off?’“ he told the station.
“Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two days that they’re closed in the whole year, and they’re the only two days that those people are guaranteed to have off and spend it with their families,” he said.
Mr. Rohr said he was told to sign a letter of resignation, but he refused, instead writing a letter of protest.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Still Complacent Five Years After 26/11
Five years ago, a militant group from Pakistan unleashed havoc on the Indian financial hub of Mumbai, killing over 160 people in over two days of terror. Pakistan continues to refuse to confront the issue.
Five years after the attacks, investigators in India and the US have come a long way in getting behind the motives, thanks to confessions by Headley and Kasab. Both of the confessions blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist organization which operates from Lahore, Pakistan, and which has close ties to the Pakistani military secret service Inter-Services Intelligence, and which has for many years been carrying out attacks in Indian Kashmir as a non-state actor.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thai PM Calls for End to Protests After Surviving Confidence Vote
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has used a televised address to plead with anti-goverment protesters who want her ouster. Earlier, she easily survived a no-confidence vote lodged by the opposition.
In her speech on Thursday, Yingluck Shinawatra called on the protesters to cease their protests to avoid damaging Thailand’s economy further.
The protesters accuse Yingluck of being a mere marionette of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption and abuse of power. The demonstrations are the biggest in Thailand since pro-Thaksin demonstrations in 2010 that ended in violence and a military crackdown that left more than 90 people dead.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand: Campaign Calls on Tourists to Boycott Buddha Souvenirs
A campaign group in Thailand is calling on tourists to stop buying tacky memorabilia bearing Buddha’s image. They argue such blatant commercialization of their religion is disrespectful.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Knocking at Europe’s Back Door
Central and Eastern Europe are hoping to expand their business ties with China. Even before the start of a summit in Bucharest, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has signed numerous letters of intent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan and South Korea Fly Military Aircraft Over China’s New Defense Zone
South Korea and Japan have defied China’s new air defense zone by flying military aircraft over disputed islands in the East China Sea. China, however, has not yet taken the “defensive emergency measures” it threatened.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Reacts to Fukushima Crisis by Banning Journalism
2 weeks after the Fukushima accident, we reported that the government responded to the nuclear accident by trying to raise acceptable radiation levels and pretending that radiation is good for us.
We noted earlier this month:
Japan will likely pass a new anti-whistleblowing law in an attempt to silence criticism of Tepco and the government:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is planning a state secrets act that critics say could curtail public access to information on a wide range of issues, including tensions with China and theFukushima nuclear crisis.
The new law would dramatically expand the definition of official secrets and journalists convicted under it could be jailed for up to five years.
In reality, reporters covering Fukushima have long been harassed and censored.
Unfortunately, this is coming to pass. As EneNews reports:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Warns Airlines to Take Precautions Over Disputed Islands Claimed by China
The State Department said Wednesday it is advising U.S. airlines to take necessary steps to operate safely in China’s newly declared air defense zone in the East China Sea, a day after two American B-52 bombers flew through the contested airspace.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at a daily press briefing that the U.S. is attempting to determine whether China’s new air defense zone rule requiring foreign aircraft to identify themselves applies to commercial airlines, Reuters reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
NZ: Deportation to Follow Jail: Drunk Man Squeezed Cop’s Genitals
An Irishman who did not disclose convictions in his homeland and managed to obtain a working visa in New Zealand will be immediately deported when he finishes a nine-month jail sentence imposed in the Invercargill District Court yesterday.
Judge Kevin Phillips said jail, followed by deportation, was the only appropriate sentence for Anthony Joseph Twomey, a concrete worker, who had admitted “outlandish behaviour” — assaulting four people in a Queenstown bar early on October 13 while intoxicated.
At an earlier court hearing, police said that after Twomey’s arrest his fingerprints were sent to Ireland and authorities there indicated he had 11 significant previous convictions.
If Twomey had told immigration officials about those, he would have been refused a work visa, which would have been a good thing, Judge Phillips said.
“You were in New Zealand as a guest … You have very severe alcohol abuse problems. We have enough young men in this country with alcohol problems without importing them.”
Twomey, who Judge Phillips said was convicted of drink-driving in New Zealand in July, was “yet another tourist who comes to Queenstown, gets drunk and gets involved in violence”.
He said there was also an arrest warrant out in Ireland for Twomey, although defence counsel Mike Newell, of Dunedin, said his client disputed that.
“I guess he will find out on his return to Ireland whether it is true,” the judge said.
Twomey began to cry in the dock as the sentencing progressed.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting Jacob Hoggard with a weapon (a pool cue), assaulting Cain Mann with a weapon (a glass), assaulting Sergeant Mark Gill, and assaulting bar doorman Paul Moynihan at the Buffalo Club…
| — Hat tip: Michael Laudahn | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa: Luxury Hotel Offers ‘Fake’ Shanty Town Experience
Sleeping under a corrugated iron roof, relying on candlelight rather than electricity, cooking on an old gas stove… This is the ‘shanty town’ experience offered by a hotel chain in Bloemfontein, a city in central South Africa. Tourists are encouraged to experience the lifestyle of “millions of South Africans living in precarious housing situations” — but in fake surroundings, not in a real township — for 80 euros a night, no less.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico: Take the Money and Run
Not many experts in Mexico are willing or brave enough to discuss the country’s recently amended anti-money laundering laws, designed to hamper the drug cartels from trying to legitimize their ill-gotten gains.
The foot-dragging reticence is more understandable when you realize that it’s about more than just hard feelings or toes stepped upon. Mexico is the largest transit area for illegal narcotics in the world. Northwards flow the tons of drug shipments into the United States, and southwards return bundles of cash and stacks of guns. This illicit trade which has grown and developed into a booming and highly profitable illicit industry is now annually worth well in excess of $40 billion — and counting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mexican Teenage Assassin to Soon Live Freely in Texas
Now 17, Edgar Jimenez Lugo, a drug cartel killer known as ‘El Ponchis,’ is released from Mexican detention after serving three years. A U.S. citizen, he will soon be living in San Antonio.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgaria to Put Fence Along Border With Turkey to Limit Influx of Illegal Immigrants
Bulgarian authorities say they are constructing a fence on a 30-kilometer (19-mile) stretch of the country’s 274-kilometer (171-mile) border with Turkey in an effort to stop illegal immigration.
Defense Minister Angel Naydenov said Thursday that the 3-meter-high (10-foot-) fence is expected to be ready by February. It will run mainly through forested, hilly areas where visibility for border patrols is limited.
Bulgarian authorities have rejected accusations the fence was aimed at keeping out refugees from Syria and other war-ravaged countries seeking to get into the EU. The country has faced an influx of migrants that far outnumbers its capacity.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Interior Minister Calls for Asylum Reform
‘System is exploding’, says Valls
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, NOVEMBER 28 — France intends to ‘reform’ its asylum regulations due to sharp rise in requests over the past few years. The entire system is tearing at the seams, said Interior Minister Manual Valls, into whose hands a parliamentary report calling for reform was delivered on Thursday. Valls told the radio station France Inter that the asylum system was “exploding” due to the practice of using it for immigration purposes. Thus, “to save it, we need to reform it,” Valls said, adding that the number of asylum requests had risen by about 70% since 2007, with 61,000 made in 2012 alone. Due to this influx the entire system is blocked, including the request assessment procedure itself. “It currently takes 16-17 months” to assess the validity of the requests, a time period that “should be reduced to nine months by 2015,” he continued, noting that there is no room left in reception facilities. Those especially full include the ones in Ile-de-France, the region in which Paris is located, followed by Lyon and eastern France.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
How to Have a Sensible Conversation About Immigration
The poor of the world are on the move, eager to live and work in rich nations. What are the consequences? Talking about them cannot be a taboo.
By Paul Collier
Everyone has an opinion on migration but very few can justify it. I have reached this dismal conclusion in writing a book on the subject. I started the book out of concern about how migration was affecting those left behind in countries of emigration — I have spent my working life studying poor societies — but its scope gradually widened to include the effects on migrants and on the indigenous populations in host societies.
There is a serious technical literature that has studied various aspects of migration but very little of it has found its way into the media; nor has it been fitted together into an analytic whole. Instead, the media have been drowning in advocacy, supported by anecdote, assertion and moralising. As I read and listened, I was struck by the gulf between the strength with which opinions were held and the depth of ignorance on which they managed to remain afloat. I recognised this condition: it was the path to policy-based evidence.
The passion underpinning opinions on migration is fuelled by identities and fears. This is true on both sides of the debate but I will focus on the likely readership of this article — those who think of themselves as liberal intellectuals, my own circle. Among this group, distaste and disdain for opponents of immigration have become differentiating tests of identity. Beneath the vitriol is the fear that any concession to popular prejudice risks unleashing anti-immigrant violence.
Ever since Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech in 1968, serious discussion of migration has been taboo in British social science. I lost count of the number of times I was cautioned while writing my book Exodus not to include anything that could be ammunition for Ukip. In other words, I was told to write yet more policy-based evidence. British migration policy is too important and in too much disarray for this to be defensible.
In defying the advice not to give comfort to Ukip, I am confident that I am not unwittingly unleashing dark forces of latent violence. If indigenous mass violence against immigrants were a serious prospect, I would accept that caution was in order: the academic pulpit should be used responsibly.
Powell’s forecast of immigrant numbers was remarkably accurate but his forecast of their social consequences was grotesquely wrong. This is not because of any fortuitous management of British migration (which has been inept beyond the bounds of parody), nor of any unusual strengths in the English character. All high-income societies have developed robust conventions against intergroup violence. This is one of the defining and distinctive characteristics of high-income societies and it is a relatively recent achievement. Many poorer societies have not developed such conventions, as they depressingly demonstrate day by day. This is one reason why these societies remain poor.
As part of my research, I have come up with ten building blocks needed for reasoned analysis of migration. Some are straightforward; others are analytically tricky and you will need to chew on them. Indeed — with apologies for a self-serving remark — you will need to read the book.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Police Rescue Children Being Held to Force Moms Into Prostitution
Nigerian women were working in the sex trade in France
Youngsters were held captive in Toledo
Police in Toledo last August freed two children who were being held by an organization that allegedly forced their mothers to work as prostitutes, Spanish authorities announced on Thursday.
The mothers, two Nigerian women, were found in the north of France where they were forced to work in the sex trade to pay off debts the organization said they owed, which ranged from 30,000 to 40,000 euros, police said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lincolnshire Police Scan Internet for Immigration Dissenters
It was reported by the BBC yesterday (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25128110) that the disruptive effects of mass immigration on Boston, Lincolnshire have become so severe that Lincolnshire Police are now conducting “regular community tension assessments”, and that “Police staff scan Twitter and Facebook and will intervene to stop rumours and misinformation spreading”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
As the government moves to curb access to benefits for migrants, it emerged there has been a ‘significant’ increase in people moving from other EU countries in search of a job.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
My UK School Almost Destroyed Me
I was born in 1991, to a happy family. I had a sister 6-years-older than me, and two loving parents. My father was the breadwinner of the family and my mother was a housewife.
My early school years were great, my education was great, I had maximum grades. I played for my school football team and did some boxing. (My dad and his dad were both boxers. It was a great bonding time for me and my dad in the gym.) Life couldn’t have been more better.
As I got towards the end of my primary school years, I started to notice that most of my friends came from broken marriages. I never paid it much attention however as I was just 6-11 years old but I always wondered “where’s your dad?”
Anyways, things changed for the worse at age 11 when I entered secondary school. This was 4-5 years after Labour had taken power in 1997. I can honestly say now, that’s exactly the reason why things were so bad.
Immediately it began. We were taught, at such a young age, about all of the atrocities western men had committed against everyone else. We were literally (I’m not exaggerating here) taught to be ashamed of ourselves and of our culture.
Girls, on the other hand, were taught how great the suffragettes were and that without them they’d still be under the tyranny of the evil men. I remember a particular class where the female teachers and female students were all laughing at the stupidity of boys and men. I remember the female teacher pointing out “all the men had to fight wars, while women didn’t, but it was always men that started the wars!” while the girls all laughed. I remember looking around at all the boys in my class just sitting there, quietly, blank stares on their faces, saying nothing. Then it hit me like a silver bullet, I was doing the same as them: nothing.
However after having years of political correctness and self-shame pumped into me by this so called education system, I had no knowledge of how to even discredit them. Everything they said seemed true. If it weren’t for my father teaching me about the great men of our past at a young age, I actually think I’d be another sad fool indoctrinated into feminist ideology.
Anti-White Racism
Not only were we taught to be ashamed of our gender, they went so far as to blatantly make us ashamed of our race. Yes, if you were white and male, oh boy, you were in for a treat.
Hours upon hours of all the horrendous crimes our ancestors did to the Africans, the native Americans, the Jewish people and of course, women.
Not one, not a SINGLE mention of all the good we did, only the bad (and if they did happen to mention anything good a white man did they never pointed out it was a white man who did it. Only when they shame do they like to point the traits of the people/person they’re shaming, out).
Meanwhile they had black history month celebrating the accomplishments of black culture and black people in general, which I had/have no problem with. I think it’s great that people can celebrate their culture but then I bought up the question, when will I be allowed to celebrate and be proud of my culture? The answer? Never, that’s racist and not politically correct, you see. That line of thinking leads to a nation of Nazis, apparently.
Now, after all this, I noticed something change in me. I became apathetic, lazy, unmotivated and my grades went from the top 5% in my country at age 11, to pretty much, rock bottom.
I remember at age 11 I was predicted straight A* and As for my GCSEs. I didn’t leave that school with a single GCSE, not one. Why? I stopped caring about school; some days I just didn’t turn up, I couldn’t take it anymore, it was actually horrendous to be discriminated against like that by people who are supposed to be objectively teaching me.
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Slate Writer: Racism Could Explain White Turkey Meat Preference
Have you been enjoying your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers? Do you have a preference for the white meat? If you do, then racism could explain why you prefer the white meat to the dark meat.
In an article worthy of The Onion but published in all seriousness in Slate, writer Ron Rosenbaum plumbs the depths of absolute ridiculousness to explain his white meat racism theory. First he details why white meat is supposedly so horrible:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Gay-Friendly Games Expects 200,000 Visitors
Swedish athletes caused a stir in the summer, when they protested against Russian anti-gay laws during the world championships; eyes are now on the 2014 Olympics, also to be held in Russia. Some are calling for a boycott.
But in 2015 Stockholm will host a major sports event in that’s specificallly welcoming for those who are gay, lesbian, bi and trans. And it will be open to anyone to watch, for free, or to take part.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Artificial Intelligence: Robots Will Have to Think for Themselves in Space
The further we get from Earth, the more space probes and robots will have to think for themselves. But developing autonomous robots is hard without artificial intelligence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Comet ISON Vanishes in a Puff of Dust as it Goes Around the Sun
Comet ISON — once touted as the “comet of the century” — fizzled out on Thursday during its final approach to the sun. “It does seem that Comet ISON probably hasn’t survived this journey,” Karl Battams, an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, acknowledged.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stealth Camera Takes Pictures Virtually in the Dark
Computing technique reconstructs 3D images from single photons reflected from dimly lit object.
Researchers have obtained ultrasharp images of weakly illuminated objects using a bare minimum of photons: mathematically stitching together information from single particles of light recorded by each pixel of a solid-state detector.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
““I Work at McDonalds, But I Can’t Afford to Eat There”
Sad. But why on earth would anyone WANT to eat there? It’s not food that McDonalds sell.
http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/29/is-the-mcdouble-the-greatest-foodcaloric
McDonald’s McDouble (two patties, one slice of cheese, typical cost of $1.00) is just about the greatest food bargain on all time:
It has 390 calories. It contains 23g, or half a daily serving, of protein, plus 7% of daily fiber, 20% of daily calcium and so on.
Also, you can get it in 14,000 locations in the US and it usually costs $1. Presenting one of the unsung wonders of modern life, the McDonald’s McDouble cheeseburger.
Yeah, and if you eat enough of them, washed down with diet coke or such, you turn into a zhombie.
Magic !!
Egypt: for Muslim Scholar, Islam Does Not Know How to Engage in Dialogue, Must Learn From Christians
First Muslim guest at the World Council of Churches, a professor from Al Azhar is struck by the mutual respect and willingness to listen shown by Christian delegates. He would like to see Muslims behave this way. As am ambassador of Islam, he calls on Muslims to “open up to the issues of poverty and care for creation.”
I’d say that this is an important story. A muslim’s account of how he seeks to make the Official Christians willing pay the jizya (issues of poverty that Christians should pay for) and continue to fully support islamic migration into our Harbi lands (care for creation).
Quote:
“It’s as if the grey area of what’s ok and what’s criminal has become even more grey,” police officer Mihajlo Mrdjen told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN).
end
One of the chief characteristics of Muslim societies is that the individual is not secure
1. in his person, nor
2. in his property.
In the West, this has been a cardinal principle.
The person who has not this kind of security is outside the culture.
Quote:
Not only were we taught to be ashamed of our gender, they went so far as to blatantly make us ashamed of our race.
end
And that, in pedagogy, is called racism.