The government of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is planning to get rid of the country’s law against racist “hate speech”. The attorney-general will propose to parliament that relevant sections of the federal Racial Discrimination Act be amended where they concern speech that is considered insulting or offensive.
In other news, a police helicopter crashed into the roof of a pub tonight in Glasgow while a musical group was playing before a large crowd. At least three people — the pilot and passengers of the copter — are thought to be dead, and others are still trapped in the rubble.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, 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.
Italian Unemployment Stays at Record High of 12.5%
Never been higher since current calculation method adopted
(ANSA) — Rome, November 29 — Unemployment in recession-hit Italy stayed at a record high of 12.5% in October, the same as September when it rose 0.1%, according to provisional data released by national statistics agency Istat Friday. It is the highest level since Istat started using its current calculation method for monthly data, in January 2004, and for quarterly data in the first quarter of 1977.
Joblessness rose 1.2% on an annual basis, Istat said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Youth Jobless Hits Record High
Youth unemployment in Italy has hit a record high of 41.2 percent, while overall 12.5 percent of Italians are out of work, the national statistics agency Istat said on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Weak Growth: Agency Strips Netherlands’ AAA Rating
The Netherlands lost its top credit rating on Friday as S&P moved to downgrade the country as a result of its weak economy. Holland had previously been a stable point in the euro crisis. Only 10 countries, including Germany, still retain AAA status worldwide.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
80 Million Will Lose Employer-Provided Health Insurance. This Means You
So, you think you will not receive a policy-cancellation letter, because your employer provides your coverage.
The odds say you will get that letter next year. New estimates of the number of employer-supplied policies that will be canceled indicate that 80 million will lose their coverage.
Go fish!
Will that get the attention of voters? You bet it will!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
At University of St. Thomas, Catholics and Muslims Find Common Ground
Amid deep Catholic roots, St. Thomas makes room for Muslims to practice their faith.
Dark-haired young men started arriving about 12:30 p.m., piling their backpacks and coats in the narrow hallway. One by one, they slipped off their shoes and darted into an “ablution station” for ritual washing. Then they filed silently into room 302 of Loras Hall. For the first time in its 128-year history, the University of St. Thomas has its own Islamic prayer rooms, as well as ritual washing stations for observant Muslims…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Cher: Thanksgiving Celebrates ‘The Beginning of a Great Crime’
Pop diva Cher caused controversy yesterday when she told her almost two million Twitter followers that she does not celebrate Thanksgiving.
Cher, 67, told a fan that she believes Thanksgiving is a holiday that glorifies ‘a great crime.’
She went on to say the day celebrates stealing land from Native Americans who had no concept of property or land ownership and purposely giving them smallpox.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Comet ISON, Presumed Dead, Shows New Life
Comet ISON passed within a million miles of the sun’s surface at 1:37 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday — by which time observers had already glumly concluded that the comet had disintegrated and vaporized.
But “then it appears again,” said Karl Battams, an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory who has been observing the comet from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. “We see something come out.”
“It’s definitely maybe alive,” Dr. Battams said. “There’s a strong definite chance it might be, may be alive.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gitmo Detainees Reportedly Fighting Transfer to Home Countries
The Obama administration’s effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison has hit a new stumbling block with some detainees now fighting the administration’s push to have them repatriated.
Two Algerian citizens held at the U.S. base in Cuba are fighting a planned transfer to their home country out of fear that Islamist recruiters may harm them if they discover they don’t share the extremists’ commitment to terror, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Is Health Care a Fundamental Human Right or a Service?
There is a reason why the best medical care, equipment, drugs, and doctors in the world exist in capitalism and not in socialist countries. Individual thinking, creativity, and entrepreneurship rewarded by profit have improved our lives and our health. Collectivism resulted in the death of 100 million individuals. Developing each drug cost at least $950 million and researchers and investors expect to be paid for their financial risks, research, and ideas.
Americans have always supported the development of life-saving expensive drugs which were then sold to other nations for much less than we paid at home or were given away for free. Americans have thus subsidized the medical treatment of citizens of many nations.
Hospitals have charged patients with insurance more to cover expenses for those who did not, could not pay their bills, or had no insurance, such as illegal aliens. Quite a few smaller hospitals have closed their doors for that reason alone.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mother With Multiple Sclerosis Loses Her Health Coverage Due to ObamaCare
Please pray for Whitney Johnson. We shared her story on the Sean Hannity show on Friday and have been promoting her story nationwide. Today she sent us an update and prayer request, and she said we could share with you.
She’s a beautiful 26-year-old mother with M.S. and, due to ObamaCare, her health plan was canceled. The problems are getting worse. Please read and pray. This is happening to real Americans.
Whitney’s request, “Pray for me this morning, I actually just found out moments ago that in order to be added to my husband’s insurance (which is the route I thought I was going to be able to go) it is going to cost me $900 per month, and the insurance is awful. It doesn’t cover my treatments, and I have to pay $5k out of pocket before any co-insurance even picks up! We simply can not afford $900 per month for my health care alone. I also got word that my friend with type 1 diabetes just got quoted a premium of $600 per month with a $14,000 deductible!!! This is just outrageous. I trust The Lord will provide for me and my family or just heal my body so I no longer need treatments. I ask for you to pray.” #teamwhitney
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Renault Will Remotely Lock Down Electric Cars
For a long time, cars were a symbol of freedom and independence. No longer. In its Zoe electric car, car maker Renault apparently has the ability to remotely prevent the battery from charging. And that’s more chilling than it sounds.
When you buy a Renault Zoe, the battery isn’t included. Instead, you sign a rental contract for the battery with the car maker. In a Zoe owner’s forum, user Franko30 reports that the contract contains a clause giving Renault the right to prevent your battery from charging at the end of the rental period. According to an article in Der Spiegel, the company may also do this when you fall behind on paying the rent for the battery.
This means that Renault has some way of remotely controlling the battery charging process. According to the Spiegel article, the Zoe (and most or all other electric cars) collect reams of data on how you use them, and send this data off to the manufacturer without your knowledge. This data tells the company where you are going, when, and how fast, where you charge the battery, and many other things besides. We already knew that Tesla was doing this with its cars since the company’s very public spat with a journalist who reviewed one of their cars for the New York Times. Seeing the same thing in a mass market manufacturer like Renault makes clear just how dangerous this trend is.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Soft’ Biometrics is the New Way to Monitor People
The US government is challenging researchers to use cameras to ID people by unique features like their gait or the shape of their ears
So the US government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has called for a new approach. The agency announced a contest on 8 November, challenging teams of the country’s top researchers to revolutionise how machines recognise people. Those entering the competition already know that conventional facial recognition won’t cut it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Synthetic Primordial Cell Copies RNA for the First Time
We are a step closer to understanding how life began, and we can thank the humble lemon.
For the first time, genetic information has been copied inside a simple cell designed to mimic primordial life. Until now, such copying had the unfortunate side effect of destroying the cell, but researchers have found that the cell can be stabilised by adding a dash of citrate. The substance is synthesised from citric acid, a chemical found in lemons and oranges.
“We’ve found a solution to a long-standing problem in the origin of cellular life,” says Jack Szostak of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Control for Your Mind — An Interview With Sociologist Kingsley Dennis
Kinglsey explains how within society there exists a silent war. The battlefield is our everyday lives: our education, our work, our leisure, our emotional and spiritual well-being, and our thinking and perceptions. Our very sense of “reality” is deliberately engineered to work against conscious evolution and preserve social norms. Some societies functions under a sort of social psychopathy where dissent of the “norm” is not tolerated.
[Comment: First hour of radio interview is free.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The ObamaCare Propaganda Campaign
Families USA to gather ObamaCare success stories and feed them to the media cheerleading squad.
In an effort that exemplifies both desperation and contempt for the public, the Obama administration, in coordination with its media cheerleading squad, is determined to rebrand ObamaCare. Toward that end, Families USA (FUSA) a self-described “national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans” was given a $1.1 million grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Their mission is to gather ObamaCare success stories and feed them to the media. Thus the American left embarks on yet another mission to “change the narrative” of a disaster entirely of their own making.
And make no mistake: despite the non-partisan claims, FUSA is an organization with roots firmly planted on the left side of the ideological ledger. As far back as 2008, when the leftist Palm Beach Post featured two articles promoting universal, government-run healthcare — because Floridians were dying daily due to a lack of insurance — they were citing research compiled by FUSA.
The present is no different. FUSA president Philippe Villers currently serves as the “Secretary and Treasurer of Board” for the Herndon Alliance, which also touts itself as a “non-partisan” organization, but one that is “working and speaking out for the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.” In 2009, Politico described the group as “the messaging arm of a vast center-left infrastructure pushing health care reform,” further noting that “nearly every major health care player, from the Service Employees International Union to Families USA and the American Cancer Society, calls itself a Herndon partner.” Yet the key takeaway from the article is this: “When President Barack Obama says Americans can maintain their ‘choice’ of doctors and insurance plans, he is using a Herndon strategy for wringing fear out of a system overhaul.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Walmart Ejects Customer for Filming Violent ‘Black Thursday’ Mobs (Video)
Walmart was less concerned about the screaming mobs fighting over TVs during yesterday’s “Black Thursday” horror show and more worried about ejecting people for filming the carnage.
“I went to the Walmart in my parent’s town on Thanksgiving around 8pm,” writes the YouTube user who recorded the video above. “I was driving back to the hotel and I saw it PACKED! Therefore I went in, and expected to interview people about why they are there. Instead I saw this, videoed it, and was promptly kicked out of the store.”
The video shows dozens of people squabbling over televisions, with one man throwing another to the ground as a woman screams, “Oh my God!” Police stand nearby but do nothing to stop the melee.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Denied Entry to the US After Agent Cites Private Medical Records
A wheelchair-bound Canadian woman was denied entry to the United States this week because she was previously diagnosed with clinical depression. Now she wants to know why the US Department of Homeland Security had her medical history on file.
The Toronto Star’s Valerie Haunch reported on Thursday that 50-year-old author Ellen Richardson was turned away from the city’s Pearson Airport three days earlier after DHS officials said she lacked the necessary medical clearance to cross into the US.
“I was turned away, I was told, because I had a hospitalization in the summer of 2012 for clinical depression,’’ Richardson told the Star.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mosque to be State-of-the-Art Landmark in Oakville
New mosque could be largest in Ontario, while facility will house amenities to be open to the community
Officials with World Islamic Mission (WIM) Canada say their planned Islamic Centre will be big — and will dramatically change the landscape of one of the eastern gateways to Oakville. They believe what they’re about to build on Ninth Line south of Dundas Street West will also be an “architect landmark” and a “state-of-the art” project for the town.
“We are building a landmark project, a majestic project that all of us in Oakville will be proud of,” said Mohamed Farouk, who heads the construction team for the new Masjid Noor-UL-Haram. “Not only Muslims, but all people, will look at this architecturally-beautiful building and say, ‘Wow.’ It will add to and enhance the landscape of Oakville.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Can Germany Really Keep Bytes Within Its Borders?
Germany’s biggest telecoms firms have promoted a national email network after the US National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted millions of emails via international hubs. But how realistic are dreams of a German-only system?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Stig Møller Criticises Fogh Rasmussen
Confusion between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry caused the cartoon crisis to deepen.
Former Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller (Cons) says that it was wrong to refuse to meet 11 ambassadors from Muslim countries, who sought a meeting with then Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Denmark’s cartoon crisis began to deepen.
Stig Møller’s analysis of the events that led to one of Denmark’s deepest international crises since World War II, is to be broadcast tonight on DR2 in the first of three documentaries entitled: “Per Stig Møller — on war, peace and the Mohammed crisis”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Charges Filed for Threats Against Yahya Hassan
The controversial poet Yahya Hassan reported 27 threats against him. Police say six were severe enough to investigate, and one person is now facing charges
Police have filed charges against one individual for threatening the poet Yahya Hassan. Hassan reported 27 different threats made against him on Facebook. The 19-year-old poet with Palestinian roots is known for this criticism of both Islam and Middle-Eastern immigrant communities where, he says, neglect is rife.
Police report that of the 27 threats, six were sufficient to warrant thorough investigations. While two people have so far been charged, charges against one were dropped.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Moroccans Top Naturalized Immigrant List, Turks Follow
33% of Moroccan immigrants acquired French citizenship
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, NOVEMBER 29 — Moroccans top the list of new European citizens, according to 2011 data from EU statistics office Eurostat.
Of 780,000 migrants from around the world who obtained citizenship in one of the 27 EU member States, more than 64,000 are Moroccan, followed by Turks (48,000), Ecuadorians, and Indians. A majority of Moroccan immigrants, or 33%, acquired French citizenship. Another 22% obtained citizenship in Spain, and 17% became Italian citizens.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German President Visits Islamic Theology Center
President Joachim Gauck told Muslims in Germany, “Germany is our common land”.
German President Joachim Gauck referring to Muslims living in Germany said that the German land is their common land. “Over two thousand sanctuaries and mosques have been built in different cities of the country,” he said. Joachim Gauck said Islamic Theology departments in German universities are an important element of the country’s recent history during his visit to Munster University’s Islamic Theology Center. “The establishment of faculties providing education in Islamic Theology is a pragmatic agreement for the future,” stated Gauck. “Everyday more Muslims become part of the German society and take part in the development of it,” he said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: ‘CowTube’ Offers Glimpse Into Farm Life
Ever more consumers are interested in the origins of their food. In Germany, dairy farmers post videos of their cows online to show milk drinkers where their cartons come from.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gibraltar Chief Booed Out of Spanish University
The political chief of Britain’s outpost of Gibraltar came in for a nasty surprise on Thursday when Spanish activists and fishermen hurled insults at him, preventing him from speaking to law students in Spain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Helicopter Crashes Into Scotland Pub
A helicopter crashed late Friday night into the roof of a popular pub in Glasgow, Scotland, leaving the building littered with debris and emergency crews scrambling to the scene.
Photos taken at the scene showed a helicopter smashed into the roof of The Clutha pub. Emergency workers can be seen near the pub’s door. There were reports that people may have been trapped inside, but they could not be immediately confirmed.
Gordon Smart, editor of the Scottish edition of the Sun newspaper, told Sky News he believed it was a police helicopter. “There was no fire ball and I did not hear an explosion,” he said. It fell like a stone. The engine seemed to be spluttering.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees
By Caroline B. Glick
Back in October 2001 then prime minister, Ariel Sharon, raised the hackles of the White House when he warned the United States, “Do not try to appease the Arabs at our expense. We cannot accept this.” Sharon then invoked the 1938 Munich Pact. As he put it, “Don’t repeat the terrible mistakes of 1938, when the enlightened democracies in Europe decided to sacrifice Czechoslovakia for a comfortable, temporary solution.”
Israel, he said, “will not be Czechoslovakia.”
Sharon was sharply rebuked not only by the White House, but by leading American supporters of Israel. They attacked him for daring to make the comparison. In time, with the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Sharon’s warning was largely forgotten.
The question of whether George W. Bush sought to appease the Arabs and Iran at Israel’s expense is an open one. Strong arguments can be made on both sides of the issue. On the one hand, Bush took the fight to terror supporting regimes.
On the other hand, Bush refused to face the threat of Iran. And he forced Israel to remain trapped in the two-state paradigm which requires it to make unreciprocated concessions to Palestinian terrorists working towards its destruction.
While Bush’s legacy remains uncertain, what is absolutely certain is that his successor Barack Obama is seeking to appease the Iranians and other Islamist forces at Israel’s expense. The appeasement Sharon accused Bush of contemplating has become the official policy of the US government under Obama.
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Neo-Fascists Welcome Greek Neo-Nazis to Rome
CasaPound invites Golden Dawn to meeting Friday
(ANSA) — Rome, November 28 — Members of the Neo-Fascist group CasaPound said Thursday they will host a meeting with the Greek Neo-Nazi organization Golden Dawn on Friday evening.
The meeting is planned for CasaPound’s Rome headquarters, triggering some local politicians to call for a ban on the meeting while others said the police should be on standby.
But CasaPound suggested that was an overreaction and said that Golden Dawn “has become a scarecrow”, that causes fear despite the fact it has won seats in national elections in Greece.
Golden Dawn, which rejects suggestions by opponents and some media that it is a Fascist or neo-Nazi organization, won 18 seats in the June elections in Greece on a strongly anti-immigration platform.
Its leader and several other Golden Dawn MPs were arrested and charged with forming a criminal organization after an investigation into the murder in September of an anti-fascist rapper in Greece.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Accused of Bribing Witnesses in Prostitution Trial
(Reuters) — An Italian court accused former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday of bribing witnesses to give false testimony in a trial linked to the case in which he has been convicted for paying for sex with a minor.
The accusation, two days after Berlusconi was stripped of his seat in parliament for tax fraud, came in a written judgment in the trial of three associates of the billionaire media tycoon who are charged with procuring prostitutes for parties at his home near Milan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Risks Fresh Trial for Bribing Witnesses
Italy’s embattled Silvio Berlusconi, ousted from parliament and stripped of legal protection this week, risks arrest and a fresh trial after a court on Friday accused him of corrupting witnesses in a sex case.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Benefit Fraudsters Create 10,000 Fake Jobs
Police in the southern Campania region have seized assets worth €108 million from a criminal network accused of creating around 10,000 bogus jobs in order to claim benefits from the Italian state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jam-Packed Jails Force Norway to Free Criminals
Police in northern Norway are being forced to release criminals back onto the streets because of a shortage of prison spaces, the acting head of police in the city of Tromsø warned this week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Live Underwear Models in Italian Stores Spark Concern
City council calls for ‘reflection’
(ANSA) — Ferrara, November 28 — The city council of Ferrara expressed concern Thursday after a recent sales event featuring live underwear models in store windows in the center of town.
“I invite all not so much to take a position in relation to the event, but to take up a challenge which is that of reflecting and rethinking the ways of talking, of communicating, of choosing images. Let’s think up methods that are efficient and that respect the person, be they a woman, man, boy or girl,” said Commerce Councillor Deanna Marescotti. The event, entitled ‘Store Windows in Motion’, was organized Wednesday by stores throughout the center of the northern Italian town, many of which featured models in underwear and other revealing garments.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Lynx Mum Filmed With Cubs Near Oslo
Wildlife cameras hidden in the forests south of Oslo have caught rare footage of a female lynx and her two cubs roaming just 100 metres from a nearby farm.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poll Shows Approval Rises for Berlusconi, Forza Italia
Almost half of Italians undecided or will abstain in next vote
(ANSA) — Rome, November 29 — Approval ratings for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and for his resurrected Forza Italia (FI) political party climbed this week following his ejection from the Senate, according to a new opinion poll released Friday.
The survey conducted by the Ixè Institute for RAI 3 television found that Berlusconi’s approval ratings rose by 6% to 23% from a 17% approval rating one week earlier among the 1,000 people polled.
At the same time, approval for his FI rose by 3.3% to 20.6% from 17.3% in the survey which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.
The survey was conducted after Berlusconi, three-time premier and a billionaire media mogul, was ejected from the Senate following a definitive conviction for tax fraud.
The survey also found that the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) slipped slightly in public opinion, to 26.7% from previous levels of 27.3% approval, followed by the maverick 5-Star Movement (M5S) which slipped to 24.5% from previous levels of 25%.
FI placed third at 20.6% while the New Centre Right (NCD) party led by Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfani, who split from Berlusconi of the expulsion, placed fourth with a 5.2% approval, down from 6.2% in the last survey. The survey also found that 45% of people surveyed said they were undecided or would abstain from voting in the next federal election.
When questioned about trust in Italian leaders, the poll found that 49% expressed confidence in President Giorgio Napolitano, followed closely by 48% that said they had confidence in Matteo Renzi, mayor of Florence and heir-apparent to the leadership of the PD. Renzi is expected to win the leadership of the centre-left party in a conference on December 8.
Meanwhile, Premier Enrico Letta saw his approval rating slip to 37% from 41% in the previous poll.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Prosecutor Outlines Chilling Murder of UK Soldier
A prosecutor outlined the chilling near-decapitation of an unarmed British soldier on a London street, as two men went on trial Friday in connection with the suspected extremist attack.
Prosecutor Richard Whittam told jurors that Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, drove their car directly at Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. They then dragged his body to the middle of the road, where the public could watch, Whittam said.
“They both attacked the motionless body of Lee Rigby,” Whittam said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Helicopter Crashes Into Glasgow Pub
A helicopter has crashed into a pub on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, it has been reported. The accident is said to have happened at the Clutha Vaults in Stockwell Street.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Gov’t Sets Heavy Fines for Violent Protests, Insults to Police and State
The Spanish government has approved draft legislation that sets fines of up to 30,000 euros ($40,800) for offenses such as burning the national flag, insulting the state or causing serious disturbances outside Parliament.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Man Allowed to Adopt Despite Sex Crime Past
Authorities in Helsingborg will allow a man to adopt his 10-year-old stepson despite the man’s numerous convictions, including one for sexually molesting a five-year-old girl.
News agency TT reports that the man, who is in his 60s, was convicted in 2004 of molestation and is also suspected of rape, though never charged, and chatting with young girls online.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Convicted Paedophile Allowed to Adopt
A Swedish man convicted for molesting a five-year-old girl in his neighbourhood has been given the green light to adopt a child of his own, as Swedish authorities said they did not fear he would relapse into criminal behaviour.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Facebook Use ‘Can Reveal if You’re a Psychopath’
Your Facebook status updates can reveal whether or not you have psychopathic personality traits, according to Swedish researchers who have analyzed entries on the popular social media site to uncover users’ personality characteristics.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Christmas Markets Vie to Drum Up Business
Germany may have invented the Christmas market, but Switzerland presents stiff competition. The chance to browse handicrafts while sipping vin chaud under sparkling lights on a cold, dark night is an experience available all over the mountain country — and it’s big business.
Montreux, a town of just 25,000 people on the shore of Lake Geneva, has one of the country’s largest Christmas markets. “It’s the second most important event after the Jazz Festival,” the market’s president and director, Yves Cornaro, tells The Local.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Kamprad Family Tops List of Richest Swiss
Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of Ikea, may be giving up his official Swiss residence this year but his family still tops a list of the 300 wealthiest people in Switzerland for 2013 with a fortune estimated at 41-42 billion francs ($45-46 billion).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Rare Tsar Letters Set for Geneva Auction
More than 230 unpublished letters from Russian Tsars Nicholas I, Alexander II and their families, along with other imperial items, will be auctioned off in Geneva next month, auctioneers said on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ex-Muslims Are Living the British Dream — Britain Should Support Them
by Ed West
There was an excellent Radio 4 documentary on yesterday in which Sarfraz Manzoor interviewed a group of people you don’t hear much about — ex-Muslims.
Like all good radio documentaries, it left me wanting to know more about the individuals involved, feeling more confused about the world, and with mixed feelings too. On the one hand I can understand that Dover Beach sadness of people falling away from religion, and why the parents of those interviewed would feel devastated by that loss.
On the other hand, the ex-Muslims are right. They’re right to question the beliefs they were brought up with, and they’re right to see the inconsistencies and those aspects where Islam’s morality clashes with theirs, and to follow what they think to be right.
It’s also good for the society around them; the irony is that ex-Muslims have embraced the British dream like no others by adopting the mainstream British mode of belief, that is unbelief and scepticism, and yet society not only does not welcomes this, it almost discourages it, is embarrassed by it.
One of the assumptions about immigration was that people from other religions would eventually start to believe as much as Anglicans do, or just leave the faith; yet at the same time the British establishment and state has and continues to protect minority faiths from the sorts of criticism and ridicule that would aide this process. Partly this is out of politeness, or to prevent social disorder, or confusion about race, or part of a political strategy played out both by Labour and Conservatives, secularists and Christians.
Both secularists and Christians have promoted multiculturalism in order to build a society that suited them more, and at the moment I note that New Humanist magazine and the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are at one on diversity and immigration, although for different reasons, and at least one of them is sure to be disappointed (maybe both). Labour has promoted the mosques for their own ends, but our current government is trying to make itself more ‘pro-faith’, whatever that means, both pro-church and pro-mosque, as if all religions were just a variation of colourful outfits, rather than belief systems that inherently clash surely as secular ideologies do…
[Reader comment by crosscop on 28 November 2013.]
“In reality the ideal for British social cohesion would be for lots of Muslims (and Hindus and Sikhs) to become atheists, agnostics or very wishy-washy Anglicans.”
Actually, Ed, the ideal for British social cohesion would be for them all to go back to their ancestral Asian homelands and let us stay here unhindered by their presence in our European one. It’s all about belonging — and they do not belong here.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Keighley Mosque Holds Open Day
Keighley’s biggest mosque hosted an event to break down barriers between Muslims and non-Muslims. Many youngsters and adults attended the open day in Emily Street’s Markazi Jamia Mosque. The gathering formed part of Interfaith Week and was arranged by the Keighley Muslim Association with support from Bradford Council’s Children’s Services through the Diversity and Cohesion Service. Guests were treated to tours of the mosque, a meal, qur’anic and Islamic poetry recitations and opportunities to ask questions about Islam…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lee Rigby Murder: Trial Jury Panel Selected
A jury panel of 14 people has been selected for the trial of two men accused of murdering soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London.
The final 12 to hear the case of Michael Adebowale, 22, and Michael Adebolajo, 28, will be set on Friday. The judge did not choose the 12 immediately because he wanted the panel to reflect overnight if anything precluded them from being jurors. Fusilier Rigby was killed as he walked back to Woolwich barracks on 22 May…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lee Rigby Trial: Killing ‘Cowardly and Callous’, Court Hears
The killing of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, was a “cowardly and callous murder”, the Old Bailey has heard.
It was told that Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, drove at Fusilier Rigby before attempting to decapitate him on the street close to his barracks on 22 May. Both are also accused of attempting to murder a police officer and conspiracy to murder a police officer. They both deny all charges.
‘Like a butcher’
There were gasps in court as CCTV footage was shown of Fusilier Rigby being rammed by a car and thrown into the air and onto the bonnet. The footage showed the soldier walking along the street wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt and a backpack, before the car veered across a carriageway, hitting him from behind…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Malaysian ‘Slave’ Was Happy in Britain and Had Lots of Friends, Reveals Sister
Sister of Malaysian ‘slave’ describes joy and sadness following first emotional reunion in more than 40-years
The Malaysian woman allegedly held against her will for more than 30-years was happy in Britain and had a wide circle of friends who cared for her, fed her and loved her, her sister said last night.
Aishah Wahab, 69, had not spoken to her older sister, Kamar Mahtum, since 1968, when after moving to London to study, she got swept up in left-wing politics and entered a Maoist collective.
Such was her isolation from her family that she did not even know their mother passed away 19-years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Six Days in Life of News Shopper Court Reporter Covering Lee Rigby Murder Trial
Being a court reporter is not always as glamorous as it looks. Here PATRICK GRAFTON-GREEN (of South London newspaper the News Shopper)describes six farcical days in the Old Bailey press box featuring countless delays, arguments… and train journeys. He is trying to cover two murder trials, that of Lee Rigby and Kevin Ssali, a schoolboy aged 14 who unwisely teased older boys about a hat and was stabbed at a bus stop.
Nov 19 noon: After spending a morning in the News Shopper newsroom I am sent to the Old Bailey by my news editor to cover the Lee Rigby Woolwich murder case. The case is hugely anticipated: the media’s demand for access to the courtroom is so great that News Shopper have been allocated its own special ticket. Without such a ticket, no access to the courtroom…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US-Style Black Friday Retail Chaos Hits Spain
Spanish shops and department stores are importing the traditional post-Thanksgiving Day ‘sales madness’ seen in the US every year as a way of getting Spanish shoppers to splash out in the lead up to Christmas.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
X-Ray Observatory Confirmed as ESA’s Next Big Mission
The European Space Agency has confirmed that its next Large (L-class) mission will be an X-ray telescope investigating the “hot and energetic Universe”.
At a meeting in Paris yesterday the agency’s Science Programme Committee selected the theme based on the recommendation of ESA’s director of science and robotic exploration, Alvaro Giménez, reported in Nature earlier this month.
Scheduled for launch in 2028, the L2 project will investigate how gas evolves into galaxy clusters and how black holes grow and shape the Universe.
ESA’s first L-class mission of its current programme, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), was approved last year and is set for launch in 2022.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Clashes in Egypt as Islamists Defy Government’s Anti-Protest Law
Islamists have clashed with Egyptian police after defying a new law banning unauthorized protests. The Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to continue demonstrations it has organized every week since the country’s July coup.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Muslims, Copts Clash in Minya
The violence erupted in Al-Badrman village over an alleged love affair between a Coptic man and a Muslim woman, the source said.
Sectarian clashes between Muslims and Copts broke out Thursday in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya, leaving three people dead and eighteen others injured, security sources said. According to the sources, violence erupted in the villages of Nazlet Ebeed and Al-Hawarteh in Minya when a Coptic man from Nazlet Ebeed built a house in the outskirts of the adjacent Al-Hawarteh village.Muslims in Al-Hawarteh suspected that the building was meant to be a church and engaged in a verbal confrontation with the man’s family, which later evolved into armed clashes. Minya security chief Osama Metwali said that two Muslims and one Copt was killed in the clashes…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Student Killed in Clashes at Cairo University
CAIRO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — One Egyptian student was killed during clashes between Security forces and Muslim Brotherhood supporters at Cairo University on Thursday, state-run Ahram website reported. Mohamed Reda, a student at faculty of Engineering, was killed by bird shot while several other students were injured during the clashes…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: ‘Three Killed in Sectarian Clashes in Minya’
Minya, 29 Nov. (AKI) — Three people were killed and several injured in clashes between minority Coptic Christians and Muslims in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya, daily Al-Ahram reported Friday.
The clashes broke out late on Thursday when a local Muslim got into a fight with a Copt over the construction of a wall in village outside Minya, the paper cited the city’s Coptic Orthodox Archbishopric as stating.
Two Muslims and a Coptic Christian were killed in sectarian clashes after the fight in Nazlet Abeed village escalated, the daily said.
There has been a spike in attacks on Coptic churches, monasteries, homes and businesses in Upper Egypt since the army ousted on Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July after mass protests against his rule.
In August, at the height of the recent wave of anti-Christian violence, over 30 churches, 122 shops, and 51 houses belonging to Coptic Christians were destroyed, the worst in Egypt’s modern history,€‚Al-Ahram daily reported, citing the Egyptian Centre for Public Policy Studies.
Two Copts were killed in Dalga, one of whom was decapitated and reportedly left on the street for ten days after he attempted to defend his home against an attack with a firearm, the report said. Scores of families fled their homes.
Three churches and several Christian-owned properties in Delga were set on fire, and regular protests were held, with some protesters chanting anti-Christian slogans.
Egyptian security forces were almost “non-existent” during the attacks against Copts, the ECPPS said.
Egypt’s Coptic minority form around 10 percent of population in the Muslim country and have long complained of attacks against them and discrimination.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
18 Abductees Found ‘Executed’ In Iraq
Eighteen men have been killed execution-style near Baghdad, just hours after they were abducted by uniformed gunmen. The grisly find caps a week in which nearly 200 people were killed across Iraq.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Al Qaeda militants have been filmed executing seven men from a rival rebel Syrian faction as part of a campaign to marginalise other moderate groups in the civil war. The amateur video, apparently taken on a mobile phone, shows the men kneeling on the ground before each one is shot in the head and slumps forward onto the ground.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, have taken advantage of a power vacuum in rebel-held areas to assert its authority over more moderate elements of the armed opposition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belounis Returns: Footballer Escapes Qatar at Heavy Price
French footballer Zahir Belounis is back in his homeland after being trapped in Qatar against his will. He paid a heavy price for freedom, but is now vowing to fight back against his former club.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Christians, Bible and Israel Must be Destroyed
Obama’s back door deal with Iran is treason — deadly to Israel and to us. He has stopped our common sense and desperately needed sanctions against Iran and instead offered them 8 billion dollars so they can quickly and surely finish up their nuclear and ‘attack’ ambitions against Israel and the West. They will probably take out the Saudis as well when ready. This is one of the most deadly, disloyal and brazen decisions Obama has made while in office.
Notice the hatred and real feelings Obama has about Christians. He didn’t include in his treacherous deal with Iran the demand that the Iranians release the American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini — 33 who was sentenced to 8 years in prison and has been enduring torture. All this for simply being a Christian. Saeed is married and a father and a Christian…and an American being ruthlessly tortured and imprisoned. Obama has nothing to say about it when he should of and could of. If that doesn’t tell you what Obama really thinks of Christians…nothing will.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Could Iran’s Earthquake Prone Nuclear Program Trigger a Chernobyl Event?
Yesterday, an earthquake struck Iran killing 8 and injuring 59 in the vicinity of the Bushehr nuclear power plant located on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. CNN reported:
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 5.6-magnitude quake was centered about 39 miles (63 km) northeast of the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr, where the nuclear plant is located, and 7 miles (14 km) northeast of Borazjan.
[…]
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in May killed 39 people and injured 850 in Bushehr province, but the reactor was not affected
Iran is very prone to frequent devastating earthquakes given the country’s location at the conjunction of the Arabian and Eurasian plates with several major fault zones. American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Rubin informed this writer at a Yale residential college forum in 2005, the Bushehr nuclear power facility was built on an earthquake fault…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Historically Unprecedented Number of European Muslim Fighters in Syria
New data uncovered about the level of fighters from overlooked European countries such as Austria, Denmark, Belgium and Norway.
A leading European expert on security and counterterrorism published an analysis on a range of countries that have sent radical Islamic fighters to overthrow the Syrian Regime, on Wednesday.
Thomas Hegghammer, a political scientist with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, wrote in The Washington Post that “the number of European fighters in Syria may exceed the total number of Muslim foreign fighters from all Western countries to all conflicts between 1990 and 2010 (that the above-mentioned study estimated to just under a thousand). And we are only 2.5 years into the Syrian war.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: Police Find 18 Male Corpses Shot in the Head Near Baghdad
(Reuters) — Iraqi police have discovered the bodies of 18 men who were abducted from their homes and killed execution-style in a town near Baghdad, two police sources said on Friday. The corpses were found grouped together and shot in the head in Meshahda, a predominantly Sunni Muslim area, around 32 km (20 miles) north of Baghdad, police and a source at the capital’s morgue said. It was the deadliest in a series of execution-style killings which are on the rise in Iraq, alongside a growing insurgent campaign of bomb and gun attacks targeting security forces and civilians…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Surprise, Surprise, Iran Has Betrayed the Geneva Deal
by Douglas Murray
At the start of this week I hinted that the negotiations which went on in Geneva last weekend were not a meeting of equals. On one side were the Iranians, representing the clear wishes of their unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini. On the other were the P5+1 countries joined by the unelected Supreme Baroness Catherine Ashton whose primary desire seemed to be to just declare some deal — any deal.
So a wretched deal was done which has initiated the fraying and eventual collapse of sanctions, and Baroness Ashton and Secretary Kerry hugged each other for the cameras and got their moment of feeling like world saviours. Now it is business as usual…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey, Iran to Boost Ties After Nuclear Deal
With fetters on trade loosened by last week’s deal on Iran’s nuclear power program, Ankara and Tehran hail new horizons for possible commerce
Turkey and Iran are set to boost their economic ties following a recent nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran that led to a partial lifting of sanctions on the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Raise Vodka Prices to Fight Excessive Drinking
With hundreds of thousands of Russians dying of excessive drinking every year, the Kremlin says it plans to hike minimum prices for strong spirits, including vodka. But the move may not yield the desired effect.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Afghans Turn to India’s Hospitals for Treatment
Thousands of Afghans travel to India each month in search of medical treatment. Poor healthcare and mistaken treatment in Afghanistan are causing this number to grow. Hospitals have adjusted to accomodate the influx.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
From the Hearts of Thai People
Government opposition has grown in Thailand to historical proportions. Millions of Thai people from all walks of life, and from across the political and economic spectrum, are uniting to overthrow the current government, which is corrupted to the core.
So far, the massive anti-government rally has been peaceful. Many government buildings have been peacefully seized and are being occupied.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Obama: “The Taliban Are Not Our Enemies and We Don’t Want to Fight Them.”
by Daniel Greenfield
Karzai confirmed that the Obama Administration actually told him that the Taliban, which provided al Qaeda its base of support for September 11, was not an enemy of the U.S. He said:
Last year, during my visit to Washington, in a very important briefing a day before I met U.S. President [Barack Obama], his national security adviser Tom Donilon, and senior White House officials, generals, and intelligence officials, the national security adviser met with me. He told me: “The Taliban are not our enemies and we don’t want to fight them.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
One Killed, 7 Injured in Bomb Attack in S. Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — One Afghan child was killed and seven civilians wounded Friday in a suicide bomb attack in the country’s southern province of Kandahar, said the provincial sources.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘Pakistan Wants Peace in Afghanistan’
Pakistan’s ambassador to Germany, Abdul Basit, has told DW Islamabad wants Kabul and the Taliban to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2014. He says India should not use Afghanistan to destabilize his country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand: Anti-Government Protesters Storm Army Headquarters in Bangkok
Hundreds of anti-government protesters have forced their way into the compound of the army headquarters in central Bangkok. Others marched on the headquarters of the ruling Party, escalating week-long protests.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Declares “Willing to Engage in a Protracted Confrontation” With Japan as “Prime Target”
Following the to-ing and fro-ing of the last 2 days with US and Japan “testing” China’s new Air Defense Zone (ADIZ), China has not only escalated (as we noted earlier) but as the day begins in Asia is stepping up the rhetoric significantly.
Official media said that Japan is the “prime target” and it is an “urgent task for China to further train its air force to make full preparation for potential conflicts.” Japanese lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing for a bill “demanding an immediate withdrawal of China’s ADIZ.” While the Western world goes on its merry way buying S&P futures, China’s concluding message rings its most defint so far, “We are willing to engage in a protracted confrontation with Japan. Our ultimate goal is to beat its willpower and ambition to instigate strategic confrontation against China.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
China Sends Fighters to Investigate US, Japanese Flights Over East China Sea
China launched two fighter planes Friday to investigate flights by a dozen U.S. and Japanese reconnaissance and military planes in its newly established maritime air defense zone over the East China Sea, state media said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Flies Into Disputed Island Zone
China says its air force is on “high alert” and has dispatched its own aircraft in a regional dispute over an island group. This follows flights over the islands by Japan, South Korea and the US in recent days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Jets Fly Over Air Defense Zone as Japan Seeks Calm
China sent planes over a new air defense zone off its eastern coast for a second day, asserting Communist Party leaders’ determination to enforce control over the area after challenges from the U.S., Japan and South Korea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taiwanese Lawmakers Denounce China Air Defense Zone, Chide Their Government’s Response
Taiwan’s legislature has attacked China’s newly declared air defense zone, with lawmakers demanding in an unusual joint statement that President Ma Ying-jeou’s government lodge a “stern protest” with Beijing.
They admonished Ma’s government for its cautious response to China’s announcement Saturday, including agreeing to supply China with flight plans for planes entering the zone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Advises American Commercial Airlines to Obey China’s Flight Rules
After an internal debate, the Obama administration has decided to tell American commercial airlines to comply with China’s demands to be notified of any flights through a broad swath of international airspace that it has claimed as an air defense zone, officials said Friday.
Even as the United States continued to send military planes into the zone in defiance of China’s declaration, officials said they expected civilian planes to go along with Beijing’s new demands out of an abundance of caution. Officials said they were worried about an accident or unintended confrontation that could endanger civilian passengers.
| [Return to headlines] |
Abbott’s Govt to Dump Laws on Hate Speech
Australia’s conservative Government intends to dump laws that ban hate speech on the grounds that they inhibit free speech.
Amendments to the federal Racial Discrimination Act will be the first legislation put before Parliament by Attorney-General George Brandis who, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, was angered by the conviction of right-wing columnist Andrew Bolt.
Bolt was found guilty before the September election of breaching the act by writing articles that Federal Court Justice Mordecai Bromberg said were not written in good faith and contained factual errors.
Headlined “White fellas in the black” and “It’s so hip to be black”, the articles suggested light-skinned people claimed Aboriginal descent to further their own interests.
Abbott said after the verdict that the “sacred principle of free speech” should not be restricted and that free speech meant the right to say what others might not like, not just the right to say something of which others approved.
The Coalition went to the election with the promise to change the act to ensure that speech found to be offensive or insulting was no longer defined as racial vilification.
At present the act outlaws actions in public that, based on race, colour, national or ethnic origin are likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a person or group of persons.
This includes posting offensive material on the internet, publishing racially offensive comments in the print media, making offensive speeches at a public rally, racially abusing people in public places, or making racially abusive comments at sporting events…
| — Hat tip: Michael Laudahn | [Return to headlines] |
Billions From Beijing: Africans Divided Over Chinese Presence
Chinese companies have pumped billions into Africa to secure access to natural resources, boosting countries’ economies along the way. Ordinary citizens aren’t reaping the benefits, though, and have become increasingly wary of the new investors.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Police Destroy 240,000 Bottles of Beer in Nigerian City
Islamic police shouted “God is great” as an earthmover shattered 240,000 bottles of beer in a widening crackdown in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano. Alcohol is banned under Shariah law imposed here in 2001 but authorities had turned a blind eye to its consumption in hotels and the Sabon Gari Christian quarter.
Bars in Sabon Gari were the target of multiple bombings July 29 that killed 24 people, carried out by suspected Islamic militants who have charged authorities are not properly applying the Shariah law that governs nine of Nigeria’s 37 states. The oil-rich country is divided between a mainly Christian south and predominantly Muslim north.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cameron Rebukes EU Commissioner on Immigration Comments
UK leader David Cameron has criticised EU social affairs commissioner Laszlo Andor for commenting on the UK’s immigration debate. “I raised Commissioner Andor’s comments with @BarrosoEU — totally inappropriate for unelected officials to complain about legitimate concerns,” Cameron tweeted. Andor had said the debate risks making the UK look “nasty.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Drones Could Defend Spain’s African Borders’
Spain could use drones to shore up its African borders in Ceuta and Melilla instead of the razor wire deterrent currently being used, the country’s opposition socialist PSOE party said on Thursday.
Some 3,000 migrants attempted to scale the border fence around Melilla between January 1st and September 17th, according to Spain’s interior ministry. That compares to 1,610 during the same period in 2012.
On Wednesday alone, Moroccan authorities dispersed around 1,000 migrants trying to reach Melilla, news agency AFP reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Asylum Policy: New Coalition Cements Status Quo for Refugees
German politicians claim Berlin’s new government coalition agreement will offer progress on asylum policies. In truth the policies solidify the status quo and ignore the most important issues.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Labour Crackdown Drives Out 2m Migrants
Ethiopian workers face hostility amid ‘Saudisation’ campaign to control foreign labour and get more Saudi citizens into work
Until recently, of the kingdom’s 30 million residents, more than nine million were non-Saudis. Since the labour crackdown started in March, one million Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis have left. And the campaign has moved into higher gear after the final deadline expired on 4 November, with dozens of repatriation flights now taking place every day. By next year, two million migrants will have gone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Mulls Plan for Gay Retirement Homes
A report on how to improve life for France’s elderly homosexual population has recommended creating separate retirement homes for the country’s aging gay population. France’s Minister for the Elderly is believed to be open to the idea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: No Christmas Service at Elementary School ‘Outrages’ Parents
Principal says illegal to mix religion with learning
(ANSA) — Milan, November 29 — Parents in northern Italy are outraged over an elementary school principal’s decision not to hold religious services surrounding Christmas during school hours, according to the local press. A petition for signatures in the city of Varese has been launched to force a reversal of the principal’s decision. The principal says it is a violation of the law to hold services of any faith during school hours, when students of varying beliefs are on the premises. The priest who traditionally holds the Christmas service has invited students to a Mass at the Santa Teresa di Gesù Bambino church instead. Meanwhile the principal is meeting with parents on Saturday.
(archive photo)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Larry Sand: Girls, Boys, Both, Neither
A “bathroom bill” for California schools sparks a backlash.
California finds itself once again on the cutting edge of a controversial social experiment. This time, the fight is about how the state will instruct school children about sex and gender identity. In August, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1266—the vague, yet sweeping, transgender “bathroom bill”—into law.
The problem with the bathroom bill is that it’s much too vague. Who decides whether a student is or is not transgendered?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wearing the Crucifix is now a fashion statement with no religious meaning, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said the Cross has been trivialised and ceases to shock or challenge people.
Archbishop Welby wrote that the symbol should represent the ‘deepest encounter and radical change’ for Christians.
He added: ‘For those early Christians it was a badge of shame.
‘Today it is more commonly seen as a symbol of beauty to hang around your neck.
‘As a friend of mine used to say, you might as well hang a tiny golden gallows or an electric chair around your neck.’
In a foreword to a book which will be published in the run-up to Lent next year, Archbishop Welby continued: ‘Are we now living with a symbol emptied of power by time and fashion?
‘Christianity with a powerless cross is Christianity without a throne for Christ or an aspiration for Christians.
‘A cross that has no weight is not worth carrying. To look through the cross is to seek its weight.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Comet ISON Gets Roasted by Sun and Vanishes, But Did it Survive?
Call it a cosmic holiday miracle. The much-anticipated Comet ISON appeared to disintegrate during its Thanksgiving Day slingshot around the sun Thursday, but something — it seems — may have survived.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Continuing a history of surprising behavior, material from Comet ISON appeared on the other side of the sun on the evening on Nov. 28, 2013, despite not having been seen in observations during its closest approach to the sun.
Throughout the year that researchers have watched Comet ISON — and especially during its final approach to the sun — the comet brightened and dimmed in unexpected ways. Such brightness changes usually occur in response to material boiling off the comet, and different material will do so at different temperatures thus providing clues as to what the comet is made of. Analyzing this pattern will help scientists understand the composition of ISON, which contains material assembled during the very formation of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Remnants Suggest Comet ISON Still Going
First given up for dead, ‘dirty ice ball’ may have partially survived close brush with the Sun.
Comet ISON entered the annals of astronomical history on the night of 28 November, when it flew past the Sun and, latest updates suggest, emerged in tatters on the other side after many skywatchers had given it up as dead.
Still, the most recent images hint that most of ISON’s nucleus disintegrated as the comet approached the Sun, leaving only a slim chance there will be anything left to see with the naked eye over the northern hemisphere in coming weeks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |