Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/6/2013

Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, was attacked during a book signing and hit in the face with a cream cake. The anarchist group Antifascist Action (AFA, Antifa) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

In other news, the Saudi government is in the midst of a crackdown on undocumented migrants. According to the Filipino government and a humanitarian organization, thousands of guest-workers from the Philippines are being held in detention cells under inhuman conditions.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fausta, Fjordman, JD, Jerry Gordon, RR, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Anti-Austerity Strikes in Greece Cripple Public Services
» ‘Europe Has Run Aground’
» Growth: Slovenia Slumps, Croatia Sees an Uptick
» Number of Americans on Food Stamps Has Doubled in Just 10 Years
» U.S. Spending on Welfare Fast Approaching $1 Trillion Per Year
 
USA
» 900,000 to Lose Health Insurance in California as ObamaCare Disaster Spreads
» Bitcoin Flaw Could Threaten Booming Virtual Currency
» Breakthrough: The Accidental Discovery That Revolutionized American Energy
» Breeders’ Cup Attendees Face TSA-Style Security
» Company Plans to Turn Hyperloop Dream Into Hypercool Reality
» GM Oranges Containing Pig Genes in the Works
» In Defense of the Tea Party
» Islam Chapter in Textbook Sparks Controversy in Volusia County, Florida
» Johnson & Johnson to Pay $2.2 Billion for Making False Marketing Claims and Engaging in Kickbacks
» McAuliffe Barely Won in an ObamaCare Shadowed Virginia Vote
» National Cancer Institute Report Admits Millions Have Been Falsely Treated for ‘Cancer’
» New Hypersonic Spy Plane Being Developed by Lockheed Martin
» Nuclear Arsenal: US to Turn Old Bombs Into All-Purpose Weapons
» Obama Administration to Destroy 6-Ton Ivory Stockpile
» Obama’s Executive Order on Climate
» Obama’s Tour of Lies
» Obama Free to Spend at Will
» Processed Foods Contain Healthier Ingredients in Foreign Markets Than They Do in US
» Screaming Murder
» Starbucks to Hire 10,000 Veterans, Military Spouses Over the Next 5 Years
» The American Iron Curtain
» The Baby Boomers and the Not So Affordable Care Act
» Tide Thefts, Cargo Hijacking and Cattle Rustling: Why is an Epidemic of Thievery Sweeping America?
» Trucker on Facebook at Time of Deadly Crash, Records Show
» Twitter Keeps Suspending Account Critical of ObamaCare
» Twitter Prices I.P.O. At $26 a Share
» U.S. Government May Force Doctors to Accept ObamaCare and Medicare Patients, Eventually at Gunpoint
» U.S. Points Out That Only Tyrants Treat Journalists as Terrorists … While Doing the Exact Same Thing
» Uniting the Right
» You Also Can’t Keep Your Doctor
 
Canada
» Canadian Doctors Reject Virginity Testing
 
Europe and the EU
» AFA Behind Sweden Democrat Attacks?
» Berlusconi’s Family Feels ‘Like Jews Under Hitler’
» Black French Minister Warns of ‘Tide of Racism’
» Does the EU Need Its Own Spies?
» Economic Doghouse: Complaints About German Exports Unfounded
» Edward Snowden Releases “A Manifesto for the Truth”
» Et Tu, UK? Anger Grows Over British Spying in Berlin
» Germany: Drunk Taxi Request Leads to Belgium
» Germany: Banks ‘Claimed €10 Billion Extra Tax Rebate’
» Germany’s Quandary: The Debate Over Asylum for Snowden
» Italy: Government Bans Cruise Ships Transiting in Venice Canal
» Italy: Berlusconi’s Children ‘Feel Persecuted Like Jews Under Hitler’
» Minister to Approve Shale Gas Extraction in Italy
» Netherlands: Court Rules Preparing for Jihad is a Crime
» Netherlands: Islamic University Dean Supports Stoning
» Netherlands: Whistle-Blower on Illegal Mosque Schools Sacked
» Norway Man Jailed for Looting Silver Mines
» Obama’s Spy Program Causing Anger and Frenzy
» Once Culinary Underdogs, Pumpkins Make Gallant Comeback in Germany
» Philosophical Differences: The Falling-Out of Camus and Sartre
» Schulz Named ‘Candidate Desginate’ For Commission Post
» Scientist Wants to Clone Italy’s Rarest Bear
» Spain’s Most Active Graffiti Artist Arrested
» Sweden Democrat Leader Ambushed in Cake Attack
» UK: Girl, 13, Was Sold for Sex at £20 a Time by Her 18-Year-Old Gang Boss
» UK: New Stonehenge Visitor Centre
» UK: Police Quiz Boy, 12, For Flicking Pupil With Rubber Band:
» UK: Young Girl Victim of Sex Gang ‘Was Plied With Drugs Until She Felt Dead Before Being Passed Around for Sex’
» Venice Cruise Ship Ban to Drive Out Tourists
» Victimized by Muslims? You Deserve it
» Welsh Woman Found Naked and Raped in Back of Car After Night Celebrating Anniversary
 
North Africa
» Egyptian Paper Names 30 Brotherhood Operatives in U.S.
» Egyptian Court Maintains Ban on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood
» Kerry in Cairo to Whitewash Obama’s Association With Muslim Brotherhood
» Libya Protest Threatens Gas Exports to Italy
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Endgame: Abbas and the PLO Get Ready to Launch the Third Intifada
» Israeli PM Netanyahu Accuses PNA of Creating Fake Crises
» Israeli Settlements ‘Illegitimate’, Says Kerry
» Israel’s Lieberman ‘Innocent’, May Return to Government
» ‘Moderate’ Evidence Points to Arafat Polonium Poisoning
» Secretary Kerry’s Remarks at the Rabin Commemoration and Rabin’s Terms for a Final Status Agreement
» Staking a Jewish Claim to the Temple Mount
 
Middle East
» Al-Tabtabaei Denies Involvement in Syrian Bishops’ Kidnap
» Analysis: Saudis Unconvinced by Kerry’s Show of US Goodwill
» Dutch-Turkish Journalist Jailed for Life in Turkey for ‘Terrorism’
» Gaza Militants Take ‘Jihadist’ Fight to Syria
» How Obama Abandoned Iraq
» Syria: ‘Kurdish Militia Oust Jihadists From Turkish Border Area’
» Thousands of Filipino Migrants Treated “Like Animals” By Saudi Authorities
 
Russia
» CSI Chelyabinsk: 10 Insights From Russia’s Meteorite
» Putin Signs Law Requiring Terrorists’ Relatives to Pay for Damages
» Risk of Massive Asteroid Strike Underestimated
» Thousands of Russian Nationalists Rally in Anti-Immigrant Protests
 
Caucasus
» North Caucasians Head for Europe by Train
 
South Asia
» Arrest of MP’s Wife Puts Indian Slavery in the Spotlight
» Southern Thailand’s ‘Ping Pong’ of Violence
» UK Soldier Posed for Smiling Photo With Afghan Policeman Who Murdered Him Moments Later
 
Far East
» Analysis: Despite Starbucks-Bashing, Global Coffee Industry Has China Firmly in Its Sights
» Big Brother Blinded: Security Fears in China as Smog Disrupts Surveillance Cameras
» Hong Kong’s English Language Skills Branded ‘Pathetic’ As Chinese Has ‘Negative Influence’
» Swiss ‘Jetman’ Soars Over Mythic Mount Fuji
 
Latin America
» Colombia: Things Are About to Get Worse
 
Immigration
» AFL-CIO Launches Ads Confronting GOP on Immigration
» ‘EU Needs New Way to Distribute Refugees’
» Putin Proposes Using Smart Cameras to Identify Immigrants
» Statement From Conservative Leaders on Pending Immigration Legislation in the House of Representatives
» Sweden: Queue for Refugee Accommodation Grows
» The Plight of Papua Refugees, “Second-Class Citizens” Forgotten by the World
» UK Population to Rise by 10million in the Next 25 Years: 60% of Increase Linked to Immigration, Ons Says
» UK: How Migrants From Outside Europe Leave a £100billion Hole in the Public Purse: Amount Taken in Benefits and Services is 14% Higher Than Money Put Back
» What Will America Look Like in 2050?
 
Culture Wars
» Marvel Rolls Out Muslim Girl Superheroine
» ObamaCare Will ‘Make Planned Parenthood a $2b Industry’
» Pro-Life Group: Texas Abortionist Killed Live-Born Babies
» Swedes in Uproar Over Father’s Day Lace Panties
» The Few, The Proud, The Unisex
» War on Boyhood: Charter School Threatened to Expel an 8-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Halloween Costumes
 
General
» Alga Takes First Evolutionary Leap to Multicellularity
» Garry Kasparov: A Win for Carlsen in the Upcoming World Championship Match Will be a Huge Win for the Chess World
» Op-Ed: Why Did So Many Wanted Nazis Convert to Islam?
 

Anti-Austerity Strikes in Greece Cripple Public Services

In another round of strike action against austerity measures in Greece, public transport has been disrupted across the bailed-out eurozone nation. Protesters said international lenders were destroying the country.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Europe Has Run Aground’

Rzeczpospolita, 6 November 2013

The EU has yet to overcome the economic crisis and many countries are starting to blame Germany, writes Rzeczpospolita. The latest Eurostat data shows that one in every nine Europeans is without a job, but figures for some countries are much more alarming than the EU average, with unemployment in Spain and Greece still hovering at around 27%. According to the daily —

The situation won’t improve any time soon, as the economic recovery is weaker than expected.

On November 5, Brussels once again lowered its 2013 growth forecast for the eurozone from 1.2 per cent to 1.1 per cent, while Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Oli Rehn admitted that it is too early to announce a victory when unemployment remains at an “inadmissible level”. Meanwhile a growing number of crisis stricken countries are critical of Germany, which has —

… taken advantage of a record-low interest rates to reduce public debt and boost exports instead of strengthening, as others would like it to, domestic demand.

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

Growth: Slovenia Slumps, Croatia Sees an Uptick

Jutarnji List, 6 November 2013

In its latest economic forecasts, released on November 5, the European Commission has significantly reduced the outlook for Slovenia, which is expected to be the slowest growing economy in the Union in 2015, reports Dnevnik. The Slovenian economy is expected to shrink by 2.7 per cent this year, and by 1 per cent in 2014, as Finance minister Uroš Čufer recently anticipated. Only Cyprus, which is facing forecasts of an 8.7 per cent contraction in GDP in 2013 and a 3.9 per cent contraction in 2015, is faring worse.

The reasons for Slovenia’s economy’s poor performance essentially lie with the country’s troubled banks, whose rescue, along with low export growth and low domestic consumption, will contribute to put pressure on the budget.

Notwithstanding the negative forecasts, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, voiced support for Slovenia’s efforts and stated that Slovenia “will not need to apply for programme assistance.”

“The Union no longer has much faith in Croatia,” headlines the Zagreb daily Jutarnji List, which [asserts] (…) that “if one can believe the forecasts of the European Commission, by next year Croatia will leave the club of countries in recession.” However, the newspaper continues, Croatia will have the lowest rate of growth in the EU, “a symbolic 0.5 percent.”

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

Number of Americans on Food Stamps Has Doubled in Just 10 Years

(NaturalNews) The pace of transformation of America from a productive, pull-up-your-boots society to one hooked on government handouts is quickening, as new data indicates an explosion of growth in a program once considered a short-term fix for people temporarily down on their luck.

According to government figures, enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, has more than doubled in 10 years — and rose even during times of good economic growth.

U.S. researchers said that SNAP enrollment has doubled to 47 million in a decade, but for the first time, enrollment in the program even expanded during periods of economic growth.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Spending on Welfare Fast Approaching $1 Trillion Per Year

(NaturalNews) As I’ve written before, the sum of U.S. government “entitlement” programs are not simply expensive, they are unsustainable. And now, there is evidence that the fastest growing entitlements — those that comprise “welfare” — will soon approach a mind-boggling $1 trillion a year.

Talk about unsustainable; think Detroit on steroids.

A new study by Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee found that, over the past five years, the country has spent a whopping $3.7 trillion on welfare programs. To fully understand the gravity of that, take a peek at this chart, which shows spending on welfare programs versus spending on transportation, education and NASA (click here).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

900,000 to Lose Health Insurance in California as ObamaCare Disaster Spreads

(NaturalNews) “If you like your plan, you can keep it.” These famous words, which were literally stated by Usurper Obama dozens of times during his Affordable Care Act hawking days, have proven to be a blatantly bald-faced lie. As reported by SFGate, some 900,000 Californians are expected to lose their existing healthcare coverage come December 31, adding to the millions of others from other states who will also reportedly lose their plans.

Peter Lee, Executive Director of “Covered California,” California’s Obamacare health insurance exchange, recently told the editorial board of the San Fransisco Chronicle that the individual market for health insurance is “changing dramatically.” Lee admitted, though sheepishly and with his own heavy dose of glossy rhetoric, that Usurper Obama essentially lied about people being able to keep their coverage and that many people will have to choose new plans.

When asked if the nearly 1 million Californians losing their coverage will have to pay more under Obamacare, Lee ‘fessed up that “some individuals will pay more.” But he was unable to delineate who would have to pay more, and how much more they would have to pay. Instead, he quickly changed the subject to Obamacare’s other alleged improvements over private insurance, which are all presumably lies just like the “if you like your plan, you can keep it” nonsense.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bitcoin Flaw Could Threaten Booming Virtual Currency

Bitcoin contains a hitherto unnoticed flaw which threatens to upset the balance of the $1.5 billion economy built on the virtual currency. Ittay Eyal and Emin Gun Sirer, of Cornell University in New York have discovered the “devastating” potential for Bitcoin “mining” — the process by which Bitcoins are generated — to be manipulated.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Breakthrough: The Accidental Discovery That Revolutionized American Energy

One day in 1997, while supervising a well in north Texas, a group of geologists made a small mistake that would help change the future of fracking.

The dramatic changes to the nation’s energy outlook are as surprising as they are clear. Seven years ago, oil production was in steep decline and natural gas nearly as hard to find. Today, the United States produces over 7.7 million barrels of oil a day, up over 50% since 2006 and the most in nearly 25 years. The nation could pump more than eleven million barrels a day by 2020. The U.S. is on track to pass Russia as the world’s largest energy producer and should have enough gas to last generations.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Breeders’ Cup Attendees Face TSA-Style Security

Attendees at this past weekend’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships faced TSA-style security measures to enter Santa Anita Park, with security officers rifling through their bags — although elites were able to avoid the harassment by using a separate club entrance.

This is yet another example of how TSA-style security theater is being expanded way beyond airports.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Company Plans to Turn Hyperloop Dream Into Hypercool Reality

It sounds insane: Take an enormous hamster tube, suck most of the air from it, insert a hovercraft full of humans and accelerate it to 800 miles per hour. But according to Patricia Galloway, that wild concept is no dream — it’s very much real.

“The feasibility is done. What we’re working on now is moving toward conceptual design,” Galloway told FoxNews.com. Thursday morning Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc., a new company Galloway is spearheading, came out of stealth mode to reveal if not a concrete prototype of the futuristic form of transport, at least an outline of what it will take to get there.

If the company succeeds, Hyperloops may someday replace the train and plane as a way to get between points A and B.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

GM Oranges Containing Pig Genes in the Works

(NaturalNews) Increasingly stricken by a disease that leaves them shriveled, discolored and sour, Florida oranges are the latest target for genetic manipulators who are right now working on a new variety of genetically modified (GM) orange that could end up containing pig genes. According to The New York Times (NYT), the disease, known as citrus greening, threatens the entire domestic orange industry, which is why some of Florida’s largest citrus producers see no other option but to fund the development of GM oranges.

Southern Gardens Citrus (SGC), one of Florida’s largest citrus growers and manager of some two-and-a-half million orange trees in south-central Florida, is at the forefront of the push for GM oranges. According to reports, the company recently tried to battle citrus greening in its own groves, chopping down and burning hundreds of thousands of infected trees and bolstering its arsenal of pesticides. But these efforts ultimately failed, prompting company officials to seek various alternative approaches.

When scouring the world for an orange variety immune to the disease proved fruitless, Ricke Kress, SGC’s president, decided it might be time to take a more drastic approach. According to the NYT, Kress and his boss had previously mulled the idea of developing GMO oranges when citrus greening first showed up in the state but were reluctant to actually go through with it due to the long-term damage it might cause to the citrus industry. Now, however, Kress believes that the situation is far more serious.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

In Defense of the Tea Party

Most who participated were political novices, experiencing their first direct activism. Concerned citizens, many were just parents who had spent their time raising the kids, and had been unaware of just how massive the government had gotten. They were about to get the shock of their lives.

  • The Federal Reserve is a private organization that isn’t officially part of the Federal Government. Yet it controls the money supply and controls interest rates. The TEA Party demanded that it be audited so we could all see its wealth, its holdings, and how it makes its decisions that directly affect our lives. Congress refused to demand such an audit. The TEA Party thought that was wrong and demanded that the Fed be held accountable to the American people. For that action the TEA Party was vilified for rocking the boat.
  • The TEA Party demanded that out-of-control spending be reigned in, waste stopped and taxes lowered. Supporters of big government raced to the microphones to declare that such demands would hurt the poor and deny them programs that were necessary for them to live. RACIST, came the charge against the TEA Party.
  • The TEA Party expressed opposition to immigration “reform” laws which would reward those who crossed our borders illegally, resulting in millions flooding into our nation, gaining free hospital care, education and welfare, while denigrating American culture and quality of life. The TEA Party thought that was wrong and simply demanded that Congress enforce the very laws it had created. Again came the charge against the TEA Party of RACISM.
  • In communities across the nation, TEA Party activists began to oppose regulations designed to damage or even eliminate private property rights, usually under the excuse of protecting the environment. Many such policies are being enforced through the establishment of non-elected boards, regional governments, and local planning councils, denying citizen input. When local citizens attend public meetings to express opposition, as is done in representative governments, officials many times simply ignore them, refusing to engage in discussion, accusing them of perpetrating groundless conspiracy theories. Some citizens have even been removed bodily from such meetings simply for expressing opposition. When in frustration of not being heard, TEA Party activists show up in protest, the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency labeled them, “Jack Booted Thugs.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Islam Chapter in Textbook Sparks Controversy in Volusia County, Florida

Watch this Orlando, Florida Channel 9 WFTV News report on parental protests over a World History text with a biased chapter on Islam and less than equal treatment of other faiths.

This is the third such protest in Florida over textbooks that were found to be on the Florida Department of Education approved list.. Similar protests have occurred in neighboring Brevard County while the earlier one was over in Sarasota County; see this WatchDogWire post, “Sarasota, Florida’s Biased Textbook on Islam Problem.” A meeting at the Volusia school board was cancelled despite more than 45 parents showing up. Florida State CAIR director Hasan Shipley showed up to suggest that this was a national trend of hate groups hating Muslims and such intolerance was out of order. The US Department of Justice even weighed alleged safety issues. The Volusia protest was sparked by a Facebook post by a parent objecting to chapter devoted to Islam while other faiths did not receive equal treatment.

Here is the WFTV report, “Volusia Parents Protest Chapter on Islam”…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Johnson & Johnson to Pay $2.2 Billion for Making False Marketing Claims and Engaging in Kickbacks

(NaturalNews) In what’s considered one of the country’s largest health care fraud settlements and one of the largest whistleblower payouts in U.S. history, Johnson & Johnson will pay $2.2 billion to settle charges involving the company’s role in marketing three prescription drugs for unapproved uses. As the saying goes, “But wait. There’s more.”

Johnson & Johnson, along with two subsidiaries, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Scios, also paid kickbacks to doctors and nursing homes who touted their drugs, created “ElderCare Sales Forces” who were paid to push the drug and sent pharmacists to hospitals to assess patient records.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

McAuliffe Barely Won in an ObamaCare Shadowed Virginia Vote

Furious Mark Levin blames the “GOP establishment” and “RINO mouthpieces” for the narrow defeat

All of those who worked so tirelessly for Ken Cuccinelli can hold their heads high. Even with an Obama bundler-financed, third-party spoiler taking 7 percent of the vote, McAuliffe only won over Cuccinelli by a measly 3 percent. Total vote count was McAuliffe, 1,064, 093 and Cuccinelli 1,008, 554.

A furious Mark Levin blames the “GOP establishment” and “RINO mouthpieces” for the narrow defeat, and no one knows the details of the race better than Virginia resident Mark Levin.

He posted the following response on his website, MarkLevinShow.com:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

National Cancer Institute Report Admits Millions Have Been Falsely Treated for ‘Cancer’

(NaturalNews) A significant number of people who have undergone treatment for cancer over the past several decades may not have ever actually had the disease, admits a new report commissioned by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). Published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), this government study identifies both overdiagnosis and misdiagnosis of cancer as two major causes of this growing epidemic, which together have led to the needless treatment of millions of otherwise healthy individuals with chemotherapy, radiation or surgery.

The report drops a few major bombshells on the way that many cancers are diagnosed. Breast cancer, for instance, is sometimes not breast cancer at all but rather a benign condition such as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). However, untold millions of women with DCIS have been misdiagnosed as having breast cancer, and subsequently treated for a condition that likely never would have caused them any health problems. And similarly in men, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), a type of premalignant precursor to cancer, is commonly mistreated as if it was actual cancer.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Hypersonic Spy Plane Being Developed by Lockheed Martin

A new hypersonic spy plane, capable of flying up to six times faster than the speed of sound, is being developed by aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp., according to company officials.

The new aircraft, known as the SR-72, is the unmanned successor to Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird, a twin-engine, two-seater, supersonic aircraft that was developed in the 1960s. The company’s new spy plane will be able to fly twice as fast as the Blackbird and three times faster than current fighter jet.

The hypersonic SR-72 also will be able to fly to any location within an hour, which could be revolutionary for the military, said Brad Leland, Lockheed Martin’s program manager for hypersonics.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Nuclear Arsenal: US to Turn Old Bombs Into All-Purpose Weapons

The US wants to modernize nuclear bombs stationed in Europe in a way many experts call the equivalent of creating a new weapon. Critics believe the move violates pledges by President Obama he would not develop new nukes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Administration to Destroy 6-Ton Ivory Stockpile

The Obama administration is set to pulverize 6 tons of ivory with a rock crusher in a bid to send a worldwide message that the U.S. does not accept poaching. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will crush the ivory — which includes raw and carved tusks, ornaments and jewelry seized over the past 25 years — on Nov. 14 at the national wildlife repository in Denver, according to TIME.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora said in 2011 illegal trade of ivory was at its highest level in two decades, fueled by demand from areas like East Asia and the involvement of criminal groups. Ivory trade generates an annual revenue of around $10 billion.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Executive Order on Climate

Obama is gearing up “climate change” as an issue to divert our attention from the many scandals and failures of his administration

The President has issued an Executive Order to ramp up efforts to address “climate change.”

At the heart of the global warming hoax has been this carbon dioxide lie, but there has been no warming for over 17 years and the many computer models that predicted it were wrong; many were deliberately false.

When one looks at the actual facts about climate related events, we find that in recent years there have been fewer tornados with a decline of severe tornadoes over the past forty years. There has been more than eight years without a major hurricane strike in the U.S. and the nation has had the fewest number of forest fires for the past three decades.

President Obama has made it known that one of his goals — other than the destruction of the U.S. economy — has been to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions by 17% by 2020. His Environmental Protection Agency has been feverishly producing regulations that reflect his “war on coal”, imposing rules on coal-fired plants that have already forced many to close. All this is based on a lie. Even the Supreme Court has taken notice and will hear a case that challenges the EPA. (It previously ruled carbon dioxide was a “pollutant”, a baseless error.)

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Tour of Lies

President Barack Obama is a liar. Not a person who “misspoke,” as the New York Times editorial board ridiculously asserted last Sunday. His promise that if Americans liked their healthcare plan they could keep it — made on at least 23 separate, videotaped occasions — was not the “half true” statement the equally corrupt politifact.com website contended it was.

Nor did the president make a “campaign pledge which did not hold up to the realities of governing,” as shameless TV host Bill Maher declared, before further noting it was a “moral complexity” he is “okay with ‘cause I’m not twelve.” It was a bald-faced lie. And on at least one occasion in June of 2009, it included a completely unambiguous qualifier: “if you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep your health-care plan, period.” (Italics mine). Yet Monday, in an Orwellian moment that provided the public with an unprecedented look at the president’s utter lack of credibility, Obama insisted he never made any such promises.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Free to Spend at Will

Some will probably remember the incident, on October 16, 2013, when a House stenographer stepped to the House floor microphone and summarily chastised the entire U.S. House of Representatives.

This chastisement occurred during the final moments of the House voting on H.R. 2775, the 2014 appropriations act.

Most won’t recognize that House Resolution number because the mainstream media, when talking about legislation, never mentions bill numbers. One can only concur there is a reason for that — if people don’t know the bill number, they can’t go look it up on the government website and read the text of the legislation for themselves, nor find out how their representatives voted. The mainstream media, being the propaganda arm of the federal government, deliberately withholds information. We should be so surprised!

Go here to see how your Senators voted on H.R. 2775.

Go here to see how your Representative voted on H.R. 2775.

All three of my U.S. representatives — Maria Cantwell (D), Patty Murray (D), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R), voted in favor of H.R. 2775, suspending the debt ceiling and reopening the government.

What does “suspending the debt ceiling” mean? It means that Obama and company are free to continue spending money without restraint.

With the United States Debt standing at $16,747,360,549,057.23 on October 16, 2013, Congress voted to allow Obama and company to continue spending at will.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Processed Foods Contain Healthier Ingredients in Foreign Markets Than They Do in US

(NaturalNews) It is bad enough that many processed foods currently on the market today still contain artificial dyes, chemical stabilizers and preservatives, refined sugars and various other toxic, yet FDA-approved, ingredients. But a recent investigation by FoodBabe.com reveals a shocking double standard within the food industry: processed foods created for the American market are often far worse nutritionally than those created for foreign markets, despite claims by the food industry that there are simply no acceptable or safe alternatives to their current U.S. product formulations.

Many popular processed foods, such as Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Ritz Crackers, McDonald’s French fries and Pizza Hut Garlic Cheese Bread, to name just a few, are intentionally formulated much differently here in the U.S. than they are elsewhere. Foreign varieties of these and many other processed foods are generally healthier, contain fewer or no toxic additives and are all-around more appealing from a health standpoint than their American counterparts.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Screaming Murder

Obama’s knee-jerk attribution of murders to gun ownership

When a Russian official tweeted about the Navy Yard shootings, NPR noted that there are “fewer than 13 million firearms in circulation in Russian, compared to 300 million in the United States. That works out to about nine guns per 100 people in Russian and closer to 100 guns per 100 people in America.” Russia has some of the toughest gun laws on the books as any nation, but there were an estimated 21,603 killings in Russia in 2009. By comparison, there were 13,636 homicides in the U.S. in 2009.

As we have come to learn, the facts never stop President Obama from using every murder to advance his agenda to strip Americans of their guns.

After the Los Angeles shooting in which a Transportation Security agent was killed, he gave a speech in which he said, “As Americans bound in grief and love, we must insist here today there is nothing normal about innocent men and women being gunned down where they work. There is nothing normal about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. There is nothing normal about children dying in our streets from stray bullets. No other advanced nation endures this kind of violence, none.” This is yet another lie. In nations around the world, people die from terrorism and comparable acts of insanity in far greater numbers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Starbucks to Hire 10,000 Veterans, Military Spouses Over the Next 5 Years

Starbucks announced on Wednesday its plans to hire at least 10,000 veterans and spouses of active military members in the next five years.

“This demographic represents one of the most underutilized talent pools in our country,” said former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, now a Starbucks director, the New York Post reported. “They bring an understanding of other cultures and they’re accustomed to working with diverse and international partners.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The American Iron Curtain

It is a wall of words. A wall of laws, regulations and mandates

In March 1946, Winston Churchill told a Missouri audience, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia.”

Today a new iron curtain is descending. It encloses the small Missouri town where Churchill gave his speech and all the great capitals of a great nation. Behind the iron curtain lie New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and countless others.

It covers a million streets and hundreds of millions of people. Its shadow passes over stores and factories, homes and schools. It is not a physical wall. There are, as of yet, no border guards with rifles waiting to shoot those wanting to leave, there are no watchtowers or leashed dogs keeping an eye on the inner frontier.

It is a wall of words. A wall of laws, regulations and mandates. The 2012 Federal Register had 78,961 pages. There are 11 million words of ObamaCare regulations alone. With so many regulations, everyone violates a few of them without even knowing it. Assemble all the millions of them together and you have a great wall that would dwarf anything in China.

The American iron curtain is still made out of paper, but in time it will be made out of cement and iron. Tyrannies begin with paper, but end with metal. The state begins by imposing bureaucracy on a free people and ends by imposing tyranny on them. When they will not obey the paper, it resorts to steel, iron and lead.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Baby Boomers and the Not So Affordable Care Act

The ever-shrinking labor market will make it more difficult to meet the commitments made to the Baby Boomer generation and to other recipients

Why is it that we needed the Affordable Care Act? Was it because everybody was told inaccurately that Americans were dying in the streets untreated? If you ask Europeans and people from other continents that is exactly the perception they have about the United States.

They do not know that any American can walk sick into an emergency room and he/she will be treated immediately. They don’t have to wait weeks and months to have a doctor’s appointment, tests, and procedures before they are actually treated as is the case in all socialized medicine countries.

Why was it that ObamaCare had to have a 15-member “death panel” that rations care based on age and utility to society, a complicated formula that only a bureaucrat can devise, not a doctor who took a Hippocratic Oath to care for all sick, regardless of age?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Tide Thefts, Cargo Hijacking and Cattle Rustling: Why is an Epidemic of Thievery Sweeping America?

Desperate people do desperate things, and it appears that Americans are rapidly becoming a lot more desperate. An epidemic of thievery is sweeping across America, and authorities are not quite sure what to make of it. Down in Texas, cattle thieves can get up to $1,500 per head of cattle, and cattle rustling was up nearly 40 percent last year.

As you will read about below, cargo hijacking is becoming much more sophisticated, and it is being estimated that losses from cargo thefts will total about $216 million this year alone. And for some reason, Tide laundry detergent has become a very hot commodity among common criminals all across America. In fact, it is being reported that some grocery stores are “losing $10,000 to $15,000 a month” as a result of Tide thefts. So why is all of this happening? Well, as I have written about previously, crime is on the rise in the United States, and poverty is absolutely exploding. In fact, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program each month. Over the past five years, we have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of people that cannot take care of themselves without help from the government. Millions upon millions of Americans that have been forced into poverty are becoming increasingly angry, frustrated and desperate. And what we are watching right now is only just the beginning — all of this is going to get a whole lot worse.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Trucker on Facebook at Time of Deadly Crash, Records Show

In this cab video, a cellphone, upper left, flies from the hands of driver Jorge Espinoza as his tanker truck collides with the first Arizona Department of Public Safety patrol car at high speed on Interstate 8. His truck struck two more police cars and two firetrucks May 6.

A truck driver was using his cellphone to look at photos of women on Facebook when he crashed into three police cars and two fire trucks on Interstate 8, killing a DPS officer, records obtained by the Star show.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Twitter Keeps Suspending Account Critical of ObamaCare

The account, @mycancellation, was just getting started when Twitter suspended it — twice — before reinstating the account late Saturday night.

The purpose of @mycancellation or mycancellation.com was to allow some of the millions of Americans who are losing their health insurance to post pictures of themselves with their cancellation letters.

“Help us show Washington the faces who lost what they liked,” the account asked. “ObamaCare canceled your health insurance. Now, send us your letter,” the tagline for the website advertised.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Twitter Prices I.P.O. At $26 a Share

On Wednesday, Twitter set the price of its initial public offering at $26 a share, valuing the company at roughly $18 billion.

Twitter shares are set to begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

[Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Government May Force Doctors to Accept ObamaCare and Medicare Patients, Eventually at Gunpoint

(NaturalNews) The primary tool of socialism is force, and while that force usually begins with good intentions codified into law, it inevitably ends up with the kind of force used by Mao Zedong to murder millions of his own citizens. “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” he famously stated, and Obama-supporting democrats are following in his footsteps.

Word from the street is that Kathleen Murphy, a democrat running for the House, wants to make it a legal requirement that doctors accept Medicare and Obamacare patients.

Many doctors, of course, have already announced that will not accept such patients because they would go bankrupt if they did. The government’s payout on medical services rendered to patients in these groups is a total joke, you see: doctors sometimes receive only 30% of what they actually billed. And they can’t negotiate, either. The government simply tells you what you “get” to receive in terms of payment, regardless of how much you actually billed as a doctor.

So forcing doctors to accept Medicare / Obamacare patients is the same as forcing them to work for free. Most doctors won’t work for free, as they have their own families to financially support, so they’ll simply quit the industry altogether. That, in turn, will cause a radical worsening of the existing doctor shortage across the USA, resulting in yet more people going without health care.

The reaction by democrats to all this, of course, will be to make it illegal for doctors to quit. And that will sooner or later be enforced at gunpoint, because force is the only tool that socialists really understand since they operate in total ignorance of the mechanisms of the free market and informed consumer choice. With Obama and the democrats, it’s always “Mandate! Mandate! Mandate!” even if it means assigning a government paramilitary worker to hold a pistol to the head of every doctor across America to make them see patients against their will.

And why not? Obamacare already forces hundreds of millions of American citizens to buy health insurance against their will. Now Kathleen Murphy wants to force doctors to accept all these patients against their will. Where does it ever end?

I’ll tell you where it ends: Violent revolution. Every socialist entitlement dream — whether it’s in China, Venezuela, Argentina or even Fascist-style systems like Nazi Germany — always end in violent collapse and mass slaughter.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Points Out That Only Tyrants Treat Journalists as Terrorists … While Doing the Exact Same Thing

The U.S. government is targeting whistleblowers in order to keep its hypocrisy secret … so that it cankeep on doing the opposite of what it tells other countries to do.

As part of this effort to suppress information which would reveal the government’s hypocrisy, the American government — like the British government — is treating journalists as terrorists.

Journalism is not only being criminalized in America, but investigative reporting is actually treated liketerrorism.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Uniting the Right

When the voices of the Left all come together, the amplification is stupefying. The result is that a morally bankrupt, politically tyrannical, economically destructive party is able to set the course of an entire nation and put it on the road to disaster.

Republicans, in contrast, speak with multiple voices, and in words that often have no relation to each other. If one Republican says “defund Obamacare,” another says, “fund the government,” even if that might mean funding Obamacare. The argument and the dissension are over tactics, not substance, since all Republicans oppose Obamacare. If one Republican says “don’t intervene in Syria,” another says “don’t hesitate”; if one says “Obama-supported immigration reform is a dagger aimed at American sovereignty,” another says “opposition to immigration reform is a death-knell for our party.” This, again, is a tactical division, since all Republicans support enforceable borders.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

You Also Can’t Keep Your Doctor

I had great cancer doctors and health insurance. My plan was cancelled. Now I worry how long I’ll live.

Before the Affordable Care Act, health-insurance policies could not be sold across state lines; now policies sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges may not be offered across county lines.

What happened to the president’s promise, “You can keep your health plan”? Or to the promise that “You can keep your doctor”? Thanks to the law, I have been forced to give up a world-class health plan. The exchange would force me to give up a world-class physician.

For a cancer patient, medical coverage is a matter of life and death. Take away people’s ability to control their medical-coverage choices and they may die. I guess that’s a highly effective way to control medical costs. Perhaps that’s the point.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Canadian Doctors Reject Virginity Testing

Virginity tests to guarantee the marriageabilty of women appear to be on the rise in Quebec, Canada. Checking for an intact hymen is not the answer, says medical ethicist Marie-Eve Bouthillier.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

AFA Behind Sweden Democrat Attacks?

An e-mail signed by the militant Anti Fascist Action group claims the group has been carrying out a range of “actions” around western Sweden in conjunction with the group’s 20th anniversary, Swedish Radio News reports.

Several Sweden Democrat politicians in the area have been subjected to threats and vandalism over the past few days. The mail was sent to several media organisations in western Sweden. Police say they will include the letter in their investigations on the attacks on the Sweden Democrat politicians.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Berlusconi’s Family Feels ‘Like Jews Under Hitler’

Italy’s former premier Silvio Berlusconi, who blames his tax fraud conviction on persecution by magistrates, says his children “feel like the Jews under Hitler.”

“My children tell me they feel like the families of Jews in Germany must have felt under Hitler’s regime. The whole world is against us,” he is quoted as saying in an upcoming collection of interviews with journalist Bruno Vespa, an extract of which was released Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Black French Minister Warns of ‘Tide of Racism’

France’s Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, the country’s most prominent black politician, has warned that the country’s social cohesion is under threat from a rising tide of racism of which she herself has been the victim.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Does the EU Need Its Own Spies?

The EU justice commissioner thinks Europe needs its own central intelligence office, as a “counterweight” to the NSA. But the legal and political obstacles are significant, say experts, and would it even be worth it?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Economic Doghouse: Complaints About German Exports Unfounded

The US government and European Commission are complaining bitterly about Germany’s hefty trade surplus and export orientation. But such criticism fails to consider how much the country’s partners benefit from its competitive strength.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Edward Snowden Releases “A Manifesto for the Truth”

While Edward Snowden may be reviled at the top echelons of Western developed nations and is wanted in his native US on espionage charges for peeling back the curtain on how the gargantuan government machine truly works when it is not only engaged in chronic spying on anyone abroad, but worse, on its own people, the reality is that his whistleblowing revelations have done more to shift the narrative to the topic of dwindling individual liberties abused pervasively in the US and elsewhere, than anything else in recent years. And alongside that, have led to the first reform momentum of a system that is deeply broken. Which also happens to be the topic of a five-paragraph opinion piece he released today in German weekly Der Spiegel titled “A Manifesto For The Truth” in which he writes that his revelations have been useful and society will benefit from them and that he was therefore justified in revealing the methods and targets of the US secret service.

In the Op-Ed we read that “Instead of causing damage, the usefulness of the new public knowledge for society is now clear because reforms to politics, supervision and laws are being suggested.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Et Tu, UK? Anger Grows Over British Spying in Berlin

First it was the US — and now it turns out the UK might have been spying from its embassy in Berlin, too. Officials at Germany’s Foreign Ministry responded Tuesday by inviting Britain’s ambassador for a lecture.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Drunk Taxi Request Leads to Belgium

A very drunk German ended up in Belgium after asking a taxi driver to take him home. His slurry “nach Hause” sounded to the driver like “nach Hauset” — miles away in Belgium. The man could not pay the fare and now faces legal trouble.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Banks ‘Claimed €10 Billion Extra Tax Rebate’

Banks have been ripping off German tax payers by claiming more tax rebate than they actually pay, it was reported on Wednesday.

The Süddeutsche newspaper said it had internal files from the Hypo-Vereinsbank (HVB) and the Swiss financial institute Sarasin showing how they were making a profit from tax statements.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany’s Quandary: The Debate Over Asylum for Snowden

There are growing calls in Germany not only to question Edward Snowden in connection with the ongoing NSA scandal, but also to offer him safe passage and asylum. Yet the heads of the two major political camps fear the wrath of the United States.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Government Bans Cruise Ships Transiting in Venice Canal

(AGI) Rome, Nov 5 — The Italian government has decided to ban the transit of cruise ships traveling to or from Venice’s Giudecca Canal. This complies with the Clini-Passera Decree, which envisages another access to the maritime terminal, i.e. via the Contorta Sant’Angelo Canal, as a branch of the Malamocco-Marghera Canal. The decision was made following the meeting which was held on Tuesday at Palazzo Chigi to discuss the issue of ships transiting the Venice Lagoon.

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

Italy: Berlusconi’s Children ‘Feel Persecuted Like Jews Under Hitler’

Rome, 6 Nov. (AKI) — Silvio Berlusconi has claimed his five children feel they are being persecuted liked Jews in Germany under Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, due to the political and legal woes given him by Italy’s courts.

“My children say that they feel like Jewish families in Germany under Hitler’s regime. Truly, everyone is against us,” said the former premier, who has long claimed he is being hounded by Italian magistrates who want to eliminate him politically.

He made the comments in an excerpt released Wednesday of an interview to be published this week in Italian television journalist Bruno Vespa in his latest book.

Under Hitler’s command, the Nazis murdered an estimated six million Jews during World War Two, and Berlusconi’s comments angered Jews in Italy.

“Jews in Europe during Nazis were victims of a dark vortex of violence, persecution and death,” the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Renzo Gattegna.

“Any comparison with the experiences of the Berlusconi family is inappropriate and incomprehensible but also offensive,” he added.

Berlusconi must serve a one-year sentence, probably doing community service and is expected to be ejected from the Italian Senate in a vote slated for 27 November following a binding tax fraud conviction in August.

The billionaire media mogul has also been banned from holding public office for two years and is fighting separate cases that included corruption and paying for sex with a minor.

He denies all charges.

If he is expelled from the Senate, he could face further criminal proceedings, according to observers.

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

Minister to Approve Shale Gas Extraction in Italy

(AGI) Brussels, Nov 5 — The Minister for Economic Development, Flavio Zanonato, has said that the government intends to allow the extraction of shale gas in some Italian areas. Speaking at a conference, Zanotto said, “We have reduced the number of areas in which extraction will be allowed, while it will be permitted in some regions in order to increase the country’s autonomy.” The minister did not reply to questions concerning the amount of shale gas that will be extracted in Italy, but did say he was in favour of regasification terminals that would allow U.S. gas to be imported.

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

Netherlands: Court Rules Preparing for Jihad is a Crime

THE HAGUE, 25/10/13 — A Rotterdam district court has convicted two men of making preparations to participate in the armed conflict in Syria.

Mohammed G. was convicted of preparing for murder. He does not however have to go to jail, as according to the Rotterdam court, he is completely non compos mentis.

Mohammed G. prepared for participating in the Jihad in Syria among other things by collecting money, cancelling his rent, packing rucksacks and reading Jihadist texts.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Islamic University Dean Supports Stoning

THE HAGUE, 18/10/13 — The rector of the Islamic University of Rotterdam (IUR) values stoning as an appropriate punishment, NRC Handelsblad newspaper reported Thursday. The Lower House is demanding clarification from Integration Minister Lodewijk Asscher.

The rector, Ahmet Akgündüz, has written a pamphlet on the demonstrations this summer in Turkey. He calls opponents of Turkish Premier Erdogan “enemies of Islam.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Whistle-Blower on Illegal Mosque Schools Sacked

THE HAGUE, 31/10/13 — The Rotterdam public servant who told journalists hat Mosques run illegal boarding schools has been fired by the city council with immediate effect.

Based on confidential documents and interviews, NRC Handelsblad reported last year that mosque boarding schools exist in Rotterdam among other locations which had no licence to have children stay overnight. Fifty girls were living the attic of one of these mosques. The government carried out no supervision of these schools.

The public servant who tipped off the newspaper received a letter of dismissal on Monday in which he was accused by the city council of “serious dereliction of duty.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway Man Jailed for Looting Silver Mines

A man has been jailed for six months in Norway for illegally mining silver worth some two million kroner ($335,000) from the country’s historic silver mines.

The man, a former employee of the Norwegian Mining Museum, which controls the 30 heritage mines around Kongsberg, west of Oslo, was arrested as he came out of a mine shaft with a haul of silver ore in May 2012.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama’s Spy Program Causing Anger and Frenzy

While the U.S. media are giving scant coverage of the controversial spy program under President Barack Obama, the German media are in the midst of a frenzy over the report that the NSA is monitoring the cell phone communications of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a German newspaper reported.

The German press, for example, quoted U.S. intelligence sources as saying that one of the National Security Agency’s top officials, Keith Alexander, allegedly briefed the U.S. president on an eavesdropping operation involving Merkel in 2010 and that the U.S. president allowed it to go continue.

Germany’s media also claim the NSA not only “tapped” Merkel’s business mobile phone but also her official “landline.”

German and European Union officials are characterized in news stories as being outraged and angry over the spying on their leader by U.S. intelligence and they’ve labeled it a “very serious breach of trust and of German national security.”

“Can you blame [the Germans] for their reaction? While the Obama administration is ever so careful not to even call Islamic terrorists Muslims and believes terrorism is a criminal justice issue, Obama is perfectly fine with government ‘spooks’ spying on American citizens and nations deemed to be our friends,” said former intelligence officer and police commander Sid Franes.

“Then our Commander in Chief’s minions claim he didn’t know about the spying. So once again either he’s lying or he’s so out of touch and ignorant that he’s left this country to be run by bureaucrats,” said Franes.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Once Culinary Underdogs, Pumpkins Make Gallant Comeback in Germany

Pumpkins had a bad reputation for many years and were considered poor man’s food. But the underdog gourds have made a major comeback. Nowadays, Germans can’t get enough of the autumn treasure.

According to recent figures, German consumers spend 200 million euros ($270 million) annually on Halloween-related themes, making it the third biggest holiday retail generator after Christmas and Easter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Philosophical Differences: The Falling-Out of Camus and Sartre

Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, two of the most important minds of the 20th century, were closely entwined throughout their careers. On the centenary of Camus’ birth, SPIEGEL looks back at their famous friendship and the ideological feud that ultimately unraveled it.

Sartre basked in his popularity, marched at demonstrations, spoke to striking workers and allowed himself to be arrested. He defended the Chinese Cultural Revolution, showed sympathy for dictators, like Castro and Kim Il Sung, and for the acts of terrorism committed by the German Red Army Faction (RAF).

In an interview with SPIEGEL in 1973, Sartre said: There are revolutionary forces that he finds “interesting, such as the Baader-Meinhof group.” But he said that they probably appeared “too early.” In December 1974, he visited Andreas Baader at the prison in Stammheim.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Schulz Named ‘Candidate Desginate’ For Commission Post

BRUSSELS — European Parliament chief Martin Schulz Wednesday (6 November) became the first politician to formally begin campaigning to be the next President of the European commission.

Following a vote in the European Party of Socialists (PES), Schulz was nomintated “candidate designate” for the post and is set become the candidate proper following the party’s congress in March next year.

Schulz, a German politician and social democrat, said he was “honoured and humbled” by the support of the centre-left forces.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Scientist Wants to Clone Italy’s Rarest Bear

With only 40 Marsican brown bears left in Italy, the species is on the brink of extinction. One scientist has a controversial plan to prevent its extinction — to clone it. And, he doesn’t want to stop there.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spain’s Most Active Graffiti Artist Arrested

Spanish police have arrested the country’s most prolific train graffiti artist, whose works have appeared across Europe and the United States, officials said on Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Democrat Leader Ambushed in Cake Attack

Sweden Democrat party leader Jimmie Åkesson ended up with cake on his face after a woman attacked him with a baked good at a book signing in Stockholm on Tuesday evening.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Girl, 13, Was Sold for Sex at £20 a Time by Her 18-Year-Old Gang Boss

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

Zdeno Mirga, 18, pictured, is alleged to have been behind a child sex ring which abused the girl at parties near her home in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: New Stonehenge Visitor Centre

The first of long overdue improvements to the Stonehenge World Heritage Site experience will be opened to the public on 18 December 2013.

Future stages of the re-development will include the construction of Neolithic houses (due in Easter 2014) and finalisation of the re-landscaping (summer of 2014). Hopefully we will now be able to experience the wonder that is Stonehenge in the setting in which it was first created.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Police Quiz Boy, 12, For Flicking Pupil With Rubber Band:

Two officers gave ‘terrified’ youngster telling off for playground ‘bullying’ involving coat toggle

The officers took time out from a busy Saturday night shift to investigate the allegation that the boy had flicked a rubber band at another pupil at school in Leicestershire.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Young Girl Victim of Sex Gang ‘Was Plied With Drugs Until She Felt Dead Before Being Passed Around for Sex’

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

The victim was one of five under-age victims allegedly abused by a gang led by Zdeno ‘ Skinny’ Mirga (pictured in a court sketch), 18, in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Venice Cruise Ship Ban to Drive Out Tourists

The Italian government has decided to ban the biggest cruise ships from Venice, driving out tourists in a bid to save the UNESCO World Heritage Site from crumbling.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Victimized by Muslims? You Deserve it

By Bruce Bawer

Indeed. For my part, I’m grateful to Arild and Elin for providing this illuminating glimpse into the psychology of political correctness. They describe their burglars as desperate to get home. But it’s Arild and Elin who, after their awful experience, were desperate to get “back home” — back home, that is, to the comforting certainties of their PC ideology.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Welsh Woman Found Naked and Raped in Back of Car After Night Celebrating Anniversary

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

The victim was discovered naked and raped in the back of a car in London with Michael Wilson, 31, and Ahmed Qaras, 26.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egyptian Paper Names 30 Brotherhood Operatives in U.S.

El-Watan, one of Egypt’s most widely-read newspapers, published a list of 30 alleged Muslim Brotherhood fronts and operatives in the U.S.

One of Egypt’s most widely-read newspapers El-Watan has published a list of 30 alleged Muslim Brotherhood fronts and operatives in the U.S. that were tasked with winning public support for the Islamist group.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Egyptian Court Maintains Ban on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood

An Egyptian court has upheld a ruling banning the Muslim Brotherhood. In September, a court had outlawed the party following the army ouster of President Mohammed Morsi in July.

A lawyer from the leftist Tagammu party had brought a countersuit asking the court not to lift the September 23 ban against the Muslim Brotherhood, arguing that the judicial system needed to protect Egyptians from violence. Wednesday’s decision proved another blow to the group.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Kerry in Cairo to Whitewash Obama’s Association With Muslim Brotherhood

Cairo, Egypt — President Obama is beginning to feel a loss of control regarding the trial of his friend Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Cairo to try put distance between himself and the Muslim Brotherhood; to confirm America’s alliance with Egypt and try to keep the Russian bear out of Egypt…

It is clear that Kerry came to Egypt in order to prevent fall out from the Morsi trial, because the Obama administration fears the disclosure of ‘secrets’ as a result of the trial. Obama’s administration is in big trouble because of the crimes of Morsi and the Brotherhood, including the slaughter of demonstrators, prison escapes, the killing of police officers with the help of Hamas and Hezbollah, espionage, spying and collaborating with Turkey and Hamas.

These crimes are all linked together with the support of Obama’s administration for the Muslim Brotherhood; and will prove Obama’s administration support for the Brotherhood harmed American interests in the Gulf area, particularly Saudi Arabia.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Libya Protest Threatens Gas Exports to Italy

Protesters have blocked access to a major gas terminal in Libya, the head of Italian oil and gas giant ENI said on Wednesday, warning it may be forced to stop exports to Italy altogether. ENI is the biggest foreign oil company in Libya and runs a pipeline to Sicily from the Mellitah gas terminal in the troubled country.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Endgame: Abbas and the PLO Get Ready to Launch the Third Intifada

It appears the that farce of the so-called peace process is nearing its end. And as you’ll see, this is exactly how Abbas and company planned it.

It started with an uptick in Palestinian violence directed against Israelis emanating from the Arab occupied areas of Judea and Samaria, and a corresponding decrease in security cooperation between the IDF and Abbas’ security forces in the last several weeks..

At the same time, this was coordinated with a massive outpouring of calls from PLO officials to halt the peace talks and formulate what they called an “overall national strategic revolution”.

Meanwhile, Palestine’s unelected dictator Mahmoud Abbas has been blatantly violating the conditions under which the peace negotiations were started. He’s been making the rounds in Europe urging EU countries to enact sanctions against Israel and avoid conducting any economic, academic or cultural activity with Israel that might involve East Jerusalem or the Jewish communities in Judea or Samaria, referring to East Jerusalem as “the capitol of our state, Palestine.”

In an ominous twist, Abbas called for EU countries to take legal action against their nationals whom have dual citizenship and live in these areas. London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that the PA has demanded of a number of EU countries that the citizens they have currently living in “illegal” communities should be either pressured to leave or be stripped of their citizenship.

As a final move, Saeb Erekat, formerly the right fork of Yasser Arafat’s tongue and now the chief Palestinian negotiator ‘resigned’ (and later retracted his ‘resignation’) presented Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni with an ultimatum that is the PLO’s final position. It pretty much lines up with what Mahmoud Abbas has always said, that no concessions at all will be made to Israel in any peace settlement.

There was an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinian negotiators to keep the negotiations quiet, but PLO sources have leaked the details, and there’s really no surprise here.

The Palestinians are demanding over half of Jerusalem, including control of all of the major Jewish holy sites. They claim all of Judea and Samaria, although they’ve agreed to consider a land swap of no more than 1.9 percent with Israel in exchange for money and an equivalent amount of Israeli land.That 1.9 percent would essentially be meaningless since it isn’t anywhere near the amount of land necessary to incorporate the majority of Jewish communities into Israel. Geographically, it would amount to a defenseless enclave surrounded on two sides by the Palestinians.

The PLO’s demands further include the Hula Valley and the Valley of Elah, and the strategic Latrun area, the chokepoint that overlooks the road to Jerusalem and could isolate Jerusalem in the event of war. And They want all of these areas handed over to them judenrein, Jew free. They want full control of all the aquifers in the area, thus retaining the ability to threaten Israel’s water supply. And they demand that Israel formally give up any claims under international law to the area by agreeing that these areas are ‘occupied territory’.

They refuse, on the other hand, to recognize Israel as a Jewish state,paving the way for further demands later. And they insist not only that all of the convicted terrorists now in Israeli jails be freed, but that all Palestinian refugees be given the right to settle in what’s left of Israel.

Six months after Israel creates 500,000 Jewish refugees, retreats to indefensible borders, allows what’s left of the country to be swamped by genocidal ‘refugees’ and redivides Jerusalem, they will receive in exchange a piece of paper signed by an unelected 75-year-old dictator who doesn’t even come close to controlling all the Palestinian factions — even his own Fatah.And someone who might very well be overthrown by Hamas if left to his own devices, which would make the agreement even more meaningless than it already is.

The reason Erekat and Shtayyeh ‘resigned’ according to the PLO is Israel announcing the building of a few homes in the already Jewish neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo in Jerusalem.As most Israelis would confirm, the Ramat Shlomo tenders have unfortunately been been floated before,in 2010 and in the summer of 2012, but not a single home has been built. The announcement was probably a political ploy by Israeli PM Netanyahu to satisfy his coalition, upset over the release of 26 Palestinians convicted of brutal murders in Israeli courts.

Abbas, needless to say, embraced them warmly, referring to them as “our heroic brothers”.

The Palestinians are using the announcement of new construction in Ramat Sholmo as evidence of what they’re calling Israel’s lack of commitment to the peace process. And they are using this as an excuse to threaten to exit the negotiations, which of course was designed to bring Secretary John Kerry running.

If this sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this movie before.

This is exactly what happened prior to Arafat’s Second Intifada, which also occurred after the breakdown of peace talks but had been planned long before, as nine other than Arafat’s former Minister of Information Yassir Rabbo admitted long afterwards. Then, it was General Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount(where he had a perfect right to be, by the way)that the PLO cited as the cause of hostilities and breaking off negotiations. This time, they’re using the Israeli announcement of constructing some homes in Israel’s capitol and in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as the supposed trigger for something that was planned long ago.

Abbas was Arafat’s right hand man during the Second Intifada. Like his predecessor Arafat, Abbas intends to continue the drive to destroy Israel. And Abbas has one thing going for him Arafat lacked — an American president who embraces the Palestinian cause and has almost visceral disdain for Israel.

As some of you may know, I have a source of long standing with whom I have a sort of frenemy relationship with who works in the Palestinian Authority’s infrastructure, so I had a tip from him that this was likely coming, and that it would happen shortly after the second batch of Palestinian terrorists was released by Israel. There was no problem as far as this person was concerned, since he or she sees it going off without a hitch mo matter what.

Abbas plans to proceed on several fronts. He will ramp up the violence in Judea and Samaria, publicly blame the Israelis for destroying the peace process and threaten to walk away from it. This has already brought U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry back to the region, where Abbas will demand further concessions from the Israelis when Kerry meets with him.

At the same time Abbas is going to attempt to consolidate his leadership over the divergent Palestinian factions. In this,he has the aid of the EU. The execrable Caroline Ashton, European Union foreign policy chief is working with Abbas to try and get the unity agreement he signed with the genocidal Hamas back in 2012 firmed up in the name of ‘Palestinian unity’. And given the state of Hamas nowadays with the al-Sissi regime in Egypt shutting down the tunnels to Gaza and enforcing a strict blockade, they might just go along with it,figuring they can always depose the aging Abbas later.

Needless to say, no one in the Obama Administration has uttered a peep about Mahmoud Abbas dealing with an officially named terrorist group..not back in 2012 when Abbas and Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh were paling around and not now.

From the standpoint of Mahmoud Abbas, this is a win-win. The ultimatum Erekat gave the Israelis is not a serious offer in the least,and it was never intended to be, since Abbas knows that no government in Israel could accept it. Like his predecessor Yasser Arafat, Abbas has no notion of peace. He intends to continue the drive to destroy Israel. And Abbas has one thing going for him Arafat lacked — an American president who embraces the Palestinian cause and has almost visceral disdain for Israel.

If Kerry — or rather, President Obama — is able to twist Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu’s arm and gain further leverage for Abbas, all well and good. He’ll pocket his gains, obtain additional prestige with the Palestinians at no cost to him whatsoever and reinforce his control over the situation.

If Netanyahu refuses, Abbas has his built in excuse for dropping negotiations, for which the Israelis can be conveniently blamed, the same way Arafat used Arik Sharon’s trip to the Temple Mount. He can then ramp up intifada #3, make sure there are plenty of ‘bleeders’ to capture the world press, and use it as a springboard to go to the UN and have them unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood along the ‘pre 67 lines…with President Obama’s support.

Keep in mind, that President Obama has already said that he wants the pre ‘67 lines as the new borders, and that as far as he’s concerned the Jews of Israel have no right to their religious shrines in Jerusalem, Hebron or pretty much anywhere else.

Another idea my source said is being discussed in ramping up the intifada and then appealing to the Obama Administration to ‘end the senseless violence’ the Palestinians will have started and impose a settlement. Abbas can offer to go along with whatever the Americans decide — since he already knows in advance President Obama will give him pretty much whatever he wants, and only the ‘unreasonable’ Israelis will refuse, since they’re the only ones losing anything.

I would love to know exactly what President Obama is threatening Israel with in order to get them to knuckle under, but it really doesn’t matter. President Obama came into office saying he wanted to ‘create daylight’ between the U.S. and Israel, and that’s what he intends regardless.

Any promises President Obama makes to PM Netanyahu are pretty much worthless and always have been. So there’s not much of an upside in Israel continuing to cooperate in their own destruction.Whatever President Obama is threatening them with, he’s going to do eventually anyway. It’s simply who he is and who he’s always been.

What Israel does have is the classic recourse in dealing with blackmail.

There’s an old story about the Hollywood actor Errol Flynn, who was approached by a blackmailer who had photos of him enjoying himself in a hotel room with a famous actress. When he was shown the photos, Flynn’s response was an enthusiastic ‘Gee, these are great! Can you get me copies?’ The blackmailer left in disgust without receiving a dime.

Blackmail only works as long as the blackmailer has the power of secrecy.Remove the secrecy and the blackmailer becomes powerless.

Instead of keeping things quiet and making noises about ‘strategic considerations’ Netanyahu needs to remember that most of the American people support Israel, and so does most of Congress, especially with midterms coming up.

If nothing else, Netanyahu still retains the ability to talk a good game most of the time. Israel publicizing exactly what the Palestinians are doing and giving clear reasons for Israel curtailing the talks would not endear them to the president or people like Tom Friedman over at the New York Times, but then nothing Israel does short of national suicide is going to do that. But making a clear case to the American people and congress would at least partially neutralize the ability of President Obama to carry out whatever threats he’s been using.

Barack Obama doesn’t have to run for election again, but a number of members of his party do, and the last thing most of them want right now is more baggage to deal with, especially given the debacle of ObamaCare. A presidential diktat freezing arms sales or pushing anti-Israel measures in the UN would definitely do that.

In any event, there’s not much choice. Israel has been walking a tightrope with President Obama and playing for time, and it was never going to work. In fact, their efforts to accommodate him have only made things worse.

Now is the time Israel to openly chart a new course and rely on its friends and allies here in America to counteract the animus from the White House. By doing so, Israel actually stands a better chance of winning then by simply waiting for the ax to fall..

And ironically, an Israeli rejection at this point might actually send a message to Abbas that if he really wants peace, it’s available….but not solely on his terms. He might even feel the need to make a few concessions to Israel in order to obtain it.

[Return to headlines]
 

Israeli PM Netanyahu Accuses PNA of Creating Fake Crises

(AGI) Jerusalem, Nov 6 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinians of creating “artificial crises” during the peace talks and asked the United States to intervene to put the negotiations back on track. “I am concerned about their progress because I see the Palestinians continuing with incitements, continuing to create artificial crises, continuing to avoid (and) run away (from) strong decisions that are needed to make a genuine peace,” he told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting in Jerusalem.

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

Israeli Settlements ‘Illegitimate’, Says Kerry

(AGI/AFP) — Bethlehem (Palestinian Territories), Nov 6 — The Obama administration views Israeli settlements on the West Bank as “illegitimate”, said U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, on a visit to Bethlehem. The settlement issue led Palestinian negotiators to pull out of talks with Israel, which had resumed after a gap of three years.

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

Israel’s Lieberman ‘Innocent’, May Return to Government

(AGI) Jerusalem, Nov 6 — Former Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was acquitted on charges of fraud and breach of trust. A panel of three judges in a hearing which lasted only a few minutes in a Jerusalem court ruled unanimously that he was not guilty. Mr. Lieberman could return to his old job as foreign minister if the prosecutor decides not to appeal against the acquittal. The 55-year-old leader of Israel’s right-wing Beitenu party and key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud grouping had been accused of appointing an Israeli diplomat, Zeev Ben Aryeh, to the ambassadorship in Latvia after Ben Aryeh had provided him with classified documents on a police investigation against him in 2001.

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

‘Moderate’ Evidence Points to Arafat Polonium Poisoning

Swiss scientists have found evidence that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with polonium, according to a publication of their findings. Arafat’s death in 2004 has long been shrouded in mystery.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Secretary Kerry’s Remarks at the Rabin Commemoration and Rabin’s Terms for a Final Status Agreement

Secretary of State Kerry arrived in Israel from Poland on Tuesday to attend a memorial service in Tel Aviv commemorating the 18th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin. A Reuters report, “Kerry says Israeli, Palestinian talks face difficulties,” noted the US Secretary of State’s comments amidst tough prospects for achieving a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians and any compromise forestalling the existential threat to the Jewish State given Iran’s pursuit of nuclear development. Kerry said:…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

Staking a Jewish Claim to the Temple Mount

For many years, a fringe group of ultra-religious Jews have pushed for greater Jewish access to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, one of the world’s most contested religious sites. But now the campaign is moving up the Israeli political agenda.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Al-Tabtabaei Denies Involvement in Syrian Bishops’ Kidnap

KUWAIT: An Islamist former lawmaker in Kuwait who previously boasted about fighting Syrian forces alongside rebel fighters denied involvement in the kidnap of two bishops in the troubled country. Former Lebanese minister We’am Wahab had accused a “Kuwaiti Salafist” of kidnapping Bishop Boulos Yazigi and Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim in Syria, adding that the man which he did not name “was present in Turkey for a recent meeting which attempted to unify armed fighters in Syria”. On that regard, Al-Rai daily contacted MP Waleed Al- Tabtabaei, who a few months ago posted pictures on his Twitter account which showed him standing besides ‘rebel fighters’ he joined voluntarily to fight against the regime forces.

Al-Tabtabaei denied being the person that Wahab meant with his statements, but was able to identify the person in question as “Abu Abdullah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”. Al-Tabtabaei further condemned “killing and kidnapping civilians that is taking place in Syria in the name of the Syrian revolution”. “The majority of those actions are unfortunately committed by non-Syrians, who have become a burden to the Syrian revolution after arriving from Kuwait and other Gulf or Arab states”, he admitted. And while he demanded immediate release of the two bishops and other kidnapped civilians.

Al-Tabtabaei urged those who joined the rebel fighters in Syria to “focus on fighting the Syrian regime’s army”. He further expressed condemnation for “civilian trials done in the name of the Syrian revolution”, referring to executions committed by jihadists after a civilian is ‘sentenced’ publically in accordance with the Sharia Law. Al-Tabtabaei continued his criticism of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, accusing them of “attempting to copy their failed resistance experience in Iraq and move it to Syria”. “[The ISIL] is harming the pure Syrian revolution by releasing videos of decapitation and killing of civilians”, he said.

KUWAIT: An Islamist former lawmaker in Kuwait who previously boasted about fighting Syrian forces alongside rebel fighters denied involvement in the kidnap of two bishops in the troubled country. Former Lebanese minister We’am Wahab had accused a “Kuwaiti Salafist” of kidnapping Bishop Boulos Yazigi and Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim in Syria, adding that the man which he did not name “was present in Turkey for a recent meeting which attempted to unify armed fighters in Syria”. On that regard, Al-Rai daily contacted MP Waleed Al- Tabtabaei, who a few months ago posted pictures on his Twitter account which showed him standing besides ‘rebel fighters’ he joined voluntarily to fight against the regime forces.

Al-Tabtabaei denied being the person that Wahab meant with his statements, but was able to identify the person in question as “Abu Abdullah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”. Al-Tabtabaei further condemned “killing and kidnapping civilians that is taking place in Syria in the name of the Syrian revolution”. “The majority of those actions are unfortunately committed by non-Syrians, who have become a burden to the Syrian revolution after arriving from Kuwait and other Gulf or Arab states”, he admitted. And while he demanded immediate release of the two bishops and other kidnapped civilians.

Al-Tabtabaei urged those who joined the rebel fighters in Syria to “focus on fighting the Syrian regime’s army”. He further expressed condemnation for “civilian trials done in the name of the Syrian revolution”, referring to executions committed by jihadists after a civilian is ‘sentenced’ publically in accordance with the Sharia Law. Al-Tabtabaei continued his criticism of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, accusing them of “attempting to copy their failed resistance experience in Iraq and move it to Syria”. “[The ISIL] is harming the pure Syrian revolution by releasing videos of decapitation and killing of civilians”, he said.

           — Hat tip: RR [Return to headlines]
 

Analysis: Saudis Unconvinced by Kerry’s Show of US Goodwill

If Kerry visited Riyadh to reassure top Saudis that their anger over US Middle East policy is unfounded, he has more work to do.

King Abdullah, who is 90 this year and rarely meets visiting officials, mustered a full complement of senior princes to sit in on Monday’s talks with Kerry. Such a lineup marked both his high regard for the old alliance with the United States, and his ire at Washington’s recent actions.

Saudi leaders fear President Barack Obama’s administration has stopped listening to its Arab ally, particularly on Syria’s civil war and the nuclear dispute with Iran. This risks handing regional supremacy to their chief rival, Tehran, they believe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch-Turkish Journalist Jailed for Life in Turkey for ‘Terrorism’

A Dutch-Turkish journalist has been jailed for life in Turkey for leading a left-wing group which Turkey says is a terrorist organisation.

Füsun Erdogan has been jailed for giving leadership to the MLKP, according to Turkish news websites quoted by news agency ANP.

She is appealing against the ruling and plans to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights, ANP said.

Füsun Erdogan has been in jail since 2006. According to international journalists organisations, the evidence against her is thin and she is being pursued in the courts because of her journalistic work.

Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans told MPs on Monday the Netherlands can do little to help Erdogan because she has both Turkish and Dutch passports.

‘The Netherlands does not get involved in Turkish legal matters,’ he is quoted as saying.

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

Gaza Militants Take ‘Jihadist’ Fight to Syria

Frustrated by the relative calm in Gaza since a 2012 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, more than two dozen Palestinian jihadists are believed to have joined rebels fighting against the Damascus regime in Syria.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

How Obama Abandoned Iraq

Re-energized the AQI terrorist movement in Iraq, We are now arming Syrian rebels affiliated with al Qaeda

President Obama’s facility for lying has taken center stage once again, as Americans grapple with the reality that they in fact can’t keep their health insurance if they like it. Yet while they remain focused on that debacle, another series of declarations made by the president, namely that al Qaeda was “on the run” and near “defeat,” is looking equally deceitful.

Last Friday, Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met in an effort to deal with what is being characterized as a “bloody resurgence” of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). “Unfortunately, al Qaeda has still been active and has grown more active recently,” Obama was forced to admit to reporters.

Active is an understatement. More than 6,000 people have been slaughtered in 2013 alone, according to UN estimates. Eight days ago, a series of nine bombs placed in parked cars were detonated over a half hour period at markets and police checkpoints in Baghdad. The blasts killed at least 42 and wounded more than 100 in mostly Shi’ite neighborhoods. On the same day, 14 people were killed and at least 30 more were wounded when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a group of soldiers sealing off a street near the al-Rafidain Bank, where their fellow soldiers were getting paid.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: ‘Kurdish Militia Oust Jihadists From Turkish Border Area’

Ras al-Ain, 6 Nov. (AKI) — Kurdish militia in northern Syria have routed Al-Qaeda-linked fighters from the Kurdish-majority area around the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain, activists said on Tuesday.

“The Committees for the Protection of the Kurds (YPG) have taken over the Manajeer area, scene of battles with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al-Nusra Front and other rebel groups,” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Manajeer’s capture left the whole area close to the Turkish border under Kurdish control, said the monitoring group, which relies for its information on a network of activists within Syria.

The jihadists “have now lost their last remaining positions in the countryside of Ras al-Ain,” the Observatory said.

The advance came a day after reports that Kurdish fighters had driven jihadists out of 19 towns and villages across northeastern Syria.

A week earlier, they were reported to have captured the key Iraqi border crossing at Yaarubiyeh.

The Al-Qaeda loyalists withdrew to the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the only provincial capital outside government control, and now dominated by ISIL.

ISIL and the Al-Nusra Front are the main Al-Qaeda associated groups fighting in Syria’s civil war.

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

Thousands of Filipino Migrants Treated “Like Animals” By Saudi Authorities

More than 6,700 Filipino workers are detained across the country. The first who returned home tell stories of violence and abuses by police. On Sunday, Riyadh began its crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The step was supposed to begin last January but was suspended until now to allow workers to apply for amnesty.

Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Filipino workers were treated like animals, locked in a cell for days with their feet shackled, this according to 30 Filipino migrants deported by the Saudi government after an after amnesty for undocumented foreigners ended on Sunday. The Filipino government estimates that at least 6,700 undocumented Filipino workers are held in prison in Jeddah and other cities of the Islamic country.

“They treated us like animals,” said domestic helper Amor Roxas, 46, who talked about her ordeal after returning home with 29 other Filipinos. Saudi police rounded people up and placed them in a crowded cell for four days, she explained, without any possibility of outside assistance.

“Our feet were chained,” added Yvonne Montefeo, 32. Saudi authorities, she said, shackled them fearing they might escape.

Migrante International, a support group for Filipino overseas workers, said 1,700 other workers are stranded in Jeddah waiting to be deported. An additional 5,000 are held in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Dammam.

The migrant rights organisation warned that Filipinos are in danger of violence and arbitrary detention by Saudi authorities.

Filipino Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also presidential adviser on migrant affairs, last week appealed to the Saudi government to extend its deadline, noting that “thousands are still hoping to correct their employment status”.

About 300,000 Filipinos work in Saudi Arabia, exploited and poorly paid, as well as victims of verbal and physical abuse because of their Christian faith.

Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on undocumented workers began in January of this year, but was suspended for a few months to allow millions of migrant workers get a permit.

According to Filipino authorities, more than 4,000 Filipinos have been repatriated since the crackdown was announced.

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

CSI Chelyabinsk: 10 Insights From Russia’s Meteorite

It was the largest meteorite to hit Earth in a century — and now the human and scientific fallout is clear. Today, results published simultaneously in the journals Nature and Science outline the knowledge gained from the fireball that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February, and the harm it caused. We bring you the 10 most interesting insights.

The impact took the world by surprise — and that’s not surprising. Because Chelyabinsk was so small, just 20 metres across, and because it came at Earth from the direction of the sun, we never would have seen it, even if we were looking.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Putin Signs Law Requiring Terrorists’ Relatives to Pay for Damages

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill that forces relatives of terrorists to pay for damages caused by their attacks. It also boosts penalties for launching, participating, or financing militant or terrorist groups.

Under the law, all damages — including moral damage — should be compensated “at the expense of the means of the person committing the terrorist act and also at the expense of the means of his (or her) family, relatives and close people.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Risk of Massive Asteroid Strike Underestimated

Meteor in Chelyabinsk impact was twice as heavy as initially thought.

The asteroid that exploded on 15 February this year near the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals region of Russia was the largest to crash to Earth since 1908, when an object hit Tunguska in Siberia. Using video recordings of the event, scientists have now reconstructed the asteroid’s properties and its trajectory through Earth’s atmosphere. The risk of similar objects hitting our planet may be ten times larger than previously thought, they now warn.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Thousands of Russian Nationalists Rally in Anti-Immigrant Protests

(Reuters) — Thousands of Russian nationalists rallied across the country on National Unity Day on Monday, in a sign of the growing strength of far-right political forces galvanized by an anti-immigrant agenda.

Hard-line nationalists have adopted the holiday, which commemorates the liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders in 1612, as an occasion to hold annual “Russian Marches”. This year’s rallies were larger and more numerous than in previous years, in a headache for Russian authorities who worry that rising ethnic tensions pose a threat to public order.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

North Caucasians Head for Europe by Train

More and more people are fleeing Russia’s North Caucasus region for the EU, in search of freedom and prosperity. Their route takes them through Belarus — and the border town of Brest is benefiting.

All you find out is that most of them are from Chechnya, and that they’re travelling without an EU visa. They say they want to go to the West, and that they have relatives already living there. The situation in their homeland is “not good”. There is “no freedom.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Arrest of MP’s Wife Puts Indian Slavery in the Spotlight

The arrest of an Indian MP’s wife for allegedly torturing her maid to death and a recent report on global slavery has shed light on the need to protect the vulnerable.

The Walk Free Foundation’s latest Global Slavery Index of 2013 that provides a ranking of 162 countries is an eye-opener; the study puts India at the top of the list with the largest estimated number of people in modern slavery — estimated between 13.3 and 14.7 million.

“By far the largest proportion of this problem is the exploitation of Indians citizens within India itself, particularly through debt bondage and bonded labor,” the report states.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Southern Thailand’s ‘Ping Pong’ of Violence

As Thailand’s southern provinces remain torn by violence, activists say human rights abuses are overlooked, despite efforts to re-open a dialogue between Thai authorities and Muslim insurgents.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK Soldier Posed for Smiling Photo With Afghan Policeman Who Murdered Him Moments Later

An unwitting British soldier who posed for a photograph with a rogue Afghan policeman was shot dead by him seconds later. Crporal Brent McCarthy, 25, is pictured with a member of the Afghan Uniformed Police just moments before the shooting.

After the snap was taken the gunman and another accomplice turned their weapons on the RAF policeman. His comrade Lance Corporal Lee Davies, 27, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, who can be seen sitting grinning in the background of the photo, was also shot dead.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Analysis: Despite Starbucks-Bashing, Global Coffee Industry Has China Firmly in Its Sights

By 2020, China is expected to surpass the US and Brazil as the world’s largest coffee consumer according to ICO, an agriculture and commodity research group. Starbucks and Nestle are head-to-head in the race for China’s instant coffee distribution. Though coffee is still a luxury-based commodity, fewer mainland Chinese adults abide by tea drinking. China has seen an annual 15-20 per cent growth in coffee consumption since the turn of the century, driving demand for imports.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Big Brother Blinded: Security Fears in China as Smog Disrupts Surveillance Cameras

Teams of scientists assigned to find a solution as heavy pollution makes national surveillance network useless, raising fear of terror attack

To the central government, the smog that blankets the country is not just a health hazard, it’s a threat to national security. Lst month visibility in Harbin dropped to below three metres because of heavy smog. On days like these, no surveillance camera can see through the thick layers of particles, say scientists and engineers.

To the authorities, this is a serious national security concern. Beijing has invested heavily to build up a nationwide surveillance network that lets police watch every major street and corner in main cities. But with smoggy days becoming more frequent, the effectiveness of the system has been greatly compromised.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hong Kong’s English Language Skills Branded ‘Pathetic’ As Chinese Has ‘Negative Influence’

The English-language skills of Hong Kong’s adult population have slumped to the level of South Korea, Indonesia and Japan, according to new rankings of 60 countries and territories.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss ‘Jetman’ Soars Over Mythic Mount Fuji

Swiss aviator Yves “Jetman” Rossy, whose jet-engine powered wings have taken him over some of the world’s most awe-inspiring places, has added another — Japan’s Mount Fuji.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Colombia: Things Are About to Get Worse

If you think things are going to get bad in NYC, wait until you see this: Colombia, FARC agree on rebels’ future if peace signed

Colombia’s government and Marxist FARC rebels reached a “fundamental agreement” on the guerrillas’ future in politics, one of the thorniest issues addressed in peace talks in Cuba, according to a joint statement on Wednesday.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has been fighting the government in a jungle and urban conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people in the five decades since it began as a peasant movement seeking land reform.

The partial accord may pave the way for FARC to enter Colombian politics, which chief government negotiator Humberto de la Calle said would provide a “new democratic opening” and cement peace after an end of conflict.

As you may recall, Santos had said that he favored granting unelected guerrilla leaders seats in Congress and special treatment in the justice system.

No wonder the FARC were out celebrating on a catamaran yacht the other day.

Apparently “The two sides are unlikely to reveal many details of the agreement” for the time being. Kevin Howlett asks,

For many, the central consideration under “political participation” is whether the FARC top brass will be allowed to stand for election.

Will the FARC be given seats in congress?

And, if so will they be given to Timochenko, Ivan Marquez and the rest?

Without answers to these questions any accord seems largely cosmetic.

For now, the visuals are not that good, PLO scarves included:…

           — Hat tip: Fausta [Return to headlines]
 

AFL-CIO Launches Ads Confronting GOP on Immigration

“The time for the acting on immigration reform is now,” Richard Trumka, the labor federation’s president, said during a conference call Wednesday. “The labor movement has decided to throw down in a big way to make it happen.”

“The Republican Party controls the immediate fate and future of immigration reform,” he said. “But Latino voters control the long-term fate and future of the Republican Party.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘EU Needs New Way to Distribute Refugees’

In spite of the deaths of refugees in the Mediterranean, EU politicians continue to take a hard line on policy. Migration expert Jochen Oltmer says the EU must rethink the way it distributes the refugees.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Putin Proposes Using Smart Cameras to Identify Immigrants

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Tuesday that the government use smart cameras to identify immigrants. He said such technology would be able to help the Federal Migration Service keep track of the many migrant workers from former Soviet states who can enter the country without a visa.

Public discontent over rising numbers of foreign workers has heated up in recent months, and in Moscow thousands of migrants have been detained in police raids. Moscow’s entire police force was temporarily put on alert during massive anti-migrant protests last month after an Azerbaijani migrant allegedly killed a 25-year-old Russian.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Statement From Conservative Leaders on Pending Immigration Legislation in the House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, D.C.— American Principles in Action and the American Conservative Union, along with more than fifteen conservative leaders, released a statement today regarding the upcoming immigration debate. The statement reads in full:

“America needs immigration reform. With over 76 million “Baby Boomers” retiring by 2030 and only 46 million Americans poised to take their place in the workforce, it’s clear we need a forward-looking market-based immigration policy which allows for a growing economy and a labor blueprint that plans for the future.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Queue for Refugee Accommodation Grows

The number of refugees who have been given residence permits but are being forced to stay in temporary accommodation for asylum seekers is growing, Swedish Radio News reports. Now the Swedish National Audit Office is to look into why it is taking longer for the refugees to get somewhere to live.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Plight of Papua Refugees, “Second-Class Citizens” Forgotten by the World

The Iowara camp hosts refugees from West Papua, who fled strife in the Indonesian province in the 1990s. After nearly 30 years, they are still without citizenship or freedom of movement, ostensibly abandoned by those who were supposed to care for them. On the ground, “The Catholic Church is now virtually left alone to cater at least for health and education”. What follows is the story of a Verbite priest, involved for decades in trying to help the refugees’ situation.

Port Moresby (AsiaNews) — Goroka-based Fr Franco Zocca, SVD, has been involved in the West Papua refugee crisis for the last 25 years. He recently travelled to the Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to assess the situation at the Iowara Refugee Camp just inside the border from Indonesia.

What is the situation at the border right now?

We have scattered communities of refugees all along the border. Then we still have the Iowara Refugee Camp in Western Province. It was established in 1987 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Its purpose was to “relocate” West Papuan refugees, about 12,000 of whom had crossed the 750 km border between PNG and Indonesia’s Irian Jaya province (as it was then known) to avoid clashes with the Indonesian military. Only about a third of the refugees took up the offer of relocation. The rest choose to settle along the border or to be repatriated. The camp can be reached from Kiunga, Western Province, after a half-hour trip by dinghy upstream on the Fly River and a few hour drive along 40km of very bad road.

You just visited Iowara . .. .

Yes, I went back there after 19 years invited by Bishop Gilles Cote’ of the Catholic Diocese of Daru-Kiunga. In 1994 there were 3636 people living in the camp. But in October 2013, I counted only 2,190. Why the drop in number when over the past 19 years there has been hundreds of new arrivals and a very high birth rate? There are various reasons. One is that in 1997 and 2003, the PNG Government offered Iowara refugees permanent residency (but not citizenship), with the result that many left the camp and settled elsewhere in PNG. Many left because they were skilled and could find work, or because they wanted to join relatives elsewhere in PNG or back in West Papua. More than 500 refugees are now settled in Kiunga. Those who remain at Iowara are mainly subsistence farmers.

Are children being educated?

Because so many people have left, four out of the 16 villages settled in 1994 are now completely abandoned. The number of students enrolled in the elementary, community and primary schools has dropped from 1023 in 1994 to the present 694. In the past, the Indonesian language was used in school. But in 1997, the camp schools were officially registered with the PNG National Education Department, and classes are now conducted in English. Dozens of students from Iowara are now receiving secondary and vocational education in Kiunga. The Catholic Diocese of Daru-Kiunga, through its agencies, continues to be responsible for education and health services at the camp. Beside the health centre, which has been expanded with a maternity ward, a Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre for HIV-AIDS and a TB clinic, four new aid posts have been built. In partnership with the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Catholic Diocese has established an office, run by the Mercy Sisters from Australia, which provides assistance to the refugees and scholarships for their tertiary students.

How is life for people away from their place of origin?

The Iowara residents look much more at ease today than they did 19 years ago. Tension and conflict with the original landowners has mostly died away since the PNG Government purchased more than 6000 hectares of land for them. Tensions also reduced with the departure of militant refugees obsessed with West Papuan independence. Occasionally however, tensions do arise between refugees of different tribal background. The PNG Government’s Department of Provincial and Local Government and Border Affairs has managed Iowara since 1987 through an administrator and several assistants. The refugees are also governed by the Iowara Central Committee, an elected body established by the United Nations, whose members are chosen from the refugees and local landowners residing in the camp. Unfortunately, as I also discovered back in 1994, the Central Committee is not working properly. There is mistrust between members, misuse of funds, and ethnic tensions.

So, what is the actual involvement of the United Nations, the PNG Government and the Catholic Church in Iowara?

The United Nations have not maintained a continuous involvement with the West Papuans in PNG. From 1987 till 1996, they had an office and a representative in Port Moresby. The office was closed in 1996 and reopened 11 years later only to be closed again in 2013. The United Nations want the PNG National and Provincial Governments to take complete ownership of Iowara. In this context, in January 2013 a formal agreement was signed “on continuous service delivery and sector support for Refugees in Iowara-East Awin after United Nations phase out”. The signatories were the Secretary of the Department of Provincial and Local Level Governments, the Provincial Administrator of Fly River Provincial Government, the Catholic Bishop of Daru-Kiunga, the chairman of the Iowara Central Committee, and the outgoing representative of the Unite Nations office. The refugees I interviewed were quite sceptical about the new agreement. They see the heavy machinery for road maintenance granted to them by several agencies not being used but left to rust for luck of fuel and operators; they don’t see people from the Provincial and North Fly district administrations showing interest in their development; and they doubt that money assigned to them will be ever put to good use. They are now pinning their hopes on a company that plans to extract nearby oil and gas to improve their road and provide jobs for their youth. The Catholic Church is now virtually left alone to cater at least for health and education in Iowara.

In your opinion, what should the PNG government do at this point in time?

Now after 20-30 years in the country these people should be granted citizenship. Otherwise they can live in PNG, but they cannot travel abroad. Recently three candidates of the Daughters of Wisdom could not travel to the Philippines for their year of Novitiate to become members of the Congregation. This constitutes a serious violation of human rights, religious freedom and freedom of movement in this case. Thousands of West Papua children born in PNG have a birth certificate, grow up the same way and receive the same education of PNG children but are not citizens. They will not be able to vote in elections or to travel abroad. But they are Melanesian brothers and sisters, much more that the Asian refugees for whom Australia and PNG now invest so much in Manus Island. (G.L.)

* Missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in Papua New Guinea

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

UK Population to Rise by 10million in the Next 25 Years: 60% of Increase Linked to Immigration, Ons Says

Pressure will increase on public services as the number of people in the UK rises, with added demand fuelled by an ageing population.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: How Migrants From Outside Europe Leave a £100billion Hole in the Public Purse: Amount Taken in Benefits and Services is 14% Higher Than Money Put Back

A report from academics at University College London claims to be the most far-reaching study yet conducted of the impact of migration on taxpayers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

What Will America Look Like in 2050?

As a reminder validating the reason for this series: demographic experts project the United States adding 100 million immigrants to this country by 2050 — a scant 37 years from now. All totaled, since we reached 300 million in October of 2007, we will add 138 million people by 2050 to total 438 million people — enough to duplicate 20 of our top cities’ populations to our country. The Pew Research Center, U.S. Population Projections by Fogel/Martin and the U.S. Census Bureau document those demographic facts.

No multicultural and multilingual country in the world today enjoys a peaceful state of being. Today, Canada struggles with French, Arabic, Chinese and other Asian languages overwhelming their schools via immigration.

Belgium, Lebanon and Malaysia suffer conflicts and tension from multiple languages. In those countries, minorities with different languages vie for autonomy. Pakistan separated from India and Cyprus divided because of language, religion and culture. Nigeria suppressed ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, Corsicans and a growing Muslim demographic.

With hundreds of languages in the world today, we see a clashing of civilizations, which ultimately come down to culture and language. A country without a single language in the 21st century faces ultimate disintegration of its culture, worldview and language.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Marvel Rolls Out Muslim Girl Superheroine

Marvel Comics is bringing Ms. Marvel back as a 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in Jersey City named Kamala Khan

It must be really exciting being a kid today. Denied the strength that “lies in our diversity,” youngsters languishing in the unenlightened 1960s had to content themselves with banal white male superheroes such as Superman, Spiderman and Ironman.

But not only has affirmative action created a Hispanic Spiderman (perhaps a white Hispanic?); a homosexual Pink…I mean, Green Lantern; and a Batwoman reintroduced in 2006 as a lesbian (the irony is that she was originally introduced in 1956 as a romantic interest designed to dispel rumors about Batman’s homosexuality); now Marvel Comics is giving us a female Muslim superheroine.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

ObamaCare Will ‘Make Planned Parenthood a $2b Industry’

“When you and I are paying for an insurance plan that someone else couldn’t afford that now has abortions, they’re going to go up,” she emphasized. She laid out the consequences: “Planned Parenthood is going to be more than a $1 billion industry. They’re going to be a $2 billion industry.”

Hawkins said that Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius had been “in bed with Planned Parenthood since she took office.” According to Hawkins, Sebelius “mandated that every insurance provider in the state exchanges has to cover Planned Parenthood services.” She repeated, “They’re in bed together. That’s why we were calling them the abortion trifecta.”

According the SFLA’s press release, as the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood “stand[s] to make hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s dollars when Obamacare is officially launched on January 1st.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pro-Life Group: Texas Abortionist Killed Live-Born Babies

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

A Texas-based pro-life group is drawing attention to a late-term abortionist who has committed crimes, it charges, that are as horrific as those of convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist serving a life sentence for killing babies who were born alive at his “house of horrors” clinic. According to those who worked at the clinic, Gosnell and a handful of his associates may have murdered hundreds of babies during the decades the clinic was open by delivering them alive and then plunging a surgical scissors into the newborns’ necks and snipping their spinal cords.

In the case of Houston abortionist Douglas Karpen, Texas-based Life Dynamics says that employees at his clinic have recounted similar stories of horrific child murders, but that thus far nothing has been done to stop the late-term abortion mechanic or to bring him to justice for the alleged murders.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Swedes in Uproar Over Father’s Day Lace Panties

A pair of purple lace knickers have gotten Swedes in a twist in the run-up to Father’s Day, as observers said it could at best be interpreted as an invite to cross-dress, at worst a promotion of incest.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Few, The Proud, The Unisex

Obama, tradition-bound Corps to embrace change and become a softer, gentler Marine Corps

Modern military management (they don’t deserve the term ‘leaders’) has been taken over by the “everybody gets a trophy” crowd. That’s why in the Army all soldiers now wear a beret, instead of just Rangers and Special Forces. Chelsea Manning’s feelings were hurt when he couldn’t wear a fashionable French — style chapeau. No need to recognize the additional motivation of troops that go the extra mile if it discriminates against those who don’t or can’t. Now it’s Bless Them All the “big and the fat and the small.”

But while other branches of the armed forces are marching in lockstep to the administration’s tune of women on the front lines, the Marines are fighting a rear guard action. The Corps has been reluctant to lower physical standards for combat soldiers (in bureaucrat — speak this degradation of standards is called “gender norming,” too bad wars are not also “gender normed”).

In fact, every woman that has ever been allowed to attend the Marine’s infantry school has washed out. In the long run, unless there is an outbreak of sanity, this means Marine commanders will have to justify why their standards are keeping women out of the front lines. The fact women have no business there is irrelevant to Pentagon sociologists who have never had a bullet whizz past their ear. It’s inevitable that eventually women will fill combat slots in the Marines.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

War on Boyhood: Charter School Threatened to Expel an 8-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Halloween Costumes

Yet another example of the war on Boyhood.

Apparently the headmaster at a charter school threatened to expel an 8-year-old boy for drawing Halloween costumes — of a ninja, a star wars character, and a soldier. These drawings showed the characters carrying some sort of arms.

Oh yes, and the boy was writing “disturbing” things in his journal, like:

“The school’s headmaster was also reportedly upset about what he saw as violent passages from the child’s journal, including ones about scenarios with killer zombies. The child’s father, Jeff, whose last name was omitted from the report, told KPHO that the journal contained other passages about saving the world and that his son has no history of violence.”

Oh dear me! That is cause for concern! We can’t have eight year olds talking about zombies, or drawing Jedi with laser guns — especially not before Halloween, What kind of world do we live in anyway?

I’ll tell you what kind. We live in a world where liberals have overwhelmed every bit of common sense, where idiots have floated to the top as if cream, where boys are taught to be women and not men. We live in a world at war with the masculine virtues. We live in a world at war with our God-given nature. We live in a world hell bent on being hell bent.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Alga Takes First Evolutionary Leap to Multicellularity

A single-celled alga has evolved a crude form of multicellularity in the lab — a configuration it never adopts in nature — giving researchers a chance to replay one of life’s most important evolutionary leaps in real time.

This is the second time researchers have coaxed a single-celled organism into becoming multicellular — two years ago, the same was done with brewers yeast. But the alga is an entirely different organism, and comparing the two could explain how the transition to multicellular life happened a billion years ago.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Garry Kasparov: A Win for Carlsen in the Upcoming World Championship Match Will be a Huge Win for the Chess World

This is one of the most anticipated matches in recent history and it is no insult to Anand, whose credentials are beyond doubt, that most of the anticipation circles around the 22-year-old challenger.

Magnus Carlsen rocketed to the top of the rating list almost without pause, displaying a consistency and tenacity rare in a young player to accompany his limitless talent.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Op-Ed: Why Did So Many Wanted Nazis Convert to Islam?

The list is long — but is there a connection?

Giulio Meotti

Brunner is, in fact, only the best known of a number of Nazi officials who participated in the construction of of the Islamic regimes and who died in those lands after converting to Islam.

This alliance between the Nazi swastika and the Islamic Koran is well explained in a 1942 article written by Johann von Leers, the best known of Nazi converts to Islam.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/6/2013

  1. AFA Behind Sweden Democrat Attacks?

    The tart woman, a typical exponent of a stupid Swedish majority excessing in leftism, multiculturalism and islamophilia, have now come out and talked about the background of her tart attack.

    “Jimmie Akesson is an evil fascist who does not have the right to express any views”, she explained to the Expressen.

    Her name is Irene Matkowitcz, she sympathizes with the extreme left terrorist organization AFA and is convicted of numerous crimes.
    Picture:
    http://www.friatider.se/wp-content/uploads/cache/picture425037-500×318.jpg

    Matkowitzc has planned the attack since the end of last week, when she found out that a book signing would take place. She attacked Åkesson because she ‘hates racists’ and believes that Åkesson is ‘a symbol of racism, Nazism and neofascism’.
    – He’s a fascist.
    – They are, I would say, evil people.
    – If they were to come to power, we would lose all human rights. – We would end up with the same military juntas as then in Spain, Portugal and Greece, says Matkowitzc to the Expressen.

    She believes that all people basically have the lawful right to freedom of expression and of assembly, but that the law applies only to ‘normal people’ and not ‘people who want to hurt’.

    On her blog Matkowitcz has published a lengthy tribute to the extreme left terrorist organization AFA, which has carried out numerous acts of violence against political opponents.

    “AFA, you are like a giant bell ringing in a new er – And when I see you, I also see myself when I was a young ‘red’ woman. –
    With Love to AFA – I have retained the ‘color’, but lost some of my youth … “, writes the woman in a post headed ‘With Love to AFA’. ”

    “I’m a mother of three. I’ma Mailien, a Jew. And I’d like to xpress my extreme point of view…”, Matkowitcz’ presents herself on her blog.

    Matkowitcz has been tried of numerous crimes, including using counterfeit documents, drug offenses and several cases of dangerous driving without a license. When the Expressen asked Matkowitcz if she feels any remorse over the tart attack, she replied, “No, just joy.”.

  2. Pingback: Colombia: Things are about to get worse | Fausta's Blog

  3. In the early 80ies, I lived in the south of Sweden but I visited Copenhagen frequently.

    At that time, there were many empty properties in parts of the “rather” central city because of property speculations. Those properties with many apartments were occupied by desperate young people without roof over their heads – absolutely non-violent young people.

    At the beginning, they had the sympathy and support of many average Copenhageners.

    Maybe half a year later, I saw a demonstrion in central CPH. It was dominated by young men wearing black hoods and waving fairly heavy chains. Now they called themselves “BZ-er” (Occupiers). And the support from the average Copenhageners had vanished.

    Easy conclusion: Criminal rioters had infiltrated the naïves and taken over.

    When I was a kid, I sometimes joined my 9 year old brother to football/soccer matches between the leading teams of the Scania region. Those events were big parties, and I can’t remember that I felt fear for a single moment – only excitement and joy.

    I am not sure, but I mean that the “Hooligan movement” started in the UK. But since many years, it has been exported to all over Europe – Sweden definitely included. The Hooligans have very little interest in the football game.

    Easy conclusion: Criminal rioters have infiltrated the supporter organisations and taken over.

    To start with, the environmental activists wanted to be listened to – fair enough. And many times, they have been right. But who has taken over the command?

    According to my meaning, the AFA – antifa – anti-fascists are among the worst of them all. They don’t even know the definition of a fascist. They are simply criminal rioters like the above mentioned.

    But the muslim initiated riots against the infidels – of which we daily get new examples – is much more dangerous than all the others mentioned. In their hearts, they really mean that the riots and the destruction is a sharia-legal duty in the name of Jihad.

    Let’s not forget – they all are a bunch of severe criminals. And they all will go on until they are stopped. And it won’t be done by “discussing” or “turning the other cheek”.

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