According to the latest UK poll, the Labour Party is now only seven percentage points ahead of the Tories. Support for the Tories remains unchanged, but Labour has dropped two points, and the Lib-Dems have dropped one. Only UKIP has gained in popularity, with its support rising by 3%.
In other news, the Metro-Rail train that crashed yesterday morning in the Bronx was reportedly traveling more than 80mph, twice the speed that is considered safe for the curve where it derailed.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, Kitman, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
15 Signs That We Are Near the Peak of an Absolutely Massive Stock Market Bubble
One of the men that won the Nobel Prize for economics this year says that “bubbles look like this” and that he is “most worried about the boom in the U.S. stock market.” But you don’t have to be a Nobel Prize winner to see what is happening.
It should be glaringly apparent to anyone with half a brain. The financial markets have been soaring while the overall economy has been stagnating. Reckless injections of liquidity into the financial system by the Federal Reserve have pumped up stock prices to ridiculous extremes, and people are becoming concerned. In fact, Google searches for the term “stock bubble” are now at the highest level that we have seen since November 2007. Despite assurances from the mainstream media and the Federal Reserve that everything is just fine, many Americans are beginning to realize that we have seen this movie before. We saw it during the dotcom bubble, and we saw it during the lead up to the horrible financial crisis of 2008. So precisely when will the bubble burst this time? Nobody knows for sure, but without a doubt this irrational financial bubble will burst at some point. Remember, a bubble is always the biggest right before it bursts, and the following are 15 signs that we are near the peak of an absolutely massive stock market bubble…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Almost 90% of Italians Cut Holiday Spending Due to Crisis
Retail group finds about 41.5 mn people reducing Xmas budgets
(ANSA) — Rome, December 2 — Almost nine out of 10 Italians have been forced to cut back on spending for the holidays because of the economic crisis, retailers group Confesercenti said in a survey released Monday.
It estimates that 87% of shoppers — about 41.5 million people — have trimmed their budgets, representing an increase of about 500,000 people compared with last year, said the survey conducted by researchers SWG for Confesercenti.
The survey found that about 2.5 million Italians have been trimming their spending on fuel, an increase of about 5% over last year as Italy’s longest recession in 20 years continues.
Among those who have revised their budgets, 24% said they have been reducing their spending on every item and about 39% said they were cutting out buying new clothing.
About 22% said they were cutting spending on travel and 15% said they were reducing their food budgets. The age group most affected was 25 to 34 years old: 90% of these have reduced their costs in general, with one in four saying they had reduced their fuel consumption.
The findings support a survey released week by business group Confcommercio which said that Christmas will be a bleak affair for many Italians who have seen their incomes remain stuck at 1986 levels.
Italians who do choose to buy Christmas gifts this year will be focused on practical items such as food, clothing and books, which comprise about 87% of spending plans, according to Confcommercio.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Growing Number of Families at Risk of Poverty
Over 23% out of almost 2.5 million people
(by Furio Morroni) (ANSAmed) — ATHENS — More than one household in 10 (over 23%) was at risk of poverty last year in Greece, a country that has reached its sixth consecutive year of recession, according to the latest report just released by the Greek statistics institute (Elstat) on the economic situation of Greek families in 2012.
Elstat’s data showed that last year 914,873 families (for a total of some 2.5 million people out of a population of almost 11 million) did not have enough means for a decent lifestyle.
The result was 20.1% in 2008 and 21.4% in 2011. Moreover children and adolescents under 17 years of age were more at risk of poverty, according to the survey.
According to press reports, the number of those living under the poverty level has significantly grown in the past year (though there is no precise, recent data on this issue) — a level estimated at an annual income per person under 5,708 euros and under 11,986 euros for a family with two parents with a couple of children.
The poverty threshold is defined as the minimum income a person or household needs to pay rent and essentials like food, transportation, clothing and education.
A recent survey apparently confirmed the alarming data released by Elstat. The poll on the Greek economic context carried out by independent Dutch think tank Trendbox showed that 39% of Greeks were forced to ask family and friends for a loan in order to pay bills or other debts. Otherwise they were forced to pay with credit cards already in the red or use savings that are progressively shrinking.
Most Greeks now prefer to pay older debts and postpone the payment of more recent ones. According to data by the Central Bank of Greece, in the first 10 months of this year the population, in order to pay off old debts, accumulated new ones for 7.2 billion euros (1.1 billion in October alone) while bank deposits shrank by 1.3 billion.
Over half of the population (57%), according to the research carried out by Trendbox, said that ‘every day in this country it is hard for all to keep their heads above water’ while four in 10 Greeks polled admitted their income ‘doesn’t guarantee a decent lifestyle anymore’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Couple Attempts Suicide, Citing Financial Woes
Daughter found letter and alerted police
(ANSA) — Bologna, December 2 — Police rescued a married couple from an attempted suicide on Tuesday, after the couple’s daughter alerted the authorities to a suicide letter she found at the couple’s home. The man, a 62-year-old small-business owner, and his wife, a 60-year-old home maker, were found semiconscious in their car, where they had left a gas cylinder open after having ingested large quantities of the anti-anxiety drug Lorazepam, commercially known in Italy as Tavor.
On Sunday, a neighbor alerted the woman’s 24-year-old daughter that the couple and their dog were missing from their home. The woman’s daughter called authorities on Sunday afternoon, after finding a suicide letter in which the couple explained their intention to kill themselves due to their economic difficulties. A motorist spotted the couple’s car on Monday morning in an open field in an area south of Modena between the areas of Castello di Serravalle and Zocca and called authorities, who had been searching for the couple. The man and woman were taken to hospital in Vignola and may need treatment in a hyperbaric chamber but are not in life-threatening condition.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Vows Billion-Euro Cut to Public Spending if Premier
‘Cutbacks in Senate first and foremost’ says Florence mayor
(ANSA) — Trieste, December 2 — Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi said Monday he will cut one billion euros from public spending on the cost of running the government if he becomes premier. Renzi, expected to be elected the head of the center-left Democratic Party (PD) in primary elections December 8, said the cuts would be applied first and foremost to the Senate. Speaking in Trieste, he also announced a “gigantic” job-creation plan for Italy, which suffers 12.5% unemployment and over 40% youth unemployment.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
More Italians Finding Work as Domestics, Says Survey
Increasing numbers of home workers have higher education
(ANSA) — Rome, December 2 — More Italians and more people with higher education are finding jobs as domestic workers, a conference heard Monday.
In an industry that was once dominated by foreigners, almost 10% of domestic workers said they were Italian in a September 2013 survey, according to Assindatcolf, the National Association of Employers of Domestic Workers.
That marks a sharp increase from the 3.73% in 2011 and the 8.62% last year.
As well, almost 2% of domestics said they were university graduates, the research found, suggesting more and more Italians are taking whatever work they can find as a result of the economic crisis.
It also found that almost 54% of domestic staff and employers in the south worked outside the system, meaning no taxes were paid and no benefits or contributions were accrued.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Nobel Prize Economist Warns of U.S. Stock Market Bubble
An American who won this year’s Nobel Prize for economics believes sharp rises in equity and property prices could lead to a dangerous financial bubble and may end badly, he told a German magazine.
Robert Shiller, who won the esteemed award with two other Americans for research into market prices and asset bubbles, pinpointed the U.S. stock market and Brazilian property market as areas of concern.
“I am not yet sounding the alarm. But in many countries stock exchanges are at a high level and prices have risen sharply in some property markets,” Shiller told Sunday’s Der Spiegel magazine. “That could end badly,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The EU Exports Its Crisis to the Balkans
The EU’s financial and economic crisis has severely affected the Western Balkans. The countries’ heavy dependence on the EU and national deficits leave little wiggle room to improve the situation.
Before the economic crisis hit the European Union, Greek banks were important financial players in the Balkans. They had more than 1900 branches there, with some 23,000 employees and financial commitments of 70 billion euros (95 billion US dollars), or a 15 percent share of the overall basic capital of all banks in the Balkans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Will Federal Authorities Keep You From Your Own Money in the Face of Another Financial Meltdown?
Americans are rightly angered right now by the disastrous impacts of the ObamaCare implementation, but consider what else may lie ahead for our lives, our households, and our livelihoods.
For one, there was the November 25th report in the Financial Times indicating that the U.S. Federal Reserve is considering the possibility of arbitrarily cutting the amount of interest it pays on money that it borrows from private commercial banks. The interest that the government pays when it borrows money from private banks is, understandably, a big revenue stream for those banks. If the Federal Reserve makes this move, banks say they will in turn need to make up for the lost revenue by charging private individuals, households and businesses for depositing money in their accounts.
Let’s be clear about what is under consideration here. Customarily when an individual or an organization puts its money in a bank account, the bank will pay their customer at least some nominal level of interest in exchange for the privilege of possessing the customer’s money for a period of time. In the scenario that the Financial Times reported, some banks would completely reverse this historic bank-customer relationship and charge private individuals and businesses for the privilege of “parking” their money in an account for a time.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
3 Times as Many Americans Supported King George During Revolutionary War Than Support Congress Today
A new Economist/YouGov.com poll shows that Congress has hit an all-time low: only 6% of the American public approves of Congress.
To put this in perspective, Wikipedia notes:
Historians have estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of the European-American population of the colonies were Loyalists.
In other words, around 3 times as many colonists supported King George as the 6% which support ourown Congress today.
Moreover, a May 2013 poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University found that 29% of registered voters think that armed revolution may be “necessary” in the next couple of years. In other words, the number of Americans who think that armed revolution may be “needed” dwarf the number of Americans who approve of the job that Congress is doing.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
32 Privacy Destroying Technologies That Are Systematically Transforming America Into a Giant Prison
The United States Of America Is Being Transformed Into A Giant Prison
If you live in the United States, you live in a high tech surveillance grid that is becoming more oppressive with each passing day. In America today, the control freaks that run things are completely obsessed with watching, tracking, monitoring and recording virtually everything that we do. If we continue on the path that we are currently on, we will be heading into a future where there will be absolutely no privacy of any kind. In fact, many would argue that we are essentially there already. Many people speak of this as being the “Information Age”, but most Americans don’t really stop and think about what that really means. Most of the information that is considered to be so “valuable” is actually about all of us. Businesses want to know as much about all of us as possible so that they can sell us stuff. Government officials want to know as much about all of us as possible so that they can make sure that we are not doing anything that they don’t like. There is a constant hunger for even more information, and so the surveillance technologies just continue to become even more advanced and the Big Brother control grid being constructed all around us just continues to become even more pervasive. Even though you may not be consciously aware of it, the truth is that it is surrounding you right now even as you read this. We live in a society where liberty and freedom are literally being strangled to death, but most Americans don’t seem to care.
Do you know who else gets watched, tracked and monitored 24 hours a day?
Prisoners do.
Surveillance is a form of control, and at this point we are little more than inmates inside a gigantic Big Brother surveillance grid.
Posted below is a list of 32 privacy destroying technologies that are systematically transforming America into a giant prison…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Allen West Warns of Obama’s Backdoor Gun Control
Come 2014, all ammunition sold to civilian gun-owners in America will have to be imported, a result of President Obama’s crackdown on sulfur dioxide and lead emissions and accompanying harsh Environmental Protection Agency regulations, said former Florida congressman, Lt. Col. Allen West.
And for defenders of the Second Amendment, that means higher ammo prices are likely on the way — a situation Mr. Allen writes on his blog, AllenBWest.com, is akin to a federal power-grab on guns, albeit through the backdoor.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Amazon to Use Minidrones for Faster Deliveries
The US retail giant Amazon has said it is planning to use minidrones to deliver small packages to customers within half an hour after online orders. What sounds futuristic may become reality in just four or five years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
America’s Socialist Government
Norman Thomas, the six-time Socialist Party candidate for U.S. President, said the following in a 1944 speech: (69 years ago!)
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism,’ they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened… I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party has adopted our platform.”
Like a charade the socialists in America’s government hide behind the name “democrat.” That camouflage has worked well since the mid 1940s. It continues to work with lo/info voters of which America has more than her share.
Today, America has a Socialist/Marxist/Communist President. One half of the Congress, the Senate, is controlled by Socialist/Marxist/Communists. Arguably, the US Supreme Court has already been compromised by the “New” Left/Liberals/Socialists/Communists. One cannot argue the New Left has not had rather a lot of success! They most certainly have.
Look around America today. She is hardly recognizable as the country she used to be, a country dedicated to a constitution that defends liberty, defends freedom for the individual, and limits government intrusion into the lives of its citizens. That’s all gone now.
Today’s America is but a shell of its former self. It is, today, ruled by semi-literate inhabitants of a sub-culture bought and paid for — by the socialists — to overpower their opponents by the sheer force of their numbers at the ballot box.
How did this happen?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Attorneys: IRS Regulations May Put Americans’ Free Speech in Jeopardy
A public-interest law center, currently representing 41 organizations in a federal lawsuit challenging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), said on Tuesday that the new regulations proposed by the IRS aimed at tax-exempt organizations places the free speech rights of Americans at even greater risk.
The Internal Revenue Service’s notification, released on Nov. 26, 2013 states in part:
[…]
“These proposed new regulations put the First Amendment rights of Americans at even greater risk,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).
“This is a feeble attempt by the Obama Administration to justify its own wrong-doing with the IRS targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups. Instead of holding those responsible for the unlawful targeting scheme accountable for their actions, the Obama Administration is determined to further limit the free speech of Americans by attempting to change constitutional practices that are decades old. With this move, the Obama Administration opens a new front in its war against political dissent. We will file comments with the IRS opposing these new regulations,” Sekulow said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Black Racist “Knock-Out” Attacks Must End
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to remain silent and do nothing,” is the famous axiom attributed to Edmund Burke in the transforming Age of the French Revolution in the 18th century.
It is being proved true once again in the transforming Progressive Liberal Age of Obama in 21st century America as so many Americans, from Barack Hussein Obama on down, and so many major American media, remain silent, make excuses for, and do nothing about, the evil of racism — Black racism, manifesting itself in violent physical assaults on Whites and other non-Blacks all across the country.
Practically alone, award winning investigative journalist Colin Flaherty has detailed hundreds of attacks by Black racist thugs on non-blacks in more than 70 cities in his courageous book, “White Girl Bleed A Lot: The Return Of Racial Violence To America,” now in its fifth edition.
About Flaherty’s reporting, famed scholar, columnist, and author Thomas Sowell wrote in National Review: “Reading Colin Flaherty’s book made painfully clear to me that the magnitude of this problem is even greater than I had discovered from my own research. He documents both the race riots and the media and political evasions in dozens of cities across America.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Eye on 2016, Clintons Rebuild Bond With Blacks
Inside Bright Hope Baptist Church, the luminaries of Philadelphia’s black political world gathered for the funeral of former Representative William H. Gray III in July. Dozens of politicians — city, state and federal — packed the pews as former President Bill Clinton offered a stirring eulogy, quoting Scripture and proudly telling the crowd that he was once described as “the only white man in America who knew all the verses to ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing.’ “
But it was the presence and behavior of Hillary Rodham Clinton that most intrigued former Gov. Edward G. Rendell: During a quiet moment, Mrs. Clinton leaned over to the governor and pressed him for details about the backgrounds, and the influence, of the assembled black leaders.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In God We Trust, Maybe, But Not Each Other
You can take our word for it. Americans don’t trust each other anymore.
We’re not talking about the loss of faith in big institutions such as the government, the church or Wall Street, which fluctuates with events. For four decades, a gut-level ingredient of democracy — trust in the other fellow — has been quietly draining away.
These days, only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted. Half felt that way in 1972, when the General Social Survey first asked the question. Forty years later, a record high of nearly two-thirds say “you can’t be too careful” in dealing with people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Media Attacks Obama’s ‘Soviet-Style’ Publicity Policy
Major media organisations protest against being shut out of president’s events in favour of official photographer
Barack Obama’s White House has been accused of producing Soviet-style propaganda by press photographers who are furious at being denied access to the US president. Mr Obama’s aides routinely block independent photographers from capturing him at work, before distributing flattering pictures shot by Pete Souza, his official photographer. During a tense meeting at the White House, the practice was described by Doug Mills, a veteran photographer for The New York Times, as “just like TASS,” the Soviet Union state news agency…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Metro-North Train Was Traveling at More Than 80 mph at Time of Fatal Crash, NTSB Says
The commuter train that derailed in New York City was traveling 82 mph as it went into a 30 mph curve according to preliminary information, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.
However, NTSB board member Earl Weener said it was too early to tell if human error or faulty equipment triggered the crash that killed four and injured dozens more early Sunday morning. “That’s the question we need to answer,” Weener told an afternoon news conference.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Reporter Tells MSNBC Obama Administration ‘Most Hostile to the Media … in US History’
The Obama administration is quick to celebrate the historic significance of just about every action it takes, but the White House is unlikely to embrace the claim that it’s the “most hostile” in U.S. history when it comes to freedom of the press.
Nevertheless, that is precisely the charge being leveled by former White House reporter Bob Franken.
The talking heads at MSNBC where discussing complaints from photojournalists that the Obama administration is not allowing media photographers to take their own shots, while pushing photos from White House-approved photographers.
“Let’s use the ‘P’ word here: it’s propaganda,” Franken told his fellow panelists. “Every administration tries to manipulate the press, but this is the most hostile to the media that has been in United States history.”
“The reason I say most hostile is because of the Justice Department moves that they’ve made against the press,” Franken continued. “Obviously, they have a contempt for the journalistic process.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Great Bait-and-Switch of ObamaCare
Obamacare “Essential Benefits” Rendered Most Current Health Plans Obsolete
The great bait-and-switch of ObamaCare (“you can keep your plan and your doctor”) was intentionally orchestrated by the architects of the legislation. There were thousands of policies offered nationwide that were good and even very good but now they can’t be sustained under the new Obamacare policy requirements.
These regulations are so narrow that it intentionally made obsolete or non-compliant the vast majority of health care policies in that were currently in existence, thereby requiring the insurers to cancel those offerings.
There are 10 essential benefits to Obamacare that every policy now must have. Most of them are routine and were likely found in some form on the vast majority of plans pre-ObamaCare. Forbes recently compiled a list of these required items:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Man Arrested, Accused of Trying to Sell Secrets to China
Police said Sunday that a Canadian man has been arrested for allegedly trying to sell classified information to the Chinese government about Canada’s warship building procurement strategy.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that Qing Quentin Huang, 53, of Burlington, Ontario, was arrested on Saturday and appeared in court Sunday.
RCMP Chief Supt. Jennifer Strachan said the suspect is charged with communicating with a foreign entity under the Security of Information Act.
Allen West warns Obama’s ‘backdoor gun control is moving forward’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Police Arrest Man for Photographing Cop Car as Daughter Records Chilling Scene
A Canadian man receiving a parking citation in downtown Montreal decided to step out of his car and take a picture of the police car.
He ended up getting beat up, handcuffed and arrested.
All while his 17-year-old daughter video recorded the incident.
Now the video is going viral, a disturbing scene of a man screaming in pain as his daughter pleas for his safety, another chilling chapter in the War on Cameras.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Left’s Complete Inability to Understand Rob Ford’s Popularity
The truth is that the answer is fairly simple. Ford supporters are not generally supportive of people who smoke crack or drink and drive. They are sick and tired of mayors like David Miller who sucked up to the unions, only to land the city in a lengthy garbage strike in the middle of a sweltering summer. They are sick and tired of having their hard earned money spent on every special interest group in the city or having it used in a silly attempt to end global warming. They are sick of the philosophy that only an overpaid and underworked city employee can take their trash away. And they are sick of being hit with higher taxes and user fees just because it is a new year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Archaeology Report Stalls Romania Plans to Dig Up Ancient Roman Gold Mine
A leaked report revealing the archaeological significance of an ancient Roman gold mine in Romania is reigniting a battle between profit seekers who want to exploit the area, and historians and environmentalists trying to preserve the cultural wonder.
The British report by archaeology experts has caused the Romanian government to halt its plans to approve invasive mining at the site, according to a report in the British newspaper, the Independent.
The Bucharest government had kept the report under wraps for three years. It was commissioned by Romania’s ministry of culture and funded by the non-profit organization Pro Patrimonio, which works to protect the country’s cultural heritage.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Herman Van Rompuy’s Sis Goes Marxist
Tine Van Rompuy, the sister of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, has confirmed that she is now a paid-up member of the PVDA, Belgium’s small, far-left Marxist party. Ms Van Rompuy told the weekly De Zondag that in contrast to her two brothers — who are Christian democrat politicians — she has decided ‘to stand with the people’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Gets Permission to Exhume Murdered Monks
FRANCE 24 has learned that the Algerian government has given a French judge the go-ahead to exhume the decapitated heads of a group of French monks who were killed in Algeria in 1996.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Lawmakers Back Ban on Paying for Sex
French lawmakers voted on Saturday to back a highly controversial provision in a bill that imposes a €1,500 euro fine on clients of sex workers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Prison Ordered to Serve Halal Meals
A French court has ordered Saint-Quentin-Fallavier prison, near Grenoble in southeastern France, to begin making halal meals available to Muslim inmates, it emerged Wednesday, citing detainees’ right to “free exercise of religion”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Brewers Bid to Give Beer Purity Law UNESCO Status
The German Brewers Union has made a renewed bid to get the country’s 16th-century beer purity law designated a Unesco world cultural treasure.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Backs Ukraine’s ‘Impressive’ Protests
Germany said on Monday that mass anti-government rallies in Kiev showed that “the heart of the Ukrainian people beats in a European way” and voiced concern about violence against protesters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German-Funded Islamic Studies Contested by Some Muslim Groups
There aren’t enough seats to serve all the applicants at the University of Münster’s Center for Islamic Theology. But a political battle is brewing in Germany over how the religion should be taught.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Brewers Seek UNESCO Listing for Beer Purity Law
German brewers have launched a bid to get a unique law regulating the brewing of beer recognized by UNESCO. They hope to get the world heritage seal of approval in time for the 500th anniversary of the regulation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iceland Police Kills Gunman in Country’s ‘First Ever’ Police Shooting
Police in Iceland say they have shot dead a gunman — the first time armed police have shot and killed someone in the nation. Police said officers were called to an apartment in the Reykjavik suburb of Arbaer early Monday when a man fired a shotgun from inside the flat.
Iceland, which has a tiny population of around 320,000, has a low crime rate and gun violence is extremely rare. Its regular police force does not carry firearms. Haraldur Johannessen, National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, said Monday’s incident was unprecedented.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Is Portugal the New ‘India of Europe’?
Portugal is the eurozone’s poorest country. But there’s one bright spot: the outsourcing industry. Multinational companies are increasingly turning to Portugal as a base for call centers and customer service hotlines.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Woman Fights for Baby Seized by British Authorities
Claims she was sedated and forced into caesarean section
(ANSA) — London, December 2 — An Italian woman whose baby was removed by caesarean section and taken into care by British social services is struggling to regain custody of the child, according to media reports.
The case has made sensational headlines after it was reported by Britain’s Sunday Telegraph that the woman, who already has two children, was visiting Britain 18 months ago when she had a panic attack and says she was forced to deliver and give up her baby.
The newspaper reported that British social workers obtained a court order that allowed them to take the baby from the womb of the mother, who has a bipolar condition but had not been taking her medication because of the pregnancy.
Police contacted the woman’s mother in Italy who explained her daughter’s condition, according to reports.
They then took her to a psychiatric hospital where, five weeks later, she said she was sedated and the baby was taken from her.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, returned to Italy and is now fighting for custody of her 15-month-old daughter.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Puts Pressure on PM Enrico Letta
(AGI) Rome, Dec 1 — After the exit of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party the Democratic Party is in charge, the mayor of Florence and main candidate to win the Democratic Party’s upcoming primary elections, Matteo Renzi, said in an interview. “Letta must know that his government now depends on the Democratic Party. The original broad coalition no longer exists. Alfano says he can bring down the Letta government,” he told newspaper La Repubblica, referring to the leader of the New Centre Right party. “Fine, that means we’ll have early elections. Alfano has 30 MPs, the Democratic Party 300. I don’t fear elections, he does. Because he knows Berlusconi will run him over.” Renzi pointed out that the winner of the primary elections will decide which way the party will go.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Milan’s ‘Bocconi’ Climbs FT’s Business School Rankings
(AGI) Milan, Dec 2 — Italy’s Bocconi University climbed the Financial Times’ European business schools ranks this year, moving up to 8th from 11th last year. The university is the only Italian business school to get into the FT top 30 rankings. The Milan-based academic establishment overtook Lausanne’s IMD, the Rotterdam School of Management and the ESCP Europe.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Prato Factory-Fire Deaths Spur Manslaughter Probe
Suspects hard to find in web of Chinese-owned businesses
(By Christopher Livesay) (ANSA) — Prato, December 2 — Prosecutors in the central Italian city of Prato were preparing a manslaughter investigation Monday after a fire at a Chinese-owned clothing factory killed at least seven workers a day earlier. Police said several suspects likely faced charges for the blaze that struck in the early hours of Sunday as 11 workers slept inside the Teresa Moda factory dormitory outside the center of Prato, near Florence. Meanwhile rescuers continued to search for survivors beneath the rubble of the collapsed roof. Two were still in critical condition Monday.
Among those sleeping in the dormitory when the fire erupted was a child, described as just a few years old by police. Investigators believe a makeshift kitchen with many electric stoves was to blame. Firefighters were alerted to the weekend blaze by an off-duty policeman who saw smoke and heard screams as he drove by. “I got out and saw there were some Chinese people coming toward me crying and screaming. “I ran to the warehouse and saw a Chinese man with a fire extinguisher trying to put out the flames. “So I took an extinguisher too. “He was worn out, also due to the cold, and I kept hearing the screams. “One woman was completely black from the smoke”. With roughly 40,000 textile factories in the area, Prato hosts the largest clothing district in Italy, one whose complicated structure has slowed down investigators of the deadly fire. “It still isn’t clear exactly who the managers are (of the Teresa Moda factory),” said Prato chief Prosecutor Piero Tony. “Most companies in the area are organized like this. It’s the Wild West”. Many of Prato’s thousands of textile workers reside and work in Italy illegally. Officials shut down numerous factories every year for worker and safety violations. “In four years we’ve seized 600 warehouses,” said prosecutor Tony. According to the labor ministry, in the first nine months of 2013, 76% of Prato’s clothing factories were cited at some point for various infractions. Labor Minister Enrico Giovannini said at a press conference that Prato hosts “many more” undocumented workers than the average Italian city. Critics say it’s easy for companies shut down by the government to reopen under a different name without implementing the proper changes. Tuscany Governor Enrico Rossi said greater involvement from China was needed to prevent and crack down on businesses in the area that violate the law and allow for disasters such as the weekend fire. “The Chinese government must be called upon both to establish new crime-fighting accords, and to better combine efforts in overseeing how visas are handed out in China in order to prevent undocumented workers,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bressanone Cracks Down on Beggars
Northern city seizes handouts at churches, cemeteries
(ANSA) — Bolzano, December 2 — The northern Italian city of Bressanone is taking a hard line against begging in front of churches and cemeteries, confiscating handouts.
Deputy Mayor Gianlorenzo Pedron told ANSA the council was determined to stop panhandlers bothering people. “There are elderly people who no longer have the courage to go to the cemetery to remember their loved ones because in front of the entrance there are people who ask for money just for filling up the water vases,” said Pedron.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Quick Sale of Moncler IPO Shows Hot Market for Luxury Goods
Milan-based fashion house a strong seller on equity markets
(ANSA) — Milan, December 2 — Moncler, the producer of high-end outwear including the ubiquitous puffy coats seen on fashionable European streets, launched a highly successful initial public offering Monday that sold out in hours.
In fact, the IPO was so hot that demand was twelve times greater than available equity.
Last week Milan-based Moncler priced its shares at between 8.75 euros and 10.20 euros each, for a total valuation that reached more than two billion euros as every share was snapped up in the IPO. In a sign of the resilience of the luxury goods market despite the economic crisis in much of Europe, demand for Moncler’s shiny down-filled coats helped the company report sales of 389 million euros during the first nine months of this year — an increase of about 20% over the same period last year.
The company, founded in 1952, sells women’s puffy coats from around 800 euros each to stylish snowsuits for toddlers at about 400 euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Labour’s Lead Over Tories Cut as UKIP Enjoys New Surge — Poll
Labour down two on 35%, Tories unchanged on 28% and Ukip up three on 19% in latest fortnightly poll
Labour’s lead over the Tories has been cut to seven percentage points, with Ukip enjoying a new surge, according to the latest fortnightly Observer/Opinium poll.
After two weeks in which immigration and energy prices have been in the news, the high level of support for Nigel Farage’s party will be a worry for all three mainstream parties.
Labour is down two points at 35% while the Tories are unchanged on 28%.. Ukip is the only party to gain, up three points to 19%, while Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats are down one point on 8%.
The net personal ratings for leaders are little changed, showing David Cameron on -18, with 33% approving of his performance and 51% disapproving.
Ed Miliband, meanwhile, is on -23, with 24% approving of his leadership and 47% disapproving.
Clegg is on -46, with 14% approving and 60% disapproving.
• Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 1,941 GB adults aged 18+ from 26 to 29 November 2013. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. Full tables and results (pdf)
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Produces First Ever Halal Reindeer Meat
A specialist abattoir in northern Norway has slaughtered the country’s first ever halal reindeer meat, with a view to selling it to top-end restaurants as far afield as Dubai.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Plans World’s Largest Viking Theme Park
A group of Norwegian investors plan to build the world’s largest Viking theme park in a village in western Norway, luring tourists with roller coasters, staged Viking battles, and Viking-style feasts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Opening Brothels Could Give Italy Tax Boost
The council in Italy’s northern Lombardy region is pushing to overhaul the country’s law against prostitution, in order to gain tax revenue, Italian media has reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Priest Convicted of Child Sex Sentenced to More Than 8 Years in Prison
WARSAW, Poland — A priest in central Poland has been sentenced to more than eight years after being convicted of sexually abusing five boys. The court also banned the 49-year-old priest from approaching his five victims, who were under the age of 15 at the time of the abuse, and from teaching children in the future. The priest was only identified as Slawomir S. because of Polish privacy practices.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Tells Dutch Bishops to ‘Look After Sex-Abuse Victims’
Netherlands still shocked by 2012 child castration reports
(ANSA) — Vatican City, December 2 — Pope Francis on Monday called on Dutch bishops visiting the Vatican to “continue to look after” victims of sex abuse “in their painful path of healing, undertaken with courage”. The international priest sex-abuse scandal hit the Netherlands hard in 2012, when reports surfaced that Dutch Church officials in the 1950s took retribution against 10 children who reported sex abuse by having them castrated. Archbishop of Utrecht Willem Jacobus Eijk told Vatican Radio Monday that public criticism of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands has softened in recent years as officials have shown greater attention to victims than in the past.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Purity Pride: Germany Wants World Heritage Status for Its Beer
Germany’s brewers are so proud of their 500-year-old beer purity law, which states that it must consist only of water, malt, hops and yeast, that they want it inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage list — alongside the pyramids, the Taj Mahal and Flamenco dancing.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report Calls for Sweeping Online Surveillance Powers for Dutch Security Agencies
A review of the powers of Dutch security agencies has concluded they should be given far wider scope to tap into internet traffic.
A commission headed by former civil servant Stan Dessens found that the current laws governing the civilian intelligence service AIVD and its military counterpart MIVD were out of date. In a report to the cabinet, it said secret services should be allowed unrestricted access to cable-bound communications if there was a danger to national security.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Sheep Sculptures Fetch Record Auction Prices
Six unusual sheep sculptures created by late French artist François-Xavier Lalanne fetched a total of 1.4 million francs ($1.54 million) at an auction over the weekend in Crissier, a village near Lausanne in the canton of Vaud.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Protestors Besiege Government Building in Ukraine
Thousands of Ukrainian protesters on Monday besieged government buildings in Kiev and called for the ouster of the prime minister and his Cabinet, as anger at the president’s decision to ditch a deal for closer ties with the European Union gripped other parts of the country and threatened his rule.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Horror in the Corridors of the Observer
by Rod Liddle
Absolutely fascinating double page spread in The Observer yesterday which suggests that the UK is ‘sleepwalking’ towards an exit from the European Union. My only quibble with the piece is that the source of this narcolepsy was not explained: is it drug induced, or have we perhaps become zombified? Either way, we don’t know what we are doing, according to The Observer. This is the usual recourse of the left when the rest of the country makes the grotesque mistake of thinking differently to what the bien pensants want…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lee Rigby Killers Drove Around Woolwich Barracks Looking for Soldiers to Kill, Court Hears
Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, drove up and down Artillery Place, in south east London, several times before running over Mr Rigby, a court is told
Soldier Lee Rigby’s killers drove around his Woolwich barracks for up to an hour looking for soldiers to kill before they targeted him, the Old Bailey heard.The blue Vauxhall Tigra Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were in was captured on CCTV driving up and down Artillery Place from 1.30pm. The Fusilier was murdered around 2.30pm on May 22.The court heard the pair even bought a parking ticket half an hour before the killing and a copy of the £1 ticket, which was due to expire at 2.53pm, was shown to the jury. But by that time the car had crashed into a road sign after being used as a weapon to mow Mr Rigby down.
The 25-year-old was then hacked to death with knives and a meat cleaver so viciously he was almost decapitated before his lifeless body was dragged into the middle of the road. The day before the murder Adebolajo was captured on CCTV at an Argos store in Lewisham, south east London, buying a five-piece knife set costing £34.99 and a £9.99 knife sharpener kit. And just hours before the murder, jurors were shown an image of Adebolajo smiling as he walked into a petrol station near his home. The court heard he was returning to pay for fuel he had filled up on 40 minutes earlier then realised he had no money. Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, said Adebolajo gave the cashier a white mobile phone as an assurance he would come back at around 8am. But he warned the woman not to answer it if it rang, it was said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Protesters Blockade Main Government Building in Kyiv
Several hundred protesters have blocked entrances to the main headquarters of the Ukrainian government. They have also gathered outside of other key buildings and thousands have returned to Kyiv’s main square.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi MP Gets 4 Days for Anti-Burqa Demo
Daniela Santanché led Milan rally in 2009
(ANSA) — Milan, November 18 — A Milan court on Monday sentenced centre-right MP Daniela Santanche’, one of the leading members of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, to four days in jail and a 1,100-euro fine for an anti-burqa demo in Milan in 2009.
Prosecutors had requested a one-month jail term for the MP, who led a rally on the last day of Ramadan to protest against what she called “a portable prison”, sparking a ruction with observant Muslims.
Sentences under two years are suspended in Italy.
The court fined Egyptian-born Ahmed El Badry, who punched Santanche’ in the chest, 2,500 euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s ‘Open’ Refugee Detention Centers
Israel is introducing “open” detention centers to house the growing influx of African refugees who cross the Sinai border region. However the “open” character of those centers has been called into question.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama administration can’t take the heat. Stung by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction to the so-called “deal” made with Iran, President Obama has asked the Israeli leader to “take a breather from his clamorous criticism,” according to the Washington Post’s David Ignatius.
Netanyahu’s anger is justified. Despite the ostensible reality that Israel is America’s staunchest Middle East ally, the Obama administration was engaged in six months of secret, high-level talks with Israel’s foremost enemy. Obama informed Netanyahu of this reality on September 30. And while he seemingly took Obama’s announcement in stride, a day later the Israeli Prime Minister delivered a blistering speech to the UN General Assembly, calling Iranian President Hasan Rouhani a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” looking to exploit this latest diplomatic effort to advance his nation’s nuclear weapons agenda. He also made it clear where his nation stood on the issue. “I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,” he insisted. “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”…
Yesterday, in a response to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s ridiculous criticism of his approach to the issue, Netanyahu reiterated his intention to keep talking. “In contrast to others, when I see that the vital security interests of Israeli citizens are at stake, I will not shut up,” he declared. “It is very easy to keep quiet. It is easy to receive pats on the shoulder from the international community, to bow one’s head, but I am committed to the security of my people. I am committed to the future of my country, and in contrast to periods in the past, we have a loud and clear voice among the nations and we will make it heard in order to warn — in time — against dangers,” he added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Ever Closer to Gaza, With Aid and More
Ankara wants flourishing Islamic enclave here, pundit says
(by Sami al-Ajrami) (ANSAmed) — GAZA, DECEMBER 2 — Seen from Gaza, Turkey is very close. Clothing and food labels speak loud, clear and in Turkish, and on hospital shelves, medicines mostly come from Turkey.
More and more, newspaper classifieds offer Turkish lessons, which are in rising demand due in part to the fact that the Ankara government offers scholarships allowing young Gazans to come study in its universities.
For the neediest, those scholarships come with a monthly stipend to support the family back home in the Strip.
“Without a doubt, Turkey has taken on a very prominent role in daily life in Gaza”, political commentator Hani Habib noted, linking this development to the rise to power of Hamas in 2007. Ankara is interested in seeing an Islamic enclave flourish in this area, Habib said, just as it looked favorably on the election of a Muslim Brotherhood president in Egypt. The ousting of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has changed the rules of the game. Since the fatal Israeli Navy raid on its Marmara ship as it tried to break the Israeli Gaza blockade in May 2010, Turkey has multiplied its efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.
In the latest example, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) recently announced an 850,000-dollar donation from Turkey to buy gas to restart emergency services in Gaza, which had been out of commission due to fuel and energy shortages.
In 2014, a modern 34-million-dollar hospital will open in the middle of the Strip, where the Jewish settlement of Netzarim was once located.
Other associations for both material and cultural aid, such as Yardimeli, Ihh, and Tika, have gone from a sporadic presence to opening permanent offices in Gaza.
Palestinians from Gaza don’t need an entry visa to travel to Turkey, a place where they finally feel welcome and are no longer treated as the eternal “suspects”.
This is where entrepreneurs have decided to move their businesses, while back home, plaques giving thanks to the Turkish people have sprouted in various parts of the Strip — especially on buildings that have been repaired after Israeli bombings. Last year, Gaza businessman Tarek Abu Dayya had 20,000 Turkish flags and thousands of posters of Premier Recep Tayyp Erdogan made ahead of the Turkish premier’s first-ever visit to the Strip: that visit has been postponed, but the friendship between Gaza and Turkey has grown. Dayya has no doubt that his flags, which are in storage right now, will soon be in great demand.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A Month of Horror for Christians Under Islam: September 2013
by Raymond Ibrahim
“It seems great crackdowns on churches and extraordinary waves of arrest of Iranian pastors and Christian converts have not been effective.” — Mohabat News, Iran
The same month that Obama tried to wage war on behalf of the jihadi rebels in Syria (citing “human rights” concerns), some of the war’s worst atrocities were committed against that nation’s Christian minority, most notably in Ma’loula, an ancient Christian region where the inhabitants spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
There, al-Qaeda-linked jihadis fired mortars and missiles into at least two ancient churches before looting them; some 80 Christians trying to defend their homes were killed. Others who could not flee were forced, on pain of death, to convert to Islam.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Warns About Americans Joining Islamic Fighters in Syria
By one estimate, two dozen Americans may be fighting with Al Qaeda-linked groups against the Syrian government. FBI officials worry they may become radicalized and carry out attacks in the US.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Female Saudi Activists Arrested for Driving
Two female activists were arrested and detained in Saudi Arabia on Friday after being caught behind the wheel in Riyadh.
Aziza Al-Yousef, who was driving the car, and her passenger, Eman Al-Nafjan, said they were detained at a police station in the capital until being released into the custody of their respective husbands, who were asked to sign a statement pledging their wives would not drive again, CNN reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Influencing Muslims: The 500 Most Influential Muslims
Latest annual release of ‘The Muslim 500’ highlights those world’s most influential Muslims and highlight changes going on in the Muslim world.
2012 was the widely considered to be the high mark in the history of Islamists movements. The Muslim Brotherhood parties won both the elections in Tunisia and Egypt, Erdogan had easily won a reelection in Turkey, the Syrian government seemed to be at the heels of a collapse, mainly at the hands of Brotherhood-led rebels and the Moroccan parliamentary elections were easily won by the primary Islamists party…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nuns Kidnapped in Christian Syrian Town
(AGI) Damascus, Dec 2 — Nuns at the convent in Malula have been taken hostage by Islamic militants, the Syrian news agency SANA reports citing local sources. According to these sources, the sisters and the mother superior, Pelagia Sayaf, from the convent of St. Tecla, have been taken hostage by “terrorists.” The kidnappers have also been reported as having committed vandalism near the convent and around the town and that there are snipers in Malula, which has a Christian majority population
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nuns Trapped as Al Qaeda-Linked Rebels Seize Christian Town in Syria
Six nuns were trapped in an ancient pro-government Christian village, the government said Monday, after al Qaeda linked rebels seized large swaths of the area. Syrian army tanks were positioned around Maaloula as the fighting sent smoke wafting over the scenic village nestled in hills about 40 miles northeast of the capital, Damascus.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Olli Heinonen on Iran: ‘This is a Step Forward, Without a Doubt’
Former IAEA deputy secretary general Olli Heinonen says the nuclear deal with Iran is an important one, with verifiable results and a timetable for a final agreement. Still, he argues, “there is no reason to celebrate.”
Olli Heinonen, born in Finland, worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna for 27 years, most recently as its deputy director general. During his time at the IAEA, he also oversaw its efforts to monitor and contain Iran’s nuclear program. Heinonen is currently a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Cnter for Science and International Affairs…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Ron Paul: You Cannot Negotiate With Iran?
You cannot negotiate with Iran. That is what they told us for years. The Iranian leadership is too fanatical, they are not rational actors, they are “not like us.” One US official even recently said that deception is part of the Iranian DNA. But just over a week ago negotiations between the five permanent UN Security Council Members plus Germany and the Iranians produced an historic agreement that may be first step toward a new era in US relations with the Middle East.
As Middle East expert Eric Margolis pointed out this week, for Iran’s major concessions it will only receive “$7 billion — of its own money, which has been frozen abroad by US-led sanctions.” That sounds like quite a bit of compromise for such a “fanatical” country.
Earlier this summer the same people made the same arguments about Syria. You cannot negotiate with Syrian President Assad, they said. He is insane; he is another Hitler. But not only was it possible, a deal was signed ending the threat of a US strike in exchange for Syria agreeing to give up its chemical weapons and the ability to manufacture new ones. Syria upheld its end of the agreement and the chemicals were all accounted for on schedule.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Jihadists Take Maalula Nuns Hostage, SANA Reports
UN has proof Assad authorized crimes against humanity
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — Anti-regime jihadist militia have entered the Saint Tecla Orthodox convent in the Christian village of Maalula, 60 kilometers north of Damascus, SANA state news agency reported Monday.
“Local sources said terrorists broke into the convent, taking Mother Superior Pelagia Sayyaf and other nuns hostage”, SANA reported.
The National Observatory for Human Rights in Syria confirmed rebels have retaken Maalula but made no mention of hostage-taking in the convent.
Nuns at Saint Tecla Orthodox convent were forcibly evacuated, but it is not clear whether they were taken hostage after jihadist rebels seized the village of Maalula north of Damascus on Monday, the Apostolic Nuncio to Damascus, Monsignor Mario Zenari, told ANSA. The Nuncio cited sources in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
Jihadists first seized the Christian village in September, damaging its churches. Expelled by loyalist and Christian militias, they took up positions in nearby hills, keeping the village center under sniper fire.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the BBC that a UN investigation into human rights violations in Syria has found evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and “the highest levels of government have authorized war crimes and crimes against humanity in his country”. This is the first time the UN High Commission has leveled such a direct charge at Assad.
The UN investigation had earlier uncovered evidence that Syrian rebels have also committed human rights abuses.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Maaloula: Islamist Rebels Abduct 12 Nuns From the St Thecla Orthodox Monastery
The sisters were abducted this afternoon when a group of armed men stormed the monastery. For Vatican nuncio Mgr Mario Zenari and the Greek Orthodox Church, the rebels have taken the nuns to Yabrud, a city 80 km from Damascus.
Damascus (AsiaNews) — Islamist rebels have kidnapped a group of nuns from the Greek Orthodox monastery of St Thecla (Mar Taqla) in Maaloula (north of Damascus). Mgr Mario Zenari, the Vatican nuncio in Damascus, confirmed the information after speaking with the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate. Through the Vatican diplomat, the latter “calls on all Catholics to pray for the women religious.”
“Armed men burst in the monastery of St Thecla in Maaloula this afternoon. From there, they forcibly took 12 women religious,” Mgr Zenari said, citing a statement from Patriarchate. The group of Islamist rebels has apparently taken them to Yabrud, some 80 km north of the capital. Neither the nuncio nor the church Greek Orthodox Church know reason behind the kidnapping.
Islamist Rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had invaded the small town on 5 September after driving out regime troops with the support of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Brigades. After taking control of the city, they went on a rampage against Christian buildings, killing three young Catholic men.
More than 3,000 people, the town’s entire Christian population, fled their homes seeking refuge in Bab Touma, the Christian quarter of Damascus. Some found shelter with relatives in Lebanon or in local Greek-Catholic convents.
Only Muslims were left in town, plus 40 nuns at the St Thecla Monastery who stayed to help care for dozens of orphaned children.
As of yesterday, Maaloula became again the scene of heavy fighting between the army and Syrian rebels, including many members of the extremist Jabat-al-Nusra militia.
Clashes are concentrated mostly in the upper, oldest part of the town, where the St Thecla Greek-Orthodox and the Sts Sergius and Bacchus Greek-Catholic monasteries are located.
From there, the rebels have launched repeated attacks against army positions in the lower part of town.
Fighting is intensifying, sources told AsiaNews. “The army is trying to regain control over the villages north of Damascus. For this purpose, it has launched a major offensive against the rebels, who are trying to hold government forces back through a scorched earth policy in the areas under their control.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Arrests 1,100 European Jihadists in 2013
(AGI) Ankara, Dec 2 — Turkey arrested and expelled 1,100 EU citizens heading to Syria to join jihadist groups fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad this year, according to a secret service intelligence report, said the newspaper Haberturk.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen Bans Motorcycles in Capital After Drive-by Assassinations
SANAA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) — The Yemeni Interior Ministry on Sunday imposed a temporary ban on motorcycles in Sanna as consecutive drive-by shootings underscored the capital’s worsening security situation. The ministry said the ban will last until Dec. 15 in line with the supreme security committee’s order announced last week, which aims to prevent assassination attempts…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-EU Protests in Ukraine More Like Pogrom, Says Putin
(AGI) Yerevan, Dec 2 — The large-scale protests in the Ukraine resemble a pogrom more than a revolution, said Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Yerevan. He said the pro-European Union demonstrators want to bring down legitimate governments and are being incited by outside forces. What is happening in the Ukraine has little to do with relations with the European Union, said Putin.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Scandal Book: Author Claims Putin’s Pets His Best Friends
In a new book, a political scientist describes Vladimir Putin as a traumatized orphan with alleged homosexual tendencies and enormous wealth. The Kremlin has dismissed the claims as baseless insinuations.
To supporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin is his country’s savior. To his opponents, he’s little more than a relentless tyrant. In the Wikileaks diplomatic cables, he is likened to cartoon superhero Batman; US business magazine Forbes has just chosen him as one of the most influential people on the planet. Yet there is one thing that pretty much no one has claimed before: That the ruler of the world’s largest country (by land), with 143 million inhabitants, nuclear weapons and huge quantities of natural resources, is in reality a pathetic weakling.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
After 12 Yrs of U.S. Occupation, Afghanistan Sets Record for Growing Opium
(CNSNews.com) — After 12 years of occupation by U.S. military forces, Afghanistan set a record for growing opium poppies in 2013, according to newly released data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
CIA’s Pakistani Helper Seeks Better Conditions in Jail
Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden, has demanded better conditions in jail and greater access to his lawyer. Observers say Afridi has not been given a chance to a fair trial.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: North Sumatra: Hundreds of Islamists Attack Protestant Community During Prayer Service
A group of FPI members stopped the Sunday services of the Hkbp in Binjai . Fundamentalists threaten Christians, who are forced to leave under police escort. Attack sparked by false accusations of promoting religious activities in a building without permission. A case pending for more than five years.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — A group of extremists belonging to the Islamic Defenders Front attacked and disrupted the Sunday services of the Tandemn Huria Kristen Batak Protestant ( Hkbp ) community in the city of Binjai , the Indonesian province of North Sumatra . hundreds of faithful of the local Christian community had to abandon their church — official and recognized — and close traditional weekend services early because of the threats made by the fundamentalists. The faithful returned to their homes, escorted by police in riot gear.
Eyewitnesses reported that the assault yesterday morning against the Protestant Christian community was led by hundreds of FPI members, supported by some local Islamist groups . The assailants shouted loudly that the “church” is not legal , the authorities in the area, according to the extremists , have not take any decision on the legitimacy of any “ activities of worship “ in the building .
The Islamists attack comes in conjunction with the decision by local authorities, who must determine whether the place of Christian worship is or is not valid. The case is still pending and the surprise extremist attack could be aimed at putting pressure on judge.
Nasir Ahmad , FPI coordinator, said that the interruption of the Hkbp function had the “support “ of the political authorities, as previously insured during a special meeting on 27 November 2013. During the meeting they discussed the issue with the leaders of Binjai . The Islamists claim that the “church” is not legal , because the case “ is still pending in court “ and has not received the approval of the local population . Zainnudin Purba, an MP for Binjai , points the finger at the local administration which has been unable to make a decision on the matter for more than five years.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world (86 % profess Islam) and, while maintaining the constitutional principle of basic personal freedoms (including religious) , it is increasingly becoming a theater of violence and abuse against minorities . Christians make up 5.7% of the population; Catholics just over 3 %, 1.8 % are Hindu and 3.4% of other religions. The province of Aceh applies Islamic law and many other areas are becoming more radical and extreme the application of the Muslim religion in the lives of citizens.
In this context, the FPI has played a leading role in a broad campaign of ‘Islamisation’. In a number of places, its members have used violence to impose Sharia-inspired rules and regulations, such as a ban on alcoholic beverages and the prohibition of certain sexual mores. The group, which is opposed by most Indonesians, has also been accused of blocking church construction, using violence to achieve this goal. Since 2000, it has also been blamed in connection with a series of terror attacks that targeted the US Embassy as well as bars, nightclubs, and private clubs, especially during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Asia is Home to Highest Number of Child Brides
South Asian countries have turned their back on United Nations Child-bride resolution. The proposal calls to end the practice as a part of the post 2015 global development goals.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) estimates that over 140 million girls will be married before their 18th birthday over the next decade and almost 50 percent of these child brides are in South Asia.
Child marriage is prohibited by national and regional laws in South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. But the practice persists unabatedly. According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 24.4 million women between ages 20-24 were reportedly married before the age of 18 between the years 2000 and 2010.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thai Prime Minister Says Protesters’ Demands Unacceptable as Violence Continues
Thailand’s prime minister said Monday she is willing to do anything it takes to end violent protests against her government and restore peace, but cannot accept the opposition’s “unconstitutional” demand to hand power to an unelected council.
Yingluck Shinawatra’s comments, broadcast in a televised news conference, highlighted the unusual political deadlock Thailand finds itself in with no clear solution in sight even as violence on the streets continues to rise.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thailand’s Premier Yingluck Shinawatra Rejects Protesters’ Demands
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has refused to step down, rejecting protesters calls for a “people’s council” to appoint a new premier. Police have fired rubber bullets at protesters outside government buildings.
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UK: Marine A: Criminal or Casualty?
A witness to the horrors of the Afghan campaign, Chris Terrill explains why the sergeant convicted of murdering a Taliban enemy retains the support of his comrades
No Royal Marine I know, and I know many, joined up to kill folk — they simply wanted to become one of the best-trained soldiers in the world and to serve Queen and country in the greatest way possible. That could well be front-line fighting, but it could just as easily be peacekeeping or distributing humanitarian aid. Certainly, as commandos, they are trained in the dark arts of combat because the ultimate sanction of any armed force is to deliver focused and lethal violence to an enemy at a time of war. It is only then, in the grip of conflict, that killing does become a soldier’s main trade and death the currency of his core business…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Petition: Leniency for Marine A
Marine A deserves to be shown leniency when he is sentenced for the killing of a Taliban captive
The case of Marine A will go down as a brutal incident in a brutal war. A badly wounded Taliban captive was executed at point blank range by a British soldier on the field of battle in Helmand in 2011. Perhaps, the shaky camera footage will, as warned, prove to be a gift to terrorist propagandists. But the murder conviction — the first time a British serviceman has been convicted of murder during the Afghan (or Iraq) conflicts — needs to be viewed in context…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China Tests US Dominance in East Asia
China’s new push to assert itself across the Asia-Pacific region has left neighboring nations, including U.S. allies, concerned over the country’s next move. Chinese leadership asserted that they have a sovereign right to create an “air identification zone” in the East China Sea. Regional leaders question whether allowing this move by China could result in additional zones and threaten their sovereignty.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cold War in the Pacific: China Escalates Tensions With Neighbors
Beijing’s recent establishment of a new air defense zone in the East China Sea is exacerbating long-running disputes with its neighbors Japan and Taiwan — and threatens to draw the US military into a larger regional conflict.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In an attempt to curb China’s hegemonic ambitions, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe is set on strengthening his country’s security ties with the United States. But the new approach is poisoning the political climate at home.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What is ‘Muslim-ness’ In Australia?
How might Muslims preserve their identity in religiously diverse societies?
These and other challenges have prompted Muslim community leaders and scholars from around the world to gather in Sydney for the inaugural Australasian Conference on Islam. More in this report by Biwa Kwan, Rachelle Alchin and Marina Freri.
Professor of sociology Riaz Hassan at Flinders University in South Australia says the biggest misconception about Muslims is the idea that there is only one Muslim identity. His research surveyed 6,000 Muslims in ten countries including Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt. Professor Hassan says results show there are multiple Muslim identities drawn from different emphasis on cultural and religious identities. “Between 20-30 per cent of Muslims construct their identity, their ‘Muslim-ness’, because of their (religious) practice and a majority of Muslims practice sometimes, but sometimes not. Then you have 30-40 per cent of people who are basically Muslim because of a cultural [identity]. Being Muslim does not mean, as it is portrayed in the media, that people are fanatically religious. Being Muslim means, just like Christianity, some people are Muslim because they are culturally Muslim.”
Associate Professor Adam Possamai, from the University of Western Sydney, says there have long been multiple Muslim identities in Australia.
He says one of those includes Indigenous Australians, who are increasingly taking up the Muslim faith. Australian Bureau of Statistic figures over the past decade show a significant number of Indigenous Australians are turning increasingly to the Muslim faith at the same time as numbers are turning away from Christianity…
[JP note: See also http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/vast-majority-of-australians-think-islam-and-terrorism-are-related/ ]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
“Impempe Yomlingo”: South Africa Meets Mozart in Munich
One of the highlights of the 2013 Tollwood Winter Festival is a South African production of Mozart’s Magic Flute, complete with marimbas and a Xhosa-speaking cast. Opera fans have given it a rousing reception.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya: Armed Youths Raid Mosque in Mombasa
Hundreds of Muslim youths yesterday invaded Sakina mosque in Majengo, Mombasa and ejected imams from the pulpit. The youths from the controversial Masjid Musa were armed with knives. They stormed into the Sakina mosque before the Friday Dhuhr prayers.
They held the Sakina mosque under siege for two hours during and conducted their prayers before leaving. Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya organizing secretary Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa and another Imam were injured after they were roughed up by the rowdy youths.
CIPK chairman Sheikh Mohammed Idris was chased away from the mosque. The youth accused them of betraying the Muslim faithful by working with government security agencies to ‘eliminate’ fellow clerics. Police said Sheikh Khalifa was conducting prayers when youth chanting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ raided the mosque. The Sheikh was rescued and whisked away from mosque.
The Masjid Musa is widely viewed as a centre of Islamist radicalization due its association with assassinated preachers Sheikh Aboud Rogo and Sheikh Ibrahim Ismael. Sheikh Ismael and Sheikh Rogo were both killed in Mombasa in the last year in similar drive-by shootings by unknown gunmen. Police have denied any involvement in their killings. Police say the mosque has ties with al Shabaab and is used to radicalize Muslim youths…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Mali: UN Mission Calls for Restraint, Return to Negotiations After Clash in Kidal
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali today strongly condemned the latest violence in Kidal, in the northern part of the country, and called for restraint. The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said that “incidents of a serious nature” took place yesterday despite a security plan coordinated by the Government in cooperation with the UN Mission and support from the French security mission in Mali, known as Serval. “MINUSMA, in close cooperation with Serval, assisted the evacuation of three of the injured for medical care in Gao,” the Mission said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
121 Migrants Saved Off Italian Coast
Egyptian on board calls for help with sat phone
(updates previous) (ANSA) — Rome, December 2 — The Italian coast guard on Monday said all 121 migrants have been saved from a boat adrift off the southeast coast of Italy. The passengers, said to be in good condition, were transferred onto two rescue boats en route to the Italian mainland. Rescuers were alerted to the emergency Sunday when an Egyptian immigrant aboard made a distress call using a satellite phone. Authorities could not intervene until Monday due to poor weather conditions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Choppy Seas Hamper Italy Migrant Boat Rescue
Italian coast guards on Monday were trying to reach a fishing boat packed with some 100 migrants adrift off the coast of southern Italy in gale-force conditions.
Hundreds of migrants drowned in two shipwreck tragedies in October near the Italian island of Lampedusa after the heavily overcrowded vessels capsized.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ethiopian Workers Forced Out of Saudi Arabia
As Saudi Arabia struggles with growing unemployment, it has deported tens of thousands of economic migrants, mostly Ethiopians. But they have little to return to in their impoverished homeland.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
I Want an American Baby! Chinese Women Flock to the U.S. To Give Birth
Lured by U.S. citizenship for their children, thousands of Chinese women give birth annually in the States, supporting a thriving birth-tourism industry
Jiang Wenjun was getting ready to go to America. His wife, due to give birth to their son any day, was already there. Like any expectant parents, the Shanghai couple agonized over how best to prepare for the arrival — and upbringing — of their firstborn child. American citizenship, they decided, was one of the finest gifts they could bestow. “America is the strongest country in the world,” says Jiang, whose son was born just days after he eventually arrived in California this month. “We want our child to have the best future.”
The U.S. is one of the few nations where simply being born on its soil confers citizenship on a newborn. That policy has spawned a birth-tourism industry, in which pregnant foreigners flock to American hospitals to secure U.S. passports for their babies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
On Illegal Immigration, More Cities Are Rolling Out a Welcome Mat
Tucson, a longtime foe of Arizona’s ‘papers, please’ law, is modifying how it enforces SB 1070 to join a national trend that suggests the pendulum is swinging on illegal immigration.
But city leaders in this desert town, in an example of a growing national trend more hospitable to immigrants, are pushing back against Arizona’s “papers, please” law in renewed repudiation of the measure and in a nod to immigrant integration. Tucson, in liberal-leaning Pima County, is a longtime foe of the tough immigration law designed to push out of state those in the country illegally.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Shocked After Woman Raped to Death by Somali Immigrant
A 34 year old immigrant from Somalia was arrested for savagely attacking a woman in the parking garage of a Sheraton hotel in Sweden. The woman died while being raped. Police say the perpetrator continued to rape the woman’s corpse well after she had died.
The Somalian was apprehended by police while still in the act of raping the murdered woman.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
What America Will Look Like in 2050? Part 11
Enter the term “multiculturalism” where multiple cultures reside in the same country. Ultimately cultures conflict with one another via people, passions and language.
Jonathan H. Turner defines it as a conflict caused by “differences in cultural values and beliefs that place people at odds with one another”. He defines this conflict as, “One that occurs when peoples’ expectations of a certain behavior coming from their cultural backgrounds are not met. They face others that possess different cultural backgrounds and different expectations.”…
If you look at Norway, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Belgium and Holland today, you see the results of multiculturalism turning their countries into “Schizophrenic societies.” All of them see major crime waves of rapes, murders, shoplifting, bursting prisons, schools in chaos, enclaving of entire cities into cultural ghettos, language changes, cultural changes and loss of societal cohesiveness. Belgium, once all-European, will become an Islamic caliphate within four decades. Its culture and language face ultimate displacement by its Islamic immigrants.
Of special note, Swedish women can no longer walk down the streets of Stockholm by themselves for fear of being accosted, raped or murdered by Muslim immigrant males. Same in Norway and in France where Muslims dominate a specific enclave!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia Says No to Gay Marriage With a Wide Majority
Low turnout at 35%. But cabinet announces law on civil unions
(by Franko Dota) (ANSAmed) — ZAGREB — Croatia, whose population is mainly Catholic, said a final no to same-sex marriage, including in its Constitution a definition of matrimony as a union between ‘a man and a woman’. The majority of voters on Sunday, some 65.16%, backed the constitutional change while 34.23% voted against, according to data released on Sunday night by the electoral commission based on 90% of ballots counted.
Traditional and Catholic values prevailed over the calls in the past few weeks issued by the government, president and many media outlets and the academic world, who had invited Croatians not to discriminate and divide families as first and second-class entities.
Members of the movement ‘In the name of family’, close to the powerful Catholic Church, which promoted the initiative, said nobody would be discriminated because ‘it is a natural definition of matrimony which respects reality’. The referendum was strongly backed by the Catholic Church and all bishops in their sermons Sunday had called on the faithful to vote “in favour of the Christian definition of marriage”.
Promoters said their initiative was a consequence of the legalization in France last May of gay marriage “to prevent the same from happening in Croatia”. With this Constitutional change, Croatia joins Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, five EU countries with an exclusive heterosexual definition of marriage in their Constitution.
However, the democratic legitimacy of the referendum is on the line as turnout was extremely low, something which does not compromise its validity given that a quorum was not necessary.
But the fact that only 35% of the country’s 3.8 million would-be voters cast their ballots in such a significant referendum with constitutional powers has raised a few doubts.
Moreover the Croatian Constitutional court has explained that the ‘definition of marriage as a union between a man and woman’ has no impact on the definition of family and that the referendum’s outcome ‘cannot limit in any way the future development of legislative regulations concerning civil unions between same-sex partners’.
Indeed Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, defining as ‘sad and useless’ a referendum ‘which is nothing more than a homophobic demonstration’, announced Sunday that in one or two weeks his government will present a law on same-sex civil unions. The legislation provides for such unions to be granted the same rights as marriage couples except for adoption of minors.
No comments were available from the referendum’s ‘yes’ front after the Croatian press decided to boycott their headquarters when liberal newspapers and televisions were denied accreditation on Saturday. All newsrooms condemned ‘this attempt to limit the freedom of expression and of the press’ and expressed solidarity to colleagues who were banned from the offices of the initiative ‘In the name of family’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Croatians Back Same-Sex Marriage Ban in Referendum
Two-thirds of those who voted approved changes to Croatia’s constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic had argued that the referendum threatened people’s right to happiness and choice. His government has pledged to push forward in the coming days proposals to give greater rights to same-sex couples.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Editorial: Feminists Pave the Way for the Taliban
by Ingrid Carlqvist
More and more frequently, I’m struggling with a forbidden thought: Perhaps Victorian men had a point. You know, they were the ones who wouldn’t give women the right to vote — for they wouldn’t know how to use it. What are we to say about a society where feminists perform “pussy activism” at universities and display “singing pussies”?
A society whose universities offer masturbation as “science” is really on its way out.
In reality the “pussy toying” feminists are paving the way for the Taliban. The day may come when a sizable portion of the Swedes think that the burka and the niqab are preferable to women who are publicly playing with their sex organs.
Thank you kindly, feminists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New UK Nuisance Law Includes Targeting Carol Singers
As we swing in to the heights of the holiday season, caroling teams in the UK had better employ a police look-out less they are deemed a nuisance by grumpy home-dwellers that end up reporting them for creating a disturbance.
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill contains a clause that a court can grant an Injunction to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNA) if someone “has engaged or threatens to engage in conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance” to any person. The new injunctions would replace Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and would be easier to obtain.
Fortunately, the said legislation is still in committee and has the potential for amendment but, having initially cleared the lower house of Parliament it demonstrates the sweeping level of legislation the government is prepared to endorse for the purpose of protecting the intolerant.
[…]
Active opposition to the bill working its way through Parliament is a group called Reform Clause One whose catch phrase is ‘feel free to annoy me.’ Group Director Simon Calvert said: “This is a crazy law. It will not deter thugs and hooligans who are normally already breaking lots of other laws anyway. But it will give massive power to the authorities to seek court orders to silence people guilty of nothing more than breaching political correctness or social etiquette.”
[Comment: Refer to Rowan Atkinson’s TV series “The Thin Blue Line”. The reality would look very like what happened in the series when the police arrested carol singers and bundled them into the police van.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Reveille Call to the Slumbering Anglosphere
by Charles Moore
Edmund Burke, who wrote the greatest British encomium to conservatism, was a Whig. Now Daniel Hannan, who is a Tory (an ultra-sceptic MEP, in fact), has written a great encomium to Whiggery. With the eloquence of Macaulay or Trevelyan — both of whom are liberally quoted here — Hannan sweeps us through English history to show the triumph of law-based liberty and “that total understanding which can only exist between people speaking the same tongue”. With incredible ingenuity, he finds the marks of this genius in almost everything the English have done…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Brown Dwarfs: Failed Stars Resembling Planets
Sometimes collapsing clouds of gas and dust don’t quite manage to make it as stars. These objects, known as brown dwarfs, have many of the elements of their more famous siblings but lack the mass needed to jumpstart nuclear fusion in their core. Because brown dwarfs never burn fusion at their core, scientists sometimes refer to them as “failed stars.”
Brown dwarfs start out just like their main-sequence siblings. A cloud of dust and gas collapses, gravity piling the components in tightly and forming a young protostar at its center.
For main sequence stars, the gravity pushes inward until hydrogen fusion is jump-started in their core. But brown dwarfs never reach this crucial stage. Instead, before the temperatures get hot enough for hydrogen fusion to start, the close-packed material reaches a stable state.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
How Men’s Brains Are Wired Differently Than Women’s
Male brains have more connections within hemispheres to optimize motor skills, whereas female brains are more connected between hemispheres to combine analytical and intuitive thinking
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers Focus on Lighting Up New Industrial Processes
Lasers can cut, weld and melt a variety of materials. But, the beams of light of the future will likely look very different. They’ll fire short flashes of light and do much more than today’s conventional lasers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |