The German anti-euro party AfD has changed its public image and garnered more support among German voters. The latest polls indicate that it will win seats in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament.
In other news, reports out of North Korea say that dictator Kim Jong-un executed the entire family of his late uncle, including his children.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Fjordman, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, Vlad Tepes, 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.
Democrats: Republicans Signal Standoff Over Debt Ceiling Almost Certain
A top Democrat and Republican on Sunday signaled that the upcoming debt-ceiling negotiations, as widely anticipated, will be another Washington showdown.
The negotiations in October put the country at risk of running out of money and not being able to pay its debt, with Republicans eventually dropping their demands for spending cuts and other concessions and accepting a deal to suspend the debt ceiling through Feb. 7.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said later on the show that Obama’s demand for a no-strings-attached deal to raise the debt ceiling, now at about $17 trillion, in the coming weeks is “irresponsible” and that demands from Congress have been the pattern for 50 years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
How Economists and Policymakers Murdered Our Economy
The economy has been debilitated by the offshoring of middle class jobs for the benefit of corporate profits and by the Federal Reserve’s policy of Quantitative Easing in order to support a few oversized banks that the government protects from market discipline. Not only does QE distort bond and stock markets, it threatens the value of the dollar and has resulted in manipulation of the gold price. See http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/01/17/hows-whys-gold-price-manipulation/
When US corporations send jobs offshore, the GDP, consumer income, tax base, and careers associated with the jobs go abroad with the jobs. Corporations gain the additional profits at large costs to the economy in terms of less employment, less economic growth, reduced state, local and federal tax revenues, wider deficits, and impairments of social services.
When policymakers permitted banks to become independent of market discipline, they made the banks an unresolved burden on the economy. Authorities have provided no honest report on the condition of the banks. It remains to be seen if the Federal Reserve can create enough money to monetize enough debt to rescue the banks without collapsing the US dollar. It would have been far cheaper to let the banks fail and be reorganized.
US policymakers and their echo chamber in the economics profession have let the country down badly. They claimed that there was a “New Economy” to take the place of the “old economy” jobs that were moved offshore. As I have pointed out for a decade, US jobs statistics show no sign of the promised “New Economy.”…
– — From hard experience, Americans have also caught on that “free trade agreements” are nothing but vehicles for moving their jobs abroad. The latest effort by the corporations to loot and defraud the public is known as the “Trans-Pacific Partnership.” “Fast-tracking” the bill allowed the corporations to write the bill in secret without congressional input. Some research shows that 90% of Americans will suffer income losses under TPP, while wealth becomes even more concentrated at the top.
TPP affects every aspect of our lives from what we eat to the Internet to the environment. According to Kevin Zeese in Alternet, “the leak of the [TPP] Intellectual Property Chapter revealed that it created a path to patent everything imaginable, including plants and animals, to turn everything into a commodity for profit.”
The secretly drafted TPP also creates authority for the executive branch to change existing US law to make the laws that were not passed in secret compatible with the secretly written trade bill. Buy American requirements and any attempt to curtail jobs offshoring would become illegal “restraints on trade.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Al Shabaab Swedes Must Wait Another Year for Trial in USA
Two Swedes will sit in custody in New York for at least another year, before facing trial for alleged terrorism. The two men, aged 29 and 31, were seized by US forces in Djibouti, west Africa, in summer 2012. They were taken to the USA before being charged, along with a third man, with terror crimes as part of the Somali Al Shabaab militia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cruz: Obama Should Apologize to Nation in State of the Union
Ted Cruz urged the president to use the upcoming State of the Union address to apologize for Obamacare during today’s episode of Face the Nation on CBS.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Delta Force Commando Awarded Second-Highest Military Honor for Benghazi Rescue
An Army Delta Force commando who infiltrated Benghazi to rescue U.S. diplomats, spies and security officers during a 2012 terrorist attack “was critical to the success of saving numerous lives,” according to a citation awarding him the military’s second-highest honor.
Delta Force’s role was not disclosed in any public report or congressional testimony. The Army citation for the Distinguished Service Cross, posted on a website for Army personnel, provides the first detailed look at what one of the commandos, Master Sgt. David R. Halbruner, accomplished.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Global Warming, EPA, And Exploding Toilets
Global warming Hoax remains a very profitable business for global elites aided by government fiat, crony capitalism. Masses are harmed through heavier taxation, Loss of property, wealth, freedom, mobility.
The global warming “explorers” from Australia who got stuck in miles and miles of Arctic ice and had to rescued, at great expense to many countries who used boats and helicopters powered by fossil fuels, were on a mission to capture footage and evidence of imagined melting polar ice caps.
The lives of billions of humans are rearranged for the worse at great expense and inconvenience to suit the globalist agenda of global warming in the summer and climate change agenda in the winter.
Global warming has become a very profitable business which generates billions and billions of dollars annually. The success of global “green growth” and “clean energy” plans comes after decades of brainwashing in school, with teachers and TV touting the man-made (anthropogenic) hoax and the worship of Gaia, mother Earth.
The talking heads who advocate social justice, climate justice, environmental justice, and equality, bike riding to work and school, saving animals at the expense of humans by re-wilding millions of acres of private and government land, living in 200 square ft. apartments the size of shipping containers, riding in dangerous tin cans, installing bird-chopping, health endangering wind mills, expensive solar panels which fry thousands of birds, using bio fuels with more ethanol that destroys car engines, have not given up their lavish lifestyles or their entire wealth. They still fly in jets with huge carbon “footprints,” own numerous cars, boats, and yachts, live in huge mansions on beaches that are supposed to be underwater when the ice melts.
Aaron Dykes of the Activistpost.com reported that in the Agenda 21-friendly Austin, Texas, in the name of Smart Growth, small high-rise apartments and condos are built, “driving is discouraged, cars are made to back-in angle park, pay to park, and even bicycles are rented out at an absurd rate — $12 for an hour, and up to $75 per day.”
A picture is worth a thousand words. It is interesting to see the regionalism map, proposed Emerging Megaregions for 2050 America.
How would the state and federal government confiscate/purchase private property so quickly? One way is through eminent domain and environmental conservation. Another method is by property seizures through ObamaCare.
In more than half the states, ObamaCare comes with an expansion of Medicaid. A 1993 federal law gives the states the right to recoup the costs of Medicaid by seizing the property of Medicaid recipients who have passed away.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Grand Canyon is Not So Ancient
Parts of famous chasm are tens of millions of years old, but integration happened more recently
A longstanding geological fight over the age of one of the most iconic landscapes in the United States — Arizona’s Grand Canyon — may finally be over. The massive chasm does not date back 70 million years, as earlier work had suggested, but was born in its entirety 5-6 million years ago when older, shorter canyons linked together to form the complete structure.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iconoclast and Dr. Rich Swier e-Magazine: The Future of Judaism and Islam on America’s Campuses?
After doing a program last Sunday with chaver Dr. Charles Jacobs of Americans for Peace and Tolerance on Lisa Benson’s National Security Matters program (listen here) about Jewish Myopia towards Islam, I was forwarded this notification by a noted theologian, scholar, author, former university president and ordained Conservative rabbi, Dr. Richard L. Rubenstein. Dr. Rubenstein is the author of many important works, one among them is Jihad and Genocide.
Having written about the dangers of Jewish Muslim Dialogue and the banal cupidity of Jewish communal leadership and in this instance the faculty of the Jewish Theological Society ( JTS )regarding this and other similar events on college campus with Jewish students threatened by Muslim Student Associations, I find this program naive and dangerous. It is no wonder that most Jews are ill informed about the underlying Qur’anic doctrine of hatred towards Christians, Jews and other unbelievers. Why Chancellor Eisen, Professor Visotzky support such dialogues is appalling, as they neither educate or inform Jewish and non-Jewish audiences of the realities of why Islamic anti-Semitism exists on college campuses and in the West generally. As Dr. Jacobs cogently argued in response to a caller:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Is Barack a Default Satanist? Yes, And Here is Why
Most people believe in some kind of God. Less believe in the existence of personified evil, or the Devil. And yet the question of this essay, whether Barack has satanic characteristics, does not really depend upon whether Satan exists. Because whether as a literal figure, or simply as a literary device, there are certain devilish qualities which are hideous and highly destructive when any personality bears them. And Barack seems to carry virtually all of these traits.
According to the Bible, some of Satan’s qualities are therefore listed here:
Many characteristics and names of Satan can be discovered in the Bible. He is a “tempter” (Matt. 4:3; 1 Ths. 3:5b); he “sows” evil in this world (Matt. 13:38,39a); he “…comes and takes away the word…” of God from people’s hearts “…so that they cannot believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12); “…he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44c); he is a “great dragon” and the “…ancient serpent…who leads the whole world astray” (Rev. 12:9a); and he “accuses” believers before God “day and night” (12:10b). The devil also is the “evil one” (Matt. 13:19a; John 17:15; 1 John 5:19b); the “prince of this world” (John 12:31b); the “…god of this age [who] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4); the “…ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Eph. 2:2b); and a “…roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8b).
The main thing we associate Satan with is evil. Beyond that is being anti-God, dishonest, violent, lying and incredibly vain. Can all of these attributes really be tied to Barack? Keep reading and find out!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
It’s War: Stop the TPP and TAFTA
The first of the job and sovereignty killing treaties so innocently called an agreement was NAFTA. Official title: North American Free Trade Agreement. In reality: No American Factories Taking Applications. That unconstitutional tool of the global elite was pushed through by globalist Newt Gingrich with enormous help from Rush Limbaugh. Marxist Bill Clinton signed it into “law” in December 1993. Then began the massive destruction of the three job sectors that made America the most prosperous nation on the face of this earth: manufacturing, industrial and agriculture.
A bill was introduced in 2011 to finally get us out. It got zero attention from the old media. Forget FOX. Too many Americans pay little to no attention to bills sitting in the biggest whore house on the planet- except for hot button issues like abortion; it went no where. There were too few of us to make it happen.
H.R. 29: To provide for the withdrawal of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement
“NAFTA has done way too much damage, and we need to repeal it. NAFTA has cost too many jobs, eroded our industrial base and decimated towns and communities,” he said in a statement. “Enough is enough — we need to focus on creating jobs right here in the United States — not in foreign countries.”
“The bill currently has just 10 co-sponsors: Democratic Reps. Joe Baca, Lynn Woolsey and Bob Filner of California; Michael Capuano (MA), Peter DeFazio (OR), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Larry Kissell (NC) and Michael Michaud (ME). Two Republicans are also backing the legislation: Texas’ Ron Paul and North Carolina’s Walter Jones. The bill has be referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, but no action has been taken on it since that time.
“Prior to the implementation of NAFTA, the U.S. held a small trade surplus with Mexico of approximately $10 million. By 2007, that surplus had turned into an astounding $91 billion trade deficit. With Canada and Mexico combined, the U.S. has taken a $24 billion trade deficit prior to NAFTA and turned it into a $190 billion deficit — a 691 percent increase.
“NAFTA was also supposed to usher in a new age of prosperity among the American people as thousands upon thousands of good-paying jobs were to be created through the increase in trade surplus that never quite came to fruition. As you can imagine, just the opposite happened. Each and every year more and more jobs are outsourced to Mexico where labor is incredibly cheap and environmental concerns are a mere afterthought. The raft of jobs outsourced to Mexico forced American workers into direct competition with one another and drove down wages for all.
“Now Americans are forced to compete, not only with one another, but also with Mexican workers who are willing to work for much less than the average American. In the U.S., the average factory worker makes roughly $18 per hour while his Mexican counterpart earns just $3 per hour. This has encouraged a “race to the bottom” in which American companies are frequently relocating production facilities across the border. Iconic American companies such as Coca Cola, Ford, RCA, General Motors, General Electric and Nokia have all opened up assembly plants in Mexico. In fact, GE employs 30,000 Mexicans in 35 factories in the country.
[…]
I also read an outstanding book, The Pooring of America: Competition & The Myth of Free Trade by Dr. Ravi Batra. Today, those adults don’t have a clue; their grand parents and parents driven out of long time, secure, good paying jobs, losing everything and forced into big urban cities infested with crime and violence looking for new jobs…
Next came the grand daddy: The WTO/GATT. The World Trade Organization/ General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The original one was signed in 1947. The big and final one signed into “law” in Marrakesh in 1994, by Marxist Bill Clinton. Full page ad, NY Times, April 15, 1994:1944. Bretton Woods: The IMF and the World Bank. 1945. San Francisco: The United Nations. 1994, Marrakech: The World Trade Organization. History knows where it’s going. The final act of the Uruguay Round…to the WTO, the third pillar of the New World Order, along with the UN and the IMF.”…
During the hearings on that monster GATT/WTO, French financier, the late Sir James Goldsmith, testified in front of Ernest Hollings committee. He demonstrated that GATT would gut the American textile market. The following are some quotes from the Washington Times, Dec. 6, 1993, which accurately reflect Sir Goldsmith’s statements during the hearings:
“Global free trade will force the poor of the rich countries to subsidize the rich in poor countries. What GATT means is that our national wealth, accumulated over centuries, will be transferred from a developed country like Britain to developing countries like Communist China, now building its first oceangoing navy in 500 years. China, with its 1.2 billion people, three Indochinese states with 900 million, the former Soviet republics with some 300 million, and many more can supply skilled labor for a fraction of Western costs. Five dollars in Communist China is the equivalent of a $100 wage in Europe.
“It is quite amazing that GATT is sowing the seeds for global social upheaval and that it is not even the subject of debate in America … If the masses understood the truth about GATT, there would be blood in the streets of many capitals. A healthy national economy has to produce a large part of its own needs. It cannot simply import what it needs and use its labor force to provide services for other countries. We have to rethink from top to bottom why we have elevated global free trade to the status of sacred cow, or moral dogma. It is a fatally flawed concept that will impoverish and destabilize the industrialized world while cruelly ravaging the Third World.”…
“Unlike many of the previous agreements the United States has signed onto, TAFTA/TTIP is not an agreement with a low-wage, low-regulation country. Wages in the EU are comparable to those in the United States, and European labor and environmental standards are often more stringent than those we have here. We are unlikely to see this agreement have the same direct negative impact on U.S. jobs that previous agreements have had, with scores of U.S. jobs sent overseas due to agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Of the 29 chapters in TAFTA/TTIP, only 5 directly deal with trade.
“So if this agreement is not about trade, what is it about? Inevitably this will be about gutting the ability of our government to do its job. This agreement is likely to further entrench the power of corporations to shape the laws of sovereign nations to fit their needs. If this agreement is passed we will be giving up more of our sovereignty, not to Europe, but to corporations who care only about their bottom lines.“ More at the link.
[Comment: Long, detailed article. Well worth reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Launches Chilling Purge Against Political Enemies
The political persecution of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza for alleged and comparatively minor infractions are part of an accelerating purge being led by the Obama administration in the run-up to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.
Throughout history every culture has had maxims in law denouncing the openly corrupt sitting in judgment. The Obama Justice Department is openly launching a night of the long knives-style purge of their political enemies that should send chills up the spine of all Americans.
McDonnell was charged last week with illegally accepting gifts, donations and luxury holidays from businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr totaling $165,000 dollars in return for lending, “the prestige of the governor’s office to Williams’s struggling company, Star Scientific.”
Before the allegations emerged, McDonnell was seen as a genuine contender for the 2016 Republican nomination and a potential foe of Hillary Clinton.
This was followed on Friday with the news that Dinesh D’Souza, director of the hit 2012 documentary 2016: Obama’s America, had been arrested in New York for allegedly violating campaign finance laws for donating more than the legal limit to the campaign of Wendy Long, who ran in 2012 for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Long’s opponent and victor in that race, Kirsten Gillibrand, is a vehement supporter of Clinton and recently declared that she was, “on the bandwagon for Hillary Clinton in 2016.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police Identify Gunman in Maryland Mall Shooting
The gunman in the deadly shooting at a shopping mall in suburban Maryland on Saturday was identified by police officials on Sunday as a young man who lived in the same community as one of the two victims.
The Howard County police chief, William J. McMahon, identified the gunman as Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, of College Park, Md. Mr. Aguilar is believed to have killed two people at the Zumiez store at the Mall in Columbia before he committed suicide, the police said.
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Series on Understanding Islam Held at St. Mark’s
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church is offering classes and discussions on Islam, including a two-week Sunday morning class, from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Sunday and Feb. 2. The classes are free and open to the public at the church, 3809 E. Third St. Bill Dingeldein, St. Mark’s adult education coordinator, said the goal is to broaden the public’s understanding of Islam as well as its relationship to Christianity…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The Follies of Jack Ryan: Another Hollywood Thriller Depicting Christians as the Real Terrorists
The movie starts out with scenes from a London campus on 9-11-2001. Yet, Hollywood chose not to show the actual towers crumbling to the ground. That would be too offensive — to Muslims. Instead any actual footage of the attack were left to the imagination. Then, as the movie develops you discover the enemies who are set on blowing up New York City are Christians from Russia who get their orders from the local Orthodox priest in Deerborn, Michigan. Got that? Anyway — Jack Ryan is able to stop the young church-going Christian before he was able to blow up Wall Street. Jack Ryan saves the day. Thank you, Jack Ryan. The US is once again safe from the dreaded Christian terrorists. You really must see this to believe it. You just can’t make this stuff up.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tor Developer Suspects NSA Interception of Amazon Purchase
Andrea Shepard, a Seattle-based core developer for the Tor Project, suspects her recently ordered keyboard may have been intercepted by the NSA.
Following the purchase of a new IBM Thinkpad Keyboard from Amazon.com, Shepard discovered her package to be taking a strange detour to the East Coast, revealed by a screenshot of her shipment tracking information…
Given the NSA’s deep interest in Tor, a popular online anonymity tool, some speculate Shepard’s keyboard could likely have been implanted with a TAO bug known as “SURLYSPAWN,” a small keylogging chip often implanted in a keyboard’s cable. According to NSA slides, a bugged keyboard can be monitored even when a computer is offline.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Nearly Detonated Atomic Bomb Over North Carolina — Secret Document
Exclusive: Journalist uses Freedom of Information Act to disclose 1961 accident in which one switch averted catastrophe
A secret document, published in declassified form for the first time by the Guardian today, reveals that the US Air Force came dramatically close to detonating an atom bomb over North Carolina that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that devastated Hiroshima.
The document, obtained by the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gives the first conclusive evidence that the US was narrowly spared a disaster of monumental proportions when two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina on 23 January 1961. The bombs fell to earth after a B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air, and one of the devices behaved precisely as a nuclear weapon was designed to behave in warfare: its parachute opened, its trigger mechanisms engaged, and only one low-voltage switch prevented untold carnage.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash]
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on 24 January 1961. A B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process.(2) The captain ordered the crew to eject, which they did at 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Five men successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely. Another ejected but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash.(3) Controversy continues to surround the event as information newly declassified in 2013 reinforced long-held, public suspicions that one of the bombs came very close to detonating.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
White House Warns Obama Will Continue Usurping Power From Congress
President Barack Obama will work with Congress where he can and circumvent lawmakers where he must, his top advisers warned Sunday in previewing Tuesday’s State of the Union speech.
Obama faces a politically divided Congress on Tuesday and will use his annual address to demand expanded economic opportunity. Absent legislative action, the White House is telling lawmakers that the president is ready to take unilateral action to close the gap between rich and poor Americans.
“I think the way we have to think about this year is we have a divided government,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a longtime Obama adviser. “The Republican Congress is not going to rubber-stamp the president’s agenda. The president is not going to sign the Republican Congress’ agenda.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why the U.S. Has Been Losing Wars
“The world’s largest and most complex organization was being funded hand to mouth, living paycheck to paycheck to paycheck.”
It is typical of the media that it concentrated on a few observations of Obama when reporting on Robert M. Gates new book, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War”, while ignoring the main themes of the 600-plus page book.
Suffice to say, this is not light reading. It reads much of the time like a daily record of endless meetings — because there were endless meetings — and it is filled with the details of personnel changes and much else that went with a job he took on during the last two years of the Bush administration and was requested to remain on by Obama…
The military, based on merit, does a good job of selecting men — and now women — to rise to flag rank, but the Pentagon as a whole, as Gates reveals, is a massive inefficient bureaucracy filled with people who are mostly detached from the fact that the U.S. has been at war since 2001 in Afghanistan and, until we were forced to withdraw, in Iraq since 2003. Even worse, for those in Congress these wars were more about how much to fund the Pentagon and the political ramifications of conflict’s success or failure than about the young men and women sent to fight them.
It gets worse. Military budgets are based on five-year plans and most procurements of the hardware needed to fight a war represented programs that could take years, even decades, from the decision to the delivery. The wars the Pentagon remains focused on are not the insurgencies led by non-state actors like al Qaeda, often unpredictable conflicts, but those more related to World War Two and the Cold War when major adversaries faced off against one another.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Eight Men Arrested in Herongate Home Takeover
OTTAWA — Eight men face charges after police dismantled a “home takeover” in the Herongate area and seized two guns. The Ottawa police Direct Action Response Team went to an apartment on Baycrest Drive around 5 p.m. on Thursday. Eight people who were in the apartment were arrested and charged.
Police found two loaded handguns, ammunition, marijuana and crack cocaine. Details of how and when the men took control of the apartment, and what happened to its proper occupant, were not immediately available.
Abdullah Adoyta, 21, faces several charges, including forcible confinement, drug possession, careless storage of a firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a restricted firearm without a licence and possession of a firearm while prohibited…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
7,000-Year-Old Human Bones Suggest New Date for Light-Skin Gene
An ancient European hunter-gatherer man had dark skin and blue eyes, a new genetic analysis has revealed. The analysis of the man, who lived in modern-day Spain only about 7,000 years ago, shows light-skin genes in Europeans evolved much more recently than previously thought.
The findings, which were detailed today (Jan. 26) in the journal Nature, also hint that light skin evolved not to adjust to the lower-light conditions in Europe compared with Africa, but instead to the new diet that emerged after the agricultural revolution, said study co-author Carles Lalueza-Fox, a paleogenomics researcher at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ancient European Hunter-Gatherer Was a Blue-Eyed Boy
An ancient hunter-gatherer whose remains were found in a Spanish cave has a genome surprisingly similar to modern humans. The male, who lived 7000 years ago, had blue eyes and a host of immunity genes that were thought to have evolved later.
In 2006, two exceptionally preserved human skeletons were found in a cave in Leon, Spain. Carles Lalueza-Fox of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona extracted DNA from one of the skeleton’s teeth, and his team has now sequenced the whole genome.
“This is the first pre-agricultural European genome we have,” says Lalueza-Fox. “It will help us to understand how the arrival of the Neolithic era — farming, new diet and new diseases related to animals — has shaped the genome of modern Europeans.”
Farming came to Europe 7500 years ago, but didn’t reach Spain until 1500 years later, says Lalueza-Fox. With it came livestock breeding and fixed settlements, replacing the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Euroskeptic Party Revamps Its Image
The upstart Alternative for Germany party attracted voters in the last election with its tough anti-euro currency stance. Now, in a quest to enter the European Parliament, the party is embracing populist sentiments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Newspaper Publishes Top Nazi’s Letters
One black-and white photo shows Heinrich Himmler on an idyllic family outing, holding his wife’s hand while his blond, pigtailed daughter is picking flowers. Others show the SS Nazi leader feeding a little fawn or taking a bath at Lake Tegernsee near his home in Bavaria.
The family-friendly, intimate scenes are part of a previously unseen collection of photos, recipe books and about 700 letters and notes believed to be written by Himmler, one of the Nazis most responsible for the Holocaust.
Himmler does not explicitly write about the atrocities of World War II. But small letter fragments and quotes reveal his involvement — often shocking in the banality of its evilness — as when he writes to his wife “I’m going to Auschwitz, kisses, yours Heini.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Terrorists Believed to Have Netted Some 10 Mln Euros From Armed Heists
Guerrilla organizations in Greece have amassed an estimated 10 million euros over the years, chiefly through armed robberies that finance their activities, according to police sources who say these reserves are more than adequate to supply members of the various groups with guns and explosives.
According to police, Nikos Maziotis, the convicted leader of Revolutionary Struggle who has been unaccounted for since the summer of 2012, is believed to have participated in at least five armed bank raids that netted more than 1.5 million euros for his organization. Revolutionary Struggle was thought to have been dismantled following several arrests and convictions of suspected members including Maziotis and his girlfriend Panagiota Roupa. But fears have resurged of Maziotis’s possible involvement in attacks claimed by new organizations over the past two years.
Greece’s deadliest terrorist group, November 17, which was disbanded in 2002, also financed its activities through bank robberies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
How Students Discovered New Supernova in Nearby Gala
YXWhat started out as a 10-minute telescope lesson turned into something much more exciting, as a group of astronomy students at the University College London raced against encroaching cloud cover to document an amazing scientific discovery.
The cosmic blast occurred when a white dwarf detonated some 12 million years ago — at a time when the human lineage Homo didn’t exist yet and the Amazon River hadn’t formed — but it is so far away that the light is just reaching Earth now. That said, it’s also one of the closest star explosions to be observed in modern times.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: Lifting the Veil on Irish Islam
With 500 Irish citizens converting to Islam every year, Maggie Armstrong spoke to four people who say they found inner peace since becoming Muslims
Islam is Ireland’s fastest-growing religion, with the number of Muslims recorded in the 2011 Census — 48,130 — expected to reach 100,000 by 2020. In a country where only 34pc of approximately 3.8 million Catholics attend Mass, many people are drifting away from religion. But a small number are finding that Islamic beliefs and practices, which allow for a peaceful and community-oriented life, fit their spiritual needs…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Organised Crime Targets French Countryside
French rural areas are facing a growing crime wave as thieves steal potatoes from the fields, grapes from the vines and expensive machinery from farms and showrooms.
The authorities believe that 12 separate heists committed in France over the course of a year — in which 42 tractors worth approximately 3.2 million euros were stolen — are linked. Nine people of Romanian nationality have been arrested in Spain, Romania and France.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Over 61,000 Prisoners Are Held in Italian Jails
(AGI) Cagliari, Jan 25 — As of Jan. 21 there were 61,619 prisoners in Italian jails, compared to nearly 70,000 in 2010.
“We are particularly committed to the penitentiary sector, in order to bring our country back within the parameters laid out by EU and Court of Justice standards. But above all, we aim to give the prison community back their dignity,” Jutsice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Poll Says German Anti-Euro Party Could Win Seats in Next European Parliament Election
A new poll indicates that a party that has urged Germany to stop using the euro currency may be popular enough to win seats during an election for the European Parliament.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope’s Peace Doves Attacked by Crow and Seagull
Fate of white doves unclear after being released by children standing alongside pontiff in front of crowd in St Peter’s Square
Two white doves that were released as a peace gesture by children standing alongside Pope Francis were attacked by other birds. As tens of thousands of people watched in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, a seagull and a large black crow swept down on the doves after they were set free from an open window of the Apostolic Palace.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Grenade Thrown Into Malmö Family’s Flat
A grenade was thrown into a family’s home in central Malmö early on Sunday morning. Police say that it is a “miracle” no one was killed and are treating the case as attempted murder against three children and their two parents.
The family say they do not know of any threats against them, and someone must have made a mistake. The police are also baffled. “They are a completely normal family, with jobs and so on,” says police spokesman Mats Attin.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands March Through Paris in Protest Against French Leader Hollande
About 17,000 people have marched through central Paris to criticize President Francois Hollande. Carrying banners saying “The French are angry!” Sunday’s demonstration by people from about 50 organizations cited France’s struggling economy and high unemployment, its taxes, their housing needs and lack of personal freedoms.
The demonstrators didn’t mention the biggest international news event surrounding Hollande, the secret affair that led him to announce on Saturday that he’s ending his seven-year relationship with Valerie Trierweiler, France’s first lady.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ed Balls: ‘We Are a Pro-Business Party’
The Shadow Chancellor has defended his plans to re-introduce the 50p top rate of tax
Ed Balls has insisted Labour is not anti-business in the face of a furious backlash over his plans to re-introduce the 50p top rate of tax. The shadow chancellor also said he was “proud” of the Labour government’s public spending as he defended its record ahead of the financial crash…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Engineers Diverted Away From Flood Victims to Fix David Cameron’s TV
Electrical engineers were ‘diverted’ from helping flood victims to fix a small problem at David Cameron’s house after the prime minister’s TV cut out while he was watching the Sound of Music.
Residents left without heating and lighting had to wait to get their power back after workmen were redirected to Mr Cameron’s £2million family home, it has emerged.
Engineers say they were sent on a 17-mile diversion to Chipping Norton after the prime minister lost power towards the end of the film on New Year’s Day.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mum’s Birthday Treat Ends in Tiers: Four-Year-Old Gets Life-Size Cake of Himself
Chantelle Rose, 23, ordered a huge cake in the image of her son Alfie, complete with his favourite monkey teddy
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Among Christians, Anglicans are the most consistently authoritarian and conservative, while Catholics are more likely to be left-wing
Catholics are the most left-wing of Christian groups, while Anglicans tend to vote Conservative, according to the most thorough survey into the link between religion and politics undertaken in the UK…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Shamiya Christians Murdered for Failure to Pay Extortion
Christians in Al-Shamiya village in Assiut are subjected to constant threats, and are threatened with death unless they can pay at least 20 thousand pounds in jizya extortion payments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Thirteen Injured in Bomb Explosion in Suez — Official
Thirteen people were injured in a bomb explosion in Suez on Saturday on the third anniversary of the January 25 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The explosion was followed by gunfire that injured one man, health sources said. One vehicle was destroyed in the attack. Eyewitnesses said that unknown gunmen climbed to the roof and fired shots from up there on security forces.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Forty Nine Die in Deadly Cairo Protests
Death toll soars after Cairo marks third anniversary of Arab Spring
Violence on the third anniversary of the start of Egypt’s 2011 uprising claimed the lives of at least 49 people, overshadowing what the government had hoped would be remembered a day of nationalist celebration…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
When the bedraggled former leader was hauled out of a drainpipe and shot in October 2011, his death ended the bloody Nato-led civil war that had ravaged the country since the start of that year.
The full horror of his brutality has been slow to emerge, with many Libyans still fearing retaliation by those who continue to be loyal to their late leader. But it can now be revealed that the most heartbreaking of Gaddafi’s victims include hundreds, possibly thousands of teenage girls who, throughout his 42-year reign, were beaten, raped and forced to become his sex slaves.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Brotherhood Radicalizes
By: Daniel L. Byman and Tamara Cofman Wittes
By repressing the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian current leaders risk radicalizing the group and further destabilizing Egypt and the wider region. Daniel Byman and Tamara Wittes argue the Obama administration should engage with peaceful Islamists, push Egypt to allow Brotherhood supporters to participate in legitimate political activity, cooperate with Egypt on legitimate terrorism threats and expand counter-radicalization efforts there.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rising Death Toll in Protests Marking Egypt Revolution Anniversary
Almost 50 Egyptian demonstrators were killed in clashes on Saturday, according to the state-run Al-Ahram news website, as Egypt marked the third anniversary of the revolt that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
Police fired live rounds into the air along with teargas and bird shot to disperse the thousands of people who had rallied in Cairo in support of the military authorities and General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the man who led the July 2013 coup against Mohammed Morsi.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Three Years After Egypt Uprising, Brotherhood More Outcast Than Ever
Saturday’s third anniversary of the 2011 uprising highlights political downfall of Muslim Brotherhood
The third anniversary of the 25 January Revolution has once again clearly demonstrated how wide is the gap between the Muslim Brotherhood-led Islamist camp and its opponents, three years after all political forces were once united against former president Hosni Mubarak.
The Brotherhood, from which ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi hails, played a major role in the 2011 uprising that put an end to the 30-year rule of Mubarak, having at its side hundreds of thousands of protesters mobilised to bring him down.
However, political disputes soon caused a rift in Egypt in the months following the revolution, with the Brotherhood and its Islamist allies on one side, and liberal and leftist forces on the other. Events on each of the uprising’s three anniversaries have shown that the tense relationship between the two sides has taken several turns for the worse.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia’s New Constitution Called Inconsistent
It has taken two years for the political parties in Tunisia to draft the country’s new constitution. The resulting document , however, has been criticized for being inconsistent and contradictory.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In recent years, not only have the relevant government agencies failed to prevent acts of vandalism and destruction by the waqf on the Temple Mount, but they have also prevented the public from being informed of new archaeological discoveries there.
The summer of 2007 was a tumultuous one on the Temple Mount. Time after time, it became clear that the attorney-general and the political echelon were tying the hands of the Israel Antiquities Authority by denying its experts the opportunity to supervise the activities of the waqf due to the political sensitivity of the issue. Many ancient artifacts and treasures were harmed, vandalized, destroyed, and stolen.
Most of the media and public attention was devoted to the lapses in the authorities’ supervision of the Temple Mount. That includes the police, the Jerusalem municipality, the IAA, the attorney-general, and the political echelon. In 2008, the state comptroller wrote scathing reports about this series of mishaps and the tremendous damage caused to antiquities on the mount. These reports are still classified despite the fact that their contents were released abroad.
For those individuals who are well-versed in the details, it is hard to shake the impression that the shroud of secrecy has less to do with maintaining state security, public order, and Israeli foreign relations, and more to do with covering the tracks of the authorities.
Not only have the relevant government agencies failed to prevent acts of vandalism and destruction on the Temple Mount — acts which have been written about in the press for years — but they have also prevented the public from being informed of new archaeological discoveries that came to light as a result of unauthorized, unfettered, and unchecked excavations by the waqf and Muslims on the Temple Mount.
[…]
Dvira poured through the British Mandate archives and found a treasure trove of material. He discovered piles of photographs and documents that were accumulated by Robert Hamilton, the director of the Mandate Antiquities Authority, during the period in which the waqf performed extensive renovations on Al-Aqsa mosque. The mosque had suffered damage due to the earthquakes that struck the area in 1927 and 1937.
In Hamilton’s comprehensive book about Al-Aqsa mosque, which was published in the mid-20th century, there is no mention of these items. Hamilton simply “overlooked” them. Dvira notes that all of these revelations are similar in that they “precede the early Arab period.” Then, as now, the documentation and the studies were dependent upon the good will of the waqf. That is why the British scientist declined to release findings that proved the existence of historic buildings at the site before there was ever a mosque.
One discovery made by Hamilton was an ancient water pit with a tiny staircase leading to it underneath the mosque’s eastern entrance. This water pit was most likely used as a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh). Hamilton also discovered a Byzantine-era mosaic underneath the mosque. This was most likely a remnant of a church that existed prior to the mosque’s construction.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaida-Linked Groups Claim Responsibility for Rocket Attacks in East Lebanon
BEIRUT, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) — The al-Nusra Front in Lebanon and the Marwan al-Hadidi Brigades claimed responsibility Saturday for rocket attacks on Lebanon’s east Bekaa city of Hermel. The statement was made by the two extremist groups on their Twitter accounts…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Beheaded Body in Yemen Not Iranian Diplomat: Iranian Official
TEHRAN, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) — An Iranian Foreign Ministry official denied reports that the decapitated body discovered in Yemen belongs to an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped last July, Press TV reported on Saturday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Car Bombs, Shooting Kill 9 in Iraq as Militants Seize Soldiers
Car bombings and shootings killed nine people across Iraq on Sunday, authorities said, as militants kidnapped soldiers in an embattled province where Al Qaeda-linked fighters hold portions of two major cities.
Since late December, members of Iraq’s Al Qaeda branch — known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — have taken over parts of Ramadi, the capital of the largely Sunni province of Anbar. They also control the center of the nearby city of Fallujah. Government forces and allied tribes have been trying to wrest control back from the militants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muhammad’s beliefs on how to treat religious minorities make him a universal champion of human rights, particularly as it pertains to freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, and the right for minorities to have protection during times of strife.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Inveterate Shiite Iranian Jew-Hatred
by Andrew Bostom
Recently I gave a brief video presentation in the U.S. Senate Office Building which riveted on the most salient doctrinal features of Shiite Islamic Jew-hatred in Iran.
This ugly phenomenon spans a pre-modern to modern continuum of five centuries, which dates from the ascent of Shah Ismail I in 1501, and the birth of Iran’s Shiite theocracy. The Portuguese traveler Tome Pires observed (between 1512-1515), “Sheikh Ismail…never spares the life of any Jew,” while another European travelogue account stated that the repressive and bigoted founder of the Safavid dynasty, “…bore hatred against the Jews and ordered their eyes to be gouged out if they happened to be found in his vicinity.”
Sultanhussein Tabandeh, the Iranian Shiite leader of the Ne’ematullahi Sultanalishahi Sufi Order, wrote an “Islamic perspective” on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Professor Eliz Sanasarian’s important study of religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tabandeh’s tract became “…the core ideological work upon which the Iranian government…based its non-Muslim policy.” Tabandeh begins his discussion by lauding as a champion “…of the oppressed,” Shah Ismail I (r., 1501-1524),
My forthcoming monograph on Iran will include the following pathognomonic anecdote recorded by political scientist Eliz Sanasarian, which is a res ipsa loquitur demonstration of the inveterate nature of Shiite Iranian Jew-hatred, a “cultural prejudice,” which persists even within the “secular,” highly-educated diaspora…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
By Lala, Jeddah
When I read newspapers or watch television these days, I can only see turmoil all across the Muslim world. In countries where Muslims are in majority, they are fighting with each other and wherever they represent a sizable minority, they are being persecuted for no “apparent” reason…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry Boasts of ‘Pluralistic’ Syria Once Assad Gone
by Raymond Ibrahim
U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, was recently interviewed about Syria. While many of his assertions can be debated, one especially requires a response. Throughout the interview, he repeatedly insisted that, if Bashar Assad would only leave power, everything would go well — especially for all of Syria’s minorities.
In his words: “I believe that a peace can protect all of the minorities: Druze, Christian, Ismailis, Alawites — all of them can be protected, and you can have a pluralistic Syria, in which minority rights of all people are protected.” Elsewhere in the interview, Kerry declared that “The world would protect the Alawites, Druze, Christians, and all minorities in Syria after the ousting of Assad.”
The problem here is that we have precedent — exact precedent. We’ve seen this paradigm before and know precisely what happens once strongman dictators like Assad are gone.
As demonstrated in this article, in all Muslim nations where the U.S. has intervened to help topple dictators and bring democracy, it is precisely the minorities who suffer first. And neither the U.S. nor “the world” do much about it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Religious Difference, Not Ideology, Will Fuel This Century’s Epic Battles
We must encourage education and tolerance if we are to bring about peace in the Middle East and the rest of the world
Tony Blair
The fact is that, though of course there are individual grievances or reasons for the violence in each country, there is one thing self-evidently in common: the acts of terrorism are perpetrated by people motivated by an abuse of religion. It is a perversion of faith.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Opponents Focus on Aid and Prisoners in Geneva
A second day of peace talks between Syria’s warring sides has focused on the release of prisoners and the fate of those kidnapped or missing in the country. The direct negotiations began on Saturday in Switzerland.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria Crisis: UK Looks at Taking Refugees
The Foreign Secretary says there is a case to help the most vulnerable as pressure grows for Britain to provide a safe haven.
Britain is looking at allowing some Syrian refugees to come to the UK according to the Foreign Secretary William Hague. Plans are being worked on by the Home Secretary Theresa May, details of which are due to be announced shortly said Mr Hague. The Secretary of State said there is a case to help the most vulnerable people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Killed Protester Mourned in Ukraine Amid Crisis
Thousands of Ukrainians chanted “Hero!” and sang the national anthem on Sunday, as a coffin carrying a protester who was killed in last week’s clashes with police was carried through the streets of the capital, underscoring the rising tensions in the country’s two-month political crisis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Drug-Resistant TB Spreading More Easily
Newly discovered mutations help tuberculosis to stay infectious while evolving resistance to multiple drugs
Bacterial ‘superbugs’ are getting ever more potent. Tuberculosis (TB) strains in Russia carry mutations that not only make them resistant to antibiotics but also help them to spread more effectively, according to an analysis of 1,000 genomes from different TB isolates — the largest whole-genome study of a single bacterial species so far.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Riots Continue Despite President’s Offer to Opposition
Increasingly violent riots continued to rock Ukraine’s capital Kiev in the early hours of Sunday, a day after president Viktor Yanukovich offered government positions to opposition leader Arseny Yatsenyuk and boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Opposition Shuns Yanukovych Power-Share Offer
Opposition leaders have reacted guardedly to an offer from President Viktor Yanukovych that would give them the premier’s and deputy prime minister’s posts. Ex-boxer Vitali Klitschko said the deal was “poisoned.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
5 Children Killed in Bomb Blast in NW Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — At least five children were killed in a bomb blast that targeted a house in Pakistan’s northwestern district of Hangu on Sunday afternoon, local media reported. According to the reports, the blast targeted a house in the Baber Mela area of Hangu district, killing two children on spot and injuring three others who were playing near wall of the house…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: President Karzai Describes Bagram Prison as “Taliban-Making Factory”
KABUL, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has described the U.S. military-run Bagram detention center as “Taliban-making factory,” local newspapers reported on Sunday. “Bagram prison is the factory for Taliban-making where innocent people are imprisoned and after being tortured and insulted they learned hatred against the country,” the English daily Asia Times quoted President Karzai as saying…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Government Bus Hit by Suicide Bombing in Kabul
At least nine people were wounded in the attack in the southeast of the city
A Taliban suicide bomber has killed at least four people in Kabul when he targeted a Ministry of Defence bus.
Officials said three people in the vehicle and one female bystander had died. The attack was the first major blast in Afghanistan’s capital since Taliban militants launched a suicide attack on January 17 against a popular restaurant killing 21 people, including 13 foreigners…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Suicide Attack Hits Military Bus in Afghan Capital
A suicide bomber has attacked an Afghan army bus in Kabul, killing four people and injuring several others. It comes amid a surge in violence in the capital in recent days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Protests Disrupt Early Voting in Thailand
A man identified by police as one of the leaders of anti-government protests in Thailand was shot dead on Sunday when violence erupted as demonstrators in Bangkok tried to block early voting for a disputed election next week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: He Cut His Children’s Throats
Original translation by Oz-Rita
from Bild
Zilin (4) and Ilias (6) stabbed to death
He cut the throat of his children
at 6.50 the dentist rang the Police
Dr. Fardeen A. (38) in the police car, later he will be transferred to a psychiatric ward.
Glinde near Hamburg: A neat house, children’s bicycles, a trampoline in the garden. Behind the white walls, a father destroyed his family in a few seconds, cutting the throats of his children.
Every thing appeared so peaceful….before the drama.
Dr. Fardeen A, (38, born Afghan) worked as a dentist in Hamburg-Bergedorf, patients valued his friendly manner, colleagues his competence. He regularly brings flowers to his wife Behnas (30).
She brings her daughter Zilin (4) to the kindergarten and son Ilias (6) to primary school in the morning. He plays with the little ones in the evening. Recently the father offered his loved ones a holiday in Dubai.
After this he seems strangly intraverted, but initially the idyllic family picture did not change.
Thursday evening, the children are put to bed. They would never wake up again.
At 6.50 the father dials emergency. “I have killed my children” he says…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Clash Over Taking Over Mosque Leaves 14 Hurt
At least 14 persons were injured in a clash between members of two schools of thought erupted over ‘the right to lead prayers’ in a local mosque here in Bhutto Colony on Saturday. The police had to intervene and sealed off the mosque to avert any future clash.
As per detail, there was tension between two schools of thoughts over “who had the right to lead the prayers and manage the affairs of the mosque.” However, the situation turned violent after Fajr Prayers on Saturday as approximately 300 people from one sect took control of the mosque and insisted that “leading prayers was their right.” However, the group refused to accept the decision which led to the clash…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Six Dead, 30 Wounded in Two Attacks in Afghanistan
At least six people including two Army officers were killed and 30 others injured on Sunday in two separate attacks in Afghanistan, officials confirmed. A roadside bomb hit a vehicle on its way to a wedding in the eastern province of Nangarhar, killing two civilians and injuring eight others.
“The incident took place today in Achin district,” Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the provincial government said, adding women and children were among the victims…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Thai Protesters Disrupt Advance Voting by Blocking Polling Stations
A Thai protest leader has been shot dead as anti-government protesters blocked several polling stations to prevent voters casting advance ballots. The violence casts a further shadow over upcoming elections.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-government demonstrators swarmed dozens of polling stations in Thailand on Sunday to stop advance voting for next week’s general elections, chaining gates shut, threatening voters and preventing hundreds of thousands of people from casting ballots.
A protest faction leader was fatally shot in a confrontation near a voting center that also left 11 people wounded, the city’s emergency services said, and isolated street brawls broke out in several parts of Bangkok.
The chaos underscored the precariousness of Thailand’s fragile democracy, and the increasing weakness of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s elected administration. Yingluck had called the Feb. 2 vote in a failed bid to ease months of street protests, but police did not disperse the crowds because of longstanding orders to avert violence, which many fear would give the all-powerful army reason to stage a coup.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Change is Coming Even to North Korea
Jang Jin-sung knows what is means to be brainwashed as a child in North Korea. As he reports to the website Frontline January 14, he has only happy memories from his childhood but that is because he did not know better. “I had not seen the outside world. I had no points of reference to allow me to distinguish between good and evil.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Christians and Buddhists Honour Vietnamese “Heroes” Who Died Fighting China Over the Spratly
Although the government and local authorities banned official ceremonies, ordinary Vietnamese continue to keep their memory alive. In Hanoi, at least 200 people met at the monument dedicated to the capital’s founder. Last Saturday, Catholics and non-Catholics attended a Mass honouring the war dead. Priests and Buddhist leaders reiterate the value of unity.
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) — Vietnamese Catholics and Buddhists held a memorial service for the heroic soldiers who lost their lives in the 1970s defending a group of islands in the South China Sea that are still at the centre of a dispute with Beijing.
For decades, the Vietnamese government has banned public demonstrations in memory of the soldiers and the tens of thousands of civilians (at least 50,000) who died along the northern border with China in the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979.
The Communist Party, which is closely tied to its Chinese counterpart, has always banned these ceremonies and commemorations. This year, Da Nang provincial authorities pre-empted a public event scheduled for last Saturday.
This decision has led to dissatisfaction and unhappiness among locals and represents “an insult to the nation” according to Professor Dinh, a prominent historian and researcher.
In spite of the official ban, at least 200 people — mobilized by activists from the No-U Group — gathered recently at Hanoi’s Ly Thai To monument (commemorating the national hero who moved the capital to the city) to honour the north and south Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives “in the fight against the Chinese invaders.”
Last Saturday, the Paul Nguyen Van Binh Clu — established in memory of the late Archbishop of Saigon at the time of the War — celebrated a Mass to remember the tribute paid in blood to defend the Spratly and Paracel Islands.
Scholars and researchers emphasise that the Communist government has a responsibility “to promote national reconciliation and patriotism,” by protecting the waters and islands that belonged to the national territory “before the Chinese invasion.”
A non-Catholic researcher who attended the Mass added that despite differences of religions and ideologies, “we must preserve the value of unity” against Chinese imperialism. For Prof Tuong Lai, a Buddhist, all faiths desire peace, justice, and patriotism for the new generations.
For Fr Le Quoc Thang, secretary general of the Commission of Justice and Peace of the Vietnamese Church, unity and patriotism are also values that are essential for peace and development in Vietnam.
Rich in natural gas and oil, the islands in the South China Sea are a strategic hub for international maritime trade. Their ownership has led to a dispute between China and the countries of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and the Philippines.
Vietnamese historians claim that the Paracel Islands belong to Vietnam and this “since the 17th century”. However, as a result of a Chinese naval attack on 17-19 January 1974, they have been under Beijing’s control.
In 1988, following a Chinese naval attack on the Spratly that killed 64 Vietnamese border guards, China seized seven atolls. For Vietnamese nationalists, the victims of the attack “heroes”
In the past, protests by patriotic Vietnamese also provided a venue for open criticism against the Vietnamese government over its “accommodating” attitude towards Beijing.
In 2011, activists, intellectuals and members of civil society took to the streets on several occasions, chanting slogans and brandishing placards and posters. However, the communist regime suppressed the demonstrations by force, conducting arrests and searches in private homes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Entire Family of Kim Jong-un’s Uncle Executed in N. Korea
All blood relatives of North Korea’s erstwhile number two, who was executed a month ago, have apparently suffered the same fate, says the S. Korean Yonhap news agency.
Once all powerful, Jang Song-thaek was the ‘regent’ while Kim was still too young to govern after Kim Jong-il’s death. He was executed on December 12, 2013 at the age of 67, after making an alleged attempt to stage a military coup and dethrone his nephew.
Now Kim Jong-un is believed to have ordered the total elimination of his uncle’s biological relatives to demonstrate decisiveness and to clamp down on mutiny with an iron fist, “multiple” sources in Pyongyang told the Seoul-based Yonhap news agency.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
South Korea to Launch 5G Service So Fast Users Can Download an Entire Film in Just One Second
While most of the world has yet to experience 4G services, the technologically-advanced country is already investing £900million into its successor.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram — 6,000 Nigerians Flee Into Neighbouring Countries — UN
United Nations — The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says nearly 6,000 people have fled the northern parts of Nigeria due to the activities of Boko Haram to neighbouring Cameroon and Niger in the past 10 days.
UNHCR in its reports made available at the UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, reported that several people had been killed, their villages bombed and at least two villages burned to the ground…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Considering Troops Increase in African Missions
BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen is considering increasing the international engagement of German national defence forces, or Bundeswehr, local media Spiegel reported Sunday. “When murder and rape continue, we can’t look away, on humanitarian grounds alone,” the minister said in an interview, in which she discussed her aims to bolster the country’s peacekeeping missions in Africa. She said the Bundeswehr could provide a helicopter to evacuate wounded soldiers in Central Africa, where “a bloody war between Christians and Muslims unfolds.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kenyan Troops Restore Order in Somalia
The Kenya Defence Forces has pacified large swathes of southern Somalia it helped liberate from control of Al-Shabaab militants, and normal life is slowly beginning to return to some of the areas…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Why We Set Up Northern Christian Elders Forum — Chairman
Lagos — Elder Phillip Olaiya is the Chairman of the Northern Christian Elders Forum (NOCEF). In this interview he states the objectives of the forum, among other issues. Excerpts:
What are the cardinal objectives of your group?
The Northern Christian Elders Forum (NOCEF) stands for the values of fairness, equity and justice for all Nigerians, whatever their tribe, religion, creed or political affiliation. We want to be a strong voice and powerful vehicle for the northern Christian community and their support for these values. To that end, we will protect and defend the interests of Nigerian Christians in the northern part of the country. We will also provide help when and where necessary to that constituency, promote unity and peace across denominational lines in the region, galvanise consensus on political, social and sectarian issues in the overall interest of Nigerians and that of northern Christians in particular.
By virtue of our number, Northern Christians are powerful, but we remain a threatened minority. Our voice must, and will be heard. Our interests will be respected…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Argentina Economy Minister Backtracks on Details in Relaxing Some Currency Controls
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s economy minister is backtracking on details of the government’s recent announcements over the easing of currency controls. Argentina announced Friday it was relaxing restrictions on the purchase of U.S. dollars. The decision was forced by double-digit inflation and a sharp slide in the local peso’s value.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
He is believed to have died after shooting himself in a Berlin bunker in 1945 when he realised Germany had lost World War II.
But a startling new book claims Adolf Hitler actually escaped his hideout and died incognito in 1984 in a small town near Brazil’s border with Bolivia — and it can be proved by a picture.
Not only that, but the author believes the Fuhrer fled to Argentina and then Paraguay before settling in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to hunt for buried treasure — with a map given to him by Vatican allies, according to its author.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea: All Relatives of Jang Executed Too: Sources
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) — All relatives of the executed uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including children and the country’s ambassadors to Cuba and Malaysia, have also been put to death at the leader’s instruction, multiple sources said Sunday.
Jang Song-thaek, the once-powerful uncle, was executed last month on charges of attempting to overthrow the communist regime, including contemplating a military-backed coup. All direct relatives of Jang have also been executed, the sources said.
“Extensive executions have been carried out for relatives of Jang Song-thaek,” one source said on condition of anonymity. “All relatives of Jang have been put to death, including even children.”
The executed relatives include Jang’s sister Jang Kye-sun, her husband and Ambassador to Cuba Jon Yong-jin, and Ambassador to Malaysia Jang Yong-chol, who is a nephew of Jang, as well as his two sons, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Security Secretary: Illegals Have ‘Earned Right to be Citizens’
(CNSNews.com) — Speaking at the United States Conference of Mayors on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the approximately 11 million people who are in the country illegally have “earned the right to be citizens.”
“An earned path to citizenship for those currently present in this country is a matter of, in my view, homeland security to encourage people to come out from the shadows,” said Johnson, in what he remarked was one of his first public speeches since being confirmed as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief in December.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
For the All Cultures Are Equal File: Baby Sacrifice in the Ancient World
Just as ancient Greek and Roman propagandists insisted, the Carthaginians did kill their own infant children, burying them with sacrificed animals and ritual inscriptions in special cemeteries to give thanks for favours from the gods, according to a new study.
“This is something dismissed as black propaganda because in modern times people just didn’t want to believe it,” said Josephine Quinn, a lecturer in ancient history at Oxford, who is behind the study, with international colleagues, of one of the most bitterly debated questions in classical archaeology.
“But when you pull together all the evidence — archaeological, epigraphic and literary — it is overwhelming and, we believe, conclusive: they did kill their children, and on the evidence of the inscriptions, not just as an offering for future favours but fulfilling a promise that had already been made.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lewd Sex Acts Taught to 13-Year-Olds as Part of Health and Science Curriculum
A middle school in the Kansas City suburb of Shawnee is under fire after a parent of one of its students caught wind of a controversial sex education module being taught to 13-year-olds. According to Fox 4 News, a poster affixed to a classroom door at Hocker Grove Middle School contained descriptions of some of the lewd sex acts being taught to younger students, which included things like “anal sex” and “touching each other’s genitals.” Mark Ellis told reporters that his daughter snapped a photo on her mobile phone of the questionable poster and showed it to her dad, who says he initially thought it was a student prank. But after phoning school administrators to inquire about it, Ellis says he was shocked to learn that the poster was deliberately put up by teachers as “teaching material” for the school’s “Making a Difference” curriculum.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Grenade Thrown Into Malmö Family’s Flat
I know of a completely normal non-muslim family in London. The mother had an altercation with a car-load of muslims who were (accidentally) reversing their car over her toddler. That night a bullet came through her living room window. The next night, while she and her children were sleeping, petrol was put through their letter-box and the house set on fire. The British media did not consider the story worthy of reporting. But if it had been a packet of bacon found on the doorstep of a muslim’s house, it would have been on the BBC’s prime-time news for days on end. This latter example is not a joke.
Obama should apologise to the nation, then commit hari-kiri!