Scores of demonstrators staged a sit-in yesterday near the U.S. embassy in Amman, Jordan. They carried banners and chanted slogans to protest Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace plan and support the Palestinian cause, declaring their opposition to any compromise with Israel.
In other news, Austria is planning to send 130 more peace-keeping troops to reinforce the EU mission in Bosnia.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Andy Bostom, Derek Bauer, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, 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.
Five-Year Italian Bonds Drop to All-Time Low
Treasury sells four billion euros worth at 2.43%
(ANSA) — Rome, January 30 — The interest rate on five-year Italian State bonds fell to an all-time low at auction on Thursday.
The Treasury sold four billion euros’ worth of BTP bonds set to mature in May 2019 at an average interest rate of 2.43%, compared to 2.71% at an auction in December. It also sold three billion euros worth of 10-year BTPs, with the interest rate dropping back below 4%, at 3.81%, after going for an average of 4.11% at a December sale.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
How Junk Economists Help the Rich Impoverish the Working Class
Kenny’s answer to the displaced manufacturing workers is — you guessed it — jobs training. He cites MIT economist David Autor who thinks the problem is the federal government only spends $1 on retraining for every $400 that it spends on supporting displaced workers.
These arguments are so absurd as to be mindless. Let’s examine them. What jobs are the displaced manufacturing workers to be trained for? Why, service jobs, of course. Kenny actually thinks that “service industries — hotels, hospitals, media, and accounting — have taken up the slack.” (I don’t know where he gets media and accounting from; scant sign of such jobs are found in the payroll jobs reports.) Moreover, service jobs have certainly not taken up the slack as the rising rate of long-term unemployment and declining labor force participation rate prove.
Nontradable service sector jobs such as hotel maids, hospital orderlies, retail clerks, waitresses and bartenders are low productivity, low value-added jobs that cannot pay incomes comparable to manufacturing jobs. The long term decline in real median family income relates to the movement offshore of manufacturing jobs and tradable professional service jobs, such as software engineering, IT, research and design.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For example, who really wants to go back to a time when you actually had to “dial” a phone or rewind a cassette tape in order to find your favorite song? On the other hand, wouldn’t it be nice to live at a time when virtually everyone could find a good job, when television was not so filthy and when you didn’t have to worry about locking your front door at night? Some would say that we have come a long way in 40 years. Others lament how far we have fallen. So what do you think? Read over the 28 points of comparison between 1970s America and America today posted below and then share your opinion by leaving a comment at the end of the article…
10. In the 1970s, most of the products in our stores were made in America and we barely conducted any trade with China. Today, it seems like almost everything we buy has “made in China” stamped on it and our yearly trade deficit with China is now about 300 billion dollars.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Marc Faber Warns “Insiders Are Selling Like Crazy… Short US Stocks, Buy Treasuries & Gold”
Beginning by disavowing Mario Gabelli of any belief that rising stock prices help ‘most’ people (“Fed data suggests half the US population has seen a 40% drop in wealth since 2007”), Marc Faber discusses his increasingly imminent fears of the markets in this recent Barron’s interview.
Quoting Hussman as a caveat, “The problem with bubbles is that they force one to decide whether to look like an idiot before the peak, or an idiot after the peak. There’s no calling the top,” Faber warns there are a lot of questions about the quality of earnings (from buybacks to unfunded pensions) but “statistics show that company insiders are selling their shares like crazy.”
His first recommendation — short the Russell 2000, buy 10-year US Treasuries (“there will be no magnificent US recovery”), and miners and adds “own physical gold because the old system will implode. Those who own paper assets are doomed.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
State of the Union: Obama’s Cloward-Piven Strategy
Obama’s State of the Union Address largely focused on redistribution of wealth. “Let’s give America a raise,” the President from Goldman Sachs said.
This strategy was first enunciated in 1966 by two Marxist sociologists, Richard Cloward and Francis Piven. It involves bribing individuals and corporations with fiat money. This ensures the bankers both gain power and shackle the nation with debt.
Below is a classic essay by Wayne Root, the 2008 Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate which first appeared here Oct. 26, 2012.
“Barack Hussein Obama and his regime have created a vast and rapidly expanding constituency of voters dependent on big government; a vast privileged class of public employees who work for big government; and a government dedicated to destroying capitalism and installing themselves as socialist rulers by overwhelming the system.”
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U.S. Economy Grew 3.2% in Fourth Quarter
The economy grew 3.2 percent in the final quarter of 2013, shrugging off the effects of the fall’s government shutdown and debt standoff, and raising hopes that the recovery is finally getting more robust.
The pace of expansion in October, November and December slowed a bit from the third quarter, when the economy grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent.
The fourth-quarter number, which is the Commerce Department’s first estimate of the economy’s performance in the period, was about the same as what economists had been expecting.
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Weak Wage Rises Add to Alarm Over Italian Economy
Hourly pay rose by lowest level since 1982, said stats agency
(By Sandra Cordon) (ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — Alarm bells sounded Tuesday over the prospects for recovery by Italy’s recession-ravaged economy after the national statistics agency said that salary increases last year rose by the smallest amount seen in over 30 years.
Hourly contract wages rose by just 1.4% — the lowest since Istat began tracking these figures in 1982 — according to the agency.
It noted that wage growth was still a bit stronger than last year’s average rate of inflation of 1.2%, suggesting that real incomes edged up by 0.2% last year.
But together, the stats provide further evidence of how far Italians have fallen in the double-dip recession that hit lows in the past two years that have not been seen since the Second World War.
That said, Istat also reported that consumer confidence in Italy edged up slightly this month, reaching 98 points compared with 96.4 in December 2013.
Consumer confidence has seesawed, yet consistently healthy confidence is crucial to an economic recovery as people tend to spend less when they feel pessimistic about the outlook and particularly, their prospects for employment and job security. The economic outlook received a boost last month when Istat reported that gross domestic product (GDP) was flat in the third quarter of last year after eight consecutive quarters of negative growth and was forecast to return to positive growth in the last three months of 2013.
But any confidence coming from that report was tempered by subsequent forecasts that the expansion will continue to be very weak.
In that vein, on Tuesday international ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said that annual economic growth in Italy will average only 0.5% between now and 2016.
That estimate was below the pace of GDP growth estimated by the Bank of Italy, which says the economy will expand by 0.7% this year, and other agencies, which have forecast a GDP expansion in 2014 of 0.6%.
S&P said it was also keeping Italy’s sovereign debt under watch because of uncertainty over government policies and a debt that is expected to rise to 134% of GDP by the year-end.
The agency, in a report on sovereign debt in European economies, urged the Italian government to take further measures to boost productivity, liberalize labour markets and increase GDP growth. It said it could revise its outlook for Italian debt “if the government realized structural reforms in labor markets and products and services …(leading to) a higher level of growth in the Italian economy”. Last week, the International Monetary Fund said that although Italy looks to be emerging from its longest recession in two years it expects the Italian economy to slowly recover, with growth of 0.6% this year and 1.1% in 2015.
Evidence of a loss of confidence by business was also seen Tuesday when the Italian government summoned Electrolux managers for emergency talks after the electrical-appliance multinational announced a shock wage-cut plan it said was necessary to keep its Italian plants running.
Electrolux said it is proposing cutting wages in Italy by three euros an hour, which it said was an 8% cut and would amount to a reduction of less than 130 euros a month in workers’ net salaries.
The company said it had also proposed freezing salary increases due to seniority and other rises linked to the sector’s national collective contract for three years in order to “cool the inflation of labour costs, which is responsible for the continuing growth in the competitive gap with the countries of Eastern Europe”.
Electrolux added that it was willing to consider “other forms of reducing labour costs with lower or, if possible, no consequences on salaries”. But with Italy’s jobless rate hitting a record high of 12.7% in November, the latest available statistics, workers have little bargaining power.
Youth unemployment in Italy reached almost 42%, part of a problem reaching across the continent and leading the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde to sound the alarm on record unemployment levels in Europe.
In a speech in New York, she noted that almost 20 million people are jobless across Europe.
“We cannot say the crisis is over until its impact on the labor market has not reversed,” said Lagarde. When unemployment is high, growth is slow because people spend less and companies invest and hire less, Lagarde added, stressing that the most effective way to boost employment is through economic growth.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Why Are Banking Executives in London Killing Themselves?
Bankers committing suicide by jumping from the rooftops of their own banks is something that we think of when we think of the Great Depression. Well, it just happened in London, England. A vice president at JPMorgan’s European headquarters in London plunged to his death after jumping from the top of the 33rd floor.
He fell more than 500 feet, and it is being reported by an eyewitness that “there was quite a lot of blood”. This comes on the heels of news that a former Deutsche Bank executive was found hanged in his home in London on Sunday. So why is this happening? Yes, the markets have gone down a little bit recently but they certainly have not crashed yet. Could there be more to these deaths than meets the eye? You never know. And as I will discuss below, there have been a lot of other really strange things happening around the world lately as well.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Press Corps Full of Snowdenistas
Utterly paranoid about their own governments, strangely trusting about the aims of the Kremlin
By Edward Lucas
Most of my media colleagues seem to think Edward Snowden is a saint and proto-martyr. Their Hollywood-style story line is that the fugitive National Security Agency contractor has bravely exposed American spy agencies’ tricks and mischief. But the theft and publication of secret documents is not a heroic campaign. At best it is reckless self-indulgence, and at worst sabotage and treason.
Mr. Snowden has not proved systematic abuse by the NSA or partner agencies. Moreover, his story has been told naïvely and hysterically, with a huge dose of hypocrisy and with gravely destructive effect.
Espionage is inherently disreputable: It involves stealing secrets. But enemies of the West—notably Russia and China—are spying on us. Our agencies defend us from them—and help catch terrorists and gangsters, too. But the media’s sensationalist and misleading interpretation of the stolen documents has weakened security relationships among Western allies; it has corroded public trust; it has undermined the West’s standing in the eyes of the rest of the world; and it has paralyzed our intelligence agencies.
Mr. Snowden’s allies—the Snowdenistas, as I term them—lack the skills to keep the material safe, or redact it to limit the damage. Their claims to the contrary are not credible. Moreover, they seem oblivious to the idea that we in the West have enemies and competitors. Yet if we suffer, they gain…
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Air Force: 92 Implicated in Nuke Cheating Scandal
Top Air Force officials described a persistent culture of “undue stress and fear” that led 92 out of 550 members of the military’s nuclear missile corps to be involved in cheating on a monthly proficiency test on which they felt pressured to get perfect scores to get promoted.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Thursday that at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, roughly half of the 183 missile launch officers have been implicated in the cheating.
The cheating scandal is the latest in an array of troubles that now have the attention of senior defense officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The Associated Press began reporting on the issue nine months ago, revealing serious security lapses, low morale, burnout and other issues in the nuclear force. The Air Force recently announced the cheating scandal that grew out of a drug investigation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Amazon Warns of Possible First-Quarter Loss, Stock Falls
(Reuters) — Amazon.com Inc missed Wall Street’s profit estimates for the crucial holiday period and cautioned investors about a possible operating loss this quarter, pushing its shares down more than 4 percent on Thursday.
The world’s largest Internet retailer, which has spent heavily to forge new markets in cloud computing and digital media, expects operating results for the current quarter to range from a $200 million loss to a $200 million profit, compared with a $181 million profit a year ago.
Amazon has been trying to sustain its red-hot pace of growth by investing heavily in its retail and distribution network across the globe, while expanding into the technology realm with Kindle digital devices, cloud computing services and online media.
That has taken a toll on its bottom line. With revenue growth slowing as Amazon achieves unprecedented scale, analysts said investors may be getting impatient.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Authorities Want Remote Access to Californians’ Home CCTV Feeds “For the Greater Good”
A rather Orwellian council proposal in California would see police able to remotely access the feeds from home security cameras in San Jose, for the good of society.
Cops would be able to remotely access home security cameras
The idea, forwarded by City Councilman Sam Liccardo, calls for citizens to volunteer their own CCTV systems, registering them with local law enforcement, so police can monitor whatever the cameras are trained on.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Beretta Opening $45-Million Factory in the U.S.
Gun legend going after ‘very important’ American market
(ANSA) — Milan, January 30 — Beretta is opening a $45-million factory in the United States, the iconic Italian gunmaker said Thursday. Fueled by the legend of James Bond, the gunmaker will open the new research-and-development site in Tennessee. It’s expected to bring the southern state 300 new jobs when it opens at the end of the year. “The goal is to increase our competitiveness in a market that’s very important to the group,” said Pietro Gussalli Beretta, vice president of Beretta Holding.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Chief of Police Harassed by Feds, Placed on Leave After Signing Pledge to Uphold Constitution
Sheriff orders Shane Harger to disband entire police department due to “political affiliations”
A police chief was detained and harassed by federal agents while traveling to a constitutional convention before returning home to be told he was being placed on administrative leave and ordered to disband his police department after signing a pledge to uphold the bill of rights.
Police Chief Shane Harger of the Jemez Springs, NM Police Department was flying out of Albuquerque Airport last week on his way to a Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) convention taking place in Las Vegas. CSPOA is an organization headed up by Sheriff Richard Mack under which law enforcement officers gather to re-affirm their commitment to uphold and defend the Constitution…
On Tuesday January 28, a day after his return, Harger was placed on administrative leave and ordered by Sandoval County, NM, Sheriff Douglas C. Wood to disband his entire police department due to his “political affiliations”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Common GMO Tobacco Virus Potentially Linked to Bee Deaths
What do you get when you cross a fish with an elephant? A patent. But transgenic genetic modification is no joke. It has the potential to create new diseases that can jump species. A new study has found a pathogenic virus that has jumped from genetic engineers’ favorite test-bed, tobacco, to agriculture’s most important helper, honeybees.
Honeybees are vitally important to our food supply and are dying off in massive numbers. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), first identified in 2006, has been killing about a third of honeybees each year. Possible causes that have been investigated include diseases, parasites, and pesticides — in particular neonicotinoids.
A new joint study from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science in Beijing published in mBio, the American Society for Microbiology’s journal, may have identified another possible cause of CCD — a tobacco virus.
Whether or not the Tobacco Ring Virus (TRSV) is the cause of CCD, the fact that a plant virus would make such a radical jump from plant to animal is a cause for concern. It’s not just jumping from one species to another, but moving up 6 levels in the biological hierarchy and jumping from the plant kingdom to the animal kingdom.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Connecticut Gun Owners Revolt; Refuse to Register Firearms & Magazines
CT News Junkie reported that it is, “unclear how many gun owners own the banned weapons and magazines, but chose not to comply with the registration requirement.”
However, a 2011 Office of Legislative Research study found that, “there are over 2.4 million large capacity magazines in Connecticut that originated at the retail level.” This number didn’t even include those not purchased at the retail level.
This means that the vast majority of high capacity magazines were not reported to authorities by gun owners in Connecticut.
It’s a similar story when it comes to firearms. Just over 50,000 assault weapons were registered after the law came into effect. However, the 2011 study found that there were over 370,000 assault rifles in the hands of Connecticut gun owners. This means that just 13% of assault rifles were registered.
“So, where did these millions of magazines go?” asks Warner Todd Huston. “All that can be said is that it appears that gun owners in Connecticut are not quite the sheep that jackbooted government officials may have imagined they were. After all, if there really were millions of high capacity magazines in the state — and it is very likely that there are — and they have now gone unregistered, that means that thousands of gun owners have refused to bow to this un-constitutional, anti-Second Amendment law.”
These figures once again illustrate how gun registration is pointless unless it is used by authorities as a precursor to confiscation.
The issue also serves to highlight the fact that gun control advocates are not anti-gun at all, they are pro-gun so long as the state has a monopoly on the possession of firearms.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Edward Snowden: Did the American Whistleblower Act Alone?
A new book looks at the damage the fugitive American whistleblower and his Snowdenistas are doing to Western interests
Edward Snowden is, in the eyes of many, a secular saint. The fugitive NSA contractor has sacrificed his career and risked his freedom to expose systematic wrongdoing by Western intelligence agencies: America and Britain spy on other Western countries; they hoover up and store vast quantities of information about domestic emails and phone calls; they use secret court orders to force cooperation, and they can bug almost any international communication.
After his daring heist of secrets from America’s National Security Agency, the 30-year-old has fled to a secret hiding place where he awaits deserved vindication. It is the stuff of spy movies — played out in real life.
I disagree. My new book, The Snowden Operation: Inside the West’s Greatest Intelligence Disaster, depicts him as at best a “useful idiot”, whose actions serve our enemies. The theft and publication of secret documents is not a heroic campaign but reckless self-indulgence with disastrous consequences.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Forget Metadata … The NSA is Spying on Everything
The NSA’s spying on everyone’s metadata can tell them just about everything about us … and it violates our Constitutional right to freedom of association.
But people are getting distracted from the big picture by focusing on metadata.
As security expert Bruce Schneier wrote yesterday:
What frustrates me about all of this — [the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board] report, the president’s speech, and so many other things — is that they focus on the bulk collection of cell phone call records. There’s so much more bulk collection going on — phone calls, e-mails, address books, buddy lists, text messages, cell phone location data,financial documents, calendars, [smartphone apps] etc. — and we really need legislation and court opinions on it all. But because cell phone call records were the first disclosure, they’re what gets the attention.
Indeed, Schneier confirmed last October what we’ve been saying for years … don’t get too distracted by the details, because the government is spying on everything:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Government Shuts Down 11-Year-Old’s Cupcake Business
The government has pulled the plug on an 11-year-old Illinois baker’s oven.
A day after a local newspaper ran a story about the young and ambitious Chloe Stirling, who operated a cupcake business out of her parents’ kitchen, the local health department came calling.
“They called and said they were shutting us down,” Heather Stirling, Chloe’s mother, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Officials told Stirling Chloe could continue selling cupcakes on the condition that the family “buy a bakery or build her a kitchen separate from the one we have.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Henry Waxman: 20-Term Democrat, Leaving House
Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, a diminutive Democratic giant whose 40 years in the House produced some of the most important legislation of the era, will announce on Thursday that he is retiring at the end of the year.
Mr. Waxman, 74, joins the growing list of House members who are calling it quits, many in disappointment over the partisanship and ineffectiveness of a Congress that may end up as the least productive in history.
“It’s been frustrating because of the extremism of Tea Party Republicans,” Mr. Waxman said in an interview on Wednesday. “Nothing seems to be happening.”
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by Daniel Greenfield
In real life, terrorists are almost always Muslim. In the movie theater, they are anything but. America’s fictional secret agents, covert operatives and rogue cops who play by their own rules have spent more time battling Serbian terrorists than Muslim terrorists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mobile Ad Revenue Lifts Facebook Past Wall Street Targets
(Reuters) — Facebook Inc’s fourth-quarter revenue jumped 63 percent, beating Wall Street targets, as the Internet company’s mobile ad sales continued to accelerate. Shares of Facebook surged 10 percent to $58.90 in after-hours trading on Wednesday. “The mobile shift is happening and it’s working really well for Facebook,” Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told Reuters in an interview.
Facebook said it now has 1.23 billion monthly users, with 945 million accessing the service on a smartphone or tablet. The world’s largest social networking company said that revenue from mobile ads represented 53 percent of its total advertising revenue in the last three months of the year, or $1.24 billion, versus the 49 percent proportion that mobile ads represented in the third quarter.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New York Reaches Agreement to End Battle Over Stop-and-Frisk
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that New York City had reached an agreement with civil rights lawyers who had challenged the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices, which would allow the sweeping reforms ordered by a federal judge last summer to be carried out.
Those reforms, which included the appointment of a federal monitor, were blocked last fall after the Bloomberg administration appealed the judge’s rulings, which found that the city’s stop-and-frisk policies were unconstitutional and that the department had resorted to “a policy of indirect racial profiling.”
The judge, Shira A. Scheindlin of Federal District Court in Manhattan, had ruled that the policy resulted in “the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.”
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No Charges Filed Against Cop Who Shot 72-Year-Old on His Own Driveway
Yesterday a grand jury declined to charge a Ft. Worth, Texas police officer who killed a 72-year-old man on his own driveway after arriving at the wrong address to investigate a burglary alarm.
Waller died after Hoepper shot him seven times as the officer and his partner arrived at Waller’s house, mistakenly thinking that the burglary alarm going off across the street came from his residence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Set to Name Vice Admiral Mike Rogers to Head N.S.A.
The Obama Administration will announce Friday that Vice Admiral Michael S. Rogers will become the new director of the National Security Agency and the commander of the new Pentagon unit that directs the country’s offensive cyberoperations, according to senior administration officials.
Admiral Rogers, a cryptologist by training who has quietly risen to the top of naval intelligence operations, will become the public face of the NSA at a moment that it is caught in the crosshairs of the roiling debate about whether its collection of information about American citizens and foreign leaders has exceeded legal constraints, and common sense.
He will succeed General Keith Alexander, who has served as N.S.A. director for nearly nine years and was the first to direct both the civilian spy agency and the four-year-old Cyber Command.
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Obama’s High School Pot Dealer Beaten to Death With Hammer
President Obama’s high school pot dealer who he thanked in his yearbook for the ‘good times’ was beaten to death by his lover after a series of fights over flatulence and drugs, MailOnline can reveal today.
Raymond Boyer, known as ‘Gay Ray’ to Obama and his marijuana smoking ‘Choom Gang’, was bludgeoned to death with a hammer seven years after he sold the future president and his friends drugs.
His lover Andrew Devere, a male prostitute, gave police a laundry list of reasons for the killing, including that Boyer, a surfer and unemployed chef, constantly put him down, made him beg for drugs and had a habit of breaking wind in his face.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Promises to Enact Gun Control Laws “With or Without Congress”
Among a myriad of promises to create and sign laws using his magic executive order pen, the president vowed during last night’s State of The Union Address to pass more strict gun control laws, even if it means bypassing the Congressional process.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Eligibility Case Still Very Much Alive in Alabama Supreme Court
Attorney Klayman is plaintiffs’ counsel for Hugh McInnish and Virgil Goode, two Alabama Republican party officials who are challenging former Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman’s decision to allow Obama and other candidates to appear on that state’s 2012 presidential election ballots without first fully vetting them for eligibility. At stake, says investigator Mike Zullo, is “deception of voters and state election commissioners.”
This huge case was taken to appeal for oral argument in front of the AL Supreme Court after lower courts tossed its premise, a typical legal action taken across America by most other lower judiciary challenges to the Obama Birth Certificate issue. Carl Gallups, Freedom Friday’s radio talk host in northern Florida, has for weeks been pointing out there actually are THREE birth certificate filings on record in this case. “Now a third birth certificate has been submitted by AL Democrats. (1) The Obama, WH generated web birth certificate was shown by Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s forensic investigators to be document forgery. Obama supporters have submitted yet another BC for consideration.
Meanwhile, several major developments are causing tensions to rise. The first concerns the inexplicable death of the main Hawaii Department of Health official linked to issuance of the “real” Barack Obama BC, 65 year old Loretta Fuddy. Hers was the only death in a nine passenger plane crash last week that saw the pilot reportedly swim to shore to get help, after which, according to another Honolulu print outlet, he actually drove himself home. Attempts by CiR to re-verify this account were thwarted because print access became limited. Pilot Clyde Kawasaki was reported as saying, “All I know is ‘bang,’. . .OK, I’m in trouble now.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Protester: Cops Laughed About Having License to Kill
A Fullerton resident who was arrested after protesting the acquittal of officers involved in the death of Kelly Thomas said police laughed and joked about having a license to kill while asserting, “There’s a pack of 12 cops waiting to smash your f*****g faces in.”
30-year-old Adam Walder was thrown into a paddy wagon after riot cops ordered demonstrators to disperse during a protest against the ‘not guilty’ verdict which saw Officer Manuel Ramos and Officer Jay Cicinelli acquitted on all charges of manslaughter and murder.
Kelly Thomas, a mentally disabled homeless man, was beaten, tasered, suffocated and pistol whipped as he lay on a street corner being sat on by no less than six police officers during an incident in July 2011. During the disturbing video of the beating, Thomas can be heard pleading for his father, moaning, “Daddy, daddy, they are killing me,” as officers prolong the assault.
Before the assault, Ramos told Thomas, “Do you see my fists?” They’re getting ready to f*** you up.”
According to the jury in the case, Thomas just coincidentally chose to die of an undiagnosed heart condition in hospital five days after the savage beating having never regained consciousness.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
State Department Adviser on “Extremism” Urges U.S. to “Befriend” Al Qaeda
William McCants was a U.S. State Department senior adviser for countering violent extremism and is a director of the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings liberal think tank. At the CFR’s Foreign Affairs, McCants joined together with two others to argue that Ahrar al-Sham is, and I quote, “an al Qaeda—Linked Group Worth Befriending.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
State of the Union Takeaway: Dictatorship
During the State of the Union, Obama made it abundantly clear Congress and the American people are irrelevant. Early on in the address, Obama threatened to rule by supreme diktat. “Whenever and wherever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that is what I am going to do,” he said, trashing the principles of constitutional government.
“I’ll act on my own,” he declared.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ted Cruz: The Imperial Presidency of Barack Obama
In the nation’s history, there is simply no precedent for an American president so wantonly ignoring federal law.
By Ted Cruz
Of all the troubling aspects of the Obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president’s persistent pattern of lawlessness, his willingness to disregard the written law and instead enforce his own policies via executive fiat. On Monday, Mr. Obama acted unilaterally to raise the minimum wage paid by federal contracts, the first of many executive actions the White House promised would be a theme of his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ted Cruz Kicks Off the Obama-as-Dictator Movement
It wasn’t President Obama’s State of the Union call for “opportunity for all” or new tools to help the unemployed that’s gotten Republicans riled up: it was his declaration that he would “take steps without legislation” to solve the problems he thinks the country faces. That, according to Sen. Ted Cruz and others, is all but a declaration of dictatorship.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The FBI Seized All of TorMail’s Data and is Using it to Catch Hackers
If you had any faith left in anonymous email services, now would be the time to let that go. New court documents show that in chasing down associates of Freedom Hosting, the FBI managed to download the entire email database of TorMail. And now it’s using that information to take on the Darknet.
Just over a month after reports of a malware attack on the anonymous Tor network, the FBI told an Irish court that it was behind the shenanigans. But … Read…
It’s unknown exactly how many users or how much data is in the TorMail network, but we do know that the FBI has it all. The agency obtained a search warrant for a TorMail account connected to a Florida man accused of stealing credit card numbers in order to search its own copy of the database. It appears that the FBI acquired the database while using malware to investigate Freedom Hosting last year. As Wired put it:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Real State of the Union: Here’s What Obama Should Have Said (Remix Parody)
What was the President really trying to say in last night’s State of the Union address? We think that this remix sums it up far more accurately and succinctly than the actual speech.
If you can’t laugh, you’d have to cry at the truth shown in this video. Here’s what Obama SHOULD have said about the situation in our country.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
TSA: ‘Super Bowl Fans May Encounter VIPR Teams’
With the mass distraction spectacle that is Super Bowl XLVIII just around the corner, the TSA is busy ensuring every excited game patron is thoroughly prepared to surrender their civil rights and submit blindly to authority.
On its official blog site, the TSA announced it will be conducting security, not only at the entrance to the MetLife Stadium complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but at “local transportation venues, including commercial and general aviation facilities and mass transit” in the form of VIPR squads…
By claiming VIPR squads provide a much-needed layer of security against terrorism, the TSA has stealthily and successfully executed its transition out of airports and transport hubs and onto the streets of America, slowly acclimating citizens to their soon-to-be perennial presence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Will Seek Death Penalty for Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect
The Justice Department said Thursday that it would seek the death penalty against Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the man accused of killing and maiming people with homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line last year.
The decision sets in motion the highest-profile federal death penalty case since Timothy J. McVeigh was prosecuted and executed for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
The decision, however, is not cast in stone. In nearly half of federal death penalty cases, prosecutors withdraw the threat of execution before trial, typically because of a plea deal, according to the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel.
| [Return to headlines] |
Video: Mega Banks Caught Spying on ‘Anti-Government’ Citizens
Mega banks caught tracking your every move online in deal with feds, but new legislation introduced as a response to our exclusive reports may soon fight back.
Do you dare to question the government online? You are more than likely a target of mega bank spying teams. Teams that recent documents reveal actually work with the federal government to target and track those who associate themselves with organizations that oppose big banks and the corrupt establishment. The good news, however, is that by posting these documents in an exclusive article authored by Mikael Thalen and posted up on Infowars and Storyleak, we have now launched a nationwide resistance to what can now be termed mega bank spying.
Below, you can read the email for yourself detailing a conversation between Bank of American’s Global Corporate Security Vice President Kim Triplett-Kolerich, the Washington State Patrol (WSP) and one redacted recipient:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Another dubious record has been set during the Obama administration. As of the end of December, a staggering 10,988,269 Americans were receiving federal disability benefits, a number that exceeds the entire population of Greece.
The December totals mark the 202nd straight month that the number of disabled workers in the nation has increased. Furthermore, according to the latest Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, “mental disorder” is the top “diagnostic group,” comprising 35.5 percent of all disabled beneficiaries. Within that category, “mood disorders” is the most prevalent affliction, at 14.1 percent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Group to Sue Harper Over Allegations of Terrorist Link
OTTAWA — A Canadian Muslim group wants an apology after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top spokesman suggested the organization was linked to the terrorist group Hamas.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims said it will sue Harper and his spokesman Jason MacDonald for libel unless they immediately apologize for and retract comments MacDonald made in an interview earlier this month with QMI Agency.
The war of words started on Jan. 16 after the NCCM asked the Prime Minister’s Office to boot a rabbi with whom it disagreed out of the official delegation that accompanied Harper to Israel last week.
MacDonald responded to the NCCM saying: “We will not take seriously criticism from an organization with documented ties to a terrorist organization such as Hamas.”
The NCCM immediately called that characterization false and, on Tuesday, said it served MacDonald and Harper with a notice of libel, the first step in a potential libel lawsuit.
“To say that our organization has illegal affiliations is deeply offensive to us and to Canadians of all faiths and backgrounds and only serves to reinforce ugly stereotypes about Canadian Muslims,” NCCM executive director Ihsaan Gardee said at a Parliament Hill news conference.
Gardee said his group is “a successful mainstream Canadian organization” that had received letters of support from the likes of Amnesty International and the Canadian Association of University Teachers in the wake of MacDonald’s assertion that NCCM has ties to Hamas.
“The government of Canada has listed (Hamas) as a terrorist organization,” Gardee said. “Our organization has consistently and persistently condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all of its forms including the naming of organizations such as al Shabaab, al-Qaida and Hamas.”
The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court.
The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday declined any further comment, citing the possibility of litigation on the matter.
| — Hat tip: Derek Bauer | [Return to headlines] |
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Accused of Ordering Jail Beating
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is being sued for allegedly conspiring to have a jail inmate beaten to keep him quiet about the politician’s illicit actions. Scott MacIntyre, former boyfriend of Mr Ford’s sister, Kathy, is seeking $1m (£606,465) in damages. He alleges that he was attacked in a Toronto jail in March 2012 on orders from Mr Ford.
The Canadian mayor, who admitted last November to having smoked crack cocaine, is running for re-election.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Dies as Escalator Catches Her Scarf on Montreal Metro
A commuter has died after her scarf got snagged in an escalator at a Montreal Metro station and strangled her.
The unidentified 48-year-old woman was found dead at the bottom of the moving staircase at Fabre station in the north of the Canadian city.
Her hair was also apparently caught in the escalator in Thursday morning’s incident.
Montreal police said they would work with the coroner’s office to determine the circumstances of the fatality.
Police spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant told reporters: “What we know now is that the woman’s scarf was caught in the escalator.
“When she bent over to try to get the scarf out, her hair was also caught.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Police Bust People-Smuggling Ring
VIENNA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) — Austrian police have recently busted an international people-smuggling ring based out of Kosovo, police in the state of Burgenland said Wednesday. Since December, at least nine suspects have been arrested, the Austrian Press Agency reported, adding that investigators have been observing the gang for several months. The ring is suspected of transporting people of various nationalities from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
A British man who tried to persuade parents to sexually abuse and rape their children online has been jailed for five years.
Mark Luscombe, 29, of Verwood, Dorset, was caught following an undercover operation by US and UK police officers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Catholic Archbishop’s Comments Outrage Muslims in Germany
Muslims in Germany have criticized comments by a senior Roman Catholic archbishop that suggested they were worth less than Catholics. Cardinal Joachim Meisner told members of the conservative Catholic group Neocatechumenal Way that “I always say one of your families replaces three Muslim families.”
The lay group, founded in Spain in the 1960s, celebrates unique liturgies and emphasizes missionary evangelization…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Double Your Dole, Eurocrats Tell UK: Ministers Told Current Handouts Are ‘Manifestly Inadequate’
Eurocrats sparked fury last night by ordering the UK to double dole payments.
The Council of Europe claims the handouts given to Britain’s jobless are ‘manifestly inadequate’.
Ministers have been told they are in violation of the European Social Charter — potentially opening the door for claimants to take the Government to court to get more money.
But ministers say obeying the diktat from the Council, which oversees the controversial European Court of Human Rights, would cost the UK billions of pounds and plunge efforts to reduce the deficit into chaos.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Has Secret Plan for Police to ‘Remote Stop’ Cars
The European Union is secretly developing a “remote stopping” device to be fitted to all cars that would allow the police to disable vehicles at the flick of a switch from a control room.
Confidential documents from a committee of senior EU police officers, who hold their meetings in secret, have set out a plan entitled “remote stopping vehicles” as part of wider law enforcement surveillance and tracking measures.
“The project will work on a technological solution that can be a ‘build in standard’ for all cars that enter the European market,” said a restricted document.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fiat Chrysler to Have Dutch HQ, UK Tax Base
Merger with Detroit automaker creates globe’s 7th-largest
(By Sandra Cordon) (ANSA) — Turin, January 29 — Italy’s iconic automaker Fiat shrugged off more of its roots Wednesday as it announced its new name — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — as well as new tax headquarters in the United Kingdom and a new base in the Netherlands.
A new logo was also unveiled as Fiat moved to consolidate its full acquisition of Detroit-based Chrysler and create the world’s seventh-largest automaker following years of working towards a full merger.
The creation of Fiat Chrysler has laid “solid foundations for a global automaker with a mix of experience and know-how on a level with the best of our competitors,” the company’s Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said. “Today is one of the most important days of my career in Fiat and Chrysler,” added Marchionne, who was a driving force behind the merger that took five years to achieve. The company — founded more than 100 years ago, in 1899, in the northern industrial city of Turin — quickly moved to reassure Italian politicians, unions and its employees that the changes will have “no impact” on the workforce in Italy.
Still, the iconic Fiat logo will be replaced by the plain blue lettering “FCA” as its new logo and the company announced that it will now be registered in the Netherlands with its tax base in the UK, likely London. The news, including the fact that Marchionne expects the new group to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange — where it will be better able to raise capital — before the end of 2014, as well as on the Milan bourse, was met with a drop of more than 4% in the value of Fiat shares Wednesday.
Marchionne also confirmed that he would stay on for another three years before putting the new Fiat Chrysler into safe hands selected from “within the group” adding that it would not be “correct to choose someone from outside”.
“The challenges will not fall away,” said Marchionne, who hatched the audacious idea to take over the Detroit No.3 automaker after it rescued bankrupt Chrysler amid the US economic crisis in 2009. With an initial 20% stake in the company, Fiat turned the fortunes of its American partner around and now, thanks to its strong sales in North America, Chrysler has helped to keep Fiat afloat.
As a culmination of all that, on January 1 Fiat announced it had gained full control of Chrysler in a $4.35-billion deal reached after more than a year of negotiations with VEBA, a healthcare trust associated with the United Auto Workers union that held the remaining 41.46% share of the US automaker not yet acquired by Fiat.
During a Wednesday meeting with analysts, after the board of directors approved the final restructuring of the automaker, Marchionne also confirmed that capital expenditures by the new FCA will reach about eight billion euros in 2014, half a billion euros higher than last year’s budget.
FCA’s new business plan is expected to be unveiled in May.
The full deal still requires approvals by regulators and some politicians complained that moving executive operations offshore is bad for Italy, with one calling that a “slap in the face”.
However, Premier Enrico Letta seemed less concerned, saying Italians should “cheer” the global success of a home-grown brand.
“The question of where they put the headquarters is entirely secondary: what counts are jobs, the number of cars they sell and where they sell them internationally,” he said during a visit to Brussels.
“For some time it has been a company that is different from the one we were used to…because Fiat is now a global player whereas before it was a national one”.
The new deal has raised hopes in Italy that Fiat factories will be used to produce planned new models of Alfa Romeos and Jeeps for export to growing markets in North America, Latin America and Asia.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Cardinal Offends With Muslim Birth Rate Remark
Cologne’s Archbishop has sparked anger after praising the high birth rate among Catholics for making up for large Muslim families. He later admitted his choice of words was “unfortunate”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
How Many Ukippers Will be Dead When the Referendum Happens? Sorry, But it Matters
It’s pretty easy to guess how Eurosceptic someone is: find out their age. It’s a simple equation: the older someone is, the worse they think of the EU. As a new YouGov poll shows, while the old loathe the EU the young still think that we’re better off remaining in it. While those over 60 would vote two-to-one to leave the EU if there was a referendum tomorrow, those under 25 would vote two-to-one to stay in.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Cancellieri May be Questioned in Ligresti Scandal
Sources say justice minister’s conversations may be probed
(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — Judicial sources said Tuesday that prosecutors may question Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri about her telephone calls with the Ligresti family, a powerful business dynasty now involved a corruption case before the courts. Sources said prosecutors are not investigating the minister. Investigators have been pouring over statements from Antonino Ligresti, brother of family patriarch Salvatore Ligresti and a medical doctor who has been consulted often by Cancellieri over family medical issues.
In November, Cancellieri survived a no-confidence vote in parliament for alleged involvement in the corruption case involving family friends.
Earlier that month she admitted in parliament to calling authorities regarding Giulia Ligresti, a member of the dynasty headed by Salvatore Ligresti.
Salvatore and Giulia Ligresti, along with another daughter Jonella, were arrested in July 2013 for alleged involvement in cooking the books at the Fonsai insurance group. Cancellieri denied influencing Giulia’s release from jail to house arrest, and insisted she only intervened to look after her health, as the woman had a history of depression and anorexia.
The minister subsequently said she had made similar “humanitarian” calls in 110 other cases. Prosecutors have said Cancellieri’s interventions had no influence on Giulia Ligresti’s release to house arrest, but the pressure on the minister increased after fresh reports of phone conversations with the Ligresti family, including Antonino Ligresti, emerged.
The minister said she regularly called Antonino about family medical problems.
But Cancellieri’s critics have said it is a case of people with friends in high places receiving better treatment from the Italian justice system than ordinary people.
Meanwhile, Salvatore Ligresti was also released from house arrest in December and Jonella Ligresti downgraded to house arrested in November.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Gov’t Finds Fault With Electrolux Reorganization Plan
Concerned business plan focuses ‘entirely on labor costs’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 29 — Industry Minister Flavio Zanonato on Wednesday called a reorganization plan submitted by Electrolux “unconvincing”.
Company representatives were summoned by the government for emergency talks after the electrical-appliance multinational announced a shock wage-cut plan it said was necessary to keep its Italian plants running. The minister said the company had agreed to more talks in the coming days, possibly including Premier Enrico Letta. Zanonato said that governors of regions affected by the Sweden-based Electrolux plan were also cool to the company’s proposals.
“We found it unconvincing, since it focuses entirely on labor costs (whereas) we want to discuss an industrial plan,” said Zanonato. The government is instead looking for ways to “safeguard jobs, workers’ wages, and production facilities”, he said. Zanonato said that Electrolux proposals of wage cuts to match levels in Poland were unacceptable.
The minister, who has come in for criticism over the past few days for not acting with sufficient determination on the Electrolux issue, said in his defense that he had even “met with the Swedish ambassador to put pressure on the family owning the company”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Two Men Acquitted of ‘Promoting Fascism’ In Song
Sang 1935 marching song ‘Faccetta Nera’ at army gathering
(ANSA) — Bolzano, January 28 — A judge in the northern city of Bolzano on Tuesday acquitted two 50-year-old men of promoting Fascist ideology, which in Italy is punishable with up to four years in prison.
Piero Puschiavo and Francesco Paravano, both from the northern Veneto region, had been indicted for singing the Fascist-era war song Faccetta Nera (Little Black Face) at a 2012 gathering of Italy’s Alpini mountain army unit over a megaphone.
The court found the men sang the song in a spirit of “irreverence”. Puschiavo is a prominent local member of the extreme-right Fiamma Tricolore party. Italy defines promoting Fascist ideology as “publicly exalting Fascism’s members, principles, facts, methods, and/or its antidemocratic objectives”. It was made a crime in 1952 in a move designed to prevent the dissolved Fascist Party from reconstituting itself.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Politician Probed for Offending President
‘Executioner’ slur could land Grillo MP in jail for five years
(ANSA) — Rome, January 29 — Prosecutors are investigating an Italian MP for offending the honor and prestige of the president by calling him one of the worst insults in the Italian language.
On Tuesday Giorgio Sorial of the 5-Star Movement (M5S) called Giorgio Napolitano, a favorite target of the anti-establishment party, an executioner (boia), sparking a political storm. The case was opened on the request of Stella Bianchi, an MP with the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which has vociferously defended the president since the offence. If convicted, Sorial faces up to a five-year sentence, according to article 278 of the Italian penal code.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Napolitano Used by Foreign Powers, Claims M5S
Opposition politicians complain of influences on president
(ANSA) — Rome, January 29 — President Giorgio Napolitano has been manipulated by foreign powers for their benefit and not the good of the Italian people, the leader of the maverick 5-Star Movement (M5S) said Wednesday.
The M5S has taken to blaming Napolitano for all that it sees wrong in the way government operates in Italy, including opposition to a plan now before Premier Enrico Letta’s administration to sell off 100 billion euros in gold reserves to help ease Italy’s economic woes. Along with other opposition parties, the M5S is working to filibuster the decree, which passed a confidence vote on Friday and faces one last vote, expected Wednesday, to become definitive.
“Napolitano is not without error which invalidates the credibility and trust of citizens (in him),” complained M5S leader Beppe Grillo on his blog.
His anti-establishment party has been calling for the president’s impeachment.
“These errors cannot be allowed, in particular when they represent (our) subjection to foreign powers, heavy interference on the government, concealing (of) judicial sources,” added Grillo.
The M5S complained Napolitano has too much power and he wields it “with an iron fist” over institutions. House Speaker Laura Boldrini, of the center-left Democratic Party(PD), is ready to bring the bill to a vote, where it is likely to pass, before each MP has a chance to speak, thus forcing an end to the filibuster. The anti-establishment party has increasingly held Napolitano, the first president in history elected to a second term, responsible for the country’s problems since the start of the euro crisis, vowing to impeach him. Letta and other politicians have defended Napolitano from the M5S attacks that have included throwing one of the worst insults in Italian at president, calling him a “boia” or executioner for not intervening in the gold sale.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Lawmaker Apologises for Slapping M5S Colleague
House officer Dambruoso claims he ‘did his job’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 30 — A lawmaker of the centrist Civic Choice on Thursday apologised for allegedly slapping a female colleague of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) during a protest in the House the day before.
Stefano Dambruoso, an officer called a quaestor responsible for keeping order in the lower chamber of parliament, said however his allegedly unintentional gesture had been aimed at preventing Loredana Lupo and her M5S colleagues from attacking the House Speaker Laura Boldrini.
Members of the movement led by commedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo made for Boldrini after the latter used the Speaker’s guillotine powers for the first time in history to interrupt a filibuster they were was staging so a decree providing for the revaluation of the share capital of the Bank of Italy could pass before it was timed it out. MS5 is opposed to the measure on grounds it only benefits the nation’s banks.
Dambruoso on Thursday refused to resign over the incident, claiming he had simply “done his duty”.
Bills have been pushed through parliament by decree on countless occasions while Speakers have limited debate to time limits.
But Speakers have only threatened to apply the guillotine in the past, on three occasions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Taxman to Run Checks on Fiat’s Move to UK
Italian-based companies must pay tax here, Befera says
(ANSA) — Milan, January 30 — Italian inland-revenue agency Agenzia delle Entrate said Thursday it would check whether Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s decision to move its tax base to the UK is legal.
The announcement came the day after Italian automaker Fiat consolidated its full acquisition of Detroit-based Chrysler to create the world’s seventh-largest car manufacturer and announced that the new company would have registered legal headquarters in the Netherlands and its tax base in the UK, probably London.
“We will verify that Italian tax laws are being fully respected,” said Agenzie delle Entrate director Attilio Befera.
“Since there is free circulation of capital and of goods and services it is normal that the tax authorities can only intervene through the rules set down by law,” he explained.
If Fiat Chrysler maintains stable organisations and companies in Italy these will pay tax in Italy, he added.
The new company — the result of a $4.35-billion deal with a United Auto Workers union healthcare trust that held the remaining 41.46% share of Chrysler not yet acquired by Fiat — will be listed on the New York stock exchange with a secondary listing in Milan. On Thursday London’s Financial Times played up the “politically sensitive” decision to move away from Italy and stressed how Chrysler is needed to shore up the struggling Fiat brand, which would otherwise have closed 2013 with a net loss.
On Wednesday company CEO Sergio Marchionne said the creation of Fiat Chrysler had laid “solid foundations for a global automaker with a mix of experience and know-how on a level with the best of our competitors”.
Marchionne was a driving force behind the merger that took five years to achieve.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Knox, Sollecito Found Guilty of Kercher Slaying
Case expected to return to supreme court
(ANSA) — Florence, January 30 — Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in a Florence court Thursday for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia.
American student Knox was sentenced to 28 years and Sollecito to 25 years.
The court banned Sollecito from leaving Italy and ordered his passport to be confiscated.
The appeals-level verdict was the fourth ruling on the case and it is now expected to go to the Italian supreme court.
For fear of what she said would be a wrongful conviction, Knox decided not to return to Italy for the verdict on the November 2, 2007 murder of Erasmus student Kercher in the flat they shared.
Sollecito had vowed to stay to hear the judges’ decision but left court when it was postponed from Thursday afternoon to Thursday night.
Knox heard the verdict — the fourth ruling by an Italian court on the case — with her mother in her home city of Seattle.
Knox reaffirmed her innocence in a Skype interview with The New York Times earlier Thursday.
“Nothing will ever take away the experience of being wrongfully imprisoned,” she said.
Knox was held behind bars in Italy for a total of four years, including pre-trial detention.
“I would be putting myself in the hands of people who very clearly want me in prison for something that I didn’t do. And I can’t do that. I just can’t,” Knox went on.
In his closing arguments last week, one lawyer described Knox as “deceitful and diabolical” and an “explosive mine of sex, drugs and alcohol,” telling jurors they had no choice but to convict her, The New York Times wrote.
“I’m not that person, I am very clearly not that person that’s being described,” Knox said.
“People who accuse me argue that justice cannot be done for Meredith unless I am convicted”. In a long email to the court last month Knox said “I’m afraid”.
“I didn’t kill. I didn’t rape. I didn’t rob. I didn’t plot.
I didn’t instigate. I didn’t kill Meredith,” she wrote in Italian.
Thursday’s ruling is unlikely to be the final word in a case that has repeatedly made international media headlines as both the prosecution and the defence have the right to appeal to the supreme Court of Cassation afterwards.
Sollecito and Knox have both already served a total of four years in prison, including pre-trial custody, after their initial conviction in 2009.
That sentence was subsequently overturned on appeal but the supreme court last year quashed the acquittals over aspects of the evidence it argued had not been properly examined and ordered a repetition of the appeals-level trial.
Defence experts in the latest trial said DNA evidence presented at the original trial was unsafe.
Specifically, they argued traces of Knox’s DNA on the handle of a kitchen knife found in Sollecito’s flat, and of Kercher’s on the tip, were in fact non-existent and that the presence of Sollecito’s DNA on Kercher’s severed bra clasp was due to crime-scene contamination.
Meanwhile Florence prosecutors ruled out the initial theory that Kercher was killed after a drug-fuelled sex game went wrong, arguing the murder was instead sparked by an argument possibly over the cleanliness of the flat. A third person, Ivorian Rudy Guede, whose DNA was found inside Kercher and all over the flat, was convicted in a separate fast-track trial and handed a definitive sentence of 16 years in jail.
Italy is likely to seek Knox’s extradition even before the supreme court appeal.
The US tends to be reluctant to send its citizens back for foreign sentences, although theoretically Knox could serve time at home.
Double jeopardy — the US rule that you cannot be tried for the same crime twice — does not apply in this case because the Florence proceedings are not a retrial but a second appeals hearing.
Kercher’s brother and sister, Lyle and Stephanie, were in court for the verdict.
They said they could “never forgive” what had happened to ‘Mez’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Amanda Knox Convicted Again of Briton’s Murder
(Reuters) — American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty on Thursday for the second time of the 2007 murder of Briton Meredith Kercher, in a retrial that reversed an earlier appeal judgment.
The verdict, after 12 hours of deliberations, confirmed Knox and Sollecito’s original 2009 conviction. Knox’s sentence was increased to 28 years and six months and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Knox did not attend the retrial, however, having gone home to the United States after the previous appeal.
“I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict. Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system,” Knox said in a statement.
Sollecito’s lawyer Giulia Bongiorno confirmed that her client would appeal to Italy’s highest court, and Knox’s lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said he was “stunned”. The court will publish the reasons for its verdict in 90 days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Concentration Camp Employee Suspended for Designing ‘Jews Go Home’ Poster
A graphic designer has been suspended after allegedly producing antisemitic posters while working for a concentration camp museum in Poland. Police were called after the Majdanek museum discovered an employee called “Krzysztof K” had been making posters that said: “Jews go home”, along with other offensive material…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
A fraudster who conned a vulnerable pensioner out of her life savings will serve just eight days in jail for the crime.
Shaun Price and James Loveridge were involved in persuading 87-year-old Elspeth Wilson to hand over £14,600 for building work on her house that was never actually carried out.
The victim has now been forced to leave her home and move into a retirement complex to make sure she is not taken advantage of again.
Her son said he was ‘disappointed’ by the sentences, claiming that the profit from the fraud in exchange for a short prison sentence means it ‘pays better than a job’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Car Reverses Into Royston Bungalow Kitchen
A family has been left living in half a house for five days after a neighbour reversed her car into their kitchen. Jose and Tony Poole, of Garden Close, Royston in Hertfordshire, were on holiday in Fuerteventura at the time of the accident on Saturday afternoon.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Campaign Attacks Quilliam Foundation Speaker’s Campus Event
Tomorrow Usama Hasan, the Senior Researcher in Islamic Affairs at the Quilliam Foundation, is due to speak at the University of Plymouth on the wider implications of the Arab Spring. However, in the past few days a campaign has developed to pressure the university into cancelling the event, with a letter sent to the Vice Chancellor of the University declaring that:
“The Quilliam Foundation developed a track record of instigating Islamophobia through false narratives that stir anti-Muslim sentiment”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin told Parliament it is ‘not in the public interest’ to publish the official report that labelled HS2 in danger of failing.
[Comment: HS2 — High Speed rail plan.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Gender Segregation Debate Organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir Supporters
This week a ‘Women Only’ event is due to take place at the University of Westminster which will attack claims that “segregated seating is a fringe Islamic idea held by extremists” and defend its imposition.
This would be more credible however if the event was not being organised and hosted by two groups which have a history of promoting the extreme Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) and its members…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Haitham Al-Haddad Speaks at Kingston After London Met Cancellation
The ease with which extreme or intolerant speakers can access campuses in the UK was highlighted this week with the start of Kingston University Islamic Society’s ‘Sisters Week’. The first event of the week on Monday, ‘Time to Reconnect’, featured Haitham Al-Haddad, described by the Islamic Society as a “knowledgeable Sheikh”.
However, just last week we wrote of how Haddad had been due to speak at London Metropolitan University on that night, before being cancelled by the university…
[JP note: “I want to see an end to hate preaching in Britain,” the Prime Minister said, 4 December 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2517825/Camerons-new-bid-silence-hate-preachers.html ]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The number of foreign prisoners is growing and attempts to remove them are often futile, a secret Government report warns.
The Home Office document, marked restricted but leaked ahead of a crunch vote by MPs, reveals there are about 12,000 foreign prisoners in the UK — and another 4,000 who have been freed after serving a sentence but not deported.
Their offences include murder, manslaughter, rape of a minor and kidnap.
The report predicts that numbers of more serious offenders will increase and admits: ‘Some countries are extremely difficult to remove a non-compliant person to… these include Iran, Somalia and Zimbabwe.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Man Who Invented Poison Gas: A Horror Story
by Dominic Selwood
Michael Gove, Nick Clegg, and Boris Johnson have fired the opening salvos in the 2014 political battle for the moral high ground over the First World War. But for all their ire and passion, it is an intellectually sterile, formulaic, and redundant debate.
No soundbite stereotypes can adequately package the brain-numbing complexity of the escalation of World War I, or the varying sentiments of those who suffered four years of industrialised death on barbed wire and icy ocean floors…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tower Hamlets Unveils New Election Procedures to Prevent Vote-Rigging
Tough new election procedures are being introduced by Tower Hamlets Council to prevent a repeat of the vote-rigging scandals of the past. The council unveiled its new rules last week (January 24) to increase confidence in the voting system ahead of local elections in May…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
A suspected plot to kill a magistrate with a deadly and rare poison extracted from the seeds of a Peruvian plant has been uncovered by police.
Detectives believe Meena Patel, 54, was the target of an unprecedented attack with Abrin, a substance described as ‘more poisonous than ricin.’
Her daughter Kuntal, 36, is accused of spiking her Diet Coke with the toxin after allegedly buying it from an underworld website based in the U.S.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Austria to Send 130 Additional Troops to EU Military Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
VIENNA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) — Austria will send an additional 130 troops to the European Union-led military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, local media reported Wednesday.
“The rapid increase is an important and positive step that underpins our focus on the Western Balkans, where we are now the strongest troop contingent,” Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz was quoted by the Austrian Press Agency as saying…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Forget the Revolution, Can We Have Mubarak Back?
Current events in Egypt can’t help but inspire a nasty sense of déjà vu. As Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prepares for his coronation as president, the echoes of the old regime are too loud to ignore. Sisi is a man moulded in the image of Mubarak, and fluent in his authoritarian methods. His election will reset the clock on the revolution — and weary Egyptians might just be grateful for it. By SIMON ALLISON…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Scarlett Johansson, New Face of Israeli Company, Leaves Oxfam
Over criticism for ads
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV — US actress Scarlett Johansson will not be an ambassador of international humanitarian group Oxfam anymore with which she has cooperated for the past eight years. The move was made over criticism the actress received for her decision to appear in ads for SodaStream, an Israeli company which makes beverage carbonation systems and has a factory in Maleeh Adumim, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
The actress’s rep said in a statement quoted by Israeli media that Johansson has ‘a fundamental divergence of opinions’ concerning the group’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which opposes trade with settlements, saying they are illegal and deny Palestinian rights. ‘Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scarlett Johansson Splits With Oxfam Over Israel Boycott
SCARLETT Johansson is ending her relationship with a humanitarian group after being criticised over her support for an Israeli company that operates in the West Bank.
A statement released by Johansson’s spokesman said the 29-year-old actress has “a fundamental difference of opinion” with Oxfam International because the humanitarian group opposes all trade from Israeli settlements, saying they are illegal and deny Palestinian rights.
“Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years,’’ the statement said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Watch Out BDS Crowd, Scarlett Johansson is on the Case
“What a Gal” was the tag line in an email sent me earlier today by Dr. William Firshein, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Brooklyn raised Bill “Velvi” Firshein is an unreconstructed Zionist whom I got to know in my activist days in the nutmeg state. We maintain a daily stream of conversation via emails after my retirement to Florida. Firshein is unafraid to write critical letters and emails to the editors of major media lambasting them for biased coverage of Israel and issues like the International Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and the recent academic ones. See our Iconoclast blog post here.
The wonderful gal that Velvi was referring to is 29 year old New York City native, Scarlett Johannson voted by Esquire as “the sexist woman alive”, not once but twice, in 2006 and 2013.
You might have seen her in Marvel’s the Avengers, Iron Man Two or heard her in Her. She is one hot film property as she is in four productions to be released in 2014 and another in 2015. Johannson is the daughter of a Danish father and American Jewish mother and TV producer.
The “what” that Firshein was referring to was the news today that Oxfam, the world hunger NGO based in the UK, was dropping her after eight years as its spokeswoman. They didn’t like her signing on to an endorsement deal to appear in a sexy Super Bowl ad this Sunday for SodaStream, an Israeli carbonation manufacturer that has a plant in the “disputed territories”.
The Daily Beast noted why Oxfam dropped her and what Johansson said:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
13 People Indicted in Lebanon on Terror Charges
BEIRUT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) — Lebanese State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr indicted Wednesday 13 people affiliated to armed group Abdullah Azzam Brigades on terror charges. Lebanon’s National News Agency said that the al-Qaida-linked group that claimed responsibility for the twin bombings on the Iranian embassy in Beirut in November…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Andrew Bostom
Just hours before President Obama delivered his State of the Union address (1/28/14), which included remarks (analyzed here) lauding how the P5 +1 agreement “halted” Iran’s nuclear weapons development program, a joint Congressional hearing demonstrated otherwise. Gregory S. Jones, a Senior Researcher at the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center testified that “the great flaw in the deal” was “it permits Iran to retain centrifuge enrichment.” He added, pointedly…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
Scores of Jordanians Stage Protest Against Kerry’s Peace Plan
AMMAN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) — Dozens of Jordanians staged a sit-in on Wednesday in protest at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposed plan to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Gathering near the U.S. embassy in Amman, dozens of demonstrators carried banners with slogans supporting the Palestinians and rejecting partial solutions to the Palestinian issue…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Corruption Scandal, 90 Istanbul Prosecutors Removed
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 30 — Turkish authorities have once again sacked state attorneys, according to local media reports on Thursday, removing 90 of Istanbul’s 120 prosecutors including three state attorneys in charge of anti-corruption probes involving dozens of people close to the government of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ever since the start of the corruption scandal on December 17, 5,000 police chiefs and officers and 120 magistrates have been removed from their posts. The opposition accuses Erdogan of being ‘ready for anything’ to cover up investigations and hold on to power.
The last prosecutors to be removed from office include Celal Kara, Mehmet Yuzgec and Mustafa Erol, who are in charge of corruption probes, reports Posta. Another two leading anti-corruption State attorneys were removed mid-January, Zekeriya Oz and Muammer Akkas.
Shortly before being transferred, Oz said he had been threatened by two officials sent by Erdogan and Akkas denounced the fact that police in Istanbul had refused to arrest 30 people close to the establishment on corruption charges. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag has opened an investigation on the two magistrates. The Turkish premier has repeatedly denounced that an ‘attempted coup’ is behind the anti-corruption investigations of magistrates.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Vladimir Putin Tells Brussels to Stay Out of Ukraine’s Political Crisis
President Vladmir Putin warned Europe to keep its hands off Ukraine on Tuesday, as Brussels sent its top foreign policy envoy to Kiev to try to mediate in the 10-week stand-off between President Viktor Yanukovychand the opposition on the streets.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
3 Killed in Caste Violence in N. India
NEW DELHI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — Three persons were killed in caste violence in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh earlier this week after some youths from a higher caste tried to rape a girl of lower caste, said local media Thursday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
4 Killed in Eastern Afghan Bomb Attacks
JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — Two policemen and two attackers were killed in two separate suicide bombings in eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Thursday, sources said.
In one attack, a man set off his explosive-packed suicide jacket in Pul-e-Behsoud area of the provincial capital Jalalabad city at around 9:16 a.m. (local time), killing himself on the spot but causing no casualties, the provincial police spokesman Azrat Husain Mashriqiwal told Xinhua…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Looks Ahead to a Year of Change
By the end of 2014, all foreign combat troops should have been withdrawn from Afghanistan, with some 34,000 US personnel scheduled to leave before February. The withdrawal coincides with the start of campaigning for the next presidential election in the country — although it could be weeks or even months before a new president is named following the April vote…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US-China Rivalry More Dangerous Than Cold War?
The prominent realist international relations scholar John Mearsheimer says there is a greater possibility of the U.S. and China going to war in the future than there was of a Soviet-NATO general war during the Cold War.
Mearsheimer made the comments at a lunch hosted by the Center for the National Interest in Washington, DC on Monday. The lunch was held to discuss Mearsheimer’s recent article in The National Interest on U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East. However, much of the conversation during the Q&A session focused on U.S. policy towards Asia amid China’s rise, a topic that Mearsheimer addresses in greater length in the updated edition of his classic treatise, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, which is due out this April.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Int’l Cooperation Breaks Cross-Border Child Abuse Ring: New Zealand Authorities
WELLINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — New Zealand law enforcement agencies said Thursday they had broken up an international Internet child sexual abuse network and helped rescue a 6-year-old victim in the United Kingdom…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Liberty and Islam in Australia
Q Society of Australia Inc presents First International Symposium on Liberty and Islam in Australia
Melbourne 8 to 10 March 20
From China to Iceland and from New York to Sydney, Islam is spreading fast. Since the 7th century this theocratic ideology, veiled in religious veneer, has conquered people and nations. No other ideology spawns discrimination, division and violence on such a global scale. A national Roy Morgan poll in November 2013 indicated the majority of Australians are concerned about Islam and 70 per cent believe Australia is not a better place because of Islam…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
More Muslims “Deported” From Southern Nigeria?
by John Campbell
Earlier this week I blogged on the arrest of 320 Muslim traders of northern origin in Rivers state on allegations that they were “Boko Haram.” According to the media, the traders had lived in Rivers state for many years, traveled to the north to buy vegetables to sell and returned home in a bus convoy because of poor security on the roads…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia’s Islamist Leader Released From CID Custody But Still Under House Arrest
Mogadishu — The spokesman of Hisbul Islam Mohamed Sheikh Osman Aruus has confirmed to Shabelle radio that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has been released from Habar Khadija ,the largest CID headquarters in Somalia and has been transferred to a house inside Mogadishu which is heavily guarded by Government troops.
“He has not yet gained his full freedom but I can assure to you that he has been relocated to another house” said Aruus during a telephone conversation with Shabelle radio…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The World Cup Matters, But Brazil is the Last Place in the World That Should Host It
Brazilians can blame it on FIFA all they want, but it’s really Brazil’s own fault.
When Dilma Rousseff went to the Vatican for Pope Francis’ enthroning, she took 72 “dignitaries” with her. Instead of staying at the palatial Brazilian embassy in Rome which would have saved taxpayer money, she stayed at the most expensive hotel with her entire entourage. This trip alone cost Brazilian taxpayers $500,000 dollars. On one trip, she spent 50 times the average Brazilian’s salary. A trip to a country the size of a small town that exports nothing and imports nothing from Brazil. Do you see why people are angry now? How can a government that cares so little for its people hold the honor of hosting the greatest, most watched, event on Earth?
Because let’s face it. Governments bid for hosting the World Cup, not countries. Brazilians are going to be saddled with more debt, and with white elephant stadiums like the ones in Manaus and Brasilia which will collect cobwebs for years to come after the tournament is over. And here is the cherry on top. This World Cup has already cost more than the past three World Cups put together, and the money continues to be spent. That’s South Africa +Germany+South Korea/Japan>Brazil in terms of cost. And where is all that money? It’s certainly not invested in Brazil’s shoddy airports or non-existing (but promised) railways. It’s not being invested in the stadiums either, those are all late, including the one that recently collapsed and killing a worker. All this money is going to line the pockets of the ruling party, who will use to keep itself in power for generations and generations to come.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Govt Planning ‘Failed Refugee Round-Up’
The Abbott government is fast-tracking the removal of asylum seekers who arrived by boat and have had their refugee claims rejected by authorities. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre claims it has been told of secret plans for a “mass round-up” of asylum seekers in the community for detention and possible deportation…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Navy Rescues 175 People Off Southern Sicily
Ship seized, 15 crew members arrested in migrant voyage
(ANSA) — Rome, January 30 — Six children were among 175 migrants rescued by the Italian navy in waters off the coast of Sicily earlier Thursday.
The migrants, reportedly from Syria, Egypt and Iraq, were treated on board by medical staff and were said to be in good physical condition except for one suffering from hypothermia.
The Italian Navy ship Fenice was alerted Wednesday night to the boat south of Capo Passero, on the southern tip of Sicily, by the ship’s helicopter during a patrol operation. The Fenice ship carrying the migrants was expected to reach the port of Catania late Thursday or Friday.
Meanwhile Navy frigate Aliseo, working with Catania’s anti-Mafia investigative unit seized a “mother” ship used to traffic illegal migrants, and arrested 15 crew members at the end of a complex surveillance operation. Italy has been struggling to cope with a rising number of migrants, many fleeing troubled homelands for Europe via boat, who often make Italy’s southern shores their first point of arrival on the continent.
Migrant security has been stepped up since October, when several rickety boats carrying migrants wrecked off the country’s coasts, killing roughly 400 people.
Italy’s southern migrant centers are often overcrowded and underfunded, drawing criticism from European authorities even as the Italian government begs its neighbors for support to deal with the waves of migrants washing up on its shores.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Kyenge to Submit Anti-Discrimination Bill
‘Increases options for victims, wipes out Fascist-era laws’
(ANSA) — Rome, January 28 — Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge told ANSA on Thursday she has prepared a bill “to amend or repeal discriminatory laws” in Italy. A favorite target of the anti-immigrant Northern League, Italy’s first black minister said the bill addresses discriminatory laws dating back to Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The bill will soon be presented before the cabinet, she said. In particular, the bill would “permanently delete any reference in legal codes to the Italian National Fascist Party, or the Italian Fascist Youth, as well as to membership of the Aryan race,” she said. “It will also recognize the right of a group to be heard before a court in cases of group discrimination against foreigners, including for racial, ethnic national or religious reasons. In this way there will be more defense options against abuse,” she said. The integration minister also said the bill has special provisions for defending women.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Overrun by the Rainbow Brigade
By Bernard Gaynor Deglis
When the author joined the Army as an innocent and eager lad, he never imagined facing the sack for holding beliefs a not-yet-formed, Defence-supported, homosexual lobby group would find disagreeable. But that is exactly what has happened…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Mayor Faces Discrimination Probe for Anti-Christian Sentiments
London Mayor Boris Johnson faces a legal investigation by the High Court as to whether he illegally ordered Christian ads. supporting ex-gays to be removed from London Buses, while permitting ads. by a gay lobby to run. Johnson had insisted he was not involved in the decision, but new E-mail evidence suggests he gave the order himself.
The actions which coincided with his re-election bid in 2012 bring into question whether he acted solely for political gain. The Court of Appeal ruling follows new evidence detailing emailing exchanges that suggest Johnson may have acted for an “improper purpose”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rainbow Hamlets Criticises East London Mosque for Defending ‘Homophobe’
EXCLUSIVE: A gay rights group has criticised the East London Mosque for defending a “homophobe” who declared gay people should be severely punished under Islamic law.
Rainbow Hamlets said the mosque’s decision to stand by Ibrahim Hewitt means it “does not understand what homophobia is or how it is spread”. Two weeks ago the charity Oxfam pulled an event at the mosque’s London Muslim Centre over headline speaker Hewitt’s homophobic writings. The mosque defended Mr Hewitt, saying he was not homophobic and it would work with him again…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
I don’t know about you, but it scares me when important, influential people talk like mental patients who haven’t had their meds.
You can’t help thinking that someone who pulls down a six-figure salary, or more, travels in a limo or a private jet, and gets to stand in the spotlight, lecturing the world while the mikes and cameras record it for posterity, has got to make more sense than some poor wino with the jim-jams. But the only difference is that no one listens to the wino.
Last week the U.N.’s new “climate change” czar, Christiana Figueras, advised the human race that democratic institutions just aren’t up to Saving the Planet from Global Warming. If we really want to survive, she said, we’d better dump freedom and switch over to communism. As further proof of sheer idiocy, she offered Red China as a role model.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
About the ads being pulled from London buses, hey it has happened, so how can it be deemed offensive?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Glatze
Who was gay, became Christian and got married last October. Not newsworthy enough but relevant.
Subject 2 Austrian troops going to Bosnia, they sure timed that appropriately, v salute to the Serbs or something? What with the latest Hollywood image of terrorists, Serb orthodox no less, uttering Slavs bogu, did the Austrians take the cue from Hollywood. (In jest). Just another twist of the vindictive dagger towards a certain of Christians from the West. Bog da mi pomogme….
This in…
http://www.dw.de/bosnian-salafists-movement-on-mission-to-recruit/a-17397173
the numbers are going up, from 60 being quoted at the end of 2013; now it is 100- 150 fighters. The figures for Kosovo vary considerably too, from 100 to well over 300.
No surprises there. Concealment tactics aren’t as good as they used to, one way or other.
DW article is totally mainstream in its reporting, with a lot of incorrect info being written, such as only 2000 foreign fighters in Bosnia in the 1990s.