A bomb exploded on a tourist bus in the Sinai Peninsula, killing three (or four, according to some accounts) South Korean tourists and the Egyptian driver. At least fourteen people were wounded by the blast.
In other news, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for an independent Scotland to join the European Union.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, RR, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Italy: Financial Crisis Leads to 149 Suicides in 2013
(AGI) Rome, Feb 15 — A study by Link Lab, the socio-economic research laboratory at the Link Campus University, has shown that 149 people in Italy killed themselves for financial reasons in 2013, one every two and a half days. The study, which has been running for over two years, showed that 89 people killed themselves for financial reasons in 2012, 40 percent of them in the last three months of the year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Signs Debt Limit Increase Into Law
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday signed a bill that lifts the country’s debt ceiling through March 15, 2015, declaring a halt of the fierce bipartisan contention on the issue in a year of Congressional election. Obama signed the bill during a weekend golf vacation in Southern California, the White House said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
American Way: How Barack Obama Joined the Quartet of ‘Tyrants’ On Mount Rushmore
by John Avlon, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Beast
American president sometimes seems to be suffering under a barrage of paranoid criticism, but so did Barack Obama’s most illustrious predecessors
Perspective is the thing we have least of in our politics. And as the USA celebrates Presidents’ Day, it is tempting to lament the lack of respect given to the Oval Office these days — especially its current occupant.
Barack Obama has been subjected what seems like an unusual amount of paranoid projection from high places during his five years in office. In addition to the daily drumbeat from Right-wing talk radio, websites and television, by the end of the 2012 election, no less than 89 books had been published with little purpose other that to propagate a monstrous image of the incumbent…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: US Army Trains for Martial Law in US
Shock investigation: Pentagon accelerates plan to confiscate guns, prosecute US conservatives.
The federal government has been in a big hurry to build a 300 acre city in just 2 years at an expense of $96 million in taxpayer funds in order to train the military “for problems we don’t even know we have yet.” If you’ve been following Infowars, you’ve seen us document over and over again what they’re training for with a detailed American city like this: martial law within this nation.
And now, The Telegraph is confirming the construction of this small town military simulation that will be used to train troops for combat against the American people.
Unlike the urban training centers we’ve seen before where the buildings are just empty concrete block structures or even plywood facades, this town is very detailed with glass windows, handicap parking signs, speed limit signs, logos on the subway that match the DC metro, and even a small town steeple (that was originally claimed to be a mosque). They’ve made it clear in manual after manual, scenario after scenario that they perceive the enemy as gun owners, limited government conservatives, libertarians and Christians.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British Al-Qaeda ‘Supergrass’ Lined Up as Star Video Witness in US Terror Trials
US prosecutors say convicted shoe bomber Saajid Badat will deliver “crucial” testimony from Britain in New York trials of Abu Hamza and Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law
He is a quietly-spoken former British grammar schoolboy who turned from A-Level textbooks to Islamic terrorism and was convicted as a co-conspirator in the “shoe bomber” plots. Now Saajid Badat is about to become the most important terrorist “supergrass” in history by testifying via video link from Britain about the inner-workings of al-Qaeda in two major US terror trials…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Climate Scientists Slam Obama Science Czar’s ‘Pseudo-Science Rambling’ on Global Warming
The night before President Barack Obama was set to address Californians stricken by a prolonged drought, White House science czar Dr. John Holdren told reporters that virtually all weather is being impacted by climate change and that droughts were getting “more frequent, they’re getting longer and they’re getting dryer.”
Two prominent climate scientists disagree. Former NASA scientist Dr. Roy Spencer and University of Colorado climate scientist Roger Pielke, Jr. slammed Holdren for his “pseudo-science rambling.”
“The idea that any of the weather we are seeing is in any significant way due to humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions verges on irrationality,” Spencer wrote in his blog…
Obama headed out west to California on Friday to announce his plan to create a $1 billion “Climate Resilience Fund” to help localities deal with the impacts of global warming. In a press call the night before, Holdren warned reporters of the impacts global warming has had on weather.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DARPA Announces Scary New Web Search Tool for Law Enforcement Called “Memex”
Move over George Orwell — the Defense Advanced Research (DARPA) announced recently its new “deep web” search program for police and law enforcement called: “Memex” which will be able to search the far corners of internet content that is unattainable by modern, mainstream search engines, offering DARPA”technological superiority in the area of content indexing and Web search on the Internet.” “Today’s web searches use a centralized, one-size-fits-all approach that searches the Internet with the same set of tools for all queries. While that model has been wildly successful commercially, it does not work well for many government use cases.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Feds Want to Track Your DNA Like a License Plate
Seek ‘biosignature’ spying ability to ‘identify, locate specific individuals’
The federal government doesn’t just want the ability to track down your car; it wants to be able to track down your body as well.
Just as details are emerging about a controversial, nationwide vehicle-surveillance database, WND has learned the federal government is planning an even more invasive spy program using “physiological signatures” to track down individuals.
The goal of this research is to detect — as well as analyze and categorize — unique traits the government can exploit to “identify, locate and track specific individuals or groups of people.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Insiders: ObamaCare Delay Hides Coming Prosecution of American Businesses
This latest delay represents another political calculation by the White House. They are counting on the fact that the criticism they will face now for bungling incompetence and disregarding their own law is less than the criticism they would receive for damaging American business closer to the elections. And the fine print of the latest announcement from the Administration is worse than the terrible headlines. This rule includes a provision that says you have to have the right motives for having a certain number of employees to be in compliance with Obamacare. Bear with me, that’s right: You must certify to the IRS — under the threat of perjury — that the reasons for your employee head count have nothing to do with your opposition to or avoidance of Obamacare.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Have you ever seen someone wearing Google Glass out at the bar? Like a real person at a real bar actually wearing Google Glass? If so, you know how absolutely ridiculous they look. Which may be the only factor we have that will stop this: A new app will allow total strangers to ID you and pull up all your information, just by looking at you and scanning your face with their Google Glass. The app is called NameTag and it sounds CREEPY. The “real-time facial recognition” software “can detect a face using the Google Glass camera, send it wirelessly to a server, compare it to millions of records, and in seconds return a match complete with a name, additional photos and social media profiles.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Knock That White Boy Out’: Arrests Made After Mob of Teens Attack Disabled Vet
Cleveland authorities have made several arrests following the mob beating of a disabled Army veteran by a group of teenagers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Even the most blatant liberal coverage has been unable to hide the tide of scandals
MSNBC has no right to call itself a news channel and its lack of viewers suggests that, except for those so wedded to liberalism, its multitudinous failures to meet any standard of journalism are testimony to the awareness of its appalling broadcasting. The Current channel, owned by Al Gore, fared so poorly that it was sold to Al Jezeera.
By contrast, The Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily are thriving.
What this suggests to me is that liberalism may be waning and those who no longer read, listen or view liberal media are beginning to include the millions of Americans who woke up to the horrors of Obamacare and concluded that this outrageous power grab of one sixth of the nation’s economy had nothing to do with providing healthcare coverage.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Meet George P. Bush, Our Next Ruler From the Bush Dynasty
Meet George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, nephew of former President George W. Bush, grandson of former President George H. W. Bush, and great grandson of former Senator Prescott Bush for whom his middle initial stands.
George P. Bush is currently running for Texas Land Commissioner on a Republican ticket, a little known but powerful position in the Texas government that oversees vast tracts of both state and federal land, in a race that might as well be unopposed. At the time Bush entered the race, there was no Democratic opponent, but even now it’s only the illusion of opposition. Bush has millions at his disposal, while his only opponent in the GOP primary is fighting for the spot with less than $4,000 to his name (a name with much less recognition). This is a common tactic, to run for a little known position as a political “in” that will allow someone to quickly move up the chain of authority.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama ‘Weaponizing Government’ Against Nonprofits
The leader of a prominent grassroots organization targeted for unlawful scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service says she is not surprised by evidence of collaboration between the government and liberal organizations in reviewing applications for tax-exempt status.
WND broke the news that the IRS essentially subcontracted its responsibility to review the applications to the Urban Institute, a leftist organization that receives major federal funding but also gets significant financial backing from liberal billionaire George Soros. Specifically, online applicants are directed to the Urban Institute’s website if they take in less than $50,000 in annual receipts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Pushes TPP Negotiations Despite Mounting Opposition at Home and Abroad
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi firmly announced her rejection of the “Fast Track” bill at an event on Wednesday, saying it was “out of the question.” Its passage has become increasingly tenuous since Senate Majority leader Harry Reid came out against it two weeks ago.
Fast Track is a mechanism that empowers the White House with sweeping authority to sign off on trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), limiting Congress’ constitutional powers to set trade objectives, choose trading partners, and call hearings and amend all provisions. Opposition from Democrat leaders in the House and Senate is a major setback for the Fast Track bill, and likely comes as a result of public opposition from hundreds of thousands of individuals and organizations across the US.
Despite these blows, Obama and the US Trade Rep are still forging ahead to try to bring TPP closer to agreement among the 12 negotiating countries. US Trade Rep Michael Froman will meet this weekend with Japan’s trade minister, who is head of the country’s TPP negotiations, to reconcile differences on some major remaining sticking points around tariffs and auto trade. The next TPP meeting, already delayed several times, will begin on February 22 in Singapore. Then in April, President Obama is scheduled to make a trip to Asia. A White House press statement this week shows that TPP is clearly on his agenda as he visits two countries participating in the negotiations.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Putting Big Brother in the Driver’s Seat: V2V Transmitters, Black Boxes & Drones
Time to buckle up your seatbelts, folks. You’re in for a bumpy ride. We’re hurtling down a one-way road toward the Police State at mind-boggling speeds, the terrain is getting more treacherous by the minute, and we’ve passed all the exit ramps. From this point forward, we’re on the losing end of a technological revolution that has already taken hostage our computers, our phones, our finances, our entertainment, our shopping, our appliances, and now, it’s focused its sights on our cars. As if the government wasn’t already able to track our movements on the nation’s highways and byways by way of satellites, GPS devices, and real-time traffic cameras, government officials are now pushing to require that all new vehicles come installed with black box recorders and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, ostensibly to help prevent crashes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans Warn Against 2016 Strategy That Goes Overboard on Attacking Clintons’ Political Past
Former Bush administration adviser Karl Rove on Sunday cautioned Republicans against a 2016 presidential election strategy that focuses too much on the political history of potential Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Rove told “Fox News Sunday” he was uncertain whether revisiting Clinton and husband Bill Clinton’s years in the White House would help Republicans win the presidency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Republicans: Obama Violating Constitution, But Little Can be Done About it
Washington Republicans on Sunday restated their argument that President Obama has violated the Constitution by using executive orders to alter the Affordable Care Act, but acknowledged they likely have no recourse or ability to stop another incident.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Slaying of U.S. Girl Was Sacrifice by 2 Teens Trying to Sell Their Souls to the Devil
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Two teenage boys were hoping to make a deal with the devil when they sexually assaulted and killed a 15-year-old suburban Houston girl in a satanic ritual, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Seventeen-year-old Jose E. Reyes and a 16-year-old boy are accused of disfiguring the girl’s body, including carving an upside down crucifix on her stomach. Reyes and the 16-year-old boy, whose name is not being released because he is a juvenile, each face a capital murder charge for the death of Corriann Cervantes. Authorities say that after the boys lured Cervantes to a vacant apartment in southeast Houston on Feb. 5, they hit her with an ashtray and toilet tank lid and stabbed her in the face with a screwdriver.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ted Cruz is No Larry McDonald, Part 2
“We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” — Aesop
“The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” — Thomas Jefferson
So, Just Who Was Paul Weyrich?
We need to take a look at the close friendship between the grand poobah of the secretive Council for National Policy, (CNP) Paul Weyrich, and Ted Cruz. (The CNP was founded in 1981, allegedly to counter the CFR, yet there were five CFR members on the board of the new CNP). Weyrich was the founding president of the Heritage Foundation from 1973 — 1974. He was also the founder of the American Legislative Exchange Council, (ALEC) in 1973, and director from 1975 to 1978. (ALEC’s membership is 95% corporate, along with 2,500 of the 7,500 legislators from every state. This is where state legislation originates. ALEC has long pushed for a Constitutional Convention. The Church of Scientology is also an ALEC member). [Link]
Paul was also a member of The Interfaith Council for Environmental Stewardship (ICES), which amounts to a “green” Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) document, with many involved already having signed the ECT or ECT II or other ecumenical ventures. ECT includes CFR member Dr. Richard Land. Their Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship, signed by Evangelicals, Catholics and Jews, is an environmental statement of faith uniting these same groups in yet another venue.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Top Cuomo Aide Granted Waiver After Repeatedly Breaking NY Gun Law
A top aide to strict gun-grabbing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been granted a waiver for carrying a firearm at government offices in violation of state law.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
BMJ Investigation Exposes Big Pharma as Conspirator in WHO Pandemic Flu Scam
(NaturalNews) The World Health Organization (WHO) is the subject of a new investigation aimed at uncovering what really took place during the 2009 global influenza pandemic, which led to tens of millions of people being vaccinated for so-called “swine flu.” A joint investigation by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has already uncovered major conflicts of interest at WHO, whereby vaccine companies profited heavily from the pandemic and the mass hysteria that it generated.
The investigation is focused specifically on the emergency advisory committee that was assigned to make official recommendations to WHO about how to plan for the pandemic, which was fraught with controversy from the start. Comprising this advisory panel were individuals highly connected to pharmaceutical companies, say BMJ and BIJ, many of whom had a vested financial interest in promoting antiviral drugs and influenza vaccines, which have been linked to causing narcolepsy and other disorders.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Says Yes to Mother Tongue Campaigning
Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov has endorsed election campaigning in languages different than Bulgarian — provided that there is an interpreter available. “I believe that, if there is an interpreter, the campaigning will be de facto in Bulgarian, too,” Mikov has told Darik radio.
On Friday, the Bulgarian Parliament rejected the possibility of election campaigning in any native language other than Bulgarian, fueling discontent in the predominantly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, a member of the ruling coalition. Mikov said Saturday that he disapproved of the move, stating that lawmakers had been misguided by “constant demons of suspicion” regarding some ethnic groups.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
By Anna Katharina Schaffner
Certain illnesses seem to offer themselves as fertile ground for reflection on the state of society as a whole. Tuberculosis and syphilis, and later cancer and AIDS, have all been used as barometers for measuring changing cultural assumptions that reach far beyond medical debates. The symbolic stakes appear even higher in the field of mental health — hysteria, for example, has long fascinated commentators, owing mainly to the rapid rise and fall, and the highly gendered nature, of the diagnosis. Yet no condition has attracted as much critical attention as exhaustion, especially at the present moment, and no nation is as preoccupied with the topic as the Germans…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Germany is ‘Planning to Step Up Counter-Espionage’: Report
Germany is planning to possibly resume counter-espionage measures against several Western allies, according to a report in the news magazine Spiegel. The report said British and US embassies could be targeted.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Irrelevant, Broke European Nation May Stop Threatening World Leaders With Arrest
Spain’s national parliament has once again voted to limit the southern European country’s use of “universal jurisdiction” to hunt down politicians which its own judges have deemed as potentially in violation of international law.
Transnational human rights organizations criticized the move and warned that it will mark the end of Spain’s self-proclaimed role as an enforcer of of its view of international justice, reports The Guardian.
With about 47 million people, Spain ranks somewhere between Burma (population: about 55 million) and Tanzania (about 45 million). Its gross domestic product is a bit higher than Mexico’s.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi ‘Heir of Machiavelli’ Says German Daily SZ
But could be ‘next giraffe destroyed by PD’ says FAZ
(ANSA) — Berlin, February 15 — Florence Mayor and likely new Italian premier Matteo Renzi’s ouster of Democratic Party (PD) colleague Enrico Letta has shown he is a worthy heir of Niccolò Macchiavelli, the Florentine Renaissance proponent of realpolitik, German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Saturday. The Bavarian paper said the PD leader apparently acted on a key precept of power plays laid down in Machiavelli’s masterpiece The Prince when he “threw party friend Enrico Letta out the window very coldly”. SZ said the 39-year-old premier-in-waiting was “very different” from his 47-year-old predecessor, “young, charismatic and energetic”, with a “will to power” in wanting to scrap the old guard.
Compared to Letta’s unassuming manner, SZ said, Renzi has “double the charisma” and he knows how to “whip up popular enthusiasm”.
But he won’t pursue very different policies from Letta’s, it said.
“Europe can count on the fact that he will call into question the EU’s 3% limit on budget deficits”. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, on the other hand, warned Renzi that he could be “the next giraffe” destroyed by the PD, recalling this week’s headline-grabbing case at a Danish zoo.
Der Spiegel, under the headline “Italy’s Tony Blair,” said that now “everything will become different, colourful, dynamic and perhaps even revolutionary”.
Die Welt headlined Letta Gives Way To Renzi, Berlusconi’s Comeback Could Succeed over an article echoing Friday’s fears voiced by Bild that the changeover might give opportunities to the three-time premier, media magnate and centre-right opposition leader, who is gearing to combat Renzi despite a ban from office on a tax-fraud conviction.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: British Dailies Liken Renzi to Fonzie
Happy Days beckoning for Italy, they wonder
(ANSA) — Rome, February 15 — British dailies the Guardian and The Times on Saturday likened Italy’s probable new premier Matteo Renzi to Fonzie.
Both dailies ran a picture of the dynamic young Florence mayor and Democratic Party (PD) leader alongside one of Henry Winkler as the ultimate cool cat from the TV hit Happy Days.
Under the headline, ‘Italy’s new prime minister: is Renzi a young Blair, Berlusconi — or the Fonz?’, the left-leaning Guardian noted that “critics say Democratic party star Matteo Renzi has reverted to old Italian tactics as he looks set to take power without election”.
Calling him “the maverick young Italian prime minister in waiting”, the Guardian recalled that the “bold, frank” reform-minded and business-friendly Renzi had earned the nickname Il Rottamatore — The Scrapper — for “his disregard for the old political machine” Now the politician with the most consistently high approval ratings in Italy, it said the 39-year-old’s “blend of chutzpah and dynamism seduced many voters who felt he articulated their own exasperation with an ageing, sclerotic political class”.
But it cited fears that he might be “simply too charismatic, telegenic and image-conscious to be reliable” and that his effective ouster of premier Enrico Letta, his party colleague, smacked of “a palace coup”.
The Guardian recalled a 19-year-old Renzi’s winning appearance on Italy’s Wheel of Fortune in 1994, the year of Silvio Berlusconi first election win, and described him as “a young man in a hurry”.
The Times, under the headline The Fonz, said Renzi was promising Happy Days for Italy.
“Once in power, however, Matteo Renzi could end up behaving more like Baroness Thatcher”, it said. The Financial Times ran an editorial saying Renzi Takes a Dangerous Short Cut and also called the PD leader “a young man in a hurry to rescue Italy from crisis”. The Daily Telegraph said Renzi, “like (Mario) Monti before him, is seen as a white knight coming to Italy’s rescue”.
Across the Atlantic, the International New York Times headlined Political Star Rises on Vow to Upend Italy’s Old Order and observed that “Renzi engineered (Letta’s) removal and is poised to succeed him, but now he faces the challenge of shaking the country out of its malaise”.
Renzi, who is reportedly working on a “shock therapy” to create jobs, provide more housing and streamline government, is expected to get a government-formation mandate from President Giorgio Napolitano Saturday night or Sunday morning.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Elkann Blasted for Chiding Young People as Lacking Ambition
President of Fiat Chrysler says jobs exist if youth just look
(ANSA) — Sondrio, February 14 — The president of Fiat Chrysler John Elkann was blasted on Friday after saying that work is available for young people, but too many do not have the drive to get out and find it.
In comments to students during a session at a bank headquarters in the northern city of Sondrio, near Italy’s border with Switzerland, Elkann said that young people are lacking in ambition.
“The work is there, but young people are not very determined to find it,” said Elkann, during a question and answer session on the topic of education.
As an example, he said, the hotel industry is always looking for employees, “but there is little (interest)…because young people are doing well or at home or do not have ambition”.
His comments on employment seem inconsistent with Italy’s unemployment rate for 15-to-24-year-olds recorded at 41.6% in December, the latest available figures. “If I look at the many initiatives that are there, I do not see in (young people) the desire to seize these opportunities,” said Elkann, an American-born industrialist and grandson of Gianni Agnelli, whose family founded Turin-based Fiat and for decades been the principle shareholders. The comments rankled Italian politicians. “I believe that today the heir and representative of the Agnelli family has missed an opportunity to be silent,” said Giorgio Airaudo, a member of the leftist Sel party who sits on a parliamentary labour committee.
“When you have (a) fortune and an ease of choice, you should have more respect and more understanding for those (who are) young, seeking every day to build and invent a future in a country where work is reduced, is precarious and decreased in value”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bonino Thanks Ashton for Statements on Detained Marines
(AGI) Rome, Feb 15 — Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on Saturday thanked the EU head of foreign affairs and security, Catherine Ashton, for expressing concern that the Indian government would try two Italian marines under an anti-terrorism law. Ms Ashton’s statements acknowledge that India’s decision to prosecute the marines under such a legislation would undermine the dignity of the Italian marine officers and of Italy as a country, Ms Bonino said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Naples: The Beauty and the Horror
Luigi De Magistris, a left-leaning former prosecutor, was the latest would-be savior for the troubled Italian city. But look around, things in Naples are worse than ever
Some considered him the “Sun King,” when he was elected in 2011. Luigi De Magistris, the left-wing mayor of both the most beautiful and ugly place on earth, now must manage a city teetering on the brink of economic collapse after the Court of Auditors rejected his 10-year plan to balance Naples’ finances.
What happened to the man they thought would be their Messiah? Two and a half years after his election, De Magistris appealed to President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, so that Naples would not be reduced to ruin. Is the end of an era far away?
“If he wants to know how we are doing, I’ll tell him: we’re like these courtyards,” says Renato Nunziatelli, a middle-aged plumber, adding — “follow me.”
We go to Via Benedetto Croce — known better as spaccanapoli, the street that “splits” the city — to the convent of Santa Chiara, a masterpiece commissioned by King Robert of Anjou, just a few dozen meters away from where the tour buses stop. The walls of the basilica are filthy, covered in blue paint and black soccer-team graffiti. Three steps alongside the church lead to two courtyards.
The first is closed by a gate and inside it are empty cans and plastic bags. This scattering of garbage is in one of the most prestigious dumps on the planet. The stench of urine is unbearable and it’s the same a bit farther up in the alley of San Pietro a Majella. Scooters whiz past, their passengers without helmets, others smoking cigarettes loiter on the sidewalk…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Scottish Independence: Barroso Says Joining EU Would be ‘Difficult’
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” for an independent Scotland to join the European Union.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Fun, Fun, Fun With a Preacher of Hate at Legoland
Near the Royal town of Windsor is a family theme park — one of the Legoland chain. Owned by Merlin entertainment, who also own Chessing World of Adventure (I remember that when it was Chessington Zoo), Alton Towers, Madame Tussards and more. It’s the second biggest entertainment corporation in Europe; only Disney is larger.
Legoland will open for the 2014 season on 14th March, but on 9th March the park is booked for a Muslim family funday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Plans for Mosque Are Scaled Back
Mosque leaders are ‘optimistic’ resubmitted plans to relocate a place of worship will get the go ahead.
Proposals to move the Preston Muslim and Cultural Centre from 21 Fishergate Hill to 26/27 Fishergate Hill and 11/11a Grafton Street were rejected by Preston Council’s planning committee last year after councillors said it was too big…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Syria Suicide Bomber: When Will Britain Take Jihadis Seriously?
Andrew Gilligan says the Crawley suicide bomber is just the latest Islamist to be linked to the extremist group al-Muhajiroun
In the wake of news about Abdul Waheed Majeed, the first British suicide bomber in Syria, the case of a young man from London called Mohammed Hasnath might seem small beer. But it demonstrates the same things: the risk of extremism that this country faces, and the failure, or refusal, of the authorities to tackle it at source.
In February 2011, dozens of stickers appeared across the east London borough of Tower Hamlets, proclaiming it a “gay-free zone” and promising that “verily Allah is severe in punishment” on those who transgressed. From the very start, as this newspaper discovered, the police had clear CCTV pictures of the unidentified culprit, putting up the stickers at a local station…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Bomb Blast Hits Egyptian Tourist Bus
A bomb explosion on a tourist bus in Egypt’s Sinai Penisula has killed at least four people and wounded several others. It comes amid a growing Islamist insurgency in the region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt ‘Has Detained Thousands on Dubious Charges Since Mohammed Morsi Overthrown’
by Louisa Loveluck
Egyptian children as young as 14 facing routine abuse in custody in the seven months since overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, Amnesty International report finds
Crammed into a suffocating prison cell, forced to eat cockroach-riddled food and only allowed outside for five minutes at a time, Heba would have realised that her situation was depressingly similar to thousands of others across Egypt…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Cabinet Bans Importing Motorcycles, Toktoks
The Cabinet under Prime Minister Hazem el-Biblawy decided on Wednesday 12/2/2014 to impose a one-year imports’ ban on motorcycles and the three-wheeled unlicensed taxi known as tok-toks, along with their manufacturing components…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Health Ministry Reinforces Assistance to Taba Blast Victims
Health minister Maha El-Rabat in direct contact with hospitals near site of attack which killed four and injured 14, sending extra doctors and nurses to deliver aid
Egypt’s health minister Maha El-Rabat has ordered all medical staff to be on call in South Sinai governorate after a bomb blast in Taba on Sunday left at least four dead, Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website reported.
The minister also sent 16 doctors and 40 nurses to deliver medical aid at Taba and Nuweiba Central Hospitals, where most of those injured in the blast are being treated.
El-Rabat affirmed she has been in direct contact with the hospitals after the bombing to make sure that enough blood is available on site.
Sunday’s attack on a tourist bus in the Red Sea resort town of Taba killed at least four passengers, three South Korean tourists and one Egyptian, and injured 14.
| [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Terror Attack Targets Christian Pilgrims in Sinai
Four people including three believed to be South Korean Christian pilgrims were killed on Sunday by a bomb that tore through their bus near Egypt’s border with Israel in the Sinai peninsula. The bus was heading to the Taba border crossing after taking the pilgrims to visit St Catherine’s Monastery, at the foot of Mount Sinai, when its front half was engulfed in an explosion.
The bombing, said by the authorities to be most likely the work of terrorist insurgents based in the Sinai, marked a dramatic shift in their current campaign against the Egyptian regime, which to date has targeted the military and police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Bombing of Tourist Bus Kills at Least Four in Sinai
An explosion tore through a tourist bus in a resort town in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Sunday afternoon, killing at least four people — three tourists and the bus driver — and injuring at least 20 others, according to Egyptian officials and state news media.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred while the bus was in the southern Sinai town of Taba, near Egypt’s border with Israel, remained unconfirmed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Explosion Kills 4 Korean Tourists in Sinai, Egyptian Security Officials Say
An explosion ripped through a tourist bus near a border crossing between Egypt and Israel in the Sinai Peninsula, killing four South Koreans and the Egyptian driver, security officials said. The officials said the source of the explosion was not clear, but they believe it was either a car bomb or a roadside bomb that was detonated by remote control.
They said the bus had arrived at the Taba crossing from the ancient Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Catherine’s in central Sinai.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kidnappers Target Christian Children in Egypt
Kerolas Adel Abdel-Malak, a 25-year-old Christian from Egypt, was on his way home from Minya City last week when he was kidnapped at gunpoint and later held for ransom. Malak’s attack is the most recent in a long list of Christian kidnappings in Minya province in Upper Egypt, 125 miles south of Cairo. At least eight similar cases were reported in the last two weeks alone.
“Minya has probably the highest percentage of Christians in the country,” said Todd Daniels, a regional spokesman for International Christian Concern. “In (Minya) province and villages, where most of the kidnappings happen, there is a lot of poverty.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lawyers for Egypt’s Ousted President Walk Out of Court in Protest at Defendants’ Glass Cage
Lawyers for Egypt’s ousted president and his co-defendants walked out of court on Sunday to protest the soundproof glass cage in which defendants are held during proceedings, state TV reported.
It said judge Shaaban el-Shamy ordered a recess after the lawyers left the hearing, the first in a case in which Morsi and 35 others are facing charges of conspiring with foreign groups and undermining national security.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ministry: Jihadists Kill 4 in Tunisia
Jihadists shot dead two people in a car at a roadblock near Roman ruins in Tunisia and two policemen who later sped to the scene, the interior ministry said Sunday. The killings occurred on Saturday night in the Jendouba area of western Tunisia near Bulla Regia, the site of historic Roman ruins, it said in a statement.
Tunisia has been wracked by violence blamed on jihadist groups since the January 2011 revolution that ousted long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and ignited the Arab Spring.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Morsi Faces Fresh Trial in Egypt on Spying Charges
Egypt’s deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi has appeared in court in Cairo on espionage charges and conspiring to commit terror attacks. It’s one of four trials against Morsi.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Promised Land? The Bedouins’ Israeli Plight
A plan to forcibly move 30,000 Bedouins from their makeshift homes in the Negev desert may been shelved, but the quality of life of the Israeli semi-nomadic Arab Muslims continues to deteriorate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bahrain Accuses Iranian Supreme Leader of Inciting Protests
MANAMA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — Bahrain on Saturday accused Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of inciting anti-government protests in the kingdom, pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Shiite Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr Quits Politics
One of Iraq’s main political blocs is in question after influential Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced his retirement from politics. The move comes two months before national elections.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Army Fights to Wrest Northern Town From ISIL
Iraqi troops backed by helicopter gunships fought on Saturday to retake full control of a northern town from fighters who overran parts of it earlier this week, the mayor and other local officials said. Talib Mohammed, the mayor of Sulaiman Pek, 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, said the army had met fierce resistance in some parts of the town, after gaining some ground on Friday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan Returns Fire at 10 Armed Men at Syrian Border Area, Wounding 7 and Arresting 3
A Jordanian army spokesman says 10 gunmen from Syria opened fire on troops patrolling an isolated border area in the north. The spokesman says the patrols returned fire, wounding seven and arresting three.
It is the first time that Jordan publicly reports an armed attack from Syria, although there have been several smuggling incidents in recent months.
Pro-U.S. Jordan, only one of two Arab nations that has signed a peace treaty with Israel, is concerned that al-Qaida or militants affiliated with its rival Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah may target it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait: Cross-Dresser Enraged; Beggar in Abaya
A man faces charges including cross-dressing and verbal assault pressed by a boutique manager following an altercation that started when she refused to serve him. In her statements to police, the Salmiya store manager explained that the man ‘flipped out’ when she asked him to leave after discovering his ‘true identity’. According to eyewitnesses, the man who was reportedly dressed in women’s clothes refused to cooperate when asked to leave, then started verbally attacking the store manager and even attempted to physically assault her. The man, a Kuwaiti in his twenties, was reportedly still making verbal assaults when police arrived at the scene and put him under arrest.
Beggar in abaya
A man managed for weeks to deceive worshipers that he was a woman seeking financial help, before police revealed his true identity on Friday. Jahra officers had reported to a mosque in Saad Al-Abdullah in response to an emergency call made after the Friday prayer about a veiled woman begging outside following the weekly prayer. Police approached the woman to put her under arrest for illegal begging, and immediately grew suspicious of her behavior. The beggar refused to talk and then ran away, but police captured her and soon discovered that there was a man under the abaya and niqab. Police found KD 17 which the Bangladeshi man managed to collect in half an hour. He was taken to the area’s police station to face legal charges.
| — Hat tip: RR | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon Forms Government After 10-Month Deadlock
BEIRUT, Feb 15 (Reuters) — Lebanon announced a new government on Saturday, breaking a 10-month political deadlock during which spillover violence from neighbouring Syria worsened internal instability…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to Offer Saudi Arabia Coordination on Syria Policy
King of Saudi Arabia expected to push for ousting of Assad, present concrete steps toward curbing support for extremists fighters in Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar World Cup: 400 Nepalese Die on Nation’s Building Sites Since Bid Won
More than 400 Nepalese migrant workers have died on Qatar’s building sites as the Gulf state prepares to host the World Cup in 2022, a report will reveal this week.
The grim statistic comes from the Pravasi Nepali Co-ordination Committee, a respected human rights organisation which compiles lists of the dead using official sources in Doha. It will pile new pressure on the Qatari authorities — and on football’s world governing body, Fifa — to curb a mounting death toll that some are warning could hit 4,000 by the time the 2022 finals take place.
It also raises the question of how many migrant workers in total have died on construction sites since Qatar won the bid in 2010. Nepalese workers comprise 20% of Qatar’s migrant workforce, and many others are drafted in from countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Third of Afghan Heroin Goes to Russia — Kremlin Official
MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti) — About a third of heroin produced in Afghanistan enters Russia, a Kremlin official said Saturday.
The drugs are either sold in Russia or pass through the country en route to other destinations including Europe, Zamir Kabulov, the presidential envoy to Afghanistan, told Ekho Moskvy radio.
Kabulov complained that US troops stationed in the Central Asian country as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were not doing enough to battle the drug trade there, an accusation Russia has repeatedly made against the United States…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Protesters Vacate Kyiv City Hall After Two-Month Occupation
Anti-government demonstrators in Ukraine are evacuating a key Kyiv building that has been at the center of anti-government demonstrations. The protesters had occupied the Kyiv city hall for the past two months.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Blast Rocks Afghan Southern Town of Kandahar, Casualties Feared
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) — A bomb blast shocked Kandahar city in south Afghanistan on Sunday, casualties feared, a local official said.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Marines Case ‘Should Have Been Settled in First Three Days’
‘Trapped in India judicial and electoral workings’ says envoy
(ANSA) — New Delhi, February 15 — The case of two Italian anti-piracy marines accused of murdering two Indian fishermen two years ago should have been settled in the first three days, before they became enmeshed in an Indian state’s “deadly” judicial and electoral workings, Italy’s envoy said Saturday. “No one could have imagined, on February 15, 2012, that this unheard-of affair involving two Marine Fusiliers would be protracted for two long years,” Foreign Undersecretary Staffan de Mistura told ANSA as he was about to leave for India on another bout of shuttle diplomacy.
“The most suitable time to resolve it were the first 72 hours,” the long-serving diplomat said.
After that, de Mistura said, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre “entered the deadly judicial and political-electoral gears of Kerala,” the southern India off whose coast the incident occurred.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NATO Service Member Dies in Afghanistan
KABUL, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — One foreign soldier was killed in blast in Afghanistan on Saturday, the coalition forces confirmed. “An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today,” the NATO-led ISAF said in a statement. The death has brought to 15 the number of NATO soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan so far this year.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
China Will Use EMP Weapons to Knock Out US: Report
China is likely to mobilize electromagnetic pulse weapons against the United States in any potential war over the Taiwan strait, according to a report prepared by F. Michael Maloof, a retired US defense department official for the WorldNetDaily, a conservative news website based in Washington. Given the possibility that the United States Navy will deploy its aircraft carrier to the Western Pacific in the event of China entering into a territorial conflict with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines over the East and South China Sea or launching any potential military action against Taiwan, Maloof indicated that the People’s Liberation Army is looking to use the electromagnetic pulse weapons as part of a “one-two punch” to knock out the defensive electronics aboard the US vessels.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lest We Forget Our Anzacs of Today
By James Brown
For almost 100 years Australians have set aside time on Anzac Day to think about our forbears’ sacrifices in a battle on a distant shore, in a conflict that none of us now alive ever experienced. For almost 100 years we have mouthed a silent oath not to forget so much heroism, and never again to make such mistakes in war…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
World Peace Bell to be Rung at WWI Centenary Commemorations
Bells will ring at dusk across NSW and Australia to mark the centenary of World War I on August 4.
The focal point of the “sombre and respectful” service under proposals seen by Fairfax Media is likely to be in Cowra, where the World Peace Bell will be rung by dignitaries representing the nations involved in the conflict, and likely to include consuls-general from Germany and Italy…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
11 Illegal Miners Rescued in South Africa, Others Reluctant to Emerge Over Arrest Fears
Men who were working illegally in an abandoned mine in South Africa were trapped Sunday, but rescue workers cleared the shaft entrance and at least 11 miners were escorted to safety Sunday, officials said.
Some of the victims still below the surface in the gold mine shaft near Johannesburg appeared to be reluctant to emerge because of fears they would be arrested, emergency responder Kobus Du Plooy said by telephone from the scene.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Will Send More Troops to Central African Republic
(AGI) Paris, Feb 15 — French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday that the high level of hatred and violence in the Central African Republic warrants sending more troops to the country. France plans to boost its military presence in its former colony from 1,600 to 2,000 troops in a bid to bring stability, not only to the capital, Bangui, but to the whole country. The French troops are supported by 6,000 soldiers of the African Union peacekeeping force MISCA.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Police Arrest 2,000 Suspected Teenage Cult Members
Expectedly, cult related war activities across Delta State have horrendously threatened the relative peace existing in the state, especially with the new dimension of teenagers who have taken to various cult groups with the aim of stealing, raping and unleashing mayhem on unsuspecting members of the public…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria’s Boko Haram ‘In Village Massacre’
Suspected Islamist militants have raided a Nigerian village and murdered dozens, according to witnesses. The gunmen reportedly rounded up a group of men in Izge village and shot them, before going door-to-door and killing anyone they found.
Officials said they suspected the Boko Haram group was behind the attack. Boko Haram, which claims to be fighting to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, is notorious for extreme violence and indiscriminate attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
SA Mine Rescue Halted After Miners Refuse to Leave
The operation to rescue illegal gold miners trapped in an abandoned mine in South Africa has been halted overnight.
So far 11 miners have been rescued from the shaft near Johannesburg.
Other trapped miners refused to leave after discovering they faced arrest at the surface. It is unclear how many remain underground, with reports suggesting they could number 200.
A full rescue operation will not restart unless the miners request it, said an emergency services official.
Werner Vermaak of ER24 told the BBC the mine site would be guarded overnight by a private security company, who can call for help if the miners change their mind. They could also prevent unauthorised rescue attempts.
Mr Vermaak said the miners would not be denied help if they called for it.”They will be offered rescue should they decide to come out,” he said, adding “but they will be arrested should they come to the surface again,” he said.
Lacking ladders or ropes, they will not be able to leave the mine without help, he added…
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Somalia: Genaeral Inda Addee — I Will Kill Alshabab Members Without Taking Them to Court
Mogadishu — General Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, who is a member of the top officials of the federal Gov’t told the media that he will kill any Alshabab members if he comes across them. Mr. Inda Adde addressed the media in Yaqshid district where his House was demolished by Alshabab members as he claims added that Alshabab members are released on corruption deals after they are arrested and taken back to their stronghold towns such as Barawe…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
South African Officials Clear Mine Shaft Entrance, Call off Rescue Operation
South African officials have cleared a mine shaft entrance allowing miners who had been trapped below the chance to escape. However many of the miners, who had been working illegally, refused rescue for fear of arrest.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Survivors: Extremists Kill Dozens of Villagers, Slit Throats, In Northeast Nigeria
YOLA, Nigeria — Chanting “Allah is great,” suspected Islamic militants gunned down dozens of villagers and slit the throats of others in the latest attack in a northeast Nigerian area where the military has been bombing extremists out of forest hideouts, survivors said Sunday.
Local government chairman Maina Ularamu told The Associated Press he has reports of more than 50 people killed in Saturday night’s attack on Izghe village in Borno state.
Sunday afternoon, funeral rites were held for 52 Muslim victims at the central mosque in the nearby town of Madagali, mosque officials confirmed.
One survivor said the village list of those killed amounted to 63 dead. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
He said the attackers looted the village food stores, set ablaze mud homes with thatched roofs and made off with about 10 vehicles.
Survivors said they are among hundreds of people from Izghe and neighbouring villages who fled on foot through the bush in the night from Borno into Adamawa, two of three northeast Nigerian states under a state of emergency to halt a 4-year-old Islamic uprising. The area is dotted by mainly Christian villages in a predominantly Muslim region, but the Nigerian militants have killed Christians and Muslims indiscriminately, with frequent attacks on mosques and churches.
Insurgents of the Boko Haram terrorist network routinely attack civilians after they are attacked by the military.
On Wednesday, the air force began daily aerial bombardments near Izghe of extremist hideouts in the Sambisa Forest along the border with Cameroon. Soldiers moved in on foot following the bombing and at least nine troops and several militants were killed in a fierce hours-long battle, according to hospital and military sources.
After that attack, Ularamu urged the military to deploy more troops, saying the soldiers are outnumbered and outgunned by militants armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons as well as armoured cars looted during attacks. Dozens more soldiers were stationed in recent days in Madagali town, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the scene of Saturday’s attack.
Thousands have been killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes by the state of emergency and by militants who want to create an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer with a population of more than 160 million made up of about equal numbers of Christians and Muslims.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Suspected Islamists Carry Out Deadly Village Raid in Nigeria
Suspected Boko Haram Islamists have raided a mostly Christian village in northeastern Nigeria, killing dozens of people, witnesses say. The region is facing an Islamist insurgency.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Protests Turn Violent in Venezuela Amid Growing Anger
The demonstrations are the largest faced by President Nicolás Maduro since he came to power last year.
CARACAS — Shots rang out and tear gas clouded the air of a wealthy Caracas district on Saturday night as protests against the government entered into a fourth consecutive day…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuelan Security Forces Raid Homes as Part of Manhunt for Opposition Leader
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan security forces simultaneously raided the homes of Leopoldo Lopez and his parents, looking to arrest the hard-line opposition leader who President Nicolas Maduro blames for three deaths at recent anti-government protests.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Survivor’s Story: From East Africa to Lampedusa to Sweden
Under the dark of a freezing arctic night, Jimi arrived at his destination. They welcomed him with a plate of Swedish meatballs, before showing him to a soft, white bed in a room that sleeps eight.
“Welcome to Sweden,” says a man of African origins, shaking his hand.
Jimi, 25, who is from the small nation of Eritria in the Horn of Africa, remembers thanking him and then collapsing onto the mattress. He was so tired that he couldn’t even turn off the light.
Jimi is one of the 155 survivors of the boat filled with hundreds of would-be immigrants that sank on Oct. 3, 2013, off the coast of the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa.
The Gävle Immigrant Center, 170 kilometers north of Stockholm, is a red brick building accessible only by a magnetic security card. The corridors are impeccably clean. On the first floor there’s a common room with a TV, and those staying here are free to come and go as they please. Each person receives the equivalent of 77 euros each month, and they benefit from Sweden’s free universal health service as they await Immigration Services’ validation of their political asylum request.
Jimi’s journey to get here has taken 557 days. He walked away from his desert village with nothing but a pair of sandals on his feet on the night of June 11, 2012…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Leading British Conservative: Immigration Makes Us ‘Give Up Our Culture and Identity’
America is not the only nation roiled by immigration debates. England, like many Western nations, is also in the midst of a heated one. Douglas Murray, one of England’s leading conservative intellectuals, has just made a major contribution to the discussion in his country…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Christian Programming is Being Blocked From Your TV Lineup
It is difficult to flip the channels through cable — or even network — television anymore without stumbling upon vile language, graphic sexuality, and shocking acts of violence. With the entertainment market so splintered among niche networks, there is no shortage of virtually any type of programming.
For those paying attention to our nation’s protracted slide into secularism, however, it may come as no surprise that there is one notable exception: religious content. There are few faith-based options among most content providers and, as recent reports indicate, at least one company is thinning its offerings even further.
DirecTV recently announced it will drop the Inspiration Network from its lineup, leaving its stable of profane and worldly channels untouched. Incredibly, reports indicate the provider also misrepresented the development by suggesting the network initiated the split.
In reality, it appears the decision was wholly that of the provider. Perhaps the most baffling aspect of the decision lies in the fact that DirecTV did not gain anything — or save any money — by dropping the network.
Unlike the majority of channels carried by the company, the Inspiration Network does not charge a license fee to providers. Many failing networks cost carriers millions per year, however, and still remain prominent options in cable packages across the nation.
For example, DirecTV spends an estimated $25 million annually to carry Islamic news network Al Jazeera. Christian content the company received for free, however, was somehow deemed unacceptable.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ex Swiss Guards Chief: Vatican ‘Gay Lobby’ Poses Risks for Pope
Gay rights activists condemn the accusations from the man once responsible for the safety of the Pope as the “worst stereotypes” that homosexuals have long been subject to.
“A gay lobby so powerful could be dangerous for the safety of the pope.” Elmar Mäder, a former Commandant of the Swiss Guards, warned in an interview with weekly Swiss paper Schweiz am Sonntag that such a “lobby” may indeed exist in the Vatican.
“I can speak from personal experience as to the existence of this lobby,” said Mäder, 50, who did not however say he know of any current dangers for the Holy Father. Still, he recalled that as head of the Swiss Guards he’d warned his men of possible risks from gay members of the Roman Curia, the governing body of the Catholic Church.
This comes after reports circulated last year in the Italian press of what was characterized as an influential “gay lobby” amongst clerics working in and around the Vatican…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Feminism Can Save France From Islam: That’s the Real Message of Majorité Opprimée
by Richard Seymour
The gender role reversal video purports to target sexism and homophobia. But its essence is class bigotry, racism and misogyny
Sexism and homophobia in modern culture is like a “black tide”, according to Eléonore Pourriat, the director of the short film Majorité Opprimée, which went viral this week. The 10-minute video explores life as it might be for men if gender roles were reversed…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Shameless Communist Propaganda From the Left
The Cold War was a “colossal battle between good and evil, freedom and slavery, and democracy and totalitarianism.” Revisionist presentation of communist atrocities is a sad distortion of truth and of history
Lately I see a lot of Marxist propaganda in our country, particularly in the MSM and in education. I know all the slogans because I lived the lies of the communist propaganda for 20 years.
I will start with equal pay, social justice, and equality across the board by government fiat. The commie social justice was equality of misery, hunger, poor, cold, and cramped living conditions, scarcity of food, basic needs, electricity, water, and everything else spoiled brats in America take for granted that is produced by a free market model. The Sochi hotel accommodations are a case in point. To deal with the misery, the workers (the proletariat), which was all of us (except the ruling regime), joked that the “communists pretended to pay us, and we pretended to work.” I choose capitalist inequality any day.
“Collectivism, community, and the common good” meant that the elites in power stole for their own good and used everything that the community worked hard to produce. We acquiesced like sheep because the commies had jails, jailers, security police, informers, and a well-equipped army. We had nothing but fear and oppression.
NBC’s Olympic opening ceremony introduction described communist Russia as “one of modern history’s pivotal experiments.” To say that the murder and suffering of millions of citizens who disagreed ideologically with the Soviets, was a pivotal experiment is a slap in the face of decency and humanity. How can you say that murdering, torturing, oppressing, and imprisoning people for their thoughts was a pivotal experiment? Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted on February 7, 2014, “The NBC Olympics is absurd. The Soviet Union was a ‘pivotal experiment?’ Really? No, it was an evil empire that murdered and oppressed.”
A play at the Arena Stage in the D.C. area, “The Tallest Tree in the Forest,” dedicated praise to the communist Paul Robeson who traveled to the Soviet Union in the 1930s and defended the Soviet death machine, aiding and abetting evil. He never mentioned Holomodor, the genocide by man-made starvation in Ukraine in 1932-1933. He was also silent about hundreds of naïve Americans who left in the 1930s for the Soviet Union only to die in the gulags. alextimes.com
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sign of the Times? Boy Allowed to Play on Girls’ School Softball Team
California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section officials cited CIF guidelines for gender identity participation Wednesday and said that Cordova-Goff — who was born a boy but identifies as a girl — will be allowed to play on the girls team. The new rules took effect in September.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
@Shameless Communist Propaganda From the Left
“I choose capitalist inequality any day.”
Have never understood the inert capitalist that rate the success of capitalism on how much penury is created, true capitalism should be a destroyer of penury – a wealth generator creating dynamic and socially mobile environments – poverty is not inequality it is economic stagnation and the seizing up of enterprise.
http://www.euractiv.fr/node/533548
Switzerland gets its first penalty for immigration.
From the linked article: “The EU has already put on hold talks on a cross-border electricity agreement with Switzerland.”
The main point of the linked article: “In one immediate consequence, the Commission said it was postponing talks on Swiss participation in both the EU’s €80-billion Horizon 2020 research programme and its €14.7-billion Erasmus+ educational exchange programme. Both schemes cover the period from 2014 to 2020.”
@Scottish Independence: Barroso Says Joining EU Would be ‘Difficult’
The point Barroso may have been trying to make was lost in it being perceived by Scots as an insulting threat, a dumb intervention that would be akin to flying NATO warplanes over Edinburgh on referendum day.