A Malaysian jetliner en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing radioed no distress signals before it disappeared over the sea in Vietnamese airspace. Two long oil slicks were later discovered in the ocean. Terrorism has not been ruled out, and two of the passengers traveling on the missing plane were using stolen passports.
In other news, a false priest from Bosnia was arrested in downtown Rome after repeatedly offering to bless people for €30 a head while dressed in priestly robes and wearing a wooden cross.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, 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.
Economist Warns of Collapse Risk: “Will Not Allow Life to Continue as We Know it”
Earlier this week we noted that an invasion of the Ukraine by Vladimir Putin would likely lead to a complete destruction of U.S. stock markets. It’s not so much the invasion force itself, but rather, the economic maneuvers that would come with it should Russia take this course of action.
Well known economist and founder of the Shadow Stats web site John Williams seems to agree. If Russia were to begin unloading US Dollars it would almost instantly lead to a collapse of not only our financial markets, but our entire way of life. And while Russia alone may not have the economic power to single-handedly crush the U.S. economy, if their trading partners and allies like China got into the mix, coupled with front-running investors who may suspect the move is about to happen, it could well be a blood bath on a global scale.
This wouldn’t even be an issue if the U.S. economy were operating at healthy levels, but as Williams notes in the following interview with Greg Hunter’s USA Watchdog, it’s anything but:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Telecom Italia’s Debt Below 27 Bn Target
Net loss narrowed to 674 million
(ANSA) — Milan, March 7 — Telecom Italia achieved its debt reduction target in 2013 with net debt cut to 26,807 billion euros, Italy’s main phone company said in a statement on Friday.
Debt was down 1.5 billion on the previous year.
The company closed 2013 with a net consolidated loss of 674 million euros on which weighed a 2.2 billion euro goodwill charge made in the first semester.
While still struggling on its domestic market — a performance counterbalanced by the resilience of its Brazilian business — it said its board had decided not to pay dividend on ordinary shares.
Telecom Italia will pay 2.75 euro cents a piece on savings shares Consolidated revenue declined 5.2% to 23.4 billion euros.
Liquidity on 31 December 2013 totalled 13.6 billion euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Collapse of High Tech is Killing the Economy
Everyone has a pet theory explaining why the economic recovery has been so weak, but here’s one overlooked factor: The productivity revolution driven by computers, software and the Internet is fading, and nothing has yet emerged to take its place as an engine of growth.
For all of the incessant buzz in the markets about the latest tech start-up, few businesses are investing much in high-tech equipment or software. Investments in information processing equipment and software are growing at the slowest pace in decades, just a fraction of the booming growth rates of the late 1990s. See the Bureau of Economc Analysis data.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why an Income Tax is Not Necessary to Fund the U.S. Government
Also available on audio for free; click here. Download to a CD or IPod and help get the truth to family and friends
Can this statement possibly be true? In order to answer this question, Americans must first understand what is the source of the money that funds the government and where it goes. Contrary to the sound bites issued by the two mainstream political parties, the reality of how the system actually works will not only open your eyes, but hopefully stimulate the American people to demand that the thievery underway come to an end.
Where do your “income” tax dollars go?
The best place to look for an answer to this question would be a government report, so let’s take just one at random:…
So what we have is a central bank issuing worthless paper “money” that controls our economy, our lives and our future. This private banking cartel was unconstitutionally granted this power by a devious, scheming group of senators back in 1913. In essence what they did was place the American people into indentured servitude by forcing The People to pay usury on worthless fiat currency (paper money created out of nothing), not to fund the government, but to enrich the bankers and fund wars in which America should never be involved. This system exists not to fund the government, but to allow the U.S. Congress carte blanche power to continue funding unconstitutional agencies and programs by providing them with a bottomless source of worthless ink.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Artist Turns Forks, Spoons and Knives Into Amazing Wildlife Sculptures
For Ohio-based artist Gary Hovey, forks, knives and spoons are much more than simply utensils.
Mr Hovey, a father-of-four who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, has been building intricate sculptures by cutting, welding, and shaping stainless steel utensils into impressive animal forms since 2004.
‘My sculptures are about things that I enjoy — wildlife, welding, and humor,’ the artist explains. ‘The animal’s appearance is appreciated first for its form. Then, on closer inspection, the details of the forks, knives, and spoons bring enjoyment on a whole new level.’
Birds, fish, bears, cats and even whales are entirely crafted from everyday flatware: fork prongs create layers of feathers and fur; spoons add rounded curves; and knives produce a shiny flat surface.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Since tyranny is the eventual fate of every society, I like to share the insight about how it develops. My Number One has a great definition of tyranny: When ordinary acts become illegal.
What if you want to become a tyrant? What would you do to become a dictator in your home, community, town, state, or country?
First: Declare Your Devotion
Proclaim that you want to support and help the people in your community. You tell each person that you agree with their pet peeves, you understand their frustrations, and you know how to improve their life. You tell each person what they want to hear.
If you don’t have a personality disorder, you haven’t had someone rip away your naiveté, or you are not a student of psychology, this may seem counterintuitive. Until I read Federalist Paper Number 1, I didn’t realize that this is the first step of every tyrant. Then I thought about Hitler. I had always wondered how he had gotten so much power. It was a quick step to realizing how people in everyday life gain power over other people. I’ll mention a few examples and perhaps you can add some more from your own experiences:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Big Brother: Milwaukee to Give Away 2,000 Surveillance Cameras for Citywide NSA Spy Grid
The city of Milwaukee will be giving away 2,000 security cameras to south side businesses. A grant has been provided to the city and they are eager to get started. Is this a violation of our constitutional 4th amendment right? These cameras will come with facial recognition and subsequently will track your behaviors. They will also be able to collect meta data on your habits, cell phone conversations, what you buy and who you associate with. This information will be collaborated with your cell phone id and facial recognition software provided by these cameras to monitor your voyage around town and record your trends.
This information will be trolled by the Milwaukee Fusion spy center, used to track your internet, cell phone activity and behaviors. Stored and saved for future reference indefinitely. The original intent of fusion centers was to prevent terrorist attacks from foreign interests. Now, it’s used to spy on American citizens. The fusion center works in conjunction with the NSA, CIA, FBI and local police to profile everyone.The most frightening thing about fusion centers is the lack of over site and the inability to hold a fusion center accountable both personally and legally.
These surveillance grids are often abused such as using these systems to snoop on lovers, and blackmailing individuals.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Children With Rheumatoid Arthritis May Experience Relief by Going Gluten-Free: Study
Modern wheat varieties structurally different than ‘heritage’ wheat, which did not cause disease.
“The astounding list of problems we have with modern wheat is not due to an increase in gluten content,” claims Dr. William Davis, author of The New York Times (NYT) bestseller Wheat Belly. “It is due to other changes, including:” “[a]ltered structure of the gliadin proteins,” “[c]hange in the structure of wheat germ agglutinin” and “[u]nique antigens (allergy- and immune-stimulating proteins).”
Studies linking the origins of both RA and JRA to chronic gut problems further suggest that, at best, consumption of modern wheat and wheat derivatives exacerbates a health condition that science shows is already a product of gut inflammation. At worst, these chronic joint diseases are the product of an ever-evolving food supply that is increasingly modified, contaminated and generally harmful to human health.
“Gluten is only one of the reasons to fear wheat, since it triggers a host of immune diseases like celiac, rheumatoid arthritis, and gluten encephalopathy (dementia from wheat),” adds Dr. Davis. “Beyond gluten, there are over 1000 other proteins in wheat that also have potential for odd or unexpected responses. You might say that wheat is a perfectly crafted Frankengrain that almost appears like it was created to exert maximum health damage in the most desirable, irresistible form possible.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Security Used Intercepted Emails to Quiz Woman About Her Sex Life
How is the DHS obtaining private communications?
A senior lecturer at Indiana University was confronted by Department of Homeland Security officials after the federal agency obtained copies of her emails and began quizzing her about the details of her sex life.
The ACLU is filing a lawsuit on behalf of Christine Von Der Haar after she was detained by Customs and Border Patrol at at Indianapolis International Airport during an incident in 2012.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
No One Crueler to Black Americans Than America’s First Black President
It would be the irony of all time if the 71 percent of disenfranchised black African American youths trying to survive under President Barack Obama forced him out of office before his time is up.
This is one group Obama cannot silence with the racist smear he levies against any who dare criticize his destructive policies. And there is no way to throw a whopping 71 percent of American youths who are Rush Limbaugh-described as “disappointed”, “mad” and “frustrated” by the first black president, under the bus.
They see clearly through Obama’s Feb. 27th announced “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative that they have been as blatantly Obama-ignored as Obama’s brother still living in abject poverty in a hut.
They see clearly that Obama’s race war which only divides a not-so-long-ago thriving country has done absolutely nothing to help them.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pennsylvania Residents Complain of Sewage Sludge Spread Near Homes
(NaturalNews) Residents of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, have complained about a state program to spread sewage sludge on public lands near their homes, citing health concerns.
The treated sewage sludge, formally known as “biosolids,” is intended to enrich the soil and help vegetation regrow on the site of a former strip mine that has been turned into a state game reserve. A New York waste management company has received a permit to dispose of biosolids on 50 acres of Pennsylvania state land without paying any disposal fee.
Local residents such as Brian Gould, 30, who recently built a house on property abutting the game lands, have expressed concerns about the health effects of spreading treated sewage next to their homes.
“Whenever they spread it, the valley fills in with a fog,” Gould said. “We’re at the highest point around. The wind is always blowing. Whatever they spread up here is going to be carried all around.”
“It smells like if you took 40 Porta-Johns and kicked them over in July,” he said. “And that’s being nice.”
Gould’s wife, Allison, recently told game officials that, when the spreading began, she was hospitalized with bronchial spasms, which feel like a heart attack. The doctor told her that such spasms can be triggered by airborne pollutants.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Servando Gonzalez: Is it Time to Overthrow the Government of the United States?
I am not talking about the clown puppets in Washington D.C. and their minions in the Federal Government, but the true Government of the United States, the Invisible Government that appoints presidents, buys senators and congressmen, controls the system of public education, owns most of the mainstream press, the Federal Banks, the IRS and all federal agencies such as the CIA, NSA, FEMA, DHS, TSA and the rest of the alphabet soup organizations created for the sole purpose of spying on, harassing, repressing and terrorizing the American people.
The Invisible Government of the United States is not a government of the people, by the people, for the people, but a government of the banksters, by the oil magnates, for the transnational corporations.
We the People cannot wait any longer. It is time to overthrow the Invisible Government of the U.S…
By slow, gradual infiltration, the Invisible Government of the United States has become a veritable imperium in imperio — a government within the government. A government that has never been elected by the votes of the American people. A government that is fully controlled by oil magnates, international bankers and CEOs of transnational corporations ensconced at the Council on Foreign Relations and its parasite organizations in the U.S. and abroad, such as the UN, the Trilateral Commission, the Skull & Bones “fraternity” of Yale University, the Bohemian Grove, the Bilderberg Group, the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others.
Trough their puppets in the U.S. Government, the conspirators of the Invisible Government have been working hard to eliminate the sovereignty of the U.S. and the rest of the countries in this planet and fuse them into a world government under their control. They have opened the southern border to an invasion of illegal aliens and are taking steps to integrate the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a North American Union as a first step to fusing all countries in the hemisphere into an American Union. They encouraged transnational corporations to change well-paid jobs at home into low-paid, quasi-slave jobs abroad. They have destroyed America’s heavy industry. They have systematically poisoned the air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat. They have turned government schools (also called “public schools”) into centers for brainwashing and political indoctrination. They have been sending our sons and daughters to remote parts of the planet to fight unnecessary wars that only benefit the spurious interests of global bankers and international corporations. They are gradually turning the American Republic into a communo-fascist totalitarian police state.
The history of the present Invisible Government is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Totalitarian Tyranny over the American people — a Totalitarian Tyranny they euphemistically call the New World Order.
But the New World Order is not new and will bring constant chaos rather than order — it is already bringing chaos. It is a return to the servitude of medieval times, where just two social classes existed: the masters living in opulence, comprising the 1% of the population, and the serfs, the 99%, living in the most abject economic and moral misery and with no rights whatsoever.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Snowden: I Raised NSA Concerns Internally Over 10 Times Before Going Rogue
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden said he repeatedly tried to go through official channels to raise concerns about government snooping programs but that his warnings fell on the deaf ears. In testimony to the European Parliament released Friday morning, Snowden wrote that he reported policy or legal issues related to spying programs to more than 10 officials, but as a contractor he had no legal avenue to pursue further whistleblowing.
Asked specifically if he felt like he had exhausted all other avenues before deciding to leak classified information to the public, Snowden responded:
“Yes. I had reported these clearly problematic programs to more than ten distinct officials, none of whom took any action to address them. As an employee of a private company rather than a direct employee of the US government, I was not protected by US whistleblower laws, and I would not have been protected from retaliation and legal sanction for revealing classified information about lawbreaking in accordance with the recommended process.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Special Report: Secret Spy Link Between Fusion Centers and Private Sector Exposed
Local law enforcement agencies across the country are at this very moment employing high-tech control grid surveillance technology in purported efforts to fight crime.
The out-of-control spying of the American people doesn’t make sense considering most US cities are already enjoying a huge drop in violent crime.
The truth is police (and private sector businesses) are assisting in the implementation of a total surveillance panopticon meant to keep the American public under control.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Democratic Party’s Dirty Secret
Jon Bowne investigates the mass amnesia associated with the indisputable connection between the Ku Klux Klan and the Democratic Party as well as its long history of murder, torture and voting coercion:
And Alex explains how the Democrats’ history ties into their current race-based, divide and conquer platform:
Yet the mainstream media is always trying to bury these obvious connections.
For example, shortly after the death of Democratic Senator Robert Byrd in 2010, Daily Caller contributor Mike Riggs pointed out the mainstream media’s whitewash of Byrd’s former ties to the Ku Klux Klan:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The President’s Devious ObamaCare Delays
A last-ditch effort to save Democratic senators
On Monday, a dose of inconvenient reality overtook the execrable Senator’s bluster. A Rasmussen survey reveals that one-in-three voters have had their insurance coverage changed because of the law, and that change has affected them negatively. The same survey reveals that Americans still view the law unfavorably by a 56-40 percent margin.
Apparently the nation is inundated with liars.
Unfortunately for Democrats, many of those liars vote, and the timing that Obama himself perpetrated with his unilateral pronouncement that Americans could keep their existing plans for an additional year was ill-conceived. The one year moratorium imposed by the president was designed to get Democrats past the mid-term election, but he failed to account for the reality that insurance companies must notify their customers regarding policy cancellations 90 days in advance. That means insurers would have to mail those notifications by Oct. 1, five weeks before the election. “I don’t see how they could have a bunch of these announcements going out in September,” one consultant in the health insurance industry said. “Not when they’re trying to defend the Senate and keep their losses at a minimum in the House. This is not something to have out there right before the election.”
Unsurprisingly, insurance company executives are not amused. “These continual delays, these stops and starts, make it very difficult because we set rates based on predictive modeling,” one executive said. “When you change the rules, it has a detrimental impact on your ability to calculate your risk pool and your prices.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Extension in EU Funding for Pompeii ‘Not Possible’
Italy has only spent 40 million euros of 105 allocated
(ANSA) — Brussels, March 6 — The European Commission on Thursday said it was not possible to grant Italy an extension to this year’s deadline for spending 105 million euros of EU money to shore up the troubled ancient Roman archaeological site of Pompeii.
Pompeii’s newly appointed superintendent Massimo Osanna appealed for an extension on Wednesday, saying so far only 40 million euros of the money had been spent on the site that UNESCO has said risks crumbling apart. Heavy rain was blamed for a wall of a Roman-era shop collapsing in Pompeii on Monday, a day after two other precious parts of the ancient city — a wall at the Temple of Venus and another wall on a tomb in the famed necropolis of Porta Nocera — suffered serious damage from bad weather. These followed a long and worrying catalogue of bits of Pompeii falling off in recent years. “Extensions are not possible,” said a spokesperson for European Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn.
“Instead of seeking exceptions (to the rules), the important thing is to concentrate and work.
“We’ll prepare a check list to monitor the progress of work from close up and have a public assessment of the situation before the summer break”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Here Come the Werewolves of London Again
According to a study published in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences, parts of Europe would benefit from ‘rewilding’. They are calling for rhinos, elephants and bison to be brought in to help control woodlands and restore the eco-system to a more natural state.
The professor who led the research said: ‘Large animals in high numbers were an integral part of nature in prehistoric times.’ Chris Sandom, a zoologist at the University of Oxford and co-author of the report, said that lions, hippos and elephants all roamed Britain, until Modern Man arrived and hunted them to extinction.
He concedes that it may be more practical to introduce some of the larger species to denser forests on the Continent, but Britain has its part to play.
Dr Sandom thinks this country would benefit from importing wolves.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Man Arrested for Raping Woman in Farm Near Foggia
41-year-old reportedly also punched and kicked her
(ANSA) — Cerignola, March 3 — Police in the southern Italian city of Foggia on Monday arrested a suspect on charges of punching, kicking and then raping a Romanian woman in a farmhouse close to the city. Police patrolling the area say they caught Mitica Rapciuc, a 41-year-old Romanian, red-handed as he was assaulting the woman.
The victim, 40, is reportedly being treated at a local hospital in the town of Cerignola.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Global Leader in Sexual Health Research
Boasts most discoveries concerning premature ejaculation
(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — Italy can rightly consider itself a global leader in the field of sexual health research, a group of scientists said Tuesday.
Italian sexologists and andrologists are, or have served, on the board of all relevant international scientific societies while “in the field of medical sexology Italians can undoubtedly boast the greatest scientific production,” said Emmanuele Jannini, professor of sexual medicine at the University of L’Aquila. The majority of scientific discoveries concerning premature ejaculation — the most common problem for men — have come from Italian research laboratories, he added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: False Priest Blessed People for Pay in Centre of Rome
Stopped by police
(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — A fake priest who blessed people for cash in the centre of Rome has been stopped and cited by police.
The 30-year-old Bosnian, dressed in priestly robes and bearing a simple wooden cross like Pope Francis’s, asked for 20 euros a blessing from unsuspecting tourists outside the church of the Sacramento di Santa Maria in Via, close to the Italian premier’s office.
The church’s real priest reported the impostor to police.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Approves 135 Mln Euros Heritage Works Funds for South
New decree signed Thursday by Culture Minister Franceschini
(ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — Italy has launched a new 135 million euro-heritage sites renovation project for Southern Italy, adding to the 222 million euros that were funnelled to the sector some six months ago, according to a new decree that was signed on Thursday by Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.
The new financing will cover the cost of some 46 new restoration projects in the regions of Campania, Calabria, Puglia and Sicily, all of which can be immediately executed according to the decree.
The new funds follow in the wake of the 222 million euros earmarked in September 2013 for some 87 similar projects that are currently being worked on, according to ministry sources. “This is the most important action that has been carried out in recent years on Southern Italy’s cultural heritage”, Franceschini said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ubi Banca Pop. Ancona Swings to 3.2 Mn Euros Profit in 2013
Lender’s 2013 operating costs fell 6.4% to 201.1 mn euros
(ANSA) — Jesi, March 7 — Ubi Banca Popolare di Ancona swung to a profit of 3.2 million euros in 2013, compared with the 712,000-euro loss it posted in the year-earlier period.
Operating costs last year fell 6.4% to 201.1 million euros, while loans dropped 1.1% to about 8.1 billion euros. Its client base expanded by some 25,000 new clients last year, and writedowns totaled 89.7 million euros compared to 73.5 million euros in the full-year 2012. The figures were released at a press conference held in the town of Jesi in which Chairman Corrado Mariotti and managing director Nunzio Tartaglia illustrated the results to attending journalists.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Enel Green Power Profit Jumps 22% in 2013, Sales Up 12.2%
Board requests shareholders approve 0.032 euro dividend payment
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — Enel Green Power reported a 22.3% jump in net profit to 527 million euros in 2013 on Friday, compared with 431 million euros in the previous year.
Enel Green’s board also approved a dividend payment of 0.032 euro per share for the period, up from the previous year’s 0.0259 euro. Sales in the year gained 12.2% to 2.778 billion euros, the company said in a statement.
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization rose 9.9% to 1.787 billion euros in 2013, while earnings before interest and taxes gained 14.5% to 1.065 billion euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Prosecco Beats Champagne in 2013 Global Sales
By 307 mn bottles to 304
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — Prosecco beat champagne in global sales last year, confirming thr growing popularity of then light Italian bubbly, thr Italian wine observatory OVSE said Friday.
Prosecco outsold its venerable French rival by 307 million bottles to 304, with volume 11.5% up and revenue 16% up, it said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Confidence in Renzi Government Drops, Survey Says
Trust in premier down 7%, but still most popular politician
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — After a surge in confidence last week in the new government of Premier Matteo Renzi, a new survey published on Friday by polling institute Ixe’ showed that trust in the premier has dropped over the past week to 55%, down seven percentage points.
Confidence in the government, which was sworn in less than a month ago, also dropped to 50%, down six points on last week’s 56%, according to the survey carried out on behalf of Agora’, a program of State broadcaster Rai.
President Giorgio Napolitano ranked second behind the premier at 42% as a trustworthy leader indicated by the 1,000 people polled by Ixe’, followed by ex-premier Enrico Letta at 40%.
Support for the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Beppe Grillo, dropped by four points to 27% while confidence in three-time ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi dropped 1% to 21%.
Confidence in New Center Right (NCD) leader Angelino Alfano went down four points to 20%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Juncker Becomes EC Presidential Candidate of EPP
Up against PES’s Martin Schulz, backed by Italy’s majority PD
(ANSA) — Brussels, March 7 — The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) on Friday elected former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker as its European Commission presidential candidate, the EU Christian Democrats said in a statement.
Juncker beat his French rival Michel Barnir by 382 votes against 245 at the EPP congress in Dublin organized ahead of European Parliament elections in May.
The EPP is currently the largest grouping in the European Parliament.
Last month, the rival Party of European Socialists (PES) of which the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) of Italian Premier Matteo Renzi has just become a member, confirmed as its presidential candidate current European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) chose Guy Verhofstadt as their candidate.
The parliamentary group which wins the highest number of seats in May will appoint their candidate as European Commission president.
Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) last month was admitted to the Party of European Socialists.
The PD, the biggest party in the Italian parliament, had previously stayed out of the PES due to differences within its ranks, which include former communists and ex-supporters of the centrist Christian Democrat (DC) party that dominated the country’s politics before collapsing in corruption scandals in the 1990s.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Michael Schumacher: ‘Only a Miracle’ Can Save Him
Doctors treating Michael Schumacher and other medical experts have told his family that “only a miracle” can save him, sources have claimed.
The seven-time Formula One world champion suffered serious brain injuries after hitting a rock during a skiing accident in the French Alpine ski resort of Meribel in late December. He is being treated in hospital in Grenoble where he has been in an artificially induced coma for a total of 69 days.
Sources close to his family say the 45-year-old driver’s wife Corinna and his brother, Ralf Schumacher, have been consulting brain specialists throughout Europe and have been told that his chances of recovery are minimal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Names Cardinal Marx Coordinator of Economy Council
(AGI) Vatican City, March 8 — Pope Francis on Saturday named Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, as coordinator of the Vatican Council for the Economy which was established by the Motu Proprio “Fidelis et dispensator prudens”, published on Feb. 24, 2014. The new organisation includes eight cardinals and seven secular experts, and will not be simply an ‘advisory body’ to the Economy Secretariat entrusted to Australian Cardinal George Pell. Two of the members are Italians: Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Vicar General of Rome; and Professor Francesco Vermiglio of the University of Messina and the LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, and a member of the board of the Central Bank of Malta.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
When Robbie Mullen planted an innocent peck on his girlfriend’s cheek over Sunday lunch, he never imagined it would see him bundled into a police van and warned about his behaviour.
Mr Mullen’s romantic gesture offended one diner so much that she complained to staff, who then asked the civil engineer and his partner Natalie Potter to move tables.
When he refused, the 43-year-old said he was ‘shocked’ to see four police officers arrive and march him outside where he was told he was not welcome in the restaurant.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘We’re Not Curry People!’ Amazing Video of Politicians Erupting in Asian-White Race Row
THESE extraordinary videos show a town hall meeting descending into bitterness and chaos after an Asian councillor likened white colleagues to Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, while another claimed his community had been branded “curry people”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Eric Pickles should be congratulated for insisting council meetings should be filmed. Remember that Tower Hamlets council tried to block this idea: they knew there was dirty linen to hide…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
A killer posted an RIP message about her victim on facebook just days after she and her gang tortured him to death.
Georgina Smith, 22, pretended to be in mourning for 30-year-old Scott Blackwood, writing that he had ‘always been a good mate’ and even vowing to make sure his killers went to jail.
In fact she and two others, Allan Nicol, 36, and Thomas Moore, 26, had killed Mr Blackwood just four days before by kicking, punching, biting and stabbing him to death.
He suffered 72 separate injuries including scalds and chemical burns. He had 13 stabs wounds, three broken ribs, smashed eye socket and cheekbones and he was strangled.
Pathologist Dr Julie McAdam said the head injuries found on Mr Blackwood were like those suffered by car crash victims.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lancashire Muslims React Angrily to Calls for Halal Meat Ban
MUSLIMS in Lancashire have reacted with anger to calls to ban halal meat. John Blackwell, the new president-elect of the British Veterinary Association, has argued that killing animals by cutting their throats causes unnecessary suffering…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rebel Bow Councillor Resigns at Budget Meeting, Saying Labour ‘Worse Than UKIP’
A rebel Labour councillor has resigned from his local party over what he calls its culture of “bullying and bigotry”.
Cllr Anwar Khan of Bow West ward, resigned the Labour Whip at last night’s council budget meeting, said he could not stay in a party that “betrays its values with every breath”. Cllr Khan has been an outspoken critic of Labour since his deselection as a candidate in December, and has accused Labour’s mayoral candidate John Biggs of racism against “outspoken Bengalis”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim fundamentalists are plotting to take over state schools, according to leaked documents.
Activists have launched a campaign to oust headteachers using dirty tricks such as spreading false allegations and packing governing bodies with their supporters.
The plot, which ringleaders have named Operation Trojan Horse, has emerged in documents drawn up by the group and leaked to a local newspaper.
The dossier names several schools in the Birmingham area as targets of alleged plots.
The authors of the documents discuss extending the ‘jihad’ operation to Bradford and Manchester — cities with rapidly growing Muslim populations.
Apparently written by fundamentalist Salafist Muslims, the papers outline a five-point guide to forcing out a headteacher and installing supporters in key positions to ensure a school is run according to Islamic principles.
This involves identifying state schools in Muslim areas which are underperforming and at risk of being turned into academies.
Under the academies programme, schools are removed from local council oversight.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: This Would be a Good Place to Site Mosque
A property developer has told residents in a suburban Douglas street that a building he owns would make a good mosque.
Businessman and director of Mountaindale Limited, Ian Abrahams wants to stage auctions at the Salisbury Street Methodist Church but has told residents in adjacent Farrant Street if they object he may offer the building for use as a mosque instead…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Video Turning London Into Syria Goes Viral
Save the Children UK’s 94-second clip using a girl in London to show what’s happening in Syria has racked up around 14 million hits on YouTube.
A charity’s video transposing the effects of the Syrian civil war onto an ordinary girl growing up in London has gone viral on the internet. Save the Children UK’s 94-second clip, released on Wednesday, had racked up around 14 million hits on the YouTube video-sharing website by Saturday. The clip invites viewers to imagine “if Britain were Syria”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Yayha Ibrahim — An Apology
Yahya Ibrahim
In our article “Al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine editor sought over Boston marathon bombing” (29 April 2014) we stated that official sources had claimed that the editor was a jihadist who went under the pseudonym of Yahya Ibrahim. It was wrongly illustrated with a photograph of a real Yahya Ibrahim, an academic who is unconnected with Al-Qaeda and is not a jihadist. We apologise to Mr Ibrahim for the embarrassment caused.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Three Dead, 28 Wounded in Friday Clashes
Cairo — Three people were killed and 28 were wounded in clashes across the country on Friday, the health ministry said. The wounded were taken to local hospitals to recieve medical attention. An alliance that supports ousted President Mohamed Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood had called for week-long demonstrations. The interior ministry said that 47 Brotherhood supporters were arrested in the clashes.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Libya Port Rebels Say Started Exporting Oil
(Reuters) — Armed protesters controlling ports in eastern Libya said on Saturday they had started exporting oil, bypassing the Tripoli government in a major escalation of their blockade to demand a greater share of the nation’s petroleum wealth.
A North Korean-flagged tanker docked earlier at the Es Sider port, which is controlled by protesters who want more regional autonomy, officials at state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) confirmed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan PM Threatens to Sink North Korean Oil Tanker
(AGI) Tripoli, Mar 8 — Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has threatened to sink the ‘Morning Glory’, an oil tanker flying the North Korean flag. The tanker has openly defied the Libyan government and is loading oil at the Es Sider terminal, which has been under the control of the Cyrenaica rebels since last August. Speaking on the TV network ABB, Mr Zeidan said “The tanker will be bombed if it doesn’t leave the port”. In January, the Libyan navy opened fire on a tanker flying the Maltese flag.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Palestinian Wine-Making Strengthens Roots Thanks to Trentino
Students return to Salesian monastery winery in Bethlehem
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 4 — After graduating in viticulture and oenology at the Edmund Mach Foundation, two Palestinian students now offer an edge for strengthening and enhancing the vines of Cremisan winery at the monastery of the Salesians, near Bethlehem.
After four years in Trentino, the two Palestinian students, Fadi Batarseh and Laith Jamil Micheal Kokaly, have returned to their homeland and been integrated into the technical staff of a winery in the heart of an international cooperation initiative supported by the Autonomous Province of Trento. The project is under the technical supervision of the Mach Foundation with the collaboration of the Volunteers for International Development and the Italian Episcopal Conference.
The foundation said that the international journal Molecular Biotechnology has just published the results of Fadi Batarseh’s thesis, undertaken with 43 traditional grapevine samples from Palestine that were provided by the University of Hebron. The grape varieties until now have been cultivated locally for fresh consumption, but now are the subject of restoration and enhancement, even for wine-making.
“The genetic group of vines of the Centre of Research and Innovation of the Mach Foundation has analyzed the DNA profile of these materials, identifying several synonymies and concluding that there are 21 different varieties of which only eight have already been described in the international databases,” the Mach Foundation wrote.
“It is the first time that the genetic diversity of grape varieties has been analyzed from this region, which is of great historical importance for the spread of viticulture”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Why Do Palestinians and Muslims Refuse to Recognize Israel as a Jewish State?
According to Israeli Prime Minister at the AIPAC Annual Policy Conference in Washington this past week, the one condition of achieving a possible agreement with the Palestinians is recognition of Israel as a Jewish Nation. He said:
President Abbas, recognize the Jewish state and in doing so you will be telling your people the Palestinians … the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own is beyond dispute. You would be telling Palestinians to abandon the dream of flooding Israel with refugees or amputating Negev or Galilee, … make clear that you are ready to end the conflict. No excuses, no delays; it’s time.
Arutz Sheva reported Abbas saying to youth activists of Fatah
:… that there is “no way” he will recognize Israel as a Jewish state and accept a Palestinian capital in just a portion of eastern Jerusalem.
“They are pressing and saying, ‘No peace without the Jewish state,”‘ he said, though not spelling out who is applying the pressure. “There is no way. We will not accept.”
Last weekend I watched an Al Jazeera Head to Head program that aired on February 28th with host Mehdi Hasan . The setting was the venerable Oxford Union. The program topic was “ Have Palestinian leaders failed their people?” The debate pitted long term Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat, who has gone through eight negotiations sessions over the past 20 years…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Does the Saudi-Led Squabble in the Gulf Spell Trouble for Obama?
The Obama White House and the world media are pre-occupied with Russian President Putin’s grab of the Ukrainian autonomous province of Crimea. There are undertones of “Back to the Future”- meaning a possible return to Cold War era geopolitics with Russia.
Despite that overriding ruckus there was a less well publicized series of events in the Persian Gulf region among members of the Gulf Cooperating Council (GCC). Does this spell trouble ahead for President Obama’s Middle East policies?
At the GCC meeting on March 5th in Riyadh, Qatar was effectively isolated by “sisterly” Sunni Arab states. The Emir of Qatar, a member of the GCC, has been prominent in supporting financial aid and assistance to Muslim Brotherhood (MB) affiliates in Egypt under Morsi, Hamas in Gaza and the Syrian Opposition Council, one of whose leaders is a dual American Syrian citizen Louay Safi.
Virtually on the heels of the squabble at the GCC gathering, Saudi King Abdullah announced decrees on Friday, March 7th. They listed the MB as a terrorist organization along with several AQ affiliates in Syria and Iraq, as well as Shia terrorist groups in North Yemen and in the oil rich Eastern Province. The latter are backed by both Iran’s Qod Force and Hezbollah. This should present problems and potential conflicts of interest for President Obama’s senior National Security advisor Robert Malley and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. Both of these men espouse outreach to the MB, Iran and proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas.
This train wreck about to happen has been in development since the July 3, 2013 ouster by Egyptian Gen. al-Sisi of President Morsi in Egypt. Morsi was a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood endeavoring to create a Sharia compliant constitution with him as Emir. Egypt’s interim government in December 2013 outlawed the MB. This week an Egyptian court went after Hamas, the Gaza affiliate of the MB banning activities in Egypt. Following, the ouster of Morsi, Saudi Arabia and several of members of the GCC provided upwards of $12 billion in financial assistance to the interim Egyptian interim government. The stage now appears set for Gen. Abdel Fateh al-Sisi to run as the country’s President, a harkening back to the days of Gamal Abdel Nasser and the possible return of military autocracy in Egypt…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
EU’s Ashton Visits Iran for First Time; Nuclear Issue on Agenda
ANKARA (Reuters) — European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton arrived in Tehran on Saturday to discuss issues including Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, before another round of talks between Iran and world powers, Iranian media reported…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq: 28 Killed in Violent Attacks Across Iraq
BAGHDAD, March 8 (Xinhua) — A total of 28 people were killed and 38 others wounded in separate violent attacks, mainly targeting security forces, across Iraq on Saturday, police said. The deadliest attacks occurred in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, leaving a total of 18 security members dead and 25 others wounded, including three gunmen…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: UNHCR Thanks Italy for Welcoming Iranian Refugees
UN high commission for refugees pleased with help from Rome
(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday thanked Italy for welcoming seven Iranian refugees from Camp Hurriya in Iraq.
In a statement issued by UNHCR Italia, the agency welcomed the Italian government’s decision to let into the country a total of 15 Iranian refugees from Iraq, including the seven latest arrivals.
This is giving “hope to Iranian citizens still living in Camp Hurriya whose safety is in grave danger,” said Laurens Jolles, UNHCR delegate for southern Europe.
Camp Hurriya near Baghdad has been repeatedly targeted for attack, including a deadly rocket bombardment in December, prompting the UN refugee agency to ask Iraqi authorities to ramp up security at the camp.
The UN refugee agency has also called on the international community to help relocate its 3,200 residents to safe locations outside Iraq.
Former Camp Ashraf, where residents were previously staying, mainly hosted Iranian exiles including several members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran.
More than 3,000 residents were subsequently relocated to Camp Hurriya, previously known as Camp Liberty, while the UNHCR determined their refugee status to resettle them outside the country, under an agreement signed in December 2011 between the UN and the Iraqi government.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Al-Qaeda-Linked Group Issue Rare Apology for Suicide Bombing
Abdullah Azzam Brigades said they are sorry for deaths of oprhan children in a Beirut blast, which they saw was caused by a ‘technical fault’
A militant group has issued a rare apology for a twin suicide bombing in Beirut that killed eight people and wounded dozens, including children from a nearby orphanage…
[JP note: And Islam is merely a clerical error?]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Corruption: EU Investigation on Funds to Ankara
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 5 — The European Commission has opened an investigation on the possible misuse of EU funding allocated to Turkey as part of an education programme, local reports said on Wednesday.
The European probe takes place as Turkey is shaken by a wave of corruption scandals involving dozens of people close to the Islamic government of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to Taraf daily, Brussels is investigating suspected irregularities in the hiring process and drafting of contracts by the Ulusal Ajansi agency of the Turkish European affairs ministry under ex-minister Egemen Bagis.
Bagis was replaced in a government reshuffle last December after he was involved in corruption probes with the ministers of interior, economy and environment.
Prosecutors on Tuesday sought the authorization of Parliament to indict the four ex-ministers.
According to Taraf, the EU investigation should be completed before key local elections in Turkey on March 30.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Black and White Hats in Ukraine
by Diana West
I have been trying to figure out why from the start I have balked at the mainstream narrative framing the struggle in the Ukraine as that of a classic, black-hat, white-hat struggle — Tyranny versus Freedom.
First, there are the players. It’s just hard for me to see a white hat on the European Union, which in no way stands for preserving the liberty of the citizen. The EU stands for central control — “soft” tyranny — “soft” empire, too, and for the end of national sovereignty. A few weeks ago, in fact, I hailed Switzerland’s successful, anti-EU referendum to wrest more control of its borders and immigration policy from Brussels, the EU “capital.” Could the EU possibly be suporting the sovereignty of Ukraine, or of any other country for that matter? Certainly, that’s what we are to believe, but the evidence is not convincing. Worth remembering also is that the EU is helmed by a bevy of erstwhile Communist, Marxist, Maoist and nuclear freezenik ministers who rule by means of an unelected, non-accountable governing structure that Vladimir Bukovsky has likened to that of the old Soviet Politburo. (I discuss the EU in American Betrayal in the context of who really won the Cold War.)
Another player is the John Kerry State Department, whose public face in Ukraine has been Victoria Nuland’s. It is amazing to me that the “intercepted” phone call in which Nuland (recently of Benghazi talking points notoriety) sets forth her roster for the post-Yanukovych government hasn’t flowered into full-blooming scandal. Nobody in the media seems to care a fig. Is it really a good and Constitutional thing that American bureacrats seem to be secretly determining the makeup of foreign governments? Isn’t this a question worth some attention from, I don’t know, Congress?
Then there’s the nature of the former Ukrainian president’s powers. Was Yanukovych a duly elected leader? By all accounts, it does seem that his presidential election was legitimate. So, then, what are we talking about? The democratic process in action, or mobocracy — and a coup?
Then there are the origins of said democracy in action (read: coup). Geert Wilders, speaking this month in the Dutch parliament in opposition to sending Dutch money to Ukraine in the EU’s multi-billion-Euro package, denouced the EU’s role in Ukraine in vivid terms.
From Renew America’s translation of Wilders’ remarks:…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-U.S. Ambassador: Diplomatic Pressure Unlikely to Sway Russia
WASHINGTON — In a generally downbeat assessment of the Ukraine crisis, the just-departed U.S. ambassador to Russia said Friday he believes chances are “slim” for Western diplomatic efforts to convince Russia to end its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
Former Ambassador Michael McFaul, who had a major role in shaping U.S. policy until his retirement last month, told a group of journalists that while U.S. sanctions could hurt Russian businesses — especially if they include banking penalties — they aren’t likely to dissuade President Vladimir Putin from annexing Crimea.
“At the end of the day, Putin will be willing to make the economic sacrifice if he wants to go ahead with the annexation strategy,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Return of “The Horror of History”
While condemning the actions of Russia in Crimea, John Kerry said that the time of Empires is long gone; we live in the “21st century, and not in the 19th century”. After speaking with Putin, Angela Merkel said that he lost touch with reality and that he lives “in another dimension”.
In my opinion the time of Empires has not passed yet and Putin is in full harmony with reality.
The United States, and with their assistance a significant part of Europe have created an isolated civilization: extremely successful and advanced, but isolated. Geography played a great role in it, because the U.S. and Britain are island states and mainland Europe is a peninsula. From a cultural stand point, this civilization has been based on ancient models of Greek democracy and Roman law; ethnically — on a relatively homogeneous population in a very limited space.
For millennia giant Eurasia had existed in a completely different position that has never changed…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
2 Blasts Hit Afghan Eastern City Kill District Governor, Wound 8, Taliban Claim Responsibility
KABUL, March 8 (Xinhua) — A district governor was killed and eight others, including a lawmaker, sustained injuries as two blasts shocked Jalalabad the capital of Nangarhar province 120 km east of Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Altered Images: Photo Raises Malaysia Religious Tensions
A photograph of Malaysian men and women attending a conference in what looks like a church has apparently been used to illustrate claims that they were Muslims who had just been baptised into the Christian faith.
The inflammatory use of the image comes at a time of increasing religious and racial tensions in Malaysia, where the Catholic Church is at loggerheads with the government over the right to use the word “Allah” to describe the Christian God.
Malaysia has harsh laws forbidding apostasy — the renunciation or abandonment of religion. The misuse of the picture has been described by one Islamic group as a “despicable act” which caused “shame and distress” for some of those photographed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India: Kandhamal Christians “Live in Fear Because of Hindu Fundamentalists “
Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC ) sounds alarm as group of extremists damage a prayer hall under construction and threaten eight Christian families. Police arrest two people, but dismiss case as “family dispute”.
Mumbai (AsiaNews ) — “The life of Christians in Kandhamal is an ongoing trauma, because they live in fear of the radical Hindu groups”, The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC ) Sajan George tells AsiaNews, after yet another attack against the religious minority in the State of Orissa. On 27 February, several members of the Sangh Parivar (umbrella group of Hindutva organizations and movements -ed) damaged a prayer hall under construction in the village of Pradhanpada, threatening the 15 Christians engaged in the work.
After the attack, authorities have deployed around 70 law enforcement officers to ensure safety. Police arrested two people and launched a manhunt for the other attackers. Kunwar Vishal Singh, Kandhamal district chief of police, explains that there is a willingness to resolve the matter amicably, as the incident is linked to a “family dispute” over the land on which the prayer hall is being built. The Police Chief has instead denied that religious hatred is behind the attack.
However, Sajan George calls the attack “shameful” and says that “despite five years having passed since the pogroms in Orissa, the Christian community continues to be denied justice and is still subjected to daily acts of discrimination and intimidation. This latest episode, a few days before the beginning of Lent, clearly intends to intimidate and threaten freedom of religion and worship in Kandhamal”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: 67 Kashmiri Expelled From University for Cheering on Pakistan
They are accused of subversion . The students denounce being charged without a fair hearing. Hindu nationalists call for exemplary punishment. The fear is that the case is likely to fuel new tensions between the two countries.
Srinagar ( AsiaNews / Agencies) — Accused of subversion and expelled from the university for having rooted for the opposing team (Pakistan), rather than for their own country (India) . This is what happened to 67 students from Indian Kashmir, who study at a private school in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) . Two of them “celebrated” when the Pakistani cricket team scored against India in a Asian Cup match. In response, their class mates insulted and attacked them, and the Swami Vivekanand Subharti University reported and expelled them. The accusation seems to have been withdrawn, but not the expulsion . And the case — which has become a joke in international media — is likely to fuel new tensions between the two countries.
For over 60 years the region of Kashmir has been claimed by both India and Pakistan. In 1949 — at the end of the first Indo-Pakistani conflict — the territory was divided : New Delhi got the Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad the Northern Territory and Azad Kashmir. A division that has not stopped the tensions, setting the two nations in a “war” without end.
The incident occurred on 2 March . After the expulsion, the expelled 67 students returned home, while the Meerut police registered a complaint against them on the basis of sect. 124 ( a) of the Indian Penal Code (“subversion and rebellion”). It is unclear who laid the charges, but it seems that currently it has been withdrawn . However, local representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP , Hindu ultra-nationalist party) continue to demand action against these “anti- nationalist students”.
The students complain that they were expelled without being able to give an explanation. One of them, named Saqib says: “ We do not deny we applauded when Pakistan won the match. Whenever Pakistan loses, the other students make fun of us. In this case we wanted to cheer, but the others got angry. They insulted us and threw stones at our rooms”.
Manzoor Ahmad , vice chancellor of the university , has justified the expulsion saying that “their behavior is not conducive to peace in the campus. The situation could have been worse if the authorities had not expelled them . And since none of them came forward to take responsibility, we have suspended both dormitories”.
Omar Abdullah , chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, has expressed his support for the students via Twitter, calling the punishment “unduly harsh”. Some commentators in the country noted the paradox of the whole situation: the expelled children were attending that university thanks to a scholarship set up by the Prime Minister of India for deserving students of Kashmir. An initiative that aimed to build new bridges between India and the Kashmiri community.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Rumours of Entry Into Fort Mosque Triggers Tension
Rumours of a forcible entry into the centuries-old Nawab mosque inside the Vellore Fort created tension in the city on Friday afternoon, even as police department sources said that they had got an information that some Muslim outfits were planning to get in, to offer prayers. Following this, the police security in and around the area was intensified.
The mosque is under the control of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) since 1921. Further, it had been protected under the Ancient Monuments Preservation and Maintenance Act, 1994…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Mayor Offers Car for Mosque Attendance
After offering free haj pilgrimage packages, motorcycles and Kijang vans to civil servants regularly attending afternoon mass prayers at the municipal mosque, Bengkulu Mayor Helmi Hasan is adding a hatchback car to the list of prizes for the devout.
The new prize, a Daihatsu Ayla, will be up for grabs for those members of the public who attend 52 evening prayers without a single absence at their neighborhood mosques…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia Airlines Crash: Terror Fear Over Stolen Passports Used on Missing Plane MH370
Air safety experts investigate whether terrorism was behind the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight which vanished over the South China Sea
Air safety experts are investigating whether an airliner that mysteriously vanished in the Far East could have been the target of a terrorist attack. Twenty-four hours after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared over the South China Sea, the only clue to the fate of its 239 passengers and crew was the revelation that at least two people on board were using stolen passports…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Oil Slick Sighting is First Sign Malaysian Plane May Have Crashed
A 12-mile long oil slick spotted between Malaysia and Vietnam Saturday afternoon is thought to be the first sign that a missing Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 people aboard went down in the waters between southernmost Vietnam and northern Malaysia, according to Vietnam’s director of civil aviation.
“An AN26 aircraft of the Vietnam Navy has discovered an oil slick about 20 kilometers in the search area, which is suspected of being a crashed Boeing aircraft — we have announced that information to Singapore and Malaysia and we continue the search,” Lai Xuan Thanh, the director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, said in reporting the sighting of the slick.
He said he did not know whether the slick was closer to the Malaysian or Vietnam side of the entrance to the Gulf of Thailand. The last coordinates automatically transmitted by the aircraft were from near the midpoint between the two countries, when the plane appeared to be in stable flight at 35,000 feet.
| [Return to headlines] |
Mourners Pay Respects at Scene of Kunming Knife Massacre
Mourners paid their respects yesterday at the site of last week’s deadly knife massacre in Kunming, as delegates to the national legislative meetings in Beijing pushed for tougher anti-terrorism laws to prevent future incidents.
Chrysanthemums and floral wreaths were piled around the large golden bull statue outside the Kunming railway station, where the killing began last Saturday. Chinese tradition considers the seventh day after a death an important time of mourning.
Twenty-nine people were killed and 143 injured during the attack, which authorities have blamed on five knife-wielding “Xinjiang separatists”. Four of the attackers were killed at the scene by police and another was wounded.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea: Elections Celebrated in Rhyme
State media in North Korea is using poetry to encourage people to vote in forthcoming elections, it appears.
Official news agency KCNA reports that poets of the Central Committee of the Writers Union of Korea have created election-themed poems in the run-up to polling day on 9 March. Titles include The Billows Of Emotion And Happiness, We Break Into Cheers From The Bottom Of Our Heart and We Go To The Polling Station.
The poems are said to represent what the agency calls “the immutable will of all service personnel and people to remain loyal to the revolutionary leadership of Marshal Kim Jong-un”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Navy Rescues 3 Kidnapped Indians
Warri — THE Nigeria Navy, Friday, rescued three Indian nationals working for C F Offshore, kidnapped in Bayelsa State , March 5 , from a criminal hideout in Ajudaigbo, Warri South West Local Government Area, Delta State…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Attacks on Asylum Shelters Rise in Germany
There were twice as many right-wing attacks on refugee shelters in Germany in 2013 as the year before. The German government and refugee groups in the country are alarmed by the development…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Influx of Asylum-Seekers Strains German Shelters
Germany has attracted more political asylum seekers than any other EU nation, but now the massive influx is straining the system, with crowded Berlin shelters sounding the alarm. Arrivals, mainly from eastern Europe, jumped by almost two-thirds in 2013 to the highest level in 14 years, even though most applicants have little chance of being accepted as political refugees.
In one residential home on the outskirts of the sprawling German capital, a family of six from Bosnia-Hercegovina now share a spartan room of just 25 square metres (270 square feet)…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Let Migrants’ Grandparents in UK Too, Say Lib Dems in Bid to Water Down Immigration Reforms
Immigrants should be allowed to move their extended families to the UK more easily, the Liberal Democrats will say. They are to propose that rules should be changed so that it is less difficult for the spouses and elderly grandparents of migrants to move to Britain. The plan to water down immigration rules will be unveiled at the Lib Dems’ current spring conference in York.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British workers have been ‘displaced’ from the jobs market by migrant workers — especially during the recession, a controversial Whitehall study claims.
A fierce row has broken out inside the Coalition over a Government report on the economic impact of mass migration.
Newsnight on BBC2 claimed on Tuesday that the still-unpublished document would undermine the Tory Party’s case for imposing stricter controls on workers from overseas.
The Corporation said that, as a result, it was being ‘suppressed’ by Downing Street — with pro-immigration Lib Dem MPs demanding its immediate publication.
But the Mail now understands that the study — written by civil servants in the Home Office, Treasury and Department for Business — will clearly state that some Britons have suffered ‘displacement’ from the jobs market. It says this has been particularly noticeable for ‘low-skilled natives’, especially during the last recession.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cable Slams Tory Immigration Policy
Vince Cable has stepped up his row with the Tories over immigration, accusing his coalition colleagues of tending to “fan the flames of prejudice” over the issue.
The Business Secretary’s comments on the “toxic” subject came as he threw his weight behind Liberal Democrat calls for changes to make it easier for foreign students to stay and work in the UK, and for immigrants to bring their families to live with them…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Clegg Slams Westminster ‘Xenophobia’ On Immigration
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has accused Labour of not standing up against xenophobia and Conservatives of not standing up for business over the issue of immigration.
“It is truly dispiriting to see the Conservative and Labour parties driven — as far as I can see — entirely by panic on this issue,” he said at the Liberal Democrat spring conference. He appeared to describe Tory minister James Brokenshire’s immigration speech as “irresponsible” and said Labour, in response, “won’t stand up against xenophobia”. Mr Clegg used the same speech to accuse the Conservatives of “no longer standing up for business.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Atheists Force Woman to Remove Cross Honoring Dead Son
There has been so much news lately of schools, organizations, and individuals being harassed by atheist groups, but this one sets a new low. In this case, a grieving mother erected a roadside cross where her son was killed, and now an atheist group has forced her to take it down. What is wrong with these people???
As reported by The Press Enterprise, a roadside cross was erected for 19-year-old Anthony Vincent Devaney who in May 2012 was killed crossing a street.
A complaint prompted the American Humanist Association in Washington, D.C., to intervene, contending the placement of the symbol in the city right-of-way violated the separation of church and state.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
NASA’s Wise Survey Finds Thousands of New Stars, But No ‘Planet X’
After searching hundreds of millions of objects across our sky, NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has turned up no evidence of the hypothesized celestial body in our solar system commonly dubbed “Planet X.”
“The outer solar system probably does not contain a large gas giant planet, or a small, companion star,” said Kevin Luhman of the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds at Penn State University, University Park, Pa., author of a paper in the Astrophysical Journal describing the results.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘A Malaysian jetliner en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing…’, ‘two of the passengers traveling on the missing plane were using stolen passports’: Most of the victims were chinese. To me this looks like a possible act of revenge committed by umma members, for China’s anti-uighur activities.
Make that 4 false passports
http://inserbia.info/news/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-flight-missing-passengers-under-investigation/
Intriguing indeed
UK Telegraph: Mystery fake-passport holders on flight MH370 were Iranian
A BBC Persian report says that the two Iranians on the Malaysia Airlines plane had bought the fake passports in order to migrate to Germany and Denmark
The two men travelling on stolen passports on the Malaysia Airlines flight
MH370 that mysteriously disappeared on Saturday have been identified as Iranian
nationals.
A BBC Persian report quotes an Iranian friend of one of the men,
who said he hosted the pair in Kuala Lumpur after they arrived from Tehran in
the days preceding their flight to Beijing.
The friend, who knew one of the men from his school days in Iran, said the
men had bought the fake passports because they wanted to migrate to Europe.
The pair were travelling on passports belonging to Christian Kozel, an
30-year-old Austrian, and Luigi Maraldi, a 37-year-old Italian.
They had bought the passports in Kuala Lumpur as well as tickets to
Amsterdam, via Beijing.
The economic collapse article mentioned gold as part of any survival plan. I suggest that you also consider investing in lead.
And food.
And at least one rain barrel.
WSJ
Quote: “On Sunday afternoon, a statement issued in the name of a previously unknown group claimed that the disappearance of the plane was a political act aimed at the Chinese and Malaysian governments and referred to last week’s attack in a Chinese train station by alleged Uighur separatists. It stopped short of a claim of responsibility. Malaysian officials said that they were unaware of any claim of responsibility but would investigate all possibilities.
From a Reuters article linked here:
http://news.yahoo.com/interpol-says-examining-additional-suspect-passports-malaysia-flight-130200611–sector.html
“But it [Interpol] said no country had consulted the database [consisting of ” more than 40 million lost and stolen travel documents”] to check either of them [the 2 passports] since the time they were stolen, so it was unclear how many times they might have been used to board flights or cross borders.”
I’ve long suspected that NSA’s domestic spying programs were intended to target Obama’s political foes, not potential terrorist (i.e., RoP) threats, and this excerpt adds further support to that suspicion. Why would any Western democracy, ostensibly intent on protecting its citizens from terrorists, NOT check the database for each and every flight originating within its jurisdiction?
I would have assumed that the lost-passport database is connected to ‘all’ national border control systems? But then I just may be too naive for reality.
Having worked in that sector, no it is not surprising. Just because there is a a database out there, does not result in joined up thinking.
Italian man Luigi Maraldi reveals how his passport used on flight MH370 was stolen in bizarre circumstances in Thailand
Quote:
Patong, a city in the Westcoast of Phuket province in Thailand is a popular tourist destination. The population of the province is estimated at around 600.000, during the high season approximately a million tourists mainly from the Western world come to spend their vacation.
According to the Wikipedia article and a source I cannot verify, 30% of the population in Phuket is Muslim. I can’t find anything about demographics in Patong, but it is quite possible that there are professionally organized Jihadist movements in the region which may account for the transfer of his passport to the mysterious passengers on the plane.
Supposedly moslems make up less than 4% of the
Thai population, mostly in the south. Are you suggesting the missing plane could have been hijacked to an airstrip in Thailand. A bit unlikely as that plane needs about half a mile of runway to land.