According to Interpol, as many as four suspect passports — including two that had been reported stolen in Thailand a year or more ago — may have been used by passengers traveling on the missing Malaysian jetliner. No wreckage of the plane has yet been recovered. Some reports say that both military and civilian radars seem to indicate that the plane may have turned around before it disappeared.
In other news, more than a third of Scottish businesses say they will relocate out of Scotland if SNP leader Alex Salmond’s referendum is successful and Scotland gains its independence.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Egghead, 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.
Balancing the Budget With Supply-Side Socioeconomics
Imagine what shape business would be in without supply-side economics. We build business by keeping taxes and government interference minimal. Supply-side socioeconomics is the parallel principle that will balance budgets by rebuilding marriage and the middle-class.
Existing policy offers only stimulus leading to permanent non-marriage, especially in low income groups. In some urban areas 90% of children are raised outside marriage.
Today’s social policy is a very sick donkey. Social problems, “social issues”, and endless spending are what comes out of the animal. Democrats rush in to clean up the mess and are seen as being helpful. Republicans stand around hoping not to spend money — but eventually cave in because of the “Titanic Principle”: we must rescue women and children before the ship goes down.
Both parties are buried under the consequences. Washington has been deadlocked for decades, for lack of policy that works for Americans. Obamacare — the largest expansion of the welfare state since the Great Society was invented — is now sinking the ship. The new Millennial welfare state is a certainly-fatal drag on the economy, the dollar, and the taxpayer.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Contribution to ESM Does Not Weigh on Debt
Participants in bailout fund not disadvantaged, Rehn
(ANSA) — Brussels, March 7 — The European Commission does not penalize countries for their participation in eurozone bailout fund European Stability Mechanism (ESM), EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Friday through a spokesman.
“The impact of ESM on debt is an ‘in-out’ calculation which does not weigh on structural adjustment demanded to Italy by the EU”, the spokesman said, responding to a question.
Rehn on Wednesday increased pressure on Rome to adopt urgent measures after the European Commission called for economic reform to stimulate growth and create jobs and said Italy was under “special monitoring” over its macroeconomic imbalances.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Can’t Use EU Funding to Cut Labour Taxes, Commissioner
Cohesion fund for new development plans, says Johannes Hahn
(ANSA) — Brussels, March 7 — Italy cannot use EU funding to lower its tax burden, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn said Friday through a spokesperson.
“The EU clarifies that cohesion policy funds must be used for new development projects”, said the spokesperson.
“They cannot therefore be used to cover tax cuts, like cuts potentially connected to the tax wedge, as suggested by some observers”.
Italian Premier Matteo Renzi on Thursday said his government’s priority is “jobs and growth, growth and jobs” as Italy is slowly beginning to come out of its worst recession since Second World War.
Renzi has vowed to cut payroll taxes by a double-digit figure (in millions of euros) by the first semester of this year.
The tax wedge is the difference between what a firm pays each worker and the worker’s net salary.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated it at 47.6% in Italy in 2012, the sixth-highest among the organisation’s 34 member countries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
This World Bank Insider Will Blow You Away: “There is a Huge Global Conspiracy” (Video)
Former Senior Counselor at the World Bank Karen Hudes has spent the last several years of her life working closely with whistle blowers from around the world to shed light on what she calls a “global conspiracy.”
While working for the World Bank as a member of their legal team Hudes uncovered so much corruption that she could no longer keep quiet. She followed the proper channels to report her findings, going first to the organization’s Evaluation Department and country directors, and then to the U.S. Treasury Department and even the United States Congress. All of her requests were ignored, and in some cases, completely covered up. So she did what any honest person would do. She went public. Suffice it to say, she received the typical treatment you’d expect for a whistle blower.
Hudes is no longer with the World Bank, but that didn’t stop her from continuing her investigation by joining an organization of other whistle blowers.
What she found once she started connecting the dots will blow you away. The corruption, as most of us know, isn’t just at the World Bank, but is woven throughout the fabric of the entirety of the global financial and political systems.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Gun Groups Given Forum at SXSW
Gun control campaigners are making greater use of social media to organise their supporters across the US, in an effort to digitally disrupt better-funded pro-gun lobbying groups like the NRA.
Three groups — Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Americans for Responsible Solutions, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America — came together at the SXSW conference in Austin to discuss their digital strategies.
The first two of those groups may have well-known figureheads — politicians Michael Bloomberg and Gabrielle Giffords respectively — but they are also working hard to spark grassroots online campaigns for supporters to press for changes to state and federal gun laws.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Imperial Presidency: Obama’s Executive Overreach Must be Stopped, Say Lawmakers
U.S. House of Representatives GOP leaders on Tuesday introduced a bill written to stymie what is being called Executive Overreach by lawmakers, constitutional experts and civil libertarians.
Reps. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Bob Goodlatte on behalf of the House Judiciary Committee unveiled H.R. 4138, the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law Act — or simply ENFORCE the Law Act — as a result of President Barack Obama’s past use of executive actions designed to make an end run around the nation’s legislative branch of government.
The congressmen are also anticipating more of the same since Obama has boasted he has a “phone and a pen” that he will use to push his agenda be it gun control, climate change, the U.S. economy and other issues important to the left-wing of his political party.
Issa, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, Goodlatte, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Gowdy who is a ranking member of those committees, all claim they wish to return to a government system that balances “the separation of powers enshrined in the [U.S.] Constitution.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In Casablanca, Would Obama be Freedom-Fighter Rick, Or the Depraved Nazi Leader
In fact the timeless themes in Casablanca are quintessential American values, expressed cinematically. First is our fixation with tough, cynical guys with soft interiors, who obscure tender hearts of gold behind a flinty exterior. We love guys who fight for freedom, back the right side — regardless of the risk, who hate fascism and tyranny, and push aback against bullies. Most importantly is the triumph of true love over convenience and selfishness, and sacrificing for good of others, even to the point of death.
Barack seems to love the very opposite, being more government control, and less freedom for Americans. Would that Obama could bring his nettled mind and confused psyche back to a place to venerate the traditional American values of freedom, liberty and defense of property! Then, we would not be in our current malaise and crisis of identity, veering on the edge of ruin for a handful of Marxist, magic beans!…
The modern liberal Democrats have an embarrassing anti-Semitic record, despite most American Jews identifying themselves as such. Barack has already posted his flag in defending Islam, and his nonsensical support of Sharia radicals in Muslim Spring has proved an undying disaster. Consider the rejection of his favored Muslim Brethren party in Egypt, and with another return to chaos in Libya, while war in Syria continues.
Refusing to stand against Iranian nuclear ambitions, and suggesting Israel go back to its 1967 borders, it’s unsurprising Barack Obama was recently described as America’s most anti-Israel president.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim’s Ban of Noah Movie Sparks ‘Fatwa This!’ T-Shirt Talk on the Five
Fox News’ “The Five” took on censors in Egypt for wanting to ban the biblical epic, “Noah,” for being “irreligious.” Al-Azhar, Egypt’s most influential Islamic group, is angered by the film’s portrayal of a prophet, according to Fox News…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
EU Unable Now to Rejig Awarding of 2007-2013 Regional Funds
Key to focus on rapid, efficient execution, not reopen debate
(ANSA) — Brussels, March 6 — The European Union is now unable to make programmatic changes to regional funds attributed to member-nations for the 2007-2013 period, EU sources told Ansa, adding that those which do not appear to have been awarded are anyhow being utilized in another way.
“It is key to concentrate on the rapid and efficient execution of that which already exists rather than reopen the debate only a few months before the end of the 2007-2013 program. The sources went on to specify that the negotiations that had taken place with the Italian government on the reprogramming of the funds, which was recently finalized, was aimed at an “immediate impact on growth and work”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gerard Mortier: Who Led Some of the Most Important Opera Companies, Is Dead
Gerard Mortier, a visionary opera company leader whose bold theatricality and updatings of the canon helped define the art form’s modern history, died on Saturday at his home in Brussels. He was 70.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, said Simon Bauwens, Mr. Mortier’s personal assistant at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Mr. Mortier was that company’s artistic director from 2009 until last year, when his title was changed to artistic adviser in a tussle with the Spanish government over his successor after he announced in September that he was being treated for cancer.
It was a characteristically feisty situation for a man who relished a battle during a four-decade career at the helm of some of the world’s most important opera companies, including the Salzburg Festival. and the Paris Opera.
| [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Lord Justice Fulford was a key backer of the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which police suspect of abusing children on an ‘industrial scale’.
One of Britain’s most senior judges actively campaigned to support a vile paedophile group that tried to legalise sex with children, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Lord Justice Fulford, named last year as an adviser to the Queen, was a key backer of the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which police suspect of abusing children on an ‘industrial scale’.
An investigation by the Mail on Sunday has discovered that Fulford was a founder member of a campaign to defend PIE while it was openly calling for the age of consent to be lowered to just four…
Fulford, now 61, is the most senior public figure to be exposed as an apologist for paedophiles among Left-wing political groups of the 1970s and 1980s.
He has enjoyed a stellar rise through the legal profession, becoming a QC in 1994 and a part-time judge the following year.
In 2002 he became the first openly gay High Court judge, being nominated for a knighthood by Tony Blair, and in 2003 took up a prestigious role at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Last year he was nominated as an Appeal Court judge by David Cameron and appointed to the Privy Council, the elite group of senior politicians, judges and clergy who advise the Queen on constitutional matters.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Left, Right Politicians Working to Make Prostitution Legal
Draft law promoted by Democratic Left and FI’s Mussolini
(ANSA) — Rome, March 4 — Senator Maria Spilabotte of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) on Tuesday presented a draft law — also endorsed by some on the centre-right — to make prostitution legal.
The measure, which is backed by members of her party as well as by centre-right Forza Italia (FI) deputy Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, would make prostitution legal under certain conditions.
To work legally, prostitutes would be required to work in licensed apartments, hold a professional identity card, a VAT tax registration number to pay taxes, and agree to regular medical checkups.
The draft measure presented Tuesday at a press conference is reportedly aimed at recognizing the rights of prostitutes while fighting abuse.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: M5S Files Motion to Sack Probed Culture Undersecretary
Francesca Barracciu among four PD members under investigation
(ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) on Thursday filed a motion demanding the resignation of Democratic Party (PD) MEP and Culture Undersecretary Francesca Barracciu who is under investigation for aggravated embezzlement.
Barracciu, who denies the allegations, is one of four PD members whose appointments as undersecretaries despite their being probed have prompted accusations of double standards against PD Premier Matteo Renzi.
Barracciu won PD primaries to run for governor of her native Sardinia in December but Renzi reportedly intervened to scotch her bid because of the probe. Constitutional Reform and Relations with Parliament Minister Maria Elena Boschi on Tuesday defended the PD’s decision to keep the four in their jobs, saying they were innocent until proven guilty in Italy’s three-tiered justice system.
Critics say similar arguments were used by ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to defend MPs and government members under investigation, amid waves of funding scandals that have hit across the political spectrum.
They also say some politicians were forced out by alleged scandals without being probed, such as former agriculture minister Nunzia Di Giralomo.
Presenting the motion, the M5S said, sarcastically: “For the Renzi government, the government of the new, of turning over a new leaf, of getting things done, tapping people probed for crimes like fraud, embezzlement, aggravated embezzlement, and abuse of office clearly represents a strong signal of consistency with its message”.
The M5S, led by firebrand comic-turned politician Beppe Grillo, took almost a quarter of the vote in the general election a year ago on a vow to kick out the corrupt old guard.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: PD Accused of ‘Double Standards’ In Undersecretary Row
Probe notice insufficient for resignation, says party
(ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) of Premier Matteo Renzi came under fire Thursday for allegedly applying two weights and two measures in relation to four undersecretaries from the party facing criminal investigation after saying they would not be asked to resign.
On Tuesday the firebrand leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) Beppe Grillo called for the resignation of Culture Undersecretary Francesca Barracciu, Transport Undersecretary Umberto Del Basso de Caro, Health Undersecretary Vito De Filippo and Interior Undersecretary Filippo Bubbico, under investigation respectively for for allegedly embezzling party funds, missing expense reports and abuse of office.
His call came after Transport Undersecretary Antonio Gentile of the New Centre Right (NCD), a minor ally in Renzi’s left-right coalition, stepped down amid accusations he strong-armed a local newspaper not to publish a piece about allegations his son was implicated in corruption in health-sector contracts.
However Parliamentary Relations Minister Maria Elena Boschi of the PD told parliament that the government would not “ask for resignation of ministers or undersecretaries on the basis of a notice of investigation”.
Former agriculture minister Nunzia Di Girolamo of NCD denounced the “double standards” of the centre-left “which behaves in one fashion with us, with Berlusconi and with all those who see things differently, while it is very permissive, libertarian and sometimes distracted with its own party members”.
Di Girolamo herself bowed to calls to resign from the cabinet led by Renzi’s predecessor Enrico Letta in January following the publication of transcripts of recordings of her conversations regarding health-sector appointments in the southern province of Benevento stemming from an investigation in which she was however not being probed.
“We are telling Renzi to avoid applying two weights and two measures, the law is equal for all undersecretaries,” said Ignazio Messina, leader of the small centre-left party Italy of Values (IdV), adding that the PD knew its four undersecretaries were under investigation when they were nominated. However on Wednesday Deputy Premier and NCD leader Angelino Alfano said his party “respected the PD’s decision” concerning its undersecretaries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Supreme Court Upholds Convictions in Parmalat Case
Charges of criminal conspiracy confirmed against businessmen
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — Italy’s top court on Friday confirmed 15 convictions in connection with the collapse in 2003 of food group Parmalat.
At the same time, the court trimmed five months off the 18-year sentence of founder and former chief executive Calisto Tanzi, who was originally convicted for the fraudulent bankruptcy that led to Parmalat’s collapse. Other executives saw their sentences for criminal conspiracy upheld in the enormous fraud that saw 150,000 investors damaged and debts of about 14.5 billion euros revealed.
Fausto Tonna, Calisto Tanzi’s former right-hand man, saw his sentence upheld at just under 10 years; Giovanni Tanzi, Calisto’s brother, had his sentence of 10 years and six months upheld; and former manager Lucian Silingardi had his six-year sentence confirmed.
Numerous other former executives and board members also saw their jail terms, ranging from more than seven years to one year, upheld.
Calisto Tanzi had also been convicted in Milan of market rigging and feeding false information to stock market regulator Consob in connection with the collapse of his food multinational.
Parmalat was declared bankrupt in December 2003 after it emerged that four billion euros it supposedly held in an offshore Bank of America account did not, in fact, exist.
The case then snowballed, eventually leading to Parmalat’s collapse amid debts of some 14.5 billion euros and a fraud scandal which rocked the Italian financial world.
Investigators found that from 1990 until 2002, Parmalat lost money every year except one but nonetheless reported uninterrupted profits and routinely forged documents in order to deceive banks and regulators.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission called the case “one of the largest and most brazen corporate financial frauds in history”.
Parmalat’s bankruptcy — dubbed ‘Europe’s Enron’ after an enormous energy fraud in the United States at the same time — left more than 150,000 investors with virtually worthless bonds.
Parmalat was later put back on its feet by corporate turnaround expert Enrico Bondi who, first as government-appointed administrator and later as official CEO, shed the group’s non-core activities, cut foreign activities and reduced staff.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Almost 300 Million Euros Collected Under Tax Amnesty
About 75,000 Italians pay outstanding bills to Equitalia
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — About 75,000 Italians have taken advantage of a brief amnesty period to pay up outstanding tax bills of about 300 million euros, tax collection agency Equitalia said Friday.
The amnesty, which allows tax payers who have been avoiding their bills to come clean without penalty, continues until the end of March and applies to personal income tax and value-added taxes.
The amnesty was launched in the latest stability law of former premier Enrico Letta and was extended by an additional month to reach more tardy taxpayers.
Italy’s longstanding problems with tax payments are well-known and in January, finance police said that in 2013 alone they uncovered almost 52 billion euros of undeclared — and untaxed — Italian revenues.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Higher Local Taxes Raising Total Burden, Says Audit Court
Southern Italy “penalized” by reliance on regional tax base
(ANSA) — Rome, March 6 — Higher local government levies have been “the driving force” behind a dramatic rise in the tax burden of Italians, the head of the national Audit Court, Raffaele Squitieri, said Thursday.
He said local taxes — which have risen by 130% — accounted for about 80% of the increase in Italy’s tax burden to an average of 44% from a previous 38% between 1990 and 2012, he said.
The audit court blamed fiscal laws that have seen the national government gradually transfer more tax authority to the regions, adding these have “penalized” the country’s less wealthy south where the tax base is relatively small.
In a document presented to parliamentarians, the court said that tax policies should be adjusted to take account of regional differences if they are to be equitable.
Poor regions are sometimes forced to boost taxes to pay for basic services such as health care, but the effect of raising the tax burden is damaging to the overall regional economy and in turn, erodes the tax base, Squitieri said.
The result is, “a vicious cycle focused particularly in the South”.
The new government of Premier Matteo Renzi has talked about taking back some of the powers that had been downloaded onto local authorities.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: TAV Chiomonte Tunnel Work is 6 Months Ahead of Schedule
Infrastructure minister makes comment on high-speed rail works
(ANSA) — Chiomonte (Turin), March 6 — The digging works for the creation of a 7.5 kilometre tunnel in Chiomonte, Northern Italy, that is to form a wider project linking up Italy and France with high-speed train services are six months ahead of schedule, according to comments made by infrastructure minister Maurizio Lupi during a visit to the area on Thursday.
The works are “six months ahead of schedule, and if they carry on like this they could well finish by the end of 2015”, he said. The high-speed-rail project between France and Italy has triggered a spate of violent protests across Italy, led by the ‘No TAV’ group which is based near the tunnel location in Turin and the Val di Susa area. Often, at demonstrations, they have used stones, firecrackers and other explosive devices to illustrate their anger at the plans which they say are too costly and also environmentally damaging. In other instances they have physically clashed with the police and disrupted highway traffic.
Several members of the anti-TAV movement who oppose the cost and environmental damage of the railway between Lyon and Turin have already been sent to prison for 2010 protests.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Northern Ireland: Pipe Bomb Attacks Racist — Police
Pipe bombs have exploded outside two homes in Londonderry in linked racist attacks, police said.
Officers are treating the incidents in the Waterside area in the early hours of the morning as hate crimes. Nine people escaped injury in the blasts…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
More than a third of Scottish businesses would consider moving out of the country if there were a Yes vote in the independence referendum, according to a shock new poll carried out for The Mail on Sunday.
The survey shows that Alex Salmond’s campaign to persuade Scottish voters that jobs and economic livelihoods would be secure in a newly independent nation has failed to convince the business community North of the border.
The bombshell results reveal:
- An astonishing 38.6 per cent of major firms would consider quitting the country and relocating outside Scotland in the event of a Yes vote in September.
- More than a third of smaller firms, with sales below £25 million a year — the grassroots of the economy — would also consider quitting Scotland if it voted to go.
- More than 75 per cent of businesses said it was ‘essential or important’ to keep the pound.
- And 44 per cent of firms of all sizes said independence would harm their prospects.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The family of a cancer patient was told in a phone call by hospital staff she had died suddenly — only to discover she was still alive after rushing to her bedside.
Astonishingly, Ann Saville’s partner realised she was still breathing when he held her hand to say a final goodbye.
‘She was still warm and I could feel she was pulsing,’ said John Harrison. ‘I said to the nurses: “She’s still alive!” and they said: “She’s not, it’s this involuntary reaction”.’
After eventually realising their mistake, nurses summoned a doctor but Mr Harrison claims they waited more than an hour for her to arrive.
In a further twist, it is now feared leukaemia patient Ms Saville, 71, may have suffered brain damage during the episode. Last night, she remained critically ill.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lord Justice Fulford ‘Campaigned to Support Pie Paedophile Group’
One of Britain’s most senior judges campaigned to provide legal support for a paedophile group which was trying to lower the age of consent to four, it has been claimed today…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Milton Keynes Mosque Arson: Man Charged
A 30-year-old man has been charged with arson and a “racially aggravated” offence after a fire at a mosque in Milton Keynes.
Thames Valley Police said a fire was started at the back of the mosque on Manor Road, Bletchley, at about 01:00 GMT on Saturday. Richard Bevington, of North Street, Bletchley, has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life and has been remanded in custody…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Wales: Legoland and Harry Potter World Name Among Seven Wonders of World — by Welsh Kids
LEGOLAND and Harry Potter World, rather than the Great Wall of China and Machu Picchu, are wonders of the world — according to Welsh children.
In a new survey, we are helped to see the world through the eyes of kids aged between 6 and 11. And they appear to have a very different view of it. Here’s the Seven Wonders of Childhood by Welsh kids…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israelis Detained on Board Norwegian Jade as Cruise Ship Docked in Port of Tunis
Israeli tourists were denied the right to disembark from the Norwegian Jade, a vessel operated by the Norwegian Cruise Line, when it stopped in the Port of Tunis, Tunisia recently, Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada said on Sunday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Threat Issued in Libyan Oil Export Dispute
Cairo — Leaders of eastern Libya’s self-declared autonomous region of Barqa declared Saturday that they had begun exporting oil from the port of Sidra and would share revenues with the central government in accordance with a 1951 constitution. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told journalists later that government authorities have warned a North Korean-flagged oil tanker to leave Libyan waters or face attack…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
One Week After Russia’s Crimean Invasion, US Imposes Travel Sanctions…Against Israelis
The State Department confirms there has been a 400% increase in the visa refusal rate for Israeli citizens since 2007, when only 2.5% of all Israeli visa requests were denied, as compared to 2013 when 9.7% were. In fact, rejection rates for Israeli visa applicants were so high in 2013, that Israel was expelled from the State Department’s visa waiver program. Some of the countries whose citizens are eligible to participate the US visa waiver program, in addition to traditional and treaty allies like Canada and the UK, include Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
A report from a Hezbollah-owned television station claims Jews are taking over Hollywood — and by extension, all of America — so they can rule the world.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/superman-is-a-jewish-conspiracy/#K7eRChQ5QbmyuY64.99
| — Hat tip: Egghead | [Return to headlines] |
State Dept.: Palestinians Do Not Need to Recognize Israel as Jewish State
The Palestinians did not agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993, and considers such recognition to be a new demand. Palestinian propaganda denies Jews the right to sovereignty.
| — Hat tip: Egghead | [Return to headlines] |
An American Child Kidnapped in Accordance With Shariah
An interview with Professor Margaret McClain
by Jerry Gordon
One of horrors that have confronted American women who naïvely marry Saudi men is the possible risk of having children of those marriages kidnapped following divorce in accordance with Sharia and removed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There are estimated to be in excess of 1,000 such cases. A few have been featured in investigative reports on CBS 60 Minutes and Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor. Frequently American wives of Saudis and other fundamentalist Muslims are physically abused and maltreated under Sharia. n the current debates in state legislatures over consideration of American Laws for American Courts, legislators often ask, “is this legislation really needed to address foreign laws and doctrines” that intrude on the fundamental Constitution Rights of American citizens? Often cited are cases that have recognized Sharia doctrine in state appellate and lower courts. Illustrative of the compelling need for such protections are the numerous incidents involving spousal abuse of American wives and kidnapping of children in divorce cases, where under Shariah, the Muslim ex-husbands can exercise rights to remove their children even though doing so may violate US criminal laws…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan: “I Ain’t Got No Respect”
Last May, President Obama held a Rose Garden, news conference with Turkey’s Premier, Tayyip Recep Erdogan. That was just before the Gezi Park Protests of last summer and well before the current explosion of controversy over Erdogan’s alleged corruption kicked off by prosecution arrests following investigations in mid-December 2013. Since then there have been weekly reports regarding charges of construction bribery deals, illicit gold trading, violation of human rights of journalists and opponents, muzzling of the Judiciary and Public Prosecutors. Then there was revelation about taped calls with his son, Bilal, concerning hiding huge amounts of cash. Whereas in our last Iconoclast report he vigorously denied the authenticity of those calls, this past week, he said that taped calls recording him “meddling” with the judiciary were the real deal. He accuses the “deep state” of the Hizmat movement being behind it all. He has targeted the movement’s reclusive ex-patriate Sufi Sheikh Fethulleh Gulen rusticating in eastern Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains as the cause of his moral quandary… Perhaps, Erdogan should respond by resorting to the tag line of the late 20th Century American comedian Rodney Dangerfield, “ I ain’t got no respect”. But then maybe misery loves company, both Premier Erdogan and President Obama have daunting criticism over their domestic and foreign policies.
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Kidnapped Syrian Nuns Expected to be Freed Soon: Media
DAMASCUS, March 9 (Xinhua) — Twelve Syrians nuns kidnapped by Syria’s radical rebels earlier could possibly be released as soon as on Sunday, local TV reported.
The pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said it has “information about a deal for today’s release of the kidnapped nuns of Maloula amid preparations for official reception of them in Damascus.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Suicide Bomber Uses Iraq Police Humvee in Attack
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber in a stolen police Humvee passed through a military checkpoint in Iraq before detonating his explosives, part of a series of assaults across the country Saturday that killed seven people, authorities said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 45 People in Southern Iraq
A suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with explosives attacked a security checkpoint in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla on Sunday, killing at least 45 people and wounding more than 100, security officials said.
More than 30 cars waiting at the checkpoint were set on fire by the blast, and some of the drivers and passengers were trapped inside…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Superman is a ‘Jewish Conspiracy’!
Jacob Hagouel, head of the Department for Combatting Anti-Semitism at the World Zionist Organization, said in response:
“Anti-Semitism continues to raise its head in the Arab world. It is now 2014, but the messages we are hearing are straight from the eve of World War II. Whole generations of viewers are being raised on systematic anti-Semitic propaganda.”
A report from a Hezbollah-owned television station claims Jews are taking over Hollywood — and by extension, all of America — so they can rule the world.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/superman-is-a-jewish-conspiracy/#K7eRChQ5QbmyuY64.99
| — Hat tip: Egghead | [Return to headlines] |
The Withdrawal of Arab Ambassadors From Qatar… an Important Message to Washington
Cairo, Egypt — The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar. In a joint statement, they explained they had to start taking appropriate steps to protect their own security and stability. The three countries hope that the government of Qatar may take immediate steps to achieve what they previously agreed upon, and protect the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)…
Qatar, a small country ‘created’ in 1970, is important for two reasons: First, it contains the largest two American military bases in the Middle East, which makes Qatar like America’s 51st state. Second, Al-Jazeera, which in just a few years has been able to become the loudest Arabic channel in the world.
Before, during and even after the Arab Spring, Al-Jazeera was the instigator of the first incidents of violence that hit the Arab countries. Al-Jazeera dedicated a channel to broadcast its poison and hatred in Egypt around the clock, as if it were the official sponsor of political Islam, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Jazeera helped the Muslim Brotherhood win parliamentary and presidential elections in Egypt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Everyone Agrees That Ukraine Sniper Attacks Were a False Flag
We pointed out Wednesday that the Estonian foreign minister claims that the new Ukrainian coalition deployed snipers to discredit the former government of Ukraine.
We documented Thursday that snipers are a common form of false flag terrorism.
Interestingly, while the new Ukranian coalition denies that it deployed snipers, it is now accusing someone else — Russia — of deploying the snipers as a false flag event to create chaos…
Since Russia supported Yanukovych, it makes no sense that the people who ordered the sniper attacks would want to topple Yanukovych and launch a Russian invasion. Specifically, they would either want tooverthrow the Russia-friendly Yanukovych or launch a Russian invasion to support a Russia-friendly Ukrainian government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Speculation was growing last night that American mercenaries had been deployed to Donetsk after videos emerged of unidentified armed men in the streets of the eastern Ukrainian city.
At least two videos published on YouTube earlier this week show burly, heavily armed soldiers with no insignia in the city, which has been gripped by pro-Moscow protests.
In one of the videos onlookers can be heard shouting ‘Blackwater! Blackwater!’ as the armed men, who wear no insignia, jog through the streets.
The context of the videos is not clear, but it appears that the armed men had turned up at a street protest against the new regime. They wander around brandishing their weapons before suddenly fleeing the scene as passers-by shout ‘Blackwater! Blackwater!’
Since the videos emerged, Twitter has been alive with speculation that mercenaries linked to Blackwater, now known as Academi, are active in Ukraine, helping to prop up the embattled new pro-western government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
McCain: ‘It’s Tragic’ There’s No U.S. Military Option in Ukraine
If the US/EU backed overthrow of the Ukrainian government last month had a face, that face would be Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). McCain is the “Energizer Bunny” of US interventionism: wherever there is a government to subvert, a regime to change, chaos to foment, there you will find McCain in its midst.
He snuck into Syria to highlight the dominance of moderates that the US should support. But the world is now interconnected and soon it was known that McCain’s moderates in Syria were in fact radicals and kidnappers. He snuck into Libya to receive an award from the military the same day Sharia law was approved.
But these are small potatoes. Russia has always been the prize for McCain. His International Republican Institute (IRI), a Cold War relic funded by US taxpayers, routinely funded subversive NGOs in Russia to undermine the political system.
– From the early days of the protests in Ukraine, McCain was there, in Maidan square, meeting with and encouraging those whose intent was a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government. The ends justifies the means, and McCain supped with a number of unsavorycharacters to supercharge his plans.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Earlier today, photos were distributed showing the latest military convoy reinforcements heading into the Crimea, accompanies by a Police car demonstrating Moscow license plate numbers, most likely providing further support to the pro-Russian forces in the peninsula.
Supposedly the trucks are carrying troops to reinforces the members of the new Crimean army, pictured below:
While at the same time along the makeshift border between Crimea and the mainland, the Pro-Russian forces are putting down minefields.
However, the Ukrainians, having already been mobilized for over a week, finally appear set to seize back the offensive:
The first clip below captured the 80th Airborne Regiment out of Lviv moving out, direction mainland, preparing to repel foreign attack.
The next video shows what are allegedly Buk SAM batteries deployed in the Donetsk region, a city in Eastern Ukraine which in the past week has swayed between Ukraine and Russian authority.
The clip below shows the 95th Airborne brigade also moving out of their barracks in Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, heading East, with an impressive deployment of trucks and APCs…
So where again are all those pundits who were so eager to explain away the Ukraine confrontation as one that will promptly be forgotten, and is by now most certainly priced in?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
An Inspiring Tale: From Maoist Rebel to Nepal’s Top Female Politician
KATHMANDU, March 9 (Xinhua) — Like most Nepali women, she just aspired to become a teacher but now Onsari Gharti Magar is the vice chairwoman of Nepal’s Constituent Assembly, the country’s parliament.
“People thought that as a woman, the most I could achieve was to become a teacher and nothing more. And If I am here today it is because women are more aware of their values and rights even though the Nepali society remains very unequal,” Magar told Xinhua in an interview as Nepal marked International Women’s Day Saturday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Authorities Investigate 4 Passengers on Missing Malaysia Flight With ‘Suspicious’ Ids
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (CBSDC/CBS News/AP) — Military radar indicates that the missing Boeing 777 jet may have turned back before vanishing, Malaysia’s air force chief said Sunday as authorities were investigating up to four passengers with suspicious identifications.
Air force chief Rodzali Daud didn’t say which direction the plane veered when it apparently went off course, or how long it flew in that direction.
Flight MH370 was carrying 239 people, including three Americans, when it lost contact with ground controllers somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam after leaving Kuala Lumpur early Saturday morning for Beijing.
A massive international sea search has so far turned up no trace of the plane, which lost contact with the ground when the weather was fine, the plane was already cruising and the pilots didn’t send a distress signal — unusual circumstance for a modern jetliner operated by a professional airline to crash…
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Interpol Probes More Suspect Passports From Missing Flight.
ROME (Reuters) — Interpol is investigating more suspect passports used to board a missing Malaysia Airlines flight, in addition to two European ones that were falsely used by unidentified passengers, the global police agency said on Sunday.
An Italian man and an Austrian man were falsely listed as passengers on Beijing-bound flight MH370, which disappeared after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur early on Saturday with 239 people aboard.
Authorities later confirmed the two men — Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi — were not on the plane, and their passports had been stolen in Thailand within the last two years.
An Interpol spokeswoman said a check of all documents used to board the plane had revealed more “suspect passports” that were being further investigated.
She was unable to give further information on the number of documents or the country they related to…
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Malaysia Airlines: Incident Exposes Alarming Flaw in Airline Security
More than a billion air journeys were taken last year without the passengers’ details being checked against a stolen-passport database, Interpol said on Sunday in a stinging critique of aircraft security following the Malaysia Airlines disaster…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Marines File Petition Against Indian Terror Police
Italians accused of murders challenge authorities in New Delhi
(By Sandra Cordon) (ANSA) — New Delhi, March 7 — Two Italian anti-piracy marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen two years ago filed a petition against Indian authorities permitting that country’s NIA anti-terrorism police to probe the case, judicial sources told ANSA on Friday. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, who have been held in India without charges since the February 2012 incident, lodged the protest with the Indian supreme court on Thursday.
The 50-page document argues that allowing the NIA anti-terror authorities to probe the case is not valid because their jurisdiction only extends to certain laws, such as suppression of piracy, which do not apply to the Italian sailors.
The document was prepared by the Italian legal team that has worked with the two marines for almost two years.
India’s Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati has already told the supreme court in New Delhi that he favoured dropping the anti-terrorism laws in this case — but has still asked the courts to uphold the NIA leading the investigation.
The court adjourned the case again Friday without setting the next hearing date.
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini tweeted Friday that she had “just spoken” to her Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid about the marines and “we are working to bring them back to Italy”. Latorre and Girone are accused of allegedly killing fishermen Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki after mistaking them for pirates and reportedly opening fire on their fishing trawler.
The incident occurred while the marines while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of the southern Indian state of Kerala in February 2012.
The two marines have been living and working at the Italian embassy in India pending charges.
Rome has protested a long series of delays in the case, which has caused a deep diplomatic schism between the countries.
It also fought hard to ensure New Delhi dropped any possible plans to apply the tough anti-piracy and anti-terrorism law that could have mandated the death penalty.
The Italian government claimed credit for India’s eventual decision to waive the law, saying its firmness and enlistment of support from the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and from NATO had forced New Delhi to give in.
In taking the death penalty off the table, India has warned that the pair could face up to 10 years in jail. Italy is seeking international arbitration on the incident, which it insists took place in international waters.
Premier Matteo Renzi said on his appointment last month the case was “absurd and shocking”. He said the pair have been stuck “for too long” in New Delhi and has given them his personal guarantee to see them returned to Italy.
The Italian government’s special envoy on the case Staffan de Mistura has argued that if the marines must face trial, it should be in Italy.
“They must come home,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
SA and Tasmania Brace for Blue Victory at March 15 Elections
This time next week, Australians could be waking up to a blue new world. With polls predicting Liberal wins in both South Australia and Tasmania on March 15, ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher could be the only state or territory leader left flying the flag for Labor government…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Teen Bashed: Victim Unconscious After Unprovoked Park Attack
A BRIGHT teenager was bashed unconscious in a vicious and unprovoked attack at a park in Myrtleford on Saturday night.
Wangaratta Detective Leading Sen-Constable Paul Campbell said passers-by stepped in and prevented further injuries to the victim, 19, who suffered a broken jaw. Another 19-year-old, from Wangaratta, was yesterday charged with recklessly cause serious injury and other assault-related charges…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Gambia President Rejects English Language
President’s decision to shift official language from English to local language comes months after its decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth
Gambia’s president said that he wants to implement a policy change that would shift the country’s language from English to a local language.
“We no longer subscribe to the belief that for you to be a government you should speak English language. We should speak our language,” President Yahya Jammeh said during the swearing-in ceremony of Gambia’s new Chief Justice that aired on state-run Gambia Television Services on Friday…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia: Mortar Shellings Exchanged Last Night in Outskirts of Baladweyne
As it is reported from Baladweyne, the provincial capital city of the Hiiraan region; heavy mortar shells were used to attack the Janta Kundisho territory on the outskirts of Baladweyne. The mortar shells were exchanged between Al-Shabaab and Ethiopian troops and the casualties caused last night are still unknown. Due to the inclusion of the Ethiopian troops under the AMISOM mandate, they have already began launching their offensives in some areas of the Hiiraan region against Al-Shabaab.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Fiat Posts Record Sales of 55,983 Cars in Brazil in February
Carmaker maintains leadership of market with 23.5% share
(ANSA) — Rio de Janeiro, March 7 — Fiat car sales in Brazil in the month of February jumped to a record 55,983 units, inclusive of light commercial vehicles, reaching a market share of 23.5%. The company sold 121,032 cards in total in the first two months of this year, a 0.8% gain from the year-earlier period.
Fiat had a 22.1% share of the local car sales market, the largest amongst producers. Of the five most-sold car models in Brazil in the month of February, three were produced by Fiat: the Strada pickup with 13,458 vehicles sold, the Palio with 13,017 sales and the Uno, of which 10,408 were bought last month.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cameron Under Fire Over Foreign Nanny
LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha are in the middle of an immigration row involving their Nepalese nanny…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Danny Alexander Admission Causes Government Fresh Embarrassment Over Immigration
Liberal Democrat Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander is forced to admit on air that his cleaner is a Portuguese immigrant
The Coalition is facing fresh embarrassment over the issue of immigration after a senior Cabinet minister was forced to admit he employed a Portuguese cleaner…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Nannygate, Immigration and Why the Tories Are at War
How did a ministerial speech about cheap foreign labour and its impact on Britain come to threaten party unity?
When Gita Lima decided that she wanted to become British, one of her bosses did what any good employer would do for a valued member of staff. They signed the papers. The application, made in 2010, was successful, and the Nepalese Ms Lima joined the swelling ranks of new British citizens. She is still working for the family as a nanny at one of central London’s smartest addresses…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US Atheists’ Group Sues Over Inclusion of ‘Ground Zero Cross’ In New 9/11 Museum
Steel crossbeam that became symbol of hope after surviving Twin Towers attacks ‘screams Christianity’ and will ‘alienate’ atheists, pressure group claims
It was the towering charred steel beam shaped like a Christian cross that became a symbol of solace and hope after it was found jutting out of the smouldering debris of the World Trade Centre. But the so-called Ground Zero Cross is now at the centre of a church-state row as a leading US atheists’ group sues over its inclusion as centrepiece in the new National Sept 11 Memorial and Museum…
[JP note: See also: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterfoster/100262695/atheists-are-picking-the-wrong-fight-over-the-ground-zero-cross/ ]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Daniel Pipes: Islam’s Inadvertent Patterns
How does Islam shape the way Muslims live? The religion’s formal requirements are the narrow base for a far wider structure of patterns that extend the formal rules of Islam, stretching them in unexpected and unplanned ways. A few examples:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Does anyone of you remember this story:
Report: Interpol Helps Saudis Arrest Journalist in Malaysia for Insulting Mohammed
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/290832/report-interpol-helps-saudis-arrest-journalist-malaysia-insulting-mohammed-andrew-c-mc
So there the co-operation did work. Then why didn’t it work in the case of the stolen passports?