Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/10/2014

A car bomb exploded outside the Greek Central Bank in downtown Athens early this morning. The blast damaged nearby buildings and vehicles, but caused no casualties. No group has claimed responsibility, but the timing and location of the bomb suggest that a far-left group protesting the government’s austerity policies is the likely culprit.

In other news, Kathleen Sebelius, the embattled Secretary of Health and Human Services who oversaw the disastrous implementation of ObamaCare, resigned today.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Andy Bostom, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, Steen, 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.

Financial Crisis
» ECB ‘Unanimous’ In Backing Unconventional Measures
» Greece Calls Return to Bond Market a ‘Historic Day’
» Greek Families Struggle to Survive Economic Crisis
» Is the US or the World Coming to an End?
» Italians in Genoa ‘Can’t Afford to Pay for Funerals’
» Spanish Bank Feels Heat Over Homes Evictions
 
USA
» 100 Facts About the Moral Collapse of America That Are Almost Too Crazy to Believe
» 20 Cowboys Break Fed Blockade in Nevada, Retrieve Cattle
» America’s Suicide Pact With Communism
» Are the Bad Guys Getting Panicky?
» Aspartame’s Name Changed to Amino Sweet: A Toxin by Another Name is Still a Toxin
» Bruce Bawer: Rank Appeasement
» CAIR Intimidates Opponents of Omaha’s Tri-Faith Initiative
» California Man Confesses to 40 Killings
» Cliven Bundy Calls on Sheriff to Start Arresting BLM Feds
» Coalition of Western State Legislators, Sheriffs, And Veterans Stand Vigil in Support of Embattled Nevada Rancher, Cliven Bundy ‘To Prevent Another Ruby Ridge or Waco”
» Colbert to Succeed Letterman as Host of the ‘Late Show’ On CBS
» Degrees of Separation
» Demonizing SCOTUS
» Islam Critic: Brandeis Turned Honor Into a Shaming
» Mainstream U.S. Muslim Jurists Association Sanctions Female Genital Mutilation
» Missouri Department of Transportation to Use LRAD Sound Cannons on Speeding Drivers
» New Jersey Print Shop Owner Boots Publisher of Anti-Semitic Hate Magazine
» Robert Spencer in Frontpage Mag: Brandeis Caves to Islamic Supremacist Thuggery
» Sebelius Resigning as Health Secretary
» Secret Service Forces Press Off Street While Allowing Pro-Amnesty Activists to Stay
» Standoff in Nevada: Another Federal Siege Against the Innocent
» Stay-at-Home Moms: A Rising Trend, Fueled by Immigration and Weak Economy
» Stephen Colbert to Succeed Retiring David Letterman
» The Most Likely Armageddon Threat … Preventable for a Small Amount of Money
» U.S. Government Snipers, Militarized Police With Automatic Weapons Surround Cattle Ranch in Nevada and Demand $1 Million in Payments
» Va. Dem. Says He Wants to ‘Decimate’ Christians, ‘Eradicate’ Tea Party
» Was Rolling Stone Constitution Snafu Intentional?
 
Europe and the EU
» Belgium: Young Antwerp Girls Left for the Syrian Conflict Zone
» Car Bomb at Central Bank as Greece Returns to Markets
» Car Bomb Explodes Outside Greek Central Bank, No Injuries Reported
» Danes Urged to Visit Paris to Make Babies
» France: Barbarous Gang Rape in Évry
» France Seizes Record Haul of Fake Chinese Pills
» French Priest ‘Raped Teachers at Exorcisms’
» Germany: ‘Satanists’ On Trial for Taxi Driver Murder
» German Minister: ‘US Operating Without Any Kind of Boundaries’
» ‘I Will Tear His Head Off’: How the Italian Mafia is Infiltrating Germany
» IRA Militant Charged With 29 Murders in 1998 Car Bomb Attack in Northern Ireland Town of Omagh
» Italian Bishop Lambasts Gay Marriage Ruling
» Italy: DEF Gives Italy Credibility for EU Battle, Says Renzi
» Italy: Court Mulls Community Service for Berlusconi
» Madrid Blocks Catalan Independence Referendum
» Mailman Keeps Tallest Flats in Germany Posted
» Netherlands: Defence Ministry Finalises Compensation Deal for Srebrenica Families
» Norway: Police Arrest 12 for Illegal Wolf Hunting
» Norway: Utøya Survivors Too Often Clam Up
» Norway Amnesiac: Czech Couple Say He is Their Son
» Socialism at Work: No Business Emails After Six in France
» Spain: Gang Forces Disabled Romanians to Beg
» Switzerland: Geneva Parlours ‘Require’ Condoms for Oral Sex
» UK: Cameron Says Rivals’ Views on Europe ‘Extremist’
» UK: David Cameron Rocked by Surge in Support for UKIP, Exclusive Poll Reveals
» UK: Jihadists as “Charity Workers”
» UK: Man Convicted of Driving While Banned for 44th Time Walks Free From Court
» UK: Mosque and Islamic School Plans Get Green Light — Providing Developers Sign Up for Road Improvements
» UK: Pensioner Evicted From Allotment for Having 2 Weeks Off Because of the Weather
» UK: Parrot Defends Owner From Attacker
» UK: Samsung Galaxy S4 Mobile Phone Catches Fire After Owner Charges it Whilst Sleeping
» UK: Saturated Fat Consumption Not Related to Heart Disease Risk, Study Says
» UK: White Wing Supremacist: Swan Attacks Foreign Students
» UK: Wunsy to the Rescue: Woman’s Parrot Saves Her From ‘Random Attack’ In London Park
» US and Germany Clash on Trade Pact Standards
 
North Africa
» Morocco’s Mentally Ill Await Deliverance From Their ‘Demons’
» Papyrus Referring to Jesus Having a Wife Was Not Forged, Tests Find
» Tunisia: Clashes Resume, Wednesday Evening, Between Policemen and Religious Extremists in Rouhia
» Twenty-Eight Killed in Aswan, Upper Egypt
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» ‘It’s Over’: Palestinian Militants in Jenin Believe Peace Process is at an End
» Orthodox Jews Arrested in Israel Anti-Conscription Protest
» Prisoner Jailed in Israel Fined for Smuggling Sperm to Wife
» The Anti- Israel Tourism Subterfuge
 
Middle East
» 25 Killed in Separate Violent Attacks Across Iraq
» 6 Civilians Injured in Yemen Roadside Bombing
» American Who Fought Against Assad’s Regime in Syria is Dead, Family Says
» Erdogan Paves Way for Turkish Surveillance State
» French Jihadist Defends Taking Baby to War-Torn Syria
» Iran’s UN Ambassador Pick Accused in Political Assassination
» Iran, Pakistan to Hold Joint Naval Drill
» ISIS Jihadists Enter Syria Along Iraq Border
» Jihadists Are Embarking on ‘Final Solution’ In Middle East
» Russia Gives $1.39 Bln for Turkey’s First Nuclear Plant
» Seizure of Syrian Town Recalls Century-Old Turkish-Armenian Dispute
» Syria: Embarassment in Turkey After US Journalist Revelations
 
Russia
» NATO Tells Russia to Stop Massing Troops Along Ukraine’s Border
» Putin Warns Europe of Gas Shortages Over Ukraine Debts
» Russia Tells EU Leaders Ukraine Debt May Affect Gas Transit
 
South Asia
» Hopes of Finding Missing Jet Grow as Possible New Signal is Detected
» Malaysia: Abductors Want $11.3m for Chinese Woman
» Malaysia Plane MH370: Possible New Signal in Search
» MH370 Fallout ‘Will Hurt’ Malaysian Tourism
» Muslims to Play Key Role in Indian Elections
» New Possible Signal Detected as Malaysia Plane Search Area Shrinks to Smallest Size
» Oil Sludge Threatens Indian Farms
 
Far East
» China and the US Seek Military Dialogue
» China Foreign Trade Contracts Amid Rising Competition, Mounting Frictions
» China Warns Obama “US is Moving in a Direction We Don’t Want to See”
» China Denies Church ‘Demolition Campaign’ But Says Christianity’s Growth ‘Excessive’
» Free Clothes, Double Rooms and No Vote: The Life of a North Korea Member of Parliament
» In China, Jar of French Mountain Air Fetches $860
» US and Japan Send Message to China
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Cartoon Crisis Finally Ends in Sudan
» Ebola Virus Continues to Rage in West Africa
» Kenya: Radical Youth Take Second Mosque
» Liberia: 12 Ebola Deaths Reported
» Somalis Detained in Kenyan Stadium as Crackdown Continues
 
Latin America
» Argentines Strike Over Inflation and Crime
» Colombia Seizes 7 Tons of Cocaine in Biggest Bust Since 2005
» Hope Fades for Venezuela Crisis Talks
» Panama Canal Expansion Draws Bigger Customers, And Criticism
» UN Report Notes High Murder Rates in Americas
» Woman Mugged on Brazil TV While Being Interviewed About Crime
 
Immigration
» Denver Wants to Hire Illegal Aliens as Teachers
» Germany: Asylum Seekers Up 80 Percent in a Year
» Italian Navy Op Has Rescued Nearly 20,000 Migrants
» Italian Navy Warns of ‘Biblical Exodus’ In Mediterranean
» Italy Searching for Snap Lodging for Thousands of Migrants
» Italy Rescues Migrants — But More Will Come
» Libyan Navy Stops Two Boats With 218 Immigrants Aboard
» Norway: Hundreds of Immigrant Kids Sent Abroad to Study
» Norway: Refugees Should be Taught Sami: Mayor
» Number of Migrants Arriving in Italy Swells
» Over 150 Sub-Saharan African Migrants Rescued Off Libyan Coast as They Try to Reach Europe
» Switzerland: Nestlé Chair Warns of Immigrant Vote Impact
» UK: Immigration From Eastern Europe Was Massively Underestimated, Says Official Report
» UK: Labour Calls for More Nuanced Approach to Immigration
 
Culture Wars
» “Building the Machine, “ The Common Core Documentary
 
General
» First ‘Exomoon’ Around Alien Planet Possibly Found
» Heartbleed Bug Creates Confusion on Internet
» Taqiyya About Taqiyya
 

ECB ‘Unanimous’ In Backing Unconventional Measures

The European Central Bank’s Governing Council is unanimously behind President Mario Draghi’s decision to use unconventional measures to stop low inflation threatening growth in the eurozone, the ECB’s monthly bulletin said Thursday. “The Governing Council is closely following developments on money markets,” the bulletin read.

“It is unanimous in its commitment to using also unconventional instruments within its mandate in order to cope effectively with risks of a too prolonged period of low inflation”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece Calls Return to Bond Market a ‘Historic Day’

In a sign of growing confidence, bailed-out eurozone member Greece has returned to the bond market, raising money from private investors for the first time in four years. Officials confirmed the auction went well.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greek Families Struggle to Survive Economic Crisis

Nearly half the Greek workforce is unemployed or unpaid. Nikos Aivatzidis and Alexandra Tsitoura work at a firm that hasn’t paid them in years. How do families like theirs survive in the EU’s most depressed economy?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Is the US or the World Coming to an End?

Two pressures are building on the US dollar. One pressure comes from the Federal Reserve’s declining ability to rig the price of gold as Western gold supplies shrivel and market knowledge of the Fed’s illegal price rigging spreads. The evidence of massive amounts of naked shorts being dumped into the paper gold futures market at times of day when trading is thin is unequivocal. It has become obvious that the price of gold is being rigged in the futures market in order to protect the dollar’s value from QE.

The other pressure arises from the Obama regime’s foolish threats of sanctions on Russia. Other countries are no longer willing to tolerate Washington’s abuse of the world dollar standard. Washington uses the dollar-based international payments system to inflict damage on the economies of countries that resist Washington’s political hegemony.

Russia and China have had enough. As I have reported and as Peter Koenig reports here (www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38165.htm) Russia and China are disconnecting their international trade from the dollar. Henceforth, Russia will conduct its trade, including the sale of oil and natural gas to Europe, in rubles and in the currencies of its BRICS partners.

This means a big drop in the demand for US dollars and a corresponding drop in the dollar’s exchange value…

A Securities and Exchange Commission prosecuting attorney, James Kidney used the occasion of his retirement to reveal that higher ups had squelched his prosecutions of Goldman Sachs and other “banks too big to fail,” because his SEC bosses were not focused on justice but “on getting high-paying jobs after their government service” by protecting the banks from prosecution for their illegal actions.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italians in Genoa ‘Can’t Afford to Pay for Funerals’

Italians hit by the economic crisis in the north-eastern city of Genoa are unable to pay for burials, leaving one local funeral home with a €500,000 bill last year alone.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spanish Bank Feels Heat Over Homes Evictions

Anti-eviction activists blocked Wednesday the entrance to 12 branches of Spain’s Banco Popular bank, which they accuse of not doing enough to prevent struggling mortgage holders from losing their homes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

100 Facts About the Moral Collapse of America That Are Almost Too Crazy to Believe

The collection of facts and statistics that you are about to read is highly controversial. A lot of people are going to be greatly upset by it. Why? Because they don’t like to be confronted with the truth about America.

Most people tend to believe that we can “fix this country” by getting the right politicians into power or by implementing certain economic or social reforms. But the reality of the matter is that our problems go far deeper than that. A moral collapse is eating away at the foundations of our society like cancer. If it continues to go unchecked, it will inevitably destroy America. Unfortunately, fixing moral decay is far more difficult than switching out political parties, because it is in the hearts of hundreds of millions of individual Americans. And most people don’t want to hear anything about a “moral collapse”, because most people like to think that the United States is setting a “good example” for the rest of the planet. But as you will see below, that is not the case at all.

And if we are honest with ourselves, we see the evidence of this moral collapse all around us every day. Just consider a few of the news stories that we have seen recently…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

20 Cowboys Break Fed Blockade in Nevada, Retrieve Cattle

Ammon Bundy, the son of besieged Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, told Infowars reporter David Knight today around 20 cowboys went on land claimed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and retrieved cattle.

“We gathered about 30 head,” said Bundy. “We did have a small confrontation with them, but they didn’t have the forces to do a whole lot. They couldn’t mobilize fast enough and we were able to gather those cattle and get them to the ranch.”

Cliven Bundy and his family are currently engaged in a standoff with the BLM over a long standing refusal to acknowledge a 1993 modification to grazing rights on land that Bundy asserts has been in his family since 1870. On Saturday, hundreds of federal officials, aided by helicopters, low flying aircraft and hired cowboys, began rounding up Bundy’s cattle in northeastern Clark County.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

America’s Suicide Pact With Communism

It was a Founder and our second President, John Adams, who said “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

He was right and I am sure he would be appalled to know that the Constitution has since been interpreted to permit the murder of the unborn or that the ancient definition of marriage has been trashed to permit people of the same sex to “marry.” The legalization and use of marijuana is a further sign of decline.

These and other elements of the values expressed and expected by the Founders are eating away at the present and future of the United States of America. The Supreme Court was created to rule on what the Constitution’s actual words say and mean, not on the passing aspirations of generations who have abandoned the fundamental principles of the remarkable government it created.

The Constitution represents a federal government that was granted limited powers. The rest were retained by the States, but Communism and Socialism are based on a strong central government, one ruled by an elite class of intellectuals to oversee all elements of the economy and to set the rules by which everyone must live even if they conflict with their religious convictions and moral values.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Are the Bad Guys Getting Panicky?

They’ve preached their sermon. Our cars, our air conditioning, our light bulbs, and our toilet paper — but not their mansions, not their private jets — are causing Global Warming and we’re all gonna die unless we pay killer taxes and give them power over us like Stalin had over the kulaks.

As they see it, the truth of their message is so self-evident that it doesn’t need to be debated, doesn’t need to be proved to anyone’s satisfaction but their own, and the public only rejects it because they’re intractably stupid, ungrateful, and disrespectful of their betters. Also, Fox News and Lord Monckton have simply tricked us into not believing what The Wise are telling us.

Obviously the only solution is to criminalize all speech critical of the Global Warming sermon. Hey, democratic institutions are just not up to coping with Climate Change, and we’d netter switch over to communism before it’s too late: so says the UN’s official Climate Change honcho, Cristiana Figueras, career bureaucrat.

Last week in Britain there was a proposal in the House of Commons to gag “climate change” skepticism among members of Parliament, and to stop the BBC from interviewing skeptics without special clearance from the government.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Aspartame’s Name Changed to Amino Sweet: A Toxin by Another Name is Still a Toxin

Natural Society has been talking about the dangers of Aspartame for quite some time now. It is a dangerous artificial sweetener found in many of the foods we consume every day, including soft drinks, chewing gum, breakfast cereals, and jams. Now, it’s important to know that aspartame may be disguised as a new name in your favorite foods — aminosweet.

Used as a sugar substitute and often marketed as Nutrasweet and Equal, aspartame is an excitotoxin that destroys the brain and body. Its use has been a controversial subject since the 1980s when the CEO of Searle, Donald Rumsfeld, pushed for it’s approval to be sold on the market. Now, its name is being changed, with FDA approval, to try to dupe millions into purchasing and consuming this toxin once again.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Bruce Bawer: Rank Appeasement

Brandeis University’s shameful abandonment of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Plainly, the faculty and administration at Brandeis want to be seen as concerned about Muslim women—but at the same time, they’re terrified to welcome anyone whom CAIR or the Muslim Student Association might call Islamophobic. What Brandeis is teaching its students is dhimmitude—a pathetic readiness to cave in to Islam at the first peep of protest.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

CAIR Intimidates Opponents of Omaha’s Tri-Faith Initiative

In August 2011, we wrote about the benighted Tri-faith Initiative, a complex serving a small Episcopal parish, a Reform Jewish Temple and a Mosque. The complex was to be developed on the grounds of what was a Jewish country club where the oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet was a member. The title of our post, “Omaha’s Tri-Faith Project is Not Kosher” was a send up on a quip by Connecticut Jewish Ledger publisher Rick Greenfield who commented: “when I see the word Tri Faith…I think of traif (not Kosher)”. Rabbi Jonathan Hausman opined:…

           — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon [Return to headlines]
 

California Man Confesses to 40 Killings

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A suspected contract killer charged in Central California with killing nine people confessed to investigators that he carried out up to 40 slayings in a career spanning decades, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Errek Jett, the district attorney in Lawrence County, Ala., said that Jose Manuel Martinez, 51, told investigators he carried out the crimes working as an enforcer for a drug cartel. Jett said they believe Martinez because of the details he gave investigators.

Martinez was arrested last year shortly after crossing the border from Mexico into Arizona and sent to Alabama, where he awaits trial on one murder charge.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Cliven Bundy Calls on Sheriff to Start Arresting BLM Feds

“Don’t we pay him to protect our life, liberty and property?”

Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy has called on Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie to start arresting Bureau of Land Management agents on charges of trespassing and theft as his battle against the federal government intensifies.

Bundy’s dispute with the feds escalated yesterday when several of his supporters were assaulted by BLM officials. The BLM is currently rounding up Bundy’s cattle in order to enforce a regulation in order to protect an endangered desert tortoise after 600,000 acres of public land was reclassified as federal property.

During a Moapa Valley town hall meeting last night, Bundy said he went to visit Sheriff Gillespie a few days ago but “found him hiding under the table”.

“He is the man that has constitutional jurisdiction and authority, he has policing power here in Clark County Nevada, and he has arresting power, so we elected him and we pay him, what do we pay him to do?” asked Bundy, adding, “Don’t we pay him to protect our life, liberty and property?”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Coalition of Western State Legislators, Sheriffs, And Veterans Stand Vigil in Support of Embattled Nevada Rancher, Cliven Bundy ‘To Prevent Another Ruby Ridge or Waco”

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA.org), led by retired Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, and the Oath Keepers organization (oathkeepers.org) are assisting Washington State Representative Matt Shea in organizing a delegation of current serving Western state legislators and Sheriffs to travel to the site of a tense stand-off between Bunkerville, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The delegation is traveling to Nevada to support a coalition of current serving Nevada legislators being organized by Nevada State Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, of Las Vegas, to stand vigil at the Bundy ranch to prevent Federal Government provocation of violence resulting in another Ruby Ridge or Waco type incident. They also hope that their example of oath-sworn public servants defending the rights of the people will prompt Clark County, Nevada Sheriff Douglas Gillespie and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval to honor their oaths of office by taking real action to defend the rights of the Bundy family, the rights of all Nevadans, and the sovereignty of the State of Nevada.

Yesterday, April 9, 2014, Nevada State Assemblywoman Michele Fiore served the first watch in this vigil shortly after Cliven Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy, was tazered by BLM “Rangers” during a heated confrontation. The video of that confrontation can be seen here:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Colbert to Succeed Letterman as Host of the ‘Late Show’ On CBS

Stephen Colbert, the comedian and host of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report,” will succeed David Letterman as host of “Late Show,” CBS’s flagship late-night franchise, when Mr. Letterman retires next year, the network announced on Thursday.

Mr. Colbert will sign on for a five-year term as the new “Late Show” host, according to the announcement from Leslie Moonves, president and chief operating officer of CBS, and Nina Tassler, chairwoman of CBS’s entertainment division.

“Simply being a guest on David Letterman’s show has been a highlight of my career,” Mr. Colbert said in a statement. “I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave’s lead.”

He added: “I’m thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go grind a gap in my front teeth.”

[Return to headlines]
 

Degrees of Separation

by Mark Steyn

Today, Brandeis University announced that it was reversing its decision to award an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, following complaints from faculty, an online petition, and pressure from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which represents nobody but is flush with Saudi cash. The biases of the academy are well known: Robert Spencer is in no danger of getting an honorary degree any time soon, nor Douglas Murray.

Nevertheless, in this instance, Brandeis University is stiffing someone who’s a black feminist atheist from Somalia. Which makes their decision the most explicit recognition yet that, in the hierarchy of identity-group politics, Islam trumps everything, including race, gender and secularism.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Demonizing SCOTUS

The Left launches an attack against conservative justices

Left-wing activists and U.S. senators have launched a pressure campaign targeting the more conservative members of the Supreme Court in hopes of forcing them to abandon First Amendment protections in the Constitution.

In the Left’s view, Americans and the corporations they use to make money can’t be allowed to freely express themselves politically by giving money to candidates for public office because that might halt the country’s ongoing slide into leftist chaos.

American leftists have long believed that if they can’t get what they want through the ballot box, they’ll get it through the judicial system. If they can’t get what they want from the judges, they’ll smear and intimidate those judges, Hugo Chavez-style, until they give in.

Get ready for Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, and others to be viciously attacked and demonized by the Left using the techniques of Rules for Radicals author Saul Alinsky.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Islam Critic: Brandeis Turned Honor Into a Shaming

Brandeis University has transformed an accolade into “a moment of shaming” by withdrawing a plan to give an honorary degree to a Muslim women’s advocate who has made comments critical of Islam, she said Wednesday.

The university decided late Tuesday not to honor Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali at the May 18 commencement after receiving complaints from some students, faculty members and others, including an online petition.

Ali, a member of the Dutch Parliament from 2003 to 2006, has been quoted as making comments critical of Islam. That includes a 2007 interview with Reason Magazine in which she said of the religion: “Once it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now. They’re not interested in peace. I think that we are at war with Islam. And there’s no middle ground in wars.”…

[Return to headlines]
 

Mainstream U.S. Muslim Jurists Association Sanctions Female Genital Mutilation

The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America’s (AMJA’s) mission statement maintains the organization was,

…founded to provide guidance for Muslims living in North America…AMJA is a religious organization that does not exploit religion to achieve any political ends, but instead provides practical solutions within the guidelines of Islam and the nation’s laws to the various challenges experienced by Muslim communities…

A report in The Muslim Observer published October 21, 2010 highlighting AMJA’s “seventh annual American conference of imams,” confirmed that the organization is accepted as such by the mainstream American Muslim community. AMJA and its “training” conference for American imams were described in these banal terms:

The organization AMJA (Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America) has a list of scholars associated with it which stretches from Al-Azhar University to Virginia’s Open University, and back across the ocean to the professors at Saudi universities. Its website, amjaonline.com, provides fatawa on many issues and promises 24-hour access to scholars who can give legal opinions on the issues people face. AMJA focuses on providing fatwas to Americans, and believes it is able to provide culturally appropriate fatwas although many of their scholars are not American—because they have some American scholars and because of the technological ties that bind AMJA’s American scholars with those abroad. AMJA just had, in Houston, its seventh annual American conference of imams, and two local Michigan imams attended, namely Imam Musa of Bloomfield’s Muslim Unity Center, and Imam Ali of MCWS. Mr. Sadiqul Hassan of AMJA explained that “the event was the 7th annual imam workshop…” Mr. Hassan said that AMJA is “a fiqh council basically,” with “scholars who live abroad and inside the US; we have experts in different fields to educate about life in the US—fatawa are based on life in the US.”

AMJA rulings also support the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), which the United Nations has called “a dangerous and potentially life-threatening procedure that causes unspeakable pain and suffering.” Fatwa #1639 from Dr. Hatem al-Haj justified the horrific practice, by citing the canonical hadith in which Islam’s prophet Muhammad endorsed its practice, stating:

[…] Some extremists from the west and their devout followers in the Muslim world like to brand all circumcision as female genital mutilation (FGM). For those, we say, why is male circumcision not MGM? Male circumcision is widely practiced in the west. Yet it would be considered by the Chinese MGM (Male Genital Mutilation).

The benefits of male circumcision are beginning to be more recognized in the medical societies, even though still contested by a few. Fifty years ago, no one knew that male circumcision has medical benefits. The same could be true with female circumcision. They may figure out the benefits of the practice in fifty or five hundred years. […]

Al-Haj then went on to implicitlysanction the practice of taking a Muslim female outside of her American milieu to have the procedure performed—in violation of the US “TRANSPORT FOR FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION” act.

The question is not to ban female circumcision because of the position of certain nations, but How do we regulate it as Muslims? What should we -western Muslims- do? For Muslims who live in the west, since it is not mandatory and it is at the same time illegal in the west, and would bring about harm to the people who practice it, I wouldn’t advise having it done, as long as you are a resident/citizen of the west. We however should never doubt anything in our religion because of the bad publicity the media creates about it

A concordant fatwa issued in Arabic (translation by Al-Mutarjim) on the website of the Secretary-General of AMJA and the chief member of its Resident Fatwa Committee, Dr. Salah Al-Sawy, declares that FGM is “an honor” for women, Al-Sawy also acknowledges that the procedure—in accord with a continuum of Islamic rationale from al-Jahiz in the mid-9th century, to former Muslim Papal equivalent, i.e., Al-Azhar University Grand Imam Jad al-Haq through 1996—is explicitly implemented to reduce a woman’s otherwise unbridled “concupiscence,” i.e., lust:

But for the woman, the purpose [of circumcision] is the benefit that it has in lessening her lust, which is a wholesome request. There is no harm in removing it. In short, female circumcision is an honor (which) does not rise to the level of a duty, in clear language. Stated another way, it is neither forbidden nor required.

           — Hat tip: Andy Bostom [Return to headlines]
 

Missouri Department of Transportation to Use LRAD Sound Cannons on Speeding Drivers

System will shoot warning messages through drivers’ windshields

The Missouri Department of Transportation revealed two newly acquired LRAD sound cannons this week, which will reportedly be used to target vehicles that speed in work zones.

Coming in at $25,000 a piece, the Long-Range Acoustic Device, a sonic weapon best know for its use against protesters and insurgents in Afghanistan, will alert drivers to road conditions by shooting a loud verbal message through their windshields.

“The LRAD puts out up to 153 decibels of sound through an emitter, not a loud speaker,” said MoDOT employee Michele Compton. “The sound easily penetrates the windshield and well-insulated cab of a car, even overriding the vehicle’s engine sounds and a radio turned up loud enough to jam to tunes at highway speeds.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Jersey Print Shop Owner Boots Publisher of Anti-Semitic Hate Magazine

A New Jersey print shop owner sent a customer packing last month after the would-be client submitted files for an anti-Semitic hate magazine for printing, The Algemeiner has learned…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Robert Spencer in Frontpage Mag: Brandeis Caves to Islamic Supremacist Thuggery

CAIR routinely blindsides officials and places on the defensive by its attacks, and so simply to avoid controversy they usually gave the “civil rights group” what it wants: the cancellation, demonization and marginalization of every speaker who is remotely critical of Islam.

The cancellation of Hirsi Ali at Brandeis demonstrates yet again that there is no one who opposes jihad terror who is acceptable to CAIR and its allies.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sebelius Resigning as Health Secretary

Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of the president’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

President Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius’s resignation this week and on Friday morning will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her as the top official at H.H.S., officials said.

The departure comes as the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in implementing the law, persuade a still skeptical public of its lasting benefits, and help Democratic incumbents, who face blistering attack ads after supporting the legislation, survive the midterm elections this fall.

[Return to headlines]
 

Secret Service Forces Press Off Street While Allowing Pro-Amnesty Activists to Stay

As President Obama arrived at the Lyndon B. Johnson Auditorium in Austin, Texas today for a speech, Secret Service allowed pro-amnesty supporters to demonstrate on a street outside of the event while forcing press to stand further away.

When a sheriff’s deputy was asked why the activists were allowed to stay on the street but not press, he said it was under orders by Secret Service. (Video report to come — please keep checking back to this article.)

About ten minutes prior to the presidential motorcade pulling into the auditorium, which is at the University of Texas, local police told Infowars reporters and other members of the press that they could not stand on the closed street and would have to film the event from the sidewalk opposite of the auditorium.

But once over 100 pro-amnesty supporters arrived, police allowed them to demonstrate on the street while still asking press to remain on the sidewalk.

When asked why the activists were allowed on the street but not the press, a Travis Co. Deputy Sheriff said that Secret Service was “making the calls.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Standoff in Nevada: Another Federal Siege Against the Innocent

With the memory of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, still very vivid in the collective memory of the American people comes another example of a federal government run amuck. A rancher in Nevada is watching the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) seize his cattle and arrest his son for simply taking pictures of the events. BLM has also placed several federal snipers around his home with their high-powered rifles trained on his family. The last report I read said more than 200 federal agents are now surrounding the homestead complete with attack helicopters. All that seems to be missing are tanks.

Did the family do anything violent? No. Did they do anything immoral? No. Did they even do anything wrong? No. Did they do anything illegal? Well, that’s where the story gets interesting.

Cliven Bundy’s family has been grazing cattle on their ranchland since the 1880s. But in 1993, the federal government reclassified 600,000 acres of land, including the land that the Bundy cattle have been grazing on forever. The pretext used by the feds for seizing the land was to protect some “endangered” tortoise. However, the feds would allow Cliven to continue to graze his cattle on the land — if he pays the federal government for the privilege. The rancher refuses to pay.

Here is one report of the story:

“Federal snipers with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) trained guns on members of a family yesterday after they dared to stop and take video footage of cattle outside the bounds of a designated ‘First Amendment Area,’ before arresting one of the men for non-compliance.

“The cattle were being rounded up by BLM officers as part of a crackdown on Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who has refused to pay ‘grazing fees’ demanded by the feds as a result of a re-classification of 600,000 acres of federal land in northeastern Clark County which Bundy claims has been in his family for generations.”…

Here are some of my questions: why are the local and State law enforcement officers in Nevada assisting the BLM with this egregious act of tyranny? Beyond that, why are they not standing up to the BLM and telling them to go to Hades? Do the lives and liberties and property of the citizens of their State mean nothing? And, another thing: who are these independent contractor-cowboys in Utah who are willing to help trample a fellow citizen’s constitutional rights? How much does 30 pieces of silver equate to today?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Stay-at-Home Moms: A Rising Trend, Fueled by Immigration and Weak Economy

The percentage of moms who are staying home with their children, in decline for decades, has rebounded almost continuously since 2000. One reason is how tough it is to find a job.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Stephen Colbert to Succeed Retiring David Letterman

Stephen Colbert will succeed Late Show host David Letterman upon his retirement next year, CBS has said. Colbert, 49, is host of Comedy Central’s acclaimed late-night satire programme The Colbert Report. Letterman, 66, said last week he was retiring after 21 years hosting the CBS show and 11 years on NBC’s Late Night.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Most Likely Armageddon Threat … Preventable for a Small Amount of Money

Well-known physicist Michio Kaku and other members of the American Physical Society asked Congress to appropriate $100 million to harden the country’s electrical grid against solar flares. As shown below, such an event is actually the most likely Armageddon-type event faced by humanity.

Congress refused.

Kaku explains that a solar flare like the one that hit the U.S. in 1859 would — in the current era of nuclear power and electric refrigeration — cause widespread destruction and chaos.

Not only could such a flare bring on hundreds of Fukushima-type accidents, but it could well cause food riots globally.

Kaku explains that relief came in for people hit by disasters like Katrina or Sandy from the “outside”. But a large solar flare could knock out a lot of the power nationwide. So — as people’s food spoils due to lack of refrigeration — emergency workers from other areas would be too preoccupied with their own local crisis to help. There would, in short, be no “cavalry” to the rescue in much of the country.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Government Snipers, Militarized Police With Automatic Weapons Surround Cattle Ranch in Nevada and Demand $1 Million in Payments

(NaturalNews) The federal government is out of control yet again, staging a heavily militarized siege of the Bundy cattle ranch in Nevada, where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has decided to bring a literal army of heavily armed “soldiers” to intimidate the Bundy family and steal his hundreds of cattle.

The Bundy family has run cattle on the scrubland since the 1870’s, but in 1993, the government decided it “owned” the land and would start charging Bundy rent fees for his cows grazing on it. The Bundy family refused to pay the fees, so BLM went to court over the payments, and when that didn’t pan out the way they wanted, they decided to unleash an army of heavily armed, militarized “soldiers” to lay siege to the ranch and steal Bundy’s cattle.

“They’re carrying the same things a soldier would,” Clive Bundy told the Free Beacon. “Automatic weapons, sniper rifles, top communication, top surveillance equipment, lots of vehicles. It’s heavy soldier type equipment.”

This is exactly the kind of equipment that President Obama famously said “…belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals; that they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.”…

As part of the tyranny siege, the feds set up a “First Amendment Area” in which they said all protesters must remain.

The very idea of a government-defined “zone” that limits where the First Amendment can be exercised is of course wildly offensive to the very foundations of America. If free speech is strictly limited to a small “zone” defined by the government, then it’s not exactly free, is it?

The move was even too much for the Governor of Nevada to stomach. He immediately went on the record, saying:…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Va. Dem. Says He Wants to ‘Decimate’ Christians, ‘Eradicate’ Tea Party

On Wednesday, Mike Dickinson, the Virginia Democrat running for the House seat currently held by Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., declared on Twitter that he wants to “decimate” Christians, NRA supporters, members of the Tea Party and those who watch Fox News. In another tweet issued later Wednesday, he said he wanted to “eradicate” the Tea Party.

“Said it proudly! Want to decimate the tea party, the NRA, bible thumpers, and Fox News zombies? Vote for me,” he tweeted.

According to Dictionary.com, the word “decimate” means to “destroy a great number or proportion of.” It can also mean “to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.”

In short, Dickinson expressed a desire to kill one-tenth of those who supports the NRA, the Tea Party, and Christians, a group he regularly denigrates as “bible thumpers.”

But Dickinson wasn’t finished.

After claiming the Tea Party is the modern KKK, he called for the small-government, pro-Constitution movement to be eradicated.

“Lady liberty has a cancerous tumor called the tea party. Time to eradicate it,” he said.

After calling for political genocide, he falsely claimed the Tea Party only wants freedom for white men.

Recently, Dickinson came under fire for calling the NRA “pure trash.”

After his tweet became national news, Twitter suspended his account, but later brought it back, prompting Dickinson to become even more violent in his rhetoric.

Dickinson is set to appear on Fox News’ “On the Record” with Greta van Susteren on Thursday to defend his promise to engage in a massive abuse of power against millions of Americans if he is elected in November.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Was Rolling Stone Constitution Snafu Intentional?

Fits long pattern of disrespect towards the nation’s founding document

Although the 227-year-old charter outlines and enumerates various God-given rights, in the past few years the Constitution has come to be treated with general disregard. Many, including politicians who hold high office, have gone to great lengths to find loopholes around, and indeed to infringe on, amendments written to protect the populace from the threats posed by a massive federal government.

The fact that America’s central founding document is more and more being questioned, and that many in power are still confused by the document that secures our freedom should alarm Americans.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Belgium: Young Antwerp Girls Left for the Syrian Conflict Zone

Several young Antwerp girls adhering to the Islamic faith have left for war-torn Syria. That’s according to reports in Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg. The news was confirmed by the judicial authorities. While the press is talking about 5 girls, the judicial authorities only confirmed the departure of 4.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Car Bomb at Central Bank as Greece Returns to Markets

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 10 — As Greece returned to international markets with an issuance of state bonds that saw demand at 20 billion euros worth and which enabled the placing of some three billion five-year bonds at 4.95%, a car loaded with explosives blew up on Thursday morning in front of the Athens central bank. Material damage resulted but no casualties.

On the issue of terrorism, the timing of the attack — which no group has claimed responsibility for but which is believed to have been conducted by the far-left, which is against the austerity measures imposed by the Greek government after a Memorandum signed with international creditors — is very significant.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Car Bomb Explodes Outside Greek Central Bank, No Injuries Reported

ATHENS, April 10 (Xinhua) — A car bomb exploded outside the the Greek Central Bank in central Athens early Thursday, police said. No injuries have been reported. The blast, which took place shortly before dawn, caused damage to nearby offices, stores and cars…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Danes Urged to Visit Paris to Make Babies

A trip to the sexy city of Paris is just the thing Danes needs to boost their falling birthrate, according to a travel agency in the country. In the agency’s tongue-in-cheek “Do it for Denmark” video they show how the City of Light can help.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France: Barbarous Gang Rape in Évry

While I try to decide what is most important to write about, in a time of continuous and momentous headline news, here is a story of a crime that took place in Évry on March 31. It is not an isolated or random crime. On the contrary, thousands of young girls in France have been subjected to this kind of brutality, only to find the courts lax and indifferent to their cause. This time, possibly for the first time, it was a little bit different. From Valeurs Actuelles:

Some crimes have a wide-ranging impact. This is one of them, not by its atrocity, since our daily lives are full of it, but by its significance. It occurred on March 30, a little past midnight, in a park in Évry, the administrative center of Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ district. (Note: Valls was mayor of Évry until 2012.) Since it took place the night before the second round of the municipal elections, it did not get the attention it deserved.

That night, an eighteen-year-old girl got off the regional rail at Évry station, and made a call on her cell phone. Four individuals jumped on her, and dragged her to a near-by park. They stripped her of everything, then they undressed her and raped her, taking turns. An indescribable rape of barbaric cruelty. The gang of four tortured her for more than two hours before leaving her, bleeding. A driver in a passing car took her and called for help. She had enough strength to file a complaint. The police went with her to the E.R. where she was given a three-month exemption from work. Now she is traumatized for life.

Thanks to her detailed description and the video surveillance images, the police arrested the four suspects in less than twenty-four hours, and their DNA confirmed their guilt. The questioning began on March 31 in the afternoon. The four rapists are minors: two of them are thirteen, one fifteen, and one seventeen. Three Turkish brothers, one Moroccan. Special facts: the eldest, seventeen, had been released six months earlier after serving two thirds of a two-year sentence for the rape of the son of a gendarme sub-officer. Released without surveillance. Now he is a repeat offender. Two of the others have already been arrested for armed robbery. Four criminals, three repeat offenders — all minors!

During the questioning, and from what we know about the investigation, the minors did not express the slightest remorse. On the contrary, they expressed their hatred: yes, they would not have touched the girl if she had been a Turk; yes, they attacked her because she was French and “the French are all sons of whores”. The judge who jailed them indicted them for gang rape and barbarity, but also, and this is very rare, for racism.

These facts speak for themselves. We hope Madame Taubira has been made aware of them, because of their significance. The four young criminals feared nothing, not punishment or taboo. And yet their parents had settled in France, and they attend school. Where did this thirst for hatred come from, that led them to commit unspeakable acts on a young girl, barely older than they, a symbol of their host country? What will be blamed as the cause? Unemployment? Uncertainty? Inequality?…

           — Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
 

France Seizes Record Haul of Fake Chinese Pills

French customs officers revealed on Thursday they had seized millions of fake drugs from China, disguised as Chinese Tea at a port on the English Channel. The 2.4 million counterfeit medications marked a record haul for the European Union, officials say.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Priest ‘Raped Teachers at Exorcisms’

A French fundamentalist priest repeatedly raped three teachers at the school he ran in the suburbs of Paris during so-called exorcisms, according to French media reports. But for years the victims didn’t come forward to police.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: ‘Satanists’ On Trial for Taxi Driver Murder

Two Satanists went on trial in Tübingen, southern Germany, on Thursday for allegedly murdering a taxi driver by a cemetery out of satanic “bloodlust”. One reportedly believed he was a character from the Harry Potter books.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

German Minister: ‘US Operating Without Any Kind of Boundaries’

In an interview, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, 60, warns that American spying has become “boundless” and expresses sorrow that approval ratings for the United States have plummeted in Germany.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘I Will Tear His Head Off’: How the Italian Mafia is Infiltrating Germany

A trial currently underway in Cologne showcases the extent of the Italian Mob’s infiltration of German society and the construction business. Critics claim authorities have been far too lax in cracking down on Mafia activity.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

IRA Militant Charged With 29 Murders in 1998 Car Bomb Attack in Northern Ireland Town of Omagh

An Irish Republican Army veteran has been charged with 29 murders of civilians in the 1998 car bomb attack on Omagh, the deadliest bombing of the entire Northern Ireland conflict. The suspect, 43-year-old Seamus Daly, was arrested Monday in the border town of Newry and is expected to be arraigned in a Northern Ireland court Friday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Bishop Lambasts Gay Marriage Ruling

The President of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) has condemned a ruling made by a Tuscan court which, for the first time in Italy, recognized the marriage of a gay couple.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: DEF Gives Italy Credibility for EU Battle, Says Renzi

Opposition accuses premier of using plan for European elections

(ANSA) — Rome, April 9 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Wednesday that his proposed reforms and new economic blueprint will arm Italy with the credibility it needs in dealing with the European Union, while at the same time, opposition leaders denounced what they said was strictly a political document.

Renzi suggested he is carrying out a new wave of efforts, including reforms to a range of key institutions as well as a major economic plan for the coming years that he said will help Italians by boosting growth and tax fairness, while improving political stability through changes to election rules.

Only after all this can Italy try to reform European Union austerity rules, Renzi said.

“We want to change Europe’s rules…but until we have changed the Senate, the labour market and the civil service, what credibility can we take to Europe to demand change?” he asked.

Renzi also took to Twitter early in the day to claim that his three-year blueprint — the Economic and Financial Document (DEF) — “maintains all the commitments we had made in the face of the ill-wishers”. The premier also confirmed that he is forging ahead with reforms to make Italy easier and cheaper to govern, including the transformation of the Senate into a leaner assembly of local-government representatives with blunted law-making powers.

Renzi reiterated that he intended to have the first reading of the reform bill, which will also complete the elimination of Italy’s provincial councils and return some powers to central government from the frequently overspending regional administrations, before European elections on May 25. His DEF, approved Tuesday by cabinet, includes plans for annual income-tax cuts of 10 billion euros targeting low earners, a cap on the salaries of top public-sector managers and higher capital-gains tax for banks.

Renzi — who unseated Enrico Letta, his colleague in the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), to become Italy’s youngest premier at 39 in February — said the tax cuts will mean an extra 80 euros in the monthly pay packets of low earners.

To finance the income-tax cuts, the government needs to find around 6.7 billion euros in savings for the remainder of this year.

He said around 4.5 billion euros will come from savings generated by a review of public spending.

Approximately another 1 billion euros will be raised by making the country’s banks pay higher taxes on their stakes in the Bank of Italy, with the rest coming from sales tax revenues, Renzi said.

Opposition politicians were swift to denounce Renzi’s economic blueprint Wednesday, suggesting the document was pure politics providing little concrete help for working Italians.

“Take from the poor to give to Renzi,” was the headline on a post on the blog of Beppe Grillo, a comedian-turned-politician who heads the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).

Grillo and other M5S deputies said that changes to tax deductions for dependent spouses will more than wipe out any benefits from Renzi’s tax-cut pledge. Meanwhile, centre-right politician Renato Brunetta, House whip for the Forza Italia (FI) party founded by ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, criticized the fundamental growth and deficit assumptions used by Renzi.

The document is designed to promote Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) in next month’s elections for the European Parliament, added Brunetta in an interview with Sky TG24 television.

“He’s on the campaign trail, he wants to win the European elections to be legitimate, since he seized power (from Letta) in a palace coup,” said Brunetta, adding that Renzi talks too much — “about four or five hours every day”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Court Mulls Community Service for Berlusconi

An Italian court on Thursday began a sentencing hearing against Silvio Berlusconi which could see the three-time former prime minister and billionaire tycoon forced to do community service for nine months.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Madrid Blocks Catalan Independence Referendum

Spanish lawmakers have rejected a request by the northeastern region of Catalonia for permission to hold a referendum for independence. Catalan nationalists say they will still push ahead with a ballot in November.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Mailman Keeps Tallest Flats in Germany Posted

In the era of tweets and Facebook messages, the contribution of postal workers is often overlooked. But one postman in Cologne faces a particular challenge — delivering the mail to Germany’s tallest residential building.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Netherlands: Defence Ministry Finalises Compensation Deal for Srebrenica Families

The relatives of three men who died after being expelled from the Dutch military compound in Srebrenica are to be paid €20,000 compensation each, news agency ANP says on Thursday.

The Dutch supreme court said last year the Dutch state can be held responsible for the death of three Muslim men in the siege of Srebrenica during the Yugoslavia war in 1995, clearing the way for compensation.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Police Arrest 12 for Illegal Wolf Hunting

Police in Hedmark county north of Oslo have arrested twelve men on suspicion of running an illegal wolf-hunting network.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Utøya Survivors Too Often Clam Up

Survivors of the mass murder of young people at a summer camp by a Norwegian right-wing terrorist nearly three years ago can be reluctant to talk about their traumas, partly out of consideration for their families and friends. The ones who refrain from seeking social support experience more anxiety and depression.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway Amnesiac: Czech Couple Say He is Their Son

A Czech couple have come forward to say that a man found in a snowdrift near Oslo last December apparently suffering from amnesia is their son, Norwegian police say. His photograph was made public this week in an effort to help identify him.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Socialism at Work: No Business Emails After Six in France

Now employers’ federations and unions have signed a new, legally binding labour agreement that will require staff to switch off their phones after 6pm. Under the deal, which affects a million employees in the technology and consultancy sectors (including the French arms of Google, Facebook, Deloitte and PwC), employees will also have to resist the temptation to look at work-related material on their computers or smartphones — or any other kind of malevolent intrusion into the time they have been nationally mandated to spend on whatever the French call la dolce vita.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Spain: Gang Forces Disabled Romanians to Beg

Spanish police have broken up a human trafficking ring that exploited disabled Romanian migrants by promising them jobs in Spain and then forcing them to beg and work as prostitutes on the streets of Alicante and Benidorm.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Switzerland: Geneva Parlours ‘Require’ Condoms for Oral Sex

A Geneva massage parlour is appealing to Switzerland’s highest court over a 1,000-franc ($1,138) fine it received for advertising oral sex services without the use of a condom.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Cameron Says Rivals’ Views on Europe ‘Extremist’

(Reuters) — Prime Minister David Cameron described rival parties’ views on the European Union as ‘extremist’ on Thursday as he launched his bid to ward off a threat from an anti-EU party ahead of European Parliament elections…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: David Cameron Rocked by Surge in Support for UKIP, Exclusive Poll Reveals

David Cameron was dealt a bitter new blow today by an exclusive poll revealing that support for Ukip hit record levels during the Maria Miller expenses scandal.

As the Prime Minister officially launched the Conservatives’ European elections campaign, Ipsos MORI disclosed that backing for Nigel Farage’s anti-EU party has surged to 15 per cent — its joint highest rating yet…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Jihadists as “Charity Workers”

by Samuel Westrop

The full truth is a bit more chilling, Sharif and his wife are supporters of ISIS, the leading Al-Qaeda-aligned group in Syria. Al Jazeera reports that in areas under ISIS control, “men (have)… been beheaded, their heads mounted on spikes. Children…slaughtered.” Other posts found on the couple’s Facebook pages include videos glorifying jihadi fighters; praise for late Al Qaeda leaders such as Abdullah Azzam and Anwar Al-Awlaki; and calls for an Islamic state.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Man Convicted of Driving While Banned for 44th Time Walks Free From Court

John Moir, 47, pictured, was caught behind the wheel by police despite a string of previous bans and convictions. In 2010 he ran over Simon Jacobs, 46, leaving him with life-changing injuries.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Mosque and Islamic School Plans Get Green Light — Providing Developers Sign Up for Road Improvements

THE trust behind the town’s only Islamic girls’ secondary school has been given the provisional go ahead to expand in an empty office block across the road.

Planning councillors voted to give the Whittlepark Way development the green light, providing the Abu Haneefa Educational Trust agrees to a financial contribution which will be used to improve transport links. Plans include opening a school for boys, mosque, health and fitness centre and a mortuary…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Pensioner Evicted From Allotment for Having 2 Weeks Off Because of the Weather

Robert Stone, 64, received a letter from Bradford City Council giving him a month’s eviction notice for his allotment in Manningham, Bradford, claiming he was not ‘cultivating the plot to the required standards’.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Parrot Defends Owner From Attacker

Wunsy the African grey parrot fought off a man who attacked his owner while walking in Sunny Hill Park in London

A crime-fighting parrot has saved his owner after she was pushed to the ground in a park. The female victim had been taking Wunsy the African grey for a walk and fly in Sunny Hill Park, north London, on Friday when she was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved. The parrot, who is taken to the park daily in a harness and lead, flapped his wings and squawked, causing the attacker to flee…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Samsung Galaxy S4 Mobile Phone Catches Fire After Owner Charges it Whilst Sleeping

Holly Hewett, 25, from Kemsley, Kent, was woken early in the morning when her Samsung Galaxy S4 starting smouldering on her bedroom floor

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Saturated Fat Consumption Not Related to Heart Disease Risk, Study Says

(NaturalNews) Saturated fat does not cause heart disease, and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats being pushed by mainstream medicine and the media as healthy alternatives are actually the real health threats. These are the unconventional findings of a new study out of the University of Cambridge (UoC), which revealed that saturated fat intake does not increase one’s risk of heart disease as is commonly believed.

For his research, Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury, a cardiovascular epidemiologist from UoC’s Department of Public Health and Primary Care, analyzed data from 72 different studies on the subject from 18 different countries. He and his team measured total saturated fatty acid intake among a pool of more than 600,000 participants, whose intake and blood levels of the class of fat were both tracked in relation to heart disease risk.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: White Wing Supremacist: Swan Attacks Foreign Students

Warwick University has erected a fence around a campus lake to stop a spate of swan attacks on students.

The footbridge is used by hundreds of students everyday as a route between accommodation and university buildings. Undergraduates revealed that the swan only appeared to target students from ethnic minorities.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Wunsy to the Rescue: Woman’s Parrot Saves Her From ‘Random Attack’ In London Park

Police are appealing for witnesses to an assault where a woman walking her parrot in a London park was shoved to the ground. The woman, 25, was walking her pet African Grey parrot Wunsy in Sunningfields Park in Hendon last Friday.

She was leaving the park at 12.30pm when she was grabbed by a man and pushed to the ground with both hands in a random attack, police said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

US and Germany Clash on Trade Pact Standards

Americans and Germans are broadly supportive of a US-EU free-trade pact, but differ over details, especially forging similar goods and services standards, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Morocco’s Mentally Ill Await Deliverance From Their ‘Demons’

(Morocco) (AFP) — A thin mist hangs in the air as a handful of troubled souls wander aimlessly around the Bouya Omar mausoleum in central Morocco, the occasional chilling cry rising from behind its walls.

These are Morocco’s “possessed” — from violent schizophrenics to hard drug users — who are believed to be tormented by evil spirits and whose relatives bring them here to await deliverance.

But many are left wondering exactly what goes on inside the sanctuary of the 16th-century Moroccan saint, situated in a small town named after him on the plains east of Marrakesh.

Bouya Omar’s followers claim the mentally ill are healed by the saint’s supernatural powers, but rights groups allege gross mistreatment of those taken there, with one former inmate describing months of “hell”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Papyrus Referring to Jesus Having a Wife Was Not Forged, Tests Find

A scrap of ancient Egyptian papyrus, which refers to Jesus having been married, has been found to be authentic. Scientific tests on the document, which was unveiled by Karen King, a Harvard academic, in September 2012 have found no evidence of the document having been forged.

“Over the past two years, extensive testing of the papyrus and the carbon ink, as well as analysis of the handwriting and grammar, all indicate that the existing material fragment dates to between the sixth and ninth centuries CE (common era),” the review concluded.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Tunisia: Clashes Resume, Wednesday Evening, Between Policemen and Religious Extremists in Rouhia

Siliana — The clashes resumed, Wednesday evening in Rouhia, between the security forces and religious extremists close to Ansar al-Chariaa movement. The clashes were due to the arrest, Monday night, of 16 “wanted takfiris”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Twenty-Eight Killed in Aswan, Upper Egypt

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

In the world’s cradle of civilization in Upper Egypt, the region of the temples, 750 miles below Egypt’s capitol, a deadly racial clash took place between two Muslim tribes this past week. According to reports by Egypt’s news agencies, on April 2 fighting broke out between the Arab-Muslim Alhalaya tribe and the Egyptian non-Arab-Muslim Nubian tribe.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘It’s Over’: Palestinian Militants in Jenin Believe Peace Process is at an End

Armed groups threaten a new uprising as talks between Israel and Palestinian Authority stutter

An ear-splitting explosion in the dead of night seemed to herald the moment when Palestinian residents of Jenin refugee camp decided that negotiations with Israel were not taking them on the path to peace.

The blast was caused by a heavily-armed Israeli anti-terror unit blowing off the doors of the “safe house” where Hamza Abu Alheja, a wanted Hamas militant, had been tracked down after months of hiding in the densely-populated West Bank camp…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Orthodox Jews Arrested in Israel Anti-Conscription Protest

Israeli police arrested five ultra-Orthodox Jews who threw stones at them during a Jerusalem protest Thursday against a new law making men in their community subject to compulsory national service.

The demonstration came a month after parliament adopted a law that will compel ultra-Orthodox Jews to either serve in the military or perform civilian service.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Prisoner Jailed in Israel Fined for Smuggling Sperm to Wife

RAMALLAH, April 10 (Xinhua) — An Israeli court on Thursday punished a Palestinian prisoner for smuggling his sperm out of the jail two years ago, a Ramallah-based rights organization unveiled.

The Palestinian Prisoner Club Association said in an emailed statement that the Israeli court punished Abdul Karim Rimawi with 5,000 NIS (about 1,449 U.S. dollars) fine and depriving him from his family’s visit for two months…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

The Anti- Israel Tourism Subterfuge

There is an “alternative travel” industry that is taking place on American college campuses. Students are taken on tours to the Middle East to gain “experiential learning” . One of these programs in California is known as the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI).

There is a non-governmental organization ( NGO) based in the West Bank called the Siraj Center, that promotes the anti-Israel narrative. They also promote alternative travel. This center was founded by GeorgeS Rishmawi. This is the same George S Rishmawi who leads California University students on OTI travel tours to meet leaders of the Boycott and Divestment campaigns , Hamas and Fatah. Rishmawi is also the Director of Abraham’s Path, at Harvard University — detailed in the article below.

[Return to headlines]
 

25 Killed in Separate Violent Attacks Across Iraq

BAGHDAD, April 10 (Xinhua) — Twenty-five people were killed and 31 others wounded in separate violent attacks across Iraq on Thursday, police and medical sources said.

In Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, eight Sunni civilians were killed and eight of their homes and a Sunni mosque were set on fire when gunmen believed to be Shiite militiamen attacked the village of Boudjah near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

6 Civilians Injured in Yemen Roadside Bombing

ADEN, Yemen, April 10 (Xinhua) — About six civilians were wounded Thursday morning in a roadside bombing in Yemen’s southern province of Lahj, a provincial source told Xinhua.

“A small bus touched off an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) near a crowded public market in Yafea region in Lahj province. The explosion injured six people,” the provincial police source said on condition of anonymity…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

American Who Fought Against Assad’s Regime in Syria is Dead, Family Says

A onetime U.S. Army soldier who joined forces with rebels in fighting against the Assad regime during Syria’s bloody civil war has died. The family of Eric Harroun announced on its Facebook page that the 31-year-old died, though the cause of death is still unknown.

Harroun gained international attention when it was discovered he was fighting alongside jihadists and America-hating terrorists and celebrating his bloody exploits on YouTube videos.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Erdogan Paves Way for Turkish Surveillance State

Turkey’s government has submitted a draft law to parliament in a bid to strengthen the position of the country’s intelligence service. Critics say this will turn Turkey into a surveillance state.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

French Jihadist Defends Taking Baby to War-Torn Syria

The French father of 2-year-old Assia has denied kidnapping charges after he took the girl to Syria and joined an armed rebel group linked to al Qaeda, saying he has acted in accordance with Islamic law. His ex-wife is suing for custody.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iran’s UN Ambassador Pick Accused in Political Assassination

The man Iran intends to send to America as its new United Nations ambassador is accused of helping organize the political assassination of an Iranian dissident in Italy, but has never been charged by authorities. Hamid Aboutalebi is at the center of a controversy over whether the Obama administration and the State Department will grant him a visa to come to the U.S.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iran, Pakistan to Hold Joint Naval Drill

A Pakistani fleet of warships docked in southern Iran is to hold a joint drill with the Iranian navy in the strategic strait of Hormuz, a +enior Iranian commander said Saturday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Jihadists Enter Syria Along Iraq Border

Al Qaeda fighters entered a Syrian town along the border with Iraq on Thursday morning, say activists from the eastern region Deir Az-Zor. The sources say that members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Ash-Sham (ISIS) have entered Abu Kamal, a few kilometers from the border crossing with the Iraqi Anbar province. Sources say that clashes are underway in the outskirts of Abu Kamal between nationalist Syrian rebels and their Al-Qaeda affiliated allies Jabhat An-Nusra against ISIS jihadists.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Jihadists Are Embarking on ‘Final Solution’ In Middle East

The West is caught up with trivial concerns while minorities abroad are driven to extinction.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Gives $1.39 Bln for Turkey’s First Nuclear Plant

Turkey has received $1.39 billion from Russia for the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu for the first quarter of 2014.

Akkuyu NGS, Russia’s state-run nuclear company Rosatom’s subsidiary in Turkey, has started increasing its investments.

The Akkuyu NPP project is estimated to cost around $20 billion and total of $3.5 billion worth of equipment is expected to be used in the construction process, of which $1.8 billion will be spent this year alone.

Funds received from Russia are expected to be used, particularly in building the infrastructure for the plant, in constructing roads, power lines, water pipelines, temporary housing and cranes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Seizure of Syrian Town Recalls Century-Old Turkish-Armenian Dispute

ISTANBUL — Syrian rebels recently overran Kassab, a town near the Turkish border inhabited by ethnic Armenians. That action has drawn attention to Turkey’s relationship with radical Islamic factions in the Syrian conflict, and it has resurrected a century-old controversy…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: Embarassment in Turkey After US Journalist Revelations

A recently published reconstruction of the August 21, 2013, chemical attack blamed on Syrian regime forces has sparked heated debate in the US and Western nations. According to alleged intelligence revelations, rebel forces assisted by the Turkish government were the ones to use sarin gas on a Damascus suburb to provoke a US attack on Syria. The journalist to make the claim was the Pulitzer-prize winning Seymour Hersh, and his investigative piece was reported on in Turkish media on Wednesday.

Hersh’s reconstruction — which caused both Ankara and Washington to issue immediate denials — is based on revelations made by an unnamed US secret agent. Hersh (who won a Pulitzer in 1970 for a reportage on the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam by US troops) claims that the August 2013 attack was a trap orchestrated by Turkish intelligence to convince US president Barack Obama to order an attack on Damascus.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

NATO Tells Russia to Stop Massing Troops Along Ukraine’s Border

NATO has told Russia to “stop massing” its troops on Ukraine’s border and open a “genuine dialogue.” Kyiv meanwhile has offered amnesties to pro-Russian occupiers of buildings in eastern Ukraine.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Putin Warns Europe of Gas Shortages Over Ukraine Debts

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned European leaders that Ukraine’s delays in paying for Russian gas have created a “critical situation”. Pipelines transiting Ukraine deliver Russian gas to several EU countries and there are fears that the current tensions could trigger gas shortages.

Pro-Russian separatists are holed up in official buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Tells EU Leaders Ukraine Debt May Affect Gas Transit

In a letter to European leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine’s gas-related debt could impact transit supplies to the West. He called for urgent discussions to resolve outstanding financial issues.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hopes of Finding Missing Jet Grow as Possible New Signal is Detected

An Australian plane involved in the search for a passenger jet has picked up another possible signal from its black boxes. Searchers are racing against time with the signals from the flight data recorders due to fade.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Malaysia: Abductors Want $11.3m for Chinese Woman

Gunmen have demanded a ransom of 500 million pesos ($11.3 million) for the release of a Chinese tourist abducted last week from a Malaysian resort off Borneo island, a Malaysian minister said Thursday.

The gunmen, believed to be Abu Sayyaf militants, kidnapped a 28-year-old Shanghai woman and a 40-year-old Filipino woman from the Singamata Reef Resort in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah on April 2.

Philippine authorities believe the women were taken to the island township of Simunul in Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines’ southernmost province. Sabah, a popular tourist destination, is just a short boat ride from the southern Philippines, home to Muslim militants and kidnap gangs.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Malaysia Plane MH370: Possible New Signal in Search

A plane searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has detected a possible new signal in the southern Indian Ocean, Australian officials say.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

MH370 Fallout ‘Will Hurt’ Malaysian Tourism

More than a month after vanishing, the whereabouts of Flight MH370 remain a mystery. The incident has also led to anti-Malaysian sentiment in China which is having an impact on economic ties, says economist Rajiv Biswas.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Muslims to Play Key Role in Indian Elections

With elections now underway in India, the Muslim vote is of vital importance to the outcome. The country’s single largest religious minority makes up 14 percent of India’s population of more than 1.2 billion people.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

New Possible Signal Detected as Malaysia Plane Search Area Shrinks to Smallest Size

The Australian agency coordinating the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 said Thursday that an Australian naval aircraft had picked up a possible signal in the same area where an Australian ship detected sounds consistent with those coming from an aircraft’s black boxes earlier this week.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Oil Sludge Threatens Indian Farms

India has a fast growing economy and a booming population. In a bid to decrease reliance on expensive energy imports, the government has started extracting oil locally. Farmers fear the drilling will destroy their crops.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China and the US Seek Military Dialogue

For years, China has been involved in territorial disputes with its neighbors. But the United States now fears that allies such as Japan and the Philippines might be drawn into a conflict with Beijing.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China Foreign Trade Contracts Amid Rising Competition, Mounting Frictions

Chinese trade figures for March have stunned analysts by showing unexpected contractions in both imports and exports. China’s officials, however, have described the slump as short-lived and temporary.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

China Warns Obama “US is Moving in a Direction We Don’t Want to See”

Apparently doing away with diplomatic pleasantries, the Chinese have been directly clear with Chuck Hagel as he lays the groundwork for President Obama’s Asia trip later this month (scheduled to visit Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines — all in direct territorial conflicts with China). As Reuters reports, “Obama needs to pay serious consideration to this issue when he comes to Asia… China has already put this message across during the meetings with Hagel,” said Ruan Zongze, a former diplomat with the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, a think tank linked to the Foreign Ministry. “The United States is moving in a direction we don’t want to see, taking sides with Japan and the Philippines, and China is extremely unhappy about this.”…

But as Reuters reports, China made it very clear how it feels…

The exchange sums up the frustration in China over America’s role in Asia, where in the eyes of Beijing, Washington is increasingly supporting Japan as well as other countries over territorial disputes with China. The United States has said it is not taking sides but stands ready to defend its allies.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

China Denies Church ‘Demolition Campaign’ But Says Christianity’s Growth ‘Excessive’

Communist Party in Zhejiang rejects claims of campaign against Protestant churches but one official describes Christianity’s growth as ‘excessive’

Communist officials have denied waging a “demolition campaign” against churches in one of China’s most Christian regions, one week after thousands of believers formed a human shield around their place of worship to save it from destruction…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Free Clothes, Double Rooms and No Vote: The Life of a North Korea Member of Parliament

The annual meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly, “is just a puppet show , in which the delegates hand in their vote ahead of the ballot and have no right to speak. Everyone practices cries of ‘ Long life!’ to Kim Jong-un, then they do some sightseeing and finally go home”. The testimony of a former state industry manager.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

In China, Jar of French Mountain Air Fetches $860

Beijing artist Liang Kegang returned from a business trip in southern France with well-rested lungs and a small item of protest against his home city’s choking pollution: a glass jar of clean, Provence air. He put it up for auction before a group of about 100 Chinese artists and collectors late last month, and it fetched 5,250 yuan ($860).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US and Japan Send Message to China

The US is stepping up efforts to defend Japan against threats from North Korea and China. Several disputed islands in the South and East China Sea have the potential to threaten the stability of the entire region.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Cartoon Crisis Finally Ends in Sudan

Danes can go pack their suitcases now that Sudan has lifted its longstanding sanctions against Denmark. The Central Bank of Sudan reported on Wednesday that all banks had been ordered to lift restrictions, according to the German news agency DPA.

In 2008 Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir banned Danish imports and denied entry to Danish citizens in response to Jyllands-Posten newspaper’s re-printing of the Mohammed cartoons. “We tell you that no Dane will foul the land of Sudan again,” Bashir reportedly said at the time, according to Al-Jazeera.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ebola Virus Continues to Rage in West Africa

More than 100 people have died from Ebola in the West African countries Guinea and Liberia, the World Health Organization has said. International aid organizations try to stop the disease from spreading further.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Kenya: Radical Youth Take Second Mosque

Radical Muslim youth in Mombasa have taken over Sakina Mosque in Majengo and renamed it Masjid Mujahideen. Mujahideen is an Arabic word for one who engages in Jihad or holy war.

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Liberia: 12 Ebola Deaths Reported

World Health Organization (WHO) Country Director says 22 suspected cases of the Ebola virus have been reported in Liberia with at least 12 deaths.

Dr. Nester Ndayimirije said the Ebola virus has already affected three countries in the region including Guinea with 157 cases and 101 deaths, Liberia with 22 suspected cases with 12 deaths and there are reports about suspected cases in Sierra Leone and Ghana…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Somalis Detained in Kenyan Stadium as Crackdown Continues

The Kenyan authorities have detained more than 3,000 people in an operation aimed at flushing out Islamist militants.The detainees’ identities are being checked and dozens have been deported to Somalia.

The operation follows a spate of attacks in Kenya by suspected supporters of Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab rebels.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Argentines Strike Over Inflation and Crime

A general strike called to protest against the government of Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner disrupted public transport Thursday amid growing public anger over price rises and crime.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Colombia Seizes 7 Tons of Cocaine in Biggest Bust Since 2005

Colombian police intercepted 7 tons of cocaine headed to the Dutch port of Rotterdam in one of the biggest such busts in years. The narcotics have a street value of at least $250 million and were found stashed in 6,900 tiny packages in a container in this Caribbean port city along with bottles of pineapple conserves.

Colombia is one of the world’s largest producers of cocaine.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hope Fades for Venezuela Crisis Talks

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leaders are meeting this week for formal talks to end weeks of protests. Critics of Venezuela’s government believe no deal can be achieved because Maduro is not willing to give in to their demands.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Panama Canal Expansion Draws Bigger Customers, And Criticism

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal, one of the busiest waterways in the world. A massive building project is underway there to widen it for larger ships, but the expansion has not been undisputed.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UN Report Notes High Murder Rates in Americas

Global murder rates have gone down, but remain high in the Americas and Africa, according to a new United Nations study. Half of the world’s murders occur in countries with just 11 percent of the population.

UN policy analyst Jean-Luc Lemahieu said the latest numbers show that Canada and the US are below the world average for murder rates, but certain countries in Central and South America are far higher.

“The Americas remain a very violent part of the world,” Lemahieu said, noting the high homicide rates in Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico. He added that the drug cartels contributed to the increased violence in Mexico, which has seen its murder rate roughly double since 2011.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Woman Mugged on Brazil TV While Being Interviewed About Crime

Brazilian TV is showing footage of a woman being robbed while being interviewed on television about crime near Rio de Janeiro’s main train station.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Denver Wants to Hire Illegal Aliens as Teachers

Denver Public Schools administrators believe they are the first school district in the nation to actively seek out people who were initially brought to the United States illegally to now teach in the classroom.

“We look forward to increasing the number of great teachers who are in our classrooms and who are also role models for children who have similar cultural backgrounds and life experiences,” Tom Boasberg, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Asylum Seekers Up 80 Percent in a Year

The number of people applying for asylum in Germany has rocketed by 80 percent in one year due to global crises, according to a government office.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Navy Op Has Rescued Nearly 20,000 Migrants

The Italian navy said on Thursday it had rescued nearly 20,000 migrants since launching a Mediterranean operation following two deadly shipwrecks in October 2013. Navy chief Giuseppe De Giorgi said the rate of arrivals was increasing “and we are following six boats today”.

Five warships are usually deployed with more than 900 military personnel in the ongoing operation. “This operation costs us around nine million euros ($12 million) a month. We have cancelled military exercises to make up the expense,” De Giorgi told reporters.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italian Navy Warns of ‘Biblical Exodus’ In Mediterranean

Navy has had to step in simply to stop the thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who make the perilous journey from drowning

The number of migrants sailing from Africa to Italy resembles a “biblical exodus”, the head of the Italian navy has said. Adml Giuseppe De Giorgi said his ships had rescued 18,546 migrants, including Syrians and sub-Saharan Africans, since October, following the deaths of 364 migrants when their boat caught fire.

The peak came this week when 4,000 were intercepted by the navy in 48 hours. Angelino Alfano, Italy’s interior minister, has claimed up to 600,000 migrants are preparing to sail from Africa as weather improves in the Mediterranean…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Searching for Snap Lodging for Thousands of Migrants

Interior minister calls on every prefect in country

(see related) (ANSA) — Rome, April 9 — The interior ministry on Wednesday sent an urgent request to every prefect in the country calling on law enforcement to locate emergency lodging for the thousands of migrants who have landed on Italian soil in recent hours. Italy issued a fresh call for help from the European Union Wednesday after rescuing more than 4,000 migrants in 48 hours. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in a radio interview that most migrants now disembarking on Italy’s shores are political asylum seekers, and Europe must give Italy a bigger hand in processing and relocating them.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Rescues Migrants — But More Will Come

Italy says 4,000 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea in the past two days. Many Africans regard Italy as a gateway to Europe, but surviving the dangerous boat journey is only the first challenge.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Libyan Navy Stops Two Boats With 218 Immigrants Aboard

The Libyan navy stopped two boats headed to Europe with 218 immigrants on board from a number of African countries, the Libyan news agency reported on Thursday. There were 118 people on the first vessel and 100 on the second, among whom there were 35 women, the majority of whom were pregnant, and three children. Monday evening two other embarkations with 175 Africans were stopped along the coast of Tripoli. The migrants, the majority of whom come from Senegal, Mali, Gambia and Somalia, were delivered to immigration authorities.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Hundreds of Immigrant Kids Sent Abroad to Study

Hundreds of Norwegian-Somali children are being sent to study in Somalia, Kenya, Egypt and Britain, because their parents are concerned that they are struggling to prosper inside the Norwegian system, according to a new report from Norway’s Institute for Social Research.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Refugees Should be Taught Sami: Mayor

Refugees sent to far northern areas of Norway populated by the country’s Sami ethnic minority should be taught to speak the Sami language rather than Norwegian, a local mayor has declared.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Number of Migrants Arriving in Italy Swells

The International Organization for Migration says there has been a 10-fold increase compared to a year ago in the number of migrants intercepted off the coast of Italy. Most of the migrants are trying to escape unrest in Africa and the Middle East.

The International Organization for Migration says as of early April, almost 15,000 migrants had arrived near the Italian coast this year…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Over 150 Sub-Saharan African Migrants Rescued Off Libyan Coast as They Try to Reach Europe

Authorities in Libya say that more than 150 sub-Saharan African migrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast. Deputy head of naval operations in Tripoli, Mohamed al-Baty, said Thursday that a Libyan gang led one group of migrants to think the lights of a Libyan oil field were the lights of Europe. Al-Baty says those aboard were Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Senegalese and are currently detained in Libyan.

Many sub-Saharan African migrants leave Libyan shores by boat every year bound for Europe in hopes of a better life.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Switzerland: Nestlé Chair Warns of Immigrant Vote Impact

Food giant Nestlé warned on Thursday that a vote to rein in immigration by EU citizens had cast a shadow over Switzerland’s economy.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Immigration From Eastern Europe Was Massively Underestimated, Says Official Report

Office for National Statistics admits it missed an estimated 350,000 in net migration over a decade because of flaws in a key survey

The number of eastern European migrants who came to Britain in the last decade was hundreds of thousands higher than previously thought, the Office for National Statistics has admitted. In a disclosure that will fuel intense national concern about immigration, the agency said it had failed to count an estimated 350,000 migrants who arrived in this country between 2001 and 2011…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Labour Calls for More Nuanced Approach to Immigration

In a major speech today, Britain’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called for a more nuanced approach to immigration, pledging that a Labour government would clamp down on the ways immigration is abused, while welcoming those immigrants who could contribute to British society. Natasha Moriarty has this report…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

“Building the Machine, “ The Common Core Documentary

“Common sense of the common people is more important for the health of the nation than the ideas of the philosophical elites.” — Wayne Brasler

In 2013, sixty-two percent of Americans have not heard of Common Core. Ian A. Reid set out to change that. He directed the best documentary on the National Common Core Standards, “Building the Machine.”

The national teaching standards were adopted by 45 states without parental or teacher input, under confidentiality agreements, without public debate, untested, untried, unproven, and certainly not “internationally benchmarked” as is now promoted in non-stop ads or “state-led.”

The bait for adoption was the $4.35 billion worth of grants offered through the President’s stimulus package. States had two months to write proposals in order to be eligible for the Race to the Top grants. Hurting for money because the economy was so depressed, 45 states applied and, in doing so, they accepted the Race to the Top Standards.

The standards, which were to become Common Core standards were not debated, “the drafts were cloaked,” there were no hearings, no testimony, just “some truncated public comments and no response to comments.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

First ‘Exomoon’ Around Alien Planet Possibly Found

For the first time ever, astronomers may have spotted a moon circling an alien planet — though they’ll probably never know for sure exactly what they’ve found.

A team of scientists detected a pair of faraway objects that could be a giant Jupiter-like alien planet and a rocky exomoon flying freely through space, or a small dim star hosting a planet about 18 times more massive than Earth.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Heartbleed Bug Creates Confusion on Internet

Computers vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug are actively being targeted online, say security experts. However, it is not yet clear whether the scanning efforts are benign or are the work of cyber-thieves keen to steal data, they say.

The news comes as some security professionals and developers advised people to change all their passwords.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Taqiyya About Taqiyya

By Raymond Ibrahim

I was recently involved in an interesting exercise—examining taqiyya about taqiyya—and believe readers might profit from the same exercise, as it exposes all the subtle apologetics made in defense of the Islamic doctrine, which permits Muslims to lie to non-Muslims, or “infidels.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

5 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/10/2014

  1. Could Bunkerville NV become another Bunker Hill? Reports coming in that hundreds, maybe thousands of militia are making their way to the stand off between Cliven Bundy his family and the BLM land grabbers.

    This stand off is starting to escalate.

    • And there is no graceful exit for the feds in this. Maybe more like Concord than Bunker Hill, though I get your meaning. The land grabbing has been going on since Teddy Roosevelt’s time.

      Here’s a map showing how much of the West is owned and controlled by government. This situation may push the governors in Western states to finally make a concerted effort to get their lands back.

      http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/291-federal-lands-in-the-us

      The root site is Big Think. Once you drill down to this section, “Strange Maps”, you won’t be able to stop at just looking at one map. They’ll make you re-conceptualize how you think about geography.

  2. During the Clinton administration the federal gov’t “recategorized’ over 600,000 acres in Nevada. In essence they said “we own this now.”
    At the time people thought it was outragous for about a week. Then, nothing.
    I think this is where the conflict lies. The land the rancher is using to graze his cattle was formerly “open range” owned in effect by the citizens of the county.
    The “we’re doing it for the turtles” defense is really, really strange. The fed’s set up a conservation area for the turtles funded by fees from developers. It has approx. 4,000 turtles. It has been so poorly managed that roughly half of the turtles are sick and have to be euthanized…
    I think the turtles have a better chance of staying alive co-habitating with the cattle then they do under federal protection!
    Harry Reid, Senator from NV and majority leader, could stop this with one phone call. I only read this in one place but… there is rumor out there that the feds want to sell the land and Reid is in cahoots on the deal. How do you think he became a multi-millionaire as a “public servant?”

Comments are closed.