Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/29/2014

An 80-foot blue whale that washed up onshore at a tiny Newfoundland town may be about to explode. The whale is thought to have died in heavy ice several weeks ago, and its corpse is now hugely bloated with accumulated methane gas produced by decomposition.

In immigration news, according to the Italian government, 800,000 would-be migrants are gathered in North Africa, ready to make the trip across the Mediterranean to Italy, whose facilities for handling refugees are already on the verge of collapse.

In other news, the 230 schoolgirls who were abducted last week in Nigeria by the Islamic terror group Boko Haram are thought to have been sold as brides to members of the sect. The price for each bride was reportedly about $12.

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

Thanks to Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, MC, 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
» ‘A Weaker Euro Would be Better for Europe’ Says Padoan
» New Record Lows for Italy’s 5-Yr, 10-Yr Bonds
» Public Sees That Bankers Create Money and Wars (Video)
» Spain’s Jobless Rate Rises in First Quarter of 2014
» The Real Unemployment Rate: In 20% of American Families, Everyone is Unemployed
 
USA
» A Swift Punishment, But is it a Just One?
» Benghazi Emails Suggest White House Aide Involved in Prepping Rice for ‘Video’ Explanation
» Conspiracy — Part 4
» Email Shows White House Planned Benghazi Video Deception
» Genetically Modified Organisms: Cross Contamination of Other Crops
» George Washington’s Weakness: His Teeth
» Harry Reid, Robert Reich, And the Politics of Character Assassination
» High Antidepressant Dose Linked to Self Harm in Youths
» Homeland Security Watchdog Accused of Corruption by Senate Committee
» Megadeals Drive Takeover Activity Past $1 Trillion Mark for 2014
» N.B.A. Bans Clippers Owner for Life
» Oklahoma Postpones Second Execution After First is Botched
» Racist Comments See LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Banned From NBA, Fined Millions
» Sen. Ron Johnson: Majority Leader Harry Reid Using Senate as a ‘Political Weapon’
» The Establishment Republican-Leftist Alliance
» Type 2 Diabetes Can Shrink Brain
» White House Wants Chinese-Style ID System for Internet Users
 
Canada
» Dead Blue Whale ‘Might Explode’ In Newfoundland Town
 
Europe and the EU
» Anti-Roma Views Rampant Across All Romanian Political Parties
» Anti-EU Parties Set for Big EU Election Gains
» Denmark: Amateur Archaeologists Unearth Viking Gold
» Denmark: Would-be Assassin of Lars Hedegaard May Have Been Holy Warrior in Syria
» Donald Rumsfeld ‘Gets Swiss Social Benefits’
» Dutch Euroscepticism Moves Mainstream
» German Government Distances Itself From Schröder After Putin Embrace
» Germany: Scientists Make Rocket Fuel From Sunlight
» Germany: Can an Airport be Named After Rommel?
» Germany: Bad Taste: Ex-Chancellor Parties With Putin
» Heavy Use of iPads Causing Children to Lose Basic Skills in the Real World
» Italy: Berlusconi Calls Germans His Friends After Death Camp Remark
» Italy: Schulz ‘Living in My Reflected Glory’ Says Berlusconi
» Italy: ENI Posts 1.3-Bn-Euro First Quarter Profit
» Italy: Renzi Has Trebled Property Taxes, Says Berlusconi
» Italy: Berlusconi May be in Trouble Over Sentence Criticism
» Italy: Row Over ‘Obscene’ Gay School Book
» Italy’s Saipem to Engineer Second South Stream Pipeline
» Italy: Milan Court to Examine Berlusconi TV Remarks
» Japanese Foreign Minister Visits Denmark
» More Danish Funerals Leaving Out God
» Muslim Leaders Denounce Police Over Raids in Czech Capital
» Norway to Launch World’s First Arctic Whisky
» Norway: Vast Swathe of Arctic Island Up for Sale
» Sweden: Court Jails Man for Stabbing ‘Unarmed’ Nazi
» Sweden: Liberal Party: “High Time to Take the Next Step on Asylum”
» The Enemy Invasion: Brussels Braced for Influx of Eurosceptics in EU Polls
» UK: Are You Fit to be a Liberal Democrat? (A Response to Nick Cohen)
» UKIP Condemned by Cross-Party Group for Running ‘Racist’ Campaign
» UKIP Takes the Lead in Euro Polling While ‘Big Three’ Parties Publicize Counter-Strategy
 
North Africa
» Egypt Pulls ‘Adults-Only Film’, Censorship Chief Resigns
» Gunmen Storm Libyan Parliament During Vote for New Premier
» Opinion: Libya is Ripe for International Intervention
» U. S. Aid to Egypt Stopped by Senate Committee
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Caroline Glick: John Kerry’s Jewish Best Friends
» Israel Planned 14,000 Settler Homes During Peace Talks With Palestinians
» Israel’s UN Envoy Warns the World: Your Money Will Go to Hamas
» John Kerry: Real Palestinian Sharia, And Imagined Israeli “Apartheid”
» Kerry Backtracks on Israel ‘Apartheid State’ Comment
 
Middle East
» Al Qaeda-Linked Jihadists Accused of Hanging Victims on Crosses
» Blood Flows as More Than 50 Die in Attacks a Day Before Iraqis Go to the Polls
» Erdogan Calls on U.S. To Deport Cleric Accused of ‘Coup’
» Exclusive Poll: Violent Attacks See UAE Arabs Spurn Britain
» Gauck Opens Turkish-German University, Faces Harsh Words From Erdogan
» Has Wealth Made Qatar Happy?
» Iraqi Election Fear: ‘No One is Safe Anymore’
» Saudis Ask Norway to Ban Slurs on Prophet
» Saudi Advises Against Camel Products Over MERS Concern
» Syria: Dozens Killeds in Homs Car Bomb as OPCW Launches Chlorine Gas Investigation
» Turkey: ‘A Good Start’: Analyzing Erdogan’s Genocide Comments
» Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to Seek Extradition of US-Based Cleric
» Turkish PM: German President is Just a Pastor
» U. S. Sanctions Dubai and Chinese Companies Over Iran
 
Russia
» Putin Foes Fear Internet Crackdown as ‘Blogger Law’ Sails Through
» Russia Irked by ‘Iron Curtain’ Sanctions
» Russia Sanctions ‘Against All Common Sense, ‘ Says Lavrov
» Separatists in Eastern Ukraine Take Lugansk Government Building
» Ukrainian President Accuses Police of “Betrayal”
» War in Europe? Ukraine and the Threat of Wildfire
 
Far East
» Obama Warns China Over Territorial Disputes as He Backs Philippines
» South Korean President Park Apologizes Over Ferry Disaster
» US Renews Effort to ‘Contain’ China’s Influence in Asia
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls Auctioned Off to Boko Haram Jihadis for $12.45 Each
» Nigeria: ‘Abducted Girls Moved Abroad’
 
Latin America
» Brazilian Fisherman Finds Satellite Debris in Amazon River
 
Immigration
» Amnesty Condemns Athens for Refugee Expulsions
» Charles Schumer Promises Immigration Reform: ‘We Are Going to Pass That Bill and Sign it Into Law This Year’
» Cold Comfort: The Syrian Refugees Trying to Make a New Life in Sweden
» Greece: Stop Unlawful and Shameful Expulsion of Refugees and Migrants
» Italy: ‘800,000 Migrants About to Depart for Europe’
 
Culture Wars
» The Left’s Push for Adult-Child Sex
 
General
» Ancient Civilizations? Check Out These Mysterious Structures Found on the Bottom of the Ocean Floor
» Conspiracy Part 5
» How Modern Humans Have Become Weaklings Compared With Our Ancient Ancestors Who Could Outrun and Outlift Today’s Top Athletes
 

‘A Weaker Euro Would be Better for Europe’ Says Padoan

‘Strong euro makes us less competitive’ says economy minister

(ANSA) — Paris, April 29 — A weaker euro would make Europe more competitive, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan told Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday.

“If the euro were weaker it would be better for Europe, not only for competitiveness but also to keep prices from falling”, the minister said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

New Record Lows for Italy’s 5-Yr, 10-Yr Bonds

BTP bond rates fall to 1.84%, 3.22% respectively

(ANSA) — Rome, April 29 — The interest rates on Italy’s five-year and 10-year State bonds reached record lows at a Treasury auction on Tuesday. The Treasury sold 6.5% billion euros’ worth of bonds, with the 10-year BTP going at an average interest rate of 3.22% and the five-year one getting snapped up at 1.84%.

The country’s borrowing costs have been falling since Premier Matteo Renzi unseated his Democratic Party colleague Enrico Letta in February and took the helm of government promising to revive the economy and reform the country’s slow and expensive political system.

Italy risked a Greek-style financial meltdown late in 2011 when the spread between its 10-year bond and the ultra-safe German equivalent went over 500 points with yields above 7%.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Public Sees That Bankers Create Money and Wars (Video)

The public is beginning to catch on to the facts that bankers create money and create wars.

Major financial publications, writers and economists call for banning the fractional reserve system.

“It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking,” Ron Paul wrote in his book End the Fed.

Simply put, the fractional reserve system and fiat currencies allow governments to increase taxes on the population discretely in the process called inflation.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Spain’s Jobless Rate Rises in First Quarter of 2014

Spain’s unemployment rate climbed to nearly 26 percent in the first quarter of 2014, official data showed Tuesday, as millions searched in vain for a job in a halting recovery from recession, but the news was not all bad.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Real Unemployment Rate: In 20% of American Families, Everyone is Unemployed

According to shocking new numbers that were just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of American families do not have a single person that is working.

So when someone tries to tell you that the unemployment rate in the United States is about 7 percent, you should just laugh. One-fifth of the families in the entire country do not have a single member with a job. That is absolutely astonishing. How can a family survive if nobody is making any money? Well, the answer to that question is actually quite easy. There is a reason why government dependence has reached epidemic levels in the United States. Without enough jobs, tens of millions of additional Americans have been forced to reach out to the government for help. At this point, if you can believe it, the number of Americans getting money or benefits from the federal government each month exceeds the number of full-time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million.

When I was growing up, it seemed like anyone that was willing to work hard could find a good paying job. But now that has all changed…

A number that I find much more useful is the employment-population ratio. According to the employment-population ratio, the percentage of working age Americans that actually have a job has been below 59 percent for more than four years in a row…

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A Swift Punishment, But is it a Just One?

A $2.5m (£1.5m) fine, a lifetime ban and the likely forced sale of his team. That was the sentence handed down by National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday in response to the secretly recorded racist statements of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Does the punishment fit the crime?

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Benghazi Emails Suggest White House Aide Involved in Prepping Rice for ‘Video’ Explanation

Newly released emails on the Benghazi terror attack suggest a senior White House aide played a central role in preparing former U.N. ambassador Susan Rice for her controversial Sunday show appearances — where she wrongly blamed protests over an Internet video.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Conspiracy — Part 4

Confirming the existence of a power elite, President Richard Nixon in THE REAL WAR (1980) wrote: “The nation’s immediate problem is that while the common man fights America’s wars, the intellectual elite sets its agenda. Today, whether the West lives or dies is in the hands of its new power elite: those who set the terms of public debate, who manipulate the symbols, who decide whether nations or leaders will be depicted on 100 million television sets as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ This power elite sets the limits of the possible for Presidents and Congress. It molds the impressions that move the nation, or that mire it.” Further confirmation also comes from THE CONSERVATORS (1983) by President Franklin Roosevelt’s son, Elliot Roosevelt, who wrote that “there are within our world perhaps only a dozen organizations which shape the courses of our various destinies as rigidly as the regularly constituted governments…this unofficial council of the elite, the creme de la creme of global planners.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Email Shows White House Planned Benghazi Video Deception

White House officials consciously planned to spin the successful 2012 jihadi attack on the Benghazi diplomatic compound as an unplanned protest against an anti-Islam video, according to a new email found by the pubic-interest law firm Judicial Watch.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Genetically Modified Organisms: Cross Contamination of Other Crops

When GMO plants grow within a specific eco-system, their DNA bastardizes the normal DNA of native plants. Specific genes mutate and become “Frankensteinized” by the genetically manipulated plants. Thus, we humans alter the Natural World via the GMO aberration. We change the way bees operate or cannot operate with a GMO plant. Whereby a ladybug thrived, it now dies. What proliferated on ladybugs dies without their specific food source — and on down the line.

Carey Biron at Inter Press Service said, “A third of U.S. organic farmers have experienced problems in their fields due to the nearby use of genetically modified crops, and over half of those growers have had loads of grain rejected because of unwitting GMO contamination.”

“Of U.S. farmers that took part in a new survey, the results of which were released on Monday, more than 80 percent reported being concerned over the impact of genetically modified (GM) crops on their farms, with some 60 percent saying they’re “very concerned.”“

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

George Washington’s Weakness: His Teeth

When George Washington opened his mouth 225 years ago this Wednesday at New York’s Federal Hall to take the oath as the first president of the United States, he wore awkward-fitting, painful, face-disfiguring dentures. For years, he had suffered from dental problems; that morning he had swollen, burning gums and only a single original tooth in his mouth.

Folklore notwithstanding, Washington’s false teeth were not wooden. He obtained them instead from horses, donkeys, cows — and human beings.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Harry Reid, Robert Reich, And the Politics of Character Assassination

Neither Harry Reid nor Robert Reich know Cliven Bundy personally, yet both have condemned him publicly. The 67 year old Nevada rancher besieged by the Bureau of Land Management only recently became a national figure when he boldly refused to relent to BLM demands that he stop ranching. His defiance became a cause celebre for Western anger and disgust over the over forty year effort of the BLM and National Park Service to remove all ranchers, loggers, and miners from the West.

It is indeed remarkable that some 2,000 people, most of them members of state militias, ultimately flocked to Bunkersville, Nevada, to stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of Cliven Bundy and his ranch and to put their lives on the line. Facing the risk of a blood bath and political fall-out for Harry Reid, the Reid family, and former Reid aide, now BLM Director, Neil Kornze, the BLM backed down, withdrew their snipers, armed agents, contracted cattle rustlers, and assault vehicles, and returned most of Bundy’s cattle (they shot some and two dozen others are presently missing). While the BLM occupied lands adjacent to Bundy’s ranch, they committed petty crimes of considerable cost to Bundy, piercing his water tanks and water lines and wrecking his fencing, and they disassociated calves from cows, threatening the survival of the calves, and they shot several calve bearing cows. In short, as they have repeatedly in the past, the BLM and National Forest Service proved themselves unbeholden to the rule of law and dedicated to the tyrannical use of brute force to wrest land out of the hands of the last remaining Western ranchers.

…over a decade ago, BLM informed Bundy that he must pay for grazing permits for his cattle but that the permits were limited for use by only a fraction of his herd. BLM demanded that he reduce his herd by about 90% and placed restrictions on his own water rights and land appurtenant thereto as well as on the rights of way over federal land by which his cattle could travel for feed and water. Bundy understood those demands for what they in fact were: efforts to destroy his entire ranch. He could not afford to remain in business with 90% of his cattle eliminated and with access to his own water and lands appurtenant thereto severely restricted. For over a century, the federal government had provided his family virtually unrestricted rights of way to federal lands adjacent to his ranch so as to permit cattle ranching development.

Indeed, beginning in 1866, federal law and policy encouraged Bundy’s forebears and thousands of other enterprising Americans to settle the vast, wide-open West, to develop the land, and to establish enterprises that would foster economic growth and prosperity.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

High Antidepressant Dose Linked to Self Harm in Youths

When it comes to the link between antidepressants and suicidal behavior in young people, dose may matter quite a bit, a new study suggests.

The Food and Drug Administration has for years required antidepressants to carry warnings that they may increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adults under age 25. The study, published online Monday by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, finds the risk for deliberate self harm doubles when depressed young people start treatment with higher-than-usual doses.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Homeland Security Watchdog Accused of Corruption by Senate Committee

The internal “top cop” responsible for allegations of misconduct at the Homeland Security Department (DHS) is now himself accused of misconduct by avoiding the exposure of illegal or unethical activity by members of the DHS he felt “beholding to,” according to a U.S. Senate investigative report released on Thursday.

The Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s report on Thursday appears to confirm many of the allegations made against former acting Inspector General Charles Edwards which began when he resigned from the Obama administration in December 2013.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Megadeals Drive Takeover Activity Past $1 Trillion Mark for 2014

The value of takeovers announced in 2014 hit the $1 trillion mark yesterday, reaching that level at the fastest pace in seven years.

“Literally this past week we maybe just entered an M&A boom,” said Shaoul, who oversees more than $20 billion as CEO of Marketfield in New York. “Management teams are starting to build this mentality that they’re going to be a buyer or be bought. It puts pressure on everybody to think about who they could be buying.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

N.B.A. Bans Clippers Owner for Life

Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was banned for life from the N.B.A. and fined $2.5 million by the N.B.A. Tuesday. Adam Silver, the commissioner of the N.B.A., made the announcement during a news conference in response to racist remarks attributed to Sterling.

[Return to headlines]
 

Oklahoma Postpones Second Execution After First is Botched

What was supposed to be the first of two executions in McAlester, Okla., on Tuesday was halted when the prisoner, Clayton D. Lockett, began to twitch and gasp after he had already been declared unconscious and called out “man” and “something’s wrong,” according to witnesses.

The administering doctor intervened and discovered that “the line had blown,” said the director of corrections, Robert Patton, meaning that drugs were no longer flowing into his vein. At 7:06 p.m., Mr. Patton said, Mr. Lockett died of a heart attack.

Mr. Patton said he had requested a stay of 14 days in the second execution scheduled for Tuesday night, of Charles F. Warner.

[Return to headlines]
 

Racist Comments See LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Banned From NBA, Fined Millions

The US National Basketball Association has banned LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the game for life, after he made racist comments. Sterling was also fined $2.5 million.

The controversy ignited on the weekend when audio said to be Sterling’s voice was leaked online, criticizing a friend for associating with “black people.”

Sterling bought the LA Clippers in 1981 and is the longest-tenured owner of any of the 30 NBA teams.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sen. Ron Johnson: Majority Leader Harry Reid Using Senate as a ‘Political Weapon’

Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, said the U.S. Senate has effectively become a one-man dictatorship being used by Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, as a “political weapon.”

Mr. Johnson countered a viewer’s question about Republicans’ use of the filibuster on C-SPAN Tuesday morning by saying Mr. Reid hasn’t allowed enough votes on Republican amendments to legislation.

“This is all political — that’s the problem,” he said. “Harry Reid is not running the Senate to actually pass bipartisan bills. He’s using the Senate, as [basically] a political weapon. It’s all about politics.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Establishment Republican-Leftist Alliance

Anti-Tea Party interests conspire at Amelia Island

During the first weekend in April, Republican leaders in the House and Senate held a retreat with the Republican Main Street Partnership on Florida’s Amelia Island. No ordinary conservative political powwow, the meeting brought together establishment Republicans and leftist-supported advocacy groups, whose shared interests include neutralizing the conservative grassroots movement and passing legislative items on the Left’s agenda.

The meeting was hosted at the Ritz Carlton by the Republican Main Street Partnership’s offshoot “Main Street Advocacy.” Former Ohio Congressman and left-wing Republican Steve LaTourette fronts the group.

How left-wing? In 2013, Yahoo reported that LaTourette was ready to drop the word “Republican” from the Republican Main Street Partnership and accept Democrats into the fold. A month later, he partially backed off, insisting the group wouldn’t support Democrats even if it changed its name — while he still maintained the group would “work collaboratively with anybody who wants to find common sense solutions.” Yet in a series of articles for entities such as Politico, the Washington Post, and Newsweek, LaTourette made it clear that he sees conservatives as the primary source of congressional dysfunction…

RedState’s Erick Erickson compiled a list of contributors to Defending Main Street PAC. Further exploration of those contributors reveals the disturbing level of collaboration between Republican leadership and their leftist supporters.

Ron Maxwell, an Independent living in Cantor’s district, wasn’t buying it. He characterized those attending the meeting as the “big-business, cheap-labor wing of the Republican Party, not the mom-and-pop store owners, the startups, the entrepreneurs, the small-business people.”

He further illuminated the rift. “The Main Street Republicans have become an echo chamber for the left,” he explained. “They correctly see grass-roots conservatives and the tea party as the authentic base of the GOP and therefore a threat to the levers of power that the party’s behind-the-scenes leaders — the Bushes, Karl Roves and Haley Barbours — control. They’re terrorists in their own party. They label Republicans who don’t agree with them as extremists,” he added.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Type 2 Diabetes Can Shrink Brain

People with type 2 diabetes may lose more brain volume than is expected as they age, new research indicates.

Surprisingly, this shrinkage doesn’t appear to be linked to the damaging effect of diabetes on tiny blood vessels in the brain, but instead by how the brain handles excess sugar, the researchers noted.

“We have known for a long time that diabetes is not good for the brain,” said lead researcher Dr. R. Nick Bryan, a professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perleman School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

White House Wants Chinese-Style ID System for Internet Users

Government moves to create “identity ecosystem”

Testing is set to begin next month on a pilot program that could lead to the introduction of a Chinese-style ID system for Internet users, an “identity ecosystem” that critics fear would create a backdoor to government regulation of the world wide web.

The White House’s “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” would replace the current system of using passwords to access sensitive online accounts with something akin to a biometric ID card that would link one individual to all their government services, such as food stamps, welfare as well as a myriad of other things like mortgage applications and applications for licenses.

“The original proposal was quick to point out that this isn’t a federally mandated national ID. But if successful, it could pave the way for an interoperable authentication protocol that works for any website, from your Facebook account to your health insurance company,” writes Meghan Neal, warning that the proposal is “a scary can of worms to open”.

The scope of the program could eventually be expanded into an ID card to access the Internet itself, greasing the skids for every citizen to require government permission to use the world wide web, a privilege that could be denied to criminals, accused terrorists and other undesirables, which according to federal government literature includes people who hold certain anti-establishment political beliefs.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Dead Blue Whale ‘Might Explode’ In Newfoundland Town

The residents of a town on Canada’s Newfoundland island fear a blue whale carcass that washed up on its boardwalk last week could explode at any time. The 25m (81ft) whale on Trout River’s rocky beach is one of several believed to have died in heavy ice weeks ago.

Town Clerk Emily Butler says the body is bloated with methane gas caused by decomposition and will soon reek, regardless of whether it explodes.

Ms Butler said the town of 600 people did not have the resources to deal safely with the carcass, though Canadian officials say it is their responsibility.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-Roma Views Rampant Across All Romanian Political Parties

Among minorities, Roma are the biggest target of political jibes and suffer the most prejudice in the country. The National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) says that when Romanians are asked to describe Roma in their own words, 20 percent choose two words — ‘thieves’ and ‘criminals’.

Prejudice is recycled from generation to generation and ingrained in Romanian children at an early age. In Romanian playgrounds it is common to hear elders tell their children they should behave or “the gypsies will come and kidnap you” and, if they have paint or mud on their face or hands, that the infant is “dirty like a gypsy”.

De facto segregation of the Roma is common in schooling, housing and work.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-EU Parties Set for Big EU Election Gains

London-based think tank Open Europe estimates that anti-EU or protest parties of various forms could win as much as 31% of the vote, up from 25% in 2009, giving them 218 out of the European Parliament’s 751 seats — a gain of 54 seats compared to the present parliament.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark: Amateur Archaeologists Unearth Viking Gold

After hours of searching through the mud with metal detectors, amateur archaeologists Frank Pelle and Bent Gregersen made the discovery of their lives on a ploughed field in Bornholm earlier in April. The two lucky gold-diggers found an ancient Viking gold treasure hidden in the ground.

After studying x-rays of collected earth samples, Bornholms Museum, the local archaeological museum, estimated that the treasure of 250 gold and silver coins was buried in the ground in the 1080s. Some of the coins were brought to Denmark from Egypt and Tunisia and are extremely unique.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark: Would-be Assassin of Lars Hedegaard May Have Been Holy Warrior in Syria

by Ingrid Carlqvist

A 26-year-old Lebanese man accused of an attempt on the life of Danish journalist and Dispatch International editor Lars Hedegaard in February 2013 was arrested in Turkey five days ago. According to press reports, he is connected with extremist Islamic circles in Denmark and Sweden and has probably taken part in the fighting in Syria.

Monday night the suspect’s Turkish lawyer Ayse Sönmez told Politiken that her client absolutely denies having tried to kill anybody. The jailed Danish citizen further claims that he has never set foot in Denmark.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Donald Rumsfeld ‘Gets Swiss Social Benefits’

Donald Rumsfeld, the controversial former US secretary of defence, is receiving around 5,000 francs ($5,680) a year in benefits from the Swiss social security system (AHV), according to a news report.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dutch Euroscepticism Moves Mainstream

In the Netherlands, voters who are critical of the speed or intensity of European integration have plenty of alternatives to the populist right. The country has eurosceptic progressive and conservative parties too.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

German Government Distances Itself From Schröder After Putin Embrace

The German government has distanced itself from former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder after he was caught on camera embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin. This comes at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine.

Schröder, who served as chancellor between 1998 and 2005, is the head of the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream AG, the company that operates the Nord Stream pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic sea. Russia’s gas giant Gazprom owns a majority stake in Nord Stream AG.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Scientists Make Rocket Fuel From Sunlight

German and international researchers have succeeded in converting water, carbon dioxide and sunlight into kerosene, in a project that holds the possibility of producing completely renewable jet fuel.

“The basic idea is to reverse the combustion process. What we do is take carbon dioxide and water vapour, and introduce energy to produce fuel,” said Patrick Le Clercq, responsible for the project at the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) Institute of Combustion Technology in Stuttgart.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Can an Airport be Named After Rommel?

City authorities have voted to name Stuttgart’s airport after former mayor Manfred Rommel, prompting fears foreigners might confuse the name with his father, the famous Third Reich general.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Bad Taste: Ex-Chancellor Parties With Putin

The conflict in eastern Ukraine threatens to escalate, but that didn’t stop former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from celebrating his 70th birthday with Vladimir Putin on Monday. By doing so, he is making a mockery of Berlin’s foreign policy.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Heavy Use of iPads Causing Children to Lose Basic Skills in the Real World

Developmental experts have warned that the growth in tablet use is having serious side effects on the social and physical development of kids. Last year, The Telegraph reported, a physician claimed that rising numbers of children and young people, including one child aged just four years old, required therapy for compulsive addictive behavior after being exposed to digital devices and the Internet since birth.

In addressing the ATL’s annual conference recently in Manchester, Colin Kinney, a teacher from Northern Ireland, said his colleagues “talk of pupils who come into their classrooms after spending most of the previous night playing computer games and whose attention span is so limited that they may as well not be there.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Berlusconi Calls Germans His Friends After Death Camp Remark

Juncker says ex-premier’s war remarks ‘nauseating’

(See related) (ANSA) — Rome, April 28 — Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi on Monday said his claim that Germans of today deny the existence of Second World War concentration camps “was extrapolated out of context” by “the European left”, and affirmed his “historic friendship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel”. Berlusconi, who has long been known for verbal gaffs, added that he was made a victim of political opponents who set up a “campaign trap” to ensnare him ahead of European parliamentary elections on May 25.

Controversy erupted when, over the weekend, the media magnate and centre-right leader said that “for the Germans, the concentration camps never existed,” in a fresh attack on an old foe, Martin Schulz, a German politician and speaker of the European Parliament.

He is also the leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and their candidate.

The 77-year-old Berlusconi, who has been smarting after an Italian court upheld his ban on standing for election to the European parliament next month due to a tax-fraud conviction, had previously slurred Schulz by describing him as a guard in a Nazi death camp during the Second World War.

That came during an angry exchange between the two, who have clashed often, in the European Parliament in June 2003.

Germany dismissed Berlusconi’s comments as being beneath official notice.

A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Feibert, on Monday said the claim “was so absurd that the German government won’t comment”.

Berlusconi said it was “surreal to call me hostile to the German people, my friends,” after his claim that they denied the existence of concentration camps. “If I’m hostile to something it’s counterproductive austerity, and rules and regulations that in my opinion are seriously flawed, which are burdening all of Europe with long-term economic stagnation,” he added. Still, even his supposed political ally Jean-Claude Juncker, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) presidential candidate, demanded Berlusconi apologize for the concentration camps remark.

“Berlusconi’s statements nauseated me. I call on him to take them back immediately and apologize to Holocaust survivors and German citizens,” said Juncker, former Luxembourg prime minister. The EPP, which counts Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party among its members, is currently the largest grouping in the European Parliament.

Berlusconi sparked a similar storm late last year over remarks that his adult children told him they feel like Jewish families must have under Hitler because of the alleged judicial persecution against him.

“My children say they feel like the Jewish families must have felt in Germany during Hitler’s regime,” the media mogul told journalist Bruno Vespa in an interview for a book. The ex-premier was quickly lambasted by prominent members of Italy’s Jewish community, who denounced his comparison of his wealthy family with the Jewish people under the persecution of Hitler.

Berlusconi’s list of present legal woes is lengthy: he is set to serve one year of community service for a four-year tax-fraud sentence — cut by an amnesty — which also carries a ban from office; he is appealing a six-year sentence for sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of power to cover it up, and is also on trial for allegedly bribing a centre-left Senator to switch sides.

Throughout more than 20 legal cases since he first swept to victory in 1994, Berlusconi has said he is the victim of left-wing elements in the judiciary.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Schulz ‘Living in My Reflected Glory’ Says Berlusconi

‘Usual electoral propaganda’ in outcry over death-camp slur

(ANSA) — Rome, April 28 — European Parliament Speaker Martin Schulz has been living in Silvio Berlusconi’s “reflected glory” since their first tussle in the EP in 2003 and his European Socialist Party is making “the usual electoral propaganda” out of Berlusconi’s controversial claim Saturday that Germans deny the existence of death camps, the three-time premier and media magnate said Monday. On his debut at the helm of the EU’s rotating presidency 11 years ago Berlusconi offered Schulz a part in a film as a concentration-camp trusty, sparking outrage.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ENI Posts 1.3-Bn-Euro First Quarter Profit

‘Solid results in difficult market environment,’ says CEO

(ANSA) — Milan, February 13 — Italian oil-and-gas giant Eni posted net profits of 1.3 billion euros in the first quarter of 2014, down 15.6% over the same period the previous year, according to unaudited group results published Tuesday.

The State controlled company produced 1,583 million barrels of oil a day in the first quarter, up 0.6% over the January-March 2013 period. “Eni delivered solid results in the first quarter 2014, despite a difficult market environment,” said Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni.

Company stocks rose 1.26% to 18,55 euros on the Milan bourse in early trading on Tuesday in response to the figures.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Renzi Has Trebled Property Taxes, Says Berlusconi

(AGI) Rome, April 29 — Renzi has trebled property taxes, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told the Mattino 5 TV chat show while commenting on a picture of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. “He’s brooding new taxes”, Berlusconi said and added: “the first real effects of what Renzi has done was to multiply property taxes three-fold. Those 80 euros that he promised [low income brackets] will be completely eroded by the property taxes due in December and by the taxes on bank deposit accounts”.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Berlusconi May be in Trouble Over Sentence Criticism

Ex-premier said conviction and punishment were ‘ridiculous’

(see related stories) (ANSA) — Milan, April 29 — Judicial authorities are looking at comments Silvio Berlusconi made on Italian television Monday, in which he described as “ridiculous” his conviction for tax fraud at his media empire and his punishment of having to do community service at a centre for the elderly near Milan, ANSA sources said Tuesday. Berlusconi has been warned he could be forced to serve the year remaining on the four-year sentence for fraud at his Mediaset broadcasting empire under house arrest, rather than by doing community service, if he continues to “defame” judges, after repeated claims that left-wing elements in the judiciary are seeking to wipe him from Italy’s political arena.

Earlier on Tuesday the 77-year-old billionaire repeated his claim that the tax-fraud sentence, which led to him being ejected from parliament and declared ineligible to stand in next month’s European elections, amounted to a “coup”. “The Mediaset sentence was another coup that was used to kick me out of the Senate and make me unable to stand for six years,” the three-time premier told one of his Mediaset TV channels. “It has taken out the leader of the centre right, the only person who managed to keep the moderates together,” added the 77-year-old billionaire, who continues to lead and campaign for his Forza Italia party from outside parliament.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Row Over ‘Obscene’ Gay School Book

Parents of teenagers at a high school in Rome have filed a complaint against teachers for making their students read a book about a girl who was brought up by two gay fathers, describing some of the book’s contents as “obscene”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy’s Saipem to Engineer Second South Stream Pipeline

Eni-Gazprom pipeline to bring gas from Russia to Bulgaria

(ANSA) — Milan, April 29 — Italy’s Saipem SpA oil and gas service provider won a 400-million-euro contract to engineer one of four South Stream gas pipelines transporting Russian natural gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria, company sources said Tuesday.

Saipem is a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni, which owns approximately 43% of its shares.

The South Stream project consists of four parallel pipelines, each of them 931 kilometers long and lying up to 2,200 meters deep. The contract for the second pipeline was an addendum to the contract for the first pipeline signed last month.

Saipem’s part should be completed by the end of 2016, the company said. The South Stream project was first announced in 2007 by Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni and the deputy chairman of Russian energy company Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev, who signed an agreement in Rome that year.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Milan Court to Examine Berlusconi TV Remarks

(AGI) Milan, April 29 — Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s remarks to La7 TV on his community service are being examined by the Milan Surveillance Court. Berlusconi was granted community service instead of prison on April 15.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Japanese Foreign Minister Visits Denmark

Fumio Kishida, the foreign minister of Japan, will become the first Japanese foreign minister to visit Denmark since 1985 when he arrives in Copenhagen today.

Kishida will be staying in the country until May 2 and will be meeting with his Danish counterpart, Martin Lidegaard, on Thursday to discuss the implementation of the strategic partnership that was agreed to earlier this year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

More Danish Funerals Leaving Out God

Chapels and graveyards without any religious symbols like crosses and angels are emerging in Copenhagen and Aarhus, where more non-believers choose an atheist funeral service.

The number of non-religious Danes who were buried without the help of a priest rose from 9 percent in 2007 to 12 percent last year, Jyllands-Posten reports.

Instead of a ceremonial service, the relatives want a simpler and more personal funeral outside the church, and instead of psalms they want to play the music the deceased liked to listen to.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Muslim Leaders Denounce Police Over Raids in Czech Capital

Muslim leaders in the Czech Republic on Monday accused the police of abusing their power after armed officers raided Islamic institutions in Prague over the weekend, detaining 20 people during Friday Prayer at a mosque and a community center, and arresting the publisher of a book that law enforcement officials say incites xenophobia and violence.

A spokesman for the Czech police, Pavel Hantak, declined to identify the publisher or the book. He told the Czech news media that he did not want to help promote a book that disseminated racism, anti-Semitism and violence against what it called “inferior races.”

Lukas Lhotan, a former convert to Islam who has since become an outspoken critic of the religion, said Monday that he had filed a criminal complaint against the book this month on the grounds that it preached dangerous radicalism. Mr. Lhotan said the book advised Muslims to form Muslim governments wherever they are, and called Jews the enemies of Islam.

Mr. Philips had previously argued that there was no such thing as rape in marriage under Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Quran, and he has also come under criticism in Britain for seeming to condone suicide bombers.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway to Launch World’s First Arctic Whisky

A group of enthusiastic amateurs plans to launch the world’s first Arctic whiskey distillery on the tiny island of Myken off the coast of far-northern Norway.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Vast Swathe of Arctic Island Up for Sale

Fancy owning your own Arctic paradise more than twice the size of Manhattan, complete with coal mine, minor mountain chain and occasional polar bear?

A secretive family from Bergen, Norway, has quietly put a vast 217 square kilometre swathe of Norway’s Svalbard Islands up for sale.

The area is estimated to contain some 25 million tons of coal, which could sustain mining for more than 15 years.

Svalbard expert Willy Østreng told VG that China could be interested in buying the property to gain a foothold in the Arctic and exploit it for its coal reserves. “China is in constant search of coal and other natural resources, and more importantly, by purchasing this property, the can use Svalbard as a platform for a long-term play on the Arctic Ocean Basin,” he told the newspaper.

He pointed out that China has already established a research base in Ny-Ålesund on the island of Spitsbergen.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Court Jails Man for Stabbing ‘Unarmed’ Nazi

An extreme-left activist was sentenced on Tuesday to six and a half years in prison after he stabbed a Nazi in the back during December’s riots in Kärrtorp.

The man was sentenced for attempted murder, making illegal threats, violent rioting, and for breaking Sweden’s laws on knife possession.

He admitted to holding the knife, but claimed that the stabbing was an act of self defence. The 35-year-old reportedly belongs to the organization the Revolutionary Front, which is considered left-wing extremist. He has several previous convictions behind him.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Liberal Party: “High Time to Take the Next Step on Asylum”

The Liberal Party MEP Cecilia Wikström says one of her top priorities if re-elected to the EU parliament, is to give asylum seekers in the huge refugee camps, a safe and legal route to the EU.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Enemy Invasion: Brussels Braced for Influx of Eurosceptics in EU Polls

Across the EU, insurgent parties from right and left are poised to cause major upset, finishing at or near the top of their respective national votes. As a result, rejectionist parties look set to send their largest contingent of anti-European MEPs ever to the European parliament: perhaps 25% of the assembly’s 751 members.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Are You Fit to be a Liberal Democrat? (A Response to Nick Cohen)

Douglas Murray

The British media in general are keeping up a sustained open season on UKIP. This is because the many people who wholly oppose UKIP’s policies are worried that the party looks likely to come top at next month’s EU elections. Which of course presents them with a problem. Because if the claim by Nick and others is true — that UKIP is indeed a racist, misogynistic, homophobic party to its core — then it must mean that in very large numbers we the British public are racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Or that we need re-educating as we are utterly ignorant of the true nature of UKIP and never read the news.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP Condemned by Cross-Party Group for Running ‘Racist’ Campaign

The first cross-party campaign to condemn Nigel Farage’s party as racist is to be launched this week amid fresh polls showing Ukip may come first across England in the European elections in May.

The campaign is led by the former Labour immigration minister Barbara Roche, who claimed: “Ukip’s campaign needs to be exposed for what it is, a racist campaign. The party is practising what is in effect a form of ‘Euracism’. They are deploying the same language and tactics used by openly racist parties like the BNP, but instead of targeting migrants from Africa and Asia they are targeting migrants from within the EU.”

It comes as one Europe-wide study suggested that anti-EU parties such as Ukip could win more than 30% of the vote across the continent next month.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP Takes the Lead in Euro Polling While ‘Big Three’ Parties Publicize Counter-Strategy

The latest weekend polling has revealed the UK Independence Party is in the lead in British opinion polling for next month’s elections to the European Parliament. It is a trend not limited to the UK but the scope of imminent success for UKIP is staggering on the British political scale.

YouGov polling shows UKIP with 31%, Labour 28%, and Conservatives on 19%. If UKIP holds on it would be the first time in over a century that a party other than Labour or Conservative has won a national election.

Anticipating the gargantuan political shift that is seemingly increasingly inevitable the afore mentioned Labour and Conservative parties along with the often 20% drawing Liberal Democrats, have formed a cross-party campaign to condemn Nigel Farage led UKIP as racist.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt Pulls ‘Adults-Only Film’, Censorship Chief Resigns

First cinema for alternative films opens in capital

(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — ROME — Just as Cinema Zawya opened in Cairo with the aim to provide an outlet for alternative films, the film ‘Halawet Rooh’ (‘Beauty of the Soul’) was banned by the government for its sexual provocativeness. The government’s decision overturned that of the official censorship council, leading to the resignation of its director, Ahmed Awaad.

The latest incident is emblematic of the eternal vicissitudes of the world of cinema in the country, and of how difficult it is for Egypt to move forwards even in the cultural sphere. An attempt is being made by director and producer Marianne Khoury — niece and close collaborator for 10 years of the well-known director Youssef Chahine — in opening the first cinema for alternative films, Zawya, inside the historic Odeon in the nation’s capital. Khoury told ANSAmed that the Arabic name of the cinema “can mean different things. In this case it means seeing things from a different angle. This is an idea that we have been working on for many years, that of offering the Egyptian public — our target audience — foreign films translated into Arabic and Egyptian films that never get screened in large cinemas, thereby creating a parallel market to the existing commercial one.” Most of the cinema-goers are young, and the ticket price is half that of most cinemas. The cafe on the pedestrian-only street behind the cinema also costs half what others do. In addition to a series of retrospectives, Zawya takes some of the films into schools for special screenings — such as Haifa Mansour’s debut film ‘Wadjda’, which was the first feature-length film to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia. Like any other film in Egypt, every one shown in the cinema must pass muster in the eyes of the censorship board, Khoury noted.

“The cinema hall doesn’t have as tough of a time as other cinemas, since for the most part it only screens the films once and is a single place in the entire country,” said film director Ahmed Awaad, who resigned as head of the censorship board after Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab decided to ban Sameh Abdel Aziz’s film ‘Halawet Rooh’. Inspired by Giuseppe Tornatore’s ‘Malena’ and starring Lebanon’s Haifa Wehbe, the ‘adults-only’ film was deemed too sexually provocative and a “danger to the young” by the National Council for Childhood. Awaad said that he had “chosen to resign out of respect for my principles. The government overruled the decision of an independent body. I will now go back to film-making and teaching at Cairo’s Art Academy.”

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Gunmen Storm Libyan Parliament During Vote for New Premier

Vote suspended, some people wounded in attack

(ANSA) — Rome, April 29 — Gunmen stormed Libya’s parliament and started firing, wounding several people and forcing MPs to abandon a vote to elect a new prime minister, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Interim Premier Abdullah al-Thani resigned earlier this month after surviving a militia attack on his family.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Opinion: Libya is Ripe for International Intervention

Should the current situation persist in Libya, the most plausible scenario would be international intervention.

The chaos in Libya has led to the disintegration of the state and its power against a backdrop of rising militia influence. Each of these militias acts on its own initiative in its own region, with a number even taking control of some of the country’s main oil ports.

From what we have seen in other countries, radical groups, particularly those subscribing to Al-Qaeda’s ideology, have always been quickest to exploit political and security vacuums.

Tripoli has also become a place for diplomats to be kidnapped. The recent kidnapping of Jordanian and Tunisian diplomats by militants demanding the release of terror suspects proves this.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

U. S. Aid to Egypt Stopped by Senate Committee

(AGI) Washington, April 29 — Sentencing 683 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death may cost Egypt dearly. On Tuesday Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, said he will not approve sending funds amounting to USD 650 million to the Egyptian military. Leahy will also try and obstruct the delivery of 10 Apache helicopters although this does not require Congress’ approval.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Caroline Glick: John Kerry’s Jewish Best Friends

Anti-Semitism is not a simple bigotry. It is a complex neurosis. It involves assigning malign intent to Jews where none exists on the one hand, and rejecting reason as a basis for understanding the world and operating within it on the other hand.

John Kerry’s recent use of the term “Apartheid” in reference to Israel’s future was an anti-Semitic act.

In remarks before the Trilateral Commission a few days after PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas signed a unity deal with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, Kerry said that if Israel doesn’t cut a deal with the Palestinians soon, it will either cease to be a Jewish state or it will become “an apartheid state.”

Leave aside the fact that Kerry’s scenarios are based on phony demographic data. As I demonstrate in my book The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, Israel will maintain a strong and growing Jewish majority in a “unitary state” that includes the territory within the 1949 armistice lines and Judea and Samaria.

But even if Kerry’s fictional data were correct, the only “Apartheid state” that has any chance of emerging is the Palestinian state that Kerry claims Israel’s survival depends on. The Palestinians demand that the territory that would comprise their state must be ethnically cleansed of all Jewish presence before they will agree to accept sovereign responsibility for it…

           — Hat tip: Caroline Glick [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Planned 14,000 Settler Homes During Peace Talks With Palestinians

During nine months of peace talks with Palestinians, Israel approved plans to build nearly 14,000 new settler homes, according to an activist group. The figures came as the negotiation period formally ended.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Israel’s UN Envoy Warns the World: Your Money Will Go to Hamas

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, warned world nations on Tuesday that with the Hamas-Fatah unity pact, any funds they transfer to the Palestinian Authority (PA) may end up in the hands of Hamas and be used for carrying out terrorist attacks.

“As we speak, millions of dollars are being channeled to the Palestinian Authority. Now that the Palestinians have signed a unity agreement, that funding will be at the disposal of Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization,” Prosor said in a speech before the UN Security Council.

“I wonder how taxpayers in London, Luxembourg and Paris would feel knowing that they will enable Hamas to launch more rockets into Israel, kidnap more Israelis, and send more suicide bombers into our cafes,” he added.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

John Kerry: Real Palestinian Sharia, And Imagined Israeli “Apartheid”

Andrew Bostom

Last Friday, during a closed-door meeting with a room of influential world leaders, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry opined that if Israel failed to accept his latest “peace formulation,” the country risked becoming an “apartheid state with second-class citizens.”

This statement was redolent with Kerry’s trademark mental and moral cretinism. For over a decade, the disputed territories in Gaza and Judea-Samaria under Fatah, and/or Hamas control have been under a real, not a theoretical system of Islamic Sharia-based religious apartheid.

After more than thirteen centuries of almost uninterrupted jihad in historical Palestine, it is not surprising that a finalized constitution proposed for a Palestinian Arab state declared all aspects of Palestinian state law to be subservient to the Sharia, in harmony with the popular will (i.e., 79.9 percent of Palestinians want the PA to follow the Sharia—Islamic religious law— including 68.6 percent who wanted the Sharia as the exclusive code of law, according to data published by the Palestinian Center for Research and Cultural Dialogue, March 3, 2005). Moreover, contemporary Palestinian Authority religious intelligentsia openly support restoration of the oppressive system of dhimmitude within a Muslim-dominated Israel as well.

During a Friday sermon broadcasted live on June 6, 2001 on PA TV, from the Sheik ‘Ijlin Mosque in Gaza, Palestinian Authority employee Sheik Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Madhi reiterated these sentiments with regard to Jews:…

           — Hat tip: Andy Bostom [Return to headlines]
 

Kerry Backtracks on Israel ‘Apartheid State’ Comment

US Secretary of State John Kerry vehemently denied Monday he had ever called Israel “an apartheid state,” amid a row over comments reportedly made during a private meeting.

“I do not believe, not have I ever stated, publicly or privately that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one,” the top US diplomat said in a statement amid calls for him to resign or at least apologize for the alleged comments.

“Anyone who knows anything about me knows that without a shred of doubt.”

But Kerry, who has seen his dogged efforts to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians collapse, did suggest that he had made a poor choice of words during his speech Friday to international experts of the Trilateral Commission.

“I have been around long enough to also know the power of words to create a misimpression, even when unintentional, and if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution.”

The Daily Beast online news site reported that Kerry had warned that “a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens — or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.”…

[Wot me — I didn’t say nothing. — MC]

           — Hat tip: MC [Return to headlines]
 

Al Qaeda-Linked Jihadists Accused of Hanging Victims on Crosses

Al Qaeda-backed jihadists are hanging the bodies of executed enemies on crosses crucifixion-style in a town in Northern Syria, according to a Syrian opposition group.

The executions reportedly took place Tuesday in Raqqa, where the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, an Al Qaeda-linked network, has taken over the city, according to Abu Ibrahim Alrquaoui, who identifies himself as a founder of a group called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

Alrquaoui said those killed were rebels that had previously fought against the Syrian government of Bashir al-Assad. “It’s very dangerous,” Alrquaoui, told FoxNews.com in an interview. “They threaten us directly and want to kill us.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Blood Flows as More Than 50 Die in Attacks a Day Before Iraqis Go to the Polls

Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) — At least 11 people were killed and 19 wounded in an outdoor market after a pair of back-to-back bombs ripped through an outdoor market today, a day before the country goes to the polls tomorrow, the first nationwide balloting since the 2011 withdrawal of US forces.

According to local witnesses, the attacks are an attempt by Islamist militants to discourage voters from going to the polls. More than 9,000 candidates are vying for 328 seats in parliament, which is widely expected to be won by an alliance led by outgoing Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is likely to succeed himself for a third time.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Erdogan Calls on U.S. To Deport Cleric Accused of ‘Coup’

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the U.S. to deport a U.S.-based cleric he accuses of instigating a graft probe to try to topple his government, and vowed to seek the preacher’s extradition. Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers should be expelled or handed over to Turkish authorities, Erdogan said in an interview.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive Poll: Violent Attacks See UAE Arabs Spurn Britain

Emirati nationals and Arab expats are the least likely to visit Britain of all UAE residents, a YouGov / Al Arabiya News poll has found, amid widespread fears over two violent attacks in London.

The comprehensive poll, conducted across multiple age groups and nationalities, points to growing concern over the safety of the UK capital among Arabs in the UAE.

It was commissioned after two shocking attacks on Emiratis in London by allegedly armed gangs intent on robbing their victims. The two attacks, just weeks apart, prompted concerns over whether the city is still a safe holiday destination.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gauck Opens Turkish-German University, Faces Harsh Words From Erdogan

German President Joachim Gauck has received a warm welcome at the opening of a new university in Istanbul. But Turkey’s prime minister lashed out at him for criticizing his government.

Gauck and Turkish President Abdullah Gul jointly unveiled a plaque marking the opening of the Turkish-German University in Istanbul on Tuesday. Speaking at the ceremony, Gauck said the opening of the institution of higher learning marked the start of a “new chapter” in relations between the scholarly communities of the two countries.

Gul spoke of the already deep ties between the two countries, with about 3 million people of Turkish origin living in Germany and 5 million German tourists visiting Turkey each year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Has Wealth Made Qatar Happy?

From desperate poverty less than a century ago, this, after all, has become the richest nation in the world, with an average per-capita income topping $100,000 (£60,000).

Local media report that 40% of Qatari marriages now end in divorce. More than two-thirds of Qataris, adults and children, are obese.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iraqi Election Fear: ‘No One is Safe Anymore’

Iraq’s former interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is hoping to oust the current government in this week’s elections. He speaks to SPIEGEL about his belief that the Americans robbed him of power and about the country’s escalating violence.

11 years after Saddam’s fall, violence, corruption and abuses of power still dominate daily life in Baghdad.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudis Ask Norway to Ban Slurs on Prophet

Norway’s human rights record came in for sharp criticism during a UN hearing on Monday, with Saudi Arabia and Russia weighing in to highlight the country’s shortcomings.

Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries accused Norway of doing too little to protect its Muslim minority, with Saudi Arabia calling for all criticism of religions or their prophets to be made illegal.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Saudi Advises Against Camel Products Over MERS Concern

Acting Saudi Health Minister Adel bin Mohammad Faqih advised citizens of the kingdom Tuesday against consuming camel products, noting that experts had concluded the mammal could act as an incubator for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

He said Riyadh had brought together health experts from around the word, among them officials from the World Health Organization, to consider best practices in dealing with the virus that has so far killed more than 100 people in Saudi Arabia.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: Dozens Killeds in Homs Car Bomb as OPCW Launches Chlorine Gas Investigation

Dozens of people are reported to have been killed when a car bomb went off in the Syrian city of Homs. Meanwhile, the world’s chemical watchdog is to investigate the alleged recent use of chlorine gas in the conflict.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey: ‘A Good Start’: Analyzing Erdogan’s Genocide Comments

Nearly a hundred years after the mass murder of Armenians by Ottoman soldiers, Turkey’s prime minister spoke last week for the first time of the “suffering” of the victims. Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bagdat says Erdogan’s words mark a good start.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to Seek Extradition of US-Based Cleric

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he plans to seek the extradition of an Islamic cleric from the United States. Erdogan has accused Fethullah Gulen of seeking to topple his government.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish PM: German President is Just a Pastor

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday rejected criticism from Germany’s president who said he was “scared” by the Turkey’s recent spate of rights abuses.

“I think he still thinks of himself as pastor,” Erdogan told parliament, a day after he met with German President Joachim Gauck who is on a four-day visit to Turkey.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

U. S. Sanctions Dubai and Chinese Companies Over Iran

(AGI) Washington, April 29 — The United States has now sanctioned Dubai and Chinese companies for having helped Iran.

In more detail, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned eight Chinese companies for procuring missile parts for Iran, and a company based in Dubai for helping Iran avoid the oil embargo.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Putin Foes Fear Internet Crackdown as ‘Blogger Law’ Sails Through

MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russia’s upper house of parliament approved a law on Tuesday that will impose stricter rules on bloggers and is seen by critics as an attempt by President Vladimir Putin to stifle dissent on the Internet.

The Federation Council overwhelmingly approved the tighter controls on Russian blogs and websites that attract more than 3,000 daily visits, under legislation the government says is needed to formalize the definition of blogging in Russian law.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Irked by ‘Iron Curtain’ Sanctions

EU ‘under US thumb’ claims Moscow

(ANSA) — Rome, April 29 — Russia on Tuesday slammed new US and EU sanctions against Moscow’s actions in Ukraine as reminiscent of the Iron Curtain.

Moscow said the EU was “under Washington’s thumb” and should be “ashamed” of increasing its sanctions.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also said US sanctions could hurt its hi-tech sector.

The Kremlin repeated it had no plans to invade east Ukraine where pro-Russia activists have seized buildings in more than a dozen towns, leading to deadly clashes.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Sanctions ‘Against All Common Sense, ‘ Says Lavrov

(AGI) Havana, April 29 — Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attacked the West for imposing sanctions on Russia during an official visit to Cuba. “We denounce sanctions in all their forms, including those that have been announced by the United States and the EU against all common sense due to events in Ukraine,” said Lavrov.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Separatists in Eastern Ukraine Take Lugansk Government Building

Separatists have taken another government building in eastern Ukraine. A self-declared mayor in Ukraine says he will negotiate the release of military observers only if the EU drops sanctions against separatist leaders.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ukrainian President Accuses Police of “Betrayal”

(AGI) — Kiev, April 29 — Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov has accused police forces in Eastern Ukraine of “betrayal.” In a statement Turchynov blames the police in that part of the country of being “inert and with no authority” and in some cases even “of conniving” with pro-Russian separatists who are gradually taking control of institutional buildings and television channels, as has happened over the past few hours in Lugansk.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

War in Europe? Ukraine and the Threat of Wildfire

Following the apparent failure of the Geneva agreements, the inconceivable suddenly seems possible: the invasion of eastern Ukraine by the Russian army. Fears are growing in the West of the breakout of a new war in Europe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Obama Warns China Over Territorial Disputes as He Backs Philippines

US President Barack Obama delivered a fresh warning on Tuesday to China against using force to resolve territorial disputes, as he pledged “ironclad” military support for the Philippines.

On the final day of a four-nation Asian tour, Obama used an address to US and Filipino troops in Manila to voice concern over the increasingly tense maritime territorial rows between China and US allies in the region.

This message has been removed.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

South Korean President Park Apologizes Over Ferry Disaster

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has apologized for her government’s failure to prevent the ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. She said the “initial response and remedy were insufficient.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

US Renews Effort to ‘Contain’ China’s Influence in Asia

President Obama wrapped up a four-country swing through Asia Tuesday after working to reassure allies in the region that the U.S. will uphold its commitment to defend them. The president’s trip was seen as a way for the U.S. reassert its military position in the region.

Dr. Michael Auslin believes the recently announced 10-year defense pact allowing for an increased presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines will fix “unbalanced” American forces deployment in Asia. “All of our troops are up in the northeast, in Japan and (South) Korea and nothing in the southeast,” Auslin said. “That’s where China has taken the opportunity to expand a lot of its (territorial) claims.”

Regional experts have debated whether this decision by the White House is an attempt to contain China. Auslin sees that playing out, saying Beijing’s “aggressive rejection for stable international order” and its “paranoid world view” could cause a widespread conflict in the region.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls Auctioned Off to Boko Haram Jihadis for $12.45 Each

Robert Spencer

Two thousand Nigerian naira equals $12.45 US dollars. This article is a bit unclear.

In any case, kidnapping infidels and either killing them, enslaving them, ransoming them or exchanging them for Muslim prisoners, or releasing them outright is fully sanctioned in Islamic law: “As for the captives, the amir (ruler) has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those (infidels) who deny (the Truth=Islam) then strike (their) necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance), trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: ‘Abducted Girls Moved Abroad’

Most of the 234 Borno schoolgirls in Boko Haram captivity have been ferried abroad to Chad and Cameroon after they were married off to sect members on N2,000 bride price each, an elder told Daily Trust yesterday.

The female students were taken from their hostels at the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok on the night of April 14. About 40 had escaped in the days after the incident, but parents and school authorities said at least 234 of them were yet to be found.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Brazilian Fisherman Finds Satellite Debris in Amazon River

A fisherman in Brazil’s Amazon region has found a large piece of debris from a European space launch.

The debris has been confirmed as coming from a satellite launched from the Kourou base, in neighbouring French Guiana, last July.

A spokeswoman for the UK Space Agency, Julia Short, confirmed that the debris was from the launch of Europe’s largest telecommunications satellite last year.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Amnesty Condemns Athens for Refugee Expulsions

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 29 — Amnesty International has published a report regarding “the ongoing, persistent and shameful treatment by the Greek authorities of people risking their lives to find refuge in Europe” and has called for the European Union to impose sanctions for direct violations of international human rights obligations. According to the report, as To Vima online writes, Greece’s treatment of refugees and immigrants on the borders is “deplorable”, with the report detailing that violence, intimidation and humiliation tactics have become widespread and routine practices.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Charles Schumer Promises Immigration Reform: ‘We Are Going to Pass That Bill and Sign it Into Law This Year’

Immigration reform will be passed this summer, Sen. Charles Schumer predicted Monday during a visit to the 12th annual Daily News/CUNY Citizenship NOW! immigration call-in.

“I want to let you in on a little secret. We are going to pass that bill and sign it into law this year,” said the New York Democrat, one of the authors of a Senate immigration bill that would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, overhaul the current system and boost border enforcement.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Cold Comfort: The Syrian Refugees Trying to Make a New Life in Sweden

Sweden is the place in Europe most friendly to Syrian asylum seekers — but the reality of life there is tough. Here, some talk about their lives

‘My life in Syria was amazing, I had everything,” says Salah Debas, 23, with a mix of nostalgia and desperation.

Today, Debas lives in Strövelstorp, a small village lost in the Swedish countryside near the city of Helsingborg, where he shares a simple house with an Iranian refugee and another Syrian.

Here, on a farm-turned-residential-complex for asylum-seekers, Debas clearly struggles to adapt. “I feel like shit,” he says. “Life here is just pressure, pressure and more pressure. Music is my life, but now I can’t get any pleasure from it. The only good thing is that I am safe.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Stop Unlawful and Shameful Expulsion of Refugees and Migrants

Amnesty International urged the European Union to sanction Greece over the country’s failure to eradicate the practice of pushing back refugees and migrants at its borders.

In a new report, “Greece: Frontier of Hope and Fear,” published on Tuesday, the international human rights organization slammed Greece for pushing back people who were seeking asylum, noting that this was in violation of the country’s international human rights obligations.

“The treatment of refugees and migrants at Greece’s borders is deplorable. Too often, instead of finding sanctuary, they are met with violence and intimidation. There are cases where they have been stripped naked, had their possessions stolen, and even held at gunpoint before being pushed back across the border to Turkey,” said John Dalhuisen, the human rights watchdog’s Europe and Central Asia program director.

“The people carrying out these push-backs are state agents. As such, the Greek authorities bear full responsibility for their actions. The authorities must openly acknowledge and ensure an end to the illegal and often dangerous practice of push-backs.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: ‘800,000 Migrants About to Depart for Europe’

Reception system ‘already at breaking point’ say border police

(ANSA) — Rome, April 29 — At least 800,000 migrants are about to depart the North African coast for Europe, with Italy’s reception system already at the point of collapse, officials in Rome said Tuesday. “We no longer have a place to take them, and locals are overwhelmed by the constant arrival of foreigners,” border police chief Giovanni Pinto told a joint meeting of the foreign and defence committees in the Senate.

Italy is appealing for international help. During a cabinet meeting on the Mare Nostrum sea patrol and rescue mission in the Mediterranean on Monday, Premier Matteo Renzi vowed to request more commitment from the European Union and the United Nations on tackling undocumented immigration.

Mare Nostrum was set up to prevent deaths at sea following two migrant ship disasters in October 2013 in which around 400 people died.

According to Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, more than 20,500 migrants have already landed on Italy’s coasts to date this year — an enormous increase over the 2,500 reported during the same period in 2013. Speaking before a committee on the country’s borders earlier this month, Alfano stressed that the number of incoming migrants was on pace “to reach the record levels of 2011, when more than 62,000 people entered”. Thousands more have arrived since he spoke earlier this month, heightening the concerns about Italy’s ability to cope.

Opponents of Mare Nostrum have argued the program only encourages migrants to risk their lives and cross the Mediterranean, often in rickety, overcrowded boats, which tends to increase in spring and summer months as sea conditions improve.

On Tuesday, Pinto told the Senate committees the situation was partly the result of the failed government in Libya, where most migrants from Africa head before setting sail for Europe. “We aren’t dealing with a government that can establish treaties. We have no interlocutors…There’s no prime minister…there are no ministers. There are two clans. One that’s more moderate, the other that’s extremist, backed by Qatar. We can offer them all the help they want, but it might be used in a negative way,” the border police chief said. Meanwhile, Pinto said the interior ministry was drafting a plan that would accomodate 50,000 incoming migrants.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

The Left’s Push for Adult-Child Sex

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

Shocking allegations by former child actor Michael Egan against openly gay X-Men director and producer Bryan Singer have stunned Hollywood into relative silence. I say “relative silence” because unless he’s a Catholic priest, the relativist left’s false narrative is that a gay man is always the victim and never the victimizer.

Nonetheless, this latest episode has once again shined the spotlight on the long-established link between the homosexual lifestyle/movement and pedophilia — a link that, despite “progressive” denials to the contrary, is hiding in plain sight.

Egan has filed suit against Singer and several other high-profile Hollywood figures for homosexually assaulting him and other boys repeatedly at several “‘infamous’ coke and twink pool parties” back when Egan was 15 and Singer was 32. (In the LGBT vernacular, twinks, also called chicken, are highly-sought-after underage boys used for sex by adult gay men.)

Egan’s claims eerily mirror those of former child actor Corey Feldman, who similarly alleged last year that such homosexual abuse is rampant, even systemic, in Hollywood.

But are these allegations really that shocking? Regrettably, the overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the abuse runs rampant well beyond just Hollywood.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ancient Civilizations? Check Out These Mysterious Structures Found on the Bottom of the Ocean Floor

In cultures all over the world, there are ancient stories about beautiful, prosperous cities that became submerged in the ocean and were never seen again. The most famous of these is the story of Atlantis, but there are many others.

So could it be possible that some of these cities actually exist? In recent years, modern technology has allowed humanity to investigate the ocean floor like never before. As we have done so, we have made some incredible discoveries. You are about to see some amazing mysterious structures that have been found on the bottom of the ocean floor all over the world. Could these mysterious structures actually be evidence of very advanced ancient civilizations? As we learn about these ancient civilizations, will this knowledge turn the conventional version of human history that we all learned in school upside down?

We live at a time when mind blowing discoveries are being made at a pace never seen before. Just last month, I wrote about the megalithic ruins that have just been discovered in Russia that contain the largest blocks of stone ever found (even bigger than Baalbek).

Nobody can explain where those stones came from, who lived there, or how ancient humans could cut and move such massive blocks.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Conspiracy Part 5

“What do these people want? I mean, I know they want power and control, but for what purpose? What’s their ultimate design for the world?”

I replied that I believe they intend to synthesize Western Capitalism and Eastern Communism into a World Socialist Government. “How did you come to that conclusion, Jim inquired. I told him about what I had come across earlier in Col. House’s diaries along with the Lincoln Bloomfield quote, and then I said that when I heard President George H. W. Bush use the term, “New World Order,” I recalled that the famous Fabian Socialist H. G. Wells had written a book by that same title in 1939. In the book, he projected just such a synthesis and also said “countless people…will hate the new world order…and will die protesting against.

“Aw, c’mon,” Jim replied with disbelief. “You mean to tell me that Wells predicted ‘The New Word Order,’ using those exact words, over 70 years ago?” I found Jim’s incredulity amusing, given all that I had already provided him in the way of documentation concerning the power elite. “Actually,” I said, “Wells’ THE NEW WORLD ORDER was the last of his efforts in this regard, as he had earlier written THE OPEN CONSPIRACY: BLUE PRINTS FOR A WORLD REVOLUTION in 1928, and THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME in 1933. In this 1933 book, Wells had actually predicted a Second World War would begin around 1940 over a German-Polish dispute, and that the ‘Modern World-State’ (New World Order) would begin around 40 years from then and come out of something that would occur in Basra, Iraq. He said that although world government ‘had been plainly coming for years, although it had been endlessly feared and murmured against, it found no opposition prepared anywhere.’ Wells had even written a book in 1901 titled ANTICIPATIONS, in which he acknowledged that the men of the New World Order ‘will not be squeamish either in facing or inflicting death…They will have an ideal that will make killing worth the while.’“

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

How Modern Humans Have Become Weaklings Compared With Our Ancient Ancestors Who Could Outrun and Outlift Today’s Top Athletes

‘Even our most highly trained athletes pale in comparison to these ancestors of ours,’ Dr Colin Shaw told Outside Magazine. ‘We’re certainly weaker than we used to be.’

When our ancestors made the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural ones, their lower limb strength and overall mobility decreased.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/29/2014

  1. Cuddy’s Conspiracy fits in exactly with what is occurring today. The things he writes about are happening before our very eyes and still the vast majority of the West’s population have no idea of what is going down.

  2. Re story about Internet id
    The scope of the program could eventually be expanded into an ID card to access the Internet itself, greasing the skids for every citizen to require government permission to use the world wide web, a privilege that could be denied to criminals, accused terrorists and other undesirables, which according to federal government literature includes people who hold certain anti-establishment political beliefs.

    Then it is back to the clandestine printing of leaflets and flyers. See one in a sale, get it, it might come in handy.

  3. Anti Roma sentiment is entirely understandable. There was a time in the early 2000s when I used to board a train from Paddington to Hayes at about 8.30pm after work on a Friday evening to find that the entire front carriage was filled with unfeasibly ugly scarf wearing harradans counting large amounts of small change while trying to prevent their cretinous offspring from pilfering anything they could from other passengers on the train. They weren’t trying too hard. The money was the proceeds of begging on the Central Line that runs beneath Oxford Street while their menfolk were above ground in Oxford Street pickpocketting and snatching wallets and handbags. Roma should be told in no uncertain terms that serial begging, thieving, squatting and benefit dependency are not acceptable lifestyle choices and until they get the message, they will continue to be discriminated against

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