Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/8/2014

Federal authorities arrested a Moroccan national in Connecticut, who is now being held without bail. The suspect allegedly overstayed an expired student visa for seven years, and also plotted to fly a drone carrying explosives into a school and a federal building.

In other news, a transgender student filed a sex-discrimination complaint against a Christian college in Oregon that segregates students in campus dormitories by sex. He/she/it alleges that the school’s housing policies failed to meet his/her/its non-traditional gender requirements.

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

Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, Takuan Seiyo, 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
» Ireland Under ECB Pressure to Sell Bonds
» Italy: Roman Hoteliers Protest Planned Tourist Tax Hike
» Report: EU Bank Rescue Deal Risks Unravelling
» The Oracle of Omaha, Lately Looking a Bit Ordinary
» What in the World is Happening to the Nasdaq?
 
USA
» “Red Dawn”: Supporters Rally to Defend Family Facing Showdown With Feds
» Civil Disobedience: N.Y. Gun Owners Will Likely Refuse to Register Firearms
» Colorado Couple Fights to Save Land From Eminent Domain
» ‘Complaint’ Leads to Gunfight in LA Police Station
» Extra High Voltage Transformers the Lynchpin of Modern Society; Easily Destroyed by Sabotage or Emp
» FBI: Man Plotted to Fly Drone-Like Toy Planes With Bombs Into School
» Feds Accuse Man in Flying Bomb Plot in Connecticut
» Issa Report Slams Dem Collaboration With the IRS
» Muslims Divided on Presbyterian Easter Egg Hunt
» No Connection Between School Spending, Student Outcomes
» Setting the Stage for Tyranny: Public Schools Deliberately Create a Culture of Fear
» The Dinosaur Exhibit Will Close for Five Years
» US Navy ‘Game-Changer’: Converting Seawater Into Fuel
» White Men Vote Republican Because They’re Suckers
» Why Vaccines Spread Disease; An in-Depth Analysis of Flawed Vaccination Science
 
Europe and the EU
» Austrian President Calls on Race Row MEP to Stand Down
» Bestiality Now Illegal in Sweden
» CEO of Liechtenstein Bank Frick Murdered in Broad Daylight
» Denmark: Hackers Holding More People to Ransom
» Earth Observation Enters Next Phase
» EU Court Scraps Data Surveillance Law
» Germany Outlaws Support Group With Hezbollah Ties, Raids Offices Nationwide
» Hezbollah Cell Nabbed in Germany
» History of the Celts
» Italy: Police Nab Alleged Loan Shark Who Charged 500% Interest
» Italy: Social-Housing Group Attacks Offices of Renzi’s Party
» Italy: Privatizations to Generate Up to 12 Bn Euros in 2014
» Italy: Lombardy Region Approves Referendum on Brothels
» Marriott Confirms “Special Event” Taking Place on Bilderberg Weekend
» Mosque Project Divides Opinion in Greece
» Norway’s Capital to Get First Muslim Only School, To Teach Arabic and Muslim Values
» Norway: Oslo to Get First Muslim Primary School
» Roma Talks Break Down Between Sweden and Romania
» ‘Sweden Cares More for Beggars Than Romania’
» Sweden: ‘The Nazis Should Have Fled for Their Lives’
» Sweden: Left-Wing Extremist Dubs Police ‘Embarrassing’
» Sweden: Man Bearing Two Knives Shot Dead by Police
» Sweden: Government Requires Strategies to Fight Racism
» UK: ‘Tell Mama’ Did Exaggerate Anti-Muslim Attacks: PCC Rejects All Fiyaz Mughal’s Complaints Against US
» UK: Banned in the British Library
» UK: Diplomat Wins Brexit Prize for Blueprint on EU Withdrawal
» UK: Fatwa on Sunday and the Unlikely Ayatollah of Luton
» UK: It’s Maria Mania!
» UK: Qu’rani Murkaz Trust of South Woodford Community Centre Has Re-Submitted Plans for a Mosque Following Previous Refusal
» UK: The Incontrovertible Facts About Anti-Muslim Hatred Since Woolwich — Response by Fiyaz Mughal
» UK: Woolwich Murder: Michael Adebolajo Launches Appeal
» Violence Against Roma on the Rise, Says Amnesty
» Why is Gingerism So Common in Britain?
 
North Africa
» Tunisian Football Team Pay Homage to Jihadist Supporter
 
Israel and the Palestinians
» Battery Offers 30 Second Phone Charging
 
Middle East
» 43 Killed in Violent Attacks Across Iraq
» 5 Soldiers Killed in Terrorist Attack in SE Yemen
» Syria: Islam is What Happens When Civilisation Loses
» Turkey: Erdogan Declares War on Gulen Brotherhood
» Turkish PM Erdogan Vows to Eliminate ‘Parallel State’
» UAE: More Incentives Needed to Attract UAE Nationals to Become Imams Says FNC
 
Russia
» EU and US Agree Ukraine Talks With Russia
» Gazprom May Block EU Plans to Help Ukraine With Gas
» Pro-Russian Demonstrators Loot Ukraine Buildings as Lawmakers Brawl in Parliament
» Russia Says U.S. Mercenaries in Eastern Ukraine
» Swedish Intelligence Agency Concerned by Russia Actions
» The ‘Crackdown’ Begins: Ukraine Launches “Anti-Terrorist” Operations in Eastern Ukraine, Arrests 70
» Ukraine Crisis Could Upset Germany’s Finances
» Ukraine Crisis: NATO Warns Russia Against Further Intervention
 
Caucasus
» Russia Confirms Death of Chechen Warlord Umarov
 
South Asia
» 6 Killed, 20 Injured as Blast Hits Train in SW Pakistan
» Court Appearance for Pakistani Baby Charged With Attempted Murder
» Kyrgyzstan: Parliamentary Prayer Room Meets With Resistance
 
Far East
» Cambodian Garment Factory Workers Fainting in Droves
» Chinese ‘Chicken Cup’ Smashes Auction Record
» Faster Eye Responses in Chinese People Not Down to Culture
» North Korean Official ‘Executed by Flame-Thrower’
» South China Sea: Regional States Push Back Against China
» Study: China World’s Most Powerful Nation
 
Australia — Pacific
» Olympic Champion Swimmer Ian Thorpe Contracts MRSA-like Infections
 
Immigration
» Asylum Requests in Italy Up 60% in 2013
» Germany to Grant Children of Immigrants Dual Citizenship
» Sen. Schumer Says Republicans Want Immigration Reform — But Don’t Want to Vote on it
» UK: Immigration Bill Row Looms Closer to Commons
» UKIP is Not ‘Anti-Immigration’, We Are Anti-Uncontrolled Immigration
» Young Immigrants: Impulsive or Obama’s Conscience?
 
Culture Wars
» A Look Into the “Edu-Shark Tank”
» Egypt Jails Four Men for Gay Acts
» Liberty University Hires Open Homosexual Advocate to Choreograph ‘Mary Poppins’ Production
» Liberal High Priests Pursue Another Heretic
» Public School Teacher Allegedly Rejects 8-Year-Old’s Paper for Citing Jesus as Her Hero
» Teen Suspended for Helping Students Opt-Out of Common Core English Test
» The Road to Progressive Dhimmitude
» Transgender Student Files Sex Discrimination Complaint Against George Fox
 
General
» UN Finding on Climate Change is Just a Bunch of Hot Air, New Report Claims
» Windows XP Users Face End to Microsoft Support
» Windows XP Demise Gives Small Business a Tech Headache
 

Ireland Under ECB Pressure to Sell Bonds

The Irish government is facing a potential shortfall of tens of millions of euro as it comes under pressure from the ECB to sell bonds linked to the defunct Anglo Irish Bank. The deal saved Ireland an estimated €20bn, but the ECB now says it raises “serious monetary financing concerns”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Roman Hoteliers Protest Planned Tourist Tax Hike

As much as six euros for tourists staying at five-star hotels

(ANSA) — Rome, April 8 — Rome’s hoteliers took to the streets Tuesday to protest city council plans to increase tourist taxes in an effort to raise money for the cash-strapped Italian capital.

“Raising the tax is madness. Dear tourists, we are also protesting on your behalf,” their banners said.

The city council last week debated measures to increase various kinds of taxes paid by tourists in order to avoid burdening Roman taxpayers. These include raising taxes at campsites from one to two euros, and from two to three euros at bed & breakfasts.

Foreigners staying at three-star hotels would have to pay four euros per night, those staying at four-star hotels would pay five euros, and those staying at five-star hotels would pay six euros under the plan.

Raising those fees will jeopardize the inflow of tourists, the hoteliers argued.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Report: EU Bank Rescue Deal Risks Unravelling

An EU “banking union” deal about a common rulebook and a fund for handling bank failures is at risk of unravelling as Britain is seeking changes, the FT reports. “This is a complete mess, a nightmare and we have to decide what to do fast,” a source said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Oracle of Omaha, Lately Looking a Bit Ordinary

For four of the last five years, Mr. Buffett has been doing worse than the typical, no-frills Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fund — so much worse that it’s unlikely to be a matter of a string of bad luck. Mr. Buffett has begun to behave like an investor with no alpha at all.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

What in the World is Happening to the Nasdaq?

All of a sudden, the Nasdaq is absolutely tanking. On Monday, it fell more than 1 percent after dropping 3.6 percent on Thursday and Friday combined. At this point, the Nasdaq is off to the worst start to a year that we have seen since 2008, and we all remember what happened back then.

So why is this happening? In recent years, the Nasdaq has been ground zero for “dotcom bubble 2.0”. The hottest stocks in the entire world are on the Nasdaq — we are talking about stocks like Yahoo, Netflix, Apple, Tesla, Google and Facebook. Those stocks have gone to absolutely incredible heights, but now they are starting to fall. Some are blaming insider selling, and without a doubt the “smart money” is starting to flee the stock market. Just check out this chart. Others are blaming low expectations for first-quarter earnings or the tapering of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve. But whatever is causing this decline, it is starting to get alarming. The Nasdaq just experienced its largest three day fall since November 2011.

No stock can resist gravity forever. What goes up must eventually come down. This is especially true for stock prices that become grotesquely distorted.

On Wall Street, a price to earnings ratio of 20 to 25 is usually considered fairly normal. In recent years, the price to earnings ratios for many of these “hot tech stocks” have gone way, way beyond that.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“Red Dawn”: Supporters Rally to Defend Family Facing Showdown With Feds

Supporters of Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy violated a “First Amendment Area” by staging a rally in support of Bundy, who earlier declared a “range war” against federal authorities in response to a land dispute that threatens to escalate into a Waco-style standoff.

Bundy is currently embroiled in a spat with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over his 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.

The feds say the move is about enforcing the law and protecting the endangered desert tortoise, but the Bundy family says the spat represents a showdown between big government and American farmers.

“We’ve had enough, we’re going to take our land back, we’re done,” said Bundy’s wife, Carol Bundy, adding that the rally was held “to show that we are not standing alone. People are getting tired of the federal government having unlimited power.”

More than 100 supporters violated a crudely taped off “First Amendment Area” to rally in support of the Bundy family, erecting two flagpoles with the words “We the People” attached, above a flag which read, “Liberty Freedom For God We Stand”. The first amendment area stood empty, with one sign nearby declaring, “1st Amendment is not an area.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Civil Disobedience: N.Y. Gun Owners Will Likely Refuse to Register Firearms

Residents are well-aware that gun registration leads to confiscation

New York gun owners will likely ignore a looming deadline to register their firearms under the state’s latest gun control law, following the lead of thousands of Connecticut residents who recently did the same under a similar law.

Both states passed draconian gun control laws last year and New York’s version, the SAFE Act, bans the sale of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines and one “military-style” feature, like standard AR-15s for example, and demands that gun owners who already possess such rifles to register them by April 15.

“People are pretty much convinced once they [the state] get on this registration, the next time they’ll say they’ve got to turn them in,” Stephen Aldstadt, president of the Shooters Committee on Political Education, said to the Associated Press.

The New York Police Department has already proved that to be the case.

Last November, the NYPD began sending out notices to registered gun owners demanding that they give up their firearms now banned within the city limits.

The police knew which gun owners to send the notices to by using a centralized firearms registry which lists the city’s gun owners and what firearms they have in their possession.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Colorado Couple Fights to Save Land From Eminent Domain

“They’re spending us to death,” said landowner Andy Barrie.

He is not talking about property taxes, inflation or even the cost of skiing in glitzy ski country. Rather, he’s talking about the legal fight he and his wife have been waging to save their pristine piece of mountain property — with breathtaking views of Colorado’s high country — from being taken over by the county through eminent domain.

Their battle is a unique test of private property rights. Unlike in countless other cases, where local governments have used those powers to seize land to make way for a road or some economic development project, Colorado’s Summit County is using eminent domain to go after the Barries’ land simply because officials want the open space.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

‘Complaint’ Leads to Gunfight in LA Police Station

A Los Angeles police officer sat at a desk on a quiet night with a single companion in the small, otherwise empty station lobby. In the next room, some three dozen people sat in a subdued neighborhood council meeting.

A man came through the front door, walked the 25 feet to the front desk and said “I have a complaint.” Then he started shooting.

The close-range gunfight that followed between the suspect and the desk officer left both men shot several times, yet both survived, the officer crediting his backup pistol that deflected one of the rounds with saving his life, police Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday as he and other department officials provided emerging details on the lead-up to the Monday night shooting and its aftermath.

The suspect, Daniel C. Yealu, 29, was in critical condition, and police do not yet have any indication of his motives or intended targets beyond his stated “complaint,” Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.

Officers serving a search warrant at Yealu’s west Los Angeles home Tuesday turned up ammunition and several weapons including two assault rifles, a shotgun and two handguns, said Smith.

Yealu had a license to work as a security guard starting in 2005 and a license to carry a firearm starting in 2007, records showed.

It’s unclear why he brought only a Glock pistol into the lobby of the West Traffic Division station, and left an AK-47 behind in the car, Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday during a meeting of the Police Commission.

The officer, a 7-year veteran whose name has not been released, was in good condition despite being hit several times without a bulletproof vest, Beck said.

Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said he was in good spirits and chatting with hospital visitors…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Extra High Voltage Transformers the Lynchpin of Modern Society; Easily Destroyed by Sabotage or Emp

(NaturalNews) An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP for short, is a short burst of electromagnetic energy, sometimes called a “transient electromagnetic disturbance.” An EMP event can occur naturally, such as from a powerful lightning strike.

But what makes EMPs so potentially dangerous to life on Earth is the unnatural occurrence of an EMP event, like that which is commonly associated with the detonation of a nuclear device.

There are some common misconceptions about so-called “EMP weapons,” and the development of them by various great powers, including the United States. But there are no misunderstandings about the devastating effects that EMP bursts would have on modern technology. As the Heritage Foundation has noted in congressional testimony, EMP blasts spread out over the skies of America would essentially send the country back to the 19th century technologically, because EMP events would “decimate America’s electrical and technological infrastructure.”

Yet, few lawmakers and policymakers seem to take the threat seriously, experts have complained. Worse, an underreported story that was covered by Natural News and a few other outlets indicates that terrorists may be targeting our electric grid because, even if it is not destroyed by an EMP weapon, there are most definitely weak points that some analysts say could produce the same results as an airborne nuclear explosion [http://www.npr.org].

In April 2013, in what authorities describe as a “military-style assault,” attackers cut phone lines leading to a major power substation near San Jose, Calif. Then — about 25 minutes later — snipers began firing on it, knocking out 17 gigantic transformers that supplied power to Silicon Valley.

“To avoid a blackout, electric-grid officials rerouted power around the site and asked power plants in Silicon Valley to produce more electricity. But it took utility workers 27 days to make repairs and bring the substation back to life,” The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in February.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

FBI: Man Plotted to Fly Drone-Like Toy Planes With Bombs Into School

A Moroccan national was detained without bail in Connecticut after FBI agents discovered his plot to fly bombs on drone-like devices made out of radio-controlled airplanes into a school and a federal building, according to federal authorities.

The FBI arrested 27-year-old El Mehdi Semlali Fahti on Monday on immigration-related charges, and he may later face terrorism charges in a federal grand jury investigation, federal prosecutors said. Fahti’s arrest was first reported by the Connecticut Post.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Feds Accuse Man in Flying Bomb Plot in Connecticut

Authorities say they arrested 27-year-old El Mehdi Semlali Fahti on Monday and found wires and tools in his Bridgeport apartment. The Connecticut Post first reported the arrest.

Fahti hasn’t been charged with terrorism, but authorities say that could come later in the investigation. He’s charged with immigration-related crimes for allegedly staying in the U.S. for seven years after his student visa expired after flunking out of Virginia International University.

The FBI says Fahti targeted an out-of-state school and a federal building in Connecticut. The exact locations weren’t released.

Fahti is detained without bail. His public defender declined to comment Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo [Return to headlines]
 

Issa Report Slams Dem Collaboration With the IRS

How leftist lawmakers are helping the corrupt government agency evade justice

A bombshell report released by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) completely refutes Democratic Party talking points that the IRS scandal involved unwarranted targeting of both liberal and conservative groups.

“Time and again, (Democrats) have claimed that the IRS targeted liberal- and progressive-oriented groups as well — and that, therefore, there was no political animus to the IRS’s actions” the report states. “These Democratic claims are flat-out wrong and have no basis in any thorough examination of the fact. Yet the Administration’s chief defenders continue to make these assertions in a concerted effort to deflate and distract from the truth about the IRS’s targeting of tax-exempt applicants.”

The report reveals far more about the early stages of Tea Party targeting conducted by the tax collection agency, identifying the initial three cases sent to Washington, D.C. for additional scrutiny in 2010. Two of the three abandoned their applications rather than face additional IRS questioning. The third group is still waiting for its case to be resolved.

Several other key findings of the report are equally troubling. Perhaps the most troubling of all was that the IRS itself “selectively prioritized and produced” documents for the Committee to support the narrative that their targeting had been bipartisan.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Muslims Divided on Presbyterian Easter Egg Hunt

Leaders from Dearborn’s Arab-American community gathered at Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church Sunday morning, showing their support for what they call an event for the entire community that will include an egg hunt and relay race, among other things.

Osama Siblani, local activist and publisher of the Arab American News, said he believes recent news reports of concern over flyers being distributed at a public school in Dearborn for the church’s Eggstravaganza planned for Saturday did not reflect the feelings of the majority of the region’s 46,000 Arab Americans.

“We’re here to support the church as Muslims and Arabs,” he said Sunday morning, standing outside the church’s rear entrance with leaders from the church and the Arab-American community. “We believe the church is doing the right thing bringing the community together, bringing our children together so we can understand each other and love each other.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

No Connection Between School Spending, Student Outcomes

For decades, it’s probably the most troublesome question facing education: Why are results for U.S. public school students so mediocre, despite the billions of taxpayer dollars spent? Andrew Coulson thinks he’s got the answer: Because there is no discernible correlation between spending and outcomes.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Setting the Stage for Tyranny: Public Schools Deliberately Create a Culture of Fear

What is the best way to ensure that gun control takes place within a generation?

Forget trying to change the minds of those who already have guns. The best way to do this is to encourage a culture of fear among young people.

And the public school system, with all of its zero tolerance lunacy, is doing just that. They are setting the stage for tyranny.

Case in point:

Yesterday in Baltimore, some students saw a person carrying a tripod through the school. Frightened, they reported this to administrators, which resulted in an immediate lockdown:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Dinosaur Exhibit Will Close for Five Years

A day at the museum for young and impressionable minds can be a frightening/brainwashing experience/lesson in global warming/climate change advocacy.

Everybody loves the Smithsonian! On any given day, the most popular exhibit, the Fossil Hall, is teeming with adults and impressionable children of all ages from around the country who are eager to learn, see, touch, and experience what the world was like when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. There is a fascination with large mammals that every child has experienced growing up. What better place to add a heavy dose of environmental activism?

New signs have appeared in the museum, signs I had not seen during previous visits. For example, a board with very large letters, CLIMATE CHANGE, informed visitors about what scientists forecasted:

“During the 20th century, Earth had a relatively stable climate. Today, we know this is unusual and that climatic variation is normal. (Museum emphasis) Deep sea and lake sediments, along with ice cores reveal cycles of climate change that shifted grassland and forest boundaries, created and melted glaciers, and stimulated human migrations and retreats over millions of years.”

“The hall opened over 30 years ago. To keep the information fresh, we’ve added a series of signs throughout to show how geological processes and climate change are directly linked to changes in our ecosystem.” Does keeping the ‘information fresh’ mean adjusting scientific facts to fit the consensus political ideology of those who believe in anthropogenic global warming?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

US Navy ‘Game-Changer’: Converting Seawater Into Fuel

The US Navy believes it has finally worked out the solution to a problem that has intrigued scientists for decades: how to take seawater and use it as fuel.

The development of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel is being hailed as “a game-changer” because it would significantly shorten the supply chain, a weak link that makes any force easier to attack.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

White Men Vote Republican Because They’re Suckers

by Jack Donovan

Amanda Marcotte recently wrote that “White men, as a group, vote Republican because they vote their resentments.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why Vaccines Spread Disease; An in-Depth Analysis of Flawed Vaccination Science

“Whereas natural recovery from many infectious diseases usually stimulates lifetime immunity, vaccines only provide temporary protection and most vaccines require ‘booster’ doses to extend vaccine-induced artificial immunity,” says Barbara Loe Fisher, president and co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center…

“Unlike the natural disease which appears to confer lifelong immunity, present day pertussis vaccines confer only partial and relative transient protection,” wrote Drs. James W. Bass and Stephen R. Stephenson in a 1987 study entitled The return of pertussis. “A high degree of protection persists for 3 years, decreasing thereafter for 12 years after which little or no protection is evident.”

If subpar, temporary immunity was the only downside of getting vaccinated, it would be one thing. But the fact of the matter is that vaccinated individuals often end up becoming carriers of the diseases against which they were vaccinated, which is evident from decades of scientific data showing that the current vaccination schedule is directly responsible for bringing back all of these diseases that the media insists were eradicated by vaccines.

“[T]he current DTaP/Tdap vaccination program in the USA is increasing the percentages of cases of whooping cough that are either caused by B. parapertussis or, as some are beginning to claim, caused by mutated strains of B. pertussis that evade the protective effects of multiple time-displaced inoculations with the current DTaP/Tdap vaccines,” explains Dr. King. “[V] accination with a ‘pertussis component’-containing vaccine produces some low level of ‘B. pertussis’ carriers [‘Pertussis Harrys’] who… can and do spread B. pertussis to others.”

The recent whooping cough outbreaks in California, Washington, New York and elsewhere also serve as proof of this, as the vast majority of infected individuals in each of these cases had already been “fully” vaccinated for the disease. Not surprisingly, health authorities have been quiet about this inconvenient truth, leading the public to erroneously assume that the unvaccinated are responsible.

“[T]he reality is that more than 75% of the cases of whooping cough in outbreaks in Washington State since 2002 reportedly have been occurring in ‘fully’ vaccinated individuals, and this reality continues to be true in the 2012 ‘epidemic,’“ adds Dr. King. “Further, the percentage in the current outbreaks that have a confirmed case of B. pertussis has not been disclosed — – — nor is the percentage reported that have a confirmed case of B. parapertussis or another organism that can cause whooping cough.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Austrian President Calls on Race Row MEP to Stand Down

Austrian President Heinz Fischer has waded into the race row engulfing the far-right Freedom party, calling on the party’s top candidate to withdraw from next month’s European elections because of racist comments.

Andreas Moelzer, an MEP since 2004, said at a Freedom party event last month that the European Union was in danger of becoming a “conglomerate of Negroes” and added that it made Hitler’s Nazi Germany look “informal and liberal”.

Speaking on Monday (7 April), Fischer said that Moelzer should step down and that his remarks were “out of place in the European Parliament”.

Moelzer, who is currently the top candidate in the Freedom Party list, has since apologised for his comments, although he claims not to remember making the first remarks.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Bestiality Now Illegal in Sweden

[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]

A new law put into effect on Tuesday completely outlaws sexual intercourse with animals in Sweden.

For the last 70 years, the penal code has avoided mention of bestiality, as the laws on animal cruelty were seen as adequate to cover such assault. Previous rules only prohibited sex with animals if it could be proved that the animal suffered mental or physical harm. The move was backed by Rural Affairs Minister Eskil Erlandsson who has long been behind a push to make bestiality illegal in Sweden.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

CEO of Liechtenstein Bank Frick Murdered in Broad Daylight

Over the weekend the world was gripped by the drama surrounding the mysterious murder-homicide of the former CEO of Dutch bank ABN Amro and members of his family, and whether there is more foul play than meets the eye. However, that is nothing compared to what just happened in the tiny, and all too quiet Principality of Lichtenstein, where moments ago the CEO of local financial institution Bank Frick & Co. AG, Juergen Frick, was shot dead in the underground garage of the bank located in the city of Balzers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark: Hackers Holding More People to Ransom

More advanced technology at hackers’ disposal means that an increasing number of people in Denmark are having their computers ‘kidnapped’ and held to ransom.

The ‘kidnapping’ occurs during a so-called ‘ransomware attack’ when the computer is infected with a virus that locks the machine. The unfortunate victims then receive a message demanding them to pay up in order to recover the computer data.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Earth Observation Enters Next Phase

Europe has launched the first satellite of what is heralded as one of the most ambitious Earth-observation programmes ever. On 3 April, a Soyuz rocket dispatched into orbit the Sentinel-1A probe, the first craft of a planned constellation of six Sentinel families set to be launched by the end of the decade. Together, the satellites will offer unprecedented long-term monitoring of the planet’s land, water and atmosphere.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Court Scraps Data Surveillance Law

The EU court in Luxembourg has struck down a law on internet and phone surveillance, saying its loose wording opens the door to untoward snooping on private lives.

It said in its verdict on Tuesday (8 April) the “data retention directive” constitutes a “particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data” in Europe.

It also said Europeans are likely to feel “their private lives are the subject of constant surveillance” if the bill is left intact. The directive, passed in 2006, has already been transcribed into national law in most member states.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Germany Outlaws Support Group With Hezbollah Ties, Raids Offices Nationwide

German police have raided several offices belonging to a Lebanese support organization accused of harboring ties to the military arm of Hezbollah. The charitable organization was simultaneously banned, its assets frozen.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hezbollah Cell Nabbed in Germany

Lebanese charity uncovered as Hezbollah fund-raising scam in Essen, raised more than $80,000 for terrorist group.

German authorities banned a group Tuesday accused of raising money for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and staged raids across the country on homes and offices used by the organization, AFP reports…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

History of the Celts

The “Celts” refer to a people that thrived in both ancient and modern times. Today, the term often refers to the cultures, languages and people that are based in Scotland, Ireland, other parts of the British Isles and Brittany in France.

“Today six Celtic languages survive — the Gaelic group comprising Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx and the Britonic group comprising Welsh, Breton and Cornish,” wrote the late professor Dáithí Ó hÓgáin in his book “The Celts: A History” (The Collins Press, 2002). He notes that Manx and Cornish originally died out but have now been revived.

The relationship between modern-day Celts and their ancient forbearers is a contentious issue that scholars have different opinions about.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Police Nab Alleged Loan Shark Who Charged 500% Interest

Allegedly extorted 43,000 euros from woman

(ANSA) — Reggio Emilia, April 8 — Italian police on Tuesday arrested a man on suspicion of usury after he was reported for charging 500% interest on a loan.

Antonio Silipo, 44, allegedly extorted upwards of 42,000 euros from a woman after loaning her 10,000 euros in April 2013.

Silipo allegedly channeled the extorted money through two dummy companies, one of them issuing fake invoices. Two more people have been told they must sign in at the police station daily while the investigation is ongoing. Another two people who acted as intermediaries between the victim and the alleged extortionist have been reported to authorities.

In Italy, the crime of usury is punishable with one to six years in prison and 4,000-15,000 euros in fines.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Social-Housing Group Attacks Offices of Renzi’s Party

Alarm ahead of anti-austerity protest

(ANSA) — Rome, April 8 — Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino expressed alarm and outrage Tuesday after a group demanding greater social housing in Italy attacked offices of his and Premier Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

A group of supporters of the Movimenti per la Casa raided the PD’s offices for the city council, turning over furniture and breaking objects.

One employee at the office was hit with a fire extinguisher.

The raid heightened concerns about possible trouble at an anti-austerity demonstation in Rome on Saturday, which the Movimenti per la Casa will take part in along with other left-wing groups and activists opposed to the controversial TAV rail link between Lyon and Turin.

“I hope those responsible are identified and punished,” said Marino, who added that he called Renzi and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano after the raid. “It was an attack on the country’s democratic life. They hit people with an extinguisher, they chased after them, they tried to hit the PD’s whip on the council.

“It’s obvious that there was violence that must be repressed and punished”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Privatizations to Generate Up to 12 Bn Euros in 2014

Same amount coming in 2015, 2016 and 2017, says DEF

(ANSA) — Rome, April 8 — The government will raise up to 12 billion euros from the sale of assets and stakes in State-controlled companies in 2014, according to a draft of the DEF economic blueprint that Premier Matteo Renzi’s executive is set to approve on Tuesday. It said the government will also raise 10-12 billion euros in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Lombardy Region Approves Referendum on Brothels

Referendum on repeal of 1958 anti-brothel law

(ANSA) — Milan, April 8 — Lombardy’s regional council on Tuesday approved a referendum on a partial repeal of the so-called Merlin law, which outlawed brothels in 1958.

The idea behind the repeal is to take prostitutes off the streets and bring them to work in a safer environment behind closed doors.

Those in favor of the referendum, which was proposed by the anti-immigrant Northern League, included Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia party and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, with the New Center Right and the center-left Democratic Party opposing. Center-right lawmakers said the issue was a “battle to overcome an obsolete and hypocritical law”.

Sponsored by Socialist Senator Lina Merlin, the 1958 law was passed over strenuous opposition from right-wing and monarchist parties. It abolished State regulation of prostitution and made exploiting prostitutes a crime.

Merlin modeled her law on the example of French activist and ex-prostitute Marthe Richard, who got similar legislation passed in her country in 1946. She also sought to incorporate the principles of a 1949 UN convention against human trafficking and the exploitation of sex workers.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Marriott Confirms “Special Event” Taking Place on Bilderberg Weekend

The Marriott Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark has confirmed that a “special event” is taking place on the same weekend that Bilderberg are set to meet in Denmark, making it almost certain that this will be the location of the 2014 Bilderberg Group conference of global powerbrokers.

The fact that the mainstream media has shown absolutely zero interest in finding out where 120 of the world’s most influential people will meet behind closed doors in just weeks is a pathetic reflection on the state of the free press.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Mosque Project Divides Opinion in Greece

Greece has an “international obligation” to build a mosque in its capital, Athens Mayor has argued, amid opposition and parts of society’s criticism at the project. Mayor Giorgos Kaminis made the announcement came after Aris Spiliotopulos, his main opponent at the upcoming local elections in May and former Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, proposed that a referendum be held in Athens on the construction of the mosque, Bulgarian agency BGNES has reported…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Norway’s Capital to Get First Muslim Only School, To Teach Arabic and Muslim Values

Norway’s capital’s first Muslim-only school will teach “Arabic and Islamic values as well as the standard subjects on the curriculum, replacing the subject of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics with Islam, Religion and Philosophy”

Amid cross-party opposition, Norway’s education ministry has approved an application for the capital city Oslo to get its first Muslim-only school, the country’s English language online media outlet, The Local reported on Tuesday…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Oslo to Get First Muslim Primary School

Plans to launch Oslo’s first muslim-only secondary school have been given the go-head by Norway’s education ministry in the face of cross-party criticism.

In the application to start the school, the Association of Muslim Mothers said that the school would teach its pupils Arabic and Islamic values as well as the standard subjects on the curriculum, replacing the subject of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics with Islam, Religion and Philosophy.

The school aims to have 200 students, and is expected to look for premises in the east side of Oslo, where most of the city’s immigrant population live.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Roma Talks Break Down Between Sweden and Romania

Sweden’s Europe minister has expressed her anger and sadness at the breakdown of high level talks with Romania to help that country’s minority Roma population, according to the Swedish daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Sweden Cares More for Beggars Than Romania’

Sweden’s EU Minister Birgitta Ohlsson says she is saddened and outraged that secret talks with Romania about the Central European country’s poorest citizens have broken down.

“We have a more empathetic view of these people,” Ohlsson told Dagens Nyheter (DN) on Tuesday. “I think that other countries, not least Romania, are surprised by how we see things.”

The Swedish government had been holding closed-door meetings with their Romanian colleagues for months. The Swedes urged their Romanian counterparts to put EU funds to better use in helping the country’s poorest citizens, many of whom belong to minority Roma communities.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: ‘The Nazis Should Have Fled for Their Lives’

The 35-year-old man who stabbed a man during the stand-off with neo-Nazis in Kärrtorp in December said in court on Tuesday that he acted in self-defence — “I don’t know what choice we had.”

“He admits that he has stabbed the plaintiff twice,” said defence lawyer Björn Törnell. “He did not intend to kill, only to cause minor injury.”

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: Left-Wing Extremist Dubs Police ‘Embarrassing’

A 35-year-old left-wing extremist suspected of stabbing a person in the back during a neo-Nazi attack in Stockholm suburb Kärrtorp in December remained mostly silent during police questioning, before dubbing the charge against him “totally odd”.

“This entire thing is like totally embarrassing, that you are turning offenders into victims,” he told the police during questioning, after remaining silent and refusing to answer most questions.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Man Bearing Two Knives Shot Dead by Police

A 34-year-old man wielding a knife in each hand was shot dead by police on Tuesday morning in Uppsala. His death marks the sixth of its kind in the past year, a growing trend that one criminologist blamed on the police.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Government Requires Strategies to Fight Racism

Sweden’s Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag wants municipalities to do more to fight racism and xenophobia, according to Swedish Radio News.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UK: ‘Tell Mama’ Did Exaggerate Anti-Muslim Attacks: PCC Rejects All Fiyaz Mughal’s Complaints Against US

by Andrew Gilligan

Ten months ago, in the paper, I revealed how Tell Mama, a project purporting to measure anti-Muslim attacks, had exaggerated the scale and nature of attacks against Muslims both before and after the murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich. I later revealed that Tell Mama’s public funding had not been renewed after government officials raised similar concerns about its methods.

Tell Mama’s founder, Fiyaz Mughal, said that there had been a “wave of attacks” against Muslims, with 193 “Islamophobic incidents” reported to it in the first five days (to 27 May), rising to 212 by June 1, the eve of publication of our first article.

“I do not see an end to this cycle of violence”, said Mughal, describing it as “unprecedented”. Tell Mama’s Twitter feed claimed that a Muslim woman had been “knocked unconscious” in Bolton, a claim recycled in the Guardian. “The scale of the backlash is astounding,” Mughal told the BBC. “There has been a massive spike in anti-Muslim prejudice. A sense of endemic fear has gripped Muslim communities.” According to Mughal, the unprecedented spike proved British society’s “underlying Islamophobia.” These claims, and Tell Mama’s figures, were unquestioningly repeated across the media.

What Tell Mama and Mughal did not tell us at the time, however, was that 57 per cent of its 212 “incidents” took place only online, mainly offensive postings on Twitter and Facebook. They did not say that a further 16 per cent of the 212 reports had not been verified. They forgot to mention that not all the online abuse even originated in Britain.

Contrary to the group’s claim of an unending “cycle of violence” and a “wave of attacks”, only 17 of the 212 incidents, 8 per cent, involved the physical targeting of people and there were no attacks on anyone serious enough to require medical treatment. The supposed Bolton attack never happened. There were a further 13 attacks on Islamic buildings, four of them serious.

Far from being “unprecedented,” the spike in attacks was in fact “slightly less” than after 7/7, according to the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick. Far from being unending, the post-Woolwich spike in anti-Muslim incidents fell to pre-Rigby levels within days. If there was a “sense of endemic fear” in Muslim communities, it was partly created by Fiyaz Mughal himself.

Mr Mughal, as you can imagine, wasn’t best pleased when we reported all this. In a typically bullying campaign, he got his supporters to write round-robin emails to the paper accusing us of behaviour “better suited to the days of 1930s Germany,” wound up to attack us various luminaries who should have known better, and submitted what would became a 10-month, 127-page Press Complaints Commission complaint, full of the same misrepresentation and bluster that characterised his earlier media performances. At one point, he asked to withdraw the complaint — only to reactivate it several months later. This is, apparently, allowed.

Last week he was comprehensively defeated on all points. The PCC ruled that our reporting that Mughal exaggerated the prevalence of anti-Muslim attacks, that he had not had his funding renewed, and that DCLG officials had expressed concern about his methods, was “not inaccurate.”

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Banned in the British Library

By Daniel Pipes

Prominent counter-jihadis like Geert Wilders, Michael Savage, and Robert Spencer have the distinction of being banned from entry into the United Kingdom — and, now, Her Majesty’s Government, in its wisdom, has also banned two websites connected to me. It’s not quite the same, admittedly, and I am working to get this ban removed, but I also wear it as a perverse badge of honor given that government’s shameful record vis-à-vis Islamism.…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Diplomat Wins Brexit Prize for Blueprint on EU Withdrawal

Iain Mansfield, who works for UK Trade & Investment, argues British exit would free the City from European interference

A British diplomat responsible for promoting the UK as a “proven gateway” to the European Union for investors in the Asia-Pacific region has been awarded the €100,000 Brexit prize for outlining the most compelling blueprint for a withdrawal from the EU…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Fatwa on Sunday and the Unlikely Ayatollah of Luton

The newspaper should also be aware that this Talibanized attitude towards minority groups is a worrying trend in the British society.

‘Luton on Sunday’ is a free newspaper like hundreds of other weekly papers printed in all towns and cities. On this week’s edition, the newspaper printed an apology for any ‘offence caused to the members of the Muslim community in Luton’ due to an advert published in previous week’s edition…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: It’s Maria Mania!

by Michael Deacon

A week of hostile front pages. A petition with more than 160,000 signatures, demanding her resignation. MPs from her own party, openly undermining her. An Urgent Question in the Commons. A banner outside Parliament, made by The Sun, emblazoned with her head superimposed on the body of a millipede, alongside the legend, “Time to quit. Just thought we’d flag that up.”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Qu’rani Murkaz Trust of South Woodford Community Centre Has Re-Submitted Plans for a Mosque Following Previous Refusal

A plan to build a mosque in South Woodford has been re-submitted four months after a controversial proposal was rejected. The Qu’rani Murkaz Trust (QMT) is proposing to demolish its existing South Woodford Community Centre Mosque, in Mulberry Way, and erect a new three-storey building…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: The Incontrovertible Facts About Anti-Muslim Hatred Since Woolwich — Response by Fiyaz Mughal

Two years on from our birth and the problems of anti-Muslim hatred are, unfortunately, still with us: part of a legacy arising from the senseless murder of Lee Rigby by two deluded fanatics in May last year…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Woolwich Murder: Michael Adebolajo Launches Appeal

Adebolajo was sentenced at the Old Bailey in February alongside Michael Adebowale, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 45 years.

The pair were sentenced by Mr Justice Sweeney for butchering the 25-year-old father of one in broad daylight near Woolwich Barracks in south east London on 22 May last year. The pair were convicted of Rigby’s murder in December, and since then the court of appeal has ruled that whole-life sentences for the “most heinous cases” are justified…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Violence Against Roma on the Rise, Says Amnesty

Hate crimes and violence against the EU’s largest minority are on the rise, according to an Amnesty International report out on Tuesday (8 April).

“There has been a marked rise in the frequency of anti-Roma violence in Europe in the last few years, in both the East and in the West,” says the London-based pro-rights group.

Amnesty says police are failing to prevent anti-Roma attacks, often harass the minority by raiding their settlements, and by carrying out arbitrary detentions.

“Violence, harassment and intimidation of Roma people and communities by the police and by private individuals and groups, some of whom belong to far-right groups, are widespread,” notes the report.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why is Gingerism So Common in Britain?

By Ed West

Although Western civilisation needs new categories of thought-crime like a hole in the head, the idea of gingerphobia as a hate crime is probably no more absurd than many other categories. The impulses that make a seriously unpleasant individual attack a stranger for the colour of his hair are probably fairly similar to those that cause pathologically racist individuals to attack strangers, based on an aversion to someone different to them (mild and harmless in most, hateful in a minority).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Tunisian Football Team Pay Homage to Jihadist Supporter

A video being shared by jihadists on social networks show a strange sight: members of a football team in Sousse, northern Tunisia, paying homage to one of their fans that was killed while waging jihad in Syria.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Battery Offers 30 Second Phone Charging

A battery that can charge in under 30 seconds has been shown off at a technology conference in Tel Aviv. Israeli start-up StoreDot displayed the device — made of biological structures — at Microsoft’s Think Next Conference.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

43 Killed in Violent Attacks Across Iraq

BAGHDAD, April 8 (Xinhua) — Forty-three people were killed, including 32 militants, in violent attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, police and medical source said.

The deadliest incident occurred when Iraqi soldiers attacked positions of insurgent groups in Dweiliba area in southwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving 25 militants linked to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) killed, Brigadier General Saad Maan spokesman of Baghdad operations command said in a statement…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

5 Soldiers Killed in Terrorist Attack in SE Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, April 8 (Xinhua) — Five soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a terrorist attack at their military checkpoint in Yemen’s southeastern province of Hadramout, a provincial police source said…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Syria: Islam is What Happens When Civilisation Loses

by Daniel Greenfield

Saudi Arabia and Qatar aren’t talking to each other. Syria and Turkey are shooting at each other. Not only are the Shiites and Sunnis killing each other in Syria, but the Sunni groups have been killing each other for some time now. There are even two or three Al Qaedas fighting each other over which of them is the real Al Qaeda while, occasionally, denying that they are the real Al Qaeda…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey: Erdogan Declares War on Gulen Brotherhood

After electoral victory. Eight arrests today over wiretaps

(ANSAmed) — ANKARA — Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won local elections on March 30 in spite of a scandal and corruption charges, said on Tuesday he was at war with Islamic Brotherhood Hizmet of preacher Fetullah Gulen.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of having created a parallel state.

Addressing lawmakers with his AKP Party, Erdogan said that “the people have renewed their confidence in our government” and have “ordered us to fight against the parallel structure”, referring to Gulen’s brotherhood.

After announcing he had won the vote on March 30, the premier had promised to search for “traitors” in “their hideouts” and that they would “pay a price” — statements interpreted by the opposition as a planned crackdown on opponents.

On Tuesday morning, eight police officers in Adana, believed to be close to the Hizmet brotherhood, including two public security chiefs, were arrested on charges they were involved in illegal wiretaps, according to Hurriyet online.

Ever since the start of a widespread corruption scandal in Turkey on December 17 last year, thousands of police officers and hundreds of magistrates have been removed.

Erdogan has repeatedly accused former allies with Hizmet of being behind corruption charges by magistrates who have placed dozens of regime leaders under investigation.

“They have illegally tapped thousands of people”, Erdogan said on Tuesday, adding that “all the guilty parties will be prosecuted”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Turkish PM Erdogan Vows to Eliminate ‘Parallel State’

One of the most important messages the Turkish people conveyed through the March 30 polls was the authority given to the government for the full elimination of the parallel state, the prime minister has said, vowing they will not show even tiniest hesitation in doing so.

The parallel state is the term the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials are using for the Fethullah Gülen community, or the Hizmet Movement. They accuse the Gülen movement’s members within police and judiciary of plotting against the government.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

UAE: More Incentives Needed to Attract UAE Nationals to Become Imams Says FNC

ABU DHABI // The FNC heard calls on Tuesday for higher salaries, dedicated accommodation and paid assistants for imams to encourage more Emiratis into the job.

The proposals came from Hamdan Al Mazrouei, chairman of Awqaf, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, as members questioned him about the organisation’s work. Only about 4 per cent of imams and muezzins are Emirati, the council was told. FNC member Humaid bin Salem asked if Awfaq had a clear plan for more Emirati imams “because when the preaching is in a language that is close to the heart it is delivered faster”…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

EU and US Agree Ukraine Talks With Russia

BRUSSELS — The EU, Russia, Ukraine and the US are to hold joint talks in the next 10 days, amid fresh EU division on how to handle the crisis.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Gazprom May Block EU Plans to Help Ukraine With Gas

Gazprom may deal a blow to EU plans to supply Ukraine with gas via “reverse flows” — Russian gas arriving to Hungary and Slovakia being sent back to Ukraine. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told NTV that reverse flows without Gazprom’s permission would be illegal, as the gas comes from Russia.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pro-Russian Demonstrators Loot Ukraine Buildings as Lawmakers Brawl in Parliament

Masked, pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine have begun looting government offices in Donetsk, the largest and most influential city of Ukraine’s industrialized eastern and southern provinces, in a move that could portend further fragmenting of the beleaguered nation.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Says U.S. Mercenaries in Eastern Ukraine

Coup government in Kyiv moves to quell separatism as civil war brews

Russian media reports today the American security firm Greystone has teamed up with Right Sector fascists in a bid to prevent eastern Ukraine from joining the Russian Federation.

#Russia MFA: 150 American ‘Greystone’ experts uniformed as Falcon involved to fight pro-#Kremlin forces in #Ukraine http://t.co/OyYwRqaFDG

— Ukraine Reporter (@StateOfUkraine) April 7, 2014

Greystone is a former Xe (aka Blackwater) affiliate with offices in Virginia and the United Arab Emirates. Employing “personnel from the best militaries throughout the world,” the company offers “large scale stability operations requiring large numbers of people to assist in securing a region.”

“We are particularly concerned that the operation involves some 150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd., dressed in the uniform of the [Ukrainian] special task police unit Sokol,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We urge [Kyiv] to immediately stop all military preparations which could lead to a civil war.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Swedish Intelligence Agency Concerned by Russia Actions

Sweden’s intelligence agency has said “war preparations” by Russia are currently the most serious threat it sees in its regular security assessments, report the WSJ. “We see increased Russian intelligence activity at the moment because of what is happening in Ukraine and in Crimea,” analsyt Wilhelm Unge told Swedish radio.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The ‘Crackdown’ Begins: Ukraine Launches “Anti-Terrorist” Operations in Eastern Ukraine, Arrests 70

Despite Russia’s veiled threat that any ongoing action against pro-Russian demonstrators had the potential to instigate civil war and bring action by the Russian forces, Ukraine’s interior minister Arsen Avakov has announced, Reuters reports, that Ukraine has launched an “anti-terrorist” operation in the eastern city of Kharkiv and about 70 “separatists” have been arrested for seizing the regional administration building. Is this the red-line that Putin laid down last night?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Crisis Could Upset Germany’s Finances

The German plan to have a balanced budget in 2015 could be hindered by the Ukraine crisis, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Bild newspaper. The plan is also based on the assumption that the German economy will grow by 2%, although last year economic growth was at only 0.4%.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Ukraine Crisis: NATO Warns Russia Against Further Intervention

Nato has warned Russia that further intervention in Ukraine would be a “historic mistake” with grave consequences. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Moscow must pull back troops it has massed on the Ukrainian border.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Confirms Death of Chechen Warlord Umarov

MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) — Russia’s secret service confirmed Tuesday that Doku Umarov, listed as a terrorist by both Russia and the United States, had been killed in an anti-terror operation.

“In the first quarter of 2014, the activity of Umarov, the chieftain of the terrorist organization Caucasus Emirate, has been neutralized,” said Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

6 Killed, 20 Injured as Blast Hits Train in SW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, April 8 (Xinhua) — At least six people were killed and 20 others injured when a bomb hit a passenger train in Pakistan’s southwestern Sibi district on Tuesday afternoon, local media reported.

Capital TV said that the train “Jafar Express” was parked at a railway station when it came under attack in Sibi area, a district located in the country’s southwest Balochistan province…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Court Appearance for Pakistani Baby Charged With Attempted Murder

The 9-month-old child is accused of attempted murder and stoning a team of police and gas company officials who raided the area where his family lives in Lahore.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Kyrgyzstan: Parliamentary Prayer Room Meets With Resistance

An Islamic prayer room in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament funded by a Saudi-based charity has raised questions about the principle that state and religion should be kept separate.

Opponents of the move argue that it is inappropriate to locate a place of worship inside a state institution. They are also troubled by the fact that it is funded by a group headquartered in Saudi Arabia.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Cambodian Garment Factory Workers Fainting in Droves

It should have been an extraordinary scene: more than 100 factory hands fainting in unison as if possessed by spirits.

But in Cambodian garment factories, which play a major role in supplying American malls, mass fainting is no longer a freak phenomenon. It’s disturbingly common. The enigmatic problem is persistent despite waves of government studies, activist campaigns and vows to investigate factory conditions by global fashion empires such as H&M.

The latest mass fainting episode took place this month in a factory that, according to Reuters, supplies sportswear giants Puma and Adidas. Like other fainting outbreaks in Cambodia, it began with one worker falling ill and ended with more than 100 sprawled on the factory floor.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese ‘Chicken Cup’ Smashes Auction Record

A Shanghai collector paid a record $36 million Tuesday for a rare Ming Dynasty cup that’s touted as the “holy grail” of China’s art world.

The dainty, white cup from the 15th century measures just 8 centimeters (3.1 inches) in diameter and is known as a “chicken cup” because it’s decorated with a rooster and hen tending to their chicks. Sotheby’s describes the cup as having flawless translucent sides with its lively scene painted continuously around its sides.

It was made during the reign of the Ming Dynasty’s Chenghua Emperor, who ruled from 1465 to 1487. Sotheby’s said only 17 such cups exist, with four in private hands and the rest in museums.

“There’s no more legendary object in the history of Chinese porcelain,” said Nicholas Chow, Sotheby’s deputy chairman for Asia. “This is really the holy grail when it comes to Chinese art.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Faster Eye Responses in Chinese People Not Down to Culture

New research from University of Liverpool scientists has cast doubt on the theory that neurological behaviour is a product of culture in people of Chinese origin.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

North Korean Official ‘Executed by Flame-Thrower’

A North Korean official has been executed with a flame-thrower, South Korean media has reported, amid a crackdown on loyalists of Kim Jong-un’s purged uncle.

As many as 11 senior party officials with close ties to Jang Song-taek have apparently recently been executed or sent to political prison camps.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

South China Sea: Regional States Push Back Against China

South China Sea claimant states began to push back against China’s assertiveness.

Indonesia and the Philippines both took steps to shore up their maritime defense forces against future contingencies in the South China Sea. Vietnam pressed China for compensation for harassing its fishermen in disputed waters around the Paracel Islands while quietly taking delivery of its second Kilo-class submarine.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Study: China World’s Most Powerful Nation

A new study on the economic power of the world’s nations has named China as the “most powerful nation” on its “world market power” index.

The report was issued by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) as part of its Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies (EAGLEs) research project tracking the world’s leading nations.

BBVA feels that China has the most influence on the world’s economies.

“China shows the highest value not only among emerging economies but also when considering all the sample, inverting with the US the rank order given by the exports’ share in nominal terms,” the report reads.

In fact, BBVA ranks China quite a bit higher on its world market power index than any other nation, including the USA.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Olympic Champion Swimmer Ian Thorpe Contracts MRSA-like Infections

Five-time Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe is in a Sydney hospital after contracting two potentially deadly infections and will never swim competitively again, his agent said.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Thorpe, 31, got the infections after undergoing a series of surgeries on his shoulder at a hospital near his Swiss hometown of Ronco sopra Ascona. Agent James Erskin told the Australian Associated Press that Thorpe is “quite sick” and is receiving treatment in an intensive care ward in Sydney.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Asylum Requests in Italy Up 60% in 2013

Jesuit-run Centro Astalli slams poor reception, services

(ANSA) — Rome, April 8 — The number of refugees seeking asylum in Italy rose by 60% from 2012 to 27,830 in 2013, the Jesuit-run Centro Astalli refugee centre said in a report published Tuesday.

Asylum-seekers accounted for 65% of the 42,925 migrants who landed on Italy’s southern shores during the course of the year.

The majority came from Mali, Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Senegal, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Guinea, the report continued. Just 695 asylum-seekers came from war-torn Syria, despite the fact that Syrians represent the largest nationl group seeking asylum across the European Union. “These figures indicate that people seeking protection are fully aware of the difficulties presented by the Italian context and make every effort to go elsewhere,” said the association in its report. The Centro Astalli took custody of 713 victims of torture, deliberate violence or sexual abuse in 2013.

“Of greatest concern is the fact that very often these people are unable to access adequate accommodation: almost half of torture victims receiving legal assistance reported living on the streets, in occupied buildings or temporarily with friends or acquaintances,” the report said. The Jesuit organisation criticised the “emergency procedures” still used in Italy to deal with asylum seekers and slammed the country’s “inability to meet even their most immediate needs”.

The report came after Italian navy vessels rescued 1,049 migrants including 151 women and 91 minors — of whom three newborn babies — late Monday night after the boats they were travelling in ran into difficulty in the Sicilian channel.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Germany to Grant Children of Immigrants Dual Citizenship

Germany’s Cabinet has approved a draft law that will allow children born to immigrants in the country to hold dual citizenship. The move to ease restrictions will mainly benefit Germany’s large Turkish community.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sen. Schumer Says Republicans Want Immigration Reform — But Don’t Want to Vote on it

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat who was part of bipartisan group that drafted a comprehensive immigration reform bill last year, says that Republicans really would like to see such a measure pass in Congress, though individually they don’t want to vote on it.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Immigration Bill Row Looms Closer to Commons

The Commons is in legislative limbo at the moment, waiting for the Queen’s Speech, which has just been delayed another day to 4 June. But one thing that could well keep MPs rather well occupied before then is the Immigration Bill, which suffered a defeat in the House of Lords last night — as predicted on Coffee House…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

UKIP is Not ‘Anti-Immigration’, We Are Anti-Uncontrolled Immigration

by Nigel Farage

We don’t want to pull up the drawbridge. We want to control who comes over it.

“Anti-immigration rhetoric” is an accusation regularly levelled at Ukip, and it has happened again in the case of one of the party’s so-called rising stars, who, as reported in this newspaper yesterday, has publicly distanced herself from the party. Leaving aside the fact that Alexandra Swann initially resigned her membership when she wasn’t selected as a Ukip MEP candidate, this episode brings a key issue to the forefront…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Young Immigrants: Impulsive or Obama’s Conscience?

President Barack Obama stepped back to give Republicans room to pass immigration reform and in swooped the impatience of youth.

Young immigrants, many not here legally, have ramped up their demand that Obama grab what he can now by using his executive authority to suspend deportations and worry later about winning over Republicans to sweeping reforms.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

A Look Into the “Edu-Shark Tank”

The attempt to nationalize by imposing identical curricula manifested itself in the late 1960’s with “Family Life Education” shortly following the original enactment of ESEA in mid 1960s. I was there and fought FLE in the 60’s and 70’s (see documentation with my presentation at a conference in Maine in 2012: “Exposing the Global Road to Ruin through Education”which is available to view and read on www.deliberatedumbingdown.com .

CC (Common Core) Methodology, and that’s what it is all about, is nothing new either.The same methodology contributed mightily to the dumbing down in the 70’s. It was called “Inquiry” or “Discovery Learning” — a decade of sharing ignorance as students were led to believe they invented the wheel.

Expect CC to be pared back as organized opposition continues to get publicity, but the “one step back” will have served its purpose , for the two steps forward of the dialectic. It will resurface with a new name. In the 60’s and 70’s technology didn’t yet exist to track the thought processes of every student as his/her brain can be tracked today to assure a predetermined outcome…

It is the CONCEPT OF ELECTED REPRESENTATION ITSELF WHICH IS AT STAKE, and consequently the CONCEPT of TAXATION WITH REPRESENTATION. The quality of specific charter schools or lack thereof is irrelevant. What is relevant, is the issue of private interests usurping the domain of publicly funded schools… substituting appointed entities so education can be MANAGED by private interests using public (tax money) to do it.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Egypt Jails Four Men for Gay Acts

A court in Egypt has sentenced four men to up to eight years in prison for committing homosexual acts.

The men were accused of attending or arranging “deviant” sex parties, and dressing in women’s clothes and wearing make-up.

Egyptian law does not explicitly ban homosexual acts, but prosecutors have used legislation banning debauchery to try homosexuals.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Liberty University Hires Open Homosexual Advocate to Choreograph ‘Mary Poppins’ Production

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Liberty University, which is considered the world’s largest Christian university, has hired an open homosexual advocate to choreograph its upcoming Broadway-style presentation of Mary Poppins…

Goldberg’s bio on his website outlines that in addition to being involved with productions such as Grease, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Yankee Doodle, Goldberg also recently directed and choreographed a new musical entitled Bradley Cole. An online review of the musical explains that “Bradley Cole is enriched with contemporary issues such as … shame and confusion over same-sex attraction.” It outlines the plot, where “Ian is secretly, repressively, in love with Ben,” although one of his female friends expresses interest in him…

Christian News Network that Alluvian/Liberty University was not aware of Goldberg’s beliefs about homosexuality, but stated that one’s “personal life” is not a factor in the hiring process.

“He was hired based on his professionalism and his talent like everyone else,” Cooper explained. “It never came up in the conversation, nor would it have. … We do not ask about their personal life.”

“We work under professional guidelines. No one knows anything about anyone’s personal lives,” she reiterated.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Liberal High Priests Pursue Another Heretic

Melanie Phillips

The American CEO forced out for opposing gay marriage is a victim of ideological intolerance

Medieval Christianity stamped out dissent by killing or conversion. Western liberals do it by social, professional and legal ostracism.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Public School Teacher Allegedly Rejects 8-Year-Old’s Paper for Citing Jesus as Her Hero

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC — According to the mother of an 8-year-old girl in North Carolina, a public school teacher rejected a paper by her daughter because it cited Jesus as her hero.

Heather Watts told local NBC affiliate WECT that her daughter Ryleigh is in the second grade at Cerro Gordo Elementary School in Columbus County. For a recent open-ended school assignment prompt, Ryleigh wrote, “My hero is Jesus.”

“My hero is Jesus because he helps me … He also makes good things happen,” Ryleigh wrote on the paper.

According to Watts, the paper was rejected by school officials. Ryleigh’s teachers allegedly asked her, “Can’t you write about something different?”

Watts was incensed, saying the school officials infringed upon her daughter’s First Amendment rights.

“I think she should have freedom to write about what she wants to write about,” Watts told WECT. “If she wants to write about Jesus, she should write about Jesus.”

After local media outlets reported the incident, Cerro Gordo Elementary School released a statement, in which they denied the mother’s claims.

Nevertheless, Watts stands by her allegations. She told reporters that the issue has still not been resolved, as teachers insist that Ryleigh write a paper with a different theme.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Teen Suspended for Helping Students Opt-Out of Common Core English Test

An eighth-grade student in New York says she was suspended from school last week after informing classmates that they could opt-out of an upcoming Common Core English test.

According to a complaint filed by 13-year-old Seirra Olivero, the incident began when a teacher at Orange-Ulster BOCES told her to “shut her mouth and keep walking” for telling a fellow student that he did not have to take the controversial test.

Opposing what she felt was intimidation, Olivero later approached several other students and told them the same, noting that “the test is set up for the kids to fail.”

Shortly after, Olivero was called out of class and asked “why she was telling students they didn’t have to take the test” by the school’s principal.

“I replied and said, ‘I did some research and it said they don’t have to,’“ Olivero told the Times Herald-Record.

Olivero says the principal continued asking question after question, demanding to know if she had researched “both sides” of the issue.

“Then she started to ask other questions and that’s when she started to interrogate me and I felt like I was being treated like a criminal,” Olivero said.

Olivero says the last straw was when the principal refused to let her call her mother, leading her to get up and leave the office.

As Olivero quickly walked away from the hostile situation, a school administrator ordered her to stop as many as six times, telling her she had “no business telling the kids that they don’t have to take the test” while in school.

“Then I said, ‘I can tell them whatever I want and to mind his business’ and he said ‘No, it is his business.’“

The school suspended Olivero for two days.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Road to Progressive Dhimmitude

by Richard Samuelson

In the recent Hobby Lobby Case, Justices Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor said that corporations that don’t want to pay for abortions should simply not provide any health insurance: “But isn’t there another choice nobody talks about, which is paying the tax, which is a lot less than a penalty and a lot less than — than the cost of health insurance at all?” Dissenters from the official line must pay a tax. That sounds familiar…

           — Hat tip: JP [Return to headlines]
 

Transgender Student Files Sex Discrimination Complaint Against George Fox

NEWBERG, Ore. — George Fox University in Newberg says its Christian theology makes it necessary to separate student dorms into all-female or all-male.

The attorney for Jayce, a sophomore at the university, says the transgender student tried to convince university leaders to let him move into the all-male dorms.

The university turned him down, and Thursday decided not to consider an appeal from Jayce…

The university released a statement saying in part, “The university has made many efforts to provide support and accommodation for the student and remains committed to his academic, physical and spiritual welfare.”

George Fox University says it tried to compromise with Jayce, by offering him on-campus housing in his own apartment. Jayce’s attorney says that’s not good enough.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

UN Finding on Climate Change is Just a Bunch of Hot Air, New Report Claims

A U.N.-commissioned panel says climate change is hurting the growth of crops, affecting the quality of water supplies and forcing wildlife to change the way it lives — but what if it’s all just smoke and mirrors?

A new report from the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), written by an international collection of scientists and published by the conservative Heartland Institute, claims just that, declaring that humanity’s impact on climate is not causing substantial harm to the Earth.

“All across the planet, the historical increase in the atmosphere’s CO2 concentration has stimulated vegetative productivity,” reads a portion of the 1,063-page report, called “Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts.” “This observed stimulation, or greening of the Earth, has occurred in spite of many real and imagined assaults on Earth’s vegetation, including fires, disease, pest outbreaks, deforestation and climatic change.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Windows XP Users Face End to Microsoft Support

Support for the venerable Windows XP operating system ends this Tuesday. It means that there will be no more official security updates and bug fixes for the operating system from Microsoft.

Some governments have negotiated extended support contracts for the OS in a bid to keep users protected.

Security firms said anyone else using the 13-year-old software would be at increased risk of infection and compromise by cyber-thieves.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Windows XP Demise Gives Small Business a Tech Headache

Millions of small businesses around the world who use Microsoft’s ever-popular Windows XP are facing a tricky situation.

What should they do now that Microsoft has pulled the plug and ended technical support and security updates for the venerable operating system? Should they face the expense and upheaval of upgrading to new systems, or stick to what they know and hope for the best?

Despite advanced notice of the decision, the 13-year-old XP is still used on almost a third of all personal computers worldwide.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]