The kinetic activist group Al Shabaab has released a new video that promises they will attack the Mall of America in Minnesota, and also another mall in Edmonton, Alberta, and Oxford Street in London. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned the public to be “vigilant” when they visit the mall. No worries, though: it’s a gun-free zone. Everyone can relax.
In other news, Pope Francis told business owners that it was a grave sin to hire employees “off the books” to avoid paying taxes.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Papa Whiskey, Vlad Tepes, 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.
China: Year of the Goat: Forecasts for Trade the Lowest in 8 Years
Less credit from banks, deflation, low prices lead to pessimism. The central bank has reduced interest rates and decreased the level of commercial bank reserves. It will be “a difficult year”.
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) — The trade prospects for the next three months have fallen to the lowest level in eight years. Although the oracles of the Year of the Goat are favorable, China MNI commercial indicator claim the opposite.
The various factors lowering expectations include a reduction in loans to companies which has dragged the index down to 52.8, the lowest since March 2007. In January it was 53.7.
According to Philip Uglow, chief economist of the MNI Indicators, “The beginning of 2015 shows that it will be a difficult year.”
In an effort to ease liquidity, China’s central bank cut the interest rate on currency last November and in February reduced the level of reserves that commercial banks should maintain.
The MNI report states that liquidity released by the central bank has not yet flooded the companies, among which there are mainly manufacturing and service industries.
This pessimism seems to be spreading, also affected by deflation, which is leading to lower prices.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italian 0.6% ‘Deflation’ Rate Confirmed
Lowest level since 1959
(ANSA) — Rome, February 20 — National statistics agency Istat on Friday confirmed its preliminary estimate that Italy returned to deflation in January with an annual inflation rate of -0.6% — the lowest level since September 1959. The annual inflation rate was flat in December. Italy also endured several months of deflation last year.
Low or negative inflation is seen as a threat to the recovery prospects of Italy, which is trying to bounce back from years of recession. Istat added that prices were 0.4% down in January with respect to December.
The agency said almost all of Italy’s major cities were in price deflation in January. The exceptions were Bolzano, which had an annual inflation rate of 0.3%, and Parma, where prices were flat with respect to the same month in 2014. All the other cities with over 150,000 inhabitants had negative annual inflation rates, going from Palermo (-0.1) to Florence (-1.1%). Istat said that its annual index for the prices of everyday goods such as food and household items was flat in January, after registering a fall in December.
It said the prices of everyday goods were 0.5% up in January compared to the previous month.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Why Does Fiat Money Seemingly Work?
For a long time, States were forced to accept gold’s role as money. The introduction of irredeemable paper money wasn’t considered viable, and failed experiments such as John Law’s served to dissuade governments from pursuing the idea further. Rather, heads of State resorted to coin clipping or otherwise diluting the precious metals content of coins if they wished to rob the citizenry via inflation. These early instances of inflation by means of reducing the precious metals content of coins led to the downfall of entire empires, with the Roman empire the most prominent. However, the tally stick system and John Law already demonstrated how public demand for fiat currency could be generated, namely by means of government accepting it for payment of taxes.
This is why pieces of paper with some ink slapped on them are not laughed out of the room straight away. The two major pillars of this system are based on coercion: directly via the legal tender laws, which decree that fiat currency must be used in and accepted for all payments of debt, public or private, and indirectly via the demand for fiat money as a means to discharge tax obligations. It is safe to say that without this second criterion, it would have been impossible for governments to “monetize” irredeemable paper…
What is also extremely important for the system to function is faith in the value of government debt, which rests on the conviction that governments will be able to extract enough wealth from their citizens in the future to repay it. Government bonds so to speak serve as the main “backing” of bank notes and their digital counterparts in circulation. They are tying governments and the banking system together via the central bank. The central bank has the power to “monetize” such debt by creating new money out of thin air and using it to buy debt securities. This roundabout way of going about money creation is an essential part of the confidence game.
[Comment: Recommended article.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Al Shabaab Calls for Attack on Mall of America in New Video
A new video from Al Shabaab purportedly shows the terror group calling for an attack on Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minn.
According to Fox 9, the mall is one of three similar targets the terror group specifically names, including West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Oxford Street shopping area in London.
The video purportedly shows 6 minutes of graphic images and the terrorists celebrating the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed more than 60 people.
[…]
Despite the loss of key strongholds in Somalia, Al Shabaab, which is linked to Al Qaeda, continues to stage attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere.
[And now we’re the “elsewhere.” This must be what those creatures in the apartment above the halal grocery store on Cedar Avenue were getting ready for when it blew up. So why were the ruins — and the forensic evidence — destroyed and hauled away before investigators could examine them? — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Shabaab Threatens Malls in Canada, UK, The U.S. In New Video
(CNN) Terror group Al-Shabaab has released a video calling for attacks on shopping malls in Canada, the UK and the United States.
In the propaganda video released Saturday, the al Qaeda-linked terror group talks about its September 2013 attack on a mall in Kenya. The brazen siege, which went on for days, left more than 60 people dead at an upscale mall in Nairobi.
In its new video, it calls for similar attacks on malls in the three countries. Al-Shabaab identified specific malls, but CNN will not list them unless they respond publicly.
Mall of America said it’s aware of the threatening video that named it as a potential target.
“We take any potential threat seriously and respond appropriately,” the Minnesota mall said in a statement Saturday night. “We have implemented extra security precautions, some may be noticeable to guests and others won’t be.”
The West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, which was also listed, said it has implemented extra security and is working with federal and local law enforcement agencies.
The Somalia-based militants have heavily recruited in Minneapolis, where young men have been slipping away to join the terror group. The city is home to the largest Somali population in the United States.
[Mall of America has big signs on its entrances banning guns. That should deter these naughty fellows. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
America, What Will You Do With Domestic Enemies?
“We can see clearly that these types of politicians are not the type that you can help; they are the type that must be legally stopped.” — Bradlee Dean
Here we are again this week complaining about the same administration that has transgressed the law and the rights of the American people. Barry blurted out the truth in his confusion this week, claiming that the media overstates the terror threat (Deuteronomy 28:36).
However, the American people are now coming to the realization that he hates Christians (Leviticus 26:17).
Furthermore, Obama’s former Homeland Security adviser and pro-Muslim Brotherhood advocate Mohamed Elibiary has demonstrated his own anti-Christian, anti-American ideology as he openly expressed hate of conservatives, Christians and anyone who might stand against Islam or Obama, for all to see.
Now that we know what the enemies of our republic are doing, what are the American people going to do about their enemies?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Minneapolis Cop Shooter is a Member of Muslim Street Gang
GotNews.com has learned that Andrew J. Neal, 43, the suspect in the targeted shooting of MN police officer Jordan Davis, is a longtime member of the Mickey Cobras street gang.
The “Mickey Cobras” AKA the “Almighty Mickey Cobra Nation” is a large, predominantly Black gang that is heavily influenced by Islam and uses Muslim ideology throughout its constitution and by-laws.
[Be it noted that Minneapolis police have not said this guy is in fact a suspect in this shooting — only in the burglary the cops were called out for. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
DHS is “Positioning” to Secretly Arrest American Dissidents in Preparation for World War III
America is about to engage in the same behavior of citizen subjugation in preparation for a coming war. Only this time, protesting will not be permitted and protesters will be “dealt with”. Along these lines, I am in receipt of the following which is very troublesome:
“SAN FRANCISCO — President Obama will announce a new executive order on the sharing of cybersecurity threats and information at Friday’s cybersecurity summit at Stanford University, the White House said.
Most importantly to Silicon Valley, the president’s proposal is expected to cement the role of the Department of Homeland Security, rather than the National Security Agency, as the government lead for information-sharing with the private sector.”
One of my colleagues in the media sent me the press release. Within 15 minutes, I had two very high level confirmations of what this meant. One of the sources is a high ranking government official with oversight responsibilities and the other is an ex-military intelligence asset with multiple and strong connections to dissident military types serving today. However, this is a story that writes itself. I really do not need unnamed sources in order to demonstrate where this is likely headed. The President’s intention to transfer intelligence information on American citizens from the NSA to the DHS is both ominous and the purpose is self-evident. My sources simply serve to reinforce the obvious intent. Also, this information is beginning to leak out in the independent media.
Anyone who has read my articles over the past two years knows that I have obtained information that the NSA’s massive data mining of every person is inextricably tied to creating a Threat Matrix Score for each and every American based on key word analyses of their cell phone conversations, emails, social media statements, etc. Also, a “known associates” file is maintained to determine the amount social reach a potential dissident has. For example, the bigger their reading audience or listening audience or Facebook following, the higher a person’s Threat Matrix Score.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Report: Forget ISIS, The Real Terrorist Threat Comes From the Domestic Right-Wing. Yes, Really
Islamic terrorists are running roughshod over a good quarter of the planet, and our government is incapable of identifying their “mysterious” ideology. However, here at home, we supposedly face a terror threat that is — apparently — both far worse and far easier to label.
They’re carrying out sporadic terror attacks on police, have threatened attacks on government buildings and reject government authority.
A new intelligence assessment, circulated by the Department of Homeland Security this month and reviewed by CNN, focuses on the domestic terror threat from right-wing sovereign citizen extremists and comes as the Obama administration holds a White House conference to focus efforts to fight violent extremism.
Your government believes that these conservative monsters — who have allegedly carried out 24 attacks since 2010 — are just as bad, if not worse, than ISIS.
Some federal and local law enforcement groups view the domestic terror threat from sovereign citizen groups as equal to—and in some cases greater than—the threat from foreign Islamic terror groups, such as ISIS, that garner more public attention.
ISIS, you may remember, has been beheading infants, crucifying children, and slaughtering Christians, Jews, and Muslims by the tens of thousands. …But, forget all of that. It’s small potatoes. Unspecified, unnamed, “groups” say ISIS isn’t as dangerous as right-wingers here at home.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Donations to Foundation Raise Major Ethical Questions for Hillary Clinton
In an extraordinary report that has not yet been fully digested, the Wall Street Journal tells us that the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation has received millions from foreign governments including Qatar, a prominent backer of Hamas.
The Clinton Foundation has dropped its self-imposed ban on collecting funds from foreign governments and is winning contributions at an accelerating rate, raising ethical questions as Hillary Clinton ramps up her expected bid for the presidency.
Recent donors include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and a Canadian government agency promoting the Keystone XL pipeline.
United Arab Emirates, a first-time donor, gave between $1 million and $5 million in 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Chief to MOA Visitors: ‘Be Particularly Careful’ Today
“Be particularly careful” if you intend to visit the Mall of America.
That’s the cautionary message Sunday from Jeh Johnson, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, in the wake of Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab releasing a video calling for attacks on Western malls. The video specifically mentioned the megamall in Bloomington.
“If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they’ve got to be particularly careful,” Johnson said in a televised interview with CNN. “There will be enhanced security there, but public vigilance, public awareness and public caution in situations like this is particularly important, and it’s the environment we’re in, frankly.”
In following up to Johnson’s message to Mall of American visitors, another department official wanted to make clear that the secretary was not urging people to stay away from the mall.
“Secretary Johnson didn’t say that they should not go to the mall,” assistant secretary Tanya Bradsher told CNN. “He told shoppers to be extra vigilant and that security was increased.”
[Yo, Jeh! Y’all mean I should be strapped? Oh, wait — ain’t allowed, right? ‘S cool — got me some new Nikes. Feets, do yo stuff! — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Homeland Secretary Johnson Suggests Term ‘Violent Extremism’ Used at Behest of Muslim Leaders
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Sunday that President Obama’s decision not to say the actions of the Islamic State is a form of “radical Islam” is at the behest of the Muslim community.
“The thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion,” Johnson told “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the terror group also known as Islamic State, or ISIS.
Johnson said the leaders argue their religion is about peace and brotherhood and “resent” that Islamic State is “attempting to hijack that from us.”
[In fact, their religion is about peace and brotherhood between Muslims. See Qur’an 48:29, which stipulates that Muslims are “hard against the unbelievers and merciful among themselves.” — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
By Doyle McManus
For weeks, Republicans have lambasted President Obama for what they claim is a major foreign policy failure: His refusal to use the term “Islamic” to describe the terrorists of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“The president and his administration dogmatically refuse to utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism,’“ Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on Fox News. “You cannot defeat an enemy if you refuse to acknowledge what it is.”
So I hope Cruz and his colleagues noticed what Obama actually said at last week’s White House meeting on — OK, here comes the bland official term — “violent extremism.”
“Al Qaeda and ISIL [Islamic State] and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders — holy warriors in defense of Islam,” Obama said. “[They] do draw, selectively, from the Islamic texts. They do depend upon the misperception around the world that they speak in some fashion for people of the Muslim faith.”
His main point: “We are not at war with Islam.”
The president uttered the words “Islam,” “Islamic” or “Muslim” 49 times in 34 minutes, and the words “terrorism” or “terrorist” 30 times. Anyone who thinks he’s ignoring the Islamic part of the problem isn’t paying attention — or else just trying to score political points.
[…]
It’s true that Obama and his aides have walked on semantic eggshells to avoid the word “Islamic” when they denounce Islamic State. But there are good reasons for that.
The most important people in the struggle against Islamic State are other Muslims. To win this war, the United States needs help from Muslim-led governments in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and from ordinary Muslims in Iraq and Syria.
“You do not want to offend your allies,” noted Juan Carlos Zarate, who was a counter-terrorism advisor to President George W. Bush. “You certainly do not want to describe the threat in terms of a war on Islam.”
[The president is doing far more than “mincing words.” In 2011, he had federal counterterrorism training maunals scrubbed of so-called “biased references” — to wit, vital information about how Muslim terrorists use the Islamic texts in their recruiting and propaganda efforts. And he has placed Muslim operatives in crucial posts, e.g. Rashad Hussain, who has been appointed to head a revamped “Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications” — the State Department office devoted to opposing said efforts. Citing Egypt’s Rose El-Youssef magazine, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has reported that Hussain “maintained close ties with people and groups that [the magazine] says comprise the Muslim Brotherhood network in America.” And then there was the dog-whistle finger Obama raised before a gaggle of Muslim dignitaries at the U.S.-African Leaders’ Summit in Washington last August. Et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseam. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Johnson Warns Mall of America Patrons
(CNN) Shoppers at the Mall of America need to be “particularly careful” after a terror group singled out the Minnesota super-mall for attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says.
During an interview Sunday with CNN “State of the Union” host Gloria Borger, he cautioned shoppers who plan to visit the mall that Al-Shabaab included on a list of targets in a video released this weekend.
“If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they’ve got to be particularly careful,” Johnson said. “There will be enhanced security there, but public vigilance, public awareness and public caution in situations like this is particularly important, and it’s the environment we’re in, frankly.”
Al-Shabaab has heavily targeted the Minneapolis area, home to the largest Somali population in the United States, for recruiting. The United States killed the group’s leader in an air strike in Somalia last year, leading Al-Shabaab to vow to avenge his death.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Just Like the King, The Mainstream Media is Affronted by Rudy Giuliani’s Truth Telling
The most telling part of the ‘Obama doesn’t love America’ Rudy Giuliani story is how the mainstream media is coming off so sanctimoniously affronted.
Talking heads in some of the most surprising places (like Megyn of Fox News’ Kelly file, for example) are absolutely affronted that Giuliani put into plain words what millions of Americans are already thinking: “Obama does not love America”.
Given that presidents are after all, politicians in the first place, there have been good presidents and not so good ones over the years.
But not until Obama was America thrown off the life-providing teat before it could be weaned.
Given the mainstream media’s big effrontery display, how many average Americans must now be wondering: “How is it that so many news media pooh-bahs are affronted by Giuliani’s defense of America, but not affronted that Obama does not love America”?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Arrested at Cop-Shooting Scene Was Felon
The man arrested Saturday in connection with the north Minneapolis burglary has served time for previous assaults.
Andrew J. Neal, 43, was arrested Saturday afternoon on charges of probation violation, probable cause burglary and probable cause domestic aggravated assault. Police would not say whether Neal was a suspect or person of interest in the shooting of Minneapolis police officer Jordan Davis, who responded to the burglary call Saturday, only that they are investigating a possible link between the burglary and the shooting of Davis.
Court records show that Neal pleaded guilty in 2008 to first-degree assault with great bodily harm and sentenced to 11 years in prison. It is unclear when he was released.
Neal also was convicted two times in 1996 for second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, both felonies.
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Minneapolis Officer Shot, One Suspect in Custody After Burglary Call
Minneapolis police arrested a former convict with a violent history in connection with what may have been a targeted ambush of an officer responding to a burglary call early Saturday.
Andrew J. Neal was arrested about 1:30 p.m. at a home at 1119 Logan Av. N., after the address was surrounded by a SWAT team and other officers. Neal was arrested on a charge of violating probation, probable-cause burglary and probable-cause domestic aggravated assault.
Police were still investigating the link between the domestic incident and the shooting and declined to say whether Neal was the suspect in the shooting. He has previously served time in prison for first-degree assault and has an extensive arrest record.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau met with the injured officer and his family at the hospital. She said she believes the officer was targeted.
“There is little doubt that an officer was the intended target of this shooting and that this officer just happened to be the one who was there,” Harteau said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
The Briefest Briefing on the Coming “Martial Law”
The American public is being conditioned to accept an “emergency-based” military-police state command structure which ranges outward from DHS through the Pentagon, FEMA and the Department of Justice, and uses Fusion Centers to coordinate the profiling of dissent among the population. Some of the profiles which have made their way into public awareness in the alternative media include “Constitutionalists”, “returning war veterans” and “Ron Paul supporters”. Pastor Chuck Baldwin, a frequently-published author here at NewsWithViews.com, was personally named in one Fusion Center profile report which got leaked to the public in 2009.
So today the alert, awake, and aware average American knows that “the government is coming”. Yet too many somnambulistic and comfortable Americans remain unaware of this mounting threat, and must be warned. Indeed, it is time for:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Government’s War on Freedom of the Press
Press freedom has declined in recent years
The U.S. plummeted to a dismal 49th place on the Reporters Without Borders annual Press Freedom Index, marking the country’s second lowest ranking since the list was created in 2002 and its lowest since 2006. Other countries ranked in the 40s and 50s include Haiti, Mongolia, and Chile.
The index cited “judicial harassment” of New York Times reporter James Risen, the arbitrary arrest of at least 15 journalists during the Ferguson, Missouri clashes, and the fact that U.S. journalists are still not legally entitled to protect sources who reveal confidential information about their work.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Shoppers Warned After Shebab Mall Threat
US homeland security chief Jeh Johnson urged shoppers to be on their guard Sunday after an Islamic militant group posted a video calling for attacks by radicalized Muslims on western malls, including the Mall of America.
“I would say that if anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they’ve got to be particularly careful,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The mall, located in Minnesota and reputedly the world’s largest with 40 million visitors a year, said it had taken extra security measures in response to the threat by the Shebab, a Somalia-based insurgent group…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Worst Spying in World History — Worse Than Any Dystopian Novel — is Occurring Right Now
We noted in 2012 that Americans are the most spied upon people in world history.
Top NSA officials previously said that we’ve got a “police state” … like J. Edgar Hoover — or the Stasi — on “super steroids”.
Spying by the NSA is also worse than in Nazi Germany:
The tyrants in Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia and Stasi Eastern Europe would have liked to easedrop on every communication and every transaction of every citizen. But in the world before the internet, smart phones, electronic medical records and digital credit card transactions, much of what happened behind closed doors remained private.
Indeed, a former lieutenant colonel for the East German Stasi said the NSA’s spy capabilities would have been “a dream come true” for the Stasi.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
1,300 People Formed “Ring of Peace” Outside Oslo Synagogue After Young Muslims Initiative
— Today innocent Muslims stand up for innocent Jews. Tomorrow it can be the other way around. Say no to anti-semitism, and no to islamophobia, one of the speakers, Morad Jarodi, said.
There were strong appeals and rabbi shouted “Allahu akbar” — God is great — under his appeal.
— It was great to see. Muslims and Jews have the same ancestor. We have the same God. It is more that gathers us than that separate us, Kohn says.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Islam Bill Stirs Feelings of Alienation
Officials say the bill fosters the development of an ‘Austrian-style Islam’; but critics say the legislation is discriminatory.
DPA — Amid Europe-wide debates on extremism and integration, Austria is changing its law governing Islam. However, the changes risk deepening the rift between Muslims and the majority population.
“Muslims feel they are misunderstood and under suspicion,” the Austrian Islamic Community, an umbrella organization, has said about the planned Islam law and the restrictions it contains.
On Wednesday, the bill is expected to pass in the Austrian parliament with the majority of social democrats and conservatives.
Despite the current frictions, the Islamic community was a main driver behind the project to update the rudimentary law that had governed relations between the state and Islam since 1912.
The bill contains several provisions that will make life easier for the nearly 600,000 Muslims among Austria’s 8.6 million inhabitants, the second-largest religious group behind Catholics…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium to Launch Jihadi Databank
The Belgian Home Minister Jan Jambon has unveiled plans for a databank with information on Belgian jihadi fighters returning from Syria. Mr Jambon has just returned from the anti-extremism summit in Washington with Mayor Hans Bonte.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fake Facebook Account is Window on Belgian Jihadis
Belgium is Europe’s biggest per-capita contributor of fighters to Syria, leaving its government and police working on averting attacks and preventing the country’s youth from falling prey to peddlers of radical Islam.
Belgians have joined extremist networks since the emergence of modern jihadist groups during the civil war in Algeria in the 1990s. Where once dozens left each year, their ranks have swollen to hundreds, with the biggest surge following the outbreak of fighting in Syria four years ago.
Stemming the tide will need a national soul-searching, said Van Ostaeyen.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The number of children in Britain who have been snatched has increased with almost 900 youngsters taken by strangers or their parents in the last year, a new report reveals.
Figures gathered by police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the charity Parents and Abducted Children Together (Pact) show that child kidnappings have increased by almost a fifth.
During 2013-14, kidnappings and abductions of children under 18 rose by 13 per cent since the previous year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Wins 115mln Euros Swiss Rail Contract
(AGI) Rome, Feb 16 — Four Pendolino high-speed trains are to be supplied to the Swiss federal railways by Italy’s Alstom. Two will be delivered next year and two in 2017 in a contract worth 115 million euros. The trains will be built in the Savigliano plant, in northern Italy, where the Pendolino has been produced for 30 years. They have been designed to meet Europe’s STI technical inter-operability specifications. The trains will run between Milan and Geneva, Berne and Basel, Milan and Zurich and Lucerne and Basel using the European signaling system, Atlas.
The Pendolino ordered by the FFS is a seven-car train that can carry up to 430 passengers at a maximum speed of 250 km/hour.
The train has flexible carriages which reduce wear and tear on tracks and wheels. They also use the Alstom variable tilting technology which enables the trains to corner safely at speeds 35 percent higher than conventional trains. The trains have been designed to be environmentally friendly and are manufactured with 95 percent recyclable materials. An electric braking system saves 10 percent of energy. With this order, and an option on an initial contract, the number of Pendolinos operated by FSS will rise to 19. Alstom launched the first Pendolino in the 1970s and has sold more than 500 trains around the world, which have traveled more than 700 million kilometers. Pendolinos trains cross seven frontiers and travel across 14 countries.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Industrial Orders: Turnover Up in December
Orders leaped 4.5% compared to November
(ANSA) — Rome, February 20 Italian industrial orders and turnover was up in December, Istat said on Friday. The national statistics agency said turnover was up 1.4% in December with respect to November and 0.9% compared to the same month in 2013.
Industrial orders leaped 4.5% compared to November and 5.8% with respect to December 2013. The positive data in December helped the respective 2014 annual figures to return to positive territory after two years of drops. Orders were up 1.1% with respect to 2013, while turnover edged up 0.1%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Confindustria Praises Jobs Act for Satisfying Company Needs
Employers’ federation says reforms respect workers’ rights
(ANSA) — Rome, February 20 — Italy’s Confindustria employers’ federation praised the government’s Jobs Act labour market reform package Friday, saying it takes into account companies’ need for flexible organisation while respecting workers’ fundamental rights.
The decrees approved by cabinet “in some aspects has been improved,” from earlier versions, Confindustria said in a statement.
“The new rules regarding changing job descriptions take into account the needs for legislative certainty and flexibility of company organisation for which firms have long been asking while respecting the fundamental rights of workers,” Confindustria said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maroni Says Expo Will Make Malpensa Major European Hub
Lombardy governor says airport has ‘future as a passenger hub’
(ANSA) — Milan, February 18 — Milan’s Expo 2015 will give the local Malpensa airport the opportunity to show its potential as a major European hub for air travel, said Lombardy governor Roberto Maroni on Wednesday.
“Malpensa has a great future as a passenger hub and we’ll see this shortly with Expo. We’re increasing connections, the Pedemontana motorway is already open, and everything is in place to soon make Malpensa one of the most important hubs in Europe,” Maroni said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: OVS Ready for IPO, Listing on Milan Stock Market in March
Retailer aiming to raise up to 470 mln euros for debt paydown
(ANSA) — Milan, February 16 — Italian fashion retailer OVS is ready for its initial public offering followed by a listing on the Milan stock exchange scheduled for March 2, its Chief Executive Officer Stefano Beraldo said Monday.
During a presentation of the IPO which goes on sale Tuesday and continues until February 24, Beraldo said that OVS returned to profit in 2014 — which will be proven when the books are closed for the fiscal year.
“We will return to profit before this IPO,” and 2015 will be even stronger financially, said Beraldo.
OVS said it is aiming for a market capitalisation of just over 1.2 billion euros in its stock market listing.
OVS will float a little less than half of its capital through the sale of a maximum of 101 million shares, including about 90% to institutional investors and the remaining for retail investors.
Share price will range between four euros and 5.4 euros with the retailer aiming to raise as much as 470 million euros to be used to reduce debt. Beraldo said that OVS, which is owned by upscale retailer Coin, intends to grow its market share in Italy in order to boost profits in 2015.
He added the company is also considering acquisitions to increase growth.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Soccer: Ancelotti Denies Using Mussolini Motto
Defended Sacchi in ‘too many blacks’ storm
(ANSA) — Rome, February 19 — Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on Thursday denied using a favourite phrase of Benito Mussolini and his Fascists when he defended ex-AC Milan and Italy boss Arrigo Sacchi from racism claims Wednesday.
Sacchi faced a storm of criticism from Italy and abroad for saying there were too many blacks in Italian youth football.
Ancelotti said the phrase “many enemies, much honour,” was first used by Julius Caesar in his Gallic campaigns. “Those who criticise me don’t know me,” Ancelotti told ANSA, “and perhaps they don’t know history either.
“My message of solidarity to Sacchi had nothing to do with either politics or Fascism,” said the former manager of Juventus and AC Milan.
Sacchi said his remarks were misconstrued and he had only meant to say there were too many foreign youth players.
But he acknowledged saying “too many blacks” and said he was sorry.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Romanian Priest Reported for Racist Comment on Facebook
Father Marcello says he was misunderstood
(ANSA) — Tirrenia, February 20 — A Romanian priest near Pisa, Father Marcello, caused a storm of controversy after he allegedly made a derogatory comment on Facebook referring to Romani people that was reported to local authorities as racist, Italian newspaper La Nazione said on Friday.
Under a Facebook post written by someone who expressed concern over the presence of Romani families illegally living in a local cycling park, Father Marcello allegedly wrote, “Does anyone have a match?” to which another Facebook user responded, “Father Marcello, I’ll donate the fuel”.
The post and comments were deleted, and Father Marcello maintains he was misunderstood.
“I wrote that post because in our church we don’t have matches for the candlesticks and also to invite my parishioners to be careful not to add fuel to the fire,” Father Marcello said.
“I didn’t write anything wrong or racist. Everyone understands what he wants and can misunderstand,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi ‘Paying Minetti 15,000 Euros Monthly’
Judicial sources disclose stipend to former dental hygienist
(ANSA) Milan, February 20 — Former premier Silvio Berlusconi is giving a stipend of 15,000 euros a month to former regional councillor Nicole Minetti, a probe of alleged bribery of key witnesses in the Bunga Bunga trial against the media tycoon disclosed Friday.
Details of the regular hefty payment to the ex premier’s one-time dental hygienist were confirmed by his ‘confidential treasurer,’ the accountant Giuseppe Spinelli, judicial sources said.
Minetti is not under investigation officially in the latest probe known as Ruby 3, which has focussed on payments by Berlusconi to some 20 young women who took part in the Forza Italia leader’s sex parties.
Minetti already was convicted of aiding and abetting prostitution and sentenced to a three year prison sentence for her part in recruiting girls for the parties.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Police Seize Assets: Cash Worth 9.5 Mln From Ligrestis
Money laundering probe targets Sicilian financier and daughter
(ANSA) Turin, February 20 — Finance police confiscated shares and bank account deposits worth 9.5 million euros from Sicilian financier Salvatore Ligresti and his daughter Jonella Friday as part of a money laundering inquiry, police said.
The investigation follows the two being charged with false accounting in the family insurance concern Fonsai and manipulation of the market.
The shares and accounts were held at the Milan branch of Unipol Banca protected a double company screen consisting of an Italian trust company and three Luxembourg companies, Hike Securities Spa, Canoe Securities Sa and Limbo Invest sa, finance police sources said.
Finance police carried out the operation to prevent the Ligresti transferring assets abroad.
In July the entire Ligresti family was arrested in a graft probe and in November family patriarch, veteran financier and insurance magnate Salvatore went on trial for alleged corruption along with former insurance watchdog Giancarlo Giannini.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 1 Mln Euro Fine to Four Potato Crisp Makers
Antitrust punishes firms for deceptive advertising
(ANSA) — Rome, February 17 — The anti-trust authority Tuesday fined four potato crisp makers a total of one million euros for “deceptive advertising” making untrue claims about nutritional or health-giving qualities or “boasting the home-made nature” of their products.
The four were San Carlo, Amica Chips, Pata and Ica Foods.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Truffles and Sardinian Cheese Target Arab Markets
Italian-Arab trade fair in Cagliari
(ANSAmed) — CAGLIARI, FEBRUARY 20 — The first Italian-Arab trade fair began on Friday afternoon at the cruise ship terminal of the Sardinian regional capital.
Meetings with Egyptian, Saudi and UAE representatives were held, and truffles, wine, oil, biscuits, coffee and Sardinian cheese were showcased and tasted. “For the moment we are selling our products,” said Laura Orgiana, who with her husband produces truffles from Nurallao in the Sarcidano sub-region, “in England, Umbria and Tuscany. The Arab market is a possibility for us. We are certain that truffles can easily go with their traditional dishes.” Lunch provided an opportunity for participants to try truffle paste spread on toasted bread. Cheese, especially those produced by the Nurri shepherds union, was also on display, as the export market is key for them and most presently goes to the US. Pecorino Sardo and Pecorino Romano were focused on, as well as mixed cheeses, Caprino and sheep meat. “We are interested in diversifying the market,” said Gianluigi Argiolas, deputy chief of the cooperative that counts some 700 members. “And this is an excellent opportunity.” He noted that “two years ago we started contacts with Libya for sheep meat and cheese. Then, after the latest events, everything was halted.” Olianas wine, which is exported to Switzerland, Germany, the US and Kazakhstan, is also showcased.
“For us,” said the company’s agronomist Enrico Menichelli, “this is a challenge and an interesting market.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jewish Myopia at Muslim Organized Solidarity Event in Oslo
by Jerry Gordon
Rabbi Melchior and Kohn exhibited myopia by their remarks. As we will see they are not alone among our co-religionists.
They didn’t heed the warnings by ancient Jewish Sage, Moses Maimonides, the Rambam, in his Epistle to the Jews of Yemen in 1172 C.E. about Islam and the Prophet Mohammed:
“After him (the biblical Esau) arose the Madman (ha-meshugga the Prophet Mohammed) who emulated his precursor since he paved the way for him. But he added the further objective of procuring rule and submission, and he invented his well known religion.”
“Remember, my co-religionists, that on account of the vast number of our sins, G-d has hurled us in the midst of this people, the Arabs, who have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us […] Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase and hate us as much as they. Therefore when David, of blessed memory, inspired by the holy spirit, envisaged the future tribulations of Israel, he bewailed and lamented their lot only in the Kingdom of Ishmael, and prayed in their behalf, for their deliverance, as is implied in the verse, “Woe is me that I sojourn with Meschech that I dwell beside the tents of Kedar.” (Psalms 120:5).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Media Hoax: 20 Muslims Holding Hands Become 1,000-Strong ‘Ring of Peace’ At Oslo Synagogue
The weekend’s feel-good story about a Muslim “ring of peace” formed to “protect” Jews at an Oslo synagogue turned out to be a complete fabrication by the mainstream media, according to an eyewitness report, local officials, and attendees’ photos.
According to a local eyewitness, only about 20 or so Muslims formed the “ring of peace” around the Oslo synagogue. In fact, pictures from multiple angles show that there wasn’t enough people to form a ring, so the locals instead formed a horizontal line in front of the synagogue.
A local news outlet explained how the media got to its “1,300 Muslims” number. “According to police, there were 1300 persons present in the event. Very many of them ethnic Norwegians,” read a translated report from Osloby.no.
Demonstrators also reportedly chanted, “No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia,” conflating criticism of Islam and hatred of Jews.
Photos pulled off of social media appear to corroborate the narrative that only twenty or so people formed the “peace ring.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Oslo Synagogue ‘Peace Ring’ Organizer Blamed Jews for 9/11
One of organizers of solidarity initiative retracts previous statement espousing anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, but reiterates ‘dislike’ for supporters of Israel.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Says Off-Books Hiring is ‘Grave Sin
Francis says employers cannot donate to Church using ‘injustice’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, February 20 — Pope Francis said Friday that employers who hire workers off the books to avoid paying taxes and social security contributions were committing a “very grave sin”. “You cannot make donations to the Church on the back of the injustice that you commit with your employees,” the Argentine pontiff said during a homily at the Saint Martha residence in the Vatican where he lives. “Using God to cover injustice is a very grave sin. “If you go to Mass on Sunday and take communion, you should ask: what is the relationship with your employees? Do you pay them off the books? Do you pay them a fair salary? Do you pay the pension contributions”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK Guilty of ‘Catastrophic Misreading’ Of Ukraine Crisis, Lords Report Claims
The UK is guilty of sleepwalking into the crisis in Ukraine and has not been as active or visible as it should be, according to a damning report into the British and European approach to the crisis by the main House of Lords committee on foreign affairs.
The report — the fullest evaluation of the Ukraine crisis to emerge from the British parliament — also finds that expertise within the Foreign Office towards Russia has diminished significantly, and according to the committee chairman, Lord Tugendhat, “led to a catastrophic misreading of the mood in the run-up to the crisis”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A killer who murdered his wife has been granted legal aid to fight for custody of her four children.
The man, known only as X, is serving a life sentence for the ‘particularly horrible’ murder of the children’s mother and has refused to have a paternity test to prove he is their father.
Judges at the Court of Appeal upheld a decision that DNA collected from the murder scene could not be used to prove paternity, so the issue of his and his family’s access to the children — aged between three and nine — will be decided without this evidence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Warning Over Toxic Fumes in Plane Cabins
Coroner investigating death of BA pilot says people regularly exposed to fumes in planes face ‘consequential damage to health’
A coroner has warned about the potentially fatal dangers of toxic fumes in plane cabins following an investigation into the death of a British Airways pilot.
Sheriff Stanhope Payne, the senior coroner for Dorset, has warned that those who are regularly exposed to fumes in planes face ‘consequential damage to their health’.
The warning comes in a report into the death of co-pilot Richard Westgate, who died aged 43 in December 2012.
His family are convinced that he was the victim of ‘aerotoxic syndrome’ and was poisoned to death by toxic fumes after suffering years of persistent headaches and chronic fatigue while working for BA.
Mr Payne, who is due to open the inquest into Mr Westgate’s death formally within the next two months, said that examinations of Mr Westgate’s body ‘disclosed symptoms consistent with exposure to organophosphate compounds in aircraft cabin air’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cairo-Alex Railways Halted After IED Blast
One IED bomb exploded and another was defused on the railways between Cairo and Alexandria near Karf al-Zayyat station early on Sunday.
Security authorities arrived at the scene in Gharbiya shortly after the explosion and cordoned off the area.
Trains were running again soon after the incident, though four trains were delayed slightly. No injuries have been reported.
Egypt has been witnessing a surge in bombings targeting security forces and public facilities since the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Coptic Christian Mother ‘Thanks’ ISIS Slaughterers of Son
The mother of Kyrillos (Cyrus), one of the 21 Coptic Christians recently butchered by the Islamic State in Libya, said in a recent interview that she forgives the Muslim murderers of her son—since he is now “with his Lord”—and prays that they see the light and turn from evil.
Said the mother of the 22-year-old martyr—one of the many Copts who testified the name of Christ seconds before their heads were cruelly hacked off: “My son is with his Lord. He wasn’t kidnapped. They always told me ‘your son has been kidnapped,’ but I said, ‘No, he is with the Lord.’“
When asked if she had any message for her son’s executioners, she said, “I thank you [for his martyrdom], may the Lord touch your hearts and light a way for you so you don’t end up in a bad place—light a way for you so you don’t end up in hell.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Copts Beheaded in Libya: The Families’ Calvary, The Pain of Muslims
The young men murdered by the Islamic State, where in Libya for work, many of them had waited to get married and were helping their relatives at home. The fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and wives of those killed are in shock. Many, unable to bear the news of the tragedy, have been hospitalized. The solidarity of the villages, of the Churches and the nation, which is increasingly united. The list of those killed. From our AsiaNews correspondent in Egypt. Part I.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — The news of the beheading of 21 young Egyptian Copts by the Islamic State (IS) in Libya has plunged Egypt into sorrow and mourning. The families of those killed remain prostrate in a suffering that is even physical, comforted by their communities in prayer. Many Muslims also share in their pain. It is clear, as pointed out by many thinkers and political leaders that the events resulted in unifying the nation more strongly. Today, former judge ‘Amr ‘Abel al-Raziq underlines that the population is strongly united with the army in any retaliation against the “barbarian killers’ bases” in Libya.
Public opinion in Egypt in general is strongly shocked by the Jazira TV stating that the Egyptian air strikes against Daesh in Libya made civilian and children victims. At this point, everybody around here is happy with the Qatari ambassador’s departure from Cairo, though it is not clear if he was called back by his government or if he is out of Egypt for more than one month for vacation.
On the other side the prevailing feeling is one of pride mixed with sorrow mainly for the victim’s families. Pride because the 21 Egyptians seen to have confronted death with courage as did the multitudinous Egyptian martyrs all along history since Pharaonic times, through Diocletianus martyrdom and Mamluks cruelty as well as that of the countries that occupied Egypt for centuries.
Since then, every Egyptian, and mainly Coptic ones, have a deeply rooted sense of martyrdom. Egyptians have been strongly religious for thousands of years and profound believers. This is even stronger in Upper Egypt and mainly in rural areas where Christian people have been confronted with many problems for more than four decades.
For weeks, the families of the victims have been considered to be “mourning in remission” since the pictures of their relatives wearing the orange suit of the people sentenced to death were published. They protested in front of the press union building and Saint-Mark cathedral: “We want our children dead or alive”.
Nader Shukry one of the relatives stated last week: “The problem started on the December 31 last when 7 Egyptians were kidnapped on their way back to the homeland’. On January 3, 13 others were taken. Last August, 5 other Coptic Egyptians were kidnapped in Libya. The Foreign Ministry here was only able to deal with Libyan tribe leaders”. Shukry also states that the families representatives were not allowed to meet with the Prime minister or the minister of Foreign Affairs, or even the Minya Governor.
Bedewy Samouïl and Ibrahim ‘Ayyad, each brothers of a victim, stated that all their families were living a nightmare for two months. The same with Mushrif Fawzy, a father of a victim. They have all appealed to the United Nations for a clear intervention as stated by their lawyer, Joseph Malk.
Father Sidrac Ghly, higoumen from Samallut bishopric, the area where the victims came from in Middle Egypt in the Minya Province, has been closely following the situation while Bishop Botros Fahîm, Catholic bishop of Minya declared three days of prayers and fasting before even learning about the victims brutal murder.
Stephanos Daoud, 60 years, and his wife have been weeping tears of sorrow for both their young children Bishoï, 25 years, and Samouïl, 22, two brothers who looked like twins who never wanted to be separated. Both father and mother were not able to follow the families to Cairo. They remained in sorrow within their village while their eldest son, Bashir, a rural farmer, came to Cairo wreaked by his total incapacity to protect his “two inseparable brothers that even death will not divide”.
Since last Monday when news of the awful fate of the victims beheading was confirmed, the five villages have been plunged into a terrible mourning, as well as Samallout, Minya, Cairo and all of Egypt. Many families members, unable to bear the reality, fainted. In the village of Al-’Our, in Samallout, the area where most of the victims came from, their mothers and wives have suffered terribly from the shock. Nessim Gably, from the village, reports that Smeh Salh Farouq, a widow passed out for a while holding her one year old baby.
A great number of the inhabitants have been taken to different hospitals in Samallout suffering mainly from blood pressure problems or sudden fainting.
Stephanos Daoud expressed the hope to receive the corpse of his two sons in order to allow them a proper funeral. This is the same hope for all families, but it will never be achieved since the assassins threw the bodies into the sea. While Teresa ‘Ateyyt Shehta, 60, mother of the victim Youssef Shukry Younan stated that her son was trying to get married and support his two sisters. In Matay, north of Samallout, Mounir ‘Adly Saad collapsed when learning of his son Gaber’s death.
Amba Paphnutios, the Coptic Orthodox bishop of Samallout decided immediately to organize prayers and masses for the victims while the neighbours have decided to put up tents in the village in order to gather the inhabitants and receive condolences.
Here are the names of the victims:
– Louq Nagti Anis ‘Abdou, 27 years, married, with a baby of 9 months;
– ‘Essm Baddr Samir Is’hq, bachelor; both for al-Gabaly village;
– Smeh Salh Farouq, married, one child, from Manqariûs village;
– ‘Ezzat Boshra Nassîf, married, with one son of 4 years, from Dafash village;
– Gber Mounîr ‘Adly Saad, bachelor from Menbl village;
– Mîna Shehta ‘Awad, from Al-Farouqeyya village.
And from Al-’Our village:
– Hny ‘Abdal-Massîh Salîb, married, three daughters and one son;
– Guergues Mild Sanyût, bachelor;
– Tawadraus Youssef Tawadraus, married, three children from 7 to 13 years old;
– Kyrillos Boschra Fawzy, bachelor;
– Mgued Solimn Shehata, married, two daughters and a son;
– Mîna Fyez ‘Azîz, bachelor;
– Samouïl Alham Wilson, married, three children, 6, 4 and 2 years old;
– Bishoï Stephanos Kmel, bachelor;
– Samouïl Stephanos Kmel, brother of the latter, bachelor;
– Malk Abrm Sanyût, married, three children;
– Mild Makîn Zaky, married, one daughter;
– Abnûb ‘Ayyd ‘Ateyya Shehta, bachelor;
– Guergues Samîr Megally Zkher, bachelor;
– Youssef Shukry Younn, bachelor;
– Malk Farag Ibrhîm, married, a baby daughter.
(end of Part I)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ENI Aims to Keep Libya Oil Production at Current Levels
(AGI) Rome, Feb 20 — Keeping oil output in Libya at current levels of about 300 thousand barrels per day would be a good result for this year, said the CEO of Eni, Claudio Descalzi. On receiving Staffetta Quotidiana’s Man of the Year 2014 award, he said: “What counts most of all is the safety of our staff, and following international safety standards in production. These terrorist attacks worry us. We fully support the talks under the United Nations umbrella that will hopefully lead to results quickly. We believe that for the good of the Libyan people, who have always been friends of Italy, it is essential to continue a diplomatic dialogue. That is the only way to a solution. We must hurry because these attacks are undermining the dialogue.
A united Libya should be everyone’s goal,” he concluded.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The US Navy, Marines, And Army (Sort of) In Libya — 1805
Nearly a thousand years after Islamists attacked Rome and desecrated the Tomb of St. Peter (846 AD) America got its turn at bat against Muslims during the 1st Barbary War (1801-1805). Fighting Muslims overseas no doubt helped to build the very fabric of our nation—thanks for the leg up, Islam.
Stephen Decatur’s raid on Tripoli’s harbor is arguably the most famous deed of that war, but for my money the lesser known Battle of Derne (Derna) is the more spectacular exploit.
The attack on Derne was the brainchild of William Eaton, who as a 19-year-old served as a sergeant in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War…
Let me describe a bit of the backstory to the Battle of Derne in order to set the scene…
[Comment: Recommended reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Mayor Apprehends Palestinian Who Stabbed Israeli
A young Palestinian stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jew in Jerusalem on Sunday before being apprehended by the city’s mayor and his bodyguard, police and the municipality said.
Mayor Nir Barkat said that as he was driving past city hall, his team saw “a terrorist with a knife”.
“Along with my bodyguard we immediately jumped out of the car,” Barkat said in a statement.
“He (the guard) drew his gun and aimed at him — we grabbed the terrorist until the police arrived,” he said, adding that they also gave the stabbing victim first aid…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Jerusalem Mayor, Bodyguards Subdue Terrorist
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat was present at the scene of Sunday’s terror attack in which an ultra-Orthodox man was stabbed. Together with the mayor, his security guard helped subdue the terrorist, a 18-year-old Arab teen.
Security footage of the event shows Barkat (in white shirt) lunge at the terrorist who walks into the junction after stabbing the Israeli man.
Barkat told reporters that he had been on his way to the office when his guards spotted a commotion. “We saw a terrorist with a knife standing and looking for the next thing to do,” he said.
He described how a guard cocked his weapon, causing the attacker to drop his knife and allowing Barkat and his guards to overpower him. “It’s clear to me that if the terrorist had continued stabbing, he would not be alive right now. But because he dropped the knife we overpowered the terrorist, and I hope he is punished appropriately.”
Asaf Na’amani, the guard who drew his gun, recalled: “From the moment we jumped out of the car, I noticed a terrorist armed with knife trying to cross the street. I told him to drop the knife; he froze in place and then dropped it. The mayor and I jumped on him and wrestled him to the ground. In our world, there’s no such thing as hesitation — there’s only yes or no.”
[Looks a bit bit better than Bill deBlasio, doesn’t he? — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
‘Flagrant Aggression: ‘ Damascus Livid After Turkey’s Incursion Onto Syrian Soil
The Syrian government has said a Turkish incursion into the north of the country was an act of “flagrant aggression.” Damascus said it would hold Ankara responsible after they went into Syria to evacuate personnel and relics from a holy tomb.
Syria said the Turkish government had informed the Syrian consulate in Istanbul about its plans regarding the tomb of Suleyman Shah in northern Syria. Shah was the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
However, Turkey didn’t wait for permission from Damascus and mounted a rescue operation to the tomb, to salvage its relics and evacuate 40 Turkish soldiers who had been guarding it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gulf Bloc Backtracks on Criticism of Egypt in Qatar Row
The Gulf Cooperation Council has backtracked on criticism of Egypt in its row with bloc member Qatar over Libya, in a move a Saudi-owned daily said Friday reflected divisions among member states.
GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani had issued a statement on Thursday rebuking Egypt for accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism in Libya because of reservations it expressed about Egyptian air strikes earlier this week.
But late in the evening, Zayani issued a new statement disavowing the earlier one and insisting all six member states fully supported Cairo in its intervention in its lawless western neighbour.
…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Has Made Many Enemies, But it May be Saved by Their Inability to Unite
Islamic State is still receiving significant financial support from Arab sympathisers outside Iraq and Syria, enabling it to expand its war effort, says a senior Kurdish official.
The US has being trying to stop such private donors in the Gulf oil states sending to Islamic State (Isis) funds that help pay the salaries of fighters who may number well over 100,000.
Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of the Kurdish President, Massoud Barzani, told The Independent on Sunday: “There is sympathy for Da’esh (the Arabic acronym for IS, also known as Isis) in many Arab countries and this has translated into money — and that is a disaster.” He pointed out that until recently financial aid was being given more or less openly by Gulf states to the opposition in Syria — but by now most of these rebel groups have been absorbed into IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate, so it is they “who now have the money and the weapons”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Effort to Promote Open Society Abroad in Tatters
Austria was enthusiastic when Saudi Arabia said it was ready to bankroll a center for religious and cultural understanding in Vienna — but two years after its launch, the desert kingdom’s foray into promoting a more open society abroad while continuing to repress rights at home is in tatters.
Its vice president, a former Austrian justice minister, has quit over comments interpreted as downplaying Saudi beheadings. And the center’s silence over the flogging of a Saudi blogger for criticizing Islam has drawn weekly street protests and condemnation from Austria’s chancellor — who said the nation “will not tolerate” the center’s refusal to repudiate Saudi human rights violations.
“I believe that the center needs to be done away with,” said demonstrator Norbert Brandl outside the turn of the century downtown palace housing KAICIID — the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue. “Either that or it has to speak up against these unbelievable incidents.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Men Reportedly Detained for Dancing at Birthday Party
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s morality police detained a group of young men for dancing at a birthday party and referred them to prosecutors, according to a state-linked media report.
The news website Ayn al-Youm reported Saturday that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice raided a private property in the city of Buraydah, arresting the men inside for “loud music and inappropriate dancing.”
Buraydah is the provincial capital of Saudi Arabia’s Qassim province, which is home to some of the kingdom’s most conservative clerics, who practice a strict interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism.
An unnamed official told the website that when members of the morality police raided the private property, they found the young men in “a comprising situation in their dance and shameful movements.” The official said there was also a cake and candles to celebrate one of the men’s birthdays.
[Quelle horreur! — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Military Evacuates Troops at Ottoman Tomb in Syria
The Turkish military has carried out a successful operation to evacuate soldiers guarding an Ottoman tomb in Syria. One soldier is said to have been killed during the mission that Syria said would have repercussions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
“Prepare for Full-Scale War” Says Ukraine Deputy Foreign Minister — Videos
I have been sitting on close to a dozen videos describing the massive damage in military equipment in the latest separatist surge.
For a description, but no videos, please see Debaltsevsky Under Rebel Control, Boiler Remains; What’s Next?
I saw no need to post videos because to me it was pretty obvious this was a repeat of the devastating defeat of Ukraine last August in the Battle of Ilovaisk in which Ukrainian forces refused an offer to exit encirclement by leaving behind equipment.
Ukraine Lie of the Day
Today Ukrainian “Antiterrorist Operation” spokesman Andrei Lysenko says Since 2015 Ukraine Destroyed Nearly 3,000 Militants.
I have no idea how many separatists were killed, but the rest of the claim in the body of the article is preposterous.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Blast Rips Through 500-Strong Rally in Kharkov, E. Ukraine, Fatalities Feared
At least three people have been killed in an explosion in the center of Kharkov, Ukraine, during a peace march, local media report. Around 500 people had gathered in the center of the Kiev-controlled city for a rally.
Those marching in the front were hurt, with Tass reporting from the scene that at least 10 people sustained injuries and three others were killed. Other outlets speak of four and eight casualties.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dailykos’s Cover-up of Obama’s Ukrainian Atrocities
Generally speaking, the falsely-called ‘liberal’ (some even call it ‘progressive’) website dailykos has ignored President Barack Obama’s coup a year ago in Ukraine, which violently overthrew that country’s unpopular but democratically elected President and replaced him with a racist-fascist (i.e., ideologically nazi) anti-Russian regime. It’s a regime that quickly set to work on a euphemistically called ‘Anti Terrorist Operation’ in its far-eastern region Donbass, where the voters had voted 90% for the very same man whom Obama’s State Department and CIA had just overthrown — an ‘Anti Terrorist Operation’ that kills its ‘Terrorists’ (i.e., the residents there) en-masse by firebombing, cluster-bombing, and shelling, the cities, towns, and villages, throughout the region. If those people survive and vote in future Ukrainian national elections, the nazi regime that Obama installed will be voted out of power; Obama’s 2014 Ukrainian coup will have been for naught. This is why he demands extermination, doesn’t object to it at all.
(NOTE: I request here that anyone who disagrees with anything in that paragraph, please first click onto the link or links to what’s being objected to in it, and check out that cited evidence there, before posting a reader-comment objecting to what is already shown in those links to be the case. And, if a person still questions whether Obama perpetrated a coup in Ukraine last year, then additional citations that should be checked out, before posting a reader-comment objecting to it, are: this and this and this and this. Disagreements should be on the facts, nothing else. Thanks for considering that.)
Here are typical examples of how this ‘liberal’ (or even some fools call it ‘progressive’) site, dailykos, has ‘reported’ on these events during the past year. (And, please consider that all of these articles were published after the U.S. President whom that site supports had already installed in Ukraine, via a violent coup, an outright exterminationist nazi regime; and, that this is supposed to be a ‘liberal,’ or even ‘progressive,’ ‘news’ site — this site that hides its hero’s nazism, is supposed to be taken as being instead liberal, or even progressive.)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poroshenko’s Army is Too Weak to Control Eastern Ukraine — German Media
The German magazine “Focus” described three possible scenarios for further development of the events in Ukraine.
Poroshenko’s army has little chance to control the Eastern Ukraine as it is too weak to rebuff militias’ attacks, the German magazine “Focus” reported.
The magazine suggests three scenarios for further developments of the situation in Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s New Armata Tank on Army 2015 Shopping List
Russian troops are receiving beta versions of a future armored tracked platform that could usher in the 5th generation conventional land tank, heavy APC, artillery and missile launcher and possibly fully robotic assault armored vehicle.
After five years of development, the Uralvagonzavod Research and Production Corporation has finalized manufacture of the first batch of Armata tanks and heavy personnel carriers. They have been included in Russia’s 2015 defense order, TASS said.
Reportedly, 20 units have already been manufactured and issued to troops for hands-on training.
The exact characteristics and appearance of the platform remain classified, though this might soon change as the new vehicles are on the verge of taking part in the Victory Day Parade on Red Square, May 9 this year.
A better chance to see these innovative battle vehicles of the future might be given to experts and public alike during Russia Arms Expo 2015 (September 9-12, Nizhniy Tagil).
Screenshot from youtube.com video
Mark this name: Armata
The new Armata armored tracked platform has reportedly combined and assimilated all the last decade’s major developments and innovations in battle vehicle design and construction.
The platform’s chief tank (T-14) sports an unmanned remotely controlled turret armed with a brand new 125 mm 2A82-1M smoothbore cannon. Its muzzle energy is greater than one of the world’s previously considered best cannons: the German Leopard-2 Rheinmetall 120 mm gun.
The 125 mm gun has 15-20 percent improved accuracy and its rolling fire angular dispersion has improved 1.7 times.
According to Russian media, the Armata tank might also come with a specially developed 152 mm gun, the most powerful ever cannon to be mounted on a main battle tank.
The tank’s turret will also carry a 30 mm sub-caliber ranging gun to deal with various targets, including low-flying aerial targets, such as attack planes and helicopters.
A 12.5 mm turret-mounted heavy machine gun is reportedly capable of taking out incoming projectiles, such as anti-tank missiles. It’s capable of neutralizing shells approaching at speeds of up to 3,000 meters per second.
The tank’s crew is securely enclosed in a multi-layer armored capsule separated from the ammunition container. The vehicle is fully computerized and only needs two servicemen to operate it. Each can also deploy the tank’s weapon systems.
The tank’s targeting is reportedly done with an active-phased array antenna and a large variety of other sensors.
The Armata platform allegedly has a fully mechanized electric transmission, powered by a 1,200 HP diesel engine. For greater efficiency, maintenance and repair schedules have been extended.
Within its blueprint, the Armata armored vehicle has the potential to evolve into a fully robotic battle vehicle.
According to preliminary estimates, 2,300 units are required for the Russian army.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda ‘Oath of Allegiance’ Revealed at Trial for Alleged Manchester Terror Plotter
An “oath of allegiance” for jihadists recovered from the Pakistan compound of Osama bin Laden has been revealed for the first time in the terror trial of an alleged al-Qaeda operative accused of plotting to blow up a Manchester shopping centre.
The pledge of loyalty for al-Qaeda recruits was among documents seized by US special forces during the raid to kill the al-Qaeda mastermind. It is the first time documents seized form the Abbottabad compound have been used as evidence against al-Qaeda suspects.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Chief Reviews Plans to Shut Kandahar Base
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter headed to southern Afghanistan on Sunday to review plans to withdraw US forces in a volatile area that has long preoccupied American commanders.
In his first visit abroad days after he took over as US defence secretary, Carter met senior officers and troops at Kandahar airfield, a key base that hosts US special forces and advisers as well as helicopters and other aircraft.
After talks in Kabul with President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday, Carter made clear that President Barack Obama’s administration was considering slowing down a planned timetable for a troop pullout.
The current plan would reduce the existing force of more than 10,000 to about 5,500 by the end of the year, and then pull out all troops in two years’ time — when Obama’s term ends…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Fresh Leak of Highly Radioactive Water Detected at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
Sensors at the Fukushima nuclear plant have detected a fresh leak of highly radioactive water into the sea.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the sensors, which were rigged to a gutter that pours rain and ground water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant to a nearby bay, detected contamination levels up to 70 times greater than the already-high radioactive status seen at the plant campus.
TEPCO said its emergency inspections of tanks storing nuclear waste water did not find any additional abnormalities, but the firm said it shut the gutter to prevent radioactive water from going into the Pacific Ocean.
The higher-than-normal levels of contamination were detected on Sunday, with sensors showing radiation levels 50 to 70 times greater than usual.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Authorities Got 18 Warning Calls About Sydney Jihadist Before His Attack
A national security hotline received 18 calls about the self-styled cleric Man Haron Monis just days before he took 18 people hostage at a cafe in Sydney, a report into the siege has revealed.
The calls between December 9 and December 12 last year all concerned offensive material on his Facebook page.
Three days later he was shot dead by police, ending the 17-hour siege which left two hostages dead.
It was later revealed the Iranian-born attacker, who had long been known to security services, was out on bail at the time of the attack for a string of charges.
Releasing the government’s report — the first since the siege — Prime Minister Tony Abbott admitted “the system” had let the public down.
“Plainly, this monster should not have been in our community,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
“He shouldn’t have been allowed into the country. He shouldn’t have been out on bail. He shouldn’t have been with a gun. And he shouldn’t have become radicalised.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sydney Siege: 18 Warning Calls Before Attack:
Australia’s Prime Minister admits “the system let us down” as the government releases the first report into the Sydney siege.
A national security hotline received 18 calls about the self-styled cleric Man Haron Monis just days before he took 18 people hostage at a cafe in Sydney, a report into the siege has revealed.
The calls between December 9 and December 12 last year all concerned offensive material on his Facebook page.
Three days later he was shot dead by police, ending the 17-hour siege which left two hostages dead.
It was later revealed the Iranian-born attacker, who had long been known to security services, was out on bail at the time of the attack for a string of charges.
Releasing the government’s report — the first since the siege — Prime Minister Tony Abbott admitted “the system” had let the public down.
“Plainly, this monster should not have been in our community,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
“He shouldn’t have been allowed into the country. He shouldn’t have been out on bail. He shouldn’t have been with a gun. And he shouldn’t have become radicalised.”
[…]
The Prime Minister said the report showed the balance between individual freedom and community protection needed to be reassessed, possible foreshadowing tighter immigration controls.
“Precisely where we draw the line in the era of terrorism will have to be reconsidered and the line may have to be redrawn,” he said.
[The balance between individual freedom and community protection? How about the balance between generosity to Muslims and community protection? — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Slaughter Christians, Try to Burn Them Alive in Churches Over Muhammad Cartoons
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
More details on the “collective punishment” of Niger’s Christians in response to Charlie Hebdo Muhammad cartoons recently appeared.
According to a nun who escaped the violence, forty churches were torched and ten people slaughtered. She further added that “the intention was to torch all the churches with us inside them on Christmas Day and thus burn us alive!” This never came to pass but with the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, an excuse was found (as discussed here, “collective punishment” is often an excuse—in this case, ludicrously blaming Niger’s Christians for the actions of Parisian atheists—to kill Christians).
Concluded the nun: “Boko Haram students believe they must kill Christians in order to take their place in paradise but we won’t surrender to fear because love must prevail over hatred.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Young Girl Suicide Bomber Kills Several in Northeastern Nigeria
A girl witnesses estimated to be no more than eight years old has carried out a suicide bombing in northeastern Nigeria. The use of female suicide bombers has been a common tactic of Boko Haram Islamist militants.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Half a Million Protest Against Kirchner in Argentina
(AGI) Buenos Aires, Feb 19 — Hundreds of thousands of people, as high as 500,000 according to some local police estimates, have taken to the streets in Buenos Aires in a colossal protest against President Cristina Kirchner. Federal police gave a far lower estimate of 50,000. The demonstration, held with symbolic silence, is taking place a month after the death of Alberto Nisman, a public prosecutor who accused Kirchner of covering up a 1994 terrorist attack against a Jewish centre. Among those who braved the heavy rain that battered the capital during the protest were Nisman’s two daughters, aged 15 and 7, and his ex-wife, judge Sandra Arroyo Delgado. They were recognised and applauded by the crowd. The government called the protest a “soft coup” generated by those who seek to destabilise the government. In a televised speech aired hours before the march, Kirchner said Nisman’s allegations were an attempt to involve Argentina in the Middle East. “I ask you to open wide your eyes. I am not talking about conspiracies. It is a world of interests that want to subordinate others,” she said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 23 Arrested in Drug Smuggling and Fake-Marriage Crime Ring
Hashish trafficked from Morocco, Italians wed illegal immigrants
(ANSA) — Rome, February 16 — Police in Varese, about an hour northwest of Milan, arrested 23 people on Monday in connection with a drug smuggling ring in northern Italy that also organized marriages between Italian citizens and illegal immigrants for acquiring Italian stay permits.
Investigators said the group mainly trafficked in hashish, which drug mules from Morocco swallowed in ovules and brought into Italy through Milan’s Malpensa airport.
The crime ring also organized marriages between illegal immigrants and Italian citizens to provide the foreigners, many with prior criminal records, with an Italian stay permit, according to investigators.
Investigators discovered 33 of these marriages contracted since investigations began in late 2013, with the illegal immigrants being charged as much as 12,000 euros and the Italian “spouses” being paid around 3,000 euros for participating.
The criminal organization handled all the bureaucratic details and also organized wedding ceremonies in Morocco or Italy, along with wedding banquets to make the marriage seem more authentic, and provided apartments where the couple could live for a few months before legally separating. Investigators said one Italian woman forced her 23-year-old daughter to marry a Moroccan, and the mother herself married a man from North Africa.
In all, 94 people received police citations as a result of the investigations, including most of the Italians who married illegal immigrants, cited for aiding illegal immigration.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Loving Couple Banned From Adopting… Because Husband Had ‘E-Cigarette’
Social workers have barred a couple from adopting a child after the would-be father was seen smoking an e-cigarette.
The decision came after the pair had passed a long series of tests to qualify as parents, and had earlier paid for expensive fertility treatment, which failed.
They were told they could not adopt if either of them had used an e-cigarette in the past 12 months — despite experts saying that “vaping” poses little or no threat to children in the home.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Progressive Ideas Behind the Lack of Free Speech on Campus
[…]
How did we get here? How did a verbal defense of free speech become tantamount to a hate crime and offensive words become the equivalent of physical assaults?
You can credit — or blame — progressives for this enthusiastic embrace of censorship. It reflects, in part, the influence of three popular movements dating back decades: the feminist anti-porn crusades, the pop-psychology recovery movement and the emergence of multiculturalism on college campuses.
[…]
I remember the first time, in the early ‘90s, that I heard a Harvard student describe herself as oppressed, as a woman of color. She hadn’t been systematically deprived of fundamental rights and liberties. After all, she’d been admitted to Harvard. But she had been offended and unsettled by certain attitudes and remarks. Did she have good reason to take offense? That was an irrelevant question. Popular therapeutic culture defined verbal “assaults” and other forms of discrimination by the subjective, emotional responses of self-proclaimed victims.
This reliance on subjectivity, in the interest of equality, is a recipe for arbitrary, discriminatory enforcement practices, with far-reaching effects on individual liberty. The tendency to take subjective allegations of victimization at face value — instrumental in contemporary censorship campaigns — also leads to the presumption of guilt and disregard for due process in the progressive approach to alleged sexual assaults on campus.
This is a dangerously misguided approach to justice. “Feeling realities” belong in a therapist’s office. Incorporated into laws and regulations, they lead to the soft authoritarianism that now governs many American campuses. Instead of advancing equality, it’s teaching future generations of leaders the “virtues” of autocracy.
[Which, for the American left, is just fine — because autocracy is its ultimate goal. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Three-Parent Babies Could Risk the Future of the Human Race, Warn 55 Italian MPs
The group of Italian politicians have called on the House of Lords to reject a law to allow so-called three-parent babies — stating the notion “cannot possibly be contained within the confines of the United Kingdom”.
The stern warning comes after MPs in Britain voted overwhelmingly in favour of the controversial technique of mitochondrial donation — which would allow children to be conceived with genetic material from a trio of individuals.
In a strongly worded letter to The Times, the Italian Mps wrote that the legalisation of such a technique “could have uncontrollable and unforeseeable consequences, affecting future generations and modifying genetic heritage in an irreversible way, inevitably affecting the human species as a whole”.
[Comment: The Italian MPs are right.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Behavior as a Communist School Subject
I found a photograph of my second grade classroom with students in dark uniforms, mostly devoid of smiles, with sad and serious faces. It is a depressing moment in time that speaks volumes of the strict disciplinarian code enforced in communist schools.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ah yes, the great moralistic fallacy of “gun-free zones”, brought to you by public ignorance of what the term “moralistic fallacy” even means.
I wonder if Common Core contains any mandates to teach anything about logical fallacies or errors in reasoning? Who wants to take a bet that the answer is no?
Jonathan Grubers of the world rejoice!
And who wants to take a bet that if there is an attack that most of the public will still know neither the term nor the concept of moralistic fallacy, even given such irrefutable and spectacular proof of it?
Then again if a bomb goes off instead of gunshots, it’ll probably be proposed that it happened because there was no “explosive device free zone” sign.
Yes, Jeh. We will all be vigilant when we go to the mall while you give Muslims a voice-to use your words.
Thanks for the “heads up” Jeh..As if we didn’t know already..