Tonight’s PEGIDA march in Frankfurt ended in violence, as left-wing activists attacked the demonstrators at the conclusion of the march. About 80 PEGIDA protesters took part, and the march proceeded peacefully in an area cordoned off by police. However, when the marchers started towards the main railway station, they were attacked by about 1,000 Antifa community organizers, who threw bottles and rocks at the police and the marchers. One female demonstrator was seriously injured.
Meanwhile, in transnormative gender news, Swedish activists are advocating gender-neutral toilets by pasting stickers over restroom signs that say “men” or “women”.
In other news, the euro continued to decline against the dollar, falling to $1.07, a twelve-year low. Now’s the time to book a trip to Europe, folks! Just avoid the no-go zones and Swedish restrooms, and you’ll be fine.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to DS, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, K, Papa Whiskey, RL, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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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.
10-Year Italian Bond Yield Falls to New Record Lows
Spread with German Bund ends the day slightly higher
(ANSA) — Rome, March 10 — The yield on Italy’s 10-year bond fell on Tuesday to a new record low of 1.21% while the spread between it and its German counterpart edged slightly higher to close at 98 basis points.
On Monday, the spread was 96 basis points.
Interest rates on both nations’ bonds fell Tuesday following the beginning of the European Central Bank (ECB) quantitative easing program involving massive bond purchases by central banks. The spread between Italy’s BTP and the German Bund has often been used as a measure of investor confidence in Italy compared with the ultra-safe German paper.
During the sovereign debt crisis, Italian yields soared and the spread with Germany rose about 500 basis points.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Euro Sinks Close to 12-Year Low Versus Dollar
The euro tumbled Tuesday towards a 12-year dollar low, hit by eurozone stimulus, growing US rate hike speculation and Greek debt concerns, dealers said.
In morning London deals, the European single currency sank to $1.0735 — the lowest level since mid-April 2003. The region’s stock markets were lower.
“The US dollar scored multi-year highs … amid starkly diverging outlooks for interest rates globally,” said analyst Daniel Sugarman at trading firm ETX Capital.
The shared eurozone unit continues to flounder one day after the European Central Bank launched its 1.1-trillion-euro ($1.2-trillion) quantitative easing (QE) stimulus “bazooka”.
The dollar neared an eight-year high against the yen as dealers bet on an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve after bright US payrolls data.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: First Drop in Industrial Output in 25 Months
After 2.5% year-on-year growth in December
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 9 — Three months ahead of crucial June elections, Turkstat has released data showing that Turkey’s industrial production dropped by 2.2% on the year in January.
Then decline was the first seen in 25 months, after annual growth of 2.5% in December.
The period is a delicate one for the Turkish economy, with a weak lira that has dropped 12% against the dollar over the past two months — mostly due to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attacks on the central bank — and unemployment up at about 10%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Enemy of the United States’ Enemy
By Barak Mendelsohn
More so than during the bin Laden era, al Qaeda’s cohesiveness depends on the ability of its leadership to hold the various franchises together, and it is unclear whether al Qaeda can endure another succession since al Qaeda’s veteran leaders have dwindled considerably in recent years, making it more dependent on old guard figures such as Zawahiri to maintain unity. As such, the group’s fate may depend on Zawahiri’s personal survival. It is certainly ironic that at this point, when the United States is the closest it has ever been to destroying al Qaeda, its interests would be better served by keeping the terrorist organization afloat and Zawahiri alive.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ATF Shelves Controversial Bullet Ban Proposal
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is shelving a proposal to ban a popular but highly lethal type of bullet, amid opposition from gun-rights advocates and hundreds of members of Congress.
The agency said in a statement on Tuesday it would not seek to issue the final guidelines “at this time.” The proposal pertained to M855 “green tip” ammunition, used in the AR-15 rifle, which regulators looked at banning because it can pierce police body armor.
The ATF said it would instead wait until Americans have finished commenting on the federal regulations and evaluate their comments and suggestions before “proceeding with any framework.”
The statement follows 52 senators and 238 House members joining in opposition to any attempt the Obama administration might make to ban the ammo.
“This attack on the Second Amendment is wrong and should be overturned,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who started the petition. “A clear, sizeable majority of the House agrees.”
Armor-piercing ammunition for handguns has been banned since 1986 as a way to protect police officers.
The agency also said the decision was based on the “overwhelming interest in this issue and the issues raised in the comments received.”
The ATF said it has received more than 80,000 public comments and that an overwhelming number were critical of the proposal.
[Barry Hussein and his mob will be back, and with something worse. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Ebola Survivors Offer Clues to Body’s Virus Defences
Immune responses of four people treated in a US hospital yield useful data for developing vaccines.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gov. Palin: I Faced Tough Questions Over Email, So Should Hillary Clinton
by Sarah Palin
The latest Obama administration scandal involving Hillary Clinton’s emails has many Americans discussing private email accounts used by government officials, and clarification is in order.
It’s appropriate and proper for a politician to use private email for personal and campaign business. This is what I did as governor of Alaska in order to be in compliance with the law, which requires that personal or campaign business not be conducted using public resources such as a government email account. There is a firm line separating the two.
However, that’s not what we see with this Clinton email scandal. As Secretary of State under Obama, Hillary Clinton used private email accounts on a privately maintained server 100 percent of the time for 100 percent government business. That’s unethical, no doubt illegal, and flies in the face of all claims of transparency. Hillary Clinton and her staff weren’t trying to be in compliance with the law; they were skirting it altogether.
| — Hat tip: DS | [Return to headlines] |
Hillary Clinton’s Latest Scandal Only the Tip of the Iceberg
In an exclusive news report, this reporter described another suspicious link in a chain of events following the Benghazi massacre that cost the lives of four Americans including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. However, with the latest Hillary Clinton firestorm regarding an authorized — possibly illegal — use of a non-State Department email system including a privately installed Internet server, that Examiner story may be part of the latest in a long line of Hillary Clinton’s deceptions.
While still serving as Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s staff were involved in “hanky panky” as part of damage control for their boss prior to her appearance before lawmakers investigating the Benghazi terrorist attack that occurred on Sept. 11, 2012. They were instructed to set aside any documents that would hurt Clinton politically and not turn them over to the Accountability Review Board (ARB) that was investigating the alleged missteps by the Obama administration especially those by the State Department, according a report on Monday by former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.
While Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill were hobnobbing with Democrats in Iowa, a former Clinton assistant, Ray Maxwell revealed to reporters that State Department cronies beholding to Secretary Clinton were instructed to sift through documents in a “secret” operation conducted in the headquarters’ basement. The goal was to exclude anything that might point to Clinton’s mismanagement of embassy security especially in nations that were involved in conflicts with radical Muslims such as Egypt, Iraq and Libya.
During Clinton’s tenure, Maxwell was a high-ranking deputy in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), which was ordered to collect any and all documents regarding the Benghazi terrorist attack.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Security Badges Missing From Atlanta Airport
Hundreds of ID badges that let airport workers roam the nation’s busiest hub have been stolen or lost in the last two years, an NBC News investigation has found.
While experts say the missing tags are a source of concern because they could fall into the wrong hands, officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport insist they don’t pose “a significant security threat.”
The wayward badges came to light when NBC-DFW asked airports across the country to reveal how many of them were unaccounted for. Only one, Atlanta, provided numbers before the Transportation Security Administration blocked the release of more data.
But at that single airport, where almost 60,000 people work, some 1,400 badges that allow employees to access secure areas like runways and boarding gates have gone missing over roughly two years.
“It’s very, very serious. Without question,” said Larry Wansley, who headed corporate security for American Airlines until 2004 and still consults for airports.
Experts noted that the badge alone would not allow a worker to access areas off limits to the public. Major airports also use biometric screening and PIN numbers at entry points.
“Badges are deactivated as soon as they are reported lost or stolen,” the Atlanta airport said in a statement.
“Secured areas of the airport can only be accessed with a valid badge and PIN, and each badge has a photo of the employee on it. Due to these safeguards, we do not believe that lost or stolen badges pose a significant security threat to the airport.”
There is no guarantee a lost or stolen security card will be reported immediately. At Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport, one set of lost employee credentials were not deactivated for three days because the worker was “hoping someone would turn them in,” according to police reports obtained by NBC-DFW…
| [Return to headlines] |
All history reveals when a nation is virtually bankrupt and there is dissatisfaction among the people the only solution is to engage in a war. This is how we found the U.S. under Democrat President FDR. In mid-1940s the U.S., following the pattern of Germany and Italy, began preparations for just such a catastrophe. By a series of provocations and finally by pulling the entire Pacific fleet into Pearl Harbor (an unheard of maneuver) the Japanese were encouraged to bomb the U.S. Naval station in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941.[1]
War was declared and unlimited deficit financing by our U.S. government took place. For a time everyone was working; high wages prevailed because of the method of awarding government contracts on a cost-plus basis and the paying of higher wages to attract workers to defense industries. The government provided high support prices on farm commodities and the farmers’ income reached an all-time high. While rations were imposed upon the people by dishonest government officials, our country had over-production that was beyond the imagination (exactly opposite of the 1930s) when government had farmers plow the corn under, kill the pigs, etc. at a time millions were hungry. The next move — public works programs. Pay the farmers for doing nothing.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Monkey Virus Escapes Tulane Labs
David Knight takes the studio for Alex Jones and breaks down how Tulane University is once more involved with the release of a bio-weapon.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
School Secretly Vaccinates Teen Girl Without Consent
A mom in Chicago is furious after her teen daughter received several vaccinations at school without her consent.
Michelle Miller says she believed a form she signed gave her 16-year-old daughter’s school permission to conduct nothing more than a routine sports physical.
But student Noelle Miller ended up receiving multiple vaccinations, one for chicken pox, Hepatitis A, meningitis and the sexually transmitted disease HPV, none of which Noelle’s mom had consented to, save the chicken pox shot.
“When I looked at that I flipped out,” Miller said regarding her daughter’s immunization records.
A source inside Chicago Public Schools says the mother did indeed sign a form consenting to the vaccines, according to CBS 2 Chicago, but the mom disputes that saying she only signed up for the state required immunizations.
“Only for the state requirements for a Chicago Public Schools student and only chicken pox fell in that category,” Miller said.
A spokesperson for the Norwegian-American Hospital, who ran the care van that administered the shots, couldn’t comment to CBS 2 on the specific case, but said it requires a consent form for every vaccine administered.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Secession? Hell No! Revolution? Hell Yes!
By Servando Gonzalez
We have to condemn publicly the very idea that some people have the right to repress others. In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers … we are ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations. —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Speaking on February 20 at the Mises Institute, an organization he created, during an event called “Breaking Away: The Case for Secession,” Ron Paul strongly advocated for secession as a solution for America’s problems:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Shock Video: Former Dem Candidate Calls for ‘Armed Militants’ During WI Anti-Right to Work Protest
Union protesters proved once again they are unable to replicate the massive crowds generated during Wisconsin’s historic 2011 Act 10 debate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Snoop Dogg Joins Campaign to Stop Investments Into Gun Companies
“Talk to your financial adviser about how to divest your retirement savings from the gun industry.”
[Comment: Pawn of the banksters.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Stop Spying on Wikipedia Users
By Jimmy Wales and Lila Tretikov
SAN FRANCISCO — TODAY, we’re filing a lawsuit against the National Security Agency to protect the rights of the 500 million people who use Wikipedia every month. We’re doing so because a fundamental pillar of democracy is at stake: the free exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Our lawsuit says that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance of Internet traffic on American soil — often called “upstream” surveillance — violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects the right to privacy, as well as the First Amendment, which protects the freedoms of expression and association. We also argue that this agency activity exceeds the authority granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress amended in 2008.
Most people search and read Wikipedia anonymously, since you don’t need an account to view its tens of millions of articles in hundreds of languages.
[…]
The notion that the N.S.A. is monitoring Wikipedia’s users is not, unfortunately, a stretch of the imagination. One of the documents revealed by the whistle-blower Edward J. Snowden specifically identified Wikipedia as a target for surveillance, alongside several other major websites like CNN.com, Gmail and Facebook. The leaked slide from a classified PowerPoint presentation declared that monitoring these sites could allow N.S.A. analysts to learn “nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet.”
[…]
Privacy is an essential right. It makes freedom of expression possible, and sustains freedom of inquiry and association. It empowers us to read, write and communicate in confidence, without fear of persecution. Knowledge flourishes where privacy is protected.
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
The New Authoritarians, The Compulsory Vaccinators
We like to think of ourselves as a humane people, a just people, a people who tolerate dissent out of recognition that dissent is a right we must all enjoy lest the day arrive when adherence to a government decree may strip all of us of the basic right to be left alone and to avoid deprivations of life, liberty, and property. The reality, however, is that throughout our history majorities intent on pursuing goals said to be for the public good or necessity have overridden dissenting voices and have even forcibly incarcerated individuals, injected foreign substances into them, and performed operations upon them, all against their will.
A sad aspect of history, involving majoritarian deprivation of the rights of the minority, is repeating itself with barely an objection from the media or defenders of individual liberty. The current rush to revoke laws allowing conscientious dissent from compulsory vaccination, including encumbering or revoking grounds based on religious or medical grounds, are a return to a very ugly era of elitism, one of gross intrusion into rights of personal autonomy and liberty that left us only a few decades ago.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Twenty Years Since Michael New’s Historic Stand
Twenty years ago this year, a young soldier in the US Army, stationed in Germany, was given an unlawful order to wear an unauthorized United Nations uniform, to report to duty to a foreign military officer, and to deploy to Macedonia on a “peacekeeping mission” where he stood a good chance of having to fight, bleed or die for the United Nations. He respectfully declined the “honor”, stating to his officers that he did not take an oath to the United Nations, that he was a soldier in the U.S. Army, and that he had no contract with the United Nations. Without judgment on those who chose to volunteer, Army SPC4 Michael New requested a transfer to any other unit, anywhere in the world, in a US Army uniform under US Army officers. A free citizen cannot be forced to serve a foreign power.
SPC New was told he had to obey orders without question. To make a long story short, on October 10, 1995, he deliberately disobeyed the order, showing up in formation wearing an authorized Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) with a US flag on his right shoulder instead of the UN patch worn by the other 549 soldiers. He was promptly arrested and removed from formation, and consequently court-martialed. In the court-martial that followed, SPC New was prepared to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that:
| 1. | The order to deploy was illegal, for President Clinton lied to Congress about the legal basis of the order; | |
| 2. | The uniform was unauthorized according to Army regulations governing what constitutes a Battle Dress Uniform; | |
| 3. | The Constitution specifically forbids American troops from receiving an income (or “emoliument”) from any other government; | |
| 4. | The chain of command was unconstitutional, with a general from Finland in charge of U.S. troops in a situation where Congress had not authorized it. |
The Army was in a quandary. Breaking the law in several ways, the court-martial had “command influence” direct from the White House and the Pentagon. When the day came, they did the only thing they could do, if they hoped to win — they denied SPC New the right to present ANY evidence in his own defense! The judge informed the panel (“jury”), “Gentlemen, you will not see any evidence in this case because I have decided that the order was lawful. You will restrict yourself to one question — ‘Did this soldier obey the order he was given, or not?’“ Under those parameters, his own mother would have to vote guilty! Of course he disobeyed the order! The entire question was why.
[Comment: Highly recommended reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
White House, NYT Leave Bushes Out of Lead Photos From Selma March
The decision by The New York Times to run a front-page image on Sunday of President Obama — and family — leading a march to mark the 50th anniversary of the Selma civil rights clashes, while leaving out of the image former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura, apparently was mirrored in the “official White House photo” of the event.
The official White House blog’s Sunday entry on the Alabama march led with a similar image, focusing on Obama and his family, as well as civil rights figures, but leaving out the Bushes.
Both images show Obama walking alongside Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, and even Al Sharpton, as they led thousands across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
[A close look at this photo on the paper itself reveals something rather more sinister than a mere act of partisan pettiness — for not only were the Bushes cropped out, all white folks were cropped out. The “dog-whistle” message is clear: in the civil-rights struggle, the role of whites was minimal at best. This echoes the view of “Selma” director Ava DuVernay, who famously told “Rolling Stone” that she downgraded LBJ’s role in the script because she “wasn’t interested in making a white-savior movie.” — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Why Politicians Pretend Islam Has No Role in Violence
By Daniel Pipes
Prominent non-Muslim political figures have embarrassed themselves by denying the self-evident connection of Islam to the Islamic State (ISIS) and to Islamist violence in Paris and Copenhagen, even claiming these are contrary to Islam. What do they hope to achieve through these lies and what is their significance?
First, a sampling of the double talk:
President Barack Obama tells the world that ISIS “is not Islamic” because its “actions represent no faith, least of all the Muslim faith.” He holds “we are not at war with Islam [but] with people who have perverted Islam.”
Secretary of State John Kerry echoes him: ISIS consists of “coldblooded killers masquerading as a religious movement” who promote a “hateful ideology has nothing do with Islam.” His spokesperson, Jen Psaki, goes further: the terrorists “are enemies of Islam.”
Jeh Johnson, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, assents: “ISIL is [not] Islamic.” My favorite: Howard Dean, the former Democrat governor of Vermont, says of the Charlie Hebdo attackers, “They’re about as Muslim as I am.”
Europeans speak identically: David Cameron, the Conservative British prime minister, portrays ISIS as “extremists who want to abuse Islam” and who “pervert the Islamic faith.” He calls Islam “a religion of peace” and dismisses ISIS members as not Muslims, but “monsters.” His immigration minister, James Brokenshire, argues that terrorism and extremism “have nothing to do with Islam.”
On the Labour side, former British prime minister Tony Blair finds ISIS ideology to be “based in a complete perversion of the proper faith of Islam,” while a former home secretary, Jack Straw, denounces “the medieval barbarity of ISIS and its ilk” which he deems “completely contrary to Islam.”
Across the channel, French president François Hollande insists that the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher criminals “have nothing to do with the Muslim faith.” His prime minister, Manuel Valls, concurs: “Islam has nothing to do with ISIS.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte echoes the same theme: “ISIS is a terrorist organization which misuses Islam.” Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a left-wing German politician, calls the Paris murderers fascists, not Muslims. From Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agrees: “Extremism and Islam are completely different things.”
This is not a new view: for example, prior U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also aired views about what is and is not Islam, though less assertively.
Summarizing these statements, which come straight out of the Islamist playbook: Islam is purely a religion of peace, so violence and barbarism categorically have nothing to do with it; indeed, these “masquerade” and “pervert” Islam. By implication, more Islam is needed to solve these “monstrous” and “barbaric” problems.
But, of course, this interpretation neglects the scriptures of Islam and the history of Muslims, seeped in the assumption of superiority toward non-Muslims and the righteous violence of jihad. Ironically, ignoring the Islamic impulse means foregoing the best tool to defeat jihadism: for, if the problem results not from an interpretation of Islam, but from random evil and irrational impulses, how can one possibly counter it? Only acknowledging the legacy of Islamic imperialism opens ways to re-interpret the faith’s scriptures in modern, moderate, and good-neighborly ways…
| — Hat tip: K | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Navy is More Important Than Ever
The Pentagon has requested a substantial increase in the Navy’s budget, and Gregg Easterbrook, writing in the New York Times, insists that an increase is unwarranted. Why? First, Easterbrook observes that while the United States has 10 advanced nuclear supercarriers, no other country, China included, has anything comparable. Second, he asserts that concerns about the threat China’s new weapon systems might pose to the Navy are nothing more than “fearmongering,” as “there’s no evidence that [China’s] anti-ship missile has had a realistic test.” Third, he claims that rising Chinese naval power is not a threat to the United States, and to complain against Chinese dominance in the South China Sea or the East China Sea is like complaining about U.S. dominance in the Caribbean.
There are a few problems with Easterbrook’s line of thinking. China is not the only major power in the Western Pacific, and a number of its neighbors would greatly prefer that the United States preserve its strategic primacy in maritime Asia, or at the very least preserve its ability to contest Chinese dominance.
[…]
When Easterbrook observes that the U.S. is the only power with advanced nuclear supercarriers, he neglects the rise of China’s anti-access/area-denial capabilities. China does not need to match the U.S. Navy ship for ship. Rather, they just need to limit the U.S. Navy’s freedom of action in maritime Asia.
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Wikimedia Sues NSA Over Mass Surveillance
The Wikimedia Foundation and an array of rights’ groups have filed a lawsuit against the US spy agency NSA, challenging one of its mass surveillance programs. They claim it violates American citizens’ right to privacy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Home Guard to Disarm After Terror Attack
Some 4,300 volunteer members of the Danish Home Guard are being told to disassemble their rifles in light of the fact that one of the weapons used in February’s shootings in Copenhagen was a stolen military rifle.
One of the weapons used in February’s terror attack in Copenhagen was an M95 rifle that had previously been stolen from the home of a Danish Home Guard (Hjemmeværnet) member.
As a result, the Home Guard has now decided that it will temporarily require all Home Guard members to turn in the bolts to their rifles, making them unable to be fired.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Seeks Compromise With Greece, Says Economic Commissioner
A compromise with Greece that will respect Greek voters’ choice is being sought, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici said Tuesday in a conference call with the Italian Senate. He added that ‘‘when a population calls for change, there must be change.’’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU’s Poorest Countries ‘Could Join Schengen’
Germany on Monday said it was open to talks on allowing Romania and Bulgaria into the passport-free Schengen zone, which has been a delicate subject among European countries.
“We are ready to support the discussion process” regarding the bloc’s two poorest members, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier — flanked by his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu — told a press conference in Bucharest.
The Schengen agreement imposes border controls on people entering and leaving the zone, but none on travels within the bloc. It has already been signed by 26 countries, 22 of them EU members.
“The security situation has changed” but “we are going to continue working hard” so non-Schengen countries can meet membership requirements, Steinmeier added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland’s National Radio Airs Readings of Complete Quran
HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s state radio channel YLE is broadcasting readings of the entire Quran in Finnish to improve knowledge of Muslim culture in the Nordic country.
The 60 half-hour readings are accompanied by comments from the translator of the Islamic holy book and Imam Anas Hajjar of Finland’s Islamic Society.
The chairman of the organization, Mohammad Hussein Omar, on Sunday described the readings as a good way to help people understand the religion and Muslim customs better.
There are an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 Muslims in Finland, which has an overall population of 5.5 million. The country has only one building constructed as a mosque, in the early 1940s. Other Muslim prayer rooms or mosques are former schools, cinemas or municipal halls.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Policewoman Among 4 Arrested for Links to Paris Hostage-Taker Amedy Coulibaly
Four people, including a policewoman, have been arrested over links to the attacks that terrorised Paris earlier this year, French police and security officials have said.
The two officials said one man who was detained had ties to Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who killed a policewoman on January 8 and then four more people at a kosher supermarket on January 9 before being killed by security forces.
They added that the detained man’s ex-girlfriend, a policewoman who was suspended after peeking into his criminal file, was also in custody.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, had no details about the two others.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Far-Right National Front Being Investigated by EU Fraud Squad
The European Parliament has asked the EU’s anti-fraud body to look into possible misuse of funds by the French National Front party. Leader Marine Le Pen has threatened to lodge a complaint over the “false allegations.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Leftwing Activists Attack Frankfurt PEGIDA Demo
Violence broke out in central Frankfurt on Monday evening when left-wing demonstrators attacked a small Pegida demonstration, leading to serious clashes with the police.
The violence took place at the end of a demonstration by anti-Islamic movement Pegida which was attended by around 80 people and took place peacefully in any area cordoned off by the police, the Frankfurter Rundschau reported.
But when the police allowed the march to head in the direction of the central train station, it was attacked by a group of around 1,000 activists who had turned up to protest against the anti-Islam movement.
At around 8.30 pm, the left-wing activists blocked the road, pulling waste containers and hoardings into the street in front of the Pegida march.
They went on to throw bottles and stones at the police and Pegida demonstrators, seriously injuring one female demonstrator in the process.
In response, the police tried to quell the activists with pepper spray and batons. Several people were injured in the eyes and needed to be looked at by paramedics.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Merkel Narrowly Avoided Bigger Revolt on Greece, Sources Say
German Chancellor Angela Merkel narrowly averted a far bigger rebellion last month on Greece’s bailout extension among her conservatives, many more of whom would have voted ‘Nein’ but for her finance minister’s powers of persuasion, lawmakers said.
Germany’s parliament voted on Feb. 27 to extend Greece’s bailout by four months, but a record number of conservative dissenters were not convinced that Athens would deliver the economic reforms it has promised.
One senior conservative told Reuters that Merkel’s Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), “would have unanimously voted ‘No’” had Wolfgang Schaeuble not solicited support during a personal appearance two days before the vote.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece to Demand WWII Reparations From Germany
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has accused Germany of using “legal tricks” to avoid paying World War II reparations. Germany has repeatedly said it has honored all of its obligations resulting from the war.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: PM Says Will Pursue German War Reparations
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Tuesday expressed his government’s firm intention to seek war reparations from Germany, noting that Athens would show sensitivity that it hoped to see reciprocated from Berlin.
In a speech in Parliament, launching a debate on the creation of a committee to seek war reparations, the repayment of a forced loan and the return of antiquities, Tsipras told MPs that the matter of war reparations was “very technical and sensitive” but one he has a duty to pursue.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In Great Britain, Powerful Pedophiles Are Seemingly Everywhere and Totally Above the Law
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
So many of the worst pedophiles tends to be very powerful businessmen, politicians and higher ups in organized religion.
Sexually molesting extremely small children is one of the most heinous acts a person can commit while existing as a human being on this planet. Since 99% of humanity agrees with this assessment, the incredibly small group of predators who get off on this sort of behavior understand they need to occupy the most elite levels of esteemed institutions in order to safely get away with their vile behavior. This is precisely why so many of the worst pedophiles tends to be very powerful businessmen, politicians and higher ups in organized religion.
This is a topic I’ve explored previously. For example, in the post, In Great Britain, Protecting Pedophile Politicians is a Matter of “National Security”, I wrote:
Those with the sickest minds, and who wish to act upon their destructive fantasies, understand that they can most easily get away with their deeds if they are protected by an aura of power and ostensible respectability. They believe that as a result of their status, no one would dare accuse them of horrific activities, and if it ever came to that, they could quash any investigation
Of the developed nations, this sort of thing has essentially become institutionalized in Great Britain, with many of the most horrid pedophiles sporting a “Sir” in front of their names. Like oligarch theft and political corruption, the reason it appears to be such an epidemic over there is precisely because the powerful are coddled and protected.
The Daily Beast just published an extraordinary article highlighting this issue. Here are some excerpts:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Infiltration of Western Security Services by Muslims
In Paris, four more people were arrested in connection with the attacks on the Jewish market.
Note that a policewoman, who worked in police intelligence, and was a convert to Islam (and yet she was apparently allowed to continue to work in police intelligence, or did she hide her conversion?), is believed to have passed on a dossier to Amar, a friend of the mass-killer Amedy Coulibaly, who may have had the market under observation.
Here’s the relevant bit:…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Islamophobia Fosters Extremism, Jordan’s King Tells EU
(ANSAmed) — STRASBOURG, MARCH 10 — King Abdullah of Jordan urged the European Parliament on Tuesday to curb Islamophobia, which he said was fueling extremism.
Most of his speech focused on the struggle against the Islamic State (ISIS).
‘‘Europe,’’ he said, ‘‘plays a crucial role in fostering inter-religious dialogue and respect for other cultures. It is necessary to make everyone understand what being a Muslim really means. It is a religion that calls on its believers to respect others. ISIS criminals that deny this reality target mainly other Muslims. We must all work together to prevent our religion from being taken hostage.’’ The Jordanian king said that extremism had become a global threat. ‘‘This does not concern only Syria and Iraq. It also involves Yemen, Libya and even Australia. Even Europe,’’ he said, ‘‘has been hit hard. However, it reacted by showing unbeatable courage. In Paris, Rania and I marched together against violence and intolerance.’’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: League Governor Will Retain Veneto ‘Even if Baby Jesus Runs’
Tosi expulsion would not spell defeat says Salvini
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, March 10 — The Northern League’s incumbent as Veneto governor will win again even if the baby Jesus stands against him in May, League leader Matteo Salvini said Tuesday.
“There’s no risk of losing Veneto: (Luca) Zaia will make it even if he’s running against me, you, the baby Jesus or all of us put together, because of what he has done (as governor),” Zaia said when asked if Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi’s possible expulsion from the rightist party would hurt Zaia’s prospects.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Most Greek MPs Choose to Have a Taxpayer-Funded Car
Less than 50 of Parliament’s 300 deputies refused the privilege of a complimentary car that they are entitled to as elected MPs but which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had exhorted them to reject during his presentation of the government’s policy program.
The MPs who turned down a free car include Eleni Psarea and Giorgos Damaras of SYRIZA, Giorgos Koumoutsakos of New Democracy and the leader of Potami, Stavros Theodorakis, as well as many of his MPs including Antigone Lyberaki, Giorgos Amyras and Stavroula Antonakou, Kathimerini understands.
The budget set aside for MPs’ complimentary cars this year is 3.2 million euros.
In previous years even fewer MPs — only around 30 or 35 — had refused state cars.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Action Forum (UK) Seeks to Brand Depictions of Muhammad as “Hate Speech”
By Allum Bokhari
The Muslim Action Forum (MAF), a group that describes itself as “working on the front line to deal with affronts to global civility” has announced a legal and political strategy to have depictions of the prophet Mohammed banned in the UK. And according to a press release published on the group’s website last week, the group will work towards its goal via a combination of litigation and lobbying MPs
MAF want depictions of Mohammed to be defined as a “hate crime” that is “perpetrated on the 3 million Muslims in the UK and 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide”. In addition to their litigation strategy, MAF say they will seek to amend existing legislation and present a Private Members Bill to Parliament that promotes the idea of ‘Global Civility’ in order to achieve their objectives.
“Global Civility” is a word you’re likely to hear more of in the future. It was the slogan of the Muslim activists who marched on Downing Street last month in order to protest the new depictions of Mohammed that appeared in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that became the target of Muslim terrorists in January.
The demands for censorship are not restricted to cartoonists. MAF’s website also maintains a list of “uncivilized expressionists”, who they define as people who suffer from a “psychological disposition of the human mind which insults and maligns others without care or consideration of consequences.” Their examples include Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses and the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
[“Global Civility”? You mean like the civility Muslims show when they hack off captured infidels’ heads and post slickly produced videos of themselves doing it? — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Man Tricked Ex With Abortion Pill Smoothie
A man in Norway has admitted to tricking his pregnant ex-girlfriend into terminating her pregnancy by making her a smoothie laced with abortion pills, claiming he felt it was “the only way out”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Strike Over as Pilots Accept Deal
The bitter strike between Norwegian Air Norway and its Scandinavian pilots has finally come to an end after the unions won legal and financial guarantees from the parent company.
The strike has affected over 150,000 passengers with virtually all flights in Scandinavia cancelled since Wednesday March 4. The airline is now working to return to normal scheduling as soon as possible, although flights on Wednesday will still face disruption.
The news was welcomed by the company’s CEO Bjørn Kjos at a press conference at the company’s Oslo head office early on Tuesday evening. He claimed that the company had made great efforts to bring the dispute to an end.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland, Latvia Skeptical of Proposed EU Army
Polish and Latvian leaders are critical of a proposed EU army, amid heightened concerns over Russian aggression in eastern Europe. EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker had initially raised the army idea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Segregation in Sweden Will Continue to Rise’
Segregation between ethnic Swedes and people from foreign backgrounds has widened in the past two decades in some of the biggest towns in Sweden, according to the Dagens Nyheter daily.
Together with Statistics Sweden, the newspaper has mapped out ethnic segregation in 30 of Sweden’s largest municipalities, using a value it calls “the segregation differential”. The survey suggests that ethnic segregation has grown in all but two in the past two decades, Luleå in the north of Sweden and Solna near the capital.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Two Jihadists Arrested in Ceuta Planning Attacks
Police have arrested two jihadists in the north African enclave of Ceuta who they suspect formed part of a cell poised to launch a terrorist attack in Spain.
The two were detained during a pre-dawn raid and were of Spanish nationality but with Moroccan origins.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Total Nears Agreement With Cyprus on Gas Search
France’s Total is close to extending an offshore natural gas exploration program in Cyprus after coming up empty in prior surveys, the island’s energy minister said on Monday.
Cyprus, a member of the European Union, has become particularly keen to develop offshore gas reserves as a potential source of revenue since it was compelled to seek an international financial bailout in early 2013.
“The renewed agreement that we hope we will be signing next week will be talking about doing geological surveys in a different area but no drilling,” Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, the Cyprus energy minister, said while speaking at an event at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC.
“They can drill if they identify a drillable prospect, which unfortunately they have not done so far.”
Total confirmed in January that it had completed surveys over two Cypriot offshore blocks for which it had licenses, without finding potential drilling targets.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two Jihadists “Ready to Attack” In Spain Arrested in Ceuta
Two suspected jihadists who authorities said were “ready to carry out attacks” in Spain were arrested in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta early Tuesday morning.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the arrests made by National Police formed part of the same operation carried out on January 24 when four members of the same Islamist cell were detained.
“They formed part of a cell fully ready and willing to carry out attacks on national territory,” the ministry said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Muslim Group Seeks to Brand Depictions of Muhammad as “Hate Speech”
“Hate speech” is in the eye of the beholder — it is whatever the group in power to doesn’t want spoken about or known. It is the powerful silencing dissent and challenges to their hegemony. If this initiative gets any traction, it will be a new indication of who has the real power in Britain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: HIV Scare at Leading Public School After ‘15 Pupils Were Stabbed With Needle’
The boy, whose father is reported to be a trophy-winning footballer player with one of the country’s most famous teams, was expelled along with another boy, both 14, over the alleged attack.
A Premier League footballer’s son was one of two boys expelled from a leading public school after they allegedly stabbed 15 other pupils with a used needle, causing an HIV scare.
The pair, both 14, were dismissed from the school in south England after claims they found a used diabetes pen, which normally tests levels of glucose in the blood, belonging to a pupil before attacking their classmates with it.
School authorities alerted the police and public health officials, who recommended that the students be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV, it is claimed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The rot started a few years ago when it suddenly became impossible to use coins in our last surviving telephone boxes.
Next, London bus chiefs decided we could no longer pay for our journey in cash (‘legal tender’ as it used to be known). Passengers now can use only prepaid tickets or Oyster travelcards, contactless payment cards or concessionary tickets. This can make life very difficult for visitors to the city or vulnerable people who might be stranded late at night without the necessary pre-paid cards for transport.
Now, Brighton and Hove council has joined the war on real money by phasing out all its coin-operated parking ticket machines. Inevitably, other councils will soon follow…
In what Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has called ‘daylight robbery’, many councils make millions from parking fees. Top of the list is the London borough of Westminster which now receives more from parking fees than council tax. (In 2013-14, it made £51.03 million.)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Leeds Bus Stop Sex Attacker Dragged Victim Into Garden and Battered Her Around the Head
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
A teenage girl who was ‘left for dead’ after being raped at a bus stop was dragged into a nearby garden and smashed over the head with a large stone during the assault, CCTV footage has revealed.
The 18-year-old girl was waiting by the roadside in Leeds, West Yorkshire, when she was viciously attacked just before 11pm last Friday.
Police have now confirmed the incident, which is being treated as attempted murder, was caught on camera and said the footage shows the ‘very disturbing circumstances of the offence’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Officials Must ‘Never Again Let Fears of Racism Get in the Way of Reporting Sex Crimes’
Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of schools and children’s services, said saving youngsters from exploitation required ‘political and moral courage’ on the part of local leaders.
Politicians were yesterday warned they should never ignore sex crimes against children out of a misguided fear of being called racist.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of schools and children’s services, said saving youngsters from exploitation required ‘political and moral courage’ on the part of local leaders.
‘They must never allow misguided beliefs about the impact for certain ethnic and cultural groups to get in the way of confronting this horrific abuse wherever it occurs,’ he added.
His warning came amid the row over the failure of social workers, politicians or police to act against gangs of mostly Pakistani men who exploited hundreds of children in Rotherham and Oxford.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Lose Track of 400 Freed Sex Offenders
Hundreds of sex offenders who are supposed to be closely monitored have been missing for up to 14 years — but police have refused to name dozens in case they breach their ‘human rights’.
Police forces across Britain have lost track of 396 registered sex offenders, including rapists and paedophiles, but they won’t be identified in case it ‘endangers their safety unnecessarily’, one force said.
The sex attackers are meant to be kept under close surveillance after being released from jail because many pose a ‘risk of serious harm to the public’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police threatened to confiscate a four-year-old girl’s bike on the way to school because she was cycling on a pavement — leaving her in tears, her parents claimed today.
Sophie Lindley was cycling with stabilisers in Grantham, Lincolnshire, with her father Dale — when an officer allegedly pulled over in his car and told them that her actions were against the law.
The officer said he would drive off and check his mirrors, and if he spotted her cycling again on the pavement then he would take away the 16-inch bike, according to ex-serviceman Mr Lindley, 34
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Strip Grooming Rotherham Council Chiefs of Gongs, Say Victims
Campaigners say ex-officials, such as former Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone OBE (pictured), should lose their honours over their failure to adequately protect abuse victims.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Teen Admits Killing Paul Walker With a Single Punch on New Year’s Day
A 14-year-old has admitted killing a man celebrating the new year with a single punch, while his friends filmed the attack on a mobile phone.
Paul Walker, 52, from Blackpool, Lancashire, was thought to have been celebrating the start of 2015 before he was found lying unconscious in a street at the seaside resort at around 2am on January 1 and later died.
Police said footage of the attack, which show the teenager being encouraged to throw the punch by two older men, was filmed on a mobile phone but has since been deleted, Preston Crown Court heard.
The court heard that Mr Walker, a Celtic fan who had lived in Blackpool for at least 10 years, died of injuries to his head, face and neck.
The teenager, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
He was initially charged with murder but prosecutors decided to accept the lesser charge.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Waiting for a Signal From Philae
It would be very lucky if a signal were to be received from Philae at 05:00 CET on 12 March 2015. The lander finally came to rest on 12 November 2014 in a rather shaded location on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and it needs to receive sufficient energy before it can wake up and begin communicating. This is, however, the first possibility to receive a signal from Philae; therefore, the communication unit on the Rosetta orbiter will be switched on to call the lander.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Macedonian Opposition Claims Recorded Phone Calls Show Government Manipulated 3 Elections
SKOPJE, Macedonia — Macedonia’s opposition leader has published what he says is new evidence of government vote-manipulation in three recent elections, following up on accusations of a massive wire-tapping scandal.
Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev released what he said were recorded conversations between conservative government officials and Macedonia’s intelligence chief.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Are Hillary’s Missing Private E-Mails About Benghazi Cover-Up?
S.C. Rep. Trey Gowdy dropped a bomb on Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal Sunday morning on CBS’ Face the Nation: If you think to that iconic picture of [Hillary] on a C-17 flying to Libya — she has sunglasses on and she has her handheld device in her hand.
We have no e-mails from that day. In fact, we have no emails from that trip.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Haftar to Renzi, We Need Weapons Against ISIS
‘Help us lift the embargo, if they win Italy is at risk’
Libyan army chief, general Khalifa Haftar
(ANSAmed) — TOBRUK — Libyan army chief, general Khalifa Haftar, asked Italian Premier Matteo Renzi in an interview with ANSA to “convince the international community to lift an embargo on weapons and to help us fight for a Libya that is free from extremists”.
“We are also fighting for you and, if we were to fail, the next target of terrorists would be Italy”, the newly appointed chief of the armed forces of the internationally-recognized government of Tobruk told ANSA. “We are proud people, we can also fight this war with bare hands, but Qatar, Turkey and Sudan are helping the extremists with weapons and funding, although we are sure they are being moved by other foreign powers”, he continued. “It is important to know that, once this page is turned, we will remember very well who was close to us and who instead looked the other way”.
“Libya is a country rich of resources and, based on what will happen and on who will support the democratically-elected government, we will decide with whom we will be sharing this wealth”, stressed Haftar.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Arab League Backs Saudi Silencing of Sweden
Arab foreign ministers have criticized Sweden’s comments about Saudi Arabia while the EU has expressed regret after Sweden’s foreign minister Margot Wallström accused the oil rich nation of blocking her speech at an Arab League meeting.
Margot Wallström said on Monday that Saudi officials had stopped her from making her opening address to the meeting due to her stance on human rights.
But Arab foreign ministers later criticised Sweden for its comments about Saudi Arabia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Arabs Stand With Israel Against Obama
President Obama has ushered in a world that defines the statement “truth is stranger than fiction.” Defying his oath to “support and defend the U.S. Constitution…” Obama has in a few short years turned the world upside down. He has sided with our enemies against our friends in the Middle East, and has worked assiduously to “negotiate” a deal allowing Iran to obtain the bomb. He supported the successful effort to depose Hosni Mubarak, one of our most loyal Arab allies, and more importantly, promoted his replacement with the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization responsible for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the rise of al Qaeda and practically every other Islamic terrorist organization in the world. In Libya Obama forced America to side with al Qaeda linked groups to overthrow Qaddafi — an action which eventuated in the murder of an ambassador, two US Navy SEALS and one other American. Now one of those Islamist “friends” has become ISIS’s representative in Libya.
You simply can’t make this stuff up. It is difficult to conceive of an American president being so consistently incompetent, unless it is something else. While Obama doubtless coasted through Columbia and Harvard on the strength of his many communist connections, as opposed to any real intellectual rigor, he is not stupid. The only thing more treacherous in my mind is the level of complicity he receives from the American press, which assiduously refuses to explore these mind-blowing developments.
So it is not surprising that our Arab friends have begun to look on Obama as a danger more than a friend. Despite all their oil money, the Arab world has always been a dangerous place for the Arabs — from some of their own. Obama’s outreach “to the Muslim world” appears to be reserved specifically and exclusively for that part of the Muslim world dedicated to Islamic terrorism — the same component looking to overthrow the various Arab kingdoms, especially the terror supporting Iran, now a nascent nuclear power thanks to Obama.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Using Sanctions Relief to Undermine U.S. Interests in Middle East
Iran is on a roll in the Middle East, becoming a dominant military player in Iraq, rescuing the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, bringing down a U.S. ally in Yemen and building its surrogate Hezbollah terrorist army into a political force in Lebanon and throughout the region.
Also, the hard-line Shiite regime is on the verge of inking a deal with the U.S. and other nations that would allow it to keep its sprawling nuclear components intact. Tehran would gain economic sanctions relief, creating hard cash to fund its military and the foreign exploits of the Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force. A U.S. senator says there are indications that Iran already is using money freed up by the Obama administration to further bolster the Quds Force.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Orders to Stop Watching TV in Shirqat, Salahuddin
(IraqiNews.com) On Monday, the ISIS group issued orders to stop watching television in Shirqat district north of Salahuddin, according to a local source in the province.
The source said in an interview for IraqiNews, “ISIS issued strict instructions to the people of Shirqat district (120 km north of Tikrit), prohibiting watching TV, especially satellite news channels.”
The source, who requested anonymity, added: “Elements of the group vowed to punish violators of the instructions,” noting that, “They raided a number of stores and smashed the TV screens.”
[George Orwell: “Imagine a boot in your face … forever.” — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Sharia-Compliant Truce With Iran
By Nonie Darwish
It is interesting to see President Obama trying to make a nuclear deal with Iran because Iran, an Islamic theocracy, must make a deal that is Sharia compliant. The Obama administration has to know and must feel a need to work with Iran’s Sharia requirements but is not making the predicament clear to the American people who are unaware of it. This is why:
Islamic law places jihad as not only a duty of every Muslim, but more importantly as the duty of every Muslim head of state. Permanent peace agreements with non-Muslim countries are forbidden since peace with the enemies of Islam is not a value, but in fact discouraged and would be treason if pursued for the purpose of peace. The relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, as dictated by Sharia, must remain a hostile one unless non-Muslims abide by and live under Sharia. True peace with non-Muslims is forbidden and the only thing allowed is truces that must never exceed 10 years.
The Sharia manual of Islamic law Reliance of the Traveller, page 604-605, clearly states that only a truce, defined as cessation of violence, is “permissible but not obligatory.”…
| — Hat tip: RL | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Cancels Saudi Arms Deal After Human Rights Row
Sweden has ended a military deal with Saudi Arabia over human rights issues. The break comes after the Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström was allegedly prevented from making a speech at an Arab League meeting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Lawrence A. Franklin
Saddam Hussein’s policy of Arabization continued over decades, and resulted in the pronounced diminution of Kurd populations in the areas recently recaptured by Kurdish peshmerga troops. From the Kurdish point of view, the incorporation of these lands into Iraqi Kurdistan is a restoration, not a “land-grab.” For the Kurds, it is not expansionism; it is a re-balancing the scales of justice.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram Gains New Power by Aligning With ISIS, Say Experts
By joining ISIS, Nigerian-based Islamic terror group Boko Haram has likely gained unprecedented power, resources and reach, according to intelligence experts.
Boko Haram, which has driven some 3 million people from their homes in northeast Africa over the last five years, slaughtering whole villages, taking women and children slaves, and setting off lethal explosions in densely populated areas, made the announcement it was joining the Middle Eastern group on March 7 on an audio track translated into French and English. Leading terror experts in the U.S. and Africa said the announcement to become a part of ISIS, a group that has horrified the world by beheading, crucifying, stoning, pushing to their death and even burning alive innocent civilians across Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, the Sinai Peninsula, and other parts of the Middle East, has far greater implications than just being a mere symbolic act.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens Killed by Female Suicide Bomber at Nigerian Market
At least 34 persons were killed by a teenage girl suicide bomber on Tuesday at a crowded market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, said witnesses.
Boko Haram is waging a nearly 6-year insurgency to impose Muslim Shariah law in Nigeria. An estimated 10,000 people were killed by Boko Haram violence last year, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. Last week Boko Haram announced its allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group operating in Iraq and Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Sports Stars Killed in Helicopter Crash
France was plunged into mourning Tuesday after the deaths of three sports stars, including an Olympic champion swimmer and one of the world’s best sailors, in a helicopter crash while filming a reality TV show in Argentina.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Maduro Asks for Special Powers to “Defeat US Imperialism”
Hours after US President Barack Obama ordered tough sanctions against Venezuelan officials for human rights violations, Nicolás Maduro, the country’s leader, announced Monday night he would “seek greater powers” from his own lawmakers to “fight US imperialism.”
“Obama decided to personally carry out the overthrow of my government and intervene in Venezuela,” Maduro said during a televised address, in which he also repeated prior accusations that Washington is funding the opposition in his country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela to Start Fingerprinting Supermarket Shoppers
Back in August, when we wrote about the latest instance of trouble in Maduro’s socialist paradise, we cautioned that as a result of the economic collapse in the Latin American nation (and this was even before the plunge in crude made the “paradise” into the 9th circle of hell), Venezuelans soon may need to have their fingerprints scanned before they can buy bread and other staples. This unprecedented step was proposed after Maduro had the brilliant idea of proposing mandatory grocery fingerprinting system to combat food shortages. He said then that “the program will stop people from buying too much of a single item”, but did not say when it would take effect.
Privacy concerns aside (clearly Venezuelans have bigger, well, smaller fish to fry) there was hope that this plunge into insanity would be delayed indefinitely, as the last thing Venezuela’s strained economy would be able to handle is smuggling of the most basic of necessities: something such a dramatic rationing step would surely lead to.
Unfortunately for the struggling Venezuelan population, the time has arrived and as AP reported over the weekend, Venezuela “will begin installing 20,000 fingerprint scanners at supermarkets nationwide in a bid to stamp out hoarding and panic buying” as of this moment.
[Comment: To stop people hoarding — but really to force people to become even more dependent on the state on a daily basis.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela President Maduro Seeks Emergency Powers After US Sanctions
The Venezuelan President has announced he will seek special powers from the National Assembly in the wake of US sanctions. But the opposition warns the move could allow Nicolas Maduro to call off upcoming elections.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Strong Warning From Trevor Loudon on Illegal Amnesty
For the past three years, Trevor Loudon, author of the book Barack Obama and the Enemies Within, has been trying to warn Americans about the Marxist takeover of the Democratic Party. If you listen to the video above, you can hear Trevor is losing his voice from all the rallies he’s been attending lately. He is trying, with every fiber in his being, to warn Americans of the dire consequences of ignoring the ominous slide toward pure socialism occurring now in the American body politic.
A little while back I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down and talking to Trevor Loudon at length when he visited Indianapolis. Many of the points he is making in his presentation to the Leadership Institute were the same ones he made during his visit to Indy.
I want to focus on some key points regarding illegal immigration Trevor made in his presentation.
[Comment: Highly recommended reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece’s Defence Minister Threatens to Send Migrants Including Jihadists to Western Europe
Greece will unleash a “wave of millions of economic migrants” and jihadists on Europe unless the eurozone backs down on austerity demands, the country’s defence and foreign ministers have threatened.
The threat comes as Greece struggles to convince the eurozone and International Monetery Fund to continue payments on a £172billion bailout of Greek finances.
Without the funding, Greece will go bust later this month forcing the recession-ravaged and highly indebted country out of the EU’s single currency.
Greece’s border with Turkey is the EU’s frontline against illegal immigration and European measures to stop extremists travelling to and from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) bases in Syria and Iraq.
Panos Kammenos, the Greek defence minister, warned that if the eurozone allowed Greece to go bust it would give EU travel papers to illegal immigrants crossing its borders or to the 10,000 currently held in detention centres.
“If they deal a blow to Greece, then they should know the the migrants will get papers to go to Berlin,” he said. “If Europe leaves us in the crisis, we will flood it with migrants, and it will be even worse for Berlin if in that wave of millions of economic migrants there will be some jihadists of the Islamic State too.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Entry of Illegal Migrants Increased 223%, U.N. Say
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 10 — More than 165,000 illegal migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea the first 10 months of 2014, Greek Reporter website writes quoting figures released by the United Nations. Illegal migrant inflow through the Mediterranean was 60,000 people in 2013. This year’s numbers show a 223.22% increase, contributed mainly to the Islamic State wars raging in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Africa. So far, 3,000 people have lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean. Deputy Minister of European Affairs Nikos Chountis said that Greece seeks measures to promote solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility (burden sharing) between Greece and European Union member states regarding illegal migration and granting asylum. He also referred to the role of the Common European Asylum System on the issue.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
How Many Legal Immigrants Are Too Many?
Corporate America, Congress and non-stop pro-immigration advocates do not want you to know what the United States will look like in the next 35 years with an added 100,000,000 (million) legal immigrants.
The national media will not carry, but in fact, suppresses any conversation as to the ramifications of adding a total of 138 million people in total population load to America.
That number equates to doubling the populations of our 35 most populated cities. It jumps New York City from 8.3 million to 16.6 million; Chicago from 5 million to 10 million; Los Angeles grows from 11 million to 22 million. The State of Florida expects to double from 18 million to 36 million. Ironically it’s one of the seven states that faces water shortages in 2015. How will we water, feed, house, warm, transport, educate and medicate THAT many people? How will we maintain quality of life and a viable environment? Answer: we won’t!
Along with all of that, we expect 100 million legal immigrants from 140 failed countries to land up on our shores with 140 different world views, cultures and languages. We face a polyglot and chaotic multicultural society that you hear about in violent conflicts worldwide.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Portugal’s ‘Golden Visa’ Trade for Rich Immigrants
Portugal is selling EU residency permits to any rich foreigners willing to pay. The opposition calls them corrupt deals that encourage organized crime, but the government simply wants to lower the prices.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lie Before Sex? You’re a Rapist
Feminists want to make it illegal to lie to women before sex. Months or even years down the line, they want to pursue lovers who jilted them by being dishonest before intercourse, and hit them with rape charges.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Activists Push for Gender Neutral Toilets
No more “I’ll just pop to the ladies’“, or “have you seen the queue over at the gents’?” Transgender activists have been covering public toilet signs with stickers as part of a campaign to make more toilets in Sweden gender neutral.
Transgender campaigner and actress Aleksa Lundberg, 33, told Swedish newspaper Metro: “Gender is nothing we can split in two. It exists, just as sexuality, on a grey scale. By having built our society according to a binary gender system we make all transpersons or intersexual persons invisible.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Transgender Woman Steps Forward in Planet Fitness Controversy
“I’m not actually a member.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UN Says “Conservatism” A Threat to Women’s Rights; Downplays Islam
A United Nations report concerning threats to gender equality identifies “conservatism” as a major impediment yet completely downplays how the religion of Islam oppresses women all over the world.
U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka spoke on the issue during the opening session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York yesterday.
“Neither she, nor a major report prepared for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting she was addressing in New York, identified radical Islamic ideology as a leading factor, although surveys have found Muslim nations fare worst in gender equality rankings,” writes Patrick Goodenough. “Extremism and conservatism are on the rise, manifested in diverse forms across different contexts,” said the report, noting that such beliefs are instrumental in “tolerating or even promoting violence against women and limiting women’s and girls’ autonomy and engagement in the public sphere.”
Although the report touches on examples of oppression that are almost universally confined to the Islamic faith, it fails to explicitly characterize the religion as an obstacle to women’s rights.
As Goodenough documents, the implementation of Sharia law and other Islamic tenets means that Islamic nations completely dominate rankings of countries where women face the worst oppression.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
TheNewYorker: Iran offers to mediate talks between Republicans and Obama
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/03/11/president-obama-has-unilateral-authority-to-conclude-the-impending-iran-deal/