Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/12/2015

Two police officers were shot and wounded during a protest in front of police headquarters in Ferguson, Missouri. A police spokesman said that the shots came from a handgun fired by someone in the middle of the crowd, but some of the protesters said the shots came from behind them, on a nearby grassy knoll. The wounded officers’ injuries are not life-threatening. President Obama condemned the violence, and Eric Holder referred to the unknown assailant as a “punk”.

In other news, Iceland has withdrawn its application to join the European Union.

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

Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Phyllis Chesler, Srdja Trifkovic, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» “Massive Headache”: Rising Dollar Threating Trade and $74 Trillion Derivative Tsunami
» Central Bank Stimulus is Ancient Recipe for Trouble
» Draghi Says QE Already Working
» ECB Policy ‘Asphyxiating’, Says Greek Finance Minister
» France Shouldn’t Get Easy Ride: Bundesbank
» Greece: Unemployment Rises to 26.1% in 4th Quarter of 2014
» Greek Debt is Unsustainable, Needs Restructuring, Says PM
» South Korea Hops on Rate-Cut Bandwagon With Quarter-Point Move
 
USA
» 3 Reportedly Questioned in Shooting of 2 Cops Outside Ferguson Police Department
» 3D Hillary Clinton Action Figure! (Emails Not Included)
» American Exceptionalism is Heretical
» Americans Say Number One Problem in the Country is Government
» Clinton Has Received $16 Million in Post-Presidency Benefits
» Facebook to Collect Users’ Conversations for Advertisers
» Fluoride Linked to Higher ADHD
» Frito-Lay Chips Are Filled With Poison-Producing GMO Corn and Deadly Glyphosate Herbicide
» Hackers, Probing Clinton Server, Cite Security Lapses
» Hints of Hot Springs Found on Saturnian Moon
» Hydrothermal Activity in Subsurface Ocean of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
» Muslim College Co-Founded by Anti-Israel Firebrand Receives Accreditation
» On Women’s Rights, Hillary Clinton’s Career Defined by Inaction
» Police K9s Worth More Than Your Family Members
» The Threat is Real: Billion Dollar NASA Mission to Study Blackout Risks to Power Grid
» The U.S. Has Too Much Oil and Nowhere to Put it
» Two Police Officers Shot During Ferguson, Missouri, Protest
» Who Benefits From the Ferguson Shooting?
» Why I Don’t Want an Apple Watch (And it’s Not the Battery Life)
 
Canada
» Pakistani Arrested But Not Charged in Plot to Blow up US Consulate in Toronto
 
Europe and the EU
» 10,000 Troops to Continue Guarding France Streets After Attacks
» Borg’s Report on Finnish Economy Unveiled
» Denmark: Omar El-Hussein Sought Help From the Municipality
» Denmark: Three Young People From Eastern Jutland Feared to Have Travelled to Syria
» Dolphins, Diatoms and Sea Dragons Join Census of All Known Marine Life
» For Scandinavians, This Year’s Solar Eclipse Will be Mind-Blowing
» Greece Lodges Complaint Over German FM Schäuble’s ‘Naïve’ Comment
» Iceland Drops EU Membership Bid
» Leaving EU Would Make UK the North Korea of Europe, Warns Gordon Brown
» Mozart on Muslim Sex Slavery
» Norway: Seven Swedes Charged for Oslo Gold Heist
» Norway: Chinese PhD Expelled for ‘Illegal Missile Research’
» Philae, Wake Up: ESA Will Try to Revive Comet Lander
» Rising Islamophobia ‘Threat to UK Tourism, Investment’
» Row Between German Muslim Leaders Amid Push for Higher Status for Mosques
» Single Women in Denmark Increasingly Moving to the City
» Spain: “The Mediterranean Corridor of Jihadism”
» Spain: Madrid Bombing Victims: “the Beast of Jihadist Terrorism Has Awakened”
» St Patrick’s Day 2015: Seven Things You Didn’t Know About the Saint, The Parades, And Guinness
» Sweden: Government Doubles Funds for Anti-Extremism Initiatives
» Sweden: Foreign Minister Meets Palestinian Ambassador
» Sweden Boosts Funds to Set Up Extremism Hotline
» Swedes in Oslo Are Tired of Negative Stereotypes
» The Ridiculous World of Magna Carta Kitsch
» Waterloo Euro Coin Will Not Come Out
» Why is Monica Lewinsky in a Tiny Town in Norway?
 
North Africa
» Pyramids and Sphinx Should be Destroyed, But it’s OK if You Can’t Do it Right Now
 
Middle East
» Australian Teenage ‘White Jihadi’ Dies in ISIL Suicide Attack in Ramadi
» Iranian President: Diplomacy With U.S. Is an Active ‘Jihad’
» ISIS Executioner “Linked to Toulouse Killer”
» ISIS Claims Australian Teen Was a Suicide Bomber in Attack in Western Iraq
» Kuwaiti Preacher, ISIS Call for Demolition of Egypt’s Sphinx, Pyramids
» Man Suspected of Helping British Schoolgirls Join ISIS Arrested in Turkey
» Sixty-Five People Have Left Italy to Join ISIS
» To the Wire: The Smugglers Who Get People Into Syria for Islamic State
 
South Asia
» Afghan Artist in Hiding After ‘Iron Underwear’ Stunt
 
Far East
» Chinese Tourists Are Headed Your Way With $264 Billion
» The Moon’s History is Surprisingly Complex, Chinese Rover Finds
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Danish Khat Smugglers Plead Guilty in Kenya
» Death Toll From West Africa’s Ebola Outbreak Passes 10,000: Who
» Nigeria Slams Boko Haram-ISIS Pledge
» Tanzania Albino Murders: ‘More Than 200 Witchdoctors’ Arrested
 
Immigration
» EU Interior Ministers Debate Asylum Influx
» ‘Relocate Syrian Refugees Within Europe’: UN
» Rome Immigrant Centre Cleared Over Safety
 
Culture Wars
» Catholic Church Captured by “Progressive Forces”
» Feminist Theory Needs a Revolution
 
General
» History Suggests OPEC’s Days Could be Numbered
» McDonald’s in Global Profit Free Fall as People Everywhere Increasingly Reject Chemically-Altered Toxic Fast Food
» New Procedure May Turn Brown Eyes Blue
» Passports for a Price: The Business Showing Poor Countries How to Sell Citizenship
» What’s the Universe Made of? Math, Says Scientist
 

“Massive Headache”: Rising Dollar Threating Trade and $74 Trillion Derivative Tsunami

Are we on the verge of an unprecedented global currency crisis? On Tuesday, the euro briefly fell below $1.07 for the first time in almost a dozen years. And the U.S. dollar continues to surge against almost every other major global currency. The U.S. dollar index has now risen an astounding 23 percent in just the last eight months. That is the fastest pace that the U.S. dollar has risen since 1981. You might be tempted to think that a stronger U.S. dollar is good news, but it isn’t. A strong U.S. dollar hurts U.S. exports, thus harming our economy. In addition, a weak U.S. dollar has fueled tremendous expansion in emerging markets around the planet over the past decade or so. When the dollar becomes a lot stronger, it becomes much more difficult for those countries to borrow more money and repay old debts. In other words, the emerging market “boom” is about to become a bust. Not only that, it is important to keep in mind that global financial institutions bet a tremendous amount of money on currency movements. According to the Bank for International Settlements, 74 trillion dollars in derivatives are tied to the value of the U.S. dollar, the value of the euro and the value of other global currencies. When currency rates start flying around all over the place, you can rest assured that someone out there is losing an enormous amount of money. If this derivatives bubble ends up imploding, there won’t be enough money in the entire world to bail everyone out.

Do you remember what happened the last time the U.S. dollar went on a great run like this?

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Central Bank Stimulus is Ancient Recipe for Trouble

Central bankers would do well to learn lessons about monetary stimulus from history — ancient history.

The practice of governments boosting the amount of money in circulation to spur economic growth isn’t as unconventional as one might think, according to Kabir Sehgal’s new book, “Coined: The Rich Life of Money and How Its History Has Shaped Us.”

After carrying out unprecedented stimulus in the wake of the financial crisis, the U.S. Federal Reserve now stands out among major central banks in accepting a higher exchange rate as a sign of economic strength. Peers from Tokyo to Frankfurt, Zurich and Sydney are cutting rates and buying government bonds to stimulate growth and, in the process, sometimes weakening their currencies.

Rulers have used the supply of hard and paper money to pursue economic and political goals as early as the Roman Empire and in Kublai Khan’s 13th-century Mongol Empire, according to Sehgal. In the U.S., Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln advocated printing more paper currency to spur trade and commerce.

“The lesson that keeps coming up is really a Faustian bargain,” he said. “It seems great, but eventually it leads to economic trouble.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Draghi Says QE Already Working

“Developments are pointing in the right direction,” ECB president Mario Draghi said in Frankfurt Wednesday, referring to the just-launched QE programme. Interest rates have fallen “in spite of the renewed Greek crisis,” he said. “This suggests that the asset purchase programme may be shielding other euro-area countries from contagion.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ECB Policy ‘Asphyxiating’, Says Greek Finance Minister

In an interview with Mega TV, Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said the European Central Bank’s policy towards Greece is “asphyxiating”. He also said he’d “never had” the trust of the German government.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

France Shouldn’t Get Easy Ride: Bundesbank

The head of the German central bank or Bundesbank on Thursday described the decision by the EU Commission to grant France a two-year delay to reach its budget targets as problematic.

“The latest development in France’s deficit procedure is very problematic,” Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said on presentation of the central bank’s annual accounts.

France has just been awarded extra time to bring its deficit below the 3.0-percent ceiling laid down in EU rules.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece: Unemployment Rises to 26.1% in 4th Quarter of 2014

The rate of unemployment in Greece rose to 26.1% in the fourth quarter of 2014, from 25.5% in the third quarter of the same year, daily To Vima online reports publishing the latest figures on the labor force revealed by the Greek statistics authority (Elstat). Elstat’s data show that in the fourth quarter (October to December) there where a total of 3,535,274 employed, while 1,245,854 were unemployed. Unemployment affects women (29.6%) harder than it affects men (23.3%), even amongst young people (51.5%), where 56.9% of women aged 15 to 24 are out of a job.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greek Debt is Unsustainable, Needs Restructuring, Says PM

Greek public debt is “unsustainable”, but “restructuring it, we could put it on a path of reduction, also with a moderate growth”, said Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras speaking at Oecd in Paris. The reduction of the debt by itself is not enough, he added: “Eeven if we brought it down to zero, it would grow again, if we don’t fight the deep causes”. He pointed out thah now the country needs “a budget margin”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

South Korea Hops on Rate-Cut Bandwagon With Quarter-Point Move

South Korea’s central bank unexpectedly lowered its key interest rate to an all-time low to prevent the nation from falling into deflation and support economic growth.

The Bank of Korea lowered the seven-day repurchase rate to 1.75 percent, as forecast by just two of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

With South Korea’s inflation at slowest pace since 1999 and exports falling, the BOK joins more than 20 other central banks in loosening policy this year, including its Thai counterpart, which unexpectedly cut rates Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

3 Reportedly Questioned in Shooting of 2 Cops Outside Ferguson Police Department

Police were questioning three people in connection with the shooting of two Missouri police officers early Thursday at a protest outside the Ferguson police headquarters, and a top law enforcement official said it was only “by God’s grace” that the two cops are expected to survive.

“Lucky,” St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference hours after the early morning shootings. “By God’s grace we didn’t lose two officers last night.”

The police officers, not members of Ferguson’s force, were part of a 25-man police line at the embattled headquarters, where Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson had announced his resignation hours earlier.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

3D Hillary Clinton Action Figure! (Emails Not Included)

Hillary Clinton fans can’t access her official emails yet, but they may soon be able to download and print a free 3D “ready-for-action figure” of the political powerhouse, thanks to a firm keen to see her run for president.

FCTRY, the Brooklyn-based production studio behind the 2008 Barack Obama action figure that became a hit seller during his successful White House bid, is creating an “iconic” Clinton doll, complete with baby-blue pantsuit.

“We want to kickstart this product, and jumpstart Hillary’s campaign all at the same time,” FCTRY co-founder Jason Feinberg says in a two-minute, 43-second video pitch to cloudfunding platform Kickstarter introduced this week.

“Honestly, the world kind of needs a Hillary action figure,” he added.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

American Exceptionalism is Heretical

Excerpts from Srdja Trifkovic’s latest interview with Mike Church on Sirius XM Satellite Radio

ST: The decision-makers in the Western capitals do not know history and they do not care about it. They believe that they operate in a totally new environment in which the examples of the past are not relevant to the actions of the present.

It is an extremely dangerous situation, because they genuinely believe it. I’d prefer the neocons, and Samantha Power and Susan Rice and other liberal interventionists to be cynical, to know the score and yet to act on the razor’s edge of marginal advantage in order to gain some geopolitical points. But no, they genuinely believe that it is indeed a whole new game that they are playing, that examples of the past don’t matter because their technology and their information networks make it possible to impose entirely new rules of the game. Well, it is not possible. We are looking at the old geopolitical equation of a hundred years ago: the tendency of the maritime powers — back then it was the British Empire, today it is the American empire — to treat every point in the world as the so-called vital national interest, and this leads to imperial over-reach…

A rational, American interest-driven policy would look at how does an issue affect us, how does it affect the lives of Americans in Oklahoma and in Texas? Whose flag will fly over Kiev’s Independence Square does not matter one iota. Imposing this puritan ideology of exceptionalism is in Christian terms heretical, because it implies that God has chosen some nations over others and made them immune to the laws of natural natural morality and just war theory. On the other hand, it leads to material exhaustion, which ultimately does not yield any perceptible benefits…

MC: In your estimation, what does President Putin get right, and what does he get wrong?…

           — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic [Return to headlines]
 

Americans Say Number One Problem in the Country is Government

Government is the “most important” problem facing the country, according to the majority of Americans.

The declaration was made by 18 percent of respondents in a Gallup survey. Americans were asked “what do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Clinton Has Received $16 Million in Post-Presidency Benefits

Former President Bill Clinton has received nearly $16 million in taxpayer funds since leaving the White House, covering everything from his pension to personnel to benefits — and renewing questions over how much taxpayers really should spend on ex-presidents who make millions after leaving office.

A new Politico report and analysis examined the payments since he left office in 2001, and claimed it amounts to more than any other ex-president has received. Meanwhile, Politico points out, Clinton has a personal annual income that beats all the other living former presidents. His $15 million advance — then a record — for his 2008 memoir was just a sliver of his earnings. According to reports he’s made more than $106 million in speaking fees alone since 2001.

Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also has earned millions in speaking fees — and released a memoir, for which she reportedly got a $14 million advance, last year. In the first 16 months after leaving Foggy Bottom in 2012, she made at total of $12 million in personal income, according to Bloomberg.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Facebook to Collect Users’ Conversations for Advertisers

Facebook will start telling advertisers what its users are saying about their products on the social media site.

The social media giant announced its plan this week to show marketers “what audiences are saying on Facebook about events, brands, subjects and activities” so they can get a “holistic and actionable view of their audience for the first time.”…

Recently one Facebook user, Daniel Kapp, wrote a status message announcing he was battling cancer, and not long afterwards he started seeing ads on Facebook for funeral homes.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Fluoride Linked to Higher ADHD

New research shows there is a strong correlation between water fluoridation and the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, in the United States.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Frito-Lay Chips Are Filled With Poison-Producing GMO Corn and Deadly Glyphosate Herbicide

(NaturalNews) The Texas-based Frito-Lay corporation, whose parent company is PepsiCo, has been caught selling deadly processed food products that contain both genetically modified (GM), pesticide-producing “corn” and Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide (glyphosate), which is scientifically linked to causing hormone disruption, reproductive damage, digestive disorders and much more.

Recent tests conducted on Frito-Lay’s SunChips product revealed the presence of GM Bt corn, which comprised 100% of the corn used in the product. Bt corn, as you’ll probably recall, creates its own insecticide inside every cell of the plant, which can’t be washed off and is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency — Bt corn isn’t food, in other words.

Feeding studies on mammals have found that Bt corn causes immune system disturbances, blood biochemistry disturbances, male reproductive organ damage, disturbances in the functioning of the digestive system and signs of organ toxicity. Proteins from Bt corn, which supposedly break down in the digestive tract, have also been found circulating in the blood of both pregnant and non-pregnant women.

Also found in SunChips were dangerously high levels of glyphosate, the primary active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. Using Specific LC/MS/MS testing methods, the consumer advocacy group GMO Free USA observed levels of glyphosate in SunChips averaging 0.14 parts per million (ppm), or 0.14 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Hackers, Probing Clinton Server, Cite Security Lapses

Stirred by the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, a determined band of hackers, IT bloggers, and systems analysts have trained their specialized talents and state-of-the-art software on clintonemail.com, the domain under which Clinton established multiple private email accounts, and uncovered serious lapses in security, according to data shared with Fox News.

The findings call into question Clinton’s confident declaration, at a hastily arranged news conference in New York on Tuesday, that “there were no security breaches” in her use of a private server.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hints of Hot Springs Found on Saturnian Moon

Particles streaming from Enceladus strengthen push to hunt for extraterrestrial life.

Hot springs seem to be percolating on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, at the bottom of its buried ocean. The discovery, the first known instance of hydrothermal activity happening beyond Earth, is likely to bolster efforts to send spacecraft to hunt for signs of life there.

The international Cassini spacecraft has measured tiny silicon-rich particles streaming from Enceladus, planetary scientists report in the 12 March issue of Nature. The size and chemical make-up of the particles suggest that they come from hydrothermal activity, where the moon’s ocean meets the underlying rock.

Hydrothermal activity in subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Hydrothermal Activity in Subsurface Ocean of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first clear evidence that Saturn’s moon Enceladus exhibits signs of present-day hydrothermal activity which may resemble that seen in the deep oceans on Earth. The implications of such activity on a world other than our planet open up unprecedented scientific possibilities.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Muslim College Co-Founded by Anti-Israel Firebrand Receives Accreditation

A California school co-founded by a firebrand who once called for an “intifada” in the U.S. has become the nation’s first accredited Muslim college.

Zaytuna College, which operates out of two rented buildings in Berkeley, Calif., and had an enrollment of 30 in 2013, was officially accredited earlier this week by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges—one of the six academic organizations responsible for authorizing public and private colleges and universities in the United States.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

On Women’s Rights, Hillary Clinton’s Career Defined by Inaction

by Phyllis Chesler

Former Madam Secretary, Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton has used the issue of women’s rights—and the desire of many Americans to see a woman in the top job—to realize her ambition for more and more power. But what has she actually done for women, locally or globally?

Unfortunately, not much; not enough to make a difference.

Clinton gained sympathy when her husband publicly humiliated her and when she was attacked in sexist ways, but she turned right around and attacked Monica Lewinsky in sexist ways, too.

Clinton also raised high hopes when she began talking the feminist talk.

In 1995, First Lady Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in Beijing at the United Nation’s Fourth World Conference on Women. It was full of lines guaranteed to draw steady applause. But, in reality, it is a speech full of platitudes and empty “calls to action.” She noted that “rape has been used as an instrument of armed conflict” and claimed that rape, female genital mutilation, and sex slavery are “violations of human rights.” She was right.

But she also claimed that “there is far more that unites us than divides us [as women].” Here, she is dead wrong. I doubt I have much in common with the female supporters of ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas, or Al-Qaeda—or with the women who collaborate in the honor killing of their daughters and female relatives.

This is the speech that is famous because Clinton—a public figure—finally declared what most of the early American feminist leaders had declared in the late 1960’s: namely, that “women’s rights” are “human rights.”

           — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler [Return to headlines]
 

Police K9s Worth More Than Your Family Members

Infowars Reporter Joe Biggs discusses how a man will serve up to seven years in prison for killing a police K9.

Meanwhile police officers kill innocent dogs across the country and yet nothing happens to them.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The Threat is Real: Billion Dollar NASA Mission to Study Blackout Risks to Power Grid

The potential for a devastating EMP resulting from a massive solar event, or a man made weapon, is well known and, increasingly, being taken seriously as a looming, perhaps inevitable, disaster.

Surprisingly, there are actually voices in Congress urging Washington to prepare for all contingencies and to upgrade the power grid and infrastructure to better deal with an event that could easily disable the entire system — perhaps even for an extended period of time.

At its worst, an EMP could result in the deaths of 90% of the population, whose lives — utterly dependent on handouts from the system and services from the fragile infrastructure — would be unsustainable without the electric grid.

One half of that equation deals with the potential for solar flares, or coronal mass ejections, and other extreme space weather events to cause interruptions in Earth’s magnetosphere, in turn creating electrical discharges that have the potential to disrupt satellites orbiting the planet, and trigger outages in the electrical grid and most of the electronic devices on earth’s surface.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

The U.S. Has Too Much Oil and Nowhere to Put it

Seven months ago the giant tanks in Cushing, Okla., the largest crude oil storage hub in North America, were three-quarters empty. After spending the last few years brimming with light, sweet crude unlocked by the shale drilling revolution, the tanks held just less than 18 million barrels by late July, down from a high of 52 million in early 2013. New pipelines to refineries along the Gulf Coast had drained Cushing of more than 30 million barrels in less than a year.

As quickly as it emptied out, Cushing has filled back up again. Since October, the amount of oil stored there has almost tripled, to more than 51 million barrels. As oil prices have crashed, from more than $100 a barrel last summer to below $50 now, big trading companies are storing their crude in hopes of selling it for higher prices down the road. With U.S. production continuing to expand, that’s led to the fastest increase in U.S. oil inventories on record.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Two Police Officers Shot During Ferguson, Missouri, Protest

(Reuters) — Two police officers were shot and wounded during a protest rally in Ferguson, Missouri, early on Thursday, hours after the city’s police chief resigned in the wake of a scathing U.S. Justice Department report finding his force was rife with racial bias.

The shooting of the officers, who were in serious condition at a local hospital, comes after months of turmoil in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, triggered in August by the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman.

The death of 18-year-old Michael Brown thrust Ferguson into the center of an intense national debate over law enforcement’s use of force against minorities, particularly against black men, and led to months of protests nationwide.

On Thursday, a manhunt was underway after the two officers were hit by gunfire outside the Ferguson police headquarters during a protest rally staged hours after the resignation of Police Chief Thomas Jackson.

The two officers who were shot were not part of the Ferguson force, which is almost entirely white, while the majority of the city’s residents are African-American.

A 41-year-old officer from the St. Louis County Police was struck in the shoulder and a 32-year-old officer from the nearby Webster Groves Police Department was hit in the face.

“These police officers were standing there and they were shot, just because they were police officers,” St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters early on Thursday.

“I have said all along that we cannot sustain this forever without problems,” he said, referring to festering tensions in the city since Brown’s death last summer.

Belmar said the officers, whom he did not identify, were both conscious and hospitalized.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney representing Brown’s parents, said on Thursday the family condemned the shooting and insisted that a small number of people were responsible for any violence.

“Violence is never the solution,” Crump told CNN. “There may be a few people who are misguided or confused but in large part the majority of the protesters and the majority of Americans want justice.”…

[Return to headlines]
 

Who Benefits From the Ferguson Shooting?

By Doug Hagmann

Minutes after midnight this morning local time, shots rang out amid the presence of protestors and police gathered outside of the police station in Ferguson, Missouri. Two police officers on duty from neighboring departments were seriously wounded. One 32 year-old officer from Webster Groves was shot in the face, and a 41 year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder. Whether by pure luck or poor or perhaps incredible marksmanship, thankfully, both officers are expected to survive.

But something smells bad about this incident. I suspect we are being “gamed” in a manner few have bothered to consider.

Initial reports stated that the shots came from a gunman “embedded” within a group of protestors that gathered outside of the police department last night in response to the police chief’s resignation. His resignation, along with a number of other city employees, was the direct result of an extensive and scathing 105-page report released on March 4, 2015 by Eric Holder’s Department of Justice. That report was commissioned by Holder and Barack Obama after Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson was exonerated from any wrongdoing by a state grand jury related to the on-duty shooting death of Michael Brown.

Further investigation of the origin of the shots, however, found that the shooter was not embedded within the group of protestors, but far behind them, atop a knoll near Tiffin Avenue. The positioning of the shooter, the timing of the shots, and the timing of the shooting in general relative to the Justice Department’s report should be of serious concern and not dismissed out of hand.

Readers of my columns will recall my source within the Department of Homeland Security asserting that members within and associated with Obama and Holder were, and are, doing everything possible to foment a new racial divide, or plainly stated, cultivate a new race war. I have written prolifically about the planned, orchestrated take-down of America from within, with the exploitation of racial division being a key strategy and expertly employed as one of a series of methods of our own destruction.

Over the last few years, I have written extensively about my sources’ inside information about economic chaos as well, that will perhaps coincide or converge with this new race war being planned from the pit of the Potomac, the belt hole of the Beltway, by those who actually control the leaders and their agenda. It’s the destroy-us-from-within agenda. Today, quite literally, we are seeing the race war being ratcheted up with Ferguson as “ground zero.”

It was during the early hours of this morning, within 30 minutes of the shooting in Ferguson that I was contacted by my source within the Department of Homeland Security. He conveyed his concern that the shooting was staged based on conversations with other officials in the days following the release of the March 4th Justice Department’s report. He stated that the report did not seem to have the “desired effect” on the general public as expected from those who had it commissioned. It went “flat” within the media, and there was also some pushback from some Ferguson officials. The situation behind the scenes was “tense,” he said.

This source stated that the protests that formed last night were coordinated by key members of one or perhaps two groups closely associated with organizations that can be traced back to “Soros money,” or groups funded by the infamous George Soros.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Why I Don’t Want an Apple Watch (And it’s Not the Battery Life)

The reason I don’t want an Apple Watch has nothng to do with its look, functionality, price or battery life. The reason I have no interest in an Apple Watch (or any of its competitors) is I can’t afford to be connected to a device that destroys my productivity with an endless stream of chirps, beeps, buzzes or vibrations every time an email, tweet, text, etc. arrives.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Pakistani Arrested But Not Charged in Plot to Blow up US Consulate in Toronto

Although the man was arrested in an alleged terror plot, he has not been charged. The Canadian government is in the process of ordering him deported to his native Pakistan and if that is all there is, so much for the government’s hardline on terrorism.

Jahanzeb Malik, 33, was arrested on Monday after a six-month investigation. Malik, who came to Canada as a student in 2004, later married a Canadian and became a permanent resident. He first came to the attention of the authorities on April 3, 2013 when he landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Malik told Canada Border Security Agency (CBSA) agents he had been out of the country teaching in Libya. He told the same story to the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS). They didn’t believe him.

Malik worked as a flooring contractor and the investigation began in September when an undercover officer contacted him about having hardwood flooring installed in his home. The two became friends and according to the officer, the truth about Malik’s past and present plans were revealed.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

10,000 Troops to Continue Guarding France Streets After Attacks

France plans to keep 10,000 troops on the streets across the country following the recent terrorist attacks that claimed 17 lives and shocked the nation in January.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the office of President Francois Hollande described as “high” the threat of terrorist attack against France.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Borg’s Report on Finnish Economy Unveiled

Sweden’s former Finance Minister Anders Borg’s long-awaited report on how to get Finland back on track financially was published on Wednesday.

Borg and Vartiainen are concerned about the decreased competitiveness of the Finnish economy, the shrinking number of working aged employees, and less active participation in the workforce here as compared with other Nordic countries.

Speaking at the official release of the report, Borg said there were no easy solutions to the problems faced by the country, which has been particularly badly hit by the economic crisis. According to the report, it could take Finland up to a decade to restore its economic competitiveness.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark: Omar El-Hussein Sought Help From the Municipality

Twelve days before he went on a terrorist killing spree in which he killed two civilians and wounded six police officers, Omar El-Hussein sought help from Ungecentret, a youth centre that is part of Copenhagen Municipality.

According to Berlingske, El-Hussein went to the centre in Vesterbro looking for help after spending nearly a year in custody in connection with a stabbing on the Metro.

At a meeting on 2 February, El-Hussein told the centre personnel that he needed a job and a place to live, sources have confirmed to Berlingske.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark: Three Young People From Eastern Jutland Feared to Have Travelled to Syria

East Jutland Police are reporting that two 21-year-old women and a 23-year-old man from east Jutland have travelled to Syria.

“The man has been in one of our programs and has been a challenge,” Allan Aarslev from East Jutland Police told Berlingske. “We have offered advice and explained that going to Syria is not a good idea, but it obviously hasn’t worked.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Dolphins, Diatoms and Sea Dragons Join Census of All Known Marine Life

Taxonomists undertaking the daunting task of compiling a list of every species in the sea say that there are 228,445 known marine organisms. The team from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) has eliminated 190,400 previously listed species, because they were duplicate identities.

WoRMS, hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute in Belgium, has more than 200 editors around the world combing through the published literature to tally what lives under the waves. In its latest update, published on 12 March, the organization said that it had added 1,451 creatures in 2014 alone. Jan Mees, the director of the Flanders Marine Institute and WoRMS co-chair, says that after a decade of work, the team has “nearly completed the inventory of all marine organisms that have ever been seen and described”. The world’s oceans are thought to contain somewhere between 700,000 and 1 million eukaryote species, however, so WoRMS has plenty more work to do.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

For Scandinavians, This Year’s Solar Eclipse Will be Mind-Blowing

On Friday 20 March 2015, Scandinavians will experience the most complete partial eclipse of the Sun in decades.

It’s a Total Solar Eclipse on the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, Norway, and a Partial Solar Eclipse in Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa.

“You’ll still be able to see the outermost edge of the Sun’s atmosphere — the corona — flaring up. The brightest stars will stand out at the same time. It’s a fabulous, unique experience,” says Christensen-Dalsgaard.

In Denmark, around 83 per cent of the Sun will be covered by the Moon, which will make for an incredible experience, according to Christensen-Dalsgaard.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Greece Lodges Complaint Over German FM Schäuble’s ‘Naïve’ Comment

Greece has accused Germany’s finance minister of insulting his Greek counterpart. It comes as talks take place over the country’s economic future, and as relations between the two countries reach an all-time low.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iceland Drops EU Membership Bid

The government of Iceland has announced it is no longer seeking EU membership for the North Atlantic state.

Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson said he had already informed current EU president Latvia and the European Commission about the cabinet’s move.

Iceland gave no reason for dropping its bid to join the 28-member bloc.

But after winning the 2013 elections two Eurosceptic parties said the nation already enjoyed most full membership benefits through deals with the EU.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Leaving EU Would Make UK the North Korea of Europe, Warns Gordon Brown

Britain faces a friendless future as the North Korea of Europe if it leaves the European Union and seeks to forge a role in “Anglospheric” parts of the world such as Hong Kong, Gordon Brown has warned.

As a leading EU pro-reform thinktank warned that Britain could face uncertainty and disruption outside the EU, the former prime minister said that an exit would leave Britain out in the cold with few friends and no influence.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Mozart on Muslim Sex Slavery

By Steve Sailer

On Saturday evening, I walked to North Hollywood to see Mozart’s Muslim sex slavery comic opera “The Abduction from the Seraglio.” It’s about Lady Konstanza and her English maid Blond who have been kidnapped by a Turkish pirate chieftain and the two Italians who rescue the girls.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Seven Swedes Charged for Oslo Gold Heist

Seven Swedish men have been charged for robbing a goldsmiths in Oslo last year in carefully planned heist which saw them speed away with 1.4m kroners worth of jewellery.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Chinese PhD Expelled for ‘Illegal Missile Research’

Two academics expelled from a Norwegian University were suspected of carrying out secret research to help China build advanced high-speed missiles, Norway’s Police Security Service (PST) has claimed.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Philae, Wake Up: ESA Will Try to Revive Comet Lander

The Philae lander could wake up in the next few days, at which point it will pick up where it left off: trying to become the first spacecraft to drill into a comet.

Back in November, Philae ended a lengthy space journey by landing on comet Comet 67P. But after a bumpy descent, it came to rest in a shadowy place where the solar-powered spacecraft lander couldn’t recharge as it was supposed to, and had to go into safe mode.

European Space Agency scientists say Philae is now receiving twice as much solar power now as it did then, however, and they’re gambling that the probe could have enough energy to wake up and resume drilling into the comet. There’s also a chance that Philae is already online, but hasn’t turned on its transmitter.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Rising Islamophobia ‘Threat to UK Tourism, Investment’

The rising tide of Islamophobia in the UK, stoked by the mainstream media, poses a direct threat to the country’s $190 billion tourism economy and Muslim investment in Britain, experts warn.

The United Kingdom is currently one of the most popular global destinations for Muslim travellers, while Gulf investors have lavished billions of dollars on prime London real estate and stakes in key British businesses.

But some warn that the UK stands to lose this favored status due to a rise in Islamophobic sentiment, public support for anti-Muslim right-wing groups, soaring hate crime figures and antagonistic media coverage.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Row Between German Muslim Leaders Amid Push for Higher Status for Mosques

Fractures are showing between the different major Muslim organizations in Germany after one leader attended a rally against anti-Semitism alone. He is making the other groups look intolerant, his critics say.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Single Women in Denmark Increasingly Moving to the City

More and more single women in Denmark are leaving the men behind in the provincial areas and moving to the nation’s three biggest cities, according to new research from Roskilde University (RUC).

The research — which charts the population development in Denmark over the past 25 years — shows there are 10,000 more single women aged 18-48 than single men of the same age in the Greater Copenhagen area.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spain: “The Mediterranean Corridor of Jihadism”

by Soeren Kern

The arrests have, once again, cast a spotlight on the problem of radical Islam in Catalonia, which has the largest Muslim population in Spain. The region is home to an estimated 465,000 Muslims, who account for more than 6% of the total Catalan population of 7.5 million.

Catalonia is home to approximately 465,000 Muslims. At least 10% of them are estimated to be “radicals” who are hardcore believers in the “doctrine of jihadism.” — Jofre Montoto, Catalan terrorism analyst.

In February, the lower house of the Spanish Congress approved far-reaching changes to the country’s penal code, as a way to combat Islamic extremism and support for the Islamic State.

Under the new law, anyone convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack will be subject to a life sentence (35 years) without the possibility of parole. The law also calls for 20-year sentences for anyone convicted of supplying weapons to terrorists, or ten-year sentences for funding terror networks.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Spain: Madrid Bombing Victims: “the Beast of Jihadist Terrorism Has Awakened”

Hundreds of people congregated inside Madrid’s Retiro Park on Wednesday to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the March 11, 2004 train bombings that left 191 people dead and 1,800 injured in what remains the biggest terrorist attack ever carried out on European soil.

“The beast of jihadist terrorism has awakened,” said Terrorism Victims’ Association (AVT) president Ángeles Pedraza in front of a memorial garden known as the Bosque del Recuerdo (Forest of remembrance).

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

St Patrick’s Day 2015: Seven Things You Didn’t Know About the Saint, The Parades, And Guinness

St Patrick was not Irish

That’s right, the Emerald Isle’s patron saint was not actually from Ireland. He was born either in England, Scotland or Wales, but not Ireland. Despite this, it is not possible to call St Patrick British either, as the British Isles was under Roman occupation at the time of his birth, thought to be around 390 AD.

It is unknown as to whether St Patrick’s parents were Celtic or Roman — some accounts claim he was from Roman aristocracy — but he is believed to have been captured at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He eventually escaped, but later returned to Ireland to convert the Celtic Pagans to Christianity.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Government Doubles Funds for Anti-Extremism Initiatives

In her role as coordinator against violent extremism, Mona Sahlin will receive an extra SEK 10 million as the government decided to double her appropriation Thursday.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden: Foreign Minister Meets Palestinian Ambassador

Palestine’s ambassador to Sweden has met with Foreign Minister Margot Wallström to discuss the ongoing spat between Sweden and the Arab League, after Wallström’s public criticism of Saudi Arabia.

“The conflict has to be solved through dialogue,” Palestinian Ambassador Hala Husni Fariz Odeh told Swedish news agency TT, as details of Tuesday’s meeting emerged a day later.

The visit came after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Stockholm on Tuesday, accusing Sweden’s foreign minister of “flagrant interference” in its internal affairs after she criticized the country’s human rights record.

The move emerged as Sweden scrapped a long-standing military deal with the Saudis after accusing the country of blocking Wallström from speaking at an Arab League meeting.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden Boosts Funds to Set Up Extremism Hotline

Sweden’s national co-ordinator against violent extremism, Mona Sahlin, will receive another 10 million kronor ($1.2m) to boost support for terrorist defectors and families, it was announced today.

In total around 130 Swedes have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight since summer 2012, but it has been reported the number could be as high as 300. Experts have warned to conflict could pose the biggest security threat to Sweden since the Second World War.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Swedes in Oslo Are Tired of Negative Stereotypes

Young Swedes in Oslo laugh at Swedish jokes in the beginning. But it’s not so funny after a few years.

An estimated 55 000 Swedes have crossed the border to work in Norway. They come to take advantage of higher wages and lower unemployment, but the transition is not always easy.

That might seem surprising to the outside world, which has its own monolithic stereotype of the Scandinavian countries as being uniformly populated by happy, blonde-haired people who have a strong social welfare network and some of the highest living standards in the world.

But when Ida Tolgensbakk from the University of Oslo interviewed some of these young migrant Swedes in Norway, she found a surprising range of reactions to their situation in Norway.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Ridiculous World of Magna Carta Kitsch

Throughout the United Kingdom, retailers are going mad over an 800-year-old document

Famous stick-in-the-mud Oliver Cromwell may have once dismissed the Magna Carta as “Magna Farta”, but for most of the rest of world, the document remains a touchstone of modern democracy. Its import and resonance is no more evident than in the staggering amount of Magna Carta tchotchkes available to purchase — everything from iPhone cases to tote bags are emblazoned with the bunched-up, Medieval print, an abbreviated form of Latin that even scholars have a hard time making out. And with the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the talismanic charter approaching in June, the floodgates have well and truly opened.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Waterloo Euro Coin Will Not Come Out

Belgium withdrew the proposal to produce a special 2-euro piece in honour of the Waterloo battle, which took place outside Brussels on 18 June, 1815.

Late on Wednesday, France persuaded EU to prevent the minting of the euro coin commemorating the historic event. In its letter of objection, President Francois Hollande’s government argued the draft design revived a “negative symbol” which could even, trigger hostility in France.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Why is Monica Lewinsky in a Tiny Town in Norway?

A week before her much-heralded TED talk on cyberbullying, Monica Lewinsky has given a sneak preview in a small town in Norway, warning the audience about the “immeasurable humiliation” it can cause.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Pyramids and Sphinx Should be Destroyed, But it’s OK if You Can’t Do it Right Now

by Hugh Fitzgerald

The fatwa issued from a Qatari-based cleric is several years old, but it is just now that it has been getting attention in Egypt, presumably because the destruction of so many pre-islamic cities by ISIS has made the topic timely. The fatwa-issuer explains that while such destruction is called for, if the conditions are not propitioous, as they are not in Egypt today, then Darura or Necessity may be invoked to explain the failure to act.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Australian Teenage ‘White Jihadi’ Dies in ISIL Suicide Attack in Ramadi

An Australian teenager who ran away to fight for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has reportedly died in a suicide attack in Iraq.

Jake Bilardi, 18, was a high-achieving schoolboy from Melbourne, who converted to Islam after the death of his mother in 2009, when he was 13. He dropped out of school in the middle of last year and bought a one-way ticket to Istanbul, en route to Iraq and Syria.

On Wednesday it was reported that Bilardi, who used the nom-de-guerre bu Abdullah Al Australia, had died in a suicide attack, driving a white van packed with explosives into a target in Ramadi, in Anbar province.

A picture of him sitting behind the wheel was posted on Twitter by Isil supporters, with the caption “may Allah accept him”.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Iranian President: Diplomacy With U.S. Is an Active ‘Jihad’

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described his country’s diplomacy with the United States as an active “jihad” that is just as significant to Tehran’s advancement as the slew of new weapons and missiles showcased by the Islamic Republic’s military.

Rouhani praised the country’s military leaders for standing “against the enemy on the battlefield” and said as president, he would carry out this “jihad” on the diplomatic front.

Rouhani’s comments echo those of foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator Javad Zarif, who said Tuesday that Iran has emerged as “the winner” in talks with Western powers. Like Zarif, Rouhani boasted that Iran’s years-long diplomacy with Western nations over its nuclear program established the Islamic Republic as a global power.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Executioner “Linked to Toulouse Killer”

A man who appeared in the last ISIS propaganda video in which an alleged Palestinian Mossad “spy” is brutally killed by a child was possibly identified as the “half-brother of Mohamed Merah”, media reported on Wednesday.

According to Associated Press sources, the man, who spoke with “a strong Toulouse accent” was already well known to French Intelligence Service but there has been no official confirmation. Sources said that the jihadist militant who pronounced the death sentence of Sabri Essid is closely linked to Mohammed Merah, the terrorist who brutally killed seven people including three children in an anti-semitic motivated attack in Toulouse and Montauban, France on March 11, 2012.

“There is the probability that it’s him,” police sources in Paris said, as confirmed by a Radio France Internationale journalist. Intelligence services have been aware of Essid since 2002. Like Merah, Essid comes from Toulouse’s Izards neighborhood. Both attended the same “ultra-radical” Islamist cell Artigat, named after a small village and led by Franco-Syrian emir Olivier Correl.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

ISIS Claims Australian Teen Was a Suicide Bomber in Attack in Western Iraq

ISIS claimed that an Australian teen carried out a suicide bombing that left two dead and eight wounded in western Iraq Thursday.

In a propaganda video, the terrorist group said 18-year-old Jake Bilardi was killed detonating one of at least 13 car bombs that simultaneously exploded in Ramadi in the Anbar province Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kuwaiti Preacher, ISIS Call for Demolition of Egypt’s Sphinx, Pyramids

An Islamist preacher from Kuwait has called to destroy Egypt’s Sphinx and pyramids, stating it is time for Muslims to erase the pharaohs’ heritage. The alleged call comes as Islamic State jihadists ramp up their attacks against historic sites.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Man Suspected of Helping British Schoolgirls Join ISIS Arrested in Turkey

A man has been arrested in Turkey for allegedly helping three British schoolgirls cross into Syria to join Islamic State militants.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, said the man was an intelligence agent working for one of the states in the US-led coalition fighting against Isis.

Shamima Begum, 15, Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, left their homes in east London last month to join the extremist group. Their families have criticised the police for not doing enough to stop them.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Sixty-Five People Have Left Italy to Join ISIS

The number of people who have left Italy to join the Islamic extremist group Isis now stands at 65, the chief of Italy’s anti-terrorism unit said on Wednesday.

Out of that number less than ten are Italian citizens, Rai News reported.

Earlier this year it was reported that an Italian woman, who converted to Islamic, was among the jihadists.

Addressing the Schengen Committee, Mario Papa said that while the number was small, the main problem is dealing with their potential return to Italy.

Over 3,000 Europeans have joined Isis, more than half coming from France, Rai said.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

To the Wire: The Smugglers Who Get People Into Syria for Islamic State

Minibuses carry everyone from foreign would-be Isis jihadis to people who simply want to cross the border from Turkey to visit sick relatives

The “wire” is the 500-mile Turkish-Syrian frontier that is meant to be closed off by the Turkish authorities to stop smugglers taking people and money to the jihadis of Islamic State on the other side. Under mounting US pressure Turkey has cracked down on border security, but not everywhere.

“It’s easy to cross all along the border” in this region, says a second minibus driver who has conveyed a busload of passengers from the Turkish town of Gaziantep down to the border. “But you need to take the side roads, it’s safer.”

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Afghan Artist in Hiding After ‘Iron Underwear’ Stunt

An Afghan artist has been forced into hiding after receiving death threats for dressing in a metal suit featuring exaggerated breasts and buttocks.

Kubra Khademi wore the unusual armour in a performance on the streets of Kabul to highlight the problems of sexual harassment faced by women.

She had hoped to make a walk lasting for 10 minutes but in the event was forced back into her car by an angry mob of men after only eight minutes. The men threw things and even children were shouting at her.

Khademi carried out the performance because, she said, Afghan women suffered in silence. And even wearing a burka is no protection. She said those wearing the all-covering blue nylon garment faced harassment too.

However, she is now facing daily threats by phone and email from Islamic fundamentalists who have threatened to kill her.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Tourists Are Headed Your Way With $264 Billion

Book your holiday now, before a wave of 174 million Chinese tourists snap up the best bargains.

Already the most prolific spenders globally, the number of Chinese outbound tourists is tipped to soar further as the millennial generation spreads its wings.

Here are the numbers: 174 million Chinese tourists are tipped to spend $264 billion by 2019 compared with the 109 million who spent $164 billion in 2014, according to a new analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. To put that in perspective, there were just 10 million Chinese outbound tourists in 2000.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

The Moon’s History is Surprisingly Complex, Chinese Rover Finds

The moon’s past was livelier and more complex than scientists had thought, new results from China’s first lunar rover suggest.

China’s Yutu moon rover found evidence of at least nine distinct rock layers deep beneath its wheels, indicating that the area has been surprisingly geologically active over the past 3.3 billion years.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Danish Khat Smugglers Plead Guilty in Kenya

Three women were caught carrying 61 kilos of khat that officials believe the Danes planned to sell in Britain.

Three Danish women pleaded guilty on Thursday to breaking Kenyan customs laws by attempting to smuggle suitcases stuffed with a narcotic herb out of the country.

Khat is grown legally in Kenya but banned in Europe.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Death Toll From West Africa’s Ebola Outbreak Passes 10,000: Who

(Reuters) — The death toll from West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has passed 10,000, according to the latest tally released by the World Health Organization on Thursday.

Liberia has recorded the most deaths with 4,162. Sierra Leone is the second worst-hit nation with 3,655, and Guinea has recorded 2,187 dead, according to the data.

The deadly hemorrhagic fever reached Senegal, Nigeria and Mali but was contained there. A handful of cases have also been recorded in the United States, Spain and Britain.

[Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria Slams Boko Haram-ISIS Pledge

Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to the ISIS group was a sign of weakness and a result of pressure on the jihadi militants by Nigeria and its allies, the government in Abuja said Tuesday.

National security spokesman Mike Omeri called the pledge “an act of desperation and comes at a time when Boko Haram is suffering heavy losses.”

The Islamists’ leader Abubakar Shekau made the announcement in an audio message Saturday night after months of indications that Boko Haram was seeking a formal tie-up.

Troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger have claimed a series of successes against the militants since last month, pushing them out of captured territory in northeast Nigeria.

[Comment: It’s good that Nigeria sees through the tactic of Hudna.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Tanzania Albino Murders: ‘More Than 200 Witchdoctors’ Arrested

More than 200 witchdoctors and traditional healers have been arrested in Tanzania in a crackdown on the murder of albino people.

The killings have been driven by the belief — advanced by some witchdoctors — that the body parts have properties that confer wealth and good luck.

President Jakaya Kikwete has described the murder of albino people as an “evil” that has shamed Tanzania.

Nearly 80 albino Tanzanians have been killed since 2000, the UN says.

The latest victims include a one-year-old albino boy, killed in north-western Tanzania a few weeks ago.

According to the Red Cross, witchdoctors are prepared to pay $75,000 (£50,000) for a complete set of albino body parts.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

EU Interior Ministers Debate Asylum Influx

The idea to set up transit camps in northern Africa for Europe-bound asylum seekers to avert fatal Mediterranean boat drowning is being discussed again in Brussels. Austria is in favor. Germany is hesitant.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

‘Relocate Syrian Refugees Within Europe’: UN

Syrians should be relocated from countries such as Italy to elsewhere in Europe, in order to evenly share the growing burden of new arrivals, the UN’s Refugee Agency told The Local on Thursday.

As the Syrian war enters its fifth year, the UN’s refugee agency is calling for a new approach in Europe to support some of the 3.9 million people who have fled the conflict.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Rome Immigrant Centre Cleared Over Safety

The last remaining residents at a Rome welcome centre have been moved over fears for their safety, months after anti-immigrant protesters clashed with riot police outside the building.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Catholic Church Captured by “Progressive Forces”

By Cliff Kincaid

Armando Valladares, Castro’s political prisoner for 22 years, said his Catholic faith was strengthened behind bars by hearing young Catholics shouting “Viva Cristo Rey,” for “Long Live Christ the King,” and “down with communism!” as they faced the firing squad. It has been his hope that Cuba would one day be free of communism. But he is far less hopeful now that Pope Francis has taken measures that he says “objectively favor the political and ecclesiastical left in Latin America” and could undermine the “Christian future of the Americas.”

Meanwhile, Marxist writer Richard Greeman has written an extraordinary article, “Catholicism: The New Communism?,” arguing that “progressive forces” have “captured” the Vatican, and that Francis is conducting a “purge” of traditional elements, such as those loyal to anti-communist Pope John Paul II.

Valladares, author of Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro’s Gulag, was the United States Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission under the Reagan and Bush administrations. He writes in a recent column that Francis was the “most eminent architect and mediator” of the Obama administration deal with Cuba that will “now provide the repressive apparatus of the Cuban regime with rivers of money and favorable publicity.”

He goes on, “We are witnessing one of the greatest examples of media sleights-of-hand in history: From a well-deserved image of aggressor, a regime which for decades spearheaded bloody revolutions in Latin America and Africa and continues to spread its tentacles in the three Americas, has been craftily made to look like a victimized underdog.”

He says the responsibility lies with the unexpected rise of a Francis-Obama “axis” in foreign affairs that benefits Marxist governments throughout Latin America.

[Comment: Recommended reading.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Feminist Theory Needs a Revolution

Article from Kilden Information Centre for Gender Research in Norway

According to Professor of Literature Toril Moi, feminist theory has become so abstract that it no longer says anything about ordinary women’s lives. Concepts like intersectionality have become so overtheoretical that they no longer apply to people’s actual experiences.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

History Suggests OPEC’s Days Could be Numbered

As OPEC ‘s refusal to curb oil production contributes to a nine-month plunge in prices, a new paper suggests the group’s days may be numbered.

OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has vowed to defend its market share against higher-cost producers such as U.S. shale drillers and companies developing Canada’s oil sands. Its strategy hinges on the odds that an extended period of low prices will lead other producers to scale back output, enabling the group to reassert its influence. OPEC supplies about 40 percent of the world’s crude.

Yet a brief history detailed by the World Bank Group shows how difficult it can be to maintain a commodities cartel in the face of market forces and technological advances.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

McDonald’s in Global Profit Free Fall as People Everywhere Increasingly Reject Chemically-Altered Toxic Fast Food

Now, the global restaurant chain is feeling the financial vacuum that happens when people realize you’ve been feeding them poison. Corporate earnings are “in an absolute free fall”, reports Quartz.com. “McDonald’s announced today that sales at stores open at least a year were down more 1.7% worldwide, and dropped 4% in the all important US market.”

A 4% plunge in the US market is almost unheard of in the fast food chain business. That kind of move away from McDonald’s is not a correction, it’s a stampede for the exits.

And where are people going instead? To restaurants like Chipotle, which was once owned in large part by McDonald’s but has since branched off and found a groove with more health-conscious customers who really do give a hoot where their food ingredients come from.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

New Procedure May Turn Brown Eyes Blue

The idea to use lasers to turn brown eyes blue was born in an unlikely place: a dermatologist’s office.

Driving home after having some pigment spots removed from his skin by laser, Gregg Homer wondered what would happen if you used a similar laser on the eyes.

An inventor who had a Ph.D in biology, Homer did a little research and quickly realized the potential of the idea: a study in the 1980’s had shown that underneath every brown eye is a blue eye. And that brown layer, Homer discovered, appeared to be superficial enough that it could, theoretically, be removed.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

Passports for a Price: The Business Showing Poor Countries How to Sell Citizenship

Christian Kalin’s business is showing poor countries they have at least one resource worth selling: citizenship.

Kalin advised the governments of Cyprus and Grenada, which established citizenship-by-investment plans in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Also in 2013, he designed a program very much like St. Kitts’s for Antigua and Barbuda. In 2014, Kalin crafted a plan for Malta, the smallest member of the European Union. “Pretty much every government that has even contemplated this has talked to us,” he says. In St. Lucia, a task force is considering proposals from Henley and other firms. Albania, Croatia, Jamaica, Montenegro, and Slovenia are looking at programs, too.

“The bottom line”—it’s a phrase Kalin uses often—”is that more states are open to making citizenship rights available through investment,” he says.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

What’s the Universe Made of? Math, Says Scientist

Scientists have long used mathematics to describe the physical properties of the universe. But what if the universe itself is math? That’s what cosmologist Max Tegmark believes.

In Tegmark’s view, everything in the universe — humans included — is part of a mathematical structure. All matter is made up of particles, which have properties such as charge and spin, but these properties are purely mathematical, he says. And space itself has properties such as dimensions, but is still ultimately a mathematical structure.

           — Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]
 

6 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/12/2015

  1. “The rising tide of Islamophobia in the UK, stoked by the mainstream media, poses a direct threat to the country’s $190 billion tourism economy and Muslim investment in Britain, experts warn.” – and who says so? Al Arabiya that’s who.

    What they are actually saying is that if the British people do not stop articulating their reasonable reservations about islam and its practitioners, then arab investors will take their ill gotten gains elsewhere.

    Crude, even by arab standards.

    What they should be told is to take their money, their paedophiles, their jihadis, their lies, their hypocracy and their malodorous hairy faced criminals with them.

    Presumably islamophobia like everything else we keep hearing about has nothing to do with islam.

  2. President Obama condemned the violence, and Eric Holder referred to the unknown assailant as a “punk”.

    – We are lucky to get such -problem-solving comments from two elected officials. You see dictators can’t produce such nice talk.

    In other news, Iceland has withdrawn its application to join the European Union
    – Is it because Iceland is upset about Turkey’s non-membership yet. And who will forget Turkey ‘s past great services to Europe.
    Or is it because it realized that EU is an instruments in destroying Europe itself and establish the New Caliphate?
    Or because they have read Eurabia by Bat Ye’or and want to do something wise.
    In 20 years Eurabia book and another similar book will be taught in western schools. Give the devil his due. We don’t like criminals but if a book contains truths, we have to recognize them whence they come.

  3. “Britain faces a friendless future as the North Korea of Europe if it leaves the European Union and seeks to forge a role in “Anglospheric” parts of the world such as Hong Kong, Gordon Brown has warned.”

    Gordon Brown was the worst UK Prime Minister in living memory. Why should anyone take any notice of anything he says? He will stand down at the next general election. Hopefully this will be the last we will hear of this over promoted inadequate..

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