The Immigration Commissioner for the European Union says that Italy is under pressure from the increasing number of migrants, and needs more help from the EU. Meanwhile, another 400 would-be migrants died when their boat capsized off the coast of Libya. In possibly unrelated news, Italy’s public debt has risen to a record €2.17 trillion.
In other news, according to a recent poll, 42% of Canadian Muslims think Islam and the West are “irreconcilable”.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Papa Whiskey, Phyllis Chesler, Seneca III, Srdja Trifkovic, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
China’s Trade Plunges, Down by $42 Billion
Government figures show a 12.3 per cent decline in imports, and a 14.6 per cent drop in exports. China’s trade surplus shrank by 62.6 per cent. Chinese analysts blame weak global demand and the appreciation of the dollar against other currencies. The trend in lower economic growth is expected to continue in 2015.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The Chinese economy is slowing down again, despite reassuring words from Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
China’s imports fell by 12.3 per cent, whilst exports fell 14.6 per cent on-year in March, this according to China’s customs administration.
Analysts had expected exports to rise 12 per cent in March on a yearly basis. They also expected a drop in imports but not by as much.
Monthly trade surplus plummeted 62.6 per cent in March. The trade performance left China with a trade surplus of $3.1 billion last month, much smaller than forecasts for a $45.4 billion trade gap.
“The slump in the exports figure is mainly due to the weak global demand, while the appreciation in dollars against other currencies in the past quarter was also negative for China’s exports,” said Nie Wen, a strategist at Hwabao Trust in Shanghai. “More stimulus measures are needed in the future.”
Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wang Yang was quoted by Xinhua as saying earlier this month that authorities must stop the slowdown in China’s export lest it further dampens economic growth.
He also called on local governments to offer “preferential policy support” and to encourage more private investment in the export sector.
In 2014, the Chinese economy grew by 7.4 per cent, the worst result in the past 24 years. The forecast for this year is even worse.
The government expects trade figures to grow by 6 per cent. Last year, trade grew by only 3.4 per cent against a target of 7.5 per cent.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Dollar’s Rise Reshuffles Global Economy Into Winners and Losers
The rising U.S. dollar is redistributing growth throughout the global economy.
The greenback’s ascent to the highest in a dozen years on a trade-weighted basis is eroding the competitiveness of the U.S. and countries whose exchange rates track the dollar, including China. It’s also pushing down commodity prices, hurting producers such as Brazil, and threatening other emerging markets where companies borrowed in the U.S. currency when it was cheaper.
On the flip side, the euro area and Japan are cashing in as their companies gain the edge in world markets that economies need to boost growth. The likes of India are benefiting, too, by paying less for their energy imports.
“The dollar’s rise is sorting the world into winners and losers,” said Peter Hooper, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York and a former Federal Reserve official.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece’s Poor Are Back to Where They Were in 1980
In the last seven years, Greece’s economic collapse has wiped out all the progress its poor had made in the 28 years before that.
Now there are a lot of ways to think about how historic Greece’s recession has been. Its economy has fallen about as much as the U.S.’s did during the Great Depression. Its unemployment rate peaked at 28 percent. And, as Derek Thompson points out, its cities have become filled with smog during the winters, because its people can’t afford to heat their homes any other way than burning whatever they can get their hands on. But think about this last one. It probably gets us the closest to having a real idea what it’s been like to live through Greece’s slump.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece is Risk for Euro Area as Contagion Possible, ECB’s Knot Says
The situation in Greece is of concern and a Greek default may have a contagion effect, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot said.
“The already shaky liquidity position of Greek banks will worsen if deposits continue to flow out,” Knot said in the Dutch central bank’s semi-annual Financial Stability Report published on Tuesday. “An unhoped-for bankruptcy of the government would heavily derail the Greek economy” and “the impact of such an event on other countries in the euro-area is still uncertain.”
Greece, Europe’s most-indebted state, is negotiating with euro-area countries and the International Monetary Fund on the terms of its 240 billion-euro ($253 billion) rescue. The standoff, which has left Greece dependent on emergency funding provided by the Bank of Greece, risks leading to a default within weeks and the country’s potential exit from the euro area.
Amid Greece’s turmoil, bonds from Europe’s other indebted nations have surged thanks to the ECB’s 1.1 trillion euro bond-buying plan, with yields from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland plunging to record-lows.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Press: IMF: Negotiations Not Doing Well
European department chief does not foresee end of review
(ANSAmed) — ROME — The negotiations between Greece and its creditors “are not working” and “no conclusion is foreseeable” with respect to the measures the Greek government must undertake to unblock the funds it dearly needs. So said IMF European Department Chief, Poul Thomsen at the IMF board, according to Greek tv channel Antenna News.
Thomsen said that “Greek’s economic data is not positive”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Public Debt Hits New High of 2.169 Trillion Euros
Italy’s public debt reached a new high of 2.1692 trillion euros in January, an increase of 3.3% on the same month in 2014, the Bank of Italy said Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Six Too Big to Fail Banks in the U.S. Have 278 Trillion Dollars of Exposure to Derivatives
The very same people that caused the last economic crisis have created a 278 TRILLION dollar derivatives time bomb that could go off at any moment.
When this absolutely colossal bubble does implode, we are going to be faced with the worst economic crash in the history of the United States. During the last financial crisis, our politicians promised us that they would make sure that “too big to fail” would never be a problem again.
Instead, as you will see below, those banks have actually gotten far larger since then. So now we really can’t afford for them to fail. The six banks that I am talking about are JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. When you add up all of their exposure to derivatives, it comes to a grand total of more than 278 trillion dollars. But when you add up all of the assets of all six banks combined, it only comes to a grand total of about 9.8 trillion dollars. In other words, these “too big to fail” banks have exposure to derivatives that is more than 28 times greater than their total assets. This is complete and utter insanity, and yet nobody seems too alarmed about it. For the moment, those banks are still making lots of money and funding the campaigns of our most prominent politicians. Right now there is no incentive for them to stop their incredibly reckless gambling so they are just going to keep on doing it.
So precisely what are “derivatives”? Well, they can be immensely complicated, but I like to simplify things. On a very basic level, a “derivative” is not an investment in anything. When you buy a stock, you are purchasing an ownership interest in a company. When you buy a bond, you are purchasing the debt of a company. But a derivative is quite different. In essence, most derivatives are simply bets about what will or will not happen in the future. The big banks have transformed Wall Street into the biggest casino in the history of the planet, and when things are running smoothly they usually make a whole lot of money.
But there is a fundamental flaw in the system, and I described this in a previous article…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Betrayal: Why Americans Can Never Blindly Trust Government
Americans look to government programs to provide social, environmental and economic protections. Many do not realize, that, in addition to its ‘good works’, government is often the most corrupt and secretive entity in the social equation.
Public treachery is equally distributed among democrats and republicans, left and right. Here are three recent examples of betrayal by the people upon whom we depend.
Subject: Florida’s regional ‘flip’
Under Florida State law, all counties must join and pay dues to support a Regional Planning Council. In addition to the added fees, many Floridians oppose RPC’s because they receive millions in grant money, which forces them to advance the federal government’s “Livability Principles” by implementing compact living, costly mass transit and even higher taxes. Regional Planning Councils also create a layer of unaccountable governance that often diminishes local authority.
After hearing concerned citizens, in January 2015, Republican State Senator Wilton Simpson, introduced SB 484, a bill that included the elimination of the 11 Florida Regional Planning Councils. Supporters were delighted to have someone on their side, even though they expected a tough fight to win passage. They never expected what happened next.
Bills pass through several committees before going for a Senate vote. In the first committee stop, before even reviewing SB 484, Senator Simpson had already stricken all of the text that had eliminated Regional Planning Councils. Not only were RPC’s safe, he added $2.5 million for their funding. The Senator’s flip shocked community residents.
The official people believed was supporting their cause, not only betrayed them, he did so with no explanation and little opportunity for their response.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boehner: Obama Not Likely to Get ISIS War Authority
Washington (CNN)—House Speaker John Boehner said the debate over a new war resolution was stalled in Congress and it would be “virtually impossible” to pass the authorization President Barack Obama sent in February to fight the terror group ISIS.
“Until the President gets serious about fighting the fight, until he has a strategy that makes sense, there’s no reason for us to give him less authority than what he has today. Which is what he’s asking for,” Boehner told a small group of reporters on Tuesday, according to reports by The Washington Post and Associated Press.
The President sent a proposal in February to Congress that limited the President’s authority to wage a military campaign against ISIS to three years. The text of the resolution explicitly did not authorize “enduring offensive ground combat operations.” But that line led to a debate that prevented much progress on the issue. Many Republicans thought the proposal limited the President’s actions, and war weary Democrats believed it could open the door to U.S. combat troops on the ground.
Boehner’s remarks come a day after the No. 2 House Republican leader, Rep Kevin McCarthy of California, told reporters there were not enough votes in the House to pass Obama’s proposal.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Bundy Ranch Type Standoff Brewing in Southern Oregon Between Miners and BLM
For the past several years, the miners from the Galice Mining District, about 30 minutes west of Grants Pass, Oregon, have been arguing over who has the rights to the minerals in the ground around Galice Creek. The Galice mining district is compiled of a number of claims, owners and miners and has been in continuous operation since the early 1870’s, which makes it one of the longest running operations in the US. This specific operation predates the BLM bureaucracy by many decades in fact.
The area in question has produced in excess of 10 million ounces of gold since its conception, and geologists estimate that only 10% of the gold in the ground has been removed, which makes this area highly sought after by any standard. It is said that children find gold with their hands in the creeks to this day.
BLM has made several attempts to disband the operation of the sugar pine mine through multiple unsubstantiated stop orders and now a cease and desist order. The owners of this mine have spend tens of thousands of dollars to date requesting documents, researching the claims of the BLM,and preliminary attorney fees. The sugar pine has made requests to produce the official rulings that show they are in violation which have gone unanswered. They simple reason given by the BLM is that “they say so”. The BLM claims that the mine has no surface rights to the area and in turn says that all structures and equipment need to be removed. The BLM also claims that this violation is grounds for the operation to cease and tunnels filled in. The mine predates more recent rulings about surface rights so the sugar pine feels that the new ruling is not applicable to this specific situation. Late last week, BLM officials accompanied by Josephine County Sheriff deputies issues a cease and desist order to the district without any official ruling by the courts. Specifically, the issue is not even scheduled to be heard in court until later in the year. The order has given the mine until April 25th to remove all equipment, buildings and supplies from the location. Local BLM officials have threatened to burn the buildings down if they are not removed by the date.
The owners of the sugar pine have stated that they will fully disobey the order as they claim that it is illegal and invalid. A call for assistance to the Oath Keeper’s has been made and there is no intention to leave the area by the deadline.
This issue has far reaching implications. The outcome from this issue and the court ruling to come will effect all of America. The issue at hand is not just about the Galice Miners and the gold in the ground, but more about what the government says you can do with the ground in your control. These miners have the rights to the minerals in the ground and the government wants that changed. What comes next could effect every American. What if your backyard has a specific mineral that the government values. By any means, can come in and tell you that you can not grow your broccoli on your land because it absorbs this “special” mineral? The bigger picture would effect farmers. What if gold, oil, or something like uranium was found under a farmer’s corn crop. Does the government have the right to those minerals and have the ability to over ride your use of your own land? This issue will have the ability dictate the future use of our public and private lands.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Coloured Pluto Comes Into View
The New Horizons probe, which is bearing down on Pluto, has captured its first colour image of the distant dwarf planet.
The picture, just released by the US space agency, shows a reddish world accompanied by its biggest moon, Charon.
New Horizons is set to barrel past Pluto on 14 July.
It will acquire a mass of data that it will then return to Earth very slowly over the course of the next 16 months.
At the current separation of nearly five billion km, it takes 4.6 hours for radio signals to come back. And the bit rate is painfully slow.
But the encounter is set to be the major space event of 2015. It will complete the reconnaissance of the “classical nine” planets of our Solar System; New Horizon’s flyby will mean everyone has been visited at least once by a space probe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Conservative Writer: Liberalism is ‘Totalitarianism Masquerading as Tolerance’ [Video]
In this wide-ranging video interview with The Daily Caller, Weingarten discusses the troubling phenomenon of “totalitarianism masquerading as tolerance.” He finds it curious that the secular left refuses to defend the free speech of someone like Ayaan Hirsi Ali — who left her Muslim faith after horrendous personal harm and at great risk. Weingarten says, the “left is tolerant of people who take their viewpoint. And, no matter what your identity, if you disagree with their viewpoint, you are the enemy.”
On the Iran deal, Weingarten said “if there were ever a case where the devil was in the details, this would be it.” Surveying international reactions, Weingarten commented, “If the French are taking a harder line against the Iranians than America, then something is seriously rotten in our national security establishment and in the Executive Branch.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Conservative Republicans’ Immutable America
The problem with conservatives is that they have never read Heraclitus. According to the Greek philosopher, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
Heraclitus’ philosophy focuses on change. According to him, “Everything changes and nothing stands still.” In contrast, it seems that the conservative Republicans’ view of the world is focused on immutability. To them, nothing evolves, nothing changes. Everything remains the same, forever and ever.
Unfortunately, however, they are dead wrong, because during the past half century America has changed dramatically, and not for the better. In his 2003 book, Judge Robert Bork called America A Country I Do Not Recognize. He was right. Present America has nothing to do with the exceptional country based on some pillars — common law, free-market capitalism and Judeo-Christian values and ethics — it once was.
Nevertheless, conservative Republicans live in an immutable world where nothing changes and everything remains the same. Unfortunately, however, this world exists only in their imagination.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Democrats Push Voting Rights for Non-Citizens to Ensure Election Wins!
President Obama in a recent interview, admitted that he would pass his agenda items by “hook or by crook.” Was he just waving the green flag to all Democrats to do whatever is necessary to win and in turn, further the liberal agenda? This seems to be the new platform for the Democrats. If you can’t accomplish it on your own steam and through the proper channels, then lie, cheat, and steal to get it done. By “hook or by crook!”
Mayor Bill DeBlasio, Mayor of New York, has decided the only way he has a chance at gaining a second term in New York, is to allow non-citizens the ability to cast votes in New York elections. A move that takes the voice away from “The People,” as laid out in our Constitution, and gives it to those who are here as guests in our country. Add in a growing number of illegal voters casting fraudulent ballots at local and national elections, and the American people will no longer have a say in how we are governed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Blackwater Contractors Sentenced in Nusoor Square Shooting in Iraq
One former employee of the private Blackwater Worldwide security company was sentenced Monday to life in prison and three others to 30 years each behind bars for their roles in a 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad that left 17 people dead.
A federal jury convicted the four in October after a lengthy trial that saw some 30 witnesses travel from Iraq to testify against the security contractors. Prosecutors accused the men of illegally unleashed “powerful sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers on innocent men, women and children.”
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Blackwater sniper Nicholas Slatten to a term of life in prison, mandatory for his first-degree murder conviction. Blackwater workers Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were sentenced to 30 year each, plus one day.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Google/Dems Deadly Duo Whitewashing Hillary Clinton’s Past
The jury’s still out on where Barack Obama was born, but a new squeaky clean, shrill-less Hillary Clinton is about to be re-birthed by mighty Google.
Seven years ago the Democrats gave America a Manchurian candidate presented from faux Greek columns as the world’s new messiah. Obama and his manufacturers promised the Fundamental Transformation of America, but went out to fundamentally transform the Free West while they were at it.
A whopping 60% of Democrats want Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC) as their next president. They have decreed America has to have its first woman president “because it’s time”.
This time the Democrats, Marxist liars holding public office, have joined ranks with the world’s largest search engine, with intentions to foist upon a largely unsuspecting America, the First GOOGLE Woman President.
No other politician ever got off to a presidential run with a scrubbed clean slate, but that’s what Google—self-proclaimed owners of the truth—will do for (HRC).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Govt: 80,000 Could Die in Coming Antibiotic Resistant Outbreak
As antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to sweep the nation, tens of thousands (at least) are expected to suffer from ailments that just can’t be beaten by conventional medicine. In fact, a recent government document states that approximately 80,000 individuals could die if there were a “widespread outbreak” of a blood infection that is resistant to antibiotics.
The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies says such an outbreak could be expected to hit 200,000 people — and two in five of them “might die.” What’s more, the doc states that “high numbers of deaths could also be expected” from other resistant bacteria, which could compromise the safety of our modern medicine.
The Cabinet Office document says the number of infections “complicated” by antimicrobial resistance is expected to “increase markedly over the next 20 years”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Badly Do I Want to be President — Hillary Clinton Reviews the Lies She’s Told
Author’s Note: I only listed the lies that Hillary Clinton has told that came immediately to mind. I expect I forgot to mention some and as her campaign rolls out she will surely tell additional lies, so if anyone reading this remembers any that I haven’t listed or becomes aware of any new ones she tells please be sure to add them to the list of Hillary’s Lies.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Slams Victims for Tot’s ‘Black Men’ Fear
Jordan and Tommy Gray’s 3-year-old daughter was watching “SpongeBob” when two armed men broke into their home near Buechel on March 21, 2013, and robbed them at gunpoint.
Two years later, when one of the offenders was about to be sentenced, Jordan wrote in a victim impact statement that her daughter was still “in constant fear of black men.” Both robbers were African-American.
“Whenever we are running errands, if we come across a black male, she holds me tight and begs me to leave,” the mother said. “It has affected her friendships at school and our relationships with African-American friends.”
Tommy Gray also wrote that since the crime, his daughter had been terrified of black males and that probation was not sufficient punishment for Gregory Wallace, 27, who had pleaded guilty to robbery.
“If holding a little girl at gunpoint gets you probation, then our system is flawed,” Gray said.
But when Wallace was brought up for sentencing Feb. 4 in Jefferson Circuit Court, it was the parents, not Wallace, who suffered Judge Olu Stevens’ wrath.
“I am offended. … I am deeply offended that they would be victimized by an individual and express some kind of fear of all black men,” he said.
“This little girl certainly has been victimized, and she can’t help the way she feels,” he said. “My exception is more with her parents and their accepting that kind of mentality and fostering those type of stereotypes.”
The Grays were not in court as Stevens denounced their statements and granted probation to Wallace, whom he said deserved the opportunity to redeem himself.
[This judge deserves no opportunity to redeem himself. He should be yanked off the bench forthwith. But if Barry Hussein gets to nominate a Supreme Court justice, this guy might well head the shortlist. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Murderer Cop Brutalized Man During Traffic Stop Last Year — Video
Michael Slager, the North Charleston cop who faces murder charges for shooting a fleeing man in the back, has a history of abusing his badge, as a newly discovered video of an incident from last year highlights.
The video shows Slager tasering Julius Garnett Wilson in August after he was pulled over and ordered to get out of his car for being in a “high crime area”.
Slager and his colleagues falsely accused Wilson of having a suspended license. Wilson refused to exit the vehicle, saying he had done nothing wrong.
Slager and another cop then reached into the car to remove Wilson’s seatbelt, and attempt to force him out of the car. This prompted Wilson to reach for his phone, in order to film the incident to protect himself.
The officer pulled a gun on Wilson, and he was jerked out of the vehicle. As the other cops slammed knees into Wilson’s back, Slager yelled “Back up, I’m going to tase,” before hitting Wilson with 50,000 volts.
The incident led to another civil rights lawsuit being brought against Slager, and the abuse doesn’t end there.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
National Guard Riot Drill Features ‘Angry Right Wingers’ As Role Players
A National Guard drill based around dealing with civil unrest after a dirty bomb attack in California featured role players acting as angry Americans yelling ‘right-wing’ rhetoric.
The exercise, which Infowars reporters were barred from attending, took place in Richmond this past weekend and involved more than 200 soldiers, airmen, local law enforcement and firefighting personnel.
Footage captured by a local shows Guard troops pushing irate citizens away with batons before one of the protest group states, “I’m a sovereign citizen, I refuse to recognize you guys, I refuse to recognize you.” “Why in the course of a drill for a dirty bomb, would an actor claim to be a sovereign citizen?” asks Keith Johnson, who filmed the footage. “The San Francisco Bay Area is not known for it’s sovereign citizen militia population and hearing this shouted during a mock terrorist scenario was disturbing. Anybody familiar with Richmond will tell you it is not a rural ‘militia’ environment. Located in the East Bay Area near Oakland, it is a community with reduced circumstances. No one there is going to be proclaiming to be a sovereign citizen.”
Johnson goes on to express his concern that young National Guard troops are being conditioned to accept a ‘Kent State’ mentality where their role will be to police unruly mobs of liberty activists.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s “Operation Chokepoint” Cuts Off “Icky” Businesses From Banks
Ever hear of the clandestine program hatched by Obama’s Department of Justice called Operation Chokepoint? It’s a little-known effort to make it much more difficult for businesses to operate if they dare to sell Americans guns or precious metals. Operation Chokepoint is strangling your freedom, and you need to know about it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Admits Communist “Schooled” Him on White Racism
In his 1995 book, Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama never discussed the identity of the mysterious “Frank” who had given him important advice on growing up black in what was described as a white racist world. We learned in 2008 that “Frank” was Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the Communist Party who was the subject of a 600-page FBI file. Still, the major media never asked Obama about this important relationship during his growing up years in Hawaii.
Now, in an extraordinary development, video of Obama explicitly and openly identifying “Frank” as Frank Marshall Davis has suddenly surfaced on the Internet. The footage is said to have been recorded on September 20, 1995, with the program originally airing on Channel 37 Cambridge Municipal Television as an episode of the show, “The Author Series.”
It’s not clear how many saw this program when it aired. For some reason, this “From the Vault” Barack Obama presentation was just recently posted on YouTube. In the video, Obama is introduced as a Harvard Law School student and President of the Harvard Law Review. He discusses “Frank” as Frank Marshall Davis at about 8:37 in the video.
In his remarks, Obama never identifies Davis as a communist or even a leftist. But the remarks do reflect the significant influence that Davis had over his young life as he was growing up in Hawaii. Obama talks about how Davis “schools” him on the subject of race relations. The term implies a teacher-student relationship the two of them had, confirming what we had reported back in 2008, that Davis had functioned as Obama’s “mentor.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Peter Thiel’s Quest to Find the Key to Eternal Life
Peter Thiel, 47, revels in being a contrarian. The billionaire co-founder of PayPal and investor in Facebook has set up a fellowship program that encourages kids to drop out of college, has given millions of dollars to Ron Paul’s PAC and has started an organization dedicated to the world’s first floating city out of reach of any government on Earth. But the idea he’s most passionate about is using technology to extend human life far beyond what it is now and all the biological, societal and philosophical changes that come with that.
He’s funding dozens of scientists through his nonprofit, Breakout Labs, which aims to support early-stage companies that push the boundaries of what’s possible, and directly through personal donations to institutions and individuals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Shock Report: Feds Seek Role Players for Simulating Forced Detention & Relocation of Americans
This summer the U.S. government will begin an unprecedented joint military exercise involving several states and tens of thousands of participants ranging from special operations groups to volunteer citizens.
The official purpose of the exercise, dubbed Operation Jade Helm 15, according to the military is to prepare American soldiers and special operations teams for emerging foreign threats. But investigations by independent media outlets suggest it is much more than a standard “training exercise.”
Involving as many as 10 states, the operation reportedly identifies several hostile areas around the United States, including Texas and Utah and aims to have the military prepared to “master the human domain” by utilizing citizen reports and surveillance to accomplish their mission. In other words, as Dave Hodges recently noted, they want to engender trust in order to control “the totality of the physical, cultural, and social environments that influence human behavior.”
And though spokespeople for the U.S. government insist the exercise is strictly for training our military to protect our national interests in foreign theaters and has nothing to do with domestic deployment of military personnel, some details suggest that the Jade Helm 15 operation will include strategies for identifying and rounding up dissidents and subversives.
To add further fuel to the fire EKS Group LLC., a Federal contractor, is now seeking Department of Defense role players who will be tasked with what appears to be exercises that simulate the forced detention and relocation of American citizens.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
By Mike Dobbins
For years I was an apologist for Islam, as regrettably, many still remain. I only read books and believed those who painted Islam in a peaceful, glowing light. I made excuses for radical Muslims and lived in a flood of denial that religious teachings could still, in this modern age of drones and clones, motivate a person to commit evil. I criticized the numerous atheists including Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Sam Harris, and Bill Maher warning of the dangers inherent in Islamic doctrines, recklessly labeling them Islamophobes.
Today I’m writing to say I’m sorry, I apologize, and I ask for your forgiveness. We who have blindly defended Islam and called you Islamophobes are tragically wrong.
I read the Quran, many Hadith, the biography of Muhammad, the history of Jihad, and Islamic law. This is what I learned:
The critics of Islam are right. Islam is intrinsically, alarmingly violent, hateful and oppressive on a scale greater than all other major religions combined. To say that radical Islamists are motivated to commit atrocities and embrace oppression based on religious doctrine is the understatement of the century.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Srdja Trifkovic
It is idle to pretend: Hillary R. Clinton will be the next president. A nation capable of electing, and then reelecting, Barack Hussein Obama is perfectly ready to make the most influential woman in the world the most powerful person on this planet.
The math is on her side (and let us not imagine that the Evil Party will select anyone but her). Millions of real Americans are dying every year, and a new melange — including millions of recently naturalized Third-World welfare-scroungers, and further millions of native-born, identity-challenged postmodernians — are taking their place.
Even if the GOP were to field a decent, hard-working, self-made patriot willing to challenge her Weltanschauung (a most unlikely prospect), she would prevail. The electorate in the swing states has been moving her way, relentlessly, for years. The Republican candidate will be some Jebb Cruz-Rubio figure, devoid of interesting ideas and courage. Her 2016 victory will be convincing.
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
The New York Post Reports — FBI is Covering Up Saudi Links to 9/11 Attack
Former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham, who in 2002 chaired the congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, maintains the FBI is covering up a Saudi support cell in Sarasota for the hijackers. He says the al-Hijjis’ “urgent” pre-9/11 exit suggests “someone may have tipped them off” about the coming attacks.
Graham has been working with a 14-member group in Congress to urge President Obama to declassify 28 pages of the final report of his inquiry which were originally redacted, wholesale, by President George W. Bush.
“The 28 pages primarily relate to who financed 9/11, and they point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as being the principal financier,” he said, adding, “I am speaking of the kingdom,” or government, of Saudi Arabia, not just wealthy individual Saudi donors. Sources who have read the censored Saudi section say it cites CIA and FBI case files that directly implicate officials of the Saudi Embassy in Washington and its consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks — which, if true, would make 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war by a foreign government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Video the Feds Don’t Want You to See
Although no gunshots were fired, what happened at the Bundy Ranch was a shot fired across the bow that still reverberates one year later.
We look at the lies, the spin and the reality of a federal government openly defying the Posse Comitatus Act as it threatened and brutalized citizens of the community.
Although the sheriff did nothing to protect the community, neighbor stood with neighbor in true posse comitatus, the “power of the community”, to expel the federal army from the community.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What You Need to Know About Trade Agreements and Fast Track
Fast Track gives the President the right to negotiate and finalize a trade agreement, and then present it to Congress for a yes or no vote. No amendments can be made at that point
Trade agreements are negotiated under strict secrecy. By the time Congress votes on them, the deals have already been struck, and negotiations tend to favor multinational corporations
Trade agreements currently under negotiation involve “harmonizing” regulations that will affect food safety, chemical regulations, local renewable energy programs, and may destroy the “buy local” movement
It’s urgent to push Congress to oppose Fast Track, and start a discussion about what these trade agreements really mean for the US economy, and our environmental and public health…
Under the US constitution, Congress has the right to engage in trade agreements prior to this, and to set negotiating parameters. For example, Congress might insist on parameters to protect the environment or public health.
But under Fast Track, Congress more or less relinquishes this right (and responsibility), letting the President negotiate at will instead. And, once the agreements are completed, you can no longer make any amendments. Congress simply votes for the agreement or against it, in its entirety.
“This makes it very difficult for members of Congress to vote against a trade agreement because there will be an enormous amount of pressure. The agreement’s already been agreed upon. It’s a big deal,” Lilliston says. “It’s really is about democracy as we view it.”
Adding to the difficulty is the fact that even members of Congress are limited in getting a full understanding of the details of the agreement they’re voting for. They’re only allowed to read the agreement in a special room, and they’re not allowed to bring in any aides, experts, or trade legal lawyers they might need to decipher the text. Moreover:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
When the Supreme Court Stopped Economic Fascism in America
There was a time when the Supreme Court of the United States defended and upheld the Constitutional protections for economic liberty in America. This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the Supreme Court’s finest hours, when it overturned Franklin Roosevelt’s agenda for economic fascism in the U.S.
The trend toward bigger and ever-more-intrusive government, unfortunately, was not stopped, but the case nonetheless was a significant event that at that time prevented the institutionalizing of a Mussolini-type fascist economic system in America.
On May 27, 1935, in a unanimous decision the nine members of the Supreme Court said there were constitutional limits beyond which the federal government could not go in claiming the right to regulate the economic affairs of the citizenry. It was a glorious day in American judicial history, and is worth remembering.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
42% of Muslims in Canada Think Islam and West “Irreconcilable”
Then why are they in Canada? To emigrate in the cause of Allah, as Muhammad did from Mecca to Medina, in order to bring Islam to a new land. They came to Canada to bring Sharia there.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Anti-Islam PEGIDA Protest in Ghent
The Flemish division of the infamous anti-Islam movement Pegida was in Ghent to demonstrate against the ‘Islamization of Europe’. Simultaneously, a few kilometers away at the Rabotpark, the Hart Boven Hard (Heart Before Hard) movement was protesting the Pegida demo.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: CPH Shooter Shared Cell With ISIS Supporter
A confidentail report revealed on Tuesday that after officials warned of Omar El-Hussein’s “extremism”, he was moved into a prison cell with an open Isis sympathizer.
The gunman who killed two people in twin attacks in Copenhagen in February had once shared a prison cell with an inmate who openly backed the Islamic State (Isis) group, it was reported on Tuesday.
While serving time for a stabbing, Omar El-Hussein was reported three times by prison staff to the Danish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalforsorgen) for expressing “extreme” views on Islam, TV 2 reported, citing a confidential report by the Director of Public Prosecutions (Rigsadvokaten).
Despite an email warning that the 22-year-old’s “extremism is getting worse” he was moved to a Copenhagen prison where he was placed with a cellmate who openly sympathised with Isis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Government Taken to Court Over Climate Change
If governments won’t do it on their own, can courts force their hand? That’s the hope of a Dutch environmental group called Urgenda, which this week presented a class action suit over climate change.
Urgenda is suing the Dutch government on behalf of some 900 citizens, including children. The suit claims that the government’s action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is insufficient, and is therefore “knowingly exposing its own citizens to dangerous situations”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mona Lisa Dons Niqab for Hungarian Version of Houellebecq Novel
BUDAPEST (AFP) — The Mona Lisa dons a face veil on the cover of the upcoming Hungarian edition of French author Michel Houellebecq’s novel “Soumission”, which imagines a France under Islamic rule.
Hungarian publisher Magveto hopes the veiling of the woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece will bring attention to “Soumission” (“Behodolas” in Hungarian) before its release on April 22.
“It’s an important book that deserves more readers than just fans of contemporary French literature or of Houellebecq,” Magveto’s director, Krisztian Nyary, told AFP Tuesday.
The novel, whose German and Italian translations appeared earlier this year, imagines the leader of a fictitious Islamic party winning France’s presidential election in 2022.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Bergen Mosque Expels ‘IS Recruiter’
The main mosque in Bergen has thrown out a man they claim was a recruiter for the banned terror organisation Islamic State (IS), accusing him of spreading propaganda to young people in the congregation.
“He is neither a member of the congregation nor a Norwegian citizen,” Momodou Bandeh, head of Bergen’s mosque told Bergens Tidene. “We must protect our young from such influences, and chose to confront the person and make clear that we cannot accept this. He is not welcome in our mosque.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Professor Warns Denmark is Headed for “Digital Surveillance Hell”
Big brother is really watching us
Denmark is at the top of the EU list of Smart Cities, putting it at the forefront of the digital race. Professor Martin Brynskov from Aarhus University warns that along with the self-propelled cars and smart waste systems comes an increased level of surveillance that has yet to be examined.
“There are problems with monitoring that we haven’t really taken a look at yet,” Brynskov told Jyllands-Posten. “There is the risk of a digital surveillance hell.”
Brynskov said that he does not believe that digital development needs to slow down, but called fro a national strategy on surveillance.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists in Poland Working on Liquid Body Armor, Report Says
Scientists in Poland are working on body armor technology that uses specially-designed liquid to protect against bullets, according to Reuters.
Unlike Newtonian liquids such as water, the Shear-Thickening Fluid (STF) hardens on impact from a projectile, the report says, offering protection from bullets.
The technology has already been touted as a potential replacement for Kevlar in body armor.
Reuters says that the exact composition of the fluid is known only to Poland’s Institute of Security Technologies, known as Moratex, and inventors at the Military Institute of Armament Technology in Warsaw.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Seven Muslims From France in Jihad Suicide Attacks for the Islamic State
By Robert Spencer
Six of them were converts to Islam, illustrating, as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says here, the Islamic State’s “formidable ability to indoctrinate.” In a sane society, intelligence officials would be studying that ability to indoctrinate and formulating ways to counter it. Instead, all — all — Western governments have committed themselves to the fiction that the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam, and that they need not undertake any study of its ideology — waving it away as un-Islamic is enough for Valls, Cameron, Obama and the rest.
“Seven French Nationals Guilty of Suicide Attacks for ISIS,” Arutz Sheva, April 13, 2015 (thanks to Block Ness):
France’s prime minister revealed Monday that seven French nationals or residents, including six converts to Islam, had committed suicide attacks in Syria and Iraq.
Speaking in parliament as he defended controversial draft spy laws, Manuel Valls said that of the hundreds of French people who had made their way to Islamic State-held territory, seven had died staging the suicide operations.
“The youngest was not yet 20,” he said.
“Is Daesh (ISIS) deliberately sacrificing these types of people as a matter of priority? Do the candidates for suicide attacks have to prove their ideological zeal to vouch for their conversion?” Valls said. “In any case, this illustrates Daesh’s formidable ability to indoctrinate.”
[Yeah — like they hadn’t been indoctrinated by the Qur’an before they ever went down there. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
The Viking Women Who Disappeared
Article from Kilden Information Centre for Gender Research in Norway
Women played an important part in Viking Age society, and their role far exceeded that of mother and the “housewife”. Why, then, are they barely mentioned in the history books?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two property developers branded ‘arrogant and greedy’ by a judge have been jailed after a three-storey building collapsed trapping three people in the rubble.
A doctor’s wife and a student plunged from the living rooms of their flats into the basement below and a workman was buried after a digger struck a load-bearing column.
The accident left three victims hospitalised with minor injuries, while 20 students were left homeless and one of Sheffield’s main arterial roads was closed for a day.
Most of the students who lived in flats above the development in the Brook Hill area of the South Yorkshire city were luckily out at the time and missed the accident.
Jailing brothers Naveed and Rizwan Hussain for 12 months each today, Judge Michael Murphy told them: ‘It was only by the grace of God or good fortune that people were not seriously injured or killed.
‘If a member of the public had been passing by they would have said “How on earth was no-one killed in that?” There was potential for a complete disaster. It was caused by your arrogance and greed.’…
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mohammed Khubaib Convicted of Grooming Girls as Young as 12
Married businessman Mohammed Khubaib, 43, of Peterborough, had a ‘persistent and almost predatory interest’ in teenage girls, the Old Bailey heard.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Richard Littlejohn Asks What’s Wrong With Consulting a Map
Things are bad enough in city centres already, with everyone constantly staring at their iPhones, headphones plugged into their ears, oblivious to their surroundings, writes RICHARD LITTLEJOHN.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Siblings Awarded £13m by NHS After Mistakes Left Them Severely Disabled
Natasha Jackson, 24, and her younger brother, Patrick, 22, were both left with cerebral palsy and brain damage after complications during their births at the former Sharoe Green Hospital in Preston.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican to Train Army of Exorcists to Deal With Rising Number of Demonic Possessions
More than 40 years after The Exorcist left cinema audiences green, the Vatican are training up ordinary doctors, teachers and psychologists to cope with a rising tide of demonic possessions.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Well-Educated Men Live Seven Years Longer
Men with more years of schooling can expect to live seven years longer on average than men who only have a minimum compulsory education. The comparable difference for women is five years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Absolves Kosovo Mission on Corruption ‘Cover-Up’
An EU enquiry into Eulex — its rule of law mission in Kosovo — says it didn’t cover up corruption allegations or mistreat a whistleblower, but does urge reforms.
The findings — a 97-page study by an “independent” expert — were published by the EU foreign service on Tuesday (14 April).
They say “suspicions of a cover-up … fortunately turned out to be unfounded”.
They note that Eulex’ treatment of a British prosecutor, who went public with the allegations and who lost her job, was “justified”.
But they add that, seven years after Eulex was put in place, “corruption is omnipresent” in Kosovo, and the way the mission works needs to change.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gunmen on Motorcycle Kill Egyptian Policeman
Egypt’s state news agency says gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a policeman manning a checkpoint just outside Cairo.
MENA quotes a security official as saying another two policemen were wounded in the shooting early Tuesday in Shibeen al-Qanatar, north of the capital.
Attacks on security forces spiked following the 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi amid mass protests against him.
The attacks have mainly occurred in the northern Sinai Peninsu
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Allows Entry of Palestinian Cars on Its Territory
For first time in 15 years doctors allowed to use own vehicles
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, APRIL 14 — “For the first time in 15 years” Palestinian doctors working in Israeli hospitals will be able to cross into Israel directly with their own cars and Palestinian number plates starting from today, the spokesperson for Cogat, the Israeli military authority managing coordination in the Territories announced, adding that the provision also applies to “other jobs requesting a faster capacity of response”.
“It’s a significant step — said the chief of civil administration David Menachem — meant to help doctors in their life-saving mission”.
“The success of this step — he added — will be assessed in accordance with the parameters required by the security situation”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Armenian Genocide Was Also a Jihad
By Jeff Jacoby
UNLIKE SOME of Pope Francis’s other headline-generating pronouncements, his description of Turkey’s mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as “genocide” was anything but inadvertent.
Speaking at the Vatican during a Sunday Mass to mark the centenary of the slaughter, the pope said it is “widely considered the first genocide of the 20th century” — a quote from Pope John Paul II, who used nearly the same words in 2001. But Francis went further, equating the destruction of the Armenians to the Nazi Holocaust and the Soviet bloodbaths under Stalin. And he linked the genocidal Ottoman assault on Armenia, the world’s oldest Christian nation, with the epidemic of violence against Christians today, especially by such radical Islamist terror groups as ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al Shabab.
Turkey reacted angrily, recalling its ambassador to the Vatican and accusing Francis of distorting history and spreading prejudice. On Twitter, the Turkish foreign minister denounced the pope for fueling “hatred and animosity” with his “unfounded allegations.” That was no surprise, given the government’s vehement history of denialism on the subject. To this day, the use of the word “genocide” to describe the killing of the Armenians is a criminal offense in Turkey, and Turkish diplomats labor mightily to defeat genocide-recognition efforts worldwide.
[…]
If some of them survived, it wasn’t for lack of effort by the killers. Of the roughly 2 million Armenians living in the country in 1914, 90 percent were gone by 1918. The death toll was well over one million; innumerable others fled for their lives. To read eyewitness descriptions of the ghastly cruelties the Armenian Christians were made to suffer a century ago is to be reminded that the jihadist savagery of ISIS and Al Qaeda is not an innovation.
That key fact is one the pope, to his credit, refuses to downplay: Armenians were victims not only of genocide, but also of jihad.
[Jihadist savagery wasn’t even an innovation then. It started when the cult of Muhammad pulled its first armed robberies against merchant caravans in Arabia. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Arms Trafficking: Riyadh Leader in World Rankings
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has ranked the top 15 countries in the arms trade in 2014. Top of the list are Saudi Arabia, China, India and Japan. The Saudi Kingdom provides weapons to militants in Syria and leads the anti-Houti coalition in Yemen. NATO countries do not increase the defense budget. China’s data distorted.
Stockholm (AsiaNews) — In 2014, Saudi Arabia invested most (in percentage) in defense, about 17% of the annual budget (80.8 billion dollars); followed by China with 9.7% (216 billion dollars) and Russia with 8.1% of the budget (84.5 billion). In contrast, the United States alone decreased military spending (6.5%), although it is still in first place with 610 billion dollars.
This is according to the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which has ranked the top 15 countries worldwide in buying and selling weapons. While Asian nations have increased their military capacity — with India which is ranked seventh and Japan ninth (confirming 2013 data) — the United States decreased its spending on defense by 20% since 2010.
According to the research group, the change is due to global political situation. In particular, the report cites the annexation of the Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the continuing tensions in territorial disputes in the South China Sea and eastern Europe. As for Saudi Arabia, it continues to supply weapons to militants in Syria, has joined the coalition against the Islamic State (IS), led by the United States and last month led the attacks against Shiite rebels in Yemen Houti.
The report data does not contain updates due to falling oil prices, which occurred at the end of 2014. The researchers believe that many oil-exporting countries in the Middle East will resist the negative impacts of the crisis thanks to “solid financial reserves” that they have accumulated during over the years. The same cannot be said for Russia, which had planned military spending in 2015 before the start of the crisis in Ukraine.
In fact, the Kremlin has decided to cut the defense budget due to the severe economic crisis: “Falling oil and gas prices and economic sanctions have reduced state income dramatically and led to a major devaluation of the ruble. As a result, the initial defense budget for 2015, which was 4.2 trillion rubles ($69 billion), was cut by around 5 percent in the revised budget presented in March 2015, which made cuts to almost all budget lines.”
Despite the economic difficulties, the Moscow government still plans a significant increase in military spending in 2015, accounting for 15% of GDP — that is what was decided at the beginning. Instead, the document shows that the NATO countries will not increase their military spending. Most of the countries of Central and Western Europe are following a negative trend, due to the ongoing austerity policies, while the Baltic States and the countries of Eastern Europe and the North will increase their efforts to resist the Russian threat.
Finally, in 2014 the estimates of China’s expenditure have followed pace with economic growth, which has remained stable at around 2% of GDP over the past decade. The Institute maintains that China’s costs have been far superior to what the government officially claims (130 billion dollars instead of 216) since the total amount does not include data regarding research, the import and manufacture of weapons, or People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pensions.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Accused of ‘Covering up Saudi Arabian Links to 9/11’
The FBI has been accused of covered up alleged ‘Saudi Arabian links’ to the 9/11 attacks.
US newspaper the New York Post reports that the crime agency investigated claims that a prominent Saudi Arabian family had abruptly left the country weeks before 9/11.
Details of the investigation were kept from the Congressional committee that looked at the attacks, the newspaper says.
The abandoned home is said to have belonged to Esam Ghazzawi, an adviser to the nephew of the then Saudi King Fahd.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
This is the incredible moment a car being driven by an ISIS suicide bomber detonates mid-air seconds after it is blasted skywards by an explosion on the ground.
Video shows the jihadi attempting to launch an attack on Kurdish Peshmerga forces, reportedly near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
But as the car approaches, it hits what appears to be a roadside bomb, catapulting the vehicle at least 100ft into the air.
Just as it begins to fall back down to earth, the car detonates like a firework, either due to the explosives on board or the fuel tank igniting.
What’s left of the car is then seen dropping back down into the massive cloud of smoke that has billowed up from the ground.
The footage is the latest in a string of videos released by Kurdish forces which show ISIS launching bungled attacks in Iraq.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iranian officials made the decision to ban travel to Saudi Arabia following claims two of its citizens were abused while returning from an off-season pilgrimage at Jeddah airport in March.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Stops Makkah Pilgrimages Over Sexual Allegations Involving Two Youths
The step follows allegations of sexual abuse of two young Iranians at Jeddah airport. Two flights with Iranian pilgrims were not allowed to land. Tensions between the two countries is rising over the Yemeni crisis.
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Iran has suspended flights for pilgrims to Saudi Arabia over accusations that Saudi security officers assaulted two Iranian youths at the airport in Jeddah.
The incident allegedly occurred in March when two teenage boys were separated from their families during an airport security check.
Initially Iranian organisations claimed that the boys had been raped by Saudi airport officials. Now Iranian government officials are saying the two boys had been sexually harassed.
Yesterday, hundreds of people demonstrated (pictured) in front of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Iranian capital.
As a result of the incident, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani cancelled all minor pilgrimages, which according to religious tenets are recommended but not obligatory; however, it is unclear whether it will apply to the main pilgrimage of Hajj in September.
Iranian pilgrims have complained that the Saudi Embassy stopped issuing visas. And at least two flights transporting pilgrims from Iran to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, were denied permission to land in recent days.
About 500,000 Iranians visit Makkah each year, often in trips booked long in advance. “Until these guilty people are put on trial and punished, the umrah will be stopped and Iranian flights will be suspended,” Culture Minister Ali Jannati was quoted as saying.
Past pilgrimages (Hajj) saw serious accidents with hundreds of dead. In 1987 a demonstration against the United States and Israel was suppressed by Saudi police, with 402 people dead, mostly Iranian Shias. Following the incident, Tehran imposed a ban on the pilgrimage, which lasted for three years.
What is certain is that the alleged incident has exasperated tensions between the two regional rivals, already at odds over a number of regional wars, most notably the sectarian fighting in Yemen.
The Saudis are leading a ten-nation coalition in an air campaign, and are threatening a ground invasion to stop the advances of Houthi rebels, who they claim are supported by Tehran.
Some of the coalition’s members, particularly Egypt, have openly stressed the need to counter what they see as Iran’s increasing influence in the region.
Yesterday, Iran further inflamed relations by urging the formation of a new Yemeni government and offering to assist in a political transition.
By contrast, Sunnis strongly support the return to power of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted last month by Houthi rebels.
Last week, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was also unusually direct in his criticism of Saudi Arabia, saying its leaders are “inexperienced youths” and its policies are “like that of the Zionists in Gaza.” Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, Mohammed bin Salman, the king’s son, is only 35.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Snipers Kill Girl Fleeing Syrian Refugee Camp Where Children Are Slaughtered
Zeynab Daghastani, 13, was killed as she tried to flee the ISIS-held Al-Yarmouk Camp, on the outskirts of Damascus, to reach Yalda, a safe district nearby, according to aid workers in the area.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS: UN: Rapes Are Becoming a Terror Weapon
Report, abuse on women and children on the rise in Syria, Iraq
(ANSAmed) — NEW YORK, APRIL 14 — The horrific crimes perpetrated by Isis know no boundaries. A UN report denounced that sexual violence against women and children has become systematic for Islamist militants, a true “terror tactic”carried out my members of the Caliphate against civilians in Syria and Iraq. Boko Haram appears to be following the same path in Nigeria.
The United Nations’ s outcry became public the same day the pregnancy of a 9 year old girl belonging to the Yazidi community raped by Isis militants in Iraq was reported.
“Year 2014 was marked by the troubling news of rapes, forced marriages and sexual slavery carried out by extremist groups in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Mali” said UN experts.
According to the dossier, sexual violence “is part and parcel of the terrorist tactics employed by the Islamic State to create a climate of fear, together with the persecution of ethnic and religious minorites and the annihilation of populations opposing their ideology”.
The report offers many examples of this policy, among which the organisation’s recruiting strategy of promising aspiring jihadists a Yazidi woman between the ages of 18 and 35 .
According to UN data, almost 1,500 civilians have been turned into sex slaves by the Caliphate. The agency also reported a significant increase in reported cases of sexual violence in Syria committed by terrorist groups and by Isis in particular since mid 2014.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Morphing Into Global Gehenna
Growing support for — and pledges of allegiance to — Islamic State by diverse Islamic terrorist groups world-wide are now creating horrific humanitarian problems for Christian communities in many countries—some far removed from the Middle East.
30 such groups have so far been identified:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 6,000 Have Left Europe for ISIS Jihad: EU
The EU justice commissioner said on Monday that countries should focus on prevention to slow the stream of European citizens headed for Syria. The number of Europeans fighting with jihadist groups in Syria could exceed 6,000, a top EU official told a French newspaper Monday.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) estimates that at least 115 Danes have left for Syria. That puts Denmark second only to Belgium in the number of foreign fighters per capita that have gone to fight in Syria or Iraq. Around 50 jihadists are now thought to be back in Denmark.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Faustian “Nuclear Deal” With Iran Will Lead to Obama’s Own Downfall
Iran’s current Supreme Being Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as his predecessor Ayatollah Khomeni, has always viewed America, as “The Great Satan”.
However, looking at this deal from another perspective, Obama’s proposed lopsided and dangerous nuclear deal with the same Ayotollah Ali Khamenei, is in turn Obama’s Faustian deal with the Devil.
As in Christopher Marlowe’s famous play, ‘Doctor Faustus’, this ain’t going to end well for the soon departed, President Obama, America’s current lame duck Commander in Chief.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon: ‘IS’ Has Lost Over 25 Percent of Land in Iraq
A US-led aerial campaign has pushed back “Islamic State” (“IS”) militants from a substantial portion of land captured in Iraq, the Pentagon says. The news comes ahead of high-profile Iraqi-US talks in Washington.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Says Islamic State Has Lost 25% of Its Territory
By Robert Spencer
This is welcome news, but we have heard this song before, as the Pentagon wants to play up the success of the Obama airstrikes, and the media wants to prop up Obama. So this is what we have been hearing:
Has ISIS peaked? Terror group suffers setbacks in Iraq, CNN, November 14, 2014
ISIS Is Losing Its Greatest Weapon: Momentum: Evidence suggests that the Islamic State’s power has been declining for months, The Atlantic, January 6 2015
For ISIS, tough times as it seeks to regroup, CNN, January 28, 2015
ISIS Is Losing in Iraq. But What Happens Next?, New York Times, February 4, 2015
Meanwhile, the Islamic State is advancing in Syria even into Damascus, and doesn’t seem concerned enough about these losses in Iraq to send reinforcements from Syria. It may be that the Islamic State is suffering a long, slow decline in Iraq. It may also be that the media and the Pentagon are so committed to propping up their narrative that they are pronouncing the Islamic State dead a bit prematurely.
“Pentagon: ISIL pushed out of 25% of its territory,” by Jim Michaels, USA Today, April 14, 2015:
WASHINGTON — Iraqi forces have pushed the Islamic State out of about 25% of the territory seized during the militants’ lightning advance last year, according to a Pentagon assessment released Monday.
The area represents 5,000 to 6,500 square miles in northern and central Iraq, the assessment said.
The United States has been backing Iraqi forces with daily airstrikes against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.”
[For those of a certain age, this recalls reports that we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in a place called Vietnam, just before a holiday called Tet in 1968. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Erdogan Warns Pope Francis Not to Repeat ‘Mistake’ About Armenian Claims
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned Pope Francis, warning him to not repeat the “mistake” of describing the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians as “genocide.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Soldiers, Back in Iraq, Find Security Forces in Disrepair
By Rod Nordland
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — Lt. Col. John Schwemmer is here for his sixth Iraq deployment. Maj. James Modlin is on his fourth. Sgt. Maj. Thomas Foos? “It’s so many, I would rather not say. Sir.”
These soldiers are among 300 from the 5-73 Squadron of the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, about half of them trainers, the rest support and force protection. Stationed at this old Iraqi military base 20 miles north of Baghdad, they are as close as it gets to American boots on the ground in Iraq.
Back now for the first time since the United States left in 2011, none of them thought they would be here again, let alone return to find the Iraqi Army they had once trained in such disrepair.
Colonel Schwemmer said he was stunned at the state in which he found the Iraqi soldiers when he arrived here. “It’s pretty incredible,” he said. “I was kind of surprised. What training did they have after we left?”
Apparently, not much. The current, woeful state of the Iraqi military raises the question not so much of whether the Americans left too soon, but whether a new round of deployments for training will have any more effect than the last.
Iraq’s army looked good on paper when the Americans left, after one of the biggest training missions carried out under wartime conditions. But after that, senior Iraqi officers began buying their own commissions, paying for them out of the supply, food and payroll money of their troops. Corruption ran up and down the ranks; desertion was rife.
The army did little more than staff checkpoints. Then, last year, four divisions collapsed overnight in Mosul and elsewhere in northern Iraq under the determined assault of Islamic State fighters numbering in the hundreds or at most the low thousands, and the extremists’ advance came as far as this base.
[We have plowed the sea. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
UAE Has Become the ‘Eldorado’ of Plastic Surgery
Highest concentration of surgeons; adolescents 15% of patients
(by Virginia Di Marco) (ANSAmed) — ROME — The highest concentration in the world of plastic surgeons is in the UAE, which boasts one every 18,000 inhabitants.
There is one every 50,000 in the US and one every 44,000 in Brazil. A rising number of surgeons are opting to open a subsidiary of their practices in the UAE or are moving there. The most popular emirate is Dubai, to which the well-known Dr. Jason Diamond (known also as ‘Dr. 90210’, from the name of the reality show based on his story) has since 2009 been organizing trips from Beverly Hills every 2-3 months. Diamond has on numerous occasions remarked that “every time I go, I don’t even sit down. I’m running around from 7am until midnight. The demand is literally out the door” in Dubai Several other plastic surgeons used by ‘stars’ have set up office in the emirate as well. CNN reports that while Gulf residents used to go to Beverly Hills, Brazil or Beirut to be operated on, they can now have plastic surgery much closer to home. Patients are by now arriving in the UAE from such nations as India, Pakistan, Russia and Eastern Europe. According to the Dubai Health Authority, Dubai aims to be attracting half a million ‘healthcare tourists’ annually by 2020, and plastic surgery is a significant part of the plan. The local daily The National reports that the emirate is targeting those seeking high quality surgeons, and not low cost ones as happens in Thailand, for example. The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has reported that 15% of aesthetic treatments in the UAE are carried out on adolescents, raising debate in local media and online. The increase in demand for plastic surgery among adolescents and those in their early twenties (+33% over the past two years) is said to be due to the trend of taking ‘selfies’. Nose jobs, breast implants, liposuction and ear plastic surgery are the most popular operations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen’s Al Qaeda Branch Announces Death of Top Cleric
CAIRO — Yemen’s Al Qaeda branch announced on Tuesday that its top cleric, a Saudi-national who has had a $5 million bounty on his head, has been killed, allegedly in a drone attack.
Al Qaeda said in a statement posted on Twitter that Ibrahim al-Rubaish was killed, along with other, unnamed members of the group, by a drone late Sunday. The statement did not specify the location of the drone attack.
Yemeni and U.S. officials had no immediate comment on the claim.
Al-Rubaish, believed to be in his late 30s, was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2006, after which he joined Al Qaeda in Yemen. He was considered the group’s the main ideologue and theological adviser and his writings and sermons were prominent in its publications.
Last year, he hailed the seizure of large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria by Al Qaeda’s rival, the Islamic State group. “I ask God that efforts are united to target the enemies of the religion,” he said in a video recording at the time.
[Be it noted that no member of al-Qaeda is ever unarmed. This terr’s brain was his weapon, which raises the question of why he was kicked loose from Gitmo in the first place. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Russia: Putin Attends Easter Liturgy, Says Church Helps Instil Patriotism in Young People
The Kremlin leader attends the service led by the Patriarch, who later met war veterans and symbolically associated the religious observance to the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazism. Official figures indicate that slightly over 3 per cent of Muscovites took part in the religious celebration.
Moscow (AsiaNews) — In Russia, Easter is the main religious celebration. Yesterday, Easter Sunday according to the Orthodox calendar, Russians, believers and non-believers alike, greeted each other saying “Christos voskres!” (Christ is Risen!) and “Voistinu voskres” (‘Truly He is Risen’).
Across the country, parishes filled up and in Moscow, the highest authorities of the state sat in front of the Patriarch of Moscow who led the service in the capital’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
In Moscow’s main church, the liturgy lasted from 11 pm Saturday to early dawn Sunday. The Holy Light, which was brought from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, was used to light thousands of candles for the Easter Vigil.
During the nightly service, the officiating priest symbolically removes the shroud from the tomb and comes out of the church in a procession in search of the body of Christ.
After following a predetermined path, he repeats three times — “Christos voskres!” (Christ is Risen!) — and the faithful respond by saying “Voistinu voskres” (‘Truly He is Risen’).
By tradition, people repeat the same words when they express Easter greetings to family and friends. The ritual also involves kissing each other on the cheek three times, and exchanging traditional hand-painted eggs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and his wife Svetlana as well as Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobianin attended the vigil led by Patriarch Kirill.
In his Easter message, the Kremlin leader praised the Orthodox Church for helping to create a “spirit of patriotism” among young people.
In his view, “The Russian Orthodox Church plays an enormous formative role in preserving our rich historical and cultural heritage and in reviving eternal moral values. It works tirelessly to bring unity, to strengthen family ties and to educate the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism.”
However, the patriarch’s remarks symbolically associating Orthodox Easter to the Soviet victory over Nazism (whose 70th anniversary will be celebrated on 9 May) has generated controversy, limited for now to social media.
“Let us celebrate the victory of good over evil, which takes different forms, but always has one goal,” Kirill said. “If evil is not stopped at the global level, it will destroy life and human civilisation.”
In addition to the religious aspect, Easter Day celebrations include a big repast with the whole family. Some of the food eaten on Easter Sunday is blessed in church the evening before.
Typical Easter delicacies include Kulich, a type of bread decorated with white icing, Paskha, a cake made of fresh cheese, and dyed eggs.
Although Easter is a central to the Orthodox calendar, just over 3 per cent of Muscovites took part in religious services yesterday, this according to official sources.
Some 4,000 police, soldiers and volunteers were deployed over the holiday to provide order and security.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Attacks on Journalists Threaten Media Freedom in Afghanistan
By Lynne O’Donnell
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — When Afghan journalist Hussain Sirat’s car disappeared in late December, he assumed it was simply theft, until a man called to say that he had the vehicle, and a gun with which he planned to kill him.
In the weeks since then, Sirat, an editor at Afghanistan’s biggest daily newspaper 8AM who also works for Deutsche Welle, has been attacked in the street and received death threats in text messages that accuse him of being an “infidel” — which he assumes is related to his work for the German broadcaster.
“I don’t feel safe,” he said. The 33-year-old has moved to a safe house away from his wife and five children, who are afraid to go outside. Neither the police nor security services have been able to find the people who threatened him. “They can’t make me feel any safer,” he said.
[…]
A free media had been hailed as one of Afghanistan’s greatest achievements since the 2001 invasion, with almost 1,000 news organizations operating, compared to just 15 under the Taliban’s extremist rule.
But more than 40 journalists have been killed since then, according to Nai, a media support organization in Kabul. Many reporters feel pressured by the government, insurgents and corrupt warlords to self-censor to avoid trouble or leave journalism entirely.
“There is no doubt that things are getting worse,” said Abdul Mujeeb Khalvatgar, Nai’s executive director.
[Why should they get any better? The Muslim terrorists are emboldened by the way we have crawfished out of a war that is not even close to being over, under a president who lied in his teeth about how “the tide of war is receding.” — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
#BringBackOurGirls, One Year on: ‘We Should All Feel Shame’
By Isha Sesay
How can more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls simply disappear? And how can the Nigerian government and the rest of the world have allowed this to happen?
Exactly 365 days have passed since the girls were snatched from their boarding school dormitories in the dead of night in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. They are still missing.
For this we should all feel shame: shame that we live in a world where the lives of young girls can be shattered with impunity by fanatical thugs. Shame that when such horrendous acts occur, our collective attention span is so fleeting.
[Excuse me, Ms. Sesay — why should we all feel shame? You’re the one with the big megaphone, who has written a cri de coeur about this issue wtihout once mentioning the words “Muslim,” “Islam,” or “jihad.” — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Al Shabaab Claims Responsibility for Deadly Attack on Somali Education Office
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility Tuesday for an assault that left 10 people dead at the ministry of higher education office complex in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu.
A spokesman for the terror group said it was responsible for the attack, Sky News reports.
Police have since secured the office complex, Capt. Mohamed Hussein, a senior police officer, told The Associated Press.
The attackers stormed the ministry of higher education after a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle at the gate of the facility, opening the way for gunmen to enter, said Hussein.
Omar Mohamed, a trader who works near the scene, told Reuters that he was thrown off his chair from the explosion and attackers sprayed gunfirjavascript:doSend(‘composeForm’);e at security forces in a battle over the complex.
[Minneapolis, Minnesota, take note. This group has encouraged Somali immigrants up there to emulate its attacks, and an explosion destroyed a building in the Somali community last year. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Female Muslim Author Beaten, Sent to Mental Hospital After Praising Rushdie
by Phyllis Chesler
Zainub Priya Dala, a South African Muslim author and psychologist, was “violently attacked for expressing admiration for Salman Rushdie” the day after praising the author. After countless phoned-in threats to recant, Dala was placed under psychiatric care in which she was “drugged until I could not walk” and advised to adopt a proper Muslim lifestyle.
Dala recently published her first novel, What About Meera. Last month, at a literary festival in Durban, she said she “admired the writing of Arundhati Roy and Rushdie.”
Three days later, three men forced her car off the road, held a knife to her throat, banged her face with a brick and broke her cheekbone. They called her “Rushdie’s bitch.” Had a taxi not passed by, she is sure she “would’ve been stabbed.”…
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Camp a Few Miles From Texas, Mexican Authorities Confirm
ISIS is operating a camp just a few miles from El Paso, Texas, according to Judicial Watch sources that include a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police Inspector.
The exact location where the terrorist group has established its base is around eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as “Anapra” situated just west of Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Another ISIS cell to the west of Ciudad Juárez, in Puerto Palomas, targets the New Mexico towns of Columbus and Deming for easy access to the United States, the same knowledgeable sources confirm.
During the course of a joint operation last week, Mexican Army and federal law enforcement officials discovered documents in Arabic and Urdu, as well as “plans” of Fort Bliss — the sprawling military installation that houses the US Army’s 1st Armored Division. Muslim prayer rugs were recovered with the documents during the operation.
Law enforcement and intelligence sources report the area around Anapra is dominated by the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Cartel (“Juárez Cartel”), La Línea (the enforcement arm of the cartel) and the Barrio Azteca (a gang originally formed in the jails of El Paso). Cartel control of the Anapra area make it an extremely dangerous and hostile operating environment for Mexican Army and Federal Police operations…
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‘400 Migrants Die in Shipwreck Off Libya’ — Survivors
As many as 400 migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean sea between Saturday and Monday, according to chilling interviews survivors gave to charity Save the Children.
The deaths are believed to have occurred during a shipwreck 24 hours after leaving Libya, which is plagued by violence and civil war, in an attempt to reach Italy.
The boat was carrying about 550 migrants in total, according to some of the 150 survivors who were rescued and brought to a southern Italian port on Tuesday morning, Save the Children reported.
During the first four months of 2015, more the 500 migrants perished while crossing the Mediterranean, a 47% spike in numbers according to the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Italian officials said more than 8,000 people were rescued between over the past five days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
846 Migrants Disembark in Lampedusa
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), APRIL 14 — Eight-hundred and forty-six migrants disembarked in Lampedusa last night after they were rescued in the Sicilian Canal.
There are one-hundred and twenty women, four of which pregnant, and 40 minors in the group.
A dead body, recovered at sea after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya was also disembarked at the port’s Todaro wharf, other 8 corpsed were transferred to Trapani late last night.
The four pregnant women will be accompanied to the hospital of Agrigento as a precautionary measure.
Approximately 1,400 migrants are currently accomodated in the Lampedusa reception centre, after 150 people were transferred there by ferry from Porto Empedocle (close to Agrigento) yesterday. The centre has the capacity to host around 250 people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dead Migrant ‘Thrown to Sharks’ By Trafficker
Police in the Sicilian city of Ragusa has detained a suspected people trafficker from Guinea who arrived with a group of migrants on Monday and is also suspected of having thrown the body of a dead refugee to sharks during the crossing from North Africa. The refugee is said to have died after breathing in petrol that spilled over him due to rough sea conditions. The trafficker allegedly threw him to sharks that were following the migrants’ dinghy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Nearly 1,800 Irregular Migrants Repatriated in March
A total of 1,793 migrants detained in Greece without proper travel documents were returned to their homelands in March, the Greek Police reported on Tuesday.
The majority of the migrants to be repatriated by the program run jointly by Greek authorities and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) were from Albania (817 people), Pakistan (155), Georgia (101) and Bulgaria (27).
Fifty-two Syrians volunteered to return to their homeland, the police report said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Immigration Minister Says Government Preparing Emergency Measures
Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Tasia Christodoulopoulou on Tuesday said that Greece can expect up to 100,000 migrants to cross its borders in 2015, adding that the government is drafting emergency measures to brace for the influx.
Speaking on Mega television, Christodoulopoulou said the central government in Athens is working with regional and local authorities on Greece’s borders and particularly on its islands, which receive the majority of arrivals from the war-torn Middle East and North Africa, to improve reception conditions and asylum procedures for refugees.
Greece has received some 800 undocumented migrants since the start of the year, Christodoulopoulou said, adding that this number is small compared to the 5,500-plus that have tried to enter Italy, another key transit point.
“If inflows continue at the current rate, we can expect 100,000 arrivals this year,” she said, adding, however, that migrants tend to prefer Italy and Spain as an entry point, as “they help them continue their journey to their destination” in other parts of the European Union.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Europe-Bound Migrants Drown Off Libya
About 400 migrants died in a bid to reach Italy from Libya when their boat capsized, survivors said on Tuesday, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where the death toll from shipwrecks has surged this year.
The boat, carrying about 550 migrants in total, flipped about 24 hours after leaving the Libyan coast, according to some of the 150 survivors who were rescued and brought to a southern Italian port on Tuesday morning, Save the Children reported.
Before this incident there had already been more than 500 deaths of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa this year, up sharply from 47 in the same period of 2014, said the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The survivors of the latest shipwreck were mostly sub-Saharan Africans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Italy Under Pressure’, Says EU Immigration Commissioner
Italy is under pressure due to the rise in immigration flows from North Africa, said EU Commissioner for Immigration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos on the sidelines of a hearing before the European Parliament. “We must support and help it”, he said. The new emergency created by the latest influx of immigrants across the Strait of Sicily requires immediate action by Europe, Mr Avramopoulos said while announcing a trip to Sicily next week “to meet Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and visit the reception centres for immigrants”, he said at the end of the hearing. “States have already received European funds to tackle the emergency and we’re ready to allocate more, but this is not so much the issue, as much as developing a long-term strategy”, the Commissioner told European reporters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Row Over Migrant Beds as Boat Arrivals Intensify
Italy’s interior ministry has ordered regional prefects to find emergency housing for an influx of boat migrants, sparking criticism Tuesday over the government’s handling of a crisis that looks set to intensify.
A surge in attempted illegal crossings from the coast of north Africa saw nearly 8,500 migrants rescued between Friday and Monday, reigniting a debate in Italy over whether or not the country has a duty to house all new arrivals.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is “looking for another 6,500 beds for immigrants,” said Matteo Salvini, head of the anti-immigrant Northern League, which has made the crisis one of its platforms ahead of regional elections in May.
“I ask the League’s governors, mayors, assessors and councillors to say no, with every means, to every new arrival. The League is ready to occupy every hotel, hostel, school or barracks intended for the alleged refugees,” Salvini said on Facebook on Tuesday.
The interior ministry had on Monday called on Piedmont, Lombardy, the Veneto, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Campania regions to find 700 places each for the latest arrivals.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Amsterdam Refugees Set up Tents, Sleep on Building Site
Some of the group of refugees who have lost their right to stay in the Netherlands moved into tents in the Pijp area of Amsterdam on Monday, news agency ANP says on Tuesday. Another group slept in the open air on land earmarked for building and a few moved into the city council’s emergency centre. The group were evicted from a car park where they had been squatting on Monday but are most refusing to use the council centre because it is closed during the day. Around 120 people were living in the car park, dubbed the Vluchtgarage. Many come from Somalia, Congo and Yemen and have been living in squats all over the city since 2012, including abandoned offices and a church. The asylum seekers have all lost their applications for refugee status and have been ordered to leave the Netherlands. However, most of the group have no papers or say they will be at risk if they return to their home countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Traffickers Open Fire in Mediterrean Battle for Migrant Boats
Traffickers determined to recover a boat used to transport migrants across the Mediterranean have fired weapons into the air to keep EU patrols at bay, the bloc’s border agency said Tuesday.
Icelandic coastguard vessel Tyr, patrolling the area as part of the European Union’s border agency Frontex, rescued 250 people from a migrant boat some 60 nautical miles off Libya on Monday.
As the operation was winding up a speedboat approached carrying smugglers who fired several shots in the air before fleeing, taking the wooden boat the migrants had been in with them.
“This is a sign that smugglers in Libya are running short of boats and are more willing to use weapons to recover those used to transport the migrants,” said Fabrice Leggeri, Frontex executive director.
It was the second such episode this year. In February, the Italian coastguard was confronted by armed traffickers who ordered the migrant boat be handed over once the rescue operation was complete.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UKIP’s Suzanne Evans Blames Immigrants for Chronic Shortage of Homes
Suzanne Evans, the party’s deputy chairman, said uncontrolled immigration had to be stopped but faced embarrassment minutes later as she confessed owning several homes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Defense Department: The Bible, Constitution and Declaration of Independence All Perpetuate Sexism
According to a Defense Department approved “sexism course,” the Bible, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence all contribute to modern sexism.
Those three cherished texts all count as “historical influences that allow sexism to continue,” according to a presentation prepared by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, whose mission is to give a “world-class human relations education.”
According to the course, the Bible has “quotes” which can be interpreted as sexist by readers.
The Declaration of Independence is also an historical cause of sexism, as the document refers only to “all men” —not “men and women.”
And the Constitution, the Pentagon argues, is an historical source of sexism because “slaves and women were not included until later in history.”
Of course, members of the Armed Forces take an oath to defend the Constitution — which is, according to the DEOMI course, an “historical influence that allows sexism to continue.”
“The content of the lesson is provided to generate academic discussion concerning how these historical documents have been included in discussions about the topic of sexism,” Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Defense Department spokesman, told The Daily Caller.
But following TheDC’s request for comment, the sexism course — as well as two other courses listed on DEOMI’s website, entitled “Prejudice & Discrimination” and “Racism” — were taken offline.
“This course is currently offline and under revision,” a notice says under all three courses.
[Comment: Caught, so temporarily “ under review” for now. For sure such “reducation” ideas will be re-introduced.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Woman Bishop Refuses to Ordain Lesbian
One of Norway’s few female bishops has refused to ordain a lesbian theology student because she is set to marry her girlfriend next summer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Before Agriculture, Human Jaws Were a Perfect Fit for Human Teeth
The emergence of agricultural practices initiated major changes to the jaw structure of ancient humans, leading to dental problems we still experience.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rosetta’s Comet Has No Magnetic Field
Discovery may lead to rethink about how comets and other small bodies form.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
“The Immigration Commissioner for the European Union says that Italy is under pressure from the increasing number of migrants, . . . ”
That’s a very clever remark and diagnosis coming from “The Immigration Commissioner” You see dictators have no ability to diagnose and solve problems. How could The Immigration Commissioner come up with the solution “Italy needs help.” What kind of help? More pressure on Italy not to send back the invaders.
Walking in Rome one day I saw the bust of Garibaldi in 1982. Little did I know at that time that in the decades following the traitor class of Italy would undo what we read in grade 9 about Garibaldi’s efforts in achieving a united and independent Italy.
Italy has no sovereignty to make its own decisions. Brussels makes them for her. And Brussels is run covertly by Islam agenda.
And the Libyan Navy is unable to rescue anyone?
How about the UN? Can they rescue anyone?
If I were Italy I would not sail into Libyan waters.
I recently read that the UN chastised Italy for several “refugee” deaths… Hey UN, how about you come out here and save these people.
And put them where?
Why don’t the politicians grow a set and tell everyone that needs to be told, that the European people do not want these migrants. They bring trouble, a faux religion, crime and violence. They should stay in the hell holes they, themselves created rather than create another one in Europe.
I can’t understand why Mr. Gonzalez thinks conservatives think nothing changes. It’s screamingly obvious that gigantic change has occurred and we are hardly working to preserve the rot.
Those who pass for Republicans these days are in the main contemptible for their flaccid inaction in the face of the changes that have taken place. McConnell and Boehner are their Rambos and the lot of them are swooning over two wannabe presidential candidates who aren’t constitutionally qualified for the office and another who’s the poster boy for immigration betrayal. But I digest.
There was indeed a light at the end of the tunnel before that Tet.
And Tet was the death knell of the Cong.
Which the media spun as a U.S. defeat and the Democrat scum in Congress transformed into a betrayal of the Republic of Vietnam – gilded by treacherous, pointless rules of engagement and sanctuaries as far as the eye could see. And the Dems have never looked back, going from one betrayal to another.
Perhaps the first stop for that army of Vatican exorcists could be the WH and the Congress. Or maybe William Murray and his colleagues could evaporate that underground river of slime for us. It’s been influential, it has