According to the CEO of Arab Council Australia, last weekend’s Reclaim Australia rallies struck fear into the hearts of Australian Muslims. She says that although there was no direct threat by the demonstrators against Muslims, the racism they represent could spread and get out of hand.
In other news, Sweden has launched a program to promote sexual health for LGBT people in Africa. The effort is expected to cost 350 million kroner annually.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Phyllis Chesler, 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.
“Bad Bank” Mania Spreads in Europe
One thing that the world is not in short supply of these days is bad banks. They are everywhere, it seems. But there are bad banks, and there are Bad Banks. This article is about the latter, the officially dubbed “Bad Banks” launched by governments and central banks to conceal the rising tide of triple-F toxic junk (derivatives, securitized debt, non-performing loans…) that threatens to engulf the world’s financial system.
As Bad Banks go, few are as bad as Spain’s SAREB, the public-private company responsible for managing assets transferred from the four nationalized financial institutions BFA-Bankia, Catalunya Banc, NGC Banco-Banco Gallego, and Banco de Valencia.
In theory, SAREB was never meant to exist: “There will be no Bad Bank in Spain, and we will establish procedures that will not be burdensome for taxpayers.” Those were the famous words of Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy during the first few months of 2012. The promise was made on numerous occasions, and not just by Rajoy but also by his Minister of Economy (and former Lehman advisor) Luis de Guindos.
But in politics, promises are not made to last; they are there to be broken. By December of that same year, Sareb was born and Spanish taxpayers were left holding the tab for the biggest bank bailout in Spanish history.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Global Financial Reset is Coming: ‘A Deal is Being Made Between All the Central Banks’
There is an unprecedented reset coming to world financial markets and if you’ve been paying attention it’s impossible to ignore the signs. In fact mega-investment funds, governments and central banks have been secretly buying up and storing physical gold in anticipation of an event that will leave the U.S. dollar effectively worthless and governments around the world angling for a new global currency mechanism, according to mining executive Keith Neumeyer.
But before the reset can happen Neumeyer, who recently founded First Mining Finance and has partnered with billionaire alternative asset investors like Eric Sprott and Rick Rule, says that foreign creditors must first deleverage their U.S. dollar debt, a move that is happening right now and is evidenced by the recent strength of the U.S. dollar.
Once these U.S. debt holders unwind their positions, however, the dollar will be allowed to crash and we should prepare for a total financial, economic and monetary realignment.
[Comment: This is by design. A strong constitutional America is a bulwark against the new socialist world order. This is the reason banksters look to bring down America.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Survey Says Just 1 in 3 Businesses Can Pay Bills on Time
Emilia-Romagna firms fastest, Sicily businesses slower
(ANSA) — Bologna, April 6 — Only about one in three Italian businesses are able to meet their payment obligations on time due to the long-running economic crisis, according to a survey released Monday.
The study by CRIBIS, a credit and information agency in Bologna, found that 36.3% of those surveyed in March said they were punctual in making payments.
That was a drop of 4.6% compared with the same time last year.
The quickest rate of payments was found among businesses in the Emilia-Romagna region, with 46.6% saying they paid on time. The slowest rate was reported in Sicily with 18-9% saying they paid debts promptly.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Activists ‘Shut Down’ Nestlé Water Bottling Plant in Sacramento
Environmental and human rights activists, holding plastic “torches” and “pitchforks,” formed human barricades at both entrances to the Nestlé Waters bottling plant in Sacramento at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, March 20, effectively shutting down the company’s operations for the day.
Members of the “Crunch Nestlé Alliance” shouted out a number of chants, including “We got to fight for our right to water,” “Nestlé, Stop It, Water Not For Profit,” and “¿Agua Para Quien? Para Nuestra Gente.”
The protesters stayed until about 1 pm, but there were no arrests.
Representatives of the alliance said the company is draining up to 80 million gallons of water a year from Sacramento aquifers during a record drought. They claim Sacramento City Hall has made it possible through a “corporate welfare giveaway.”
“This corporate welfare giveaway is an outrage and warrants a major investigation,” Coalition spokesperson Andy Conn said. “For more than five months we have requested data on Nestlé water use. City Hall has not complied with our request, or given any indication that it will. Sacramentans deserve to know how their money is being spent and what they’re getting for it. In this case, they’re getting ripped off.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bill to Ban Undetectable 3-D Printed Guns is Coming Back
Since Congressman Steve Israel first called for legislation that would ban 3-D printed guns, those plastic-printed firearms have evolved from a few simple components to a full one-shot pistol to rifles and multi-shot revolvers, with more advances on the horizon. Israel’s bill, meanwhile, has gone nowhere, leaving a widening gap between DIY weapons and the law.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Monsanto Employee Admits an Entire Department Exists to “Discredit” Scientists
Monsanto’s employee, Dr. William “Bill” Moar, who gives talks on Monsanto’s products to reassure everyone that they are safe, perhaps forgot the event was public when he openly revealed that Monsanto had:
“An entire department” (waving his arm for emphasis) dedicated to “debunking” science which disagreed with theirs.”
Likely, this is the first time a Monsanto employee has publicly admitted that they have immense political and financial weight to bear on scientists who dare to publish against them. Of course they don’t list this discrediting department anywhere on their website.
The company will stop at nothing to discredit and devalue the contributions of unimpeachably respected Lancet and the international scientific bodies of WHO and IARC, among others.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
No One Fired at Rolling Stone. Really?
No one at Rolling Stone magazine is going to be fired: How can that be?
Rolling Stone wants the damning report by Columbia Journalism School to be a moment when the magazine begins to restore its battered reputation. But observers are asking if it can really do that without any punishment for staff members.
The report detailed the cascading failures in the writing, editing and fact-checking of “A Rape on Campus,” the magazine’s shocking account of a gang rape at the University of Virginia. Investigators have concluded that there is no evidence the rape occurred.
The reporter, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, and the magazine’s top editor, Will Dana, say they are taking responsibility for the failures.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s New Executive Order Banning Donations to Edward Snowden Challenged With 33 Cent Donation
An Oregon man decided to openly troll President Obama, in an act of protest against the treatment of political exile Edward Snowden.
Kristopher Ives is a software programmer who taunted President Obama to come arrest him for openly breaking the law and violating an executive order that bans people from sending donations to Snowden.
Snowden, you will recall, was the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified files to journalists back in 2013. He later fled the U.S. and was granted temporary asylum in Moscow.
Kristopher Ives only sent Snowden 33 cents worth of bitcoin, assuming that it would in fact be intercepted by the government. But for him, it was a statement, more than a donation that he expected to land in the electronic purse of Snowden.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The First Serious Push-Back on the West-Islamist Battlefield of Ideas
by Phyllis Chesler
“There is an apocalyptic dimension to global Jihad. Jihadists believe they are engaged in a ‘sacred task’ to redeem the world via conquest. We hide our eyes while they do not hide their intentions.”
Please meet Professor Richard Landes, a medieval historian who specializes in apocalyptic movements. He knows what he is talking about. Landes delivered a stellar speech earlier this week for the Institute for Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP).
We sat around a table in a well-appointed room which serves as the ISGAP office in New York City. We were an attentive and appreciative audience.
Landes, who maintains several excellent websites (Second Draft and Augean Stables), is astounded by the global progressive Left’s desire to embrace the “Other”; doing so proves their humanity. However, for the Western-embraced Jihadi, the “Other” (all infidels, the “wrong” kind of Muslims, apostates, homosexuals, etc.) must be “annihilated.”
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Top Cop: Insulting Someone on Facebook Can Get You Arrested
A police representative warned that Americans could be arrested for bad language or insulting someone on Facebook after a woman was charged with “harassment by computer” for posting a selfie of herself holding a gun.
The controversy began when 26-year-old Kristin Holmes got into a Facebook argument with a woman who had mistaken her for someone else.
Holmes posted an image of herself pointing a gun at the camera alongside the words, “I’ll post a few actual pics of me so you know the difference when you come find me.”
Holmes later realized that the picture was “a little bit intimidating” and took it down, but police later arrested her and charged her with a class 1 misdemeanor. Holmes now faces up to one year in prison and/or a $2,500 fine.
“It wasn’t a threat. I thought it was a funny picture….What happened to freedom of speech?” Holmes told WWBT.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Norway Town and Its Pipeline to Jihad in Syria
By Andrew Higgins
A street in the district of Lisleby in Fredrikstad, Norway, from which eight young men traveled to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State and other groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Teenagers See ISIS as ‘Pop Idols’ Says Senior Muslim Prosecutor Nafir Afzal
Nafir Afzal said children are at risk of ‘jihadimania’ and warned that ‘another 7/7’ could happen unless Britain makes sweeping changes to the way it tackles terrorism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Conservatives Lose Candidate to UKIP
One of Prime Minister David Cameron’s parliamentary candidates said on Monday he had fallen out with the Conservatives and was switching his support to the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) before a May 7 election.
The move by Mike Whitehead, until last week the Conservative candidate for the seat of Hull West in northern England, is a morale boost for UKIP, whose support in some opinion polls has dipped after a series of racism and sexism scandals.
UKIP, which wants an immediate British withdrawal from the EU and sharply lower immigration, hailed the switch as a “hammer blow” to the Conservatives, who said they had sacked Whitehead last week over an internal party disagreement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Demand for More Mosques in France Raises Tension
A call by Muslim leaders for the number of mosques in France to be doubled has aggravated community tensions barely three months after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
“We have 2,200 mosques and we need double that within two years,” the Rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, told applauding French Muslims at a conference.
Many Muslims believe local authorities in France block applications to open or build mosques and prayer-rooms, leading to overcrowding and protests over prayers held in the streets.
However, the conservative daily Le Figaro said the comments by Dr Boubakeur, generally considered a moderate, were “provocative”.
The paper said he and other “mainstream” Muslim leaders had “lost control” of increasingly radical young French Muslims and “it is not the mass construction of new mosques that will change things”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Helsinki Restricts Election Coffee Handouts
Helsinki voters won’t be getting much free coffee this election season, after the city banned parties from handing it out in major marketplaces.
The country goes to the polls on 19 April and it’s a popular tradition for campaigners to serve steaming cups of the beverage during events. But that’s now been stopped after complaints from nearby coffee shop owners, the national broadcaster Yle reports. “Our sales are impacted immediately if the same product can be obtained for free,” says Timo Taulavuori from the Tukkutori group, which oversees Helsinki’s marketplaces. “This is unfair towards those who make a living from selling coffee.” Finns are among the biggest coffee drinkers in the world, with per capita consumption of 1.8 cups per day, second only to The Netherlands.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Genetic Study Offers Evidence of Recent Evolution in Europe
Science has reported on a new genetic study from the team that recently found at least three ancient populations of hunter-gatherers and farmers in the ancestry of modern Europeans. In work presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, the team, led by population geneticist Iain Mathieson of the Harvard University lab of David Reich, explained how five genes associated with changes in diet and skin pigmentation underwent strong natural selection and spread rapidly throughout Europe in the past 8,000 years. The first farmers, in addition to the hunter-gatherers, could not digest milk sugars 8,000 years ago. Lactose tolerance became common among Europeans only about 4,300 years ago. The team also tracked three separate genes that produce light skin.
The new data confirm that about 8,500 years ago, hunter-gatherers in Spain, Luxembourg, and Hungary had darker skin, but people from the Motala archaeological site in southern Sweden had both light-skin gene variants some 7,700 years ago, and a third gene that causes blue eyes and may contribute to light skin and blonde hair. The first farmers from the Near East also carried both genes for light skin, which they shared with the hunter-gatherers of central and southern Europe. Genes for tallness were favored in northern and central Europeans beginning 8,000 years ago, while selection favored shorter people in Italy and Spain.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In Easter Message, Pope Singles Out World’s ‘Complicit Silence’ In Islamist Attacks on Christians
Pope Francis used an unusually somber backdrop of a raining St. Peter’s Square on Sunday to deliver an Easter sermon appealing to the world to end its “complicit silence” of the persecution of Christians at the hands of Islamist extremists.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is Your iPhone Damaging Your Eyes? Screen Cover Can Prevent Damage
Spanish scientist Dr Celia Sanchez-Ramos has found the LED screens found in most electronic devices can permanently damage the retina — the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.
As someone who suffers from computer eye strain, I was alarmed to discover that prolonged exposure to gadgets such as iPhones and iPads can cause irreversible damage to the eyes.
A Spanish expert, Dr Celia Sanchez-Ramos, has found the LED screens found in most electronic devices can harm the retina — the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye — and may even lead to partial blindness.
Research has already shown that the intense levels of ‘blue light’ emitted from modern gadgets can cause a variety of health complaints, ranging from sleeping and eating problems to headaches and even cancer.
Now, Dr Sanchez-Ramos has discovered that it can also permanently damage the retina.
In extreme cases, she says, it may even lead to macular degeneration, which causes dark patches to appear in the centre of the field of vision.
According to Dr Sanchez-Ramos, modern LED screens, produced from about 2007 onwards, emit up to five times as much blue light as older technology.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Millions of Euros in Import Taxes ‘Evaded’ On Asian Imports
Investigators target Chinese, Italians for forgery, smuggling
(ANSA) — Genoa, April 3 — Investigators on Friday said they are probing 23 Chinese and Italian citizens suspected of involvement in producing false import papers to dodge taxes on millions of euros in goods.
It is alleged that false documents were used on imports arriving in Naples, Genoa, and near Rome.
Charges range from criminal conspiracy to commit forgery, smuggling, and false invoices.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lufthansa Says Not Obligated to Report Crash Pilot’s Medical Record
(Reuters) — Lufthansa said on Monday it was not required to inform German aviation authorities about Andreas Lubitz’s former depression because he qualified as a pilot before stricter reporting rules went into effect in 2013.
Lubitz, a co-pilot at Lufthansa’s budget division Germanwings, is believed to have deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps and killed 150 people.
The question of what Lufthansa knew about any psychiatric problems may be a factor in its liability in the crash. Germany’s Allianz estimates that insurers will end up paying $300 million in claims and costs related to the crash.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Training a New Breed of Muslim Leaders to Combat Radicalism
Around 20 imams from all over Spain sit around a table in the back of a mosque in an industrial park in the small town of L’Alcúdia, about 25 kilometers south of Valencia.
Most of them are Moroccan and speak Spanish haltingly. They are listening intently to an Islamic scholar who has come from the Netherlands to instruct them in Arabic rhetoric, a key skill in understanding the Koran that will prepare them for giving sermons.
Around one weekend out of every month, the imams meet in different parts of Spain as part of their training, and to receive a degree that is not recognized officially.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spiegel Interview With John Cleese: ‘Satire Makes People Think’
In an interview, British comedian John Cleese talks about his time as a comedian with Monty Python, the permissability of Muslim satire — it is — his longtime fascination for Germany and its language and a third marriage he wishes never happened.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The True Story of King Vlad Dracula — Audio
Prof. Vasile Lupasc is a historian and a writer who graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Bucharest, Romania. He is also eight times world champion in karate and a member of the International Grandmaster Society. Vasile’s interest for both history and martial arts has lead him to recover and convey the world of ancient warriors in a clear, compelling and thrilling way. Prof. Lupasc joins us to speak about his writings on King Vlad Tepes, the subject of seven books he has authored, including Draculea, The Engraved Chest of Time — The True Story of King Vlad Dracula as Told by His Royal Knights. We begin with a look at the history of Europe, with a heritage often shrouded in tales of war and invented myths, and consider the origins of vampire folklore. Vasile gives an overview of factual accounts of King Vlad of Romania, who reigned during the mid-15th century and admirably protected his country from conquest by the Ottoman Empire. He makes comparisons to the very different story of Dracula as told by Bram Stoker and Hollywood. We learn about the early years of King Vlad, along with the legends that made him such a fascinating and feared leader. Vasile explains the war tactics used by Vlad and his soldiers in fighting the Turks, and gives an interpretation of the intricacies of his governance of the Romanian people. In conclusion, we discuss the transmuting landscape of leadership across Europe, the unfavorable effects of the EU, and the changes of modernity that are leading to a loss of identity and cultural recognition in the Western world.
[Comment: First hour of the interview is free.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Bloody Nanny State:’ School Bans Running on the Playground
GRAVESEND, England — Students at a primary school in England can no longer run on the playground.
Officials at Riverview Junior School in Gravesend banned running during “a particular chasing game” on the school’s playground last week as a means of preventing injuries, according to the News Shopper.
“My son came home on Friday and said ‘they’ve banned running in the playground mummy,’“ parent Rachael Sparks told the news site. “I thought I am not going to react too much, too quickly, because kids do get it wrong sometimes. “I thought I’d check with the receptionist when I took him to school on Monday.”
This Monday, Sparks followed through and spoke with the school’s headmaster, Pam Weinban.
“She started of by saying we’ve asked them to slow down a bit, but then it transpired that they had banned running,” Sparks said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ISIL Are Like Beatles and British Youngsters Want to be Them, Warns Prosecutor
Isil jihadists are becoming like the Beatles and other pop idols with British boys wanting to be them and girls wanting to be with them, a senior prosecutor has warned.
Nazir Afzal said “jihadimania” is worse than previously thought and is luring youngsters conned by the image to Syria.
And those who do not managed to travel are a “ticking time bomb” for the security services and police here, he warned.
More than 600 Britons are feared to have travelled to Syria with many joining the terror group Isil.
They include young teenage boys and girls who have either gone to become soldiers or “jihadi brides”.
Isil’s alleged British executioner Mohammed Emwazi was already dubbed “Jihadi John” in reference to the “Beatles” nickname given to him and his fellow British captors by their hostages.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Teachers complained they are now expected to be ‘frontline stormtroppers’ in the fight against Islamist extremism in school, a conference has heard.
They said they are now being forced to spy on children during sensitive discussions as a result of new-counter terrorism rules.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) suggested that Government strategies designed to tackle extremism and terrorism have instead ‘shut down debate’ in schools.
Teachers said they now feel nervous discussing controversial issues over fears they will be pressured to report youngsters who share their opinions.
[Commenter says: “If a child utters any of the current non PC words then the teacher immediately reports him/her to the police . They don’t complain about that so why should they complain about reporting something that could potentially be a thousand times more serious.”]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Status of Jews in Bosnia: not very good, obviously. But…but…the Muslims in Bosnia are all moderates, and anyone who doesn’t think so is a racist, greasy Islamophobe! “If he was attacked because he is Jewish and because as such he is present in our media, just because he is doing his job, then it would be a very bad sign both for Sarajevo and for Bosnia and Herzegovina.” You can say that again.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Nuclear Deal Has Hungry Investors Circling
A preliminary deal between Iran and world powers, which will see international sanctions lifted in return for Iranian curbs on its nuclear programme, has boosted the appetite for doing business in Iran at the earliest opportunity.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Isis has reportedly begun beheading captives after taking over the majority of a large Palestinian refugee camp in Syria.
UN officials said scenes on the ground in the Yarmouk camp just south of Damascus were “beyond inhumane”, as rebels from the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra vied for control of the camp, which houses around 18,000 civlians.
The attack on Yarmouk began last Wednesday, and according to local activist Hatem al-Dimashqi clashes and the sounds of shelling continued on Easter Monday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Razes Christian Church in Village in Syria
Fate of kidnap victims unknown
(ANSA) — Rome, April 6 — Islamic State (ISIS) militants destroyed the Virgin Mary Church in the Syrian village of Tel Nasri, according to reports Monday.
The attack on Easter Sunday by ISIS was reported by AINA News, the media arm of the Syrian Christian community.
It said that the attack came after Syrian and Kurdish fighters had tried to return to the village, occupied by ISIS since February 23.
The agency said that ISIS kidnapped some 373 people on that date, and while 23 have been released the fate of the others is not known.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Looting on Jordan-Syria Border Costs Investors $100 Million
Following collapse of Naseeb border point with Syria
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, APRIL 6 — Following collapse of Naseeb border point with Syria, looting of Jordan Syria free trade zone cost businessmen losses of nearly $ 100 million, business owners said on Monday.
Business leaders have called on Syria to compensate them for the losses, arguing that Damascus was responsible for safety of their investment.
Nabeel Rumman, president of the Jordan Free Zone Investors commission said tones items imported by Jordanian businessmen remain in storehouses in the rebel’s controlled territories.
Eye witnesses said looting took place in an organized manner minutes after rebels announced capture of the border.
An eye witness told ANSA that looters brought dozens of trucks to the areas and started taking anything they could lay their hands on.
“They took computer items, wood products, food and ripped off the furniture, electric items and even decoration on the walls,” the source from Deraa told ANSA.
Jordan has shot down its borders with Syria after rebels last week announced a major attack on the crossing.
Damascus accuses Amman of facilitating attack in order to push Syrian troops from the border areas, but Amman denies the accusations as baseless.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama Administration has brokered a deal in Tehran that transparently invites Iran to develop the enriched uranium it needs to develop nuclear weapons. Is it any wonder, then, that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif are publicly celebrating the agreement as a victory over the United States? Meanwhile, back in the American capital, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest congratulate themselves; each has proclaimed to the nation that the United States and its Western partners have achieved an historic accord that will prevent Iranian nuclear ambitions from coming to fruition. As they do, the official Iranian press lambastes the White House account as pure fiction and insists that nothing at all has changed in Iran’s nuclear plans. It is not the case that the President, Secretary of State, and White House Press Secretary wear rose colored glasses; rather, they want the public to wear them. They have sold America, Israel, and Europe short in favor of enabling radical Islamists in the Rouhani government to obtain nuclear weapons. Theirs is a dishonorable abandonment of the American cause, one more example of a defeat achieved by self-inflicted wounds.
There are few more dedicated to the goals of the Iranian revolution than those in the Rouhani regime. Their primary objective is to change the balance of power in the Middle East so that they may obliterate Israel and extend radical Islam directed by their agents through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the other Arab states that have relations with the West. They despise the Americans, who they regard as infidels, and they are quite willing to promise, even in writing, compliance with terms that they intend to violate. That has been Iran’s history in its dealings with the United Nations on the very issue of nuclear proliferation. Iran is a state sponsor of terror and a dedicated foe of the United States and Israel. For Iran, destruction of “infidel” countries like the United States and Israel is part of their governing creed, a daily pronouncement from Iranian leaders, and justifies murder and deception. If you would kill an American, what deters you from lying to him?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia Seeks Pakistani Weapons, Soldiers in Yemen Conflict
Riyadh has asked Islamabad to contribute aircrafts, warships and soldiers to its Yemen offensive. Meanwhile, Pakistani legislators have advised the government to remain non-partisan in the Middle Eastern conflict.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Monday that Saudi Arabia had formally asked Pakistan to join the coalition against Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, who have captured a number of key Yemeni cities including the capital Sanaa and the southern port city of Aden.
“Saudi Arabia has asked for combat planes, warships and soldiers,” Asif told the South Asian country’s joint parliamentary session on Monday.
Saudi Arabia is one of Pakistan’s biggest financers in the world, and the Pakistani civilian and military leadership have very close ties with the Saudi monarchs.
On the other hand, Islamabad’s relations with Tehran have been tense for many years.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is due to visit Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the situation with Pakistan’s authorities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Blocks Twitter, YouTube Access Over Image of Slain Prosecutor: Official
Turkey has blocked access to Twitter and YouTube, officials say, over the publication of photographs of an Istanbul prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants hours before he was killed in a shootout last week.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said a prosecutor had sought the block on access to social media sites because some media organisations had acted “as if they were spreading terrorist propaganda” in sharing the images.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Ukrainian Bill Threatens to Intern Russians Citizens Living in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Poroshenko has submitted a bill to his country’s parliament allowing for the internment of Russian citizens living in Ukraine. Russian citizens living in Ukraine can be interned in line with the bill on “The legal regime of martial law”, submitted by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to his country’s parliament on Friday.According to a memorandum to the bill, “measures on the legal regime of martial law include internment (forced settlement) of nationals of a foreign state which threatens to attack or carries out aggression against Ukraine.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poland to Build Russia Border Towers at Kaliningrad
Poland is to build observation towers along its land border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, according to a Polish news agency.
The six towers will be up to 50m (164ft) high and will stream images to Polish guards monitoring the 200km (124-mile) border, the PAP agency says.
The total cost is reported to be 14m zloty (£2.5m; $3.8m), with 75% coming from the EU’s External Borders Fund.
The move follows reports that Russia has deployed missiles to Kaliningrad.
The reported deployment by Russia of short-range Iskander missiles comes amid heightened tensions with the West and Nato over Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia Detains 17 Suspected in Terror Plots
Malaysian authorities have arrested 17 people, including two who had recently returned from Syria, for allegedly plotting terror attacks in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a Twitter message Monday that the 17 were arrested Sunday. He gave no further information, saying a statement would be issued later.
The arrests come after the Home Ministry proposed two new anti-terror laws last week that will reintroduce indefinite detention without trial and allow the seizure of passports of anyone suspected of supporting terror acts.
Critics say the move is a revival of a controversial security law that was repealed in 2012, and warned the new law could be used to severely limit civil liberties.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What is Malaysia’s Top Cop Doing on Twitter?
Malaysia’s Inspector General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar, is a frequent user of Twitter. He posts every few days via his handle @kbab51 and has gained himself a sizable following: more than 37,000 over the five years of its existence.
Most of Khalid’s tweets comprise congratulatory notices to the police force on successful operations or sporting successes. “Go PDRM Go” is a current favourite refrain in either instance — PDRM standing for Polis Diraja Malaysia (Royal Malaysia Police).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Air Pollution Turned This Chinese City Into a Ghost Town
Mill shutdowns in Hebei province worsen industrial China’s ills
The city of Handan in Hebei province is the birthplace of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China. That illustrious history isn’t apparent today. Aging, coal-burning steel factories belch grime over the city of 1 million, one of China’s 10 most polluted. Dotting the downtown area are half-constructed high-rises, relics of a property bubble that started more than five years ago but was finally punctured last summer after the central government in Beijing curtailed credit and developers stopped paying creditors. Locals who lost their savings in dodgy real estate investments regularly block city streets in angry protests, demanding their money back from the developers.
The collapse of the property market is only one of Handan’s problems. Hebei province, which nudges up against Beijing, is heavily industrial, and in China, heavy manufacturing means pollution. The sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and dust from Hebei’s smokestack industries end up fouling the air of Beijing, and the government wants to make the capital breathable again.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
American POWs Used for Live Experiments in Japan, According to New Museum
A university museum in Japan has broken a seven-decade taboo on discussing the dissection of live US prisoners of war by medical personnel towards the end of the Second World War.
The museum opened on Saturday in the grounds of Kyushu University, in the city of Fukuoka, and details more than a century of innovation at one of Japan’s foremost medical schools. But one small section provides details of a darker chapter in the university’s history, according to Kyodo News.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China: Car Crash ‘Casanova’ Caught Out at Hospital
A Chinese man was caught out when 17 of his girlfriends turned up to see him in hospital after a car accident, it’s reported.
The man, identified as Mr Yuan from the city of Changsha, in Hunan province, had apparently been dating all the women at the same time, and even has a child with one of them, the South China Morning Post reports. While he managed to string the women along for months, or in some cases years, the game was up when doctors contacted his loved ones after the accident.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Reclaim Australia: Anti-Islam Rallies Provoke Fear in Muslim Community
Muslim community leaders expressed fear and bewilderment after protesters gathered in over a dozen Australian cities at the weekend to express their opposition to minority groups, who want to ‘change the cultural identity of the country.’
Randa Kattan, CEO of Arab Council Australia, warned such “racist” type of events could quickly spiral out of control.
“In terms of numbers they might be insignificant, but in terms of damage, it is significant,” she told the Guardian.
She called the protesters “squeaky wheels grabbing attention,” but was careful not to underestimate such groups for attracting interest to their cause.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya Bombs Al-Shabaab in Revenge for University Massacre
Air force jets blitzed compounds in Gondodowe and Ismail, both in the Gedo region bordering Kenya on Sunday, a Kenya Defence Forces source said today.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Border Patrol: Increasing Number of Illegal Immigrants Hiding in Truck Vents, Drivers Unaware
U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas say they are seeing an increasing amount of illegal immigrants hide inside air flow vents of trucks to try to get past checkpoints undetected.
Last week, there were five incidents in which agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint found people stashed away in the small compartments of big rigs, KGBT reported Saturday.
“I believe Tuesday (March) 31st, we had a group of seven immigrants which is quite a few illegal immigrants to be hiding in the back of some of these air dams,” said Omar Zamora, the spokesperson for Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector.
Zamora said cases are becoming more common and he believes the immigrants camp out at local truck stops waiting for unsuspecting drivers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Refugees Who Want to be Cab Drivers ‘Banned From Criminal Checks’
Rules laid down by Transport for London (TfL) mean refugees and those applying for asylum do not have to reveal whether they have a criminal history when trying to become a cab driver.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Ruse? Indiana “Religious Freedom” Law Bait and Switch
Indiana Republicans possibly were trying to do their best impression of a cheap tent, but there perhaps hasn’t been such a quick folding since the collapse of the Maginot Line.
The state’s Religious Freedom Restoration act, despite Governor Mike Pence’s feints to the contrary, was clearly intended to offer protection to bakers, florists, wedding planners, and anyone else who objects to participating in faux weddings and other events contrary to his conscience. Instead, after a media maelstrom, pugnacious protesting, and big-money maneuvering, an amendment to the legislation has rendered it an exercise in cowardly posturing.
Passed by the GOP-controlled Indiana legislature and signed by Pence Thursday evening, the law has perhaps been mischaracterized by some. CNN claims it offers “protections based on sexual orientation” for the first time in Indiana’s history. Yet it seems thatAmerican Thinker is correct in stating that with the amendment, “the law in essence has become meaningless.” It appears that the Indiana Republicans — rattled by the politically correct backlash but wanting to pacify social conservatives — just wanted to pass something bearing the name “Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” But it certainly won’t restore faith in government. While the law doesn’t appear to offer any new cudgels to use against businessmen exercising their religious rights, it also states that it cannot be used to justify discrimination. As Fox News reports, “House Speaker Brian Bosma said the law sends a ‘very strong statement’ that the state will not tolerate discrimination.” “Discrimination.” That’s a big word — and a wholly misunderstood concept.
We cannot have an intelligent, productive discussion about a matter if we’re not honest — not even with ourselves — with respect to our language and what we’re actually doing. And the fact is not only that the government doesn’t prohibit “discrimination” in principle, but that it discriminates when prohibiting discrimination in the particular.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden to Support Sexual Health and LGBT Rights in Africa
The Swedish government has launched a new strategy for strengthening sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa.
Writing in tabloid Expressen, Sweden’s minister for international development cooperation, Isabella Lövin of the Green Party, outlined the new aid programme, which is worth SEK 350 million per year.
It also involves strengthening LGBT individuals’ access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
20% of US Have ‘Exploding Head Syndrome’ Where We Hear Loud, Imaginary Noises
Previous studies found one in ten people will experience the condition at least once in their lifetime, with women twice as likely to suffer than men.
Dr Sharpless explained the disorder tends to come as a person is falling asleep, and doctors suspect it stems from problems with the brain shutting down.
When the brain goes to sleep, it’s like a computer shutting down, with motor, sound and visual brain cells turning off in stages.
But instead of shutting down properly, the brain cells responsible for sound are thought to fire all at once, creating a blast of energy that the brain interprets as a loud noise.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why do you seem to like the site infowars so much in the newsfeed? Just curious.
It’s not me — it’s JD, the guy who sends the tips. I don’t care for Infowars, but he seems to love the site.
“Isil jihadists are becoming like the Beatles and other pop idols with British boys wanting to be them and girls wanting to be with them, a senior prosecutor has warned.”
British boys? Most British boys remain white Anglo Saxon (non practising) Protestants. I think this islamic public prosecutor is getting ahead of himself.-
Peter, that’s the kind of comment which hands ammunition to those who accuse us of racism. If people integrate well and respect our values, then they are “British”.
Why is that racist? Your comment is a reflection of the Things We Must Not Say as laid down by the Left. Of course the Disallowed Words mostly apply to thoughts the Right might give voice to. The Left has internalized all the speech prohibitions laid down by Marxist dicta.
There are, in ALL cultures, templates for that culture. Thus the term “British boy” is meant to denote the associations we will (variously) make for that term – including short pants and loose ties flapping in the wind.
It’s the same with “California Girls”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcrbDYe4qL4
By your rules, the video is racist. Sad rules indeed.
Btw, the white girl in the video ain’t got no rhythm, bless her heart. Cute as a button, though. (So maybe she doesn’t need rhythm?) That act would have been much improved with the addition of a black woman showing her how to move.
Not a question of “things we must not say”, Dymphna; free speech should rule, of course. More a question of making, say, Sikhs, Hindus etc feel truly welcome provided they accept our norms- ie distinguishing between ethnicity and belief.
Ever watched videos of the Stones? Mick ain’t got that much rhythm either!
Wot no Scots or Welsh and too mant to list here others assimilated over the centuries?
Can you cite an example of Muslim assimilation anywhere?
Here’s an example of Muslim “assimilation”: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vnJBW49afzg
Mark, I was going to respond but Dymphna did it for me. I do not consider Marxist terminology to be valid. I generally avoid it and treat it with the contempt with which I reserve for all forms of Marxism.
Sweden just simply has a complete monoply on stupidity. They have a housing crisis (with worse to come) and pensioners are being driven below the poverty line by insane domestic expenditures on “migrants” but now they will spend SEK 350 mill per year (!) on reproductive (!) health care for African lesbians. Lesbian Boriobooliganians on the left bank of the Niger, I presume.
As is sometimes observed, you can’t make this stuff up. You really can’t.