This news feed was actually posted later than the official time. Our Internet connection went out, due to a series of heavy thunderstorms that passed across our area. I had to wait until service was restored before I could put up the post.
The big news story of the day concerned the Bosnian man in the city of Graz in Austria, who went berserk and deliberately drove his car into crowds of people, killing three of them and wounding dozens more. Authorities aren’t certain of the killer’s motive, but they quickly determined that the incident did not involve terrorism, and hastened to reassure the public that it had nothing to do with Islam.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, 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.
Europe ‘Gives Greece Another £2billion’ To Prevent Banks Closing
European Central Bank’s second intervention in three days, having earlier agreed to make almost £1bn available.
[Comment: Don’t want people waking up to the scam of central banksters.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ECB Gives Emergency Funds to Greece, But Less Than Asked for
Tsipras in Moscow urges EU to move from austerity
(ANSA) — Rome, June 19 — The European Central Bank (ECB) on Friday agree to increase emergency loans to Greek banks for the second time this week, but by less than requested, according to some media report.
Although the ECB did not confirm the amount through its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) program, the Financial Times said it was about two billion euros — less than the three billion requested by Greece’s central bank.
The increase was only valid Friday and on Monday, when crucial summit of European leaders is planned, added the news paper.
Greek banks have suffered steep withdrawals — about one billion euros taken out by nervous account holders in Thursday alone.
In the midst of the crisis, Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras said Friday that Europe must make a “courageous choice” in policy and opt for less focus on austerity.
Amid tense, last-ditch negotiations with Greece’s lenders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the ECB, Tsipras travelled to Russia.
There, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and in St. Petersburg, told an economic forum that the “center of world economic development is shifting to other areas,” and away from Europe.
Tsipras added that Europe should not consider itself to be the naval of the world.
Russia is considering providing financial assistance to Greece, Deputy Prime Minister Arkadi Dvorkovich told Russia Today on Friday. “We will support any decision proposed by Greece and its European partners. If Greece needs financial assistance, we will look into the issue”.
Russia will be able to consider providing financial assistance to Athens only if the Greek government asks for it, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
Meanwhile, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Friday if Greece ultimately leaves the euro, the shock to European financial markets would be felt.
But, he added, it would not severely damage Italy because the national financial situation “is much improved” and investor confidence more stable.
“I would not worry if there are changes in (bond) yields because the situation in 2015 is very different from 2012,” in the depths of a financial crisis, said Padoan. As well, the ECB has created instruments to “counter the contagion effect” within the financial system, Padoan added.
In Berlin, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he did not “understand” Tsipras and could not rule out a ‘Grexit’ from the eurozone.
“I’ve always warned about the fact that that I can’t avert the failure of talks at all costs,” he said.
Earlier in the day Tsipras said he was hopeful Athens could reach a deal with its creditors to avert a default with the help of eurozone leaders. “Monday’s summit is a positive development on the road to an agreement,” Tsipras said in a statement. European Council President Donald Tusk called the extraordinary eurozone summit after a Eurogroup meeting failed to progress on a deal Thursday amid widespread calls for Athens to make new proposals. “There will be a solution based on the respect of EU rules and democracy, which will allow Greece to return to growth,” Tsipras said.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Thursday urged Greece to get back to the negotiating table and said Athens risked defaulting on its debt with the agency at the end of the month.
“If Greece does not pay the installment it owes us by June 30, it will be in default with respect to the IMF,” Lagarde said, adding there would be “no grace period or possibility of delay”. Berlin said Friday that it hoped Greece stays in the eurozone.
“We are sorry that there was no step forward yesterday, but it’s not too late and we hope for an agreement,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘It’s Time to Hold Physical Cash, ‘ Says One of Britain’s Most Senior Fund Managers
The manager of one of Britain’s biggest bond funds has urged investors to keep cash under the mattress.
Ian Spreadbury, who invests more than £4bn of investors’ money across a handful of bond funds for Fidelity, including the flagship Moneybuilder Income fund, is concerned that a “systemic event” could rock markets, possibly similar in magnitude to the financial crisis of 2008, which began in Britain with a run on Northern Rock.
“Systemic risk is in the system and as an investor you have to be aware of that,” he told Telegraph Money.
The best strategy to deal with this, he said, was for investors to spread their money widely into different assets, including gold and silver, as well as cash in savings accounts. But he went further, suggesting it was wise to hold some “physical cash”, an unusual suggestion from a mainstream fund manager.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Signs of Financial Turmoil in Europe, China and the United States
As we move toward the second half of 2015, signs of financial turmoil are appearing all over the globe. In Greece, a full blown bank run is happening right now. Approximately 2 billion euros were pulled out of Greek banks in just the past three days, Barclays says that capital controls are “imminent” unless a debt deal is struck, and there are reports that preparations are being made for a “bank holiday” in Greece. Meanwhile, Chinese stocks are absolutely crashing. The Shanghai Composite Index was down more than 13 percent this week alone. That was the largest one week decline since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. In the U.S., stocks aren’t crashing yet, but we just witnessed one of the largest one week outflows of capital from the bond markets that we have ever witnessed. Slowly but surely, we are starting to see the smart money head for the exits. As one Swedish fund manager put it recently, everyone wants “to avoid being caught on the wrong side of markets once the herd realizes stocks are over-valued”.
I don’t think that most people understand how serious things have gotten already. In Greece, so much money has been pulled out of the banks that the European Central Bank admits that Greek banks may not be able to open on Monday…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
States Need Budgets — But Enumerated Powers Limit Federal Spending
We will never solve our political and fiscal problems if we continue in our present state of ignorance of the fundamental distinction between the federal Constitution and the State Constitutions.
With our federal Constitution, we created a national government to which we delegated only a handful of enumerated powers. If you would trouble yourself to read the federal Constitution, this fact would jump out at you and hit you over the head. [THIS simple chart will get you started.]
The federal government doesn’t need a budget because Congress’ spending is limited by the enumerated powers. Congress is to appropriate funds to carry out the handful of delegated powers, and then it is to pay the bills with receipts from taxes.
And if you read your State Constitution, you will see that those who ratified it [foolishly] created a State government of general and unlimited powers subject only to the exceptions carved out by its Declaration of Rights.
Since State governments were created to possess general and unlimited powers, State governments may lawfully spend money on just about anything they want. Accordingly, State governments need budgets to limit their spending to receipts.
But Federal Spending is limited by the Enumerated Powers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Total Emergency Alert: Elite Now Evacuating
The financial elite are hinting that an impending financial collapse is on the horizon.
From the Greek-Euro crisis to gold’s sudden rise in popularity, the writing on the wall points to unavoidable economic doom.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently indicated his distrust of the Federal Reserve’s fiat monetary system in a move to repatriate $1 billion of gold back to his home state.
Countries such as China and Germany have made similar moves, with the German Central Bank, or Bundesbank, earlier this year saying it also has plans to repatriate 300 tonnes of gold from the New York Fed by 2020.
Just today, a British hedge fund manager Ian Spreadbury who handles billions in investments revealed he warns clients of the market’s “systemic risk,” and said he advises them to store “physical cash” due to its volatility.
All of this, coupled with the fact that billionaires are purchasing doomsday bunkers and offshore hideaways, paints a bleak picture of the global economic future unless more of humanity awakens and forces a sea change.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Big Pharma Responsible for Another Mass Shooting? SC Church Shooter Took Psych Drugs Before Attack
It’s not the guns, folks, it’s the medications
As CBS News reported:
Since January, Roof has been arrested twice, both at the Columbiana Mall in Columbia, S.C. According to arrest records obtained CBS News investigative producer Laura Strickler, on February 28, Roof went into a Bath and Body Works store wearing all black and asked “out of the ordinary questions,” including how many associates were working, when they closed and what time they leave. …
The officer noted that Roof was becoming increasingly nervous. He searched Roof and found “orange strips” that Roof said were “suboxone,” a Schedule 3 narcotic. Roof was arrested and his 2000 Hyundai Elantra was towed.
A user of this drug on the web site MD Junction noted that her husband “became violent,smashing [sic] things and threatening me,” after just a few days of coming off Suboxone.
Another poster at MD Junction tells the story of how his personality completely changed as a result of taking Suboxone. The person related how he became “nasty” and “violent” just weeks after beginning the drug, adding that he would “snap” and be mean to people for no reason.
According to The Courier-Journal, Suboxone “is increasingly being abused, sold on the streets and inappropriately prescribed” by doctors. For a number of users, it becomes even more addictive than the drugs it’s supposed to help them quit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Glued to the Screen: A Third Grade Class Where Kids Spend 75% of the Day on iPads
When the 24 third-graders in Morgan Mercaldi’s class arrive at the Jackson Avenue School every morning, they take their iPads out of their backpacks and put them on their desks. The tablets will remain there, or in hands and laps, until the children put them in their packs to take them home.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Huffpo Blogger Describes ‘The Pain of Realizing I’m White’
University of Pennsylvania Professor Ali Michael described “the pain of realizing I’m White” in a blog published Tuesday by The Huffington Post’s Black Voices entitled “I Sometimes Don’t Want to Be White Either.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Los Angeles Police Shoot Unarmed Man in Head — and Then Handcuff Him
An unarmed man was shot in the head and critically wounded by Los Angeles police officers on Friday night, after he appeared to be flagging them down for assistance.
A passerby recorded graphic video of the incident from a car, and then posted it on Twitter. The video showed officers turning over the man, who appeared to be unconscious and lying on his face, and handcuffing his hands behind his back as his head bled profusely.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Man Accused of Church Killings Spoke of Attacking College
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A black drinking buddy of the white man accused of killing nine people at a Charleston church says the suspect told him a week earlier that he planned to shoot up a college campus in the city.
The friend, Christon Scriven, told The Associated Press on Friday that he thought Dylann Roof’s statements were just drunken bluster. Still, Scriven said he was concerned enough that he and another friend, Joey Meek, went out to Roof’s car and retrieved his .45-caliber handgun, hiding it in an air-conditioning vent of a mobile home until they all sobered up.
“He just said he was going to hurt a bunch of people” at the College of Charleston, said Scriven, 22.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Salon: Blame Whites for Mass Shootings But Not Muslims for Terrorism
Following the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013, leftist media outlet Salon penned an article demanding that Americans not judge an entire group of people based on the actions of a few.
Entitled “I am not the Tsarnaevs,” Salon writer Wajahat Ali stated that the “Tsarnaev brothers’ criminal and perverse actions” did not speak for him or “the overwhelming majority of Muslims.”
As the country struggled to comprehend the cold-blooded massacre of 9 black Americans this week at a South Carolina church, Salon, revealing its usual hypocrisy, demanded the complete opposite.
In an article entitled “Charleston church massacre: The violence white America must answer for,” writer Chauncey DeVega suggests that all whites must collectively absorb the blame.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
MRIs are typically safer than a CT scan, as they emit little to no radiation during the procedure. The real concern surrounding MRIs, in fact, has nothing to do with the technology at all. Patients are often given injectable drugs that improve the visibility of certain areas in the brain, which can be very useful for discovering health issues that could possibly be missed. The issue is that these drugs may accumulate gadolinium—a toxic metal—in brain tissue.
The medications, known as contrasting agents, sharpens the resulting images; however, it may also be contributing to deleterious effects, many of which have yet to surface in any research. Toxic metals that build up in brain tissue are commonly associated with age-related brain declines, such as those attributed to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Some research even shows that these drugs could be linked to kidney problems, prompting FDA to issue a “black box” warning on the drugs.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Watch for These 4 Signs of Astroturfing to Recognize Corporate Disinfo and Propaganda
In a recent TEDx Talk, investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, formerly of CBS News, discussed the issue of astroturfing (as she did in her recent bestselling book, Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama’s Washington).
“In this eye-opening talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages,” said a description of her talk.
In particular, Attkisson identified four ways Americans can generally spot astroturfing:
- “Inflammatory and charged language — i.e., quacks, kooks, pseudo, conspiracy theorist”;
- “made up myths that are ‘debunked’ which can wind up on Snopes (I call them Inception stories)”;
- “attacking or controversializing people’s character or organizations instead of addressing the facts”;
- “and especially the ‘turfers that reserve all of their public skepticism and criticisms for those exposing the wrong doers instead of directing that skepticism to the wrongdoers themselves. Prime example: instead of questioning authority, they question those that question the authority.”
Attkisson ought to know. As she explained in her book, she was eventually marginalized so badly at CBS News while attempting to uncover major Obama Administration scandals (for which she was targeted by the White House), she eventually was reduced to publishing what she could, when she was allowed to, on the new network’s website only, having lost her on-air presence. The reason? Most of her superiors at CBS News are supporters of the president and Democrats in general, as driven home by the fact that the president of CBS News is David Rhodes, whose brother, Ben Rhodes, is a member of President Obama’s National Security Council.
“The whole point of astroturfing is to try to get widespread support for or against an agenda when there’s not,” Attkisson said in her talk. “Astroturf seeks to manipulate you into changing your opinion by making you feel as if you’re an outlier when you’re not.”
She went on to provide some examples of the practice.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canada Entry Ban: I Have Finally Won
by Srdja Trifkovic
It’s taken over four years, tens of thousands of dollars, and a dozen trans-Atlantic trips… but my Kafkaesque ordeal north of the border is finally over. Having lost the initial case against me in September 2013, and the appeal on April 27 of this year, the government in Ottawa has missed the deadline for appeal to the Federal Court, the final instance.
The particulars of the case are now available to the curious in these two PDFs [Part I — here; Part II — here]. It is a long read, but well worth it. No summary would do justice to this breathtakingly sordid story of Canada’s liberal-fascist regime making a 100% politically motivated decision to exclude a “hateful individual” (their words!) from its territory, scrambling for some quasi-legal cover to justify that decision, and then mobilizing its unlimited financial and other resources htoping to wear the designated victim down.
For the early stages of my fight, go here and here. In the first of those two reports I wrote on February 26, 2011, two days after being expelled: “The Muslims are feeling triumphant, of course … but the affair is far from over.” It is now over, and I am deeply grateful to my friends in Canada whose perseverance and belief in the justice of my case has made it possible. They include my attorney Dorothy Fox and a loyal support group in Ontario, as well as my court witnesses, former Canadian Ambassador in Belgrade James Bissett, former UNPROFOR Commander Major-General Lewis MacKenzie, former New York Times correspondent David Binder, and former senior Bush-I Administration official, Col. Ronald Hatchett (US Army, Ret.).
The political nature of the case has been blatantly clear all along. As Diana Johnstone wrote a week after I was sent from Vancouver to Seattle, which prevented me from addressing a Serbian students’ group at the University of British Columbia, this amazing decision is all the more scandalous in that it was taken ad hoc in response to the hate campaign by self-declared representatives of one Bosnian ethnic group — the Muslims — carrying out a vendetta against another Bosnian ethnic group, the Serbs:
Is this what you mean by “multiculturalism”? The banning of a peaceful speaker is contrary to the democratic principles which the Western NATO powers, including Canada, constantly preach to the rest of the world. It would be reprehensible regardless of the circumstances. However, upon examination, the circumstances aggravate the case. The hate campaign launched against Dr. Trifkovic by certain groups claiming to represent Bosnian Muslims is based on distortions, lies and glaring sophistries. I say this as one who by no means shares all of Dr. Trifkovic’s political analyses or religious convictions, but who recognizes that he defends his convictions with an intellectual integrity totally lacking in the attacks against him. In particular, I tend to consider Dr. Trifkovic’s assessment of an alleged Muslim threat to the West to be misplaced or exaggerated. However, the treatment that he has received from Canada in response to the complaints of a Muslim lobby provides unexpected support to his argument.
“One point on which I do agree with Dr. Trifkovic is precisely the point for which he is most fiercely attacked: Srebrenica,” Dr. Johntone wrote in March 2011. Today, as the propaganda pitch escalates to the point of hysteria with the approach of the 20th anniversary of the massacre, it is particularly pertinent to remember her summary:…
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
At least three people are dead and another 34 injured after an SUV ploughed into a crowd of people in Graz, Austria.
Eyewitnesses say the driver rammed into crowds at up to 90mph before he got out and began randomly stabbing bystanders, which included the elderly and policemen.
A seven-year-old boy and a woman are thought to be among those killed in the onslaught on the main shopping street of Herrengasse.
The governor of the state has described the driver as a ‘deranged lone assassin’ and the police say the man, who is believed to be a 26-year-old Austrian, was distressed over ‘family problems’…
Around 60 ambulances converged on the busy shopping district in Graz this afternoon
[…]
German-language website Krone reported that the man arrested by police is of Bosnian origin.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Three Dead as Car Rams Into Crowd in Graz
A four-year-old boy is reported to be one of the three people killed when a man deliberately drove his car into crowds of shoppers in Graz on Saturday afternoon.
Broadcaster ATV reported that the other two victims were a 26-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man.
A witness told the Wiener Zeitung newspaper that dead bodies were left lying face down in the street after the vehicle sped through the historic Herrengasse and Hauptplatz in Graz, Austria’s second-largest city, at a speed of over 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour.
The driver of the SUV, reportedly a 26-year-old Austrian man of Bosnian heritage, has been arrested and the area sealed off.
According to a police spokesman, the suspect has “no connection with fanaticism and no terrorist background.” It is believed the man was suffering from personal problems and he has been described as “mentally imbalanced”.
The Austria Press Agency cited a police source as saying the driver showed symptoms of “psychosis”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Anti-Islam MP Says State TV ‘Sabotaged’ Mohammed Cartoons
THE HAGUE (AFP) — Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders claimed Saturday that the state broadcaster “sabotaged” his planned airing of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on television.
“Sabotage by the NOS (broadcaster) everything was confirmed but not broadcast,” Wilders tweeted after a previous party political broadcast about immigration was aired instead of the cartoons.
“I will put the images on YouTube and next time on television even if I have to go to (the studios in) Hilversum,” Wilders said.
Wilders had said Friday that he would show the cartoons in the name of his Freedom Party (PVV) on Saturday morning and again on Wednesday and July 3.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fatal Car Crash on Crowd in Austrian City of Graz
At least three people are dead and dozens injured after a man drove his car into crowds in a square in the Austrian city of Graz.
The driver has been arrested but police have released no further details.
Graz is Austria’s second largest city and the square was hosting an event related to the nearby Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The regional governor confirmed that three people had died and 34 were injured, some seriously.
Governor Hermann Schuetzenhoefer told reporters that the suspect arrested was a 26-year-old man, describing him as “deranged”.
“There is no explanation, there is no excuse,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Yoga “Incompatible” With Christianity, Holy Synod
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JUNE 16 — The practice of yoga has “no place in the lives of Christians”. This is the declaration made on the suject by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece in response to the International Day of Yoga, which was established by the United Nations in 2014.
As daily To Vima online reports, the Holy Synod has argued that yoga has “no place in the lives of Christians” since it is a fundamental aspect of Hinduism and as such is not considered a “form of exercise”. The Holy Synod also stated in its announcement that it respects the freedom of religious belief, but claims that is has a responsibility in order to avoid developing a “climate of religious syncretism”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Grenade Attack in Southern Sweden
An apartment block in Malmö has been evacuated because of a suspected grenade attack in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to police.
Two grenades were thrown against the block in Kroksbäck in Malmö but neither device exploded.
Residents of the block have been evacuated to a nearby school, police have cordoned off a large area of the neighbourhood and a police bomb squad has been sent to deal with the grenades.
A police spokesman told the Swedish Atonbladet newspaper, “It is an extremely serious incident. Residents are understandably very anxious.”
Earlier this month, a convenience store in the multicultural neighbourhood was the target of an explosive device and in 2010 at least three people, one a 16-year-old boy, were shot in apparently random incidents in the area.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Research Drones to Investigate Arctic Glaciers
Mission to ‘better understand, forecast climate change’
(ANSA) — Rome, June 16 — Two Italian-designed and manufactured research drones will take part in a scientific mission kicking off Tuesday on the Kronebreen, Kongsbreen and Conwaybree glaciers on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.
The drones are the brainchildren of the Institute for Research on Intelligent Automation Systems (ISSIA) at Italy’s National Research Council (CNR).
The mission will gather data and imagery that has never been gleaned before to study the thermal interchange between sea and ice in order to understand and forecast climate change more accurately, the CNR said.
One of the drones is named Shark.
“Shark will take environmental measurements and water samples…at the air-sea-ice interface” said ISSIA-CNR Director Massimo Caccia. It will navigate with support from a flying drone with eight propellers, who can photograph and videotape the surface of the glaciers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: New Study Documents Nazi Violence During WWII
‘Preserve memory for those too young to remember the war’
(ANSA) — Rome June 15 — The Nazi army and Italian Fascist forces from the Republic of Salò carried out more than 3,000 acts of violence against Italian civilians during World War II in addition to notorious atrocities such as the Sant’Anna di Stazzema massacre, a study financed by the German government disclosed Monday.
A study by 100 historical researchers that will become an online archive and a book entitled The Atlas of Nazi-Fascist Massacres has documented thousands of episodes of round-ups, reprisals, individual executions, and ethnic and gender violence against civilians and unarmed partisans. The list was compiled by the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI) and the National Institute for the History of Liberation Movements (INSMLI), using Wehrmacht and SS archives and Italian as well as German sources.
“The crimes committed by German soldiers against civilians during the war are the darkest chapter of Italian-German relations and fills Germans with shame and pain,” said Ambassador Reinhard Schafers. “There is the danger of a progressive loss of memory among the generations who did not live through the war, and it is particularly important that its history remain comprehensible to them as well.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Under-Fire Marino ‘Staying as Rome Mayor Till 2023’
M5S present no-confidence motion following Mafia Capitale probe
(ANSA) — Rome, June 18 — Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino said Thursday that he intends to remain in the job until 2023 — gaining re-election after his current five-year term ends in 2018 — despite widespread calls for his resignation amid a mafia scandal and after receiving a lukewarm endorsement of his city management skills from the leader of his ruling Democratic Party (PD), Matteo Renzi.
“I have never changed my mind, I am here to stay until 2023”, said the mayor, who has been under pressure over the growing Mafia Capitale scandal involving criminal infiltration that allegedly began under earlier centre-right and centre-left administrations in the Italian capital.
In the probe, it has been claimed that an alleged crime ring made up of politicians, businessmen and gangsters muscled in on lucrative city contracts Marino, who is a heart surgeon, said he won’t judge people’s comments until “the end, when the patient, after resuscitation, embraces family members and returns home”.
Marino’s defiant announcement came after Renzi earlier this week said the mayor should stay on “only if he shows he can govern” a complex city like Rome.
And the mayor’s prediction that he could win re-election was met with a thunderous silence by Renzi and most other PD bigwigs.
The only heavyweight to chime in was former Renzi aide, Transport Minister Graziano delrio, who said: “I’m not saying Marino should take a step back…He’s an extraordinarily honest person, who should listen to the Romans and verify what they are saying”.
The mayor’s vow to stay on, and hopefully prevail again, also came on the same day the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) of former comedian Beppe Grillo called for Marino’s head, saying “the critical elements unearthed by the Mafia Capitale probe are all still there”.
The M5S highlighted that the city’s former housing councillor, Daniele Ozzimo, now under house arrest, “was chosen by Marino”.
In contrast to Renzi’s tepid assessment of Mario’s abilities — attributed by some commentators to a desire to deflect the spotlight from disappointing local-election results — PD Chairman Matteo Orfini, appointed as commissioner for the party in Rome, has been keen to stress that Marino was not responsible for the Mafia Capitale case.
If anything, Orfini has pointed out, many of the criminal probes in the sprawling case were opened after Marino asked prosecutors to step in.
Marino, whom surveys say is unpopular for a fall-off in the level of municipal services, has also been supported by other leading members of the party.
The media, however, have widely depicted Renzi’s views on the mayor’s competence as a vote of no confidence.
Marino has declined to comment on Renzi’s remarks.
In another development in the Mafia Capitale probe Thursday, the parliamentary intelligence services oversight committee COPASIR said it was going to look into the case, primarily to look at claims that agents may have been in touch with the alleged ringleader, former rightist terrorist and gangster Massimo Carminati.
Meanwhile a Rome court upheld the pretrial detention of 14 suspects in the probe.
Leftwing cooperative chief Salvatore Buzzi, Carminati’s alleged No.2, as well as suspects Claudio Caldarelli and Paolo Di Ninno, are to remain behind bars.
City councillors Massimo Caprari, Pierpaolo Pedetti, and Giordano Tredicine, plus former city manager Angelo Scozzafava — who faces charges of mafia-style criminal association — are to remain under house arrest.
Stefano Bravo, Emanuela Bugitti, Buzzi girlfriend Alessandra Garrone, and Guido Magrini are also under house arrest.
Suspect Mario Monge was set free, but with an obligation to report to the police.
Buzzi — who faces charges including corruption and mafia-style criminal association — has entered a plea bargain of three years six months.
Meanwhile the Senate on Thursday approved a bill aimed at avoiding repetitions of the kind of bid-rigging seen in Mafia Capitale and a host of other scandals involving all sides of the political spectrum.
The bill aims to make bidding for public contracts more transparent.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Cardinal in Wiretap Linked to Bankruptcy Case
Versaldi suggests pope should not know about 30-mn operation
(ANSA) — Rome, June 19 — A wiretap of a conversation between Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi and a manager is among those to feature in a probe into the alleged fraudulent bankruptcy of a nursing home business, the Divina Provvidenza, ANSA sources said Friday. In the conversation, Versaldi suggests the pope should not be informed that 30 million euros belonging to Rome’s Bambino Gesù hospital and stemming from Italian public coffers were to be used for the acquisition of the IDI hospital company.
Versaldi is not under investigation, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 85 of 130 Council Staff Probed for Absenteeism
At town near Caserta
(ANSA) — Rome, June 19 — Some 85 out of 130 council staff in a small town near Caserta have been placed under investigation for absenteeism, police said Friday.
The public employees at Orta di Atella allegedly passed around one entry badge among the lot of them, police said.
They were caught after Carabinieri positioned closed-circuit TV cameras.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Environmentalists Fight Fishers’ Call for Cormorant Cull
Sardinian fishers claim sea birds scoff 5 tonnes of fish a day
(ANSA) Oristano, June 19 — Sardinian environmental activists were up in arms Friday after fishers’ co-operatives demanded a cull of cormorants they claim have pilfered tonnes of fish from the sea around the Mediterranean island.
“It is always the fault of the cormorants,” environmentalists of a juridical intervention group said in a statement issued in response to a request by the fishers for authorities to undertake “controlled containment” of the aquatic birds.
The Greens say that poor management of the fishing industry, pollution and disastrous public works policies are to blame for the reduced catches around the island.
The fishers for their part claim that as many as 12,000 cormorants scoffed at least 5 million tonnes of fish a day in waters off Oristano province between October and April.
Environmentalists challenge those figures, however, saying they are not supported by official data, and argue that previous culls of the sea birds in the past have yielded no concrete results.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jews of Libya: Book Tells Their Story
The author Roumani:”I’ve been working on it all my life
(ANSAmed) ROME, 9 JUNE — Anything you may wish to know about the Jews of Libya may be found in a newly released book written by Maurice Roumani, one of the most respected scholars on the modern Middle East at the University of Negev in Israel.
‘The Jews of Libya’ (published by Castelvecchi) has been acclaimed as a landmark as significant as the one embodied years ago by Renzo de Felice’s “Jews in an Arab country” during the book presentation in Rome’s Palazzo Baleani.
Roumani, who was born in Bengasi and fled like all other Jews, was educated in Great Britain and the United States.
Browsing through his book, rich in illustrations and useful captions, it becomes apparent that Roumani has meant to address all aspects linked to the Jewish presence in Libya and the subsequent flight: from co-existence with Arabs, to the introduction of discriminatory race-laws during the colonial period (race laws were applied only ouside Hara, the Jewish ghetto, where life went on as it always had); from the mass exodus that between 1949 and 1952 decimated the community, to the gruesome pogroms of 1945 and 1948, influenced by the growing strenght of pan-Arabism and the birth of the State of Israel (1948), up to the latest departures of 1967 and 1969.
The book also delves into the complexity of integration in the newly founded Jewish State where Libyan and north-African Jews, more generally, have to confront the prejudice of the Ashkenazi elite.
“It may be said that I’ve been working on this book since 1960” said the author, recalling when as young student attending an English university, he wrote an essay as the Jews of Libya.
His research has not stopped ever since.
‘The Jews of Libya’ is the result of a long, patient and painstakingly accurate search through archives, libraries, letters and photographs across Italy, Great Britain, the United Stated and Israel.
This work is particularly interesting for the number of valuable novel sources it quotes as well as for the scientific and scholarly approach of its author.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Napoleon Defeated in Waterloo Battle Re-Enactment
A huge re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo took place in the same Belgian fields where Napoleon’s army was defeated, 200 years ago. Volunteers dressed as infantry and cavalry officers to recreate the battle and commemorate those who died. A crowd of 60,000 spectators watched the battle.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A shocking video has emerged of the moment furious British holidaymakers confronted a man they thought was trying to abduct their children.
A crowd of enraged parents are seen surrounding the suspect as he is bundled into a police car after guests apprehended him, claiming he is part of a trafficking gang operating at the resort in Cyprus.
The 19-year-old Bulgarian man is seen leaping from a window at the hotel as police officers hold the Britons back.
The holidaymakers demand answers from hotel staff as a British woman shouts: ‘It’s another Madeleine McCann!’
The hotel, local police and the Cypriot Embassy in London have all firmly denied that the man is a paedophile, amid concerns the claims have tarnished the country’s reputation as a family-friendly holiday destination…
‘The police … find the claims of child abduction to be complete unjustifiable and invalid as nothing was found that suggests that such incident ever took place or anything else worrying about this matter.’
The denials came after it was revealed 50 British holidaymakers fled the resort this week amid allegations that a gang dressed as waiters had tried to kidnap children.
Police were called to investigate allegations that the suspects filmed British children, swam with them in the hotel pool and then tried to lure them into a car.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Shooting Reported in Southern Sweden
One person has been injured in what is suspected to be a shooting in Söderkulla square in Malmö on Saturday afternoon. An injured person has been taken to Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, the police said.
Malmö has experienced growing violence in recent years. Its outer suburbs have a reputation for gun and gang-related crimes as well as race-related violence between different immigrant groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia: ‘Undiscovered Gem’ For Many British Tourists
But Clickstay.com praises its tourist potential
(ANSA) — LJUBLJANA — Slovenia is the best kept “tourist secret” in Europe, according to clickstay.com, web portal which deals mainly with UK travellers. “Slovenia remains an undiscovered gem for many British tourists, but the small taste we’ve given here hopefully shows why that shouldn’t be so”, according to a post published today.
The travel blog then focuses on the many opportunities that Slovenia offers: easy access “both to the Mediterranean Sea on one hand, and the Alps on the other, with Mount Triglav, the highest peak, centre of a national park and a symbol of the nation”.
Another opportunity to be seized is “urban tourism”: and the blog gives ‘special mention’ to the capital city, Ljubljana, with its castle and the beautiful historic centre, designed by renowned architect Joze Plecnik. Among the attractions highlighted by clickstay.com are “spas and health resorts”, not far from the Region of Styria (Austria), well known for its very good wine and for the Pohorje mountains. Special mention is also given to to the Karst, with the Postojna Cave and the Skocjan Cave, and the town of Lipica, famous for its thoroughbred horses.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Grenade Attack on Apartment in Malmö
Two hand grenades were thrown at an apartment building in Malmö Saturday morning. The devices did not detonate, but the area was evacuated. The area was cordoned off again in the afternoon to search through a car parked in the vicinity.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Announces First Centre for Raped Men
A hospital in Stockholm is set to become the first in the country with an emergency department specifically for male rape victims. The clinic at Södersjukhuset is scheduled to open this autumn.
In 2014, some 370 cases of sexual assault on men or boys were reported across Sweden, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, although experts believe that the actual figure is much higher.
“The general perception is that men cannot be raped,” Lotti Helström, a senior physician at the hospital told Sveriges Radio, adding that male victims can suffer even more than women.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Three Dead, 34 Injured, After Man Drives His SUV Into Crowd in Austria
A man apparently distraught over personal issues has driven his SUV into a crowd in Graz, Austria’s second largest city, killing three people and injuring 34 others.
The governor of the Styria province, Hermann Schuetzenhoefer, gave the casualty figures and described the suspected driver as a 26-year old Austrian who was “mentally disoriented” and acting alone.
He said one of the injured is in a critical condition.
Police said the driver had been arrested. They said there were no indications of a terrorist attack, and the suspect was apparently distressed over personal problems when he targeted his victims.
About 60 ambulances converged on the scene and the Austrian auto club sent four helicopters to bring the victims to hospitals…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Iqbal Ali Condemned Harem of Sex Slaves to Ordeal of Control, Rape and Torture
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Iqbal Ali, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, forced four women to become his personal slaves — subjecting them to beatings and public humiliation if they disobeyed (file image).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rapist Daniel Elliot Released and Attacked Three More People While on Parole
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Daniel Elliot was jailed for five years for raping a Japanese exchange student in London in 2010. He’s now been sentenced to life after being convicted of carrying out a string of assaults while on licence…
One of the serial rapist’s victims was just 16 when he raped her in front of her boyfriend.
The pair, both 16, were walking home through Beddington Park, Carshalton on September 5 last year in the early hours of the morning when Elliot approached.
He then threatened them with pepper spray, holding the can up to the girl’s eyes while he raped her, the court heard.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tory Muslim Sayeeda Warsi Tells David Cameron ‘Don’t Alienate us Over Terror’
Former Tory Cabinet Minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi warned the prime minister he risked ‘demoralising’ Muslims by implying they don’t do enough to fight terror already.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Terror Suspect Who Doesn’t Have to Wear Electronic Tag Because He Thinks it’s a Bomb
A judge has ruled that a terror suspect with al-Qaeda-linked terror group al Shabaab doesn’t have to wear his tracking device because his mental health issues turn the electronic tag into a form of torture.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Italy Provides Environmental-Social Textile Training
Filmar-Alexbank initiative Cottonforlife underway
CAIRO — The Italian initiative Cottonforlife, which aims to make Egyptian textile production socially and environmentally sound, is moving forward. ANSAmed was told that an inaugural ceremony for training courses for industrial institute instructors in the mechano-textile sector was held near Alexandria.
A similar beginning of a course for agrarian institute trainers was started last Tuesday in the capital at the agriculture ministry. The six-day courses will be repeated in the next few years, including in Upper Egypt if required, and are part of a five-year protocol signed in February with the Egyptian technical education ministry, Filmar of Zocco d’Erbusco (Brescia) and Alexbank, an Egyptian branch of the Intesa Sanpaolo group.
The project aims to provide the Egyptian ministry with technical support to modernize training in agricultural and industrial schools in the mechano-textile sector. The protocol is parallel to a collaboration agreement signed in September between Filmar and the Egyptian agriculture ministry for the growing of organic Egyptian cotton with extra-long fibers on the basis of the principles of Filmar’s social responsibility initiative Cottonforlife. The five-year program promotes the adoption of cultivation methods and industrial processing of cotton in line with human health and well-being, their rights and environmental protection. The importance that Egypt attributes to the courses was seen in the presence of Technical Education Minister Mohamed Youssef at the ceremony held on Monday in Borg Al-Arab, in the western outskirts of Alexandria. The minister underscored the importance of the initiative, since in addition to vertically integrating the cotton production chain, it links training and instruction to the industrial world, thereby providing work opportunities for the young. Filmar was represented by the CEO of its Egyptian subsidiary FNT, Vincenzo Gaspari.
An announcement was made during the ceremony that Cottonforlife would be presented by Filmar and Alexbank at the Milan Expo on September 28 at the Intesa Sanpaolo pavilion. The event will be held at the same time as the Milan Fashion Week (23/9-29/9) and aims to draw attention to organic, socially compatible Egyptian cotton, in line with the main message of Expo 2015.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ramadan and TV Series: Tunisian Desperate Housewives Awaited
Broadcast in second half od Ramadan ‘Hkeyettes Tounsia’
– TUNIS — Almost inexistent during the year, Tunisia’s cinema production for the large and small screen has resumed its activity and found new splendor during the holy month of Ramadan, when families gather to break the fast and watch television programs presented by broadcasters as the best of the season. These series often enable viewers to understand the vices and virtues of Tunisian society much more than by analyzing reality. Of particular interest is a production to be broadcast by El Hiwar Ettounsi in the second half of the month of Ramadan called “Hkeyettes Tounsia” (Tunisian chronicles) focusing on the story of four emancipated women, who are independent and belong to well-off classes — a sort of Tunisian version of Desperate Housewives. They are Shams, Ines, Sabrine and Line. The first has been married for very little, the second is single, the third is divorced and the latter is a young Tunisian Jew who is in love with the son of the president of an important political party.
The series tells the story of these women without taboos, rejecting stereotypes and idealization of Tunisian women in society, showing the public instead an unfiltered image of Tunisian women in their daily lives.
The storyline sees the protagonists filmed by a young documentarist called Hasan, who is making a documentary on women. When Hassan talks to a young woman, Hela, victim of blackmail behind which is a political party, the fiction becomes an occasion to highlight the political interference in social relations affected by intrigue. “Tunisian chronicles” focuses on Tunisia’s haute bourgeoisie but is an interesting experiment to understand some aspects of society that would be otherwise hard to comprehend.
It highlights how much greed can affect human relations and does so with a glamorous and mean tone, very much in the style of desperate Housewives, as declared by the filmmaker who has used among the most beautiful actors in Tunisia including Neji Belhassen, Marwan Ariane, Meriem Ben Mami, Maram Ben aziza, Meriem Ben Hassine and new faces like Meriem Ben Moulehom.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Avoid the Food Coma: 9 Ways to Curb Overeating During Ramadan
What an incredible feeling it is to finally quench your thirst and eat your heart’s desires after a long day’s fast. Yes, you’ve been deprived all day, there’s a lot of mouth-watering food on the table, and you can’t wait to indulge, but do you really want to have feelings of remorse after you’re done? Take a minute and think about the consequences of overeating — indigestion, stomach upset, heartburn, bloating, belching, nausea, and low energy levels. Having said that, what seems to be the best approach now, over-indulgence or moderation?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Embassy Wanted to Hire Swedish PR Agency
Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Stockholm wanted to hire a Swedish PR agency to better the relations between Sweden and Saudi Arabia according to newly leaked documents, tabloid Expressen reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Ministry of Defense Admits They’re Arming Saudi Arabia in Yemen Conflict
Britain’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed it is providing technical support and arming Saudi Arabia in its ongoing war against Yemen, RT has learned.
An MoD spokesperson said the UK’s assistance to Saudi Arabia includes providing “precision guided weapons,” but added the British government had been assured they will be used in compliance with international law.
Anti-arms trade campaigners condemned Britain’s support for the Gulf monarchy, claiming the UK cares more about arms sales than human rights and democracy.
RT contacted the MoD to ask if British weapons are being used in Saudi airstrikes on Yemen and if the UK is providing assistance to the Saudi-led coalition.
An MoD spokesperson replied: “The UK is not participating directly in Saudi military operations. We are providing support to the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and as part of pre-existing arrangements are providing precision guided weapons to assist the Saudi Air Force.
“The use of these weapons is a matter for the Saudis but we are assured that they will be used in compliance with international law.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Struggles to Find ‘Moderate’ Syrian Rebels to Train
The United States has hit a snag in its program to train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State (IS) group because of the lack of so-called moderate recruits, with less than 200 taking part in the program so far, the Pentagon said this week.
“We are trying to recruit and identify people that … can be counted on. That is, to fight, to have the right mindset and ideology,” US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told a congressional committee hearing, saying that many of the potential trainees were either unsuitable or lacked the will to take on the IS group.
“It turns out to be very hard to identify people who meet both of those criteria,” he said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
WikiLeaks Says it’s Leaking Over 500,000 Saudi Documents
WikiLeaks is in the process of publishing more than 500,000 Saudi diplomatic documents to the Internet, the transparency website said Friday, a move that echoes its famous release of U.S. State Department cables in 2010.
WikiLeaks said in a statement that it has already posted roughly 60,000 files. Most of them appear to be in Arabic.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Reporter From Respected Russian Daily Expelled From East Ukraine
A reporter with a top Moscow opposition paper that has won numerous awards in the West was detained Tuesday in separatist eastern Ukraine and is likely to be deported to Russia, his colleagues said.
Novaya Gazeta has been one of the only Russian media sources to investigate Western and Kiev accusations that the Kremlin has been orchestrating and supporting the 14-month uprising in the industrial heartland of its ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine.
The paper’s editor and several reporters said journalist Pavel Kanygin was detained in a rebel-run part of the Ukrainian war zone and taken to a separatist-controlled village on the border with Russia.
“It seems like he was detained by the (rebels’) state security ministry,” separatist military commander Eduard Basurin told AFP by telephone…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China Arrests After Hundreds Attack Police in Hunan Province
Police in central China have arrested 13 people after hundreds of villagers attacked a police station on Friday.
Residents of the village, in Hunan province, were reportedly angry about the handling of a young woman’s death last month.
Officials say the death was caused by pesticide poisoning, but relatives have accused her husband of involvement.
Her relatives beat the husband and took local officials hostage when they attempted to intervene.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dog Slaughter in the Name of ‘Tradition’ Shames China
Peter Li says the dog meat festival in a Guangxi city has no place in Chinese tradition and insults the legions of animal lovers in the country
As June 21 draws near, Yulin in Guangxi will once again become a centre of attention for its “Summer Solstice Dog Meat Festival” launched by the dog meat traders in 2000. Promoted as a “cherished tradition”, the “festival” has turned the city into a slaughterhouse. It has also made dog eating the city’s unpalatable signature brand.
What has shocked the Chinese public more was the official endorsement of the “festival” as a way to attract tourists and investment.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kim Jong-un Claims to Have Cured Aids, Ebola and Cancer With Single Miracle Drug
North Korea has created a wonder drug which not only cures Aids, but also eradicates Ebola and cancer, if the latest proclamation from the country’s news agency is to be believed*.
(*Hint: It’s probably not)
An announcement says that the miracle cure consists of ginseng grown from fertiliser and a mix of other ingredients- but did not reveal the special combination.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Aid Worker: Migrants in Calais Are ‘Desperate’
An aid worker has said migrants in Calais “cannot go back” to their countries so are forced to live in “treacherous conditions” whilst trying to enter England.
Maya Konforti from Charity Auberge des Migrants said migrants are “so desperate” to leave Calais they have tried to “create” traffic jams by throwing rocks on to the highway to slow down lorries so they can climb aboard and pass through the controls.
The UK Border Force and the French authorities prevented more than 39,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally in 2014/15, which was more than double the number prevented the previous year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: ‘No Beds’ For Refugees as Deadline Looms
A deadline set by the interior ministry over quotas for asylum seekers in Austria’s nine states runs out on Friday, with state officials meeting in St Pölten to discuss the crisis.
Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says that if accommodation is not found for asylum seekers, they must be housed in army barracks.
Only Vienna, Lower Austria and Styria have met, and exceeded, their quotas so far.
The Traiskirchen refugee processing centre in Lower Austria is overflowing and the situation is getting worse.
3,000 asylum seekers are currently there and 700 don’t have beds and have to sleep on the floor, in garages and waiting rooms, or outside, Caritas Secretary General Klaus Schwertner said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Says Line on Migrants ‘Has Not Changed’
Rejects suggestions of softer approach
(ANSA) — Rome, June 19 — Senior French officials said Friday that “our line has not changed” on “irregular migrants” and these would continue to be returned to Italy at border crossings.
A senior official in the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes told ANSA that rumours that French authorities were softening their approach were not true.
Numerous migrants attempting to cross from Italy into France at Ventimiglia have been rejected and this will continue “in the normal way” the official said.
On Monday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that France will not allow asylum seekers to cross its border with Italy, arguing it was up to Rome to process their requests.
He said Italy must “agree to set up centres” to distinguish legitimate refugees from economic migrants.
The European Commission has proposed relocating 40,000 asylum seekers already in Italy and Greece to other parts of the Union, following a mandatory quota system.
That plan has divided the EU, with many States, including France and Germany, coming out against the obligation to receive the asylum seekers.
Italy’s Premier Matte Renzi, on the other hand, says the proposal does not go far enough.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Rhine Church Bells to Toll for Drowned Refugees
On Friday at 7.30 pm, 230 churches in North Rhine-Westphalia will toll their bells thousands of times in a mass action to remember the 23,000 refugees who have drowned in the Mediterranean over the past 15 years.
The archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Woelki who has organised the action, said in a statement that “the death bells demand a change in policy that provides a way for refugees to enter Europe legally.”
Churches in the archibshop’s diocese, which includes major German cities such as Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf will take part.
Each church will ring its bells 100 times, reports the Rheinische Post, meaning a total of 23,000 peals will ring out across the western German region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why has Barack Obama been releasing thousands of illegal immigrants that have been convicted of crimes back on to the streets of our cities? According to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, more than 36,000 were released from custody in Fiscal Year 2013 alone. These individuals were actually convicted of committing crimes, and many of them went on to commit new crimes once they were released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In fact, Senator Grassley says that 121 of the criminals that were released during Fiscal Year 2013 were subsequently charged with committingmurder. That means that more than 100 American citizens are now dead because of Obama’s foolish policies. Why is Obama doing this? He knows that one out of every five illegal immigrants has a criminal record, and he knows that many of these convicted criminals that he is releasing will go on to commit new crimes. What possible justification could Obama have for doing this to our communities?
When I first heard that more than 36,000 convicted criminals had been released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Fiscal Year 2013 alone, I thought that it must be a mistake. So I started digging around, and I found out that it was true. The following comes directly from the official website of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Immigration and the National Interest Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Sessions and Judiciary Committee member Jeff Flake are asking for more information surrounding cases in which foreign nationals with criminal records facing deportation were released from custody and went on to commit new crimes. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently confirmed that 121 convicted criminals are now charged with homicide after being released from government custody instead of being deported. ICE also disclosed that 36,007 criminals were released from its custody in Fiscal Year 2013, and 1,000 of them have since been convicted again of additional crimes. Of those repeat offenders, 156 were released from ICE custody a second time, instead of being deported.
To me, there are either two options. Either this is an example of incompetence that is off the scale, or this is being done on purpose.
And we are not just talking about small crimes. Thousands of these criminals have actually been convicted of sex crimes. And when they are released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nobody is even making sure that they register as sex offenders. So they are just roaming around out there, and many of them have gone on to commit absolutely horrifying crimes against U.S. citizens…
Today, the number of people that enter Texas illegally is greater than the number of babies being born to citizens of that state. And those illegal immigrants commit a lot of crime. According to Texas state Senator Dan Patrick, illegal immigrants were charged with nearly half a million crimes in his state during one recent four year time period. And he says that there are “t least 100,000 illegal immigrant gang members” living inside the state of Texas right now…
[Comment: Being done on purpose. Part of the Communist plan of destabilization.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Man Arrested With 80 Fake Stay Permits, Travel Docs
Possibly part of a larger criminal organization, police say
(ANSA) — Florence, June 12 — A 26-year-old Somalian man was arrested after police found him in possession of 80 false travel documents, including counterfeit Italian stay permits and state-sanctioned passport equivalents issued for humanitarian reasons, investigators said Friday.
The man was arrested by train police at Florence’s central station on Wednesday after he got off a high-speed train from Naples.
Investigators say he may be part of a larger criminal organization working with illegal immigrants.
The documents contained a replica of an embossed government seal, and if photos had been added to the documents, they could have been used to permit illegal immigrants to circulate freely in Schengen territory.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Flood Trains in Desperate Bid to Leave Italy
As Italy struggles to cope with the Mediterranean migration crisis, its Alpine region of South Tyrol is facing an increasing stream of migrants who try to get to Germany or Scandinavia, through Austria.
As the Venice to Munich express pulled in at Bolzano station, the Italian police were there to meet it.
Bolzano is the last major stop in Italy before the Austrian border.
The police had been tipped off about a large group of migrants who were hoping to go to Germany. The migrants didn’t have the correct documents to cross the border so, one by one, they were quietly escorted off the train.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
OSCE Calls for ‘Humane Treatment’ of Migrants
The Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has called for countries to treat migrants “humanely”, as the EU struggles to cope with tens of thousands of people arriving in rickety boats.
“Ahead of World Refugee Day, we have to be aware of our responsibility to treat refugees and migrants humanely,” said Michael Georg Link, head of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
“States should continue to work to ensure that the human rights of all individuals — including refugees and other migrants — are respected within their countries, as well as to find ways to prevent discrimination against these vulnerable groups.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Are Anti-Immigration Parties So Strong in the Nordic States?
The Danish People’s party’s success in the election continues a trend of rising support for rightwing parties across Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
First Shelter for Homophobia Victims to Open in Rome
Refuge LGBT project of Red Cross and Gay Center on French model
(ANSA)- Rome, June 16 — The first shelter in Italy for young adult victims of homophobia and transphobia is to open in Rome, associations said Tuesday.
‘Refuge lgbt’ is an initiative of the Rome province chapter of the Italian Red Cross and the association Gay Center with support from the Lazio regional authorities. The unique shelter will provide temporary accommodation for gays and transsexuals who have been victim of violence or discrimination as a result of their sexual orientation and need a safe place in which to rebuild their lives. Qualified staff will provide free support to residents including psychological and legal assistance and school and professional counselling, in conjunction with local social and cultural services. “The Refuge Lgbt project is aimed at victims of discrimination, offering not only accommodation and support but also a genuine starting point for regaining control of their lives,” said Red Cross Rome President Flavio Ronzi, announcing an upcoming fundraising event for the shelter on June 18.
“Starting from Rome, we want to create a network along the lines of the French model that inspired us,” he continued.
The project draws on the experience of the French association Le Refuge, which offers temporary shelter and support to young victims of homophobia and transphobia in cities across the country.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Franklin Graham, How Dare He Speak the Truth
Do you ever get the feeling that perhaps you are the one who is crazy? It would have been easy for me to feel that way back in 2008. It appeared that every black person in America was giddy with excitement about the possibility of America electing its first black president except me.
Upon reviewing his hardcore liberal associations, anti-Semitic pastor, history of bullying political opponents out of races and admitting to Joe the Plumber his plan to redistribute wealth, I saw Obama as a far left radical Democrat, Chicago thug politician. Still, from my preacher dad to my 100 year old grandmother and everyone in between, my entire black family worshiped the ground Obama walked on. I was the odd man out; the weird one.
I find myself in a similar position today. Remarkably, famed religious leaders whom I purposely will not name are suggesting that Christians allow homosexuals to redefine God’s institution of marriage; claiming to have biblical basis for doing so. While doing interviews on Christian radio shows, I was stunned a few times by hosts who took issue with me for not embracing same sex marriage.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Parliament
Politician tells it like it is. And does so with a firm voice. You just know that he means what he says.
– About Turkey, mentality, hypocrisy, beheading, non-integration, etc
To hear the truth is so refreshing. People are so scared they might be observed even blinking at a Muslim. Thoroughly brainwashed. Are we occupied by Muslims?
Yes !!
It must then have felt a bit like this with the Islam friendly Nazi occupation of France and the English Channel Islands during WW2. For a time it was all going swimmingly for the occupiers until the Japanese ‘9/11’. Hopefully we are not jammed in Oboma’s half cocked strategy of errors.