Greek banks — which have been closed all week — are said to be down to €500 million in cash reserves. Many ATM machines are now empty, and the limit on daily withdrawals has dropped to €50. Many experts believe that a “no” vote in Sunday’s referendum will mean the departure of Greece from the Eurozone.
In other news, the number of private medical visits in North Africa has dropped by 50% since Ramadan began. During the holy month observant Muslims visit the doctor only in emergencies.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, LP, RRN, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
The devastation of the US labor force continues.
In what was an “unambiguously” unpleasant June jobs payrolls report, with both April and May jobs revised lower, the fact that the number of Americans not in the labor force soared once again, this time by a whopping 640,000 or the most since April 2014 to a record 93.6 million, with the result being a participation rate of 62.6 or where itt was in September 1977, will merely catalyze even more upside to the so called “market” which continues to reflect nothing but central bank liquidity, and thus — the accelerating deterioration of the broader economy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Big, Fat Greek Fiscal Crisis Likely to Fuel Washington Debt Wars
But while most Americans aren’t lending Greece’s troubles much attention, it’s only a matter of time before the meltdown fuels a new debt debate in Washington.
The Treasury Department announced a few days ago that the federal debt is frozen at $18.112 trillion. The debt has stalled at that threshold since mid-March, just $25 million below the debt ceiling of $18.113 trillion. Congress had suspended the debt cap in February 2014 through mid-March of this year, and it was determined that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew would simply declare a “debt issuance suspension period” after federal obligations exceeded that mark this past March, which he did.
So that doesn’t mean the U.S. isn’t racking up additional debt. It’s just that Congress switched off the speedometer that gauges national debt. But that’s a short-term fix.
The expectation is that Congress will have to either re-suspend or raise the debt restriction in October or November.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgarian Lev Makes Inroads in Greece
Greeks used to see Bulgarians as their destitute northern neighbours. But now, with Greek banks closed and the state lurching toward a possible euro exit, hotels and restaurants in northern Greece are taking payments in Bulgarian levs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dijsselbloem: Greek No Likely to Mean Euro Exit
Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem told MPs Thursday a No vote in Greece’s Sunday referendum will likely lead to a eurozone exit. “I think that then there is not only no basis for a new programme. Then it is very doubtful if there is a basis for Greece in the Eurozone.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Again Can Save the West
By Paul Craig Roberts
Like Marathon, Thermopylae, Plateau and Mycale roughly 2,500 years ago, Western freedom again depends on Greece. Today Washington and its empire of European vassal states are playing the part of the Persian Empire, and belatedly the Greeks have formed a government, Syriza, that refuses to submit to the Washington Empire.
Few people understand that the fate of Western liberty, what remains of it, is at stake in the conflict, and, indeed, the fate of life on earth. Certainly the German government does not understand. Sigmar Gabriel, a German vice-chancellor, has declared the Greek government to be a threat to the European order. What he means by the “European order” is the right of the stronger countries to loot the weaker ones.
The “Greek crisis” is not about debt. Debt is the propaganda that the Empire is using to subdue sovereignty throughout the Western world.
The Greek government asked the collection of nations that comprise the “democratic” European Union for one week’s extension on the debt in order for the Greek people to give their approval or disapproval of the harsh terms being imposed on Greece by the EU commission, the EU Central Bank, and the IMF with Washington’s insistence.
The answer from Europe and the IMF and Washington was “NO.”
The Greek government was told that democracy doesn’t apply when creditors are determined to make Greek citizens pay for the creditors’ mistakes with reduced pensions, reduced health care, reduced education, reduced employment, and reduced social services. The position of the Empire is that the Greek people are responsible for the mistakes of their foreign creditors, and the Greek people must pay for their creditors’ mistakes, especially those mistakes enabled by Goldman Sachs.
As has been proven conclusively, the Empire’s claim is false. The austerity measures that have been imposed on Greece have driven down the economy by 27%, thus increasing the ratio of debt to GDP and worsening the financial situation of Greece. All austerity has accomplished is to drive the Greek people further into the ground, thus making debt repayment impossible.
The Empire rejected Greece’s democratic referendum next Sunday, because the Empire doesn’t believe in democracy. The Empire, like all empires, believes in subservience. Greece is not being subservient. Therefore, Greece must be punished. The Persians Darius and Xerxes had the same view as Washington and the EU. The Greek government is supposed to do what previous Greek governments have done, accept a pay-off and allow Greece to be looted.
Looting is the only way left for the Western financial system to make money. In pursuit of short-term profits, western corporations, encouraged and coerced by the financial sector, have moved offshore western industry, manufacturing, and professional skills such as information technology and software engineering. All that remains for the West are highly leveraged derivative bets and looting. Apple is an American corporation, but not a single Apple computer is made in the US.
The German, French, and Dutch governments together with Washington and the western financial system have come down in favor of looting. For a country to be looted, its people’s voice must be silenced. This is why the Germans and the EU object to the Greek government handing the ability to decide the future of Greece to the Greek people.
In other words, in the West today, the sovereignty of peoples and accountability of governments are inconsistent with the financial interests of the One Percent who control the financial and political order.
To conclude: If democracy can be destroyed in Greece, it can be destroyed throughout Europe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Needs Extra €50bn, Says IMF
Greece needs an extra €50 billion over the next three years and 30 percent of its debts written off to give its crisis-wrecked economy ‘breathing space’, the IMF has stated in a paper released Thursday. The Fund said it would not back a third Greek bailout without debt relief.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek President Cancels Berlin Visit
Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President of Greece, has cancelled plans to visit Berlin next Tuesday, German media reported on Thursday.
Pavlopoulos was due to meet with German President Joachim Gauck in the German capital, but Gauck’s office confirmed on Thursday that he would no longer be coming, the Berliner Morgenpost reported.
The news immediately sparked media speculation that Pavlopoulos’ cancellation was linked to the looming bankruptcy of his country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Debt Crisis: ‘No’ Vote ‘Will Not Lead to Better Agreement’
A “No” vote in the Greek referendum on bailout terms would not provide Greece with an easy way out of its economic crisis, the head of the grouping of eurozone finance ministers has said.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s comments came after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Greeks a “No” vote would lead to a “better agreement”.
But Mr Dijsselbloem insisted that suggestion was “simply wrong”.
Long queues of pensioners have formed outside Greek banks for a second day.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Banks Down to €500m in Cash Reserves as Economy Crashes
Greece is sliding into a full-blown national crisis as the final cash reserves of the banking system evaporate by the hour and swathes of industry start to shut down, precipitating the near disintegration of the ruling coalition.
Business leaders have been locked in talks with the Bank of Greece, pleading for the immediate release of emergency liquidity funds (ELA) to cover food imports and pharmaceutical goods before the tourist sector hits a brick wall.
Officials say the central bank will release the funds as soon as Friday, but this is a stop-gap measure at best. “We are on a war footing in this country,” said Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister.
The daily allowance of cash from many ATM machines has already dropped from €60 to €50, purportedly because €20 notes are running out. Large numbers are empty. The financial contagion is spreading fast as petrol stations and small businesses stop accepting credit cards…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Eurogroup Head Dismisses Greek Bailout Hopes if No Wins
Varoufakis to quit if Yes vote prevails
(ANSA) — Rome, July 2 — The head of the Eurogroup on Thursday dismissed Greek hopes of getting a “friendlier” bailout offer if voters reject the current one in Sunday’s referendum.
Jerouen Dijsselbloem was speaking to the Dutch parliament shortly after Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he would quit if the Yes vote prevailed.
Meanwhile Standard & Poor’s came out with a prediction that Greece’s exit from the eurozone could cost Italy an extra 11 billion euros to service its debt due to sharply higher interest rates.
The ratings agency said Italy would be the eurozone country to face the “biggest” rise in interest costs in the case of a ‘Grexit’. It forecast this could cost the eurozone as a whole an extra 30 billion euros in the 2015-2016 period.
And the International Monetary Fund said Greece needs fresh funding of 50 billion euros ($56 billion) to meet its debt obligations up till 2018.
Greece’s finances have deteriorated because of a failure to enact needed reforms, the IMF said. Instead of a forecast in 2014 that the debt-to-GDP ratio would fall to 128%, the debt is back on course to reach 150% by 2010, the IMF said.
Dijsselbloem told the Dutch MPs that it will be “incredibly difficult” to offer a third bailout plan if Greeks vote No to the creditors’ current proposals. “If the result is No, how can you accept a programme?” he said.
The statement was an indirect response to Varoufakis’s announcement he would resign if the Yes vote won but that if the No vote prevailed then talks would immediately resume with the country’s creditors.
Dijsselbloem said the Greek government was “wrong” if it thought that a No to would bring “a better package, less tough, more friendly”. He said that in the meantime the Greek economic situation had got a lot worse, making any new bailouts much more difficult.
The latest opinion polls, meanwhile, showed the Yes vote still ahead in the campaign, but its lead over the Nos narrowing significantly.
Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras has urged his beleaguered country to vote No, sending a clear anti-austerity signal to Europe.
In contrast to Djisselbloem, Tsipras said a No win would lead to a “better agreement”. In announcing his intention to quit, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Varoufakis also said his government would sign no deal that does not involve a restructuring of Greece’s debt. “I’ll hand in my resignation if the Yes vote wins,” he said. “We will not sign any agreement with out the restructuring of the debt”. He added that if the No vote wins, “we will resume negotiations immediately”.
S&P also said there is approximately a “50%” probability that Greece leaves the eurozone. It added that the eventual impact of the so-called “Grexit” would be “serious” for Greece but “contained” for the remaining eurozone members.
Also on Thursday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said he hoped Greece might quickly find a solution to its present economic crisis within the framework of the European Union.
“We hope that Greece might quickly find a balanced agreement for resuming a path of stability and growth within the hive of the European Union, to which Athens belongs,” Mattarella said.
Greek voters are almost evenly split heading into the referendum in three days that European leaders said could plunge the country “into economic darkness” as Kathimerini online reports. A GPO poll cited by euro2day.gr said 47% leaned toward a Yes vote, an endorsement of austerity and the international bailout. The No camp, the government’s position rejecting those terms, was 43%. The margin of error in the survey of 1,000 people was 3.1 percentage points.
GPO said later, however, that the survey contained “incomplete” data and threatened legal action against those citing it.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Shock as Sweden Slashes Interest Rate
Sweden’s central bank (the Riksbank) has lowered the country’s historic low interest rate even further. The key rate, the repo, now stands at minus 0.35 percent.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece may need a category of its own as it struggles with unmanageable debt and the prospect of falling out of the euro: That of a “demerging” economy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Distracted by Rainbows & Flags as Global Banking Meltdown Begins
We have been reporting on Greece’s inevitable banking collapse and exit from the eurozone for some time now as it’s one of the many canaries in the proverbial coal mine at the moment. Because it’s playing out right now, we’ll examine the tremendous influence it will have on our lives very shortly and perhaps why our government would rather distract you with rainbows and confederate flags.
I know, you’re probably thinking “what sucker would keep investing in a country that was destitute with no way of ever paying back the money it borrowed?!” Ah, great question, but unfortunately that sucker would be us! You see, investment loans to failed nations have become the hottest game in town for banks and hedge funds, who receive trillions of near zero percent interest money from the Federal Reserve and its sister European Central Bank to throw at these countries until they finally go bust for good. Though Greece makes up a small part of the eurozone economy, it has been a troubled child from the very moment it was allowed to join. In essence, it was an insolvent country that needed hundreds of billions in loans just to stay afloat and pay its debts. It then required even larger investment loans to pay the interest on the new loans, while the original debts grew to”impossible to pay back” heights.
These debts are then packaged and sold by the banks, hedge, mutual and bond funds as triple A-rated derivative investments, even though everyone knows they are anything but! This is the exact same criminal ponzi-scheme the banks created with bad real estate loans that were packaged and sold off as sound investments which led to the 2008 meltdown. The major difference now is this scheme is magnitudes larger and it’s estimated that there are over $1.5 quadrillion in failing derivatives that will eventually go bust!
Getting back to Greece, their emergency negotiations with the eurozone creditors, who demanded the insolvent nation continued making interest payments, broke down in the final week of June, setting the stage for an official default in July. And the chain reaction had begun! It’s highly important to know that most 401k, pension and related retirement vehicles also invest in some form of sovereign debt in order to keep this ponzi scheme afloat. Most people have no idea that the bulk of their retirement money is being thrown into this black hole, never to be seen again. This is why on Monday, June 29, 2015, all of the world’s stock markets plunged, with banking stocks getting hammered even more so!…
While the game of monetary musical chairs plays out in the west, China has been quietly positioning themselves to unceremoniously dethrone the US dollar and make the yuan the new reserve currency for world trade. For well over a decade, China has been the number one importer of gold and silver in the world, while exporting none of the metals mined inside their borders. This has been done because they have known for years that the US dollar’s days are numbered and in its death spiral.
China is well aware that “he who owns the gold makes the rules,” so they are making sure they make the rules by now having the largest hoard of gold safely tucked away in their central bank vaults of any country in the world, including the US. In fact, they are planning to start their own gold fix trading platform by the end of this year, which will most likely replace the London fix, which has come under intense scrutiny for price manipulation and allegations that it has no actual metal backing trades made through it. China has been very clear that their fix will be backed 100% by actual physical metals, a claim the London fix cannot make.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Puerto Rico Debt Crisis is Such a Huge Threat to the U.S. Financial System
The debt crisis in Puerto Rico could potentially cost financial institutions in the United States tens of billions of dollars in losses. This week, Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla publicly announced that Puerto Rico’ s 73 billion dollar debt is “ not payable,” and a special adviser that was recently appointed to help straighten out the island’ s finances said that it is “ insolvent” and will totally run out of cash very shortly. At this point, Puerto Rico’ s debt is approximately 15 times larger than the per capita median debt of the 50 U.S. states. Yes, the Greek debt crisis is larger, as Greece currently owes about $350 billion to the rest of the planet. But only about $14 billion of that total is owed to U.S. financial institutions. But with Puerto Rico, things are very different. Just about the entire 73 billion dollar debt is owed to U.S. financial institutions, and this could potentially cause massive problems for some extremely leveraged Wall Street firms.
There is a reason why Puerto Rico is called “ America’ s Greece” . In Puerto Rico today, more than 40 percent of the population is living in poverty, the unemployment rate is over 12 percent, and the economy of the small island nation has continually been in recession since 2006.
Yet all this time Puerto Rico has continued to pile up even more debt. Finally, it has gotten to the point where all of this debt is simply unpayable…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
(NaturalNews) Dr. John Henry Hagmann retired from the U.S. Army in 2000, and since then he has assisted in the training of thousands of soldiers and medical personnel in the treatment of battlefield wounds.
His company, reports Reuters, Deployment Medicine International, has snagged more than $10.5 million in taxpayer funding, but the training has long angered animal rights activists who say his company’s use of live, wounded pigs to simulate combat injuries is unnecessary and cruel.
But Virginia medical authorities from the state’s Board of Medicine, which oversees physician conduct, found something even more disturbing during an investigation of his company: During training sessions in 2012 and 2013, Hagmann gave trainees drugs and liquor and then told them to perform obscene, ghoulish medical procedures on each other.
Now, Hagmann, 59 — whom some could liken to the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele — has been accused of inappropriately giving at least 10 students the hypnotic drug ketamine. Further, the investigative report alleges that Hagmann told students to shove catheters into the genitals of other trainees, and that a pair of drunk students were even subjected to penile nerve block drugs. Also, Hagmann stands accused of conducting “shock labs,” a process whereby he withdrew blood from students, monitored them for shock, and injected the blood back into their systems.
The report further alleges that Hagmann “exploited, for personal gain and sexual gratification” two students who attended a July 2013 course at his Virginia farm.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A black teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio has resigned after she slapped a handicapped white child and screamed at him that blacks in America “fought” so that they wouldn’t have to “serve white people like him.”
This creep resigned not after students complained, but after her own teachers assistants complained of her abusive actions! It was going on for months, apparently.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
F-35 Fighter Makers Leap to Its Defence After it Loses Dogfight to 1970s Jet
An extraordinary defence of the troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been issued by the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, the lead company building the jet.
The response came after influential military blog “War is Boring” published a story claiming the new “5th generation” jet — which Britain is buying a fleet of — was unable to beat a 1970s design F-16 “4th generation” fighter in a mock dogfight.
The blog said it had seen a report from the F-35 test pilot on the exercise, explaining how his jet was too sluggish to get the older jet in his sights, and unable to manoeuvre out of the way when the F-16 targeted him.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) Governor Jerry Brown now goes down in history as the first person to legalize a state-wide medical vaccine experiment on blacks. He signed SB 277 into law today, reawakening the era of Tuskegee’s medical experiments against blacks while invoking the same twisted justifications as Tuskegee: It’s for “public health!”
In this pharmaceutical-funded sellout of his own citizens, Governor Jerry “Tuskegee” Brown also openly violates the American Medical Association’s own Code of Medical Ethics which says that patients, not government, should have the final say on medical interventions. And this from a Democrat Governor who claims to support “choice!” When it comes to injecting your children with toxic, brain-damaging vaccines laced with mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde and MSG, Jerry Brown has no hesitation in stripping away that choice, making parents obedient slaves to the California medical police state.
With this decision, Gov. Brown knowingly and disproportionately places black children at risk of permanent damage from vaccines, as explained below using the public confession of the CDC’s own top scientist!
Gov. Brown believes it is the rightful place of a domineering government to enslave blacks in a profit-driven medical cartel that routinely damages children while denying any responsibility for doing so. Mandatory vaccination policies clearly violate the medical system’s own codes of conduct and ethics. As the AMA’s own Code of Medical Ethics states:
The patient should make his or her own determination about treatment… Informed consent is a basic policy in both ethics and law that physicians must honor, unless the patient is unconscious or otherwise incapable of consenting and harm from failure to treat is imminent.
[…]
The law also forces African-American babies to be subjected to a genetically heightened risk of autism, a fact admitted by top CDC researcher Dr. William Thompson.
As only the independent media has dared to report, Dr. Thompson publicly confessed to taking part in scientific fraud at the CDC which sought to hide the link between vaccines and a heightened risk of autism in young black boys.
Instead of trying to make vaccines safer, the corrupt, criminally run CDC — a racketeering organization with ties to fugitive science criminals like Poul Thorsen — buried the scientific data and denied any link between autism and vaccines.
In the years since, countless young black males have been made autistic by vaccines, all while the government and CDC continue to knowingly hide such links from the black community…
Today, California Governor Jerry Brown has declared to the world that he will gladly feed all children into the vaccine grinder, knowing that many will be permanently damaged, and knowing that those families have no legal recourse whatsoever because Big Pharma was granted absolute legal immunity against its defective products.
In other words, while the state requires that black families have their children vaccinated, when those children are permanently brain damaged and made autistic, that black family must bear the lifelong financial burden, with no help from the very same state that forced this unsafe medical intervention upon them.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gulf States Reach $18.7B Settlement With BP Over Oil Spill
Officials in four Gulf Coast states on Thursday announced a $19 billion settlement with BP to resolve claims in connection with the devastating 2010 oil spill, ending years of litigation. Leaders of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana said the settlement holds BP “accountable” for the Deepwater Horizon spill. The $18.7 billion is meant in part to compensate for economic losses and natural resource damages.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Interesting Reparations for Global Warming
Apparently carbon footprint taxes and wealth redistribution are not enough, we must adopt progressive social engineering of the planet
If you thought global warming scaremongering tactics went away with the most recent failed prediction for 2015 when we were supposed to be flooded and underwater, with little polar ice caps left, you would be mistaken.
Writing for the Washington Post, Michael B. Gerrard, a legal scholar at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, proposes that we should take in millions upon millions of refugees that will eventually be displaced by climate change. He said, “We ruined your country. Welcome to ours.” Playing on Emma Lazarus’ famous quote, he adds, “Give us your thirsty, your hot, your flooded masses.” Apparently carbon footprint taxes and wealth redistribution are not enough, we must adopt progressive social engineering of the planet…
The naked truth is expressed quite clearly in this quote by Warren Moss:
“‘Such impending catastrophic events — flooding, droughts, heat waves, and higher seas — all allegedly caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels,’ have been used by the global-warming theorists working with federal agencies and the UN to impose draconian environmental regulations geared to bring the world’s industrial-based economy to its knees.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jade Helm: Are Patriots Being Paranoid?
The government has stated that Jade Helm is just a ‘Military Training Exercise’ taking place in seven or more southwest states for just 2 months from mid July to mid September.
But many skeptics see this incursion by the military into domestic affairs as a prelude to martial law.
Under the Constitution, domestic military operations are banned by Posse Comitatus. Though there have been minor exceptions in the past, Jade Helm represents a dangerous new precedent.
The planned training exercises include simulated extraction of citizens by special forces (who already have extensive real experience). More likely this is a trial run for extracting US dissidents/patriots and sending them to FEMA camps for rehabilitation or worse.
Two months of training exercises by military personnel is one thing, but massive movement of tanks, APC’s, humvees, Mobile Command Centers and weapons storage containers have been reported. This mass movement of artillery to various sections of the nation signifies a permanent military presence.
REAL GOALS OF THIS ‘TRAINING EXERCISE’
1. Intimidate the public so they will accept martial law and gun confiscation
2. Testing the willingness of troops to follow orders, control and if necessary fire on citizens when necessary.
3. Not a drill at all but the initial phase of gun confiscation, extracting dissidents and population control. See Pete Santelli video.
Dave Hodges also refers to the 260+ military officers previously fired by Obama for basically not agreeing to fire on American citizens. Possibly foreign troops operating under the UN flag will seize private guns from citizens.
According to Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers Founder, “Jade Helm is in part conditioning and vetting of the military to see who will and will not go along. I think it’s also conditioning and assessment and vetting of the local politicians,” he added. “Who raises questions? Who has any serious, meaningful questions about what we’re doing with this exercise? They put their name down. I think they’re figuring out who is loyal and who is not loyal and who is likely to go along, with the town councils and county commissioners as well.”
[Comment: Watch the video.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden said it will be a “good thing” when whites are an “absolute minority” in America in 2017.
The U.S. Census, though, has projected that America will be a majority-minority nation in 2044. The Census report, released in March, also projected that “by 2060, nearly one in five of the nation’s total population is projected to be foreign born.”
“By 2017, those of us of European stock will be an absolute minority in the United States of America,” Biden said at a State Department luncheon for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. According to pool reports, Biden added that that’s “not a bad thing, that’s a good thing” because it means the country is becoming more diverse…
| — Hat tip: RRN | [Return to headlines] |
NASCAR Tracks Unite, Ask Fans Not to Fly Confederate Flag
NASCAR’s national series tracks announced Thursday that they are asking fans to refrain from displaying the Confederate flag at races following the deadly attack at a South Carolina church two weeks ago. The facilities vowed to have the most “welcoming environments in all of sports and entertainment.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
National Impeachment Movement Takes Shape
Monday night June 29th, a group of freedom and liberty groups operating under the Constitutional Accountability Coalition of Tennessee hosted a national conference call launching a coordinated state-by-state initiative calling upon U.S. House members to impeach the most impeachable administration in U.S. History…
The first 20 minutes of the call was a bit messy as callers flooded the event from all across the country. Over 300 individuals representing hundreds of patriot groups and more than 25 states attended the call for the full two hours… and public support for the immediate impeachment of the Obama administration has been overwhelming ever since…
The Tennessee group is helping groups in other states set up state impeachment coalition sites and Facebook pages so that they can unite people in their states behind Draft Articles of Impeachment created over a year ago by the North American Law Center, NALC. NALC’s general mission statement can be seen here…
Numerous states have started or completed setting up their own CAC sites and Facebook pages in order to organize people in their own states to communicate with their State U.S. Representatives on the sole subject of impeachment.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Horizons Sends Back Images of Mystery Dark Spots on Pluto
Several mysterious dark spots on the surface of Pluto have caught the attention of NASA researchers as the New Horizons probe makes its final approach to the dwarf planet.
Several spots are evenly spaced along Pluto’s equator, with each having a diameter of about 300 miles, according to NASA.
“It’s a real puzzle — we don’t know what the spots are, and we can’t wait to find out,” Alan Stern, principal investigator for New Horizons, said in a statement.
The spacecraft is scheduled to come as close as 6,200 miles from the surface of Pluto July 14, 2015, the closest any man made object has come to the dwarf planet…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
New Horizons Color Images Reveal Two Distinct Faces of Pluto, Series of Spots That Fascinate
New color images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft show two very different faces of the mysterious dwarf planet, one with a series of intriguing spots along the equator that are evenly spaced. Each of the spots is about 300 miles (480 kilometers) in diameter, with a surface area that’s roughly the size of the state of Missouri.
Scientists have yet to see anything quite like the dark spots; their presence has piqued the interest of the New Horizons science team, due to the remarkable consistency in their spacing and size. While the origin of the spots is a mystery for now, the answer may be revealed as the spacecraft continues its approach to the mysterious dwarf planet. “It’s a real puzzle—we don’t know what the spots are, and we can’t wait to find out,” said New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder. “Also puzzling is the longstanding and dramatic difference in the colors and appearance of Pluto compared to its darker and grayer moon Charon.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pluto Has Strange ‘Finger Print-Like’ Marks in New Color Imagery — Video
The latest New Horizons’ data pouring into NASA servers on Earth has returned color and black & white images of Pluto and Charon. The data also confirms the presence of methane on Pluto’s surface. The strange dark spots, seen in the approximate true color view, are oddly very similar in size.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report Finds 100+ Walmart.Com Products Labeled “Made in U.S.A.” That Were Made Elsewhere
While there is no official review process required for labeling a product as “Made in the U.S.A.,” a company can get into legal trouble for misusing that label, as doing so may constitute false advertising. A new report from an advertising watchdog group claims that Walmart’s website has more than 100 examples of products incorrectly marketed as made in America.
According to a letter [PDF] recently sent by the group Truth In Advertising to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, “Walmart’s website is mired in USA labeling errors.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For years the mainstream media and their following of myrmidons have made a joke out of those who have taken time, effort and money to prepare their homes, assets and families for “Doomsday” scenarios that may include anything from financial collapse to natural disasters.
For those who laugh at “preppers” it boils down to the belief that this time is different from the countless historical examples showing just how bad things can get. World wars, monetary hyperinflations, depressions, tyrannical governments, pandemics, Tsunamis, you name it; according to the experts, these things can never happen, especially not here in America. Plus, in the off chance that something does go wrong, we can always depend on our government to bail us out.
But what if, for the sake of argument, something does go wrong? And what if — just humor us here — the government doesn’t have the ability to help? What happens then? The answer is simple and can be summed up in the following picture and video taken within the last 24 hours in Greece, where their financial and economic systems have collapsed to such an extent that people are now hoarding food, gas and even money (if they can get their hands on it).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Train Carrying Toxic Gas Derails in Tennessee, Catches Fire; Thousands Evacuated
Remember when oil pipelines were at risk of spilling and as a result the progressive movement decided it would be far safer to transport US oil by train, because supposedly trains are so much safer for the environment (not to mention profitable for Warren Buffett), only to lead to a record surge in oil-carrying train accidents and derailments? Well, not even the most hardline of environment-friendlies could have anticipated what happened overnight in Blount County, Tennessee after a freight train derailed carrying flammable and poisonous material caught on fire on Wednesday night, leading to the evacuation of as many as 5000 residents from their homes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Requests Extradition of FIFA Officials Arrested in Zurich
Seven officials arrested on corruption charges in May
(ANSA) — Rome, July 2 — The United States has asked Switzerland to extradite seven FIFA officials arrested in Zurich on corruption charges in May, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said Thursday.
The request was submitted on Wednesday under the terms of a bilateral agreement between the two countries.
The top officials include three former members of the executive committee of international football’s governing body.
They could face up to 20 years in prison under the charges formulated by US prosecutors as part of a major probe into alleged coppuption within FIFA spanning 24 years, in which a total of 14 officials are indicted. The officials have 14 days to appeal against the extradition request, after which a decision will be taken “within a few weeks”.
The ruling could then be challenged in the federal criminal court and the federal supreme court.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Veterans Chase Away Flag Burners During Heated Confrontation
Video footage shows veterans chasing away members of the leftist group Disarm NYPD as they attempted to burn American flags during an event in Brooklyn last night.
Disarm NYPD protesters, an arm of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, announced their plans to burn the flag in Fort Greene Park on Facebook earlier this week, but they were met by a group of around 100 veterans, bikers and other flag supporters.
The leftist group tried to burn Old Glory and the Confederate flag but were confronted by veterans as scuffles broke out. No arrests were made during the incident.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Sues US Police Over Hijab
DEARBORN, Michigan: A Muslim woman is suing a Michigan police department, saying her rights were violated when she was ordered to remove a headscarf for a mugshot after her arrest. Maha Aldhalimi was told that she was wanted for an unpaid parking violation. She says she was ordered to remove the headscarf, known as hijab, for a photo at the Dearborn Police Department last September. Aldhalimi says she was crying while explaining that removing the scarf in front of male strangers would violate her religious beliefs. She says she finally agreed to remove it under threat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Petition for EU Exit Beats 100,000 Mark
261,159 Austrians have signed a petition demanding a referendum on whether Austria should leave the EU.
This is equal to 4.12 percent of the electorate, and as it got more than 100,000 signatures the question of a referendum must now be discussed in parliament.
The petition was initiated by 66-year-old Inge Rauscher, who launched a similar petition back in 2000 which was only signed by 3.35 percent of the electorate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Borsellino Quits as Sicilian Health Councillor
Daughter of slain judge third member of executive to leave
(ANSA) — Palermo, July 2 — Lucia Borsellino has sent her letter of resignation as Sicily’s executive health councillor to Governor Rosario Crocetta, ANSA sources said Thursday. Lucia Borsellino is the daughter of anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino, who was murdered by Cosa Nostra in 1992. Crocetta’s executive is in turmoil and Borsellino is the third member of it to quit in recent days, following the resignation of Nino Caleca and Ettore Leotta, who held the agriculture and public function briefs respectively.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Breivik Takes Norway to Court on Human Rights
Anti-Islamist terrorist Anders Behring Breivik has taken legal action against the Norwegian state claiming his four years of “extreme isolation” in prison is a violation of his human rights.
Breivik’s lawyer Øystein Storrvik told Norway’s VG newspaper that he delivered a subpoena to the Oslo District Court on Wednesday.
“The main reason for the lawsuit is the extreme isolation my client has been subjected to,” he told the newspaper.
Storrvik has been Breivik’s lawyer since February this year, when he and his longstanding defence lawyer Geir Lippestad stopped working together over Lippestad’s unwillingness to take the government to court on Breivik’s terms.
“We have looked at the possibility of bringing a court case about prison conditions, but we disagree on what is reasonable,” Lippestad told VG at the time. “There is a discrepancy between Breivik’s wishes and what is appropriate for us to offer him.”
In the current court case, Breivik argues that his complete isolation from other prisoners violates the European Convention on Human Rights.
Breivik is the only Norwegian prisoner to be held in his own wing without any contact with other inmates.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Calais: French Strikers Put Protest on Hold
The port at Calais in northern France partially reopened on Thursday as ferry workers suspended protests that have blocked access for three consecutive days. However ferry services remained limited and strikers have threatened more action.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: How I Was De-Radicalised
It’s become known as the Aarhus Model, a programme designed in Denmark’s second city to dissuade young people from going to fight for al-Qaeda or Islamic State. Thirty travelled to Syria in 2013 but only two so far this year — and only one in 2014. Ahmed is one young man who was convinced, a few years ago, to draw back from the first step on a path that could have ended in jihad.
We meet in a large, loud, busy Turkish restaurant on the edge of the city, but we don’t stay long. There are two of them — we’ll call them Ahmed and Mahmoud — and what we have to talk about demands a measure of privacy. Mahmoud drives us to a large hotel, where we sit down in a quiet room.
Ahmed is 25, he says, born in Somalia, although he’s lived in Denmark since he was six.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Eight EU Countries Abolish Restrictions on Croatian Workers
Five still keep them, including Austria and Slovenia
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — Eight EU member countries — Italy, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Luxemburg and Spain — have opted to grant, starting today, all Croatian citizens the right to have full access to their domestic labour markets. Another five countries — Austria, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovenia and UK — have instead decided to maintain restrictions on Croatian workers for three more years. This news was released today by the EC. The other EU member countries had already opened the doors to Croatian workers starting July 2013. The EC’s official website recalls that June 30 was the deadline of the first temporary phase established by Croatia’s EU membership treaty. Within that deadline, EU member countries were expected to let the EC know what they had decided, whether or not to maintain these restrictions over the next three years. EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen, underlined that the decision made today by eight EU member countries “is a very positive step. Mobility may represent an opportunity both for workers and for the countries that welcome them”, she added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Five UN Peacekeepers Killed When Convoy Attacked in Mali
Five U.N. peacekeepers were killed and another six severely wounded in an attack on their convoy in northern Mali, a spokesperson for the country’s U.N. peacekeeping mission said on Thursday.
Spokesperson Radhia Achouri said other details were not immediately available.
Two U.N. security officials said the attack occurred close to Goundam, a town southwest of the northern city of Timbuktu…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Whirlpool ‘Save-Factories’ Deal Signed
Plant near Naples will stay open
(ANSA) — Rome, July 2 — Whirlpool and unions on Thursday signed a deal at the industry ministry aimed at keeping open all the US multinational’s plants in Italy and averting so-called structural redundancies, union sources said. The deal will now be put to workers. The appliance maker recently submitted a new industrial plan ruling out structural layoffs and setting productive missions for all its plants in Italy. It said it will move production of some components to its plant in Carinaro near Naples, which currently employs 815 people.
That move will initially employ 320 people and the company intends to invest eight million euros to make it happen.
The plan includes total investments of 533 million euros in Italy, making it Whirlpool’s European research hub with investments of 90 million euros a year.
As well, the company will invest two million euros in its plant in the Campania town of Teverola.
Unions and the Italian government have been in talks with Whirlpool since it announced plans to lay off 2,060 workers at its Italy plants with the Carinaro factory slated for closure.
The government called for a new business plan in line with agreements made last year when Whirlpool bought out Italian manufacturer Indesit.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Campania Governor De Luca Wins Suspension Petition
PD member can now appoint his regional executive
(ANSA) — Naples, July 2 — A Naples court on Thursday upheld new Campania Governor Vincenzo De Luca’s urgent petition against a suspension from office on the basis of an anti-corruption law.
The ruling means that De Luca, a member of Premier Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD), will be able to take part in his first regional assembly meeting and appoint his executive. The ban, stemming from an abuse-of-office conviction from De Luca’s term as mayor of Salerno, has been lifted pending the court’s ruling on his appeal against it.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
News From Rosetta: Mysterious Holes Help Unlock Secrets of the Universe
Mysterious holes on the surface of comet 67P are photographed in unprecedented detail, helping to unlock the history of the solar system.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
SSRIs work by preventing the reuptake (movement back into the nerve endings) of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This makes more serotonin available for use in your brain, which is thought to improve your mood.
Most people have heard of the “chemical imbalance” theory, which states that depression and anxiety disorders are due to low serotonin levels. Most believe this theory to be true. But the theory was just that—a theory. It sounds scientific, but there was actually no hard evidence behind it.
As explained by investigative health journalist Robert Whitaker, in 1983 the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) investigated whether or not depressed individuals had low serotonin. At that time, they concluded there was no evidence that there is anything wrong in the serotonergic system of depressed patients.
Research 4, 5 published in 2009 added further evidence to the pile indicating the low serotonin idea was incorrect, as they found strong indications that depression actually begins further up in the chain of events in the brain. Essentially, the medications have been focusing on the effect, not the cause.
Drug companies kept running with the low serotonin theory though, as it justifies the aggressive use of antidepressants to correct this alleged “imbalance.” Now, Swedish research really throws the justification for using SSRIs to treat anxiety disorders into question.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Barcelona Mayor Introduces One-Year Ban on New Tourist Accommodation
The city of Barcelona will not grant a single license for new tourist accommodation in the next 12 months, Mayor Ada Colau announced on Thursday morning.
The move affects hotels, hostels, B&Bs, rental homes and all other businesses that offer beds for visitors to the city. The previous mayor, Xavier Trias of the Catalan nationalist Convergència party, had only imposed this license ban on rental apartments.
The move had been widely anticipated, as Colau, a former social activist who ran for mayor as leader of the Barcelona en Comú leftist bloc, had made statements in the past about the need to rationalize the huge influx of tourists to the Catalan capital.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Railway Posts ‘How-to’ Toilet Signs for Tourists
Fed up with having to clean up messes in the public toilets, the operators of the Mount Rigi cogwheel railway in central Switzerland have installed pictogram signs showing the right and wrong way to use the facilities as part of an information campaign.
“Tourists from the Gulf region or Asian countries are not very aware of our way of living,” Marcel Furer, head of the regional tourist office, told 20 Minuten. “It’s happened that people relieve themselves in the shower rather than in the toilet,” Furer said.
To address the issue, the tourist office has published a brochure explaining Swiss standards for the good use of toilets, as well as other customs, 20 Minuten said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tracking the Threat of Spain’s Returning Jihadists
At least 25 foreign nationals with Spanish residency permits have died fighting for Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, according to secret reports compiled by Spain’s security forces and seen by EL PAÍS. Since IS began trying to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad, around 114 mainly Moroccan volunteers have traveled from Spain to Syria. Of the 25 who have returned, 15 are in prison, and the rest, mainly women and children, are under surveillance.
For the first time since the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Spanish security forces are saying in a series of reports that they are expecting another terrorist attack on home soil. The government has raised its terror alert to level four (high risk) after the attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait last week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Authorities Arrest 15-Year-Old Girl on Suspicion of Joining ISIS
A 15-year-old girl was arrested by British police Thursday on suspicion of plotting to join the Islamic State. Authorities said the girl, who was arrested Thursday morning in east London, was placed in custody at a central London police station as she awaits further questioning.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Police Knew and Did Nothing to Protect Girls From Muslim Predators
By Raymond Ibrahim
Not only do recent revelations concerning the endemic sexual grooming of British girls by Muslim men demonstrate how crippling political correctness is, but they show how political correctness complements the most abusive elements of Islamic law, or Sharia.
According to a June 24 report by the Birmingham Mail, as far back as March 2010, West Midlands Police knew that Muslim grooming gangs “were targeting children outside schools across the city—but failed to make the threat public.”
A confidential report obtained under a Freedom of Information Act indicates that police were well aware that British pupils were being targeted by mostly Muslim men. Several passages from the report make this clear.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Syria-Bound’ Luton Family House Raided Day Before UK Exit
Police raided a house owned by a Luton family suspected to be in Syria and a woman was stopped at Heathrow the day before 12 family members left for Bangladesh, the BBC has discovered.
The woman, 21, was stopped at the airport on 9 April suspected of trying to go Syria, but she was not arrested.
A search then took place at the home of the missing grandparents, also thought to be the home of other family members.
Twelve family members left the UK the next day and did not return.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Google is ‘Ruining Our Memories’, Study Claims
The UK population is suffering from ‘digital amnesia’, brought on by over-reliance on smartphones and Google to summon up information people no longer retain as memories.
Just under half of connected adults cannot recall their partner’s phone number, while 71 per cent can’t remember their children’s, a study from Kaspersky Lab has found.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The head of the BBC sparked fury today after rejecting a demand by MPs to stop using the name Islamic State to refer to the terror group — because it would ‘give the impression of support’ for its opponents.
Tony Hall, the corporation’s director general, rejected the call from a cross-party group of 120 MPs to use the name ‘Daesh’ instead, saying it would ‘bias their coverage’.
The decision was widely criticised in Parliament today. Commons leader Chris Grayling said it was like being ‘impartial’ to Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Muslim Tory MP Rehman Chisti, who started the petition to stop using ‘Islamic State’, said the BBC’s response was ‘not worth the paper it’s written on’.
Daesh is a commonly used Arabic abbreviation for ISIS which the terrorists consider to be offensive because it sounds similar to the word ‘Dahes’ meaning ‘one who sows discord’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Tax Disc Fiasco and the Lesson the State Never Learns
By Stephen Glover
Just occasionally, government comes up with a system for dealing with a problem which has pretty well universal support. The traditional car tax disc was one example.
For 93 years it fulfilled its function more or less perfectly. I never heard a single soul complain about it. The little disc on a windscreen notified the authorities that a car was properly taxed, and reminded owners just how much time remained until they had to renew it.
But it was too flawless a scheme to last for ever. Last October the Government abolished the car tax disc and announced that henceforth our details will be held on computer. The saving to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) would allegedly be £10 million a year…
I haven’t even mentioned one scam in the new arrangements for licensing. If I sell you my car in the middle of July with three and a half months remaining on its tax, I can get a refund of only three months but you will have to tax your new car from the beginning of July. The Government is making a nice little turn. Doesn’t this example of grasping pettiness say it all?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia: The Cradle of Modern Jihadism?
Back in the 1990s something happened in central Bosnia-Herzegovina that inspired people to this day and helps explain why that country now has more men fighting in Syria and Iraq (over 300), as a proportion of its population, than most in Europe.
The formation of a “Mujahideen Battalion” in 1992, composed mainly of Arab volunteers in central Bosnia, was a landmark. Today the dynamic of jihad has been reversed and it is Bosnians who are travelling to Arab lands.
“There is a war between the West and Islam,” says Aimen Dean, who, as a young Saudi Arabian volunteer, travelled to fight in central Bosnia in 1994. “Bosnia gave the modern jihadist movement that narrative. It is the cradle.”
With IS now trying to start a “new front for the Caliphate” in the Balkans, there are many who worry that Bosnia is vulnerable because it remains so weak and fragmented, even two decades after its war ended.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ramadan: Private Medical Visits Drop by 50%
Plunge in dentist and gynecologist exams in southern Med
(by Diego Minuti) (ANSAmed) — ROME, JULY 2 — Private doctors and not only cafe and shop owners across the entire southern Mediterranean region have seen their income decline during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Recent statistics show that non-state-funded medical exams have dropped by at least 50%, since observant Muslims call on doctors during this month only in case of emergency. Thus, those suffering toothaches as well as the various states of malaise associated with fasting — problems of digestion, myalgia and dizziness, for example — try to simply grin and bear it. Doctors say that most of the visits are from those wanting a certificate authorizing them time off work during this period in which fasting is done all day during the ongoing heatwave. A study conducted in Morocco showed that the holy month is a problem for dentists and gynecologists but not so much for diabetologists. Emergency services end up seeing a rise this month, however, as negative personality traits — such as hotheadedness — inevitably sharpen during the month of fasting, resulting in fights and injuries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tripoli Delegation Boycotts Morocco Talks
Libya Dawn calls peace plan a ‘betrayal’
CAIRO — The General National Congress (GNC) delegation has suspended its participation in peace talks on Thursday in Morocco for national reconciliation, say Libyan sources.
The GNC is the lawmaking body of the unrecognized Tripoli government, parallel to the Tobruk one recognized by the international community. The Islamist coalition Libyan Dawn, which holds power in Tripoli, wrote on its Facebook page that the peace plan “is a betrayal that aims to create a dictatorial regime under the UN auspices”.
UN Special Envoy for Libya Bernardino Leon has met with all the delegations that have arrived in Skhirat, Morocco, despite the GNC boycott.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Could Start Bombing ISIS in Syria After Tunisia Beach Attack
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will today tell MPs that it is ‘illogical’ for UK forces to carry out strikes in Iraq but not in Syria, but he faces claims there is little the the UK can do to help US strikes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is Saudi Arabia Leaving the U.S. Behind for Russia?
The news from the recent St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which took place from June 18 to 20, inspired a torrent of speculation on the future direction of energy prices.
But the real buzz at the conference was the unexpected but much publicized visit of the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, as an emissary of the King. The Prince, who is also his country’s Defense Minister, carried the royal message of a direct invitation to President Putin to visit the King, which was immediately accepted and reciprocated, with the Prince accepting on behalf of his father.
It would be news enough that the unusually high level delegation from a long-time ally and protectorate of the U.S., like Saudi Arabia, was visiting a Russian sponsored economic conference, in a country sanctioned by the U.S.
Some saw this well publicized meeting as the first sign of an emerging partnership between the two greatest global oil producers. If the warmth of the meeting was any evidence, it seems likely that Russia, a non-OPEC producer, might come a lot closer to the fold.
That could mean that, at the very least, Russia would have a voice in the cartel’s policy decisions on production. And if so, it would be a voice on the side of stable but rising prices.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait Makes DNA Tests Mandatory After IS Bombing
Kuwait’s parliament, reacting to a suicide bombing last week that killed 26 people, adopted a law Wednesday requiring mandatory DNA testing on all the country’s citizens and foreign residents.
The legislation, requested by the government to help security agencies make quicker arrests in criminal cases, calls on the interior ministry to establish a database on all 1.3 million citizens and 2.9 million foreign residents.
Under the law, people who refuse to give samples for the test face one year in jail and a fine of up to $33,000 (29,700 euros). Those who provide fake samples can be jailed for seven years…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama and Cameron in on Blocking Heroic Kurds From Fighting ISIS
Courageous Kurds are a minority of one in standing up to ISIS and now the most self-centered friendship in the world is seeking to block them.
“The United States has blocked attempts by its Middle East allies to fly heavy weapons directly to the Kurds fighting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, The Telegraph has learnt. (Telegraph, July 2, 2015)
“Some of America’s closest allies say President Barack Obama and other Western leaders, including David Cameron, are failing to show strategic leadership over the world’s gravest security crisis for decades.
“They now say they are willing to “go it alone” in supplying heavy weapons to the Kurds, even if means defying the Iraqi authorities and their American backers, who demand all weapons be channelled through Baghdad.“
While thousands of innocents are being decapitated, crucified, drowned, thrown off building rooftops, buried alive and slaughtered wholesale by sex slave-taking Islamic State jihadists, happy golfers and holidayers President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron—so close they call each other “brother”—are aiding and abetting Islamic terrorism.
Millions are aware that Obama not only refuses to personally use the term “Islamic terrorist” in his own lavish vocabulary, he has banned the use of the term from the public lexicon.
Not so many are aware that Obama’s British sidekick David Cameron only on Monday advised the BBC “to stop calling the barbaric group ‘Islamic State’ because the name is offensive to ‘many Muslims’.” (Daily Mail, June 29, 2015)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Reality Versus Fantasy — Obama’s Proxy War in Syria
The Kurdish people are fighting our terrorist enemies and losing their lives in the process, and it’s not just men, 30% of Kurdish fighters are now female fighters, who can never be captured alive. Think about that the next time you can’t find a shopping cart at the local grocery store. Think about it when you’re grilling hot dogs and burgers this Fourth of July, or when you hear the national anthem this weekend. These men and women fight in your place. Think about what you have done for them.
Of course Turkey is making a bundle off of this Syrian proxy war, monies from the USA and concerned European nations are pouring into Turkish President Erdogan’s hands, and Ankara’s political big wigs don’t want the cash to stop flowing. But for now, the Kurds have warned Erdogan to stay the hell out of their Syrian affairs, because they are too busy killing the real terrorists to be bothered with Erdogan’s vendetta against Assad. And the Kurds should get away with saying it too. Not surprisingly, Turkey is upset because the Kurds are expanding their grip on the border, therefore they are able to secure and shut down supply routes from Turkey to the alleged freedom fighters in Syria, while strengthening Kurdish power in Syria.
Arresting the flow of enemy arms into a hot shooting war is a good idea. If our administration was really interested in human rights and human suffering they would be compelled to stop funneling arms into the hands of Syria’s alleged freedom fighters. Remember how the libs always love to say, ‘oh, if it just saved one life, just one single life then it would all be worth it’. Remember that about Iraq? Now the tables are turned and our administration is funneling in arms to alleged Freedom Fighters. Funneling arms and monies into the hands of alleged Freedom Fighters who have pledged allegiances to the same terrorists the Kurds are fighting. And it’s killing their Kurdish brethren not to mention Syrian civilians who are dying by the thousands.
[…]
To further pontificate. The world’s population see the Kurdish people making startlingly significant gains in an anti terror war by cutting enemy supply lines; and their “reward” is they are now being threatened by a thug, Turkey’s Erdogan, because the Kurds dare cutting off highly profitable supply lines to these alleged Magical Fighters who attack Assad in conjunction with the enemies that they (the Kurds) are fighting right now, aka Islamic terror! See the problem here? The reality is this self destructive Kurdish self sacrifice is being demanded because of this administration’s pipe dream fantasies. Thusly the Kurds, who are actually killing the enemies of humanity (Islamic terror), are being threatened by a Muslim brotherhood thug (Erdogan) because they (the Kurds) are cutting off supply lines for Erdogan and our administration’s outlandish fanatical obsession with killing Assad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Saudi King Censors TV Host, Pro-Muslim Brotherhood Scholar and Orders Their Trial
A government-linked Saudi news website says that King Salman has ordered an investigation and trial against a pro-Muslim Brotherhood scholar and a television host after an episode that was critical of King Abdullah’s policies toward the outlawed Islamist group.
Under Abdullah, who died in January, Saudi Arabia branded the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and supported Egypt in its crackdown against the group.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Even worrying members of his own government, Turkish President Recep Erdogan is showing the world just how he earned his being shown the door in the last election. This is because Erdogan has recently announced plans to invade Syria, occupy a swath of land on the southern Turkey/Norther Syria border, and establish a buffer zone there. In the past, Turkey has sent troops into Syria under the guise of protecting a Turkish enclave in Syrian territory but, in reality, the operation was an attempt to provide cover for Western-backed terrorists moving against the Syrian government. The Turks have also committed sizeable amounts of their intelligence agents and “special ops” crews to Syria.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Blocks Attempts by Arab Allies to Fly Heavy Weapons Directly to Kurds to Fight Islamic State
The United States has blocked attempts by its Middle East allies to fly heavy weapons directly to the Kurds fighting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, The Telegraph has learnt.
Some of America’s closest allies say President Barack Obama and other Western leaders, including David Cameron, are failing to show strategic leadership over the world’s gravest security crisis for decades.
They now say they are willing to “go it alone” in supplying heavy weapons to the Kurds, even if means defying the Iraqi authorities and their American backers, who demand all weapons be channelled through Baghdad.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Water Shortages Unite Iraq, Islamic State Against Turkey
There’s one thing Islamic State militants and the Iraqi government they’re besieging agree on: Turkey is using more than its fair share of water.
Water levels on the Euphrates River that flows 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) from eastern Turkey through Syria and Iraq past ancient Mesopotamian lands have fallen more than half this year, withering farmers’ crops and raising the risk of a wider regional conflict, Iraqi officials say.
Iraq and Islamic State say Turkey needs to release more water from its dams to replenish the river in the former Fertile Crescent area where drought-like conditions endanger millions. The situation has grown even more acute for Iraq after Islamic State, whose holdings fall within the watershed, used a dam captured in Ramadi in June to cut off water to government areas.
Turkey, for its part, says it has to look after its own and is investing $35.5 billion in dam and irrigation works to ensure reliable water supplies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Yemeni Officials: Saudi-Led Coalition Targets Shiite Rebel Encampments, Kills 8 in Sanaa
SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni security officials say the Saudi-led coalition has targeted encampments of Shiite rebels and their allies in the country’s capital, Sanaa, and that eight people were killed in the airstrikes.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, say that warplanes hit at least eight other Yemeni provinces on Thursday.
In Sanaa, the airstrikes also hit several houses of military leaders loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is allied with the Houthis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India: Danish Woman Deposes in Court
NEW DELHI: A Danish woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by eight persons in the National Capital last year, on Wednesday appeared before a trial court and identified some of the accused in the case. The 52-year-old woman, who came from Denmark to appear as a prosecution witness in the case, recorded her statement and told the court that she was gang-raped and assaulted in the city last year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Women’s Rights Activists: Change Sham Law on Domestic Violence
The “Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2015” was approved on 20 May by the provincial government. The law does not define domestic violence or prescribe severe penalties for offenders.
Lahore (AsiaNews) — A number of women’s rights associations, in particular the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), are decrying the “Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2015”, calling for it to be reviewed and corrected, to criminalize all form of domestic violence against women.
The law, passed by the Punjab government on May 20, aims to ensure the protection of women within the domestic boundaries.
Women in Pakistan have always been deprived of rights, because of cultural and religious traditions. Until last month, the female citizens had no norms to protect them in case of domestic violence.
The 2015 Act was presented to the provincial assembly by the Social Welfare Department of Punjab, without any involvement of civil society or input from women’s rights activists. The law deals with the action to be taken once the violence has taken place, and does not consider preventive measures in any way. The document also imposes lenient sentences for offenders.
The “Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2015” does not provide the definition of domestic violence, which should include include clauses of domestic relationships and domestic work employment, households defining sexual abuse, abetment, mischief, hurt, intimidation, harassment, criminal force, assault, stalking, physical abuse, trespass, psychological abuse, wrongful confinement and vulnerable persons.
In 2014 women’s rights associations proposed a law against domestic violence, but their request was never accepted by the Court. The request for revision of the 2015 Act was also ignored, even though the Court is required to organize a hearing within seven days of receiving a complaint.
The NCJP requires that the law — which has been called by many a “parody of protection” — is corrected and that the offenses of domestic violence are prescribed in the Pakistan Penal Code, in order to stop the culture of impunity enjoyed in Punjab by guilty men and to put the emphasis on prevention rather than cure.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Airbus Inks $18 Billion Deal to Sell China 75 A330s
Airbus inked a deal to sell up to 75 of its A330 planes to a Chinese company during a visit by Prime Minister Li Keqiang to France on Tuesday in a deal worth $18 billion (16.1 billion euros).
Airbus boss Fabrice Bergier signed a deal for 45 confirmed orders, as well as a memorandum of understanding for 30 more with the China Aviation Supplies Holding Company. The details of the sale were confirmed by a French government official.
…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 35 Dead, 20 Missing After Ferry Capsizes in Philippines
A ferry carrying 189 passengers and crew capsized Thursday minutes after it left a central Philippine port in choppy waters, leaving at least 35 dead and 20 others missing, coast guard officials said. They said at least 134 people from the M/B Kim Nirvana were rescued by nearby fishing boats and coast guard personnel or swam to safety off Ormoc city on Leyte Island.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cambodia: Phnom Penh: Textile Workers Faint on Mass Raising Doubts Over Safety Standards
At least 200 workers had to seek medical attention in the last few days. In one case, the episodes of fainting are associated with the consumption of rotten food; but the poor working conditions and the use of hazardous chemical solvents adds to the problem. Union: mass fainting of great concern.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Nearly 200 workers of the textile industry in Cambodia have been hospitalized in the last few hours, following a new wave of mass fainting in several factories in the country. The case has once more raised the issue of safety standards in the workplace and, in particular, in the manufacturing sector, where incidents and protests have been staged in the past.
Cheav Bunrith, spokesman for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), confirms that at least 61 employees of a factory in the southern province of Takeo fainted yesterday. Previously, between June 29 and 30 at least 89 employees of a company in the province of Kandal collapsed and had to seek medical attention. Another 36 passed out on June 30 in a factory on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh.
Regarding the 61 people who fainted in Takeo, Cheav Bunrith reports that some of them “had consumed fermented shrimp for lunch”, and later suffered severe headaches, dizziness and fainting. Other workers, seeing their colleagues faint, complained of the same symptoms.
Human rights activists and organizations have repeatedly raised questions and concerns regarding safety in the workplace, after repeated incidents of mass fainting often caused by poor working conditions, inadequate ventilation or use of dangerous chemical solvents.
Union movements and associations in defense of the workers have long been demanding increases the minimum wage and improvements in the security situation, often in vain. “The mass fainting among workers — concludes Cheav Bunrith — are still a source of great concern to us.”
Cambodia’s garment industry, which employs an estimated 700 thousand people and exported $5.3 billion of apparel and shoes in 2013, was thrust into the spotlight in January 2014 when police and soldiers cracked down on workers protesting for a higher minimum wage, killing at least five people.
The year before, a shoe factory collapsed, killing at least two workers. The garment industry has been one of the key drivers of the Cambodian economy, which the World Bank forecasts will expand 7.5 percent this year, the fastest pace in all of East Asia.
The problem of safety at the workplace is also common in many Asian countries. In April of 2013 there was international uproar following the Rana Plazatragedy in Bangladesh, a building
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China: Animal Centres Used to Help Predict Earthquakes
Chinese scientists are using animals to try to predict when an earthquake may strike, it’s reported.
Seismologists in Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province, have set up seven observation centres at zoos and animal parks in the region, the Modern Express website reports. They’ll be watching for changes in behaviour among thousands of animals, which might be a sign of an imminent tremor. An ecological park in the city’s Yuhuatai district has become one of the seismic monitoring sites, with 2,000 chickens, 200 pigs and 2 sq km (0.8 sq miles) of fish ponds, the report says. Cameras have been installed around the park, and staff will report back to the seismological bureau on the animals’ behaviour twice a day.
It has long been thought that animal behaviour could provide an early warning of seismic activity. In 2011, scientists said animals may be able to detect chemical changes in groundwater which precede a quake. Their study was prompted by a colony of toads abandoning its pond in the Italian city of L’Aquila days before it was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude quake. Another study observed changes in wild animal behaviour in the three weeks before Peru’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Diaoyu-Senkaku: Tokyo Doubles Ships Around Disputed Islands
Six new Japanese coast guard vessels have reached the islands. Last week, two ships of the Chinese coast guards arrived in the area claiming it as “inherent territory of China.” Economic relations and nationalism of both countries.
Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Japan has decided to double the number of vessels in the waters of islands disputed with China in the East China Sea. The islands, called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by the Japanese, have for years been at the center of a tug of war for the territorial sovereignty of the area, rich in fish and gas fields.
Last week, two ships of the Chinese Coast Guard — the Haijing 2307 and 2337 — entered the waters of Diaoyu-Senkaku. When Japan coast guards ordered them to leave the area, the Chinese crews said that the area “is inherent territory of China” as well as the waters surrounding it. Because of this, Tokyo has decided to send six more Coast Guard vessels to the area, fearing an escalation in the Chinese presence.
The dispute over the islands has moments of high and low voltage, and threatens the economic relations between the two great countries. At the same time, this argument is used by Tokyo and Beijing to inflame the minds of their people, creating consensus and support of their respective governments through the nationalist patriotism.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong Catholics Join March to Demand Genuine Universal Suffrage
Before the rally, Catholics and Protestants held a prayer service in Victoria Park. For Cardinal Zen, political reform was rejected by pan-democrats’ votes, which safeguarded the dignity of the people, but did not advance the cause of true suffrage.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) — More than 48,000 people took part in today’s march in Hong Kong, the first large-scale rally after the Hong Kong Legislative Council rejected on 17 June a proposed political reform package, opting instead to continue the fight for true universal suffrage and a better standard of living for the city’s residents.
Today, 1 July, marks the 18th anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China. The Civil Human Rights Front, an alliance of religious, women’s, political parties and civil groups, organised the march, which set off from Victoria Park towards the Central Government Office.
Despite 30-Celsius heat, protesters marched for democracy and freedom in Hong Kong, demanding the right “to build a genuine democracy for Hong Kong” and “regain the city’s future.”
This includes amending Hong Kong’s Basic Law, i.e. the autonomous region’s constitutional charter; greater protection for the rights of the disabled and minorities; and greater academic freedom. The disabled demanded more financial subsidies for adapted transport.
Before the march, hundreds of Christians came together for a jointly organised prayer rally at Victoria Park.
At the ecumenical gathering, Catholics and Protestants prayed for Hong Kong’s political development, for better living in a society characterised by wide wealth disparity, for the Church to have the courage to speak the truth, and for the rule-of-law in Hong Kong.
“We gather here not only to win an electoral system, but because we love, we love our society, we love our nation and we love all our people,” Hong Kong’s Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha told participants at the prayer rally.
For the prelate, “Under the present political system, we see suffering, social injustice, the weak who have no way out of hardship”. Indeed, “People’s livelihood and politics are closely related,” he added.
The event also saw the presence of Card Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, and several Catholic and Protestant clergymen. Together, they blessed the congregation before joining the march.
Cardinal Zen criticised the chief executive’s decision not to invite Leung Kwok-hung, an activist and elected legislator popularly known as Long Hair, to the flag-raising ceremony on 1 July.
In an article he wrote yesterday, the cardinal said that pan-democrats’ votes led to the rejection of political reform. Whilst this safeguarded people’s dignity, it did not advance the cause of real suffrage.
At the same time, “I decided to join this 1 July march,” he said, because it is “a peaceful move to pursue the demand for real suffrage”.
The turnout was lower than in previous years because Hong Kongers have become politically divided over the past year’s rallies and the Umbrella Movement.
By contrast, last year’s march saw huge crowds gather as discontent surged over restrictions by Beijing on how Hong Kong could choose its next leader. On that occasion, organisers claimed a record 510,000 participants.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
When Did Tibetans Have Sex With Prehistoric Humans?
Sex with ancient humans enabled the Tibetans to adapt to a life at 4,000 metres above sea level and sheds light on our own evolutionary history.
Tibetans acquired this particular gene during an erotic adventure with our distant relatives the Denisovans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Boko Haram Kills 97 People Praying in Mosques in Nigeria
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — A government official and a self-defense fighter say Boko Haram extremists have gunned down nearly 100 Muslims praying in mosques in northeastern Nigeria.
They say the attack Wednesday night on the town of Kukawa came as people were praying ahead of breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. They say 97 people, mainly men, were killed.
A senior government official from the area said the Islamic extremists targeted several mosques in the town. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to give information to reporters.
Boko Haram often defiles mosques where it believes clerics espouse too moderate a form of Islam.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
South Africa: School Gang Rape Victim Severely Injured
Pretoria — The damage inflicted on the internal genital organs of the 9-year-old girl from Lethabong informal settlement, raped allegedly by a group of older boys, was too much for her little body — she would need a lot of treatment and therapy to heal, doctors have told her mother.
The brave face the girl puts on as she goes about her daily life breaks her mother’s heart. “She is outside playing with other children right now and she hasn’t complained even once about the pain,” the sad mother said on Wednesday.
Her daughter and another girl had been examined for possible evidence of rape by a doctor on Tuesday, after the father of the other girl raised the alarm and notified police of the incident, three weeks ago.
The girls and two others are alleged to have been tied up and gang raped by a group of older boys on the grounds of Kutumela Molefe Primary School after school. The girls did not report it to anyone after the boys threatened to kill them if they did.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Million New EU Citizens in 2013
Moroccans, Albanians and Indians hold highest number in Italy
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, JULY 1 — European Union countries granted citizenship to almost a million individuals in 2013.
Some 985,000 Africans, Latin Americans and Asians and others became Europeans, a 20% (about 163,000 people) rise on the previous year, reports Eurostat. The largest group of immigrants to become naturalized in Italy were from Morocco (25% of the total), followed by Albanians (13.6%) and Indians (4.8%). According to the data from the European statistics institute, Moroccan immigrants were the highest group of naturalized citizens across the entire EU, with 86,000. Their first choice was Spain (35%), followed by Italy (29%) and France (19%). The second largest group of immigrants naturalized in the EU was from India, with 48,000 people. Some 75% of them became British citizens, 10% Italian and 6% Irish. The third top group was Turkish, with 46,000 naturalized in the EU. Some 60% of them became German citizens, 12% French and 9% UK citizens. Following were Colombian immigrants (42,000), almost all of whom became Spanish citizens (92%), and Albanian ones (41,000), with two-thirds becoming Greek and one third Italian. In the rankings of EU countries with the highest rate of naturalization in 2013 on the basis of foreign population already present, the top country was Sweden (7.6 citizens naturalized out of 100 immigrants), Hungary (6.5) and Portugal (5.9).
At the bottom of the latter rankings were France (2.4) Italy (2.3) and Germany (1.5). In absolute terms, almost half of those naturalized became Spanish (225,000 people, 23%) or English (207,000, 21%).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia: Zeman: Accepting Refugees Plays Into Islamic State’s Hands
Czech president warns of growing reach of terrorist group
Prague, June 28 (CTK) — The accepting of migrants largely facilitates Islamic State’s (IS) expansion to Europe, Czech President Milos Zeman said in an interview with Parlamentni listy.cz server, adding that all UN Security Council standing members must be persuaded of the need to intervene against IS.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German High School Next to Refugee Center Bans Miniskirts
List of rules triggers strong controversy
(ANSA) — BERLIN — A controversial list of rules. The goal is to protect children and youth and avoid “misunderstandings” when they get in touch with other cultures. The headmaster of a high school in Brandenburg showed students a series of rules of conduct, for the arrival of 100 refugees in an accomodation centre which is located near the school.
His newsletter has sparked row. The female students in Michendorf are asked, for example, not to wear minikirts and not to look into the immigrants’ eyes, in order to avoid “gestures and facial expressions that can be misunderstood”.
They are also expected not to accept cigarettes and soft drinks eventually offered by the refugees, to avoid possible infections. The newsletter addressed to 550 students was enacted at the beginning of June and in recent days it has been published in the Berlin tabloids. Many are critical of this move: the Social Democrats have questioned the initiative, which does not encourage dialogue between different cultures. In an interview with the daily Berliner Zeitung, today, the headmaster said: “I regret that my statements have been misinterpreted. We want and we must help these people, sometimes in appalling conditions, when they arrive in Brandenburg”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Police Arrest Alleged Trafficker, Over 1,500 Migrants Arrive
Asylum seekers land in Palermo, Reggio Calabria
(ANSA) — Ragusa, July 2 — Police arrested an alleged migrant trafficker who was at the helm of a dinghy carrying 111 people rescued in the Strait of Sicily on Thursday, when over 1,500 asylum seekers arrived in Italy.
Mamadouo Lo, 26, from Senegal, was apprehended on arriving in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.
His arrest took to 67 the number of presumed traffickers arrested by local police since the start of this year.
A man with a gunshot wound produced during an armed robbery a few days before departure was among the passengers.
He was taken to hospital for treatment and recovery is expected to take 15 days.
The migrants allegedly paid 500 dollars per person for the passage. Also on Thursday, 645 migrants reportedly from Syria, Nigeria, Sudan and Egypt arrived in the port of Palermo after being rescued in various operations off the coast of Libya. They included 90 women and 89 minors. Separately, 904 migrants including 147 women and 60 minors arrived in the port of Reggio Calabria on Thursday.
Their condition was said to be good.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Media Hide Facts, Call Everyone Else a Liar
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
When Donald Trump said something not exuberantly enthusiastic about Mexican immigrants, the media’s response was to boycott him. One thing they didn’t do was produce any facts showing he was wrong.
Trump said: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
The first thing a news fact-checker would have noticed is: THE GOVERNMENT WON’T TELL US HOW MANY IMMIGRANTS ARE COMMITTING CRIMES IN AMERICA.
Wouldn’t that make any person of average intelligence suspicious? Not our media. They’re in on the cover-up.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
It’s not just another conspiracy theory
Idaho legislator Curtis Bowers saw the drastic changes in America’s culture and wrote a “Letter to the Editor” about it. Suddenly, it became the featured story on the evening news and as a result, people protested at the Capitol and wrote responses in the local newspapers for weeks. That was when Curtis realized — he’d hit on something big.
After the Berlin wall came down in 1989, almost everyone said, “Communism is dead!” But though you don’t hear the word “Communism” anymore, this film shows it’s still here in plain sight, under new, “politically correct” names…
It’s a well documented agenda.
Bowers outlines several Communist goals in the film:
“Inside the book (The Naked Communist), it documented 45 current Communist goals, from 1958. And as I slowly read through the list, seeing how specific their agenda had been to subvert us on the inside, I couldn’t believe it! They’d accomplished almost every single one of them. And nobody seemed to be noticing!” Former Idaho Legislator, Curtis Bowers
Goal #17 Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for Socialism. Soften the curriculum. Get control of Teacher Associations.
Goal #20,21 Infiltrate the press. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV and motion pictures.
Goal #24 Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
Goal #25 Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography in books, magazines, motion pictures, and TV.
Goal #26 Present homo-sexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
Goal #27 Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible.
Goal #28 Eliminate prayer in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of “Separation of Church and State.”
Goal #40 Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
American College of Pediatricians on Same Sex-Marriage Ruling: A Tragic Day for America’s Children
In a statement released Friday, the president of the American College of Pediatricians said the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage will have a significantly negative impact on children in the United States.
Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the College, said:
[T]his is a tragic day for America’s children. The SCOTUS has just undermined the single greatest pro-child institution in the history of mankind: the natural family. Just as it did in the joint Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton decisions, the SCOTUS has elevated and enshrined the wants of adults over the needs of children.
The College itself has maintained that a significant body of research has demonstrated that “same-sex marriage deliberately deprives the child of a mother or a father, and is therefore harmful.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Celebrate the 4th: Impeach Kagan and Ginsburg
Politically, it would be one thing if Scalia had responded that there was an honest disagreement over the meaning of certain words in the Constitution. Instead, he said the majority subverted the Constitution by reading into it something that does not exist—the “right” to force government at all levels to recognize gay marriage. By inventing this “right,” Scalia and the other dissenters said, the Court has put our actual rights of freedom of religion and expression in grave jeopardy. This seems to be the nature of the “putsch” Scalia is talking about. He could very well be referring to behind-the-scenes pressures put on the Justices by homosexual elite forces, the financially powerful one to two percent, who seem to have so much sway over the media, academia and the corporate world. These people are now attempting to suppress a new film, “An Open Secret,” about pedophilia in Hollywood.
Whatever the reason for the putsch, our form of government has been overthrown and another put in its place—a judicial dictatorship that is devoted to elevating to protected status a sexual minority seeking the abolition of traditional values. Left unchecked in its drive for power over others, this cabal threatens not only our heritage but America’s standing in the world as a superpower. It appears the Obama administration wants to spend more money on Pentagon gay pride events and climate change than actual weapons systems to defend America.
As we get ready to celebrate Independence Day, however, we can rest assured that the American people remember enough about the founding of their country that they cannot and will not accept a judicial tyranny. That would make a complete mockery of what July 4th is all about and what millions of Americans have sacrificed for.
The critical part of the law in the gay marriage case is Title 28, Part I, Chapter 21, Section 455 of the U.S. Code, which is applicable to judges and courts. It says, “Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” These disqualifications include cases in which “he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party…”
Our media didn’t treat it as a big deal, but Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg had both officiated at gay weddings. Groups such as the National Organization for Marriage, the American Family Association, the Coalition of African American Pastors, and the Foundation for Moral Law had called for Kagan and Ginsburg to withdraw from the case.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Government Trolls Are Using ‘Psychology-Based Influence Techniques’ On YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Have you ever come across someone on the Internet that you suspected was a paid government troll?
Well, there is a very good chance that you were not imagining things. Thanks to Edward Snowden, we now have solid proof that paid government trolls are using “psychology-based influence techniques” on social media websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Documents leaked by Snowden also reveal that government agents have been conducting denial-of-service attacks, flooding social media websites with thinly veiled propaganda and have been purposely attempting to warp public discourse online. If we do not stand up and object to this kind of Orwellian behavior, it is only going to get worse and worse.
In the UK, the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) is a specialized unit within the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). If it wasn’t for Edward Snowden, we probably still would never have heard of them. This particular specialized unit is engaged in some very “questionable” online activities. The following is an excerpt from a recent piece by Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Fishman… Though its existence was secret until last year, JTRIG quickly developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealedthat the unit had engaged in “dirty tricks” like deploying sexual “honey traps” designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down Internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks and generally warping discourse online.
We are told that JTRIG only uses these techniques to go after the “bad guys”.
But precisely who are the “bad guys”?
It turns out that their definition of who the “bad guys” are is quite broad. Here is more from Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Fishman…
JTRIG’s domestic and law enforcement operations are made clear. The report states that the controversial unit “currently collaborates with other agencies” including the Metropolitan police, Security Service (MI5), Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Border Agency, Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and National Public Order and Intelligence Unit (NPOIU). The document highlights that key JTRIG objectives include “providing intelligence for judicial outcomes”; monitoring “domestic extremist groups such as the English Defence League by conducting online HUMINT”; “denying, deterring or dissuading” criminals and “hacktivists”; and “deterring, disrupting or degrading online consumerism of stolen data or child porn.”
Particularly disturbing to me is the phrase “domestic extremist groups”. What does someone have to say or do to be considered an “extremist”? For example, the English Defence League is a non-violent street protest movement in the UK that is strongly against the spread of radical Islam and sharia law in the UK. So if they are “extremists”, how many millions upon millions of ordinary citizens in the United States would fit that definition?
[Comment: bad guy = anyone who is against the bankster power status quo.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Minister on Hunger Strike for Gay Civil Unions
A junior minister in the Italian government has gone on hunger strike in a protest aimed at speeding up moves to introduce civil unions for gay couples.
Ivan Scalfarotto, 49, said in his blog he was aiming to force discussion of the issue into the mainstream and rally the support of “all those people of good faith who have been thinking up until now that it was enough just to wait.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Naomi Klein at the Vatican: This Changes Everything!
“Klein, author of “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate,” acknowledged Wednesday that, “as a secular Jewish feminist,” she never expected to be invited to the Vatican.
But there she was among the angels and saints of the ages, at home among their very relics all the same.
Not just at the Vatican getting to lecture the faithful about how they must change their ways: telling a Vatican news conference that Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on the environment and the global economic system that is threatening it spoke to her. “She said the manifesto should inspire those who use the Bible to defend human domination of nature and deny climate change to change their ways.” (AP)
There are many who would say it is Naomi Klein and not the believers of the Bible who should change her ways…
Why is the Vatican showcasing anti-capitalists and the leaders of global warming alarmism in pushing Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment on civil society?
In its most recent of cycles, the Vatican hasn’t been the same since, for reasons unknown, Pope Benedict XVI—was pulled from duty—at the beginning of Lent in 2013.
There have been no rational answers for why Benedict was replaced by Francis. It likely wasn’t for health reasons as was originally blamed, as Benedict is still (thankfully) among us.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The SCOTUS Gay Marriage Decision
Obviously, there is nothing in the Bill of Rights specifically about the right of homosexuals to “marry.” But there is something in the Bill of Rights specifically about the right to keep and bear arms. Using the reasoning and conclusion of the Court’s homosexual “marriage” ruling, states have absolutely no authority to deny recognition of concealed carry permits that have been issued in other states. In other words, if the 14th Amendment protects an unspecified right (same-sex “marriage”), it certainly protects a specified right (the right to keep and bear arms). And since some states recognize the right of citizens to openly carry firearms, this right should also be determined to be protected by the 14th Amendment. If states must recognize driver’s licenses (and now same-sex “marriage” licenses) issued in other states, it is now clear that they must also be required to recognize concealed weapon licenses issued in other states.
It should be obvious to any objective person that by providing 14th Amendment protection to homosexual “marriage,” SCOTUS has banned most gun control laws throughout the country. However, I seriously doubt that the five justices passing the same-sex “marriage” decision had gun control in mind. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t stop gun rights activists from taking advantage of the SCOTUS decision…
You can take this to the bank: there will be hundreds of local and State laws reflecting the SCOTUS decision and hundreds of lawsuits forthcoming against people who seek to live by their religious convictions to not directly participate in homosexual “marriages.” And that means there will be hundreds of court decisions ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, hundreds of arrest warrants, civil fines, prison sentences, etc. Anyone who doesn’t see this coming is blind.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What’s Next? Becoming Disabled on Purpose
If you want to know just how dangerous, really, is the time we’re living in, look to the fringes. That’s where the madness hatches out, and from there migrates to the center of our culture.
“Gay marriage” started on the fringe, and now the Supreme Court has knotted it around our throats. But it’s already stale. We need to look out to the edge to see what new horror may be crawling toward us.
Forget polygamy. That’s already on our doorstep, and trans-genderism is halfway up the sidewalk. These will damage us severely, to be sure; but they’re not the most toxically insane movement that the Loony Left has in store for us.
How about amputating perfectly sound arms and legs because some poor deranged wacko wants to be disabled? Or wants to be blind, deaf, paralyzed, or whatever—anything but whole and healthy?
This has been going on for some years, but only now has the ideology caught up to it, and is embracing it. They call it “trans-ableism,” and now it’s got perverse philosophers to explain it (lol), defend it, celebrate it, and sell it to the rest of us. A new poison is hatching out of the polluted mud on the fringes of our culture.
Who will pay for the care of these once-healthy lunatics who’ve purposely had themselves made limbless, blind, or paralyzed? Why, you will, of course! Just as soon as the robed crackpots of the Supreme Court find a Constitutional right to be intentionally disabled, and cared for by society at large. After all, if the only way a nut can “manage his feelings” is from the confinement of a wheelchair, it would be hateful and bigoted to deny him this.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Google Apologises for Tagging Black People as ‘Gorillas’
Much work still needs to be done on Photos app, company says
(ANSA) — Rome, July 2 — Google has apologised after its new Photos app tagged black people as ‘gorillas’.
The colossus of Mountain View made the apology after receiving a complaint from computer programmer Jacky Alciné who had spotted a photograph of himself and a female friend in a file labelled ‘gorillas’. Google’s chief social architect Yonatan Zunger said that much still needed to be done to perfect the software, which uses algorithms to recognise the subject of a photo and label it accordingly for easy filing. “We have had problems with people of all races being labelled as dogs,” Zunger said.
And in recent weeks bloggers have reported that dogs in turn are sometimes tagged as horses.
For the time being, the company has removed the tag ‘gorilla’ from the app.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
We Must Make a Strong ‘Infidel Unity’ To End the Dangerous Jihad and IS
by Upananda Brahmachari
Respected viewers may kindly go through the above screenshots from two webpages viz. BBC and TOI. Just, I put some red-lines and boxes on some portion over those to attract attention of the concerned people about the ‘Islamic Peace’ overwhelmed in this world by this time. Even then, if I utter some words about the brutalities of Islamic fanatics and the menace propounded by Quranic interpretation or misinterpretation (!?), instantly I come under the category of ‘Islamophob’.
The new emergence of the word, ‘Islamophobia’ is nothing but a creation of the silent Jihadists who are in action to spread Jihad among the so called ‘ignorant’, ‘simple’ and ‘good’ Muslims waiting for a advantageous situation to slit the throat of the non-Muslims or kill them otherwise.
What are the lead news of these hours? Here are some news (but not the exhaustive) to realize the invading Jihad by IS…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |