The identification number on a fragment of a jetliner recovered in the Indian Ocean proves that it was from a Boeing 777. There is as yet no proof, however, that the 777 is the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared in March 2014.
In other news, the heat wave in Italy has done severe damage to the country’s seafood industry, especially in fish farms, where high water temperatures have caused seaweed to ferment, killing fish and shellfish through lack of oxygen.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Steen, 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.
It was virtually inevitable.
As we reported on June 17, Pedro Da Costa, one of the more determined and controversial Fed reporters, was shocked to learn he was no longer welcome to ask Janet Yellen uncomfortable questions, questions related to the biggest scandal currently gripping the Fed: its leaks of proprietary information to “expert network” Medley Global (recently sold by Pearson to Japan’s Nikkei) and one which has since morphed into a criminal investigation.
As a reminder, this is the Q&A that got Pedro in hot water with Janet Yellen during the March press conference:…
Nonetheless, after “shutting down” Pedro, the result was a “chilling effect” on any actually probing questions, and the same day that Pedro announced he would not be present at the June Fed press conference, not a single other journalist dared to ask anything on the topic. We commented:… In retrospect, we can understand why. In a world in which the Fed perceives itself as omnipotent, and where anyone even daring to question its motives, its methods or its track record, is a threat to be eradicated or at least barred from all future opportunities for further humiliation and disclosure that the emperor has indeed been naked from day one, at even such token events as a press conference where questioners are generously afforded 60 seconds in which to expose said emperor.
This is what Pedro found out the hard way today, a discovery which also allowed the rest of us to finally comprehend the farcial, hollow facade this country has passing off as its crack “financial journalists” asking “tough questions” all of whom ended up being nothing more than “access scribes”, terrified to open their mouths and lose their access, an outcome which incidentally just might force them to do some real reporting for once, instead of sending rhetorical letters to the middle class asking why it keeps being “stingy” instead of spending its hard-earned money, and making the beloved Fed’s life so difficult…
The hint in the last paragraph of course was that Pedro had also managed to rub certain of his colleagues and editors, some who are observed with far greater regard by the Fed because of their willingness to only ask preapproved questions.
Sure enough, moments ago all this was confirmed when Pedro just announced that tomorrow would be his last day at the Wall Street Journal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Many Small Firms Open Accounts in Foreign Banks
According to Der Spiegel, 60,000 opened in Bulgaria
(ANSA) — ATHENS — Thousands of Greek enterprises and freelance professionals are turning to banks abroad to open new accounts so that they can conduct their transactions without any of the kinds of restrictions that the local credit system’s capital controls have imposed.
As Kathimerini online reports quoting banking sources, in the last few weeks there have been thousands of applications for new accounts submitted to Cypriot, Bulgarian, Romanian, British and German lenders, not from major companies from Greece — which had already built their defenses — but from small and medium-sized Greek enterprises and freelancers. According to a report by Germany’s Spiegel magazine, some 60,000 Greeks have in recent weeks opened bank accounts in Bulgaria.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Oil Firm Saipem to Cut 8,800 Jobs by 2017
Hit hard by collapse in oil prices
(ANSA) — Milan, July 28 — Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem said Tuesday that it plans to cut 8,800 workers by 2017.
The reductions are part of a restructuring plan that follows more than 900 million euros in writedowns.
The company, which is 43% owned by energy giant ENI, says it has been hit hard by the global collapse in oil prices.
The company revised down its 2015 outlook but said it expected its restructuring plan to save 1.3 billion euros over two years. It said it now expects to post a net loss this year of about 800 million euros.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The South American Financial Crisis of 2015
Most nations in South America are either already experiencing an economic recession or are right on the verge of one. In general, South American economies are very heavily dependent on exports, and right now they are being absolutely shredded by the twin blades of a commodity price collapse and a skyrocketing U.S. dollar. During the boom times in South America, governments and businesses loaded up on tremendous amounts of debt. Since much of that debt was denominated in U.S. dollars, South American borrowers are now finding that it takes much more of their own local currencies to service and pay back those debts. At the same time, there is much less demand for commodities being produced by South American nations in the international marketplace. As a result, South America is heading into a full-blown financial crisis which will cause years of pain for the entire continent.
If you know your financial history, then you know that we have seen this exact same scenario play out before in various parts of the world. The following comes from a recent CNN article…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
You’ve probably read that there is a “war on cash” being waged on various fronts around the world.
What exactly does a “war on cash” mean?
It means governments are limiting the use of cash and a variety of official-mouthpiece economists are calling for the outright abolition of cash. Authorities are both restricting the amount of cash that can be withdrawn from banks, and limiting what can be purchased with cash.
These limits are broadly called “capital controls.”
Why Now?
Before we get to that, let’s distinguish between physical cash — currency and coins in your possession — and digital cash in the bank. The difference is self-evident: cash in hand cannot be confiscated by a “bail-in” (i.e., officially sanctioned theft) in which the government or bank expropriates a percentage of cash deposited in the bank. Cash in hand cannot be chipped away by negative interest rates or fees.
Cash in the bank cannot be withdrawn in a financial emergency that shutters the banks (i.e., a bank holiday).
When pundits suggest cash is “obsolete,” they mean physical paper money and coins, not cash in a bank. Cash in the bank is perfectly fine with the government and its well-paid yes-men (paging Mr. Rogoff and Mr. Buiter) because this cash can be expropriated by either “bail-ins” or by negative interest rates…
So now we return to the question: Why are governments suddenly declaring war on physical cash, the oldest officially issued form of money?
Why They Hate Cash in Hand
The first reason: physical cash has the potential to evade both taxes as well as officially sanctioned theft via bail-ins and negative interest rates. In short, physical cash is extremely difficult for governments to steal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Affirmatively Destroying America’s Neighborhoods in the War on Suburbia
Few of us understand patient gradualism. We live and have our being within a few years and mostly in an unconscious automated state of mind.
But people in power are long-term planners. They absolutely understand human nature and how to channel it to the evolution and refinement of the authoritarian state.
Authoritarianism is based on long-term planning. Authoritarianism is a philosophy of collectivism. Some call it democracy. Some call it communism. Some call it fascism. Some call it National Socialism. But whatever you call it, it is all collectivism or authoritarianism; and in its ultimate form it is globalism.
The goal is perfect docility and perfect harmony with authoritarianism (economic, social and spiritual). Until the people accept collectivism under some pretext, they are not docile and completely subdued. Once they do, rebellion and confrontation are impossible. This is the ultimate goal of the globalists, and the American system is nearing this state.
As I told you last week in “Why is the war on the Confederacy still going on today?,” the dismantling of the middle class has become the appointed, full-time task of the largest government alphabet soup agencies and Wall Street on behalf of globalism. The purpose behind this is that if those big middle-class producers and consumers can be decimated once and for all, then they can join the ranks of low-wage workers and more readily accept government largess and, thereby, become “hooked” on collectivism.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Brain implants able to manage out-of-control tempers and violent actions of prisons were suggested to minimise crime rates in the United States and as alternative for death penalty, according to Zoltan Istvan. The futurist and presidential candidate for the Transhumanist Party, Istvan suggested that the technology could be a near-term alternative for criminals on death row and might be considered sufficient punishment.
[Comment: Fine tuned on prisoners then rolled out in the future to include dissidents.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
In Calexico, Former LAPD Official Finds a Police Department in Turmoil
Guzman, like several other residents and city officials, chalked up the trouble in the Police Department — as well as the city government — to “the compadre system,” a set of unwritten but deeply ingrained rules that they say form the underpinnings for civic life in Calexico. Under the compadre system, they say, favors are traded like currency and personal relationships often trump the rule of law.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
L.A. Gangs’ Hashtag Bet: Kill 100 People in 100 Days
After the death of a Rollin 100 gang member, Los Angeles gangs have issued a challenge to kill 100 people as fast as possible. One of the first victims appears to be a 4-year-old boy.
Under the hashtag #100Days100Nights, users on Instagram and Twitter are issuing a stark warning: Two Los Angeles gangs are betting which one can kill 100 people—in a gang, or innocent—within the next 100 days.
A law enforcement source confirmed the reports exclusively to The Daily Beast on Monday night.
The bet—which follows the death of “KP,” a member of the Rollin 100 gang—was allegedly made last week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Leak Confirms the Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership is a Horrorshow
The TPP is a massive free trade deal that is set to impact everything from the cost of medicine in Australia, to milk production in Canada, to internet governance the world over. The letter was drafted for a ministerial meeting of the TPP countries in early December, 2013, and seeks guidance on key topics relating to the negotiations. Namely, how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should be treated under the trade deal.
According to the letter, “the majority of TPP countries” support obligations for these companies—which can include public utilities, telecommunication providers, mining companies, and state-run investment firms—that “go beyond existing obligations” laid out in existing free trade agreements and by the World Trade Organization.
State-owned enterprises would be obligated to ‘act on the basis of commercial considerations’
Such agreed-upon obligations would require SOEs to “act on the basis of commercial considerations,” the letter states, and governments should regulate both state-owned businesses and private enterprises with impartiality. State-owned businesses would also not be allowed to discriminate against private companies when purchasing or selling goods, the letter suggests.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Oligarchy in D.C. To Create Insidious New DHS Gov Agency: Countering Violent Extremism (Cve)
CVE will become the American Gestapo — a Federal agency that will target Christians, Conservatives, and anti-Establishment/Big Government organizations and groups. But not Muslims.
Remember the IRS targeting of Conservative groups that got no media attention? Remember the 2009 DHS Terror Assessment that lists “Right wing” Christians, Conservatives, Vets and anti-establishment groups as Domestic Terrorists,but made no mention of Islam or Jihad?
Well, this is the IRS scandal on steroids and INSTITUTIONALIZED. House Bill 2899 establishes a permanent agency under the umbrella of DHS, tasked with ‘countering violent extremism’. What that really means is that this agency will be charged to go after, shut down and eliminate any and all opposition to the Oligarchy, the Imperial Executive and their PC agendas in Washington. This all being done under the guise that they are countering ‘dangerous violent extremism’, except that they do not define what ‘dangerous violent extremism’ is outside of simply stating that that ‘violent extremism’ is ideologically motivated terrorist activities — leaving which ideologies that will be targeted ‘open to interpretation’ of what groups pose a threat to the nation.
All the evidence is hiding in plain sight about what is happening to us now and where this all goes. I have said before, a genocide is being planned and the groundwork is being laid for it. A despotic Ruling Class will NOT ALLOW any dissent or opposition to their wicked and insidious agenda. From the funding of genocidal slaughter of infants in order to sell body parts for profit to to the forceful imposition of homosexuality upon the culture by unjust ‘law’. BOTH political parties are partners in establishing this tyrannical dictatorship. Dissent will not be allowed. Critics and opponents will be silenced.
This CVE agency will be the apparatus and tool of despotism that will be used to do so.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia Asks NY Judge to Drop it From Sept. 11 Lawsuit
NEW YORK — Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks and should be dismissed as a defendant in lawsuits brought by victims’ families, a lawyer for the kingdom told a judge Thursday.
Attorney Michael Kellogg made the argument before a Manhattan federal judge, who did not immediately rule.
Saudi Arabia was dropped as a defendant nine years ago by a judge who said it was protected by sovereign immunity, but a federal appeals court in December 2013 reinstated it, saying a legal exception existed and the circumstances were extraordinary.
Kellogg said there were no facts showing Saudi Arabia knew of the attacks in advance or knowingly aided terrorists.
He said the plaintiffs had failed to allege “admissible, concrete, competent evidence” that Saudi Arabia was involved, but they instead relied on innuendo and rumors to support their claims.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Not because the people are stupid and need to be guided by the suits in Washington.
by Roger Kimball
I don’t think Donald Trump will be the GOP candidate in 2016, and I don’t think he would win if he were. But he has raised some issues that the high and mighty dispensers of conventional wisdom would do well to ponder. Moreover, he has done it in a way that, though terribly, terribly vulgar, is catapulting Trump to first place in the polls. What does that tell us? That the people are stupid and need to be guided by the suits in Washington? If you believe that, I submit, you are going to be profoundly disappointed come November 2016.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Gas Profits From Family Bills Soar by 99% — So Why Have They Only Cut Their Prices by 5%?
The energy firm said it made £528million from supplying family homes in the first half of this year, more than the profits it made in the whole of 2014.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cod Filleted in China Before Sold in Sweden
Around half of all cod sold in Swedish freezers and large kitchens comes from the Barents Sea northwest of Norway and then is shipped to China to be filleted, before then being shipped back and sold to the Swedish public.
Several companies told Swedish Television News that they justify the 80 day journey by saying that they get more fish out of the fish preparation companies in China because they still do the filleting by hand.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italcementi Takeover Part of ‘Military Occupation’ — Salvini
‘Soviet’ Europe succeeds where Brownshirts failed-League boss
(ANSA) — Milan, July 29 — The takeover by a German firm of Italcementi cement company represents a form of “military occupation”, Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said Wednesday.
In an interview with Radio Padania Salvini, whose League is strongly opposed to European integration and the common currency, said the Heidleberg purchase of control of Itacementi fit with the wider strategy of what he suggested was a German-led eurozone takeover of Italy.
“What the Germans were not able to do with tanks and with the Brownshirts, they’re now able to do, thanks to Soviet Europe,” Salvini said during the radio call-in program.
The Brownshirts worked as the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party in early-20th century Germany.
“If these were free choices by free-market entrepreneurs, there would be no question,” he added.
“If they are chosen as constricted subsidiaries, in a Europe with a currency assembled to help the Germans, then they are part of a strategy of military occupation,” said Salvini.
Heidelberg is buying a controlling stake of 45% in its Italian rival.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italcementi Shares Rise 50% After Heidelberg Sale
A 3.7 bn-euro takeover by world’s 2nd-biggest cement maker
(ANSA) — Milan, July 29 — The value of shares in Italian cement maker Italcementi SpA jumped by close to 50% in early trading on Wednesday amid news of a 3.7-billion-euro takeover by German rivals Heidelberg.
Italian unions expressed fears of job losses in the workforce of 3,000 following the takeover by the world’s second-biggest cement producer, which said it intends to begin by taking a controlling stake of 45%.
HeidelbergCement said it intends to purchase the stake from Bergamo-based Italcementi’s current top shareholder, Italmobiliare, at a price of 10.60 euros.
It said that it will later make an offer to purchase remaining shares in Italcementi, which was trading at 9.88 euros by midday Wednesday on the Milan stock exchange.
In contrast, HeidelbergCement shares dropped by 5.5% in Frankfurt, Bloomberg News reported.
It added that the deal will allow HeidelbergCement to expand operations in Mediterranean, including Egypt, as well as in France and Belgium, which combined comprised Italcementi’s biggest market.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Tanker Operator Dis Reports Surge in Q2 Profit
Strong demand in product tanker markets, low oil prices help
(ANSA) — Milan, July 30 — Italian tanker operator D’Amico International Shipping (DIS) on Thursday reported a surge in net profit in the second quarter of 2015 as it said strengthening demand in product tanker markets and low oil prices increased trading opportunities. DIS said net profit came in at $18.7 million in the second quarter, up from $1.4 million in the same period of 2014.
Time-charter equivalent earnings (TCE) stood at $81.2 million in the quarter, up from $48.6 million in the same quarter of the previous year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to $23.4 million from $10.4 million.
“Our growth strategy both in terms of owned and time chartered-in vessels (we went from 39 average vessels in H1 2014 to 52 in H1 2015) has proven very successful so far,” said Chief Executive Marco Fiori. “I believe 2015 is now set to be a very profitable year for our industry,” he said. “We intend to consolidate DIS leading position in the product tanker industry and in that view, during the second quarter of the year we added 4 LR1 (Long Range — 75,000 dwt) newbuilding vessels to our current orderbook,” he added. DIS is one of the world’s leading maritime transport groups, managing and operating dry cargo vessels and tankers and providing international shipping services. Increased production in the Middle East and Asia, coupled with strong refining margins in the OECD, supported refined products tanker demand during the quarter, DIS said.
In the first six months of 2015, DIS recorded its best first-half result since 2008, swinging to a net profit of $30 million compared to a loss of $5.5 million in the same period of the previous year.
Time charter equivalent earnings (TCE) came in at $158.1 million in the first half of 2015 compared to $95.1 million in the same period of 2014.
EBITDA in the first half rose to $45 million from $14.2 million in the first half of the previous year.
Net debt also rose to $374 million from $280.6 million at the end of June 2014.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: CNH Industrial Reports 10% Drop in Q2 Revenues
Reduces guidance for 2015 to sales between $26 bn and $27 bn
(ANSA) — Turin, July 29 — CNH Industrial, which manufacturers farm equipment and large trucks for construction, said Wednesday that it closed the second quarter with revenues of just under $7 billion — a 10% drop compared with the same quarter last year. It said it now expects industrial sales of between $26 billion and $27 billion for the year. Net income was $122 million, or $0.09 per share, the company said. Net income before restructuring and other exceptional items was $141 million, or $0.11 per share, down $241 million compared to Q2 2014. Net industrial debt was $3 billion as of June 30.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Heatwave Spawns Catastrophic Losses for Fishermen
Lagoon areas particularly hard hit as fish denied oxygen
(ANSA) — Rome, July 29 — The heat wave baking much of Italy this summer has spawned a “massacre” of clams, mussels, eels, seabream and mullet due to high water temperature, agriculture group Coldiretti said Wednesday.
Seawater temperature has risen to as much as 35 degrees Celsius in some parts of the peninsula, leading to fermentation of seaweed that deprives the water of oxygen, causing the deaths of fish and shellfish, with losses of as much as 40% in some fish farms, said the group.
The problem is especially acute in lagoon areas, from Emilia Romagna to the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia down to Tuscany, where fishing and acquaculture businesses are developed, Coldiretta ImpresaPesca said.
It added that hundreds of firms’ survival is in jeopardy as a result.
Coldiretti added that inland farmers have lost an estimated 200 million euros because of the heat wave, largely through impact on animals such as cows that are producing between 10 and 15% less milk nationally.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Public Transport Drivers Protest Privatization
Mayor wants private investors for ATAC
(ANSA) — Rome, July 29 — Drivers with Rome’s public transport company ATAC on Wednesday staged a demonstration in front of City Hall to protest against a privatization plan.
Protesters whistled and chanted slogans against Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino, who has announced the city will be seeking private investors to buy a minority stake of the ailing company.
“We want the service to remain public,” demonstrators said, urging the mayor to receive a delegation of ATAC employees.
Last week, Marino announced he and Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti’s decision to seek a minority private partner for the chronically troubled public company.
The mayor said he has given ATAC a mandate to write up an industrial plan to attract investors, adding this will bring about “the end of in-house management beginning in 2019”. The only other alternative was shutting ATAC down and declaring bankruptcy, Marino noted.
Meanwhile the city has reportedly decided to inject another 200 million euros into the company.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Government ‘Responsible for ATAC Budget’
Public transport company CEO meets mayor
(ANSA) — Rome, July 29 — Rome city hall is ultimately responsible for closing the balance sheet of the city’s public transport company ATAC because it is the sole stakeholder, its general manager said Wednesday.
Francesco Micheli spoke after meeting Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino and transport councillor Stefano Esposito.
“From an industrial standpoint, the company is doing what it was supposed to do and I assure you that ATAC’s situation is less run-down than what is generally thought as we are basically going to achieve a balanced budget next year,” Micheli said.
Last week, Marino announced that he had decided with Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti to look for an outside investor in ATAC while keeping a majority stake.
The alternative, the mayor warned, was shutting down ATAC and taking its books to court.
Micheli said ATAC instead expects “a recapitalization” which he said was an “ordinary phenomenon”. He added that the company had no intention of revising its industrial plan launched last year.
The Rome mayor said he has given ATAC a mandate to write up a new industrial plan to attract investors and bring about “the end of in-house management beginning in 2019”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘I Didn’t Expect Rotten PD, Criminal Infiltration’ Says Marino
Rome mayor denies hostility from Renzi, says Orfini ‘fresh air’
(ANSA) — Rome, July 30 — Embattled Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino on Thursday defended his performance since taking office over two years ago, saying he didn’t expect to find opposition from his own Democratic Party (PD) or infiltration by criminals in city management.
“Two years I certainly didn’t think I had arrived to govern Stockholm, but nor did I expect to find a rotten PD against me or criminal infiltration of top city management,” Marino said in an interview with newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Renzi wasn’t yet born in 1966, but he certainly knows that after the flooding in Florence the first step was to remove the mud, then to reorder the archives,” Marino continued.
“Having removed the mud from Rome, I now want to be judged on how I put the archives in order,” he said.
Marino described as “literature” the notion that Premier Matteo Renzi, secretary of the PD, might be hostile to him.
“In his coarse language, he merely stated the obvious,” said the ex heart surgeon in reference to calls by the former mayor of Florence to Marino to either show he can govern, or go.
“I am not afraid of losing Rome, I am the first mayor that is free from political parties”, which in the Eternal City were “electoral and business committees”, Marino said. The mayor hailed the recent appointment of PD president Matteo Orfini as commissioner of the party’s Rome branch amid the Mafia Capitale scandal involving alleged infiltration by a local crime syndicate into city contracts as a “breath of fresh air”. “Before his arrival it was possible to talk only about posts and appointments with certain PD members,” Marino said.
Also, he described recent reports in the New York Times and Le Monde of degradation in the capital as a “strategy” to damage Italy in its bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics. “Strangely enough, with competition coming from America and France,” Marino said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ENEL Posts 4.2% Rise in Revenue in First Half of 2015
Ordinary net profit also rose by 3.4% to 1.6 billion euros
(ANSA) — Rome, July 30 — Italian energy utility ENEL saw its first-semester revenue rise by 4.2% to 37.6 billion euros over the same period in 2014, according to financial results posted Thursday. Ordinary net profit also rose by 3.4% to 1.604 billion euros over the first half of last year.
Net financial debt grew to 39.849 million euros, up 6.6% over December 31, 2014. ENEL attributed the increase mainly to investments and dividend payments.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Royal Dutch Shell Cuts 6,500 Jobs
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced it has shed 6,500 jobs as part of cost-cutting plans as it seeks to counter falling oil prices.
The job cuts comprised part of its $4bn reduction in operating costs.
Shell, which currently employs about 94,000 people, said it is also scaling back its oil exploration operations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: How the Nordic Far-Right Has Stolen the Left’s Ground on Welfare
Ostracised within the Swedish parliament, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats are the country’s fastest-growing political force. Before last September’s general election, one of their candidates had to withdraw when photographs appeared of her wearing a swastika armband. Such reminders of the party’s neo-fascist roots are a regular occurrence, but a substantial swathe of the Swedish electorate does not seem to care. The SD gained 12.9% of the vote at the election, more than doubling its share and making it Sweden’s third-largest political movement. Latest opinion polls put the party above 18%, snapping at the heels of the Social Democrats, who run an enfeebled minority government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnians Protest Against EU-Recommended Labor Law
Current norms inherited from Communist time
(ANSA-AP) — SARAJEVO — Thousands of Bosnians have taken their dissatisfaction with the draft of a new labor law to the streets of Sarajevo, claiming it harms workers’ rights.
The Bosnian-Croat regional government has put the law on parliament’s agenda on Thursday but the protesters are demanding that it not be discussed until unions are involved in its drafting.
In the Bosnian Serb half of the country, the law has not yet reached parliament but dissatisfaction is similar.
Bosnia’s leaders want to move the country closer to EU membership by implementing EU-recommended socioeconomic reforms.
The new law is part of that effort.
The current labor law was inherited from the communist regime and offers wide protection to workers but is not business-friendly. It is partly the reason for the 40 percent unemployment rate.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The world watched in horror last month as gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed 38 people at the Tunisian resort of Sousse. Survivors of the attack tell Panorama’s Jane Corbin what it was like to go through the experience.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Readies Iron Dome on Lebanon Border as Hezbollah Anticipates Arms From Iran
One year after Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome defense system helped protect citizens from a rocket barrage launched from Gaza, the Jewish State has deployed the shield to the north, likely amid fears Lebanon-based Hezbollah could get an infusion of cash and weapons from Iran.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Gay Pride: Six Stabbed ‘By Ultra-Orthodox Jew’
Police have arrested a man after six people were wounded in a stabbing at the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem.
A police spokesperson identified the suspect as the same man who stabbed three people at the parade in 2005.
Yishai Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for that attack and was released from prison three weeks ago.
Two of the injured are in a serious condition, the city’s ambulance service said.
Eyewitnesses told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper that the attacker emerged behind marchers and began stabbing them while screaming, before being tackled by a police officer.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ankara Using Anti-Jihadi Campaign to Fight Kurdish Autonomist Desires
Erdogan is really worried about the possible declaration of a Kurdish state. The president, who is probably thinking about early elections, claims that some lawmakers from the Kurdish-based HDP party have links to Kurdish terrorists in the PKK. The HDP’s success at the polls in June prevented the ruling party from having an absolute majority. Turkey and the United States confirmed their intention of creating a 90-km long “IS-free zone” inside Syria.
Ankara (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to take concrete actions against the Islamic state (IS) group stems from a desire to prevent the Kurds from seeking autonomy or even their own state in the section of Syria they control.
Until recently in fact, Ankara had closed both eyes to the flow of men and materiel through its territory towards IS-held areas. Yesterday, Erdogan launched an attack against the Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halklarin Demokratik Partisi, HDP), a Kurdish-based party whose success at the polls in June prevented the president’s ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP) from winning an absolute majority.
The president even claimed that some HDP lawmakers had links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê, PKK) and has called for their parliamentary immunity to be lifted. Such actions have led to speculation that the president might be tempted to go for early elections.
In view of the situation, the Turkish leader said that the peace process with the PKK, which had begun in 2012, was “impossible” because of Kurdish attacks against the Turkish military. For this reason, Turkish airplanes struck PKK bases in Kurdish areas of Turkey and northern Iraq.
In his response, HDP President Selahattin Demirtas said that Turkey’s anti-IS operations are a ruse to pursue its war against Kurdish desire for autonomy.
Whatever the reason, yesterday Turkey received NATO backing. After an emergency meeting in Brussels, the Alliance expressed “strong solidarity” and firm support for Ankara.
Nonetheless, although all 28 alliance members recognised Turkey’s right to defend itself, some privately called for a proportional response against the PKK in order to save the peace process.
On the margins of the NATO meeting, Turkey and the United States confirmed their intention of creating a 90-km long “IS-free zone” inside Syria along the Turkish border.
This would allow Syrian refugees to go back and prevent the creation of the Kurdish region within Syria, a prospect Erdogan dreads.
For Washington, which for months had tried to get Ankara to commit against IS, this is the price to pay for the right to use the Incirlik airbase against the Jihadi group.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Terror Suspect Released From Custody
A man detained by a Gothenburg court on suspicion of committing murder in Syria has been released from custody pending an ongoing investigation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Into the Abyss: Turkey is at War With Its Own Kurds and ISIL.
by Robert Ellis
As the HDP has warned in a statement: “It is a plan to set the country on fire in order for the government to secure a single-party government in a snap election, while creating an impression it is conducting a comprehensive fight against terrorism.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Muslim Rapists Prefer Blondes: A History
Violent Islamic lust for British and Scandinavian girls goes right back to Muhammad.
By Raymond Ibrahim
The Muslim penchant to target “white” women for sexual exploitation—an epidemic currently plaguing Europe, especially Britain and Scandinavia—is as old as Islam itself, and even traces back to Muhammad.
Much literary evidence attests to this in the context of Islam’s early predations on Byzantium (for centuries, Christendom’s easternmost bulwark against the jihad). According to Ahmad M. H. Shboul (author of “Byzantium and the Arabs: The Image of the Byzantines as Mirrored in Arabic Literature”) Christian Byzantium was the “classic example of the house of war,” or Dar al-Harb—that is, the quintessential realm that needs to be conquered by jihad. Moreover, Byzantium was seen “as a symbol of military and political power and as a society of great abundance.”
The similarities between pre-modern Islamic views of Byzantium and modern Islamic views of the West—powerful, affluent, desirable, and the greatest of all infidels—should be evident. But they do not end here. To the medieval Muslim mind, Byzantium was further representative of “white people”—fair haired/eyed Christians, or, as they were known in Arabic, Banu al-Asfar, “children of yellow” (reference to blonde hair).
Continues Shboul:…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Will Try Again for Tribunal for Malaysia Airlines Downing Despite Russian Veto
Ukraine’s foreign minister says the five countries investigating the downing of a Malaysia airlines plane over Ukraine a year ago will try again in a few months to get Security Council approval for an international tribunal to prosecute the alleged perpetrators.
Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that one of Russia’s arguments for vetoing the resolution to establish a tribunal on Wednesday was that it was premature and “untimely,” since the results of the investigation aren’t expected until October.
He said an international tribunal is “the best option politically and legally” because it would be fully accountable, transparent and independent.
“We’re not about to give up on that,” Klimkin said. “We will definitely try again, with all kinds of support of (the) international community.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Security Service Says US, Georgia Helped Prevent Terror Attacks at Sochi Olympics
The head of Russia’s domestic security agency says the United States, Georgia and several Western European countries helped prevent terrorist attacks during last year’s Winter Olympics.
The Games were held in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi amid high concern that insurgents from nearby restive Caucasus republics including Chechnya were planning attacks. Russia imposed exceptionally heavy security measures that were nicknamed the “ring of steel” around Sochi.
Nikolai Bortnikov, head of the FSB security service, on Thursday said that during the Games and preparations for them, “we succeeded together with our partners from many governments, primarily France, Germany, Austria, the USA and Georgia, in preventing an array of attacks on Olympic objects,” according to Russian news agencies.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Taliban Officials Confirm Leader’s Death, Appoint Successor
The Taliban confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and appointed his successor Thursday, as a new round of peace talks was indefinitely postponed amid concerns over how committed the new leadership is to ending the militant group’s 14-year insurgency.
The Afghan Taliban Shura, or Supreme Council, chose Mullah Omar’s deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, as its new leader, two Taliban figures told The Associated Press, saying the seven-member council had met in the Pakistani city of Quetta.
Mansoor is considered close to Pakistani authorities who hosted peace talks earlier this month, and his election could widen an internal split between fighters who favour negotiations with the Afghan government and those who want to continue an insurgency that has gained speed following the end of the international combat mission last year.
Mansoor has effectively commanded the movement for the three years since Mullah Omar’s previous deputy and co-founder of the movement, Mullah Abdul Baradar, was arrested by Pakistani authorities.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Says Discovery of Debris on Indian Ocean Island ‘A Major Lead’ In Hunt for MH370
Australian officials investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 said Thursday that the discovery of debris on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion was “a major lead”, but warned it was “too early” to say whether it belonged to the missing Boeing 777.
“It’s the first real evidence that there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found,” Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss told reporters Thursday. “It’s too early to make that judgment, but clearly we are treating this as a major lead.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ID Number Confirms Plane Fragment Found on Reunion Island is From a 777
The airplane fragment found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is from a Boeing 777 — the same as missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 — sources told NBC News on Thursday.
The barnacle-covered plane piece was found by a crew cleaning the coastline Wednesday. On it was a number — 657-BB — which sources said is attached to a Boeing 777.
MH370, which disappeared in March 2014, is the only 777 known to be missing anywhere in the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obituary: Mullah Omar, Reclusive Figure
Mullah Omar was a reclusive figure even before his Taliban government fell from power in late 2001 and he was forced into hiding.
He left virtually all contact with the outside world to his foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Mutawakkil and the last known audio recording of him was in 2006 — even this was leaked and not meant for public consumption.
Yet he remained a powerful figure in Afghanistan, the undisputed leader of the Taliban and dubbed “commander of the faithful”, a title with great resonance in Islamic history.
On 29 July 2015 the Afghan government announced that he had died in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan in April 2013. No more details were provided.
He was replaced as Taliban leader by Mullah Akhtar Mansour the following day.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Hunter Accused of Killing Beloved Zimbabwean Lion Cecil
A conservation charity on Tuesday accused an American tourist of killing a much-loved Zimbabwean lion called “Cecil” on a hunt using a bow and arrow, adding that the animal had taken 40 hours to die.
The lion, which was a popular attraction among visitors to the Hwange National Park, was tempted outside the park using bait and then shot earlier this month.
The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force charity named the alleged trophy hunter as Walter Palmer from Minnesota, saying he had paid $50,000 for the hunt…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Issues Warrant for Extradition for Escaped Drug Lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman
A judge in Mexico has issued a provisional warrant to detain escaped drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman based on an extradition request from the United States.
A federal official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Thursday that court hearings would be required before the extradition could ever be carried out.
Guzman also faces a host of Mexican charges following his July 11 escape through a tunnel from Mexico’s highest-security prison.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police Commander, 3 Others Killed in Mexican State of Guerrero
Gunmen killed a police commander Thursday in the capital of restive southern Mexico state of Guerrero, and officers pursuing the suspected attackers killed three people about two hours later, authorities said.
Guerrero has been wracked with violence as competing drug cartels clash frequently with police and soldiers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Seizes Nestle, Polar Warehouse to Build Housing
Venezuelan soldiers seized a food distribution center rented by companies including Nestle SA, PepsiCo. Inc and Empresas Polar SA in Caracas as the government looks to boost support ahead of elections.
The companies were given two months to remove equipment and stock at the La Yaguara industrial park, which will be converted to social housing, workers said. Several dozen workers of Polar, the largest Venezuelan food company, remain on the premises in protest against the expropriation.
“I’m scared not just for my job but for the entire country,” Beatrice Pellicer, a 24-year-old Polar corporate relations worker, said outside the warehouse sealed by armed police and National Guards. “We all just found out this morning that we have 60 days to leave.”
President Nicolas Maduro in recent months has stepped up attacks on the private sector, which he accuses of profiteering and sabotage, as his popularity wanes ahead of the Dec. 6 congressional elections. He has blamed Polar and other private food companies for the chronic shortages of basic products and spiraling inflation, while maintaining currency and price controls that have made most of national production unprofitable.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Wait for a Chance to Cross English Channel
Thousands of people outside the French city Calais hope to be among the few who successfully make their way to the UK. The situation is dramatic, but hardly a storming of the Chunnel, reports DW’s Bernd Riegert.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Girl Whom Merkel Caused to Cry Wants to Abolish Israel
Reem Sahwil made headlines earlier this month when German chancellor told her she couldn’t remain a refugee in Germany during television appearance.
BERLIN — Reem Sahwil, the 14-year-old Palestinian girl living in north-east Germany, who garnered world media attention because Chancellor Angela Merkel made her cry, called for Israel’s abolishment this week.
In an interview with newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, responding to the reporter’s question of “What is Palestine?” Sahwil said, “My hope is that at some time, [Israel] is no longer there, rather only Palestine.”
She added that “the land should no longer be called Israel, but Palestine.”
The reporter said the interview was becoming difficult and asked her, “Do you know… that Israel and Germany have a special history? That we stand up for the country, that we do not allow Jew-hatred?” Sahwil answered, “Yes, there is freedom of speech. Here I am allowed to say that. I am prepared to discuss everything.”
In a meeting with Merkel earlier this month at an event in the northern city of Rostock, Sahwil — a refugee seeking asylum status — broke down in tears after the chancellor said, “If we say [to refugees], ‘You can all come,’ and, ‘You can all come from Africa’… we just can’t manage that.”
Merkel — who intervened at that point to stroke the girl’s hair — was later ridiculed on social media for her blunt talk and her posture toward Sahwil. The video exchange between the two of them went viral.
When asked in this week’s interview if Germany was her home, Sahwil — who was born in a Lebanon refugee camp — replied, “No. My home is Palestine…. I will live there at some point.”
However, The New York Times quoted her as saying she would like to “study and live permanently” in Germany. The Global Post also reported that she did not want to leave Germany.
Sahwil has lived in Germany for five years and is a fluent German speaker. She wants to become a translator to help immigrants with language problems. The Times report said Sahwil’s family had come to Germany for economic reasons.
Other family members live in the Wavel Camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
MTV Indoctrinates Youth on “White Privilege
Saul Alinsky’s 13th rule of power tactics has reached MTV.
The MTV documentary featuring Jose Antonio Vargas is an attempt to mainstream the “white privilege” agenda, the idea that skin color determines societal privilege.
The “white privilege” movement takes its lead from critical race theory, which is a subset of Marxist critical theory, specifically the cultural Marxism of Frankfort School. Unlike traditional Marxism, which views inequality as economic, cultural Marxism holds that inequality is the result of culture. Saul Alinksy wrote that activists must “rub raw the resentments of the people,” strive to “fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expression… stir up dissatisfaction and discontent” and “agitate to the point of conflict.”
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it,” his 13th rule for radicals states.
“White Privilege education and thinking is a part of Saul Alinksy community organizing, for the white race values must be destroyed in order to erase class lines with the ultimate goal of socialism and communism,” writes Georgiana Preskar (White Privilege and the Wheel of Oppression: The Hoax of the Century).
Jose Antonio Vargas’ documentary is an attempt to polarize race issues and promote the white privilege agenda and foist it on young people via Viacom Media Networks and its MTV.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Judge Fines School Over Christian Prayer
An Obama-appointed district judge fined a Mississippi school district over $7500 after a pastor led a prayer before an optional school assembly.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves said the Rankin, Miss., public school district defied his prior order barring prayer at school events by allowing Rev. Rob Gill to begin an assembly honoring students with above-average ACT scores with a prayer.
“The district’s breach did not take very long and it occurred in a very bold way,” Reeves stated. “Its conduct displays that the district did not make any effort to adhere to the agreed judgment.”
The judge, appointed by Obama in 2010, also barred the distribution of Bibles on the school district’s campuses by Gideons International, the evangelical Christian association best known for placing Bibles in hotel rooms.
The case came to fruition after a high school student sued the school district over the assembly with help from the secular American Humanist Association.
“Along with the $7,500 in fines, the school district will also have to pay the student’s legal fees, an amount that will be determined at a later date,” the Christian Post reported. “Reeves also threatened the school district with a $10,000 fine for any future infractions of the order.”
The school district’s defense team argued that the assembly wasn’t mandatory, but the judge countered by accusing the district of trying to “indoctrinate students” with Christianity.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Undercover Journalists Have Nine More Planned Parenthood Videos in the Can
The group of activist journalists responsible for exposing the tissue and organ harvesting activity of Planned Parenthood says it has nine more videos ready to release, further exposing the organsiation.
The announcement was made by David Daleiden, founder of the Center For Medical Progress (CMP), on Sean Hannity’s show this week.
“We have close to 300 hours total of undercover video that was gathered during a 30 month long in depth investigative journalism study of how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of the babies they abort,” Daleiden said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
University of New Hampshire: Using the Word “American” Is Offensive
Using the words “American,” “obese,” “normal,” “mothering,” “fathering,” “homosexual,” “illegal alien,” and “senior citizens,” is offensive and should be discouraged, according to a “Bias-Free Language Guide” posted on the University of New Hampshire website.
The guide, first uncovered by Campus Reform, “is meant to invite inclusive excellence in [the] campus community.”
The word “American” is “problematic” according to the guide because it “assumes the U.S. is the only country inside [the continents of North and South America].”
Calling people “illegal aliens” is also politically incorrect, with the preferred term for undocumented immigrants being “person seeking asylum,” or “refugee,” while the word “foreigner” is discouraged and replaced with “international people.”
More banned words and phrases include…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Aurora Found Around Brown Dwarf Beyond Our Solar System
An aurora has been spotted outside our Solar System for the first time, scientists report.
An international team detected the light display around a brown dwarf about 18 light years away in the Lyra constellation.
They say the luminous glow looks like the northern lights, but is up to a million times brighter and more red than green in colour.
The findings are reported in the journal Nature.
Dr Stuart Littlefair, an astronomer from the University of Sheffield, said: “This is the first time that we have confirmed we are seeing auroras on brown dwarfs.”
Shimmering auroras are some of the Earth’s most dazzling displays. This luminous glow can also appear around all the planets in our Solar System.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Caritas Says 100mn Christians Persecuted Worldwide
50-70,000 Christians in North Korea detention camps
(ANSA) — Rome, July 30 — More than 100 million Christians in the world are suffering discrimination, persecution and violence at the hands of totalitarian regimes and countries that follow other religions, a report by Caritas Catholic charity showed on Thursday.
In North Korea alone, an estimated 50-70,000 Christians are being held in detention camps. Other countries that persecute Christians include Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan, according to the report.
Worldwide between November 2013 and October 2014, a total of 4,344 Christians were killed in sectarian violence and 1,062 churches were attacked.
Caritas said the numbers highlighted a growing trend of intolerance in the Middle East, where many Christians have been killed or persecuted by militants from the extremist Islamic State (ISIS) movement.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Genes Influence Academic Ability Across All Subjects, Latest Study Shows
You may feel you are just not a maths person, or that you have a special gift for languages, but scientists have shown that the genes influencing numerical skills are the same ones that determine abilities in reading, arts and humanities.
The study suggests that if you have an academic Achilles heel, environmental factors such as a teaching are more likely to be to blame.
The findings add to growing evidence that school performance has a large heritable component, with around 60% of the differences in pupil’s GCSE results being explained by genetic factors.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nigerian asylum seeker to Iceland transmitted HIV to several women
Side note
Badge on police uniform
“With Law Shall Land Be Built”
This phrase dates back to the Norse Frostating Law of 1260, and beyond. The phrase goes on
“…And Not With Lawlessness Desolated”