The “migration crisis” continues apace in Europe. Boat people, including children, are still drowning off the coast of Greece. And the coast guards of various European nations are still rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and other European countries have jumped on the bandwagon and reinstituted border controls.
In other news, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was ousted from within his own party (the Conservatives) as both party leader and Prime Minister by Malcolm Turnbull. It is thought that Mr. Turnbull’s accession will help expedite gay marriage in Australia.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fausta, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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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.
“There’s Just No Cash” Oil Price Increase Will Not Come Fast Enough to Save Alberta
“There’s just no cash.” That’s the Coles Notes from a senior banker describing the book of oil service loans he manages for one of Alberta’s leading lenders. There’s simply not enough cash flow to support current levels of debt.
Bankers and borrowers have kicked the can down the road about as far as they can as more oilfield service (OFS) and exploration and production (E&P) companies default on their loans and seek more relief on lending covenants. While a significant oil price increase to lift all the sinking boats will surely come, it won’t happen soon enough. More of the same won’t work.
Oil industry debt is everyday news. But the discussion is about the symptoms, not the ailment.
Companies cannot borrow their way out of debt. Equity capital is only available at distressed valuations. Specialized OFS assets will fetch only a fraction of replacement cost—if somebody actually wants them. Although oil and gas reserve valuations are down by half, borrowers are being forced to sell them anyway to repair balance sheets. The last four months of 2015 will be very difficult for any company with meaningful amounts of debt. Same for their lenders, the other signatories to the loan agreement.
As the banker said, “There’s just no cash.” Here’s what it means.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil Prepares Major Budget Surgery to Escape Economic Crisis
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff is eyeing a new round of austerity measures to make major cuts to the budget in response to a deepening economic crisis in Latin America’s biggest country, officials said Monday.
The shock downgrade of Brazil’s credit rating last week by Standard & Poors sent the government scrambling to prevent an exit of foreign capital and to balance the books in an economy already suffering from plummeting commodity prices and the effects of a huge corruption scandal.
After a weekend huddled with ministers, pressure is mounting on Rousseff to respond to the crisis and that will mean new reductions. Brazilian media said the cuts could be as much as $6.7 billion…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ENI Marks Ninth Year on Dow Jones Sustainability Index
(AGI) Rome, Sept 11 — Eni has kept its place on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the most renowned global sustainability index, for the ninth consecutive year, with an improved score. The news was posted in a company statement. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index was launched in 1999 and includes the stocks of companies distinguished by the excellent sustainability results achieved in each sector. The Index includes a total of 317 stocks, chosen by RobecoSAM on the basis of economic, social and environmental criteria from 2,500 international stocks with the highest capitalisation. In the Oil&Gas sector, 13 companies out of 97 candidates were selected. Eni has also kept its position on the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index for the eighth consecutive year.
These results confirm Eni’s continuing commitment to sustainable development and responsible business management.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Inflation Steady at 0.2% in August
Trolley of everyday items up 0.7%
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — Italy’s annual inflation rate was 0.2% in August, Istat said on Monday, confirming its previously announced preliminary estimate. The national statistics agency added that its price index was also 0.2% up with respect to July. Istat said that its so-called trolley index for the prices of everyday goods such as food and household items was 0.1% on July and 0.7% with respect to August 2014.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gun Control Success — BS Immediately Follows By Karl Denninger
There’ s both an impressive and outrageous angle to this story.
An 11-year-old Missouri boy shot and killed a 16-year-old boy during an attempted home invasion Thursday afternoon, St. Louis County police said.
Police said two suspects tried to break into the home north of downtown St. Louis twice before the shooting on Thursday. On the third try, authorities said the unidentified teen went through the home’ s unlocked front door while the 11-year-old and a 4-year-old girl were home alone.Police said the younger boy shot the teen in the head. The would-be burglar’ s body was found in the home’ s front foyer.
Good shot.
One round, one bad guy stopped in the commission of a forcible felony, and who knows what other felonies were on his mind given that there was a 4 year old girl in the house at the time. The two home invaders apparently were quite-persistent as well since reports are that they made three attempts to break in.
Fox2Now reported that police want to know why the children were home alone and why the 11-year-old had access to a gun. Police believe the mother bought the gun after prior break-in attempts.
In other words since the cops couldn’ t do their ****ing job now we’ re going to try to find some reason to hang the mother.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Conspirators, The Next American President and Donald Trump
by Servando Gonzales
The next president of the United States has been already selected at the recent Bilderberg meeting in Austria. He will be a not-to-clever, but corrupt politician under the control of the bankers, oil magnates and CEOs of international corporations ensconced at the Council on Foreign Relations. He will be a member of the Republican Party.
Why do I think that the coming president will be a Republican? Because one of the most important things the CFR conspirators need to accomplish before turning the United States into a full-fledged totalitarian society is taking the guns from the hands of law-abiding American citizens.
Granted, puppet impostor Barry Soetoro has advanced the cause of totalitarianism in America by leaps and bounds. Unemployment has grown, the economy is in shambles, and a veritable invasion of illegal aliens is making things worse. The so-called Obamacare — created to benefit Big Med and Big Pharma —will tax even more the limited resources of American workers.
Other valuable accomplishments of Soetoro’s are the success of CFR-backed gay politics: gay marriage, gays in the military, gays in Boys Scouts, and appointing more openly gay officials than any other president in the U.S. history. Of course, this is very difficult to understand if you ignore that the gay movement has wittingly become a spear point, a fifth column of the New Gay World Order the globalist conspirators are working hard to impose upon us.
But there is something Soetoro, or any “progressive” Democrat cannot do: taking the guns from Americans. It he/she/it tries to ban and confiscate guns, it would trigger a shooting war. Therefore, as it happened after Katrina, this has to be done by a “conservative” Republican as the reaction to a 9/11-like catastrophic event.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Declares War on White Businessmen But Not Corrupt Politicians
Arguably the most corrupt and abusive administration to come down the pike in recent history is now declaring war on American corporations and their predominately white executives in a scheme to separate private-sector entities from their money and imprison more white males. In an announcement on Thursday, a Department of Justice official said her agency will emphasize the prosecution of corporate executives instead of the DOJ practice of simply prosecuting and fining businesses.
Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who authored a memo outlining the rules for federal prosecutors, announced the updated guidelines during her guest lecture at New York University Law School. She noted that President Barack Obama authorized the Justice Department’s new guidelines that will now prioritize the prosecution of individual corporate executives for offenses involving white-collar crime.
“The Obama administration in essence is declaring war on private-sector executives, similar to his war on white police and his war on conservative, pro-life Christians. While the nation’s body-count climbs especially in inner-cities, Obama sees men in pin-stripe suits as a threat to Americans. With 94 million Americans reportedly giving up on finding jobs, Obama sees the people who create jobs and hire workers as being the enemy,” said a former police captain, now a partner in security firm, Steven Radcliffe.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Bombshell: 5-Month Gap in Hillary Emails
WASHINGTON — There is a five-month gap in the Hillary Clinton emails when she was Secretary of State, the watchdog group Judicial Watch announced Monday morning.
The devastating revelation emerged after a court ordered the release of State Department documents as part of Judicial Watch’ s efforts to obtain Clinton emails under the Freedom of Information, or FOIA, act.
Both emails sent by Clinton and received from her on a private server are missing over periods totaling five months, beginning with when she took office as Secretary of State in February 2009.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Handing Caliphate on a Plate to Islamic Terrorists
During his seven year long hold over America, Obama was the first western leader to fundamentally transform a once thriving nation into a helpless borderless state. Like most of his policies, the borderless country concept was not his original idea, but one he adopted from the global citizen-advocating United Nations.
In the upheaval caused by millions of refugees flooding European borders, too many remain unaware that the imprimatur of a defenseless west was both laid bare and originated by none other than Barack Obama.
In their centuries-old dream of imposing a Caliphate on the civilized world, the bloodthirsty terrorists of radical Islam didn’t have to read teacups this time. They only had to follow Obama’s Hansel and Gretel-like bread crumbs to find a surefire way into the West.
Almost overnight the same ISIS terrorists Obama refused to name went from graphic Internet videos of beheadings to heartbreaking photos of Muslim ‘refugees’, mostly women and children dying in desperate attempts to reach Europe.
For Obama, Marxist superiority went all the way from not crossing his media hyped ‘red line’ to zero lines of defense for the safety of unsuspecting citizens worldwide.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Oculus, The Closed All-Seeing Eye at Ground Zero, To “Open” Each Year on 9/11
They have placed a bony “closed eye” structure dubbed Oculus over the rebuilt World Trade Center transportation hub that overlooks the new Ground Zero. The skylights in the architecture, which has been referred to as “a living, evolving, morphing creature,” will now “open” each year only once… on 9/11. Each year, the public will symbolically “experience a subtle sense of man’s vulnerability, while maintaining a link to a higher order.”
[Comment: Sauron lives…frankly this “structure” it sounds like a twisted sort of “celebration” of that evil day.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Our Enemies’ Dream: An Equal Opportunity Military
Surprise! A study released by the Marine Corps shows that all male units greatly outperformed mixed gender units in just about every capacity. The women performed their tasks more slowly, fired weapons with less accuracy, and sustained far more injuries during training than their male counterparts. Male Marines with no formal infantry training outperformed infantry-trained women on each weapons system! Nevertheless, unless Congress intervenes the military must start integrating women into combat units in January.
That’s great if your goal is to feminize the military. But let’s say that the goal is combat mission accomplishment with minimal casualties. Now you have to start taking into account all sorts of pesky factors that two women graduating from a physically tough course doesn’t address. As a former paratrooper who’s been in combat, I can address some of those a bit better than some policy wonks.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Shetland Pony Tortured, Killed in Family’s Yard
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) — The torture of an Idaho family’ s pet pony, which had to be euthanized to end its suffering, prompted animal advocates to offer a reward of about $30,000 on Friday for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Public outcry has mounted since authorities in the southern Idaho farming community of Rupert were called on Sunday after a neighbor found the Shetland pony, Patches, bloodied and barely alive.
The pony, which was routinely tethered to a tree so children could pet him, was taken from the front yard overnight Saturday and dragged on a paved road by a car until his knees were shredded and body scored with drag marks, authorities said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Stunning Video Emerges as 1000s Flee California Wildfires After Governor Calls ‘State of Emergency’
As if the drought was not disheartening enough, wildfires are now raging across many parts of northen and southern California focing Governor Jerry Brown to call a state of emergency. Nowhere is the crisis more evident than in NorCal’ s Lake County where, as The LA Times reports, the untamed wildfire forced chaotic evacuations, is consuming hundreds of homes and businesses, and has outrun the efforts of a growing army of firefighters to corral it. However, as the following clip shows, one car-driver ran the gauntlet and managed to outrun “the worst tragedy Lake County has ever seen,” in a scene right out of a disaster movie.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
This is How Much Ink the Epson 9900 Printer Wastes
It is said that printer ink costs more than black market human blood. With such high costs involved, you might expect that printer companies help you squeeze every last drop from an ink cartridge before you’re forced to replace it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
The folks over at Bellevue Fine Art in Seattle recently decided to find out exactly how much ink their high-end Epson 9900 printer wastes. The answer: a ton.
First off, the Epson 9900 is a professional grade printer that costs thousands of dollars. Each 700 ml ink cartridge can cost nearly $100, and a full set runs well over $1,000. As a popular fine art printing company, Bellevue has had 4 of the 9900 printers.
When ink “runs too low,” the Epson 9900 will kindly inform you that there is only 1% of ink left, that it can no longer properly clean the cartridge, and that you must change cartridges.
Bellevue Fine Art took those “empty” cartridges, took them apart, and poured out the ink to see how much was left.
They found that, on average, a 700 ml cartridge still contains about 100ml of ink when you’re forced to replace it. Many times they contain 150 ml or more. For a 350 ml cartridge, 60-80 ml of ink was left.
That’s about 15-20% of the ink remaining — definitely not 1%.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boy, 8, Found Working Illegally in Italy Leather Factory
Police checks uncover 22 illegal workers, counterfeiting
(ANSA) — Varese, September 10 — An 8-year-old Chinese boy and two teenage girls were discovered to be working illegally in a Chinese-run leather factory during police checks in the northern region of Lombardy.
The boy and the two girls, aged 14 and 17, worked on assembling leather parts of branded products, police said.
Police discovered a total of 22 people working unofficially, including 8 foreigners. During the checks they also seized 100,000 products for various reasons including violations of safety norms and counterfeiting.
Six people were reported for counterfeiting and commercial fraud.
The Chinese owner of the factory was cited for using under-age labour.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cameron Calls UK Labour Party With New Leader ‘Threat to National Security’
The Labour party, which elected Jeremy Corbyn its new leader on Saturday, has become a threat to the United Kingdom’s national and economic security, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday.
“The Labour Party is now a threat to our national security, our economic security and your family’s security,” Cameron wrote in his Twitter account.
Corbyn has been widely referred to as one of the most “rebellious” members of UK parliament, as he had opposed Britain’s participation in the Iraq war, and spoke against the renewal of the British Trident nuclear deterrent infrastructure.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Convents That Become Hotels Must Pay Taxes Says Pope
‘Otherwise business isn’t clean’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, September 14 — A convent that becomes a hotel after taking in refugees must lose its tax-exempt status, Pope Francis said Monday.
“Some congregations are saying: ‘No, now that the convent is empty we’ll turn it into hotel: we can receive (refugees) and that way we’ll get by and earn money’,” the pope told Portuguese radio station Renascenza.
“Well, if you want to do that, pay the taxes. Otherwise the business is not clean”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Firms Can’t Make Staff Work Holidays Says Top Court
Cassation court orders Loro Piana to repay woman’s fine
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — Firms can’t make their staff work on holidays in the middle of the week or fine them if they refuse, Italy’s top court has ruled.
The Cassation Court, whose sentences set precedents, ruled in favour of a Loro Piana worker near Vercelli who was fined for refusing to work on the Epiphany holiday in 2004.
It ordered the luxury goods giant to pay her the money back.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris: Chinese Guide Robbed of €25,000
A Chinese tourist guide was robbed of €25,000 ($28,300) in cash and his new Rolex watch after he had prevented two of his group from being robbed themselves outside a hotel near Paris, police said on Sunday.
The Chinese tourists were getting off a coach when three men tried to grab designer handbags from two women in the group.
When the 32-year-old guide intervened, the men turned their attention to him and grabbed his bag containing 20,000 euros and nearly 5,000 Swiss francs (4,500 euros) and also the watch, which he had just bought for around 5,000 euros.
The robbers then left the scene in Carrieres-sur-Seine, 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Paris, by car.
France is seeing an increase in the number of Chinese tourist visitors, but their reputation for carrying large amounts of cash has made them a target of thieves.
French authorities tightened security around Chinese tourist groups in 2013 after Beijing expressed concern about the increasing number of incidents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Crackdown on Guns After Marseille Shooting
France’s interior minister has called for a comprehensive plan to combat arms trafficking in the country, after a shooting early Sunday killed one man and injured five people in the centre of Marseille.
Two men opened fire with a 9 mm automatic weapon outside of a 24-hour restaurant in the city’s Opera district.
“It would seem that following a dispute, a vehicle facing the street opened fire with a Kalashnikov on people who were at the entrance to the bar,” Marseille’s deputy prosecutor André Ribes told news agency AFP.
“For now, we cannot call this a settling of scores,” he said.
A security guard was killed and three of the five injured are seriously wounded, according to Ribes.
Some of the victims were “collateral damage” while others worked as security for the restaurant, including the slain guard, he said. There were 15 to 20 people present during the shooting.
The city in southern France and its surroundings areas are the scene of turf wars between multiple rival gangs battling for control of the drugs trade in the city’s poorest neighbourhoods.
“There is always too much violence in this city,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told French television news show Le Grand Rendez-vous on Sunday.
He said 6,000 weapons a year were being seized from criminal groups, of which 1,200 were combat rifles and other weapons of war.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Justice Minister to Set Up Task Force on Internet Hate Speech
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas has said he will set up a task force to combat hate speech on social media platforms, notably Facebook. A number of social networks, including Facebook, are to take part.
Maas had invited representatives from the social media platform for talks after right-wing extremists posted hateful racist and xenophobic remarks directed against refugees on the network.
The minister had voiced anger at the way content involving certain parts of the body were immediately deleted by Facebook operators, while the network had not removed racist or xenophobic comments even after complaints by users. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also called on Facebook to take action against efforts to incite hate towards refugees and foreigners.
Ahead of Monday’s talks, Facebook announced measures to counter the spread of hate messages. These included a campaign in which international experts would be called upon to help formulate arguments to counter racism and xenophobia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
GM Chief Rules Out Alliance With FCA
‘Marchionne’s stopped looking for us’ says Barra
(ANSA) — Frankfurt, September 14 — General Motors chief Mary Barra on Monday ruled out an alliance with FCA. “((Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles) FCA chief Sergio) Marchionne has stopped looking for us. It’s not in the interests of our shareholders to ally with FCA,” she said.
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Marchionne would wait until the end of the spinoff of Ferrari next year before launching a possible bid for GM.
“While…Marchionne isn’t known for his patience,” it said, “he’s likely to wait until next year before making a bid for General Motors Co. after months of talk about the potential of a deal.
“The spinoff of Ferrari SpA, which is slated for early 2016, could be the catalyst for Marchionne to make an offer for the U.S. automaker. Ferrari’s separation would raise money for the debt-laden company. The move is also key for the Agnelli family, Fiat’s dominant shareholder, which is keen to keep control of the Italian supercar maker.
“Marchionne has been crusading for consolidation in the auto industry, including in an April presentation called “Confessions of Capital Junkie.” He argues that automakers waste money by developing multiple versions of the same technology and so should merge”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Premier Hushes Criticisms on Presence at U. S. Open
(AGI) Rome, Sept 13 — Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who flew to the United States to be present at the U.S. Open final between two Italian tennis players, hushed the criticisms raised against him. He said: “What happened at the U.S. Open is much more than tennis. It is a wonderful Italian story of two unsurrendering women who prove that we are capable of achieving anything, even of winning when nobody would bet on it. I went to New York to live the final with them. I read many criticisms on my decision. Nobody would have said anything if I had gone to a football match.” With this comment, Mr Renzi cut off all criticisms against his presence at the U.S. Open. He continued: “Instead it was tennis, and women’s tennis to boot, and so a lot of people grimaced as if it were a second-class sport. I respect everybody but I believe that a great country like Italy, and a national community like ours, is kept together also through shared emotions and not only statistics.” He went on: “Those girls filled us with emotions and pride. Italy was there with them, through its representatives and its Olympic Committee, to applaud and show our gratitude, to tell the world watching us that Italy is capable of any feat. To those who want to live full of resentment, I say ‘go ahead’. Today we treasure this unexpected joy.” The extraordinary story of two girls “It wasn’t only tennis, it is the extraordinary story of two Italian girls. Today is a feast of great pride for Italy, and it was the right thing to do for the Government, the Italian National Olympic Committee and naturally the Tennis Federation to be there. There is no reason whatsoever to raise or accept criticisms,” Mr Renzi had previously told journalists in New York.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Mobster Casamonica’s Daughter Claims He Was ‘Good Like Pope’
Vittoria Casamonica compared boss to Francis
(ANSA) — Rome, September 9 — The daughter of notorious mob boss Vittorio ‘the pope’ Casamonica has claimed her father was “good, like Pope Francis”.
“They called him pope because he was too good, like pope Francis,” Vera Casamonica told State broadcaster RAI on Tuesday.
Asked why his family plastered posters showing the dead crime boss wearing a white robe with a cross around his neck on church walls during his funeral, Vera said “he wasn’t dressed like the pope, he had blue trousers even if you couldn’t see them. Perhaps you have misinterpreted the image”.
The grandiose funeral held during the summer with a helicopter hovering overhead dropping rose petals on mourners and a police escort outraged Italy but Vera said: “I would do that funeral over again, also with the chopper and the petals”.
“It was hardly our fault if the pilot flew over the centre of Rome where he was not allowed? It was up to him to tell us it was forbidden”.
Asked why the music from the Godfather was played, she said “my father liked that song and we only carried out his wish”.
Insisting that her father was “not a boss” she dismissed Vespa’s citing the criminal record of her father including handling stolen goods and extortion.
“What other Casamonica’s do in Rome doesn’t interest me. I can’t be stuck with the crimes of other people,” she said. Several political parties, including Renzi’s centre-left PD, blasted RAI for giving a platform to Casamonica’s family.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: GM Food is Healthy: Expert Tells Milan Expo
Mexican scientist says GMOs needed to face global challenges
(ANSA) — Milan, September 10 — Genetically modified food is just as healthy as natural food and will be necessary to help beat challenges such as global hunger and malnutrition, GMO expert Luis Herrera Estrella said at Milan’s food and agriculture-focused Expo world fair.
Herrera Estrella, a Mexican biochemical engineer who co-authored a 1983 study that outlined the possibility of genetically modifying plants, said he was surprised by how few pavilions at the Expo were dealing with the issue of GM food.
He said GM food was not only “harmless” but also “necessary to beat challenges that can’t be faced any other way”.
He highlighted the benefits of GM crops, including their resistance to disease, insects and fungus, their high vitamin content, and their more efficient use of water.
Italy is one of several European countries who view GMOs with caution, citing environmental and health concerns.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Magistrate Handling Seized Mafia Assets Probed
Palermo’s Silvana Saguto in Caltanissetta investigation
(ANSA) — Palermo, September 9 — Prosecutors from Caltanissetta on Wednesday opened a probe for corruption and abuse of office against the head of the Palermo court’s preventive measures section, Silvana Saguto, who handles seized Mafia assets. Saguto is suspected of committing the alleged offences “with judicial administrators and members of her family”, a statement form the prosecutors said. Four months ago there were reports that the Mafia was plotting to kill Saguto.
Saguto denied the charges, saying there was “no doubt” that her conduct had been above board.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvini Has ‘Zero’ Interest in Senate Reform
Senator Paolo Romani says Forza Italia wants direct elections
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-immigrant, anti-Euro Northern League Party, on Monday told journalists he has “zero” interest in the debate on Senate reform, but rather is interested in the Fornero pension reform.
The so-called Fornero Law, passed at the height of the euro crisis in December 2011, raised retirement ages and left thousands of people without a job or pension.
The reform came under fire for erasing the pensions of thousands of so-called ‘esodati’ (exiled ones).
Meanwhile, Senator Paolo Romani of Forza Italia (FI) said that if the Senate reform bill wasn’t open to changes that would allow for direct election of Senators, “it won’t go anywhere”.
Romani called for an “opening on article 2”, one of the most contentious parts of the bill, which turns the Senate into an assembly of local-government representatives and strips the Senators of election by universal suffrage. Romani said that his party is “absolutely” unanimous in its desire for direct elections.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Broker Loses 9 Mn of Clients’ Money at Casino
Gives self up in tears
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — A financial broker frittered and gambled away over nine million euros of his clients’ money before giving himself up to police in tears, police said Monday.
A hardened gambler, most of the 9.4 went on casino gaming tables and other bets — but he also squandered it on fast cars and high living, they said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Luckily Trump Doesn’t Have Much Chance’ — Renzi
Italy PM says thinks polls are wrong
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday it was “lucky” Donald Trump didn’t have the chance that opinion polls were currently giving him to become the Republican presidential candidate. “I don’t think he has the chance that even today the polls attribute to him, luckily,” he said. “But we’ll see, there’s always time to get it wrong”, Renzi told a talk show on La7 TV.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Woman Sexually Assaulted Outside Primark in Edinburgh City Centre
Police have appealed for witnesses to help catch the man who carried out the ‘horrendous’ attack on the young woman in Princes Street in Edinburgh at around 4am on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Resurrection of Marx — End of Britain?
Jeremy Corbyn, the infamous Karl Marx admirer, has been elected UK opposition Labour leader.
Corbyn is really communist who professes an admiration for Karl Marx. He is the new face of Britain’s opposition Labour party which will help to make a British EU exit more likely. The Marxist sophistry is rob anyone who has more. They never understand that we all provide our piece of the economy that creates the whole. Many are starting to realize that this could be the downturn for Britain.
This is actually right on schedule for the other side of 2015.75 will be the battle of all time — Freedom v Authoritarianism. People like Corbyn will inspire violent and the overthrow of capitalism for what they think will be the betterment of man. They are idiots and dangerous ones at that for you cannot eradicate human nature. Yet they will try. I am routinely asked why to I resistance so persistently? What I do I do for my family and their future. If it were just me alone, I am ready to depart this world for I do not wish to live in the world Corbyn and others like him want to create. They cannot see that they seek to enslave me for their benefit. I am free and that is the true meaning of what Patrick Henry said so eloquently — “Give me freedom, or give me Death!” Death to me is preferable to living in their world of subjugation. You do not appreciate what those word so profoundly mean until you are confronted with the true evil of Marxists.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: How Can We Trust Jeremy Corbyn With Our Security? Max Hastings Asks
The new leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is a lifelong admirer of revolutionary liberation movements around the world, writes MAX HASTINGS.
Here at home, military and intelligence chiefs face an immediate security headache. Until Saturday, Corbyn topped the list of politicians unsafe to admit to secret security briefings, unfit to visit GCHQ, MI6, MI5 or SAS headquarters at Hereford. Now, as Labour leader, he is entitled to be granted admittance to the magic circle of those routinely informed about threats, capabilities and responses.
It will be tough, however, to pretend that such disclosure is welcome or easy, when for decades his best foreign friends have been enemies of this country and all that it stands for, people in some cases identified with lethal terror organisations. Corbyn’s favourite extremists are among the very people the security services are striving to defend us against. He embraces revolutionary groups of all hues, whether in Ireland, the Middle East or Latin America. While never declaring outright support for the IRA, he has for decades befriended the leaders of its political wing, Sinn Fein, and attended mourning events for terrorists killed by the security forces.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Jeremy Corbyn’s Union Pals Pledge Strike Chaos in Bid to Topple Government
Emboldened by Jeremy Corbyn’s dramatic election as Labour leader, militant chiefs warned they were ready to break the law to bring down the Tories and called for 6.5m trade union members to back them up.
[Comment: And so the communist agitation begins. Scroll down in the article to see the 15 step plan. This is what happens when you allow communists to run the unions. Indeed control of unions is an important step for communists. See the old b/w lecture from the 1950s on communism infiltration by State Dept head (incredibly at the time they were anti-communist.) ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Life Revealed by Quentin Letts
On May 26, 1949, Jeremy Bernard was born in rural Wiltshire to the intellectual, rather scruffy Corbyn family, writes QUENTIN LETTS. He was the youngest of four brothers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Drop Vip Westminster Paedophile Ring Murder Probe Over Lack of Evidence
Officers launched an investigation after a ‘witness’ made a series of claims, including that a girl had died during a VIP paedophile party at the Dolphin Square flats in Westminster.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 2 Mexicans Wounded in Egypt Attack Are Dual American Citizens
At least two Mexican tourists wounded Monday when Egyptian forces mistakenly fired upon a group during a desert safari are dual American citizens, the Dar al-Fouad hospital said. A total of 10 people were injured and 12 were killed.
Mexican Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu says the tourists were subject to an aerial attack.
Egyptian authorities say the four-car convoy entered a restricted area of the desert without permission while the army and police were chasing militants who were in SUVs similar to those used by the tourists.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is condemning the deaths and demanding a thorough investigation. Mexico’s Embassy in Cairo says it’s canceling Tuesday’s Independence Day celebration in the Egyptian capital.
Ibrahim Mehleb, Egypt’s acting prime minister, has visited several of the injured Mexican citizens.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fall of Algeria’s Spy Chief is Victory for President, But Nation’s Murky Politics to Persist
ALGIERS, Algeria — He was known as the “Lord of Algeria” and was the longest serving intelligence chief in the world — a J Edgar Hoover-like figure who dominated Algerian politics and had files on everyone.
Yet on Sunday, Mohamed “Toufik” Mediene was summarily fired by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, ending his 25-year tenure at the head of Algeria’s fearsome intelligence service, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security.
The downfall of Mediene could breathe new life into Algeria’s politics, which have been deadlocked over succession, even as falling oil prices threaten the country’s stability.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Beheads Egyptian in Western Desert
Witnesses, in same area where killed tourists were travelling
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, SEPTEMBER 14 — Eight jihadists with ISIS have beheaded an Egyptian in the Egyptian western desert and crucified him to a tree after accusing him of cooperating with police. According to local sources, the beheading yesterday occurred in the same area where tourists were killed in an anti-terror raid by Egyptian police.
Witnesses added that local residents asked for the police to intervene to find the killers who fled aboard a jeep, a similar model to the one used by tourists killed in the same area.
Meanwhile local sources said that the Egyptian army killed seven jihadists from ISIS also in the same area of el Wahat, in the western desert. Libyan sources stated that the jihadists had fled from Derna after being chased away by the Libyan army.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France to Conduct Airstrikes in Syria to Fight the Islamic State Group
French President Francois Hollande says his country will conduct airstrikes in Syria to fight the Islamic State group.
France made its first reconnaissance flights over Syria last week in order to plan a potential air operation.
Hollande confirmed that airstrikes “will be necessary in Syria,” in a news conference on Monday in Paris. He didn’t say when the operation will start.
Until now, France has only conducted airstrikes in Iraq as a member of the U.S.-led coalition, fearing that hitting at IS in Syria would ultimately help the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
On the Ground in Yemen, Emirati Troops Push Toward Rebel-Held Capital, Take Strategic City
As fighting rages on in Yemen, troops from the United Arab Emirates that are part of a Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels are pushing toward the country’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa, after securing a strategic provincial city, the commander of an Emirati contingent said Monday.
They hope their campaign will push the rebels out and help restore Yemen’s legitimate government. Emirati Brig. Gen. Ali Saif al-Kaabi told reporters during a visit to the front-lines, insisting the coalition forces were not “coming to occupy Yemen.”
The Emiratis are part of thousands of Saudi and UAE forces fighting on the ground in Yemen to reverse the territorial gains by the Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis, who captured Sanaa last year and much of the country’s north. The Saudi-led coalition launched its campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis in March.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia ‘Plans Forward Air Operating Base’ In Syria — US
Russia’s recent movements near Syria’s city of Latakia suggest that Moscow plans to establish a “forward air operating base” there, the US has said.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said there had been a steady flow of people and equipment in the coastal area.
Russia says military equipment is being sent to Syria to help the government combat the so-called Islamic State.
Moscow has been a key ally of President Assad during Syria’s bloody civil war, which began in 2011.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Shipping Tanks Into Syria, In ‘First Clear Sign of Offensive Weapons’
Russia’s military build-up in Syria has grown to include the shipment of a half-dozen highly sophisticated battle tanks — and more troops — a defense official told Fox News, in what the source called the “first clear sign of offensive weapons arriving in Syria.”
The Pentagon has now tracked a total of 15 Russian Antonov-124 Condor flights into Syria, reflecting a steady stream of military cargo into Syria. According to the latest intelligence, this also includes the arrival of two more Russian cargo ships, containing the tanks.
Up to this point, the official said, the Russian cargo and weapons that have been delivered to Syria could be viewed as defensive in nature. The arrival of tanks cannot be viewed this way.
The official said that Russian offensive operations could launch from Bassel Al-Assad International Airport “very soon.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Well Gosh, What Do You Know? Iran Discovers an ‘Unexpectedly High’ Reserve of Uranium
Just in case you were worried that, with Obama’s Iran nuclear deal in full effect, Iran would start lying (and of course we would believe them) about their nuclear capabilities: Don’t worry! That’s not the case at all. As it turns out, they were lying to our side even during the negotiations. Remember how Iran’s uranium reserves were supposed to be very low, and they would soon have to import uranium just to meet their entirely peaceful nuclear energy needs?
You know, it’s the funniest thing:
Iran has discovered an unexpectedly high reserve of uranium and will soon begin extracting the radioactive element at a new mine, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Saturday…
Now Iran is asking us to believe that they just discovered this, and up to now they had no idea their uranium reserves were this high.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kiev Condemns Berlusconi Visit to Crimea
‘Breaks law on entry into temporarily occupied territory’
(ANSA) — Moscow, September 14 — Kiev on Monday condemned the recent two-day visit to Crimea by ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it was a bid to legitimise the occupation of the peninsula.
In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said the September 11-12 visit broke Ukrainian norms on entry into “temporarily occupied territory”, adding that the visit “also contradicts EU policy” on the peninsula that Moscow annexed last year. Berlusconi met his old friend Putin at Sevastopol on Friday and laid a wreath at a monument for Italian dead in the Crimean War.
The following day he enjoyed walks with Putin along the banks of the Black Sea.
In its statement, the foreign ministry said: “This visit to occupied Crimea is a fresh attempt by the Russian federation to legtimise at all costs the illegal occupation and a demonstration of lack of respect for the state sovereignty of Ukraine”. Russian media featured Putin and Berlusconi’s visit prominently.
The leader of the centre-right Forza Italia party was the first former European premier to visit Crimea since Moscow’s annexation, which sparked the first package of western sanctions against Russia and created a new cold-war climate.
Previously the only leading western politician to set foot in Crimea were, in October, Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-euro, anti-immigrant Northern League, and, in July, former French transport minister Thierry Mariani.
The latter and his delegation ended up on Kiev’s blacklist and were banned from Ukraine for three years.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Australian PM Tony Abbott Ousted by Malcolm Turnbull
Australia is to have a new prime minister after Tony Abbott was ousted as leader of the centre-right Liberal Party by Malcolm Turnbull.
In the dramatic late night party leadership ballot, Mr Abbott, who had been plagued by poor opinion polls, received 44 votes to Mr Turnbull’s 54.
Mr Turnbull said he assumed that parliament would serve its full term, implying no snap general election.
The new leader will be Australia’s fourth prime minister since 2013.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Prime Minister Ousted in Internal Party Challenge
Australia’s ruling conservatives ousted beleaguered Prime Minister Tony Abbott as party leader Monday evening in a change that could signal a different Australian response to climate change and allow for a more moderate agenda that could include recognition of gay marriage.
Liberal Party members voted 54 to 44 to replace Abbott with former party leader and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who had called for the leadership ballot just hours earlier amid flagging opinion polls for the 2-year-old conservative coalition government.
A coalition government under Abbott last year repealed a 2-year-old carbon tax and replaced it with a policy of paying industrial polluters 2.55 billion Australian dollars ($1.8 billion) in taxpayer-funded incentives to operate more cleanly. The policy imposes no financial penalty for polluting and critics say it won’t be enough to reduce Australia’s heavy reliance on abundant reserves of cheap coal to generate electricity.
In his first news conference since he was elected party leader, Turnbull foreshadowed no changes to climate policy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Has a New Prime Minister: Ex-Goldman Partner Turnbull Overthrows Tony Abbott
And here’s BBC with what you need to know about Turnbull:
Who is Malcolm Turnbull?
Served as Minister for Communications under Mr Abbott, before resigning to launch a leadership challenge Many in his party dislike his support for climate change action and gay marriage Led the Liberal Party in opposition from 2008-2009 — but lost a leadership challenge to Mr Abbott by one vote Previously worked as a successful lawyer and businessman — defending former British spy Peter Wright in the “Spycatcher” case in the 1980s The punchline: Turnbull was Chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia from 1997-2001.
[Comment: Goldman-Sachs moving to overt display of power and control.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vodafone Australia Admits Hacking Fairfax Journalist’s Phone
Telecommunications company denies ‘improper behaviour’ after Vodafone employee accessed Natalie O’Brien’s phone records in an attempt to find out source of negative story
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syrians in Uruguay: A Developing Story of Domestic Violence?
Syrian refugees are in the news as they now invade Europe, but they made the news in Latin America earlier this year due to allegations of wife and child abuse.
The video below, which I posted in this morning’s Carnival after translating (below the fold since it starts right away), describes that, after Jose Mujica brought to the country forty-five* members of five families who arrived in October 2014, one of the priests at the Marist location housing them claimed to have witnessed one of the Syrian men repeatedly beat up his wife and children.
[*The number is not clear: While most reports refer to five families, the actual number of people varies from 42 to 45.]
The ensuing investigation was later tabled by the authorities, who decided that the matter was a misunderstanding that cleared up after the families left the Marist shelter for permanent housing (“pero que se solucionaron una vez abandonaron la casa de retiros de los Hermanos Maristas para ir a sus hogares definitivos”), while the local police did not contact directly any of the Syrians.
Ponder that for a moment.
The Syrians were promised before their arrival that no one would interfere with their customs. When the priest interrupted the beating and warned the man that domestic violence is against the law, the man demanded that he and his family be relocated to Europe.
In another instance, a Syrian boy was treated at the Pereira Rossell Hospital for an arm fracture caused by his father’s beating.
At the time Frances Martel reported…
| — Hat tip: Fausta | [Return to headlines] |
10,000 Syrians Are Headed for the Following 180 US “Refugee Processing Centers”
For the past several weeks it seemed as if Germany had truly become the promised land for Mideast asylum seekers, primarily those seeking to escape the Syrian civil (and global proxy) war, but according to various media reports, also a material number of “ISIS-linked terrorists.” Then it all came crashing down earlier today when Germany’s beloved by all refugees “Mutti” said genug, and with one decision shut down the border with Austria in the process unraveling decades of customs-union progress (following promptly by the Czech Republic doing the same, with Italy expected to follow suit in the hours ahead).
Ironically, just as Europe is shutting its doors to Syrian refugees, the US is opening its own.
On Friday, Obama said that the United States will admit 10,000 Syrian refugees for resettlement over the next 12 months, following criticism that America is not doing enough with Europe’s migrant crisis.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
5,000 Refugees Came to Denmark in One Week
At least 5,000 refugees and migrants have crossed Denmark’s borders since September 6th, the Danish National Police (Rigspolitet) said on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria, Slovakia Join Germany in Temporary Border Controls
Macedonia flooded with 6,000 migrants in just 24 hours
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — Austria and Slovakia announced Monday that they will follow Germany’s lead and institute temporary border checks at their border crossings, in response to the influx of immigrants into both countries, said Austria’s Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Slovakia’s Interior Minister Robert Kalinak.
Germany closed its borders starting Sunday for 12 hours in order to reinstate border controls, following a weekend that saw 19,100 immigrants enter Munich through Austria from Syria.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Macedonia — a landlocked nation bordered by Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania — registered 6,000 refugees who crossed the Greek border into the country in a span of just 24 hours and heading for northern Europe, government sources said.
The Serbian Red Cross said it expects the immigrant influx to continue to increase, and predicts that at least 20,000 immigrants will reach Serbia, a country which has already been crossed by 130,000 immigrants since the beginning of 2015.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
British PM in Jordan to Discuss Syrian Refugee Crisis
(ANSAmed) AMMAN, SEPTEMBER 14: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday held talks with Jordanian officials on crisis of Syrian refugees and military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Cameron arrived in Amman following a similar trip to Beirut, which comes as part of a tour in refugee hosting countries to discuss London’s refugee programme and their military involvement in the fight against IS. Besides hosting over a million Syrian refugees, Jordan is a main partner in the US lead coalition to attack IS in Syria and Iraq.
A visit to al Zaatari refugee camp comes on top of Cameron agenda, whose government is expected to pledge financial aid to Jordan to hope the cash strapped kingdom cope with influx of refugees.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a promise by the top British diplomat to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees from Middle East camps during a period of Five years.
Jordan is seeking aid from the UK and other countries to fund for hosting more than a million Syrians in camps.
“I’m at a refugee camp in Lebanon, hearing some heartbreaking stories,” he tweeted. “British aid is doing so much to help,” he said on his twitter account ahead of the visit to Jordan.
Visit of Cameron is expected to be the start of diplomatic furry in the region by western leaders as they seek to mitigate impact of the refugees crisis that saw hundreds of thousands of refugees cross to Europe recently.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bulgaria, Romania Tie Migrant Quotas to Schengen
Bulgaria and Romania will tie the adoption of mandatory migrant relocation quotas to their admission in the EU border-free Schengen zone, a senior Bulgarian government official has confirmed.
“Bulgaria and Romania share a stance different from (that of) the Visegrad Four”, Bulgarian deputy prime minister Meglena Kuneva told reporters on Wednesday (9 September), referring to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, who are reluctant to take compulsory burden-sharing quotas and insist on tightening EU external border controls instead.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cargo of Refugees, A Planned Invasion
Are they fleeing ISIS, civil war, and the economic circumstances created by Hillary Clinton’s “Arab Spring” or are they on a quest of colonizing the west?
Cargo after cargo of “refugees,” defiant young Muslims seeking a better life in non-Muslim countries with generous welfare programs, are arriving on the Mediterranean shores and at the border of small and much poorer countries than the rich Arab states bordering Syria. Even though they speak the same language, they are taking in zero “refugees” with the excuse that they are trying to minimize the threat of terrorism.
Instead of choosing refuge in Arab-speaking countries with the same religion, ethnic groups, and form of government, the young Muslims choose the very countries they despise whose religion they want to destroy and replace with their own.
These “refugees” are so deprived, sporting leisurely well-dressed tourist attire with cell phones, are throwing packages of Red Cross bottled water and food onto railroad tracks in a Budapest train station because a cross is offensive to their religion.
Those who decided to walk to Germany and Sweden, impatient to get there sooner than later, have left tons of garbage on the side of highways. I wonder how polluting their surroundings with trash, which is regular occurrence in third world nations, is going to mesh with the Germans’ strict cleanliness rules, associated fines, and obsessive and punctilious care for the environment?
These young men in their 20s-30s with a few women of the same age and a few children in tow, if they are fleeing war as they say, are really cowardly for having left behind most women, children, and the extended families and the elderly to fend for themselves in a dangerous and economically strapped zone. The Syrian conflict was exacerbated by the insane Arab Spring fomented under the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
[…]
Eastern Europeans are furious that they must take in “refugees” when their own men leave their families behind and migrate to Spain, Italy, Germany, and Great Britain in search of jobs because their economies are plagued by severe unemployment, the result of national political corruption and EU’s socialist policies from Brussels.
Furthermore, white professionals in Europe are denied visas to the U.S. while our administration is bringing in illegal immigrants every month and rolling out the red carpet for illiterate Somalis, Hispanics, and other assorted Muslims from other countries that have no intention of assimilating into our culture.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU OKs 40,000 Migrant Resettlement From Italy, Greece
‘Arrivals from August 2015 to September 2017’
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 14 — EU interior ministers on Monday approved resettling 40,000 migrants from Italy (24,000) and Greece (16,000) over two years. The decision concerns asylum seekers who arrived or will arrive between August 15 2015 and September 16, 2017. The ministers were meeting Monday to agree new migrant and refugee policies.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s refugee crisis is getting worse by the day.
Less than 24 hours after Germany announced it would impose border controls with Austria, followed promptly by the Czech Republic, Slovenia and now the Netherlands, German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel predicted that as many as 1 million refugees may arrive by the end of the year as other nations moved to fortify their frontiers.
As Bloomberg notes, the revised prediction “underscored how quickly the numbers fleeing to Germany are spiraling upward. The official government estimate, released just a few weeks ago, is for roughly 800,000 in 2015, nearly four times the 2014 figure.“
Felix Braz, the justice minister of Luxembourg, underscored the severity of the situation: “Of course, the idea is not to prolong this, but it’s a short-term measure that should be in place for as short a time as possible,” “A lot will depend on what comes out of Brussels this afternoon.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Data: U.S. Annually Admits Quarter of a Million Muslim Migrants
A Breitbart News review of State Department and Homeland Security data reveals that the United States already admits more than a quarter of a million Muslim migrants each year. President Obama intends to add another 10,000 Syrian migrants on top of that.
In 2013 alone, 117,423 migrants from Muslim-majority countries were permanently resettled within the United States— having been given lawful permanent resident status. Additionally in 2013, the United States voluntarily admitted an extra 122,921 temporary migrants from Muslim countries as foreign students and foreign workers as well as 39,932 refugees and asylees from Muslim countries.
Thus, twelve years after the September 11th hijackers were invited into the country on temporary visas, the U.S. decided to admit 280,276 migrants from Muslim countries within a single fiscal year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland to Upgrade Controls at Border With Sweden
Finland will soon start intensifying controls at its border with Sweden, interior minister Petteri Orpo announced Monday. Orpo said the situation was “out of control” after 1,600 asylum seekers crossed the northern border in the last few days, but that Finland does not plan full border controls for now.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France to Insist on Refugee Control Centres
French president François Hollande is demanding control centres for refugees be set up in EU border countries like Greece, Italy and Hungary. His call comes ahead of a crucial EU ministers meeting in Brussels.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Eastern EU States ‘Must’ Fall in Line on Migrants
French EU affairs minister, Harlem Desir, said in Brussels Monday “all 28” EU states “must” agree to an “obligatory and permanent” scheme to redistribute migrants, referring to opposition from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. He said it’s “unacceptable” that France, Germany, and Sweden take “90%” of asylum seekers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France Ready for Migrant Controls at Italy Border
‘If situation repeats itself’ says Cazeneuve
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 14 — French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday that “instructions have already been given” to re-establish controls at the French border with Italy “if a situation identical to that of some weeks ago repeats itself,” referring to thousands of migrants massed at Ventimiglia. France on that occasion mustered a large police operation to stop the migrants.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France Wants Refugee Centres in Italy, Greece, Hungary
Hollande says measure needed to have EU border respected
(ANSA) — Paris, September 14 — French President Francois Hollande on Monday called for the establishment of EU centres for the registration of migrants and refugees in Italy, Greece and Hungary. “Today we’ll make it so that the conclusions (of the meeting of EU interior ministers) enable Europe to respect its border and have it respected,” Hollande said. “In concrete terms, this means the creation of registration centres in Greece, Italy and Hungary to avoid what is happening today.
That’s the position that France and Germany will push through.
We’ll be extremely vigilant and push extremely hard”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Frontex Should Deport Migrants With EU Cash — Alfano
European money should finance repatriations says minister
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 14 — Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano on Monday said EU border agency Frontex should be tasked with deporting migrants whose asylum requests are denied. “In our opinion, Frontex should do the deportations,” Alfano said on his way into a meeting of EU interior ministers. “It should be Europe’s responsibility and European money is needed to organise the repatriations”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Bonn Elects First Mayor With Indian Background
History has been made in the former German capital after the CDU’s Ashok-Alexander Sridharan became the city’s first mayor from an immigrant background. But he told DW that his roots were irrelevant to his campaign.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Border Policy Worries Greek Officials
A decision by the German government to tighten inspections along its border with Austria has fueled serious concerns in Athens as thousands of refugees and migrants continue to arrive on Greece’s islands from neighboring Turkey.
Greek government officials warn that the move could lead to the collapse of the country’s already problematic system of response to the migration crisis. Greek officials fear that, if the inspections in Germany remain in place, thousands of refugees and migrants could become “trapped” in Greece, Kathimerini understands.
An official service for the management of European Union subsidies for tackling immigration and asylum applications started operating on Monday, paving the way for the release of EU aid that Greece desperately needs to respond to a burgeoning migration crisis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Resumes Train Service as Refugee Crisis Intensifies
Germany resumed train service from Austria Monday after suspending it for about 12 hours in an attempt to better prepare for the wave of Syrian refugees streaming across its border.
Germany has been the final destination for many refugees trying to escape the violence in their homeland that has them caught between President Bashar Assad’s forces and terror groups like ISIS. They have either traveled over land via Turkey and the Balkans or braved the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing to Italy or Greece.
The temporary halt to train service was “not about a closing of borders and absolutely not a suspension of the basic rights to asylum,” Germany’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel insisted, defending the weekend’s border controls in a letter to his Social Democratic Party.
Gabriel estimates the country will take in 1 million refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia this year. The number of people expected to seek refugee status has grown from initial estimates of 800,000.
Meantime, dozens of Hungarian police are blocking a key rail passing, halting hundreds of migrants in their tracks. Police say they plan to block the rail line itself later with a train cargo container.
Police are instead directing migrants to head through farm fields to Hungary’s nearest approved border crossing 1 mile to the west.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Despair for Drowned Children Off Farmakonisi
Greek divers trawled the Aegean Sea on Monday for survivors of the country’s worst maritime accident involving refugees, as officials reacted with despair at the scene of the tragedy in which 15 babies and children drowned.
In all, 34 people died and nearly 100 were rescued after their small wooden boat capsized early on Sunday off the tiny island of Farmakonisi, less than 10 km (6 miles) from the Turkish coast.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Coast Guard Rescues 1,429 People Since Friday
Greece’s coast guard said Monday it had rescued 1,429 people at sea in 58 incidents off the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Agathonissi, Kos, Symi and Rhodes over the weekend, from Friday morning until Monday morning.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Taking Migrants to Austrian Border
Hungary has effectively stopped registering thousands of refugees crossing the border from Serbia and is transporting them straight to the Austrian frontier, the UN refugee agency said on Monday.
“Our information is that special trains are taking migrants from Röszke (train) station direct without stopping to the Austrian border,” Erno Simon, UNHCR Regional Representative for Central Europe, told AFP.
He said this was “approximately a four-hour journey, yesterday (Sunday) three such trains left carrying at least 2,000 people. During the night our colleagues saw police waking people up at the border collection point.”
There was no immediate comment from the Hungarian government about the development, which matches comments made by migrants to an AFP correspondent at the flashpoint town of Röszke near the Serbian border.
Hungary is supposed to give asylum seekers medium-term housing in refugee camps, of which Hungary has several, although they are reportedly full.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Interior Ministers in Asylum Showdown
Interior ministers in Brussels on Monday (14 September) are set to determine the fate of 160,000 asylum seekers.
The gathering follows mounting resistance to make relocation proposals mandatory, Hungary’s refusal to take part, and Germany’s recent decision to impose temporary border control checks with Austria.
Despite the recent developments, ministers on Monday are still set to adopt an initial plan to relocate 40,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece over the next two years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Unity Eludes EU on Relocation
EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels have agreed in principle to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers around the 28-nation bloc.
However, there was no agreement on a plan for mandatory quotas which some states are strongly opposed to.
Earlier, more European countries introduced temporary border checks, hours after Germany imposed controls on its border with Austria.
Tough new border controls come into force in the next hour in Hungary.
On Monday, police in Hungary completed a fence designed to stop thousands of migrants who have been crossing the border from Serbia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands Reinstates Border Controls
After Germany, Austria, Slovakia
(ANSA) — Rome, September 14 — Netherlands on Monday restored border controls after Germany, Austria and Slovakia did so earlier to try to stem a massive influx of migrants and refugees.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Orban to Border Police: ‘Defend Hungary’
‘We don’t want worldwide movement to change’ the country
(ANSA-AP) — BUDAPEST — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told police bound for the Serbian border that they must “defend Hungary and Europe” and “protect our way of life.”
In a ceremony Monday at Budapest’s grandiose Heroes Square, where statues honor the founding fathers of Hungary, Orban told more than 800 officers that new laws on Tuesday would allow them to arrest and charge those who get through the country’s new border fence with criminal offenses that can end in prison or deportation.
Orban said he hoped the new measures would deter foreigners from traveling into Hungary. He says “Hungary is a country with a thousand-year-old Christian culture. We Hungarians don’t want the worldwide movement of people to change Hungary.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Merkel Was Wrong to Welcome Migrants
Polish EU affairs minister Rafal Trzaskowski said in Brussels Monday Germany’s decision to reimpose border checks shows German leader Angela Merkel should “reconsider whether to change her approach (on migrants), because declarations that we (the EU) are ready to accept an uncontrolled wave (of people) ends in such drastic decisions”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: EU’s Outside Borders Must be Secured
Warsaw said that country can handle over 2,000 refugees
(ANSA-AP) — ROMA — Poland’s prime minister says the European Union’s outside borders must be strictly controlled in the face of a huge surge of immigrants. Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz also said Monday that Poland would restore its own border controls if it saw any outside threats. She did not elaborate.
The EU’s interior ministers are discussing how to share 160,000 asylum seekers among the bloc’s 28 nations at a meeting Monday in Brussels. Kopacz said Poland will not agree to the refugee quota — some 12,000 people — that the EU wants it to accept. She says “we will accept the number of refugees that we can afford, not one more, not one less.” Poland says it can handle over 2,000 refugees.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Influx is Muslim Colonization
Blind, deaf and woefully not dumb, Western nations have announced how their humanitarian consciences are driving them to welcome hundreds of thousands of “migrants” pouring out of Syria in ISIS’ wake.
While the poorer countries of Hungary and Greece propose measures to stem the tide of Muslims washing up on their shores, Germany’s Angela Merkel can’t wait to embrace 800,000 of these individuals. And Secretary of State John Kerry badgers the Senate to accept another 100,000 refugees this year when nearly one-third of America’s population is jobless.
However, enormous American unemployment numbers and Germany’s waning workforce are not the crux of the problem with receiving refugees representing only one worldview—a religious group that is not compatible with Western law. A mere fraction of this influx coming to Europe and the United States are Yezidi or other minorities, and virtually none are Christian.
Taking the long look at history, Islam’s growth has depended on violent incursion into the established Christian world. After Mohammed’s beginning the Muslim sweep through Arabia, continuing west across North Africa, the native peoples were conquered in just 70 years, from which point the caliphate invaded Iberia by way of Gibraltar. Where necessary, Mohammed’s successors utilized any available strategy to further their purpose of forcing the Arab tribal lifestyle upon each people they encountered and eventually overran. To this day radical Islam tactics have not changed (taxation, forced conversion and displacement) as this influx of Europe, and what is proposed for America, is more than an invasion, it is Muslim colonization.
Simply watch the Syrian hordes floating across the Mediterranean to swarm the Greek isles, and the North Africans fleeing the American-made mess in Libya. Rather than traveling overland to the wealthy Muslim nations that could more easily house and feed their brothers, they brave the high seas with nothing more than the clothes on their back and the latest generation smart phones, snapping selfies along the way.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trapped in Serbia: Migrants Rush for Border as Hungary Shuts Crossings
Hungary made final preparations to shut its border with Serbia on Monday as throngs of desperate migrants from war-torn Syria and beyond rushed to make it through a single crossing before midnight.
It was chaos at the Horgos II border post, where Hungarian police allowed only a few migrants at a time through a small gate, a line of hopefuls snaking down the road into Serbia.
The situation confused many of the migrants, who expected that the tighter restrictions would begin Tuesday. Many of them had walked a mile from a popular railroad crossing near the village of Roszke after it was locked down by Hungarian riot police.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Amazing Significance of What a Mother-to-be Eats
New research reveals the extraordinary impact that your mother’s diet at the time of your conception has on the rest of your life, writes Michael Mosley.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
On Corbyn…. Can’t you see him for what he is? The “Moslem Commooooneeeeteee” will vote for him in droves. They already control 25% of the Eletorate-it is so bad Cameron is trying to change the boundaries. The we have Sadiq Khan as the putative mayor of London- a London now almost a Moslem city. Corbyn is useful as a temporary foil and nuisance to Camerov and co but as an Opposition Leader the man is incredibly dangerous. The Moslems vote en masse and strategically.
Don’t underestimate them nor Corbyn. Even as Opposition Leader he can cause a real problem to the remains of Britain. If he becomes Prime Minister- and there is a 54% chance he will as people increasingly hate the Tories and the EU-especially if he elects to join the anti EU camp- go figure? Not rocket science is it?
He favours mass Moslem migration. Khan gets into London as Mayor and you can guess the rest? It is called “relational Manoeuvre” used by weaker attackers against stronger foes,:often deployed against enemies who have larger resources- a type of Trojan Horse hidden in plain view. Churchill used it to great effect. Britain is divided on three fronts now. Mass Migration, EU, Scottish Independence. The Establishment is onto these but not the major threat coming up behind them through Corbyn. Once they have London and the August riots of 2011 were a test and probe you can see where this will lead. London is strategically vital to the Kingdom’s survival as is the City of London. Sharia Law is a very possible reality in a few years even sooner. The mass migrations to Europe in the guise of “refugees” to overflow and confuse an already weakened Europe divided against itself. Corbyn’s accession as a Moslem favouring Opposition Leader is no accident or “popular choice”. Our enemies are behind this and collaborating with others like those pushing mass migration and faked child-women poses to garner sympathy from the usual “Liberals”.
I learned this stuff while in War School years ago.
>>UK: Police Drop Vip Westminster Paedophile Ring Murder Probe Over Lack of Evidence <<
It's hard to find evidence.
Servando Gonzalez has an interesting post on The Donald.
With the British Labour Party now firmly embedded in the intractable hard Left of Communism, it is truly mind boggling for the British Prime Minister to be labelling them as a national security threat when under his own watch he has allowed the intrusion of so many thousands of Muslims who have not been fully vetted, and due to that lapse of duty to protect the realm, must now be considered by any free thinking person to be an even greater threat to British national security than a political party that has completely lost the plot. Hypocrite!
Farewell Tony Abbott, one of Australia’s shortest serving Prime Ministers. Your dedication to this country is undoubted and much appreciated by those who took the time to look beyond their brand of politics unlike those who cannot look past their own sense of entitlement and utopia, while branding those who do not share their ideals as being less than human, and so therefore a target to zero in on, even to the most trivial of mistakes that to the Australian media was amplified into unforgivable offences. In my 64 years of life on this planet I have never before witnessed such hate and vilification of a political leader who only ever had this country’s best interest at heart.