Interior ministers for the European Union approved a plan to distribute 120,000 (some reports say 160,000) “refugees” among the member states of the EU. The distribution is mandatory, and member states that fail to comply will face fines. Slovakia, Romania, Czechia, and Hungary voted against the plan, while Finland abstained.
In other news, two Canadians and a Norwegian were among the tourists captured by gunmen at an island resort in the Philippines. There’s no evidence so far on the affiliation of the kidnappers, but it is thought that a local Islamist group may be responsible.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, DC, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Nick, 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.
Catholic Economists: Indonesia is Strong Enough to Overcome the Current Crisis
Two ex-seminarians, now experts in finance, intervene in a debate on the monetary crisis in Indonesia. The rupiah is at its lowest level in 17 years. According to economists, however, the situation is better than the crisis of 1998 and 2008: “We cannot predict when this situation will end, but fear should not slow down development.”
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — The Indonesian economy “has strong enough foundations to address the crisis of these days”, maintains Prasetyantaka, a former seminarian and a professor of economics at the Catholic University of Atma Jaya, who spoke at a meeting, held in Jakarta by Catholic leaders, to discuss the financial uncertainty that is hitting Indonesia. The population is frightened following the sudden drop of the national currency (rupiah) now at its lowest level in 17 years against the dollar, trading at 14,445.
In the general public’s eyes the recent crisis is a “ghost” of the two most serious economic crises that plagued the country in 1998 and 2008. That of ‘98 forced President Suharto from power after 32 years of authoritarian rule.
According Prasetyantaka, these fears are not entirely justified. Citing recent data — the growth rate of 4.7%; inflation at 7%; public debt at 24% and bank interest rates at 7% — the economist concludes that the financial health of the country is much better than that seen during the two economic crises: “The question is how long will this market uncertainty last” .
For the professor, the causes of the slowdown in growth, the pressure on the currency and the decline of investment in the country, are the result of both external and internal factors. From the external point of view, devaluations of the yuan last month have had an important role. Internally, the as of yet inconclusive process of political consolidation and the halt in state investments have had a marked impact.
Even Theodurus Wiryawan — former seminarian and now a management consultant — thinks that Indonesia can survive the devaluation of the currency, even if the rupiah falls to 16.000 per dollar. According to the consultant, “the market will find strategies to overcome the situation. At present, however, it is unknown when this situation will end, but we must not let the data depressants slow down our development. There are still many opportunities the market”- concludes Wiryawan.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Bank Review Holds Key to 3 Billion-Euro Payment, EU Says
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will need to enact banking-sector reforms to unlock 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in bailout funds set aside for Europe’s most indebted nation, according to Thomas Wieser, head of the Euro Working Group.
The money is slated to be paid out in two installments if Tsipras and euro-area nations can reach a deal on specific conditions for release, Wieser, who prepares euro-area finance ministers’ meetings, said in an interview on Monday in Brussels.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Low-Rate Environment: Canadian Household Debt Hits Record High as Consumer Spending Surges
The Bank of Canada has kept interest rates at near record lows for several years. From central bank chief Mark Carney to today’s Stephen Poloz, Canada has experienced some of the lowest rates on record. This has kept borrowing costs at all-time lows (for now), but also a plethora of unintended consequences.
One of these unintended consequences is the skyrocketing household debt from coast to coast.
According to a new report from Equifax, Canadian consumers had $1.568 trillion worth of consumer debt in the second quarter of this year. This is equal to $21,164 of debt per Canadian, which has gone up two percent in the past year.
Here are the debt loads per province:…
Perhaps Canadians believe to become prosperous is to spend their way out of their perpetual indebtedness.
This is what Liberal leader Justin Trudeau advocates in the current campaign cycle. So why wouldn’t consumers follow his rhetoric?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
There Are Indications That a Major Financial Event in Germany Could be Imminent
Is something about to happen in Germany that will shake the entire world?
According to disturbing new intel that I have received, a major financial event in Germany could be imminent. Now when I say imminent, I do not mean to suggest that it will happen tomorrow. But I do believe that we have entered a season of time when another “Lehman Brothers moment” may occur. Most observers tend to regard Germany as the strong hub that is holding the rest of Europe together economically, but the truth is that serious trouble is brewing under the surface. As I write this, the German DAX stock index is down close to 20 percent from the all-time high that was set back in April, and there are lots of signs of turmoil at Germany’s largest bank. There are very few banks in the world that are more prestigious or more influential than Deutsche Bank, and it has been making headlines for all of the wrong reasons recently.
Just like we saw with Lehman Brothers, banks that are “too big to fail” don’t suddenly collapse overnight. The truth is that there are always warning signs in advance if you look closely enough.
In early 2014, shares of Deutsche Bank were trading above 50 dollars a share. Since that time, they have fallen by more than 40 percent, and they are now trading below 29 dollars a share.
It is common knowledge that the corporate culture at Deutsche Bank is deeply corrupt, and the bank has been exceedingly reckless in recent years.
If you are exceedingly reckless and you win all the time, that is okay. Unfortunately for Deutsche Bank, they have increasingly been on the losing end of things…
At one point, it was estimated that Deutsche Bank had a staggering 75 trillion dollars worth of exposure to derivatives. Keep in mind that German GDP for an entire year is only about 4 trillion dollars. So when Deutsche Bank finally collapses, there won’t be enough money in Europe (or anywhere else for that matter) to clean up the mess. This is a perfect example of why I am constantly hammering on the danger of these “weapons of financial mass destruction”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
by Catherine Neilan
Greece’s former finance minister and one-time golden boy Yanis Varoufakis has hit back at his critics, claiming Europe’s leaders ‘bullied’ Alexis Tsipras into agreeing the final terms of the bailout this summer.
In an open letter to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the game theorist claims Tsipras was subject to “unbearable bullying, to naked blackmail, to inhuman pressures”. European leaders orchestrated a “dastardly coup” against the Greek leader “and Greek democracy”, he added.
Varoufakis, who resigned in July, had distanced himself from the weekend’s vote in which Syriza won with a smaller majority than in January, calling them a “sad parliamentary election — which could not, and did not, produce a parliament capable of implementing a viable reform program for Greece”.
Renzi told his Democratic Party leaders that his dissent had failed to make an impact, saying: “Whoever tries to wound his party by seceding, he dies at the ballot box. And this Varoufakis…we got rid of him.”
But Varoufakis was not taking that sitting down.
“Renzi presents me as an apostate who left Syriza and is now in the political wilderness,” he wrote this morning. “The truth is more sobering. Unlike many of my comrades, I remained loyal to the Syriza platform that saw us elected on 25 January as a united party that brought hope to the Greek and European peoples. Hope for what? Hope for a permanent end to the extend-and-pretend bailout loans, which cost Europe dearly, condemned Greece to permanent depression and foreshadowed failed policies for the rest of Europe.”
Varoufakis continued: “[Renzi] can rejoice as much as you like about the fact that I am no longer finance minister, not even in Parliament. But you did not ‘get rid’ of me. I am alive and kicking politically, as people in Italy remind me when I walk the streets of your beautiful country.
“No, what you got rid of, by participating in that dastardly coup against Alexis Tsipras and Greek democracy last July, was your own integrity as a European democrat. Possibly your soul too. thankfully this is not irreversible. But you need to make serious amends. I cannot wait to see you return to the ranks of Europe’s democrats.”
Varoufakis is not the only political leader to have been slammed by Renzi in recent days. The Italian PM said last week the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader would make “Cameron the happiest of all”, suggesting that the left wing party did not want to win the next General Election.
“It’s not a question of being Blairite or anti-Blairite, it’s a matter of ‘Do you want to go to elections like you go to the Olympics, to win or to participate’?,” he said in speech to his party.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
“VW Was Actually Helping the Little Guy.”
Ingenious, really. We need more companies like this.
[The story reads like the most paranoid anti-corporate fantasy, until you get to the line where the firm admits what it did….In the VW case, code was written into the engine-control software to detect the pattern of pedal and steering operations characteristic of an emissions test. Then, and only then, the car’s emissions-control machinery would kick in. Once the test was over, the software noticed that, too, and returned to normal — that is to say, illegally and dangerously dirty — operations, at about 40x the permitted — and advertised — level of nitrous oxide emissions.]
Essentially By bypassing the “software” version of the catalytic converter… So this is just awesome, VW drivers should be seeing better mileage as a result, I wouldn’t want to bring my car in for the mechanical fix, and unless the state emissions inspection stations figure a way to test without hooking it up to a computer, this maybe the lowest rate of cars to be fixed in a recall.
And guess what the government didn’t even figure it out, it was an independent private (non-government) lab that was doing other research. So GM (aka Government Motors) didn’t want to be embarrassed; assessed a putatively high fine, and because the embarrassed the Obama EPA. The government got back at VW by fining VW 20x’s the amount they fined GM (aka Government Motors) for killing/murdering 174 people. So VW killed/murdered zero people, and contributed nothing to global cooling, global warming, climate change whatever they’re calling it these days, in any case no scientific method yet has proven the theory.
| — Hat tip: DC | [Return to headlines] |
Alstom to Win US Train Deal From Amtrak: Senator
The US branch of France’s Alstom is in line to win a big piece of US railroad Amtrak’s $2.5 billion next-generation high-speed rail project, Senator Charles Schumer said Monday.
The powerful New York senator said Amtrak is expected to announce the choice of Alstom, which builds trains in Hornell in western New York, as a key supplier in the deal on Tuesday.
Schumer stressed in a statement that the government-controlled Amtrak is choosing Alstom to exclusively negotiate a final contract for the deal, “with the goal of final approval by the end of December 2015.”
“This impending decision by the board paves the way for Alstom to build the next-generation high-speed trains that will operate on the Northeast Corridor and is a monumental victory for upstate manufacturing,” the statement said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ben Carson’s Take on Islam Wins Support on the Right
On Monday, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson was bailed out of the controversy over his views of Islam by an unexpected ally. Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called a news conference to “ask Mr. Ben Carson to withdraw from the presidential race.”
The mild disrespect of calling a medical doctor “mister” was apparently unintentional, but the sheer audacity of CAIR’s ask lit a fire on the right. CAIR, which plays a role in Islamic controversies similar to the one the Anti-Defamation League plays in Jewish ones, is not viewed that way by elements of the conservative movement. To many, like Center for Security Policy founder Frank Gaffney, it’s viewed as a veritable fifth column that may be “engaged in money-laundering foreign funds to pay for civilizational jihad here.” The mainstream media’s stenographic coverage of CAIR and Carson sent some leading conservative voices into Carson’s camp.
“We are confronting a problem called sharia that is the authoritative version of Islam, not practiced by a lot of Muslims, but those who do have an obligation to force it on the rest of us,” Gaffney told liberal radio host Alan Colmes. “It is absolutely anti-constitutional.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Carly Fiorina: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin ‘Have a Lot in Common’
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina took a jab at fellow contender Donald Trump by comparing him to “KGB guy” Vladimir Putin on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show.”
Pressed Monday night on reports that Mr. Trump and the Russian president may have plans to meet, Ms. Fiorina snarked: “The two of them have a lot in common, actually. But we’ll just leave it at that.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s President to Meet Tech Titans, Visit Boeing in Start to U.S. Visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet U.S. tech titans and tour Boeing Co’s (BA.N) biggest factory and Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) sprawling campus near Seattle this week as he kicks off a U.S. visit that also includes a black-tie state dinner at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama.
U.S. government and business leaders aim to strike a balance between forging agreements and improving relations with the world’s second-largest economy, while sending strong messages about allegations of Chinese cyber spying and intellectual property violations as well as Web censorship and China’s disputed territorial claims to islands in the South China Sea.
For the Chinese side, Xi’s meetings with Obama and U.S. business leaders offer the chance to bolster the president’s stature at home, building on a high-profile military parade earlier this month to mark the end of World War Two, while deflecting attention from the country’s recent stock market rout, slowing economy and a chemical explosion at a Tianjin warehouse that killed over 160 people.
No policy breakthroughs are likely during Xi’s U.S. trip, which is due to begin with meetings with executives in Seattle and end with a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 28.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Slim Down
Gov. Chris Christie wants the leader of New Jersey’s National Guard to shape up. The governor has given Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael Cunniff 90 days to slim down and meet his obligations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
CIA, FBI and Much of US Military Aren’t Doing the Most Basic Things to Encrypt Email
It’s no secret that FBI Director James Comey is somewhat clueless about encryption — to the point that he doesn’t even realize that stronger encryption will actually better protect Americans. But it seems to go beyond that. Apparently he’s so clueless about encryption that he doesn’t realize that it will help protect FBI agents. Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai has a great story over at Vice Motherboard concerning key parts of our government that should understand the importance of keeping emails secret, that have failed to take the most basic steps in securing email communications. And the FBI is one of the agencies that has not done so. Ditto with the CIA. Or most branches of the military (the Air Force — which used to run the US cybersecurity efforts — is the one exception).
Specifically, the article focuses on the use of STARTTLS, which is used to encrypt emails in transit between service providers (it’s not nearly as secure as doing full end-to-end encryption of the messages like PGP — in which case the email providers can’t read your email — but it’s a key tool for at least protecting your messages in transit between those providers). Most email systems use STARTTLS these days. Gmail has offered it since it launched over a decade ago. And for STARTTLS to work, both sides of the email provider chain need to be using it. Google has published stats on how much of the emails sent via Gmail are able to be sent with STARTTLS for a little while now and it keeps going up, such that these days, it’s pretty rare for email providers not to offer STARTTLS — with 80% of outbound mail and 61% of inbound mail using it. Yet the US military, the CIA and the FBI don’t use it (the NSA does, because they’re no dummies about encryption). Google and others in the tech industry have been begging email providers to use STARTTLS for a while, but apparently the US government, including agencies that you’d figure would want to protect secrets, apparently still hasn’t figured this out.
When Franceschi-Bicchierai asked the Defense Department why most of the military doesn’t support it, he got a nonsensical answer:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Civil War Photos Raised Familiar Questions About War Dead
Every day we are bombarded with images of violence and conflict. And every day we have to judge which are acceptable as legitimate journalism, which are propaganda and which are merely voyeurism. Do we look — or avert our gaze? A new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, shows these questions are not new.
In 1862 Alexander Gardner, a commercial photographer, packed his camera and darkroom into his “war wagon” and travelled to view the aftermath of Sharpsburg.
There, 23,000 Americans had been killed, wounded or missing in the worst single day of fighting of the US Civil War. The photos Gardner took were shown in a New York exhibition called The Dead of Antietam.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Clock Controversy Risks Backfiring for Obama as Critics Cast Doubt on Narrative
President Obama’s public backing of a Texas high school freshman, who got national headlines last week when his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb by teachers, could be causing a headache for the White House and other supporters as questions are being raised about the motives in the case.
Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Napolitano said that if the whole thing was a fraud, and the family was involved, they could be open to legal charges.
“It now appears as though this was a purposeful hoax,” Napolitano told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Monday. “If the parents were involved now you have a fraud going on as you have funds going on for him right now,” he said, adding that the two funds to raise money for the family now amount to over $20,000.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Experts: California Drought, Fire Crisis Man-Made
The ‘political class’ has ‘done absolutely nothing — zero — to prepare the state’
The economic price tag is staggering and growing by the minute, with a recent study from the University of California, Davis, estimating the 2015 cost to the state at close to $3 billion.
A UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences analysis found that the water shortage was squeezing about 30 percent more workers and crop land out of production compared with 2014.
More than 20,000 jobs will be lost in 2015 due to the shortages, the researchers found. Some communities were especially hard hit, with wells running dry and unemployment soaring.
Another study on the water shortage, conducted by researchers at Fresno State University, found even more severe impacts, predicting as much as $3.3 billion in agricultural losses alone.
Effects on public health are also evident, with increased instances of Valley Fever, West Nile Virus and diarrheal illness that experts blame on the water crisis.
Potential increases in mental health issues, including anxiety, stress and depression, are also linked to the shortages, researchers said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Family of Florida Boy Poisoned by Fumigation Chemicals Sues Terminix
The family of a boy who suffered severe brain damage after being exposed to fumigation chemicals in his home has filed a lawsuit against Terminix and a subcontractor named Sunland alleging slapdash practices.
In August, Peyton McCaughey’s family contacted Terminix to deal with a termite problem in their house. The 10-year-old Palm City, Florida boy suffered a catastrophic brain injury and has lost 90% of his motor skills and ability to speak because of the chemicals used in the fumigation. A family spokesman says the child cannot even lift his head.
“They were negligent in the administration of the fumigation, conducting the fumigation and not having the home properly ventilated after the fumigation was done,” said Bill Williams, the McCaugheys’ lawyer.
“He sustained an inhalation, an exposure to pesticides in the fumigation process and unfortunately has sustained a traumatic brain injury,” said Williams.
After the August 16 fumigation, Sunland told the McCaugheys it was safe to go back into the home. But the whole family got sick and young Peyton got worse instead of better. The youngster is facing months of rehabilitation in the hopes that he may be able to recover some of his abilities.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Health Insurance Deductibles Outpacing Wage Increases, Study Finds
Beth Landrum put off getting an M.R.I. that her doctor had recommended after the deductible on her family’s health plan increased to $3,300 a year. Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times
It may not seem like much — just an extra hundred dollars or so a year.
But the steady upward creep in health insurance deductibles has easily outpaced the average increase in a worker’s wages over the last five years, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Kaiser, a health policy research group that conducts a yearly survey of employer health benefits, calculates that deductibles have risen more than six times faster than workers’ earnings since 2010.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Huma Abedin’s Twitter Debut, On Ben Carson, Draws Some Ugly Replies
Hillary Clinton’s closest aide, Huma Abedin, made what is being described as her debut on Twitter, going after Republican presidential candidate and retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson without naming him. Whether she really wants to look at the responses she got is another matter.
Carson, on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, when asked whether someone should be president regardless of faith, responded that it “depends on what what that faith is,” and declared if that faith were Islam, “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Let’s teach our children that we are, in fact, not white, but simply Jewish.
By Gil Steinlauf
I find the reality of American racism unbearable: the legacy of slavery; the institutional discrimination that is so pervasive; the scourge of mass incarceration of black Americans, with its collateral damage on families; the ongoing blight of housing segregation; the role of law enforcement in furthering racist systems and hierarchies; all this, and so much more. My answer to her, and my answer for all American Jews during these Days of Awe, is that finding our true Jewish identity can begin by questioning our whiteness.
In a flawed and racist society, we Jewish Americans are prospering, reaching the top echelons of privilege and power. With racism and injustice entrenched year after year, generation after generation, we must now ask ourselves: What role do we play in that injustice now that most of us live as white people in America? We must cease to consider ourselves to be part of the social construct of whiteness, despite all the white privilege that America affords us, privilege that eluded many of our parents and grandparents. Starting in this new year of 5776, we must teach our children that we are, in fact, not white, but simply Jewish.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Limbaugh: Ben Carson Correct on Muslim Stance
Rush Limbaugh said during his recent radio broadcast Ben Carson is right — Sharia law conflicts with the Constitution and a Muslim president would put the American system of republican government in danger.
“If you look into Sharia law, you will not find any consistency with the U.S. Constitution,” Limbaugh said. “Sharia law is the law which is used to behead women in Islamic countries who have been raped. Sharia law is the reason women in Islamic countries can’t drive. Sharia law is so inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution Ben Carson could not be more right.”
Limbaugh said the media was generating a false outrage, and Carson was getting caught up in the political correctness.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Last week Dr. Ben Carson opined that he did not think a Muslim should be President of the U.S. and the media reaction might make you think he had endorsed perversion—but wait, that’s already been done by the “beautiful” people of the media and academia. The fact is, the U.S. already has a Muslim president! But what’s the big deal? We have no religious test for the presidency—well, except for born again Christians, at least unofficially! However, isn’t it acceptable for a man to believe that some religious beliefs might tend to militate against American ideals?
The “fair and balanced” (and those not so fair and balanced) media went after Donald Trump for his failure in not crucifying his supporter who declared President Obama is a Muslim. Of course, he is a Muslim, but thenn according to political correctness, there’s nothing wrong with that. Is there?
Obama admitted he was a Muslim on ABC television when he referred to “my Muslim faith.” The ABC host gently “corrected” him. Muslims have not received the most positive press in recent years with their propensity to behead civilians, rape small girls, burn captured soldiers alive, and destroy centuries-old monuments. It would be wiser for him to wear a cross around his neck and have “Onward Christian Soldiers” played when he is introduced rather than admit being a Muslim.
Informed, educated people know that people can mistakenly say, “He has went” or “You was,” or “I seen” but for a Jew to mistakenly say, “My Christian faith,” or a Hindu to say, “My Baptist faith,” or a Methodist to say, “My pagan faith,” is downright silly. No one believes that is possible.
[…]
Obama really let the kitty out of the sack when he allegedly told the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit that he was a Muslim! In mid-January of 2010 the Foreign Minister revealed on the “Round Table Show,” a Nile telecast that “he had had a one on one meeting with Obama who swore to him that he was a Moslem, the son of a Moslem father and step-son of Moslem step-father, that his half-brothers in Kenya were Moslems, and that he was loyal to the Moslem agenda. He asked that the Moslem world show patience. Obama promised that once he overcame some domestic American problems (Healthcare), that he would show the Moslem world what he would do with Israel.” This conversation probably happened when Gheit was in Washington for Middle East peace talks in early January of 2010.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Oldest Salmon Bones Hint How Stone Age Migration Was Fuelled
Sashimi, anyone? Salmon bones found at an 11,500-year-old human settlement in Alaska are the earliest evidence of people eating salmon in North America, showing that fish provided an important food source for settlers in the region.
The bones were discovered in a hearth inside a house at the Upward Sun River site, the exact location where human remains were previously found of two buried infants and a cremated 3-year-old boy.
Fish bones are fragile and not typically well preserved over time, but here they appear to have been rapidly buried and thus protected from acidic forest sediments.
Using DNA analysis, researchers identified the remains as chum salmon. An examination of carbon and nitrogen isotopes showed that they had migrated upriver from the sea.
During the last ice age, Alaska was connected to modern Russia by a land bridge that remained largely ice-free. The inhabitants of this region, known as Beringia, went on to colonise North America when the climate warmed, starting about 16,000 years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Petraeus, In Hill Hearing, Apologizes for Giving Classified Info to Mistress
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus issued an extraordinary public apology to Congress on Tuesday for sharing classified information with his biographer and mistress, saying it was a “violation of trust.”
Petraeus appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss the Middle East, in his first public testimony to lawmakers since resigning as CIA director. He started by addressing what led to his resignation.
“Four years ago, I made a serious mistake — one that brought discredit on me and pain to those closest to me,” Petraeus said, of sharing information with mistress Paula Broadwell. “It was a violation of the trust placed in me and a breach of the values to which I had been committed throughout my life.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Arrives in US for Historic Visit — With Historic Levels of Security
Pope Francis, to cheering crowds and a presidential reception, touched down in the U.S. Tuesday afternoon, beginning a historic visit that also will pose a historic security challenge for the officers patrolling his itinerary.
The pope’s six-day, three-city visit will be the biggest, multiple-day security event in Department of Homeland Security history.
The Secret Service, whose task is only complicated by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit later this week, will lead the multi-agency operation for the pope’s visit, with DHS declaring it a “national special security event.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Health Dangers of Carrageenan
Carrageenan is a food additive commonly seen in commercial yogurts, dairy-free milk, and other processed foods. It is a terrific emulsifier and thickening agent, and it does have natural origins.
Nonetheless, carrageenan isn’t free from health concerns, with most of its issues relating to effects on the gastrointestinal system. Isolated from seaweed, carrageenan is a polysaccharide compound that may also trigger an immune response in some people, but this is highly debated. Because it comes from a natural source, it is typically added to natural food products. This food additive is just one of the many additives you may wish to be aware of the next time you go on your weekly shopping trip.
Medical papers suggest carrageenan consumption may increase the risk for certain cancers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The National Campaign of Trump Bashing
Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. — Proverbs 10:14
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. -Proverbs 29:2
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is demanding that Club for Growth (CfG) president David McIntosh resign his position. Why? Because before McIntosh criticized Trump’s candidacy for the White House, he begged Trump for a million dollars. Here’s CfG’s request letter.
McIntosh, Trump charges, dismissed him as “not a serious candidate” after Trump declined to donate $1 million to his group. “I am appalled by Mr. McIntosh’s shameless pandering and blatant shakedown attempt, exposing him and the CfG as a fraud,” said Trump. Now CfG is going for Trump’s throat. [Link], [Link], [Link]
So, let’s take a look at just who is involved with and who funds Club for Growth. Stephen Moore was the founder of Club for Growth, and he is now chief economist at the Heritage Foundation and was the former Wall Street Journal editorial writer who championed tax cuts. WSJ is owned by CFR member Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal who owns 7%. Moore has been paid to promote policies for the Koch funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP), owned by David Koch, who is a member of the globalist Aspen Institute. ( Please see Part 14 of my series for information on the leftist Koch brothers). Aspen Institute’s former director was none other than Maurice Strong, of UN Agenda 21 fame. Moore is also an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) “scholar” as of 2011. On August 4th, 2011, he spoke at a Shell Oil-sponsored plenary session of the 38th Annual ALEC Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, along with fellow ALEC “scholar” Arthur B. Laffer. ALEC has long been a proponent of destroying our Constitution. [Link]
CfG’s partners and allies include the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Peterson is chairman emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and former chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Another ally is the US Chamber of Commerce, who is so behind the invasion of illegal aliens on our southern borders. [Link] See Erica Carle’s short three-part article, “Who is in Charge of the New World Order?” about the Chamber of Commerce.
Besides the CFR and Chamber control, CfG has three very frightening goals, first is “School Choice,” which actually eliminates choice because once one penny of tax money goes to a private, religious, or home schooled student, all the federal government regulations go with it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Surprisingly Big Market for Sand Just Collapsed
In New Auburn, Wisconsin, a desolate, little outpost carved from the rolling pine-tree forests that run into Lake Superior, the collapse in oil is wreaking havoc on every aspect of the economy.
It’s not that there’s any oil here. None in fact for hundreds of miles around. What they’ve got is sand. Real good sand, piled high in giant mounds. And in what is a little-known offshoot of the shale oil revolution that swept across America over the past decade, the market for sand — the grit that props open the rocks and makes fracking possible — exploded too, transforming almost overnight what had been a sleepy industry that sold primarily to the likes of glass makers and golf courses. So when the shale boom went bust, it took down the sand industry with it. Prices have sunk almost a third to under $40 per ton.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Volkswagen: The Scandal Explained
What is Volkswagen accused of?
It’s been dubbed the “diesel dupe”. The German car giant has admitted cheating emissions tests in the US. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some cars being sold in America had devices in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results.
VW has had a major push to sell diesel cars in the US, backed by a huge marketing campaign trumpeting its cars’ low emissions. The EPA’s findings cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW brands Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat. But VW has admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide are fitted with the so-called “defeat device”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anger at Plan to Refurbish the European Parliament After Just 22 Years
Officials claim extensive work is needed on their main building in Brussels as it is in a state of ‘dilapidation’ despite it being only 22 years old.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France: Trial for Marine Le Pen Over Muslim Prayer Comment
French National Front party leader Marine Le Pen will stand trial over comments she made in 2010, comparing Muslim street prayers to an occupation of French territory.
Party official Wallerand de Saint Just, Ms Le Pen’s former lawyer and a ranking member of the party, confirmed the judicial decision to send Ms Le Pen to trial on charges of inciting racial hatred.
The party is known for its anti-immigration, anti-Islam views.
Mr Saint Just said it was a question of freedom of speech.
“Political leaders must be able to speak without being afraid of being taken before a judge,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
French Rail Operator ‘Discriminated’ Against 800 Moroccans
An industrial court on Monday found French rail operator SNCF guilty of discriminating against some 800 Moroccan railway workers, and ordered it to pay roughly 150 million euros ($170 million) in damages.
Sent to France in the 1970s from freshly independent Morocco to make up for a lack of manpower at the SNCF, the workers claimed they suffered decades of deliberate career prejudice.
Young, strong, and “available to work at Christmas”, as one railway worker Abdelghani Azhari put it, the immigrants toiled away but their careers went nowhere…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
French Far Right’s Marine Le Pen Faces Trial for Comments on Muslims
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front (FN), has been ordered to stand trial in October on charges of inciting racial hatred after comparing Muslim street prayers to the Nazi occupation, legal sources said Tuesday.
Le Pen was campaigning to take over leadership of the FN from her father in December 2010 when she made the comparison, complaining that there were “ten to fifteen” places in France where Muslims worshipped in the streets outside mosques when these were full.
“I am sorry but for those who like talking a lot about World War II, if it comes to talking about the Occupation, we can talk about it, because that (Muslims praying on the street) is the occupation of territory,” she told a crowd in the eastern city of Lyon…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Conduct Raids in Berlin’s Islamist Scene
German police say they have carried out several raids in Berlin targeting people suspected of recruiting for “Islamic State” in Syria. Hundreds of officers were involved in the operation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: British Man is Shot Dead in Berlin by a Man Brandishing a Shotgun
The 31-year-old was found lying in the street in a pool of blood by a passerby about 6am in the suburb of Neukolln, an fashionable area popular with young expats.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi Launches Attack on Jeremy Corbyn
Renzi, who has implemented austerity at home, undermined his supposed European ally
Italy’s prime minister has launched an attack on the new leader of Britain’s Labour Party, accusing him of being unable to win an election.
Despite being part of the same Europe-wide centre-left grouping as Labour Matteo Renzi predicted that Jeremy Corbyn would not take Labour to victory.
Mr Renzi, who was nominated by his party and has not yet faced a general election, said Labour should treat elections like a sporting event that they should win at all costs.
“After what happened with Corbyn, I think [David] Cameron is the happiest of all about Corbyn’s win,” he said.
“It’s not a question of being Blairite or anti-Blairite, it’s a matter of ‘Do you want to go to elections like you go to the Olympics, to win or to participate’?
“The last one called ‘Red’ was Ed Miliband, who took a mighty slap in the face from Cameron. I don’t think people who want to get out of Nato want to win elections.
Mr Corbyn’s policy on Nato is in fact to oppose the alliance’s expansion eastwards and not to leave.
Mr Renzi, from Italty’s centre-left Democratic Party, has governed under a right-wing programme, scrapping workers’ rights regulations and imposing austerity cuts.
Most recently he provoked ire from his own MPs after allying with former prime minister and convicted tax evader Silvio Berlusconi to force through controversial constitutional changes.
His intervention in British politics echo those Tony Blair, who branded Mr Corbyn as “the Tory preference” during the leadership campaign.
The former prime minister, to whom Mr Renzi has been compared, said anyone who supported Mr Corbyn in their heart should “get a transplant”.
Mr Renzi’s claim is in contrast to that of Greece’s government, which was re-elected at the weekend.
The left-wing Syriza party, headed by Alexis Tspiras, said Mr Corbyn’s election gave hope to those suffering at the hands of pro-austerity governments around Europe.
Italy will hold its next general election by 2018.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: PD Exec OKs Renzi Reform, But Dissenters Don’t Vote
Bersani says Renzi ‘made significant opening’
(ANSA) — Rome, September 21 — Premier Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) executive on Monday unanimously approved his Constitutional reform package, but an internal dissenting minority did not take part in the vote. However rebel leader Pier Luigi Bersani — who didn’t make it to the meeting — said that “Renzi seems to have made a significant opening — if the intent is for voters to choose Senators and for regional councils to ratify their choice, that’s fine by us”.
“Better later than never,” he added.
The leftwing dissenters argue that reforming the Senate into a body of regional officials — as per Article 2 of the government’s bill — is undemocratic, and that Senators should be elected by the Italian people. Renzi argued back during the meeting of his party’s executive that electing Senators or not “is an important norm but is not the watershed of democracy”. “Allow me to disagree when they say democracy is at stake here, otherwise we’d have to say there’s no democracy in Germany or France,” the premier pointed out.
The meeting had been called to thrash out an agreement with the dissenters over Article 2.
The bill is not the result of a “palace coup”, Renzi said, recalling that the now-defunct Nazarene Pact with former premier Silvio Berlusconi that first envisaged the reform was conceived by the PD. “The fairy tale of a surprise palace coup might be OK for talk shows but not even children believe it,” he said. The premier went on to compare his government’s reforms to Japan’s rugby team. “The Japanese took their opponents by surprise…and went all out,” he told the meeting. “They achieved the seemingly impossible, much as the reforms we have made seemed impossible a year and a half ago”. Japan beat South Africa at the weekend in what was the biggest upset in rugby World Cup history. The government is “one step from the finish line, and anyone who decides to interrupt this process must say so and explain why,” Renzi went on. “We seek the broadest possible consensus, as long as the debate…is on the merits…if (this) conceals an attempt to constantly raise the stakes, let it be known we won’t accept diktats”. Article 2 of the bill now before the Upper House is a “very small part of the jigsaw” of a much larger Constitutional reform plan, Renzi said. “The idea that the PD, every day, is not going public on issues like immigration, Europe and growth but instead is quibbling over…amendment X or Y is reductive and frustrating for our militants and volunteers,” he said. “Do we want to go on debating technical details that could be solved in 15 minutes or do we want to move ahead with reforms?” Renzi said. “Naysayers are a minority in Italy — the country is tired of self-referential quarrels,” he concluded.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Franceschini Denies Asking for Colosseum Workers’ Names
Culture min refutes ‘offensive’ report in Il Fatto Quotidiano
(ANSA) — Rome, September 22 — Culture Minister Dario Franceschini on Tuesday denied asking for the names of the workers who took part in a controversial union meeting at the Colosseum on Friday.
“It is offensive and defamatory even to merely think that I might have asked the superintendency for a list of names of the workers” who attended the meeting that caused long queues and sparked an outcry, he said.
Franceschini was responding to a story in the Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper entitled Colosseum, Franceschini Opens Files on Workers.
The union meeting prompted the government to put museums and archeological sites on the list of essential services that have to be kept running in the event of union action.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Police Arrest 14 Members of Latino Street Gang in Milan
Barrio 18 affiliates suspected of attempted murder, robbery
(ANSA) — Milan, September 22 — Police on Tuesday arrested 14 alleged members of the Salvadoran youth gang Barrio 18 on charges of criminal association, attempted murder, aggravated robbery, drug dealing, receipt of stolen goods, aggravated personal injury and illegal possession of weapons. The arrests came after investigations turned up knives, guns and machetes. The probe also allowed police to intervene to prevent the murder of a member of the rival Latino street gang MS13, which also has operations in the Lombardy capital.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Popolare Di Vicenza President Zonin Probed
Suspected of stock manipulation, obstruction of regulator
(ANSA) — Rome, September 22 — Giovanni Zonin, the president of the Banca Popolare di Vicenza and famous wine businessman, is among a number of people under investigation over alleged stock manipulation and obstruction of regulatory authorities at the medium-sized Italian lender, ANSA sources said Tuesday. The bank’s former general manager, Samuele Sorato, is also being probed. Finance police searched Banca Popolare di Vicenza offices in Milan, Rome and Palermo on Tuesday in relation to the probe by prosecutors in the northern city of Vicenza. In recent weeks some account holders filed complaints to prosecutors, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Mayor Defends U.S. Trip Plans After Criticism
Marino says previous trips attracted millions of euros
(ANSA) — Rome, September 22 — Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino on Tuesday told opposition critics of his plan to join Pope Francis on the United States leg of his Americas tour that his previous missions abroad have attracted 13 million euros in much-needed foreign investment to Rome.
Former rightwing Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno accused Marino of “escaping from Rome once again”.
Marino responded by distributing leaflets and figures during a city council meeting, showing the amount of funding he had managed to attract so far from previous trips.
“This is the money that the mayor has been able to bring home over the past two years through a few trips and meetings with sponsors: 13 millions euros,” said Fabrizio Panecaldo, coordinator of the council’s ruling majority. “I don’t see why the mayor of Rome can’t travel for work and hopefully bring back money that can be spent on the Jubilee,” he said.
Marino also said on his Facebook page that he would be meeting potential sponsors in New York who might be prepared to invest in planned restoration work in the Italian capital. He also said he was going to be welcomed as a guest and therefore the trip would not be at Rome’s expense.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Police Raid Berlin Mosque as ‘ISIL’ Jihadists Try to Recruit Refugees
Police raided a mosque and several apartments in Berlin in the early house of Tuesday morning as German intelligence warned Islamic extremists are trying to recruit Syrian refugees flooding into the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Former Aberdeen Student Cleared of Posting Terror Message on Twitter
A FORMER Aberdeen medical student was today cleared of one of the three terrorism charges he faces.
At the High Court in Glasgow prosecutor Richard Goddard withdrew a charge of posting a terrorist message on Twitter against 29-year-old Yousif Badri.
It was alleged that on April 16 last year Badri posted on Twitter the phrase: “Whoever feels safe from punishment, misbehaves”.
The comment is said to have come from a copy of Inspire magazine — described as being published by the “propaganda wing” of Al-Qaeda.
Yesterday at the close of the Crown case Mr Goddard formally intimated that he was withdrawing the charge.
Badri is still on trial facing two further terrorism-related charges which he denies.
Badri is accused of being involved in conduct “with the intention of committing acts of terrorism”.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Establishment Runs to Barcelona to Halt Seccession
Premier, politicians and banks mobilised. The Liga warns Barça
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (R) and Popular Party’s candidate for the Catalonian regional elections, Xavier Garcia Albiol (L), wave to sympathizers during a rally in Barcelona
MADRID — The Madrilenian political establishment has moved to Barcelona in an attempt to curtail the seccessionist vote, currently leading in the surveys, ahead of crucial elections scheduled on Sunday.
The confrontation between Madrid and the independentists is increasingly fraught with the capital warning that secession could result in dire consequences for the Catalans.
Spanish banks threatened they would pull out and not guaranteee deposits and Madrid added that leaving Spain also entails leaving the EU and the Euro. The governor of the Spanish Central Bank also evoked the scenario of a Catalan “corralito” as was the case in Argentina and Greece and spoke about a suspension of bank withdrawals. Moreover, to add insult to injury, the president of the Spanish football Liga, Javier Tebas, and Miguel Cardenal, president of the Sport Supreme Council, both cautioned supporters that with Catalan independence the legendary Barça team, 23times Spanish champion would be out of the Spanish championship together with Espanyol, the other Catalan team. A sporting tragedy.
The President of the Generalitat of Catalonia Artur Mas denounced a “campaign of fear” and invited Catalans not to give in.
“They tell us the sun will die” joked Junts Pel Si frontrunner Raul Romeva.
Premier Mariano Rajoy, Psoe leader Pedro Sanchez, and Podemos’ Pablo Iglesias and Ciudadanos’ Albert Rivera have practically moved to Catalonia for the last days of campaigning and expressions have become incendiary. The objective is to convince 600 thousand undecided voters who could swing the vote one way or the other.
In many constituencies a win for the independentists appears almost certain.
According to surveys, Junts Pel Si, the list supported by Mas together with leftist Cup, should gain the absolute majority of the 135 seats in the new parliament.
If despite Madrid’s strenuous opposition — it calls the move unconstitutional — they actually end up winning, Mas promised seccession within 18 months.
However, uncertainty surrounding the actual numbers lingers: according to the surveys seccessionist list are believed to be around 47% — 49.9% but to obtain international credibility for his unilateral independence process enshrined in the right of self-determination, Mas should pass the 50% bar.
The seccessionist president joked about the arrival of Vip from Madrid “Great chiefs come to Catalan reserve tell Catalans how vote” he said imitating parodies of Sioux language. “But natives say they will cut fingers and vote for Junts Pel Si and they will not like it at all”.
Putting aside the ironic side of things, Mas was very hard on the governor of the Bank of Spain Luis Maria Linde, who said that an independent Catalonia will “automatically” exit the Euro and lose the support of the ECB, yesterday.
Speaking about corralito “is immoral, indecent, irresponsible”, he said. “They know it isn’t true, it’s a pure intoxication, scaremongering to terrify people”.
Independentists argue that London had pushed the same fear-buttons ahead of the Scottish independence vote, but it also offered more autonomy, something Rajoy has not done. Catalans worry that the Scottish scenario may unfold once again, with undecided voters concerned about savings and pensions lowering the “Yes” votes below 50%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: New Intelligence Law Likely to Face Referendum
Parliament has approved a law giving the Swiss intelligence service greater powers to monitor private communications in Switzerland. But the public still might have the final say on the issue — as critics are planning a referendum.
The ultimate goal of the new intelligence law, which was finalised on Tuesday after the House of Representatives voted it in — the Senate had already given it the green light — is to provide the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) with greater surveillance capabilities to fight terrorism, spying and arms proliferation.
Under the new legislation, the FIS will be able to monitor private online communications, tap phone lines and look at postal mail. It will also allow for the use of drones to record public events.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cameron’s Youthful Debauchery Laid Bare in New Book
A new biography of David Cameron by a former ally turned political enemy contains claims of youthful debauchery by the future British leader, according to extracts published by the Daily Mail on Monday.
Reactions on social media focused on the description of a bizarre initiation ritual for an Oxford University club made by an unnamed contemporary of Cameron’s who is himself a member of parliament.
The lawmaker claimed that the initiation ceremony involved a dead pig and that Cameron “inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal’s mouth”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Devon Binmen Say They Are Being Chased by Huge Rats Who Show No Fear of Humans
Binman Ben Landricombe, (pictured) 34, says he discovered this huge rat while working in Plymouth, Devon, and says the foot-long creature is not the largest he has spotted on his rounds.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jonathan Webb (pictured), Mark Higgins, Joanne Parr and Paul Birch were driving through Liverpool when they were stopped by Tesco deputy manager David Markey who asked for help…
Mr Markey asked for them to radio for assistance, which Pc Webb is alleged to have said he would do before the car drove off.
But no call was made, and Mr Markey made his own emergency call.
Another police unit arrived almost eight minutes later, and Fagan was arrested. He was later given two eight-week sentences, suspended for 12 months, for assault and for stealing alcohol to the value of £4.62.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Refuses to Cooperate With Poland in CIA Prisons Probe
The US Department of Justice has once again declined to cooperate with Poland in the latter’s investigation into whether CIA prisons were created on Polish soil for the interrogation of terrorism suspects from 2002 to 2003.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Varoufakis Says Renzi Has Lost Integrity as Democrat
Italian premier celebrated exit of former Greek finance min
(ANSA) — Athens, September 22 — Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis hit back on Tuesday after Italian Premier Matteo Renzi celebrated the anti-austerity hardliner’s exit from the political arena.
On Monday, Renzi said that “we’ve got rid of that Varoufakis”.
“Dear Mr Renzi, I have a message for you,” Varoufakis wrote on his blog on Tuesday.
“You can rejoice as much as you like about the fact that I am no longer finance minister, not even in parliament. “But you did not ‘get rid’ of me. I am alive and kicking politically, as people in Italy remind me when I walk the streets of your beautiful country. “No, what you got rid of, by participating in that dastardly coup against (Greek Prime Minister) Alexis Tsipras and Greek democracy last July, was your own integrity as a European democrat. “Possibly your soul too. Thankfully this is not irreversible. But you need to make serious amends. “I cannot wait to see you return to the ranks of Europe’s democrats”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
World Catches Wind of Biggest Sailing Ship
A Russian billionaire has made waves by unveiling the world’s biggest sailing ship in the German harbor town of Kiel. Although a symbol of extravagance, the design could chart the course for a low-carbon cargo industry.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovan PM Isa Mustafa Pelted With Eggs in Parliament
The Kosovan prime minister has been forced to abandon an address to the country’s parliament after opposition ministers threw eggs at him.
Isa Mustafa had intended to speak about an EU-brokered dialogue with Serbia.
Opposition parties believe it will harm Kosovo’s independence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nefertiti Mystery: Egypt Approves Radar Tests on Tutankhamun Tomb
Egypt has given the go-ahead for radar to be used to test a theory that Queen Nefertiti’s crypt may be hidden in King Tutankhamun’s tomb, an official said.
The Antiquities Ministry said non-invasive radar would not cause damage.
Archaeologist Nicholas Reeves believes the remains of Tutankhamun, who died 3,000 years ago aged 19, may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally Nefertiti’s tomb.
The location of Nefertiti’s remains is unknown.
Those of Tutankhamun, who may have been her son, were found in 1922.
Final security clearance for the test would probably be obtained within a month, said spokesman Mouchira Moussa.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Down the Memory Hole: NYT Erases CIA’s Efforts to Overthrow Syria’s Government
As the US’s strategy in Syria is publicly debated, the CIA’s years-long program has vanished from many popular accounts, giving the average reader the impression the US has sat idly by while foreign actors, Iranian and Russian, have interfered in the internal matters of Syria. While the White House, Congress and the Pentagon can’t legally acknowledge the CIA training program, because it’s still technically classified, there’s little reason why our media need to entertain a similar charade.
Let’s start with Peter Baker’s New York Times piece from September 17 and some of its improbable claims:
By any measure, President Obama’s effort to train a Syrian opposition army to fight the Islamic State on the ground has been an abysmal failure. The military acknowledged this week that just four or five American-trained fighters are actually fighting.
Notice the sleight-of-hand. There may only be “four or five American-trained fighters…fighting” expressly against ISIS, but there is no doubt thousands more American-trained fighters are fighting in Syria. The DoD’s statement is manifestly false, but because the New York Times is simply quoting “the military”—which, again, cannot not legally acknowledge the CIA program—it is left entirely unchallenged. This is the worst type of “officials say” journalism. The premise, while ostensibly critical of US foreign policy, is actually helping advance its larger goal of rewriting US involvement in the Syrian civil war. A four-year-long deliberate strategy of backing anti-Assad forces—which has helped fuel the bloody civil war and paved the way for the rise of ISIS—is reduced to a cheesy “bumbling bureaucrat” narrative.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Inside the Islamic State Kidnap Machine
Kidnapping generated $25m for Islamic State last year, according to one US intelligence estimate. It’s also a powerful propaganda tool. The business relies on spies, informers, kidnappers, jailers and negotiators who arrange the deals when a captive is released. Syrian journalist Omar Al-Maqdud went to meet some of those who have been involved.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Preacher: Migrants Must Breed and Conquer
A top Islamic preacher has come up with an idea on how Muslim migrants can show thanks to Europe and America for taking them in: Breed and conquer.
Sheikh Muhammad Ayed ordered Muslims fleeing Iraq, Syria and northern Africa to show the world what a fertile culture looks like.
“They have lost their fertility, so they look for fertility in their midst. We will give them fertility!” the imam said during a recent sermon at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, the Blaze reported Monday. “We will breed children with them, because we shall conquer their countries — whether you like it or not, oh Germans, oh Americans, oh French, oh Italians, and all those like you. Take the refugees!”
The sermon was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, a nonprofit organization started in 1998 to monitor Arab media.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Deploys 28 Combat Planes in Syria, Taunting West to “Join Forces Against ISIS”
The catch, of course, is that Russia is preparing to defend Assad against ISIS — not to pick a fight with the West. But looks could be deceiving, and the schism between East and West cuts too deep to allow for a unified front against terrorism.
AFP reports:
The United States has warned that Russian military backing for the Syrian regime only risks sending more extremists to the war-torn country and could further hamper any effort at bringing peace.
Moscow, meanwhile, has been on a diplomatic push to get the coalition of Western and regional powers fighting the Islamic State group to join forces with Assad against the jihadists.
The maneuver is interesting, because evidence continually points towards the covert Western-funding of Islamic State forces, as well as significant overlap between ISIS and anti-Assad rebel forces.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Satellite Imagery Suggests Russia May be Preparing to Step Up Military Role in Syria
A leading defense research group has distributed what it says is satellite imagery that suggests Syria may be preparing to receive Russian forces.
IHS Jane’s said Tuesday that images dated a day earlier show construction of new buildings, surface clearing, the grading of terrain and the presence of tents like those used by Russian military units at the Istamo weapons storage complex and Al-Sanobar military complex north of the Syrian coastal city of Latakia.
The publication says images also showed “a substantial increase in fast jets stationed on the runway.”
Russia has been one of President Bashar Assad’s strongest allies. It has earlier said its recent military buildup in Syria is designed to fight the Islamic State group and President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment further Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Syria Military Build-Up is Self-Protection — Kerry
Russia’s military buildup in Syria appears to be limited to protecting its own forces in the country, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday.
Mr Kerry’s comments follow reports that Russia is expanding its military presence in Syria through the development of two additional bases.
Russia’s bolstering of its military aid to Syria has concerned US officials.
But Mr Kerry said on Tuesday the US was prepared to work with Russia to end Syria’s bitter four-year war.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Marines Battle ISIS in Syria, Is Possesses “Satellite Imagery” Of Base
Combat between Russian forces and ISIS militants marks a drastic increase in the level of conflict in Syria, adding an even greater international aspect to it as well. With Russia now openly providing the Assad government with missiles, missile defense systems, advisers, helicopters, satellite imagery, and fighter jets (particularly those being flown by Russian pilots), the Russians now stand directly in opposition to the United States pilots, jet fighters, and special forces operatives on the ground in Syria supporting the death squads (even if the official U.S. line is publicly opposed to ISIS and supportive of “moderate” cannibals).
Thus, we now have the growing potential for direct military confrontation between the two major world powers, both of them armed with nuclear weapons.
The United States has supported terrorists in Syria since the very beginning of the conflict while the Russians have provided tangential but growing support for the secular government of Bashar al-Assad.
The fact that Russians are now engaged in combat in Syria now greatly increases the likelihood that the two opposing superpowers may “accidentally” or even intentionally find themselves in direct conflict with one another in Syria.
Yet, while the Russian marines fighting off ISIS attacks is news enough, perhaps the most important revelation is that, according to Segodnia, the ISIS fighters apparently had detailed plans of the base as well as clear satellite imagery of the military installations located there.
The question then becomes, how did ISIS, a terrorist organization which has yet to launch its own satellites into orbit, acquire such sensitive and important material?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Start Bombing in Syria ASAP
The Kremlin’s jets have landed in Syria. The drones are flying. And now, Russian combat forces are on the cusp of fighting to save what’s left of the Damascus regime from ISIS.
Russian combat operations on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are likely to begin “soon,” three U.S. officials told The Daily Beast. And Russian drone flights to spot targets for potential airstrikes are already underway.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia Prepares to Execute Teenager Via “Crucifixion” For Political Dissent
Just last evening, I posted an article about how the UN disgracefully named Saudi Arabia to head its human rights panel.
So how do the Saudis plan on celebrating this achievement? By executing a teenager via crucifixion, naturally.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Kurdish Ministers Step Down
In surprise move, resignation from one-month-old cabinet
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, SEPTEMBER 22 — The two ministers from pro-Kurdish party HDP have stepped down from Turkey’s interim government led by Ahmet Davutoglu, formed less than a month ago.
The reasons behind the unexpected decision will be announced at a press conference to be held shortly.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen Crisis: President Hadi Returns to Aden From Exile
Yemen’s president has returned to the southern city of Aden after six months in exile, his office says.
Officials at the city’s airport confirmed a plane carrying Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi had landed on Tuesday.
A government source told the Reuters news agency Mr Hadi would spend the festival of Eid al-Adha in Aden before flying to New York to address the UN.
He fled Aden in late March as Houthi rebels advanced on the city, triggering air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition.
However, residents have complained that Aden has descended into chaos and lawlessness, with jihadist militants affiliated to al-Qaeda and Islamic State seen on the city’s streets, and that the local authorities have been slow to restore services.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s Largest Mosque to Open Tomorrow in Moscow
Putin will lead the dedication ceremony of the capital’s new Muslim landmark in the presence of foreign leaders like Erdogan and Abbas. The building has a golden dome higher than that of St Peter’s Basilica and can accommodate up to 10,000 people.
Moscow (AsiaNews) — The Moscow Cathedral Mosque, Europe’s largest mosque, opens tomorrow in the Russian capital in the presence of top Muslim political and spiritual leaders.
The building is located near the Olimpisky sports complex, in the north of the city, on the site of a previous mosque that was demolished four years ago because of the partial collapse of its walls.
In 2005, work had begun to build a larger structure, increasing its surface 20-fold, up to 19,000 square metres, to accommodate up to 10,000 believers.
Russian media have reported that reconstruction came with US$ 170 million price tag, paid by donations.
In addition to becoming the reference point for Russian Muslims, the new mosque will also house the administrative centre of the Muslim community in the Russian Federation, including its leader, Mufti Rawil Gaynetdin.
The high security ceremony will be held on the eve of Kurban Bayram (Eid el Adha in Arabic), one of the main holidays on the Muslim calendar.
The list of VIPs expected at the event include Iranian President Hassan Rohani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
All will hold separate meetings with their Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who is playing an increasingly important role in the Middle East, especially after his recent decision to increase Russia’s military presence in Syria.
The imposing six-storey building is in white and green granite from Canada and marble from Turkey. A golden dome crowns the structure with a diameter of 46 metres (3 metres more than the dome of St Peter’s) and two 80-metre minarets.
The mosque that once stood on the same site had been built in 1904 paid by Salih Erzin, a rich businessman of Tatar origins. During the Soviet era, the building was never closed and continued to be the only functioning mosque in the capital.
Before the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980, the mosque was in danger of demolition due to its proximity to Olimpisky stadium. The intervention of religious leaders and the ambassadors of the Arab countries saved the building.
Since 1996, the vast mosque compound has also been the headquarters of the Council of Muftis of Russia and Mufti Gaynetdin’s offices, this according to Tass. (N.A.)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Govt Completely Bans GMOs in Food Production
Russia has just announced a game-changing move in the fight against Monsanto’s GMOs, completely banning the use of genetically modified ingredients in any and all food production.
In other words, Russia just blazed way past the issue of GMO labeling and shut down the use of any and all GMOs that would have otherwise entered the food supply through the creation of packaged foods (and the cultivation of GMO crops).
“As far as genetically-modified organisms are concerned, we have made decision not to use any GMO in food productions,” Deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich revealed during an international conference on biotechnology.
This is a bold move by the Russian government, and it sits in unison with the newly-ignited global debate on GMOs and the presence of Monsanto in the food supply. It also follows the highly-debated ruling by the World Health Organization that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup is a ‘probable carcinogen.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Afghani Boys Screaming in the Night: US Soldiers Told to Stand Down and Not Stop Rape
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
The last thing Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father in 2012, was that he could hear young boys screaming in the night as they were raped, but they had been told to stand down. They were not to interfere because it was part of the Afghani culture. Since when are orders given to ignore blatantly deviant, vicious acts? Why are soldiers being told to just pretend atrocities are not happening on their watch? This takes evil to a whole new level and the officers who are commanding their men to do nothing and turn a blind eye are almost as guilty as the beasts who are raping these children. This is what has become of our military command under Barack Obama.
Buckley could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought onto the base from his bunk and was forbidden to stop it. They were just one floor beneath him. “At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Defense Department Under Fire for Handling of Child Abuse Claims in Afghanistan
The Defense Department is facing mounting criticism for its handling of child abuse allegations involving Afghan commanders, including revived claims that U.S. soldiers were instructed to look the other way when Afghan troops and officers were sexually abusing boys.
As first reported by Fox News, the Army is under scrutiny for moving to kick out Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland, after he got in trouble for shoving an Afghan police commander accused of raping a boy.
This was followed by The New York Times reporting Monday that American soldiers were told to ignore such sexual abuse, even in cases where Afghan allies were abusing boys on military bases.
The White House said Monday that the U.S. is “deeply concerned” about the safety of Afghan boys, when asked about the claims, but referred questions on DOD policy to the Pentagon.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Admits U.S. Allied Afghans Are Raping Children
A senior Pentagon official admitted to the Washington Free Beacon late Monday that Afghan forces allied with U.S. troops in the war-torn country have been caught sexually abusing children.
The admission comes on the heels of reports that the Obama administration has been punishing U.S. soldiers who blew the whistle on this sexual abuse.
U.S. lawmakers early Monday expressed shock and outrage over the report and called on Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff, to immediately address a policy of ordering U.S. troops to ignore such sexual abuse.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why India is Concerned About Nepal’s Constitution
Nepal’s adoption of a new federal constitution has led to a souring of ties with its giant neighbour India.
The document defines the majority Hindu nation as a secular republic divided into seven federal provinces.
Although Delhi was one of the major backers of the process over the past decade, it believes the new constitution is not broad-based and is concerned that it could spur violence which could spill over into its own territory.
India’s reaction in the past few days to events in Nepal has been quite remarkable.
On Friday, just a couple of days before the constitution was formally adopted (but after it had been passed by the Constituent Assembly) India’s top diplomat was sent to Kathmandu at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
American Woman Held in China for Six Months on Spying Suspicion, Husband Says
A Texas man said early Tuesday that his wife, a Vietnam-born U.S. citizen, had been arrested by China after she had been detained for six months on suspicion of spying for Washington.
Jeff Gillis told The New York Times that he heard that his wife, Phan, had been arrested Sunday, just two days before Chinese President Xi Jinping of China was due to arrive for a state visit. Gillis said that he hoped President Obama would use the occasion to press Xi for his wife’s release.
“I really don’t want to be disruptive. I don’t want to ruin anybody’s party,” Gillis told the Times. “I just want to get my wife back.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Boeing Presents a Plan to Open Its First Plant in China
(AGI) Beijing, Sept 22 — The U.S. aerospace giant Boeing is planning to settle in China and open a plant in Zhoushan, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, not far from Shanghai. The Group has submitted the request to the Chinese government concomitantly with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States. Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Boeing’s plant in Washington State on Wednesday, the first stop in the Chinese president’s mission in the United States. The location chosen for the plant will become a new aerospace industrial district, announced the Shanghai Securities News, an economic publication of the Xinhua press agency. News was leaked last week that Boeing could move the production of its 737 airplanes to China but Boeing denied it. Boeing has already established industrial partnerships in Asia, especially in Japan, for the production of some of the components of 777 and 787 passenger jets.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Can China Keep Its New City Dwellers Healthy and Happy?
Earlier this year, I told the story of Xiao Zhang, an ordinary Chinese woman who witnessed the village where she grew up morph into a huge, modern city, and her fortunes transform. But the effects of China’s lightning-fast urbanisation has left those in charge with formidable challenges.
China has tens of thousands of stories like White Horse Village, the settlement where Xiao Zhang was born. The country’s urbanisation is the biggest and fastest in history and it’s by no means over. By 2030, China’s cities will house close to a billion people, that’s 70% of the population.
The speed of this transition is also breathtaking. In just 30 years, China has gone from 20% urbanisation to 54%, a journey that took Britain 100 years and the US 60 years. Already there are more than 100 cities in China with a population of more than one million people, compared with only nine in America.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Tourists Among Four Abducted by Gunmen at Philippines Resort
Two Canadian tourists, a Norwegian resort manager and a Filipino woman were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from a popular resort island in the southern Philippines, the army said on Tuesday.
Philippines army Captain Alberto Caber said the four were taken at gunpoint during a raid late on Monday night on the Oceanview resort on Samal island, near Davao City, the largest city on Mindanao island in the restive southern Philippines.
Two Japanese tourists reportedly tried to intervene to stop the abduction but the attackers made off with the four captives by boat.
Caber said the abducted foreigners were identified as John Ridsdel and Robert Hall from Canada and Kjartan Sekkingstad, the Norwegian manager of the resort. The Filipino woman was not identified.
Military and police officials were surprised by the latest attack, which came as a reminder of volatile security in the south despite recent peace initiatives with Islamist rebels.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Economy to Take Centre Stage as Xi Jinping Heads to US for State Visit
China’s faltering economy is expected to receive unprecedented attention when President Xi Jinping arrives in Seattle on Tuesday for the start of his first state visit to the United States.
While officials from both countries will examine thorny issues ranging from cybersecurity to the South China Sea, Xi’s main mission should be to reassure investors that China’s economy is stable and open for business, observers say.
We will actively nurture capital markets that are open, transparent and stable in the long term
In a sign of what might be to come, Premier Li Keqiang said yesterday that China aimed to develop open and transparent capital markets and there was no basis for continued yuan depreciation.
Xi’s first appointment after touching down will be to give a speech to the business community and take part in a roundtable discussion with executives.
READ NOW: Behind fairytale press, Chinese President Xi Jinping faces Goldilocks problem in America
The trip comes as China’s economic growth has slowed to 7 per cent and after a mainland stock market rout raised fears that China might not be able to maintain economic momentum.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gunmen Abduct Four People From Philippine Island Resort
Victims include one Norwegian and two Canadians
(ANSA) — Manila, September 22 — Three foreigners and a Filipino woman were abducted by gunmen from a holiday resort on Samal island in the southern Philippines on Monday night, local police and military sources have said.
The Norwegian manager of the tourist port at Holiday Oceanview Samal Resort, Kjartan Sekkingstad, Canadian nationals John Ridsel and Robert Hall and the Filipino wife of one of the Canadians were kidnapped.
The commando also reportedly tried to abduct a foreign couple on board a yacht moored in the tourist port before escaping by motorboat.
The authorities have not said who they think might be behind the abduction.
However, they have set up a naval blockade around Samal to prevent the kidnappers from reaching Basilan island to the southwest, where the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf has a number of bases.
In 2001 militants of Abu Sayyaf tried to abduct holidaymakers at the Pearl Farm Beach Resort south of Oceanview.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Plans are under way to stage a silent protest outside Hong Kong government headquarters in Admiralty to mark the first anniversary of the start of the Occupy Central pro-democracy sit-ins.
Participants gathering for the event will fall silent at 5.58pm next Monday — the precise moment a year ago when the police fired canister after canister of tear gas at occupation protesters in Admiralty.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S.-China Hacking Deal Seen on Civilian, Not Company Hits
Disputes over what’s acceptable behavior in cyberspace threaten to overshadow the agenda when Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama meet in Washington this week.
A simmering conflict over hacking comes at a time when the U.S. is seeking cooperation with China on issues from North Korea to anti-terrorism and climate change. Xi arrives in Washington Sept. 24 for a two-day visit.
The two sides hope to announce an agreement to limit certain types of hacking, though people familiar with the negotiations say they have been contentious and any deal unveiled this week will probably be modest.
“Cybersecurity is shaping up to be one of those things whose impact is so enormous that it could affect the trajectory of the relationship,” said Wang Fan, director of the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University. Xi and Obama are likely to only reach an agreement in principle or risk “derailing the entire bilateral relation.”
U.S. government agencies and companies are reeling from a string of sophisticated attacks alleged to have been carried out by the Chinese government or its proxies, including the theft of corporate information and millions of health care and federal personnel records. China denies being involved, saying it’s a victim of cyber-espionage itself and opposes hacking.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Woman Killed by Rottweilers at Home of Her Kenyan Husband
Elizabeth Claire Wright, 55, from Horsham in Surrey, was staying with her Kenyan husband at his beachside home, in the village of Watamu, when she was attacked by the vicious dogs.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Over 100 Killed by Boko Haram Sunday
In northeast Nigeria
(ANSA) — Rome, September 22 — Members of a civilian defense group said Tuesday more than 100 people were killed in coordinated bombings by Islamic extremists in northeastern Nigeria on Sunday. Members of the civilian defense group said about 80 people died in four blasts in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern Borno state. An official from Maryam Tijjani General Hospital in Maiduguri on Tuesday said that 28 bodies were brought to the morgue Monday night from a suicide attack at Monguno market, 134 kilometers (83 miles) from Maiduguri. The officials insisted on anonymity for fear of government reprisals. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they are believed to be by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, which frequently uses bombings in its 6-year-old insurgency blamed for the deaths of 20,000 people.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK Detectives Find a Fleet of British Vehicles Worth Over £1m in Uganda
The £50,000 SUV was fitted with a state-of-the-art tracking device, which activated as soon as it was taken from outside a property in west London.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
May God’s Blessings Come to Cuba’s Long Suffering ‘Dissidents’
Special blessings on the Cuban “dissidents” forbidden to be in the presence of Pope Francis.
Photos of the dissidents, roughly manhandled by security and sent world wide, finally transcend the one of Fidel Castro’s executioner Che Guevara that for more than half a century has literally dominated Havana’s Revolution Square.
Even though when caught in the end, Guevara, whose “stock in trade was the mass-murder of defenseless men and boys—bound and gagged”, whimpered “Don’t Shoot! I’m Che! I’m worth more to you alive than dead!”, (Canada Free Press) his image today seen everywhere on T-shirts; is kept alive on countless college campuses and was even proudly displayed at a Texas campaign office during the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign.
There is no possible denying that Guevara was both a brutal killer and a sniveling coward.
In transcending the Guevara image, Cuban dissidents kept from the pope’s heralded presence in their country are proof positive that it is they and not the murderous Guevara who are the ongoing revolutionary heroes, against all odds.
In inviting well-known leading dissidents, Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva to attend a vesper service led by the pope in Havana’s historic baroque cathredal and not seeing to it that they got in, and not saying how sorry they were that the dissidents were banned, the Vatican pulled a Pontius Pilate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
4,200 Refugees Reach the Netherlands in One Week
The number of refugees entering the Netherlands reached 4,200 last week, junior justice minister Klaas Dijkhoff said on Tuesday.
It is the largest number so far. The week before there were 3,100 refugees and the one before that 1,800.
Empty prisons, conference centres and other public buildings are being turned into emergency centres to house them.
Tents
For instance, Nijmegen city council is setting up a massive camp of tents to house 3,000 refugees, and the distinctive dome prisons in Arnhem and Haarlem will house several hundred asylum seekers, as will the Jaarbeurs exhibition centre in Utrecht.
Amsterdam has also agreed to take in 1,500 people, 400 of whom will be housed in a former prison in the Havenstraat. The rest will be spread between two sports halls and a former council office building, the NRC reports.
However, Dijkhoff says more needs to be done, because refugees with permission to stay in the Netherlands will eventually need permanent housing.
Money
Foreign affairs minister Bert Koenders said on Tuesday that a ‘massive amount of money’ must be sent from Europe to the Middle East in order to help Syrian refugees. He was speaking during a visit to a refugee camp in Libanon.
Koenders says the money is necessary to ensure that these refugees have ‘a future’ in their own region of the world.
The Dutch government recently made €110m available for Syrian refugee camps.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bad Faith: Berlin Must Reform or Abolish Its Refugee Policy
A Commentary by Maximilian Popp
The refugee crisis is forcing Berlin’s hand. It can reform its existing asylum law or abolish it altogether. Either way, it can no longer get away with the current system of organized hypocrisy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia PM Urges Serbia to Redirect Migrants to Ease Burden
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic urged Serbia Tuesday to restart directing migrants to Hungary and Romania to help ease the burden on his own country.
Milanovic told reporters it was still possible for refugees to be sent to Croatia, but “my message to them (Serbia) is … also to send them to Hungary, Romania.”
“We are not fools, we see what they (Serbia) are doing,” he said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Eastern European Leaders Defy EU Effort to Set Refugee Quotas
Central and eastern European leaders have defied attempts by Brussels and Berlin to impose refugee quotas ahead of two days of high-stakes summits in Brussels to try to decide on what already looks like a vain attempt to limit the flow of refugees and migrants into Europe.
The Czech government wrote to Brussels arguing that compulsory quotas were illegal and that it could take the issue to the European court of justice in Luxembourg, while the anti-immigration Hungarian government brought in new laws authorising the army to use non-lethal force against refugees massing on its borders.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Could Face 1 Million Asylum Applications in 2015, Says OECD
The number of refugees coming to Europe is unparalleled in recent times, an OECD policy report has said, and the inflow is unlikely to stop any time soon. But it said Europe had the experience to cope.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Should Open Procedure of Thanks to Italy — Alfano
Eu opens infraction procedure on migrant registration
(ANSA) — Brussels, September 22 — Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano responded to news of the opening of an EU infraction procedure against Rome on migrant registration Tuesday by saying “I think the procedure Europe should open is a procedure of thanks to Italy” for its efforts on the migrant and refugee crisis. Italy, along with Greece, has borne the brunt of the arrival of thousands of people across the Mediterranean.
Some of Italy’s northern European partners have accused it of failing to register migrants to usher them northwards. Alfano was speaking at an EU interior ministers’ meeting on mandatory quotas.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Spars Over Refugees as OECD Predicts Years-Long Influx
European leaders sparred over border management and the sheltering of refugees, as a study predicted an unabated influx of people fleeing persecution and poverty.
Southeast European states continued to object to mandatory quotas for spreading 120,000 refugees around the continent, setting up testy meetings in Brussels of national ministers on Tuesday and of European Union leaders on Wednesday.
Those numbers were dwarfed by an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast that the tide of migrants into Europe will rise to 1 million in 2015 from 630,000 last year and will remain around that level for most of the decade.
“It is unlikely that pressure from sending countries will ease,” the Paris-based OECD said. “Europe has better legal and institutional systems in place for asylum-seekers and migrants than it did in the 1990s. However, these have not ensured a fair burden-sharing between countries.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
European Union Approves Plan to Relocate 120,000 Refugees Across Europe
European Union interior ministers meeting in Brussels Tuesday approved a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees across Europe amid heightened tensions amongst member nations over the crisis.
Some nations — including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia — voted against the plan, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Twitter, according to Sky News.
“We will soon realize that the emperor has no clothes,” Chovanec said. “Common sense lost today.”
The Czech government earlier warned that any attempt to approve a relocation plan would backfire for the EU, and could end in “big ridicule” for its members and officials.
But a Twitter post from the Luxembourg mission to the European Union said the decision was adopted by a “large majority” of the EU’s 28 member states. Luxembourg currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and presided over Tuesday’s meeting of interior and justice ministers in Brussels, Belgium.
German prosecutors have charged a 91-year-old woman with playing a role in the deaths of 260,000 Jews at the infamous Auschwitz death camp.
The unidentified woman, who authorities say served as member of the Nazi SS is accused of serving as a radio operator for the camp commandant from April to July 1944, The Times of Israel reports. During that time, huge numbers of Hungarian Jews were murdered in gas chambers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Pension Boss Predicts Demographic Boost From Immigrants
Refugees could help put Finland’s state finances and pension funds on a sustainable footing, according to one key pensions boss. Jaakko Kiander from Ilmarinen says that refugees would be one way of helping bridge Finland’s so-called ‘sustainability gap’ in the public finances.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland Abstains From Vote on EU Refugee Deal; Relocation Plan Still Approved
An emergency meeting of EU Interior Ministers voted to push through a controversial plan to resettle 120,000 refugees throughout the region on Tuesday. Four member states opposed the proposal and Finland abstained from voting on the measure.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Finland Split Over Biggest Refugee Influx Since Russian Revolution
Finland is experiencing its biggest influx of refugees since the Russian Revolution with hundreds of migrants arriving each day via Sweden, but their presence is angering some in the recession-hit country.
Finland, whose Lapland steppe forms the European Union’s northernmost border, expects to receive 25,000 to 30,000 asylum applications this year, compared to 3,600 in 2014.
Most of those arriving are from Iraq, Somalia or Afghanistan. After an exhausting and often perilous journey to Europe, they travel to the northern Swedish town of Haparanda, turning their backs on Sweden’s long processing times to instead cross the border by foot into the Finnish town of Tornio. Most of them then head south to the capital Helsinki or other towns…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Gateway to Europe: Why Turkey Isn’t Stopping the Migrants
Assos has now become a gateway for migrants who wish to go to Europe via Greek Islands.
The most eye-opening part of the story was to see refugees travelling in broad-daylight. Having learned one of the points of departure, I drove down to hill on a dirt road to check whether I could find a spot to film refugees that night.
But by midday, surprisingly, they were already there leaving the coast in boats! Not one or two boats, but more than twelve, and simultaneously from different points.
Why can’t Turkey stop refugees?
Refugees hide in olive orchards around rocky coasts and settle there while waiting their turn to get on the boat. They are not visible from the sea, and it is challenging to reach their isolated area on foot. Locals are afraid to go to venture into the area, out of fear of the human traffickers’ guards.
Because the area has only scattered villages, the police presence is small. Local officers deal with day-to-day incidents, traffic accidents, minor thefts and the like.
The number of refugees heading for Europe surged this summer because the price of travel dropped tenfold. Last year human traffickers charged $10,000-$12,000 per person. Now refugees say they pay $1,250 for the trip.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Generosity vs. Fear: How German Supermarkets Deal With Refugees
One store owner gives away goods to help incoming refugees, another one keeps them out of his shop by hiring bouncers. German supermarket chains’ responses to the influx of refugees differ dramatically.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Would-be Smuggler Caught in Soufli
A 41-year-old Georgian man was arrested by police near the village of Soufli, close to the Turkish border in northeastern Greece, after officers found 12 refugees from Syria and Iraq in his car.
Police signaled to the 41-year-old to stop for a routine inspection on a country road but he drove off, prompting a chase.
When police cornered him, he got out of his car and tried to flee on foot but was caught. A check on the car revealed that the license plates were fake.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Latvians March Against Refugee Quotas
Hundreds of Latvians marched through the capital Riga on Tuesday to protest against the Baltic state’s decision to take in 776 refugees as Europe struggles with a record migrant crisis.
The 500-strong crowd, according to police, waved banners calling on the government to resign and depicting European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker as dictator Adolf Hitler.
Other slogans included “Against immigrants” and “The Baltic is ours” at the rally attended by two members of the right-wing National Alliance, one of three parties in the government ruling coalition…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Islam in Russia: Caught Between Acceptance and Rejection
Russia’s largest mosque is opening its doors in Moscow. New Muslim houses of worship, however, are very controversial in Russia. More than anything, many Russians fear more immigrants.
After ten years of construction, Moscow’s main Mosque will finally open its doors to the faithful this Wednesday. It is big enough to hold up to 10,000 worshippers, and according to the chair of the Russian Council of Muftis, Ravil Gaynutdin, that makes it the largest Muslim house of worship in the whole of Europe. The mosque that originally occupied the site was built in 1904, but it was torn down in May 2005, to make way for the new building.
That means that now there are six mosques in the Russian capitol. It is estimated that some two million Muslims live in Moscow. In all, nearly 20 million Muslims reside in the Russian Federation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Why Central Europe Resists Refugee Quota
The EU faces what could be two bruising summits this week over a proposal to redistribute an extra 120,000 asylum seekers throughout Europe.
Central Europe is putting up fierce resistance to the idea of binding EU quotas, although the Czech Republic now says it might be willing to accept far more than its initial offer of 1,500 people — if the system remains voluntary.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Opponents Furious Over New EU Quotas
Central European countries have reacted angrily after plans to relocate 120,000 migrants across the continent were approved by EU interior ministers.
Under the scheme, migrants will be moved from Italy, Greece and Hungary to other EU countries.
But Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary voted against accepting mandatory quotas.
Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman said: “Only the future will show what a mistake this was.”
The BBC’s Europe correspondent Chris Morris says it is highly unusual for an issue like this — which involves national sovereignty — to be decided by majority vote rather than a unanimous decision.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: EU Ministers Approve Disputed Quota Plan
EU interior ministers have approved a controversial plan to relocate 120,000 migrants across the continent over the next two years.
It will see migrants moved from Italy, Greece and Hungary to other EU countries.
Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary voted against accepting mandatory quotas.
After the vote, Slovakia’s prime minister said he would not accept the new quotas.
Finland abstained from the vote. Poland, which had opposed the proposal, voted for it.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants: Stop to Trains Bavaria-Salzburg
Until October the 4th, decision of Deutsche Bahn
(ANSA) — BERLIN — Stop to the transit of international trains to and from Munich via Salzburg, until October 4th. This was announced by the Austrian railway company Oebb, that attributed the decision to the Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants: Gentiloni: Hungary’s Slap to EU Enlargement
‘Behaviour’ of Budapest ‘shocking’, says Foreign Minister
(ANSA) — TURIN — “Hungary’s behaviuor towards migrants is shocking. It’ s almost a slap in the face for us, who have believed in the enlargement of the European Union”. This was stated by Minister Paolo Gentiloni, at a conference on migration and public information at the Prix Italy.
“Giving a political response does not mean removing a problem, but means managing a phenomenon. We certainly need to make the Dublin rules more flexible; these rules must be defended, but without destroying Schengen”, the minister added, underlining that “the Italians need to be well-informed and aware”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mother Angela: Merkel’s Refugee Policy Divides Europe
Germans long knew their chancellor as a rational, deliberate decision maker. But in the refugee crisis, a new Merkel has emerged, driven by empathy. Increasingly, it is looking like the emotion-driven Merkel is prone to error.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway to Boost Checks on Sweden Border
Norway is stepping up police monitoring of migrants on its border with Sweden following a record rise in the number of asylum seekers travelling to the Nordic countries.
On Tuesday the right-wing Norwegian coalition government called on police authorities to tighten checks in the border areas as the country experiences an unprecedented influx of refugees. The Scandinavian nation shares a 1,630 kilometre border with Sweden.
“In a situation of increasing asylum arrivals, it is important that Norwegian authorities at as early a stage as possible can ascertain the identity and history of those coming to the country. This is partly to prevent illegal immigration and fight transnational crime,” Norway’s Justice Minister Anders Anundsen said in a press statement quoted by the NRK broadcaster.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In 2005 then-Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano famously said that building a wall on the southern border of the United States to stem the flow of illegal immigration would be ineffective. “You show me a 50-foot wall and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder at the border. That’s the way the border works,” she argued.
That deep seeded focus on domestic security was apparently enough for President Obama to eventually appoint her as head of the Department of Homeland Security, overseeing the safety of the American people.
An actual wall designed to keep unknown individuals and potential terrorists out of the country, however, was never part of the security infrastructure and was never effectively implemented in the years following.
Because, of course, walls don’t work.
Except when you are building them in foreign countries.
Though the broader mainline media refuses to touch this story, it shows just how politicized the debate over illegal immigration in the United States has become.
A wall is apparently good enough to stop Boko Haram terrorists in Africa, but would do little in the way of stopping the rising tide of undocumented immigration into the U.S.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rail Operator Halts Munich-Budapest Line
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said Tuesday it would suspend key services to and from Austria and Hungary until October 4, citing border controls introduced to manage a record migrant influx.
The route from Budapest via Salzburg, Austria to the southern German city of Munich has been taken by tens of thousands of refugees in recent weeks.
Overwhelmed by the record influx, and seeking to register the asylum-seekers as they enter the country, Germany on September 13 temporarily reintroduced border controls.
Deutsche Bahn said in an online message that due to the border controls, “the long-distance routes of Deutsche Bahn will be suspended, initially until October 4, 2015, between Munich-Salzburg (Austria) and Budapest (Hungary)”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Report: German Media Covering Up Rapes Committed by Muslim Migrants
German media outlets are refusing to broadcast information about rapes committed by Muslims over fears that the hundreds of thousands of migrants flooding into the country might be offended and that such content could enflame tensions.
As we reported last week, numerous prominent welfare organizations in Germany warned that women and children were being raped at a migrant camp in Hessen, but the issue received very little press attention in comparison with the overwhelming positive coverage that has characterized the media’s treatment of the refugee crisis.
As the Gatestone Institute reports, Germany’s top public broadcaster ZDF has decided to censor such information. A prime time crime show called Aktenzeichen XY, which seeks public help in identifying criminals, refused to run a segment about a “darker skinned” rape suspect.
Editor in chief Ina-Maria Reize-Wildemann explained the decision, remarking, “We don’t want to inflame the situation and spread the bad mood. [The migrants] don’t deserve it.”
One wonders whether Reize-Wildemann thinks the future victims of the rapist who is now more likely to go free “deserve it”.
“German media is in lockstep with the government, giving happy-talk and a positive spin on migrant crisis of gigantic proportions hitting Europe,” writes Vijeta Uniyal. “Mainstream media in Germany are not merely willing executioners of Merkel’s open border policy, they are ideological players committed to breaking any opposition to the plan.”
Earlier this month, a 7-year-old girl was raped by a north African migrant in a German park, a story that also received little media attention.
School in Germany situated near migrant camps are warning girls not to wear shorts or skirts so as not to offend migrants and provoke “attacks”.
The media has also framed entire issue as the “Syrian refugee crisis,” when only one in five of the refugees are Syrian and most of them are economic migrants.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Palestinians on Hunger Strike in Malmö
Palestinian asylum seekers protesting outside the Swedish Migration Agency’s offices in Malmö have resumed a hunger strike and are demanding the right to stay in Sweden.
Around 50 Palestinians are currently on hunger strike in Malmö but up to 150 have taken part in a tent protest in the southern Swedish city over the past five weeks.
“They feel tricked,” Åsa Svensson, a spokesperson for the Palestinian protesters, told news agency TT.
“They thought they would reach some sort of agreement both with the Palestinian embassy and with the Migration Agency. And three people have also had their asylum applications refused,” Svensson said.
The police have said the Palestinians have until noon Tuesday to remove the tents, according to Svensson. She said: “If they’re not gone by then, the police will make sure they are removed. We are meeting with the police soon so we will have to wait and see.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Backs Shock EU Refugee Quota Agreement
EU interior ministers have voted to distribute 120,000 refugees within Europe at emergency talks on Tuesday amid deep divisions over how to handle the continent’s worst migration crisis in decades.
The ministers agreed by a large majority to the plan with just four EU members voting against it.
The UN and other international organizations warned it was the “last chance” for increasingly overwhelmed European states to agree on how to cope with the tide of people fleeing conflict in countries like Syria and Afghanistan.
But central and eastern European states strongly resisted plans to force EU member countries to take a share of the new arrivals from front-line nations.
“I want to confirm that both the interior minister and myself… will unequivocally reject any effort to introduce a permanent mechanism of refugee redistribution,” Czech Prime Minister Sobotka told reporters in Prague.
“We also reject the introduction of quotas,” he added.
Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary voted against accepting mandatory quotas while Finland abstained.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Are ‘Too Restrictive’ Over Syrian Refugees
Switzerland should grant more Syrians full refugee status rather than just temporary residency, a top official from the United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) has declared.
In an interview in Sunday’s NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, Anja Klug, UNHCR’s representative for Switzerland, criticised the fact that most Syrians allowed to stay in Switzerland were only given temporary residency.
“Switzerland is applying a much too restrictive policy towards Syrian asylum-seekers,” Klug declared.
She said only 35% of Syrians are officially given refugee status by the Swiss authorities, while this percentage rises to 70% on average in other European countries.
“The people who are only given temporary residency have to deal with the risk that they might be sent back to Syria from Switzerland at any given time,” she said, adding that this leads to feelings of insecurity for refugees.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Road to Europe: Trains, Hunger, And Bitterly Cold Delays
As the sunset gilds the cornfields along the single train track, unlikely passengers arrive at Botovo, a sleepy village at the edge of Croatia. The human cargo of 11 carriages is part of the biggest wave of refugees Europe has seen since WWII.
There are about 1,500 refugees and migrants: Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others from troubled hotspots in the world, who are making their way slowly through the heart of Europe via Greece.
They are knocking down borders hastily reinstalled in the European Union, as no one seems to know how to deal with the desperate and determined mass.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: New Figures Show Soaring Birth Rates in Cities With High Levels of Migrants
Cities with high numbers of migrants have seen birth rates soar, while women over the age of 35 are having more babies than the under-25s for the first time since records began.
Registration records show that 21 per cent of births in England and Wales in 2014 were to mothers of 35 and older and only 20 per cent were to women of 24 and under.
The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics, also show that more than half of babies are born outside of wedlock.
They also reveal that in the city of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, which has a growing migrant population, women give birth to an average of 2.34 babies — well above the average of 1.82 across the UK.
And in Wolverhampton, where there has also been a large influx of foreign-born mothers, the birth rate has jumped from 1.77 in 2001 to 2.02 today.
Ukip East of England MEP Patrick O’Flynn told the Daily Express: ‘This is yet more evidence that Britain needs an Australian-style points system for migration that will only be possible outside the EU.
‘Otherwise the pressure on housing stock, school places and other public services will become intolerable and community cohesion will be put at risk.’
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UNHCR Says EU Refugee Redistribution Plan Not Enough
Agency says ‘large scale’ investment needed
(ANSA) — Geneva, September 22 — United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday that the European Union’s plans to redistribute asylum seekers among member States was not enough to address the current refugee crisis on its own. The agency added that Wednesday’s meeting of EU leaders in Brussels could be the last opportunity to provide a “coherent response”. It said that 477,906 people have arrived in Europe via sea so far this year, an average of 6,000 a day. UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said that, as a result, “large-scale investments” are necessary.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kim Davis Faces New Charges of Non-Compliance
Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in compliance with a judge’s order — and who resumed work a few days ago — is still not doing her court-ordered job, say couples who’ ve tried to get their proper wedding documentation…
Lawyers representing the “gay” couples have filed a motion in court, alleging Davis is non-compliant with a federal order, Reuters reported. Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky say the documents for “gay” -marriage licenses should either be the old style, with the proper office reference, or the clerk’s office should be fined.
Mat Staver, the attorney for Davis, said the new filing is little more than a witch hunt.
“The ACLU’s motion to again hold Kim Davis in contempt reveals that their interest is not the license but rather a marriage license bearing the name of Kim Davis,” he said, Reuters reported. “They want her scalp to hang on the wall as a trophy.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Media Promotes “Pedophile Rights”
Leftist media is now promoting “pedophile rights” as the next “social justice” movement, not long after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriages.
Salon.com published an op/ed by a self-described pedophile asking Americans to “learn to accept” pedophiles and be “understanding and supportive” of their “sexual orientation.”…
Numerous political commentators predicted that pedophiles would try to hijack the June 26 Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriages to argue that they too are “suffering” discrimination over their “normal” sexual orientation.
“Using the same tactics used by ‘gay’ rights activists, pedophiles have begun to seek similar status arguing their desire for children is a sexual orientation no different than heterosexual or homosexuals,” wrote Jack Minor for the Northern Colorado Gazette.
Minor also added that “psychiatrists are now beginning to advocate redefining pedophilia in the same way homosexuality was redefined several years ago.”
This trend began in 1998 when the American Psychiatric Association claimed the “negative potential” of adult sex with children was “overstated” and that “the vast majority of both men and women reported no negative sexual effects from childhood sexual abuse experiences.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
No, Salon.Com, I Don’t Need to ‘Understand’ The Plight of Pedophiles
“I’m a Pedophile, But I’m Not a Monster” (byline) I’m attracted to children but unwilling to act on it. Before judging me harshly, would you be willing to listen?
Here’s the problem with the title and the byline: it’s misleading. The article is written by a pedophile who says he’s never touched a child and never would. The man, who identifies himself as Todd Nickerson, agrees that it’s wrong to both be attracted to children and to act upon that attraction. He then goes on a long diatribe about his past, the abuse he’s encountered, why we should be understanding in place of judgmental, blahblahblahblahblah. Finally, At the end of the long article is a call to action for pedophiles to get help, to seek advice and to find a solution to their sexual attraction to children. That’s not the argument here. It’s good that Nickerson wants other pedophiles to get help for their sexual desires. Not arguing with that. Okay? Okay.
BUT, the call to action of getting help for pedophilia is after Nickerson recounts his childhood disability, the time he was molested, and about being an outsider. Nickerson paints himself a victim in hopes of garnering your sympathy, and if you didn’t finish the entire article, the impression your left with is simply this: Salon.com is trying to normalize and de-stigmatize pedophilia.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Children Should be Taught About Transgender Issues Using Books About Penguins
A Surrey-based charity which works with transgender children wants nursery and infant school children to be given Penguin Land stories, which introduce young children to identity issues
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
AP Interview: UN Food Chief Says Overwhelming Needs in Crises Outstrip Donor Generosity
The head of the U.N. food agency says the overwhelming humanitarian needs caused by crises from Syria, Yemen and Iraq to South Sudan and Africa’s Sahel region are outstripping the generosity of donors.
Ertharin Cousin said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that the World Food Program is not facing “donor fatigue.”
In fact, traditional donors have been more generous, she said, but food needs have escalated because of an increasing number of refugees, people caught in conflicts, and suffering from climate-related events including drought.
Last year, she said, WFP needed $8 billion and received $5.4 billion. This year, it also needs $8 billion but donors aren’t keeping pace and she predicted the agency will receive less, just close to $5 billion this year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
So far V4 (Vysehrad group) comprising of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary were uniform in rejecting quotas. Now Ewa Kopacz and her retinue of traitors to Poland (and V4) have sealed their fate. Sure they have protection of the heavies in black balaclavas. You heard it here first: watch for MASSIVE march against traitors on Warsaw’s streets. We have elections on 25 Oct 2015 but servers used for counting votes are as far as I know in Russia:]
Same old, same old. Poland is ‘Gate to the Heartland’- if anyone is interested in investing $300.000.000.000 (allegedly FED gives that amount to Wallstreet on average week)– there would be handsome returns in trade starting in 2+ years, any takers?(: