Henriette Reker, a leading mayoral candidate in Cologne, was stabbed in the neck by an assailant who said he acted out of anti-immigrant sentiments. Ms. Reker, whose candidacy is supported by Chancellor Merkel’s party, is recovering in the hospital. The alleged attacker, a native German, is in police custody.
In other news, more than two hundred people gathered in Moscow for a public demonstration against Russian involvement in Syria.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Dollar Moves Shake the World: “Federal Reserve Could Start a Currency War”
There is a war, a currency war, and the war is, ultimately, on us.
In many respects, Americans have fallen far, and hard, from the liberty they once had.
Rather than living under a sound currency, modern Americans live under an economic despotism. There are monopoly men who tightly control the money, and are all the more insidious in their subtlety, and quietness in the shadows.
Today, things are so bad that they face economic enslavement and a rapid theft of their wealth through the debasement of the dollar’s value. Not only is the destruction of the dollar systematic and planned, but it is designed to leave Americans holding the bag. The money passes round and round, but it trickles down from the big banks, who are loaned the money free at zero percent interest by the Federal Reserve under its QE program, created to “fix” the 2008 economic crisis that nearly brought the world to its knees.
Now, literally any action at all — especially including no action — by the Federal Reserve has a direct impact on the value of the U.S. dollar, and greatly determines the course of world events, and especially whether or not average people can pay the bills.
According to The Street, it is an all out currency war that will have direct impact on budgets large and small:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Direct Investment in LatAm Plunges 21%
Foreign direct investment in Latin America dived 21 percent in the first half of 2015, a UN commission said Thursday, the latest bad news for a region facing recession this year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
In an interview Monday with host Ameera David on RT, former United States House of Representatives member Ron Paul (R-TX) noted that the biggest resistance to his effort to require an audit of the Federal Reserve is rooted in the desire to shield the Fed’s international activities from scrutiny.
Paul explains in the interview focused on the Federal Reserve:
[An audit of the Federal Reserve] would especially reveal the international transactions that go on. When I worked on this in Washington, that was where the greatest resistance was: ‘No, you can’t reveal our negotiations with other central banks, the World Bank, and what we do with governments.’ Who knows what we’re doing, because we are very much involved in worldwide politics, and we have an empire to deal with, and we can channel funds in a certain way through the Federal Reserve. So they wouldn’t be able to do that if you had a true audit of the Fed.
Watch the complete interview here:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
2 Recent Developments Bring Fresh Concerns Over GM Crops
Could it be that premier scientific journals are finally conveying the truth about GMOs? In a relatively recent exploration of ‘ubiquitous’ GMOs that have taken over our food supply, the New England Journal of Medicine tackles 2 new concerns over genetically modified organisms and the pesticides used to grow them.
As the journal points out, the omnipresence of GMOs are taken for granted by most physicians. They aren’t high on their list of health concerns, and barely receive a mention when patients come for a visit. This might start to change though, due to 2 fresh developments concerning GM crops.
1. The EPA Approved Enlist Due — A Toxic Herbicide Concoction
The first is the fact that there have been “sharp increases in the amounts and numbers of chemical herbicides applied to GM crops,” and the numbers are expected to increase.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved Enlist Duo, a new combination herbicide comprising glyphosate and 2,4-D, both chemicals have been proven to be extremely dangerous to human health, and equally detrimental to the environment…
2. The WHO Declares Widely-Used Herbicide “Probably Carcinogenic”
The second new development which is a cause for concern is the declaration by the IARC that glyphosate is a “probable human carcinogen” and 2,4-D is a “possible human carcinogen.”
These classifications were based on comprehensive assessments of the toxicologic and epidemiologic literature that linked both herbicides to dose-related increases in malignant tumors at multiple anatomical sites in animals and linked glyphosate to an increased incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
American Psycho — Has the United States Lost Its Collective Mind?
From Ferguson, Missouri to the deserts of Afghanistan the specter of US aggression is fueling the flames of civil strife and military conflict around an increasingly volatile planet. Much of the problem may be connected to the breakdown of the American psyche.
Before attempting to shed some light on America’s mental condition, let’s open with a pop quiz question: What is the top-selling prescription drug in the US? Nope, it’s not Viagra, not Prozac, forget the Percocet. If you don’t know, take a peek in the medicine cabinet because there’s a high chance it’s lurking in there, right behind that purple people eater. Yes, you got it. The top-selling drug in the Land of the Free and Disturbed is an antipsychotic, happily named Abilify.
Once again: The top-selling drug in America is an antipsychotic. Now some might say that’s mental.
“To be a top seller, a drug has to be expensive and also widely used,” Steven Reidbord M.D. wrote in Psychology Today. “Abilify is both. It’s the 14th most prescribed brand-name medication, and it retails for about $30 a pill. Annual sales are over $7 billion, nearly a billion more than the next runner-up.”
Let those numbers seep into your brain for a moment: $7.2 billion dollars. $30 per pill. Although that might make for some laugh-out-loud late-night comedy, these numbers are no laughing matter.
This on top of the latest statistic that shows prescription drug spending in the US exploded in 2014 to nearly $374 billion, a whopping 13.1 percent increase in growth, according to a new report from IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
Aside from the fact that Americans are buying antipsychotic medication by the truckload, there’s another disturbing thing about Abilify: Nobody, not even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has any idea what makes it effective. According to the USPI label that accompanies each bottle: “The mechanism of action of aripiprazole… is unknown. However, the efficacy of aripiprazole could be mediated through a combination of partial agonist activity at D2 and 5-HT1A receptors and… etc, etc.”
In other words, millions of Americans are ingesting an antipsychotic drug that not even the scientific community can say exactly what makes it work. Is that not in itself the very definition of insanity?
[…]
Here is a description of one of the 13 serious side-effects connected to this “blockbuster” drug: “Uncontrollable movements of face, tongue, or other parts of body, as these may be signs of a serious condition called tardive dyskinesia (TD). TD may not go away, even if you stop taking ABILIFY. TD may also start after you stop taking ABILIFY.”
And here’s another potential for a Dr. Jekyll-type transformation into Mr. Hyde: “High fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, changes in pulse, heart rate and blood pressure may be signs of a condition called neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), a rare and serious condition that can lead to death.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Army Veteran Fights Off Man Threatening Children With Knives
MORTON, Ill. — A 75-year-old Army veteran who fought off a knife-wielding man who was threatening to kill children at an Illinois library says training he received nearly five decades ago helped him in the scuffle.
James Vernon was teaching a chess class with 16 children at Morton Public Library when authorities say 19-year-old Dustin Brown entered the room with two knives. According to a court affidavit, Brown told police afterward that he “failed in his mission to kill everyone.”
“He actually ran into the room yelling, “I’m going to kill some people!’ He was holding two knives,” Vernon told the Pekin Daily News (http://bit.ly/1LegA6o ). Vernon described the knives as “hunting types” with “fixed blades about 5 inches” long.
Vernon, a retired Caterpillar Inc. employee, told the newspaper he remembered the knife-fight training the Army had given him. Despite his cuts, Vernon contended he won his “90 seconds of combat” with Brown, “but I felt like I lost the war.” He suffered two cut arteries and a tendon in his left hand as he blocked Brown’s knife swipe.
He said he first tried to calm Brown and deflect his attention from the children attending his class.
“I tried to talk to him. I tried to settle him down,” he said. “I didn’t, but I did deflect his attention” from the children “and calmed him a bit. I asked him if he was from Morton, did he go to high school. I asked what his problem was. He said his life sucks.”
Vernon said the man backed away as he got closer to him, but he was able to put himself between Brown and the room’s door, with the children hiding under the tables behind him.
“I gave them the cue to get the heck out of there, and, boy, they did that!” Vernon said. “Quick, like rabbits.”
Vernon said Brown responded by slashing him with a knife.
Vernon, saying he was “bleeding pretty good” at the time, held the suspect until a library employee arrived to remove the knives, and kept the man pinned until police officers and paramedics arrived.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Carly Fiorina Should be Terrifying to All Americans
2. Carly, while Americans were still flying their American flags on their cars after 9-11, during a speech on technology she applauded Islam stating “Islamic Civilization was the Greatest in the World” leaving out anyone else who might have played a part in bringing us all to a modern civilization. Though Fiorina did acknowledge Christianity and Judaism in culture, she did not call them “a civilization that was the greatest in the world.” She failed to recognize the long murderous track record of Islam and its culture in the Middle East. In her speech Fiorina lauded the contributions of ancient Islamic civilization to modern American society, saying that the “gifts [of Muslim civilizations] are very much a part of our heritage.” In fact, understanding that we are a Christian nation, one would think that she would reference the rich heritage of Europe or even our early founding, but instead, two weeks after Islamists attacked America, she decides to praise the culture that spawned them. You can read the whole speech here…
4. This is part of a speech Carly gave in 2001 at the Progressive & Freedom Foundation Summit in Aspen, CO stating she uses the Hegelian Dialect every day. At this Summit she “hailed” the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s dialectic process, elaborating re: her devotion to the idea of the Hegelian Dialectic as a tool for decision making. She suggested the synthesis of the status of schools to be “charter schools.”…
Fiorina was HP’s CEO from 1999 to 2005, following Lewis Platt. Prior to that, she was a rising star at telecom equipment maker Lucent, where she led corporate operations when Lucent spun off from AT&T and then rose to become a top president there.
Buying Compaq over the strong objections of some HP board members has been called a move that was not in her best interest. Fiorina is probably best known for leading HP into a very bitter and public board-level fight over the acquisition of Compaq. She wanted to buy the big PC rival and turn HP into the biggest PC maker. A faction of the board, led by Walter Hewlett (son of internally revered company co-founder William Hewlett), opposed the buy and launched a proxy fight.
Hewlett’s point was simple: Just maybe it’s a really bad idea to double down on a low-margin business like PCs. Fiorina won the proxy fight, and HP bought Compaq for about $19 billion in 2002.
But the integration of Compaq into HP was never smooth. Key Compaq executives reporting to Fiorina left or were ousted. And Fiorina angered many employees with massive layoffs right after the acquisition, cutting 15,000 HP jobs, making the workers who lost their jobs train their overseas replacements. (Sounds like Disney — I guess that is the corporate way these days) During her tenure, HP’s stock lost more than half its value. Fiorina became the leading American CEO for firing workers of which at the time of her firing in 2005, she had fired over 33K HP workers.
She shipped American jobs to both India and China according to the Center for Industrial Competitiveness. Fiorina cut worker’s salaries by $130 million while collecting $90 million for herself according to the book, “Greed and Good.” While other CEO’s during the dot.com crisis took pay cuts, Carly Fiorina took a 231% raise for herself jumping from $1.2M in 2001 to $4.1M in 2002.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Clinton Suggests She’d Consider Mandatory Gun Buy-Backs, Sparking Fears of ‘Confiscation’
Hillary Clinton said Friday that mandatory gun buy-back programs like ones in Australia are “worth looking into,” sparking criticism that the Democratic presidential front-runner would, if elected, impose gun-confiscation efforts.
Clinton made the comments during a campaign stop in Keene, N.H., when an attendee asked about Australia’s 1996 and 2003 buy-back programs that collected roughly 700,000 banned semi-automatic rifles and other firearms.
“I think it would be worth considering doing it on the national level, if that could be arranged,” Clinton responded.
“This validates what the NRA has said all along,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. “The real goal of gun control supporters is gun confiscation.”
Cox said Clinton’s comments echo recent ones by President Obama, making “very clear” that the underlying goal of gun-control advocates is confiscation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Local Community Rejects Federal Militarization of Police, Shows Path Forward
The Burlington police department unilaterally decided to sever ties with a U.S. Department of Defense program that allows law enforcement agencies to procure surplus military equipment, freeing the department from one significant form of federal influence and control.
A Burlington TV station reported on the move, saying the department had obtained two night vision devices through the program before deciding not to participate.
“There are times when military-style equipment is essential for public safety, but they are very rare,” Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said. “We have the resources to handle all but the most inconceivable public safety scenarios. Amassing a worst-case scenario arsenal of military equipment results in officers seeing everyday policework through a military lens. When I realized what a small role the military played in equipping our police, I concluded it was better to return the items.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Measles Outbreak Traced Back to Vaccinated Woman Who Spread the Disease
(NaturalNews) As published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, the 2011 measles outbreak in New York has been confirmed to have originated from a fully vaccinated woman, according to a study conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Westchester County Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Scientists have previously known that the measles vaccine could sometimes fail to deliver full protection. Even in cases where vaccinated persons have contracted the disease, it was thought that they could not pass it on to others.
The new findings, however, challenge that conventional wisdom, and raise the question of what other assumptions about vaccines might also turn out to be mistaken.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Merck Whistle-Blower Details Mandatory Vaccine Push
Rob Dew speaks with former Merck sales rep Brandy Vaughan about the plan for pushing mandatory vaccines, and how it starts with the HPV Shot.
Brandy also discloses new information about the Vitamin K shot and the dangerous new additives that are being being pumped into “baby’s first shot.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Middle School Assignment: Would You Save Whites or Blacks From Sinking Ship?
Valerie Kennel, whose 11-year-old daughter Leah attends Giunta Middle School near Tampa, says sixth grade students were presented a “Lifeboat Test” in which they were forced to save only nine people out of 15.
“It’s racist in every form,” Kennel told WFLA-TV. “This had nothing to do with history, nothing to do with it. What is it teaching them?”
Several high-profile figures including President Obama and Donald Trump were included on the test alongside whites, blacks, a Hispanic woman, a male and female doctor and a rabbi and minister.
“Leah is 11. How is she supposed to pick people based off of what they’re saying? To her, everybody matters. Everybody should have a chance,” Kennel said. “They didn’t do anything wrong. Everybody deserves to be saved.”
According to Leah, she and her fellow classmates immediately protested the assignment.
“Everybody in the classroom got upset about it and said, ‘This is racist. This is racist,’“ Leah notes.
One student, Leah adds, became so upset that they ripped up the assignment before being forced into “time-out” for opposing the test.
In response to protest from both parents and students, the Hillsborough County School District stated that the assignment was merely a “team-building exercise” and denied any racial connotations.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Police Killings of Blacks: What the Data Says
Tamir Rice. Eric Garner. Walter Scott. Michael Brown. Each killing raises a disturbing question: Would any of these people have been killed by police officers if they had been white?
I have no special insight into the psychology of police officers or into the complicated forensics involved in such cases. Answering this question in any single situation can be difficult and divisive. Two outside experts this month concluded, for example, that the shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy in Cleveland who was carrying a toy gun, was a “reasonable” if tragic response. That will hardly be the last word on the subject…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia Drivers Refusing to Swap Confederate Plates
(WAVY-TV) It is now illegal to drive with Virginia license plates featuring the Confederate flag, but some plan to defy the change in the Commonwealth.
Kevin Collier of Suffolk is a commander of the Stonewall Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He received a letter last month telling him he had until October 4 to swap out his Confederate flag license plate with a new one without the flag, provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Governor Terry McAuliffe called for the change this summer after a man pictured posing with the flag was accused of killing 9 African-Americans in a South Carolina church. Collier has missed the deadline to change plates and said he doesn’ t plan to.
“Next thing you know, they’re going to say you can’t wear blue on Monday…or you can’t wear yellow on Thursday. Where’s it going to end? “ Collier said.
The DMV said of 1,600 people in Collier’s situation, only 187 have returned the old plates. Some who didn’t want the new ones sent them back, writing “no thank you,” the department said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Stolen Puppy in Paris, The Ugly Face of Animal Rights Ideologues
There’s a video circulating on the Internet that stunned me stone cold. You see a group of animal rights activists literally tearing a homeless man’s puppy from his arms. You can see the poor guy trying in vain to free himself from the leader of the activist group, while the frightened little pup squeals and scurries before being scooped up and whisked away by the commando of righteous bandits. A chilling sequence, an abduction in the center of Paris, captured on the smartphone of an onlooker.
On their Facebook page, the kidnappers (I don’t know what else I could call them) boast a vision with Nazi echoes: “We took the dog away from a Roma beggar. The police didn’t act, we did.” It would be useless to seek in their triumphal dispatch any sign of embarrassment for having interfered in the destiny of two living creatures just minding their own business. The kidnappers even renamed their prey “Vegan,” which — in the face of the reality that canines are carnivores — says much about the readiness to impose one’s vision on others.
Needless to say, I hope the French authorities pursue the case. Love without humanity is only a projection of a frigid mind — an ideology, which like all ideologies, produces crimes disguised as acts of goodwill.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark, Sweden Tighten Laws Against Jihadist Threats
HELSINKI — Denmark’s Ministry of Defence will have a broader national security role under a government move to strengthen anti-terrorism laws and deal more effectively with radicalized Danish citizens and residents.
The change mooted by Denmark, which has been a prominent European target for Islamic jihadist terror groups since the controversial publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, would make fighting for foreign terrorist groups a treasonable offense…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
FIFA Says Will Look at Germany 2006 Bribe Claims
‘Very serious allegations’
(ANSA) — Rome, October 16 — FIFA said Friday allegations that Germany used bribes to secure the 2006 World Cup are “serious” and will be reviewed as part of its ongoing investigation into corruption in soccer.
German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported Friday that the bidding committee set up a slush fund of 10.3 million Swiss francs (about $6 million at that time) that was contributed in a private capacity by former Adidas chief Robert Louis-Dreyfus.
The money was used to secure four votes from FIFA’s 24-member executive committee before Germany won the bid vote in 2000, the report said.
FIFA said these “are very serious allegations” that “will be reviewed as part of the independent internal investigation currently being conducted by FIFA under the direction of its legal director with the assistance of outside counsel.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italians Have Lowest Obesity Level in EU
Counter-trend among youth
(ANSAmed) — MILAN, OCTOBER 13 — The Italian population has the lowest level of obesity in Europe at 10%, compared with 25% of the British.
The figures were reported by Italian farmers association Coldiretti during Obesity Day at Expo Milano 2015. Italy, it added, has the lowest number of citizens in the European Union above age 15 suffering from obesity: one in ten, better than even Sweden (12%). Immediately after the Scandinavians come Austrians, the Danes and the French. At the other end are the British, one in four of whom is obese, worse than Luxembourg (23%), Hungary and Greece (20% each). Coldiretti noted that the Italian position “is indubitably due to the long-term effects of the Mediterranean diet, with bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil and a ‘traditional’ glass of wine consumed at meal times. Italians hold the record for longevity, with average life expectancy at 79.4 years for men and 84.5 for women, some of the highest in the world.” The association added that the younger generation, however, is moving in the opposite direction: 30.7% are overweight or obese according to a 2014 survey conducted on third-year primary school students. Of concern is also the drop in household purchases of fruit and vegetables, which in 2014 fell to below 400 grams per person.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: EU Not Place ‘Where You Take Orders’ — Renzi
We put in 22 bn a year, get 11 out says premier
(ANSA) — Venice, October 16 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Friday that “we must stop considering the EU a place where you go to get your orders,” referring to possible strictures over the 2016 budget bill’s planned property tax cuts.
“Every year we give 20 billion euros to the EU and we receive 11…The EU is an extraordinary construction but it must be strengthened and made to live,” Renzi said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Sicilian Beer Named After Vulgar Term for Penis
Brewer says ‘minchia’ part of Sicilian history
(ANSA) — Palermo, September 29 — A Messina-based brewer has launched a beer named “Minchia”, a vulgar term for penis in Sicilian dialect that is used to express feelings such as joy, surprise and wonder.
Nino Amato, owner of the Sikania firm that is producing the artisan beer, said he had not chosen the name to be purposefully rude.
“This word is part of our history,” he told ANSA. “For Sicilians it is an exclamation that encompasses a variety of feelings, being used spontaneously to express joy, shock and wonder,” he said. He added that although it is now used across Italy and the world, it remains a symbol of Sicilian identity.
“The idea was also to give a boost to our exports at both the national level and abroad,” he said. His company produces 1,200 litres of beer a day and sells above all to Sicilian-run businesses, he said.
The beer, brewed at low temperatures, comes in three varieties at the moment: Minchia blonde, red, and double malt.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Three Arrested for Alleged Graft in Rome Contracts, Including Jubilee Projects
Two businessmen and one city employee from roads department
(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — Two businessmen and one city worker from Rome’s Infrastructure Development and Urban Maintenance department were placed on house arrest Wednesday, accused of corruption and obstructing tenders.
They are suspected of having rigged tenders for road maintenance and surveillance contracts with bribes.
As part of the investigation coordinated by the Rome prosecutor’s office, police also carried out searches at the companies of the two arrested businessmen, Luigi Martella and Alessio Ferrari, as well as the office of the city worker, Ercole Lalli.
Investigators said they found evidence that on September 27, the businessmen in question paid Lalli 2,000 euros in cash in exchange for confidential information relating to companies competing for city contracts for maintenance and oversight of streets that are part of the “Grande Viabilità” network of city-maintained roadways.
When police intervened, they said Lalli still had the cash in hand, and tried to dispose of the envelope containing 10 100-euro banknotes and 20 50-euro banknotes, which police immediately seized.
Of the contracts included in the investigation, one was among those awarded for Jubilee Year projects and was blocked by Italy’s National Anticorruption Authority (ANAC) on Tuesday, just prior to Wednesday’s arrests.
ANSA has learned that the businessmen are owners of two firms (as well as sleeping partners in another) — Trevio and Malù Lavori — that participated in a tender for the first round of contracts to be awarded for Jubilee Year projects.
In late August, the process for those tenders came under the examination of a special ANAC unit for Jubilee Year projects together with anticorruption agents from the finance police.
That examination uncovered that the two companies had allegedly concealed their relationship.
The discovery was seen as suspicious, which led ANAC President Raffaele Cantone to issue an opinion against the awarding of the contracts.
The Rome city government consequently halted the process.
Rome councillor for law and order Alfonso Sabella said, “I had reported all of them in April,” referring to those arrested Wednesday.
“And we had called them in for today to exclude them from the tender for the Jubilee,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Showman Greggio Plea Bargains Tax Case, Keeps Record Clean
Over taxes unpaid by Irish firm
(ANSA) — Milan, October 14 — Showman Ezio Greggio on Wednesday plea bargained a 45,000-euro fine and kept his record clean over taxes that were not paid by the Irish company that manages his rights. His defence lawyer said “the end has been put to a dispute that was already closed with the Italian tax man more than a year ago”. Greggio presents the primetime satirical show Striscia La Notizia on Silvio Berlusconi’s flagship Canale 5 channel.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Over 90% ATAC Contracts Without Tender’ Says ANAC
‘Shd have been exception, has become the rule’
(ANSA) — Rome, October 15 — More than 90% of the work and services handed out to contract by Rome transport company ATAC over the last five years was by negotiations without competitive tender, the anti-corruption authority ANAC sauid Thursday. ATAC has been at the centre of a string of graft and nepotism probes.
“A practice that should have been an exception has become the rule,” ANAC said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Poles Depose Chocolate King Poroshenko From Supermarket Shelves
The rally was organized by the Polish Zmiana political party, and urged Poles not to buy goods produced by Roshen, the confectionary company owned by the Ukrainian president.
Polish activists held demonstrations in Warsaw and other Polish cities on Wednesday, campaigning against the sale of confectionary products produced by Roshen, the company owned by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
As well as a political dimension, the protest also aimed to raise awareness that Poroshenko’s Roshen, which is seeking to expand into markets in Eastern Europe, uses harmful ingredients in its confectionary, organizer Mateusz Piskorski told Sputnik.
The interview given to Sputnik by organizer Mateusz Piskorski.
The activists gave out flyers and informational material to customers at stores in cities across Poland, informing them about the company, and the damaging content of the confectionary it produces.
“The majority of Poles didn’t know that this firm belongs to Poroshenko,” explained Piskorski.
“Many pointed out that they resolutely prefer to buy Polish confectionary produce. A lot of them also asserted that this situation, in which the president of a country is at the same time an oligarch, carrying out expansion into certain markets, is twisted.”
“This kind of situation is very difficult to imagine in Poland or in any other European country, when the president is at the same time a businessman, carrying on his own personal affairs.”
The demonstrations in Poland took place on October 14, the same day as a meeting held in Kiev dedicated to the 73th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army [UPA], a paramilitary organization that fought against the Poles and Soviet forces during the Second World War.
The date is a state holiday in Ukraine, called ‘the Day of Defender of Ukraine,’ after a decree signed by President Poroshenko on October 14 2014.
“It is not a coincidence,” Piskorski told Sputnik.
“The date of the protest is of course symbolic. It is connected with the fact that on the one hand, President Poroshenko during his 2014 presidential campaign promised to stop his commercial activity, and sell his shares in Roshen. He still hasn’t done that. He still remains one of Ukraine’s biggest oligarchs.”
“He uses the political rhetoric of Banderov, rhetoric addressed to the murderers of the UPA, an organization of Ukrainian nationalists, in order to legalize his power as a state ideology,” explained Piskorski.
The second reason for the protest is due to health concerns, said the organizer, warning that “health agencies for several years have made repeated statements about the harmful ingredients that are used in Roshen products.”
In particular, said Piskorski, in 2013 testing of Roshen products discovered the presence of benzopyrene, a potent mutagen and carcinogen that is also found in tobacco smoke.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Rages Against Conservative Cardinals
A Conservative backlash has been building for quite some time in the Vatican. On October12, 2015, at 7pm, all hell broke loose at the Vatican. The mild Bergoglio went ballistic and had a mild stroke. This occurred after the website l’Espresso posted an open letter addressed to the Pope in which 13 conservative cardinals voiced their objections. At this point Roberto D’Agostino reports from his website Dagospia, the usually mild and peaceful Bergoglio lost it completely, and thundered against the purple conservatives prelates stating: “If this is the case, they can leave. The Church does not need them. I will throw them all out! “
And then full of rage, he had a mild stroke. The pope has been under stress for months, one more reason I expect him to retire in 2016.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Portugal: 500 Years After Inquisition Jews Are Back
First naturalization of Sephardic descendants
(by Francesco Cerri) — MADRID — The government of Lisbon has announced it has given citizenship to the first descendants of Sephardic Jews chased from the country with an edict in 1496. These are the first naturalizations granted according to a law of “compensation” passed at the beginning of the year by the Portuguese parliament.
Portugal and Spain have decided almost simultaneously this year to offer a form of compensation to the families of those who suffered the consequences of the Inquisition, granting them citizenship.
Portugal has already received 200 applications. Two Jewish brothers from Panama whose ancestors lived in Lisbon before they were expelled in 1497 were among the first to be granted Portuguese and European citizenship. In Spain, where the law came into effect at the beginning of October, the government took an immediate gesture towards the Jewish community, granting nationality to 4,302 Sephardic Jews mostly from Morocco, Turkey and Venezuela whose ancestors were chased with the 1492 edict by the very Catholic kings of Aragon and Castile. They had already applied for citizenship, based on a previous law.
No official data is currently available but, according to data quoted by El Pais, Spanish Sephardic descendants could be two million worldwide with large communities in Israel, the US, France and Argentina.
Most of those forced to leave Spain fled 500 years ago to the Ottoman empire or other countries in the Middle East or North Africa. The Spanish law, which is stricter and has been effective for three years now, provides for the following requirements to get citizenship, without applicants having to relinquish the one they already have: knowledge of the language, culture and current situation in the country, as well as the presentation of documents confirming their origin. Interest is high in Israel for Spanish and Portuguese passports opening the door to the EU, the largest market in the world.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Police have released this disturbing footage of a young woman being carried by her rapist to the scene of the brutal attack as she tried to get a taxi home following a night out.
The CCTV clips show the unidentified man walking around Leeds city centre shortly before he comes across the 24-year-old woman at around 5am on Friday, August 14 this year.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was on her way to get a taxi home after a night out when she was approached by the man in the Kirkgate area of the city.
He spoke to her and walked alongside her down Briggate shopping street before they reached Dortmund Sqaure, where he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the scene of the attack on Mark Lane.
The man was described as black, aged 30 to 40, tall and with a shaved head. He was wearing a long black overcoat and black trousers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Montenegro Police Tear Gas Opposition Protesters
Montenegro police Saturday used tear gas to disperse several hundred opposition activists trying to protest outside parliament to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic’s left-wing government.
Hundreds of officers sealed off key government institutions in downtown Podgorica to stop protesters approaching the assembly, firing the tear gas when the demonstrators tried to break through their lines.
The activists later staged a protest walk nearby that ended peacefully, according to an AFP journalist…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Montenegrin Police Fire Tear Gas at Opposition Anti-Government Protest
Montenegrin police have used tear gas to break up a protest by the opposition demanding the government’s resignation and an early election in the small Balkan state.
Several hundred opposition leaders and supporters gathered Saturday evening in downtown Podgorica, the capital, and tried to advance through a police cordon. Officers fired tear gas and pushed them away.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Olive Oil: For Tunisia Italy Remains Privileged Partner
Director of Tunisian National Oil Office talks to ANSAmed
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, OCTOBER 15 -Abdellatif Ghedira, director of the Tunisian National Oil Office and a candidate for the management of the International Oil Council has no doubts about the good quality of Tunisian oil for export and the fact that Italy remains a privileged partner in this sector.
Work took Ghedira round the world to illustrate the virtues of Tunisian oil and he has become one of the main experts in the field. Quoting the latest data, Ghedira reminds ANSAmed that Tunisia has currently become the first oil exporting country in the world, surpassing Spain with 299.300 tons in September 2015.
“It’s the result of an exceptional year” said Ghedira, describing with precision the mechanisms regulating offer and demand in the oil world market, a product he treasures as much as to call it “a fruit-juice” of olives.
It’s deciphering the dynamics of international commerce that he clarifies the reasons behind the recent proposal by the Commission to facilitate the export of 35 thousand tons of extra vergin olive oil a year from Tunisia to the EU. Ghedira takes Italy as an example stressing that it consumes and exports more oil than it is able to produce (it produces approximately 400 million tons and consumes 600 million he reminded)therefore, in these conditions, he believes it would be logic to believe that it would continue to buy, as it always has, from Tunisia, a country which offers the best product on the market in terms of the quality/price index.
The director of the National office of Tunisian oil cuts short Italian debates on the quality of Tunisian oil, stating that the oil destined to export is certified by laboratories adopting international standards; Ghedira also recognised Italians have a long experience in the field in terms of know-how, cultivation techniques and product enhancement and suggested Italian producers should be helped by the EU with subsidies or aid packages.
“Historically, Italy remains our privileged partner and the European country in which we export the most” said Ghedira, who is thrilled about the future of Tunisian oil considering harvest expectations for next year and the estimates on growth of the world market with increasing demand from extra-European markets such as China, Japan, Brasil but also the development of the internal market which paradoxically is still rather weak.
The annual consumption of olive oil of Tunisians is approximately 3 kilos, while the one of Italians is between 10 an 12 kilos.
Greeks top the list of olive oil consumers with approximately 20 kilos per head.
Olive oil represents the main entry in Tunisian farming exports (almost 60%) and is of capital importance in the country as it indirectly employs over a million workers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
One Moroccan in Three is Illiterate, Report Says
UN, one in 10 lives with less than 2 dollars a day
A Morrocan saleswoman takes a nap amidst hand made hats and bags she sells at Jamma el Fna in Marrakech [ARCHIVE MATERIAL 20080608 ]
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, OCTOBER 16 — The sixth general census in Morocco has revealed that eight and a half million people are illiterate. Almost 32% of the population above 10 years of age are unable to read and write, according to a report drafted by HCP, the high commissioner for the project of statistical studies on the population. The study also noted that illiteracy has gone down only 18.7% in 10 years.
The government’s plan is to eradicate the problem by 2024 but NGOs and experts are more cautious.
The number of participants in ministerial programs promoting literacy are growing with almost 750,000 reportedly deciding to learn how to read and write between 2014 and 2015. In addition, 250,000 people have attended courses held at mosques. And NGOs have also registered a 56% increase of students in classes to learn language basics (453,337 in 2015 against 290,398 the previous year). Associations and state programs mean to double the number of those aged between 16 and 24, targeting young illiterates in particular.
But the great number of those who don’t know how to read and write is constantly fueled by the young who drop out of school and the education system is unable to do anything to help them.
Illiteracy is higher in rural rather than urban areas. In 2014, almost half of the rural population (47.7%) was illiterate against 22.2% in cities. The gender gap is also high: over 60% of women living in the country is illiterate against 35.2% of men; in the urban context, the ratio is 30.5% to 13%.
One Moroccan in 10 lives with less than 19 dirhams a day, according to the 2015 United Nations report on food and farming: 3.6 million people are living in Morocco with less than two dollars a day.
And 4.5% of children, especially in rural areas, are malnourished. Moreover, only 36.8% of Moroccans benefit from social services. The UN concluded its report calling for national policies promoting aid and support “to progressively free people from poverty and hunger”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Violent Attacks Continue in Israel as Tensions Increase
Palestinian assailants carried out five stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Saturday, authorities said, as a month-long outburst of violence showed no signs of abating. The unrest came despite new security measures that have placed troops and checkpoints around Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
W e have been an admirer of David Isaac’s commendable documentary series, “Zionism 101”. It is a beautiful constructed graphic Baedeker and comprehensive guide to the origins and evolution of religious and political Zionism. We count him among the leading defenders of Israel, the Jewish nation and the Diaspora, the ‘galut’. Thus, I found it in character for him to publish a review of a new book of withering essays by University of Washington scholar, Edward Alexander, “Jews Against Themselves”. Isaac’s review of Alexander’s collection of jeremiads, “The Enemy Within” published in today’s Washington Free Beacon excoriates these diverse ‘shadtlanim’ beyond the usual suspects. Isaac pays tribute to Alexander withering and acerbic wit in these essays. He writes:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Assad Only Politician Able to Form National Unity Government in Syria
There is no such thing as “moderate opposition” in Syria, French academic Thomas Flichy de la Neuville told Sputnik, adding that it is Bashar al-Assad who is now representing the people of Syria.
French historian Thomas Flichy de la Neuville, professor of International relations in Saint-Cyr’s military academy and researcher in the Roland Mousnier Centre calls attention to the fact that there is no such thing as “moderate opposition” in Syria, if there was any it would have been nevertheless suppressed by radicals.
“Russia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict is not aimed at strengthening the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It is a part of a clear diplomatic strategy which envisages the eradication of the Islamic State, or at least its containment. In order to halt ISIL’s advance Russia can count only upon the Islamic State’s deadly enemies, such as Iran and Syria. I believe that one should not muddle Syria’s domestic issues with Russia’s geopolitical objectives,” Neuville told Sputnik.
According to the professor, Syria’s internal balance of power is absolutely transparent: President Bashar al-Assad has won an overwhelming majority in Syria and enjoys wide public support. “So far, it would be futile to collaborate with forces which do not represent Syria and its population. We are facing a real war and we would gain nothing in terms of geopolitics, if we appeal to the people who do not represent the interests of Syrians,” he said.
“The only politician, who is able to form a national unity government, is Bashar al-Assad,” the professor emphasized.
In contrast, the “pseudo-leadership” which is dying to replace the present Syrian government has no influence on the current situation in the country, Neuville elaborated, adding that those who talk about the necessity of a regime change in Syria are missing the point.
Commenting on the European Union’s attitude to the ongoing Syrian crisis the academic pointed out that the absence of an independent foreign policy is now EU’s key feature.
According to Neuville, the powers which are currently playing the first fiddle in the Middle Eastern region are likely to sustain their status quo.
“If we compare Russia’s [counter-terror] operation with its dozens of strikes per week with one strike a week carried out by France, it is easy to guess who will preserve its influence in the region,” the academic remarked.
Neuville dismissed the assumption that the so-called “moderate” rebels constitute an anti-Assad opposition.
“There is no moderate opposition [in Syria],” he explained, “If there was any it would have been suppressed by Islamists long ago; its [opposition’s] political goals are as violent as those of the Islamic State.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
ISIL Will Eradicate Christianity in Iraq, Syria Unless Stopped
UK-based charity Aid to the Church in Need issued a worrying report to the British House of Lords this week, warning that Christianity could be entirely extinguished in Iraq by 2020, and be put under grave threat in Syria, if the Islamic State terrorist group is not stopped.
The Catholic charity’s report, ‘Persecuted & Forgotten?’, analyzing the conditions faced by Christians around the world over the past two years, noted that “extremist Islam,” most notably in the form of the Islamic State, is currently “the gravest threat” facing the religion’s adherents.
The report suggested that the ongoing “vast exodus of Christians from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East highlights the very real possibility that Christianity could soon all but disappear from much of its ancient homeland.”
According to the report, with an estimated 275,000 Christians believed to remain in Iraq, up to half of them are now internally displaced, and “many, if not most” of them want to leave the country. The report also recalled the sad fact that violence in that country over the past decade has resulted in a dramatic drop in the country’s Christian population, which numbered about one million in 2003, prior to the US invasion.
Noting that the country’s “Christian population has been hemorrhaging at a rate of between 60,000 and 100,000 a year,” the charity’s report suggested that “these statistics suggest that unless there is a change for the better, Christianity will be all but extinct in Iraq within five years.”
The report recalled that ISIL’s capture of Mosul and Nineveh last year hit the Christian community in Iraq particularly hard, with the sacking of the two cities “arguably tearing the heart out of the Church’s presence in the country.”
Noting that “Iraq’s declining Christian presence” has been “mirrored in Syria,” as well as other countries facing Islamist fundamentalism, including Nigeria, the report emphasized that “such an exodus has profound consequences, reaching far beyond the Christian community.”
“The absence of Christians,” in the report’s words, “represents a crucial societal, organizational and cultural rupture with the past,” depriving the countries in which the religion once thrived of religious and cultural pluralism. “At the very least, the disappearance of Christians, especially in the Middle East -damages the prospects of social cohesion.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Military Base ‘To Give Syrians Sense of Security’- Latakia Governor
The governor of Latakia, Ibrahim Salim, said that the government of his province welcomes the establishment of the Russian military base. Earlier, there were reports about the possible establishment of a Russian military base in Syria.
The formation of a full-fledged Russian military base in the Syrian province of Latakia would allow its residents to feel more secure, Governor Ibrahim Salim told Russian journalists during an interview.
Earlier the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, Andrey Kartapolov, in an interview with ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ said that the Russian General Staff does not exclude the possibility of the establishment of a military base in Syria with sea, air and land constituents.
“With the advent of the Russian air force the people feel more secure; they have hope of victory over the terrorists. Therefore, we welcome the establishment of a Russian military base,” Ibrahim Salim said.
He further said, “I am confident that with the Russian air force support and with the actions of the Syrian troops on land and water a complete victory over this evil and liberation of the motherland will be achieved. This will open a new path for the development of the whole world,” the governor said.
According to him, currently Latakia is home to around half a million people displaced from other parts of Syria, especially from the provinces of Raqqa, Idlib, Aleppo and Deypr ez-Zor.
He also mentioned that over the past five years, Syria has been fighting against the greatest terrorist in the world.
“The Syrian people and its army are courageously fighting international terrorism. Russian assistance in countering this international terrorism together with the Syrian Army is very important to us,” the governor added during the interview.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Special Delivery: Saudi Arabia to Receive More Black Hawks From Ally US
The US is all set for a new special delivery for Riyadh. The Saudis are awaiting a fresh shipment of Black Hawk helicopters, packed with heavy weapons. The move flies in the face of international calls on Western powers to halt weapons deliveries to the Saudis, whose airstrikes continue to pound Yemen further into humanitarian crisis.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced approval of the weapons deal, worth $495 million, that includes nine Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters, equipped with AN/AAR-57 missile warning systems and M134 7.62mm six-barrel miniguns. The helicopters will be operated by the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command.
Twenty M240H machine guns and additional equipment is listed in the contract as well.
The sale requires up to sixty US government and contractor personnel to travel to Saudi Arabia for up to sixty months for the equipment follow-up. Riyadh received 72 Black Hawks in 2010, alongside dozens of Apaches and other helicopters, F-15SA strike fighters and various other military equipment.
The US has been selling Black Hawks extensively over the last two years to countries including Jordan, Tunisia, Austria, Slovakia, Mexico and Brazil.
“The proposed sale will make a positive contribution to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of an important regional partner that has been, and continues to be, a significant US partner for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East,” the announcement on the DSCA website published Wednesday states.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International issued a report calling on Washington and London to halt arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia in light of the hundreds of civilians killed and injured in an ongoing air campaign launched by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels in March.
Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government and the Houthis, the country’s main opposition force that forced the country’s government to resign in January.
According to the United Nations, hundreds of civilians have been killed in Yemen in the course of the conflict and around 80 percent of the country’s population is currently in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Army Advances South of Aleppo Backed by Hezbollah, Iranian Fighters
Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters made advances on Saturday in their offensive to retake territory around the northern city of Aleppo from insurgents and jihadist fighters, a monitoring group said.
The campaign around Aleppo, which the army launched on Friday, is one of several assaults it has waged against rebel fighters since Russian jets began carrying out air strikes on Sept. 30 in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
It has concentrated so far on clearing rebel areas south of Aleppo rather than the city itself, which is home to 2 million people and divided between government forces and rebels…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Humiliation is Complete: ISIS Fighters Cut Off Beards and Run Away as Russia, Iran Close in
Sunni extremists are now shaving off their beards and running for their lives.
The thing about ragtag groups of militants that display a penchant for extreme violence is that in the absence of serious opposition, they can rack up gains at an alarming pace.
Of course there are plenty of (possibly credible) theories out there, which suggest that some of what you see in the videos released by ISIS is for show and we won’t endeavor to assess the degree to which the group’s brutality is real versus staged, but one thing is clear: regardless of who is funding, training, and/or supporting them, there are obviously fighters on the ground in the Mid-East waving the ISIS flag and committing atrocities in its name.
That works well when it comes to destabilizing fragile states that are already beset with sectarian bickering on the way to claiming large swaths of territory from a defenseless citizenry.
But you can’t intimidate a modern fighter jet by waving around a sword and if you’re a newbie on the Mid-East militant scene, you can’t scare a three decade veteran by beheading a couple of people, which is why if you’re ISIS, the combination of the Russian Air Force and Hezbollah ground troops is absolutely terrifying.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK Prioritizes Saudi Contracts Over Human Rights Concerns
The United Kingdom is prioritizing its investment partnership with Saudi Arabia despite human rights concerns, local media reported Saturday, citing government documents.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Documents seen by the Sunday publication are said to name Riyadh a “priority market” encouraging British businesses to bid for Saudi health, security, defense and justice contracts.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that ministers are bent on ever-closer ties with the world’s most notorious human rights abusers,” the Reprieve non-profit’s death penalty team director, Maya Foa, told The Observer.
Documents seen by the Sunday publication are said to name Riyadh a “priority market” encouraging British businesses to bid for Saudi health, security, defense and justice contracts.
One of the cited UK-Saudi deals is a 2013 Trade and Investment Defense and Security Organization (UKTI) document outlining the Middle East’s “ballooned” global policing and security market. UKTI is said to offer grants to support entities including those selling security equipment to take part in exhibitions aimed at emerging markets, specifically Saudi Arabia.
Other agreements include a UK National College of Policing secret memorandum of understanding to help modernize the Saudi Interior Ministry and a 2011 healthcare memorandum.
Foa called on UK ministers to “urgently come clean” about the true extent of London’s investment partnership with Riyadh.
On Tuesday, Downing Street announced the cancellation of a $9.1-million Saudi prison training program amid a backlash against the sentencing of a 74-year-old Briton to 260 lashes for transporting homemade wine.
Another global outcry broke out against the pending death sentences of three Saudi youths who were arrested at the age of 17 in 2012. Last year, the three Shiite activists were sentenced to death and are thought to have been moved to solitary confinement this month.
Amnesty International calculates that 137 Saudi citizens have been executed in 2015, up from 90 last year. The group’s ranking places Saudi Arabia as the third-highest state executioner in the world.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US ‘Indecisiveness’ Driving Allies to Side With Russia in Syria — Experts
Commenting on President Putin’s “muscular military intervention” in Syria, a recent article in The Christian Science Monitor suggested that Moscow now threatens to steal away traditional US Middle Eastern allies by showing its intervention to be “decisive and practical,” contrasting American uncertainty and lack of commitment.
The newspaper noted that “by swooping in to rescue a tottering regime -one ruled by a leader that President Obama has insisted ‘must go’ for more than four years — Mr. Putin is declaring loud and clear that the American style of regime change is not to be trusted. By comparison, Russia seeks to cast itself as the stronger and more reliable of the major powers in the Middle East.”
Speaking to CSM, Naval War College international relations scholar Nikolas Gvosdev suggested that “to America’s partners in the region, starting with Egypt, who are questioning the depth of the US commitment, [Putin] is making a stark comparison: Russian reliability vs. American indecision…Putin is saying that Washington is no longer the only go-to capital for getting things done in the world.”
Pointing out that both Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have repeatedly said “that regime change imposed by outside forces leads to nothing but disorder and greater violence,” CSM noted that Russia, instead, presents itself as a country “intervening in Syria to reestablish order and security.”
John Hulsman, American-born foreign policy expert and president of the Rothenburg, Germany-based John C. Hulsman Enterprises consulting firm, told the newspaper that the Russian leader “spends his time building up himself and his country by point out the flaws of the United States.”
“Instead of seeing Putin as a Bond villain the way the US press seems to, we should see him for what he is, a nationalist whose focus is reestablishing and extending Russia’s national honor,” the expert added.
In this way, according to Hulsman, Putin is really a “Gaullist.” The analyst pointed to similarities between the Russian president and post-Second World War French President Charles de Gaulle, including their criticisms “of America’s global foibles and arrogance.”
Suggesting that Russia’s intervention is demonstrating Russia’s attempt to punch above its weight, Hulsman noted that “by intervening, [Putin] is saying that Russia must be reckoned with. By espousing this idea, appealing to a growing number of listeners, that the region would be better off if unsavory but authoritative leaders were left in place, he is winning for himself a ticket to the big show.”
Commenting on Putin’s goals in Syria, Gvosdev suggested that “even if Putin only does a partial save and manages to keep Assad on his feet…that’s probably enough. He can still say ‘I can get something for my guys, and I never claimed to do more.’“ Washington, in contrast, has “painted itself into a corner,” the analyst noting Washington’s stubbornness has led to a situation where “anything short of ‘Assad must go’ will be a defeat.”
In fact, according to the Naval War College analyst, the Russian leader’s limited aims are what has kept him out of trouble, compared with his US counterpart. “Putin has no thought of restoring and transforming Syria — instead a frozen conflict where Assad survives and some manner of order is reestablished at least in part of the country will probably be enough. Those larger goals are the ones he sees the US repeatedly going for and then failing at.”
While Gvosdev’s suggestion that Russia does not intend to see the war in Syria through to a peaceful conclusion is definitely something which can be argued with, his apparent suggestion that Russia will be able to avoid getting bogged down, US style, by establishing limits and resisting full-scale invasions and nation-building, is spot on.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Several Hundred People Protest in Moscow Against Russia’s Syria Airstrikes
Several hundred opponents of Russia’s airstrikes in Syria have held a protest in Moscow.
The demonstration on Saturday in a Moscow square near the Russian Army Theater attracted about 250 protesters, who held placards including one that called Syrian President Bashar Assad a murderer and added “shame on Russia.”
Russia says its airstrikes, which began Sept. 30, are aimed at destroying facilities of the Islamic State extremist group. But some Syrian groups claim the bombs are hitting civilians and rebel groups that aren’t connected to IS but that oppose Assad, Russia’s longtime ally in the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Suffers From ‘Fading Leadership Syndrome’ — Russian Lawmaker
The US is striving to view all processes through the prism of rivalry between the world’s leading countries, Alexey Pushkov says.
The United States is suffering from a “syndrome of fading leadership”, Alexey Pushkov, leading the State Duma lower house International Affairs Committee, said on Wednesday.
“The United States is inclined to regard global politics from the point of view of a struggle for global leadership,” Pushkov said. But fears of losing this leadership had become an obsession for Barack Obama and candidates running for presidency, he added…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Expropriation of Lands in Bangladesh: 100 Muslims Occupy Christian Home in Dhaka
The attackers wanted money in exchange for the house. They threatened to kill the residents. Christian activist: “Grave injustice to the Christian community. In Bangladesh we are a weak minority and this is why Muslims are attacking us. “
Dhaka (AsiaNews) — About 100 Muslims attacked a Christian family living in Dhaka and forced them to leave their three room home. Tapon Cruze tells AsiaNews: “They wanted to shoot me. They told us that they would kill us if we had opposed the expropriation of our house “, not far from the Catholic Church of the Holy Rosary in the capital.
The incident happened on October 15, and the victims report that they were assaulted without any legitimate reason. The criminals were accompanied by the police, “who witnessed the expropriation and did nothing to stop it. We lost our possessions, money, and we’re out of the house”.
The man reported that a Muslim land grabber Azijulla, wanted them out of the house by force. “He asked for money in exchange for our property. They are cheating us. We have appealed to the Christian community and the media. We met the pastor of the local church”.
Nirmal Rozario, general secretary of the Bangladesh Christian Association, said: “I visited the place occupied by Muslims. They are committing a grave injustice against the Christian community. In Bangladesh, Christians are a weak minority and this is why Muslims are attacking us”.
Bangladesh has a population of 152 million inhabitants and isMuslim majority (89.8%). The Christian community (0.2% of the population) and Hindu (9.1%) are subject to numerous attacks and to expropriation of land. Experts point out that the reason is not so much religious as economic.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
German Woman Kidnapped 2 Months Ago in Afghanistan Released
Germany’s foreign minister says a German woman who was kidnapped two months ago in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has been freed. Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement Saturday that he was “very relieved” the German was free and that she is “doing well considering the circumstances.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indian Girls Aged Two and Five ‘Gang-Raped’ In New Delhi: Police
Two Indian girls aged two-and-a-half and five years old were raped in separate incidents in New Delhi overnight, with at least one confirmed as a gang rape, police said Saturday.
The younger child was abducted late Friday by two men from a religious event in west Delhi’s Nangloi area and sexually assaulted before being dumped in a park near her home, police and relatives said.
Pushpendra Kumar, west Delhi police chief, said they found the younger child bleeding profusely several hours after she went missing and that tests showed she had been raped at least once.
“We have launched a manhunt for the suspects. So far no one has been arrested,” Kumar told AFP of the toddler’s case…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Delhi Rape Crisis: Two More Young Children Attacked
Two young children have been raped in the Indian capital of Delhi, drawing strong criticism from the city’s chief minister.
Arvind Kejriwal accused the government and police of not doing enough to protect minors in the city.
The latest attacks come after a four-year-old girl was raped in Delhi last week.
Two years ago, India tightened its laws on sexual violence after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a student.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Exclusive: China Aims to Go Deeper Into Space
BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — As China’s exploration of the moon progresses, its space experts have begun considering going deeper into the solar system — to Mars, asteroids and Jupiter — and a manned deep-space mission.
At a recent conference on deep-space exploration in Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, an official urged scientists and technologists to have a pioneering spirit.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India, US and Japan Hold Naval Exercises Under China’s Gaze
Naval warships, aircraft carriers and submarines from the U.S., India and Japan steamed into the Bay of Bengal on Saturday as they took part in joint military exercises off India’s east coast, signaling the growing strategic ties among the three countries as they face up to a rising China.
“India and Japan both are fantastic partners of the United States,” Capt. Craig Clapperton, commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, told reporters on board the ship. “We share a great deal in common, and we certainly have very strong economic, military and political relationships and friendships with India and Japan.”
A Chinese state-run newspaper, however, cautioned India to guard against being drawn into an anti-China alliance.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Korean Defector Reveals the Truth Behind Kim Jong-un’s Staged Public Appearances
Kim Jong-un always appears to receive an over-enthusiastic round of applause whenever he makes a speech at his rallies but now a North Korean defector has revealed the reason why.
‘You have to do it because you don’t want to die,’ says the former soldier, whose identity has been kept secret in order to protect his family.
Speaking from the South Korean capital Seoul, he also described witnessing regular public executions in North Korea.
When asked if the rapture of applause shown for tyrant Kim Jong-un at the mass parades, the defector said people had no other option.
‘When people are clapping… if you don’t clap, if you nod off, you’re marked as not following Kim Jong Un’s doctrine,’ he told Sky News.
[Comment: Solzhenitsyn tells in his book “Gulag Archipelago” how people clapped like crazy during Soviet times. No on wanted to be the first to stop.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Helen’s Journey From China to Ethiopia, And Hope for Better Future for Africa
The businesswoman arrived in the African country in 2011 and in two years has hired about 3,500 local workers: “I want to show that Africa can become the manufacturing hub of the world.” A success story that clashes with Beijing’s neo-colonialism on the Dark Continent.
Geneva (AsiaNews) — The story entrepreneur Helen Hai, who left a successful career in England to create jobs in Africa, is a commendable example of commitment to progress. China’s behavior on the Dark Continent has not always been of the most uplifting. As many witnesses have confirmed, the Chinese projects often provoke protests — sometimes even violent — by the local people, who feel exploited and cast aside.
Between 2000 and 2011, Beijing invested more than $ 75 billion in Africa. Only 1.1 billion per year was officially declared as “a contribution to developing countries” within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The amount of American investments in the same period is estimated at $ 90 billion. Beijing works hard to keep the exact figure of its investments in Africa secret, defined by some analysts as “a new form of colonialism”.
Researchers, basing their work on African and Western news sources, have identified 1,673 Chinese projects on the continent over the same period. Then there are the continents natural resources, which some experts say Beijing “demands” from African governments in exchange for new jobs.
The testimony of Helen Hai remains, however, a sign of courage and progress in our globalized world.
“I arrived in Ethiopia in 2011 and in the past two years I have employed 3500 local workers. I want to show that Africa can become the manufacturing hub of the world”, says Helen Hai, 37, during the annual summit of the 2015 Young Global Leaders at the Geneva headquarters of the World Economic Forum.
Born in Changchun in Northern China, only 300 kilometers from North Korea, she had a distinguished financial career in London. But in 2011, there was an unexpected change: the president of Huajian, one of the largest Chinese shoe companies, asked her to take charge of the company’s launch in Ethiopia, which has one of Africa’s fastest growing gross domestic product, with an annual average of 10% over the past 10 years.
Helen moved to Addis Ababa, and in three months opened the first factory. Exports of manufactured shoes for brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Clarkes, Guess, Naturalizere for the United States and Europe increased exponentially in numbers and with it the recruitment of local workers.
She was soon a familiar face in Ethiopia, so much so, that the Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn invited her to join him on his 2013 Beijing visit with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. “He told me on the plane: ‘I admire the contribution that you are giving to Ethiopia but to really develop this country we need thousands of companies like Huajian’“.
“The average wage in China’s manufacturing industry — says Helen — has reached 3,500 yuan (490 euro) per month. Here in Ethiopia we pay 10 times less. The consumption crisis in Europe and the United States is pushing global retailers to move their production from China to countries where labor costs are lower. Even Bangladesh and Thailand are now interested in moving to the Horn of Africa. That is why Ethiopia has taken the name of ‘China’s China’“.
Helen points out that in her factory pays workers 10% more than the market average and a 70% increase as regards benefits: “I do not believe in the ‘Bangladesh’ model. Here our workers feel part of one big family. I send many to train in China for a few months. They are then grateful for life”.
Helen knows what it means to live in extreme poverty. Born into a poor China and then, riding the wave of the great reforms wanted by Deng Xiaoping since 1978, thanks to a scholarship from Beijing she arrived at the best universities in London which in turn opened up the possibilities of a brilliant career . “Now I have to do something for young Ethiopians. Their future depends on me. Leave a great job at the renowned Swiss Zurich insurance company in London? Yes, without any doubts”.
What is most striking about Helen is her determination, sincerity and desire to have a positive impact in society. It is not lost on idealistic speeches. After launching Huajian in Ethiopia and having hired 3,500 people in two years she is now a strategic advisor of the Ethiopian government regarding the industrialization of the country and is also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIDO, the UN agency that has the task of promoting an inclusive and sustainable industrial development. “Success breeds success! — she says with enthusiasm — and the success of Huajian is replicated in many African countries to give hope to many millions of people who still live in extreme poverty. Offering someone a job is life changing for them and for their children”.
“China will export about 80 million jobs in the coming years. A great opportunity for Africa knowing that 60% of Africa’s population is under 25 years and, by 2050, the entire population of the continent will double reaching 2.4 billion. That’s why now I travel around the world to convince companies to move their production not only to Ethiopia but also in Ghana and Senegal”.
Someone behind me calls. “Forgive me, but now I have to go. The next time we meet in Nairobi, Addis Ababa … or Kigali? — I ask Helen — Recently, the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame asked me if I would help him to attract investors for a special economic zone near Kigali. How can I say no? This is how we will build a strong future for this magnificent continent”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Brazilian Political Soap Opera Gets Ever Darker
Betrayal, last-minute reprieves, fearless heroes and a doomed relationship between a powerful man and woman — Brazilians get this every day in their beloved telenovelas.
Now they’re getting it for real in the battle to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, a political soap opera threatening to plunge Latin America’s biggest country into severe crisis.
“It’s like a telenovela, always with new personalities that appear, new subplots — it’s a saga,” said David Fleischer, a politics professor at the University of Brasilia.
Impeachment in Brazil is a constitutional process, regulated through a system of parliamentary committees, votes and legal hurdles, complete with inevitable court challenges that could easily extend the affair beyond six months…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ban Compares Italy to Fiat 500 Car
A success story, he tells House
(ANSA) — Rome, October 15 — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday Italy is on the front lines of European migrant rescue efforts. These are necessary in the face of “thousands of deaths, which have transformed the Mediterranean into a sea of tears,” he told the Lower House as Italy celebrated its 60th anniversary as a UN member nation. He added the ongoing Syrian civil war “is the worst humanitarian crisis” in the world and that he is working on it closely with his special envoy, Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
German Mayoral Candidate Reker Stabbed Over Refugee Support
A leading candidate in Cologne’s mayoral race has been stabbed in the neck by a man claiming to be angry over the country’s refugee policies.
Henriette Reker — an independent candidate supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party — was seriously injured along with an aide. Three others suffered minor injuries.
Local police said Ms Reker, 58, was “stable, but not out of the woods”.
Police have arrested a 44-year-old German national and Cologne resident.
The attacker told police he stabbed Ms Reker “because of anti-foreigner motives,” senior police investigator Norbert Wagner said.
The suspect appeared to have acted alone and had no police record, Mr Wagner added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hollande Urges Support for Countries Receiving Most Refugees
French president says creation of migrant ‘hotspots’ essential
(ANSA) — Brussels, October 15 — French President Francois Hollande on Thursday said that support for countries bearing the brunt of the Syrian refugee crisis such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey was crucial as he arrived at a European Union summit on migration.
“It’s important to help them,” Hollande said. Speaking of Turkey, he said “clear rules are needed so that it can do its part, not just to look after refugees,” but also to “prevent flows of people that could lead to further tragedies,” he said.
Hollande also said the creation of “hotspots” or teams of experts who can quickly identify refugees in need of international protection, was absolutely essential.
“It’s important that in Italy and Greece we can have these centres,” he said. “And I am also paying a lot of attention to what is happening in the Balkans where there are refugees that are not being received,” he said.
EU leaders are gathering in Brussels for the migration summit, the fourth so far this year, which aims to reach a deal with Turkey on handling the crisis that has brought record numbers of refugees to Europe’s shores.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel’s Dilemma as Germany Frets Over Refugees
Hundreds of people are huddled outside Berlin’s main government office for asylum-seekers in the pouring rain. Some have soaking sleeping bags wrapped around them against the cold, others stand shivering in thin plastic ponchos; they are all waiting to be registered as refugees.
They come every day to wait. Some arrive as early as 4am and stay until after dark, only to leave empty-handed. There are Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis. Until they are registered, they are homeless in the heart of Europe’s richest country. Many have been waiting for weeks.
The German authorities are overwhelmed, and simply cannot keep up with the thousands arriving every day.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Seek Alternate Route as Hungary Closes Border With Croatia
Hungary shut down its border with Croatia to the free flow of migrants on Saturday, adding another hurdle in their frantic flight from wars and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia toward what they hope is a better life in Western Europe.
The closure prompted Croatia to redirect thousands of people — including women and small children soaked in cold rain — further west toward its border with Slovenia, the small European Union-member state which has no capacity to process large numbers wishing to head toward Austria and Germany. This could leave thousands stranded in Croatia and further east and south in Serbia and Macedonia.
Several buses packed with migrants arrived in the Slovenian border town of Petisovci early Saturday from Croatia. Police spokeswoman Suzana Raus said that after processing, most of them will be transferred toward the Austrian border.
“We have been in cold since two in the morning in Serbia,” said Omar Thaqfa, 33, from Mosul in Iraq. “We were sitting in the street. Very cold. Inshallah, I am going to Germany.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis: Slovenia Army to Help Police
Slovenia’s army will help police deal with thousands of migrants expected to arrive from Croatia in the coming days, Prime Minister Miro Cerar says.
He said the army would provide support in logistics, transportation, human resources and “some technical areas”.
Around 2,700 migrants arrived in Slovenia on Saturday — some 600 have already travelled on to Austria.
Croatia began sending migrants to Slovenia on Saturday after Hungary closed its borders to stem the influx.
Many of the migrants — a large number of whom are Syrians and other refugees fleeing conflict in their own countries — aim to continue north to Austria and Germany.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 180 Ethnic Rohingya Flee Their Encampment in Indonesia’s Aceh Province
A total of 182 ethnic Rohingya have fled their encampment in Indonesia’s Aceh province, with government officials suspecting they may have been persuaded by human traffickers to flee.
They are among more than 3,000 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis abandoned by human traffickers who were rescued or washed ashore in May in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Indonesia sheltered 1,346 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants. They are being held in camps and some are separated from family members, including those living in Malaysia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Ingrid Carlqvist
Sweden is fast approaching a complete collapse. More and more municipalities are raising the alarm that if the migrants keep coming at this pace, the government can no longer guarantee normal service to its citizens. In addition, ominous statements from government officials have left Swedes in fear of what tomorrow may bring. If the migrant wave keeps coming, in 10-15 years, Swedes will be a minority in their own country.
At a press conference October 9, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said that Sweden is in a state of crisis. However, when asked to clarify what he meant by this, Löfven was unable to produce a single coherent sentence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘We’re Under Water’: Germany Shows Signs of Strain From Mass of Refugees
The unceasing influx of refugees is creating tremendous uncertainty in Germany. Many towns and cities are calling for help and the government appears to be rudderless. Pressure is mounting for Chancellor Angela Merkel to act.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: OK to Watch Porn During Lunch Break Says Top Court
Turns down Fiat bid to sack worker
(ANSA) — Rome, October 14 — It is OK to watch porn on your lunch break, Italy’s top court said Wednesday.
The Cassation Court turned down an appeal from Fiat which wanted to sack Giuseppe Z, a worker at its Termini Imerese plant in southern Italy.
The court upheld a Palermo appeals court verdict that Giuseppe Z had done nothing wrong and could not be fired.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Over at Breitbart they had a post up about Ms. Reker’s “incident”, I couldn’t find anyone weeping for the traitor. Really I don’t have sympathy for people that are openly trying their best to destroy their homeland, none.
Really, lets be honest do you think she’d care one iota for any of the German people raped and beaten by her cultural enrichers? No.
Turnabout is fair play for these traitors.
It was only a matter of time before a European at the end of his rope would take matters into his own hands and attack a politician. Given that he’s 40 without a police record, my guess is that this is a regular guy driven to desperate measures, and not some loon who’s taken up our cause for his own twisted gain (Brevik).
I expect to see much more of this in the future.
So the way you see it, Breivik was not driven to desperate measures while seeing his country (my wife’s country) inundated by muslim filth?
Some of you people still haven’t ‘got it’. From day one of their miserable existence islam has been the deadly enemy of anyone and everyone not muslim; what has changedin the last 1400 years? Nothing. muslims still scream for sharia law and live their lives according to the koran, and as long as they do that they can never be anything other than untrustworthy, murderous savages.
Breivik did an absolutely terrible thing, no one would deny that, but to say he had no cause to attack the leftists who were/are ruining his, and every other country in western Europe, is nonsense. Just last year I had a ‘run in’ with a stupid leftist journalist, a columnist for Verden’s Gang, over this very subject. People must make some attempt to understand that as bad as the muslim filth invading Europe is, our own people (Merkel, Cameron, Hollande, Løfven and others, our police, courts and other traitors…) who collaborate with and enable the enemy, are worse!
Yes. Much much worse.
I expect to see many more Christians driven from their homes by muslim youths, especially now that they are being reinforced.
The German government will use this to crack down on all protesters and vilify him as a Nazi and there will be a media campaign to ostracize him and he’ll never get a fair trial. What happens when he’s incarcerated in a prison full of Muslims! It’s a death sentence!
It seems so many of the politcians promoting invasion are women!
>> The German authorities are overwhelmed, and simply cannot keep up with the thousands arriving every day. <<
This is the signal to Merkel that more Muslims must be allowed into Germany. Those lower-level authorities are wreckers.
Merkel’s visit to Youturkey maybe to ask Weirdo for help with the Muslim herds. The mad mad mad world of multicultsm.
The sheer arrogance of the White Mosque gang: “Assad must go!”
Under Assad Yazidis and other minority groups were tolerated, yet the Obama gang and indeed ALL American media including FOX want Assad gone, replacing him with…..? Knowing full well the ‘Christian’ Obama doesn’t give a ten cent damn for Christian lives–only muslim (and black) lives matter.
How about: “Obama must go!!”