Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, warned that the “refugee” crisis may threaten the cohesion of the EU. Meanwhile, Martin Schulz, the president of the EP, accused European governments of acting in their national interests instead of the interests of the “community”.
In other migration news, Germany is sending police to Slovenia to help patrol its borders.
In other news, the European Commission is considering a proposal that would allow Britain to abolish the VAT on tampons. The so-called “tampon tax” is considered sexist in the UK.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Nick, 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.
About 99% of Italian Youth Pessimistic About Job Prospects
About 55% ready to emigrate for better opportunities says ILO
(ANSA) — Rome, October 27 — A total of 99% of young Italians between the ages of 15 and 24 are pessimistic about their job prospects, and 55% are ready to emigrate in search of better opportunities, a survey by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) showed Tuesday.
Gianni Rosas from the Italian branch of the organisation said it was likely that perceptions of limited job opportunities and the deteriorating quality of work were fuelling the pessimism.
Italy’s youth unemployment rate stands at more than 40% and following the global economic crisis many young people are increasingly having to accept part-time or poorly paid jobs on temporary contracts.
The Gallup survey in the youth unemployment report, presented by trade union CGIL on Tuesday, showed that the rate of pessimism in Italy was significantly higher than in peers such as France, where it stood at 82%, and Greece, at 78%. The global youth unemployment rate stood at 13% in 2014, according to the report, up from 11.7% before the crisis. It is expected to reach 13.1% in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Have you noticed that things have gotten eerily quiet in the month of October? After the chaos of late August and early September, many had anticipated that we would be dealing with a full-blown financial collapse by now, but instead we have entered a period of “dead calm” in which things have become exceedingly quiet in almost every way that you can possibly imagine. Other “watchmen” that I highly respect have made the exact same observation. Even though the economic numbers are screaming that we have entered a global recession, they aren’t really make any headline news. A whole host of major financial institutions around the planet are currently in danger of collapsing and creating the next “Lehman Brothers moment”, but none of them has imploded just yet. And of course Barack Obama seems bound and determined to start World War III. On Monday, it was announced that he is sending a guided missile destroyer into Chinese waters in the South China Sea. The Chinese have already stated that they might just start shooting if this happens, but Barack Obama doesn’t seem to care. But until the shooting actually begins, that is not likely to upset the current tranquility that we are enjoying either.
To me, what we are experiencing at the moment would best be described as “the calm before the storm”.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Recapitalisation of Greek Banks Needed by Year-End: EU
The recapitalisation of Greece’s four main banks needs to be completed by the end of 2015, as planned in the country’s latest international bailout loan, the European commissioner in charge of the euro said Tuesday.
“We all agree that it is important to finalise a bank recapitalisation by the end of this year,” said Valdis Dombrovskis after meeting with Greece’s central bank governor, Yannis Stournaras.
A draft law is expected to be introduced in the Greek parliament this week, setting the rules for recapitalisation, the third since Greece’s debt crisis erupted in 2010…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Italy’s GDP Set to Rise for 1st Time in 7 Yrs — Report
Svimez forecasts ‘very timid’ growth of 0.1%
(ANSA) — Rome, October 27 — Southern Italy’s gross domestic product is set to grow for the first time in seven years in 2015, according to a report published Tuesday by industrial development association Svimez. “Italy’s GDP should grow by 0.8% in 2015, with a 1% rise in the centre-north and a very timid 0.1% rise in the south,” the report said. “If confirmed it will be the first positive change in the south’s product in seven years”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
As Carson Surges in Polls, He Becomes Trump’s Primary Target in Debate
Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday will for the first time enter a GOP primary debate without the title of undisputed frontrunner and likely looking to tangle with challenger Ben Carson who’s taking over in recent polls.
A poll released Tuesday has Carson leading nationally and follows two others that show the soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon leading in Iowa, which already had Trump on the attack.
“I’m surprised at Ben Carson, but I go after Ben Carson,” Trump told MSNBC before the CBS/New York Times poll showed Carson ahead 26-to-22 percent. “That’s my whole life. If somebody is an opponent, I want to win.Ben Carson is now doing well.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Snubs Who Cancer Warning With Hamburger and Bacon
On Air Force One
(ANSA) — New York, October 27 — United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday ignored a World Health Organisation warning on red and processed meat’s cancer risks by lunching on a hamburger with bacon on Air Force One, the presidential press pool said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Restaurant Offers Discount to Concealed Carry Patrons Following Robbery
“MY BUSINESS. I can give discounts to whomever I please,” restaurant owner tells critics.
A restaurant owner in Indiana is offering a discount to customers who bring concealed firearms into his establishment after a robbery that occurred Saturday.
Papa Roux owner Art Bouvier announced on Facebook Saturday night that an armed robber had walked in, threatened his employees and stolen money.
“I have a gun; I’m gonna need all the money out of your registers,” the robber said, according to Bouvier.
After the thief had made off with the money, Bouvier took to Facebook to announce that “until further notice, your concealed carry license earns you 25% off your meal when you dine in.”
“These folks are our extended family, and I do not take kindly to them being harassed in this manner,” Bouvier said of his employees.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Media Hypes ‘WWIII Now Inevitable’
While we are happy to report this morning that the US has sailed within 12 miles of China’s artificial islands in the South China Seas without incident as shared in this new story from the Guardian, we can also report that the government of China is not happy with what they call the US’s ‘illegal actions’ and has urged the US to ‘think twice’ about ‘making trouble’ and urged the US to ‘immediately correct their mistake.’
Despite the fact that no major events have happened as a result of the US’s actions,The Next News Network’s video, 1st video below, warning of a major false flag alert for at least the next 48 hours should stay in effect as we have clearly reached a new level of potential conflict as shared in this Zero Hedge story.
With China vowing a military response to the US’s actions, only days prior to 3 Chinese warships scheduled to be docking in Florida, we feel that something is terribly wrong, especially considering the recent warning from a top Obama official that ‘a terrible accident may soon happen’ that might prevent the debt ceiling from being raised and result in default for the US govt.
As Susan Duclos clearly pointed out in this related story, governments of the world have long launched false flag attacks upon their people and as stated by Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler’s Reich-Marshall at the Nuremberg trials after World War 2, it’s quite easy to get the people in line behind their ‘leaders’ merely by telling them that they are being attacked while denouncing pacifists as having no patriotism and being soft on self-defense while exposing the country to danger.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Why Donald Trump Could Win the Republican Nomination
In ways large and small, with policy and with personality, billionaire Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is forcing his party’s establishment to confront the vast divide between party leaders and the voters who, according to nearly every poll for months, have wanted him to carry their torch to the White House.
“We’re all out there like little bee workers trying to get these people elected, and then nothing changes!” said Fay Schall, a 63-year-old conservative Republican from O’Brien County, Iowa. A Trump supporter, she said the real estate tycoon articulates the frustration voters feel, in part because he doesn’t worry about being politically correct. “People are tired of it,” she said. “I think that’s the nerve that Trump is hitting. Everybody is tired of being trampled on. I think that’s what’s resonating.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why the GOP Establishment Hates Donald Trump
Just why does the GOP hate Donald Trump? That’s easy to answer, because he’s thrown a monkey-wrench into the plans of the New World Order. (To understand the NWO, read Dr. Dennis Cuddy’s chronology of same.) Who would have thought that an outsider, like billionaire Donald Trump, would capture the attention of the American people, and at the same time, infuriate the GOP, DNC, and MSM, but mostly his own party! To the GOP, Donald Trump is not only a pariah, but a wild card. Americans who are sick and tired of the same old, same old from the Republican party are thrilled to hear someone speak the same language we speak to each other.
What is it that Trump stands for that makes the GOP so desirous of destroying him? It’s the opposite of what the New World Order gang wants! And that gang includes both the left and the right, and has for over 50 years now.
[…]
The poll that placed Trump in second place in Iowa was a fake, paid for by the notorious Club For Growth Action (CFG) and differs from the NBC News/WSJ/Marist poll over the weekend that has Trump in first place in Iowa by five points.
Remember that CFG asked for a million dollar donation from Trump, and he refused. From that point on, CFG was after Trump. 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.
CFG has spent a million dollars on anti-Trump ads in Iowa claiming Trump loves eminent domain and takes peoples’ property for his own use. The only problem with this is that the Iowa Christians listen to this rubbish and actually believe it. (Believing lies without doing your own research, is precisely why Obama got elected) The real facts are far from what CFG would have us believe. In 1986 Trump helped save Annabel Hill’s farm that had been in the family for five generations. “We give a lot of money to foreign countries that don’t give a damn about us, but we don’t help the American farmers,” Trump said.
Guess who CFG is backing for president? You guessed it! Globalist, pro-amnesty, pro-common core, pro-free trade (off shoring more American jobs and American sovereignty), Jeb Bush. Soviet Agent Henry Kissinger is endorsing Bush.
[…]
Trump successfully pressures Ford to move their plant back to America from Mexico, and he did this before he’s even president. His constant criticism of Ford outsourcing jobs to Mexico has caused the auto tycoon to change course and bring the $2,000,000,000 plant back to the United States. We all know the GOP isn’t happy about this because they simply love “free trade,” which has destroyed millions of American jobs and sent them to foreign countries.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bank of Italy Defends Its Conduct in BPS Takeover
Bank being targeted in ‘climate of political controversy’
(ANSA) — Rome, October 27 — Bank of Italy (BoI) Senior Deputy Governor Salvatore Rossi on Tuesday defended the central bank’s “prompt and proper” conduct in last year’s takeover of Banca Popolare di Spoleto (BPS) by Banca Desio. BoI Governor Ignazio Visco is being probed for corruption, abuse of office and fraud in connection with that takeover. “The incident takes place in a climate of intense political controversy, which occasionally targets the banking sector and the Bank of Italy,” Rossi said in a letter to employees.
“Suspecting that decisions taken (by the central bank’s commissioners) were improper also doubting of the professional capacities and the honesty of many hundreds of colleagues,” Rossi warned.
Prosecution papers last week confirmed Visco is under investigation after former BPS shareholders alleged the Bank of Italy turned down a buy offer from Hong Kong-based NIT Holdings Ltd. even though it beat the Desio offer by 100 million euros. The central bank commissioners turned that offer down without providing clear motivation, the shareholders argued.
BPS was placed into receivership before the sale to Desio, a move Adusbef consumer group said led to “serious losses” for shareholders.
Adusbef President Elio Lannutti estimated that the decision caused BPS shareholders damages of 300-350 million euros, and called on Premier Matteo Renzi to dismiss Visco with immediate effect.
He said bank shareholders and depositors will be in “grave danger” as of January 1 next year, when a bail-in program to rid Italy’s banks of their non-performing loans could kick in under the supervision of a central bank that has proven itself “incompatible with the job of safeguarding public savings”.
The European Central Bank (ECB) said last week it “welcomes favorably” an Italian measure to bail in the country’s banks, which currently hold what Italian Banking Association (ABI) said are 198.5 billion euros in gross non-performing loans. A bail-in forces the borrower’s creditors to bear some of the burden by having part of the debt they are owed written off.
Visco is being probed along with seven others, according to prosecution papers. They were named as Bank of Italy-nominated commissioners Giovanni Boccolini, Gianluca Brancadoro and Nicola Stabile, oversight committee members Silvano Corbella, Giovanni Domenichini and Giuliana Scognamiglio, and current BPS President Stefano Lado.
BPS is no stranger to controversy, as prosecutors in 2013 investigated former executives at the Umbrian bank — including ex-president Giovannino Antonini — on suspicion of racketeering, aggravated misappropriation, fraudulent bankruptcy and other felonies committed between September 30, 2007, and April 24, 2012.
That probe is awaiting a preliminary hearing in court.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Busted! NATO Tried to Keep Secret True Cost of Its New Headquarters
NATO’s new luxurious headquarters building in Brussels turned out to be way more expensive than it was initially reported; the military alliance wanted to keep the price in secret, but a leaked information revealed the true coast of the project, Brian Cloughley of Strategic Culture Foundation reported.
The cost of the new NATO building was first told to be €460 million and the building was expected to be completed in 2015. However, then NATO admitted that the cost increased to €750 million, while the project itself would be postponed until 2016.
Well, a stiff price increase and a delay are things that might happen to any project. At least NATO admitted to it honestly, right?
Wrong. German newspaper Spiegel leaked the information that the real cost is actually €1.3 billion, “almost three times the €460 million contract awarded in 2010 to replace NATO’s Cold War-era headquarters with a soaring glass-and-steel structure to house some 4,000 staff,” Strategic Culture said.
“How transparent,” Cloughley sarcastically pointed out, adding that the expensive new headquarters building will have glass walls that are supposed to represent NATO’s transparency.
Despite being secretive when it comes to revealing the real cost of its projects, NATO is very transparent about showing its military muscles and revealing ambitions to expand its territory.
In recent years, NATO led a military overthrow of the Libyan government under the alleged authority of a UN resolution establishing a no-fly-zone over Libya.
Over the past year, the United States and NATO member states have launched unilaterally military actions against the Islamic State without seeking authorization from the UN Security Council, or the government of Syria.
NATO has boosted its presence in Eastern Europe over the past year, accusing Moscow of fueling a conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed the allegations and stressed that military expansion toward Russian borders undermines regional security and escalates tensions.
Earlier this month, the United States announced that it was prepared to extend an invitation to Montenegro to join NATO in December during the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, provided that the country continues implementing reforms and working to increase popular support for membership in the alliance.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Rabbi and Two Other Jewish Victims Stabbed Outside Marseilles Synagogue
The unnamed attacker was in his early 30s and known to Marseilles police. He ‘went for’ two people and the third was injured when he intervened to stop the ferocious stabbing frenzy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French Suburbs Ripe for Repeat of 2005 Riots
Ten years after France was forced to declare a state of emergency as youths rioted in poor suburbs across the country, many experts warn that the same scenario could easily erupt again.
“In 10 years, things have changed, in that the situation has worsened. It’s more difficult now than in the past,” Boutih told BFM TV this week. “There’s been a decline that has set in in recent years that is approaching on the irreparable, because ten years on these suburbs are no longer producing rioters, they are producing terrorists.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Probe Into Farm Laborer Death Extended to Seven Suspects
Charges range from manslaughter to fraud and labor exploitation
(ANSA) — Trani, October 26 — Prosecutors in the Puglia city of Trani on Monday placed four more people under investigation in an ongoing manslaughter inquiry into the death on the job of 49-year-old agricultural worker Paola Clemente, bringing the total to seven suspects.
She died of heat stroke on July 13 while picking grapes near the town of Andria for 27 euros a day.
Prosecutors in August named three suspects in the manslaughter and failure to provide assistance probe.
They were transport company foreman Ciro Grassi, driver Salvatore Filippo Zurlo — who drove the bus that took Clemente from her home town of San Giorgio Ionico in Taranto province to Andria — and Luigi Terrone, a manager at the Ortofrutto Meridionale company for whom she was working.
On Monday, they placed Ciro Grassi’s wife Maria Lucia Marinaro, her sister Giovanna, Infogroup temp agency director Pietro Bello, and Infogroup accountant Gianpietro Marinaro under investigation on suspicion of fraud, illegal intermediation, and labor exploitation.
The Marinaro sisters allegedly cooked the books to show more days worked than actually took place in order to pocket the laborers’ social security benefits.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Row Within Ruling Majority Over Tax Agency Chief
To ‘settle’ dispute over internal revenue chief
(supersedes previous)(ANSA) — Rome, October 26 — The small centrist Civic Choice (SC) party on Monday requested a meeting with Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and Premier Matteo Renzi to “clarify and settle” the issue of Internal Revenue Agency Director Rossella Orlandi. The request came from SC chief and Economy Undersecretary Enrico Zanetti, who told La Repubblica paper in an interview earlier that if Orlandi “continues to express so much malaise, a resignation becomes inevitable”.
SC is a junior member of the ruling coalition, along with the small New Center Right (NCD) party and the premier’s center-left Democratic Party (PD), the number one party in Italy.
Zanetti told the paper he spoke “as a member of government” and said he is certain “my position is absolutely shared” by the premier’s office. Orlandi has reportedly protested the fact that the Constitutional Court ruled some Internal Revenue Agency executives had been illegitimately appointed their posts. “These executives cannot be allowed to return to their posts without a selection competition,” Zanetti said. Orlandi’s “mistake is that she is defending her most trusted men, not the institution”, he said.
However, the Treasury appeared to contradict Zanetti when it said in a statement later on Monday that it has “undiminished esteem” for Orlandi — thus sparking his demand for a meeting with Padoan and the premier himself.
“We want to understand whether we are the government that is signing international treaties against offshore tax havens, that is ramping up on cross-referencing data checks, that has introduced the crime of self-money laundering…or whether we are the government that is letting tax agencies die (as Orlandi has publicly said),” Zanetti said.
The opposition anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) — currently the second-largest party in Italy after the PD — also weighed in. “We’ve been saying so for ages: Italy’s taxation machine is a hostage in a gang war, while the government winks its eye at large-scale tax dodgers,” the M5S Lower House caucus said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvatore Ligresti Gets 2.5 Yrs for Corruption
Convicted along with five co-defendants
(ANSA) — Florence, October 27 — An appeals court on Tuesday sentenced Sicilian financier Salvatore Ligresti, former head of Fondiaria-Sai insurance and asset management company, to two years six months in prison for corruption in connection with the planned development of Florence’s Castello neighborhood.
The appeals court thus reversed the acquittals of Ligresti and four out of five co-defendants at their trial of first instance.
Also convicted were former city councilmembers Graziano Cioni and Gianni Biagi — who was found guilty at his trial of first instance of bid-rigging and abuse of office — architect Marco Casamonti, former Fondiaria official Gualtiero Giombini, and businessman Aurelio Fontani, who got two months for misappropriation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: BoI Says Conducted ‘Intense Oversight’ Into BPV Bank
BPV chief probed for obstruction of regulators
(ANSA) — Rome, October 27 — The Bank of Italy said Tuesday it has conducted “intense oversight activities” into Banca Popolare di Vicenza (BPV) bank over the years. These include seven inspections over the past decade having to do with BPV’s “finance, credit, transparency and anti money-laundering” practices, the central bank said.
President Giovanni Zonin was placed under investigation last month over alleged stock manipulation and obstruction of regulatory authorities at the medium-sized Italian lender.
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 in relation to the probe by prosecutors in the northern city of Vicenza.
In recent weeks some account holders filed complaints to prosecutors, sources said.
Also in September, union sources said after meeting with bank management that BPV confirmed it is shutting down 150 branches, cutting 575 jobs, is trying to obtain a 1.5 billion euro capital increase. The bank forecast a return to profit in 2016 with gains of 200 million euros in 2018 and a 0.4% reduction in labor costs by 2020.
On Tuesday, the central bank said “several problems have been solved, which could not be disclosed to the public per current classified information regulations”.
The Bank of Italy added that “for a time, it (the central bank) adopted restrictive measures against BPV with regards to its capital endowment and corporate structure”.
As well, the central bank said that during a 2015 inspection carried out in agreement with the European Central Bank, it discovered BPV was financing the acquisition of its shares by certain shareholders without authorization, and also that it was calculating those transactions as part of its minimum capital requirements. This is against EU and Italian banking regulations, because banks are now required to have a certain amount of capital all times in order to absorb possible setbacks.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Polish President Says Won’t Ratify Carbon-Cutting Pact
Poland’s new conservative president on Tuesday refused to endorse an amendment to the United Nations’ Kyoto carbon-cutting pact that would require the coal-dependent EU country to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenpeace Poland on Tuesday called the decision a “bad sign” a month ahead of the UN’s landmark climate summit in Paris, saying it could delay the EU’s compliance with further emissions reductions or even trigger a “stalemate on decision-making” in the 28-member bloc.
But President Andrzej Duda said more analysis of the measure was required.
“Binding Poland to an international agreement affecting the economy and with associated social costs should be preceded by a detailed analysis of the legal and economic impact,” he said in a statement Tuesday…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Demands End to Centuries of Romani Prejudice
Francis tells community to avoid ‘lies, swindles, fights’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, October 26 — Pope Francis on Monday called for an end to centuries of prejudice against the Romani Gypsy community but called on them to avoid “lies, swindles, and fights”.
At an audience with members of the ethnic Roma and Sinti, Francis said “I’d like a new start for your people. “The time has come to eradicate centuries of prejudice, preconceptions and reciprocal diffidence that are often at the base of discrimination, racism and xenophobia”.
But the pope stressed that the Romani should not give others an excuse to criticise them. “You can do this if you are good Christians, avoiding all that is not worthy of this name — falsehood, fraud, swindles and fights,” the pope said. “Dear friends, don’t give the media and the public the chance to speak badly of you”. He also told the Romani pilgrims that they must send their children to school.
Highlighting the fact that every person has the right to a dignified life and a dignified job with access to education and health care, he told those present that they have the responsibility of building bridges with the rest of society in the name of a “peaceful cohabitation” in which different cultures and traditions can safeguard their values with an attitude of openness, with dialogue and integration.
“We do not want to have to witness any more family tragedies in which children die from cold or are burnt in fires” he said.
“Nor do we want to see children who are used like objects by depraved persons, or young people and women implicated in the trafficking of drugs or people.
Francis exhorted the Roma, Sinti and other itinerant peoples to become protagonists of fraternity and sharing in our cities in which there is so much individualism.
Speaking of the future the pope said “children are your most precious treasure” and he pointed out that education is at the base of the healthy development of the person.
It is known, he said, that an insufficient level of education of many young Romani people represents the main obstacle in entering the world of work.
“Your children have the right to go to school, do not stop them from doing so!” he said.
And noting that it is the responsibility of adults to make sure their children obtain an education that will enable them to become citizens who can fully participate in the social, political and economic life of the country, Francis also asked civil institutions to guarantee adequate formation courses for young Gypsies, giving those families most in need the possibility of being integrated in educational and labour programmes. Francis was speaking to some 7000 Roma and Sinti gathered in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican for an audience marking the 50th anniversary of the late pope Paul VI’s historic meeting with Roma people in a camp near Rome.
In other remarks Monday Francis reiterated his call on the international community to work for peace in the Middle East. “Your visit enables me to renew my heartfelt appeal to the international community to adopt all valid strategies to reach peace in countries devastated by hate,” he told representatives of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
He also promised prayers for “the beloved lands of Iraq and Syria”.
Francis said that he considered the end of war to be the most worthy thing a person can work for. “As Christians we remain profoundly convinced that the ultimate aim that it most worthy for the person and the human community is the abolition of war,” Francis told a gathering of military chaplains. “We must always work to build bridges that unite and not walls that separate,” he added.
The pope was speaking after a closely watched synod on the family ended at the weekend with a slim majority approving communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, with bishops empowered to rule on a case-by-case basis.
Both conservative and liberal Catholics have sought to portray the outcome of the synod as a victory for their positions.
Francis is set to issue a statement on the bishops’ recommendations in the coming months.
It may take the form of an encyclical.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Social Media Wars: Sweden Considering Reaching Out to NATO Propaganda Unit
Non-NATO member Sweden is the latest country considering calling out to the military alliance’s propaganda unit — the Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence — to help fight social media wars amid a government backlash against Russia, Swedish officials have said.
Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told Swedish public broadcasters that the country was thinking of reaching out to the Latvia-based center for strategic communication, also known as StratCom, despite concerns over the factual accuracy of social media campaigns initiated by the organization.
“We need more competence and this is a new environment, a new arena, where a lot of things are happening to do with disinformation in various types of campaigns. You use this for different purposes to affect public opinion in other countries.”
“That’s why we need to strengthen our competence but also participate in this environment with other countries,” Hultqvist said.
Debate Over Propaganda
While NATO officials claim that StratCom’s aim is to merely present the alliance’s position on certain aspects of foreign policy, others are more critical, arguing that the StratCom plays a part in spreading NATO propaganda, with allegations of spreading false or misleading information.
Following the Ukraine crisis, many were critical of StratCom, arguing that the organization was running a social media campaign aimed at smearing Russia.
Despite concerns about StratCom creating NATO-driven narratives, Hultqvist said Sweden would only be interested in trying to disprove other forms of false information. He said:
“We will not contribute to spreading falsehoods and disinformation. The most important thing is to uphold the truth.”
Concerns Sweden Edging Closer to NATO
The acknowledgment that Sweden may seek the help of StratCom has been seen as another attempt to tighten the relationship between the country and NATO.
While Sweden is only an allied country, and not a member of the military alliance, there are many opposed to the strengthening of Swedish-NATO ties over a fear it will conflict with Sweden’s traditional neutrality.
Despite vowing not to join NATO, the Swedish government has been accused of stirring up NATO support over its criticism of Russia in recent times, with the country’s security service saying that the biggest intelligence threat in 2014 came from Moscow.
Despite these claims, recently released data from Sweden’s Armed Forces revealed that the US was responsible for the most Swedish territory violations over the past five years.
In April, Sweden, along with Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland announced plans for greater military cooperation, which Hultqvist described as “a direct response to aggressive Russian behavior”.
The announcement also came amid media reports suggesting Sweden could become involved in a NATO-linked, UK-led expeditionary force to be deployed in the event of conflict in the Baltics.
Russia has consistently denied claims that it is acting aggressively in European affairs and has pointed to the build-up of NATO forces in Eastern Europe as a factor contributing to tension across the continent.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain PM Vows to Use ‘All Political, Legal Means’ To Block Catalan Independence Bid
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vowed Tuesday to use “all political and legal means” to block a Catalan independence bid after separatist parties submitted a bill on secession to the regional Catalan parliament.
In a rare televised address to the nation, Rajoy slammed the bill as an “act of provocation” which would “have no effect”.
…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: It is Considered Racism Only if the Victims Are Not White
by Ingrid Carlqvist
On Thursday, October 22, Sweden was shocked by yet another act of madness apparently connected to multiculturalism.
Anton Lundin Pettersson, 21, dressed in a black coat and Darth Vader helmet, and armed with a sword and a knife, entered the Kronan school in Trollhättan and started killing. By the time the police shot him down, he had killed one person and wounded three others severely. One of the wounded later died in the hospital.
In many respects, the attack was similar to the one in the Västerås IKEA on August 10 — random people killed because of the color of their skin. In IKEA, whites were killed by a black assailant; at the school, blacks were killed by a white assailant.
The reaction, however, was completely different. After IKEA, there was dead silence. But this school attack is all over the news. A white perpetrator killing black victims is apparently considered far worse than a black perpetrator killing white victims.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trial Against Deutsche Bank Top Managers Continues
Former top managers and co-chief accused attempted fraud
(ANSA) — MUNICH (GERMANIA), 27 OCT — Senior state prosecutor Christiane Serini is in the hearing room of the district court in Munich because the trial to Deutsche Bank’s managers.
Four former top managers and the current co-chief of Deutsche Bank are accused of attempted fraud during a trial related to the bankruptcy of deceased German media mogul Leo Kirch.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Varoufakis to Lead European-Wide Movement to Reform Undemocratic EU
Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has revealed that he is in the process of setting up a European-wide movement aimed at ‘democratizing’ and reforming existing EU institutions, as he criticizes the bloc for being a “democracy-free-zone.”
Varoufakis, who went head-to-head with EU and Eurozone officials during his time with Greece’s Syriza party, says his experiences throughout the course of the year left him in no doubt that the EU is undemocratic.
“It began as an idea after the crushing of what I call the Athens spring, which happened in the summer. It became abundantly clear that at the level of the nation-state you can’t even table proposals regarding your own country, let alone proposals for the Eurozone as a whole.”
“I experienced the Eurogroup at very close quarters and it was obvious that it was not a forum in which to discuss how to stabilize the European social economy, or how to democratize it. That is just impossible — it can’t be done,” he told the Open Democracy website.
Greek Crisis an ‘Echo’ of Larger Problem
Varoufakis said that his experiences working with the Greek government was just an example of a wider problem.
“What is going on in Greece is simply a reflection — an echo — of a far deeper crisis throughout the Eurozone, which cannot be solved at any national or member-state level.
“The obvious conclusion one must draw from this is that either you argue for a dissolution of the monetary union, and then you can talk about national politics again quite sensibly. Or you should be talking about a pan-European movement for change throughout the Eurozone.”
The economist said his plans were “simple but radical” with a goal to “democratize” the EU.
“A pan-European movement is the only solution. It sounds utopian, but this idea cemented in my mind in August when I started traveling across Europe, and realized that there was a great deal of hunger and thirst everywhere I went for such an idea.”
Concerns Over Undemocratic EU Structure
As part of ways to promote greater transparency within the EU, Varoufakis suggested that live-streaming all European Council meetings and releasing the minutes of European Central Bank (ECB) discussions would boost accountability.
The former Syriza member, who said his movement would take the form of a coalition of citizens rather than a formal political party, is among many vocal critics who have long argued that the structure of the bloc is highly undemocratic.
Critics of Brussels say that while the European Parliament is democratically elected, legislation cannot be passed without the approval of the Council of Ministers, which acts as an upper House.
The Council of Ministers are indirectly elected to their positions by being ministers in their respective national governments, however many are critical of this approach, particularly given that many key meetings are held in private.
Euroskeptics also point out that the European Commission, under the leadership of Jean-Claude Juncker, is not directly elected despite being accountable to the European Parliament.
Many of these concerns about the EU’s undemocratic nature were brought to the surface during Greece’s negotiations with EU and Eurozone officials earlier this year, where critics argued that despite the Greek population overwhelmingly voting in favor of anti-austerity politics, the country was effectively prevented from implementing such changes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia Vows to Continue Opposing to Anti-Russia Sanctions Despite Pressure
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic emphasized on Tuesday that Belgrade remained one of few governments in Europe to resist the introduction of sanctions against Russia and vowed to pursue this policy in the future.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Speaking after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, the Serbian prime minister vowed “to pursue this policy in the future.”
“We think we have displayed our friendly attitude to Russia by staying one of the few European countries that has not imposed sanctions against Russia, despite numerous requests coming from all corners of the world,” Vucic said in Moscow.
Last year, the European Union, the United States and their allies imposed a series of individual and economic sanctions against Russian nationals and key spheres of the country’s economy in an attempt to influence the Kremlin’s policy on the Ukraine crisis.
Russia has repeatedly denied playing any role in the conflict in Ukraine’s southeast responding with a ban on EU and US food products in August 2014. The restriction was prolonged for a year in 2015 after a similar move from Brussels and Washington to extend their anti-Russia sanctions.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hypocrisy? Iran Said to be Organizing Conference on US Police Discrimination
Iran, a nation facing global backlash for widespread human rights abuses, is highlighting U.S. police discrimination in an upcoming conference and inviting Americans to attend, multiple news outlets report.
An organizer tells local media the “Blacks of America” conference is “part of our soft war against world powers.”
In April, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that in the United States, “the black people are oppressed, disrespected and humiliated.”
Of course, analysts say the Islamic Republic has imprisoned citizens and foreigners merely for criticizing the regime. In a closed-door trial, an Iranian court recently convicted Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian on charges that include espionage. He reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon Seizes 2 Tons of Amphetamine Being Smuggled on Saudi Prince’s Private Jet
A Saudi prince and four others have been arrested after Beirut authorities foiled one of the country’s largest drug smuggling attempts, seizing two tons of amphetamine Captagon pills and cocaine before they were loaded onto the prince’s private plane.
Prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and the other Saudi citizens will be questioned by Lebanon’s customs authority, a source told News.com.au.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
MSF Says Yemen Hospital Destroyed in Air Strike
A hospital in north Yemen run by the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was destroyed late on Monday by a missile strike, MSF said, but the Saudi-led coalition denied that its planes had hit the hospital.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March to try to restore the government after it was toppled by Iran-allied Houthi forces, but a mounting civilian death toll has alarmed human rights groups.
“Our hospital in the Heedan district of Saada governorate was hit several times. Fortunately, the first hit damaged the operations theatre while it was empty and the staff were busy with people in the emergency room. They just had time to run off as another missile hit the maternity ward,” MSF country director Hassan Boucenine told Reuters by telephone from Yemen.
“It could be a mistake, but the fact of the matter is it’s a war crime. There’s no reason to target a hospital. We provided (the coalition) with all of our GPS coordinates about two weeks ago.” He said at least two staff members had been hurt by flying debris…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Old Demons in New Faces? The ‘Deep State’ Meets Erdogan’s ‘New Turkey’
One suicide bombing after another, Turkey’s public is growing accustomed to images of carnage that no longer originate from Syria or Iraq, but from their own capital. The twin blasts that killed at least 102 people at a peace rally in Ankara on 10 October follow a string of deadly explosions in Suruç in July and Diyarbakir in June, and claim the unenviable title of being Turkey’s deadliest terror attack from the Reyhanli bombings of May 2013.
It is now well established that these attacks are linked with Turkey’s disastrous involvement in the Syrian civil war. The Ankara and Suruç bombers were two brothers, who, like the perpetrator of the Diyarbakir attack, travelled to Syria to join ISIS and then returned to carry out atrocities against Kurds, non-Sunnis and socialists. The astonishing series of intelligence and security failures that have led to these attacks — exposed despite the government’s media ban by a handful of stubborn journalists, in particular in the daily Radikal — has cast in a critical spotlight the state’s ability or willingness to safeguard those citizens whom the government views as a threat to its rule.
Together with the escalating conflict in the Kurdish southeast, it has also given credence to suspicions that one of Turkey’s old demons — the so-called “deep state” — has resurfaced, now in alliance with the country’s beleaguered president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Opportunity or Trick? Russia Pounds Syrian Rebel Bases, Then Reaches Out to Opposition Forces
When Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was ready to aid Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, rebel commanders scoffed, pointing out that Russian aircraft were pounding their bases in central and northern Syria on a daily basis.
Moreover, Lavrov not long ago had ridiculed the main Western-backed rebels known as the Free Syrian Army, calling the group a “phantom structure.”
But some in the Syrian opposition are wondering whether the Russian offer, for all its ambiguity, might be worth seizing in order to test Moscow’s commitment to finding a negotiated solution to the four-year civil war. The seeming change of tune is in sharp contrast to the stance of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who considers all rebels on the ground to be terrorists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Tells UK it ‘Won’t be Lectured To’ on Human Rights
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Britain criticised Monday the breaching of “mutual respect” between the two countries, adding that the Gulf kingdom “will not be lectured to by anyone”.
The envoy’s comments come after Britain this month cancelled a bid to provide training to Saudi Arabia’s penal system, as criticism mounts over the absolute monarchy’s human rights record.
Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz spoke of his country’s economic importance to Britain, and of the value of Saudi cooperation on security matters.
“We want this relationship to continue, but we will not be lectured to by anyone,” Abdulaziz wrote in an opinion piece in Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: New Indictment Seeks Lifetime Imprisonment for Fethullah Gülen, Others
Irfan Fidan, Istanbul’s deputy chief public prosecutor, prepared an indictment regarding 122 suspects in the investigation into the fake terrorist group called Selam Tevhid and sent the indictment to Istanbul’s 14th Court of Serious Crimes, which will look into the indictment and decide whether or not to accept the investigation as a trial in the forthcoming 15 days.
Among the key suspects in the investigation, Gülen, journalist Emre Uslu and former chief of police Yurt Atayün are facing two aggravated life sentences and up to 67.5 years of jail time.
Gülen, Uslu and Atayün, as the main suspects in the case, are charged with “forming or managing an armed organization,” “obtaining confidential data that must be confidential for political spying purposes,” “attempting to topple the government of the Turkish Republic or preventing it from fully or partially conducting its duties,” “disrespecting the right to privacy,” “obtaining personal data illegally,” “forgery of official documents” and “effacing, concealing or altering criminal evidence.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Diverts Mini-Spy Planes to Jordan to Patrol ISIS Border Threat
They may look like your average crop dusters, but four U.S. planes being sent to Jordan are outfitted with state-of-the-art surveillance gear and laser weapons that will allow the Middle Eastern ally to patrol its lawless eastern border with Iraq, where the ISIS threat looms large.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Wants to Buy Russian Choppers After Moscow’s Success in Syria
Russia’s share in the global arms market is growing, despite the increased competition. The popularity of Russian arms is increasing due to their high quality and the growth of Russia’s political authority.
Moscow’s well-prepared operation in Syria has once again demonstrated the reliability and efficiency of Russian weapons and professionalism of Russian military experts. New potential partners are establishing contact with Russia with the intention to sign arms contracts, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
The US, for its turn, has to grit its teeth tight as Washington now has to admit its geopolitical and economic failures.
The US strategists have been trying to keep the Afghan authorities under constant control, but Kabul is nevertheless turning towards Moscow. The Kabul government asked Russia to supply artillery and Mi-35 combat helicopters to fight numerous extremists, whose number significantly increased after the US military operation in the country.
The Kabul’s request is a serious blow to Washington, and the US press reacted to it immediately. Some American journalists write in their usual manner that Russia would “seize” the opportunity and create an additional reason for confrontation with the United States.
However, other media sources and experts have a more balanced view. They believe that Moscow’s new foreign policy would make the Afghan politicians view Russia as a new reliable and trusted ally in the context of Western military forces’ withdrawal from the country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Delhi Police Raid Kerala State Residence in Search of Beef, In Major Political Upset
The leader of a Hindu fundamentalist group filed a complaint against the sale of beef in the cafeteria of the state residence. But it was buffalo meat. Police are charged with violating the territory of Kerala, which controls the residence. Chief Minister of the Indian state asks the Minister to report on the incident.
New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) — While debate still rages over the Dadri episode, where a Muslim man from Uttar Pradesh was attacked and lynched by a mob of radical Hindus on suspicion of having eaten beef, police in New Delhi have sparked a “political incident” for having carried out a raid at Kerala House following a complaint from some Hindu right wing activists of the sale of beef in the residence canteen.
Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy, has criticized the behavior of the police and asked the Union Home Secretary to report on fact, since the actions of the police fall under his responsibility. Delhi agents are accused of “violating” the territory of Kerala, which controls the residence.
The episode occurred yesterday afternoon, when three members of the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Hindu ultra-nationalist group) reported that beef was being offered on the menu at Kerala House, the residence of the chief minister and other senior politicians when in Delhi. They first threatened violence if the sale of the meat was not immediately discontinued and then warned Vishnu Gupta, leader of the Hindu Sena (fundamentalist Hindu), who alerted the police.
Following Gupta’s complaint, 20 policemen raided the residence and demanded an explanation from the staff of the State of residence, which denied the sale of beef and confirmed that buffalo meat was being used. Employees also stated that “the meat served in the restaurant was purchased in slaughterhouses authorized by the Government of Delhi.” However, the sale of the meat has been suspended.
Chandy has harshly condemned the police action. He said: “Kerala House is the resistance of State for politicians and senior officials. I want all the details of what happened. The Delhi police should show restraint and make the necessary inquiries with the staff, before intervening. The Delhi Police must respond to the Union government, so I will ask the Minister to report on the incident”.
In return, the police justified the raid as a form of “prevention of possible violence or vandalism”, given the tensions that have emerged in recent weeks following the Dadri lynching, which has also provoked the sharp response of intellectuals and those opposed to the climate of intolerance fomented by radical Hindus in India, justifying attacks on religious minorities with the Hindutva ideology.
Beef has been banned in many areas of the nation, but continues to be consumed by Muslims, Christians and Dalits (untouchables) and is one of the main livelihoods for these communities.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China Says US Warship’s Spratly Islands Passage ‘Illegal’
Chinese officials have condemned a US ship’s passage near disputed islands in the South China Sea as “illegal” and a threat to their country’s sovereignty.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen breached the 12-nautical mile zone China claims around Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago.
The US has confirmed the operation took place, apparently as part of its Freedom of Navigation programme.
The operation is a challenge to China’s claims over the artificial islands.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Calls U.S. Challenge Over Island Threat to Regional Peace
China said it will take “all necessary measures” to defend its territory after the U.S. sailed a warship through waters claimed by China in the disputed South China Sea, a move the government in Beijing called a threat to peace and stability in Asia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China is Rising as the US Declines. Britain Can’t Ignore This Reality
Who would have guessed just three years ago that the David Cameron government would be the author of the boldest change in British foreign policy since the second world war? That is exactly what is now unfolding.
The process began this year when the British government announced it would join a Chinese initiative to help fund Asia’s enormous infrastructural needs. The UK became the first non-Asian country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), after which more than 30 other countries joined, including Germany and France.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Korea: Five Muslims, “Islamic State Sympathizers, “ Arrested With Bomb-Making Material
Five Lebanese “ISIS sympathizers” were arrested in South Korea after being caught trying to smuggle bomb-making material to their native homeland, Seoul’s state-run Yonhap news agency said.
The agency reported late Monday that the five were detained after trying to smuggle ammonium nitrate, which is used to manufacture bombs. It did not specify where they were arrested.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Support Swells Behind US Challenge to South China Sea Claim
Allies have rallied behind the US for its recent navigation into international waters claimed by China. The sail-by raises tensions between the two sides, with China promising to “resolutely respond” to provocation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mexico Searches in 3 States, Seizes Planes and Cars in Hunt for Fugitive Drug Lord
Mexican prosecutors says they have carried out search warrants in three states and seized 11 small planes in the search for escaped drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The attorney general’s office said Tuesday that properties in Guzman’s home state of Sinaloa had been searched, along with buildings in the State of Mexico and Puebla, near Mexico City.
The raids started in July and have so far led to seizure of the planes, six houses or other buildings, weapons, drugs and vehicles.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrians Arm Themselves Against Muslim Invaders
According to WND, “Austrians are arming themselves at record rates in an effort to defend their households against feared attacks from Muslims.” While Austria has gun control laws in place, the laws are less restrictive than Germany, Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands. As tens of thousands of Muslim invaders pass through Austria on their way to Germany and Sweden, long guns, rifles and shotguns, in Austrian stores are flying off the shelves. The main purchasers of these guns are women. Not only are shotguns and rifles being purchased, women are arming themselves with pepper spray.
As a Czech TV report cited the source of the information as Austria’s news outlet Trioler Tageszeitung, guns in Austria are sold out and have been for three weeks.
Gun Merchant Stephen Mayer told Trioler Tageszeitung, “We cannot complain about the lack of demand. People want to protect themselves. Nonetheless, the most common purchasers of arms are women.”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Czechs Unwilling to Receive More Refugees, Seek to Settle Crises in Mideast
The Czech Republic insists that the EU migrant crisis can be solved only by settling the crisis in Syria, a Czech lawmaker in the European Parliament told Sputnik, adding that the country was doing enough by helping migrants logistically and financially.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Czech authorities have resisted the European Commission’s plan to share out refugees across the bloc according to a binding quota system.
It has proposed to take in only 1,500 asylum seekers, with Germany accommodating the majority of the 160,000 refugees in question.
“We emphasize that there should be peaceful settlement of the crisis there [Syria] so that the refugees have no reason to flee,” Jiri Mastalka said. “Secondly, we provide aid in two directions — regulating the flow of refugees — policemen, army, equipment, to support the Schengen border states, and we have provided money for humanitarian aid.”
“If Germany can accept more, that is their business,” Mastalka stressed. “We believe there should be no quotas… It is not the Czech Republic that is guilty for the crisis in Libya, bombing and the destruction of Syria.”
Mastalka stressed the Czech Republic knew its capabilities and could not stretch its budget to accommodate a larger number of asylum seekers. He warned of a possible rise in neo-Nazi sentiment, saying that, “if the migrants accommodation policies are not thought-through, the country could suffer a lot.”
An opinion poll, conducted by the UK-based Populus research and strategy consultancy exclusively for Sputnik and published earlier on Tuesday, found that 73 percent of Czech respondents opposed the Brussels-prompted quota scheme for distributing immigrants across EU countries.
The lawmaker added that his country, a member of the EU borderless Schengen area, was strictly following the Dublin Regulation which requires asylum requests to be processed by the first EU country that a refugee enters.
“We strictly follow the rules of who can be granted asylum in the Czech Republic and we refute the quotas, what is dictated from Brussels,” the lawmaker argued.
On Sunday, Czech President Milos Zeman said he would challenge the obligatory quotas in court.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Republic Ready to Accept Iraqi Christians
Group of 152 in Irbil camps, due by advancing Is extremists
(ANSA-AP) — PRAGUE — The Czech prime minister says his government is ready to agree to a proposal to take in 152 Christians who are currently in camps in the Iraqi city of Irbil.
Bohuslav Sobotka says the group were force to flee their homes due to advancing Islamic State extremists in Iraq and their situation is difficult. Sobotka says they approached the Czech Republic with a request for asylum through a non-governmental organization.
Sobotka says Interior Minister Milan Chovanec will present a proposal for the government to accept them after talks scheduled with the United Nations for next week to clarify their status.
He says the government will share the expenses for their moving to the Czech Republic with NGOs.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU ‘Misled’ By US Melting Pot Social Model When Accepting Refugees
EU political elites are mislead by the US “melting pot” social model when accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees into Europe, the chairman of the Serbian Dveri Movement told Sputnik on Tuesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — Earlier in the day, a poll conducted by the UK-based Populus research and strategy consultancy exclusively for Sputnik revealed that 42 percent of Western Europeans opposed letting refugees into their country with 62 percent of respondents in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Poland against accepting refugees.
“This research reflects clearly the will of the majority of Europeans who are opposed to the migration experiment, which changes the structure of the European population. We can clearly see that the citizens have a greater understanding of what is happening rather than political elites. This means some members of the political elites in Europe are under the influence of the United States on account of which the crisis began,” Bosko Obradovic said.
In September, the EU interior ministers approved a plan to redistribute some 160,000 refugees throughout the bloc under a quota system. The quotas have been strongly opposed by several EU states, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.
According to Obradovic, the US idea of creating a homogeneous society within Europe by admitting thousands of migrants will eventually result in a deadlock within the 28-member bloc.
“Western Europe is still a hostage of the false ideology that erases the national identity and sovereignty of European nations and states. Moreover, a ‘melting pot’ based on the US model is being created in the European Union. It is a crucial European issue today, whether Europe is able to get away from the US influence and start taking European interests into account above all. I believe that this process will start first among the citizens and only then among the elites,” Obradovic stressed.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU Risks ‘Tectonic Changes’ As Migrant Flow Swells to Over 700,000
Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II risks triggering “tectonic changes”, a top EU official warned Tuesday, as figures showed more than 700,000 newcomers reached the continent’s Mediterranean shores so far this year.
Leaders of France and Germany were due to discuss the crisis which has also prompted a spat between the premier of Germany’s Bavaria state and neighbouring Austria over its handling of migrants.
“The situation will deteriorate even further,” European Council president Donald Tusk said, warning of a “new wave of refugees (arriving) from Aleppo and other Syrian regions under Russian bombardment”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU’s Juncker Offers Budget Leeway to Cover Refugee Crisis
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday offered some leeway on strict EU budget rules for member states struggling to cope with the costs of the migrant crisis.
The Commission is the enforcer of sound government finances in the 28-nation EU and a handful of countries, led by Italy, have requested some flexibility in order to adjust their finances to cope with the huge expense they face in handling an unprecedented influx of refugees.
“If a country makes an extraordinary effort, that effort has to be adequately recognised,” Juncker told the European Parliament in the eastern French city of Strasbourg.
The EU’s Stability and Growth pact limits a country’s budget deficit to a maximum 3.0 percent of annual output. In addition, a member state can only accumulate a total debt of 60 percent…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Flexibility for Migrants ‘A Disgrace’ Says Salvini
World ‘turned upside down’ says Northern League leader
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, October 27 — The EU’s granting budget flexibility for the migrant and refugee emergency “is a disgrace”, Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said Tuesday. “It’s an example of a world turned upside down and I’m sorry (Premier Matteo) Renzi is an accomplice of this world turned upside down,” said the leader of the anti-immigrant, anti-euro party. “We for years have been asking for flexibility to sustain employment and pensions and face the climate disasters in Italy.
“They always told us ‘No’. “And now they invent flexibility just to maintain spending for immigrants. “Therefore it’s a Europe that is very attentive and spends a lot on immigration. “(But) when it’s about other people who live and pay (taxes) in Europe, they couldn’t care less”. Earlier Tuesday European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that it will be possible to “apply flexibility” in the EU budget regulations due to the cost member States are facing in dealing with the refugee crisis. The head of the EU executive stressed that this was necessary because “we are faced with an exceptional situation”.
But he added that whether to grant flexibility will be considered on a “country-by-country” basis as it had to be shown that “exception efforts” in spending have been made.
Renzi’s government has said Italy intends to use any additional budget flexibility allowed due to the refugee crisis and let the deficit-to-GDP ration rise 0.2 of a percentage point higher than it would have been otherwise, to 2.4% — a provision that would raise the 2016 budget from 27 to 30 billion euros.
Italy, along with Greece, has been bearing the brunt to the Mediterranean migrant crisis.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Acts as ‘US Puppet’, Pursues Policy of Totalitarianism — Journalist
Henry Paul, a journalist from the Austrian Contra Magazin, argues that Merkel has transformed Germany into a totalitarian regime, implementing plans and strategies of foreign powers and acting as a “puppet” of the US.
According to the author, German Chancellor Angela Merkel allows the US total censorship of the German media and persistent manipulation of the German people through public talk-shows and the press.
She is also silently watching the increasing inflow of refugees to the country and does nothing to stop it and resolve the situation, the author argued.
When the refugee crisis remains unresolved, Germany may become fully engulfed in the uncontrolled stream of newcomers from the Middle East.
“Our people may be destroyed. Our country may be taken away from us. Our democracy is already dissolved, and there is the bare prevailing totalitarianism and the personal dictatorship of Mrs. Merkel,” the author wrote.
The journalist argues that Germany is now in a state of emergency and that German residents should start to resist the increasing inflow of refugees before it is too late. He suggests closing the country’s borders and denying all migrants entry to the country, as well as returning all refugees and previously tolerated asylum seekers to their countries of origin.
“If we want to save our country and our people, and have a future, coercive measures are necessary now,” the journalist wrote, adding that the current German government is inefficient and that German residents should take their destiny in their hands.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel Under Pressure as Bavaria, Austria Trade Blows Over Asylum Crisis
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming under more pressure after the Prime Minister of Bavaria hit her with an ultimatum to tackle Austria over its failure to stem the flow of refugees and migrants flooding into the southern German state.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Horst Seehofer sharply criticized Austria for its lack of co-ordination allowing thousands of asylum seekers every day to flood over the border into the state, which has borne the brunt of the refugee crisis. Seehofer has been critical of Merkel’s ‘open doors’ policy, which has led to hundreds of thousands moving across into Europe fleeing war zones in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
As he called on Merkel to tackle the Austrian government head-on, Seehofer said:
“Austria’s behavior is straining neighborly relations.”
Seehofer also called for the unco-ordinated wave of refugees on the so-called Western Balkan route to be terminated immediately:
“She [Merkel] met with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on September 4, to discuss the policy of open borders. It can and must end with the Chancellor.”
Seehofer noted that Merkel set a deadline of November 1 for Berlin to take control of the border issue with Vienna, otherwise “we need to consider what options we have.”
The Bavarian federal police say last Monday alone, 8,000 asylum-seekers reached the southern town of Passau and another 2,000 arrived in the province of Wegscheid, adding further pressure to the state’s resources.
“We were not prepared for it,” said a spokesman for the police. He said they had no warning from the Austrian authorities. The refugees were believed to have been taken by bus to the German border.
The President of the District Councils, Reinhard Sager warned that there was a limit on the number of people they could deal with and that the system was close to collapse. “We can no longer bear it,” Sager told Ruhr Nachrichten.
‘Political Folly’
Steven Woolfe, British anti-Europe party UKIP’s Migration Spokesman said:
“Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel’s perceived opened-ended welcome to all migrants is a colossal, historic mistake for the European Union. It’s political folly on a grand scale.”
“Her decision sent a powerful message to migrants, whether Refugee or Economic, that irrespective of international law, Germany was now a viable destination to go. Any basic research on what tools migrants use to navigate their way from safe havens in Turkey and Jordan shows that social media, amplified by word of mouth communication, plays a huge part in both the decision whether to migrate and a migrant’s destination of choice. This increases the speed and numbers of those wishing to leave the safe havens where many currently reside,” he told UKIP members in the north of England.
Merkel’s offer to take in over 800,000 refugees by the end of 2015 and to breach the Schengen and Dublin Agreements on a borderless Europe and asylum policy has thrown it onto a collision path with its fellow European countries. Schengen calls for a borderless Europe, while the Dublin rules say asylum seekers must be processed in the country of landing.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Crisis Threatens EU Cohesion, Warn Tusk and Schulz
The president of the European Council has warned that the migrant crisis could threaten the cohesion of the EU.
Donald Tusk told the European Parliament the challenge was the biggest the EU had faced for a decade.
Meanwhile Parliament President Martin Schulz accused European governments of putting national interests above finding solutions as a community.
The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) says more than 700,000 migrants have reached Europe by boat so far this year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Unable to Bear Economic Brunt of Migrant Crisis — Party Leader
Poland cannot cope with the social and economic costs of the EU migrant resettlement plan that aims to share out the surging number of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa among European countries, the leader of the Polish Zmiana (Change) party told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Piskorski added that there was no understanding as to why Poland, a country without colonial past, should bear these expenses and the risks associated with the migrant crisis.
“Poles believe that, first of all, the social and economic condition of the country does not allow them accept migrants, so-called refugees, and provide them with humanitarian aid,” Zmiana’s Mateusz Piskorski said.
An opinion poll, conducted by the UK-based Populus research and strategy consultancy exclusively for Sputnik and published earlier on Tuesday, found that 51 percent of Polish respondents opposed the government’s decision to accept refugees.
Piskorski said this was a conservative estimate as the actual proportion of Poles who oppose taking in refugees was around 65-66 percent.
He added that Polish attitudes toward migrants were formed not only by the refugees arriving from the Middle East, but also from conflict-torn Ukraine.
“The presence of Ukrainian nationals on the Polish territory has influenced the labor market, the level of salaries, and that is why the attitude of Poles towards migrants is not very positive,” Piskorski noted.
Poland, alongside the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, initially opposed the binding EU quota system for distributing refugees.
It eventually gave in to Brussels amid threats from EU officials to cut funding for the country.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Crisis Puts an End to Merkel’s Golden Era
There are assumptions that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to leave her post before the next elections in 2017 because the discontent over the current refugee crisis among German residents is growing, journalist Gideon Rachman wrote.
The migration crisis may put an end to the “golden era” of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the journalist wrote.
Now when the country is planning to take more than a million refugees by the end of 2015, Merkel’s unusually high ratings are starting to fall and the anxiety of the German public is growing. Merkel is even facing criticism from members of her own party, with some of them assuming that the German leader may have to leave her post before the next elections.
“Even if she sees out a full term, the notion of a fourth Merkel administration, widely discussed a few months ago, now seems improbable,” the journalist wrote in Financial Times.
According to Rachman, the situation with refugees has got out of hand. The German public no longer accepts the arguments in favor of the newcomers from the Middle East. On the contrary, people are starting to protest against the inflow of migrants.
“Some voters seem to have concluded that Mutti has gone mad — flinging open Germany’s borders to the wretched of the earth,” Rachman wrote.
If Germany would follow the example of Hungary and close the borders, it could quickly solve the problem. However, it is unlikely that the Chancellor will undertake such measures as she is aware that this would be contrary to the EU principle of freedom of movement.
Moreover, Merkel understands that the construction of the fence could redirect the refugee flow to the Balkans and destabilize the region.
According to the author, the refugee crisis marks a “turning point” in Merkel’s career, which may heavily affect its reputation and put Germany’s peaceful and prosperous life at risk.
“The decade after Ms Merkel first came to power in 2005 now looks like a blessed period for Germany, in which the country was able to enjoy peace, prosperity and international respect, while keeping the troubles of the world at a safe distance. That golden era is now over,” Rachman wrote.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Germany to Send Police to Slovenian Border Amid Migrant Influx
Germany plans to send police to Slovenia to assist authorities, a German newspaper has reported. Slovenia is struggling to cope with refugees as Croatia diverts the flow of migrants to north.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Secret Memo Reveals Obama’s Effort to Flood Labor Market With Illegals
The Cliff’s Notes version (more in depth version from Smith here) goes like this — foreign workers wanting permanent residency in the United States must file an I-140 application, which puts them on the wait list for a green card. When a temporary guest worker gets to the front of the line they are allowed to submit an application to have their official status changed to that of a permanent resident alien. If the application is approved then the worker receives an EAD (Employment Authorization Document), which is highly coveted because this allows them to work anywhere in the country. This is critical to foreign workers because it allows them to stay in the United States even if their temporary work visas expire, and they are no longer be tied to a sponsoring employer (H1-B visa holders are sponsored by a specific employer, and can only stay in the U.S. while employed by that company). U.S. high-tech companies have consistently pushed for the expansion of the H1-B program because it allows them to replace higher wage U.S. citizen employees with lower wage foreigners, and it keeps the foreign workers tied to them in a form of indentured servitude.
Under Obama’s workaround to the immigration laws, potentially millions of low-skilled illegal laborers get a “get out of jail free” card protecting them from deportation, since they are allowed to stay once acquiring the EAD (which requires only a valid ID, and no proof of lawful residency). Additionally, under Obama’s DACA and DAPA programs, the spouses and children of these now quasi-legal illegals would also be protected from deportation and eligible for work permits. The fact that this comes at a time when Obama is also launching a campaign to encourage nearly ten million immigrants to become naturalized citizens and register to vote, has not gone unnoticed. Nearly all of the targeted immigrants are of Hispanic or Asian origin, which vote heavily Democrat.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sex Attacker Who Assaulted a Woman Claims He’s Syrian to Try and Stay in UK
Abdulrahman Abunasir submitted an asylum claim while serving a jail-term for sexually assaulting a woman in London but is blocking deportation attempts by claiming he is a Syrian refugee.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Mohammed Retirement Plan Won’t Save European Socialism. It Will Bury it
European leaders talk about two things these days; preserving European values by taking in Muslim migrants and integrating Muslim migrants into Europe by getting them to adopt European values.
It does not occur to them that their plan to save European values depends on killing European values.
The same European values that require Sweden, a country of less than 10 million, to take in 180,000 Muslim migrants in one year also expects the new “Swedes” to celebrate tolerance, feminism, and sodomite marriage. Instead, European values have filled the cities of Europe with Shariah patrols, unemployed angry men waving ISIS flags, and the occasional public act of terror.
The European values that require Europe to commit suicide are about ideology, not language, culture, or nationhood. But the incoming migrants don’t share that ideology. They have their own Islamic values.
Why should 23-year-old Mohammed work for four decades so that Hans or Fritz across the way can retire at 61 and lie on a beach in Mallorca? The idea that Mohammed would ever want to do such a thing out of love for Europe was a silly fantasy that European governments fed their worried citizens.
Mohammed doesn’t share European values. Nor are they likely to take hold of him, no matter how often the aging teachers, who hope he gets a job and subsidizes their retirement, try to drill them into his head. Europeans expect Mohammed to become a Swede or a German, as if he were some child they had adopted from an exotic country and raised as their own, and work to subsidize their European values.
The Muslim migrants are meant to be the retirement plan for an aging Europe. They’re supposed to keep its ramshackle collection of economic policies, its welfare states, and its social programs rolling along.
But they’re more like a final solution.
Mohammed is Fritz’s retirement plan. But Mohammed has a very different type of plan. Fritz is counting on Mohammed to work while he relaxes. Mohammed relaxes and expects Fritz to work. Fritz is not related to him and, therefore, Mohammed sees no reason why he should work to support him.
European social democracy reduces society to a giant insurance plan in which money is pooled together. But insurance is forbidden in Islam, which considers it to be gambling. European social democracy expects him to bail it out, but to Mohammed, European values are a crime against Islam.
Mohammed’s Imam will tell him to work off the books because paying into the system is gambling. However, taking money out of the system is just Jizya, the money non-Muslims are obligated to pay to Muslims. Under Islamic law, it’s better for Mohammed to sell drugs than to pay taxes.
That’s why drug dealing and petty crime are such popular occupations for Salafis in Europe. It’s preferable to steal from infidels than to participate in the great gamble of the European welfare state.
Mohammed isn’t staking his future on the shaky pensions of European socialism. He invests in what social scientists call social capital. He plans his retirement by having a dozen kids. If this lifestyle is subsidized by infidel social services, so much the better. And when social services collapse, those of his kids who aren’t in prison or in ISIS will be there to look after him in his golden years.
As retirement plans go, it’s older and better than the European model.
Mohammed doesn’t worry much about the future. Even if he doesn’t make it past six kids, by the time he’s ready to retire, the European country he’s living in will probably be an Islamic State. And he is confident that whatever its arrangements are, they will be better and more just than the infidel system.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Turning America Into an International Doormat
Today, our schools stagger under the onslaught of 190 countries exporting their no-skills citizens into our workforce, schools, hospitals and welfare centers—to the tune of over 1.2 million annually. Those immigrants represent the third world’s most desperate. The Denver Post reported that Denver Public Schools struggle with 172 different languages. Their kids can’t learn and our kids don’t stand a chance against linguistic confusion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: German Citizens Panic, ‘This is Our Future’ — as Muslims March Through City
A new video appears to show Islamists marching in the German city of Hannover while at least two girls look on and express their fears.
The video, uploaded to various YouTube channels, has had over 100,000 views and appears to show a march that took place last week.
The girls can be heard saying:
“I thought I was the only one who’s in a bad mood because of this.”
“None of us want this. We’re all scared.”
“What is this? How will this be in 100 years?”
“This is not my life. It just shows you how many of them are here already.”
“Now there’s another 1.5 million who came this year.”
“Every year 2-3 million arrive.”
“It’s generally about foreign infiltration.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“We won’t dress like we do now.”
“Here, no! They won’t take anything from me!”
“Look, when I walk through the streets of the city, it’s only foreigners!”
“There are walking 50 foreigners and I only see one European face.”
“Look at the women! They’re all veiled!”
“This is our future.”
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
EU to Consider British Plea to Scrap ‘Sexist’ Tampon Tax
The Treasury could be permitted to scrap the so-called ‘tampon tax’ under proposals being considered by the European Commission, the Telegraph understands.
Brussels is to publish a major review of EU-wide VAT rules next year.
It will examine whether states could have greater powers over VAT rates — including control over which items are zero rated.
It could ultimately allow the British government to abolish the five per cent rate of VAT that currently applies to tampons, sanitary towels and other similar products.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Right Jubilant After Rome Gay Union Registry Annulled
Interior minister says ruling vindicates his stance
(ANSA) — Rome, October 27 — Conservatives rejoiced Tuesday after Italy’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, annulled a lower-court ruling that had OK’d the registration of gay unions contracted abroad.
Liberals, on the other hand, were disappointed by the ruling.
The judge who handed down the ruling, denying bias claims on the grounds he is a practising Catholic, said he had only applied the law. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, leader of the centre-right government partner the New Centre Right (NCD), said the verdict vindicated his stance against a gay-union registry and, by implication, the NCD’s resistance to a bill legalising civil unions if it allows stepchild adoption.
“Last year my circular banning the transcription of gay marriages contracted abroad drew controversy, sometimes even violent aggression and a hail of appeals. Now the Council of State has borne me out entirely: marriage between two people of the same sex is not contemplated under Italian law, therefore the transcriptions made by local mayors are illegal and monitoring is the competence of the prefect. Very good,” Alfano said.
The ruling, which overturned an earlier verdict by the Lazio regional administrative tribunal (TAR) that transcriptions in civil registers of gay marriages contracted abroad could only be annulled by court order, was a blow to gay rights campaigners tired of waiting for lawmakers to give same-sex couples some form of legal recognition in Italy. Senator and foreign ministry undersecretary Benedetto Della Vedova described the ruling as “a victory for none and a defeat for all”.
“It is the defeat of a country that remains at the starting post as regards gay rights, which urgently need to be regulated,” he said.
Parliament is currently considering a bill introducing civil unions for same-sex couples, which has already met with strong opposition.
Last year Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino walked into administrative no-man’s-land when he transcribed the marriage of 16 same-sex couples contracted abroad into the city registry. Alfano subsequently ordered the prefect to annul the transcriptions and cancel them from the registry but Marino stuck by his guns, lodging an administrative appeal.
He had the support of other city mayors around the country who had made similar transcriptions.
The rapporteur of a bill on civil unions said she respected the Council of State’s ruling but her determination to get her bill passed was undeterred.
“Sentences are not to be commented on, given the separation of powers,” said Monica Cirinnà of the ruling Democratic Party (PD).
But she vowed that Italy would have a law on civil unions “soon”.
Cirinnà’s bill has been held up by resistance from the NCD, primarily on stepchild adoption.
In all, the Council of State ruled against four separate findings by subordinate courts, the regional administrative tribunals (TAR).
The Council of State justice who ruled against transcribing gay marriages contracted abroad should have abstained because he is a conservative Catholic, gay groups and lawyers for the issue said.
“You just have to look at his Twitter profile to realise the conservative positions of judge (Carlo) Deodato”, said Maria Grazia Sangalli of the Rete Lenford lobby, whose lawyers promoted the cause.
The head of Arcigay, Flavio Romani, said the “Pilate-like” verdict had a “backward feel about it”.
Deodato said he had just applied the law.
“I only applied the law in a non-ideological and rigorous way, leaving out my personal convictions which had no influence,” said Carlo Deodato, self-described on his Twitter profile as “a Catholic jurist”.
In his ruling, Deodato said a marriage was “non-existent unless it is between a man and a woman”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Snapping of the American Mind’: Good Medicine
How the left has succeeded in redefining not just “marriage,” but the rest of Americans’ core values, from “equality” to “justice” to “freedom”
No, you haven’t lost your mind.
Yes, America has.
If someone just 20 years ago had said, for starters, that we’d someday elect an anti-American president who would intentionally flood our borders with millions of illegal immigrants and Islamist “refugees,” that we’d soon celebrate as “heroic” a former Olympic champion for mutilating his body and pretending to be a woman, that we’d have five extremist lawyers on the Supreme Court unconstitutionally force the radical redefinition of marriage to mollify people with same-sex fetishes — you might call that person crazy.
Well, crazy is the new normal. America has lost its mind. We’ve snapped. Anyone with eyes to see, ears to hear and a brain to think knows it.
But why? How did it happen? What exactly caused America’s moral GPS to send our nation headlong into oncoming traffic?
And can anything be done to fix it?
Maybe once in a generation are we so graced with a communicator like veteran journalist and best-selling author David Kupelian. His matchless ability to unpack the complicated issues of our day with simplistic precision is nothing short of genius, a gift from God he has shared once more in his latest book, “The Snapping of the American Mind: Healing a Nation Broken by a Lawless Government and Godless Culture.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
For Most Nations Developing Fighter Jets is a ‘Fool’s Errand’
Many countries view cutting edge military equipment as a matter of national prestige but only few nations are really able to afford to invest in building, say, an indigenous fighter jet from scratch. For others, “it’s a fool’s errand,” defense analyst Dave Majumdar wrote for the National Interest.
“Very few nations on Earth save for the United States, Russia, France and the Chinese — to an extent — have the capability to develop a completely indigenous fighter from the ground up. Developing the subsystems independently — particularly the engines — from scratch is an endeavor that can break the bank. The French Rafale is a prime example of this phenomenon,” he noted.
Even if a nation persists in developing its own fighter jet, indigenous components are often inferior in terms of price and quality to imported parts.
Take India’s HAL Tejas for instance. Under development since the 1980s, the supersonic single-seat, single-jet engine, multirole light fighter is not expected to become fully combat ready for another year. In theory, it was supposed to be an indigenous aircraft but over the years its manufacturer had to replace the majority of its components with foreign ones.
However, these changes do not seem to be working either. Majumdar believes that the HAL Tejas is already obsolete.
“At the end of the day, developing an indigenous fighter would be a vanity project rather than a military necessity for the overwhelming majority of countries,” he concluded.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Meanwhile, Martin Schulz, the president of the EP, accused European governments of acting in their national interests instead of the interests of the “community”.
More accurately put: They love their own countries and don’t like to be enslaved by muslims.
WWI and WWII were horrible in themselves. The horror of the European perverted math that came in the aftermath and kissing muslim [derrieres] and Pirates feet is far worse than 70 million corpses. Now the whole stupid continent is on the brink of death.
Did someone say that Satan descended on Europe in 1914. Now I can believe it and think no more of it as superstition.
Add to this dreadful situation the health and hygiene factors, body lice, TB,Aids,VD, and a plethora of infections and diseases not common to the EU. the healthcare system is also in danger of crashing. BTW did Frau Merkel prepare a plan to educate the minor migrants?
The so-called “tampon tax” is considered sexist in the UK. So they will take tampons out of the “VAT” and tampon the fires of feminism instead. :=)
OK, it begs the question, how did we get here and are they rationed?
The household is broke and living on borrowed money. May we send you our best wishes instead?
Merkel is not using the USA melting pot model, but the US GOVERNMENT POWER MONOPOLY model. What has overwhelmed her is the miscalculation that by flooding Europe with aliens, she would be able to STEP IN and rescue, manage and control the deluge, through the imposition of EU power. Now she is sending soldiers to Slovenia to help patrol the borders! Big mistake to accept them. They may not leave! This is an incremental power grab!
But she has brought in a Trojan Horse and that will be her undoing – also possibly Europe’s! She was no doubt blinded also, like all Germans, by the legacy of Nazi racism. They are wrong! At no time did the Jews ever threaten German society as Islam threatens the West.
Jews did not strap on suicide bombs, destroy churches nor follow an ideology of paranoid, supremacist hatred. They did all they could to contribute to the societies in which they lived and their contribution in commerce, science and the arts is WITHOUT PARALLEL!
Her policy is flawed, illogical and dangerous, but it is all in the service of an enlarged EU Dictatorship. This is obvious today by the Spanish leader’s refusal to allow the newly elected majority (which is against the EU), to form a government! That is pure, unadulterated TYRANNY.
Monopoly of Power, by dividing the community in order to control it, is the game plan of every Western government. Obama is leading the way.
It is a controlled invasion of Europe. And, all the “democratically” elected leaders are doing is manage the invasion in their countries respectively. It is a shame how the European peoples are being overrun, to say the least. Hopefully, history will judge them accordingly.
Merkel & Erdogan 2015 (photo)
Parallel this meeting with the Hitler & Grand Mufti Husseini meeting at WWII. Further explanation not needed.
Merkel and the USA melting pot model? I though Obo and his predecessors who set up those huge ME quotas way back had put an end to that? BTW Obo as a leader is a sick joke we are going to have to pay for very dearly.