Residents of Southern California were surprised and alarmed last night when a bright light burst across the sky just off the coast. Authorities hastened to reassure the public that it was only a scheduled test of an (unarmed) Trident missile by the Navy, and that there was nothing to worry about; everyone should just relax and return to their normal activities.
In other news, Slovakia has sent a contingent of police to Slovenia to help patrol the outer border of the Schengen Area. Meanwhile, two employees of the Serbian embassy in Libya were reportedly kidnapped.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dean, DV, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, LP, 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.
“Stranded” Central Bankers Have Turned the Global Financial System Into a “Doomsday Machine”
The financial system of the world has been turned into a doomsday machine by central bankers stranded in an intellectual puzzle palace. That is, they are marching financial markets straight into another giant bubble implosion owing to their embrace of a fundamental error about why there is an apparent lack of consumer inflation in the official indices.
For example, the chief economist of the IMF, Maurice Obstfeld, recently trotted out the chart below to prove that “lowflation” is a deadly threat everywhere on the planet to growth, jobs, living standards, public finances, and even capitalist viability.
The ill of lowflation can only be remedied, he averred, by resort to “out of the box” central bank expedients designed to compensate for the purported drastic shortfall of that Keynesian ether called “aggregate demand”.
What he had in mind, of course, was negative interest rates and further massive monetization of the public debt and other existing assets in the name of QE.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“US Debt is 3 Times More Than You Think” Warns Former Chief US Accountant
In a shocking admission for most of mainstream America, the former U.S. comptroller general says the real U.S. debt is closer to about $65 trillion than the oft-cited figure of $18 trillion, thanks to unfunded liabilities which simply cannot be ignored. As The Hill reports, unless economic growth accelerates, he warns, “you’re not going to be able to provide the kind of social safety net that we need in this country,” adding unequivocially that Americans have “lost touch with reality” when it comes to spending.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU 2015 Deficit Forecast for Italy Stable at 2.6%
Upward revision next year ‘despite positive growth prospects’
(ANSA) — Brussels, November 5 — The European Union on Thursday maintained its forecast for Italy’s deficit in 2015 at 2.6% and revised upwards to 2.3% its prediction for next year “despite the positive growth prospects”. In May Brussels forecast a deficit of 2% in 2016, while the government’s economic blueprint contained a forecast of 2.2%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: INPS Proposes 500-Euro Basic Income for People Aged Over 55
Also proposes new early retirement scheme
(see related)(ANSA) — Rome, November 5 — INPS social security institute on Thursday proposed awarding a basic income to low-income families with at least one member aged over 55.
The anti-poverty measure for the “active inclusion” of those aged 55 and up calls for a monthly 500-euro check to be paid out, with the amount dropping to 400 euros a month in 2016 and 2017. As well, the agency proposed a new pensions flexibility scheme that would let workers retire early at 63 years seven months of age at a 10-11% loss, with the deducted amount to shrink over time.
It also called for union delegates and officials to get the same pensions as other workers, which are lower.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Peter Schiff: It’s Going to be a ‘Horrible Christmas’
The Grinch has nothing on Peter Schiff.
On CNBC’s “Futures Now” Thursday, the contrarian investor said that while Americans are wrapping presents this holiday season, they should instead brace themselves for “a horrible Christmas” and possible recession.
“I expect [job] layoffs to start picking up by the end of the year,” Schiff said, pointing to retailers as the first victim. “Retailers have overestimated the ability of their customers to buy their products. Americans are broke. They are loaded up with debt,” he said. “We’re teetering on the edge of an official recession,” and “the labor market is softening.”
For Schiff, there is no one else to blame but the Federal Reserve. As he sees it, the central bank’s easy money policies have created a bubble so big that any prick could send the U.S. economy spiraling out of control. And that makes the possibility of hiking interest rates slim to none.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Recovery Reduces Risks for Financial Stability Says Bank of Italy
Central bank says public finances look sustainable
(ANSA) — Rome, November 6 — The Bank of Italy said on Friday that the recovery Italy has embarked on in 2015 after years of recession has reduced the risk of financial instability. “The reinforcement of the economy in Italy reduces the risks for financial stability,” the central bank said in a report. It added that the “indicators for the sustainability of the public finances remain favourable on the whole”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Surviving Poverty in a Van: “Unlike the Streets, You Can Maintain a Decent Standard of Living”
There’s been a few news stories floating around over the past few weeks that have a common theme. In San Francisco, a city with some of the highest rental costs in the nation, it seems that more and more people have been choosing to live in their vehicles. That may not sound very surprising, but what is odd is that these stories don’t involve struggling low-income workers.
Instead, these people are fairly well paid tech employees. The one that’s really been making the rounds on the internet, involves a Google employee who bought a box truck and sleeps in his company’s parking lot. It’s not that he couldn’t afford to rent an apartment per say, it’s that he couldn’t stand the thought of paying so much money for a place to sleep. If he decided to rent, he’d probably be close to breaking even.
You know there’s something very wrong in this country, when an employee for one of the most profitable companies in world would rather live in a truck than pay rent. It suggests that in some parts of America, you don’t have to be poor to be homeless. Just imagine what it’s like for the folks who really are poor, of which there are many.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The War on Cash is Advancing on All Fronts: “First They Came for the Pennies…
In a cashless society there will be nothing stopping banks or other financial mediators from taking a small piece of every single transaction. They would also be able to use — and potentially abuse — the massive deposits of data they collect on their customers’ payment behavior. This information is of huge interest and value to retail marketing departments, other financial institutions, insurance companies, governments, secret services, and a host of other organizations.
Another very important perk of cash is that it significantly limits central banks’ ability to continue conducting arguably the greatest financial heist of the modern age, i.e., negative interest rate policy (NIRP). The only way that central banks can maintain negative interest rates ad infinitum is by abolishing cash altogether, as the Bank of England chief economist Andrew Hadlaine all but admitted. As long as cash exists, there’s no way of preventing depositors from doing the logical thing — i.e. taking their money out of the bank and parking it where the erosive effects of NIRP can’t reach it.
So in order to save a financial system that is morally beyond the pale and stopped serving the basic needs of the real economy a long time ago, governments and central banks must do away with the last remaining thing that gives people a small semblance of privacy, anonymity, and personal freedom in their increasingly controlled and surveyed lives.
The biggest tragedy of all is that the governments and banks’ strongest ally in their War on Cash is the general public itself. As long as people continue to abandon the use of cash, for the sake of a few minor gains in convenience, the war on cash is already won.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Debt Spikes $339 Billion in Just One Day
Earlier this week, the United States national debt spiked $339 billion. Usually, this takes the government accomplish this type of feat over a period of few months. Not this time, however. The federal government was able to increase the national debt by $339 billion. How could that even happen?
Let’s take a look at the context….
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Will Lagarde Face BRICS Challenge as IMF Term Nears End?
As International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde’s mandate enters the final stretch, emerging-market powers seem hesitant about teaming up to try to wrest the job away from Europeans.
The IMF managing director has said she is “open” to seeking another term when her time is up in July 2016, while the so-called BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — seem divided about a power bid.
Questioned by AFP, Moscow and Brasilia refused to comment. But Pretoria seems to be already gearing up to contest the European leadership of the 70-year-old IMF, part of the tacit agreement with the United States that has kept an American as head of sibling institution the World Bank.
“Developing countries have insisted on a merit-based selection process, not the current arrangement where the Fund managing director is always a European,” said a spokeswoman for South Africa’s treasury department…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ben Carson Says it’s ‘Time Really to Move on’ From Questions About His Biography
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Sunday that he is receiving more scrutiny than others who have run for president, just days after media reports raised new questions about the inspiring personal narrative he has used to make millions of dollars and thrust himself to the front of the GOP race.
“There’s no question I’m getting special scrutiny,” Carson, a neurosurgeon and author who has topped several recent GOP primary polls, said during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “There are a lot of people who are very threatened. They’re worried. There is no question about it.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Best MSNBC Moment! ‘Don’t Believe the Liberal Media’ Sign Crashes Set for Hilarious Segment
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews were joined by a hilarious and appropriate backdrop Friday night.
Maddow appeared with Matthews to share her thoughts on the Democratic forum when a sign appeared in the background that read “Don’t Believe The Liberal Media.”
The sign had the Media Research Center logo on the boom right and a link to the group’s website on the bottom.
It was the most appropriate thing that happened during the segment where the two heaped praise on Hillary Clinton.
Watch the segment below…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Carter Sees Russia, China as Potential Threats to Global Order
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on Saturday slammed Russia, saying it is endangering the world order through its incursions in Ukraine and loose talk about nuclear weapons, and said the U.S. defense establishment is searching for ways to deter Russian aggression to protect U.S. allies.
Carder said China is the most influential player in Asia’s future, and he noted that earlier this week aboard an American vessel in the South China Sea to demonstrate U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation.
Carter remained committed to more sea patrols in the South China Sea to even further demonstrate freedom of navigation, according to Reuters. The U.S. guided-missile destroyer, the USS Lassen came within China’s 12-nautical-mile zone around the Spratly archipelago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
East Chicago Councilman Re-Elected Despite Murder and Drug Charges
Despite being arrested on drug and murder charges, an East Chicago city councilman was re-elected to his office in Tuesday’s elections.
East Chicago 3rd District Councilman Robert “Coop” Battle cruised to re-election even though he is accused in the Oct. 12 shooting of Reimundo Camarillo Jr. That isn’t all. As The Munster Times reports, the councilman is also facing drug charges stemming from a traffic stop earlier in the year.
Police say that Councilman Battle was found with 73 pounds of marijuana and more than $100,000 cash during a traffic stop in Porter County, Indiana.
Even with all this legal trouble on his plate, no one filed to run against him, and he won re-election on Tuesday with his unopposed candidacy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is Hillary Clinton Obama’s 3rd Term?
The Democrat establishment and their boot-licking mainstream media will brand all attempts to fight them off as ‘conspiracies’
In 2008, the Democrats pulled a big-eared rabbit out of the hat. A senator, with a sketchy attendance record, whose only claim to fame was community organizing with unrepentant domestic terrorist Billy Ayers, was ushered into the Oval Office, masqueraded as ‘the Messiah’ and life, not just in America but the world over, was never to be the same.
Unvetted by the mainstream media, no one could say from whence Barack Obama came, but time soon proved that he was America’s very first undocumented president.
Now that the Democrats got away with getting an undocumented president into office, ‘undocumented’ was not only acceptable, it was de rigueur.
Had we only known back then that seven years later, not only an open border U.S., but Europe would be overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of undocumented Obamas forging their way to a world-wide Islamic Caliphate.
Presidential nightmare, Part Two is careening toward us one year from today, but this one should at least be no surprise.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Legendary US Army Commander Says Russia Would “Annihilate” US in Head-to-Head Battle
Late in September, we brought you “US Readies Battle Plans For Baltic War With Russia” in which we described a series of thought experiments undertaken by The Pentagon in an effort to determine what the likely outcome would be should something go horribly “wrong” on the way to landing the US in a shooting war with Russia in the Balkans.
The results of those thought experiments were not encouraging. As a reminder, here’s how Foreign Policy summed up the exercises:
In June 2014, a month after he had left his force-planning job at the Pentagon, the Air Force asked David Ochmanek — deputy assistant secretary of defense for force development — for advice on Russia’s neighborhood ahead of Obama’s September visit to Tallinn, Estonia. At the same time, the Army had approached another of Ochmanek’s colleagues at Rand, and the two teamed up to run a thought exercise called a “table top,” a sort of war game between two teams: the red team (Russia) and the blue team (NATO). The scenario was similar to the one that played out in Crimea and eastern Ukraine: increasing Russian political pressure on Estonia and Latvia (two NATO countries that share borders with Russia and have sizable Russian-speaking minorities), followed by the appearance of provocateurs, demonstrations, and the seizure of government buildings. “Our question was: Would NATO be able to defend those countries?” Ochmanek recalls.
The results were dispiriting. Given the recent reductions in the defense budgets of NATO member countries and American pullback from the region, Ochmanek says the blue team was outnumbered 2-to-1 in terms of manpower, even if all the U.S. and NATO troops stationed in Europe were dispatched to the Baltics — including the 82nd Airborne, which is supposed to be ready to go on 24 hours’ notice and is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina…
Nevertheless, Moscow’s intervention in Syria has the West concerned that for the first time in nearly thirty years, The Kremlin doesn’t fear a direct confrontation.
The problem for The Pentagon isn’t so much that the US has fallen behind in terms of spending money on expensive war toys (i.e. we don’t necessarily doubt that Washington has the best technology).Rather, the US seems to have fallen behind in terms of its ability to fight a conventional war against a formidable foe, presumably because there really haven’t been any formidable foes in decades.
Well now, it seems entirely possible that the US may have to fight a conventional war against the Russians (and possibly the Iraninans) and that means you can no longer depend on the fact that on a warrior-for-warrior basis, a handful of SEAL Team Six members can pull off battlefield miracles, because no matter how elite your spec ops are, you can’t pit twelve guys against four thousand and expect them to win.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lethal Cyber-Warfare: Pentagon Secretly Develops Cyber Weapons Able to Kill
“Cyber operations may in certain circumstances constitute uses of force within the meaning of Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations and customary international law,” reads the Law of War Manual. “For example, if cyber operations cause effects that, if caused by traditional physical means, would be regarded as a use of force under jus ad bellum (Latin for ‘right to war” criteria), then such cyber operations would likely also be regarded as a use of force.”
The manual goes on to give grim examples of what might constitute acceptable uses for cyber-weapons: trigger a nuclear plant meltdown; open a dam above a populated area, causing destruction; or disable air traffic control services, resulting in airplane crashes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
McCaul Confident ISIS Bomb Downed Russian Airline, Compares Tragedy to 9/11 Attacks
Rep. Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Sunday he’s convinced that an Islamic State bomb recently took down a Russian airliner — saying “this is a new chapter for ISIS,” while comparing the incident to the 9/11 terror attacks and calling for tightened U.S. security.
“All indicators are pointing to the fact that it was ISIS putting a bomb on an airplane,” McCaul, R-Texas, told “Fox News Sunday.” “I have a high degree of confidence. It’s been my gut (feeling) all along. … This is comparable to 9/11 for” Russia.
McCaul said he’s basing his conclusion in large part on intelligence reports, ISIS’ declaration of war on Russia and the so-called white box recovered from the plane, which officials say recorded a “loud bang” before the Oct. 31 incident.
The Russian-bound commercial jet crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. Most of the passengers were Russian.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Military Contractors Fined for Using Russian Programmers for Dod Projects
Two former contractors for the Department of Defense (DoD) have agreed to pay close to $13 million to settle a legal case alleging that they hired Russian workers without security clearances to work on DoD computer projects.
NetCracker Technology Corp. has agreed to pay $11.4 million, and Computer Sciences Corp. has agreed to pay $1.35 million to resolve a case, brought by the government under the False Claims Act, that they used individuals without security clearance on a DoD project.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mystery Light in Southern California Sky Sparks Anxiety
(CNN)Panic and speculation spread Saturday night when a bright white light shot through the night skies in Southern California.
Residents posted a flurry of videos on social media, together with theories of aliens or meteors. Others made panicked calls to law enforcement officials.
But not to worry, U.S. military officials said. It was a planned missile test.
The Navy Strategic Systems Programs held a scheduled missile test flight at sea from USS Kentucky, which is a ballistic missile submarine. The test was conducted off the coast of Southern California, the Pentagon said in a statement.
It said the missile was not armed.
“The tests were part of a scheduled, ongoing system evaluation test,” the statement said. “Launches are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system. Each test activity provides valuable information about our systems, thus contributing to assurance in our capabilities.”
Fascinated residents shot video of the light…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
ObamaCare Gives Kentucky a Republican Businessman Governor
Kentucky voters held Democrats responsible for their complicity in a health insurance boondoggle
So in essence, Kentucky voters held Democrats responsible for their complicity in a health insurance boondoggle that’s cost a lot of them more money and left a whole lot more of them without coverage entirely. Even if voters did think Matt Bevin had drawbacks as a candidate, they still trusted him more than the people who not only created this ill-conceived ObamaCare exchange but refused to change course when things were clearly not going well.
There’s something important for Republicans to recognize here, whether we’re talking about national candidates or those at the state and local level across the country. Democrats always run by promising free stuff, and Republicans are historically skittish about telling the voters, no, they’re not going to promise free stuff. ObamaCare is a perfect example of what happens when the government tries to give everyone free stuff and economic reality has the nerve to show up.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Record Siberian Snow Could Bode Ill for Northeast
There is a theory about snow in Siberia during the month of October: If there is a lot, it can mean a particularly wicked winter in the northeast United States.
Last month, Siberia experienced record snowfall and the worst blizzard in a decade.
Above-average snow cover in Siberia is believed to affect the now-famous polar vortex and send bitterly cold temperatures to the Northeast. This happens when the Arctic Oscillation, a climate pattern, shifts.
When its winds are strong, the Arctic Oscillation keeps a tight hold on temperatures swirling around the North Pole. When it becomes weakened, or what meteorologists call “negative,” it allows arctic air masses to creep into the mid-latitudes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes it this way: “Air pressure is higher than average over the arctic and lower than average over the mid-latitudes. The jet stream shifts southward of its average latitude.” That steers frigid, polar air southward into North America.
Above-average Siberian snow cover points to a negative oscillation pattern. But not always. And it is especially not certain that will happen this winter. Myriad factors, not the least of which is the strong El Niño being experienced globally, come into play…
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) To the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a bastion of kooky, left-wing ideology, the entire country is a conservative conspiracy wrapped in an enigma and bathed in dogma.
“Quick, do something!” begins a piece at The New American (TNA). “There are John Birch Society types ready to spread ‘conspiracy theories’ from the ‘margins’ into the ‘mainstream,’ and they seem to be hiding under practically every bed in America!” [Note: The New American is a publication of the John Birch Society.]
That, at least, is the general conclusion of a new “intelligence report” the SPLC has just produced.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Thermonuclear Missile Launch Near Los Angeles is Final Sign of World War III on the Precipice…
US, China and Russia all escalating covert attacks in run up to global war
(NaturalNews) “A mysterious bright light in the sky has sent Californians into panic,” reports the BBC. “Videos posted online show a bright flare rising high, before a wide, bright blue flash emerges in a cone shape. Many videos continue to track the light for several minutes.”
Last night, Californians immediately leapt to social media to propose their theories of the phenomenon, ranging from a nuclear missile attack to meteors. “Law agencies and news media in San Diego were flooded with calls about 6 p.m. from people reporting everything from a flare to a comet to a nuclear bomb in the western sky,” reports the San Diego Union Tribune.
Just a day earlier, the FAA had issued flight restrictions for the Los Angeles International Airport, denying aircraft access to one of the most frequent approach paths for international and domestic travel.
The official explanation is a lie
The “official” explanation of this event — and remember that “official” explanations are almost always cover stories — is that the U.S. Navy launched a test missile just because they “routinely” test missiles.
“Media in California confirmed that the light came from an unarmed Trident missile fired from the USS Kentucky navy submarine,” reports the BBC. While they call the missile “unarmed,” they fail to mention that the Trident missile normally carries a thermonuclear warhead. There’s also no way for the media to know whether this missile was really unarmed or not, as the sole source on that question is the U.S. Navy itself.
Apparently the media thinks the public is so incredibly stupid that they’ll believe the U.S. Navy has nowhere else to launch a test missile other than right next to Los Angeles. Somehow we’re supposed to believe the entire Pacific Ocean won’t work for such a test launch, so they have to launch it adjacent to the airport and thereby inconvenience commercial aviation traffic for an entire week.
Obviously, the official cover story is pure bunk. So what’s the real story behind this? It all has to do with China and the covert war that’s already underway between China, the US and Russia.
China’s military submarines are a huge threat to U.S. national security
To get up to speed on what’s really happening, read this report from the Congressional Research Service (PDF) found at www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf
Authored by Ronald O’Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs, and just released on Sep. 21, 2015, the report is entitled, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities.”
[Comment: This is what Satanic banksters want. WWIII. Eliminate useless eaters, patriots, christians , constitutionalists, etc. Rebuild world in their glorious new communist world order.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Two Cops Face Murder Charges for Killing a 6-Year-Old
Two police officers in Louisiana are currently under arrest and facing murder charges after fatally shooting a six-year-old child inside of a car last week.
Louisiana State Police charged Marksville City Marshals Norris Greenhouse, 23, and Derrick Stafford, 32, with second degree murder in the death of Jeremy Mardis and attempted second degree murder for nearly killing his father.
The incident began last Tuesday night when 25-year-old Chris Few reportedly led four city marshals on a chase through Marksville with his son Jeremy sat in the passenger’s seat.
Few is speculated to have attempted to ram into patrol vehicles once he was cornered in at a dead-end, though state police have not confirmed this.
At that point, Greenhouse and Stafford reportedly fired at the vehicle, killing Mardis, who suffered from autism, and critically injuring his father.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why Missouri Football Players Are Going on Strike; University President Won’t Quit
With the backing of their head coach, football players at Missouri are threatening to stop participating in any football activities until the president of the university system is fired or resigns. In a late afternoon statement, though, the president declined to do so, saying instead that the school would start a systemwide diversity examination.
The players’ action stems from troubling racial incidents on the Columbia, Mo., campus, incidents that Missouri’s Legion of Black Collegians believes were poorly handled by Tim Wolfe. The campus-wide group announced its decision, using the hashtag #ConcernedStudent1950 and a photo of 32 black men on Twitter on Saturday night. Concerned Student 1950, the student activism group leading the protests, is named for the year Missouri first admitted African-American students.
“The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe “Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere,’“ the tweet read. “We will no longer participate in any football related activities until President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed due to his negligence toward marginalized students’ experiences. WE ARE UNITED!!!!!”
[…]
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Witnesses Report Seeing Bright Light Across Southern California Sky
Viewers across California and parts of the West Coast reported seeing a strange, large flash of light across the Pacific Ocean Saturday night.
Many viewers called in to NBC San Diego, NBC Southern California and NBC Bay Area reporting a green and blue colored streak of bright light through the sky, reported as far south as Mexico and as far north as the Bay Area. Some viewers even reported seeing it in Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.
“It was really slow and then exploded really gray and there was some blue lights it just looked really weird,” Sokhom Thoeun who was walking on a San Diego beach with his family told NBC7.
“I’m like it’s not a firework, it’s not a falling star, it’s not the moon…I don’t know what it was…but it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” witness Jessica Blecker said.
Cmdr. Ryan Perry with the Navy’s Third Fleet said the Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted a scheduled Trident II (D5) missile test flight at sea from USS Kentucky and that was the cause of the bright light.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Berlusconi Lashes Out Against EU at Northern League Rally
Italy’s billionaire former premier Silvio Berlusconi lashed out at the European Union on Sunday as he appealed to the populist right and called for “less Europe” at a Northern League party rally.
The controversial 79-year-old — whose Forza Italia party ranks fourth in polls — addressed thousands of demonstrators during a gathering organised by the anti-immigrant Northern League in the northern city of Bologna.
Berlusconi proposed a programme with “fewer taxes, less state involvement and less Europe” as well as “more help to those who need it, more guarantees and more security”.
The ex-prime minister and media tycoon tossed out a series of questions to the crowd, asking them if they wanted a Europe that imposed taxes, sanctions and austerity…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Book Reveals Pope’s Fury Over Vatican Finances
“May the Lord forgive us, but we don’t pay!”
Those were the dramatic words Pope Francis used to demand a clampdown on uncontrolled spending by the Vatican just months after his election in 2013.
Having discovered an “out of control” system, the Argentinian pontiff let rip over how the top tier of the Church was headed for financial meltdown because of a bloated payroll, unchecked spending and shady deals with over-charging contractors.
It was supposed to be a blast only for the ears of a handful of cardinals and other officials appointed to a special commission, COSEA, charged by the new pope with making proposals for reform of the Vatican’s economic and administrative structures.
But someone in the room was secretly recording…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Erfurt Becomes Italian Mafia’s German HQ
German and Italian authorities say that the eastern German city of Erfurt has become an operational hub for the ‘Ndrangheta mafia. Investigators say Germany’s lax laws have created fertile ground for organized crime.
The German Federal Police and Italy’s anti-mafia authority (DIA) have confirmed to a regional German broadcaster that the mafia organization ‘Ndrangheta has turned the Thuringian city of Erfurt from a subsidiary hideout into a major business hub.
According to a report by the MDR Thuringia public broadcasting network, the ‘Ndrangheta has invested some 100 million euros ($110 million) in Germany and Europe via its so-called “Erfurt Group,” which has built up a network of money-laundering firms and restaurants.
The DIA has known about the Erfurt Group for years, but the MDR says the group consists of six hardcore members, plus more than two dozen other men.
The new findings are centered on recent major investments in seven exclusive restaurants in Rome and Lisbon — all emanating from Italian businessmen based in Erfurt. Three of them — “Il Passetto,” “Caffé Napoleon” and “Pallotta,” all in idyllic locations around the Eternal City — were bought for 15 million euros over the past two years. These acquisitions attracted the attention of the Italian authorities because they came on top of the 1.3-million-euro purchase of another Rome restaurant, the “Alla Rampa,” in 2006 — by the same Erfurt group, via bank accounts in the tax haven of San Marino…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Human Rights ‘Takes a Back Seat’ As Britain Boosts Trade
Promoting human rights abroad has become a lower priority for Britain as it seeks to boost trade, campaigners have complained, following visits by the leaders of China, Egypt and Kazakhstan in recent days.
Last month the British government was forced to abandon a prisons training deal with Saudi Arabia after a public outcry over the Arab state’s punishments of flogging and execution for crimes including pro-democracy activism.
“The UK prides itself, or has prided itself, on its championing of human rights globally and holds itself up as a protector of the rule of law,” said Karla McLaren from rights watchdog Amnesty International.
Failing to raise human rights concerns “undermines that reputation”, she added…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
IAAF Scandal ‘Worse Than FIFA’, Says Report Author
The scale of doping corruption and money-laundering within athletics dwarfs the financial scandals engulfing FIFA, according to the author of a new wide-ranging report into track and field backed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
An independent commission set up by WADA is due to publish its findings on Monday and report co-author Richard McLaren told the BBC: “This is going to be a real game-changer for sport.”
Whereas the scandal involving FIFA, football’s global governing body, revolves around corruption allegations involved in the awarding of World Cups, McLaren — an international sports lawyer — said the issues confronting athletics were even more serious as they involved claims that actual results had been manipulated…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Internal EU Documents: How the Benelux Blocked Anti-Tax Haven Laws
Internal European Union documents seen by SPIEGEL clearly show how Luxembourg’s government, under the leadership of Jean-Claude Juncker, sought to use tax breaks to attract companies to the country. European parliamentarians want to know more.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ban on Unvaccinated Kids in Schools ‘Needs New Law’
Regions approve 2016-2018 National Vaccination Plan
(ANSA) — Rome, November 5 — The Conference of Regions said Thursday a proposed plan to ban unvaccinated children from enrolling in school should be regulated via “updated norms”.
This means lawmakers might have to come up with ad hoc legislation on the matter. The Conference earlier approved the government’s 2016-2018 National Vaccination Plan, which contains the proposed measure on schools. Public health officials have raised the alarm about falling vaccination rates in Italy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Unipol Says 9-Mt Profits Up 37.8% to 594 Mn Euros
Direct insurance income 12.082 billion euros, down 6.2%
(ANSA) — Milan, November 6 — Italian insurance company Unipol said Friday that it registered a consolidated net profit of 594 million euros in the first nine months of 2015, up 37.8% on the same period last year. It added that it made 12.082 billion euros of direct insurance income in this period, down 6.2%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ATAC ‘Spent 2.5mn on Outside Lawyers’ Says Cantone
In spite of having 21 in-house lawyers
(ANSA) — Rome, November 6 — Anti-graft czar Raffaele Cantone said Friday that Rome’s ATAC public transport company spent 2.5 million euros on outside legal counsel in 2011-2015, in spite of the fact that it has 21 in-house lawyers. Cantone has sent Rome’s accident-prone, financially troubled public transport operator a letter requesting board meeting transcripts and a detailed list of in-house lawyers currently on ATAC’s books.
The letter is addressed to current ATAC President Roberto Grappelli, Rome Commissioner Francesco Paolo Tronca and former transportation councillor Stefano Esposito, who brought the situation to Cantone’s attention in the first place. Ex-mayor Ignazio Marino, who was recently forced to quit by his own Democratic Party (PD), raised hackles when he said last month that he would seek private partners for chronically troubled ATAC.
Five of its former executives were indicted earlier this year on charges of nepotistic hiring and abuse of office.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Open Source: Britain’s MI5 to be Given Major New Powers to Spy Online
The UK government has proposed a new bill which gives the police and intelligence agencies special powers to get access to individuals’ communications data.
The British government published a draft version of its ‘Investigatory Powers Bill,’ on Wednesday, which gives law enforcement the power to intercept, and collect information from internet providers on individual internet users. It then imposes a gagging order to prevent anyone disclosing that the warrant even existed, Arstechnica reported on Friday.
The bill gives the UK Secretary of State the power to give any postal and telecommunications operator a “technical capability notice,” on behalf of police, security and intelligence agencies and the armed forces, which requires any relevant operator to “take all the steps specified in the notice for the purpose of complying with those obligations.”
After receiving the notice, the person providing the postal or telecommunications service must comply with the order, and then keep it a secret. If they don’t comply, they could go to prison.
“A person to whom a relevant notice is given, or any person employed or engaged for the purposes of that person’s business, must not disclose the existence and contents of the notice to any other person,” the draft bill continues.
George Danezis, an associate professor in security and privacy engineering at University College London, told Arstechnica that the Investigatory Powers Bill would make it a criminal offence, punishable with up to 12 months in prison and/or a fine, for anyone involved to reveal the existence of a “technical capability notice,” also known as a ‘backdoor.’
“Secret backdoor notices (I mean ‘technical capability notices’) will be issued, and enterprising geek that wants to open a debate about them will either know nothing about them, or be breaking the law,’ said Danezis.
[Comment: What about security researchers that find a legitimate flaw in code that is exploited as a back door? Does this legislation mean that bug must be kept secret and not fixed?]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Patriarch of Antioch: Muslims Want to Conquer Europe With ‘Faith and the Birthrate’
In a stunning interview, the Maronite patriarch of Antioch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, has contended that Islam has a clear, two-pronged strategy to take over Europe: religion and procreation.
The cardinal said that Muslims look on Christians as weak and believe that since they have no children and barely practice their faith, Islam will easily conquer them. Sadly, he said, Muslims take their faith more seriously than most Christians, and they are gaining ground because of it.
“I have often heard from Muslims that their goal is to conquer Europe with two weapons: their faith and their birthrate,” al-Rahi said in a recent interview with Famiglia Cristiana, an Italian Catholic weekly magazine.
For the Muslims, the Cardinal said, “the practice of the faith is essential and fundamental. In Saudi Arabia they go to Friday prayers even if they need a walking stick. They know the Koran by heart, and when they talk they often cite it. The same is not true for Christians who do not refer either to the Bible or the teachings of the Church.”
The Muslims “believe that God’s will is to procreate and that marriage is aimed at this,” he said. “They think that numbers will give them the upper hand.”
Christians, however, “hardly get married anymore, and have few children,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Blasts Clergymen Who Are ‘Attached to Money’
Church hit by Vatileaks and books documenting lavish spending
(ANSA) — Vatican City, November 6 — Pope Francis on Friday said that it was sad to see clergymen, including senior Church figures, “attached to money” and material goods. This week the Catholic Church was hit by the so-called VatiLeaks 2 scandal and the related publication of two books documenting allegedly waste and lavish spending by clergymen.
“There are people within the Church who, instead of serving, of thinking of others and laying down foundations, serve themselves from the Church — the climbers, those attached to money,” the pope said in his homily during Mass at the Santa Marta residence where he lives inside the Vatican, according to Vatican Radio. “And how many priests, bishops have we seen like this? It’s sad to say it, isn’t it?”.
The books, which feature references to leaked Holy See papers, include reports on the luxurious that apartments some cardinals live in.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardy said this week that the revelations are not so sensational as the pope’s reforms have rendered them out of date.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper Straatnieuws, which Vatican radio picked up Friday, the pope said that it is impossible to talk about the need to tackle poverty while living in luxury if one wants to maintain credibility.
“The Church must speak with truth, and also with testimony,” he said. “If a believer speaks about poverty, and leads the life of a pharaoh — this cannot be done”.
Francis admitted that the Church in not immune to corruption. “There is always the temptation to corruption in public life — both political and religious,” the pope told Straatnieuws. “There is always the danger of corruption”. Last weekend two people, Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Italian PR expert Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, were arrested over alleged involvement in the leaks.
Both served on an advisory commission to the pope on financial reform at the Vatican.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Street Attack Leaves British Man With His Hand Cut Off by Gang
A man in his 20s who was on a night out with friends in Essex had a hand chopped off by a gang of knife-wielding masked men in a street attack.
Witnesses reported seeing blood gushing down the street after the victim was set upon on the High Road in Loughton at 11.30pm on Friday night.
He suffered serious injuries including having his hand severed and police recovered a large knife from the scene.
The man was taken to hospital in an ambulance, where he is being treated for serious knife wounds, which police say have left him in a life changing condition.
[Comment: Next step for leftists: Solution is to ban all knives.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK Foreign Secretary Warns of ‘Brexit’ Unless EU Implements Fundamental Reforms
Britain’s foreign secretary says the European Union must implement fundamental reform or British people would vote to leave the bloc in an upcoming referendum.
Philip Hammond told the BBC on Sunday that “the British people will not be fobbed off with a set of cosmetic alterations to the way the EU works” and that there must be “substantive legally-binding change” for Britons to vote to stay in the 28-nation bloc.
Britain is set to have a referendum on the topic by the end of 2017.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican’s APSA ‘Held 998 Mn in 2013’
L’Espresso journalist writes exposé on Holy See finances
(see related)(ANSA) — Rome, November 4 — The Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA) held assets worth 998 million euros in 2013, including an investment portfolio worth over 475 million eurps, according to figures contained in a new book on the Vatican’s financial affairs to be published Thursday. Unlike the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) — commonly known as the Vatican Bank — APSA’s budget “is not part of the public domain”, L’Espresso news magazine journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi points out in his new book Avarice, one of two books at the centre of a new Vatican document-leaking scandal dubbed Vatileaks 2. Fittipaldi claims APSA acts like a credit institution and cites budget entries detailing loans to banks to the tune of 162.7 million euros, 24.5 million dollars, 8 million pounds, 4.5 million Swiss francs and 29.2 million yen. The book also exposes alleged money wastage on consultancies for projects that never materialised at Bambin Gesù, a Rome pediatric hospital operating under the auspices of the national health system on an extraterritorial area administered by the Holy See.
Concerns were initially raised by auditors at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Avarice claims. The auditors also reportedly pointed the finger at commercial activities that were allegedly “incoherent” with the original mission of the hospital founded to treat poor children in Rome. These include control of Clinical & Research Services srl and Xellbiogene srl, a biotechnology firm run together with Milan’s Catholic University specialising in genetic research.
Founded in 2013, it was wound up two years later. Other concerns were expressed over donations to the hospital and assets building up in accounts at the IOR and APSA.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Cannot Offset Losses From Stay-Away Russian Holidaymakers
A member of the board at the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism said that Egypt will not be able to offset the losses its tourism industry looks likely to sustain following Russia’s decision to halt passenger flights to the country.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH (Sputnik) — Egypt will not be able to offset the losses its tourism industry looks likely to sustain following Russia’s decision to halt passenger flights to the country, a member of the board at the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism said Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Friday to suspend flights to Egypt indefinitely after a Russian airliner crashed in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after it took off at the popular Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.
“No other country can make up for the drop in the numbers of Russian tourists coming to Egypt,” Hossam Elshaer told RIA Novosti.
Around 3.5 million Russian holidaymakers come to Egyptian seaside resorts every year. “We won’t see this figure even if we refocus [on other groups],” said Elshaer, who owns a chain of hotels on the Red Sea.
Revenues from tourism account for around 12 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product. Before the Russian plane crash, the nation expected to welcome some 10 million foreign tourists by the end of this year, with Russians making up the vast majority of holidaymakers.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Plane Crash: Airport Security Rethink ‘May be Needed’
Airport security will have to be reviewed in areas where Islamic State militants are active if the air crash in Egypt is found to have been caused by a bomb, the foreign secretary says.
Philip Hammond told the BBC increased security could mean extra costs and delays at airports.
All 224 people on the board the Russian Metrojet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg died when it came down in Sinai on 31 October. Most of the victims were Russian.
The US and the UK have both said intelligence points to the strong possibility the crash was caused by a bomb — militants affiliated to so-called Islamic State, also known as Isil, have claimed responsibility.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ports: With Doubled Suez, Med Attracts More Goods
Study Srm:1 mln teu (cargo unit) will leave Panama for new Canal
(by Francesco Tedesco) (ANSAmed) — NAPLES, NOVEMBER 2 — The doubling of the Suez Canal and new logistical and maritime dynamics are turning the Mediterranean into an area that has widened to the Persian Gulf, according to the fifth annual report “Economic relations between Italy and the Mediterranean” published by the Studies and Research Center on the South of the Gruppo Intesa San Paolo.
The study gives an insight into the Suez Canal, in particular after the expansion inaugurated on August 6, 2015, which reduces estimated travel time in six-seven hours and brings daily traffic to 97 ships (from a previous 49).
According to estimates by SRM, the new canal can bring average savings of about 5-10% of total operational costs for each ship in transit (according to route and distance) by going through the Suez: on the Far East-US East Coast route, about 1 million TEU (or twenty-foot equivalent unit) could be moved from the Panama route to Suez through the Mediterranean. The world standing of Suez, according to Srm data, will also increase the role of the Gulf, with the Emirates at the forefront of the new “enlarged Mediterranean”. The work boosts the axis Europe-Mediterranean-Suez-Gulf, which connects Asia to the eastern coast of the United States. In particular the United Arab Emirates, whose commercial exchange with abroad in 2014 totaled 631.3 billion dollars (four times more than in 2004) are among countries that are most open to international trade. Most UAE imports are re-exported to other countries, making the country one of the leading trading hubs worldwide. The Emirates are the third main commercial hub for re-exports after Hong Kong and Singapore: 33.9% of imports in the UAE are exported to other markets.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russia, Egypt Discuss Antey-2500, Buk Missile Systems Delivery
Rostec head Sergey Chemezov said that Russia is holding talks with Egypt on the delivery of Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missile system and Buk surface-to-air missile system.
DUBAI (Sputnik) — Russia is holding talks with Egypt on the delivery of Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missile system and Buk surface-to-air missile system, Russia’s state technologies corporation Rostec head Sergey Chemezov said Sunday.
“Today we are considering a possibility of delivering to Egypt missile systems Antey-2500 and Buk, negotiations continue,” Chemezov said during the Dubai Airshow.
S-300VM “Antey-2500” (NATO reporting name SA-23 Gladiator/Giant) is a Russia-manufactured air-defense system that was developed on the basis of S-300 missile system to hit ballistic and cruise missiles. It could reach targets at a distance up to 125 miles up and at a height up to 18 miles.
9K37 Buk missile system (NATO reporting name SA-11 Gadfly or SS-17 Grizzly depending on the modification) was developed by the Soviet Union and is being modified by Russia. The system is designed to bring down aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. It could hit targets at a distance of up to 30 miles up and at a height up to 15 miles.
Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport will supply to foreign countries arms worth at least $12.5 billion until the end of the year, Russia’s state technologies corporation Rostec head said.
“Rosoboronexport should reach $12.5 billion. We hope, it will be a little more. But we will definitely fulfill the plan,” Chemezov said during the Dubai Airshow.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia Says Embassy Staff Kidnapped in Libya
A communications officer and a driver for the Serbian embassy were abducted after a shootout in Libya, Serbian officials say. Diplomats said they were doing “everything possible” to ensure their return.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sharm El Sheikh Horror: Russian Jet Bombers Spoke With British Accents
They were overheard celebrating moments after the explosion that blew the plane apart, killing all 224 on board.
The jihadis were heard talking in Birmingham and London accents by spies at GCHQ in Cheltenham.
Trained in Syria and with an electronics background, it is believed they may have had a hand in building the bomb.
The success of the attack could inspire them to target British airports next, a former Special Branch officer warned last night.
GCHQ, the Government’s secret listening centre, picked up “chatter” from extremist groups in Egypt immediately after the Russian plane came down.
The regional accents suggest “a definite and strong link” between British extremists and the attack, according to intelligence sources.
“Jihadis in the Sinai area of Egypt could be heard celebrating,” one source said yesterday.
“A closer analysis of that material has identified London and Birmingham accents among those numerous voices.
“There has also been some internet traffic suggesting that there was British involvement in the attack. This was a very sophisticated, carefully planned operation involving many moving parts.
“We know there are British jihadis in Egypt fighting with members of Islamic State. They were trained in Syria and are now hardened terrorists. Some of the Britons have an electronics background and have been developing some very sophisticated bombs.
“They have been experimenting with different-sized charges and different types of explosives but there was nothing prior to this attack to suggest that they were going after airlines.”
The choice of a Russian airliner is thought to have been a deliberate attempt to goad President Vladmir Putin.
But the terrorists could now switch their attention back home…
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Sharm El-Sheikh Airport Officials Reveal Porous Security
The airport at Egypt’s resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has long seen gaps in security, including a key baggage scanning device that often is not functioning and lax searches at an entry gate for food and fuel for the planes, security officials at the airport told The Associated Press.
Security at the airport, and others around Egypt, have become a central concern as investigators probe the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian plane 23 minutes after it left Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 on board. The U.S. and Britain have said the cause was likely a bomb planted on the flight, and Russia has halted flights to Egypt until security at airports is improved.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Two Employees of Serbian Embassy in Libya Abducted — Belgrade
Two Serbian embassy staff were abducted in Libya on Sunday morning.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Two Serbian embassy staff, a man and a woman, were abducted in Libya on Sunday morning, the Serbian Foreign ministry said.
“Two officials of the Embassy of Serbia in Libya were kidnapped today in the morning. The abductees were identified as Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver,” the ministry said in a statement published on its website.
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic spoke with his Libyan counterpart about the abductions, the statement said.
The ministry is “doing its best” to resolve the situation, to provide more information and guarantee safe return of the Serbian citizens, according to the statement.
Libya has been in a state of turmoil since early 2011 after the Arab Spring protests led to a civil war and the overthrow of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.
There are currently two rival governments in the county: the internationally recognized Council of Deputies based in Tobruk and the self-proclaimed General National Congress, based in the capital city of Tripoli
According to the United Nations, kidnappings and torture based on place of origin as well as political or religious affiliation are frequent in Libya, and are primarily carried out by extremist groups.
Earlier this year, several foreign nationals, including Indians, Italians and Tunisians, were abducted in Libya in separate cases.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Burqa-Clad Turkish ‘Suicide Bomber’ Turns Out to be Lover in Disguise
A Turkish man detained as a suspected would-be suicide bomber in northern Turkey was actually wearing a burqa to disguise himself to meet a secret lover from a dating site, local media reported Sunday.
Locals in the Black Sea province of Ordu alerted police of a “would-be suicide bomber” on Saturday after noticing that a burqa-clad “woman” talking on the phone at a bus stop was wearing men’s shoes, Dogan news agency said.
A police team arrived at the scene and “unmasked” the man, who was dressed in a full-length, Islamic-style black robe with a niqab — the head covering worn by many Muslim women — covering his face. Authorities detained him for “inflicting fear and panic in the public,” Dogan reported…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Dubai Airshow: Crowded Skies May Limit Airline Growth
The headline-grabbing aircraft orders expected at this week’s Dubai Airshow will underline the rapid expansion of the Gulf’s airlines.
The problem is, the airspace above the Gulf is a patchwork of national air traffic controls and military restrictions, fragmented because of complicated historical and geopolitical reasons.
A report from the GCAA concluded: “The current Middle East airspace structure will be unable to handle the sustained forecasted traffic growth within the UAE.”
A study published in September by UK-based consultancy Oxford Economics — Economic Benefits of Improvements to Air Traffic Control — estimated that the average flight in the region was delayed by 36 minutes, and that 82% of those delays were due to air traffic control capacity and staffing issues.
By 2025, without air traffic control improvements, Oxford Economics forecast that the average delay would double to 59 minutes. The report also estimated that the region would lose out on $16.3bn of international trade and investment as a consequence.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gulf States to Lose Some $275bln in 2015 Due to Falling Oil Prices
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states’ oil revenues are expected to be lower in 2015 by about $275 billion than in 2014 because of the sharp decline in global oil prices, International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Sunday.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Lagarde visited Qatar to attend the meeting of the financial and economic cooperation committee of the GCC.
“With oil prices having declined sharply since mid-2014, export revenues are expected to be nearly $275 billion lower in 2015 than in 2014. The fiscal and current account balances in the region are deteriorating sharply, with the fiscal balance projected by the IMF to be in a deficit of 12.7 percent of GDP in 2015,” Lagarde said.
She added that despite the fact that oil-rich countries of the Gulf have created significant savings they should implement several financial measures, including control of current spending, expansion of non-oil tax revenues and a review of capital expenditures to carry out necessary fiscal adjustment.
Global oil prices have halved compared to the summer of 2014 levels, when the price of Brent crude stood at about $115 per barrel. At present, oil prices are hovering around $50 per barrel.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Houthi Rebels Capture Town, Military Camp in Southwest Yemen
The Houthis and the army units supporting them established control over the town of Damt and a military camp Sadreen in Ad Dali governorate in Yemen, according to a military source.
SANAA (Sputnik) — Yemeni Houthi rebels captured a town and a military camp located in the country’s southwestern governorate of Ad Dali, a military source told Sputnik on Sunday.
“The Houthis and the army units supporting them established control over the town of Damt and a military camp Sadreen in Ad Dali governorate after fierce fighting that killed dozens of people from both sides,” the source said.
Yemen has been mired in a military conflict between government forces and Shiite Houthi rebels, backed by the army unites loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, since 2014.
Since late March, a Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions at the request of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Some 21.1 million of Yemeni residents are in strong need of humanitarian assistance, while 2,600 people have been killed since the conflict escalated in March, according to the recent UN data.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Learning to Say ‘Spasibo’ — Grateful for Help, Syrians Learning Russian
Grateful for Russia’s support in the fight against the jihadists, Syrians are now flocking to learn Russian, RIA Novosti reports.
With a second foreign language compulsory for study in Syrian schools, RIA Novosti has found that Russian, introduced as an option in some parts of the country a year ago, is quickly gaining popularity, especially in the coastal province of Latakia, where the Russian military contingent assigned to assist the Syrian armed forces is based.
The country’s school system, with 11 grades plus a 12th grade for those wishing to go to college or university, features mandatory English-language instruction in the first seven grades. From seventh grade on, the children choose a second foreign language.
Until recently, most chose French; Syria has a historical connection with France, having served as its colony for much of the first half of the 20th century. Since last year, young Syrians now have the choice of choosing Russian instead.
Many have, especially in the country’s northwest province of Latakia, home to the Russian airbase at Hmeymim. Mohammed Kazak, the Head of the Department of Education of the Latakia Governate, told RIA Novosti that “from September of this year, about 4,500 students have chosen to study Russian in our province.”
According to the official, Russian has become particularly popular in the city of Latakia itself, as well Jableh, a city in the province’s south.
Paying a visit to a girl’s school in the center of Latakia City, a correspondent from RIA Novosti took a moment to point out that no one, not even the children, have been able to escape the realities of war. “Happy kids run through the school’s corridors, but the situation in the country cannot be hidden; the old walls are decorated with posters explaining the various types of mines and shells. The posters forbid children from touching suspicious objects, so as not to cause them to detonate,” the correspondent noted.
Azhfan Youssef, the headmistress of the school, explained that of the 846 pupils who study here, 38 have chosen to study Russian. By comparison, 60 are currently studying French. “At the moment, Russian is being studied only in seventh grade, accordingly, their total share remains small. However, next year, these girls will go on to eighth grade, and new pupils will come into the seventh, and so the number of students studying Russian will grow,” Youssef noted.
A little girl named Meis decided to learn Russian because her mother comes from Donetsk. “I know how to speak Russian; we speak Russian at home,” she slowly told RIA Novosti’s correspondent. She wants to learn Russian, and when she grows up, dreams of becoming a doctor.
Her classmate Lucien chose Russian “because his parents decided I should.” Her teacher, Gayfa Ihsan, explained that “it will be useful in her life, because relations between our countries are very strong.” The educator noted that the children are pressing on, despite the fact that they have to learn some new sounds and pronunciations they’ve never known before, including the letter ‘V’ [Russian ‘B’]. “We don’t have the letter v. Even now, when I say ‘bukva’ [letter], I pronounce it ‘bukfa’,” she noted.
The demand for Russian has given rise to a demand for those who would teach it. In Latakia, they are taught at Tishreen University’s Institute of Foreign Languages.
Dr. Avras Othman, the dean of the institute, told RIA Novosti directly that the growing interest in Russian is associated with the Russian contingent at the Latakia base.
“Our people are grateful for Russia’s help in the fight against the terrorists. They are proud of our friendship with this powerful country. They see good prospects in studying this language, after which they can continue their studies in Russia and learn to be an engineer or a doctor. And they will be able to just meet a Russian officer and tell him ‘thank you’,” Orthman said.
According to the dean, while only about 80 people were enrolled in studying Russian at the university last year, this year, 619 people have chosen it as their specialty.
Jamil, a student who aspires to be an engineer, explained that he hopes that “Russian will help me in pursuing my goal.” Earlier, his father had studied and worked in the former Yugoslavia. This, in Jamil’s words, was another factor in his decision. “Slavs are very compassionate and kind people. My father will help me study the language,” Jamil noted. Serbo-Croation and Russian share similarities.
Elena, a Russian woman from Irkutsk, Siberia who has lived in Syria for about 20 years after marrying a Syrian man, explained that demand for her services has gone through the roof. “I teach at the university, in schools, and give private lessons,” she noted, adding that among her Russian girlfriends, the demand for teaching Russian has gone up considerably, particularly in Latakia.
“Many students say directly: we want to learn Russian to say ‘spasibo’ to the Russian pilots, if they were to ever meet them on the street,” Elena noted. “And so they ask me: how do you say ‘we are very happy that you are here’? Or they say that they are just interested in learning the language of the people who flew in to help us.”
Elena explained that “Arab students are very talented. They have a special aptitude for languages. They grasp things on the fly. This explains why so many of them know more than one language. For example, ethnic minorities know not only Arabic, but also their native Kurdish or Armenian. Many speak English, and also French or Turkish.”
Now for some Syrians, it seems that Russian will be added to this eclectic mix.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Iran Summons Saudi Top Envoy Over Execution of 3 Iranians for Smuggling
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency is reporting the country’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Saudi Arabia’s top envoy in Tehran over the execution of three Iranian nationals for drug trafficking by Saudi Authorities.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over multiple conflicts across the region including in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain, underscoring the deep divide between the two regional powerhouses.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Left Behind: Life in Purgatory on the Ukrainian Front Lines
Trade has slowly resumed between Kiev and Donetsk despite the ongoing trade embargo, but life for those who live on the frontlines in Ukraine remains difficult. And war could return to the region at any moment.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nord Stream 2 Spells Bad News for Kiev’s Transit Business
In an interview for leading German business newspaper Handelsblatt, Naftohaz CEO Andrei Kobelev complained that Kiev feels “threatened” by Moscow’s plans to build the Nord Stream II gas pipeline, adding that he is offended by German companies’ decision to participate in the project.
In the interview, published Friday, Kobelev admitted that Ukrainians will not freeze this winter from a lack of Russian gas supplies (Russia renewed deliveries after receiving $234 million in prepayment after a three-month pause), but nonetheless warned that Kiev feels the ‘threat emanating from Moscow’ over talks surrounding Nord Stream 2, with German companies partially to blame.
The minister proudly explained that 70% of Ukraine’s gas is now coming into the country from Europe via reverse transit, adding that it was “part of our strategy for diversification.” What the minister did not mention was that most of Ukraine’s European supplies actually consist of Russian gas, re-exported back to Ukraine, often at higher prices.
Commenting on Russia’s measures to reduce dependence on Ukraine as a transit zone, Kobelev suggested that they are “politically motivated,” adding that Moscow’s failure to “defeat Ukraine using military methods in eastern Ukraine” have forced it to try to “do so with the help of economic methods. This is why they want to exclude us as a transit country. But this will cost Russia very dearly.”
Leaving the minister’s absurd comments about Russia’s “military methods” aside, Kobelev’s interviewer asked him what Ukraine stands to lose if it is deprived of its status as a transit country. The official’s answer offers insight into the extent to which Kiev fears Nord Stream II.
Kobelev explained that already, Ukraine “loses at least $2 billion in income from transit per year. Russia very much wants to take this money from us. Therefore, [on the Nord Stream II issue] we hope for solidarity from Europe, and that they do not to give Russia permission for the construction of pipelines which bypass Ukraine. If this were to happen, we would be even more dependent on European aid. But it’s not just about us, but about the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other countries, who will also suffer losses.”
The official also warned that “if the EU agrees to construction, it would be a fatal signal from Europe on its solidarity with us. Solidarity must be expressed not only when it comes to the issue of refugees, but on the gas issue as well.”
Ultimately, Kobelev noted that if the Nord Stream project becomes a reality, Ukraine’s “transit pipeline will collapse, from the economic point of view. If Nord Stream II becomes operational, it will be fatal for Ukraine’s role as a transit country for Russian gas.”
Essentially, economic losses aside, what Kobelev is saying, but doesn’t seem to want to admit, is that the loss of Ukraine’s energy transit trump card will deprive Kiev of its ability to pressure Moscow both politically and economically by threatening to turn off the tap to Europe.
The Nord Stream II natural gas pipeline, aimed at pumping 55 billion cubic meters of gas straight to Germany via the Baltic Sea, would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream transit route, which went online in 2011. In September, Russian state energy giant Gazprom signed a shareholders agreement with Western European energy companies including Germany’s E.ON, BASF/Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell Group, Austria’s OMV and France’s Engie. Last week, Russian officials confirmed that pre-construction planning for the pipeline was proceeding on schedule, and that Russia now awaits the decision of the European Commission and German regulators.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Plane Crash: ‘11,000 Tourists Back’ From Egypt
Russia says it has flown 11,000 tourists home from Egypt in the past 24 hours, and more will return on Sunday.
Moscow announced on Friday that it was suspending all flights to Egypt after a Russian plane crashed in Sinai — having initially dismissed suspicions that a bomb brought down the jet.
Dozens of special flights were put on for tourists wanting to go home.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Hasn’t Reformed, Expert Claims it Risks Becoming a Failed State
Given the ever-increasing “cracks” in Kiev’s relations with the West, Ukraine is now on the verge of becoming a failed state, according to an article by BloombergView columnist Leonid Bershidsky.
The past few months have seen a further deterioration in ties between Kiev and the West, which may steepen Ukraine’s slide towards becoming a failed nation, BloombergView columnist Leonid Bershidsky writes.
“Rather than the democratic hope it might have become after last year’s ‘Revolution of Dignity,’ Ukraine now looks like just another incompetent and corrupt post-Soviet regime,” Bershidsky said.
According to him, the political deadlock shows no sign of abating in Ukraine, with Prime Minister Areseniy Yatsenyuk expected to step down in December.
Bershidsky also cited unsuccessful attempts “at change by a new generation of bureaucrats”, which have led to the current situation, where the Ukrainian economy “remains unreformed.”
“Taxes are oppressive but widely evaded, the shadow economy is growing and the regulatory climate for business has barely improved,” he said.
Additionally, Bershidsky mentioned the Ukrainian authorities’ reluctance to deal with the country’s “incredibly corrupt justice system.”
He quoted Christof Heyns, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, as saying that Ukraine lives in an “accountability vacuum.”
In particular, Heyns expressed regret about the Ukrainian authorities’ unwillingness to investigate the death of more than 100 people on the streets of central Kiev in the final days of the Maidan coup and of 48 pro-Russian protesters in a burning building in Odessa in May 2014.
The Ukrainian Security Service “seems to be above the law,” according to Heinz, who referred to the recent arrest of Gennady Korban, a supporter of Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who has in turn repeatedly stood against the consolidation of power by Poroshenko.
Addressing corruption in Ukraine, Bershidsky added that “Poroshenko’s and Yatsenyuk’s close allies are routinely named in connection with corrupt schemes involving Ukraine’s customs service and state energy companies.”
Despite a “crack” in ties, Washington is “highly visible in the Ukrainian political process,” Bershidsky said, adding that all the top level government nominations and dismissals are reportedly endorsed by US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt and even US Vice President Joe Biden.
However, US efforts at the external management of Ukraine have largely failed, because “the grip of oligarchs and a corrupt bureaucracy on what’s left of the Ukrainian economy has proven too strong, the schemes too entrenched,” according to Bershidsky.
He concluded by warning of tougher times ahead in Ukraine, where “post-Soviet practices of fraud, bribery and intimidation have not been overcome.”
“But unless the current political elite finds it in itself to clean up — a highly unlikely turn of events — Ukraine’s history of violent regime change is probably not over yet,” he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Intense Clashes Erupt Between Rival Taliban Groups
Dozens of Taliban fighters were killed in a battle between the insurgents loyal to Taliban chief Mullah Mansoor and a splinter group. The breakaway faction is supported by “Islamic State” militants, officials say.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India Bans Greenpeace in Ongoing Row Over Foreign Donations
An Indian state govenment has banned the environment group’s activities in the country citing fraud and falsification of data. The organization has denied any wrongdoing.
The ban was issued on Friday by authorities in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where is Greenpeace is registered. The environmental campaign group’s license to operate was cancelled and it was given 30 days to close down.
Authorities accused the organization of violating local laws by engaging in financial fraud and falsifying data.
A Greenpeace spokesman denied any wrongdoing, instead blaming an ongoing battle with Indian auhorities over the past year that has seen the non-governmental organization’s (NGO) bank accounts frozen. The group plans to challenge the decision in court.
“This is an extension of the deep intolerance for differing viewpoints that sections of this government seem to harbor,” Vinuta Gopal, the interim executive director of Greenpeace, said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Six Sentenced to Death for Brutal Bangladesh Child Murders
A Bangladesh court Sunday handed four men the death sentence over the brutal killing of a 13-year-old boy that provoked national outrage after video footage of the attack went viral, a lawyer said.
Another two men were ordered to hang for the separate torture and murder of another 13-year-old that occurred less than a month later, the prosecutor said.
In the first case, the Metropolitan Sessions Court in the northeastern city of Sylhet found ten people guilty of lynching Samiul Alam Rajon, a verdict that sparked cheers from hundreds of people gathered outside the courtroom.
“We’re happy with the judgement. Samiul’s parents are satisfied. I am sure the verdict will send a powerful message to all those child beaters and molesters,” said Shahidul Islam, a lawyer representing his family…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China: Buddhist Cleric Gets Life for Criticising Party Corruption
Known for his activism in favour of democracy and human rights since 1989, Wu Zeheng has already spent 11 years in prison for writing an open letter criticising the government. For human rights activist, “He is the victim of both religious suppression and political persecution”.
Beijing (AsiaNews) — The Zhuhai City Intermediate People’s Court convicted Buddhist leader Wu Zeheng on charges relating to his religious group’s alleged activities, i.e. organising or using an illegal cult to undermine implementation of the law (12 years), rape (life), fraud (14 years), and production and sale of harmful food (6 years). Wu was also fined 7.15 million yuan.
In reality, the authorities targeted Wu for his beliefs and peaceful activities, including his human rights activism, which dates back to his time as a student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement.
For human rights activists in China and abroad, the decision is a disgrace, an attack on religious freedom and political rights.
Known as Zen Master Xingwu, Wu founded the Buddhist-inspired Huazang Dharma group in the early 1990s. Inspired by the principles of justice and freedom, the group has attracted thousands of members. For the authorities, it is instead a subversive group.
Wu’s conviction is not his first time he had a brush with the law. In 2000, a Beijing court had sentenced him to 11 years in prison for “economic crimes” after he sent open letters to senior Chinese Communist Party leaders criticising corruption within the Party and authorities’ infringements of citizens’ religious liberties.
During his past imprisonment, Wu reported being subject to torture and other forms of mistreatment, including sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, and forced labour.
Along with Wu, the Zhuhai court also sentenced three of his disciples — Ms Meng Yue, Ms Yuan Ming, and Mr Zhao Weiping — to between three and four years’ imprisonment.
“Wu’s life sentence is an outrage. He is the victim of both religious suppression and political persecution,” said Renee Xia, international director for the Chinese Human Rights Defender (CHRD), an NGO that includes domestic and overseas Chinese human rights activists and groups.
“This case,” she adds, “further exemplifies the government’s ramping up of its assault against independent religious and spiritual groups whose growing influence is perceived as a threat.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russia, China Discuss Possibility of Creating Earth Orbit Satellite System
Chinese experts are eager to be part of the modern trend, that presupposes further simplification of space communications equipment for a user, to make it more accessible and personalized, according to director general of the Information Satellite Systems Nikolay Testoedov.
DUBAI (Sputnik) — Russian and Chinese experts are discussing the possibility of creating a global low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system called the Star of Happiness, director general of the Information Satellite Systems Nikolay Testoedov told RIA Novosti Sunday.
“Two first meetings with Chinese colleagues over the global project ‘Star of Happiness’ were conducted. We were offered cooperation on creating of a new low earth orbit group, consisting of more than a hundred of satellites for the broadband access to the Internet and everything connected with it…,” Testoedov said.
According to the director general, Chinese experts are eager to be part of the modern trend, that presupposes further simplification of space communications equipment for a user, to make it more accessible and personalized.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Why South Korea Likes Shinzo Abe Less Than Kim Jong-UN
Seoul may be technically still at war with Pyongyang, but long memories mean the Japanese leader is still less popular than the North’s dictator
Given that South Korea is a democracy locked in an ongoing cold war conflict with dictatorial North Korea, it would be reasonable to assume the most despised national leader among South Koreans would be Pyongyang’s Kim Jong-un.
In fact, it is Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cameroon’s Far North Faces Twin Nightmares of Boko Haram, Poverty
In the poverty-stricken far north of Cameroon, the priority is the fight against the Nigerian militants of Boko Haram, but experts say a growing humanitarian crisis also needs urgent attention.
Chased from their strongholds in northeast Nigeria by a multi-national army offensive, the insurgents of Boko Haram have increased the tempo of suicide attacks and bloody raids on neighbouring Cameroon despite the deployment of a huge military contingent along the border.
“Since early 2015, there’s been an intensification of attacks by Boko Haram that have had catastrophic consequences for the whole region,” said Najat Rochdi, UN aid coordinator for Cameroon.
In the town of Maroua, capital of the Far North region, a huge military presence has been deployed in a bid to stem the jihadists’ attacks…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya Readies 10,000 Police to Boost Security for Pope
Kenya said on Sunday it may deploy as many as 10,000 police officers to boost security during a visit by Pope Francis later this month, as the country readies for crowds of one million people.
Islamist rebels have staged a string of attacks in Kenya, including an April massacre at Garissa university in which 148 people were killed, and a 2013 assault on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall that killed 67.
“Security agencies continue to fine-tune plans to secure the city during a particularly busy period, and when we expect Nairobi’s population to swell by an additional one million people,” State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said in a statement…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Migration Crisis Becomes Public Health Crisis
by Soeren Kern
German hospitals are increasing security to protect doctors and nurses from violent attacks by migrants who are unhappy with the medical treatment they are receiving.
Critics are warning that German taxpayers will end up paying billions of euros to provide healthcare for a never-ending wave of asylum seekers. This is in addition to the billions of euros already being spent to provide newcomers with food, clothing and shelter.
In addition to the massive economic and social costs, as well as the burden of increased crime, including a rape epidemic, Germans are now facing the risk of being exposed to exotic diseases — and tuberculosis.
German media outlets are downplaying the extent of the healthcare problem, apparently to avoid spreading fear or provoking anti-immigrant sentiments.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: The Lonely Chancellor: Merkel Under Fire as Refugee Crisis Worsens
Until recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was considered to be the most powerful politician in Europe. But now, her approach to the refugee crisis has her under fire at home and in Brussels. Can she survive?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Interior Minister De Maiziere Stands by Plan to Reduce Syrian Asylum Protection
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has stuck by his controversial proposals to stop Syrian families reuniting in Germany. Chancellery Chief Peter Altmaier has insisted that everything will remain as at present.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Suspends Accord With EU on Return of Illegal Migrants
Pakistan announced on November 6 that it has suspended its agreement with European Union countries on the readmission of illegal immigrants, except for Britain, because of what it called “blatant misuse.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Slovakia Sends 20 Police to Slovenia to Help Protect EU Border
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Bratislava will help the Slovenians in protecting the border amid a huge influx of refugees.
PRAGUE (Sputnik) — Slovakia sent 20 police officers to Slovenia on Friday to help Slovenian border guards protect the European Union’s external frontier, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a televised press conference.
Both countries are on the periphery of the bloc’s borderless Schengen Area, which has seen tens of thousands of migrants and refugees attempt to cross into the European Union since the start of the year.
“We have been asked to assist [the Slovenians] in protecting the border amid a huge influx of refugees,” the prime minister said. “We are sending the requested number of police officers. We would have sent a hundred if we had been asked to, but for now it is a unit of 20 plus all the necessary vehicles.”
A total of 400 foreign police forces will travel to the small central European nation by the end of November, according to Fico. Slovakia has already sent 50 policemen to help Hungary.
Over 710,000 migrants arrived in the European Union within the first nine months of 2015, according to the EU border agency Frontex.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisian Terrorist ‘Returns to Europe Posing as Asylum-Seeker’
Fears have been growing in Italy that terrorists could be infiltrating boats carrying migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean to Europe
A convicted terrorist released from prison last year travelled to Europe on a migrant boat posing as an asylum seeker, reports have claimed.
Mehdi Ben Nasr, 38, was arrested in 2008 in Novellara, northern Italy, and sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found to be the head of a terrorist cell with links to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). He was then extradited to his native Tunisia.
But last month Ben Nasr returned to Europe on a boat that set sail from Libya and arrived in Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island in the Mediterranean, according to La Repubblica.
Calling himself Mohamed Ben Sar, he claimed to be an asylum-seeker and said he wanted to travel to northern Europe, where he had relatives.
However, after police became suspicious about his identity, a squad of officers from Agrigento, Sicily detained Ben Nasr and three others, believed to be traffickers who organised the journey from Libya.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In a time where college students are offended by pretty much everything, The Federalist Papers reports that one professor at UNC-Wilmington decided to cut through the rhetoric and let his students know that they aren’t the special snowflakes liberals and their parents would have them believe.
His epic class introduction has gone viral, and for good reason: this is the most common sense lecture to come out of any college in a long time…
Professor Adams — having tenure — is more open to attack the ongoing Cultural Marxism that is sweeping across the nation. But, as we previously noted, there are very few legitimate cultural divisions in the world. Most of them are arbitrarily created, not only by political and financial elites, but also by the useful idiots and mindless acolytes infesting the sullied halls of academia.
It is perhaps no mistake that cultural Marxists in the form of “social justice warriors”, PC busybodies and feminists tend to create artificial divisions between people and “classes” while attacking and homogenizing very real and natural divisions between individuals based on biological reality and inherent genetic and psychological ability.
This is what cultural Marxists do: divide and conquer or homogenize and conquer, whatever the situation happens to call for.
They do this most commonly by designated arbitrary “victim status” to various classes, thus dividing them from each other based on how “oppressed” they supposedly are.iclass in
[Comment: Read the Professor’s class introduction. It’s worth taking time to read.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Christian Daycare Workers Fired for Refusing to Call 6-Year-Old Girl a Boy
A transgender-friendly education center for little kids in Texas fired two Christian daycare workers who refused to call one of the students, a six-year-old girl, a boy, as was insisted by her two male parents.
The parents told employees of the Children’s Lighthouse Learning Center in Katy, situated west of Houston, to call their daughter by a masculine name and refer to as a boy. Her haircut was also a masculine one.
Among the two fired workers was Madeleine Kirksey, an author of a Christian book. She said the problem was more not with the transgender issue, but with explaining the need to refer to a little girl as a boy and calling her “John”, which she apparently was not, Breitbart reports.
The worker said she didn’t believe it “was our job” to drown out the issue of the so-called gender identity on small children, according to Breitbart. The school should not force their beliefs neither upon their very young students, nor parents, nor employees, Kirksey added.
“I don’t think we should be talking to other people’s children who are under the age of 18 about being transgender,” Kirksey said in an interview with Fox26 in Houston. This is the point both of the fired workers agreed on.
She was employed in the center for a year and had been commended for her work before the incident, Kirksey told journalists. After being fired, Kirksey reported to Child Protective Services that the six-year-old girl was being told she is a boy, as she believes it is up to a specialist to determine whether the girl is confused or if the gender issue is being forced by her male parents.
Kirksey said that the girl sometimes refers to herself as a little boy, but sometimes she tells fellow students not to call her a boy, Breitbart reports.
The Children’s Lighthouse education center is a part of a nationwide chain, comprised of 37 learning facilities in seven states.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong LGBT Protesters Say City Lags Behind in Gay Rights
Hong Kong’s streets were a sea of rainbow flags on Saturday as protesters marched in the city’s annual gay pride parade to call for equality and same-sex marriage.
Around a thousand demonstrators paraded through downtown Hong Kong, with many complaining that the city lags behind other major Asian hubs in terms of LGBT rights.
“There’s still a lot of room to improve, compared to Taiwan and even to Japan,” Carol Yung, a 40-year-old marketing officer in the music industry, told AFP…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
If a group were to conspire together in the goal of destroying a country without firing a shot, how would they pull that off? The most effective way to destroy a land is to collapse it at its foundations, and the most fundamental building block of any civilization is the family. As the family goes, so goes everything else. So the most effective pathway is to declare war against marriage and the family in order to completely destroy a society.
The strategy to destroy the American family began with the promotion of fornication, leading to the glorification of adultery, add to that the explosion of marriage destruction by no-fault divorce along with the political fraud of feminism promoted everywhere and then down the slide to the acceptance of sodomy and now to the redefinition of marriage. Add to that the legal structure which gives the wife nearly unlimited power once a child is born to financially bankrupt her husband, take his current and future property and earnings and potentially jail him if he bucks at all against the injustice done to him, and you have a recipe for a divorce industry which will succeed in destroying the majority of families and tragically stifle the formation of new families as young men receive a clear message about the high risk and low reward of ever getting engaging at all.
Once all those evils percolate through out the culture, marriage will no longer be the norm and the destruction will be nearly complete. Consider our situation today.
Video of the Sermon…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
John Bercow has hired a gender expert to advise him on how to make parliament more ‘gender neutral’. Key changes could bring in toilets for transgender people and more loos for women.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Global Warming — 97% of Scientist, Consensus Myth
Anyone who thinks Global Warming is about the environment is deluding themselves.
We are repeatedly told “97 percent of climate scientists agree” that human activities are causing dangerous climate change.
Dozens of studies have debunked this bogus assertion, yet the Global Warmists continue grasping to their fanciful 97% hoax.
It’s easy to create deceptive outcomes by prearranging questions to suit the answers you want to hear. It’s done all the time.
Consensus is a function of politics, not a basis of truth in science. The essence of science is to be questioned/challenged and science is never settled.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The firing of that Trident missile off southern California is very worrying. If the person who made that comment under that story truly believes what he has written then why would Obama authorize the firing of that missile as a warning if everything was already in place for the invasion of the US by both Russia and China? What was hoped to be gained? And if China and the US are already in a covert war where the public is largely still unaware, why was that missile not fired away from the US as per that covert war? Why the public display now?
Putin has told the West he is not interested in their new world order, and I guess China by its recent actions feel the same way – so what is really going on here with the firing of that missile?
The firing of a missile can be detected by the flare as the rocket motor starts (as it emerges from the water, compressed air is used underwater), this means that the USA would have informed other countries of a ‘test’ and would not have sent the missile towards those other interested parties.
One does not mess with nukes unless a rogue state.
This is much more likely to be grandstanding to the US sheeple than to any foreign powers.
Yes, I do get the bit about displaying that missile firing to the sheeple – but simply for grandstanding? LAX was shut down so the sheeple wouldn’t miss this, that is a guaranteed maximum distraction from something else. There must have been another reason for why it was done. What other ‘distractions’, if any, were going on at the same time, somewhere else?
That is what we need to be looking at.
‘Many migrants are also suffering from a host of traumas and mental illnesses. According to the Chamber of German Psychotherapists (Bundespsychotherapeutenkammer), at least half of all migrants arriving in Germany have psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and roughly 40% have contemplated suicide.’
I’D SAY THEIR MAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM IS THE ISLAMIC TAPEWORM DEVOURING THEIR BRAIN.
“I came to the absolute conviction that it is impossible…impossible…for any human being to read the biography of Mohammed and believe in it, and then emerge a psychologically and mentally healthy person.”
– Syrian Psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan
re:
Secret military operations to divert LAX planes for a week ABC7 Eyewitness News dated Friday, November 06, 2015 11:59PM
mp3 file of 31 minute discussion of trident missile launch by air traffic control mentioned above.
Wretchard (Belmont Club, Richard Fernandez) has an excellent essay concerning this test. He also links to the video taken of it. To me, it is obvious it is a nose-cone reentry, but to anyone not of my age it would be a mysterious UFO.
Why would the authorities explain the incident after it had happened–why didn’t they alert the people before…?
re the ‘invasion’ of America by China and Russia; I don’t think Russia is contemplating that, and why would the Chinese seek to destroy their main customer? Questions, questions….
Do you believe Pearl Habor was a sneak attack or did the military hierarchy all the way up to the President know before hand what Japan intended?
The fact is, that the US military knew there was a Japanese Task Force heading into the Pacific with aircraft carriers which are only used for one purpose – to attack enemy aircraft and ships.
Why was the premiere American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor not put on full alert then?
The code breakers, particularly the Royal Australian Navy, had already broken the Japanese codes as early as 1935 and by 1939/40 knew Japan was on the move to expand its empire into the South Pacific. The Americans also had that information. Any good war-gamer worth his crust would have predicted an all attack against Pearl Harbor as a matter of strategic importance to eliminate.
Too, at the time of Japanese aircraft approaching Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941, a flight of B17 flying fortresses were also approaching Hawaii, but from a different direction and were expected at around the same time. The only operating Radar station picked up the massed Japanese attack aircraft (large radar target) coming in from the north-west whereas the small number of B17s (small radar target) were expected to come in from the north-east -two different directions – yet the Japanese flight was passed off as the incoming B17s when a pair of binoculars could have confirmed what and whose aircraft they belonged to simply due to the large number of massed Jap planes.
Too, a Japanese two man submarine was chased out of Pearl Harbor some time before the main aircraft attack and an attempt was made to sink it outside by an American destroyer – where was the alarm about that one?
If you can accept that governments routinely lie to their citizenry then you should be able to accept that even in the event of all out nuclear war, the government will tell you nothing prior to that event occurring.
Too many people in high and low places knew what was going on for the attack on Pearl Harbor to be considered as a sneak attack.
Re: Thermonuclear Missile Launch. “Satanic banksters”, JD? I know it was Halloween recently, but people are quite capable of evil acts witthout supernatural assistance, JD.
Ps How many of them would survive to enjoy the fruits of their conspiracy? How could there be any survivors from the menial classes to serve them, let alone generate wealth by their labours? Only so many spaces in those nuclear bunkers…
I grew up with the semi-monthly light show courtesy of Vandenberg AFB. Of course, there was the rocket in 1958 I watched after it was launched just after sundown. It exploded and turned the sky a pretty shade of coral pink that spread across the horizon like a pebble being dropped in small still pond. My father, who had served on Ford Island in Oahu thought that it was the end of the world, but he wouldn’t tell me why. Oh well, it was a pretty twilight display nonetheless.
I’m sorry, but the Ukraine has been a failed state ever since it splint from the Soviet Union. This has been due to their inability to install anything resembling an honest, well-intentioned power structure.
Any media outlet that seriously publishes pieces arguing that Ukraine is not a failed state has less than zero credibility at this point.
So Natalia Poklonskaya, one of Kiev’s prosecutors earlier on, did the right thing by saying she couldn’t live or work in a country where crooks, traitors etc. walked the streets freely, and travelled to Crimea where she offered her services to the Russians, was enthusiastically accepted and is now Chief Prosecutor. (the lady is also a ‘babe!)
But seriously, her action got me wondering about just who are the ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ in the Ukraine–Crimea problem.
In a rational and pragmatic world, after 25+ years of failure at the project of sovereign self-rule , the Ukraine would be partitioned between Poland and Russia. All military forces would pack up and go home.