Marine Le Pen and the Front National failed to win any region in today’s run-off election in France. After taking the largest number of votes in the first round, the Socialists withdrew and recommended that their supporters vote for Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, the Republicans, to keep the FN out of power. The tactic seems to have worked.
In other news, a Russian destroyer in the Aegean had to fire warning shots to force a Turkish fishing vessel to stop approaching. The Russians attempted to make radio contact, and then tried visual signals. When those failed, they resorted to small arms fire to get the Turkish crew’s attention.
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American Dream Ends Abruptly: “Middle-Class Families No Longer the Majority”
the-american-dream-is-over
Too many are losing too much too fast.
A new study has found the American Dream dead, under apparent delusions of grandeur and with heavy traces of pharmaceuticals and dead tissue debt. Several large tumors were found inside, with the largest connected to student loan.
A rapid decline in upward job opportunities and a contracting wealth gland stunted the Dream, and precluded the inevitable end. It seems that body’s metabolism simply could not keep up with the burden of so many adverse indicators, including decreased blood flow and metastatis throughout various parts of the body politic. Lethargy and idleness contributed towards a loss of strength. The rest was a consequence of chronic debilitation.
Middle-class families, pillar of the American dream, are no longer in the majority, and it’s now official according to the Pew Research Center… Things have been on a downward slide since the deindustrialization of the 1970s, but things have now reached a point of no return.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Corporate Insiders Are Dumping Their Stock
Why isn’t it a surprise that insiders are bailing? Because they see the reality of their businesses up close and personal. Revenues have been falling for the past year in many industries and have absolutely cratered in commodities. See the New York Times’ If it owns a well or a mine, it’s probably in trouble.
And after years of boosting reported profits with various kinds of financial engineering, corporations seem to have run out of tricks. Earnings have begun to reflect reality, and it’s not pretty:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gone With the American Dream: US Middle Class Now a Minority
For the first time in four decades, the majority of Americans do not fall into the middle class, according to a Pew Research Center report.
There are now 120.8 million adults living in middle-income households, the study found, compared with the 121.3 million who are living in either upper- or lower-income households.
— Rossbache (@Rossbache1) December 5, 2015
The report defines middle-income homes as earning between two-thirds and double the median household income, after incomes have been adjusted for household size.
In 2015, just under 50% of American adults lived in middle-income households, down from 54% in 2001 and 61% in 1971, the earliest year Pew looked at.
“The hollowing of the middle has proceeded steadily for the past four decades,” Pew concluded.
At the same time, the share of income going to middle-income households has also fallen, from 62% in 1971 to 43% last year.
The lowest economic group rose from 16% to 20% of the population. The lower middle remained the same. The highest group went from 4% to 9%. The upper middle rose by 2 percentage points.
According to the study, the poverty rate of those 65 and over fell from 24.6% in 1970 to 10% in 2014. In contrast, there are more adults between 18 and 29 years now among lower income tiers.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bank Rescue Row Continues After Pensioner’s Suicide
Govt vows bondholder help,EC hits back, instigation probe opened
(ANSA) — Rome, December 10 — A row over the government’s recent rescue of four banks continued Thursday following news that one of the bondholders left penniless had committed suicide.
As prosecutors opened a probe into “instigation to commit suicide” in the death of Luigino D’Angelo, the government promised to help the remaining bondholders while the European Commission hit back at Italy’s attempt to blame it for blocking a rescue fund and said Rome had sole responsibility for the controversial bailouts.
Premier Matteo Renzi said the government would help both shareholders and bondholders and stressed that the suicide should not be “exploited”.
“It’s impossible by EU rules to definitively save the shareholders and bondholders but we are trying with great commitment and tenacity to find a solution, within the limits of the EU rules, to have some form of easement,” he said. “We’re working on it”. The rescue of Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, CariFe and CariChieti saw over 300 million euros’ worth of bonds go up in smoke, including the 100,000 euros of the Civitavecchia pensioner, 68, who committed suicide.
The government is mooting a 50-80-million-euro easement fund for those unwittingly left in penury.
Renzi voiced his condolences to the dead man’s family but warned against “exploiting” his suicide after the rescue of Banca Etruria. “I’m not accustomed to exploiting the life and death of people…(the government) is working to find solutions”, he said.
Renzi added that the government “looks favourably on parliament opening commissions of inquiry on what has happened in the Italian and European banking systems in the last few years”. He said there was “full interest in all the relevant authorities making every effort to clarify the responsibilities of the past”.
The rescue measure sees Italy’s healthy banks investing some 3.6 billion euros to keep alive the four small banks, whose bad loans will go into a bad bank. The government has called its mooted easement measure a “humanitarian” move.
It will reportedly help those investors who can show they took up their investments without adequate warning.
Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi said the government would put a measure to help the bondholders into the 2016 budget. “We have to see how much to intervene on a public level and how much to find alternative solutions,” she said, adding the government was not showing favouritism to her father, an executive at one of the banks. She said her father had only been vice president of Banca Etruria for eight months.
Jonathan Hill, the European commissioner for financial stability and services, said that the Italian government should take sole responsibility for the controversial plan to rescue the four banks. “The Italian government led the process and has responsibility for it,” Hill said. On Wednesday the Commission denied an assertion by the Bank of Italy that it had denied permission to use the Interbank Safeguard Fund (FIT) to soften the plan. Many small investors who bought bonds in the four banks have lost their money. “The government discussed (the plan) at length with the Commission, in particular with the competition directorate general, which regarded the measures taken as compatible with EU legislation,” Hill said.
The four banks “sold people inadequate products” and that had “personal consequences for some people in Italy”, Hill added. Italian consumers association Codacons said that it has presented a petition to criminal prosecutors over the case of the pensioner who hanged himself. Codacons said that it has asked prosecutors to investigate the alleged crime of instigation to commit suicide.
Prosecutors in Civitavecchia said late Thursday they would act on the petition, opening a probe “against person or persons unknown on suspicion of instigation to suicide.” The leader of Italy’s populist Northern League, Matteo Salvini, said that Renzi should ask the EU to cover the millions of euros of losses sustained by the investors.
“We are talking about less than a billion euros. If Renzi has the balls, he should go and ask Europe for that,” Salvini told a rally in Arezzo in support of the investors who lost their money.
He also called for a minute of silence to remember the pensioner who killed himself.
D’Anegelo’s wife said “I will go on, if I can”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: We’ll Help Bank Bondholders Says Renzi, Expresses Sorrow at Suicide
‘Don’t exploit man’s suicide’ says PM
(ANSA) — Rome, December 10 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Thursday the government would help shareholders and bondholders left with nothing after the rescue of four troubled banks amd stressed that the suicide of one penniless ex-bondholder should not be “exploited”.
“It’s impossible by EU rules to definitively save the shareholders and bondholders but we are trying with great commitment and tenacity to find a solution, within the limits of the EU rules, to have some form of easement,” he said. “We’re working on it”. The rescue of Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, CariFe and CariChieti saw over 300 million euros’ worth of bonds go up in smoke, including the 100,000 euros of the Civitavecchia pensioner who committed suicide.
The government is mooting a 50-80-million-euro easement fund for those unwittingly left in penury.
Renzi voiced his condolences to the dead man’s family but warned against “exploiting” his suicide after the rescue of Banca Etruria. “I’m not accustomed to exploiting the life and death of people…(the government) is working to find solutions”, he said.
Renzi added that the government “looks favourably on parliament opening commissions of inquiry on what has happened in the Italian and European banking systems in the last few years”. He said there was “full interest in all the relevant authorities making every effort to clarify the responsibilities of the past”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Growth Numbers ‘Secondary’ To Recession Exit Says Renzi
Premier hails ‘extraordinary’ new jobs data
(ANSA) — Rome, December 11 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Friday GDP growth is secondary to the fact that Italy has just emerged from recession. “Italy is coming out of a three-year recession,” he said in a speech at the Lincean Academy, a science academy founded in 1603. “The fact that growth may be 0.8% this year and one something next year is secondary… yesterday extraordinary jobs data came out, and a permanent job is absolutely crucial. Finally this country has taken back its own future”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Must Create Jobs for Sake of Future Pensions Says Visco
‘No alternative’ says Bank of Italy governor
(ANSA) — Trieste, December 11 — Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said the government must create jobs for the sake of future pensions. “There is no alternative to the commitment to increasing employment and economic growth via structural policies,” he told students at a masterclass at Trieste University. “The aging population will remain a priority for public authorities, the financial industry and the scientific community for a long time to come”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
League Leader Says EU Should Pay for Bondholder Losses
Salvini attends rally in Arezzo
(ANSA) — Arezzo, December 10 — The leader of Italy’s Northern League Matteo Salvini said on Thursday that Premier Matteo Renzi should ask the European Union to cover the millions of euros of losses sustained by Italian investors following the rescue of four troubled banks.
The rescue of Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, CariFe and CariChieti saw over 300 million euros’ worth of bonds go up in smoke, including 100,000 euros owned by a pensioner from Civitavecchia who committed suicide.
“We are talking about less than a billion euros. If Renzi has the balls, he should go and ask Europe for that,” Salvini told a rally in Arezzo in support of the investors who lost their money.
He also called for a minute of silence to remember the pensioner who killed himself.
Renzi said earlier that the government would help shareholders and bondholders left with nothing and stressed that the suicide of the one penniless ex-bondholder should not be “exploited”.
“It’s impossible by EU rules to definitively save the shareholders and bondholders but we are trying with great commitment and tenacity to find a solution,” Renzi said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Oil Roiled in Commodity Sector Turbulence
Crude oil prices slid to seven-year low points this week as oversupply concerns, low demand growth and a strong dollar causes turbulence across the global commodity sector.
“Commodity prices have plunged to new multi-year lows again, with crude oil and iron ore leading the way, and the latter at decade-lows,” wrote analysts at Italian bank UniCredit in a note to clients.
“Another rout in resource equities has only added to the feeling of doom and gloom that this sector cannot shake.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Why You Need to Know About the Cloward-Piven Strategy for Destroying America
Created by Profs. Richard A. Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, it is essentially a plan that envisions overwhelming the U.S. public welfare system and replacing it with a nationalized system run completely by the federal government, that would ensure “a guaranteed annual income and thus an end to poverty.”
The strategy, then, was to essentially create enough chaos that the social welfare system would collapse under its own weight, thereby creating an opportunity for the central government to impose a “solution” that essentially transformed Uncle Sam into national paymaster.
Talk about complete control of citizens’ lives, from cradle to grave. Such a radical, Left-wing system is akin to the feudal lords of the Middle Ages, where landowners were “masters,” and serfs either worked (and fought) for them, or were forced off the land to fend for themselves.
As noted by famed martial artist, actor and columnist Chuck Norris, writing at WorldNetDaily, it’s no coincidence that both Obama and Clinton are students of the Cloward-Piven strategy:
“I echo again that it’s neither a coincidence that Obama graduated from Columbia University nor that others who espoused the Cloward-Piven strategy were a group of radicals who have been a part of his life and education: Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky, Bernardine Dohrn, George Wiley, Frank Marshall Davis, Wade Rathke and George Soros, among others.
“What’s also not a coincidence is how close Hillary ran in the same circles. Like people that train at a distance under the same coach but come together to run the same relay race, so Hillary has entered the track salivating for the opportunity to grab the Cloward-Piven baton from Barack.”
He further notes that the evidence is clear.
Under Obama’s watch, enrollment in government welfare programs has been historic. Breitbart News reported in July 2014 that a record number of people (not just Americans but illegal aliens, new legal arrivals and refugees as well), were receiving some form of government monetary or food aid. A year earlier, The Washington Times noted that food stamp enrollment under Obama had increased a whopping 70 percent.
That’s more than anecdotal — that’s hard data. What’s more, it was Obama’s first chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, who is now a (failed) mayor of Chicago, who once said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Many in the liberal press have said that the reason why so many more people are on welfare now than when Obama first took office, is because of the 2007—2008 Great Recession. Could that have been the “serious crisis” the Obamaites used to bolster welfare rolls? Only the president knows that for sure, but the pattern certainly fits the ideology he was taught.
You can view Chuck Norris’ full column here. (url)
[Comment: Yeah, that Chuck Norris — the 6 time world karate champion and action movie star. He wrote a good column on Cloward-Piven -Obama. Worth reading.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CAIR Blames America for San Bernardino Massacre
Another Islamic terrorist attack has taken place on American soil—in San Bernardino, where 14 people were murdered—and none other than that unindicted co-conspirator of Islamic terror, CAIR, is saying it’s America’s fault.
Frank Camp of the Independent Journal reports that “During an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Friday [Dec. 4], Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) L.A. branch director Hussam Ayloush said the United States is partly responsible for radical Islam”:
Let’s not forget that some of our own foreign policy as Americans, as the West, have fueled that extremism. When we support cruel leaders in Egypt, or other places. When we support dictatorships, repressive regimes around the world that push people over to the edge. Then they become extremists; then they become terrorists. We are partly responsible. Terrorism is a global problem, not a Muslim problem.
It’s a testimony to CAIR’s intellectually barren and morally bankrupt—or, in a word, Islamist—nature that it must fall back on one of the most manifestly false of all apologias: the claim that Islamic violence is a product of Islamic grievance—in this case U.S. foreign policy.
The fundamental problem with the “grievance” claim is that it contradicts what the terrorist themselves repeatedly say is their motivation—killing non-Muslims (“infidels”) according to the Islamic doctrine of jihad.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-DHS Official: Administration Gutted Program That Tracked Islamic Groups
A counterterrorism program that was gutted in 2012 may have been able to thwart the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., according to a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employee.
Phillip Haney said that during his work on the Intelligence Review Unit (IRU) at DHS, he flagged the Redlands, Ca., mosque that was attended by Syed Farook, one of the two shooters in California. Haney said the program would have likely singled out Farook and prevented him from bringing the other shooter, his fiancée Tafsheen Malik, into the country on a K-1 visa.
“I can tell you how I would have identified it, because individuals that were already in the case in 2012 went to that mosque,” Haney said Thursday night on Fox News’s “The Kelly File.” “Therefore, as we were tracking them, we would have put the red light on them.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Is There a Difference Between Islam and Extreme Islam?
The tragedy in San Bernardino last week is on the hearts of Americans in spite of the wicked response of the New York Daily News. “Splashed with contempt across the front cover of the New York Daily News were the messages of several Republicans, whose natural reaction to tragedy was to turn where men since the first Continental Congress had — to God. “Our prayers are with the victims, their families, and the first responders in San Bernardino,” Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had tweeted. “Please keep the victims of #SanBernardino in your prayers,” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) urged.”
In bold text, the News’s cover vomited back, “GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS.” “New details of the 14 dead are emerging, and there are some heartbreaking ironies, as well as stories of heroism and courage. For example, Bennetta Betbadal, 46, was a Catholic who fled Islamic extremism in Iran, only to be killed by an Islamic extremist in the United States.” But is it extremism?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry Touts Climate Deal as Jobs Creator, Defends Criticism About No Sanctions, Penalties
Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday defended the global carbon-emissions deal reached this weekend amid criticism that it lacks enforcement and touted the pact as a jobs creator.
Kerry, who helped negotiate the deal with China and 185 other countries, told “Fox News Sunday” that enforcement mechanisms and sanctions were not possible because Congress and other nations would not have agreed to them.
“If there had been a penalty, we wouldn’t have gotten an agreement,” Kerry said from Paris, where the international deal was announced Saturday. “So it has to be voluntary. We got the best deal we could.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
(NaturalNews) It’s been nearly two years since the federal government used the Bureau of Land Management to try and force rancher Cliven Bundy off his ancestors’ spread of land in Nevada, located just north of Las Vegas. The dispute between Bundy and the feds began more than 20 years ago when the BLM tried to strip him of “land-use rights his family spent a century earning,” reported the Las Vegas Sun in Sept. 2013.
The federal government owns 84 percent of Nevada’s land, and began enforcing taxes and fees on it nearly 150 years ago, Republican state Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore told NPR. In 1993, the BLM began charging Bundy grazing fees for his cattle that roam on 150 miles of the 500,000-acre Gold Butte region, which the federal government designated a protected habitat for the desert tortoise.
Bundy’s family owned the land long before the BLM ever existed.
BLM murdered Bundy cattle in 2014 Bundy refused to pay the fees, which exceeded $300,000, which led to a judge ruling that Bundy’s cattle could be confiscated by the BLM if he did not remove them. Intent on protecting his property, Bundy defied the ruling, leading to an eventual standoff with the feds.
The feds were met with immense opposition when they descended on Bundy’s property, encountering a coalition of patriotic liberty-lovers intent on helping the rancher protect his land. Unfortunately, some of Bundy’s cattle were still killed by federal agents.
Eventually, the feds backed down and the conflict was somewhat resolved, or has at least been ignored since then. But now the federal government has gone after Bundy’s neighbors, charging them with arson under an anti-terrorism law for a brush fire they started on BLM land in 2001.
Feds charge Bundy neighbors under antiterrorism act
Fourteen years ago, Dwight Hammond, now 70, and his son Steven Hammond now 43, set a fire on BLM land, for which they had grazing permits, to clear underbrush in a common practice that revitalizes land. Though a court ruled that the fire helped improve productivity on the land, the father and son were tried and convicted in 2012 under the “‘Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996’ for arson on public land for the 2001 fire and a similar fire in 2006,” states the Bundy Ranch blog spot.
“The statutory minimum sentence was five years.” But deeming the sentence cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, Judge Hogan sentenced the Hammonds to three months and one year; Dwight Hammond served three months while his son served 12.
Though they served their time, our tyrannical federal government isn’t finished with them yet, and is now contesting that sentence claiming it’s in violation of the Antiterrorism Act. The feds filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of Oregon, where the Hammonds now reside, sentencing the father and son to serve the remaining five years in a federal penitentiary.
[Comment: Abolish the BLM agency. ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
by Ross Douthat
UNLIKE Donald Trump, or at least the demagogue he’s playing, most Americans probably don’t want to seal our borders against Muslims.
But most Americans do look at Islam and see a problem. It isn’t just Trump supporters or Republicans. In a poll the Public Religion Research Institute conducted before the Paris attacks, 56 percent of Americans agreed that “the values of Islam are at odds with American values.” In a more recent YouGov poll, 58 percent of Americans viewed Islam unfavorably, just 17 percent viewed it favorably…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Things You Hear While Standing in a Gun Line
a.k.a. why Donald Trump is not going away anytime soon
A couple of days ago I stood in line for little over an hour at a national sporting goods outfitter/retailer along with 30 other people (no lie, 30, because I counted them all in front of me) as some of us waited to purchase a firearm while others waited to pick one up. As the line slowly snaked to the counter, with more people adding to the line behind me, I began to look at demographics of the people waiting — predominantly white with about 25% hispanic, predominantly male — I was one of three women, but the other two weren’t buyers, more like the girlfriend/wife — assuming US citizens, all age groups from mid-20’s to 70’s, middle-class/blue collar, and suburban to the outlying collar counties.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
1 Month After Attacks, Mourners From Across France Gather in Paris to Pay Tribute to Victims
People from across France have gathered in Paris as the French capital marks one month since the attacks that left 130 people dead and wounded hundreds.
Mourners congregated in front of the Bataclan concert hall in eastern Paris, where 89 people were killed last month, laying flowers and candles at the site.
Mireille Augusti, a visitor who traveled from Avignon in Southern France, said “It is fascinating, we are still marked, but life goes on and we should show that we are here and that we continue to live and that we don’t hide.”
On a gloomy December day, people also met on the Place de la Republique, which has become a gathering place for mourners since the Nov. 13 attacks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Climate Deal: World Praises France’s Diplomacy, Showing it’s Still a Master of the Art
Just a month after the Paris attacks, France has surmounted that atrocity to help achieve a seemingly unachievable triumph: uniting the world to seal a global climate pact.
The Paris climate agreement, adopted on Saturday, was the culmination of more than a year of intense diplomatic efforts by France. Delegates and foreign dignitaries cheered Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the host of the two-week talks, and gave him a standing ovation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Czech President: Turkey Acting Like Ally of Daesh, Shouldn’t be Part of EU
Czech President Milos Zeman has allegedly slammed the idea of Turkey joining the EU, stressing that Ankara appears to act as if it was an ally of Daesh (the Islamic state) militant group rather than that of western powers.
The remarks by the Czech leader were made at the end of his visit to the country’s north Bohemia region, where Zeman reportedly condemned EU authorities’ decision to provide Ankara with $3.2 billion aid package for keeping refugees fleeing violence in Syria on Turkish territory and preventing them from reaching mainland Europe.
“The Roman Empire, before it collapsed, too, paid tribute money to barbarians [for them not to pilfer its territory],” Zaman claimed, adding that Turkey usually acts like a Daesh ally rather than that of the West, despite being a NATO member.
Zeman explained his stance, arguing that Turkey can accommodate Syrian refugees on the grounds that majorities of populations in both nations have a common religion — Islam — and there is no cultural barrier between accepting and receiving sides.
“The danger does not rest in Islam as such but in transferring these [Muslim] habits to Europe,” he pointed out.
President Zeman also said that Brussels must regard Ankara with “caution,” underscoring that Turkey is not purely a European nation and, considering this, shouldn’t be treated like every other EU country.
Zeman is not the first European politician who is skeptical of Turkey joining the EU.
According to PJ Media outlet, Geert Wilders, the head of Dutch far-right party (PVV) that has led the polls in the Netherlands for several months in a row, sticking to a similar position. He reiterated that even not radical Muslims moving to Europe bring their beliefs — which are not westernized and not enlightened enough — there.
Earlier in November, Ankara inked a deal with Brussels suggesting that Turkey will assist in tackling the flow of migrants to Europe in return for €3 billion package and the revival of negotiations on the country joining the EU.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France Pulls Security Badge for 70 Airport Workers After Attacks
Secure-zone clearance has been withdrawn for nearly 70 people working at two Paris airports following the November 13 terror attacks on the French capital, the boss of the airports company said Sunday.
So-called red badges are issued to people employed in the secure zone of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, working for instance as baggage handlers, aircraft cleaners and suppliers.
Augustin de Romanet, chief executive officer of Aeroports de Paris (ADP), said the prefecture — the representative of the state — which issues the badges had carried out a screening after the attacks on Paris, in which 130 people were killed and 350 injured…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France Election Turnout Soars in Battle to Keep Marine Le Pen’s National Front Out
The battle to keep Marine Le Pen’s controversial National Front out of power in today’s second round of regional elections has caused turnout to skyrocket compared to numbers five years ago.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France: Marine Le Pen: Fiery But Pragmatic, And Defiant in Defeat
A fiery orator but also a pragmatist, Marine Le Pen has steered France’s far-right National Front (FN) from pariah status into the mainstream.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Le Pen Defiant After Regional Election Failure
France’s far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen was left frustrated and defiant after failing to win a single region in elections on Sunday, telling her voters that “nothing will stop the party now”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Far Right Routed in Regional Elections After Winning 1st Round, Pollsters Say
French far right leader Marine Le Pen pledged to keep fighting to expand voter support for her National Front party, striking an upbeat tone despite a stinging defeat in regional elections.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Far Right National Front ‘Routed’ In Key Vote
France’s far-right National Front (FN) has failed to win a single region in the second round of elections, exit polls indicate.
Early results suggest the party has been beaten into third place, despite leading in six of 13 regions in the first round of votes a week ago.
The polls predict Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right Republicans will win most seats ahead of the ruling Socialists.
Acknowledging defeat, Ms Le Pen pledged to keep fighting.
And she blamed the outcome on the mainstream parties which joined forces to keep the FN from power, telling her supporters they had been “disenfranchised in the most indecent of ways by a campaign of lies and disinformation”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Physicists See Landmark in Nuclear Fusion Quest
Scientists in Germany said Thursday they had reached a milestone in a quest to derive energy from nuclear fusion, billed as a potentially limitless, safe and cheap source.
Nuclear fusion entails fusing atoms together to generate energy — a process similar to that in the Sun — as opposed to nuclear fission, where atoms are split, which entails worries over safety and long-term waste.
After spending a billion euros ($1.1 billion) and nine years’ construction work, physicists working on a German project called the “stellarator” said they had briefly generated a super-heated helium plasma inside a vessel — a key point in the experimental process.
“We’re very satisfied,” said Hans-Stephan Bosch at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘White Economy’ Worth 290bn Says Censis
Personal care and wellbeing sector ‘employs 3.8 million’
(ANSA) — Rome, December 9 — The so-called white economy, or health care sector, employs 3.8 million people or 16.5% of the national workforce and is worth 290 billion euros, CENSIS research institute said Wednesday. In Italy, the term white economy refers to the health care sector both public and private, according to CENSIS. The sector generates productivity — or the added value of the work in relation to the people it employs — is equal to 60,000 per employee, putting the white economy above farming, construction, the restaurant industry, and trade.
The sector accounts for 9.4% of national production, with 42.2% of its value coming from health care services, 17.9% from public management and regulation of health and social security, 10.6% from complementary social security and health insurance, 10.4% from personal care, and 1.1% from university programs in these disciplines, according to CENSIS.
The report to be presented in Rome tomorrow points out that Italy spends an amount equal to 6.8% of GDP on its national health service, lower than France (8.6%), Germany (8.4%), and Britain (7.3%). Private health spending amounts to 2% of GDP, lower than the 2.4% average among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and also lower than all the most advanced European nations, CENSIS said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Gabrielli Evaluating Whether to Evacuate Occupied School
Students have occupied high school for 13 days
(ANSA) — Rome, December 9 — Rome Prefect Franco Gabrielli on Wednesday said his office is evaluating whether to evacuate the historic 1,500-student Virgilio High School (liceo classico) in central Rome, which students have occupied for the past 13 days.
“The situation is very delicate because there are students and parents on one side and the principal on the other, and therefore it must be absolutely thought-out, because we’re talking about kids,” Gabrielli said, adding that school administrators have “the right to see their role and responsibilities recognised”.
In recent days, protest leader Iacopo Gasparetti, 19, said the sit-in will continue until at least 13 of their proposals “to improve study and school conditions” are received by the principal. Undersecretary of Education Davide Faraone is scheduled to meet with the students and with school administrators Wednesday.
The students announced they plan to hold a press conference on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Music Makers: Swiss Music Boxes Endure in Electronic Age
Devices for playing music come and go — cassette tapes, MP3 players and CDs have all had their time as digital downloads take over.
But one system invented some 200 years ago lives on.
In the mountains of western Switzerland, one company still makes automatic music boxes for enthusiasts around the world.
Reuge is considered the last major manufacturer of a traditional device that once rivalled watches as one of Switzerland’s greatest exports.
Founded in 1865 by watchmaker Charles Reuge, the company has survived the advent of the phonograph — as well as more recent inventions — to continue making music boxes in a small factory in Sainte-Croix.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attack Mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud Had Photos of UK Targets on His Phone
Investigators have discovered that Abdelhamid Abaaoud had pictures of places in Birmingham stored on his smartphone, raising the chilling possibility that his cell was planning atrocities in Britain.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sarkozy Seen as Campaign Trail Liability in French Regional Elections
Just ahead of the second round of voting in France’s regional elections on Sunday, Nicolas Sarkozy, leader of the conservative Les Républicains party, has been conspicuously absent from the campaign trail.
Although he was once considered an indispensible asset, it now appears that a number of Les Républicains candidates see Sarkozy as a liability.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tear Gas, Water Cannons Deployed in Germany as Leftists, Neo-Nazis, Police Clash
One thing you might have noticed if you’ve followed the short history of Germany’s migrant “miracle” is that citizens’ celebratory mood (characterized initially by the “sweets, toys, and hugs” Syrian refugees received upon arriving in Germany after completing the increasingly arduous Balkan route) has gradually been replaced by a creeping skepticism towards the asylum seekers and towards the “iron chancellor’s” open-door policy for refugees.
Just two days ago, we highlighted the following graphic from WSJ which we called “the scariest chart for Angela Merkel” (TIME magazine’s recently crowned person of the year):…
Even before the Paris attacks and the subsequent bomb scare in Hanover, the tide was already turning in terms of public sentiment.
Put simply, it’s not clear that Germans understood what the numbers meant until they came face to face with the influx.
None of this is to say that there aren’t still large parts of the German electorate that support Merkel’s “yes we can” approach, it’s simply to say that reality is beginning to sink in regarding what it means to take in one million people in the space of just six months when you are a country whose entire population is just 81 million.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The man who shouted at a suspected terrorist during the Leytonstone tube station stabbing, coining a phrase that later went viral, has told how he just had to say what he felt at the time.
Named only as John, the bystander was heard in video footage of the incident in east London last weekend, shouting ‘You ain’t no Muslim bruv’ as an attacker wielding a knife stabbed a man.
The phrase ended up trending on Twitter and Prime Minister David Cameron hailed it as having ‘said it all much better than I could have done’.
John has revealed that he is not Muslim and now fears ISIS revenge attacks on the streets of London, he told The Sunday Times.
‘I saw the guy,’ he said. ‘I was like, well you ain’t a Muslim … That’s my views, and I had to let him know that, because he looked to be a terrorist. I don’t believe in all that.’…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Under the Gun: Cameron Wants EU to Ban High-Powered Semi-Automatic Weapons
UK Prime Minister David Cameron will put forward his proposal for a ban on high-powered semi-automatic weapons at a meeting of the European Council later this week, a press release from his office said Sunday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) —EU leaders are due to discuss terrorism, alongside migration and Britain’s EU membership renegotiation, at the summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
“We need to ensure that terrorists do not have the weapons with which they can wreak such tragedy. So at this week’s summit, I’ll be calling for a new EU-wide ban on all high-powered semi-automatic weapons and greater co-operation to crack down on the smuggling trade and to stop guns coming in from the western Balkans,” Cameron said, as quoted in the press release.
The proposed measures will also include enhanced sharing of ballistics data, a new plan to improve firearms intelligence in the western Balkans “with a tougher legislative and enforcement framework and action to take firearms out of circulation” and “a clear implementation for all member states to deliver the restrictions and alert systems that can prevent terrorists accessing material for explosives.”
On November 13, at least 130 people were killed and over 350 were injured in suicide bombings and shootings at several locations in the French capital.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Vandals Attack German Facebook Headquarters
A group of 15 to 20 people damaged the Germany headquarters of US social media giant Facebook and daubed the message “Facebook Dislike” on its walls, police said on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
VatiLeaks 2 Trial May Take 2 Mths to Resume
‘Plausible’ timeframe says Lombardi
(ANSA) — Vatican City, December 11 — The Vatileaks 2 trial may take up to two months to resume, Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Friday.
“A delay of two months is plausible” given the time needed to prepare various expert testimony, he said.
Earlier this week a Holy See court ruled that Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin should be called as a witness.
The court granted a request by the defence team of one of the five accused, Francesca Chaouqui, to call as witnesses Parolin and Santos Abril y Castello’, the president of the Commission of Cardinals of the Vatican bank, IOR.
The court rejected a petition by Chaouqui’s lawyers challenging the Vatican’s jurisdiction over the case on the grounds that the alleged crimes took place in Italy.
The court agreed to Chaouqui’s request for an expert to analyze electronic communication via email, text and Whatsapp messages between her and Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, a senior Spanish clergyman who is also among the people in the dock, and who has claimed Chaouqui had sex with him in a Florence hotel. But it rejected a request from Vallejo Balda’s lawyers for an evaluation of his psychological state.
Vallejo Balda and PR expert Chaouqui were both members of the now-defunct COSEA commission set up to advise Pope Francis on the reform of the Holy See’s economic and administrative structure.
Investigative journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi and Vallejo Balda’s former assistant Nicola Maio are also on trial.
Chaouqui, Balda and Maio are charged with leaking confidential material and Nuzzi and Fittipaldi with using it in two recently published books — one titled Avarice, the other Merchants in the Temple — documenting alleged Vatican waste and mismanagement and lavish spending by clergymen.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands Rally Against Montenegro’s NATO Membership
Several thousand supporters of pro-Russian opposition parties protested Saturday against Montenegro’s NATO membership, demanding a referendum over the issue.
“If the referendum is avoided and there is a bid to fraudulently pass the decision (on NATO membership) in parliament, Montenegro will be brought to the verge of a (civic) conflict,” Andrija Madic, the leader of pro-Russian opposition New Serb Democratic Party, told the crowd.
The protest outside parliament gathered between 2,000 and 5,000 people, according to estimates by reporters and organisers and pro-Russian and pro-Serbian opposition parties…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Jihad on History: Daesh May Destroy Ancient Roman Monuments in Libya
Fears are rising that Daesh, also known as ISIL/ISIS, could destroy ancient cultural heritage sites in the city of Sabratha, some 80 km from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, Iranian Fars news agency reported.
The terrorist organization took full control over Sabratha on Saturday. The city has several ancient Roman landmark sites, including a third-century amphitheater, one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
Daesh launched an offensive on the city with over 30 trucks, overwhelming checkpoints and security posts that belonged to defenders.
Terrorists are known for destroying ancient historical monuments. In October, Daesh destroyed the Arch of Triumph, a major heritage site in the 2,000-year-old Roman city of Palmyra in Syria, and a few other ancient historical monuments in the city.
According to UNESCO, Palmyra was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world, the crossroad of several civilizations.
Some 300 archaeological sites have been destroyed or damaged in Syria since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.
The jihadist group controls large swathes of Syria, as well as Iraq, and has become notorious for destroying ancient relics and temples, which it claims promote idolatry.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Saga: UAE and Qatar Fighting for Gaddafi’s Legacy
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have a unique opportunity to re-shape the future of post-Gaddafi Libya, but instead they are fuelling an insurgency in the North African region, US experts Giorgio Cafiero and Daniel Wagner note.
Since toppling of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi the UAE and Qatar have been struggling for power in Libya; according to US experts Giorgio Cafiero and Daniel Wagner the countries should shift their focus from “military issues to the diplomatic arena” in order to halt the ongoing strife in the region.
“Two Gulf Arab states, the UAE and Qatar, which both played pivotal roles in the Libyan uprising as sponsors of anti-Qaddafi rebels, have emerged as rivals in this grander geopolitical struggle,” Giorgio Cafiero, the Co-Founder of Gulf State Analytics, and Daniel Wagner, the CEO of Country Risk Solutions, narrate in their article for The National Interest.
Interestingly enough, the UAE, along with Egypt, backs the Tobruk-based government, while Qatar, together with Turkey and Sudan, takes the side of the Islamist-led government in Tripoli.
“Abu Dhabi and Doha’s proxy war in Libya is illustrative of a division within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is proving highly influential in shaping Libya’s post-Qaddafi political order,” the US experts emphasize.
Incredible as it may seem the apple of discord is the Muslim Brotherhood and its “democracy promotion” in the region. According to the US experts, the Gulf royalties are at odds with the Muslim Brotherhood, since it “promote[s] democratic institutions and espouse[s] social justice concerns across the region.”
Cafiero and Wagner call attention to the fact that the Brotherhood gained power in many countries through Arab Spring elections, prompting deep concerns among Gulf monarchs.
However, the US experts do not specify whether the Arab royals were concerned over the potential prospects of regime change in their realms or the Muslim Brotherhood’s radical Islamist agenda.
While Qatar has sponsored the Brotherhood’s branches across the Arab world in order to spread Doha’s influence, the UAE and Egypt have cracked down on the Islamists.
As for Saudi Arabia, it “sits somewhere in the middle.” Still, in Syria, Saudi Arabia sided with Qatar backing Sunni Islamist rebels, including the Muslim Brotherhood, seeking to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, the US experts elaborate.
Cafiero and Wagner note that Qatar has had an active foreign policy agenda since 1995, when Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani toppled his father in a palace coup.
According to the experts, one of Qatar’s political instruments is the pan-Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera.
“Al-Jazeera’s coverage of other Arab nations’ affairs prompted several Arab regimes to criticize the network as early as 2002,” they point out.
Quoting WikiLeaks, the experts note that in 2009 the UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed called Qatar a “part of the Muslim Brotherhood” during a meeting with US officials.
As the Brotherhood has gained ground both in Libya and Syria, the UAE has decided to launch an air strike campaign against the Islamist group in Libya.
“The extent to which the UAE has committed itself to countering Islamist groups in Libya was underscored in August 2014, when Emirati pilots flying out of bases in Egypt carried out strikes against Islamist militants seeking control of Tripoli.”
Cafiero and Wagner emphasize that the UAE’s strikes targeting the Muslim Brotherhood’s Libya Dawn contradicted international law. The UAE is also funding anti-Brotherhood Libyan militias.
Needless to say, Qatar is doing just the same, sponsoring and sending weapons to Libya Dawn Islamists.
The US experts argue that the Gulf countries should reach a mutually beneficial compromise and halt their proxy war in Libya. They insist that the UAE and Qatar have a unique chance to re-shape the future of post-Gaddafi Libya.
But what about the Muslim Brotherhood and its radical Islamist agenda? On the one hand, some US neoconservative decision-makers are inclined to regard the Brotherhood as the West’s “ally” in the MENA region.
For instance, the Brookings Institution reported in August 2015 that “the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has become an important component of the western-backed Syrian opposition” (“Project on US Relations with the Islamic World”).
Back in 2007, the influential Council on Foreign Relations’ mouthpiece even went so far as to claim the Brotherhood had eventually embraced elections and other “democratic features” and given up their jihadi fight.
At the same, a number of US Senators including Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz introduced a bill in November 2015 seeking to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist organization.”
The question remains open whether the legislation will be adopted.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya’s Rival Governments Navigate ISIS, Diplomacy to Work on Unity Accord
With ISIS expanding in Libya, getting ever closer to prized oil fields, and ramping up its propaganda from the northern African state, there is a sudden flurry of diplomatic activity to get a functioning government into place.
A meeting of foreign ministers from dozens of countries will take place in Rome Sunday. Friday in Tunis, the UN Envoy for Libya announced that the two rival governments that currently exist in Libya had come to an accord about forming one unity government. Successive Libyan governments have failed post-Qaddafi. This latest UN-backed unity government deal is already coming under fire from a group of prominent Libyans, parliamentarians of the same two rival governments party to the UN deal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Op-Ed: Feminists Boycott Israel and Bow to the Caliph
by Giulio Meotti
What better enemy than the Islamic State to be condemned in the largest conference of feminists of North America, that ISIS that kidnaps, sells and rapes women under its control, cages them under the burqa and uses them as cannon fodder in suicide operations?
And if Caliph al Baghdadi doesn’t affect the audience of militant feminists enough, why not condemning the crimes against women in the Iranian theocracy, which prohibits long nails, gems in the teeth, tight coats, scarves that leave out long hair and boots with heels over pants?
Of course not. The National Women’s Studies Association chose an enemy much more fulfilling and less dangerous: the State of Israel. The only country in the Middle East where women hold prestigious positions in politics, culture, activities social, from Golda Meir to Nobel laureates to Tzipi Livni. And if you were to cross the lines of 1967 just ask the Palestinian Arab women if they live better in Ramallah or in Riyadh, what answer do you think you would get?…
[Stupid emotional women, or dangerous politically minded harpies?]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Report: UK Detained Reservist for Protective Edge ‘War Crimes’
An IDF reservist who fought on the home front during Operation Protective Edge was briefly detained in the United Kingdom for “war crimes” during a business trip several weeks ago, Yediot Aharonot reports Sunday night.
The Foreign Ministry, the IDF’s international law division, and the IDF’s Operations Directorate secured the soldier’s release after a few hours, a source told the daily, and British authorities apologized to Israel.
The phenomenon may not be a one-time event, however, and defense officials believe that pro-Palestinian groups may be to blame. Leftist and pro-Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) sent out unofficial lists of IDF soldiers who served in active combat in Gaza to European countries and worldwide during the war — and their names and photos have appeared on social media…
[The real problem with the left yelling ‘wolf’ is that when the REAL thing happens they do not recognize it]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
Rocket From Gaza Hits Open Field, No Injuries
Sirens sounded in communities surrounding Gaza and in Sderot on Sunday night, including Nir Am, near Sapir Academic College, Ivim, and the industrial area of the Sha’ar Hanegev region.
A rocket fired from Gaza struck an open field in the Gaza belt region, the IDF has just confirmed; locals report hearing several blasts in the region.
Security forces have been dispatched to locate the strike.
No injuries or damage have been reported.
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
100,000 Troops: “Secret, Non-Negotiable Plan” To Start War With U.S., Saudi & Turkish Troops
That rather alarming declaration comes from outspoken Iraqi lawmaker Hanan Al-Fatlawi…
Most of all, Al-Fatlawi says, she just can’t believe that the United States, with all of its weaponry, military intelligence and international sway, would have this much trouble taking out ISIS. It just doesn’t add up, she says.
Indeed.
Well now, Fatlawi contends that according to “information [she] has from inside the meeting,” John McCain last month told PM Haider Al-Abadi that the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are set to send in a total of 100,000 troops to Iraq…
And here’s RT with a bit more:
During a meeting in Baghdad on November 27, McCain told Prime Minister Haider Abadi and a number of senior Iraqi cabinet and military officials that the decision was ‘non-negotiable’, claimed Hanan Fatlawi, the head of the opposition Irada Movement.
“A hundred thousand foreign troops, including 90,000 from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan, and 10,000 troops from America will be deployed in western regions of Iraq,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
She added that the Iraqi prime minister protested the plan, but was told that “the decision has already been taken.” […] As RT goes on to note, that may sound far-fetched but it’s not at all inconsistent with what Lindsey Graham (who joined McCain on the trip said in Iraq and what McCain himself said yesterday in the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Ash Carter.
From Graham last month: “Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey — they have regional armies and they would go into the fight if we put [the removal of] Assad on the table. Most of the fight will be done by the region. They will pay for this war.”
From McCain on Wednesday: “A small component of American forces with international forces, which could be gathered and then go in and take out this caliphate. If we went in with a large Arab force, with Turks and Egyptians even … there’s 20,000 to 30,000 of them [ISIS fighters], they are not giants.”
Well guess what? The Turks are already there. They arrived with two dozen tanks near Mosul last Friday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Christian Female Fighters Take on IS in Syria
Babylonia has no regrets about leaving behind her two children and her job as a hairdresser to join a Christian female militia battling against the Islamic State group in Syria.
The fierce-looking 36-year-old in fatigues from the Syriac Christian minority in the northeast believes she is making the future safe for her children.
“I miss Limar and Gabriella and worry that they must be hungry, thirsty and cold. But I try to tell them I’m fighting to protect their future,” she told AFP.
Babylonia belongs to a small, recently created battalion of Syriac Christian women in Hasakeh province who are fighting IS…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Arab Soldier Reportedly Joins IS in Syria
An Arab who served in the Israeli army has joined the Islamic State group in Syria, the first such soldier to do so, the Shin Bet domestic security agency said Sunday.
“It is the first time that a soldier in the Israeli army has joined the Islamic State,” the agency said in a statement.
It said that the man is a Muslim and had slipped into Syria via Turkey a year ago to join IS.
Shin Bet did not identify the man, but said he was from an Arab village in the northern Galilee region…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait Overturns Death Sentence in Mosque Attack for Daesh Cell Leader
A Kuwaiti appeals court overturned the capital sentence to a local leader of the Islamic State group’s cell, involved in a June terror attack on the Shiite mosque, local media reported, citing a court’s ruling.
DUBAI (Sputnik) — On June 26, a suicide bomber from Saudi Arabia blew himself up near Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque in Kuwait City, killing at least 27 people and wounding about 300. ISIL (IS, or Daesh in Arabic) militant group, which denounces Shiites as heretics and non-Muslims, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
According to the court’s decision circulating in the media, the death sentence was upheld only in respect to one of the defendants, whereas the Kuwaiti Daesh leader was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The daughter and the driver of the Daesh cell’s chief have been released from the custody, Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper said.
The Court of Appeal has also stopped the legal proceedings against the five other defendants, who had been in absentia sentenced to death in this case.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Destroyer Fires Warning Shots at Turkish Vessel in Aegean Sea
A Russian destroyer fired shots to ward off a Turkish fishing ship and prevent a collision in the Aegean Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Smetilvy, a guided missile destroyer, was unable to establish radio contact with the approaching ship, according to a ministry statement. The fishing vessel failed to respond to visual signals as well and as a result the destroyer fired small arms when it came within 660 yards, changing the boat’s direction.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Fires Warning Shot at Turkish Fishing Boat in Aegean
Russia says one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing vessel in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision.
A Russian defence ministry statement said the Turkish vessel approached to 600m (1,800ft) before turning away in response to Russian small arms fire.
The Turkish military attache in Moscow has been summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident.
Relations remain tense over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian bomber.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudis Opt for ‘Hardline Solutions’ To Regional Conflicts
In the eleven months that King Salman has been at the helm of Saudi Arabia, the oil kingdom has adopted a “more robust approach” to regional security, Ahmad Obeid al-Mansoori wrote for the National Interest.
In broad terms, the King Salman’s era, according to al-Mansoori, has been largely marked by “inward conservatism and outward activism,” which contribute to “an atmosphere in Riyadh that you are either with us or against us.”
Indeed, when it comes to foreign policy, Riyadh’s strategies in neighboring Yemen, as well as Iraq and Syria indicate that the new government largely favors “hardline solutions” over negotiations and diplomacy, which could affect the kingdom’s standing in the region.
“It is in the arena of defense and security that Riyadh will assert its leadership, but it is in the field of negotiations and diplomacy that Riyadh must consolidate its authority. In the absence of such peacemaking, Riyadh is ceding ground to other Arab and international actors, including its own [Gulf Cooperation Council] neighbors Oman, Qatar and Kuwait,” al-Mansoori asserted.
Saudi Arabia does not seem to mind implications of its newly-discovered assertiveness. For this reason Riyadh is ready to act regardless of whether its Western partners back its steps or not.
“While previous Saudi officials soft-pedaled the Kingdom’s role in regional defense and security, implemented reforms and supported Western allies, they received little but criticism and scorn in the Western media. The new government’s alternative is to stop placating Western allies and get on with the work of pursuing Saudi national interests by any means necessary. This is a realistic approach,” al-Mansoori observed.
Time will tell whether the kingdom’s new strategy pays off in terms of helping Riyadh to claim leadership in the Arab and Islamic worlds. However, “while it may be better to be feared than to be loved,” as the analyst put it, regional challenges “will continue to test the limits of Saudi capabilities.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Berlin’s Dilemma: German Politicians Eager to Restore Relations With Russia
Some German politicians apparently dislike Merkel’s stance on Russia, and are seeking to improve relations with their eastern neighbor.
Angela Merkel was largely successful in uniting the EU countries in imposing sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine last year and has repeatedly hosted both the Ukrainian president and prime minister. However, it appears that the center-left Social Democrats inside her coalition don’t share her views, according to Judy Dempsey, a non-resident senior associate at Carnegie Europe.
According to Dempsey, both Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of Germany’s Social Democrats, and the country’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier seek to restore the Russian-German relationship.
She points out that Gabriel called for the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions in October, and that during his visit to Moscow that month he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller. He complained about the poor state of relations between Berlin and Moscow, adding that he can’t understand how the “development of our two nations went in completely different directions.”
“I feel that the situation surrounding Ukraine is most likely a symptom rather than the cause of the problems that have occurred,” Sigmar said, according to an official transcript of the meeting posted on the Russian President’s official website, blaming “parties involved in Europe and the US who benefit from the continuation of this conflict, rather than its resolution.”
Gabriel also actively supports the Nord Stream 2 project, which involves the extension of the existing Nord Stream pipeline network to supply natural gas from Russia directly to Germany.
Meanwhile, Steinmeier came up with a proposition to offer Moscow investment and energy concessions, Dempsey adds. He suggested to EU’s trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom to “respond to Russia’s wishes and begin a closer exchange of views on energy and investment protection issues.”
Furthermore, Berlin appears receptive to the idea of cooperation between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union championed by Russia.
According to Dempsey, Germany’s Social Democrats appear to adhere to the principles of Ostpolitik, “the defining strategy of rapprochement that has shaped Germany’s relations with Russia since the 1970s,” and that some of its neighbors are unnerved by it.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Wants to Maintain Russia Ties Despite Ukraine Crisis
(c) AFP/File | Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni speaks during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov (unseen) in Moscow on June 1, 2015
“I think we are all aware that the relations between Europe and Russia have suffered a blow following the Ukrainian crisis,” he said at a joint press conference in Rome with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“But we are also all aware” that today is a moment “not only to maintain dialogue but boost collaboration and cooperation in the common interest of fighting terrorism,” he said.
Italy on Wednesday called on EU nations to delay talks on whether to uphold economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine — due to expire at the end of January — because the decision needed proper consideration.
Ambassadors from the 28 member states had been expected to sign off on a six-month extension on Wednesday without any debate…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mother Russia Calling: De Niro: Vin Diesel, Tagawa Want Russian Passports
Quite a few A-list actors, including Robert De Niro, Vin Diesel and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa are interested in obtaining Russian citizenship, the Japanese-American actor himself told Russia’s LifeNews in an interview.
Tagawa, known for his roles in Mortal Kombat, Pearl Harbor and Memoirs of a Geisha among others, attended Roy Jones Jr.’s fight against Enzo Maccarinelli Saturday night.
“Three weeks ago I asked for a Russian passport. Other Hollywood actors, such as Robert De Niro and Vin Diesel, are also willing to obtain Russian citizenship,” Tagawa told LifeNews.
Co-owner of the famous Nobu chain of restaurants, De Niro opened the first Moscow location back in 2009. This year he teamed up with Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa once again to launch another restaurant of the same brand in the Russian capital.
The actor told reporters he was fond of Russian cuisine, and also called for cooperation between Moscow and Washington to “put an end to all disagreements.”
Hollywood hunk Vin Diesel, celebrated for his roles in the Fast and the Furious movie franchise, recently posted a picture of himself standing in front of the Kremlin with the words:
“My first visit to Russia… 2009… The cast of Fast and I fell in love with the country. Here’s to great memories!”
Well, if Tagawa is right, Russia would soon have more A-list celebrities walking the red carpet in central Moscow.
Legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr. recently announced he received a Russian passport.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Dutch Pay Price for Supporting Maidan Coup — German Media
Ukrainian ultranationalists demanded €50 million ransom for paintings stolen from a Dutch museum in 2005, a German newspaper reported on Saturday.
What many in Ukraine call “the Revolution of Dignity” of February 2014 was essentially an armed takeover by well-trained members of the Ukrainian criminal underworld, Die Junge Welt wrote.
This became clear as early as in March 2014 when police in the western Ukrainian town of Rovno gunned down the notorious racketeer Olexandr Muzychko, who also happened to be an active member of the ultranationalist Right Sector organization.
Even the Ukrainian Interior Ministry admitted that the national crime rate went through the roof after the so-called “pro-European activists” looted police and army arsenals just ahead of the Maidan “revolution.”
“Small wonder that reports about members of the so-called ‘volunteer battalions’ enmeshed in illegal trade in stolen artworks regularly appear in the press,” the newspaper wrote.
According to numerous press reports, in July several Ukrainian criminals contacted the Dutch embassy in Kiev offering the Dutch to “buy back” a collection of 24 paintings dating from the country’s 17th-century Golden Age, stolen from the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, north of Amsterdam in 2005.
De Telegraaf newspaper said two Dutch stolen art investigators had found out they were in the hands of an “ultra-nationalist militia” in eastern Ukraine that wanted five million euros for them.
Priceless as they may be in West Friesland, the museum also warned the paintings were not worth quite as much as the nationalists seemed to think.
Having initially demanded €50m for their return, the militia had now said it would settle for a “finders’ fee” of just €5m.
“It seems that the Dutch taxpayers’ money will eventually end up in the pockets of Ukrainian gangsters. This is the price the Dutch will have to pay for the financial support they gave to Ukraine’s provocative Hromadske Telebachennya TV, for helping to falsify in Kiev’s favor of the results of the MH17 crash and for the help they gave in the making of the Nazi propaganda film ‘Maidan’,” Die Junge Welt wrote in conclusion.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India Decries Global Warming Push as ‘Carbon Imperialism’ From Western Nations
When Kerry singled out India as a “challenge,” his insult was met with an appropriate mix of anger, frustration and incredulity.
“Kerry’s comment is unwarranted and unfair. The attitude of some of the developed countries is the challenge for the Paris conclusion,” said Prakash Javadekar, India’s environment minister, The Telegraph reported. He added that his country is “not in the habit of taking any pressure from anybody.”
“This smacks of a ‘carbon imperialism’,” Arvind Subramanian, the Indian government’s chief economic advisor, also noted. “And such imperialism on the part of advanced nations could spell disaster for India and other developing countries.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Thousands of Engine Immobilisers Hackable Over the Net
Kiwicon Kiwi hacker Lachlan Temple has found holes in a popular cheap car tracking and immobilisation gadget that can allow remote attackers to locate, eavesdrop, and in some cases cut the fuel intake to hundreds of thousands of vehicles, some while in motion.
The gadgets are rebranded white box units from Chinese concern ThinkRace that allow users to attach to their cars to enable remote tracking, engine immobilisation, microphone recording, geo-fencing, and location tracking over a web interface…
The same units are built into children’s watches sold by ThinkRace and likely contain the same flaws allowing kids to be eavesdropped and tracked.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Ready to Upgrade Indian Railways, Facilitate Business Ties
Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are set to sign a 1.5-trillion yen ($12.5 billion) investment agreement to promote Japanese companies on the Indian market and provide loan to equip the underground, local media reported Saturday.
TOKYO (Sputnik) — According to the Yomiuri newspaper, the bilateral deals that will be signed in the course of the high-level meeting later in the day, will include an agreement on the use of Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed trains, also known as bullet trains, expected to operate on the proposed 500-kilometer (310.68 miles) railway linking the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad in western India.
Moreover, Tokyo pledged to provide New Delhi with a loan in the amount of 400 trillion yen ($ 3.3 billion) before the end of March 2016.
During the current Abe’s visit to India, the sides will sign an agreement on the invitation of 10,000 Indian students for an internship in Japan within five years, the daily said.
Another important topic of the negotiations between Abe and Modi will be the cooperation in the defense area, especially since Japan wants to take part in joint military exercises of India and the United States in the Indian Ocean.
The prime ministers will also try to achieve progress on a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation. The accord would pave the way for Japanese technologies to the Indian market, the newspaper concluded.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Japan and India Sign Bullet Train Deal Amid Closer Ties
India has agreed to buy a high-speed bullet train from Japan, in an attempt to transform its creaking rail system.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the train would link Mumbai and Ahmedabad, cutting travel time on the route from eight hours to two.
The leaders of Asia’s second and third largest economies also announced other areas of co-operation.
These include working on defence technology, and agreeing a memorandum of understanding on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The agreements with Japan came during a three-day visit to India by the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, which began on Friday.
Both countries are in territorial disputes with China, and their new accords may be seen by some as a reaction against China’s growing influence in the region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Who’s Investigating Fake Chinese Goods? Fake Investigators
It was a classic form of double-dealing in China’s murky anti-counterfeiting industry, which is itself plagued with fraud, an Associated Press investigation has found. Some of the cases documented by the AP involved potentially dangerous products: counterfeit auto parts, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and electrical components.
Investigative fraud is a problem few are willing to discuss publicly. Using previously undisclosed records from court cases in China and internal corporate investigations, as well as interviews with people directly involved in events, the AP documented multiple forms of wrongdoing.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
For the Second Time in 4 Days, South Africa’s President Replaces Finance Minister
South Africa’s president has replaced the country’s finance minister for the second time in four days. On Sunday, President Jacob Zuma’s office announced that recently appointed finance minister David van Rooyen will be replaced by Pravin Gordhan, who previously served as finance minister from 2009 to 2014.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kenya Official: 1 Soldier Dies, 2 Wounded in Ambush by Somalia’s Islamic Extremists
A Kenyan official says Somalia’s Islamic extremist insurgents al-Shabab have ambushed an army truck killing one soldier and wounding two.
Kenya has experienced a wave of retaliatory attacks by al-Shabab since it sent its troop to Somalia to fight the extremists in 2011. Al-Shabab militants were responsible for attack on a university in eastern Kenya this year which killed 147 people, many of them students.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
No U-Turn: New Argentine President Vows to Bolster Ties With Russia
Argentina’s new President Mauricio Macri has reportedly pledged to further develop his country’s cooperation with Russia.
The course for further development of Moscow-Buenos Aires ties was confirmed by new Argentine President Mauricio Macri during his meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, media reports said.
“During the talks, both sides confirmed their push for further developing Russian-Argentine cooperation,” according to the press service of the Russian Security Council.
The meeting came after Macri was inaugurated in the Palace of the Argentine National Congress in Buenos Aires on Thursday, a ceremony that was attended by Patrushev, among other foreign officials.
On November 22, Macri won the country’s presidential election, receiving 51.5 percent of the popular vote, despite losing in the first round to former Vice President Daniel Scioli.
Macri, who served previously as mayor of Buenos Aires, will replace Cristina Kirchner, who has been in office since 2007.
Earlier, Alberto Hutschenreuter, a professor of geopolitics at the Argentine Air War College, suggested that the new Argentine administration will take a pragmatic attitude to foreign relations and will not say “no” to lucrative joint ventures with Russia.
Argentina and Russia enjoy a warm relationship; they maintain a visa-free regime and Russia is one of Argentina’s key export partners.
When the EU and the US invited Argentina to participate in sanctions against Russia last year, Argentina balked, winning the respect of President Vladimir Putin.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters Rally in Cities Across Brazil to Demand Impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff
Thousands of Brazilians marched Sunday to demand that Congress impeach President Dilma Rousseff, whose government is plagued by an overwhelming corruption scandal and a dismal economy.
The protests were held in dozens of places including the capital of Brasilia and the opposition stronghold of Sao Paulo, but were considerably smaller than demonstrations earlier this year challenging Rousseff and her ruling Workers’ Party.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Can We Stop the Tide of Potential Terrorists?
Since the San Bernardino shooting by Islamic terrorists the American people are getting serious about stemming the tide of radical terrorists coming to America. They are a threat to our nation, our persons, our culture and way of life. The Syrian ‘refugees’ that are coming here cannot be vetted to assure us that they do not have terrorist ties. Obama doesn’t care because, as a muslim, he stands with them not the American people.
One candidate, Donald Trump, has called for a moratorium on muslim immigration. Cruz and Rand Paul have followed suit. The rest of the Republican presidential candidates have gone into a meltdown mode over the proposal. It makes you want to ask the question ‘Are you for the American people or are you for the terrorists?’ What is absolutely mind boggling to me is Rubio and Graham, after the San Bernardino shooting, voted to approve large scale immigration from muslim countries. You have to be brain dead to do this! The Republican elite are besides themselves with Trumps idea. I even watched the great O’Reilly this last Tuesday night and two of the so-called lawyers stated that the plan Trump called for was not constitutional. I beg to differ. We do not have to allow people into our country who have stated that their reason for being here is not to co-exist with the Constitution but to replace it with shariah law. Omar Ahmad, co-founder the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), made his anti-Christian bias crystal clear in a July 4, 1998 San Ramon Valley Herald article in which Ahmad stated “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Qur’an should be the highest authority in America.”…
The Immigration and Nationality Act, which was passed June 27, 1952 revised the united States’ laws regarding immigration, naturalization and nationality. This Act, under Section 313 states the following:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Enough’s Enough: Interior Minister Says Germany May Stop Accepting Migrants
Germany may start turning incoming migrants back already at the border, German media reported, citing Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
“The Schengen zone may not last long without controlling its borders if the system of protection of its external borders is not functioning,” the Minister said on Saturday.
Thomas de Maiziere added that the possible closure of the Schengen borders was discussed as part of a public debate in September when a proposal to close the German borders to the incoming migrants was rejected.
“However, just how long this may continue if the number of incoming migrants remains this high is another matter,” the Interior Minister added.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has resisted calls to set limits on those fleeing countries such as Syria.
The influx of refugees entering Germany this year has passed the one million mark, ramping up pressure on European leaders as they struggle to cope with the migrant crisis.
The number of arrivals for the year so far was more than four times the total for all of 2014 with Germany now the top European destination for people fleeing conflict, repression and misery in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU Opens Infringement Procedure Against Hungary
Concerning its asylum law, there are several concerns
(ANSA) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 11 — The European Commission has today addressed a letter of formal notice to Hungary, opening an infringement procedure concerning the recently adopted Hungarian asylum legislation. The EU Commission has found the Hungarian legislation in some instances to be incompatible with EU law.
Firstly, Brussels is concerned that there is no possibility to refer to new facts and circumstances in the context of appeals and that Hungary is not automatically suspending decisions in case of appeals — effectively forcing applicants to leave their territory before the time limit for lodging an appeal expires, or before an appeal has been heard.
Secondly, regarding rights to translation and interpretation, the EU Commission is concerned the Hungarian law on fast-tracked criminal proceedings for irregular border crossings does not respect provisions of the Directive on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, which ensures that every suspect or accused person who does not understand the language of the proceedings is provided with a written translation of all essential documents, including any judgment.
Thirdly, there are concerns as to the fact that under the new Hungarian law dealing with the judicial review of decisions rejecting an asylum application a personal hearing of the applicants is optional. The Hungarian authorities now have two months to respond to the arguments put forward by the Commission.
If the observations presented by Hungary in reply to that notice cannot be considered satisfactory, the Commission may decide to send a ‘reasoned opinion’ to Hungary and may then refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Police Detain About 100 Migrants Involved in Mass Scuffle
Nearly 100 immigrants have been arrested due to a brawl that erupted at a stadium in the coastal suburb of Athens, Paleo Faliro, local media reported.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, riot police were forced to intervene as Moroccan nationals tried to sell protection to other migrants threatening to beat them if they did not agree.
“I was told that a group of Moroccans were blackmailing people to give them money, or be forced to leave,” Greek Alternate Minister on Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas was quoted as saying by the Greek MEGA TV.
Earlier in the week, over 2,000 predominantly African migrants were brought to Athens from the Greek border with Macedonia to the north, and settled in a former Olympic taekwondo hall in the southern Athens suburb.
The situation at the stadium is tense since Moroccans, Algerians, Yemenis, Eritreans and many others live together at a sporting facility, but fail to coexist peacefully.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: EC Opens Infringement Procedure Over Migrants
Renzi blasts EU partners for forgetting crisis
(ANSA) — Rome, December 10 — The European Commission on Thursday said that it has opened an infringement procedure against Italy for failing to respect the rules on the collection of the fingerprints of asylum seekers upon entry into Europe.
Greece and Croatia have also been hit with the procedure.
The move regards the alleged failure to correctly implement the Eurodac Regulation, which demands the fingerprinting of asylum seekers and transmission of data to the Eurodac central system within 72 hours. “The European Commission sent administrative letters to Greece, Croatia and Italy in October,” an EU statement said.
“Two months later, concerns have not been effectively addressed.
“The European Commission has therefore decided today to send Letters of Formal Notice to Greece, Croatia and Italy (the first step of an infringement procedure)”. Beforehand, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said it would be “unreasonable” of the European Commission to open infraction proceedings against Italy. “For the work we’ve done, the only thing we deserve from the EU is a thank you,” Alfano said. Italy and Greece have borne the brunt of the Mediterranean migrant crisis and Rome has repeatedly complained that it is not getting enough help from its EU partners.
The EU sought to respond to Rome’s complaints this year with the adopting of the Commission’s Agenda on Migration.
This features the establishment of a EU naval force powered to tackle human traffickers and the tripling of funding for migrant-rescue operations in the southern Mediterranean.
In exchange Italy has agreed to set up EU hotspots to manage new asylum seekers.
But progress on a deal to redistribute refugees from Italy and Greece to other parts of the union has been slow.
Indeed, Renzi blasted Italy’s EU partners for having attention deficiency regarding the crisis.
“In Italy we don’t let ourselves get emotional for a moment and then forget what’s happening, as some European colleagues do,” he said. “We are different to other countries, who scream after a tragedy and then forget.
“Something has moved but Europe is not doing all it can.
“Italy does not need help, we can do without Europe: it is Europe that cannot betray itself and its ideals.
“It’s not enough to salve one’s conscience by giving some countries some money”.
Renzi also said his government will “never” stop saving refugee and migrant lives in the Mediterranean. “Never ask Italy to give up on its identity,” he said at a Rome conference on the Mediterranean.
“Even at the cost of losing votes we will never stop saving human lives in the Mediterranean, even at the cost of being criticised and insulted”.
EU Affairs Undersecretary Sandro Gozi directly took issue with the EC ‘s decision. “The solution isn’t to apply in a short-sighted and rigid way the common rules against those who have done much more, and better, than others.
“This is not the response we expect from Europe”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel’s Power in ‘Free Fall’ As Germany Loses Control Over Own Borders
From the outside looking, it may seem that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is now at the peak of her power after 10 years in office. But on the inside, her political power has been seriously eroded, journalist Erik Kirschbaum wrote.
Recently, the chancellor has been criticized by both Germans and her coalition allies.
Merkel’s popularity has been in “free fall” over the last three months amid the refugee crisis in Europe and fears that the government is losing control of its borders. She faces a showdown with her own ruling party this weekend when the Christian Democrats meet at their annual party congress.
“There will be no vote this year, but plenty of testy debate is expected to surround the woman who was just named Time magazine’s person of the year for her European leadership in the debt and refugee crises,” the article read.
It added that many of the Christian Democratic delegates are upset about Merkel’s open-door policies on refugees, which is damaging her reputation.
“It’s not acceptable that people are coming uncontrolled across Germany’s borders. A country has to be able to keep control of its borders. Politically, we’ve given that up far too easily. That’s not anyone’s idea of national security,” Christian Democrat lawmaker Armin Schuster was quoted as saying by the article.
Politicians from the Christian Democratic Union have pressured their leader Merkel to stop the migrant influx to Germany. However, so far Merkel has refused to introduce an “upper limit” in the number of refugees, a step which would close the border for new migrants.
According to polls, nearly 50 percent of German citizens support Merkel’s policy toward the migrant crisis. Over the recent months, chancellor’s popularity has dropped by 10-15 percent.
Earlier this month, media citing the country’s Interior Ministry reported that 965,000 refugees have been registered in Germany this year. The latest data from Frontex shows that some 1.2 million migrants came to the EU in the first ten months of 2015. The European Commission said the current migrant crisis is the worst since the World War II era.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over Its Head? Germany Unable to Handle 1.1mln New Refugees in 2016
According to the European Commissioner, Berlin will not be able to handle the onslaught of refugees for a second year in a row.
BERLIN (Sputnik) — Germany will be unable to cope with the reception of 1.1 million refugees next year, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger said.
“Germany cannot manage taking in another 1.1 million registered refugees for the second year in a row. That’s why, many billions of euros were invested in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon to create decent accommodation options,” Oettinger told Bild am Sonntag in an interview.
According to the commissioner, the Europeans’ solidarity should be expressed, mainly, not in quotas for the reception of refugees, but in their willingness to finance housing in the regions of the refugees’ origin.
“Financial solidarity is more important than solidarity in accommodation issues,” Oettinger stressed.
Only 10 percent of the German population is categorically against migrants, foreign languages and cultures, he noted.
“It will not change, and it is necessary to be taken into consideration,” the commissioner outlined.
Earlier in December, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced that 965,000 people had received or applied for refugee status in Germany this year.
He added that the initial forecast by the German government of 800,000 refugees arriving in the country in 2015 was exceeded due to the intensified refugee influx since mid-August.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Refugee Ali Alsaho Whose Wife and Children Drowned Says ‘Stay in Syria’
Ali Alsaho fled from ISIS in Syria and headed for Europe in the hope of a better life for his family. He paid a smuggler £4,600 to get them from Turkey to the Greek island of Chios, but they never made it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Fund: EU States Want Commission to Pay More
The EU Commission is under pressure to give more money for the €3 billion destined for Turkey to help stem the flow of migrants and refugees, while some member states are reluctant to send money to Ankara for political reasons.
EU members agreed in November to provide €3 billion over two years to support Turkey in creating better conditions in refugee camps, to help them integrate in Turkish society, and to stop them from going to Europe.
But there is no agreement on how the fund is to be put together.
“It is not clear yet, where the money will come from,” an EU official told EUobserver.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby Prays We Can Help Syrian Refugees
As the first refugees from Syria began to arrive in this country, he said that there were ‘still doubts and fears’ about the impact they would have, though he was praying that people would be generous.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
World Goes ‘Right’: US: European Right-Wing Parties on Rise
New Paris-style massacres are likely to happen and will solidify Europe and America’s turn to the right, Patrick J. Buchanan predicts.
American conservative commentator, author and syndicated columnist Patrick J. Buchanan points out that the world is steadily leaning to the right in the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks.
“In Sunday’s first-round of regional elections in France, the clear and stunning winner was the National Front of Marine Le Pen. Her party rolled up 30 percent of the vote, and came in first in 6 of 13 regions. Marine herself won 40 percent of her northeast district,” Buchanan notes in his article for the American Conservative.
According to the political commentator, France’s rightward shift is now “being replicated” across Europe: the EU members are tightening borders in the face of “the tsunami” of asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East.
“Angela Merkel and open borders are yesterday in Europe; Marine Le Pen is tomorrow,” Buchanan states.
The United States is no exception to the trend.
Much in the same manner Americans are moving to the right on such issues as immigration, terrorism, borders, crime, and security.
Donald Trump is vowing to send illegal immigrants back; Sen. Ted Cruz is pledging to “carpet bomb” Daesh (IS/ISIL) into oblivion, Chris Christie is promising to keep refugee wives as well as 3-year-old orphans out of New Jersey.
As for the Clintons, they have also begun leaning to the right.
“The Clintons have long been reliable weather vanes of national politics. And Hillary Clinton, too, has begun moving to the right. Sunday, she said she was ready to take ‘military action’ if Iran fails to comply with the slightest provision of President Obama’s nuclear agreement,” Buchanan remarks.
At the same time Bernie Sanders, once a “socialist sensation” is risking losing his political points after he failed to address the Islamist terrorist atrocity.
“Even the president is signaling a shift to the right,” the conservative commentator notes.
President Obama said that Washington will bolster the US military activity in Iraq and Syria. The US President lambasted “an extremist ideology” which has spread among some Muslim communities and said he wants “tougher screening” of those entering the United States.
“Tougher on crime, tougher on terrorists, tougher on securing the border — that is the demand of the moment, and probably of 2016,” the US author points out.
At the same time, it seems that Daesh will continue to terrorize the West, especially after the resonance the Paris massacre and the San Bernardino attack have had.
“New horrors are likely ahead — that will continue America’s turn to the right,” Buchanan predicts.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
A Point of View: Is There Still Any Point Collecting Books?
A lifetime of collecting books has left the writer Howard Jacobson with back injuries, a lack of living space and a sense of sheer pointlessness. But he’d do it all over again.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
COP21 Throwing Humanity to Symbolic Ravening Lions
The cult of COP21 is back from Paris. But COP21’s not really over if only because the push to make man-made global warming society’s Number One Threat will never be over as long as world governments finance climate-change activists with billions of taxpayer dollars.
Until the cult of COP21 can cut off the lights, electricity and all of those things society has come to depend on for survival, courtesy of fossil fuels, there will always be another United Nations Climate Change Conference just lurking around the corner.
Like all things hedonistic, including thousands of UN delegates chowing down on kingly repasts with so many children in the Third World starving, the holier-than-thou global warming/climate change show must go on.
And now with the leader of the more than one billion strong Catholic world in on the act, it was the show of all time.
For those who would might laugh off larger than life digital images of “howling, grunting and roaring animals” on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica for a one night stand as comedy, take a gander at the kind of minds who were behind it:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
COP21: Paris Climate Deal is ‘Best Chance to Save Planet’
The climate deal reached in Paris is “the best chance we have to save the one planet we have”, US President Barack Obama has said.
He said it could be a “turning point” towards a low-carbon future.
China, the world’s biggest polluter, also hailed the deal, as did India. But some campaigners said it did not go far enough to protect the planet.
The Paris pact aims to curb global warming to less than 2C (3.6F) by the end of the century.
Nearly 200 countries took part in tense negotiations in the French capital over two weeks, striking the first deal to commit all nations to cut emissions.
The agreement — which is partly legally binding and partly voluntary — will come into being in 2020.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
It’s a liberal’s wet dream… Global elites released details of their global warming junk science pact Saturday. The international agreement calls for developed nations to transfer hundreds of billions of aid to third world hell holes.
The money will then be quickly deposited into Swiss bank accounts under an anonymous name until the dictator is thrown from office and replaced by the next tinpot dictator.
And America continues to drown in debt in the process.
It will look something like this… (graphic)
[Comment: check out the graphic. USA:$634 billion in transfer payments, EU $267 billion, $Japan $103 billion, UK $49 billion. With China tops to receive $497 billion to invest in scam of non-renewables. This is COMMUNISM. TAKE from those who have and GIVE to those who don’t.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Not too surprising, all other French parties have performed endless numbers of political acrobatics in order to keep FN out of any government for at least 30 years. What should be noted but will be quickly buried by the mainstream media is the fact that they did in some districts get over 40%, which is absolutely unbelievable in a very liberal, generally left-leaning country such as France. Not trying to sound conceited, but I knew that M. Le Pen would need at least 50.1% or something like this would happen. I hate being right.
Maybe after 50-some years of Islamic terrorism, they still haven’t had enough.
Or maybe they’ve been brought to their knees, and the baby-boomer establishment pensioners care more about their comfortable rusty, erm, golden years than about their grandkids’ future.
Provided they haven’t aborted all of them already.
If the Greek coast guard can’t or won’t do their job, Mother Russia has to come in to protect fellow Orthodoxy. Very sad state of affairs. Wonder what Rick Steves’ smugly escapist & ignorant European travel shows will look like in 5 years.
Spot on!
Tactically it may have been a mistake for the establishment to shut the FN out of all French regions.
This allows the FN to remain in opposition until new elections in 2017, when the stakes will be much higher. They can easily pin any new terror incidents on the establishment parties and their cowardly political games.
and the FN cannot get the blame for administration problems, as they have not obtained any regions, so their image remains the same. Even in my area which is historically very left wing, the FN came 2nd in the first rounds and 3rd in the second, which is unheard of.
Does that mean that all the non-voters suddenly came out to oppose Le Pen? Typically that would be students and immigrants? The 2 groups most likely to oppose her?
Effectively, yes a proportion of non voters did come out & vote in the 2nd round. Panic effect, plus there an incredible amount of tactical voting planned in advance by the Socialists & Republicans, to scuttle the FN.
Despite all of this, even Science Po in Paris has an FN student branch, started this year. Long term immigrants from southern Europe are being disillusioned by the antics of the UMPS.
“Provided they haven’t aborted them all already”?
Cheap shot, Wolfie; whether or not you approve of abortion, it’s straining credulity to imagine that people who choose to have one (their right as free moral agents) are conspiring to undermine our culture.
Not a cheap shot at all, and not meant as such, just cold, hard reality. I’ve personally had the pleasure of knowing several European ladies who aborted children like you might go to a baseball game. Some of them had had so many – at ages 19-20-something – that they were now barren, medically speaking.
I also knew at least one woman who thought impregnating a woman was the worst crime anyone could possibly commit. My mom.
How’s that for a cheap shot?
How about addressing my point?
No children from a culture = no future for that culture. Simples.
Many Indian and other tribes have come and gone, and become extinct.. who remembers them?
There’s a reason that won’t happen with Islam, but may well happen with some or all European cultures. And although abortion may not be the whole, or even the biggest, reason, the unwillingness of educated Europeans to procreate definitely plays a role.
Two sclerotic ideologies – Islam and PC Marxism – seek to support each other in their death throws.
It seems FN was voted down by about the same amount in their Muslim populace. I fear the US will see this occurring during the next election season.
:et’s hope not. This next election is critical for the progress of our country and western civilization.. I worry about Mr. Trump. He seems a bit of a lunatic but, I would actually vote for him to keep Hillary Clinton out of office. I really would and that is saying a lot.
This may be a blessing in diguise. After numerous terrorist attacks next year people will see what has happened and the counter jihad will flourish.
“Christian Female Fighters Take on IS in Syria”
Oh no. They have swallowed the equality koolaid as well? Why are the Christian men allowing this?
I know a very cool Lesbian lady who knows martial arts and could take 3 guys in a street fight. Not sure if she’s Christian, but it’s highly unlikely they would want to sell her as a sex slave if captured.
“I’ll be calling for a new EU-wide ban on all high-powered semi-automatic weapons and greater co-operation to crack down on the smuggling trade and to stop guns coming in from the western Balkans,” Cameron said, as quoted in the press release.
Damn. Cameron is moving to try and cut off the only possible way for native citizens in Britain, Germany and France to arm themselves. The Muslims of course will continue to smuggle firearms from the Middle East into their Mosques.
Let’s hope the Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs and other Eastern European countries have enough pull in the EU to stop this.