The Finnish movement “Soldiers of Odin” has spread to Norway, where a group by that name is now patrolling the streets to protect native Norwegians against immigrant violence.
In other Norwegian news, Prime Minister Erna Solberg warns that Norway will have to abandon international law if the political order in Sweden collapses. Any mass influx of refugees across the border from Sweden will cause Norway to withdraw from the Schengen Agreement and the Geneva Convention, and all migrants coming from Sweden will be deported without being allowed to apply for asylum.
In other news, a Turkish truck driver has filed a legal complaint against his wife for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Insubria, JD, LLS, Srdja Trifkovic, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Italy Backs EU ‘Super Finance Minister’, EU Bonds
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — The Italian government has given its backing to the creation of a finance ‘super minister’ for the eurozone with the power to manage an adequate budget, according to its EU position paper Monday.
The document also moots the ideas of transforming the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into a “European Monetary Fund”, and calls for “a joint, shared policy” to deal with the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis and joint management of external EU borders to be financed by issuing EU bonds, according to the paper titled Italy’s Strategic Proposal for the Future of the European Union: Growth, Jobs, and Stability.
The Schengen Agreement “is one of the most important results achieved” in the process of European integration and “must be preserved and strengthened”, the paper said.
On the economic front, Italy called for any budget leeway to be “integrally used to support growth” during the current phase of modest recovery and exceptionally low inflation. The European Central Bank’s monetary expansion policies have proven “insufficient” to kickstart and ensure proper economy recovery, the Italy paper said.
Accordingly, the EU should promote budget policies that foster growth, reforms, and job creation. “Economic union is a multi-dimensional project…which should go hand in hand with measures for growth and employment,” according to the position paper.
“This would prove to citizens that Europe is the solution not the problem” in the face of a rising tide of populism in almost every member State, the position paper said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Milan Bourse Jumps 2.6%
Investors liking banks, Saipem, Telecom
(ANSA) — Milan, February 22 — The Milan bourse gained ground in midday trading Monday as the benchmark FTSE Mib index jumped by 2.6%. Investors focused on bank shares, with Banco Popolare (+4.7%), UniCredit (+4.4%) and UBI (+4.3%). Oil and gas industry contractor Saipem, a subsidiary of Italian energy company ENI, added 5.8% and Telecom was up 5%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Inflation Stood at 0.3% in January Says ISTAT
Deflation or flat prices in 10 Italian cities
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Italy’s annual inflation rate was 0.3% in January 2016, up from 0.1% in December, statistics bureau Istat said on Monday, confirming its preliminary estimate.
Ten large Italian cities experienced price deflation or prices hovering at a zero growth rate in January 2016, Istat said. Price growth was at zero in Milan, Florence, Perugia, Palermo, Reggio Calabria and Ravenna. Prices showed deflation in Bari (-0.3%), Potenza (-0.2%), Trieste (-0.2%), and Verona (-0.1%).
The price growth of the so-called consumer “shopping trolley” of foods, household and personal care items slowed in January 2016, rising just 0.3% compared to 0.9% in December, said statistics bureau Istat on Monday. The shopping trolley inflation rate is usually higher than that of general inflation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
In today’s feature article, cover the group’s warning about the massive scientific fraud that was committed to try to make the vaccine appear “safe” when it was actually causing great harm.
(NaturalNews) In the minds of many concerned parents, there is no more toxic, dangerous vaccine in the world than Gardasil. More children and teens have been maimed, hospitalized, injured and even paralyzed by HPV vaccines than any other category of vaccine interventions. And now, the American College of Pediatricians — a strongly pro-vaccine group — is sounding the alarm over the toxicity of Gardasil.
Gardail vaccines could be “associated with the very rare but serious condition of premature ovarian failure (POF),” says the ACP on its website.
Furthermore, none of the junk science “safety” studies touted by the vaccine industry ever tracked post-vaccination outcomes regarding ovarian health. “[L]ong-term ovarian function was not assessed in either the original rat safety studies or in the human vaccine trials,” explains the ACP. Even more, because doctors are so aggressively propagandized by the cash-rich vaccine industry, they don’t even realize that HPV vaccines can cause ovarian failure. “Most primary care physicians are probably unaware of a possible association between HPV and POF and may not consider reporting POF cases or prolonged amenorrhea (missing menstrual periods) to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS),” says the ACP.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
BLM Visits Mizzou, Says Supporting Constitution is White Supremacist
During an event at Thursday evening #BlackLivesMatter founders Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi told Mizzou students that the goal of the Constitution was to make an agreement between factions known as states, which were built on the backs of black slaves. Garza and Tometi told students at the University of Missouri that the Black Lives Matter movement arose after what they called, “the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FBI’s Own Actions Likely Made Farook’s iPhone Data Inaccessible
On Friday, we noted that one of the reasons that the FBI was to get access to the data on the remaining iPhone from Syed Farook was because after the shooting and after the phone was in the hands of the government, Farook’s employer, the San Bernardino Health Department, initiated a password change on his iCloud account.
That apparently messed stuff up, because without that, it would have been possible to force the phone to backup data to the associated iCloud account, where it would have been available to the FBI. But, after we published that article, a rather salient point came out: the Health Department only did this because the FBI asked it to do so.
[…]
The second is that Apple further had not revealed this tidbit earlier. The company explained that it had felt that it’s conversations with the government had been confidential until the FBI revealed this detail in the totally unexpected Motion to Compel it filed Friday. It appeared that the FBI was so eager to push its PR stunt that it filed the document (which it had no reason to file), that it then revealed even more of its own bungling in this particular case.
Whether intentional or not, this is only going to add support to people who say that the FBI doesn’t actually care what’s on the phone, but wanted to be able to go after the data in this case because they knew they could set a precedent in a case where their argument will generate the most sympathy. Remember, back in September, after the Intelligence Community lost the fight to get a law banning strong encryption, intelligence officials said out loud that they’d just wait until the next terrorist attack:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Gene Editing: The Dangers of Playing God
Science can help save lives — and destroy future generations
The most vulnerable among us are in danger when it comes to advances in scientific genetic modification.
The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority in England this month gave researcher Kathy Niakan — who is with London’s Francis Crick Institute — the approval to modify human embryos for research purposes. In the past, the technology has been used to genetically tweak plants and animals, but it is now aimed squarely at humanity.
“This issue is of significant interest to our organization,” John Colyandro, executive director of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, told LifeZette. “We are finally at the frontier where it is within human power to play God.”
CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats, is the technology behind gene editing. It identifies certain genes, cuts them, and rewrites their DNA. It has been used successfully to create bigger dogs and has even created micro-pigs, which are popular as pets…
The technology is instead a Pandora’s box of ethical questions and real risks. Genetic alterations can be passed down to future generations, for example. The concept of designer babies is much closer to concrete reality with genetic editing as well…
And what if mistakes are inadvertently made in the editing process? In mice, for example, researchers blocked a gene that caused cancer, but the mice ended up aging prematurely.
“If we go this route, editing the genes of embryos, think about the potential if a mistake were made for that person to then pass along damaged genes, which affects generations,” said Paul Knoepfler, assistant professor at University of California Davis. He is the author of “GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies.”
“Correcting one mutation might cause another,” he explained. “Then that person might even avoid having children, so it’s life-affecting down through a family line.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Jeb Bush Spent $130 Million Running for President With Nothing to Show for it
When Jeb Bush formally entered the presidential campaign in June, there was already more money behind him than every other Republican candidate combined. When he suspended his campaign on Saturday night in South Carolina, Mr. Bush had burned through the vast majority of that cash without winning a single state. It may go down as one of the least successful campaign spending binges in history. Here is Mr. Bush’s story, as told by his ledger:
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Introducing Counterjihad, CAIR’s Worst Nightmare
Secure Freedom, an initiative of the Center for Security Policy (CSP), will be launching a new campaign called CounterJihad, an endeavor that hopes to empower readers with the intellectual firepower to fight back against the radical Islamic current that is coming over this nation, and the rest of the world.
CounterJihad’s mission statement, posted on its website, is to educate all Americans regarding the radical Islamist threat the nation faces today. “We are a movement of American citizen-activists dedicated to safeguarding the country from the danger posed by Islamic Supremacists,” it states.
“We are all aware of the barbaric acts of ISIS, al Qaeda and the others flying the Black Flag. Sadly their violence continues to kill innocents around the world and here at home. They fight in the cause of Jihad to impose their totalitarian religion on all people,” a statement on the CounterJihad site reads.
“But they are not the only ones working toward that goal,” the initiative warns. “There are other Islamist groups who seem much less dangerous on the surface, but actually represent an even more insidious threat to free western society. They seek to use our very freedoms as weapons against us.”
The CounterJihad initiative hopes to provide the American people intellectual firepower against the Islamic forces that seek to undermine western values. Moreover, The CounterJihad project hopes that everyday Americans will spread its message far and wide, from the city blocks of Manhattan to the rural backcountry of this nation.
In a world destabilizing rapidly, Islamist radicals have seized power vacuums opened by the West’s unwillingness to stand up to the forces antithetical to freedom. Far-left and anti-free speech totalitarians have empowered these groups by condemning any and all criticism of radical Islam, labeling individuals and groups who do so as ‘racists’ and ‘Islamophobes.’
From the powers fueling the so-called Arab Spring, to the Muslim Brotherhood’s temporary seizure of power in Egypt, to the rise of the Islamic State and the Ayatollah’s theocracy in Iran, radical jihadi outfits have sprung up exponentially in this second decade of the 21st century.
Islamist entities have also secured footing in the United States. Among the more prominent is the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which poses as a Muslim civil rights organization while maintaining ties to Islamist groups worldwide. CAIR operatives have met with White House officials, yet they have previously demanded the silencing of their critics in accordance with Sharia law.
CAIR has been declared a terrorist organization in the United Arab Emirates and was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation’s Hamas-funding operation. In December, an FBI chart, along with governmental testimony, surfaced that alleged CAIR was a Hamas-related organization…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Warn Trump to Back Off Fiery Rhetoric
The Muslim Public Affairs Council, MPAC, has challenged Republican front-runner presidential hopeful Donald Trump to a debate, saying the billionaire businessman has done nothing but incite fear among Americans since he’ s taken to the campaign trail and vowing to put a stop to his blunt rhetoric.
“ Ever since you announced your run for presidency of the United States, you have scapegoated the American Muslim community and other minority groups for all your perceived ills of America,” MPAC wrote in a letter to the campaign, the Hill reported.
The group also blasted Trump as being “ scared of anything that is different than you.”…
Trump’ s exact statements, made from South Carolina a few days ago, went like this: “ [Pershing, in the early 20th century] took 50 bullets and he dipped them in pig’ s blood. And he had his men load his rifles and he lined up the 50 people and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person, he said, ‘ you go back to your people and you tell them what happened.’ And for 25 years there wasn’ t a problem.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ Congress Will Pass TPP Trade Deal
US President Barack Obama said Monday he is “cautiously optimistic” that Congress will pass the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement between the US and Asian countries.
The approval will hinge on support from “strong pro-trade Democrats” and Republicans “who historically, at least, have been in favor of the free market,” Obama said at a meeting of American governors at the White House…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Secret Anti-Trump Donor Revealed
A single billionaire provided the lion’s share of the money to the main Republican super-PAC set up to destroy Donald Trump.
Marlene Ricketts, the matriarch of the Ricketts family that owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team, contributed $3 million to the anti-Trump super-PAC “Our Principles PAC,” which is being run by former Mitt Romney adviser Katie Packer.
The super-PAC has spent more than $4 million running attack ads against the GOP front-runner in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. It is the only serious anti-Trump group to date, in a campaign cycle where Republicans have been reluctant to take on their front-runner.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sneaky Change to the TPP Drastically Extends Criminal Penalties
When the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was first released in November last year, it included provisions dictating the kinds of penalties that should be available in cases of copyright infringement. Amongst those provisions, the following footnote allowed countries some flexibility in applying criminal procedures and penalties to cases of willful copyright infringement on a commercial scale:
With regard to copyright and related rights piracy provided for under paragraph 1, a Party may limit application of this paragraph to the cases in which there is an impact on the right holder’s ability to exploit the work, performance or phonogram in the market.
Following the footnote back to its source, it is apparent that the reference to limiting “the application of this paragraph” is to a more specific list of criminal procedures and penalties that the parties are required to make available in such cases. Paraphrased, these are:
– sentences of imprisonment as well as deterrent-level monetary fines; — higher penalties in more serious circumstances, such as threats to public health or safety; — seizure of suspected infringing items, the materials and implements used to produce them, and documentary evidence relating to them; — the release of those items, materials, implements and evidence for use in civil proceedings; — forfeiture or destruction of those items, materials and implements; — forfeiture of any assets (such as money) derived from the infringement; and — the ability for officials to take legal action against the alleged infringer on their own initiative, without requiring a complaint from the rights holder (this is called “ex officio action”).
As of the date of writing, the text excerpted at the top of this page is still the version of the text found on the United States Trade Representative (USTR) website. However on January 26, a slightly different version was uploaded to the website of the official host of the agreement, New Zealand. This version provides:
With regard to copyright and related rights piracy provided for under paragraph 1, a Party may limit application of this subparagraph to the cases in which there is an impact on the right holder’s ability to exploit the work, performance or phonogram in the market.
Spot the difference? No? Let’s try again:
With regard to copyright and related rights piracy provided for under paragraph 1, a Party may limit application of this subparagraph to the cases in which there is an impact on the right holder’s ability to exploit the work, performance or phonogram in the market.
What does this surreptitious change from “paragraph” to “subparagraph” mean? Well, in its original form the provision exempted a country from making available any of the criminal procedures and penalties listed above, except in circumstances where there was an impact on the copyright holder’s ability to exploit their work in the market.
In its revised form, the only criminal provision that a country is exempted from applying in those circumstances is the one to which the footnote is attached-namely, the ex officio action provision. Which means, under this amendment, all of the other criminal procedures and penalties must be available even if the infringement has absolutely no impact on the right holder’s ability to exploit their work in the market. The only enforcement provision that countries have the flexibility to withhold in such cases is the authority of state officials to take legal action into their own hands.
Sneaky, huh?
This is a very significant change. Let’s look at an example of how it might work.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Southern Poverty Law Center — Manufacturing Hate for Fun and Profit
The Southern Poverty Law Center, always seeming to hover in the shadows whenever honest citizens and organizations try to stand up for this country, is at it again. In addition to the usual suspects — which includes pretty much anyone who disagrees with the American radical Left — SPLC has been increasingly attacking people and groups who express concern about Islamic terrorism -adding them to SPLC’s infamous “Hate Watch” list.
This now includes the Washington, DC think tank, Center for Security Policy. Widely respected in defense circles, the Center has been warning us for years about the subversive tactics being employed by the Muslim Brotherhood and its proxies to destroy our nation from within. Its veteran analysts from the defense and intelligence community seek to warn the country of the existential threat we now face from Muslim terrorists.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Three Men Break Down Door, Woman Inside Fires Gun, It Doesn’t End Well for Them
A female employee with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office opened fire on three suspects who broke into her house, hitting one of them and sending the others running for their lives.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What is the Controversial Procedure Known as Mitochondrial Replacement?
(NaturalNews) According to a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, three-parent babies should be approved in the U.S. for boys — a controversial procedure that has already been approved in the U.K.
The report was requested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and concerns a procedure known as mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) but it doesn’t mean that the procedure will be able to go ahead immediately, as there are still concerns and safety issues that need to be addressed…
The main hazard of developmental modification is the potential transmission of undesired alterations in the germline. The hazard of germline transmission of DNA modification is not just speculative — there is a lot of literature on transgenic animals showing increased tumor incidence during adult life. Such effects may not be seen for a generation or more.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Brexit’ A Problem for the UK First of All, Renzi Says
‘Referendum no easy ride,’ premier adds
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — A ‘Brexit’ would be more of a problem for the UK than for Europe, Premier Matteo Renzi told the foreign press corps in Rome on Monday.
“If the UK leaves Europe the main problem will be for the UK, for its businesses and citizens. It is particularly useful for them to remain in the EU,” he said.
On Saturday British Premier David Cameron set the referendum on ‘Brexit’ for June 23 after striking a deal with EU leaders that he said made it easier for the country to remain within the bloc.
On Monday Renzi told reporters he hoped the decision to remain in the EU carries the day.
“The referendum will be no easy ride for anyone: David said as much with great clarity from the outset and we all know that the debate will be over the details of the agreement, but in particular over a certain idea of Europe,” the premier said. “The deal is an excellent compromise for everyone, but the people who go to vote in the referendum will vote yes (to remain in the EU) for an idea, if Europe is still attractive or not, and in the UK this appeal has always been more contested than in other places,” Renzi added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Referendum Clashes With Glastonbury and Euro 2016
The Prime Minister has set June 23 as the day of the EU referendum — but thousands may well not be in the mood for voting, as the dates clashes with both Glastonbury music festival and Euro 2016 games.
Masses of England, Wales and Northern Ireland football fans could still be in France if their teams make it through the group stages of the Euro 2016 football tournament.
[Comment: The Referendum date was set to make sure people will be distracted by “circuses” and not bother to go and vote NO.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Exasperation as Spain Conservatives Hit by More Graft Allegations
Spain’s ruling Popular Party made headlines again Monday as an IT manager acknowledged he had destroyed potential evidence in a graft probe and police detained a PP politician, prompting a conservative lawmaker to say he was “fed up.”
Jose Manuel Moreno, IT manager for the conservative PP, told a judge he had been ordered to destroy potentially compromising hard-drives used by former treasurer Luis Barcenas, in a 2013 probe over alleged illegal financing of the political party.
He admitted having reformated them “35 times, scratched and thrown them away,” although he said the hard-drives were empty in any case before he tampered with them, according to judicial sources…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook’s Zuckerberg ‘Sympathetic’ With Apple’s Fight With US
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Monday he was “sympathetic” with Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook in his stand-off with the US government over breaking into the iPhone of a mass shooter.
“I don’t think that requiring back doors to encryption is either going to be an effective thing to increase security or is really the right thing to do. We are pretty sympathetic to Tim and Apple,” he said at a the world’s biggest mobile congress in Barcelona…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Govt OKd ‘Armed U.S. Drones Take-Off From Italy’
Only for missions to protect US special forces in Libya
(ANSA) — New York, February 22 — The Italian government in January agreed to let armed American drones take off from a base on its territory for military operations against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) fundamentalist militia in Libya and across North Africa, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The deal came after over a year of negotiations, the US financial paper said. The green light arrived from Rome on the condition that the drones be used only “for purposes of defence, to protect US special forces operations in Libya,” the paper reported.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome Candidate Bertolaso Admits Awaiting Outcome of 2 Trials
Centre-right mayoral choice ‘six years in arms of judiciary’
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Former civil protection chief Guido Bertolaso, the centre-right’s candidate for Rome mayor, said he made it clear when he was asked to run that he found himself in “problematic procedural circumstances” and told Repubblica TV on Monday that he is “still awaiting two trials”.
“I explained the reasons and I noted that we’re talking about things that happened six years ago, and for six years I’ve put myself into the arms of the judiciary,” Bertolaso said.
He has been indicted over alleged bid-rigging in contracts for the 2009 G8 summit and for allegedly giving unjustified reassurances before the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake that killed over 300 people. Despite his legal troubles, as civil protection head he gained praise for his handling of a number of emergencies including the waste crisis in the Campania region around Naples, and he also had sweeping powers over major events from 2001 to 2010.
“No offense to the people of L’Aquila, but Rome is a city hit by an earthquake, bombed, where living is difficult. Who’s rebuilding it? There are those who talk and those who get to work. I stood up publicly and I have the experience; what about the others?,” he said.
Bertolaso said he wants to give priority to the city’s residents “who, because of the Roma people, find themselves in unlivable situations”.
“Of course, if we create different conditions in their countries perhaps less of them would come to Italy,” he said.
He called the controversial decision by former Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino to ban private vehicles on the central Via dei Fori Imperiali “a demagogic operation”.
“Closing and blocking traffic without having studied the situation only creates great chaos,” Bertolaso said.
“First you have to understand the consequences of certain decisions”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salerno-Reggio Calabria to be Inaugurated in Dec Says Renzi
Long-awaited upgrade finally coming, says premier
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday that the long-delayed upgrade of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway will be inaugurated in December. “Let me do some social advertising,” Renzi told a news conference with foreign reporters. “I know you won’t believe it but, just like it seemed impossible to finish the Variante di Valico (section of the A1 motorway near Bologna), we’ll inaugurate the Salerno-Reggio Calabria on December 22”. The poor state of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway and the delays and rising cost of the upgrade have come to symbolise the problems holding back the development of Italy’s less wealthy southern regions.
When Renzi inaugurated the Variante di Valico, a crucial stretch of highway connecting northern and central Italy, last December he said it proved his government had Italy moving again.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Says ‘Cheering’ For Hillary Clinton
Premier says will work with whoever wins in US
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday that he hopes former US secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton wins the Democrat primaries and goes on to become the next president of the United States. “If I talk as premier, I say that we will work with whoever is the next president of the USA,” Renzi told foreign reporters on the second anniversary of him becoming premier. “If I talk as a (private) citizen and secretary of (Italy’s centre left Democratic Party) PD, I say that in respect of the great American democracy, I’m cheering on Hillary Clinton.
“Shouldn’t I have said that?” he added.
“Maybe you expected an endorsement for (Republican primary candidates Donald) Trump or for (Marco) Rubio or for (Clinton’s Democrat rival Bernie) Sanders. The wonderful thing about the primaries is that, after a little while, only a few are left”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Seeking Real EU Change, Not Crumbs, Says Renzi
PD leader celebrates second anniversary as premier
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday that his criticism of the European Union was aimed at contributing to real change of the bloc and not to win concessions for Italy. “Either Europe changes or the greatest operation of political institution building will be neutralised,” Renzi told foreign reporters on the second anniversary of him becoming premier. “At the moment, the EU is not working. Italy is working to put things on course, not to get a few crumbs of compensation, but to reconstruct the European ideal”.
Renzi on Monday reiterated his threat to push for cuts in EU funding to member States who refuse to help out with the refugee-migrant crisis.
“Every year we put in 20 billion euros (to the EU budget) and we get 12 in European funds, so we are net contributors,” Renzi told foreign reporters. “At this point, you either do like (former British Prime Minister Margaret) Thatcher and say ‘I want my money back’ or, (if you are) like us, you are willing to put in more money if there is a community ideal. “Solidarity in Europe cannot be a one way and my opinion is clear that when it will be time to discuss funding planning, it will be impossible not to take account of the fact that some see solidarity as being one way”. When Renzi expressed similar sentiments at last week’s European summit, Hungary accused him of attempting “political blackmail”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mobile Phones Are ‘Cooking’ Men’s Sperm
Study finds sperm levels of men who kept their phones in their pocket during the day were quite seriously affected in 47 per cent of cases
Fertility experts are warning man that using a mobile for as little as an hour a day is “cooking sperm” and lowering level significantly.
The new study shows that having a mobile phone close to the testicles — or within a foot or two of the body — can lower sperm levels so much that conceiving could be difficult.
The findings have led to a leading British fertility expert to advise men to stop being addicted to mobile phones.
The study — by highly respected specialists — found that sperm levels of men who kept their phones in their pocket during the day were seriously affected in 47 per cent of cases compare to just 11 per cent in the general population.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia: 45,000 New Job Positions Thanks to EU Funds
Smerkolj: 4 mld Eur funding received in 2007-2013
(ANSA) — LJUBLJANA — Around 45,000 new jobs and over 3000 SMEs have been opened in Slovenia thanks to the EU funds it received since becoming a member country in 2004, cohesion policy minister Alenka Smerkolj said in her Parliament address.
“There is not a single municipality in Slovenia which has not received EU funding for its projects”, Smerkolj said, underlining that the country has used 95% of the 4.1 billion euros it was entitled to for the 2007-2013 period. Slovenia will be entitled to 3.2 billion euros in EU funds during the 2014-2020 period.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Striking Assertions of David Cameron With Rebuttals of Tories and EU Leaders
Yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show to sell his referendum deal. Here, Daily Mail Political Editor James Slack analyses those claims.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK-EU: In or Out? There is No ‘No’
The Euro-project is in short a sinister exercise in top-down anti-democratic political and economic measures imposed on hundreds of millions of people who do not understand what it means and who have not been informed what happens if they wish to say no. Worse, they are told there is no “ No” because the institutions have not been created to travel the other way. It’ s a one-way track to Euro-Nirvana.
The Euro-project is also a study in the implementation of a Neo-Liberal Regime which benefits the corporations and which has seen small businesses vaporize from the streets. Gone is the butcher, gone is the baker, gone is the greengrocer selling local produce and in come the Big Spaces which offer fabulous GM goods smothered and charged with chemicals, deep-frozen meat products made in Vietnam, and Japan and Peru and Nigeria, washed with ammonia, compressed into blocks and frozen for years before being marketed as 100% Prime British Beef!
Nobody was asked, nothing was explained, nobody wanted it and nobody wants it. Belonging to the European Union is like having two choices: do or die.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Possible Political Crisis in Albania
President questions constitutionality of premier’s decisions
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — Albania’s president Bujar Nishani questioned the lawfulness of the premier Edi Rama’s recent decision to replace two ministers (finance and agriculture).
Nishani required the opinion of the Constitutional court on the matter, opening the way to a possibile political crisis in the country. But according to some, political games might be at stake, with this move potentially serving Nishani to gain time.
The minister for Parliament relations, Ermonela Felaj, told Top Channel that Nishani could be dismissed from his function “if he chooses to act like a militant of his own party”, by not confirming the premier’s decrees by Tuesday as required by the Constitution. Nishani became president in 2012 thanks to the majority vote of the right wing Democratic party which has since passed to the opposition, after Edi Rama’s Socialist party had won the 2013 parliamentary elections.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco and Lombardy Trade 300 Mln First 9 Months 2015
Casablanca mission for foodstuffs increasingly on Lombard tables
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, FEBRUARY 22 — Trade between Morocco and the region of Lombardy was worth more than 300 million euros in the first nine months of 2015, officials said Monday.
While exports from Italy declined by 13% imports from Morocco were up by as much as 31%, according to figures released by the Milan Chamber of Commerce based on data from the Istat state-run statistics institute.
The agro-foods sector alone represents more than one third of imports (36.6%), increasing by 12.5% and worth more than 21 million euros.
Conserved fish and shellfish increasingly is being eaten in Lombardy, representing 78% of the total in the agro-food sector, an increase of 12.8% compared to 2014. But imports of meat and meat-based products also are on the increase in the northern Italian region (7.5% of the total, up 9.4%) as well as fruit and vegetables (6.6%, up 49%).
Exports from Lombardy to Morocco are mainly machine products (20% of exports) as well as chemical products (18%, up 13.6%) and textiles (12%, up 2.3%).
The Milan Chamber of Commerce has opened registration for those interested in the Moroccan agro-foods market to go on a trade mission to Casablanca from March 7 to 9.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
US Libya Strike Probably Prevented IS Attack: Pentagon
A US air strike on an Islamic State training compound in Libya probably averted a mass shooting or a similar attack in Tunisia, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.
Friday’s bombardment of the jihadist camp in Libya killed dozens of people, likely including senior IS operative Noureddine Chouchane. Officials say he helped plot two devastating IS-claimed attacks in neighboring Tunisia last year…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Heavy Fighting Between Syrian Forces and ISIS North Syria
Combat for control of only communication line from Aleppo
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 22 — Heavy fighting was under way Monday between Syrian government troops backed by Russian warplanes and Isis islamist militia gunmen along the only communication route between the city of Aleppo and areas under government control in the rest of the country, local sources said.
Isis launched an attack along the road from Ithriya to Khanaser, southeast of Aleppo, trying to seize control of the village of Rasm an Nafal, said the sources, confirming a report by the national Observatory for human rights (Ondus).
Russian and Syrian warplanes provided support for loyalist forces, the sources said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iranian State Media Offer $600,000 Bounty for Salman Rushdie’s Head
Iranian state media have renewed the fatwa on Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, with a $600,000 bounty.
Forty state-run Iranian media outlets have jointly offered a new $600,000 bounty for the death of British Indian author Salman Rushdie, according to the state-run Fars News Agency.
Fars News Agency, which is closely affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was among the largest contributors, donating one billion Rials — nearly $30,000.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Militant Calls Family in Padova, ‘Wants to Return’
Police say Meriem Rehaily left Italy for Syria last July
(ANSA) — Venice, February 22 — A 19-year-old woman of Moroccan who left a town near Padua for Syria to allegedly join ISIS last July has called her family in Italy wanting to desert the terrorist organisation and return home, Italian daily Il Gazzettino reported.
The phone call reportedly took place a month ago and was intercepted by Italian anti-terrorist police who have engaged international protocols in an effort to protect both the woman, Meriem Rehaily, and her family.
Police said they believe Rehaily boarded a plane in Bologna in July headed for Turkey, where she then made her way to Syria.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Putin Threatens Turkey With Tactical Nukes
Moscow warns Ankara that it will fiercely resist an invasion of Syria
Award-winning Iran-Contra journalist Robert Parry has been told by a source close to Vladimir Putin that Russia has threatened Turkey with the use of tactical nuclear weapons if it launches a joint invasion of Syria with Saudi Arabia.
Writing for Consortium News, Parry warns that the risk of the United States and its allies escalating the conflict in Syria to rescue rebels who are now on the verge of defeat could spark “World War III”.
“If Turkey (with hundreds of thousands of troops massed near the Syrian border) and Saudi Arabia (with its sophisticated air force) follow through on threats and intervene militarily to save their rebel clients, who include Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front, from a powerful Russian-backed Syrian government offensive, then Russia will have to decide what to do to protect its 20,000 or so military personnel inside Syria,” writes Parry.
“A source close to Russian President Vladimir Putin told me that the Russians have warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow is prepared to use tactical nuclear weapons if necessary to save their troops in the face of a Turkish-Saudi onslaught. Since Turkey is a member of NATO, any such conflict could quickly escalate into a full-scale nuclear confrontation.”
Parry’s background suggests the information should be treated seriously. He covered the Iran-Contra scandal for the Associated Press and Newsweek and was later given a George Polk award for his work on intelligence matters.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Report: USA Fills Up the Middle East With Weapons
A third of all weapons exported are American, and nearly half of the US weapons end up in the Middle East, according to a new report by the Swedish peace research institute SIPRI.
– The US has a stated ambition to increase its exports, said Aude Fleurant at the Peace Research Institute in connection with the release of the SIPRI report Monday.
While regional tension and conflicts has increased in several parts of the world, the US is exporting weapons to 96 countries.
Saudi Arabia is the country that buys most of the American weapons, a country that for years has been criticized by human rights groups and other organizations.
But it is considerations other than human rights that form the US arms exports, Fleurant points out.
– I’m not saying that the United States doesn’t not care about human rights, but the export is determined by entirely different reasons. The goal is rather building alliances, regional balance of power and military presence. I know that the US has approached the East Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, and countries in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, says Fleurant, director of SIPRI’s research program for weapons and military spending.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Increasing Danger of Escalation
by Srdja Trifkovic
In the days and weeks ahead President Obama will face an important decision: whether to allow the conflict in Syria to escalate by approving Turkey’s and Saudi Arabia’s direct intervention, or to come to terms with the continued survival and expanding area of control of the government of Bashar al-Assad. Informed commentators note that this may be the most significant foreign policy decision the President will have to make after seven years in office:
With the Russian-backed Syrian army encircling Aleppo, cutting off Turkish supplies to rebels and advancing on the Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa, a panicked Saudi Arabia and Turkey have set up a joint headquarters to direct an invasion of Syria that could lead to a vast escalation of the war. And there’s only one man who could stop them: President Barack Obama.
The stakes are high: a Turkish-Saudi invasion would risk direct confrontation not only between their own ground forces and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) of the government in Damascus, but also—more significantly—between Russia and NATO, since Turkey is a member of the alliance. The known unknown is whether Washington has the clout to stop its “allies” in Ankara and Riyadh from presenting the U.S. with a fait accompli…
| — Hat tip: Srdja Trifkovic | [Return to headlines] |
The Media Are Misleading the Public on Syria
Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.
For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: “Don’t send your children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get the coffin.” Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers would have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted machinery to Turkey and sold it.
This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be restored. The militants’ hold on the city could be ending.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: New Cumhuriyet Scoop, Army Collaborating With ISIS
For frontier management. Newspaper editor in prison
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL — The Turkish army and ISIS are cooperating actively on the Turkish-Syrian border, the opposition Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reported Monday in an exclusive story headlined: “They managed the border with an Isis emir”.
The newspaper’s editor-in-chief Can Dundar and news editor Erdem Gul have been in prison for nearly three months after publishing in May an investigation into lorryloads of weapons crossing the border from Turkey to Syria with the help of the Turkish secret services. The prosecutor has asked for life in prison for both of them and the trial is due to start on March 25, 2016.
The latest scoop is based on telephone interceptions going back to November 2014 that emerged during an investigation by the Ankara public prosecutor’s office that susbsequently was transferred to the prosecutor’s office in Gazantiep on the frontier with Syria, in which Turkish officials have a friendly dialogue with Mustafa Demir, a Turkish jihadist considered to be in charge of Isis’s management of the border.
The conversations indicated frequent contacts with Turkish officials allowing fighters to cross the border as well as explosives then used in terrorist attacks in Turkey.
Among 27 people involved in the inquiry are Ilhami Bali, considered the mastermind of the suicide attack on a peaceful Kurdish demonstration at Ankara station October 10 in which 102 people were killed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Husband Sues Wife for ‘Insulting Erdogan’
A Turkish truck driver has lodged a legal complaint against his own wife for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pro-government media reported on Monday.
Ali D., 40, who married G.D. three years ago, warned his wife repeatedly not to curse at the president when he appeared on television, Yeni Safak newspaper reported on its website…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Kiev Nationalist Demonstrators Attack Russian Banks
Protesters also vandalized the offices of Rinat Akhmetov
(ANSA-AP) — KIEV — Nationalist demonstrators in Ukraine have attacked two offices of Russian banks in the capital amid observances of the second anniversary of the protests that brought down the Russia-friendly president. Demonstrators on Saturday threw rocks through windows at the offices of Alfa Bank and Sberbank and damaged furniture and equipment inside.
Protesters also vandalized the offices of the holding company of Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. Tens of thousands of people in the Ukrainian capital came to various observances of the “Day of the Heavenly Hundred.” The term refers to those who died during the months of protests in Kiev that culminated with President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing. Saturday is the second anniversary of the bloodiest day of the protests, when more than 50 people died from sniper fire.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Luthuania: Dramatic Drop of Russian Investments
500 mln Eur in 2015, four times less than a decade ago
(ANSA) — TRIESTE — The Russian investments in Lithuania have dropped dramatically over the past decade, local business daily, Verslo Å1/2inios, reported. The total amount of Russian investments in 2015 has been 500 million euros, equaling to four times less than ten years ago.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh: Dhaka: Wave of Accusations Against Daily Star Editor. Real Goal: Total Media Control
Over 75 complaints in a few days. “The Daily Star” is the most prestigious English language newspaper. Newspaper and editor accused of defamation of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and conspiracy to overthrow the government. Specious allegations, to intimidate all media and counter criticism of ruling Party.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) — Mahfuz Anam, founder and editor of “The Daily Star”, the most prestigious English language daily, received more than 75 complaints in a few days, compiled by courts in 50 different districts of Bangladesh.
These include 58 related to libel charges against the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and 17 that are charges of sedition and conspiracy to overthrow the government; They come from different people and diverse institutions, all in some way connected or eager to show support of the ruling party, the Awami League, practically the only party in parliament, as the opposition parties withdrew from the elections in January 2014 .
The episode that caused this judicial avalanche dates back to nine years ago, when the country was under the control of a “special government”, composed of civilians but in reality in the hands of the military, following a long period of unrest and violence in the period that ran up to the parliamentary elections. The government, headed by former Bangladesh Central Bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, was in office for two years and justified its presence with the fight against corruption and the need to guarantee order to organize “free and fair elections” which in fact took place in January 2008, giving a brilliant victory to the Awami League. Tired of violence and uncertainty, the public welcomed the “special” government with confidence that it would keep his word to bring back democracy. At the time, an anti-corruption commission passed to the media details of interrogations and investigations concerning politicians and businessmen, that were largely published by all the media. “The Daily Star” published 11 of these reports all with evidence, seven of which regarded the current opposition and three which were related with the current ruling party, headed by Sheikh Hasina.
A short time later, the President of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Khaleda Zia, was arrested on charges of corruption, and later even Sheikh Hasina had to cross the threshold of the prison.
This year, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the newspaper’s foundation, on February 5, “The Daily Star” organized cultural events, round tables and debates, including one on modern journalism, in which the editor shared his ideas and ideals of freedom and independence which animate him, and also the difficulties in remaining faithful to them. Mahfuz Anam said it is easy to make mistakes, and admitted that he, too, during the period of the special government erred by publishing those reports without having carried out the necessary checks on reliability.
A few days later, at a sitting of the Parliament seven Awami League MPs vehemently demanded the arrest of the journalist and the closing of the newspaper, saying that the publication was at the origin of the plot that led to the military power, and had plotted for the arrest of Shekh Hasina. In a calm self defence, “The Daily Star” re-published a long article published immediately after the arrest of Sheikh Hasina with clear and courageous criticism of the government for this and other moves, which were not the right way for the promised return to democracy.
Soon after, complaints started to come, with reactions (that appear rather timid) by other journalists and civil rights organizations. It should be noted that at that time those reports were disseminated by almost all media, and only now, as a result of a sincere, spontaneous sharing, has this absolutely unreal and pretentious “case” arisen, against only one media outlet and its editor.
The Prime Minister remains silent. Her son, who lives in the United States, has instead stepped in and presented the admissions of Mahfuz Anam as evidence that he had knowingly published falsehoods designed to ruin the political career of his mother and condemn it.
The British BBC radio has broadcast a report in which he expressed the belief that this massive attack is part of a trend of the current ruling party, that wants to introduce heavy check on information and intimidate the media, pushing them towards a self censorship which includes even the most balanced and correct criticism.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Joko Widodo administration plans changes to Law 33-2012, which set up an anti-corruption commission. For Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Confucian leaders, parliament seeks to weaken investigators’ powers to cover corrupt politicians. Indonesia ranks 88th (out of 168) on corruption index.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Changes to anti-corruption legislation “is manipulated by political interests. One of the purposes is to allow politicians involved — for embezzlement, collusion with businessmen etc. — to inflate the cost of state projects and acquisitions, especially with respect to the recent infrastructure projects promoted by President Joko Widodo,” said Fr Edy Purwanto, executive secretary of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI).
Speaking to AsiaNews, the clergyman said that the leaders of all religions, except for the Protestant Synod, joined Muhammadiyah (the country second largest Islamic organisation) to criticise changes proposed by President Widodo to the law that set up the Anti-Corruption Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, KPK), thus weakening it.
According to Transparency International’s latest data (2015), Indonesia ranks 88th out of 168 countries in terms of the ‘Corruption Perceptions Index’ — the latter ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. In terms of ‘Control of corruption’, which reflects perceptions of the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, Indonesia scores -0.7 on a -2.5/+2.5 range where the higher score indicates strong control of corruption.
In recent years, the KPK brought to justice many provincial governors as well as leading government officials, like the Sports minister, the Religious Affairs minister, and, in the latest case, the Energy and Resources minister. All of them served in the administration of President Yudhoyono (2009-2014).
In their message, religious leaders back current KPK head Agus Rahardjo, who said that he would resign if government reforms were adopted. Rahardjo added that he appreciated the support of religious leaders, promising that he would fight attempts to weaken the existing legislation (Law N. 33:2012). In his view, the latter is needed to control the level of corruption in the country, which otherwise is likely to increase dramatically.
For his part, after meeting with lawmakers, President Widodo decided to postpone the discussion of reform.
Muhammadiyah head Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said that religious groups and activists fear the creation of a “supervisory body,” which may veto KPK’s actions, from wiretapping to arrests. If denied these powers, the KPK would be ineffectual.
“Together with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Confucians,” the Bishops’ Conference has always said that it is opposed to government and parliament plans to weaken the KPK,” Fr Purwanto noted. “The Catholic Church joins political parties, observers and civil society groups to support the KPK and avoid attempts to change the law.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Factories Are Accused of Blending Goat’s Wool With Rat’s Fur
Luxury cashmere jumpers may not be what they seem with evidence of cheap, alternative materials — even rat fur in one case — being woven into garments at factories in China, it is claimed.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Against China: Overcapacity in Heavy Industries is Wreaking “Far-Reaching” Damage
The Asian giant’s steel industry manufactures more than the next four largest producers combined — Japan, India, the US, and Russia — the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a report, warning that more than 60 per cent of China’s aluminium industry had negative cash flow.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — China’s overcapacity in heavy industries is wreaking “far-reaching” damage on the global economy, with steel production “completely untethered” from market demand, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said on Monday.
The Asian giant’s steel industry manufactures more than the next four largest producers combined — Japan, India, the US, and Russia — the chamber said in a report, warning that more than 60 per cent of China’s aluminium industry had negative cash flow.
And in only two years, its cement production equalled the amount produced in the United States during the entire 20th century.
“China has not followed through on the attempts it has made over the last decade to address overcapacity,” chamber president Joerg Wuttke said.
The issue has led to trade tensions between the world’s second-largest economy and developed countries that accuse it of dumping in their markets.
The EU launched inquiries this month into imports of Chinese steel, with trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem warning: “We cannot allow unfair competition from artificially cheap imports to threaten our industry.”
This month, the Luxembourg-based world leader in steelmaking, ArcelorMittal, blamed China for a colossal US billion loss in 2015, at a time when thousands of jobs are being cut across the industry.
On February 15 thousands of European steelmakers descended on the EU capital Brussels demanding that officials do more to stop the flood of cheap imports from China.
However, many Chinese steel firms are also losing money, and Beijing has announced plans to cut production by as much as 150 million tonnes over the next five years.
Beijing hopes to soak up overcapacity by selling its excess production to markets in Central Asia and the Middle East as part of President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt. One Road” plan, which has been touted as a revival of ancient Silk Road trade routes.
However, those markets were not big enough to absorb China’s overcapacity, Wuttke said.
It “is a complete mismatch, it will not put even a minor dent in the overcapacities in China”, he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Finland’s Anti-Migrant ‘Soldiers of Odin’ Patrols Spread to Norway
Volunteer street patrols calling themselves the Soldiers of Odin and claiming to protect locals from asylum seekers walked the streets of several Norwegian towns this weekend, as the group founded in Finland branches out across northern Europe.
Dozens of men, some wearing black bomber jackets emblazoned with the group’s Viking helmet logo, gathered on Saturday night in the streets of Stavanger, Drammen and Kristiansand, the group said Monday.
“We want the streets to be safe, we want to get rid of the delinquency we see in Norway today which the police are unable to address,” the group’s Norwegian spokesman Ronny Alte told AFP…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
George Soros Calls on EU to Bankrupt Itself in Order to Destroy Itself
Soros writes in “The Case for Surge Funding”:
‘Important progress was made at the donors’ conference for Syrian refugees convened in London on Feb. 4. But much more remains to be done.’
‘The international community is still vastly underestimating what is needed to support refugees, both inside and outside the borders of the European Union. To deal with the refugee crisis, while putting the EU’s largely unused AAA borrowing capacity to better use, requires a paradigm shift.’
‘Rather than scraping together insufficient funds year after year, it is time to engage in “surge funding.” Spending a large amount of money up front would be far more effective than spending the same amount over several years. Front-loading the spending would allow us to address the most dangerous consequences of the crisis — including anti-immigrant sentiment in receiving countries and despondency and marginalization among refugees — more effectively. Making large initial investments would help tip the economic, political, and social dynamics away from xenophobia and disaffection, and toward constructive outcomes that benefit refugees and the recipient countries alike.’
Translation: you must bankrupt your countries even further or else we’ll call you racist “xenophobes” for not wanting to be overrun by foreigners going on raping sprees
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
‘It’s a Vanity Project’: Liberals Lied to Canadians — And to the ‘Refugees’ They Promised to Help
Hard to know what to believe about the Liberal’s refugee rush other than, they’ll bring large numbers of Syrian refugees to Canada as fast as they can — to hell with whether it’s good for Canada, our local communities or the refugees themselves.
The more I find out about how they’re handling this file, the more convinced I am that it’s just about fulfilling an ill conceived election promise so they look good.
Yesterday, I reported the shocking revelation from Martin Bolduc of the Canada Border Services Agency who testified at the Commons Public Safety Committee that “very few” of the refugees we’ve brought over came from those “squalid” refugee camps we heard so much about…
| — Hat tip: LLS | [Return to headlines] |
Norwegian Government: We Will Abandon International Law if Sweden Collapses
Norway is ready to abandon the Geneva Convention if Sweden collapses. The border will be closed by force, and Swedish refugees will be rejected without the possibility to seek asylum. “We are prepared for the worst,” says Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
There is such an imminent danger that the Schengen agreement, and the asylum system in Sweden will break down, that Norway must have an emergency legislation in place in case it happens, believes Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Therefore, she has crafted a law that will allow for Norwegian authorities to reject asylum seekers who do not come directly from a conflict area.
This means that asylum seekers who want to come to Norway from Russia, but also from the other Nordic countries, will be denied the right to seek asylum, which otherwise is anchored in the UN Refugee Convention.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Orban: Let’s Close Borders, If Necessary, Even With Romania
Hungary’s prime minister, it’s the right choice
(ANSA) — BUDAPEST — “The closure of borders is the right choice and we will continue to keep our borders with Serbia and Croatia closed, and if necessary we will close even our border with Romania”. Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban defends his choices regarding the migrant crisis at the press conference held after the summit. “In Brussels they said that we must defend the external borders of Europe and that migrants must be stopped”, he added, underlining that “Hungary will contribute to close southern borders of Macedonia and Bulgaria”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Renzi Repeats Threat of EU Funding Cut Over Migrants
Solidarity can’t be one way, says premier
(ANSA) — Rome, February 22 — Premier Matteo Renzi on Monday reiterated his threat to push for cuts in EU funding to member States who refuse to help out with the refugee-migrant crisis.
“Every year we put in 20 billion euros (to the EU budget) and we get 12 in European funds, so we are net contributors,” Renzi told foreign reporters. “At this point, you either do like (former British Prime Minister Margaret) Thatcher and say ‘I want my money back’ or, (if you are) like us, you are willing to put in more money if there is a community ideal. “Solidarity in Europe cannot be a one way and my opinion is clear that when it will be time to discuss funding planning, it will be impossible not to take account of the fact that some see solidarity as being one way”. When Renzi expressed similar sentiments at last week’s European summit, Hungary accused him of attempting “political blackmail”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Shelter for 120 Gay Refugees to Open in Berlin
Germany will on Tuesday open a shelter for homosexual refugees with space for more than 120 people, the association behind the project said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Marcel de Groot, who runs the Schwulenberatung advisory centre which is responsible for the project, said the Berlin shelter will house gay, lesbian and transsexual migrants.
Many gay asylum seekers come from countries where their sexual orientation “is considered a crime,” de Groot said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Renzi Falters as Catholics Squeeze Italy’s Gay Unions Bill
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi admitted Monday he may have to surrender key parts of the gay civil unions bill if he has any chance of overcoming Catholic dissent to get it through parliament.
The draft law has run into stiff opposition not only from Italy’s right wing, but also from the government’s coalition partner, the New Centre Left, and members of the premier’s own centre-left Democratic Party (PD)…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Liberal Youth of Sweden: Allow Incest and Necrophilia
The Liberal Youth of Sweden (LUF) is the youth wing of the Swedish Liberal People’s Party.
And now LUF wants to allow incest and necrophilia in Sweden.
“The only thing we have decided on concerns sex between siblings, not between parents and children.”
At Sunday’s annual meeting in Stockholm, they voted on a number of proposals.
Two of the proposals were if incest and sex with the dead should be allowed, reports Göteborgs-Posten.
– The current legislation does not protect anyone, we think it should be okay for consenting siblings over 15 years to have sex with each other, says LUF Stockholm district’s Cecilia Johnsson…
What else was on the agenda?
– Everyone should have control over their body, even when one is dead. It could be given to research. But also to others to have sex with one’s body when one is dead.
Where are you on these questions?
– I’m for both proposals.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
..” all migrants coming from Sweden will be deported without being allowed to apply for asylum. ”
That’s the only correct solution. It had to be applied 50 years ago. We mentioned it 50 years ago. How come prime what? Prime minister understands axioms 50 years later.
But probably it is too late. Disastrous wars will take their course, just we can’t prevent them as we coud not prevent what traitors have been doing over the last 50 years of inviting invaders so that they would get high positions in the UN and other organizations that made a mess of Europe and the west.
The sooner this EU charade is called off the fewer citizens and substance of our countries will be destroyed and slaughtered by these sick Muslim curs. What will it take? Muslims have have no real values other than to gang devalue, degrade and destroy anything that will give a cheap and bloody thrill. They caste the dark shadow of the Devil, death and filth wherever they are not resisted. Would you take s taxi, ride a bus or accept food from one of your absolute outright in your face enemies. Yes? Think again.
“Prime Minister Erna Solberg warns that Norway will have to abandon international law if the political order in Sweden collapses. ”
Wow! What a thing to say.
How can she even consider such a thing. As the likes of Erna Solberg and the rest of the European political establishment have been saying since the end of WWII, “Taking everything into consideration immigration is beneficial…” And given that Sweden has welcomed proportionately more immigrants than any other European country, it is hard to understand Ms Solberg’s concern.
I thought Sweden had already abandoned international law and just about every other law and gone full bore naked ape. Well you sure did show them.
Manatthepub, you’ve been in the pub too long!
May I respectfully remind you (because usually I like your comments) that Norway, unlike the other Nordic countries, is not a member of the E.U. and further, has a right wing government, again unlike the other Nordic countries.
As I’ve been saying to anyone who would listen, when it all goes ‘pearshaped’ in Sweden, as it must, where will all the third world rabble go? Why, Norway of course; it’s right there, with a long, undefended border! Erna is dead right, though personally I’d almost given up hope she would do or say anything to rectify the situation; she must have begun to listen to her Finance minister Siv Jensen, leader of FrP, who wants no more ‘immigrants’–and wants to get rid of all those who have infested Norway!
‘The Girls’ may finally have begun to start undoing all the chaos unleashed on Norway by Stoltenberg, Støre, and other traitors. What a pity the other Nordic countries are not following suit.
Hi. Knew Norway was not a member of the eu but assumed its leaders were of a similar ilk to the eu lot. Glad to be corrected on that. One can never be in the pub too long…
“One can never be in the pub too long…” And yes, just wasn’t thinking on that one! Thanks.
Europeans talking about abandoning international law? That’s like the pope committing blasphemy.
Oh, well I guess that’s happening too.
The Muslim with the bag over the head or the unshaven visage or any iMams is the ideologue who is most likely to go off in jehad duty time at any moment anywhere?
The first enemy is Leftism, next is your own government, next is Brussels, then Islam. Good people are always coming from behind when the hour is desperate. Much ground to catch up quickly.
Yes. Those are the priorities. Leftism hides behind immigrants in general and Muslims in particular. Leftism has no real interest in Islam other than its function as a shield to hide behind when ‘the natives get restless’.
Yes – first the left then recalibrate.
There’s an excellent interview with Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the ‘Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations’ in the Times of Israel 23 Feb. It covers mass muslim immigration to Europe, the end of the West, the Muslim Brotherhood and related issues.
I don’t know how to post a link, but suggest googling ‘Malcolm in the Middle’, David Horovitz, Times of Israel.
Or go to http://www.timesofisrael.com and scroll down.
Here it is. http://www.timesofisrael.com/malcolm-in-the-middle/
Thanks Steven!
Baron – do you support the CounterJihad website by virtue of linking the CSP CounterJihad article?
I support whatever CSP does, in general. This particular site apparently considers “Islamism” to be distinct from Islam. That’s sure to give Hesperado the heebie-jeebies, but not me. It’s a position I don’t agree with, but one I consider acceptable within a broad Counterjihad alliance.
Very well – thanks.