Economists Warn Another Financial Crisis on the Way
Nonpartisan Group Led by Nobel Winner Calls for Stronger Financial Reforms
Even as many Americans still struggle to recover from the country’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, another crisis — one that will be even worse than the current one — is looming, according to a new report from a group of leading economists, financiers, and former federal regulators.
In the report, the panel, that includes Rob Johnson of the United Nations Commission of Experts on Finance and bailout watchdog Elizabeth Warren, warns that financial regulatory reform measures proposed by the Obama administration and Congress must be beefed up to prevent banks from continuing to engage in high risk investing that precipitated the near collapse of the U.S. economy in 2008.
The report warns that the country is now immersed in a “doomsday cycle” wherein banks use borrowed money to take massive risks in an attempt to pay big dividends to shareholders and big bonuses to management — and when the risks go wrong, the banks receive taxpayer bailouts from the government.
“Risk-taking at banks,” the report cautions, “will soon be larger than ever.”
Without more stringent reforms, “another crisis — a bigger crisis that weakens both our financial sector and our larger economy — is more than predictable, it is inevitable,” Johnson says in the report, commissioned by the nonpartisan Roosevelt Institute.
The institute’s chief economist, Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz, calls the report “an important point of departure for a debate on where we are on the road to regulatory reform.”
The report blasts some of Washington’s key players. Johnson writes, “Our government leaders have shown little capacity to fix the flaws in our market system.” Two other panelists, Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT, and Peter Boone of the Centre for Economic Performance, voiced similar criticisms.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner “oversaw policy as the bubble was inflating,” write Johnson and Boone, and “these same men are now designing our ‘rescue.’“
The study says that “In 2008-09, we came remarkably close to another Great Depression. Next time we may not be so ‘lucky.’ The threat of the doomsday cycle remains strong and growing,” they say. “What will happen when the next shock hits? We may be nearing the stage where the answer will be — just as it was in the Great Depression — a calamitous global collapse.”
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Plans for European Economic Government Gain Steam
With Greek finances dragging down the euro, calls for coordinated fiscal policy within the common currency zone have become more frequent. Now, Germany and France have presented a paper outlining what such a regime might look like. Increased monitoring is at the top of the priority list.
Up until just a few months ago, it wasn’t easy to find people on the Continent who were seriously skeptical about the euro. The European common currency had performed well during the financial crisis and had steadily strengthened against the dollar. Indeed, the only concern was that the dollar would become too weak, thus making euro zone exports unaffordable.
With Greek finances a shambles, however, the weaknesses of the common currency regime have been exposed for all to see this winter. First among them: there is no policy tool to mandate fiscal responsibility in the 16 countries that use the euro — a significant Achilles’ heel for the currency’s stability.
With Greece dragging the euro down, however, the concept of an economic government for the euro zone is gaining momentum. Indeed, the German and French Finance Ministries have developed a draft plan that would significantly strengthen financial policy cooperation in the EU.
The plan, which has been seen by SPIEGEL, calls for increased monitoring of individual member states’ competitiveness so that action can be taken early on should problems emerge. States which have pegged their currencies to the euro — like Denmark or the Baltic countries — will likewise be monitored.
‘Candid and Serious’
The plan also calls for the European Commission to ensure that the euro group spends more time addressing the finances of its member states. In particular, the paper demands that euro group finance ministers “take more time for candid and serious discussions on the goal of a functioning currency union.” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde have sent their plan to Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the euro group. The idea is to be discussed at the next meeting of euro zone finance ministers in mid-March.
In a Monday interview with the German business daily Handelsblatt, Juncker voiced support for the idea of greater economic oversight of euro zone members. “We need a European economic government in the sense of strengthened coordination of economic policy within the euro zone,” he said. “The Greece case makes it clear.”
Juncker said that the euro group will examine divergences in the competitiveness of euro zone countries in March. Recommendations for reform will then be transmitted to each country with the expectation that national governments will formulate proposals to eliminate those divergences. The euro zone, Juncker said, will closely monitor the process.
Many have pointed to a lack of common financial policy among countries belonging to the European common currency as a significant weakness for the euro. Indeed, Greece’s current problems, which include a budget deficit of 12.7 percent of gross domestic product and €300 billion in sovereign debt, have led to a significant weakening of the euro against the dollar. Furthermore, after years of at times painful social reforms in countries like Germany, the willingness in Europe to come to Greece’s aid is tepid at best.
Assert Control
An early idea for a common European economic policy, voiced by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in early February, called for forcing countries to institute structural reforms under pain of financial sanctions. Greece currently finds itself in a comparable position, with the EU closely monitoring Greek reforms and demanding deep spending cuts. Greece aims to cut its budget deficit by four percentage points this year with the eventual goal of dropping below the euro zone ceiling of 3 percent by 2012.
In a syndicated column, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also threw his support behind a European economic government. “The euro, which turned out to be the critical tool for defending European interests in this crisis, will now be subjected to an endurance test directed at the soft political heart of its construction,” Fischer wrote. He urges that the French and German governments establish a financial oversight body with the teeth to assert control over the finances of member states.
“What is necessary now,” he writes, “is statesman-like leadership — and even more so stateswoman-like leadership. Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are facing the defining challenge of their respective terms in office.”
| — Hat tip: Henrik | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Against Crisis, Goverment Has Recourse to Building
(ANSAmed) — MADRID — The Spanish government is having recourse once again to construction in order to come out of the crisis, and to create 350,000 new jobs in the next two years. This is one of the measures that the Socialists will negotiate with the other parties in order to arrive, in the course of two months, at the establishment of an agreement against the crisis. The priorities: the creation of jobs before a rising unemployment that, by February, had surpassed 4,130 million persons, double the European average, and new incentives to stimulate the economy. Among these, discharges from debt and the reduction of the VAT to 8% and of personal income tax to 10% for the renovations. The objective is to recover in two years 350,000 of the more than one million job places lost in the building sector since the start of the crisis. All the major Spanish dailies are highlighting these proposals, formulated in the anti-crisis commission, by the vice-premier Elena Salgado. The papers, however, use the news to show how they do not follow the direction of the change of the productive model promoted by the executive branch, led by Jose’ Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Among other measures, a new plan to extend credit to small and middle-sized businesses, up to 200,000 euros, directly through the Official Credit Institute (ICO); a “public bank” to give a breath of fresh air to the companies asphyxiated by a lack of credit. In addition, there will be a cut of 4% of the personal expenses for City Halls and Regions; the payment of suppliers within 60 days, reduced to 30 for Public administration, and an energy model stretching until 2020, in which the sources of eolic and solar energy have greater weight. “We wanted to end construction speculation, but not construction in general, because building is a very important sector” for the Spanish economy, explained Salgado, in justifying the new wager by the executive branch, regarding housing. With regard to the construction of 800,000 new dwellings per year in the golden period of housing speculation, and up until 2007, the government estimates that 200,000 new homes per year is the quota that will grant the sector survival and will contribute to the growth of the GNP. Today there are 500,000 new accommodations that find no market demand. For the Popular opposition party, the measures proposed by the executive branch are “deluding”, as the spokeswoman for the Chamber of deputies, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, underlined today. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Crisis Leads to Increased Mistrust
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 2 — The crisis and the high unemployment level, with over 4.130 million people without work, are causing the Spanish people’s diffidence and rejection of immigrants to rise. This was unveiled in the report ‘The evolution of racism and xenophobia in Spain’, produced by the Observatory of the Ministry for Work and Immigration. Despite the fact that fewer immigrants are currently arriving in Spain, due to the economic crisis and greater controls at the borders, the acceptance of foreigners depends ever more upon the need for work and their capacity to integrate. Thirty-seven percent of the 2,800 individuals interviewed in the survey, completed annually by the Observatory, are resistant to immigration: 33% tolerate it, while 30% gave no definite answer. Forty-two percent of responders consider the laws to be “too tolerant” that currently regulate the entrance and stay of immigrants into the country. This is in respect to a small 5% that considers them instead to be “too hard”. On the other hand, 39% of those questioned consider it to be “very acceptable” for “the immigrants who are legally residing in the country, but who have committed crimes, to be expelled from the country”; while for 29% it is “fairly acceptable”, a percentage that has increased 18 points with regard to response to the same question in 2005. Regarding the rights to be recognised to immigrants, those concerning the immigrants’ right to vote receive less favour from Spaniards; followed by those to be re-united with their families, which dropped from 86% agreement in 2007 to 80% in 2009. In answer to the question: for what group of immigrants do you experience most compassion, one out of every three persons interviewed declined to answer, and one out of four answered, “none”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ayloush and Lafferty: Rude, Unpopular Speech Worth Defending
Eleven students heckled Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren at different intervals at a UC Irvine event recently and set off a debate on what constitutes free speech and when it should be protected.
The right to freely express oneself, particularly against government policies, is a cherished freedom protected by our Constitution. That’s why we were not surprised when people protested at health care town halls, when a congressman interrupted the president’s address to Congress, or when audience members disrupted a speech by former White House lawyer John Yoo at UCI in 2005.
While some may argue that the students’ tactics against Oren were loud and rude, our opinions on the politeness of such conduct are irrelevant. The students merely voiced their passionate discontent on a grave political and moral matter they deemed worthy of their activism.
Israel has undertaken a massive public-relations campaign to salvage its negative image over its violations of international humanitarian and human-rights law, and Oren — as the Israeli government’s representative — must have anticipated vocal audience opposition, the same way supporters of Apartheid-era South African government speaking at U.S. campuses did in the 1980s.
Though their protest was delivered in a loud and shocking manner intended to express the gravity of Israel’s immoral policies and actions, the students were nonviolent, nonthreatening and peacefully left the public gathering as soon as they spoke.
Some try to characterize this incident as a case of Oren’s right to free speech. News reports and videos of the event clearly show that his talk was not wholly disrupted. The interrupting remarks amounted to no more than 10 seconds by each student, barely two minutes total, versus Oren’s allotted time of about an hour. Oren left the stage for some time, but then returned and, despite shout-outs from supporters and opponents, was able to continue his speech.
Public speakers, including ourselves, know that speaking on highly charged topics invites opposing viewpoints. Our own public appearances over the past 15-plus years have been interrupted by jeers, heckling and protests. And, although we don’t enjoy being subjected to that, we know that the freedom exercised by some who rudely interrupt us is the same that protects our right to publicly and freely speak our minds on important political matters.
We are troubled to see that, for exercising their right to free speech, the 11 students at UCI were cited by campus police and faced the threat of disciplinary action, including possible expulsion, not only by the university, but also potential criminal charges by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
It is incomprehensible that an institution of higher learning that claims to engage in and promote the free exchange of ideas now seeks to punish its students for peacefully expressing political views, however unpopular, at a student-organized event.
Over the years, there have been countless instances of protest activities during campus speeches, including at UCI, with no comparable disciplinary action taken that we know of. By disproportionately and selectively punishing one set of protesters and not others, including the counterprotesters at the same event, who cursed, threatened and even assaulted students, the university has chosen to censure a particular set of political views — the legitimate criticism of Israel.
Freedom of speech is a two-way street, and it must not be restricted to what is popular, respectful, or appropriate speech, though such guidelines might be preferred by us and others. Oren has the right to speak, even if it is to justify Israel’s occupation and brutal policies. Similarly, the students have the right to dissent, even discourteously.
Both sides exercised that right.
We urge the university to drop all charges and disciplinary actions against the 11 students and redouble efforts to reach out to all students, including Muslim and Jewish students. Not doing so will cause a chilling effect on First Amendment rights on college campuses and our society at large, and leave many students feeling excluded and unwelcome.
| — Hat tip: heroyalwhyness | [Return to headlines] |
College Credit for 9th-Grade Ethnic Studies
San Francisco high school students, just months out of middle school, can start earning San Francisco State college credit this fall through a ninth-grade ethnic studies course.
Currently, five ethnic studies courses are offered at three high schools, but they offer only high school credits. The school board voted to expand the ethnic studies program last week, increasing the number of courses to at least 10 sections at five high schools.
To help with the added costs associated with expanding the program, San Francisco State offered to help train district teachers and assist with developing curriculum.
At a school board meeting last week, the head of the university’s Ethnic Studies program also promised that students would earn up to six college course credits for the high school freshman course — a rare opportunity for a 14-year-old.
The courses will become part of the California State University’s Step to College program, which has offered college credit for high school students across the state since 1985. Most of those courses require students to be juniors or seniors.
The program is designed for students who might not otherwise be considering college as an option, said Jacob Perea, dean of the School of Education, who runs the Step to College program at San Francisco State.
“We’re not really looking for the 4.4 (grade point average) students,” he said. “We’re looking for the 2.1 or 2.2 students.”
Students cannot fail the class. They either receive a “pass” grade or are withdrawn from the course if it appears they cannot pass, Perea said.
“All we do is give them an opportunity,” he said. “I do believe that (the ethnic studies) course is a course set up so the kids will come out of there with the kind of information that a freshman here taking an ethnic studies course will have.”
The content of the courses offered in the Step to College program are reviewed by CSU faculty to ensure that they’re equal to any offered at the university. The instructors teaching the courses are vetted and given university adjunct status while the course is in progress, Perea said.
But can ninth-graders really produce college-level work?
Perea acknowledged that asking them to write at a 12th- or 13th-grade level could be difficult, but added: “I doubt that we’ve ever had a student come through the program who shouldn’t have.”
The ethnic studies course “encourages students to explore specific aspects of identity on personal, interpersonal and institutional levels and provides students with interdisciplinary reading, writing and analytical skills,” district officials said in a news release about the expanded pilot program.
“I don’t ever learn about the accomplishments and contributions of the people who look like me and the members of my family,” said Balboa High School freshman Monet Cathrina-Rescat Wilson during public comment at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “How can I know who I can be if I don’t know who I am? Ethnic studies provides me with the foundation to learn who I am.”
| — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo | [Return to headlines] |
Hutchison Concedes in Texas Governor Primary
Driftwood, Texas (CNN) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry won his state’s Republican gubernatorial primary outright on Tuesday, avoiding a potentially costly runoff election against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
With returns showing the governor on pace for a resounding victory, Hutchison called Perry to concede the race shortly shortly after 9 p.m. Addressing supporters in Dallas, she asked Republicans to unite behind Perry.
“Now we must unite,” she said. “We must win Texas for Republicans.”
Perry’s win ended a yearlong intra-party fight that was billed from the start as a clash of Texas political titans but ended with a whimper as Hutchison struggled to fight a tide of anti-Washington sentiment among conservatives.
Perry, the longest serving governor in Texas history, is seeking a third full term in Austin. His opponent in the general election will be Democrat Bill White, the former Houston mayor who dispatched six opponents in the Democratic primary.
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Pelosi Laid Groundwork for Obama’s Transformation of America
Rational people may ponder how Pelosi can urge Democrats to vote for ObamaCare even if it means the end of their careers.
Like Pelosi, many of her Dem cohorts including Senators Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, Diane Feinstein among others, are long past their due date. In ending their careers for ObamaCare they have nothing to lose. How many of them will live out the rest of their lives in fabulous wealth? Are Dems being paid off with funds stolen from the American till during the destructive Obama administration?
[…]
Not long after Barack Obama was Barry Soetero in red diapers, Pelosi as Useful Idiot Numero Uno was already setting the stage for America’s transformation to a Socialist State.
Pelosi’s hogging of today’s stage as ObamaCare shill covers a past freedom lovers should never forget. For it was Pelosi who carefully shepherded Agenda 21 through Congress, ultimately calling on and getting President Bill Clinton’s help after laying the initial groundwork.
Back on March 29, 1993 Pelosi introduced a joint resolution (H.J. RES166) to renew the call for the United States to “assume a strong leadership role in implementing Agenda 21 and other Summit agreements”, eventually gathering 67 co-sponsors for her bill. Thirty of those sponsors are still in Congress; co-sponsors Ted Kennedy and John Murtha no longer here.
Agenda 21 architects were were former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Canadian UN Poster Boy Maurice Strong, among others. In layman’s terms Agenda 21 is a global sustainability document which, among many other things, helped set the stage for converting military installations around the world into globalist activity centers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Postal Service’s Emerging Model: Never on Saturday
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is increasing the pressure for dropping Saturday home delivery as it seeks to fend off massive financial losses.
Postmaster General John Potter is also expected to raise the possibility of higher rates Tuesday in a speech to postal-related businesses and officials.
The agency was $297 million in the red in period from October through December, usually its best season because of holiday mailings.
The Postal Service has previously proposed eliminating delivery six days a week, but got a cold reception in Congress. The renewed effort comes with a series of consultant reports supporting that idea, as well as other changes.
| — Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa | [Return to headlines] |
Running Against Bush, Running From Themselves
With his ratings plummeting and his administration coming undone, the Great Savior of the Democrats in the White House is more focused on finding ways to blame Bush and congressional Republicans for the current mess, than anything else. And that is predictable enough because the progressive left has built its identity around opposition more than anything else.
Even when in power, the left draws a picture of itself as perpetually embattled. That is the case in a democracy and even in a tyranny, such as the USSR or Cuba, which remained focused on fighting increasingly imaginary enemies. It is no surprise then that Obama can’t put down the left’s well-worn security blanket, because it is too much a part of his movement’s ideological identity.
The left’s identity is built on uprooting tradition, in the same way that the identity of the right is built on preserving it. The left’s love for “reform” and “revolution” are just different ways of expressing their desire to dramatically overthrow and overturn society and nations. Their core identity is tied into their belief that they are the revolutionary vanguard of the class struggle against the established powers. And when they are in power, they cling even harder to that identity, fighting new “established powers” to wage war against.
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The left has never had a great deal of use for Democracy. Like Islam, the left views popular elections as a useful tool for implementing their own rise to power, at which point popular elections are no longer relevant, because the popular will has already been asserted with their own victory. Which naturally makes them very sore losers, blaming election victories on either their own lack of radicalism or the “powerful interests” who are always standing in their way with their “vast right wing conspiracies”.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Stealing the Next Election
“STEALING THE NEXT ELECTION” surveys the various stratagems the far left is currently developing to consolidate power in the U.S. long-term. The list includes:
Universal voter registration: Now being secretly prepared by at least two prominent members of Congress, this is essentially a scheme to legalize voter fraud by shifting responsibility for registering to vote from the citizen to the government, meaning people are automatically registered to vote, based on DMV records, income-tax returns, welfare rolls, unemployment lists and other government databases.
Illegal immigrant registration: Since government databases contain names of non-citizens, not to mention mentally incompetent individuals and felons — factors that would ordinarily disqualify a person from voting in most states — universal registration would open the floodgates to fraud. And since many people own property in more than one location and pay taxes to numerous government entities, they would be afforded the opportunity to vote in multiple locations.
Amnesty: Disguised once again by euphemisms like “comprehensive immigration reform,” amnesty will create millions of new Democrat voters. As Obama adviser and SEIU executive vice president Eliseo Medina said recently regarding amnesty: “Can you imagine 8 million new voters who care about our issues and will be voting? We will be creating a governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle.”
Convicted felons voting: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late last year cleared the way for inmates to vote from prison. The court overturned a Washington state law prohibiting felons from voting until they are released and off parole, arguing state restrictions unfairly penalized minorities since they have a higher incarceration rate. Polls show felons overwhelmingly prefer Democrats.
Planting operatives in America’s statehouses: A subversive, Soros-backed group called the Secretary of State Project is gearing up to steal the 2012 election for Obama and congressional Democrats by installing left-wing Democrats as secretaries of state across the nation, from which posts they can help tilt the electoral playing field.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Rights & Democracy Dissidents Fired
Opposition to government’s choice for president grows
Three senior managers at the federal government’s human rights agency who were suspended for publicly declaring their lack of confidence in three Conservative appointees to their organization’s board of directors earlier this year have been fired.
The news was confirmed by lawyer Julius Grey, who is representing the three, on Tuesday.
Rights & Democracy, created under Brian Mulroney’s Conservative government to encourage democracy and monitor human rights around the world, has been in turmoil since the Harper government appointed new board members last year.
The new members challenged grants being made to three human rights organizations known to be critical of Israel’s human rights record.
Federal opposition politicians and the family of former president Rémy Beauregard, who died in January, are calling for an independent inquiry into the organization.
Since Beauregard’s death, almost every staff member of Rights & Democracy has signed a letter stating non-confidence in the interim president and two board members.
The organization’s director of communications, Charles Vallerand, director of resources and administration Marie-France Cloutier, and director of policy, planning and programs Razmik Panossian were suspended without pay in January after they submitted a letter to the media expressing their concerns.
Grey said the three plan to contest their dismissals.
“I don’t want to go into the details,” said Grey. “But it is my opinion, having read the notice, that it is completely illegal,” he said.
The interim president of the organization, Pierre Gauthier, declined to comment on the situation. A spokesman called the issue “a private matter.”
Nomination of president contested
Meanwhile, opposition to the federal government’s choice to replace Beauregard as president of Rights & Democracy continues to grow.
A leading Muslim group is adding its voice to those opposing the federal government’s choice to lead the Montreal-based human rights organization Rights & Democracy.
Groups are taking issue with the views of Gérard Latulippe, who has been nominated to serve as president of Rights & Democracy, contained in a document provided to a Quebec government commission studying the question of accommodations for religious and cultural minority groups. Latulippe’s document “promotes a false fear of Islam,” said Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of Canada’s Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Those views are inappropriate in a publicly-funded organization such as Rights & Democracy, said Gardee.
“They are not really reflective of the values that are enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he said.
Immigrants from Muslim communities don’t integrate as easily as Americans or Haitians, Latulippe told the Bouchard-Taylor Commission in the 38-page document, adding that Quebec’s immigration policies are leading to an “unnecessary risk of fostering terrorism from within.”
The document, submitted in 2007, also mentions accommodations made for the Hassidic community and the Sikh community.
Latulippe’s nomination as president of the organization last month by Foreign Affairs Minsiter Lawrence Cannon has been criticized by all of the opposition parties who accuse the Conservative government of politicizing an internationally recognized human rights organization.
Those concerns were reiterated by NDP MP Paul Dewar on Tuesday.
“If Mr. Cannon wants to rehabilitate Rights & Democracy, he’ll listen to the opposition parties when they say ‘sorry, but Mr. Latulippe’s not the guy to be president,’“ Dewar said.
Latulippe was the resident director of the National Democratic Institute in Haiti. He served with Cannon as a Liberal in the Quebec legislature and lost his bid for a federal seat in 2000 while representing the now defunct Canadian Alliance.
Cannon declined to comment on the situation. He is expected to make a final decision on Latulippe’s future shortly, his office said Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
€3000 Fine for Insulting Belgium
UKIP MEP Leader Nigel Farage was informed this afternoon by Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, that he had decided to fine him €3000 for his comments relating to Mr van Rompuy and Belgium. The fine represents 10 days pay, and is the maximum allowable under the rules of the European Parliament. Mr Buzek imposed it after Mr Farage declined earlier today to apologise for his comments.
Mr Farage said: “Free speech is an expensive business in the European Parliament.”
“I tried to talk to the president of the Parliament about freedom of speech, especially in Parliament from elected members, but he has asked me to apologise. He wants me to apologise to Herman Van Rompuy, He wants me to apologise to the European Parliament and he wants me to apologise to the people of Belgium. […]
“I will apologise to bank clerks the world over. If I caused them offence I am very sorry. But if I am not allowed to stand up and say that I think it is wrong that this man has got a job which pays him a salary bigger than Obama’s and that is because the Lisbon Treaty went through without us having a referendum… then what sort of democracy is there in this EU?”
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Diana West: Hijab Clarity, Western Salvation
Tomorrow, in municipal elections in Almere, the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ PVV party — Partij voor de Vrejheid, or Party for Freedom — is poised to emerge the big winner as polls show PVV winning as much as 30 percent of the vote.
A few days ago, Geert Wilders spoke in Almere, an excellent speech full of insights into the Dutch political scene in the wake of its government having fallen. Toward the end of the speech, Wilders describes how his burgeoning political power to reverse the Islamization process may manifest itself…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Five European States Back Burka Ban
More than half of voters in four other major European states back a push by France’s Nicolas Sarkozy to ban women from wearing the burka, according to an opinion poll for the Financial Times.
As Mr Sarkozy presses ahead with plans to ban the wearing of the burka in public places, the FT’s latest Harris poll shows the move is not just strongly supported in France, but wins enthusiastic backing in the UK, Italy, Spain and Germany.
The poll shows some 70 per cent of respondents in France said they supported plans to forbid the wearing of the garment which covers the female body from head to toe. There was similar sentiment in Spain and Italy, where 65 per cent and 63 per cent respectively favoured a ban
The strength of feeling in the UK and Germany may seem particularly surprising. Britain has a strong liberal tradition that respects an individual’s right to full expression of religious views. But here, some 57 per cent of people still favoured a ban. In Germany, which is also reluctant to clamp down in minority rights, some 50 per cent favoured a ban.
“This poll shows that the number of people in France opposed to the burka is going up and that is the product of debate on burka and national identity,” said Professor Patrick Weil, an expert on national identity at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. “But the figure is clearly going up in other countries in Europe like the UK as well, and that reflects the growing concern that there is about this issue in some parts of Europe.”
In the US, concerns about the issue are far less strong than in Europe. Just 33 per cent of Americans surveyed by Harris supported a ban, a far lower figure than the 44 per cent who said they supported it.
In Europe, while opposition to the burka was strong, few respondents said they were prepared to support the ban as part of a wider drive towards secularism in their country.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Premier’s Party Faces Woes in Lazio
PdL misses registration deadline for candidates
(ANSA) — Rome, March 1 — Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party, excluded from the ballot in Rome province in regional elections this month, on Monday accused the opposition Radical party of preventing it from registering its electoral list.
As it now stands, the PdL’s list will not appear on the ballot for the March 28-29 election in the Rome area because the electoral office said the centre right party had failed to hand in its list of candidates by the noon cutoff on Saturday.
The party’s appeal against the decision was rejected by a court on Sunday but the PdL on Monday turned to an appeals court, which is expected to rule on the issue within 48 hours.
If that appeal is turned down, the PdL could still take the case to the regional TAR court and then to the state administrative tribunal.
However, a final decision would have to come before March 13, when the electoral lists must be published. Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno called on President Giorgio Napolitano, who has expressed concern over the matter, to find a solution but a statement released by his office said it was up to the courts to decide. The PDL claimed that two members of the Radical party had fomented a row at the electoral office in a successful bid to prevent its representatives from handing in the documentation on time.
Grazia Volo, the lawyer who presented the appeal for the PdL, told reporters that party representatives were at the office “well before noon” but that electoral officials had “committed irregularities” by accepting the Radicals’ word they were late because they were standing “physically outside the office”. Volo accused electoral officials of unfairness, saying they had “favoured one party against another”.
PdL House Whip Fabrizio Cicchitto said there was proof that the PdL men were at the electoral office at 11.25. He warned that electoral officials had set a dangerous precedent with their decision.
“Not allowing all the parties to present their lists …means that democracy is at risk”.
Renata Polverini, a union leader who is the PdL candidate for president in the Lazio region — which includes the key Rome province — said she planned to leave the legal matter to party officials while continuing her campaign.
She is running against Radical party candidate Emma Bonino, a former European Union commissioner who is backed by most of the centre-left opposition, including the Democratic Party. Bonino said that the PdL’s attempt to pass off the two Radical Party representatives off as thugs was “an unacceptable lie”. “Frankly, (their version) is laughable and humiliating,” she added. Alemanno told reporters that if the country’s biggest political party was not allowed to run in the Rome area it would be “catastrophic”. Berlusconi, who is reportedly fuming with local party officials, said last week that the elections — in 13 of the country’s 20 regions — are of strategic importance for his government.
Introducing the four women the PdL has chosen as candidates for regional presidents, Berlusconi said voters would be asked “ to choose between can-do politics and the opposition’s talk”. The premier said he would personally come out to campaign with the centre-right candidates.
“I’ll make it clear (to voters) that they have to choose sides: it’s either the left or us”. The centre right had been optimistic of snatching Lazio away from the centre left after the region’s ex-president, Piero Marrazzo, was forced to resign in October in a sex and drugs scandal.
But if the PdL will be unable to run in the Rome province — the biggest in Lazio — the centre left may well keep the region. Meanwhile, Roberto Formigoni, the encumbent president of the Lombardy region, also ran into trouble with electoral officials who on Monday said his personal electoral list contained bureaucratic irregularities with some 500 signatures.
If the decision is upheld, Formigoni, who is backed by the PdL and the Northern League, will be unable to run with his personal slate, the opposition said. However, Semplifications Minister Roberto Calderoli, a Northern League heavyweight, told reporters he expected the problem would be resolved soon.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Senator Linked to Mafia Resigns
Di Girolamo denies involvement in vote rigging, laundering scam
(ANSA) — Rome, March 1 — A centre-right senator named in a money laundering phone scam and linked to a Calabrian mafia boss handed in his resignation on Monday, a few days before the Senate was expected to give the go-ahead for his arrest.
In a letter of resignation addressed to Senate Speaker Renato Schifano, Nicola Di Girolamo accused his colleagues of likening him to Lucifer and “cutting me to pieces”.
Di Girolamo rejected prosecutors’ charges that he had been elected to the Senate as representative for Italians abroad because of vote-rigging organised by the Calabrian Ndrangheta mafia.
“I was elected thanks to 24,500 voters …who were neither mafiosi or criminals,” said the senator with Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party, admitting though that “a small part” of those who voted for him could have been swayed by individuals “tainted” by mafia connections.
Di Girolamo said he was certain he would be able to clear himself when questioned by prosecutors, adding that he would place his trust in God.
The senator said “heaps of mud” had been dumped on him by the media who “painted me like a monster who had usurped his electoral mandate”, saying he was instead a “decent person unable to defend myself against the arrogance of liars and ill wishers”. Schifani urged the Senate last week to consider annulling Di Girolamo’s election because he also falsely claimed he lived abroad rather than in Rome and was eligible to run as a candidate for Italians abroad. Prosecutors say that in exchange for the vote rigging Di Girolamo helped the mafia launder huge sums.
The parties’ caucuses are expected to meet soon to decide on a date for voting by secret ballot to accept his resignation. On Thursday, the newsweekly L’Espresso published several pictures of an electoral dinner in 2008 where Di Girolamo is shown with ‘Ndrangheta chieftain Franco Pugliese and Rome businessman Gennaro Mokbel, the alleged ringleader of the scam.
Pugliese and Mokbel were arrested Tuesday while Di Girolamo’s arrest needed to be cleared by a Senate panel.
House Speaker Gianfranco Fini last week urged Senators to vote for Di Girolamo’s arrest while Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he was “shocked” by the evidence against him.
The opposition Democratic Party meanwhile called for a review of electoral procedures for MPs abroad.
Pugliese, who was sent on ‘internal exile’ to Mantua in the 1990s, is a top member of the Arena family, one of Ndrangheta’s most powerful clans.
He first came to the attention of police in 1997 when 12 billion lire in assets were seized including apartments, land and five cars in Calabria and a shopping centre near Bergamo.
His son Michele was among 34 mobsters arrested last November in an operation that uncovered three murders including the bazooka killing of Mob patriarch Carmine Arena in 2004.
Berlusconi said during the weekend he had never met Di Girolamo, adding that he had been put up as a candidate by Fini’s National Alliance party, which merged with the premier’s Forza Italia last year to form the PdL.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Court Rejects Berlusconi’s Request for Trial Delay
Milan, 1 March (AKI) — A Milan court on Monday rejected a request by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to excuse himself from a trial over tax fraud and false accounting. It was the first time the court ruled the 73-year-old billionare could not use his official commitments to avoid the trial, after an Italian cabinet meeting was scheduled on Monday.
Berlusconi argued he could not appear because of a cabinet meeting.
Berlusconi had tried to avoid the trial because of a what his government referrs to as a “legitimate impediment” , a legal term referring to prior commitments as prime minister that prevent him from attending court.
He has been facing ongoing legal action in two court cases and criticised judges on Friday, saying they were acting like a “band of Talibans”.
The prime minister’s lawyers failed to show that the cabinet meeting could not be delayed, the court said on Monday.
“It is a decision that is outside every system, a decision that goes against the advice, against the decisions of the High Court, against any kind of logic because a cabinet meeting is not avoidable day to day,” said Niccolo Ghedini, Berlusconi lawyer.
The trial centres on the acquisition of television rights by the broadcaster Mediaset, which is owned and controlled by the Berlusconi family.
Prosecutors have alleged that Mediaset paid an inflated price of 470 million euros to buy the rights from two offshore companies controlled by Berlusconi.
In a separate case involving the prime minister, a Milan court on Saturday adjourned the trial of Silvio Berlusconi accused of corrupting his former tax lawyer until 26 March.
Berlusconi, who did not attend the hearing, is on trial for allegedly paying 600,000 dollars to British tax lawyer David Mills in exchange for giving false testimony during two trials in the mid-1990s.
Mills’ parallel trial for the same crime was thrown out by Italy’s appeals court on Thursday because the 10-year statute of limitations had expired, even though the judges ruled he was guilty.
Berlusconi’s lawyers on Saturday asked the court to suspend the trial until details on the Mills ruling were published, but judges refused the request.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: A Mix of Racism, ‘Ndrangheta and Fear
Gian Antonio Stella talks to Federica Zoja
During a meeting held with students protesters from the Berchet High School in Milan, ResetDoc interviewed the Corriere della Sera leader-writer and correspondent Gian Antonio Stella, fresh from the success of his recent book Negri, froci, giudei & co. L’eterna lotta contro l’altro, a history of racism in Italy. This subject is currently headline news after recent events in Rosarno, a municipality in the Province of Reggio Calabria, that was the setting for clashes between central-African immigrants and members of the local community.
Why has Rosarno been given so much visibility by the media? Is it true that some politicians exploited those events?
Three different things happened in Rosarno. Firstly, fraud against Europe and the National Social Security Institute (INPS). The mafia clans had friends and relatives who, on paper, worked as labourers for fake agricultural cooperatives. Then they instead used black immigrants to do the work. This aspect was instantly seized on and exploited by anti-southerners in the North. Then, in Rosarno there was also exploitation by organised crime, which at a certain point decided to get rid of these people. The ‘Ndrangheta discovered that it was not worthwhile and it would be better to take European money and not pick the tangerines. There is not much difference between picking the fruit and paying ‘those people’ or leaving it on the trees and taking the benefits. They chose to get rid of the immigrants. Thirdly, there was also real racism that was triggered when those poor workers reacted. This was not the first time they had been shot at and they reacted, which resulted in a disaster because people were frightened and the media made the mistake of spreading fear. Finally, the fact that they threw the immigrants out of the town, rather than the ‘Ndrangheta ,was negative. There is food for thought in that. They shot at the immigrants and no one else.
All the inhabitants of Rosarno were portrayed as racists, while only a few days later people began to blame the ‘Ndrangheta.
A few days after these events in Rosarno, a listener called in on the programme Prima Pagina (broadcast on Radio3 and hosted by Stella) to emphasise another aspect, saying that the ‘Ndrangheta had added fuel to the flames. This is obvious and blatant. I am not saying that Calabria is racist, but there are racists feelings spreading and they exploded in Rosarno. This is a war between poor people as already seen in Ponticelli (Naples’ eastern suburbs).
Could one say that the north and the south are experiencing a parallel process regarding a perception of instability and danger coming from outside?
Sophocles said “For those who are afraid, everything rustles.” I believe that our country is afraid, confusedly experiencing a powerful disquiet. It is afraid of everything, the economic crisis, losing jobs, not receiving a pension, afraid of TB and the lice immigrants are said to have brought back to Italy and that had been eliminated. This ‘everything’ also includes fear of others, of those who take the jobs Italians no longer like, however, some listeners calling in on radio shows say “if this is way things are going, then our women can work as carers.” This is not true. No Italian woman is prepared to work six and a half days a week and be on duty at night too.
From a European perspective, in terms of intolerance of foreigners, is Italy now dealing with issues other countries have already experienced? Take France for example, where migration is better established because of the country’s colonial history. After seeing the French banlieues in flames, is it now our turn?
France has undoubtedly had great problems, considering that Le Pen (Jean-Marie Le Pen, president of the Front National extreme right party) reached the second ballot in the 2002 presidential elections. One can observe, however, that when a serious right-wing party takes up certain issues without racist overtones, it is possible to put into perspective phenomena such as Le Pen, whose dynamic phase is over. The French Gaullist right has never been racist. The only place where two ministers can call black people ‘bingo bongos’ is Italy.
Using the alibi of ‘provocation’, the borders of political language are constantly moved. Will alarm bells ever go off? And in the meantime the divide between the north and the south increases and anti-southernism is on the rise again…
Perhaps alarm bells will ring when Berlusconi realises what is happening. I believe he has very serious responsibilities. I do not think he is racist, but for tactical reasons he has legitimised the language used by the Northern League in a manner that is not allowed in any other European country. Take Dutch leader Geert Wilders, who is considered a racist in Holland. Well, his speeches would be considered moderate here. “I do not wish to throw anyone out. Holland already has many immigrants and one need to say ‘enough’. We have been too tolerant with those preaching intolerance.” That is what he says. The same applies to Pim Fortuyn (leader of the Leefbaar Nederland, Liveable Holland Party, murdered in 2002 by an extremist left-wing activist) who used to say that Holland’s great open policies had been exploited by ‘others’.
One must also emphasise that the Dutch have experienced very violent events, such as the murders of Fortuyn and Van Gogh. Such events are luckily still unheard of in Italy.
Nothing even comes close to the Northern League’s leader in the European Parliament, Mario Borghezio. Verbal vulgarity and violence are not a characteristic that is exclusive to the Northern League. However, in other countries no ruling party uses the language they use. In Denmark, for example, Pia Kjaersgaard (leader and co-founder of the Danish People’s Party) would not dream of saying the things that Bossi or Calderoli say, although she is tough in defending Danish values, firm on immigration and extremely tough on religion. But she is not racist like our politicians. The only other case of a political party close to the centre of power, which uses language close to that used by the Northern League, is that of Slovakian nationalists who want to throw Hungarians out of Slovakia. But they are not in power; they support the government externally. The Right in Europe is tough in defending its values, hostile to Turkey’s membership and uncontrolled immigration, but they do not use the verbal violence of the Northern League. In racism, form equal substance. Saying “we cannot welcome everyone” is very different from saying “enough niggers” or “enough yellow faces.” And, like it or not, Berlusconi has great responsibility for allowing such language. Let us be clear, the entire language of politics has been barbarised. There are furious clashes in other parliaments too, but “shut up you hideous whore” or “you are a flaccid faggot” as happened the day the Prodi government fell, are things heard only in Italy.
And yet it seems that the Northern League is also gaining votes in the South, as the ‘only political force defending Italian values.’
I do not believe that is entirely true…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Manager Mum Forced to Quit Job After Giving Birth
Executive’s shock allegation. Equal opportunities minister Carfagna calls for law to be enforced
MILAN — “Hello Stefania. My name’s Piera. I read about you in the Corriere della Sera. I’ve been there, too. I wasn’t an executive, just a plain office worker, but when I came back from maternity leave, I got so much hassle that I had to quit. Don’t give up, for the sake of our children. So they’ll always know what’s right and what’s wrong”.
The story of Milan resident Stefania Boleso, the mum and manager who was forced to resign after returning from maternity leave, has struck a chord. After yesterday’s article, hundreds of messages of sympathy for Ms Boleso have flooded in. It was the most-read story of the day with 115,000 hits and just under 400 comments. Two words are key: courage, because Ms Boleso actually named the company that forced her to resign, the Austrian multinational Red Bull; and justice, because so many emails describe similar situations. The emails reveal a desire for a different world in which women are not forced to choose between work and family. Ms Boleso is surprised: “I would never have expected so much solidarity. OK, some people have pointed out that this could prevent me from finding another job but for once I didn’t want to think purely in terms of expediency. I wanted to tell it like it is”. Today, Stefania Boleso is speaking from her home in Milan. I can hear her one-year-old daughter Alexandra yelling in the background.
“When I became pregnant, I never thought I’d be here, jobless, just a few months later. At 39, I thought I could allow myself a child. I’d always given 100% at work, setting up the marketing department I’m in charge of from scratch, with 28 people under me and an 18,000,000 euro annual budget to manage”. Ms Boleso had re-organised her life for her new dual role as mum and manager. “For my peace of mind, I took on a full-time babysitter and on 30 September, I went back to work. Actually, I’d never really left. Even during my nine months’ maternity, I was still keeping in touch and going in to attend important meetings. Anyway that day, the phone rang first thing. ‘Ms Bolesa, the general manager would like to see you in his office’. He didn’t beat around the bush. He said I was no longer needed and offered me severance pay”. But it was too much for her pride. Ms Boleso opted to tough it out and turned down the money. In response, the company moved her from her old duties and gave her a desk in a huge room on the ground floor, five floors below the other offices. “I stood it for a few weeks and then came the first panic attack. The doctor in casualty told me quite bluntly that the situation would only get worse. I was heading for a breakdown. If I’d been on my own, I’d have hung on but I’ve got a family. I felt I couldn’t put my daughter and husband through all that so I gave in. On 18 December, I resigned and took the severance pay”.
But now, the manager’s story has set the wheels of politics in motion. “The serious incident of the woman executive who was fired after a period of maternity leave reflects how far we are from being able to call ourselves a truly modern nation”, said an indignant minister for equal opportunities, Mara Carfagna. “It saddens me to have to invoke the law to correct an injustice that should not exist in our day and age”, Ms Carfagna continued: “We should have realised long ago that a child is not just a joy for the person who brings it into the world. It is also an investment and a service for the country, if we want to reduce this to a purely economic issue. That said, the laws that safeguard motherhood are already in place and should not be left to gather dust. They have to be enforced in their entirety as instruments of social justice”.
Rita Querzè
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Inflation Dips to 1.2% in February
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 2 — Italy’s year-on-year inflation rate appears to have dipped slightly last month, falling to 1.2% from 1.3% the previous month, national statistics bureau Istat said in its preliminary inflation forecast for the month. The variation in the cost of living index from January to February was +0.1%, Istat added on Tuesday. The European Union Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) — developed to facilitate inflation comparisons between member states — was unchanged from January to February and climbed by 1.1% over February 2009, Istat said. Istat will issue its definitive inflation report in trwo weeks’. Inflation also slowed in the 16-nation euro zone with the year-on-year rate last month at 0.9% from 1.0% in January. Istat said the slowdown in inflation last month was the result of “stability in short-term prices for goods and services”. The biggest year-on-year price increases last month were recorded for transport (+3.5%) and for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (+3.3%), while home utility prices fell by 1.4%, Istat said. From January to February the most significant price increases were for communications (+0.7%) and the sector for recreation, entertainment and culture (+0.4%). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanese Wedding in Germany Turns Into Brawl
A Lebanese wedding in Germany ended with the arrival of dozens of ambulances and even more police officers when the celebration took a turn for the worse and a fight grew into a full-blown rumble, according to press reports Tuesday.
The wedding, held Saturday in a spacious celebration hall in the city of Peine, in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony, had 800 guests from all around Germany, the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported.
The fight is rumored to have started with the cliché scenario of two men fighting over a girl. However, no official reason has been given for what triggered an outbreak so big that allegedly 200 guests resorted to using knives.
What is known is that both the bride’s and the groom’s families took part in the tussle.
The police, who have so far listened to the testimony of 165 guests, said six guests and one policeman were injured. Four of the injured sustained cuts as a result of the knife fights. One guest was shot in the leg while another guest as well as the policeman were hit in the head with a bottle.
Unable to put an end to the out-of-control brawl, the local police force in Peine had to call for reinforcement from neighboring cities, Salzgitter and Braunschweig.
It took a total of 30 ambulances and police cars and five rescuing teams to restrain the enraged guests and put a stop to the fighting. Guests were later driven to their home towns in police cars for fear further fights would erupt in the streets.
The wedding hall’s manager, Ali Ehsan Yildrim, said he organizes an average of 30 parties per year and had never faced any trouble before. Yildrim is waiting for the families to pay compensation for damaging the hall.
Germany has lately witnessed several weddings turn violent, many of which involved ethnic minorities.
A Kurdish wedding held in the city of Essen, in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, turned into a fight involving knives and bottles and resulting in three guests being injured. Vogelheim, also in North Rhine-Westphalia, witnessed a similar incident when four people were injured in a 600-guest Turkish wedding.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
MEP Nigel Farage Fined Over ‘Insulting’ Tirade
Eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage has been fined just under 3,000 euros (£2,700) after refusing to apologise for a tirade in the European Parliament.
He was reprimanded for “insulting” behaviour after telling President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy he had “the charisma of a damp rag”.
The authorities said he would lose an allowance paid to MEPs for 10 days but would not be suspended.
Mr Farage said his was a legitimate “voice of opposition” to EU policies.
‘Not acceptable’
He said he would continue to criticise the powers wielded by Mr Van Rompuy and other senior officials who had not been elected.
Mr Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) group in the parliament, drew jeers last Wednesday when he said Mr Van Rompuy had the appearance of a “low-grade bank clerk” and described Belgium as “pretty much a non-country”.
The president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said such language was “not acceptable”.
During a meeting with Mr Farage to discuss his comments, Mr Buzek said he had asked him to apologise for the personal criticism of Mr Van Rompuy which he said was “offensive”.
“I defend absolutely Mr Farage’s right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the European Union,” he said.
“But… his behaviour towards Mr Van Rompuy was inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House… I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament.”
Given Mr Farage’s refusal to apologise, Mr Buzek said he would be docked his right to a daily allowance paid to all MEPs for 10 days.
Mr Farage said the amount he would lose would be about 3,000 euros (£2,722).
The European Parliament had the power to suspend Mr Farage but decided against the move.
Unrepentant
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Farage was unrepentant: “The only people I’m going to apologise to are bank clerks the world over — if I’ve offended them then I’m very sorry indeed,” he said.
He said he did not think he had been insulting or used “unparliamentary language” and his comments had sparked a debate on Mr Van Rompuy’s role as president of the European Council — a role created under the EU’s controversial Lisbon Treaty and opposed by Eurosceptics.
Mr Farage’s party, UKIP, campaigns for a withdrawal of Britain from the European Union. It has 13 representatives in the parliament.
During his attack on Mr Van Rompuy last week — during the former Belgian PM’s maiden appearance in the role — Mr Farage said “nobody in Europe had ever heard” of him.
He told the BBC he would continue to draw attention to the fact that Mr Van Rompuy and other EU officials had the power to “fundamentally change” the lives of UK citizens even though they had not been elected.
Mr Van Rompuy, 62, was chosen unanimously by the governments of the EU’s 27 member states to take on the role of the first permanent European Council president.
Mr Van Rompuy said he held Mr Farage’s comments “in contempt”, without elaborating.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Highly-Educated Turks, Moroccans to Vote for Center-Left Parties
Highly-educated Moroccan and Turkish youth will vote for D66 in the local Dutch elections, followed by PvdA (Labor) and GroenLinks (Greens). Most youth think Alexander Pechtold (D66) is the most appealing politician, followed by Femke Halsema (GroenLinks).
Local parties don’t attract them. “Barely 3% of the youth plan to vote for such a party,” says a researcher from the Labyrinth agency in Utrecht. Labyrinth surveyed the opinion of about 200 Moroccan and Turkish youth. The great majority of them will never consider voting for PVV (Party for Freedom) and TON (Proud of the Netherlands). The SGP and ChristenUnie (both Christian parties) can also count on little support…
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Paul Belien: Europe Cracks Down on Bloggers, Not Terrorists
There is terrorism and there is Islamophobia. Of these two the latter is apparently the more serious misdemeanor. Europe is introducing draconian measures to monitor the internet for so-called “racism,” but at the same time the European Parliament has decided to deny America access to servers with international banking data that relate to terrorist organizations.
Last January, the French Inter-ministerial Committee on Racism and Anti-Semitism met to discuss measures to ban from the Internet those websites deemed by public moralists to be “racist.” The French government is acting in accordance with resolutions of the European Parliament that urge the member states of the European Union to “combat racism and xenophobia.” The French authorities are currently working on “a plan of action at the national and international levels, mobilizing public authorities, Internet operators and special-interest groups” to combat “the expression of racist commentary on the Internet.”
A report presented to the French government on 21 January recommends “an increased action from the Central Office for the Fight against Crime in the Information Technology and Communications Sectors (French acronym OCLCTIC), an organism that collects data on illicit content online. It also recommends an improved system of information among public authorities; and a systematization of the sharing of information between the various parties.”
The report acknowledges that information via the Internet is often international, with some French bloggers being hosted in foreign countries, such as the United States. The report notes that “the international dimensions of the Internet and the different laws and cultures on the question of racism are used by some to escape their responsibilities.” Hence, it proposes that the French and American public authorities work out a plan to combat Internet racism. This plan must also “allow for the participation of national and international NGOs involved in the fight against racism on the Internet.” In the fight against “racism,” civil-liberties and privacy concerns are only of secondary importance.
One of these NGOs is the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples (French acronym MRAP), that monitors “racism” in France. Last January, the MRAP presented a 154-page report [pdf], listing more than 2,000 URLs (including 1,000 blogs) deemed to be “racist”, “racialist”, “ethno-differentialist”, “extreme-right”, “anti-Semitic,” “Islamophobic,” “homophobic,” “ultra-Zionist,” etc. The website of the American scholar Daniel Pipes is listed on page 129 as a “neoconservative” site which “develops Islamophobic themes.”
While Europe hopes that America will assist it in its crack-down on “racist” websites and blogs, it is less keen to assist America in its battle against terrorism…
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
PKK Recruitment, Arrests in Italy and France
(ANSAmed) — VENICE, FEBRUARY 26 — A suspected association for international terrorism was dismantled by Venice’s General Investigation and Special Branch (DIGOS), which carried out 11 warrants for preventive custody in jail. The measures, carried out in Veneto and other regions, concern 10 Turks and one Italian resident of the Treviso province. The same number of arrests was also carried out in France. According to what emerged from the investigation, the suspected organisation was set up to recruit, indoctrinate and train young people of the Turkish ethnic group to send to fight in the ranks of PKK, the party of Kurd workers which the EU included in terrorist lists. Training camps were allegedly identified both in Italy and in France. The investigation (which was carried out simultaneously in the two Countries with the assistance of German, Belgian and Dutch antiterrorism structures) allowed to ascertain the operation in Italy of a recruitment structure entrusted with finding human and logistic resources in Europe that would be employed by PKK. Recruitment focused on young Kurd men and women. According to a recent report in Parliament by the secret services, the group of PKK militants present in Italy has a position of “absolute relevance” amongst those active in Europe. The secret agents discovered a renewal of the top management in Italy given by the need to “increase propaganda and proselytism activities and to give a new impulse to the collection of funds abroad”. The decided increase of “contribution quotas destined to support the ‘cause’ requested of fellow countrymen, including through extortion”, can also be traced back to the difficulties which the movement is encountering in its Country of origin.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Poll — Second Poll Puts Wilders Party Top in Dutch Elections
March 2 (Reuters) — A second poll has put the anti-immigrant Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders into a clear lead ahead of Dutch national elections on June 9.
The Feb. 24 TNS NIPO poll, released on Tuesday, put Wilders’ PVV on 32 seats, his best showing to date of any poll since the government collapsed Feb. 20. The Feb. 28 Maurice de Hond poll also put the PVV into first, albeit by a much narrower margin.
The TNS NIPO poll also reflected the worst showing yet for the Christian Democrats (CDA) of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, with less than half the seats they won in 2006. The CDA or its predecessors have been in almost all of the country’s post-war governments.
Voters will head to the polls for local council elections on March 3 that are likely to give the first indication of the electorate’s response to the fall of the national government over the Dutch mission in Afghanistan.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Racist Site Wants Finnish Leadership Dead
The National Bureau of Investigation is examining an online hate site that calls for the murder of leading Finnish politicians as well as immigrants. The Finnish-language site is registered to a long-time American neo-Nazi.
The anonymous author behind the site’s writing is suspected of illegal threats and the incitement of hatred against an ethnic group.
The site calls for the hanging or shooting of much of the Finnish political leadership, including President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. The site also featured a hit list of 50 Finns, named for their role in promoting multiculturalism.
The site is registered to an American named Gary Lauck, a neo-Nazi who became known in 1980s and 90s for smuggling neo-Nazi literature into Europe. Lauck, who served time in a German prison in the late 1990s, later moved his propaganda online.
Göran Wennqvist from the National Bureau of Investigation says it’s been difficult to trace the site’s administrator. Finnish police officials have cooperated with US authorities in the case.
“The concept of freedom of speech is broader in the United States than in Finland. But to my knowledge, these types of direct threats are against the law there too,” says Finnish state prosecutor Mika Illman.
Finnish police are increasingly investigating websites that support intolerance. Last week threats of violence were made against Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors on Facebook.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Suicide is First Cause of Unnatural Death
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 2 — The number of deaths resulting from road accidents in Spain dropped by 20.7% in 2008, so it is no longer the prime cause of unnatural death among the population, since they rank second to suicides. According to figures published today by the National statistics institute, road accidents provoked the death of 3,021 people in 2008, with a drop of more than 20% compared to the previous year, while deaths by suicide amounted to 3,421, a number similar to that recorded in 2007. In terms of gender, suicide was mostly carried out by men, with only 22.6% involving women. In total, in 2008 Spain recorded 386,324 deaths, 963 more than in 2006, equal to an average of 847 deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Stakelbeck Interviews UK Radical Anjem Choudary
During my recent trip to London I interviewed the Muslim radical many call “Great Britain’s Most Hated Man.”
Anjem Choudary openly supports violent jihad and declares his desire to see Britain become an Islamic state ruled by sharia law.
Several former members of Choudary’s group have been arrested on terrorism charges.
And as you’ll see from my new report, Choudary does not mince words about his goals. You can watch it at the link above.
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UK: Islamic Scholar Tahir Ul-Qadri to Issue Terrorism Fatwa
Hearts and minds: Communities divided over how to tackle extremists
An influential Muslim scholar is to issue in London a global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing.
Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda’s violent ideology.
The scholar describes al-Qaeda as an “old evil with a new name” which has not been sufficiently challenged.
The scholar’s movement is growing in the UK and has attracted the interest of policymakers and security chiefs.
In his religious ruling, Dr Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings.
Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, Dr Qadri’s followers argue that the massive document being launched in London goes much further.
Extremist groups based in Britain recruit the youth by brainwashing them that they will be rewarded in the next life
Shahid Mursaleen
They say it sets out point-by-point theological arguments against the rhetoric used by al-Qaeda inspired recruiters.
The fatwa also challenges the religious motivations of would-be suicide bombers who are inspired by promises of an afterlife.
The populist scholar developed his document last year as a response to the increase in bombings across Pakistan by militants.
The basic text has been extended to 600 pages to cover global issues, in an attempt to get its theological arguments taken up by Muslims in western nations. It will be promoted in the UK by Dr Qadri’s organisation, Minhaj ul-Quran International.
Shahid Mursaleen, spokesman for Minhaj-ul-Quran in the UK, said the fatwa was hard-hitting.
“This fatwa injects doubt into the minds of potential suicide bombers,” he said.
“Extremist groups based in Britain recruit the youth by brainwashing them that they will ‘with certainty’ be rewarded in the next life.
“Dr Qadri’s fatwa has removed this key intellectual factor from their minds.”
Religious rulings
The document is not the first to condemn terrorism and suicide bombing to be launched in the UK.
Scholars from across the UK came together in the wake of the 7 July London attacks to denounce the bombers and urge communities to root out extremists.
But some scholarly rulings in the Middle East have argued that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is an exceptional situation where “martyrdom” attacks can be justified.
Although Dr Qadri has a large following in Pakistan, Minhaj ul-Quran International remained largely unknown in the UK until relatively recently.
It now has 10 mosques in the British cities with significant Muslim communities and says it is targeting younger generations it believes have been let down by traditional leaders.
The organisation is attracting the attention of policymakers and security chiefs who are continuing to look for allies in the fight against extremists.
The Department for Communities, which runs most of the government’s “Preventing Violent Extremism” strategy, has tried building bridges with a variety of liberal-minded groups, but often found that they have limited actual influence at the grassroots.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia: Karadzic Accuses Muslims of Killing Their Own People
The Hague, 1 March (AKI) — Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic accused Muslim leaders of killing their own people in order to blame Serbs during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia. In testimony before the United Nations war crimes tribunal (ICTY) on Monday, he singled out the incident at the Markale market in Sarajevo in 1994, when 70 people were allegedly killed by a Serb grenade.
Karadzic told the tribunal it was a stage-managed “trick” for which Bosnian Serb forces were blamed and later bombed by NATO.
He also showed the court pictures of an empty marketplace, claiming it was the scene shortly before, as he put it, hundreds appeared and the attack was reported.
He said Muslim authorities had brought killed Muslim soldiers to the market to simulate a massacre.
“Killing their own people was part of the ideology of Muslim authorities,” Karadzic said.
“The prosecution has accepted war tricks created by Bosnian Muslims and accused the Serbs for crimes they didn’t commit,” Karadzic said.
Earlier Karadzic told the tribunal that militant Muslim leaders were responsible for the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, saying that local Serbs were forced to act in self-defence.
“I will defend that nation of ours and their cause that is just and holy,” Karadzic told the tribunal.
“I stand here before you not to defend the mere mortal that I am, but to defend the greatness of a small nation in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which for 500 years has had to suffer and has demonstrated a great deal of modesty and perseverance to survive in freedom,” he said.
Karadzic, 64, is charged with 11 crimes, including two counts of genocide and war crimes.
Prosecutors allege Karadzic played a key role in the massacre of over 7,000 Muslims in the eastern town of Srebrenica in July 1995.
Karadzic appeared in court for the first time since 2 November when the trial was interrupted when he boycotted the proceedings, demanding more time to prepare his defence.
The prosecutor Alan Tieger said in his introductory statement in November that Karadzic was a part of a “joint criminal enterprise”, aimed at removing Muslims and Croats from a part of Bosnia.
“Karadzic was the architect of a policy on which these crimes were founded and commander-in-chief of the forces which committed them,” Tieger said.
Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade in 2008 after nearly 13 years as a fugitive.
During his time in power, he was president of the Bosnian Serb Republic and commander of its army during the Bosnian conflict in which more than 100,000 people died.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Former Bosnian President Arrested at Heathrow Over Alleged War Crimes
A former president of Bosnia accused of war crimes was arrested at Heathrow airport yesterday (mon) as he tried to leave the country.
Ejup Ganic, 63, was picked up by officers from the Metropolitan Police following a request from the Serbian government.
His arrest came on the day former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic took the stand to deny his role during the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict at his war crimes trial in The Hague.
Muslim academic Ganic — who had been visiting Britain for a few days — is alleged to have played a key role in the 1992 attack on a Yugoslav army convoy that killed more than 40 people.
Scotland Yard said Dr Ganic was arrested over alleged conspiracy to murder wounded soldiers in breach of the Geneva Convention.
Following his arrest, he was taken to a magistrates court in central London where he was remanded in custody for a month, pending further extradition proceedings.
However last night there were already fears that, as in the case of ex-Chilean leader General Pinochet who was arrested in Britain in the late 1990s, the Serbian authorities could face a prolonged battle to get Ganic extradited.
Dr Ganic served as both vice-president and president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina after it broke from the former Yugoslavia.
His arrest, at around 2pm, was made under a provisional extradition warrant.
The Serbian government accuses him of conspiracy over the attack, which took place in Sarajevo at the beginning of the conflict.
Dr Ganic is one of 19 Bosnians accused of being involved in an attack on soldiers from the Yugoslav People’s Army in central Sarajevo in May 1992.
The soldiers were injured and said to be retreating at the time — up to 40 were killed. The attack took place at the start of the 1992-95 war, which erupted when Bosnia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Ganic, the highest-ranking ex-Bosnian official named in the warrant, has dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous.”
Dr Ganic served as both vice-president and president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina after it broke from the former Yugoslavia.
He is currently manager of the private School of Science and Technology in Sarajevo.
The war between Bosnia’s Croats, Muslims and Serbs claimed some 100,000 lives and left the country split between the semi-autonomous Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serbs’ Republika Srpska.
Following his arrest yesterday, Dr Ganic appeared at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court. He was remanded in custody until March 29.
The Serbian authorities are now expected to file papers to support their extradition request ahead of a hearing date being fixed.
In a statement, the Foreign Office confirmed the arrest, but added: ‘As the case is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.’
A senior government official said that Mr Ganic ‘turned up towards the end of last week’ in the UK.
It is understood that he was not on a British watch list and that the Serbian authorities tipped off the British police about his presence in the UK. ‘Serbia put in an extradition request today,’ the official said.
The source said: ‘He does not have diplomatic immunity. He is not a head of state. He’s not on any diplomatic mission from Bosnia. The British legal system will allow him to mount a robust defence.’
Privately, senior government figures were preparing for a major legal battle.
Lawyers for former Chilean dictator General Pinochet mounted a robust defence, at huge expense to the British taxpayer, after his arrest here in October 1998.
A Spanish judge demanded that he be extradited to face trial for the killing of Spaniards after the coup that brought him to power in Chile in 1973.
But after a more than a year fighting extradition from Britain, Pinochet was allowed to fly home to his homeland for medical reasons.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Supreme Court Annuls Gas Supply Ban to Israel
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, MARCH 1 — The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court has annulled the decision of an ordinary court in which the government was ordered to interrupt gas sales to Israel. According to press agency MENA, the court has specified in its verdict — read on Saturday — that the authorities have to specify the price of the exported gas as well as the quantities sold to Israel. In November 2008, anti-Israeli activists turned to the ordinary court to ask for the interruption by the government of gas supplies to Israel, following Israel’s military operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The government appealed against the first verdict and decided to ignore the original ban waiting for the result of the appeal. The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court comes a few weeks after the start of a new agreement signed by Egypt and Israel, in which the volume of Egyptian gas sold to Israel is increased. When explaining the verdict, against which no appeal is possible, the Court stated that the ordinary court has no authority to rule on issues “connected to the country’s sovereignty”. The Egyptian private company East Mediterranean Gas (Emg) started supplying gas to the Israeli State-controlled company Israel Electric Corp in 2005, based on an agreement on the supply of 1.7 billion cubic metres of gas in 20 years. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Blogger Military Trial Criticised
Egypt has been strongly criticised by Human Rights Watch for trying a blogger, Ahmed Mustafa, before a military court.
The 20-year-old is accused of publishing false information in a blog a year ago, alleging a case of nepotism at Egypt’s premier military academy.
Egypt’s emergency law, in place since 1981, allows indefinite detention and trials of civilians in military courts.
Egyptian officials have denied that the power is much used.
The only evidence presented at his trial this week is the post on his blog.
The trial has been adjourned to 7 March to give defence lawyers more time to review the evidence.
‘Mockery’
There has been no investigation into Mr Mustafa’s allegation of corruption, namely his claim that a teacher’s son was pushed out of the academy, to make way for the son of a more influential individual who could make financial contributions, Christian Fraser, the BBC correspondent in Cairo says.
Under two international human rights accords, both ratified by Egypt, the government is required to protect freedom of expression.
Yet Human Rights Watch draws attention to a growing list of bloggers who remain in detention.
Kareem Amer was sentenced to four years in prison in 2006, for writing about sectarian tensions in Alexandria and criticising President Mubarak.
Another blogger, Hany Nazeer, was detained in October 2008 under the country’s emergency law that was designed to fight terrorism for expressing forthright views on Christianity and Islam.
Last year after a visit to Egypt, the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on human rights reiterated that the trial of civilian suspects in military courts raised concerns about the independent administration of justice.
“The Egyptian government says one thing in Geneva and then immediately makes a mockery of the Human Rights Council’s review process,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“No civilian should be tried before a military court, and no government that claims to respect human rights should be prosecuting someone solely for writing about corruption,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Leader Killed, Jordanians and Egyptians Accused
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MARCH 2 — Even the security forces of Egypt and Jordan could be involved in the killing in Dubai of a high Palestinian leader of Hamas, for whose death several parties have accused Israeli intelligence. Cited today by the Palestinian daily al Quds al Arabi, edited in London, Mahmud Nasser, a member of the political office for he radical Palestinian movement, affirmed that he possessed “dangerous information” regarding the role of agents of Arab countries “hostile to Hamas”, in the killing of Mahmud al Mabhuh on January 19, in a hotel of the United Arab Emirates. Nasser implicitly indicated as belonging to the Egyptian or Jordanian security forces those “agents who were keeping track on Mabhuh’s movements before his martyrdom”. The Dubai police has to date indicated 27 persons, mostly holding European passports, as members of the team that assassinated the high Hamas leader. Al Quds al Arabi refers that the Emirate magistrates have affirmed that “all the suspects currently are located in Israel”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia-ANP: Tunis, Relations Solid and Privileged
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 2 — The relations between Tunisia and the Palestinian authorities are “solid and priviledged”: this is what has affirmed, in a declaration, an authorized source of the Tunisian Foreign Ministry. “Contrary to erroneous information published recently by certain Arab and foreign papers”, the source states, “Tunisian-Palestinian relations are solid and preferential, and do not cease to evolve thanks to the constant will of the president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and of his brother president Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority”. “The Tunisian-Palestinian relations”, continues the declaration, “continue to be strengthened, with the the absolute support of Tunisia in the fight of our fellow Palestinian people for the recovery of their legitimate rights and the edification of their independent state on their land. The unshakeable support of Tunisia for the just cause of the Palestinians takes its strength from the principles of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has made it a personal cause. The privileged character of the relations of fraternity and of Tunisian-Palestinian cooperation is clear and evident, and is made concrete, in a daily fashion, by the multiple visits and exchanges of delegations on all levels, just as with the strict and permanent concerted efforts between the two parties”. The declarations conclude by reaffirming the will to strengthen ever more the links between the two peoples. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tourism: Cyprus and Palestinian Authority Will Cooperate
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, MARCH 1 — A Memorandum of Cooperation in the sector of tourism between Cyprus and the Palestinian Authority was signed on Friday after official talks in Nicosia between Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Antonis Paschalides and Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Mrs.Kholoud Daibes. Speaking after the talks, Paschalides said that through the Memorandum Cyprus will be providing support to the Palestinians in tourism issues, and would be including the Palestinian Authority in exhibitions. The two Ministers exchanged views on issues concerning the promotion and support of tourism in the Palestinian territories. Paschalides noted that in 2011 Cyprus would be offering various scholarships in tourism related courses. Daibes referred to the strong ties between the two peoples, adding that Cyprus and the Palestinian territories are unique tourist destinations, especially concerning religious tourism. She added that Friday’s talks also included the exchange of expertise, investments, cooperation between businesspeople of the private sector, and mutual support on all levels. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Barry Rubin: Will Obama Have an Iraq Crisis?
If — and I repeat, if — this story is true it is going to be a very big development that may, as they like to see in the television promos, change the Obama administration forever. According to Thomas Ricks, the former Washington Post military correspondent, General Raymond Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, is asking for an additional combat brigade to be put into Kirkuk and to stay beyond Obama’s August 2010 withdrawal deadline for all combat forces.
Reportedly, Odierno is worried about Kurdish-Arab-Turkoman conflict in the city, which would be a reason why an Iraqi brigade of Arab soldiers might further inflame the situation. Such a request makes the administration very uncomfortable. We saw how it took three months to make a decision over military strategy in Afghanistan which resulted in a highly politicized strategy designed to please all.
Ricks concludes: “I expect that Obama actually is going to have to break his promises on Iraq and keep a fairly large force in Iraq,” He knows better than I do about such things but I wonder if that’s true. I’d expect that for political reasons-and especially just before the critical congressional elections in November-Obama’s team will go for political profit rather than strategic safety.
By the way, this story clears up a mysterious detail that hints the U.S. military is thinking along these lines…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
France-Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah Guest of Honour July 14
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, MARCH 1 — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is to be the guest of honour at the July 14 celebrations in Paris, according to Le Figaro in its Confidentiels column. King Abdullah will inaugurate the Streets of Arabia, Archaeology and History in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia exhibition during the celebrations, at the Louvre museum in partnership with Total and Saudi company Rubaiyat. The last official visit to France by the Saudi sovereign was in summer 2007, when he went to Paris to pay his respects to President Nicolas Sarkozy three months after his election. Last year the guest of honour at the French national celebration was India, and 400 Indian soldiers marched along the Champs-Elysees for the first time, and it was the first time they had marched outside their own borders too. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Leader Killed; Dubai Police Wants Netanyahu
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, MARCH 2 — The chief of Dubai’s police submitted to the prosecutor of the Emirate a request for an arrest warrant against Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and the chief of Mossad (the Israeli secret service) in the context of the investigation into the murder of Hamas exponent Mahmud al-Mabhouh. General Dhahi Khalfan asserted that he is certain that the leader was murdered by Mossad. The chief of Dubai’s police stated that “I am absolutely certain that Mossad is behind this crime, I presented the general prosecutor with a request to arrest Netanyahu and the chief of Mossad”. The general added that he is perfectly aware that the head of the Israeli government “will never be arrested”, however one must “persecute both the instigator of a crime and the person who carried it out”. Deemed to be a key element in weapon trafficking between Iran and the radical Islamic Palestinian movement, al-Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai on January 19. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Christians Demonstrate, Fast Against Killings and the Nineveh “Ghetto”
People gather, pray and fast across Iraq against “targeted killings.” The archbishop of Mosul asks for security and an investigation into those who are responsible for the slaughter. For the archbishop of Kirkuk, the Muslim community must react and take concrete actions. The auxiliary bishop of Baghdad warns that Christians risk a holocaust at a fundamental moment.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) — Christians took to the streets in Mosul and Baghdad and a prayer vigil was held in Kirkuk to protest the spate of killings of their co-religionists. As a single voice, they called for action against “targeted killings” and expressed their opposition to a plan to set up a Christian “ghetto” in the Nineveh Plains. Christian lay and religious leaders as well as countless members of the community came together to sound the alarm against the slaughter of Iraqi Christians and the flight of hundreds of them from Mosul, victims of an Arab-Kurdish conflict that could leave the country without its Christian population.
Following an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI in yesterday’s Angelus (a source of consolation and faith for Christian leaders), AsiaNews spoke to Mgr Emil Shimoun Nona, Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Mgr Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, and Mgr Shlemon Warduni, auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, at a fateful moment for the future of Iraqi Christians.
Mgr Emil Shimoun Nona of Mosul confirmed that hundreds of families have left Mosul in the last few days, about 600 in a community of some 4,000 people, according to a United Nations report. “The situation is calmer now, and the exodus has slowed down,” the prelate said, but “we estimate that about 400 families have escaped.”
Yet, the situation continues to be one of great concern. For this reason, thousands of Christians took to the streets to protest against the violence. The community responded in a “positive” way, he said, adding that “the initiative went well.”
Christians have received messages of solidarity and affection, but the security issue remains. “We are asking the central government and local authorities for two things: more security for the community and proper investigations to find out who ordered these killings and who carried them out,” Mgr Nona said. “This would send a strong signal to Christians, a show that that they are not alone and left to their own destiny.”
Today in Kirkuk, Christians held a day of fasting. At 5 pm, they will take part in a prayer vigil, but only for Christians, to avoid being “used politically” before the 7 March election.
“The government condemned the attacks,” said Mgr Louis Sako of Kirkuk. “Muslim leaders did the same, insisting that the violence is ‘unIslamic’; however, we have become accustomed to such statements and want instead concrete actions”.
Indeed, the prelate did not mince his words. “It is shameful that in a city like Mosul, with a million people, no one has spoken out against the slaughter of Christians.”
All said, he is not without hope for the future. In this view, he said, “It is important” that all Christians be “against the Nineveh Plains plan”, even though leaders and parties have shown signs of weakness and internal divisions. “We must be united because it [the plan] is a trap.”
For the prelate, fasting, holding a joint prayer vigil, putting up flags and posters around the city are all part of this effort to stop the slaughter. They area also a sign of support for national unity, the only way to bring peace and security to the country.
“Today’s initiative is for Christians only,” Mgr Sako said, “to avoid the politicisation of the event. Until now, Muslims have been silent concerning the slaughter, but now they should ‘react’ and take concrete actions.”
For the archbishop, a power struggle is underway in the country, and “we do not want to get involved. Instead, we are fighting for peace in Iraq”.
In the capital, dozens of people demonstrated yesterday against “targeted killings”; they too called on the central government to provide security.
For Mgr Shlemon Warduni, anti-Christian attacks “are organised”. Christians are the victims of the “politicisation of the conflict” between Arabs and Kurds. “We run the risk of a holocaust,” he said. “The support and solidarity of ordinary people, even Muslims, is not enough,” he explained, if political leaders and the government do not take concrete steps.
For the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, the Nineveh Plains plan is a non-starter. “We shall not stop . . . live or dead; this is fundamental moment.”
Tribal chiefs and ordinary people expressed their “encouragement and solidarity,” the prelate said. For them, “Iraq without Christians is worth nothing.”
For Mgr Warduni, the government, political leaders, and the media must respond to “our alarm warning”.
Meanwhile, Patriarch Emmanuel Delly is in Mosul to bring comfort to the families of the victims and to meet local authorities.
Lastly, through AsiaNews the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad thanked Benedict XVI for the appeal he made yesterday during the Angelus on behalf of Baghdad Christians. “It is encouraging to feel him so close. He is a source of comfort for all the faithful, and his words are a source of consolation and faith in the future.” (DS)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Region’s First Catholic University in Jordan
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, MARCH 1 — It was the idea of Pope John Paul II, his successor Benedict XVI has followed up on it and now the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is carrying the project out rapidly: the first Catholic university of the Middle East. It is being built in Madaba, near Amman, the Jordanian capital. Many buildings and infrastructures have already been completed, despite the fact that Pope Ratzinger laid the foundation stone as late as May 9 2009. The structure will host around 8,000 students from all regions once ready. It is meant to become a meeting point of the regions not just for Christians, but for all people of good will. The international seminar organised by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the MCL and the Italian European popular foundation in collaboration with the Academy for Economy and International Relations of the Catholic University of Milan, dedicated to the topic ‘Which form of dialogue to build a common future in the Middle East?’, started with a visit to the university’s construction site. Middle East experts, Christians and Muslims and representatives of NGOs that are active in the region participate in the seminar. “The dialogue can take on several forms, but concrete support, through cooperation and solidarity projects, remains most important. This cooperation should show mutual respect and trust”, said Carlo Costalli, chairman of MCL, when opening the event together with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal. Europe should do much more to encourage an ‘institutional dialogue’, and a dialogue ‘on all levels’ must be the task of organisations of the civil society, Costalli added. The Catholic University of Jordan is also a “seed of peace”, as professor Vittorio Emanuele Parsi of the Catholic University of Milan underlined. “A place of culture and education, but also of young people with different backgrounds living together. This can boost policies to organise the future instead of thinking about how to deal with the past”, Parsi added. There are several aspects to the Middle east, he continued: “from the Middle East of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the Arab world, a spiritual rather than a rational place, more virtual than real, and the ‘greedy’ Middle East of oil, gas and energy”. According to professor Alberto Redaelli, another expert in international conflicts of the Catholic University of Milan, the problem of Christians and Muslims living together needs a cultural process in which the keystone is moved from States to people. Therefore “the presence and active participation of associations and NGOs is essential, as well as the already strong commitment of local Christians, to make it clear that the main need for security is not for ‘politics’ of countries, but of people, of human beings, who want to feel respected, taken care of and loved”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Inquest Hears Vehicle in Afghan Blast ‘Not Adequate’
The sole survivor of a 2008 blast in Afghanistan has told an inquest he believed the vehicle he was travelling in was “not adequate for the job”.
The special forces soldier broke down while giving evidence at the inquest of four UK soldiers who were killed, at Wiltshire Coroner’s Court.
They were Cpl Sarah Bryant and three SAS reservists — Cpl Sean Reeve, L/Cpl Richard Larkin and Pte Paul Stout.
Cpl Bryant is the only British female soldier to have died in Afghanistan.
The four were in a Snatch Land Rover, a light vehicle in which at least 37 UK soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Known as Soldier E, the witness said he was told during pre-deployment training he would be travelling in Snatch Land Rovers.
“There was a lot of worry that these weren’t the right vehicle, in our opinion, for the job in hand,” he said.
“Having used the Snatch in our pre-deployment training, our concerns were heightened, especially when off-road. The mobility and flexibility of the vehicle came into question.”
He added: “It could go off-road, but as a platform to maintain operations, I believe it was not adequate for the job.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Absalon Sinks Pirate ‘Mother Ship’
Danish forces boarded and sank a pirate control ship as part of Nato operations off the coast of Somalia
The Absalon, a Danish attack support ship, sank a pirate control ship off the coast of Somalia on Sunday, according to a Nato press release.
The Absalon is the current flag ship of the Nato fleet operating in the pirate-stricken Gulf of Aden off the east African coast and has been involved in numerous pirate run-ins.
The latest saw a pirate mother skiff intercepted by a boarding team from the Absalon before it was scuttled. It had been spotted earlier in the day after leaving a Somali camp outfitted with pirate equipment and supplies.
‘This was a very well executed operation,’ said Admiral Christian Rune. ‘Disrupting the pirates’ capability just off their main pirate camps sends a strong signal to the pirates that Nato and the international community do not tolerate their actions. Disposing of their vessels before they can head to sea hits the pirates before they can present a threat to merchant shipping.’
Nato has stepped up its efforts in the area as the monsoon season comes to an end and the traditionally lucrative spring season attracts more pirates to the seas.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Mali: Kidnappings, Countries Tense, All Eyes on Mauritania
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, MARCH 2 — The tension between various countries of the region continues to increase, in particular in Algeria, Mali and Mauritania, all entangled in the kidnapping of Western hostages on the part of al Qaeda for the Islamic Maghreb, the northwest area of Africa. The organization still has in its hands the Italian Sergio Cicala, with his wife and three Spanish co-workers. After concessions made by Bamako (the capital of Mali), which for the release of the Frenchman Pierre Camatte, has released from prison four members of their organization, now all eyes are on Mauritania. The latest requests by the North African arm of Al Qaeda are directed to Nouachkott, the capital city of Mauritania. This segment of al Qaeda asks for the release of some of its prisoners in return for the freeing of the Italian couple. These are requests that, according to the Algerian press, will hardly be granted, given the rigid anti-terrorist policy of Mauritania and its harsh condemnations of the Malian concessions. Both Nouachkott and Algiers have pulled out their ambassador from Bamako, in reaction to the treaties for the French hostage. Mauritania “will not grant al Qaeda’s requests”, write L’Expression and Le Soir: “how could it then look Algiers in the eyes?”. Algiers “is waiting attentively to see how Nuoakchott responds to al Qaeda’s requests, in particular those for the liberation of the two Italian hostages”, underlined El Khabar, an Algerian daily. Meanwhile, relations between Mali and Algeria become ever more tense. According to the Malian press, Algiers allegedly has withdrawn from the negotiations between the rebels of the North of Mali and the central government, thus breaking, at least for the moment, the “Algiers Agreement”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Argentina: Baby Girl Survives After Being Shot in the Chest in Parents’ ‘Global Warming Suicide Pact’
A seven-month-old baby girl survived three days alone with a bullet in her chest beside the bodies of her parents and toddler brother.
Argentines Francisco Lotero, 56, and Miriam Coletti, 23, shot their children before killing themselves after making an apparent suicide pact over fears about global warming.
Their son Francisco, two, died instantly after being hit in the back.
But their unnamed daughter cheated death after the bullet from her dad’s handgun missed her vital organs.
Paramedics rushed her to hospital covered in blood when police alerted by worried neighbours discovered the massacre three days later.
The youngster is recovering in hospital in the town of Goya in the northern Argentine province of Corrientes, where doctors say she is out of danger.
Her parents said they feared the effects of global warming in a suicide note discovered by police.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chilean Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days
The Feb. 27 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile may have shortened the length of each Earth day.
JPL research scientist Richard Gross computed how Earth’s rotation should have changed as a result of the Feb. 27 quake. Using a complex model, he and fellow scientists came up with a preliminary calculation that the quake should have shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second).
Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth’s axis. Gross calculates the quake should have moved Earth’s figure axis (the axis about which Earth’s mass is balanced) by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 centimeters, or 3 inches). Earth’s figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis; they are offset by about 10 meters (about 33 feet).
By comparison, Gross said the same model estimated the 2004 magnitude 9.1 Sumatran earthquake should have shortened the length of day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted Earth’s axis by 2.32 milliarcseconds (about 7 centimeters, or 2.76 inches).
Gross said that even though the Chilean earthquake is much smaller than the Sumatran quake, it is predicted to have changed the position of the figure axis by a bit more for two reasons. First, unlike the 2004 Sumatran earthquake, which was located near the equator, the 2010 Chilean earthquake was located in Earth’s mid-latitudes, which makes it more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis. Second, the fault responsible for the 2010 Chiliean earthquake dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis.
Gross said the Chile predictions will likely change as data on the quake are further refined.
| — Hat tip: Gryffilion | [Return to headlines] |
UK Rejects Hillary Clinton’s Help in Falklands Dispute
Downing Street has rejected an offer from the US to help the UK and Argentina resolve their latest dispute over the Falkland Islands.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the offer after renewed tensions were triggered by a UK decision to drill for oil near the islands.
A spokesman for Gordon Brown said he welcomed her comments but did not think her direct involvement was necessary.
Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falklands, which it calls the Malvinas.
It has been angered by the UK’s decision to begin drilling for oil under a seabed off the islands.
Mrs Clinton said the row should be resolved between the two, but “if we can be of any help in facilitating such an effort, we stand ready to do so”.
‘Drilling is legitimate’
However Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s spokesman responded to the offer by saying: “We don’t think that’s necessary.
“We welcome the support of the secretary of state in terms of ensuring that we continue to keep diplomatic channels open but there is no need for that (direct involvement).”
He stressed that “self-determination of Islanders is the key issue” and emphasised that Britain and Argentina have a strong ongoing working relationship.
However the spokesman also said the UK believed the oil drilling was “both the right thing to do and is entirely legitimate”.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband emphasised the point, saying the drilling companies are “wholly within their rights” under international law.
Mr Miliband told MPs at Commons question time: “The government has made it clear it has no doubt about the UK’s sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
“There can be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless and until such time as the Falkland Islanders so wish it and they have made clear they have no such wish.
“The companies are acting wholly within their rights and wholly within the legality of international law,” he added.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
EU Alarmed by Influx of Western Balkan Immigrants
The European Commission has demanded that the authorities in Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro take measures to stem the influx of immigrants to Belgium.
This has happened after Belgium requested help from the EC over the fact that since visa-free travel to the EU was introduced on January 1, 2010, the montly number of Macedonians asking for asylum in the country increased twofold.
An increased influx of immigrants from Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo has also been registered in Belgium.
The Belgian authorities became alarmed when they noticed that in January and February they had a lot more asylum seekers from Macedonia than from Afghanistan.
All applications for asylum are to be rejected, and the Belgian authorities have vowed to extradite all illegal immigrants that do not leave within the required period.
Michel Cercone, EC Spokesperson for Justice, Freedom, and Security, has pointed out, as cited by the BNR, that the authorities of each country are responsible for explaining to their citizens the terms of visa-free travel in the EU.
The Bulgarian National Radio’s correspondent in Skopje reports that every day buses packed with families, mostly from Macedonia’s Albanian and Roma minorities, set off for Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. They are aided by “tourist operators” dealing with “one-way excursions”, which according to media reports, are backed by local Roma chiefs such Member of Macedonian Parliament Admi Bayram.
Belgium’s Prime Minister is going to visit Macedonia next week in an attempt to resolve the emerging scandal.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Media Reports EU Exodus After Visa Ban
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 1 — Since the abolition of obligatory visas for Serbian, Macedonian and Montenegrin nationals bound for EU countries on December 19 last year, thousands of citizens of these Balkan states, mainly of Albanian ethnicity, have been arriving in EU member states to seek asylum, according to the Serbian media. Belgium has been particularly affected by this and the Prime Minister Yves Leterme has stated his plans to travel to the Balkans to look for a solution to the problem. In Serbia, Riza Halimi, the leader of the Democratic Action Party (a group representing Albanians living in the south of the country) told Beta news agency that nobody knows for sure exactly how many Albanians from the southern Serbian regions of Presevo and Bujanovac have requested asylum in the EU since the withdrawal of visas, however the number is thought to be between five and ten thousand. Halimi said that since January, two travel agencies in Presevo and Bujanovac, both of which have the necessary transport licences, have been providing constant bus links towards EU countries. The buses are often full of Albanians who go on to stay with family and friends already in these countries. “The situation is dramatic. The phenomenon of people leaving for EU countries — especially Belgium and Sweden — is taking on enormous proportions, especially among young people”, the agency Beta quoted Riza Halimi as saying. “There is nothing unusual about this, considering the high levels of unemployment in Presevo and Bujanovac, where more than 70% of people are out of work. So people emigrate in search of a better life”, he added. Beta also reported that the President of the Bujanovac municipality, Jonuz Musliu, has appeared on the Albanian-language television channel Spektar in the last few days, inviting young Albanians in the region to stay put and not to leave for EU countries.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Czar: Education to Make Students ‘Revolutionaries’
New Princeton lecturer Van Jones slammed non-activist students as ‘worthless people’
Van Jones, President Obama’s former “green jobs” czar and a newly appointed Princeton lecturer, has a history of sparking protests against universities and previously slammed non-activist students as “worthless people” obtaining “worthless degrees,” WND has learned.
Jones also implied a university education must help students become “revolutionaries.”
Jones resigned in September from his post as adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality after it was exposed he founded a communist revolutionary organization and signed a statement that accused the Bush administration of possible involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Jones also called for “resistance” against the U.S. Jones previously stated his advocacy for green jobs was part of a broader movement to destroy the U.S. capitalist system.
Princeton last week announced Jones has been appointed a visiting fellow in the Center for African American Studies and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the university’s Wilson School.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Don’t Let Politicians Bully You, Lord Carey Warns Christians
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey today accused politicians of trying to bully Christianity out of public life.
He complained of a ‘strident and bullying campaign’ to marginalise Christianity in the name of political correctness.
Lord Carey said: ‘We have reached the point where politicians are mocked for merely expressing their faith.
‘I cannot imagine any politician expressing concern that Britain should remain a Christian country. That reticence is a scandal and a disgrace to our history.’
The powerful intervention from the retired Archbishop, who stepped down from Lambeth Palace in 2002, comes in the wake of strongly-expressed criticism of state attempts to sideline Christianity from other senior prelates.
Last month Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said that Christianity was being pushed out of public life in a ‘ferocious and insidious’ manner.
[…]
He told a meeting in the House of Lords: ‘Christianity, which has given so much to our country, is now being sidelined as never before as though it is a stranger to our nation.’
Lord Carey told Christians to stand up for their faith and to be more assertive when their heritage is attacked.
‘If we behave like doormats, don’t be surprised if we are treated as though we are,’ he said. ‘It is time to return to the public square.’
Lord Carey echoed Dr Sentamu’s concerns that the rights of Christian schools to teach the basis of their faith is being stripped away.
‘This bullying campaign seeks to ban faith schools, despite evidence that faith schools perform better than many others.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Psychiatric Disorders Flag Normal Human Behaviors as “Diseases”
(NaturalNews) The Disease Mongering Engine, which I invented a couple of years ago and posted on NaturalNews, was initially created as a joke to demonstrate the ridiculousness of the fictitious diseases that are constantly created by the psychiatric industry. This hilarious online disease generator (http://www.naturalnews.com/disease-…) allows you to instantly create your own fictitious diseases and disorders such as:
• Repetitive Dysmorphic Nose Picking Disorder With Itching (RDNPDWI) • Oppositional Disorganized Speaking Disorder With Indigestion (ODSDWI) • Chronic Bipolar Anticipation Dysfunction With Smelly Feet (CBADWSF)
…. and so on.
Here’s the bizarre part: All of a sudden, the new psychiatric diagnostic manual (DSM-V) appears to have adopted as medical fact many of the disorders that were created by the Disease Mongering Engine!
This new manual, for example, now says that spending a lot of time thinking about sex is a disorder. (That immediately paints every teenage boy as “diseased.”)
Another new disease is “Oppositional Defiant Disorder” (ODD), which includes anyone who disagrees with authority. All those who are skeptical about the safety of vaccines, for example, are about to be diagnosed with ODD.
Now, people who are antisocial aren’t merely antisocial. They’re suffering from “Antisocial Personality Disorder” and require pharmacological treatment. So the prick neighbor isn’t merely a prick anymore; he’s a “sufferer” of a “disorder” who needs “treatment.”
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