Ireland Can’t Ditch the Euro. Germany Should. Or it Could Rule Europe Instead…
Last week everyone was worrying about China and its alleged currency manipulation. I thought the world was about to embark on another tortuous slanging match about “global imbalances”. That was stupid of me. Unsurprisingly, everyone has been far too distracted by the economic train crash that is Ireland. And a train crash is a fitting metaphor.
As Daniel Hannan has explained, Ireland’s problem with the euro was that it let the Irish economy run too fast, for too long. Ireland needed much higher interest rates than Germany to slow it down and it didn’t get them. Eventually, it had to come off the rails.
Dan suggests that the solution is for Ireland to pull out of the euro, devalue and use sterling. I’m not convinced. As Barry Eichengreenexplains here, exiting the euro would cause “the mother of all financial crises”. Everyone holding any Irish debts would anticipate the devaluation and instantly call them in. Essentially, it would be equivalent to a total default — something Ireland is desperate to avoid.
But, though Ireland pulling out of the euro would probably result in disaster, there is actually a solution that would work rather well. As several commentators have pointed out, instead of weakening Ireland’s currency, we can just strengthen Germany’s.
While southern Europe and Ireland were overheating, Germany was getting progressively more competitive. Now, it is running a current account surplus of 6.1 per cent of GDP — much bigger than China’s 4.7 per cent. Germany’s immense export prowess is dragging up the euro, and just as happened with America and the gold standard in the 1930s, it is compounding the problems of every other European country by forcing them to deflate painfully.
For the sake of Europe (the region — not the EU), Germany should abandon the euro and let the resurrected Deutschmark appreciate. At a stroke, it would relieve the pressure on Ireland, as well as on the rest of Southern Europe, by making their economies more competitive and their debts relatively less arduous. Over time, the single currency could be killed off, with surplus countries progressively pulling out, and the huge imbalances within Europe could finally be unwound.
Unfortunately, there is one other solution. That is that Germany bails out Ireland, and then Greece, and then Portugal and so on, until the rot finally stops. German taxpayers might not like it, but if they are convinced that the alternative is the death of Europe, they will accept it. Eventually, Germany will end up running every economy in Europe like it runs the German one, and the eurozone will have found itself a federal superstate almost by accident.
But then perhaps that was the plan all along.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Economic Intelligence to Protect National Interests
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 18 — The Spanish government is planning to create a system of economic intelligence similar to the national intelligence centre, to “promote and defend national economic interests” and to boost the international presence of the Spanish economy. This was reported today on the front page of Spanish daily Publico, which is close to the Spanish government. An interdepartmental work group, coordinated by the Ministry for the Presidency and headed by former EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, worked for a year on a report entitled “Spanish security strategy”, which lists all of the security risks and threats to the country. The report, cited by the daily and which will be approved in one of the coming cabinet meetings, identifies not only risks associated with terrorism or armed conflicts, but also environmental catastrophes, cyber-threats and economic and financial instability. The document urges the government to establish an Economic Intelligence System, which in collaboration with other government bodies, “will analyse and facilitate important, opportune and useful strategic economic information” to favour “an ideal decision-making process”. Economic stability is indicated as the basis for social stability, through “a correct supervision and regulation of the markets and intensifying the fight against all economic crimes. On an international level, the report expresses a desire to see collaboration between Spain, Algeria and Morocco to be strengthened and a “negotiated, fair and definitive” solution to the Western Sahara issue. It also identifies Africa and the Maghreb as areas that are “essential for the security of Spain and Europe as a whole”, indicating Northern Africa as a “priority area” not only due to the presence of Ceuta and Melilla, but due to its “geographic proximity and historical and human ties”. A collaboration that is necessary “with all countries in Northern Africa”, which is also one of the reasons behind Zapatero not condemning Morocco’s attack on November 8 on the Saharawi camp of Gdeim Izik, 15km from Laayoune. Islamic terrorism in the Sahel in particular, indicated as “fertile ground for criminal networks and jihad-inspired terrorist groups”, represents one of the main security threats for Spain, with the risk of these groups laying claim to the ancient Al Andalus “for the purposes of conversion and recruiting”. The ETA is considered to be in “its final stages”, thanks to the “maturity and unity of Spanish society and effective police and legal actions”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
62 Charged With Welfare Fraud Totaling Nearly $300,000
Fraud included food stamps, housing and day care
Sixty-one Palm Beach County residents and one from Tampa were charged with welfare fraud after an 18-month investigation dubbed Operation Easy Money, according to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
Investigators have arrested 44 of the food stamp recipients and 18 are still being sought, said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which also worked on the case with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies.
The suspects illegally obtained $298,000 in cash from government-issued Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, cards which were supposed to be used to buy food, said FDLE Special Agent in Charge Amos Rojas Jr.
“In one egregious case, up to $14,000 [was obtained by one person] along with other prohibited items such as cigarettes, beer and phone calling cards,” Rojas said.
An earlier investigation, called Operation Money for Nothing, led to the April 2009 arrests of two brothers who ran Billy’s Market, at 464 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, in Belle Glade.
“Gassan Ali and Imad Ali were accused of trafficking in EBT food stamp benefits to the tune of more than $1 million,” Rojas said.
Both have pleaded guilty to grand theft and public assistance fraud worth $1.5 million between 2008 and 2009, he said.
That’s when the FDLE, Sheriff’s Office and State Attorney launched Operation Easy Money to review EBT transactions at the store dating back to January 2006.
Investigators said they found that Billy’s Market employees would ring up false food purchases, return the cash to the card holder and keep a cut for the store, sometimes up to 50 percent, with little or no food changing hands.
The store itself had “sparsely stocked shelves, sometimes with cans of expired food and no shopping carts or baskets,” according to Rojas.
Among the 61 accused of food stamp fraud are 16 also facing housing fraud charges for misrepresenting their incomes or employment status to qualify for housing assistance, according to the FDLE.
In addition to the housing fraud, current Tampa resident Felicia Miller Johnson, 29, is also accused of lying about working for the Department of Corrections to fraudulently receive subsidized child day care while living in Palm Beach County, according to FDLE investigator Bob Nelson.
Some of the 62 suspects were “driving luxury cars and they were in possession of luxury accessories that the working public” could not afford, said prosecutor Angela Miller with the State Attorney’s Office.
“It’s this type of fraud that not only hurts those who need it most, but it also hinders our nation’s economic recovery efforts,” Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Michael Gauger said.
It also gives the Department of Children & Families a black eye, as its reduced staff tries to meet growing needs, according to regional director Perry Borman.
“[Fraud] like this really puts a stain on the work that we’re doing,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo | [Return to headlines] |
An Uncivil Action: Middle Tennessee Puts Islam on Trial
IN NOVEMBER 2009 the Islamic Centre of Murfreesboro bought a parcel of land on which it planned to build a new mosque and community centre. The congregation had outgrown its current space in a small office building behind a surveying company and a car mechanic; on Fridays congregants pray outside on the pavement, and during holidays they have to rent a space elsewhere to fit everyone in.
In January “NOT WELCOME” was spray-painted on a sign placed on the site announcing it as the future home of the Islamic Centre of Murfreesboro. The sign was vandalised again in June, one week after a contentious county commission hearing at which a local pastor declared, “We have a duty to investigate anyone under the banner of Islam.” The same month a Republican candidate for Congress from Murfreesboro declared herself “opposed to the idea of an Islamic training centre being built in our community”. In August construction equipment at the site was set alight.
So perhaps it should not have come as a surprise that three Rutherford County residents filed a lawsuit in September to block construction of the mosque. The plaintiffs believe that they “have been and will be irreparably harmed by the risk of terrorism generated by proselytising for Islam and inciting the practices of sharia law,” which, they claim, “advocates sexual abuse of children, beating and physical abuse of women, death edicts, honour killings, killing of homosexuals, outright lies to Kafirs (those who don’t submit to sharia law), Constitution-free zones, and total world dominion.” Of course, Murfreesboro has had a mosque for decades, and does not seem infested with “Constitution-free zones”; quite how moving to a bigger building in a different location intensifies the risk remains unclear.
Equally unclear is why the chancellor who presided over the hearing permitted such wide-ranging testimony. The defence called a single witness, who testified that the county’s planning commission followed proper procedure; the plaintiffs called at least 17, including Frank Gaffney, who runs a think-tank in Washington, DC, and speaks often about the dangers of sharia (for whatever that is worth: on the stand he admitted, “I am not an expert on sharia, but I have talked a lot about it as a threat”). Their attorney’s questioning often focused not on the details of open-meetings laws but on the incompatibility of sharia and American law, on whether Islam is a religion (the federal government filed a brief saying that it is) and on whether advocating sharia law ought to be protected by the first amendment.
That difference persisted during closing arguments on Wednesday. The county’s summation focused on procedural issues, and complained that “the whole point [of the plaintiffs’ strategy] was to try to create a show.” Tom Smith, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, insisted that Muslims are welcome in America as long as they come “not in the shadows of sharia, but in the light of freedom.” He wondered whether there is “a shadow of sharia in our meetings in Rutherford County.” The judge ruled against the plaintiffs, but the row is far from over; Mr Smith warned that the “extraordinary public outcry” is likely to continue if the building is not stopped. His colleague, Joe Brandon, has said that he expects this case will go to the Supreme Court. And just because a building might not be built doesn’t mean the people who might worship there will disappear.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Bloomberg Appointee Scrubbed CAIR From Resume
Mohammedi dumped from airport-profiling panel with Chertoff
A senior Council on American-Islamic Relations official appointed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg bleached his CAIR experience from his resume, but his controversial past led to his dismissal as a panelist in next week’s New York debate on airport profiling broadcast by Bloomberg Television, WND has learned.
Omar T. Mohammedi, a commissioner with the New York City Commission on Human Rights was dumped from the debate featuring former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff after panelists raised concerns about his work for CAIR, which the federal government has named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror-financing case in U.S. history.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Oh, And Another Thing…’: Ohio Changes Law to Shorten Final Words of Death Row Inmates After Last Condemned Man Took 17 Minutes
Killer said ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…’ 53 times
The final words of condemned prisoners in Ohio could be shortened under new state prison rules.
The move comes after an inmate took 17 minutes to make his final statement before he was executed.
Michael Beuke, a hitchhiker who killed a motorist and then shot two others, spent his final moments reciting the rosary, apologising and saying prayers.
While holding rosary beads, he went through the five Glorious Mysteries of the Roman Catholic church, the Apostles’ Creed, several accompanying prayers and repeated ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…’ 53 times.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has said it did not have a problem with the subject matter or length of Beuke’s comments, but decided to revisit the rules because of the potential for future problems.
The new rules state: ‘The warden may impose reasonable restrictions on the content and length of the statement.
‘The warden may also terminate a statement that he or she believes is intentionally offensive to the witness.’
Spokesman Julie Walburn added: ‘It’s not our intention to use this restriction without regard to the impact.
‘It will certainly be something we use carefully. We’ve never used it yet, and if we do, it’s something we would do carefully and in a thoughtful manner.’
Ohio state allowed for unlimited statements after a 1999 lawsuit challenged the policy in place at the time, which permitted only a written statement to be read after an inmate’s death.
Kentucky and Washington both impose a two-minute limit, while California protocols allow a ‘brief final statement’.
Virginia allows statements but begins the execution a few seconds later regardless of whether the inmate has finished. Pennsylvania allows only written statements.
Kevin O’Neill, a law professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, said final statements dated back to the 14th century in England and that inmates’ right to last words was well-established in the U.S. by the time the First Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1791.
Tim Young, a lawyer, said one inmate’s lengthy statement should not be a reason to change policy.
He said: ‘Yes, they committed horrible crimes, that’s why they’re there, but who are we to take away the one final moment to allow them to speak?
‘In many cases what they do say is an apology, which is closure for the victims. Are we going to take that away?’
Beuke was executed on May 13 for his three-week spree which terrorised the Cincinnati area in 1983.
The 48-year-old apologised for his crime, then recited the rosary and other prayers while choking back tears.
At 17 minutes, it was the longest final statement by a condemned Ohio inmate since executions resumed 11 years ago
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
US Woman Asked to Show Prosthetic Breast
An American cancer survivor says she was asked to remove her prosthetic breast and show it to airport security during an “enhanced” pat-down, a report on North Carolina television said on Friday.
Cathy Bossi, a flight attendant for three decades, told WBTV television in Charlotte, North Carolina, that she was selected by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent to go through a full-body scanner, and then was sent to be patted down.
Passengers and airline crew members are being randomly selected to pass through new scanners being deployed at airports as part of stepped-up security measures.
They are supposed to be given an “enhanced” pat-down, which includes a frisk of their private parts, if they refuse to go through the X-ray machines or if the scanner shows something suspicious.
Bossi said the TSA agent who patted her down “put her full hand on my breast and said, ‘What’s this?’
“I said, ‘It’s a prosthesis because I have breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘Well, you’ll have to show me that,’“ Bossi said.
“I did not take the name of the person at the time because it was just so horrific of an experience that it just blew my mind. I couldn’t believe someone had done that to me,” she said.
Bossi reportedly sought legal advice after the incident. It was unclear if she removed her prosthetic breast to show the TSA agent.
The TSA told WBTV in an email that its agents are “allowed to ask to see and touch prosthetics” but are not allowed to remove them.
The TSA followed up with another message sent to WBTV, saying it would look into Bossi’s case.
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Must Pay EU Back Money Spent on Elton John Gig
Rock star’s concert in Naples cost 720,000 euros
(ANSA) — Rome, November 19 — The European Commission said Friday that Italy will have to repay 720,000 euros spent on an Elton John concert in Naples last year, after a furore over alleged misuse of regional funding.
“We sent a letter yesterday to the Italian authorities ….
asking them to reimburse the 720,000 euros from the European Regional Development Fund used for this concert,” said Ton van Lierop, the spokesman for European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.
“Cultural events can fall under the scope of operational programmes, but they have to be aimed at structural long-term investments. This was a one-off”. Earlier this month Northern League MEP Mario Borghezio requested Hahn look into the way centre-left local authorities had used European taxpayers’ money to bring the British pop star to the southern Italian city’s Piedigrotta culture festival.
The gig drew 80,000 fans on September 11 2009.
“It’s shameful that European money for Campania’s regional development was used by the local politicians in charge at that time for an Elton John concert,” Northern League MP Alessandro Montagnoli said Friday.
“So it would be right for those politicians to pay the money back out of their own pockets. The Left use money like this and then they say the south lacks funding”.
Riccardo Marone, who was Campania’s regional tourism councillor at the time, defended using European funding in this way. “Obviously the Northern League would prefer Naples to be on the world’s front pages for things like the city’s current trash crisis (rather than culture initiatives),” Marone said.
“If that wasn’t promoting the Piedigrotta festival and tourism in Naples, I don’t know what would be”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Mafia Bestseller Gomorra to Become TV Series
12-parter will include material ‘painfully left out’ in film
(ANSA) — Rome, November 19 — Gomorra, Roberto Saviano’s global bestseller on the Naples Camorra mafia, is set to become a TV mini-series, two years after it was turned into an award-winning film. Sky Italia said it aims to repeat the success of Rome gangland series Romanzo Criminale, one of last year’s big hits for the Rupert Murdoch-controlled satellite outfit.
Saviano, who lives under 24-hour police protection after Camorra death threats, will be a “supervisor” on the project, TV production company Cattleya said.
“Roberto will be welcome at all stages of the project,” Cattleya chief Riccardo Tozzi told ANSA.
The TV adaptation of Saviano’s 2006 book will run for 12 episodes and will be made with the same movie production company, Fandango, that was behind the 2008 feature film of Gomorra (Gomorrah) that won second prize at the Cannes Film festival that year.
Fandango chief Domenico Procacci told ANSA that a 12-parter of one-hour episodes would allow screenwriters to include much of the material that never made it into the feature-length version.
“When we adapted the novel,” Procacci said, “the writers had to make a lot of hard choices and painful decisions to leave things out.
“Having the scope to develop the tale over 12 episodes will allow us to work on the material we were forced to leave out before”. Saviano’s sprawling expose’-style novel covers a lot of ground in exposing the criminal empire of the Casalesi clan, whose bosses issued the death sentence against the 31-year-old former investigative reporter.
It ranges from toxic waste disposal to the clan’s expansion into the garments industry and other legitimate enterprises in Italy and abroad.
The mini-series will start shooting “in about a year,” the producers said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: First Private Train Offers Shopping, Dry Cleaning
Arenaways makes landmark run from Turin to Milan
(ANSA) — Milan, November 15 — Italy’s first private train company started up on Monday offering grocery shopping and dry cleaning to its customers.
“We got the idea for on-board shopping after a survey showed that most of our commuters are single,” said Arenaways coordinator Patrizia De Bernardi on the run from Turin to Milan.
Passengers can choose from an offering of pasta, baked goods, salami, cheese, soups, vegetables, meat and desserts, putting them in a virtual grocery basket and picking up a real one when they get back to their departure point.
“We also offer a dry-cleaning service,” De Bernardi said.
“Customers can leave their laundry with us and pick up it up three days later, either on the train or at three pick-up points around the city”.
Arenaways is the first company to challenge the monopoly of Trenitalia, a part of state-controlled Ferrovie dello Stato.
The landmark Arenaways trip took exactly two hours, coming in to Milan ten minutes early because for the moment it isn’t stopping at any stations in between. “Today is a historic day,” said CEO Giuseppe Arena, confirming that the company is set to appeal to the transport ministry, the anti-trust panel and the European Commission for the right to pick up passengers between the two northern cities.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Police Say No Specific Attack Threat in Germany
Police on Saturday said there were no signs of an imminent attack by militants in Germany, after a news magazine reported that a plot existed to attack the Reichstag parliament building.
The comments played down the report by weekly Der Spiegel, which said Germany’s decision to step up security measures this week had been prompted by the discovery of militant plans to break into the Reichstag parliament building and shoot hostages.
“We have concrete details of suspects, but no concrete details that an attack will be carried out at a specific time and place,” the head of Germany’s BKA Federal Crime Office, Joerg Ziercke, told Reuters.
Der Spiegel, citing security officials, said a jihadist living abroad had informed them in recent telephone calls of a plan for armed militants to enter the 19th century building in central Berlin and open fire. It said police considered the information credible.
The information, the magazine said, had prompted officials to announce on Wednesday they were raising security, especially at public places including airports and train stations.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Thursday authorities were on guard against threats of an armed attack of the kind that killed 166 in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.
The Reichstag building has strong symbolic importance in Germany. An arson attack there in 1933 highlighted Nazi moves to assume complete control over Germany. The image of a Soviet soldier planting the red flag atop its ruin in 1945 marked the end of World War Two for many.
It was formally restored as the country’s legislature soon after the 1990 reunification of Germany and is visited daily by hundreds who walk around its glass dome looking down on debates.
Late on Saturday more than 100 tourists were lined up outside the building and no police were in sight.
The jihadist, Der Spiegel reported, said the group of attackers was to be made up of six people. Two had already arrived in Berlin and another four, including a German, a Turk and a North African, were under way.
Germany has troops in Afghanistan and has been the target of threats on Jihadist websites.
The timing of the reported parliament plot, for February or March, differed however from de Maiziere’s warnings that attacks were planned sometime before the end of November.
[…]
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Leader Warns NATO of Russian Bear
Obama administration’s courting of Moscow worries allies
Fear that Russia is rebuilding its authoritarian dominance in Central and Eastern Europe as it grows closer to Washington underscores a message today to NATO leaders from the head of Poland’s top opposition party, the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the president of Poland’s Law and Justice party, writes in a letter obtained by WND that Poles have observed in the past decade since 9/11 “a progressive process of growing authoritarian power in Russia and a number of measures aimed to rebuild Russia’s communist-era sphere of influence, not only in the former Soviet Union, but also outside of it.”
[…]
Kushner said the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus, Latvia, Georgia — which was invaded by Russia in August 2008 — and others in the region “feel strongly that the Russian federation is being allowed to reform itself almost as it was at the time of the Soviet Union,” he said. “There is tremendous concern about the Russian bear regaining control without any opposition from the U.S.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘I Give Their Marriage Seven Years!’ Fury at Bishop’s Slur on ‘Shallow’ Royal Couple
A prominent bishop has provoked a storm of outrage by likening Prince William and Kate Middleton to ‘shallow celebrities’ and predicting their marriage will last just seven years.
On his Facebook page, Church of England Bishop Pete Broadbent describes the Royal Family as ‘philanderers’ with a record of marriage break-ups who ‘cost an arm and a leg’.
He also denounces the ‘nauseating tosh’ surrounding the ‘national flimflam’ of the wedding and says the basis of the Monarchy is ‘corrupt and sexist’.
In a reference to the 1981 marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, he adds: ‘I managed to avoid the last disaster in slow motion between Big Ears and the Porcelain Doll, and I hope to avoid this one too.’
His comments are sure to dismay his immediate superior, the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who is a close friend of Prince Charles.
The posts by Bishop Broadbent, the Bishop of Willesden in North-West London for ten years, were condemned last night as ‘cruel’ and ‘disrespectful’ by MPs and Church members.
The furore could prove partic ularly embarrassing to Bishop Chartres as Church sources have suggested he may conduct the wedding service — although it would be a break with tradition not to use the Archbishop of Canterbury.
To add to the embarrassment, the row comes just two days before the Queen opens a new session of the General Synod. But rather than censure the Bishop, Lambeth Palace said: ‘[He] is entitled to his views.’
Tory MP Nicholas Soames, a friend of Prince Charles, last night denounced the Bishop’s comments as ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’, saying: ‘They are extremely rude, not what one expects from a bishop.’
Synod member and former MP Canon Peter Bruinvels added: ‘This is deeply disappointing and disrespectful. The Bishop should be reminded that we are an estab lished Church in which the Monarch plays an integral role.’
Fellow Synod member Alison Ruoff said the comments were ‘cruel, childish, unnecessary and unchristian’.
Bishop Broadbent — a founder member of the Church’s powerful ‘Cabinet’, the Archbishops’ Council — first commented on the Royal wedding on his Twitter account shortly after the couple announced their engagement on Tuesday.
He said: ‘Need to work out what date in the spring or summer I should be booking my republican day trip to France.’
The remark then appeared on his Facebook page, sparking comments, including one asking: ‘Isn’t the Queen your boss?’ Cambridge-educated Bishop Broadbent replied: ‘I think you’ll find that God and the Bishop of London are my bosses. I am a citizen, not a subject!’
In response to another comment, he said: ‘The Windsors and their predecessors don’t have a good track record on the permanence of marriage. But their marriage is their business. I don’t know them, and have no part in celebrating it. I just wish we weren’t paying for it.’
Warming to his task, the Bishop’s next post said: ‘I think we need a party in Calais for all good republicans who can’t stand the nauseating tosh that surrounds this event.’
He criticised the media for producing ‘fawning deferential nonsense …. out of their every orifice’, and added: ‘I managed to avoid the last disaster in slow motion between Big Ears and the Porcelain Doll, and hope to avoid this one too.’
[…]
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Very British Royal Wedding… And the Bride Wore a Burka!
As a celebration of modern Britain, designed to reflect the Age of Austerity and Diversity, yesterday’s Royal Wedding was an unqualified triumph.
The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton catapulted the monarchy from the last century into the second decade of the new millennium.
This was a break with tradition on an epic scale, carefully choreographed to bring our future King closer to his multicultural subjects.
It began with the couple’s decision to reject their initial choice of Westminster Abbey in favour of the Finsbury Park Mosque.
For the first time in history, the ceremony was conducted in the street because the building had been sealed off by the anti-terrorist squad.
In line with the desire of Prince Charles to be defender of all faiths, the Archbishop of Canterbury agreed to stand aside in favour of Sheikh Abu Hamza, recently released from Belmarsh Prison with a £5 million compensation package.
As the wedding ring dangled from his diamond-encrusted left hook, Sheikh Hamza pronounced the infidel couple ‘man and chattel’ and prayed for jihad.
The bride was resplendent in a designer burka from the Kate Moss Intifada Collection at Topshop. Prince William shunned Savile Row and wore a single-breasted suit from the Jamie Redknapp range at M&S.
They were attended by best man Prince Harry and Matron-of- Honour Sally Bercow, who contributed a non-stop Twitter feed throughout the service.
This was the first Royal Wedding not to be broadcast on the BBC. In an attempt to reduce the cost to the public purse, the couple sold exclusive rights to Hello! magazine in a deal reported to be worth £200 million.
As rain lashed down, the congregation huddled under their prayer mats. Lord Elton of John had offered to reprise his performance of Princess Diana’s favourite song, Candle In The Wind, but it was felt that Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting would more accurately reflect life in today’s Britain.
The star-spangled guest list included Lord and Lady Beckham; Sir Stephen Fry; Gerry and Kate McCann; Paul and Rachel Chandler; Mr Wayne Rooney and two prostitutes he picked up in the bar of the Marriott Hotel; Sir Simon Cowell and Sir Piers Morgan OBN.
Also in attendance were the Prime Minister and his wife Samantha; Lord Mandelson and the Lady Reinaldo; Sir Winston Silcott; Mr and Mrs Jeremy Clarkson; and that Geordie bird from The X Factor who used to be married to a footballer and now does shampoo adverts.
Countless other celebrities included Strictly Come Dancing’s Ann Widdecombe; Sir Oswald and Lady Sharon Osbourne; Binyam Mohamed; Lord Winner of Dinner; Mr Dizzee Rascal; The Hon David Walliams; and Lady Gaga. The Commonwealth was represented by Australia’s cultural ambassador Sir Les Patterson; Mr Anjem Choudary, of the Anglo-Pakistani Kill The Kuffars Co-ordinating Committee; and Mr Robert Mugabe.
Sir Gerald Adams, of the Provisional IRA, sent his apologies.
On behalf of the American Tea Party movement, Governor Sarah Palin had intended to present the royal couple with an autographed, leather-bound copy of her latest book, Going Commando. Unfortunately, she can’t tell the difference between England and Canada and turned up in London, Ontario, by mistake.
[…]
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: 80% of Roma Population Out of Work
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 17 — More than 80% of the Roma population in Serbia are without work, whilst only 15% have completed primary school. The figures have emerged at a conference on the integration of the Roma people in Belgrade. “The system for the integration of Roma people in society need improvements, and the fact that — according to statistics — only 0.04% of Roma people have a middle high school diploma demonstrates this need,” said Ljuan Koka, representative of the Office for the national strategy on the Roma people. Members of the UN have underlined the willingness of the UN to work with the Serbian National service for employment to resolve the problems of Roma people in Serbia, jointly with other institutions. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Burning Christian Homes an ‘Act of Fate, ‘ Say Egyptian Police
by Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) — Police authorities in the Egyptian village rampaged by a Muslim mob on November 15, torching some 22 Coptic houses, came to the conclusion that the fires came about haphazardly as an “act of fate.” The Bishop of Nag Hammadi, Anba Kyrillos, rejected the police explanations of the cause of the fires, saying “An act of fate caused 22 houses to be torched? An act of fate also caused torching of shops, a storage house and a large number livestock not near each other?” He added that the two Coptic-owned fields and irrigation machinery were torched one day later, “so was this also an act of fate?”
The Chief prosecutor went to survey the damage in Al-Nawahed village, Abu-Tesht, in Qena province, 290 miles south of Cairo, but he refused to listen to any of the Coptic victims, speak to witnesses who saw the perpetrators or even register the names of the accused. The Bishop expressed anger at yet another injustice befalling the Copts, saying “Does the chief prosecutor want to register the case against ‘unknown persons?”
The Bishop filed a complaint with the Attorney General against the chief prosecutor of Abu-Tesht for refusing to investigate charges brought by Copts against the Muslim perpetrators named by them, and asked for the re-opening of the investigation.
Coptic village inhabitants were subjected to Muslim mob rampage on November 15th and 16th, prompted by a rumors of an affair between 19-year-old Copt Hossam Noel Attallah and a 17-year-old Muslim girl, Rasha Mohamed Hussein (AINA 11-17-2010).
During the attack the Muslim mob threw fireballs, gasoline and stones at Coptic homes and detonated Butane Gas cylinders This video shows Muslims torching a Coptic Christian home while shouting “Alahu Akbar” and the terrified inhabitants of the home taking refuge on the roof of the burning house.
The Bishop accused the village mayor Tantawi Abdelmoneim and others of planning and inciting to the incident. He denied that these attack could have anything to do with the Egyptian parliamentary elections slotted for November 28.
It was reported that State Security forced thirteen Coptic families to sign papers stating the fire happened as an “Act of Fate” and was extinguished by security and the village Muslims. “Have you ever heard of such humiliation? said a Coptic victim “Whoever refused to sign was beaten up. We were afraid to be detained by security, so we signed” he added. He confirmed that the police know all of the perpetrators.
None of the Coptic village inhabitants had any information as to the whereabouts of the Muslim girl, Rasha. However, they said that Hossam is still detained by security and was tortured and taken for treatment to the military hospital in Qena.
One of the village Copts told local Coptic activist Miriam Ragy that Copts are hiding on the roofs of their torched homes, afraid to venture in the street to buy food lest they be killed by Muslims. “We are sending a call to anybody to come and save us. We cannot wait here until we are slaughtered,” he said. “Everything was burnt out in our homes, we sleeping overnight on the roofs where it is freezing cold.”
The Bishop explained that the Coptic inhabitants are poor peasants who are traumatized and afraid to be ambushed if they go out, but said security forces now have the situation in the village under control.
“What is really worrying,” says Wagih Yacoub, “is the police now going to Coptic homes taking down the names of males over the age of 16 years.” He explained that security authorities will eventually detain them to force the Copts into reconciliation to get their boys out. “It is the same old trick used by security over and over again, in order to force unofficial reconciliation where Copts are forced to give up their rights.”
Bishop Kyrillos decried the fact that every time there is a rumor of a relationship between a Coptic man and a Muslim girl, the whole Coptic community has to pay the price. “It happened in Kom Ahmar (Farshout) where 86 Coptic-owned properties were torched, in Nag Hammadi we were killed and on top of that, they torched 43 homes and shops and now in Al-Nawahed village just because a girl and a boy are walking beside each other in the street, the whole place is destroyed,” he said..
| — Hat tip: Mary Abdelmassih | [Return to headlines] |
Archbishop of Kirkuk Appeals to the Church and Italy
Archbishop Louis Sako appeals for solidarity from brothers and sisters in the West. Since 2005, 900 Christians have been killed, among them five priests and the archbishop of Mosul, 52 churches have been attacked. A message for the Italian Church on the eve of a day of prayer and solidarity with the persecuted Christians of Iraq, wanted by the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
Kirkuk (AsiaNews) — “Do not leave us alone in this time of tribulation” is the appeal that the archbishop of Kirkuk, Msgr. Louis Sako, has sent to AsiaNews for publication in Italy on the eve of a day of prayer and solidarity for Christians in Iraq, wanted by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). Tomorrow, in all the parishes in Italy there will be moments of prayer for persecuted Christians and especially for Christians in Iraq. The Day also aims to raise awareness in Italy and Europe, so they may double their efforts toward Iraq. Yesterday Cardinal. Angelo Bagnasco, president of CEI, spoke to AsiaNews, saying that “Italy and Europe cannot look away because what is at stake is religious freedom, which is the basis for all other forms of freedom”.
In his appeal, supported by other Iraqi bishops, Msgr. Sako reveals that “since 2005, 900 Christians have been killed, among them five priests and the archbishop of Mosul, 52 churches attacked. Many families have been forced to leave their homes and flee to save their children and their Christian faith. “ Here is the appeal sent by Msgr. Sako to AsiaNews:
Appeal to our brothers and sisters in Italy
Our people in Iraq today are persecuted, threatened and suffer martyrdom. Since 2005, 900 Christians have been killed, among them five priests and the archbishop of Mosul, 52 churches attacked. Many families have been forced to leave their homes and flee to save their children and their Christian faith.
We are ready to do everything to preserve our faith and our loyalty to Christ. We are conscious that martyrdom is the charism of our Church. This is what gives us the strength to stay and persevere.
Our ordeal is heavy and seems long. The carnage that took place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad on October 31 has profoundly shaken us.
We are losing patience, but not faith or hope. We need the prayers and moral support and fellowship of our Christian brothers and sisters of the West. Without their support and solidarity we feel alone and isolated. Do not leave us alone in this time of tribulation. Our journey can continue with your help and your prayers.
+Louis Sako
Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Card Bagnasco Urges Solidarity With the Persecuted Christians of Iraq and the World
The president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference calls on Italy and Europe not to “look away because what is at stake is religious freedom, which is the basis for all other forms of freedom.” A day of solidarity and prayer will be celebrated in all of Italy’s parishes this Sunday. Cardinal mentions Asia Bibi as well.
Rome (AsiaNews) — Card Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), said that the Italian Catholic Church was close to all “those who are victims of violence”. He made the statement as he promoted a Day of Solidarity with Iraqi Christians, who are persecuted in their own country. The event includes prayers in all Italian parishes this Sunday.
“Inviting everyone to pray for the persecuted Christians of Iraq in all the churches of our country on the occasion of the Solemnity of Christ the King,” Card Bagnasco told AsiaNews, “is a concrete way to express our faith and show our closeness to all those who are victims of violence, like the people affected by the 31 October carnage in Baghdad’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral.”
On 31 October, a group of militants tied to al-Qaeda stormed the Syro-Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, killing two priests and taking hostage the worshippers who were inside the building. In the rescue operation by Iraq security forces, the terrorists went on a rampage. At least 55 people lost their life, and 70 more were wounded. Ten women and eight children were among the killed. On the same day, al-Qaeda issued a statement saying that every Christian in the Middle East is a “legitimate target” in their struggle.
Religious extremists and criminals have been targeting Iraqi Christians for quite some time. More than half of the community has had to flee, to northern Iraq but also abroad.
Iraq’s explosive situation calls for action to ensure security and provide economic aid as well as charity. “Italy and Europe cannot look away because what is at stake is religious freedom, which is the basis for all other forms of freedom,” Card Bagnasco said.
After the attack, many of the wounded in the Baghdad carnage were flown to Italy and France for medical treatment. In Italy, they are recuperating at the Policlinico Gemelli in Rome.
In his statement, CEI’s president also mentioned the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian (Protestant) woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan. “Let us join the Pope’s incessant prayer for the liberation of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who bears witness to the world of the helpless strength of the Gospel,” he said.
Since news about the sentence became public, TV2000 and AsiaNews have launched an online petition in Italy and around the world on behalf of Asia Bibi, demanding her release as well as the repeal of the blasphemy law.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iran: Meet Fatima, The 1st Islamic Doll
Iran not just about the missiles: Products created specifically for local market revealed, including Islamic tie, ‘Hijab Messenger’ software
Innovations and inventions in Iran , and not just in the missile department : A number of products created specifically for the local market were revealed this week — an Islamic tie, Islamic doll and the ‘Hijab Messenger’ instant messaging software.
The tie, which is based on Islamic values, was specially designed in the shape of a sword and decorated Prophet Muhammad’s quotes. The tie’s designer, Hemat Komeili chose the sword which represents the sword of Shiite Imam Ali, Mohammad’s cousin and brother in law, who is considered holy in Iran.
According to the designer, the inventive design received approval from some of Iran’s shiite scholars.
Since Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979, most men stopped wearing ties as it represented the ‘corrupt’ west. In the first days of the revolution it was even claimed that men wearing ties were arrested and according to unofficial reports, had their ties cut off.
Today, Iranian men still wear ties in public even though it doesn’t strictly comply with the directives of the country’s religious leaders and clerics.
Meanwhile, an Iranian firm has announced that it has produced the first Islamic doll. In the past, Iranians had two dolls, ‘Sarah’ and ‘Dara’ who were supposed to be Iran’s answer to Barbie and Ken, but they couldn’t break through the local market. The new doll has a more Islamic visage, less Iranian and goes by the name of ‘Fatima’.
A representative of Fam, the doll’s manufacturer, said that Fatima was meant to battle against the “enemies’ cultural invasion” of Iran. According to Hossein Seresht, “by creating Barbie and marketing it, westerners are encouraging bad veiling and not wearing the hijab; all of these factors led us to take it as our duty to present Islamic dolls to the market.”
Fam also launched new software which is meant to promote the wearing of the hijab. According to Seresht, the software includes videos of Islamic fashion, speeches on wearing hijab and an instant messenger service, Hijab Messenger.
The Iranian software is based on the yahoo instant messenger, but chats can only occur between “people who are defined within the system”. He didn’t explain if that meant that only women wearing hijab, or people supporting the idea could use it.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Suicide Bomber Killed in Iraq
“What we know is that a Swedish citizen has carried out and therefore also died in an attack,” said Swedish foreign ministry spokesperson Camilla Åkesson Lindblom to the TT news agency.
According to Åkesson Lindblom, the 36-year-old was the perpetrator of the attack. But she claims that the foreign ministry is still unsure about the man’s age, when the attack took place, where it took place or what the consequences of the attack may have been.
“A lot is still uncertain,” she said.
“That’s what we’re looking into via our embassy.”
According to various Islamist websites, the man was a Swedish citizen with roots in Tunisia. He is said to have carried out an attack near Mosul in northern Iraq in early August.
The Expressen newspaper reports the man was a 36-year-old man who lived in the Stockholm area with his wife and several children. He was also a well-established businessman before moving with his family to Egypt in 2006.
His wife, referred to only as Anna, told the newspaper that her husband had gone to Iraq to fight for an insurgent group affiliated with al-Qaeda. After not hearing from her husband for months, she decided to move back to Sweden with her children.
On Monday, Anna received a phone call.
“It was a man who called. He said briefly, ‘Your husband is dead. He’s become a martyr’,” she told Expressen
“I’m proud of him.”
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Suicide Bomber in Iraq
Information about the man was published on a Internet forum used by the terrorist network Al Qaeda, writes the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. Also on other forums there are details on the 36-year-old, a Swedish citizen written on an address in a Stockholm suburb.
The man was born in 1974 in Tunisia and came to Sweden in 2000. The year before he married his Swedish wife abroad. In 2003 he became a Swedish citizen and started up a cleaning business which he ran until 2005.
According to newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, in 2008, he enlisted for The Islamic State of Iraq, a terrorist group supported by Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
In 2010, in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, the father of four blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack which kill and injure several Iraqi policemen. The exact date is unclear.
He is now hailed as a martyr and hero for this deed on Islamic websites.
Back home in Sweden lives his wife and young children. His wife knew that her husband was in Iraq to fight in the war, she tells newspaper Expressen.
She was told that her man had died over the telephone.
“There was a man who called me. He said very short: ‘Your husband is dead. He has become a martyr.’ And hung up,” she told the newspaper.
“What he has done is right. I’m proud of him.”
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Russia ‘To Work With NATO on Missile Defence Shield’
Russia has agreed to co-operate on Nato’s programme to defend against ballistic missile attacks, Nato’s chief has said.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a Nato summit in Lisbon that the two sides had agreed in writing that they no longer posed a threat to one another.
“For the first time the two sides will be co-operating to defend themselves,” Mr Rasmussen said.
The Lisbon summit has been redrawing Nato’s focus to face new challenges.
‘Real importance’ Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said of the summit: “A period of very difficult, tense relations has been overcome.”
This is the first Nato summit Russia has attended since the Russia-Georgia war two years ago.
Nato members had earlier agreed on a programme to develop and deploy defences against ballistic missile attack on their territories.
Mr Rasmussen said he had extended an offer to Russia to co-operate on the programme and was “very pleased that [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev has taken up that offer”.
Mr Rasmussen said this agreement was of “real political importance” and a “true turning point”.
[…]
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Frontline Afghans Unaware of 9/11, Report Says
An overwhelming number of Afghan men living in the region that is a major front in the U.S.-led war on the Taliban don’t know anything about the terrorist attacks that brought international soldiers to Afghanistan, according to a report from an international policy think tank released Friday.
The International Council on Security and Development said in its report that 92 percent of 1,000 Afghan men surveyed in the intense fighting areas of Helmand and Kandahar provinces were unaware of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the Reuters news agency reported.
“The lack of awareness of why we are there contributes to the high levels of negativity toward the NATO military operations and made the job of the Taliban easier,” Norine MacDonald, the think tank’s president, told Reuters. “We need to explain to the Afghan people why we are here and both convince them and show them that their future is better with us than the Taliban.”
The report was released during a summit in Portugal of the leaders of NATO-member nations. On Saturday, the leaders are expected to focus on the war in Afghanistan. In July, the organization plans to reduce its troop levels in the country and hand over responsibility for the country’s security by 2014.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Lisbon: US and Britain Differ Over Afghan Combat Exit in 2014
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said the transition deal would “pave the way for British combat troops to be out of Afghan by 2015.”
The alliance’s plan to build up the Afghan army and police and give them responsibility for security will be bolstered by a new Nato co-operation deal with Russia.
Under an agreement signed in Lisbon between Nato and the Afghan government, Nato will start handing over control of Afghan provinces next year, aiming to complete the “transition” process by the end of 2015
.Western troops have been in Afghanistan since 2001. A total of 345 British service personnel have died there, 100 of them this year.
Yet even as alliance leaders hailed the plan as the start of a “new phase” in the Afghan campaign, there were signs of a potential difference between Britain and America about what they do the year after transition is due to be completed.
Mr Cameron insisted he would stick to a pledge to take British forces off the frontline before the next general election.
“This is a firm deadline which we will meet,” he said. “We have already played a very high price, we go on paying that price. It is only right that we are clear with the British public that there is an endpoint.”
By contrast, US officials insisted that the Nato transition plan did not guarantee an end to American combat operations. US forces could go on fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan even after transition, they said.
Transition and ceasing combat operations are “not one and the same”, said a senior US official. Speaking to reporters at the Nato summit , Barack Obama, the US President, said: “One thing I am pretty confident we will still be doing after 2014 is maintaining a counter-terrorism capability. It’s going to be pretty important to us to continue to have platforms to execute those counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan.”
Asked if he would be willing to pull out British combat troops and leave the US fighting alone in 2015, Mr Cameron replied: “I couldn’t be more clear about 2015 and what it means. It is a deadline.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Korea: English Teachers Look to Change Their Image
One of Korea’s biggest foreign English teacher associations is taking an enlightened approach against the fight on mandatory HIV testing by correcting, rather than complaining about, the public’s image of English teachers as promiscuous party animals.
Required HIV testing for visas, one that many slam as discriminatory, has been implemented by the government since 2007. As of now, testing remains for E-2 visas.
National Communications Officer Rob Ouwehand of the Association of Teachers of English in Korea believes that the regulatory testing stems from both the fear of English teachers and HIV, both of which can be cured with knowledge.
In an interview with The Korea Herald, Ouwehand explained that rather than criticize the ministries and third party organizations involved, they look to themselves to polish the tarnished image of foreign English teachers.
“ATEK prefers taking a problem-solving approach to that kind of a question, where rather than complaining about some perceived injustice, why don’t we get to work on improving the reputation of English teachers in Korea, by going out into the community and doing good stuff.”
And knowledge of English teachers is exactly what the association plans to distribute through several positive means which includes building internal pressure, connecting with Korean English teachers and rebuilding the Korean public’s view of foreign teachers.
To reconnect with the public, Ouwehand believes they need to put themselves out there, swapping scary thoughts of English teachers with positive images.
The perceived reputation of foreign English teachers in Korea, fueled by the Anti-English Spectrum group and perpetuated by the media, had long been one of drinking, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity and disease.
It is speculated that the efforts of the vigilante group helped push the ministry’s institutionalization of the testing in 2007.
“It’s not so much English teachers, it’s the idea of English teachers,” he said.
“When English teachers go out into the community and volunteer, collect clothes for poor kids and volunteer English lessons at the orphanage nearby, than instead of being that kind of faceless, scary, English teacher, it humanizes us and by contributing to Korean society and saying we’re not here just to drink and party and take our money and go home. We’re part of Korean society, and we want to be responsible members and contributors to Korean society.”
To further achieve this, the organization is looking within to encourage members to behave responsibly “act with integrity and professionalism and contribute to our communities,” said Ouwehand.
According to Ouwehand, president of the association Oh Jae-hee is planning on connecting with Korean English teachers, believing the relationship could benefit both.
“If we get a lot of Korean English teachers in our network that’ll give us the tools to enter those discussions in a powerful way,” he said.
One of which is simply breaking through the language barrier.
ATEK is also looking to educate members and the public, about what HIV really is…
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
North Koreans Unveil New Plant for Nuclear Use
North Korea showed a visiting American nuclear scientist last week a vast new facility it secretly and rapidly built to enrich uranium, confronting the Obama administration with the prospect that the country is preparing to expand its nuclear arsenal or build a far more powerful type of atomic bomb.
Whether the calculated revelation is a negotiating ploy by North Korea or a signal that it plans to accelerate its weapons program even as it goes through a perilous leadership change, it creates a new challenge for President Obama.
The scientist, Siegfried S. Hecker, a Stanford professor who previously directed the Los Alamos National Laboratory, said in an interview that he had been “stunned” by the sophistication of the new plant.
| [Return to headlines] |
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Backs Mauritania to Fight Terrorism
NATO backs Mauritania to fight terrorism — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has vowed ‘to back the efforts made by the Mauritanian government in the domain of security, the fight against transborder crime and terrorism’, the Mauritanian official agency, AMI, reported, quoting the spokesperson for the organization, Jame s Apathurai.
NATO, which Friday opened its 24th session in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, ‘has decided to back the praiseworthy efforts made by the Mauritanian government to fight organized crime and terrorist criminal gangs’, the spokesperson said.
Apathurai said the organization was about to back the implementation of the security policy on various sectors, particularly ‘reorganization within the framework of a new approach that will strengthen the cooperation ties existing between Mauritania and NATO as far as the training of armed forces is concerned’.
For several years, Mauritania has been facing Islamist terrorism and through various traffickings in the Sahelo-Saharan strip to the borders of Algeria and Mali.
The Mauritanian territory also serves as transit to illegal immigration to Europe, however, with a downward trend of the afflux of illegal immigrants over the past few years.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil’s Next President Was ‘Brains Behind Radical Revolutionaries’
Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president elect, had a significant role in organising militant cells and encouraged left-wing radicals to carry out bank robberies, according to newly released documents.
She admitted, after being tortured at a police station following her arrest in February 1970, that she had advised left-wing radicals.
Ms Rousseff, who will succeed Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva on January 1, was well known as a Marxist guerrilla who fought against the dictatorship, serving nearly three years in jail before her release at the end of 1972. In the documents she is referred to as the “Joan of Arc of subversion”.
The newly released documents include an assessment of Ms Rousseff written by Newton Fernandes, of the Sao Paulo Civil Police, describing her as “one of the mainsprings and one of the brains behind revolutionary schemes implemented by left-wing radicals”.
According to the files, released to O Globo, by the Superior Military Court, Ms Rousseff began to be indoctrinated in Marxist ideology by her then husband, Claudio Galeno de Magalhaes Linhares, in 1967.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Across Texas, 60,000 Babies of Noncitizens Get U.S. Birthright
As Republican members of Congress press for changes to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, preventing automatic citizenship for babies born to illegal immigrants, opponents insist the debate is not really about babies.
Instead, they say it is about politics and votes — not fixing the immigration system.
Still, the debate could resonate in Texas, where not only 1.5 million illegal immigrants are estimated to reside but at least 60,000 babies are added to their households annually.
Parkland Memorial Hospital delivers more of those babies than any other hospital in the state. Last year at Parkland, 11,071 babies were born to women who were noncitizens, about 74 percent of total deliveries. Most of these women are believed to be in the country illegally.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: 32:000 Emigrants Returning Home, 60% Unemployed
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 18 — In 2009 approximately 31,689 emigrants in Spain returned to their home Country: 15,970 to the Americas, 12,670 to Europe, 1,436 to Asia, 1,341 to Africa, and 272 to Oceania. The figures are included in the report named “Re-migrad@s” published by the Permanent observatory of returning emigrants in Spain, financed by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration.
Because of the crisis there is a significant change in the profile of the returning emigrants: most are young, with higher education, and belong to the second or third generation. In 60% of all cases, the returning emigrants are unemployed. Of those that are employed, 19.5% are employees and 15.6% are self employed. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
United Kingdom Announces Package for Illegal Immigrants
Accra, Ghana — The government of the United Kingdom has instituted a financial package for illegal immigrants who voluntarily return to their home country to help in national development, a senior official of the UK government announced here Friday. Mr. Peter Jones, Director of Migration, Foreign and Commonwealth office, said the package was to make the returnees successfully integrate into their families and friends to enable them begin a new life.
Jones said the UK government had realised that in spite of all efforts made to mitigate illegal migration into the UK, the trend was on the rise.
The UK Government had therefore stepped up measures to curb the influx of illegal migrants, Jones added.
He announced that Ghana would serve as regional discussion centre for West Africa migration activities, adding that the UK government was supporting the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to develop itself into an agency that would champion the migration agenda in Ghana.
‘The Migration Section at the British High Commission in Accra works closely with GIS and other key government departments across the migration agenda.’
Jones said the focus was on building the capacity of the country to tackle migration issues, adding that this included training and advice to the Ghana Prisons S ervice and funding of a new strategic plan for GIS.
Dr. Kewsi Apea-Kubi, Deputy Minister for the Interior, said a four-year draft document on migration for the GIS would be ready in the middle of next year, to make their work more effective.
Apea-Kubi said there were series of campaigns going on in the country on illegal migration but unfortunately, the youth want to experience Europe and make money.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Pastor on Trial for Witnessing to Muslims
A pastor in Wichita, Kansas, heads to court today to defend himself against charges involving his efforts to witness for Christ outside a mosque.
Pastor Mark Holick says the incident in late August occurred as members of the Islamic Society of Wichita were marking the holy month of Ramadan. Police were called when Islamists witnessed Holick and 13 others handing out packets that included the Gospel of John, the Book of Romans in English and Arabic, and a DVD with testimonies of former Muslims who have converted to Christianity.
Holick claims he was basically ignored by the arresting officer. “I asked him, ‘What am I being charged with?’ — and he wouldn’t answer me,” the pastor tells OneNewsNow. “And I asked him a second time and I asked him a third time…and neither time would he even respond to me.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Calling a Swede a Swede
Imagine an alternate universe where terrorists are Scandinavian — Swedes, to be specific.
by Leon de Winter Page
Imagine, if you will, an alternative universe where perception is slightly altered to reflect a different reality. In this universe, terrorists are Scandinavian — Swedes, to be specific.
We should not generalize, and it is clear that not all Swedes are terrorists, but all terrorists are Swedes. These radicals have perverted the beautiful Nordic religion of peace and turned it into an ideology of hatred.
The facts clearly show that the men who try to smuggle bombs onto airplanes have blond hair, blue eyes, are between twenty and forty years old, believe in the supreme god Odin, and carry names like Ingmar Johansson.
They talk funny and they love smorgasbord, which is a traditional Nordic meal with lots of raw fish, and every Swede can drink alcohol in amounts that would kill six reindeer within three minutes.
How do we make sure these bomb-laden Swedes don’t board our airplanes? How can we recognize these radical Nordic terrorists? Should we check dark-haired Asians called Honda? Italians called Ferrari?
Would it be acceptable to single out Swedes trying to travel by air? Or should we, trying to avoid offending Swedish sensibilities, check every person with an airline ticket in general and especially focus on inspecting their crotch? After all, Swedes love to wear their bombs in their underwear, so maybe non-Swedes also wear bombs in their underwear, right?
This may sound ridiculous, but there is no reason we should inspect the crotch of a three-year-old girl carrying a teddy bear if we know her last name is Martinez. So isn’t inspecting every air traveler a terrible waste of money and time? Yes it is. But there is a rationale to all of this.
We turn every traveler into a suspect because we cannot focus on our core group of suspects, the Swedes, although they have shown themselves willing to blow themselves up in our airplanes. Yes, yes, I know — not all Swedes are terrorists. We are talking about a tiny group of potential killers. The problem is that they are all Swedes and all are followers of the god Odin. I can’t help it that they perverted their wonderful religion and hate our guts…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
0 comments:
Post a Comment