Brussels Seeks Financial Tax in New EU Budget
Future EU spending is set to increase, focusing marginally less on agriculture and more on research, education and transport, according to European Commission proposals for the next seven-year budgetary period (2014-2020). Brussels also wants a financial transaction tax to help fill EU coffers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Brussels Urges EU VAT, New ‘Rebates’ In Big Budget Overhaul
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed an EU sales tax, a financial services tax and a sweeping reform of “rebates”, including Britain’s, as part of a vast rethink of the EU budget.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Budget ‘Too High’, Dutch Finance Minister Says
Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager attacked the European Commission’s proposal for the next 2014-2020 budget as “too high”, saying Europe should cut back in line with member states. “The suggestion by the Commission is too high,” De Jager said in a statement issued in The Hague. “Member states are cutting back strongly and Europe must do that as well,” he said. “Together with other frugal countries we will work hard to keep the budget under control,” he added. De Jager’s statement comes as both Germany and Britain also blasted the proposal, saying it set a poor example during the eurozone debt crisis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Blasts Proposed EU Budget
Germany on Thursday blasted as “irresponsibly high” the European Commission’s proposal for the next 2014-2020 budget, saying it set a poor example during the eurozone debt crisis. “My first impression from the proposals presented… is that the Commission’s total volume of the budgetary framework is, for the German government, irresponsibly high,” Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Reforms ‘Like Putting a Band-Aid on a Mortal Wound’
Greece may have averted the worst by passing an austerity package on Wednesday, but the government of Georgios Papandreou will continue to face massive public resistance to its course. German commentators warn that Athens isn’t out of the woods yet.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Protesters Clash With Police in Athens After Vote in Favor of Austerity Bill
Protests turned ugly in Greece after lawmakers approved a contentious austerity bill that includes spending cuts, tax hikes and privatizations. A second key vote on the details of the austerity comes Thursday. Greek lawmakers are set to hold a second vote on a fierce package of austerity measures Thursday, as scores of mostly young people continue their protests outside parliament in Athens. The Greek government passed the austerity measures in a 155-138 vote on Wednesday, but the second vote will focus more on the details of their implementation. The market outlook was optimistic on Thursday after trading in Asia and North America boosted the euro against the dollar.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Reaction to Greek Vote: Relief Abroad, Riots in Athens
Foreign governments have reacted with relief to the Greek parliament’s vote in favor of a far-reaching austerity package. But demonstrators in Athens responded to the news with rage amid brutal clashes with police. Prime Minister George Papandreou can expect further resistance to his reforms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Slams EU Budget Proposal
EU’s budget proposal has been heavily criticised by Sweden, with one MP calling it “the most provocative budget in EU history”. Among the proposed reforms is a new EU tax on sales and services and a fee linked to financial transactions to finance a five percent increase in the EU budget. “This is the most provocative budget that the EU has ever proposed,” Swedish MP Jonas Sjöstedt said to news agency TT. Former MEP Sjöstedt, representing the Left party on the Riksdag’s EU committee, thinks that the proposals take the EU one step closer towards the formation of a European state. “Levying taxes is a core function of a state,” he said to news agency TT. Sjöstedt is also critical of the hefty increase in expenses.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Civil Servants Strike Over Government Pension Reforms
The conservative British government’s deficit reduction plan includes reforms to the pension system, and though details on the reform are not yet finalized, several unions in the UK have decided to strike in protest. About 600,000 public sector workers in the United Kingdom went on strike Thursday to protest pension reforms, threatening to disrupt schools and airports. The 24-hour strike was called by four education and public sector unions in response to reforms that they say would give them less for more: higher payments into pension funds and longer work hours for reduced pensions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
American Revolutionary War Museum to Honor Al-Jazeera
The General Henry Knox Museum is honoring a representative of Al-Jazeera, the channel associated with various terrorist organizations, on July 28 on the stage of The Strand Theatre in Rockland, Maine. The museum says that an intimate Gala dinner and reception will follow at 7:30 p.m. at Camden National Bank’s historic Spear Block location in Rockland.
Knox played a significant role in the American war for independence from Britain and was close to General George Washington.
The idea of an American museum devoted to patriotism honoring a representative of a foreign-funded channel, described by Middle East experts such as Walid Phares as “Jihad television,” is not going down well in Maine and across the country. The most visible public face of Al-Jazeera Arabic is the anti-Semitic cleric, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who approved suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and American military personnel in Iraq.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California Tells Online Retailers to Start Collecting Sales Taxes From Customers
Beginning Friday, Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retailers will be required to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online.
[…]
Both Amazon in Seattle and Overstock in Salt Lake City have told affiliates that they would have to move to another state if they wanted to continue earning commissions for referring customers.
“We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive,” Amazon wrote its California business partners Wednesday. Amazon has not indicated what further actions it might take to challenge the California law.
Many of about 25,000 affiliates in California, especially larger ones with dozens of employees, are likely to leave the state, said Rebecca Madigan, executive director of trade group Performance Marketing Assn. The affiliates combined paid $152 million in state income taxes last year, she pointed out.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cuomo Will Seek to Lift Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing
The Cuomo administration is expected to lift what has been, in effect, a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial technology used to extract natural gas from shale, people briefed on the administration’s discussions said.
Administration officials are discussing maintaining a ban on the process inside New York City’s sprawling upstate watershed, as well as a watershed used by the city of Syracuse, according to people briefed on the plan. But by allowing the process in other parts of the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo would open up New York to one of the fastest-growing — critics would say reckless — areas of the energy industry.
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Founders Without Whom America Would Not Exist
As we enter another Independence Day weekend, I think it would be good to remind ourselves of who those men were that counted the cost and paid the price to bring this land of liberty into existence. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans today seem to have very little — if any — knowledge and appreciation for the sacrifices that our Founding Fathers made in order to birth this great country. We can thank the vast majority of our schools (including the institutions of higher learning), major media, political institutions, and even churches for this egregious embarrassment. Accordingly, I think it fitting that today’s column will attempt to renew in our hearts the respect and reverence that these great men whom we call Founding Fathers so richly deserve.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Harvard: July 4th Parades Are Right Wing
“Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation’s political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party,” said the report from Harvard.
| — Hat tip: Van Grungy | [Return to headlines] |
John Lennon Was a Ronald Reagan Fan
(AGI) Toronto — By the time of his murdered, John Lennon, the icon of the pacifist movement, had become a crypto-Republican.
Lennon was a great fan of Ronald Reagan, and stated that if he were American, he would “ vote for him due to his dissatisfaction with (the Democrat president Jimmy) Carter”.
This surprising revelation was made by Fred Seaman, the last personal assistant of the former Beatle from 1970 until December 1980, when the latter was murdered by David Chapman.
The news was given by the Toronto Sun quoting excerpts from a new documentary on the Beatles.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama to Establish Formal Contacts With Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brothers “must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” — “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America,” by Mohamed Akram, May 19, 1991.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stakelbeck Exclusive: Is the Muslim Brotherhood Coming to Brooklyn?
On a day where we learn that the Obama administration is formally reaching out to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, I have a new report that shows the extent of the Brotherhood’s presence right here in America.
The Muslim American Society (MAS)—a group whose leaders admit was created by Brotherhood members—is building a very expensive mega-mosque on a quiet residential street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Neighbors are up in arms. I was recently on the ground in Brooklyn to talk to them and report on the mosque’s Brotherhood connections. Watch my exclusive report at the link above.
| — Hat tip: Erick Stakelbeck | [Return to headlines] |
Strauss-Kahn Case Seen as in Jeopardy
The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that she was attacked by the French politician in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials.
Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn and the woman, prosecutors do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself.
Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials said.
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With Talks Deadlocked, N.B.A. Heads for a Shutdown
About two weeks after celebrating an electric championship series and a revitalizing season, the N.B.A. is shutting down — perhaps for a very long time.
Negotiators for the owners and the players union made a final attempt to broker a new labor deal Thursday afternoon, but they separated without an agreement and without much hope of bridging a gap of several billion dollars.
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Belgium: Flemish Nationalists Climb on Future Mosque Roof
(AGI) Brussels — Some members of Vlaams Belang, an intensely xenophobic Flemish nationalist group, occupied the roof of an Antwerp building that the municipal authorities will turn into a mosque. The protest against “the islamisation of Antwerp” and the “supermosque” (as Vlaams Belang leader Filip Dewinter defined it) may continue next week with a pork barbecue in the same building.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Poised to Resist EU Budget Proposals, Fight to Keep Rebate
The Netherlands may be able to keep around 50% of its current €1bn rebate on its European Union contributions under new EU budgetary plans, news agency ANP reports on Thursday.
But the proposal to introduce a new EU-wide tax was rejected by finance minister Jan Kees de Jager. He is quoted as saying that the Netherlands wants to keep its entire rebate and that taxation is a matter for individual nation states.
The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled its plans to amend the complex rebate scheme, boost its own income through EU taxes and shift more resources from farming to research and innovation.
Rebates
The proposals include an increase in spending by 5% for the period 2014 to 2020 — a move which will generate strong resistance from a number of countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and France.
They have all already made it clear they want the EU budget to be frozen, or rise no more than inflation. In June, a majority of MPs told prime minister Mark Rutte he must go for an absolute freeze in EU spending.
Rutte had said earlier that Dutch backing for a rise in line with inflation would make it easier to negotiate a new rebate on Dutch contributions to the EU.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Interior Minister Argues for Burka Ban
“You can’t walk down the street naked either. That is the result of our norms about decent behaviour. The Netherlands also has norms which make it advisable to ban clothing which covers your face.” Interior Minister Piet-Hein Donner was speaking during a debate about his integration bill, which would introduce a ban on burkas. One of the main themes of the bill is a shift from the current ‘target group’ approach to holding individuals responsible for their own integration. Although parliament generally supported this, the minister himself was subject to a great deal of criticism from the opposition.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fuming Over the Phase-Out: Energy Shift Deeply Divides German Companies
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s nuclear phase-out is deeply dividing the German business community. The only issue where there seems to be any agreement across industry lines is that more government subsidies are going to be needed as the price of electricity rises.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: E. Coli May Have Had Egyptian Origins
Fenugreek seeds exported from Egypt to France and Germany may have caused an E. coli outbreak that has killed 48 people in Europe, the European Food Safety Authority reported. A “rapid risk assessment” conducted by the EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), “has thus far shown” that Egyptian seeds exported in 2009 and 2010 may be implicated, it said in a statement. “There is still much uncertainty about whether this is truly the common cause of all the infections as there are currently no positive bacteriological results,” it stressed. At least 48 people have died from an outbreak of a killer strain of E. coli bacteria centred in Germany, blamed on organic vegetable sprouts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Parliament Backs Nuclear Energy Phaseout
The German parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved plans to scrap nuclear power by 2022, making Germany the first major industrial nation to ditch atomic energy in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spike in Metal Theft Imperils German Railways
As metal prices continue to climb, theft along Germany’s railways has reached record levels. The missing parts are not only dangerous, the delays and cancellations they cause are damaging Deutsche Bahn’s reputation. Travelers and businesspeople pushing their way through the underground train station at Cologne Bonn Airport are intercepted at the escalators down to the tracks by security personnel from Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national rail provider. No, these officers inform the passengers, no trains are running at the moment. And no, they don’t know when operations will start again. Frustration and annoyance spread palpably through the crowd.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Row Over Foreign Criminals Goes Into New Round
Experts have presented proposals to implement a rightwing initiative approved in nationwide vote last November to automatically expel foreign criminals from Switzerland.
The report, published on Tuesday, serves as blueprint for the government’s bill to parliament, but the rightwing Swiss People’s Party is adamant that only its proposal is true to the intentions of the initiative.
Of the four proposals drafted by the seven-member group of experts, only three won a majority, while the hardline proposal was backed merely by the two People’s Party representatives on the committee.
“The goal of our group was to present options to translate the demands into law which are compatible with the constitution and international law,” said Heinrich Koller, a former senior justice ministry official who headed the committee. He said the mandate was not to find a compromise.
“The group was unable to find a common position which is hardly surprising given the different points of view from the outset,” Koller added.
Hardline
The People’s Party — the driving force behind the initiative — wants all non-Swiss convicted of a list of about 30 different crimes, including welfare fraud, to be expelled, regardless of the seriousness of the offense. Exceptions would only be allowed for those criminals who would face death or torture in their country of origin.
However, opponents say such a strict implementation is in breach of the constitution and international human rights agreements.
Koller warned of a conviction by the European Court of Human rights and of repercussions on a series of bilateral treaties with the European Union if the hardline proposal was accepted.
“A small country like Switzerland should put particular emphasis on the respect of human rights to prove its reliability,” he said.
For his part, People’s Party representative Georg Rutz reiterated that the majority proposals were “unsatisfactory” and the outcome of last year’s ballot proved that a majority of voters wanted the courts to be much tougher.
He also argued that there was no need for Switzerland to “slavishly follow the legislation of the European court”.
Six-month sentence
The three majority options presented to the media on Tuesday link deportations to a prison sentence of at least six months.
They allow exceptions for citizens of the European Union to comply with the terms of bilateral treaties between Switzerland and Brussels. It also exempts people from deportation taking into account their personal situation and practical reasons.
The report says about 3,400 people would have to be expelled annually under the terms of the majority proposals.
“That is roughly the figure the hardline initiative called for and therefore it is not correct to argue that the proposals are ignoring a voter decision,” said Roger Schneeberger, representative of the 26 cantonal justice and police departments.
The People’s Party proposal would lead to expulsion orders for more than 16,000 convicted foreigners.
It is now up to the justice ministry to prepare a draft bill for the government, including consultations with major parties and institutions, before parliament will discuss the proposed legal amendments. But it is unlikely to be tabled in both chambers before 2013.
Initiative
The group of experts was set up last December in the wake of the nationwide ballot.
A 53 per cent majority of voters approved a proposal for the automatic expulsion of foreign offenders convicted of crimes ranging from murder to breaking and entry as well as social security fraud. It denies judges discretion over deportation.
A counter-proposal by government and parliament which called for a case-by-case examination won only 46 per cent of the vote.
It was the second time within 12 months that the Swiss approved an initiative despite opposition by the government and parliament. The electorate also accepted a controversial ban on the construction of minarets in November 2009.
The run-up to the vote was marked by an emotional campaign with a controversial black sheep poster and a dispute within the centre-left parties over whether or not to support the counter-proposal…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland Tops Global Innovation Index
Switzerland is the world’s most innovative economy, followed by Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland, according to a study. The Global Innovation Index 2011, released on Thursday, evaluated 125 economies. Last year, Switzerland ranked fourth. The index recognises the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity. Although Switzerland did not rank first in any of the individual criteria, its overall performance earned it first place. Contributing factors included the stable political and economic conditions, very good education system, high spending on research and development, efficient infrastructure, high demands of the domestic market and the ability to channel these strengths into successful innovations.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Doctor Barred From Flying After Refusing Body Scan on Health Grounds
An eye consultant was barred from boarding a flight at Manchester airport after refusing to go through a body scanner in case if gave him a dangerous dose of radiation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: NHS ‘Betrays’ 400,000 Elderly in Care Homes
Hundreds of thousands of elderly people are being denied basic access to medical treatment simply because they live in care homes, a report warns.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Gives Body Armour, Uniforms to Libyan Rebels
Britain has given the Libyan rebels 5,000 sets of body armour, as well as police uniforms, high-visibility vests and communications equipment, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday. He said this was “fully in line” with the UN Security Council resolution governing international action on Libya and the arms embargo.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
European Harakiri in Libya
By Sreeram Chaulia
As European economies wilt under unchecked fiscal imprudence and fears of contagious sovereign defaults, it seems absurd that Britain and France are leading a depleted North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) coalition to militarily attack Libya. Financially imperiled states facing mass protests from irate citizens are puzzlingly prosecuting war in North Africa.
After an initial burst of aerial strikes on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s defenses by the United States, the Barack Obama administration stepped back to hand over the bulk of operations to Britain and France under the NATO banner. The passing of the baton made pragmatic sense for Washington, which has been hard-pressed since the corporate bailouts of 2008-2009 to cut its ballooning budget deficit.
Even playing second fiddle to Britain and France in the Libyan conflict has been controversial in the US, with the Republican opposition crying hoarse about Obama running a de facto war without congressional authorization. Last Friday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted against formal approval of the ongoing American participation in the combat in Libya.
The recent televised debates of early hopefuls for the Republican presidential nomination revealed an isolationist but fiscally responsible streak among candidates backed by the Tea Party movement. They broke ranks with traditional Republicans by arguing that the US must put its own indebted economy in order and disentangle completely from the slow-attrition war in Libya (besides pulling out bag and baggage from Afghanistan).
But no such wisdom has yet dawned in Britain and France, which are emptying their depleted exchequers to pay for air assaults in Libya. According to the French Defense Ministry, Paris is spending US$1.4 million each day in the Libyan war, while some predict that Britain may incur a cost of $1.4 billion if it continues hitting targets in Libya until September.
Some Western media outlets mocked at the ridiculous spectacle of Gaddafi amusing himself with a game of chess against a Russian sports official when Libya was on fire. What the governments of Britain and France are doing in Libya is no less an act of fiddling while rioters are running amok in London and Paris against benefit retrenchments.
If British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are gambling on the Libyan mission as a diversionary tactic to pacify citizens furious at their tanking economies, it is poor politics. The eventual ouster of Gaddafi will not restore British and French jobs, subsidized college education, or welfare benefits.
If Cameron and Sarkozy are placing bets on military Keynesianism (a spinoff economic theory that big war spending can pull a country out of recession by revving up demand for the defense industry and heavy machinery sectors), history shows that past wars in Suez (1956) and the Falklands (1982) did not magically pull Britain and France out of economic slumps.
Cameron has even rebuked senior British naval and air force officials who have rung alarm bells that Britain’s air fighting capacity will be badly undermined if the Libyan war goes on indefinitely. The Conservative prime minister struck an adamant note that the British military would keep waging war in Libya “as long as is necessary”.
One plausible reason why deficit-laden London and Paris have plunged into the Libyan war is geopolitical. American strategists have commented that North Africa is a “European affair”, ie a sphere of influence that has greater strategic value for Europe than for the US.
Although Europe’s global footprint has been shrinking in the past few years while China’s shadow has lengthened, the urge to dominate Africa is viewed by some European foreign policy pundits as natural. Denomination of regions of Africa as “Anglophone”, “Francophone” and “Lusophone” zones owes to this nostalgic neo-colonial mentality.
Secondly, European policymakers are growing jittery about a deadly weapon that Gaddafi has unleashed since the war began — African immigrants and refugees headed towards Italy first and then seeping across open borders to the rest of the European continent.
The Mediterranean boat people were hitherto controlled by the Gaddafi regime in exchange for symbolic and economic concessions from the European Union. That sinister pact, where desperate human beings were pawns in an international diplomatic game, came unstuck once NATO started bombing Libya.
So, Britain and France (disregarding Italy’s agony about a deluge of refugees triggered by the NATO bombing campaign) are apparently fighting to get rid of Gaddafi and to install a friendlier government that will curb the African exodus to the continent as a matter of policy.
Here too, the contradictions are glaring…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France Defends Arms to Libyan Rebels
Russia on Thursday demanded an explanation from France over its reported arms drops to Libyan rebels, as Paris denied a newspaper report that they had included anti-tank missiles. “We are awaiting a response,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Russian news agencies reported. “If this is confirmed, it would be a brazen violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1970,” Lavrov said. That resolution, passed in February, prohibited states from providing any kind of arms to Libya.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Gaddafi’s Grannies: Now Dictator Resorts to Training Elderly Female Soldiers
The Libyan government has unveiled its latest weapon to defend Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime from rebel fighters — women.
As the NATO bombing campaign in the country entered its 100th day on Monday, loyalists to Gaddafi paraded their new female fighters in front of the world’s media.
The 500 women loyal to the embattled leader had just completed a programme to teach them how to fire weapons, at a base near Tripoli, according to the Guardian.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Shifts to Closer Contact With Egypt Islamists
BUDAPEST (Reuters) — The United States will resume limited contacts with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed on Thursday, saying it was in Washington’s interests to deal with parties committed to non-violent politics.
While Clinton portrayed the administration’s decision as a continuation of an earlier policy, it reflects a subtle shift in that U.S. officials will be able to deal directly with officials of the Islamist movement who are not members of parliament.
The move, first reported by Reuters on Wednesday, is likely to upset Israel and its U.S. supporters who have deep misgivings about the Brotherhood, a group founded in 1928 that seeks to promote its conservative vision of Islam in society.
Under president Hosni Mubarak, a key U.S. ally, the Brotherhood was formally banned, but since the ousting of the secular former general by a popular uprising in February, the Islamists are seen as a major force in forthcoming elections.
“We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful, and committed to non-violence, that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency,” Clinton told reporters at a news conference.
“Now in any of those contacts, prior or future, we will continue to emphasize the importance of and support for democratic principles and especially a commitment to non-violence, respect for minority rights, and the full inclusion of women in any democracy,” she added.
Clinton would not say whether the Obama administration had already begun such contacts or at what level it planned to deal with the group.
On Wednesday, a senior U.S. official disclosed the decision to Reuters, saying that where U.S. diplomats previously dealt only with group members in their role as parliamentarians, a policy he said had been in place since 2006, they will now deal directly with Brotherhood officials.
BROTHERHOOD WELCOMES MOVE
In Cairo, a spokesman for the Islamist group said it would welcome any formal contacts with the United States as a way to clarify its vision, but no such contacts have yet been made.
“We welcome such relationships with everyone because those relations will lead to clarifying our vision. But it won’t include or be based on any intervention in the internal affairs of the country,” spokesman Mohamed Saad el-Katatni told Reuters.
“Until now no contacts have been made with the group or the party,” said Katatni, who is also secretary-general of the Brotherhood’s new Freedom and Justice political party.
“This relationship will clarify our general views and our opinion about different issues.”
There is no U.S. legal prohibition against dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood itself, which long ago renounced violence as a means to achieve political change in Egypt and which is not regarded by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization.
But other sympathetic groups, such as Palestinian Hamas, which identifies the Brotherhood as its spiritual guide, have not disavowed violence against the state of Israel.
The result has been a dilemma for the Obama administration. Former officials and analysts said it has little choice but to engage the Brotherhood directly, given its political prominence after the fall of Mubarak.
Clinton sought to play down the shift, which former U.S. diplomats viewed as all but inevitable given the group’s political heft and the fact that with parliament dissolved after Mubarak’s toppling, U.S. diplomats had to find another way to justify dealing with Brotherhood officials.
“The importance here is that this is not a new policy, that it is one that we are re-engaging in because of the upcoming elections, but there will be certain expectations set and certain messages delivered,” Clinton added.
“We hope that the move toward democracy that is taking place in Egypt will actually result in the kind of inclusive, participatory political system that we would like to see.”
Widely regarded as Egypt’s best organized political force, the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to do well in parliamentary elections that are scheduled for September.
But it has said it does not want a parliamentary majority, nor will it field a candidate for president.
Egypt’s military rulers, who took over on Mubarak’s toppling after massive street protests against his authoritarian rule, have promised a presidential vote by the end of 2011.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
US, EU Warn Against Libyan Arms Flow to Al-Qaeda
The United States and European Union warned Thursday of a threat of Libyan army weapons making their way to Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in north Africa’s Sahel region. US Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano and European powers discussed how to prevent the Al-Qaeda network getting hold of the sophisticated weaponry, Spain’s interior minister said after a meeting here. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is active in the Sahara desert and Sahel scrubland to the south — an area nearly the size of Australia stretching from western Mauritania through Mali and Niger. The group has carried out kidnappings of foreigners and staged attacks in the region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Flotilla II: The Merchant Ships of Hamas Propaganda
The pro-Hamas flotilla of international ships planning to defy Israel’s lawful naval blockade of Gaza is getting underway, despite some delays caused by insurance and mechanical problems. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was spot on when he told Israel Radio that the so-called Freedom Flotilla II participants are nothing more than “terror activists, seeking to create provocation and looking for blood.”
The merchant ships of Hamas propaganda are supporting the terrorist organization that is the governing authority in Gaza and whose covenant calls for the killing of all Jews, the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic state. The flotilla’s purpose is to rally international public opinion against the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state, striving to achieve on the propaganda front what their Hamas friends are aiming to do with their rockets and their suicide bombers.
Their method is to create an international incident by replicating last year’s flotilla confrontation that led to the death of nine Hamas sympathizers on board a Turkish ship. These extremists attacked Israeli soldiers who were seeking to enforce Israel’s lawful maritime blockade. Israeli’s soldiers acted in self-defense.
At least one of the vessels that are due to participate in this year’s flotilla is reportedly carrying “sacks of dangerous chemical materials” to be used against the Israeli troops, according to Israeli intelligence. The flotilla organizers are making sure that sympathetic press from the likes of Al-Jazeera, CNN, NBC will be on hand to beam Israel’s ‘brutal’ response to the world.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Tourist Numbers to Turkey Cut in Half in 2011
The number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey between January and May this year decreased by about 59 percent compared to the same period last year, according to data published by the Tourism Ministry.
The figure stands in stark contrast to last year, when figures showed a 133 percent increase over the same time period in 2009.
About 30,000 tourists from Israel visited Turkey in the first five months of the year, compared to the 72,500 Israeli tourists who came to Turkey during the same period in 2010. The decrease was even sharper for May, when only 6,417 tourists from Israel came to Turkey, compared to 18,295 in the same month last year.
Turkey’s relationship with Israel has been strained since a May 31, 2010, raid by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of an international flotilla trying to breach Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The raid led to the death of eight Turks and one American of Turkish descent.
Diplomatic tension, however, has not hampered mutual trade between the two countries, with trade between Israel and Turkey increasing by 25 percent between 2009 and 2010 and by 40 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year. Bilateral trade by the end of last year peaked at $3.44 billion, up from $2.58 billion in 2009.
Meanwhile, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey during the January-May period hit 9 million, marking a 14.56 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to data recently published by the ministry on its official website.
Some 3.3 million foreign tourists visited the country just in May, marking a 4.28 percent increase compared to May 2010.
German tourists accounted for 15 percent of all visitors for the January-May period, topping the list. Russia, Iran, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria followed Germany in tourist traffic to Turkey. In May, Russia tourists assumed the top rank, followed by Germany and the U.K.
About 235,000 foreign tourists that visited Turkey in May, accounting for 7.15 percent of the total, were day trippers, according to the data.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
NATO: Iran to Sit on Parliamentary Assembly at La Maddalena
After years of frosty relations with the West, Iran is to take part for the first time in the NATO parliamentary assembly on the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which is to be held in La Maddalena on July 4 and 5. The announcement was made during a press conference at the Italian Senate by senator Sergio De Gregorio, who highlighted the historical importance of Iran’s attendance. “The junior Foreign Minister, Ali Ahani, will travel from Tehran. The Iranians will open the season of dialogue thanks to the new climate brought about by the US President, Barack Obama, who has worked to put an end to years of closure by pressing the “reset” button. Many NATO member states agree with the idea of going down a road of dialogue as far as possible,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia to Stop Hiring Indonesian Domestic Workers
(AKI/Jakarta Post) — The Saudi Arabian government has announced plans to stop issuing visas for domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines amid stricter requirements and “unfair” regulatory provisions imposed by the two countries.
“The Ministry of Labor will stop issuing work visas to domestic workers from the Philippine and Indonesia as of Saturday [July 2],” Saudi Ministry of Labor spokesman Hattab Bin Saleh Al-Anzi said Wednesday according to arabnews.com.
Al-Anzi said that Saudi recruitment agents would seek to recruit domestic workers, including maids, from countries other than Indonesia and the Philippines.
The ministry’s decision comes after several other “labor exporting countries evinced a keen interest” to send domestic helpers to work for Saudi families, he said, adding that the ban on recruitment would be followed strictly.
Earlier, Indonesia had also imposed a moratorium on the export of labor to Saudi Arabia after an Indonesian migrant worker, Ruyati binti Satubi, was executed by Saudi authorities after she was convicted of murdering her Saudi employer.
The Indonesian government said the moratorium would come into effect on August 1 and remain in place until the Saudi government agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding to protect the rights of Indonesian workers.
Al-Anzi said the Labor Ministry had been working with other countries to meet the shortfall expected from the stoppage of recruitment from Indonesia.
The decision to also suspend recruitment from the Philippine comes after Manila put forward several strict conditions on the recruitment of domestic helpers.
On Wednesday, Albert Q. Valenciano, the labor attaché at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, said he was saddened and amazed at the outcome. Valenciano added that the embassy had sent a note verbale to the Saudi Foreign Ministry on June 19 to request a joint follow-up meeting, but had received no response. On April 27, the Kingdom had sent a delegation to the Philippines to negotiate the labor dispute, but talks broke down.
Based on estimates from the Philippine government, there are more than 1.2 million Filipinos working in Saudi Arabia, of which about 15 percent or 180,000 are domestic workers such as maids and drivers.
Meanwhile, more than 1 million Indonesian workers are said to be in Saudi Arabia, most of whom are employed as maids.
Previously, Saudi officials announced plans to employ more domestic workers from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Mali and Kenya.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Official: Riyadh Will Seek Nukes if Iran Gets Them
Saudi Arabia would be forced to seek nuclear weapons if Iran became nuclear-armed, the Guardian quoted a senior Saudi official as saying on Wednesday.
“We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don’t. It’s as simple as that,” the official said. “If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, that will be unacceptable to us and we will have to follow suit,” the official said, clarifying an earlier statement from Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen’s Revolutionaries: The Tent-Dwellers of Sana’a
While President Salih licks his wounds abroad, Yemen’s protest movement is establishing its presence in the capital city, hoping to bridge the country’s divide. The revolutionaries — for now — live in tents.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Even Putin Drives Lada as Soviet Relic Approaches Top Europe Market: Cars
Lada, the car of the Soviet proletariat, survived the transition to capitalism and is now expanding to fend off General Motors Co. (GM) and Fiat SpA (F) two decades after the collapse of communism. Lada’s parent OAO AvtoVAZ, which is 25 percent-owned by Renault SA (RNO), plans to invest about 153 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) to introduce seven models in the next three years. The cars will in some cases replace vehicles that were developed before Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 and presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: US Told to Curb Criticism of Anti-Insurgency Effort
Islamabad, 30 June (AKI/Dawn) — Pakistan’s military has asked US commanders to be mindful of its ‘concerns and constraints’ before publicly lashing out at its counter-militancy efforts.
“Our concerns and constraints must be taken into consideration before making any statement questioning our commitment to fighting militancy,” said ISPR chief Maj-Gen Athar Abbas in a rejoinder to statements made at their testimonies before US Senate’s Armed Services Committee by Lt-Gen John Allen, nominated as the next commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, and Admiral William McRaven, designated to lead Special Operations Command.
Gen Abbas said: “We reject the allegations levelled by senior US military officials… casting aspersions on the desire and capability of Pakistan Army to fight militancy.”
Admiral McRaven, speaking on Pakistan’s reluctance to launch military offensive against the North Waziristan-based Haqqani network, had said it was “both a capacity issue and potentially a willingness issue”. He added: “I don’t think it (the mindset) is likely to change.”
Gen Allen had said Pakistan looked to be “hedging” against a possible US withdrawal by not acting against the Haqqanis.
The statements by American commanders expressing doubts about intentions of Pakistani commanders in the fight against militants are indicative of the rapid deterioration in military ties between the US and Pakistan in the aftermath of May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
The army, Gen Abbas said, is engaged in active operations against militants in three of the seven agencies in the tribal belt, whereas in the other agencies it was intensely involved in consolidation and stabilisation of the areas regained from militants.
Separately, another senior military official criticised the US for pushing Pakistan for action against Haqqanis and other militant groups at a time when it was holding negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.
“Our plate is too full,” he cautioned, adding that if the troops were further thinned down to start new operations reversals of gains made against militants could begin.
The official regretted that military strategists in Washington did not grasp the ground situation. “It is not just about kinetics (active military operations); in Pakistan’s case the army has to back the operations with consolidating and stabilisation because the civilian infrastructure is virtually non-existent in those areas.”
He said Pakistan Army cannot resort to indiscriminate use of force against its own people in tribal areas and would take tribes on board before acting against militants.
“Our concerns and constraints must be taken into consideration before making any statement questioning our commitment to fighting militancy,” said military public releations chief Maj-Gen Athar Abbas in a rejoinder to statements made at their testimonies before US Senate’s Armed Services Committee by Lt-Gen John Allen, nominated as the next commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, and Admiral William McRaven, designated to lead Special Operations Command.
Abbas said: “We reject the allegations levelled by senior US military officials… casting aspersions on the desire and capability of Pakistan Army to fight militancy.”
McRaven, speaking on Pakistan’s reluctance to launch military offensive against the North Waziristan-based Haqqani network, had said it was “both a capacity issue and potentially a willingness issue”. He added: “I don’t think it (the mindset) is likely to change.”
Allen had said Pakistan looked to be “hedging” against a possible US withdrawal by not acting against the Haqqanis.
The statements by American commanders expressing doubts about intentions of Pakistani commanders in the fight against militants are indicative of the rapid deterioration in military ties between the US and Pakistan in the aftermath of 2 May raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
The army, Abbas said, is engaged in active operations against militants in three of the seven agencies in the tribal belt, whereas in the other agencies it was intensely involved in consolidation and stabilisation of the areas regained from militants.
Separately, another senior military official criticised the US for pushing Pakistan for action against Haqqanis and other militant groups at a time when it was holding negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.
“Our plate is too full,” he cautioned, adding that if the troops were further thinned down to start new operations reversals of gains made against militants could begin.
The official regretted that military strategists in Washington did not grasp the ground situation. “It is not just about kinetics (active military operations); in Pakistan’s case the army has to back the operations with consolidating and stabilisation because the civilian infrastructure is virtually non-existent in those areas.”
He said Pakistan Army cannot resort to indiscriminate use of force against its own people in tribal areas and would take tribes on board before acting against militants.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Says Prisoners Swapped for French Hostages
The Taliban said Thursday that some of its jailed commanders had been freed in exchange for the release of two French hostages, who returned home after 18 months in captivity in Afghanistan. “France was made to accept the conditions of the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) and agreed the release of a number of mujahedeen commanders in exchange for the release of the journalists,” it said in a statement. The Taliban claimed the abduction of the two television journalists, who vanished on December 30 2009 in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Collectors Come to Europe for Chinese Art
Apparently, the best place to buy antique art from China is Europe. More and more Chinese collectors are coming to London, Paris or Cologne to buy Chinese art at auction. Here they can be half-way sure it’s authentic.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Take Over Swiss Watchmaker
Watchmaker Eterna has been bought by China Haidian Holdings, as previous owners the Porsche family from Germany confirmed on Thursday. No price was reported. Eterna, one of the few Swiss companies to manufacture mechanical watches, would be the second Chinese-owned Swiss watchmaker after Milus, according to business magazine Bilanz. The company, located in Grenchen in canton Solothurn, had turnover of SFr12 million ($14.4 million) last year and employs 70 workers, Bilanz said.
The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said it wasn’t worried by the purchase, but added that it hoped the Chinese would invest in the brand.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Elixir of Life Discovered on Easter Island
A drug has been discovered which scientists believe can reverse the effects of premature ageing and could extend human life by more than a decade.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU, US Ponder Fight Against Al-Qaeda in Africa
The United States and European Union powers gathered in Spain on Thursday to ponder how best to battle Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in north Africa’s Sahel region. US Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano met with interior ministers from the G6 European Union nations — Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, a Spanish interior ministry spokeswoman said. They planned to focus on “the fight against terrorism in the Sahel”, said the spokeswoman for Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, who is also deputy prime minister. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is active in the Sahara desert and Sahel scrubland to the south — an area nearly the size of Australia stretching from western Mauritania through Mali and Niger.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
US Hit Shebab Somali Guerrilla First Time With Drone
(AGI) Washington — The United States have used a drone for the first time to hit Shebab Islamic guerrilla positions in Somalia. In the course of the operation, according to Washington Post, two important guerrilla commanders, who “were planning various actions also outside Somalia”, were hurt.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Hugo Chavez Has Cancer
This just in at the Miami Herald,
Hugo Chavez admits cancerous tumor.
President Hugo Chavez acknowledged Thursday night that he had a cancerous tumor.
He made the admission in a late-night speech, his first since falling ill 21 days ago.
Here is the video in Spanish, supposedly taped in Cuba [see link above]
My translation: if you use this text, please credit me and link to this post…
| — Hat tip: Fausta | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Most Jamaicans Believe UK Rule Better
A new poll suggests that most Jamaicans believe the island would be better off under British rule. The poll of 1,008 Jamaicans for The Gleaner newspaper was conducted over four days by U.S. pollster Bill Johnson. Sixty percent of those surveyed believed the island would be better off if it had remained a U.K. colony. Seventeen percent said the island would be worse off as a British colony and 23 percent said they did not know. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Jamaica achieved independence from Britain in 1962.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
611 Refugees Make Landfall on Lampedusa
(AGI) Lampedusa — 3 boats with immigrants made landfall on Lampedusa in only a few hours. According to Caoast Guard sources, the refugees that landed on the island between late last night and early this morning are 611 in all. The first boat was carrying 174 persons, the second 249 and the third 188, all of which included women and children.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Blue Maryland Seeing Red on Immigration
Sorry no time to go into it today, but just wanted readers to know about this unbelievable political shake-up in Blue Maryland on illegal immigration. The mainstream media has missed one of the hottest political stories of the summer in Maryland as organizers of a petition drive to put a new law (signed by Democrat Governor Martin O’Malley) that would give in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens will (I predict) succeed in being taken to referendum.
The drive ends today and the Washington Post finally wrote about it as a news story yesterday! Be sure to check out what they say about what an impact this initiative will have on the national discussion about immigration—-Blue Maryland sends a message!
From the Washington Post:…
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: More Land on Lampedusa
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), JUNE 30 — More boats carrying immigrants have landed on Lampedusa after weather conditions began improving yesterday. A large boat with 170 migrants as passengers, including 24 women and 4 children, landed just before midnight on the island, while a second boat carrying about a hundred people and escorted by Coast Guard patrol boats will soon be reaching the port. Yesterday another 533 refugees who had left from Libya arrived on the island. The boat which reached the port in the morning was carrying 249 people, while 188 were instead immigrants intercepted on a third boat which experienced difficulties 18 miles off Lampedusa and was aided by port authorities patrol boats and those of the Coast Guard. Among the 437 migrants who arrived today there are 25 women and 7 children.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
In Czech Republic, Russians Are Back and Thriving
Twenty years after Soviet troops left to the delight of a liberated nation, Russian schools, businesses, newspapers and communities are thriving in and around Prague. But while many Czechs seem to be leaving decades of bad blood behind them, there’s alarm in Russia at the economic impact of a new wave of middle-class immigration to Eastern Europe, where life seems far simpler and where EU membership brings dynamism. “Private property rights are questioned every day. It’s an awful business environment here [in Russia]. There is even a danger for people’s freedom,” opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov said in an interview. Statistics reveal a deep loss of confidence in Russia among foreigners and Russians alike.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Pakistani Accused of Killing His Wife Appears in Court
Modena, 30 June (AKI) — Pakistani immigrant Khan Ahmad Butt and his son appeared in court Thursday in northern Italy accused of murdering Butt’s wife Shahnaz Begum in October 2010 in the town of Novi di Modena.
During the hearing in the city of Modena, the presiding judge accepted a request from the Association of Moroccan Women in Italy to form the plaintiff in the case.
“This tragedy is the latest in a long line of crimes committed by men who think they have the right to stone to death or torture their women,” said the association’s president and member of the Italian parliament Souad Sbai.
Butt, a 53-year-old manual worker allegedly killed his 47-year-old wife during a violent quarrel after she defended their 20-year-old daughter Nosheen for refusing an arranged marriage and intervened after he allegedly attacked Nosheen with a wrench, leaving her with a severe head wound.
Butt’s 19-year-old son Umair Butt was arrested on suspicion of helping his father bludgeon his mother to death with a rock and attack his sister, who was admitted to hospital in a critical condition
The Association of Moroccan Women, the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, and the Province of Pordenone are the plaintiff in the ongoing trial of a Moroccan immigrant chef El Ketaoui Dafani for another ‘honour’ crime. Dafani is on trial for the murder of his daughter Sanaa Dafani in northeastern Italy in September 2009 after he discovered she had a love-affair with a 32-year-old Italian man.
“Such crimes are unacceptable in this country and are the result of a poisonous multculturalism which allows foreigners to behave in a way that we cannot allow any Italian citizen to,” Sbai added.
Several ‘honour’ killings committed by Muslim immigrants have shocked Italy in the past few years and raised questions about their integration.
Just this week, a Moroccan carpenter living in northern Italy was arrested on suspicion of stabbing his wife to death because she wanted to leave him and allegedly begin a more liberated and western life with another man.
A Pakistani immigrant, Mohammed Saleem and two other male relatives are serving long prison sentences in Italy for the murder of his 20-year-old daughter Hina Saleem found buried in the garden of her family home with her throat slit and her head facing Mecca in August 2006.
Hina had ‘dishonoured’ the family by dressing in western clothes, working in a pizzeria in the northern town of Sarezzo and living with her Italian boyfriend and refusing and arranged marriage.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Legitimizing Resident Aliens
Utah’s latest version of its driving privilege card takes effect Friday — one that expands background checks on undocumented immigrants in a compromise that saved the program from being dumped entirely.
The 6-year-old program allows cardholders to drive legally in Utah without having to prove legal residency and is based on the premise that the permit allows these drivers to obtain auto insurance.
Nanette Rolfe, director of public safety, said the new application and renewal process targets only those convicted of felonies or with outstanding warrants by requiring applicants to be fingerprinted and bring photo identification to obtain a driving privilege card.
“If they’re an individual that is upholding the law, there should be no reason the fingerprints should be shared with anyone unless there is a felony or outstanding warrant,” Rolfe said. “There is no reason to be afraid.”
Data on an applicant who has a felony will be sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; information on an individual with an outstanding warrant will be forwarded to local police.
Alfonso Gonzalez, 42, an undocumented immigrant from West Valley City, renewed his driving privilege card on Monday before SB138 takes effect. But the Mexican national must submit his fingerprints next year when seeking renewal.
“I have lived in this country for over 20 years and have had no legal problems, so I have no fear of submitting my fingerprints,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Van Grungy | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Mayors Concerned About Afghan Asylum Seekers
Eleven mayors have written to immigration minister Gerd Leers expressing their concern about Afghan asylum seekers in their cities who are suspected of war crimes, reports Trouw on Tuesday.
The asylum seekers have been declared ‘undesirable’ by the foreign affairs ministry because they are suspected of being members of the Afghan intelligence agency KhAD/WAD.
However, the mayors, among them Rotterdam’s Ahmed Aboutabel and Maastricht’s Onno Hoes, say many of them have never been to court and have therefore never been found guilty.
They want Leers to stop all deportation procedures against them now that a court in The Hague has said the lack of an individual hearing is ‘unacceptable’.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: A Burka Conflicts With Good Manners, Like Public Nudity, Says Minister
Just as the people are not allowed to walk around the streets naked, wearing an all-encompassing burka is also against Dutch norms and manners, home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner said during a parliamentary debate on integration on Wednesday.
The government’s plan to introduce a ban on the burka is not so much about public safety as about the fact ‘in our society, you should be able to see each other’, the minister is quoted as saying by the Telegraaf.
National anthem
The cabinet, supported by its anti-Islam alliance partner PVV, is planning to shake up the current rules surrounding the integration of foreigners, and a ban on the burka is part of that.
The new policy will remove targets and make immigrants responsible for their own integration. ‘When I was at school, there was much greater segregation — between Catholics and Protestants,’ Donner said. But that is now over, he pointed out.
The minister also told MPs that knowledge of the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, will be included in integration courses for new immigrants from July 1.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama ‘Defiance’ of Constitution Earns Impeachment Call
‘What use are elections if the executive branch rules by decree?’
An organization that represents the 75 percent of American citizens who want more control over illegal immigration is calling for the impeachment of Barack Obama over his involvement in the transfer of weapons to Mexican drug lords and his efforts to provide amnesty to illegal aliens.
“President Obama is no longer the legitimate president of the United States,” said William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, in calling for the action today.
“By arming drug and human smugglers with assault weapons that have been used to kill American and Mexican citizens and police forces, and by ordering amnesty for illegal aliens which has been rejected by both the Congress and the American public more than eight times, Obama has committed a form of treason against the United States and must be removed from office by Congress,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Leave Me Alones vs Make it Betters
The two streams in American politics are not liberal vs conservative, they can be roughly defined as “Leave Me Alone” vs “Make It Better”. Leave Me Alone seeks personal independence, self-reliance and freedom from interference. Make It Better believes in the progressive betterment of society through regulation, intervention and education.
Most people associate the “Leave Me Alones” with conservatism and the “Make It Betters” with liberalism. That’s partly true, but not entirely. The hijacking of liberalism and the Democratic party by the radical left has them into the standard bearers of a ruthless “Make It Better” agenda. But “Make It Better” is found often on the right as well. The loss of the cultural war to the left has pushed conservatives into a defensive position. And the ascension of the left has moved it into a state of permanent aggression.
“Leave Me Alone” is defensive. It creates boundaries and asks that they be respected. “Make It Better” is offensive, it pushes through individual boundaries in the name of the greater good. Neither of these are purely moral positions. Rather they are preferential positions. “Leave Me Alone” can turn a blind eye to evil with long term consequences. “Make It Better” sometimes brings positive change. But like any course of positive action, “Make It Better” is more likely to be associated with negative consequences.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Progressivism Masquerading as Education
A couple of weeks ago the results of a nationwide history test given at various grade levels were released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). To virtually no one’s surprise, only 20 percent of fourth graders, 17 percent of eighth graders and 12 percent of high school seniors demonstrated “proficiency” on the exam. Most Americans, if we’re being honest, are equally incompetent, if not more so, regarding basic economics. Throw in a lack of proficiency regarding the Constitution, and you get a trifecta of ignorance that ought to embarrass any First World nation. Yet if the Maryland public school system is any indication, we’re beyond embarrassment: “environmental literacy” will now be required in order to graduate high school.
Understand, no reasonable person has a problem with teaching children to be responsible stewards of the planet. But anyone who has watched the steady evolution of public schools from places of education into propaganda centers for the progressive worldview knows exactly what is going on here. The State Board of Education hides the truth by saying there are no specifics regarding what is to be taught, but Maryland Governor, Democrat Martin O’Malley, lets the cat out of the progressive bag when he notes the law with serve as “a foundation for green jobs.”
You know which country had a romance with green jobs? Spain. Know what they discovered? For every green job created, 2.1 non-green jobs were lost. Spain’s unemployment rate is currently 22 percent. And then there’s Great Britain. Three weeks ago, one of their largest utility companies, Scottish Electric, announced that the gas and electricity bills of five million customers would go up by a whopping 19 and 10 percent respectively, beginning August first. Six other major power providers expected to follow suit.
Why is it happening? Part of the reason is higher wholesale costs for power, but the other reason is depressingly familiar. Raymond Jack, Scottish Power’s chief executive: “The rising burden of non-energy costs faced by Britain’s energy suppliers — including the cost of meeting government environmental and social programs and the cost of distributing electricity on the national grid — has also placed further upward pressure on energy bills.” The result? In Britain, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) points out that many of the country’s poor will be faced with a choice between “heating and eating” next winter.
[…]
It is not education. It is indoctrination. It is an indoctrination so thorough that the same high school students who can already quote chapter and verse on environmentalism, don’t know the century in which the Civil War was fought, and can’t add or subtract without a calculator.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fossil Eyes Reveal Predator’s Sharp Vision
Ancient animals saw the world through multi-faceted compound eyes, a new fossil discovery reveals. The ancient eyes, which date back half a billion years, probably belonged to a predator, likely a giant shrimp-like creature. Like a modern fly, the ancient creature relied on compound eyes consisting of thousands of separate lenses to see the world. Each lens provides a pixel of vision. The more lenses, the better the creature could see. The mysterious ancient shrimp saw better than any other animal yet discovered from its era: Its eyes contained 3,000 lenses.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The First Non-Human Meat Farmers
It’s the real animal farm: an African ant appears to farm other animals for meat — it may be the best example of true domestication besides our crops
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
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