11.5 Billion Dollar Bailout for Japanese Nuclear Energy Giant
Japan’s government allocates 11.5 billion dollars to help the Tokyo Energy and Power Corporation (Tepco), which is struggling to decontaminate the Daiichi plant and surrounding area and pay compensation to the victims.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Britain Making Plans in Case Euro Fails: Finance Minister
Britain is making contingency plans in case the European debt crisis causes the eurozone to collapse, finance minister George Osborne said on Friday. Osborne’s comments at a summit of the Group of 20 rich and emerging nations in the French resort of Cannes came as the bloc grapples with crises in Greece and Italy.
Asked if Britain, which is a member of the European Union but not of the 17-member eurozone, had a plan in place in case the single currency failed, Osborne said: “Britain and the British government prepares for all contingencies. “You would expect us to do that, that is our responsibility to the British people. We do our planning,” he said in broadcast interviews.
“We are dealing with our debts, dealing with our situation, but we are also planning and prepared for whatever the world and whatever the eurozone throws at us.”
The Greek debt crisis has thrown the future of the euro into doubt, and a French minister has warned Greece will have to leave not only the eurozone but also the European Union unless it ratifies a debt rescue accord. Osborne called on eurozone states to take responsibility but said other major economies must help shore up the global financial system.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China: Up to $100bn Available for EU
Chinese central bank official Li Daokui told French daily Le Figaro on Thursday Beijing could invest up to $100 billion in the EU rescue fund, the EFSF, if it is clear the fund can stop the crisis and if France and Germany provide guarantees for Chinese money.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
G20 Partners Warn Europe to Fix Debt Crisis
Leaders of the world’s top economies urged Europe to put its house in order Thursday as a G20 summit supposed to be about boosting fragile global growth was hijacked by the eurozone debt crisis. US President Barack Obama, at the opening of the two-day Group of 20 summit, said the leaders’ top priority was to conquer the European crisis, which has rocked markets and threatens to drag the world economy into recession.
“The most important aspect of our task is to resolve the financial crisis here in Europe,” said Obama after meeting summit host French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the start of the two day meeting in Cannes. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda warned the crisis risks provoking a “chain reaction” through the global economy, with Italy now in the danger zone as the threat of Greece being forced from the eurozone mounted. European leaders and Obama held a mini summit late Thursday to discuss the eurozone crisis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Babysitter for Berlusconi: Italy Becomes Next Euro Battleground
Greece is a problem for the European common currency. But Italy could be a catastrophe. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is losing support at home and on Thursday evening, he agreed to have his austerity efforts monitored by the IMF. Concern is rising that Italy could be the next euro battleground.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
IMF May Take Role in Europe Crisis as G-20 Leaders Resume Talks
CANNES, France — Leaders of the world’s most industrialized nations resumed talks here this morning on how to resolve Europe’s continuing financial woes, apparently considering ways to set the stage for intervention from the International Monetary Fund.
George Osborne, Britian’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, told BBC Radio that negotiations on boosting contributions to the IMF were ongoing, though whether individual countries would be asked to increase their contributions had not been determined. “There is a broad view among G-20 leaders that there does need to be additional IMF resourcing,” Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said late Thursday night. “Leaders recognize that it is an appropriate move …so people could be reassured.”
The U.S. has suggested that the IMF should use its existing resources, saying that it’s been bolstered since the U.S. financial collapse. Leal Brainard, the U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury, told reporters no decision had been reached on IMF intervention.
“The core . . . needs to be European commitment and European resources, and that is going to be the core of any successful effort,” she said. “There area a number of ideas that are being discussed. I think the situation is fluid; I don’t know where it will end up. But there are a number of, we think, constructive and creative ideas on the table.”
The possibility of IMF intervention had obviously been a topic of conversation. When IMF director Christine LaGarde entered the meeting room before the start of the session, she could be heard to say, “I have my checkbook here,” though it was unclear to what or whom the comment was directed…
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Italy Put Under Strict IMF and EU Surveillance: Officials
The International Monetary Fund and European Commission will strictly monitor Italy to reassure markets that it is meeting targets to reduce its budget deficit, European officials said on Friday. But an Italian government source quickly denied that the agreement implied a formal “surveillance” mechanism, and said instead that Rome would seek “advice” from the IMF on the issue.
While it had been agreed earlier the EU’s executive would step up monitoring of Rome, European leaders meeting on the margins of a G20 summit had decided to bring in the IMF to increase the credibility of the surveillance and reassure the markets, the senior officials said. The IMF’s advice is expected to play a complementary role to the European Commission’s monitoring, added the Italian source.
Investors forced up the Italian government’s 10-year borrowing cost to a euro-era record 6.402 percent on Thursday. The European Central Bank (ECB) was forced to step in and prop up the Italian bond market in August when the rates soared above six percent, a level widely considered by experts to be unsustainable.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Portugal: Socialists to Abstain From 2012 Budget Vote
(ANSAmed) — LISBON, NOVEMBER 4 — Antonio José Seguro, leader of Portugal’s socialist party (PS), the county’s main opposition force, said today that the PS will abstain from voting on the 2012 financial document that was presented by the centre-right government of Premier Pedro Passos Coelho.
“The abstention of the socialist party is a vote to support Portugal’s presence in the eurozone,” explained Seguro.
The government of Passos Coelho has an absolute majority in Portugal’s unicameral parliament, and has proposed further austerity measures for the 2012 State budget, which will be put to the vote by the end of November. The measures include a cut of the 13th and 14th month’s salary for civil servants and pensioners who earn more than a thousand euros per month, and an increase in the number of working hours in the private sector.
In May, when the socialists were still in power with the then Premier José Socrates, the plan signed a 78 billion euro bailout plan with the EU and IMF.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s Stagnant Economy Still Hemorrhaging Jobs
Labor Minister Gómez admits country is now further away from exiting crisis
Spain’s moribund labor market took a further turn for the worse in October as the activity ground to a standstill.The Labor Ministry said Thursday jobless claims last month rose by 134,182 from September to 4.36 million. That was the biggest jump for October since 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed.
The National Statistics Institute’s Active Population Survey released last week showed the number of people out of work rising to just short of the calamitous five-million mark as the jobless rate rose to 21.5 percent, over double the average in the European Union. On Monday the Bank of Spain estimated that the economy failed to grow in the third quarter as activity felt the impact of the latest episode of the Greek debt crisis. Consultant Markit said Wednesday Spain’s manufacturing sector contracted in October for the sixth month in a row due to a widespread fall in demand.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Crisis and Unemployment Affecting Electoral Campaign
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 4 — The electoral campaign in Spain officially began at midnight last night in Spain, ahead of the country’s general election on November 20, amid a backdrop coloured by crisis in the Eurozone, the threat of recession and record unemployment at almost 5 million.
After two terms under the socialist Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the post of PM will be contested by the former deputy Prime Minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, from the governing PSOE party, and the leader of the opposition People’s Party, Mariano Rajoy. The 15-day campaign is likely to be intense, with a single television face-off between the two men to be held on Monday November 7. The debate is to be timed by two referees from the country’s basketball federation, and represents the only chance for the Socialist candidate to make up ground in the opinion polls, which currently suggest that the PP will win an outright majority at the election. A study carried out on a sample of 18,000 Spaniards by the Sociological Investigation Centre (CIS), which was published today, shows that the PP would today win 46.6% of votes, 16.5 points ahead of the Socialists, on 29.9%, potentially the worst result in the party’s history. “At the moment it would be easier for Real Madrid to beat Barcelona than to make up the ground on Rajoy,” Rubalcaba admitted on Radio Marca yesterday. The Socialist candidate has chosen Madrid for the opening rally, while, for the first time, Rajoy has chosen Catalunya, the former Socialist stronghold currently governed by the nationalist Christian democrat party, CiU, which, according to the CIS study, would move up from 10 to 13 seats at the election and could prove decisive in forming a government if the PP did not win an outright majority.
Since 2010, the PSOE has introduced a series of stringent cuts to meet deficit reduction targets and to tackle the pressure from the financial markets, and have mooted a new tax on high earners and stimulus measures for companies to create new jobs. Rajoy, meanwhile, who was defeated at the 2004 and 2008 elections, has put forward tax measures “in support of long-term savings”, with a reduction in income tax for savers, families and first-time home buyers, as well as new reforms of the job market. Many analysts claim that Rajoy is yet to explain how he will reconcile the need to reduce deficit with a cut in tax. Rajoy has also kept a low profile, waiting for the Socialists to foot the bill for difficult economic situation and social unease in the country.
Unemployment, which INE figures for September put at 21.51% of the active population, is Rajoy’s personal forte. The left-wing coalition Izquierda Unida, is aiming to exploit the potential collapse of the PSOE, which has lost around 13 points since 2008 and to sweep up the vote from the “Indignados”, who are strongly opposed to the cuts and as yet undecided with regard to the election. The total electorate of 36 million Spaniards will be called to the polls on November 20, where they will choose from the 1.195 candidates from 11 parties or coalitions.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘The Common Currency Endgame Has Begun’
Greece has backed away from holding a referendum on the euro bailout package. This week’s tumult, however, shows that Europe is still far away from solving the euro crisis. German editorialists on Friday warn that the worst-case scenario may arrive sooner rather than later.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Christian Call to Prayer Riles Muslims
Mosques get warned to up security ahead of Ford Field event
Dearborn — The local head of a national Muslim civil rights group says a Christian prayer summit to be held at Ford Field next week promotes anti-Muslim sentiment and is warning local mosques to step up their security. Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — Michigan, met Wednesday with Muslim activists to voice his concern over the rhetoric he fears could be at the center of the event Nov. 11. “There’s a bigger force or movement behind this prayer summit and how they’re literally demonizing Muslims,” he said.
But Metro Detroit pastors involved in the event say the gathering is merely meant to help Detroit, not target Muslims. “I don’t know anything about that,” said Bishop Edgar Vann of Second Ebenezer Church. “People are coming here to pray for our city and that’s what I’m concerned about. Christians will be praying, but it’s open to anyone.” The Call is being promoted as a 24-hour long prayer event aimed at lifting the city out of its “greatest darkness.” Its website says attendees will “gather to this city that has become a microcosm of our national crisis — economic collapse, racial tension, the rising tide of the Islamic movement, and the shedding of innocent blood of our children in the streets and our unborn.”
Senior pastor Jerry Weinzierl of Grace Christian Church in Sterling Heights said the event is not anti-Muslim.”It’s not to pray against anybody,” he said. “It is a very positive movement of Christians gathering together to pray.” Walid advised the heads of local mosques to “maintain security at all entrances, and make sure to notify the police immediately if suspicious persons congregate on mosque property.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Doctor Claims He Can Turn Brown Eyes Blue (But He Can’t Change Them Back Again)
Ever wished you were the blue-eyed boy? You soon could be, after a doctor revealed he can permanently change a person’s eye colour in just 20 seconds.
Dr Gregg Homer, from Stroma Medical in California said his Lumineyes technology uses a laser tuned to a specific frequency to turn brown eyes to blue.
The laser energy removes the brown pigment, or melanin, from the top layer of the iris, and the blue eye colour emerges over the following two to three weeks.
It would provide an alternative to those who wanted lighter eyes without resorting to cosmetic contact lenses.
However the procedure — which Dr Homer has developed over 10 years — is irreversible because the brown tissue cannot regenerate.
Stroma Medical has started limited human testing but is seeking up to £500,000 to complete clinical trials.
If all goes to plan Dr Homer says the procedure could be available outside the U.S within 18 months and inside the U.S in three years.
The former entertainment lawyer said the operation would cost around £3,000.
Dr Homer told KTLA Morning News that thousands of prospective clients had contacted him by email to express their interest.
‘They say the eyes are the windows to the soul,’ he told ktla.com.
Eye colour is inherited, however brown eyes are dominant across the world while blue eyes are a recessive trait.
A blue eye pigment doesn’t actually exist in nature. Instead, people with blue eyes have a brown pigment, known as melamin, at the back of their irises but have low concentrations of melanin in the front of their irises.
This means longer wavelengths of light are absorbed by the dark back of the eye, while the shorter wavelengths are scattered.
In 2008, scientists from the University of Copenhagen, found that all people with blue eyes were descended from a single ancestor with a blue eye mutation who lived six to 10,000 years ago.
Study leader Professor Eiberg said before this time, everyone had brown eyes.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Ethics Committee to Investigate Rep. Richardson
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Laura Richardson charged Friday the House Ethics Committee has singled her out for scrutiny because she’s African-American.
Richardson, D-Calif., effectively announced the committee’s investigation before the panel revealed it, accusing fellow lawmakers of ignoring wrongdoing by others in order to focus on her.
The ethics committee is looking into whether she improperly used staff for political purposes.
The committee is composed of five members from each party. The ranking Democrat is a Hispanic, Rep. Linda Sanchez of California. Other Democratic members are Rep. Donna Edwards, an African-American from Maryland, and Rep. Pedro Pierluisi who represents Puerto Rico. The five Republicans are all white males…
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Friday’s Letters: Radical Islam is a Threat to US
Radical Islam is danger to nation
Hassan Shibly of the Council on American-Islamic Relations attacked me and Allen West in a letter for defending America against the dangers of sharia-compliant Islam. I have long spoken out against the dangers of radical Islam. I am careful to differentiate between those who pervert Islam into a totalitarian ideology and those who practice it peacefully. And yet I am routinely attacked by Shibly and his organization. Why would CAIR, which pretends to care about improving the understanding of Islam, attack those of us who draw attention to the radicals distorting their religion?
The truth is CAIR is dedicated to misleading the American public over the inherent and obvious threat radical Islam poses not just to our country but to freedom-loving people worldwide. As the last decade has proven, the threats America faces from radical Islam are real. But the irony is that Islamists have killed more innocent Muslims, either through adherence to sharia or through terrorist attacks around the world, than any other group of people.
While CAIR garners sympathy in the mainstream press, there are brave moderates within the Muslim world who speak out against radical Islam and get very little attention. These reformers hold the key to not only helping Americans better understand Islam, but also helping to free the Islamic world from the radicals who have enslaved a large portion of their population. If CAIR truly cared about improving the image of Islam, they’d spend more of their time heralding those courageous Muslims instead of attacking people like me and Congressman West.
Adam Hasner, U.S. Senate candidate, Boca Raton
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
For Mosque Critics, It’s All About Gridlock
Markham’s population has exploded by close to 50% in the past decade, going from 218,000 in 2001 to 304,000 this year. Still, this municipality northeast of Toronto clings to the moniker “Town of Markham” and retains vestiges of rural quaintness, such as Main Street Unionville; locals generally steer clear of town hall and reelect their council without fuss.
But that changed last week. About 250 people packed council chambers and shouted down the Mayor about an item not even on the agenda: the city’s quiet approval of a second Markham mosque on the north end of town. “This is Markham Spring!” one man shouted. Some call this “Islamophobia.” At the very least, Markham today has a big-city problem, or at least a big suburb problem: designed for automobiles, it is gridlocked.
“The residents are incensed,” Phil Richardson, a business coach and president of a new group called Markham Residents for Responsible Community Planning, told me Wednesday, sitting in Starbucks in Markham Village and showing me pictures on his laptop of cars illegally parked on both sides of the road, during prayer times, at the Islamic Society of Markham mosque. “Mr. Mayor, are you prepared to stand pat when your residents are overwhelmingly against this building spree of townhouses, condos and an oversized mosque that clearly cannot handle its congregation?”
The first Markham mosque opened in 2005, at Dennison Street and Middlefield Road, in the town’s south end. A year later the mosque bought land at Williamson Road and 16th Avenue, which the town had rezoned in 2003 for a “place of worship.” This fall, after one public meeting, town council approved a site plan for a second mosque. Locals responded, printing 3,000 flyers depicting a condo tower, a mosque and a townhouse, and asking, “Do you want these types of massive structures in historic Markham’s Swan Lake area?” (Along with the mosque, they oppose townhouses and condo towers set to rise nearby.)
How many will pray at the new mosque? In fundraising efforts, mosque backers boasted the new 28,000-square-foot mosque would host 1,600 at prayers; later the mosque told a local paper that had been a “typo” and put total worshippers at 600. On Wednesday, Ned Allam of Array International Architects, designers of the mosque, gave another total.
“Please talk to my clients about how many people are going to be there,” Mr. Allam said. “There are 188 parking spaces. Calculate four people in every car; this is the maximum who will be there.” Four times 188 equals 752.
“I think if they were building a church, everyone would be applauding,” he added. “If it’s a mosque, especially with the Islamophobia, people will fight that.” He added, “We should be like fish in the sea and admire everybody’s differences.” (A slightly idyllic view of marine life.) No one at the existing Markham mosque returned calls. I visited Wednesday and found about 30 boys kneeling on a carpet, reciting the Koran with their imam. Brother Ilyas, who commutes here from East York, took my business card. No one called me.
A report last year by Markham’s traffic operations supervisor, posted in the mosque, notes: “All approaches to the intersection [where this mosque sits] are routinely congested due to parked vehicles, thereby reducing the capacity of the roadway by at least 50%.” The site of the new mosque, enclosed by a chain link fence, is today a grove of 15 silver maple trees, each 50 to 75 years old, and a thicket of birches. A wheelbarrow leans against a maple. It is a rustic scene, but locals say that at times they cannot turn left out of the Garden Basket, about two blocks west of here, such is the congestion on 16th.
Paul Comella, whose family owns the Garden Basket, a large independent grocery, said of the mosque plan, “It seems to me there has been some bending of the truth on their side. They are trying to downplay their size. Personally, I hope they find a location that is not so traffic-heavy.” An online “Petition to Build Markham Mosque Elsewhere” now counts more than 3,000 signatures.
Frank Scarpitti, Mayor of Markham, accused those fighting the mosque of spreading “misinformation,” about the size of the mosque. “It’s comparable to other places of worship,” he said, adding council could not go back on the approval of the mosque. “If you bought a piece of property and it was zoned a certain way, under provincial law we cannot stop a permitted use.” But Mr. Richardson is not backing down either. “We are going to continue to sign members,” he said. “We are going to use social media and door-to-door canvassing as a call to residents to bring a halt to this, up to and including legal action, to halt what we consider the destruction of the Markham culture and heritage.”
At the Garden Basket I asked Andrew Hunt, a chef at the local Pickle Barrel, about traffic issues and the mosque. “Parking is a nightmare already,” he said. “The traffic can’t get worse.” Still, he added, “I love Markham. There’s fishing on the bus routes all over town.” That, at least, is some small-town comfort.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Prepare for Festival of Eid
None of the three children in the Chaudhary household have ever set foot in their ancestral country of Pakistan. But to them, their parents and 75,000 other Muslims who call Calgary home, loyalty to family traditions still runs deep.”Our parents kept us close to the culture,” says 35-year-old Mansoora Chaudhary, who was born, raised and educated in Calgary.
“We went to the mosque twice a week and kept all the holidays sacred. When your parents instil that love in your heart for your culture and for your faith, it is easy to do that with your own children as well.”
Chaudhary and her husband, who immigrated to Canada 20 years ago, are busy preparing their family for Eid-ul-Adha, the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice which this year falls on Sunday.
Pronounced “eed” in their Urdu dialect, this celebration comes two months and ten days after Eid-ul-Fitir which marks the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. This Eid is a much-anticipated one-day event at the conclusion of Hajj, the journey to Mecca which each Muslim strives to complete at least once in their lifetime. This holy day also honours the legacy of the Prophet Abraham, told by God to sacrifice his son — a familiar story shared by many religions. Eid begins with a morning of prayer, a sermon and hugs all around wishing friends and family “Eid Mubarak”- a blessed Eid. The day’s celebrations include socializing, feasting and admiring everyone’s carefully chosen and exquisite new clothes.
Following the example in the story of Abraham, a goat is sacrificed, appropriately at a local slaughter house which offers this service. Many Calgary Muslims simply send money to relatives in Pakistan so that they may do the same. The less fortunate members of the community are also included in the celebrations. Mansoora Chaudhary’s children, Heather, 12, Rania, 9 and Abdullah, 6, have new clothes brought by friends from Pakistan. The girls have a dazzling array of bangles and come the day of Eid, a great fuss will be made of their hair and fingernails. Young Abdullah will wear his new hat, part of the traditional Pakistani garb and always worn during prayer at the family mosque.
“We wear these clothes for Eid and for other special occasions like weddings,” says Heather with a shy smile. “We have other clothes like this, but not as fancy.” Another aspect of Eid preparations for women is adorning the hands and arms with henna tattoos. Henna is a non-permanent natural brown dye or stain which fades after a few weeks. The intricate art is drawn or painted and is very popular in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures. Chaudhary and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Organization will be offering henna tattoos during a special event called Eid Expo, to take place Friday from 5 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m. at Cardel Place. “This is the first time we’ve done this. We thought we’d have a fair and introduce our festival of Eid and have a good chat with people,” says Chaudhary. Henna tattoos will be offered at no charge on a first come, first served basis, along with refreshments and information about Eid-ul-Adha.
Cardel Place, 11950 Country Village Link N.E., has offered space for the women’s group at no charge as part of their mandate to be a community hub in north-central Calgary.
“We want this to be a gathering place for people of all ethnic backgrounds and provide that place where people have a sense of belonging,” says marketing and communications team leader, Brad Anderson. “The main thing for us is to share and celebrate those who live in our community.” Chaudhary says she is very excited about sharing Eid with the public.
“Eid is a huge celebration for us. We give gifts, we put up lights, but the general public doesn’t see it happening — it’s not out there,” she says. “I would like our community to get recognized. We promote peace. There are misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. We want to make people more comfortable. We want people to know us, and know us in a good way.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Woman, Teen Stabbed to Death Near Montreal
LONGUEUIL, QUE. — Police responding to reports of screams inside a Montreal-area apartment building found a woman and a teenage girl stabbed to death on Friday morning.
Police arrested a man in his 40s and took two young boys into protective custody.
The victims are Emmanuelle Phaneuf, and her daughter, Laurie, who turned 13 on Thursday, according to information obtained by QMI Agency.
QMI has also learned that the man who was arrested was the victim’s husband.
Friends said the two boys were the couple’s children, and the 13-year-old victim was Emmanuelle Phaneuf’s daughter from a previous marriage.
“We arrived and police saw two women on the floor,” said police spokesman Martin Simard.
“It was clear that they were dead.”
A man and a woman arrived on the scene later in the morning, but police held them back from the building. The woman collapsed to the ground in sobs, while the man put his head in his hands.
Stephanie Blanchette, a friend of the woman who was killed, was also in shock when she arrived at the scene.
“I was supposed to have breakfast with (the wife),” said Blanchette, her voice quivering. “I didn’t hear from her, so I came here and I saw the police cars and they told me that she had been stabbed along with her 13-year-old daughter.”
Blanchette said she had recently travelled to Cuba with the victim and that the husband became jealous when they returned.
Police have set up a command post to continue their investigation.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
British Tidal Power Riding a Wave?
by John Daly
…British scientists are attempting to harness the power of the moon to generate energy in the form of tidal power generators. If successful, tidal power could overcome the unpredictability of wind power and the limits of solar power from clouds and night time. Tides are so accurate and predictable that maritime nations have published timetables of them for more than 200 years.
Tidal power has been the poor stepsister of the two above mentioned renewable power sources because of its relatively high cost and the fact that current inefficient turbine designs have up to now limited the number of potential sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities.
If a British project succeeds however, that dynamic may be about to alter. Rolls-Royce, a renowned British engineering firm that has progressed from its initial automotive expertise into becoming a global power systems company, announced that its prototype subsea tidal turbine off the Orkney Islands in Scotland, has successfully generated and fed over 100 megawatt hours of electrical power into the national grid.
The Rolls-Royce prototype tidal turbine is part of the Deep-Gen III project, co- funded by the British government-backed Technology Strategy Board and is currently deployed at the European Marine Energy Center’s offshore test site off the Orkneys. The tidal unit’s three-bladed turbine is attached by a tripod to the seabed and can operate fully submerged at a depth of 130 feet.
[…]
Tidal mills have been used, both in Europe and on the Atlantic coast of North America, with the usage dating from the Middle Ages, although some archaeologist place using tidal power back to Roman times.
Europe’s interest in the potential of tidal power is longstanding since France’s L’Usine Maremotrice de la Rance (Rance Tidal Power Station), the world’s first large-scale tidal power plant, became operational in 1966. The Rance Tidal Power Station, currently the world’s second biggest tidal power station, is situated on the estuary of the Rance River, in Brittany, France. Operated by Electricite de France, the Rance Tidal Power Station has a peak rating of 240 megawatts, generated by 24 turbines.
If fully deployed, Rolls-Royce predicts that its tidal technology could generate up to 30 terawatt-hours of British electricity, equivalent to around 7.5 per cent of current British electricity needs, enough to power 3 million homes.
British Technology Strategy Board head of energy Neil Morgan remarked of the Rolls Royce effort, “This is a significant milestone for the U.K. marine renewables industry. The UK is well-placed to exploit tidal stream energy resources and, if commercialized on a large scale, this technology could be an important part of the renewable energy mix we’ll need in the future, and could create jobs and exports for the U.K.”
[…]
[NOTE: Encouraging story. Read the rest at URL above.]
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EU Support at Historic Low in Norway
Supporters of the European Union in Norway are at their lowest ever ebb after a new poll put Norwegian support for joining the bloc at just 12 percent.
While many no longer care, 72 percent of Norwegians say they do no want the country to join the EU, according to new numbers from pollster Synovate. As crisis upon crisis sweeps the continent, 65 percent of the pro-EU Conservative party was revealed to be against joining.
One member of ‘No to the EU’ — an organization promoting Norway’s role in the non-bloc European Economic Area — said Norwegians “will not choose voluntarily to board the Titanic”.
The group’s director, Heming Olaussen, said the economic criticism against the countries of the Mediterranean amounted to an attack on democracy.
“Greece is being held hostage to the EU leaders’ spiel to save the euro, whatever the cost for ordinary people,” Olaussen told The Local, pointing out that 43 percent of the country’s young people were unemployed.
“The EU’s ‘help’ has taken away people’s faith in the future, created peril and social unrest along with an enormous lack of confidence in the political system,” he added.
Olaussen’s countrywide public speaking tours have brought packed halls of listeners, just as business leaders continue to push for closer EU ties.
As in other countries, Norwegian business dailies have been chronicling the “ticking bomb” of European sovereign debt. On Tuesday, markets slumped in Oslo and a “mini-crash” was declared as values dropped.
The harried Greek government’s decision to let a national vote decide borrowing and austerity measures could affect Norwegians, since the emergence of a strong krone would harm exports.
But Greece’s hardship is helping Norway’s anti-EU lobby.
“It was the best no vote ever,” Olaussen said of the country’s decision not to join the union.
“Never before has the difference been 60 percent between ‘yes’ and ‘no’,” he added.
Anti-EU Norwegians have been strengthened, he said, by Brussels’ handling of the financial crisis. Critics have been appalled by what they see as the detachment of EU leaders from the citizens the union was making “more powerless and unemployed”, said Olaussen.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
French Paper Reprints Mohammad Cartoon After Firebomb
Reuters) — A French satirical weekly whose office was fire bombed after it printed a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad has reproduced the image with other caricatures in a special supplement distributed with one of the country’s leading newspapers. The weekly Charlie Hebdo defended “the freedom to poke fun” in the four-page supplement, which was wrapped around copies of the left-wing daily Liberation on Thursday, a day after an arson attack gutted Charlie Hebdo’s Paris headquarters. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place hours before an edition of Charlie Hebdo hit news stands featuring a cover-page cartoon of Mohammad and a speech bubble with the words: “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter.”
The weekly, known for its irreverent treatment of the political establishment and religious figures, bore the headline “Charia Hebdo,” in a reference to Muslim sharia law, and said that week’s issue had been guest-edited by Mohammad. The incident pits Europe’s tradition of free speech and secularism against Islam’s injunction barring any depictions seen as mocking the prophet. The publication of cartoons of Mohammad in a Danish newspaper in 2005 sparked unrest in the Muslim world in which at least 50 people were killed.
While French Muslim groups criticized Charlie Hebdo’s work, they also condemned the fire-bomb attack. The head of the Paris Mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, told a news conference on Thursday: “I am extremely attached to freedom of the press, even if the press is not always tender with Muslims, Islam or the Paris Mosque. French Muslims have nothing to do with political Islam,” he said.
Abderrahmane Dahmane, a Muslim former presidential adviser on religious diversity, said he was not shocked by the Charlie Hebdo front-page and joked himself about the matter.
“We have a sense of humor in the world of Islam … what we sometimes say about Islam and the prophet, among ourselves and in the presence of Imams, is worse than what Charlie Hebdo wrote,” he quipped. Following the fire bombing, Charlie Hebdo staff moved temporarily into the offices of Liberation. The two publications jointly produced Thursday’s supplement, which reproduced the Charlie Hebdo cartoon in an article on the back page. One headline in the supplement said: “After their office blaze, this team defends the ‘freedom to poke fun’.”
“We thought the lines had moved and that maybe there would be more respect for our satirical work, our right to mock. Freedom to have a good laugh is as important as freedom of speech,” Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier said in the supplement. The supplement included several new drawings by Charlie Hebdo cartoonists. In one, a prophet-like figure tries to restrain his billowing robes in a pose reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe as a draft blows up from Charlie Hebdo newspapers below him. Another shows an airborne fire-bomb with a face in the flames and the caption, “So, is this how you see the prophet?”
France has Europe’s largest Muslim community, numbering about five million out of an overall population of 65 million. The country has a deep tradition of official secularism and adopted a ban this year on women wearing face-covering veils in public. Charbonnier told Reuters his newspaper planned to print another 175,000 copies of this week’s edition in the coming days after the first print run of 75,000 copies sold out fast. Luz, the cartoonist who drew the cover cartoon at the center of the controversy, said it was still unclear who had carried out the attack. “Let’s be cautious. There’s every reason to believe it’s the work of fundamentalists but it could just as well be the work of two drunks,” he said in the Thursday supplement.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
French Magazine Bombing and Blasphemy Codes
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, published a spoof edition yesterday which featured the Islamic prophet Muhammad as its editor, sparking a violent firebombing of their offices. Many are now questioning the issue of freedom of speech in relation to Muslim demands to uphold religious blasphemy codes. This use of violence to silence free speech is the latest in a growing global trend that also entails non-violent means to enforce anti-blasphemy legal codes on both Muslims and non-Muslims within the West.
A new book by Hudson Senior Fellows Paul Marshall and Nina Shea examines this growing and troubling phenomenon that is an affront to individual freedoms of religion and speech in the West. Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide (Oxford University Press, Nov. 3) provides the first survey of the global range and effects of apostasy and blasphemy charges in the contemporary Muslim world, in international organizations, and in the West. Both authors are available for comment.
SOURCE Hudson Institute
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Cold Fusion Machine Passes Another Test
Italian physicist and inventor Andrea Rossi has conducted a public demonstration of his “cold fusion” machine, the E-Cat, at the University of Bologna, showing that a small amount of input energy drives an unexplained reaction between atoms of hydrogen and nickel that leads to a large outpouring of energy, more than 10 times what was put in.
Life’s Little Mysteries reported on the E-Cat machine back in April, when Rossi and fellow physicist Sergio Focardi successfully demonstrated the device for a group of Swedish physicists. At the time, we explained that the Italian physicists are two of a handful of researchers around the world who have kept the cold fusion fire burning. These cold fusion devotees believe that there is a little-understood physical process occurring in their machines that produces a safe, clean and endlessly renewable form of energy.
The physicists who were invited to the demonstration in April gave the E-Cat a solid thumbs-up. It produced too much excess heat to have been originating from a chemical process, they wrote in their report, adding that, “The only alternative explanation is that there is some kind of a nuclear process that gives rise to the measured energy production.”
In the intervening months, Rossi has built a large version of his device that combines many smaller cold fusion modules. At the demo in October, after an initial energy input of 400 watts into each module, each one then produced a sustained, continuous output of 10 kilowatts (470 kW altogether) for three to four hours.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Naples Mayor’s Car Attacked by Protesters
‘I am sad about what happened’, says De Magistris
(ANSA) — Naples, November 4 — Around 30 demonstrators attacked the car of Naples’ Mayor Luigi de Magistris on Friday after an environmental presentation at a local school.
The demonstrators carried banners and yelled slogans as they surrounded De Magistris’s car and began kicking and punching the vehicle.
De Magistris had been attending a presentation by Naples’ recycling authority to mark the introduction of garbage recycling in the city.
“I am sad about what happened this morning,” said De Magistris on his Facebook page. “An initiative involving primary school children regarding the first recycled compost of the city was ruined by the aggression against me”.
The protesters were reportedly unemployed who had sought a meeting with the mayor.
Local police intervened to protect the mayor, and after around 10 minutes, he was able to leave.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maroni Calls for Elections, If Government Falls
‘The only option’, says minister
(ANSA) — Varese, November 4 — Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said Friday elections should be held in Italy if the government falls.
Maroni, who is a senior member of the Northern League which is Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s main coalition partner, was speaking amid growing speculation about the prime minister’s ability to hold his fragile coalition together and avert the country’s financial collapse.
Despite government denials, the media also reported that the prime minister had agreed to monitoring by the International Monetary Fund overnight at the G20 summit in Cannes.
Berlusconi has indicated that the government will call a confidence vote within two weeks on some of the reforms he has pledged to European Union leaders.
“As we have already said, if the government falls, elections are the only option, it is very simple,” Maroni told journalists after a meeting of young supporters in the northern city of Varese. “This is the scenario for us”.
Maroni, who has been mooted as a political alternative for prime minister, said he did not take any notice of recent opinion polls that showed the Northern League was losing popularity. “I see so many polls but I do not worry about them, they do not interest me,” Maroni said.
Berlusconi suffered another setback on Thursday when two MPs belonging to his People of Freedom (PdL) party switched to the centrist opposition UDC.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Accuses Defectors of ‘Betrayal’
‘The malcontents will return’, PM says
(ANSA) — Cannes, November 4 — Embattled premier Silvio Berlusconi on Friday attacked the two MPs who defected from his People of Freedom Party (PdL) and accused them of betrayal.
“Abandoning the (government) majority is a betrayal not only of the PdL but also the country,” Berlusconi told reporters at a media conference at the end of the Group of 20 summit in Cannes.
As the prime minister was fighting for his political survival amid the eurozone crisis, Berlusconi suffered a major setback on Thursday when two MPs from his party switched to the centrist opposition UDC.
“The malcontents will come back,” Berlusconi said. “They are people who believe they have been overlooked. These are human and understandable reactions but I am confident that when I meet these people they will return to their positions”.
The two PdL deputies, Alessio Bonciani and Ida D’Ippolito, announced their decision to leave the party on Thursday as the government came under increasing pressure from the International Monetary Fund and international leaders to carry out its pledged economic reforms.
“We are the government, we have a solid majority and so we will continue to govern,” Berlusconi said in Cannes.
On Thursday six former Berlusconi loyalists also called on the premier to broaden his coalition or resign and call new elections.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Fraudulant PC Psychology Exposed
A well-known psychologist in the Netherlands whose work has been published widely in professional journals falsified data and made up entire experiments, an investigating committee has found
Dr. Stapel has published about 150 papers, many of which, like the advertising study, seem devised to make a splash in the media. The study published in Science this year claimed that white people became more likely to “stereotype and discriminate” against black people when they were in a messy environment, versus an organized one. Another study, published in 2009, claimed that people judged job applicants as more competent if they had a male voice. The investigating committee did not post a list of papers that it had found fraudulent.
In a survey of more than 2,000 American psychologists scheduled to be published this year, Leslie John of Harvard Business School and two colleagues found that 70 percent had acknowledged, anonymously, to cutting some corners in reporting data.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Oslo Police Surveillance Deficient
A lack of surveillance cameras at the centre of Norway’s capital is hampering police efforts to combat rape.
The capital has a plethora of civilian cameras installed in such places as shops, bars, hotels and banks. Up to 300 devices are within the Oslo S train station area alone.
Officers have access to these, but only one of eight police cameras is working. Oslo Central District Chief Inspector Bjørn Åge Hansen says, “The [non-police] cameras are installed to monitor premises and buildings, not common areas, certainly have some preventative effect. Nonetheless, they are unmanned, of varying ages and types, and extremely variable quality.”
“A camera is not a camera, and even a modern one is not enough independently, but is effective in conjunction with operative police patrols,” he tells Aftenposten.
20 extra officers were deployed last weekend, but this did not prevent six new attacks, one of them attempted. Whilst the bureaucrats argue over DNA forensic analysis facilities, politicians are outraged over the doubling of assault rapes in the last year.
Police started CCTV surveillance around Oslo S in 1999. Numbers of annual criminal cases declined from 13,000 to 8,500. , and the cameras’ success led to expansion plans along Akerselva.
“The seriousness of many cases was reduced because police could intervene early. Potentially violent incidents were replaced by disturbances of the peace instead,” says Sigve Bolstad, Oslo Police Union leader who headed the project.
Despite the success leading to expansion plans to include such areas along the Akerselva, however, Oslo S central operations unit staff was moved to the main police station, and the facility closed in 2005.
Officer Bolstad finds it “incomprehensible that we have gradually reduced using cameras.”
Police in two of Norway’s other five main cities with smaller populations than Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim, have no police surveillance cameras at all. Officers in both tell The Foreigner there have been 13 assault rapes so far this year. In Kristiansand and Stavanger, where there are police cameras, reported assault rapes have equaled 3 and 1, respectively.
Meanwhile, Oslo Police Commissioner Anstein Gjengedal says to Aftenposten that, “the need for cameras has been reduced recently because of we’ve had many officers in the area of our police post furthest down Karl Johan.”
“Only one camera is active for now, and the other five around Oslo S will be activated shortly,” he says, urging for more police patrols in order to intervene.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Somali Who Had No Right to be in UK Scarred Woman for Life in Terrifying Sexual Attack
A Somali man who dragged a 23-year-old woman into an alleyway and scarred her for life during a terrifying sexual attack was jailed for nine years today.
Said Adam, 37, who has no right to be in the UK, will be deported when he has completed half his sentence, said judge Jamie Tabor.
The victim was approached and pestered by Adam shortly before 4am on May 12 after she had left the Registry night club.
He pushed her into an alleyway where he picked up a broken soft drink can and pressed it into her face, scarring her cheek for life.
Then he ripped the crotch of her leggings and tore her pants as he penetrated her with his fingers.
Adam then walked away, leaving the woman bleeding and in a state of shock and distress in the alley…
A woman whom Adam had approached and grabbed earlier in the night had been lucky to escape the same fate, he added.
Adam’s solicitor Paul Trotman said his client had been living off benefits in Gloucester for about a year.
He had previously lived in Bristol and had been in the UK for nine years.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Muslim Man Kicked Off Train for Praying
A devout Muslim was kicked off a train bound for Flen, south of Stockholm, in May, after failing to show his ticket to the conductor as he was deep in prayer. On his daily commute to Flen from his work in the capital, the 35-year-old man needed to carry out some of his daily prayers. In order not to disturb fellow passengers, he made his way to a calm and secluded compartment — something he had done several times before.
“I started to pray but then the conductor arrived and shoved me three times in the back almost causing me to topple over. Then she said ‘Show me the ticket! Hey!’,” the man told news site Nyheter24. The man refused to show his monthly rail pass to the female conductor as he felt he couldn’t interrupt his prayers once he had started. However, as soon as he was finished he thought it appropriate to go look for her and show his ticket.
“I went looking for her and showed her my pass. Instead of looking at it she said I should have shown it to her when she came by earlier,” he said. The man was told he would have to get off the train at the next stop.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Revenge’ Gun Killing After Rival Gangs Clash at Funeral
A man was killed and another injured when a gang feud erupted at a packed funeral in south London. The 21-year-old victim named today as Azezaur Khan who was shot when a gunman opened fire as he left a cemetery in East Dulwich. Detectives are investigating the possibility that tensions broke out between members of rival gangs who were both attending the funeral. One possibility is that the killing was a revenge attack for an earlier incident. Extra police patrols were today deployed in four boroughs, Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and Wandsworth, amid fears of further shootings.
In Battersea three men were shot last night in a suspected drive-by shooting but police say, at present, they do not believe the incidents are linked. None of the three were seriously hurt when a man armed with an automatic pistol opened fire on a group in the Winstanley Estate. Four men arrested last night in connection with the murder were released on police bail today. Shocked witnesses said Mr Khan was shot just as mourners left the Camberwell Old Cemetery where Joel Morgan, 17, was being buried. Mr Morgan, “known as Jozey”, who lived in Southwark, died in a car accident in Surrey last month.
Hundreds of mourners including friends and family attended the funeral and the shooting took place as people had begun to leave. Two men, one of them armed with a handgun, walked up to Mr Khan and shot him at close range. He is believed to have been hit at least once in the chest. The second victim was also hit though it is not known if he was targeted. He walked into a hospital later. Officers and paramedics rushed to the scene, at the junction of Forest Hill Road and Rockells Place, just after 3pm.
The air ambulance helicopter also landed near-by but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses reported hearing shots and seeing youths wearing hoodies running from the scene. Ian Moss, 56, the owner of The Rose pub in Forest Hill Road, heard the shots from his office. He said: “I thought it was fireworks, but it turned out to be three gunshots. I came out of the pub and saw the body. He was lying on his side and had been been shot in the chest. He looked like he was of mixed race. Two guys ran to the corner of the pub. They looked really frightened like they were trying to get away. They were both black, looked like they were in their early twenties and one had braided hair. Within minutes up to 100 people, all dressed in black from the funeral were gathered around the body. They were all crying and screaming. Some seemed very angry.”
One local resident said his son had a narrow escape when one of the bullets smashed through the window of his letting agency. “My son was working when suddenly there were loads of gun shots and a bullet came through the window. He’s really shaken up,” said the 40-year-old. Donald Sanderson, 44, of Forest Hill, said : “I was driving down the road when I saw a massive group of people surrounding something on the floor. I stepped out of my car and I saw a man lying on the ground with no top on. I was shocked, things like that don’t happen here.” On Twitter there were reports that a gang from Peckham was behind the killing. On Facebook, friends of Mr Morgan voiced their shock.
Shannon Brown said: “Still can’t belive what happen today; but jozey would love us to talk about the bright side of his life not the foolish what happen today; rip jojo.” Detectives from Operation Trident, which investigates gun murders in the black community, launched a major inquiry into the killing. Sources said they were getting good co-operation from the community and had been offered the use of a local church in the area to set up an inquiry room last night. Scenes of crime officers pitched a white tent outside the Sun Ley Chinese restaurant on Forest Hill Road as forensics officers carried out a fingertip search of the scene.
Anyone with information should call police on 020 8247 4554 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Big Brother’s Three Million Targets: Massive Surge in Intrusive Surveillance by State Snoopers
The astonishing extent of Britain’s surveillance society was revealed for the first time yesterday.
Three million snooping operations have been carried out over the past decade under controversial anti-terror laws.
They include tens of thousands of undercover missions by councils and other state bodies which are not responsible for law enforcement.
RIPA, billed as ‘anti-terror legislation’, was passed by Labour in 2000 supposedly to regulate snooping by public bodies. But Justice, which has campaigned on privacy matters for decades, says the result has been a huge increase in intrusive surveillance.
In total, the report says there have been around three million decisions taken by state bodies under RIPA, NOT including authorisations given to the security and intelligence services.
The report also warns that Britain has the largest DNA database in the world and the largest number of CCTV cameras. It highlights how the public readily hands over information, via supermarket loyalty cards and Oyster London Underground travel passes, which can be used to track a person’s movements.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Clegg: FOSIS Has ‘Failed to Challenge Extremist Ideologies’
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg made an unexpectedly strong attack on the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis) during his speech to the Community Security Trust in Manchester last night. Speaking about hate speech on campus, the Liberal Democrat leader declared: “But when individuals and groups express attitude that are hostile to Jews, Muslim and non-Muslim alike that cannot be tolerated. And we need to be tough and smart in our approach. I’ve always believed that the general principle that you don’t win the fight by leaving the ring, you don’t walk away from the battlefield and let bigots spread hate unchallenged. You engage, confident in the power of argument, confident in the power of liberal values to defeat prejudice. Liberalism is muscular, it’s not passive. I will always defend the right of ministers to take the fight to those who wish to divide our society. But of course there are limits. Some organisations we have no choice but to shut down. If we concerned enough about their activities we will, as a last resort, consider proscribing them. We won’t provide funding for groups who advocate intolerance, and engaging to change is not the same as endorsing. To give you an example, we recently cancelled a recruitment fair aimed at increasing applications by Muslims to the civil service. The proposed partner organisation was the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, an umbrella organisation which has failed to challenge sufficiently terrorist and extremist ideologies. If ministers want to meet that organisation, setting out strongly the standards we expect, I’m all for it, but am I willing for Her Majesty’s Government to treat them as a credible partner? Absolutely not. Engage to change, yes, endorse and fund, no.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Far-Right Extremism is Much More Than a Political Irritant
Following on from his appearance before the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee yesterday, Matthew Goodwin has a piece at Comment is Free in which he empasises the central point that he made to the MPs:
The simply reality of post-9/11 politics is that we have focused almost exclusively on tackling only one form of extremism. In the aftermath of New York and the attacks in Bali, Madrid and London, the emphasis on tackling al-Qaida marked a logical response to the priorities of national security. Today, however, the landscape has changed. We need to adopt a more holistic approach to challenging extremism and sharpen our understanding of its different branches. Most importantly, we need to overhaul the traditional view of the far right that claims this movement is nothing more than a minor political irritant.
Sir Norman Bettison, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, also gave evidence to the Home Affairs Committee. He told them that the English Defence League’s main purpose was to be “provocative” and that, even though police had sought to liaise with the group, this had “absolutely no effect in terms of ameliorating their behaviour”. In contrast to the views of DCS Adrian Tudway, the National Co-ordinator for Domestic Extremism at Scotland Yard, or the reluctance of the Metropolitan Police to stop the EDL’s proposed march though Tower Hamlets, Norman Bettison has taken the threat posed by the EDL seriously. After consulting with the local community he did not hesitate to apply for a ban on the EDL marching in Bradford last year, under Section 13 of the Public Order Act, and when they turned up in Dewsbury in June for a static demonstration he used his powers under Section 14 to prevent them entering the town centre and instructed them to hold their rally in the station car park instead.
You can watch yesterday’s proceedings below. Matthew Goodwin appears at the beginning of the session along with Mike Whine of the Community Security Trust. Sir Norman Bettison’s comments on the EDL can be found in response to a question at the 12:31:31 mark.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ken Thinks He Was Never Wrong. I Beg to Differ
by Martin Bright
I was delighted to discover last week that Ken Livingstone had described me in his memoirs as a “minor intellectual”. We have crossed swords several times, particularly over his attitude to Islamic extremism. I made a highly critical documentary for Channel 4’s Dispatches in the run-up to his election defeat in 2008. I’m sure he had intended it as a back-handed compliment, but I was in good company: Nick Cohen, Michael Gove, Christopher Hitchens, Oliver Kamm, Melanie Phillips and John Ware were also named in this category.
Mr Livingstone took issue with our warnings of the dangers of totalitarian Islamism and suggested we had collectively become “obsessed” with Islam itself. I can’t speak for my fellow minor intellectuals, but to this latter charge I plead guilty — I became fascinated with the richness and diversity of Islamic culture when I lived in Paris in the early 1990s and spent many hours at the Institut du Monde Arabe. I have been hooked ever since.
The memoirs are called You Can’t Say That. But they might as well have been called Why I Was Always Right. Over nearly 700 pages he catalogues his battles against the forces of darkness, as he sees them, with never a hint of recognition that he might ever have been wrong. His constant self-justification is particularly unattractive when it comes to his descriptions of his dealings with the Board of Deputies and the Jewish community. His childish refusal to give ground over saying that Jewish Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold was acting like a concentration camp guard is just one instance of the inflexibility of his thinking.
His invitation to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian cleric who justified suicide bombings against civilian targets in Israel, was one of the most controversial of his career. In his ignorance Mr Livingstone describes al-Qaradawi as the “leading theologian” of Sunni Muslims, when he is rather one of the leading theologians of Islamist sectarian organisation the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian terrorist offshoot Hamas.
Mr Livingstone explains that he rejected the view of journalists such as myself and Nick Cohen that he was “appeasing radical Islam” in hosting the sheikh. Instead he turned to minor intellectual (my label), detective inspector Bob Lambert, head of the Met’s Muslim Contact Unit, who later reinvented himself as Dr Robert Lambert, an ‘expert’ on Islamic extremism.
DI Lambert’s views were reflected in a Special Branch report that said: “al-Qaradawi has a positive Muslim community impact in the UK. His support for Palestinian suicide bombers adds credibility to his condemnation for al-Qaeda in those sections of the community most susceptible to the blandishments of al-Qaeda terrorist propaganda.”
When Mr Livingstone’s senior race adviser Atma Singh raised concerns about the Muslim Contact Unit and the al-Qaradawi visit, he was cut off at the knees despite having worked closely with the mayor for many years. When he blew the whistle, the Livingstone machine disgracefully suggested he was a threat to national security. Bob Lambert, the Islamist copper, completed his doctorate on his own police work when he left the force but soon established himself as a regular Guardian commentator. He also set up the European Muslim Centre at Exeter University, with money from the Islamist Cordoba Foundation and Islam Expo, although he had to issue an apology for the first piece of work there after complaints from councillors in east London and local MP Jim Fitzpatrick who were wrongly described as Islamphobic.
More recently Dr Lambert was exposed by the Guardian as ‘Bob Robinson’, an undercover officer who exposed violent extremists within the animal rights and environmental movement in the 1980s. He has since publicly apologised to a woman who thought she had a relationship with him but was in fact being used to maintain his cover. At the same time, Dr Lambert has issued a statement to reassure British Muslims that he has not been playing a similar double game with his Islamist friends.
Ken Livingstone has always been over-impressed by clever people. He is clearly in awe of his former aide John Ross, whom he describes in his memoirs as a “workaholic professional revolutionary” and a “statistician of formidable intelligence”. His use of Dr Lambert’s muddled thinking as justification for his invitation to a Muslim cleric noted for his anti-Jewish, misogynistic and homophobic outbursts is part of a wider problem for a man who wishes to return as London mayor. There’s an old Jewish joke designed to prick the academic pretensions of people like Dr Lambert. “What is a phudnik? A nudnik with a PhD”. Dr Lambert is a classic phudnik. Frankly, I’d rather be a minor intellectual.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Teenager Gang-Raped After Being Abducted by Group of Asian Menpolice Say the Victim May Have Known Her Attackers
A teenager was the victim of a horrific gang-rape after she was ordered into a car and taken to a house where she was brutally attacked.
The 18-year-old had been walking through a busy residential area when two black cars pulled up alongside her.
The driver of one of the cars then threatened her and told her to get into the car.
She was then driven to an unknown address where police believe she was raped.
Today, detectives are hunting four Asian men, all aged in their late twenties, who were thought to be behind the vicious sex attack.
The woman, also Asian, was grabbed as she reached the junction of Mirador Crescent and Maple Crescent in Slough, Berkshire.
A black car, possibly a Vauxhall Corsa or Astra, and a black Range Rover with tinted windows pulled out of Maple Crescent and then followed the victim before the driver of the smaller car threatened her.
‘The investigation is at an early stage and we have yet to establish the address where the assault took place,’ said Detective Constable Tim Lloyd.
‘We are keen to hear from any witnesses who saw the vehicles in the area at the time. The Range Rover is described as being black with tinted windows and has very ornate alloy wheels.
‘We also want to hear from anyone who saw the victim speaking to the occupants of the car or getting into it.
‘This took place in a very busy residential area and I’m confident someone will have seen the incident or the cars in the area.’
Detective Inspector Nicky Hurdley said the woman may have been known to her attackers.
‘We are currently investigating exactly what happened to this young woman and would ask anyone with information to come forward immediately,’ she said.
‘We do not believe this was a completely random attack, and would like to reassure the local community that extra patrols are being carried out in the area to provide a visible presence and help with the investigation.
‘Members of the public are encouraged to speak to the officers about any concerns they may have.
‘This is not being linked to any other incidents.’
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Why Does UCL Still Employ Malcolm Grant as Provost?
University College London Provost Malcolm Grant is a very well compensated man. He earned £376,190 in salary and benefits in 2008-2009, including a £20,000 bonus and a £12,000 “service charge” for his flat, which, as followers of the Big Society can’t have missed, is more than the maximum that British universities can charge each student per year. Yet students, parents and the UCL board of directors ought inquire if they’re getting value for money because Grant has been a serial offender in denying that UK campuses like his own have become hothouses for extremism. The campus watchdog group Student Rights, in a helpful report released Tuesday, exposes once and for all Grant’s pigheaded deflections, even quoting some of his own students against him.
When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the engineering and business student who attended UCL from 2005 to 2008, tried to ignite a bomb sewn into his underwear on a crowded flight above Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, Grant was straight out of the gate to inform the international media that there was nothing to see here. Abdulmutallab didn’t turn to the dark side while at UCL and some of those who were suggesting otherwise were plainly guilty of a “disturbing Islamophobia”.
To demonstrate his point, Grant then instructed UCL to assemble an “independent” commission to investigate the apparent non-problem of Abdulmutallab’s radicalisation and assess whether others might befall the same fate through the same means. It’s a strange thing, how one defines independence these days, since the resulting commission consisted of a majority of UCL staff including a scholar of ceramics and pigments and a software engineer, all answerable to Grant. One of the non-faculty members on the commission was Dr Muhammed Abdul Bari, the chairman of the East London Mosque (ELM), which has got its own track record of inviting extremist speakers and which Abdulmutallab himself frequented.
No matter. Bari and his colleagues delivered the goods, finding “no evidence to suggest either that . .Abdulmutallab was radicalised while a student at UCL, or that conditions at UCL during that time or subsequently were conducive to the radicalisation of students.”
Just last month, Grant repeated his catechism to the Evening Standard, reaffirming that radicalisation “doesn’t exist” at schools here and “there seems to be no evidence of a casual connection between attendance at university and engagement in religiously inspired violence”. There is one of two possibilities for Grant’s long-standing position. Either he’s got a very poor understanding of the definition of “evidence,” in which case he is unfit to fulfill his academic responsibilities and should perhaps enroll in some courses himself, or he’s mistaking those responsibilities for public relations.
Abdulmutallab pled guilty last month to all eight charges against him including attempted murder and attempted use of a WMD, making him the fifth president or executive member of a UK student Islamic Society (ISOC) to be convicted of, or to have committed suicide in, an Islamist terrorism-related offence. He is also the third graduate of UCL to engage in terrorist activity. Before him came Samar Alami, a chemical engineering graduate, who blew up a car outside the Israeli Embassy in London in 1994, and Mohammed Abushamma, who matriculated in 2008 following his arrest on terrorism-related charges. (In that instance, UCL faculty only realised something was amiss when Abushamma kept missing classes to attend his court hearings.)
Student Rights gives examples other prominent terrorists who have passed through London quadrangles in recent years:
- Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted of the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. Sheikh went to LSE and joined up with Hizb ut-Tahrir while there;
- Anthony Garcia, convicted in the 2004 Al Qaeda-linked “fertiliser bomb” plot against UK targets. Garcia said he warmed to mass murder after watching a video about Kashmir at an event hosted by the University of East London ISOC;
- Jawad Akbar, Garcia’s co-conspirator, who joined the now-banned Islamist group al-Muhajiroun while at Brunel University;
- Mohammed Naveed Bhatti of the “dirty bomb” plot of 2004, another Al Qaeda-affiliated attempt on US and UK targets. Bhatti was another Brunel student who met the main plotter, Dhiren Barot, at the university’s prayer room;
- Abdulla Ahmed Ali, the ringleader of the “liquid bomb” plot of 2006. He went to City University where he passed out leaflets on campus and met with members of al-Muhajiroun.
One begins to detect some evidence.
As ISOC president, Abdulmutallab was responsible for “War on Terror Week,” a series of events beginning on 29 January, 2007 that featured former Guantanamo Bay detainees Moazzam Begg and Asim Qureshi, both now the guiding spirits behind CagePrisoners, a London-based organisation — and Amnesty affiliate — which advocates on behalf of “those detained or killed unlawfully as part of the global War on Terror.” Such hapless victims included Anwar al-Awlaki, the al-Qaeda cleric whom CagePrisoners promoted from 2006 until two months ago when he met his overdue end courtesy of a US drone strike in Yemen. Awlaki mentored three terrorists of notoriety: Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood massacrist, Roshonara Choudry, the Kings College student who stabbed Labour MP Stephen Timms in the stomach in 2010, and Abdumutallab. (Awlaki twice participated at events hosted at Bari’s East London Mosque, the second time via video feed since he was by then wanted by the FBI, not that that discouraged ELM’s platforming of him — yet another fact which somehow never made it into the UCL inquiry’s report on radicalisation or its press releases on “independence”.)
I bet you’ll never guess what some of the other speakers invited to UCL during Abdulmutallab’s enrollment have said in other fora about apostasy, jihad, homosexuality and women.
On apostates: “Whoever changes his religion from al-Islam to anything else kill him in the Islamic state.” (Abu Usama adh Dhahabee, invited to speak at UCL in Feb 2008 and 2009)
On jihad: “The truth is that Islam teaching its followers to seek death on the battlefield, that dying while fighting jihad is one of the surest ways to paradise and Allah’s good pleasure.” (Abdur Raheem Green, invited to speak at UCL in 2005, 2006 and 2009.)
On homosexuality: “Do you practice homosexuality with men? Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain.” (Abu Usama adh Dhahabee)
On women: “Allah has created the woman, even if she gets a PhD, deficient. Her intellect is incomplete, deficient. She may be suffering from hormones that will make her emotional. It takes two witnesses of a woman to equal one witness of the man.” (Abu Usama adh Dhahabee)
According to research conducted by the Centre for Social Cohesion (now the Henry Jackson Society), at least 30 percent of people involved in Islamist-related terrorist attacks in the UK between 1999 and 2010 had university level educations or higher, a statistic which Grant thinks it was “stupid” of the Home Office to incorporate into its Prevent Strategy and Review report, released last June to much fanfare. The authors of that reports specified three trends regarding campus radicalisation:
- Some students are keen supporters of terrorism before they matriculate;
- Some are radicalised during their uni years but by extramural parties such as mosques or foreign or domestic clerics;
- Some became fond of terrorism at school due to forces already existent on campus such as ISOCs.
Specifically addressing Abdulmutallab, the Prevent Review found that he was an example of the third category. So for Malcolm Grant to bang on about a “non-issue” at UCL or other UK universities isn’t just absurd, it’s dangerous.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovo Leader Won’t Sue Swiss Politician Over Organ Trading Report
Hashim Thaci will not file a legal claim against Swiss politician Dick Marty who wrote a Council of Europe report linking the Kosovo prime minister to organ trafficking in the 1990s, media reported on Thursday. Thaci “does not want to influence the (independent) investigation opened by US prosecutor John Clint Williamson,” Kosovo deputy prime minister Hajredin Kuci told local media.
Prosecutor Williamson heads up a working group set up by the European Union’s EULEX rule of law mission in Kosovo to investigate the claims made in Marty’s report. In the report, Marty said that members of Thaci’s Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerilla forces set up prison camps for Serbs and Kosovo Albanians accused of collaborating with Serbs on Albanian soil during and right after the 1998-99 conflict.
In some cases it is alleged that prisoners were killed and their organs harvested to be sold on the international black market. Marty, from the liberal FPD, writes that the group within the KLA carrying out the alleged crimes was closely linked to Thaci. The Kosovo prime minister has always denied the charged and earlier threatened Marty with legal action.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia Slams Demands Over Kosovo as ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
Serbia on Friday rejected international calls to dismantle its network of government institutions in volatile northern Kosovo, saying such a move would amount to “ethnic cleansing”. “By agreeing to withdraw our institutions from the north … we would be de facto accepting a quiet ethnic cleansing of our own people,” Goran Bogdanovic, Serbia’s minister for Kosovo, told the Vecernje Novosti daily.
Belgrade, which does not accept Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence and still considers the territory as its southern province, maintains network of institutions including schools, hospitals and courts in Serb majority areas. Around 40,000 ethnic Serbs live in northern Kosovo and another 80,000 live in other enclaves, representing a little over five percent of the overall population of some two million.
During a visit to Belgrade in August, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Serbia must begin to dismantle its parallel Kosovo administration if it wants to be granted candidacy status for the European Union by the end of the year. However Bogdanovic said such a move would be “unacceptable for us”.
The situation in northern Kosovo remains tense as Kosovo Serbs are still in a stand-off with NATO-led peacekeeping force known as KFOR and an EU mission. The Kosovo Serbs have erected a series of barricades on the roads leading to two disputed border crossings with Serbia. The international forces want the roadblocks to be removed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘If Justice Doesn’t Start Now, Libya Will Become a Second Afghanistan’
As Libyans begin to enjoy their new-found freedom, the country faces a myriad of problems in the months ahead. A former exiled Libyan tells Deutsche Welle about the dangers of Libya turning into the next Afghanistan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Ambassador to UN Attacks Qatar’s Role in His Country
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 4 — Qatar is a “megalomaniac” country “and is going down the same road taken in the past by colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Qatar is under the illusion that it leads the region while in reality it is working on the formation of a Hezbollah-style Islamic party in Libya.” This statement was made by Abdulrahman Shalgam, former Foreign Minister and current Libyan ambassador to the United Nations, on German television, quoted by the website Middle East Online.
Qatar, Shalgam specified, “wants to dominate Libya. The President of the NTC and the NTC delegation that recently visited Doha have accepted, without sufficient political experience and knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes, what Doha has dictated.” The Libyan ambassador, the website explains, referred to the alliance formed by several Western countries led by Qatar to help Libya after the end of the NATO mission. The guidelines issued by Qatar and accepted by the NTC delegation will be turned down by most Libyans, Shalgam specified. “Libya will not become an emirate belonging to the ‘emir of the faithful’ in Qatar.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: Construction Sector Growing, Workers Lacking
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, NOVEMBER 4 — With the progressive recovery of the building sector, the number of specialised workers in Morocco is becoming insufficient. This has led to an increase in wages of up to 50% over the last three years. The deficiency mainly involves specialists who can work on interior walls, facades and use reinforced concrete. Recently, explained La Vie Eco, mechanics and crane operators have also been lacking. This lack of qualified labour is creating a critical situation for construction companies, which are always trying to recruit workers in order to speed up the completion of projects in case of unforeseen events to avoid missing deadlines: “with the scarcity of workers it is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee profits and delays have become inevitable,” said Mohcine Ayouch, a manager for EMB, a construction company that has been working in Morocco since 1986.
The problem is not uniform throughout Morocco: the scarcity of workers is more acute in the north, mainly due to difficulties in finding housing, the high cost of living and a weak interest of the local population in the trade, as they are more attracted by developing industries. “Unless clients have long deadlines, something that is very rare, we do not accept projects in the north,” said Ayouch. The most favourable conditions are in the south: “This region is a breeding ground for workers in the building sector and most workers who operate in other regions come from here.” The central regions are affected to varying extents depending on the city and related to prospects to house workers. This is why it is more difficult to recruit workers in Casablanca compared to Rabat. In these conditions it is not surprising that salaries have increased: “in the last three years, the increase in wages for qualified workers is between 20% and 50% in the north and between 10% and 25% in the central regions,” said Ayouch. “This does not take the 10% increase to the guaranteed minimum wage decided upon in June into account.” However, it is not the big businesses that are suffering due to the situation. Thanks to the constant work they provide, they are capable of collecting a “core” of workers that are permanently mobilised. Small construction companies are mainly damaged by this problem. According to all professionals in the sector, it seems inevitable that the problem must be solved by a comprehensive training programme. Due to the shortcomings of the state in this area, the private sector is beginning to act. For example, the Addoha Foundation will most likely provide training to young people for construction industry jobs. The objective is to train 5000 young workers in 2012 at the foundation’s centres in Ain Aouda (suburbs of Rabat), Marrakech and Tangiers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: More University Protests Against Fundamentalists
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, NOVEMBER 4 — The number of protests in Tunisia organised by students and university teachers against the continued demonstrations staged by fundamentalist Islamic groups is rising. The fundamentalist groups are trying to impose their radical ideas on the universities. One protest, organised by the teachers and students of the Tunis El Manar University, claimed respect for personal freedom. Islamic fundamentalists are trying to change the behaviour of students and teachers at the universities, demanding strict Islamic morals. They protest, as happened in Gabes, against the existence of a joint university canteen and want two separate canteens for men and women, to protect “morality”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Delegitimizing the Delegitimizers
You have to hand it to the Palestinians.
They decided to abandon the peace process and seek international recognition of the “State of Palestine” — a state in a de facto state of war with Israel. And they are pursuing their goal relentlessly.
This week their efforts bore their first fruit with the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) vote to accept “Palestine” as a full state member.
It is not a coincidence that the PLO/PA decided to apply for membership for “Palestine” at UNESCO first. Since 1974, UNESCO has been an enthusiastic partner in the Palestinians’ bid to erase Jewish history, heritage and culture in the Land of Israel from the historical record…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Do Muslims Vote Islamic?
The electoral success of Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda party and the likelihood that the Muslim Brotherhood will do well in Egypt’s forthcoming elections has heightened fears in many quarters. Will Islamic parties always dominate such contests in the Middle East? The electoral success of the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria, the Justice and Development Party in Turkey and Hamas in Palestine suggest the answer is yes. But looking at a broader data set — that is, the entire range of elections in which Islamic parties have taken part — reveals a different picture.
Islamic parties have stood for elections in more than 90 elections in more than 20 countries. But as scholars Charles Kurzman and Ijlal Naqvi argue in a fascinating study entitled “Do Muslims Vote Islamic?”, judging by all the elections in the last 40 years, Islamic parties typically receive only a small fraction of the vote. In Pakistan, for example, the Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamic parties have contested elections for more than fifty years. These parties “reached a high-water mark of 18 per cent of seats in the national parliament in 1977, then ebbed below 7 per cent over the next two decades. In 2002, a coalition of Islamic parties rebounded to garner 11 per cent of the vote and 17 per cent of seats — a major recovery, but still representing only a small chunk of the electorate even in an election that several major parties boycotted.”
In countries like Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Palestine and soon Egypt, repression has allowed Islamic parties to promise a fresh and untainted start and tend to do well. But this was not the case in Yemen or Indonesia. And after their initial breakthrough, Islamic parties have tended to fare worse. They’ve done better in Arab countries than elsewhere in the Muslim World, winning 15 per cent more seats on average. But as the authors say, “the more routine elections become, the worse Islamic parties do in them.” A lot will depend on how the parties govern — and whether they will be able to blame the West for their own failings. But the academic research is a good antidote to the breathless reactions often heard.
[Reader comment by Augustus on 3 November 2011 at 12:45 pm.]
The question I would like to ask is, why does the nature of the Islamic Fundamentalist require them to export their madness and sexual perversities beyond their own borders to the free world?
When Mubarak (who may or may not be dead) was running Egypt one of his top ministers released a study of the work habits of government workers there. Remember, unless you are in with the in-crowd, you cannot get gov’t jobs in Egypt, so, no Coptics or other Christians, no atheists or agnostics, no Jews, no minority Muslim sects such as the Ahmadhi sect were among these government workers. Only strong Muslims were allowed to have these high paying, secure jobs. And the sign that a man is a strong Muslim is a raisin or bruise on his forehead proving he bashes it down hard on his prayer rug up to 100 times a day during his 5 mandatory prayers.
So, what is the work ethic of these strong Muslims? They put in only 24 minutes per day actually working. All the rest of their day (on the job) was devoted to ablutions (ritualistic bathing) changing into and out of prayer clothing, going to and from their prayer room and doing their prayers. Oh, and lunch too. 24 minutes of work a day! No wonder they require a 2nd-class slave group to get the work done. Their form of worship, when practiced as laid out in their holy books, leaves them no extra time for work. Expansion and enslavement of non-Muslims is essential to their well-being as fundamentalist Muslims. This also explains why so many of them have relocated to the socialist welfare states in Europe.
[JP note: As usual the pertinent analysis is below the line.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Hajj Pilgrimage Enters Digital Age
Performing a religious ritual like hajj and using a smartphone is no contrast. Modern Muslim pilgrims can stay connected via platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
When pilgrims walk around the Kaaba in Mecca these days, an increasing number of them will have their friends with them: either in person next to them, or in the social networks they connect to via their smartphones. This helps them share their impressions from the pilgrimage with the world in real time.
Some of them use their smartphones for practical purposes, too: they look up hajj rituals, connect with people they’ve met or they communicate with their friends and families at home.
Local authorities also use new media to offer services to pilgrims. Hostels and local guides have their own Facebook sites targeting pilgrims. The hajj pilgrimage — the largest religious gathering in the world — has entered the digital 21st century.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Council of Imams, Union of Muslims Could Appear in Russia
Moscow, November 3, Interfax — Muslim figures plan to establish a Council of Russian Imams. “This initiative belongs to respected Moscow imams. The imams of mosques from all over Russia, as well as authoritative representatives of the Muslim community will be involved in the council’s work,” lawyer Dagir Khasavov told Interfax-Religion. The new council’s structure and legal foundation are currently being formulated, Khasavov said.
Its creation could be announced officially after the Eid al-Adha holiday, which will be marked on November 6. The idea of forming a new Islamic organization has partly been prompted by the demolition of a mosque in Moscow, Khasavov, who earlier initiated a number of lawsuits against Russia’s Council of Muftis, said. “Imams are tired of lies. They are ignored. They feel uncomfortable in front of worshippers,” he said. The lawyer also announced plans to establish an Islamic public organization — a Union of Russian Muslims. “A lot of Muslims — the Tatar and Caucasus communities — have addressed me. Such an organization is needed. A human rights center will function within this public organization,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Opera Temple: How Much Should Culture Cost?
With plenty of pomp, Moscow has reopened its legendary Bolshoi Theater. The total renovation of the building devoured hundreds of millions of dollars. But expensive reconstruction projects aren’t just a Russian thing.
Official estimates put the renovations of the 150-year-old Bolshoi Theater at 500 million euros ($689 million). But some independent observers suggest that the actual figure is around twice as much, as in articles published in Russian daily Kommersant and Germany’s Die Welt newspaper. They point out that expensive contracts, bribes, botched work and mismanaged planning made three extra years of work and many additional funds necessary.
Public prosecutors in Russia have investigated numerous cases in conjunction with the Bolshoi renovations, but organizers are determined not to let those overshadow the opening festivities that are set to continue through Christmas. Nevertheless, the question arises: Are such costs appropriate for a temple of the muses? Bolshoi is certainly not the first scandalous renovation deal to land in the headlines.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
America’s CIA Forced to Rethink Use of Drones in Pakistan
(AGI) New York — According to WSJ sources, the CIA is to accept stricter rules concerning the use of drone attack aircraft.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are frequently used by the US armed forces in sorties over Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to Wall Street Journal sources the shorter leash on drones is the result of a compromise between the CIA, the State Department and the Pentagon, driven by concerns at the diplomatic fallout of the repeat attacks on Pakistani soil.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Filipino Govt Bans Emigration to 41 Countries
Worker exploitation and political instability, especially in Arab countries, are the main reasons for the ban, which also includes India, one of the Philippines’ main economic partners.
Manila (AsiaNews/ Agencies) — The Filipino government has banned the deployment of its workers to 41 countries, including politically risky nations like Afghanistan, Libya and Sudan, and places like India and Cambodia, where migrants are often exploited. The ban has elicited a negative response from some Filipino political leaders as well as the countries on the list. India is one of the Philippines’ biggest partners with trade worth a billion US dollars.
“The list does not seek to pass any value judgement on any country,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said in a statement. “It serves as a crucial benchmark for all government agencies concerned to work for the betterment of the safety, welfare and working conditions of our nationals”.
In order to protect the more than 10 million Filipinos working abroad, the government decided to sign migration agreements only with countries who comply with the Republic Act 10022.
The latter certifies host country governments as compliant if its labour and social laws protect the rights of workers; if it is a signatory to and/or has ratified of multilateral conventions, declarations or resolutions relating to the protection of workers, including migrant workers; and if it has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers.
The Philippines has the third largest group of workers abroad after China and India. The worldwide economic crisis has made matters worse at home. About 2,000 Filipinos emigrate a day. The United States and Europe, which have the largest overseas Filipino communities, are the destinations of choice.
At present though, Arab countries are preferred because of a strong local demand for workers. In 2008, more than 600,000 Filipinos travelled to the Middle East and this despite the exploitation of workers and persecution of Christians.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
South Korea Sets Up Fund to Reunite With the North
Despite deep-seated conflict, the South Korean government says it is starting a fund that would put money aside to incorporate the North Korean economy with its own when reunification finally occurs.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Preston Christian and Muslim Faiths Unite for Charity
PRESTON’S Muslim and Christian communities have banded together to help the disaster-ravaged Horn of Africa. A lack of storage space was hampering the fundraising efforts of the Islamic Society of Victoria until West Preston Baptist Church stepped in to help. Two large shipping container loads of wheelchairs, clothing and food have since been sent to famine-stricken Somalia because of the partnership. Islamic Society of Victoria secretary Baha Yehia said the society had asked the church if it could use part of the church carpark when it discovered Preston Mosque lacked the space to store containers.
The church jumped on board the fundraising campaign, with its members loading tinned food into the container. Mr Yehia said the donations were impressive and he “couldn’t thank (the church) enough” for the support it had given. “To fill up two 40-foot containers in a short time is a really good effort from the community,” Mr Yehia said. Church pastor David Buesnel said the partnership between the groups was important and not unusual. “We believe that our faith in the face of humanitarian tragedy and disaster should transcend religious and cultural barriers,” Mr Buesnel said. “We are in the journey of life together and we must come together when people are suffering. We can’t say we are Christians and they are Muslims so we can’t work together — it is nonsensical. We all work together.”
Members of the mosque have also been urged to contribute $100 for a Qurban — a ritual sacrifice — in Africa. For each Qurban bought at the mosque, lambs will be purchased overseas, boosting their economy, people will be employed to slaughter the lambs and distribute the meat to Horn of Africa residents on Eid Day.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Ethiopia — An Alternative Energy Future Beyond Hydropower?
by John Daly
While recent hydroelectric projects, including the 1,870 megawatt $2.2 billion Gilgel Gibe III dam on the Omo River and the proposed 5,000 megawatt $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, formerly known as the Millennium Dam, on the Blue Nile have attracted international criticism, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy Sector Mapping and Database Development office has determined that the country’s wind potential could generate 10,000 megawatts annually, which has not yet been developed.
The country’s wind potential was included in the first phase of a $251 million project, designed to produce a comprehensive and updated energy sector data set for the entire country, which was submitted to the Ministry of Water and Energy on 19 October. The study also investigated the country’s solar energy potential. The first phase of the project, which took 16 months, developed a web based and Geographical Information System (GIS) enabled energy database.
Germany’s Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, (Sociert for international Cooperation), most of whose work is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, financed the Ministry of Water and Energy’s Energy Sector Mapping and Database Development study.
[…]
As with most African countries, where overall it is estimated that only about 25 percent of the population is connected to electricity grids, Ethiopia has relied heavily on biomass to meet both its rural and urban energy needs. The dependence on wood and agricultural wastes for fuel has inexorably led to deforestation and desertification because of a lack of soil rehabilitation projects.
Currently hydropower is Ethiopia’s predominant source of electricity, which up to now has mitigated developing data about the potential of other alternative sources for power generation such as wind and solar power. According to energy analysts, Ethiopia has a hydropower potential to generate over 260 terrawatt hours of electricity annually, Africa’s second largest potential after the Democratic Republic of Congo…
The country’s conventional electricity supply, currently produced by the centralized energy production authority includes hydroelectric power plants and engine-driven generators, but suffers from inequitable distribution and also insufficient to meet the populace’s economic needs. The Ethiopian government accordingly is keen to advance the country’s electrical capabilities as quickly as possible.
[…]
…”Most of the country’s metrological stations being designed for aviation navigation purposes and not energy data recording have led to misleading assertions that the country does not have sufficient wind potential,” adding that although Ethiopia has the potential to generate more than 10,000 megawatts of electricity annually from wind power, it currently only generates 7.3 megawatts.
So, Ethiopia’s future has now been officially evaluated as both windy and sunny.
The only thing missing is money.
| [Return to headlines] |
Nigerian Gunmen Kill Churchgoers in Zonkwa, Kaduna
At least two people have been shot dead and 11 wounded after gunmen launched an overnight attack on a church in northern Nigeria, officials say. The attack happened in the Kaduna state town of Zonkwa, where hundreds were killed after April’s election. Kaduna is divided along political, ethnic and religious lines and the BBC’s Nura Ringim in the state says it is thought to be a revenge attack. Thousands of Muslim Hausas and Fulanis were forced from their homes in April.
Our correspondent says that some of those attacked had vowed to take revenge, as had the Boko Haram Islamist militant group, based further north in Borno state. He says some 3,000 people are still living in a camp in the state capital, Kaduna, after their houses were burnt in the Zonkwa post-election clashes. A police spokesman told our correspondent that some of those shot in the latest attack on a congregation performing a night vigil were in a critical condition.
Kaduna mirrors Nigeria as a whole, with the south largely inhabited by Christian groups, while Muslims form a majority in the north. In April’s elections, Patrick Ibrahim Yokowa became the state’s first Christian governor. He belongs to the People’s Democratic Party, which governs at the federal level. The opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) gains much of its support from Muslim groups. More than 1,000 people have been killed in recent years in neighbouring Plateau state in a deadly spiral of revenge attacks between rival groups similarly split along ethnic, religious and political lines.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
The Case for Science in Africa
Africa faces serious problems — droughts and famines, infectious diseases and a shortage of good housing, to name a few. Each country also faces unique challenges, from the recent conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to exceptionally high HIV infection rates in South Africa.
Earlier this year, science ministers from the continent agreed to start an “African decade of science”. Financial resources are scarce, however, and the need to address critical problems urgent. How do governments juggle spending on science with humanitarian needs?
There are examples of excellent science in Africa which may provide the answer. The UK’s science academy, the Royal Society, has for the past six years recognised the work of young scientists from the continent through its Pfizer award. This year’s winner, Julie Makani, is working to save thousands of Tanzanians from sickle-cell disease (SCD).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bungling Border Officials Lose 124,000 Asylum Seekers and Migrants
Border officials have lost track of a population of asylum seekers and migrants as big as that of Cambridge, it emerged last night.
MPs said the number of individuals ‘lost’ by the UK Border Agency had almost tripled in six months from 40,500 in March to 124,000 in September.
Officials say they have placed the cases in a so-called ‘controlled archive’ for applicants who cannot be contacted by officials.
But the home affairs select committee said the archive had, in reality, become a ‘dumping ground for cases where the UK Border Agency has lost track of the applicant’.
The MPs said: ‘Whilst we appreciate the difficulties involved in tracing people with whom the agency have lost contact, usually for a period of several years, it is clear that the controlled archive has become a dumping ground for cases on which the agency has given up.
‘From 18,000 files in November 2010, the archive now contains 124,000 files,
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Failed Asylum Seeker Thrown Out Three Times Sneaks Back to UK to Murder His Ex-Lover
An illegal immigrant who murdered his ex-lover by pushing her 30ft from a bridge had already been deported from Britain three times.
Younas Beraki shoved mother-of-one Genet Kidane on to a busy dual carriageway because he could not accept that she had ended their relationship.
Only weeks earlier, the failed asylum seeker from Eritrea in North-East Africa had been deported from the UK for a third time — but he smuggled himself straight back into the country in a lorry.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Jesus’ Name Ruled ‘Unconstitutional’
A board of county commissioners in North Carolina is asking the Supreme Court for help: Its members don’t believe they should have to forbid volunteers from mentioning the name of Jesus in prayers offered before their meetings.
But the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are standing by their victory in a U.S. circuit court decision that states even “a solitary reference to Jesus Christ” in invocations before the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ meetings could do “violence to the pluralistic and inclusive values that are a defining feature of American public life.”
Furthermore, wrote Judge James Harvie Wilkinson III in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals majority opinion, legislative invocations offered in Jesus’ name are inherently “sectarian” and thus should be censored lest they make some attendees feel “uncomfortable, unwelcome and unwilling to participate in … public affairs.”
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
The Coming Church-State Wars
by Patrick J. Buchanan
Appearing the other night on the Catholic network EWTN, I was asked by Raymond Arroyo what should be done about Muslim students at Catholic University demanding that the school provide them with prayer rooms, from which crucifixes and all other Catholic symbols that they found offensive had been removed. After a nanosecond I replied, ‘Kick ‘em out!”
Let them go to George Washington, the university on the other side of town. Indeed, had Muslim students shown so little loyalty to a school that welcomed them, and of whose Catholicism they were aware when they entered, expulsion would have been justified.
Looking further into the matter, that was a rush to judgment. For it seems that not a single Muslim student at CUA had gone to the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights to file a complaint. That complaint was the work of John Banzhaf, a professor at GW, perennial litigant, and longtime contender for the title of National Pest. In provocative language, Banzhaf told Fox News, ‘It shouldn’t be too difficult to set aside a small room where Muslims can pray without having to stare up and be looked down upon by a cross of Jesus. They do have to pray five times a day, and to be sitting there trying to do Muslim prayers with a big cross looking down or a picture or Jesus or a picture of the pope is not very conducive to their religion.”
Banzhaf claimed Muslim students had been offended by a suggestion that they meditate in campus chapels ‘and at the cathedral that looms over the entire campus — the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.” Yet it is Banzhaf who appears to be the one with a real problem with Jesus, the shrine and Catholicism, not the Muslim students whose numbers at CUA have doubled in five years. Moreover, Muslims, while disbelieving that Jesus is the son of God, regard him as the greatest of the prophets before Muhammad, and they revere Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Banzhaf has also filed a complaint with the Office of Human Rights that Catholic University discriminates against women. How so? CUA President John Garvey had decided to put men and women students into separate dormitories, a crime against humanity. The Office of Human rights has said that its investigation of Banzhaf’s complaints will require six months.
What does this episode tell us?
That there are anti-Catholic bigots whose stock-in-trade is exploiting civil rights laws to smear the church and her institutions, and drive wedges between Catholics and other faiths.
Second, if the Office of Human Rights has nothing better to do than spending six months investigating these nonsensical charges, it ought to be abolished. Give the taxpayers back the money these bureaucrats are wasting, and let them go and, as Ronald Reagan used to say, ‘test the magic of the marketplace.”
Catholic University, after all, is a private religious institution that, under the First Amendment, is as free to pick its students and set its rules as is Bob Jones University in South Carolina or Yeshiva in New York or Brigham Young in Utah. The episode also reveals how the cause of civil rights has been trivialized and exploited. The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation by restaurants and corporations. The 1965 Voting Rights Act struck down state impediments to black access to the ballot. The 1968 act forbade discrimination in the purchase and sale of housing.
While these laws restricted the freedom of state officials, restaurateurs, bar owners, hotel operators and homeowners, that was the price we as a people agreed to pay to end segregation. But civil rights and human rights laws are today being used to compel Christian institutions to conform to anti-Christian agendas that violate their basic principles.
In the district, a new law ordering all city contractors to recognize gay marriages impelled the archdiocese to terminate its 80-year foster-care program, rather than let children be adopted by homosexuals. And the people of Washington were denied a vote on homosexual marriage by a District of Columbia judge who ruled that permitting a referendum on gay marriage would violate the district’s Human Rights Act.
Nationally, the church is resisting an Obamacare mandate that forces Catholic hospitals to provide patients with abortifacients such as the FDA-approved Ella and Plan B, the morning-after pill. Dr. Ron Crews, executive director of the 2,000-member Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, has denounced a Pentagon decision to permit military chapels to be used for homosexual marriages, a violation, says Crews, of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. ‘By dishonestly sanctioning the use of federal facilities for ‘counterfeit marriages,’ that federal law and the vast majority of Americans have rejected, the Pentagon has launched a direct assault on the fundamental unit of society — husband and wife.” Culture wars, rooted in irreconcilable conflicts about God and man, right and wrong, are disintegrating the moral community we once were — and will likely never be again.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
First Long-Necked Dinosaur Fossil Found in Antarctica
It’s official, long-necked sauropoddinosaurs once roamed every continent on Earth — including now-frigid Antarctica.
The discovery of a single sauropodvertebraon James Ross Island in Antarctica reveals that these behemoths, which included Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus, lived on the continent in the upper Cretaceous Period about 100 million years ago.
“Sauropods were found all around the world, except Antarctica,” said study researcher Ariana Paulina Carabajal, a paleontologist at the Carmen Funes Municipal Museum in Plaza Huincul, Argentina. “Until now.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
Does he use donuts to make brown eyes blue?
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