Economists Warn EU on ‘Threshold of Catastrophe’
The euro crisis has returned with a vengeance this week, with Greece potentially facing bankruptcy, Spain teetering towards a bailout and even Germany at risk of losing its top credit rating. A group of prominent economists are calling for a radical restructuring of Europe and the euro zone to prevent a disaster of “incalculable proportions.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe is Sleepwalking Towards Imminent Disaster, Warn Top Economists
The euro has completely broken down as a workable system and faces collapse with “incalculable economic losses and human suffering” unless there is a drastic change of course, according to a group of leading economists.
Europe is “sleepwalking towards disaster”, according to the 17 experts, who warned that over the past few weeks “the situation in the debtor countries has deteriorated dramatically”.
“The sense of a neverending crisis, with one domino falling after another, must be reversed. The last domino, Spain, is days away from a liquidity crisis,” said the economists. They include two members of Germany’s Council of Economic Experts and leading euro specialists at the London of School of Economics, all euro supporters.
“This dramatic situation is the result of a eurozone system which, as currently constructed, is thoroughly broken. The cause is a systemic failure. It is the responsibility of all European nations that were parties to its flawed design, construction and implementation to contribute to a solution. Absent this collective response, the euro will disintegrate,” they added in a co-signed report for the Institute for New Economic Thinking.
The warning came as contagion from Spain pushed Italy’s borrowing costs to danger levels, with two-year yields rocketing 40 basis points to more than 5pc. The Milan bourse tumbled 3pc, led by bank shares. Italian equities have been in freefall since it became clear two weeks ago that the EU’s June summit deal had failed to break the nexus between crippled banks and sovereign states.
The crisis is starting to ricochet back into Germany, where the PMI manufacturing index for July fell to its lowest since mid-2009. Doubts are emerging about the creditworthiness of the German state itself.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Bailout is Now Inevitable
The Guardian London
Spain has a collapsing economy, an imploding property market, banks nursing colossal losses, and 10-year bond yields at 7.5%. It’s time to stop pretending that there won’t be a bailout, writes The Guardian’s economics editor.
Larry Elliott
Policy in Europe is all about playing for time. The big picture ideas for saving the single currency will take years, not months, to come to fruition — but the threat of collapse is immediate.
So the short-term mindset is all about survival: think the football team that parks the bus in order to defend a 0-0 scoreline or the batsmen whose sole aim is to occupy the crease when their team is facing an innings defeat on the last day of a Test match.
For a while last week, there was the real prospect that Europe’s backs to the wall effort had succeeded. Last month’s summit had more substance than the previous content-free affairs, and the rally in European financial markets last week reflected the belief that enough had been done to keep things calm through August. That, though, was until the Spanish region of Valencia announced that it needed financial help from Madrid, providing the trigger for a big sell-off in the markets that continued on Monday.
The response from the Spanish government was to swear blind one minute that there was not the remotest possibility of a full-blown rescue involving the International Monetary Fund and to impose a ban on the short selling of shares the next. The markets were suitably unimpressed by this display of ineptitude.
Meanwhile, Greece was once again coming under the spotlight as Athens awaited the arrival of officials from the Troika (the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Union) on Tuesday. Greece is gripped by a 1930s-style depression and, perhaps unsurprisingly, is having trouble sticking to the austerity programme imposed as part of its bailout. It appears that the troika will threaten to cut off Greece’s financial lifeline unless the coalition government agrees to an extra €2bn of cuts.
There are three conclusions to be drawn from these events. The first is that Spain is heading inexorably towards a bailout, probably quite soon. It was always a case of smoke and mirrors to imagine that the promised €100bn (£78bn) package of support for Spanish banks would be enough and so it has proved.
This is a country with a collapsing economy, an imploding property market, banks nursing colossal losses, and 10-year bond yields at 7.5%. The question is not whether there will be a bailout, but how big it will be. At least €300bn in all probability.
The second conclusion is that the trapdoor is opening up under Greece. German patience with Athens has run out, and the IMF was forced to deny reports on Monday it was preparing to cut off financial support. The Greek government is now faced with the choice of agreeing to a new range of demand-reducing measures it knows will be both counter-productive and politically toxic in order to be able to pay its bills inside the euro zone, or to devalue and default outside monetary union. A voluntary Greek exit would be ideal for Angela Merkel.
What links Greece and Spain is that the failed approach that has brought the smaller of the two countries to the point of no return is now being tried with the bigger and more strategically important member of the club.
The lesson from Greece is absolutely clear: slashing spending and increasing taxes when an economy is in free fall leads to higher, not lower, levels of debt. Spain is following Greece down the vicious spiral that starts with weak growth and rising unemployment and ends with expensive bail outs that do more harm than good.
For Greece in August 2011 read Spain in August 2012. Same problems. Same failed answers. Same crisis. Only bigger…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
We Will Show the World Greece Has Changed, Samaras
New debt restructuring on the horizon, EU sources said
(ANSAMed) — ATHENS — “We must not fail. We must regain our people’s trust and our country’s credibility abroad, both of which will happen by continuing to demonstrate that something has changed in Greece,” Premier Antonis Samaras, leader of New Democracy, Greece’s major conservative party, told his party’s parliamentary representatives in a meeting to lay out his administration’s economic objectives on Tuesday.
Much has been done, but the road ahead is still long, the premier said, pointing out that the recession could reach 7% in 2012, unemployment is over 24%, and youth unemployment is over 50%. “I believe, and I am working on this, that we can bring unemployment down to 10% in the next four years,” the premier said, adding that his primary objective is halting the recession and reducing unemployment. But Greece will be unable to meet its deficit reduction targets, and will require a new debt restructuring package, an idea which 6 European countries have already vetoed, according to European sources. The troika (EU-IMF-ECB) mission to evaluate Greece’s deficit reduction measures begins later this week, and Samaras will have an uphill battle convincing them to release the next 32-billion-euro tranche of European bailout funds in September, given Greece’s delay in implementing agreed-upon reforms, and the ongoing crisis throughout the Southern Mediterranean world.
Privatizations have so far only brought half of a projected 3.2 billion euros into state coffers, while the troika will certainly insist on the layoff of 15,000 public employees in 2012 and another 150,000 during 2013-2014. Samaras has publicly refused to consider massive layoffs, as well as pension and wage cuts. In order to flush out the 3 billion euros it needs for 2012, and the 11.7 billion euros needed to cover the 2013-2014 budget, the Finance Ministry has come up with a three-point plan it will present to the troika. This involves levying new real estate taxes, charging as much for heating fuel as for transportation fuel, and dismantling redundant government agencies.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visits Samaras on Thursday while the troika representatives meet with Finance Minister Giannis Sturnaras. They will go on to meet with the premier on Friday. The most pressing item on the Greek government’s agenda will be to obtain an extension on the EU deadline to reduce its deficit, balance its budget and implement reforms.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A Stunning Victory for Free Speech
Exclusive: Pamela Geller exults over court win allowing pro-Israel bus ads
After the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) ran a series of anti-Israel ads in the New York subways, my group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, submitted a pro-Israel ad, which the MTA summarily rejected. We sued on First Amendment grounds — and last Friday, in a case with important free speech implications far beyond our campaign, we won.
Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote a wonderful, brilliant opinion, establishing a precedent that will do much to protect free speech all over the country. The money quote from Friday’s ruling was when Engelmayer explained that “the AFDI ad is not only protected speech — it is core political speech. The ad expresses AFDI’s pro-Israel perspective on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in the Middle East, and implicitly calls for a pro-Israel U.S. foreign policy with regard to that conflict. The AFDI ad is, further, a form of response to political ads on the same subject that have appeared in the same space. As such, the AFDI ad is afforded the highest level of protection under the First Amendment.”
Indeed, this is a great victory for the First Amendment. The freedom of speech has been increasingly threatened in the U.S. in recent years — the left and Islamic supremacists are doing all they can to rule honest discussion of Islamic jihad violence and Jew-hatred out of the realm of acceptable public discourse. Judge Engelmayer has struck a huge blow against this sinister authoritarian effort and for the freedom of speech that is the cornerstone of all our freedoms.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Movie Massacre Suspect Sent Chilling Notebook to Psychiatrist Before Attack
James Holmes, the accused gunman in last Friday’s midnight movie massacre in Colorado, mailed a notebook “full of details about how he was going to kill people” to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, but the parcel sat unopened in a mailroom for as long as a week before its discovery Monday, a law enforcement source told FoxNews.com.
Police and FBI agents were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Aurora on Monday morning after the psychiatrist, who is also a professor at the school, reported receiving a package believed to be from the suspect. Although that package turned out to be from someone else and harmless, a search of the Campus Services’ mailroom turned up another package sent to the psychiatrist with Holmes’ name in the return address, the source told FoxNews.com.
A second law enforcement source said authorities got a warrant from a county judge and took the package away Monday night. When it was opened, its chilling contents were revealed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Passport Breach: Unanswered Questions, And an Unsolved Murder
Back in March 2008, the State Department launched an investigation of improper computer access to the passport records of Barack Hussein Obama, and days later those of Hillary Clinton and John McCain. The investigation centered on one employee: a contract worker for a company that was headed by John O. Brennan, a key Obama campaign adviser who later became assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.
Then, a month later, the key witness in this case was murdered. Lt. Quarles Harris, Jr., 24, was shot in the head in his car, in front of his church.
During the 2008 presidential election, I ran a number of stories at my website, AtlasShrugs.com, on the breach of Obama’s passport. Fast-forward to four years later, and there is no new information. Why is this murder case not being pursued? Who at the State Department is covering up Obama’s passport breach? Lt. Harris told federal investigators before he was murdered that he received “passport information from a co-conspirator who works for the U.S. Department of State.” What became of the “co-conspirator”? Why wasn’t he/she brought to trial?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Proof! Establishment Media Controlled
There was a rather low-key confession made in the New York Times last week that deserves to be blared throughout this country so that every American understands what they are reading in the establishment’s ultra-controlled, government-managed “press” — and I use that last word loosely indeed.
The admission came in the form of a story by Jeremy Peters on the politics page of the Times July 16[url]. I’ve been waiting for others to point it out, discuss it, debate it, express shock and exasperation over it. But I’ve waited for naught.
What this shocking story reveals is that even I — one of the kingpins of the new media and a refugee from the state-controlled spin machine — underestimated the utter and total corruption of the euphemistically called “mainstream press.”
It shows that most — not some — members of the print media establishment with access to the White House submit their copy to government officials for review, “correction” and approval before it reaches the American people!
Here are some key excerpts from the piece, if you think I’m exaggerating:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Stakelbeck on Terror Show From the CUFI Summit
As we do every year, the Stakelbeck on Terror team was once again on site at the annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit, which was held last week at the Washington Convention Center.
Join us for this week’s edition of the Stakelbeck on Terror show from the Summit, as we interview CUFI’s founder, Pastor John Hagee, and Executive Director David Brog about the organization’s growth and impact in strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Plus, see clips from my speech at the Summit’s big Middle East Briefing in which I discuss Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Biblical mandate to support Israel.
Click the link above to watch.
| — Hat tip: Erick Stakelbeck | [Return to headlines] |
Washington Times Columnist Jeff Kuhner: Arpaio Probe Could Dwarf Watergate
America may be facing a constitutional crisis. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., has made a startling declaration: President Obama’s birth certificate is fraudulent. If true — and I stress if — then this scandal dwarfs Watergate. In fact, it would be the greatest political scandal in U.S. history.
Recently, Sheriff Arpaio held a news conference. He said that his team of independent investigators — composed of former law enforcement officials and reporters — have for months meticulously examined the computer-generated birth certificate that Mr. Obama revealed to the public in April 2011. Their stunning conclusion: The document is a forgery. His chief investigator, Mike Zullo, says that the document is full of errors and omissions. In particular, Mr. Zullo claims that numeric sections are not filled out that otherwise would have been in birth certificates from Hawaii during that time. But other sections, such as those dealing with Mr. Obama’s race and his father’s work and field of study, are completed. Hence, Sheriff Arpaio’s investigative posse definitively believes the birth certificate is not authentic, but was manufactured to provide Mr. Obama with a veneer of constitutional legitimacy.
Sheriff Arpaio’s findings threaten to plunge America into an unprecedented crisis. For if — and again, I emphasize if — he is correct, then Mr. Obama has perpetrated the most elaborate hoax in U.S. history. A fraudulent birth certificate would mean that Mr. Obama is ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief. His presidency would therefore be legally and constitutionally illegitimate.
The consequences would shake the country to its very foundations. It would mean that he should be immediately removed from office — impeached. Moreover, every law and executive order passed under his administration — Obamacare, the economic stimulus, the Dodd-Frank financial reform, the government takeover of General Motors and Chrysler, the granting of amnesty to nearly one million illegal immigrants, the National Defense Reauthorization Act, the drone assassination list — would be null and void. The logic is inexorable: Should the president’s legal authority be deemed invalid, then everything resulting from it is also baseless. The Obama presidency would be overturned. Mr. Obama himself would be facing criminal charges — and possible jail time — for committing fraud.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France: 200 New Mosques Being Built, But They Are Not Enough
Will be added to 2,200 existing mosques
(ANSAMed) — PARIS, JULY 25 — France has 2,200 active mosques totaling 300,000 square meters, but given that each worshiper needs at least one square meter of space, that number should double in order to adequately serve all the faithful, according to the French Council of the Muslim Faith, which represents the French Muslims before the national government.
About 200 new mosques are currently being built in France with funding from worshipers, Muslim countries, an the World Islamic League, a Saudi Arabia-based NGO that covers missing construction expenses, according to Le Monde daily’s website.
France has been criticized in past years because of Muslims worshiping in the streets, especially in multi-ethnic neighborhoods.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Triple Jumper Removed From Olympic Team After Making Racist Comments on Twitter
LONDON — Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou was banished from the Olympic Games on Wednesday after making racist comments and expressing right-wing sentiments on Twitter.
Papachristou was scheduled to fly to London next week from her training base in Athens when the Hellenic Olympic Committee — Greek’s Olympic federation — made the decision to expel her from the team.
Papachristou, 23, made a racist and tasteless comment on her Twitter account, @papaxristoutj, that highlighted the number of African immigrants in Greece.
“With so many Africans in Greece … at least the West Nile mosquitos will eat homemade food!!!,” Papachristou wrote. She also reposted a comment from controversial Greek politician Ilias Kasidiaris, who has strongly criticized his government’s “soft” immigration policy.
The West Nile virus was first discovered in Uganda, but cases have recently been found during the European summer. Papachristou’s tweet was met with a flood of angry responses, but she didn’t respond until Wednesday, when it became clear she might lose her spot in the Olympics.
“I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account,” she said. “I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.”
By then, it was too late. Greek Olympic chiefs consulted with senior members of the Greek parliament, including aides to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, before making their decision. Part of the reason for the expulsion was to punish Papachristou for her actions, but the decision was also made in hopes of avoiding a backlash from anti-racism protestors at the Games.
The financial crisis gripping Greece — where strict austerity measures have affected the lives of millions — has forced the country to rely heavily on corporate sponsorship to fund its Olympic program. Officials feared that contributors may rethink their commitment if Papachristou remained on the team…
| — Hat tip: alcade | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Parliament’s Upper House Backs Direct Election of President
Rome, 24 July (AKI) — The Senate or Upper House of the national parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would amend the constitution to allow French-style direct election of Italy’s president.
The conservative People of Freedom party (PdL) of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and its former coalition partner the Northern League backed the bill.
Senators from the left-leaning Democratic Party and Italy of Values Party left the chamber ahead of the vote and centrist senators belonging to the centrist Fli party of Berlusconi’s former ally Gianfranco Fini abstained.
According to the bill passed by the Senate, the president is elected by all citizens over the age of 18 for a five-year term of office and may only be re-elected once.
Itay’s president is currently elected by a two-thirds majority of the parliament and the regions in a secret ballot.
The president is currently a largely a figurehead role but under the bill would would be elected by citizens in a two-round contest and appoint the prime minister and other cabinet members, as in the French system of government.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tracking the Most Popular Words in Written English
Poor old Pope. He has lost his standing in the written word. So says Matjaž Perc at the University of Maribor in Slovenia, who has identified the most common words used in 5.2 million books published over five centuries.
Perc used data collected by Google for the company’s Ngram Viewer application — a tool that lets users see the changing popularity of certain written words over time. Once he had downloaded data for books published between 1520 and 2008, he used an algorithm to search for the most commonly used words and groups of words in each year.
The most popular words stayed the same. “The” was top in both 1520 and 2008. Common groups of words have changed, though. The most common three-word phrase in 2008 was “one of the”; in 1520, it was “of the Pope”. References to religion featured heavily in early literature, Perc notes. For example, “the Pope and his followers”, “the laws of the Church” and “the body and blood of Christ” all feature in the 10 most popular five-word phrases of 1520. By 2008, the most frequently written five-word phrases were along the lines of “at the end of the”, “in the middle of the” and “on the other side of”.
A closer inspection of the changing use of English words revealed that, while changes in popularity of some words were quite dramatic during the 16th and 17th centuries, rankings have stayed pretty constant in the 20th and 21st centuries. That said, recently the words “United States” have increased in popularity.
“It seems English writing has reached a mature state,” says Perc. “There is a statistical coming of age of the language.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Fastest: Cheapest Sex Change Can be Had in Belgrade
Better surgeons at lower prices
(ANSAMed) — BELGRADE, JULY 25 — Serbia is where transsexuals can get the cheapest and fastest sex change in the world, 24 Sata (24 Hours) free circulation daily reported on Wednesday.
Every year, about 15 patients from the five continents come to Belgrade to undergo the 6-hour operation, which comes with a price tag of 2-7,000 euros. The latest arrivals reportedly were from Australia, Iran, France, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and the US.
They are attracted because it’s affordable, because it’s carried out in one long operation instead of several painful ones, and because Serbian surgeons are better trained and qualified than their colleagues elsewhere in the world, according to 24 Sata.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Nuclear Facilities Hit by Cyber Attack That Plays AC/DC’s Thunderstruck at Full Volume
As far as malicious computer hacking is concerned, the most recent breach of security at Iran’s nuclear facilities may not be very serious… unless you hate the music of Australian rock band AC/DC.
It has been alleged that unidentified computer hackers have forced workers at two of the country’s controversial nuclear facilities to endure AC/DC’s hit song Thunderstruck repeatedly — and at full volume — sometimes in the middle of the night.
Of course, there has been no confirmation of the attack from Iran — the evidence stems from a series of e-mails purporting to be from the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.
An unnamed Iranian scientist e-mailed Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer for Finnish Internet security firm F-Secure, saying that the facilities at Natanz and Fordo, near Qom, were hit by a worm.
Apart from disabling the automated network at both sites, the malware seemed to have an interesting side effect of blaring out AC/DC at any given moment.
When contacted by MailOnline, Mr Hypponen confirmed that he had received the e-mails and that he had been e-mailing the scientist about the incident over the weekend.
He sent a redacted copy of the e-mail, which said: ‘I am writing you to inform you that our nuclear program has once again been compromised and attacked by a new worm with exploits which have shut down our automation network at Natanz and another facility Fordo near Qom.’
Another e-mail made reference to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck being played ‘on several workstations in the middle of the night with the volume maxed out’.
It’s not the first time that the Iranian nuclear programme has been the target of malware.
The destructive Stuxnet worm has now affected around 60 per cent of computers in Iran, and is widely held responsible for wrecking the centrifuge at the Nantaz nuclear facility.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Accuses Israel of Plotting Bulgaria Bus Attack
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — Iran’s U.N. envoy accused Israel on Wednesday of plotting and carrying out a suicide bomb attack on a bus in Bulgaria a week ago in which five Israeli tourists were killed.
A suicide bomber blew up the bus in a car park at Burgas airport, a popular gateway for tourists visiting Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, killing himself, the Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver and wounding more than 30 people.
Israel has accused Iran and the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah of the bombing. Iran has denied the accusations.
“It’s amazing that just a few minutes after the terrorist attack, Israeli officials announced that Iran was behind it,” Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told a U.N. Security Council debate on the Middle East. “We have never and will not engage in such a despicable attempt on … innocent people.”
“Such terrorist operation could only be planned and carried out by the same regime whose short history is full of state terrorism operations and assassinations aimed implicating others for narrow political gains,” Khazaee said. “I could provide … many examples showing that this regime killed its own citizens and innocent Jewish people during the last couple of decades.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Haim Waxman said Iran’s fingerprints were all over the bomb attack in Bulgaria, as well as dozens of other plots in recent months around the world.
“These comments are appalling, but not surprising from the same government that says the 9/11 attack was a conspiracy theory and denies the Holocaust,” Waxman said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Sharia in Action in Kuwait: Police Arrest Man for Drinking Water in Public During Ramadan
It is illegal to drink or eat in public in Kuwait during the holy month of Ramadan, where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Over the weekend, Kuwaiti police said they made the first arrest of someone who failed to abide by their strict conditions during the holy month.
Police have indicated that a police patrol saw an “Asian drinking water from a bottle during the day.” When the man was approached by officers and asked why he was not fasting, the man told them his sect “had not yet started fasting.”
Police disregarded the excuse and arrested him. Under Kuwait law, anyone caught drinking or eating in public during fasting times is detained and held until after the Eid holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Stop Arming Rebels and Militias, Homs Catholic Leader
Syrians hostages to militias, peace through reconciliation
(ANSAMed) — ROME — The opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began as a peaceful movement, but the people are now being held hostage by violent militias with affiliations ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Salaphites to al-Qaeda, Mother Superior Agnes-Mariam de la Croix of the Deir Mar Youcoub monastery in Qara near Homs said on Wednesday. She was in Rome to meet politicians and reporters.
“Foreign players must stop arming the militias and favoring this invasion by mercenaries, who are sowing chaos and destroying the internal balance of Syrian society,” said de la Croix, who is the spokesperson for the Qara diocese Catholic Information Center. “The only solution for Syria must come from within, after a cease-fire and with full enactment of the Annan plan”, she added speaking to ANSAmed.
The entire nation, including the Sunnite majority, is being silenced by the mercenary militias, according to de la Croix. “They are holding the country hostage through terror, threats, and bloodshed. They carry out crimes against humanity and against human rights”. “Who are they, who do they obey?”. She also warned on the presence of extremists from Libya, Mali, Sudan, Afghanistan among the rebels, and on weapons sent from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The West should also check its sources, because the Syrian National Council represents no one and the opposition abroad is divided, de la Croix underscored, adding that local committees could also be used and technologically helped by foreign powers.
She opposes a UN resolution leading to military intervention because it would certainly cause civilian deaths, she said, and believes that Assad’s fate should be decided from within the country, and not by the powers that are arming the rebels.
The Mother Superior, who restored Qara’s ancient monastery and founded a religious community there, has been aiding the civilian victims of the now 16-month-old conflict. She recently fled to Lebanon following what she called “a defamatory campaign against me,” and has been accused of sympathizing with the Assad regime by some in the Catholic sector.
She is now in Europe to garner support for the Mussalaha mouvement for Syrian reconciliation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Huffpost Hires Motherland’s Truth Shoveler to Host Videos
HuffPost Live, a new online-only video service being launched next month by the left-wing Huffington Post, has announced the hiring of Alyona Minkovski as a “host/producer.”
Minkovski currently works as the host of “The Alyona Show” on RT, the Kremlin owned and operated English-language news channel that was previously known as Russia Today.
Minkovski’s show is known for its steady stream of anti-American propaganda, and a total blackout of news relating to crackdowns on democracy activists and opposition movements within Russia.
Politico has described the network as “raw propaganda,” and even the liberal New Republic has described the network as “Pravda on the Potomac.”
This is not the Huffington Post’s first foray into publishing Russian propaganda. Vladimir Putin was given a platform by the website earlier this year, publishing two pieces before criticism of the relationship seemed to bring it to an abrupt end.
It’s unclear whether Minkovski will continue to collect a paycheck from the Kremlin as she enters this new project with AOL’s Huffington Post.
[Check URL for links and Washington Free Beacon]
| [Return to headlines] |
India: Assam Priest: Humanitarian Crisis Between Muslims and Tribal Like a Tsunami
The priest is in Kokajhar, where the violence first erupted. Toll rises to 32 victims, 170 thousand displaced. Indigenous Bodo most affected: 70% of the population have lost their land, 90% of them live on agriculture alone.
Bongaigaon (AsiaNews) — “The humanitarian crisis in Assam is on the scale of a tsunami” denounces a tribal Catholic priest, speaking to AsiaNews on the condition of anonymity, about the violence that has erupted between Bodo tribals and Muslim settlers in the districts of Kokajhar and Chirang. According to authorities, the death toll now stands at 32, with 170 thousand people who have fled their homes. Government and police have set up refugee camps to house the fleeing people and treat the wounded.
The priest is an ethnic Bodo, and is in the town of Kokrajhar to provide support and assistance to both communities. “The reality of things — he explains — is much, much worse than what has been shown by the local media. Televisions depict scenes of destruction, where the only victims are Muslims. But this is nothing compared to what they the tribals are experiencing.”
The Bodo tribals are the indigenous people of these areas of Assam. Today, however, the priest says, “there is an imbalance between the indigenous population and Muslims. The tribals have become a minority, the Muslims have occupied their lands, appropriated thanks to the connivance of local authorities, relegating the Bodo to conditions of poverty and marginalization. “
As a result, he adds, “about 70% of tribal families no longer have any land, although 90% of this population survive from agriculture. Small plots can not guarantee the survival of all these people. The result is that half suffer hunger. “
“The suffering of the people — he says — is really intense, their eyes are desperate, they can not see any future. They have lost everything: houses, land, farms, crops … everything has been looted and destroyed by Muslim migrants. It’s like this everywhere, even in areas where Muslims are a minority. “
In this dramatic situation, the Catholic Church has set up other camps. “Here — said the priest — we welcome everyone, Muslims and tribals. We hope to reach as many people as possible, and to be able to build bridges of peace and understanding.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tajik Soldiers and Muslim Rebels Clash, At Least 42 Dead, Scores Wounded
Fighting broke out in Khorog, capital of semi-autonomous Gorno-Badakhshan province, on the border with Afghanistan, a hub for the international opium trade. The death of the local security chief set off the violence. Government pins the murder on local rebels.
Dushanbe (AsiaNews/Agencies) — At least 42 people died in fighting between Tajikistan government troops and rebels in the eastern mountainous semi-autonomous Gorno-Badakhshan province, on the border with Afghanistan.
According to the Tajik government, 12 soldiers and 30 militants were killed in the fighting. Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported more than 100 people killed. About 30 of the 40 rebel fighters captured by the security forces were Afghan nationals. Up to 30 soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
The violence reportedly erupted after Tajik government forces launched a massive operation in the region on Tuesday in retaliation to the fatal stabbing of a top official from the Security Ministry on Saturday.
Tajik authorities have blamed the killing on an armed group led by Tolib Ayombekov, a former warlord and Islamist rebel accused by the authorities of involvement in drug and arms smuggling as well as brutal crimes.
The main fighting occurred in Khorog, the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, which sits along a river that marks Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan.
Populated by the Pamiri ethnic minority, the region was the stronghold of Islamist rebels during the 1990s war that cost up to 100,000 lives.
Local sources said that Tajik authorities severed phone and road links with the region on Tuesday.
Residents of the Afghan side of the river said they saw Tajik government helicopter gunships strafing Khorog and heard the sound of rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns through the day’s fighting.
Ethnically and religiously different from the rest of Tajikistan, Gorno-Badakhshan has long been a thorn in the side of central authorities.
Probably the poorest area of the poorest ex-Soviet republic, the eastern region is also a gateway for the international opium trade between Afghanistan, the world’s main producer of opiates, and consumers in Russia and Western Europe.
The latest episode of violence was precipitated on Saturday when the National Security Committee chief for Gorno-Badakhshan, General Abdullo Nazarov, was killed.
Tajikistan’s central government blamed his death on Mr. Ayombekov, who ostensibly ordered the hit to protect his smuggling network.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Sinking Shipyards
The world’s economic crisis and overcapacity have hit the once-prosperous industry. This year, only 182 ships are under construction compared to 2,036 in 2007. Jiangsu province is the worst-hit with a 62 per cent drop in orders.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) — China’s shipbuilding industry is at its lowest point in ten years as new orders dry up. Analysts blame the crisis on overcapacity from the boom years. This has been compounded by shipbuilders’ difficulty in raising cash and in overall lower cargo volumes.
Figures released this month by British shipbroking house Clarkson show that China’s shipyards secured contracts for just 182 ships in the first six months of the year. Last year the shipyards had won orders for 561 vessels. The number of orders is down from the peak of 2,036 vessels secured in 2007 and 463 ships in 2004.
In tonnage terms, Chinese shipyards secured deals for 3 million cgt (compensated gross tonnes) between January and June this year, against 32.54 million cgt at the peak in 2007.
Clarkson figures show that 46 out of 180 shipyards listed failed to deliver a single vessel last year.
One of the worst-affected provinces is Jiangsu, home to many large shipyards, which got deals for 72 new ships in the first five months, down about 62 per cent over the same period last year.
The crisis affecting China’s shipbuilding industry has also hit South Korea and Japan, where shipyards are not faring much better.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU Needs to Recognise Value of Immigrants
By Peter Sutherland and Cecilia Malmstrom
EU countries are tightening their borders when, economically, politically and socially, they should be embracing immigrants, write Peter Sutherland and Cecilia Malmstrom
Europe faces an immigration predicament. Mainstream politicians, held hostage by xenophobic parties, adopt anti-immigrant rhetoric to win over fearful publics, while the foreign-born are increasingly marginalised in schools and cities, and at the workplace. Yet, despite high unemployment across much of the continent, too many employers lack the workers they need.
Engineers, doctors, and nurses are in short supply; so, too, are farmhands and health aides. And Europe can never have enough entrepreneurs, whose ideas drive economies and create jobs.
The prevailing scepticism about immigration is not wholly unfounded. Many communities are genuinely polarised, which makes Europeans understandably anxious. But to place the blame for this on immigrants is wrong, and exacerbates the problem. We are all at fault.
By not taking responsibility, we allowed immigration to become the scapegoat for a host of other, unrelated problems. The enduring insecurity caused by the global economic crisis, Europe’s existential political debates, and the rise of emerging powers, is too often expressed in reactions against migrants. Not only is this unjust, but it distracts us from crafting solutions to the real problems.
European countries must finally and honestly acknowledge that, like the US, Canada, and Australia, they are lands of immigrants. The percentage of foreign-born residents in several European countries — including Spain, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Greece — is similar to that in the US.
Yet, despite this, we do not make the necessary investments to integrate newcomers into our schools and workplaces. Nor have we done enough to reshape our public institutions to be inclusive and responsive to our diverse societies. The issue is not how many new immigrants are accepted into the EU, but acknowledging the nature and composition of the societies in which we already live.
It is ironic — and dangerous — that Europe’s anti-immigrant sentiment is peaking just when global structural changes are fundamentally shifting migration flows. The most important transformation is the emergence of new poles of attraction. Entrepreneurs, migrants with PhDs, and those simply with a desire to improve their lives, are flocking to places like Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, China, and India. In the coming decade, most of the growth in migration will take place in the global south. The West is no longer the Promised Land, placing at risk Europe’s ability to compete globally.
The aging of Europe’s population is historically unprecedented. The number of workers will decline precipitously, and could shrink by almost one third by mid-century, with immense consequences for Europe’s social model, the vitality of its cities, its ability to innovate and compete, and for relations among generations as the old become heavily reliant on the young. And, while history suggests countries that welcome newcomers’ energy and vibrancy compete best globally, Europe is taking the opposite tack by tightening its borders.
But all is not lost. Europe got itself into this situation through a combination of inaction and short-sighted policy-making. This leaves considerable room for improvement. In fact, there are rays of hope in certain corners of Europe.
Consider Sweden, which has transformed its immigration policy by allowing employers to identify the immigrant workers they need (the policy has built-in safeguards to give preference to Swedish and EU citizens). In more rational times, these reforms would be the envy of Europe, especially given the relative resilience of Sweden’s economy. They certainly have caught the attention of Australia and Canada, which aim to emulate them…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Alien Solar System Looks a Lot Like Our Own
Astronomers have discovered an alien solar system whose planets are arranged much like those in our own solar system, a find that suggests most planetary systems start out looking the same, scientists say.
Researchers studying the star system Kepler-30, which is 10,000 light-years from Earth, found that its three known worlds all orbit in the same plane, lined up with the rotation of the star — just like the planets in our own solar system do. The result supports the leading theory of planet formation, which posits that planets take shape from a disk of dust and gas that spins around newborn stars.
“In agreement with the theory, we have found the star’s spin to be aligned with the planets,” said study co-author Dan Fabrycky, of the University of California, Santa Cruz. “So this result is profound because it is basic data testing the standard planet formation theory.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mars Rover Curiosity to Double as Martian Weather Station
When NASA’s next Mars rover, Curiosity, arrives at the Red Planet next month, it will help pave the way for the humans that might one day follow.
In addition to looking for signs of current and past habitability to extraterrestrial life, the rover, due to land Aug. 6, will learn more about whether Mars could be habitable for humans — particularly in terms of its weather. The continuous record of Martian weather and radiation Curiosity plans to collect will help future forecasters tell humans — should we choose to go — how best to protect themselves in the harsh environment, experts say.
That’s why NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate paid to include a radiation detector onboard the car-size Curiosity, the centerpiece of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is run by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
Peter Sutherland: "Entrepreneurs, migrants with PhDs, and those simply with a desire to improve their lives, are flocking to places like Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, China, and India."
-Yes, but in Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, China and India they will be given working visas. Here in Europe we hand them full citizenship. There are now so many new 'citizens' that the continents native population is destined to become a minority.
Mr Sutherland is not just pro-immigrant, he is anti-white.
Post a Comment