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EU: Barroso and Schulz: Fiscal Treaty Will Not be Renegotiated
Asked by German broadcaster WDR for a one-word answer on whether the fiscal treaty will be renegotiated, EU commission and parliament chiefs Jose Barroso and Martin Schulz both said "No". Changing the fiscal treaty featured high in the new French president's election campaign — though details always remained unclear.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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German Export Machine Defies Crisis, Picks Up Speed in March
Although recession has engulfed their main markets in Europe, German firms in March exported more than ever before in a single month. With imports similarly at a record high, Europe's biggest economy helps others, too.
In March, German companies sold goods worth 98.9 billion euros ($128.5 billion) abroad — the highest volume of exports since first records were taken in 1950, the German Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, said Wednesday. The previous German export record had been set in March 2011, Destatis added, which had now been surpassed by 0.7 percent.
Compared with inflation and seasonally adjusted February figures, exports rose by 0.9 percent, supporting analysts' assumptions that Germany might avoid a technical recession, which is two consecutive quarters of contraction.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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'Greece Out of Euro' Calls Multiply in Germany
German politicians have called for Greece to leave the eurozone and return to the Drachma, as the country fails to form a government following Sunday's election in which mainstream parties were punished for EU austerity measures.
"We should make Greece the offer to leave the eurozone in an orderly fashion, without leaving the European Union," said Klaus-Peter Willsch, budgetary expert for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
He told Wednesday's business daily Handelsblatt it was not up to the Germans to tell the Greeks how to live, but the election results indicated that the Greeks were not willing to make the effort required to make their country competitive. "The dogma that no country can leave the eurozone has already caused too much political damage in Europe," he said.
He was joined by the deputy chairman of the CDU's parliamentary faction, Michael Meister, who told the paper that although it was not the aim of EU partners to throw Greece out of the common currency, "it is clear that if the new Greek government, contrary to expectations, does not keep to the contracts, it will have to accept the consequences already announced."
Frank Schäffler, a finance expert from the CDU's coalition partner the Free Democratic Party, also said he was open to a possible exit of the Greeks from the eurozone. He told the Handelsblatt that although the Greeks must be given time to sort themselves out, "one must be prepared."
He said dozens of private studies had been carried out into the possibility. "The government should now, at the very latest, draw up a plan B," he told the paper.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Greece: Composer Theodorakis Express Support for Syriza
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MAY 9 — The renowned composer Mikis Theodorakis last night expressed his support for Syriza and the efforts of its leader, Alexis Tsipras, "to form a government that will terminate the memorandum and will seek to recover our country's national sovereignty". He was speaking after a meeting with Tsipras, Manolis Glezos MP and constitutional law expert Yiorgos Kassimatis. Theodorakis called on all "patriots" and "creative Greeks" to assist in bringing Greece to self-sufficiency, progress and rebirth.
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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Greek Leftists Seek Coalition Repealing Bailout
The party charged with the task of forming Greece's new government has said it will scrap international bailout agreements if it can form a government. But whether they will achieve the latter is unclear. The leader of Greece's left-wing party Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, said Tuesday that he would reject all EU and IMF-backed austerity measures should his party succeed in forming a coalition, after Greece's general election launched the country into fresh political turmoil.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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IMF Tells Germany to Do More for Eurozone
Germany's economy is doing well in its recovery, but the country should be more "active" in helping the rest of the eurozone cope with the crisis, the International Monetary Fund has said.
"As the euro area's largest economy, Germany can play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges posed by the crisis. Articulating more clearly the Economic and Monetary Union's shared vision of an appropriate post-crisis architecture will help in restoring market confidence," the Washington-based body said in a country report published on Tuesday (8 May).
As exports are picking up again, "the conditions are in place in Germany for a domestic demand-led recovery," driven by consumption and investment.
The IMF also said that the EU's economic powerhouse should allow for its workers to get higher wages. This is in line with France and other southern countries' criticism about Germany's well-performing economy: That it keeps its wages low to boost production and exports, at the expense of less "competitive" euro-states.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Italy: Monti Must Explain Meaning of "Human Consequences", PDL
(AGI) Rome — Premier Mario Monti must explain the meaning of his words and to whom he was referring when he spoke about "human consequences" of the crisis yesterday, as asked by 42 Pdl parliament members in a parliamentary inquiry. "It is a moral and political duty, for Cabinet President Mario Monti, to expplain clearly what he meant when he spoke about 'human consequences' on May 8 2012, with a clear reference to the chain of suicides, and to whom he was referring if not to the Pdl party when he specified: 'those who brought economy to this state'", the 42 parliamentary members wrote. Among the signers there are the deputy president of the Pdl group at the Lower House, Maurizio Bianconi, the former ministers Renato Brunetta, Maria Stella Gelmini, Giorgia Meloni and the deputies Viviana Beccalossi, Pietro Laffranco, Michele Scandroglio and Marcello De Angelis.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Italy: Integration Should Spur EU Growth, President Napolitano Says
'Must not be confined to consolidation and stability'
(ANSA) — Florence, May 9 — Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday called for fiscal integration among EU economies that would aim to bolster growth.
"Integration cannot be confined to…fiscal consolidation and financial stabilization. It must seek to promote convergence between the economies and prospects for renewed, stronger and sustainable growth on a European scale," he said at the conference 'The State of the Union' in Florence. Italy has upped its push for growth measures in the eurozone after Socialist candidate Francois Hollande won France's presidential elections, the parties that passed austerity measures in Greece were hit at the ballot box in the vote there and left-wing and grassroots parties made big gains in Italy.
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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Italy: Monti Wants Technology Investments Exempt From Deficit Rules
Premier says move would be compatible with fiscal discipline
(ANSA) — Florence, May 9 — Italian Premier Mario Monti continued his drive to get the European Union to do more to promote growth on Wednesday when he suggested exempting some technology investments from budget-deficit calculations.
Italy, like many countries hit by the eurozone debt crisis, is suffering the effects of austerity after Monti's emergency government of technocrats passed a tough package of tax hikes and spending cuts in December.
The former European commissioner, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi as premier in November, is now seeking to put growth at the top of both the domestic and European agendas.
He proposed that "investments in broadband and the digital agenda" should be encouraged by leaving them out, for three years, of the calculations for the Fiscal Compact that European leaders recently signed in order to protect the euro.
Monti added that there would "nothing evasive" in this for budget discipline. The premier, who recently said Italy would come close to hitting its target of balancing the budget next year, also applauded the importance French president-elect Francois Hollande has given to promoting economic growth. "The greater warmth, the greater insistence that Hollande puts on the issue of growth is welcomed by Italy," he said. "I think this can be reconciled with budget discipline".
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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Juppé: Greek Situation 'Extremely Worrying'
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said Wednesday that the situation in Greece was "extremely worrying" after elections punished mainstream parties backing an EU-IMF bailout package.
"The situation is extremely difficult, extremely tense. The result of the elections showed a very strong reversal for the two governing parties and an increase of extremes, so it is extremely worrying," he told Europe 1 radio.
Greece is facing a political impasse after the vote Sunday pushed out the parties accepting an EU-IMF bailout package that included harsh austerity measures.
After the conservative New Democracy party failed to form a government Monday, the task has fallen to radical left-wing party Syriza — whose leader, Alexis Tsipras, said Tuesday the vote had "clearly nullified" Greece's loan agreement.
"The questioning of the treaties that were painstakingly negotiated … risks sparking turbulence that will be difficult to control," Juppé said.
Juppe was to attend his final cabinet session as foreign minister later Wednesday after President Nicolas Sarkozy was ousted by Socialist François Hollande in France's election on Sunday. Hollande has vowed to renegotiate the EU's fiscal pact to put emphasis on economic growth as well as austerity but is facing fierce resistance from Germany.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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'No Alternative' To Austerity: German Leaders Threaten End to Greek Aid
The Greek left-wing politician tasked with forming a new government after the country's parliamentary elections has called the Greek bailout agreement invalid. Several German leaders responded Wednesday by demanding that Greece stick to the negotiated austerity measures if it wants to receive future international financial aid.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Portugal's War on Corruption Still Lacking: Report
Portugal's efforts to crack down on corruption as it grapples with deep recession are being hindered by a lack of political will and poor coordination, according to a report published Monday.
The study drawn up under the auspices of the Portuguese arm of global anti-corruption group Transparency International paints a picture of widespread graft and impunity which has undermined public confidence.
"Poor coordination between various agencies, lack of specialised judicial enforcement authorities and a lack of political will to adopt a coherent strategy against corruption are the main flaws in Portugal's anti-corruption efforts," said National Integrity System assessment, the first on Portugal.
Transparency rates Portugal as the 18th most corrupt country in Europe and 32nd in the world, and the report said the results from the survey were worse than expected for a developed and industrialised country within the EU.
The report also pointed to the risks of corruption associated with the current austerity measures aimed at pulling Portugal out of its deep economic malaise.
The rush to undertake such policies as privatisations "can hide very shady deals", it said, while warning that budget cuts in the justice and public administration sectors could made public officials and judges "more susceptible to pressures or bribes".
The government is slashing spending and raising taxes to meet the terms of its 78 billion-euro ($104 billion) bailout agreed with the EU and International Monetary Fund a year ago. But the austerity has plunged the country into a deep recession.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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South African Unemployment Rate Rises to 25.2%
South Africa's unemployment rate rose to 25.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from 23.9 percent in the previous quarter, official data showed on Tuesday.
The unemployment rate jumps to 33.8 percent if the number of disenchanted are factored in, while informal estimates put unemployment as high as 40 percent.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Spain to Force Banks to Raise Bad-Loan Provisions
Spain's government on Friday will force banks to boost their financial cushion against risky property assets, an official said, as Madrid struggled to soothe international worries. "There will be new provisions" against property-related assets demanded in a package of banking sector measures to be issued on Friday, an economy ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday, without giving further details.
The extra money set aside against risky loans and seized real estate linked to the distressed property sector could amount to 35 billion euros ($45 billion), said business daily Cinco Dias. That figure comes in addition to the 53.8 billion euros in provisions already demanded in a reform announced in February.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Spanish 10-Year Bond Yields Spike Above 6.0%
The interest rate on Spain's benchmark 10-year bonds soared above 6.0 percent on Wednesday, a borrowing rate widely believed to be unsustainable for the crisis-hit Spanish government.
Shortly after mid-day yields on the secondary market were 6.028 percent, up sharply from 5.817 at Tuesday's close, as investors worried over the possible fallout of the crisis in Greece where anti-austerity parties made huge gains in general elections on Sunday. The yield on Germany's benchmark bonds meanwhile fell to a record low level of 1.521 percent.
"The extreme fragility of the political landscape in Greece and the increasing likelihood that the next loan installment from Europe and the IMF will be blocked means risk aversion will dominate the markets," BNP Paribas analysts said in a note.
Investors are flocking to the safety of German sovereign debt amid talk of Greece reneging on commitments to international creditors agreed in return for rescue loans and a debt write-off earlier this year.
Italian bond yields, which had eased from danger levels in recent months, jumped to 5.578 percent, up from 5.441 percent on Tuesday. French benchmark yields rose to 2.888 percent, up from 2.804 percent. "The chance of Greece leaving the eurozone risks putting the very idea of Europe into question on the markets," said analysts at brokerage Aurel BGC.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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UK: This Omnishambles is No Joke
by Martin Bright
We are staring into the political abyss and we think it is mildly amusing to talk in terms of an omnishambles. But this is no joke. At the heart of government, as we contemplate the consequences of the double dip recession and rising interest rates, there is an ideas vacuum. The coalition's best minds, Steve Hilton and Richard Reeves, have announced their departure for the Unites States, which is where European intellectuals fled during the 1930s.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Adam Yauch Was a Muslim Hero
The Beastie Boy was about more than his "right to party" — he spoke out against Islamaphobia before the term existed.
Brooklyn, NY - In 1998, the Beastie Boys walked up to the VMA mics in matching utilitarian grey outfits, Ad-Rock sneering at the cameras as if to imply it was about time. Behind him, Mike D and MCA (whose birth name was Adam Yauch) followed in single-file, not particularly cheery, stiff — as if walking to the gallows. After a brief round of thank you's from Mike D, Yauch approached the mic in front of the screaming crowd, and assumed a solemn tone. He began, "I think it was a real mistake that the US decided to fire missiles into the Middle East. I think it's very important that the US look into non-violent means of resolving conflicts." Applause from the crowd mixed with a few loud heckles. Yauch attempted to calm the crowd and explain what he had meant, knowing full well his message needed to be concise. A month earlier he was booed at a show in the heartland of the United States for saying the same thing.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Al Qaeda Colon Bomb Forces Universal Airport Colonscopies
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't President Obama say that he had decimated Al Qaeda? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't President Obama kill Al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda Yemen head Anwar al Awlaki? So what's with the news that the CIA just foiled an Al Qaeda bomb plot in Yemen to blow up a US airplane over One World Trade Center with a non metallic bomb inserted inside the colon of an Al Qaeda suicide bomber? Why is our national defense beginning to sound like a scene from "Get Him to the Greek" with Jonah Hill clenching his buttocks to protect Russell Brand's heroin?
If you mow your lawn and cut off the tops of the weeds the weeds will always come back. Unless you get down on your hands and knees with your $2 weeder and pull out the roots of the weeds the weeds will always come back. The root of the Al Qaeda bomb plot is the Koran which states "Make War on the Christians, Jews and Infidels, all non Muslims, and I will reward you with 72 virgins, 80,000 servants each, eternal paradise with Allah, crystal clear streams and endless wine with no side effects." (Koran Chapter 9:5, 29-30, 111, Chapter 56, Hadith.)
Was the scene inside the situation room during the raid on Osama bin Laden President Obama's version of "Mission Accomplished?" Sigmund Freud said that a person's personality is determined by the age of 5. President Obama is the son of a Muslim father. President Obama went to elementary school in the world's most populous Muslim nation Indonesia. President Obama stood in Cairo and said "Islam is a great religion." How can we expect a Muslim President to protect us from nuclear armed Muslim Pakistan or to stop Muslim Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons to attack US within the coming months while he is busy rallying support for the ground zero mosque? How is your puppy going to feel with a fiber optic camera on a tube passed through her anus every time she wants to travel?
[JP note: If this is parody, it is too close to the bone for comfort.]
|— Hat tip: JP
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Backlash Against Muslims? Then Why Are Their Numbers Growing?
Jonathan S. Tobin
Most of the mainstream media still takes it as a given that there is an ongoing and brutal post-9/11 backlash against Muslims in America that fuels discrimination against followers of Islam. The fact that there is virtually no evidence for this assertion and much empirical data to argue for the opposite conclusion has not prevented liberals and radicals masquerading as the representatives of American Muslims to continue to claim the existence of a backlash. As we've previously noted, FBI hate crime statistics consistently show attacks on Muslims are rare and constitute a fraction of the far more prevalent bias crimes committed against Jews. Nor has the relative paucity of Muslim villains in popular culture or the reflexive support for Islam on the part of American leaders debunked the backlash myth.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Black Conservatives Should be Listened to
Lloyd Marcus, Professor Walter Williams, Dr. Thomas Sowell
On May 02, 2012, one of America's bravest warriors spoke out against the tyranny of the liberal Democrat establishment.
No, he's not one of our brave military warriors fighting against our enemies in the world of terrorism or the scarred fighting fields of Afghanistan instead, he is fighting the stubbornness of his fellow black Americans in an attempt to wake them up to the fact that the liberal Democrats in America are using them to make themselves look like saviors while burying them deeper in the dregs of indebtedness and abject or hopeless poverty.
That brave warrior is Lloyd Marcus, a black conservative, and he spoke out against liberal Democrat tyranny in an article titled "The ultimate appeal to persuade fellow blacks to stop voting Democrat" on May 02, 2012 online, in the freedom and democracy loving Canada Free Press (CanadaFreePress.com) which touts in its masthead, "Because without America there is no Free World."
|— Hat tip: JD
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DuPage Nixes Mosque Plan Near West Chicago
A plan to transform a house near West Chicago into a mosque has been rejected by the DuPage County Board. The board voted 15-3 against granting Islamic Center of Western Suburbs the conditional-use permit it needs to use the home at 28W774 Army Trail Road as a religious institution.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Islam-Offending US Teacher Forced to Apologise
Saudi students in US protest anti-Islam remarks by female American teacher
A female university teacher in the United States had to apologise to her Saudi students for offending Islam after they protested her behaviour to the management, Saudi newspapers reported on Tuesday. The students went straight to the teacher's direct manager and complained that she had placed anti-Islamic pictures with abusive remarks in their books. They threatened that in case no action was taken, they would go to the chairman of the University of Central Arkansas in the southern state of America. "We went into the office of the manager of the institute where we study and submitted a protest…we told her that if she does not take action against the teacher, we will go to the head of the university," Saudi student Ahmed bin Daheem Al Hajour said, quoted by the Saudi Ajel newspaper. The manager did take action as promised and forced that teacher to apologise to us by sending messages to each of us on our Facebook pages…. she even removed her son's picture from her Facebook page and replaced it with the flag of Saudi Arabia."
|— Hat tip: JP
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Pfizer and Merck Under Investigation for Colluding With Obama Administration on Health Care Overhaul
(NaturalNews) Most Americans have no idea what truly went on behind closed doors during the crafting and illegitimate passing of Obamacare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But a congressional investigation currently underway is seeking to unearth the dirty details, including how drug giants like Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. greased the financial wheels to make sure their pharmaceuticals received preferential treatment as part of the health care overhaul.
As reported by Bloomberg, Republicans from the House Energy and Commerce Committee have been toiling for roughly a year now to obtain key documents, emails and other pertinent information exposing the truth about Big Pharma's role in the creation of Obamacare. But to date, neither the Obama White House nor Big Pharma has cooperated in any significant way in releasing any of this information, according to the committee.
"This has been like pulling teeth, trying to get information," said Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Tex.), to Bloomberg. Besides Pfizer and Merck, drug companies Amgen Inc., Abbott Laboratories and AstraZeneca are also being pressed by Rep. Burgess and his allies for information, as are industry lobbyists, lawyers, and several doctor and hospital groups.
What is it they hope to find? To start, it is already clear that Big Pharma agreed to provide price discounts on drugs in exchange for their being covered as part of Obamacare. But other secret deals between Obama and the drug industry were likely made as well, and Rep. Burgess wants to know what those were and under what terms they were negotiated.
|— Hat tip: JD
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Second Victim Dies in Beating of Elderly Couple, As Suspect Could Face More Charges
An Oklahoma man suspected in a brutal home invasion — already facing a murder charge for allegedly killing an elderly woman — could face additional charges after the death last week of her husband, a D-Day veteran.
Bob Strait, a 90-year-old Tulsa resident, died on Friday, and a medical examiner is determining his cause of death, News On 6 reports.
He was injured March 13 when, police say, Tyrone Woodfork, 20, entered the house and attacked, allegedly beating and sexually assaulted Strait's 85-year-old wife, Nancy Strait, who died two days later. The couple had been married for 65 years.
Woodfork was arrested a day after the incident when he was spotted driving around in Strait's vehicle, a Tulsa Police Department spokesman told FoxNews.com.
Woodfork was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on March 15 and is being held on charges of first degree murder, first degree burglary, armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Bob Strait was a World War II paratrooper who took part in the D-Day invasion as part of the 101st Airborne Division, where he was awarded a Bronze Star, News On 6 reports.
|— Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo
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SpaceX Shows Off Manned Dragon Capsule at Space Expo
As private spaceflight company SpaceX puts the finishing touches on the interior of its prototype crewed capsule, the firm brought a life-size model of the vehicle to display here at the first annual Spacecraft Technology Expo.
The design of SpaceX's Dragon capsule recently passed a series of key reviews, during which a group of NASA engineers and former space shuttle astronauts tested how well they could maneuver inside the spacecraft. The NASA team practiced entering and exiting Dragon under normal and emergency scenarios, and they also evaluated the layout of the vehicle's controls and instruments.
"This milestone demonstrated the layout of the crew cabin supports critical tasks," SpaceX Commercial Crew Development Manager Garrett Reisman said in a statement. "It also demonstrated the Dragon interior has been designed to maximize the ability of the seven-member crew to do their job as effectively as possible."
SpaceX let attendees of the expo — which runs from May 8-10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center — see what the NASA evaluators saw. The company displayed the test version of Dragon at a special exhibit called the "Human Spaceflight Park," which includes full-size and scaled models of various other rockets and spacecraft, including XCOR Aerospace's suborbital Lynx space plane.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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The Global Climate Change Initiative, More Waste of Taxpayer Dollars
President Obama signed on September 22, 2010 the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development, elevating foreign development assistance to a national priority status involving development, diplomacy, and national security.
According to Richard K. Lattanzio, analyst in Environmental Policy, the Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI) aims to "foster low-carbon growth, promote sustainable and resilient societies, and reduce emissions from deforestation and land degradation." (Congressional Research Service)
GCCI is actually three programs, adaptation assistance, clean energy assistance, and sustainable landscapes. The total budget request for FY 2013 is $769.5 million. It may seem like a rounding error when compared with the trillions spent in the past four years, but it is significant.
|— Hat tip: JD
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The Most Dangerous Man in the World
Ed Note: This is a speech I first gave to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 1996, just four years after the UN's Earth Summit in Rio. At the time I gave this address there were strong indications that Maurice Strong could be chosen as the next UN Secretary General. It didn't happen, but that didn't diminish his influence over the body. In fact, In 1996 all roads in the UN led to Maurice Strong. This speech represented the first time that the CPAC audience and most conservatives had ever heard of the radical agenda of the environmental movement. It was probably the first time the term Sustainable Development was ever heard by a conservative audience. In fact, at the time I gave this speech, environmentalism was the most popular and most powerful movement in the world. Yet, here, 15 years before "Climategate" I was revealing the very root of what was to become the "Climate Change" movement and its drive to destroy the industrial West. By the way, tapes of this speech became the most popular of any ever produced by the American Policy Center and continues to be one of our best sellers. TD
So, when Maurice Strong speaks of Man's consumption of meat, the use of air conditioning, or the ownership of suburban housing, can there be any doubt what he plans for the future? Can there be any doubt where he intends to take the United Nations once he's Secretary General?
Maybe this will make it clearer. In yet another interview, Maurice Strong said, "It is not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful." That's the Constitutional sovereignty of the United States he is talking about. And what does he plan to do about it?
You may have heard recent reports that the United Nations is floating the ideas for global taxation to fund the UN's activities. There has been a lot of whining that the UN can't live on its members' contributions and that sound economics demand that it find an independent way to sustain itself. The media is reporting these taxation ideas as just possibilities. But the plan is very well along toward implementation, and Maurice Strong is the driving force behind it.
But there's more — Maurice Strong, the man who will soon rule the United Nations' empire, the man who will control the UN's army and its massive income and will be unelected by any of us — wants to write a novel.
During an interview for "West" magazine, Strong mused about the plot of his novel. It reveals much about how the man thinks.
According to Strong's book idea, each year, world leaders would meet in Switzerland for an economic forum. These leaders would decide that the only way the planet could survive would be for the rich nations to voluntarily agree to reduce consumption. Strong goes on to explain that, in his novel, the rich countries do not sign such agreements, so the world leaders decide the only way to save the planet is to bring down industrialized societies.
They create a secret society and place its members in strategic government positions and at the helm of critical financial institutions. Then at meetings of the forum in Switzerland, mercenaries are hired to hold the world leaders hostage while the members of the secret society proceed to crash the world's economy by jamming the gears of the commodity and stock markets preventing any of the world's markets from closing.
Within hours, "the rich countries…" Strong stopped the story and flicked his fingers as if he were tossing a cigarette butt. — gone.
|— Hat tip: JD
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Time to Terminate Big Wind Subsidies
Unprecedented! As bills to extend seemingly perpetual wind energy subsidies were again introduced by industry lobbyists late last year, taxpayers finally decided they'd had enough.
Informed and inspired by a loose but growing national coalition of groups opposed to more giveaways with no scientifically proven net benefits, thousands of citizens called their senators and representatives—and rounded up enough Nay votes to run four different bills aground. For once, democracy worked.
A shocked American Wind Energy Association and its allies began even more aggressive recruiting of well-connected Democrat and Republican political operatives and cosponsors—and introducing more proposals like HR 3307 to extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC). Parallel efforts were launched in state legislatures, to maintain mandates, subsidies, feed-in tariffs, renewable energy credits, and other "temporary" ratepayer and taxpayer obligations.
To confront the growing onslaught of wind industry pressure and propaganda, citizens should understand the fundamental facts about wind energy. Here are some of the top reasons for opposing further handouts:
Energy 101. It is impossible to have wind turbines without fossil fuels, especially natural gas. Turbines average only 30% of their "rated capacity"— and less than 5% on the hottest and coldest days, when electricity is needed most. They produce excessive electricity when it is least needed, and electricity cannot be stored for later use. Hydrocarbon-fired backup generators must run constantly, to fill the gap and avoid brownouts, blackouts, and grid destabilization due to constant surges and falloffs in electricity to the grid. Wind turbines frequently draw electricity from the grid, to keep blades turning when the wind is not blowing, reduce strain on turbine gears, and prevent icing during periods of winter calm.
|— Hat tip: JD
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US Ready to Bet $60 Million on 3D Printing
Today's 3D printers can already create robots and artificial body parts layer by layer based on computer designs. But the U.S. government has much bigger plans for the futuristic technology — it wants to reshape American manufacturing by offering up to $60 million for a new 3D printing institute.
Unlike traditional factories, 3D printing technology offers the flexibility of tweaking digital designs on the fly and then rapidly "printing" the physical object on demand. The new Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute would harness 3D printing as the first of up to 16 centers dedicated to U.S. manufacturing innovation — part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation announced by President Obama on March 9.
"This pilot Institute will serve as a technical center of excellence, providing the innovation infrastructure to support manufacturing enterprises of all sizes and ensure that the U.S. manufacturing sector is a key pillar in an enduring and thriving economy," according to the Air Force Research Laboratory's solicitation issued yesterday (May 8).
The Department of Defense has taken the official lead on the 3D printing effort, but civilian agencies such as the Department of Energy have also promised funding. Any university or research institute that eventually hosts the new institute is expected to match the taxpayer contribution for a possible total budget of $120 million.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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'Anonymous' Hackers Expose Norway Rivals
Norwegian police have confirmed the arrests of two suspected hackers after members of the Anonymous collective revealed the identities of a group of young people believed to be behind a spate of recent attacks on major websites. According to internet activists Anonymous Norway, the so-called distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks were perpetrated by a group calling itself DotNet
Among the organizations targeted by the hackers were security police service PST, DnB bank, a range of IT news websites, and national lottery firm Norsk Tipping. The National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) on Wednesday revealed it had arrested two suspects, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, in connection with attacks carried out in recent weeks.
The crimes of which they are suspected carry a maximum sentence of six years, NCIS said.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Belgian Beer Triumphs on Export Markets
Belgian beer exports rose to 11 million hectolitres last year. Belgian beer is in increasing demand abroad and its special ales in particular that are doing well.
The Federation of Belgian Brewers reports that Belgian beer exports surged by 4.7% last year. In money terms the increase was even more impressive, but exact figures are not yet available.
78% of Belgian beer exports go to other EU countries, especially neighbouring countries. Exports beyond the EU have risen by 17%. It's especially the Japanese — up a thumping 73.5% — and the Americans — plus 16.7% — that have fallen for Belgian beer.
The lion's share of Belgian beer exports consists of lager, but the increase is most pronounced among special beers. Grimbergen, Affligem and the Trappist beers Westvleteren, Orval and Chimay posted impressive increases in their export figures.
Leuven-based AB InBev is responsible for half of all Belgium's beer exports. AB InBev markets popular brands including the Stella Artois lager, the Hoegaarden white beer and abbey beer Leffe.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Cardinal Bagnasco Unhappy With Low Turnout in Local Polls
(AGI) Vatican City — Following local elections in Italy, Cardinal Bagnasco said he hopes everybody can make serious contributions. Asked by reporters to comment on the results of local elections in several Italian cities on Sunday and Monday, the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI), Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, said he hopes "everybody, without distinction, can make serious and constructive contributions to help deal with the problems that are already being seriously addressed by the government and the parliament". Bagnasco went on to say that "the government will take into account the results of the vote". Pending the final results, he said that "the first element to be considered is the lower turnout which is evidence of indifference to the dynamics of politics and parties". Referring to the low turnout, Bagnasco added: "We can't be pleased, because voting is a fundamental expression of democracy".
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Child Sex Ring Jailed in Britain
A group of nine men of Pakistani and Afghan origin were sentenced to jail Thursday for grooming white British schoolgirls for sex, using drink and drugs.
The men, aged between 22 and 59, were convicted Wednesday of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16, and other offences.
Passing sentence at Liverpool Crown Court in northwest England, judge Gerald Clifton gave them prison terms ranging from four to 19 years. Some of the girls were as young as 13 at the time.
"All of you treated them as though they were worthless and beyond any respect," Clifton told the defendants. "One of the factors leading to that was the fact that they were not part of your community or religion. "Some of you, when arrested, said it was triggered by race. "That is nonsense. What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed."
The abuse took place in the market town of Rochdale outside Manchester in northwest England.
Eight members of the gang were of Pakistani ethnic origin. They included taxi drivers, a takeaway worker and a religious studies teacher. Some were married fathers. The other gang member was a 22-year-old Afghan illegal immigrant who will be deported once he has served his four-year sentence for conspiracy and trafficking.
Clifton said the group had been "grooming and sexually exploiting" several young girls.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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David Cameron: Euro Needs Single Government
British Prime Minister David Cameron told the Daily Mail newspaper that a successful eurozone requires a single government "There's nowhere in the world that has a single currency without having more of a single government," he said in Wednesday's edition. The eurozone accounts for 40 percent of UK's exports.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Denmark: Breivik Show Will Go on
Director says he has no plans to drop play based on mass muderer's manifesto
Christian Lollike, the artistic director of Café Teatret, says he has no plans to drop the play based on the manifesto written by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.
A story that appeared Monday afternoon on the website of public broadcaster DR seemed to indicate that Lollike was planning to cancel his controversial piece, 'Manifesto 2083'. Lollike seemed to indicate that he felt Breivik's public trial had accomplished what the director had stated were the goals of the play, namely to "demystify" Breivik and allow the public to hear the murderer's own voice.
But Lollike now says that was a misunderstanding on the part of DR.
"There is nothing to the story, and DR has promised to correct it. We are not cancelling the play," Lollike told Berlingske newspaper. "The trial obviously affects us, but I will only drop the play if I cannot write anything interesting."
'Manifesto 2083', which is scheduled to premiere in the autumn, was to be based on a manifesto Breivik published containing his personal philosophy, racist propaganda, diary entries and bomb-making instructions. Lollike said the point of using Breivik's own material was an attempt to show how a seemingly normal man could turn into a uniform-wearing mass killer that killed 77 Norwegians last summer.
Lollike said he now plans to change the play to include material other than the manifesto. "All I can say right now is that the entire play will not be based on the manifesto," Lollike told Politiken newspaper.
Lollike has been the subject of controversy since he announced in January that Café Teatre would stage a play about Breivik. He was accused of being insensitive to the victim's families and giving a mass murderer attention in a crass effort to sell tickets.
Pia Kjaersgaard, the leader of Dansk Folkeparti, was one of the most vocal critics of the play and she remains opposed to its production. "It is insensitive and distasteful even to think about turning this unspeakable tragedy into a play," said Kjaersgaard to DR Kultur.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Denmark: Teen Arrested in Folkets Park Assaults
Investigation continues in brutal attack on tourists
Copenhagen Police have arrested a 16-year-old boy in connection with Saturday afternoon's attack on three men and one woman in Nørrebro's Folkets Park.
The 16-year-old appeared before a magistrate in city court and is now being detained in a secure location. He was not jailed due to his age.
One of the victims was stabbed three times and suffered a collapsed lung during the attack. The four victims were driving near Folkets Park when they were assaulted by a group of between 10 and 12 people.
The area around the park is known for its open-air drug trade and has a history of gangs and violence. The most notorious example is the stabbing murder of an Italian tourist in 2003. In mid-April of this year, shots were fired at a car as it drove down Stengade. The shots apparently came from inside Folkets Park. In a separate April incident, three Polish victims were assaulted with guns and knives on Kapelvej.
"This cannot continue," Lau Thygesen of the Copenhagen Police told bt.dk. "There cannot be areas of Copenhagen that are unsafe for people to enter."
Police say that the 16-year-old in custody is known in the area and that they are continuing to look for other suspects. The search is being hampered because the victims were so shaken by the attack. Even though the assault occurred in broad daylight, neighbours said they could not identify the perpetrators.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Denmark: Roskilde to Rock All Year Round
Long-planned rock museum clears final financial hurdles and will open in 2014
For many, the name Roskilde is synonymous with music and instantly brings to mind thoughts of four summer days of concerts and camping. In the near future, the tunes won't be confined to just a few days in July, and fans will get the chance to enjoy rock music in Roskilde all year round. The long-planned Danmarks Rockmuseum recently received the final financial donations needed to start the project, which has been in the works for about ten years.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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EU Leaders Should be Like Putin, Says Romanian FM
"(Russian President) Putin is a very competent man, it would be good if leaders in Europe and our country were as competent," Andrei Marga, Romania's new foreign minister said during parliamentary hearings. The Liberal minister is set to clash with the country's president on the issue, a staunch pro-Atlanticist.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Europe Has Reached a Watershed Moment and Leaders Need to Refocus
By now you will know the result of the French Presidential election — and it could be momentous. We are at a watershed moment — not only in France but across the whole of Europe.
By Roger Bootle
The common European money — the euro — is just the most important addition to this list. It wasn't willed by the people but was rather thrust upon them by their leaders, without sufficient thought or preparation. They have created a monster which threatens to destroy the European economy — and with it, to threaten the world.
The euro is not the sum total of Europe's ills. Things were going wrong before it was created. European leaders have been focused on utterly the wrong things. Their dreams have been about building unity when they should have been about creating excellence — even if that means diversity, which it has throughout most of our European history.
The fault lies primarily with Europe's governments, which have been pursuing a chimera. They are big, but that does not make them effective. On the contrary, they are hopelessly ineffective at doing what governments have traditionally been there to do — defend citizens against internal and external danger.
Whether it is crime, immigration or defence, the modern European state is a pathetic failure. Big, dithery, expensive — but incompetent. That is the critique from the right. From the left now comes the complaint that the state is failing in its role as provider of "social security", under the onslaught of globalisation and market pressures.
The decline of Europe is the result of the interaction of economics and politics. Economic prosperity has allowed indulgence in self-destructive habits: degenerate politics have perpetuated the sources of decline, as politicians have dished out various opiates to the people.
Across Europe the people are stirring. Will the elites respond? If not, we are we going to be faced with something very ugly. The combination of economic collapse, lack of faith in political institutions, xenophobia and racism could be deadly.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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France: 93 % of Muslims Voted for Hollande
Via La Vie:
According to a poll by OpinionWay and Fiducial for Le Figaro, 93% of Muslims voted for Hollande. 7% voted for Sarkozy. The poll was conducted May 6th among 1000 voters.
According to the polling agency, there are about 2 million Muslim voters. 59% of Muslims voted for Hollande in the first round. 23% voted for Jean-Luc Melenchon (Left Front) and 7% voted for François Bayrou (Democratic Movement). Sarkozy got 4% of the Muslim vote in the first round
|— Hat tip: JP
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Germany: Cop Suspended for Radical Islamist Beliefs
Western German police chiefs have suspended an officer after they discovered he belonged to a branch of Salafist Muslim fundamentalists, and had been distributing radical religious material, it was reported on Tuesday.
"Disciplinary action is underway, with the aim to dismiss the man from the police force," North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Ralf Jäger confirmed on Tuesday. It is the first time a policeman has been suspended for radical beliefs in Germany.
The head of the Essen police force told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that the suspended officer does not believe in the German constitution, which is required of police officers — rather he holds Islamic law to be paramount. When questioned by state security if he lived under Islamic law, he said only that "what he believed privately was his business."
He has also admitted to having contact with radical Salafists who promote violence towards non-believers.
It also emerged that the 31-year-old, identified only as Ali K., had worked with the police intelligence service, spending six months in 2009 with a mobile observation team who were instructed to keep an eye on extremist activity.
Background checks showed that he was a Muslim but had no fundamentalist beliefs at that time.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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German Government Forced to Hand Over Secret Documents That Exposed Euro Flaws — Before They Became a Reality
The German government has been forced to hand over hitherto secret documents that expose the flaws of the euro — and the misgivings of European politicians — in the years before it became a reality.
Der Spiegel news magazine made a successful request for the release of the euro files at a time when the odds on Greece quitting the common currency within 18 months rise to 75 per cent and the chances of a complete shattering of the eurozone have never been higher.
Born in 1998 and introduced across the continent four years later, the euro was always a time bomb waiting to go off. Many of Helmut Kohl's aides had huge doubts at the time — and pinpointed Italy as the weakest link.
|— Hat tip: JD
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Huge Satellite Envisat is Dead in Space
The European Space Agency declared the death of its massive Earth-observing satellite Envisat today (May 9) after a month of mysterious silence from the school bus-size spacecraft.
Envisat is the world's largest Earth-watching satellite for civilian use, with ESA officials touting its 10th anniversary in space earlier this year. The $2.9 billion satellite was originally designed to snap high-resolution photos of Earth for five years, but managed to last 10 years during its successful mission.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Islam Seminar at Mackintosh Hall in Gibraltar
GIBRALTAR (Spain), 17 Jumada Al-Thani/8 May (IINA)-Moroccan Workers Association last week organised a two-day seminar and exhibition on Islam at the Mackintosh Hall. It included speakers from UK and invitations to all other major religions in Gibraltar who were represented. There were numerous explanatory posters about Muslim culture, exhibits on display including the Koran, religious artifacts, symbols and clothing. Speaking to the Chronicle Mr. Sarsri said that "co-existence, tolerance and acceptance of others" is a central tenet of the Islamic religion. "In the past Moroccans working in Gibraltar did not have stability. Now as we become more and more integrated, into the local community with more naturalisations taking place, we thought it would be appropriate to do an event like this, so that people better understand what Islam is," he declared. "We want to show the real nature of our religion and our true intentions," he said.
"People of different faiths should have no problem with each other. Hate is a crime for us. While we believe that our route to salvation is the correct one we have no ill feeling toward people of other religion whatsoever," he added.
[JP note: Liar.]
|— Hat tip: JP
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Italy: Four Ciarelli Clan Members Held Over Pescara Fan Murder
(AGI) Pescara — Four Ciarelli clan nomads are being held over the murder of Pescara fan Domenico Rigante. The men were arrested by the flying squad last night, in connection with the killing 24 year old Domenico Rigante on 1st May. They are now in prison, accused of murder, attempted murder, carrying illegal weapons, breaking and entering and threatening behaviour. Three of the men are brothers, cousins of Ciarelli, the 24 year old who was arrested on Saturday for shooting Rigante, and a nephew.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Italy: Police Raid World's Oldest Bank
Siena, 9 May (AKI) — Italian finance police on Wednesday raided the headquarters of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the world's oldest bank, on suspicion of market manipulation related to its 2007 purchase of Banca Antonveneta.
Investigators believe Italy's third-largest bank may have obstructed regulatory activity and misled financial markets when it bought the smaller lender from Spain's Banco Santander, the Siena prosecutors office said in a statement.
The investigators are looking into how MPS financed its 9 billion-euro acquisition of Antonveneta.
The Tuscan bank said it will "assure the maximum collaboration" with investigators.
MPS was founded in 1472.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Italy: Ex-Fiat Workers Vent Anger in Front of Tax Office
Termini Imerese, 9 May (AKI) Hundreds of former Fiat workers demonstrated Wednesday in front a tax-collection office in a Sicilian town where the automaker shut a plant to protest against bleak work prospects.
The Equitalia tax office has become a sort of symbol for disgruntled Italians to vent their anger against a weak economy, high unemployment, and a government that raised taxes, reformed pensions and waged a war on tax cheats to put its finances on firmer footing.
The Termini Imerese assembly plant in northern Sicily where Fiat made its Lancia's Ypsilon brand closed in December and employed around 1,400 workers.
Armed with a rifle and two pistols, a 54-year-old businessman in financial difficulty last week took 15 hostages at the Equitalia tax collection office in the city of Bergamo. He released all but one hostage and threatened to kill himself before being arrested after a six-hour standoff.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Italy: Law on False Accounting to Fight Corruption, Di Pietro
(AGI) Rome — "On false accounting we want to see whether the government and its parliament majority will pass from words to facts. We have always asked for the elimination of this shameful regulations", as Italia dei Valori president Antonio Di Pietro said. Di Pietro is the first proposer of a law to bring back the offence of false accounting. "The offence of false accounting — he added — was one of the few regulations that still worked against corruption, before Berlusconi eliminated it. Now we are at casting out nines: if they really want to fight corruption and tax evasion our proposal must be rapidly passed" ..
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Italy: Senate Passes 'Golden Share' Bill Into Law
Changes rules on 'strategic' holdings
(ANSA) — Rome, May 9 — The Senate on Wednesday passed into law a reform to Italy's golden-share policy changing the state's veto power in companies in strategic sectors of the economy.
The decree redesigns the Italian policy of special government powers in the sectors of defence and national security, energy, transport and communications, in compliance with parameters defined by the European Union.
The measure is a response to a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling against Italy in 2009 for criteria which the ECJ said were "too vague and imprecise" and penalized investors who could not predict a government veto.
The golden share had long been criticised by the EU and the former European commissioner for the internal market, Charlie McCreevy, who repeatedly said that "golden shares have no place in the single market".
Supporters of the golden share argued that the state should have veto powers in companies which operate under a government license which cannot be bought or sold, as in the case of transport, telecommunications and utilities.
Under the new decree, the government can only veto acquisitions in those sectors made by parties outside the European Union.
Special provisions were made for defence contractors such as Finmeccanica, retaining some government veto rights in the interest of national security.
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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Italy: Tax Evasion Rife in Rural Bed and Breakfasts and Health Spas
Rome, 9 May (AKI) — Over a quarter of rural bed and breakfasts, health spas and resorts are dodging taxes, according to the results of recent raids carried out across Italy by tax police.
The raids uncovered some 1,000 people being employed off the books in rural bed and breakfasts, health spas and resorts and uncovered tax irregularities in 1,700 enterprises out of 6,000 targeted.
The highest proportion of tax evasion was in the south (36 percent), followed by the north (26 percent) and the lowest in central Italy (23 percent), according to tax police.
While some of the businesses were paying no tax at all, others were not declaring the full amount of their takings. One rural bed and breakfast near the northwestern port city of Genoa issued regular invoices to guests but recorded only half the amount they paid, police said.
Another bed and breakfast owner in the eastern coastal city of Pesaro refused to allow guests to pay with bank cards, telling each one that his machine was out of action, and made them pay cash without giving them a receipt.
During the raids, police also seized meat and other foodstuffs which were past their sell-by date, which in some cases had been altered by hand with a biro. They also uncovered rotting fruit and unlabelled soft drinks.
Italian agriculture group Coldiretti praised the crackdown. "Too many outfits are are out there which are not officially recognised as rural bed and breakfasts and which are damaging the agriculture sector's image and unfairly taking away business from it," said the group.
The number of rural bed and breakfasts in Italy has virtually doubled over the last decade and the official number is over 20,000 according to Italy's central statistics office Isat.
Official Italian rural bed and breakfasts are typically small farms where guests are should to be able to enjoy homecooked fresh, organic produce.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Mini Mammoth Once Roamed Crete
Evolution crafted pint-sized pachyderm on Mediterranean island.
Scientists can now add a 'dwarf mammoth' to the list of biological oxymorons that includes the jumbo shrimp and pygmy whale. Studies of fossils discovered last year on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea reveal that an extinct species once thought to be a diminutive elephant was actually the smallest mammoth known to have existed — which, as an adult, stood no taller than a modern newborn elephant.
Previously, the ancient pint-sized pachyderm was known only from fossilized teeth unearthed in Crete in the early twentieth century. Even though those molars had some features that were characteristic of mammoths, the scientist who described the species at the time placed it on the elephant branch of the tree of life, mistakenly thinking that a mammoth couldn't have co-existed on the tiny island with another known species of elephant. But reanalysing those teeth and another fossil molar found at the same site last summer revealed a distinctive pattern of ridges and loops in tooth enamel that is seen only in mammoths, says Victoria Herridge, a vertebrate palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Netherlands in Treaty With India for Healthcare Personnel
NEW DELHI, 09/05/12 — Health Minister Edith Schippers expects that a treaty can shortly be signed between the Netherlands and India on the exchange of personnel such as nurses.
The minister is currently leading an economic mission of some 20 companies and institutions. She has discussed areas that are interesting for partnership including vaccinations, biotechnology and ICT in healthcare. She was not yet able to give details of the treaty.
Schippers sees big opportunities for Dutch companies in the Indian healthcare sector, currently estimated at about 50 billion euros. India is among the top three countries with the fastest-growing investments in this area. The minister expects that the Netherlands can also advise India in the area of health insurance.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Norway: Bank Tells Customer: We Don't Take Cash Anymore
A returning Norwegian traveller wanting to pay cash into his account thought bank staff were pulling his leg when they told him they no longer accept bank notes.
Last week, Bjart Berge headed to his local Nordea branch in Stavanger city centre to deposit his remaining dollars after returning from a trip to the United States, only to be told the bank no longer handles cash of any kind over the counter, newspaper Bergens Tidende reports. "I thought it was an April Fool's joke; I couldn't believe it was true," Berge told the newspaper.
The Stavanger branch stopped taking cash on May 1st, bringing it in line with company policy. Of Nordea's 98 branches in Norway, only nine still handle cash. Nordea spokesman Thomas Sevang explained that the bank was in the process of automating all its cash services and was installing new machines for withdrawing and depositing cash across its network.
"He (Berge) has encountered the bank of the future," said Sevang. But in the bank of the present, none of the deposit machines take dollars, and the bank was not able to say when this would become possible. "You can take money out of an ATM in either Norwegian or foreign currency," said Berge. "The same should apply for deposits. But when that possibility doesn't exist, it's a bit early to cut the umbilical cord."
Nordea's Sevang said he understood it wasn't optimal for the customer to have to ask a friend to deposit the dollars in another bank before having the money transferred to his own account.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Norway: Breivik 'Whooped With Joy' On Killing Spree
Anders Behring Breivik whooped with joy as he shot dead dozens of people on his murderous killing spree last July, a witness told an Osloo court on Wednesday. Tonje Brenna, secretary-general of the ruling Labour Party's youth wing (AUF), said she could see the 33-year-old right-wing extremist holding his gun as he stood three to four metres above her hiding place on Utøya island.
"I am absolutely certain I heard cries of delight when his shots hit their intended targets. If I were to spell it out, it would maybe be: 'woo-hoo'. They were obvious scenes of happiness," the 24-year-old Brenna told the court.
Prosecutor Svein Holden pointed out that Breivik has denied this to be the case, but Brenna said she was sure of what she had heard as she lay playing dead on a rock near the so-called Lovers' Path where many of her peers were killed.
Brenna described how she and two boys had led an estimated 20 youths down a cliff face. But the hideout did not protect all of its occupants, with Breivik returning several times to fire shots down at the group.
"There were mini-avalanches of rocks and soil as people fell down. One relatively big rock landed on my neck and I'm fairly sure this rock was hit," she said, explaining how close she believes she came to being shot.
To help ward off the desperation and fear, she said the young people tried to encourage each other by saying things like: "We'll be home in the warmth tomorrow watching the Saturday movie with our parents".
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Polish President Asks Ukraine to Repeal Outdated Laws
(AGI) Warsaw — In the dispute between the Ukraine and Europe concerning the detention of Yulia Timoshenko, Broisaw Konorowski, the president of Poland which together with the former Soviet republic will host the European Soccer Championships, spoke out today demanding that the Ukraine repeal its "anachronistic" laws used to pass prison sentences on politicians, even when charges involved decisions made when in power. The former Ukrainian prime minister Timoshenko has been sentenced to serve a seven-year prison sentence for abuse of power.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Stakelbeck on Terror Show: A Conversation With Geert Wilders
On this week's edition of Stakelbeck on Terror, we sit down for a wide-ranging interview with Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders.
Al Qaeda wants him dead. The British government once labeled him a security risk. Even in his own country, some want him thrown in prison—or worse. Such is the price today for speaking out against Islamic jihadists.
Wilders—who leads the Freedom Party, Holland's third largest—has been called "Islam's Public Enemy Number One" because of his bold stance against the Islamization of Europe.
In his new book, "Marked for Death: Islam's War Against the West and Me," he describes his personal ordeal and lays out his case against Islam and multiculturalism.
Click the link above to watch the interview.
|— Hat tip: Erick Stakelbeck
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UK: 'Targeted Because They Were Not Part of Your Community or Religion': Judge Blasts Sex Grooming Gang 'Driven by Lust and Greed' As They Are Jailed for Total of 77 Years
A judge today said nine men preyed on white girls as young as 13 for sex 'because they were not part of your community or religion' as he jailed them for a total of 77 years.
The men, all but one originally from Pakistan, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after they were convicted of luring up to 47 girls into sex with drink, drugs, fast food and free taxi rides over a number of years.
One girl was subjected to a horrific ordeal when she was raped by 20 men in a single night.
Opening his sentencing remarks, Judge Gerald Clifton said: 'All of you treated (the victims) as though they were worthless and beyond respect.
'One of the factors leading to that was the fact that they were not part of your community or religion.
'Some of you, when arrested, said it was triggered by race. That is nonsense. What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed.'
The hearing took place amid tight security with police standing guard in the courtroom and around the building amid fears of a large demonstration or disruption by far-Right groups.
The ringleader, a 59-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for a total of 19 years for conspiracy, two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, sexual assault and a count of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.
The defendant was previously banned from court because of his threatening behaviour and for calling the judge a 'racist b******'.
Simon Nichol, defending, earlier said that his client did not wish to attend the sentencing hearing and had ordered the barrister not to put any mitigation before the judge on his behalf.
Mr Nichol said: 'He has objected from the start for being tried by an all white jury and subsequent events have confirmed his fears.
'He does not take back any of the comments he has made to your honour, to the jury, or to anyone else in the court during the course of the trial.
'He believes his convictions have nothing to do with justice but result from the faith and the race of the defendants.
'He further believes that society failed the girls in this case before the girls even met them and now that failure is being blamed on a weak minority group.'
The judge called the defendant an 'unpleasant and hypocritical bully'.
|— Hat tip: Gaia
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UK: 9 Men Sentenced for Rape of 631 Teenagers Over 5 Years
(AGI) London — Nine men of Pakistani origin are accused of having raped 631 teenage girls from youth shelters over the past five years, the Times of London reports, explaining that on Tuesday the rapists were all found guilty of sexual violence by a court in Liverpool. The victims, writes the Times, were drawn from centers, drugged or made drunk and taken to apartments, pubs and clubs with the complicity of the taxi driver to Greater Manchester, in Lancashire, and West Yorkshire where they were systematically raped. Two of the girls from shelters in Manchester and Rochdale died because of the violence. According to the Times investigations verified that the youth shelters, which have over 1,800 teenagers, registered 631 cases of girls between the ages of 12 and 16 being used for sexual purposes, of which 187 in the last ten months alone. The trial, which saw nine men between 22 and 59-years of age sentenced, among whom eight were of Pakistani origin and one Afghan exile, out of a total of 26 arrests and 56 questioned, revealed that many cases could have been avoided if the police had not ignored a complaint made in 2008 by a social services employee who spoke of "clear evidence of sexual exploitation organized in youth centers." At the same time, a complaint by a 15-year-old girl claiming to have been raped by ten men was considered not reliable by the police. The behavior forced the Manchester police and Rochdale social services to publicly apologize for mistakes that "delivered children into the hands of rapists." .
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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UK: Bournemouth Councillor Suspends Herself After EDL Twitter Comment
A Bournemouth councillor has apologised "unreservedly" after saying online that only the English Defence League "sticks up for the English". Conservative councillor Sue Anderson said she had suspended herself from the party and referred herself for disciplinary procedures. She made the comment via her Twitter account on Saturday. Ms Anderson said she had also referred herself to Bournemouth Council's Standards Board.
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Daughter of Widow, 94, Tells How She Tried to Save Herself From Yob as £5,000 Reward is Offered for Arrest
[WARNING: Disturbing content.]
A 94-year-old who was savagely attacked in her own bed has told relatives how she was 'screaming for help but no one came'.
Great-grandmother Emma Winnall was found unconscious and covered in blood when carers came to check on her on Tuesday morning last week.
And a £5,000 reward was offered today for information leading to a conviction in the case of the brutally beaten pensioner.
She had a fractured skull, a broken arm and wrist and a partially severed finger. The beating was so severe that the frail widow's palms were bruised from her attempts to protect herself, while blood had splattered on to the walls behind her bed.
|— Hat tip: JD
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UK: Drug-Dealing Armed Robber Might Escape Deportation; 'it Would Violate His Human Rights'
A drug-dealing robber from Jamaica could be allowed to stay in the UK after complaining that being sent home would violate his human rights.
Despite an order for deportation, Peart could now be allowed to stay in the country after a ruling by three senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London.
Lord Justice Moore-Bick said that, among other things, a lower judge had failed to take proper account of the effect deportation might have on his young son.
|— Hat tip: JD
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UK: For Queen and Country Muslims Go the Extra Mile
LONDON, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ —
Thousands expected for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee charity walk
Muslims from across Britain are heading for London — to honour Her Majesty The Queen. They will converge on the Tower of London on May 13th for a 10km charity walk which is expected to raise up to half a million pounds for The Queen's charities. The charity walk is an annual fixture in the community's calendar and in recent years has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for British charities each year. This year a special effort is being made in honour of the Diamond Jubilee. Mayor of London, Boris Johnson; Secretary of State for Communities, Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP; and a number of senior figures from charities; the Metropolitan Police; and the Armed Forces together with various diplomats and parliamentarians will attend the historic walk. The occasion will also see the launch of 100 special buses in London congratulating The Queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. The banners on the London buses will also sport the Jubilee Logo and the Ahmadiyya Muslim motto: Love for All, Hatred for None. The charity walk & the bus campaign are a prelude to a series of activities to mark the Jubilee celebrations including:
- A letter from the worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, to Her Majesty The Queen congratulating her on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee
- Interfaith peace symposiums and jubilee dinners across the country
- Ahmadiyya Muslim mosques being lit up and decorated and sporting the British flag
- Prayers for the Queen
- Charity events in aid of British charities
- Blood drives to donate blood in the UK
The National President of the UK Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mr Rafiq Hayat, said:
"We share in the national pride and joy at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. As Muslims, we feel we are duty bound to serve Queen and country and we regard this as an important act of faith. Love for our country and its monarch is our Islamic obligation. It is with a tremendous sense of national pride and civic duty that we participate in this charity walk that provides a testament to our faith and sense of duty to Queen and country. Our mosques throughout Britain will be decorated for the Jubilee and will host dinners or organise street luncheons to mark this historic occasion."
The event is entirely organised by an army of volunteers with every penny being raised going to charity.
Contact: Basharat Nazir, [email protected], Tel +44-7703-483-384 OR Mahmood Rafiq, Tel +44-7971-060-962,
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Grooming Offences Committed Mostly by Asian Men, Says Ex-Barnado's Chief
Martin Narey urges inquiry into why Pakistanis and Afghans are 'overrepresented' in child exploitation crimes in northern towns
The former head of Barnardo's has said that grooming of teenage girls for sex in the north of England appears to be "overwhelmingly" carried out by men of Pakistani and Afghan origin and urged and investigation into the issue. Martin Narey's comments came as nine men — one from Afghanistan and the rest of Pakistani backgrounds — await sentencing for being part of a child exploitation gang that passed vulnerable girls around a group of men for sex in the Heywood area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in 2008 and 2009.
He said he was not stigmatising the Asian community as a whole, noting that during his time managing the prison service — prior to joining Barnardo's — sex offenders were "overwhelmingly white", but the Labour MP Keith Vaz warned that the BNP was setting the agenda.
Narey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For this particular type of crime, the street grooming of teenage girls in northern towns … there is very troubling evidence that Asians are overwhelmingly represented in the prosecutions for such offences." The former Barnardo's chief executive said he did not know the reason for their "overrepresentation" and rejected the idea they were specifically targeting white girls. He suggested that vulnerable girls on the streets were more likely to be white, while Asian girls subjected to strict parenting were more likely to be at home and so less prone to fall victim to such crimes. He added: "I'm not saying this is just Asian or Pakistani men… [but] street trafficking in the north does appear be overwhelmingly about Pakistani and Afghan men."
Vaz, chair of the home affairs select committee, warned against generalisations and said the criminal justice system "shouldn't dance to the tune of the BNP". Security outside Liverpool crown court, where the nine men were tried, was stepped up after hundreds of English Defence League and BNP protesters picketed the court. The trial was almost derailed when the British National party leader, Nick Griffin, tweeted that seven verdicts had been reached, which was an alleged contempt of court. The trial was also delayed for a fortnight at the outset in February when two Asian defence barristers were attacked outside the courtroom by the far-right. Vaz told the Today programme that the police themselves had said that it was not a race issue, citing Greater Manchester's assistant chief constable, Steve Heywood, who said: "It just happenst hat in the particular area and time the demographics were that these were Asian men."
Vaz, the MP for Leicester East, said: "It's quite wrong to stigmatise a whole community … This is where it all ends up. It's already extended from 'Pakistani men' into 'Asian men' — that's a very wide group." He added: "What the BNP is saying is that this is a crime committed by Pakistani men and Asian men — that's wrong." Narey said the fact that the BNP were trying to make political capital out of the issue should not prevent discussion. Abdul Aziz, 41, Abdul Rauf, 43, Mohammed Sajid, 35, Adil Khan, 42, Abdul Qayyum, 44, Mohammed Amin, 45, Hamid Safi, 22, Kabeer Hassan, 25, and a 59-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons will be sentenced on Tuesday.
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Keith Vaz Says Child Sex Ring Case 'Not Race Issue'
Leading MP Keith Vaz has insisted the case of an Asian paedophile gang that exploited dozens of vulnerable white teenagers is not a "race issue".
Mr Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said the "appalling" offences of the kind carried out by the gang needed to be looked into but it was important not to "stigmatise a whole community". He made the remarks after nine men from Rochdale were convicted for their role in a child sex ring.
Police and social workers have been accused of failing to investigate the gang for fear of being perceived as racist, allowing them to prey on up to 50 young white girls.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood acknowledged that officers could have dealt with the case "better than we did". But he denied that the girl's complaints had been "brushed under the carpet" because officers were reluctant to confront the issue of race.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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UK: Live: Nine Men Sentenced for Sex Abuse of Young Girls in Rochdale
Nine members of the Rochdale sex grooming gang were today being sentenced at the end of the dramatic 11-week trial. The gang members were convicted of abusing five under-age white teenagers. They plied the troubled girls with drink and drugs before raping them and 'sharing' them with other men as far afield as Leeds and Bradford. Reporter John Scheerhout is at Liverpool Crown Court, and will update the live blog below with the sentences as they are read out …
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Muslim Council Condemns Shocking Sexual Abuse
There should be no place within Britain's Muslim communities for paedophiles or sexual abusers, said the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) today, reacting to news of nine men's guilt in an appalling grooming case. The men were found guilty of grooming teenage girls, following a 10-week trial in Rochdale. The court heard that these men used alcohol and drugs to help them prey on vulnerable young women.
"These are despicable and wicked acts which must not be tolerated within any society or any community," said Farooq Murad, Secretary General of the MCB. "No abuser should feel safe to hide their actions within their community," he said. "Our hearts go out to the victims, and our thanks to the police and those within the community who helped bring this case to court. I was outraged when I read of this case. There can be no justification whatsoever for this evil behaviour. There can be no religious or cultural explanation. It is simply abuse of humanity." He called on leaders within all communities to remain on their guard, create awareness and report such behaviour to the authorities as their duty.
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Manchester Sex Trafficking Case 'Not About Race', Say Police. Do They Expect US to Believe That?
by Damian Thompson
Six members of a gang who preyed on under-age girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester have become the first in Britain to be convicted of sex trafficking. All the men were of Asian background; all the victims were white. Yet were are asked to believe this:
Commenting on the case, Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood denied that it was about race. He said: "It is not a racial issue. This is about adults preying on vulnerable young children. It just happens that in this particular area and time the demographics were that these were Asian men."
Perhaps Mr Heywood would like to explain why some spokesmen for the Asian community don't agree with him. Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, says: "There is a significant problem for the British Pakistani community, there is an over-representation amongst recent convictions in the crime of on-street grooming, there should be no silence in addressing the issue of race as this is central to the actions of these criminals." And Jerome Taylor, religious correspondent of the Independent and a specialist in South Asian politics, has tweeted this:
Sadly, the far right will dominate the debate over sex-grooming gangs because of left's refusal to see the issue as race/culture specific.
But it's not just the Left's failure. How did the police manage to leap in one generation from a racist canteen culture — overtly and disgracefully hostile towards blacks and Asians — to disingenuous political correctness?
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Pensioner Fights Off Sword-Wielding Robber With Pen He Was Using for Sudoku Puzzle
Mr Dowe had just completed his Sudoku puzzle and was sitting down in the living room when Storey forced his way into the pensioner's home.
Moments later Storey threw a bed sheet over his victim's head and repeatedly punched him.
Michael Bunch, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: 'He (Mr Dowe) heard the living room door open and strike the back of his chair.
But Mr Dowe refused to give in to his attacker and began to fight back. He grabbed the pen he had been using to do the puzzle and struck out at Storey, the court heard.
|— Hat tip: JD
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UK: Rochdale Grooming Trial: Split Views on Race Issue
The conviction of nine Asian men for grooming and abusing white girls has prompted strong, split opinions on whether race is an issue in such cases. A Muslim community leader has said there is a "problem" of British Pakistani men thinking "white girls are worthless and can be abused". And the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) said it was "investigating why there may be a majority of Asians in these particular kinds of offence". But police said grooming was "not a racial issue" and MP Keith Vaz also said "no particular race or religion" tended to be involved.
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Rochdale Grooming Trial: Police Accused of Failing to Investigate Paedophile Gang for Fear Appearing Racist
Police and social workers were last night accused of failing to investigate an Asian paedophile gang for fear of being perceived as racist, allowing them to prey on up to 50 young white girls.
The nine men from Rochdale were yesterday convicted of abusing five vulnerable teenagers after plying them with alcohol, food and small sums of money in return for sex.
However, the true number of victims, who were "passed around" by the gang, is likely to be nearer to 50, police have admitted. Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have now apologised after they failed to bring the case of the first victim — Girl A — to trial following her cry for help in August 2008. One 13 year-old victim became pregnant and had the child aborted while another was forced to have sex with 20 men in one night, Liverpool Crown Court heard. Complaints to social workers and the police were ignored because they were "petrified of being called racist", former Labour MP for Keighley Ann Cryer said. Mrs Cryer, who has campaigned to bring the issue of Asian sex gangs to light, said the girls had been "betrayed" and condemned to "untold misery" by the police and social services. "This is an absolute scandal. They were petrified of being called racist and so reverted to the default of political correctness," she said. "They had a greater fear of being perceived in that light than in dealing with the issues in front of them."
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: Two Not Charged in Rochdale Grooming Gang Case: One Already in Jail, The Other 'A Victim' Herself
Two alleged members of the child sex grooming gang didn't face trial as it was 'not in the public interest'. One of them, Anya Miah, was a fugitive from the law when he was working as a chef at the Balti House in Heywood. Although jurors were told 'Chef' took part in the sexual abuse, prosecutors decided it was not in the public interest to charge him as he was already serving a long jail sentence for another sex crime. Miah, 53, of Picton Square, Oldham, was jailed for 15 years in February last year. He had repeatedly sexually abused a young girl over a three-year period in the late 1980s. The second alleged member of the gang who did not face charges is a young mum, now 19, dubbed The Honey Monster in court because of her size. She helped recruit fresh girls for the gang. From the age of 15, she became an enthusiastic helper, earning a finder's fee of £10 or £20 every time she brought a girl to one of the sex parties. She introduced a steady stream of new girls and had a year-long sexual relationship with the 59-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: The Truth About 'Asian Sex Gangs'
Despite the conviction of nine Asian men for child exploitation in Rochdale and worrying signs in the statistics, racial profiling won't help potential victims
In January 2011 the Times proclaimed a "conspiracy of silence" around groups of Pakistani men sexually exploiting white British girls. Political correctness and fear of appearing racist had trumped child protection, the paper claimed. Soon the terms "Pakistani" and "Asian" were being conflated, much to the disgruntlement of other British Asians and a heated media debate ensued around the "Asian sex gang" problem. Jack Straw demanded the Pakistani community take responsibility, while BNP leader Nick Griffin gleefully decried "Muslim paedophilia", campaigning with natty slogans such as "Our children are not halal meat". The EDL were regulars at major trials: either in the courtroom taking notes or outside spitting hate.
The defendants in question are at most nominally Muslim. Practising Muslims certainly aren't supposed to have sex with children. But race has proved a contentious and enduring feature of this crime's coverage. Opinions have been vociferous and commentators have rushed to explain a racial profile that is yet to be established clearly. And there have been official studies and action plans. Today saw the culmination of a major investigation, the latest in a series of high-profile trials involving large groups of adults sexually exploiting British children. All nine of those found guilty of crimes in the area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, had conspicuously Asian names.
|— Hat tip: JP
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UK: The End of the Media Mogul?
British lawmakers declared Rupert Murdoch unfit to run a major international company. Does this mark the end of the all-powerful media mogul in a democratic society?
Last week, British lawmakers found that Rupert Murdoch should take "ultimate responsibility" for the illegal practice of phone hacking that has corroded his global media empire.
A cross-party parliamentary committee said the 81-year-old lacked credibility, adding that his company was guilty of "willful blindness" toward its staff at the News of the World tabloid.
It's the latest in a series of blows for the man who has held sway over British politics for decades.
In the report, his company's British newspaper arm was also criticized for misleading parliament during its investigation into the hacking of phones belonging to prominent public figures and victims in high-profile crimes.
That scandal led to a public outcry against scandal-mongering journalism and to the closure of the Sunday tabloid News of the World last summer. Initially, "rogue reporters" were blamed for the incident, but it has since emerged that the practice was widespread. Several journalists from the mass-circulation Sun newspaper, also owned by Murdoch, have now been arrested over allegations of phone hacking and bribery.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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US Self-Defence Guru Tim Larkin Barred From Britain
Tim Larkin, a US self-defence instructor who teaches pupils to "inflict crippling pain from injury to easily damaged body parts" has been barred from Britain where he was due to give seminars in areas hit by last year's riots.
Tim Larkin, who runs Target Focus Training and has been accused of promoting vigilantism, was turned back at the airport in Las Vegas on Tuesday with notice that he had been denied entry by British interior minister Theresa May.
He had been due to speak at the Martial Arts Show in Birmingham and give classes in areas including Tottenham in north London, where a rioting and looting broke out last August. Mr Larkin's website says the core of Target Focus' philosophy is that "violence is rarely the answer, but when it is, it's the only answer".
It claims he has been teaching "elite military and law enforcement agencies in 58 countries" for 20 years. In a statement, the Home Office said: "We can confirm that the individual in question is subject to an exclusion order.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Wave of Violence in Germany Over Party's Use of Anti-Muslim Cartoons
GERMANY is beginning to regret its decision to allow a far-right political party to display anti-Muslim cartoons near mosques as part of an electioneering campaign. Spikes in violence at recent gatherings — including a major riot on Saturday that left two police officers seriously injured with stab wounds — have triggered fears of more bloodshed. Courts in Germany took the view that cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed and Allah — both outlawed under Islam — were acceptable in a country where freedom of expression is enshrined in the constitution. But with resistance growing to the tactics of the radical Pro NRW party, Germany is looking to defuse tensions.
|— Hat tip: JP
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World's Largest Telescope Eyes Swiss Funding
Switzerland is contributing around SFr65 million ($70.2 million) towards the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world.
The government on Wednesday gave the green light to paying five per cent of its costs, ensuring Swiss scientists would have access to the telescope, which according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will gather 100,000,000 times more light than the human eye.
The revolutionary ground-based telescope will have a 40-metre in diameter main mirror and will be "the world's biggest eye on the sky", the ESO added.
The E-ELT will take 11 years to assemble at a total cost of SFr1.3 billion. It will be built on Cerro Armazones, a Chilean mountain at an altitude of 3,060 metres and about 20 kilometres from Cerro Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope.
The ESO said the telescope would tackle the "biggest scientific challenges of our time" and aim for a number of notable firsts, including tracking down Earth-like planets around other stars in the habitable zones where life could exist — one of the Holy Grails of modern observational astronomy.
It will also perform "stellar archaeology" in nearby galaxies, as well as make fundamental contributions to cosmology by measuring the properties of the first stars and galaxies and probing the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
The ESO will take the final decision on construction and financing in June.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Energy: EU Aims at New Partnership With South Med States
Sources to be diversified
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS — A new EU-Southern Mediterranean partnership for energy: this is one of the proposals sent out by a report approved by the European Parliament's energy commission. According to the document, the European Union's objective must now be to reduce the reliance on Russian supplies and diversify sources. The idea has stemmed from here to exploit the enormous potential of solar energy held by regions in the South Mediterranean and the request by MPs in the European Commission to elaborate common strategies with the suppliers and key partners for the benefit of the whole Union.
According to the EU's energy commission, if members states decide to join forces with the European Commission, the Union will also hold a stronger position when contracting energy deals with third parties. The report speaks of "new sources for non Russian petrol, gas and electricity for those countries which rely too much from the single supplier." Russian gas amounts to 24% of all gas consumed in the EU but 12 states out of 27 actually employ up to 48%. The European Parliament's plenary council vote on the report is expected in June.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Egyptians Choose S Arabia Over Turkey as Model: Poll
The majority of Egyptians prefer Saudi Arabia over Turkey as a model for the role of religion in governance, a poll says. Six out of ten want Shariah while secular figures are paradoxically still most favored by society
Most Egyptians see Saudi Arabia as a better model than Turkey for the role religion should play in government as they want Islam to play a major role in society and believe the Quran should help shape the country's laws, a recent survey indicated.
When asked which country, Saudi Arabia or Turkey, served as the better model for the role of religion in government 61 percent said Saudi Arabia. Only 17 percent choose Turkey while the remaining 22 percent responded that neither country was an appropriate model, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. Results of the survey in Egypt are based on 1000 face-to-face interviews conducted from March 19 to April 10. The sample taken was representative of the country's adult population.
A majority of Egyptians, 64 percent according to the survey, continue to believe Islam plays a positive role in their country's politics. According to the survey, Egyptians want Islam to play a role in shaping the nation's laws as the majority, 60 percent to be exact, said Egypt's laws should strictly adhere to the Quran. About 32 percent say the country should follow the values and principles of Islam but not strictly follow the teachings of the Quran. However, most also endorse specific democratic rights and institutions which do not exist in Saudi Arabia, such as free speech, a free press and equal rights for women. Among those who choose Saudi Arabia over Turkey as the best model for Egypt, two-thirds also said democracy is preferable to any other kind of government. More than six out of ten people, or 64 percent, said it is very important to live in a country with a free press. Sixty-one percent responded with freedom of speech.
Army still popular
Despite the country's ongoing political conflict, many of the organizations and leaders who played key roles in last year's revolution, such as the military, the Muslim Brotherhood and the liberal April 6 Movement, remain popular. While the military's ratings may have dropped since 2011, a majority of Egyptians continue to view the military, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) and the country's ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi in a positive light. However, the influence of the military has dropped from 88 percent to 75 percent when compared to figures from 2011. Tantawi is well regarded by 63 percent of Egyptians, although his favorability rating has fallen from last year's 90 percent.
Of people surveyed 83 percent said religious leaders have a very good or somewhat good influence on the country. Despite the political turmoil which has surrounded the military over the past year 75 percent of Egyptians have continued to say it has a good influence in the country. Ex-Mubarak foreign minister and current presidential candidate Amr Moussa is also very popular with the Egyptian public with 81 percent giving him favorable ratings, down only slightly from 89 percent in 2011…
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Morocco: ISESCO Condemns Holy Quran Burning by American Pastor
RABAT, 17 Jumada Al-Thani/8 May (IINA)-The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) strongly condemned the insane gesture by Terry Jones, pastor of an Anglican church in the US state of Florida, who burned copies of the Holy Quran in callous disregard for the feelings of Muslims in the world. In a communiqué released today, ISESCO faulted Quran burning as being despicably racist and disdainful to Islam, and an intolerable affront to international law and the basic principles of human rights. ISESCO called for an international campaign to deter reoccurrence of similar crimes, and urged on the Florida church to severely reprehend the perpetrator and denounce such an act of aggression against revealed religions.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Morocco: Optimism After Election Hollande
No illusions on immigration politics, hope for more respect
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, MAY 9 — The election of Francois Hollande in France, Morocco's main partner, is not expected to change the relations between the two countries. But Morocco has closely watched the French elections. Morocco does not expect France to radically change its immigration policies, but does expect more respect and dignity for migrants, more than under Sarkozy. The outgoing president, in the eyes of most Moroccans, has dusted off reactionary ideas, in spite of the cultural diversity present in France, considered by Morocco to be France's real wealth. Focusing on Francois Hollande, his statements on the Renault factory opened in Tangiers are still an open question, but could be seen in the context of the electoral campaign. What Morocco expects from Hollande is a more balanced approach to the Middle East conflicts and the question of the Union for the Mediterranean, without forgetting about national sovereignty regarding the Saharan conflict. According to the results of the ninth foreign constituency, 9,415 of the 30,056 French citizens living in Morocco with a right to vote have voted for the socialist candidate Franois Hollande and 7,664 for outgoing president Sarkozy.
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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What the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Wants
by Hugh Fitzgerald
Watch the election rally for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi here.
Egypt now has its "democracy" and its "freedom." And that means the Jihad against Israel will be not a minor theme, not a major theme, but the theme, of Egyptian political life. And the American government refuses to understand this, and despite the best efforts of the well-informed to end aid to the Egyptian military — the aid that makes an assault on Israel more, not less likely, and that makes the task of Israel's Defense Ministry even more hellish than it already is — the Obama Administration refuses to recognize what has happened in Egypt. And the press, of course, whose members could take in the same material as is sometimes put up here, the videos and transcripts supplied so usefully by MEMRI, they do not do so?
Why don't they? Why don't they help inform the public, rather than continue to misinform and mislead and confuse it? Why does that happen here, and in the United Kingdom, and in France, and all over Europe? Why?
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Bomber in Al Qaeda Plot Was 'Double Agent, ' Say US Reports
A man under orders from al Qaeda to blow up a US-bound airliner was a double agent, according to media reports. The operative is believed to have infiltrated the group and volunteered for the mission.
The al Qaeda plot to bomb an airliner heading for the United States was disrupted with the help of a Saudi double-agent, according to media reports from the Washington Post and the New York Times late on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia's intelligence service played a pivotal role in planting operatives within the group known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
One man is reported to have spent several weeks undercover in Yemen, where a bomb designed specifically to escape detection at airports was being prepared for an attack.
The agent is understood to have volunteered for a mission to smuggle the bomb aboard an aircraft and detonate it. CIA operatives spent weeks tracking the bomb, which was eventually handed over by the Saudi agent after he left Yemen.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Iraq Demo Over 'Anti-Islam' Magazine Turns Violent
ARBIL, Iraq — Thousands took to the streets of the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil on Tuesday as a rally to demand swift punishment for a magazine editor who ran a story decried as "against Islam" turned violent. Demonstrators gathered in front of the Kurdish parliament building in Arbil to protest the article published in the latest issue of Al-Hamsa (The Whisper), a monthly magazine published in Kurdish and Arabic in the regional capital.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Kuwait: 'Prince of the Believers' Gets 10 Years Jail Term
Kuwait's criminal court recently sentenced a non-Kuwaiti in his fifties to ten years in jail with labor for pretending to be a prophet, said security sources. Lawyers Duwaim Al-Muwaizri and Adel Abdul Hadi sued the suspect for his claims.
Notably, the man had published online calls for people to convert to a doctrine that rejects all social and religious systems followed in Kuwait.
Commenting on the verdict, lawyer Al-Muwaizri said the suspect would have been executed if the recently approved law had been published in the official gazette.
"The suspect stated before the prosecution that he is the prince of the believers (amir al-momineen), the caliph of the Muslims and that people would have to believe him," said Al-Muwaizri. He said the suspect claimed to have followers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who support him financially.
Informed sources said the suspect was sentenced to death in KSA and that he is currently an unemployed retired Kuwait army soldier who used to live in Jahra.
|— Hat tip: RR
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Saudi Arabia: World's First Underwater Mosque Built in KSA
A group of private Saudi divers said they have built what they describe as the first underwater mosque in history and that they performed prayers inside it just after it was completed, Almadina Arabic reports.
The divers used massive plastic pipes filled with sand to construct the symbolic mosque under the water off the northwestern town of Tabuk, close to the border with Jordan, according to the newspaper. "One of our colleagues came up with this idea last summer and we decided to carry it out," diver Hamadan bin Salim Al Masoudi, said. "We have just completed the construction of the mosque. When we put the final touches on it, it was time for afternoon prayers, so we performed group prayers in the first underwater mosque in history," he added.
The story follows last Wednesday's announcement that the shipbuilding arm of Dubai World has signed a deal to develop undersea hotels in Dubai with a Swiss firm. Drydocks World unveiled an agreement with BIG InvestConsult, which holds the technology rights, to build the World Discus Hotel. The hotel, featuring a discus-shaped residential underwater building connected to another discus above water, will be funded by BIG which is in talks with other investors. "Drydocks and Maritime World is appointed as the exclusive main contractor for construction of the new concept hotels and cities floating in the Middle East," Drydocks said in a statement.
Extravagant projects were the hallmark of Dubai during the 2002-2008 boom years but many were put on hold or cancelled following the downturn. However, its logistics, trade and tourism sectors have performed well since and, benefiting from its status as a safe haven amid the Arab Spring, Dubai has been making a recovery. On Wednesday, the firms said two developments with five hotels attached to them are planned in the Middle East. The Swiss firm is eyeing the coast of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. "We are in the design and fabrication side for the project; it's the same concept as rigs," Khamis Juma Buamim, chairman of Drydocks World told reporters. This project has seven different types of designs and each will cost in the range of around $50m (AED 184m) to $120m (AED 441m). The amount varies based on the design. The discussions are to build these around the world, not just the UAE," he said.
[JP note: Can't wait until the Supreme Islamic Space Commission (SISC) put a mosque on Mars.]
|— Hat tip: JP
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Saudi Arabia: Breast Cancer Battle Starts by Breaking Taboos
Deal with General Electric on prevention campaign
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI — Breast cancer has a strong ally in Saudi Arabia: a conservative cultural tradition and a great decency, factor that delay prevention and therapy. But now the oil state has decided to throw its feelings of shame and social stigma regarding this issue overboard.
In fact several awareness campaigns have been organised, and technical measures have been taken in the medical field to fight the most widespread form of cancer in the country. Saudi Arabia has also started to work together with international organisations and institutions to fight against the existing ignorance, shame and suspicion. The most recent campaign was set up by princess Al Shaalan, the wife of king Abdullah, and General Electric. The programme is divided in four stages: the creation of a special website (www.healthymagination.me/ar, a GE project in which a billion USD is invested in cancer research over the next five years) with information in Arabic and English on prevention and on the instruments that are available for every woman to protect her health; the creation of a call-center; the availability of three mobile clinics to reach the more remote and rural parts of the kingdom, and the possibility of interventions at the Fahad Medical City in Riyadh. Breast cancer is the most common form among women in Saudi Arabia with an average rate of 18%, higher than the global average of 16%. Seventy percent of women are diagnosed when the tumour has reached a terminal stage, because they wait too long before visiting a doctor. This causes the mortality rate to be very high, made worse by the fact that 30% of cases of breast cancer are found in women under the age of 40. The taboo on a simple form of prevention, mammography, is hard to break in a country with a very strict sexual segregation — from bars to schools and sport, recreation and cultural events — and a strict dress code that covers the entire body. So going to a doctor is, paradoxically, a "courageous" decision in Saudi Arabia. In March, the month that was dedicated to the prevention of breast cancer, imams were asked to address the question in their sermons. In 2010 the disease was made more "visible" by the creation of the largest human pink ribbon ever created. The next goal is to remove the social stigma on women that have breast cancer. Patients are asked to talk about their disease in a short video that is posted on YouTube. Men will also be asked to be more involved, asking them to wear a pink ribbon for example or, more importantly, convincing them not to divorce their wife when she get breast cancer.
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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Turkey Tired of 'Government Controlled' Media
A growing number of young Turks are turning to social media, complaining that mainstream media are being increasingly controlled by the government.
Sitting in a busy cafe in downtown Istanbul, Hale holds her Blackberry, while sipping tea, and checks the latest events in Turkey.
"I am trying not to use the phone to check Twitter," says Hale, "I only check for hot news, or something urgent, mostly there is in Turkey. But I check newspaper sites less now because I get most of my information from Twitter." "You have blogs, you have news sites. So, I don't care what the mainstream media does," she says.
Hale is part of a growing phenomenon, according to media and Internet expert, Associate Professor Yaman Akdeniz, of Istanbul's Bilgi University. Akdeniz claims the media is increasingly seen as under the thumb of the government since its third successive landslide victory last year. "Since the elections," says Akdeniz, "we can feel that the media is not directly but indirectly controlled by the government."
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Turkey: Ankara's Nightmare, Post-Assad Partition of Syria
With Alawi state on Mediterranean, risking domino effect
(ANSAmed) — ROME — The nightmare scenario for Turkish diplomacy takes the following form: an exploding of Syria that has up to now been held together in the iron grasp of the Assad dynasty, leading to the risk of a partition of the country along lines of 'ethnicity', leading to an Alawi state bordering the Mediterranean, a Kurdish state between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan and a Sunni state on the remainder of the territory.
This is not officially talked about in Ankara, but according to political analyst Abdullah Bozkurt, the idea gives rise to "true concerns" along Turkey's corridors of power. There is indeed an impression that the moves of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad over the past months have been in this direction. Faced with a revolt by a Sunni majority, among which there is a strongly influential Alawi minority — that of the al-Assad clan — the regime appears to be working towards a kind of 'community-based cleansing,' preparing the way for a partitioning of the country. The rocky Mediterranean shore, a traditional territory of the Alawites who make up 12-15% of Syria's population, around the cities of Latakya, Banyas and Tartous (which is the base for the Russian Mediterranean fleet), would form the nucleus of an Alawi state that would remain under Assad's control. In this state the minority would be safe from pressures of the Sunni majority. Under the French protectorate following the First World War, there already was an Alawi state of Latakia between 1922 and 1936, which was allied with the French against the Sunnis.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Chess Greats Duel in Moscow in Echo of Soviet Epic
Chess world champion Viswanathan Anand of India goes up against Israel's Boris Gelfand in Moscow on Friday, in the first game of their battle to decide the world title — and $1.5 million in prize money. The last time two grandmasters clashed for the world crown in Moscow the Cold War was still raging and chess was one of its biggest psychological guns.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Russian Police Detains Opposition Activists on Victory Day
Russian police detained opposition activists including protest leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow early Wednesday ahead of the tightly-policed Victory Day parade. Police in riot gear detained several dozen including Navalny at an unsanctioned gathering in a small park on early Wednesday morning ahead of the parade on Red Square watched by newly inaugurated President Vladimir Putin.
Navalny's lawyer Nikolai Polozov told Moscow Echo radio station that Navalny was being charged with disobeying police, facing a maximum punishment of 15 days in police cells. He said that 23 others were detained but were expected to be released shortly.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Russian Parliament Confirms Medvedev as PM
Russia's lower house of parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly confirmed former head of state Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister after he was nominated by newly inaugurated President Vladimir Putin. Medvedev was backed by 299 deputies in the State Duma with 144 voting against his nomination, sealing a job swap with Putin who until his inauguration Monday had served as premier for four years.
Medvedev's approval had been guaranteed after the ruling United Russia party and the largely pro-government bloc of the ultra-nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky pledged their support. Putin then signed the decree meaning that Medvedev formally assumed his duties as premier.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Superjet: Russia's Great Aviation Hope
The Sukhoi Superjet 100, the Russian jet which has gone missing in Indonesia, is a brand new passenger plane built by Russia in a bid to lift its civil aviation industry from a post-Soviet crisis.
The Superjet only made its first commercial flight last year and if a major accident is confirmed it would be the first disaster to involve the aircraft, which is made by legendary Russian planemakers Sukhoi.
The plane is crucial to Russia's hopes of becoming a major player in the modern aviation market and improving its image in an industry scarred by frequent crashes of ageing Soviet-era jets.
The mid-range Superjet airliner is designed to carry up to 98 passengers and is a direct rival of similar aircraft produced by Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier.
So far it is being flown by two airlines, Russia's Aeroflot and Armenia's Armavia, although orders have been confirmed with several more. Its first commercial flight was operated by Armavia in April 2011 and Aeroflot followed later that year.
The demonstration flight in Indonesia was part of a tour called Asian Roadshow aimed at promoting the aircraft abroad that started May 3 and earlier took in Kazakhstan and Pakistan. It was due to go on to Laos and Vietnam.
In August last year, Indonesian regional carrier PT Sky Aviation agreed to buy 12 of the planes, with deliveries due to begin in 2012. The Superjet project is a joint venture between Sukhoi and Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, which is part of the aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Azerbaijan: Singing Its Own Praises: Azerbaijan's Eurovision P.R. Blitz
Last May, Ell & Nikki, an obscure duo from Azerbaijan, won the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. The country's President, Ilham Aliyev, treated the musical win like a military triumph, describing it as "a victory for the people of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani state." By winning the pan-European singing contest — which, kitschy as it is, unites the region like little else — Azerbaijan's capital city, Baku, earned the right to host this year's show, which will be broadcast to more than 100 million people at the end of May.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Bangladesh Teacher Arrested Over Burns on Pupils' Legs
Bangladeshi police have arrested a teacher from a religious school who allegedly placed a burning hot iron rod on the legs of her pupils for failing to pray regularly.
The teacher, Jesmin Akther, has made no comment. Police said she went into hiding after parents complained. Officials say 14 girls, aged between eight and 12, received burn injuries. Bangladesh banned corporal punishment in educational institutions, including religious schools (madrassas), in 2010. "Acting on a tip-off, we raided a house in the old part of Dhaka and we arrested Jesmin Akther, who is accused of burning the legs of her students. We are seeking to remand her in custody for seven days," police officer Shafiqul Islam told the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Indian Court Further Delays Marines' Hearing
'Release on bail' a possibility, says judge
(ANSA) — New Dehli, May 9 — The Indian supreme court in New Dehli on Wednesday put off a hearing until July 26 to decide jurisdiction for two Italian anti-piracy marines who allegedly killed two Kerala fishermen, Jelestine Valentine and Ajesh Binki, on February 15. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are being held in a jail in the city of Thiruvananthapuram and have been at the centre of a diplomatic row between India and Italy since being detained in February after an incident that took place while they were guarding the Enrica Lexie tanker.
The court said that the government had no objections to the two marines being transfered to another structure and that they had the "right to ask for release on bail".
The Italian government believes that, regardless of who has jurisdiction, the marines should be exempt from prosecution in India as they were military personnel working on an anti-piracy mission.
|— Hat tip: Insubria
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Indonesia: Islamists Warn 'Satanic' Lady Gaga
A HARDLINE Islamic group has warned it would not let Lady Gaga set foot in Indonesia.
The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) vowed to mobilise 30,000 demonstrators to protest the US artist's June 3 performance in Jakarta and to intercept her at the airport. "We will stop her from setting foot on our land. She had better not dare spread her satanic faith in this country," said FPI Jakarta chairman Salim Alatas. Her style is vulgar, her sexual and indecent clothes will destroy our children's sense of morality. She's very dangerous," he said.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Malaysia Police Hold Five Over Dutch Boy Kidnapping
Malaysian police said Wednesday they had arrested five people over the kidnapping of a 12-year-old Dutch boy who was returned to his family last week. Nayati Moodliar was abducted while walking to the Mont Kiara International School located in an upmarket suburb near the capital Kuala Lumpur on April 27.
He was found last Thursday by his family at a highway rest stop north of the capital where the kidnappers left him. Police said a ransom was paid. Bakri Zinin, head of the federal crime investigation department, told AFP that police investigating the case had arrested four men and a woman in Kuala Lumpur and northern Malaysia since Monday. The five were in custody and under investigation for kidnapping, he said.
Police are still looking for two other Malaysians, one of who is believed to have fled to Europe. Bakri said police would alert Interpol about the man. Police have also recovered some of the ransom paid by the Moodliar family for the boy's release, though Bakri declined to reveal any figures. Local media reported the ransom was 300,000 ringgit ($100,000).
The kidnapping drew wide attention with even Prime Minister Najib Razak calling via Twitter for the safe release of the boy, who has dual Dutch and South African nationality.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Pakistan: Slain Adnkronos Reporter to be Honoured in Washington
Washington, 9 May (AKI) — Slain Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad's name will be included on the Journalists Memorial at the Newseum in Washington.
The badly beaten body of Shahzad, 40, who worked as a correspondent for Adnkroknos International and Southeast Asia bureau chief for the Asia Times Online was found in a canal 150 kilometres southwest of Islamabad in May 2011, two days after he disappeared in the capital.
"He was killed for writing the truth and for this he sacrificed his life," the Newseum said in a statement, using the words of Shahzad's brother.
The 14 May ceremony will honour Shahzad and 71 other journalists who last year lost their lives because of their work.
The memorial is a two-story glass structure bearing the names of reporters, photographers, editors and broadcasters who have died in the line of duty, the Newseum says on its website.
Suspicion over Shahzad's murder has fallen strongly on ISI, which in an unusual move denied involvement in his death. Days before Shahzad's disappearance he published an article in Asia Times Online alleging links between Al-Qaeda and officials in the Pakistani navy.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Philippines: Imelda Marcos: The "Poor" Widow of Dictator Among the Richest Politicians in the Country
This is shown by the ranking published by the Philippine parliament commission to fight corruption. With assets of 22 million dollars the parliamentarian ranks second after the boxer Pacquiao. For years she has declared herself poor. Filipinos held slaves by a few rich and powerful political families.
Manila (AsiaNews) — With its wealth of 22 million U.S. dollars, Imelda Marcos, widow of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos is the country's second richest parliamentarian, after the boxer Manuel Paquiao. The news, which has emerged in recent days, has shocked the Filipinos, who fear the great influence of the former first lady and her family in Filipino politics more than 20 years after the death in exile of the dictator. AsiaNews sources explain that despite the "tabloid gossip" the question of the Marcos family shows the endemic problems of politics in the Philippines for decades in the hands of the same families.
"These families — they say — control the finance and base their power on clientelist relations, using the money to buy votes during elections. The system is consolidated and is difficult to change."
In these years, Imelda Marcos has always declared herself to be poor and penniless, although there were rumors about the immense fruits of her husband's crimes. Once elected deputy in 2010, she moved into a luxury apartment in one of the most fashionable parts of Manila and wears jewelry and designer clothing at parliamentary sessions, in sharp contrast to her vaunted poverty. On April 30, by virtue of the transparency policy promoted by President Aquino all MPs and Filipino senators have published their financial situation. As a deputy Marcos was forced to declare the list of assets.
According to sources, the continued success of Marcos was made possible through culture that characterizes the country, still based on clans and not on individuals. "Every Filipino — they explain — is tied to their land of origin. Once elected, politicians do everything to offer as many privileges as possible to their won people." This enabled Marcos to reappear on the political scene after her return from exile in the '1990s. In fact, despite the crimes of the dictator, the people of Llocos Norte (northern Philippines) continue to elect members of the family. To date, as well as his widow, his son Ferdinand Jr. is campaigning on the political scene, a former governor of North Llocos elected to the Senate in 2010, and his daughter Imee, elected governor in the same region where previously her brother had held power.
"Even Aquino — sources tell — is part of this system and, unfortunately, no different from others. Despite the good name and the apparent modesty of the President his relatives have huge estates and money invested in major Philippine companies."
The immobility of the Philippine political system is also visible in the parliamentary elections to be held May 13, 2013, for the renewal of the Assembly and Senate. The sources stress that from the lists of candidates little or nothing has changed, the names are always the same. Moreover, few people are able to finance an election campaign to destroy the system of patronage, especially in rural areas. To combat the problem, the Church began offering training courses since 2010 for young people about the true meaning of politics.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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The Worrying Truth About the Chinese Economy — Part II
Now on to the main argument in John Lee's brilliant analysis, which concerns the second phase of China's economic reforms:
"In a rapidly industrializing system, the Party faithful realized, urban elites determined the fate of authoritarian governments. The great lesson of the East European and Soviet revolutions learned in Beijing was that authoritarian regimes become irrelevant to their own elites at their very considerable peril."
Thus following the Tiananmen Square massacre, China's leaders ensured that the "most important and lucrative sectors of the economy" would be dominated by a select group of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). For instance, the state controls almost the entire banking sector in China and thus the accumulated savings of the Chinese people:
"Even though state-controlled enterprises produce 30-50 percent of all output in the country, they receive more than 75 percent of the country's capital, and the figure is rising. SOEs received more than 95 percent of the stimulus monies lent out in 2008-09 and an estimated 85 percent in 2010… the assets of SOEs amount to more than 66 percent of all assets in the country, up from 60 percent in 2003. This is the reverse of what occurred in China during the first ten years of reform, when the majority of new fixed assets were effectively controlled by the emerging private sector."
While the state encourages the SOEs to compete against one another and allows the existence of millions of privately-owned enterprises, the whole system is ruthlessly managed to enhance the control of the Communist Party — and to do so despite China's participation in world markets. Lee describes this system as "corporate Leninism" and he warns that it poses a massive challenge to the international liberal order created by the west. The cosy assumption that China will follow the same economic and political pathway as countries like Japan and South Korea is profoundly mistaken:
"It is a characteristic of the denatured Enlightenment mentality to think that the way the West developed in this regard essentially fell from the sky as the only logical possibility… China is too important to ignore, too big to intimidate and too formidable to browbeat. It will not march along a well-trodden path to some inevitable destination, just because Western observers are too intellectually lazy or culturally smug to imagine other possibilities."
We have been warned.
[JP note: Link to John Lee's article China's Corporate Leninism here http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1231 ]
|— Hat tip: JP
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South African Police Seize $6.8 Mln Assets From Rhino Poachers
South African authorities Wednesday seized assets worth almost $7 million of a game farm owner and two veterinarians accused of rhino poaching, police said. Prosecutors, police and environmental officials "seized assets in the region of 55 million rands ($6.8 million, 5.2 million euros) believed to have been acquired through criminal activities, particularly rhino poaching," national police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said in a statement.
More than 161 people are currently on trial for rhino poaching or the illegal trade in rhino horn. More than 200 rhinos have been poached in South Africa since the start of the year.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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EU Judges to Consider Qatada Case
Europe's human rights judges will meet to consider whether Abu Qatada's appeal over deportation should be allowed to go ahead. A panel of five judges will hold talks on Wednesday about whether the case involving the Jordanian terror suspect should be heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. A spokeman for the court has said it is possible they will not reach their final decision immediately and, even if they do, they may not announce it until later. They are also unlikely ever to reveal any reasons for their decision. Qatada's appeal, lodged on April 17, prompted a row with Home Secretary Theresa May over whether the three-month appeal deadline from the court's original decision on January 17 expired on the night of April 16 or 17. It will remain unclear whether Mrs May was right to claim that Qatada's appeal was made too late as the judges are likely to simply state whether or not the appeal against deportation can go ahead. Very few Grand Chamber appeals are successful, but if the appeal is granted, Qatada, 51, is likely to apply to a senior immigration judge for bail and could be freed from Belmarsh high-security jail within weeks.
|— Hat tip: JP
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House Votes to Stop Obama Immigration Lawsuits
The House voted early Wednesday morning to stop the Obama administration's lawsuits against state immigration laws. The amendment, which strips funding so that the Justice Department cannot pursue the lawsuits, passed 238-173. Twelve Democrats voted for it, while six Republicans voted against it.
The amendment specifically applies to laws in Arizona, Oklahoma, Missouri, Utah, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana. The Obama administration and immigrant-rights groups have sued to block laws in each of those states.
"Instead of using tax dollars to sue states, the Department of Justice and other branches of this government should start focusing on enforcing existing immigration laws," said Rep. Lou Barletta, a Pennsylvania Republican who as mayor of Hazleton oversaw a city ordinance cracking down on illegal immigration. "Until they do, the Department of Justice should not receive one federal tax dollar to sue states."
Last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Obama administration's challenge to Arizona's crackdown law, which requires state and local police to check the legal status of those they are investigating whom they suspect of being in the country illegally.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Italy: North African's Stabbing Sparks Rampage in Perugia
Perugia, 9 May (AKI) — Gangs of immigrants ran amok in the central Italian city of Perugia late Tuesday after a North African man was stabbed, smashing store windows and overturning rubbish bins in one of the main shopping streets, according to police.
The unnamed North African was taken to hospital, where his condition was not critical, doctors said. Police were called to Perugia's Corso Vannucci after residents and witnesses said they heard several shots being fired during the disturbances which broke out at around midnight .
Police said they were investigating a feud between rival immigrant gangs that may have triggered the late-night rampage.
On the orders of local magistrates, police in Perugia earlier on Tuesday arrested Albanian seven suspects following a year-long probe that investigators say smashed a major drugs and prostitution racket in the city.
|— Hat tip: C. Cantoni
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Netherlands: Iraqi Asylum Seekers Set Up Camp in Protest at Rejection
A group of some 50 failed Iraqi asylum seekers have set up camp outside the refugee centre in Ter Apel, urging the immigration service to re-open their cases, Nos television reports on Wednesday. At the end of last month, 76 Iraqi nationals were told their applications for asylum were being refused because the country is now safe enough to return to. The group of 56 in Ter Apel disagree.
Last year, a group of 45 Somali asylum seekers set up a similar camp in the Groningen village after they were refused permission to stay in the Netherlands. The immigration service agreed to look into their cases again and several were granted refugee status, Nos said.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Out of Bulgaria and Romania: Wave of Immigrants Overwhelms German System
Worlds are colliding as a flood of impoverished Bulgarians and Romanians stream into Germany, overwhelming authorities. But efforts to help integrate the new residents have been sluggish and many of the immigrants find themselves awash in system they don't understand.
In their hands they hold plastic bags filled with letters from German authorities and reminders from debt collection agencies, most of them unopened.
"Why do Germans write so many letters?" asks one Bulgarian woman, shaking her head in disbelief as she stands in a long line outside the Verikom advice center in Hamburg. "In our village we didn't even have a mailman," she says.
To ease her frustration, she has sorted her baffling assortment of mail. Yellow envelopes are overdue payment notices and therefore dangerous. Letters bearing a heraldic eagle are from the state. Colored logos usually mean bills from telephone companies.
Worlds have been colliding ever since increasing numbers of Bulgarians and Romanians began streaming into Germany. In many ways the authorities are just as overwhelmed by the often penniless European Union citizens as the immigrants themselves are by the realities of life in Germany.
This week, the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) will present its 2012 evaluation. The annual report, which analyzes collaboration on integration policy between national, regional and local authorities, comes to a sobering conclusion: Coordination is inadequate, while effective cooperation is largely non-existent.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Beastie Boy Adam Yauch: Not Just a Celebrity Activist
by Hadley Freeman
My brief encounter with Adam Yauch taught me that he was a musical pioneer, a champion of independent films, and a man who was true to himself
As is only right for a man who packed such diversity into less than half a century, it is impossible to choose just one detail from the career of the Beastie Boy Adam Yauch that sums up why his death last week at the cruelly young age of 47 feels so especially sad.
There's his film company, Oscilloscope Laboratories, which was behind some of the best indie films since its inception in 2008, including Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop and the breathtaking documentary about Maurice Sendak, Tell Them Anything You Want. Or there's the very funny 30-minute movie he made last year in which he satirised his own image, Fight For Your Right (Revisited). Seth Rogen, Danny McBride and Elijah Wood play the Beastie Boys, circa 1987, having just left the video for (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) and acting as bratty and hedonistic as the Beasties were thought to do then and, undoubtedly, did.
|— Hat tip: JP
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Obama Tells ABC News Same-Sex Marriage Should be Legal
President Obama declared for the first time on Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage, putting the moral power of his presidency behind a social issue that continues to divide the country.
"At a certain point," Mr. Obama said in an interview in the Cabinet Room at the White House with ABC's Robin Roberts, "I've just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."
The comments end years of public equivocating over the divisive social issue for the president, who has previously said he opposed gay marriage but repeatedly said he was "evolving" on the issue because of contact with friends and others who are gay.
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Obama 'Evolves' To Support of Gay Marriage
President Obama said Wednesday that he now supports same-sex marriage "personally," reversing his opposition amid growing pressure from his liberal Democratic base and some of his own administration officials.
"At a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," Mr. Obama told ABC News' Robin Roberts in an interview arranged specifically on the hot-button issue at the White House. He said his position has evolved "over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors."
Mr. Obama added that he came to the decision "when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or Marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained … because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage."
He is the first president to support same-sex marriage, although he didn't say in the excerpt aired by ABC how or whether he would pursue it as administration policy. The president did say he still supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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UK: Why Liberals Turn a Blind Eye to the 'Grooming' of Girls
by Ed West
To understand how a modern liberal will come down on any complicated issue, simply look for a victim. It's been the case in every major battle of the last 50 years, and it's an almost infallible guide to Leftist thinking. The conviction yesterday of nine men in Rochdale on "grooming" charges, a rather gentle word for the sexual abuse of children, is a classic example. Almost immediately the Guardian produced a comment piece denying that there was a racial element. Sunny Hundal made the same point, even while linking to a criminal justice report which seemed to suggest the opposite. The BBC this morning went out of its way to deny there was a cultural element to this phenomenon.
Yet if the overwhelming majority of perpetrators of a particular type of crime come from one ethnic group, we can say that this crime has a racial or cultural element; if the vast majority of their victims come from another group, definitely so. To deny this seems bizarre. As Norman Dennis once wrote: "One of the unintended effects of teaching statistics to students in social-affairs departments is that a historically unprecedented large number of people have been equipped with the tools that enable them to dismiss out of hand all figures but those they want to believe." Yet despite several prominent Pakistani-Britons saying as such, the liberal media still see their primary job as dismissing these figures in order to defend their favoured victims.
[JP note: Still too sensitive a topic for the Daily Telegraph to allow reader comments — similarly, for the Damian Thompson piece.]
|— Hat tip: JP
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World-Weary Swiss Seniors Seek Suicide Help
New figures show that more and more Swiss seniors are taking advantage of assisted suicide even when they do not suffer from any terminal diseases. The latest reports from Exit, the organization that offers assisted suicide to the Swiss, show that one in every five French speakers and one in every three German speakers opting for assisted suicide are not suffering from a life-threatening illness, newspaper Tribune de Genève reported.
This section of the elderly are coming forward in ever increasing numbers, citing "weariness of life" together with a bad bill of health as the main reason for the decision. Although not terminal, many suffer from debilitating health, with incurable problems such as blindness, incontinence and mobility issues greatly reducing quality of life.
Exit is able to assist these people because, although they are not quadriplegic or suffering from terminal illnesses, they nevertheless meet the required criteria: the person's prognosis must be for an incurable health issue leading either to death or disability, and physical and psychological pain and suffering must also be present.
"In addition, sometimes the last great hope (for some of these older people) in the winter of their lives is to join those who have already left," Jérôme Sobel, president of Exit in the west of Switzerland, told the newspaper.
Sobel explained that the expansion of types of cases taken on by Exit occurred as a result of requests from the organization's members. Nevertheless the practice is not without its critics.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Electronics of the Future May Thrive on Bacteria
Researches in the UK and Japan have turned to nature (read, magnetic bacteria) to help produce electronics on a nano scale. They say the bacteria could help us make better hard drives and faster internet connections.
Researchers at Britain's University of Leeds and Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have used a type of bacterium that "eats" iron to create tiny magnets inside themselves, similar to those found in traditional hard drives.
The research could lead to much faster, higher density hard drives and a range of other high-performance, environmentally friendly electronic devices, the scientists say.
"We're forever trying to make electronic components smaller but are quickly reaching our limits with traditional manufacturing techniques," Sara Staniland from Leeds University's School of Physics and Astronomy, told DW. "Nature can help us."
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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How Telerobotics Could Help Humanity Explore Space
Advances in telerobotics are in high gear here on Earth, enabling scientists to plumb the deepest oceans, extract resources from dangerous mines and even carry out high-precision surgery from thousands of miles away.
Now researchers are considering ways to adopt and adapt telerobotics for more far-reaching duties — in outer space. The ability to extend human cognition to the moon, Mars, near-Earth objects and other accessible bodies remotely could curb the challenges, cost and risks of deep-space exploration, some scientists say.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Is Einstein's Greatest Work All Wrong-Because He Didn't Go Far Enough?
From a farmhouse in the English countryside, gentleman scientist Julian Barbour plots to take relativity to its logical extreme and redefine the very nature of gravity, space, and time.
by Zeeya Merali
From the March 2012 issue; published online May 1, 2012
Perhaps the most far-reaching aspect of Barbour's view of gravity is that it could reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics, the physics of the subatomic realm, marking a major step toward the long-sought theory of everything. This incompatibility tortured Einstein in his later years and has flummoxed physicists ever since. The crux of the problem is that the quantum realm of the extremely small is defined by uncertainty. Before observing a subatomic particle, there is fundamentally no way of predicting exactly where you will find it when you measure it. Quantum equations describe only the probability of finding a particle in a certain place. This fuzziness is not due to poor measurement; it is an intrinsic property of particles on the quantum scale. In many, many experiments, quantum particles, when measured, turn up in various locations with the same frequencies as predicted by their probabilistic equations.
The problem comes when theorists try to combine relativity with quantum physics. Quantum mechanics still relies on the absolute measurements of time that Einstein discarded. String theorists have tried to reconcile the differences but keep running into roadblocks: For instance, the ripples caused by uncertainty might cause such frenzied gyrations of Einstein's space-time that every location would be riddled with black holes, an impossible outcome. In other words, relativity and quantum mechanics seem to be hopelessly at odds.
"Most physicists are trained to get on with calculating things and not worry too much about these contradictions," Barbour says, but to him, they were key. In his true Machian theory, there is no space-time fabric that could be torn apart by quantum fluctuations. In fact, there is no fundamental dimension of time to create conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics, removing any obstacle to coming up with a complete theory of gravity that works in both cosmic and quantum realms.
Gryb, Koslowski, and Gomes took their first tentative steps toward developing a theory of quantum gravity. They hope to show that Barbour's model, unlike Einstein's, does not cause gravity to flare up to infinite levels in tiny regions. Without those infinities, there should be no fundamental obstacle to uniting Barbour's theory with quantum mechanics. Such a marriage could lead to astonishing new insights, like an explanation of what happens inside black holes and what conditions were like at the moment of the Big Bang, when the whole universe was born. "That's the dream we are working toward now, although the math is tough," Gryb says with a touch of understatement.
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Mission to Mars: Why Russia & US Should Tag Team Red Planet
Russia is ready and willing to partner with the United States for a manned mission to Mars, a senior Russian space official said recently.
And while NASA has not yet entered into any formal agreement to pursue the Red Planet, the agency's chief agrees that international cooperation is the way to do it.
"I have to say that currently there is no country that could organize a manned spaceflight to Mars and a safe return," Sergey Saveliev, the deputy head of Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), said April 12 at the United Nations headquarters here to mark theInternational Day of Human Space Flight.
"We strongly believe that this project can be accomplished only through international cooperation," Saveliev said through a translator. "In this field, Russia is ready to cooperate with the United States, with Europe and with other countries."
|— Hat tip: Fjordman
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Mysterious Blob Filmed in the Deep — And No-One Can Work Out What it Could be
A mysterious ocean 'blob' has been recorded by a deep-sea remote-controlled underwater camera.
The creature looks like nothing seen before, with speculators suggesting it is everything from a jellyfish to the remains of a whale placenta.
While, at a quick glance, the description of a jellyfish makes sense, the creature has organs and appendages never spotted on a jellyfish before.
Meanwhile it could be a whale placenta, but if that is the case then the hexagonal shapes on the skin are a mystery.
|— Hat tip: JD
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Psychopaths Have Different Brains to Normal People — and Current 'Therapies' For Killers May be Useless
Psychopaths have physically different brains from 'normal' people — and may be 'born to kill'.
In scans by scientists, they had less grey matter in the areas of the brain important for understanding other peoples' emotions.
Psychopathy — a disorder suffered by many (but not all) violent criminals — is characterised by an inability to 'empathise'.
Now it seems it might be caused by a structural abnormality in the brain.
The new finding may mean that there is simply no point treating psychopaths with current 'behavioural' treatments.
|— Hat tip: JD
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