Wednesday, 25 September 2013

The European Union Times

Up to 146 million risk poverty if EU’s austerity drags on

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 03:30 PM PDT

As EU countries battle the financial crisis with austerity, average citizens get hurt while unemployment rises and social programs disappear. Up to 146 million Europeans are at risk of falling into poverty by 2025, the head of Oxfam’s EU office told RT.
If the damage being inflicted by the European Union’s austerity measures is not reversed, the number of people trapped in poverty will increase by up to 25 million people. If that is the case, Europe will be facing a “lost decade,” leading philanthropy organization Oxfam revealed in its new report.
“It’s really what’s at stake if austerity measures drag on as they are now. This is the projection, which we found out in this report about the true costs of austerity and inequality in Europe and definitely it’s a massive amount of people falling into poverty, but at the same time people like to highlight that some very few people, the 10 percent richest, will be getting richer. So it’s basically inequality – which is going to be increasing – and the level of poverty, which is also going to be increasing,” Natalia Alonso told RT.
The 29-page report, titled ‘A Cautionary Tale: The true cost of austerity and inequality in Europe,’ argues that the European model is under attack from ill-conceived austerity measures.
“Left unchecked, these measures will undermine Europe’s social gains, creating divided countries and a divided continent, and entrenching poverty for a generation,” states the report.
The report argues that the austerity measures being implemented in the EU are similar to the devastating ones used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the past 25 years on poor countries – a scheme known as “structural adjustment” programs.
“These policies were a failure: a medicine that sought to cure the disease by killing the patient. They cannot be allowed to happen again…Some countries in these regions took two decades to claw their way back to square one,” the report states.
According to Alonso, “austerity is not really working. The growth that we have seen, it’s very welcome. It’s really needed. But it’s really affecting the people who are most in need.”
She added that austerity has destroyed social protection systems that were been put in place for those who were suffering the most.
“So people are hit twice. First because, for example, they lose their employment. And the second time because any kind of social protection system that was in place to protect them is disappearing,” Alonso said.
Oxfam warns that it could take up to 25 years for Europe to return back to the living standards of five years ago.
“The only people benefiting from austerity are the richest 10 percent of f Europeans who alone have seen their wealth rise. Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK – countries that are most aggressively pursuing austerity measures – will soon rank amongst the most unequal in the world if their leaders don’t change course. For example, the gap between rich and poor in the UK and Spain could become the same as in South Sudan or Paraguay,” Alonso said.
The solution to the problem is finding an alternative to austerity, suggests the report. It recommended that governments adopt a progressive tax system which would place higher taxes on the wealthy while also targeting tax dodgers.
“Governments could raise billions for public services, such as health and education, by taxing the wealthiest and cracking down on tax dodging.”
Other recommendations include addressing inequality directly. “Inequality hurts economic growth, creates a lot of social tension, and doesn’t foster good economic growth,” Alonso said.
The report calls on EU governments to invest in employment and decent working conditions, as well as in the future of education, health, and social protection systems.
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Researchers find new genus of rat in Indonesia

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 03:22 PM PDT

An international team of zoologists has identified a new genus of rat in the Moluccan province of Indonesia that represents a unique set of characteristics.
The newly found animal was discovered on the Halmahera Island in Wallacea, an Eastern Indonesian region.
Researchers believe that the species locally dubbed Halmaheramys bokimekot lives only in Wallacea region which has been named after the British Naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace.
The region had a profound influence on Wallace who independently developed the theory of evolution alongside Charles Darwin and published his findings in 1858.
Halmaheramys bokimekot is described as a terrestrial spiny rat of medium body size with brownish grey fur on its back and a grayish white belly.
The animal features a unique set of characteristics has never been reported in any other places, researchers say.
“This new rodent highlights the large amount of unknown biodiversity in this Wallacean region and the importance of its conservation,” said the project leader Pierre-Henri Fabre from the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen.
“The discovery constitutes a valuable addition to our knowledge of the Wallacean biodiversity and much remains to be learned about mammalian biodiversity across this region,” he stated.
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Islamic Terror Groups Are Targeting Christians All Over The World

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 03:18 PM PDT

Over the past couple of days, we have witnessed some absolutely horrific examples of Islamic terror groups specifically targeting Christians and those from other non-Muslim religions. Sadly, this is not a new phenomenon. Radical Islamic jihadists are constantly attacking churches and slaughtering Christians all over the planet. The recent events in Pakistan, Kenya and Egypt may have taken this persecution to a new level, but this is just the continuation of a trend that has been building for years.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama does not seem too concerned about Islamic terrorism. In fact, he specifically directed that “all references to Islam” be removed from terrorism training materials that the federal government uses. If that wasn’t bad enough, now Obama is actually supplying weapons to the radical jihadist rebels that want to take over Syria, and he appears to be very ready to use the U.S. military to attack the Assad regime directly if “negotiations” with the Syrian government fail. In essence, Obama wants the United States to be allies with psychotic jihadists that have the exact same radical philosophy that those who are killing Christians in Pakistan, Kenya and Egypt have.
Is Obama insane?
In Pakistan, the Taliban (a very close cousin of al-Qaeda) has already claimed responsibility for the worst church bombing in the history of that nation. The attack left 85 dead and nearly twice that many wounded. To say that this was a horrific attack would be a massive understatement…
The attack on All Saints Church, which also wounded 140 people, underlines the threat posed by the Pakistani Taliban at a time when the government is seeking a peace deal with the militants.
The attack occurred as hundreds of worshippers were coming out of the church in the city’s Kohati Gate district after services to get a free meal of rice.
‘There were blasts and there was hell for all of us,’ said Nazir John, who was at the church with at least 400 other worshippers.
‘When I got my senses back, I found nothing but smoke, dust, blood and screaming people. I saw severed body parts and blood all around.’
Who would do something like that?
In Kenya, a team of Al-Shabaab gunmen stormed a shopping mall in Nairobi and murdered at least 62 people.
What makes that attack even more disturbing is that the terrorists specifically targeted non-Muslims.
In fact, hostages were given a test by the terrorists to determine whether or not they were actually Muslims. Those that failed the test were executed…
The reason the Islamists targeted the Westgate shopping centre was clear from the moment they stormed inside brandishing AK-47s and grenades. Anyone who was not a Muslim, or could not prove that they were, was immediately targeted. Reports from separate floors of the building in the first hours of the assault told how the attackers, speaking rough Swahili and English, shouted at Muslims to identify themselves.
Many people came forward. They were ordered to speak in Arabic, or to recite a verse from the Koran, or to name the Prophet Mohammed’s mother. Those who passed this test were allowed to flee. Those that did not were executed, including children.
You can find some very graphic pictures of the attack right here.
Are you starting to understand why I use words such as “psychotic” to describe these terrorists?
And all over the world these radical jihadists seem to have a particular hatred for Christians.
Just consider what has happened in Egypt over the past few months. After the Egyptian military removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power, radical Islamists responded by destroying more than 80 Christian churches…
On July 4th, the day after the Egyptian military liberated the nation of Muslim Brotherhood rule, Christian Copts were immediately scapegoated and targeted. All Islamist leaders—from Brotherhood supreme leader Muhammad Badi, to Egyptian-born al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri, to top Sunni cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi—made it a point to single out Egypt’s Copts as being especially instrumental in the ousting of former Islamist president Morsi, ushering in a month of pogroms against the nation’s Christian minority.
Among other things in July, unprecedented numbers of Christian churches were attacked, plundered, desecrated, and torched. According to one Egyptian human rights lawyer, “82 churches, many of which were from the 5th century, were attacked by pro-Morsi supporters in just two days.” Al-Qaeda’s flag was raised above some churches; anti-Christian graffiti littered the sides of other churches and Coptic homes. Due to extreme anti-Christian sentiment, many churches ceased holding worship services until recently. Dozens of Coptic homes and businesses were also attacked, looted, and torched.
Should the U.S. military ever be used to help radial jihadists that would commit such horrible acts?
That is such a crazy question that you would think that nobody would ever have to ask such a thing.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what Barack Obama wants to do.
In Syria, radical jihadists are doing all of the same kinds of things that you just read about. As I have written about on numerous occasions, the Syrian “rebels” are savagely killing Christians, repeatedly using chemical weapons and dismembering little girls.
In a previous article, I included eyewitness testimony from a Christian missionary who explained what happens when the “rebels” take over a Christian area in Syria…
“The Christian residents were offered four choices: 1. renounce the ‘idolatry’ of Christianity and convert to Islam; 2. pay a heavy tribute to the Muslims for the privilege of keeping their heads and their Christian faith (this tribute is known as jizya); 3. be killed; 4. flee for their lives, leaving all their belongings behind.”
And now this sick philosophy is even rubbing off on little children. In the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, children were recently filmed pretending to behead their enemies while shouting Allahu Akbar.
What kind of place will Syria become if Obama is successful and the Assad regime is removed?
Will it become a jihadist paradise where Christians and all other non-Muslims are systematically exiled or exterminated?
These jihadists are a cancer, and Obama seems absolutely determined to help that cancer spread in Syria and beyond.
What in the world is he thinking?
Source

Syrian rebels destroy holy Jewish mausoleums in Tadouf

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 02:26 PM PDT

Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria have destroyed several Jewish mausoleums in the historical town of Tadouf in the northern city of Aleppo.
Militants reportedly demolished a number of the most ancient Jewish mausoleums in the town.
Foreign-backed militants have so far destroyed many religious sites in Syria since the unrest began in 2011.
Earlier this month, members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front attacked the historical Christian village of Ma’loula near the capital, Damascus, and destroyed parts of it, before Syrian security forces arrived to repel them.
Three of the seven historical churches in the village were burnt by the anti-Damascus militants.
A very large number of the militants operating inside Syria are reportedly foreign nationals.
Source

Brazil’s Rousseff to UN: US surveillance an ‘affront’

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 02:16 PM PDT

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lambasted US spying on her country at Tuesday’s UN summit, calling it a “breach of international law.” She further warned that the NSA surveillance, revealed since June, threatened freedom of speech and democracy.
“Meddling in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and as such it is an affront to the principles that should otherwise govern relations among countries, especially among friendly nations,” Rousseff said.
“Without the right to privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion,” Rousseff told the gathering of world leaders. “And therefore, there is no actual democracy,” she added, criticizing the fact that Brazil had been targeted by the US.
“A country’s sovereignty can never affirm itself to the detriment of another country’s sovereignty,” she added.
Rousseff went on to propose a multilateral, international governance framework to monitor US surveillance activity. “We must establish multilateral mechanisms for the world wide web,” she said.
Rousseff said that the US’s arguments for spying on Brazil and other UN member states were “untenable”, adding that “Brazil knows how to protect itself” and that the country has been “living in peace with our neighbors for more than 140 years.”
Brazil’s specific targeting in US surveillance practices prompted Rousseff’s government to announce that it intends to adopt both legislation and technology aimed at protecting itself and its businesses from the illegal interception of communications.
A week ago, Rousseff canceled an impending state visit to Washington, scheduled to take place in October, because of indignation over spying revelations. Rousseff has stated she wants an apology from Obama and the United States.
The revelations that the US National Security Agency has been intercepting Rouseff’s own phone calls and e-mails, in addition to those of her aides and officials at state-controlled oil and gas firm Petrobras, have prompted an outcry in Brazil.
Rousseff’s predecessor as Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, said earlier this month that Obama should “personally apologize to the world.” Lula accused the US of “thinking that it can control global communications and ignore the sovereignty of other countries” in an interview with India’s English-language daily The Hindu, published Sept. 10.
Latin America voices widespread indignation at US activities
US relations with all of Latin America have recently soured. In addition to Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Venezuela have all voiced anger with the US over the NSA’s surveillance of their countries this year. Bolivia has been especially bitter.
“I would like to announce that we are preparing a lawsuit against Barack Obama to condemn him for crimes against humanity,” President Morales told reporters Friday in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. He branded the US president as a “criminal” who had violated international law.
In early July, a plane carrying Morales from Moscow to the Bolivian capital, La Paz, was grounded for 13 hours in Austria after it was banned from European airspace because of US suspicions it was carrying fugitive Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who has been responsible for the majority of leaks regarding NSA spying practices since June.
Venezuela wrote to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the end of last week, requesting that he take action in response to the apparent denial of US visas to some members of the Venezuelan delegation who were scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.
President Nicolas Maduro said that the denial seemed intended to “create logistical obstacles to impede” the visit, and further requested that the UN “demand that the government of the US abide by its international obligations” as host of the 68th UN General Assembly.
Tension between Venezuela and the US rose Thursday when Venezuela’s foreign minister, Elias Jaua, told media outlets that the US had denied a plane carrying Maduro entrance into its airspace. The aircraft was en route to China. Washington later granted the approval, stating that Venezuela’s request had not been properly submitted. Jaua denounced the move as “an act of aggression.”
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