Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Monday, 29 February 2016

The European Union Times


Posted: 29 Feb 2016 06:36 AM PST

Merkel’s humanitarian approach to the refugee crisis has failed, declares German media. The countries of the European Union have abandoned her idea of an “open-arms migrant policy”, preferring to re-seal their internal borders and re-erect fences to prevent an inflow of refugee into their territories.
European countries have apparently rejected Merkel’s open-arms approach to the refugee crisis, according to German magazine Der Spiegel.
In many parts of Europe, it says, borders are being re-sealed and fences re-erected in opposition to the idea of equally distributing the refugees around Europe.
“Merkel now finds herself isolated at home and abroad as conditions worsen for asylum-seekers,” Christiane Hoffmann stated in her opinion article for the magazine.
The author referred to the events of September 5, 2015 when Austria and Germany threw open their borders to thousands of migrants from the east, predominantly from Syria.
“September 5 seems like an eternity ago and yet we are still confronted with the same images today as we were back then,” the journalist says.
“In recent days, thousands of refugees have once again been stranded along the Balkan route, and this time they are being held back by border fences. Desperate men, women and children can be seen camping out in central Athens. And this time there are images that Merkel had hoped to avoid last September: images of a Europe that is placing its bet on partition and deterrence. These are images of defeat for the German chancellor. Merkel’s humanitarian approach in the refugee crisis has failed,” she states.
The German chancellor is being criticized for radicalizing her own country, while “importing terrorism, crime, anti-Semitism and homophobia” in other European countries, like Hungary.
When a politician experiences a policy failure, the journalist says, their power is jeopardized. They must decide whether to jettison those policies or relinquish power.
“Merkel appears ready to put her power at stake with her open arms approach to the refugee policy,” she finally stated.
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Posted: 29 Feb 2016 06:29 AM PST

Europe is turning against Brussels with anti-EU feeling spreading through the Continent – as our exclusive map today reveals.
Optimism about the EU’s future has plummeted in all but three of the 28 member states, most strikingly in the Netherlands and Germany, where people are now overwhelmingly negative about the outlook for the union.
According to the latest figures from the EU’s own Eurobarometer survey, the scale of optimism is lowest in Greece, where just 34 per cent are upbeat about the future of the EU, compared with 63 per cent who are pessimistic.

In Cyprus fewer than four in 10 – 37 per cent – are positive about the EU’s prospects, compared with 58 per cent who are negative.
In Austria 37 per cent are optimistic, compared with 56 per cent who are pessimistic.
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Posted: 29 Feb 2016 05:28 AM PST

A Muslim woman dressed all in black and holding what is thought to be a child’s severed head has been arrested near a metro station in Moscow. She was shouting, “I am a terrorist,” and reportedly threatened to blow herself up.
According to LifeNews, the victim was a girl, identified as Nastya M. After the murder, the female suspect went to a metro station, where she was stopped by a local police officer. She immediately took the severed child’s head from her bag and started shouting that she had killed the child. The suspect is currently being detained by police authorities, Russian media reported.
“The end of the world is coming in a second…I’m your death,” the woman is heard shouting in the video released online. “I hate democracy. I’m a terrorist.” The Muslim woman also shouted “Allah Akbar” according to other sources.
She is heard shouting that she has been “cursed” and “destroyed” “so many times.”
“I’m your suicide bomber… I’m going to die in a second…The end of the world…,” she shouted.
The woman appeared near Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station in northwest Moscow.
The mother of the decapitated child can be seen in some videos being carried unconscious to an ambulance accompanied by a red haired woman dressed in a green dress. The mother of the child is a blonde haired woman and there isn’t any other information or proof on the entire internet as of yet. Judging by the current information we have, the victims may be white Russian Christians which may explain why they were targeted by this horrible hate crime. Why would any sane Christian hire a Muslim as a nanny remains a mystery which will never be solved.

Russia’s Investigative Committee later released a statement that rescuers have found a body of a three or four-year-old child after extinguishing a fire in a Moscow apartment block set on fire by the Jihadist woman. A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a children’s nanny in her late 30s, who is a citizen of a “Central Asian country.”
Exclusive photo of the Moscow Jihadist Gulchekhra Bobokulova.
The suspect waited until the child’s parents left the apartment with an older child, then killed the child and set the apartment on fire, the Investigative Committee said.
The mother of the murdered child was taken to hospital in unconscious after she learned the news, Russia’s Zvezda TV channel reported.
Earlier on Monday, reports emerged that police had found a child’s headless body while extinguishing a fire at a Moscow apartment block. The child was about three or four years old, Interfax reported, citing sources.
The woman, identified by LifeNews as Gulchekhra Bobokulova from Uzbekistan, committed the murder because of her husband’s betrayal. According to LifeNews sources, she failed to explain how the child was connected to her husband.
People in shops near the Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station have been evacuated, TASS reported, adding that police have sealed some exits from the station.
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Posted: 29 Feb 2016 04:25 AM PST


In a stunning move Sunday evening, conservative and tea-party icon Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama endorsed Donald Trump. This represents the most significant GOP endorsement yet for the billionaire presidential hopeful.
Speaking from the stage in a packed football stadium at a Huntsville, Alabama, rally, Sessions’ endorsement is a significant blow against Trump’s most serious opponents, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
“We are in a movement that must not fade away,” Sessions said. “The bosses are you. The people in Washington are public servants and they serve you.”
Sessions promised a “Gang of Eight” type of immigration reform bill would not will be passed in a Donald Trump presidency.
“There is an opportunity this year, Tuesday, and we have the opportunity, we have an opportunity Tuesday. It may be the last opportunity we have for the people’s voice to be heard. You have asked for 30 years, and politicians have promised for 30 years to fix illegal immigration,” Sessions said.
“The American people have known for years these trade agreements have not been working for them,” Sessions stumped. “We now have and will soon have a vote on the Transpacific Partnership TPP), Obamatrade, and it will damage America. It will create a commission that undermines our sovereignty, and it should not pass. Donald Trump when he gets elected president will see it does not pass.”
The populist revolt around the country has catapulted Trump into the limelight ever since he announced his candidacy. Sessions’ support means the powerful Alabama senator will be putting his entire operation behind Trump.
Sessions is seen as the intellectual leader of the future of the conservative movement and the brainpower behind the revolt against political elites that’s been emerging since at least 2013.
The senator is the latest in a string of high-profile endorsements for Trump’s rebel campaign, on the heels of support from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, as well as Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Rep. Chris Collins R-N.Y.
But Breitbart.com notes, “But all those endorsements pale in comparison to Sessions’ backing of Trump, as the Alabamian senator is universally respected – and feared – inside the beltway in Washington. Sessions is known for his tough views on immigration and trade and has repeatedly aimed to push the Republican Party in a more populist, nationalist direction. Sessions has helped frame the movement’s views on both issues – and more, like courts and judicial nominations, law and order and police matters, and on budgetary issues and the fiscal well-being of America – while maintaining a formidable political and policy operation that his allies view as invaluable and his enemies dread.”
Trump alluded to the upcoming announcement on Twitter, stating: “I will be making a big surprise announcement to the massive crowd assembled in Huntsville/Madison Alabama! Landing now!”
Sessions is the first Senate Republican to endorse Trump for president. He is respected on immigration among conservatives opposed to loosening immigration laws, and shares Trump’s protectionist view on trade. Sessions appeared at Alabama rally with Trump in August, but stopped short of an endorsement.
Trump said in a statement, “I am deeply honored to have the endorsement of Senator Jeff Sessions, leader of congressional conservatives. He has been called the Senate’s indispensable man and the gold standard. He led the fight against the Gang of Eight, against Obama’s trade deal, against Obama’s judges, and for American sovereignty. He has stood up to special interests as few have. There is no more respected man in Congress and we are closely aligned on many issues, including trade and illegal immigration, and I am proud to consider Jeff Sessions an advisor, friend and ally.”
Sessions acknowledged Trump is not perfect, but nobody is.
“This movement, he doesn’t take money from political groups and lobbyists. He is committed to leading this country in an effective way. You know, nobody is perfect. We can’t have everything, can we, Mr. Trump? But I can tell you one thing, I think at this time in my opinion, my best judgment, at this time in America’s history, we need to make America great again!” Sessions said, repeating Trump’s campaign slogan.
“I am pleased to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States,” Sessions exclaimed.
“I told Donald Trump this isn’t a campaign, this is a movement,” Sessions told the crowd. “Look at what’s happening. The American people are not happy with their government.”
An endorsement by Sessions has been highly sought-after by Republican presidential candidates because of his party-wide respect. Cruz has cited him frequently on the campaign trail. Sessions has helped many of the GOP candidates craft their policy positions and has been a driving force in framing the populist nationalist future of the Republican Party.
Sessions’ old communications director Stephen Miller joined Trump’s campaign earlier in the cycle as a senior policy adviser.
Immediately after the Sessions endorsement a Black Lives Matter protester erupted in the audience.
The endorsement comes two days before the crucial Super Tuesday primary when Alabama and a dozen other states vote, mostly in the South. If Trump wins big on Super Tuesday, it sets him up for a significant battle to take down Rubio in Rubio’s home state of Florida, seen as an embarrassment for the young first-time senator and likely to end his presidential campaign.
According to the IJ Review, Trump has dealt with an increasingly aggressive Marco Rubio in recent days, noting, “The Florida Republican has adopted some of Trump’s trollish bluster, mocking him nonstop for his debate performance, ‘Trump University,’ his hiring of illegal immigrants and his spray tan.”
Even as far back as August 2015, supporters have floated the idea of a VP position for the Alabama senator should Trump become the GOP nominee.
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Posted: 28 Feb 2016 04:19 PM PST

Since 2013 Hillary’s grand total is slightly less: $21.7 million for 92 private appearances.
And so, just like that, with a sweeping victory in South Carolina, Sanders’ Socialism crawls back into its cage and crony capitalism is alive and well.
As Edward Snowden so perfectly sums up…
Edward Snowden tweeted yesterday “2016: a choice between Donald Trump and Goldman Sachs.”
With his tweet he basically endorsed Trump for president.
And in case you thought this was an exaggeration…
Since 2013 Hillary’s grand total is slightly less: $21.7 million for 92 private appearances.
Below we present the full breakdown of every publicly disclosed speech event by Hillary Clinton, together with the associated fee.

And as The Mises Institute’s William Andersen so eloquently summarised,
Despite Clinton’s newfound populist rhetoric, her economic agenda reflects her own lifestyle of practicing crony capitalism. Other than her promise to remove “red tape” for small business startups, Clinton’s economic propositions follow the same depressing line that we have seen from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren: private enterprise extracts wealth from the economy, while the expansion of government power builds wealth and employment opportunities.
If one briefly can summarize Clinton’s policy-making viewpoints, it is this: Hillary Clinton believes that an economy should be a tool of the state and reflect the political interests of Washington. Anything else is called “greed,” or “profits before people.” Private employers and business owners should not seek to be profitable, but rather to be virtuous, with the necessary virtue being decided by Clinton herself.
Hillary Clinton, a beneficiary of the very worst aspects of crony capitalism, has decided after all that she is an economic populist who wants to “share the wealth.” No one is mistaking her for Bernie Sanders or even Huey Long, but, nonetheless, she is a thoroughgoing statist telling voters that the way to improve the economy is to make it more difficult to produce things and force up business costs.
She clearly is not claiming to be a free-enterpriser and stands by her view that state control of economic exchanges will result in more exchanges and improved employment prospects and increased income. What she does not say is that the very economic burdens she promises to lay upon businesses will further erode the prospects of the American middle class she claims to support.
The economics of Hillary Clinton is first and foremost about expanding the power and scope of the US government, and as government gains more control, the more employers and business owners need to be in the good graces of American politicians. To be blunt, Clinton believes that people like herself can continually loot US businesses, with business owners paying their protection money without complain. After all, Hillary knows best; just ask her.
And so, as Patrick Buchanan recently asked, in a Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump race – which, the Beltway keening aside, seems the probable outcome of the primaries – what are the odds the GOP can take the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court?
If Republicans can unite, not bad, not bad at all.
Undeniably, Democrats open with a strong hand.
There is that famed “blue wall,” those 18 states and D.C. with a combined 242 electoral votes, just 28 shy of victory, that have gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1988.
The wall contains all of New England save New Hampshire; the Acela corridor (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland); plus Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin in the Middle West; and the Pacific coast of California, Oregon, Washington – and Hawaii.
Changing demography, too, favors the Democrats.
Barack Obama carried over 90 percent of the black vote twice and in 2012 carried over 70 percent of the Hispanic and Asian votes. These last two voting blocs are the fastest-growing in the USA.
A third Democratic advantage is simple self-interest.
Half the nation now receives U.S. government benefits – in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, student loans, rent subsidies, school lunches and Earned Income Tax Credits, etc.
Folks who rely on government benefits are unlikely to rally to a party that promises to cut government. And as half the nation pays no income tax, these folks are unlikely to be thrilled about tax cuts.
Bernie Sanders, who promises free college tuition and making Wall Street and the 1 percent pay for it, knows his party.
While these realities of national politics would seem to point to inexorable Democratic dominance in coming decades, there are worms in the apple.
First, there is the strangely shrunken and still shrinking Democratic leadership base. As the Daily Caller reports, under Obama, Democrats have lost a net of more than 900 state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 U.S. House and 13 Senate seats. Such numbers suggest a sick party.
Republican strength on Capitol Hill is again as great as it was in the last years of the Roaring ’20s.
Second, due to Trump, viewership of the Republican debates has been astronomical – 24 million for one, 23 million for another.
The turnout at Trump rallies has been unlike anything seen in presidential primaries; and what’s more, the GOP voter turnout in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada set new records for the party.
Yet voter turnout for the Clinton-Sanders race has fallen, in every contest, below what it was in the Clinton-Obama race in 2008.
Bernie’s millennials aside, the energy and excitement has been on the Republican contest, often a sign of party ascendancy.
Not only would Trump at the top of the GOP ticket assure a huge turnout (pro and con), he is the quintessence of the anti-Washington, anti-establishment candidate in a year when Americans appear to want a wholesale housecleaning in the capital.
As a builder and job creator, Trump would surely have greater cross-party appeal to working-class Democrats than any traditional Republican politician. Moreover, when Bernie Sanders goes down to defeat, how much enthusiasm will his supporters, who thrilled to the savaging of Wall Street, bring to the Clinton campaign?
This is the year of the outsider, and Hillary is the prom queen of Goldman Sachs. She represents continuity. Trump represents change.
Moreover, on the top Trump issues of immigration and trade, the elites have always been the furthest out of touch with the country.
In the 1990s, when Bill Clinton fought the NAFTA battle, the nation rebelled against the deal, but the establishment backed it. When Republicans on Capitol Hill voted for most-favored-nation status for China, year in and year out, did Republican grass roots demand this, or was it the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable?
On immigration, where are the polls that show Middle Americans enthusiastic about increasing the numbers coming? Where is the majority demanding amnesty or open borders?
The elites of Europe are as out of touch as America’s.
Angela Merkel, Time’s Person of the Year in 2015, is at risk of being dumped in 2016 if she does not halt the next wave of Middle Eastern refugees who will be arriving on Europe’s shores when the seas calm in the spring in the Aegean and the Mediterranean.
If we believe the immigration issue Trump has seized upon is explosive here, look to Europe. In the Balkans and Central Europe, even in Austria, the barriers are going up and the border guards appearing.
Mass migration from the Third World to the First World is not only radicalizing America. It could destroy the European Union. Anger over any more migrants entering the country is among the reasons British patriots now want out of the EU.
America is crossing into a new era. Trump seems to have caught the wave, while Clinton seems to belong to yesterday.
A note of caution: This establishment is not going quietly.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 20:05