Europe

EU Financial Tax Portends Loss of Market Leadership

"Although limited presently in scope and at an apparently low rate, the tax will nevertheless provide an extra layer of financial bureaucracy that will dissuade some market participants from transacting in the Eurozone. More importantly, the measure is a 'supra national' tax that helps to pave the way towards a global taxation system. Not only will such a system be economically damaging, but it will be devoid largely of effective democratic accountability. At a time when governments should be encouraging the free flow of capital, this measure moves us exactly in the wrong direction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEU Financial Tax Portends Loss of Market Leadership

A Swedish Police Taskforce Raided a Bunch of Teenagers Playing Call of Duty

"The ten-man team raided the apartment to find a group of teenagers in the midst of murder and destruction, yes, but also enjoying just another friendly night in playing Call of Duty. After being forced outside by what must have essentially been a SWAT team, the boys were able to explain that the gunshots were entirely virtual and the cries for help merely came when the character of one of the boys (let's call him Sven) was shot several times and left lying on the floor. Sven's alter ego had, presumably, been put out of its misery by the time the police arrived. Eventually, the police admitted the mistake and left without filing any charges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Swedish Police Taskforce Raided a Bunch of Teenagers Playing Call of Duty

12,000 Peaceful People Arrested in Italy for Not Paying Taxes; Police Discover Thriving Black Market

“Italy’s financial police said Thursday they had busted close to 12,000 people last year for evading over 56 billion euros ($74 billion) worth of taxes. Investigators rooted out 8,617 people who had never paid taxes and owed the Italian tax man a total of 22.7 billion euros, the financial police said in a statement. The crack down on tax evaders in Italy intensified when Prime Minister Mario Monti came to power at the end of 2011, as the government attempted to reduce the country’s deficit and debt. The financial police also uncovered over 16,000 people working on the black market, the statement said.” Continue reading →

Continue Reading12,000 Peaceful People Arrested in Italy for Not Paying Taxes; Police Discover Thriving Black Market

They Voted for Hitler in Austria (and He Put In Gun Controls)

"What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force. Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, our only weapons were broom handles." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThey Voted for Hitler in Austria (and He Put In Gun Controls)

French-led forces in Mali take Timbuktu airport, enter city

"French-led troops in Mali have seized control of the airport in Timbuktu from Islamist militants and are fighting their way into the city center, a spokesman for the Malian military said Monday. The United States has also stepped up its involvement in the conflict by conducting aerial refueling missions on top of the intelligence and airlift support it was already providing. Covering the fighting up close is almost impossible for journalists, who are prevented from gaining access to the front line. Journalists are only allowed to enter after a town after it has been freed and its security guaranteed by French and Malian troops." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench-led forces in Mali take Timbuktu airport, enter city

Pepe Escobar: Burn, burn – Africa’s Afghanistan

"Business is good; French president Francois Hollande spent this past Tuesday in Abu Dhabi clinching the sale of up to 60 Rafales to that Gulf paragon of democracy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The formerly wimpy Hollande - now enjoying his 'resolute', 'determined', tough guy image reconversion - has cleverly sold all this as incinerating Islamists in the savannah before they take a one-way Bamako-Paris flight to bomb the Eiffel Tower. According to the UN Office of Drugs Control, 60% of Europe's cocaine transits Mali." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: Burn, burn – Africa’s Afghanistan

On To Timbuktu II

"This bloody action has awoken Algeria’s hitherto quiescent Islamic resistance groups. They waged a ten year war against Algeria’s US and French backed military regime, one of the continent’s most repressive regimes, after Algeria’s armed forces crushed Islamists after they won a fair election in 1991. Over 250,000 Algerians died in a long, bloody civil war. The Algiers government often used gangs of its soldiers disguised as rebel fighters to commit gruesome massacres to blacken the name of the opposition. Algeria may again be headed for a new bloodbath, this time with minority Berber people calling for their independent state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOn To Timbuktu II

Cameron targets terrorist ‘haven’ in Mali

"The Prime Minister said that Britain is now engaged in 'generational struggle' against al-Qaeda affiliates like the group behind last week’s Algerian hostage crisis, whose leadership is based in Mali. The National Security Council will today discuss boosting British assistance to the French intervention in Mali, he told MPs. Islamic militants who are threatening the government there raise the risk of 'a new terrorist haven developing on Europe’s doorstep,' Mr Cameron said. Mr Cameron also said that ministers could 'look again' at defence cuts and spend more on counter-terrorism capabilities and Special Forces like the SAS and SBS." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCameron targets terrorist ‘haven’ in Mali

Belgian MP LAURENT LOUIS stands against war in Mali and exposes the international neo-colonial plot

"On January the 17th, 32 years old Belgian MP Laurent Louis, the most controversial and demonized national political figure ever, explained why he voted against the Belgian support to war in Mali. Meanwhile, he expressed his disgust and wrath against the criminal foreign policies of the Belgian elite and its submission to foreign financial and interest groups." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBelgian MP LAURENT LOUIS stands against war in Mali and exposes the international neo-colonial plot

Spain: Unemployment For Under 25s Over 55%

"Overall, Spain's unemployment rate has risen to its highest level since measurements began in the 1970s, as a prolonged recession and deep spending cuts have left almost six million people out of work at the end of last year. The nationwide jobless total rose 1% to 26.02% in the fourth quarter of 2012, or 5.97 million people, according to the National Statistics Institute. More than 2,000 Spaniards a day joined the dole queue in the last three months of 2012. The results mean in Q4 there were 8.33 million Spanish households in which every potential worker was unemployed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpain: Unemployment For Under 25s Over 55%