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Switzerland votes to limit immigration from EUEUEUEUEU

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Feb 10 03:07:33 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Swiss vote to set limits on immigration from EU

By Alice Baghdjian and Albert Schmieder
Sun Feb 9, 2014 3:07pm EST

Swiss voters on Sunday narrowly backed proposals to reintroduce immigration quotas with the European Union, Swiss television reported - a result that calls into question bilateral accords with the EU and could irk multinational companies.

While neutral Switzerland is not a member of the EU, its immigration policy is based on free movement of citizens to and from the EU, with some exceptions, as well as allowing in a restricted number of non-EU citizens.

That pact on free movement of people, which came into force 12 years ago, was signed as part of a package of agreements with the EU, some of which could now be in danger of unraveling, to say nothing of the effect on a globally oriented economy that employs large numbers of foreign professionals.

"This is a turning point, a change of system with far- reaching consequences for Switzerland," Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told journalists in Berne.

The European Commission in Brussels said in a statement that the vote went against the principle of free movement of people. It said it would examine the implications for its relations with Switzerland, taking into account the position of the government, which had urged citizens to vote "no".

"For us, EU-Swiss relations come as a package," said Hannes Swoboda, a member of the European Parliament. "If Switzerland suspends immigration from the EU, it will not be able to count on all the economic and trade benefits it is currently enjoying. We will not allow … cherry-picking."

Close result

In a nail-biting vote, 50.3 percent backed the "Stop mass immigration" initiative, which also won the required majority approval in more than half of Swiss cantons or regions, Swiss television said.

The outcome obliges the government to turn the initiative, spearheaded by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), into law within three years.

It reflects growing concern among the Swiss population that immigrants are eroding the nation's distinctive Alpine culture and contributing to rising rents, crowded transport and more crime.

Net immigration runs at around 70,000 people per year on average. Foreigners make up 23 percent of the population of 8 million, second in Europe only to Luxembourg.

"This is an enormously important decision because the direction must now be shifted," SVP politician Luzi Stamm told Swiss television. "The Swiss population have said that, instead of free movement of people, quotas have to be introduced."

The Swiss system of direct democracy — which allows for up to four national referenda per year — means popular dissatisfaction can be translated into action relatively easily.

However, such concerns are being echoed around the EU's wealthier countries, where anti-immigration parties such as the UK Independence Party look set to make big gains in elections to the European Parliament in May.

"I fear a 'yes' from Switzerland would set off a further round of debate about free movement of persons in the EU," European Parliament President Martin Schulz told the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag ahead of the vote.

The provisions of the initiative require the restriction of residence permits for foreign nationals, including cross-border commuters and asylum seekers, according to quotas, the government said in a statement.

These limits will now need to be defined at a legislative level, it said.

Nestle And Hayer

Foreign professionals have helped to power Switzerland's economic success story over the past 150 years, from German-born Henri Nestle, who gave his name to the world's largest food company, to Nicolas Hayek senior, who founded Swatch Group, the world's biggest watchmaker.

The European Union is Switzerland's biggest trading partner, buying 110 billion Swiss francs' ($122 billion) worth of goods in 2013.

Opponents of the move say it could exacerbate a shortage of skilled workers in Switzerland, the home of Roche, Novartis, UBS and other multinationals filled with foreign professionals.

"Explanatory and constructive talks with the EU are needed urgently," the Swiss Banking Association tweeted after the result.

Swiss voters generally have a history of voting down proposals that they feel could hurt their country's economic success story or threaten its competitiveness.

Last year, they rejected a proposal to cap the salaries of top executives at 12 times that of the company's lowest wage, amid warnings from industry leaders that the economy could suffer.

But immigration has become a growing concern. In 2009, Swiss voters defied government advice by backing a ban the construction of minarets, and in 2010 they voted to automatically deport foreigners convicted of serious crimes.

(Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Caroline Copley in Zurich; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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EUEUEUEUEU Parliament Prez spews anti-Israel lies in Knesset; MKs walk out

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Feb 12 14:08:33 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Netanyahu accuses EU Parliament chief of 'selective hearing' after Bennett walkout

As Martin Schulz speaks at Knesset about Palestinian freedom of movement and access to water, economy minister and members of his party walk out, demanding an apology for 'lying propaganda.'

By Jonathan Lis | Feb. 12, 2014 | 8:43 PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused European Parliament President Martin Schulz of "selective hearing" on Wednesday for repeating during a visit to the Knesset an unverified claim that Israelis use four times as much water as Palestinians

Schulz's statement prompted a walkout by Habayit Hayehudi MKs, led by party leader Naftali Bennett.

"The fault in these comments is what I call selective hearing, which unfortunately has become the legacy of many groups in Europe," Netanyahu told the Knesset later in the day.

"The president of the European Parliament visited Ramallah and heard from some Palestinian youths about water usage, that according to them an Israeli citizen uses four times more water than Palestinians use per person. According to the statistics we received from the Palestinian authority, including in official releases from the Palestinian water authority and our data, this number is not true, but significantly smaller," the prime minister said.

"The parliament president said frankly, 'I haven't checked.' But that didn't stop him from making repeated [accusations] right away. They hear, they don't check, they hurl [accusations]. It would be fitting for him to check," he added.

Netanyahu said baseless accusations tend to make Israelis ignore all criticism. When such comments are repeated without checking, people end up "closing their ears to wild attacks against the State of Israel," he said.

Edelstein to Schulz: You were misinformed

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein held aprivate conversation with Schulz later Wednesday evening, before a state dinner in the EU parliament chief's honor inJerusalem, and rold to him that the figures regarding Palestinian water usage were in fact incorrect, as was his statement regarding ablockade of Gaza. For that reason, Edelstein explained, several MKs had left the plenum.

"Incorrect statements that are made daily are ammunition in the campaign ofdelegitimization against Israel and one needs to be very careful," Edelstein told his European counterpart. "There is noblockade of Gaza. Since Israel left there, our citizens and communities have been sitting inshelters and bombarded by missiles."

In the speech delivered in his native German, Schulz told MKs that "the Palestinians want to live in peace and unrestricted freedom of movement. The Palestinians also have the right to self-definition and to justice."

"A Palestinian youth asked me why an Israeli can use 70 cubic liters of water and a Palestinian just 17," he added. "I haven't checked the data. I'm asking you if this is correct."

MK Moti Yogev (Habayit Hayehudi) called to Schulz: "Shame on you, you support someone who is inciting against Jews." Shortly after, the Habayit Hayehudi MKs stormed out of the room.

Party chairman Naftali Bennett responded heatedly to Schulz's remarks, saying: "The comments made in the Knesset are very serious. Habayit Hayehudi demands an apology from the president of the European Parliament, who said two lies in his speech, which Palestinians fed him. Silence in the face of lying propaganda grants legitimacy to activities against Israeli citizens."

The walkout prompted mixed reactions from lawmakers:

MK Itzik Shmuli (Labor) subsequently filed a complaint to the Knesset's ethics committee, deeming the walkout "in contempt of the Knesset." Meretz leader Zahava Gal-On also said she objected to the damage done to the Knesset as an institution.

Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat (Likud), however, spoke out in favor:

"Give him all due respect, but the president of the [European] Parliament stands here and says a blatant lie as though Israelis have the right to use 70 cubic liters of water and the Palestinians 17 cubic liters," she said. "That is a blatant lie. This speech will be spread all around the world as though this is true. When he says these things, and in German yet, it's no wonder that Knesset members and ministers are objecting to these comments."

During his address, Schulz also called settlement construction "a stumbling block to a solution" and said that the blockade of Gaza causes a desperation that "helps the extremist people in the area, and it might lead to greater insecurity."

On the other hand, the European Parliament chief also condemned "rocket attacks on the innocent," praised Israel's "values of freedom and democracy," and said there was no economic boycott of Israel.

"The European Union will always stand at the side of the State of Israel," Schulz said. "As for the economic boycott, there is no boycott, and I can tell you that such a boycott is not being considered."

Despite his criticism of Schulz's remarks pertaining to water, Netanyahu did laud some of the parliament chief's points as "important."

"He opposes a European boycott of Israel. That is an important statement," said Netanyahu. "The second thing is that he is in favor of scientific cooperation between Israel and Europe. I am sure that's something we all agree on."

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EUEUEUEUEU hosts majority of world's "pirate" websites (bootleg movies/books/records/etc.)

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Feb 13 19:56:46 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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EU hosts majority of 'notorious' pirate websites

13.04.14 @ 09:27
By Andrew Rettman

Ten of the world’s 23 most “notorious” pirate websites are based in EU countries, while another five are in Russia or Ukraine, the US government says.

The report, published on Wednesday (12 February), by The Office of the United States Trade Department Representative, lists websites which “undermine critical US comparative advantages in innovation and creativity to the detriment of American workers” due to their “global … scale and popularity.”

The EU list includes: baixedetudo.net (Sweden); darkwarez.pl (Poland); mp3skull.com (UK); putlocker.com (UK); rapidshare.com (Czech Republic); seriesyonkis.com (Spain); thepiratebay.se (Sweden); uploaded.net (Netherlands); wawa-mania.ec (France); and zamunda.net (Bulgaria).

Another one, torrentz.eu, is said to be hosted in Canada or Finland, while rapidgator.net, is said to have moved from the UK to Russia. Russia is also reported as the home of rutracker.org and vkontakte.com. Ukraine is named for ex.ua and extratorrent.cc.

The rest are either in Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, China, or Vietnam.

The sites mainly distribute movies, TV shows, music, books, and video games, many of which originate in the US.

China is also shamed as a principal source of fake merchandise, including counterfeit medicines, which “pose health and safety risks to consumers.”

Physical markets are said to be the main distributors, but “the internet is [also] host to innumerable sites that facilitate the distribution of counterfeit products.”

The trade department notes it is hard to track developments on who is selling what from where because “it is common for operators of notorious online markets to change a site’s domain name or to use multiple domain names at once to direct users to their site.”

In one example, the US says that “despite the criminal conviction of its founders,” thepiratebay.se “continues to navigate the globe and the country code top level domain (ccTLD) system … to search for a permanent home after being swiftly shut down by government authorities in several countries, most recently in Peru, Chile, and Guyana.”

It adds “at last report, the operators have returned the site registration to Sweden.”

Zamunda.net is also facing criminal charges in Bulgaria, but has spawned mirror sites in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

On wawa-mania.ec, the US lists it as one of the most popular sites in France, but adds “we understand that the servers are [now] located elsewhere” and that its owner “left the country.”

The report testifies to the increasing popularity of pirate content among otherwise law-abiding consumers.

It says torrentz.eu is in the top 160 most visited websites in the world and rutracker.org is in the top 240, while, in national terms, seriesyonkis.com is in the top 40 in Spain.

It also cites a “dramatic increase” in use traffic on uploaded.net and says the number of files on darkwarez.pl “tripled” last year.

The man who signed off on the survey, US trade representative Michael Froman, is currently in charge of talks on the future EU-US free trade pact.

But it remains unclear to what extent the treaty will govern intellectual property disputes.

The range of penalties imposed by host states on copyright abusers currently varies from criminal charges and multi-million-dollar fines, to, for instance, fines of just $662 per head for people in Bulgaria.

In the offline world, the EU’s top court in Luxembourg recently struck a blow against counterfeit traders, however.

It said in a ruling last week that EU citizens who buy counterfeit goods on the internet are breaking EU laws. The case arose after Rolex ordered Martin Blomqvist, a Danish national, to destroy a fake watch which he bought on a Chinese website.

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU hosts majority of world's ''pirate'' websites (bootleg movies/books/records/etc.)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Feb 13 20:14:26 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU hosts majority of world's "pirate" websites (bootleg movies/books/records/etc.), posted by Olog-hai on Thu Feb 13 19:56:46 2014.

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(EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Feb 21 15:23:41 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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MPs agree own €800 monthly pay raise

Published: 21 Feb 2014 14:30 GMT+01:00
Updated: 21 Feb 2014 14:30 GMT+01:00

German MPs will give themselves a pay rise of €830 ($1,138.93) per month, it was decided in parliament on Friday morning in a package of measures aimed at tackling corruption among politicians.

New rules passed on Friday means MPs will now take home €9,082 ($12,462.32) a month, up from €8,252 ($11,323.39) per month.

The pay rise comes as part of a package to crack down on parliamentarian corruption. Anyone caught giving or accepting bribes will now face up to five years in prison.

Green party members hope that after tightening up rules on bribery, Germany will finally be in a position to ratify the 2003 UN convention against corruption. Germany is one of just ten countries with populations of over one million yet to sign the international treaty, a list that also includes North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Eritrea.

Social Democrat state justice secretary Christian Lange confirmed that parliament hoped to be able to sign the UN convention this year, now that the new rules have passed. Yet criticism came from the opposition Green and Linke parties that the laws were being rushed through — as the ruling coalition revealed their plan just weeks ago on February 10^th.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Feb 21 15:37:58 2014, in response to (EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Feb 21 15:23:41 2014.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month

Posted by WillD on Sat Feb 22 01:21:14 2014, in response to (EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Feb 21 15:23:41 2014.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Feb 22 01:24:25 2014, in response to Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) German lawmakers vote themselves a pay raise of about $1,140/month, posted by WillD on Sat Feb 22 01:21:14 2014.

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(EUEUEUEUEU) German doctors claim to have found first deaths due to *marijuana*

Posted by Olog-hai on Tue Feb 25 13:54:44 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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German doctors: Cannabis can kill you

Published: 25 Feb 2014 14:31 GMT+01:00

Marijuana can be deadly, according to German researchers, who claim to have discovered the first deaths caused by cannabis.

The researchers in Düsseldorf, North-Rhine Westphalia, have been investigating cannabis-related deaths since 2001 and performed post-mortem examinations on 15 people whose deaths were linked to the drug.

They believe two of those deaths could not have been caused by anything other than cannabis, according to a study published in Forensic Science International this month under the title “Sudden unexpected death under acute influence of cannabis”.

One of the men was an athletic 28-year-old found dead by his girlfriend next to an ashtray containing cigarette paper and marijuana. The autopsy found that there were no pre-existing medical conditions.

The second case was a healthy 23-year-old man.

Benno Hartung from the University Hospital in Düsseldorf said he and his colleagues performed autopsies and toxicological tests to rule out other causes of death such as liver disease and alcohol use.

“It’s a diagnosis of exclusion so you have to rule out all other possibilities,” Hartung told New Scientist.

Hartung claims that the two deaths from cardiac arrhythmia were directly the results of cannabis use, with marijuana apparently causing a sudden change in heartbeat.

The 36-year-old admitted it was “a very rare event” but that recommended other researchers now investigate deaths involving marijuana.

“Even though it may be rare, I hope others investigate death by cannabis intoxication in other cities. Particularly in light of the increased use of cannabis for pain relief,” he told New Scientist.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) German doctors claim to have found first deaths due to *marijuana*

Posted by AlM on Tue Feb 25 14:38:40 2014, in response to (EUEUEUEUEU) German doctors claim to have found first deaths due to *marijuana*, posted by Olog-hai on Tue Feb 25 13:54:44 2014.

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EUEUEUEUEU Parliament can allow Neo-Nazis in: German Constitutional Court ruling

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Feb 26 16:54:39 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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German neo-Nazis could enter EU parliament after court ruling

26.02.14 @ 12:55
By Valentina Pop

A myriad small German parties, including the neo-Nazi NPD, could enter the European Parliament following a ruling by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday (26 February) to abolish the minimum threshold for the vote.

The verdict, approved with 5 out of the 8 votes in the judging panel, says fringe parties are being discriminated against with the current three-percent threshold.

The Karlsruhe-based court already in 2011 ruled that a five-percent threshold in place for the 2009 EU elections was unconstitutional.

Following that ruling, Germany’s parliament lowered the threshold to three percent, arguing that smaller parties could hamper the work of the European Parliament.

The law was challenged again — this time by a coalition of 19 fringe parties, including the neo-Nazi NPD and the German Pirate Party.

The judges agreed with the plaintiffs.

"One also cannot simply assume that the traditional practice of flexible forming of majorities in Parliament would be significantly complicated by the election of new parliamentarians from smaller parties," the verdict reads.

The judges argue that the two major parties — the center-right EPP and the Social Democrats — could form a voting alliance, so that small parties will not be able to hamper the workings of the EU legislature.

And since the composition of the European Parliament is divided per country, with Germany filling 96 out of the available 751 seats in the new legislature, a de facto threshold of about one percent exists for a party to actually get an MEP, the judges noted.

The NPD welcomed the verdict and said it would focus all its "strength" on the EU elections campaign.

European Parliament chief Martin Schulz, himself a German politician and lead candidate of the Social Democrats, tweeted that he "respects" the verdict, but "would have wished for something else."

"We must mobilize now and prevent the entry of extremist parties in the EP," he added.

But not all fringe parties are "extremist."

The Pirate Party promotes internet freedom; there is also an animal rights party and a "Grey Panthers" party defending the rights of retired people.

Satirist Martin Sonneborn, head of "The Party" which received 0.6 percent in the general elections last year, says he sees a "pretty good chance" of himself becoming an MEP.

According to the latest Politbarometer published last week, only 27 percent of Germans are interested in the EU elections and 53 percent say they do not have enough information about the European Union.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is polling at 40 percent, the Social Democrats at 24 pecent, the Green Party at 12 percent and the leftist Linke at eight.

German Liberals, who last year missed the five-percent threshold and were kicked out of the Bundestag, would get four percent of the vote, while the newcomer anti-euro party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) is polling at six percent. All other fringe parties summed up together make up six percent of voters' intentions, meaning a maximum of six MEPs.

The court decision makes Germany the 14^th EU country out of the 28 member states not to have a minimum threshold for the EU elections.

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EUEUEUEUEU budget ($193 billion) smaller than Italian Mafia budget ($275 billion)

Posted by Olog-hai on Tue Mar 25 16:42:19 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Italian mob has €200 billion annual budget

25.03.14 @ 19:08
By Nikolaj Nielsen

The Italian mob’s annual budget is bigger than that of the EU, with most of the money spent outside Italy, the country’s foreign ministry says.

“Organized crime has an annual budget of more than €200 billion,” said Giovanni Brauzzi, security policy director at the Italian ministry of foreign affairs, on Tuesday (25 March).

“They invest only 10 percent of this budget in Italy; the rest they invest in countries in Europe and elsewhere. They have good friends everywhere,” he added.

The EU’s annual budget for 2014 in comparison is around €140 billion.

There are conflicting estimates on the scale of Italian organized crime.

A study out last year by the Italian-based Transcrime joint research center said Italy’s mobs take in just €10.5 billion per year.

Another study, released in 2012 by Confesercenti, an employers’ association, put the annual turnover figure at €140 billon.

Brauzzi, who was speaking at the Second Annual European Cyber Security Conference in Brussels, said the mob also works with the Italian legal system to crack down on minor cyber threats on the internet in a mutually beneficial relationship.

“They produce evidence for the legal system in order find these groups, in order to stop those activities and to keep going ‘as business as usual’ in order then to have their own activities protected,” he said.

Top lawyers and managers are on their payroll, he said.

He noted that over the past few years, Italy’s organized crime syndicates have shifted their “investments” outside Italy.

Brauzzi said Italy’s organized crime is deeply embedded in “the most important companies working in financial transactions.”

“Corruption is the easiest way of doing busy in their framework,” he noted.

A European Commission anti-corruption report published in February found that almost half the businesses in Italy see corruption as a “very serious or quite serious problem.”

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EUEUEUEUEU member states to boost defense budgets over Ukraine

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Apr 17 02:06:42 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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EU countries to boost defense budgets in light of Ukraine

16.04.14 @ 09:29
By Andrew Rettman

Military chiefs have said the Ukraine crisis is a “wake-up call” for EU countries’ defense spending, as the US backed Ukraine’s use of force in eastern regions.

Speaking to press after a regular meeting of EU defense ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday (15 April), the deputy chief of the EU’s external action service, Maciej Popowski, said: “We’ve had 70 years of peace now [in Europe], but we see that power politics is back with a vengeance, so it’s a wake-up call and now we need to get serious about defense.”

He noted that “this was the feeling around the table” at the Luxembourg event.

He added that EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton told the ministers: “If Ukraine is not a trigger to get serious about spending, about pooling and sharing, about smart defense, then what more do we need to get real?”

NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who attended the debate, told press: "We need to train and exercise more together, for instance the NATO Response Force and the EU battlegroups, so that we stand ready for whatever the future may bring.”

The EU discussion comes after member states last December pledged to cooperate more strongly on defense, but with few concrete results so far.

Tuesday’s meeting saw the ministers decide to prolong for two years a military training mission in Mali and to launch a new police-training mission alongside the military project.

But Popowski noted that EU countries are dragging their heels in terms of committing vital assets to a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic in what he called a problem for “EU credibility”.

The debate came as Ukrainian forces launched what they called “anti-terror” operations against heavily-armed pro-Russian separatists — some of whom are suspected to be Russian soldiers in disguise — in eastern Ukraine.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said the action means Ukraine “is on the brink of civil war".

He has massed elite troops on the Ukrainian border and pledged to defend Russian-speakers in the country by invading the Ukrainian mainland if need be. But his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, noted on Wednesday that high-level talks between the EU, Russia, Ukraine and the US due in Geneva on Thursday can still go ahead despite Ukraine's counter-measures.

Popowski underlined that neither EU countries nor NATO forces will help Ukraine if it clashes with the Russian army. “Neither at NATO nor in the EU was there a discussion of military intervention,” he said.

But the US has put its naval vessels in the Black Sea on high alert, in part due to an incident earlier this week in which an unarmed Russian military jet repeatedly flew close to one of it ships.

State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told media in Washington: “We are certainly calling for de-escalation. But the [Ukrainian] government is overseeing all parts of Ukraine, and they have a responsibility to take steps needed to maintain calm in their country.”

“[That] is hardly a civil war. That is maintaining peace and calm in their own country,” she added in response to Putin’s statement.

Like Popowski, she noted: “We’re not actively considering military assistance [to Ukraine].”

But she said the US and the EU are ready to impose further sanctions on Russia if Thursday’s talks fail to see Russia take a constructive approach.

“Well, we certainly would encourage them [Russia] — would discourage them from having a reaction. The Ukrainian government is maintaining — taking steps to maintain peace and order in their own country. So it’s hard to see what the explanation would be for Russian action there,” she said.

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU member states to boost defense budgets over Ukraine

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Apr 17 13:26:03 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU member states to boost defense budgets over Ukraine, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Apr 17 02:06:42 2014.

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EUEUEUEUEU guilty of "Fiscal Colonialism"

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Apr 26 04:27:45 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Eurozone Fiscal Colonialism

By Philippe Legrain
April 21, 2014

Last Tuesday, the European Parliament finally approved a mechanism for restructuring and closing down failed banks across the eurozone. But the system, which will not be established until 2015, is unworkably complex and leaves a veto power with national governments. Six years after the financial crisis began, Europe has still not resolved its banking mess.

Despite the hoopla in bubbly financial markets, the crisis continues to inflict grave hardship. Zombie banks are still curbing credit to businesses in Southern Europe. Millions of people in sickly economies have lost their jobs or must scrape by on slashed wages, while they struggle with huge debts and pay higher taxes for worse public services. Many have lost that most precious commodity: hope for a brighter future.

Social tensions within countries are multiplying, as are political frictions between them. Support for the European Union is at an all-time low. Extremist parties are set to advance in European Parliament elections next month.

The primary cause of the crisis was the reckless lending of German and French banks (both directly and through local banks) to Spanish and Irish homeowners, Portuguese consumers and the Greek government. But by insisting that Greek, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish taxpayers pay in full for those banks’ mistakes, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government and its handmaidens in Brussels have systematically privileged the interests of German and French banks over those of eurozone citizens.

Germany, in particular, remains in denial about its banks’ bad loans. Loath to cede control over its stricken banks, Berlin has used its clout to eviscerate the eurozone’s banking union. Worse, the German government, together with the European Commission and the European Central Bank, wrongly blamed the eurozone crisis on fiscal profligacy across Southern Europe. This self-serving misdiagnosis has inflicted lasting economic and political damage.

The massive austerity that Europe’s leaders enforced has caused deep recessions and soaring unemployment, while perversely destabilizing public finances. In Greece, the economy has shrunk by a quarter and the incomes of the poor by one-third; six in 10 young people are unemployed. By some measures, this is a worse slump than Germany suffered in the 1930s.

In my former post, as an economic adviser to the president of the European Commission, I argued against such measures, but to little avail. When European policy makers’ mistakes sparked a bond-market panic that brought the eurozone to the brink of collapse, their response was still more austerity. Only in the summer of 2012 did the European Central Bank finally quell the panic.

Thanks to the central bank’s action and an easing of austerity, eurozone economies have stabilized. Berlin and Brussels claim — wrongly — that their handling of the crisis has been vindicated.

The bungled decision to bail out German and French banks by lending to an insolvent Greece in May 2010, rather than writing down its debts, scarred the eurozone. It violated the legal basis on which the euro was formed: that a government in difficulty should not be bailed out by its peers.

Because Ms. Merkel agreed to breach this rule, Germany’s taxpayers feared that they were on the hook for Southern Europe’s debts. Ms. Merkel therefore demanded greater control over other countries’ budgetary decisions — and the European Commission was only too delighted to grab new powers. Countries that share a currency and an interest rate need greater fiscal flexibility, not less, but the commission now applies a fiscal straitjacket — including the right to demand that a government rewrite its budget before presenting it to parliament.

This centralization of fiscal powers is not just economically dangerous; it is also politically poisonous. When voters in a member country have turfed out their government, as they have done at almost every election since the crisis, Olli Rehn, the commission’s vice president and fiscal enforcer (currently on temporary leave), has popped up on television to insist that the incoming government stick to the old one’s failed policies. That a remote, unelected and scarcely accountable official in Brussels should deny voters legitimate choices about tax and spending decisions is undemocratic and alienates people from the European Union.

A crisis that could have united Europe in a joint effort to curb the mighty banks has instead divided the eurozone into creditor nations and debtor ones, with banks’ bad loans becoming intergovernmental obligations. European Union institutions have become instruments for creditors to impose their will on debtors, subordinating Europe’s southern “periphery” to the northern “core” in a quasi-colonial relationship. Berlin and Brussels now have a vested interest to entrench this system rather than cede power and admit to mistakes.

To get out of this mess, the eurozone needs a change of policies and institutions. Banks need to be restructured and unbearable debts written down. More investment is needed, along with bold reforms to boost productivity.

The “no bailout” rule should also be restored. Elected national governments must have much greater flexibility to tax and spend as they please, constrained by markets’ willingness to lend to them and ultimately by the possibility of default. A mechanism for the orderly restructuring of sovereign debt should be established for that purpose.

To avoid future panics, the European Central Bank’s role as a lender of last resort to solvent governments should be enshrined. The mechanism for restructuring failed banks also needs to be properly independent.

In the long term, a eurozone treasury accountable to both European and national legislators should be created, with limited tax-raising and borrowing powers. To persist with current policies and institutions will corrode support for the European Union and risks destroying it. We need a European Spring of economic and political renewal.

Philippe Legrain, a former economic adviser to the European Commission president, is the author of “European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess — and How to Put Them Right.”

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU guilty of ''Fiscal Colonialism''

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU guilty of ''Fiscal Colonialism''

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU guilty of ''Fiscal Colonialism''

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU guilty of ''Fiscal Colonialism''

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Chuck Hagel urges EUEUEUEUEU to Increase Military Spending

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 2 16:10:06 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Hagel Urges European Allies to Increase Military Spending

By David S. Joachim
May 2, 2014

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made a forceful case on Friday for European members of NATO to increase their military spending, calling Russia’s intervention in Ukraine a “clarifying moment” for the alliance.

“In recent years, one of the biggest obstacles to alliance investment has been a sense that the end of the Cold War ushered in an end of history, an end to insecurity, at least in Europe, and the end of aggression by nation-states,” Mr. Hagel said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center. “But Russia’s actions in Ukraine shatter that myth.”

Mr. Hagel’s comments, referring to Russia’s recent annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and efforts by pro-Russian forces since then to take control of more of the country, came as violence intensified between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine.

NATO’s Eastern European members have said they are increasingly nervous about Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the alliance’s ability to counter them.

The Kremlin said the latest clashes had destroyed “all hope” of carrying out its agreement with the West to tamp down the tensions. A meeting at the White House between President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Friday was expected to focus heavily on the crisis in Ukraine.

In his speech, Mr. Hagel acknowledged that American defense secretaries for decades have been calling on European allies to increase their military spending. But he said that the United States’ commitment was becoming “increasingly disproportionate.”

America’s military spending is three times the combined military spending of the other 27 NATO members, Mr. Hagel said. He called on allies to send their finance ministers to a meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers to discuss military spending and “help break through the fiscal impasse.”

Mr. Hagel’s remarks added to calls in recent weeks by Mr. Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Secretary of State John Kerry for NATO allies to increase their defense spending.

Mr. Hagel, as he noted the coming end to the NATO combat mission in Afghanistan later this year, invoked the 100^th anniversary this year of the start of World War I and the coming 70^th anniversary of the Normandy invasion during World War II, saying that if the NATO alliance had existed, those wars might have been prevented.

“Russia’s recent action in Ukraine has reminded NATO of its founding purpose,” Mr. Hagel said. “It has presented a clarifying moment.”

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EUEUEUEUEU bullied Ireland into bailout loans: former aide to EUEUEUEUEU Commission president

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 9 03:59:01 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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EU 'bullied' Ireland into bailout, former Barroso aide says

08.05.14 @ 09:14
By Benjamin Fox

The EU's institutions "bullied" Ireland into a bailout, a senior former adviser to the European Commission's president said on Wednesday (7 May).

In an interview with Irish network RTE, Phillipe Legrain accused the Commission and the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) of having sided with France and Germany in insisting that Irish taxpayers were left solely responsible for the €64 billion debt burden held by its banks, a move he described as "unjust and unbearable".

"It was a mistake by the previous government to guarantee all Irish bank debts but it was outrageous to effectively threaten to force Ireland out of the euro unless the government went through with that foolish pledge," said Legrain.

Between 2011 and February 2014, Legrain was principal adviser at the Bureau of European Policy Advisers, the in-house think tank which provides economic advice to Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

Meanwhile, he laid the blame for "bullying" tactics at the door of the Commission, Germany and the ECB.

"I think the bullying came from Germany because German banks were exposed a lot to Ireland and from the European Commission which aligned itself close to Germany … and it came from Jean Claude Trichet who sought to advance the interests of French banks," he said, adding that "in effect EU institutions were putting the interests of those banks ahead of those of Irish citizens".

Legrain also argued that the Irish government could have resisted the harsh terms demanded by Brussels and Frankfurt.

"Irish ministers should have said that it was unjust and unbearable for Irish taxpayers to bear in full the debts of Irish banks . . . which were largely owed to foreign banks who should logically have taken losses on their bad loans," said Legrain, opining that the ECB "would have blinked" because "depriving Ireland of the euro would have been seen as an abuse of power … and could have caused the euro to have unraveled."

When its banking sector collapsed, leaving the taxpayer to assume responsibility for multi-billion euro liabilities, most of which were accrued on the back of an unsustainable property boom, Ireland saw its budget deficit rocket to 35 percent of GDP in autumn 2010. As market confidence evaporated, Ireland was forced to accept a three year €67.5 billion three-year bailout program.

Although Ireland successfully completed the program last December after putting in place over 270 separate cost-cutting measures, and saw its economy return to growth in 2013, at 125 percent Ireland's debt burden is five times larger than the 25 percent of GDP it was in 2007, before the financial crisis.

As a former official, Legrain's remarks will sting the EU executive, which is highly sensitive to criticism of its handling of the crisis. In his remarks, Legrain also accused the Commission of having been "completely out of its depth". The Commission has often pointed to Ireland as a paragon of virtue among the country's to receive a bailout, by sticking closely to its austerity program.

For his part, in a speech last December, Barroso rubbed salt into Ireland's wounds by claiming that the EU rather than Ireland had been the real 'victim' in the crisis.

"The Irish banks that created a big problem for Ireland but also the other countries in the euro area," he commented, adding that "it would be wrong to give the impression that Europe has created a problem for Ireland."

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(EUEUEUEUEU) 36% of Austrians say Nazi era not so bad; 30% want a Führer

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri May 9 04:02:53 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Two in five Austrians think Nazi era wasn't all bad, survey finds

08 May 2014

Sixty-nine years after the end of World War II, nearly a third of Austrians would like to have a “strong leader” (Führer) at the helm of their country “who doesn’t have to deal with elections and a parliament”, according to a new study published on Wednesday in Vienna.

Asked about what Nazi rule from 1938 to 1945 had given the country, 36 percent of the 1,015 Austrians surveyed answered “both good and bad things”, while three percent said “primarily good things”.

Forty-two percent still agree with the opinion that Austria was ‘Hitler’s first victim’.

Respondents with higher school degrees were less likely to agree to these theses than those without.

A clear majority of respondents (56 percent) said discussions about the Holocaust and the Second World War should now end. This figure was higher than in previous surveys.

The study was carried out by the Sora Institute on behalf of the Austrian Future Fund.

Last year, a different survey carried out on the 75^th anniversary of the 'annexation' of Austria to Nazi Germany had produced similar results.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) 36% of Austrians say Nazi era not so bad; 30% want a Führer

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Courtroom in southern Italy bans miniskirts and flip-flops (EUEUEUEUEU)

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Jun 30 14:03:11 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Italian court bans miniskirts and flip-flops

By Rosie Scammelli
30 Jun 2014 16:05 GMT+02:00

The president of a court in southern Italy has become so aghast at people parading around the palace of justice “dressed indecently” that he has banned skimpy summer wear.

In an official letter sent to the security team at the Brindisi court, President Francesco Giardino laments the “unpleasant situations” that have arisen as high temperatures has given way to plunging necklines and rising hems.

“To avoid a repeat of unpleasant situations at the entrance of the court, we inform you that entrance will not be permitted to people dressed indecently,” Giardino wrote in the letter, published on Monday by Ansa.

In the letter, the court president specifically outlaws “shorts…clothes that are excessively low-cut and/or transparent, miniskirts, flip-flops” in a bid to tackle uncouth attire.

The move should prevent any beachgoers from Brindisi, in the heel of Italy’s boot, from wandering into the courtroom unawares.

With temperatures in southern Italy frequently topping 40°C (104°F) during the summer months, authorities elsewhere have taken to setting citizens’ dress code. Last year, at least two Italian mayors, in Sicily and on the Amalfi Coast, banned bikinis from the town center.

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Re: Courtroom in southern Italy bans miniskirts and flip-flops (EUEUEUEUEU)

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Re: Courtroom in southern Italy bans miniskirts and flip-flops (EUEUEUEUEU)

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Re: Courtroom in southern Italy bans miniskirts and flip-flops (EUEUEUEUEU)

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Re: Courtroom in southern Italy bans miniskirts and flip-flops (EUEUEUEUEU)

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(EUEUEUEUEU) Germany arrests BND agent on accusation of spying for USA

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Jul 4 11:00:32 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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4 July 2014 Last updated at 10:16 ET

NSA investigation: Germany arrests 'suspected US spy'

An employee of Germany's intelligence agency has been arrested on suspicion of spying for the US, reports say.

The man is said to have been trying to gather details about a German parliamentary committee that is investigating claims of US espionage.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) was last year accused of bugging the phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel as part of a huge surveillance programme.

The NSA revelations put a strain on ties between Germany and the US.

US officials at the embassy in Berlin have declined to comment on the latest development.

'Serious matter'

German media say the man arrested this week is a 31-year-old employee of the federal intelligence agency, known as the BND.

The German federal prosecutor's office confirmed the man's arrest, but gave no other details.

A spokesman for Merkel said she had been informed of the arrest, as had the members of the nine-strong parliamentary committee investigating the activities of foreign intelligence agencies in Germany.

"The matter is serious; it is clear," spokesman Steffen Seibert told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper,

Der Spiegel news magazine said the man was believed to have passed secret documents to a US contact in exchange for money.

However, one unnamed politician told Reuters news agency the suspect had offered his services to the US voluntarily.

"This was a man who had no direct contact with the investigative committee… He was not a top agent," the source said.

Germany is particularly sensitive to reports of espionage on its territory because many of its citizens from the formerly communist east of the country were spied upon by the Stasi secret police.

The scale of the NSA's global spy program was revealed in documents leaked last year by a former intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) Germany arrests BND agent on accusation of spying for USA

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) Germany arrests BND agent on accusation of spying for USA

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(EUEUEUEUEU) Muslims firebomb Paris synagogue while chanting "Death to the Jews"

Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Jul 13 15:11:27 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Paris synagogue firebombed in anti-Semitic attack

Anti-Semitic violence rises with intensified conflict in Gaza, as protestors against Gaza operation chant 'death to the Jews.'

By JTA | Jul. 13, 2014 | 3:48 PM

A firebomb was hurled at a synagogue near Paris, part of a string of anti-Semitic incidents in Western Europe coinciding with Israel’s assault on Hamas in Gaza.

The firebomb went off Friday night at the entrance to the synagogue of Aulnay-sous-Bois, a northeastern suburb of the French capital, according to the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA. No one was hurt and the fire resulted in minor damage, Le Monde reported.

On July 8, the day that Israel launched Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza, a man described as having a Middle Eastern appearance assaulted a Jewish 17-year-old girl on a Paris street near the Gare du Nord train station by spraying pepper-spray on her face, BNVCA also reported.

The girl, identified by her initials, J.L., wrote in her complaint to police that the man, who was in his 20s, shouted: “Dirty Jewess, inshallah you will die.”

France and the Paris region in particular recently have seen an elevated level of anti-Semitic attacks. BNVCA President Ghozlan warned attacks may become even more frequent because of the fighting in Gaza.

“We have seen violence increase at periods of unrest in the Middle East and this is no small part the result of incitement and anti-Semitism at demonstrations against Israel,” he wrote.

In Belleville, an eastern suburb of Paris, a demonstration Saturday by a few dozen people against Israel’s attack on Hamas featured calls to “slaughter the Jews,” according to Alain Azria, a French Jewish photojournalist who covered the event. The crowd also chanted “death to the Jews,” he said.

In The Hague, the Netherlands, a few hundred people, most reportedly appearing to be of Middle Eastern descent, blocked a central shopping street while carrying signs that juxtaposed the Israeli flag with the flag of Nazi Germany. One sign read: “Stop doing what Hitler did to you.” Among the participants was Fatima Elatik, a local politician from Amsterdam and former member of the now defunct Jewish-Moroccan Network for dialogue, who posed for a picture with a demonstrator wearing a shirt that accused Israel of genocide.

Back in France, the local branch of the far-right Jewish Defense League, or LDJ, boasted about disrupting a demonstration against Israel on July 9 and injuring the protesters.

“There were 30 of us and 200 Hamas supporters yet they’ll all remember our presence, and especially the six wounded on their side,” LDJ wrote on its Twitter account after the protest.

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(EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says "Send her to Gaza"

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jul 31 11:12:51 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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Belgian Doctor Refuses to Treat Elderly Jewish Woman

“Send her to Gaza for a few hours, and she will not feel the pain anymore,” the doctor said.

By Arutz Sheva
7/31/2014, 4:25 PM

A Flemish doctor who manned a medical hotline Wednesday night refused to provide help to a 90-year-old Jewish woman, Bertha Klein, who had suffered a fractured rib. “I’m not coming!” he said. “Send her to Gaza for a few hours, and she will not feel the pain anymore,” was the reply.

The doctor confirmed the exchange, and said that he had spoken the way he did out of “emotional frenzy.” The Health Ministry is investigating the matter, according to Joods Actueel (Jewish News).

Klein’s son had been the one to call the hotline. His mother was in agonizing pain after she had suffered a fractured rib. The doctor reportedly knew very quickly that the patient was Jewish: her name, her son’s accent and her address in Antwerp, Belgium's second-largest Jewish commmunity, betrayed all that.

Shocked by the doctor’s response, the family phoned a friend, Samuel Markowitz, who is an alderman of the Antwerp district council and a volunteer paramedic. Markowitz called the hotline himself and confronted the doctor over his statements.

The doctor admitted the facts and blamed “emotional frenzy.” Meanwhile, the grandson of the 90-year-old woman, Hershy Taffel, filed a complaint with the police for racism and xenophobia.

Taffel says his grandmother burst into tears. “This reminds me of what we underwent in Europe 70 years ago. I never thought that day would ever be repeated,” she said.

Michael Freilich, editor of Joods Actueel, is concerned that the Middle East conflict is being imported into Belgium.

"This is yet another incident in a row of similar events that took place in a short period of time,” he elabotared. A shop in Antwerp refused to serve a woman because she was Jewish, a café in Liege has a sign hung with the message ‘dogs welcome, Jews are not’, in Brussels slogans like ‘Death to the Jews’ were chanted during a demonstration and on Facebook, we see calls of hatred against the Jewish people every day.”

Freilich went on to tell his readers: “Let me repeat for the umpteenth time: Belgian Jews are NOT Israelis! They merely have an emotional bond with that country but have no influence on the conflict. They do not vote in Israel, do not go to the army and pay no taxes there.”

He added: “Any form of racism and anti-Semitism must be condemned by politicians vigorously. It’s long overdue, I think.”

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says ''Send her to Gaza''

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jul 31 12:35:34 2014, in response to (EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says "Send her to Gaza", posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jul 31 11:12:51 2014.

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Belgian physician refuses to treat Jewish patient over Gaza op

Physician manning a medical hotline in Flanders tells son of woman with fractured rib to 'send her to Gaza for a few hours to get rid of the pain.'

By JTA | Jul. 31, 2014 | 2:12 PM

A Belgian physician who refused to treat a Jewish woman with a fractured rib suggested she visit Gaza to get rid of the pain.

The physician made the remark on Wednesday while manning a medical hotline in Flanders, Belgium’s Flemish region, whose capital, Antwerp, has a sizeable Orthodox Jewish population, the local Jewish monthly Joods Actueel reported Thursday.

The woman, Bertha Klein, had her son, who is American, call the hotline at 11 p.m.

“I’m not coming,” the doctor reportedly told the son and hung up. When the son called again, the doctor said: “Send her to Gaza for a few hours, then she’ll get rid of the pain.” According to Joods Actueel, the doctor confirmed the exchange, saying he had an “emotional reaction.”

Health ministry officials were looking into the incident, according to the monthly’s online edition. According to Joods Actueel, the doctor knew the patient was Jewish because of Klein’s son’s American accent.

The family called a friend, Samuel Markowitz, who is an alderman of the Antwerp district council and a volunteer paramedic. He called the doctor to confirm the exchange, and also recorded their conversation.

Hershy Taffel, Bertha Klein’s grandson, filed a complaint with police for discrimination.

“It reminds me of what happened in Europe 70 years ago,” Taffel told Joods Actueel. “I never thought those days would once again be repeated.”

Michael Freilich, the editor-in-chief of Joods Actueel, said the incident is particularly alarming because it comes amid a string of recent incidents which involved boycotts against Jews in Belgium since the start of Israel’s attack on Hamas in Gaza on July 8.

Since then, an Orthodox Jewish woman was refused service at a clothes store in Antwerp, and police removed a sign in French and Turkish from a café near Liege which said dogs were allowed but Zionists and Jews were not.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says ''Send her to Gaza''

Posted by Gamera on Thu Jul 31 13:13:10 2014, in response to (EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says "Send her to Gaza", posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jul 31 11:12:51 2014.

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Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says ''Send her to Gaza''

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jul 31 16:04:44 2014, in response to Re: (EUEUEUEUEU) Doctor in Belgium refuses to treat elderly Jewish woman; says ''Send her to Gaza'', posted by Gamera on Thu Jul 31 13:13:10 2014.

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(EUEUEUEUEU) US Army in Europe now has German general as Chief of Staff

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jul 31 18:47:13 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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U.S. Army in Europe to Get German Chief of Staff

Appointment Is Rare Sign of Cooperation Following Recent Spying Allegations

By Andrea Thomas
July 31, 2014 11:14 a.m. ET

A German will for the first time become chief of staff of the U.S. Army in Europe, in a rare sign of cooperation since allegations of U.S. spying caused a chill in the German-U.S. relationship.

Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal from Germany's Bundeswehr will report to Lt. General Donald Campbell, the U.S. commander for U.S. Army Europe, known as USAREUR, with headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany.

"This is a bold and major step forward in USAREUR's commitment to operating in a multinational environment with our German allies," U.S. Army Europe Gen. Campbell said in a statement.

The first appointment of a German to this position has been several months in the making and is part of the U.S. Army's strategy to internationalize the command of its overseas operations.

The U.S. Army in Europe said in March it was in talks to appoint a German brigadier general as its new chief of staff.

Still, German officials said the decision—less than a month after Berlin asked the top U.S. intelligence official here to leave Germany following the arrest of a suspected U.S. spy in the ranks of the German intelligence service—showed the two countries were cooperating as closely as ever on other fronts.

"It's a sign of the continuing, very deep cooperation with the Americans," Lt. Gen. Rainer Korff, the commander of German contingents in multinational forces, told The Wall Street Journal. "We didn't even have this in the dark times of the Cold War."

He said relations between the U.S. and the German armies haven't been damaged by allegations in the past year about widespread U.S. spying and electronic surveillance.

Gen. Laubenthal said he views his new duties with "interest and respect…. I am sure that I can use the experience I gained in the German Army supporting the training of ready army forces, in my new position."

Revelations about the National Security Agency's widespread data-collection operations in Germany last year caused outrage in Germany, which has very strong privacy protection laws conditioned by its traumatic experience of mass state surveillance under the Nazi and Communist regimes.

U.S.-German relations took a steep dive earlier this month, when the government asked the Central Intelligence Agency's chief of station at the U.S. embassy to leave Germany, following the arrest of a German intelligence worker under suspicion of selling information to U.S. spies.

Despite the uproar, however, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier have repeatedly said that Germany needed to work with the U.S.

U.S. Army Europe, which trains and leads army forces, has about 30,000 U.S. soldiers at garrisons in Belgium, the Netherlands, German and Italy.

Before his appointment, Mr. Laubenthal has served as the commander of the 12^th Armored Brigade in Amberg, Germany, and the chief of staff for ISAF Regional Command North in Afghanistan.

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EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Aug 22 15:37:59 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU Olog, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Nov 12 14:58:17 2011.

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EU ban on powerful vacuum cleaners prompts anger and legal challenge

Which? tells consumers to buy now as Best Buy cleaners fall foul of EU energy label that prohibits motors above 1,600 Watts

Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent
Thursday 21 August 2014 14.58 EDT

Consumers are being urged to buy powerful vacuum cleaners while they can after it emerged that some of the most powerful models on the market will disappear in September when a new EU rule comes into force.

An EU energy label, to be introduced from 1 September, means manufacturers will not be able to make or import vacuum cleaners with a motor that exceeds 1,600 watts.

The Which? consumer group said many of its Best Buy models had motor sizes that exceeded this, "so if you're in the market for a powerful vacuum, you should act quickly, before all of the models currently available sell out". The wattage will be limited to only 900 watts by 2017 — further restricting choice. Current cleaners typically boast an average of 1,800 watts.

Which? warned that many of the models that appear in its Best Buy tables have motor sizes in excess of the new limit.

Of seven awarded Best Buy status since January 2013, five have motors of more than 1,600 watts. A Best Buy 2,200-Watt vacuum costs around £27 a year to run in electricity — around £8 more than the best-scoring 1,600-Watt it has tested.

The consumer group argues that the move is self-defeating — claiming that householders would simply use the less powerful models for longer to achieve the same degree of cleaning.

The move has also angered manufacturers who agree the move will do nothing to make cleaners more environmentally friendly and will simply reduce efficiency in the home.

For the first time, the labels will give vacuum cleaners A to G ratings for energy use, cleaning performance on carpets and hard floors, and dust emissions. The label also requires a minimum level of performance for the vacuum to be sold in the EU.

But the label is self-regulating and it is unclear whether figures are being corroborated by an independent third party.

Manufacturers' tests that will be used to provide the labelling information are also being questioned. Vacuums are typically tested new and empty and — unlike the testing by Which? — don't take into account loss of suction as the container fills. So manufacturers that give themselves A ratings across the board often don't do so well in independent tests.

Popular cleaners that will be phased out next month by the new rule include a Miele S6210 2,000-Watt bagged cylinder vacuum cleaner and the Panasonic bagged upright vacuum cleaner (also 2,000 Watts).

Dyson vacuum cleaners score highly in the ratings. However, the manufacturer has many concerns about flaws in the system that will ultimately be unhelpful for consumers. It is seeking a judicial review of the legislation at the European court of justice, with judgment due in December 2015. Sir James Dyson, whose company pioneered "bagless" vacuums, said he believed the label itself was a good idea, pointing out that he had never made a machine over 1,600 Watts. But he said there were many engineering aspects other than the size of the machine to take into account, and he feared strong performing vacuum cleaners would be rated badly and lead the consumer to buy a machine that simply did not work efficiently.

The European Commission believes the new regulations will mean better vacuum cleaners for consumers. European commission spokeswoman for energy Marlene Holzner said in a blog: "As a result of the new EU eco-design and labeling regulations, consumers will also get better vacuum cleaners. In the past, there was no legislation on vacuum cleaners and companies could sell poorly performing vacuum cleaners."

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts

Posted by AlM on Fri Aug 22 15:49:05 2014, in response to EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Aug 22 15:37:59 2014.

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Aug 22 15:57:44 2014, in response to Re: EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts, posted by AlM on Fri Aug 22 15:49:05 2014.

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Re: EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Aug 22 16:05:37 2014, in response to Re: EUEUEUEUEU to ban vacuum cleaners more powerful than 1,600 Watts, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Aug 22 15:57:44 2014.

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