Monday, April 21, 2014

In The News: Pestilence, Anti-Semitism, Broken Peace Talks





This story is rapidly evolving, so we may have to wait a few days until all of the facts emerge. As with any breaking story, the truth may take some time for complete exposure, but for now this could be quite alarming:





Though officials at the World Health Organization are feverishly working to stop the spread of the Ebola virus in what is now seven African nations, their efforts may be for naught. In Guinea, a hot spot for the deadly contagion, government health officials have said that the outbreak is nearly under control. Yet, Reuters reports that the government “planned to stop publicly releasing the death toll to avoid causing unnecessary panic.”
But panic may be in order.
Despite the best efforts of emergency health workers it appears that virus may have crossed out of Africa into Europe.


The outbreak of Ebola Virus in seven west African countries has broken through all containment efforts and is spreading like wildfire. According to Christian Relief groups working in Guinea and Liberia, the number of confirmed infections jumped 15% in just the last 24 hours. In addition, 40 illegal alien migrant workers from the outbreak area, who came ashore in Pisa, Italy, are showing signs of Ebola infection and are being isolated in Pisa Italy because of fever and “conjunctivitis” (bloody around the eyes). According to the World Health Organization, this strain of Ebola is entirely new and although it is close to the Zaire strain, it is different, thus accounting for false-negative test results . . . . . for weeks!

Those false-negative results meant people who were actually infected with Ebola, were returned to their families and neighborhoods to recover from what they believed was the Flu or a case of food poisoning, only to spread the Ebola further.
The result has been a complete loss of containment of this Ebola outbreak.
With the likely arrival of Ebola in Pisa, Italy, the European continent is now at severe risk.

Italian officials deny the reports, but alternative media in the country suggests this is the reason for a complete lock down of a hospital in Pisa, where it is believed to have infected some 40 individuals. Other reports trickling in from various sources like social media indicate the virus may have also appeared about 50 miles from Pisa in Tuscany, Italy.
Alarmingly, a story that appeared about the outbreak on national news wires was reportedly removed by the Italian government for “national security reasons,” suggesting that there is more to the reports than Italian officials are willing to express to the public at this time.
Though they have denied that the Pisa hospital was locked down due to Ebola, they seem to be bracing for the possibility of a severe epidemic in Rome and Milan.
(Google Translation via Italy’s Vnews24)
And ‘mystery about forty hypothetical cases of Ebola registered in our country. The virus is particularly common on the African continent – the cases “official” were recorded in Senegal, Mali and Ghana - may have arrived in Italy “thank you” to the massive exodus of immigrants to our shores. A first “bell” d ‘alarm was launched by Lampedusa. According to a report appeared in the network (and immediately removed for reasons of “national security”), in fact, April 16 would be recorded on an epidemic ‘island, never confirmed nor refuted by our Ministry of Health.
A new ”SOS” about the spread of the virus’ Ebola in the Bel Paese is, this time, from Tuscany. Means of dissemination of the news shock is always the network:blogs, social networks, websites dedicated highlighted the “Curious Case of St. Flushing,” reception center site in Pisa, closed to the public due to the presence, all ‘inside of it, forty non-EU nationals which are to some strange symptoms. Capuzzi Sandra, Councillor for Social Policies of the Municipality of Pisa, he would have dismissed the alarmism of his countrymen, by classifying the health status of the refugees in the structure in these terms:“They have just a little bit fever, caused by stressful travel conditions under which the children were subjected. “
Fear, meanwhile, remains. The forty possible carriers of the virus’ Ebola have been subjected to all the tests required in high-risk situations. The Italian population, however, does not feel the climate of reassurance that high institutional positions and subjected try to transmit information through various channels, official and unofficial. The tension increases, although the Ministry of Health said that, in the unlikely event of an outbreak, Rome and Milan would be ready to face the ‘epidemic.
According to Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief group actively working with hospitals and health officials in Guinea and Liberia, what makes Ebola so dangerous is that it can be transmitted through human contact and may take weeks before symptoms appear:

The initial Ebola outbreak in Guinea is believed to have started when hunters came in contact with infected fruit bats. The Ebola virus is spread between humans through direct contact. Once infected, it can take up to 21 days for symptoms to appear, which include high fever, headaches, and fatigue. At that point, the infected person is contagious.

With details lacking and health officials opting to keep reports of infections from the public, it is impossible to know exactly how far the virus has spread.
As noted above, this new strain was not identified immediately, thus blood tests of people showing possible symptoms may have shown false-negatives even though those individuals may have been carrying the virus. Once returned to the general population and assuming they did not contract the virus, it is certainly possible that it was then transmitted to others.
If Ebola has taken hold in Italy, then we can expect more reported cases all over the continent in coming weeks, with the real possibility that the virus could make its way to U.S. shores via hundreds of international flights arriving on a daily basis.
It’s understandable that government officials do not want to overreact and cause panic, especially insofar as global air travel is concerned, because doing so would lead to a lock down of airports worldwide
The panic would be unprecedented.
As noted by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition, even if the public became aware that a pandemic was in progress, many would remain in denial about such a prospect and would remain oblivious to the long-term repercussions. She notes that the effects of a pandemic could be swift and drastic, leading to societal upheaval
Understanding that our lives will change drastically if the population is faced with a pandemic and being prepared for this can help you make better choices toward the well being of your family. Some changes could be:
  • Shut downs of business commerce
  • Breakdown of our basic infrastructure: communications, mass transportation, supply chains
  • Payroll service interruptions
  • Staffing shortages in hospitals and medical clinics
  • Interruptions in public facilities – Schools, workplaces may close, and public gatherings such as sporting events or worship services may close temporarily.
  • Government mandated voluntary or involuntary home quarantine.
This virus is incurable and is believed to have a mortality rate of up to 85% of those infected.
If it is spreading outside of Africa, then it is only a matter of time – perhaps several weeks – before it becomes apparent in developing nations.
These posted probabilities are in no way authoritative, and should be considered a “best guess” only.
Probabilities of unchecked infection at this point, based upon a method of travel, times and frequencies of airline flights to various cities, also including certain assumed volumes of “mixed maritime” traffic between north Africa and southern Europe - the Probability that Ebola will strike is:
63% in Italy within 8 days
44% in Spain within 15 days
77% in Riyadh/Saudi within 21 days
40% in Libya within 25 days
29% in the US within 28 days
37% in Egypt within 33 days
By the time we get to 35 days, it can be in 25 countries on 4 continents.
This is a developing report and is in no way conclusive. Official statements from the WHO, CDC and European governments have yet to confirm Ebola’s crossover into Europe or the United States. Updates will be provided as details become available.





About 49 people have been infected in the past six days by the incurable Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, which has claimed 76 lives in Saudi Arabia. The country's Health Minister said he did not know the cause of the sudden rise in cases.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry this weekend confirmed 20 new cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. All told, the MERS virus has infected 244 people in Saudi Arabia, with 49 confirmed cases in the past six days alone.
Of the 244 infected people in total, 76 have died, Reuters reports. MERS has no known cure and kills approximately a third of the people it infects.



Terrorists in Gaza fired 7 rockets into Israel on Monday morning, the IDF Spokesperson's office said.
The first 3 projectiles struck uninhabited areas in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and set off sirens and caused no damage.
Another two rockets were launched and caused light damage in Sderot.
In addition, the IDF reported that early Monday morning an RPG was launched toward IDF forces on the border but caused no injuries.





[Has this 'game' not become obvious to anyone watching?]


A senior Fatah official said Monday that the Palestinian leadership put forward seven terms by which they would extend peace talks with Israel beyond their April 29 deadline.

Amin Maqboul, a member of the Fatah revolutionary council, told the Palestinian newspaper al-Quds that the Palestinian Authority would agree to an extension of negotiations if Israel agreed to: announce the basis on which future talks will be held; draw the outline of the borders of a Palestinian state within the next three months; halt settlement construction; withdraw Israeli troops from the West Bank’s Area C to the lines held before the Second Intifada; release the fourth wave of prisoners that it has until now refused to do; end what he called “disruptions” in Jerusalem and open Palestinian institutions in the city.
Abbas told the Israeli opposition MPs visiting him in the West Bank city of Ramallah last Wednesday that if talks were extended, he would want the first three months “devoted to a serious discussion of borders,” Haaretz reported.

According to Palestinian sources cited by Yedioth Ahronoth on Sunday, Abbas and top PA officials are considering the drastic move, which would involve canceling the 1993 Oslo Accords and announcing that the Palestinian Authority is a “government under occupation” without full sovereignty, which would technically move full responsibility for the Palestinians, in the West Bank at least, to Israel.
The threat, which has reportedly been passed on to Israel, would also disband and abolish PA security forces operating in the West Bank, theoretically opening the way for expanded Palestinian unrest against Israeli forces. The move could also prompt a surge in international legal and diplomatic action against Israel.





In Israel, the political right points to the Palestinian Authority as the reason for the failure of negotiations, while the political left still wants to pursue the negotiations believing that it is critical to reach an agreement, while also blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the settlements, construction announcements for  the failure of negotiations. 

For those who believe that the purpose of the peace process is actually a process in which ‘peace’ between two ‘nations’ will be achieved, it is hard to understand how the political left, after twenty years of negotiations, numerous Israeli concessions without any Palestinian concessions, continued PA- sponsored incitement against Israel, delegitimizing of Israel in all international forums, terror attacks, and rejection of Israel, still thinks there is a chance to reach peace.

I believe the answer is simple and requires a readjustment of our expectations from the peace process and the nature of negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

However, for the Palestinian negotiators, it’s a different ballgame. They play on a completely different playing field and thus have lured the Israeli Left into believing that a peace deal is imminent and it’s because of Netanyahu or some other Israeli right-wing politician that everything is being held up.  

The Palestinians view the negotiations differently and play by different rules. The rule of the game is that the only deal that can be signed is one that allows the Palestinians to continue their struggle against Israel – like the Oslo agreement – where the Palestinians make no concessions and continue their terrorism against Israel; essentially rendering the agreement void of any content. The other type of agreement that can be signed is one where the Israeli side has made so many concessions that implementing the agreement will cause Israeli society to crumble from within

Once the negotiations stall, the sides will bang heads for a few weeks trying to fix the problem. However, the Palestinians know that even as they might be making progress on let’s say the water issue, they already have prepared another issue where they will make an unreasonable demand -- like demanding that the Israelis build them a seaport near Hadera so that they can easily export their agricultural products from the North and Central West Bank (they have not yet demanded this in public but this is an example).  Completely ridiculous -- but they will demand it. 

We can call it “agree, refuse, demand, agree” -- this is the neverending cycle of negotiations which the Palestinians love -- since they keep on reaping the benefits of concessions, as they have done for the past 20 years, without giving anything in return. The Israeli Left can tolerate this process, since they really believe progress is being made and thus are willing to continue sitting at the negotiating table.  Yet, they fail to understand that it’s a big game for the Palestinians and they are experts at it.





Just days after flyers were reported sent to Jews, demanding that they "register" in the Ukraine or face deportation, a Ukranian synagogue has been firebombed. There were no reported casualties, but the incident has sent shocks through a region alreadyreeling from the reported Nazi-like distribution of flyers demanding that Jews identify themselves. Jewish identification allegations have been denied by pro-Russian forces in the area, with one saying, "TNR's Russian-American reporter Julia Ioffe concludes, 'the Jews of Donetsk and eastern Ukraine may have been asked by a leaflet to register, but it has not been enforced nor are any Ukrainian Jews registering themselves.'" But there is no iron clad proof the incident did not happen, or that Jews in the Ukraine are not in a precarious position. They were in 1941 and they remain so today. But the firebombing of a Ukranian synagogue in Nikolayev is further proof of the rabid anti-Semitism in the region.

The video of the Ukrainian synagogue firebombing is chilling. An attack in the middle of the night, is deliberate provocation for Jews living in the area. With the Hitleresque flyer that reportedly circulated this past week, this is but one more painful incident. It is proof of the precarious position Jews in the Ukraine have been put in. 

Regardless of who distributed the fliers, the situation in the Ukraine is perilous for Jews. Hitler is rising again, and Nazism is rearing it's disgusting head. In all of Europe, the plight of Jews is frightening. Thought the media will not report it, the days of Jews experiencing any safety in Europe is over. In June 2013, as reported byFrontpage magazine, "Dr. Dov Maimon of the Jerusalem-based Jewish People Policy Planning Institute paints a bleak picture for European Jewry. As Maimon puts it delicately, “European Jewish life has quite possibly reached a negative inflexion point.” 
The days of a fruitful and peaceful existence in Europe is over for Jewish citizens. Sickeningly, Satan's minions from Hell have come to wreak havoc in the region. That means the freedom of religion for Jewish citizens is a distant memory.



In the beginning it was banker suicides. Then about two weeks ago, suicides were replaced by outright murders after the execution-style killing of the CEO of a bank in otherwise sleepy (and tax evasive) Lichtenstein by a disgruntled client. Then on Friday news hit of another execution-type murder in just as sleepy, if not so tax evasive, Belgium, where in the city of Vise, a 37-year-old Director at BNP Paribas Fortis was murdered alongside his wife and a 9 year old nephew in a premeditated and orchestrated drive-by shooting.




In a state like Nevada, where 84 percent of the land is owned by the federal government, these types of conflicts are inevitable. Government ownership of land means that land is in theory owned by everyone, but in practice owned by no one. Thus, those who use the land lack the incentives to preserve it for the long term. As a result, land-use rules are set by politicians and bureaucrats. Oftentimes, the so-called "public" land is used in ways that benefit politically-powerful special interests.
Politicians and bureaucrats can, and will, arbitrarily change the rules governing the land. In the 19th century, some Americans moved to Nevada because the government promised them that they, and their descendants, would always be able to use the federally-owned land. The Nevada ranchers believed they had an implied contract with the government allowing them to use the land for grazing. When government bureaucrats decided they needed to restrict grazing to protect the desert tortoise, they used force to drive most ranchers away.
By contrast, if the Nevada land in question was privately owned, the dispute over whether to allow the ranchers to continue to use the land would have likely been resolved without sending in federal armed agents to remove the Bundys' cattle from the land. This is one more reason why the federal government should rid itself of all federal land holdings. Selling federal lands would also help reduce the federal deficit.
It is unlikely that Congress will divest the federal government's land holdings, as most in government are more interested in increasing government power then in protecting and restoring private property rights.
A government that continually violates our rights of property and contract can fairly be descried as authoritarian. Of course, the politicians and bureaucrats take offense at this term, but how else do you describe a government that forbids Americans from grazing cattle on land they have used for over a century, from buying health insurance that does not met Obamacare's standards, from trading with Cuba, or even from drinking raw milk? That so many in DC support the NSA spying and the TSA assaults on our privacy shows the low regard that too many in government have for our rights.
History shows us that authoritarian systems, whether fascistcommunist, or Keynesian, will inevitably fail. I believe incidents such as that in Nevada show we may be witnessing the failure of the American authoritarian warfare-welfare state – and that, of course, would be good. This is why it is so important that those of us who understand the freedom philosophy spread the truth about how statism caused our problems and why liberty is the only solution.






1 comment:

ChristineInCleveland said...

Things certainly are getting intense... can our departure really be all that much longer? I think not...
Maranatha!