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'Too rich to tax'? Row erupts in French border town over hoarding of cash reserves


RT
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 15:30 UTC
Le Perthus
© Raymond Roig / AFP
The village of Le Perthus on the France-Spain border
A French village may stop charging its residents taxes after state auditors found that the local council already has too much money in its accounts.

Le Perthus, a Pyrenees town on the French-Spanish border, earns close to €800,000 ($936,000) per year from parking facilities used by visitors who cross to Spain to buy cheaper goods. The income, and the town's lack of spending, has left the council with more than €1 million ($1.17 million) in cash reserves - and auditors now say it should think about doing away with taxes altogether.

"We concluded that local taxation should be reduced to zero for council and property taxes because the contributions of citizens must have a quid pro quo, and that of course is expenditure," Andre Pezziardi, head of the Occitanie Audit Office, told the Daily Telegraph.

Comment: Why is the council hoarding its revenue when it's intended to fund works for the public good? But in the end, why not do both? Reduce taxes and and implement some social programs, both could potentially benefit the town and its local economy. For the most part though, this council is an anomaly in a sea of bankruptcy throughout the Western world:

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Arrow Up

Poll reveals many US Citizens support idea of another Trump-Putin summit


Sputnik
Tue, 24 Jul 2018 08:35 UTC
trump putin helsinki
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneyev
The majority of US citizens support the idea of having another summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a new poll revealed.

Around 54 percent of respondents said they back Trump's plan for another summit with Putin, according to the American Barometer poll, a joint project of The Hill and HarrisX, that was released on Monday. 46 percent of the voters opposed the idea, the poll found.

The majority of respondents, 61 percent, also think that better ties with Russia are in the best interests of the United States. The survey was conducted online over the two-day period of July 21-22 among a randomly selected sample of some 1,000 US voters.

Meanwhile, a CBS News poll showed recently, that a majority of Americans do not approve of the way Donald Trump handled his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. According to that poll, 32 percent of Americans approved of how Trump handled the summit, while 55 percent disapproved.

Comment: See also: Who Are The Real Traitors in The USA Today?

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Attention

Assange supporters gather at Ecuadorian Embassy amid reports that his asylum protection may be withdrawn


Sputnik
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:30 UTC
Assange supporters Ecuador Embassy London
© Reuters
Supporters of Julian Assange, who remains inside the Ecuadorian embassy, place messages of support on railings around the embassy in central London.
Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 after being accused of sexual assault. According to Assange, the charges could have served as an excuse to extradite him to the US, where he has been accused of espionage and leaking thousands of classified documents related to military operations.

A group of people supporting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gathered near the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Sunday, following reports that he might be stripped of his asylum.

Tensions surrounding Assange rose amid reports that Quito and London have allegedly been negotiating an eviction of the WikiLeaks founder from the embassy.

Comment: See also:

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Snowflake

Liberal gets an unexpected dose of snowflake outrage for tweet

Derek Hunter
Townhall
Sun, 22 Jul 2018 21:13 UTC
radical left
© Steve Eason
I am a strong advocate for holding liberals to the same rules they hold everyone else to. Far too often we see conservatives hammered for something they did or said, even if it's taken out of context, and hounded from the public stage because an angry liberal mob was pointed in their direction for no other reason than the left's desire for a scalp. While it is satisfying to claim one of theirs after they claim, or try to claim, one of ours, it's a sad game that ends with everyone losing.

This game is nothing new, but it has gotten significantly worse in recent years, especially after the election of Donald Trump. Before the election liberals hated non-liberals (independents are not immune either, anyone deemed not sufficiently liberal is fair game), but after November 8th, 2016, particularly around 9:00 pm when it became clear that Hillary was not going to win in a walk, their blood began to boil and scalps became the order the day.
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Brick Wall

The wall will fall? Ancient boulder dislodges from Jewish Western Wall, crashes near praying woman

Marissa Newman and Amanda Borschel-Dan
Times of Israel
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 21:09 UTC
Daniella Goldberg western wall boulder
© The Western Wall Heritage Foundation via the Masorti Movement of Israel / Hadashot
A boulder from the Western Wall falls onto a prayer platform on July 23, 2018; Inset: Daniella Goldberg, who was praying a few meters away
A large boulder from the Western Wall was dislodged from the ancient structure on Monday morning, tumbling down onto an egalitarian prayer platform.

There were no injuries in the incident near Robinson's Arch, south of the main prayer plaza, but the rock landed very close to a female worshiper.

"I didn't hear or feel anything until it landed right at my feet, " said Daniella Goldberg, 79. She said she was praying at the site, as she does regularly, when suddenly the boulder crashed down. She told Hadashot TV news she "tried not to let the incident distract me from my prayers" and refused to be drawn on whether divine providence had spared her. "May we all be blessed," she said.

The smaller of two platforms designated for mixed-gender prayer at the site was closed until further notice.

"Israel Antiquities Authority officials are dealing with the incident," said Masorti movement head Yitzhar Hess in a statement posted on Twitter, alongside dramatic footage of the stone coming loose and crashing onto the platform, revealing dirt behind the wall.

"This is a wake-up call - we must check the entire Western Wall, both parts, so that heaven forbid there is no disaster in the future," he added.

The fallen boulder weighed about 220 pounds (100 kilos), Israel Radio said.

Comment: It's a sign from God, naturally.

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Chart Pie

Pew poll shows the obvious: Populist views in EU not just inspired by economy - nostalgia, ethnocentrism, Islam also play a role

Bruce Stokes
Pew Research Center
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 20:58 UTC
paris national front street
© Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images
Supporters and elected officials of France’s right-aligned populist party Rassemblement National, formerly known as National Front, protest the French government’s immigration policies next to the National Assembly in Paris on April 20.
Nationalist populism has become a major force in European politics. But while such populism has long been thought to have its roots in economic anxiety, a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data suggests there are additional factors at play.

pew populism
Those who have a favorable opinion of populist parties in Germany and Sweden, for example, are only slightly less likely than those with unfavorable views to be upbeat about the economy. Roughly three-quarters (77%) of those who have a favorable opinion of the populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) say their country's economic situation is good; that compares with 87% among other Germans. Similarly, three-quarters of those with a positive view of the populist Sweden Democrats party say their country's economic situation is good, compared with 91% among other Swedes.

In other countries, populist party backers stand out less on the economy. In Italy, for instance, only 15% of the populist Northern League's supporters give the Italian economy a thumbs-up, roughly on par with the 18% of others in the Italian public who also hold a downbeat view.

Nostalgia may be a better predictor of populist sentiments. Roughly six-in-ten French adults with a positive view of the populist National Front (62%) say life in France is worse today for people like them than it was 50 years ago. Only about four-in-ten (41%) of the rest of the French population share that perspective. In Germany, 44% of AfD supporters say life today is worse than 50 years ago; that compares with just 16% of other Germans. Those with populist sympathies in Sweden and the Netherlands similarly lament the passing of better times in the past.
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Syringe

Bad rabies vaccine prompts scare in China - government halts production, launches investigation


Yahoo News
Sun, 22 Jul 2018 20:33 UTC
chinese hospital
© AFP Photo/STR
Chinese censors on Sunday deleted articles and postings about the vaccine industry as an online outcry over the country's latest vaccine scandal intensified.

Regulators said last week that they had halted production of a rabies vaccine at a large pharmaceutical company in the northeast after finding fabricated records and other problems during an inspection.

It was just the latest in a series of health and safety scandals which have fuelled fear over the safety of basic food and medicine and anger at regulators asleep on the job.

China's censors and regulators struggled to stay abreast of the public's response, deleting posts on WeChat as state media tried to take control of the narrative.

On Sunday night China's Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) announced it had ordered all production stopped at the vaccine maker and launched an investigation.

Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology is China's second largest maker of the rabies vaccine and a subsidiary of a large publicly-traded vaccine maker.
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No Entry

SJWs eating their own: Facebook blocks feminist group after 'transphobia' complaints

Saqib Shah
UK Sun
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 20:20 UTC
icons facebook
FACEBOOK has been slammed for "censoring" a feminist campaign group after it was accused of "transphobia".

Woman's Place UK campaigns for women-only spaces and raises concerns about transgender people being able to self-identify as women.

The social network temporarily blocked links to its website over the weekend citing user "safety" as the site was "malicious".

"This morning, our supporters are reporting that FB posts which link to our website are being removed," tweeted the group, "the reason give (sic!) is that 'they may be in breach of community standards'. They are not. We would urge you to visit our website, read the posts and decide for yourself".

Its supporters blasted Facebook's clampdown, calling it a "disgrace" and accused the site of "suppressing free speech".

"Only fake news and hard brexit is allowed on @facebook. Women's rights are bad, m'kay." tweeted one user.

Comment: This is the inevitable result of 'intersectionalality' - everyone against everyone else. See also:

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Light Sabers

UK offering asylum to Western-backed White Helmets jihadists sparks instant criticism


RT
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 20:02 UTC
white helmets
© Zein Al RIFAI / AFP
White Helmets carry an injured man as Jaish al-Islam fighters and their families arrive from the former rebel bastion's town of Douma, Syria. April 4, 2018
The UK is to offer asylum to members of western-backed White Helmets group, that operates in Jihadists-held areas in Syria. The move has prompted dire warnings about who exactly Britain might be admitting.

Some 98 White Helmets members were rescued by the Israel Defense Forces on Saturday night, as part of an evacuation mission that saw a total of 422 people collected from Syria and transferred across Northern Israel and into Jordan at three points, the Guardian reports.

The paper claims that the UK is prepared to offer asylum to up to 500 White Helmets members or relatives of the group, officially known as the Syria Civil Defence. The proposed resettlement of members of the group has divided opinion.
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Star of David

Israel's FM complains about 'manipulative' CNN and BBC tweets


The New Arab
Sun, 22 Jul 2018 16:25 UTC
Palestinian woman crying
© Getty Images
Israel's foreign ministry complained angrily on Twitter over CNN and BBC over the coverage of recent events in Gaza, accusing the news outlets of "manipulating" events after resurgent violence claimed five lives, four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, on Friday.

A CNN tweet read: "Israel says one of its tanks targeted a Hamas military post in Gaza Saturday in retaliation for a border fence breach, one day after violence that left four Palestinians, including three Hamas militants, and an Israeli soldier dead."

Foreign Minister Spokesperson, Emmanuel Nahshon, took issue with the chronological structure of the tweet, believing that listing the death of Palestinians before the Israeli soldier implied timing.

"No @cnni !!! You got it wrong and not for the first time - an Israeli soldier was killed by #Hamas and #IDF retaliated, protecting its country and citizens against murderous terrorists. By misrepresenting the facts you manipulate against #Israel! @cnni- STOP YOUR MANIPULATION !" his tweet read.

Nahson also retweeted a tweet criticisng the BBC.

Comment: It's not enough to simply report facts, because facts can be misconstrued (or in this case, interpreted correctly) and used to paint Israel in a negative light. It's the media's job to make sure that Israel looks 100% like a victim 100% of time. Anything less than that is an antisemitic attack on Israel.

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