Bus riders this week found themselves under attack by dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews who hurled stones and slashed the tires of their buses. The reason? Some buses featured ads supporting the right of women to worship at a holy site in Jerusalem. This is only the latest such attack by ultra-Orthodox Jews who have manned “modesty patrols” on the streets and attacked women who call for equal access at sites like the Western Wall.
Category: International
We often discuss the disconnect of religious fanatics who rape or beat or kill women and girls in the name of morality. Often such abuses seems to be condoned by governments like Iran. However, after a series of acid attacks on women for not being properly veiled, the Iranian government is actually investigating and denouncing the attacks.
The 34th Beijing International Marathon was held on Sunday — an event long-planned by the government to highlight its economic development and tourism. It did not work out quite that way. Instead of a marathon, the race looked like a competition to see who could hold their breath for over 26 miles after pollution levels surpassed the hazardous level. It looked more like a medical emergency with hundreds of runners using oxygen masks to breath and using sponges to clean off pollution on their skin. The government of course reported only “moderate” pollution. When the Chinese government says that pollution is moderate, it may be time to be a couch potato at home like this lovely couple.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Dutch and German 1%er Motorcycle clubs have joined the fight against ISIS in the besieged Syrian city of Kobane.
The Dutch club “No Surrender” and Germany’s “Median Empire” are reportedly participating in combat roles against ISIS.
Median Empire, which comprises some members of the Kurdish diaspora, has been in the Kurdistan region since at least April of 2014 offering humanitarian aid and support for the ethnic minorities under persecution of ISIS.
No Surrender is a large club in The Netherlands having approximately equal members as that of the Dutch chapter of the Hells Angels.
Continue reading “Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs Join Fight Against ISIS In Syria”
We returned home from Italy with an array gifts and a mountain of memories. Here are a few pictures that include some of of the more unexpected sightings in Italy and Sicily.
We returned to Rome from Sicily for a final day in this great city. Every day seems to top the last in Italy and this was no exception. It was the perfect way to finish our long visit in Italy and Sicily. While the days have been quite warm (though still better than summer months), this was a cool day with intermittent clouds. Perfect for one last day of walking around Rome. This was the day that I would satisfy another long-standing desire: to visit the Castel Sant’Angelo. It would again surpass all of my expectations.
Our final day in Sicily was spent in Syracuse and then Catania. We arrived in Catania in the early evening at our hotel Hotel Liberty near the center of town. Catania seems a city that embodies the principle that you should not judge a book by its cover. It is a city without much of the natural beauty of a Syracuse or the charming streets of an Agrigento. Indeed, when you drive through the city you recoil a bit due to the trash and the graffiti. While we stayed at Catania to be close to the airport for our flight, we ventured out and found some interesting sights.
One of the stories making the news here in Italy is the arrest of Daniela Poggiali, 42, a nurse who is accused of killing at least 38 of her patients because she found them or their relatives to be annoying. She was initially charged in the death of an elderly patient and now police believe that she is a serial killer.
Continue reading “Italian Nurse Accused Of Killing As Many As 38 Patients”
The Credit Suisse global wealth report (pdf), is out and it has some surprising findings on the world wealth distribution. The report says that the richest 1% of the world’s population is not only getting wealthier but owns more than 48% of global wealth. The bottom half of the world population owns less than one percent of the world’s wealth.
Continue reading “Wealth Gap: Just $3,650 Puts A Person In Top Half of Wealth In The World”
There is a sad story out of London that is a commentary on the mutating influence of anonymity on the Internet. Brenda Leyland killed herself after being confronted about her online abuse of the parents of the missing girl Madeleine McCann. Sky News tracked her down as the troll responsible for thousands of hate filled messages to Kate and Gerry McCann, whose three-year-old daughter went missing in Portugal in 2007. Continue reading “Death of a Troll: Suicide Highlights The Perils and Prosecution of Anonymous Speech”
Let me put this day into five simple ten words: I was almost eaten by a wild pack of dogs. But more on that later. The day started with our saying farewell to Cianciana, the birthplace of my maternal grandparents. We watched the blessing of the bread for women gathered before the statue of St. Anthony. On the way out of town, I was called over by a group of elderly men who said that they had heard that I was a descendent of the town and that my grandfather was Dominick Piazza. One of the men was a Piazza and was named Domenico. We compared family names though it was not clear if we were related. It was a wonderful conversation as the men asked in broken English about my grandparents and America. After saying goodbye, we made our way to Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples.
We have often discussed tax policy on this blog. I am in the minority here on tax policies, particularly the high rate imposed in various countries for top earners. I am admittedly more inclined to a Chicago-school view of such high tax rates than many on this blog. This story caught my eye for obvious reasons. The French government is reporting a 20 percent increase in one year of high earners in leaving the country. We have previously discussed how such taxes produce emigration by rational actors from markets. French President Francois Hollande ran on a pledge to soak the rich in tax increases, a popular political platform but a disastrous economic plan. The result has been predictable. The French economy is in terrible condition and thousands of French families are leaving the country for England, the United States, and other countries. Now, Hollande’s government has announced that it will rescind the tax increase. Hollande and his socialist allies refused to accept the obvious impact of such a tax and now, a few years later, it will remove the tax after losing a huge amount of high earner tax dollars.
Today, Leslie and I drove from Cianciana to the coastal city of Sciacca, a gorgeous city famous for its ceramics and its seafood. It is about 50 minutes from Cianciana (unless you get lost as we did), but it is worth the trip.
We arrived in Sicily this afternoon from Rome. Our excitement was dampened when we discovered a two-hour delay in people waiting at Hertz to rent cars. The scene was a madhouse, including two men who came close to blows after one picked up a low-numbered ticket off the ground to skip ahead in line. Hertz left dozens of travelers in total chaos with only two people working the desk for much of the time. Once we got our car from Hertz, we discovered that Auto Europe had sent us a GPS with only North American maps. I kid you not. I spent an hour on the phone only to get Auto Europe to confirm what I already knew: their GPS would only take us to locations in North America because no one at Auto Europe loaded European maps. We ended up having to rent a GPS at the Catania airport and set out almost 4 hours late.
Continue reading “Day 4: The Long Winding Road Home (Cianciana, Sicily)”
Italians know how to do babies. Cute plump cherubs abound in this city. Of course, some are more improvised than others like this clown who performed in the Piazza Navona.
Continue reading “Day 4: Babies From The Demented To The Divine (Rome)”