Free Republic

It sounded like a historical moment was in the offing. For the first time, Europe’s finance ministers were seriously planning on publicly denouncing tax havens by presenting a black list of countries that lure companies through tax-saving schemes. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the countries on the list were “not doing enough to fight tax evasion.” Fellow Frenchman Pierre Moscovici, the European Union’s commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, called for vigorous sanctions. […] That was one and a half years ago, and that momentum has largely disappeared. This is partly because the black list had several fundamental...

Germany’s Merkel demands that EU states resume illegal Muslim migrant naval pickup mission AUG 22, 2019 5:00 PM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS Earlier this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed out of Operation Sophia, which used naval vessels to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. Her move was in response “to populist Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s policy of keeping ports closed to illegal migrants.” But now Merkel is calling “on members of the European Union (EU) to resume rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean using naval vessels.” Merkel doesn’t seem to think that her country has suffered enough from jihad attacks, the...

Al Jazeera Bemoans the Celebration, in Italy, of Oriana Fallaci (Part 2) AUG 21, 2019 10:00 AM BY HUGH FITZGERALD Oriana Fallaci was acutely aware of the changes being brought to Italy by those she called “the sons of Allah.” And while she was in a state of alarm about the tens of millions of Muslims who had been so foolishly allowed, as she saw it, to settle in the very midst of Europe, her anxiety became rage, la rabbia, when she saw what was happening in her own country, Italy. A few months before her death, Fallaci famously said...

On Tuesday, journalists on all three network morning shows joined liberal celebrities in rushing to defend Prince Harry and Meghan Markle against accusations of hypocrisy after the supposedly environmentally-conscious royal couple took two different trips on private jets within a week. Reporters on CBS, NBC, and ABC touted other wealthy elites like Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres scolding critics for daring to question the royals’ controversial travel habits. “Elton John coming to the defense of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. This after news broke about the royal couple’s recent vacation to Nice, France. Headlines focused on their use of a...

Amid Italy’s political fracas, speculation abounds on a papal ‘white coup’ ROME - For Italians who are heirs to the legacy of centuries of theocracy, and for whom clerical involvement in politics is so natural they even have a specific word for it (ingerenza, roughly meaning “interference” or “meddling”), it’s axiomatic that if something is happening on their local political scene, the Vatican must be involved.Thus it is that amid the crisis triggered in mid-August by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s announcement that his “League” party would abandon a left/right populist coalition government and press for new elections, the Italian...

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced he will resign after his populist government lost the support of a key coalition member. Mr Conte accused Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party, of trying to ruin the ruling coalition for personal and political gain, risking financial instability for Italy.

Al Jazeera Bemoans the Celebration, in Italy, of Oriana Fallaci (Part 1) AUG 20, 2019 10:00 AM BY HUGH FITZGERALD Oriana Fallaci, the celebrated Italian journalist who has been dead for 13 years, is the woman of the hour in Italy. Italian state television has broadcast a documentary about her life and work, in recognition of what would have been her 90th birthday. All of her books are being republished in a collected-works uniform format. The leading Italian politician, Matteo Salvini, repeatedly refers to her in glowing terms. For many Italians, she is both prophetess and patron saint; the woman...

Investigative reporter John Solomon joined Sean Hannity on Thursday to discuss the latest developments on the ongoing John Durham investigation on the origins of the junk Trump-Russia witch hunt. Solomon told Sean Hannity that Western asset Joseph Mifsud has already testified and the Durham investigators have already obtained a taped deposition of his testimony. Last week former US Attorney Joe diGenova also reported that US Attorney John Durham and IG Horowitz have already interviewed Joseph Mifsud. John Solomon: I can report absolutely that the Durham investigators have now obtained an audio-taped deposition of Joseph Mifsud where he describes his work,...

According to an interview granted by the lawyer for intelligence asset Joseph Mifsud to journalist John Solomon, professor Mifsud admitted to being a western intelligence asset who was part of a CIA intelligence “operation” against candidate Donald Trump in March 2016. Yes, stop and read that introductory paragraph again…. Solomon notes that an audio-taped deposition exists from Joseph Mifsud prior to going into hiding after the 2016 Presidential election. From the description it sounds like Mifsud anticipated his assisted suicide and recorded a deposition as leverage against his unwanted demise. WATCH: What Solomon describes would align with the CIA purposefully...

A mistrial declared in Seattle at the trial of a couple accused of attacking Antifa protesters in January 2017 at the University of Washington..... The US Justice Department announcing Tuesday that two guards on duty when Jeffrey Epstein died Saturday morning are now on "administrative leave" and that the warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center has been reassigned.... President Trump backing down from some planned tariffs on Chinese goods September 1st..... Word from Hong Kong Wednesday morning was that some flights were delayed or cancelled at the airport, but others running normally. The authority in charge of the airport says...

Italy’s Interior Minister had the perfect response to actor Richard Gere, who inserted himself into the country’s immigration issues when he urged the government to help African migrants who’ve been stranded on a Spanish charity boat for more than a week."Given this generous millionaire is voicing concern for the fate of the Open Arms migrants, we thank him: he can take back to Hollywood, on his private plane, all the people aboard and support them in his villas,” Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said in a statement, according to Reuters. “Thank you Richard!" Gere, who has a net worth of $120 million...

In AD79 it was Pompeii's most popular hang out, where locals would stop off to meet friends and partake in a snack of baked cheese smothered in honey. Now, nearly 2000 years after the Italian city was buried under ash and rubble by the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius, its favourite snack bar has re-opened. For the first time the thermopolium, as it is called in Italy, will be open to tourists after having undergone and excavation and restoration process over the past few months. Tomorrow 300 VIPs selected at random will attend an advance opening of the snack bar...

ITALY’S SALVINI TELLS RICHARD GERE TO TAKE STRANDED MIGRANTS TO HOLLYWOOD ON HIS JET By Alessandro Speciale and Jeannette Neumann, Bloomberg, August 10, 2019: Gere, NGO appeal to EU leaders to find port for marooned ship Ship with 160 rescued migrants has been barred entry in Italy Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini suggested Richard Gere fly 160 migrants stranded off the Italian coast back to Hollywood on his “private jet” after the actor made a plea to European leaders to find a port for the ship. Gere joined representatives from the non-governmental organization Open Arms at a press conference...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Italian luxury label Versace and its artistic director Donatella Versace apologized on Sunday after one of the company’s T-shirts was widely criticized on social media in China for identifying the Chinese-controlled territories of Hong Kong and Macau as countries. Versace, which was bought by Michael Kors’ Capri Holdings Ltd (CPRI.N) in September, said on its Twitter-like Weibo account that it had made a mistake and as of July 24 had stopped selling and destroyed the T-shirts. Milan-based Versace is the latest company to become entangled in political issues involving China, which since last year has increased...

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini suggested Richard Gere fly 160 migrants stranded off the Italian coast back to Hollywood on his “private jet” after the actor made a plea to European leaders to find a port for the ship. Gere joined representatives from the non-governmental organization Open Arms at a press conference on the Italian island of Lampedusa to appeal to take in the ship. Salvini has refused to allow the vessel into Italian waters, the latest episode highlighting Europe’s divisions over immigration. “As the generous millionaire airs his demands about the fate of the Open Arms immigrants, we...

Marie Davis wants better medical insurance coverage. Jimmie Pleasant has been out of work for six months. Both are among the thousands of people who are looking for jobs with Fiat Chrysler under a city program that gives Detroit’s residents first crack at the application process. It’s part of a $108 million land development deal between an automaker that’s building a massive new plant and a city where the unemployment rate is more than twice the national average. Detroit officials hope the deal with Fiat Chrysler will mean residents have a better shot at good-paying jobs with the automaker, although...

ITALIAN deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has delivered a withering put-down to Richard Gere after the movie star urged the Italian government to stop "demonising” migrants - telling him to “take them back to your Hollywood villas”. The leader of Italy’s far-right Lega party, now preparing for a snap election, was speaking after Gere visited Spanish charity boat the Open Arms ship in a show of support on Friday, before joining a news conference on the Italian island of Lampedusa to call for the 160 migrants stuck on the boat to be allowed to disembark. However, Mr Salvini, who this...

You are about to go through a Door you have not been, This Door is a welcome friend, In times gone by you knocked and then waited, What is on the other side you have anticipated, But Now for you all will be laid bare, My Agape Love waits for you there, A deeper Love than you have ever known or shared, My Fullness of Love for all is there, No judgement goals or rules, Just My Loving Kindness a beautiful Jewel, So now you are about to KNOW, I AM YOUR GOAL, No precepts or limitations, But My True...

New information released in connection with the activities of accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislane Maxwell with many high profile names in the mix..... "intelligent background checks" A phrase used by President Trump facing the media at the White House Friday with the President indicating talks are underway with the Republican and Democrat leaders in Congress on new Second Amendment legislation.... A 20-year old man in custody in Springfield, Missouri after he walked into a Walmart Thursday with guns, wearing body armor and dressed in a military style.... Friday night KYTV in Springfield, Missouri reporting that...

Richard Gere on Friday boarded a Spanish humanitarian ship that has been stuck in the Mediterranean Sea for more than a week because no European government will welcome the 121 migrants who are aboard. In a bid to draw attention to the standoff, Gere boarded the Open Arms some 27 nautical miles off Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island. The vessel, which faces a fine of up to 1 million euros if it enters Italian waters, has been idle for eight days. The “Pretty Woman” actor helped bring food and supplies to the boat and asked for support for the ship, whose...