Western European News Digest

German Press Begins Attacking Schellnhuber

May 16 (EIRNS)—The anti-WBGU campaign of the German BüSo got its first prominent public impact, with two articles in the May 14-15 weekend editions of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Die Welt, both of which are attacking the Green tide and the WBGU (German Advisory council on Climate Change) master plan as a script for an ecology dictatorship, for the repression of the population under green pretexts.

The anti-democratic, anti-nation aspect of WBGU leaders Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and Claus Leggewie is directly addressed in the FAZ, which even likens the WBGU to the infamous Paris Committee of Public Safety, and its torturing of the French people during the brutal guillotine period of the French Revolution.

Die Welt also seems to reflect a reading of an entire section of the latest BüSo pamphlet against Schellnhuber, writing that nature is not at all as the Greens would like to present it, that in reality nature has always been developing, that most of all species died out long before man entered the stage, and if nature had wanted not to develop, dinosaurs would still run the world today instead of mankind.

English Monarch Begins Visit to Ireland

May 18 (EIRNS)—The visit of the English queen began yesterday, among deserted streets, nailed-down manhole covers, rooftop snipers, preemptive arrests, and concocted bomb plots. It is the biggest security operation in the entire history of the Republic of Ireland.

Sinn Fein released a statement, calling the Queen's visit "premature" and "insensitive," timed as it is, on the anniversary of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Sinn Fein's statement also noted the "outrageous costs and inconvenience" of the doddering shrinking monarch's visit. "It is estimated that this visit will cost the Irish taxpayer—already over burdened with the bank bailout and the disastrous IMF/EU deal—EU25 million," it said. "This is money we cannot afford."

Berlusconi Gets a Slap in the Face in Local Elections

May 18 (EIRNS)—In the local May 15-16 elections, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi got a slap in the face when his candidate in Milan, incumbent Mayor Letizia Moratti, failed to get a majority in the first round, and will have to face off against Democratic Party (DP) candidate Giuliano Pisapia, who got 48% of the vote to her 41.6%.

Also, in Naples, Berlusconi's candidate Gianni Lettieri did not win in the first round, and will challenge a radical leftist opponent, former prosecutor Luigi De Magistris, who left the Italy of Values Party established by noted "corruption" prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro because it was not Jacobin enough. The DP came in third—quite a defeat.

The extreme radical, green fascist "Movimento Cinque Stelle" (Five Stars Movement) founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, got a shocking 10% in Bologna and Ravenna, and 15% in Rimini.

Mass Demonstrations in Spain and Portugal

May 17 (EIRNS)—Thousands of demonstrators protested in 50 cities across the country of Spain on Sunday, May 15, naming themselves the 15-M Movement, and marching under the slogans, "We're not merchandise in the hands of bankers and politicians," and "Real Democracy Now." One of their banners called for mobilizing the country's huge unemployed population, which is over 21% of the labor force—and 45% of youth—with the message: "Unemployed people: Move. If you don't fight, what will you have?"

In neighboring Portugal, the announced new financial package was met with mass protests, mainly youth, on May 16, who chanted, "Hands off Portugal!"

Greek Poll: 62% Opposed to Hated 'Memorandum'

May 19 (EIRNS)—After one year of its implementation, 62% of the Greek population hates the notorious "memorandum" being implemented on the demand of the IMF, European Central Bank, and European Commission troika in return for the bankers' bailout. Only 15% support it. This was the result of a poll by Greece's private Skai television.

Moreover, 62% of the respondents said the memorandum had harmed the economy, while just 13% said it had benefitted the economy. Even more, 69%, said that the memorandum was not the only solution.

Greece's Creditors Are 'Advisors' on Privatizations

May 19 (EIRNS)—"Greece has surrendered," writes Corriere della Sera EU correspondent Ivo Caizzi, and announces the nomination of banking advisors to sell 15 major state assets. The list of advisors is a carbon copy of Greek foreign bondholders, i.e., creditors: Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Crédit Suisse, etc.

Greece will put telecommunications, railways, and highway concessions up for sale, as well as energy assets, the Athens airport, real estate properties, and Opap, the largest gambling firm in Europe.

Tax Collectors Assaulted by Italian Farmers

May 21 (EIRNS)—A tax collector for the government agency Equitalia, sent to collect an EU fine against a farmer, was kidnapped for six hours by the farmer and his family and friends, his car was destroyed, and the collector was freed only when the police arrived. The Italian press reports that this is the latest in a pattern of intimidation, harassment, and aggression, which Equitalia officials are increasingly suffering, and not only at the hands of farmers.

The latest episode in Vicenza involved a farmer who was fined a half-million euros by the European Commission, because he had produced more milk than the infamous EU milk quotas allow.

U.K. National Health Service Hates New Life-Saving Drugs

May 20 (EIRNS)—The head of Britain's National Institute of Clinical Excellence, Prof. Sir Michael Rawlins, told the Independent yesterday that the British National Health Service hates to hear a new drug has been invented which may save lives.

Sir Michael reported that "NHS managers would prefer that some new drugs were not invented at all, so they wouldn't have to pay for them," the Independent reported.

Sir John Bell, President of the British Academy of Medical Sciences, concurred, describing the NHS as a "repulsive force to innovation."

Zurich Votes To Keep Assisted Suicide

May 16 (EIRNS)—Voters in Zurich, Switzerland overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to ban assisted-suicide "tourism" yesterday, and rejected a proposed national referendum on assisted suicide. Of the 278,000 votes cast in Zurich, 85% rejected a ban on assisted suicide, and 78% opposed banning it for foreigners.

The referendum was not against assisted suicide: it proposed only a one-year residency requirement before the patient could use the assisted-suicide facilities, but even that was overwhelmingly rejected. Two parties supported the referendum, the Evangelical People's Party and the Federal Democratic Union, but the leading Swiss parties, the Swiss People's Party and the Social Democratic Party, called on their supporters to vote against both motions.

Pope Closes Monastery of the Black Nobility in Rome

May 21 (EIRNS)—The Pope has dissolved the monastery running the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome, a center of paganism, and dispersed the monks to different abbeys in Italy, after an investigation of corrupt practices and lifestyles. The abbey was run by a former Milan fashion designer turned priest, Father Simone Fioraso, but the sponsors were the highest levels of the black nobility gathered around the "Friends of Santa Croce" circle run by Marquis Giulio Sacchetti, a descendant of Charlemagne, and Princess Olimpia Torlonia.