EU economy is bigger than the US - by Bob Bryan

As a single country, the US is the biggest economy in the world.

But given its close ties, you could easily argue that the countries of the European Union make for one big economy. Indeed, you would be arguing that it's the world's largest economy.

The adjusted GDP of the 28 EU member nations is bigger than both China and the US, the traditional list of world's economic super powers.

"In nominal U.S. dollar terms, the European Union (plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland) accounted for 25.4% of world output in 2014 according to data from the International Monetary Fund.  That was greater than America’s share (22.5%) and well in excess of China’s—13.4%," said Quinlan.

The EU consumer is also on top. The EU, plus periphery nations, accounted for 28.5% of all consumer spending in 2014, according to Quinlan, above both the 26.6% spent by US consumers and the 15.6% spent by the emerging economies of the Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. This attracts global companies to the region.

"Gaining access to wealthy consumers is among the primary reasons that US companies venture overseas, and hence the continued attraction of Europe to US firms," wrote Quinlan.

So while Greece has little direct impact on the US, stabilizing the massive EU economy should still be a huge concern for Americans and the rest of the world.

Read more: CHARTS: EU economy is bigger than the US - Business Insid

Middle East: Saudi Arabia: From the Eyes of an Insider - by Mona Eltahawy

Nothing prepared me for Saudi Arabia. I was born in Egypt, but my family left for London when I was seven years old. After almost eight years in the United Kingdom, we moved to Saudi Arabia in 1982.

Both my parents, Egyptians who had earned PhDs in medicine in London, had found jobs in Jeddah, teaching medical students and technicians clinical microbiology.

The campuses were segregated. My mother taught the women on the female campus and my father taught the men on the male campus.

When an instructor of the same gender wasn’t available, the classes were taught via closed-circuit television, and the students would have to ask questions using telephone sets.

My mother, who had been the breadwinner of the family for our last year in the United Kingdom, when we lived in Glasgow, now found that she could not legally drive. We became dependent on my father to take us everywhere.

As we waited for our new car to be delivered, we relied on gypsy cabs and public buses.

On the buses, we would buy our ticket from the driver, and then my mother and I would make our way to the back two rows (four if we were lucky) designated for women.

The back of the bus. What does that remind you of? Segregation is the only way to describe it.

The campuses were segregated. My mother taught the women on the female campus and my father taught the men on the male campus.

When an instructor of the same gender wasn’t available, the classes were taught via closed-circuit television, and the students would have to ask questions using telephone sets.

My mother, who had been the breadwinner of the family for our last year in the United Kingdom, when we lived in Glasgow, now found that she could not legally drive. We became dependent on my father to take us everywhere.

It felt as though we’d moved to another planet whose inhabitants fervently wished women did not exist. I lived in this surreal atmosphere for six years.

In this world, women, no matter how young or how old, are required to have a male guardian – a father, a brother, or even a son – and can do nothing without this guardian’s permission.

Yes, this is Saudi Arabia, the country where a gang rape survivor was sentenced to jail for agreeing to get into a car with an unrelated male and needed a royal pardon; Saudi Arabia, where a woman who broke the ban on driving was sentenced to ten lashes and, again, needed a royal pardon.

Note EU-Digest: Democracy and women's rights - still a major stumbling block in country which considers itself the cradle of Islam. 
 
Read moreSaudi Arabia: From the Eyes of an Insider - The Globali

Malta: Major protest against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

A huge Trojan horse – the infamous horse that hid thousands of Greek fighters to overthrow the city of Troy – has been erected in Valletta this morning to protest against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), “a dangerous deal that puts the interests of big businesses before the rights of EU citizens.”

The giant inflatable Trojan horse was installed by Friends of the Earth Malta and the Front Against TTIP (Malta) during the launch of a week of activities aimed at increasing awareness about the TTIP.

The organisations said the TTIP would enable food safety rules to be amended with the aim of facilitating trade – even to the detriment of the environment and the general public.

Urging the government, political parties, and Maltese MEPs to support their call against the trade agreement, the organisations insisted that the EU-US deal contains “hidden dangers” that could be detrimental to the environment and for the general public.

The organisations said that the TTIP would set up mechanisms that will enable big businesses to sue states for compensation if any new state regulations are seen as harmful to investment and profits.

“TTIP may reduce the possibility of restricting genetically modified organisms and the use of hormones and other chemicals in factory-farmed animals. Proposed legislation will be evaluated by its merit towards increasing trade, rather than increasing quality of life or environmental protection,” said Martin Galea de Giovanni, FoE Malta Director and member of the Front.

“The Front is against setting up of alternative, ‘compromise’ mechanisms that will still give the power to big business to sue states for compensation if any new state regulations are seen as harmful to investment and profits. This will make regulatory innovation slower and less ambitious.”

The Front Against TTIP (Malta) is made up of left-wing think tank Zminijietna, Moviment Graffiti, Association of Federative Socialist, GWU Youth, Friends of the Earth Malta, Partit Komunista Malti, Garden of Knowledge (Malta), ADZ - Green Youth, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement (MOAM), Greenhouse Malta, Gaia Foundation, and Alternattiva Demokratika. 

Read more: Trojan horse erected in protest against ‘dangerous’ EU-US trade agreement - MaltaToday.com.mt

Religious Discrimination - Migrants crisis: Slovakia 'will only accept Christians'

Slovakia says it will only accept Christians when it takes in Syrian refugees under a EU relocation scheme.

The country is due to receive 200 people from camps in Turkey, Italy and Greece under the EU plan to resettle 40,000 new arrivals.

Interior ministry spokesman Ivan Netik said Muslims would not be accepted because they would not feel at home.

The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) called on countries to take an "inclusive approach" to relocation.
But Mr Netik denied the move was discriminatory and said it was intended to ensure community cohesion.

Note EU-Digest: whatever way the Slovaks want to call what they are doing - it is discrimination with a capital D and should be unacceptable by the EU.

Read more: Migrants crisis: Slovakia 'will only accept Christians' - BBC News

Netherlands - France: Fanatic Islamic Gunman opens fire in Amsterdam-Paris train, wounding two people - by ngelique Chrisafis

Yesterday, August 21, a crazy Islamic fanatic gunman went on a shooting spree in the high speed TGV train from Amsterdam to Paris but fortunately got downed by two alert US servicemen on vacation: The shooting is believed to have taken place as the man left the toilet and the Americans tackled and overpowered him.

Note EU-Digest: Compliments to these two courageous US service men.

Read more: Fanatic Islamic Gunman opens fire on Amsterdam-Paris train, wounding two people | World news | The Guardian

Syria/USA: Refugees/Migrants: Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Syria - provided by USCIS

Good news for Syrian refugees and migrants who want to apply for residency/immigrant status in the US.

For additional information click on link:: Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Syria | USCIS

USA: Native American Council Offers Amnesty to 240 Million Undocumented US Whites

At a meeting on Friday in Taos, New Mexico, USA  Native American leaders weighed a handful of proposals about the future of the United State’s large, illegal European population. After a long debate, NANC decided to extend a road to citizenship for those without criminal records or contagious diseases.

“We will give Europeans the option to apply for Native Citizenship,” explained Chief Sauti of the Nez Perce tribe. “To obtain legal status, each applicant must write a heartfelt apology for their ancestors’ crimes, pay an application fee of $5,000, and, if currently on any ancestral Native land, they must relinquish that land to NANC or pay the market price, which we decide.

“Any illegal European who has a criminal record of any sort, minus traffic and parking tickets, will be deported back to their native land. Anybody with contagious diseases like HIV, smallpox, herpes, etc, will not qualify and will also be deported.”

European colonization of North America began in the 16th and 17th centuries, when arrivals from France, Spain and England first established settlements on land that had been occupied by native peoples. Explorers Lewis & Clark further opened up western lands to settlement, which ultimately led to the creation of the Indian reservation system.

Despite the large number of Europeans residing in the United States, historical scholars mostly agree that indigenous lands were taken illegally through war, genocide and forced displacement.

Read more; Native American Council Offers Amnesty to 240 Million Undocumented Whites | City World News

Middle East: Migrant Exodus: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees - by Serene Assir

“Our phones and power banks are more important for our journey than anything, even more important than food,” said Wael, a 32-year-old from the devastated Syrian city Homs who reached the Greek resort island of Kos on Thursday morning.

Refugees are using Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members to share photographs and experiences, find smugglers’ phone numbers, map their route from Turkey to Greece and onward to northern Europe, and to calculate expenses.

They use WhatsApp to help the coast guard pinpoint their location once their boats have reached Greek waters, and Viber to let their families know they have landed safely.

“We couldn’t take anything with us on the boat, we were all so crammed. But these phones are our most precious belongings,” said Wael, who fled Syria with his bright green-eyed wife and 12 relatives, including three children.

They are among more than 135,000 refugees and migrants who have arrived in Greece this year, amid Europe’s biggest migration crisis since World War II.

“I wrapped my phone up in a resealable plastic bag to protect it from the water,” said the olive-skinned man.

In Kos, Syrians can be seen taking photographs of each other on the beach using their smartphones, and ordering coffee at local cafes where they can connect to Internet.

Note EU-Digest: As millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Libya and Sudan are swarming into Turkey and the EU it is amazing to see that our "good friends" on the other side of the Atlantic. who's Middle East policies created all this mess, remain deadly silent when it comes to also offering some of these refugees some assistance or a new future in the US.

Read more: Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber light way to Europe for Syrian refugees | The Times of Israel

EU - Migrants:: France and UK sign Calais cooperation agreement

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his British counterpart Theresa May signed a deal on Thursday to set up a joint crisis centre aimed at tackling people smugglers in Calais. Under the agreement, a second facility will also be built near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel to reduce nightly break-in attempts by migrants.

“They’re setting up a command and control centre to go after the traffickers, the people who are making money out of the misfortunes of the refugees and asylum seekers who’ve been turning up at Calais”, said Rob Parsons, FRANCE 24’s chief foreign editor.

The increased security measures include higher fences, new surveillance cameras and more infrared detection technology to prevent migrants from climbing onto trucks and trains.

“A couple of months ago, 2 000 people were attempting to get through every night. That’s been cut down already to 100-150 and that’s partly through introducing toughest tougher security measures: more fencing, better fencing, more lighting. Part of this deal will be more of that”, explains Parsons.

Britain will also provide 10 million euros ($11.2 million) over two years to speed up asylum applications and boost humanitarian aid.

Read more: france 24 - France and UK sign Calais cooperation agreement - France 24

Upcoming EU Events: : Social Policy in the European Union: "State of Play 2015"

To mark the 16th edition of their flagship publication, the European Social Observatory and the European Trade Union Institute will hold an interactive conference-debate, bringing together a wide variety of EU and national policymakers, stakeholders and researchers.

Confirmed speakers include:
Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Boston University
Richard Hyman, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics
Luca Visentini, General Secretary Designate, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
 
Click here for draft program: Draft program (PDF) EN You can also follow the debate on Twitter: #SPEU2015

EU-Digest

Turkey: ISIL video threatens Turkey over support for US

ISIL VIDEO

The self-proclaimed Islamic State has released a propaganda video threatening Turkey,describing its president as an “infidel” and a “traitor”.

Euronews has blurred the faces of the men believed to be ISIL militants, who urge Muslims in Turkey to support the extremist group.

The video was uploaded onto a social media website and is believed by Reuters to be genuine.

The militants accuse President Erdogan of opening up Turkish airbases to “crusaders”, allowing the US to “bombard the people of Islam”.

Six F-16 fighter jets arrived at a Turkish base last week and began flying missions against ISIL over Syria.

Read more: ISIL video threatens Turkey over support for US | euronews, world news

Middle East: ISIS uses theology to justify rape, enslavement of Yazidi women - by Ariel Zirulnick

A wrenching look by The New York Times into the Islamic State’s enslavement and rape of women from the Yazidi minority group has shed light on one of the most disturbing aspects of its rule in Syria and Iraq.

The practice, according to reporter Rukmini Callimachi, was formalized a year ago, when IS announced it was bringing institutionalized slavery back. Since then an entire “infrastructure” – warehouses, buses, viewing rooms – has emerged to facilitate the trade of women and girls.

A total of 5,270 Yazidis were abducted last year, and at least 3,144 are still being held, according to community leaders. To handle them, the Islamic State has developed a detailed bureaucracy of sex slavery, including sales contracts notarized by the ISIS-run Islamic courts. And the practice has become an established recruiting tool to lure men from deeply conservative Muslim societies, where casual sex is taboo and dating is forbidden.
A growing body of internal policy memos and theological discussions has established guidelines for slavery, including a lengthy how-to manual issued by the Islamic State Research and Fatwa Department just last month. Repeatedly, the ISIS leadership has emphasized a narrow and selective reading of the Quran and other religious rulings to not only justify violence, but also to elevate and celebrate each sexual assault as spiritually beneficial, even virtuous.

Even if captives are released or manage to escape, the trauma doesn’t end, given the stigma that is associated with rape victims in conservative societies. So far, the Yazidi community has said all the right things. Baba Sheikh, a prominent religious leader, has at least twice reassured women they will be welcomed back to the community, according to a Human Rights Watch report in April.

Read more: ISIS uses theology to justify rape, enslavement of Yazidi women - CSMonitor.com

European Migrant Disaster: EU commission says "Worst migration crisis since WWII" - by Mo Ahmad

The European Union says the scale of migration, driven by war, disaster and poverty in Middle East and North Africa, has no parallel since the end of World War II.

So far Italy and Greece have borne the brunt of the emergency in the EU, while Turkey is already coping with housing more than a million refugees.

Greece recently  sent a ship to the resort island of Kos to speed up the registration of hundreds of Syrian refugees following mounting tensions over a huge influx of new arrivals.

While in Italy the situation was not much better. “We were faced with a very emotional scene”, Commander Massimo Tozzi, told the Italian news agency AGI, describing how some bodies were floating on the water. Three hundred and nineteen people, including a dozen women and children, were saved, according to Massimo Tozzi, commander of the rescue patrol.

Nearly 400 other migrants were picked up in the Mediterranean Saturday August 15 by other vessels taking part in the EU’s patrol and rescue operation, Triton.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper revealed that the migrants who lost their lives were in the hold of the vessel. When the sailors got on they discovered the bodies.

“Either the global community is able to resolve the Libyan question, or today’s (migrant tragedy) won’t be the last”, Alfano said.

Survivors of the hazardous crossing from Libya often tell of how traffickers lock migrants in the hold who pay less for the voyage – mostly black Africans.

“The human smugglers have found that road and flows of migrants have been growing, which is a cause of concern”, he said.

UNHCR European Director, Vincent Cochetel, has said facilities on the Greek islands are “totally inadequate”.

“There is still no care being provided for the refugees”, Vangelis Orfanoudakis said. The two fishermen filming the footage can be heard saying there are “many migrants” on the boat. The number is a little less in Italy, where 102,000 migrants have made the journey.

But after the precarious boat trip to Kos and sleeping rough on the streets, a young Syrian man, Anas, who is travelling to Athens with his daughter, feared more hardship was to come.

“Then when the Greeks saw what happened, they decided to pull us out of the water and bring us to land…” The ship is expected to speed up the registration process of about 7,000 refugees who are stranded on the Kos island.

Almost a quarter of a million migrants have crossed the narrow stretch of water from Turkey in small boats and dinghies to Europe this year, according to the worldwide Organization for Migration.

Note EU-Digest: the EU Commission and EU member states better get their act together on solving this crises which has the potential to result in a variety of serious consequences. It should also acknowledge and remedy the fact that this Middle East exodus of refugees to the EU is a direct result of a totally failed Western US led Middle East policy, which goes back many years and is only getting worse.


Read more: EU commission: Worst migration crisis since WWIIPress Examiner

Greece: Eurogroup approves third bailout for debt-ridden Greece

Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Friday to approve a third bailout programme for Greece, with the first tranche of aid to be worth €26 billion. Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Djisselbloem said that "of course there were differences, but we have managed to solve the last issues."

To recapitalise Greek banks €10 billion will be made available, while a second tranche of €16 billion will be paid out in several installments, starting with a €13 billion installment by August 20 when Greece must make a new debt payment to the European Central Bank (ECB).

"On this basis, Greece is and will irreversibly remain a member of the Euro area," said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after the deal was sealed.

Read more: france 24 - Eurogroup approves third bailout for debt-ridden Greece - France 24

Big Brother : Twitter says government requests for your data jumped 52% - most request US followed by Japan and Turkey

Governments want your data now more than ever.

That's according to Twitter, which released its twice-yearly transparency report on Tuesday, revealing that the number of times governments requested user account information jumped about 52% from 2,871 requests during the second half of 2014 to 4,363 requests during the first half of this year. The social network cooperated with 58% of those requests by handing over data.

Jeremy Kessel, Twitter's senior manager of global legal policy, called it, the "largest increase between reporting periods" the social network has ever seen.

Just as notable: Periscope alone received 1,391 copyright takedown requests during the same period — a startling number given the popular live streaming app debuted in March.

Meanwhile, requests from U.S. government officials made up 56% of all requests, followed by Japan, then Turkey, although requests from India spiked a whopping 175% versus the period before to 113 requests, 19% of which produced some information.

Twitter's government transparency report, which the social network began publishing in 2012, covers data requests from the governments of more than 45 countries, from Canada and the Dominican Republic to Cyprus and Serbia, often relating to criminal investigations.

Read more: Twitter says government requests for your data jumped 52%

Middle East - US launches first manned strikes on IS group from Turkey

The U.S. on Wednesday August  12  launched its first airstrikes by Turkey-based F-16 fighter jets against Islamic State targets in Syria, marking a limited escalation of a yearlong air campaign that critics have called excessively cautious.

In a brief statement the Pentagon announced the F-16 strikes were launched from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey but provided no details on the number or types of targets struck. It did not say how many of the six F-16s now based at Incirlik were used in the initial strikes.

Earlier this month the U.S. began flying armed drones from Incirlik, but the F-16 flights add a new dimension to the air campaign, in part because of the added risk to pilots who might encounter Syrian or other air defenses.

Pentagon officials have said the main advantage of using Incirlik is its proximity to Islamic State targets in northern Syria, although a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the F-16s may also be used on missions over Iraq. The official was not authorized to discuss F-16 mission details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most U.S. aerial combat missions over Iraq and Syria are being flown from more distant air bases in Qatar and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region, although the U.S. also is flying F-16s from Muwaffaq Salti air base in Jordan.

Read more: Middle East - US launches first manned strikes on IS group from Turkey - France 24

ISIS: How to Speak With Young Muslims About The Dangerous Aspects Of ISIS - by Imam Sohaib Sultan

The so-called solution provided by ISIS propaganda basically boils down to something along the lines of: "The West is the problem; Islam is the solution."

And, then young people are told that the "Islamic solution" can only happen with the total domination of societies from top down. And, that this totalitarian vision can only be achieved through war and fighting against all those who oppose this radical vision -- even against fellow Muslims.

In fact, the more that ISIS is condemned the more appealing it can be for some who are precisely seeking a movement or cause that will stick it to the status quo. The more that the West, in particular, speaks and mobilizes against ISIS and even heightens its rhetoric against them, the more appealing it can be to those who have come to see the world as a polarization that pits Islam against the West and sees the West as an unrelenting enemy of Islam.

So, what is really needed instead on college campuses and beyond is to offer young people a different radical and bold vision for how to engage with the world and how to make real and positive change in society.

The fire that many young people have to change the world should be honored. It is about getting students involved -- as early as possible -- in the more difficult, but ultimately more satisfying and successful, work of social justice organizing and human rights advocacy and grassroots mobilization.

If the passions that young people have are not directed in good and constructive ways, then some will find evil and destructive ways to engage their passions. That's a hard, but simple truth. So, the responsibility lies on all of us -- young and old and people of all backgrounds -- to counter violent extremism not just with words of condemnation, but more importantly with actions of compassion and models of construction.

Note EU-Digest: Imam Sohaib Sultan is to be commended for speaking out against this radical and maniacally dangerous ISIS doctrine and providing solutions other than just bombing them and in the process also killing many innocent civilians. Imam's everywhere  in the Muslim world need to follow in Imam Sohaib Sultan foot steps and start speaking out again ISIS. 

Read more: How to Speak With Young Muslims About ISIS | Imam Sohaib Sultan

US Congress - GMO Labeling: The Monsanto Protection Act is back -- worse than before - impact on EU TTIP negotiations

The biggest threat to GMO labeling that we ever saw could soon become law if people don’t react now.

US Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo, Monsanto’s hand-picked representative in Washington, has combined his anti-GMO labeling bill, the “DARK Act,” with the Monsanto Protection Act – and it’s even worse than before.

This newly revised Monsanto Protection Act would not only prevent states from enacting their own GMO labeling laws, but it would go even further by nullifying all existing restrictions on GMO crops already on the books.

This unbelievable power grab by Monsanto and its Republican supporters is quickly making its way through Congressional committees and could be up for a final vote by the end of the month.

According to the Environmental Working Group, a leading advocate for GMO labeling and major opponent of Rep. Pompeo’s legislation, the new Monsanto Protection Act would:

• Block all state laws requiring mandatory GMO labeling, including Vermont’s landmark labeling law;
• Prevent the FDA from establishing a national mandatory GMO labeling program;
• Possibly block non-GMO claims until the USDA creates a non-GMO certification program, which could take up to 10 years;
• Block all state and local efforts to protect rural communities and farmers from the impacts of GMO crops;
• Prevent claims by food companies that non-GMO foods are better than GMO ones.

The consequences of this legislation for the US food system would be drastic and widespread.

US State-level efforts to label GMO foods that have already passed in states like Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut would be nullified. All local oversight and restrictions on genetically modified crops would be prohibited. Laws and regulations in states and communities with GMO-free agricultural zones, including in California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, could be completely overturned.

Monsanto has significantly beefed up its lobbying efforts to pass this bill, spending nearly a half million dollars per month in total lobbying and boasting that it has contacted every single member of Congress.

Recent polling shows that even though more than 90% of Americans are in favor of GMO labeling, corporate money  is being used to influence Congressional legislators to vote against preventive health measures and consumer choices provided by food labeling.

The EU negotiating team at the EU-US Trade Negotiations (TTIP) are hopefully also aware of the going's on in the US Congress in relation to GMO's and food labeling. 

New EU food labeling rules came into force in the EU on December 13, 2014 to ensure that consumers receive clearer and more accurate information about what they buy and eat.

The new EU  rules will now even  force restaurants and cafés to list 14 different allergens in the menus - including nuts, gluten, lactose, soy or milk.Displaying allergens was until then only mandatory for pre-packed foods.

Nano components will also have to be included in the ingredients list. Oils will need to refer to the plants used in their production, such as sunflower, palm or olive.

Fresh meat from pigs, sheep, goats and poultry will need to carry a mandatory origin label, with a font size of at least 1.2 milimetres.   

As one EU parliamentarian noted: "we must keep that unlabeled American Junk-Food out off the European food supplies". 

EU-Digest