- Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Antigua and Barbuda 5.6 - 5.5 ; New Zealand 5.7 - 5.3 - 5.2 ; Indonesia 5.3- 5.1 : Chile 5.1!More info here.
- Chilling Chart From Yesterday's Reported Drop in Unemployment: "6,278,000 people are unaccounted for".(DougRoss).I am sure it is just coincidence, but it is interesting to note that the flat lining of the labor force began in earnest with the Obama administration.Hopefully you won't hate me and -- not to trivialize the real thing in the least -- but I can't keep myself from thinking that President Obama is the architect of an economic holocaust.Read and SEE the full story here.
- Obamnesty is Here!(JW).Illegal alien amnesty is no longer the theoretical consideration of federal immigration officials inside the Obama administration. No more musings by Obama administration bureaucrats on how best to bypass Congress and implement illegal alien amnesty in stealth. The secret is now out. And, as reported by The New York Times, illegal alien amnesty is now the official policy of the United States of America, courtesy of the Obama administration:The Department of Homeland Security will begin a review on Thursday (November 17) of all deportation cases before the immigration courts and start a nationwide training program for enforcement agents and prosecuting lawyers, with the goal of speeding deportations of convicted criminals and halting those of many illegal immigrants with no criminal record.The accelerated triage of the court docket — about 300,000 cases — is intended to allow severely overburdened immigration judges to focus on deporting foreigners who committed serious crimes or pose national security risks, Homeland Security officials said. Taken together, the review and the training, which will instruct immigration agents on closing deportations that fall outside the department’s priorities, are designed to bring sweeping changes to the immigration courts and to enforcement strategies of field agents nationwide.First off, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should have but one priority: Protect American citizens by enforcing the law. The vast majority of American citizens believe if a law’s worth having it’s worth enforcing, including laws that prohibit people from sneaking across the border and living in the shadows, often on the taxpayer’s dime! But not this White House. This White House simply picks and chooses which laws it wishes to enforce based on its own whims and political and election needs. And that is a sure path to chaos, confusion and discontent.And don’t believe for a second the Obama administration’s line that criminal illegal aliens won’t find themselves “outside the department’s priorities.”Judicial Watch uncovered documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) proving that immigration officials were urged to use “prosecutorial discretion” to dismiss deportation proceedings against a wide variety of illegal alien criminals — including those convicted of serious crimes such as sexual assault, solicitation of murder, aggravated assault, assaulting a police officer, and kidnapping, as well as numerous drug charges.Of course, the Obama administration’s tired justification for its new “amnesty” policy is that the system is too stressed to enforce federal immigration laws. This is an excuse, not a reason, to purposely give amnesty (and the authorization to work!) to illegal aliens. After all, we’re talking about an administration that doled out half a billion dollars to the now bankrupt energy company Solyndra. And that’s just a tiny drop in the overflowing bailout bucket. Couldn’t even a small portion of the trillions of taxpayer dollars now “invested” in Solyndra or in the ACORN network be better spent helping to resolve the illegal immigration crisis?Most Americans would answer with an emphatic “yes!”I can’t help but think this move by the Obama administration to effectively “legalize” millions of illegal aliens is intended to create a new community of dependable liberal voters (legal and illegal) just in time for the 2012 elections. That appears to be the record of this White House: tossing bones to key voting groups by crafting policies that undermine the rule of law but satisfy their “special interests.” (See: Black Panthers, La Raza, and DOMA for just a few such examples.) And that is simply indefensible.As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Judicial Watch is in the midst of a massive campaign to tell Barack Obama and the governors of all 50 states that Americans want our immigration laws enforced. In fact, in early November we delivered 85,010 petitions to the president with that very message. As I said in my cover letter that accompanied the petitions: “Your administration must obey the law and not implement amnesty through administrative measures or under the ruse of prosecutorial discretion.”You can be sure that your Judicial Watch will continue its leadership role to investigate and litigate in order to expose and stop Obamnesty and all other efforts to undermine our nation’s laws against illegal immigration. For a good summary of our effective activism in this area, please click here.Read the full story here.
- Turkey Given Possession of 60 B61-12 Nuclear Bombs.(StratRisks).Source: News AZ.'Turkey given possession of nuclear warheads, report says.The United States currently has 70 type B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs at its airbase in Incirlik in the southern province of Adana, according to daily Vatan.Vatan acquired the information from a report by Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen that was published on the “Atomic Scientists Bulletin” website, revealing an inventory of the nuclear weapons the US military keeps in Turkey.The Number of warheads decreased from 90 in 2001.Between 10 and 20 of the 70 nuclear warheads at Incirlik were designed to be delivered to their targets by Turkish warplanes, according to the report.The 142nd fighter/bomber squadron of the Turkish Air Forces, nicknamed the “Gazelles,” was assigned the task of delivering the nuclear ordnances. The squadron consists of F-16A/B warplanes.The US military needed a certain warplane type that is different than those stationed at the Incirlik airbase in order to deliver the remaining 50 warheads, the report by Norris and Kristensen said.The Turkish state, however, has declined to allow the US military to deploy the said aircraft at Incirlik.US warplanes would need to land at Incirlik from another location, equip the nuclear warheads and then fly to their targets, according to the report.Turkey’s refusal to station nuclear-capable US warplanes on its soil prevented Incirlik from acquiring a “full NATO position” status. This was a unique case among NATO bases, the report said.The report indicated that the B61-12 nuclear warheads currently deployed at Incirlik would be changed with the new B61-3/4 warheads.Former Turkish Air Force Commander Gen. Ergin Cilasun was quoted as saying that “Turkey’s nuclear strike duty within NATO has ended” in 2001.Hmmm........The enemy of my friend is my friend?Israel should be very worried.Read the full story here.
- Military Rescinding Outrageous Policy of No Bibles in Hospital.(BarackNow).How in the world did a military policy that prohibits Bibles from being brought in to Walter Reed get made in the first place? Someone needs to be disciplined. The good news is the policy is being rescinded. The bad news is it actually took an outraged congressman to do it.Via Fox News: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said they are rescinding a policy that prohibits family members of wounded military troops from bringing Bibles or any religious reading materials to their loved ones. The decision to rescind the ban on Bibles came exactly one day after a Republican lawmaker denounced the policy on the House floor and called on President Obama to publicly renounce the military policy. “The President of the United States should address this and should excoriate the people who brought about this policy and the individual who brought it about should be dismissed from the United States Military,” Rep. Steve King (R-IA) told Fox News & Commentary.The memo was initially signed by the hospital's Chief of Staff. King spoke from the House floor Thursday blasting a policy memorandum from the commander of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center written by Chief of Staff C.W. Callahan. The September 14th memo covers guidelines for “wounded, ill, and injured partners in care.” “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit,” the policy states. “That means you can’t bring in a Bible and read from it when you visit your son or your daughter, perhaps – or your wife or husband,” King said. “It means a priest that might be coming in to visit someone on their death bed couldn’t bring in the Eucharist, couldn’t offer Last Rites. This is the most outrageous affront.”Here is the speech given by Rep. King, after which the decision was made to rescind the policy. Fast forward to the 7:00 mark if pressed for time: We're seeing a slew of these extremely disturbing positions on the part of top military commanders. In May of 2009, the Army in Afghanistan was ordered to burn Bibles while in September of 2010, General David Petraeus denounced Florida pastor Terry Jones for burning the 'Holy Qur'an.' Let's also not forget that a cross at a US Army post in Afghanistan was forcibly removed.Lastly, and perhaps most egregiously, General George Casey's comments just a few short days after the jihadist massacre at Fort Hood. His take? Nidal Malik Hasan's actions would pale in comparison to 'diversity' to becoming a 'casualty.'Read the full story here.
- White House warns spending talks are on track for another shutdown ‘crisis’.(TheHill).White House Budget Director Jack Lew on Friday warned that the negotiations on the 2012 omnibus spending bill are going poorly and could soon lead to a “crisis” that shuts down the government.Appropriators are negotiating a nine-bill, $900 billion omnibus package, but the White House and Republicans are at odds over rider provisions attached to the spending bills, including ones related to abortion and the environment. Funding for the government runs out Dec. 16, leaving little time to resolve the disputes. Lew said President Obama is prepared to veto an omnibus with ideological riders in it. “I don’t think it is in the interest of the country to have a crisis,” Lew warned. “There is absolutely no reason that this needs to go the path of crisis.”The budget director said that, in addition to riders, the White House will not accept any attempt to revisit the top line $1.043 trillion spending cap that was set by the August debt deal, or a bill that provides less additional disaster aid than that agreement allows. “There should be no miscalculation about the intensity of [the president’s] feelings on this,” Lew said.“I haven’t see a clear movement away from the riders that we are going to need to see,” Lew told reporters in a briefing. “I don’t think the signal has been sent to drop the extreme provisions.”He said it would be a “miscalculation” for Republicans to think that by dropping riders, they can get an agreement from Democrats to defund such Obama administration priorities as Wall Street reform and the healthcare law.House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) denied that a crisis looms over funding the government.“I think cooler heads will prevail and we’ll get this done,” he said when asked about Lew’s comments.Lew would not say that each and every rider needs to be removed from the bill, and instead said that appropriators know which types of provisions must be removed. He cited family planning, women’s health, healthcare reform and mining in the Grand Canyon as examples of extreme provisions that the White House will not accept. “The president is not going to be in a place where he can say everyone can go home for the holidays unless this gets done,” Lew said.Read the full story here.
- "Obamanomics" - A $230,000 Taxpayer-Funded ‘Green Jobs’ Website, but No Jobs Listed.(Heritage).How’s this for a waste of taxpayer money? According to Energy& Environment News, the Department of Energy is paying $230,000 for a website to promote career paths in the green energy sector–and it has, ironically, prohibited the listing of actual jobs in the industry. Here’s the report: The Department of Energy has awarded a $230,000 contract to the Association of Energy Services Professionals to develop a website on energy efficiency jobs — but the agency has prohibited the listing of actual position openings.Instead, the website will include information on what training and education is needed to nab a job, said Suzanne Jones, AESP’s vice president of marketing. In lieu of a job bank, AESP will provide 40 to 50 “very distinct” job descriptions in the energy efficiency industry, along with the education and training needed for such jobs.A DOE spokesman did not return a request for comment in time for publication. The website — called “My Energy Gateway” — will launch in April 2012, according to AESP.It probably shouldn’t be surprising that a “green jobs website” doesn’t actually list any green jobs. After all, President Barack Obama’s green dream has proven to be a bust. The President made green jobs a centerpiece of his Administration, and he hailed them as the future of this U.S. economy. The trouble is, those jobs didn’t materialize, despite a massive infusion of federal spending–including billions in the 2009 stimulus bill.Even The New York Times wrote, ”federal and state efforts to stimulate creation of green jobs have largely failed” and Obama’s goal of creating 5 million new green jobs within 10 years is a “pipe dream.”Maybe the Obama Administration is operating under “The Field of Dreams” theory — if they build a website, the jobs will come. A better strategy would be to get the federal government out of the way and let the free market thrive instead of spending taxpayer money on quarter-million-dollar PR projects.Read the full story here.
- Issa, House Republicans Say Obama HHS Discriminated Against Catholic Church.(DailyCaller).At a Thursday House oversight committee hearing on the administration’s decision not to renew funding to United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to help victims of human sex trafficking, the committee’s Republicans clashed with Health and Human Services official George Sheldon.The hearing, “HHS and the Catholic Church: Examining the Politicization of Grants,” dealt with the Department of Health and Human Services’ denial of a new grant to USCCB — which had been receiving funding to combat trafficking since 2006 under a five year contract.Despite protest from career HHS officials, as the Washington Post reported, three other groups received the grant, including two that received “significantly” lower scores from an independent review board.“The most experienced and top rated national applicant was not selected for this award. Other organizations including ones that submitted much lower rated proposals were somehow funded,” committee Chairman Darrell Issa said, alleging that members of the administration changed the criteria for approval because of a bias against the Catholic Church.Sheldon explained that in its determination HHS granted a preference to those groups “that would provide the full array of services.”“Our experience in operating this program for ten years drove home to us the particular health risked posed by victims of human trafficking. As a result we specified in the funding announcement that we would give a strong preference to applicants that are willing to offer all the services in referrals delineated in the program objectives — including offering victims referral to medical providers that can provide or refer to a full range of services they need,” Sheldon said, noting that if the applicant is unable to perform some of the tasks — such as abortion — they can contract with sub-grantees to provide those services.“We selected grantees that are able to provide a full set of health-related referrals,” he added.Issa pressed Sheldon on the independent scores of the groups that received grant money, asking why USCCR was denied the grant when it had a substantially higher score (89) than two of the three grantees.Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz yielded his time to New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith who lampooned the administration for their “bias.”“The Obama administration’s bias against Catholics is an affront to religious freedom and a threat to all people,” Smith charged.Hmmmm.....Quran Sura 4:24: “And forbidden to you are wedded wives of other people except those who have fallen in your hands.”Read the full story here.
- Canada predicts U.S. approval of Keystone pipeline.(NP).By David Ljunggren and Jeffrey Jones.Canada believes the United States will ultimately approve TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which Washington put on hold last month for more than a year, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Friday.Oliver said the project – which would carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico coast – still makes enormous economic sense for the United States.“I think it will go through, but obviously later than we had hoped,” he told a Reuters editorial board in Toronto.A recent decision by the state of Nebraska to back changes to the pipeline’s route was “a significant development”, he added.Oliver’s comments were among the most bullish made by Canada’s Conservative government since Washington announced a decision on whether to approve the $7 billion pipeline would be delayed at least until early 2013, after the 2012 U.S. presidential election.“This delay is not a happy event for us but we’re going to continue to talk about the advantages of the pipeline,” Oliver said.Washington’s move followed protests by environmental campaigners and Hollywood celebrities, who say exploitation of the oil sands is causing a huge spike in the emission of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.Oliver said the delay meant it was important for Canada to diversify its oil exports, in particular by developing pipelines to the Pacific Coast, which would allow major shipments to Asia for the first time.The idea is already sparking friction with aboriginal groups and environmental activists, who say such pipeline would present oil-spill risks in environmentally sensitive areas.Aboriginal groups in the Pacific province of British Columbia said on Thursday they had formed a united front to oppose all exports of crude oil from the Alberta tar sands through their territories.Such a ban would create a roadblock for Enbridge Inc’s planned C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) Northern Gateway oil pipeline, which would transport tar sands crude to the British Columbia coast.Oliver would not speculate on what the legal implications for the government might be if native communities maintain their opposition to the Northern Gateway or subsequent proposals.“It has to be built in a way that takes into account the environmental impact and the needs and the wishes of the aboriginal community,” he said. “I think that can be done. I’m not saying it will be easy.”Oliver said that developing West Coast oil routes was “an enormous opportunity” for aboriginal groups, offering badly needed economic development, education and jobs.Read the full story here.
- Barak vs US: We can't wait until Iran declares it has a nuclear bomb.(Debka). Major US-Israel differences surfaced suddenly Thursday, Dec. 1, over the timing and circumstances of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, when Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, said: "I don't know whether Israel would alert the United States ahead of time if it decided to take military action against Iran." Three hours later, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak maintained US policy would enable Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon without the possibility of attacking it.In an interview, General Dempsey went on to admit a range of differences between the US and Israel on two key issues: The first related to their expectations from the sanctions and the diplomatic moves being taken by the Obama administration, “with the stated intent not to take any options off the table” – language that leaves open the possibility of future military action.“I am not sure that the Israelis share our outlook” on this matter, said the American general.The second issue on which the Americans and Israelis are divided is their perspective on the future course of events relating to the Iranian nuclear program and the Middle East: “And … because to them this (a nuclear-armed Iran) is an existential threat I think probably that it’s fair to say that our expectations are different right now,” said Gen. Dempsey.In an early morning radio interview, Ehud Barak laid Israel's cards on the table with unusual frankness: He said he would be happy if diplomatic moves and sanctions were to stop Iran’s nuclear program and make it possible to give up the military option, but he does not believe that is the case.“They (the Americans) tell us - What’s the hurry with an attack on Iran? Wait until (Ayatollah) Khamenei announces that Iran is abandoning the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty). The Iranians will break the locks (IAEA inspection seals at Iranian uranium enrichment plants) and then it will be clear to all that they have a nuclear weapon.”Barak added: “The difference between us and the Americans is this: We say that because the Iranians are busy moving their nuclear program to underground facilities, they can announce this (that they have a nuclear weapon) after it is no longer possible to attack it." He went on to warn that If Israel is pushed into a corner, “it will have to act.”In other words, Israel is not willing to wait, as the Obama administration proposes, until diplomatic moves and sanctions against Iran have achieved their aim, mostly because Israel is not ready to let Iran complete the transfer of its nuclear facilities to underground facilities and so make them safe from attack.Another point made by the Israeli defense minister was that some of Iran's nuclear facilities have already been hidden underground and are therefore impossible to monitor, even by military satellites. He was referring especially, our sources say, to the Fordo bunker site near Qom where, according to intelligence data, Iran is about to start enriching 20-percent grade uranium to 60 percent. This would bring the program to a few weeks away from weapons grade uranium for a bomb or a warhead.On Tuesday, Nov. 29, former IDF military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin estimated that Iran had already accumulated sufficient enriched uranium to build 4 to 5 nuclear bombs.Israel, Barak replied, is nowhere near being paralyzed by messages of doom. The degree of damage and number of civilian casualties would not, in his view, be alarmingly high. He repeated his estimate of early November that the casualty figure from a combined Arab missile assault resulting from an attack on Iran would be “a lot less than 500” – especially if people took cover.The defense minister concluded this comment by saying: I have no idea what may happen tomorrow morning in Syria, or in Egypt.” debkafile’s military sources interpret this as meaning that the danger of a new Middle East regional war is already present - unrelated to a possible Israeli attack on Iran, but rather as a result of the volatility set up by the uprising in Syria and the predicted rise to power in Egypt of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi Islamists.Hmmmm......"Pour les vaincre, messieurs, il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace et la Patrie sera sauvée!" ~ Danton. Read the full story here.
- Panetta: Israel must get to "damn" peace table.(Reuters). Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel on Friday to get back to the "damn" negotiating table with Palestinians and take steps to address what he described as the Jewish state's growing isolation in the Middle East.Panetta, addressing a forum in Washington, also made one of his most extensive arguments to date against any imminent military action against Iran over its nuclear program, saying he was convinced that sanctions and diplomatic pressure were working."You always have the last resort ... of military action. But it must be the last resort, not the first," Panetta said.Militarily strong, Israel is battling a diplomatic storm as Arab uprisings upset once-stable relationships in the Middle East. But Panetta warned Israel against viewing uprisings like the one in Egypt that toppled president Hosni Mubarak as an excuse to enter a defensive crouch."I understand the view that this is not the time to pursue peace, and that the Arab awakening further imperils the dream of a safe and secure, Jewish and democratic Israel. But I disagree with that view," Panetta said.He said Israel needed to take risks, including by breathing new life into moribund peace talks with Palestinians. When asked by a moderator what steps Israel needed to take to pursue peace, Panetta said: "Just get to the damn table.""The problem right now is we can't get 'em to the damn table, to at least sit down and begin to discuss their differences," Panetta said.Panetta said the United States would safeguard Israel's security, ensure regional stability and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon -- a goal Tehran denies having."Israel, too, has a responsibility to pursue these shared goals -- to build regional support for Israeli and United States' security objectives," Panetta said."I believe security is dependent on a strong military but it is also dependent on strong diplomacy. And unfortunately, over the past year, we've seen Israel's isolation from its traditional security partners in the region grow."Panetta suggested that Israel reach out and mend fences with countries like Turkey, Egypt and Jordan which "share an interest in regional stability."Turkey was the first Muslim state to recognize Israel, in 1949, but relations worsened last year when Israeli commandos boarded an aid flotilla challenging a naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza and killing nine Turks in ensuing clashes.(Hmmmm...Just watch this video then you'll know why things got worse)."It is in Israel's interest, Turkey's interest, and U.S. interest for Israel to reconcile with Turkey, and both Turkey and Israel need to do more to put their relationship back on track," Panetta said.But Panetta said the best course for the United States and the international community was to continue to put pressure on Egypt to follow through with transition to democracy and ensure any future government stands by its peace treaty with Israel.Turning to Iran, Panetta used some of his strongest language yet to explain U.S. concerns about any military strike against Iran over its nuclear program -- which the West believes is aimed at an atomic bomb. Tehran denies this, saying its uranium enrichment is entirely peaceful.Panetta said a strike could disrupt the already fragile economies of Europe and the United States, trigger Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces, and ultimately spark a popular backlash in Iran that would bolster its rulers.It also may not be effective. Panetta cited estimates from Israelis that a strike might set back Iran's nuclear program by one to two years "at best."He finally warned about engulfing the region in war."Lastly I think the consequence could be that we would have an escalation that would take place that would not only involve many lives, but I think could consume the Middle East in confrontation and conflict that we would regret," he said.Hmmmm....It's not about the survival of the U.S or Europe but the survival of Israel!I start to believe that they would take sides with Turkey against Israel.Read the full story here.
- US ambassador in Belgium: 'Jew-hate stems from conflict'.(YNet).BRUSSELS – Growing global anti-Semitism is linked to Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians, the American ambassador to Belgium told stunned Jewish conference attendants in Brussels earlier this week.Speaking Wednesday at a Jewish conference on anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Union (EJU,) Howard Gutman told participants he was apologizing in advance if his words are not to their liking. He then proceeded to make controversial statements about his views on Muslim anti-Semitism, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday. A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Gutman said. He also argued that an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism. The American envoy, a lawyer by training, is Jewish and played a major role in fundraising for the Democratic Party. He was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama.The conference was attended by Jewish lawyers from across Europe. The legal experts at the event were visibly stunned by Gutman’s words, and the next speaker offered a scathing rebuttal to the envoy’s remarks.“The modern Anti-Semite formally condemns Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and expresses upmost sympathy with the Jewish people. He simply has created a new species, the “Anti-Zionist” or – even more sophisticated – the so-called ‘Israel critic,’” Germany attorney Nathan Gelbart said. “The ‘Israel critic’ will never state ‘Jews go home’ but is questioning the legality of the incorporation of the State of Israel and therefore the right for the Jewish people to settle in their homeland. He will not say the Jews are the evil of the world but claim that the State of Israel is a major cause for instability and war in the region,” he said. “There is no other country, no other people on this planet the ‘Israel critic’ would dedicate so much time and devotion as to the case of Israel.”“For no other country he would criticize or ask to boycott its goods or academics. And this for one simple reason: Because Israel is the state of the Jewish people, not more and not less,” Gelbart said.Conference attendants received Gelbart’s remarks with loud applause, while the American envoy apologized for having to leave the site as result of prior obligations and departed.Earlier, Gutman also presented participants with a short video clip showing him received with warm applause at a Muslim school in Brussels. While he did not mention what prompted the warm reception, his message was that this is the kind of welcome given to a Jew who supports President Obama’s policy of openness to Islam. Approached by Yedioth Ahronoth, the US envoy was asked whether Obama’s policy did not cause America to lose its influence in the region. Gutman responded by saying that the Arab world appreciates Obama following his speech in Cairo, referring to an address delivered by the president in 2009.Hmmmm....."It's the Jews their fault?"Read the full story here.
- Russia: UN sanctions on Iran have been 'exhausted'.(YNet).Moscow believes there is no room for further UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Friday."We believe the sanctions track in the Security Council has been exhausted," he told reporters in response to a question about Iran.and its nuclear program. "We continue to believe very strongly that negotiations should continue with Iran."The United States and European powers, trying to further isolate Iran, have seized on a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency saying Iran appeared to have worked on designing an atom bomb. They have expanded national sanctions against Tehran and suggested the UN council might follow suit.Russia reluctantly supported four rounds of UN sanctions against Iran after working hard with China to dilute the measures before they were approved. Churkin's remarks may indicate that Moscow's tolerance for expanding UN punitive measures against the Islamic Republic have run out.Churkin reiterated Moscow's view that negotiations between the five permanent Security Council members and Germany with Tehran had been undermined by the latest IAEA report. Iran rejects Western allegations that it is developing nuclear arms under cover of a civilian atomic energy program."We were quite upset that that effort was – we hope ... not entirely derailed, but interrupted by recent developments when the IAEA came up with a report which was played up more as a PR exercise than a serious nuclear report," he said.The report contained "very little new information," Churkin added.Churkin also criticized the push by Western and Arab nations to isolate Syria. He said threats against both Syria and Iran were escalating in an unhelpful way."The confrontation scenario is being played out not only with regard to Syria but with regard to Iran as well," he said. "All those threats and insinuations of military action against Iran, they don't help at all."Russia recently vetoed a European-drafted resolution on Syria which would have condemned its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and threatened possible future sanctions.Hmmmm.....The 'Putin doctrine' : NJET, njet, njet!Read the full story here.
- Alarming rise of Muslim 'honour attacks' in the UK as police reveal thousands were carried out last year.(DailyMail).Nearly 3,000 so-called honour attacks were recorded by police in Britain last year, new research has revealed.According to figures obtained by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (Ikwro), at least 2,823 incidents of 'honour-based' violence took place, with the highest number recorded in London.The charity said the statistics fail to provide the full picture of the levels of 'honour' violence in the UK , but are the best national estimate so far.The data, taken from from 39 out of 52 UK forces, was released following a freedom of information request by Ikwro.In total, eight police forces recorded more than 100 so called honour-related attacks in 2010.The Metropolitan Police saw 495 incidents, with 378 reported in the West Midlands, 350 in West Yorkshire, 227 in Lancashire and 189 in Greater Manchester.Cleveland recorded 153, while Suffolk and Bedfordshire saw 118 and 117 respectively, according to the figures.Between the 12 forces able to provide figures from 2009, there was an overall 47 per cent rise in honour attack incidents. Police in Northumbria saw a 305 per cent increase from 17 incidents in 2009 to 69 in 2010, while Cambridgeshire saw a 154 per cent jump from 11 to 28.A quarter of police forces in the UK were unable or unwilling to provide data, Ikwro said.The report stated: 'This is the first time that a national estimate has been provided in relation to reporting of honour-based violence.'The number of incidents is significant, particularly when we consider the high levels of abuse that victims suffer before they seek help.''Honour' attacks are punishments usually carried out against Muslim women who have been accused of bringing shame on their family and in the past have included abductions, mutilations, beatings and murder.Ikwro director Diana Nammi told the BBC that families often deny the existence of the attacks.She said: 'The perpetrators will be even considered as a hero within the community because he is the one defending the family and community's honour and reputation.'Calling for more support for victims, she added: 'For some cases, police and some organisations just help them up to a length of time, then they will stop. With honour-based violence, the threat may be a lifetime threat for them.'The problem is that there is no systematic training for police and other government forces in the UK, such as social services, teachers and midwives.' She said that honour-based violence is an 'organised or collective crime or incident' which is orchestrated by a family or within a community. Honour crimes mostly happen in South Asian, Eastern European and Middle Eastern communities, she added. Ms Nammi added that 'lots of things' are considered to be dishonourable including; having a boyfriend, being a victim of rape, refusing an arranged marriage, being gay or lesbian and in some cases wearing make-up or inappropriate dress. The association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said they were working hard to offer support to victims, and front-line staff had been specially trained to deal with complaints. Read the full story here
- Reversing U.S. Retreat from the Arctic.(Heritage).As the Arctic ice cap is decreasing in size, the international race for Arctic resources is heating up.The High North countries—including Russia, Denmark, Norway, and Canada—are scrambling to lay claims on previously inaccessible giant oil reserves and begin their development. Richard Weitz, Ph.D., senior fellow at Hudson Institute, recently published a report on the subject that comes to an unpalatable conclusion: “U.S. is dead last in committing resources to the Arctic mission.”There are a number of reasons for that strategic blunder. First is the lack of public and government attention to the issue and an unwillingness to allocate resources to Arctic exploration. There are certainly some costs involved—the U.S. spent a total of $5.6 million in the Arctic in 2008—but, as The Heritage Foundation rightly notes, that is “a pittance compared to the billions of dollars of Arctic natural resources that are at stake.”A key national interest like this is not an appropriate target for budget cuts. After all, if successful, Arctic exploration could solve multiple economic problems, from creating jobs to reducing dependency on foreign oil from unstable regions.Another reason is that the U.S. is behind countries like Russia and Canada in naval assets and technologies necessary for Arctic exploration and development. Compared to Russia’s flotilla of 18 icebreakers, including seven nuclear-powered ones, the U.S. only has three, two of which are nearing the end of their service lives. Russia is developing new models of nuclear ice breakers, anticipating demand for their services, but unlike Russia, the U.S. government and the private sector are hesitant to commit more funds to building and developing new icebreakers given the current economic situation.Weitz believes that the Arctic “is not fated to become an arena of international conflict” and that most of the disputes will be resolved with international cooperation or negotiations through intergovernmental organizations. However, Russia’s increasingly aggressive posture in the Arctic suggests otherwise.As we wrote, Russia “is increasingly relying on power, not international law, to settle its claims.” To support its Arctic claims, Moscow not only deployed civilian research expeditions; it also resumed military navy and air patrols of the region for the first time since the end of the Cold War. And unlike the U.S., Russia has a number of elite military units trained specifically for combat in the Arctic.We further concluded that that such an aggressive stance and “the current rush to dominate the Arctic Ocean and everything under it indicates that greed and aggression characterize the new Russian polar bear.” Under these circumstances, it remains to be seen whether Russia will use diplomacy, as Weitz outlines. Even if they do, at this point in time it is Russia, not the U.S., who is able to negotiate from a position of strength in the Arctic.Finally, Weitz, mentions that the Arctic countries may use the U.N. Law of the Seas Treaty (LOST) to make resolve disputes. The U.S. is not a party to LOST and thus cannot use the same international legal mechanisms, which he believes somehow may put the U.S. at a disadvantage, as Washington would not be able to use the same international legal mechanisms to enforce its claims as the other Arctic countries. Still, as we wrote before, the claims may still be legally enforceable using President Harry Truman’s Presidential Proclamation No. 2667, which declares that “any hydrocarbon or other resources discovered beneath the U.S. continental shelf are the property of the United States.”To conclude, the U.S. should secure a strong position in the Arctic. Heritage Foundation scholars have written extensively on the issue, and the primary suggestions could be summarized as follows:
- Increase budget spending on Arctic operations, including oil exploration, U.S. coast guard maintenance, and acquisition of icebreakers;
- Check Russian activities in the Arctic;
- Negotiate with other countries with disputed Arctic claims who also oppose Russia’s expansion and are likely to be more friendly to the U.S.;
- Establish secure control over the region with the help of U.S. NATO allies; and
- Using NATO, expand cooperation with other international security organizations, especially EUROCOM, in order to maximize U.S. presence in the region.The stakes in the Arctic are too high for the U.S. to procrastinate on addressing its challenges in the region.Read the full story and more on the subject here.
- THE COPTIC NATIONALISTS WORK FOR A CIVILIAN, SECULAR DEMOCRATIC EGYPT FOR ALL EGYPTIANS REGARDLESS OF RELIGION, SEX, COLOUR OR NATIONALITY. IF THAT IS PROVEN IMPOSSIBLE, IT IS SECESSION. DOUBT IT NOT.(OCN).By Dioscorus Boles.THE COPTIC NATIONALISTS WORK for a civilian, secular democratic Egypt for all Egyptians regardless of religion, sex, colour or nationality. If that is proven impossible, we shall fight for secession and the establishment of an independent Coptic State. When and how the second option may become a first option is frankly in the hands of our co-patriots, the Muslims of Egypt. A special burden falls on the shoulders of the moderate Muslims – they must discard their lethargy, apathy and join us in an anti-Islamist front. There can be no more dangerous enemy to Egypt’s democracy and progress other than the Islamists – their harm touches moderate Muslims and Copts alike. Let us be honest and frank about this: not only Egypt’s democracy and progress is being endangered by the advent of the Islamists, but also its national and territorial unity. Let Egyptians learn the lesson of Sudan!Read the full story here.
- Muslim Brotherhood: Extremist Islamic Group.(HudsonReport).By Khaled Abu Toameh.The Obama Administration is making a mistake by endorsing the Muslim Brotherhood as if it were made up of moderates or "good guys" just because they are not blowing things up.What moderate Arabs and Muslims do not understand is the rush of the Barack Obama Administration to endorse extremist Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.The Muslim Brotherhood decision to run in the parliamentary elections under the banner of "Freedom and Justice" does not necessarily mean that the organization has changed its ideology.Its credo was and remains: "Allah is our objective, the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our way and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations."The organization believes the Quran and Sharia law (the "Justice" part of "Freedom and Justice") should be the basis for any Islamic government; that all Muslims should be unified under a Caliphate, and that its principles include "liberating Arabs and Muslims from foreign imperialism."The Obama Administration seems deliberately to want to be unaware of "taqiyya" [dissimulation], a silent and therefore even more dangerous tactic advocated in Islam to achieve the strategic goal of soothing the infidels into submitting without their even realizing what they have submitted to until it is too late for them -- called "Stealth Sharia."If anyone thinks that the Muslim Brotherhood will abandon jihad and extremism once its members come to power, they are living in an illusion.Hamas did the same thing in the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, when it contested the vote under the banner of Change and Reform. In Tunisia, the Islamists chose to run under the banner of Annahda [Renaissance], while in Morocco they hid behind the name Justice and Development.The nice and attractive names that the Islamists choose for their parties are above all intended to fool Westerners into thinking that Muslim extremists do not pose a threat to non-Muslims. The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies will do everything to hide their true intentions from Western governments and people. But once they come to power, they reveal their true colors.The US Administration, which has determined that the Muslim Brotherhood is probably not that bad after all, is most likely unaware of what happened in Cairo last week, when thousands of the organization's supporters chanted "death to the Jews" and vowed to wage jihad [holy war] against Israel.At a rally co-sponsored by Al-Azhar University under the banner "The Friday for Supporting Al-Aqsa Mosque," Muslim Brotherhood supporters also chanted: "O Tel Aviv, the day of judgment has come!" and "We will march on Jerusalem and sacrifice millions of martyrs!"According to Eldad Beck, an Arab affairs correspondent for the Israeli online newspaper Ynet, about 5,000 Egyptians participated in the event, held to mark the anniversary of the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine.Mohammed Ahmed Tayeb, the imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, told the crowd that the "Al-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews. We shall not allow Zionists to Judaize Jerusalem."The messages coming out of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt did not surprise most Arabs and Muslims who are familiar with the organization and its agenda.Although Hamas won the elections in 2006 under the banner of Change and Reform, the movement has since not changed its ideology, and continues to call for the destruction of Israel. Only those who are naive would believe that Hamas would ever recognize Israel's right to exist.In 2006, the Americans made the mistake of allowing Hamas to run unconditionally in the elections. Back then, Washington should have demanded that Hamas first recognize Israel's right to exist and the Oslo Accords, and renounce terrorism as a precondition for participating in the election.Ten years earlier, Hamas boycotted the same election: it said the vote was being held under the Oslo Accords, which the movement does not recognize.There is nothing that Washington can do to stop the Islamists from hijacking the "Arab Spring," but by endorsing the Muslim Brotherhood, the US Administration has facilitated the organization's ultimate goal of establishing an Islamic Caliphate.Those who were chanting "death to the Jews" in Cairo also want to kill all "infidels," including Americans and Europeans.On their way to achieving their goal, the Islamists will also kill the moderate Muslims -- whom they see as just a fifth column.Hmmmm......Thank you Hussein Obama.Read the full story here.
- AnAncient Coptic city discovered in New Valley .(AD).Al Masry Al YoumA Supreme Council of Antiquities mission has discovered a Coptic city dating back to the fourth century. The city is located in the Ain al Sabil area of the New Valley Governorate.In the middle of the city, a basilica church was found, surrounded by buildings that Council Secretary General Mostafa Amin said were service units for the priests."We never had an excavation in Ain al-Sabil before," said Amin. "Maybe we'll find other antiquities that would add to Egypt's archaeological treasures."Mohsen Ali, the council's director of Islamic and Coptic antiquities, said the mission also uncovered a house that consists of a big hall, living rooms, a main entrance, a kitchen with a built-in oven and an intact staircase, in addition to ancient bronze coins and clay jugs.Read the full story here.
