Rampant Arab Building on Jewish National Fund Lands

Rampant Arab Building on Jewish National Fund Lands.(INN).For generations Jews who dreamt of Zion collected their pennies so the Jewish National Fund could purchase land in Israel. Today illegal Arab building on JNF lands goes unchecked by Israel’s leaders.No fewer than 700 illegal housing units have been built by Arabs in the past two years on land purchased for Jews by the JNF in northern Jerusalem.Arutz Sheva contacted the JNF to ask about the problem. However, JNF officials say the Israel Land Authority is responsible for administering the lands on their behalf.
Aryeh King, chairman of the Israel Land Fund, says his organization is conducting a careful survey of the illegal structures using arial photographs, but adds the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the illegal building occurs beyond Israel’s security fence.“We’re discussing lands in Qalandiya,” King explained. “All entry and activity has to be coordinated with the IDF and Ministry of Defense. No enforcement can be undertaken in these areas without the cooperation of the military and police. This is routinely denied on ‘security grounds.’”
For example, King says, “We have an aerial photo of an old building from before 2005, but the security fence being built makes these areas out of bounds, and we have no way of documenting and making claims for enforcement.”“This inaction is politically motivated, and people don’t realize what is happening. The JNF offers to purchase land at nominal prices in order to return them to the Jewish people, but that’s not what is happening.”“I hope that those who donate to the JNF will think twice before giving their money a body that does nothing to secure the assets they hold in trust for the Jewish people,” King added.
He writes, “The Jewish National Fund purchased lands before the state of Israel was declared with donations from Jews around the world. These lands were registered in the name of the Jewish National Fund. For over a decade the JNF has allowed Arabs to squat on these lands and illegally build without permission.”King then signs the letter and writes, “If the Fund does not do this as soon as possible, then I would like to offer a symbolic sum of money to the JNF to purchase the assets in question.”Read the full story here.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Indonesia 5.6 - 5.2 !More info here.

• Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham Not Sold on Obama’s Christianity.(ABC).The 2012 race turned to God, Satan and religion when Franklin Graham said he’s surer that Rick Santorum is a Christian than President Obama and a 2008 Santorum speech surfaced in which the top GOP candidate told a religious audience that Satan is attacking U.S. institutions.Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, said on MSNBC Tuesday that he could not verify that President Obama is a Christian. “I just have to assume that he is,” Graham said.But he has no question about Rick Santorum. “His values are so clear on moral issues. No question about it. … I think he’s a man of faith.”Santorum’s faith was in the news for another reason, too. The Pennsylvania Republican said in 2008, two years after losing his Senate seat and four years before seeking the presidency, that Satan was attacking U.S. institutions in government and religion.The comments, not before mentioned during the 2012 election cycle, were the lead item on the Drudge Report Tuesday. Santorum has surged to even or even ahead of Mitt Romney in opinion polls, including in Romney’s home state of Michigan, where Republican voters cast their preference for the GOP nominee next Tuesday.Santorum, speaking at the conservative Catholic Ave Maria University in Florida, praised the Catholic Bishop Samuel Aquila for pledging to deny communion to politicians who support abortion rights and said the matter went beyond politics and was a symptom of Satan’s reach in U.S. society.“While we all see all this as a great political conflict in warfare between the Obama camp and the McCain camp and culture wars, what Bishop Aquila put his finger on and what I think, I suspect those of you who are here understand, this is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war. This is a spiritual war,” Santorum said in August of 2008.“And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country, the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age. There is no one else to go after other than the United States and that has been the case now for almost 200 years, once America’s preeminence was sown by our great Founding Fathers.”Santorum said Satan’s reach in U.S. society has grown.“He didn’t have much success in the early days. Our foundation was very strong, in fact, is very strong. But over time, that great, acidic quality of time corrodes even the strongest foundations. And Satan has done so by attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition.”Hmmmm......“A good man brings forth good from the good treasure that is in his heart and the evil man brings out evil from the evil treasure that is in his heart. For the lips speak from the fullness of the heart.” ~ Luke 6:45.Read the full story here.

• Despotism, Thy Name Is Obamacare.(Heritage).Two years ago, everything about Obamacare was in the future. Recall the revealing comment at the time by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) that Congress had to pass the legislation to see what was in it. Now that the disputed law is in its implementation stage, Americans are beginning to see what is in it and what it means for them. Welcome to the future.The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is the centerpiece of the current progressive agenda. At its core is the requirement for individuals—under penalty of law—to buy health insurance. As we have argued before, this requirement is unprecedented and unconstitutional. The concern is that if government can regulate inactivity, it can do anything and everything. We now see how this new regime will operate. Massive regulatory authority over one-sixth of the American economy is transferred to a collection of more than 150 federal agencies, bureaus, and commissions, along with an unprecedented delegation of power to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. As a result, key policy decisions are given over to bureaucrats whose “rules” in the guise of “regulations,” mostly unaccountable and invisible to the public, have the full force and effect of laws passed by Congress.This new bureaucratic reign, its arbitrary discretion, and the resulting potential for cronyism can be seen in Obamacare’s earliest actions. Even before the law is fully implemented, administrators have granted almost 2,000 waivers (mostly for union and business friends) to its own health care regulations. One whole program (the CLASS Act, Obamacare’s long-term care insurance plan) has been unilaterally cancelled as completely unworkable—but kept on the books for possible future implementation.We now have the first real taste of what is to come. Not only do we have to buy health insurance, but now they’re telling us what that health insurance will look like.Read the full story here.

• Two More Religious Liberty Lawsuits Filed Against Obamacare Mandate.(Heritage).The Obamacare anti-conscience mandate has suffered two more blows this week.The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) announced it has filed legal complaints on behalf of two private, religiously affiliated schools, each opposing the Obamacare mandate that forces almost all employers to provide health insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization, without a co-pay. The schools, both affiliated with Protestant denominations, join a growing list of diverse religious employers who are challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate.Today, Geneva College, a private institution in Pennsylvania associated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, held a press conference announcing it has filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over the mandate’s infringement on religious liberty.The college takes issue with the mandate’s requirement to provide health insurance coverage of drugs like Plan B and ella, which can sometimes cause abortions in early pregnancy, at no cost to the insured. To effectively subsidize chemical abortions violates the college’s deeply held moral and religious beliefs and runs roughshod over the institution’s religious liberty and conscience rights.“The government shouldn’t be able to force anyone to buy or sell insurance that subsidizes morally objectionable treatments,” said Geneva College President Ken Smith.While the lawsuits filed this week focus on the mandate’s threat to religious freedom, the violations of liberty enabled by Obamacare’s unprecedented federal overreach could extend far beyond religious institutions.“People of faith shouldn’t be punished by the state for following that faith in making decisions for themselves or their organizations,” said Greg Baylor, senior counsel at ADF. “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this—and worse—to everyone.”Read the full story here.

• OWS Letter to the Editor in USA Today: We Will Storm Wall Street With Guns.(BJ).Over at USA Today, a self-employed massage therapist from Austin, TX has a letter to the editor responding to an editorial suggesting that Occupy Wall Street has lost its way.Here’s what this fellow wrote: USA TODAY’s editorial is right to say that Occupy might lack clear goals on how to move forward, but the movement has accomplished its main original goal: to protest these injustices, not by simply holding a rally and going home, but by keeping the rally going to underscore the seriousness of this problem. Your piece accuses the protesters of sitting around and doing nothing. So maybe they should take up their Second Amendment-sanctioned guns and storm Wall Street and our nation’s capitals. If our country doesn’t change, it could very well come to that one day.Notice the language here. Rich Latta, the author, threatens outright to head to Wall Street with firearms. Janet Napolitano, where are you? He says they out to head to Washington, D.C. packing heat. Secret Service, you’re being paged.Read the full story here.

• IAEA: Tehran talks failed to secure agreement.(JPost).VIENNA - The UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it had failed to secure an agreement with Iran during two days of talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic had rejected a request to visit a key military site.In the second such trip in less than a month, a senior team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had traveled to Tehran to press Iranian officials to start addressing mounting concerns that the Islamic Republic may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons.The outcome seems likely to add to already soaring tension between Iran and Western powers, which have ratcheted up sanctions on the major oil producer in recent months."During both the first and second round of discussions, the agency team requested access to the military site at Parchin. Iran did not grant permission for this visit to take place," the Vienna-based IAEA said in a statement after the Feb 20-21 talks.The IAEA named Parchin in a detailed report in November that lent independent weight to Western fears that Iran was working to develop an atomic bomb, an allegation Iranian officials reject."It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin. We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached," said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.Hmmmm.....The IAEA has been 'begging' for the last EIGHT years to inspect certain parts of Parchin, call me impatient but that should be the red flag SIX years ago!Read the full story here.

• Khamenei: No obstacles can stop Iran's nuclear work.(Jpost).TEHRAN - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Tehran's nuclear course would not change regardless of international sanctions, assassinations or other pressures."With God's help, and without paying attention to propaganda, Iran's nuclear course should continue firmly and seriously ... Pressures, sanctions and assassinations will bear no fruit. No obstacles can stop Iran's nuclear work."Khamenei was speaking on state television shortly after the UN nuclear watchdog declared a collapse in talks with Iran aimed at getting it to address suspicions that it is covertly seeking nuclear weapons capability.The Islamic Republic denies this, saying its program to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel is for peaceful energy only.But Iran's refusal to curb sensitive atomic activities with both civilian and military purposes, and its track record of secrecy and restricting UN inspections, have drawn increasingly harsh UN and separate US and European sanctions, now targeting its economically vital oil exports.Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in bombings over the past two years, attacks that Tehran has blamed on arch-adversary Israel. The Jewish state has not commented.The United States and Israel have not ruled out resorting to military action against Iran if they conclude that diplomacy and sanctions will not stop it from developing a nuclear warhead.Read the full story here.

• Organisation Of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Demonstrates Its Rampant Homophobia.(TT).The Organisation for Islamic Cooperation does what it can to wear the clothes of human rights despite the human rights records of many of its member states. The Geneva based NGO UN Watch reported that the 56 member voting bloc in the UN refused to participate in a debate about homophobic violence. It appears that the OIC mask is slipping and it is beginning to show its true colours.Readers of this website will no doubt be aware that the OIC has been campaigning against freedom of speech for many years in its effort to create a global blasphemy law. Western governments have already embarked on a policy of appeasement with regard to the OIC and its tyrannical demands. The US State Department has already hosted a meeting of the ‘Istanbul Process’ and the EU plans to follow suit later this year. If freedom of speech is abolished then perhaps the OIC will try to pass the persecution of homosexuals off as a religious right and therefore demand punishment for anyone who criticises it.The OIC’s attitude towards homophobia is completely unacceptable and the way such an organisation gets to lecture the world on human rights issues beggars belief. It is incomprehensible that supposedly progressive Western states fawn on this organisation and apparently indulge its every whim. The Istanbul Process is an effort on the part of the OIC to spread its outdated and tyrannical practices to societies that were once free. It is time for Western leaders to see OIC efforts for what they are.Read the full story here.

• New Fears for Iranian Pastor on Death Row Who Refuses to Renounce His Christian Faith.(CNS).– In what it described as “an extremely dangerous turn of events,” the American Center for Law and Justice said Monday it had learned from contacts inside Iran that Youcef Nadarkhani, the Christian pastor on death row for “apostasy,” looks increasingly likely to be executed.“Pastor Youcef’s case had been stalled due to increased international pressure and the Iranian court’s request that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, decide Pastor Youcef’s fate,” said ACLJ executive director Jordan Sekulow.“Now, because Pastor Youcef has continually refused to give into the regime’s demands that he renounce his Christian faith, the likelihood that the Iranian regime will execute him increases by the day.”Nadarkhani, a married father of two young children, was arrested in October 2009 and has been sentenced to hang for “apostasy.”In mid-January, Christian Solidarity Worldwide said it had learned that authorities in Rasht, Nadarkhani’s home city in the north of the country, had offered him freedom in return for agreeing to declare that Mohammed was a messenger sent by God, an apparent to secure an indirect repudiation of his faith. It said Nadarkhani had declined the offer.“Just as the initial conviction of Pastor Nadarkhani is illegal under Iranian law, the recent offer made by the authorities in Rasht is a violation of the Iranian constitution, and of international covenants to which Iran is a signatory that guarantee freedom of religion and freedom to change one’s religion,” said CSW chief executive Mervyn Thomas.Sekulow of the ACLJ, which has led advocacy efforts in the U.S. on the pastor’s behalf, said Monday it was more critical than ever to increase the pressure on Tehran to overturn the death sentence and release Nadarkhani.Iran’s treatment of Nadarkhani was condemned by the White House last September and by the State Department in July.Last month, Nadarkhani’s case was featured during a 90-minute debate on human rights in Iran in Britain’s House of Commons.Lawmakers discussed the pastor as well as other imprisoned Iranian Christians, and also heard about the plight of the Baha’i, who are also frequently accused of apostasy despite in many cases having been Baha’i adherents for many generations.A British government representative undertook to raise the concerns at the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) when it holds its next session, in March.In an official submission to the HRC in 2010, Iran stated that members of permitted religious minority groups – Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians – “within the limits of the law, are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education.”“The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all Muslims are duty-bound to treat non-Muslims in conformity with ethical norms and the principles of Islamic justice and equity, and to respect their human rights,” it said.Read the full story here.

• Netherlands: Muslims don't accept 'incurable' diagnosis.(IIE).Via Zorgvisie(Dutch): Research by Fuusje de Graaff of NIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research) finds that in palliative care, the professional values of care-providers clashes with the culture values of Turkish and Moroccan patients.De Graaff researched what shape the palliative care takes for patients of Turkish and Moroccan background. For Turks and Moroccans an illness is usually a matter for the whole family. They have no idea what to do with the diagnosis 'incurable'. They often don't tell the critically ill patient, hoping not to deprive him of a cure. They expect the doctors to do everything to try and cure the patient, even if he's incurably ill, more Dutch health-care providers give priority to the quality of life. If the doctors say that the patient will die soon, the health-care providers assume alleviating pain and discomfort is more important than stretching out the patient's life. Turkish and Moroccan patients and family members don't accept that as much. They think the moment of death is in God's hands, and can't be decided by the doctors. Additionally they're afraid that pain-management makes them drowsy, and they want to be lucid when they appear before Allah.De Graaff says that join decisions are the key to the best possible care. Doctors, nurses and care-givers should find a way to deal with the caregiver-patient-family relationship. Doctors and nurses who are more experienced seem to succeed better. De Graaff explains that they're more inclined to take the wishes of the patient's family into consideration. They explain how things are in the Netherlands and why it is so. And they ask patients what they want. It's very important to connect to the patient and the family.Turkish and Moroccan families don't use home-care a lot. De Graaff says that starting home-care earlier, while also under the care of the family member, can spot problems faster, which can be reported to the family's doctor.Hmmm.......'Hippocratic' oath?Read the full story here.

Saudis Vow ‘Iron Fist’ to Quell Shiite Unrest.

Saudis Vow ‘Iron Fist’ to Quell Shiite Unrest.(VOC).Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said itssecurity forces would quell unrest in its Shiite dominated Qatif region with “an iron fist.”The ultraconservative Saudi Kingdom blamed an unnamed foreign power – widely understood to be Shiite Iran – for stirring up unrest and backing attacks on its security forces in the Eastern Province.“It is the state’s right to confront those that confront it first … and the Saudi Arabian security forces will confront such situations … with determination and force and with an iron first,” the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.The statement was in response to a sermon preached in the Qatif area of the Eastern Province last week criticizing the government’s handling of the protests there, in which at least six people have been killed.Clashes between Shiite protesters and security forces in Qatif began at the height of the Arab uprisings last year. Four people were killed in November, one in January and one earlier this month.Members of the Shiite minority have long complained of discrimination, saying it is harder for them to find government jobs, attend university or worship in the open than it is for Sunni citizens.The government says it does not discriminate against Shiites and has said the increased security is intended to protect Qatif residents. It has repeatedly blamed the clashes on people attacking security forces.Tuesday’s statement said the security forces were using “the greatest restraint … despite continuing provocations” and “will not act except in self defense and will not initiate confrontations”.“Some of those few (who attacked security forces) are manipulated by foreign handsbecause of the kingdom’s honorable foreign policy positions towards Arab and Islamic countries,” the ministry’s spokesman said in the statement.Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies are in a struggle for hegemony over the Persian Gulf with Iran, whom they have repeatedly accused of provoking their indigenous Shiite populations to rebellion.Hmmmm........"Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the ... "Cut off head of snake" .Read the full story here.

The Perfect Storm over Craig, Colorado

The Perfect Storm of Regulations on American Energy.
Coal energy powers the small Colorado town of Craig — quite literally. The community relies on the energy produced at the Craig Station plant to keep the lights on and the economy moving.

New regulations, however, threaten the community’s prosperity. Colorado imposed a renewable energy mandate that stipulates 30 percent of energy production must come from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2020.

“Society cannot have reliable power based on when the wind blows and/or when the sun shines,” said Rick Johnson, plant manager at Craig Station, in a new video about the town’s plight.Read the full story here.

Move aside "Fast and Furious' for The Greatest Gun Salesman In America: President Obama

Move aside "Fast and Furious' for The Greatest Gun Salesman In America: President Obama.(ZH).American firearm sales and concealed handgun permit applications are at all-time highs since the 2008 election of President Barack Obama. President Obama's perceived hostility towards gun owners has been one of the key factors behind the multi-year financial boom the firearms industry continues to enjoy.
In fact, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is actively preparing to work to defeat President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, according to Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the NRA, who recently said the following at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.:
"Lip service to gun owners is just part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment during his second term. We see the president's strategy crystal clear: Get re-elected and, with no more elections to worry about, get busy dismantling and destroying our firearms' freedom, erase the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights and excise it from the U.S. Constitution...When the sun goes down on election day Barack Obama will have America’s gun owners to thank for his defeat.” ~ Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the NRA, February 10th, 2012.
Ironically, the perceived hostility towards gun owners by President Obama has actually helped the firearms industry tremendously. Since the 2008 election, more Americans than ever before are purchasing firearms and ammunition. This has meant massive increases in sales by firearm and ammunition makers, billions more in federal and state tax collections related to guns and ammo, increased membership in the NRA, and hundreds of thousands of new Americans carrying concealed handguns. Therefore, should the firearms industry support President Obama for a second term or not?Read and SEE the full story here.

Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa: " I briefed Santorum on birth certificate investigation".

Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa: " I briefed Santorum on birth certificate investigation".(CNN).Phoenix – Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, briefed GOP contender Rick Santorum on his investigation into President Barack Obama's birth certificate, the controversial law enforcement official told reporters Tuesday.
After a speech to a Republican gathering in Phoenix where Santorum appeared earlier in the day, Arpaio explained he wanted to inform the candidate of his investigation "as a matter of fairness in case he wouldn't want me to support him."Arpaio said he plans to endorse one of the four remaining GOP candidates in the coming weeks. But the sheriff added he would not make his choice known before he announces the findings of his birth certificate probe at a news conference set for March 1st. This endorsement would be his second in the race; in November 2011, he endorsed then-candidate Rick Perry. Santorum, he said, seemed to have no problem with the nature of his investigation.
"He had no problems with what I told him that I may be doing," Arpaio told reporters.The sheriff said he is conducting the investigation after receiving requests from "the tea party."Arpaio added he believes he is doing the president a favor."I really started this on the theory that maybe I could clear this mess up," Arpaio told reporters. "Wouldn't it be nice for me to do that?"Hmmmm.......The Obama Birth certificate, the Democrats their 'Mary Celeste'.Read the full story here.

In Buffalo, N.Y.Teachers Receive Free Plastic Surgery.

In Buffalo, N.Y.Teachers Receive Free Plastic Surgery.(Heritage).Add this story to the file of union policies that are good for adults and not in the best interest of children.
In Buffalo, N.Y., the local education union has secured a compensation package that allows all of its teachers to get free plastic surgery as part of their contract. CNN reports:
As thousands of teachers face layoffs across the country, teachers in Buffalo, New York, are getting lipo? Yep. And nose jobs and whatever else they want. All on the taxpayers’ dime. How is this happening? Buffalo firefighters and police have a similar policy in their union contracts.
The Buffalo Board of Education, headed by Louis Petrucci, has stated that the school system spent $5.9 million on plastic surgery last year and is running a $42 million deficit for the next fiscal year. Worse still, three out of four Buffalo schools are on administrative watch for poor performance.
The complimentary plastic surgery perk is not a new benefit, either. Union head Phillip Rumore says the policy had been on the books since the Nixon Administration. But with taxpayers across the country demanding more fiscal austerity at all levels, Rumore has said that his union will agree to come to the table and take a scalpel to its plush plastic surgery perks.Read the full story here.

video - Saudi Scholar 'Aql Al-Bahili: "The Freedom Enjoyed in the West is a Hundred Times Better than in Islamic Countries".

Following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi scholar 'Aql Al-Bahili, which aired on Daleel TV on February 3, 2012:

'Aql Al-Bahili: I know and I acknowledge that there is freedom in the Koran. Many Koranic texts state that people are free. But when the political implementation of a certain ideology has failed to accomplish justice for over 1,400 years, whereas others [i.e. the West] have managed to instate justice by means of a [different] political ideology, I believe that even though [Islamic justice] preceded them, this does not detract from the credit due to those who have reformed the path of human society, infusing it with freedom through an ideological platform other than Islam. Today, all the Islamists acknowledge that the freedom enjoyed in the West is a hundred times better than in the Islamic countries.

Indeed, I am aware that Islam is all-encompassing. Our problem is that sacred texts are being cited by tyrants, by honorable people, and by Islamists alike. Today, we must adopt general principles by which human society abides: People must obtain their rights, public funds must not be plundered, a doorman may become a minister, and a minister may become a doorman, people must have the right to be safe from attacks, as well as the right to establish companies and political parties. These are the principles of human societies on planet Earth. Hmmmm......I'm seriously considering framing this text.Source Memri.

Breaking News! Two western journalists 'killed in Homs bombardment'. One American and one French.

                          

Marie Colvin,  American Sunday Times reporter                       Remi Ochlik, French photographer

Breaking News! Two western  journalists 'killed in Homs bombardment'. One American and one French.(BBC).Two Western journalists have been killed in the Syrian city of Homs when shells hit the building they were staying in, opposition activists say.
France named them as Marie Colvin, an American Sunday Times reporter, and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer.Several other people were reportedly killed when the shell hit the makeshift media centre in the Baba Amr area.
Opposition-held districts have been under siege by security forces for more than two weeks, leaving hundreds dead.Activists said more than 40 died on Tuesday, including Rami al-Sayed, a man who broadcast a live video stream from Homs used by world media.
Mr Sayed was fatally wounded by shrapnel during the shelling of Baba Amr. His brother posted a video of his body in a makeshift hospital.
The Red Cross has called on the government and rebels to agree to a daily ceasefire, to allow medical supplies to reach the worst affected areas and get civilians out, but there is no sign yet of this being agreed.Ms Colvin and Mr Ochlik were reportedly staying in a house in Baba Amr that was being used by activists as a media centre when it was hit by a shell on Wednesday morning. Rockets were also said to have hit the building's garden when people try to flee afterwards.At least three other foreign journalists were wounded, activists said.On Tuesday, Ms Colvin told the BBC the bombardment of Baba Amr had been "unrelenting"."There are 28,000 people in Baba Amr," she said. "The Syrians will not let them out and are shelling all the civilian areas."
"There is Free Syrian Army here. They're very, very lightly armed. People are terrified they will leave," she added. "There is just shell-, rocket- and tank-fire pouring in to civilian areas of this city."Hmmmm........Assad .........Hillary's 'Reformer".Read the full story here.

40 Palestinian Muslims stone Christians on Temple mount.....result: Freedom and Justice Party Demands Protection for Muslim, Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem

                     Palestinian Muslims stone Christians on Temple Mount February 19 2012.


40 Palestinian Muslims stone Christians on Temple mount.....result: Freedom and Justice Party Demands Protection for Muslim, Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem.(IW).The Freedom and Justice Party denounced continued injustice, siege and atrocities committed against the people of the Gaza Strip, despite the ousting of the oppressive previous regime, including the unjust blockade which tells the world that Egypt's foreign policies have not changed.The FJP urged competent authorities for immediate action to end the blockade and to provide the requirements for the return of electricity to the people of Gaza.
Further, the FJP expressed concern about international silence towards the continued Zionist attacks and attempts to deface Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the expansion of projects aimed at doubling settlements in the Holy City of Jerusalem with the purpose of Judaizing the city and obliterating its Arab and Islamic identity.The party also urged Arab and Muslim governments to work in earnest for the protection of Muslim and Christian holy places in the occupied territories.
It also called for the Arab peoples to support Al-Aqsa Mosque in all available ways, in defense of the first Qiblah and the third most important of Islam’s Holy Mosques.Hmmmm........Stop playing the victim card, facts are stubborn things as one can see from the video below.

Muslims stone Christians on Temple Mount .(IT).A mob of some 50 Palestinian Muslims stoned a group of Christian tourists atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Sunday morning. Three of the Israeli police officers who acted to protect the Christian group were wounded by the stone-throwers.
Police arrested 11 Palestinians, several of them minors, for their role in the attack.
The attack is believed to have been instigated by the former Muslim mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrama Sabri, who told Palestinian media over the weekend that Jewish groups were planning to break into the mosques that occupy the holy compound and desecrate them.Sabri urged all local Muslims to protect the mosques from "the Israeli conspiracy against the city and its holy places."
Muslim religious figures regularly claim that Israel is plotting to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque to pave the way for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple, which the Muslims now insist never previously existed.
Because of the constant threat of Muslim violence, and despite the fact that the Temple Mount is the most holy place on earth to Jews and many Christians, the Israeli police comply with Muslim demands for harsh restrictions on non-Muslim visitors to the site. For instance, Jews and Christians are forbidden to carry Bibles atop the Temple Mount or to utter even silent prayers within its walls. Jews and Christians are regularly detained for violating these conditions.Read the full story here.




Stone-throwers attacked a group of Christian tourists that were visiting the site. At least 40 officers entered the Temple Mount to deal with the situation, said Rosenfeld.Police arrested three suspects on the scene who were involved directly in the attacks. Police arrested ten additional suspects as they exited afternoon prayers at the Al Aksa mosque, and five more Sunday evening. They expected to make several further arrests.Police said no Jews were at the Temple Mount during the altercation. The site remained opened to tourists throughout the day.

Photos Show Alleged Iran Bombs Hidden in $27 Radio.

ABC News is reporting that the failed Iranian bombers in Thailand had Bombs Hidden in $27 Radio.(ABC).(HT:IsraelMatzav).An alleged Iranian hit squad used $27 portable radios to hide at least five bombs that Israeli and American authorities say they intended to use against Israeli targets in Bangkok, Thailand.
Exclusive photos of one undetonated bomb, obtained by ABC News, show the inside of the radio packed with tiny ball bearings and six magnets. Bomb experts say the magnets indicate the bomb was designed to be stuck to the side of a vehicle.A surveillance photo of one of the alleged hit squad members, identified as an Iranian national named Saeid Moradi, shows him holding a radio in each hand.According to authorities, a bomb exploded in the Bangkok house where Moradi and two other Iranians had been staying. After the blast, Moradi attempted to hail a cab. When the driver refused to pick him up, he allegedly threw a bomb, injuring four bystanders.
When police approached, Moradi allegedly threw another bomb, but lost both of his legs when it bounced back and exploded near him, according to Thai authorities. He was arrested following the incident and remains in custody in Thailand.Read and see the full story here.

Italy: Turkish Hezbollah illegal-immigration cell busted.

On 17 January 2011 Arif Doğan, a retired colonel in the Turkish army who also claims to be a founder of JİTEM, while testifying in court in the Ergenekon case, declared that he set up Hezbollah as a contra group to force to fight and kill militants of the PKK. The organization was originally to be called Hizbul-Kontr ("Party of the Contras").Eighteen members of Turkish Hezbollah, suspected of militant activities, were released from jail on 4 January 2011, in accordance with a recent amendment to the Turkish criminal code that set a limit of 10 years on the time detainees can be held without being sentenced in a final verdict.

Italy: Turkish Hezbollah illegal-immigration cell busted.(ADNK).Rome, 21 Feb. (AKI) - Anti-terrorism police in central Italy on Tuesday arrested nine people suspected of having links with the Turkish Hezbollah for allegedly participating in a criminal illegal immigration ring.The arrests in the city of Terni were made after police served 41 search warrants.The Sunni Muslim terror group is unrelated to the Shia Lebanese organisation with the same name.Italian police launched a probe after a Turkish national who was the target of an international arrest warrant was arrested in Italy's northern Lombardy region. He shed light on the existence in Italy of a Turkish Hezbollah cell that helped Palestinian and Kurdish migrants illegally reach Italy by providing false documents related to non-existing human rights violations that could facilitate the granting of political asylum.
The migrants paid for "an all-inclusive package that guaranteed travel, lodging and work," Italian anti-terrorism official Fabio Berrillo told Adnkronos. "All this after making false declarations to the Italian authorities about fake stories of torture in their country of origin. Turkish Hezbollah was founded in southeastern Turkey during the early 1980's. Its goal was the establishment of a Sunni Muslim theocracy in Turkey, according to the US-government sponsored National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.Read the full story here.

General Electric (which paid no taxes on billions in income), now 'forcing' employees into Chevy Volts

General Electric (which paid no taxes on billions in income), now 'forcing' employees into Chevy Volts.(GCR).Sixteen months ago, General Electric announced it would place the "largest order in history" for electric cars, to be used by its employees who are issued company cars.
Now, those cars are starting to arrive and be placed with employees.
And where changes are made, personnel policies are sure to follow.
A person inside GE recently forwarded a memo to us that covers some of the nuts and bolts of using the 2012 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car. It's from the fleet operations manager for GE Healthcare.
Among the interesting points:

• "All sedans ordered in 2012 will be the Chevrolet Volt"
• Crossovers and minivans will be replaced by electric-vehicle sedans, i.e. the Volt
• Field engineers (who presumably have to carry equipment and spare parts) are the exception to the Volt-only rule
• Home assessments for installation of a 240-Volt Level 2 charging station will be provided to all Volt drivers
• If it's not possible to install a Level 2 station, employees should use standard 110-Volt charging
• If no electric power is available, driving the Volt using only its gasoline range extender is permitted
• Employees should expense both public charging-station costs and the Volt-recharging portion of their monthly electric bills
• If new GE drivers opt out of the fleet-vehicle program and choose to use a personal car, GE will not reimburse those expenses
• Existing drivers will not be reimbursed for personal-vehicle use after January 1, 2013

Hmmmm..........Meanwhile French 'Entrepreneur' Renault cars Zoe Pure-electric Car Could Have a 220 Mile Range. Read the full story here.

Iran cuts down to six weeks timeline for weapons-grade uranium

Iran cuts down to six weeks timeline for weapons-grade uranium.(Debka).Tehran this week hardened its nuclear and military policies in defiance of tougher sanctions and ahead of international nuclear talks.
The threat by Iran’s armed forces deputy chief Gen. Mohammad Hejazi of a preemptive strike against its “enemies,” was accompanied by its refusal to allow UN nuclear watchdog inspectors to visit the Parchin facility, following which the IAEA chief cut their mission short.
Western and Israeli intelligence experts have concluded that the transfer of 20 percent uranium enrichment to the underground Fordo site near Qom has shortened Iran’s race for the 90 percent (weapons) grade product to six weeks.The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said Tuesday night, Feb. 21: “It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin.” This is the site were Iran conducts experiments in nuclear explosives and triggers.
This diplomatic understatement came amid three major reverses in the quest for a non-military solution to halt Iran’s drive for a nuclear weapon:

1. Iran placed a large obstacle in the path of resumed negotiations with six world powers on which US President Barack Obama had pinned his strategy for averting a war to arrest its nuclear weapon program. This strategy depended heavily on Iran eventually consenting to making its nuclear projects fully transparent, as his National Security Adviser Tom Donilon assured Israeli leaders earlier this week.
The day after Donilon wound up his talks in Israel, the UN inspectors were sent packing empty-handed from Tehran, putting paid to any hope of transparency.
They were also denied an interview with Mohsen Fakrrizadeh, director of the Parchin project and also believed in the West to be the paramount head of Iran’s military nuclear program.

2. The transfer of 20 percent uranium enrichment to Fordo is taken by Western and Israel intelligence experts to have accelerated the pace of enriching large quantities of 20 percent enriched uranium to weapons grade and shortened to an estimated six weeks the time needed for arming a nuclear bomb after a decision in Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz explained to the US official that Israel cannot afford to live with an Iran capable of build a nuclear bomb in the space of few weeks.

3. The threat that Iran will not wait for “its enemies” – Israel and/or the US - to strike and will act first.
Seen from Israel, Iranian behavior has already changed - and for the worse. Its tactics in recent days have exacerbated the threat hanging over its head from Iran and brought it that much closer.
As one Israeli source put it: “Since Wednesday the rules of the game have changed.”Read the full story here.

"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.

"To defeat them, gentlemen, we need audacity, more audacity and always audacity and the Homeland will be saved!"  ~ Danton.

General Dempsey sends a message of U.S. weakness to Tehran.

General Dempsey sends a message of U.S. weakness to Tehran.(GR).Is the Obama Administration more concerned that Iran may get a nuclear weapon, or that Israel may use military force to prevent Iran from doing so? The answer is the latter, judging from comments on Sunday by Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey.
Appearing on CNN, General Dempsey sent precisely the wrong message if the main U.S. strategic goal is convincing Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions.
He said the U.S. is urging Israel not to attack Iran—because Iran hasn't decided to build a bomb, because an Israeli attack probably wouldn't set back Iran by more than a couple of years, and because it would invite retaliation and be "destabilizing" throughout the Middle East.
"That's the question with which we all wrestle. And the reason we think that it's not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran," the General said, referring to a possible Iranian response to an attack. "That's been our counsel to our allies, the Israelis. And we also know or believe we know that the Iranian regime has not decided that they will embark on the capability—or the effort to weaponize their nuclear capability."
In a single sound bite, General Dempsey managed to tell the Iranians they can breathe easier because Israel's main ally is opposed to an attack on Iran, such attack isn't likely to work in any case, and the U.S. fears Iran's retaliation. It's as if General Dempsey wanted to ratify Iran's rhetoric that the regime is a fearsome global military threat.
If the U.S. really wanted its diplomacy to work in lieu of force, it would say and do whatever it can to increase Iran's fear of an attack. It would say publicly that Israel must be able to protect itself and that it has the means to do so. America's top military officer in particular should say that if Iran escalates in response to an Israeli attack, the U.S. would have no choice but to intervene on behalf of its ally. The point of coercive diplomacy is to make an adversary understand that the costs of its bad behavior will be very, very high.
The general is not a free-lancer, so his message was almost certainly guided by the White House. His remarks only make strategic sense if President Obama's real priority is to contain Israel first—especially before the November election.
This might also explain General Dempsey's comments that the U.S. doesn't believe Iran's regime has decided to build an atomic bomb and that it is a "rational" actor, like, say, the Dutch. This would be the same rational Iran that refuses to compromise on its nuclear plans despite increasingly damaging global sanctions, and the same prudent actor that has sent agents around the world to bomb Israeli and Saudi targets, allegedly including in a Washington, D.C. restaurant.
Iran doesn't need to explode a bomb, or even declare that it has one, to win its nuclear standoff. All it needs to do is get to the brink and make everyone believe it can build a bomb when it wants to.
Then the costs of deterring Iran go up exponentially, and the regime's leverage multiplies in the Middle East and against American interests. General Dempsey's assurances obscure that military and political reality.
Like most of Mr. Obama's Iran policy, General Dempsey's comments will have the effect of making war more likely, not less. They will increase Israel's anxiety about U.S. support, especially if Mr. Obama is re-elected and he has a freer political hand. This may drive Israel's leadership to strike sooner. Weakness invites war, and General Dempsey has helped the Administration send a message of weakness to Israel and Iran.Hmmmm.....Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. ~ Abraham Lincoln.Read the full story here.

China, India plan Iran oil cuts of 10% or more

As of January 2012, Iran exports 22% of its oil to China, 14% to Japan, 13% to India, 10% to South Korea, 7% to Italy, 7% to Turkey, 6% to Spain and the remainder to France, Greece ( other European countries), Taiwan, Sri Lanka, South Africa.

China, India plan Iran oil cuts of 10% or more.(JPost).Beijing/NewDelhi - China, India and Japan are planning cuts of at least 10 percent in Iranian crude imports as tightening US sanctions make it difficult for the top Asian buyers to keep doing business with the OPEC producer.
The countries together buy about 45 percent of Iran's crude exports. The reductions are the first significant evidence of how much crude business Iran could lose in Asia this year as Washington tries to tighten a financial noose around Tehran.European Union ban on Iran oil imports, which comes into effect on July 1, to restrict the flow of vital foreign exchange to Tehran under pressure over its nuclear program.
Japan is close to an agreement with Washington on the size of cuts needed to win waivers from the US sanctions, two ministers said. The Yomiuri newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said the two sides would settle on an 11 percent cut.
The Indian government is pushing its refineries to cut imports by at least 10 percent, two sources said. India has said it will not abide by US unilateral sanctions, so its response could indicate the increasing uncertainty of doing business with Iran.
China's Unipec, the trading arms of Sinopec Corp, is likely to cut imports by 10 percent to 20 percent under 2012 supply contracts, a Chinese industry executive with direct knowledge of the deal said.
Reuters calculates China's total cuts this year will amount to about 14 percent.
In a further blow to Tehran, East Asian purchases of Iranian fuel oil is set to slump to a six-month low in March, according to comments from Singapore-based oil traders and an examination of shipping reports.
India is Iran's second-biggest crude buyer after China. Iran provides about 12 percent of India's demand, or 370,000 barrels per day (bpd).
New Delhi indicated refineries should cut their imports from Iran by about 10-15 percent in the year through March 2013, one source said.
Another source said the cut should be "substantial."Still, sanctions are cutting off payments routes. India's refiners have used Turkey's state-controlled Halkbank for payments to Iran in euros since the middle of 2011, but are unsure how long that route will last given tougher EU sanctions. Turkey is seeking membership of the EU.Hmmmm.....Turkey imports at least 175,000 barrels a day from Iran and intends to increase it's import they don't need a waiver and risk no sanctions since they're Obama's 'trusted' allies.Read the full story here.

Obama Budget Decreases Air Force to 100 Combat-Ready Planes

                                                                     "CHANGE"

Obama Budget Decreases Air Force to 100 Combat-Ready Planes.(BP).
How important is air superiority? Since 1950, the enemy has never attacked US forces from the air. The F-15 has never been shot.down in air-to-air combat, and the F-22 is by far the most dominant plane in the skies. As a result of these defense cuts, the US will be left with around 100 combat-capable planes over the next three years. The Obama Administration has decided to scrap the Global Hawk UAV system, which can stay on target for upwards of 32 hours, and instead wants to use the 50-year-old U-2, which can only stay on target for approximately 8 hours. General Tom McInerney (USAF Ret.) gives his analysis on the future of America’s air prowess.
You can listen to Gen. McInerney’s interview with Frank at Secure Freedom Radio.Hmmm.....Rumor has it a squadron of 'Djinns' is on standby at Disneyland.Read the full story here.

Florida 5-year-old Jewish boy hit by truck - Boy credits 'angel' for survival.