Tuesday, February 28, 2012
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 Russia 5.2 !More info here.
- Hillary Siding with Muslim Brotherhood against... Republicans?(BN).By BenBarrack.Back in June, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a question from someone in Jamaica about the situation in Libya; Muammar Gadhafi had not yet fallen. She used strong rhetoric in her defense of the Libyan (al-Qaeda) rebels. Here is a portion of her response: ...the bottom line is, whose side are you on? Are you on Qadhafi’s side or are you on the side of the aspirations of the Libyan people and the international coalition that has been created to support them? For the Obama Administration, the answer to that question is very easy.Then, just this past weekend, while in Tunisia, Hillary called out Russia and China over their support of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Via UK Telegraph: Speaking after a Friends of Syria conference, held in Tunisia, Mrs Clinton said that Russia and China must join international condemnation of President Assad's regime.In Libya, Hillary essentially sided with the Muslim Brotherhood. The al-Qaeda flag was placed atop the Benghazi Courthouse after Gadhafi's fall. In Syria, she's doing the same thing. In fact, Hamas can be added to the list as well; they formally came out in support of the rebels this past week.While speaking to that audience in Tunisia, in response to a question from the audience, Clinton came off as being far more partisan than her position is supposed to afford her.Via Fox News:Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested Sunday she may have been less than diplomatic when she told an audience in Tunisia to "not pay attention" to the rhetoric coming from the Republican presidential primary race. But she doesn't take back the gist of her comments.Perhaps it's time for someone to ask Hillary whose side she's on?Read the full story here.
- Good News: DHS Spending $11 Million Scouring Web for Criticism of Its Policies.(DR).The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been paying a defense contractor $11.4 million to monitor social media websites and other Internet communications to find criticisms of the department’s policies and actions.A government watchdog organization, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), obtained hundreds of documents from DHS through the Freedom of Information Act and found details of the arrangement with General Dynamics. The company was contracted to monitor the Web for “reports that reflect adversely on DHS,” including sub-agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.In testimony submitted to the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Ginger McCall, director of EPIC’s Open Government Project, stated that “the agency is monitoring constantly, under very broad search terms, and is not limiting that monitoring to events or activities related to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or manmade disasters…. The DHS has no legal authority to engage in this monitoring.”McCall added: “This has a profound effect on free speech online if you feel like a government law enforcement agency—particularly the Department of Homeland Security, which is supposed to look for terrorists—is monitoring your criticism, your dissent, of the government.”Rest assured that our beloved, baritone DHS secretary -- and her ostensible boss, Eric "Fast 'n' Furious" Holder -- would never, ever use this kind of information to go after private citizens. They're just doing research.As far as you know.Hmmm.........“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.” ~ Bruce Coville.Read the full story here.
- Robert Spencer: Will Obama Behead the Qur’an-Burners?(AS).Robert Spencer works out the logical questions arising from Obama's enforcement of Sharia law regarding the treatment of the quran in Afghanistan: Madness has overtaken Washington, and the world. Every day this past week has brought fresh reports of more people murdered in Afghanistan over the burning of some copies of the Qur’an at Bagram Airfield. In response, every day new apologies come from American officials. Barack Obama, Leon Panetta, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, General John Allen, and others have all issued abject apologies to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the “noble people of Afghanistan,” and everyone else in sight.Even the most minor of officials are getting into the act: Peter Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, scraping the bottom of the barrel for a suitable object for his abject submission, apologized to Muslims in the Washington, D.C. area. Some have rightly skewered Obama and his cohorts for their cowardice and eagerness to appease the Afghan mobs, especially as the death toll steadily mounts. No one, however, has noted the most remarkable aspect of this entire episode: the United States Government has, no questions asked, eagerly embraced Islamic law (Sharia) regarding the treatment of the Qur’an, and assured the Afghans that it will be enforced.In his apology letter to Karzai, Obama said that the Qur’an-burning was “inadvertent,” but that nevertheless “we will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, including holding accountable those responsible.”If it was “inadvertent,” why does Obama intend to hold them accountable? Accidents will happen. If he is going to adopt Sharia to the extent that he thinks that anyone should be held accountable for this at all, is he going to adopt Sharia punishments for this “crime” as well? Will he have the U.S. soldiers whom he finds to be responsible for the Qur’an-burning beheaded?If not, why not?If burning the Qur’an is now a crime for Americans, and we are thus now subject to Islamic law, how much Sharia are we under? To what extent have we capitulated? Where does Obama draw the line, if anywhere?The jihad terrorists who struck America on 9/11 were doing so in order to weaken the U.S. to the extent that eventually our free society would surrender to the rule of Islamic law. And now it is happening – but as the OIC’s agenda of stifling every critical word about Islam also advances apace in the U.S., fewer and fewer people will know about it. How will they find out? The Left is complicit, and the Right is afraid to tell them.Has the conquest of a great nation ever been this easy?Hmmmm......"Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty". ~ Plato.Read the full story here.
- Stratfor Email Leak Reveals Insider Views On Obama, Emanuel and Romney.(ZH).Earlier today, Wikileaks made its latest startling release on Twitter, telling the media world to standby for a ‘major announcement’. Alas, in keeping with the recent tradition from Wikileaks, the “release” was a dud and is merely the collected dump of all the emails previously hacked from Stratfor by Anonymous, as was noted here previously. Alas a quick perusal through the emails so far reveals absolutely nothing exciting, except for the communiques of a paid intelligence provider, which may at times have had a few delusions of grandure and a mistaken and rather overblown sense of self-importance (hardly unique). Yet one exchange that is rather interesting is the following email threadfrom 2009 which goes from discussing how the billionaires behind ACORN have lost all respect for Obama and Biden (“The billionaire (who also funds ACORN) is greatly disappointed over Obama’s “weakness and wimpyness” towards China… She believes Biden is weasel and Obama is a pussy… The liberal factions in DC think Obama is being a pussy.“), views on Rahm Emanuel (“I don’t disagree that Biden is a weasel. I think Emanuel is emasculating Obama by selling him on clever Clintonesque tactics”), views on how Obama may get back into the thick of things: (“Obama needs to get in a fight and do something really mean and unfair to the right.”), on Obama and the banks: (“he could also tell the banks to go screw themselves.”) and from there going to analyzing the GOP field: (“The GOP folks I talk to are pushing Jeb Bush. I think that is a mistake. Who else is out there?”) and culminating with the GOP frontrunning Mitt Romney – “Romney can’t make it. Mormons are viewed as Voo Doo.” Much more in the full email thread inside.From Wikileaks.Read and see the full story here.
- Actor Compares Pro-Navy SEAL Movie 'Act of Valor' to Hitler Propaganda Film.(Newsbusters). Star of TV’s Parenthood [NBC], Dax Shepard, compared the pro-U.S. military film that stars actual Navy SEALs, Act of Valor to Adolf Hitler’s Triumph of the Will. On his Twitter feed the one time Ashton Kutcher prank boy from Punk’d wrote: “Saw ‘Triumph of the Will’ tonight, oh wait, I mean ‘Act of Valor’ great action.” Apparently the reaction to Shepard’s obnoxious tweet, comparing this week’s #1 movie starring active duty Navy Seals to a Nazi propaganda movie was immediate, as he attempted to walk back his comments.Read the full story here.
- Iranian Enrichment Reports, Prophecies Suggest Timetable for Attack on Israel.(Bigpeace).Bill Clinton’s former CIA director Jim Woolsey weighs in on Iran with great detail about the nature of the regime and the beliefs of the factions there in. He also makes sense of uranium enrichment reports and their significance for interpreting the timing of a potential weapons capability. Jim makes sense of Iranian “prophecies” that call for the return of the twelfth imam who will lead the battles that will end the world. He explains that the Iranian regime believes it is time for an epic battle between Iran and the Jews, and their allies, resulting in the destruction of the Jewish people and a new Iranian world order. Jim compares this notion of future world events with the Nazi beliefs of the 1930s. The American government has not been candid with its citizens as to the extent of the Iranian nuclear program and the threat it poses to global security.You can hear Jim’s interview with Frank and all of today’s guests at Secure Freedom Radio , Here.
- More bad news: U.S. water bills to triple.(WE).First high gas prices, now water. A shocking new report about the nation's crumbling drinking water system says that Americans should expect their bills to double or triple to cover repairs just to keep their faucets pouring. That means adding up to $900 a year more for water, nearly equal the amount of the newly extended payroll tax cut.Fixing and expanding underground drinking water systems will cost over $1 trillion in the next 25 years and users will get socked with the bill, according to the American Water Works Association.As with most infrastructure investments, spending heavily now means less costs down the road. But with little appetite in the country for even trickling taxes now, a delayed and more expensive fix is almost guaranteed. The association figures that spending to fix leaky water systems will double from roughly $13 billion a year today to $30 billion annually by 2040.What kind of stress? Families can expect to pay at least $300-$550 more for water in taxes and fees just to keep their current systems operating. Add growth and improved systems, and that bill jumps to $900 for a family of three, said the report.Currently, Americans pay about $400 a month in water taxes and fees.Hmmmm.......Time to install that rainwater tank?Read the full story here.
- President Obama Kept Air Force One In The Air An Extra 30 Minutes To Watch A Knicks Game?(SAB).Reporters were perplexed, recently, when President Obama’s airplane took an extra 30 minutes to fly from Washington DC to Florida, where the President bashed Republicans over oil prices. What explained the delay? There’s apparently no official explanation, but that the plane finally landed just at half time in the Knicks game is, I’m sure, just a coincidence: President Obama flew to Florida this past week to explain high gas prices. According to the Washington Post, on his way to Florida this past Thursday, reporters were “perplexed” at the President’s 41 minute flight from Washington, DC to Orlando, Florida taking 1 hour and 15 minutes. The flight was in the air an extra 30 minutes, burning precious fossil fuels.It does not seem a coincidence that the President landed right at half time of an NBA basketball game between the star studded Miami Heat and New York Knicks. Some theorized that the President delayed his flight in the air to watch more of the basketball game.Read the full story here.
- Obama Camp Sending Creepy, Intimidating Email To Former Donors Who Have Failed to Donate to 2012 Campaign.(ND).It’s no secret that the Obama campaign is falling short of its fundraising goals this election season. Now, it looks like they’re getting desperate, using SEIU-like intimidation techniques to drive their fund-raising numbers up.Last night, a former Obama supporter forwarded BigGovernment an email sent out Sunday by the Obama campaign.It’s equal parts desperate and creepy: As you may have noticed, we’ve asked you for a donation a few times now.But according to our records, you haven’t yet made an online donation to this campaign at this email address. (If our records are wrong, I apologize and thank you!)The email goes on to ask for “feedback” on why the former supporter has failed to cough-up their hard-earned dollars for Obama’s reelection:I’m not writing to ask you for money again. I’m actually writing to ask your opinion about why you haven’t given, and what you think would inspire you or other Obama supporters like you to decide to take the leap and donate.There’s a good reason we’re asking for your feedback: The kind of organization we all decided to be a part of only works if people like you pitch in to build it.Read the full story here.
- Egypt president hopeful Sabahi says no gas to Israel if elected.(BM).CAIRO: If elected, Egypt presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabahi says he will end all exports of natural gas to Israel.Speaking at a seminar at the National Center for Youth, Sabahi told the audience that he completely rejects the Camp David Treaty with Israel and said he “does not seek to be at war with Israel, as priorities as president would be fighting poverty and corruption,” but then added that he would “ban the export of Egyptian gas to Israel.”At the rally, Sabahi also said when he files his papers for candidacy, he would resign from his al-Karama Party, which he helped found.He said that he “is the candidate of the people,” and “will not run on behalf of any party or political movement.”Concerning the powers of the next president, Sabahi said, “we want greater powers for the People’s Assembly being able to restrict the powers of the president and shall have the powers and authority to object any decision by the president such as the US Congress,” pointing out that the current parliament “is the best parliament in the history of Egypt, but its level does not rise to the parliament of the revolution.”He stressed the need to support the Palestinians, stressing that he “will open all crossings to Gaza and will support the resistance against Israel.”He rejected the idea of a safe exit for the military junta from power, saying “it would rather be a just exit, which could be realized if we hold whoever committed mistakes accountable.”Read the full story here.
- Allah Tattoo photo puts Malaysia newspaper on defensive.(BM).SINGAPORE: The publishing of a photo that included an American singer tattooed with the Arabic word “Allah” has forced Malaysia’s the Star newspaper to apologize after anger fomented in the country.The photograph of singer Erykah Badu, who was scheduled to hold a concert in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, was published in Monday’s edition of the newspaper, but it led to a backlash among readers who were offended by the tattoo.“We deeply regret any offense caused to Muslims and sincerely apologize for the oversight,” the Star said.Tattoos in Islam are forbidden and the use of the Arabic word for God, “Allah,” is looked upon by many conservative Muslims as blasphemy.Civic groups in the predominantly Muslim south-east Asian country criticized the newspaper, noting that tattoos of Islamic religious scripture are considered an insult to Muslims.Mashitah Ibrahim, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that while Americans and non-Muslims view tattoos as an art form, the name of Allah should not be used in that way.Human rights activist and blogger Mohamed Rishad in Kuala Lumpur told Bikyamasr.com that while the criticism is well-founded, the newspaper should not be blamed for what someone else is wearing or has on his or her body.“At the end of the day, the newspaper was publishing a photo of a musician, an American one at that, so while we can get angry, it is not fair to the newspaper to get the people’s anger,” he said.Read the full story here.
- What’s The Exchange Rate For Jerusalem Shekels To Tel Aviv Shekels?(CA).Later today my employees will drive to Jerusalem to sell goods to some Arabs (they’re not going to Salahadin St today because the situation is a little more tense than usual but they’ll exchange goods for cash somewhere else).When they get there they will receive payment in “New Israeli Shekels” - ₪ NIS. The same currency is used across the whole of Israel including by the Arabs under administrative control of Israel and the Palestinian Authorities. My customers today work in both Jerusalem and Ramallah.But according to the US IRS web site from December 31st 2011, perhaps I should be asking my Arab friends to pay a different rate? Apparently their Shekels aren’t worth the same as my Shekels in Tel Aviv!From the following web page: Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange as of December 31, 2011 which is used by US citizens who need to report income earned overseas in US Dollars:We scroll down to find the rate for Israel and we get a bit of a surprise. Because, apparently, there is another place in the world that uses the New Israeli Shekel. A whole ‘nother country called “Jerusalem”. And this must be another country because it has a different rate from the one that covers the country called “Israel”.So, just to be sure of when this Shekel using country popped into existence I had a quick scan back. I look all the way back to 1982 but only found one country, with one exchange rate, using the Israeli Shekel. That country was Israel.But even as recently as December 31st 2010 there was only one country using the Shekel: So sometime last year either the IRS, or the IRS following the wishes of the State Department created a whole new country called “Jerusalem”, assigned it a whole new currency called the Shekel and decided to make up their own exchange rate.I better tell my Arab friends in Jerusalem.Read the full story here.
Obama: "Son of Islam"?........Or Not?
Obama: "Son of Islam"?......Or Not?(SG).By Raymond Ibrahim.
According to Sharia law, if one's father is Muslim, one automatically becomes Muslim. "Most of the Muslims I know (me included) can't seem to accept that Obama is not a Muslim."Many in the media are indignant with Reverend Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Invited on "Morning Joe" last Tuesday to discuss Christian persecution, Graham was asked whether he thought President Barack Obama was Christian or not.
Although Graham concluded that Obama "has said he is a Christian, so I just have to assume that he is," he appeared skeptical, suggesting Obama's policies disagreed with Christian principles, thus earning the full ire of much of the fourth estate.
Graham, however, was absolutely right to say that, "under Islamic law, the Muslim world sees Barack Obama as a Muslim, as a son of Islam": according to Sharia law [Islamic religious law, which regulates all parts of a Muslim's life], if one's father is Muslim, one automatically becomes Muslim. The reason behind last week's church attack in Egypt, when thousands of Muslims tried to torch a church and kill its pastor, is that a Christian girl fled from her father after he converted to Islam: she did not want to be Muslim, and was rumored to be hiding in the church. This is not the first time in recent months that churches have been attacked on similar rumors.
In short, Sharia law's position is that anyone born to a Muslim father is a Muslim—with the death penalty should they seek to apostatize: the 34-year-old Iranian pastor sentenced to death simply for converting to Christianity is just the most visible example.
Because of this automatic passage of religion from father to son, and because Obama attended a madrassa (Muslim religious school during his youth in Indonesia), many Muslims are convinced that Obama is a "secret" Muslim. In a Forbes article, "My Muslim President Obama: Why members of the faith see him as one of the flock ," writer Asma Gull Hasan elaborates:
[S]ince Election Day, I have been part of more and more conversations with Muslims in which it was either offhandedly agreed that Obama is Muslim or enthusiastically blurted out. In commenting on our new president, "I have to support my fellow Muslim brother," would slip out of my mouth before I had a chance to think twice. "Well, I know he's not really Muslim," I would quickly add. But if the person I was talking to was Muslim, they would say, "yes he is." …. Most of the Muslims I know (me included) can't seem to accept that Obama is not Muslim. Of the few Muslims I polled who said that Obama is not Muslim, even they conceded that he had ties to Islam…. The rationalistic, Western side of me knows that Obama has denied being Muslim, that his father was non-practicing, that he doesn't attend a mosque. Many Muslims simply say back, "my father's not a strict Muslim either, and I haven't been to a mosque in years." Obama even told The New York Times he could recite the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, which the vast majority of Muslims, I would guess, do not know well enough to recite.Read the entire article, which is more eye-opening than the author probably intended.Read the full story here.
Hmmm.......Was President Obama Baptised or not ? Is he a Christian ?
Anyway Obama himself writes that he was only baptised in his mid 20's !
Nobody, except Obama knows if his conversion to Christianity is real or not. Although some reports and even Obama have referred to a "baptism", there doesn't appear to be any record of a baptism.
Chicago-based journalist, broadcaster and critic Andy Martin, when asked about Obama's baptism, wrote, "I have never been able to obtain any evidence that he was baptized, although I asked for those records."
It seems that Obama's conversion occurred when he answered one of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright's altar calls by walking down the aisle of Trinity Church to make a formal commitment of his faith.
Cathleen Falsani, religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, writes, "He (Obama) described his conversion experience in his mid-20s, how he walked the aisle at Trinity United Church of Christ one Sunday in a public affirmation of his private change of heart."I came to Christianity through the black church tradition where the line between evangelical and non-evangelical is completely blurred. Nobody knows exactly what it means."
Falsani warns us that Obama’s walking the aisle at Trinity is poles apart from what Christians commonly refer to as being "saved, transformed or washed in the blood."
In other words, it’s not to be confused with what Jesus called being "born again." As Mr. Obama himself explains, "It wasn’t an epiphany … but just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me."
Unlike traditional Christianity, which Mr. Obama bemoans for its "call to evangelize and proselytize," the good senator’s faith is strictly a personal and private affair. Although he has no qualms about parading it in public in hopes of bolstering his political career, he would never dream of preaching it to others in hopes of converting them to Christ.
At the core of Obama's faith -- whether lapsed Muslim, new Christian or some mixture of the two -- is African nativism and Obama's having pledged allegiance to the Black Value System raises political issues of its own.
The phrase, “having been baptized,” is apparently based on Obama’s claim about being baptized. Our major media haven’t questioned the claim.
Miller went on to say, “His baptism presents its own problems. The senior pastor at Trinity at the time of Obama’s baptism was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., the preacher who was seen damning America on cable TV…”
Notice the formulation, “at the time of Obama’s baptism.” She carefully does not say that Wright performed the baptism. In fact, there’s no evidence it was a baptism in the traditional sense that it was performed by Wright or anybody else. It looks like Obama walked down the aisle and made a profession of faith. That is not a Christian baptism.
The Canada Free Press published a very interesting article in February by Madeline Brooks, who asked, “Where is the baptism certificate? We do not see one because there was no baptism. That central part of Christianity was not required at Obama’s former church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, during the years Obama attended…”
She cites the research of a pastor, Usama Dakdok, who had called Obama’s church to ask about membership:
“Do I have to be baptized to join the church?” asked Pastor Dakdok. “No, you don’t,” was the answer. “You can be a member without being baptized.”
“And what exactly is required to become a member?” The answer: “You attend two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walk the aisle.”
The phrase, “having been baptized,” is apparently based on Obama’s claim about being baptized. Our major media haven’t questioned the claim.I'm sure any Islamic scholar will agree that "attending two Sunday school classes in a row about membership, and then you walking the aisle" doesn't mean renouncing your Islamic Faith!
Instead of concentrating on his so called Islamic past we should concentrate on his so called Christian past !Read the full story here
Louis Farrakhan warns of racial hatred that could lead to attempts to kill President Obama
Louis Farrakhan warns of racial hatred that could lead to attempts to kill President Obama.(CT).By Dan Hinkel.In a fiery lecture to thousands of followers of the Nation of Islam on Sunday in Chicago, Minister Louis Farrakhan warned that racial hatred could lead to attempts to assassinate President Barack Obama.
Farrakhan spent much of his oration decrying what he cast as Satan's influence over racist forces in politics and society before asking a pointed rhetorical question: "Do you think they're wicked enough to be plotting our brother's assassination as we speak?"
He spoke for more than three hours on a broad array of topics, excoriating U.S. foreign policy, suggesting that the9/11attacks were a government-planned pretext for war in the Middle East, lamenting recent extreme weather and attacking mothers for serving their children food from McDonald's. He also returned repeatedly to a topic that has attracted intense controversy in the past: the influence of Jews in politics and media.
Farrakhan drew a distinction between noble Jews and followers of "the synagogue of Satan," and he pointed to a recent incident in which the publisher of a Jewish magazine suggested Israeli security forces could help preserve Israel by killing Obama. He attacked Israeli policies, while also directing criticism at perceived Jewish influence in the U.S."Jewish people were not the origin of Hollywood, but they took it over," he said, blaming the entertainment industry for degrading the country's morality.
While Farrakhan called out conservatives for questioning Obama's citizenship and even criticizing the figure of first lady Michelle Obama, he also attacked the president for his support of efforts to remove Middle Eastern leaders and warned him against any potential military action in Iran. The crowd roared as he called on them to be "conscientious objectors" to any strike against Iran.
He again condemned the killing of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Farrakhan was friends with the slain dictator, and the Nation of Islam's headquarters was purchased 40 years ago with a $3 million loan from Gadhafi.
Farrakhan also suggested that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces, instead of being detained for questioning, because the government might not have been able to prove all its accusations against him.
On domestic policy, Farrakhan said the national debt has reached unsustainable levels, and he challenged Obama's assertion in his recent State of the Union speech that the country is not in decline.
"America is on her deathbed. The vital signs of America are not good," he said.Near the close of his speech, Farrakhan spent several minutes comparing Obama's political situation to that of Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated after winning a second term, and suggested an assassination plot against Obama might involve a "patsy," a person set up to take the blame for a broader conspiracy.
"I believe they want a Muslim to kill President Obama," he said.Read the full story here.More here.
Paul Conroy and Edith Bouvier claimed to be 'safe' in Lebanon after being smuggled out of Homs
Paul Conroy, a British photographer working for the Sunday Times, and Edith Bouvier, a French correspondent for Le Figaro, were reported to have travelled safely out of Syria overnight and were in Lebanon on Tuesday morning."We've just had word from Beirut," said Mr Conroy's father, Les, on Tuesday morning.
They are understood to have been smuggled out of a besieged enclave of Homs by the Syrian opposition.
However, there were conflicting reports over whether they had been successfully evacuated. Miles Amoore, Sunday Times correspondent in Afghanistan, tweeted that they were still in the Baba Amr area of Homs.
Both journalists suffered leg injuries last Wednesday during a barrage that killed Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer.Read the full story here.
Gunmen ambush Shi’ite bus in Pakistan, killing 18.
The bus was traveling from the central Pakistan city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, to the northern town of Gilgit, according to Reuters news agency.Police said that the motive for the attack was unclear as Islamist militants are not active in the area. However, another police source told Reuters that the Islamic affiliation of the passengers could have sparked the violence.“All the people on board were Shi’ites, and at the moment it looks like they were targeted by armed men from the local Sunni community,” a senior police official told Reuters.Police officials said the bus came under attack in an area inhabited by two Sunni tribes about 165 kilometers (102 miles) north of Islamabad.Both communities largely live in peace with each other but militants from the two sides have killed thousands of people in tit-for-tat attacks since the beginning of Islamist militancy in the country in the 1980s.The Jandullah faction of the Pakistani Taliban -- one of the country's deadliest and best organized militant groups -- claimed responsibility."They were Shiite infidels and our mujahedeen shot them dead one by one after bringing them down from a bus," said Ahmed Marwat, a purported commander, who called an Associated Press reporter from an undisclosed location.Read the full story here.
It's a cricket, it's a dragonfly, It's a BumbleBee, nope it's the 'Flight of the Robotic Bee"
It's a cricket, it's a dragonfly, It's a BumbleBee, nope it's the 'Flight of the Robotic Bee".(NPR).
Do bees, swarms of bees, make you nervous? Maybe not. Maybe they remind you of honey, flowers and warm summer days. You stay out of their way and they stay out of yours. What if, however, the bees weren't bees at all but hundreds (or thousands) of autonomous microbots, facsimiles of the real thing, buzzing around in the real world?
That's not Hollywood fantasy any more. It appears to be within reach. Researchers in the Microrobotics Lab at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences say that they expect their Robobees project will demonstrate flying, autonomous micro-air-vehicles modeled on insects within the next 2 1/2 years.
It won't be easy, according to Rob Wood, the project's principal investigator.
"The challenges that you get when you scale these things down mean that you have to reinvent everything, everything has to come from scratch, every one of the technologies," Wood said in an interview last week. "There is nothing off the shelf."
His team has recently taken a significant step forward with the demonstration of a manufacturing process that they believe will pave the way to industrial-scale production of microbots, spitting out thousands of them with ease.
The prototype creature built with this process has been dubbed the "Mobee," short for Monolithic Bee. With its carbon-fiber airframe and titanium wings, it doesn't really look like a bee. It's more like an intricate box frame with insect-like wings. The creatures are so lightweight that Harvard says the mass of 63 Mobees is equal to the mass of one United States quarter.Read and see the full story here.
Israel won’t warn U.S. before pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Israel won’t warn U.S. before pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.(AA).Israeli officials say they won’t warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to one U.S. intelligence official familiar with the discussions. The pronouncement, delivered in a series of private, top-level conversations, sets a tense tone ahead of meetings in the coming days at the White House and Capitol Hill.
Israeli officials said that if they eventually decide a strike is necessary, they would keep the Americans in the dark to decrease the likelihood that the U.S. would be held responsible for failing to stop Israel’s potential attack. The U.S. has been working with the Israelis for months to persuade them that an attack would be only a temporary setback to Iran's nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak delivered the message to a series of top-level U.S. visitors to the country, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House national security adviser and the director of national intelligence, and top U.S. lawmakers, all trying to close the trust gap between Israel and the U.S. over how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions, according to The Associated Press.
Netanyahu delivered the same message to all the Americans who have traveled to Israel for talks, the U.S. official said.The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic negotiations.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment, and the Pentagon and Office of Director of National Intelligence declined to comment, as did the Israeli Embassy.Netanyahu declared Monday that Israel’s leaders must guarantee not only the country’s security but also the very existence of the Jewish state.“The leaders of the state of Israel guarantee not only the security of Israel and its citizens, but also the fundamental existence of the country,” said Netanyahu in a television interview on a program marking the 20th anniversary of prime minister Menachem Begin’s death.They also talked about presenting a unified front to Iran, to counter the media reports that the two countries are at odds over how and when to attack Iran.“We have to learn from North Korea. All those (peace) talks and stalling and they developed a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We are going to send a message, enough is enough, the stalling is over. ... All options are on the table.”“I got the sense that Israel is incredibly serious about a strike on their nuclear weapons program,” Rogers told CNN on Monday. “It’s their calculus that the administration ... is not serious about a real military consequence to Iran moving forward.”
“They believe they’re going to have to make a decision on their own, given the current posture of the United States,” he added.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.
To defeat them, gentlemen, we need audacity, more audacity and always audacity and the Homeland will be saved!Read the full story here.
Dubai lifeguards save tourists from 'drowning' in a kiss.
Dubai lifeguards save tourists from 'drowning' in a kiss.(BM).Dubai’s lifeguards do more than watch for drowning swimmers.They also watch for overly-affectionate beach combers.Dubai’s beach guards say part of their job has now become to issue daily warnings to tourists and visitors on the beach who get intimate in public.The beach-goers may not drown in a passionate kiss, but they do face a possible arrest.“Many tourists unaware of local laws engage in some serious huddling and kissing on the beach and we have been on constant lookout, and of course warning them,” said one lifeguard at the Open Beach in Dubai.According to another lifeguard, tourists getting too hot-and-bothered on the beach are issued verbal warnings.“Only if they ignore the warnings and continue to hug and kiss do we report them to police.Very rarely have we gone down that path because most tourists listen to us when we tell them of the consequences. They are here on a holiday all they want is to enjoy their stay and return,” said the guard.One tourist, who was at the beach, said he witnessed lifeguards warning some tourists multiple times.“There was this couple who were kissing and trying to make out. At first the guards politely told them to stop. But they continued and were warned again.
But the third time they were taken aside and once again strictly warned. That is when they sort of became normal,” he said.According to him fully clothed men were also not being allowed entry into the beach.“There were many men, fully clothed, and trying to enter the beach. They were all turned away,” he added.According to lifeguards, signboards on the beach clearly warn tourists against engaging in inappropriate behavior and security staff say they have been doubling up to ensure tourists do not get into trouble with local police.“Many tourists are aware of the local rules. However, there are many who are not,” he said.Conservative beliefs in the Arab world are not always understood by foreign tourists.According to the lifeguards, beaches and other areas are constantly monitored by plain-clothed policemen.In 2008 a British man and a woman were arrested after they were caught having sex on the beach.Hmmmm......The virgin beach...pure immaculate sand.Read the full story here.
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