Thursday, April 12, 2012
Overnight Music Video - Gerry and The Pacemakers - You'll Never Walk Alone
Written by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II for the Broadway play Carousel (opening on April 19, 1945) Introduced during the second act by Aunt Netty (played by Christine Johnson) to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband Billy is killed during a failed robbery. The original cast recording was recorded (July 19, 1945) on Decca after Frank Sinatra's original cut (May 1, 1945) on Columbia.Original version here.
North Korea 'fires long range rocket', launch fails.
North Korea 'fires long range rocket' launch fails.(Yahoo).North Korea has launched a long-range rocket, according to South Korea’s defence ministry. Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters in a nationally televised news conference that the rocket was fired at 7:39 local time (22:39 GMT).A U.S. official has confirmed that a North Korean long-range missile broke apart midair after launch, ABC News reports. U.S. officials say they believe the missile fell apart within the Earth's atmosphere before crashing into the sea. The U.N. Security Council will meet Friday to discuss a response to the North's attempt launch. South Korea's Defense Ministry first reported the launch, which is seen as defying international warnings and widely viewed as a provocation from the rogue nation. Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters in a nationally televised news conference that the rocket was fired at 7:39 a.m. The launch comes after weeks of speculation regarding the possible launch, which North Korea's government says is being done to send a weather satellite into orbit. If true, it would represent the third failed attempt by North Korea to send a satellite into space since 1998. North Korea says it was timing the launch to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the country's former leader, Kim Il Sung, which they are celebrating Sunday However, most observers say the launch is actually tied to the country's missile program. Japan has already given its military clearance to shoot-down the rocket if it crosses into Japanese airspace. CNN, MSNBC and the AP have confirmed the launch. A White House statement is expected to be issued shortly. There was no word from Pyongyang about the launch.Read thefull story here, more here.
You Got to Be Kidding? Alien Terrorist Removal Court unused 16 years after creation.
You Got to Be Kidding? Alien Terrorist Removal Court unused 16 years after creation.(CW).More than 15 years since its creation – and a decade after 9/11 – a special court for deporting suspected foreign terrorists has never been used.
Since 1996, five federal judges have been regularly appointed to sit on the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a court most people have never heard of.
The court has no budget or staff, though the clerk of the U.S. District Court in Washington will serve that role if needed. But legal observers, attorneys and even the judges appointed to the court wonder if that will ever happen.
"I guess I’m still on the court, though I’m not too nervous about being called to active duty," said U.S. District Court Judge David D. Dowd, one of the court's original sitting jurists. "Our court has suggested that Congress should just abolish the court if it's not going to be used, but no one has taken the bait on that issue."
The terrorist court is just one of a few unused – and potentially unconstitutional – counterterrorism laws that remain on the books. Created by Congress in the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks in 1993 and 9/11, these legal vestiges may have run their course, been rendered useless by other laws or were never necessary.Other examples of unused counterterrorism laws include a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act related to the detention of foreign nationals suspected of terrorism and an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The amendment gives the government the power to spy on foreign students, tourists and other temporary visitors to the United States without linking them to a foreign power.
The three laws all could be struck down, possibly making the government wary of their use, said Stephanie Blum, an adjunct law professor at Michigan State University and author of a Lewis & Clark Law Review article that examines the three unused laws. She described the scenario as "use it and lose it."
Blum said the unused laws might need to be re-examined and, in some cases, either broadened to help address potential security gaps or eliminated as unnecessary.
Yet, some judges see no harm in having dormant laws on the books. U.S. Department of Justice officials have argued [PDF] that they are important enforcement tools that need to be at hand if needed.
Others, such as civil liberties advocates and legal scholars, argue that the government has other ways to remove from the country or prosecute foreign nationals with suspected terrorist ties.“If a law sits on the books for 15 years without ever being invoked, it’s a pretty damning case against the government’s assertion that it’s a necessary tool,” said David Cole, a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. “We shouldn’t have laws on the books that empower the government to put people’s constitutional liberties at risk where there hasn’t been an established need.”While some counterterrorism laws might be controversial, the terrorist court is simply forgotten. Officials with the Homeland Security and Justice departments had little information readily available about the court.
Yet the court, created by a 1996 anti-terrorism law, was one of the Justice Department’s top counterterrorism legislative priorities in the mid-1990s, according to a 9/11 Commission study.
The purpose of the terrorist removal court was to enable the government to deport suspected terrorists while using – and protecting – classified information, which couldn’t be done in other venues.
The deportation cases would be heard by a federal district judge instead of an immigration judge. Unlike immigration court, the terrorist court allows the suspected terrorist to have a court-appointed attorney. Classified information could be shared only with the foreigner's attorney, but not the accused.
Designated by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, judges sit for five-year terms. They are not paid extra for being on the court and carry regular caseloads in their respective districts, said Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
In a meeting shortly after the court's creation, Justice Department officials told the judges that they expected to file about 30 cases, said Dowd, one of the original jurists.
The judges met to discuss, establish and adopt rules for the court, which are still regularly published. But by a second meeting, officials already had started to back off, Dowd said.
In the four years after the court’s creation, the Justice Department identified 100 potential cases for the court but ultimately rejected them all, the 9/11 Commission study found.In a 2002 report to Congress, the Justice Department wrote that it had “devoted substantial resources to the task of identifying and evaluating cases” to bring before the removal court, but it hadn’t identified one.
The department also said the court was intended to be low volume, as most suspected foreign terrorists can be removed without the use of classified evidence.
In fact, the government rarely seeks an immigrant’s removal from the country on national security grounds, with only about 360 cases in the decade after 9/11, according to an analysis by the Syracuse University-based Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Janice Kephart, who served on the 9/11 Commission staff, said bureaucratic wrangling within the Justice Department and redundancy in terrorism laws kept the court from getting off the ground.
“They were second-guessing each other constantly,” she said. “(The terrorist court is) an empty vessel, but they don’t want the vessel to go away, so they just keep it sitting there."Hmmmm............How many U.S. Taxpayer Dollars have been wasted on this?Read the full story here.
The Man Who Would (Could) Be King.
The Man Who Would (Could) Be King.(FP).By Simon Henderson. The senior members of the Saudi royal family are looking increasingly frail, and the buzz in the Gulf is that there will be not just one, but two, changes in the kingdom's leadership during the course of the next year. Although there is no fixed succession plan if that comes to pass, the newly minted defense minister, Prince Salman, looks well-placed to ascend to the throne.The evidence suggests that Saudi Arabia's current ruling clique is on its last legs. This week, the 89 year-old King Abdullah presided over the usual meeting of the council of ministers from the vantage point of his own palace in Riyadh rather than travelling to the council building. Propped in his chair, a cushion supporting his back, he looked as uncomfortable personally as he probably was politically with the state of the Arab world. It grieves him that Syria, a country with which he has family ties, is in such bloody turmoil, and it infuriates him that Washington does not share his view of the danger of Iran. Within a day or so, the Saudi heir to the throne, the 79 year-old Crown Prince Nayef, is due to return home after more than a month away from the kingdom. He initially went to Morocco on "vacation," but within a week traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, for "routine" medical tests, before flying to Algeria. Such an itinerary -- and an absence of photographs of him since leaving Cleveland -- has raised speculation that he is unwell. In recent months, he has added a stick to his wardrobe and regained a steroidal puffiness, renewing speculation that cancer, probably leukemia, has returned after an apparent respite of several years. A leadership role is increasingly being taken by Prince Salman, 76 years old, who was promoted to minister of defense last November after the death of then Crown Prince Sultan.And last week, Salman visited London in a major demonstration of Riyadh's close military supply relationship with Britain, its most significant link after its longtime alliance with the United States. Bypassing the U.S. capital may conveniently have served to emphasize that the White House's apparent obsession with political change in the Middle East is not appreciated in Riyadh. As a former long-serving governor of the kingdom's giant Riyadh province, Salman is a known quantity to visiting international dignitaries. However, his familiarity with the world does not make him particularly worldly. Soon after the terror attacks on New York and Washington of September 2001, he told newly arrived U.S. ambassador Robert Jordan that the 9/11 attacks had been a "Zionist plot." The ambassador had to request that CIA briefers visit the kingdom to convince royals, including then Crown Prince Abdullah and Prince Nayef, otherwise. The advanced age of Saudi Arabia's ruling elite virtually ensures that the kingdom will undergo a series of leadership changes in the coming years, throwing an already troubled region into further turmoil. With Syria burning, Yemen in chaos, and Iran possibly inflamed by sanctions and diplomatic pressures, foreign capitals view Saudi Arabia's immediate future with unsurprising nervousness.Read the full story here.
"There she blows" - The Navy's big new Zumwalt destroyer.
"There she blows" - The Navy's big new Zumwalt destroyer.(Fox).An enormous, expensive and technology-laden warship that some Navy leaders once tried to kill because of its cost is now viewed as an important part of the Obama administration's Asia-Pacific strategy, with advanced capabilities that the Navy's top officer says represent the Navy's future. The stealthy, guided-missile Zumwalt that's taking shape at Bath Iron Works is the biggest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy. The low-to-the-water warship will feature a wave-piercing hull, composite deckhouse, electric drive propulsion, advanced sonar, missiles, and powerful guns that fire rocket-propelled warheads as far as 100 miles. It's also longer and heavier than existing destroyers -- but will have half the crew because of automated systems. "
With its stealth, incredibly capable sonar system, strike capability and lower manning requirements -- this is our future," concluded Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, who gave the warship his endorsement on a visit last week to Bath Iron Works, where the ships are being built. It wasn't always this way. The General Accounting Office expressed concerns that the Navy was trying to incorporate too much new technology. Some Navy officials pointed out that it's less capable than existing destroyers when it comes to missile defense, and a defense analyst warned that it would be vulnerable while operating close to shore for fire support. Even its "tumblehome" hull was criticized as potentially unstable in certain situations.
The 600-foot-long ships are so big that the General Dynamics-owned shipyard spent $40 million to construct a 106-foot-tall building to assemble the giant hull segments. And then there's the cost, roughly $3.8 billion apiece, according to the Navy's latest proposed budget. ... The Zumwalt's 155 mm deck guns were built to pound the shore with guided projectiles to pave the way for the Marines to arrive in landing craft, and they're far more cost-effective in certain situations than cruise missiles, said Eric Wertheim, author of the "Naval Institute's Guide to Combat Fleets of the World." The smaller crew also represents a substantial cost savings, he added. Down the road, the ship could one day be equipped with an electromagnetic railgun, a powerful weapon that uses a magnetic field and electric current to fire a projectile at several times the speed of sound.Hmmmm.....Sadly Obama care might swallow the budget for more such ships in the future.Read the full story here.
New Video Boko Haram Leader Threatens To "Devour" President Jonathan In 3 Months.
In a new video posted on Youtube today, the leadership of the Jama’atu Ahl-Sunnati Lil Da’awati Wal Jihad popularly known as Boko Haram today stated that President Goodluck Jonathan cannot end its insurgency in June as publicly stated. Sheik Abubakar Imam Shekau the leader of the group also boasted that Nigerian security agencies cannot take down the sect by June 2012 as earlier promised by the president recently in South Korea. The sect leader who appear agitated throughout the video recording was surrounded by several bodyguards.
Shekau delivered the message via a Youtube video which lasted for 14 minutes and two seconds. In it Shekau also threatened to consume Jonathan's regime in 3-months.
The video message was titled “Message To Jonathan” In the preamble of the message, Shekau vowed that it must destroy Christians and Christianity in Nigeria particularly those killing Muslims in Nigeria and it will also kill all Muslims aiding the arrest and harassment of its members.
The message as conveyed by its principal Sheik Abubakar Imam Shekau was mainly in Arabic and Hausa language. Shekau said, “You Jonathan cannot stop us like you boasted, instead we will devour you in the three months like you are boasting. If death is your worldly gain, for us, it is eternal victory to die working for Allah. Our joy is to die in Jihad for Allah against infidels like you…" “We are also aware of some Muslims using our name to make money, we will say nothing but let them continue, and they will meet Allah in the last day. “
We are not doing physical human service, but Allah’s work and it is clear your aim is killing us. Let me tell you with Allah we will triumph over you and your men in hundreds. We are not boasting rather keeping quiet and working for Allah. “Allah that finishes Pharaoh and others wicked rulers that you are not even up to them, will finish you and end your government. We are not afraid because we are not doing man work but Allah’s work. And we will see who will carry the day.”Hmmm.......The "religion of peace".Source here.
Video - Kuwaiti Cleric and Manager of Al-Resala TV Tareq Sweidan: Jews, Not Dictatorship, Are the Number One Danger Facing Muslims.
Tareq Sweidan : I studied at the Petroleum Department at the University of Oklahoma, and our dean, who was a Christian American, retired. The man they brought to replace him was completely incompetent. I went to the former dean, Dr. Guerrero, and asked him: "What made them choose Dr. Sylvester as the new dean, even though he is unworthy of this?" I was still a student back then. He laughed and said: "You noticed?" I said: "Of course. Anybody with eyes in his head would notice."
He said: "It's because he is a Freemason." This Guerrero began to curse the Jews and the Freemasons, saying that they control everything.
This is just a little story from Oklahoma in the middle of America. Now think what happens in New York or California, the centers of power. [...] When I was still in the US, we decided to try to influence a member of Congress, who seemed to be somewhat sympathetic towards us. He was campaigning in the elections, and we said: "Let us Muslims vote and raise funds for him. We raised 300,000 dollars and went to give it to him, saying: "Take this money, we support you, and you will support us politically." He refused. We asked why, and he said: "The Jews were here yesterday and gave me 300 million."
I have no hope that the West will change its positions. I can change the positions of some Westerners, but at the end of the day, power lies with the politicians, who are influenced by two things and two things only: money and the media, both of which are controlled by the Jews. So we should make the effort, but we must not rely on Western aid or on Western popular sympathy. These are minor things. We rely upon Allah and then upon our armed resistance in obtaining our rights. [...]
I say to the Arabs today: "Please do not negotiate. You are weak and would end up making unnecessary concessions. If you are incapable of regaining the holy city [of Jerusalem], I beg you to leave it occupied. A generation will come that will liberate it for us." We do not want negotiations or compromises while in a state of weakness, because we would end up relinquishing what the strong would not give up. [...]
Interviewer : The principle of compromise states that we should get whatever we can. Its supporters say: Let's accept this, so that Palestine is not lost in its entirety. Some Arab regimes have even begun to lament [their objection to] the Partition Plan. In order not to repeat the same mistake, they say, let's take what is being offered...
Tareq Sweidan : This is a defeatist mentality, adopted by the weak. Let me say something to you, to the viewers, and to the Palestinians: This land is not yours. Palestine, the Holy Land - and especially Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque - does not belong to the Palestinians. It belongs to the entire Islamic nation. You have no right to relinquish or divide it. By Allah, even if all the Palestinians accept a compromise and hand over Jerusalem, we will not agree to that.
Even if you become weak and surrender, we will not weaken. We will continue to wage resistance until we liberate it. These are our holy places. This is the Islamic mentality as I understand it. [...] I'm from Kuwait, but my first and foremost cause in this world is that of Palestine and Jerusalem. Palestine and Jerusalem come before Kuwait for me, because I'm a Muslim, and I believe in my holy places. A nation that relinquishes its holy places becomes worthless.
Even if all the Palestinians relinquish it, the Islamic nation will not. [...] In a nutshell, my strategy is as follows: We must consolidate the position of the Palestinians within Palestine as much as possible. We must support the armed resistance in Gaza, and if possible, we must spread it to the West Bank, and even to Palestine [within the 1948 borders]. If we can, we should do that. Third, the countries bordering [Israel] must be serious in their resistance to the Zionist entity. Thanks to Allah, there are signs of this. Fourth, this must be a mission for the entire Islamic nation. Everyone should support this cause. The most dangerous thing facing the Muslims is not the dictatorships. The absolutely most dangerous thing is the Jews. They are the most dangerous. They are the greatest enemy. Source: Memri.
Video - Friday Sermon on Jordan TV: Jordanian Army Is Invincible, Will Shatter the Might of Israel.
Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by Jordanian cleric Ghaleb Rabab'a, which aired on Jordan TV on March 23, 2012 :
Ghaleb Rabab'a : The [Jordanian] army is invincible. Its units are filled with people who pray, with imams, and with people who memorized the Koran. This army will never be defeated, Allah willing. Jerusalem will be regained, Allah willing, by these modest and pure hands, which hold the Koran high and recite it day and night. This is an army that bows before none but Allah.
Today, we must take pride in our country and its army, which descends from the Prophet Muhammad. Indeed, my brothers in faith, things happen, but the arrogance of the Jews will be defeated, Allah willing. […] This army, my brothers in faith, will shatter the might of Israel, Allah willing, just as the might of the Crusaders and the Byzantines was shattered at Hittin, at Yarmouk, Al-Qadisiyya, 'Ain Jalut, Mu'ta, and Al-Karamah. [Israel's might] will be shattered by the will of Allah. […] Allah will not leave for long the first direction of prayer for the Islamic nation in the hands of the slayers of the prophets Source Memri.
Israeli group wants 'flytilla' activists put on trial.
Israeli group wants 'flytilla' activists put on trial.(HD).An Israeli group today called for the arrest and trial of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists who are expected to arrive at Ben Gurion airport as part of a solidarity campaign this weekend. Between Saturday evening and Sunday, hundreds of activists, mainly from European countries, are expected to land at Israel's main international airport as part of a campaign called "Welcome to Palestine." The visitors are expected to openly declare their intent to visit the West Bank. But Israel has vowed to prevent them from arriving.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Israel Law Centre, said she had asked Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein "to put an end" to the campaign, now in its third year. "We are asking him to put them on trial," she told Israeli public radio. "This is criminal activity... (which is) a breach of several laws in Israel including unauthorised assembly and crossing the border when they have been specifically told not to come here." In previous years activists have been held in custody pending deportation but not charged with any offence. "Israel must put an end to this," Darshan-Leitner said, "They don't learn because they don't pay the price."
Hundreds of Israeli police are to be deployed in and around the airport from Saturday night, and the security establishment has already approached foreign carriers in an attempt to prevent known activists from travelling, press reports said. Representatives of all the airlines which fly to Israel were summoned to a meeting last week with senior police and defence officials, at which they were told that the activists would not be allowed in, Maariv newspaper reported on Wednesday.
"It was made clear to those present that every activist that arrived in Israel would be detained, and the airline would be held responsible for returning him at its own expense," it said. Israel is also planning to hand the airlines a list of activists who are expected to arrive shortly before the planes are scheduled to take off from their points of origin, it said. Most of the flights defined as "problematic" would not arrive at the main Ben Gurion terminal, but would be rerouted to another part of the airport where they would be "isolated so that the police officers can check the passengers prior to disembarkation," the paper said.French organisers of the planned event said on Wednesday they still plan to travel despite Israeli opposition.Read the full story here.
Russian Females Ranked 4th in World Beauty List.Who's number One?
Russian Females Ranked 4th in World Beauty List.Who's number One?(RN).Influential Hong Kong-based online magazine Traveler’s Digest has ranked Russian females fourth in a global beauty rating, which strongly contradicts the popular saying that “Russian women are the most beautiful in the world.” Girls from Sweden grabbed first place in the rating, which the author confirmed is “chauvinistic and sexist.” “Sweden is still firmly in first place on this list. The first time you visit Sweden is an unreal experience as you realize that everything you have ever heard is, in fact, true! The women are tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed goddesses whom are friendly and educated to boot,” the magazine said. The runner-up is Argentina. “Maybe it's the high-fashion or the romantic culture, or maybe it's just because the women are tall, striking beauties, but there's truly something special about them,” Traveler’s Digest explained. Ukraine is in third place. In a similar rating, the magazine called Ukraine’s capital Kiev the city with the most beautiful women in the world, but also called on lovers of “scantily-clad women” to check out Ukraine’s Black Sea coast and especially Odessa. “Mother Russia makes an appearance at number four on this list, but when we're talking about women this beautiful, there's really only a slight difference between number four and number one. For 4,000 miles all the way from Moscow to Siberia the women in Russia are drop-dead gorgeous,” the magazine said. Last in the top-five were the gorgeous women from Bulgaria.Read the full story here.
Task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet to Join Anti-Piracy Mission in May.
Task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet to Join Anti-Piracy Mission in May.(RN).A task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet, led by the Udaloy class destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov, will arrive in the Gulf of Aden in the beginning of May to join an anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast. The destroyer has a military investigator on board to provide legal assistance for the Russian mission in case the task force encounters pirate vessels while escorting commercial ships. “The investigator has been certified in the international maritime law and has all necessary forensic equipment to conduct investigations,” a spokesman for the Main Military Investigative Department told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. On the way to the Gulf of Aden, the Northern Fleet’s task force will make an official visit to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa on April 16-18 and the port of Souda on Crete on April 23-26. It will stop at the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on May 2-5 to replenish water and food supplies before arriving in the Gulf of Aden. The new task force will replace the Russian Pacific Fleet’s task force headed by the Admiral Tributs destroyer, which completed its anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast on Monday and set sail for its home base in Vladivostok.The Admiral Tributs, the Pechenega tanker and a rescue tugboat arrived in the Gulf of Aden on January 12 and escorted five convoys of commercial ships since then.
Task forces from the Russian Navy, usually led by Udaloy class destroyers, operate in the area on a rotating basis.
Russian warships have successfully escorted more than 130 commercial vessels from various countries through pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast since 2008, when Russia joined the international anti-piracy mission in the region.
Russian frigate, the Neustrashimy (Fearless), seized a boat with seven pirates during an operation to thwart an attack on the Ariella merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden in February 2010.(See vid below).The Russian warships have also thwarted pirate attacks on the Ocean Diamond dry cargo ship and the United Emblem tanker in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.Read the full story here.
The Euro crisis - Spain - when in debt grow marijuana.
The Euro crisis - Spain - when in debt: grow marijuana.(Spiegel).In Rasquera, they reckon marijuana is the solution. On Wednesday, the authorities in the eastern Spanish village, population 900, announced that the residents had agreed to an unsual plan that the municipality has come up with to fight the crisis. In the future, Rasquera will lease several fields to a Barcelona association that plans to grow hemp there. The revenue is intended to help the municipality reduce its debts of €1.3 million ($1.7 million). Around 500 kilometers (300 miles) away in Madrid, the national government is also worried about money. This week, Spain found itself in the financial markets' crosshairs again. On Tuesday, the government had to pay significantly higher interest rates of almost 6 percent on its 10-year bonds. Italy's borrowing costs have also risen. The rate that the country pays for one-year bonds more than doubled to 2.84 percent from last month's rate of 1.40 percent at an auction on Wednesday, while yields on three-year bonds hit 3.89 percent at an auction on Thursday, up from 2.76 percent last month. It looks like the euro zone is getting sick again -- this time with a case of Spanish flu.
For a while, it looked like the patient was recovering. The situation in the euro zone had stabilized at the beginning of the year. The head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, even said that the worst of the crisis had passed. So why is the situation heating up again? There doesn't appear to be a single, unambiguous reason for the concerns about Spain. But a speech by newly elected Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on March 2 played a key role in fuelling renewed uncertainty about Spain's ability to service its debts. The conservative prime minister announced that his country would not comply with the planned deficit target of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product for 2012, but would only cut its budget deficit to 5.8 percent. In itself, that was hardly surprising: The original target was somewhat ambitious, particularly given Spain's 2011 deficit of 8.5 percent.
But by revising the target, Spain broke a promise to its EU partners without consulting them first. It was only later that Madrid and its fellow euro-zone states retroactively agreed on a target of 5.3 percent. Spain has actually chosen "the right way," says Nicolaus Heinen, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. "The country needs to strike a careful balance between growth and austerity efforts." The issue of the deficit target being revised was mainly a communication problem, he argues. "It should have been announced earlier, ideally right after the boost provided by the ECB's loans."For Spain, however, generating new growth is at least as important as reducing the budget deficit. The situation on the labor market remains dire, with unemployment at almost 23 percent. As a result, the country is pinning its hopes on exports. "
Over the years, Spain has achieved relatively good export growth," says IW economist Jürgen Matthes, who recently published a new study on the subject. According to that report, Spain reduced its trade deficit -- the imbalance between imports and exports -- over the past four years from 5.8 percent of GDP to just 0.5 percent. Greece, by comparison, only managed to get its trade deficit down from 11.1 to 5.5 percent in the same period. Spain's export success comes despite the fact that Spanish unit labor costs have, unlike in Germany, been rising strongly for many years. Economists such as Hans-Werner Sinn, head of Germany's influential Ifo Institute for Economic Research, have demanded that wages and prices in the euro zone's crisis-stricken countries be reduced by up to 30 percent as a result.
But Matthes disagrees. "We doubt that such harsh cuts are necessary," he says. After all, he points out, Spanish companies are already managing to notch up significant growth. "They are having greater success than the textbooks say they should."
Meanwhile the German Der Spiegel reports that former German Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin (SPD) has announced that she will launch a legal challenge at the German Constitutional Court on behalf of the ‘More Democracy’ campaign against both the ‘fiscal treaty’ on eurozone budgetary discipline and the ESM treaty establishing the permanent bailout fund. Däubler-Gmelin argued that the EU plans “cross a red line” by transferring too much power away from national parliaments to the EU level, and that "I'm all for Europe, but not for a Europe that is determined only by the governing elites”.Read the full story here.
El- Shater: Abu Ismail’s ruling is a great victory
El- Shater: Abu Ismail’s ruling is a great victory.(BM).CAIRO: Khairat al-Shater, the Presidential hopeful, described the ruling issued by the Cairo Administrative Court on Wednesday concerning the nationality of his mother as “a victory for the credibility of Islamists.” It should be noted that candidates are not eligible to run for president if their relatives or parents have ever held any nationality other than Egyptian, including dual citizenship. Abu Ismail’s lawyer said that the ruling, which appears to confirm his mother was Egyptian, was a “historic victory.” However, it does not rule out the possibility that other authorities besides the Interior Ministry could have evidence that his mother held US citizenship, or prove she did not. Moreover, El- Shater accused the media of “systematic shelling” of the Muslim Brotherhood and of “blowing some of the statements given by some of the group’s leaders out of proportion.” On the other hand, and regarding the candidacy of former Vice President Omar Suleiman, El- Shater said it is a sign that the people have only removed the head of the regime, while the rest of its body remains. Regarding recent statements by independent MP Amr Hamzawy describing Shater’s candidacy as “an unsuccessful political move” for the Brotherhood, Shater told Bikyamasr.com that the comments were normal, as Hamzawy is a liberal who is naturally opposed to the candidacy of a Brotherhood member. Addressing those who demand that he resign from the Brotherhood after being nominated, Shater said, “Was any American president asked by his voters to leave the party that he belongs to?” It should be mentioned that El-shater is the Brotherhood’s key financier. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood in 1981 after years as a student activist and was promoted to its guidance bureau in 1995.Hmmm.......“Was any American president asked by his voters to leave the party that he belongs to?”, or show his birth certificate?Read the full story here.
Why is Israel so happy?What's Israel's secret, which allowed Jewish state to rank 14th on global Happiness Report?
Why is Israel so happy?What's Israel's secret, which allowed Jewish state to rank 14th on global Happiness Report?(YNet).By Giulio Meotti.Israel ranked 14th in the United Nations’ first World Happiness Report. The list is headed by Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands, the paradises of political correctness, welfare, anti-war, ultra-liberal and anti-nationalistic feelings, beacons which, according to the Global Peace Index, topped the list of the most “peaceful” places in the world. So how can we explain the happiness of Israel, the only civilized country under mortal danger, the only nation without recognized borders and globally selected to be an emblem of evil? To people who don’t live in Israel, this is a mystery. Many Israelis probably can’t figure it out, either. How is it possible that a population living under a perpetual emotional strain and ghettoizing itself behind new Maginot lines is so happy? How can the Jews be happy when Iran is going nuclear and threatening to wipe them off the map? How can they be happy when the Arabs are firing rockets every day at civilians in Ashkelon, Beersheba, Ashdod and Sderot? What are the sources of the happiness of the only UN member condemned to death and boycotted all over the world?
Israel is much happier than all the European countries that experienced their last war six decades ago. The Jewish state’s population exceeds 7.5 million, nine times that of 1948, the year of the state’s creation. Israelis are happy because they succeeded demographically; considering the Diaspora’s low birth rates and high assimilation rates, it may not be long before most of the world’s Jews will be Israelis. Despite Jewish heroism and Israeli collectivism giving way to Western individualism, self-criticism and frivolous hedonism, Israeli happiness is much more than the American dream of a large house and a nice car. It lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning, “a nation like all other nations” but also “a light unto the nations.” Israelis, which have one of the longest life expectancies of any nation in the world, are happy because their country has a history of scintillating enlightenment, with the highest production of scientific publications per capita in the world, more museums per capita and the highest worldwide publication of new books. In a war-ravaged country like Israel, the past few years saw five Israeli Nobel Prize winners.
Another reason is economic success. No other industrialized country does it better, especially for a nation that doesn’t have natural resources and has a population roughly half of Belgium’s. Israel’s high-tech industry is flourishing, making the country known as “start-up nation.”
While Israel’s social fabric is deeply divided between ultra-Orthodox Jews and “Hellenistic” Israelis, nationalists and leftists, two-thirds of Israelis believe in God, therefore maintaining the hope and feeling that there is higher meaning and purpose to their lives. There is also the attachment to the Jewish land, while love for one’s land is a nationalistic taboo in the West. Overall, Israel’s population is very resilient. A new governmental study just found that Intifada-era violence did nothing to affect Israel’s national morale. Israelis are also happy because they know that Dimona and the IDF are there to protect them, even if the army lost some of its famous deterrence.
Finally, there is the most important reason why Israeli happiness is an enchanting and heartening mystery for all free men. When comparing the fertility rate to the suicide rate, one can see the proportion of people who choose to create new life against the proportion who choose to destroy their own. This is why the Jews will ultimately win a centennial war against an enemy ready to sacrifice all of its children in order to throw all Israelis into the sea. In Israel, the celebrations of life are far more numerous than the memories of death. That's Israel’s secret for happiness: it's a lighthouse of life on the border between survival and destruction. Ultimately, life will prevail over death.Read the full story here.Full World Happiness report here.
Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas Explodes at Mel Gibson: 'You Hate Jews'.
Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas Explodes at Mel Gibson: 'You Hate Jews'.(Yahoo).Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is accusing Mel Gibson, his recent collaborator on a movie about Jewish revolt, of “hating Jews” and using him to deflect his anti-Semitic reputation. In an explosive nine-page letter to Gibson obtained by TheWrap, the screenwriter wrote that the director of “The Passion of the Christ” never intended to make the movie about Jewish heroism, called “The Maccabees.” Instead, Eszterhas said, Gibson announced the project “in an attempt to deflect continuing charges of anti-Semitism which have dogged you, charges which have crippled your career.” He added: “I've come to the conclusion that the reason you won't make ‘The Maccabees' is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews.” TheWrap reported earlier that Warner Bros. has put the controversial project on hold, and rejected Eszterhas's script as lacking in “a sense of triumph.” A spokesman for Gibson had no immediate comment.
Eszterhas' letter reveals a more complex dynamic, a disturbing picture of Gibson as a man yet again out of control, inflicting frequent rages on those around him, in the grip of an anti-Semitic obsession, and possibly dangerous to those around him. On several occasions, said Eszterhas, Gibson “was wild, crazed, and explosive.” The April 9 letter also recounts Gibson's threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Gregorieva. “You were raving at Oksana even after you'd reached a custody agreement over Luci,” their daughter, the letter says. “And then you were even more explicit about your threat: “I'm going to kill her! I'm going to have her killed!” You said you'd become friends with two FBI agents (or former FBI agents) and they were going to help you to kill her.”
Gibson's anti-Semitic obsession was a leitmotif of working on the film together at Gibson's homes in Malibu and Costa Rica, Eszterhas said. "You continually called Jews 'Hebes' and 'oven-dodgers' and 'Jewboys.' It seemed that most times when we discussed someone, you asked 'He's a Hebe, isn't he?' You said most 'gatekeepers' of American companies were 'Hebes' who 'controlled their bosses.'" The slurs continued, through their work: “You said the Holocaust was 'mostly a lot of horseshit.' You said the Torah made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants. When I told you that you were confusing the Torah with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, ... you insisted 'it's in the Torah -- it's in there!' (It isn't)." And he said Gibson told him that his intention in making “The Maccabees” was “to convert the Jews to Christianity.”
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he was not surprised by Eszterhas' allegations. Hier has been a critic of Gibson's involvement in the Maccabee project since the film was announced in September. “I was was not among those that offered any forgiveness,” Hier said. “The whole apology was a joke. It was written by a publicity agent. If he wanted to profoundly apologize, he could do it the right way. He could visit a concentration camp. He could take a course on Holocaust studies. He could write an opinion piece. He did none of that, so it comes as no surprise to me.” Eszterhas, who declined to comment for this story, has himself lived a tumultuous life. He was at one point one of Hollywood's highest-paid, most sought-after screenwriters, writing such hits as the erotic thriller “Basic Instinct” and “Flashdance.” He had a religious awakening after contracting throat cancer in 2001 and left Hollywood, moving back to his native Cleveland. After encountering Gibson's conduct, Eszterhas writes that he felt trapped, but then decided to ignore the racist remarks and write the script based on his own research. He implores Gibson to return the script to him. With Warner rejecting the script, Gibson has the option to take it elsewhere.Read the full story here.
Iran’s “new initiatives” place Israel at center of nuclear talks, yesterday:"Foreign Minister Davutoğlu says Turkey wants WMD-free Mideast".
Iran’s “new initiatives” place Israel at center of nuclear talks, yesterday: "Foreign Minister Davutoğlu says Turkey wants WMD-free Mideast".(Debka).The head of Iran’s National Security Council Saeed Jalili suggested enigmatically Wednesday, April 11, that its representatives would present “new initiatives” at the negotiations with six world powers starting in Istanbul next Saturday. “We hope,” he said, “that the powers will also enter talks with constructive approaches; the language of threat and pressure against the Iranian nation has never yielded results.” Although Jalili, who will lead the Iranian negotiating team, did not divulge the nature of the new initiatives, debkafile’s Iranian and intelligence sources have obtained their content:
1. Iran will continue to enrich low-grade 3.5 percent uranium but not consent to a cap on quantities;
2. The removal of enriched uranium outside Iran’s borders is not open to discussion and will not be permitted;
3. Iran is prepared for a deal whereby the six powers endorse Iran’s right to enrich as much high-grade 20-percent enriched uranium as it wishes according to a three-part fomula:
a) A joint panel of the six powers and Iran will determine the amounts required to meet the needs of its reactor and the production of isotopes for medical research;
b) Iran will sell the surfeit on the international market and become the world’s No. 1 exporter of 20-percent enriched uranium;
c) Excess quantities over and above a) and b) will be downgraded by a reverse process from 20 to 3.5 percent.
4. Iran will reject demands to shut down the underground enrichment plant at Fordow, near Qom, but agree to signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s Additional Protocol - which would permit IAEA inspectors to make spot checks at all suspect nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow - with one proviso: The six powers must also require Israel to sign the NPT plus the Additional Protocol. If Israel doesn’t sign both parts of this treaty, neither will Iran endorse the AP.
5. The “Israeli dossier” tops the tactical agenda set out by Iran’s top strategic team for the forthcoming nuclear negotiations Istanbul. Its representatives will be briefed to turn aside every demand the world powers make of Tehran by twisting it around and pointing it at Israel’s alleged nuclear program. They will argue that they are acting to promote President Barack Obama’s avowed vision of a nuclear-free Middle East. By using this stratagem, the Iranians expect to come away from the negotiating table sitting pretty, having extracted international permission both for enriching as much high-grade uranium as they want and for keeping the Fordow facility in full operation Hmmm....As i said yesterday:"Obama 'buddy' Foreign Minister Davutoğlu says Turkey wants WMD-free Mideast, Israel be warned!"What else did Erdogan and Obama promise Iran???Read the full story here.
Kuwaiti MPs approve death penalty for ‘cursing God’
Kuwaiti MPs approve death penalty for ‘cursing God’.(AlArabiya).Kuwait’s parliament on Thursday provisionally passed amendments to the Gulf state’s penal code stipulating the death penalty for those who curse God, Islam’s Prophet or his wives. Forty-six MPs, including cabinet ministers, voted for the key amendments that will come into effect only after another round of voting and government approval. The second and final vote will take place in two weeks. Four Shiite MPs voted against the law, a pro-Shiite Sunni lawmaker abstained, while two MPs refused to vote. Shiite MPs have demanded that the new amendments also enforce the death penalty for anyone who curses their sect’s 12 revered Imams, but the Sunni- dominated parliament rejected their requests. The move to stiffen penalties for religious crimes came after authorities last month arrested a Shiite tweeter for allegedly cursing the Prophet Mohammed, his wife and some companions. The suspect, Hamad al-Naqi, is being detained pending further interrogation and trial. Sectarian tensions have flared in Kuwait between the Sunni majority and Shiites, who form about a third of the native population of 1.17 million, reflecting rising regional tensions between the two Islamic sects.Read the full story here.
The April 11, 2012 Earthquake Event: cluster of large earthquakes rattle the globe from Indonesia to Mexico.
The April 11, 2012 Earthquake Event: cluster of large earthquakes rattle the globe from Indonesia to Mexico.(TEP).A strong earthquake hit Mexico on Wednesday, shaking buildings and sending people running out of offices onto the streets of the capital Mexico City. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.5 -magnitude quake was centered on Mexico’s Pacific coast near Michoacan and struck fairly deep under the earth at 65 km or 40 miles. Prior to the Mexico earthquake, a powerful and shallow 5.9 struck near the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate off the coast of Oregon- indicating tectonic plates worldwide are being rattled by planetary seismic tension. Prior to Oregon earthquake, two massive 8.0+ magnitude earthquakes (8.6 and 8.2) struck the ocean floor off the north coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. As I warned in my book The Extinction Protocol, the power unleashed in these seismic events is growing. This is testament to the dangers and seriousness of the earth-changes facing us and how these events are unleashing more unbridled force with each successive eruption. The Indian Ocean strike-slip fault earthquakes are very unusual. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard of a strike-slip lateral earthquakes of this great a magnitude; especially under water. Preliminary assessment of the Indonesian quakes by U.S. geologists suggests one plate lurched past each other as much as 70 feet. San Andreas is a strike-slip, lateral- can we even imagine two sections of ground moving 70 feet near San Francisco? Had the force of the Sumatra quakes been unleashed upon San Andreas, the city would have been completely destroyed. Ironically, the largest surface displacement ever recorded in a lateral strike-slip fault was 21 feet and that was in the 1906 7.9 San Andreas earthquake. Just so we understand the significance of what transpired today; the Japanese March 11, 2011 earthquake move the ocean floor 79 feet sideways and 10 ft upwards, but today’s earthquakes happened in double 8.0+ magnitude sequence and moved the earth nearly as far. Worst, the seismic tension from the event ricocheted around the world and contributed to other earthquakes.Read the full story here.
United Arabic Emirates Sheikh Abdullah condemns Iran President's visit to UAE island 'in strongest possible terms'.
United Arabic Emirates Sheikh Abdullah condemns Iran President's visit to UAE island 'in strongest possible terms'.(GN).Abu Dhabi Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan UAE Foreign Minister Wednesday condemned in the strongest possible terms a visit made by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UAE island of Abu Mousa. Abu Mousa has been occupied by Iran since 1971. Shaikh Abdullah blasted the visit as a ''flagrant violation'' of the UAE's sovereignty over its territories and a ''setback'' to all efforts and attempts by the UAE to find a peaceful settlement to Iran's occupation of the three UAE islands: Greater and Lesser Tunbs, and Abu Mousa, either through direct negotiations or resort to the International Court of Justice ''This visit will not change the legal status of these islands which are part and parcel of the UAE national soil, '' Shaikh Abdullah emphasised. He asserted that the visit and the provocative rhetoric of the Iranian president exposed Iran's false allegations regarding its keenness to establish good neighbourly relations and friendship with the UAE and countries of the region. The UAE foreign minister denounced the timing of the visit, saying it came at a time when the two countries agreed to exert more joint efforts to reach a solution to the issue. It was also a time the UAE had committed to what both countries had agreed out of desire to create a conducive environment for reaching a solution that enhances stability in the region. The visit, he said, was a gross breach of this agreement. Shaikh Abdullah called on Iran to take measures and stances that strengthened confidence between countries and peoples of the region and to refrain from such provocative measures which muddied relations between the two countries and depressed efforts designed to find a fair solution to the issue of the three occupied islands.Read the full story here.More here.
Here we go !Turkey could seek NATO's help to deal with Syria.
Here we go !Turkey could seek NATO's help to deal with Syria.(HD).Turkey says it could seek NATO's help in case the Syrian troops violate its borders again. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters late yesterday that "NATO has responsibilities to protect the Turkish border according to Article 5." He was referring to the article in the alliance's treaty stating that an attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all members. Syrian forces have opened fire across the Turkish border Monday, killing two people in a Turkish refugee camp near the border. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said today that Turkey, a NATO member, could seek help from the military alliance if there are future violations.Read the full story here.
GOP launches probe of $500M transfer to IRS for Obama's health law.
GOP launches probe of $500M transfer to IRS for Obama's health law.(TheHill).House Republicans want the IRS to explain how it’s using the $500 million it received from another department to help implement President Obama’s healthcare law.
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has transferred roughly $200 million to the IRS to implement the reform law and is planning to transfer about $300 million by the end of this year, The Hill first reported this week.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Oversight subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany (R-La.) sought more information Wednesday about how the tax agency is using the funding.“The American people deserve to know how and why this one-half billion in taxpayer dollars are being spent, and how many additional IRS agents, auditors and other workers are being hired to enforce all the hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and penalties in the Democrats’ health care law,” Camp and Boustany said.
In a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, the lawmakers asked for a breakdown of how much money the IRS expects to spend over the next decade, how many employees are working on healthcare implementation and which provisions those employees are working on.
They also asked whether the IRS changed the amount of money it’s seeking from Congress as a result of the transfers from HHS.
Several big components of the health law fall to the IRS, including the controversial individual mandate. The agency is also overseeing tax credits to small businesses and will administer subsidies to help low-income people buy insurance.The transfers from HHS have come out of a $1 billion fund created by the healthcare law for general implementation activities. Government auditors have said the transfers are legal, but the practice has nevertheless provided new fodder for Republican critics of the healthcare overhaul.Read the full story here.
Holder’s Black Panther blind spot - Why does A.G. Holder's Justice Department ignores black-on-white crime?
Holder’s Black Panther blind spot - Why does A.G. Holder's Justice Department ignores black-on-white crime? (WT).What is it about the Justice Department and the Black Panthers? On March 24, Mikhail Muhammad, leader of the New Black Panther Party, offered a $10,000 bounty for the “capture” of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin. The Panthers distributed wanted posters, calling him a “child killer” and offering the bounty “dead or alive.” Muhammad warned that Mr. Zimmerman “should be fearful for his life.”
These acts were almost certainly criminal. Florida Code 787.01 makes it a felony to threaten someone or abduct them with the intent to terrorize. Florida Code 777.04 further criminalizes solicitation which “commands, encourages, hires or requests another person” to engage in criminal activity such as kidnapping. Solicitation to kidnap is also a federal crime, and the fact that this was unambiguously racially-based brings it within the purview of federal hate-crime laws.
There is an important moral dimension at play as well. This scandal offers an opportunity for the Obama administration to show it can act impartially and calm racial tensions. So far, the White House has failed to lead on the issue. President Obama’s high-profile public statement - “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” - was bizarre and seemed to show undue bias. Taking swift action against those who seek to incite racial violence would demonstrate that the federal government enforces the law without prejudice.
The Justice Department has yet to step up. Mr. Zimmerman’s worried family sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asking, “Why, when the law of the land is crystal clear, is your office not arresting the New Black Panthers for hate crimes?… Since when can a group of people put a bounty on someone’s head, circulate Wanted posters publicly, and still be walking the streets?” They are still awaiting a response.
Attorney J. Christian Adams, who resigned from Justice in 2010 to protest the handling of the Black Panther case, testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that he was told “cases are not going to be brought against black defendants for the benefit of white victims.” The December 2010 Civil Rights Commission report on its investigation said, “While the department has issued general statements that it enforces the laws without regard to race, these assurances do not confirm, deny or explain the specific allegations of misconduct.” In March 2011, Mr. Holder claimed it was “simply false” that the Justice Department made enforcement decisions based on race. Now he has an opportunity to prove it by opening a criminal investigation against the Black Panthers.Hmmmm....................The Ulsterman Report: Is Barack Obama Preparing to Mobilize Race Riots?“Even if it means the threat of race riots. They are willing to go that far – go down that road if need be. If the Obama team can’t guilt enough of White America into voting for them in 2012 – they are just fine with trying to scare the sh-t out of them to do it.” -Insider: August 15th, 2011.Read the full story here.
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