Overnight Music Video - Russian flash mob dances to Puttin' on the Ritz.

 HT: IsraelMatzav.

"And So It Begun" Iran: "Muslim countries should have a permanent UN Security Council member".

"And So It Begun" Iran: "Muslim countries should have a permanent UN Security Council member".(TI).Muslim countries should have a permanent UN Security Council member, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top advisor Ali Akbar Velayati said, Mehr News reported. Currently, there are 5 permanent members at the UN Security Council (China, Russia, France, Britain and the U.S.), along with 10 impermanent members that chang periodically among UN members. Velayati said during a meeting with some Egyptian citizens, who are visiting Tehran, that Egyptians visit to Tehran can help to restablise relations between Iran and Egypt. Iran severed formal diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1979 after it signed peace agreement with Israel. Velayati posed his hopeness for restoring Iran-Egypt diplomatic realtions during post-Mubarak regime which was collapsed last year. Khamenei's advisor added that there are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, without having a seat in UNSC or enoght participating at international major organisations.Read the full story here.

"Doing Just Fine" - Auto Bailout Was Really Just a UAW Bailout.

"Doing Just Fine" - Auto Bailout Was Really Just a UAW Bailout.(Heritage).By Amy Payne.President Obama told the United Auto Workers (UAW) in February not to listen to critics of the auto bailout who said union members “made out like bandits—that saving the auto industry was just about paying back the unions.” “Really?” Obama said. “I mean, even by the standards of this town [Washington], that’s a load of you-know-what.”
New research from Heritage labor economist James Sherk proves that it was, in fact, a load of truth.
The Treasury Department estimates that taxpayers will lose $23 billion on the auto bailout. Sherk and co-author Todd Zywicki find that none of these losses came from saving jobs, but instead went to prop up the compensation of some of the most highly paid workers inAmerica. They write:

We estimate that the Administration redistributed $26.5 billion more to the UAW than it would have received had it been treated as it usually would in bankruptcy proceedings. Taxpayers lost between $20 billion and $23 billion on the auto programs. Thus, the entire loss to the taxpayers from the auto bailout comes from the funds diverted to the UAW.

The Obama campaign is touting the bailout in Michigan this week, crowing about saved-or-created jobs. What the bailout actually saved was the UAW’s heavily padded compensation packages; what it created was a massive taxpayer loss.
The UAW was a significant factor in the automakers’ decline: It had raised Detroit’s labor costs 50 percent to 80 percent above other automakers, such as Toyotaand Nissan. In 2006, General Motors paid its unionized workers $70.51 an hour in wages and benefits. Chrysler paid $75.86 an hour. Added to mistakes by management, these labor costs were a major reason the automakers went bankrupt.
However, through the bailout, the Obama Administration insulated the UAW from most of the sacrifices unions usually make in a bankruptcy—at taxpayer expense.Even Stephen Rattner, President Obama’s “car czar,” has admitted that “We should have asked the UAW to do a bit more. We did not ask any UAW member to take a cut in their pay.”
As a result, even after the reorganization, GM still has higher labor costs ($56 an hour) than any of its foreign-based competitors.
The average American worker—whose taxes paid for the bailout—earns $30.15 an hour in wages and benefits. Few Americans have the ability, as UAW workers do, to retire in their mid-50s before they can collect Social Security. Fewer still receive retirement health benefits in addition to Medicare, as UAW workers do. Yet their tax dollars went to subsidize UAW pay and benefits.
Had the government treated the UAW in the manner required by bankruptcy law, taxpayers would have broken even. The program would have amounted to bankruptcy financing instead of an outright bailout. The Administration could have kept the automakers running without losing a dime.Instead, more than $26 billion went out the door and into the UAW’s pockets. Let’s put that in perspective: The amount of the subsidy given directly to the UAW was bigger than the budget of the entire State Department. It was bigger than allU.S. foreign aid spending. It was 50 percent more than NASA’s budget.The Administration did not bail out GM and Chrysler. It bailed out the United Auto Workers.Read the full story here.

Rogozin: "Russia and Israel are negotiating a joint project to build an unmanned aerial vehicle"

Rogozin: "Russia and Israel are negotiating a joint project to build an unmanned aerial vehicle".(RN).Russia and Israel are negotiating a joint project to build an unmanned aerial vehicle, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday. “We are negotiating with Israel. Our aim is to persuade them to start technological cooperation and to develop a product that will be used in both countries, and could also be sold to third countries,” Rogozin said in an interview with the Rossia-24 TV channel. Russia will no longer buy ready-made weapon systems in the West but is only interested in new technology, said Rogozin, who is responsible for Russia's military-industrial complex. “Technology should be attracted by localizing production on Russian territory,” Rogozin noted. In mid-May a source in the Russian defense industry said Moscow may buy a large new consignment of unmanned aerial vehicles from Israel and 24 command and control systems worth around $50 million in the foreseeable future.
Israel Aerospace Industries previously delivered to Russia two Bird Eye-400, eight I-View Mk150 and two Searcher Mk.2 UAVs, totaling $53 million. “The Defense Ministry is considering the possibility of purchasing from the Israeli company Aeronautics Defense Systems of three types of UAV control systems (eight each): Orbiter 2, Aerostar и Skystar,” the source said. Given that each such system can service two to three UAVs, “between 48 and 72 Israeli UAVs may be bought,” he said, adding that the consensus within the Russian defense department seems to be that these systems are essential until the domestic industry develops and starts large scale manufacturing of similar systems at home.Read the full story here.

The Elite Are Attempting To Convince Us That Killing Off The Elderly Is Good For America.

The Elite Are Attempting To Convince Us That Killing Off The Elderly Is Good For America.(AP).By Michael Snyder.
What should be done with elderly Americans when they become very seriously ill? Should we try to save their lives or should we just let them die? Unfortunately, there is a growing consensus among the "intellectual elite" that most elderly people are not going to have a high enough "quality of life" to justify the expense of costly life saving procedures.

This philosophy is now being promoted very heavily through mainstream news outlets, in our television shows and in big Hollywood movies. The elite are attempting to convince us that killing off our sick grandparents is cool and trendy.

We are being told that "pulling the plug" on grandma and grandpa is compassionate (because it will end their suffering), that it is good for the environment and that it is even good for the economy. We are being told that denying life saving treatments to old people will dramatically reduce health care costs and make the system better for all of us. We are being told that it is not "efficient" for health insurance companies to shell out $100,000 for an operation that may extend the life of an elderly person by 6 months.

But the truth is that all of this is part of a larger agenda that the elite are attempting to advance. As I have written about previously, the elite love death, and they truly believe that reducing the population is good for society and good for the planet. Sadly, population control propaganda has reached a fever pitch in recent months. Time Magazine has just come out with a very shocking cover story entitled "How To Die". The article goes on and on about how wonderful and compassionate it is to remove life-saving treatment from sick relatives.

A recent article by Mike Adams summarized the message of this disgusting article....

Inside, the magazine promotes a cost-saving death agenda that encourages readers to literally 'pull the feeding tubes' from their dying elderly parents, causing them to dehydrate and die. This is explained as a new cost-saving measure that drastically reduces return hospital visits by the elderly… yeah, because dead people don’t return to the hospital, of course.

Many of you also probably remember the Newsweek cover story from a couple years ago that was entitled "The Case for Killing Granny".

Underneath that shocking title was the following phrase: “Curbing excessive end-of-life care is good for America.”

According to the author of that article, spending less money on the elderly is the key to successful health care reform....

The idea that we might ration health care to seniors (or anyone else) is political anathema. Politicians do not dare breathe the R word, lest they be accused—however wrongly—of trying to pull the plug on Grandma. But the need to spend less money on the elderly at the end of life is the elephant in the room in the health-reform debate. Everyone sees it but no one wants to talk about it. At a more basic level, Americans are afraid not just of dying, but of talking and thinking about death. Until Americans learn to contemplate death as more than a scientific challenge to be overcome, our health-care system will remain unfixable.

Sadly, articles like that one are becoming quite frequent in mainstream media sources.

Just a few days ago, a Bloomberg article entitled "How 'Death Panels' Can Prolong Life" declared that we must "deny treatment to people who want it" in order to hold down costs....

In short, all the Republican talk during the health-care-reform debate about 'death panels' was melodramatic and unfair, but not ridiculous. One way or another, holding down health-care costs will require policies that deny treatment to people who want it. And want it because it will extend their lives.

This goes on already, all the time. Health insurance companies have been known to deny payment for treatments deemed unnecessary. Age limits for organ transplants are another example. All policies that involve denying care because of 'quality of life' considerations are, in effect, 'death panels.' But no society can afford to give every citizen every possible therapy. Medicare is going broke trying.

So who are we supposed to deny treatment to?


The elderly of course.

According to that Bloomberg article, we are supposed to kill off our sick grandparents because the "quality of life" they would be expected to have if they recover would not be enough to warrant spending so much to save them....

A $200,000 operation can add a year or two to the life of an octogenarian, or it can save decades of life for younger people. In a country like the U.S., with an average life expectancy of 78.5, it takes 10 septuagenarians who get an extra five years from the health-care system to balance a single 30-year-old who gets 50 extra years. Or save the life of a newborn, who then enjoys a normal life span and dies at 78.5, and you have the same impact on national life expectancy as 16 operations on septuagenarians. The average national life expectancy can increase even as the cost goes down.

This is the kind of thinking that starts happening in a society that dramatically devalues life.

If human life has little value, then it is easy to start justifying things that would have once been unthinkable.

For example, one surgeon is now suggesting that we should start harvesting organs from patients before they die....

Dr. Paul Morrissey, an associate professor of surgery at Brown University's Alpert Medical School, wrote in The American Journal of Bioethics that the protocol known as donation after cardiac death -- meaning death as a result of irreversible damage to the cardiovascular system -- has increased the number of organs available for transplant, but has a number of limitations, including the need to wait until the heart stops.

Because of the waiting time, Morrissey said that about one-third of potential donors end up not being able to donate, and many organs turn out to not be viable as a result.

Instead, he argues in favor of procuring kidneys from patients with severe irreversible brain injury whose families consent to kidney removal before their cardiac and respiratory systems stop functioning.

Do you want your organs harvested before you are dead?

Sadly, those that often do need organ transplants the most these days are often denied for "quality of life" issues as well.

For example, at one U.S. hospital a 3-year-old girl named Amelia was denied a kidney transplant that she desperately needed simply because she is considered to be "mentally retarded".

These are the kinds of decisions that are being made by doctors and by health insurance companies all over America every day.

And did you know that life-ending drugs are going to be 100% free under Obamacare?

I did not know this until I read a Christian Post article the other day....

A Christian-based legal defense alliance is warning Americans who already believe that President Barack Obama's health care plan is a bad idea that the 'ObamaCare mandate is worse than you think.'

'Everyone likes a good surprise, but no one likes a bad surprise. So, you're really not going to like the surprises buried in the 2,700 pages of this document,' says the narrator of a short video produced by the Alliance Defense Fund.

Did you know that with ObamaCare you will have to pay for life-saving drugs, but life-ending drugs are free. One hundred percent free. If this plan were really about health care wouldn't it be the other way around?'

Apparently they want to make it as easy to off yourself and your relatives as possible.

So where is all of this headed?

Are we eventually going to become like the Netherlands?

In the Netherlands, mobile euthanasia teams are now going door to door to help elderly patients end their lives in the comfort of their own homes.

Is that what we want? Do we want government agents going door to door to help people die? 

As I have written about previously, the elite believe that the world is massively overpopulated and they believe that all of us are ruining their planet.

So they love euthanasia, abortion and pretty much anything else that will result in more people ending up dead.Hmmmm................"DEATH PANELS"? Read the full story here.

Hmmmm......."l'histoire se répète" Nazi Persecution of the Disabled: Murder of “The Unfit”

Israel calls to recognize Armenian genocide.'Recalling Armenian genocide not attack on Turks'.

Israel calls to recognize Armenian genocide.'Recalling Armenian genocide not attack on Turks'.(JPost).Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Tuesday that Israel had an obligation to remember the murder of more than a million Armenians at the hands of the Turks nearly a hundred years ago, but warned that the issue should not be turned into an attack on the Turkish government of today. Rivlin made the comments at a Knesset discussion on the Armenian genocide. Speaking a day before State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss was scheduled to release a report on Israel’s interception of Turkish ships bound for the Gaza Strip, Rivlin insisted that the discussion of the Armenian genocide was not politically motivated. “Those who drafted the Final Solution for the Jews figured the world would be silent as they were when the Armenians were murdered,” Rivlin said.
“We cannot forgive nations who ignore our disaster and we cannot ignore the disasters of others,” Meretz chairwoman Zehava Gal-On, who initiated the Knesset discussion, accused the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of using the Armenian tragedy to attack Turkey. Gal-On said the government should “finally recognize” the episode as a genocide and restore relations with Turkey by agreeing to apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists at the hands of IDF commandos during the May 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara vessel, which was part of a flotilla attempting to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“The Armenian genocide is not an opportunity for public diplomacy,” Gal-On told the Knesset plenum. “Israel is strong enough to apologize for the killing of Turkish citizens without it harming Israel’s honor or its security. We don’t need to choose between recognizing genocide and relations with Turkey. We can have both.” “The Jewish people who have experienced the worst Holocaust have an obligation to show sensitivity to the disasters of others,” she added. National Union MK Arieh Eldad called on Turkey to recognize its responsibility for its “historical crime,” which he said included children being “put into cellars and gassed.” Eldad quoted Adolf Hitler as having said “Who remembers what happened to the Armenians,” when he was asked what the world would say about his Final Solution against the Jews.Hmmmm......Erdogan going in rage orbit in ...3....2.....1.Read the full story here.

Kuwaiti woman calls for legalizing sex trade and female prisoners of war should be sold on an open market.

Kuwaiti woman calls for legalizing sex trade and female prisoners of war should be sold on an open market.(BM).Dubai: A Kuwaiti woman and former candidate for Parliament Salwa al-Mutairi has argued that men should be allowed to purchase women in order to meet their sexual desires. She argued that it would be a way of ensuring adultery doesn’t happen and said in comments published by British media that female prisoners of war should be sold on an open market. She argued the women would be used by “virile” Kuwaiti men to protect them from being “seduced or tempted into immoral behavior by the beauty of their female servants.” She went as far as saying that female Russian captives should be the ones being sold. “For example, in the Chechnyan war, surely there are female Russian captives. So go and buy those and sell them here in Kuwait,” she continued.
“Better than to have our men engage in forbidden sexual relations,” she argued. But her comments are unlikely to gain any traction, in fact, quite the opposite, as women’s activists and advocates in the Middle East have lashed out against her, saying what she is promoting is “sex slavery” and should be put on trial for her statements. “This is absolutely horrible and degrading to any woman anywhere in the world, and especially here in the Middle East,” blogger and activist Mona el-Jamal told Bikyamasr.com in Dubai. For Jamal, the issue of sex workers is a tenuous discussion in the region, where “men have already helped push this industry into new directions while the governments in the region continue to push women’s rights aside. “This is the societies we live in right now and for a female politician to speak out like this is wrong and disgraceful for all Arab women,” she added.Hmmm.....longing for the 'good old days' are we?Read the full story here.

"Forward" - Global opinion of Obama slips, international policies faulted.

"Forward" - Global opinion of Obama slips, international policies faulted.(BM).Global approval of President Barack Obama’s international policies has declined significantly since he first took office, but overall confidence in him and attitudes toward the U.S. have slipped only modestly as a consequence, finds a new survey of 21 countries by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. The Obama era has coincided with major changes in international perceptions of American power – especially U.S. economic power. The global financial crisis and the steady rise of China have led many to declare China the world’s economic leader, and this trend is especially strong among some of America’s major European allies.
Even though many think American economic clout is in relative decline, publics around the world continue to worry about how the U.S. uses its power – in particular its military power – in international affairs. In nearly all countries surveyed, there is considerable opposition to a major component of the Obama administration’s anti-terrorism policy: drone strikes. In 17 of 20 countries, more than half disapprove of U.S. drone attacks targeting extremist leaders and groups in nations such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Americans are the clear outliers on this issue: 62% approve of the drone campaign.
There remains a widespread perception that the U.S. acts unilaterally and does not consider the interests of other countries. In predominantly Muslim nations, American anti-terrorism efforts are still widely unpopular.
These are among the principal findings from a survey of more than 26,000 people in 21 countries conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project.
The survey, conducted from March 17 to April 20, finds:

President Obama: Europeans and Japanese remain largely confident in Obama – albeit somewhat less so than in 2009 – while Muslim publics remain largely critical. Fewer than three-in-ten express confidence in him in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Jordan. And roughly a year after he ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, just 7% of Pakistanis have a positive view of Obama.

Obama and Bush: Obama consistently receives higher ratings than President Bush did in 2008. This is particularly true in Western Europe and Japan, but it is also true in several predominantly Muslim nations where Obama’s ratings are more positive than his predecessor’s.

Obama’s Policies: Among the EU countries surveyed in both 2009 and 2012, a median of 78% approved of Obama’s policies in 2009, compared with 63% now. Among Muslim nations, the median has slipped from 34% to 15%. The 2009 Pew Global Attitudes survey found that many believed the new American president would act multilaterally, seek international approval before using military force, take a fair approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and make progress on climate change. Few now believe he has actually accomplished these things.

Obama’s Re-election: Despite disappointment with Obama’s policies, there is still considerable support for his re-election in many countries, especially in Europe. Roughly nine-in-ten in France and Germany would like to see him re-elected, as would large majorities in Britain, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Most Brazilians and Japanese agree. But in the Middle East there is little enthusiasm for a second term – majorities in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon oppose Obama’s re-election.

United States: Majorities or pluralities in 12 countries express a favorable opinion of the U.S., while the prevailing view is negative in only five nations. Views are closely divided in three countries. Attitudes toward the U.S. are generally more positive today than in 2008. The biggest improvements in America’s image have occurred among Europeans, but some of the initial surge in pro-American sentiments that followed Obama’s election has waned in Western Europe. In a number of strategically important Muslim nations, America’s image has not improved during the Obama presidency.

Soft Power: Certain aspects of American “soft power” are often well-regarded. The American way of doing business is especially popular in the Arab World. In addition, majorities or pluralities in 18 of 20 countries admire the U.S. for its science and technology, and most of the publics surveyed embrace American music, movies and television. U.S. popular culture and American ideas about democracy are more popular among people under 30. Even as they embrace certain features of American culture, majorities or pluralities in 17 of 20 countries say it is a bad thing that U.S. ideas and customs are spreading to their countries.
China: Views about the economic balance of power have shifted dramatically over time among the 14 countries surveyed each year from 2008 to 2012. In 2008, a median of 45% named the U.S. as the world’s leading economic power, while just 22% said China. Today, only 36% say the U.S., while 42% believe China is in the top position. Majorities in Germany (62%), Britain (58%), France (57%) and Spain (57%) name China as the world’s top economic power.Hmmmm...,.After "Outreach to Muslims" things are worse than before it seems.Read the full story here.

Vatican 'Silent' as PA bid to register Church of Nativity in Bethlehem under country of Palestine at UNESCO

                       Palestinian Terrorists emerging from Church of the Nativity 2002


Vatican 'Silent' as PA bid to register Church of Nativity in Bethlehem under country of Palestine at UNESCO.(JPost).HT: IsraelMatzav.Israel is working to block a bid by the Palestinian Authority to register the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem under the country of Palestine, when the World Heritage Committee meets in Russia from June 24 to July 6.
Earlier this month the committee announced that the church, as well as the nearby pilgrimage route, is among 36 sites which it plans to debate during that meeting. The debate marks the first time that the committee has considered registering a World Heritage site under Palestine.The PA can request such registration because in October the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, recognized Palestine as its 195th member state. The UN has not recognized Palestine as a state. But as a result of the October vote, Palestine has full state rights in all UNESCO bodies, including the right to register sites on the World Heritage List. As soon as its signature with the UNESCO’s Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was ratified in March, the PA asked the World Heritage Committee to register the church and the pilgrimage route in Bethlehem under Palestine. It made it onto the list under an emergency provision for endangered sites.
Earlier this month, UNESCO announced the inclusion of the Church of the Nativity on its list of 36 potential sites. It noted that this was a first for Palestine. It did not mention that its International Council on Monuments and Sites, which evaluates each application, had recommended that for technical reasons the World Heritage Committee reject the PA’s application at this time.“
ICOMOS does not consider that the property can be considered to have been severely damaged or to be under imminent threat,” it said in a report, which can be found on the UNESCO web site. It added that no immediate action could by taken by the World Heritage Committee “that is necessary for the survival of the property.” It advised the PA to resubmit its application under the normal assessment process. “This could provide the opportunity for a full assessment of the needs of the property in terms of protection, conservation and management,” it said. The decision with regard to placing the Church of the Nativity on the World Heritage List will be made by the committee, which is composed of 21 countries. Committee members include Algeria, Cambodia, Colombia, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Qatar, Russian Federation, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. An Israeli official said that the Church was worthy of inclusion on the World Heritage List, but that the PA had politicized the cultural and historical issues at play. But a Palestinian official said that Palestine was already a state and that all UNESCO has now done is recognize that fact. He added that his country had a right to act as all other countries in front of UNESCO by registering important sites that fall within its jurisdiction. The official said that in spite of ICOMOS’s conclusion, his government believed that the church was endangered.Read the full story here, more on this story and how the 'Palestinians' treated the Church of the Nativity here at Carl in Jerusalem.

"Forbidden Fruit" - Egypt Salafist group warns tomatoes are “Christian”.

                                                    Killer Tomato a.k.a. 'knight Templar'


"Forbidden Fruit" - Egypt Salafist group warns tomatoes are “Christian”.(NL).A Salafist group called the Popular Egyptian Islamic Association has come under fire after sending out a warning on Facebook urging its followers not to eat tomatoes because the vegetable (Technically a fruit) is a Christian food. The group posted a photo on its page of a tomato - which appears to reveal the shape of a cross after being cut in half – along with the message: “Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah is three (a reference to the Trinity). [God help us].
 I implore you to spread this photo because there is a sister from Palestine who saw the prophet of Allah [Mohammad] in a vision and he was crying, warning his nation against eating them [tomatoes].
If you don’t spread this [message], know that it is the devil who stopped you.” Yeah... no. Predictably, Facebook users expressed outrage over the post, which prompted the group to clarify its stance on the controversy with the update, “We didn’t say you can’t eat tomatoes. We said don’t cut it in [such a way that reveals] the cross shape.” I see what you did there. Crazy religious nutjobs are still crazy. I wonder if the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate, Mohammad Morsi, is happy about getting an endorsement from this group?Read the full story here.

Video - Ezra Levant on Calgary's upcoming Hate-Fest.

Karzai: "An agreement has been reached with NATO that no bombardment of civilian homes for any reason is allowed".

Karzai: "An agreement has been reached with NATO that no bombardment of civilian homes for any reason is allowed".(Nation).KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday said NATO had agreed not to carry out air strikes on residential areas even in self-defence, apparently contradicting comments made by senior coalition commanders. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ordered an end to air strikes on homes except as a last resort to ensure the defence of troops, Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, deputy commander of US forces, said on Monday. The order came after General John Allen, the head of the coalition force, flew to Logar province, south of Kabul, to apologise over the deaths of civilians, including women and children, in an air raid last week. But at a news conference on Tuesday, the Afghan leader said the agreement did not allow air strikes even in self-defence. "An agreement has been reached with NATO that no bombardment of civilian homes for any reason is allowed," he said. "We consider this an absolutely disproportionate use of force and an illegitimate use of force. "Even when they are under attack they cannot use an airplane to bomb Afghan homes." NATO says the air strike on Wednesday targeted insurgents in a residential home but Afghan officials say 18 civilians died in the attack and Karzai expressed outrage and cut short a visit to Beijing. It was the second time within a month that Allen had to admit civilian deaths in NATO air strikes that have strained relations between Karzai and the US, which leads international forces in the fight against Taliban insurgents. Scaparrotti said Monday the new guidance would not prevent coalition troops from defending themselves. He said that "if they're in a situation where there are no other options, of course they'll have availability of air-delivered munitions".Read the full story here.

France turns away three Saudi women from plane over face veil.

France turns away three Saudi women from plane over face veil.(AA).France has refused entry to three women from Saudi Arabia who declined to take off their face veils (niqab) for immigration officials, forcing them to get a return flight, an airport source said Tuesday. The women arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha at 2:30 pm (1230 GMT) Monday but were denied entry into France after refusing to lift their niqabs to show their faces to police carrying out border controls. “They were issued a fine, according to the law” and returned to Doha that evening, the source said. France has outraged many Muslims with its law against full veils, which came into force in April 2011 and bans covering one’s face in public. Violations are punishable by a fine of up to 150 euros ($190) or citizenship training. The government of former president Nicolas Sarkozy introduced the ban, as the first country in Europe, citing efforts to make France a more tolerant and inclusive society. About 300 women were caught breaking the law in the first year it was in force, according to the interior ministry. Supporters of the ban say the niqab contradicts France’s principles of secularism and women’s rights. Opponents however say it stigmatizes moderate Muslims and interferes with personal freedom. French authorities say the ban aims to stop criminals from being able to disguise their appearance from security staff and surveillance cameras.Hmmm......The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, head of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world.“The niqab is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam,” said Sheikh Tantawi, vowing to ban it in Al-Azhar schools.After the girl complied he insisted she should not wear it any more.“I tell you again that the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and it is only a mere custom. I understand the religion better than you and your parents.” The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar imam vowed to issue a ban against the face-veil in all schools linked to Al-Azhar.“Read the full story here.

Iran Urges Canada to Repatriate Fugitive Banker .

Iran Urges Canada to Repatriate Fugitive Banker.(Fars).Speaking to reporters here in Tehran on Tuesday, Mehman-Parast said that Tehran has taken action through different channels to return the former Iranian Bank Melli chief, who fled from Iran to Canada during an embezzlement scandal, and has summoned Canada's charge d'affaires in Tehran to the same end.
He said that the Iranian foreign ministry is in contact with the Canadian embassy in Tehran, while Iran's embassy in Ottawa has taken some necessary measures to arrange a meeting with Khavari to pave the ground for his return to Iran, but Khavari has refused to come to the session. He pointed to Khavari's dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, and noted, "We do not recognize dual citizenship and the Canadian government is required to repatriate Khavari to Iran." Meantime, Iran's judiciary officials said that Interpol has placed the former Iranian banker on its Red Notice Wanted list and issued the verdict to prosecute Khavari.
Khavari, who has been a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen since 2005, left Iran in September 2011 as prosecutors in Tehran announced they wanted to question him in connection with a $2.6-billion embezzlement scandal. Iran has so far arrested and tied tens of suspects over a $2.6 billion bank corruption which was described as Iran's biggest case of embezzlement ever. The embezzlement case started in 2007 by Amir Mansour Arya Investment Group of companies, headed by Amir Mansour Khosravi, founder of private Arya Bank, and progressed in 2010 after some Iranian major banks, including Bank Saderat and Bank Melli, issued loans for the company. Iranian officials say that the case involved the use of fraudulent documents to obtain credit for this investment company. The company used them to purchase assets such as state-owned companies.Read the full story here.

A Tale of Two American Martyrs.

A Tale of Two American Martyrs.(MEForum).By Raymond Ibrahim.

FrontPageMagazine.com
June 12, 2012.

Apologists for Islamic persecution of Christians regularly argue that the animosity is not driven by religion, but rather a "sectarian" divide, by any number of "indigenous" factors—poverty, intertribal conflicts, political machinations, etc. Other times, persecuted Christians are portrayed as Zionist agents and rapists, spies and traitors—anything other than people killed for their Christian faith.

Joel Shrum (L) and Jeremiah Small: Martyred in the lands of Islam

Consider, however, the following two stories which deal with, not indigenous Christians—that is, not members of the native framework with its complex socio-political factors—but American Christians; not Zionist spies, but teachers who were, nonetheless, killed last March for sharing their faith with Muslims, for behaving like Christians.
First, on March 1, Jeremiah Small, a "beloved teacher and friend" who taught at a Christian school in Iraq, was shot to death by an 18-year-old student, even "as he bent his head to pray at the start of a morning class. The 33-year-old teacher from Washington state took bullets to the head and chest and died at the scene." According to students, "Mr. Jeremiah's hands were still folded in prayer when he fell"; others say a day before the shooting "a heated discussion" broke out "during which the pupil threatened to kill the teacher because of conflicting religious views."
The official story, however, as reported by the mainstream media, such as the Wall Street Journal, is that the source of the quarrel is a "mystery," and religion is unlikely; mention that he was murdered during prayer is also withheld.
Yet there are more indicators that he was likely murdered for sharing his Christian faith. According to this article, which interviews family and friends, Small "was a devout Christian who frequently praised Christianity and prayed in the classroom, and his friends in Washington said his evangelism is what motivated him to teach in Iraq… but he wasn't pushy." A pastor who once interviewed Small says "He knew he was putting his life on the line… He felt this was a way to serve and touch some lives for God." His parents—who wrote on Facebook "Our oldest, Jeremiah was martyred in Kurdistan this a.m."—do not appear to doubt the context of his murder. Finally, it is interesting to note that the Muslim father of the pupil who killed Small condemned Christian evangelists, portraying them as "more dangerous than al-Qaeda."
Speaking of al-Qaeda, on March 18, Joel Shrum, another American teacher, was shot eight times and killed in Yemen by gunmen on a motorcycle. The assassins, who escaped after the attack, are members of the al-Qaeda linked "Supporters of Sharia" (which recently beheaded a "witch"). The group issued a message saying, "This operation comes as a response to the campaign of Christian proselytizing that the West has launched against Muslims," calling Shrum "one of the biggest American proselytizers."
Shrum's employers strongly denied the charge: 29-years-old, Shrum "was an American development worker who had been working in Yemen with his wife and two children since 2010. Unfortunately Joel S. has been accused of being a part of a proselytizing campaign, but the staff of ITDC, which consists of Muslims, Christians and other religions working together, has continually focused on human development, skill transfer and community development," adding that "Joel S. was a very professional employee who highly respected the Islamic religion." (Note the boilerplate kowtowing to Islam, which one would have thought unnecessary—at least in this context.)
However, an interview with Shrum's wife makes clear that he was a devout and open Christian, likely to share his faith: "He lived in the reality that we are all created in the image of God and that nothing can separate us from the love of God…. These truths were an inspiration for everything that he did." Moreover, there is no reason to doubt his Islamic murderers when they say he was killed for "proselytizing." There are many other Americans in Yemen: if al-Qaeda was simply targeting American infidels in general, there would be more random killings.
To conclude, Small and Shrum were not missionaries devoted to proselytizing Muslims—if so, they would have probably been killed earlier—but they were Christians who were not hesitant to share the Gospel with anyone showing interest, including the Muslims of Iraq and Yemen. This was enough to kill them—the one by a student, the other by al-Qaeda.
Finally, it is well to recall that these two Americans had nothing in common with the indigenous Christians of the Muslim world; the arguments used to dispel the persecution of the latter—sectarian strife, political machinations, etc.—do not apply to the former. Instead, the only thing they have in common is Christianity. This reaffirms, yet again, that the animosity that killed the Americans Small and Shrum, is the same animosity that persecutes and sometimes kills the Islamic world's Christian minorities—an animosity based on religious intolerance, nothing more nor less.

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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Turkey not the 'exemption' but the 'Exception' in Obama's sanctions policy.

Turkey not the 'exemption' but the 'Exception' in Obama's sanctions policy.(HD).Turkey has struck a 1 million ton oil supply deal with Libya after reducing imports of Iranian crude under pressure from the United States and the international community, the Turkish energy minister said yesterday. Turkey’s oil refiner Tüpraş agreed to the deal with Libya and has also started negotiations with Saudi Arabia for a long-term contract, Yıldız said. The move comes after the United States said earlier that it would exempt seven emerging economies, including Turkey, from tough new sanctions after they cut oil supplies from Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added India, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan to the list of those exempt from the sanctions.
However, Reuters quoted a U.S. diplomat as saying that Turkey’s position did not stem from an exemption but was an exception. Tüpraş may pay 180 days more to the Iranian central bank over Turkey’s Halkbank, the diplomat said. The U.S. was observing whether Turkey would renew an oil contract with the Islamic republic by the end of August, the agency also quoted him as saying. Turkey has also been working on a project with Venezuela for months, under which the South American country would provide oil products to Turkey in exchange for the construction of housing there.Read the full story here.

U.S. exempts seven countries that consume Iran oil from sanctions.
Obama administration officials didn't say how much the seven countries had cut their oil purchases. In March, U.S. officials signaled that they were seeking reductions of 15% to 22% of purchases.

Several large countries, including India and Turkey, said publicly that they were reluctant to reduce imports of Iranian oil because of their long reliance on the Islamic regime. They appear to have met the minimum level of cooperation that Washington demanded, however.How Much did Turkey actually 'reduce' it's inports??

Answer:
Before May, Turkey was the only buyer in Europe to increase purchases from Iran, while other European refiners cut back on imports of the crude ahead of an impending EU oil embargo due to take effect from July 1.In the first four months of 2012, Turkey imported 210,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil on average, including a huge 270,000 bpd in March, much higher than its 2011 average of 185,000 bpd.

In May Turkey's state-controlled refining company, Tupras, imported around 140,000 barrels per day (bpd), a 20 percent drop from its 2011 average, according to the latest shipping data, obtained by Reuters. Port data showed 152,000 tonnes of Iranian crude was delivered to the port of Aliaga in May, while 443,000 tonnes of Iranian crude was delivered to its second import terminal, Tutunciflik. Tupras is expected to import the same volume in June.
From July 1, Turkey will remain effectively the sole buyer of Iranian crude in Europe. Official trade data showed that in the first four months of this year, Iran accounted for about 58 percent of Turkey's near 6 million tonnes in total crude imports. 
They first INCREASED their imports in order to pretend later on to lower their imports!


THIS REDUCTION IS A PURE SMOKESCREEN APPROVED BY THE OBAMA ADMIN! 

Video: Senator John Cornyn to Holder: 'Resign'.

HT: DailyCaller.