"Saudi Oil Production to be Lowered?" - Workers in Saudi Arabia will not be working from noon to 3 PM until after August.

"Saudi Oil Production to be Lowered?" - Workers in Saudi Arabia will not be working from noon to 3 PM until after August.(BM).Cairo: In a move aimed at helping workers avoid the midday heat in Saudi Arabia, a government law was to be enforced beginning Sunday barring work to be done outside during the hottest part of the day. From July 1 through August 31, workers will be getting relief from being outside in the sun from noon until 3 PM, the Saudi Arabian Labor Ministry established last year and went into force again this year. However local daily Arab News reported that human right groups have complained that the ban is not being enforced everywhere. “We have had many cases and complaints about companies forcing their employees to work in the sun during the banned hours,” said Mufleh al-Qahtani, president of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) to Arab News. The complaints have prompted NSHR to file a petition with the Ministry of Labor and as a result the ministry has vowed to crack down on firms that do not enforce the ban this summer. “This, year we will send out inspection teams to construction sites to enforce the ban and protect the kingdom’s outdoor workers,” said ministry spokesman Hattab al-Anizi. In May 2012, fellow Gulf state Oman decided to also enforce a midday work ban as the temperatures soar in June, July and August. The United Arab Emirates has been enforcing the ban for several years and companies this year face a fine of 15,000 dirhams ($4,084) if they violate the rule.Hmmmm....."There's more than one way to 'skin a cat'.Read the full story here.

Update:
Flashback April 2012 - Saudi Arabia Builds Up Crude Inventories: Goldman. Saudi Arabia appears to have been building crude oil inventories in lower domestic demand months in a scramble to offset the risks of “limited” effective spare production capacity, Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday.The reason the increased production was not pooled into exports, Goldman Sachs analysts argue, is grounded in an anticipation of “a substantial increase” in demand that cannot be covered by “simply raising production levels”.

The logic behind the build-up in stocks, which amount to 390,000 barrels per day (bpd) in that period, is not the possibility of shortages resulting from escalating tensions with Iran. Rather, it is primarily in preparation for the strains of peak domestic demand that the summer heat brings to the Kingdom.Read the full story here.

Turkish Colonel says headscarf a ‘symbol of terrorism’ in new voice recording

Turkish Colonel says headscarf a ‘symbol of terrorism’ in new voice recording.(TZ).Col. Ali Çakmakkaya, a judge, describes the headscarf as a “symbol of terrorism” in a voice recording, in which he also uses profanity while referring to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife, Emine Erdoğan. The voice recording was released on Twitter on Tuesday, although the date of the recording remains unknown. A caption provided with the recording says Çakmakkaya made the statements in an official military setting. Criticizing Erdoğan for not wearing a tie during his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Çakmakkaya says Erdoğan had put an end to state culture in Turkey. He talks about the wives of Erdoğan and Assad: “You look at the wife of the other [Assad]; she is pretty modern and [looks] European.” He adds that Erdoğan’s wife is not like this, using expletives in his description of Emine Erdoğan. Çakmakkaya also compares Emine Erdoğan with the wife of Qatar’s Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. “Even the wife of Qatar [Emir] looks neater than his [Erdoğan’s]. Her head is covered but not with a headscarf. These [headscarves] are entirely militant symbols,” he says, adding, “This is not about faith. This is a symbol of terrorism.” The colonel also claims that Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül live in palaces. “Did you know the prime minister has three palaces now? Dolmabahçe, Çırağan and another one,” he states. He further claims that President Gül has been given two palaces, one in Yıldız and another in Tarabya, both İstanbul neighborhoods. “Europe says that. I read it in a newspaper. They [Erdoğan and Gül] are chasing the former Ottomans. They are not for the people at all. Who owned these palaces? The people. We used to visit them as museums. Now these men use them,” he says, going on to say that if people tried to enter the palaces, police officers would stop them. “They are taking over all the palaces.”Read the full story here.

Overnight Music Video - "Rosie" ( African American Work Song)

 HT: InfidelBloggers.

Song information

"Rosie" is a worksong that was used to regulate the axe-blows of laborers when felling large trees. Again we hear the call and response format with the lead singer presenting the main line of verse, and the rest of the group completing each line with a refrain like phrase. Sometimes as many as ten men circle the tree and chop, five pulling their axes out just before the other five strike with theirs. The work is dangerous and singing helps coordinate the timing. Singing also helps the workers to feel like a team and to pace their work. Another result of singing worksongs is that the singers gain some control over their work; they create a new frame for their forced labor.More here. 


From an album called "Negro Prison Songs", the acapella was apparently recorded in 1947 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.The inmates are singing the song while chopping wood. A very moving performance. This song, "Rosie" is a about a woman who would sit right outside the prison boundaries who the men would never get to talk to or touch but would tempt them none the less. This version features instrumental accompaniment by Charlie Sanburg and shows the influence this music had on creating the sound of American music.

Issa: Executive Privilege Reserved For Presidential Decision-Making.

Issa: Executive Privilege Reserved For Presidential Decision-Making.(BLN).By Susanne Posel.Darrell Issa, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman, wrote a letter to President Barack Obama wherein he directly challenged Obama’s use of executive privilege, essentially hiding certain documents concerning the Fast and Furious operation.
There was a formal request that Obama provide “legal justification for the privilege claim and a list of specific documents covered by it.”

Issa explained that according to case law, “executive privilege is reserved for direct presidential decision-making.” 

By intimation, Obama is admitting to have overseen the operation by his use of executive privilege.

While Obama has asserted in public forum that he and Holder were not involved in F&F, he is essentially lying by omission.
Issa reminds Obama that either his “most senior advisers were involved in managing Operation Fast & Furious … and the fallout” or he is hiding behind “a presidential power that you know to be unjustified solely for the purpose of further obstructing a congressional investigation.”
Holder, trying to bargain with the House Oversight Committee, offered documents in exchange for the contempt charge dropped. Holder spoke to Obama in private, wherein he told Obama to use executive privilege because the documents requested by the HOC would have “significant damaging consequences”.
Last week, Holder advised Obama to use his executive privilege card concerning the internal documents of the F&F.
Issa mentioned Board Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s death and pointed out that the gun that killed Terry had been shipped into Mexico for the drug cartels by US agents.
The Terry family has been requesting for over a year and a half for the US government to hold those responsible within the government to “justice and accountability”. They recognize that it is very “disappointing that [the Terry family] are now faced with an administration that seems more concerned with protecting themselves rather than revealing the truth behind Operation Fast and Furious.”
Holder had admitted this fact in a letter written in February of 2011. Seeing Holder retracted that statement several months later, Issa cites that “lying to Congress is a crime”. All documents pertaining to that denial will be subpoenaed by the HOC; specifically correspondence between Obama’s administration and Holder between June of 2012, until the claim of executive privilege.Hmmmm.......GunWalker."These boots keep on walking, one of these days they'll walk all over you".Read the full story here.

Iran pledges to counter 'malicious' oil embargo.

Iran pledges to counter 'malicious' oil embargo.(JPost).DUBAI - Iran dismissed a European Union oil embargo which took effect on Sunday and said it was fully prepared to counter the impact of sanctions with a $150 billion war chest of foreign reserves. The EU ban on crude imports is part of a push by Western countries aimed at choking Iran's export earnings to try to force it to curb a nuclear program they fear includes weapons development. Tehran says it has no such plan."All possible options have been planned in government to counter sanctions and we are fully prepared to deal with them," Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in comments on the ministry's website. Qasemi said Iranian oil was still being sold on international markets and that oil importers would be the big losers if a blockade leads to price rises. The United States also has sanctions in place, although it has spared all 20 of Iran's major oil buyers from measures against them for dealing in Iranian crude for now. There are signs the embargo is already having an impact on Iran's economy. Its crude oil exports - which according to EU estimates represent some 80 percent of the government's export revenues and half of its income - have fallen by 40 percent this year. Iran used to export a fifth of its crude to EU countries. The governor of Iran's central bank said it had built up $150 billion in foreign reserves to protect itself. "We are implementing programs to counter sanctions and we will confront these malicious policies," Mehr news agency quoted Mahmoud Bahmani as saying.Hmmmm......Sanctions That BENEFIT "although it has spared all 20 of Iran's major oil buyers from measures against them for dealing in Iranian crude."Read the full story here.

"извините" - Russian finger may have pushed the button to down Turkish jet: Report.

"извините" - Russian finger may have pushed the button to down Turkish jet: Report.(HD).Diplomatic sources have claimed that Russian authorities may be behind the decision to down the Turkish jet that was shot down by Syrian forces on June 22, according to the British daily Sunday Times. 
Middle Eastern sources said it would not be surprising to discover Russia's involvement in the incident, claiming it might have been a direct message to NATO.
Russia may be aiming to underline that Syria was a case unlike Libya, and there would be a price to pay for any attempts to impose a no-fly zone, the unnamed sources further said."Some Russian experts are still in Syria," a diplomat told the Sunday Times.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently told reporters during a press meeting in Geneva that Russia had objective data on the downed Turkish jet and was willing to share it with Turkey.Hmmmm.....This would be one way to 'defuse' the situation.Read the full story here.

Russia placing its armed forces on the Caucasus map.

Russia placing its armed forces on the Caucasus map.(SF).A peace initiative on Syria of the UN and the League of the Arab States special representative Kofi Annan brought no results. Neither government forces nor the armed opposition agreed to it. The confrontation between them was renewed on even a larger scale and was followed by increase in death numbers. Along with civilians soldiers, officers and generals and their families are fleeing Syria. Turkey only has received more than 33 thousand Syrian citizens.The situation was exacerbated by destruction of a Turkish fighter by the missile defence of Syria. Turkey is a NATO member and Ankara along with Washington demanded adequate measures against Damascus. Syrian President Bashar Assad said his country is in a state of war. Against this backdrop, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed information voiced previously by the US that Russian cargo ship Alaid carried air defence systems and military helicopters to Syria, for Bashar al-Assad forces. This means that Russia will again veto new international efforts against the Syrian regime.
In this conditions, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper published an article by Vladimir Mukhin under the heading “Caucasus-2012 – combat readiness being boosted!”, which can be perceived as yet another threat to countries that demand to stop the bloodshed in Syria as well as the Assad government’s resignation. Having said that planned command-staff exercises of the Russian Army under the code name “Caucasus 2012″ are beginning at military bases in the south of Russia and Armenia, the author of the article notes that though military exercises are considered planned, they are directly related to aggravation of economic, geopolitical and military problems in the Caspian region, Iran and Syria, as well as the Karabakh conflict.
After Stavropol exercises will start in those parts of the Russian army, which are deployed in the occupied regions of Georgia – “South Ossetia” and Abkhazia – as well as in the 102nd Russian military base in the Armenian city of Gyumri. In Armenia, the main attention will be paid to development of coordinated action of the Russian and Armenian armies in order to achieve a common goal. According to the Armenian Defence Minister Seiran Oganian, during manoeuvres the troops will be brought into high combat readiness. Culmination of collective rapid reaction forces will take place in September. Due to the fact that Azerbaijan and Georgia treat the transfer of large units of Russian paratroopers to Armenia with great suspicion, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued information about the exercise in April – the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper notes.
According to the newspaper, naval manoeuvres that unfolded on the Caspian Sea in recent days seem rather large-scale too. According to the commander of the Caspian Flotilla Rear Admiral Sergei Alekminsky, 15 surface ships were involved in tactical exercises. Their crews should improve solving of some problems of defence against underwater threats and sabotage of a group of ships. Also attention is paid to issues of protection of oil and gas pipelines, blocking drug transfer routes from Afghanistan and so on. The Rear Admiral Alekminsky does not rule out that in the view of the existing situation the Russian Navy will have to solve larger problems through involvement of special purpose units, artillery, missiles and precision-guided weapons. In the coming months the Caspian Flotilla will increase with new ships with modern equipment, which will include Buyan class corvettes Volgodonsk and Dagestan. The latter is equipped with missile system that uses several types of high-precision missiles against targets at ranges up to 300 km. Recently, several trains with tanks and other types of modern military equipment were demonstratively brought into Makhachkala.
Generally speaking, there was not a single combat plane in Armenia in Soviet times. The main airfields were located in Georgia and Azerbaijan, while Armenia only had helicopters, but the situation is different today. Six MiG-23 jets arrived in Armenia in the 1990s and they were subsequently replaced with these 18 MIG-29s in order to protect Armenia's nuclear power plant. These MiG-29s are the first [units] that are likely to become involved in these combat operations. Incidentally, it was reported this week that the Russian pilots from this base have performed 200 combat [training] sorties since the beginning of this year. The figure of 200 sorties is not a small one.
They are practicing flying at night and in adverse weather conditions, which means that they are preparing for aerial combat. A couple of weeks ago the same newspaper published an article by Sergei Konovalov “Syrian direction of the Russian troops” which, it is obvious, like the article by Mukhin, was written on instructions of the chief military body of Russia. It demonstrates that threats and demonstration of military power became part of the policy of the Russian government. And that the civilized world cannot accept.Read the full story here.More here :  Will Russia Fight Its Way To Gyumri Military Base Through Georgia?

Video - Obummer! Set to the tune of Donna by Richie Valens.

HT: IsraelMatzav.

"PIGS FLY MOMENT" - Muslim Brotherhood Seeks Registration as a registered charitable and non-profit civil society association.

"PIGS FLY MOMENT" - Muslim Brotherhood Seeks Registration as a registered charitable and non-profit civil society association.(IW).Muslim Brotherhood leaders have confirmed that the group is making serious efforts seeking to legalize their status, in compliance with the new NGO law Egyptian People’s Assembly (the lower house of parliament) aims to issue as soon as it convenes, affirming that the Brotherhood will be the first to seek to adjust its legal status as an NGO, just as it promptly legalized its political activities through its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). Saad Al-Husseini, Muslim Brotherhood leader, said that the Brotherhood is seriously seeking to adjust its legal status, pointing to ongoing extensive consultations with many NGOs on the new law on civil society associations, which will be issued immediately after the People’s Assembly is reinstated. On the issue of the future relationship between the group and the FJP, once the group has adjusted its position, Al-Husseini explained that the FJP will be completely independent in all its political activities. For his part, Mukhtar Al-Ashri, Chairman of the FJP’s Legal Committee, asserted the group’s keenness to work within the law and under the control of the Central Auditing Agency, accusing the former regime of obstructing the legalization of the group. Ashri pointed out that the parliamentary elections proved that the group's legitimacy is confirmed by street and people power, saying that immediately after the NGO law is issued, the group will be the first to reconcile their status as an NGO. He accused those who seek to ban unlicensed groups and organizations of seeking to revive gagging policies by which the former regime thrived. Ashri further explained that when the government decision to disband the group was issued, back in 1948, it was promptly canceled by the judiciary, and the ruling’s arguments stressed that the group had acquired a legal status that cannot be taken away except by the judiciary, and that the group is in fact an inclusive Islamic organization which cannot be subject to the narrow definition of the law of civil society associations. He added that while the government claimed it disbanded the group in 1954, it failed to provide the text of the resolution disbanding the group for 30 years, which confirms the continued legal status of the Brotherhood, and that it does not need to re-legalize its status.Hmmmm..........."Did i just wake up in another Dimension?"I thought their motto was :"God is our objective; the Quran is our law, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations." Sounds real "CHARITABLE".Read the full story here.

More than 10,000 diamonds go on show at London’s Buckingham Palace to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 60 year reign.

More than 10,000 diamonds go on show at London’s Buckingham Palace to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 60 year reign.(AA).More than 10,000 diamonds go on show at London’s Buckingham Palace this week to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 60th year on the throne, in a dazzling display of gems gathered over the centuries as objects of beauty and symbols of power. The exhibition, which runs from June 30 to July 8 and then from July 31 to October 7, was designed to coincide with the queen’s diamond jubilee this year, and features jewels she wears regularly at official functions in Britain and abroad. “The aim of the exhibition is to show how rulers have used diamonds as visible signs of wealth and power,” said curator Caroline de Guitaut, who described the crowns, tiaras, rings, earrings, swords and snuff box on display as “priceless.” De Guitaut said the 86-year-old monarch was consulted on what would be used for the exhibition, housed in a darkened room inside Buckingham Palace and accessed via gilded, colonnaded corridors lined with royal portraits going back generations. “We have tried to showcase some of the most important diamonds in royal possession.” The first item on show in a brightly lit glass case is Queen Victoria’s small diamond crown which, despite its size, features more than 1,100 diamonds. After her husband Prince Albert’s death in 1861, the only other British monarch to have marked a diamond jubilee wore only mourning clothes, meaning that colorless stones such as clear diamonds were an ideal adornment. Victoria was regularly pictured wearing it, including in her official diamond jubilee portrait. Perhaps the most impressive display, however, is that containing seven of the nine major stones cut from the Cullinan Diamond, the largest ever found. The gemstone was discovered in South Africa in 1905 and was so large that a clerk working at the mine initially threw it away, assuming it was a worthless crystal. Eventually, though, the stone weighing 3,106 carats in its rough state was presented to King Edward VII who decided to have it cut and polished. It produced nine principal stones and 96 small brilliant diamonds. The two main gems, the largest colorless and flawless cut diamonds in the world, were set in the Sovereign’s Scepter and Imperial State Crown. Like many of the important diamonds in the exhibition, Cullinan III and IV were used in a variety of settings over time but today form a brooch worn by Queen Elizabeth at a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral earlier this month. Cullinan V is in a brooch, Cullinan VII hangs as a pendant from an emerald necklace, Cullinan VI and VIII are also in a brooch and Cullinan IX, the smallest of the nine main stones at 4.4 carats, is set into a platinum ring. Underlining how diamonds were used as gifts of diplomacy as well as objects of desire, Queen Victoria’s fringe brooch includes stones presented to her by the Sultan of Turkey as a token of thanks for Britain’s support in the Crimean War. Victoria appears not to have appreciated the sultan’s tastes, and had the jewels reset. The Jaipur Sword and Scabbard were presented to King Edward VII for his coronation in 1902 by the Maharajah of Jaipur, and have been set with 719 diamonds weighing 2,000 carats in total. More recently, Queen Elizabeth was gifted the Williamson Diamond in 1947 by Canadian geologist and royalist John Thorburn Williamson, and it is considered the finest pink diamond ever discovered. From its original uncut 54.5 carats it was cut into a 23.6-carat round brilliant stone and now sits in the centre of a flower-shaped brooch by Cartier. While De Guitaut said she could not even guess the value of the diamonds on display, a pink diamond of similar size without royal provenance, fetched $46 million at an auction in Switzerland in 2010.Read the full story here.

Iranian oil minister Rostam Qasemi calls for emergency OPEC meeting.

Iranian oil minister Rostam Qasemi calls for emergency OPEC meeting.(TI).The Iranian oil minister on Saturday called for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to hold an emergency meeting to cut output as oil prices have dipped to a "critical level" under $100 a barrel, MNA reported. "We have asked the secretary general to set up an emergency meeting as prices have become irrational," Rostam Qasemi was quoted as saying by the Shana News Agency. Qasemi stressed that the last OPEC meeting, on June 14, had decided the organization's overall quota would be 30 million barrels but "members' production has reached 33 million barrels a day." OPEC had agreed that "when the prices go below $100 a barrel, they have reached a critical level," and therefore an emergency meeting was needed before the next scheduled OPEC meeting in December, Qasemi said.Hmmmm.......No decrease in Production......closure of the Strait of Hormuz?Read the full story here.

"WEIRD OR WHAT"? - Baltic Sea UFO – Ocean X Team Shows Amazing 3D Sonar Picture reveals perfectly straight lines and angles.

"WEIRD OR WHAT"? - Baltic Sea UFO – Ocean X Team Shows Amazing 3D Sonar Picture reveals perfectly straight lines and angles.(TTBTS).This is turning into one of the most amazing and perplexing discoveries in history. The OceanX team have discovered right angles, walls with absolutely smooth surfaces and cavities-like corridors inside the object as well as something resembling a staircase – "WEIRD OR WHAT"?.
The 3D Sonar in the picture above reveals perfectly straight lines and angles embedded into the round structure. “When we went out and saw the walls which were straight and smooth, it was frightening, as in a science-fiction film”, Dennis Åsberg (Ocean Explorer Co-Founder) said.
From the different reports and interviews given we have amassed the following details of the anomaly.

1. Completely circular plate-like exterior.  
2. 180 metres in circumference. 
3. Object is 200ft accross mushroom shaped comprising a thick pillar rising 8 metres out of the seabed with a 4 metre thick dome on top (like a mushroom shape) – rising a total of 12 metres (approx 40 feet) high above the surrounding seabed. 
4. Cavities-like corridors inside the object. 
5. Straight and smooth walls in certain areas with many right angles. 
6. There are visible formations on top of the object, which are set at a 90 degree angle and look like passageways or walls, as well as something that looks like it could be a staircase.
7. Stone circles, like “fireplaces”, of hard black “almost petrified” burnt looking stone each a few inches in diameter, like 4 or 5 pearls in a necklace in various arrangements on top of the dome. 
8. Spherical object nicknamed “The Meringue” (picture) is 4 metres wide and sits on top of the object.  
9. Twenty-five centimetre hole on top of the object, it’s not known yet where it leads or what if anything is inside.  
10. Long runway or “skid marks” leading to object point north. The latest revelations of right angles, walls with absolutely smooth surfaces and cavities-like corridors inside the object are if possible, far stranger than any UFO could ever hope to be. In fact a UFO find would now seem positively mundane. Now it seems that as more and more information is revealed, the mystery surrounding the object grows. The good news for everyone who is intrigued by this story is that a THIRD expedition by the team will set off in approximately two weeks – the OceanX team will be hoping to rule out some of the possible explanations and collect even more data to shed light on this ever evolving mystery.Read and see the full story here.

     Artist Hauke Vagt’s revised and updated image of what the anomaly looks like in it’s entirety.