Pakistan – 150 Sunni Muslim Clerics issue death Fatwa for Christian Asia Bibi. (PCP).

As hearing date of appeal of Asia Bibi against death sentence on blasphemy charges in Supreme Court of Pakistan Lahore Bench is approaching the radical Muslim groups have also lined up for showdown to put pressure on Judges of SCP to uphold death sentence for her issued by District and Session Judge Sheikhupura, a lower court carrying jurisdiction of police station in which FIR was lodged under section 295 C PPP.

Today about 150 top Muslim Clerics (Muftis) issued a religious decree and demanded from Government to hang Asia bibi and all other prisoners of blasphemy laws and also demanded speedy trial of pending cases of blasphemy in Pakistani courts.

The religious decree warned government of Pakistan that if Asia Bibi was sent abroad with any conspiracy then administration will face consequences.
The Markaz Ahl-e-Sunnat Lahore which have issued signed Fatwa of 150 of Muslim Mullahas have warned Supreme Court of Pakistan to hearing appeal of Asia Bibi because Islamic teaching have judgment of hanging or beheading of blasphemers and Asia Bibi deserves death.

They also issued  a Death Fatwa of killing all of those who rescued blasphemy accused and assisted or trying to rescue blasphemers.

This week, the Shuhuada Foundation, a group connected to Islamabad’s infamous Red Mosque where Islamists fought battles with security forces in 2007, warned that its supporters would take to the streets and become “a centre for the anti-government movement” if Bibi was released.

A quarter of the world’s married women were child brides. (Statista).

Over one quarter of women in the world have been child brides. This depressing statistic was announced by Unicef, who surveyed women aged between 20 and 24 in 122 countries, covering 79 percent of the global population of women. The results reveal the drastic scale of child marriage around the globe. 

Such practices were found to be most prevalent in South Asia, where 44 percent of women surveyed had been a child bride – 17 percent were under the age of 15 at the time. 

At the current rate, girlsnotbrides.org estimates that there will be an additional 1.2 billion girls married globally by 2050.

Turkey has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Europe with an estimated 14% of girls married before the age of 18.

However, statistical data available may not be representative of the scale of the issue since most child marriages are unregistered and take place as unofficial religious marriages.

The crisis in Syria and subsequent influx of refugees into Turkey and other neighboring countries has caused a dramatic rise in the number of child marriages.

Child marriage increases dramatically in emergencies due to increased poverty levels and a need to reduce household expenditure as well as parents wanting to protect their daughter’s honour and avoid sexual harassment and violence in an increasingly fragile environment.

A UNHCR survey conducted in 2014 revealed that the average age of marriage for Syrian refugee girls in Turkey was between 13 and 20 years with many respondents saying if they had the money, they would not have resorted to marrying off their daughters at such a young age. Read the full story here.

Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘spiritual leader’ a.k.a. ‘Godfather’ Qaradawi was yesterday in Istanbul to take part in the ‘Thanks Turkey’ festival.

15) #Hamas leader Khaled #Meshaal thanked #Erdogan for his heroic performance at #Davoswhere he snubbed #Israel president Shimon Peres

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) April 23, 2016

13) #Turkey deputy PM Yalçın Akdoğan greeting & conversing with Yusuf Al-Qaradawi & #Hamas leader Khaled #Meshaal pic.twitter.com/K8FMfYncO1

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) April 23, 2016

8) Hamid al-Ahmar of #Yemen praised #Turkey, described the event as recalling years of Caliphate when Ottomans claimed the title

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) April 23, 2016

2) The event, organized under the theme of ‘Thanks #Turkey’, is heavily dominated with religious references & Muslim Brotherhood figures

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) April 23, 2016

19) It will be concluded at #Erdogan’s newly built lavish palace where an olive tree sapling from #Palestine will be planted in the lawn.

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) April 23, 2016

Festival where he proudly again declared ‘Erdogan as leader of the Islamic world’.


In an interview in 2014 with TV Turkia Qaradawi declared that: 

“We came to Turkey to assess the Fourth Assembly of the Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, capital of the Islamic Caliphate!”

Qaradawi added that:

“Turkey is the Caliphate State, and Istanbul is its capital … Turkey unites religion and the world, Arab (Wahhabist Sunnis) and Persian (Shiites), Asia and Africa, and it (the Caliphate) should be based upon this nation (Turkey)”.

Hmmmm…..New York City Conducts Largest Ever Surprise Bioterror Response Drill.(1010WinsNY).

Officials are conducting the largest surprise bioterror drill of its kind in New York City history today. The Rapid Activation for Mass Prophylaxis Exercise (RAMPEx) is testing the city’s ability to respond to the airborne release of anthrax, 1010 WINS’ Al Jones reported.

More than 1,500 employees from 13 city agencies will set up 30 temporary locations where life-saving medication would be dispensed in the event of an emergency.

Most of those people participating in Friday’s drill had no advanced knowledge of the day or time of the exercise.

“When I grabbed the phone it fell out of my hands,” participant Terrance Gardet told WCBS 880’s Paul Murnane. “I was so excited.”

The Department of Health said the surprise drill will better test and simulate a real emergency and response.
“We want New Yorkers to know that in the event of an emergency that we have plans in place, that there’s no need to panic,” said Dr. Oxiris Barbot, First Deputy Commissioner of the Health Department.

The 30 medicine distribution sites would be set up citywide in eights hours, Barbot said.

“There are over 8 million New Yorkers, 55 million tourists and over 5 million commuters that visit this city,” stated Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. “This exercise will provide an opportunity to work closely with our emergency response partners to develop a safety plan that includes dispensing the proper medication in the event of a terrorist attack or public health emergency.”

Hmmmm….Someone please Spell ISIS.

Video – Antisemitic Remarks by Jordanian MPs during Debate of Kerry’s Initiative.

Father of Tsarnayev brothers: “My children framed”.(Kavzav).The Western press reports that Dzhokhar Tsarnayev was born in Kyrgyzstan, his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan in Russia. The family lived in Dagestan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The father of the brothers is now living in the capital of Dagestan.

Media reported that Tamerlan killed by the American police was boxer and was intended to get US citizenship, wanting to get into the US Olympic team.

Foreign Policy reports:

– One of the most interesting insights into Tamerlan’s personality so far comes from a photo album, titled “Will Box For Passport”, that photographer Johannes Hirn took of the slain suspect.

Tamerlan was apparently a boxer who hoped to gain citizenship by being selected for the U.S. Olympic team: “Unless his native Chechnya becomes independent, Tamerlan says he would rather compete for the United States than for Russia”. Hirn wrote.

Other captions paint Tamerlan as a devoted Muslim. “I’m very religious,” he says at one point, noting that he does not smoke or drink alchol. “There are no values anymore” he says, worrying that “people can’t control themselves”. 


At the time the photos were taken, Tamerlan’s life did not seem all bad: Hirn writes that he was competing as a boxer, enrolled in Bunker Hill Community College, and pursuing a career as an engineer, and had a half-Portuguese, half-Italian girlfriend who converted to Islam for him.

At some point, though, it all went wrong. In 2009, Tamerlan was arrested for domestic assault and battery after assaulting his girlfriend. The reasons for his descent into terrorism after that will no doubt be clear soon”, writes American portal Foreign Policy.

Meanwhile, the father of Tsarnayev brothers told Russian news agency Interfax, “They’ve been framed”, wrote Irish journalist of Bloomberg News Jason Corcoran in Moscow and adds: “Also don’t forget the British cops’ hasty killing of the innocent Brazilian Jean-Charles de Menezes (explosion in the London subway 2007 – KC).

Russian Service of BBC News also quotes the father of the brothers: “I know my children. They were crystal clear children. They wouldn’t hurt a fly”, he said. “They were framed”.

A renowned journalist of The Guardian, expert on Russia Luke Harding, writes: “I’m struggling to make sense of developments in Boston. War in North Caucasus between jihadists and security forces. No US dimension“.

In a special section of Twitter “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev” many bloggers write that someone has created a fake account for Dzhokhar on Facebook, where all the quotes and photos are taken.
A black American blogger from Brooklyn, Barakunde, administrator of portals @cultivatedwit, #howtobeblack, former @theonion, agrees with them.

He writes: “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s profile on the Russian version of Facebook: What’s real, what’s fake, and what we don’t know”.

A Moscow correspondent for The Guardian Miriam Adler also began to doubt the statements of the US government: ” How does @Slateknow this is Tsarnaev’s Amazon wishlist? All I see is first name Dzhokhar”.

Numerous bloggers, in particular, Canadian Crystal K. from Toronto, writes: “This Dzhokhar Tsarnaev kid is either gonna kill himself or go with suicide by cop“.
Meanwhile, a Washington specialist on Central Asia Nate Schenkkan elaborates: “Local media in Kyrgyzstan now on it: Tsarnaevs lived in Tokmok, near Bishkek, left Kyrgyzstan over 10 yrs ago”. Hmmmm….My post from yesterday comes to mind: “Muslim Brotherhood ‘God Father’ Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: No Parental Consent Needed to Wage Jihad in Syria.”….who needs parental approval?Read the full story here.

Bill Ayers confirms what Obama has denied. Weatherman domestic terrorist finally spills the beans.By Aaron Klein for WND.

Weatherman domestic terrorist Bill Ayers is now confirming what the White House has previously denied – that he held a fundraiser in his living room for Barack Obama.That 1995 meeting was said to have launched Obama’s political career.

In an October 2008 interview on MSNBC host Chris Matthews’ show, Robert Gibbs, a spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign, categorically denied the fundraiser was ever held.

Matthews asked Gibbs: “Did [Ayers] have a fundraiser for [Obama], or not?”

Gibbs, who would become the White House spokesman, replied: “No, he did not have a fundraiser for our candidate as he said ten seconds ago.”

However, in an interview last week with the Daily Beast, Ayers recalled that fundraiser.

Stated Ayers of his relationship with Obama: “We were friendly, that was true; we served on a couple of boards together, that was true; he held a fundraiser in our living room, that was true; Michelle [Obama] and Bernardine were at the law firm together, that was true. Hyde Park in Chicago is a tiny neighborhood, so when he said I was ‘a guy around the neighborhood,’ that was true.”

Does this explain infamous Ayers living-room meeting?

Is the socialist-oriented New Party the missing link at the center of that now infamous 1995 Obama fundraiser in Ayers living room in Chicago?
It was at that meeting that New Party member Alice Palmer announced she wanted Obama as her successor as state senator since she was stepping down to run for Congress.
WND has found that in the July 1996 edition of the New Party’s newsletter, the New Party news, the controversial party announced “the Illinois New Party capped off a month-long house party drive in Chicago.”
Further review of New Party literature from 1995 and 1996 finds that so-called house parties were regularly utilized by the New Party to introduce candidates to leading party activists as well as to raise money and recruit new members.
It is known that single-payer activist Quentin Young, who advised Obama on healthcare when the politician was a state senator, was present at the parlor meeting at the Ayers’ residence.
WND reported that Young was listed by the New Party as an early party founder and builder.

“I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers’ house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,” Young was quoted as saying. “[Palmer] identified [Obama] as her successor.”

Chicago-based blogger Maria Warren was also present. She wrote that she remembered watching Obama give a “standard, innocuous little talk” in the Ayers’ home.
“They were launching him,” Warren wrote, “introducing him to the Hyde Park community as the best thing since sliced bread.”
It would make sense that the New Party sponsored the get-together in Ayers’ living room for Palmer’s announcement.
Palmer was the New Party’s signed candidate for office. The New Party, which had partnered closely with ACORN, was mobilizing support for Palmer among its constituents and the larger Chicago progressive community.
New Party founder and Marxist activist Carl Davidson recalled screening Palmer and signing her up to the party.
Wrote Davidson:
In the next two elections in the city … the New Party has taken a slightly different approach. It organized a citywide candidates forum and invited a number of progressive candidates. Of those responding, two were of special interest, Alice Palmer and Willie Delgado … Both Palmer and Delgado attended the [New Party] forum and were thoroughly questioned by 70 or so New Party members. At the close, both publicly signed a “contract” with the New Party … Two weeks later, the New Party formally endorsed them and is now mobilizing support.
How was the New Party mobilizing the stated support for Palmer at the time, an effort that Palmer wanted transferred to Obama?
WND reported the New Party had such a close relationship with ACORN that at one point the two shared an office address, fax lines and email addresses.
ACORN led the New Party’s mobilization and voter drive efforts. In progressive circles at the time, the New Party was considered the de facto political wing of ACORN, a group with which Obama long maintained a close relationship.
Ayers and Dohrn, meanwhile, traveled in the same political circles as New Party leaders, making it even more likely the duo could have hosted a New Party house meeting. The duo were key supporters of Palmer.
In 1994 Dohrn and Bill Ayers were listed on a “Membership, Subscription and Mailing List” for the Chicago Committees of Correspondence, which was co-chaired by New Party founder Davidson.
WND found that Chicago activists Joe Iosbaker and Stephanie Weiner were also listed as New Party leaders.
Iosbaker is a University of Illinois-Chicago office worker and a union steward for his SEIU local. His home was raided by the FBI in September 2010 reportedly as part of a terror probe investigating material support for jihadist groups.
Together with other activists raided in the same probe, Iosbaker and Weiner are founders of the so-called Committee to Stop FBI Repression, which protested the FBI raids.
Another founder of the committee whose home was part of the same raid is Hatem Abudayyeh, the executive director of the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN.
WND was first to report that Obama, while serving as a paid director of the far-left nonprofit Chicago Woods Fund, provided two grants to the AAAN. 
Obama served at the Woods Fund alongside Ayers.
AAAN was founded by a longtime Obama associate, Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi’s wife, Mona, is president of the Arab American Action Network.
The New Party, meanwhile, is coming under increased scrutiny after new information emerged further indicating Obama was a member of the party in the 1990s.
The New Party was a 1990s party that sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda.
In 2008, Obama’s campaign denied the president was ever a member amid reports, including from WND, citing the New Party’s own literature listing Obama as a member.
Information uncovered in recent weeks, including Obama’s signed contract with the New Party, further establishes the president’s membership with the controversial organization.

Socialist goals
The New Party, established in 1992, took advantage of what was known as electoral “fusion,” which enabled candidates to run on two tickets simultaneously, attracting voters from both parties. But the New Party disbanded in 1998, one year after fusion was halted by the Supreme Court.
The socialist-oriented goals of the New Party were enumerated on its old website.
Among the New Party’s stated objectives were “full employment, a shorter work week and a guaranteed minimum income for all adults; a universal ‘social wage’ to include such basic benefits as health care, child care, vacation time and lifelong access to education and training; a systematic phase-in of comparable worth; and like programs to ensure gender equity.”
The New Party stated it also sought “the democratization of our banking and financial system – including popular election of those charged with public stewardship of our banking system, worker-owner control over their pension assets [and] community-controlled alternative financial institutions.”
Many of the New Party’s founding members were Democratic Socialists of America leaders and members of Committees of Correspondence, a breakaway of the Communist Party USA.
Last month, WND reported on a 1996 print advertisement in a local Chicago newspaper that shows Obama was the speaker at an event sponsored and presented by the Democratic Socialists of America, the DSA.
WND first reported on the event in 2010.

Gilad Sharon: Israel Should Flatten Gaza Like Hiroshima.(Matzav).Gilad Sharon, the son of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, has called for Israel to ‘flatten’ Gaza as the US flattened the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 with an atomic bomb.
Writing in The Jerusalem Post Sharon, an activist for the opposition Kadima party, said: “The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences.

“We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.“There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they’d really call for a ceasefire.”

Mr Sharon, who is also a major in Israel’s reserve forces, continued: “The images from Gaza might be unpleasant – but victory would be swift, and the lives of our soldiers and civilians spared.
“Either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip. Otherwise there will be no decisive victory. And we’re running out of time – we must achieve victory quickly. This needs to end quickly – with a bang, not a whimper.”
He added: “If the government isn’t prepared to go all the way on this, it will mean reoccupying the entire Gaza Strip. Not a few neighbourhoods in the suburbs, as with Cast Lead, but the entire Strip, like in Defensive Shield, so that rockets can no longer be fired.”
Sharon’s remarks triggered a storm of hostile comments on Twitter with some questioning why the newspaper published the opinion piece.Read the full story here.

Did Vladimir Putin install mobile strategic nuclear Missiles On Cuba in May 2012?(Pravda).The Russian government intends to restore the military-technical support of their ships at the former military base in Cam Ranh (Vietnam), Lourdes (Cuba) and the Seychelles. So far, this is not about plans for a military presence, but rather the restoration of the crew resources. However, a solid contractual basis should be developed for these plans.
The intentions were announced on July 27 by the Russian Navy Commander Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov. “At the international level, the creation of logistics points in Cuba, the Seychelles and Vietnam is being worked out,” Chirkov was quoted by the media. The issue was specifically discussed at the meeting with the leaders of all countries. President of Vietnam Truong Tan Sang has recently held talks with Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow and President Putin in Sochi. Cuban leader Raul Castro met with Putin in Moscow earlier this month. Following the statement by Vice-Admiral, Russian Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry made it clear that they were talking about rest and replenishment of the crews after the campaign in the area and not military bases. It is clear, however, that Russian warships could do both without special arrangements, given the good attitudes of the leaders of these countries toward Russia. It can be assumed that the Russian Admiral unwittingly gave away far-reaching plans of the Russian leadership. That would be great, because from the time of Peter the Great, Russia had a strong fleet and army. In addition, it is worth mentioning Putin’s statement at the G20 meeting in June. After the meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Putin made a sudden harsh statement to the press.
“In 2001 I, as the President of the Russian Federation and the supreme commander, deemed it advantageous to withdraw the radio-electronic center Lourdes from Cuba. In exchange for this, George Bush, the then U.S. president, has assured me that this decision would become the final confirmation that the Cold War was over and both of our states, getting rid of the relics of the Cold War, will start building a new relationship based on cooperation and transparency. In particular, Bush has convinced me that the U.S. missile defense system will never be deployed in Eastern Europe. The Russian Federation has fulfilled all terms of the agreement. And even more.

I shut down not only the Cuban Lourdes but also Kamran in Vietnam. I shut them down because I gave my word of honor. I, like a man, has kept my word. What have the Americans done?

The Americans are not responsible for their own words. It is no secret that in recent years, the U.S. created a buffer zone around Russia, involving in this process not only the countries of Central Europe, but also the Baltic states, Ukraine and the Caucasus. The only response to this could be an asymmetric expansion of the Russian military presence abroad, particularly in Cuba. In Cuba, there are convenient bays for our reconnaissance and warships, a network of the so-called “jump airfields.” With the full consent of the Cuban leadership, on May 11 of this year, our country has not only resumed work in the electronic center of Lourdes, but also placed the latest mobile strategic nuclear missiles “Oak” on the island.

They did not want to do it the amicable way, now let them deal with this,” Putin said.

Hmmmm……..How about this kind of “FLEXABILITY”.Read the full story here.

Afternoon Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Chile 4.8 and 4.5 India ! More info here.

 

• Japan : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to: Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog.Here.

 

• Egypt’s Youths Vow to Raid US Embassy if Palestine Bid at UN Vetoed.(FNA).A group of Egyptian youths in a call via an internet social network called for demonstrations in front of the US Embassy in Cairo to take over the US compound if Washington vetoes the Palestinian bid for UN membership.According to a report by Palestine al-Yawm (Palestine Today) news network, the young Egyptians have posted a request on their Facebook webpage and blasted Barack Obama’s speech after his presidency in Cairo in which the US President pledged a new approach towards Muslims. They said that the threat by the Obama administration to veto the Palestinian bid for UN membership revealed the realities about Obama and the fact they “he is a liar and is no different with his predecessors in supporting Israel and blatant violation of the Arab nations’ rights”.The Egyptian youths said the attack on the US embassy would serve as a strong message in response to the US hegemonic policies. They further warned the US to refrain from vetoing the Palestinian bid, saying that such a move by the US would encourage violence in the world. Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmud Abbas has brought a Palestinian request for UN membership to New York, where top officials of all the member states of the world body have convened to attend an annual General Assembly sessions. The future Palestinian state would include the West Bank and Gaza, with East al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital. The PA says it believes that more than 130 countries would recognize the state of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders. Israel and the US strongly oppose the Palestinian move. Washington, which supports Tel Aviv’s position, claims that a Palestinian state can only be achieved through talks with Israel. Palestinians stress that they have never gained anything through talks with the Zionist regime, mentioning that negotiation with the racist regime is a waste of time and gives the Zionists the chance to push their settlement construction plans ahead and come along with their international and internal problems.Hmmmm…..”The Audacity of the Arab Spring?”Read the full story here.

 

• Obama’s opportunism.(IsraelHayom).By Abraham Ben-Zvi.Ladies and gentlemen, a stunning turnaround has taken place. The U.S. president, who began his term in office with a policy that was confrontational toward Israel, is shifting direction. This is directly linked to the upcoming election season. Still, it is Obama’s elasticity that should worry us.Two decades ago, on Sept. 12, 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush convened a news conference during which he broke one of the most firmly established laws in American politics. In an extraordinary display, he bitterly attacked the pro-Israel lobby in Washington. Bush’s statements condemning the lobby’s narrow-minded and sectorial-driven views, which he claimed came at the expense of the wider national interests of the U.S., brought back memories of previous confrontational remarks made by aides to President Dwight Eisenhower during the rocky days of U.S.-Israel relations in the 1950s.As a result of his verbal assault, the first President Bush’s Jewish support dropped from 35 percent (which helped him win election in 1988) to just 11% four years later, which contributed to his defeat to the Democratic challenger, Bill Clinton.In his adoring and highly effusive speech before the U.N. General Assembly two days ago, U.S. President Barack Obama proved that the lesson of Bush’s defeat is etched deep in his psyche. There is also the possibility that the president, who routinely boasts of the deep knowledge that he has amassed regarding key moments in American history, has resurrected the “reassessment” option of American policy toward Israel, as was done by President Gerald Ford. That episode cast a pall over U.S.-Israel relations in 1975, and the fallout even contributed to Ford’s defeat at the hands of Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter some 18 months later.After a chill lasting more than two years in the White House’s attitude toward Israel, there has certainly been an about-face in Obama’s conduct. This is due to the fact that the U.S. of 2011 is almost entirely ensconced in election season, one in which the Republicans, who hope to unseat Obama, have come out with sweeping statements of support for Israel while at the same time voicing strident criticism of the president’s policy on the peace process.The fact that both houses of Congress have initiated legislation against the Palestinian Authority and U.N. institutions over the attempt to attain unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state; and the fact that these actions have garnered bipartisan support contributed mightily to the dramatic turnaround exhibited by the president in his attitude toward the special relationship.Although a pragmatic course of action that is adjusted according to new political and strategic circumstances often speaks to a willingness to embrace new thought processes and an admirable ability to disengage from the errors of the past, the case before us is starkly one of clear-cut opportunism.Let us consider that just four months ago, an entirely different set of winds was blowing in from Washington. In a span of three days, Obama redefined his concept of “the 1967 borders” after the blunt, confrontational speech that he gave at the State Department on May 19.Still, Obama’s decision to exclude any specific mention of this formula in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly brings him back to the days of the election campaign in 2008, when his strong statements of support for Israel smelled strongly of politicking.From this standpoint, despite the heartwarming gesture and the warm meeting of the leaders in New York, this presidential opportunism should be quite disconcerting to Israel in the long term. Of course, that is contingent on whether Obama will regain the faith of the American public and win another four-year term.Indeed, a president who is so sensitive to pressures from home could just as easily flip-flop in the other direction when the circumstances change and a window of opportunity opens up, allowing him to make diplomatic moves at Israel’s expense.Given that Obama’s fundamental worldview is not an outgrowth of the special relationship and does not dovetail with the American narrative, which posits that Washington’s ties with Israel are based on shared moral, religious, cultural and historic values, it would be a mistake to develop far-reaching expectations of this White House despite the warm, affectionate words uttered by the president at the U.N.Obama is not cut from the same cloth as Lyndon Johnson, the Democrat who completely identified with the Israeli ethos; or George W. Bush, who possessed a deep, unshakeable understanding of Israel’s security needs and dilemmas.In contrast with these two gentlemen, whose basic policy toward Jerusalem was anchored in affection, an acknowledgment of Israel’s strategic utility, and an ideological, social and cultural symmetry that connects the two peoples, Obama’s conduct toward Israel is based solely on cold, calculated analyses of cost-benefit that is devoid of sentiment.As such, just as he began his term in office by applying pressure on Israel in the initial belief that concessions (particularly the freezing of settlement construction) would give him the leverage he needed to build a strategic and diplomatic coalition of Sunni states, Obama could just as easily return to that forceful, aggressive and adversarial path if he feels that the domestic and international circumstances allow him room to maneuver.In summary, there is no place for complacency or euphoria despite the warm words of friendship that have been heard lately from the White House. In addition, the base of support that Israel enjoys among American public opinion and Congress continues to be extensive and rock-solid, so much so that it grants Jerusalem a security net. Still, one cannot come to the conclusion that the administration has changed its attitude entirely. Thus, one should prepare for any scenario from this president, and do so in a sober-minded manner that is devoid of illusions.After all, this is a marriage of convenience from Obama’s standpoint, and not the start of a long-term special relationship.Hmmm………”I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction,” Read the full story here.

 

• You Got To Be Kidding!Obama Administration Set to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns.(WeeklyStandard).Remember how Obama recently waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone layer:

Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government’s latest attempt to protect the Earth’s atmosphere.The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday patients who use the epinephrine inhalers to treat mild asthma will need to switch by Dec. 31 to other types that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, an aerosol substance once found in a variety of spray products.

The action is part of an agreement signed by the U.S. and other nations to stop using substances that deplete the ozone layer, a region in the atmosphere that helps block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun.But the switch to a greener inhaler will cost consumers more. Epinephrine inhalers are available via online retailers for around $20, whereas the alternatives, which contain the drug albuterol, range from $30 to $60.The Atlantic’s Megan McArdle, an asthma sufferer, noted a while back that when consumers are forced to use environmentally friendly products they are almost always worse:

Er, industry also knew how to make low-flow toilets, which is why every toilet in my recently renovated rental house clogs at least once a week. They knew how to make more energy efficient dryers, which is why even on high, I have to run every load through the dryer in said house twice. And they knew how to make inexpensive compact flourescent bulbs, which is why my head hurts from the glare emitting from my bedroom lamp. They also knew how to make asthma inhalers without CFCs, which is why I am hoarding old albuterol inhalers that, unlike the new ones, a) significantly improve my breathing and b) do not make me gag. Etc.Well, tough cookies asthma sufferers! You should have written bigger checks to the Democratic party while you had the chance.Hmmmm…..it’s called “CHANGE”!Read the full story here.

 

• UK Muslims gather for rally against extremism, to promote moderate Islam.(AlArabiya).Thousands of Muslims are gathering at a rally in London Saturday to fight extremism and promote a moderate, inclusive version of Islam.The event’s organizers Minhaj-ul-Quran International say some 12,000 Muslims are expected at Wembley Arena. The event will be broadcast live to dozens of countries around the world.The group’s founder, the Pakistan-born Islamic scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, says killing innocents is forbidden in Islam and Muslims must integrate into the societies in which they’re living.Some Islamic scholars like Tahir-ul-Qadri have warned that a power vacuum in North Africa and the Middle East could lead to militant and extremist groups gaining ground in upcoming elections caused by the so-called Arab Spring.“If these elements come into power, it will be a big disaster,” Tahir-ul-Qadri told The Associated Press.Minhaj-ul-Quran International says it represents a moderate vision of Islam that works for peace and integration. Later Saturday, the rally will feature what it calls a collective peace prayer, led by religious leaders of Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and other major faiths.Britain has been involved in some of the largest international terror plots. On July 7, 2005, four suicide bombers killed 52 people in synchronized attacks on London’s subway system.The men behind the 2006 trans-Atlantic liquid bomb plot began their plan in Britain. A Nigerian man who tried to smuggle explosives onto a plane in his underwear studied in London.Read the full story here.

 

• Erdogan “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.”.(Ynet).Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric towards Israel continued Saturday, this time in an interview given to CNN. Erdogan spoke about severing ties with Israel in the wake on the UN’s Palmer Report – which probed the 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla – and said that “for the time being I can clearly state that the relations between Israel and Turkey have been broken on the basis of an issue… which began when a flotilla bearing humanitarian aid was trying to get to Gaza. “It has passengers from 33 countries and was attacked both from the sea and from the air. At the end of these attacks, nine Turkish citizens died… Still to this day no serious attitude has been adopted against Israel for the lives lost there. We are very upset about this. “It this situation, no matter who we are talking about, democracy, rights, freedom, should be defended,” he continued. “If liberty is in question in should be defended. We gave our warning to Israel – this is reason for war. This is something you cannot do in international waters. But as a great state we have been very forgiving. “That’s why we have been very patient. We demanded that they apologize, pay compensation and eliminate the embargo on Gaza once and for all. If these demands are not met relations between Israel and Turkey will never become normal again. “We have nothing against the people of Israel (only) against the attitude adopted by the administration in Israel. If you are insistent on creating a source of unrest you are bound to become lonelier and lonelier. They used to be great friends of ours. This solitude is Israel’s fate under these circumstances. Israel is going to be alone in the region.”As for the possibility of Turkish escorts for future flotillas to Gaza, Erdogan said: “It might be Gaza it might be Egypt… but after such an incident took place there’s lack of confidence in security, so these flotillas might be dispatched to wherever they are going with the escort of the navy. Because Israel cannot be trusted.”“Israel was on the brink of admitting to withdrawing to the 1967 borders, a few remarks (in the draft) needed to be corrected and we were working on the documents, but not even a week later Gaza was attacked – Israel did that.”Here’s what being said and this is upsetting to hear: (Israel) says that Palestine is bombing Israel and many Israelis have been killed. I would like to see accurate statistics on how many Israelis have been killed by the bombs thrown by Palestinians or by the rockets that were launched by them. Ten? 20? 100? 200? How many? Please document it and let us know! “But on the other hand we know that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Thousands have been killed by the Gaza attack alone. These are very clear numbers. Hmmmm…..I guess Erdogan mixed up Palestine With the Armenian Genocide by the Turks what concerns numbers of the Armenian Genocide: “There is general agreement among western scholars that over 500,000 Armenians died between 1914 and 1918. Estimates vary between 600,000 (per the modern Turkish state) to 1,500,000 (per Western scholars).”Read the full fairytalestory here.

 

• Will Turkey succeed where Iran failed?(AlArabiya).By Huda al Husseini.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is following in the footsteps of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The latter attempted to “hijack” the Arab street prior to the “Arab revolutions,” and when these revolutions broke out he claimed that they were inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. As for Erdogan, he is trying to seize the opportunity and “harvest” the enthusiasm of the Arab street at the height of the Arab Spring, before the onset of the revolutions’ winter, particularly as nobody knows how long the Arab Spring will bloom.The Arab street is bestowing power upon these leaders, who are playing on their dreams and speaking about the region’s prosperous future. However the Arab street is like mercury; it is impossible for any leader to grasp it firmly. The Arab street is fickle, and so it turns its back on leaders as quickly as it [previously] rushed to adore them. What happened to the power or influence that Ahmadinejad believed the Arab street had granted him? He used this to quell the demonstrations staged to protest the allegedly rigged presidential elections that brought about his re-election. As a result of this, he lost the Iranian street, whilst the Arab street turned its back on him.The power that Erdogan obtained from his recent tour [of the Middle East] prompted him to threaten Greek Cyprus, and begin to proceed with exploring oil and natural gas surveys in the waters off northern Cyprus. Erdogan continued issuing threats, but at the same time he told the United Nations [U.N.] and the [Greek] Cypriot leadership that his country is no longer prepared to accept the concessions previously accepted by Ankara with regards to the reunification of Cyprus, in accordance with the U.N.’s 2004 plan. Turkey has said that it will not accept anything less than the recognition of two states in Cyprus. Turkey has also warned the European Union that it will not accept any solutions after [Greek] Cyprus takes over the EU presidency early next year.Erdogan is now seeking to place Turkey as a leading supporter of the Palestinian cause, and he wants the “Arab Spring” to view Ankara as a supporter and role model, stressing the need for firm Turkish – Arab unity. He is also planning to establish strategic cooperation between Turkey and Egypt.The preparation for such cooperation was clear in the size of the delegation that accompanied Erdogan during his tour of the Middle East. The Turkish delegation was made up of 6 ministers, and around 200 Turkish businessmen, which represents a clear signal that Turkey is determined to investing heavily in the region. In 2010, the Turkish trade with the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] amounted to 30 billion dollars, and constituted 27 percent of Turkish exports, whilst more than 250 Turkish companies have invested a figure totaling $1.5 billion in Egypt.We must acknowledge that despite Ahmadinejad’s attempts to win over the Egyptian street by waging a war of words with Mubarak’s regime; he failed to tempt Egyptian public opinion to support Iran. Despite this, Tehran did establish strong relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Egyptian Islamists, and there is an Iranian street named after Khaled Islambouli [the Islamist Egyptian army officer who assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981]. As for Erdogan, the Turkish state model has been extremely popular in Egypt, namely an Islamist party in power (Erdogan’s Justice and Development party), under a secular constitution. Although the army does enjoy a strong presence in Turkey, it has returned to its barracks, and this is not to mention the economic boom being witnessed by the country.Yet the problem with Erdogan is that he is not pursuing fixed foreign policies, and a quick review of his recent policies casts doubts on his commitment to these.Erdogan warned of the consequences of invading Libya, insisting that if there was going to be regime change; this must happen from within, not through foreign intervention. Turkey had billions of dollars invested in Libya, whilst more than 20,000 Turkish laborers were evacuated within days [following the outbreak of protests]. Although Turkey is a member of NATO, it strongly condemned UN resolution 1973 [which formed the legal basis for military intervention in the Libyan civil war]. However after all of this, when the Gaddafi regime was overthrown, Erdogan welcomed the rebels with open arms.Last Sunday, in an interview with CNN, Davutoglu stressed that Turkey’s “zero problems” foreign policy had only failed in Syria, meaning that relations with Iran are good.In his book “Strategic Depth” Davutoglu stressed that Turkey is now a key player in the Middle East, saying that “this is our homeland.” To put this into context, Davutoglu drew up a new equation, namely that neo-Ottomanism plus Turkish nationalism plus Islam equals the New Turkey.This neo-Ottomanism has brought Turkish influence into the Arab world and the Balkans, whilst Turkish nationalist ties extend to Central Asia. As for Turkey’s Islamic links, this extends from Morocco to Indonesia. Therefore, and this is more significant for Davutoglu, he sees the partnership between Turkey and Iran as something equal to that between France and Germany [in Europe]. In light of Davutoglu’s conception of this alliance [with Iran], we can understand the relationship between Turkey and Brazil, and the position that Brazil adopted in the UN Security Council last year against Washington, London and Paris with regards to the Iranian nuclear program.So far, Erdogan has lost two battles, the first when Syria declined to listen to his advice, and the second when Israel declined to offer Turkey an apology [for the deaths of Turkish citizens killed by Israeli forces on the Freedom Flotilla].There are those in Turkey who have begun to warn [against Turkey’s new policies], noting that there are more Azerbaijani expatriates in Turkey than there are Azerbaijani’s at home, as is the case with Turkey’s Armenian Albanian, Bosnian, and Kurdish communities. These all represent potential powder-kegs.Read the full story here.