MFS - The Other News

                       Morning  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 09. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - June 09. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - June 09 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 4.8 ! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 129.Source : Here .

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

• Europe - Latest official Situation Update on E-Coli epidemic 47- On 09.06.2011 at 03:38 GMT+2
  
  German officials have confirmed that traces of the deadly E.coli bacteria have been found on a discarded cucumber in the eastern town of Magdeburg. Health Minister for the State od Saxony Anhalt Norbert Bischoff said, "Last week this dangerous bacteria was found on a cucumber in a waste bin for organic food, which belonged to a family who became ill on May 19. The daughter is still hospitalized, the father did not need to be treated and the mother was in hospital for a short period of time. The daughter was diagnosed as carrying the dangerous 104 strain of the illness." The Health Minister added that it is as yet unknown where the bacteria came from, and could not confirm the origin of the cucumber. German ministers on Wednesday defended their response to the E.coli outbreak that has killed 27 people and signaled possible changes in the way the country will handle health crises in the future. The German government has been criticized at home and abroad for failing to pin down the cause of the outbreak that has stricken more than 2,700 people in 12 countries. So far, all reported cases have been traced back to the area around Hamburg in northern Germany.. Source.

• FOX News: Andrew Breitbart ‘Mortified’ After Opie and Anthony Snag & Post Weiner Shot (Video).(BigGovernment).FOX News reported this afternoon that Andrew Breitbart is “mortified” after talk radio hosts Opie and Anthony snagged a photo of Rep. Weiner’s “junk” and posted it online today. Breitbart told FOX News it was a breach of contract. Breitbart said Opie Hughes secretly took the picture when he was on the show this morning.“It was a complete violation of trust.”Eric Shawn at FOX News reported:

Mr. Breitbart said he’s been holding it back and did not want to make it public.Breitbart broke this scandalous story as you know and he told me that Opie Hughes from the Opie and Anthony radio program secretly snapped a picture of the completely explicit photo while Breitbart was on their show and then Opie posted it on the internet. Breitbart told me he never wanted the photo to be released. That it was released without his permission. He said quote, “I’m mortified. This is the first time that someone surreptitiously grabbed a photo of it. This is a complete breach of our arrangement that the photo would not be made public. It was a complete violation of trust.”Hmmmm.........A "Weiner to far".Read the full story here.

• Obama Wants American Taxpayers to Bail Out Greek Politicians and Dig the Debt Hole even Deeper.(BigGovernment).Here’s some completely depressing news. CNBC is reporting that President Obama is putting American taxpayers on the chopping block to bail out Greece’s corrupt politicians.But, to show he doesn’t discriminate, he also encouraged the German Chancellor to rape her nation’s taxpayers for the same purpose.President Barack Obama on Tuesday…pledged U.S. support to help tackle the country’s debt crisis. …After a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he stressed the importance of German “leadership” on the issue – a hint that he expects Berlin to help – while expressing sympathy for the political difficulties European Union countries face in helping a struggling member state.The story doesn’t have much detail, but it appears that Obama is willing to brutalize American taxpayers directly (which is what he means by “on a bilateral basis”) and indirectly (i.e., the reference to “international and financial institutions like the IMF”).…”we have pledged to cooperate fully in working through these issues, both on a bilateral basis but also through international and financial institutions like the IMF.”What makes this development so unpleasant is that this new bailout (Greece already has been bailed out several times, with both direct and indirect handouts) will make things worse. Another bailout will be a case of throwing good money after bad. And it will exacerbate the economic damage by delaying the economic reforms that are needed to put Greece’s economy in better shape.And to make matters worse, the other insolvent European welfare states will look at what’s happening in Greece and conclude that they also can avoid necessary reforms and wait for handouts from American and German taxpayers.P.S. Some people have asked me why German politicians are so willing to bail out Greek politicians. This picture explains everything. The bailout is really a backdoor giveaway to the big European banks that foolishly lent money to the Greek government.Hmmmmm.......A Ponzi scheme of international proportions.Read the full story here.

• Obama Administration Won't Ban Your Guns...But The U.N. Will.(GraniteGrok).“United Nations: Where America feeds the hands that bite it” - Gregory Nunn.The Second Amendment debate is a never-ending and ongoing debate that has taken the argument all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. District of Columbia v. Heller,1 held that the Second Amendment is an individual's protected right to possess a firearm for lawful purposes in federal enclaves; Purposes such as self-defense within the personal domicile. McDonald v. Chicago,2 was also a landmark Supreme Court decision to determine whether the Second Amendment is applicable to the individual states. Summarily, the Court held an individual's right to "keep and bear arms" is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and does in fact apply to states. It is without dispute that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is fundamentally, culturally, and socially a cornerstone of American life, underscoring the natural right of self-defense which is essential to liberty.

As of 1986, thirty-five states had some form of right to carry through licensure. of those thirty-five states, only eight were "shall-issue" states (meaning a license must be issued if no legal reason existed to prohibit such issuance); nineteen of those states were "may-issue" states (meaning the issuing authority could issue or deny upon his or her own discretion) and only one state (Vermont) was unrestricted (meaning no licensure required to carry a firearm concealed or openly). Fifteen states were "no-issue" states. Meanwhile, Legislatures across the nation acted over the last 25 years. Presently forty-eight states have some form of right to carry through licensure. Wisconsin and Illinois still do not allow citizens the right to carry guns, nor does the District of Columbia.

A whole lot of people, organizations and groups, have spent time, money and energy to advocate for second amendment issues, pass laws and pave the way for the right to keep and bear arms. Despite this, it totally confounds me why some of our citizens, despite their stated support for the second amendment, still turn around and vote for gun-grabbing liberals like Barack Obama?This pusillanimous administration is not going to take our guns. Instead, they will rub elbows with the UN through an Arms Treaty Resolution, that enjoying the support of the Obama Administration. A conference is slated to convene in 2012 to flesh out the details for enacting the measure. The U.S. joins 152 other nations in endorsing the treaty and Secretary of State Clinton has committed to lobbying for ratification in the United States Senate.  The terms of the treaty have not been made public yet. But if this measure is adopted by the U.N. and ratified by the Senate, clearly, it will cede our national sovereignty. Forbes' Larry Bell tells us,"if passed by the U.N. and ratified by our Senate, it will almost certainly force the U.S. to:

Tougher licensing requirements, creating additional bureaucratic red tape for legal firearms ownership.

Confiscation and destruction of “unauthorized” civilian firearms (exempting those owned by our government of course).

Ban the trade, sale and private ownership of all semi-automatic weapons (any that have magazines even though they still operate in the same one trigger pull – one single “bang” manner as revolvers, a simple fact the ant-gun media never seem to grasp).

Create an international gun registry, clearly setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation.

So, for all our toil; For all of our advocacy; For all of our voting, support, lobbying and participation to ensure that we as a state....as a nation have the laws of the land that, we the people choose, these cowards in the Obama Administration will side-step us all and place such restrictions on us that we neither supported, asked for or voted for. So think long and hard about that when you claim to support the right to keep and bear arms and then go to the ballot box and support a gun-grabber.Read the full story here.

• But Caliph Obama said so - Erekat: Negotiations will restart If PM accepts 1967 lines.(JPost).Chief Palestinian negotiator says that Netanyahu must accept Obama's pre-'67 lines with land swaps formulation to be peace partner.According to the report, Erekat, who met Monday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other senior White House officials, said that if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accepted Obama's platform of a return to pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, then he would have a partner for negotiations.He also said that according to what the prime minister said at the US Congress during his Washington visit, "he's not a partner for peace." Netanyahu had rejected Obama's 1967-lines formulation, saying that any borders based on the pre-Six Day War lines would be "indefensible." Speaking from a luncheon meeting with Middle East experts sponsored by the Saban Center of the Brookings Institution, the Palestinian negotiator said that "[If Netanyahu] wants to be a partner, he has to say it: Two states on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps," He added that without such a declaration, talks would not move forward, the Washington Post said. Erekat was in Washington to consult with the acting US Middle East envoy David Hale, who he met with on Monday. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dropped by the Hale- Erekat meeting in an unscheduled visit that has been seen by some as a means of gauging whether the Palestinian and Israeli positions allow any possibility for restarting negotiations.“The point of the meeting was to work on getting both sides back to the table,” one State Department official said.Hmmmmm.....Were they all deaf and blind to what Congress said?Now you know why Biden wasn't applauding and why he was in Rome with Barak at the Pope.Read the full story here.

• When Cops Go Commando, It’s No Laughing Matter.(Cato).I received a response to my recent blog post on the Department of Education serving a warrant and dragging Kenneth Wright of Stockton, California from his home at six in the morning (incident added to the Raidmap, and here’s an updated link to the story). Here is the word from Department of Education Press Secretary Justin Hamilton:

“Yesterday, the Depart of Education’s office of inspector general executed a search warrant at Stockton California residence with the presence of local law enforcement authorities.While it was reported in local media that the search was related to a defaulted student loan, that is incorrect. This is related to a criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s Office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments.Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we can’t comment on the specifics of the case. We can say that the OIG’s office conducts about 30-35 search warrants a year on issues such as bribery, fraud, and embezzlement of federal student aid funds.All further questions on this issue should be directed to the Department of Education’s Inspector General’s Office.”

This does not change my analysis one bit. The Department of Education doesn’t need a squad of “operators” busting down doors in white collar crime cases.Some gunbloggers wondered a while back about a federal website soliciting contracts to provide short-barreled shotguns for the Department of Education. Now we know what they’re intended for, and it’s incompatible with a free society.Hmmmm........."CHANGE"?(H/T Uncle and Tam). Read the full story here.

• Obama Says Cutting Spending Would Dishonor American History.(AFP) WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama Wednesday argued that budget cuts that choke spending on clean energy and education would dishonor US history, previewing a 2012 campaign row with Republicans.Obama defended his plans to invest in the economy of the future after Republican candidates pounced on dismal economic data to argue the president was consumed by European-style anti-market policies that slowed growth.The president admitted that America was still going through tough economic times, but warned that the drive to cut the bulging US budget deficit should not come at the expense of future competitiveness.“I want to make clear, that is not our history, that is not who we are, I don’t accept that future for the United States of America.“I see a United States where this nation is able to out-compete every country on earth, where we continue to be the world’s engine for innovation and discovery.”Hmmmm.....Coming from the man who closed down NASA.Read the full story here.

• Iranian Defector Reza Kahlili - Iran Runs "Large Network" Through U.S. Mosques And Islamic Organizations.(Pipelinenews).

Q. What's the current political situation in Iran, I realize that's a big question. Does Ayatollah Ali Khamenei still call the shots?

A. "Khamenei still calls the shots but it is much more complicated...there are several divisions within the leadership....the cracks are wider than they have ever been since the revolution...Khamenei is trying to undermine the capability of Ahmadinejad...the hard liners want Ahmadinejad out...it has become a very complex situation...there are many divisions within the Guard, there are some sympathizers with the Green Movement...Khamenei lacks...[the]...authority [of Khomeini]...nonetheless all of those running the country right now...are messianic people...this is a messianic regime..[which believes]...that the 12th Imam appears and kills all the infidels and establishes an Islamic caliphate worldwide...and pursues a nuclear bomb...you must differentiate between the Iranian people and the regime. Because the Iranian people are even more Westernized than when the Shah was there...right now they don't respect Islam anymore, they resent it...they now are truly of the opinion that Islam is a vicious religion, intolerant...I believe that when this regime is gone, the religion will be gone for many years to come..."

Q. So the theological precepts of Shia Islam, especially those concerning the 12th or the Hidden Imam, are driving this administration?

A. "Yes, absolutely..."

Q. Are they so devoted to this, to the point of being suicidal?

A. "...I have no doubt about that...these people are truly messianic they are suicidal...they believe with every cell in their body...[that]...the 12th Imam will appear..." .

Q. So under their theology, the destruction of Israel would the final event to make way for the Mahdi [the 12th Imam]?

A. "Yes, absolutely...[adding]...there are several key Hadiths which have to take place, one of them interestingly is the fall of Yemen, the Yemeni government...[therefore] Yemen is of significant importance to them...they are arming Shia rebels, training and arming them...inciting them..." He goes on to explain that in theory, after Yemen falls then the king of Saudi Arabia must die, then Jerusalem must be conquered in order to bring the prophecy of the Mahdi into reality. They take this literally.

Q. How much influence does Iran have in Syria?

A. A lot...Syria cannot fall...Ayatollah Khamenei has had several covert meetings with Hezbollah and Hamas...[the Ayatollah has given the]...order to kill those who oppose the Syrian government...calling them enemies of God...they've had bases ever since the Iranian Revolution...they do training, they harbor terrorist groups...they have a lot of influence..."

Q. Is there a differentiation between the Assad government and a government which might replace him?

A. "It depends what type of new government...right now...the conflict in the Middle East has turned into a proxy war between Iran the regime and the Saudis...the Iranians are inciting Bahrainis, [in] Saudi Arabia itself in Yemen, in Egypt...and the Saudis have gone on to an aggressive position believing that the U.S. is not doing its job and is not being protective of its assets, that the U.S. administration is very weak and somewhat delusional...they [the Saudis] are helping with the uprising in Syria, are protecting Bahrain's government.." Mr. Kahlili continues, stating that a non-Iranian compliant Syria coming to power would be a huge blow to Iran's plans for regional hegemony..

Q. What is the relationship between the IRG and Hamas?

A. The Revolutionary Guard is doing the same thing with Hamas that they did with Hezbollah, they do train their militias, they provide arms, they provide funds, they provide technologies, they provide rockets [and] rocket launchers...without Iran Hamas could not last..."

Q. Did the U.S. miss a huge opportunity by not speaking out more forcefully in support of the street demonstrations against Iran?

A. "I think that they have missed the biggest opportunity to bring this regime down with [the help of] the Iranian people...which would have changed the geo-politics of the region...a report came from Iran's intelligence apparatus about a year ago indicating that had the demonstrations continued for a couple more months the regime would have fallen...but...they are very smart, the leaders of Iran...they did negotiate over the nuclear issue...Obama sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei indicating that the United States does not intend to interfere in the internal matters...[the U.S. and Europe were drawn into negotiations with Iran]...not realizing they were being deceived and the Iranians used this time to suppress, torture, rape, put down the revolution...[and then rejected the results of the negotiations]...shocking the Obama administration...and that has been my message, that these people cannot be trusted..."

Q. What is the relationship between Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad?

A. "It is obviously very close...there are several Iranian facilities in Venezuela...they are being protected by the Venezuelan government...there is a no fly zone over several of them...Hezbollah cells have been sent there from there they infiltrate into Latin America...they've established close ties with the drug cartels and then they get into Mexico...and then into the U.S...there is a secret pact between the Iranian regime and Venezuela for a missile site...20 kilometers off the Columbian border...and it's going to be a direct threat to the U.S. and its national security because those missiles can reach American shores..."

Q. What kind of presence does the IRG and Hezbollah have within the borders of the United States; are there numerous cells; are there no cells?

A. "...I'm going to quote to you Hassan Abbasi...he was the brains behind the strategy to bog the U.S. forces down in Iraq...he says...and he is very open about things...they have recognized about 800 sensitive sites within the U.S....when the time comes and the order comes their cells...will attack many of these sites...so basically they have agents here...they have a large network here through Islamic student associations...they collaborate with the Muslim Brotherhood...they do run a large network through the mosques in the U.S..." Hmmmm......the Muslim Brotherhood the Obama regime supports.Read the full story here.

• Pravda: Is Obama Anti-Black?(BigPeace).Pravda doesn’t come out an call Obama “anti-black,” but they essentially argue in this editorial that he is unconcerned about the plight of American blacks. It’s interesting that while the foreign left-oriented press regularly took on Republican Presidents like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush for being unconcerned about the plight of blacks (“racism!”), this the first that I’ve seen taking Obama to task. And as they point out, American blacks are far worse off under Obama than they were under George W. Bush or Reagan. Excerpts:

“The very high unemployment, overcrowding of prisons for blacks and the cold-blooded murder of Osama Bin Laden showed that Obama further attacks the U.S. black population.Black Americans have suffered much more than other Americans as a whole because of the policies of Barack Obama.

The unemployment rate among white Americans is 8.8%, while the unemployment rate among African Americans is 15.7%. The official unemployment rate for black Americans is almost double the rate for whites.

Worse yet, the official figures of unemployment are significantly distorted because the government does not count the number of chronically unemployed. In some cities like DC and Brooklyn, the rate is 30%-50%. Black unemployment is on the verge of being the highest in 25 years.

Only 44% of blacks own homes, compared to 70% whites. Blacks should be especially angry that President Obama launched an Educational Excellence for Hispanics Advisory Commission. Blacks have suffered from the lowest educational outcomes for decades, where is their commission? Obama thinks he can keep dismissing problems facing blacks and still carry the “black vote,” but Hispanics are the fastest growing minority so he wants to impress them while taking the black vote for granted.Likewise, if you’re a white man between the ages of 20 and 34 years, your chances of being in prison is one in 55, if you’re a black man the same age, his chances are one in nine.

Unemployment among young blacks is 46.2%. Among young whites it is 23.4%.

The situation is not improving. Unemployment among black people was higher in 2009 than in 2008, and was even higher in 2010. Greater even than the period of George Bush.In various media outlets of the black movement, a complete change from the euphoria at the presence of a black man in command of the major world imperialist power can already be seen.Now the questions are clear. How can unemployment among blacks be so much worse than that of the Bush-era? Is there any real policy to fight unemployment among black Americans? Why are blacks the majority in the U.S. prisons? Finally, what is the reason to keep one of the leaders of the black people, Mumia Abu Jamal, on death row?”Hmmmmm......"I will stand with my Muslim Brothers"?Read the full story here.

• "OPEC is ... on the point of break-up."said Marc Ostwald of Monument Securities.(TodaysZaman).OPEC unexpectedly left its production levels unchanged on Wednesday, causing oil prices to jump, as senior officials said their meeting ended in disarray - a stunning admission for an organization that places a premium on consensus decision making.OPEC officials said that because of a policy deadlock, the group will maintain present output ceilings with the option of meeting within the next three months to consider a hike. "We are unable to reach consensus to ... raise our production," OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badri told reporters, in comments reflecting unusual tensions in the 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Analysts covering OPEC for more than 20 years said they could not remember any other time that the normally closed group had admitted to such divisions in its ranks. Some even saw the abortive meeting as a harbinger of demise for the organization, which produces more than a third of the world's petroleum."OPEC is ... on the point of break-up," said Marc Ostwald of Monument Securities. "A broader perspective is that the post World War II world order is fracturing in a spectacular fashion, be it the EU/Eurozone, the World Bank/IMF, (or) OPEC." Other experts were less outspoken but agreed Wednesday's outcome would weaken the image of OPEC as a major regulator of oil markets. "I think there were some tensions," said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics. "But everyone has to do business and countries have different views on what the future of demand looks like." The news caught markets by surprise, sending oil prices sharply higher. Benchmark crude for July delivery was up $1.25 to $100.34 per barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading lower ahead of the OPEC meeting. Saudi Arabia and other influential Gulf nations had pushed to increase production ceilings to calm markets and ease concerns that crude was overpriced for consumer nations struggling with their economies. Those opposed were led by Iran, the second-strongest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. While the Saudis and the Iranians are frequently at loggerheads over pricing, past meetings normally fell in behind Saudi Arabia, which produces the lion's share of OPEC output. But this time, the Saudi-Iranian rivalry combined with major political and economic uncertainties to lead to deadlock. Among the biggest worries is that unrest in Libya and Yemen could destabilize larger oil-producing nations in the region. The two countries normally produce less than 4 percent of the world's oil needs, and Saudi Arabia and others have boosted output to make up for much of the shortfall.But while the Saudis have served notice that they are ready to further increase supplies to help compensate for the loss of the daily 1.6 million barrels normally brought to the market by Libya, other OPEC nations - already pumping close to capacity - cannot contribute much. This appeared to have fueled the strong opposition to an output ceiling hike. Global economic weakness is also worrying producers and consumers. Poor housing and employment reports from the United States added to the gloom spread by Europe's attempts to bail out governments and Japan's post-Fukushima slump. At its present price of around $100 a barrel, benchmark crude may be too expensive for nations struggling to make ends meet, worsening the economic picture and leading to less oil demand. But with sputtering economies using less energy, raising output to lower prices also risks flooding the market, leading to a surplus that could drive prices below $80 a barrel. That benchmark, which is preferred by the Saudis and other moderate OPEC members, is considered too low by price hawks Iran and Venezuela. Tuesday's sober assessment of the U.S. economy from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke added to concerns, especially as the central banker failed to indicate that more monetary stimulus was likely. "Despite all their efforts, the Saudis were not able to convince Iran and other countries to increase production," said Ehsan Ul-Haq, an analyst with KBC Energy Economics. " It means there is a huge disagreement - but it also means that it gives the Saudis free space to do what they like." Going into the meeting, some OPEC nations had signaled that the ministers could opt to raise the output ceiling to actual production levels of around 26 million barrels a day. Add to that the daily 2.7 million barrels produced by Iraq, which is not bound by quotas, and OPEC would have been bringing more than 29 million barrels a day to the market. The 11 OPEC members are already exceeding their current production quotas. Their output is an estimated 26.15 million barrels daily - about 1.3 million barrels above the daily overall OPEC production target of 24.85 million barrels a day agreed two years ago.Hmmmm.....What did i say last year ,when so called experts predicted $80/Barrel for 2011......lets see when Iran is chairman next year!Read the full story here.

• Mavi Marmara armed terrorist pictures released.(IsraelMatzav).On Tuesday, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth released photos of Turkish IHH 'activists' terrorists aboard the Mavi Marmara last May carrying live ammunition. I have noted previously that the IDF had the photos and had decided not to release them.They were put up in a couple of places toward the end of the day before the holiday started on Tuesday (see here and here). What I have done is to screen-capture them from a Channel 10 video report, in the hopes of making them larger and clearer for you. Unfortunately, the Channel 10 report only included two of the three pictures.In part of the video that Channel 10 did not show, 'Israeli Arab' MK Hanin Zoabi walks right past the second armed terrorist.Read and see the full story here.

• Fed Passes China as Top Owner of U.S. Debt.(CNSNews).In the period since the Federal Reserve announced in November that it intended to buy $600 billion in U.S. government debt by the end of this June, the Fed has surpassed mainland China as the top owner of publicly traded U.S. Treasury securities.As of the end of March, according to data released by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury, the Fed owned $1.333 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities and the Chinese owned $1.1449 trillion. U.S. Treasury securities are the bills, notes and bonds sold by the Treasury Department to finance the debt of the U.S. government.The $2.4779 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities owned by the Federal Reserve and the Chinese combined as of the end of March equaled 25.7 percent of the publicly-traded portion of the federal government's debt (which stood at $9.6516 trillion at that point).The full U.S. national debt--which includes both the publicly traded debt and non-publicly traded “intra-governmental” debt that the U.S. Treasury owes to government trust funds such as the Social Security trust funds--stood at $14.270 trillion at the end of March and at $14.3447 trillion as of the close of business this Monday.in August 2010 the Fed started marginally increasing its holdings of U.S. debt, according the Fed’s monthly balance sheets. By the end of August, the Fed owned $784 billion in U.S. debt. By the end of September, it owned $812 billion. And by the end of October, it owned $838 billion.During these three months, the mainland Chinese also increased their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities, bringing them to a peak of $1.1753 trillion by the end of October.But in November 2010, the Chinese began drawing down their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities.That same month, the Fed announced it would significantly increase its own holdings of U.S. debt by buying as many as $600 billion in U.S. Treasury securities by the end of June 2011.Of the $1.413 trillion in Treasury securities the Fed owned at the end of April, according to the Fed’s latest monthly report, $18 billion were in short-term Treasury bills that mature in one year or less, $65 billion were in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities that mature in terms of 5, 10 and 30 years, and $1.33 trillion were in Treasury notes and bonds. Treasury notes mature in terms of 2 to 10 years and bonds mature in 30 years.Hmmmm.......Backed by WHAT?Read the full story here.

• WHD Exclusive: Merkel Starving After State Dinner.(WHD).A famished German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen staggering about Washington’s restaurant-heavy Georgetown neighborhood last night looking for something to eat following a State Dinner thrown in her honor at the White House.The portly Merkel had been treated to a healthy meal by Michelle Obama, who has finally begun serving the type of lean foods at the White House she recently put on kids’ school lunch menus. At the dinner, Merkel was given salad, tuna, carrots, ginger snaps, and petite filet with crab ravioli to eat.“Hungry! Hungry!” the confused and dizzy German leader yelled at passers by as she made her way down M Street, occasionally stumbling to the pavement as she groped to find a suitable place to eat. “The petite filet was the size of a grape!” she kept exclaiming.Concerned onlookers offered her Reeses Bars, Skittles, and other items they happened to have with them, but she brushed them aside.“I want a steak with a serious amount of marble in it,” the Chancellor declared.Witnesses said Merkel was clearly angry with the Obamas.Read the full story here.

• Pass the popcorn - North and South about to collide: Michele Bachmann vs. Sarah Palin.(Politico).Rep. Michele Bachmann’s prospective 2012 campaign appears increasingly set on a collision course with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.The coming confrontation is being driven by a belief in Bachmann’s camp that the same grassroots, conservative primary voters and caucus-goers may have to choose between the two women—and that they will choose Bachmann if she presents herself as a more seasoned, reliable, and serious conservative than her high-profile rival. The apparent effort to draw distinctions broke into the open Tuesday when her new top strategist, Ed Rollins, dismissed Palin as “not serious” in a radio interview.He suggested in an interview with POLITICO that Bachmann would profit from the contrast.Bachmann will “be so much more substantive,” Rollins said. “People are going to say, ‘I gotta make a choice and go with the intelligent woman who’s every bit as attractive.’"“I’m not afraid of Palin,” he said, adding the strategy would have been the same for Mike Huckabee. Bachmann has been laying the groundwork for this argument for months, stepping away from some of the more dramatic rhetoric that brought her to prominence in the heady, early days of the Tea Party movement, and making a case more focused on the nuts and bolts of policy and on the unabashed social conservatism that has served many candidates well in they key early state of Iowa. She has been tightening her focus as Palin offers herself as an increasingly high-profile, if unfocused, cultural celebrity with an East Coast bus tour last week and a laudatory new movie set for release. Aides to Palin didn’t respond to inquiries about Rollins’ comments, but a writer on the blog that serves as her supporters’ main voice, Conservatives4Palin, demanded that the Minnesota congresswoman “either affirm her support for the long-time beltway fossil’s idiotic comments…or refudiate them.”While Bachmann may find some advantages in a contrast with Palin, it’s an approach that could easily backfire. Palin remains broadly popular with the conservative voters who will decide the Republican nomination, and her endorsement will be avidly sought if she doesn’t run.“I think it is ill advised,” said Republican strategist Curt Anderson, who wondered if Rollins’ repeated jabs were more improvisation than strategy. “Why would you attack a barracuda?”But Rollins isn’t the only Bachmann ally spoiling for a fight with Palin. A second top Bachmann ally — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — said Bachmann is well-positioned to take on Palin in the Iowa caucuses.“The view in Iowa is that she’s unstable,” said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “When she resigned her position as governor that whole event seemed odd, and people in Iowa saw that.”“Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” he said. “She got the vice presidential thing handed to her, she didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance, she gave up her governorship.” “Michele Bachmann and others [have] worked hard,” he said. “She has been a leader of the Tea Party which is a very important element here, she has been an attorney, she has done important things with family values.”Hmmmm....."Divide et impera."Read the full story here.

• Related - Michele Bachmann's First Big Mistake - Hiring Ed Rollins.(LegalInsurrection).Not surprisingly, Bachmann has come under the same types of snide attack as Sarah Palin from the mainstream media, entertainment industry and left-blogosphere. There is a special place reserved for conservative women in the Democratic toolkit of mockery and derision.But Bachmann just made a big mistake. I'll repeat what I wrote when Mike Huckabee was considering whether to run again with Ed Rollins as his campaign manager:

Run, don't walk, away from Ed Rollins and the others who think that demeaning Sarah Palin is the best way to advance your campaign.

Sure enough, Rollins having just been hired by Bachmann, is at it again .Rollins has long been skeptical of Palin, but his new role with Bachmann suggests that criticism will become part of her campaign, though she has publicly praised the former Alaska governor. Hiring Rollins was a mistake. In order to have a chance, you will have to unite the non-establishment wing of the party behind you, and you lose a big chunk of that base when your campaign spokesman trashes Palin.Additionally, the Democrats and their supporters are going to Palinize you, and already have started. Having your campaign spokesman engage in the same sort of rhetoric against Palin simply legitimizes the tactic, and will hurt your campaign.Please take advice from someone who likes you. Dump Rollins overboard now, before it's too late.

Update: Ed Rollins is on the Chris Matthews show as this update is being written, and is going out of his way to belittle Palin, including saying that Palin ""doesn't matter if she doesn't run." Rollins also jumped on the Paul Revere controversy. According to Rollins, Palin "has the movie star quality but it doesn't go very far."Hiring Rollins is an enormous mistake for Bachmann. It could be campaign killing. The people who hate Palin are the same people who hate Bachmann, and no amount of trashing of Palin by Rollins will change that. Bachmann needs to focus on building, not tearing down.Hmmmm......As one commentator said "She's been an attorney?All respect to the bloghost, but that's not a quality I look for in a politician. Rather the opposite, really".Read the full story here.

• Related - Who Will Leave First, Anthony Weiner or Ed Rollins?Read the full story here. Video - Syrians decry 'torture' of teenage protester.(Al-Jazeera). Video emerges appearing to show body of Syrian boy killed in government crackdown, as UN mulls vote condemning violence. Video footage has emerged showing the body of a Syrian boy reportedly tortured to death after his arrest in April following a government crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the country.The video, provided to Al Jazeera by sources inside Syria, shows the mutilated body of 15-year-old Thamer al-Sahri, who was arrested for participating in an anti-government demonstration.Hundreds of residents of the Syrian town of Jeeza filled the streets to mourn his death on Wednesday, the day his body was released from the mortuary and returned to his parents, six weeks after he went missing.The amateur video shows al-Sahri's body riddled with bullets, missing an eye, several teeth, and according to Al Jazeera's source, returned to his family with a broken neck and leg.Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify the footage due to restrictions on journalists in the country.Al-Sahri was arrested along with his friend, 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb - the teenager whose brutal death caused much of the world to pay closer attention to the events in Syria. Al-Khateeb's body was also mutilated.The Syrian government has denied using torture against protesters, but the latest video could lead to renewed demonstrations in the country against alleged excesses by the Syrian security forces.The footage emerged as the UK and France pushed for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the violence in Syria.The UN Security Council debated a draft resolution on Wednesday condemning Syria's actions.The European resolution demanding Syria end its violent crackdown against pro-democracy protesters could be put to a vote in the coming days at the United Nations despite the threat of a Russian veto, the British UN envoy said.However, the proposal falls short of calling for military action or further UN sanctions against the Syrian government.The draft was submitted by France and Britain during a council meeting at which the 15-nation body was briefed by a senior UN official on the unrest in Syria."We would like a vote as soon as possible, before the end of the week," Mark Lyall Grant, the British representative to the UN, said. Russia and China, which both hold vetoes, have made clear they dislike the idea of council involvement, which they say could help to destabilise a strategic Middle Eastern country. Moscow has long been an ally and arms supplier of Syria. Russia, citing NATO's inconclusive bombing of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, said it would veto intervention against Syria in the Security Council. Read and see the full story here.

• 'The day after Iran's first nuclear test is a normal day'.(Guardian).A bizarre article on a Revolutionary Guard website breaks a taboo by anticipating the impact of an Iranian bomb.Any mention of an Iranian nuclear weapon is taboo in the Islamic Republic, which insists that its nuclear programme is entirely for peaceful, civil purposes. So it is remarkable, to say the least, that an article has appeared on the Gerdab website, run by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, anticipating the day after Iran's first test of a nuclear warhead. Here is a translation of the text:

The day after Iran's first nuclear test is a normal day.

The day after Islamic Republic of Iran's first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle.It's a good day. It's seven in the morning. The sun is not fully up yet but everywhere is bright. In the northern hemisphere many countries are beginning the day...The day before, probably in central deserts of Iran, where once Americans and some other Western countries wanted to bury their nuclear waste, an underground nuclear explosion has taken place. The strength of the explosion was not so great as to cause severe damage to the region nor so weak that Iranian scientists face any problems in running their tests.Today is a normal day like any other.This strange, hypothetical, article, which first appeared on April 24, hammers home again and again the message that an Iranian nuclear test will not lead to disaster. On the contrary, life will go as before except that Iranians will feel better about themselves. This has the look of a kite being flown, but for whom? It could be intended to get Iranians used to the idea of a nuclear test, and less fearful of international reaction. It could be a gesture of defiance to the world by hardline elements - according to independent experts, Gerdab is run by the Revolutionary Guards' cyber defence command, which is presumably still smarting from the Stuxnet attack. Opposition websites describe it as an enforcement tool for the regime, identifying and threatening independent bloggers inside Iran. The article comes during a period when Tehran's official stance is particularly defiant and assertive, announcing today that it will triple its production of 20% enriched uranium and shift it to the underground Fordow site, near Qom.Hmmmmm.....As i said last week, who is to say that Iran has not tested underground an nuclear bomb ,masking it as 'another earthquake' in the region?Read the full story here.