MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Philipines 5.3  and 5.1 in China! More info here.

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

• London riots Live reporting  Here.

• Beijing Downgrades US Treasury to A+ Is Anybody Listening?(BlacklistedNews).Source: 321 Gold - Gary Dorsch. Of the big-3 credit rating agencies, only the S and P rating agency had the courage and fortitude to speak the truth, about the severe deterioration of America’s financial status. S and P shocked the political establishment in Washington, by following through with its threat to downgrade US Treasury debt to AA+ on the evening of August 5th. S and P added that the US Treasury debt could be downgraded further, if the crooked and inept politicians in Washington haven’t taken any meaningful moves to cut the size of its mounting debt. Yet the most important voice in the debate about the credit worthiness of America’s debt, is not the twisted opinions of the US-credit rating agencies, but rather, that of China’s credit rating agency - Dagong Global Credit Rating, which downgraded US-Treasury’s debt from A+ to single-A last week. “The US decision to raise the borrowing ceiling will not change the fact that the growth of its debt has outpaced its overall economic growth and fiscal revenue. “It may further erode the country’s debt paying ability in the coming years,”Dagong Global said. It also issued a negative outlook. “The rise of the US-debt ceiling helped temporarily avoid a debt default but has not improved its solvency and the increasing government debt burden will deteriorate the US sovereign debt crisis.”In a commentary published by the China News Agency on the evening of August 7th, the technocrats in the Politburo dropped the equivalent of a nuclear bombshell that ignited a worldwide meltdown in global stock markets and sent gold soaring above $1,700 /oz. “China, the largest creditor of the world’s sole superpower, has every right to demand the US to address its structural debt problems and insure the safety of China’s dollar assets. If no substantial cuts were made to the US’s gigantic military expenditure and bloated social welfare costs, the latest credit downgrade would prove to be only a prelude to more devastating credit rating cuts, which will further roil the global financial markets all along the way,” it said.That report followed by another editorial published by the China News Agency on August 6th. “Dagong Global degraded the US Treasury bonds late last year, yet its move was met then with a sense of arrogance and cynicism from some Western commentators,” the New China News Agency’s Saturday editorial said. “Now S and P has proved what its Chinese counterpart has done is nothing but telling the global investors the ugly truth.” On August 8th, Beijing shocked the markets again, in a stinging commentary carried by the official Xinhua news agency. “China has every right to demand the US address its structural debt problems and safeguard China’s dollar assets. Washington needs to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone. To cure its addiction to debts, the US has to re-establish the commonsense principle that one should live within one’s means,” Xinhua said. It’s only been five weeks since the Fed finished its $600-billion QE-2 scheme, and already, jittery mutual fund managers on Wall Street are crying for help. However, on August 7th, China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, warned US President Obama that the Fed mustn’t be allowed to launch another round of money printing that could crush the value of the US-dollar. “We also hope the United States can adopt measures to insure the safety of assets in the US held by other countries. The economic trend in the US has a significant impact on the global economy. A stable value of the US-dollar, as a major global reserve currency, is very significant to global economic and financial conditions,” he said. Over 60% of China’s foreign currency stash is believed to be in US-dollar assets. Apart from Treasury bonds, China holds hundreds of billions in mortgage-backed securities issued by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and corporate equities and bonds. The dollar assets held by China are now believed to total $2-trillion. It is estimated that in the first four months of 2011, China’s invested three-quarters of its foreign currency surplus in non-US dollar assets. As a result, China is vulnerable to the demise of the US-dollar, but also the European debt crisis that threatens the existence of the Euro as a unified currency.The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) still hasn’t been able to get the country’s inflationary spiral under control. The consumer price index was reported +6.5% higher in July from a year ago, it’s fastest in three years. Beijing is laying the groundwork for another quarter-point rate hike in the weeks ahead, by guiding China’s 1-year T-bill rate to 3.80%. Another round of QE-3 in the US would force Beijing to print vast quantities of yuan in order to prevent a collapse of the US-dollar, which in turn, could fuel even faster inflation in the Chinese economy. In that case, the PBoC would be forced to hike short-term interest rates much more aggressively, - thus risking the chance of toppling the world’s economic locomotive into a “hard landing.” Already, there are signals that China’s vast factory sector is stalling out, and the Shanghai red-chips have tumbled into bear market territory. Read the full story here.

• Turkey's General Staff sent duty summons to every officer retired from the military in the past five years.(TodaysZaman).In anticipation of what is expected to be a massive influx of Syrian refugees, Turkey has taken extraordinary measures along its borders with Syria, including summoning retired military officers to duty and assigning them to border provinces.Officials on Thursday announced that the number of Syrians taking refuge in Turkey had reached 7,239 , a number reminiscent of the situation during the 1991 Gulf War, when Turkey hosted tens of thousands of refugees from Iraq. In addition to the expected influx, there is concern that NATO forces might intervene in Syria. Experts believe the number of refugees coming to Turkey might soar above all expectations.Also on Thursday, the Syrian army stormed Saraqeb, a Syrian town near Turkey’s border, a mere one a day after Syrian authorities declared the military had pulled out of the region. Hundreds more fled across the border during the attack. Experts say Syrians are currently coming into Turkey through Hatay, but many others might flee across the border through the Turkish towns of Kilis and Mardin in the near future.The international community has been urging the Syrian government to stop the bloody crackdown on activists. On Wednesday, the United States announced new sanctions and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu visited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to repeat Turkey’s condemnation of the attacks on protestors.The General Staff sent duty summons to every officer retired from the military in the past five years. More personnel have been deployed in bases and strategically important outposts. A majority of those summoned to serve were positioned in stations near the border. Security measures at the İskenderun Naval Base were doubled.Turkey is also concerned about a possible NATO intervention in Syria. The government believes that such an intervention would hurt Turkey the most and hopes that the situation is resolved without the need for an international intervention. Turkey also fears that a NATO intervention might spark a backlash in the Muslim world.Veysel Ayhan, an associate professor from the Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University and an expert on the Middle East and Syria, said a NATO intervention in Syria would turn the region into absolute hell. “Turkey is back to its position in the 1990s. It is pursuing a proactive foreign policy. We can confidently say that a wave of refugees much bigger than the one during the Gulf War is in store, as it is unlikely that the situation in Syria will be resolved in the near future. NATO handled the situation in Afghanistan and Libya badly. Western countries can't make any contributions to NATO in similar operations. If this can be solved, it can only be solved through Turkey's efforts. If, in the long run, NATO intervenes, we could be faced with a more dire picture.”Hmmmm.......What will Iran do?Read the full story here.

• Top Hamas engineer tells all.(Ynet).Nabbed engineer Abu Sisi provides Israel with invaluable information about Hamas' operations, newly released documents reveal; terror group's military academy operated in Gaza mosques, he says.Hamas engineer Dirar Abu Sisi, nabbed by Israeli security forces earlier this year, provided interrogators with priceless information on Hamas' modus operandi, the terror group's readiness for a clash with Israel and attempts to improve its rocket range.According to interrogation excerpts, cleared for publication Thursday by the Beersheba District Court following Ynet's appeal, the Hamas engineer described the terror group as an orderly hierarchical organization that aims to learn from its mistakes and adapt to changing regional realities.The engineer told interrogators that following Operation Cast Lead Gaza, top Hamas terrorist Mohammed Deif and the group's military wing commander Ahmed Jabari found Hamas' operations to be lacking and decided to make Abu Sisi in charge of establishing the organization's new military academy. "An analysis of the war with Israel was undertaken. It found that a large number of Hamas activists ran away from their positions. A failure occurred in decision-making coupled with an inability to use arms during the battle – because of fear," he said. "A program of study had to be created, in order to improve the situation." The new academy was tasked with imparting combat methods and tactics to Hamas terrorists, Abu Sisi said. Hamas men were undertaking their studies at mosques, while passing their final exams in known Gaza universities or in mosques."The books and academic materials did not bear the Hamas name or logo," he said. Instructors include university lecturers, education ministry officials, merchants and others.Abu Sisi is believed to be Hamas' rocket expert. He joined the terror group in 2002, despite working for the Palestinian Electric Company, which forbade its employees from joining any group. "I assisted Hamas in developing their missile capabilities, by identifying and handing over mathematical equations that improve the metal pipe's ability to withstand pressure and heat," he said. "I was present when a missile was test-fired at the sea in Khan Younis." The terror group was lacking materials that could improve their rocket range and later smuggled it in from Egypt through tunnels, he said.Abu Sisi's interrogation revealed that he acquired plenty of information on improving rocket range via the Internet, including the YouTube website. "I know nothing about explosives. I only calculated the pressure and heat…I downloaded the formula from the Internet," he said, adding that he also downloaded software pertaining to the rocket's structure.Hamas would send its activists for further instruction overseas, Abu Sisi said. Selected graduates of the academy reached military academies in foreign countries, he said, including Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Iran.During his interrogation, Abu Sisi expressed his regret for joining Hamas."I greatly regret my affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas Movement, my work to develop the missile range, my part in establishing Hamas' military academy, and all the information I handed over to Hamas that can threaten the security of Israel and its citizens," he said."I know the missiles are lethal and take the lives of others, without distinguishing between Arabs and Jews," he said. Hmmmm......."I greatly regret my affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas Movement"Something the Obama administration obviously doesn't regret.Read the full story here.

• Contact lost with hypersonic glider after launch.(Source AP)(BlacklistedNews).An unmanned hypersonic glider developed for U.S. defense research into super-fast global strike capability was launched atop a rocket early Thursday but contact was lost after the experimental craft began flying on its own, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said.There was no immediate information on how much of the mission's goals were achieved.It was the second of two planned flights of a Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2. Contact was also lost during the first mission.The small craft is part of a U.S. military initiative to develop technology to respond to threats at 20 times the speed of sound or greater, reaching any part of the globe in an hour.Read the full story here.

• Union Thugs Attack Communication Lines, Desecrate Funeral Homes.(Rightwingnews).Having the backing of the most aggressively pro-union president since FDR seems to have thrown the thuggery that characterizes these pernicious organizations into overdrive. Striking Verizon workers are now attacking communication lines:  Verizon Communications Inc. reported a dozen cases of sabotaged cable lines and warned of delays in repairs and customer service on the second day of a strike involving about 45,000 employees.The telecommunications company said there have been 12 acts of sabotage to telephone lines and to Internet and television services in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York since the strike began.Fiber-optic lines were intentionally cut in Tewksbury and several other municipalities on the East Coast, the company said.Stolen equipment in Cedar Grove, N.J., affected service to a police department…In the town whose radical left community launched Obama at the country, not even the dead are safe:

On July 10, three Chicago-area Alderwoods funeral homes were viciously vandalized. All were Dignity Memorial network facilities that had also been targeted for a strike by local Teamsters.As always the union denies responsibility, just don’t be slow to meet our demands in the future, wink wink, nudge nudge.It turns out not everyone low enough to desecrate funerals belongs to the Fred Phelps cult:

Making union protestations of innocence hard to believe were nasty fliers bearing a Teamsters banner, pictures of which have popped up all over the Internet, warning ominously: “Any family that makes arrangements with a Chicago-area Dignity Memorial funeral home during this time may encounter a labor dispute at the location.”This is the mentality of the people running the White House under SEIU BFF Barack Hussein Obama, who became so expert at union-style tactics as a community organizer that he served as an instructor for ACORN.Hmmmm......The Nationalsozialistische  Deutsche Arbeiterpartei a.k.a. NAZI had their 'brownshirts'.When or what will be their 'KristallNacht"?Read the full story here.

• The Rise of the Mob Has Begun Here Too.(Rightwingnews).Just because England got a head start on the road through liberalism toward oligarchical collectivism, don’t assume the explosion of mob violence there is still distant in our future. It has already begun here, but goes unreported because of the racial component. From American Thinker:

The wave of racist violence committed by black flash mobs is different from any other form of racism today. The neglected social problem of racial mob violence is unique in its organization, the high numbers of people involved, the intensity of the violence, and the stark racial impact of that violence. The violence is also unique in that it has been purposefully obscured by the mainstream media, with the editor of the Chicago Tribune, among others, saying that his paper will not report on the race of the attackers.The hateful murders of Matthew Shephard, who was gay, and James Byrd, Jr., who was black, were memorialized with national legislation. When similar crimes are committed by blacks against whites, they are greeted with ignominious silence. Just ask your friends how many of them are familiar with the murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome, or David Graham. How many are familiar with Hoang Nguyen, who was killed in a senseless “game” called the knock-out game, in which mostly black attackers attack mostly non-black victims? Now that some news outlets like the Drudge Report have occasionally taken notice of some of this violence, the left is acting out in response. Some on the left — always on the lookout for racism against minorities — are now upset that people are paying attention to black mob violence. The hypocrisy is so extreme that some liberals, like Roy Edroso at The Village Voice, are condemning people who point out the mob violence.A society can’t defend itself from enemies it is too cowardly even to acknowledge.Eventually this phenomenon will reach the point that it cannot be ignored, even by our shamelessly irresponsible and hyperpoliticized liberal media. By then America will resemble a zombie movie.Read and see (Video) the full story here.

• It can't be true. Can it?(DougRoss).Amidst news of the S&P credit rating downgrade, the loss of 30 Americans in Afghanistan, to include nearly two dozen of our elite Navy Seals, and news predicting that world markets were going to react most negatively, reports are coming in that Obama decided to play golf over the weekend.I know this guy's callous, arrogant, narcissistic... but this can't be true.It simply can't be true.There's just no way.Is there?Though Camp David's golf facilities are limited, it's not hard to imagine POTUS teeing off during a tragic week for the families of America's warfighters. Read the full story here.

• ‘U.S. Day of Rage’ Being Orchestrated for ‘Worldwide Democracy’ (think pseudoanarchist, neo-Marxist, globalist).(GulagBound).We thought this would be happening, now didn’t we.A movement is suddenly springing up from nowhere (ah-huh) to take on the free enterprise, “capitalist” system. In America, they are especially targeting Wall Street, a place still somewhat constitutionally sovereign to the U.S.A. and not thoroughly controlled yet by authoritarian global collectivism.That is a Wall Street which has already been damaged by the Cloward-Piven orchestrated mortgage meltdown and stemming from that was assailed by the protorevolutionary Obama-Peloisi-Reid government, which brought boa constrictor regulation — by “reform” with loopholes wide enough to fit Brinks trucks for large and coordinated hedge fund manipulators, and which shielded a Securities and Exchange Commission gone dark from the kinds of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) inquiries that uncovered Bernie Madoff. Cloward-Piven government, indeed.A “U.S. Day of Rage” is scheduled to start an “Occupy Wall Street” camp-out on “17/9/2011″ (which would denote orchestration by those who use the British means of writing dates). And as with the “Arab Spring,” much of the organizing is being done through social media, especially super-popular Facebook and Twitter.Immediately upon clicking links, one finds it to be the America-targeting element of a worldwide movement, especially popular by the looks of it, in Old Europe. Again, that is no surprise to those who have looked into the updated mode of Marxist revolution stemming from the Gramsci and Trotsky schools and historically, even the days before Marx and Engels. Revolutionary proponents likes to hide behind the non-American ideal of democracy (as in permanent rule of the proletariat majority, forget about a republic) along with nebulous and mysterious anarchistic labelling.The term “Day(s) of Rage” is the product of Chicago’s Weathermen, led by Obama workmate Bill Ayers and cohabitants.This Day of Rage speaks of non-violence, yet plays up the violent terrorism of the current rioting proceeding in Great Britain.Hmmmm........The left going for no elections needed?Protect dear leader at all costs?Read the full story here.

• Caught on Tape: Violent Flash Mob of Black Students from Oprah Funded-Obama Praised School Assault Innocent White Bystander.(ironicsurrealism).PHILADELPHIA – Fox 29 has obtained video of an attack on a bystander in Philadelphia’s Old City by teens from a charter school group that received a $1 million donation from Oprah Winfrey.Slideshow: Images From Teen Attack Video. The incident happened on the afternoon of July 29th near 4th and Spruce Streets, and just blocks from the location of the Mastery Charter High School.That was the same day that saw violent attacks near Chestnut Street in Center City that injured two other bystanders. A man is walking down 4th Street near Independence Hall toward Spruce Street as a group of teens starts to walk by. The man is wearing hospital scrubs.As the students walk next to the man, one teen turns around, without warning, and punches the man in the head.Six to eight students then swarm the man as he is pushed into a wall, kicking and punching him.The entire group runs away, and a second camera catches them running away from the attack around a corner at 4th and Walnut Streets.Another bystander runs over to check on the man, who gets back on his feet.Sources tell Fox 29 that man was taken to Jefferson University Hospital with injuries to his head and teeth. [...]Video of the mob assault at link. It is apparent in the video that the attack was premeditated.Philly.com reports that the victim suffered a fractured jaw as a result of the attack, and three of the violent teen thugs have turned themselves in.Hmmmm.......Is there some structure behind these attacks?Read the full story here.

• Palin bus tour to roll into Iowa, Perry also dropping in Iowa.(CNN) (JohnPaulus).- After a more than two-month hiatus, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is planning to crash the presidential party once again with a heartland-themed re-launch of her "One Nation" bus tour this week in Iowa, according to a Palin fundraising email obtained by CNN.Palin is bringing her Constitution-draped bus to the Iowa State Fair, just 30 miles south of where the Republican presidential field will take the stage on Thursday for a presidential debate in Ames.It's not yet clear which day the tour begins, but her surprise arrival in Iowa will happen before the closely watched Ames straw poll. Palin is not on the straw poll ballot.According to a video link included the fundraising solicitation for Palin's political action committee, Sarah PAC, it appears the bus will also take Palin to Missouri and Illinois to visit the respective hometowns of former presidents Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan. "The heartland is perfect territory for more of the One Nation Tour as we put forth efforts to revitalize the fundamental restoration of America by highlighting our nation's heart, history, and founding principles," Palin wrote in the email.Tim Crawford, the treasurer of Sarah PAC, confirmed the authenticity of the email but would not provide more the details about the tour.Texas Governor Rick Perry plans to be in Iowa next Tuesday, when President Obama visits the state, in hopes of establishing a one-to-one contrast between one of the nation’s most successful governors and an incumbent president sliding in the polls.Perry announced this week that he plans to come to Iowa on Sunday, the day after the Ames Republican Straw Poll. Perry’s motive for coming is at least two-fold. One, he obviously wants to include Iowa in his first trip as a semi-official candidate; Perry reportedly plans to “make clear” his intention to run during an appearance in South Carolina on Saturday.What still has not been announced is that Perry intends to stay in Iowa for a while, visiting the State Fair on Monday and then planning an event Tuesday to play off Obama’s visit to Peosta, Iowa as part of the president’s three-day bus tour highlighting economic issues. Obama will host an event that’s being called a “White House Rural Economic Forum” at Northeast Iowa Community College.Perry may have the field much to himself, at least among major Republican candidates. Rep. Michele Bachmann is scheduled to be in South Carolina on Tuesday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won’t be in Iowa, either. And former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has not yet decided which days he’ll be in Iowa next week. If they’re all away, Perry’s headline-grabbing move on Saturday could be matched by his challenge to Obama on Tuesday.Read the full story here and  here.

• Obama Marks 9/11 at Ramadan Dinner.(WSJ).By Laura Meckler. President Barack Obama marked the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by looking ahead to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks next month and reminding Americans that Muslims were both victims and heroes that day.The president made no mention of the men who hijacked four planes that day, or their religious beliefs. But his remarks at an Iftar dinner at the White House were meant to push back against any suggestion that because they were Muslims, other Muslims are tainted by their deadly actions.Muslims, Mr. Obama said, were passengers on those planes and were at the Pentagon and working in the twin towers when they were struck. “They were cooks and waiters, but also analysts and executives,” he said. “They were taken from us much too soon.” Muslims, he said, were among the first responders and, later, among those who volunteered for military service—part of what he called the “9/11 generation.”“Make no mistake, Muslim Americans help to keep us safe,” he said.He said the way to honor the nearly 3,000 people who died nearly 10 years ago is to treat one another with respect and to honor, not just tolerate, differences.“This year and every year, we must ask ourselves: How do we honor these patriots — those who died and those who served? In this season of remembrance, the answer is the same as it was 10 Septembers ago. We must be the America they lived for and the America they died for, the America they sacrificed for,” he said. “Here in the United States, there is no them or us; it’s just us.”This was the third Iftar dinner, which marks the end of the daily Ramadan fast, that Mr. Obama has hosted. He spoke at about 8:40 p.m., just after sunset, and promised to be brief as the observant at the dinner had been fasting since sunrise.The White House Iftar tradition was begun by President Bill Clinton and continued by President George W. Bush. Invited guests Wednesday included two Muslim members of Congress, Reps. Andre Carson (D., Ind.) and Keith Ellison (D., Minn.); a large number of ambassadors from the Muslim world and two professional football players.Huma Abedin, the Muslim aide of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wife of former Representative Anthony Weiner, recently disgraced, was also in attendance.Mr. Obama’s remarks this year were far less controversial that they wound up being a year ago, when he appeared to endorse construction of a community center and mosque on property near Ground Zero in Manhattan. In that speech, he referred to the controversy and said Muslims have the same rights to practice their religion as anyone else.Read the full story here.More here (Video).

• White House Uses Fallen Heroes For Photo-Op – Against Their Families’ Wishes.(BigPeace).The remains of the 30 Americans killed in the recent crash in AFPak returned to the US today, and that return was the occasion for a cynical photo-op that ignored the wishes of both the Pentagon and the fallen warrior’s loved ones.A White House photographer was allowed to take and widely distribute a photo from the ceremony Tuesday, showing President Obama saluting and other officials in attendance. An official White House photo of the saluting was widely distributed and published by the media. It also was posted on the White House website as the “Photo of the Day.”Doug Wilson, head of public affairs at the Pentagon, said the Department of Defense didn’t even know the White House photographer was present and had no idea a photo of the event was being released until it became public. He said the photographers who normally travel with the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not allowed to go to the event…for the very good reason that under a Pentagon policy set in 2009, media coverage at the Dover, Delaware base that is the entry point for all US war dead is allowed only when family members approve. And according to the Pentagon, during initial notification of next of kin, 19 of the 30 families said they did not want media coverage.At the time, The Pentagon was still debating whether to release publicly the names of the Americans who died in the Chinook crash because doing so might endanger families of the SEAL Team 6 troops, because of the Team’s involvement in killing Ossma bin-Laden.The Pentagon’s policies, the wishes of the dead heroes’ families – none of it mattered to President Obama or the White House in the least. Not when there’s an election coming up and a photo-op to be had.I admit, I have to censor myself here, out of respect for the presidency even if the man currently occupying the office deserves little of it.This is a despicable and disgraceful action in an already deeply flawed and immoral presidency. And to say it makes me deeply angry is a massive understatement.Read the full story here.

• Defeating Islamic Terrorism Through Appeasement.(Aina)By DanielGreenfield.The Obama Administration has a new strategy for combating Islamic terrorism. The document that lays out its new strategy avoids using "Terrorism" in its title, instead substituting "Violent Extremism". Jihad is not mentioned anywhere. Even "Muslim" is used as little as possible.Eight pages of mostly redundant text repeat the same idea, that the only way to fight Islamic terrorism is by partnering with and empowering Muslim communities and organizations. That is the "revolutionary" new idea that merited coverage from the New York Times, NPR and CNN. And if the strategy had to be summed up in one word, it would be, "Collaborate!""Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States," sounds almost as catchy as "Man-Caused Disasters", and comes from the same school of thought. The University of Denial, whose motto is that the best way to fight Islamic terrorism, is not to talk about it. And "Not talking about it" is a big part of the new strategy. The document warns repeatedly that associating Islam with terrorism leads to terrorism. WWII had "Loose Lips, Sink Ships", and we have, "Loose Stereotypes Fly Planes into Buildings."Released as an answer to Congressman King's hearings into Islamic radicalization, it completely fails to address the questions raised by those hearings. Instead the strategy compares Islamic terrorism to gangs and pedophiles-- treating it as a persistent social issue, rather than a violent threat. And its only answer is to keep working with Muslim groups to teach their youth not to do drugs, join gangs or blow up bombs.Empowering Local Partners is a transparent defense of CAIR and other Muslim organizations accused of radical activities. But rather than countering the charges raised against them, it pretends those charges have never been made, and urges law enforcement to continue partnering with Muslim groups. A course that leads local and national law enforcement to unwittingly work with the political partners and fundraisers of terrorist organizations.The White House could not have found anyone better to devise its new strategy than Quintan Wiktorowicz. After September 11, Wiktorowicz co-wrote an article for the Saudi funded Middle East Policy Council Journal, which made a point of distinguishing between Al-Qaeda and more mainstream organizations such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.Wiktorowicz also distinguished between violent and non-violent Salafis. The "good" Salafis have PhD's from Saudi universities. The "bad" Salafis are a "small radical fringe" who are mostly self-taught and ignorant. Want to fight Islamic terrorism, then you have to put more Islamic scholars with Saudi PhD's on the job.This is exactly the argument that Wiktorowicz makes, that "very religious Muslims" are "the most resistant to radicalization" while those most likely to be radicalized lack a good grounding in Islam. Fighting Islamic terrorism with Islamism was his approach in the UK and it derives from his fondness for Salafism.In another Middle East Policy Council Journal article, Wiktorowicz warned against "radicalizing the Salafis and creating a legion of new supporters for Bin Laden". This is the fulcrum of appeasement. On the one hand Wiktorowicz and those like him argue that terrorists are a tiny minority of a tiny minority. On the other, if the United States fails to mend its ways, they warn that any number of Muslims can become radicalized and turn into terrorists.Wiktorowicz's defense of Salafism as a primarily non-violent movement and his warnings about alienating them expose him as the apologist for a radical movement whose control over mosques in America has been identified as a key factor in radicalization. Mainstream defenders of Islam try to separate Salafism from what they claim is a more moderate Islam-- but Wiktorowicz even defends Salafis as peaceful.The new strategy could have been written in Saudi Arabia. And for all intents and purposes was."Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States," replaces terrorism with euphemism. With words so generic that they mean nothing at all. And the content is equally generic. Swap out a few words and it could be about any social problem.Even former Hizb-ut-Tahrir member Ed Husain, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, has been critical of the new strategy for not addressing Islamic ideology, and prison and campus radicalization. But that's the essence of the new strategy. Inaction and ignorance.The new strategy is eight pages of inaction. Eight pages of silence. Eight pages of noise. It is not a document that sets out real goals and objectives. Its only objective is to sideline serious critical work and replace it with blank buzzwords. With FBI agents and prosecutors visiting mosques, removing their shoes, pressing the flesh and then going back to doing nothing. Because they have no idea what's out there anymore.Intelligence is the first line of defense against any threat. To know the enemy is the first step toward defending against an attack. But how do you defend against a threat, when you can't even spell its name?The Orwellian blankness of the new strategy is a space of ignorance to mask the truth of terrorism. The enemy is reduced to a social problem, terrorism to violent extremism and the war on terror to programs teaching Muslims about the dangers of violent extremism on the internet. The same dead end European counter-terrorism strategies imported to the United States.The new strategy begins with Obama carefully using the Arabic transcription spelling of Usama and al-Qa'ida, and ends on cautioning that, "Strong religious beliefs should never be confused with violent extremism." Unless you're Christian, of course.Read the full story here.

• As some call for bold strokes, Obama sticks with vacation plans.(LAtimes).When it comes to curbing unemployment, President Obama "will not rest" until everyone looking for a job can find one, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday.A couple of hours later, the White House put out an announcement that the president will soon begin a nine-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard.No one can credibly make the argument that Obama is loafing. He puts in the hours. But the trip is coming at a queasy moment for the economy and the markets. Stocks recorded another huge drop Wednesday, the third straight day of convulsive swings following Standard and Poor's announcement that it was downgrading America's credit rating. Unemployment remains high and the Federal Reserve on Tuesday presented a bleak picture of the overall economy.So is this a good time for Obama to hole up on a tony Massachusetts island, playing golf with friends?"I think he can shorten his vacation and focus on this issue," said Peter Buttenwieser, a major Democratic donor who counts himself as an admirer of Obama. "If there were a real jobs summit and a jobs push, I would feel much better. We're not paying enough attention to jobs.""I'm always for bold action," said Begala, a former campaign advisor to President Clinton. "The whole focus of the country for the last month has been on these terrible negotiations over the debt ceiling. That hurt everybody. He's got to turn the page. The president can't wave a magic wand, but he has the power to set the agenda. Now's the time."Obama has resisted such steps. And he's not willing to give up his Martha's Vineyard trip, which has become an August ritual for the Obama family.If the past is any guide, Obama will spend his time on the Vineyard golfing, cycling, reading books, playing board games with family and going out to dinner with friends. He will once again stay at a 28-acre estate in Chilmark that in past summers has commanded a rental fee of about $50,000 a week.In making the trip, of course, Obama risks looking out of touch with everyday Americans coping with $3.60-a-gallon gas and flat wages. In Washington-speak, that's called an "optics" problem.Hmmmm......12 th of July :“I'm ready to roll up my sleeves over the next several weeks and next several months.” ....Yeah sure.Read the full story here.

• Did Israel just stop 'spectacular' terror attack?(WND).Sources say it would have devastated both Jewish state and Gaza population.TEL AVIV – Israel stopped what would have been a spectacular border terrorist attack planned from inside the Gaza Strip, according to Egyptian security officials.The Egyptian officials said there is information the attack Tuesday was aimed at the sole pipeline that supplies Gaza with gas. The pipeline, located at the Israeli town of Nahal Oz, is manned and provided by Israel.Israeli security officials would not comment on the matter.In a rare incident, on Tuesday all electricity, phone and Internet service was suspending for about 18 hours in the Gaza Strip.The blackout was reportedly caused by Israeli military bulldozers operating near the fuel pipeline in the Israeli town of Nahal Oz, which is close to the Gaza Strip. At about the same time the electricity went out in Gaza, the Egyptian officials said Israel passed a message for Egypt to be on high alert for possible attacks from inside the Gaza Strip.The Egyptian officials said they have information that Israel was actually working to stop a cross border attack aimed at the fuel pipeline. The officials said the downing of communications inside Gaza was central to halting the attack.The Egyptian officials said members of Jihadiya Salafiya, an al-Qaida-allied group in Gaza, are suspecting of attempting the major attack along with elements of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad.Read the full story here.

• Al-Sadr to American: Leave Or We'll Target You.(Memri).Sadrist movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr has warned the U.S. forces of the consequences of staying in Iraq beyond the end of this year. In the fourth warning in as many days, he called on the U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq with all their weapons, in keeping with "the logic of freedom and democracy that you have laid down, the right of self determination, the Bill of Human Rights and the logic of humanity."Speaking in English for the first time, he called on the U.S. forces to leave "our holy land and go back to your families who await you impatiently." He continued: "Go and don't listen to the voice of your devils… Go out so that we do not target your trainers."[He was referring to the negotiations between Iraq and the U.S. to retain military trainers after the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.]Hmmmm.......Obama at Ramadan Iftar:"We are all children of a loving God".Read the full story here.

• Burka-clad suicide bomber kills a boy and four police officers guarding earlier blast site.(DailyMail).A female suicide bomber wearing a burka has blown up police in Pakistan who were attending the scene of another explosion.Five people were killed in the double attack that happened in the north west of the country.The first blast was a remote-controlled bomb exploded which in Peshawar's Lahori Gate area which exploded as a police truck carrying constables about to start their shift drove by. Four police officers and a boy, who was walking nearby, were killed, while 22 people were wounded.An hour later, two women approached police guarding the area.One of the females, estimated to be aged 16 or 17, threw a grenade and was then able to partially detonate her suicide vest.Himayat Ullah, a police officer who was wounded in the attack, said: 'I thought the girl was pregnant as she was walking slowly with another woman. As I tried to push people away, suddenly a blast took place'.The tactics deployed in the attack - deploying a female bomber to return to the scene of an earlier blast to target officers there - are not unprecedented.In June, militants said they had sent a husband and wife suicide squad to a police station in another northwestern town, killing 10 people.Late last year, a female suicide bomber attacked a World Food Program food distribution center in the region, killing 45.Hmmmm.....The holy month of Ramadan, day 11 so far 44 terror attacks and 106 dead.Read the full story here.

• Algeria: A Ramadan of rare violence.(FDesouche). Police first count for the first week of Ramadan Algerian version: 2000 riots in which 100 were injured, four dead and fifty car accidents that killed 19 people.Attempted explanations: cultural violence, poverty, crime and drugs.Fasting, abstinence, causes serious problems. Dehydration and heat cause delusions, lack of coffee and tobacco make nervous, lack of cannabis as well, to much more serious stage, withdrawal of psychotropic drugs to addicts chemicals. Algeria is among the largest consumers of the world (29 tonnes against 40 tonnes of cannabis) that fuel a thriving informal market.This is where the violence comes into play: these are addictive neurotoxic molecules very strong, pain, seizures, severe mental illness.Apart from its high consumption of psychotropic drugs, there is a typically Algerian violence.For historical reasons, or ideological. That's it? No, of course, Algeria has hunger for all, and also money. The soaring food prices during Ramadan. It is during this period that the poor are counted, the number food baskets provided by the Ministry of Solidarity. If in 2010, one million baskets were distributed to families (6 million people), 1 million and a half baskets of basic necessities were provided this year, 9 million poor. This explains it a little, misery ahead with the crime, the statistics of the security services account for more than 50% of the criminals that plague the capital are part of the dormant company. In Algiers, the days are difficult, both by fasting, by the presence of idle young offenders, beset by shortages of all kinds.Read the full story here. (GoogleTranslate).

• More deaths reported as Syrian tanks and troops enter two protest hubs.(Al-Arabiya).Syrian security forces killed at least five civilians Thursday in Qusayr, in the central flashpoint province of Homs, after troops stormed the town to crush anti-regime dissent, an activist said.“The security forces opened fire on residents who tried to flee to the Al Basateen district (of Qusayr), killing at least five people,” said the activist speaking to AFP in Nicosia from the nearby city of Homs, adding that 10 other people were wounded.Earlier, Syria’s army stormed another two towns in pursuit of anti-regime protesters, activists said, in defiance of Western calls for action after a “chilling” UN Security Council briefing.Tanks, troop carriers and buses transporting security force members sped soon after dawn into the town of Saraqeb in the northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.“Shooting was heard soon afterwards in the town, where protests demanding the fall of the regime have been staged every day after the evening (Muslim) prayers,” the statement said.Later the rights advocacy group reported that security forces were “raiding homes and carrying out arrests, rounding up more than 100 people, including 35 children.”“Army troops are smashing the doors of shops owned by activists in search of them, and they have cut off electricity in the town,” a statement said. The operations came a day after security forces reportedly shot dead 18 people in the Baba Amro neighborhood of the city of Homs, according to the latest toll provided by the Syrian Observatory.“The number of those wounded has risen to over 100, some of them in critical condition, and residents from Baba Amro have begun to flee looking for safer places in the city,” a statement said.It said heavy machine gun fire rattled Baba Amro well into Thursday morning.The latest assault comes after UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco on Wednesday briefed the 15-member Security Council about events in Syria in the week since the council called for an “immediate” halt to the violence.Mr. Taranco, who spoke behind closed doors, was quoted as saying there had been no letup in the deaths of protesters while UN officials had met Syrian diplomats to try to get accurate information.Western envoys said the Security Council would have to consider "further action" if events did not improve and pressed for a new report next week.Ignoring the international outrage, President Bashar Al Assad this week pledged a relentless battle against “terrorist groups” Damascus says is fomenting a popular uprising across Syria.Hmmmm......Yeah it sure sounds like Assad stopped 'reforming' oooooh look an unicorn.Read the full story here.More here .

• "Islamophobia" - A Crime Against Humanity.(BrusselsJournal).You may be interested in an article that appears at the Arab website Asharq Alawsat, by Ibrahim Kalin, senior adviser to Turkish premier Recep Tayyib Erdogan. Kalin warns the West about the dangers of "Islamophobia" and proposes that it be designated a crime against humanity. This was bound to happen. The massacre in Norway has been a boon to Arab and pro-Muslim activists. And the Gayssot Law, in France, that criminalizes holocaust denial, racist speech and discriminatory actions, will soon be invoked again in defense of Muslims. Thus, anyone critical of Islam or of immigration could be guilty of a crime against humanity. He uses perfectly logical reasoning. But logic and truth are two different things.Read the full story here.

• Pakistan: Red Mosque imam ready for war to ‘talebanise’ Pakistan.(Speroforum).Mullah Abdul Aziz accuses the government of “corrupting the country” and inviting “the wrath of Allah”. .Islamabad – The imam of Islamabad’s famous Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) has accused the government of “corrupting the country”. He has called on the “soldiers of Islam” to fight “to create an Islamic nation” where “Sharia laws can be enforced”. Mullah Abdul Aziz’s threats are raising concerns in a country where minorities are already victimised and the central government is hostage to fundamentalist fringes. In July 2007, the Lal Masjid was the scene of a gun battle between extremist militants and Pakistani soldiers that caused more than a hundred dead. Meanwhile, the Christian community is preparing for Minorities Day, tomorrow, which was established by the late Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic government minister murdered on 2 March.The Red Mosque leader blames the Pakistani government for not imposing “Islamic laws in the country,” of polluting it “with corruption” and inviting “the wrath of Allah by allowing the Americans to continue the drone attacks” that “kill our Muslim brothers”. “It`s time for us, the soldiers of Islam, to take a stand against this government and reclaim the Islamic Pakistan," he said. For that purpose, “I already have over 5,000 students” and “we will use every means possible to make Pakistan an Islamic state” in which Sharia is enforced.The imam’s latest threats have raised concerns among local political experts and religious minority leaders. The Red Mosque is located in the heart of the federal capital, and remains fertile grounds for extremism. In the meantime, Pakistani Christians are set to celebrate Minorities Day tomorrow. On this occasion, they will call for the upholding the right of religious freedom and will demand equal rights and protest against violence, forced conversions and targeted murders.Nayala J. Dayal, president of the Christian Progressive Movement, said that education and economic development are the best insurance policy for minorities in Pakistani society. However, for her 11 August will be a ‘black day’ rather than a day to celebrate minorities as promoted by the government and will be a time for protests against the ongoing anti-Christian violence.Read the full story here.

• Life magazine unpublished photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Warning contains graphic images.Here.  HT: NuclearHistory.