MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan 5.3 and Solomon Islands 5.4 ! More info here.

• Updated - Enviroment Pollution in The North sea - Official situation update Nr 8 : Source.
  

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

• BOLTON: Why Tea Party should resist gutting defense.(WashingtonTimes).Automatic cuts would undermine constitutionally mandated mission.Two recent, seemingly unrelated events weigh heavily on the question of whether America will remain able to protect its national security or languish in failed policies and a federal debt crisis that has led to our credit rating being downgraded.First was the downing by Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team 6, inflicting the greatest loss of life ever suffered by that elite military unit.Second was the appointment of a bipartisan congressional “supercommittee” charged with finding $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. If the committee fails to do so, a “trigger” in the debt deal will force mandatory across-the-board cuts, half to come from defense.This would mean cutting $500 billion to $600 billion from the Pentagon’s budget over the next decade. Those cuts would take place without respect to risk assessments or security needs, in spite of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya; an increasingly menacing Iran intent on possessing nuclear weapons, as North Korea already does; an “Arab Spring” that may lead to a destabilized Middle East; and an ongoing global war on terrorism.Many Tea Party supporters opposed the debt deal because they thought the spending cuts were largely illusory, postponed well into the deal’s later years. But now, with the deal in place, Tea Party activists and their allies must make clear that it undermines national defense, one of the few powers our Founders saw as truly critical for the federal government.The Tea Party has had a major impact on Washington, shifting the terms of the national debate from how much to spend to how much to cut. This is a significant achievement. American liberty is only as strong as our ability to defend it, and a hollowed-out military is a disservice to both the cause of freedom and the Framers’ vision of the Constitution.The Constitution clearly lays out the federal government’s responsibility to “provide for the common defense.” Of the 18 paragraphs in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, enumerating the powers the Congress, six - fully one-third - explicitly bear on national defense. Article II states expressly, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States [when in federal service].”In Federalist No. 41, James Madison explained, “Security against foreign danger is one of the primitive objects of civil society. It is an avowed and essential object of the American Union.” To treat national defense as just another wasteful government program is not only unwise policy, it runs counter to the Framers’ basic constitutional priorities.Madison explained further in Federalist No. 45 that the national government’s muscular exercise of its responsibility for national security made it less likely to infringe on the liberties of the people or the states. “The more adequate, indeed, the federal powers may be rendered to the national defense,” he argued, “the less frequent will be those scenes of danger which might favor their ascendancy over the governments of the particular States.”It makes no sense to put our military on the chopping block when any objective analysis shows the real culprit is entitlement spending. The Heritage Foundation predicts that between 2010 and 2015, total defense spending will fall from 4.9 percent to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product. Meanwhile, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid surpassed defense spending in 1976 and have grown unchecked since. These three programs alone risk completely crowding out the government’s primary constitutional obligation: defending our country.George Washington said, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” He was right, and his wisdom should inspire Tea Party members and other conservatives to oppose gutting our military.Hmmmm......President Bolton now that has a ring!Read the full story here.

• DOJ Will Not Investigate Attack of Civil Rights Activist.(BigPeace).If you needed any more evidence of the level of corruption that exists inside the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) when it comes to enforcing civil rights statutes, here it is.On March 15, 2011, civil rights activist Ted Hayes testified, by invitation, before the Judiciary Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates, against providing taxpayer dollars for in-state tuition benefits for illegal aliens. Shortly after his testimony, Mr. Hayes was subjected to vicious retribution by a radical Hispanic group known as “The Timmytop,” which posted a hate video on a YouTube channel that included racist smears and death threats.The video begins with the message “[expletive] you ‘Mayate,’” which is reportedly a racist and derogatory term used to smear African-Americans and “dark skinned” people. The video then streams a series of racist images including: The silhouette of a man hanging from a noose; photos of Mr. Hayes adjacent to photos of monkeys and bananas; and doctored photos of Mr. Hayes pictured with a gun next to his head. The video, which runs two minutes and nine seconds, concludes with the message “Your [sic] FREE Now Mayate go back to Africa.”The video has since been removed from its original placement on YouTube, but it is available on Judicial Watch’s website here. (If you choose to watch it, please be warned that it is extremely offensive and unfit for young eyes.)You might think that this type of vile behavior would earn the interest of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. (That’s what we thought, too.) After all, this is the division at the DOJ that is responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of civil rights, including, and perhaps especially, those that could have a chilling effect on the First Amendment. In this case, you have the intimidation of a witness through death threats and humiliation.Judicial Watch filed a complaint with the DOJ regarding the matter on April 28, 2011, calling for a full investigation. And recently we received a response directly from the office of Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez (of Black Panther scandal fame). It was short and sweet:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation into the matter referenced in your letter. We and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California reviewed the results of that investigation and concluded that this incident does not constitute a prosecutable violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes. Accordingly we cannot authorize a criminal prosecution of this matter.

That’s it. No further explanation. No review of the evidence “reviewed” by the DOJ. Not even a concession that the treatment of Mr. Hayes was reprehensible and wrong. Just a flat out rejection and a lame reference to the DOJ’s general commitment to “combating violations of federal law that are motivated by racial or ethnic bias.”So here we have another in a long line of examples of corruption at the Obama DOJ concerning the enforcement of civil rights laws. Apparently the enforcement of civil rights at the DOJ no longer has anything to do with violations of the law. It’s all about racial preferences and partisan politics.Put another way, had Ted Hayes been a left-wing activist testifying on behalf of illegal alien tuition and attacked by white “conservatives,” Perez would have sprung into action. Trust me on that.How do I know? Just look at the record!First, consider the Black Panther scandal discussed in the first Weekly Update story. The DOJ dismissed it’s own voter intimidation lawsuit filed against members of Black Panthers, who hurled racial epithets and threatened white voters at a polling station in 2008. The Obama adminstration said no political appointees were involved in this decision. In fact, Perez himself testified to this effect. This testimony was false. JW uncovered evidence that indeed political appointees at the highest levels inside the Obama DOJ were involved. And why is this important?According to The Washington Post, “[DOJ attorney J. Christian] Adams and a Justice Department colleague have said the [Black Panther] case was dismissed because the department is reluctant to pursue cases against minorities accused of violating the voting rights of whites.”Describing the environment over at the Obama DOJ, Christopher Coates, a DOJ attorney, testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that there exists at the DOJ “…a deep-seated opposition to the equal enforcement of the Voting Rights Act against racial minorities and for the protection of whites who have been discriminated against.”So, we know that the DOJ is involved in the race-based selective enforcement of civil rights laws. (Our friends (and client) over at Pajamas Media have also exposed the radical leftists being planted in the career ranks at DOJ, which further explains why a conservative seeking protection can get no justice at Justice.)Now, Mr. Hayes is black. But he’s not in left-wing lock-step with the Obama administration on the issue of illegal alien tuition. And his attackers just happen to be part of a key voter block for the Obama 2012 re-election campign. So Mr. Hayes evidently is not entitled to any protection under law.Remember, too, the immigration issue addressed by Mr. Hayes in the testimony that led to threats on his life. The Obama DOJ has taken a “La Raza” approach to the issue, allowing illegal alien sanctuary cities to thrive, while attacking states that want to crack down on illegal aliens. The Obama administration has also begun dismissing deportation cases against a wide range of illegal aliens, including those convicted of violent crimes.Mr. Hayes is on the opposite side of the fence of Obama on these issues. And it is his politics that seem to define how the DOJ responded to his case. Which is just shameless and unlawful. This is yet another scandal in the Obama/Holder DOJ that ought to result in a new attorney general.Hmmmm.....Obama US justice"You are either with me or against me?"Read the full story here.

• Swift response from IDF bombs Gaza, 6 dead.(Ynet).The army bombed a target in Gaza Thursday evening in response to four terror attacks that killed seven Israelis and injured 31 in the south.The IDF says the target was a Rafah building used by terrorists, and Palestinian sources reported six dead in the strike, among them two senior operatives in the Popular Resistance Committees.The two senior operatives are, according to Palestinian sources, Abu Oud al-Nirab, the commander of the group's military wing, and Khaled Shaath, a senior member of the terror group.Preliminary reports say IDF aircraft bombed a house, killing the two men and four others inside. Earlier, the IDF scattered fliers in the area, sources said. It remains unclear what the fliers said.Palestinian news agencies reported that the PRC was responsible for the attacks in the south. A spokesman for the group threatened retaliation for the strike. Earlier Palestinian sources reported that Hamas' interior minister ordered the the security forces headquarters in Gaza to be immediately evacuated for fear of IDF retaliation. It was also reported that Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing until further notice. The central cargo channel was shut immediately after the terror attack.Hamas voiced concerns that Israel "is trying to export the crisis that has befallen it, and transfer it to Gaza." Defense Minister Ehud Barak has hinted that harsh retaliation is to follow, saying while visiting the south that "Gaza is a source of terror, and we will take full-force action against them." "There will be a price tag to this event," he said. "Gaza will be severely hit. It is clear that the plan (for the attack) came from terror organizations in Gaza…The IDF will soon prepare for a response."Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received updates from the field and spoke with the mayor of Eilat, after which he released a statement. "This is a serious event, in which Israelis as well as the sovereignty of the state were harmed. Israel will respond properly." Netanyahu's office called the attackers "radical Islamist elements" and said the assaults were "an escalation of violence". Meanwhile the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported that Egyptian forces were scouring the border with Israel in recent hours in an effort to retrace the steps of the terrorists who carried out the terror attacks. According to the report, which quoted senior security officials, the Egyptian authorities have raised the alert level along the border with Israel and established a large team that includes military officers and central defense establishment officials to deal with the incident. The Egyptian forces are scouring a 25 kilometer stretch of the border, searching for tire and shoe sole marks in order to see whether the terrorists entered Israel from Sinai.An Egyptian security official denied Thursday that Egypt had any involvement in the attacks. The official told Egyptian media that the armed terrorists operated from within Israel's borders. "Egypt was in no way involved in the incident, since it is difficult to penetrate the Egypt-Israel border. Moreover, it is impossible to open fire from the Egyptian side to Israel because of the distance," he said.South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda also rejected claims suggesting the terror attack shooting originated on the Egyptian side of the border. "There is no connection between Egypt or Sinai to the attack in Israel," he said.The mayor of the eastern Sinai town Nuweiba, Al-Arabi al-Husseini, also denied the occurrence of any shooting in his region or near the border, and said that the situation there is stable and calm. Around noon Thursday an Egged bus traveling from Beersheba to Eilat was ambushed by a three-man terror cell. Over a dozen people were wounded in the attack, which took place on Highway 12, about 30km north of Eilat, near the Ein Netafim junction. Soon after that a second incident was reported, involving multiple roadside bombs and rocket fire at IDF forces patrolling the Israel-Egypt border fence. A third incident was reported at around 1pm, involving yet another shooting on a bus and a private vehicle traveling south. Five people reportedly suffered mortal wounds in the attack.Read and see the full story here.

• Are the Black Flash Mob Attacks on Whites Obama's Fault?(AT).By Lloyd Marcus.Folks, I believe human beings are responsible for their behavior. However, as America's first black president, fair or unfair, Obama's presidency comes with enormous responsibility in terms of its influence on black youths. This is why it is so unfortunate that American black youths' ultimate role model is a characterless, race-baiting political hack.While I am not saying president Obama is responsible for the epidemic of black youth flash-mob attacks on whites around our country, his race-baiting has to be a contributing factor.Obama and his minions have despicably created racial tension for political gain -- accusing all who opposed his hostile takeover of our health care system of racism.Clearly, the Obama administration's game plan for his presidency is to use race as a bludgeon whenever anyone opposes an Obama agenda item. Obama obviously considers the loss of harmony between black and white Americans to be acceptable collateral damage.Here are a few examples of race exploitation by Obama and company which could be fueling rage in black youths.

Let's begin with ObamaCare. Several Democrats suggested that race was a factor in opposition to ObamaCare. Former President Jimmy Carter led the charge saying, "[A]n overwhelming portion of those who demonstrate against Obama are doing so because the president is a black man." In essence, President Carter was telling black youths, "Many Americans are racist and against you." Do you think Carter's statement may have inspired black anger?Then, there was the black professor Gates vs. the Cambridge Police incident. Before knowing the facts, President Obama declared the white decorated arresting officer guilty of racial profiling, saying the police "acted stupidly." Obama continued, "[W]hat I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact."Good Lord, the black president of the United States parroted the mantra of black gangsta rappers: "if you are black, the white po-po [police] are out to get you." I find it extraordinary that Obama did not anticipate the catastrophic negative impact his proclamation would have on the relationship between black urban youths and white law enforcement.Would a man who values racial harmony say such a divisive thing, even if he suspected it to be true? Obama is the president of the United States, for crying out load. His words carry tremendous power and influence, particularly among black youths.Obama's indictment of the nation's police was to cover his butt for assuming the Cambridge police was guilty of racism before knowing the facts of the incident -- thus confirming that Obama cares about only himself.The Tea Party is a constant extremely annoying thorn in the side of Obama in implementing his fundamental transformation of America. This is why Obama has launched a campaign to bludgeon the Tea Party to death with false accusations of racism.Obama said, "[R]ace is still a problem." He stated race to be a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, "especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent Tea Party movement." Obama added, "[A] subterranean agenda in the anti-Obama movement -- a racially biased one -- that was unfortunate."Again, imagine how black youths process Obama's I'm-a-victim-of-racist-white-folks rhetoric.Obama played the race card again in the Arizona immigration law debate. The Arizona immigration law was birthed out of frustration with the Obama administration's refusal to enforce federal immigration law. Arizonians suffer from epidemic levels of drug-trafficking, murders, and violent kidnapping by illegals. To court the Hispanic vote, Obama deemed Arizona's law racist.Here's another example of Team Obama throwing race into the mix. Several black Democrat pundits and Congressional Black Caucus member Shelia Jackson Lee said that Republicans were rejecting raising the debt ceiling because Obama is black.So, has the Obama administration's shameful disregard for preserving harmonious race relations inspired racial tension leading to black youths beating up whites? Well, let's just say, unquestionably, that Obama's Chicago thug vibe resonates.Black conservative Kenneth Gladney was beaten and sent to the emergency room by SEIU thugs shortly after Obama sent a clarion call to his supporters to "[h]it back twice as hard." Obama encouraged Latinos to "punish our enemies." It is not a stretch to suggest that highly impressionable black youths might retaliate against a white America perceived to be dissing their African-American idol.Read the full story here.

• Since Obama won't release any of his transcripts, etc. ....... maybe we can make some judgments based on his teaching. (TheColossusofRhodes).Remember Doug Ross's recent post about how the media wasted absolutely NO time tracking down recent GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry's college grades, yet our current president largely remains an academic question mark.Take a gander at the following files courtesy of edu-blogger extraordinaire Matthew Tabor of Education News.org. It contains Obama's law course syllabus, exams and a few memos. You decide about the course's intellectual and academic rigor. (The entire syllabus packet was too large to upload to our server in its entirety; therefore, I've broken it down into several image files, per page. To start off, check out the requirements for 1994's "Current Issues in Racism and the Law".Hmmm....Seems like the President has a sincere interest in Black versus whitey.Read the full story here.

• Obama's Assault On Religious Freedom.(NCRegister).Every once in a while a court case comes along that could have profound ramifications for our liberty. Many times, everyone knows about these cases. Sometimes they do not. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC could be one of those cases. This particular case is about the Ministerial Exception. In a nutshell, the Ministerial Exception allows for religious organizations “to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.” Based on this right, twelve federal circuits have recognized the “ministerial exception.” (The Federal Circuit has no jurisdiction over cases that could present the issue.) The ministerial exception bars lawsuits that interfere in the relationship between a religious organization and employees who perform religious functions — most obviously, lawsuits seeking to compel a religious organization to reinstate such an employee or seeking to impose monetary liability for the selection of such employees. As the first court adopting the ministerial exception explained: “The relationship between an organized church and its ministers is its lifeblood”; allowing the state to interfere in that relationship — effectively allowing judges and juries to pick ministers — would produce “the very opposite of that separation of church and State contemplated by the First Amendment.” McClure v. Salvation Army, 460 F.2d 553, 558, 560 (5th Cir. 1972).That seems all well and good and in line with our traditions. What was at stake in the Hosanna-Tabor case is whether or not such protections from discrimination lawsuits extend to employees such as teachers and whether or not they can be fired for religious reasons under the exception or not. I say that this is what the case WAS about because the Obama administration’s DOJ just seriously upped the ante on this case. The DOJ, in an amicus brief filed on the case, is not satisfied to argue in favor of limiting religious freedom so that the government can dictate what kind of other employees are not subject to the ministerial exception, the DOJ is arguing that there should not even be a Ministerial Objection. In essence, the DOJ is arguing that government regulation should be able to dictate what kind of ministers a religious organization can hire and fire, First amendment be damned.Just so you know how crazy this is, the militant secularists at Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU did not even make this argument. Ed Whelan writes:  DOJ’s position—which is even more hostile to the ministerial exemption than the amicus brief filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU—thus threatens to expose churches and other religious institutions to a broad array of employment-discrimination claims that the ministerial-exception has long shielded them from.So according to the Government, there is no first amendment anymore. If Obama succeeds, we will have gone a long way toward the Chinese model of the Patriotic Church. Maybe that is the point.Hmmmm......"Religion the Opium of the people" the ex USSR dealth with that.Read the full story here.

• "EIN GROSS EUROPA"?“Economic Government” Would Integrate Europe To A Degree Not Seen Since The Roman Empire.(TheAmericanDream). Are you ready for "The United States Of Europe"? The integration of Europe is about to go to another level. As the European debt crisis deepens, there are cries all over the EU for full economic integration in Europe. On Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent a letter to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy which stated that they want a new "economic government" for Europe to be formed. According to the letter, Sarkozy and Merkel want the leaders of the eurozone countries to "elect" a president for the new "economic government". The idea would be that the president would hold twice-yearly summits to address the debt problems that Europe is facing right now. But many pro-EU critics are already howling that Sarkozy and Merkel have not gone nearly far enough. A whole lot of "experts" in Europe are proclaiming that without full economic integration and the creation of "eurobonds", Europe is doomed. Jennifer McKeown, an economist for Capital Economics, put it this way when asked what would happen if eurobonds are not created fairly soon: "The likely outcome is the eurozone ceases to exist".This is often how huge changes occur in our world today. First a huge problem is created, then there is a negative reaction and then a solution is presented to us. Right now in Europe, the problem is the sovereign debt crisis. We are being told that the only way that the eurozone can survive is if all of the countries agree to much deeper economic integration.

In an article for Seeking Alpha, Cliff Wachtel broke down the choices facing the people of Europe in the following manner....

The continued existence of the EZ in its current form in exchange for vastly limited sovereignty. In particular, with limited financial autonomy, with some kind of centralized budget approval and or spending veto power over individual states.

Continued full sovereignty in exchange for a dissolved or radically altered EZ, probably one contracted down to member states with similar needs and reliable fiscal management. Some choice, eh?While some are applauding the possibility of increased integration in the eurozone, others are warning about the potential consequences.Read the full story here.

• The Petraeus CIA: A Gigantic Conflict Of Interest.(BigPeace).In an April 2011 column, I argued that both Barack Obama and the COINdinista Right had good (for them) reasons to perpetuate wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama’s reason is obvious. He doesn’t want the nation to watch Iraq and Afghanistan falling apart during the 2012 election year. I wrote: And falling apart — I call it reverting to type – is the inevitable result of U.S. withdrawal. “Who lost Iraq and Afghanistan?” is not a question Obama wants to answer during the election.Thus, Obama will slog on with counterinsurgency in stalemate, maintaining his weirdly logical wartime alliance with the neoconservative, democracy-project Right. On Obama’s part, this is a political calculation, pure and simple. On the Right, something else is going on.As long as we are still in Iraq, still in Afghanistan, the policy born of neoconservatism’s lights, embraced by nation-building Bushies, promulgated by Gen. David Petraeus, still has a theoretical chance of working.As Petraeus himself co-wrote in the foreword of the 2007 COIN manual (with Gen. James F. Amos, now Marine Commandant):“Soldiers and Marines are expected to be nation-builders as well as warriors,” “They must be prepared to help re-establish institutions and local security forces and assist in rebuilding infrastructure and basic services. They must be able to facilitate establishing local governance and the rule of law. The list of such tasks is long …”You can say that again. Back to that April column:A constant refrain from these camps is that prematurely withdrawing from either country would jeopardize what Petraeus has dubbed for four years “fragile and reversible” security gains.To them, staying forever is leaving too soon. It isn’t so much that in withdrawal lies defeat; it’s that in withdrawal lies confirmation of the defeat of their prized counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy. In the strategy’s defeat lies the abyss.And so they must keep reality at bay. And they do that by keeping Iraq and Afghanistan works in progress. As such, it is up to our troops to try harder to win “hearts and minds,” walk more IED-strewn patrols, distribute more cash to buy loyalty. In this way, the COINdinistas are hamster-footing it to keep the ride from stopping at any cost. …How to keep Iraq and Afghanistan works in progress got easier when Petraeus was confirmed as the new director of the CIA. Such a post presents Petraeus with the temptation to shade and shape intelligence to justify his COIN record of unreckoned disaster — precisely why he was the wrong man for the job. At Huffington Post, Michael Brenner underscores this terrible potential in a piece imperially titled “I, Petraeus”: General David Petraeus, newly installed Director of the CIA, is now the most influential figure in making American foreign policy. He has unrivaled prestige in Washington and among the public at large, he has close allies in the Pentagon and White House, and receives reflexive deference from President Obama. Moreover, he has vaunting ambition and a steely will — his boyish looks notwithstanding.His foremost objectives will be to ensure that the end game in Afghanistan, the tense standoff with Pakistan, and the question of the United States’ presence in Iraq in no way detract from his reputation as being the master of counterterrorism who has salvaged a measure of success from those dubious operations. Since that reputation is based on image more than on hard accomplishment, how the game of intelligence appraisal and threat assessment is played will be critically important. Petraeus will not hesitate to use the authority and influence at his disposal to push for actions that improve the odds on avoiding unspinnable outcomes in any of those locales.He has the means; he has the motives. Will he use them? Brenner thinks so.Concretely, that points to an all-out campaign to maintain the maximum American presence in Iraq that the leadership in Baghdad can tolerate.To that end, Brenner notes elsewhere: “There are reports that already he has communicated personally with Prime Minister Maliki, offering in effect his good offices to assist Maliki in finessing an understanding between Baghdad and Washington that would allow some American troops to remain despite fierce opposition from some of his coalition allies. It included an invitation to communicate directly with Petraeus.”That’s highly unusual and highly disturbing. “I, Petraeus” continues:It means pressing ahead in Afghanistan in an unrelenting attempt to weaken the Taliban enough so as to force them into accommodation on terms acceptable to Washington.Brenner fails to note the equally unrelenting, unrealistic and unworkable COIN attempt to simultaneously nation-build the Islamic population, Pygmalion-like, into something acceptable, period. He continues:It means a no-holds-barred wrestling match with the Pakistani leadership, both to give American forces a free hand in the Northwest and to commit themselves fully to a military campaign against all elements hostile to the United States. To justify these policies, Petraeus will take steps that place the CIA imprimatur on intelligence reports that paint a dark picture of the continuing terrorist danger from the region even while celebrating successes for which he will take full credit. They also will stress the critical stabilizing role of an active American military presence in the [area] running from the Persian Gulf deep into Central Asia. …A dire prediction. Will it come true? The fact remains that a gigantic, personal conflict of interest will always taint the Petraeus CIA.Hmmmm.....Nothing is suprising from this 'administration'.Read the full story here.

• Obama’s State Department Busted Scrubbing Israel From Bush-Era Documents On Its Website Relating To Jerusalem.(Commentary).— Now this is just getting silly. The Obama White House is gearing up for a Supreme Court case in which it will defend its refusal to list “Jerusalem, Israel” on the passports of Americans born in the Israeli capital. As part of its preparations the administration recently scrubbed all the captions on a White House photo gallery of Vice President Biden in the city, changing “Jerusalem, Israel” to “Jerusalem.” The optics of methodically erasing the word “Israel” from the White House webpage caused a predictable uproar.Those who make it their business to rationalize White House hostility toward Israel were relieved, then, when the Washington Jewish Week’s Adam Kredo published an article claiming that the Bush administration had enforced an identical policy. Kredo cited a “search of the Bush White House’s archives” and photos of Laura Bush touring the Western Wall to conclude that the Bush White House webpage “never explicitly labeled [Jerusalem] as part of Israel.” Though he was otherwise unsparing in criticizing the White House’s “horrible, simply ridiculous. . . photo mistake,” Obama’s defenders latched on to his article anyway. The NJDC and J Street found particularly grating and obnoxious ways to pass along the article. You should read them because they’re about to become deeply embarrassing. Elliot Abrams responded in a quote he gave to Jennifer Rubin, forcefully insisting that Kredo was “just wrong” and that the Bush White House “did not have a hard and fast rule that prohibited referring to Jerusalem” as part of Israel in documents and captions.Basic Google searches are enough to show that Abrams is right and Obama’s defenders are flat wrong.Sometimes Bush-era White House photos explicitly identified Jerusalem as being in Israel and sometimes they didn’t, just like sometimes they explicitly identified Tel Aviv as being in Israel and sometimes they didn’t. A naive “Jerusalem, Israel” Google search on the Bush White House archives is sufficient to turn up this 2002 photo of Vice President Cheney captioned as “a press briefing in Jerusalem, Israel.” It also turns up this photo labeled “Mrs. Laura Bush visits the Western Wall Tunnels . . . in Jerusalem, Israel.” That’s from the exact, precise, identical tour that Kredo linked to in order to “hammer home the point” that the Bush administration “never explicitly labeled [Jerusalem] as part of Israel.”Getting beyond photo captions, Bush-era documents show that the previous White House was indeed able to correctly identify the city of Jerusalem as being inside the state of Israel. The record shows that the President even acknowledged that the Jerusalem consulate — the same one that won’t issue passports referencing “Jerusalem, Israel” — was located in Jerusalem, Israel. Bush’s statement nominating Jeffrey Feltman to be ambassador to Lebanon, for instance, explicitly described Feltman’s previous position as “Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, Israel.”It gets worse for Obama’s defenders, though, than merely being demonstrably wrong. It turns out that while they were insisting that the Bush administration consistently refused to reference “Jerusalem, Israel,” the Obama State Department was busy scrubbing documents in which Bush administration referenced “Jerusalem, Israel.” Straight down the memory hole. That’s kind of amazing when you pause and think about it, no?The “Jerusalem, Israel” captions and statements from the Bush-era White House are digitally archived and frozen, and so beyond the administration’s reach. But Bush-era State Department reports are stored on the Obama State Department’s servers. Two old documents in particular — the State Department’s FY 2002 and FY 2003 Performance and Accountability Reports — come up quickly in searches. When they were originally written they both had appendices identifying the location of the Jerusalem consulate as “Jerusalem, Israel.” Some time in the last two weeks that location was changed to “Jerusalem.” Whoever made the changes even went back and scrubbed the old “hard copy” PDFs. You can do the compare and contrast yourself. Click on these links for scrubbed versions of FY 2002 HTML, FY 2003 HTML, FY 2002 PDF, FY 2003 PDF, and on these links for cached original versions of FY 2002 HTML, FY 2003 HTML, FY 2002 PDF, FY 2003 PDF.Hmmm.......The worst enemy of the state and people of  Israel :"The Obama administration".Why is he so hostile towards the Jews?Read the full story here.

• Canada - Scarborough imam faces 13 charges in sexual assault investigation.(NationalPost).An imam who worked at a Scarborough mosque has been arrested and faces 13 charges in connection with a sexual assault investigation.Mohammad Masroor, 48, of Toronto, was apprehended August 10 for sexual offences allegedly committed between November 1, 2008 and July 28 of this year. Police have identified five alleged victims, both male and female, and are appealing to others to come forward.Mr. Masroor worked as an imam at the Baitul Mukarram Islamic Society on Danforth Avenue between Pharmacy and Warden Avenues, where he taught Koranic studies to students. He was on leave at the time of his arrest.The single storey brick mosque sits on a nondescript corner. Five times a day, the men and boys who are members of this congregation arrive, remove their shoes at the door and join each other in prayer. No women are allowed inside. Attendance here has risen recently as the Muslim community celebrates Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam.A 12-year-old boy called Sajid prays at the Baitul Mukarram mosque. He knew Mr. Masroor, and although he was not aware of the charges laid against the man who once taught him the Koran, the young boy says what constitutes acceptable behaviour depends on where you are.“I don’t think it’s really like that, because masroor was a good man, he didn’t do anything bad,” says Sajid, who did not want last name used. “It’s not like that because back home, like in Bangladesh, you’re allowed to hit people. It’s OK.”Mr. Masroor has lived and worked in many countries, Det. Armstrong said, including France, Germany, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and, most recently, in the U.S. in Florida and Michigan.Mr. Masroor arrived in Toronto in 2008; the investigation started shortly after.Det. Const. Armstrong said Mr. Masroor was known to his alleged victims, but did not elaborate on their ages or relations to him.Abdul Fattah Aboud worked as an imam at Baitul Makarram and knows Mr. Masroor. Mr. Aboud told media Wednesday to remember that all individuals are innocent until proven guilty, and his main concern seemed to be the implications of this arrest on the Toronto Muslim community.“I’m shocked to hear. I worry this will give a bad impact on us, especially on us priests. People won’t trust us,” he said. “Masroor gave sermons here on Fridays, he would lead the service and everybody in this community liked him. [Masroor] was teaching students who were seven, eight, up to 15 years old. People won’t trust us anymore.”Toronto Police are not working with other police in other jurisdictions outside Canada.Mr. Masroor is being held in police custody.Read the full story here, video report here.

• Ten Cases Where Sharia Law Trumped the Constitution in U.S. Courts.(Vinienco).Below are ten cases of American Muslim Families who have encountered conflicts between the equal protection under the Constitution they should have received, and legal discrimination imposed on them by Shariah law. In cases 1-3, the Appellate Courts upheld Shariah law; in cases 4-7, the Trial Courts upheld Shariah, but the Appellate Courts reversed (protecting the litigant’s constitutional rights); in cases 8-10, both Trial and Appellate Courts rejected the attempts to enforce Shariah law.

Ten American Families and Shariah in American State Courts

1. Joohi Q. Hosain (FKA Malik) V. Anwar Malik, (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=124 ), Shariah law of Pakistan, Maryland, 1996: Trial and Appellate Courts upheld foreign Shariah law and denied mother custody. She lost custody because going to custody hearing in Pakistan would have risked prison, torture or execution.
2. Laila Adeeb Sawaya Malak v. Abdul Latif Malak (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=77 ), Shariah law of Lebanon/UAE, California, 1986: Appellate Court upheld foreign Shariah law and denied mother custody, reversing Trial Court.
3. Parveen Chaudry v. M. Hanif Chaudry, M.D., (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=155 ), Shariah law of Pakistan, New Jersey, 1978: Appellate Court upheld foreign Shariah law, overturned Trial Court. Wife denied support and child support and division of property; prenuptial agreement signed by parents giving her only $1,500 from marriage upheld by Appellate Court.
4. In re the Custody Of R., minor child. Dato Paduka Noordin v. Datin Laila Abdulla, (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=228 , Shariah law of Philippines, Washington, 1997: Trial Court upheld foreign Shariah law of Philippines (which has parallel Shariah court system) granting father custody; Appellate Court reverses, allowing mother to contest Philippines Shariah court custody decision.
5. S.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. M.J.R., (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=197 ), Shariah law of Morocco, New Jersey, 2010: Pregnant mother is beaten and raped by her husband, Trial Court refuses restraining order citing foreign Shariah law, Appellate court reverses and grants restraining order.
6. Pamela Tazziz VS. Ismail Tazziz (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=133 ), Shariah law of Israel, Massachusetts, 1988: Trial Court upheld foreign Shariah law of Israel (which has parallel Shariah court system ) requiring mother of four children to bring family to Shariah hearing; Appellate Court reversed.
7. Saida Banu Tarikonda, , v. Bade Saheb Pinjari (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=139 ), Shariah law of India, Michigan, 2009: The Trial Court accepted a Talaq divorce (the husband says “I divorce you” three times, no prior notice to wife required). The Appellate Court reversed.
8. Irfan Aleem v. Farah Aleem (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=126 ), Shariah law of Pakistan, Maryland, 2007: Trial Court rejected argument permitting a foreign Shariah law Talaq divorce to prevent community division of property; Appellate Court upheld.
9. Magda Sobhy Ahmed Amin v. Abdelrahman Sayed Bakhaty (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=114 ), Shariah law of Egypt and Lebanon, Louisiana, 2001: Mother convicted under foreign Shariah law of Egypt for leaving Egypt with child for U.S. without husband’s permission; Under Egyptian Shariah law, father files for divorce and custody; Trial Court and Appellate court do not grant comity.
10. Bita Donboli, Respondent, and Nader Donboli (http://shariahinamericancourts.com/?p=236 ),Shariah law of Iran, Washington, 2005: Mother is dual citizen of U.S. and Iran, alleges beatings, not allowed to leave Iran with son without husband permission, and refuses to comply with foreign Iranian Shariah law custody decree. Trial and Appellate Courts uphold her position.Source .

• Glenn Beck rally could spark violence, warn Arab MKs.(JPost).US radio show host to ‘Post’: Event will be different than people expect; MK Ahmed Tibi: "Glenn Beck is a ‘bizarre, neo-fascist comedian."Glenn Beck’s Restoring Courage rally at the Southern Wall excavations site next Wednesday could spark a conflagration of violence in Jerusalem, Arab Knesset members and activists warned Wednesday.The Jerusalem mass rally will be the central event of the American broadcaster’s three-night attempt to demonstrate to Israel and the world that the Jewish state does not stand alone. There will also be a rally for Christian leaders Sunday in Caesarea and a Holocaust-related event on Monday.“There are enough racists in Israel without importing them from the US,” Hadash MK Muhammad Barakei said.“The lessons from Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount apparently haven’t been learned. This event isn’t for building coexistence, but to spark fires in a sensitive location ahead of the United Nations vote on a Palestinian state in September.“There is a danger that the event will lead to people being harmed, and the police should have prevented it,” Barakei added.MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL-Ta’al) called Beck “a bizarre, conservative, neo-fascist comedian who is motivated by a hatred of Islam.”Tibi accused MK Danny Danon (Likud), who is involved in Beck’s event, of “dancing to Beck’s flute-playing and rejoicing to every outrageous word against Arabs and Muslim.”Arab activists in east Jerusalem criticized Beck’s decision to hold the rally so close to a tense area.“There is a message [in the location] – especially to come to the City of David, that’s close to Al-Aksa and other Muslim holy sites and the Western Wall – it says a lot,” said Murad Shafa, a member of the Popular Committee of Al-Bustan, one of the neighborhoods in Silwan. “I don’t know him, but I know one thing: this area belongs to all the religions.”Shafa expressed concern the event would attempt to erase parts of the historical narrative that hold that the site is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. “Why are we the smallest people? Is their god bigger than ours?” he asked.In an interview with The Jerusalem Post Wednesday, Beck advised his critics to watch the event before casting judgment. He said that when he held his Restoring Honor event at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, last August, people said he would desecrate the site with what they thought would be a right-wing political rally, but it ended up being nothing of the kind.“[Israeli control over] Jerusalem is the best thing that has happened in many people’s lives among Arabs I’ve met, even though they won’t say it on camera,” Beck said. “They are protected, safe and able to live without violence.Israel has done an amazing job of adhering to love thy neighbor – and even love thine enemy.“It’s hard when people are trying to kill you to protect their rights.Jerusalem is an example of coexistence working. You can’t deny truth,”Beck said.Hmmmm.....The Jewish and Christian God is older seniority primes.Read the full story here.

• No apology for Marmara attack: Israel.(HurriyetDaily).Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdoğan said Wednesday it was impossible for Turkish-Israeli relations to return to normal unless Israel apologizes to Turkey for the killing of nine Turks aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Gaza-bound aid ship, and lifts the embargo on Gaza. “Turkey will not take a step back. From now on we will act with the families who lost their relatives in the flotilla attack,” said Erdoğan.An Israeli official said earlier Wednesday that Israel would stick to its refusal to apologize to Turkey, dampening any prospects for reconciliation between the former allies. The decision, which the official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a telephone call, was made days before the publication of the findings of a U.N. inquiry into the seizure of the Mavi Marmara last year, Reuters reported.The so-called Palmer Report was repeatedly delayed to allow for Israeli-Turkish rapprochement talks amid concern in Washington over the rift between two countries that had been strategic partners in an increasingly stormy Middle East. Israeli officials, citing advance copies of the report, have said it would vindicate Israel’s blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Turkey, which like Israel had a delegate on the U.N. panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, has said it would not accept such a finding.Netanyahu voiced regret over the killings. But Turkey insisted on a formal apology and compensation for those bereaved and injured.Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot said Wednesday Israeli diplomats in Washington handed the government a message from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the Israel-Turkey crisis was interfering with US attempts to deal with the bloodshed in Syria. A similar message was given to Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak when he visited Washington in late July, when Clinton asked him to do everything in his power to resolve the crisis -- “including apologise,” the paper said. “We’re firm on not apologizing,” the Israeli official said. Asked if Israel might change tack after the Palmer Report’s publication, the official said: “Why would we do that? We know the report supports our position.”Hmmmm.....Just like with the Armenian Genocide Turkey can't handle the truth in the Palmer report?Read the full story here.

• The Eagle Has Landed…In Sinai?(CFR).By Steven Cook.Let’s review what’s happening in the Middle East: Syrian forces are attacking peaceful protesters throughout the country; Iraq is cleaning up from one of the worst days of violence in recent memory; Libyan rebels are knocking on Tripoli’s door; former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s trial for murder and corruption was adjourned until September 5; Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is turning up the heat on revolutionary activists with the arrest of Asmaa Mahfouz; and in what has been dubbed “Operation Eagle,” Egypt deployed approximately 2,500 troops and somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 armored vehicles, including tanks, to al Arish, Sheikh Zuwayd, and Rafah deep into the Sinai. Just another week… Wait, the Egyptians did what? They sent thousands of troops into the Sinai? That’s not supposed to happen, right? The Camp David Accords and the Egypt-Israel peace treaty limit Egyptian military forces to an area about 30 miles east of the Suez Canal. This is a huge story and besides a brief article in the Washington Post, a report on CNN.com, and an article in Time (yes, Time) the media has largely ignored the deployment. Sadly, deep fried butter on a stick at the Iowa State Fair has received way more coverage over this weekend than a military move that has the potential to alter longstanding agreements between Egypt and Israel.It was the July 30 attack on an al Arish police station, an attempted assault on one of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company’s—the consortium that buys gas from Egypt and sells it to Israel—facilities near al Arish, and the distribution of leaflets there calling for the implementation of Islamic law in North Sinai that seem to have gotten the SCAF’s attention. The military, worried about security in the Sinai and wanting to demonstrate (to the United States, primarily) that the armed forces have both a firm grip on the country and that Egyptian military remains a force for regional stability, apparently sought out the Israelis to coordinate the deployment.The Israelis find themselves with a dilemma on their hands. From their perspective the Sinai has been a festering security problem for over a decade. They have looked on with amazement as the Egyptians have done very little to address the social ills of the region, warned Cairo that there was al Qaeda presence in the area (something the Egyptians denied until 2005), and have grown concerned as the border restrictions between Gaza and Egypt have recently been eased. Yet what choice did they really have? They agreed to the deployment of two battalions from Egypt’s 2nd Army because the alternative, the Sinai spinning completely out of control, is worse and the Israeli security establishment wants to demonstrate goodwill toward the SCAF with whom it hopes to build a new relationship. The Israelis are nevertheless nervous about the effectiveness of the Egyptian forces and whether the deployment will begin the process of altering the restrictions on Egyptian military activity in the Sinai. There is no time limit on the Egypt’s military operations. For now, it is subject to review—whatever that means. The Egyptians insist that they will leave when their operations are complete. Yet, if the security situation in the Sinai is as bad as some suggest, it may well be some time before Egyptian forces leave. Even after Operation Eagle is brought to an end one could imagine Cairo making the argument that the military needs to stay in the Sinai to ensure security.A more secure Sinai is a good thing for everyone, but any effort well beyond their 30-mile limit (the is no evidence so far that this is the SCAF’s intention) has a clear political benefit for the officers because so many Egyptians want to revisit the Camp David Accords and the peace treaty.For now, the Israelis apparently believe being flexible about past agreements is worth the risk. At the moment countenancing Egyptian forces in the Sinai is certainly better than a further deterioration of the Sinai’s security and someone taking a shot at Eilat from there. Of course, there is always the possibility that Egypt’s operations will, in unintended ways, contribute to the Sinai’s problems. Hmmmmm......Or else it was al along the plan to get an excuse to move troops forward in anticipation of what may happen in September?Read the full story here.

• Terrorists launched a multifocal terror attack on Israel's south on Thursday, injuring over two dozen people.(Ynet).Security forces, as well as Magen David Adom emergency services' teams, were immediately dispatched to each of the scenes. The injured were triaged on site and rushed to the Yoseftal Medical Center in Eilat.Heavy security forces presence is noted in the area, as a massive manhunt involving IDF ground forces and aircrafts is currently taking place. IDF forces reported three terrorists have been killed. It is unclear at this time if they were the only ones involved. The Eilat Police have ordered emergency deployment in the area, and a situation room has been set up at the Yoseftal Hospital, which has declared a mass casualty event. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, soldiers were among the wounded in these incidents. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino are en route to GOC Southern Command, where they will confer with Southern Command Chief Major-General Tal Russo. All of the roads leading to Eilat have been closed, as was the Ovda Airfield. Eilat's airport has been placed on alert.In the first incident, Egged bus number 392, traveling from Beersheba to the southern resort city of Eilat was ambushed by a three-man terror cell. Over a dozen people were wounded in the attack, which took place on Highway 12, about 30km north of Eilat, near the Ein Netafim junction. Soon after that a second incident was reported, involving multiple roadside bombs and rocket fire at IDF forces patrolling the Israel Egypt border fence. A third incident was reported at around 1pm, involving yet another shooting on a bus and a private vehicle traveling south. Five people reportedly suffered mortal wounds in the attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a security assessment following the attack. The Prime Minister's Office said Netanyahu was being apprised of the situation as it progressed. Read the full story here.

• Iran, Iraq, And Syria Agree To Construct Massive ‘Islamic Gas Pipeline’(BigPeace).Iraq and Iran are moving closer, having recently signed an agreement to develop and build a $10 billion “Islamic Gas Pipeline” to move natural gas from Iran to Europe. The pipeline will be thousands of miles long, extending from Iran’s South Pars oil and gas field through Iran, Iraq and Syria, and eventually ending up at a port in Lebanon, where it can be shipped. At the same time, trade between the two countries is booming. Currently its about $6 billion a year. Iran expects it to soon reach $10 billion annually.Hmmmm......PKK target practice?Read the full story here.

• Hugo Chavez Nationalizes Venezuelan Gold Industry, Demands 211 Tons Be Returned From Abroad - JPMorgan, Bank Of England and ETFs Scramble For Physical Metal.(BlacklistedNews).This is the biggest story of the late day with implications for Jamie Dimon, precious metal ETFs, and central banks worldwide. We'll start at the beginning.Anyone holding gold miner Rusoro is panicking.

Details from Reuters

Toronto-listed Rusoro, owned by Russia's Agapov family, is the only large gold miner operating in Venezuela. It produced 100,000 ounces last year.The gold industry will be just the latest part of the economy to be put under state control by the socialist leader, who said he would issue the necessary decree in the coming days and called on the military to help control the sector."I have here the laws allowing the state to exploit gold and all related activities ... we are going to nationalize the gold and we are going to convert it, among other things, into international reserves because gold continues to increase in value," Chavez said in a phone call to state television.

WSJ

CARACAS—Venezuela plans to transfer billions of dollars in cash reserves from abroad to banks in Russia, China and Brazil and tons of gold from European banks to its central bank vaults, according to documents reviewed Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal.The planned moves would include transferring $6.3 billion in cash reserves, most of which Venezuela now keeps in banks such as the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, and Barclays Bank in London to unnamed Russian, Chinese and Brazilian banks, one document said.Venezuela also plans to move 211 tons of gold it keeps abroad.The problem for Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan is that they hold only 10.6 tonnes of gold, and all of it belongs to Venezuela, though they have pledged approximately 100 times that amount in various paper markets.

ETF News

 While Venezuela is a relatively minor player on the world stage, this could be a big game changer here in the United States because one of the banks that holds 10.6 tons of Venezuela’s gold is none other than JP Morgan. In a recent audit of JP Morgan’s holdings it was reported that they held 338,303 ounces of gold or roughly 10.6 tons. While this is a modest size deposit it is sure to cause some jitters at JP Morgan as they scramble to find the replacement gold which has already been pledged about 100 times across various paper markets to ETF’s like the SPDR Gold ETF (NYSE:GLD).

Bloomberg

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered his government to repatriate $11 billion in gold held in banks abroad to safeguard the country from the economic crisis and said he’ll nationalize the local gold industry.Venezuela has about 211 tons of its 365 tons of gold reserves held abroad at institutions including the Bank of England, JPMorgan Chase &Co. (JPM), Barclays Plc (BARC), Standard Chartered Plc (STAN)and the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), according to a government document.“We’ve held 99 tons of gold at the Bank of England since 1980. I agree with bringing that home,” Chavez said today on state television. “It’s a healthy decision.”Chavez, who has said he wants to eliminate the “dictatorship” of the U.S. dollar, has called on Venezuela’s central bank to diversify its $28.7 billion in reserves away from U.S. institutions. Some cash reserves, which total $6.3 billion, will be shifted into currencies from emerging markets including China, Russia, Brazil and India, central bank President Nelson Merentes said today at a news conference.Read the full story here.

• Iraq Accuses Kuwait of 'Suspicious' Military Moves on its Border.(Memri).The Iraq parliamentary security and defense committee has disclosed that there have been "suspicious" movements by Kuwaiti naval forces in the Persian Gulf close to the Iraqi border. The committee has also referred to intelligence sources about Kuwait's massing of military equipment, including troop carriers and rocket launchers, on the Iraqi border and on Bobyan Island, where Kuwait is constructing a major port, the Great Mubarak Port, that Iraq views with alarm as a threat to its economic and navigation rights in the Gulf. Kuwait maintains that the military moves were a precaution against threats by armed groups in Iraq which threatened to fire surface-to-surface missiles at the construction site of the Mubarak Port. Iraqi sources consider the Kuwaiti military maneuvers as a threat to the security of the area.Hmmmm......Iran...Iraq  getting worried something is up?Read the full story here.

• Al-Sadr's Armed Militia Shells U.S. Bases and Embassy.(Memri).Al-Sadr's militia, known as "The Promised Day Brigade" [liwa al-yom al-maw'ood ] announced that it had carried out a number of attacks on U.S. bases in a number of Iraqi provinces, on August 9-15, using mortars, Katyusha rockets and explosive devices and causing "human and material losses." It also claimed that it had shelled the U.S. Embassy with Katyusha rockets. The U.S. military acknowledged that it had conducted two aerial attacks in June against Iran-supported militias as the latter prepared to fire rockets at U.S. bases, and said that it had not involved Iraqi troops in the operations – which would have violated the security agreement between the two countries.Al-Sadr has repeatedly threatened to unleash his militia against any U.S. forces remaining in Iraq past the official withdrawal date of December 31.Hmmmm......AlSadr with the help of Iran attacking US soldiers and the 'Commander in chief' sleeps tight in Marthas Vineyard?Read the full story here.

• French businessman settles burqa fines for two teenagers in Belgium.(MC).Brussels - The founder of a French group called Don't Touch My Constitution swooped into a Brussels town hall on Wednesday to settle fines that had been slapped on two women wearing full-body Islamic dress under Belgium's new burqa ban. 'As a European citizen, I cannot accept that a democratic government can curtail fundamental freedoms,' Rachid Nekkaz, a French businessman who has set up a 1-million-euro (1.4-million-dollar) fund to help cover burqa fines, was quoted as saying by the local press. The 50-euro fines issued in Brussels had been given to two women aged 16 and 17. Belgium in July followed in France's footsteps to become the second country in Europe to effectively ban the burqa, implementing a fine of up to 137 euros (197 dollars) and up to seven days' imprisonment for anyone caught with their face hidden. Officials argue that the law is a matter of safety. Concerns about women being forced into wearing the burqa have also been raised. But those on the other side argue that many women freely choose to wear the burqa and that the bans are discriminatory. Nekkaz said he was heading back to France next to settle a 75-euro burqa fine there. He is reportedly also considering filing a complaint against France and Belgium before the European Court of Human Rights. Two women who willingly wear the burqa in Belgium have also pledged to fight the country's ban before its constitutional court. The French ban has been challenged in national courts, but was eventually upheld.Hmmmm......Because we have money we are above the laws?Will he also do their prison sentence?Read the full story here.

• Turkish jets bomb PKK bases in Iraq.(HurriyetDaily).Turkish jets launched air raids on suspected bases belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq on Wednesday, Turkish media reported.The raids came hours after eight soldiers and a village guard were killed in an ambush by PKK members.Some 15 warplanes took off from a Turkish base to strike at bases which the PKK use as a springboard to attack targets inside Turkey, according to a report on the NTV news channel. CNNTürk television said Turkish F-16s were involved in the raids. Pro-PKK Firat news agency said the Turkish jets were also targeting Qandil, a mountain on the Iraqi-Iranian border, where the PKK leaders are believed to be hiding. The Turkish reports were based on unidentified sources and there was no immediate official confirmation of the strikes. If confirmed, the raids would be Turkey's first cross border offensive since last summer, when Turkish warplanes carried out a series of retaliatory air raids on suspected PKK hideouts across the border. Turkish officials warned of a major offensive against the PKK following the ambush on a military convoy near the border with Iraq, that killed eight soldiers and a village guard working with them. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said armored personnel carriers in the convoy came under rocket fire after being attacked with roadside bombs. Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz vowed tough response immediately after the attack, as the military launched an air and ground offensive in the largely Kurdish Hakkari province where the attack happened, Turkey's state television reported. "The retaliation they will find will be manifold stronger," Yılmaz said. Earlier this week, Erdoğan said Turkey is at the end of its tether and hinted toward a strong offensive after the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But Wednesday's attack appears to have forced Turkey to bring plans forward. Asked earlier Wednesday about the possibility of a cross-border offensive, Erdoğan replied: "These things are not talked about, they are done." PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.Hmmmm.....Taking on the PKK is easyer it seems than defending unarmed Syrians."Targets" meaning unarmed civilians or armed Terrorists?Read the full story here.More here.Updated : Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish areas again this morning  read the story here.

• Tweet Against Turkey's War against Kurds.(Firat).An appeal to use Twitter and other social network to speak out against Turkey renewed war against the kurds has been launched by Kurdish bloggers and activists in Europe. #TwitterKurds is responding to the new attacks by the Turkish army by having an Emergency Mass Tweet on Friday 19th August and all Kurdish and non Kurdish activists are urged to take part.The appeal reads: "#TwitterKurds will not stand by in silence as Turkey declares war on the Kurdish people! Speak out! Join us at #TwitterKurds on Twitter Friday 19th August 10amGMT"Turkey has played a psychological game with the International community and the Kurdish people, says the appeal adding that "many Kurdish people voted for AKP because they thought they were sincere in wanting a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish Question in Turkey".The appeal continues as follows: "Since the 12th June election and the historical victory for the pro Kurdish independents who were to form a BDP group of 36 MP's in the Turkish parliament, Turkey has showed contempt for the democratic process and exposed their real face. Because it is now clear that AKP's plan has always been war! The Kurdish side has made every effort to prepare the ground for peace including ceasefires and Abdullah Ocalan's efforts to create a 'Peace Council' all have been ignored and now Abdullah Ocalan's circumstances on Imrali are of grave concern. Turkey is declaring war on all fronts against the Kurdish people including pressurising Denmark to close RojTV". Hmmmm......First the Armenians ....now the Kurds...l'histoire se répète?Read the full story here.More - Turkey descent into chaos :  here.
• Related - Court bans Öcalan's lawyers from representing PKK leader for one year.(TodaysZaman).A Turkish high criminal court on Wednesday banned four lawyers representing Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), from serving as lawyers for the PKK leader for one year due to an ongoing case in which the lawyers have been accused of abetting the PKK.Lawyers Ergün Canan, Servet Demir, Cengiz Çiçek and Davut Uzunköprü stand trial on charges of abetting the PKK without being included in the organization's hierarchical structure. The İstanbul 11th High Criminal Court on Wednesday decided to ban the four lawyers from defending and representing the convicted leader of the PKK, taking the evidence in the case into consideration.According to Article 151 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), the lawyer of a suspect or a convict can be banned from defending his client if he or she faces terrorism charges.Öcalan was captured in Kenya on Feb. 15, 1999, while being transferred from the Greek Embassy to Nairobi International Airport in an operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He was sentenced to death the same year, but his sentence was suspended and later commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished in Turkey in August 2002. He has been serving a life sentence on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara. He has regular meetings with his lawyers, through whom he is suspected of delivering messages to his supporters.Hmmmm......will he still be alive in a year's time....or 6 months for that matter?Read the full story here.

• Turkey launches air assault on Kurds in Iraq amid uptick in violence.(CSMonitor).The Turkish military launched an air assault on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq overnight Wednesday, hitting 60 targets by plane and another 168 with artillery from across the border.The assault was a response to the killing of nine Turkish soldiers in southeastern Turkey Wednesday by Kurdish separatists and targeted a region "frequented" by the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), which has fought for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for decades, The New York Times reports. Both Turkey and the US have the PKK listed as a terrorist organization.The PKK operates from hideouts in the mountainous border region between Iraq and Turkey. Turkish military planes last bombed inside Iraq in the summer of 2010, according to the Times. Wednesday's ambush against the Turkish soldiers was the deadliest attack on the military since a campaign against the Kurdish autonomy movement began in July. That crackdown was prompted by an attack on the Turkish military on July 13, which killed 30. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under pressure to ensure stability and prove his strength as a commander after his top military leaders resigned last month, putting control of the military in his civilian hands, Bloomberg reports. Making concessions to the Kurds – such as granting them autonomy, like Iraq did – would be a risky move. The PKK refuses to give up violence unless its demands, such as the use of the Kurdish language in public education and an amnesty for militants hiding in northern Iraq, are met by Turkey, according to the Times.Turkey warned that similar attacks could happen in the future. "Such operations will be carried out within and outside of Turkey with determination until the separatist organization is neutralized," a military report said, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News. Recai Birgün, a former deputy who worked as the chief bodyguard of former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, said that the "forces of terrorism" increase whenever the country is in a critical phase, as it is now with its debate on constitutional changes. “We have been fighting the PKK since 1984. The military operations are needed, but we have to remember that it is not the only solution,” he said. “One of the goals of the increase in the frequency of attacks is to sabotage the upcoming constitutional reform when Parliament opens for session in October.”He added that the aim of the PKK is to force the government to resort to violent methods.“The PKK wants violence and chaos. Terror thrives on violence and confusion,” he said. “We have to find a political solution to the problem. The military solution alone will not solve the PKK problem.”Hmmmm.....One of the many reasons why the Generals resigned?Come to think of it ...are there any Kurds left in the Parliament?Read the full story here.

• Turkey - Eight suicide attempts in 3 days,seven of whom were women.(HurriyetDaily).Eight people, seven of whom were women, in the Aegean town of Turgutlu in Manisa province have attempted to commit suicide by taking drugs in the past three days.Most of the suicide attempts stemmed from suppression of women, expert psychiatrist at Turgutlu State Hospital Gözde Öğrük said. “Especially within a marriage, being neglected by the husband, as well as indifference, infidelity and domestic violence have negative consequences on women. There are much too many expectations from women in society; those are the women who have not been educated properly and consequently do not possess economic and social freedom, are not supported by their family and their community, are not asked to express their troubles and have not developed their problem solving skills.” Women’s emotional fragility also makes them susceptible to suicide, Öğrük added.Nazmi Günlü, Turgutlu’s district governor said the suicide attempt cases were not connected to each other and they were all “luckily” saved.Hmmmm......Keep Turkey out of the European Union!Read the full story here.

• Related - Man kills wife after leaving prison for beating her.(TodaysZaman).In yet another case of domestic abuse in Turkey, a man killed his wife after his release from prison, where he had served time for beating her, on Wednesday in İstanbul.For reasons not yet known, Ali and Kezban İncebacak began arguing late on Wednesday night. The fight turned violent when Ali İncebacak began beating his wife. First, he hit his wife's head with a chair. He then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her.Ali İncebacak notified police himself and confessed when they arrived on the scene. The first examination of Kezban İncebacak's body revealed that she had sustained severe blows to the head, one of her eyes had been ejected from its socket and that she had been stabbed. Her body was taken to Göztepe Teaching and Research Hospital.Ali İncebacak was detained and taken to a police station.Hmmmm.....They got to be by now the World recordholders for women murders?Read the full story here.

• Gulf and Arab States Break Silence over Syria Crisis.(Memri).The Arab countries recently broke their silence over the events in Syria with a series of official announcements and moves. First came a cascade of statements from the Gulf states, which called upon the Syrian regime to stop employing its "war machine" against defenseless civilians, and to meet the demands of the Syrian people by enacting serious reforms. These statements triggered similar announcements by Arab states and officials outside the Gulf.Read and see the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.Russian company unveils 'bomb in a box' cruise missile system.(RaiNovosti).A Russian company has unveiled a unique "Pandora's Box" cruise missile system which is deployed and can be fired from a standard 40-foot shipping container, from ships, rail cars or even off the back of a truck.Morinformsystem-Agat JSC is marketing the system as a take-anywhere weapon able to destroy ships and attack land targets with the Novator Klub-K 3M-54TE missile, one of the deadliest cruise missiles in existence."We call it Pandora's box," said a company representative at MAKS air show, where the weapon made its first appearance.The Club K missile system, containing four rounds, is self-contained in the sea container along with two crew members in a sealed cabin with their communications and targeting systems.The weapon is fed information from satellites, then raised to a vertical position from the container by hydraulic rams, and fired. It is then guided inertially to the approximate target area, up to 270 kilometers away, where it finds the target using radar.The missile then accelerates to around 700 meters per second to hit the target with its penetrator high-explosive warhead.The maker will not discuss potential customers but says the system has attracted "considerable interest" from abroad.Hmmmm.......Look what the cargo ship brought in the harbor of NY?Read the full story here.