Turkey - Mavi Marmara raid victims remembered by IHH.

                                              Mavi Marmara armed terrorist


Turkey - Mavi Marmara raid victims remembered by IHH.(HD).On the second anniversary of the deadly Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara flotilla, families of the victims and activists said their ship was still on its way to free Gaza, with millions of supporters. “Two years ago today, we were on our knees, handcuffed. Today, we are at a point all the world is watching and condemns what happened that day,” Hüseyin Oruç, the vice president of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), said yesterday, speaking at a press meeting held in front of the Mavi Marmara itself. On May 29 an Istanbul court formally pressed charges against members of the Israeli military who were involved in the Mavi Marmara incident, demanding nine consecutive life terms for four commanders. The indictment said the four faced prison for “inciting to kill monstrously and by torturing.” Oruç said 197 other Israeli soldiers for whom the court has identity information will also face charges soon. “Four high-level officials have been charged now, but this is not enough,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News. “The European countries and the U.S. cannot stand idle after the Turkish court’s ruling. They will be wanted internationally some day. They will not be able to travel easily in the world.” Oruç also said the ship is ready for a new trip to the Gaza Strip, although there no action planned for now. “If needed we are ready to break the blockade again,” Oruç said. Meanwhile, another commemoration was held in Yemen. Protesters who gathered in “Change Square” prayed for the nine Turkish citizens who were killed, according to Anatolia news agency. The İHH also organized a march in Taksim Square at 7 p.m. yesterday.
Hmmmmm........As part of its humanitarian activities in Somalia, IHH also operates, admitted IHH leader Bülent Yildirim, in areas controlled by Al-Shabaab, which has links to Al-Qaeda.In our assessment, Al-Shabaab allows IHH to operate because of its radical Islamist ideology and because in the past IHH had links to global jihad networks. Al-Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the Somali government, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Some of its operatives were apparently trained by Al-Qaeda and fought in its ranks in Afghanistan.Bülent Yildirim interviewed by the Turkish daily Star. The interviewer asked Yildirim to discuss the proposal made in the American Congress that IHH be designated as a terrorist organization. He answered at length, focusing on the anti-Semitic claim that the United States was "ruled by Zionists." The main points of the interview were the following: The motion to designate the IHH as a terrorist organization was born following the Mavi Marmara incident and was the initiative of Jewish Congressmen. It demonstrates just how much influence Jews have on life in the U.S. and to what extent they have been able to enslave that country. Collecting signatures in the Congress to submit the motion demonstrates better than anything else “the dirty face” of the Congress. According to Yildirim, if the initiative is passed, it would expose “the dirty face of the Zionists in the U.S.”Read the full story here.

U.S. ‘pretends to be sorry’ over Quran burning, says al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri.

U.S. ‘pretends to be sorry’ over Quran burning, says al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri.(AA).Al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri rejected the U.S. apology over the burning of Quran copies at a base in Afghanistan, adding that the Americans “pretend to be sorry,” SITE Intelligence Group reported on Wednesday. “The Crusaders once again repeated their crime by insulting the holy Quran, and once again mocked the messenger of Allah,” Zawahiri said in a SITE English-language translation of his nearly seven-minute message. “After each of their crimes, they pretend to be sorry, and they claim they will investigate what happened, which is a silly farce that Obama and his secretary repeated this time also,” said the chief of the terror network. In February, thousands of Afghan protesters attacked the biggest U.S. military base in their country, at Bagram near Kabul, reacting to reports that troops inside had burned copies of the Quran. Around 40 people were killed in several days of violent protests. American officials say the Qurans had been confiscated from prisoners as they used them to communicate between each other. The incident led U.S. President Barack Obama to apologize for what he described as an error. In Wednesday’s video which the U.S.-based SITE said was posted on extremist forums, Zawahiri criticized Obama’s apology. “The American Crusaders and their allies showed over and over again their hatred and envy of Islam, the book of Islam, the prophet (of) Islam,” Zawahiri said. He urged Muslim across the world to “fight the enemies of Allah and the enemies of His Messenger.”Hmmmm......Clinton says AQ chief Zawahiri in Pakistan, Obama bans raids on AQ in Pakistan.Read the full story here.

Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns Al-Qaeda switching tactics.

Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns Al-Qaeda switching tactics.(Yahoo).As many as 60 Canadians have journeyed abroad to train as al-Qaeda terrorists, this country’s spy chief revealed as he sounded a warning over the group’s shift to a much harder to detect “lone-wolf” style of attack. Richard Fadden, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, also acknowledged Monday that al-Qaeda’s switch to a sole-actor approach to inflicting damage is presenting a problem for Western anti-terrorist agencies. “This really makes things very complicated for us,” he told a Senate committee.
He said this lone-wolf approach tends to attract individuals driven by ideology as well as “serious personal problems,” a combination that makes them more unpredictable. Mr. Fadden was speaking in favour of a new Harper government bill that aims to thwart budding Canadian terrorists who wish to visit foreign training camps. The legislation, S-7, would make it a federal crime to leave, or try to leave, Canada for the purpose of committing terrorism. “There has … been an alarming number of Canadians who have travelled, are planning, or have expressed a desire to engage in terrorist activities,” the CSIS director told senators.
He said he’s worried about the consequences for Canada if these would-be terrorists return home after acquiring the skills needed to cause havoc. Mr. Fadden predicted al-Qaeda’s recent embrace of smaller, leaderless acts of terror is a sign of things to come. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has as recently as last fall published an online magazine called Inspire that called for “open source jihad” and instructed readers to how to carry out their own attacks, he noted. “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom” was the title of article in the Summer, 2010, issue. “My colleagues in Britain, Australia and the United States are of the same opinion: We are seeing an increase in the number of people who are acting on their own,” he said. “When there are a certain number of people involved, there is a possibility of intercepting communications; the chances of errors are far greater. But when there’s one person who’s not talking to anybody, [counterterrorism agencies] have to be really lucky.” The CSIS director served notice his agency is also paying close attention to another emerging trend: the increasing potential for women in Canada to become radicalized as jihadists. He said injunctions against female participation in violent jihad have begun to disappear from extremist websites.Hmmm......Yup the "War on terror" is over ..........in Unicorn country.Read the full story here.

Toulouse shoot out with 24 year old 'French Algerian jihadist' Mohammed Merah, 3 French police injured.

Toulouse shoot out with 24 year old 'French Algerian jihadist' Mohammed Merah, 3 French police injured.(JPost).TOULOUSE, France - A gunman suspected of killing three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school wounded three police officers in a shootout at a house in Toulouse in southwestern France on Wednesday and said he was a member of al-Qaida. Police believe the suspect to be holed up in the building.
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the man targeted in the raid was a 24-year-old Algerian man Mohammed Merah who had visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, and had shot dead the four out of revenge for France's military involvement abroad. He is also suspected by authorities of having killed three soldiers of North African origin last week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, campaigning for re-election in a presidential poll in five weeks time, has blamed racism for Monday's school attack. His handling of the crisis could be a decisive factor in determining how the French people vote."He claims to be a mujahideen and to belong to al-Qaida," Gueant told journalists in Toulouse, referring to the gunman.
"He wanted revenge for the Palestinian children and he also wanted to attack the French army because of its foreign intervention."His two brothers are also detained by police seeking to verify their roles in the case.France has troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO forces.
Gueant did not say how they had tracked the man down, but that police were talking to his brother at a separate location in connection to the killings.
His mother had also been brought to the scene to help negotiate with the man, who is holed up in a small apartment building in the leafy neighborhood.But she would not get in touch him, claiming to have no more influence over him, as is the case with many jihadists who turn away from their families.
The fact that he's gone to Pakistan on two occasions showed that he had links with organized Islamist networks.The suspect stayed twice in Pakistan in 2010 and 2011. He was arrested in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in late 2010. Afghan officials have warned the French police, who inserted his name from that date in their information files.Heavily armed police in bullet-proof vests and helmets cordoned off the area where the raid was taking place, in a suburb a few kilometers from the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school where Monday's shootings took place.Reuters witnesses heard several shots at about 0440 GMT.A police source said the police could launch an assault if the standoff lasted for some time. "There are more and more people around, so this creates a dangerous situation."Read the full story here, Live report here from French Station.

Video - Ezra Levant : " Accumulate Omar Khadr knowledge "

Jacqui Delaney and I talk about the life of Omar Khadr and how some media outlets have portrayed him.
HT: EzraLevant.

Attorney General Eric Holder names Al Qaeda Defense Atty. No. 3 At Obama DOJ.

Attorney General Eric Holder names Al Qaeda Defense Atty. No. 3 At Obama DOJ.(JW).
In a scary development, a major Obama fundraiser who defended a convicted al Qaeda terrorist will become the third highest ranking official at the Department of Justice (DOJ), which, ironically, is charged with defending the interests of the United States.
Northern California lawyer Tony West has been named Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, making him the No. 3 guy at the agency.
In 2009 West, who helped Obama raise tens of millions of dollars as finance co-chairman of his first presidential campaign, was appointed to help run the DOJ’s civil division which represents the government, Congress and presidential cabinet officers and handles cases dealing with significant policy issues.
In a statement announcing the promotion this week, Attorney General Eric Holder says West has served the department with “professionalism, integrity and dedication.”
Holder also mentions West’s work before coming to the DOJ a few years ago, including a stint as a Special Assistant Attorney General in California and a lengthier career at a large San Francisco law firm.
Conveniently omitted in the press release is that West represented convicted al Qaeda terrorist John Walker Lindh, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Lindh was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 while fighting against the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance as a member of the Taliban army. He actually pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives while fighting U.S. troops in the region.Read the full story here.

Algeria seizes large cache of shoulder-fired missiles smuggled from Libya

Algeria seizes large cache of shoulder-fired missiles smuggled from Libya.(AlArabiya).By Lamine Chikhi.Algerian security forces have found a large cache of weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, which they believe were smuggled in from neighboring Libya, a security source briefed on the discovery told Reuters on Saturday.The find follows warnings from governments in the region that instability in Libya after the end of Muammar Qaddafi’s rule is allowing weapons taken from Qaddafi’s arsenal to fall into the hands of al-Qaeda’s north African branch and other insurgent groups across the Sahara desert.
The weapons cache was discovered in the desert about 60 km (40 miles) south of In Amenas, an energy-producing Algerian region near the border with Libya, said the source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.The source said the cache was located following a tip-off from a smuggler who had been arrested. He said it contained a “large quantity” of arms including the shoulder-launched missiles - a weapon which, in some variations, could be used to bring down an aircraft.
“This weapons seizure shows that the chaos in Libya is dangerous for the whole region,” the source said.There was no official confirmation of the discovery from the Algerian government and there was no way of independently verifying the source’s account.Western security experts tracking arms which have disappeared from Qaddafi’s looted arms depots say the shoulder-fired missiles - also known as man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS - are one of their biggest concerns because they could be used with relative ease by insurgent groups.Hmmmm.......Israel has already taken action to protect his fleet of commercial aircrafts from such weapons......How about America?Read the full story here.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Vanuatu 5.1!More info here.

• Are you kidding me?FBI open to US Muslim Brotherhood groups "establishing a committee to review materials used in FBI anti-terrorism training"(AS). And you thought it was bad that the FBI submited to demands to purge counter terrorism materials of jihadic doctrine documentation: Obama disarms FBI counter terror training programs, purges truth about jihadYou ain't seen nothing yet. The Muslim Brotherhood and their jihadist brothers are on the march, emboldened by a pro-jihadist Obama adminstration."FBI officials say they are willing to consider a proposal from a coalition of Muslim and interfaith groups to establish a committee of experts to review materials used in FBI anti-terrorism training."Maybe the Taliban and Al Qaeda can review it as well. Hamas-CAIR is already all over it. Is there any rational man who believes that this makes us safer? Our government is clearly no longer a government by the people and for the people. It is now a government against the people.The Washington Post is reporting:"FBI officials say they are willing to consider a proposal from a coalition of Muslim and interfaith groups to establish a committee of experts to review materials used in FBI anti-terrorism training."“We’re open to the idea, but they need to submit a proposal first,” said Christopher Allen, an FBI spokesman who was in the meeting.Read the full story here.

• Trouble in Obamaland: U.S. May Hit Debt Ceiling Before November Election.(BP).President Obama held out last August for a debt increase that would take him past the November 2012 election. Obama didn't want the voters thinking about his gargantuan deficit spending right before election day. However, President Obama's inability to curtail spending may put him in that very situation anyway. A new study has predicted the government will run out of money again in mid-October.The United States Department of Treasury will reach the the statutory limit it is allowed to borrow money before election day, according to a new study by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio., former director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.“Following the contentious debt ceiling last August, President Obama promised that he would take action to address the country’s fiscal crisis. He has failed to do that," Portman said. "In fact, his new budget increases spending and projects that Washington will be hitting the debt ceiling again in mid-October – burning through a $2.1 trillion debt limit increase in just over 14 months."Read the full story here.

• Lawmaker Demands DHS Cease Monitoring of Blogs, Social Media.(Wired).Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California) said Thursday she wants the Department of Homeland Security to cease its social-media and news-monitoring operation.Speaking at a Homeland Security subcommittee hearing, the California lawmaker said she was “outraged” that the agency has hired a contractor to review a variety of social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, and that General Dynamics is being tasked with reviewing news sources, blogs and their bylines for all types of articles, including those containing anti-American sentiment and reaction to policy proposals.“This should not be a political operation,” she said.Read the full story here.

• US gets Barak to backtrack and deny Iran has reached nuclear point of no-return.(Debka). By suddenly stating, contrary to all informed estimates, that Iran’s nuclear arms program has not yet reached the point of no return, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak implied that Israel was in no hurry to strike its nuclear facilities, a message for which Washington has been angling for months.In a Kol Israel interview from Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 16, the defense minister’s pronouncement contradicted every reliable evaluation, including those of Military Intelligence Chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on Feb. 2 and his predecessor Amos Yadlin who wrote on Jan. 26 that Iran had passed the point of no return four or five years ago. But his words were a perfect fit for the recent assertions by US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that Israel had not yet made up its mind to attack Iran.Kochavi’s information was detailed: He reported that Iran had amassed 10 kilos of 20-percent enriched uranium and four tons of uranium enriched to 3.5 percent. In his view, nothing remains to stop Iran building a bomb but a decision by its ruler. Once taken, Iran’s nuclear program could produce its first bomb or warhead by the end of this year or early 2013 and four or five by 2015.The defense minister backtracked on a second issue: While noting that Iran was scattering or burying its nuclear facilities to “impede a surgical strike,” he avoided his previous estimate that no more than three to six months were left before all those facilities had been hidden in what he himself called “zones of immunity.Before these changes in outlook, Barak was indirectly criticized by Obama administration officials for underlining the mortal threat to Israel of a nuclear Iran. One official complained, “Israelis are looking at the problem too narrowly.”Why the defense minister suddenly changed course is unclear. It is also hard to know if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu okayed his radical departure from Israel’s information strategy on the nuclear Iran issue.What is apparent, debkafile’s sources report, is that the change of tune coincides with the reports circulating in Washington and Jerusalem that the US and Iran have agreed to resume nuclear talks shortly. Those sources point to an article in the New York Times by Dennis Ross, President Obama’s former senior adviser on Iran, entitled “Iran is ready to talk.” Ross is too experienced to go out on a limb and make this sort of statement without being sure of his facts.Hmmmmm........"Trust me said the scorpion to the frog".Read the full story here.

• 'Homs hit with an average of 4 rockets a minute'.(JPost).Syrian President Bashar Assad continued his bloody crackdown on protesters on Friday, marking the 14 days of heavy shelling in Homs. According to activist Hadi Abdullah, Friday's violence is the "the like of which we have never seen before, with an average of four rockets every minute,” AFP reported.In a telephone conversation with the Al Arabiya paper, Abdullah explained that the city's shelters were over-crowded with residents fleeing the indiscriminate bombardment. On Thursday, the 193-nation UN General Assembly ratcheted up the pressure on Assad by overwhelmingly approving a resolution that endorses an Arab League plan calling for him to step aside.Russia and China were among those opposing the resolution, which was drafted by Saudi Arabia and submitted by Egypt on behalf of Arab UN delegations. Unlike in the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly, and its decisions lack the legal force of council resolutions.Read the full story here.

• Afghan government involved in U.S.-Taliban peace dialogue, says Karzai.(AlArabiya).The Afghan government is part of a three-way peace dialogue involving the U.S. and the Taliban, President Hamid Karzai reportedly said, despite the militia’s denunciation of his “puppet regime.”Kabul has expressed fear of being marginalized as United States officials explore a dialogue with the Islamist Taliban, who in turn have said they have no intention to talk to the president’s U.S.-backed government.But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Karzai said the Afghan government was indeed involved in the dialogue and that most Taliban were “definitively” interested in a peace deal as foreign troops exit.“There have been contacts between the U.S. government and the Taliban, there have been contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and there have been some contacts that we have made, all of us together, including the Taliban,” Karzai was quoted as saying in the interview, conducted Wednesday.The president, who is due to hold summit talks in Islamabad with leaders of Pakistan and Iran on Thursday, did not give any further details about the contacts.Karzai did not mention any Pakistani involvement in the Taliban dialogue, but said the cooperation of Afghanistan’s fractious neighbor “would make the whole matter easier for us, for the Taliban, and for the U.S.”The Taliban said last month that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar ahead of possible formal talks with the United States. Afghan and U.S. officials have said that exploratory contacts are already underway.To build confidence, President Barack Obama’s administration has confirmed tentative talks with the Taliban on a possible transfer of five inmates from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar, and on potential local ceasefires with the militia.The nascent dialogue comes as the United States and its foreign allies prepare to draw down their combat troop presence and hand full control of Afghanistan’s security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.The Taliban have often decried Karzai’s government as a “puppet regime” propped up by foreign troops and cash, but the president dismissed such talk as rhetoric.In the interview, he said the Taliban might even accept a peace deal that allows for the long-term presence of U.S. troops.Afghanistan could give ground on the question of legal immunity for U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, he said, a stumbling block that prevented a similar strategic pact between the United States and Iraq last year.“That’s an issue that we can discuss,” the president told the Wall Street Journal. “We want a partnership with America. And we will do all we can to make that possible.” Read the full story here.

• Egyptian preacher wants end to U.S. “humiliation” by replacing aid with local donations.(ALArabiya).Egyptian Salafist preacher Mohammed Hassan has called for the replacement of U.S. aid to Egypt with local donations, Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported on Wednesday.Egypt receives around $1.3 billion annually in military aid from the U.S. government but Washington has threatened to cut off the flow of money after Cairo charged 43 activists, including 19 Americans, with violating laws regulating the operation of NGOs.Accusations against the activists include working for organizations not properly registered in Egypt and receiving foreign funds illegally.Egypt, as one of the main recipients of U.S. aid worldwide receives military assistance in the form of arms and services including maintenance.Hassan explained that his idea comes in response to what he called American “humiliation” of Egypt.“If America wants to cut military aid, very well; Egypt isn’t less than Iran which is self-dependent when it comes to producing its own military equipment,” Hassan said. “The Egyptian people will not be broken anymore.”Hassan received support for his statement by two Islamist lawmakers, Mohamed Selim El-Awwa ad Abdel Moneim Aboul Foutuh.Aboul Foutuh was quoted as saying that the aid served U.S. interests rather than being granted for charity purposes.Meanwhile El-Awwa said Hassan’s initiative would prevent interference in Egypt’s internal affairs.On Tuesday the dispute further escalated when state-run Egyptian newspapers accused the U.S. of spreading anarchy.Based on remarks by Minster of International Cooperation Faiza Abul Naga, Al Gomhuria newspaper declared on its front page “American is behind the anarchy.”While the front page of Al Ahram newspaper read “American funding aims to spread anarchy in Egypt.”In her remarks made in October but revealed only this week, Abul Naga linked between what she saw as the surge in U.S. funding for civil society groups in 2011 and the attempt to steer the course of the post-Hosni Mubarak transition in “a direction that realized American and Israeli interests.”“All the indications show that there was a clear desire to abort any chance for Egypt to emerge as a modern democratic state with a strong economy,” she was quoted as saying by the official MENA news agency, adding that that would be a threat to “American and Israeli interests.”Last week, Egypt’s ruling military council released a statement stressing that relations with the U.S. were government by common interest of both parties and “Egypt does not bow to the domination of anyone.”The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on Tuesday to urge Egypt to “immediately cease its intimidation and prosecution” of democracy activists. The chairman of the panel, Senator John Kerry, said lawmakers were “sending a signal that American patience is being tested” in Egypt.The row is one of the worst in over 30 years of close U.S.-Egyptian ties and has complicated Washington’s efforts to establish relations with the military council that took power from Mubarak after his overthrow in a popular revolt a year ago.Read the full story here.

• Israel's Netanyahu PM in Cyprus: sanctions on Iran not working.(JPost).NICOSIA - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s tour of Iranian centrifuges halls Wednesday is an indication that the worlds sanctions against Iran are not working, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday.Netanyahu’s comments came during a press conference in Nicosia with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias.“If anybody needed a reminder that the sanctions have not stopped the nuclear program, it was the guided tour by the Iran’s president in the centrifuge hall yesterday," he said. “I hope they work, but so far they have not."Netanyahu characterized Iran as a regime that “breaks all the rules." A regime that was formed through the taking of the US embassy in Tehran, Iran -- Netanyahu said -- has ever since continued to show no respect for international rules. The most recent example, he said, was attacking foreign diplomats and their wives.“They send children into mine fields, they have suicide bombers, they send tens of thousands of rockets into our cites and towns," Netanyahu said. “Such a regime should obviously not have an atomic bomb, and I believe that the international community is becoming aware by the day of what it means for Iran” to have nuclear potential, he said.Asked about whether the US should fear an Israeli attack on Iran, Netanyahu said that Israel, the US and the rest of the world should be concerned about Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.Read the full story here.

• Online Jihadi Incites American Muslims To Lone Wolf Attacks, Recommends Following 'Inspire' Magazine and Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan; Says: 'Mujahid Can Carry Weapons, Enter Public Places Where There Are Christians, And Kill'.(Memri).On February 10, 2012, a member of the Shumoukh Al-Islam jihadi forum, "Abu Asma' Al-Cubi" ("the Cuban") posted an article detailing how Muslims living in the West, particularly in the U.S., can aid the global jihadi movement and can weaken the U.S. from within.Al-Cubi writes that it has become clear to all that the two main forces operating in the geopolitical and ideological arenas are Al-Qaeda and its supporters on the one hand, and the U.S. and its allies on the other. Referring to Al-Qaeda as a "hidden phenomenon," he says that the organization has proven itself to be the force that is the stronger and more united of the two, especially after it defeated the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq.Read the full story here.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Mauritius 5.1!More info here.

• Would Obama Go to War with Iran to Win Reelection?(BP).Since 2008, Barack Obama’s position on Iran has vacillated somewhat, but on the whole remained one of benevolence. During his presidential campaign, he expressed his openness to diplomacy with the nation’s leaders via his willingness to hold talks without requiring them to meet any conditions or demands from the U.S. Then, even before becoming president, he decided the talks would only happen if doing so “advances the interests of the U.S.” And months after being sworn into office, while on his “American Apology Tour” in the Middle East, he assured Iranian leaders that he had no intention of standing between them and nuclear weapons. He even said, “No single nation should pick and choose which nation holds nuclear weapons.”In addition to these things, Obama has been cold toward Israel at times and openly indignant toward them at others, especially regarding their intentions to stop Iran from getting its hands on a nuclear weapon. For example, within the last month Israel has been warned not to attack Iran without our approval and told that if they do, “the US would not defend Israel” should there be a reprisal.Yet after all this, Iranian President Ahmadinejad would be foolish to sleep with his door unlocked. For Obama said the same things about the Middle East as a whole during this Apology Tour, and where is Moammar Gaddafi now? Perhaps you’ll remember that the same Obama who told Middle Eastern leaders the U.S. lacks the moral authority to police the world in 2009, then defended policing the world (by sending troops to Libya) in 2011 and saying: “To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are.”While I don’t want to say the sky is falling if it’s not, I also don’t want to ignore the fact that beneath the gentle sound of Obama’s pacifistic speeches and his 1960s-style antiwar approach to diplomacy, there lurks a man who wants a second term in office. And to get such a term, he comes across as someone who’d just about anything to get a few red state voters to go his way in November. And what would motivate red-state moms and dads more than the knowledge that their sons and daughters were in Iran, carrying out “our [responsibility] to our fellow human beings”?I hope I’m wrong. But as I think about the policy shift that took place to justify Libya, I can’t help but wonder if a war with Iran might be part of the perfection storm Obama’s counting on to get reelected.Hmmm........I wonder which would be worse...A nuclear Iran or a second lifelong term of Obama.Read the full story here.

• Former Attorney General Ed Meese Obama Administration 'As Close to a Monarchy As Since Days Of George III'.(CNSNews).Former Attorney General Ed Meese says the Obama administration’s “disdain for Congress” and its efforts to consolidate power within the executive branch through the use of “czars” makes it “as close to a monarchy as since the days of George III.”“In what was purported to be the most transparent and the most law abiding administration in history, as the president said when he was inaugurated, has now sunk into the least transparent and the most disdainful of the Constitution as we’ve ever seen,” Meese said during a panel discussion Tuesday sponsored by the American Action Network.Meese and former White House Counsel Boyden Gray discusse excesses of executive power by the Obama administration.Meese also pointed to the 44 different “czars” currently serving in the Obama White House in a wide variety of areas, and quipped that the Obama administration has had more czars than Russia had “The whole idea is the czar is part of Obama’s scheme of centralizing all the power right around him in the White House,” Meese said.“The way the executive branch of the government works is you have bureaucratic norms in which the various departments have their responsibilities,” Meese said. “This is a way of getting around that by having people responsible only to him, many of them not confirmable because they are part of the White House apparatus and most of them not subject to questioning by Congress because of their White House status.”Hmmmm......Obama Blames “Founding Fathers” For Making It Difficult For Him To “Bring Change”But..."I will keep plotting".Read the full story here.

• Obama's Friends Win Big in Budget.(DocsTalk).By Mike Brownfield. You don’t need to log on to President Barack Obama’s Facebook page to find out who his friends are, and you don’t need to read tea leaves, gaze into a crystal ball, or consult a psychic to learn where his priorities lie. No, you only have to take a look at his 2013 budget, just released on Monday, to see what kind of company the president keeps and to what extent he will go to lend his pals a helping hand.The folks seated at the president’s head table haven’t changed much in the past few years — the only difference is how much is being served up in the taxpayer-funded buffet. As in the past, the president has plenty of handouts for his big labor buddies. His budget delivers a fourth consecutive annual deficit exceeding $1 trillion — and that spending goes to yet another round of not-so-shovel-ready construction projects and government “investments” totaling $178 billion. Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen writes that the spending includes the president’s favored road, bridge, and school construction projects, but “then they go alarmingly beyond the usual ‘infrastructure’ arguments to fund teachers’ pay.” In other words, unions representing the construction site and the classroom win big. Other winners in the president’s budget are those who fit into the Administration’s vision of a green economy that is propelled not by the market’s demand, but by Obama’s whim. The 2013 budget proposes to spend $310 million to make solar energy cost-competitive without subsidies by 2020, $290 million to expand R&D on energy efficient manufacturing techniques, and $421 million in fossil energy research and development. Heritage energy expert Nicolas Loris writes that the budget “rejects the notion of a market-based energy industry and wastes taxpayer dollars at a time when we desperately need to curtail out-of-control spending.” In other words, he says, the president’s blueprint is all wrong.“It will be my generation, rather than the retiring baby boomers, that will be paying off the national debt through higher income taxes,” says Amanda Winkler, 24, a Master’s Student at American University. Shaun Rabenius, 26, is a part-time construction worker and student. He says, “I have never followed politics much, except for when I vote. But in looking at the last decade, the presidencies, and the debt they have accumulated, I am scared out of my mind.”They’re right to be worried. With a Senate that hasn’t passed a budget in well over 1,000 days and a president who seems intent on spending more, not less, without addressing the country’s underlying budgetary crisis, future generations will soon find that the winners today will make them losers tomorrow.Read the full story here.

• Obama Media begin the Faking of Obama Poll Numbers.(CFP).by Sher Zieve.In order to sway the vast majority and growing number of Americans who have finally faced up to the fact that Obama is purposefully trying to destroy the United States of America, the Obama Media have begun their side of the Obama syndicate’s overall strategy of lying to us. Polls now show 50% of voters would vote for Obama. Intelligent people—even those few on the Left—know this is a lie. But, it’s what all third-world countries have done since their inception. This is what we said would happen, at least a year ago. This is what is happening now. The polls are being used to convince the more uninformed amongst us that there is no real hope of regaining our country and we’d better get used to submitting to the dictator already in office. Obama does not intend to leave—under any circumstances—so we may as well accept our enslavement as the good sheeple Obama plans to herd off the cliff. Obama has told us via his actions over and over again that he will decimate our country and we can do nothing about it.  Note: As there are now myriad Marxist-plants in the Republicans Party (we who have actually followed their shenanigans for years know who they are) the Marxist-Dems have pretty much all of the support they need to pass one unconstitutional bill after another. And—if by some miracle these bills do not pass—they still have Obama who will unconstitutionally and therefore illegally issue an Executive Order for anything he wants. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re already living under a dictatorship.As the 2012 General Election looms closer the bogus poll numbers will increase. BTW, the economy is not doing better. It‘s actually doing worse. Those numbers are also being manipulated by the Obama machine. In order to even begin to report numbers that would help Obama, the ObamaGov and the major media had to drop all essentially important data. The actual facts, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and reiterated by Tyler Durden, are: “…the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that’s not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation.” The Obama government is continuing to fake employment numbers, as well as removing other detrimental to his ruling syndicate.The major media belongs to the Obama syndicate. I suspect they actually believe the crocodile won’t eat them either. Apparently, they have short memories as to what happened to the press under the Perons, Stalin, Hitler and, most recently, Hugo Chavez. But, if we let it, we already know the crocodile is going eat us.Read the full story here.

• Financial Fraud Guru Hillary Clinton May Head Up World Bank.(BG).By Ben Shapiro.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is apparently a candidate to replace retiring World Bank President Robert Zoellick. And that should frighten anybody who doesn’t suffer from severe memory loss. Hillary Clinton, you’ll remember, was the driving force behind multiple financial scandals that plagued the Clinton Administration. There was Whitewater, a controversy in which the Clintons, along with their friends Jim and Susan McDougal, took out a large loan to buy a chunk of property. When the project ran into financial trouble, Jim McDougal illegally used a bank he was running to subsidize more property buying and development. Hillary Clinton acted as one of his lawyers. The bank eventually collapsed entirely, and the U.S. government picked up the tab to the tune of $73 million. Clinton himself, it was later alleged, pressured one of his supporters to give Susan McDougal a $300,000 loan. When Vince Foster committed suicide in 1993, chief White House counsel Bernie Nussbaum quickly headed over to Foster’s office and grabbed Whitewater documents, turning them over to the Clintons. The Justice Department initiated an investigation, and Hillary was subpoenaed to appear in front of a grand jury. Virtually everyone surrounding the Clintons was charged with criminal misconduct. Hillary escaped scot-free. Then there was Travelgate, the scandal in which Hillary Clinton essentially ordered the firing of everybody inside the White House Travel Office, making way for friends of hers to clear lots of cash. The Clintons pressured the FBI to investigate the Travel Office to give her an excuse to clear away the old employees. The General Accounting Office reported that Clinton told a senior White House official to dump those employees in favor of “our people.” Or how about Filegate, in which Hillary allegedly hired Craig Livingstone, the director of the White House’s Office of Personnel Security, who requested classified personal files from the FBI about political enemies?And, of course, there was the New Square scandal during Hillary’s run for Senator for New York in 2000. In that case, the President pardoned four felons from the Jewish Hasidic community of New Square, allegedly in return for their votes for Hillary. Does this sound a like a woman who should be running the World Bank? Everywhere the Clintons have gone, ruinous personal and financial scandal has followed in their wake. Should the World Bank appoint Hillary its head, there is little doubt that funds will find their way into the hands of Hillary’s friends and associates.Hmmmm......2011 Flashback:"Hillary Clinton 'wants to quit to run World Bank'.Mrs Clinton has made clear she does not want to remain US Secretary of State, a gruelling job demanding months of world travel each year, beyond Mr Obama's first term. Another source told Reuters that Mr Obama supported her taking the helm at the World Bank, which is traditionally led by an American. If she served out a five-year term, that would take her beyond the 2016 election, when she would be 69. On the other hand, if she stepped down early from the World Bank she could enter the 2016 race for the White House with historically unparalleled experience in foreign policy, economic policy, on Capitol Hill and as First Lady.Read the full story here.

• Obama’s Rejection of the Keystone Pipeline: A Gift for Republicans in 2012.(BigGovernment).When President Obama put the kibosh on the Keystone Pipeline, environmentalist Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “The pipeline was rejected for all the right reasons. President Obama put the health and safety of the American people and our air, lands and water—our national interest—above the interests of the oil industry.” That was false when she said it, for Obama hadn’t really put our air, land, or water on a pedestal. Rather, he simply cowed down to environmental activists (like Beinecke) who wanted him to do so in a bid to appeal once more to the far left in his party, and to subsequently lock in more votes for November 2012. In so doing, he rejected a pipeline that not only would have created thousands of jobs, but would have brought an untold amount of crude to the Gulf of Mexico for America’s refiners to use to make gasoline and other fuels.And as the fruit of this asinine decision is born out at the gas pump, where gas is already over $3.50 a gallon and headed to $5 by summer’s end, every would-be GOP Presidential candidate should be reminding voters: “This is Obama’s hope and change—$5 a gallon gas must have been what he had in mind when said he was going to ‘fundamentally change America.’”Let’s face it folks, the gas prices are a misery index in and of themselves. And Obama knows it, so he’s trying to spin high gas prices as proof the economy is recovering (as if high gas prices means our economy has corrected itself). If that’s true, maybe the high healthcare prices Obama used to justify the need for Obamacare were really just proof that our healthcare system was already righting its own ship?The bottom line: Obama is an anti-capitalist and an archetypical leftist. As such, nothing makes him happier than to teach America a lesson: to let Americans get a taste of what other nation’s pay for their gasoline, and perhaps even to force us to trade our SUVs for little plastic cars that run off batteries. This is the message Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich need to be hammering home every time someone sticks a microphone in their faces.Gasoline was approximately $1.84a gallon when Obama entered office, its price has risen 83%on his watch. If he believes such an increase in per-gallon price is the answer, Americans deserve a new question. It’s time to drill here, drill now. And it’s time to build the pipeline.Until then, Obama’s rejection of the pipeline is the gift that keeps on giving for would-be GOP presidential candidates who want to distinguish their energy policy from that of our current occupant in the White House. We desperately need a president who puts our energy needs above the delusional demands of the environmentalists.Read the full story here.

• Federal School Lunch Agents: What Country Is This?(DP).At first I looked to see where this story took place, because part of me is still naïve enough to assume it must have happened in China or North Korea. But I should know better these days: A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious. The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day. The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home. When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.The girl’s mother — who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation — said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a “healthy lunch” would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25. When I think “healthy alternative” the first thing that pops into my mind is “chicken nuggets.” It’s not like they haven’t been telegraphing their intentions for a long time. Here’s Michelle Obama: “Many of the children in the public schools, they take this information, they understand it,” said Mrs. Obama. “They apply it to their lives, and they push their parents and their families to be different. That’s one of the reasons why we start with kids oftentimes. They are ready for change sometimes when we’re not.”People who want to believe these kind of statements are just innocent metaphors for healthy living do so at their own peril and that of their children.Read the full story here.

• Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen killed in family dispute.(BM).SANA’A: A top al-Qaeda in Yemen leader was reportedly killed in a local family dispute in the eastern province of al-Bida, news reports indicated.Tariq al-Dahab was shot dead by his half-brother Hazam inside a mosque, said Yemeni news website Mareb Press.Two companions of Dahab were also killed in the attack, the report added.No cause was immediately cited for the attack.The killing comes as al-Qaeda and other militant groups in Yemen continue to have near daily violent clashes, which has led to security vacuum in much of the country, still reeling from the uprising that ousted President Ali Abdallah Saleh and comes less than two weeks ahead of a presidential vote in the country.Dahab is a relative of al-Qaeda’s spiritual leader in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US airstrike last year.Last month Dahab, commanding a battalion of insurgents, seized the town of Rada’a, some 150 kilometers southeast of the capital Sana’a, before releasing it again following tribal mediation.Militants – believed to be affiliated to al-Qaeda – have taken advantage of a year of political turmoil in Yemen to expand their influence in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.The opposition has accused outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh of manipulating the threat of extremists to seek support from the West and extend his stay in power, despite months of protests against him.Read the full story here.

• Bin Laden’s brother-in-law wants sister to return to Yemen.(BM).SANA’A: Months after the death of her husband at the hands of American Navy Seals, Amal al-Sadah, Ossama bin Laden’s fifth and youngest wife, is still being held prisoner in her home in Pakistan. Her brother, Zachariah Ahmed al-Sadah, who has spent the past three months trying to convince the authorities of his sister’s innocence regarding al-Qaeda’s activities, arguing that there was no case against her, revealed that he had directly made a heartfelt appeal to Pakistan’s chief of justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, in a bid to return his sister back to her family in Yemen.The young woman, who gave al-Qaeda’s leader 5 children, is said to be suffering from a wound to her knee after she was shot by American soldiers in the raid, which led to the death of her husband.In an interview with the press, al-Sadah revealed that Pakistan had failed to properly treat his sister’s injury, leaving her to this day unable to walk. He added that her children had been traumatized by the assassination of their father and were now suffering psychologically. He further went on complaining that his nieces and nephews had been prevented from resuming their education as they were forbidden from leaving the house.Amal’s family is hoping that she will soon return to her home in Yemen where she will raise her children away from violence and controversy. Her brother stressed in his petition that his sister was a simple “housewife whose ambition was to look after her three daughters and two sons.”Activists in Yemen have accused Pakistan of abusing the young woman and children’s rights.“Since no proof was brought forward, Amal should walk free. She is Yemeni and should therefore be allowed to return to the safety of her family. Such a violation of her rights is unacceptable,” said a human rights activist.Read the full story here.

• Iran Sends Response to Ashton's letter.(Fars). TEHRAN - Iran's chief negotiator and Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Saeed Jalili sent a reply to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's letter about talks between Tehran and the six world powers, and welcomed resumption of negotiations between the two sides.According to the secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in the letter which was delivered to Ashton's office on Wednesday, Jalili welcomed the readiness of the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members - Russia, China, Britain, France and the US plus Germany) to resume talks with Iran. The Iranian chief negotiator underlined in his letter that returning to the negotiation table would be the best means to broaden cooperation between the two sides. He added that the success of the upcoming talks would totally depend on the positive attitude of the 5+1 as well as the initiatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Jalili also welcomed Ashton's view that Iran's legitimate rights to make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes should be respected."I think upcoming talks with the G 5+1 will be a successful meeting, because I feel the other side is now interested to find a way to settle Iran's nuclear issue," Salehi said upon his arrival at Addis Ababa at the time. The foreign minister also said that Iran is always ready to settle its nuclear issue in an appropriate way. Concerning talks with the Group 5+1, Salehi said that Iran has already declared its readiness for talks and date and venue of the negotiation will be declared in Mr. Jalili's letter to Ms. Ashton. Iran and G5+1 attended three rounds of talks in Istanbul, Turkey, in January 2011. The Iranian side was presided by Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili, while Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, headed delegations from the six world powers. Hmmmm.....Cutting the Europeans their oil supply will surely make them more 'responsive'.Read the full story here.

• Widely Popular Nanoparticles Could Be Giving You Cancer, Nutritional Deficiencies.(AP).By Mike Barrett.There is a bit of controversy revolving around nanoparticles, which involve the manipulation of elements as well as other matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Found in consumer products, many foods, and in pharmaceutical drugs, nanoparticles are increasingly being found in more products every year.Many people assume nanoparticles are safe, but they have actually been shown to pose a threat to your health. Nanoparticles Shown to be Dangerous, Block Nutrient Absorption. According to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), over 1,300 manufacturer nanotechnology-enabled products are in the global commercial marketplace.Nanoparticles can now be found in car batteries, appliances, aluminum foil, non-stick cookware, and are especially present in health and fitness items. PEN Director David Rejeski states: The use of nanotechnology in consumer products continues to grow on a rapid and consistent basis…when we launched the inventory in March 2006 it contained 212 products. If the current trend continues, the number of products could reach 3,400 by 2020. Nanotechnology is much like organism-based biotechnology, where even supporters of the technologies know there needs to be more long-term testing to determine safety. Genetically modified foods have already been shown to cause numerous health and environmental complications, but they continue to be pushed. Similarly, nanotechnology is believed by some to be the ‘next industrial revolution’, but like genetically modified foods, it has never been proven totally safe for use or consumption. A recent study published in the journal Nature titled “Oral exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles affects iron absorption” examined chickens fed a diet which included polystyrene nanoparticles. Researchers found that intestinal changes affecting iron absorption occurred due to the polystyrene nanoparticles. They also expect to see an alteration in absorption of calcium, copper, zinc, and vitamins A, D, E, and K.Another study conducted in 2004 found that nanoparticles cause brain damage in fish and other aquatic species.In addition, Oxford University and Montreal University in 1997 linked titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreen to free radical and DNA damage. But still, even in 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to put any warning labels on sunscreens that contain nanomaterials. Scientists worry about the place nanoparticles have in our society. These particles have fundamentally different physical, biological, and chemical properties than their larger counterparts, and continue to be shown as a danger to human health.Read the full story here. 

• Why Children Should Not be Using Cell Phones.(AP).The issue of electromagnetic fields (EMF) is increasingly becoming a societal concern. Present wherever electricity flows, these invisible waves are causing damage to the health of all living organisms. Due to advancements in technology, EMFs can be found in bedrooms, classrooms, playgrounds, and basically anywhere -- thanks to our wireless world.Technology is being applied earlier on in life, causing the youngest of kids to partake in heavy cell phone and TV activity. It is unfortunate, as growing children are more susceptible to the dangers brought on by EMFs. Cell phones in particular have become a major concern, with kids as young as 10 years old using them.A recent report with lead author, John Wargo, Ph. D., professor of Environmental Risk and Policy at Yale University, shows just how damaging EMFs can be for children.Research shows that due to developing organs, lower bone density of the skull, lower body weight, and a less effective blood-brain barrier, children are extremely vulnerable to cell phone radiation. This is especially true for unborn children, with research showing that microwave radiation emitted by cell phones negatively influencing fetal brains.It was also revealed in a study conducted 4 years ago that 54 percent of children born from mothers who used cell phones had behavioral issues. What’s more, the percentage jumped to 80 if the children grew up talking on cell phones frequently.Your brain is made up of water, sugars, and fats. Microwaves emitted by cell phones agitate these substances and penetrate the brain, causing negative alterations. Researchers from a recent Greek study found that important areas of the brain such as the hippocampus, cerebellum, and frontal lobe – all important for learning, memory, and other functions – are negatively impacted by microwave radiation, even at levels below International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines. Specifically, 143 proteins in the brain were negatively impacted by radio frequency radiation over a period of 8 months. Although completely limiting exposure is near impossible, taking steps to avoid exposure to cellphone radiation is important. Simply talking on your cell phone less will result in less radiation exposure. Even placing your cell phone far away from you instead of in your pocket at all times limits exposure. Although it is a small amount, it is a very simple solution.
  Reducing exposure to children is especially important, as they are quite vulnerable. Another solution would be to invest in an EMF protector or other similar and very available technologies that can further reduce exposure to the dangers of cell phone microwave radiation.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Indonesia 5.9 - 5.5 ; Reunion 5.6 ; Taiwan 5.1 !More info here.

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

• Flash - THE WHITE HOUSE TRAVEL OFFICE: Trip of the President to Honolulu, Hawaii.(DrudgeReport).December 17th, 2011 to January 2nd, 2012. Trip Overview: On Saturday, December 17th, 2011, the President will travel to Honolulu, Hawaii. He will return to Washington, DC on Monday, January 2nd, 2012. ......no public events are scheduled during the trip.Hmmm....Merry Christmas......'We feel your pain'.Read the full story here.

• Obama Tells Supporters He Needs Another Term So He Can Finish Implementing Obamacare.(CNSNews) — Speaking at a campaign fundraising event at the Gotham Bar and Grille in New York City on Wednesday, President Barack Obama told a group of supporters he needed to win reelection next year to make sure the health-care law he signed in 2010 will actually be fully implemented in 2014 as planned.“We still have a health care system that has to get more efficient and that has to improve its quality,” Obama said, according to a White House transcript. “And so we’re going to have to implement the Affordable Care Act in 2014, and that means I’ve got to win in 2012.”The law Obama signed mandates that by 2104 all must purchase a health-care plan that meets government requirements. The constitutionality of this mandate has been challenged in federal court and the Supreme Court has said it will hear the case in this session.Hmmm....."Corruptisima re publica plurimae leges" In the most corrupt state are the most laws.Read the full story here.

• John Boehner on Obama's claim to be pro-Israel.(IsraelMatzav).Here's US House Speaker John Boehner's (R-In) comment on President Obama's claim to be the most pro-Israel President evah. This is priceless.Read and see the full story here.

• Republicans Will Introduce Bill To Prevent IMF Bailout of Crumbling Eurozone.(TheHill).Conservatives say they will try to block the International Monetary Fund from bailing out Italy and Spain, which they say could leave U.S. taxpayers with a huge bill. Republicans on both sides of the Capitol complain that the Obama administration has refused to share details of what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is discussing with European leaders amid reports the IMF could intervene. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) says he is planning legislation directing the U.S. government to veto an expanded role for the fund.Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), a member of the House Republican leadership, also have legislation to curb the proposed intervention.“I’m adamantly against the IMF being involved in this,” Coburn said.“We’re throwing good money after bad down a hole that I think is not a solvable problem,” he said.“Europe is going to default eventually, so why would you socialize their profligate spending,” he added.Coburn estimates the U.S. could be liable for as much as $176 billion if the IMF shores up Italy and Spain and the European Union collapses.President Obama this week said the U.S. “stands ready to do our part” to help resolve the crisis, and Geithner in October said using U.S. tax dollars through the IMF to shore up Europe’s efforts was appropriate.DeMint offered an amendment to the defense authorization bill instructing the U.S. executive director of the IMF to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose funding of the European Financial Stability Facility, the bailout fund that would be used to stabilize countries at risk of default.But Coburn and other Republicans are skeptical their effort will be successful. They expect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to prevent the Senate from voting on legislation to block U.S. funds from being used in an IMF bailout.Even if it passes Congress, Coburn says President Obama would likely veto the legislation.IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced Thursday that Group of 20 nations are prepared to fund a massive IMF intervention. “If circumstances require, the G-20 will commit the resources that are necessary for the IMF to play its systemic role,” she said, according to Bloomberg. “That gives you a range that is almost without a cap, without a limitation.” An IMF spokesman said Wednesday the fund is not in discussions with Italy about a bailout.Domenico Lombardi, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former board member of the IMF, said the advantage of bailing out Italy or Spain through the IMF instead of the European Central Bank is that doing so would allow European leaders to condition aid on the implementation of fiscal reforms.Lombardi said the IMF has the authority to attach strings to a possible bailout and monitor the actions of the recipient countries, which the central bank does not.“The EU system does not have ability to impose conditionality, but the IMF does,” he said.Lombardi said the Republican criticism has some validity because if the IMF loaned massive amounts to Italy and Spain and failed to prevent a default, the IMF, not the European Central Bank, would be liable. The U.S. is the biggest contributor to the IMF, kicking in about 17 percent of its budget. A European default could put U.S. taxpayers on the hook for 17 percent of the IMF’s liabilities.European leaders set a $1.3 trillion goal for an expanded bailout fund. If it failed to recoup its loans, U.S. taxpayers would face a liability of more than $200 billion.Read the full story here.

• Veena Malik : I didn’t pose naked for FHM, says Pakistani actress in hot water over nude photoshoot.(DailyMail).A controversial Pakistani actress has been forced to deny posing naked for the India edition of FHM sporting a tattoo of the initials 'ISI' her arm.Veena Malik appears topless on the front of the December issue of FHM India, sparking outrage among conservatives in Pakistan - both for her nudity and the reference to Pakistan's intelligence agency.But Miss Malik has strongly denied posing for the lads' mag, with the 33-year-old star insisting the picture had been 'morphed'.'I have never posed nude. I have never done anything like that ever. My manager and legal team is looking into the matter. We will take legal action against them,' Miss Malik told PTI, the Indian press agency.FHM India's editor, Kabeer Sharma, insisted however that nothing had been doctored, and claimed that the magazine could prove the photo's authenticity.Mr Sharma told the BBC: 'We have video footage of the shoot as well as emails from Veena about how she's looking forward to the cover.'The image was revealed on FHM India's website, Facebook page and Twitter account simultaneously today.The revealing picture shows shows Miss Malik nude, with her arms and one leg positioned to conceal her breasts and pubic area. On her arm are emblazoned the initials 'ISI' - the acronym for Pakistan's feared Inter-Services Intelligence agency - with the tag line, 'hand in the end of the world too?'Mr Sharma said the reference to Pakistani intelligence was meant to be light-hearted, saying: 'In India we joke about this... if anything goes wrong... we say the ISI must be behind this.'Miss Malik is no stranger to controversy. In January she attacked attacked hardline clerics in Pakistan who demand modest Muslims should be suitably covered at all times.'If a woman is cool with wearing a burqa, she should wear a burqa. If a woman, being a Muslim, wants to wear jeans, then she should wear jeans,' she said in an interview with The Australian newspaper.She also launched a stringent attack on honour killings, highlighting that women were always the target and not men.'Have you ever heard that they've thrown acid in a guy's face in Pakistan?,' she asked.After making her name has a star in 'Lollywood' movies - the term used to describe films made in Lahore - she found greater fame when she took part in Big Boss 4, the Indian version of Big Brother, last year.Dressed in shorts and seen hugging actor Ashmit Patel as well as swimming with Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, she was accused of behaving improperly by some Muslim clerics.Miss Malik has also been accused of being a porn star. However, her refreshingly outspoken views have won her many fans from Pakistan's younger and more liberal circles. Confronted about her 'immoral' behaviour by cleric Mufti Abdul Qawi on a TV talk show, she snapped back that the country had far more important things to consider - including the rape of children in mosques.'I’m a Muslim woman, and I know my limits,' she shouted back. The mufti appeared to be too astounded to respond.Hmmm......The 'djinis' did it?Read the full story here.

• Senate Republicans to Force Approval of Keystone Pipeline.(BigGovernment).Republicans in the Senate, led by Sen. Dick Lugar, have introduced a bill that would force President Obama to act on initiating construction of the-1,700 mile Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from Canada. The project is expected to create approximately 20,000 jobs and increase energy security for the United States.Although President Obama has been openly mocking and denouncing Congress for failing to pass his jobs bill, his decision, through the State Department, to delay the Keystone XL project until after the November 2012 elections has led to criticism that the president is putting politics ahead of the best interests of the country. 37 Republican senators signed onto the bill that would require the administration to approve the pipeline project within 60 days, unless Mr. Obama declares the project is not in the national interest. The Keystone project has been interesting in that it has marked a division between two groups that have been very supportive of the president: environmentalists and Big Labor. Environmental groups, fearing oil spills and other ecological disasters, as well as celebrity “green” fans, have opposed the pipeline plan, while labor groups have supported it in the hopes of obtaining high-paying union jobs. In addition, none of the states involved in the pipeline’s path- Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas- supported Mr. Obama in the presidential election of 2008.While the Keystone project had already been found to be environmentally sound prior to the president’s delay of the pipeline’s construction, some rerouting of the pipeline was done in Nebraska, for example, and approved by that state’s legislature quickly so as not to prevent the project from moving forward. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska) is supporting the bill to force implementation of the pipeline. “This bill respects the Nebraska process to protect the Sand Hills while providing a commonsense approach to bring friendly oil and jobs to the U.S. without unnecessary delay,” he said.
  If the pipeline project is not implemented, Canada has said that it will sell its oil to China.
  If Mr. Obama’s motivation is political, the environmentalists appear to have his attention. However, the president is likely not only deferring to warnings about the immediate environment of the pipeline, but also the larger “green” issue that allowing the project to move forward would further cement the United State’s commitment to fossil fuels, an image that this liberal president would likely find distasteful.Let’s hope Sen. Lugar and his colleagues prevail on this issue.Read the full story here.

• New Gun Company Advertisement Compares Obama to Hitler, Stalin.(CBS).WASHINGTON, D.C. — A gun company advertisement that warns of impending gun control compares President Obama to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.The USAAmmo ad shows side-by-side pictures of Obama with Hitler, Stalin and other dictators who committed atrocities across the world. The ad, which is also accompanied by a video, warns that gun control is imminent and foreshadows that the U.S. could face millions in casualties if they are not allowed to defend themselves.USAAmmo states that “tyranny is knocking down the doors of American cities daily” and that Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and other gun control advocates “are secretly conspiring American Citizens of the right to bear arms.”Trace Williams, director of operations for USAAmmo, defended the ad that was emailed Monday. He told CBS Washington that “Obama and his various czars are infringing on the rights of Americans to own guns.”“He’s anti-gun and he’s obviously a socialist cramming health care down American’s throats,” Williams said. “That is exactly how those people in that ad rose to power.”Williams told CBS Washington that he doesn’t regret comparing Obama to those dictators and that his company has received “unbelievable support” since the ad was put out.“Just look at history. Obama’s socialist agenda is geared toward depriving American citizens of their God-given rights.” He also added that sales have gone “through the roof.”Hmmm......."Clinging to their Ammo?"Read the full story here.

• Boehner calls on Obama to help Congress alter automatic cuts.(TheHill).House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday called on President Obama to intercede in the growing push to change the automatic spending cuts to military and domestic programs triggered by the congressional supercommittee’s failure to strike a deficit-reduction deal.The $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts will take effect in 2013, and Republican leaders, along with some Democrats, have said they want to change them to protect the military. Obama has threatened to veto any effort to undo the trigger, known as sequestration, although the White House is still pushing for a broad deficit pact. “I really believe that the president of the United States has a responsibility here as well,” Boehner told reporters. “He’s the commander in chief, he knows what those cuts will mean to the military and so I frankly believe the Congress still must work with the president to find a solution to our long-term debt.” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has sounded repeated warnings about the negative impact the Pentagon cuts would have on the military.The Speaker is in a difficult position when it comes to the automatic cuts. He negotiated the August agreement that put them in place, and he said last month that he felt “morally bound” to stick to the trigger, which was created as an incentive for the supercommittee to come to a deal. But with concerns mounting within his own party, he has opened the door to changing the cuts so long as the minimum of $1.2 trillion in budget savings is maintained. “No one really wants to go there,” Boehner said, referring to sequestration. He also signaled Thursday that he had not given up on a grand bargain to reduce the long-term debt. “There are a lot of members who are concerned about the defense cuts, but understand there are a lot of other cuts that would be involved in the sequester,” Boehner said when asked about Cantor’s bid. “So I understand the concern, but the president is the commander in chief. The president, I think, understands pretty clearly that these cuts do serious harm to our ability to defend our country and our allies about the world. So I believe there’s a role that he has to play in this process as well.”Republicans previously have criticized the president for a lack of involvement in the supercommittee process. Hmmm....Not going to happen he wants the US to loose it's superpower status.Read the full story here.

• The upmarket Manhattan block that grinds to a halt at prayer time... as Muslim taxi drivers illegally park outside Islamic center.(DailyMail).With a sea of yellow stretching into the distance, it looks like the taxi queue at a busy airport.But this picture was actually taken outside a Mosque during a prayer service - with 200 Muslim cabbies illegally parked.Residents of the wealthy Upper West Side of Manhattan are outraged that their streets are being taken over multiple times each day for the 45-minute service.The taxi drivers are double and triple parking in a huge line that forces traffic into the oncoming lane.The situation has flared up and on one occasion a cop telling a taxi driver to move on was swarmed by other hacks - and had to call for reinforcements.When several other police cars arrived the taxi driver was handcuffed and led away.Muslims have been parking illegally at the Islamic Cultural Centre for four years but the row has blown up because a road that connects to it that has been closed for the whole time has now reopened.Prayers take place five times a day but the busiest is on Fridays at lunchtime when up to 300 worshippers - and 200 taxi drivers - are in attendance.Most of the taxi drivers appear unrepentant with one claiming: 'I have to pray. I have no choice but to break the rules.'Cabbie Abdoulaye Diallo, a 30-year-old immigrant from Guinea, told DNA info that he had got several $75 fines for parking illegally outside the mosque but he did not care.He said: 'For me, my prayer is more important, because that's what I'm going to take with me the day I die'.Residents however are increasingly anxious that they cannot cross the road safely.'It's an accident waiting to happen, said James Beale, the resident manager at a Trump tower block that is next to the mosque.'It's a very dangerous situation. It's like all the rules of the road are thrown aside,' he told DNA info.Abdur Rahman, an assistant imam at the mosque, said it had told worshippers to respect the parking rules but they had failed to do so.But he also claimed that the parking rules should be more flexible to accommodate worshippers' needs.Hmmm....What if an emergency vehicle needs to get there?Blocking emergency crews is an criminal offence.Sec. 42.02. RIOT. (a) For the purpose of this section, "riot" means the assemblage of seven or more persons resulting in conduct which:(2) substantially obstructs law enforcement or other governmental functions or services; Read and see the full story here.

• UK - Police arrest 20 protesters 'from banned group Muslims Against Crusades' outside U.S. embassy in London.(DailyMail).More than 20 protesters were arrested outside the U.S. embassy in London today on suspicion of representing the recently-banned extremist group Muslims Against Crusades.Activists said demonstrations over the use of American drones in Pakistan had been organised by a group calling itself United Ummah.But Scotland Yard intervened this afternoon after members were linked to the banned group involved in the burning of poppies on Armistice Day last year.Muslims Against Crusades (Mac) joined the likes of Al Qaeda on a list of terrorist organisations banned in the UK after an announcement by Home Secretary Theresa May last month.The move to proscribe the group led to it cancelling its 'Hell for Heroes' demonstration against Remembrance commemorations, which was due to take place outside the Royal Albert Hall, where poppies were burned last year.A handful of protesters remain at the scene in central London this afternoon.A Scotland Yard spokesman said that in addition to the arrests surrounding the banned group, two others had been made for obstruction and violent disorder.'They are all in custody at central London police stations,' a spokesman said. 'A small number of people remain at the demonstration.'The demonstration began at noon outside the embassy which has seen a string of clashes between protesters in recent years.Read and see the full story here.

• General Motors Bailing Out Volt Owners?Did they buy back the 116 Volts from the government fleet?(Heritage).It’s been a mixed day in the world of the American auto industry. While Ford Motor posted huge sales for November — propelled by a strong demand for SUVs — General Motors has been forced to make the unusual offer of buying back cars from consumers.Tom Krisher at the Associated Press reports that GM is taking action in response to news that its highly touted electric Chevy Volts have been found to catch fire:In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars are safe, but said the company will purchase the Volts because it wants to keep customers happy. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by the federal government.Akerson said that if necessary, GM will recall the more than 6,000 Volts now on the road in the U.S. and repair them once the company and federal safety regulators figure out what caused the fires.“If we find that is the solution, we will retrofit every one of them,” Akerson said. “We’ll make it right.”The big problems with the Volt could spell trouble for electric cars as a whole. Jordan Weissmann at The Atlantic explains:It’s an unpleasant story for GM. But it’s also bad news for the rest of the electric car movement. The Volt is no ordinary sedan. It’s a standard bearer. When GM was seeking a bailout from Congress, it trotted out the plug-in hybrid electric Volt as proof that the company was changing its truck-obsessed ways. Since then, executives have taken to calling it GM’s “moonshot.” Fewer than 6,000 have been sold. But the company already has plans to use the Volt’s engineering on other models, such as a new Cadillac.The Volt has been something of a linchpin in the Obama Administration’s “alternative energy” drive. In the President’s stimulus bill, a hefty $7,500 tax subsidy was offered to Volt buyers, bringing down the cost of the $41,000 vehicle, all at taxpayers’ expense. And the same federal government that bailed out GM and became a part owner also became a customer, buying 116 Volts for its government fleet. The President’s Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, spelled out the vehicle’s importance to the Administration’s agenda:Diversifying our transportation fleet with hybrids, electric vehicles and other alternative-fuel vehicles is a critical element in President Obama’s long-term plan to break our dependence on foreign oil and invest in America’s growing clean energy economy.The trouble is, American consumers don’t seem to be turned on by the notion of hybrid and electric vehicles. Ford’s strong vehicle sales in November were propelled by a 43.1 percent increase in sales of Ford-brand SUVs, as well as increased sales of midsize and fullsize cars. Among the weakest performers were the fuel efficient compact Focus and subcompact Fiesta. Chrysler, too, saw an incredibly strong month of sales–its numbers were driven in large part by Jeep SUVs and the Dodge Durango SUV. And those purchases of less fuel efficient vehicles come as gas prices are still well above $3 per gallon.But for the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency, the reality of consumer demand doesn’t matter. Under a new rule, automakers would be required to double current fleet-wide fuel economy by 2025. That would require a crackdown on the internal combustion engine, increased production of electric, fuel-cell, and hybrid models, dangerously lighter vehicles, and nearly $3,000 in added costs per vehicle. In other words, the EPA wants to force the auto industry to make Americans spend more money to buy vehicles that today they’re choosing not to buy.Read the full story here.

• Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Announces That Al-Qaeda Kidnapped U.S. Citizen Warren Weinstein, Sets Demands For His Release.(CNN).Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has claimed responsibility for the capture in August of a 70-year-old U.S. citizen in Pakistan, according to a number of radical websites known for carrying militants' messages.In the eighth episode of a series called "A Message of hope and glad tidings to our people in Egypt," the speaker sent a "message of support and encouragement" to members of al Qaeda and the Taliban as well as to "our female oppressed prisoners.""We did not forget you and we will not forget you, God willing, and therefore in order to release you, we have been successful, thanks to God almighty, to capture an American Jew called Warren Weinstein," he said.He described the captive as "a former employee and a current contractor working with the U.S. government in its aid program to Pakistan, which aims to fight the jihad in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and just like the Americans arrest any suspect linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban, even if they were far related."The speaker then listed eight demands that he said, if met, would result in Weinstein's release. They included the lifting of the blockade on movement of people and trade between Egypt and Gaza; an end to bombing by the United States and its allies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Gaza; the release of anyone arrested on charges of belonging to al Qaeda and the Taliban; the release of all prisoners in Guantanamo and American secret prisons and the closure of Guantanamo and the other prisons; the release of terrorists convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center; and the release of relatives of Osama bin Laden, the founder of al Qaeda who was killed in May in Pakistan."Your government is torturing our prisoners, and we have never tortured your prisoner," he added. "Your government signed the Geneva Conventions, and then threw it in the rubbish bin, and even though we did not sign the Geneva Conventions, we are honoring your prisoner."The speaker said Weinstein's fate lies with U.S. President Barack Obama. "I warn you of Obama's lies and deceit because he hopes that this man gets killed so he doesn't have to worry about his problem. Obama is a liar. He lies, lies and will lie. He may say to you, 'I sought the release of your relative but al Qaeda got stubborn,' so do not believe him. And he may say to you, 'I tried to contact them, but they did not answer,' so do not believe him. He may tell you, 'I do everything in my power to release your relative,' but again do not believe him."He urged Weinstein's relatives to pressure Obama to accede to his demands "if you want to bring back your relative."A U.S. official said the circumstances surrounding Weinstein's disappearance have been murky, but added, "It's entirely possible that al Qaeda or one of its militant allies may be holding Mr. Weinstein and the statement by Zawahiri supports this conclusion."Weinstein was abducted from his home in Lahore on August 13. As his three security guards prepared for the meal before the Ramadan fast, three men knocked at the front gate and offered food for the meal -- a traditional practice among Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, Lahore police said.Read the full story here.More here.

• 'Here lies a man who wanted to destroy Israel'.(IsraelMatzav).I assume that most of you are at least somewhat familiar with the Purim story in which the villain, Haman, suffered his downfall very suddenly but with God's hand clearly behind it. Haman was a conceited individual who felt that no one could touch him - in fact, he tried to set himself up as a God. We have an early Purim story tonight.Nearly three weeks ago, Hassan Moghadam, the architect of Iran's program to shoot nuclear-armed missiles at Israel, was killed in an explosion outside Tehran. The picture at left is from his funeral (yes, that's Ayatollah Ali Khameni in front) and that's only because I could not find a picture of his tombstone, which reads as follows: “Here lies the man who wanted to destroy Israel” – Major General Hassan Moqaddam, head of the IRGC’s Self-Sufficiency and Industrial Research Center, who was killed in the explosion at an IRGC missile base made a request in his will that his headstone be inscribed as follows: Here lies the man who wanted to destroy Israel.Hmmm.....Perhaps a new trend in Iran?Read the full story here.

• Head of Syria’s main opposition says group plans to cut ties with Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah.(AlArabiya).A Syria run by the country’s main opposition group would cut ties to Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the group’s leader told the Wall Street Journal in an article published Friday.This would remove a crucial Iranian military ally believed to play a key role in supplying Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas, potentially leading to a dramatic reordering of regional power.The interview with Burhan Ghalioun, president of the Syrian National Council, came eight months into an increasingly violent uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with rebels seeking international support.“There will be no special relationship with Iran,” Ghalioun, a 66-year-old university professor, told the Journal in an interview at his home in Paris.“Breaking the exceptional relationship means breaking the strategic, military alliance,” he said, adding that “after the fall of the Syrian regime, (Hezbollah) won’t be the same.”He also called for more robust international support for the rebels, including the possible establishment of a no-fly zone. “Our main objective is finding mechanisms to protect civilians and stop the killing machine,” Ghalioun said.“We say it is imperative to use forceful measures to force the regime to respect human rights.”The rebels may well fail to topple the 40-year-old Assad regime established by Bashar’s father Hafez, but a reorientation of Syria away from Iran and towards the West would have major implications across the region.Ghalioun said an opposition-run Syria would be committed to recovering the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 war, but would pursue its return through negotiations rather than armed conflict.He also said it would work to normalize relations with neighboring Lebanon after decades of tense relations.Hmmmm.....Oooooh look a herd of Unicorns.Read the full story here.

• US Senate OK's sanctions on Iran central bank.(YNet).WASHINGTON – The US Senate unanimously approved tougher sanctions against Iran on Thursday, voting to penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank, the main conduit for its oil revenues. The Senate acted despite warnings from Obama administration officials who said threatening US allies might not be the best way to get their cooperation in action against Iran.Administration officials said they were indeed looking to sanction Iran's central bank, but in a calibrated manner, to avoid roiling oil markets or antagonizing allies. The United States already bars its own banks from dealing with the Iranian central bank, so US sanctions would operate by dissuading other foreign banks from doing so by threatening to cut them off from the US financial system.The Senate voted 100-0 for an amendment sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, and Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican, that would allow the US president to sanction foreign banks found to have carried out a "significant financial transaction with the Central Bank of Iran." "We seek to break the stable financial intermediary in between Iranian oil contracts and the outside world, so that it will just be easier to buy oil from elsewhere," Kirk said in debate this week.On Nov. 21, the United States, Britain and Canada announced new sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors, but the Obama administration stopped short of targeting Iran's central bank, a step that US officials said could send oil prices skyrocketing and jeopardized global economic recovery."The Obama administration strongly supports increasing the pressure on Iran, and that includes properly designed and targeted sanctions against the central bank of Iran, appropriately timed as part of a carefully phased and sustainable policy toward bringing about Iranian compliance with its obligations," US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier on Thursday, several hours before the Senate vote. While the Obama administration steps carefully, some countries in Europe are seeking to push forward a Europe-wide boycott of Iranian crude imports. EU foreign ministers in Brussels failed on Thursday to move forward with a plan backed by France and Britain to ban shipments, but agreed to examine expanding sanctions.In a statement following the meeting, US Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns noted: "Iran’s continued noncompliance with its international obligations related to its nuclear program, as well as its continued support for terrorist organizations, are of grave concern to our two countries and the entire international community."Continued efforts by the international community are critical to bringing about change in Iranian behavior and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability," the statement read.Read the full story here.

• Jewish cemetery in Kosovo capital desecrated.(YNet).Police in Kosovo are investigating who sprayed swastikas on dozens of tombstones in a Jewish cemetery recently restored by American and Kosovan students, a spokesman said Thursday.Brahim Sadrija said police had sealed off the cemetery in the capital, Kosovo, and are looking for clues. The vandalism is believed to have happened Tuesday.Sadrija said he could not disclose more details pending the ongoing investigation.In June, a group of students from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and their peers from the American University in Kosovo restored the neglected cemetery by clearing debris from around the graves and cutting overgrown grass.Rabbi Edward S. Boraz of the college's Roth Center for Jewish Life held a dedication ceremony at the memorial site, with students taking turns to read out the names of Jewish families from the region who perished during World War II. On Thursday the hate graffiti "Jud Raus" - a misspelling of the German "Juden Raus," which means "Jews out" - could still be seen at the foot of a memorial.President Atifete Jahjaga and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci condemned the act."The damaging of cemeteries presents an act in complete contradiction with the traditions and values of the people of Kosovo, based on tolerance and full respect for all the dead and all the monuments," Jahjaga said in a statement.Thaci described the desecration as "a cowardly act."The condemnations follow that of US Ambassador to Kosovo, Christopher Dell, who urged authorities to find out who committed the vandalism."The hateful act was an offense not only against the families of persons buried there and of the Jewish community in Kosovo and beyond, but also an offense against Kosovo's multiethnic state and society," Dell said in a statement."The act is one of contempt for the most basic norms of tolerance, coexistence, and respect, and cannot be tolerated."Some 300 Kosovo Jews died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany during World War II. After the war, Kosovo's small Jewish community dwindled. The few that remained left for Israel and Serbia during and after the 1998-99 Kosovo war.In a statement sent to The Associated Press an American Jewish group branded the desecration of the cemetery as "a heinous act.""Holocaust survivors are shocked to learn that a sacred resting place of our martyrs has been profaned by vandals using graphic symbols of Nazi hate," Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants said.Kosovo, a former Serbian province, seceded from Serbia in 2008 but Belgrade has vowed never to accept the independence of the majority ethnic Albanian territory.Kosovo is overwhelmingly Muslim, but has a Roman Catholic minority.Read the full story here.

• Afghan gunmen poured acid on faces of three sisters and their parents... because eldest 'didn't want to marry ageing warlord'.(DailyMail).Afghan gunmen burst into a family home - where they poured acid over the father, his wife and their three daughters - because they stopped their eldest from marrying an ageing warlord.They carried out the brutal midnight attack on Tuesday to scar the girls, in the belief that no-one will now want to marry them.Officials said the oldest daughter Mumtaz, 18, had been pursued by a local gunman who the family considered a 'troublemaker' and a 'bully'.With her parents support, she turned him down and instead got engaged to a relative.But, a few weeks later, six or seven armed men burst into their home in the Bulk Awal area of the northern Kunduz city - the largest in the region - in the middle of the night.One man beat up the girl's parents with a club. Mumtaz and her two sisters, aged 14 and 13, were guarded by two other men and told not to make a sound while their parents were beaten. It is unclear whether they were sexually abused. The men then poured acid on the mother's hands, before spraying all three girls liberally with the corrosive chemical. 'First they beat her father and then they attacked with acid,' said Mumtaz's mother, who asked not to be identified. All five are now receiving medical treatment, said Abdul Shokor Rahimi, head of the Kunduz regional hospital.Rahimi said: 'The father and oldest daughter are in critical condition as they have been attacked all over the body. Their mother and two daughters who are 14 and 13 have some wounds only in hands and faces.Ghulam Mohammad Farhad, the senior police detective for Kunduz, promised to track down the attackers, who he called immoral and irresponsible. He said: 'We have started an investigation and those who have attacked them will be prosecuted.Nadira Geya, the provincial head of women's affairs, added: 'They wanted to prevent the wedding. They threw acid into the girl's face so that no one else would marry her. The 18-year-old was badly hurt. They threw acid on her face, on her hands, her body and her feet. 'Her body is 40 per cent burns. She is in a bad condition in hospital.' She added that the 14-year-old's face is completely burnt and the youngest child's face is half-burnt. The family also has a son, but he was not at the house during the attack and is unharmed.The Afghan Ministry of Interior said it was treating the attack with 'utmost seriousness' and had already arrested one suspect.A spokesman said: 'We have arrested one person so far and we have identified two other suspects. If convicted, they will face the highest possible sentence.'Acid is used intermittently as a weapon in Afghanistan, but not always against women. In the conservative, and Taliban influenced south and east, it has been thrown at girls attending schools.With foreign combat troops set to return home by the end of 2014, some activists inside and outside Afghanistan fear that women's rights may be sacrificed in the scramble to ensure the West leaves behind a relatively stable state.Hmmm.....Instead of speaking up against this cruelty just Keep singing with Kermit.Read the full story here.

• "Lord have mercy" - Saudis fear there will be ‘no more virgins’ and people will turn gay if female drive ban is lifted.(DailyMail).Repealing a ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia would result in ‘no more virgins’, the country’s religious council has warned.A ‘scientific’ report claims relaxing the ban would also see more Saudis - both men and women - turn to homosexuality and pornography.The startling conclusions were drawn by Muslim scholars at the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, working in conjunction with Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University.Their report assessed the possible impact of repealing the ban in Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed behind the wheel.It was delivered to all 150 members of the Shura Council, the country’s legislative body.The report warns that allowing women to drive would ‘provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce’.Within ten years of the ban being lifted, the report’s authors claim, there would be ‘no more virgins’ in the Islamic kingdom.And it pointed out ‘moral decline’ could already be seen in other Muslim countries where women are allowed to drive.In the report Professor Subhi described sitting in a coffee shop in an unnamed Arab state. ‘All the women were looking at me,’ he wrote. ‘One made a gesture that made it clear she was available... this is what happens when women are allowed to drive.’The astonishing report comes after Shaima Jastaniya, a 34-year-old Saudi woman, was sentenced to 10 lashes with a whip after being caught driving in Jeddah.There has been strong protest in the country about the sentence - and about the law generally. But resistance to reform and change remains strong among conservative royals and clerics.Hmmm.....Read the full story here.

• Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched.(Aina).By Mary Abdelmassih.Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses. A quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province. Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Mr. Hosni fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.The events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer (48), over some steel rods and cement Mr. Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house. This was perceived by Mr. Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property. "Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt," said an eyewitness.In the altercation between the neighbors, Mr. Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital.Angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim (55) and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim (50), in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home (video of the murdered Copts. WARNING: contains highly graphic content).Three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care. They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses.Despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death."This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property," said an eyewitness."Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property,", said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village "by a miracle," as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind. "We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village."He added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are 500 Muslims for every one policeman.Copts have been prevented from fleeing the village by Muslims, who have imposed a blockade. Some were able to flee with the aid of some Muslims, who drove them out in a truck, telling the guards at the exit point these people have nothing to do with the ongoing problem.Christian inhabitants are still afraid to venture into the streets.Father Lucas Aghapios, pastor of St. George's Church in alGhorayzat, described the situation in the village today as "cautioned" peace. He said that although the Muslim attack started at 11 AM, security forces turned up late in the evening, and Muslim transgressions occurred in the presence of the security forces. Father Lucas said that yesterday Muslim attacks resulted in 25 incidents of looting and torching of Christian-owned shops, in addition to 8 homes. He confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the events, but could not confirm that John Hosni had surrendered to the police. "Yesterday John Hosni was in a safe place, but he is not in the village, I do not know his whereabouts." He does not know whether any Muslims were arrested in connection with the slaughtering of the two Coptic brothers.A funeral for Abdel-Nazeer was held on Tuesday.Bishop Bachoum of Sohag said this evening on CTV Coptic Channel that funerals for the two Copts were held in Sohag and they were buried in their village of elGhorayzat, under heavy security. He said that efforts are under way for a "reconciliation" meeting between Muslim and Christians elders.Commenting on the elGhorayzat events, Dr. Fawzi Hermina, a Coptic activist who lives in Sohag, said that Copts are living in a state of Statelessness -- with no state, no security and no law. "Unfortunately the Copts, being the weak party in society, are paying the price.Read the full story here.