"CHANGE" your descendants will pay, The Debt Ceiling Returns as National Debt Reaches $17.3 Trillion.

"CHANGE" your descendants will pay, The Debt Ceiling Returns as National Debt Reaches $17.3 Trillion.HT: Heritage.

The U.S. national debt has reached nearly $17.3 trillion. When the Treasury’s blank-check borrowing authority expired at midnight last night, the U.S. officially hit its debt limit.

What most people failed to realize is that the U.S. government has operated since October with no debt limit in place.

That’s right. Congress never raised the debt limit—it “suspended” it. Simply put, Congress made the debt limit go away until February 8, 2014.

This is not the first time that Congress has rendered the debt limit inoperative. It first suspended the debt limit in January 2013. Since then, the Treasury has borrowed nearly $900 billion.

Although the debt limit returned for a few months in May 2013, the Treasury continued issuing government debt almost as if nothing had happened—which is what will happen again this time.

The Treasury has a number of debt limit loopholes at its disposal that enable it to continue borrowing without legally breaching the debt ceiling. Also called “extraordinary measures,” these tools include borrowing from the federal employee retirement G Fund and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, among others.
When Congress fails to limit borrowing with the debt limit, the people’s representatives effectively abdicate their constitutional power to control borrowing—which encourages more spending and debt.

Approaching the debt limit is a very public and focused affair. It forces the American people and their representatives to confront the fact that the budget is unbalanced and that deficit spending adds to the already massive national debt.

It’s also an effective opportunity to shame Congress and the President for their reckless spending and borrowing, which is why congressional challengers often highlight an incumbent’s vote to increase the debt ceiling in election campaigns.

These features of the debt limit statute make it tough to vote for increasing the debt ceiling. America’s Founders recognized the benefit of being able to borrow when the need arose, especially in times of war. But they also recognized that out-of-control debt posed a great danger to the nation’s prosperity and sought to pay down the debt and limit it.

The debt limit serves as an important check on federal spending and borrowing. Congress is, yet again, confronted with the debt ceiling, and the Treasury’s leeway is projected to run out in late February.

A prudent Congress would put the budget on a path to balance in order to avoid a much worse fiscal crisis in the future—before deciding how much more to borrow. Importantly, Congress should put an actual limit on the debt—not a suspension that allows for unlimited and unaccountable borrowing.


The post The Debt Ceiling Returns as National Debt Reaches $17.3 Trillion appeared first on The Foundry: Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation.

"L'Etat C'est Moi" - Democrat Bill Would Let Obama Increase Debt Limit; Congress Wouldn't Need to Vote.

"L'Etat C'est Moi" - Democrat Bill Would Let Obama Increase Debt Limit; Congress Wouldn't Need to Vote.(CNS).

Democratic senators have introduced legislation that would grant President Barack Obama, and subsequent presidents, the authority to increase the legal limit on the federal government's debt unless Congress subsequently voted to disapprove the increase.

The bill would effectively take elected members of Congress off the hook for approving an increase in the debt. If the president certified that he was going to increase the debt limit, Congress could simply let him do it without taking a vote--and putting members on the record.

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 2 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to borrow money. It says: "Congress shall have power ... to borrow money on the credit of the United States."
Sens. Chuck  Schumer (D-N.Y.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) have introduced the Pay Our Bills Act, which would “permanently allow Congress to disapprove debt ceiling increases, instead of approving them.”

“When our debt comes within $100 billion of the debt limit, the president can send Congress a certification that the debt limit needs to be increased by a certain amount. Then Congress has 15 days to vote on a resolution of disapproval, just like we’re doing here in a few hours. This would allow Congress to fully debate and vote on the debt limit. A majority vote would carry in the House and Senate,” said Boxer in a press conference on Tuesday.

The legislation the Democrats are proposing does neither of the two. “He wants to extend the debt ceiling permanently by going around Congress. Let me repeat that: the so-called ‘Schumer-Obama Plan’ is a plan to permanently hand the President a credit card without spending limits, and without lifting a finger to address the national debt. It’s outrageous,” McConnell said.Read the full story here.

The Government Shutdown Looms: A Q and A On What Happens Next (And Who Stays At Home)

And for those government workers curious if they will or won’t be working on Tuesday in case of a shutdown, the following primer from the NYT answers that question:

The Government Shutdown Looms: A Q and A On What Happens Next (And Who Stays At Home) .HT: ZeroHedge.

With a government’s October 1 shut down – temporary of course – now seemingly inevitable, and more importantly with the peak debt ceiling negotiations due in just about a week after which point the Treasury will run out of money, many wonder what comes next. That this is happening just two short years after the dramatic August 2011 debt ceiling impasse, when the market tumbled 20% and likely slowed economic growth is still fresh in everyone’s mind, is hardly helping matters. Add a potential political crisis in Greece and Italy, and suddenly a whole lot of unexpected variables have to be “priced in.”

Courtesy of AP, here are questions and answers about how the two standoffs, now intertwined, could affect the economy and financial markets:

Q. What exactly will happen within the next days and weeks?

A. The most urgent deadline is for Congress and the White House to agree to keep funding the government after the current budget year ends Monday. Otherwise, some of the government would have to shut down. The House and Senate are considering bills to fund the government past the deadline. But House Republicans want to cut off funding for President Barack Obama’s health care law as a condition of passing the spending measure. Senate Democrats and the White House have balked. Unless one side essentially blinks, a partial shutdown of the government will occur.

Q. What would be the effect on the economy if the two sides miss the deadline for passing the spending measure?

A. About one-third of the government will shut down. About 800,000 of about 2.1 million federal employees will be sent home without pay. National parks will close.

NASA will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space station, where two Americans and four other people live. Aside from that only about 3 percent of NASA’s 18,000 workers will keep working.

The military and other agencies involving safety and security would continue to function. These include air traffic controllers, border patrol and law enforcement officers. Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits payments would continue, but there could be delays in processing new disability applications.

A partial shutdown that lasts no more than a few days wouldn’t likely nick the economy much. But if the shutdown were to persist for two weeks or more, the economy would likely begin to slow, economists say.

Extended closures of national parks would hurt hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses. Delays in processing visas for overseas visitors could interrupt trade. And the one-third of the federal workforce that lost pay would cut back on spending, thereby slowing growth.

A three-week shutdown would slow the economy’s annual growth rate in the October-December quarter by up to 0.9 percentage point, Goldman Sachs estimates. If so, the growth rate next quarter would be a scant 1.6 percent, compared with the 2.5 percent that many economists now forecast.

The contingency plans for various government agencies are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/contingency-plans .

Q. What about the federal borrowing cap? First of all, what is it?

A. It’s a legal limit on how much debt the government can pile up. The government accumulates debt two ways: It borrows money from investors by issuing Treasurys. And it borrows from itself, mostly from Social Security revenue.

Q. What if Congress can’t agree to raise the cap in time?

A. It could be disastrous. No longer authorized to borrow, the government would have to pay its bills only out of the revenue it gets from taxes and fees. This would force the government to immediately slash spending by 32 percent, the Bipartisan Policy Center estimates. Most analysts think the government would delay paying each day’s bills until it had accumulated enough money to pay them all.

Even worse, the government could miss interest payments on Treasurys, triggering a first-ever default by the U.S. government. U.S. Treasurys are held by banks, governments and individuals worldwide. Ultimately, a prolonged default could lead to a global financial crisis.

At the same time, Social Security and other benefit payments would be delayed. Government contractors might not be paid and would likely lay off workers. Paychecks for military personnel could be delayed.

The government actually reached its borrowing limit back in May. Since then, the Treasury has taken a variety of measures to avoid exceeding it. But the cash generated by those measures will run out sometime between Oct. 22 and Oct. 31, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates.

The date isn’t exact because it isn’t possible to foresee precisely how much revenue the government will receive and when.

Q. Will the economy escape harm if both deadlines are met?

A. Probably. But even brinksmanship can have consequences. The last major fight over the borrowing cap, in the summer of 2011, wasn’t resolved until hours before the deadline. Even though the deadline was met, Standard & Poor’s issued the first-ever downgrade of long-term U.S. credit. That, in turn, led to a 635-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average the next day.

In August that year, consumer confidence plummeted to its lowest level since April 2009, when the economy was in recession. Spending at retail stores weakened.

“The fallout nearly caused the fragile economic recovery to stall,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

The International Monetary Fund estimated last month that U.S. budget disputes, like the 2011 showdown, can slow annual growth by up to 0.5 percentage point in other parts of the world.

The Government Accountability Office later estimated that just the threat of default escalated the government’s borrowing costs that year by $1.3 billion, or about 0.5 percent.

The drawn-out fights can cause Americans to delay major purchases, such as for cars or appliances, says Ethan Harris, global economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. And they can erode confidence in the United States as a place to do business. Employers become less willing to expand and hire.

On Friday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and several other business groups urged Congress to fund the government and raise the borrowing limit.

“It is not in the best interest of the employers, employees or the American people to risk a government shutdown that will be economically disruptive and create even more uncertainties for the U.S. economy,” the groups said.

Q. All this sounds pretty scary. Why aren’t financial markets panicking?

A. Stock prices have fallen in six of the past seven days, partly because of the looming deadlines. But the price declines have been modest. Many investors likely feel they have seen this movie before and know how it ends: with another last-minute deal.

“After several rounds of fiscal brinksmanship … markets may be somewhat desensitized to the headlines,” Alec Phillips, an economist at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note to clients.

Video - Sen. Ted Cruz This Debate is About One Thing -- The Debt Ceiling.

"I don't care about a debt ceiling" - Karzai: Obama 'Admin' has promised us a drone fleet.

"I don't care about a debt ceiling" - Karzai: Obama 'Admin' has promised us a drone fleet.(WT).By Katherine Timpf.The U.S. will will leave Afghanistan with a parting gift: a fleet of high tech surveillance drones as a parting gift.
American troops will even teach Afghans how to fly the unmanned aircraft, Afghan President Hamid Karzai revealed this week in his first media appearance since meeting with President Obama in Washington Friday.
“Afghanistan will be provided with … intelligence-gathering equipment which will be used to defend and protect our air and ground sovereignty,” he said.
The gift package would also include 20 helicopters and at least four C-130 transport planes.
Critics have expressed concerns with such a plan, especially considering the increasingly frequent attacks on U.S. troops by terrorists disguised as Afghan police. Although the drones would be equipped for surveillance missions only, it is unclear how the U.S. would keep track of the drones — or prevent the country from arming them on its own.
The U.S. has said only that it is still negotiating the exact terms of its relationship with Afghanistan after the formal end of the military mission in 2014. Hmmm........Obama: "Debt limit fight imperils timely payment of Social Security, veterans benefits." Nice to see there's still money left for Karzai.
Read the full story here.

Record 8.8 Million Receive Disability Benefits, Social Security Program Ran $47.8 Billion Deficit in 2012.

Record 8.8 Million Receive Disability Benefits, Social Security Program Ran $47.8 Billion Deficit in 2012.(BB)(CNS).The number of individuals collecting disability benefits has hit a record high 8,827,795, according to new figures released from the Social Security Administration. On average, beneficiaries receive a $1,130.34 monthly check.
The explosion of individuals now applying for federal disability means applications are being awarded without proper vetting. A congressional report examining a sample of 300 cases found that over a quarter of them “failed to properly address insufficient, contradictory or incomplete evidence.”
The Social Security program ran a $47.8 billion deficit in fiscal 2012 as the program brought in $725.429 billion in cash and paid $773.247 for benefits and overhead expenses, according to official data published by Social Security Administration.
The Social Security Administration also released new data revealing that the number of workers collecting disability benefits hit a record 8,827,795 in December–up from 8,805,353 in November.
The overall number of Social Security program beneficiaries-including retired workers, dependent family members and survivors and disabled workers and their dependent family members-also hit a record in December, climbing from 56,658,978 in November to 56,758,185 in December.
In 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there was an average of 112.556 million full-time workers in the United States, of whom 17.806 million worked full-time for local, state or federal government. That left an average of only 94.750 million full-time private sector workers in the country.
That means that for every 1.67 Americans who worked full-time in the private sector in 2011, there is now 1 person collecting benefits from the Social Security administration.
When the Social Security program runs a net cash flow deficit, as it has in the last three fiscal years, the Treasury needs to borrow cash from the “public” to keep the program funded. As of Dec. 21, the federal government’s debt was $16.336 trillion.Hmmmm......Obama: "All the Choices We've Made Have Been the Right Ones" Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan 4.8 , Indonesia 5.2! More info here.

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

• Syria Live Blog : "On Monday, there was a renewed assault by government forces on the town of Deir Al-zor. But the city of Hama bore the brunt" - here is the latest Al Jazeera report .

• Today is Emancipation Day.(GenealogyCanada). August 1st, 1834 slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. The government of Upper Canada (Ontario) thereby formally enacted the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, it is known as Emancipation Day. It is, as the website says, a day which is “promoted as a great celebration in Upper Canada. It encouraged thousands to escape slavery in America, and follow the North Star to freedom in Canada”.There will be picnics held throughout the province, and one of them will be at Harrison Park which is in Owen Sound.Read the full story here.

• Barack Obama the Pessimist.(WSJ). His lack of faith in American exceptionalism has dashed any hope of a 'transformational' presidency.By Fouad Ajami.In one of the illuminating, unscripted moments of the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama said—much to the dismay of his core constituency—that the Reagan presidency had been "transformational" in a way that Bill Clinton's hadn't. Needless to say, Mr. Obama aspired to a transformational presidency of his own. He had risen against the background of a deep economic recession, amid unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; he could be forgiven the conviction that the country was ready for an economic and political overhaul. He gave it a mighty try. But the transformational dream was not to be. The country had limits. Mr. Obama couldn't convince enough Americans that the twin pillars of his political program—redistribution at home, retrenchment abroad—are worthy of this country's ambitions and vocation.Temperament mattered. Ronald Reagan was the quintessential optimist, his faith in America boundless. He had been given his mandate amid economic distress—the great inflation of the 1970s, high unemployment and taxation—and a collapse of American authority abroad. Through two terms and a time of great challenges, he had pulled off one of the great deeds of political-economic restoration. He made tax cuts and economic growth the cornerstone of that recovery. Economic freedom at home had a corollary in foreign affairs—the pursuit of liberty, a course that secured a victorious end to the Cold War. The "captive nations" were never in doubt, American power was on the side of liberty.By that Reagan standard, Mr. Obama has been a singular failure. The crippling truth of the Obama presidency is the pessimism of the man, the low expectations he has for this republic. He had not come forth to awaken this country to its stirring first principles, but to manage its decline at home and abroad. So odd an outcome, a man with an inspiring biography who provides no inspiration, a personal story of "The Audacity of Hope" yielding a leader who deep down believes that America's best days are behind it.Americans' confident belief in the uniqueness, yes the exceptionalism, of their country, rested on an essential faith in liberty, and individualism and anti-statism at home, and in the power of our example, and muscle now and then, in foreign lands. Mr. Obama is ill-at-ease with that worldview. Our country has had pessimism on offer and has invariably rejected it. At crucial points in its history, it has remained unshaken in the belief that tomorrow can be better.In 2008, shaken by a severe economic recession and disillusioned by a difficult war in Iraq, Americans voted for charisma and biography. The electorate could not be certain of the bet it made, for Mr. Obama had been agile, by his own admission he had been a blank slate onto which his varied supporters could project their hopes and preferences. Next time around, it should be easier. The man at the helm has now played his hand.Read the full story here.

• The Super Congress to raise taxes?(Redstate).By Erick Erickson.There are a lot of Republicans tonight willing to play the fool for the GOP in this debt ceiling plan. They say, for example, that there will be no tax increases from this super committee. Never mind that the Democrats are saying otherwise.I can prove to you right now that there will be tax increases.The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects the Bush tax cuts to expire. So all the commission has to do is two things: extend middle class Bush tax cuts and enact a permanent alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch. Those two together would look like an increase to the deficit in CBO scoring. So then the commission can start out of the gate with the ability to create several trillion dollars in new tax hikes to equal out to the cuts — cuts that will happen even without the commission most likely. And where will those cuts come from? Those making $250,000.00 or more, of course. And probably the Gang of 6′s ideas to eliminate most deductions to income taxes without revenue neutral rate reductions and the Gang of 6′s pièce de résistance — raising capital gains taxes from 15% to 28%.Have people not been paying attention? In every single address the President has given on the debt ceiling, he has insisted on new tax revenue. John Boehner even put $800 billion on the table, so it is already there.The House and Senate GOP leadership may have convinced themselves that they have snookered the Democrats, but even little ole me, a non-budget genius, can drive a truck through their argument. And their best response probably comes from Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform. That counter argument is best summed up as but . . . but . . . but . . . the House Leadership says so. And if puppies were unicorns, we’d all live in a fantasy land.Apparently, young lefty Ezra Klein who thinks no one pays attention to the constitution because, dude, it’s so old, is brighter than Ryan Ellis at ATR. Klein writes, “Boehner is misleading his members to make them think taxes are impossible under this deal. The Joint Committee could close loopholes and cap tax expenditures. It could impose a value-added tax, or even a tax on carbon.”There will be tax increases. The Deficit Commission will have at least one weak kneed Republican and the commission will only be as strong as its weakest link. The Bush tax cuts will also absolutely expire and not be renewed.The alternative for the GOP would be seeing massive defense cuts and being blamed for senior citizens seeing their medicare cut. “But,” House Republican leaders exclaim, “the cuts would not be to beneficiaries.”True, the cuts would be punishing doctors who will respond by denying access to medicare patients.The Democrats are happy to force through taxes in the committee and then, when the GOP opposes them, claim the GOP would rather hurt our soldiers and seniors than raise taxes on “fat cat millionaires.”And if we’ve learned nothing else these past few weeks, the GOP fears more than anything else what the Democrats say about them. Don’t believe me on taxes, then ask GOP leadership why they haven’t put in a clear statement prohibiting them or, even better, why there is no prohibition on decoupling the middle class Bush tax cuts from the upper income Bush taxes cuts.Last week in the Washington Post, the GOP Leadership in Congress planted a hit job about me. How do I know they planted it? If not obvious from the story itself, it was from the conversation between the reporter and those she talked to.One of the “attacks” on me was that I was too predictable. Yes, it is true. I am predictable conservative and am not willing to sell out my conservatism for the team. I hate to break it to you.There are stories in the press that (A) the White House and Treasury Department won’t give the GOP information about how much money the U.S. has on hand and (B) that both Democrat and Republican leaders are mad as hell that the markets haven’t crashed so they could scare conservatives into taking a deal.It is true — Republican and Democrat leaders are upset the market has not crashed.Now, having run out the clock and admitted that Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell wrote John Boehner’s plan (that was in the Washington Post), they now want to go back to a grand compromise that yet again includes a super committee of Congress that can pass tax increases with no way to block the committee.And if they do somehow stop the committee or kill its idea, then our soldiers in the field would see punitive cuts to the defense budget, even more so than seniors who will see cuts to medicare. In other words, cuts so painful to right and left that both will have to take the committee recommendation.“But it’s okay,” they tell us. “The committee is structured in such a way that they can’t get tax increases.” Having considered the matter carefully — this is utter bullcrap.So here’s what will happen. The people who are predictably willing to fold to save face with the GOP will ridicule you, me, and the tea party. And in November, when the chickens come home to roost and what I predict comes true yet again, they’ll pretend yet again that they were with us the whole time.But taxes will go up and the Democrats will have won, left wing hysteria notwithstanding.Hmmmm.......The King says "Pay your taxes" .Read the full story here.

• White House, congressional leaders reach debt-limit deal.(WashingtonPost).President Obama and congressional leaders Sunday night sealed a deal to raise the federal debt limit that includes sharp spending cuts but no new taxes, breaking a partisan impasse that has driven the nation to the brink of a government default.The agreement brings to an end a self-created crisis that has consumed Washington, rattled Wall Street, and shaken confidence in the American political system at home and abroad. The deal could clear Congress as soon as Monday night — barely 24 hours before Treasury officials have said they could begin running short of cash to pay the nation’s bills.Passage of the agreement, however, remained far from certain in the House, where skeptical Republicans were just beginning to digest the details. “This process has been messy. It’s taken far too long,” President Obama said in brief remarks at the White House. “Nevertheless, ultimately, the leaders of both parties have found their way toward compromise, and I want to thank them for that.”Obama said the agreement “will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America. It ensures also that we will not face this same kind of crisis again in six months, or eight months, or12 months. And it will begin to lift the cloud of debt and the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over our economy.”The deal was negotiated primarily by Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It teetered all day on the edge of completion as House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) bickered with Democrats over whether to freeze next year’s defense budget. In the end, Boehner conceded the point, and Obama finalized the agreement in phone calls to each of the four congressional leaders shortly after 8 p.m. The agreement would raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit in two stages by as much as $2.4 trillion. It represents a victory for Obama, allowing him to avoid another grueling fight over the debt limit in the heat of the 2012 presidential campaign. But he failed to secure other top priorities, including fresh measures to revive the flagging recovery and an end to tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Obama said he would pursue those goals later this year, when, under the terms of the deal, a new congressional committee would begin searching for further ways to control the national debt.“The ultimate solution to our deficit problem must be balanced,” Obama said Sunday. “That’s why the second part of this agreement is so important.”Republicans, by contrast, won severe cuts to agency budgets over the next decade and the prospect of deeper cuts to come, delivering on the campaign promises that helped them gain control of the House in the fall congressional elections. Democrats also agreed to stage a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, which has become a rallying point for tea-party-aligned conservatives.Read the full story here.

• Obama’s hollow claim of commitment to Israel’s security.(JPost).Is President Barack Obama committed to Israel’s security? Reassuring bromides to that effect in his recent speeches are nullified by specific statements that spell out dangerous Israeli concessions and disregard for Israeli vital interests. Worse, the administration’s wider Middle East policies further denude those commitments of meaning.Thus, when Obama said Israel must have secure, recognized borders “different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967,” many missed the point that this means little, when the new borders are to be “based on the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed swaps” and therefore be virtually indistinguishable from those lines. Indeed, with Palestinians unlikely to agree to any swaps, Obama gave the Palestinians a veto over any continued Israel presence beyond the pre-1967 lines.Moreover, Obama’s unprecedented call for a Palestinian state to have “permanent Palestinian borders with… Jordan” would require Israel ceding the Jordan Valley, whose retention successive Israeli governments have regarded as vital– another first for a US president.Obama has also become the first US president to suggest that issues of “territory and security” be agreed upon first, before proceeding to negotiations on all other matters, including Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants.Upholding Israel’s basic security would also mean repudiating the repatriation of the refugees and their descendants. Bush did so in his May 2004 letter; Obama has not. On the contrary, he has supported the so-called Saudi peace plan, which demands not only a return to the 1967 lines, but also the return of all refugees and their descendants.In May, Obama reiterated that the US “will hold the Palestinians accountable for their actions and their rhetoric.”But he never has – nor does he now.If Obama was genuine about holding the PA accountable, he would be demanding the disbanding of Fatah’s own Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – a US- recognized terrorist group. He would demand the abrogation of the PA’s unity agreement with Hamas (which calls for a genocide of Jews) as a precondition of any future talks. He has done neither.It is also difficult to imagine what conception of American and Israeli security interests led Obama in January to ditch Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and call for political “transition… now” when protests erupted in Cairo. Still less clear is why his administration spoke immediately of involving “non-secular actors” – a clear allusion to the Muslim Brotherhood – given its virulent hostility to the US and Israel. Now, Obama has legitimized the Brotherhood by initiating contacts with it.THE NET result is that Egypt is on the road from lukewarm ally and peace-maker to a dependable enemy – one to which Obama has announced the sale of 125 state-of-the-art M1A1 Abrams tanks. It is also disturbing that Obama has not pressured Egypt to close its Gaza border at Rafah, whose recent opening has enabled the flow of weaponry into Hamas-run Gaza.For a year, Obama prohibited any new US sanctions to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons – a looming existential threat to both Israel and the US. Indeed, further measures which must be taken to stop Iran is precisely what Obama left untouched in his recent speeches.Thus Obama’s words and deeds not only fail to match his stated commitment to Israel’s security – they negate it.Hmmmmm.......Actions speak louder than words!Read the full story here.

• Hama assault unacceptable, Turkish foreign minister says.(TodaysZaman).The Syrian military's tank-backed assault on the city of Hama, which killed dozens of civilians in the scene of a 1982 massacre, is unjustifiable, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday, lamenting that the attack marred the spirit of Ramadan.“The timing is utterly wrong, taking place on the eve of Ramadan. We strongly condemn it," Davutoğlu told reporters before departing for a visit to Norway, where he is due to attend a funeral for a Turkish girl, Gizem Doğan, who was killed in a shooting spree in the island of Utoya last weekend. "We in Turkey were unable to enjoy the spirit of Ramadan because of what happened in Syria.”Davutoğlu also criticized the dispatch of tanks to a residential area, saying it was obvious that such an operation would result in casualties. “It is impossible to approve the timing and methods of this operation,” he said. “It is unacceptable that Ramadan begin with casualties while we were expecting the Syrian regime to implement reforms swiftly.”Despite criticism, however, Davutoğlu also said Turkey remains in contact with the Syrian government, advising it to act with "commonsense and restraint."Davutoğlu's remarks came after a Foreign Ministry statement on Sunday, which said that Turkey was “deeply disappointed” and “saddened” by the Syrian assault in the city of Hama. Estimates of Sunday's death toll, which were impossible to verify, ranged from around 75 people to nearly 140 on a day when the attacks began before dawn and witnesses said they were too frightened to collect corpses from the streets.European leaders also criticized the Syrian regime, saying they were shocked and appalled by Syrian forces' use of tanks to storm Hama. Some analysts regarded the offensive, as an attempt to deter further unrest during the Muslim holy month of fasting.“This attack and the continuing crackdown in other Syrian cities is even more unacceptable coming on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan,” said European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. “The Syrian army and security forces have the duty to protect citizens, not to massacre them indiscriminately.”EU governments plan to extend sanctions against Assad's government on Monday by slapping asset freezes and travel bans on five more people. The EU has already imposed sanctions on Assad and at least two dozen officials and targeted military-associated companies in Syria.“I am appalled by the reports that the Syrian security forces have stormed Hama with tanks and other heavy weapons this morning, killing dozens of people,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. “The attacks are all the more shocking on the eve of the Muslim holy month. President Bashar is mistaken if he believes that oppression and military force will end the crisis.”Italy called for a UN Security Council move on Syria, something opposed by Russia up to now.Hmmmm......If this were Israel instead of Syria the whole world would be up in arms Hypocrisy rules the UN.Read the full story here.More here.

• Turkey on trial.An Islamic 'Sledgehammer' to destroy Attaturks legacy?(AlJazeera).  A slew of trials in Turkey seem to resemble a bad Hollywood courtroom drama rather than legitimate litigations.In a Hollywood courtroom drama, you know that the hero, set up by the bad guys, will eventually be cleared - but not before the noose tightens around his neck. Just when it looks like the accumulating evidence has condemned him, a sudden turn of events will prove his innocence and expose those who framed him.If Turkey's ongoing political-military trials ever find their way to the screen, there will be no shortage of such denouements. In a series of bizarre prosecutions, Turkish courts have jailed hundreds of defendants - military officers, journalists, academics and lawyers - for allegedly plotting to topple the country's democratically elected government.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promotes the trials as evidence of Turkey's new turn towards democracy and the rule of law. They are also actively supported by news media belonging to the so-called Gülen group - a powerful ally of Erdogan's government comprising followers of the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. In reality, the trials amount to a grave breach of the rule of law, with the judiciary transformed into a political weapon aimed at opponents of the government and the Gülen movement.The cases are comical - or would be if they were not really happening in a country of 74 million people whose strategic importance is difficult to overstate. In fact, the prosecutions are riddled with such fantastic claims, imaginary conspiracies, outlandish fabrications, obvious set-ups, and credulity-straining plot twists that a Hollywood screenwriter who included them in a script might well be laughed out of the business.Consider the "Sledgehammer" case. More than 200 military officers are charged with plotting a coup in 2003 to dislodge the then newly elected government. The prosecutors have what looks like solid evidence: detailed plans, ostensibly authored by the defendants, describing a series of ghastly operations to destabilise the country. The officers proclaim their innocence and assert that the coup documents are fabricated, but who is to believe them, given what the prosecutors, government and major media say?The trial has already had more than its share of movie-ending moments. Several defendants have shown that they were outside the country and had no access to the computers on which they supposedly authored the plans. Others appear to have misspelled their own names or gotten their titles wrong. Two forensic reports have established that the handwriting on the incriminating CD was forged.Similar examples abound in other cases. A prosecutor questions a suspect about a plan to intimidate Christians before the police have actually "discovered" it. A journalist is jailed because his notes for an unfinished manuscript on the Gülen movement are construed as instructions from a terrorist organisation. A senior police officer who has written an exposé detailing Gülenist prosecutors' misdeeds is jailed after police find illegal recordings of intercepted calls in his office - which he had vacated days earlier.Vindication comes quickly in Hollywood movies, but not in Turkey, whose courts have so far seemed oblivious to the glaring problems with evidence presented by police and prosecutors. Ludicrous cases proceed, and more people are being dragged into them. The mainstream independent media do not even report the inconsistencies for fear of provoking the government or the Gülen network.These cases will eventually collapse under the weight of their collective absurdity. But the damage done will extend far beyond the suffering of hundreds of innocent individuals who have been locked up under false pretences. The hope that Turkey is finally shedding its authoritarian vestiges and becoming a stable democracy will lie in tatters.Hmmmm.......Welcome to Turkey........Iranian style?Read the full story here.

• Afghanistan's Romeo and Juliet: Teenage couple jailed and face being stoned for falling in love.(DailyMail).Two teenagers in Afghanistan face being hanged or stoned to death for the 'crime' of falling in love and trying to get married.When the pair met for their wedding ceremony, they were ambushed by a mob of 300 men who dragged them from their car, accused them of adultery and then started a riot.In the resulting violence in the village of Jabrail, near Herat, one man was killed, a police station was torched and the lovers, Halima Mohammedi and Rafi Mohammed, both 17, ended up in jail.During the riot Mr Mohammed, and his older cousin who drove him to meet Ms Mohammedi, were both badly beaten up.But there have been calls from locals and relatives for the lovers to be killed, as in their eyes they have disregarded strict rules whereby marriages are arranged by families. Even the father of Ms Mohammedi agrees with the punishment.Kher Mohammed told The New York Times: ‘What we would ask is that the government should kill both of them.’Along with her uncle, he visited her in jail, where she was told that she had brought shame upon the family and would be killed.The New York Times reports that although he cried during the visit, Ms Mohammedi’s father barely said a word to her.The pair’s story echoes that of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo And Juliet, where two lovers, despite being from rival families – Montague and Capulet – pledge their devotion to each other.Mr Mohammed is a Tajik and Ms Mohammedi is from the Hazara community.They met in an ice-cream factory and would communicate using fleeting eye contact.One day Ms Mohammedi threw her mobile phone number on the floor for Mr Mohammed and from then on they would speak regularly to each other at night.Their decision to try and marry created a reaction that has left them both baffled.Mr Mohammed told The New York Times that ‘when you love somebody, you don’t ask who she is or what she is, you just go for it’.Ms Mohammedi simply asked: ‘God created us from one dirt. Why can we not marry each other, or love each other?’Despite the death threats from relatives, the pair do have the support of the provincial council, who has declared that they are not criminals and merit the government’s protection.Influential clerics have also refused to condemn them.However, the family of the man killed in the riot blame Ms Mohammedi for his death and say that her only way out is to marry one of their relatives.Their case now rests with prosecutors. Earlier this year horrific video footage emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan.It took place in the district of Dashte Archi, in Kunduz, and was met with outrage in the West.However, a Taliban spokesman defended the practice, saying: ‘Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country.'Hmmmm......'Foreign' like "Thou shall not kill"?Read the full story here.

• Iraq says it will buy 36 US fighter jets.(HurriyetDaily).Iraq’s prime minister said Saturday he was reviving a stalled deal to buy multi-million-dollar fighter jets from the U.S. and affirmed the need for American trainers to help Iraqi forces operate and maintain the 36 F-16s.However, Nouri al-Maliki avoided saying whether the trainers would be active-duty troops or private contractors sidestepping the key question of whether American military personnel will be asked to remain past an end-of-year deadline for withdrawing. That question is Iraq’s top political issue and is being hotly debated among the country’s leaders.The fighter jet deal, which al-Maliki announced at a press conference, more than doubles the number of aircraft Iraq initially planned to buy. “We should provide Iraq with the means, including warplanes, to protect its sovereignty,” al-Maliki told reporters after addressing a closed session of parliament. It was a turnabout from earlier this year, when Baghdad abandoned the deal and decided instead that it would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on food rations for poor Iraqis.Al-Maliki did not say when the purchase of the F-16s would proceed, where the money would come from or how it would affect other government programs already in place. The U.S. is pushing for a fast decision, arguing that it will soon be too late for it to plan for an extension of its troop presence. The prime minister’s parliamentary appearance came after Iraq’s top political leaders postponed, for the second time in a week, a meeting to discuss whether U.S. troops would be asked to continue training Iraqi security forces beyond the end of the year.Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• Iranians stage 'water fight' in Tehran,behaving in a manner "that opposes Islamic values and social order". (Ynet).Men, women, and children of all ages beat the heat in Tehran on Friday with a water fight at the city's Water and Fire Park, drawing criticism from conservatives for their "immodest" behavior and dress. Local police threatened to arrest the revelers after press agencies published numerous photos of the event.The park's manager said the water fight had been coordinated. He added that many of the women's headdresses fell victims to the splashing water, "but police couldn't get control of those involved". Only after authorities halted the water flow – some three hours later – did the battle stop, the park manager said.Tehran Police Chief Hussain Sajedinia was quick to condemn the merrymaking in a country in which young men and women are strongly discouraged to mix. He said a number of people had tried to recreate the water fight on Sunday, behaving in a manner "that opposes Islamic values and social order". He added that police arrested the participants before they could get started.Iranians generally refrain from holding coed events in public, as Islamic code prohibits it. However this code has been broken a number of times, especially during the summer, which in Iran can manifest in temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius. Pictures from the water fight have been uploaded to a number of different social websites, causing some concern for participants whose faces can be seen clearly, as many fear reprisals from authorities.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan 5.1 , Iran  5.0 , Philipines 5.1 ! More info here.

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

• Debunking 6 Myths About Anders Breivik.(DanielGreenfield).

1. Anders Behring Breivik was a Fundamentalist Christian.

2. Anders Behring Breivik Hated Muslims.

3. Anders Behring Breivik was Inspired by Counterjihad Bloggers.

4. Anders Behring Breivik was Pro-Israel.

5. Anders Behring Breivik was a Moderate.

6. Anders Behring Breivik was a Political Terrorist.

Breivik did have a plan, but it is detached enough from reality that it can hardly be called a serious political program. He did succeed in killing a large number of people, but so have many other lunatics. Nothing that Breivik did was the work of a sound mind.Comparisons have been made to the Unabomber, but the Columbine killers and numerous others also come to mind. Including Charles Manson. Breivik's program was just as grandiose as Manson's, and just as deluded. Both hoped that a serious of violent acts would touch off a larger war that would enable them to take over.Breivik is as much a political terrorist as Manson, and can no more be considered part of any larger cause, beyond the malformed chemicals in his own brain.Read the full story here.

• Atheists sue to stop Christian cross from being placed at the 9/11 World Trade Center memorial.(DailyMail).An atheist organisation has filed a lawsuit to prevent the World Trade Center cross from going on display at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.American Atheists filed the lawsuit this week in the state court of New York and posted a copy on its website. Some of the defendants listed include the state of New Jersey, the city of New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Governor Chris Christie.The cross, which was found standing upright in the rubble of the World Trade Center, is comprised of steel girders that were closely welded together, resembling a Christian Roman Cross. This symbol became a source of comfort for some of the workers involved in the disaster clean-up.However, several atheist groups have strongly criticised the decision to display the cross at the museum, citing that no other religions or philosophies will be honoured in the same fashion.The cross, which was moved on Saturday to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, underwent a ceremonial blessing in a service led by Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan monk who ministered to workers involved in the 9/11 clean-up. Joe Daniels, 9/11 Memorial president, said the cross is 'an important part of our commitment to bring back the authentic physical reminders that tell the history of 9/11 in a way nothing else could'.The 9/ll Memorial and Museum is due to open in September, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.A statement on the American Atheists website said: 'This was an attack against America, not Christianity, and Christianity does not deserve special placement just because the girders look like their religious symbol.'American Atheists also stated on their website that either they would pay for a memorial of equal size inside the museum, or the museum will not include the cross.'Equality is an all-or-nothing deal,' the statement said.Hmmmm........Read the full story here.

• A 'giant' on clay legs?New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles.(LATimes).With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:"I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Yes, yes, this is just a crusty old New England independent for now, albeit one who caucuses loyally with Harry Reid's Democratic posse.Using political forensics, notice any clues, perhaps telltale code words that reveal to whom he was really addressing his Monday message? Clearly, it wasn't congressional Republicans -- or Democrats, for that matter.The nation's top talker uttered 4,526 words in those remarks. He said "balanced approach" seven times, three times in a single paragraph.That's the giveaway. Obviously, David Plouffe and the incumbent's strategists have been polling phrases for use in this ongoing debt duel, which is more about 2012 now than 2011. "Balanced approach" is no sweet talk for old Bernie or tea sippers on the other side.Obama is running for the center already, aiming for the independents who played such a crucial role in his victorious coalition in 2008. They were the first to start abandoning the good ship Obama back in 2009 when all the ex-state senator could do was talk about healthcare, when jobs and the economy were the peoples' priority.Democrats lost the New Jersey and Virginia governor's offices largely as a result of that and Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts. And then came last November's midterms when voters chose the approach of that historic pack of House-bound Republicans.Republicans have their own poll problems in some areas. But even without an identified GOP presidential alternative, we've had a plethora of recent polls showing Obama's fading job approval, especially on the economy.Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble.Read the full story here.

• Leftist 'fifth column' groups plan noon Hill protest.(WashingtonExaminer).A coaltion of leftist groups, including the Campaign for America’s Future, MoveOn.Org (which claims as “fact” that “the GOP will hurt America just to undermine Obama”), Rebuild the Dream, and the AFL-CIO are urging their members to attend a noon protest on Capitol Hill for a “Don’t Destroy the American Dream” rally. The groups will be protesting what they characterize as “a disastrous debt deal” that calls for deep spending cuts to offset an increase in the national debt.The deal hammered out over the weekend by Republicans and Democrats was rejected by President Obama as the clock keeps ticking toward the August 2 deadline.Protestors plan to show up at various House offices to demand an “immediate” extension of the debt ceiling “with no conditions” in an attempt to stiffen the resolve of any wavering members.Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, blamed Republicans for “driving us closer to economic catastrophe.”None of the groups oppose adding to the $14.3 trillion national debt, which is mostly held by foreign investors even though the sea of red ink threatens the viability of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – the same entitlement programs they claim to champion.The very real fact is that the mountain of debt already racked up by the federal government threatens to destroy any semblance of the American Dream.Hmmmm......The Obama 'brownshirts' move in?Read the full story here.

• Speaker Boehner’s remarks, as prepared for delivery.(Politico).Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in America. Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual.I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.President Obama came to Congress in January and requested business as usual — yet another routine increase in the national debt limit — we in the House said ‘not so fast.’ Here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history.Here’s what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for. A ‘stimulus’ bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs. And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.The United States cannot default on its debt obligations. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake. What we told the president in January was this: the American people will not accept an increase in the debt limit without significant spending cuts and reforms. And over the last six months, we’ve done our best to convince the president to partner with us to do something dramatic to change the fiscal trajectory of our country…something that will boost confidence in our economy, renew a measure of faith in our government, and help small businesses get back on track.The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen. You see, there is no stalemate in Congress. The House has passed a bill to raise the debt limit with bipartisan support. And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.Obviously, I expect that bill can and will pass the Senate, and be sent to the President for his signature. If the President signs it, the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised. Spending will be cut by more than one trillion dollars, and a serious, bipartisan committee of the Congress will begin the hard but necessary work of dealing with the tough challenges our nation faces.This debate isn’t about President Obama and House Republicans … it isn’t about Congress and the White House … it’s about what’s standing between the American people and the future we seek for ourselves and our families. You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people. And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it.There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future. We are up to the task, and I hope President Obama will join us in this work. God bless you and your families, and God bless America.Read the full statement here.

• Congress Reminds Obama He's President, Not King.(Investors).Between 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday, the nation began a constitutional course-correction. The current occupant's vanity and naivete — a dangerous amalgam — are causing the modern presidency to buckle beneath the weight of its pretenses. And Congress is reasserting its responsibilities.At his Friday news conference-cum-tantrum, Barack Obama imperiously summoned congressional leaders to his presence: "I've told" them "I want them here at 11 a.m."By Saturday, his administration seemed to be cultivating chaos by suddenly postulating a new deadline: The debt-ceiling impasse must end before Asian markets opened Sunday evening Eastern time, lest the heavens fall.Those markets opened; the heavens held. The faux deadline, reportedly invoked at a Saturday White House meeting by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who should resign, inevitably seeped into the media and invited overseas panic, thereby risking the nation's currency, for brief tactical advantage.Amid these tawdry episodes, House Speaker John Boehner signaled constitutional sanity regained: "Congress will forge a responsible path forward." Congress. Obama has marginalized himself.Inordinate self-regard is an occupational hazard of politics and part of the job description of the rhetorical presidency, this incessant tutor. Still, upon what meat doth this our current Caesar feed that he has grown so great that he presumes to command leaders of a coequal branch of government?He once boasted (June 3, 2008) that he could influence the oceans' rise; he must be disabused of comparable delusions about controlling Congress. When he was a lecturer on constitutional law, he evidently skipped the separation of powers doctrine.But, then, because this doctrine impedes the progressives' goal of unleashing untrammeled government, they have long loathed it: Woodrow Wilson, the first president to criticize the American founding, considered the separation of powers the Constitution's "radical defect."It has, however, rescued the nation from Obama's preference for a "clean" debt-ceiling increase that would ignore the onrushing debt tsunami. There are 87 reasons for Obama's temporary conversion of convenience to the cause of spending restraint — the 87 House Republican freshmen.Read the full story here.

• Obama and NATO Turn Libya, and a $30B Check, Over to Jihadists.(Aina).By Tara Servatius.How would Americans feel if they knew the Obama administration just agreed to hand people affiliated with a designated terrorist group a $30 billion dollar check and recognize them as the legitimate rulers of Libya?Things weren't looking so good for the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group back in 2004 when they were designated a foreign terrorist group by the State Department. In chilling testimony, then-CIA Director George Tenet warned the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 that even if Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda was completely destroyed, "a global network of Islamic extremists bent on killing Americans had emerged." Tenet listed the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) as one of those groups.In 2007, the LIFG formally joined al-Qaeda, an event so well documented that even Reuters covered it. Its goals, which it is now close to achieving thanks to airpower help from President Obama and NATO, include killing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, setting up an Islamic caliphate in Libya and waging international jihad.The known leaders of the Libyan rebel forces on the ground are all former LIFG fighters, some with documented personal connections to al-Qaeda. The Transitional National Council, which the Obama administration recognized last week as the official government of Libya, is packed with pro-LIFG activists, lawyers who have advocated for imprisoned LIFG fighters, and Islamic scholars from LIFG strongholds.Something smells strongly of jihad here.Oddly though, one of the first things the U.S.-led coalition did when it invaded Libya in March was to help the rebels capture the oil fields. If Libya's radical Islamists can get their hands on that oil revenue, they will control oil fields capable of generating $34 billion worth of black gold a year. You can sure fund a lot of jihad with that.Earlier this year, a debate broke out over whether there were al-Qaeda fighters in the rebel ranks. The answer the Washington establishment settled on was that there were "flickers" here and there.But everyone was asking the wrong question.A better question would have been about the extent to which LIFG fighters were leading the ground battle.It is well-documented that a handful of former Gaddafi military leaders oversaw the rebellion in Libya. But the actual training of troops and fighting on the ground was largely led by LIFG veteran fighters fresh from battling U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Among them were LIFG veteran fighters such as Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi, who has admitted to fighting allied forces in Afghanistan and was turned over to Libya by the U.S. after his capture in 2002.His field commander on the front lines, Salah al-Barrani, is also a well-known LIFG fighter. Before serving as a Libyan rebel commander, former Guantanamo inmate Sufyan Ben Qumu, who was transferred to Libya in 2007, was named to the military committee of the LIFG in between stints training with al-Qaeda and fighting alongside the Taliban.Fewer than half of the 33 members of the Transitional National Council (TNC), which the LIFG-led rebels now say they answer to, are even publicly known. The rest have gone unnamed, supposedly to protect their families. Several of those who are known have ties to or were supporters of the LIFG, did legal work for LFG fighters or advocated on their behalf when they were repressed by Gaddafi.A graduate student at the Monterey Institute of International Studies who did an extensive technical analysis of the new Libyan leadership warned that the radical Islamists are now one of three groups vying for power among the Obama-recognized Libyan leadership, and that TNC members already sympathetic to them might ally themselves with the radical jihadists to grow their power.At stake? Again, $30 billion in Gaddafi-frozen assets that the U.S. promised to turn over to the TNC, and Libya's oil.Senior militants in online chat rooms monitored by the West seem to know the score, and are urging a patient, long-term approach rather than a quick revolution, The Australian reports: "One forum leader warns that declaring an Islamic emirate in Libya would prompt a Western invasion, and stresses instead that they should build up their military forces, 'educate the people' on the need for an Islamic state, 'and then declare the emirate, with weapons, economy and a people ready to fight for Allah.'"That should be no problem with the billions provided by Obama and NATO to fund it all.Hmmmm.........."I will stand with my Muslim Brothers"?Read the full story here.

• Saudi female students storm Mecca’s Umm Al Qura university campus.(AlArabiya).Hundreds of Saudi female students stormed the campus of Umm Al Qura University in Mecca last Saturday to protest what they charged was the lack of fairness in the admissions process. Their protests were shown widely on a video they posted on YouTube after the incident. In a bid to calm the situation, university vice president Badr Bin Ahmad Habib Allah said the students would be admitted to College of Community Service ‎and Continuing Education without charging them the required tuition fees, which will be paid by the government.Mr. Habib Allah added that the registration had started on Sunday.The women had accused the university of having admitted students who did not met the admission requirements. They claimed the existence of favoritism and reservation of academic places for relatives and friends.Suhaila Zainal Abidin, of the National Society for Human Rights, told AlArabiya.net that favoritism was rampant in Saudi universities without exception, which has prompted the students to storm the university building, a move Ms. Zainal Abidin opposed. “They (female students) have a right and they did not need to do this because such actions could weaken their position. They could have used official channels to gain their rights instead of the violence.”She demanded the intervention of the national anti-corruption agency to put an end to all practices of favoritism and unlawful practices in the admissions process.Read the full story here.

• Belarusian dictatorship and Red Chinese paratroopers conduct 10-day exercise in former Soviet republic.(Onceuponatimeinthewest).Since the beginning of the year, the former Soviet republic of Belarus has been in a considerable state of political and economic turmoil related in part to its large trade deficit and the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. “Ex”-communist dictator Alexander Lukashenko (The man who once threatened to use Nuclear arms against the West)desperately requires outside cash infusions and cheap natural gas from Russia, Belarus’ only reliable ally, to prop up his country’s ailing Soviet-style command economy.In order to deflect domestic anger away from his mismanagement of the country and the fraudulent results of last year’s presidential election, which handed a fourth term to Lukashenko, Comrade Alex has unleashed the Belarusian KGB in a string of vicious crackdowns on the opposition.In the wake of the Arab Spring, which has toppled dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt and threatens to overthrow those in Libya and Yemen, democrats in Europe are once again urging Belarusians to rise up and overthrow Lukashenko. In the midst of this unrest, Comrade Alex has invited Red China to participate in joint “anti-terrorism” drills with the Belarusian armed forces. Belarus shares a border with Poland, a former Warsaw Pact state that is now part of NATO.On July 5, an 83-strong special task force of paratroopers of the People’s Liberation Army arrived in Baranovichi, where they held a 10-day exercise with Belarusian counterparts, overcoming “challenges of language, geography and climate to accomplish the planned task with close cooperation and coordination.” On or around July 15, the PLA airborne troops flew back to Urumqi, capital city of Red China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.“It was not only the first drills conducted jointly by soldiers from the Chinese and Belorussian armed forces, but also the first occasion for Chinese paratroopers to leave the country for joint training with foreign soldiers,” reports Red China’s state media, adding:The two armed forces trained together in counterterrorism, and the two-phased drills included training in mixed units and comprehensive exercises . . . The first phase of the drills included an obstacle course, hand-to-hand combat, parachuting, combat firing and anti-terrorism tactics. During the second phase, paratroopers encircled and eliminated “terrorists” by combining parachuting and tactical air landing operations.According to Red China’s defense ministry, “the joint-training exercise serves to consolidate the traditional friendship between China and Belarus and enrich cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries . . .” The PLA contingent in Belarus was relatively small, but raises the spectre of future military drills involving Red Chinese troops in Europe.Hmmmm.....The same guys who held drills with Turkey?Read the full story here.

• Hamas hangs two 'Israeli collaborators' in Gaza.(HurriyetDaily).Gaza's Hamas rulers on Tuesday hanged two Palestinians who were convicted of collaborating with Israel, an interior ministry statement said.It was the second time this year that the Islamist movement had carried out an execution of someone accused of 'collaborating' with the Israelis."The sentence was carried out after all appeals were exhausted," it said. "The execution came after the government approved the decision to implement the penalty imposed on agents who collaborate with the Israeli occupation."The Hamas-run interior ministry identified the two men only as M.A.Q. and R.A.Q, and a security source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the pair were brothers."The Gaza Court of First Instance sentenced the defendants on November 29, 2004 to death by hanging and the Court of Cassation rejected their appeal and upheld the sentence on July 14, 2011," the ministry said.The statement said the charges against them included murder, attempted murder and "communicating with hostile foreign security elements to the detriment of national interests" and "weakening morale and the strength of the resistance."In May, a man referred to as A.S. was executed by firing squad after being convicted of collaboration a month earlier.Under Palestinian law, collaboration with Israel, murder, and drug trafficking are all punishable by death.By law, all execution orders must be approved by the Palestinian president before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.In recent months, Hamas has arrested several alleged collaborators, and warned it would prosecute any "traitor" working for the Jewish state.Hmmmmm........Obama's 'peacepartners'.Read the full story here.

• Khamenei Establishes Council to Arbitrate Between Majlis and Ahmadinejad.(Memri).Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has appointed Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi – former head of the judiciary branch – to head a new council that will engage in "supreme arbitration and coordination between the three branches of government" and will answer to Khamenei.The council includes conservative clerics loyal to Khamenei, including: Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi; Expediency Council member Morteza Nabavi; and Guardian Council Spokesman Ali Kadkhodaei.It seems that Khamenei appointed the council in order to put an end to the conflict between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Majlis. It should be mentioned that the Expediency Council, headed by Hashemi Rafsanjani (Ahmadinejad's rival), serves as a supreme arbitration body. However, it seems that Khamenei sought an arbitrator who is not associated with either of the rivals, and as part of his plan to supplant Rafsanjani, who was once associated with the Green Movement.Read the full story here.

• UNHRC: "Womens' rights problems? Not so loud, please!".(EuropeNews).In this speech in the UN Human Rights Council, David G. Littman points out discrimination against women directly and documentably sanctioned by Islamic law. President Phuangketkeow responds by requesting more 'sensitivity' in matters where religion is involved, womens' rights has distinctly lower priority than showing 'understanding' for religion.In his follow-up speech on June 10th, Littman reminds the assembly that such demands constitute an undermining of the universality of human rights, that The idea of "Cultural relativism" is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights, and demonstrates his precise and well-documented understanding of Islamic doctrine by quoting current Islamic scholars endorsing the practice of trading sex slaves in the free market.

In 2008, in her 60th anniversary UDHR lecture, Noble Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi declared: “The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.” [She condemned the fact that in Iran a girl is considered an adult and liable to punishment, even execution, at 9 and a boy at 15.]Only last week, a popular Egyptian preacher, Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini, confirmed on Egyptian TV [Hikma] what he had said 18 years ago that: Jihad still justifies plundering, enslaving and raping the infidels – for which he provided quotations from sacred texts in justification. He even boasted that Islam allows Muslims to buy and sell conquered infidel women, adding: "When I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her." (3).And last weekend, a political activist and former parliamentary candidate for Kuwait's government, Salwa al-Mutairi, expressed her religious opinion to "revive the institution of sex-slavery.”(4) It is 3 years since a 1½ hour landmark event [also known as the ‘Sharia-gate Shipwreck’] occurred at the Council in reaction to our joint statement on ‘violence against women’ [item 8]. (5) We had begun by once again condemning FGM [– the barbaric female genital mutilation of @ 3 million young girls every year in 32 countries, 29 of which are members of the OIC; the stoning of women; honour killing and the marriage-sale of 9 year-old-girls – all carried out in the name either of ‘traditional practices’ or ‘cultural relativism’, but with irrefutable religious connections.]And we remain convinced that such crimes, carried out ‘traditionally’, but also with official religious sanction (6), should not be treated as taboo subjects at the Council. The growing phenomenon of ‘cultural relativism’ should not be supported by self-censorship at the UN, [especially not under the guise of ‘complementary standards’ or ‘sensitivity and understanding’.] It is surely time for more States, especially OIC countries, and NGOs to condemn here all such barbaric practices against women – for whatever reason. We appeal to both the Council and the High Commissioner to reconsider this matter seriously and put an end to the silence. In the words of Shakespeare’s Othello: Silence that dreadful bell [Act ii, scene 3]Thank you, Mr President.Read and see the full story here.

• Human Rights Watch lauds law banning female genital mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan.(AlArabiya).Human Rights Watch on Tuesday welcomed a draft law banning female genital mutilation by the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan.The Family Violence Bill approved June 21 by the autonomous government includes several provisions criminalizing the practice in Kurdistan, HRW, said, adding that prevalence of FGM among girls and women in Kurdistan “is at least 40 percent.”“By passing this law, the Kurdistan regional government has shown its resolve to end female genital mutilation and to protect the rights of women and girls,” said Nadya Khalife, Middle East women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.“But the government needs a long-term strategy to deal with this harmful practice because criminalizing it is not enough,” she said in a statement.The bill has to be ratified by the regional president, Massud Barzani.The draft law criminalizes FGM, penalizing medical professionals and midwives who “instigate, assist, or carry out” the procedure. Criminal penalties include prison terms ranging from six months to three years, in addition to fines of up to $8,500.Shortly after HRW issued a June 2010 report about FGM, the Kurdistan Health Ministry surveyed 5,000 women and girls and found that 41 percent had undergone the procedure, and that the practice is more prevalent in some regions than others in Kurdistan, the statement said.It quoted a 2010 finding by the Association for Crisis Assistance and Development Co-operation, a German-Iraqi human rights non-governmental organization, that out of the 1,408 girls and women aged 14 and over interviewed, 72.7 percent had undergone FGM.For the 12 to 24 age group, the prevalence was slightly over 40 percent, the report found.Read the full story here.