'Profiling' - Israeli company says its facial-analysis technology will be used by ‘a leading homeland security agency’.

'Profiling' - Israeli company says its facial-analysis technology will be used by ‘a leading homeland security agency'. (Israel21c).

Pulling a poker face means betraying no visible emotion, so that opponents can’t tell what you’re really thinking.

But a Tel Aviv startup’s face-profiling technology recently proved fairly accurate at predicting which four players were most likely to beat out 46 other contenders in an amateur poker tournament. Two of those four were among the event’s three finalists.

And now, the company reports that it has signed a contract with an unnamed “leading homeland security agency” to help identify terrorists through its technology, which analyzes faces shown in photos and videos and classifies them according to 15 parameters predictive of personality traits and types.

Purportedly it can detect with high accuracy if you are, say, a genius, an extrovert or a criminal.

“We understand the human much better than other humans understand each other,” Faception CEO Shai Gilboa told The Washington Post. “Our personality is determined by our DNA and reflected in our face. It’s a kind of signal.” Read the full story here.

'Non Existing' ISIS Terrorists may be planning Dirty Nuclear bomb inside the U.S.

'Non Existing' ISIS Terrorists may be planning Dirty Nuclear bomb inside the U.S. (DC Clothesline).HT: IsraelMatzav.

“There is a 47 mile long “Open Border” with Mexico. This makes It is very convenient for terrorists because what they do is fly to Mexico City, then fly to Ciudad Juarez. The beginning of the “open border zone” is literally 11 miles from the Juarez airport.

So think for a second an open border within 11 miles of a major international airport. How convenient is that for the terrorists, called ”Other than Mexican’s” to cross into the USA/ Your government tax dollars at work. If you don’t want to get your feet too wet you continue east and come across the border between Esperanza and Fort Hancock where the river is less than 6 inches deep. We put almost 100 miles on our car criss-crossing this 47 mile long open zone and we did not find one…..Not one Border Patrol agent guarding the border. 

So we drove and drove and we drove some more; we looked and we searched… We put almost 100 miles on our car criss crossing this 47 mile long open zone and we did not find one…..Not one Border Patrol agent guarding the border.

So a Border Patrol agent in El Paso told me a 75% reduction in field staffing in East County (the open border zone). The correct answer from our research is that there is 100% stand down of border patrol agents allowing any and everyone to cross over the open unsecured borders into the USA.

Regardless of your political affiliation you really have to wonder what is going on here. The people coming into Estados Undios/United States here are not Mexicans. They are categorized as OTM (Other than Mexican).

They routinely caught people from (the following countries)….

• Iran             
• Iraq
• Pakistan    
• Egypt
• Syria          
• Yemen      
• Turkey

(Editor’s Note: This is a who’s who list of countries containing terrorists who want to do harm to all Americans. It is also interesting to note that many of the countries listed in the Barber Report include the same countries that we see in Refugee/Resettlement programs which are bringing tens of thousands of unscreened immigrants into the U.S. Further, this reports casts the OTM invasion of the United States, last summer, in a different light. Last summer’s border invasion was a cover for ISIS to set up camps and prepare to strike at targets inside of the United States....)

“When we take a big ISIS hit and we will!  You now know where our government let them into this country. You will know how they circumvented the internal Border Patrol checkpoints which are too busy arresting legal Americans and seizing their cash… El Paso, which is the only major city in the United States where you can not leave the area without being checked at an internal Border Patrol checkpoint. It is curious that the government says these checkpoints are to enforce immigration laws yet over 84% of those arrested at these internal checkpoints are legal United States Citizens . The fines from these arrests are a source of revenue for the Obama administration. If you have over $1000 in cash on you that is legally yours, “they” (your USA government) seizes/ your money…

Yesterday, I received credible reports that both the Tucson and El Paso sectors are employing the use of radiation detectors along I-10 and I-40, respectively and that they are being concealed inside of traffic control vehicles so as to not cause concern among the public.

If you did not read yesterday’s the CSS report on the evidence trail that suggests that Chicago could be a target for an ISIS nuclear detonation. 

 The dots are beginning to connect with regard to how many ways America is about to be attacked. It is not a coincidence that there are mass casualty drills taking place and this and other related topics will be the subject of the next article in this series. Hmmm.....Why did i say 'Non existing':  Homeland Security: There are no ISIS training camps in Mexico. Read the full story here.


Related: ISIS Camp a Few Miles from Texas, Mexican Authorities Confirm

Terrorist Watchlist Guide Revealed.

Terrorist Watchlist Guide Revealed. HT: Matzav; The Intercept.

The Obama administration has expanded the national terrorist watchlist system, so that “irrefutable evidence or concrete facts are not necessary” to be labeled a terrorist by the government.

Under the guidelines, both “known” and “suspected” are tracked by the government.

Terrorism is broadly defined to include destruction of government property or damaging computers used by financial institutions.

The guidelines also note that “‘walk-in,’ ‘write-in,’ or postings on social media sites” can be used to place someone on the watchlist.

Having a family member who has already been designated a terrorist under the watchlist guidelines can also be sufficient for getting a person on the list, too.Hmmm......I Wonder how Hamas members manage to travel to Turkey and Qatar? Read more at The Intercept.

Homeland Security Alerts Airlines to Possible new Shoe-Bomb Threat.

Homeland Security Alerts Airlines to Possible new Shoe-Bomb Threat.(NBC).BY PETE WILLIAMS AND ROBERT WINDREM.

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday told airlines about a potential new shoe-bomb threat and urged them to pay extra attention to flights from overseas into the United States.

Several officials familiar with the advisory told NBC News that "very recent intelligence" considered credible warns of possible attempts to attack passenger jets using explosives concealed in shoes.

As a result, officials say, airlines will be playing extra attention to passenger shoes on flights to the US from overseas. Those passengers may also experience increased scrutiny in pat downs and full-body screening.

The bulletin to airlines urges screeners to use the explosive trace detection swabs to check shoes that are worn and in carry-on bags.

The officials say the threat information was not specific to any particular airline, country, or time.

There is no indication of a specific plot, they say.Hmmmm......????Read the full story here.

US Senate confirms Jeh Johnson as new Homeland Security secretary.

US Senate confirms Jeh Johnson as new Homeland Security secretary.(TOI).

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats used their newly initiated lower threshold for defeating filibusters Monday to win Senate confirmation of President Barack Obama’s nomination of former top Pentagon lawyer Jeh C. Johnson to be secretary of homeland security.

On a 57-37 vote, Democrats broke a GOP blockade against Johnson before the Senate minutes later confirmed him on a 78-16 vote. Until Democrats unilaterally changed the Senate’s filibuster threshold on presidential nominations, it would have taken 60 votes to clear Johnson for a final vote.

Anne W. Patterson, currently the US ambassador to Egypt and formerly ambassador to Pakistan, also won confirmation Monday to become assistant secretary of state in charge of Near Eastern affairs. She also was confirmed 78-16, with all of the “no” votes coming from Republicans. A career diplomat, Patterson entered the State Department’s foreign service in 1973.

Johnson is replacing Janet Napolitano as head of the Homeland Security Department. About 40 percent of the senior leadership positions are now vacant, and Johnson said filling those posts was among his top priorities.

In a statement, Obama praised the Senate for confirming Johnson, calling him “a critical member of my national security team.”

“And he helped to shape some of our most successful national security policies and strategies,” the president added.

Obama has in the past praised Johnson’s role in overturning the ban on openly gay service members in the military.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., questioned Johnson’s experience for heading homeland security, a department created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks from more than two dozen disparate agencies and now perhaps the most complex in Obama’s Cabinet.

“I’m not saying he’s not a good man, but he’s not a good choice for this,” Sessions said.

On Friday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was also troubled because Johnson did not answer all of his questions about immigration policy during his confirmation process.

Homeland Security must disclose ‘Internet Kill Switch,’ plans, court rules

Homeland Security must disclose ‘Internet Kill Switch,’ plans, court rules.HT: Washington Times

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must disclose its plans for a so-called Internet “kill switch,” a federal court ruled on Tuesday.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the agency’s arguments that its protocols surrounding an Internet kill switch were exempt from public disclosure and ordered the agency to release the records in 30 days. 

However, the court left the door open for the agency to appeal the ruling.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is seeking “Standard Operating Procedure 303,” also known as the “Internet kill switch” from Homeland Security. The protocols govern shutting down wireless networks to prevent the remote detonation of bombs.

EPIC filed a FOIA request for the protocols in July 2012. The Department of Homeland Security originally said it could not find any records on the kill switch.

After EPIC appealed, the agency located the protocol, but redacted nearly all of the information. The agency cited exemptions that allow the withholding of information that could “disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions” or “could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.” Read the full story here.

Software developed by US academics, called Stone can predict new leaders of terror groups.

Software developed by US academics, called Stone can predict new leaders of terror groups.(Guardian).

A University of Maryland team made up of myself, computer scientist Francesca Spezzano and public policy researcher Aaron Mannes has developed new software that uses open source data to identify successors of captured terrorist leaders, as well as to predict how the terrorist network will reshape afterwards. The system is called Stone (shaping terrorist organisation network efficacy)

It uses information about individual terrorists (such as rank, role, ability to plan and execute attacks) as well as connections between terrorists to identify likely replacements. Connections exist between two terrorists if they attended a school or training camp together, if they were both involved in planning an attack, if they were known to have attended a meeting together, and if they served on a council together. For example, a connection between al-Qaida's Bin Laden and Riduan Isamuddin (or Hambali, head of al-Qaida's south-east Asia affiliate Jemaah Islamiyah) was formed when the two held meetings in the 1990s.

Stone researchers hypothesised that a terrorist was likely to succeed a captured terrorist if he had high rank, a high degree of influence in the organisation and was well connected to the leader's connections. In order to measure influence, Stone leveraged a technical concept later used in Google's PageRank algorithm to identify influential pages on the web.

Stone does not completely automate the process of identifying likely successors. Analysts identify individual characteristics relevant to who will be the successor, such as requiring that future top leaders are members of the organisation's central committee. Similarly, predicted replacements should be functionally capable of performing the role performed by the captured terrorist ( for example a bombmaker may not replace an ideologue)

Stone tested this hypothesis on the cases of leaders removed from al-Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Lashkar-e-Taiba (the group that carried out the Mumbai attacks in 2008) using networks gleaned from open-source data. In these cases, Stone usually returned three or four possible replacements for a leader and, in 80% of these cases, the replacement was within the set returned by Stone. Stone requires human participation to analyse the suggested replacements and incorporate factors not considered by computational methods.

Stone predicts not only the successor of a removed terrorist, but also the successor's successor.

V S Subrahmanian is a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland and director of the university's centre for digital international government.

The New Anschluss? - Mexico and Canada declared part of US homeland by Senate maps

The New Anschluss? - Mexico and Canada declared part of US homeland by Senate maps.HT: RussiaToday.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting held to acquire details on the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs, Sen. Feinstein (D-Calif.) made a geographic mistake in which she united three large countries into one. The error went by without comment during the briefing, but generated a significant response upon closer examination of the map.

During the briefing, Feinstein, who serves as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was defending the NSA’s data-collection programs when she pulled out a world map that identified North America as the “Homeland”. The newly-declassified diagram showed terror activity that the NSA had allegedly disrupted throughout the world.

But while Europe, Africa and Asia were correctly identified by their continent’s name, countries of North America were all encompassed as a new mega-nation.
“Now, the NSA has produced and declassified a chart, which I’d like to make available to all members. It has the 54 total (terror) events,” Feinstein said. “And it shows the events disrupted… 13 in the Homeland, 25 in Europe, five in Africa and 11 in Asia.”
Although it might be easy to brush off the map as nothing more than a mistake made by a staffer, a writer at The Atlantic suggested that it might indicate a potential NSA attempt at tallying thwarted attacks in North America to make anti-terrorism efforts in the US look more successful.
“Normally, this would be written off as a design goof, as one of the NSA’s (newly adept) graphics guys using a little more light blue than he ought,” writes the Atlantic’s Philip Bump. “This being the NSA, we’re not inclined to offer that benefit of the doubt. Is this a way of blending in Canadian and Mexican terror activity disruptions (which, we’ll remind you, is different from actual plots interrupted) to give a larger sense of the NSA’s success at halting terrorism within our borders?”
Whatever the reason for the NSA’s creation of “the Homeland”, the spy agency has already been condemned for failing to respect the sovereignty of other nations through its extensive data-collection efforts.
Some people have taken to Twitter to sarcastically welcome Canada and Mexico to the United States.
“Earths newest continent. Welcome to the Homeland, Mexico and Canada!” wrote Twitter user Kat Capps.

Earths newest continent. Welcome to the Homeland, Mexico and Canada! ... http://t.co/UwJLzkGRhI
— Kat Capps (@KatCapps) August 1, 2013

“Are Canadians losing their sovereignty?” tweeted user Kevin King.

Are #canadians losing their #sovereignty? Canada is now called "HOMELAND" - http://t.co/gdxg3glW4f
— Kevin King (@KevinKing444) August 2, 2013

“We did it! Canada is now part of the American ‘homeland,’” tweeted Canada.com, a site for “spirited discussions on what’s important to Canadians.”

We did it! Canada is now part of the American "homeland" http://t.co/KwRmaggy3Y
— canada.com (@thecanadacom) August 1, 2013

Hmmmm.....Welcome to "Gross Amerika"?Read the full story here.

Obama Signs New Executive Order Expanding Homeland Security Mission In The U.S.

Obama Signs New Executive Order Expanding Homeland Security Mission In The U.S.(PA).Executive Order October 26, 2012 By: Kenneth Schortgen Jr

Barack Obama

Credits:

Courtesy of missionenvironment.com

On Oct. 26, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands the role and scope of Homeland Security in states and areas across the country. This order, which establishes a new Security Partnership Council, will have far reaching effects in the overall mission of Homeland Security, and for state and local areas that interact with the Federal agency.

Economically, the Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council Executive Order will increase funding and resources to state and local governments to fulfill Homeland Security programs and doctrines, as well as increase Federal oversight in the implementation of directives tied to the agencies mission.

The purpose of this order is to maximize the Federal Government’s ability to develop local partnerships in the United States to support homeland security priorities. Partnerships are collaborative working relationships in which the goals, structure, and roles and responsibilities of the relationships are mutually determined.
There is established a White House Homeland Security Partnership Council (Council) to foster local partnerships — between the Federal Government and the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, community-based organizations, and State, local, tribal, and territorial government and law enforcement — to address homeland security challenges.
Sec. 3. Mission and Function of the Council and Steering Committee
(ii) promote homeland security priorities and opportunities for collaboration between Federal Government field offices and State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders;
(iii) advise and confer with State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders and agencies interested in expanding or building local homeland security partnerships; – Whitehouse.gov.

Since it's creation in 2001 from the aftermath of 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has expanded its authority over states, communities, and law enforcement each year. From expanding TSA responsibilities over airport transportation to now include trains, subways, and even highway checkpoints, to new regulations in how border control agents function in immigration conflicts, Homeland Security is one of the fastest growing government agencies in the past decade.
Through creating a new Steering Committee in partnership with how Homeland Security missions, directives, and programs are implemented in state and local levels, the fine line between state sovereignty and the need protect the country from disaster and terror attacks is becoming smaller every day. Over the past few years Homeland Security grants to local law enforcement have led to a militarization of police and public safety, and new drone technology is being used in criminal investigations outside the scope of national security.
In a little more than a decade, the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with its underlying and partnering Federal agencies, have infiltrated nearly every community in America. This new Executive Order, which expands the scope of the agency and gives it greater power in state and local partnerships, will mean greater loss of freedoms and liberties to both the states and citizens as the Federal government imposes greater authority over what should remain state sovereignty scope and missions.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

October 26, 2012

Executive Order — Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- – – – – – -

ESTABLISHING THE WHITE HOUSE

HOMELAND SECURITY PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to advance the Federal Government’s use of local partnerships to address homeland security challenges, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The purpose of this order is to maximize the Federal Government’s ability to develop local partnerships in the United States to support homeland security priorities. Partnerships are collaborative working relationships in which the goals, structure, and roles and responsibilities of the relationships are mutually determined. Collaboration enables the Federal Government and its partners to use resources more efficiently, build on one another’s expertise, drive innovation, engage in collective action, broaden investments to achieve shared goals, and improve performance. Partnerships enhance our ability to address homeland security priorities, from responding to natural disasters to preventing terrorism, by utilizing diverse perspectives, skills, tools, and resources.

The National Security Strategy emphasizes the importance of partnerships, underscoring that to keep our Nation safe “we must tap the ingenuity outside government through strategic partnerships with the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and community-based organizations. Such partnerships are critical to U.S. success at home and abroad, and we will support them through enhanced opportunities for engagement, coordination, transparency, and information sharing.” This approach recognizes that, given the complexities and range of challenges, we must institutionalize an all-of-Nation effort to address the evolving threats to the United States.

Sec. 2. White House Homeland Security Partnership Council and Steering Committee.

(a) White House Homeland Security Partnership Council. There is established a White House Homeland Security Partnership Council (Council) to foster local partnerships — between the Federal Government and the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, community-based organizations, and State, local, tribal, and territorial government and law enforcement — to address homeland security challenges. The Council shall be chaired by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (Chair), or a designee from the National Security Staff.

(b) Council Membership.

(i) Pursuant to the nomination process established in subsection (b)(ii) of this section, the Council shall be composed of Federal officials who are from field offices of the executive departments, agencies, and bureaus (agencies) that are members of the Steering Committee established in subsection (c) of this section, and who have demonstrated an ability to develop, sustain, and institutionalize local partnerships to address policy priorities.

(ii) The nomination process and selection criteria for members of the Council shall be established by the Steering Committee. Based on those criteria, agency heads may select and present to the Steering Committee their nominee or nominees to represent them on the Council. The Steering Committee shall consider all of the nominees and decide by consensus which of the nominees shall participate on the Council. Each member agency on the Steering Committee, with the exception of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, may have at least one representative on the Council.

(c) Steering Committee. There is also established a Steering Committee, chaired by the Chair of the Council, to provide guidance to the Council and perform other functions as set forth in this order. The Steering Committee shall include a representative at the Deputy agency head level, or that representative’s designee, from the following agencies:

(i) Department of State;

(ii) Department of the Treasury;

(iii) Department of Defense;

(iv) Department of Justice;

(v) Department of the Interior;

(vi) Department of Agriculture;

(vii) Department of Commerce;

(viii) Department of Labor;

(ix) Department of Health and Human Services;

(x) Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(xi) Department of Transportation;

(xii) Department of Energy;

(xiii) Department of Education;

(xiv) Department of Veterans Affairs;

(xv) Department of Homeland Security;

(xvi) Office of the Director of National Intelligence;

(xvii) Environmental Protection Agency;

(xviii) Small Business Administration; and

(xix) Federal Bureau of Investigation.

At the invitation of the Chair, representatives of agencies not listed in subsection (c) of this section or other executive branch entities may attend and participate in Steering Committee meetings as appropriate.

(d) Administration. The Chair or a designee shall convene meetings of the Council and Steering Committee, determine their agendas, and coordinate their work. The Council may establish subgroups consisting exclusively of Council members or their designees, as appropriate.

Sec. 3. Mission and Function of the Council and Steering Committee. (a) The Council shall, consistent with guidance from the Steering Committee:

(i) advise the Chair and Steering Committee members on priorities, challenges, and opportunities for local partnerships to support homeland security priorities, as well as regularly report to the Steering Committee on the Council’s efforts;

(ii) promote homeland security priorities and opportunities for collaboration between Federal Government field offices and State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders;

(iii) advise and confer with State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders and agencies interested in expanding or building local homeland security partnerships;

(iv) raise awareness of local partnership best practices that can support homeland security priorities;

(v) as appropriate, conduct outreach to representatives of the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, community-based organizations, and State, local, tribal, and territorial government and law enforcement entities with relevant expertise for local homeland security partnerships, and collaborate with other Federal Government bodies; and

(vi) convene an annual meeting to exchange key findings, progress, and best practices.

(b) The Steering Committee shall:

(i) determine the scope of issue areas the Council will address and its operating protocols, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget;

(ii) establish the nomination process and selection criteria for members of the Council as set forth in section 2(b)(ii) of this order;

(iii) provide guidance to the Council on the activities set forth in subsection (a) of this section; and

(iv) within 1 year of the selection of the Council members, and annually thereafter, provide a report on the work of the Council to the President through the Chair.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) The heads of agencies participating in the Steering Committee shall assist and provide information to the Council, consistent with applicable law, as may be necessary to implement this order. Each agency shall bear its own expense for participating in the Council.

(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof;

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals; or

(iii) the functions of the Overseas Security Advisory Council.

(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and appropriate protections for privacy and civil liberties, and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

October 26, 2012.

Steering committee : Hmmmm.......How many of these agencies have an "Obama Czar"?

Homeland Security Shreds Constitutional Right to Anonymous Political Speech – Not to Protect Our Security – But to Monitor Dissent

Homeland Security Shreds Constitutional Right to Anonymous Political Speech – Not to Protect Our Security – But to Monitor Dissent.(WB).Anonymous political speech has a special place in American history.As leading economic blogger Tyler Durden points out:

Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. it thus exemplifies the purpose behind the bill of rights, and of the first amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation– and their ideas from suppression– at the hand of an intolerant society.

Though often maligned (typically by those frustrated by an inability to engage in ad hominem attacks) anonymous speech has a long and storied history in the United States. Used by the likes of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens) [and the founding fathers in the Federalist Papers], we think ourselves in good company in using one or another nom de plume. Particularly in light of an emerging trend against vocalizing public dissent in the Uunited States, we believe in the critical importance of anonymity and its role in dissident speech. like the Economist magazine, we also believe that keeping authorship anonymous moves the focus of discussion to the content of speech and away from the speaker- as it should be.

Gene Howington provides details in a must-read essay:

Do you have a right to anonymous political free speech?
According to the Supreme Court, you do. According to the Department of Homeland Security, you don’t. They’ve hired General Dynamics to track U.S. citizens exercising this critical civil right.

But DHS is shredding anonymity.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity Tonga 5.8 and Indonesia 5.7 ! More info here.

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

• The Congressional Budget Office reports that the “American Jobs Act” Would Increase 2012 Deficit By $288 Billion.(WeeklyStandard).The Congressional Budget Office reports that the “American Jobs Act” would make the federal deficit jump $288 billion in 2012. In other words, the 2012 deficit would rise by about twenty-five percent — from $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion. The most recent budget fight between Republicans and Democrats resulted in just a $22 billion cut to the 2012 deficit.The CBO predicts that over 10 years the American Jobs Act would raise enough taxes to pay for the short-term stimulus:

CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase the budget deficit by $288 billion in 2012 and decrease deficits by $3 billion over the 2012–2021 period. That estimated deficit reduction of $3 billion over the coming decade is the net effect of $447 billion in additional spending and tax cuts in titles II through III and $450 billion in additional tax revenue from the offsets specified in title IV.

Congressional Republicans jumped on the new report to criticize the Democrats "spend now, pay later" approach. "So massive spending and deficits for a temporary stimulus bill now, paid for with a permanent tax hike," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's spokesman Don Stewart wrote in an email to reporters.Read the full story here.

• Homeland Security Moves Forward with ‘Pre-Crime’ Detection.(CNet).An internal U.S. Department of Homeland Security document indicates that a controversial program designed to predict whether a person will commit a crime is already being tested on some members of the public voluntarily, CNET has learned.If this sounds a bit like the Tom Cruise movie called “Minority Report,” or the CBS drama “Person of Interest,” it is. But where “Minority Report” author Philip K. Dick enlisted psychics to predict crimes, DHS is betting on algorithms: it’s building a “prototype screening facility” that it hopes will use factors such as ethnicity, gender, breathing, and heart rate to “detect cues indicative of mal-intent.”FAST is designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns. Occupation and age are also considered. A government source told CNET that blink rate and pupil variation are measured too.A field test of FAST has been conducted in at least one undisclosed location in the northeast. “It is not an airport, but it is a large venue that is a suitable substitute for an operational setting,” DHS spokesman John Verrico told Nature.com in May.Although DHS has publicly suggested that FAST could be used at airport checkpoints–the Transportation Security Administration is part of the department, after all–the government appears to have grander ambitions. One internal DHS document (PDF) also obtained by EPIC through the Freedom of Information Act says a mobile version of FAST “could be used at security checkpoints such as border crossings or at large public events such as sporting events or conventions.”Read the full story here.

• Remember Tariq Jahan? 'Hero' father who called for calm after son was mowed down and killed in the riots is charged after alleged road rage attack.(DailyMail).His dignified plea for calm just hours after the death of his son at the height of this summer’s looting was credited with averting a race riot.Tariq Jahan, 46, was praised by police, the Prime Minister and media alike for his decisive intervention in the street where, hours earlier, he had cradled his dying son, Haroon, 21.Even last week he was described as a ‘hero’ by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and days ago he was handed a Pride of Britain award by a national newspaper.But Mr Jahan delivered his call for calm while facing charges over an alleged attack which left a man seriously injured, it has emerged.Mr Jahan, who met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to Birmingham after the riots, is said to have punched a man in the face, breaking his jaw, in an alleged road rage incident in July.He was originally arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment – but now faces the lesser charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent.Mr Jahan’s son and two friends were killed as they tried to defend a petrol station against looters on August 10 in Winson Green.Birmingham was left a tinderbox after it was confirmed that a man arrested on suspicion of murdering the Asians was black.Read the full story here.

• Turkey tells France to confront colonial past first.(HurriyetDaily).Turkey said France should confront its colonial past before giving lessons to others on how to face history, in an angry response today to a call by President Nicolas Sarkozy for Ankara to recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide. Sarkozy, in Armenia on Thursday, challenged Turkey -- which is seeking membership of the European Union -- to face up to its past and threatened to pass a law in France that would make denying the genocide a crime.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told a news conference: "Those who will not be able to face their own history for having carried out colonialism for centuries, for treating foreigners as second-class people, do not have the right to teach Turkey a history lesson or call for Turkey to face its history."Davutoğlu said Turkey and Armenia were working together on ways to normalise ties and Sarkozy's comments would have a negative impact on reconciliation efforts.Armenia and Turkey, with the endorsement of the United States, the European Union and Russia, had agreed in 2009 to establish diplomatic ties and open their common border within two months of parliamentary approval.Sarkozy's remarks has fueled a response from Turkey's European Affairs Minister Egemen Bağış as well, who stated earlier today that the French president should abandon "the role of historian and put his mind to getting his country out of the economic gulf in which it finds itself."Hmmmm......Erdogan "Muslims don't commit Genocide".Read the full story here.

• Warning over France's Islamic suburbs which are becoming 'separate communities in a divided nation'.(DailyMail). France's run-down city suburbs are becoming ‘separate Islamic societies’ cut off from the state, a report has warned.Arab communities are increasingly rejecting French values and identity to immerse themselves in Muslim culture and lifestyle, it was found.Muslim pupils often boycott school dinners if the food is not halal and most Arabs oppose marriages to white French citizens, the study by respected political scientist Gilles Kepel revealed. As a result, France – whose five million Muslims make up Europe’s largest Islamic population – was turning into a ‘divided nation’, the study called Suburbs of the Republic found.Dr Kepel wrote: ‘In some areas, a third of the population of the town does not hold French nationality, and many residents are drawn to an Islamic identity rather than simply rejecting or failing to find a secular one.‘French schools, which are rigorously non-religious, have traditionally been seen as having the role of training young citizens of the republic. But local officials say Islamic pupils are heading home for a halal lunch.‘Most people in France do not object to mixed marriages, but in the suburbs we were surprised to find a very large proportion of Muslim respondents said they were opposed to marriages with non-Muslims.’The study was commissioned by the Institut Montaigne think-tank. It will make recommendations to the government in January.Hmmm......Michel Sardou got it right:"Ne m'appelez plus jamais France, La France elle m'a laissé tomber".Read the full story here.

• 'Abbas To Council of Europe: Palestinians Cannot Recognize Jewish State.(Memri).Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 'Abbas said in a speech to a parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe that the demand for recognition of a Jewish state is a precondition for negotiations that the Palestinians cannot accept, because it could lead to a destructive religious struggle in the region, could endanger the1.25 million Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, and could abolish the refugees' rights. He accused Israel of ethnic cleansing in eastern Jerusalem and of conducting excavations that endanger the holy places, and said that Jerusalem will be a city open to all religions, with its eastern part the capital of Palestine and its western part the capital of Israel. He stressed that what is Arab will remain Arab, and what is Jewish will remain with them, and stated that he had reached an understanding with then-prime minister Ehud Olmert on this issue.Read the full story here.

• Hamas Official: 'If Only We Had Now 10 Martyrs'.(Memri).Hamas official Khalil Al-Haya has expressed the wish, "if only we had now 10 martyrs to carry out martyrdom operations." He added that this did not exist at the moment due to the security coordination. He denied that Hamas intended to move from Damascus to Tehran or Amman, and added that while Hamas believed that Palestine from the sea to the river was an Islamic Waqf that would be restored by means of the resistance, but that it would agree to a Palestinian state with the promise of a right of return and with granting a long-term hudna to the Zionist enterprise but without recognition of Israel's legitimacy.Read the full story here.

• Russia: Ex-Porn Star Receives Major Award at Muslim Film Festival.(RT).The Muslim Film Festival that took place in the Russian city of Kazan in September has ended up in a sex scandal. The issue related to a former porn actress who was awarded at the festival.The scandal allegedly emerged at the suggestion of the Tatarstan Muslims Spiritual leader Ildus Faizov. The Islamic activist addressed The Culture Ministry, roundly criticizing the festival. He noted his major disappointment in the choice of the Grand Prix winner. The award-winning German actress Sibel Kekilli is known for criticizing Islam and having starred in several porn films in the past. According to Faizov, Kekilli openly has stated her negative attitude to Islam, accusing the religion of including violence as one of its integral parts.Sibel Kekilli was named Best Actress for her role in German drama When We Leave. However, her name was not even mentioned on the festival’s website."Invited to the festival were figures of culture whose work does not have anything in common with the main idea of Muslim festival and contradicts generally accepted moral norms and Islam morality," the mufti said in his letter to the republican Culture Ministry cited on Friday by the Nezavisimaya Gazeta.According to Faizov, handing the award discredits both the muftiate and all Muslims of the republic.Deputy of Tatarstan Culture Minister Guzel Nigmatullina said the Board consulted organizers of the festival on all religious questions. However, Faizov refuted the official's statement saying that no consultations with spiritual leaders had taken place. The edition notes that Islam clergy of the republic has an opinion that awarding former porno actress with the prize and attempts to link contest choice with Islam clergy is an action aimed at discrediting Faizov known for his efforts to clear Tatar umma from radicals. Read the full story here and here.

• LIVING AT GROUND ZERO!By Allan Thompson -Toronto Star Staff Reporter.In a remote corner of Kazakstan, people were deliberately exposed to nuclear bomb tests.SEMIPALATINSK, Kazakstan - NADEZHDA LISOVETS was milking one of her cows when the earth trembled so violently that the frightened animals tried to run away. ``It was like an earthquake,'' Lisovets said, shaking her hospital bed with her hands to mimic the impact of one of the explosions at the Soviet nuclear testing site near her village of Buras, in northeastern Kazakstan. Between 1949 and 1989, nearly 500 nuclear tests were conducted at the so-called Polygon testing site on the rolling steppe near Semipalatinsk. As many as 166 of the blasts were above ground. ``They would happen on weekends. One Sunday, everything in the house shook. I had to grab the sideboard to keep the dishes from falling off and the table was shaking,'' Lisovets said. ``Nobody told us this could cause us any damage. But I know now the explosions were connected with my problems. I try not to think about it,'' Lisovets said, her eyes welling with tears. She closed her gown, reflexively trying to hide the fact that one of her breasts have been removed. Lisovets is dying of advanced breast cancer. She is one of tens of thousands of victims of radiation in a region plagued by abnormally high rates of birth defects, cancer, blood disease, immune deficiency, mental disability, suicide and psychological trauma. This is the place where the Cold War never ended. But, unlike Chernobyl, this was no nuclear accident. There is compelling evidence that Soviet authorities were aware, as early as the late 1950s, of the devastating impact of radiation on the local population. Top secret documents show the Soviet military deliberately used villagers as guinea pigs to gauge the potential impact of nuclear war. ``There's no place in the world that has inherited or suffered that kind of man-made disaster over a sustained period of time, affecting generations of people,'' said Herbert Behrstock, the United Nations' top representative in Kazakstan. ``People don't realize the magnitude of this and the continuing intensity,'' Behrstock said. The U.N. General Assembly in October called for a $43 million international aid package for the devastated communities around Semipalatinsk. Kazakstan, which closed the test site in 1991 shortly after gaining independence, is desperately poor despite its mineral wealth. The government has done little for victims of radiation. Authorities estimate more than 1.2 million people were adversely affected by nuclear testing. About 67,000 people who lived in villages located within 100 kilometres of the test site at the time of the explosions received the highest doses of radiation. They have passed the genetic defects on to offspring. By 1989, when testing ended and KGB officials were frantically destroying documents, Gusev was determined to safeguard as much of the historical record as possible. He took three sacks of records earmarked for incineration and hid them in a closet in a relative's home. He then filled the empty sacks with magazines and newspapers, which he took to the incinerator. He gave a list of the ``destroyed'' documents to Soviet authorities. After analyzing the documents, Gusev concluded the Soviet military deliberately staged as many explosions as possible during bad weather, when skies were overcast, increasing radioactive fallout by up to 20 times. ``Why couldn't they just wait a day or two, until the skies were clear and the fallout would be less?'' Gusev asks. ``Because they wanted to see what the effect of the explosion would be on a real population. ``It was a crime against humanity,'' Gusev said. The legacy of the tests is clear at the Semipalatinsk cancer hospital, where Lisovets came for her breast cancer operation. One-third of patients show up for treatment when they are beyond help; many cancer victims never bother coming to hospital at all. Toleubek Ukbenov, director of the Centre for Psychiatric Health in Semipalatinsk said the region suffers from abnormally high rates of mental disability at birth, various neuroses and suicide. ``It's not a very scientific observation, but too often we see the closing of one cemetery and the opening of a new one,'' Ukbenov said. ``These days, we're surprised when someone dies of old age.''Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                        Afternoon Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 17. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - May 17. Here (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 4.7 activity. More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 112. Source : Here .

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

• Obama's draft speech to urge '67 borders, negate PA's state bid.(Ynet).US president's coming speech about Washington's Mideast policy to demand PA recognize Israel, drop unilateral UN bid for statehood, while urging Israel to return to '67 lines, cease settlement expansion.WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama is set to give his next political speech at 6pm Thursday, just hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves for Washington and according to a draft of the speech, obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth, the American president's Middle East policy, though unwavering, may not be as discordant as some have feared. Obama is expected to urge Israel to return to the 1967 lines while negating the Palestinian Authority's planned unilateral bid for statehood in September. According to the draft – which may change again by Thursday – Obama will call on Jerusalem and Ramallah to reignite the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, saying it is the only way to achieve viable peace. Obama stands to demand the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as the Jewish state, and that the Palestinians unequivocally abandon terror. He is also likely to stress Israel must cease any settlement expansion in the West Bank and further avoid any act which could be construed as changing the status quo on the ground.The subject of Jerusalem also stands to be included in the American president's speech: Washington sees the city as the capital of both Israel and the Palestinian state, with its east Jerusalem neighborhoods – which are largely populated by Palestinians – under the PA's sovereignty, and its Jewish neighborhoods under Israeli sovereignty.Following Netanyahu's vehement speech before the Knesset plenum Sunday, it seems Washington has decided to lower its expectations of Netanyahu.Still, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said that the White House was not "as pessimistic" as reported, adding that the peace process "faces immense challenges." Hmmmm... The most anti Israel US President evah!Recognising Islamic Terrorists and condemming settlers.I  wonder how deep he will trust the knife in Israel's back on ThursdayRead the full story here.

• Iranian aid ships turned back from Bahrain.(Al-Jazeera).Two ships carrying Iranian activists return to docks after facing "threats" from warships en route to Bahrain. Two ships carrying 120 Iranian activists sailed for Bahrain on Monday in an act of solidarity with the island country's Shia majority population.The Iranian government ordered the two boats to return, while activists threw into the water letters they were carrying as "moral support" to Bahraini Shia, a journalist for Iran's English-language Press TV reported live aboard one of the vessels.The ships turned back towards Iran at a halfway point after facing "the emergence of threats" from warships belonging to a coalition of Gulf states which have lent support to Bahrain in its crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, the Washington Post reported, citing an announcement on the activists' website.Iranian authorities did not try to stop the ships' trip, the website said, according to the Washington Post.Mahdi Eghrarian, an organiser of the trip, earlier told the semi-official Fars news agency that the ships had embarked at the southwestern port of Dayyer.A third of the activists were women, 10 were children, and nobody on board was armed, Eghrarian said.The group is carrying 5,000 letters which convey the Iranian people's "moral support", he said, for the Shia of Bahrain."We've started moving towards international waters. We will carry on sailing towards Bahrain's borders as far as possible in order to be able to hand over letters and messages of the Iranian nation to the Bahraini nation," Eghrarian said according to Fars.Last month, Iranian authorities stopped two boats carrying Iranian students from leaving the southern port city of Bushehr for Bahrain in a similar show of solidarity.Bahrain, a tiny island country in the Gulf, has a majority Shia population but is ruled by a Sunni king, who has cracked down on dissent since pro-democracy protests broke out in February.Hmmmm....To be continued.Read the full story here.

• Why Is a Delegation From Iran Coming to the United States?(Fox).On May 17th, an Iranian economic and trade delegation will be traveling to the U.S. to participate in the Futurallia International Business Development Forum.Mohammad-Reza Sabzalipour, director of the Iranian World Trade Center, who announced this news to a group of reporters, said: “A sixteen-person delegation comprised of private sector Iranians has been invited by the U.S. to attend this three-day conference in Kansas City. Eight hundred trade delegations from thirty countries are expected to participate. This Forum can set the stage and provide the necessary groundwork for the development of international trade and business relations for Iran’s private sector.”Sabzalipour emphasized that sanctions have neither been very effective, nor a deterrent in Iran’s private sector relations with the U.S. He added: “Though Iran is facing sanctions and the U.S. is the host of this Forum, they could have omitted us from the list of participants but luckily, they did not. The members of our delegations have all also been given three-month visas.”Reportedly the Iranian companies participating in the forum will be from the industrial sector, which includes producers and manufacturers of chemical materials, household items, paint and coloring, food stuffs and chocolate. A financial analyst is also expected to be accompanying the delegation.The Iranian leaders, who have continuously refused to give in to U.N. demands to halt their nuclear enrichment program and are under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions, must be jubilant that the Obama administration is backpedaling on the mandated sanctions and has allowed the State Department to issue them visas and host the delegation here in the United States.This is in addition to the recent secret meeting in Dubai between officials from the Obama administration and the Iranian delegates sent by President Ahmadinejad! According to reports from Iran, in late January/early February, a group calling itself “a trade association” — all of its members belong to security forces close to Ahmadinejad — traveled to Dubai where they held clandestine meetings with two American officials with political and military connections.President Obama, who started his approach toward the radical Islamists ruling Iran by extending a hand, turning his back on the Iranian people with their aspirations for freedom and democracy, and hoping that he could be the first U.S. president to break the ice with the Jihadists in Tehran, soon learned that the Iranian leaders cannot be appeased into changing their behavior. He then moved forward with the sanctions process believing that at some cost, the leaders in Iran will think twice about their nuclear program. So now the Obama administration has completely thrown in the towel by initiating steps to restart a dialog signaling to the Iranians that America is too weak to confront the Islamic regime, a regime that brutally suppresses its people and supports worldwide terrorism, endangering global stability and our national security.Instead of allowing the Iranian delegation’s travel to U.S., Mr. Obama should instead openly announce his disgust with the regime in Iran for their crimes against humanity, for torturing and murdering Iranian citizens, for genocide against religious minorities, for involvement in international terrorism, and for killing American soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.Lets us refuse to allow these very people, who have the blood of our heroes on their hands, to enter the U.S. and to attend the Forum in Kansas City.Hmmmm....Follow the dots....Iran ....Turkey....Erdogan....Obama weekly calls to erdogan it's as simple as that.IMPEACH.Read the full story here.

• Obama: “My People, You Continue to Have My Blessing.”(WhiteHouseDossier).by Keith Koffler.What kind of political leader tells his supporters this?

My belief in you has not lessened.

President Obama does. That’s what he said toward the end a speech at a campaign fundraiser last night in Washington to a relatively youthful crowd of supporters he was trying spur back toward the energy level of 2008.He still believes in what he believes, which is also what they believe, he said.

The vision that brought us together in 2008, that’s undiminished in me.

And best of all, our Leader let it be known, thankfully, that he continues to have faith in you and me as well.

The confidence I have in the American people, in their decency, that’s undiminished. My faith that we can make tough choices on behalf of future generations, that’s undiminished.

I just, I’m just, I’m really just crying right now.Excuse me.Hmmm.....Do presidents get periodically a mental healthcheck?Read the full 'story' here.

• The Unraveling of the great Ponzi Scheme.(BigGovernment).The news media in this country are in a stupor. Either out of ignorance, or complete leftist bias and fraud to protect their socialist hero Barack Obama, the mainstream media has turned a blind eye toward the enormous disaster facing our economy. The greatest Ponzi scheme in world history is coming to an end, leaving America on the precipice of economic Armageddon. Here are the facts the mainstream media does not want you to see- hiding in plain site just like Osama bin Laden was.Bill Gross is the world’s biggest bond trader. He runs the PIMCO bond fund with over $250 billion under management. He recently disclosed through financial filings that PIMCO has sold every single U.S. bond in its portfolio. Local, state, federal bonds- all sold off. Gross knows bonds are about to default in record numbers. And most importantly, he knows that the last resort of the Federal Reserve buying our own government’s bonds at auction is a certain sign of Armageddon. When no one is left to buy your own debt but you, you have reached the end of a Ponzi Scheme.Then there is legendary Wall Street investor Stanley Druckenmiller. He, too, is calling the Fed’s bond purchases a fraud and a Ponzi scheme. Druckenmiller says, “There is a phony buyer of $19 billion per week of Treasury Bonds.” The phony buyer he refers to is the U.S. government. Druckenmiller knows that when a country resorts to buying its own debt, we are seeing the last days of the Roman Empire.Another Wall Street legend, Jim Rogers, spoke out at a business conference last week. He said he plans to short sell (bet against) U.S. bonds with both hands. Rogers added, “If any of you have bonds, I would urge you to go home and sell them. If any of you are bond portfolio managers, I would get another job…if I were you, I would think about becoming a farmer.”Finally, we have the opinion of municipal bond expert Meredith Whitney, named by Fortune magazine as “one of the 50 most powerful women in business,” and by Time magazine as “one of the 100 most influential people.” She sees America in financial ruin with 50 to 100 cities defaulting on their debt in the next year.What do these financial legends know that the rest of us do not?First of all, reality is catching up to America. The Ponzi scheme of printing fake money to pay real bills is coming to an end. The jig is up- there is no way to sustain America’s massive welfare state anymore. When the Stimulus runs out, states will face disaster. The federal government currently pays for 30% of the states’ bills. Without that welfare from the feds, the game is over for the states.But that is just the start. The states pay 40% of the bills of their cities. As soon as that welfare ends, look for mounting numbers of municipalities to declare bankruptcy and default on their debts. The vicious cycle is only getting started.On the federal level, the trustees of both Social Security and Medicare admitted just this past week that their massive Ponzi schemes are running on empty. Both funds are running out of money far sooner than projected. Social Security will now run a permanent deficit. It is also important to remember there is no money in the “lock box.” All that is in the lock box is worthless paper IOU’s. It has all been spent. The Ponzi scheme is unraveling.Even more foreboding, 10% inflation is a leading indicator of hyperinflation on the way. Any rise in inflation would force dramatic raises in interest rates, which would eat up the entire budget. Game over for America.History always repeats. This vicious cycle of misery will force massive layoffs of government employees, and massive cuts in entitlements and social services. This will result in Greece-like levels of protests, government employee union strikes, unrest, and riots.The ancient Chinese proverb says, “May you live in interesting times.” We are all watching history. This is the unraveling of a Ponzi scheme.Hmmmm....Game over ,the 'walking,talking doomsday machine ' did his job America is no more.Read the full story here.

• Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum: "the President is a failure, and continues to fail".(HughHewitt).

HH: In Israel yesterday on three different borders, Palestinians attempted to rush the border and break through. Many people think this is Syrian orchestrated in one instance to divert attention. What ought the response of the United States be before these things become endemic and repetitive?

RS: Well, one of the problems we have is we have a president who is not a supporter of Israel. I mean, they’ve basically created a moral equivalence of building a house in East Jerusalem to throwing, to lobbing Scud missiles at, in neighborhoods in Israel. There is no moral equivalence, but in the idea of this administration, it’s actually worse to build a house than it is for Hamas to attack the Israelis. And I think that what you’re seeing is a group of folks who are emboldened by the fact that the United States has been less supportive of Israel, and so they’re pushing. They’re prodding. That’s what enemies of the United States are doing all over the world. It’s in Central and South America, to the Middle East, to the Far East. You’re seeing folks who are taking liberties, because they believe that this president doesn’t have what it takes, on a strategic level, to deal with all of these problems popping up around the world.

HH: Now Rick Santorum, the President got a bump, a justifiable bump, for the killing of bin Laden. Does that in any way impact your assessment of how he’s going in Egypt, Libya and Syria?

RS: Well, no, it doesn’t, because Egypt, Libya and Syria are all contingencies that occurred on his watch, where he had to develop policies, strategic policy, to respond to the problem that has been confronted. And he’s done a horrible job. I mean, absolutely missed, and throw on top of that Iran, he’s done a horrible job in protecting America’s interests, and reassuring our allies, and at the same time, making sure our enemies know that we are to be feared and respected. What he did with Osama bin Laden was very simple. What he did was execute a tactical maneuver to, and by the way, that was recommended by everybody. I mean, it’s not like he was going against any recommendations. He was going with every recommendation that was made to him to carry out a military tactic consistent with George Bush’s policies. So this is, you know, I give him, yeah, he said yes. But he said yes on a tactical level to something that had already been strategically put in place ten years before he even came into office. So no, I think when it comes to protecting the United States, and putting together a strategic plan that does so, the President is a failure, and continues to fail.Hmmmm....."The truth nothing but the truth"?Read the full story here.

• America - The Expanding policestate :Random House to House Searches Authorized.(SHTF).The latest violation of the right to be safe in our homes and our persons comes from the Indiana Supreme Court:According to Newton County Sheriff, Don Hartman Sr., random house to house searches are now possible and could be helpful following the Barnes v. STATE of INDIANA Supreme Court ruling issued on May 12th, 2011. When asked three separate times due to the astounding callousness as it relates to trampling the inherent natural rights of Americans, he emphatically indicated that he would use random house to house checks, adding he felt people will welcome random searches if it means capturing a criminal.Granted, this is a State Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court could throw out the decision as unconstitutional, we aren’t holding our breath. Just yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 that Kentucky police who smelled marijuana at an apartment door, knocked loudly and announced themselves, and then kicked in the door when they thought the drugs were being destroyed did nothing wrong. The similarities in the rulings cannot be ignored. You see, in the Kentucky US Supreme Court ruling, the police officers who kicked in the door had been tracking a criminal in the area. As they were walking around the neighborhood, they indicated that they smelled marijuana, and came to the conclusion that the criminal they were tracking must be the one smoking it. They then kicked the door down. The resident of that dwelling, who had no relation to the original criminal or crime committed, was then arrested.No matter your stance on marijuana laws, Karl Denninger highlights why this is a dangerous precedent:The primary problem with these sorts of cases, of course, is that the law exists at all on this basis. We create circumstances in which the police have to manufacture cause to bust in a door behind which adults are peacefully conducting themselves in consensual conduct. Having passed laws that are logically indefensible from the first principle that you own your person we are then forced to create more and more elements fo an outright police state to “enforce” these misguided and logically defective statutes.First the government provided billions in funding for street cameras for just about every major intersection in the country. They required roving bug technology in all new cell phones. They created cyber security divisions whose sole purpose is to monitor internet traffic – everything from email and text messaging to phone calls and online community forums. They even made investments into large internet firms so that they can create and monitor social trends and relationships. To store, process and cross examine all of the data, they created Fusion centers in most U.S. metropolitan areas.As if that weren’t enough, the government is now further expanding its power. They tell us what to eat – what’s healthy (e.g. GMO foods and rBST infused milk) and what’s bad for our diet (natural foods, sugar, salt). They tell us when and where to go for health care. They decide who can be groped in public and why.Now, they can choose to enter your home, for virtually any reason, and if you happen to be breaking one of the tens of thousands of laws that exist on the books, you are jailed. Even if you aren’t breaking the law, and completely within your Constitutional, State and local rights, you may end up like Mark Fiorino, a 25-year-old IT worker who was recently detained by police for lawfully open carrying a firearm. Police assumed he was breaking the law (apparently they didn’t know the law). He wasn’t. That didn’t stop them from threatening to shoot him. He was eventually released and not arrested for the firearm issue. He was, however, arrested after he released a Youtube audio clip of the encounter. According to police. Fiorino was charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct because he refused to cooperate with police.Hmmmm......"CHANGE" and you asked for it!Read the full story here.

• A QUESTION OF ELIGIBILITY.Nordyke numbers expose Obama document fraud?(WND).

Newly found details about birth registration show president's certificate out of sequence.NEW YORK – Newly unearthed information about Hawaii's procedure for numbering birth records at the time Barack Obama was born casts further doubt on the authenticity of the short-form and long-form birth certificates published online with the president's authority. Details about the registration procedure are significant, because some analysts have wondered how Obama could have been issued a registration number that is higher than the numbers of the published birth certificates of Susan and Gretchen Nordyke, which were registered three days later than the president's.

Some have speculated that even though Obama's birth certificate was received by the registrar Aug. 8, 1961, the registration number could have been assigned a few days later by a clerk processing a batch that included the Nordyke twins' birth records.But a 1955 article by Charles Bennett, Hawaii's registrar general in 1961, and George Tokuyama, chief of the registration and records section for the state's Department of Health, stated birth certificates were numbered immediately upon acceptance by the registrar-general. The article published in the November-December 1955 issue of the Hawaii Medical Journal, titled "Vital Records in Hawaii," makes clear that the territory was streamlining and structuring an undisciplined vital records system to comply with U.S. Bureau of Census practices in preparation for statehood in 1959.As WND reported, the numbers on the long-form birth certificates issued by Kapi'olani hospital to the Nordyke twins are lower than the number assigned to Obama's published birth certificates, even though the president's birth record indicates it was accepted by the registrar-general three days earlier. Susan Nordyke, the first twin, was born at 2:12 p.m. Hawaii time on Aug. 5, 1961, and was given Certificate No. 151 – 61 – 10637, which was filed with the Hawaii registrar Aug. 11, 1961. Gretchen Nordyke, the second twin, was born at 2:17 p.m. Aug. 5, 1961, and was given Certificate No. 151 – 61 – 10638, which was also filed with the Hawaii registrar Aug. 11, 1961. Yet, according to the Certification of Live Birth released by FactCheck.org during the 2008 presidential campaign – and now according to the long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate the White House released last month – Obama was given a higher certificate number than the Nordyke twins. Obama was given Certificate No. 151 – 61 – 10641, even though he was born Aug. 4, 1961, the day before the Nordyke twins, and his birth was registered with the Hawaii Department of Health registrar three days earlier, on Aug. 8, 1961.These facts suggest that if the two Obama documents are forgeries, the forger was unaware of the Nordyke twins' birth certificates, which were first published July 28, 2009, in an article in the Honolulu Advertiser, more than one year after Obama's short-form Certification of Live Birth was posted by the Daily Kos.A search of Hawaii newspapers indicates 13 babies were born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, and 22 on Aug. 5, 1961, suggesting Obama's birth certificate number should be about 30 to 50 digits lower that the Nordyke twins' numbers. Since the Hawaii DOH will not allow an open inspection of the August 1961 birth records, it is impossible to know how many birth certificates the registrar general filed and numbered between Aug. 8 and Aug. 11, 1961.Hmmmm....All this is beside the main point:it's impossible for a person whose father isn't a US citizen to be "natural born". case closed.Read the full story here.

• Homeland Security ends immigrant registration that targeted men from Muslim countries.(Freep).The U.S. government has ended a controversial counterterrorism program created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that required men living in the U.S. who came from mostly Muslim countries to register with federal authorities.Called NSEERS -- National Security Entry-Exit Registration System -- the program required registration, interviews and fingerprinting of male visitors 16 and older from Muslim nations as well as North Korea.NSEERS did "not catch terrorists," said Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, a law professor at Penn State University who has extensively researched the program. "It was ineffective and alienating."The Department of Homeland Security quietly ended the program through a notice buried on its Web site on April 28.In 2003, long lines formed at federal immigration offices in Detroit as anxious men from Arab and other countries waited to be registered under a new counterterrorism program.The government said the registration, including fingerprinting and interviews, was needed to help secure the country in the war on terrorism. But many felt it was ethnic harassment."They treated us like animals," Siefeddine Siefeddine, 44, of Dearborn recalled Friday.The Lebanon native says he went through a registration process from 9 a.m.-7 p.m., only to be told to report back the next day.Across the U.S., about 80,000 men like him -- those 16 or older from 24 Muslim-majority countries and North Korea who already lived in the U.S. -- eventually were registered though the domestic part of NSEERS, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. Many were interrogated, and all had to report back periodically.The program caused intense anxiety for many Arab-Americans and Muslims, split up families and led to thousands of deportations for minor immigration violations. But in the end, it didn't catch a single terrorist, experts say.The program effectively ended April 28 when the Department of Homeland Security removed the 25 countries from the NSEERS.The countries were Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
  "It's a welcome step in the right direction," said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "This was way overdue."In many ways, the registration requirement was an example of government overkill in the war on terrorism, he and others said."It was ineffective and a waste of government resources," said Nabih Ayad, a Canton attorney who represented men registered under NSEERS, including Siefeddine. "It was racial profiling on its face."Out of the 80,000 U.S. residents who were registered, 13,799 were referred for further investigations and 2,870 were detained.Many were deported for immigration violations that ordinarily would not have been a priority for law enforcement.Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, an attorney and law professor who heads the Center for Immigrants' Rights at Penn State University, cowrote a report in 2009 on NSEERS that said the program was discriminatory and ineffective."Any policing methods based on profiling will fail -- as was the case with NSEERS," said Abed Ayoub, a Dearborn native who is the national legal director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.SUMMARY: This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of California (FEMA–1968–DR), dated April 18, 2011, and related determinations.DATES: Effective Date: April 18, 2011..Hmmmm....Now registering immigrants from the North Pole a known hotbed for terrorists?Read the full story here.More here.

• U.S. probe to look at border concerns of Muslims.(Freep).The U.S. government has launched an investigation into allegations that federal agents at several U.S.-Canada border crossings in Michigan repeatedly harassed, jailed and body searched Muslims because of their background or appearance.In a letter sent this week to a local Muslim group, Margo Schlanger, the head of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Department of Homeland Security, said her office has received accounts of "repeated handcuffing, brandishing of weapons, prolonged detentions, invasive and humiliating body searches at the border, and inappropriate questioning that pertains to religion and religious practices."The investigation comes in response to complaints filed in March by the Council on American-Islamic Relations with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.The council said it was concerned that agents were even asking people about their prayer schedules.Muslims, Arab Americans, south Asians and other minorities have complained for years about being harassed at border crossings. Now, some say it's getting worse."It really makes you feel humiliated," said Wissam Charafeddine, 34, of Dearborn, who says he gets repeatedly jailed at the border. "It doesn't make you feel like you're in America."Hmmmmm.....Amazing how many times Cair must intervene for people from Dearbornistan being 'profiled'?Read the full story here.

• Meanwhile in Europe : German Jihad - Homegrown Terror Takes on New Dimensions.(Spiegel).Osama bin Laden may be dead, but al-Qaida is alive and well in Germany. Each month, an average of five Islamists leave the country for terrorist training camps in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Recent arrests in Düsseldorf show just how dangerous homegrown terror has become.It isn't easy being a militant Islamist, as Abdeladim el-K. and Jamil S. learned on a Tuesday two weeks ago. The two men were sitting in a two-room apartment on Witzelstrasse in the German city of Düsseldorf, complaining to each other about how complicated it is to build a functioning bomb. "Bomb is not so difficult as detonator," said Abdeladim el-K., "because detonator more dangerous than bomb."The al-Qaida handbooks make it all sound so easy. You buy charcoal lighters and extract the hexamine, and already you have a component for a bomb. Apparently the method works everywhere, except possibly in Germany, where charcoal lighters have a different chemical composition than in other countries. In Düsseldorf, investigators would later discover a cooking pot the two men may have wanted to use to boil down the lighters.The apartment was under surveillance, as were the men's phones and computers. The police had been listening in on the two men's conversations for weeks, except when the sound of the television or the washing machine drowned out what they were saying. On Wednesday, when the men, speaking in broken German, began discussing "making an attack at bus stop" or possibly on a bus, the federal prosecutor's office decided to move in rather than wait until the would-be terrorists had built their bomb and were ready to use it.On the morning of Friday, April 29, police arrested Moroccan national Abdeladim el-K., 29, German-Moroccan electrician Jamil S., 31 and German-Iranian student Amid C., 19, who was on the verge of taking his final examinations prior to graduating from high school.At the center of the investigation in Düsseldorf was Abdeladim el-K., who investigators believe was the leader of the cell. He had allegedly brought the virus of Islamist terror from Afghanistan to Düsseldorf and had been in contact with Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a senior member of al-Qaida. The two men had apparently met in an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan, and it appeared that el-K. was al-Qaida's man for the Rhine-Ruhr region of western Germany.Hmmmm....On the other hand it seems in America the Obama regime thinks after killing Osama there's no longer an  Al-qaida?If no longer checked you can travel wherever you want.Read the full story here.

• HHS: Pelosi had no influence on healthcare waivers to her district.(TheHill).House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had no influence on the healthcare waivers granted last month to businesses in her district, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday. Republican leaders on and off Capitol Hill had slammed the Obama administration for granting a growing number of health-reform waivers to constituents of the top House Democrat. But Steve Larsen, director of HHS’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, said those businesses were given no special treatment. “These temporary waivers are necessary to help ensure that the waiters, dishwashers, maids, home health aides, and other hardworking people can keep the health coverage they have, while we transition to 2014, when they will have access to affordable coverage in a competitive marketplace,” Larsen told The Hill in an email. Republicans – including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and former-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – were quick to pounce, suggesting that Pelosi's constituents were given special treatment.“It looks like ObamaCare’s backroom sweetheart deals didn’t end when it became law,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told the Daily Caller. Palin weighed in as well, accusing the Obama administration of corruption for granting the waivers to constituents of a key Democratic ally.“Seriously, this is corrupt,” Palin told the Daily Caller. "And anyone who still supports the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda of centralized government takeovers of the free market and the corresponding crony capitalism is, in my book, complicit.Republicans also played up the news of businesses in Pelosi’s district racing to be exempt from certain requirements of the new healthcare law.“Remember when former Speaker Pelosi said we needed to pass the ObamaCare bill to find out what was in it?” Steel told The Hill in an email. “I guess once they found out, the high-end eateries and spas in her Congressional District weren’t big fans.”Hmmmm....Thugocracy or Democracy?Read the full story here.

• Egyptian Military Regime: Country's Economy At bottom Point.An economic review by the Egyptian Armed Forces Supreme Council stated that the rate of foreign investment in Egypt had dropped to zero, tourism revenues had fallen by 80%, unemployment was nearing 70%, and the public debt stands now at $180 billion. The council warned against continued deterioration in the country's economic situation.The supreme military command of the Egyptian armed forces warned about the deteriorating condition of the economy while emphasizing that the size of foreign direct investment in the country was "zero."
  According to Major-Genenaral (liwaa) Mahmood Nasr, a member of the supreme military command and assistant to the minister of defense for financial affairs, the international rating of Egypt has been reduced close to a "risky" grade and the tourism revenue has declined by 80%. He said that Egypt was losing $40 million a day as a result of the halt in tourism. The recent sectarian events involving Salafists and an Egyptian Coptic minority has resulted in the cancelation of many tourism programs and the loss of employment in hotels.
  Nasr referred to the rise in the poverty rates at 70% while external debt was now 90% of gross domestic product. State revenues have been adversely affected because factories have suspended work (often due to strikes) causing the treasury a loss of income between 10-20 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.66-$3.33 billion for this month alone and the beginning of the next.In the meantime, the minister of finance Dr. Samir Radhwan announced that he expects to reach an agreement with the World Bank shortly to grant Egypt loans in the amount of $2.2 billion. He said that he will soon announce a package of new measures to jumpstart the economy. Hmmmm.....Quickly Catching up with the US "Change"?Or is it the other way around?Read the full story here.More here.

• China Sold Treasurys Again in March.(WSJ)WASHINGTON—China sold U.S. Treasury securities in March, reducing its holdings for the fifth straight month while remaining the largest foreign holder, the Treasury Department said Monday. Overall, foreigners were net buyers of long-term U.S. financial assets in March, according to the monthly Treasury International Capital report, known as TIC. China's holdings fell $9.20 billion to $1.145 trillion, following net selling of $600 million in February. Meanwhile, Japan has been a heavy net buyer in recent months, accumulating Treasurys at record levels. Japan remained the second-largest holder of Treasurys, lifting its holdings to $907.9 billion from $890.3 billion in February. Among all foreign investors, net purchases of U.S. Treasury notes and bonds totaled $26.78 billion, compared with net buying of $30.58 billion in February. Private foreign investors bought a net $19.54 billion Treasury notes and bonds, after buying a net of $14.72 billion the previous month. The closely watched total of net long-term securities transactions showed total buying of $24.0 billion in March, after purchases of $27.2 billion the month before. More broadly, net purchases of long-term U.S. securities, including transactions that don't occur on the open market, totaled $11.7 billion following net buying of $16.1 billion the month before. The monthly Treasury report highlights cross-border acquisitions of securities with maturities of more than one year, including non-market transactions such as stock swaps and principal repayment on asset-backed securities.Read the full story here.

• Egyptian Shaykh: Muslim Scholars Say That FGM Is Either Obligatory or Commendable.(TranslatingJihad).Okay, another question from the letters sent in. The brother says, "Shaykh Muhammad, settle the controversy for us surrounding circumcision." My brother, we have talked about circumcision many times. I counsel every Muslim man on the face of the earth, and also every Muslim woman on the face of the earth: Brother, take the little bit of trouble it requires to get yourself a book of fiqh! Inconvenience yourself a little for Allah's sake. Just take five minutes. Any book--do you have the book "Fiqh al-Sunna" by Shaykh Sayyid Sabiq (may Allah have mercy on him)? Do you have "Al-Mughni" by Ibn al-Qudama, or "Kitab al-Umm" by Imam al-Shafi'i? Do you have Fath al-Bari's explanation of Sahih al-Bukhari? Any of the books of fiqh--I mentioned to you some books of fiqh and some books of hadith--open any of the books of fiqh. Open them. That's it, plain and simple. Review the words of scholars. Don't just take the words of Muhammad Hassan, or this shaykh, or that shaykh. Look at any of the books of fiqh from our imams, respected leaders, and scholars--ask them. You will find that our scholars have said that circumcision of women--there are some who say that it is obligatory while others say that it is commendable. Some say it is obligatory, and others say it is commendable. There are some scholars who say it is obligatory, and there are some who say it is commendable. Thus I say before Almighty Allah…that the female Muslim doctor, the female Muslim doctor, decides whether or not this girl needs circumcision. It might be that the girl does not need circumcision. That's an entirely natural situation. But if this news were to get out, it could upset her relationship with husband. It would upset her marital life. The female Muslim doctor might also decide that the girl needs circumcision. Of course this does not mean that I am subjecting the religion to inspection from a doctor. No, my brothers, this does not mean that I subject evidence from the shari'a to review from a doctor! But rather, I refer to the doctor because he confirms evidence from the shari'a. Brothers, pay attention to this--I do not subject the shari'a to examination from the doctor, for the doctor to determine whether the shari'a is healthy or not. Rather I refer the evidence from the shari'a, or I refer the case to the doctor, to confirm the object of the evidence from the shari'a. …some of them say it is required, and some say it is recommended. I am not saying consult a barber, but consult a female doctor sister. The female doctor will decide, she might say this girl is normal or she might say that this part is excessive then you reduce it. This is justice. I don’t know why a German, British or American entity (thinks it can) come to us to decide for us the circumcision of our daughters! Why should they decide on matters of our girls and women? We base our religion on Allah’s book and the sayings of our beloved prophet and our scholars. Just study the issue in any book of fiqh. If we read the words of our scholars, and we review what the good scholars said, we will see that the issue is not new, and there is evidence for it in the book of our Lord or in the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him). I ask Almighty Allah to protect our women and girls, for He is capable over all things.Read and see the full story here.

• What, no Chianti?But Vodka? Russian Hannibal Lecter cannibal caught feasting on human liver stew and potatoes.(DailyMail).Russian police have tracked down a suspected killer after finding half-eaten human remains in his fridge. Police found their suspect in his Moscow home eating a human liver with some potatoes before finding the remains of the organ in a stew.In gory scenes reminiscent of the horror film The Silence of The Lambs, the officers tracked down a man after a trail of body parts were found scattered across the capital.Police said they have detained the suspected killer, who has been dubbed 'Hannibal Lectrovsky', who they believe is behind the recent mysterious appearance of dismembered body parts.The decapitated head of a middle-aged man was found in the Moscow River last week after hands, feet and arms were found elsewhere.'When the police came to arrest the suspect, he was eating a human liver with potatoes,' a police spokeswoman for the Moscow's western district said.The police spokeswoman said the cause of the acquaintance's death was not clear.'Detectives established the identity of the dead body by taking fingerprints,' police spokesman Alexei Savalyev told Russian news agency Ria Novosti.'After that police tracked down the suspected offender through a circle of the deceased's friends.'The prosecutor general's main investigative unit said the suspect had owned up to the sick crime: '(The suspect) admitted his crime and that he had eaten part of his acquaintance's liver.'Police say the suspect may suffer from mental illness.Hmmmm...No really Sherlock?Read the full story here.