"Birds of a Feather" - Iran, Belarus Agree to Increase Economic Cooperation.

"Birds of a Feather" - Iran, Belarus Agree to Increase Economic Cooperation.(Fars).
Senior Iranian and Belarusian trade officials agreed to pave the way for strengthening the two countries' cooperation in economic fields.To that end, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was singed between the two countries' chambers of commerce in a bid to lay the groundwork for the further expansion of economic ties between Tehran and Minsk.
During the ceremony to sign the agreement, Yahya Ale-Eshaq, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture of Tehran, stressed the development of Tehran-Minsk ties. He said that Belarus enjoys a secure economic market which facilitates the establishment of Iranian companies in the country and provides the opportunity for Iranians to expand ties in various spheres. The chairman of the Minsk Chamber of Commerce, for his part, pointed to Iran-Belarus good commercial ties and said the trade transactions between the two countries currently stood at USD 104 million and could be further increased given the high potentials of the two countries. Tehran and Minsk have in recent months increased efforts to start a jump in mutual cooperation. The trade between Tehran and Minsk has significantly expanded in the recent years as the two countries have been cooperating in many areas, including engineering, and construction projects.Read the full story here.

Related: Belarusian PM Urges Development of Ties, Cooperation with Iran
Introducing President for life Lukashenko a.k.a. "The Last Sovjet era Dictator". Lukashenko quote:“Trade between Belarus and Iran is much lower than it could be. It is absolutely inadmissible to leave it at the current level.”The announcement that the former Soviet republic of Belarus still has a stockpile of weapons-grade uranium it has apparently kept since it was part of the Soviet Union was made on Wednesday, April 14 - 2010, during Lukashenko’s working visit to Gomel Region.

“I will tell you the truth: We have kept highly enriched uranium – hundreds of kilograms of what is basically weapons-grade and lower-enriched uranium,” “I’ve been told by some: Move this uranium [out of the country]. To America, if you like. We’ll pay you. Or to Russia. I say, first off, why are you dictating us [what to do]? This is our commodity. We are keeping it under the control of the [International Atomic Energy Agency]. We are not going to make dirty bombs and we are not going to sell it to anybody. We’re using it for research purposes, is all.”If one were to believe Lukashenko’s say-so and assume that Belarus is in fact in possession of some 100 to 200 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium, one would have to admit this would be enough to produce a number of nuclear weapons. Making a more precise estimate would be a challenge since there is no information on the level of enrichment. Weapons-grade uranium with an enrichment level of 85 percent has a critical mass of around 50 kilograms. The “Little Boy” bomb dropped by the US on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, contained 64 kilograms of uranium enriched to a degree of 80 percent.
If, indeed, what Belarus has is weapons-grade Uranium-235 with an enrichment level of over 80 percent, then Minsk could start assembling nuclear bombs any time it wanted. The so-called “gun assembly” method for achieving supercriticality in a nuclear weapon – one piece of fissile uranium is fired at a fissile uranium target at the end of the weapon, similar to firing a bullet down a gun barrel – is simpler than the “implosion” technology, where a fissile mass of either Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239, or a combination, is surrounded by high explosives that compress the mass, resulting in criticality. If Belarus has the fissile material to stuff a bomb with, making the weapon will not be too difficult a challenge. One hopes, therefore, that the Belarusian leader will not fail to respect the Constitution of his country, which states that Belarus is a non-nuclear state.Then there’s matter of the uranium’s value, which deserves a separate discussion. One could take as a starting point the price of Russian highly enriched uranium, which, judging by information from various sources, was around $24,000 per one kilogram at the time the HEU- LEU (low-enriched uranium) agreement was signed between Russia and the United States.
The HEU-LEU agreement – or “Megatons to Megawatts,” as it is also known – is a programme via which the United States purchases highly enriched weapons-grade uranium that has been down-blended to low-enriched uranium for use in US commercial reactors. The 20-year programme was founded in 1994 between Russia and the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), the country’s primary nuclear fuel producer. The programme’s total value will be about $12 billion by the time it is completed in 2013
Based on these estimates, Belarus could get $2.4 million for a hundred kilograms of its highly enriched uranium. Black market prices could obviously be several times as high.
Lukashenko’s reference to Belarusian HEU as a “commodity” was therefore not an accident. If it is indeed fresh, not spent, nuclear fuel and it is suitable for use in research or experimental reactor models, then the material has substantial commercial value attached to it.Source.

Last year on very short interval both Belarus and Iran visited Quatar and declared more 'cooperation' between each other.
At the fall of the sovjet union the in Belarus stationed nuclear weapons were removed by Russia shortly after Lukashenko threathened to use them against the West.

US President’s Plan Weakens at Least One Leg of Nuclear Triad

Russian US President’s Plan Weakens at Least One Leg of Nuclear Triad.(Heritage).By Brian Slattery.According to the U.S. Navy, America’s nuclear deterrent triad will be limping on one of its legs for over a decade because of the President’s fiscal year 2013 budget request.
The Navy will fall below its 12-boat nuclear-armed submarine requirement for 14 years because the Obama Administration’s plans to delay a replacement for the aging Ohio-class submarine by two years.
The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (known as SSBN) has fulfilled the Navy’s leg of the nuclear triad for the past 30 years. According to the Navy, the SSBN is America’s “only day-to-day assured nuclear response capability.” Furthermore, the SSBN fleet’s combination of mobility and stealth make it a particularly effective platform and an excellent nuclear deterrent. However, the first Ohio will retire in 2027. Delaying its replacement will create an unacceptable gap in the SSBN fleet that will last 14 years starting in the 2030s, according to Navy officials.
The obvious problem with this is that the Navy is not meeting its own fleet requirements. If 12 subs is the requirement, how will the fleet cover the same area with less? Navy officials and outside analysts alike should be seeking answers to this. Furthermore, with fewer vessels performing the same amount of work, what will be the effect on maintenance? Aging and overworked ships inevitably have more mechanical issues and require more repair work.
The Administration claims that the delay is necessary “to reduce risk in an acquisition effort that appeared to be moving too quickly from development into production.” This quote illustrates the fundamental disconnect the Obama Administration has between political goals and actual national security concerns. Defense officials should always strive to reduce risk in new programs. However, the notion that those efforts should come at the cost of increasing risk to national security is counterintuitive to the purpose of a defense force. The government must find a way to protect America’s security and interests, first and foremost. Other decisions should follow that basic requirement, not hinder it.
But the triad has two other legs it can lean on, right?
Wrong. The Air Force is currently flying a geriatric strategic bomber fleet. The U.S. plans to begin replacing other deterrent systems in 2030; by then, intercontinental ballistic missiles will be 60 years old. With the slide in nuclear-armed submarines, will these aging assets take on a bigger deterrent role? What are the implications of putting more miles on planes that are already past their initial service lives? How does the President plan to maintain a ballistic missile arsenal that is older than he is?
President Obama’s defense budget request is rife with similar shortsighted “savings” efforts. Meanwhile, entitlement spending continues to consume ever larger portions of the federal budget unaddressed. Rather than slashing defense to appear fiscally responsible, the President should request funding that adequately addresses threats to national security.Hmmm......Just wait till you give him more "Flexibility".Read the full story here.

33 Minutes - Protecting America in the New Missile Age.

33 Minutes - Protecting America in the New Missile Age.(33 Minutes).33 minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age is a one-hour documentary produced by The Heritage Foundation that tells the story of the very real threat foreign enemies pose to every one of us. The truth is brutal - no matter where on Earth a missile is launched from it would take 33 Minutes or less to hit the U.S. target it was programmed to destroy.
Nuclear proliferation around the world, and the threat of a ballistic missile attack of some kind is mounting as more and more countries obtain nuclear technology. The ongoing threat toward America is also accelerating due to the fact that there are many rogue nations and terrorist organizations who either have or are seeking ballistic missiles and nuclear technology.
The challenges of protecting America and its citizens for President Obama's administration are great. Featuring rare footage and in-depth interviews with leading experts in the field, 33 Minutes is the definitive documentary exposing the untold vulnerability we all face and the action plan necessary to revive a strategic missile defense system that America uniquely can develop, maintain, and employ for its own defense and the peace-loving world's security.Source .

MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Indonesia 5.5 and 5.2 in Japan! More info here.

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

• Hiroshima (広島市).Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M. on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.Full story here.

• S & P Downgrades the USAAA.(WZ).(Financial Times) — It happened. After quite incredible reports of miscalculations, it happened. The thing that is perversely both meaningless and full of meaning was announced on Friday evening New York time. The United States of America is now rated AA+ with negative outlook by Standard & Poor’s. . . .Overview:

We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating.

We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative.

The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.

More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.

Since then, we have changed our view of the difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy, which makes us pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the Administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government’s debt dynamics any time soon.

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to ‘AA’ within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.Hmmmmm......."CHANGE"!Read the full story here.

• Allen West Extends Birthday Greetings to Barack Obama.(House).(WASHINGTON)--- Congressman Allen West (Fl-22) released this statement today:

"Happy 50th Birthday Mr. President! While surprises are for birthdays, it is no surprise to the American people that your failed economic policies –- from TARP to your health care bill–- have resulted in disaster for our economy. Since taking office, unemployment has remained at or near 9 percent for 28 months, America has added $3.4 trillion in debt in 29 months -- the equivalent of about $4 billion per day -- we have an anemic housing market with record foreclosures, and an average price of nearly $4 for a gallon of gas. Even your budget did not receive one single vote in the United States Senate -- and the icing on the cake –- a stock market slide of nearly 800 points in the last 5 days.While it may be hard to hear the American people's frustration over the pop of the champagne corks and R&B bands at your $30,000/person birthday party, the citizens of this nation are suffering under your failed leadership. The best present you can give the American people will be for you and your failed economic policies to be defeated in November of 2012."Read the full statement here.

• 31 US special forces dead in Afghanistan as Taliban down helicopter.(AlArabiya).Thirty-one US special forces and seven local troops were killed when the Taliban shot down their helicopter, officials said Saturday, in what was the deadliest single incident for foreign soldiers since the war began in 2001.The Chinook helicopter was downed late Friday during an anti-Taliban operation in an insurgent-infested district of the eastern province of Wardak, just southwest of the Afghan capital Kabul.Although Western and Afghan officials said they were still trying to assess exactly what happened, an eyewitness claimed it was struck during a firefight.The Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident, saying it had shot the helicopter down.The death toll was given in a statement issued by Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office and was not immediately confirmed by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).“The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai expressed condolences over a NATO helicopter crash and the deaths of 31 members of US special forces,” the statement said.It added that seven Afghans were also killed in the crash, who the country’s defense ministry said were also members of the special forces.“The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expresses his sympathy and deep condolences to US President Barack Obama and the family of the victims,” the statement added.The strike was by far the worst to hit foreign troops in the near decade-long war. The previous worst saw 16 American soldiers killed on June 28, 2005 when a Taliban rocket hit their Chinook in the eastern province of Kunar.One man who said he saw Friday’s shoot down, Mohammad Saber, told AFP that the helicopter plummeted during an operation in his village.“At around 10:00pm last night (1730 GMT), we heard helicopters flying over us,” he said.“We were at home. We saw one of the helicopters land on the roof of a house of a Taliban commander, then shooting started.“The helicopter later took off but soon after taking off it went down and crashed. There were other helicopters flying as well.”Wardak provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the crash came during a late-night operation against Taliban insurgents who have been waging war on pro-government forces since 2001.“The joint forces (foreign and Afghan) conducted an operation against the Taliban in Sayd Abad district last night,” he said.“Eight insurgents were killed. A coalition helicopter that was firing on insurgents at the time crashed.“We’re not sure if this happened due to insurgent fire or not but there were some casualties of foreign troops due to the crash.”A spokesman for ISAF, the foreign military force in Afghanistan, said they would issue a statement “at an appropriate moment.”Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgent group was responsible for shooting down the helicopter, which he said was an American Chinook, and acknowledged that eight insurgents had been killed.The Taliban are known to exaggerate claims in relation to attacks.Chinooks are used for transporting larger numbers of troops and supplies around in the warzone of Afghanistan.A Western military source speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that the helicopter was a Chinook.Read the full story here.More here.

• John Kerry’s Un-Fairness Doctrine.(MichelleMalkin).Written By Doug Powers. Keep in mind as you read this that John Kerry is a fan of the Fairness Doctrine — it’s just that some sides of the argument deserve more fairness than others.Kerry was on Morning Joe today and exposed himself as a hobbit-phobe of the highest order, so much so that he asked the media to stop allowing the Tea Party time to voice their opinions (though I’m assuming those who call them “terrorists” and “hostage takers” will still be allowed some exposure under guidelines set in the yet to be implemented Kerry Doctrine for Selective Impartiality).

Transcript from Real Clear Politics:

SEN. JOHN KERRY: “And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely. The media in America has a bigger responsibility than it’s exercising today. The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it or simply because somebody says something which everybody knows is not factual. “It doesn’t deserve the same credit as a legitimate idea about what you do. And the problem is everything is put into this tit-for-tat equal battle and America is losing any sense of what’s real, of who’s accountable, of who is not accountable, of who’s real, who isn’t, who’s serious, who isn’t?”

If saying things that aren’t factual led to no media coverage we’d never hear from John Kerry again.Hmmmm........Can we call them National Socialists now? Read and see the full story here.

• CAIR Rep Nihad Awad Speaks on Hamas TV.(InvestigativeProject).The executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spoke on a Hamas-linked television channel, telling Arabic-speaking viewers that right-wing ideologues are fueling violence against Muslim Americans. It's not the first time that a CAIR official has hyped American Islamophobia to hostile foreign media sources.According to a summary issued by the government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service, CAIR's Executive Director Nihad Awad appeared via telephone with the head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood group, the Islamic Action Front, and others for a July 23 broadcast of Hamas-linked Al-Quds TV.Discussing the terrorist attack in Norway and right-wing extremism, Awad said American hostility towards Muslims was bound to turn into violence. The Norway attack marked the beginning of a wave of violence against Muslims and left-wingers in the West, he said. Right-wing media in the West is living in a state of self-denial by claiming Muslims are dangerous and that their incitement isn't fanning violent hate.As a consequence, Awad said his organization asked President Obama to stop U.S. intelligence agencies from allowing right-wing ideologues to "train" political and military leaders about Islam.On the same program, a Hamas spokesman was cited blaming Anders Breivik's attack on an "ongoing instigation of the Zionist enemy and Zionist lobby against the Palestinian people" and their allies.Ali Abu al-Sukkar, the head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council, also spoke by phone about the Zionist lobby's role in militarization and instigation against Muslims. To al-Sukkar, violence against Muslims in the West should be considered a part of Western attacks on Islamic countries, and thus a clash of civilizations. It is also part of the Western double standard of blaming Islam for attacks by Muslims but not Christianity for Christian extremists.It is not the first time a senior CAIR official appeared on hostile foreign media channels to criticize American policy and attitudes. "It's really a disturbing situation where, primarily right-wing extremists are exploiting and promoting anti-Muslim sentiment for their own political gain," spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told Iran's state-run PressTV on June 6th. "And I think we're going to see more and more of it leading up to the 2012 elections." Hooper added that anti-Muslim sentiment is raging in America.He made similar comments to PressTV on Wednesday.Read the full story here.

• "Dying To Vote ".The dead remain on Wisconsin voter list.(WisconsinReporter).MADISON — Robert H. Allen died nearly four years ago at the age of 81.But the deceased Sun Prairie man appears to be living on — at least on Wisconsin’s statewide voting list.Allen is among nearly 1,000 other probable deceased individuals who remain on the Statewide Voter Registration System, or SVRS, according to a Wisconsin Reporter investigation.While the dead account for a fraction of the total 3.2 million voters on the list and the Badger State boasts one of the cleaner registration systems in the nation, election observers say unauthorized voters of any kind in any number present potential election integrity concerns.Amid Wisconsin’s red-hot summer of state recall elections, fears of voter fraud and suspicions that one group or another could “steal an election” are more pronounced.The broader concern, government watchdogs assert, is the question of transparency and arguably the high cost of accessing Wisconsin’s voter list. The complete voter file costs thousands of dollars, pricing out the average citizen and many watchdog organizations. And the state’s strict privacy laws limit full and complete disclosure, making it difficult to definitively count the dead, for instance, on the voting list.Wisconsin Reporter purchased the entire voting list for $12,500 — the top price charged by the Government Accountability Board, or GAB, for the complete database — and broke down the data as a public service to the voters of Wisconsin.In an extensive review, Wisconsin Reporter found nearly 3,000 names of potentially deceased individuals. Matching information from the Social Security Death Index — including date of birth, date of death and address — to the SVRS, Wisconsin Reporter came up with the list of probable dead registrants. Furthering the search, plugging each name and birth date into a GAB database, the list was narrowed down to 979 matches — names of individuals that more than likely are dead but remain active on the list.That’s not saying the dead are voting in Wisconsin. Cases of dead voters are extremely rare in the Badger State. But the potential exists.The Statewide Voter Registration list was born out of the 2002 Help America Vote Act, created in the shadow of the debacle that was the 2000 presidential election. Remember the dangling chad in Florida?States received tens of millions of dollars to clean up and streamline their voter registration systems. Wisconsin followed suit, launching SVRS in 2006. It was no easy feat for a state with arguably the nation’s most decentralized election system, with some 1,850 municipal clerks running elections statewide.“The myth of dead people voting persists in our political culture, because the public doesn’t see the steps that state and local election officials take behind the scenes to remove deceased persons from the voter list,” Magney said.But at least four dead voters in Milwaukee were casting ballots in 2004, according to an investigation into voting irregularities in the city. The report, following a two-year investigation into voter irregularities, concluded there was an “illegal organized attempt to influence the outcome” of a state election.Police found another 19 voters had voted illegally, at least seven knowingly, and many of them felons.While dead voters may be a comparative rarity in Wisconsin and much of the nation, the deceased — at least their names — have shown up in polling places, affecting elections.Sure there’s Chicago, where dead voters and other acts of fraud, so the old argument goes, cost Vice President Richard Nixon the presidency in 1960. But there’s Missouri, and New York, California and Texas, too.The award-winning TexasWatchdog.org’s 2008 investigation into voting irregularities in Houston’s Harris County found 4,000 people whose names were listed on the county’s voter rolls and in a federal database of death records. The analysis found dozens of those individuals apparently cast ballots from beyond the grave.John Aristotle Phillips has been tracking the issue of dead voters and what he describes as “dead wood” — registered voters who have died, moved or can’t be found — for 25 years.“We like dead people as much as anyone else; we just don’t think they should be voting,” said Phillips, CEO of Aristotle International Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan voter information tracker.Aristotle International’s 2010 study of voter registration records found 3.3 million deceased individuals on the rolls, including an estimated 116,483 in Massachusetts.“With deadwood exceeding one in seven votes in some counties, candidates might as well spend a day a week campaigning in the cemetery,” Phillips is fond of saying.Hmmmm.........Perhaps time to make a pitstop with the campaign bus?Read the full story here.

• EPA Regulations Could Cost America’s Largest Utility $18 Billion.(Heritage).Bloomberg reported Friday on the latest developments in the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory push against the fossil fuel industry. Southern Co., the largest American utility owner in terms of market share, now says it will lose up to $18 billion as a result of new EPA regulations.The planned regulations “are misguided in their content and timing,” Southern Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Fanning said today in a statement.Southern, based in Atlanta, is among energy companies that say new rules from President Barack Obama’s EPA will force some coal-fired power plants to close, and may lead to higher energy costs. Electricity prices for Southern customers may increase an additional 10 percent to 20 percent during the next 10 years, according to the company.The EPA regulations will “only impede the U.S. economic recovery, reduce our ability to create jobs and add to the economic burdens of our customers,” Fanning said.Air, water and waste rules affecting coal-fueled electric utilities will require $13 billion to $18 billion in capital expenses through 2020, according to the company.EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said the agency’s rules are needed to protect public health and the environment. EPA spokesmen didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Southern’s projections.The company said the EPA actions, including a proposal to cut mercury and other air toxics from power plants, will require installation of pollution controls on about 12,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation, or about 60 percent of the company’s fleet. The rules also will contribute to the shutdown of units with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts.Hmmmmm......If he really wanted to destroy the US economy would he do anything different?Read the full story here.

• Monsanto to Sell Biotech Sweet Corn for U.S. Consumers.(Bloomberg).the world’s biggest vegetable seed maker, said it will begin selling genetically modified sweet corn in the U.S. this year, the first product it has developed for the consumer market. The sweet corn seeds are engineered to kill insects living above and below ground and to tolerate applications of the company’s Roundup herbicide, Consuelo Madere, Monsanto vice president for vegetables, told reporters at company headquarters in St. Louis today. They will be introduced to growers serving the U.S. fresh corn market starting in the autumn, she said. Monsanto previously sold only engineered crops that are processed into sugars and oils, used as animal feed or made into fibers. The new seeds will initially target the 250,000-acre market for fresh corn in the eastern U.S., Madere said. Monsanto is in discussions with companies that would can or freeze the corn, she said. Monsanto will compete with pest-killing sweet corn seeds that Syngenta AG (SYNN) of Switzerland has sold for more than a decade, she said. Sweet corn is a much smaller market than the market for grain corn, which is forecast to be planted on 90.7 million acres this year, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data. Monsanto currently sells squash that has been engineered to resist viruses, a product that came with its 2005 acquisition of Seminis. Developing biotech vegetables costs about $100 million and requires a decade to reach the market, Madere said. Monsanto spends more than 95 percent of its vegetable research on conventional breeding in 23 crops, she said. Conventional- breeding projects include tomatoes that taste better and resist viruses, sweeter melons, crisper romaine lettuce and blight- resistant peppers, she said. Read the full story here.

• Obama regime still OK with Assad -sends its ambassador back to Damascus.(JPost).The Obama administration dispatched its Syrian envoy back overseas Friday despite protests from critics who said the move sent the wrong message to Damascus at a time when it is slaughtering opposition protesters.At the same time, a bi-partisan coalition representing more than half of the US House of Representatives wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama urging him to expand the sanctions available to him under the Syria Accountability Act, which gives him several options for sanctions but does not mandate they all be imposed.The letter, co-authored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-California), called on him to implement the existing provisions at his disposal to prohibit American companies from doing business in Syria and block any transactions involving Syrian interests in the United States.“We share your concern for the Syrian government’s unconscionable brutality and violence in response to calls for real political reform,” they wrote, along with 221 other members from both parties.“The US and all responsible nations must impose the strongest possible sanctions on the murderous Syrian regime,” they said.Meanwhile, the US State Department issued a travel warning Friday evening urging Americans to immediately leave Syria “while commercial transportation is available” and told all those outside the country to defer travel there.“Syrian efforts to attribute the current civil unrest to external influences may lead to an increase in anti-foreigner sentiment. Detained US citizens may find themselves subject to allegations of incitement or espionage,” the announcement stated. “Syrian government constraints on observers, including the short-term detention of accredited diplomats, have made it difficult for US Embassy personnel to adequately assess the current risks or the potential for continuing violence.”State Department spokesman Mark Toner described the decision to return Ambassador Robert Ford to that environment as one that would boost the US efforts to end Syrian President Bashar Assad’s crackdown and lead to a democratic transition.“He will remain engaged with the Syrian government to make clear that the Assad regime’s brutal repression of the Syrian people must cease immediately,” Toner explained. “He also will continue to engage with the Syrian people as they strive to exercise their universal human rights.”Elliott Abrams, who was a senior advisor on the Middle East in the George W. Bush National Security Council, argued Friday that the US had more to gain by keeping Ford home.“The argument that the State Department makes is he’s very useful there,” according to Abrams, but he added, “He can’t bear witness. He can’t go back to Hama. If he is now left only in Damascus, not because of us of course but because of the Assad government … his utility diminishes.”He concluded, “If it turns out that he can’t see anybody and he can’t go anywhere, the symbolic importance of removing him, the final break with the regime, is smart.”Hmmmm.......Why is Obama so 'friendly' With Syria and Iran?Read the full story here.

• Turkey warns Greek Cyprus against hydrocarbon drill.(TodaysZaman).Turkey's foreign minister warned the Greek Cypriot government against drilling hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean, saying on Friday that Ankara will show the “appropriate reaction” if Greek Cyprus moves ahead with exploration plans“We will show the appropriate reaction if any further step is taken,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters. He said the Greek Cypriot administration does not have the right to embark on oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean unless the Cyprus issue is resolved and a government representing the entire island is formed.Turkey's stance is "firm and clear," he said, noting that the Greek Cypriot stance was in violation of international law norms as well.Davutoğlu's remarks came after a Greek Cypriot announcement that drilling for hydrocarbons off the island's southern coast will start on Oct. 1. Greek Cypriot Energy Service Director Solon Kassinis said on Tuesday that once the drilling starts, the size of hydrocarbon reserves would be clear in two months' time, the Cyprus Mail reported on Wednesday.Turkey objects to any Greek Cypriot search for oil and gas inside the island's 51,000 square-kilometer (17,000 square mile) exclusive economic zone off its southern coast, saying it is in violation of the rights of the Turkish Cypriot, who run their own state in the north of the island. Meanwhile, Turkey is considering plans to start oil and gas exploration off the coast of Turkish Cyprus.Greek Cyprus earlier licensed American Noble Energy to explore an 800,000-acre area bordering Israeli waters where massive gas fields were found under the seabed. Two fields, Tamar and Dalit, discovered in 2009, are due to start producing in 2012, and experts say their estimated combined reserves of 5.5 trillion cubic feet (160 billion cubic meters) of natural gas can cover Israel's energy needs for the next two decades.Greek Cyprus and Israel signed an accord last November demarcating their maritime borders that triggered strong reactions from Turkey, which called the deal “null and void” because it ignores the rights and jurisdiction of Turkish Cyprus on the divided island.Hmmmmmm.......Turkey ....A toothless old Babushka medling in everyone it's business and hiding behind the curtain when confronted to Assad?Read the full story here.

• Another DIShonor murder in Turkey and attempted dishonor murder.(TodaysZaman).İzmir man kills wife for trying to divorce him, then shoots himself .A man from İzmir killed himself on Wednesday after shooting to death his wife of four years who recently filed for divorce.Kalender Koç (29) of Menmen, İzmir province, shot his wife, Büşra Koç (23), on Wednesday, when she visited him in their family home in the Asarlık neighborhood -- where he had been living alone since the couple separated three months ago -- after he invited her to talk things over and ask her to make up with him. Neighbors claimed Büşra Koç rejected Kalender Koç’s apology, which greatly angered her husband. Police believe Koç suffered from temporary insanity and shot Büşra Koç three times in the chest and once in the head. He later shot himself.Büşra Koç’s family, who knew she was visiting her husband, got worried after she failed to show up in the evening. Her relatives went over the Koç family home and found the bodies of Büşra Koç and Kalender Koç, who then notified the police. The couple had a 4-year-old son, but it is not clear whether the child was in the house when the shooting took place.The young couple’s bodies were taken to the İzmir Council of Forensic Medicine for autopsy.Murders of women by abusive partners are common in Turkey, where the authorities are trying to prevent domestic violence by adopting legal and security measures.Also on Wednesday, a man in İnegöl shot his wife during iftar (fast-breaking dinner). According to police reports, Tahsin F. started chasing his wife, Fatma F. down the middle of a street in Bursa. He shot her with a hunting rifle, injuring her in the leg. Fatma F. was taken to the Bursa University Faculty of Medicine Hospital. Police caught Tahsin F. shortly after the attack.Hmmmm......"Police believe Koç suffered from temporary insanity" must be very contagious in Turkey?Read the full story here.

• Miss Brussels beaten by her husband soccer player Önder Turaci.(RTL)GoogleTranslate.The Miss Brussels, Ayse Ozdemir, said she was severely beaten for hours by her husband, after they said "yes".Her companion is none other than the former defender of the Standard soccer club: Önder Turaci.On a Turkish television, Ayse Ozdemir said she was beaten shortly after her marriage and this for hours from 06.00 Am till 11.00 Am.The young woman could not restrain her tears in front of cameras (see video).Hmmmm.........Read and see the full story here.

• Related - Battered Miss Brussels (19) announces her divorce on Turkish TV.(Nieuwsblad)GoogleTranslate. BRUSSELS - Ayse Ozdemir, the 19-year-old Miss Schaerbeek, Brussels, on Turkish television said they divorced because her husband abused her.Ayse married just four months ago Turaci, a 30-year old Turkish footballer who has played in Standard. The two had met in January on Facebook. Ayse called on the Turkish channel herself because she claims her husband has threatened to murder her.We were lawfully married on the 30Th of march. Two weeks before our big wedding in June, he has thrown me out of the house.He said he would murder me.I went to the police and told my whole story on TV.I also said my ex wanted me to test my virginity ,i have proof of abuse,his family also saw my black and blue eyes.Ayse is living again with her mother in Vilvoorde. "My divorce procedure is now put in motion."See here how Ayse Ozdemir anounced her divorce on Turkish television.Hmmmmm..........Domestic violence rings alarm bells in Turkey.Read the full story here.

• US and Pakistan heading towards confrontation over N-arms issues.(AlArabiya).The United States and Pakistan are heading towards yet another confrontation, perhaps consequentially more devastating than all previous disputes, as the Obama administration prepares to persuade Islamabad to halt the production of nuclear bomb materials. Recent reports in the US media suggest that the UN General Assembly in New York next month will be the venue for this new push and the US has the blessings of four declared nuclear powers for its move.Also on Wednesday, the NBC News channel reported that the US was preparing for “the worst-case scenario of attempting to snatch Pakistan’s 100-plus nuclear weapons if it feared they were about to fall into the wrong hands.”The channel quoted former president Pervez Musharraf as warning that this “would be a disastrous miscalculation, as such an incursion would lead to `total confrontation` between the United States and Pakistan.”Current and former US officials, however, told NBC News that “ensuring the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons has long been a high national security priority, even before the September 11 terrorist attacks, and that plans have been drawn up for dealing with worst-case scenarios in Pakistan.”But the expected confrontation in New York has nothing to do with any secret plan to snatch Pakistan’s nukes. The United States will launch an open move “with support from other powers” to force Pakistan to sign the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.The US media reported that the Obama administration had won China’s support for finalizing the FMCT. At a recent conference in Paris, Russia, France and Britain “all declared nuclear powers like China” also supported the US plan.It is, however, not clear if China would back the move to cap Pakistan’s nuclear capability and thus allow India to become the sole nuclear power in South Asia.The US and its allies are seeking an agreement by September and then go to the UN General Assembly with a joint plan for starting talks on the FMCT.So far Pakistan has successfully resisted all international pressure to endorse the FMCT, warning that it would boycott any process to negotiate a US-backed treaty outside the deadlocked UN Conference on Disarmament (UNCD).The Geneva-based UNCD is the sole negotiating forum for multilateral disarmament but the treaty has been stalled in the conference for 12 years, with Pakistan as the sole holdout against negotiations.The US move aims at creating a new forum where it can persuade Pakistan to sign the FMCT.“Our preference is to negotiate an FMCT within the Conference on Disarmament, but that body has been deadlocked by Pakistan,” US Under-secretary of State Ellen Tauscher told a seminar on July 28 in Lafayette, California.“Thus the US is joining with other key countries to start preparations for a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty elsewhere until the conference can get down to work,” she said. Pakistan’s acting representative to the UN, Raza Bashir Tarar, last week told a General Assembly meeting in New York that his country “will not join any such process nor would it consider accession to the outcome of any such process.”To deal with increasing international pressure to stop the production of fissile material, Pakistan tried unsuccessfully to enter into a nuclear agreement with the US similar to the one Washington has signed with India. The deal with the US has paved the way for India to get recognition as a nuclear power without signing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.The United States has rejected Pakistan’s request, pointing out that the discovery of a network of nuclear proliferators, headed allegedly by Dr. A. Q. Khan, disqualifies Pakistan for any deal.“Pakistan’s objections reflect its existential fear of nuclear archrival India,” noted the Bloomberg news agency in an article on the US move to persuade Pakistan to sign the FMCT.The report quoted statistics released by the Washington-based Arms Control Association which says that India has enough plutonium for about 140 bombs. Pakistan has enough plutonium and uranium for 100 bombs.Hmmmm.......Why do i get the feeling they're going after Israel next?Read the full story here.

• Sudan oil tensions escalate, one shipment halted by Islamic North.(AlArabiya).North Sudan has halted an oil shipment from landlocked South Sudan in a dispute over customs fees, it said on Friday, signaling a rise in tensions that could disrupt supplies from one of Africa’s largest producers.South Sudan became independent last month after a referendum in January agreed under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the North.The South took 75 percent of the country’s 500,000 barrels a day of oil production, Africa’s fifth largest, but depends on the North to use the only cross-border pipeline to the Red Sea port of Port Sudan to sell the oil.On Friday customs authorities in Port Sudan stopped one shipment because duties had not been paid, a spokesman for the foreign ministry in Khartoum said without giving other details.“Customs asked for the fees to be paid. They paid last time but not this time,” the spokesman saidHe said the action had been the decision of the customs authorities and was not related to current talks between North and South about sharing oil revenues. The two sides have failed so far to reach an agreement on a transit fee to be paid by the South. Until now both split equally the oil, the lifeline of both economies.Tensions seemed to have eased at the end of last month when South Sudan said it saw progress in oil sharing talks with the North only a week after accusing it of waging economic war by demanding a very high pipeline transit fee.Refineries also only exist in the North and experts say southern plans to connect to a pipeline in east African neighbor Kenya are years away.Analysts say there has been little transparency for years about how oil revenues are booked in Sudan, which has endured conflict, inflation, corruption and US trade sanctions.Apart from sharing oil revenues, both sides need to end violence in some parts of their shared border and they need to divide up other assets and debt.Some 2 million people died in Sudan in a decades-long conflict over religion, ethnicity, ideology and oil, although the secession last month was very peaceful.Sudanese oil flows mainly to Asia, with China buying more than a half of total volumes. South Sudan’s production is dominated by Chinese and Indian companies, which have been marketing their crude themselves so far.Last month, South Sudan also signed a deal with trading house Glencore to help it market crude but a dispute between various officials has threatened to derail the agreement.Hmmmmm......As i predicted that didden't take long.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                   Afternoon Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - March 23. Here .(Al-Jazeera)And here (BBC). Latest here.

HT: The Big Picture - Libya: UN air strikes aid rebels - 33 pictures here.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world lots of seismic activity in Japan between 5.1 and 5.6 today. More info here.

• Updated : The wind directions over Japan. Here.

• Latest official Situation Update No. 56.

• Israel - PM will convene security council to formulate Gaza plan.Netanyahu says "no country would absorb rockets on cities, citizens"; he's determined to take away terror groups' ability to harm Israelis; PM set to depart for Russia, Barak overseas.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday addressed the ongoing rocket and mortar fire coming from the Gaza Strip and IDF artillery and air strikes in response. He was expected to convene his national security council before departing for Russia Wednesday evening."The IDF is acting and will act against the terror organizations in Gaza," the prime minister said. "We will firmly and decisively defend our citizens."Netanyahu added, "No country would be prepared to absorb the firing of rockets on its cities and citizens.""Perhaps it will come to exchanging blows, it may continue for some time, but we are very determined to take away the terrorist organizations' ability to harm our citizens."Netanyahu was scheduled to hold talks with Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday.Defense Minister Ehud Barak is currently overseas, leaving the country with neither a prime nor a defense minister beginning Wednesday evening.Also currently in Moscow, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to put pressure on Israel to end the "escalation" of strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.Hmmmm.......What could go wrong?Read the full story here.

• HT:CanadaFreePress.2,200 Marines Go To Libya, ‘What Happened to No Boots on the Ground’?In all the reporting on the involvement of US Forces in Libya a report by WCTI Channel 12 News in New Bern, North Carolina seems to have gone by almost unnoticed. The News channel reports that 2,200 U.S. Marines have been shipped off the Libya. But doesn’t this deployment clash with Obama’s supposedly steadfast claim that there will be “no boots on the ground” in Libya.On March 20 WCTI reported that the Marines were shipping out.About 2,200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or 26th MEU will take part. Their mission is to help end the violence directed at the Libyan people.“In Libya right now they are doing exactly what we need them to do. They are doing what they are told and right now that’s protecting Libyan people against Qadhafi forces,” said Captain Timothy Patrick, a Marine with the 26th MEU. So, what is it? Are there Marines in Libya or will there be “no boots on the ground”? If there are Marines there, what are they there for?Just what is Obama’s plan? What is his strategy? Is there one?One suspects that US ground forces will have to become engaged if anything solid is to happen in NATO’s engagement in Libya. And it seems like Obama is warming us up for that yet.In a recent interview Obama used some artful spin on our involvement there. He said that the US is being “volunteered to carry out missions” in Libya. Volunteered? By whom?And we will continue to support the efforts to protect the Libyan people, but we will not be in the lead. That’s what the transition that I discussed has always been designed to do. We have unique capabilities. We came in, up front, fairly readily, fairly substantially, and at considerable risk to our military personnel. And when this transition takes place, it is not going to be our planes that are maintaining the no-fly zone. It is not going to be our ships that are necessarily involved in enforcing the arms embargo. That’s precisely what the other coalition partners are going to do.And that’s why building this international coalition has been so important because it means that the United States is not bearing all the cost. It means that we have confidence that we are not going in alone, and it is our military that is being volunteered by others to carry out missions that are important not only to us, but are important internationally. And we will accomplish that in a relatively short period of time. (emphasis added) With the fact that one NATO ally has already pulled its troops from Libya, one has to wonder where this is headed for US forces?**UPDATED**Dan Riehl reports that an additional 400 Marines are headed to Libya, too.Hmmmmm......Doesn't he need to inform Congress about this?Source.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.I know Gaza better then I know Tel-Aviv !Read the full story here.

• HT:AmnestyBlogs.Muslim Brotherhood anyone?Egypt’s sickening forced ‘virginity tests’ punish and humiliate women protesters.Today’s revelation from Amnesty that women protesters in Egypt were detained and subjected to forced ‘virginity tests’, after being strip-searched as male soldiers looked on taking photographs, shows the extent of the challenges facing women in Egypt.

Salwa Hosseini, a 20-year-old woman, told Amnesty International that she was arrested on 9 march when soldiers cleared protesters from Tahrir Square. Along with other women she was then taken to a military prison in Heikstep: here she was forced to take off all her clothes and was searched by a female prison guard. During the strip search, she said male soldiers were looking into the room through an open door and two open windows, taking pictures of the naked women.The women were then subjected to ‘virginity tests’ in a different room by a man in a white coat. They were threatened that “those not found to be virgins” would be charged with prostitution. One woman, who reportedly said she was a virgin but whose test supposedly proved otherwise,was beaten and given electric shocks.18 women were arrested and initially taken to a Cairo Museum annex where they were reportedly handcuffed, beaten with sticks and hoses, given electric shocks in the chest and legs, and called “prostitutes”. Most were then released on 13 March after being brought before a military court on 11 March and released. Several received one-year suspended prison sentences.Women played a big role in the protests in Cairo and other Egyptian cities that eventually ousted President Hosni Mubbarak, standing alongside men as they demanded their human rights. But since then, the obstacles they face in claiming those rights have been illustrated in several other incidents.Female protesters were sexually harassed by men in the celebrations immediately following Mubarrak’s departure, as witnessed by our own research team on the ground. That same day, 10 February, CBS News chief foreign reporter Lara Logan was also sexually assaulted by a large group of men in Tahrir Square, before a group of women and soldiers came to her aid.And women’s rights campaigners received similar treatment when they marched through Cairo to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, as one protester described to the BBC.Women and girls must be able to express their views on the future of Egypt and protest against the government without being detained, tortured, or subjected to this kind of degrading treatment.Forcing women to have ‘virginity tests’ is completely unacceptable. We’re urging members of the medical profession to refuse to take part in such 'tests', as they don’t fulfil any medical purpose – they are no more than an attempt to punish and humiliate women who are simply demanding their basic rights.Hmmmm....These are the people the Obama regime is dealing with and will support financially with US taxpayers Dollars!Speak up to your congress men ask questions!Read the full story here.

• HT:washingtontimes.EDITORIAL: Obama’s schizoid war.Amateur hour at the White House costs lives.President Obama says dictator Moammar Gadhafi “has to go” and the United States and its coalition partners are bombing Libya, but the White House refuses to connect these dots. America is poised to spend billions of dollars and kill scores or hundreds of Libyans but specifically rules out achieving its national objectives. It is a schizophrenic and futile approach to war.The Obama administration’s stated objective in the Libyan conflict is to safeguard civilian lives, an application of the currently fashionable “responsibility to protect” doctrine. The rationale is that Col. Gadhafi poses a “humanitarian threat” to his people, and international intervention is the only way to stop it. Of course, the most humanitarian war is a short war, and in this case the limited use of force will keep the conflict going. By degrading Col. Gadhafi’s air and ground forces, the coalition is leveling the playing field and guaranteeing that neither side will prevail. This stalemate strategy is a recipe for continued carnage.Instead, the United States has explicitly ruled out targeting the Libyan leader and has said it will not help the rebels. The coalition is maintaining a bizarre fiction that it is not taking sides even though it is only bombing one side. Col. Gadhafi is defiant in the face of the air campaign. He knows that so long as he survives he can portray himself as a nationalist hero combating external “crusader” aggression. His forces have shifted to unconventional tactics, shedding their uniforms and moving quickly into rebel-held cities to escape coalition bombs and missiles. The regime has billions of dollars to finance a mercenary force to wage an urban guerrilla struggle. In this asymmetric war, Col. Gadhafi knows he has everything to lose, and the coalition still cannot articulate what it has to gain.Mr. Obama is trying desperately to hand leadership of Operation Odyssey Dawn to NATO, but questions are arising about how long this odyssey will endure. The last major experiment in no-fly zones - in Iraq - lasted a decade. Amid the chaos, the continuing civil war in Libya could lead to a more severe humanitarian crisis, which will require further international attention. Russia and China have denounced the operation, as have growing numbers of countries in the developing world. It is an international public-relations nightmare that promises to get worse.Mr. Obama has opened himself to charges of hypocrisy. The president said that the war in Libya is “the greatest opportunity to realign our interests and our values,” a peculiar statement since U.S. interests and values don’t need adjusting. He justifies action based on the “legitimate aspirations” of the Libyan people but has little to say about aspirations of other oppressed groups. Popular unrest has surfaced in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Regimes have suppressed dissent in all of these countries with varying degrees of brutality. The implicit message from the Obama administration is that some aspirations are more legitimate than others.Hmmmm......Seems that "Walking on water' has reached the stadium where we can barely talk about water treading ?Read the full story here.

• Cantor hits administration's handling of Israel after Jerusalem bomb attack.The second-ranking House Republican on Wednesday accused the Obama administration of being too tough with Israel hours after a bombing in Jerusalem injured dozens. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), the only Jewish Republican in Congress, repeated his party's claim that the administration has asked Israel to concede too much in order to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, which in turn has resulted in Palestinian militant groups continuing to commit violent acts against Israelis."The administration has called on Israel to make sweeping concessions that I believe will endanger its security, but it doesn’t seem to demand similar from the Palestinians," Cantor said in a statement. "No matter how much we desire Mideast peace, it will remain a pipe dream so long as Palestinian culture makes martyrs of terrorists who target innocents."Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is circulating a letter around Capitol Hill calling on the administration to put more pressure on Palestinian officials to stop incitement. "We must use the recent attacks to address the root cause of this violence: anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian mosques, schools and media — and the blanket refusal on the part of the Palestinians to accept Israel’s right to exist that it has created," Cantor said.Hmmmmm....Perhaps in his second term he'll find enough 'courage' honesty to show his real hatred feelings for Israel?Read the full story here.

• Obama Regime Sues School for Refusing to Give Teacher Three Weeks Off to Make Pilgrimage to Mecca.Critics of a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim teacher in Illinois say it is politically motivated.Government lawyers filed the religious discrimination suit in December on behalf of Safoorah Khan, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Khan quit her job in Berkeley, a suburb of Chicago, when she was refused time off to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.Critics say Khan was requesting a three-week absence, well beyond the usual accommodation to employees’ religion, and the Justice Department should not have become involved. They suggest the Obama administration filed the lawsuit in an effort to reach out to U.S. Muslims.“It sounds like a very dubious judgment and a real legal reach,” said Michael Mukasey, who served as attorney general in the cabinet of former President George W. Bush. “The upper reaches of the Justice Department should be calling people to account for this.”Thomas Perez, the current assistant attorney general for civil rights, said the department is trying to defend “the religious liberty our forefathers fought for.”Hmmmmmm......."Taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage is a religious duty for Muslims, at some other point in their lifetime".Nothing is said it has to happen during the shoolyear,or before pension age?Case dismissed?Read the full story here.

• Obama"Lets cut some more Nuclear weapons than what we agreed".US reviewing nuclear arsenal with eye to new cuts.The Obama administration has begun examining whether it can make cuts to its nuclear weapons stockpiles that go beyond those outlined in a recent treaty with Russia.The classified review is not expected to be completed until late this year, but some Republicans already are worried that it will go too far. On Tuesday, 41 Republican senators warned Obama in a letter not to make major changes in nuclear policy without consulting Congress.Arms control advocates say the United States is mired in Cold War-era thinking about nuclear deterrence and are pressing the administration to use the review to rethink U.S. nuclear requirements. They say the decisions will be a test of President Barack Obama's commitment nearly two years ago to put the world on a path toward eliminating nuclear weapons.The review will look at issues such as what targets the U.S. would have to hit with nuclear weapons in a worst-case scenario and what kind of weapons it would need to hit them. Rethinking the requirements could open the way to cuts.In the letter to Obama, Republicans warned against any big reductions from those outlined in the New START treaty, ratified by the Senate and the Russian Duma in recent months. The treaty limits each side to 1,550 deployed warheads - a level military officials have said meets the need of the current directives.Sharp reductions in nuclear forces "would have important and as yet unknown consequences for nuclear stability," the letter said.The letter was circulated by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a leading opponent of the New START treaty when it was considered in the Senate. It makes clear that significant changes in nuclear policy without consulting Congress could affect consideration of a new treaty with Russia. The 41 lawmakers who signed it include a number who supported New START and represent sufficient numbers to block any treaty.There is no indication that the Obama administration is considering drastic cuts as a result of the review. But the study could shape talks it has proposed with Russia on weapons not covered by the New START treaty. The administration wants to focus on stored nuclear weapons and those intended for short-range delivery, known as tactical nuclear weapons. But negotiations with Russia also could lead to further reductions in deployed long-range nuclear weapons."We shouldn't have to dump 60 hydrogen bombs on Odessa to ensure U.S. nuclear security," says Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, which advocates the elimination of nuclear weapons. "This review will determine whether the president is serious about moving toward deep reductions and the elimination of nuclear weapons or if he is giving up on that vision."Read the full story here.

• Gene Simmons - The Israeli-born superstar calls boycotting artists "idiots," says "there ain't no place like Israel on Earth." 52 years after leaving Israel as the impoverished nine-year-old son of a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, Chaim Witz returned to his birth country this week under different circumstances - as mega-millionaire rock star and TV personality Gene Simmons.
  “It’s amazing to be back here,” said the outspoken 61-year-old co-founder of rock legends Kiss on Tuesday in Jerusalem’s David Citadel Hotel where his entourage has taken over eight rooms. Simmons is here with his long-time companion Shannon Tweed and their son Nick to film episodes of their US reality show part of his reality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels."“One thing that’s striking is that I never remember seeing so many yarmulkes here. It’s all of a sudden teeming with hassidim – hassidim but I don’t believe ‘em,’ said Simmons like a rapper. “I’m used to Israel as a secular place where people just are Israelis. I much prefer it as a modern, not so archaic looking place.” Simmons is still adept at the Hebrew he learned as a child and responded in a broad American accent to a question of whether he still spoke the language, “Ken, aval shachachti hatzi safa (Yes, but I’ve forgotten half the language).” “When I was growing up, my mother hardly ever talked to me about Nazi Germany and the concentration camps because she didn’t want to upset me, and I hardly ever asked her about it,” said Simmons. ‘But over the years, I started to learn more about it and about how my entire family was killed and how my mother saw her mother go with her grandmother to the gas chambers.” Even though he hadn’t returned to Israel until this week, Simmons has always been an ardent supporter of the country, most recently sending a televised message to a IDF soldier (and Kiss fan) wounded during the 2006 war with Hezbollah in which he called him a “hero.” Although Kiss has never appeared in Israel, Simmons dismissed other entertainers who have chosen to boycott the country as “idiots.”
  “As an American, there’s no choice but to be supportive of Israel,” he said. “This is the Holy Land, and it’s no secret that everybody in America perceives Israel as it’s only real friend in the Middle East – who else are you going to rely on?” “So when Israelis get touchy because – oops - somebody criticized them, they have to remember that Americans are used to criticizing everybody. You need to develop a tough skin and remember, it’s not what someone says, it’s what they do. Do you ever doubt that if anything threatened Israel’s existence that the US would come to its defense with all of it nuclear capabilities? I don’t.”Hmmmmm.....With this president i do! Read the full story here.

• HT:PajamasMedia.DOJ Memo Confirms Terrorists Have Crossed the Border.PJM reveals a court filing showing that federal prosecutors have admitted a terror threat involving an Al-Shabaab human smuggler who claimed asylum.A potentially explosive admission by federal prosecutors in the pending sentencing of Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane in a San Antonio federal courtroom could aid the case of border states looking to take the initiative to stem the flood of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S.In this court filing, provided exclusively here at Pajamas Media, prosecutors admit that Dhakane, who ran a human smuggling ring based in Brazil for the Somali Al-Shabaab terrorist group, transported “violent jihadists” into the country. He stated that “he believed they would fight against the U.S. if the jihad moved from overseas locations to the U.S. mainland.” (p. 7)The contents and implications of this admission by DOJ will be one of the items discussed when my colleagues Army Lt. Col Joseph Myers (ret.), Mark Hanna, and I will be testifying Wednesday before the Arizona House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee on the topic of “Cross-border Terror Threats and Islamic Radicalization in Arizona.”
  Dhakane was charged in March 2010 with lying about his terror ties when he applied for asylum in 2008, specifically omitting information that he had worked for two specially designated global terrorist entities (SDGT). He pleaded guilty earlier this year to lying to the FBI and awaits sentencing next month. Rather than trying him on terror charges, federal prosecutors are asking for terror enhancements on the sentence for lying to the FBI.In the DOJ sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors explain that Dhakane knowingly smuggled violent jihadists into the country:More importantly, based on the Defendant’s recorded statements and admissions made to law enforcement agents, the Defendant was a former member, or at the very least, associated with [Al-Ittihad al-Islami] AIAI, an SDGT, and that he believed that there was no separation of personnel between AIAI, the Council of Islamic Courts, and Al-Shabbab, a designated [Foreign Terrorist Organization] FTO.He admits that he knowingly believed he was smuggling violent jihadists into the United States with the full knowledge that if the decision was made by the SDGT, for which he was associated with in the past, to commit terrorist acts in the United States, these jihadists would commit violent acts in and against the United States. Because the law enforcement authorities are constantly trying to investigate, detect, and prevent the infiltration of potentially violent jihadists, the Defendant’s lies hid critical information from the United States authorities regarding his successful smuggling activities. Thus, the preponderance of the evidence proves that the other obvious motivation for him to lie on his asylum application was to cover up and obstruct the fact from United States authorities that he facilitated the smuggling of violent jihadists who are now present into the United States. (pp. 10-11)This is far from the first time that Islamic terrorists are known to have attempted to enter the U.S, or actually succeeded.Hmmmm.....The first time they're caught in the act would be probably closer to the truth?Read the full story here.

• HT:CompassDirect.Two Christians Slain in Attack Outside Church in Pakistan.KARACHI, Pakistan, March 22 (CDN) — Two Christians were gunned down and two others are in a serious condition with bullet wounds after Muslim youths attacked them outside a church building in Hyderabad last night, witnesses said. Residents of Hurr Camp, a colony of working-class Christians in Hyderabad in Sindh Province, were reportedly celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Salvation Army church when a group of Muslim youths gathered outside the building and started playing music loudly on their cell phones. They also started teasing Christian women as they arrived for the celebration, according to reports. Christians Younis Masih, 47, Siddique Masih, 45, Jameel Masih, 22, and a 20-year-old identified as Waseem came out of the church building to stop the Muslim youths from teasing the Christian women, telling them to respect the sanctity of the church. A verbal clash ensued, after which the Muslim youths left, only to return with handguns. Witnesses told Compass by phone that the Muslim youths opened fire on the Christians, killing Younis Masih and Jameel Masih instantly, and seriously injuring Siddique Masih and Waseem. The injured men have been transferred to a hospital in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh.Younis Masih is survived by his wife and four children, while Jameel Masih was married only a month ago, and his sudden death has put his family into a state of shock. “My son had gone to the church to attend the anniversary celebrations from our family…a few hours later we were told about his death,” a wailing Surraya Bibi told Compass by telephone from Hyderabad. “I got him married only a month ago. The cold-blooded murderers have destroyed my family, but our most immediate concern is Jameel’s wife, who has gone completely silent since the news was broken to her.” She said the local police’s indifference towards the brutal incident had exacerbated the Christians’ sorrow. The killing of the two Christians comes a week after another Christian, sentenced to life imprisonment on false blasphemy charges, died in Karachi Central Prison. The family of Qamar David claims he was murdered on March 15, while conflicting reports from the jail suggest that he died of heart failure. If David died from torture, yesterday’s killings bring the number of Christians murdered in March alone to four, the most prominent among them being Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated in Islamabad on March 2 for opposing the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.Hmmmm.....These are the people the Obama administration is supporting with tens of Billions of Dollars!Notice how much he go's to Church lately?Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Muslim Brotherhood's Words Fail to Dispel Christian Fears.Mohamed Badie, supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, has made a personal call to Pope Shenouda in which he told him that he would like to meet up with Coptic youth to try and address their fears about the role the Brotherhood will play in Egypt's future.Indeed, since former president Hosni Mubarak stepped down on 11 February, the Brotherhood have been systematically flexing their political muscle, first by quickly announcing their plans to form a political party and then by heavily campaigning for a "Yes" vote in last Saturday's referendum on constitutional amendments. The Brotherhood's increasing presence in Egypt's political arena did not go unnoticed by the country's Copts who have failed to be reassured by repeated claims that they believe in equal citizenship regardless of religion or gender and that their Freedom and Justice Party, currently under formation, is open to all.So when the Brotherhood launched an initiative last Wednesday to create a coalition made up of a broad spectrum of opposition groups to run as one bloc for legislative elections, an initiative they insisted was a way of assuring Egypt's various political groups that they do not plan to dominate Egypt's first post revolution parliament, Coptic activists said that they fear a Brotherhood takeover and what it would mean to them."So the supreme guide told them that he is happy to meet with them and immediately called Pope Shenouda and told him about his idea to meet Coptic youth members and try and understand their fears," says Waleed Shalaby, Badie's spokesperson. "The invitation is open to all Christians, whether they are Orthodox, Anglican or Catholic."Sameh Fawzy, a political analyst and human rights activist, says that political initiatives between any two groups of societies are always beneficial. The problem, as he sees it, with the Brotherhood's initiative is that it contains double standards."First they say they want to meet with Coptic youth through the Church and then El-Erian makes a statement saying that the Brotherhood also wants to meet with Copts outside of the Church," says Fawzy. "So it is unclear what exactly they are planning, but the old regime used to limit this country's Christians to the Church and I fear the Brotherhood is going the same way."Fawzy adds that while the Brotherhood have announced that the purpose of the initiative is to reassure Copts, there is nothing reassuring about the way they are embarking upon it."They are behaving like private teachers, going from place to place giving people lessons telling everyone that it's going to be ok," says Fawzy. "It's great that they want to reassure the Christians, but their words do not make up for a lack of tangible reassurances and rights for the country's Copts in the Constitution."For Fawzy, the main issue at stake is the Brotherhood's vision of Egypt's future. The group's 2007 draft for a civil party, which will be used as a blueprint for their new political party, banned Christians and women from running for president. While this was confirmed shortly after Mubarak stepped down, now various Brotherhood members are retracting their previous statements, saying that they never said a Christian cannot run for president."The main issue is why don't the leftists and other political groups want to reassure the Copts, why is it only the Brotherhood?" asks Fawzy. "It's because the group's political program is not very reassuring for the Copts and that in my opinion is the real issue."Hmmmm.......The Muslim Brotherhood that Obama is giving 1.57 Billion Dollars in 2012.Read the full story here.

• HT:Breitbart. Video - Trump to Obama: Show Us the Birth Certificate. Source .

• HT:TranslatingJihad.Kuwaiti Shaykh: "The Islamic World...Will Not Sympathize with Gaddafi, that Satan and Sonkh: "The Islamic World...Will Not Sympathize with Gaddafi, that Satan and Son of the Jewish Woman"Translated from the website of influential Kuwaiti salafi Shaykh Hamid al-'Ali, who according to the Jamestown Foundation is also designated by the U.S. government as a global terrorism financier and supporter, 20 March 2011:Question: Eminent Shaykh, why does no one sympathize with Gaddafi while he is under attack from the West?! What is the difference between the occupation of Iraq in 2004, and the Western assault on Gaddafi?!

Questioner: Guest Date: 20 Mar 2011

Answer from the Shaykh: The Islamic world has not and will not sympathize with Gaddafi, that Satan and son of the Jewish woman, and his mercenaries, while the entire Islamic world--except for the traitor Safavids [i.e. Iranians]--stood against the Western occupation of Iraq, for these fundamental differences:The Iraqi situation: Iraq was not in a situation of widespread popular rebellion against the regime, and all Iraqis--except for those traitors loyal to Iran--were against any foreign intervention.

The situation of the son of the Jewish woman: The people stood up to him because of his tyranny--following the example of the success of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions--and he used Jewish and non-Jewish mercenaries to destroy his Muslim people. He continued to slaughter the people, then the strikes came, and he placed his knife on the necks of his Muslim people, and sliced them with all malice. Therefore he already repudiated his allegiance to the Ummah! So who would sympathize with him?!The situation of the son of the Jewish woman: Everyone knows that it is true--and not a lie--that he has violated the blood of Libyan Muslims, and he is truly one of the biggest liars of all of mankind, and the greatest tyrant and oppressor.

The Iraqi situation: Iraq had defended the Arab nation in its war against the Safavid (Iranian) barbarians.

The situation of the son of the Jewish woman: Gaddafi was in the same trench as the Syrian regime in support of the Safavids (Iranians) against the Arab nation and the Islamic nation.

The Iraqi situation: The following which was seen from the son of the Jewish woman, was not seen in Iraq:

The situation of the son of the Jewish woman: He disbelieved in the Sunnah by denying it, and mocked the judgments of the Islamic religion, and disavowed himself from Muslim history, except for that which he called "The Fatimid State," and also disavowed himself from Arab history, and from the Arab race altogether.For this reason no one will sympathize with this deceitful tyrant, and in fact the Muslim Libyan people are against him, and not with him or his mercenaries. He has no history except that of hostility to the Islamic Ummah, and recently to the courageous Libyan people who have rebelled against their tyrant.Hmmmm......At the time of the lockerbie bombing he was the Champion ,now he's a Jew?Read the full 'story' here.

• GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz Demands Holder Investigate SEIU Official’s “Terrorist Plans” to Bring Down Banks.The Blaze has obtained an exclusive letter sent from Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding shocking video uncovered by The Blaze on Tuesday.You can read the letter below:

March 23, 2011

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Holder:

Recent media reports suggest that the former director of the Service Employees International Union’s (“SEIU”) banking and finance campaign has threatened to seriously endanger the welfare of the United States. In a forum at Pace University earlier this month, Stephen Lerner, the former SEIU official, revealed a “secret plan” to “cause a new financial crisis . . . destroy J.P. Morgan . . . and weaken Wall Street’s grip on power” by using “civil disobedience” to create “the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” The escalation of Mr. Lerner’s threats would clearly constitute domestic terrorism and pose substantial harm to the American people and the economy. I am therefore requesting that you investigate Mr. Lerner’s terrorist plans and notify me how the Department of Justice plans to respond to these threats.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and may at “any time” investigate “any matter” as set forth in House Rule X. An attachment to this letter provides additional information about responding to the Committee’s request.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please do not hesitate to contact [redacted]. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

_______________________

Jason Chaffetz

cc: The Honorable Darrell Issa, Chairman

cc: The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Minority Member.Hmmmm.....Good luck that's going to be another 'new black panters' case.Read the full story here.

• Israel tells Facebook: Remove Intifada page.Minister Edelstein sends letter to Mark Zuckerberg requesting shutdown of Facebook group calling for third intifada, violent uprising against Israel in May.A month after the launch of a Facebook group calling for a third Intifada, Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein sent a letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday, demanding that the page calling a Palestinian uprising be shut down immediately.The Facebook group was launched less than a month ago with the number of members growing dramatically, with nearly 250,000 people expressing support for launching a third Intifada on May 15, marked by Arabs as Nakba Day – a day where Palestinians mark the "catastrophe of Israel's establishment."The founders of the Facebook group claim that they got the idea for the page from the recent uprisings throughout the Middle East that led to the ousting of the Tunisian and Egyptian leaders and the fall of their regimes. There is no need to explain what the outrageous incitement on the page in question can cause – from harming innocent Jews and Israelis and through to an armed struggle against Israel, Minister Edelstein wrote in a letter to the founder of the popular social network.Since its launch, the Facebook group has received a great deal of coverage in the Palestinian and Arab media. Its founders, who remain anonymous, warned Facebook that shutting down their page would lead the Muslim world to boycott Facebook. It seems that the threat did little to impress the site managers as one of the group's founders who calls himself "Son of Palestine" reported calls for violence.Son of Palestine also accused Facebook's management team of forging the number of supporters the group has, claiming that the number is much higher than 250,000.Hmmmmm.....I think it's high time that 'stuxnet' gets some brothers and sisters with social network capabilities,the best defence is still the attack!Read the full story here.

• Netanyahu vows 'firm, wise' response to terror.PM says IDF has 'iron will' to defend Israel, apparently approves series of Gaza strikes.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency session at Ben-Gurion Airport Wednesday, ahead of his departure to Russia, apparently approving a series of strikes in Gaza following the recent wave of terror."Ever since the government's establishment, we set clear policy – a firm response to any attempt to harm Israeli citizens, coupled with methodical, firm preventative steps against terror," Netanyahu said following the meeting. "This policy prompted two years of quiet and security, and all of Israel's citizens became familiarized with this blessing, enjoy the fruit of this quiet, and walk the streets fearlessly."Speaking on television, the PM addressed the terrorist attack in Jerusalem, saying that it was an attempt by terrorist organizations to end the calm Israel's residents of the have grown accustomed to. "They are trying to test our level of determination," he said, "They are also trying to test the people's resilience. They will discover that the government, the IDF and the Israeli public have an iron will to defend the state and its citizens."Wednesday evening's emergency session was also attended by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin, among others. According to estimates, officials approved a series of military operations in Gaza. The defense establishment already prepared plans for Gaza strikes, ranging from the assassination of senior figures to attacks on Hamas infrastructure and government buildings."The return to the Oslo Process that relies on the Palestinians to fight against terror is a terrible mistake," the group said in a statement. "It resulted in the attack today in Jerusalem, those slaughtered in Itamar and 1400 sacrifices that occurred since the Oslo agreements."Hmmm....Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Islamic Jihad To Hit Cities Deep Inside Israel, Group Says.Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, vowed today to fire rockets at cities deep inside Israel as it entered "a new phase" of resistance, spokesman Abu Ahmad said."The Al Quds Brigade has entered a new phase of bombing targets which are further away, where thousands of Israelis live," he said."The stage of targeting Sderot and Ashkelon in southern Israel are behind us," he said. "From now on, there are no more red lines for the resistance as long as the enemy doesn't respect UN conventions and keeps killing civilians... [we will] respond in kind."Hmmmm....The Palestinians that Obama supports .Source .

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistanization of Indonesia: "It all started with just a constitutional amendment."Mr. Sanaullah is Ambassador of Pakistan in Indonesia and its his duty to paint a glorified picture of Pakistan to the outside world. Reality is too bleak. Living in Pakistan is altogether different from what Mr. Sanaullah states.As far as economy is concerned, I am not an economist but the figures available on internet indicate Pakistan’s GDP Growth rate is now at 2% as compared to 6.8% in 2007.Minorities, in fact, are treated as second grade citizen. Constitutionally, they are free to worship but practically an Ahmadi cannot worship freely; thanks to Blasphemy Laws. Minorities are not allowed to build places of worship according to their needs.Hindus are fleeing to India. According to a recent report published in media, more than 50,000 have fled in recent years including a legislature Ram Singh Sodho. Hindu/Christian girls are routinely kidnapped, forced to convert and marry Muslims. All incidents are documented and are easily available on internet as well on Human Rights organizations’ web sites.Case of Ahmadis is even worse. Let alone building new places of worship, they are not allowed to repair their old and dilapidated ones. They are routinely bullied in their neighborhoods, discriminated in Government jobs, education and business sector. Their headquarters town (Rabwah forcibly re-named Chenab Nagar by Government under pressure of radical mullahs) built on purchased land is practically under siege by fanatics who have forcibly occupied their land. They are not allowed to purchase land around the town to expand their housing due to increase in population. They are forced to declare themselves non-Muslims at every level. They are routinely chased, targeted and killed. 202 Ahmadis were killed after Zia’s notorious Blasphemy Laws, 243 injured in attempted murders, 22 Mosques were completely demolished, 28 sealed by Government, 12 set on fire, 15 forcibly occupied by radicals and 42 constructions barred by authorities. 29 bodies were exhumed after burial whereas 51 were denied burial in public graveyard.Wake up Indonesia. Religion related laws are a bad omen of radicalism/Talibanization, which have plagued Pakistan where no place/community and sect is safe. It all started with just a constitutional amendment. All evil actions are started with good intentions.-- Ahmadiyya Times Note: This is the full version of the letter first published in The Jakarta Post on March 21, 2011. The text has been slightly edited by Ahmadiyya Times to provide full context of the letter written to rebut several erroneous claims asserted by Mr. Sanaullah, the Pakistani Ambassador in Indonesia in his piece entitled "Pakistan, Ahmadiyah and democracy" published by The Jakarta Post on March 16, 2011.This is Human Rights record of accomplishment of Pakistan, which Mr. Sanaullah is hiding. Even more interesting figures can be viewed at http://www.ThePersecution.org/ and http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/ .Hmmm.....“Violence does not build up the kingdom of God, the kingdom of humanity. On the contrary, it is a favorite instrument of the Antichrist, however idealistic its religious motivation may be,” Pope Benedict XVI .Read the full story here.

• HT:CreepingSharia.UK: Muslims deface war memorial, again.A WAR memorial has been sprayed with extremist Islamic graffiti less than a year after a similar attack in the same town.Church and community leaders yesterday appealed for calm after the latest outrage in Burton, ­Staffordshire.They spoke out after enraged residents discovered the words “Support Taliban” on the ­newly-erected monument in the outlying village of Stretton.A local bus shelter was also vandalised and daubed with the slogan “Jihad 4 Iraq”.Last April, the words “Islam will dominate the world – Osama is on his way” and “Kill Gordon Brown” were written on a cenotaph in the town centre three miles away.The memorial to Stretton’s war dead was erected just six months ago following a 20-year campaign to provide a focus for remembrance in the village.Vicar Rev Kim Thomas said: “I’m very sad this has happened.“The memorial was set up in memory of the people of Stretton who died defending their country and now someone has come along and defaced it.Hmmmm......A nation of "Shopkeepers" will beget a Government of wolves?Read the full story here.

• Koran Burning Florida Pastor Has $2.2 Million Death Fatwa Placed on His Head.Terry Jones, the Florida evangelical pastor who threatened to hold a Quran burning last Sept. 11 only to back down in the face of international outrage, finally went ahead and burned one.And now there’s a 2.2-million-dollar price on his head.Jones appointed himself “judge” and presided over a trial hearing evidence and testimony against Islam’s holy book. A “jury” found the book guilty of crimes against humanity; promoting terrorist acts; raping, torturing and killing people “whose only crime was not being of the Islamic faith.” Also, its treatment of women was found lacking.Interestingly, lethal injection and electrocution, the two forms of capital punishment in Florida, were not offered to the convicted holy book. Instead, an online Facebook poll picked the sentence from these choices – burning, shredding, drowning or firing squad. Burning won.Sentence was carried out by soaking the convicted in kerosene, placing it a metal tray and igniting it with a barbecue lighter. Thirty people witnessed the execution.President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the desecration of the Quran during his address to a joint sitting of parliament. The country’s Foreign Office in Islamabad called it a “despicable act.”Pakistan’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a banned Islamic organization and suspected terrorist group, announced a reward of 10 crore rupees (about $2.2 million) for anyone who kills the preacher.Hmmmm.....The Jamaat -ud -Dawah.Read the full story here.

• Pakistan Brings Florida Koran Burning Complaint to UN.Pakistan has taken up the “despicable act” of desecration of the Holy Quran in Florida with the United Nations, and urged it to take urgent steps to promote inter-faith harmony in the wake of increasing acts of Islamophobia.In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon voiced his country’s strong condemnation of the burning of the Islamic holy book, and expressed “profound regret and deep concern” at the growing trend of Islamophobia, intolerance and hatred towards Muslims as well as insults to their religious symbols and personalities.Controversial American pastor Terry Jones, who last year cancelled a plan to burn copies of the Koran to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States after international condemnation, oversaw the burning of a copy of the Quran at his small Florida church on Sunday after the Islamic revered book was put on trial.“While this reprehensible act is the work of extremists and is evidently designed to provoke dissent and discord among communities and peoples across the world, such sacrilegious acts also go against the very concept of inter-faith harmony and threaten the multicultural fabric of the societies and the brotherhood of the United Nations,” The Nation quoted Haroon’s letter, as saying.Pakistan believes that civilised people and societies must resist and oppose any tendency towards extremism of any kind, said Haroon, adding that Pakistan expects that the US administration and American people as well as all civilised societies will take due cognisance and express their revulsion against this sacrilegious act.Hmmmm....."Blasphemy" trials the fastest growing economy in Pakistan?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Pakistani Nuclear Physicist Says Pakistan Can't Handle a Fukushima-Like Crisis, Argues: 'It is Time to Down-Size Pakistan's Nuclear Fission Power Production'."The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant… Puts Karachi's Population at Risk; Sabotage, Terrorist Attack, Equipment Failure, Earthquake, or a Tsunami could Result in Large-Scale Radioactive Release"

"As the Japanese continue their struggle to bring Fukushima's reactors under control, they know they had falsely gambled that nuclear reactors could be safe against earthquakes. Still, there was some logic to this risk-taking: Japan's energy hungry economy gets about 30 percent of its electricity from its 55 nuclear reactors.

"Pakistan has much less reason to risk Karachi, its largest city. The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, (KANUPP) located by the seashore, produces little electricity. This Canadian-supplied reactor has been in operation since December 1972, but according to IAEA statistics, has been unavailable for power production 70.4 percent of the time. "Even if it had operated as per design (120MW of electrical power), it could supply only 6-7% of Karachi's total electrical power needs – barely enough for Golimar and Lyari [two areas of Karachi]."Nevertheless KANUPP puts Karachi's population at risk. Sabotage, terrorist attack, equipment failure, earthquake, or a tsunami could result in large-scale radioactive release. As in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the instinctive reaction of the authorities would be to cover up the facts."But with the breeze mostly directed towards Karachi, the population would surely have to be evacuated. The rich and the fortunate would succeed; the rest would not. Unlike the orderly and disciplined evacuation of post-tsunami Fukushima, all hell would break loose as millions would try to flee. Looters would strip everything bare, roads would be clogged, and vital services would collapse.""It is time to down-size Pakistan's nuclear fission power production."While remaining a perpetual danger, nuclear technology has not met any reasonable fraction of Pakistan's energy needs. After nearly half a century of investing in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission – and the billions of dollars spent upon creating its infrastructure – only two percent of Pakistan's installed nuclear capacity is nuclear. The actual production is less than even this."India has not done well either. Only six percent of Indian electricity is nuclear. Clearly, nuclear electricity is not cheap or easy."Contrary to popular public perception, Pakistan's power reactors also make no contribution to Pakistan's bomb-making capacity – the fissile material for these is produced elsewhere. Therefore, there are multiple reasons why the search for more fission power must be shelved. "Until nuclear fusion power becomes available after some decades, Pakistan, like other countries, must rely on a mix of oil, gas, hydro, coal, solar, wind, and other renewables."Read the full story here.

• HT:Aina.Russian Patriarch Concerned Over Oppressions of Christians in the Middle East.Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia expressed his concerns over discrimination of Christians in the Middle East."We are deeply concerned that as recent military conflicts and frequent discrimination have forced many Christians including Maronites to leave their native land," the Patriarch said in his message to Beshara Al-Rai as the latter was elected Patriarch of the Maronitehere.

• HT:CrossRoadsArabia.King Abdullah: “Stop Sucking Up, Please!”Saudi Arabian culture is still very much one that runs on the rails of patron:client relationships. As a result, it’s not uncommon for clients to praise the patron, telling him what a great guy he is, in florid, even floral language. King Abdullah doesn’t like it very much and he’s asking citizens to desist. This is not new. Even when he was Crown Prince, he’d push away callers who sought to kiss his hand or his nose (a Bedouin thing), and instead accept the simple kiss-on-the-cheek greeting common across the Arab world. Perhaps surprisingly, King Abdullah is a little shy as well as personally modest. He feels awkward with people treating him as though he were the greatest thing since, oh, I don’t know, frozen chicken maybe? Sliced bread isn’t really a Saudi thing at all. So, he’s asking people to stop. RIYADH: King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Tuesday asked the nation to refrain from using titles of affection which have become popular in the media and among the public, such as the “King of Humane Compassion” and the “Sovereign of Hearts”.“I would ask that you spare me such titles,” King Abdullah said. “The Sovereign King is Allah, and we are all the worshippers of Allah the Most Exalted. I therefore plead that I be spared such titles,” he said.Read the full story here.