"RESET" - Back to 'The Good Old Days' - US starts countrywide nuclear drill after similar war games in Russia.

"RESET" - Back to 'The Good Old Days' - US starts countrywide nuclear drill after similar war games in Russia. (RT).

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber built to carry nuclear weapons.

The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American strategic bomber, designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses that can drop up to sixteen 1,100 kg B83 nuclear bombs.

The exercise will be conducted from May 12-16 and is set “to deter and detect strategic attacks against the US and its allies,” the Strategic Command said in a statement.

“This exercise provides unique training opportunities to incorporate the most current technology and techniques in support of our mission. Continued focus and investment in our strategic capabilities allow US Stratcom to deter, dissuade, and defeat current and future threats to the U.S. and our allies.” said Admiral Cecil Haney, head of Strategic Command.

StratCom is the US’s nuclear command and is responsible for space operations, global strike, global missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and combating weapons of mass destruction.

Though the timing of the exercise was declared as “unrelated to real-world events,” it does come on the heels of the recent war games in Russia. Announced in November 2013, military drills on countering nuclear strikes were overseen by President Vladimir Putin ahead of the May 9 celebrations dedicated to victory in World War II.

Contrary to the openness of the Russian war games, the US Strategic Command released very few details about the upcoming exercise.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have worsened significantly over the situation in Ukraine. The US continues to endorse and support a military operation by Kiev’s coup-installed government against federalization supporters in the southeast of the country.


Last week, NATO said it may permanently station additional troops in Eastern Europe as a defensive measure against Moscow. Russia views this recent buildup of NATO forces as a provocation and counterproductive in the struggle to deescalate tensions in Ukraine. Hmmmm......Flashback: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has sent NATO a rather unusual New Year's card... picturing Santa alongside a Russian inter-continental ballistic missile.

Chinese colonel raises nuclear War scenario.

Chinese colonel raises nuclear War scenario.(Smh).A CHINESE military officer has raised the spectre of nuclear weapons and warned Australia not to side with the United States and Japan as a territorial dispute in the East China Sea continues to escalate.
Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu, of the National Defence University, blamed America's ''orchestration'' and Japan's ''militarism'' for rising tensions over disputed islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
''America is the global tiger and Japan is Asia's wolf and both are now madly biting China,'' Colonel Liu said. ''Of all the animals, Chinese people hate the wolf the most.''
China was a peaceful nation but it would fight to the death if seriously attacked, he said.
Asked about the People's Liberation Army fighting capability, Colonel Liu referred to the PLA department that houses China's strategic missile and nuclear arsenal. He raised a hypothetical scenario that he said would justify a nuclear attack, while clarifying that he was not calling upon China to take such measures.
''If this Japanese wolf again attacks America's Pearl Harbour or Australia's Darwin, how do you know it wouldn't receive another nuclear bomb?'' Colonel Liu said. ''The world would hail if Japan receives such a blow.
''I don't want to mention China here, as it is sensitive,'' he added.
Colonel Liu is one of a group of outspoken hawkish PLA officers who do not claim to speak on behalf of the leadership but are given licence to speak stridently on some issues.
Foreign diplomats say they can serve to provide unofficial warnings, test foreign reactions and rally nationalistic support for the Communist Party or sections of it. Colonel Liu directly warned Australia not to follow the US or Japan into any military conflict with China.
He said Australia should play the role of a ''kind-hearted lamb'' and China would discourage it from being led astray.
''Australia should never play the jackal for the tiger or dance with the wolf,'' he said.
Colonel Liu asked that his message be conveyed directly to the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, as she prepares to deliver a major speech on national security. Like her predecessors, Ms Gillard has maintained that Australia will not have to choose between its economic and security interests.
''American hegemony is not at its dawn and not at its zenith,'' Colonel Liu said. ''It is at its sunset and night is coming.''
In separate written comments Colonel Liu said the US was building ''a mini-NATO'' to contain China, with the US and Japan at its core and Australia within its orbit. Hmmmm......Confucius say: If you turn an oriental around, he become disoriented. Read the full story here.

Is China preparing for nuclear war? Beijing hardens subways for nuclear, gas attacks.

Is China preparing for nuclear war? Beijing hardens subways for nuclear, gas attacks.(FB). China recently upgraded its subway system in Beijing and revealed that its mass transit was hardened to withstand nuclear blasts or chemical gas attacks in a future war, state-run media reported last month. The disclosure of the military aspects of the underground rail system followed completion and opening of a new subway line in the Chinese capital Dec. 30, along with the extension of several other lines.
The subway upgrade is part of an effort to ease gridlocked traffic in the city of 20 million people.
According to Chinese civil defense officials quoted Dec. 5 in the Global Times, a newspaper published by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, the subway can “withstand a nuclear or poison gas attack.” A U.S. official said the disclosure of the subway’s capabilities to withstand attack is unusual, since it highlights Beijing’s strategic nuclear modernization program, something normally kept secret from state-controlled media. 
The strategic nuclear buildup includes the expansion of offensive nuclear forces, missile defenses, and anti-satellite arms. China is building new long-range mobile missiles, including the DF-41, and plans to deploy up to eight new ballistic missile submarines. Reports from Asia indicate the Chinese military is also planning to build new long-range strategic nuclear bombers. Russia too is expanding its nuclear forces with new submarines and missiles.
Moscow announced last year that it is also constructing some 5,000 underground bomb shelters in Russia’s capital in anticipation of a possible future nuclear conflict. 
By contrast, the U.S. government has done little to bolster civil defense measures, preferring the largely outdated concept of mutual assured destruction that leaves populations vulnerable to attack and building only limited missile defenses that the Obama administration has said are not designed to counter Chinese or Russian nuclear strikes.
The Obama administration instead is seeking deep cuts in U.S. nuclear forces as part of President Barack Obama’s policy of seeking the elimination of all nuclear arms.
According to the Global Times report, the new subway lines were “designed to be used in the event of an emergency, for underground evacuation from one station to another, emergency shelter, and storage for emergency supplies.” 
A military engineer identified only as Hu and as part of the Chinese military’s Second Artillery Corps, which builds and deploys China’s nuclear arsenal, helped design the civil defense aspects of the subway. Special steel-reinforced gates installed on all subway tunnels and used to separate stations are one key feature of the reinforced subway. Hu said it is designed to protect people who seek shelter during a heavy storm, toxic gas attack, or a nuclear strike. “The station has three hours of breathable air after the gates are closed, isolating the station from the outside world,” Hu was quoted as saying. “Although each gate weighs around 7 tons, it takes just three minutes for two adults to open or close it manually,” she said. The new blast gates were introduced into subway construction projects in 2007.
A second Chinese official, identified in the report as Liang, said each subway also has an air filtration system in case of a chemical weapons gas attack. The system is designed to keep air flowing into the station. “People can actually shelter in the subway for more than three hours because of this system,” Liang said. Above-ground subway exits also can be sealed during an attack, Liang said, using heavy blast doors concealed behind temporary walls. Additional civil defense barriers and doors are being installed in the Beijing subway later, according to Cao Yanping, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Civil Air-Raid Shelter. Jiang Hao, a Chinese military engineer from the 4th Engineer Design & Research Institute of General Staff Department, told the newspaper that blast gates already are in use in cities such as Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province, and Shenyang, in Liaoning Province. “The new facilities also have other defensive capabilities like emergency communication equipment at each station, which makes effective communication possible during a conflict,” Jiang Hao, the engineer, told reporters in Beijing. China’s network of underground tunnels for nuclear weapons and missiles was disclosed only recently, and highlighted in Georgetown University’s Asian Arms Control Project, dubbed it China’s “Great Underground Wall.”

US confirms it has suspended North Korea 240,000 tonnes of food aid plans.

US confirms it has suspended North Korea 240,000 tonnes of food aid plans.(BBC).The decision comes after Pyongyang announced a new rocket launch, which the United States says breaks the terms of a deal agreed last month. Earlier reports that the food aid plans had been put on hold were confirmed by a Pentagon official on Wednesday. Peter Lavoy told lawmakers North Korea had violated a missile test moratorium agreement and could not be trusted to deliver the aid properly. Under the deal signed in February, North Korea agreed to a partial freeze in nuclear activities and a missile test moratorium in return for US food aid. Mr Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific affairs, told a government committee that next month's planned rocket launch "reflects [North Korea's] lack of desire to follow through on their international commitments and so we've been forced to suspend our activities to provide nutritional assistance". North Korea claims the launch - which is scheduled for between April 12-16 - is only a satellite and is for scientific purposes. But the US and North Korea's neighbours insist it will be a long-range missile test, breaking the terms of last month's agreement. The US has not delivered food aid to North Korea since 2009, but sent officials to Pyongyang's ally China earlier this month to finalise plans to re-start food deliveries.
North Korea has suffered persistent food shortages since a famine in the 1990s, and relies on foreign aid to feed its people. The planned 240,000 tonnes of food aid from the US was to go to children and pregnant women.
Most Americans do not realize this, but the Korean war never actually ended. A ceasefire brought the military conflict to a conclusion in 1953, but there was never a peace treaty. For nearly 60 years, the two sides have been staring each other down along the 38th parallel. All during that time, North Korea has been arming itself to the teeth. North Korea is a nation that is absolutely obsessed with the military and that is absolutely obsessed with destroying the United States.
Most Americans don’t spend much time thinking about North Korea, but most North Koreans are focused on the United States every single day. We are constantly held up as the great enemy, and North Koreans are taught that one day they will defeat us. Today, North Korea has thousands of missile batteries and the largest artillery force in the world. If war with North Korea erupts, Seoul would be flattened within minutes. Right now, there are approximately 24.5 million people living either in or around Seoul, and that makes it the second largest metropolitan area in the entire world. Even if North Korea did not nuke Seoul, the devastation caused by thousands of rockets and the largest artillery force on the planet would be unimaginable. North Korea also has a navy with more than 700 vessels, the largest submarine fleet on the entire globe and a fleet of about 1,650 aircraft. But most importantly, North Korea has nukes. Everyone agrees that North Korea has conducted nuclear tests and that they have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but nobody really knows how big that arsenal is. It is believed that the latest long-range missiles that North Korea has developed have the ability to reach the west coast of the United States, which is a very frightening thought.North Korea is no joke. North Korea has the ability to take out Seoul or Tokyo at any time. A military conflict with North Korea could plunge the world into a devastating economic collapse in just a matter of days.Read the full story here,more here.
National Geographic once did an amazing documentary on what life is like inside North Korea.Part one of Six.


 



Part Two of Six.

MFS - The Other News

                       Afternoon  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 03. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - June 03. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - June 03 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 6.2 - India 5.9  ! Lots of activity in Turkey.More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 128.Source : Here .
• Japan : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog.Here.

• Europe - Latest official Situation Update on E-Coli epidemic.  Source.

• Syrian activists call for 'Children's Friday'.(Al-Jazeera).Anti-Assad demonstrators protest against government brutality, with more than 30 young people dead since March.Syrian activists have called for protests on Friday over the dozens of children killed in anti-government protests, as the opposition continues to demand the "immediate resignation" of Bashar al-Assad, the country's president.Rejecting government concessions, opposition groups at a meeting in Turkey called late on Thursday for parliamentary and presidential elections within a year of Assad's removal and vowed to work "to bring down the regime".Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the international community needs to be more united on dealing with the Syria government's crackdown on the pro-democracy movement."Right now the attitude of the international community is not as united as we are seeking to make it," she said in Washington, apparently alluding to Russia's moves blocking a proposed UN Security Council condemnation of Syria.Activists called for "Children's Friday" protests to honour the children killed in the uprising, such as 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib whom activists say was tortured to death, a charge denied by the authorities."The people want the fall of the regime. Tomorrow, it's 'Children's Friday' of rising up against injustice, like the adults," the activists announced on their Facebook page "Syrian Revolution 2011", an engine of the revolt.The UN children's agency UNICEF says at least 30 children have been shot dead in the revolt against Assad's autocratic rule which erupted in mid-March.The more than 10-week-old revolt in Syria was sparked by the arrest and torture of 15 children and adolescents accused of painting anti-regime graffiti in the southern town of Daraa, which became a flashpoint of the deadly protests."A photo of a child who is dead or being tortured or being mutilated is much more powerful than of an adult," Patrick McCormick, UNICEF spokesman, said, referring to the Facebook campaign focused on the fate of Hamza."The use of Facebook or any image especially of children is incredibly powerful," he told AFP news agency. "They are innocent victims here, they get caught in the middle, it is not their fight."McCormick said the situation would worsen with the end of the academic year. "It will leave the children and teenagers more vulnerable because they will be out and about and not sitting in a classroom."Hmmmm....How about the innocent Jewish children killed by the Palestinians?Read the full story here.

• "Have Airforce Two - Will Travel".Michelle to Travel to Southern Africa.(Whitehousedossier).Well, it’s kind of an expensive trip to take while President Obama and Congress are engaged in a desperate struggle to slash spending, isn’t it? But the White House is making clear that, unlike her vacation to Spain last year, which cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, this is an official trip. It is the kind of thing all first ladies do to promote the United States and its interests overseas.Now, does that mean she – and her mom, and her daughters – ain’t going to get in some sight seeing or sample some roast antelope at a swank Johannesburg eatery? I’m sure they will.But as long as she spends plenty of time working, this is normal first lady stuff. The schedule suggests they’ll be bouncing around too much to get too comfortable. From the White House:First Lady Michelle Obama announced that she will travel to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa and Gaborone, Botswana during an official visit to Africa from June 21 – 26 focused on youth leadership, education, health and wellness. The trip is a continuation of Mrs. Obama’s work to engage young people at home and abroad, from mentoring students in the United States and encouraging them to gain international experience, to encouraging young people to excel academically, serve, and lead . . . Accompanying Mrs. Obama on this trip will be her mother, Mrs. Robinson and her daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama.In addition to advancing her international youth engagement agenda, the First Lady’s events will amplify the President’s support for democracy, development and economic opportunity across Africa. During her trip, Mrs. Obama will deliver the keynote address to a U.S.-sponsored Young African Women Leaders Forum in South Africa. Forum participants include young women from across sub-Saharan Africa who are leading or involved in social and economic initiatives in their own countries.Hmmmm.....Start the countdown for the next revolution?Read the full story here.

• Update ! Jewish Group Removes Video Of Them Singing At The White House Per ‘Obama Admin Request.'The Maccabeats deny the story about the removal of their video, on their facebook page you can read the following statement:"
  So there's a really interesting rumor circulating online about how the White House demanded we remove a video of us privately singing for the President. Never happened. We only posted the video privately in the first place, out of respect for our host. especially after we were
  treated so well by the entire staff. We think the White House has more interesting things to do than hunt down Maccabeats videos.Hmmmm....Anyway for those interested here's the video in question.Read the full story here.

• Obamabook Facebook – self appointed arbiter of “free speech” – tells Tea Party no more organizing.(floppingAces). In what is an astonishing development, Mark Zuckerberg’s social media sensation, Facebook, has been slowly and quietly clamping down on the use of the site for political purposes. Kellen Giuda, an architect who started the NY Tea Party, has a column today in The Daily Caller to expose the Facebook hypocrisy, and to announce an alternative social medium to replace the FB void after a series of policy and site changes that are designed to limit the scope of use of Facebook related to political purposes.What makes an American entrepreneur’s blood run cold is the quote from Facebook’s Adam Conner to the Wall Street Journal last month:

Meanwhile, Facebook is talking with potential Chinese partners about entering the huge China market, where the government has been cracking down on dissidents. That crackdown has come in response to the uprisings shaking authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes, movements that have used U.S.-based social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter as organizing tools.“Maybe we will block content in some countries, but not others,” Adam Conner, a Facebook lobbyist, told the Journal. “We are occasionally held in uncomfortable positions because now we’re allowing too much, maybe, free speech in countries that haven’t experienced it before,” he said. “Right now we’re studying and learning about China but have made no decisions about if, or how, we will approach it,” said Debbie Frost, Facebook’s director of international communications.It’s chilling enough that a social medium that has played such a high profile role in political interaction decides that one country is “experienced” enough to be allowed free speech, and another isn’t. But considering Facebook’s attitude towards the Tea Party, this begs the question of Mr. Conner… just what part of America, and our founding based on free speech, requires nanny censorship by a self appointed arbiter?Facebook isn’t foolish enough to outright lay on political censorship. As Guida points out, it’s been a series of steps that unmistakenly is aimed at political use of the medium. And he further suggests that the overt ties to liberal political beliefs may play a large part in thwarting Tea Party organization.The company has changed the way Facebook’s group, newsfeed and event features work, and it has restricted the ability of users to communicate with people (via messages and wall posts) who are outside of their real-life social networks.What’s more, it’s become clear that Facebook itself is dominated by liberals:

•98% of political donations from Facebook employees went to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

•Chris Hughes, one of Facebook’s co-founders, headed up Barack Obama’s successful website during the 2008 campaign. In 2009, he was featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine as “The kid who made Obama president: how Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes unleashed Barack’s base — and changed politics and marketing forever.”

•Facebook’s former attorney for privacy issues, Chris Kelly, ran for attorney general of California in 2010 on a far-left platform.

Many Americans and Tea Party organizers are waking up to this liberal culture at Facebook, which was on display at the recent Facebook townhall where Barack Obama and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg fawned over each other.And speaking of this new a’political philosphy, if Facebook is so all fired dedicated to free speech and staying away from politics, why the heck are they interviewing the POTUS on political issues, and livestreaming it on Facebook anyway?And what happens to all those Congressional owned Facebook accounts? Aren’t they entirely political in nature? Or is it only “organizing” they seem to oppose?Hmmmm........This is why i don't use facebook.Read the full story here.

• Egypt revolution leaves Sinai increasingly lawless.(BBC).Egypt's northern Sinai is a desert region of frequent lawlessness where the Bedouin tribesmen who live have complained of being neglected and oppressed by the central government. Tim Whewell went to find out if anything has changed since Egypt's revolution."This is me with my new Kalashnikov," the young water engineer tells me as we sit by a hotel pool in El-Arish on Egypt's north Sinai coast, clicking through snapshots on his mobile phone. "Before the revolution I never needed one, but now I do. To protect my family. It's getting much more dangerous here." With his slicked-back hair, t-shirt and jeans, Fouad (not his real name) looks like any young, middle-class Egyptian.Like thousands of others he joined the crowds of protesters filling Cairo's Tahrir Square during the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February. But Fouad is not first and foremost an Egyptian. He is Bedouin, belonging to one of the tribes who for centuries have roamed the Sinai peninsula - the pointed tooth of wilderness that separates Africa from Asia. Once the Sinai was a land bridge. According to the Bible, it is where the Children of Israel journeyed on their 40-year trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. But more recently it has been a battleground in Egypt's wars with Israel.The Bedouin have been caught in the middle. And that is one reason, they say, why they have suffered discrimination in Egypt since it regained Sinai from Israeli occupation in 1982 - discrimination that has left them alienated and angry. "If you are Bedouin you can't join the army or the police. You can't apply to be a diplomat," another young man in north Sinai, Ahmed Salama tells me. "Maybe they are suspicious we might have some connections with the Israelis, but we don't." In the final years of President Mubarak's regime, Sinai was the most restive part of Egypt. Policemen were killed in armed clashes with Bedouin as they tried to crack down on the lucrative smuggling routes carrying weapons and building materials into the Gaza Strip, and illegal workers into Israel. Now, he says, it has all changed. Gaza has all the guns it needs, and Hamas can manufacture its own rockets. The market now is internal, within Sinai. "Because of the revolution," he says, "there are no police anymore. And the people won't allow the police to come back until there's an amnesty for Bedouin who've been wrongly prosecuted. So, till then, how can you protect your life? You have to bear arms." Two years ago, in cables later released by Wikileaks, US diplomats reported intelligence from Egypt's spy chief Omar Suleiman that Iran had been trying to recruit Sinai Bedouin to smuggle weapons to Hamas. The reports are hard to verify. Egypt may have had an interest in playing up the threat. But Israel believes the growing lawlessness in Sinai since the revolution can only make it easier for smugglers and terrorists to operate. Even the most prominent Bedouin rights activist, Musaad Abu Fajr, jailed under the old regime, does not dismiss that possibility. The forces that might seek to take advantage of the current instability in Sinai, he says, are Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah - and even al-Qaeda. But he adds: "I wouldn't blame them. I'd blame those in charge of managing Egypt. If they develop Sinai properly, no outside forces will be able to penetrate and do the damage they're doing." Read and see the full story here.

• Iran Tests Nuclear Missile Warhead Design.(Newsmax).Iran has built and tested all the elements of a nuclear weapon design similar to the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, and is actively working to fit it onto a ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel, nuclear experts told Newsmax this week.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna first revealed that Iran had been working on the tried and true nuclear weapons design three years ago. But only last week did the U.N. agency spell out the details of Iran’s nuclear weapons-related work.The tests the IAEA says Iran has carried out “seem logically to be part of a weaponization process,” said Dr. James McNally, a former U.S. nuclear weapons lab researcher. “The Iranians appear to be scoping out what needs to be done to get to their goal.”In a technically-worded section of his May 24 report to the U.N. Security Council, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said the Agency “remains concerned about . . . activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile.”The IAEA said the weapon design uses hemispheres of highly-enriched uranium, a design consistent with an implosion device. The agency also has information showing that Iran had conducted “design work and modeling studies involving the removal of the conventional high explosive payload from the warhead of the Shahab-3 missile and replacing it with a spherical nuclear payload.”“I don’t see that as part of a peaceful nuclear program,” McNally told Newsmax in an interview.Iran has displayed its Shahab-3 missiles in public parades draped in English-language banners that read, “Israel Must be Wiped Off the Map.” It developed the missile in the mid-1990s with help from Russia and North Korea, and conducted its first successful test flight in July 1998. Iran claims it has built several hundred of the missiles, which can reach targets up to 1,200 miles, depending on the version.Taken together, the new information from the IAEA shows that Iran has carried out a “cold test” of its nuclear weapons design, former CIA nuclear weapons analyst Dr. Peter Pry told Newsmax.“These are all the components required to do not only a cold test but to actually build a screw-ready nuclear weapon short of having the fuel,” Pry said. “If you master the explosive lenses and the neutron generator, then really all you need is the fuel and the ability to shape the fuel into hemispheres.”Iran has been able to shape uranium into hemispheres for several years, according to earlier IAEA reports. In its latest report, the IAEA said that Iran has conducted “full scale experiments” of the complex high-explosive detonation component of the bomb, “work which may have benefited form the assistance of foreign expertise.”As for nuclear fuel, the latest IAEA report shows that Iran has recovered from the Stuxnet computer worm attack, and has accelerated the production of enriched uranium at its declared centrifuge plant at Natanz.“In constructing any program it is logical to identify each task needed for producing a working nuclear explosive,” McNally told Newsmax. “These steps can be carried out almost independently in order to keep a low profile and hide the proximity to the final nuclear detonation,” he added.Former assistant secretary of State for On-site Verification, Paula Desutter, saw no ambiguity in Iran’s nuclear test program. “That’s weaponization,” she told Newsmax. “There is no other reason to conduct those tests except to prepare a nuclear device.”Most Western intelligence analysts believe Iran has a parallel program and has installed enrichment centrifuges at secret sites it has not declared to the IAEA, using uranium milled from local mines that are not covered by IAEA safeguards.The move from virtual nuclear weapons state to actual nuclear weapons capability “has been authorized by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,” Kahlili believes.“They have the knowledge, and now they have the materials. The time for speculative argument is over. They are going to have it. They are going to have the bomb,” Kahlili told Newsmax.Hmmmm.....Who's to say that one of these frequent earthquakes in Iran, wasn't an underground nuclear weapon test?Read the full story here.

• "Fall for Das vaterland"?Terrorists Claim German Jihadist Dead in Afghanistan.(Spiegel).A German jihadist has been killed in fighting with US soldiers in Afghanistan, a major terrorist organization in the region is reporting. The man from Essen appears to have been killed only two months after entering into the war-torn country. A propaganda video posted online by the terror group Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) this week indicates that another German extremist may have been killed while fighting against NATO troops in Afghanistan. An IMU spokesman says in the eight-minute-long video that "a brother from Essen" lost his life on March 20 during a firefight with US soldiers near Kunduz, the northern Afghanistan base where the German army is stationed. The man was identified as Abdullah -- no last name was given -- and went by the nom du guerre "Miqdaad."The jihadist allegedly arrived in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area in November 2010 before completing training at a camp in January 2011. Afterwards, he is said to have traveled to northern Afghanistan; the IMU spokesman said it had been Abdullah's wish to attack German soldiers stationed in Kunduz. In a short recording made before his death, "Miqdaad" expressed his pleasure that he was being sent into battle against Germany's armed forces and NATO. In the second part of the video, the spokesman -- Yassin C. of Bonn, who goes by the name "Abu Ibraheem" -- called on Afghans living in Germany to join the battle against "the occupiers." Just on Thursday, a German soldier was killed by an explosive device targeting the Bundeswehr.It was not possible to immediately determine the authenticity of the video on Friday. However, the website where it was found, the manner in which it had been produced, the logos included on the video and the spokesperson shown in the video all seemed to point to its veracity.If the news of the death of the young Essen man is confirmed, he would be added to a list of at least a half-dozen jihadists from Germany who have been killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One died while staging a suicide attack, two others were killed by US drones and at least four have been killed in combat with Pakistani or American soldiers. Read the full story here.

• 'Anonymous' hacking group breaks into Iranian government servers and steals more than 10,000 email addresses.(DailyMail).Online activist group Anonymous has hacked into the Iranian government servers and stolen over 10,000 email addresses.A single hacker broke into the Iranian Passport and Visa email centre last week in what has been described as a 'big raid'.The attack brought down the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, which was still inaccessible this afternoon.The email archive accessed mainly consists of approvals, rejections and correspondence for a variety of visa and passport applications, an Iranian member of Anonymous told TheNextWeb.com.The 'hactivist' organisation is now planning to target the upcoming anniversary of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 2005 election with a DDoS attack, when a large number of hackers assault a single target.The Anonymous member said: 'It’s near the election’s anniversary. We had to do something.'For the election’s anniversary, we have a complete DDoS attack day.'Anonymous quietly posted a file containing the email addresses online on May 30.However, the file was encrypted and its contents remained unknown until last night.The attack is the latest in a series of high-profile attacks involving the organisation.Sony last month blamed Anonymous for indirectly allowing a hacker to gain access to personal data of more than 100million gamers.Anonymous denied the accusations made by the Japanese electronics firm.But it had declared war on Sony after it claimed the Sony vs George Hotz lawsuit was an attack on free speech and that Sony was abusing customer's rights through its relentless legal assault on the PlayStation 3 jailbreaker.At the time, Hotz had faced a lawsuit from Sony under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act for publishing methods that break the digital protections on the PS3 to allow the use of unauthorised programmes.Anonymous hogged the limelight last year for attacking websites of companies that had refused to offer services to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.The group attacked Amazon and eBay, among others, as a part of its efforts to support WikiLeaks.Hmmmm.....I wonder if they hacked 'the hidden imam' his adress also?Read the full story here.

• Like Isaiah in the Old Testament,Blago Just Wanted To “Get The Rich To Help The Poor”.(JudicialWatch).Chicago—Like Isaiah in the Old Testament, Rod Blagojevich wanted to “get the rich to help the poor” when he offered to send Barack Obama’s close friend (Valerie Jarrett) to the U.S. Senate in exchange for a nonprofit set up by wealthy Democratic donors close to the president.The multi million-dollar charity would promote healthcare for children and “working families” and, of course, Blagojevich and his pals would run it. Instead he got criminally charged with a mountain of felonies, including trying to sell the Illinois senate seat vacated when Obama won the 2008 presidential election. On his fifth day testifying in his corruption retrial, Blagojevich continued blaming his trusted advisers for encouraging him to “leverage” his power as governor to appoint a new senator and insisting that he get “something of substance” from the president-elect in return for appointing Jarrett, who ended up going to the White House as a top aide. Blagojevich testified that he never promised or connected any deals to the senate appointment. In fact, he testified that he was only “venting” when he blasted Obama on a secret FBI recording because he offered only to be “grateful and appreciative” in exchange for Jarrett’s appointment. “F_ _ _ them,” Blagojevich is heard saying on the wire tap. That’s when he devised a plan to get Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, to help set up the healthcare nonprofit by hitting up wealthy Democratic donors like leftwing activist George Soros and investor Warren Buffett for money. To put it all in perspective for the jury, Blagojevich interjected the Isaiah Old Testament analogy. After the lunch break Blagojevich addressed recorded conversations previously played by the prosecution in which he discusses getting “tangible” and “concrete” support “up front” from Jesse Jackson Jr. before considering giving him the senate appointment. Jackson Jr. represents Chicago’s south side in the U.S. House and prosecutors have presented evidence that one of his top donors offered Blagojevich $1.5 million to appoint him senator.Read the full story here.

• Opec hints it could raise oil supplies for first time in four years.(Telegraph).Members of Opec, the oil cartel, are seriously considering raising supply for the first time since 2007 in order to dampen prices that are currently above $100 per barrel.Ahead of a key meeting next week, an Opec official said the world could do with an extra 1m barrels of oil per day to reduce volatility in the market.The 12-member group of oil-producing countries had not been expected to raise output, despite the fact that London prices went above $125 per barrel during tensions in the Middle East.However, a number of officials appear to be increasingly open to a rise in output.Ali Al-Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, said on Thursday that the cartel was prepared to act if necessary. "We have to wait and see the data. If there is a need for an increase, we would decide accordingly," he said.His comments came as oil prices unexpectedly fell below $100 per barrel in the US, as supplies continue to build up and demand has begun to fall.Paul Spedding, an analyst from HSBC, also estimated that speculation had added $30 per barrel to the oil price from October to May.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                      Afternoon Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 05. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

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

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 103.
  On 05.05.2011 at 03:26 GMT+2
  
  Levels of radioactive substances have jumped in the Pacific seabed off Japan near the nuclear power plant crippled by a massive tsunami in March, according to the plant operator. Seabed samples collected some 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant contained 1,400 becquerels of radioactive caesium-137 per kilogramme, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said. The level is more than 600 times higher than a maximum 2.3 becquerels per kilogramme detected in the past off the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima. The samples, taken on Friday, also contained 1,300 becquerels of caesium-134 and 190 becquerels of iodine-131, according to a TEPCO statement issued late Tuesday after the first analysis of seabed soil since the March 11 disaster. Levels of the two materials were too low to be gauged in the past, a TEPCO spokeswoman said. The company did not say whether the levels were considered harmful. Samples taken at another spot 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from the plant also showed similarly high radiation levels. TEPCO said it would continue to examine radiation levels. "We cannot say anything definite after just one probe. We will conduct more sample examinations and keep a watch," the spokeswoman said. The samples were taken 20-30 metres (66-100 feet) deep and three kilometres from the coast. The Fukushima plant has leaked radiation into air, soil and ocean since it was severely damaged by the massive quake and tsunami. Greenpeace said Tuesday it had begun independent tests of water samples from the ocean near Japan's crippled for radiation contamination. The samples will be collected outside Japan's 12-mile territorial waters in line with government rules, Greenpeace said.Source : Here .

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

• Live Blog on Qsama Bin Laden  Here (Al -Jazeera).

• News Report From Kenya : Al-Shabaab to Kill Obama’s Grandmother in Revenge for OBL’s killing? These days, threats from Al-Shabaab in neighboring Somalia is concern to many Kenyans, and it has been increasing ever since Shabaab made direct threats against Kenyans for supporting and training Somali government forces in Kenya and Somalia border. Kenyan government now claims Shabaab is sending assassins to kill Obama’s Grandma (Saarah) in Kenya.In revenge of Osama Bin Laden’s killing, terror networks are expected to retaliate or show some sort of strength. It wouldn’t be surprising if Shabaab carried out such an attack, but it would be the first of it’s kind.Hmmmm....Will they give her a Islamic burial? Read the full story here.

• Will Osama bin Laden’s Death End Up Being A Liability for President Obama?(BigGovernment).It would be the ultimate irony if the one courageous and decisive act by President Obama turned out to be yet another liability. Quite frankly, it would not be surprising either.Questions about how the death and burial of Osama bin Laden came about are mounting. It is becoming increasingly evident that the White House is now backing off, changing details, and spinning to its political advantage an event that should primarily celebrate a decade of U.S. policies of intelligence-gathering and military strategy, as well as the strength and competence of the best-trained military in the world.CIA Chief, Leon Panetta, now appears to be at odds with the White House, regarding both the release of photos of bin Laden’s body and whether waterboarding was used to extract intelligence information from detainees of Guantanamo.White House spokesman Jay Carney, and now the president himself, has said that the White House is reluctant to release the photos of the body because of concern about “sensitivities.” The question is, whose “sensitivities?” Other radical jihadists who may be enraged further with the United States? American citizens who have already witnessed gruesome photos of dead civilians- courtesy of the main stream media- in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or, the liberal base of the Democratic party, who can’t quite get their heads around the fact that their president- who is supposedly of such superior moral character, and has already done such a thorough job of apologizing to the world for the “transgressions” of the United States- actually made a decision to kill the apparently unarmed terrorist within sight of his wife (or child), to defend and preserve American freedom and security?While many have wondered if Mr. Obama will be more inclined to win re-election in 2012 because of the killing of bin Laden, the fact is that his decision to act was a good one, but, unfortunately, uncharacteristic of his presidency. The truth is that most Americans do not approve of the president’s performance because most of his decisions carry with them a sea of controversy and distrust regarding his aspirations for the nation and desire to fulfill the will of the American people.As details of Osama bin Laden’s killing continue to emerge, will his liberal base be turned off because of their “sensitivities” to the realities of keeping the country safe, or will conservatives ultimately see another confused, inconsistent mass of details coming from an administration that is still not courageous, still not decisive, and still not trusted?Hmmmm......What happened to the 'Body' of the son of Osama that the seals took with them?Why is NOBODY asking this question? Read the full story here.

• Someone might be sleeping in the 'doghouse' tonight.(ABC)."You do not want to be between Michelle and a tamale," President and Mrs. Obama welcomed a big crowd to the White House for a Cinco de Mayo reception in the East Room. Hispanic politicians, Hispanic Americans serving in the Obama administration, and members of a commission on exploring the creating of a new national museum of the American Latino were among those in attendance. "Welcome to the Cinco de Mayo at the White House," Obama told the enthusiastic crowd before promising he wouldn’t speak too long. "Nothing ruins a good fiesta like a long speech from a politician, so I’m going to keep it short." The first lady agreed that the president should be brief, "Keep it short," she said. The first lady wore a dark green dress that matched President Obama’s green tie.Said Obama: "I asked Michelle the other day, I said, ‘What’s your favorite food’ -- because we were sitting around with the girls. She said, ‘Ah, Mexican food.’" The crowd loved the news. "You do not want to be between Michelle and a tamale," joked the president. "It’s true. It’s true. But she’s moving, though, so she can afford to have as many tamales as she wants," said Obama in a nod to his wife’s "Let’s Move" healthy campaign.The night was not without politics. Obama said that the country needs to fix the "broken" immigration system and address the status of undocumented workers. Obama also said he hopes to sign the Dream Act into law one day.Hmmmm.....All the 'grief' of 9/11 dissapeared with the 'Fiesta'?Read the full story here

• Egyptian Shaykh Wagdy Ghoneim: Osama Is a Hero and a Martyr, Obama Is an "Anti-Christ," "Liar" and "Apostate from Islam".(TranslatingJihad).This is an excerpt from a 15-minute video posted on YouTube, 2 May 2011, which contains Egyptian Shaykh Wagdy Ghoneim's comments on the killing of bin Laden. I may come back and do a more complete transcript later if I suddenly find myself with gobs of spare time, but I'll suffice myself with the following short excerpt for now:

In the name of Allah Most Merciful. This is my comment on the news, if it is true, of the martyrdom of the great ascetic hero, the eminent Shaykh Osama bin Laden. In the name of Allah the Most Merciful, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon the master of the first and the last, as well as upon his family and companions and whoever follows him in righteousness until the Day of Judgment. May Allah be pleased with them all. That anti-Christ, the liar named Obama, the apostate from Islam, has attacked us. .........Read the full story here.

• "The good,the bad and the ugly".After going after Osama now going after America,eliminating Oil Subsidies.(Forbes).Last week President Barack Obama responded to rising public anger over soaring gasoline prices by banging the drums for the elimination of various tax breaks enjoyed by the oil and gas industry. Although House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, initially suggested that he might be open to President Obama's proposal, the House GOP leadership chose to answer the president's weekly radio address--which advocated elimination of those tax breaks--with freshman Tea Party Congressman James Lankford, R-Okla., who charged that the plan was about "hiking taxes by billions of dollars.""The president may think he's punishing CEOs of big companies," said Lankford, "but his plan will hurt the everyday consumer of energy and imperil the jobs of millions of hardworking people in American-based companies." So while Obama has the better of this debate in a narrow sense, he only earns two rather than three cheers for four reasons.

First, there's the demagogic suggestion that oil companies are getting a relative free ride when it comes to their federal tax bill, which they most certainly are not.

Second, he offers this tax loophole-elimination program as an answer to high gasoline prices despite the fact that eliminating these tax breaks will do nothing to reduce fuel prices.

Third, by leaving the manufacturing tax credit in place and just narrowing its scope, he arguably increases--not decreases--the economic inefficiencies that follow.

Fourth, he links elimination of oil and gas tax breaks with an expansion of the tax credits associated with renewable energy, which does nothing on balance to make energy markets work more efficiently (indeed, it probably makes matters worse).Hmmmm.....Imposing his will on the American people"You will obey and drive an electric car"! Read the full story here.

• Belgium - Tolls for trucks from 2013.Where Obama get his ideas from?(Flanderstoday).Drivers from abroad will have to buy stickers ,GPS will be used to calculate how long you were on wich road and at what rate.Hmmm...i think your cellphone,bluetooth or Onstar device will do fine also.The truck-based system - which will be developed, installed and run by a private company - will be similar to one already in use in Germany. Trucks that use Belgian roads regularly would be fitted with an on-board unit to report their kilometres to a satellite detection system; drivers who visit or transit only seldom would be able to pick one up at entry points.The tolls charged will depend on the roads used, the time and the place, as well as the environmental impact of the particular vehicle in question, with greener trucks paying less.However since Germany and France both now operate tolls on major roads, it's not easy to see how the haulage industry could avoid Belgium to any economic effect. The Dutch haulage industry organisation EVO and the transport sector organisation TLN estimate the system will cost industry ␣36 million a year, without reducing congestion or contributing to the upkeep of roads. The Belgian motoring organisation Touring described the system as "a new form of taxation," but the Flemish region denied it would see any profit from the system.Foreign cars will have to pay.The other part of the system is the "road sticker", which will be required for all cars using the roads. For cars registered in Belgium, the sticker will form part of the normal road tax already paid, with possible additional payments for heavily-polluting cars. The governments involved have denied that the new system will lead to an increase in payments, except in the case of cars with heavy emissions.Read the full story here.

• Obama administration floats draft plan to tax cars by the mile.(TheHill).The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.The plan is a part of the administration's Transportation Opportunities Act, an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly. The White House, however, said the bill is only an early draft that was not formally circulated within the administration.“This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”News of the draft follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven.Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven; payment could take place electronically at filling stations.The office would be required to consider four factors in field trials: the capability of states to enforce payment, the reliability of technology, administrative costs and "user acceptance." The draft does not specify where field trials should begin.Hmmmm.....Fieldtrials are running in Germany,The Netherlands and Belgium!Read the full story here.

• Jay Carney is floundering under pressure, say Washington insiders.(Telegraph). There is increasing concern in Washington that Jay Carney, the new White House Press Secretary, isn’t up to the job. Even when faced with an innocuous question that requires only that he trot out the official line, he looks completely stunned, as if the questioner is Bob Woodward asking him about Deep Throat. He gathers himself, embarks on a stuttering reply, pauses for what seems like an eternity, then starts gabbling, tripping over his words, rephrasing what he’s just said, then looking plaintively back at the questioner as if to say, “How did I do? Was that okay? Or would you like me to try again?”“I think he’s doing very badly,” says a political contact based in Washington. “And I’ve heard others say that he’s really struggling".The White House press operation should be a well-oiled machine – and under Carney’s predecessor, Robert Gibbs, it sometimes gave the impression of being just that. But with Carney at the helm, it is more like that of a rinky-dink City Hall somewhere in the Deep South. One colleague described Carney’s rabbit-in-the-headlights performance as “sub-Whitehall” – worse, even, than that of a lone British civil servant with a cellphone and a laptop in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. For the public face of the White House to be someone so lacking in gravitas is a PR disaster.Unless Carney is capable of raising his game, he needs to be thrown under a bus. President Obama is coming dangerously close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Somehow, he and his Press Secretary have created the impression that Operation Geronimo was carried out by the Keystone Kops rather than an elite unit of Navy SEALs. In fact, the only amateurs in this unfolding story are in the White House.Hmmmm....Or perhaps he just has a problem telling lies to the public?Read the full story here.

• Five Mistakes the Obama Administration Has Made in the Aftermath of Bin Laden Killing.(Yahoo).The White House's brilliant conceptualization and execution of the plan to bring Osama bin Laden to justice has, in the last 48 hours, been complicated by mistakes. No one can question the heroism of the US military, the doggedness of the intelligence community, or the cajones of the President in making the call. But the administration has since made real errors, some with political costs, some with substantive costs, and some with both.Read the full story here.

• Nearly Half of Detroiters Illiterate. Cause Apparently a Mystery.(Cato).A study funded by 10 major foundations reported yesterday that 47 percent of Detroiters are functionally illiterate–unable to read a bus schedule, fill out a resume, or make sense of the directions on an aspirin bottle.When I checked back in 2008, Detroit public schools were spending $13,000 / pupil, which was then above the national average.The report notes that half of the illiterate population has either a high school diploma or a GED. That’s beside the point. Virtually the entire illiterate population has completed elementary school, the level at which reading is theoretically taught. That’s seven years of schooling (k-6), at a cost of roughly $100,000, for… nothing.The study mainly calls for adult education services to remediate the problem after it has occurred. Perhaps when the city’s illiteracy rate reaches 100 percent the recommendations will suggest replacing the failed k-12 monopoly with something more effective. Of course, by then who’ll be able to read them?Hmmmm......Did anyone compare race and religion towards the illiterate population in the study?Read the full story here.

• Israel Keeps Eye on Rising Egyptian Threat.(cbn).JERUSALEM, Israel - With the recent regime change in Egypt, Israel's newly released five-year military plan includes preparation for war on multiple fronts. Jerusalem Post military correspondent Yaakov Katz said the changing situation on Israel's southern border may precipitate a massive military buildup."There's great uncertainty and that's because of the changing faces of the Middle East, particularly the concern in Israel has to do with its southern border and what's happening in Egypt," Katz told CBN News in a recent interview.For decades, Israel faced enemies on the Palestinian front and Syria and Hezbollah on its northern border. The threat of Iran loomed in the distance. Now, for the first time in 30 years, Israel could also be facing war on its southern border."They (the Israel Defense Forces) did not have to build up a capability to counter the military in Egypt," Katz said. "That's no longer the case.""So it's a complete new change and possible revolution for the military," he said.Egypt has one of the strongest militaries in the Middle East, outnumbering Israeli tanks and soldiers. It also has the fifth largest squadron of F-16s in the world, plus the Abrams tank, Harpoon missiles, Apache helicopters and the largest navy."It's a massive conventional military, and I would not want to see what would happen in a war between Israel and Egypt," Katz said. "I hope it doesn't happen."For the time being, Israel is waiting to see how things develop. But Katz said Egypt is already headed toward the extremists."Egypt is strengthening its ties with Hamas, strengthening its ties with Iran. It seems to be on a course of a more radical nature," Katz said.Israel understands upcoming wars will not look like wars of the past."What we're looking at as a future conflict is a combination of guerrilla warfare in a civilian population, also combined with immense rocket fire like we've never seen before," he said."I think that what Israel understands though is that all of these different players are all working together, lead by Iran," Katz continued.Hmmmm.....The only solution and best solution will be to use nuclear arms to wipe the ennemy out once and for all!Read the full story here.

• Ayman Al Zawahiri doesn't want uninvited 'guests'?Pakistani Army Chief Warns U.S. on Another Raid.(NYTimes)ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The head of Pakistan’s army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said Thursday that he would not tolerate a repeat of the American covert operation that killed Osama bin Laden, warning that any similar action would lead to a reconsideration of the relationship with the United States.In his first public reaction to the American raid four days ago that left many Pakistanis questioning the capacities of the nation’s army, General Kayani did not appear in person, choosing instead to convey his angry message through a statement by his press office and in a closed meeting with selected Pakistani reporters. The statement by the army’s press office said, “Any similar action violating the sovereignty of Pakistan will warrant a review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United States.” General Kayani had decided that the number of American military personnel in Pakistan were to be reduced “to the minimum essential,” the statement said. He did not specify the exact number of American personnel asked to leave Pakistan, and it was not clear that the level was below what Pakistan had previously demanded in the recent fallout after a C.I.A. contractor shot and killed two Pakistanis.Pakistani officials and Western diplomats have described General Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of ISI, as seething with anger at the American go-it-alone action. In an earlier account Thursday, the foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, sought to dispel domestic criticism of Pakistan’s lack of response to the raid, saying that two Pakistani F-16 fighter jets were airborne as soon as the Pakistan military knew about the operation. But, by that time, he said, the American helicopters were on their way back to Afghanistan. Mr. Bashir, speaking at a press conference, said that the Americans had used technology to evade Pakistani radar. Alternatively combative and defensive, Mr. Bashir said Washington should abandon the idea that Pakistan was complicit in helping Bin Laden hide. But Mr. Bashir did not elaborate, saying only that the ISI had a “brilliant” record in counterterrorism. Defending the Pakistani Army, the fifth largest in the world, Mr. Bashir said, “Pakistani security forces are neither incompetent or negligent about the sacred duty to the nation to protect Pakistan.”Mr. Bashir complained indirectly about the American raid as an infringement of Pakistan’s sovereignty, but withheld the stern reprimand he issued two days ago in a statement that said Pakistan would not stand for another covert raid by the United States.At the news conference, he said, “This matter of sovereignty and violation of sovereignty raises certain legal and moral questions that fall in the domain of the United Nations.” Read the full story here. 

• Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Says Osama Killing a Hoax and 9/11 an Inside Job.(Prisonplanet.Paul Joseph Watson).Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under three different administrations Steve R. Pieczenik says he is prepared to tell a federal grand jury the name of a top general who told him directly 9/11 was a false flag attack.Top US government insider Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik, a man who held numerous different influential positions under three different Presidents and still works with the Defense Department, shockingly told The Alex Jones Show yesterday that Osama Bin Laden died in 2001 and that he was prepared to testify in front of a grand jury how a top general told him directly that 9/11 was a false flag inside job.

Pieczenik cannot be dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist”. He served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under three different administrations, Nixon, Ford and Carter, while also working under Reagan and Bush senior, and still works as a consultant for the Department of Defense. A former US Navy Captain, Pieczenik achieved two prestigious Harry C. Solomon Awards at the Harvard Medical School as he simultaneously completed a PhD at MIT.Back in April 2002, over nine years ago, Pieczenik told the Alex Jones Show that Bin Laden had already been “dead for months,” and that the government was waiting for the most politically expedient time to roll out his corpse. Pieczenik would be in a position to know, having personally met Bin Laden and worked with him during the proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan back in the early 80′s.Pieczenik said that Osama Bin Laden died in 2001, “Not because special forces had killed him, but because as a physician I had known that the CIA physicians had treated him and it was on the intelligence roster that he had marfan syndrome,” adding that the US government knew Bin Laden was dead before they invaded Afghanistan.Pieczenik said that Osama Bin Laden died in 2001, “Not because special forces had killed him, but because as a physician I had known that the CIA physicians had treated him and it was on the intelligence roster that he had marfan syndrome,” adding that the US government knew Bin Laden was dead before they invaded Afghanistan.Marfan syndrome is a degenerative genetic disease for which there is no permanent cure. The illness severely shortens the life span of the sufferer.“He died of marfan syndrome, Bush junior knew about it, the intelligence community knew about it,” said Pieczenik, noting how CIA physicians had visited Bin Laden in July 2001 at the American Hospital in Dubai.“He was already very sick from marfan syndrome and he was already dying, so nobody had to kill him,” added Pieczenik, stating that Bin Laden died shortly after 9/11 in his Tora Bora cave complex.“Did the intelligence community or the CIA doctor up this situation, the answer is yes, categorically yes,” said Pieczenik, referring to Sunday’s claim that Bin Laden was killed at his compound in Pakistan, adding, “This whole scenario where you see a bunch of people sitting there looking at a screen and they look as if they’re intense, that’s nonsense,” referring to the images released by the White House which claim to show Biden, Obama and Hillary Clinton watching the operation to kill Bin Laden live on a television screen.“It’s a total make-up, make believe, we’re in an American theater of the absurd….why are we doing this again….nine years ago this man was already dead….why does the government repeatedly have to lie to the American people,” asked Pieczenik.Pieczenik said that the decision to launch the hoax now was made because Obama had reached a low with plummeting approval ratings and the fact that the birther issue was blowing up in his face.“He had to prove that he was more than American….he had to be aggressive,” said Pieczenik, adding that the farce was also a way of isolating Pakistan as a retaliation for intense opposition to the Predator drone program, which has killed hundreds of Pakistanis.“This is orchestrated, I mean when you have people sitting around and watching a sitcom, basically the operations center of the White House, and you have a president coming out almost zombie-like telling you they just killed Osama Bin Laden who was already dead nine years ago,” said Pieczenik, calling the episode, “the greatest falsehood I’ve ever heard, I mean it was absurd.”Dismissing the government’s account of the assassination of Bin Laden as a “sick joke” on the American people, Pieczenik said, “They are so desperate to make Obama viable, to negate the fact that he may not have been born here, any questions about his background, any irregularities about his background, to make him look assertive….to re-elect this president so the American public can be duped once again.”Pieczenik’s assertion that Bin Laden died almost ten years ago is echoed by numerous intelligence professionals as well as heads of state across the world.Pieczenik re-iterated that he was perfectly willing to reveal the name of the general who told him 9/11 was an inside job in a federal court, “so that we can unravel this thing legally, not with the stupid 9/11 Commission that was absurd.”Pieczenik explained that he was not a liberal, a conservative or a tea party member, merely an American who is deeply concerned about the direction in which his country is heading.Read the full story here.More here.

• Mashaal: Bin Laden assassination an 'atrocity'.(Ynet).Hamas Politburo Chief demands West 'recognize atrocity' of al-Qaeda head's killing, burial at sea. 'There are moral rules and the shedding the blood of Arabs and Muslims by Americans is unacceptable,' he says.Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal called on the West Thursday to "recognize the atrocity" of the assassination of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and his burial at sea. "Arabs and Muslims are human beings and the West should treat them with dignity, regardless of whether they are supporters or opponents of Osama bin Laden," he said. Hamas attracted verbal fire over the recent week for condemning the arch-terrorist's death and calling him a "Shahid" (martyr). "There are moral rules to follow and the shedding the blood of Arabs and Muslims by Americans or others is unacceptable," Mashaal said.The Damascus-based Hamas leader also spoke of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, saying the fate of the Israeli soldier depended on "the Israeli government's attitude… the ball is in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's court.Meanwhile, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged militant groups in Gaza Strip to adhere to the de facto truce with Israel, reached after several days of fighting in April. Haniyeh stressed the move is vital for the success of the newfound Palestinian unity.Hmmmm.......Israel's mortal ennemies now financed by Obama....go figure.Read the full story here.

• Another step towards abolishing the Second Amendment.New York: Micro-Stamping Legislation Passes Assembly Committee.(NRaila).On May 3, Assembly Bill 1157 passed in the Assembly Codes Committee by a vote of 15 to 7 and will now head to the Assembly floor for consideration. Introduced by state Assemblyman Michelle Schimel (D-16), A1157 would mandate micro-stamping on all new semi-automatic pistols sold in New York after January 1, 2013. A1157 would require all semi-automatic pistols delivered to any licensed firearms dealer in New York for sale after January 1, 2013, to mechanically stamp an alpha-numeric or geometric code that would identify the make, model and serial number onto the cartridge case when the gun is discharged. This bill would require models currently available to be redesigned by their manufacturers to have a micro-stamping component, which would vastly increase the cost of these firearms.Micro-stamping is an unproven technology that is easily defeated with common household tools and the replacement of a few small parts. If passed, the availability of semi-automatic handguns in New York will be in serious doubt, as manufacturers simply may choose not to build or sell firearms for purchase in the state. Of course, that is the ultimate goal of this legislation. Make no mistake, this is a gun ban and it must be stopped.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Google Executive Emerges as Key Figure in Revolt.More than a week after his mysterious disappearance in Egypt, Google executive and political activist Wael Ghonim will be released from government detention on Monday, according to his family and a prominent businessman.During his disappearance, Mr. Ghonim, a father of two who is in his 30s, emerged as a central symbol of the antigovernment protests, cast as the face of a movement and hero in the cause of democracy. Protest organizers in Cairo's central Tahrir Square adopted him as a symbolic leader. Suspecting his arrest—but having no proof—they declared in speeches that they wouldn't leave the square until he was freed. Marchers carried homemade signs emblazoned with his name. At the same time, some local media suggested the political activities of Mr. Ghonim, who is Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, make him a traitor to his nation.On Sunday, Egyptian authorities broke the silence on Mr. Ghonim's fate, according to his brother, Hazem Ghonim. "They told us they'll probably bring him to us, and that he will likely be escorted by security," he said from Cairo.Last year, Mr. Ghonim was one of four administrators running the first of the major Facebook pages that became a virtual headquarters for the protest movement, according to a collaborator in the political opposition, and also according to an Internet activist familiar with the situation. Mr. Ghonim also set up the official campaign website for opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei and volunteered as a tech consultant for other opposition groups, according to Ziad Al-Alimi, a senior aide to Mr. ElBaradei.U.S. officials declined to say whether they raised the question of Mr. Ghonim's disappearance with Egyptian authorities. A Google official, asked whether Mr. Ghonim may have violated any company policies, declined to comment, saying someone would first have to talk to him.Online activists including Mr. Ghonim have played a central role in electronically sowing the seeds of the current protests. Mr. Ghonim joined Mr. ElBaradei's political campaign as a volunteer about a month before Mr. ElBaradei, winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize and former head of the International Atomic Energy Commission, made a dramatic return to Egypt last February amid speculation he was seeking a wider political role.Mr. Ghonim went to work setting up Mr. ElBaradei's official web page, www.7amla.net, which in Arabic reads "hamla," or "campaign." Mr. Ghonim also set up a Facebook page for Mr. ElBaradei, according to Mr. al-Alimi, who helped oversee Mr. Ghonim and the project.On Mr. Ghonim's Facebook profile, a photo dated April 10 shows him smiling broadly next to Mr. ElBaradei. "My name is Wael Ghonim and I publicly support ElBaradei," the caption reads.Corrections Wael Ghonim is head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa for Google, whose offices in the region are in Cairo and Dubai. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Mr. Ghonim is Google's top executive in the region and that the Dubai office is the company's regional headquarters.Hmmmm.....ElBaradei is said to have received $7Million from Iran for his party and Google helps him?What else did they do for him?Read the full story here.

• US 'desertion' of Mubarak dismays Israel.JERUSALEM — The US "desertion" of its long-time ally President Hosni Mubarak in the face of protests shaking the Egyptian regime has angered Israel, with analysts warning of consequences for the turbulent Middle East.Until now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has held back from any public criticism of the US position, to avoid a row with US President Barack Obama.But Washington's change of heart towards the embattled Egyptian president has not passed unnoticed in Israel, where the dominant reaction has been one of criticism -- in government circles, among analysts and in the press."One gets the impression that Washington was pretty anxious to throw Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak overboard" once he became a cumbersome ally, a senior Israeli official told AFP, on condition of anonymity."Even if the American position has become more nuanced in the last few days, it doesn't make it any less of a desertion. That's what is most worrying," he said."Loyalty is priceless, especially in the Middle East," he said, warning that Washington's sudden apparent ditching of the Egyptian leader could undermine the credibility of American foreign policy.He also pointed to "confusion and incoherence of the American positions," referring to the declaration of support by an influential retired diplomat at the weekend, from which the Obama administration quickly distanced itself."And when the US does this to the Egyptian president, what should any other ally of the US think?" the paper asked, warning about the "treacherousness" of the Western world and that it "could also happen to us."For Eitan Gilboa, a professor of political science at Bar Ilan University, Washington "has stabbed its Egyptian ally in the back" when it could have criticised him in a more discrete fashion.Hmmmm.......Israel get ready for the same treatment only a hundred fold worse!Read the full story here.

• HT:InfidelBloggers.Why Is Virginia Military Institute Filled With Muslim Faculty? believe Muslims are tremendously under-represented in our troops, so why do they seem to be over-represented on the faculty of one of our top military schools?From Her Royal Whyness : Looking for news on this event I happened upon the following report :  February 03, 2011 WDBJ7 Chris Hurst reports: Local professor weighs in on more protests in Egypt .Visiting professor, Heba El-Shazli is a native Egyptian and teaches at VMI .Made me go hmmmm. . .which led to further exploration of the faculty listing at VMI . . .scan the list of VMI faculty in the "Modern Cultures and Languages" listing http://tinyurl.com/4zftc6k . . .(here's just a few of the more 'modern' names listed) . . .:

Khadija Bentouhami, Ms. - Instructor in Modern Languages & Cultures

Heba F. El-Shazli, Ms. - Visiting Professor of Modern Languages

Ivelise Faundez-Reitsma, Doctor - Instructor of Modern Languages & Cultures

Abdeljalil Naoui-Khir, Doctor - Associate Professor of Modern Languages & Cultures

Mohamed Taifi, Doctor - Professor of Modern Languages & Cultures

Soufia Ezzaki, Ms. - Arabic Tutor in Modern Languages.Hmmmm.......Creeping Sharia anyone?Read the full story here. And more about the VMI - Islam cooperation here.And here the program of the meeting .Towards a Dialogue of Civilizations and an Interfaith Communication - Towards a Free and Responsible Media:Setting the Stage for Cultural Development -  Media Diversity and Media Discourse - Democratic Media Governance: Rethinking the Democratic and Cultural Role of the Mass Media - Unification, Problematization, Criminalization: Media Coverage of Minorities.Sounds real democratic, one can not help but wonder what the Virginia Military Institute has lost there?

• George Bush issued travel warning by human rights organisations.Former president vulnerable to 'torture' prosecution, says US group after Swiss trip cancelled amid protest and arrest threats.Human rights groups have vowed to track George W Bush round the world after their success in forcing him to cancel a trip to Switzerland amid concerns over protests and a threatened arrest warrant.Katherine Gallagher, a lawyer with the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, said: "The reach of the convention against torture is wide. This case is prepared and will be waiting for him wherever he travels next."Torturers, even if they are former presidents of the United States, must be held to account and prosecuted."Although Bush has travelled freely round the world since leaving the White House in January 2009, human rights groups believe he is vulnerable to prosecution after admitting in his autobiography last November that he authorised waterboarding and other interrogation techniques."Waterboarding is torture, and Bush has admitted, without any sign of remorse, that he approved its use," said Gallagher, who is also vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights.Hmmmm.....On the other hand executing people with the use of predators without any form of due process is OK?Read the full story here.

• Moderate NY Muslim Convicted of Beheading Wife…The jury in the Muzzammil Hassan trial has reached a verdict.Muzzammil Hassan is guilty of 2nd degree murder in the death of his wife, Aasiya Hassan.The jury deliberated for a little over an hour before reaching their verdict.The judge has scheduled Hassan’s sentencing for March 9, 2011, where he faces a sentence of up to 25-years-to life behind bars.Hassan was led away in handcuffs.Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita, Jr. called Hassan a “vicious murderer” during a press conference after the verdict.The jury declined to speak to the media about the trial or their decision.Earlier, Hassan delivered his closing arguments, followed by the prosecution.“Ladies and gentlemen this is not a divorce case, this is a murder case,” said Colleen Curtin Gable, prosecutor.The prosecutor told jurors Hassan was efficient and deliberate in killing his wife in just "thirty-seven seconds." While describing the murder, Curtin Gable described how Aasiya was stabbed in the head and from the mouth to her ear. "How is that self defense, stabbing an unarmed woman from behind," she asked jurors."He was in control," she told jurors. "Cool, calm, collected and calculating every step of the way."Hassan claimed he was a battered spouse, but Curtin Gable told jurors that should not even enter into their deliberations, "battered spouse he was not," she said.Jurors were told that Aasiya Hassan may have been conscious when the defendant started to behead her on February 12, 2009.Hmmm.........Next he's going to claim he's a victim of Islamophobia ...mark my words!Read the full story here.

• South Sudan votes 98.83 percent to secede.Southern Sudan was well on track to become the world's newest state on Monday after final results of its historic independence referendum showed that 98.83 percent had voted for secession.The results -- displayed at a ceremony in Khartoum -- revealed that out of 3,837,406 valid ballots cast, only 44,888 votes, or 1.17 percent, favoured the status quo of unity with the north."The referendum was correct, accurate and transparent and we have no objection to the results," said Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission's chairman.The definitive outcome of the January 9-15 referendum emerged soon after Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir said that Khartoum accepted the south's widely anticipated landslide vote for sovereignty."We respect the people of south Sudan's choice and we accept the result of the referendum according to what the commission announces," the Sudanese leadership said in a statement broadcast on state television."South Sudan has chosen secession. But we are committed to the links between the north and the south, and we are committed to good relations based on cooperation," Bashir himself said earlier in Khartoum.Hmmmm.....The countdown is on for the next war?Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.Hamas Member Escapes Egyptian Prison, Arrives Home To Gaza.Hamas announced on February 6 that Ayman Noufel, a prominent member of its military wing, had escaped from the Egyptian prison where he had been held for three years and had arrived safely home in Gaza on February 5.Noufel was one of eight Palestinians who managed to escape from Abu Za'abel prison; six of them have returned to Gaza.Hmmm......Thank you Muslim Brotherhood?Read and see the full story here.

• HT:JihadWatch.Pakistan: 20,000 rally over Kashmir, call for jihad, nuclear war against India."The only solution to the Kashmir issue is jihad," said Saeed. And oddly enough, it is virtually certain that all 20,000 people in attendance understood him to mean war, not an interior spiritual struggle. Misunderstanding of Islam rampant in Lahore: "JuD leaders chant 'jihad', would not mind Indo-Pak N-war," from PTI, February 6:Extremist leaders, including Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, have stepped up calls for jihad against India, even advocating the use of nuclear weapons if needed in the "war for Kashmir".The vicious comments at a massive rally organised by Jamaat-ud-Dawah to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day, have come at a time when India and Pakistan are trying to find ways to revive the peace process.At the rally, speaker after speaker espoused the use of jihad or holy war to settle the Kashmir issue and Saeed said this approach should be adopted even if even leads to a "nuclear war" with India.Hmmmmm......Remember last weeks post on how Pakistan doubled it's nuclear weapons in recent years?Read the full story here.

• Army Chief Ashkenazi: Prepare for all-out war.In his final days on the job, Chief of Staff Ashkenazi warns about growing radicalization in region.Given recent changes across Middle East, Israel must prepare for a battle in several theaters, he says.The radical camp in the Middle East is gaining strength, Ashkenazi warned, adding that "the moderate camp among the traditional Arab leadership is weakening." He also made note of what he characterized as the "fascinating phenomenon" whereby power is shifting to the people of the region thanks to online social networks.Read the full story here.

• HT:RightTruth.Emergency Alerts from Obama.His Lordship Barack Obama is afraid you are not getting enough of him, so he's planning FCC Emergency Alerts for you... "THIS is a test...this is ONLY a test..., your dear leader needs to indoctrinate you..." Everybody has heard the national Emergency Alert System (EAS).Those familiar "duck calls" that reassure listeners "THIS is a test...this is ONLY a test..."The FCC is planning an upgrade to the tests by including presidential announcements in the system.Lisa Fowlkes, deputy chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC, explained to the Federal Drive the Presidential Alert isn't new."The primary goal is to provide the President with a mechanism to communicate with the American public during times of national emergency," said Fowlkes. The change, she said, is that prior to last week's order there was no rule in place to call for or allow a test from top to bottom.Fowlkes said, "There's never been a test from top to bottom where it's issued by FEMA and it goes straight down to all the different levels of EAS to the American public. So this is a way for us to glean, okay, if there were an actual emergency and the federal government needed to activate the Presidential EAS, making sure that it actually works the way it's designed to."Hmmmm.....This is a test ......like we did in 1939 - 1945?Read the full story here.

• HT:DutchNews.Geert Wilders' inciting hatred trial resumes.The trial of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders on discrimination and inciting hatred charges resumed in Amsterdam on Monday with both defence and prosecution saying the entire case should be heard again.Last October the trial was abandoned after senior court officials ruled several irregularities in the proceedings could be deemed prejudicial. New judges have now been appointed.During Monday's procedural hearings, Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz said he wanted to start the whole process from scratch. The public prosecution department said it is not in favour of going right back to the beginning but would agree to the defence's wishes.Moszkowicz said on Monday he would again press for all the witnesses to be heard. At the first trial, only a handful were approved.Wilders took the stand at the end of Monday's hearing and said the trial is about a 'much bigger' issue than him alone. 'Freedom is being sacrificed because a totalitarian ideology wants to turn it into a sin,' Wilders said. 'It is the duty of free people to resist this.'Hmmm.........Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights also guarantees the right to shock, offend or insult others through public expression. Governments are only allowed to prohibit this type of expression if specific laws exist to govern it and as long as the restriction is "necessary for a democratic society" to function. The context of an expression as well as the proportionality of censorship are important considerations in this respect. Read the full story here.

• Lieberman: Radical Islam taking over.Speaking to European diplomats, foreign minister says Israeli-Palestinian conflict holds minor significance; Lieberman also criticizes West, wonders why it doesn't question Saudi ban on synagogues, churches.Radical Islam is taking over the Middle East, with no major force facing it at this time, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday in a convention attended by European diplomats who support Israel. Referring to the fatwa issued against author Salman Rushdie, Lieberman said "there is no spiritual or political leader today who stands up and condemns this, and this is a great problem for the whole of society.""Today we see that the Arab world is weakening," the foreign minister added, noting that the three major Mideastern players at this time – Iran, Turkey and Israel – are not Arab. He added that domestic problems in Arab states are prompting many clashes within Islamic society. Referring to what he views as the minor significance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the region, Lieberman said: "I'm monitoring events in Tunisia and Algeria and asking myself what's their connection to the conflict, or what's the connection between our problems with the Palestinians and the tension in Lebanon or current situation in Egypt." "The conflict with the Palestinians is less than 1% of the problems in the Middle East," he said. Lieberman noted that the Iran-Iraq war alone claimed more than a million lives, also making note of the civil wars in Lebanon, Yemen and Algeria. Those who claimed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the heart of the problem are merely aiming to evade reality, the minister said. Lieberman also argued that the world at this time is divided into a moderate and radical camp. "At the end of the day, both Abbas and Salam Fayyad know that the great threat is not Israel and Zionism, but rather Hamas and Jihad," he said.In conclusion, Lieberman said he was sorry to see many states adopting a foreign policy based on economic rather than moral values, pointing to Saudi Arabia as an example and wondering why the West doesn't question the Saudi ban on building synagogues and churches in the country."Why aren't they asking basic questions regarding human rights? The European Union, US and the Free World must answer these questions; this is the only way to prevent the next crisis." Hmmmm........Why indeed did things get so much worse since Obama became President?Outreach to Muslims?Read the full story here.

• Hundreds attend funeral of Guantanamo Bay detainee. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of mourners, some chanting anti-American slogans, turned out Monday for the funeral of an Afghan prisoner at Guantanamo Bay who collapsed and died while exercising at the U.S. detention center last week.The mourners ran alongside a vehicle carrying the body of 48-year-old Awal Gul - the seventh detainee to die at the detention center in Cuba since it was opened in January 2002. Gul's body was wrapped in white cloth, but his face and long, black beard were visible inside the coffin, which was buried in Jalalabad, east of Kabul.Read the full story here.

• HT:Memri.In Bahrain, 'Day Of Rage' Organized On Facebook.Bahrain activists posted on February 2, on their Facebook page "14th February 2011 Revolution Day in Bahrain," a call for a "day of rage" on February 14 against the royal house, as happened in Egypt and Tunisia. The demonstrations are to protest against corruption and despotism in Bahrain. The activists' demands include: a new constitution, to be written by the people; a body to investigate regime corruption and punish those who violated the political rights of the people and embezzled public funds. The activists have instructed their supporters to circulate word of the demonstrations on online social networks, and to prepare to hold it in central places in the capital.Read the full story here.

• UN Calls for End to Female Genital Mutilation Practice in Africa.Top U.N. officials are calling for an end to female genital mutilation, saying it violates fundamental human rights and endangers the health of 3 million girls who undergo the practice annually.Anthony Lake, chief of the U.N. Children's Fund, and Babatunde Osotimehin, head of the U.N. Population Fund, called Monday on countries and organizations worldwide to help end the practice.The officials say more than 6,000 communities in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal have dropped the practice because of a three-year-old U.N. program.Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is the removal of external genitalia to limit sexual activity. It can cause prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility and death.Read the full story here.

• Republicans out Front of Obama on Regulations. When President Barack Obama asked businesses for advice on creating jobs, he might have anticipated that more than 200 responses would quickly be headed his way courtesy of Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican who once called him corrupt.A month before Obama reached out to businesses, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent 171 letters to various businesses and their trade associations. He asked for help in "identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth."This Thursday, Issa is giving business representatives an opportunity at a hearing by his committee to vent their frustration with government requirements issued by unelected bureaucrats. He wants Obama to include their responses in a review of government regulations the president ordered last month in the administration's effort to find rules that cost Americans jobs.Read the full story here.