15 Reasons Why The Obamacare Decision Is A Mind Blowing Disaster For America

15 Reasons Why The Obamacare Decision Is A Mind Blowing Disaster For America.(EOTAD).By Michael Snyder.You can almost always count on the Supreme Court to do the wrong thing. In fact, just about every major decision by the U.S. Supreme Court over the last 40 years has been bad for America. Many were hoping that the Supreme Court would strike down Obamacare, but the truth is that we all should have known better than to expect them to get something right. So now America is headed for a complete and total disaster as Obamacare is fully implemented over the next several years. Obamacare is going to absolutely shred the infrastructure of our medical system, it is going to send health insurance premiums soaring, it is going to dramatically expand the size and the scope of government, it is going to fundamentally alter the relationships between doctors and their patients and it is one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history. Not only that, it is also going to add about a trillion dollars to our national debt over the next decade. 
So no, the Obamacare decision is not good news. Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history, and now we are stuck with it. It was a 5-4 decision to uphold Obamacare, and the swing vote was Chief Justice John Roberts who was appointed by George W. Bush. After the vote today, it is hard to have any faith in the U.S. Supreme Court. Many constitutional conservatives kept voting for Republicans in the hope that the direction of the Supreme Court would change, but it hasn't. Prior to the Obama administration, Republicans controlled the White House for 20 out of 28 years. If Republicans were going to fundamentally change the nature of the Supreme Court, that was their opportunity. But it didn't happen. Instead, what we have is a Supreme Court that is dominated by judges that have very little respect for the U.S. Constitution.
When I was in law school I got to study the Supreme Court pretty closely and I quickly realized that most of the time they simply do whatever they want to do and they make up whatever reasons they can to justify their decisions. That sounds really bad, but that is the truth. And thanks to the Supreme Court, we are stuck with Obamacare - at least for now. The following are 15 reasons why the Obamacare decision is a mind blowing disaster for America....


#1 According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal government has the power to force you to buy private goods and services. Now that this door has been opened, what else will we be forced to buy in the future?

#2 Obamacare is another step away from individual liberty and another step toward a "nanny state" where the government dominates our lives from the cradle to the grave.

#3 The IRS is now going to be given the task of hunting down and penalizing millions of Americans that do not have any health insurance. In fact, the Obama administration has given the IRS 500 million extra dollars "outside the normal appropriations process" to help them enforce the provisions of Obamacare that they are in charge of overseeing.

#4 Obamacare imposes more than 20 new taxes on the American people. You can find a comprehensive list of Obamacare taxes right here. If you love paying higher taxes, then you are going to absolutely love Obamacare once it is fully implemented.

#15 The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Obamacare will add more than a trillion dollars to government spending over the next decade. Considering the fact that the U.S. government is already drowning in debt, how in the world can we afford this?Hmmmmm......How much will your taxes INCREASE to afford this increase of Gov Debt?Read the full story here.

Video - "The IRS has just become Pres Obama’s domestic army." How about the 'Waiver buddies'?

Hmmmm........A tax for all Americans ......Except for the "Obama Buddies" who received Obama Care Waivers. 

Jan 2012 - Roughly 1,200 companies received waivers from part of the healthcare reform law, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) said Friday. “All told, 1,231 companies applied for and received waivers from the law’s restrictions on annual benefit caps,” Baker writes. “The law requires plans to gradually raise their benefit limits, and all annual limits will become illegal in 2014. Companies that received waivers can keep their caps intact until 2014.” When added together, the healthcare waivers excuse about 4 million people, or about 3 percent of the population, from having to participate, HHS said.

However, what’s slightly unsettling is the fact that the majority of the waivers were handed out to labor unions.
“Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation,” writes Paul Conner of the Daily Caller. “By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers.”
Because of the backlash over the waivers, HHS announced last summer that it would stop accepting applications for one-year waivers and would simply grant or deny waivers all the way through the end of 2013, according to The Hill.
The total of 1,231 includes all of the waiver requests HHS granted — companies that only applied for a three-year waiver, companies that got a one-year waiver and an extension, and companies that received a one-year waiver but did not ask for an extension.
A total of 96 waiver requests were denied by HHS. Why the healthcare law couldn’t be “flexible” for those 96 requests is anyone’s guess.
A search on the HHS site for 'waivers' gives No recent results apparently there's a 'information blackout' on the number of granted waivers since January 2012.
Hmmmm.....HOW MANY MORE 'WAIVERS' HAVE BEEN GRANTED SO FAR AND TO WHOM?Read the full story here.

"DOING FINE " - Govt. Blows $102 Mil To Catch $19 Mil In Medicaid Fraud.

"DOING FINE " - Govt. Blows $102 Mil To Catch $19 Mil In Medicaid Fraud.(JW).In a shameful—and costly—example of government incompetence, a special program created to combat Medicaid fraud has cost American taxpayers more than five times the amount of overpayments it has identified.
That means the anti-fraud project, known as National Medicaid Audit Program, has cost the U.S. government $102 million to operate since 2008 while identifying only $19.4 million in overpayments. It seems like a bad joke, but unfortunately it’s not. Instead it’s one of many examples of government inefficiency that ends up sticking it to the people.
The idea behind the National Medicaid Audit Program was a good one. It was launched to tackle a monstrous epidemic of fraud and overbilling in the joint federal-state healthcare program for the poor. Medicaid has the second-highest (Medicare, the government’s health insurance program for the elderly is first) estimated improper payments of any federal program. In fact, the feds say that $21.9 billion of Medicaid’s federal expenditures of $270 billion in fiscal year 2011 involved improper payments.
That means the government paid for medically unnecessary treatments and services or procedures not covered by the program. In some cases the service or treatment was billed but never provided. It’s bad situation for everyone. So what does the government do? Create yet another deficient program to police the corruption. Problem is that a bunch of idiots were apparently hired to run it.
At least that’s what most people will likely conclude after reading a federal audit about the Medicaid anti-fraud program published this week by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), which serves as the investigative arm of Congress. In a nutshell, the National Medicaid Audit Program uses incomplete federal data to crack down on fraud so the majority of probes failed to find any, even when it was there.
You can’t make this stuff up! It’s all laid out in the GAO’s 43-page report. It’s not like the Medicaid fraud patrol is in denial that using incomplete data doesn’t cut it. Its own figures show that audits that used incomplete data only identified overpayments 4% of the time. This is why the program is moving toward a “collaborative approach” in which complete data is considered to identify potential fraud. So now they use this new approach and guess what? It works better and uncovered more than $12 million in overpayments right off the bat. Imagine that.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

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

• Chart of the Week: Defense Spending Throughout U.S. History.(Heritage).President Obama visited the Pentagon on Thursday to outline his plan for gutting our nation’s military. Obama’s vision makes America more vulnerable to foreign threats and leaves our armed forces less able to provide for the common defense.As we’ve previously illustrated, Obama has proposed significant reductions to the Pentagon’s budget. This week’s chart shows how sharply defense spending has dropped as a percentage of the total federal budget — currently well below its historical average despite ongoing operations overseas. The chart also debunks the myth that our Founding Fathers were isolationists.During his Pentagon visit, Obama claimed the country is safer today than when he took office. Heritage’s James Carafano, writing in the New York Post, called Obama’s assertion “laughable.”Not only is the world not a safer place than when Obama came into office, the strategy his Pentagon has produced to deal with today’s challenges may well make it far worse. Let me translate the Pentagon report into English: The administration is going to gut the Army and Marine Corps, while hitting the Navy and Air Force less (for now). The “strategy” basically says, We have a four-legged stool; we’re going to cut off two legs.For more information on defense spending and how the Budget Control Act of 2011 will impact our nation’s military, Heritage produced a fact sheet that outlines what cuts to expect in the future.Hmmmm.....If he really wanted to destroy America as a superpower would he do anything different?Read and see the full story here.

• Soldiers on Lockdown After 'Sensitive' Military Equipment is Stolen from Washington Base.(Fox).FORT LEWIS, Wash – More than 100 soldiers were on lockdown Sunday after "sensitive" military equipment was stolen from a base in Fort Lewis, Wash.The soldiers were put on lockdown Wednesday after items such as scopes, night vision goggles and range finders went missing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord over the holidays, myFOXSpokane.com reported.Lewis-McChord spokesman Matt Hinkle said Saturday that the army was carrying out a criminal investigation into the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division after the "sensitive" items went missing, The News Tribune reported."They'll be on base until the items are found," Hinkle, who estimated the company contained about 100- 200 soldiers, said. "This is the unit's property that's come up missing.""We're going to continue to conduct this investigation as thoroughly as possible," I Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield added. "We will get to the bottom of this matter."Officials are offering a $10,000 reward for the return of the equipment.Hmmmm........for night vision goggles $10.000 reward?Read the full story here.

• Obama Seeks Pay Hike For Federal Workers While Gutting Hundreds of Thousands From U.S. Military.(WP).The White House will propose a 0.5 percent pay increase for civilian federal employees as part of its 2013 budget proposal, according to two senior administration officials familiar with the plans.The modest across-the-board pay jump would be the first increase for federal workers since before a two-year freeze began in late 2010. Raises for within-grade step increases and promotions have continued during the freeze.The proposal, which requires congressional approval, differs from Republican plans supported by lawmakers and presidential candidates that would freeze basic pay rates for one more year. Some of those plans also call for denying within-grade raises. In recent weeks, GOP lawmakers have called for extending the pay freeze as a way to pay for a payroll tax extension.But, “a permanent pay freeze is not an acceptable policy,” one of the senior administration officials said Friday. “While modest, a 0.5 percent increase reflects the belt-tightening we must do in these difficult times.”The officials were unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter, but said that the White House notified agency budget offices about the decision Friday morning so that agencies could complete their 2013 budget requests.The White House is expected to formally unveil its fiscal 2013 budget proposal in early February. No decision has been made yet on a potential pay raise for uniformed military personnel, the officials said, though lawmakers and federal worker unions traditionally push to ensure pay parity between civilian and military personnel. Pay parity was the standard practice for many years before 2009.Read the full story here.

• US think tank group considered close to Obama administration E-mails reveals anti-Semitism.(JPost).A senior employee of the US think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) appears to have admitted in an e-mail sent from his CAP account that a blogger for the policy organization used anti-Semitic language to attack supporters of the Jewish state.CAP advises the Democratic Party on Middle East policy and is an important source of ideas for the Obama administration.The Jerusalem Post last week obtained the first CAP acknowledgment of Jew-hatred stemming from a group of Mideast bloggers affiliated with CAP’s ThinkProgress website.In the e-mail that the Post obtained exclusively from the CAP account of Faiz Shakir, who serves as editor-in-chief of the ThinkProgress.org website and is a vice president at CAP, he wrote, “Yes, I agree ‘Israel Firster’ is terrible, anti-Semitic language. And that’s why that language no longer exists on Zaid’s personal twitter feed, because he also knows and understands the implications.”Zaid Jilani wrote on his Twitter account, where he identifies himself as a “Reporter-Blogger for ThinkProgress,” that “...Obama is still beloved by Israel-firsters and getting lots of their $$.”The e-mail recognizing the anti-Semitism of a CAP blogger was sent from FShakir@americanprogress.org in December.US-Jewish and Israeli NGOs accused a faction of ThinkProgress bloggers that month of stoking modern anti-Semitism. The anti-Israel scandal saw two CAP writers, Jilani and Ali Gharib, issue apologies for asserting that American Jews and a non-Jewish Republican senator serve the interests of the Israeli government over the security of the United States.Speaking with the Post from Washington on Thursday, Shakir declined to comment on the e-mail from his account.He did not respond to a followup Post e-mail sent on Friday.In a lengthy article on Friday on the Daily Beast news website, Ken Gude, the managing director of CAP’s National Security and International Policy Program, denied any anti-Semitism or anti-Israelism at CAP. He told the Daily Beast that the allegations were “wildly unfair” and “flatly untrue.”The Post sent an e-mail to Gude on Friday citing the quote in question from the email that had been sent from Shakir’s account. He did not respond to the Post e-mail or to a follow-up telephone query.Critics accuse CAP of failing to combat rising anti-Israel sentiment among a group of bloggers who write about the Middle East and have created an anti-Jewish state environment at the mainstream policy organization. The e-mail conceding anti-Semitism at ThinkProgress underscores an internal rift at the think tank.In an e-mail to the Post last week, Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, wrote, “The prominence of CAP in the Obama administration has been recognized by news outlets like Time and Bloomberg News, both of which describe the think tank as the president’s ‘Ideas Factory.’ The fact that CAP has staffers who disseminate this kind of virulent, poisonous anti-Israel material points to a serious problem – that there is a strain of hostility toward Israel running through elements of the mainstream Democratic Party.”Matt Duss, director for the Middle East at CAP, compared Israel’s security policies to the racist “segregated South” in the United States. Duss declined to respond to queries about this statement on the ThinkProgress website. The disclosure of the e-mail from Shakir’s account comes after a series of dire developments for CAP’s reputation, culminating in sharp criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee and the Simon Wiesenthal Center – all of which slammed CAP for promoting hatred of Jews and Israel.Brooks said that “Liberals and Democrats who value their party’s reputation regarding national security and the US-Israel alliance have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, it appears that elements who would irreparably damage that reputation have a foothold within an important mainstream Democratic institution.”David A. Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, wrote to the Post that “The words of these individuals [the bloggers] are deeply disturbing, and they were right to apologize for their remarks. However those who have not apologized for their remarks include Rep. Allen West (R-FL), who invoked Joseph Goebbels to attack Democrats in December, and far too many others on the right who have dragged abusive Holocaust rhetoric into our political discourse in recent years.”Harris said, “In truth, neither the Left nor the Right has a monopoly on rhetoric that American Jews rightly find disturbing – although through talk radio, presidential candidates and members of Congress, the Right seems to be trying to corner the market.”Steinberg said “it is highly unfortunate when individuals and organizations play politics with anti-Semitic rhetoric.“Pointing fingers and saying that others are more anti- Semitic is a sad attempt to distract from one’s own errors. This rhetoric adds to the destructive impact, and does nothing to remove this language from the public discourse.”Read the full story here.

• Obama Administration reaches out to Egypt’s Brotherhood 'out of necessity'; Islamists see further parliament gains.(AlArabiya).The United States is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood as the group gains political momentum in the parliamentary elections.“It’s clear that they (the Brotherhood) are now the only game in town,” and U.S. officials must talk to them, Marina Ottaway, who heads the Middle East program in Washington for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told AFP.Banned under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood has emerged as a major political winner from the uprising that toppled him in the form of the well-organized Freedom and Justice Party.During the Mubarak era, Ottoway said that the U.S. administration had essentially “bought” the former president’s “line” that the Brotherhood and its links to Islamist militants were a threat to Egypt’s and the region’s stability, even though it had renounced violence decades ago.“The U.S. essentially backed Mubarak in its repression of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Ottaway said. U.S. officials had also turned down invitations by her think-tank to attend post-2005 meetings with Arab Islamist groups, including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.“For the U.S. now to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood is a big step, it’s a step that’s long overdue, but it’s a step that the United States has resisted,” she added. “It’s a huge change and they’re doing it out of necessity.”The Muslim Brotherhood said on Saturday it had won at least 41 percent of the seats in Egypt’s lower house of parliament, with Islamists of various stripes occupying almost two thirds of the assembly so far.The Brotherhood has promised that Egyptians of all persuasions will have their say and, while the strong Islamist performance has alarmed some Egyptians and Western governments that backed Mubarak, it is far from clear whether rival Islamists will cooperate in the new legislature. The Brotherhood’s Democratic Alliance list has won 41 percent of the seats so far, while another list led by the hardline Islamist Nour Party came second with 20 percent of the seats.Hmmmm....“It’s a huge change and they’re doing it out of necessity.”The fact that Huma Wiener's brother sits on the same board as Prominent Muslim Brotherhood theologian Shaikh Yousef al-Qaradawi has NOTHING to do with the policy change?Read the full story here.

• Muslim Brotherhood Denies Obama Administration's Claim That Egypt Will Honor Peace Treaty.(WorldJewishDaily).In another blow to the Obama administration's attempt to reassure its allies that the rise of Islamic parties throughout the Arab world is not a threat, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the victors in recent elections, has denied the administration's claim that it had agreed to honor Egypt's 1978 peace treaty with Israel.The Brotherhood's deputy leader Essam al-Erian,stated on Saturday that the accords "are under the responsibility of the people and state institutions, and it would not be right for anyone to speak on behalf of the Egyptian people... We are not in a position to give assurances."This would appear to be a confirmation of the Brotherhood's intention to put the treaty up for a national referendum, which the treaty would almost certainly lose, meaning that it would have to be renegotiated and/or a state of war would exist between Egypt and the Jewish state. The statement is also a brutal slap in the face of the Obama administration, which had claimed on Thursday that private reassurances had been given by the Brotherhood to the effect that they would honor the treaty.Reaction on the part of the administration to the Arab Spring in general has been haphazard and inconsistent, with Washington trapped between its desire to promote democracy and the increasing sense that the wave of uprisings will not bring democracy but rather Islamic theocracy to power throughout the Middle East.At the moment, however, the most pressing concern is maintaining the Egyptian-Israeli peace, which has been the cornerstone of the peace process and regional stability for over thirty years.At the moment, the prospects are not looking good. As YNet reports,Rashad al-Bayoumi, the Brotherhood's second in command, told Al-Hayat last week that "the Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel under any circumstances and might put the peace treaty with the Jewish state up to a referendum."The Brotherhood, he added, "did not sign the peace accords… We are allowed to ask the people or the elected parliament to express their opinion on the treaty, and [to find out] whether it compromised the people's freedom and sovereignty. We will take the proper legal steps in dealing with the peace deal. To me, it isn't binding at all. The people will express their opinion on the matter."Hmmmm........Which one would you believe or trust - Obama or The Muslim Brotherhood?..........Exactly!Read the full story here.

• Thugocracy - Union Workers Received Nearly 8 Times As Many Obamacare Waivers As Those In The Private Sector.(DailyCaller).Labor unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from the president’s health care reform law since the Obama administration tightened application rules last summer.Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011.By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers. [...]. By and large, unions backed the health care overhaul, a law from which nearly a half million of their workers are now exempt.Read the full story here.

• Thousands of US troops land in Israel. Aircraft carrier coming soon.(Debka).Thousands of US troops began descending on Israel this week. Senior US military sources told debkafile Friday, Jan. 6 that many would be staying up to the end of the year as part of the US-IDF deployment in readiness for a military engagement with Iran and its possible escalation into a regional conflict. They will be joined by a US aircraft carrier. The warplanes on its decks will fly missions with Israeli Air Force jets. The 9,000 US servicemen gathering in Israel in the coming weeks are mostly airmen, missile interceptor teams, marines, seamen, technicians and intelligence officers.The incoming American soldiers are officially categorized as participants in Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint US-Israeli war game ever held.The maneuver was originally designated Juniper Stallion 2012. However, the altered name plus the comment heard from the exercise's commander, US Third Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, during his visit two weeks ago, that the coming event is more a "deployment" than an "exercise," confirmed that Washington has expanded its mission. The joint force will now be in place ready for a decision to attack Iran's nuclear installations or any war emergency.Our sources disclose that it was decided at the last minute in Washington and Jerusalem to announce the forthcoming Austere Challenge 12 on Thursday night, Jan. 5, ahead of the bulletin released by Tehran about another Iranian naval exercise at the Strait of Hormuz to take place in February, although its 10-day drill in the same arena only ended Monday, Jan. 2.The early release was decided in consultations among US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the two army chiefs, US Gen. Martin Dempsey and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.British Defense Minister Phillip Hammond, on a visit to Washington, was brought into the discussion.The handout circulated to US correspondents from Hammond's talks in the US capital affirmed that Britain stands ready to strike Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is closed.However, that phrase was omitted from the British minister's remarks at a news conference, following a last-minute request from Panetta, signifying the Obama administration's interest of keeping a low profile on plans for attacking Iran.Tehran too is walking a taut tightrope. It is staging military's maneuvers every few days to assuring the Iranian people that its leaders are fully prepared to defend the country against an American or Israeli strike on its national nuclear program. By this stratagem, Iran's ground, sea and air forces are maintained constantly at top war readiness to thwart any surprise attack.The joint US-Israeli drill will test multiple Israeli and US air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets, according to the official communiqué.Hmmmm....... Calling it not just an “exercise”, but a “deployment”Now, it’s reported that the US military, including the US Navy, will be stationed throughout Israel.While American troops will be stationed in Israel for an unspecified amount of time.Has the Foreign Invasion of Israel Begun? What will happen when Obama gets a second Term?Will he divide Jerusalem?Split up Israel?Read the full story here.

• Flashback - Judaism: An Invasion of Israel? In 2012?INN April 12, 2011.(INN).Negative-seeming events may be the fulfillment of a prophecy that is a harbinger of redemption. Read on for a possible scenario in keeping with current and recent events and Biblical prophecy.Read the full story here.

• Iran: Underground nuclear site near operational.(JPost).Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility will start operations soon, a senior official was quoted by Iranian media on Sunday as saying, a move likely to increase tension between the Islamic state and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions."The Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future ... 20 percent, 3.5 percent and four percent enriched uranium can be produced at this site," said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, the Kayhan daily reported.Iran has said for months that it is preparing to conduct uranium enrichment at Fordow, a protected site deep inside a mountain near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom in central Iran.The United States and its allies say Iran is trying to build bombs, but Tehran insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating power.The inauguration of the site could block fresh nuclear talks with major powers aimed at resolving Iran's nuclear row through diplomacy. Iran has called for talks on its nuclear program with the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany (P5+1), which have been stalled for a year.Diplomats told Reuters on Friday that Iran was believed to have begun feeding uranium gas into centrifuges in Fordow in late December as part of final preparations to use the machines for enrichment.Iran is already refining uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent - far more than the 3.5 percent level usually required to power nuclear energy plants - above ground at another location.Diplomats say it is moving this higher-grade enrichment to Fordow in an apparent bid to better protect the work against any enemy attacks. It also plans to sharply boost output capacity.The United States and Israel, Iran's arch foes, have not ruled out strikes against the Islamic state if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute.Iran has been hit by four rounds of U.N. sanctions and the United States and the E.U. have imposed increasingly tight economic sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.Iran disclosed the existence of Fordow to the IAEA only in September 2009 after learning that Western intelligence agencies had detected it. Read The full story here.

• Egypt wants new gas deal with Israel, wants increase of 30%.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: After renegotiating successfully with Jordan, Egypt is looking to do the same with Israel over its controversial natural gas deal.Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab told the state-run al-Ahram newspaper that Cairo has already achieved new and equitable gas export deals with countries in the region and is hopeful that they can renegotiate a new deal with Israel.According to the minister’s office, the price of gas to Israel would rise to between $5-$10 per million metric thermal units (MMBTU) and “under no circumstances would he agree to a price lower than $5.”The announcement comes as activists continue to lash out at the Egyptian military junta over its continuing the deal with Israel that delivers natural gas to the neighboring country at rates well below international standards.Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is currently charged with corruption over the deal.“I think it is about time to change this, especially as the government is losing money from it and we are struggling as a country monetarily,” Ahmed Taha, an activist who has protested numerous times for the deal to be revoked, told Bikyamasr.com in a written statement. “We cannot continue a deal that is not benefiting us as a country,” he added.Ghorab said that Egypt “has succeeded in reaching an agreement to raise gas prices to at least $5 per MMBTU with every country in the region except for one.”Ghorab declined to name which country has not yet signed an agreement with Egypt, but as the ministry has already announced new deals with others, he was likely referring to Israel.“If I am not successful in altering the agreement with this country, I will resign my post,” he added.If the deal goes through, then the price Israel will pay Egypt for gas will be 30 percent higher than the previous price, and the price does not include brokerage fees Israel must pay the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG). Following the regime changes in Egypt, and the public uproar over the price of gas exports, the new Egyptian government was forced to open the existing agreements with countries in the region and to begin negotiations for updated prices.Hmmm......By 2013 Israel will have it's own gas from the Tamar field , i wonder to whom Egypt will sell their gas at that time?Read the full story here.

• Hamas leader’s Tunisia visit angers Palestinian officials.(AlArabiya).A visit by Gaza’s Hamas leader has angered the official Palestinian representatives in Tunisia who say they were ignored during the talks with the new government, a Palestinian source said Saturday.Ismail Haniya, prime minister in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, visited Tunis Thursday to meet with the new moderate Islamist-led administration while he was on a tour of the region.But that did not sit well with representatives of the Palestinian Authority led by president Mahmud Abbas.“The Palestinians are furious. Neither the government nor the foreign ministry, nor the (Islamist) Ennahda party informed them of the dates and program of Haniya’s visit, as they should have,” the Palestinian source told AFP.Another source told the Arabic language newspaper Le Maghreb that the lack of communication could hamper reconciliation efforts going on between Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party.Haniya was welcomed with much fanfare on his arrival in Tunis, where he was met by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and the head of Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi.Some Tunisian media also questioned the purpose of Haniya’s visit, whether it was to talk with the government or the Islamist party.Questioned by AFP, a government source said the Hamas leader “was invited by Tunisia and by the Ennahda party.”Haniya’s six-country tour marked his first travel abroad since Hamas, seen as terrorist group by Western powers, took power in Gaza in 2007. According to his office it was aimed at raising funds to rebuild Gaza City, devastated by an Israeli offensive three years ago.But the Hamas takeover of Gaza politically divided the Palestinian territories, with Abbas’s Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Palestinian authority.In April, following years of bitter rivalry, the two factions signed a reconciliation deal whose implementation has since stalled.Last month, Abbas met Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo and the two agreed on a process that could pave the way for the Islamist group to join a reformed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and for long-delayed Palestinian elections.Tunis was the headquarters of the exiled PLO under Yasser Arafat before the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel granted Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.Read the full story here.

• Senior US official to visit Ankara for talks.(TZ).US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is due to visit Ankara tomorrow (Monday) for talks with Turkish officials, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.Citing diplomatic sources, Anatolia said Burns will spend 30 hours in Turkey, having talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu.Burns' visit to Ankara comes following Davutoğlu's talks with top Iranian officials in Tehran last week, following which Davutoğlu said talks between Iran and major world powers on Tehran's nuclear program will resume soon. In remarks published in a Japanese newspaper on Sunday, Davutoğlu said both sides have agreed to resume talks soon in Turkey.In addition to Iran, developments in Iraq and Syria are also expected to be discussed during Burns' visit to Turkey.Hmmmm.....Discussing the 'oil waiver' deal ...don't forget to mention the 'reelect obama' fund?Read the full story here.

• Israel - Palestinian nabbed with 11 explosive devices.(YNet).A Palestinian was arrested by Military Police and Border Guard officers Sunday morning at the entrance to a checkpoint in the Jenin area in possession of an improvised gun, a commando knife and 11 explosive devices of different sizes.Three other men suspected of aiding him were also detained. According to suspicions, the four were on their way to carry out a terror attack. The checkpoint has been closed.After being arrested at the entrance to the Salem crossing in the Jenin area, the suspects were taken in for questioning by the security forces. The explosive devices they were carrying were destroyed. The devices were found in the Salem crossing, where Palestinians wait in line for the Jenin Military Court, located nearby. It's unclear whether the court was the target of the attack.A Military Police soldier spotted the four Palestinians trying to enter the checkpoint and wires sticking out of the clothes of one of them. He ordered him to lift up his hands and undress and found three pipe bombs on his body. A search of the Palestinian's bag revealed eight more pipe bombs, a knife and an improvised gun. The four Palestinians were locked in the building and police sappers were dispatched to the area. The other three Palestinians were not carrying anything on their body, but were questioned on suspicion of aiding the man caught with the explosives. A senior officer explained that this was an unusual incident. "Eleven devices is an exceptional amount in one time. We've had incidents this year of three or four devices seized at the same time.Last week, a Border Guard force arrested a Jenin resident on suspicion of planning a stabbing attack in Beersheba. The man was located in a hideout in the southern city and taken in for questioning by the Shin Bet, as was another Palestinian arrested at the Shoket Junction. Hmmmm......Obama's 'peacepartners'.Read the full story here.

• The Geo-Politics of the Strait of Hormuz: Could the U.S. Navy be defeated by Iran in the Persian Gulf?(GR).by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya.U.S. naval strength, which includes the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, has primacy over all the other navies and maritime forces in the world. Its deep sea or oceanic capabilities are unparalleled and unmatched by any other naval power. Primacy does not mean invincibility. U.S. naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are nonetheless vulnerable.Despite its might and shear strength, geography literally works against U.S. naval power in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. The relative narrowness of the Persian Gulf makes it like a channel, at least in a strategic and military context. Figuratively speaking, the aircraft carriers and warships of the U.S. are confined to narrow waters or are closed in within the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf. This is where the Iranian military’s advanced missile capabilities come into play. The Iranian missile and torpedo arsenal would make short work of U.S. naval assets in the waters of the Persian Gulf where U.S. vessels are constricted. This is why the U.S. has been busily erecting a missile shield system in the Persian Gulf amongst the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the last few years.Even the small Iranian patrol boats in the Persian Gulf, which appear pitiable and insignificant against a U.S. aircraft carrier or destroyer, threaten U.S. warships. Looks can be deceiving; these Iranian patrol boats can easily launch a barrage of missiles that could significantly damage and effectively sink large U.S. warships. Iranian small patrol boats are also hardly detectable and hard to target.Iranian forces could also attack U.S. naval capabilities merely by launching missile attacks from the Iranian mainland on the northern shores of the Persian Gulf. Even in 2008 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy acknowledged the threat from Iran’s mobile coastal missile batteries, anti-ship missiles, and missile-armed small ships. Other Iranian naval assets like aerial drones, hovercraft, mines, diver teams, and mini-submarines could also be used in asymmetrical naval warfare against the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Even the Pentagon’s own war simulations have shown that a war in the Persian Gulf with Iran would spell disaster for the United States and its military. One key example is the Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02) war game in the Persian Gulf, which was conducted from July 24, 2002 to August 15, 2002 and took almost two years to prepare. This mammoth drill was amongst the largest and most expensive war games ever held by the Pentagon. Millennium Challenge 2002 was held shortly after the Pentagon had decided that it would continue the momentum of the war in Afghanistan by targeting Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and finishing off with the big prize of Iran in a broad military campaign to ensure U.S. primacy in the new millennium.After Millennium Challenge 2002 was finished, the war game was "officially" presented as a simulation of a war against Iraq under the rule of President Saddam Hussein, but in actuality these war games pertained to Iran. The U.S. had already made assessments for the upcoming Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Moreover, Iraq had no naval capabilities that would merit such large-scale use of the U.S. Navy.Millennium Challenge 2002 was conducted to simulate a war with Iran, which was codenamed “Red” and referred to an unknown Middle Eastern rogue enemy state in the Persian Gulf. Other than Iran, no other country could meet the perimeters and characteristics of “Red” and its military forces, from the patrol boats to the motorcycle units. The war simulation took place because Washington was planning on attacking Iran soon after invading Iraq in 2003.The scenario in the 2002 war game started with the U.S., codenamed “Blue,” giving Iran a one-day ultimatum to surrender in the year 2007. The war game’s date of 2007 would chronologically correspond to U.S. plans to attack Iran after the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006, which was to extend, according to military plans, into a broader war against Syria. too. The war against Lebanon, however, did not go as planned and the U.S. and Israel realized that if Hezbollah could challenge them in Lebanon then an expanded war with Syria and Iran would be a disaster.In Millennium Challenge 2002’s war scenario, Iran would react to U.S. aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the U.S. and destroy sixteen U.S. naval vessels – an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 U.S. servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack.  Next, Iran would send its small patrol boats – the ones that look insignificant in comparison to the U.S.S. John C. Stennis and other large U.S. warships – to overwhelm the remainder of the Pentagon’s naval forces in the Persian Gulf, which would result in the damaging and sinking of most of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and the defeat of the United States. After the U.S. defeat, the war games were started over again, but “Red” (Iran had to operate under the assumption of handicaps and shortcomings, so that U.S. forces would be allowed to emerge victorious from the drill.  This outcome of the war games obviated the fact that the U.S. would have been overwhelmed in the context of a real conventional war with Iran in the Persian Gulf.Hence, the formidable naval power of Washington is handicapped both by geography as well Iranian military capabilities when it comes to fighting in the Persian Gulf or even in much of the Gulf of Oman. Without open waters, like in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. will have to fight under significantly reduced response times and, more importantly, will not be able to fight from a stand-off (militarily safe) distance. Thus, entire tool boxes of U.S. naval defensive systems, which were designed for combat in open waters using stand-off ranges, are rendered unpractical in the Persian Gulf.Hmmmm.......Whoever sold Iran Bladerunner 51, the British-built speedboat hailed among the fastest in the world was a moron.Since 2002's war game Iran has been modernising and expanding it's weapons arsenal.Read the full story here.

• Russian naval flotilla docks in Syria: state media.(AlArabiya).A large Russian naval flotilla led by an aircraft carrier has docked in the Syrian port of Tartus in what Damascus state media hailed on Sunday as a show of solidarity by close ally Moscow.The six-day port call by the carrier group in the Mediterranean port where Russia has a recently expanded naval base is intended to boost ties at a time when President Bashar al-Assad’s government is under mounting Western and Arab pressure over its bloody crackdown on dissent, the Syrian press said.“The port call is aimed at bringing the two countries closer together and strengthening their ties of friendship,” the official SANA news agency quoted a Russian naval officer it named as Yakushin Vladimir Anatolievich as saying.“The commanders of the Russian naval vessels docked in Tartus took turns to express their solidarity with the Syrian people,” the news agency added.The governor of Tartus province, Atef al-Nadaf, paid tribute to the “honorable position adopted by Russia which has stood by the Syrian people.”The Al-Watan newspaper, which is privately owned but close to the government, reported last week that the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was escorted by a large flotilla including submarines.Despite strong Western criticism, Russia has stood by its Cold War ally in the face of a mounting international outcry over the death toll from security force efforts to crush nearly 10 months of anti-government protests.In October, Moscow joined Beijing in vetoing a Western-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution that would have threatened Damascus with “targeted measures” if it failed to rein in its security forces.Read the full story here.

• Jamaica 'to cut ties with British monarchy'.(AlYazeera).Jamaica's new prime minister has said that it is time for her country to cut ties with the British monarchy and declare itself an independent republic.Speaking at her inaugural address on Friday, Portia Simpson Miller, said her government would "initiate the process of detachment from the monarchy", establishing a republic with a president as head of state, and breaking off links with the former colonial power.Jamaica is a constitutional parliamentary democracy and also a Commonwealth realm."I love the Queen. She's a beautiful lady and apart from being a beautiful lady a wise lady and a wonderful lady. But I think time come," Simpson Miller said.Currently under Jamaica's constitution, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, and the prime minister is formally appointed by the governor-general, who represents the queen.The announcement comes ahead of celebrations to mark 50 years of the country's independence from the UK.Simpson Miller, taking over for her second term as prime minister, won a landslide victory in an election last week that largely pivoted on public discontent with Jamaica's ailing economy and massive debt.The unemployment rate currently stands at about 13 per cent, up from under 10 per cent in 2007, when the centre-right Jamaica Labour Party, the previous ruling party, won power. Its public debt stands at $18.6bn of gross domestic product."In the short and medium term, we will use all state resources to stimulate employment through the Jamaica Emergency Employment Program," Simpson Miller said after taking the oath of office. "We will do so in a transparent and non-partisan manner."Nearly half of all Jamaicans (43 per cent) live under the poverty line of $2.50 per day, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.Reaching a new agreement with the IMF on Jamaica's debt is one of the new government's top priorities, Omar Davies, the official in charge of the transition, told reporters on Wednesday.New talks with the global lender are set to begin on Monday, with Jamaica represented by Peter Phillips, the country's new finance minister. Phillips has held several cabinet posts in previous administrations.In the December 28 election, Simpson Miller's People's National Party secured 41 seats, two-thirds of the total, in the House of Representatives.She succeeds Andrew Holness, 39, the youngest-ever prime minister of the country.Read and see (video) the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                       Afternoon  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 07. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - June 07. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - June 07 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

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

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 129.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 41-.Source.

• Emanuel’s First Test: Gang Mob Attacks Continue in Chicago After Memorial Beach Closing.(Biggovernment).Chicagoans flocked to North Avenue Beach last Monday for Memorial Day, only to have their holiday fun spoiled when Chicago police closed the beach. For the first time in Chicago’s history, North Avenue Beach, where residents go to cool off, was closed due to excessive heat according to Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. McCarthy was backed up by newly elected Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who claimed there was a surge in calls due to heat exhaustion, and the reason for the closing was to give ambulances and paramedics easier access to treat those in need.Fox Chicago News lightly covered reasons for the beach closing other than heat, which were missing from other local news outlets, CBS and ABC. Fox reported an unusually high presence of Chicago street gangs.One resident interviewed by Fox claimed:“They were hooting and hollering and looking for confrontations,” Daley said. “A kid got in my face and was looking for a confrontation….”Others reported cyclists were actually thrown off of their bikes. Many believe the real reason for the beach closing was exactly this unwarranted violence. Police blogs and readers of local news sites were also quick to respond to what actually happened, and the reports are quite shocking. As many 2000 young teenage “thugs” stormed the beach, in an apparent effort to cause mayhem on those enjoying the hot sunny weather.A comment on the Chicago Sun Times post reads:“Um folks believe me the heat had nothing to do with this. Its more like the 2000 or so punk teens that showed up around 3pm and started causing problems that led to the closure.”Local morning radio hosts Don Wade & Roma were quick to cover the story as well, and rightly question what actually happened. Listen as they point out the seriousness of this story, and what appears to be intentional omission by the Chicago mainstream media, leaving out critical information in their explanation for the beach closing.Wade comments, what may be even more alarming is the fact that the incident was not isolated to Chicago. Drudge Reportand other outlets reported Boston, Nashville, Charlotte, Long Island, Rochester, and Miami were among the many other cities that experienced a large up tick in holiday violence on beaches and popular holiday areas. This may have been the result of gang members spreading their message to cause disruptions via social media outlets such as Twitter. Wade goes on to bring attention to another major concern, that President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder have beganaggressively investigating big city police departments, and their systematic abuses of “civil rights,” such as false arrests and excessive force. Roma demands answers during the segment, and claims that Emanuel’s response to the incidents in Chicago may have been acceptable for a first time occurrence; however, he must come up with better answers and solutions if this problem continues.Unfortunately, the need for ongoing concern still exists as this type of gang activity continued over this past weekend once again in Chicago. Roving gangs have been appearing in trendy areas downtown, and were responsible for committing attacks against average everyday citizens just this past Sunday in the Gold Coast. CBS 2 reports “15-20 young men between 16-20 years old and black,” approached a man near Northwestern University, one of whom threw a baseball at his face, as the rest proceeded to beat him up.Wade and Roma picked up this story as well, and went on to mention other reports of gangs and mobs spilling into the streets of downtown Chicago from public city busses and trains. Once in the downtown area, they coordinate attacks against citizens as well as local shops and stores. As they approach a store, a large group will enter, leaving one or two outside to stand guard. Once inside the store, they proceed to steel items and grab what they can, before getting away untouched.How will Chicago’s new Mayor handle this alarming problem, as we approach the hot summer months? Will he continue the denial of these occurrences, as he did with the beach invasion on Memorial Day? What is the reason for not at least acknowledging the unusual gang presence at North Avenue Beach? Are his hands potentially bound by Obama and Holder, as they attempt to uncover a sinister plot by big city police forces attempting to ensure the safety of average citizens, by supposedly employing systematic racist tactics against real criminals? Hmmmm......Put them at work for the next ten years in a chaingang.Read the full story here.

• "We need to approve the law to know what's in it?"Obamacare waivers weren’t in original law, appearance of political favors persists.(DailyCaller).The Daily Caller has learned the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) never had the authority to issue waivers from Obamacare’s annual limit requirements.Language granting HHS that power was never in the original law. Instead, through new rules and regulations, HHS gave itself the power last summer using a broad interpretation of certain parts of the law.The annual limit requirement waivers exempt recipients for one year from having to increase the amount of health care coverage they provide their workers. Each year between now and 2014, the minimum annual limit rises to a new, higher amount. Though the waivers are only for one year, recipients can reapply and be re-approved every year through 2014.Heritage Foundation health policy expert Edmund Haislmaier said HHS “exceeded its statutory authority” by issuing such waivers.“The first problem is that it appears HHS has exceeded its statutory authority in creating this waiver process,” Haislmaier said in testimony before the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on Health Care. “The statute does not explicitly grant HHS authority to waive the application of this provision. In contrast, I count twenty-one other sections of PPACA [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] in which Congress did grant HHS explicit, new waiver authority with respect to specific provisions. Thus, it is reasonable to presume that if Congress had intended the department to institute a waiver process as part of its implementation of this particular provision, Congress would have said so in the statute.”The Obama administration, which touts itself as the most transparent in American history, hasn’t answered many questions about who’s been getting waivers and why, who’s been denied and why or who’s still in line. Seeing as the administration hasn’t complied with many Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for information surrounding Obamacare, former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS announced Monday it will seek summary judgment in federal court against HHS over “the agency’s failure to disclose materials concerning Obamacare waivers.” Crossroads GPS filed a FOIA request back in January for information regarding Obamacare waivers. After two months of inactivity on the request, Crossroads filed a lawsuit alleging HHS isn’t following FOIA standards.In what’s become a bit of a pattern for the Obama administration, there’s at least an appearance of political favoritism in favor of those who lobbied for HHS to grant itself waiver power. Many of the administration’s nearly 1,400 waivers, including the waivers that went to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district in April, went to companies and entities that lobbied their support behind HHS’s drive to grant itself that power.Hmmmmm........Observe thugocracy evolving in it's natural habitat?Read the full story here.

• ObamaNomics: Federal Government Has Record $61.6 Trillion In Unfunded Obligations, Equates To $534,000 Per Household.(USAToday).The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product.Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.Social Security added $1.4 trillion in obligations, partly reflecting longer life expectancies. Federal and military retirement programs added more to the financial hole, too.Corporations would be required to count these new liabilities when they are taken on — and report a big loss to shareholders. Unlike businesses, however, Congress postpones recording spending commitments until it writes a check.The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $534,000 per household. That’s more than five times what Americans have borrowed for everything else — mortgages, car loans and other debt. It reflects the challenge as the number of retirees soars over the next 20 years and seniors try to collect on those spending promises.“The (federal) debt only tells us what the government owes to the public. It doesn’t take into account what’s owed to seniors, veterans and retired employees,” says accountant Sheila Weinberg, founder of the Institute for Truth in Accounting, a Chicago-based group that advocates better financial reporting. “Without accurate accounting, we can’t make good decisions.”Hmmmm......"It doesn’t take into account what’s owed to seniors, veterans and retired employees".Read the full story here.

• Pawlenty “The American people can handle the truth."Pawlenty speech criticizes Obama as 'champion of class warfare'(TheHill).President Obama is a “champion practitioner of class warfare,” GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said Tuesday.In an address on his economic policy in Obama’s hometown of Chicago, the former Minnesota governor laid out the specifics of his plan to slash spending and simplify the nation's tax code by drastically cutting rates.Pawlenty said his policies offered a sharp contrast to the president’s, which he argued are discouraging businesses and stunting economic growth.“The president is satisfied with a second-rate American economy produced by his third-rate policies. I’m not,” Pawlenty said.If Obama’s economic policies are kept in place, Pawlenty said: “We are in deep doo-doo. We are in deep crap.”Instead of the “New Deal,” Pawlenty dubbed his economic plan a “Better Deal” that differs from former President Franklin Roosevelt’s plan to lift the country out of the Great Depression.Pawlenty also called for the elimination of existing loopholes, subsidies and tax credits for businesses, which he said would offset some of the revenue lost from cutting tax rates.“American businesses today pay the second-highest tax rates in the world. That’s a recipe for failure, not adding jobs and economic growth,” he said.Pawlenty said he wants to eliminate all federal regulations unless Congress votes to keep them in place, a move intended to target Obama’s healthcare law, the Wall Street reform bill and the Environmental Protection Agency’s push to regulate carbon emissions.“It is no longer enough for government to go on a diet. Government needs to hit the gym, and hit it hard,” he said.He also called for the streamlining of federal agencies including the CIA and the Pentagon, and said that the Federal Reserve should end its dual mandate.“No more quantitative easing. No more monetizing debt. No more printing money with reckless abandon,” he said.Pawlenty said his proposal matches his promise to tell the hard truths about what’s needed to fix the country’s problems."“It's going to be the Jack Nicholson election,” Pawlenty said, quoting the actor’s famous line from A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth.”This time around, Pawlenty argues, “The American people can handle the truth."Read the full story here.

• Lib Talker Calls on Obama to Starve People in Red States to Stop the GOP From Not Raising Debt Ceiling While Explaining the History Behind Why GOP Maintaining Debt Ceiling Would Not Stop U.S. From Paying Obligations.Read and see the full story here.

• Royal Marines on standby off the coast of Yemen as violence escalates.(DailyMail).Royal Marines are poised for an emergency evacuation of British nationals in Yemen after a fresh bout of violent clashes in the Arab state.A force of around 80 marines was said to be on board a naval support ship, RFA Fort Victoria, on the coast close to the strife-torn Arab state, the BBC reported.The Ministry of Defence confirmed that there were British military assets in the region but refused to go into detail.'As part of routine deployment UK military assets are in the region, although we are not prepared to comment further on their exact operational tasking,' a spokesman said.The latest upsurge in violence comes two days after President Ali Abdullah Saleh fled Yemen for neighbouring Saudi Arabia after being injured by a rocket attack at his compound.The Foreign Office has been advising British nationals to leave the country while commercial flights are still available as Government intervention could not be counted on.Foreign Secretary William Hague warned at the weekend that it was 'extremely unlikely' Britain would be able to stage an evacuation operation, telling any remaining UK nationals not to 'plan for or expect' any Government assistance.But the presence of the Royal Marines off the Yemeni coast is likely to be seen as a contingency plan to help rescue people from the fresh outbursts of anger in the country.The Fort Victoria is part of the Navy's Response Force Task Group which has been conducting a series of exercises, mainly in the Mediterranean, over the past weeks.The helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, which has been used as a launch pad for Apache attack helicopters engaged in operations in Libya, is part of the the same group.The BBC reported that the auxiliary landing vessel RFA Cardigan Bay was heading for Yemen where it will replace another support vessel, RFA Argus, which has been operating in the region.The latest clashes saw 19 people killed, including three children, in two Yemeni provinces, military and medical officials said.The unrest is the latest of ugly rampages that has shaken the impoverished nation, which has been the scene of many protests calling for the end of President Saleh's authoritarian regime.Officials said dozens of suspected Muslim militants attacked an army position in the southern Abyan province late Monday night, despite the departure of the embattled leader of nearly 33 years.Hmmmm......"Arab spring".Read the full story here.

• Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques.(MappingSharia).How’s this for a wake-up call: America’s most cherished civil liberties and the Constitution that enshrines them are actually enabling Muslim Brotherhood operatives and other Islamists who have the declared mission of destroying our freedoms and government “from within…by [our] hands.” Specifically, our enemies are using our tolerance of religion to create an infrastructure of mosques here that incubate the Islamic holy war called jihad.If this revelation is not exactly news to those who are serious students of the Brotherhood’s decades-long, stealthy “civilization jihad” in this country (for more, see the best-selling “Team B II Report” published late last year by the Center for Security Policy: Shariah: The Threat to America), it will almost certainly come as a shock to the average American. Yet, the phenomenon of our rights being used to pursue our destruction has become undeniable – particularly now, thanks to an assiduously researched, peer-reviewed study published on June 6th by the highly respected journal, Middle East Quarterly.Entitled “Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques,” this paper describes an ominous jihadist footprint being put into place across the nation. It is made up of ostensibly religious institutions, entities that, therefore, enjoy constitutional protection. But, according to the data examined by this study, most mosques in the United States are actually engaged in – or at least supportive of – a totalitarian, seditious agenda they call shariah. Its express purpose is undermining and ultimately forcibly replacing the U.S. government and its founding documents. In their place would be a “caliph,” governing in accordance with shariah’s political-military-legal code.To be sure, some American mosques are not part of the jihadist enterprise. And most Muslims in the United States, like most adherents of other faiths, are not regular attendees at their places of worship.Still, according to this study’s two formidable authors – my colleague (and fellow Big Peace contributor), David Yerushalmi, one of the nation’s foremost non-Muslim experts on the totalitarian Islamic doctrine known as shariah, and a highly respected Israeli academic and expert on Islam and Arabic culture, Dr. Mordechai Kedar – on-site investigations of a random but representative sample of American mosques in fourteen states and the District of Columbia produced chilling insights into the threat posed by many such institutions.For the purpose of their analysis, the authors examined data collected by surveyors who “were asked to observe and record selected behaviors deemed to be shariah-adherent. These behaviors were selected precisely because they constitute observable and measurable practices of an orthodox form of Islam, as opposed to internalized, non-observable articles of faith.” Such behaviors included, among other readily discernible indicators: “a) women wearing the hijab (head covering) or niqab (full-length shiftcovering the entire female form except for the eyes); b) gender segregation during mosque prayers; and c) enforcement of straight prayer lines.”For the purpose of their study, the authors evaluated support for jihad by considering the presence in mosque bookstores, libraries and among recommended materials “literature encouraging worshipers to engage in terrorist activity, to provide financial support to jihadists, and to promote the establishment of a caliphate in the United States. These materials also explicitly praised actsof terror against the West; praised symbols or role models of violent jihad; promoted the use of force, terror, war, and violence to implement the shariah; emphasized the inferiority of non-Muslim life; promoted hatred and intolerance toward non-Muslims or notional Muslims; and endorsed inflammatory materialswith anti-U.S. view.”

Employing this methodology, Mr. Yerushalmi and Dr. Kedar found that:

More than 80 percent of U.S. mosques advocate or otherwise promote violence. “Of the 100 mosques surveyed, 51% had texts on site rated as severely advocating violence; 30% had texts rated as moderately advocating violence; and 19% had no violent texts at all.”

Mosques that were identifiable using empirical measures “as shariah-adherent were more likely to feature violence-positive texts on site than were their non-shariah adherent counterparts.”

“In 84.5% of the mosques, the imam recommended studying violence-positive texts. The leadership at shariah-adherent mosques was morelikely to recommend that a worshipper study violence-positive texts than leadership at non-shariah-adherent mosques.”

“[O]f the 51 mosques that contained severe materials, 100 percent were led by imams who recommended that worshipers study texts that promote violence.”

“Fifty-eight percent (58%) of the mosques invited guest imams known to promote violent jihad. The leadership of mosques that featured violence-positive literature was more likely to invite guest imams who wereknown to promote violent jihad than was the leadership of mosques that did not feature violence-positive literature on mosque premises".In short, such findings strongly suggest that shariah-adherence is a useful predictor of sympathy for – and, in some cases at least, action on behalf of – jihad, to include both the Islamists’ violent or stealthy forms of warfare aimed at supplanting the U.S. Constitution and government. Indeed, the study confirms the anecdotal reports by Muslims themselves and earlier, less rigorous empirical studies of Saudi hate-filled literature permeating mosques in the United States.Read the full story here.

• Muslim cop lied about his U.S. citizenship in applications to be a jailer, a police officer and, most recently, an FBI agent,wanted to attend WMD training.(Mysanantonio).A Fair Oaks Ranch police officer who wanted to join the FBI has been charged with lying about his citizenship to get a job there.The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force opened a full-blown investigation last year of Pejman Amrollah Majdabadi, 30, for his “aggressiveness” in wanting to join the FBI and his e-mailed request to the agency seeking to attend weapons of mass destruction training being taught by the JTTF, according to a criminal complaint affidavit unsealed Monday.The Iranian-born officer, now a U.S. citizen, was taken to federal court in San Antonio late Friday on a charge of making false statements about his citizenship to get a job in law enforcement. He was released on $50,000 unsecured bond following a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo. If convicted, Amrollah could face up to five years in prison.Amrollah has worked for the Fair Oaks Ranch Police Department since April 30, 2007, and has been “a good officer,” said Police Chief Scott Rubin.The affidavit said that since 2003, Texas law requires police officer applicants to be U.S. citizens, and Rubin said Amrollah was a citizen “as far as I knew” when he applied. Amrollah is now on unpaid administrative leave, Rubin said.The FBI claims Amrollah lied about his U.S. citizenship in applications to be a jailer, a police officer and, most recently, an FBI agent. In April 2010, the affidavit said, Amrollah e-mailed the FBI expressing interest in attending WMD training, and about joining the JTTF.In May 2010, he e-mailed again “stating he would be a good asset for the JTTF due to his language abilities and connections he had to the local Persian community,” the affidavit said.“Sensitive positions with the U.S. government are taken very seriously and any attempt at being deceptive to gain access to these positions is going to be pursued,” said special agent Erik Vasys, spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio.The affidavit said Amrollah was born in Iran in 1981 or 1982. In July 1998, when about 16, he was caught by the U.S. Border Patrol crossing illegally from Mexico with his parents and a juvenile sister. The family later applied for asylum, and their request was granted in September 1999, the affidavit said.He obtained legal permanent resident status on Oct. 5, 2004, and on Feb. 25, 2010, Amrollah became a naturalized U.S. citizen — more than a month after his most recent application to the FBI, according to the affidavit.The affidavit said the FBI found Amrollah applied multiple times to various positions within the FBI starting in 2000, and “a comparison of the applications indicated discrepancies and/or false statements.”Hmmmm......."The Djinies made me do it"?Read the full story here.

• Israel's new battlefield: Iranian submarines.(Ynet). What effect will Iran's growing presence in Red Sea, Mediterranean have on Israel's naval activity, and how will it improve arms smuggling into Gaza Strip.The recent wave of uprisings across the Arab world provided Iran with numerous strategic and tactical opportunities to expand its status as a regional hegemon.The announcement that Tehran has dispatched submarines to the Red Sea, in what is the first such deployment by Iran's Navy in distant waters, is the latest step in a series of actions the Islamic Republic has taken to secure its power in the region.The reports claim that the IDF and Navy employ constant operational and intelligence efforts to thwart smuggling attempts, including sinking Iranian ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, attacking convoys en-route from Sudan to Egypt and seizing cargo ships suspected of carrying weapons to Syria or to Hamas. Iranian naval presence in the Red Sea enables the Revolutionary Guard to track Israeli activity and secure arms shipments by warning the vessels carrying the weapons or the smugglers waiting on shore, and perhaps in the future – by directly confronting with Israeli naval forces.Foreign reports also stated that Israel has been deploying various vessels, including submarines, to patrol along the Iranian coastline in order to gather intelligence on the nuclear and ballistic missile programs and prepare for future altercations. These Israeli submarines, the reports claim, are equipped with the latest cruise missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. If these reports are true, Iranian presence in the Red Sea might also be geared toward tracking and thwarting such activity.But Iran is not stopping there. It wants to establish a naval military presence in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea by dispatching its fleet through the Suez Canal. Tehran regards this as an important step that will demonstrate to the Arab world and the Iranian people that it is a regional power, which is capable of military deployment in distant waters.Iran's military presence also aimed at hinting to its allies – Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas – that it can provide them with assistance if needed.The recent uprisings in Syria and the uncertainty surrounding the future of Bashar Assad's regime further highlights the urgency Iran is facing. If and when the Syrian president is overthrown, Iran is expected to lose several important assets in Syria, including intelligence bases from which it keeps track of Israeli intelligence activity, and roads connecting between Syria and Lebanon, by which Iran provides Hezbollah with logistic aid and transports Revolutionary Guard members.The Iranians are acting determinately, but with caution – step by step. Their naval presence in the Gulf of Aden began last year under the guise of helping international efforts against Somali Piracy.The big leap was taken in February, when Tehran asked the Egyptian authorities to allow two of its warships to cross the Suez Canal. The pretext was "a friendship and peace flotilla" to Syria.In the near future, we can expect to see more Iranian attempts to dispatch fleets through the Suez Canal and perhaps amassment of large Iranian naval forces in the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts. This trend can be slowed down if the Americans decide to assert their influence over Egypt's Higher Military Council.Hmmmmm......And one day crows may wear stiletto heels?Read the full story here.

• Letter to Syria!(BenjaminRosenbaum).I have been following the fascinating, inspiring, and beautiful writing of Syrian blogger and democracy activist Amina Arraf (who is an out lesbian and devout Muslim) ever since this post. She has been on the run for the last several weeks, and now the arrest that her fans have been dreading has come to pass. Now is the time for quick action by the international (and internet) community. According to Reporters Without Borders, in the case of 19-year-old imprisoned blogger Tal al-Mallouhi, "Netizens from around the world mobilised....international attention was probably also a contributing factor to her appearance before a court in November 2010, after she had been held in an unknown location for nearly eleven months."Here is the text of my email to the Syrian Embassy in Washington, DC, which I sent to consular@syrembassy.net and theambassador@syrembassy.net.Whether or not you agree with all of Amina's opinions, she is a voice of intelligence, sanity, peace, and freedom. Please do what you can.Read the full story here.

• Syrians Turn Against Hezbollah and Iran.(ElliotAbrams)What kind of Syria might follow the fall of the Assad regime? For many years, a significant percentage of American and Israeli military officers thought things would get worse. A new regime would be dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, many said—including some of the highest-ranking American generals.I have always thought this was a foolish position, given what Assad’s Syria was actually doing. How much worse could things get than a regime that was Iran’s only Arab ally, gave Iran a port on the Mediterranean and a border with Israel (through Hezbollah in Lebanon), helped Iran arm Hezbollah to the teeth, built a nuclear reactor with North Korean help, brought jihadis to Iraq to kill American soldiers, and viciously repressed the Syrian people. Moreover, the notion that the Muslim Brotherhood would rule after Assad was just that, a notion, never supported with hard evidence about their level of internal support.The strategic argument for getting Assad out is powerful: it would be a huge defeat for Iran and Hezbollah, and indeed the greatest defeat we could administer to Iran short of ending its nuclear program. As to the argument that the successor regime may follow worse policies, recent reports suggest that in fact Syrians hate the Assad/Hezbollah/Iran alliance and will end it once he is gone. France 24 reports as follows:“Syrian opposition protesters are not just calling for the fall of President Bashar al-Assad: they have recently begun directing their anger against his regional allies, Iran and Hezbollah. Our Observer says this is a new and unexpected turn of events.“Videos of recent protests in Syria show demonstrators chanting slogans against Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s Islamic revolution, as well as the Hezbollah, an Islamist political party from Lebanon with a powerful armed wing. Even more surprising has been footage of protesters burning posters of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general and a widely respected figure throughout the Middle East.“Their anger is a result of Tehran’s and Hezbollah’s unwavering support for the Syrian government, even as it ruthlessly crushes its own people’s calls for more democracy.”The alliance with Iran and Hezbollah is seen by increasing numbers of Syrians, then, as one of the characteristics of the hated Assad regime. When Syrians get the chance, they will end both the regime and that alliance. The sooner Assad falls, the better—from every moral, political, and strategic point of view.Hmmmm.......MR President....oh yes don't want to be seen 'interfering'?Read the full story here.

• Wannabe Egyptian 'Samson' plans to have cage fight with a lion - that symbolizes Israel.(ElderOfZion).Given the current state of the economy, it comes as no surprise that many Egyptians are doing all that they can to revive international interest in their country. What is surprising, though, is that one man has somehow managed to convince himself - and a few others - that he can single-handedly “boost tourism in Egypt” by fighting a full-grown African lion in direct hand-to-paw combat, in front of the Pyramids at Giza.Inexplicably, al-Sayed al-Essawy, a 25-year-old from Daqahlia, has come to believe that “the world will flock to see the Egyptian man who defeated a lion with his bare hands.”The fight, or “battle” as Essawy, prefers to call it, was announced two weeks ago, immediately igniting a firestorm of international protests and online petitions from individuals and animal rights organizations alike. The negative reaction surprised Essawy, prompting the self-proclaimed “strongest man in the world” to admit to being “confused and heart-broken.”Nonetheless, Essawy insists that the fight is still on, even if he has to stage the battle in a secret location.Essawy: When I defeat the lion - which I will - I will pull an Israeli flag out of my pocket, and drape it over the lion, and put my foot on it. Israel led me to this, through all their atrocities which, as a child, I grew up watching on television. The message is that even though Israel and America may be as strong as a lion - the strongest creature on the planet - they too can be defeated.

Al-Masry: How are you training for this specific event?

Essawy: By doing a series of mental exercises. Nothing physical, just brain-training. I visualize the fight for two hours at a time. I visualize the lion, and all the possible ways it could attack. Will it go for the head, or will it grab me by the feet? I ask myself these questions and visualize how I will dodge these attacks.Believe it or not, the interview gets even nuttier. Hmmmm.....Try bathing in olive oil and herbs before the fight,to improve the flavor for the lion.Read the full story here.

• Ahmadinejad Vows To “Seriously Confront” FIFA Over Hijab Ban.(Al-Arabia).Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to “seriously confront” world soccer body FIFA’s to ban the Islamic republic’s women's soccer team from wearing religious garb during professional matches.Mr. Ahmadinejad told a Tehran news conference that he had instructed vice president and sports czar Ali Saeidlu to head Iran’s effort to overturn FIFA’s decision. “I ordered to follow up the issue and we will seriously confront the decision by dictators who just wear the gown of democracy. Despite what happened, I am proud of our girls,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said.Iran’s Football Federation (FFI) chief Afi Kafashian appealed to FIFA president Sepp Blatter to reverse a decision and allow for a 2012 Olympics qualifying match that was cancelled by a Bahrain FIFA referee because of the Iranian team’s dress. The cancellation lead to Jordan being declared the victor and Iran losing its opportunity to qualify for next year’s Olympics in London.“Our girls have worked hard for the qualifying matches and should not be deprived in this manner,” the state-run Fars news agency quoted Mr. Kafashian as saying.Earlier, FIFA rejected an Iranian protest and said Iran had been advised in advance that the team would not be allowed to wear the Islamic dress or hijab for safety reasons.FIFA said the decision to cancel the game was in line with its laws and regulation.FIFA bans religious symbols on the soccer pitch but agreed with Iran several years ago that the Iranian women’s team would be allowed to wear a head dress that does not cover the neck and ears. The Iranian reversal to more Islamic dress violated that agreement.Mr. Ahmedinejad has effectively been a hands-on in the manager of the Iranian team. The US cable reported that he pressured the Iranian football federation to lift its 2008 suspension of star Ali Karimi so that he could play in 2010 World Cup qualifiers, engineered the 2009 firing of Ali Daei as coach, ensured that Daei’s successor Mohamed Mayeli-Kohan lasted all of two weeks in the job so that his candidate would be appointed.Mr. Ahmedinejad has justified his interference telling Iranian journalists that “unfortunately, this sport has been afflicted with some very bad issues. I must intervene personally to push aside these destructive issues.”Like in other Middle Eastern nations, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s efforts to politically manipulate the beautiful game turned the soccer pitch into a platform for dissent.The Iranian federation postponed league matches in Tehran in February in a bid to prevent celebrations of the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution from turning into anti-government protests inspired by the toppling earlier this year of the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents by mass anti-government protests. The funeral last month of famous Iranian soccer player Nasser Hejazi, an internationally acclaimed defender and outspoken critic of the president in Tehran’s Azadi stadium turned into a mass protest against the government of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Mourners chanted “Hejazi, you spoke in the name of the people” in a reference to Mr. Hejazi’s criticism of the Iranian president’s economic policies. Mr. Hejazi took Mr. Ahmadinejad in April publicly to task for Iran’s gaping income difference and budgetary measure, which hit the poorest the hardest.The mourners also shouted “Goodbye Hejazi, today the brave are mourning” and “Mr Nasser, rise up, your people can't stand it anymore.”Mourners in the Behsht Zahra cemetery where Mr. Hejazi was buried shouted “Mubarak, Bin Ali, now it’s your turn Khamenei!” in reference to ousted Egyptian and Tunisian presidents Hosni Mubarak and Zine Abedine Ben Ali and Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Mr. Hejazi tried to run for president as an independent candidate in Iran’s 2005 elections, but was forced by authorities to withdraw.Hmmmm.......A red card for the president.Read the full story here.

• Identity Of Somali-American Suicide Bomber Who Died In Mogadishu Remains Unclear.(Memri).On June 2, 2011, news that a Somali-American suicide bomber was behind the attack against AMISOM soldiers in Mogadishu appeared on Somalimemo.net. The post named the perpetrator as Asadullahi Ahmed Al-Amriki ("Lion of God, Ahmed the American"), a 25-year-old Minnesotan who moved to Somalia sometime in 2009. The original post on Somalimemo.net did not provide Ahmed's full name, but circulated news appearing later in the media named the attacker as Abdullahi Farah Ahmed (written in Somali as Cabdulaahi Faarax).Read the full story here.

• Internet activist group warns Turkish government about censorship.(HurriyetDaily).Anonymous, an online activist group consisting of anonymous members from all over the world, has warned the Turkish government of action against it ahead of the implementation of a planned Internet filter.The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government plans to implement a filter on Internet browsing on Aug. 22 on the grounds of protecting the youth from "harmful elements on the web." Critics argue that the filter will pave the way for wide-spread censorship.Anonymous said Tuesday that the government was violating basic human rights and freedoms and that they would "take action against the institutions that apply censorship."The message from Anonymous reads as follows:

"Merhaba Türkiye,

“Over the last few years, we have seen how the Turkish government has tightened its grip on the Internet. It has blocked thousands of websites and blogs while abusive legal proceedings against online journalists persist. The government now wants to impose a new filtering system on the 22nd of August that will make it possible to keep records of everyone’s Internet activity.“Though it remains opaque why and how the system will be put in place. It is clear that the government is taking censorship to the next level.“These acts are inexcusable. Accessing and participating in the free flow of information is a basic human right. Anonymous will not stand by while the Turkish government violates this right. We will bring our supporters to circumvent censorship and retaliate against organizations imposing censorship.“Hundreds of thousands of people have protested against Internet censorship but AKP government ignored the voice of the people and violently oppressed the protesters.“We call on all Internet users worldwide to support freedom of speech by pushing the Turkish government to stop these foolish policies. The free flow of information won’t be stopped. Sharing of knowledge won’t be stopped. It is time to fight for our rights and stand up for what we believe in.

“We are Anonymous.

“We are Legion.

“We do not Forgive.

“We do not Forget.

“Expect us.”Hmmmm......Someone will make you an encrypted offer you can't refuse?Read the full story here.

• Russia and NATO kick off anti-terror air force exercise.(MonstersandCritics).Moscow - Russia and NATO on Monday kicked off an unprecedented training exercise to give their air forces practice in handing hijacked passenger planes moving through either sides' airspace. Fighter pilots from the Russian, Polish, and Turkish air forces will be at the forefront of the five-day exercise, which will take place primarily over Poland and the Black Sea, according to a NATO statement. The Vigilant Skies 2011 manoeuvres mark the first time air forces from the former Cold War opponents Russia and NATO will participate in a joint training exercise on counterterrorism, Interfax reported. The first of the two simulated 'terrorist flight engagements' will take place on Tuesday July 7, with a pair of Polish F-16 fighter jets intercepting a plane playing the role of an airliner targeted by hijackers, whose flight path from Krakow takes it into airspace patrolled by the Russia. Two Russian Sukhoi fighter jets will then escort and assist the airliner in landing. The scenario assumes that the civilians aboard the airliner prevent the hijackers from gaining control the aircraft, but it suffers navigation equipment damage in the fight, NATO said. A second mission plans an intercept and escort of an already-hijacked airline not communicating with the ground and moving between Turkish and Russian airspace over the Black Sea. Relations between Russia and NATO sometimes are tense. The Kremlin has singled out a US plan to deploy anti-missile defences in East Europe, and NATO deployments of fighter squadrons to the former Soviet Baltic states as particular irritants. US officials have said anti-missile defences planned to be deployed in Poland are aimed at possible Iranian, not Russian, missiles, and NATO has said its deployment of combat aircraft to airfields in new NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are defensive in nature. A goal of the Vigilant Skies exercise is to build trust between the two sides, the NATO statement said.Hmmmm......Someone preparing for the Sochi 2014 olympics?Read the full story here.

• Shop opened in Kabul's only synagogue.(Ynet). Kebabs, carpets and flowers served and sold on ground floor of building transformed into businesses by Afghanistan's sole remaining Jew. A lattice of corrugated iron Star of Davids marks Afghanistan's only working synagogue, a white-washed, two-story building tucked into a side street in the center of Kabul. Kebabs, carpets and flowers are served and sold on the ground floor of the synagogue, which has been transformed into businesses over the last 18 months by the country's sole remaining Jew, who lives upstairs in a small pink room.Café manager Sayed Ahmad is unfazed by his small café's history, where Kabul's hundreds-strong Jewish community once gathered for prayers. Most fled to Israel and the United States amid the Soviet invasion of 1979."Some of my customers know this is the synagogue and know about the Jew upstairs, but they don't care and neither do I," Ahmad told Reuters in his cafe, where bearded men on purple cushions puff on water pipes and eat traditional Afghan food.The firebrand anti-Semitism found in some other Muslim countries, often fueled by anti-Israeli sentiment, seems noticeably absent among ordinary Afghans."I pray my way and he prays his way. I see him as a friend, someone to spend time with," Ahmad said of his landlord, sitting beside large black and silver wall-hangings depicting Mecca.Zebulon Simentov, who chose to stay behind when his wife and children emigrated to Israel, has been known to conduct services in the upstairs of the synagogue for visiting Jews even though he is not a rabbi.He achieved fame beyond Afghanistan's borders because of a raging feud with the country's second-last Jew that only ended when his rival died in 2005, and which inspired a US play.Now living alone in the synagogue, the 52 year-old says the building has become too hard to maintain."This place is big and I need money," he told Reuters as he adjusted his pajama-like shalwar kameez, traditional clothing for men in the region.Simentov traces his ancestors to the western Afghan city of Herat, the cradle of Afghanistan's Jewish civilization, which he still visits sometimes. But after 2,000 years, the community there has died out.Today, only raised Jewish graves with Hebrew lettering and ornate stone synagogues remain, one of which was renovated two years ago and turned into a school for Afghan children, a move celebrated by Herat's Jews who had left for the West.In Kabul, Simentov spends most of his time in his small room, where Hebrew calendars look down on a small red sofa bed and a mahogany table laden with silver bowls of almonds and Shabbat candles.Three businessmen now rent space from him, and may be joined by others, in a city where despite decades of war, property prices are booming and space is at a premium.He said a grey-painted room littered with concrete debris, adjoining his, would also be put on the market. "Soon that one will also be rented out."Wary of talking to reporters after years of media attention, he declined to comment further on his plans for the synagogue.But he is well-liked by his neighbors and tenants. Amongst the unpaved and dusty roads encircling his synagogue, he is known simply as "the Jew," or "Yehud" in his native Dari. His penchant for whisky - extremely expensive and hard to obtain in Muslim Afghanistan, but totally permissible in Judaism - has also earned him affection.Read the full story here.

• German police say foiled forced-marriage kidnap bid.(Expatia).German police said Tuesday they had foiled a bid by two Turks to kidnap a 17-year-old girl for a forced marriage in Turkey.The attempted abduction of the French teenager of Turkish origin, from Sarregumines, in eastern France, took place on Sunday, just across the German border, in Saarbruecken, police said.Two Turks, aged 35 and 37, blocked the car in which the alleged victim was being driven by a 20-year-old friend at a traffic light, forcing her into their own car."Thanks to eyewitness reports, a regional search was launched which allowed police in Rhineland-Palatinate to intercept the car" some 60 kilometers (40 miles) further east, police in Saarland said.A preliminary investigation found that the two arrested men wanted to take the French-born girl to Turkey where she was to be married against her will, police added.Hmmmm......Another reason to keep Turkey out of the European union.Read the full story here.