Pope Francis may pray inside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, one of Christendom's greatest cathedrals.

Hagia Sophia Cathedral before the Muslim invasion

Pope Francis may pray inside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, one of Christendom's greatest cathedrals.(Bugun).

Officials said religious tolerance and fighting extremism would be high on the agenda in Ankara on Friday when Francis meets President Tayyip Erdogan and Mehmet Gormez, the top cleric in the majority-Muslim but constitutionally secular nation.

Turkey is sheltering close to 2 million refugees from Syria. For some of the thousands of Christians among them, that is a reversal of their ancestors' flight a century ago, when World War One and the emergence of the post-Ottoman Turkish state made Turkey a hostile land.(Armenian Genocide).

In Istanbul, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics will meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, as part of an effort to forge closer ties between the ancient western and eastern wings of Christianity.

They will issue joint calls on human rights and religious freedom as well as on the fear that Christianity is disappearing from its birthplaces in the Middle East, according to Rev. Dositheos Anagnostopoulos, spokesman for the patriarchate.

Francis said on Tuesday that while it was "almost impossible" to have a dialogue with Islamic State insurgents, the door should not be shut.

The Turkey trip will be the third by Francis to a mainly Muslim nation, after Jordan and Albania. Anagnostopoulos said Francis may pray inside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, one of Christendom's greatest cathedrals for 900 years, one of Islam's greatest mosques for another 500, and now officially a museum.

Such a move could upset some Muslims in Turkey, who would like to see it revived as a mosque.

Turkey refuses to comply with Pope Francis’s 'ordinary' car request

Turkey refuses to comply with Pope Francis’s 'ordinary' car request. (Taz).

Turkey refused to comply with Pope Francis’s request to provide him with an ordinary car for transportation during his visit, the Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet" reported Nov. 28.

The refusal was made due to safety and security concerns.

Around 6,000 police officers will ensure security in Turkey during the Pope’s visit.

Pope Francis is the fourth pope to visit Turkey.
Earlier, Pope Paul VI (1967), Pope John Paul II (1979) and Pope Benedict XVI (2006) visited Turkey. Hmmm....Wise decision considering Hamas and ISIS Flourish in Islamist Turkey.

Pope set to visit 'Islamist' Hamas friend Turkey under security clampdown.

Pope set to visit 'Islamist' Hamas friend Turkey under security clampdown. (Taz).

Pope Francis is set to visit Turkey on Nov. 28 to meet with Turkish politicians and religious leaders under strict security measures Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Addressing the crowds in his weekly speech at St Peter’s Square on Nov. 26, the leader of the Catholic Church asked “the faithful” to pray for his upcoming journey to Turkey, which he said is “a visit that promotes the fruits of peace, sincere dialogue between religions and harmony in the Turkish nation.”

Ankara, the first stop on the cleric’s tour, has been put under a tight security clampdown ahead of his three-day visit, which begins tomorrow.

Around 1,000 police officers are expected to be deployed along the roads that will be used by Pope in Ankara for his single day in the capital.

Overall, up to 2,700 police will be on duty, while dozens of riot control vehicles will be deployed to several parts of the city.

An Ankara court has also issued a general search warrant for the routes that will used by the Pope, allowing the police to freely carry out search and control procedures for four days.

Pope Francis is scheduled to touch down in Ankara at 1 p.m. local time (10:00 GMT) on Nov. 28, and to depart from Istanbul at 4:45 p.m. (13:45 GMT) on Nov. 30.

During his three-day visit, the spiritual leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey’s top Muslim cleric, Mehmet Görmez.

The Supreme Pontiff will hold a Holy Mass at the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul and privately meet Istanbul-based Greek Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox churches.

The Pope is also expected to visit the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, the Hagia Sofia museum in Istanbul, and the Sultan Ahmet (Blue) Mosque in Istanbul. Hmmm....I feel it's a huge mistake to visit a country Filled with Hamas and ISIS members, why would an Islamist invite the Pope in the first place? Don't forget A Turk already tried to kill a previous pope.

@bgnnewsturkey The Pope should never have accepted Erdogan's invitation in the first place, huge security mistake !

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) November 11, 2014

First Lady and her girls feed the pandas before leaving China......heading to Rome for 'tête-à-tête' dinner party?

First Lady and her girls feed the pandas before waving goodbye to China......heading to Rome for 'tête-à-tête' dinner party? (DM). 

Michelle Obama and her family ended their week-long trip to China with a visit to a reserve where they helped feed giant pandas before getting on the plane back home. 

The U.S First Lady has been visiting the country on a good-will tour with her daughters Sasha, 12, and Malia, 15, as well as her mother Marian Robinson.

On the final day of the trip the family visited the Chengdu Panda Base, a reserve for about 80 giant pandas, where they were able to feed a number of the animals.


According to Belgium Newspaper NHL the first lady is heading to Rome for a 'tête-à-tête' dinner party with her Hubby.

Hmmm....."Now, make no mistake: the change we need won't come easy or without cost. We will all need to tighten our belts, we will all need to sacrifice and we will all need to pull our weight because now more than ever, we are all in this together."

MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Saint-Helena 5.2 ! More info here.

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

• Heritage Responds to Obama’s Debt Reduction and Tax Proposal - A must read here.

• China Pulls The Rug From Under Europe, Halts French Bank Transactions, Makes Good On Trade War Ultimatum.Read the full debacle Here.

• Hmmm....Erdogan 'Blackmailing" the US Gov. in to recognising Palestine?Missile approval left till after key US visit.(HurriyetDaily).Turkey will wait to implement a deal to site a NATO radar system on its soil until after the prime minister’s return from UN General Assembly meetings this week.Rebuffing Washington’s demands for speedy approval, the Turkish government has decided to wait until after this week’s U.N. General Assembly meetings to complete the procedures necessary to station a NATO radar system on Turkish soil.The memorandum of understanding signed last week by Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Francis J. Ricciardone has not been brought to the agenda of the Cabinet to complete the official procedures needed for it to enter into force, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned.Since the early warning radar system is part of a NATO agreement, Cabinet approval suffices for its implementation rather than a parliamentary vote. The process will thus have to wait until Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s return from the United States, where he will hold key talks with U.S. President Barack Obama.During his visit to the United States, Erdoğan will be accompanied by the General Staff’s second in command, Hulusi Akar, as well as EU Minister Egemen Bağış, Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar and other deputies and officials, the Anatolia news agency reported.Before his departure late Monday, Erdoğan addressed reports in the Turkish media that the NATO defense program would not protect all of Turkey. “These are disinformation,” he said, adding that such reports aim to create concerns among the citizenry.“What will be deployed is a radar system and not missiles. If needed, we would consider the deployment of missiles as well. But this is not on our agenda for the moment,” Erdoğan said.The agreement envisions the deployment of a U.S. AN/TPY-2 (X-band) early warning radar system at a military installation at Kürecik in the Central Anatolian province of Malatya as part of the NATO missile-defense project. Obama and Erdoğan will likely discuss the fate of the agreement, which has been described by anonymous U.S. officials as the most strategic deal between the two allies in the last 15 to 20 years.A swift approval of the deal is needed to carry out the technical phases of the radar system’s deployment before the end of this year, as suggested by the U.S. Department of Defense. U.S. warships carrying anti-ballistic missiles are expected to take up position in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the upcoming months, U.S. media outlets have reported.Senior Turkish officials who are planning to visit Tehran in the coming weeks will seek to diffuse growing Iranian concerns about the deployment of the radar system on Turkish soil. (Share info?)Hakan Fidan, chief of the National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, is expected to be the first visitor, followed by Erdoğan.Sources said the precise plan would be decided following Erdoğan’s meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week in New York. Concerned by NATO’s recent deployment of radar and interception systems, Iran has meanwhile increased its pressure on Russia for the sale of S-300 anti-ballistic missile systems. The two countries signed a deal on the sale but Moscow has not yet begun the process.Hmmmm....Put the rocketshield in Bulgaria ...Bully problem eliminated.Since when is Turkey dictating US foreign policy?Read the full story here.

• Obama’s Jobs Bill Ends State Sovereignty – Wake Up Governors!!(NewZeal).By: AJ for NoisyRoom.

Section 376 of Obama’s tax and spend “jobs” bill ends state sovereignty, turns our Republic into a dictatorship and destroys the foundation upon which our country was built. The fundamental transformation of America is almost complete.

          Read the bill. (Emphasis added)

“SEC. 376. FEDERAL AND STATE IMMUNITY.
(a) Abrogation of State Immunity- A State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from a suit brought in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this Act.
(b) Waiver of State Immunity-
(1) IN GENERAL-
(A) WAIVER- A State’s receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for any program or activity of a State shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution or otherwise, to a suit brought by an employee or applicant for employment of that program or activity under this Act for a remedy authorized under Section 375(c) of this Act.
(B) DEFINITION- In this paragraph, the term `program or activity’ has the meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d-4a).”

           Here is the link to 42 USC 2000d-4a which defines “program or activity”:

“For the purposes of this subchapter, the term “program or activity” and the term “program” mean all of the operations of—
(1)
(A) a department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or of a local government; or
(B) the entity of such State or local government that distributes such assistance and each such department or agency (and each other State or local government entity) to which the assistance is extended, in the case of assistance to a State or local government;”

          Also…

“any part of which is extended Federal financial assistance.”

          The above is stated as an extension of the actual citation of the general section itself.

          More from Section 376 (emphasis added):

“(2) EFFECTIVE DATE- With respect to a particular program or activity, paragraph (1) applies to conduct occurring on or after the day, after the date of enactment of this Act, on which a State first receives or uses Federal financial assistance for that program or activity.”

Wake up Governors!! Wake up America!! Tell Congress about Section 376 and why they must not pass this bill.Obama’s tax and spend “jobs” bill is a stealth move to end state sovereignty and transform what made our nation the greatest country the world has ever known. If Obama’s bill passes, kiss freedom goodbye and say hello to tyranny.

The American Form of Government -  Reference:
42 USC 2000d-4a which defines “program or activity”
Read the full story here.

• Obama State Department Refuses To Tell Turkey The U.S. Would Side With Israel If Armed Conflict Breaks Out.(CNS).As Turkey’s leaders intensify efforts to isolate Israel internationally, the cordial treatment they are receiving from the Obama administration this week will add to concerns some Americans have about the strength of its support for Israel.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as “excellent” her talks in New York City on Monday with her Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu. President Obama is scheduled to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan there on Tuesday. All are in the city for this week’s U.N. General Assembly sessions.The Clinton-Davutoglu meeting came a day after the Turkish foreign minister announced that his government had blocked an Israeli attempt to open a liaison office at NATO headquarters in Brussels – the latest in a string of moves aimed at punishing Israel over a deadly commando raid on a Turkish ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists to the Gaza Strip in May 2010.Erdogan’s Islamist-leaning government earlier this month angrily rejected a U.N. report on the incident that called the Israeli raid “excessive and unreasonable” but also described the attempt to breach Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory as “reckless” and concluded that the blockade was a “legitimate security measure.”Following Monday’s almost hour-long Clinton-Davutoglu meeting, a senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity that the secretary had “encouraged Turkey to keep the door open” on improving the strained relationship with Israel.But asked whether Clinton had offered any specific ideas in that regard, the official said, “This is something they have to sort out between the two.”The official rejected suggestions that Washington should make it clear to Turkey that the U.S. would side with Israel in the event of a confrontation.Hmmmm......As i said all along what is the relationship between Erdogan and Obama?Why the weekly phonecalls between them?Read the full story here.

• US Senators urge pro-Israel stance from Obama.(YNet).'The world needs to hear from you that Israel - our ally - is not alone in facing threats from Turkey.US senators urged President Barack Obama on Monday to use his speech to the United Nations to restate strong US support for Israel amid tensions with Turkey and a Palestinian push for statehood. "The world needs to hear unequivocally from you that Israel - our friend, ally, and strategic partner - is not alone in facing these threats," 14 lawmakers said in a letter released as Obama arrived in New York.The senators accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of "anti-Israeli rhetoric," the attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo, and the Palestinians' push to raise their status at the world body."We believe it is imperative for you to speak strongly, forthrightly and publicly about US concerns over these developments," they wrote to the president, who was to address the UN General Assembly."We need to make it clear that we will not tolerate continued threats to Israel by governments or individuals in the region or attempts to delegitimize Israel at the UN or other international forums. Violence and unilateralism against Israel will be met with the strongest US opposition," they said.Democratic Senators Robert Menendez, Bob Casey, Kirsten Gillibrand, Dick Blumenthal, Ben Cardin, Chuck Schumer, and Chris Coons, Republican Senators Jon Kyl, Susan Collins, Mark Kirk, Orrin Hatch, Marco Rubio, and Johnny Isakson, as well as Independent Senator Joe Lieberman signed the letter.The lawmakers warned "political and physical attacks on Israel" raised "the possibility of a region-wide deterioration into violence" and that "Israel's real sense of growing isolation will make it much more difficult to move the Mideast in a positive direction."Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann slammed Obama over his foreign policy."I don't believe Israel should have to give away any more of its land," she told CNN Monday. "The president hasn't done Israel any favors."Instead, she advised the president to "disallow" Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from stepping "one foot" in the US for his persistent threats against Israel. "He is a genocidal madman," Bachmann said. Texas Governor Rick Perry is slated to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon as well as Jewish leaders on Tuesday. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will also be arriving in New York in the backdrop of the General Assembly meeting. Hmmmm.....Obama telling off Islamist Erdogan?That will be the day.Read the full story here.

• Perry: Obama Has Isolated and Undermined Israel.(WSJ).By Jonathan Weisman. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaking in New York as the United Nations General Assembly was convening, launched a broadside against President Barack Obama, asserting that the president’s “naïve, arrogant, misguided and dangerous” foreign policy had brought Israel and the Palestinians to a crisis over Palestinian statehood.It was one of the most strongly worded foreign-policy speeches of the 2012 Republican nomination race so far. Mr. Perry said the Obama administration had appeased “the Arab Street at the expense of our own national security interests” and had fumbled an opportunity to overthrow the regime in Iran. He accused the president of “isolating and undermining Israel” at every turn.He called for the U.S. to “reconsider” the $4 billion in assistance the country has provided the Palestinians over the last 17 years. He said the U.S should close the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s office in Washington if the U.N. General Assembly votes this week to recognize a Palestinian state.“It is time to change our policy of appeasement toward the Palestinians to strengthen our ties to the nation of Israel, and in the process establish a robust American position in the Middle East characterized by a new firmness and a new resolve,” he said.“What we are watching unfold at the United Nations is an unmitigated diplomatic disaster,” said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday. “It is the culmination of President Obama’s repeated efforts over three years to throw Israel under the bus and undermine its negotiating position. That policy must stop now.”“The president must not continue to lead from behind on key issues of national and international security,” Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann also declared Tuesday.In a question-and-answer session after the speech, Mr. Perry said he does believe Palestinians should eventually be given statehood but only as the end result of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian authority. That was a knock on the Obama administration’s use of U.S. envoys as go-betweens trying to broker a peace accord.“I do support a two-state solution only if the nation of Israel and the Palestinian Authorities do sit down and have direct negotiations between each other and under no other circumstances would I accept that and support that,” he said.Hmmmm.....Israel has nothing to fear but.....Obama and Erdogan it seems.Read the full story here.

• Rep. Darrell Issa Announces Congressional Probe Into Obama’s Dealings With Solyndra.(TheHill).Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that his committee plans to investigate government loan programs to private corporations in light of allegations of improper dealings between the White House and failed energy company Solyndra and wireless startup LightSquared.“I want to see when the president and his cronies are picking winners and losers… it wasn’t because there were large contributions given to them,” the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Tuesday morning on CSPAN.Issa said the committee was looking at whether it was improper for members of Congress or White House staff to select companies eligible for subsidized government loans when those companies could give campaign donations. Loan programs have been a popular tool to provide funding for popular industries – like tech, green energy, and American auto companies – at more favorable terms than could be secured privately.The Obama administration has been defending itself against criticism by Republicans that it exerted improper influence to the aid of both companies.Hmmmm......Get the impeachment documents ready?Read the full story here.

• Obama regime again usurping Congress.(TownHall).As the Obama agenda proves increasingly impotent, Americans have witnessed Obama’s czars crash and burn or run for cover over the past thirty months. From Van Jones to Kevin Jennings to Nancy-Ann DeParle to Todd Stern to Ron Bloom, Obama’s style of management — bypassing the senate-confirmed agency heads — has failed to yield the results promised to the American people. You would think Obama would give up on the failed idea of using a curious collection of White House czars to manage complex economic and regulatory issues. No way.Instead, in the American Jobs Act, Obama is proposing a new group of czars as a part of his “jobs” act — the American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) czars. President Obama’s newest czars will be given the authority to manage over a trillion dollars of federal funding for roads, bridges, buildings, waterways, dams and other infrastructure. . . .As with Obama’s other czars, the AIFA czar comes with infrastructure requirements of his own: staff, office space and technology needed to perform the job. Managing what is in reality a trillion dollar budget is going to require a huge new staff that will, essentially represent an entire new federal agency. Make no mistake: the AIFA Czar position is redundant. All of the infrastructure projects and tasks identified to be performed by Obama’s new Czar are already the responsibilities of the Senate-confirmed heads of Department of Transportation, the U.S. General Services Administration and the Department of Energy.Of course, nowhere does President Obama tell us why a new czar is required to manage infrastructure projects. More importantly, Obama does not explain why the vast federal bureaucracy now responsible for these activities must be bypassed and a new, redundant agency is built.Hmmmm......Communist Dictatorship rising.Read the full story here.

• Obama on the Brink of Another Credit Downgrade.(BigGovernment).Just when the world financial markets had seemed to stabilize after five weeks of the violent convulsions caused by the first credit downgrade in the history of the U.S.; Standard & Poors announced the United States remains on negative credit watch and there is now a one-in-three chance of another U.S. credit downgrade. S&P understands that the President has been politically successful when he refused to cut spending and let the world suffer massive financial losses when S&P downgraded. It appears to be in President Obama’s political interest for America to suffer another credit downgrade crisis.The new S and P warning follows President Obama’s efforts to sabotage bipartisan cooperation on the “Supercommittee” deficit reduction panel by making confrontational demands for half of a trillion dollars more in stimulus spending and trillions of dollars of new class warfare tax increases on investment and charity.Most investors prior to August 5, 2011 assumed that the President would be so afraid of voter wrath if the U.S. credit rating was downgraded; that he would wait until the last moment possible before agreeing to just enough Republican spending cuts to save the AAA rating. Those assumptions turned out to be very expensively wrong.President Obama refused to make any last minute cuts; then calmly left the Capitol for a family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. On the next trading day, markets around the world suffered $2.5 trillion in losses. The New York Stock Exchange is off 11% from its recent highs; but China’s Shanghai Exchange is down 28% and Germany’s DAX exchange is down 26% from their highs:Investors mistakenly was assumed President Obama’s opinion polls would suffer from a downgrade. According to the Gallup Poll; President Obama maintains the same 43% voter approval level he held from before the crisis, as he does today. But Congress hit a new all-time low approval rating of 13% during the crisis.On the eve of the first meeting of Congressional Supercommittee, the Obama Administration leaked to the New York Times their demands for millionaires to lose the favorable tax treatment on capital gains, municipal bonds and charitable donations. This political poison pill to bipartisan cooperation is affectionately referred to as the “Buffett Rule”; in a honor of Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor who has complained repeatedly that the richest Americans generally pay a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than do middle-income workers, because investment gains are taxed at a lower rate than wages.The President knows Republicans will staunchly oppose raising taxes on the affluent because, they say, it would be counter-productive to the capital investment needed for private sector job growth. The liberal NYT acknowledges worries about higher tax rates on the rich by “some economists who have disputed Mr. Buffett’s assertion that the megarich pay a lower tax rate over all. Mr. Buffett’s critics say many of the rich actually make more from wages than from investments.” They say if Mr. Buffett truly wants to show his patriotism, he could log on to the Treasury’s Pay.gov website; which allows billionaires or mom-and-pops to voluntarily donate to help pay down the U.S. nation debt; which stands at the same 120% debt to GDP level as Italy.To create some angry class warfare video; 700 protestors carrying backpacks and sleeping bags marched on New York’s Wall Street to protest greed, corruption and government budget cuts. They say they are prepared to turn Lower Manhattan into an “American Tahrir Square,” public square in Cairo, Egypt where protests that ousted Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. The protesters organized on website Occupy Wall Street under the motto: “The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99 Percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the one percent.”According to the polls, President Obama is three times more popular than Congress. There also is no Congressional consensus to cut the big government programs of Medicare, Social Security and defense. By asking for more spending and proposing to rabidly tax rich Wall Streeters; President Obama is seeking to undermine prospects for the Supercommittee to find common ground on deficit reductions. Few Americans and virtually no investors took serious thoughts the credit rating of the U.S would be downgraded within four months of April 18, 2011 announcement that S and P had put the U.S. on negative credit watch, without President Obama catastrophically suffering in the polls. But given that President Obama was the political winner when America was downgraded to AA; it appears to be in President Obama’s political interest to let the credit rating fall again.Hmmmm......Is it about Obama or about the American taxpayer?Read the full story here.

• California To Ban E-Verify.(JW).Bucking the national trend to curb illegal immigration, the country’s most populous state has passed a law forbidding private businesses as well as state and local governments from screening workers’ immigration status.It’s a baffling move on the part of legislators in a state—California— with well-documented financial struggles and a whopping 12.1% unemployment rate. Never the less, lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor that will essentially ban any employer—private or public—from using a national online database known as E-Verify to check workers’ immigration status. California cities that currently use E-Verify must immediately stop if the bill becomes law.California’s famously liberal governor, 73-year-old Jerry Brown, is expected to sign the measure (Employment Acceleration Act) which couldn’t come at a worse time for the state with the largest concentration of illegal aliens. Besides record-high unemployment, the (not so) Golden State is suffering through a dire financial crisis that has forced the early release of incarcerated felons, massive teacher layoffs and a huge cut in its notoriously generous entitlement programs.The move also comes as local governments across the U.S. pass laws making E-Verify mandatory, especially to screen candidates that will get paid with taxpayer dollars. California’s measure also conflicts with a bill (Legal Workforce Act) pending in the U.S. House that would require that all of the nation’s employers use E-Verify. The Texas congressman who introduced the measure says it could open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans and legal immigrants.Hundreds of thousands of employers across the nation use E-Verify and more than a dozen states have made it mandatory, even as the powerful open borders movement works to banish it. In 2007 Illinois became the first state to outlaw using the Homeland Security database to screen workers’ immigration status. The Bush Administration sued to stop the state from implementing the law and a watered down version was eventually implemented after a federal court nixed the original measure.The big question now is whether the Obama Administration, which claims that immigration is strictly a federal issue, will take action against California. In legal challenges to immigration control laws in Arizona and Alabama, the Department of Justice claims they conflict with federal immigration law and undermine the federal government’s careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives.Read the full story here.

• The UN Disaster is Obama’s Fault.(Commentary).For many liberal pundits, the blame for the circus that will unfold this week at the UN with the start of a debate over Palestinian statehood is to be assigned to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu whom they wrongly claim has obstructed peace talks. Others are inclined, with more justice, to put the onus for the problem on Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas​ whose pursuit of UN recognition of statehood without first making peace with Israel is seen as both futile and counter-productive to the end that he claims to seek.But the lion’s share of the blame ought to fall on President Obama. Though peace talks were stalled when he took office in January 2009, the deterioration of a relatively stable standoff into the volatile situation that exists today is due in no small measure to the blunders that the president’s team has committed over the past 32 months. Though friends of Israel will rightly give Obama credit for sticking to his word and vetoing the Palestinian resolution — a stand that will be undertaken as much if not more in defense of U.S. interests than those of the Jewish state — the diplomatic disaster that is about to be played out is the fruit of his own misjudgments.The debate in the UN this fall is just one more chapter in the ongoing war against Israel. The Palestinians will not get a state from this show and it may well be that Abbas and the PA will lose more from the resulting tumult than anyone else including Netanyahu. But it must also be understood as a profound defeat for American diplomacy that was only made possible by the hubris of Barack Hussein Obama.Hmmmm.....BullsEye.Read the full story here.

• Mother of 4 terrorist murderers chosen by the PA to launch statehood campaign.(PalWatch).By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik.The Palestinian Authority chose the mother of 4 terrorist murderers, one of whom killed seven Israeli civilians and attempted to killed twelve others, as the person to launch their statehood campaign with the UN. In a widely publicized event, the PA had Latifa Abu Hmeid lead the procession to the UN offices in Ramallah and to hand over a letter for the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.The official PA daily reported that she launched the UN campaign last week, and noted that she is the "mother of seven prisoners and of the Shahid (Martyr) Abd Al-Mun'im Abu Hmeid." However, the paper did not mention that 4 of her imprisoned sons are murderers. Palestinian Media Watch reported last year that Abu Hmeid then had 4 sons in Israeli prisons who were each serving between two and seven life sentences, a total of 18 life sentences. At that time she was in the news because the PA Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, decided to honor her with an award, "the Plaque of Resoluteness and Giving... inscribed with the names of her four sons who are imprisoned."The PA minister explained then why the mother of 4 murderers of Israelis deserves such honor:"It is she who gave birth to the fighters, and she deserves that we bow to her in salute and in honor."The four sons are serving a total of 18 life sentences for the following crimes:

Nasser Abu Hmeid - 7 life sentences + 50 years - commander in Fatah's military wing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Ramallah. Convicted of killing seven Israeli civilians and 12 attempted murders.

Nasr Abu Hmeid - 5 life sentences - Member of terror faction of Fatah, Tanzim, and convicted of involvement in two terror attacks and arms dealing.

Sharif Abu Hmeid - 4 life sentences - a member in one of the brothers' units carrying out terror attacks against civilians and soldiers. Accompanied a suicide bomber to his attack in March 2002.

Muhammad Abu Hmeid - 2 life sentences + 30 years - involvement in terror attacks.

A fifth son, Abd Al-Mun'im Muhammad Yusuf Naji Abu Hmeid, the one referred to as "Martyr," was a member of the military wing of Hamas, Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, and planned and carried out the ambush and murder of an Israeli intelligence officer.

PMW has not been able to determine for which crimes the rest of the sons are imprisoned.Hmmmm......"Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us". Golda Meir.Read the full story here.

• Top US intelligence official visits Turkey.(TodaysZaman).US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has arrived in Ankara for a surprise visit, a news report said on Monday.Clapper arrived in Ankara on Sunday evening and began talks with Turkish officials on Monday morning, private NTV television reported. There was no official statement on Clapper's visit from Turkish or US authorities.Clapper is having talks at the General Staff, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Foreign Ministry, according to NTV. His talks focus on the planned deployment of a US radar system as part of a NATO-backed missile defense system in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya and the fight against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as well as the developments in the Middle East.Turkey announced earlier this month that it had agreed to the deployment of the X-Band radar as part of NATO's missile defense system, designed to protect the European allies of NATO from missile threats that could stem from Russia or Iran. Turkey had insisted during the course of negotiations over hosting the US radar that no country should be mentioned as a source of threat, a demand accepted by the US and other allies.On Sunday, Turkish officials denied earlier reports that Clapper was to visit Turkey soon.The US has been sharing intelligence with Turkey about the movements of the PKK in a joint effort to combat the terrorist group. Turkish and American officials have recently discussed the possibility of predator drones being stationed at bases in Turkey.Given the fact that US withdrawal from Iraq is only weeks away, the American military may soon send its unmanned aerial vehicles home. Turkey, which has found half of its own unmanned aerial vehicles impounded by its formerly close ally Israel, has suggested instead that they be stationed in Turkey for intelligence gathering against the PKK.Hmmmm......The fact that Clapper is in Ankara is for me once again proof that Obama backs Erdogans behaviour against Israel and Cyprus.Don't listen to what i say but notice what i do.Read the full story here.

• Barry Rubin takes a Shotgun aproach to Obama's politics and gives it two barrels worth.(PajamasMedia).I accuse President Barack Obama of Destroying Western Interests in the Middle East, Helping Destabilize the Region, and Putting Millions of Lives in Jeopardy.By Barry Rubin.Think of how outrageous my headline is:

“Destroying Western Interests in the Middle East, Helping Destabilize the Region, and Putting Millions of Lives in Jeopardy”

Do you think that’s extremist, crazy, can’t be true because you’re not seeing that stuff in the New York Times? You must be a right-wing Republican, you say?No, just a serious Middle East analyst.On the tenth anniversary of September 11, almost three years after Obama’s election is the suitable time to confront this issue honestly and fully. So consider fairly and honestly the list of points below.

Egypt: Obama supported a revolution overthrowing a U.S. ally—rather than a smooth transition replacing the dictator and instituting some reform without dropping the entire regime—disregarding State Department advice and not even consulting with Jordan, Israel, or Saudi Arabia! He also unilaterally announced his readiness to see the Muslim Brotherhood in power. His analysts denied that the Brotherhood is a radical, anti-American Islamist organization that supports terrorism. The resulting dangerous crisis, including Egypt becoming a new type of Iran, is now clear to all.

Israel-Palestinian Peace Process: By distancing himself from Israel, removing all pressure from the Palestinians, unilaterally proposing a freeze of Israeli construction on settlements, and repeatedly messing up the effort to restart negotiations, Obama made the peace process situation worse. His failure to handle properly the Palestinian UN unilateral independence bid has put U.S. policy in a terrible mess, with an American veto leading to large-scale anti-Americanism and probable violence both by Palestinians against Israel and by Muslims against the United States.

Israel: The damage the Obama Administration did to Israel was not in bilateral relations or even in the “peace process” but by its role in the deterioration of the regional situation to a dangerous extent. As a result, the two most powerful regional powers that had decent relations with Israel–Egypt and Turkey–turned around 180 degrees; Hamas rule was entrenched in the Gaza Strip; Hizballah’s rule in Lebanon. That’s four of Israel’s “neighbors” that became effectively hostile while the Obama Administration didn’t even notice. As the level of threat rose, U.S. political-diplomatic support for Israel declined.

Turkey: As Turkey continued to move toward being a repressive Islamist state allied with revolutionary Islamism, the U.S. government didn’t notice. Farcically, it promoted the ”Turkish model” and made Turkey its mediator over Syria’s future!

Lebanon: As Lebanon fell under Syria-Iran-Hizballah control, the Obama Administration did nothing. It failed to support the moderates and so they surrendered.

Syria: The Administration pursued the factually ridiculous effort to pull Syria away from Iran and engaged it even as Damascus escalated its support for terrorism, aggression toward Lebanon, killing Americans in Iraq, and then repressing its own people.

Gaza: The Administration gave Hamas indirect aid, made no serious effort to overthrow a radical, anti-American, genocidal-oriented regime, and pressed Israel to reduce sanctions to a minimum. This ensured the survival and strengthening of a pro-terrorist revolutionary Islamist state on the Mediterranean.

Saudi Arabia: Repeated slaps in the face and failure to confront advances by revolutionary Islamists—especially Iran and Syria, as well as abandonment of Mubarak–disgusted this ally. Seeing U.S. weakness, it concluded it has to take care of itself

Iran: After wasting a long time in engagement, the administration finally (at the slowest possible speed) did push sanctions. Yet it still has no strategy for opposing Iran’s non-nuclear methods of subverting neighbors and expanding its influence.

Danger: Obama failed to realize it or to define properly friends and enemies.

Leadership: Despite being begged by different allies, the Obama Administration failed to take leadership.

Empowering Islamism: In his Cairo speech and thereafter, Obama emphasized the Muslim identity of Middle Easterners thus undermining Arab identity and nationalism.

Endangering the lives of American soldiers and civilians: By refusing to allow a proper analysis of Islamism and terrorism. Consider, for example, the Fort Hood attack in which Americans were killed because military officers feared to do their job lest it hurt their promotions.

Libya: Obama entered a war without any strategy for what would happen after Qadhafi fell or any knowledge of who he was helping to promote as the new leadership.

Rejection of basic diplomatic principles: Supporting friends and punishing enemies; credibility; deterrence; coherent strategy.What’s important is the result, not whether you think this has been caused by incompetence; arrogance; a thirst for popularity over responsibility; ideology; a personal antipathy toward Israel (it shouldn’t be exaggerated but it’s there); lack of experience; choosing advisors badly; or ignorance among them. I don’t think it’s been deliberate but what’s shocking is to have a policy so bad that many do. There is nothing inevitably Democratic or liberal about these failings. No previous president or administration—even that of Jimmy Carter—comes close to having so many dangerous failures. Nor is it inevitably a product of Washington, as the State and Defense departments gave him some good intelligence and advice which, if followed, would have greatly reduced the extent of the problems.You can cheer Obama’s continued strategic cooperation with Israel, sanctions on Iran, and engagement in Libya. You can blame on Obama’s predecessor or chant, “Obama killed Osama” and not tireless American intelligence operatives or courageous Navy SEALs. But after all the rationaizations won’t you admit that the situation is still truly shocking?The American people, Middle East allies, US. interests, and the world generally cannot afford another four years of misjudgment and reckless endangerment. Can Obama be trusted to deal with a nuclear-armed Iran; a radical Egypt supporting Hamas; a Turkish regime screaming about fighting Israel, a Palestinian movement that has thrown away any diplomatic alternative?I leave jobs and the economy, medical care, and such to others. On Middle East issues, however, Obama has failed dangerously and badly. He has ignored chances to learn from experience. American national interests require that he be defeated in the next election.Hmmmmm......Amen to this.Read the full story here.

• CBS News: Secret Recordings Show Possible ATF Coverup In Operation “Fast And Furious” Scandal.(CBS).WASHINGTON — CBS News has obtained secretly recorded conversations that raise questions as to whether some evidence is being withheld in the murder of a Border Patrol agent.The tapes were recorded approximately mid-March 2011 by the primary gun dealer cooperating with ATF in its “Fast and Furious” operation: Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. He’s talking with the lead case ATF case agent Hope MacAllister.The tapes have been turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General.As CBS News first reported last February, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to “walk” onto the streets without interdiction into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in its operation “Fast and Furious.”The conversations refer to a third weapon recovered at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.Read the full story here.

• Palestinian Pres Abbas To Obama: “You Promised Me a State By September 2011 — I Hope You Will Deliver”‬.(INN).Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he is willing to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu while the two are in New York.Abbas, already in New York preparing to make his statehood bid to the United Nations on Friday, made the comments in an exclusive interview with Fox News, during which he said he has not given up on negotiations with Israel.“I will meet any Israeli official any time,” said Abbas, “but there is no use if there is nothing tangible.”The PA Chairman also explained his insistence on going to the UN to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state, saying he felt the route of negotiations with Israel had been exhausted.“I felt there is no way for negotiations because the American administration including President Obama exhausted their efforts to bring Netanyahu to the negotiating table,” said Abbas. “They couldn’t convince him to cease the settlement activities.”Abbas also had a message for Obama in the interview: “You promised me a state by September 2011. I hope you will deliver.”Hmmmm.....i'm sure behind closed doors he's saying 'I'm working on it...trust me and Erdogan'.Read the full story here.

• Erdoğan and Obama to meet with heavy agenda, including Israel.(TodaysZaman).Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Barack Obama are to meet in New York on Tuesday to discuss global issues, but the recent tension between Turkey and Israel is expected to dominate the bilateral meeting between the two leaders.The 66th session of United Nations General Assembly opened in New York last week, meaning leaders from all over the world have come together in the US to participate in the largest international body of the world. Erdoğan, having left Turkey for New York on Monday, is expected to have some 20 bilateral meetings with other world leaders as well as to participate in a number of multinational meetings that are planned to be held on the sidelines.Among all others, Erdoğan's meeting with Obama is expected to be the highlight as the two leaders are most likely to share their views on Israel and Palestine. Turkish and US foreign policy has diverged on the issue as Turkey proposed that the US should back the recognition of Palestine in the UN as a sovereign state, a status the US believes should emerge out of state-to-state talks with Israel. Although Palestine and Israel have been engaged in talks for years in order to find a solution to the Israeli embargo and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from lands occupied since 1967, there has, so far, been no progress on either issue. The US, on the other hand, urges Turkey to ease the tension with Israel, as Turkey applied sanctions against the country early September and scaled down diplomatic ties to the level of second secretary and froze all military deals. The US has been vocal about mending the ties between the countries since Israel and Turkey constitute the closest US allies in the region.During the leaders' meeting, Erdoğan is expected to share his Arab Spring tour of last week with Obama, and a strategy against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is expected to be engineered in multinational talks under the roof of the UN.Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who is accompanying Erdoğan in New York with a delegation from his ministry, had a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and another one with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday. Davutoğlu is expected to have talks with his counterparts from Switzerland, Jordan, Georgia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Luxembourg.Erdoğan is also set to address the General Assembly of the UN on Thursday, where he is expected to devote a major part of his speech to the famine in the Horn of Africa and call on world leaders to take steps that will solve the issue permanently, the Anka news agency reported on Monday. Major topics in bilateral talks Erdoğan will have with other leaders are projected to include Turkish-Israeli tension, Syria, Libya and the Arab Spring, a NATO early warning radar system and Cyprus.Erdoğan told reporters ahead of his visit to New York to attend UN meetings that Turkey has many items on its Somalia agenda, referring to meetings of Turkish officials to that end.Erdoğan said he will raise Turkey’s wide array of foreign policy issues ranging from a reaction to a UN report on Mavi Marmara to Turkey’s possible Security Council membership in 2015-2016.Erdoğan said one of the most important topics that he plans to discuss with Obama will be the Palestinian statehood bid. He said the United States always supported two-state solution in the Arab-Israeli conflict and recalled Obama’s last year speech at the United Nations where he hoped to see an independent Palestinian state in 2011. Erdoğan said “we have difficulties to understand their behavior,” referring to the fact that the US will veto Palestinians’ statehood bid at the UN Security Council. Erdoğan said if the Security Council rejects recognizing Palestinian state, the motion will come to the UN General Assembly where states will overwhelmingly vote for the recognition of the state. Erdoğan said an independent Palestinian state will grant the Palestinians many rights, which he said seems to be disturbing Israel and the US. Hmmmmm....Somalia perhaps he wants the IHH to deliver more aid to Al-Shabab?Since when does Turkey dictate US foreign Policy?Read the full story here.

• Obama v. Perry: Justice Department Challenges Texas Redistricting Map.(NationalJournal).The Obama administration is issuing its first civil-rights challenge to a redistricting plan against Texas, the state that will gain the most congressional seats from the once-a-decade redrawing of the nation's political map.It marks the first challenge by the Justice Department to a redistricting plan this year and it has major political implications: The fight could determine which party stands a better shot of winning Texas's four new House seats, and it potentially represents the opening round of a political fight between the president and the Lone Star State governor who is vying to unseat him, Republican Rick Perry.Attorneys for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Tuesday said they will fight the Republican-drawn Texas congressional maps in a preclearance trial before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that it violates Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.Latino groups, along with Texas Democrats, had alleged that the Perry-signed congressional map granted Latinos no new net opportunities to elect the candidate of their choice even though Latinos accounted for a majority of the population growth that is earning Texas four new House seats. Texas Republicans, led by Attorney General Greg Abbott, foresaw that the Justice Department would deny them preclearance and are currently going to trial against the department in the D.C. District Court to seek approval for the map.The Justice Department is expected to lay out its specific objections to the maps and stipulations for fixes on Tuesday. So far, the Justice Department has been relatively lenient in clearing state redistricting plans, disappointing some Democrats earlier this summer by approving a Republican-drawn map in Louisiana that denied African Americans a second majority seat. However, given the Latino surge and high stakes in Texas, Democrats were not surprised that Justice Department lawyers found the Texas plan to be discriminatory to Latinos in its intent and effect. Had the Texas plan been OK'd, said Democratic redistricting attorney Gerald Hebert, “I would think that there’s nobody home at the Justice Department.”Given Texas Republicans’ legal strategy to bypass the Justice Department, the Civil Rights Division’s stance shouldn’t come as a surprise to the GOP either. But according to one GOP redistricting expert who requested anonymity in order to speak more candidly about the process, the fight over the Texas map is now entering the “kind of worst possible world.” The expert predicts the Justice Department's position and large number of interveners in the case could add up to an extended discovery phase and a long and costly trial at the D.C. District Court, which could prompt a federal court in San Antonio to “draw a de novo plan using the current plan as a benchmark.”Read the full story here.

• Germany to Relocate Islamist, Seal Streets During Papal Visit.(Herald).Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Germany next week will be accompanied by tight security measures, police announced Thursday, including the relocation of an outspoken Islamist and forcing residents to seal windows along the pontiff’s motorcade routes.Benedict is to pay a state visit to Berlin and two other cities Sept. 22-25. Since becoming pope, he has visited his homeland twice in his capacity as a religious leader, but this time he will be honored as head of state of the Vatican.A 26-year-old man who served jail time for assisting an Islamist terrorist plot – but who is now is free on parole in the southern city of Freiburg – was served an order requiring him to relocate while the pope is in the city on Sept. 25, a court official said.The man’s name has been withheld from publication under Germany’s media privacy guidelines.In Berlin, police said residents were banned from watching the papal motorcade through open windows. For security reasons, every window in apartment blocks flanking the avenues must remain shut.In Erfurt, the other city the pope is to visit, residents will not be allowed to line the road as the pope drives into town. Police said nobody would be allowed to approach closer than 50 meters to the motorcade route.About 100 opposition legislators, who object to teachings of the Catholic Church, plan to boycott an address by the pope to the Bundestag, or parliament, on Thursday. The chamber has 620 members.While bishops in Germany have been restrained in their comments on the Bundestag boycott, referring to the democratic right to disagree, a Vatican cardinal was more forthright.“The parliamentarians ought to consider how this will look from abroad,” Walter Brandmueller, who is German, told the mass-circulation daily Bild.“They’ll boost the image of the ‘ugly Germans,’ which sadly still exists,” the cardinal added.Parliamentary officials said the empty seats would be filled by guests.Read the full story here.

• Meet Hassan Bey,Who Is this Man, and Why Was He So Hated?(AlexanderMunch).Hassan Bey, Turkish Commandant of Jaffa, 1914.Until their defeat in 1917, the Turks ruled Palestine, often with an iron first. The American Colony photographers maintained a photo album of the last years of the Turkish control. Of this man, Hassan Bey, the album bore this caption: "The Tyrant of Jaffa." The opinion was shared by the Jews of Palestine who were often rounded up and in many cases expelled from the country. Turkish rulers were particularly harsh against "Zionists" who were often viewed as "separatist" agents for foreign countries like Russia.Hmmmm....Not much has changed in the 'Turkish way' it seems. Read the full story here.

• Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoğlu walks out on Ayalon speech in NYC.(YNet).Washington – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu left an international conference on terror just moments before Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon was set to address its participants.Other than Davutoğlu and Ayalon, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé and his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini also spoke an the conference. Ayalon's personal history with Turkish official was muddied in 2010, when he summoned Turkish Ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to the Foreign Ministry to reprimand him over an anti-Israel Turkish TV show and made him sit on a chair lower than his own – an act perceived as a deliberate humiliation of Ankara's diplomat.Nevertheless, it is possible that the Turkish FM would have left regardless of the Israeli speaker's identity, as it is common for Turkish diplomats to leave international venues as Israeli diplomats are about to speak. Ayalon's address focused on the need for the international to act in unison against Iran's "terror policies." The deputy foreign minister called Iran an "international terror hub" and urged the international community to increase its enforcement of the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, as well as on Hezbollah and Hamas. Ayalon also mentioned Israel's contribution and assistance to the UN and various international bodies in the war on terror, noting Israel's anti-terror collaborations in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia and in Latin America. Commenting on Davutoğlu's departure, ayalon said he was sorry that "not all NATO members see fit to cooperate with Israel (stance) in the session." Earlier Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Turkish FM and urged him to "leave the door ajar" for the normalization of Israel-Turkey relations, which are at an all time low.A source privy to the two's meeting told Ynet that Clinton used the one-hour meeting to try and repair the rift between Jerusalem and Ankara. "Clinton wants to see Israel and Turkey find a way to mend their relationship, which is so important." Another senior American source said that Clinton reminded Davutoğlu that the "Middle East is at a time when it does not need any more regional tensions." Read the full story here.

• Turkey, Egypt to Drill for Natural Gas in the Mediterranean, Threatening Israel’s Energy Dreams.By John Daly.(Oilprice).What a difference fifteen months makes.In May 2010 Israel’s cold peace with Egypt was viable, the country was celebrating massive Mediterranean natural gas finds and Tel Aviv enjoyed a military alliance with Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation.Two events have changed that picture beyond all recognition – Israel’s 31 May 2010 attack on the peaceful Gaza-bound “Freedom flotilla,” during which Israeli Shayetet 13 Naval Special Forces commandos killed eight Turkish citizens and an American, Furkan Dogan. Outraged by the assault, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded an apology and compensation for the unprovoked attack.He’s still waiting.The second regional game changer has been the startling events of the “Arab Spring,” which following unprecedented massive public demonstrations, on 11 February led to the resignation of Egypt’s President, Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for 29 years.One of Israel's greatest benefits from the 1973 Camp David Accords was its ability to import Egyptian natural gas through Egypt's $500 million East Mediterranean Gas Company Ltd. (EMG) pipeline. EMG was established in 2000 and jointly owned by Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. owning 68.4 percent, the private Israeli company Merhav a 25 percent share and the Ampal-American Israel Corp. the remaining 6.6 percent.Following Mubarak’s downfall a series of attacks were made on the EMG pipeline, which supplied about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas imports, until an assault on 12 July led to its shutdown.Switching gears, the Netanyahu government downplayed the importance of the pipeline shutdown, obviously looking forward to the swift development of its Mediterranean natural gas assets, the Tamar field, discovered in 2009 and Leviathan, discovered the following year. In June an Israeli company announced the discovery of two new natural gas fields, Sarah and Mira, about 45 miles off the city of Hadera.Initial prospecting estimates of the Tamar and Leviathan fields, off Haifa, concluded that the two sites between them could hold as much as 688 billion cubic meters of extractable natural gas. In 2010 the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the Levant Basin Province, covering parts of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus, could contain as much as 3.4 trillion cubic meters of gas and up to 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil.The energy assets have focused the Israeli government’s attention - on 9 August The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli military had deployed drones to patrol its gas fields off its northern coast in water contested with Lebanon.The sites have already raised tensions with Lebanon, which contests Israel’s self-proclaimed maritime borders giving them possession. On 4 August Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said, “We will not allow anyone to lay his hand on our wealth, which our children and grandchildren deserve. We will not only pass debts to them but also a wealth that will guarantee them a better future so that they remain in Lebanon.” It should be noted that the two countries remain technically at war and will not negotiate directly with one another.Now the wheel has taken another turn, as Turkish Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z said earlier this week during an official visit to Egypt that Turkey intends to cooperate with Egypt in searching for natural gas in the Mediterranean.It is one thing for Israel to take on Hezbollah, based in southern Lebanon and Lebanon’s modest military forces – it would be quite another thing to mix it up with Turkey’s military, the second largest in NATO, or Egypt’s forces.Hmmmm......All this thanks to Barack Hussein Obama's policies.Remember him when gas go's to $10 a gallon.Read the full story here.

• Why did Abbas change his mind last week?(AIM).By Alan Caruba.Last week, Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian Authority would not make a bid for statehood at the United Nations. That may have had something to do with massive pressure from the United States, Europe, and Saudi Arabia.You can always trust a Palestinian’s word, right? Wrong. The next day, September 15, Abbas said the PA had changed its mind and would go to the UN Security Councilto ask that it grant statehood to Palestine, admitting it as a full-fledged member.He must have gotten a call from Turkey’s Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogen, who has been spoiling for a war with Israel and has been urging the Arab League to join in. It might have something to do with Erdogen’s beef with Greece that announced that it will begin drilling for natural gas on Monday, September 19, in Cyprus’s offshoreAphrodite field. The Turkish air force has been watching the rig, owned by Houston-based Noble Energy, move from Israel to Cyprus.This is probably as good a way to start World War Three as any. It has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with the decades of bad blood between Greece and Turkey that includes a divided Cyprus.Israel, founded in 1948, has been through five wars with its “neighbors”, endless terrorism and rocketing, and has been openly threatened with nuclear destruction by Iran.The only thing I can guarantee you is that Israel will be blamed for whatever happens.This week is also the occasion for the United Nations celebration of “Durban III.” It is an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel hate fest in which every other nation in the world that practices racism is ignored and Israel is identified as the lone offender; largely because the Palestinians have refused every offer of peace and statehood made to them.Hmmmmm......What exactly is the role of Obama and Erdogan in all this?Read the full story here.

• Fifteen injured in explosion in Turkish capital: reports.(HurriyetDaily).An explosion rocked the center of Ankara on Tuesday morning, injuring 15 people and damaging surrounding vehicles, Reuters reported via Turkish broadcasters.The cause of the blast, whose source was apparently a vehicle in the area, was not immediately clear.A reporter from broadcaster NTV said surrounding vehicles were thrown around by the force of the blast. Shops near the point of explosion were damaged beyond recognition, he added.The wreckage of the vehicle was so badly damaged, it was not possible to tell what type of a vehicle it was, NTV reporter said.Police have cordoned off the area with suspicion of an explosive device. The bomb squad was also deployed to the location of the blast.The injured were taken to different hospitals in Ankara.Meanwhile, a woman chanting slogans near the site of the blast was detained by the police.Read the full story here.

• Will Erdogan attack a US Firm working on Cyprus?Erdogan threatens Cyprus over offshore drilling.(Ynet).Turkey-Cyprus tensions nearing boiling point? Cyprus announced Monday that it has contracted US-based Noble Energy to do exploratory drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus despite the area being the center of a dispute it has with Turkey. Turkey had warned Cyprus against any such move in the past and in a significant escalation of tensions, Ankara said that it would send warships to protect its claims to submarine resources in the area."Turkey's frigates, gunboats and its air force will constantly monitor developments in the area," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that Turkey will begin its own oil and gas search as early as this week. Noble Energy, based in Houston, is now smack in the middle of the escalating dispute over mineral deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, complicated by the status of Cyprus. The island has been divided since 1974 into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, which is recognized only by Turkey.The dispute is not only where any future energy revenues flow, but who has the right to what undersea riches when the status of the nearby land itself is unresolved. Cypriot energy chief Solon Kassinis said Monday that workers on a Noble rig have already drilled 260 feet beneath the seabed about 115 miles off the island's southern coast. The area in question is near sizable gas finds within Israeli waters, and within Cyprus' exclusive economic zone – an area marked out following agreements with Egypt, Israel and Lebanon delineating editerranean undersea borders to facilitate the search for mineral deposits. The Turkish government does not recognize the Cypriot government in the south, and vigorously protested the August announcement of Noble's intentions. Turkey says the Greek Cypriot drilling can derail long-running talks to reunify the island."This exclusive economic zone is disputed and we have told them that it is not right for them to take such a step in this area," Erdogan told reporters on Monday.Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that unless Cyprus halted the drilling, his country would send its own energy research ship out escorted by the Turkish navy."This work will be carried out together with the escort," Yildiz told reporters. "There will be no turning back on this issue."Turkey has been pursuing an increasingly muscular foreign policy since the reelection of its religiously rooted government in June. It expelled the Israeli ambassador this month in a dispute over a deadly Israeli raid last year on a Turkish aid convoy to the Gaza Strip and pledged to send its navy to escort future aid convoys. Turkey has also renewed threats to freeze all ties with the European Union if Cyprus is allowed to assume the presidency of the 27-nation group next July before a settlement that would allow the Turkish north to be a legitimate representative of the reunified state.Hmmmm....The go ahead for the NATO rocketshield in Turkey has transformed Turkey in the Bully Turkey thinking they can do all they want in the 'New Ottoman Empire'.The 'Sick man From Europe' is back.Read the full story here.

• Turkish bombing heavily affecting Kurdish villages.(Firat).Turkish army air raids heavily damaged the infrastructures of many villages in South Kurdistan and a big number of animals have perished in the region. The raids launched on 18th September in Tepê, Tank and Qaşura areas of Haftanin targeted roads used by villagers and their grazing lands. While the people in the area struggled long hours to extinguish the fire, many forested areas were burnt out and asphalt roads became unusable. People in the village of Kêstê reacted and urged the Kurdish government to intervene in the situation. While Kovan Ahmet, a student in Kêsnê village, says that the attack destroyed animals and heavily damaged the substructure, another civilian Cotyar Haci remarked that the attacks targeted civilian areas. “By doing so, they force us to evacuate our villages”, says Cotyar Haci pointing to the areas damaged by the attacks.Another civilian Hakim Ismail demands the ending of the "inhuman" attacks.Attacks by Iranian and Turkish armies mostly bring damage to civilians in Southern Kurdistan. The Iranian attacks killed five civilians between July 16 and September 4, three civilians in the second half of July and two civilians during the bombardment between September 2 and 4th. On the other hand, Turkish attacks killed seven people, included four children and two women, targeting a civilian vehicle in Kortek village of Pişder on August 21. Turkish warplanes have been bombing South Kurdistan since August 17. At least 13 people were wounded in the attacks of the two countries.According to the Kurdish government, at least 35 villages were damaged, lands and forested areas were burnt out, 250 animals were perished and hundreds of people were subjected to migration as a result of the Iranian bombardment in the region.Hmmmm.....Using the tactic of 'scorched earth' before Winter sets in.Human rights ever heard of them?Read the full story here.

• EU Commission wants Turkey, Cyprus to show restraint and tells Erdogan No Change In Cyprus holding Presidency next year.(Arabnews).A standoff between Ankara and Nicosia deepened on Monday when Turkey, a candidate for EU membership, called on the Greek Cypriot government to halt immediately gas exploration work off Cyprus. It said its navy might need to escort Ankara’s energy exploration ships in the region.The Turkish warning followed a new round of anti-Cyprus rhetoric in Ankara on Sunday when Turkey’s deputy prime minister said Turkey would freeze relations with the European Union if it went ahead and gave Cyprus the rotating EU presidency next year.A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said there were no plans to change the schedule of which EU member takes the helm of the 27-member bloc.“We are not considering this. Cyprus is scheduled to take over the presidency in July next year,” Maja Kocijancic told reporters in Brussels.She said priority should be given to solving a row over northern Cyprus, which Turkey recognizes as a separate state. The north broke away from the Greek Cypriot part of the island in 1974 after a Turkish invasion triggered by a Greek-inspired coup.“The EU calls on all parties to make all efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible,” Kocijancic told a regular briefing of the EU’s executive Commission.“All parties should exercise restraint and do their utmost to facilitate successful completion of this process,” she said.Turkey’s EU bid has flagged since Ankara started negotiations in 2005, largely because of the stalemate over northern Cyprus and because of reservations among some EU states about the possible admission of the largely Muslim country.EU leaders are due to review Turkey’s membership bid in December.Hmmmm.....Europe 1 - Turkey 0.Read the full story here.

• Israel to recall police envoy to Turkey.(Ynet).Israel has decided to end its police cooperation with Turkey, transferring the police attaché stationed in Ankara to Romania, an official with the Ministry of Public Security told AFP on Monday.Ministry Spokesman Tal Volovitch said that Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch has decided to transfer Israel's Ankara-based homeland security representative to Bucharest.Volovitch noted that the decision stemmed from the deteriorating bilateral relations between the two countries. The spokesman added that "The Israel Police continues to maintain missions in many other countries, particularly to coordinate the war on drugs and criminal activity."The move is yet another blow to Israel and Turkey's strained relations, which hit an all time low in early September, when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the downgrading of diplomatic ties between the once-close strategic allies, to second-secretary level, in wake of the UN's Palmer Report.Read the full story here.

• Religious Groups Call on Turkey to Draft Secular Constitution.(Aina).By Yonca Poyraz Dogan. A number of religious groups' leaders who gathered on Monday to introduce a study on the demands of various religious groups in Turkey said that the new constitution of the country should be secular."This is a Sunni state because the Religious Affairs Directorate sponsors only the affairs of Sunni adherents of Islam. No Jewish, no Christian, no Alevi can get a cent from the huge budget of the directorate. There is no such secular state in the world," said İzzettin Doğan, the head of the Cem Foundation, an Alevi organization.Speaking at the release of the study, "Belief Groups in Turkey: A new framework aimed at issues and demands," hosted by the İstanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University and its Education Reform Initiative, Doğan emphasized the importance of being neutral, non-discriminative and maintaining an equal distance to all belief groups in a secular state."The Religious Affairs Directorate should be restructured from A to Z to include all religious groups," Doğan added and said that their work will help to push the government to not put its intentions to make a new constitution aside.Tosun Terzioğlu, the rector of Sabancı University, who opened the meeting that was attended by religious leaders of almost all faiths in Turkey, said that a new and pro-freedoms constitution is necessary in today's Turkey, which has been going through a process of transformation.A debate for a new constitution has been ongoing in Turkey, which still has the military-sponsored Constitution of 1982 that came after the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup that restricts many individual freedoms -- including freedom of religion.Speaking also at the opening of the meeting, Turkish Syriac Catholic Bishop Yusuf Sağ called on all representatives of the Turkish Parliament to keep an equal distance to all citizens in Turkey regardless of their belief system."When we demand such a constitution, we demand our basic rights as citizens, we don't ask for a favor," he said.Some lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), including Ali Özgündüz and İbrahim Yiğit, were present at the introduction of the study started by the Alevi Foundations Federation (AVF) and supported by İstanbul Bilgi University researchers Ayhan Kaya and Özge Genç. Representatives from many belief groups addressed in the study include Catholic, Protestant and Apostolic Armenians; Jews; Greek Orthodox; Catholic and Orthodox Assyrians; Bahá'ís; Protestants; Yazidis and Sunnis; and Alevi and Shia Muslims, including Hanefis, Shafi'is, Alevis, Nusayris, Mevlevis and Caferis.One of the most important findings of the study is that there is no institutionalization when it comes to the relationship between the state and various belief groups."There is a lack of legislation to establish, organize and direct those relations," the study states indicating that interviewees point out that representatives of belief groups have had "closer" and "warmer" relations in recent years with high-level state officials, however, those relations usually remain at a personal level and there is difficulty in making them institutionalized."That means that the Turkish Republic does not have policies regarding belief systems based on democratic institutions and legal ground," the study emphasized.As a result, the study suggests that the issue of religious freedom should be handled in line with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). For example, the ECtHR ruled last year in a case filed by a Turkish citizen who is a member of the Alevi community that listing religions on identity cards, whether obligatory or optional, is in violation of human rights.The report's suggestions included that opening places of worship should be a right; the state should take initiatives regarding handing down religious beliefs from one generation to another, religious leaders' selection and education; beliefs and members of religious groups should not be seen as threatening elements to societal and cultural security, and they should be treated as Turkey's historical and cultural richness; and all religious groups should be treated equally without discriminating against them.Read the full story here.

• Taliban Website:"The Ummah has No Alternative for Jihad; It will Continue Until the Day of Judgment".(Memri).Taliban Website Says Arab Spring Revolutions are No Substitute for Jihad: 'No One Should Think that a Revolution Over Unemployment will Close the Wine Shops And Nightclubs'.The author argued that Allah aids even infidels if Muslims go astray, noting: "We must know and understand that what has occurred in Egypt and Tunisia comes from the promise of Allah to support His oppressed and defeated servants to aid them against their oppressors. Our merciful Lord aids even the infidel against those who oppress him, even if the oppressor is Muslim.""In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful:

"Mistaken are those who think that the establishment of shari'ah will emerge from the womb of revolutions which are calling for freedom, and mistaken are those who believe that these revolutions are an alternative to the way of the b believers or the path to a sound manhaj. When the banners of truth are borne by those who are not of its people, then these banners become blind guides colored by desires and caprice. Who said that truth could be championed by falsehood, the very argument used to refute it? Who claimed that the banner of truth is being raised by those gangs of falsehood who oppose it?"Those proclaiming these revolutions must devote their banners to the deen [path/religion] of Allah in order to achieve their security and faith. The Shari'ah of Allah is sufficient to guarantee a good lifestyle and a secure life.[Koranic verses:]

"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him will We give a new life, a life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions."

 "Those who believe and work righteousness, for them is forgiveness and sustenance most generous."

"A person may be oppressed in his person, dispossessed of his wealth, his family humiliated, and his dignity wasted. This does not give him the right, if he triumphs over the one who wronged him, to become a regent over others and to set up for them regimes and constitutions that accord with his whims and desires. He who thanks Allah after being delivered from oppression should comply with the command of his Lord by establishing the rule of shari'ah. The fortune of those might change after Allah aids them, but they will never arrive at the divine program while raising partisan banners, calling for democracy, and demanding freedoms."

"These Revolutions and Their People will Not Recover Palestine, Nor will They Take the Place of Jihad and the Mujahideen and Expel the Invaders and Conspirators from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia"

"This lesson is a warning and admonishment to the unjust (ones) so that they may turn away from their injustice and oppression, and it is assistance to the oppressed, so that he may thank Allah for His grace. This is what we must understand so that we do not make this aid into a way to attain empowerment on earth, while we call for foul constitutionalism without guidance from the deen and shari'ah of Allah and neglect to aid deen and its partisans. "Read, if you will, the Book of your Lord: 'Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), and He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion – the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: ‘They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me.' If any do reject faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked.'

[Koranic verse:] "'O ye who believe! If ye will aid the cause of Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly.'

"These revolutions and their people will not recover Palestine, nor will they take the place of jihad and the mujahideen and expel the invaders and conspirators from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia. Their banners are a morsel of bread and eliminating unemployment, drowning in worldly desires, and following whims and keeping a distance from jihad fi Sabeel [in the path of] Allah.

"[Koranic verse:] '(They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right, (for no cause) except they say, ‘our Lord is Allah.' Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid His (cause), for verily Allah is full of strength, exalted in might (able to enforce His will).'"Read the full story here.

• The Muslim Caliphate is Coming; Christians Must Choose Between Jizya, Conversion, or War.(Coptic Solidarity).“Nobody denies that the Salafi current has the greatest share in initiating the revolution, as it exposed to the people the loyalty of the Arab regimes to the West, their squandering of the resources of the Umma [Islamic Nation], and their failing to preserve its holy sites.” This is what a leader of the Jihadi-Salafi current, Muhammad Mustafa, also known as “Abu Shadi”, said, stressing that the Salafis never stayed away from politics, but rather applied it in accordance to their understanding of Sharia, and that they also played the role of “enlightening before revolutionizing,” recognizing that popular revolts are the greatest means for change. Abu Shadi also confirms that he was one of Tahrir Square’s preachers during the revolution, and that Jihadi Salafism is present in Egypt, and in large numbers, in the millions, according to him.In Abu Shadi’s view, the street [i.e., the average Muslim Egyptian] is in complete agreement with Salafism, and the attack on the Salafis comes from the “enemies of Islam,” or, in his opinion, “the forces of infidels and crusaders.” Moreover, he confirms, with confidence, that the Egyptian Islamic movements have the “mechanism to deal with the infidels”. Abu Shadi sees that it was only fear, and perhaps error [of judgment], which led some Salafi preachers to call against going out [to protest] against Mubarak. He pointed out that Mubarak fought Islamists, and harmed Islam, because he helped the crusaders occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that “there is no obedience to whoever does not govern according to Sharia.” For him, the conditions to be a ruler of a Muslim state are to be Muslim, masculine, and possess [religious] knowledge — even to the degree of being an exegete.He called upon the Islamic movements to carefully distinguish between believers and infidels. The leading Salafi explains: “We do not transgress against the Nassara [or “Nazarenes,” the Quranic appellation for Christians], but they must either pay jizya [tribute, and assume inferior status], convert to Islam, or war. He adds: [Samuel] Huntington said the truth even though he was a liar, for the coming struggle is the clash of civilizations, and Islam will be victorious and rule the world with an “Islamic caliphate”. . . Abu Shady belittles the symbols of secularism in the “lands of Muslims,” describing them as few [in number], and points out that there is confusion among the people regarding “the fact that they are infidels.” He threatened that a statement will be shortly published by the Salafis, revealing the truth about them [the secularists], which “will make the masses beat them with shoes, for we must fight them because they are in the trench of infidelity,” according to the Salafi leader.Al-Qaeda has a sacred status to Abu Shadi, as its members are “the companions after the [Prophet's] Companions” [i.e., the most faithful of Muslims] adding that it gave the Umma an unprecedented boost, by leading it towards a legitimate goal. He said that the masses rose against the Arab rulers thanks to al-Qaeda and what it presented by way of statements and facts, in sound and image. In a tone full of aspirational gladness, he stressed that the idea of jihad is still alive in Egypt, and that “the struggle will continue until the Umma stands up to the two camps, namely, [for] faith and [against] infidelity.”The leading Salafi then goes back in memory to a dark corner, when he published an article entitled “A Vision for Change” in an Islamic blog, which caused his arrest on charges of incitement to revolt against the regime. He says “In prison, electricity was used all over my body.”For him, Sufi and Shiite thoughts are quite similar, and are both the main reason for the occupation of the lands of Islam. “Sufism is a malignant disease, a dagger in the body of the Umma; we must get rid of it in order for the Umma to recover — and a strong wind will come to wipe out the enemies of Allah.”Hmmmmm.....The Religion Of peace.Read the full story here.