Floatin' Powa News Service: Not Suitable for Children ~

"Palestinian" Christians expelled from Iraq to come to America
The article does not state they are Christians, the only reason I know is I have been following their expulsion from Iraq. So riddle me this....We (USA) go to Iraq and depose Saddam. Among the results of this war: Sharia Law is established in the Iraqi Constitution - which was NOT there before - and the expulsion and serial murder of Iraqi Christians begins where they had previously lived in safety and security. So, you tell me why TF we went there, and who's side we are really on.

Mr. Krikorian said the US should be the last refuge for those fleeing persecution. Only Jordan of all the Arab countries routinely grants citizenship to Palestinian refugees, he noted. More recently, said Mr. Frelick, Jordan has also shut its borders to Palestinians coming from Iraq.

Because they are CHRISTIAN refugees, not Muslims. Matter of fact I am shocked we are taking them.

CHRISTIANS OF IRAQ

Search: Christians Murdered Iraq

January 2008:
JORDAN: AUTHORITIES EXPEL FOREIGN CHRISTIANS

October 2008:
Thousands of Christians expelled from Mosul, Iraq

Islamic fundamentalists: "Expel Christians from Mosul"

UNDERSTANDING FASCISM & ANTI-SEMITISM

In 1932 Mussolini declared that the 20^th century would be the "Fascist century" by stating:

"If it is admitted that the nineteenth century has been the century of Socialism, Liberalism and Democracy, it does not follow that the twentieth must also be the century of Liberalism, Socialism and Democracy. Political doctrines pass; peoples remain. It is to be expected that this century may be that of authority, a century of the "Right," a Fascist century."

Mussolini and his followers believed that this ideology was the best hope for "saving Western Civilization". What, then, is fascism exactly?

ISNA Convention - Mythical Moderate Taqiyyalopes, Popes of Laodicea & Gubbmint Dhimmis

Umar's radicalism is no secret. He previously hailed the 9/11 hijackers as martyrs who were secretly admired by Muslims. He has called for violent jihad. In a January 2004 speech, he urged people:

"Rise up and fight. And fight them until turmoil is no more and strike terror into their hearts." You think there is no terror in Quran? It's called [word unclear] read it in the 56^th Surah of the Quran. There's no lack of translation, there's no mistranslation There's not one Sheikh says one thing, no, it's very clear. 'When you fight, you strike terror into the heart of the disbeliever.'"

More Koom Bah MFing Humbug in Boston:
Starring the ignorant Popes of Laodicea and Co.

The controversy over the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury Crossing has posed one of the biggest challenges to interfaith relations in Boston in years, and the tension was readily on display during the Friday morning opening ceremonies for the new mosque.

Inside the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, mosque backers hosted an interfaith breakfast whose honorary cochairmen included an Episcopal bishop, a Catholic priest, and the heads of the Black Ministerial Alliance, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.

Critics have accused the mosque’s backers of being extremists and radicals, but much of the mainstream Christian leadership, as well as the political leadership, in Boston appears to have rejected the allegations. On the way in to the breakfast, I encountered Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts and asked him why he was there. He noted that about 400 Muslims who work downtown regularly worship in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and said he wanted “to honor them,’’ he also called the new mosque “much needed for interfaith dialogue.’’

State Department: No 'Green Light' for Israel to Attack Iran
Obama: No green light for Israel to attack Iran
Yes... we KNOW already. And PLEASE....do not subject me to miles of ignorant screaming about how this is Obamanables's doing and he is the Anti-Christ because there was no "green light" from GWB's & Condi's admin EITHER:

President Bush rejected several Israeli requests last year for weapons and permission for a potential airstrike inside Iran, the author of an investigative report told CNN.

HELLO. Obama just gets the glorious photo ops. Letting Israel twist in the wind was decided long before he ever placed his Gramscian Whore ass in that seat.

NOW: Iraqi lawmakers warn Israel against attacking Iran

"Any penetration of Iraqi airspace by an Israeli national would be considered an attack against Iraq," Hassan al-Sanid, a member of Iraq's parliamentary committee on security and defense, said in remarks carried in the Baghdad daily al-Sabbah.

Israel pushes for major upgrade in relations with NATO

Some reports suggest Israel's desire to cooperate with NATO and to up its operational exercises is Israel's further preparation for any attack on Iran

Mullen Sees 'Narrow Window' to Stop Iran
We have zero intentions of stopping Iran and you know it so STFU with the BS already, you are giving me tsuris. And agita.

Admiral Mullen said he is very concerned about a state sponsor of terrorist groups, such as Iran, acquiring nuclear weapons. He said it would be "incredibly destabilizing" and could cause a regional arms race.

But Mullen said he is equally concerned about a possible pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, such as Israel is reported to be contemplating. He said such a move could have a variety of unintended and potentially deadly consequences.

Mullen: 'Iran is very focused on developing nuclear capability'
Guy should join fucking Mensa!

Obama: It's 'important' to talk to Iran, N. Korea

THE GUARDIAN notices General Dayton's US Created Palestinian Nationalist Army:
The Dayton force dilemma

A small battalion of soldiers had taken control of the main junction in Bethlehem and my wife wanted to know how they got there.

Syria demands Golan on 'silver platter'
Just like John the B's head.

Oh no wait! An upgrade:
'We want the Golan on a gold platter'
If you flip the Gold Platter over it will say
MADE IN THE USA

Syria: There is no peace partner in Israel

Germany FM urges Syria to restrain Hamas and Hezbollah
Funniest headline of the day!

Syria, France pledge hands off in Beirut

The Iran-Syria Alliance

Arab Incitement Violating Roadmap Obligations

Hamas tries to detain woman walking with man

Hamas: Mubarak doesn't know soldier's condition

Rise Of Islamist Group Stokes Unease In West Bank
Please take notice of how NPR inserts the qualifier "THIS TIME":

But last Saturday, downtown Ramallah regained some of the air of tension that marked the Israeli-Palestinian violence of the recent past — only this time, Israeli soldiers had nothing to do with it.

Hamas calls Jewish statehood racism
Since Ishmael and Issac were brothers, WTF is this supposed to mean, really? Nothing, and they know it, it is like throwing acid in people's eyes to call them RACISTS though... so the technique, being proven effective, continues to be put to use by scumbags worldwide. Get a new word if you want to critique the Jews... it is not RACISM, we are from the same "race", asshole. We just belong to opposing COVENANTS. Big difference. And you know it.

Half the Arab states are called “Islamic” republic /kingdom of such-and-such. Some bar Jews. The rest oppress Jews and other minorities. The Palestinian Authority and Jordan impose life sentences or worse on those who sell land to Jews. Hamas enforces strict Islamic law on Gazans. Why shouldn’t the Jewish people have a haven from Muslim persecution in a state of their own, in which to pursue their own national destiny? Isn’t it inconsistent of Hamas to deny another people to achieve voluntarily what it imposes upon its own people by beatings?

Hamas’ comment reflects the fundamental reason that the Arabs don’t permit peace. They do not recognize the right of Jews to their own state, primarily for not being Muslims and secondarily for not being Arabs. Hamas’ goal is a caliphate comprising the whole world, including the United States. It wants to impose Islamic law upon everybody. This is a major world problem.

Abbasshole orders release of 40 Hamassholes

Fatah Forces Jews out of Jerusalem Home; Arabs Destroy It

PFLP: Hamas and Fatah do not want unity
NO! Absurd! Unheard of!

What is the Two State Solution supposed to Solve anyway?
THE "JEWISH QUESTION"... That's what.
Glow Ball Peace through Dead Juden, silly headline!

So clearly the Two State Solution is not here to stop terrorism, it’s likely to only make it worse. This also kills any notion that the “Solution” will stabilize the Middle East. How can the Middle East be stabilized by any solution that makes terrorism, the current source of much of the regional instability, worse?

Gaza: Fatah, PFLP, DFLP, PPP meet to discuss unity without Hamas

Fatah, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) sat down without Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Popular Resistance Committees to discuss mechanisms by which parties can bring about national unity.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to West: Stay out of Iran's business

Khamenei's son takes control of Iran's anti-protest militia

The son of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has taken control of the militia being used to crush the protest movement, according to a senior Iranian source.

The source, a politician with strong connections to the security apparatus, said that the leading role being played by Mojtaba Khamenei had dismayed many of the country's senior clerics, conservative politicians and Revolutionary Guard generals.

But these conservatives are reluctant to challenge the Khameneis openly out of fear that any conflict would destabilise the Islamic Republic and weaken Iran in the region. Instead they will use their positions in the organs of state to make it hard for the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to govern.

"This game has not finished. The game has only just started," the source said, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his own position in Iran.

Rights group: Beatings force confessions in Iran
Are they surprised or something? Beating it out of you is an age old proven process my friends.

Silent protests in Iran expected to draw thousands

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut -- Clashes between hundreds of determined young men and women chanting, "Death to the dictator" and "God is great" and security forces wielding truncheons erupted in downtown Tehran today.

The screams of a woman being beaten could be heard from nearby buildings. Business owners could be seen hustling protesters into their buildings to shield them from anti-riot police and plainclothes enforcers.

IRAN: Protesters advised to carry roses as weapons
JESUS SAVE THEM.

Mousavi makes public appearance

Iranian-Kurdish refugees moved to Iraq-Syria border

Almost 200 Iranian-Kurd refugees have been moved from a makeshift camp on the Iraq-Jordan border to a larger camp near Syria, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.Their old camp "situated in no-man's land" near the Iraq-Jordan border has been shut, the UNHCR said in a statement. "The group composed of 186 refugees has been temporarily relocated to Al Waleed refugee camp, on Iraq?s border with Syria," it said.

Killings of Uighurs by China in East Turkistan

Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) said in a statement, "Use of disproportionate force caused death of 140 people and more than 800 injured civilian casualties which took place in the East Turkistan."

China calls it "the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region."

Islamic World Condemns Uighurs Tragedy
Only because it was Muslims. Had these been rioting Christians or Jews they would not say one word. To serious Muslims, only Muslims are PEOPLE. The rest of us are dhimmis or animals and are adressed as such on all levels. Never forget that.

CAIRO — World countries and organizations condemned on Tuesday, July 7, China’s deadly crackdown and excessive use of force against Muslim Uighurs, insisting that China must address the root causes for problems in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region. "The great number of casualties among civilians indicates that the principle of proportionality of the use of force and fire arms was not observed," the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said in a statement.

At least 156 people died and more than 1,000 people injured on Sunday in Urumqi, capital of China's autonomous Muslim-majority Xinjiang region.The authorities crack downed on Uighurs who took to the streets to protest discrimination as well as cultural and religious controls.

Kazakhstan warns against travel to Xinjiang

Now Up To 500 Killed In China Riots

Various media outlets say the death toll from the riots in Urumqi, China is somewhere around 150, but you should figure that this statistic -- like all others from the country -- has been massaged. The Chinese government is obviously concerned with its appearances on this one, as it has taken foreign governments on state-sponsored "tours" of the riot zone, says NYT.

Regardless, other reports, admittedly ones more disposed towards the Uighur rioters are puttting the death toll at 500. (But the rioters haven't Twitter much or uploaded many videos to YouTube, and generally there's nothing pro-West about them, so don't look for them to become a cause celebre anytime soon).

Tension in the region isn't all that surprising, given the ethnic mix (45% Uighurs, who are Muslim, 40% Chinese) and its economy (oil, rare earth metals... all the good stuff).

Russia says China Xinjiang riots internal affair

INDY MEDIA SEZ: If only the Palestinians were Uighurs and Israel was China

If only the Palestinians were Uighurs and Israel was China. Or if only Israel was Sudan and the Palestinians were Darfurians. Or if only the Palestinians were Basques and Israel was Spain, or if only the Palestinians were native Americans and Israel was the United States...

Kazakhstan Creditors 'Driven by Greed' Face 80% Alliance Losses

Belgian businessmen to visit Kazakhstan

Dubaisat-1 reaches Baikonour launch base in Kazakhstan

With only 18 days left for the launch of DubaiSat-1, the first remote sensing satellite developed by a UAE entity - the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science & Technology (EIAST), the satellite has now been shipped from its development base in South Korea to the launch pad in Baikonour in Kazakhstan.

Passport Controls Increased In South Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan approves new US air base agreement

Russian government delegation arrives in Kyrgyzstan

Delegation headed by assistant of Vladimir Putin -Vice Prime Minister Igor Sechin, arrives in Kyrgyzstan from Moscow, sources at the Kyrgyz White House informed the news agency 24.kg. The delegation is reportedly represented by 20 high-ranking officials, including the Russian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov.

The high guests will meet with the President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiev and possibly with representatives of the Kyrgyz government later Tuesday. Visit of the Russian vice prime minister can be called unexpected, as there was no information about the visit up to this day. It can not be excluded that the sides will discuss problems and prospects of Kyrgyz-Russian trade, economic and military cooperation including issues over transit traffic centre at Manas airbase and Russian loan for construction of Kambarata Hydropower station.

Fearful Guantánamo captive wants to stay behind

He's told us he'd rather stay another seven years in Guantánamo than go back to Tajikistan

And who could blame him?

US-Tajikistan Relations

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: No, we are not planning to cut assistance. Tajikistan is one of the largest recipients of United States foreign assistance here in Central Asia. We are assisting Tajikistan on a wide range of fronts and we plan to continue to do so.

QUESTION: What is your view about Central Asia in general in view of some recent developments in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and the activity of Tajik security forces in Eastern Tajikistan?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: I don’t want to talk too much about other developments in Central Asia. The focus of our talks today was on bilateral relations between the United States and Tajikistan. Again, I expressed my appreciation for the very strong cooperation that we have with the government of Tajikistan on counterterrorism, on counternarcotics, border security with respect to Afghanistan, and we talked about a wide range of other issues. We didn’t really talk that much about other Central Asian countries.

TAJIKISTAN: US NOT SEEKING USE OF AYNI AIR BASE, OFFICIALS INSIST

Both Tajik and American sources are taking action to dispel rumors that the US military was offered access to the Ayni air base in Tajikistan, a facility currently earmarked for Russian use.

Iran, Tajikistan to Boost Academic Cooperation

People's Protests in Iran is a Life Lesson for Tajikistan
America too.

The reason Iranian events can be a life lesson for other similar nondemocratic states is that the major part of protesters were youth “generation of after Islamic Revolution.” First, these young people don’t have experience or memory of conflict and uprising of Islamic movement against Shah government and secondly, they are more interested in connecting with modern world values and achievements rather than holding beliefs of 30 years ago. Finally, they do have knowledge, skills, and vision for how to conduct struggle to gain more civil liberties. So, the factors that played a role in such events in near future of 5 years can potentially raise in Tajikistan and other Central Asian states.

To conclude, we should understand that people’s rights for basic human rights such as freedom of expression and speech (controlling media), religious affiliation (interference to religion), access to good quality education (enforcing various imitations in schools and universities), personal spending (placing fines for excessive customs and rituals) and so on can not be disregarded. Otherwise, failure to provide betterment in people’s living standards because of widespread corruption, incapable officials, regionalism, and enacting limitations to personal liberties, can create a condition when one day Tajik youth will be forced to take on peaceful protests.

Orrin Hatch is taking you to Turkmenistan, and you will darn well like it

Turkmenistan Airways, the flag-carrying airline of the central Asian nation of Turkmenistan, was founded in 1992 shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union. From its hub in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat, it serves 21 different destinations across Eurasia. Aboard Turkmenistan Airways, you could fly to such exciting destinations as the Caspian port town of Türkmenbasy; Balkanabat, a hub of petroleum and natural-gas production; or Dasoguz, home of Konya-Urgench, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Why would you want to go to any of those places? Pffft, I don’t know. But in a metaphorical sense, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch wants you to visit, and he’s going to make the world’s major airlines help you get there.

TURKMENISTAN: BERDYMUKHAMEDOV INVITED TO VISIT FRANCE

TURKMENISTAN: MINISTRY OF DEFENSE BUYS RUSSIAN TANKS

Uzbekistan Government's Analysis of Terrorist Group Hizb ut-Tahrir

Spanish FM visits Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan Oil and Gas Markets

UZBEKISTAN: Banned from meeting fellow-believers

Gafur Yusupov, who lives in a home for people with disabilities in eastern Uzbekistan, has been banned from attending his Baptist Church, Forum 18 News Service has learned. All his Christian books and audio tapes have also been taken from him, and he has been banned him from having any contact with his fellow believers.

When Baptists complained, the home told them to talk to the NSS secret police. Asked by what authority the home did this, its director Tahir Gaziev replied: "We have asked the Baptists to show us an official document that says they are allowed to invite people to their meetings. Only after they show us such a document will we allow him [Yusupov] to attend." When Forum 18 asked why Yusupov is not allowed to decide this himself, Gaziev put the phone down.

EUGENICS ALERT:
Uzbekistan Adopts Programme to Strengthen Reproductive Health
All you Uterus are belong to the State

UZBEKISTAN: AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TOUTS NEW FORMS OF COOPERATION!

Uzbek media outlets are touting US Ambassador Richard Norland’s recent comments on how Washington and Tashkent have turned a page on bilateral relations thanks to "high level contacts."

"Drawing on the lessons of the past, Uzbekistan and the United States are pursuing new forms of cooperation on regional security, cultural exchange, human rights, democratic reform and economic investment," the pro-government news site Gazeta.uz quoted Richard Norland as saying.

Norland also commended Uzbekistan’s economic policies. "I want to congratulate Uzbekistan on policies that have helped it avoid some of the most painful effects of the global crisis, and also -- knowing that no country can escape it entirely -- on devising strategies to address the difficult times that may yet lie ahead," he added. Norland made the comments earlier in July in connection with American Independence Day festivities.

RUSSIA: Detained and tortured for faith, Tatar Muslims claim

Dina Amirova, on trial in Tatarstan's capital Kazan, insists that she and her husband have been targeted as devout Muslims trying to find out more about their faith, after leaflets of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir political movement were found among a wide range of Islamic-related literature at her home. She told Forum 18 News Service she and her husband have never had personal contact with any of the group's members. Her husband Renat Amirov told Forum 18 he was arrested, beaten and tortured to try to force him to testify against 12 local Muslims on trial for alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir membership.

Russian investigators raid Sibir Energy

Interior Ministry officers raided Sibir Energy's central Moscow offices on Wednesday, the London-listed company said in a statement. Law enforcement officials took away documents relating to the activities in 2006 of two Sibir subsidiaries, Sibir spokesman Nikolai Frolov said. They also removed documents from the offices of Moscow Oil Refinery, which is part-owned by Sibir.

Transcript of President Obama's Interview With ABC's Jake Tapper
Surely every question was approved by Dear Leader in advance.

ABC News' senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper spoke with President Obama on his first trip to Russia as president. The following is a transcript of that interview.

His first trip to Russia as president? Indicating he has been to Russia before as not-president?
Hmmmm.

Putin-Medvedev Regime 'Proto-Fascist,' Ukrainian Analyst Says
SAY MY NAME!

Russia will overcome the economic crisis, Lesnoy said, “and the laurels of the savior of the nation will be laid on Putin after which he will have the chance to become a lifetime national leader of ‘vozhd’ on pension, to whom future leading politicians will come for advice and guidance.”

Putin seizes initiative

Mr Putin spent much of the time in his meeting with Mr Obama laying out his position on contentious bilateral issues, notably missile defence, Ukraine and Georgia.

The underlying message was that the US should respect Russia's dominant role in its region - a position the west questions. "Mr Putin knows well all the reasons for the current state of relations and explained Russia's position in great length and in great detail. Disagreements remained but they also agreed it was possible to co-operate," said a Russian official.

NOVEMBER 2008:
Russia Gives Obama Brisk Warning

Kremlin Plans Missiles Targeting NATO if U.S. Defense Shield Proceeds

Just so you understand what a complete load of shit the next headline is:

Obama Offers to Scrap Missile Shield in Return for Russian Help with Iran
Yes..... he OFFERED! After Vlad slipped him his left as a convincer. What a joke.
Clop, clop.... Eastern Europe. Vlad cometh.... hide your daughters & wives and stash your barley.

TWO DAYS AGO: Russia warns US over missile shield

Russia's foreign minister warned Tuesday that the U.S. would jeopardize progress toward a new treaty with Russia on nuclear arms cuts if it decides to create a global missile defense system.

NATO gets its supply route from Russia

The summit between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev at the Kremlin on Monday has produced an agreement that will let the NATO-US forces fly their troops and weapons across Russian territory. The agreement allows 4,500 US military flights annually over Russia “at no extra charge”. A White House announcement stated: “This agreement will enable the United States to further diversify the crucial transportation routes used to move troops and critical equipment to re-supply international forces in Afghanistan”.

SNIP

The highlight of the summit, of course, was the supply route for NATO which Russia had opposed in the recent past. The next highlight of the summit, not spelled out but certainly a subject of mutual understanding, was NATO policy towards Russia, especially its US-led move to include under its umbrella those states that Russia considers within the orbit of its own influence. The Americans may therefore have agreed to soft-pedal on the Ukraine front, and policy rollback in Georgia, also a former member republic of the USSR, which Russia had attacked last August to target the military installations the Georgians had built according to NATO standards.

Czech politicians welcome US-Russian nuclear arms deal
We Welcome our New-Old Soviet Overlords ! We already know they will just destroy everything and take us by force if we do not cooperate. We have been through this shit before, tovarich!

Czech politicians welcome the weekend U.S.-Russian deal on bilateral reduction of nuclear arms arsenals, but some of them voiced the fear that the USA may be too obliging to the Russian demands that NATO must not be further enlarged.

President Obama on Putin: "I Thought It Was Important to Listen"
SAY MY NAME!

Obama Push for Caspian Energy Routes Imperiled by Refugee Clash

Mubariz Berk, a refugee in his own country of Azerbaijan for 15 years, may need President Barack Obama’s help to let him, and 700,000 others, go home.

And his fate may help determine whether Obama can fulfill the U.S. goal of creating a secure and non-Russian route to the West for oil and gas from the Caspian Sea.

Berk and his fellow Azeris were forced to flee from the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1994, when Armenia occupied it after years of ethnic fighting. Ending their exile is central to untangling a knot of issues in the Caucasus that has bound Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia since the Soviet Union ended in 1991.

Gazprom seeks to rattle EU with Azerbaijan gas agreement

EU, Russia struggle for stake in trans-Saharan gas pipeline

German lobbyists work for gas pipelines

Russia's GAZ to receive state guarantees

UN Head Praises US-Russian Nuclear Agreement
NATURALLY!
May I refer you to the Communist Goals which were read into the congressional record in 1963:

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow.)

US calls on Russia to find US reporter's killers

A top U.S. official used a visit by President Barack Obama on Tuesday to call on Russia to bring to justice those behind the 2004 murder of American journalist Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian version of Forbes.

Klebnikov's death aged 41 provoked international condemnation and his family has repeatedly called on the Kremlin to prosecute his killers. U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns joined several hundred people at a service at Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral marking five years since Klebnikov's murder. "After five long years, we urge the Russian authorities to redouble their efforts to bring to justice those responsible for Paul's murder,"

Burns, a former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, said at a speech during the service. Klebnikov's killers, and those who ordered the murder, are still at large. The two men suspected of executing the murder were acquitted by a jury at a trial in 2006.

US touts progress with Russia on Iran
PROGRESS, TOVARICH!

Report Ranks Russia Among World's Most Closed Economies

BRUSSELS -- A new report ranked Russia among the world's most closed trading economies, as U.S. President Barack Obama used a speech in Moscow to call for free trade. A study by the World Economic Forum, a think tank that holds a high-profile annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, placed Russia 114th out of 121 nations in terms of ease to trade with, behind such economies as Ethiopia, Mauritania and Pakistan. (See the full report and list.)

Under the radar: Pepsi plans to invest another $1 billion in Russia
No Coke, Tovarich! PEPSI!

Eastern economies eventually will overtake West in size
Yes... that is the plan.

Dethroning the US dollar as the world's most powerful currency

Darling Said to Tell Banks to Prepare for Unwinding Businesses
Darling! I will now fuck you without benefit of lubrication:

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling today will set out measures to tighten regulation of the British banking industry, requiring institutions to plan for their own demise, a person familiar with the plan said.

Iceland: State Raids Two Private Company's Offices

The offices of two companies were searched Tuesday in a criminal investigation related to the collapse of the nation's banking system, Iceland's Special Prosecutor said.

The Special Prosecutor's office said investigators searched nine locations, including seven houses, associated with the investment firms Milestone and Sjova. Milestone gained a controlling interest in Sjova in 2005.

"The investigation focuses on a suspicion of alleged breaches of corporate law, laws on insurance companies and in some cases the penal code ...," the prosecutor said in a brief statement which gave no details of any suspected wrongdoing.

"This involves great sums of money and the investigation touches on a great number of people and many incidents," statement added.

Icelandic Billionaires Ask Kaupthing to Write Off Debt

Bulgaria Election Sweeps Out Ruling Socialists
BTW - Bulgaria is considered to be one of the most repressive places in Europe today.
Hey I know, let's give the IMF a State!

Bulgaria's prime minister-elect, Boiko Borisov, said he would seek a World Bank economist as his finance minister, after a sweeping election victory.

Mr. Borisov's center-right party won 39.7% of the vote, official results showed Monday, with 99.88% of ballots counted. That was more than twice as many as the incumbent Socialists, allowing Mr. Borisov to form a coalition with the small, market-oriented Blue Coalition.

Many of Bulgaria's neighbors, including Romania, have turned to the IMF. Bulgaria's currency board, which ties its currency, the lev, to the euro, requires a tight fiscal policy.

Former IMF Adviser: As Bad As Great Depression

Contrary to what many economists think, the economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression, and the downturn has been even more severe in many other parts of the world than in the United States, said Barry Eichengreen, a former senior policy adviser at the International Monetary Fund.

The crisis has highlighted the growing importance of major emerging-market economies, such as Brazil and China, Eichengreen told Bloomberg Markets.

What’s more, the resilience and stockpiles of currency reserves of these economies will make them a “force to be reckoned with” in any debate over global finance, he said. “This is the first time we’ve had a major global economic slowdown from which they have not suffered disproportionately,” Eichengreen said. “They have skated through as a group more successfully than the advanced countries because their fiscal policies have been stronger. And their regulation of markets has been tighter.”

Eichengreen cited one exception to this: Eastern Europe. “They have lived beyond their means and now they’re paying the price,” he said.

Systemic Risk and the Fed

Congress is currently debating how to cope with the widespread ripple effects when a large financial institution fails or a risky financial product blows up. The U.S. Treasury has proposed that a council of eight regulatory agencies be appointed to monitor the so-called problem of systemic risk. Treasury also wants the Federal Reserve to become the exclusive regulator of all financial institutions deemed systemically risky.

This gets things backward.

If the risk monitoring function is delegated to a council, no single agency will take the lead or likely take responsibility. Moreover, the U.S. needs one contact point to coordinate risk monitoring with other countries.

The most logical choice to monitor systemic risk is the Fed. This function is consistent with the Fed's broad review of economic and market developments, which is part of its traditional role in setting interest rates. In this role, the Fed takes a long-term perspective, which is critical to risk monitoring.

Goldman, Morgan Stanley Threatened by CFTC Review

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley may never have the same leeway in commodities as they did when oil reached a record $147 a barrel last year.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will consider greater regulation of oil, gas and other energy markets at hearings this month. It plans to review exemptions to trading limits that since the 1990s allowed Goldman and Morgan to build multibillion-dollar ventures in futures, swaps and over-the- counter markets.

Feds move to tamp down energy speculation

Goldman Says Morgan Is All Wrong About Fed's Quantitative Exit

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says when it comes to inflation, the Federal Reserve can relax. That kind of talk makes Morgan Stanley nervous.

Goldman Sachs: Thoughts on the Developing Stolen Trade Secrets Scandal
NO! Unheard of! Absurd!

The bank has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways

Goldman Sachs and the Insider Threat

Blackstone, Goldman Sachs Back New Insurance Agency Insphere

Blackstone Group LP, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG are backing a new U.S. firm marketing insurance to small businesses and middle-income individuals. Insphere Insurance Solutions will sell life, retirement and health products through 3,500 agents when the Dallas-based firm launches in January, the company said in a statement. Funding comes from a $1 billion private equity investment made in 2005 in HealthMarkets Inc., a predecessor firm whose agents will be retrained as the Insphere sales force, said Phillip Hildebrand, chief executive officer of both companies, in an interview.

AIG Falls, Extending Drop After 'Kiss of Death' Split

American International Group Inc. led decliners on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, extending its plunge since government trustees approved a 1-for-20 reverse stock split last week.

AIG dropped $2.44, or 15 percent, to $13.75 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The New York-based insurer executed the reverse split, in which investors turned in 20 shares for a new one with a higher price, after the measure was approved at the June 30 annual shareholders meeting.

“The reverse split has always been thought of as the kiss of death -- companies doing it have not been treated well historically,” said Robert Bolton, managing director for trading at Mendon Capital Advisors Corp. Speculators betting that AIG stock will decline are “taking advantage of the fear and uncertainty that’s in the name.”

Morgan Stanley Plans to Turn Downgraded Loan CDO Into AAA Bonds
Is this something like turning water into wine?

Proposed SEC Amendments To Rules Affecting Money Market Funds

Oil giants speed up overseas expansion

Iraqi Oil Goes To China

US Slips As China Soars In Fortune Company Rankings

The Great Haul of China

White House Economist Austan Goolsbee Answers Your Questions
The name, the NAME!
Aw, Stan... Ghouls Be!
Betcha $20 MFer would not be able to answer MY questions! Dude had two weeks to screen them chose them and answer them to boot:

Two weeks ago, we solicited your questions for White House economist Austan Goolsbee. You will find his answers below. Among the highlights: no, the Obama administration is not socialist; and no, Goolsbee will not be trapped into telling you whether he’d buy an American car. Thanks for the good questions and thanks especially to Goolsbee for the interesting answers.

The Next Financial Crisis: Virtual Banks

By now, the financial woes of Lehman, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, and the many other troubled banks is old news. But we may need to start preparing for another round of bank failures … in the virtual world.

If indeed it happens, a character named Ricdic will likely be to blame. Ricdic is part of Eve Online, which I have never heard of, but according to this BBC news report “has about 300,000 players all of whom inhabit the same online universe. The game revolves around trade, mining asteroids, and the efforts of different player-controlled corporations to take control of swathes of virtual space.”

Ricdic, according to the article, runs a large ebank at the site, and pilfered some virtual funds, traded them to other players for real money, and made a down payment on a house and paid off medical bills.

US Stocks Drop, Sending S&P 500 to Lowest Level Since April

Argentina: Economy Minister Fernandez To Resign

On Wednesday, Ricardo Jaime, one of the closest advisers of Fernandez and Kirchner, abruptly stepped down as Transport Secretary. He had played a controversial role in the administration, including the nationalization of the flagship airline, and faces a host of legal proceedings related to his time in office. Local press has been awash with reports that other senior Kirchner officials have either offered up their posts or at least toyed with the idea of resigning, though so far, no others have left.

Pope calls for ethical dimension to global capitalism
And centralized control. How very Book-o-Revelation.
I warned ya. For a long time.
MORAL CAPITALISM = Western Euphemism for SHARIA FINANCE.
It's only a matter of tick tock now.

Pope Urges New World Economic Order
There it is again. But none of this is happening. STFU, That's why!

Pope, Obama may find common ground in 'Charity in Truth'
UUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHH!
Jewsus is seeing all this ya know.

Why Pope Benedict's Encyclical Is a Boost for Catholic Progressives
PROGRESSIVES = Commies. Period.
Always has meant that and always will.

Pope Endorses "World Political Authority"
Sounds like Fascism to me, but hey...WTF do I know? Hmmm?

The Pope Is a Liberal. Who Knew?
I did.

Fired Inspector General Angered Board With Accusations

Notes from a contentious meeting of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service are sure to raise more questions on Capitol Hill about whether the firing of Inspector General Gerald Walpin was rooted more in the agency's desire to get him off its back than legitimate concerns about his ability to perform his official duties.

SNIP

According to the notes, Solomont said in response that the board had no interest in a "contentious relationship" with the IG, that the board "takes umbrage" at Walpin's "personal attacks" on board personnel, and that the board "wonders" whether Walpin's "judgment is clouded."

A congressional investigator who participated in a three-hour meeting with Trinity on Monday told FOXNews.com that it was clear the board sought Walpin's ouster because of hurt feelings and professional friction, even though inspectors general are supposed to be free to challenge staff at their respective agencies. The investigator, who requested anonymity, argued the White House did not thoroughly review the matter.

"It was the disagreements between the IG and the senior management at the agency that provoked the board to remove Walpin," the investigator said. "The senior people at the agency chafed under Walpin's oversight. ... They communicated this to the board, which rubber-stamped senior management. [The board] took it to the White House, which rubber-stamped the board."

Raytheon unveils modeling tool for education study

Defense company Raytheon Co on Wednesday unveiled a computer-based modeling tool to help policymakers and educators study ways to increase the number of U.S. students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. Raytheon Chief Executive William Swanson said he asked his company's systems engineers to begin work on the complex model several years ago after growing concerned about waning interest and increasing dropout rates in these fields.

Morongo Unified schools receive $2 million grant

The Department of Defense Education Activity awarded the grant to help the district with professional development programs and expanded learning, military officials said.

Saudi Arabia: General James Smith, Raytheon and US defence contractors
They want us to pay $30 to see this one unfortunately.

Most major US defence contractors are said to be annoyed that US President Barrack Obama insists on appointing US Air Force retired General James B. Smith as US Ambassador to Riyadh. The following 353-word report sheds light on the subject and tells how the Saudis are reacting to the position of those contractors. Note that General Smith is International Business Development Executive at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.

Up to $104M to CACI for US Military IT and Database Support

FEMA plans consolidation of IT support contracts
"Centralized Planning" is always key - all over the glow ball information and power must be consolidated....

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plans to consolidate how it acquires information technology-related support services. FEMA plans to centralize its contracts for Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) under an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracting vehicle, according to a statement of work for the SETA program. The statement was published July 2 on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site.

$42.9 billion homeland security funding measure now before the Senate

The Senate took up a $42.9 billion measure funding homeland security programs Tuesday as Capitol Hill’s appropriations season revved into high gear. The homeland security bill pending in the Senate would provide increases averaging 7 percent to the myriad agencies in the sprawling Homeland Security Department. The measure includes big increases for explosives detection systems at U.S. airports and pours money into enforcement efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Senate Adds Immigration Provisions to Homeland Spending Bill

NSA, AT&T picked for cybersecurity plan; Chertoff weighs in

In the event you missed it, big news hit before the start of the holiday weekend. On Friday, the Obama administration announced that it would tap the National Security Agency to help screen government computer traffic on private sector networks. AT&T, meanwhile, would reportedly test the system. In case you think this is deja vu all over again (think: NSA’s admission of warrantless wiretapping back in 2005), the Obama administration is quick to assure privacy advocates that government efforts would not involve “monitoring private-sector networks or Internet traffic.” DHS officials tell the Washington Post that the new program will analyze data only going to or from government systems.

The program, known as Einstein, is a carryover from the Bush administration and, as the Washington Post reports, it had been delayed for months as the Obama administration determined what components to keep in place. DHS first developed Einstein back in 2003 to track web traffic coming to and from federal departments that participated in the program. Going forward, a new version of the program, Einstein 2, is meant to address a weakness of the initial program: a failure to produce warnings that, according to GAO, are “consistently actionable and timely.” As The Wall Street Journal reports, it will take 18 months to launch Einstein 2 across most of the government; 96 smaller agencies will then follow.

Questions dog DHS plans to upgrade advanced cybersecurity system

Cities Rethink Latest Tech-Alert Systems

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just started a two-year study to analyze the available technology, and the Federal Communications Commission is working with wireless carriers to figure out how best to use their systems. "We're going to wait and see what the feds develop," said David Maxwell, Arkansas' emergency management director.

Department of Homeland Security endorses ID bill

US State Department still under cyberattack

The US State Department said Wednesday it is probing the origin of a cyberattack against its website, which has been affected for three days running.

"What I can tell you is the attack against our state.gov website started on July 5," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters. "It's still ongoing, but I'm told that it's much reduced right now."

According to computer security experts, a dozen US government websites, including those of the White House, Pentagon and State Department, were targeted in a coordinated cyberattack which also struck sites in South Korea. South Korean lawmakers were quoted as saying Wednesday that South Korea's intelligence service believes North Korea or its sympathizers may have staged the attack.

South Africa's NUM Labor Union Backs Creation of State-Owned Mines

S. African Union Does NOT Back Nationalization
Is you is or is you ain't a willing serf of the State?

'Don't nationalise mines'

First mine possible by end 2010, says SA's new State-owned mining Co

South Africa 'Emphatic' Nationalization Isn't Policy

Suggestions to Nationalize Mines in South Africa Could get Implemented

Nigeria: MEND Wrecks Chevron's Offshore Operations

Nigeria: The Economy Loses N2.2 Billion Daily to MEND

A Coup is Not a Coup. A Not-Coup is a Coup

The significance of this coup is that it is in fact a break from the pattern of past coups. In past Honduran coups, either one political party overthrew the other, preserving their traditional patron-client relations and taking the spoils of the state for those within their patronage network, or the military overthrew a civilian government so that it could stay in power itself, as happened multiple times during the 1960s and 70s.

This, however, is the first coup by a united upper class. The Honduran business community united across party lines, deciding that it was worth severing the traditional patron-client relations that they enjoyed through their affiliation with one of the dominant parties so that they could stop Zelaya in his effort to increase the participation of common citizens in the affairs of their government while he also drew the country closer to Venezuela.

In past Honduran coups, ethnic and regional divisions created cleavages between economic and political elites that most often led Hondurans of Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese origin to support democratic and liberalizing measures while Tegucigalpa-based criollo elites clung to conservative and often anti-democratic political configurations. In contrast, this was a coup in which social class was the main galvanizing element.

A class-based coup cannot be openly declared as such and must instead be articulated through existing political ideologies that allow the group seizing power to represent what they are actually doing as something other than what it is.

So as the business, industrial, and news media of the country summoned the repressive power of the military to create the political conditions to rule by the traditional economic and political ideologies that have left the majority of Hondurans in dire poverty, they justified subverting the legal and democratic system as a defense of democracy.

Ten Steps To Close Down an Open Society

Soviet New Jersey: State forcing residents out of Woodbine campground

Some residents at a borough campground are looking for a new place to live this fall. Carol Lynn Resort Campground is complying with new state residency rules that limit stays to six months per year. For some residents in the campground, which includes more than 100 homes, that will mean an unexpected move. "Where are these people supposed to go?" resident Victor Morales asked.

Star Alliance Fires Back at Justice Department

In their comments, the Star airlines and Continental said the Justice Department was incorrect in its conclusion that the cooperation plan would boost airfares. In a 52-page document, they said the Justice Department had wrongly urged the DOT to abandon almost two decades of successful international aviation policy and "substitute a narrowly focused and ill-conceived policy that ignores unique considerations affecting international aviation."

"Such a myopic policy," the airlines said, would hobble Continental and the Star members in their efforts to compete with the rival SkyTeam alliance, which is led by Delta Air Lines Inc. and Air France-KLM SA and already has U.S. antitrust immunity for some of its members.

They said the Justice Department's position also would discourage foreign governments from entering liberal aviation treaties with the U.S. Other countries typically consider U.S. antitrust immunity for airlines participating in global alliances a condition for such treaties.

Mass. treasurer to change political party

State Treasurer Timothy Cahill, eyeing a possible run for governor next year, is changing his political party.

Cahill, a Democrat, plans to switch his party designation to independent, or unenrolled, by the end of the week, a person with knowledge of Cahill's decision told The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity. The person wasn't authorized to speak about Cahill's plans ahead of time.

Cahill has made little secret of his ambitions for the governor's office but hasn't said whether he'll challenge Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, who plans to run for a second term.

SNIP

Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe is going to serve as a consultant to Patrick.

Think tanks supply Obama nominees
Really? I thought it was drunk tanks. My mistake.

Obama Overrides Aide on Health Insurance 'Public Option'

Could Abortion Coverage Sink Health Care Reform?
I would certainly hope so.

LETTER - Reforms shouldn't fund abortion
They keep using this world REFORM.
I do not think it means what they think it means!

Sotomayor and PRLDEF's Extreme Abortion Record

From 1980 to 1992, Sonia Sotomayor was a member of the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. According to this New York Times article, Sotomayor was particularly involved with PRLDEF’s litigation: Sotomayor stood out, frequently meeting with the legal staff to review the status of cases, several former members said. And so across her 12 years on the board — she left when she was appointed a federal judge in 1992 — she played an active role as the defense fund staked out aggressive stances on issues like police brutality, the death penalty and voting rights.

The board monitored all litigation undertaken by the fund’s lawyers, and a number of those lawyers said Ms. Sotomayor was an involved and ardent supporter of their various legal efforts during her time with the group. Among the legal issues on which PRLDEF “staked out aggressive stances” while Sotomayor “was an involved and ardent supporter of [its] various legal efforts” was abortion.

Pervert Shrink defends physical exams in molestation trial
There is ZERO REASON for any shrink to be looking at ANY CHILD'S GENITALS.
EVER.

The genital examinations administered to three former patients of San Mateo child psychiatrist William Ayres appeared to have “very specific” medical reasons and follow the general consensus of researchers who not only approve of but encourage such methods, a psychotherapist with a medical degree told jurors yesterday.

Dr. Gilbert Kliman took the stand all day in the molestation trial of the former doctor whom prosecutors say inappropriately touched male minor patients under the guise of medical exams.

Ayres, 77, is anticipated to take the stand himself today in his own defense but first defense attorney Doron Weinberg called Kliman to back the argument his client’s accusers — now adults — erroneously believe they were abused as part of routine examinations to rule out physiological problems as a cause of their psychological issues.

Kliman told jurors that while those in his specialty of psychoanalysis take care not to have any physical or even outside contact with a patient, psychiatrists don’t necessarily agree. “They march to a different drummer,” Kliman said.

THEY CERTAINLY DO.

Surely a Sign of the End of the World:
DC Comics' superheroes join forces with characters inspired by Allah

Superman and Wonder Woman among those who will appear in new collaboration with Teshkeel Comics in Kuwait

UK: Every secondary school to be given Dawkins DVD
Can I get a little separation of Militant Atheist Alien Worshiping Eugenicist Loon and State?
No?

Every secondary school in England and Wales will receive a free DVD by renowned atheist Richard Dawkins to celebrate the anniversary of Darwin's Origin of the Species. The speech was originally delivered as part of the professor's 1991 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for children, and is being distributed by the British Humanist Association with funding from the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Ancient Mosaic to Be Displayed at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An archaeological treasure from Israel will make its maiden journey for display to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in March. The Lod Mosaic, as it is dubbed, is an extraordinarily rich and detailed mosaic that was discovered 13 years ago in the city of Lod in central Israel.

More Ancient Evidence Legitimizes Israel's Existence

An alliance — if one can call it that — of Arabs, Muslims, leftists, and fascists — has spent years trying to delegitimize Israel’s existence and deny the rights of Jews to live in their ancestral homeland. Yet any cursory look at these delegitimizers’ “proof” shows them to be ignorant, racist people — especially uninformed about archaeology. Yet more evidence has been found showing an ancient Jewish presence in the Holy Land.

UCD drill hits magma in Iceland

Scientists drilling a borehole deep into Iceland's rocky crust to explore new methods of using geothermal energy hit a major roadblock this past week: Their drill ran into molten rock at a depth of 6,900 feet.

"This is only the third time that magma has ever flowed into a geothermal drill hole, as far as we know," said Peter Schiffman, a geology professor at UC Davis and member of the international team conducting the study. "A research project in Hawaii hit magma in 2005, and in 1977 magma erupted out the top of a producing geothermal well not far from our site in Krafla, Iceland."

Guide-book 'Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan' released
Get yours today!

Ancient volcano caused 10-year winter

CA: Three moderate quakes strike near the Geysers

Australia uranium miners set for growth - Citigroup

Black Range, Uranium One deal falls apart

Land added to proposed Colorado uranium operation

Colorado: Hearing Set On Proposed Uranium Mining Limits

Panel denies uranium amendment

US to host nuclear security summit in March

The Center Of Our Solar System

LOVE AND BARLEY

A long long time ago, my people celebrated a 49-day ritual of the barley offering as we counted the days between the onset of Spring and the advent of Summer -- between the holiday of Passover and the festival of Shavuot (Leviticus 23:11) -- between the time we wiggled our way out of the chains of bondage in Egypt to the time we received the Torah in what is now Saudi Arabia. It was called the rite of O'mer. Omer means sheaf, as in a sheaf of barley, the first growth of Spring.