Arabs ask for EU support on Israel nuke resolutionVIENNA — Arab states are lobbying the European Union for support in their drive to force Israel to open up its secretive nuclear program to international perusal, documents made available to The Associated Press show.Oman, Qatar: We'll renew Israel ties if it freezes settlements
In a letter addressed to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Amre Moussa, secretary general of the 22-nation League of Arab States, urges Sweden to back an Arab resolution entitled "Israel's Nuclear Capabilities." The document is to be submitted for a vote at next month's 150-nation general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Sweden currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. Diplomats from EU member countries and from other nations accredited to the IAEA told the AP Thursday that the same letter was sent to the foreign ministers of the other 26 EU member countries. They demanded anonymity for commenting on a confidential issue.
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Abbas: No peace talks until Israel freezes settlement construction
Jerusalem not counting on Gulf states' gestures
The winds of change blowing in from the Gulf are being received coldly in Jerusalem. According to a message recently relayed from Washington, Qatar and Oman may be willing to renew relations with Israel if the latter freezes construction in West Bank settlements.Website Of Jerusalem's US Consulate is Judenrein
But as there has been no progress in talks with the US regarding its demand to halt construction, Israeli officials say these are premature promises, and that no significant change in ties should be expected in the near future. The Gulf states have recently been under American pressure to offer gestures of normalizations to Israel in exchange for a settlement freeze, and thus have signaled they are willing to resume official ties with Israel as part of a regional peace deal.
“This disclosure is almost beyond belief” stated Harvey Schwartz, AIAC’s Chairman. “It is as if the United States is totally denying the existence of Israel or Israelis. We do not believe that this is in accordance with the will of the American people.”Obama's apartheid plans in Jerusalem
When Barack Obama was elected president, many around the world saw it as the culmination of decades of successful efforts by the American civil rights movement. How ironic, then, that the Obama administration has been conducting a campaign against Jews who wish to live in certain Jerusalem neighborhoods.Huckabee to visit disputed site in E. Jerusalem
The administration has a real problem with Jews seeking to live in two neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the Sheikh Jarrah section, at the foot of Mount Scopus, and the Simon the Righteous neighborhood, located close to the pre-1967 cease-fire lines that once separated Israel from Jordan. The latter is an area whose Jewish roots go back at least two millennia. It was Jewish when the Arabs were still moon worshippers and London just a field of mud.
Even worse, the Obama people are promoting an arbitrary, selective apartheid for Jerusalem directed only against Jews - Arabs, including Arabs from the West Bank, who do not hold Israeli citizenship should be free to live in any predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem (as well as in Jewish neighborhoods in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Beersheva and elsewhere). During World War II, Hitler's main agent for recruiting Muslims to the Nazi banner was Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. A terrorist leader, he fled Jerusalem when the British attempted to arrest him and spent part of the war as the guest of honor of the Nazis.
The Mufti had owned some property in what is now the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. That property was legally purchased by American businessman Irving Moskowitz, who has owned the property for 20 years now and has a permit to construct an apartment building there in place of the current structure on the site, the Shepherd's Hotel.
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Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who lost his GOP bid for the 2008 presidency, will attend a dinner at the Shepherd Hotel on Sunday during a trip to Israel, according to media reports. The Obama administration has objected to plans to build 20 apartments at the site, but Israel has asserted that Jews have the right to build in eastern Jerusalem.Hamassholes dig Obamanable's plans
Irving Moskowitz, an American philanthropist and activist, purchased the land on which the Shepherd Hotel sits in 1985. The land is located near an Israeli compound housing several government ministries. The dinner, which also is to include some Jewish and Republican activists from the United States, is part of an Israel trip that will include Huckabee visits to the Jewish portion of Hebron and to Ma'aleh Adumim, the largest settlement in the West Bank. Ateret Cohanim, a religious Zionist yeshiva that also helps and encourages Jews to live in eastern Jerusalem, is sponsoring the trip. Moskowitz is a supporter of Ateret Cohanim.
Among those accompanying Huckabee will be New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat who told the Jerusalem Post that the trip is "an opportunity to shine the spotlight on Obama's policy in Jerusalem, which has just been a horror."
"We have an initial readiness to accept it and deal with it positively, but we will also reject it if it doesn't include an American recognition of the Palestinian rights," Rizka told Xinhua. "The plan should endorse a Palestinian statehood with Jerusalem as its capital," Rizka told Xinhua. "Hamas will take an in-depth study of the plan when it is made public." Rizka said Hamas would accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel "but only in exchange for a long-term truce" with the Jewish state. "This is a firm position that we can not give up."All Fatah's Gaza leaders quit, citing massive vote fraud
The State Department said at its Aug. 3 briefing that it could be "a matter of weeks" before a peace plan is presented by Mideast envoy George Mitchell. The plan will assuredly reflect the administration's stated push for a two-state solution, even if the details remain a mystery.
Abbas held a press conference in Ramallah during which he denied that Fatah was on the verge of a split. He hailed the elections for the two Fatah bodies as democratic and successful. He also expressed understanding for the motives of angry Fatah operatives like Qurei who had lost out in the vote.New Fatah Central Committee Ties to Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades
Not our business whether Israel is Jewish, Fayyad tells Haaretz
"The character of Israel, as the total character that Israel would like to have, is Israel's own choice. It characterizes itself in the way that it wishes to characterize itself. Why raise it now? Why would you want to settle it now when we haven't settled anything else? Needless to say, however which way Israel decides to characterize itself as a product of the political system of Israel, is [up to] Israel. This condition wasn't mentioned in the Oslo Accords, and I see no room to set new conditions or preconditions for the negotiations. Until today all we received in exchange for recognizing the two-state solution and stopping the armed struggle was your recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the Palestinian people's representative," he says.
20 Killed in Failed Syrian Scud Missile TestJihad definition of failed: It did not kill any Jews.
Believe me they do not give a rat's ass about the 20 civilians. And neither do we, since we are hard at work begging to be Damascus' new best friend.
At least 20 Syrian civilians were killed and 60 were wounded in a failed missile test in May, Japan's Kyodo News reported Friday. The test involved two updated Scud missiles developed together by Syria, North Korea and Iran. Both exhibited defective guidance systems, according to a Middle Eastern military source quoted in the report.Virulently Anti-Israel adviser top pick for ambassador to Syria
One of the short-range ballistic missiles hit a market near the Syrian-Turkish border, causing dozens of civilian casualties. Syrian forces attributed the blast to a gas explosion and blocked off the site to recover the remains of the missile. The landing site of the second missile was not disclosed in the report, which also quoted Western diplomats.
One of the sources speculated that the second missile may have exploded somewhere on the Syrian border with Iraq. Evidence from the site of a destroyed nuclear reactor in northeastern Syria that was allegedly bombed by the Israel Air Force on September 6, 2007, showed that North Korea had been involved in the manufacture and construction of the facility.
Daniel Kurtzer, President Obama's Mideast adviser, is the lead candidate to serve as U.S. ambassador to Syria, a senior Egyptian security official told WND. Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, long has been seen in Jerusalem as one of the Jewish state's greatest foes in Washington. He has been identified by Jewish and Israeli leaders, including prime ministers speaking on the record, as biased against Israel and is notorious for urging extreme concessions from the Jewish state.US envoy, Syria discuss Mideast peace efforts
Glow Ball Peace through dead Yehudi my friends!
US, Syria Discuss Iraq Border Control
Iraq complains about U.S. delegation to Syria
Syria insists on Turkish mediation in peace talksAs we reported yesterday, a U.S. military delegation is in Damascus talking about the Iraq insurgency. Neither the American nor Syrian government is releasing much information about the talks.
But the Iraqi government is talking about the meeting -- and it isn't pleased.
"It is not the duty of the American delegation to negotiate on behalf of Iraq," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press. "It is the Iraqi government that will directly negotiate on security with Syria."
P.J. Crowley, a State Department spokesman, suggested at yesterday's press briefing that the visit is in the context of U.S.-Syrian relations. But he also said that "Iraq benefits from the effort to deal with the problem." And that seems to be the crux of the Iraqi government's complaint -- that the U.S. is negotiating for Iraqi security.
Al-Dabbagh said Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki will make his own trip to Damascus next week to discuss security.
My Jihad is Better Than Yours
Hamas forces storm the mosque in the southern town of Rafah after its imam, guarded by gunmen, declares that his militant group will impose an Islamic state. Sixteen people are reportedly killed.Polish Aid Organization Visits Assyrian Refugees in Syria
Iraqi Refugees cannot work officially in Syria. Some work for Christian organizations and Christian owned hotels. "The situations of Iraqi Christians is very complicated," says Anna Walczyk, "they are homesick but it is to dangerous for them to go back to Iraq."
The refugees receive support from various international organizations, such as Caritas, and from individual priests, such as Father Khalil Jaar of Amman and Father Romulado of Damascus. There are reports of corruption, with some members of the clergy receiving money from aid organizations but not distributing it to the needy.
"The refugees repeatedly ask when help from the United States and Europe will come," says Walczyk.
Iran and North Korea growing bolderSure, why not. Who's to stop them?
U.S. faults Iraq raid that left Iran dissidents dead
The Obama administration criticized Iraqi security forces this week, saying they botched an attempt last month to establish a police station in a refugee settlement for Iranian dissidents, resulting in clashes that claimed the lives of at least eight of the refugees.Iran: Inmates 'tortured to death'
Several other of the Iranians were seriously injured and 36 have been reported by humanitarian organizations to be in Iraqi custody and at risk of being forcibly returned to Iran, where they are considered likely to be mistreated.
U.S. officials said little about the raid before Wednesday, when the State Department called it "an avoidable tragedy." Elaborating on Thursday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the Iraqi attempt to establish control of the camp "was not executed well."
Peach State Jihad
It is revealing that neither the OIC nor CAIR have had anything to say about the Sadequee case: they seem to be unconcerned when Muslims plot violence in the name of Islam, saving their ire for non-Muslims who dare to point out that Muslims are plotting violence in the name of Islam.Khondakar G. Mowla Named to USA HONOR SOCIETY
Hey I know. Let's give him a state!
MORRIS PLAINS, NJ: Khondakar G. Mowla, an accomplished author on the topics of social and economic injustice, has been recognized by USA Honor Society for his talents and achievements in publishing.Anganwadi worker paraded naked
With more than 15 years of experience as an author, Khondakar G. Mowla has developed his expertise on the topics of social and economic injustice. His published works include: "The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace," "The Judgment against Imperialism, Fascism and Racism against Caliphate and Islam: Volume 1" and "The Judgment against Imperialism, Fascism and Racism against Caliphate and Islam: Volume 2."
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About USA Honor Society: USA Honor Society is an elite membership organization that believes all Americans deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their talents and achievements. USA Honor Society's prestigious online directory is comprised of individuals from all professions, backgrounds and walks of life who possess a unique set of skills and abilities.
USA Honor Society members gain access to a proven platform for exposure, which ensures that their accomplishments are formally recorded and publicly acknowledged. They may also join an exclusive online network where they can share their experiences and success stories with fellow members. For more information, please visit www.usahonorsociety.com
In a shocking incident, a 35-year-old Anganwadi worker was allegedly beaten up and paraded naked through Nadiabarei village under Patakura police limits in Kendrapara district today by the sarpanch and some of his henchmen as she refused to give rice, dal and baby food of the anganwadi centre in the village to them.Double Suicide Bombing in Northern Iraq Claims at Least 21
Karzai pulls out of TV debateA television debate between the three leading candidates in Afghanistan’s presidential election was cancelled because President Karzai and Dr Abdullah Abdullah, his main rival, pulled out at the last minute. Dr Ashraf Ghani, the third most popular candidate, accused his rivals of robbing him of airtime and the country of a genuine political discussion before the election on Thursday. “A democratic society cannot function without democratic debate,” he told reporters six hours before the two-hour debate was due to be broadcast live last night on Tolo TV, a private television channel.Observers see pattern of fraud before Afghan vote
A suspiciously high number of women — far more than men — have been registered to vote in culturally conservative provinces where President Hamid Karzai expects to do well, a leading election monitor said this week. An adviser to the top U.S. commander said the black market for voter registration cards is flourishing and that she could have personally bought 1,000.Karzai orders Afghan forces election cease-fire
Afghanistan's president says he's ordering Afghan security forces to observe a cease-fire during the upcoming election day. Hamid Karzai also demanded Taliban fighters not carry out violence during next Thursday's vote.Karzai made the comments during a regular radio address Thursday night.Karzai offers positions to rivals
Karzai said, "I will invite Dr. Abdullah, I will invite Ashraf Ghani, give them food and tea and give them jobs, as I did last time." He did not specify what positions would be given to his opponents.Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai Passes Controversial Sharia Law
A controversial bill that Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised to review before implementing quietly became law last month, allowing police to enforce language that stipulates a wife's sexual duties and restricts a woman's ability to leave her own home.Indonesian leader defiant in face Islamist extremists
Pakistan: President confers civil awards on prominent personalities
ISLAMABAD: On the 63rd Independence Day of the country, President Asif Ali Zardari has conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan on Senator John Kerry of the United States, General Liang Guanglie of China and Professor Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for their services to Pakistan.
Putin approves nuclear deal with AnkaraPunks Against Putin
HAHAHAHA! Da, punks. You are no Deep Purple! Take them away.
~ Vladdest in Whole Glow Ball
For radically outspoken PTVP, which was founded in 1996 in the small town of Vyborg near Russia's border with Finland, the problems are even worse. Several times over the years, police rushed the stage and stopped concerts after Nikonov sang about Putin, and once in Vyborg he was hauled off to jail before being freed without charges, band members recalled. "It is mostly provincial towns that are afraid," Nikonov said. The band is undoubtedly disrespectful to Putin, especially in its 2002 song "FSB Whore," whose title refers to the KGB's post-Soviet successor agency, which Putin once led.
The song's lyrics are: "Don't listen to anything! / He always lies to you! / Putin, Putin, Putin! / A pig will find filth everywhere!"
PTVP ~ UTRO
Reindeer herders battle alcohol on Russia's edge
I hear they drink because I am bad.
~ Vlad
"We held an art competition for children. Do you know what they painted?," the 47-year-old Red Cross volunteer asks. "Broken glass, blood, cemeteries. It's all thanks to vodka."4 policemen, 7 civilians shot dead in south Russia
MAKHACHKALA, Russia — Gunmen shot and killed four police officers and seven civilians in a restive Russian province near Chechnya on Thursday, officials said.The attackers drove to a police checkpoint in the city of Buinaksk in the province of Dagestan and sprayed it with automatic gunfire, killing four officers on the spot, said Mark Tolchinsky, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry's branch in Dagestan.The militants then shot and killed seven women in a nearby bathhouse, he said.Tolchinsky said two more police officers were wounded by militants in two other separate attacks Thursday in the provincial capital, Makhachkala.Clashes Kill Over 20 in Russia Region
More than 20 people were killed in violent clashes in Russia’s North Caucasus region in the last two days, including a mysterious attack on seven women in a sauna, underscoring the Kremlin’s continued struggles to bring the volatile area under control...Attackers on police post in Russia's Dagestan identified
Russia “Will Use Force” if Ghost Ship Found
HAHAHAHA! Vlad loves force.
Yushchenko says Russia's charges "unfriendly"
HA! I have yet to unleash my unfriendly, comrade, but you will see!
~ Vladdest Man Alive
Gazprom executive offers to buy troubled German shipbuilder Wadan
A Decade of Putinism
In Russia, self-censorship has become a matter of survival...
Over the past decade Vladimir Putin has used the instruments of the state to forge what is known in Russian as a "vertical of power," a governance model in which authority is tightly consolidated at the top. Putinism captured the Russian zeitgeist as people were hungry for stability, or at least the appearance of stability. The system's core features include the political control of the country's dominant energy sector, the quest to restore Russia's global power status, and a heavy-handed reassertion of Russian influence in former Soviet states.Hacking for Mother Russia
The most striking quality of Putinism, though, is its hostility to free expression. This decade-long assault on a fundamental human right is not a reprise of the uniform, all-encompassing ideological control that was the hallmark of the Soviet period. To give Russia the veneer of a liberal society and simultaneously create a useful societal steam valve, authorities have come up with a new, selective censorship model. In this system, the state tries to censor information of true political consequence while allowing a certain amount of independence at the margins.
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KYRGYZSTAN: RUSSIAN BASE IS IN RESPONSE TO AFGHAN THREAT "We do not threaten any country; on the contrary, we are strengthening the [Collective Security Treaty Organization’s] southern frontiers," Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta quoted him as saying on August 13."Kyrgyzstan, true to their allied duty, is aware of the threats originating from Afghanistan where there’s a gang of international terrorists, and is ready to give Russia the opportunity to deploy its troops in the south of the republic," he added.Gerasev declined to comment on the size or location of the new base but earlier reports suggest it will be one battalion in either Osh or Batken.KYRGYZSTAN: "Don't meet for worship"
Unregistered communities of Protestant Christians, Hare Krishna devotees and Ahmadiya Muslims in many parts of Kyrgyzstan have been ordered by the authorities to stop meeting for worship, Forum 18 News Service has found.VIDEO: Simon Reeve meets State Department funded American University students in Kyrgyzstan to ask them about their views on the USA and their opinions on going to a US funded university. Interesting video from BBC show 'Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans'.
In some cases, communities have been told that state registration in the capital Bishkek does not allow religious activity elsewhere. One Protestant church in the north-west told Forum 18 that they had been unsuccessfully trying for two years to register, but that they "would not be registered unless they had 200 signatures. How can we collect 200 signatures if we are not allowed to function normally?"
Asked what would happen to religious communities who have less than 200 members, and so cannot be registered, an official of the State Agency for Religious Affairs told Forum 18 that "there is a Law, and we will deal with them accordingly." An employee of the State Agency recently told a person known to Forum 18, who wished to remain unnamed for fear of state reprisals, that after the July presidential elections there would be "a massive campaign against religious groups meeting illegally."
KYRGYZSTAN: JOURNALIST SEEKS ASYLUM ABROAD
A reporter beaten and stabbed in Bishkek earlier this year is seeking asylum abroad because of ongoing threats to his and his family’s lives.Syrgak Abdyldayev, a political columnist for the weekly Reporter-Bishkek newspaper, was attacked near the city center on March 3. In what appeared to be a clear message about his professional work, both of his hands and forearms were broken. He also received 20 knife wounds.Since his release from hospital, Abdyldayev and his wife have been followed and their home subject to a wiretap, Turat Akimov, editor-in-chief of Reporter-Bishkek claims.Recently, the message "Prepare a Horse" -- a Kyrgyz euphemism for ’get ready for a funeral’ -- was scrawled across their front door.Uyghur Diaspora Faces Government Pressure in Kyrgyzstan
On August 10, Kyrgyz authorities detained Dilmurat Akbarov, the leader of the Ittipak Uyghur society, and his deputy Jamaldin Nasyrov. These leaders had organized demonstrations calling for an independent investigation into last month's riots in Xinjiang. They featured images and posters accusing Beijing of implementing cruel policies against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. According to the Kyrgyz authorities, approximately 500 people participated in the event in Bishkek (www.akipress.kg, August 10).Kazakhstan's Uighurs Rally to Mourn Xinjiang Dead
The exact reasons for the arrests on August 10 remain unknown, since the government has avoided making any official statements. Many experts in Bishkek believe that these arrests demonstrate the Kyrgyz government's agreement with Beijing's policies. The arrested leaders are likely to be released soon, but their future activity based on criticizing the Chinese government will be discouraged.
Over 50,000 ethnic Uyghurs live in Kyrgyzstan, but unofficial records claim that the actual number is much higher. Demonstrations against Beijing's policy in Xinjiang took place in Almaty and Bishkek in July, but received little attention from the local media.
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"What is our goal? We want an independent state," Kakhraman Khodzhaberdiyev, a vice president of the U.S.-based World Uyghur Congress, told the Almaty meeting. "The current autonomy (of Xinjiang) is not real and we demand that its status be changed as a first step." Another Uighur community leader, Abdulla Ushurov, attacked what he said were Chinese attempts to portray Uighur protests as purely criminal riots. "You cannot say that a group of people just started crushing everything," he said. "These are being described as criminal acts but it is a century-long fight for independence." Police in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, also home to a significant Uighur minority, detained two Uighur leaders after a similar rally this week, saying it had not been given official permission.Kazakhstan introduces limits on sugar imports
Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus to form single negotiation team on WTO
Kazakhstan court refuses to free jailed editor
His arrest came after he published correspondence in the small-circulation weekly Alma-Ata Info that appeared to show collusion in corruption between a Kazakh businessman and the National Security Committee, the successor agency to the KGB. Yesergepov was sentenced Saturday to three years in prison. The Kazakh Supreme Court said Thursday it rejected an appeal to investigate the legality of the decision.Counterterrorism Operations Continue in Tajikistan
Turkmenistan Blocks Students Attending Foreign Universities
Ahead of the academic year which starts in September, the Turkmen authorities have imposed new controls to prevent young people going abroad to study. NBCentralAsia has been told of numerous cases where students have been prevented from leaving the country, placed on travel blacklists, under a new set of rules placing numerous obstacles in the way of foreign study.Turkmenistan Negotiates On Establishment Of Columbia U Branch
The move represents a complete reversal of the policy President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov announced at the time of his inauguration in early 2007, when he said students would be encouraged to go abroad to study. At the time, his remarks were welcomed as a sign he was rolling back some of the worse policies of his predecessor Saparmurat Niazov, who did his best to stop students continuing their studies abroad, which in Turkmenistan’s case often means in Russia or another former Soviet state. Reports of the new controls emerged late last month, after new instructions requiring students to obtain special permits for foreign study came into force on July 20.
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Columbia would fit right in in the Stans. ..
The Turkmen ministry of education holds active talks on establishment of a branch of Columbia university (USA) upon Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's order, Turkmen trade-industrial chamber said about holding the international exhibition-conference on science and education in Ashgabat from September 9-11. Organizers include the Turkmen ministry of education, supreme council on science and technique under the Turkmen President and the Turkmen trade-industrial chamber.Iranian president to pay official visit to Turkmenistan
Why not, he's already been to Columbia University.
Turkmenistan to launch new Iran gas link in December
Iraq Maintains Diplomatic Relations with Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan celebrates Day of Frontier Guard
GLORIOUS!
New frontier post opened in Turkmenistan
To boldly go where no man has gone before, tovarich Oymerikans!
UZBEKISTAN: MURDERED OFFICIAL LINKED TO INTERIOR MINISTRY'S "RELIGIOUS SQUAD"
An Interior Ministry Official shot dead in Tashkent on August 9 was tasked with keeping religious organizations in line, sources tell EurasiaNet."His job was to keep tabs on the various religious factions in Tashkent; his murder was ’pay back,’" the source claimed on August 14.Hasan Asadov was shot five times at point blank range in his apartment. Uzbek media reports described him as a manager at the ministry’s anti-terrorism and corruption unit.Asadov was also the son of former Deputy Minister of Health Damin Asadov. Investigators are pursuing possible motives related to both his family and professional life, reports added.His murder follows a string of attacks on religious figures in Tashkent.
Vatican newspaper hails Swiss-US bank dealVATICAN CITY — The Vatican's newspaper on Thursday praised as a step toward "ethical finance" a deal announced by the Swiss and U.S. governments to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers.L'Osservatore Romano said the deal marks "significant progress in the fight against tax evasion and in the direction of a more controlled finance."It is "a step forward toward that model of ethical finance described by (Pope) Benedict XVI," Osservatore wrote.Thousands protest against Iceland repayment bill
About 3,000 people protested outside the Icelandic parliament on Thursday against a proposal to guarantee repayment to Britain and the Netherlands of funds lost in Icelandic bank accounts, police said. The bill, called "Icesave", would allow Iceland to reimburse Britain and the Netherlands after they compensated savers who lost billions of pounds and euros in deposit accounts last year when the small North Atlantic island's top banks collapsed.Two top Irish banks in a 'vegetative state'
Vegetative state? Deny them food and water, that's what progressive people do!
Beijing Bubblenomics
Is China the Next Real Estate Bubble? Weak export demand and looming Politburo changes are incentives to keep the monetary spigot wide open.Japan Eager to Boost Ties With China
CHINA SAFARI: On the Trail of Beijing's Expansion in Africa
Blackstone to Team With Shanghai on First Domestic Chinese Fund
Fang Fenglei, a Chinese partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., also is planning to raise a domestic private-equity fund for his Beijing-based Hopu Investment.GM, Chinese Partners to Expand Low-Cost Exports
Oil rises above $71 as dollar falls
They Broke Nouriel Roubini, but not Marc Faber
But since "nationalization" is akin to "socialism" in this country, instead we basically transferred wealth from the many to the few - ah yes, American socialism: Reverse Robin Hood (steal from the middle to give to the upper 0.2%) Except it's stuffed under the banner of "free market capitalism" so we can save face by not being like those nasty Europeans! hah. Joe, please put down your pom poms - what happened here was a disgrace; the fact those who benefited from the taxpayer handout are benefiting should be shameful, not something to celebrate.
Former Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton Charged With Prison BreachBetsey Wright, Bill Clinton’s chief of staff during 7 of his 12 years as governor of Arkansas and later a senior member of his successful 1992 campaign for the White House, has been charged with carrying a pocketknife, a box cutter and tattoo needles into a state prison housing death row inmates.The New York Times equates Obammunism with Hitler. But not in a bad way!
Stimulus Thinking, and Nuance:Lawsuit claims Textron misled investors on backlog
In the summer of 1933, just as they will do on Thursday, heads of government and their finance ministers met in London to talk about a global economic crisis. They accomplished little and went home to battle the crisis in their own ways.
More than any other country, Germany — Nazi Germany — then set out on a serious stimulus program. The government built up the military, expanded the autobahn, put up stadiums for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and built monuments to the Nazi Party across Munich and Berlin.
The economic benefits of this vast works program never flowed to most workers, because fascism doesn’t look kindly on collective bargaining. But Germany did escape the Great Depression faster than other countries. Corporate profits boomed, and unemployment sank (and not because of slave labor, which didn’t become widespread until later).
A U.S. institutional investor sued Textron Inc on Thursday, charging the world's largest maker of corporate jets with misleading investors with an overly rosy picture of business conditions. The suit, which seeks class-action status for investors who bought Textron shares from January 17, 2007 through January 29, 2009, says the Providence, Rhode Island-based company inflated its order backlog by taking orders for jets from customers who could not pay for them.2nd Circuit Finds NYC Violated Gun Dealer's Rights by Closing Shop
New York City violated the due process rights of a Bronx gun dealer who was shut down for security reasons in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and had her dealer's license suspended, a federal appeals court has found. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal of a case brought by Angela Spinelli, owner of Olinville Arms, Inc., who claimed her business was damaged and profits were lost by a 58-day shutdown. But the circuit also upheld a lower court's dismissal of Spinelli's claim that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated by a warrantless search of her business, saying that city regulations allow surprise inspections of gun dealerships.Who are the wealthiest members of the Obama administration?
8. William Lynn, deputy Defense secretary: assets between $2,208,000 and $5,170,000. Lynn is the much-publicized exception to President Obama's “no lobbyists” rule. In 2008, Lynn was paid $369,615 as a lobbyist for Raytheon...NY Businessman: US must heed electronic terror threat
A New York businessman is sounding the alarm on a potential terror threat that he says has not gotten the attention or action it deserves, despite a congressional committee's finding that the country grows more vulnerable to it by the day.
Henry Schwartz, chairman of Steuben Foods and Elmhurst Dairy, is so concerned that an enemy's electromagnetic pulse attack could paralyze America that he will gather a group of scientists, congressmen and others for a conference next month on how the country should protect itself."I've never lived in fear in my life," said Schwartz, 75, an Air Force veteran whose unit handled nuclear warheads in Europe, "but I have to tell you, I'm in fear now."
An electromagentic pulse, or EMP, is a split-second burst of energy that occurs when a nuclear device is detonated high in the atmosphere. A Department of Homeland Security disaster guide for the public explains an EMP "acts like a stroke of lightning but is stronger, faster and shorter."
Experts warn an EMP attack with even a crude nuclear device has the potential to disable or burn out everything from cell phones and personal computers to vehicle ignitions, power grids and air traffic control systems within 1,000 miles, all while having no direct effect on people.The threat has been on the Defense Department's radar screen for years but a congressional panel recently noted in a report that "our vulnerability is increasing daily as our use of and dependence on electronics continues to grow."
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Brad Pitt and Atheist EvangelismSo for the second time in about as many weeks, I’m hearing from Brad Pitt on religion. First, there was the absurd, “Eighty percent agnostic, twenty percent atheist” comment, and now he jokes that he’s running on the “no religion” platform in the New Orleans mayoral race. The leap from being atheist to being against religion fascinates me. Why can’t you simply not believe in God? Surely atheism can exist without a hatred of religion.Oh Look - A Friend For Frank Lombard
When atheist anti-religionistas complain about religious influence, they never point out the good things religious institutions do for society. Similarly, many atheists, when pressed, use Doughboy logic to defend atheism. I even heard one, on evil talk radio, ask, “if there was a God, why did he let 9/11 happen?” And I’m not talking about a wacky caller, this was the guest, a spokesman for American Atheists, or some group like that. Why do they have groups? Atheists really confuse me, I gotta say. She went on to offer, “If there was a God, he’s got a lot to answer for!”
So because there is evil in the world, there can’t be a God? To this particular atheist/secular humanist, and to about 75% of the ones I’ve talked to, the good in the world exists because of people. I think my problem with atheists is the same problem they have with religion. Believe or don’t believe what you want to believe of not believe, but don’t impose it on everyone else.
The fact that both believers and non-believers alike do this says more about people than it does about God. I suppose not all atheists want to convert the opiated masses; maybe it’s just the ones I talk to. Like the guy who, upon learning of my Christianity, implored me to read Christopher Hitchens’ “God is Not Great.” Turn that around, and I’m a Bible-thumper, y’know? Imposing my views. Nothing amuses me quite like Atheist Evangelism.
They have so much in common!
A former professor at Marist College has been sentenced to 1-3 years in state prison for keeping child pornography on his computers at the school. James Kent was convicted in April at a trial in Dutchess County. The judge sentenced him on Friday. Some of the photos found on the 62-year-old's computer depicted infants being sexually abused.Senate panel drops end-of-life provision
Reform plan expands access to abortion
Fast forward to the existing health-care reform proposals - they will result in the biggest expansion of abortions since Roe v. Wade was imposed on America.Whole Foods is in a whole lot of trouble
Enraged Alfalfa Eaters!
Yesterday the company was besieged by enraged alfalfa eaters and had to set up a forum on its blog and a telephone hotline to handle the outpouring of anger. Boycott campaigns are popping up all over, including on facebook.Nuclear Isotope Shortage Hurting Health CareMackey’s piece begins with a quote about socialism and the problem with living off other people’s money; now it looks as if some of his customers are going to help him out and take theirs elsewhere.
Here's something most people likely don't know: U.S. radiologists get the radioactive isotope they use for many of the diagnostic studies they do for cancer, heart disease and other conditions on 16 million people annually from two main sources, nuclear plants in Canada and the Netherlands. And both are now down. Which means there's a shortage of Technetium-99, the isotope used on about 40,000 patients daily. Technetium is made from Moybdenum-99.Has Anyone Seen the Tabernacle Menorah?
“Archaeology really is politics,” he said, “and history is much more fragile than we think.”The Israel Antiquities Authority's letter to the World Archaeological Congress
DHS methodology used in "Rightwing Extremism" memo revealedAmericans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today condemned the methodology used by the Department of Homeland Security in issuing a controversial "right-wing extremism" threat assessment to law enforcement in April as "complete speculation."Bill Gives DHS Lead on Fed IT Security Policy
"Our worse fears about what went into this memo have been confirmed. The government department that was supposed to be tasked with identifying domestic terrorist threats is apparently using news stories, kooky websites, and conjecture instead of actual hard intelligence reporting and analysis," said Wilson.
"This is a disgrace, and calls into question what it is that the so-called 'Extremism and Radicalizaton Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division' actually does," Wilson added.
A newly revised U.S. Information and Communications Enhancement Act (U.S. ICE), if enacted as is, would grant the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented authority over the development of federal IT security policy. The responsibility to oversee information security among federal agencies would shift to DHS from the White House Office of Management and Budget under revisions of the measure, nicknamed U.S. ICE, that updates IT security guidance detailed in the seven-year-old Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), according to a senior cybersecurity staff member on the Senate Committee of Homeland Security and Government Affairs. The revision, finalized by committee staffers on Thursday, also eliminates provisions establishing a National Office of Cyberspace that would have been situated in the Executive Office of the President.Feds To Use Wiki For Cybersecurity Collaboration
DHS Beefing Up Cybersecurity Mission
Good update from Marc Ambinder about the Department of Homeland Security’s moves to emphasize cybersecurity, something that’s been a longtime focus of the crew around former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke. (Clarke’s friend and former deputy, Rand Beers, is now an undersecretary at DHS.) This caught my eye:
DHS recently convinced Bruce McConnell, a well-regarded industry mandarin, to return to government after 15 years in the private sector. He is now the counselor to the DHS’s protections and programs directorate, which oversees its cybersecurity center. Coordinating DHS cybersecurity efforts is Philip Reitinger, formerly a senior Microsoft executive. In a bit of consolidation, Reitinger is also the director of the National Cyber Security Center, reporting directly to Napolitano and to her chief counselor, Rand Beers. A third hire from industry is Greg Schaffer, the former chief risk officer for Alltel Communications.
As Marc points out, there’s a private sector pull away from DHS, due to the fact that you can make a lot more money there. But any kind of tech-intensive interplay between the government and private industry raises the prospect of revolving doors and shady deals. Watching the proliferation of defense firms moving into the cybersecurity area to catch the next wave of DHS and Pentagon contracts creates an obligation to keep an eye on who’s connected to whom and getting deals for what.
"We all know we are not going to be millionaires working for the federal government so there has got to be another pull to this service," Vega says, in an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com. "What we find in the folks that come to us from the Fannie Maes and the JP Morgan Chases and SAIC and Booz Allen Hamilton is pretty much the same story ... taking ownership of the mission. Once you change clothes from a contract employee to that of a federal employee you become part of something that to many people is more meaningful." In the interview, Vega also discussed the cybersecurity skills the agency seeks and the value the Federal Information Security Management Act brought to the agency.Govs to DoD: Thanks, but no thanks
On August 7 the National Governors Association replied to a letter evidently received from Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Stockton. The content of this letter is extracted below. I have not yet seen a copy of the original letter from Dr. Stockton.According to Matthew Rothschild in The Progressive, the letter signals an intention to seek Congressional approval to post almost 400,000 military personnel in the U.S. Rothschild continues, “This request has already occasioned a dispute with the nation’s governors. And it raises the prospect of U.S. military personnel patrolling the streets of the United States, in conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.”
AP reporter Lolita Baldor offers a more expansive explanation for the governors’ concern. “At the heart of the disagreement is who will exercise the muscle to command reserve troops when they are sent to a particular state to deal with a hurricane, wildfire or other disaster. The governors see the Pentagon move as a strike at state sovereignty, while the military justifies it as a natural extension of its use of federal forces.”
Writing in The Hill, Reid Wilson, reports, “A bipartisan pair of governors is opposing a new Defense Department proposal to handle natural and terrorism-related disasters, contending that a murky chain of command could lead to more problems than solutions.”
SNIP
Uranium—Looking at the Big PictureThe exogenous events significantly boosting uranium demand for China and India are far greater than the minimal and distant "ifs" of private sector reactor delays. Not to mention China has actually boosted reactor construction, while India made no delays and entered the world market. "Investors need to look at the big picture of the sector," says analyst Merrill McHenry, MBA, CFA, who presents The Energy Report readers with an educational and thought-provoking overview of U308's fundamentals and future in this exclusive written interview.NNSA Study Backs Proposed TN Uranium Processing Site
CanAlaska updates current uranium exploration
CanAlaska Uranium reports its current exploration at its uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada.Tantalum users warned on looming supply problem
Krakatoa still simmering
There is little doubt that if Krakatoa were to erupt again with such force and fury, the impact would be far more devastating than that which was experienced in the 19th century.NASA Goes Inside A Volcano, Monitors Activity
NASA Uses Radar to Map Earthquake Faults
White House Panel's Chief Discusses NASA's Future
The panel meets today to finalize its options before Augustine presents them to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and White House science adviser John HoldrenTEXAS: Chesapeake Closes Wells Amid Earthquake Concerns
Now, the bad news. The e-mail goes on to say, "…the research indicates a potential correlation with Chesapeake's Salt Water Disposal (SWD) well at the southern end of the [DFW] airport. As you know, there is a major fault [line] running northeast/southwest through the airport."New data: Mega-quake could strike near Seattle
The salt water disposal well is approximately eight football fields away from the fault line. The company says as a precaution it has closed that particular well. As a precaution Chesapeake has also closed its South Cleburne salt water disposal well. The well there sits near a regional fault in the southern part of Cleburne.
Why they need "new data" to tell them this is beyond me, there is a huge subduction zone there. Common sense and history tell you yes a mega quake is going to strike there and it is only a matter of when.
More earthquakes shake Tokyo area, Indian Ocean
Phuket Andaman Tsunami Practice: August 21
Fuck it and a man indeed.
Whole World Shakin' Like a Broke Whore's Ass
6.4 SOUTHWESTERN RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPANCanadian church group rejects Israel boycott
6 .7 SOUTHWESTERN RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
6.7 KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
Good for them, they must actually READ their bibles.
Canada's largest Protestant denomination rejected a series of resolutions calling for a boycott of Israel. Delegates of the United Church of Canada, meeting in British Columbia, voted Aug. 13 against three measures that would have ended trade, cultural and academic ties with Israel. The resolutions also called for financial divestment and sanctions. Canadian Jewish groups had described the proposed resolutions as anti-Semitic. Earlier, the delegates in Kelowna repudiated background material on one resolution that claimed some politicians are dual Canadian-Israeli citizens and therefore could have questionable loyalties.Texas Perry awarded 'Defender of Jerusalem' by billionaire who may think he is Messiah...
The material also said members of Parliament have taken Israeli-sponsored junkets, "which might be called bribes." We have "not begun or approved a boycott on a national level," United Church spokesman Bruce Gregersen told the Canadian Press. But he added that individual churches and members are encouraged to "undertake their own initiatives, which may include economic boycotts."
SNIP
I think this probably more to do with this dude's desire to secure the Gov of Texas' friendship..
AUSTIN – While in Israel this week, Gov. Rick Perry picked up an award designating him as a "Defender of Jerusalem." The distinction is relatively new, but it has an intriguing background – and another Texas tie.It comes from a South Florida foundation started last year by Guma Aguiar and his wife. Brazilian-born Aguiar, 31, who shuttles between Florida and Israel, is the founder of Leor Energy. The company discovered a huge natural gas field in East Texas several years ago, making him a billionaire.
In January, Aguiar was sued by his uncle, who claimed that Aguiar believes he is the Messiah and is trying to bolster that image by giving away millions of dollars. The suit was dismissed in June. Aguiar is the director of the Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation, which has become a generous donor, particularly to Jewish causes, in Florida. In 2006, charitable records show the foundation gave away almost $5 million. Aguiar created and sponsored the Defender of Jerusalem award, which is given to dignitaries who have demonstrated strong support for Israel.
It might seem odd that it's going to Perry, who has said little on Israel in his career, though what he has said has expressed strong support. As governor, he can do little to help Israeli security. And in 2006, Perry said that according to his Christian faith, Jews and nonbelievers will be condemned to damnation.
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