The sun never says to the earth, 'You owe me.'
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights up the whole sky...
~ Sufi Proverb
I searched for God and found only myself.
I searched for myself and found only God.
~ Sufi Proverb
New York Times covers up fierce anti-Israel radicalism at "moderate" Fatah Confab
In its Aug. 7 edition, the New York Times runs an article by Jerusalem correspondent Isabel Kershner about the Fatah party conference that is a textbook example of keeping a lid on how Mahmoud Abbas's political movement has veered toward undying hostility toward Israel ("Fatah Delays Elections, But Extends Conference" page A7).
Kershner devotes the first nine paragraphs of her 13-paragraph story to acrimonious disagreements over voting procedures and other disputes between the party's old and new guards. This allows her to downplay and defang the real news of the conference -- blaming Israel for Arafat's death and the presence of a terrorist killer -- at the bottom of her article. And even then, she goes to extreme lengths to avoid mentioning what really happened in these two instances and why they are more significant than intra-party disagreements.
JUDENREIN!
"Fatah will continue to sacrifice victims until Jerusalem will be returned [to the Palestinians], clean of settlements and settlers"Barenboim concert for 'Arab capital' Jerusalem
Maestro Daniel Barenboim brought his troupe of young Arab and Israeli classical musicians to Geneva on Friday for a concert dedicated to the late Palestinian-American academic Edward Said and the contentious choice of Jerusalem as this year's "Arab Cultural Capital."ISRAEL: Fatah And Hamas Agree On War Objectives
DEATH TO JUDEN! It's the only thing the entire Glow Ball can agree on.
Hamassholes hold Fatahss officials in Gaza
Hamas tests upgraded rocket
Group says Hamas attacks are war crimes
Say...I know, let's make them "peace partners!"
Make room for Hamassholes!
Western calls for democratization in the Arab world have been tainted by the West’s rejection of the 2006 Hamas electoral victory, regardless of how undesirable that outcome may have been. Yet Hamas’ victory was predictable: polling over the past 10 years has shown that the Arab public tends to be more anti-Israeli, anti-American and more Islamist than most Arab leaders, despite the recent positive bounce from the so-called “Obama factor.” As a result, it should have come as no surprise that the isolation of Hamas by Israel and the West has proven fruitless and is unlikely to cause Hamas to buckle to Western demands.US Taxpayers Fund Pro-Hamas Propaganda
With the federal government facing trillions of dollars in red ink, one might think that the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), which receives upwards of $30 million a year from the taxpayers, would want to show Congress it wasn't squandering money on propaganda for terrorist groups like Hamas. But that hasn't happened. Instead, USIP has issued a new report that twists reality to argue that Hamas has moderated and Israel needs to negotiate with the terror organization. The authors of the report are a Jew and Muslim, USIP informs readers: Paul Scham, a visiting professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland College Park, and Osama Abu-Irshaid.Israel Radio suggests tensions with Lebanon
USIP identified Irshaid as a writer who "is completing a Ph.D. thesis on Hamas at Loughboro University, U.K., and is founder and editor in chief of Al-Meezan newspaper, published in Arabic in the United States." But USIP (and Foreign Policy magazine, which has published lengthy excerpts of the report ) neglected to inform readers that Irshaid used to be editor of Al-Zaytounah, the biweekly Arabic-language newspaper published by the Islamic Association for Palestine
Israel Fears Hizbullah Has Advanced Air Defene Systems
Bahrain, Jordan seek air-to-air missiles
RAYTHEON to the rescue!
Convicted Yemeni Cleric to Be Deported
A terrorism-financing case against a Yemeni cleric, which the U.S. government once claimed as a major victory against al-Qaeda, came to a murky end Friday as a federal judge ordered him to be released and deported, despite his 2005 sentence to 75 years in a maximum-security U.S. prison. Sheik Mohammed al-Moayad, 60, a high-ranking political leader in Yemen, had been convicted after a five-week federal trial in New York City of conspiracy, providing material support to Hamas and attempting to support al-Qaeda.Yemeni cleric pleads guilty to aiding terrorists
A seeker went to ask for guidance on the Sufi way.
The teacher counseled,
"If you have never trodden the path of love,
go away and fall in love; then come back and see us."
~ Sufi Proverb
In September, 1996, as the Taliban cemented its control over Afghanistan and began its reign of terror in Kabul, the U.S. State Department sent several pages of memos spelling outs its desire to open good relations with the Talibs. They reveal a timid and naive powder-puff tone toward one of the most vicious regimes in history. Although some language indicates suspicions of the Talibs, the overall softness and phrases of encouragement seem quite inappropriate for the already well-demonstrated despotism of the Taliban regime.Clinton’s U.S. election consultant James Carville advising "Taliban with a tie"
Ashraf Ghani , well-funded presidential candidate and long-time Karzai supporter benefitting from "unofficial" U.S. campaign help. James Carville, captain of Bill Clinton’s successful presidential campaigns became an advisor to Afghan Presidential Candidate, Ashraf Ghani in early July. Carville has close ties to the Democratic Party, President Clinton and his wife, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Carville and the State Department claim neither he nor Ghani have the official backing of the U.S. government. No contract details have been disclosed, including any fees Carville might receive.
Afghanistan's second democratic polls threaten to split the country along sectarian lines and undermine US and British-led peace efforts that are already under threat from the Taliban resurgence.Mr Karzai and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, hail from different ethnic groups and different regions. If neither wins outright in round one on 20 August, officials fear Afghanistan could be engulfed by violence reminiscent of the civil war of the 1990s.Seems Ashraf Ghani has some Afghani Nirther Issues:
Although Mr Karzai, a Pashtun, is still the favourite, his supporters fear that a third candidate, Ashraf Ghani, could split the Pashtun vote.To avoid this, it has emerged that the President was trying to join forces with Mr Ghani to knock Mr Abdullah out of the race, the Independent reports.Officials said the President had offered Mr Ghani a job as chief executive – a new post described as similar to prime minister. "If Ghani agrees to the terms, Karzai will dump his team and move forward, with Karzai as President and Ghani as chief executive," a campaign official told the paper.
Which makes the whole thing even more interesting, nu?
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzay, one of political supporters of Taliban murderers, is known as necktie Taliban. He is also a US citizen. According to an Italian News Agency, he is a US citizen. There are many references that Ashraf Ghani is a US citizen. Separate to his citizenship, he was the minister of Finance, and illegally he was the President of the Kabul University for a while. Contrary to the law, he was absent while he occupied the Kabul University.Karzai family's wealth 'fuelling insurgency'
Silly policy makers, do you not see your own governments hand all up his Afghani ass?
Persistent allegations of corruption aimed at Hamid Karzai's family are undermining Western efforts in Afghanistan and feeding the Taliban-led insurgency, Washington policy-makers have warned
The university says the National Endowment for the Humanities grant will underwrite creation of a "digital repository of information for scholars, researchers, teachers and students." Project leader professor David Robinson says the "tremendous impact" of the 9/11 terrorist attacks shows the importance of scholars helping Americans gain an accurate understanding of Islamic cultures.
Michigan State's Center for Humane, Arts, Letters and Social Studies Online will collect and create access to photographs and video as part of the $250,000 project.
A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey.
~ Sufi Proverb
No doubt!
Report: Iranian authorities kill 7 lawyers
Protesters Press on in Iran
Living on Obammaed Time...
Four years, huh? LOL! How convenient. Perhaps Herr Ahmadi-Nedjad has promised he will not detonate till the day after Obamanable's ass leaves the seat...?
US State Department officials estimate that Iran will be unable to develop a nuclear weapon in the next four years despite previous assessmentsThe Caspian Sea, good for sightseeing or drowning?!
TEHRAN -- Iran’s northern provinces -- Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan -– are surrounded by scenes of outstanding beauty. Home of thick humid forests and located on the borders of the Caspian Sea, these coastal regions are famous tourist destinations. Unfortunately, these exotic locations also have the distinction of being the number one site in Iran for death by drowning.Letters from Tokyo: Buddhists Fear to Walk in Southern Thailand
The radical Sunni Islamic insurgency desires to spread fear, hatred, and an area where Buddhism is eradicated just like what happened in Afghanistan or what is happening in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in modern day Bangladesh.Indonesia police in shootout with suspected militants
Therefore, the brutal Sunni Islamic insurgency is killing both moderate Muslims and Buddhists for different reasons. The reason for killing Buddhists is because certain elements within radical Sunni Islam do not believe in religious co-existence. Also, Buddhists are deemed to be infidels and within Islamic Sharia law they have no legal rights and conversion to Islam or death is sanctioned because they are not monotheists.
Indonesian police have shot dead a man suspected to be fugitive Islamic militant Noordin Mohammad Top during raids in Central Java and were trying to identify his body, a police source said on Saturday.
If words come out of the heart,
they will enter the heart,
but if they come from the tongue,
they will not pass beyond the ears.
~ Sufi Proverb
CHENNAI: The Coast Guard on Thursday detained a ``suspicious'' North Korean ship, which had dropped anchor off Hut Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, after more than six hours of high drama that ended with Indian sailors firing in the air. Officials of Army intelligence, Intelligence Bureau and other agencies are set to inspect the ship and interrogate its occupants. ( Watch )Chevron Makes Angolan Oil Find
K R Nautiyal, DIG, Coast Guard, Andaman and Nicobar Region, told TOI over phone that ``several things were amiss'' about merchant vessel MV Musen, which later declared that it was carrying 16,500 tonnes of sugar from Thailand to Umm Qasr in Iraq. ``She shouldn't have dropped anchor here in the first place, she didn't respond to our signals, and her log book was found to be vague,'' Nautiyal said.
North Korean ships have often been found to be involved in ferrying nuclear and missile components for regimes clandestinely seeking to acquire such arsenals. Early on, it was a recipient of clandestine transfers of weapons technology and materials from China. It has since emerged as a major source of proliferation; its alleged clientele include Pakistan, Syria, Iran, and now, Myanmar.
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Chevron Corp. said Friday it has made a "significant" oil discovery in Angola's offshore waters, underscoring the West African nation's growing significance to Chevron and the country's rising stature as an energy producer as neighboring Nigeria copes with militant attacks.Nigeria: Three Pastors Beheaded
Corroborating the account of the killing, a Senior pastor with Good News Church, Wulari Maiduguri Rev. Baba Gata Ibrahim told Daily Sun in an interview that a pastor in his church, Pastor George Orjih was beheaded on the instruction of the Boko Haram leader because the clergy man refused to accept Islam.Indonesia police halt criminal probe into mud flow
“An eye witness who was also captured by the Islamic militants gave us details of how the pastor was killed. He told us they were persuading him to accept Islam and he said over his dead body. He was even said to have preached Christ to Mohammed Yusuf and that reportedly angered the sect leader who then as he ordered that the pastor and others be killed immediately,” he disclosed.
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Quoting from the bible in Revelation 7: 9-15, the regional chairman of the church told Christians to prepare to die anytime as their calling demand.
Some scientists have said that energy firm PT Lapindo Brantas' drilling for a gas exploration well set off the mud volcano, but Lapindo has denied it
When a thief sees a saint, all he sees are his pockets.
~ Sufi Proverb
But it's perfectly legal for Hizb ut-Tahrir assemble and to call for a Caliphate in America, Canada and the UK ~
Kyrgyz police have detained six members of the banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir for distributing radical propaganda, the Interior Ministry said.Controversial Kyrgyzstan Presidential Vote
SNIPKYRGYZSTAN: PENTAGON EXPRESSES THANKS FOR NEW MANAS DEAL
The dispute over the legitimacy of the election has set the stage for nationwide protests in Kyrgyzstan, which hosts a U.S. air base crucial to operations in Afghanistan and is the focus of competition between Washington and Moscow for regional influence. Atambayev said the vote was illegitimate and a new election should be held. He called for mass protests against the government. But plans for a protest march to the Central Election Commission fizzled.
Atambayev told reporters authorities were planning to provoke violence and then blame it on the opposition. But Atambayev said Bakiyev’s opponents would press their fight, saying the government “wants to rule the people by theft.” The political opponents claim their supporters have been threatened. Atambayev said he had sent his wife and daughter away from the country after being intimidated. He has now flown to Moscow seeking support - although Russia has traditionally backed President Bakiyev. Protests by opposition followed and many people were arrested and forced into waiting police buses.
A rally by opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, has been broken up by police. Previous polls under Bakiyev have also been criticized by international monitors, but Russia supported its ally. The situation contrasts with that of 2005 when he came to power following the so-called Tulip revolution. He won a landslide victory gaining almost 90% of the vote. Four years on his critics say his government has curbed free speech and become increasingly repressive.
The protesters had planned a march at the town of Balykchi on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, close to where the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan will gather to discuss the creation of a joint rapid-response military task force.
Kyrgyz officials had warned the opposition that they would not tolerate protests during the summit. Leaders of the Kyrgyz opposition, protesting the outcome of last week’s presidential elections, said that they would not hold public actions Friday or Saturday, when the Collective Security Treaty Organization will be holding an informal summit there. During the vote, clashes between opposition members and government forces were reported in the northern town of Balykchi. A group of about 300 protesters had left a market on the outskirts of Bishkek and had gone a short distance towards an opposition headquarters when they were intercepted by police, the leader of the opposition United People’s Movement, Topchebek Turgunaliev said..
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US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has sent a thank-you note to Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for allowing the Manas air base to continue operating as a transit center in support of coalition force operations in Afghanistan.TAJIKISTAN: ZIYOEV KILLED FOR BETRAYING COMRADES!
"I thank you for your guiding role in permitting the United States to station the transport and logistics hub at Manas Airport," Gates wrote in a letter released by Bakiyev’s office on August 7.
"The transport and logistics hub will play an important role to support operations in Afghanistan. The decision of your government makes a significant contribution into efforts of the international community [ . . . ] in Afghanistan, where we face a common enemy and have a common interest in the achievement of success. The agreement will allow the United States and the Kyrgyz Republic to continue earlier established highly productive military relations," Gates added.
Indo-Tajikistan Army Expedition in LehMilitants recently captured or killed in southern Tajikistan were on their way to, not returning from, Pakistan, a Tajik newspaper report alleges. And Mirzo Ziyoev, a former minister and opposition commander killed on July 11, was murdered by his own men because he "betrayed" them by failing to get them across the border, according to a security expert quoted by the Farazh newspaper.
"They [the militants] got stuck in Tajikistan because the crossing of several groups into Afghanistan caused a lot of hue and cry," expert Amrullo Sobir said in the report, published August 5. "They were heading for Waziristan [ . . . ] one of them says that Mirzo Ziyoev betrayed them. He failed to help them cross the border and they were captured and killed there."
The official version of events is that after his arrest on July 8, Ziyoev decided to assist authorities negotiate the surrender of the remaining members of his outfit, which included fighters led by Nemat Azizov. However, he was shot dead three days later as the convoy he was traveling in was ambushed by Azizov’s men, the Interior Ministry maintains.
Azizov was killed on July 28. His brothers, who were reportedly captured days later, turned themselves in at the request of their mother, the report also claimed.
"This expedition will not only help both the Armies learn from each other's varied experiences but would go a long way in strengthening the ties between both the two nations,” a defence spokesman said in Srinagar today. Indian Army in the past has organized similar expeditions with Australia, Nepal, USA, UK and Kazakhstan.Russia Oversees Tajikistan's Efforts to Find Partners in South Asia
While Moscow's decision to open another base in Kyrgyzstan received intense coverage in the international media, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent visit to Tajikistan was largely overlooked. Along with the Presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai, Medvedev visited Dushanbe last week to discuss cooperation in the hydropower sector and regional security. Together with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, Medvedev participated in the four-party meetings, showing that Russia is playing an active part in Tajikistan's efforts to develop its relationships with its southern partners.US diplomat in Peshawar posted to Turkmenistan
This is not the first time that Ms Tracy has been posted to a Central Asian country. Earlier, she served at the US embassies in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. She also served at the US embassy in Afghanistan, which is located in Central Asia but is also a member of the South Asian regional body, SAARC.TURKMENISTAN: ASHGABAT BUDDIES UP TO TEHRAN
Turkmenistan is also stalling on announcing the winner of the East-West tender, a decision which could ultimately reveal where Ashgabat’s export intentions lie. The East-West gas spur is tentatively designed to link up with the Prikaspiiski pipeline, a Gazprom-controlled gas artery. But the spur could also be used to divert gas to Europe. In a surprise move, Turkmenistan in late March threw the project open to bids from international companies. Prior to that announcement, Gazprom was widely seen as the overseer of the project. Observers tell EurasiaNet that if a Russian entity wins the tender, it would be a sign of a rapprochement between the Kremlin and Ashgabat.Turkmenistan's gifted president
GLORIOUS TURKMEN LEADER AKBAR!!
Parisian cabbies call President Obama President Barak Jesus Obama. His most salient characteristic is that he may be the messiah.But President Jesus has nothing on the hands-on accomplishments of the president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.President Berdymukhamedov is hailed as one of Turkmenistan’s leading dentists. But dentistry is just the beginning what this renaissance man politician can do, A few years, when he was in need of a skillful surgeon, he scoured the country for its most talented physician. After careful consideration, he performed the surgery on himself. But there is more.Magnitude 4.4 - CASPIAN SEA, OFFSHORE TURKMENISTAN
The Human Rights Activist from Kazakhstan: Scandal in Austria has wrong reasons ...
English not first language.... please to forbearance
The head of the “Tagdyr” human rights foundation Armangul Kapasheva believes the strange scandal concerning her native Kazakhstan which started in Austria last week is absurd. Today the man who is responsible for her husband’s and other citizens’ of Kazakhstan disappearance stays in Austria absconding.Compulsory religious studies course to be introduced in Kazakhstan
This man’s name is Rakhat Aliyev. The former son-in-law of the President of Kazakhstan, multi-millionaire, ex-secret police head and former ambassador now is convicted to 40 years of prison in his motherland, for kidnappings and a criminal group organization inter alia. But for some strange reason he is protected by the Austrian authorities. Besides it doesn’t bother the public there, and this is really illogical.
Herewith Austrian Member of Parliament’s simple inquiry concerning “Aliyev’s case” faced disruptive reaction. The “too curious” MP was immediately accused of being bribed by the Kazakh government. Kapasheva thinks it’s awful injustice: “Why no one in Austria can take interest in this case without being suspected in links with Kazakhstan? Whom Aliyev is so protected by? And where is the public who should have cried out after such an incident? This is totally strange!”
Today Rakhat Aliyev is enjoying luxurious life in Vienna, writing a book and calling himself a leader of the Kazakh opposition allegedly persecuted just for his “battle against the regime” that in truth had given him his power in earlier years. The Austrian authorities claim that the Kazakh court “complies with demands of political leaders of Kazakhstan”. But they take it slow in judging Aliyev by their own independent court, closing their eyes at the fact that there is a whole foundation uniting relatives of this man’s victims shouting under their windows.
But Kapasheva is not the kind of person that will stay idle: “I want to know what happened to my husband. My children have a right to know of their father’s fate. People are vanishing in close proximity to Europe. They are possibly killed. And the criminal can lead luxurious life in Austria. What kind of world is it, if such things are allowed there? Why the row around the inquiry is warmed up, while the aim of this inquiry is to know the reasons of Vienna backing Aliyev?”
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We don't kill a pig every day!
~ Sufi Proverb
HAHAHA! If I am determined to kill you, my advice is dig a hole because you are already dead, comrade.
~ Vladdest of Them All
Georgia’s pro-Western President said yesterday that Vladimir Putin remained determined to kill him as part of ambitions to restore Russia’s former Soviet empire.Gas deal cements ties between Silvio Berlusconi and Vladimir Putin
Russia's Medvedev puts state firms under scrutiny
This is the Central Scrutinizer....
Web Attack Targeted Critic of Russia
Vlad hates to be mocked!
Facebook Inc. said it rooted out the cause of the attack after noticing that the compromised computers which began flooding its site Thursday morning were directing traffic to the page of a single blogger, who uses the account name "Cyxymu," which represents the name for the city of Sukhumi in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The blogger has been a prolific critic of Russian officials through accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal and YouTube, Google Inc.'s video-sharing service. On Twitter -- where he calls himself George and describes his location as "Georgia, Tbilisi" -- he has written "Russia is aggressor." On YouTube, he has posted video clips of Russian politicians with mocking comments.Russia pushes for CAsia energy projects
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday pushed for energy and transportation projects—in which Russia is likely to lead the way—to boost economic development in Afghanistan and surrounding countries. Meeting with the presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan, Medevdev called building energy infrastructure a vital prerequisite for prosperity. "Energy projects are what really help governments that need to strengthen their economy," he said. "Assistance must not just be a one-off, it should be aimed toward the future."
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari appeared to welcome the prospect of a greater Russian role in improving stability and enabling economic development. "We are a region that is asking for help," he said. "The people of Pakistan, the people of Afghanistan are looking forward and looking up to the leadership in the region to help them come out of their problems."
SNIP
The Uzbeks explain the ingenuity of their mind by often repeating a saying that goes: when they speak, they seldom mean what they say; and when they act, they almost always disregard what they have in mind.Putin says Russia's defense orders to rise in 2010
To be sure, it is hazardous to attempt a definitive interpretation of what the Uzbek Foreign Ministry in Tashkent meant on Monday when it alleged that the "implementation of such projects" as a Russian decision to set up a second military base in Kyrgyzstan could "reinforce militarization processes" as well as "seriously destabilize the situation in the vast region", apart from "provoking various kinds of nationalist struggles".
Was it genuine concern, a veiled threat or mere rhetoric? Earlier on Saturday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a memorandum on Russia's military presence in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan already hosts a Russian airbase in Kant and four other Russian military facilities. An estimated 400 Russian military personnel from Russia's 5th Air Army are located at the base as well as Su-25 Frogfoot strike aircraft and Mi-8 transport aircraft.
The memorandum signed in Bishkek envisages that Kyrgyzstan will host an additional Russian contingent up to a battalion size and a training center for both countries' service personnel. Moscow originally offered to deploy a battalion-sized unit as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Kyrgyzstan's Batken region in the south. The memorandum is in the nature of a bilateral Russian-Kyrgyz framework. Kyrgyzstan says it is receptive to inputs from CSTO partners regarding the new base that will be formalized in an agreement by November. CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
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State defense orders include spending on arms by all of Russia's military organizations -- such as the Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry and special services -- as well as repairs and spending on research and development.Russia's Entrenched Corruption Defies Solutions
What, tovarich? You think America is any different? You will see.
Russian Court Won't Halt Politkovskaya Murder Trial
A Moscow military court on Friday turned down a petition by the family of murdered Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya intended to push authorities to find the unknown figure they believe ordered her shooting.Cirque du Soleil to develop permanent business in Russia
The judge refused to halt a retrial of three alleged accomplices in her murder, who were cleared at a first trial.The family believe the retrial is a distraction from the hunt for a man on the run thought to have pulled the trigger, and further investigation into who might have ordered the hit.
State prosecutors and lawyers for the defence had supported the family's petition."We will appeal against this very strange decision by the military court," Ilya, Politkovskaya's son, told Reuters by telephone. "Everyone supported further investigation." We want further investigation and then one court for everyone involved from the killer to the person who really ordered the murder," he said.
Gazprom to store gas in Hungary for Serbia
Everyone knows that the drop merges into the ocean.
Few consider that the ocean also merges into the drop.
~ Sufi Proverb
Investor demand for emerging-market bonds is driving the cost of insuring against debt defaults below industrialized governments for the first time. Credit-default swap prices from Turkey to Indonesia are falling as bonds rise amid signs that their economies are recovering faster than developed nations. As the U.S. and U.K. borrow record amounts to fund bank bailouts and stimulus, Brazil, Russia, India and China have $3 trillion in reserves, up 19 percent from January 2008 and now 43 percent of the worldwide total, data compiled by Bloomberg show.South Korea, India sign free trade pact
Ukrainian govt to nationalize problem commercial banks
Collapsed Icelandic bank made yacht loans, documents reveal
AIG, Government Bailouts and Shariah Financing
In its request to dismiss the lawsuit, the DOJ argued that the plaintiff in the case, Kevin Murray, who is a former Marine and a federal taxpayer, lacked standing to bring the action. And even if he did have standing, DOJ argued that the use of the bailout money to fund AIG’s operations did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The court disagreed, noting, in relevant part, the following:Goldman Sachs, Foreign Banks Cut 1100 Jobs in Japan
“In this case, the fact that AIG is largely a secular entity is not dispositive: The question in an as-applied challenge is not whether the entity is of a religious character, but how it spends its grant. The circumstances of this case are historic, and the pressure upon the government to navigate this financial crisis is unfathomable. Times of crisis, however, do not justify departure from the Constitution. In this case, the United States government has a majority interest in AIG. AIG utilizes consolidated financing whereby all funds flow through a single port to support all of its activities, including Sharia-compliant financing. Pursuant to the EESA, the government has injected AIG with tens of billions of dollars, without restricting or tracking how this considerable sum of money is spent. At least two of AIG’s subsidiary companies practice Sharia-compliant financing, one of which was unveiled after the influx of government cash. After using the $40 billion from the government to pay down the $85 billion credit facility, the credit facility retained $60 billion in available credit, suggesting that AIG did not use all $40 billion consistent with its press release. Finally, after the government acquired a majority interest in AIG and contributed substantial funds to AIG for operational purposes, the government co-sponsored a forum entitled “Islamic Finance 101.” These facts, taken together, raise a question of whether the government’s involvement with AIG has created the effect of promoting religion and sufficiently raise Plaintiff’s claim beyond the speculative level, warranting dismissal inappropriate at this stage in the proceedings.”
Driving a Bargain With the Treasury
Geithner's F-Bombs Don't Scratch Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs' Cohen: New US bull market has begun!
Yah it's bull alright... Say...what's in a name? The Gold Man Sacks has their own High Priest! (A kohen or cohen, Hebrew כּהן, 'priest', pl. כּהנִים, kohanim or cohanim is a Jew who is a direct male descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses, with a separate status in Judaism)
Something Is Rotten In The State Of Wall Street
Hey I know, let's give the Gold Man a State! Waitaminnut......
Huge challenge awaits new chief of Fannie and Freddie
We do not walk by our legs, but by our will.
~ Sufi Proverb
Behold the Glow Ball justice, my fine fused friends.
As part of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative's (Global) efforts to develop fusion center guidelines, the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC), in support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), recommended the creation of the Fusion Center Focus Group. This focus group was tasked with recommending guidelines to aid in the development and operation of fusion centers.The 8 signs of terrorism
Concurrently, the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) Intelligence and Information Sharing Working Group focused on developing guidelines for local and state agencies in relation to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of terrorism-related intelligence in the context of fusion centers. The recommendations resulting from the HSAC's efforts assisted in the development of the fusion center guidelines.
SNIP
Could the language BE any creepier?
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI put together a list of eight signs of terrorism. Denver-based Center for Empowered Living and Learning (The CELL) is working on a video that will educate citizens and police on what those eight signs are.Obama's global redistributionist
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"It's not people just reporting on their neighbors, it's actually signs of surveillance, signs of suspicious activity going on all across Colorado," Captain Steve Garcia with CIAC said.
Does President Obama believe economic and population growth should be stopped because they imperil the planet and that wealth should be redistributed both within the United States and among nations? Or does he think such a view is ludicrous? He does not think it is ludicrous; a man who has promoted zero growth and global wealth redistribution for years is now one of Mr. Obama's top advisers. In December, Mr. Obama announced he was naming John P. Holdren, director of the Woods Hole Research Center, to run the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Mr. Obama expressed admiration for Mr. Holdren's work and said, "I look forward to his wise counsel in the years ahead."White House's top geek talks tech
So, what wise counsel had Mr. Holdren given in the past?
Aneesh Chopra is chief geek at a White House known for tech fluency. As the nation's first chief technology officer, Chopra is responsible for setting a tech agenda for the country to ensure its global competitiveness and for incorporating technology into government policy, programs and operations.Top Cybersecurity Official Steps Down
Chopra, who was appointed May 22, works within the Office of Science and Technology Policy and reports to presidential science adviser John Holdren.
But he also directly advises President Barack Obama. Chopra plans to visit Silicon Valley as much as once a quarter. He spent two days here this week, visiting startups, venture capitalists and academics. Chopra paused from his frenetic schedule to talk with the Mercury News. Here is an edited version of the interview:
A top operational official in charge of protecting civilian government computer networks has resigned, dealing another blow to the federal effort to enhance cybersecurity. Mischel Kwon, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, submitted her resignation letter this week. "Moving on is a hard step for me, but one I must take," she said, according to the letter obtained by The Washington Post.Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff Says NSA's Einstein 3 Is 'Where we have to go"
Yes Herr Cobra Face, I am well aware of where you have to go.
Chertoff spoke of the need to engage, define and regulate cyber crime on an international level. Chertoff asked the question, “what is the line between an individual acting on his or her own, [someone] who is motivated by sympathy, someone who is enabled by a foreign government, someone who has a foreign government turning a blind eye, and someone who is actually being ordered by a foreign government?”
For every sin but the killing of Time there is forgiveness.
~ Sufi Proverb
Federal officials release new swine flu guidelines for schools
Why Are We Moving Toward Socialized Medicine?
The solution to this ongoing crisis is to recognize that the very idea of a “right” to health care is a perversion. There can be no such thing as a “right” to products or services created by the effort of others, and this most definitely includes medical products and services. Rights, as the Founders conceived them, are not claims to economic goods, but to freedoms of action.Oculus Innovative Sciences Reports 52% Increase in First Quarter
Oculus: Archaeology ~ a design representing an eye, as on funerary pottery found in megalithic tombs of Europe.
Oculus: Architecture ~ a circular opening, esp. one at the apex of a dome.
Their motto is "Innovative Sciences, Disruptive Technologies" which I find incredibly creepy.
With Strong Buying Response in First Month of Commercialization!Recent Milestones:
-- Secures FDA Clearances for Two Microcyn(R) Products Including New Reimbursable Wound HydroGel
-- Vetericyn Partner Launches Four Microcyn-Based Animal Healthcare Products into U.S. Market and Initiates National TV Advertising Campaign with Strong Buying Response in First Month of Commercialization
-- Announces Agreement with OroScience, Inc. for Marketing of Microcyn(R)-Based Oral Care Products in U.S., Canadian and European Professional Dental Markets
-- Second U.S. Independent Laboratory Confirms that Microcyn(R) Technology Effective at Inactivating H1N1 Swine Flu
-- Company Reaffirms Guidance Targeting Cash Breakeven in March 2010
-- Raises $6 Million in Funding for Expansion of its Product Portfolio and New Product Launches
Toward Global People's Autonomy!
Historical People's Movement! Glow Ball One World Orderliness! There's no fool like a Utopian fool.
My point of departure in imagining "another world" is that we are in the second wave of historical people's movement against capitalism, the first wave being the 19-20 century communist-socialist movement concentrating on the seizure of state as the decisive instrument of social change. Here I can hardly go into historical assessment of that state-centered paradigm but it is obvious that the historic movement guided by that paradigm was tested and failed in a big way, leaving global capitalism triumphant, though in a miserable shape. The second wave is there to undermine and overthrow the capitalist regime in new ways, that is, ways not dedicated to the seizure of the state and establishment of the party-state. I believe that that is the major lesson learned from the failure of the first wave. The second wave struggle certainly requires new practice guided by new visions and using new means to achieve "another world." What then should be the visions and strategies of the second wave?
This Thing we tell of can never be found by seeking,
yet only seekers will find it.
~ Sufi Proverb
Phony shooting report leads to big pot bust in LaPorte County
NOoooOOO! Free the Holy Leaf!
“Entry was made, however, due to the exigent circumstances and once inside deputies discovered a large marijuana growing operation,” police saidMouse builds nest egg in ATM with $20 bills
NASA Testing Nuclear Power for Moon, Mars Base
Do not forget they have found significant uranium on the moon so the race is on...
Niger votes 'yes' to extending president's rule
The tiny West African state of Niger has the world largest uranium deposit but remains one of the poorest nations on earth - this extension of his term has to do in large part with the continuance of existing uranium mining contracts
Niger's electoral commission on Friday released provisional results showing the West African country's president can extend his rule for years past the constitutional limit, a move critics say grants him near totalitarian powers.Despite coming to the end of his second five-year term, Tandja says he needs more time in power to carry out political reforms and complete large projects
...which include a dam, oil refinery and a uranium mine financed by French nuclear energy giant Areva.There are also mounting allegations that the Niger government expelled nomadic Tuareg tribes to make way for the French operation.
Tuareg rebels have threatened to attack the uranium mine and transport as they did once in 2007.Shipments of depleted uranium from SC to start arriving in Utah in October
The first shipments of nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium from a former nuclear weapons complex in South Carolina will begin coming to Utah in October.
The 14,800 drums of radioactive waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions' disposal facility in the western Utah desert. The shipments are scheduled as Utah's Radiation Control Board considers placing a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium.
Depleted uranium is different from other low-level radioactive waste EnergySolutions Inc. is licensed to accept because it becomes more radioactive over time for up to a million years. An environmental group wants a moratorium in place until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission develops new rules for the safe disposal of the material, which could take years.
Enlightenment must come little by little
otherwise it would overwhelm you.
~ Sufi Proverb
The Temple Mount sifting project has been in existence since November 2004 under the direction of archaeologists Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig, the support and management of the Ir-David Foundation, the help of private donors and the cooperation of the Israel National Parks authority.2008: Digging out the truth?
In October 1999, the Islamic Waqf, the Moslem trust, and the Islamic Movement conducted an illegal construction operation on the south-east corner of the Temple Mount. This operation included a dig which inflicted much irreparable archaeological damage. These actions are also part of a general trend by the Islamic Waqf to prevent any archaeological research on the mount that may reveal elements of its Jewish past. But the main goal of this construction was to create “facts on the ground” by turning every vacant point on the mount into a mosque. The Waqf also converted the underground chamber that they dug out and the entrance to it, known as “Solomon’s Stables” into a Mosque for prayer, the third on the Temple Mount.
The earth from this shameful operation, bursting with archeological wealth relevant to Jewish, Christian and Moslem history, was removed by heavy machinery and unceremoniously dumped by trucks into the nearby Kidron Valley. Although the archeological finds in the earth are already not in situ, this soil still contains great archeological potential. No archeological excavation was ever conducted on the Temple Mount, and this soil is the only archeological information that has ever been available to anyone.
The first task of our project was moving the earth from the Kidron Valley to the Tzurim Valley National Park. Some of the soil was then sifted by a mechanical portable screener, in order to minimize the amount of sifting done by hand. We then began to manually sift the rest of the soil. We began a process of washing the material and scrutinizing it to identify all the archaeological artifacts.
[SNIP]
My first introduction to Jerusalem in 2006 took place on Tisha Be'av, the fast commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. I stood at the Western Wall, during that time of the Second War in Lebanon, watching thousands of Jewish faithful, from all different walks of life - women and men, soldiers and Hassidim, Sephardim and Ashkenazim - gathered in unity to remember and to mourn. It was like entering the very soul of Israel.
This Tisha Be'av caused me to reflect further on those lost Temples, particularly now that I have spent two years in the country, during which I had occasion to visit the Temple Mount. After passing through two security checks before entering, a different world appeared - one with no visible vestige of Judaism - on that ancient and holiest of Jewish sites.
Christianity hasn't fared any better. In fact, for Christians, the writing is on the wall - literally and figuratively - the wall inside the Dome of the Rock. In Arabic calligraphy dating from the seventh century, the text declares that God has no son; that Jesus was not resurrected (Islam also denies that he was crucified); that Jews and Christians, "the People of the Book," transgress by not embracing Muhammad's revelation; and that Allah's reckoning will come swiftly on those who do not believe.
Christians' attachment to the Temple Mount is based on Jesus's words and deeds as recorded in the Gospels.
It was strange enough for me to discover, therefore, that Jews and Christians are not permitted to read their scriptures or pray aloud there. But it wasn't until learning that during the 2000 Camp David negotiations, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat had denied that any Jewish Temple had ever existed on the Mount that I grasped the depth of the divergence from the Hebrew Scripture, New Testament and historical records that is out there, and not as fringe an idea as one might assume.
SIFTING THROUGH tons of rubble that had been illicitly dug up on the Temple Mount by the Muslim Wakf and stealthily dumped into a landfill, biblical archeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay, professor at Bar-Ilan University, is in the midst of the project of a lifetime. I put the question of Temple denial to him.
"This denial of the historical, spiritual and archeological connections of the Jews to the Temple Mount is something new," he says. "There was always talk about the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem - called the 'praise of Jerusalem'- in Arabic literature, in Islamic literature. This new idea of Temple denial is due to the Arabic fear of Jewish aspirations connected to the Temple Mount. It is part of something I call the 'cultural intifada.'"
Barkay says the change took place in the 1990s: "In the Washington DC think tanks surrounding president Bill Clinton, it was understood that the Temple Mount was the crux of the problem of the Middle East conflict. These think tanks decided that if there could be 'split sovereignty' on the Temple Mount, then split sovereignty could also be achieved over the entire land of Palestine. So they suggested that in a future agreement, the Temple Mount would be split horizontally. That is to say that whatever is above ground, the part that includes the shrines of the Muslims, would be under Palestinian sovereignty. Whatever is underground, which would include the remnants of the Temple of the Jews, would be under Israeli sovereignty.
"It's a brilliant idea, an excellent idea, but totally idiotic from a practical point of view. You cannot have a building standing with its foundations in another country. You cannot have a building with the infrastructure and the plumbing in another country. And you cannot have sovereignty on the subground without having accessibility to the subground, because the accessibility is from above ground. The whole thing was stupid."
Barkay explains that the Temple Mount is honeycombed with more than 50 different cavities, holes, passageways and cisterns that are "filled with earth which is saturated with very valuable archeological materials. Enormous damage was done in these works which were carried out mainly from 1996 and onward. The idea that came from the circles surrounding Bill Clinton and leaked to the Wakf authorities is what generated the illicit building activities - I wouldn't call them excavations - but destructive work which was carried out brutally on the Temple Mount. The fear, the fear of anything representing a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount drove them mad."
PRIOR TO my own visits to the Mount, I had been warned not to carry a bible or "holy objects" with me, and to stay away from the Dome of the Rock shrine and the Aksa Mosque, into which non-Muslims are forbidden to go. Nor was I allowed to see a third edifice which I'd read about - the Marwani Mosque - a gigantic, subterranean building, located in the southeast corner of the Temple Mount Plaza. In 1996, the Wakf had reconfigured an underground structure, formerly known as "Solomon's Stables," into a mosque. Their contractors lowered the inside surface of the building by removing large quantities of priceless soil, rich in archeological evidence.
According to Barkay, the history they hauled away in dump trucks was not Muslim. "The building was never a mosque. It is actually more connected to traditions about Jesus. There are quite solid hints in the literature of the existence of an early Christian church there, marking the place where St. James was killed in the first century. The place is more Christian than Muslim."
In November 1999, the Wakf asked permission from the Israeli government to open an emergency exit leading from the Marwani Mosque.
"The prime minister at that time was Ehud Barak, and as usual he didn't consult with anybody else," Barkay recalls. "He gave them permission. But instead of an emergency exit, they created a main entrance to the building - a monumental entrance. For that entrance, they dug a pit 40 meters long and 12 meters deep. They did it with bulldozers in the most destructive manner possible, that of a bull in a china shop. The work on that place should have been done carefully, not with bulldozers. They removed 400 truckloads of earth."
For Barkay, sifting through those truckloads of material is essential, because it amounts to exploring a black hole in archeological history. Although Israel is one of the most excavated places in the world, explored continuously since the 1850s, the Temple Mount has been surveyed but never excavated. Therefore, ironically, the digging and removal of earth in the 1990s has provided a new opportunity.
"At least it enables us to look at the soil, though everything comes from a very disturbed context," Barkay says. "But we know it comes from the Temple Mount. And we have tens of thousands of finds."
These finds, that cover approximately 15,000 years, have altered the historic understanding of the area's history. Sponsored by the Ir David Foundation, volunteers working with Barkay have been sifting through the debris, and have found Stone Age flint implements. They have discovered pre-Israelite material, Bronze Age pottery, two Egyptian scarabs and several seals and seal impressions.
One very significant find, confirming the recorded history of the Temple's existence, is the fragment of a bulla, a clay lump with a seal impression upon it, which is about 2,600 years old and dates from the First Temple period. Its inscription bears part of official's name, Gealyahu son of Immer. The Immer family is recorded in the Bible. "In Jeremiah 20:1," Barkay says, "probably the brother of Gealyahu is mentioned, a priestly man named Pashur son of Immer. He is introduced as the man in charge of the Temple."
Findings from the time of Solomon's Temple up to the 20th century illuminate the raging conflicts of passing civilizations. "We have enormous quantities of war artifacts: We have lead slingshots of the Seleucid armies in the battles of Judah Maccabee. We have arrowheads of the army of Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the First Temple. We have arrowheads of the Hellenistic period. We have one arrowhead bearing distinguishing markings of having been shot by a catapult. Those machines were only used by the armies of Titus in 70 CE in the destruction of the Second Temple. We have stone slingshots; we have spearheads; and we have medieval arrowheads from the Crusader conquest of the Temple Mount. There are even bullets from both the Turkish army and the British army in World War I."
Other findings on the Temple Mount - jewelry, coins, pottery shards and architectural fragments - provide specific details of human life spanning several millennia. "We have material dating back to the 10th century BCE, the time of David and Solomon. We have material from the time of the kings of Judah. We have material in abundance from the early Christian period. This is very significant, because it is written in most history books that the churches moved to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher after it was built (it dates back to at least the fourth century), and that thereafter the Temple Mount was neglected and was a garbage heap. But now we have to build a new history, based on archeological evidence.
"We have fragments of capitals from church buildings. We have remnants of chancel screens that separated the presbytery from the nave of the church. We have several bronze weights for weighing gold coins from the Christian era. We have to rethink the role of the Temple Mount in the time of early Christianity. Was it a garbage heap? Or is that biased history? I think that history was ideological."
Barkay says that large quantities of animal bones have been found on the Mount. "Bones are very important. We have pig bones which had to have come from pagan or Christian times. We also have bones of foxes. And that is interesting, because in the Talmud we have a story about foxes which until recently I thought was a legend."
IN SPITE of these discoveries, Temple denial remains a growing phenomenon in Europe and America, particularly in leftist intellectual circles. It is supported by the reality that there are no visible remains of the temples of Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. Barkay contends that there were remains still visible in the 1960s and 1970s, which have either been removed or covered up by gardens.
"The Islamic Wakf says, 'We are not going to let you dig, but show us any remains of the Temple.' You cannot have it both ways. If you don't allow people to dig, then don't use this absence of remains as an argument.
"Temple denial is a very tragic harnessing of politics to change history. It is not a different interpretation of historical events or archeological evidence. This is something major. I think that Temple denial is more serious and more dangerous than Holocaust denial. Why? Because for the Holocaust there are still living witnesses. There are photographs; there are archives; there are the soldiers who released the prisoners; there are testimonies from the Nazis themselves. There were trials, a whole series of them, starting with Nuremberg. There are people who survived the Holocaust still among us. Concerning the Temple, there are no people among us who remember.
"Still, [to deny the Temples], you have to dismiss the evidence of Flavius Josephus; you have to dismiss the evidence of the Mishna and of the Talmud; and you have to dismiss the writings of Roman and Greek historians who mention the Temple of Jerusalem. And you have to dismiss The Bible. That is, I think, way too much."
If someone remarks:
"What an excellent man you are!"
and this pleases you more than his saying,
"What a bad man you are!"
know that you are still a very bad man.
~ Sufi Proverb
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