And that is all.

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Floatin' Powa News Service: Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself ~




Sarkozy: Israeli attack on Iran would be 'catastrophe'
And what would an Iranian attack on Israel be?

Terrorist group still allowed to join US-backed government
Hamas not even asked to recognize Israel
"We are not demanding Hamas recognize the state of Israel. It's not even part of the talks. Even we as the Fatah movement didn't recognize the state of Israel," said the PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Abbas says no preconditions on talks with Hamas

State, Mitchell were in the loop on Syria
I'm told the recommendation came in a memo from Mitchell to Clinton and Obama after his mid-June meeting with Syrian President Assad. The decision was discussed in a Deputies Committee that included the powerful Deputy Secretary of State, Jim Steinberg as well as a Mitchell aide, Fred Hoff. Clinton's personal staff on the seventh floor was aware of the recommendation before it was announced, as was the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman.

Hoagland's column suggests that others in Foggy Bottom were taken aback, but both Clinton and Mitchell -- the central negotiator on the ground in the Middle East -- were in the loop on this one.

New chapter for Syria-Saudi relations

Netanyahu aide: No Golan pullout for peace

Azerbaijan agrees to sell to Syria up to 1 billion cubic units gas per year
The official Baku visit of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has led to Azerbaijani-Syrian arrangements in the area of natural gas supplies. When visiting Baku the Syrian President stated that the gas matter was one of the key priorities of two countries’ negotiations.
Azerbaijan says it has not given anyone priority for gas

Hamasshole Party on Gaza Beach
NO FUN FOR YOU! BEATINGS!
Miss al-Ghoul was picked up by police on charges of indecent clothing and behavior. On the night of the arrest, she was wearing jeans and T-shirt - attire that is considered fairly provocative in Gaza’s conservative society and which could have easily attracted the attention of the plain-clothed Hamas vice police who patrol the beaches. She also swam in pants, fully dressed, with a girlfriend. Al-Ghoul’s male friends were beaten by Hamas police, kept in jail for several hours and asked to sign statements saying they would not violate public moral standards again, she said. The incident came as a surprise, worst yet, as shock to Palestinians who, for the first time were told about the news and apparent new Islamic law imposed by Hamas on the coastal area.
Amnesty International says Hamas and Israel guilty of war crimes
The report condemned unjustified Hamas rocket fire against Israeli civilians, which violated the laws of war and drove thousands of Israelis from their homes.

The report condemned the IDF “unprecedented” scale and intensity of attack, which, it claimed, took hundreds of civilian lives. A.I. also accused Israeli soldiers of forcing civilians to stay in houses they took over for military purposes, but exonerated Hamas of using human shields. The IDF did not comment on the houses.
Aid to Israel passes House
Gee that's too bad. IMO the best thing that could happen to Israel is they take noone's money and tell the world to shove their endless meddling right up their Glow Ballin' asses.

Israel Expelled by International Journalists Union
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have removed the (read expelled) the Israeli branch of the organization. The IFJ say it is because Israel refused to pay the dues it owed. Israel had been withholding payments asking that it be charged the same rate as neighboring country Jordan, not the higher rate the IFJ was demanding. Many believe it has more to do with an anti-Israel bias then the dues, the pattern of which is evident.
Religious Jews stabbed in Jerusalem fight
Two religious Jews were stabbed and another beaten in a Saturday altercation with secular Jewish residents of Jerusalem.
Religious and secular Jews brawl in Jerusalem

Make that three....
Three haredim wounded in fight with secular men in Jerusalem

The Palestinians' man in Jerusalem
But naturally they don't want him.
"This is not a power struggle between good guys and bad guys," he said in a recent speech. "It is a struggle between bad guys and bad guys." He wishes they were fighting over what would be best for Palestinians. "But they're only fighting over money and power."
Britain offers Nuke Deal as Tehran Burns
BRITAIN'S nuclear stockpile could be reduced as part of a global initiative to persuade Iran and North Korea to give up the arms race, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday. Speaking at the G8 summit in Italy, Mr Brown said US-brokered talks next year could pave the way for Britain to reduce its warhead numbers in return for Tehran and Pyongyang abandoning their nuclear programs.

And US President Barack Obama, in a move designed to increase the pressure on Iran, called for the biggest summit ever flagged to stop the spread of atomic weapons. Up to 30 countries will be invited to Washington next northern spring for a nuclear security conference. Mr Brown suggested that as part of the process, Iran was likely to be forced to prove it did not have a nuclear weapons program.
Iran protests continue despite Government crackdown

US panel demands release of Baha'is facing trial in Iran
They have been in prison over a year now....

IRAN: Mehdi Karroubi warns of 'unimaginable consequences'

Iran to offer West 'new package'
Same as the old package.
How do you say "You are hereby cordially invited to go fuck youself with an Arab shoe, you dhimmi son of an ape" in Farsi?

Iran to hang top Sunni rebel, 11 others
"They will be hanged, inshallah, by the end of the week," said Hamidi, adding that the 12 have all been accused of being "mohareb" -- enemies of God.
Iranian-American arrested in Iran
A social scientist....
An Iranian-American who was briefly imprisoned in Iran in 2007 on an accusation of endangering national security was arrested Thursday night, sources close to his family told CNN Friday.

Security forces took Kian Tajbakhsh, a social scientist, from his home in Tehran, the sources said. In addition, the home where he lives with his wife and year-old child was ransacked, and his computer was taken.

The reason for his arrest was not immediately known, and there was no comment from the Iranian government by late Friday. The sources said his family doesn’t know where he is.

Selling the Caliphate

In a recent interview with ‘AltMuslim’, Scotland’s resident entry level Islamist Osama Saeed sought to do with the Caliphate what Nick Griffin is doing with his racial prejudice, i.e. using more ‘saleable’ terms to make the idea sound more appealing to a modern Western audience. When pressed on the issue Osama said:

All that I was saying was the Caliphate can be consistent with democratic norms and human rights norms. I think to say the opposite of that is effectively saying that Islam is problematic and not compatible with these things. I also think it’s complicated internationally. I’m not advocating that we need one big superstate, because there are territorial integrities to take into account.

But if Muslim countries decided that they wanted creative cooperation, bring down trade barriers in the same way that Europeans do within the EU and the United States does [internally], that’s a laudable aim. I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with that. You’ve effectively got a significant international structure there. It’s just about talking about in modern terms...

China must end persecution of sentenced earthquake survivor
The Chinese authorities should ensure that May 2008 Sichuan earthquake survivor He Hongchun will not be subjected to any further punishment and that the conditions of his suspended sentence follow Chinese law, urged Amnesty International in a public statement on Thursday.

At 2pm on Thursday, Beichuan County Intermediate Court convicted He Hongchun of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order” and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years. He has yet to decide if he will appeal the verdict.

He Hongchun was detained on 27 September 2008 after organizing a protest outside an insurance company in Beicuan county. He Hongchun, along with eight other individuals, were selected to represent over 500 parents of Beichuan county who lost their children when their school buildings collapsed on them during the earthquake.
Iran, OIC raise concerns over Muslims murder in China

Turkish PM ups rhetoric over violence in Xinjiang

Iranian FM to call China over violence in Uighur region

Just as soon as he can break away from killing rioting Muslims and others in his own country.

A Strongman Is China's Rock in Ethnic Strife
As ethnic Han gangs roamed the streets of Urumqi on Tuesday at dusk, seeking revenge against Muslim Uighur rioters who killed scores of Han two nights earlier, a balding Communist Party bureaucrat abruptly appeared on the city’s television screens to call for calm.

The nine-minute speech by the bureaucrat, Wang Lequan, was mostly government boilerplate: the riots were no homegrown problem, but “a massive conspiracy” to sabotage ethnic unity; Urumqi citizens should “point the spear toward hostile forces at home and abroad,” not at their neighbors; attacks on Han or Uighurs alike were heartbreaking.

Then he turned to the Han who were on the streets, repaying the riots’ blood debt. “Comrades, to start with, such action is fundamentally not necessary,” he told them briskly. “Our dictatorial force is fully able to knock out the evildoers, so there is no need to take such action.”

Mr. Wang, 64, the Communist Party secretary and absolute power in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, is largely unknown outside China, and until lately stayed in the shadows even at home. But China’s leadership elite, and perhaps especially his patron, President Hu Jintao, have put their faith in him: they have let him run Xinjiang for 15 years, well beyond the usually strict limit of a decade in one powerful post. They have elevated him to the Politburo, the ruling party’s inner sanctum.

War on Terrorism: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing this advisory to inform banks and other financial institutions operating in the United States of the risks associated with deficiencies in the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) regimes of the following jurisdictions: Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

On June 26, 2009 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a statement concerning these jurisdictions that reiterates previous FATF concerns and calls for action on the part of its members. The FATF statement is copied below and can be found on the FATF website.
New microfinance bank established in Tajikistan

Several international finance organizations have invested in a new microfinance institution, AccessBank Tajikistan. Access Microfinance Holding AG (AccessHolding) will hold a majority stake in the new bank, and international investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) will invest a total of USD 11 million for equity stakes. AccessBank Tajikistan will launch operations in late 2009 in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

OK, so WTF is "microfinance"?
Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed. The term also refers to the practice of sustainably delivering those services. Microcredit (or loans to poor microenterprises) should not be confused with microfinance, which addresses a full range of banking needs for poor people.

More broadly, it refers to a movement that envisions “a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.”Those who promote microfinance generally believe that such access will help poor people out of poverty.
Oy to the vey deluxe.

TAJIKISTAN: MILITANTS MAKE DIRECT CHALLENGE TO GOVERNMENT
That microfinance crap ain't gonna cut it with these guys.....
Armed supporters of the civil war-era commander Mullo Abdullo have clashed with government troops in southern Tajikistan and are preparing for an all-out assault on the state, a Russian newspaper claims.
Mullo Abdullo? He's a jihadist.
Hey they ain't called The Stans for nothing.

Are the Afghan Taliban Using Tajikistan’s Islamist Militants to Pressure Dushanbe on NATO Supply Routes?
A new military operation in eastern Tajikistan suggests the Central Asian nation is responding to the return of such extremists under the command of veteran Tajik jihadi leader Mullo Abdullo Rakhimov, though the Dushanbe-based government says it is only conducting routine anti-narcotics operations.

During Tajikistan’s 1992-1997 civil war, Mullo Abdullo was an important Islamist commander, operating as part of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), an awkward coalition of liberal democrats and Islamists. If Abdullo has returned, it would mark his first known presence in Tajikistan since September 2000, when a government offensive in the Darband region destroyed most of his group, with over 40 fighters captured. Mullo Abdullo himself was reported captured in this encounter. He is supposed to have been sent on to Dushanbe, but was apparently amnestied and released, taking advantage of his unexpected freedom to leave for Afghanistan whereby according to some accounts, Ahmad Shah Masoud made him a commander in the Northern Alliance. Other reports say he joined the Taliban and was captured by government forces in Kandahar province in 2002, after which little was heard of him (Asia Plus, May 23; RFE/RL, May 21). Tajikistan authorities were unable to confirm reports of Abdullo’s detention in Afghanistan (Interfax, May 22).

The Legacy of Tajikistan’s Civil War

Government troops are currently at work in the Rasht Valley, in the western part of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). The Garm district of the Rasht Valley has a long history as a center for Islamist militancy, dating back to its days as an important center for the anti-Soviet Bashmachi rebellion of the 1920’s. During the civil war the Garmis sided with the Islamists and suffered severe retribution for their efforts. The Rasht Valley was also the main operational base for Mullah Abdullo’s forces during the war.

SNIP
Another Russian base in Kyrgyzstan
Russia will open a second military base in Kyrgyzstan in what would be a major expansion of its military presence in Central Asia, said a media report.

The base will be located in the strategic Ferghana valley in southern Kyrgyzstan, close to the borders with China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, said the Interfax news agency quoting a military-diplomatic source.

Russia already has an airbase at Kant, a few kilometres from the U.S. Manas airbase, which Kyrgyzstan decided to close earlier this year but last month allowed to continue as a “transit centre.” The new base will be used by rapid reaction forces that are being set up by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation , a Russia-led defence pact which unites Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Russia will supply the bulk of troops for the new base. Their task will be to “control drug-trafficking and fight extremist groups operating in the region,” said the source.

Kyrgyz president: Continued American use of Manas base benefits US, Russia & Krygystan
The decision to allow the United States to continue using a Kyrgyzstan air base as a transit center for its operations in Afghanistan benefits Washington, Moscow and Bishkek, the Kyrgyz president said Friday.

"I consider the decision taken by us as a crucial precedent in international politics, when all the parties concerned manage to overcome the inertia of confrontation and to begin realizing the possibilities and prospects of their partnership," President Kurmanbek Bakiyev told Russia's Izvestia newspaper.

"It is a joint success of Russia, the United States, and Kyrgyzstan, diplomats of the Central Asian countries, as well as European politicians," he said.

Bakiyev said his country showed its willingness to fight international terrorism and extremism by allowing the transit of U.S. military supplies to Afghanistan via its territory.

Kyrgyzstan lets Russia in on their defense enterprises, in exchange for a loan
Russia receives large blocks of shares in a number of Kyrgyz military-industrial complexes in exchange for previously allocated to the Republic of credit, told Interfax-AVN an informed source in Moscow.

TURKMENISTAN: TOP-TIER US DIPLOMATS IN ASHGABAT FOR TALKS WITH PRESIDENT

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns is in Ashgabat to meet Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. "Negotiations [will focus on] the expansion of interstate dialogue," the state news agency reported on July 10.

Burns met Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on July 9. On July 11-12 he will visit Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, before traveling to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on July 13-14.

Burns is accompanied by a "high-level American delegation" and will discuss "a range of bilateral issues with Kyrgyz government leaders," the US Embassy in Bishkek said in a press statement on July 10.

The CA-News.org news agency said the delegation includes Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake; the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs, Michael McFaul; and the State Department’s Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar.

Uzbekistan arrests 10 after suicide bombing

Girls sold into slavery for $2,000
Two 22-year-old girls from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan who have been “prepared” to become prostitutes are now released from slavery in the Russian city of Novosibirsk.
KAZAKHSTAN: WORKERS COMPLETE SECTION OF TURKMENISTAN-CHINA PIPELINE

Russia Threatens to Revoke Coal Mine's Licenses
Russian regional authorities are threatening to revoke licenses for two of ArcelorMittal's coal mines in Siberia without compensation because they are concerned the world's largest steelmaker may close them down, leaving thousands unemployed.

As Russia struggles to contain its worst economic crisis in a decade, officials are putting pressure on local companies not to close factories or lay off workers.

In the most high-profile example to date, Russia's powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin, last month criticized tycoon Oleg Deripaska on television over unpaid wages at a cement plant near St. Petersburg. President Dmitry Medvedev has also threatened to ax regional bosses who fail to tackle unemployment.

ArcelorMittal coal miners protest in Kazakhstan
A group of coal miners working for the Kazakh unit of global steel maker ArcelorMittal refused to leave the mine at the end of their shift on Friday, the company said, without elaborating on the workers' demands. ArcelorMittal said the protest took place at the Tentekskaya mine, where three workers died last month after part of the mine collapsed.
Zijin (CHINA) terminates talks to buy Kazakhstan gold firm

Senior Ingushetia Official Dies After Attack

Ukrainian Police Intercept Russian Missile Convoy
The trucks contained an unspecified number of SS N-2 short-range and SS N-9 medium-range missiles, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. SS N-9 missiles were used by the Russian Black Sea Fleet against the Georgian Navy during last year's war.
Russia renews threats over US missile shield
"If we cannot agree on this question (missile defense), then you know the consequences," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Friday, after a summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations (G8) in the central Italian city of L'Aquila, reports AFP.

Moscow has threatened to install the potent systems in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave near Poland which together with the Czech Republic is expected to host elements of the US shield.

"I have nothing to add, and what I said in my address to the nation remains valid," said Medvedev, referring to a late 2008 speech in which he had introduced the possible Russian response.
US General Promotes Missile Defense "Partnership" With Russia
"The (new) approach is to lay out ideas, and not to have a fully developed plan," Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly told Reuters in reference to U.S.-Russian missile defense talks. "You need to move forward at a prudent pace so that there are collaborative decisions, intermediate decisions made along the way, so that there is true partnership," O'Reilly added.
A Threatening Farewell from U.S.-Russia Summitry
Most of the time we prefer to believe them when the Kremlin says they want improved relations, but time, patience, and excuses are running out for self-sabotage. Today's news doesn't help much. Just in case anybody thought the summitry was going a little too well, Medvedev concluded his affable week with Obama by resurrecting a threat to place Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad (as though the regular threats to bomb Warsaw weren't enough).

Take a moment to recall the original embarrassingly timed and tactically miscalculated threat from November, 2008, way back when Obama had just won his historic election, with world leaders from Iran to Zimbabwe to Venezuela expressing (at minimum) cautious goodwill and congratulations that a new chapter might open in relations. Then, like a lightning bolt struck into the middle of America's short-lived euphoric picnic, came the Kaliningrad move. The siloviki can be such party poopers.
Medvedev backs away from joint WTO bid

Medvedev clashes with Putin
Not so smart.

Vladimir Putin visits Petrozavodsk

And the people swoon at his glory!
It is no accident Karelia became the place chosen for carrying out of the session of the State Border Commission. The republic shares 700 kilometers of the border with the European Union and, in this respect, is one of the key regions of the country acting a great strategic part.
Transcript: Putin-Perminov Discuss Russian Space Program
Vald is master of threatening brevity!

“Symbolic” World Currency Coin Unveiled At The G-8
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev illustrated his call for a supranational currency to replace the dollar by pulling from his pocket a sample coin of a “united future world currency.”

“Here it is,” Medvedev told reporters today in L’Aquila, Italy, after a summit of the Group of Eight nations. “You can see it and touch it.”

The coin, which bears the words “unity in diversity,” was minted in Belgium and presented to the heads of G-8 delegations, Medvedev said.

The question of a supranational currency “concerns everyone now, even the mints,” Medvedev said. The test coin “means they’re getting ready. I think it’s a good sign that we understand how interdependent we are.”

The Continued Fleecing Of America And Its Citizens By The Financial Elite

CIT Group, Chevron, AIG are big movers


Middle East dealmaking continues to contract
BTW...HOPU investment is Goldman Sachs China, Fang's Division.
The largest transaction by value for the first six months of 2009 was the $13.9bn purchase of IndyMac Federal Bank FSB's assets by a consortium of private equity and hedge fund firms. Completed in March, it was the only deal worth more than $10bn.

Its closest rival was the sale of a six per cent stake in China Construction Bank Corporation to a group of investors including Hopu Investment Management and Temasek of Singapore for $7.32bn.
'Pharmerging' markets and the new world order
STFU you crazy spleen, none of this is happening!

Collectively, these seven countries — Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Russia, Turkey, South Korea — are predicted to enjoy a CAGR of 13–16% by 2013. Very healthy figures, and perhaps not totally surprising, but they prompted David Campbell, IMS's senior principal for emerging markets, to declare that what we're about to see is the emergence of a 'new world order.'

"Thinking back to 2006, I don't think that anyone would have guessed that, based on the data we had then, we'd see the 52% growth in the pharmaceutical sector coming from the US market turning into a -19% contribution to global pharmaceutical growth based on IMS’s expectations for 2009," said Campbell. "That 52% growth provided by the US market has effectively transferred, according to our expectations, to the 51% growth now coming from those seven pharmerging markets."

The Dicey Politics of a Second Stimulus
Stimulus? Back in the neighborhood we used to call this shit grand theft.

Ex-Goldman Programmer Described Code Downloads to FBI
“The reason I uploaded to svn.xp-dev.com was because it was not blocked by Goldman Sachs security policy,” Aleynikov wrote. The phrase, “not blocked by Goldman Sachs security policy,” was crossed out and he added: “I wanted to inspect the work later in a more usable environment.”
Web manager won't say if others saw Goldman code

Barclays Hires Goldman Sachs Japan Stock Analyst Yuji Fujimori

Bank of America: "Amazed by Goldman Sachs' Unmatched Risk Taking

Bank of America Poaches a Gold Man
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

17 members seek Fed probe over BofA
Seventeen House members from both parties are calling on the Obama administration to investigate the Federal Reserve over its role in Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch at the height of the financial crisis.
Obama nominates former Goldman Sachs exec as ambassador to Germany

He was also a fundraiser for the Democratic Party
DNC fundraiser tapped as ambassador to Germany

Goldman Sachs profit bonanza could stoke anger
Ya think?

Former Napolitano aide gets Obama's nod for US attorney
President Barack Obama on Friday announced his intent to nominate former Gov. Janet Napolitano's former chief of staff for the post of Arizona U.S. attorney. Phoenix lawyer Dennis Burke, 46, who has held positions in each of the three branches of federal government, got a unanimous nod last month from Arizona's House Democrats. Burke was one of six attorneys in five states that Obama said he would nominate on Friday. The others were in Alaska, Hawaii, Ohio and South Dakota.
Agreement reached on police immigration law role
Napolitano also unveiled a standardized agreement for any local jurisdiction that wants to deputize police to act on behalf of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Napolitano Announces New Agreement for State and Local Immigration Enforcement Partnerships & Adds 11 New Agreements

Homeland Security Unveils New Immigration Plan That Limits Officers' Powers
The agency reworked the program, which had been criticized by the Government Accountability Office and led to a Justice Department investigation of the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff's office.
Feds OK Morristown cops as agents
The federal Department of Homeland Security approved Morristown's application to join a program that will allow local police officers to be trained as de facto immigration agents — although it was unclear Friday when or if the program will be implemented.

Morristown's police department is one of 11 law enforcement agencies whose applications were approved Friday for the controversial 287(g) program, which deputizes local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday.

Immigration advocate Diana Mejia called the decision "a sad day for Morristown." Mejia is the founder of Wind of the Spirit, a Morristown-based immigration resource center.

"This new agreement supports local efforts to protect public safety by giving law enforcement the tools to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens," Napolitano said. "It also promotes consistency across the board to ensure that all of our state and local law enforcement partners are using the same standards in implementing the 287(g) program."

Why the FBI Squelched an Investigation of a Post-9/11 Meeting Between White Supremacist and Islamic Extremists

If the leader of the White Supremacist Organization was uncomfortable meeting the brown-skinned supporter of the Islamic terrorist group in Florida, he tried not to show it. After all, the two men had a common agenda, and in the up-coming War Against the Jews, the Islamic Extremist had agreed, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." It was January 2002 -- a mere four months after 9-11 -- and both men were intent on following up on that deadly terrorist attack with a "summit meeting" to discuss how their respective organizations could cement an alliance to cause more death and destruction in the United States and around the world.

It was the first meeting between the men. To break the ice, the White Supremacist mentioned his admiration for Adolf Hitler. The Islamic Extremist readily agreed that he shared that admiration and looked forward to joining with the White Supremacist in the goal of fomenting civil war in the USA. They both approved of suicide bombings. And they discussed how the White Supremacist Organization could launder money and provide financial assistance to the Islamic Terrorist Organization, which had already received arms shipments from Iran.

Perhaps, the Islamic Extremist suggested, they could begin by killing journalists that support the State of Israel. He was warming up quickly to the White Supremacist, untroubled by the latter's conviction that inferior brown-skinned people were destined to serve the Master White Race. "Anyone willing to shoot a Jew is a friend", the Islamic Extremist told the White Supremacist.

The first meeting went well, with neither man knowing that their friendly conversation had been recorded by a third person in the room, an informant working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Soon, a transcript of this nasty conversation lay on the desk of the proto-terrorists' formidable opponent, FBI Special Agent Michael German, a blond-haired sixteen-year veteran of infiltrating white supremacist organizations, whose dedicated work had disrupted several attempted bombings, including an attempt to bomb a prominent African-American church in Los Angeles in the early 1990's.

Special Agent German was determined to investigate this incipient alliance before any great damage occurred to Americans. Keeping in mind Coleen Rowley, the FBI Special Agent whose detailed evidence that terrorists planned to fly airplanes into buildings before September 11th was ignored by her supervisors, German intended to make sure that his case, unlike hers, would not be ignored. If he had to, he would go all the way to the very top -- all the way up to FBI Director Robert Mueller himself.

Yet German's insistence on protecting American citizens from terrorists -- and doing it legally by the book -- eventually cost this venerable Special Agent his job. Director Mueller allowed the investigation to be squelched, with no evidence he ever reviewed the transcript of the murderous conversation between the White Supremacist and the Islamic Extremist.

SNIP

Raytheon-Lockheed venture snags $299M contract

Raytheon wins $98M Air Force contract

CACI Awarded New $34 Million Prime Contract to Continue Supporting Army Database

White House Kept Justice Lawyers in Dark on Warrantless Wiretapping

"Extraordinary and inappropriate" secrecy about a warrantless eavesdropping program undermined its effectiveness as a terrorism-fighting tool, government watchdogs have concluded in the first examination of one of the most contentious episodes of the Bush administration.

A report by inspectors general from five intelligence agencies said the administration's tight control over who learned of the program also contributed to flawed legal arguments that nearly prompted mass resignations in the Justice Department five years ago.

The program "may have" contributed to successful counterterrorism efforts, some intelligence officials told the investigators. But too few CIA personnel knew of the highly classified program to use it for intelligence work, the report stated, while at the FBI, the program "played a limited role," with "most . . . leads . . . determined not to have any connection to terrorism."

Obama claims right to imprison “combatants” acquitted at trial
This assertion of sweeping, extra-constitutional powers is only the latest in a long series of decisions by the Democratic administration demonstrating its essential continuity with the Bush White House on questions of militarism and attacks on democratic rights.

The testimony, given to the Senate Armed Services Committee by the top lawyer for the Pentagon and the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, came in the context of a congressional bid to reconfigure the military tribunal system set up under the Bush administration.
Secret Program Fuels CIA-Congress Dispute
Four months after he was sworn in, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta learned of an intelligence program that had been hidden from Congress since 2001, a revelation that prompted him to immediately cancel the initiative and schedule a pair of closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill. The next day, June 24, Panetta informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the program and the action he had taken, according to Democratic and Republican members of the panels. The incident has reignited a long-running dispute between congressional Democrats and the CIA, with some calling it part of a broader pattern of the agency withholding information from Congress.
I am thinking this secret program may relate to government policies outsourcing interrogative torture, which is being discussed openly in the UK right now....
As evidence mounts that UK authorities exploited the torture of terrorism suspects by foreign intelligence agencies, Amnesty International has reiterated its demand that the British government conduct a full public inquiry to identify and hold to account those responsible.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament on Tuesday, former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis described a series of actions by British authorities which he said led to the torture of British citizen Rangzieb Ahmed by Pakistani intelligence agents.

David Davis said that the UK authorities deliberately allowed Rangzieb Ahmed to travel from the UK to Pakistan in 2006, despite having sufficient evidence to charge and try him for serious terrorist offences, and that the UK government warned the Pakistani authorities of his arrival.

He further alleged that British intelligence agencies wrote to their opposite numbers in Pakistan "suggesting" that they arrest Rangzieb Ahmed, and that this information led directly to the arrest and interrogation of Rangzieb Ahmed. According to David Davis, British police and intelligence officers co-operated in drawing up a list of questions to be used during the interrogation, and supplied them to the Pakistani authorities.

Who's More Catholic: President Obama or Pope Benedict XVI?
LOL. Their headline, not mine! Again, why let a little thing like the Word of GOD stand in the way of your "Catholicism"? These assholes need to stop calling themselves CATHOLIC if they do not like the rules. The Pope included!

Newsweek guest columnist Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is suggesting President Obama is more Catholic than the pope.

In a column on Newsweek's Web site, the former Maryland lieutenant governor and member of the Kennedy clan says Obama's agenda reflects the views of American Catholics "much more closely than those vocal bishops and pro-life activists."

Townsend continues that Catholics in the U.S. aren't bothered by disagreements between the White House and the Vatican over reproductive rights and homosexuality because "they know Obama's on their side... [his] agenda is closer to their views than even the pope's."

Pope presses Obama on abortion, stem cell research
Afterward, the Vatican said the leaders discussed immigration, the Middle East peace process and aid to developing nations. But the Vatican’s statement also underscored the pair’s deep disagreement on abortion.

SNIP

L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s daily newspaper, gave Obama a positive review after his first 100 days in office. In a front-page editorial, it said that even on ethical questions Obama hadn’t confirmed the “radical” direction he discussed during the campaign.

Tensions grew in the spring when Obama was invited to receive an honorary degree at the leading U.S. Catholic university, Notre Dame. Dozens of U.S. bishops denounced the university, and the local bishop pointedly declined to attend the ceremony.

Former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, who now heads a Vatican tribunal, accused Obama of pursuing anti-life and antifamily agendas. He called it a “scandal” that Notre Dame had invited him to speak.

"But the Vatican’s statement also underscored the pair’s deep disagreement on abortion"
BUT NOT ON ISRAEL....NU?
What a load of shit all of it is. I mean really.

Obama and the Pope: Agreeing to Disagree on "Life" Issues
Oh yes agreeing to disagree is all the rage today. Confronting evil, not so much.

Obama Tells Pope He Wants Fewer Abortions
He's such a fucking liar.

John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, says: Forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet
Book he authored in 1977 advocates for extreme totalitarian measures to control the population

Harper to partake in rare audience with Pope
Here he is openly recognized as a political leader NOT a religious one by a person other than myself...

Harper's first-ever meeting with the pope -- the first for a Canadian prime minister since 2002 -- will come at a time when the pope has visited with several world leaders who took part in the recent G8 summit meeting in nearby L'Aquila, Italy.

"It would be publicly discourteous for a leader not to pay a visit to the head of the Vatican city state," Higgins said, pointing to other G8 leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who will visit the pontiff before the end of the weekend.

For that reason, Harper's visit will be with the pope's role as head of Vatican City, rather than as a spiritual leader, Higgins said.

Text of Obama's news conference on Friday

Utilities Seek to Halt Nuclear Waste Fee

The nuclear industry is contemplating something akin to a rent strike.

Since the early 1980s, utilities have been paying the Energy Department a fee of one tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour generated in reactors, to pay for a nuclear waste repository. In exchange for the payments, the department signed contracts promising to take the wastes beginning in 1997.

That, however, has not happened, and the goal is getting further away, with the Obama administration having declaring that it won’t use the Yucca Mountain facility — the planned destination for the waste.

Now the power-generation industry wants to stop paying the fee — which would amount to about $769 million for 2009. Some $29.6 billion has already been paid though the end of last year, according to a Bloomberg report.

The law requires the energy secretary to determine every year the “adequacy” of the fee, the industry’s trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, pointed out in a letter on Thursday.

It is now well beyond adequate, according to utilities, since the government is spending very little money on the project.

US helps Romania repatriate uranium
NNSA's Global Threat Reduction Initiative Assistant Deputy Administrator Andrew Bieniawski, who was in Bucharest for the moves, said the quantity of HEU repatriated to Russia was enough to produce two nuclear bombs
South Africa: Kazakh Boost for Uranium One
URANIUM producer Uranium One's share price leapt 7,7% to R19 on the JSE yesterday after it announced an 18% rise in uranium output from its Kazakhstan mines in the June quarter over the March quarter. The company's stock fell to a six- month low of R13 last month after reports that it was one of several foreign investors implicated in the misappropriation of state assets by a Kazakhstan official. The share price has not yet recovered to its previous level of R28 before the news, despite the Kazakh government confirming later it would enforce contracts with foreign mining companies.
Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World
In other words: Go ahead and wish for a nuclear-free world, but pray that you don't get what you wish for. A world without nukes would be even more dangerous than a world with them, Mr. Schlesinger argues
N.Korea to build even more nuclear bombs after UN vote
A defiant North Korea on Saturday vowed to build more nuclear bombs and to start enriching uranium for a new weapons programme after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions over last month's nuclear test.

HHS releases $350M in local government swine flu preparedness grants
SO GET SICK NOW!
NOW! It's patriotic!

Chinese Anti Communist Activist Beaten in Queens NY
Vice President and spokesperson of the China Interim Government (CIG), Tang Boqiao, was assaulted on Monday night in Flushing, New York, a locale which has become a flashpoint for attacks against critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Tang, a resident of Flushing’s Chinatown, said he was jumped by a group of at least four men at the Hollywood Karaoke Center on College Point Boulevard. The first assailant, a Chinese man 45-50 years old, speaking with a northern Chinese accent, punched Tang in the eye. A second Chinese man of a similar age, said Tang, punched him in the nose and threw a beer bottle at him. Tang said he suspects that there were at least two other accomplices. The police arrived at the scene, but none of the suspects were apprehended.
Plan Offered to Finance WTC

Costa Rica: Experts Find a Fissure on the Turrialba Volcano

Friday, July 10, 2009

Johnny Mc T: America & The Day of The Lord

The day of the LORD is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.
~ Obadiah 1:15

America and the Day of the Lord - Obadiah 1:15

Audio recordings of two lectures given by John McTernan at the 2008 East Coast Prophecy Conference:


As America Has Done to Israel


The Coming Day of the Lord






Part 1 Part 2


Part 3



Part 4
Part 3 Part 4


Part 5



Part 6
Part 5

Lecture given by John McTernan on January 25th 2009 at the Calvary Chapel of Hope Church in New York:

The Day of the Lord - Part 1 The Day of the Lord - Part 2


Floatin' Powa News Service: Cleansed By Fire ~

The sages say that the Torah is a living being,
and that the letters found in the Torah scroll
are actually black fire on white fire....

And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,
declares the LORD,
and I will be its glory within.
~ Zechariah 2:5



There the angel of the LORD appeared to him
in flames of fire from within a bush.
Moses saw that though the bush was on fire
it did not burn up.
~ Exodus 3:2

Netanyahu adviser raises "MAD" nuclear scenario

MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction.
OK so here's our problem with MAD: Islam does not give one airborne rats ass about life. Life is not sacred to them. If every Muslim dies and every Jew is exterminated in that process, far as they are concerned, they have won. They are breathlessly devoted to death, not life. Literally.
Israel must have "tremendously powerful" weapons to deter a nuclear attack or destroy an enemy that dares to launch an atomic strike, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted on Thursday as saying.
West Bank should not be 'Judenrein'
The mere fact that he felt he had to state this says it all.
Netanyahu said: "Judaea and Samaria cannot be Judenrein"
Planeload of olim lands in Israel
The first of several flights of North American immigrants expected to arrive this summer landed in Israel. Some 232 olim from North America arrived Tuesday at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on a joint Nefesh B'Nefesh and Jewish Agency charter flight. Some 3,000 new immigrants are expected to come this summer, including 32 families moving to the North through the new Go North program.

Abasshole Insults the Turks
Turkey's Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said he wanted to believe that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' remarks about Greek Cypriot theses were stemming from a misunderstanding, and were themselves a mis-expression.

"It is not possible for us to interpret Abbas' remarks in a different way," Toptan said during his meeting with Dimeji Bankole, the speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives. Toptan's remarks came after Palestinian President Abbas made a statement that he was supporting Greek Cypriot theses during his visit to the Greek Cypriot administration.

The Turkish parliament speaker recalled that the Turkish parliament had hosted Abbas for many times, and Turkey had supported him in every platform. "I hope it is just a mistake," Toptan said.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Refused Public Space by Palestinian Authority
But in the USA we let them hold conventions at the Chicago Hilton....
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has reported that Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) was banned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) from holding a conference on Saturday July 4 at Ramallah Secondary School, to mark the anniversary of the end of the Islamic Caliph's Rule.
Arab Group Pushing for Islamic Law in Judea and Samaria
The Hizb ut Tahrir Islamic fundamentalist movement has become active among Palestinian Authority Arabs in Judea and Samaria, pushing a message that only restoring the Islamic caliphate and the rule of Islamic law, not Fatah or Hamas, holds the answer for the region.

According to National Public Radio (NPR), the group is arranging rallies and drumming up support while dodging security forces loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who see the group as a threat.

"The coming of the caliphate threatens the Palestinian Authority regime and threatens the American interests in the area,” said Hizb ut Tahrir supporter Osama al-Ansari from Hebron, “They are harassing us because a caliphate will not provide for the existence of the Palestinian Authority."

Besides not recognizing the authority of the PA or Hamas, the group also does not accept democracy or the concept of the modern nation-state. While the group officially rejects violence, various counterterrorism agencies have argued that radical ideology such as that of Hizb ut Tahrir can be linked to terrorist attacks.

While more tolerated in Western countries, the group has been banned by several Mideast regimes.

Hamas TV: Kids Shown Video of Their Mother's Suicide Bombing Death

Hamas cartoon mocks captured Israeli soldier

Mubarak Sez: Hamas' flexibility a positive sign!

Israel may give PA commandos go ahead
The IDF is considering allowing the Palestinians to establish a specially trained counterterror squad qualified to carry out pinpoint operations against Hamas terrorist cells in the West Bank, The Jerusalem Post has learned
Sarkozy urges Israel not to attack Iran
Oh naturally.

The Light of Israel will become a fire,
their Holy One a flame;
in a single day it will burn
and consume his thorns and his briers.
~ Isaiah 10:17

For what mortal man has ever heard
the voice of the living God
speaking out of fire,
as we have...
and survived?
~ Deuteronomy 5:26

Iran: Security Moves to Crush New Protests in Tehran

Thousands rally in Tehran with bitter new cry
"Mojtaba, we wish you dead, and never to become the leader," was the new cry in the streets, referring to the son of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to many analysts, Khamenei's son holds the real power in Iran and along with Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi was responsible for a virtual coup before the votes were counted to retain President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office.
IRAN: A defector from the "hardline camp" tells his story
Hardline Camp. Please. They can't bring themselves to call it anything harsher than that?
“His story does really crystallize the disillusionment of the children of the revolution,” said Pooya Dayanim, a Los Angeles-based Iranian opposition activist who befriended Ebrahimi over the years.

Some elements of his extraordinary story are difficult to confirm. But much is verifiable through documents and photographs he provided, including rare 1990s photo of Mojataba and accounts in the Iranian press.

20 As a onetime member of the Revolutionary Guard, he says his military superiors were impressed by his enthusiasm and writing skills and one day, they recommended him for the Quds Force, the unit described by U.S. officials as the Islamic Republic’s elite branch for overseas subterfuge. The 19-year-old readily agreed.

Ebrahimi’s claim of having been a Quds Force member is difficult to verify. Iran has never officially acknowledged that the unit even exists.

Though ostensibly in charge of photocopying press clips for the ambassador in Beirut in 1997 to 1998, he says he had a weightier portfolio: helping oversee Hezbollah’s procurement of medium-range missiles transported via buses from Syria, and sending Shiite militiamen to Iran for training.
Iran won't back down "one step" in atomic row
I'm certain.

French academic in Iran prison healthy but worried
As well she should be.

Police fire on Iranian protesters

Protesters, officers clash violently in Iran's streets


Iranians Arrest Rights Lawyers, Pro-Reform Journalist


Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says:
"Because the people have spoken these words,
I will make my words in your mouth a fire
and these people the wood it consumes.
~ Jeremiah 5:14

By day the LORD went ahead of them
in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,
so that they could travel by day or night.
~Exodus 13:21

Pakistan: Taliban Enforces the Jizya
The Congress Monday condemned the Taliban-imposed jizya - tax enforced on Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in Pakistan in the name of religious minority protection money.

'We condemn the imposition of jizya by Taliban on religious minorities in Pakistan. Though it is an internal issue of Pakistan, it is also an issue related to basic human issues and the Pakistan government should take every step to stop it,' Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told reporters.

According to media reports, Taliban in the North Western Frontier Province, a region under its stronghold, have asked religious minorities including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians to pay an extra tax known as jizya in return of their protection.
The BJP is greatly concerned at reports emanating from Pakistan that the Taliban has asked to pay a jizya tax of Rs.6 million

Pakistan: Paying the Jizya is an Internal Matter of State
So STFU, dhimmi.

Meantime, back in Iraq:
Bombs killed nearly 60 people in Iraq on Thursday in the worst violence since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas last week, and American forces released five Iranian officials suspected of aiding Shiite insurgents.

U.S. officials said they believe the Iranians, detained in northern Iraq in January 2007, had facilitated attacks on American-led forces but handed them over to the Iraqi government at its request because they were obliged to do so under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement. The U.S. State Department said it was concerned their release could present a security threat to American troops in Iraq.

Five Iranians held by US handed over to Iraq
It is all just too surreal. Not only will Iranian fist stay clenched, Great O, it will proceed to ram itself straight up your black dhimmi ass.
"Five Iranian diplomats kidnapped by American occupying forces have been handed over to Iraq's prime minister," Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, told the semi-official Fars News Agency.

"They will soon be handed over to Iran's embassy in Iraq," Kazemi-Qomi said. Other Iranian media also carried his comments. U.S. President Barack Obama has been trying to improve relations with Iran since he took office in January, offering a new beginning in ties if Iran "unclenches its fist".
Firms challenge Iraqi oil auction
Several major Western oil corporations are in dispute with the Iraqi government over contracts to run six oil and two gas fields.The contracts were offered in a televised auction last week. Only one of the 32 approved bidders for the contracts, which include Shell, BP, Exxon and Total, has agreed to the oil ministry's terms.

The government has asked the rest to reconsider resubmitting their bids for the contracts that are left. BP and China's CNPC have agreed to run the 17-billion-barrel Rumaila field after Exxon Mobil turned it down.
Saudi Arabia convicts 330 "deviant group" members
The spokesman, whose name was not revealed, said the defendants were accused of
belonging to the “deviant group,” a euphemism for Al Qaeda by the Saudi government.
They have built the high places of Baal
to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal...
something I did not command or mention,
nor did it enter my mind.
~ Jeremiah 19:5

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,
because the LORD descended on it in fire.
The smoke billowed up from it
like smoke from a furnace,
the whole mountain trembled violently...
~ Exodus 19:18

China threatens death penalty for Xinjiang rioters
Chinese officials have threatened to execute rioters in Urumqi, after the worst race riots in decades left 156 dead and over 1,000 injured.
China opposes Turkey's call for UN talks on Xinjiang
So, why is China allowed "purely internal affairs" and Israel is not?
"The Chinese government has taken decisive measures according to the law. This is purely China's internal affair and doesn't demand a UN Security Council discussion," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told the regular briefing.
OIC Sez: Ethnic conflict in China must be solved through dialogue

Iran voices 'concern' over China unrest
IRAN even has the balls to say they are concerned. Unreal.

Kazakhs, Kyrgyz Flee China Unrest
Officials in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan say their citizens are returning in significant numbers from neighboring China's tense Xinjiang region, where ethnic rioting has been blamed for hundreds of deaths and injuries
They are sending them to Kazakhstan:
More than 1000 Kazakhstan citizens returned home from China
More than 1000 Kazakhstan citizens returned home over the last two days from Sintszyan-Uigur autonomy province of the Peoples Republics of China. The official representative of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Yerzhan Ashikbayev, informed today in the interview to journalists, "Kazakhstan Today" agency reports.

"More than 1000 people returned home over the last two days: 860 people returned yesterday and 120 people returned by buses today," Y. Ashikbayev said, having added that some citizens returned from China to Kazakhstan by air way.

"Today, the situation in China, as a whole, is stable than it was earlier. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is keeping in touch with passport and visa service in Urumchi. Kazakhstan Consul in Beijing arrived to aid Kazakhstan citizens," Y. Ashikbayev informed. "Despite the situation in China, some citizens have refused to come back to Kazakhstan... that shows normalization of the situation," he informed.

Central Asia's Uyghur Problems Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Most Uyghurs, as the world now knows, live in Eastern Turkestan, what the Chinese call Xinjiang or “the New Territory,” a reflection of its relatively recent occupation by China. But many Uyghurs live in Central Asia: roughly 300,000 in Kazakhstan, 60,000 in Kyrgyzstan and three to four thousand in Turkmenistan, according to censuses there.

The governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have been watching the situation carefully over the last few days, not only because of these ethnic and religious ties, which are strengthened by the presence of more than a million Kazakhs in Xinjiang, and have evacuated more than a 1,000 of their own nationals from that violence-plagued region.

Xinjiang - China's energy gateway
The unrest in China's far-west region of Xinjiang, notably in the local capital of Urumqi, comes after 15 years of development and transformation of the area to be a geo-economic springboard for projecting influence into Central Asia and the Caspian region in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
CHINA: Hundreds Injured In 6.0 Earthquake

Yunnan province earthquake flattens 10000 homes

He said,
"Look! I see four men walking around in the fire,
unbound and unharmed,
and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
~ Daniel 3:25

To the Israelites,
the glory of the LORD
looked like a consuming fire
on top of the mountain.
~ Exodus 24:17

TAJIKISTAN: ARMED GROUP ATTACKS POLICE POST
Eyewitnesses say five cars tried to ram their way through the checkpoint near Tavildara not far from the Tajik-Afghan border on the night of July 8. Several members of the gang were injured after "a fierce exchange of gunfire," the Asia Plus news agency reported. None of the suspected attackers were captured.
TAJIKISTAN: MIGRANT WORKER WOES CAUSE TRICKLE-DOWN EFFECT OF MISERY
That headline killed me.
"The qualified and cheap Tajik labor force is still in high demand in Russia since Russians do not want to do the work that Tajiks do. Therefore, the majority of migrants are trying to stay in Russia since they do not see any prospect of finding a well-paid job in Tajikistan," Navjavonov told EurasiaNet.
TURKMENISTAN: ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK FINANCES CROSS-BORDER RAILWAY
The Atrek-Bereket rail link is estimated to cost $600 million
Azerbaijan to build artificial islands in the Caspian
The islands will be created for the developing tourism sector.

Azerbaijan-Syria Business Forum was held in Baku

Azerbaijan - President of Syria Visits Tezepir Mosque Complex

Ambassadors of Kazakhstan to Switzerland and Greece appointed

UZBEKISTAN: HIGH-RANKING AMERICAN DIPLOMAT DUE IN TASHKENT
Uzbek President Islam Karimov will use the visit as an opportunity to "resume cooperation with the United Sates to the maximum possible amount," the report commented.
Thrones were set in place,
the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
~ Daniel 7:9

The LORD spoke to you face to face
out of the fire on the mountain.
~ Deuteronomy 5:4

Russia: US-Russian summit was 'groundbreaking'
It certainly was.

NGO Anger At Putin Ally's Role On US-Russia Body

Leading Russian rights campaigners on July 9 criticized the Kremlin's pick to head a new U.S.-Russian commission to strengthen democratic values claiming he would instead suffocate their efforts.

Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agreed to set up a new commission to boost bilateral relations when the U.S. and Russian presidents met in Moscow this week.
The Kremlin then appointed Vladislav Surkov -- who has said democracy needs to be "managed" by the authorities -- to represent Russia on the commission's civil society arm.

"We categorically reject this appointment," said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the influential Moscow Helsinki Group. "With the help of this commission he will suffocate civil society as he has before."
MOSCOW'S TRICKY POLITICS
Russia has embarked on a risky political game with new U.S. President Barack Obama by forcing its ally Kyrgyzstan to close a U.S. military base while keeping up overtures to establish warmer relations with Washington.

The Manas air base near the capital of the Central Asian state is a key supply centre for U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan, a campaign that Obama has set as a key priority.Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev standing alongside Russia's Dmitry Medvedev at a news conference in Moscow, said on Tuesday he would close the base after securing a vital rescue package of over $2 billion from Russia.

The surprise move came in the middle of Medvedev's overtures to Obama aimed at raising bilateral ties from post-Cold War lows where they have languished since the days of former U.S. President George W. Bush."One could not have chosen a worst moment for such move," Alexei Malashenko of Carnegies Endowment for Peace think tank said.
Russia Holds Talks With Kyrgyzstan as US Keeps Base

Russia seeks new military base in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz parliament OKs closing air base that's crucial to US
The Kyrgyz parliament voted Thursday to force the U.S. military to abandon its air base here — part of what many say is a Kremlin-backed initiative — posing a severe setback to American efforts in Afghanistan.The vote, a resounding 78-1, signaled that Kyrgyzstan's government is ready to follow through on its president's threat to close the Manas Air Base.

Russia Asks Kyrgyzstan For Second Airbase

Kyrgyzstan highly exposed to Afghan, Pakistan extremist groups

Kremlin's 'Gray Cardinal' Steps Out Of The Shadows
The reclusive presidential aide, widely known as the Kremlin's "gray cardinal" and a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has been making regular forays into the spotlight in recent weeks -- a telling sign that something is brewing in the Kremlin.

The flurry of activity has fueled speculation that the Kremlin's top ideologue is scrambling to restore faith in the regime amid a devastating economic crisis.

"Surkov is the architect of a political system that is coming undone at the seams," says Nikolai Petrov, a political analyst at the Carnegie Center in Moscow.
Russians Plan Floating Nuclear Plants

Russia 'shot down its own planes'
A report in a Russian military journal claims that half the planes Russia lost in its war with Georgia last year were shot down by friendly fire.
Russian antitrust ministry to fine Gazprom Neft over fuel prices
"Skimming off the top" the Soviet Way:
According to the antitrust service, in the first half of 2009 Gazprom Neft violated antimonopoly legislation by abusing its leading position in the gasoline, diesel and aircraft fuel markets. Gazprom Neft will now have to pay a fine, although the Federal Antimonopoly Service has not named the exact amount. The service’s head earlier told Interfax that the fine may amount to 2% or 3% of the company’s annual turnover for 2008.
Russian broadcaster edits out Putin send-up
Very Good Broadcaster. Great will be your reward!
~ Bad Vlad

Belarusians Detain Activists Distributing Newspaper


Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire upon their cities
that will consume their fortresses.
~ Hosea 8:14

At that time I stood between the LORD and you
to declare to you the word of the LORD,
because you were afraid of the fire
and did not go up the mountain.
~ Deuteronomy 5:5

Niger Unrest Could Be Attempt to Control Uranium Supply
YA THINK?

China steps up buying spree in Africa

Chinese Perceptions of US Decline and Power

Prominent cardinal backs coup and rule of law in Honduras

In an interview this week with CNN en Espanol, Rodriguez took the direct approach to addressing Chavez: “I want to take this opportunity to say that we totally reject the meddling of the Venezuelan president. We are a small country, but a sovereign one.”

Rodriguez and Chavez had traded barbs in the past after verbal attacks by the Venezuelan leader on the church in the Andean nation, as well as swipes at the Pope, with Chavez calling Rodriguez an “imperialist clown.”
India takes a step forward on N-reactor export front

Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda

Ms. Peters admits—quite briefly, for the most part—that the rest of her “evidence” supporting her thesis is disputed by “some U.S. officials.” The dispute centers around what looks like Agency in-fighting—something Ms. Peters doesn’t quite explain is part of the reason for the U.S. counternarcotics’ campaign fecklessness.
The house of Jacob will be a fire
and the house of Joseph a flame;
the house of Esau will be stubble,
and they will set it on fire and consume it.
There will be no survivors
from the house of Esau.
The LORD has spoken.
~ Obadiah 1:18

Let no one be found among you
who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire,
who practices divination or sorcery,
interprets omens, engages in witchcraft.
~ Deuteronomy 18:10

Goldman Sachs Trading Revenue May Beat Record!

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on track to beat its 2007 trading-revenue record, enabling it to boost compensation by an estimated 64 percent from last year, according to Bank of America Corp. analyst Guy Moszkowski.

Goldman Sachs has “unmatched risk-taking/risk-management skills in a market that strongly rewards these because of decline in competitor risk appetite,” Moszkowski wrote in a note to investors today. The New York-based firm “appears on track to accrue significantly more comp than ‘08, despite little change in headcount.”

Goldman upgraded to buy at Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Upgrades Goldman Sachs

Hong Kong SFC Bans Ex-Goldman Banker For 2 Yrs
Hong Kong's securities regulator said Thursday it banned a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) private banker from the local industry for two years, after she admitted entering into a transaction for her client without consent.
UBS Digs in Its Heels on Clients' Names
When the Swiss bank UBS and federal prosecutors face off in a Florida courtroom on Monday, the focus will be whether UBS must disclose the identities of thousands of its American clients, but much more could be at stake as well. The dispute, in which the Internal Revenue Service, backed by the Justice Department, is trying to force UBS to hand over the names of 52,000 wealthy American clients suspected of tax evasion, has escalated into a showdown that has frayed relations between Switzerland and the United States, peeled back layers of Swiss banking secrecy and rattled the world’s private banking industry.

UBS and the Swiss have intensified their opposition this week, threatening to send more ripples through the global banking system. Oswald J. Grübel, the chief executive of UBS, sent a memorandum to the bank’s top executives on Thursday saying that turning over the names “would require UBS to violate Swiss criminal law, and we simply cannot comply,” according to a copy of the document.
President Obama Delivers Remarks at G8 Summit
I think it's clear from our progress today which path is preferable and which path we have chosen.
Oh.... I agree.

Was Medvedev Drunk At The G8?

The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
~ Micah 1:4

He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
~ Psalm 104:4

UK: Mr. Darling's Opus
Treasury chief Alistair Darling's proposal, released Wednesday, is premised on the notion that a billions-of-pounds asset bubble just slipped through the regulatory cracks. Like a similar blueprint unveiled in the U.S. last month, Mr. Darling's opus pushes for more regulation.
Bank of England set to ask government for another 25 billion

BRICS Economies Gathering Critical Mass

Stern Says Financial Plan Opens Way for 'Instability'
Correct. This is the whole POINT of them doing it.
To destabilize and overthrow "The West".

Obama Administration's Financial Regulatory Reform


Who can withstand his indignation?
Who can endure his fierce anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire;
the rocks are shattered before him
~ Nahum 1:6

He who has accepted the accursed things
shall be destroyed by fire,
along with all that belongs to him.
He has violated the covenant of the LORD
and has done a disgraceful thing in Israel!'
~ Joshua 7:15

The New Public-Private (Mostly Public) GM
The most astonishing aspect of the judge’s ruling, which is to take effect today unless challenges are filed, is that no one save a few consumers suing the old GM for injury-related compensation seems to care that the United States is about to complete the nationalization of one of the largest manufacturing concerns in history.

Scarcely a peep is being uttered about the federal government’s insistence on propping up and now nationalizing a bankrupt corporation on the backs of American taxpayers, rather than allowing it to fail as free-market forces demand. GM for many reasons (a few admittedly beyond its control) has operated very inefficiently for years, secure in the assumption that, should the company ever be faced with consequences for its behavior, the federal government could be counted on to do precisely what it has done. The rest of America now appears anxious to forget this latest debacle and move on.
Oil traders slip past US rules via London loophole
Oil traders continue to squeeze past tighter U.S. market rules via a loophole that allows them to bet for bigger stakes on certain fuel futures that are under British regulation, brokers and analysts said.

The opening in what has been called the London loophole, which U.S. authorities tried to close in June 2008, allows the kind of high-risk plays that concern the Group of 8 leaders who have shone the political spotlight on oil price volatility.

Traders buying oil contracts in London played a part in the spike in oil prices to nearly $150 a barrel last year, critics have said.

OPEC earnings from oil and gas exports hits $1 trillion

I will send fire upon Judah
that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.
~ Amos 2:5

Then the fire of the LORD fell
and burned up the sacrifice,
the wood, the stones and the soil,
and also licked up the water in the trench.
~ 1 Kings 18:38

Raytheon Names Kugler Vice President of Strategy
OK so who TF is this dude now?

Kugler joins Raytheon from The Boeing Company, where most recently he was director of Advocacy Integration for the Integrated Defense Systems business. He previously served as director of Strategic Initiatives for Boeing's Missile Defense Systems business, responsible for leading the execution of missile defense activities in NATO countries. His first position at Boeing was director, Strategic Planning, in the Missile Defense Systems division.

Early in his career, Kugler served 10 years with Senator Thad Cochran, R-Miss. He was the Republican staff director of the Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services of the Senate's Committee on Governmental Affairs, which focused on ballistic missile defense programs and policy issues. He drafted the National Missile Defense Act of 1999, which established U.S. policy to deploy a missile defense system as the technology became available. Kugler graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the U.S. Army for five years as an infantry officer. He earned his master's degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University.

FE Warren officials host national-level exercise
7/9/2009 - F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. (AFNS) -- A simulated terrorist attack on a 90th Missile Wing intercontinental ballistic missile launch facility provided the exercise scenario for Nuclear Weapon Accident/Incident Exercise 2009. This national-level exercise involved 11 federal agencies and 1,300 personnel.
US Senate approves $42.9 billion homeland security bill
The legislation also includes almost $400 million for cyber security, a 27 percent increase over fiscal 2009
Senate bill would give DHS $97M above request
The Senate began considering a fiscal 2010 spending bill today that would provide $97 million more for the Homeland Security Department than the Obama administration requested. The legislation also corresponds fairly closely to the measure the House approved June 24
Bill to Criminalize Illegal Aliens Rejected
Last week the Arizona state House rejected a bill that would have granted local law enforcement the ability to treat an illegal alien like a criminal.
Homeland Security Braces for Possible H1N1 Outbreak
PANIC NOW PROLES! We have all this vaccine made special for you!

Obama Warns of Swine Flu Resurgence in Fall
The Obamassiah has spoken. NOW PANIC!

White House prepares for swine flu
OOoooo what will I wear? Pink leather I think.

Obama confident of passing healthcare reform

He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit
and with fire.
~ Matthew 3:11

After the earthquake came a fire,
but the LORD was not in the fire.
And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
~ 1 Kings 19:12

Abortion pill used in a quarter of US abortions

Is God-fearing, gene-hunter Francis Collins fit to run NIH?
IMO they would not nominate him if he truly fears GOD, only if he APPEARS to. That makes sense. I suppose we will see soon enough just how GOD fearing he really is.

Today, President Barack Obama announced gene-hunter Francis Collins as his nominee for the new director for the National Institutes of Health. If the President’s nomination is confirmed, Collins will direct the nation's premiere medical research agency and be responsible for $29.5 billion worth of scientific research. Collins reputation as a scientist is indisputable. But what may give some people pause about this nomination is Collins’ faith in a Christian God.

Pope meets G8 first ladies
How thrilling.

The Scoop on Obama's Gift to Pope

Since Obama is supposed to be god's gift to the world what could he possibly bring Il Glow Ballin' Papa that is any better? A "sacred relic" of course .... a saint's "stole".
A "stole". How very appropriate.

US Bishops and Vatican View Obama Differently
Sure why let a little thing like the Word of GOD stand in your way, Pope?
Koom bah yah you Laodicean MFers.
Ever since he took office, President Obama has been given a cold reception by some Roman Catholic bishops in the United States who have repeatedly emphasized their church’s differences with him on abortion, birth control and stem cell research. But Mr. Obama is likely to receive a much warmer reception in the Vatican on Friday when he meets Pope Benedict XVI for the first time, experts on the church say.
Obama Meets at Vatican with Pope
No information was immediately available about the substance of the discussions, which concluded with an exchange of gifts. The pope also received U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and a number of presidential aides.
Bibles to be displayed in Jerusalem
The Jerusalem Bible Land Museum will exhibit hand-inscribed Bibles written in different languages as part of a worldwide project, museum officials said.

Thousands of people around the world have united to participate in the international project, called "People of the world inscribe the Bible," initiated by the Bible Valley Society together with Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials said. The goal is to inscribe 100 Bibles in 100 languages.

Hey! Did you know all the cool kids are at the Darwin Festival?
All the cool kids are currently attending the big Darwin festival in Cambridge , which sounds like it has been a lot of informative fun.

SNIP

Richard Dawkins' wonderful sentence about how nasty the God of the Old Testament is was read with relish by Philip Clayton, Professor at Claremont School of Theology in California, and the point apparently was to illustrate just how philistine these atheists were--though I noticed that he didn't say he disagreed with Richard's evaluation of Yahweh.
If anyone's name
was not found written
in the book of life,
he was thrown
into the lake of fire.
~ Revelation 20:15

They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire.
They practiced divination and sorcery
and sold themselves
to do evil in the eyes of the LORD,
provoking him to anger.
~ 2 Kings 17:17

Nuclear waste shipments leave Nevada for Idaho
The Nevada Test Site says the last of 65 truckloads of repackaged radioactive waste has been shipped to Idaho, pending final disposal at the federal Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.
ARCO, IDAHO: Where the US government researches a nuclear future
On July 17, 1955, this tiny town, which might otherwise have forever escaped notoriety of any kind, was put on the map for a very historic reason: It became the first place in the "free world" to be powered by "electrical energy developed from the atom."
OHIO: Uranium project may go on hold

Monaro to earn stake in US gold/uranium project
The company reported on Thursday that its wholly owned subsidiary Uranium Company of Arizona (UCA) has executed a heads-of-agreement with Nevada-based exploration company Cristol Enterprises. The agreement covered the Bernard gold, uranium and manganese project, and covers 212 claims for an aggregate area of about 11 km2. Under the agreement, UCA and Cristol would create a new limited liability company into which the Bernard claims would be transferred. Initial equity in the new company would by fully owned by UCA.
Mysterious tremors detected on San Andreas Fault

Philippines warns Mayon volcano may erupt soon

Volcano Might Create Its Own Clouds
Please do not tell them this, next thing you know they will be throwing their children into it to feed "The Creator"...

Fire blazed among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
~ Psalm 106:18

The company of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
~ Job 15:34