And that is all.

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Floatin' Powa News Service: Venomous Snakes Among You...

"See, I will send venomous snakes among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you," declares the LORD.
~Jeremiah 8:17



I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore be as shrewd as snakes
and as innocent as doves.
~ Matthew 10:16
Israelis Wary of US-Backed Peace Process
As well they should be!

US: Parade of officials to Israel coincidental
It is to laugh.

US Provides $200 Million in Aid to Palestinians

The United States has announced a financial aid package to the Palestinian Authority. The announcement was made as a senior U.S. official prepares to hold talks with Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the $200 million is to help the Palestinian Authority improve the lives of people in the region. And she said the United States will continue to be a partner with the Palestinian people.

"I call on all nations that wish to see a strong, viable Palestinian state, living in peace and security with its neighbors to join us in supporting the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority has proven to be a reliable partner for peace," she said.
The President Takes a Hard Line on Israel
Genesis 12:3 ~ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse...
Gird up, Oymerika!

Syria to Welcome Mitchell as 'First Step of Dialogue'

Hizbullah and Syria
In the worst case scenario, Syria will help Lebanon politically, while in terms of relief, it stands with Hizbullah, whose arsenal of rockets and weapons is sufficient to let it hold on and inflict fierce damage on Israel. If Israel decides to wage war and decides not to give up on the idea, then Syria will play a role in causing this policy’s failure. Earlier, Syria helped Hizbullah gain what it wanted; the fierceness of the enemy will be a reason for doing this. As for Syria’s policy in Lebanon, the party has nothing to worry about, due to the west’s openness to Syria and its monitoring of the situation in Lebanon, in parallel.
Hamas sponsors mass wedding in Syria
The militant Palestinian group Hamas sponsored a mass wedding of 382 Palestinian couples in a refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
British talks with Syria offer hope of reconciliation
How jolly rotten.

Western overtures to Hamas
Oh beat me like the whore that I am, Achmed!
~ The West

UN denies Hamas influences aid

Hamas has already taken control of millions transferred by the Palestinian Authority to rebuild Gaza.
So what's 200 million more? ~ Clinton

UNRWA denies report that agency head left Gaza following Hamas threats


He Wants To Go Kaboom Kaboom
A New York man who pleaded guilty in January to charges of aiding al Qaeda was ready to be a suicide bomber for the organization, but was told he needed more religious instruction, according to a document obtained by CNN on Thursday.
Pakistan: Christian Shot Eight Times For Refusing to Pay Jizya

CNPC, not BP, to take majority of Iraq field

Iran says will strike Israel's atomic sites if attacked
I have no idea what atomic sight he speaks of, all we have here is very large factory for shoes.

Plane Accident in Iran Kills at Least 17
A passenger plane skidded off a runway and caught fire during an emergency landing in the northern Iranian city of Mashhad on Friday, killing at least 17 people, the Iranian state news agency reported. It was the second fatal jetliner accident in Iran this month.
Moallem: Syria can play role in solving Iranian nuke dispute

Iran's Caspian offshore oil fields found

China Raises Strategic Ties In Russia Market Row
China has complained to Russia about the abrupt closure of a vast market in Moscow used by tens of thousands of Chinese merchants, and asked Moscow to take into account the two neighbours' strategic partnership.Beijing sent Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng to Moscow this week for talks on the impact of the market's June 29 closure, which followed complaints about its operations by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "In light of the development of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership, China urges the Russian side to take a historical perspective, legally resolve the situation and protect Chinese merchants' legal rights," Gao said in a statement.
China, Russia satisfied with joint anti-terror military exercise

Vigil for Russia activist ends in clashes, arrest
A vigil to mourn the murder of Russian activist Natalia Estemirova ended in a clash with police and its 70-year-old organizer was detained. Following Russian Orthodox tradition, the vigil was held nine days after Estimorova's murder, bringing around 150 people on to Moscow's Pushkin Square Thursday evening, several times more than city officials had allowed. When all but 20 of the mourners had dispersed, about a dozen police officers moved in to arrest Viktor Sotirko, the Memorial activist who had organized the event, according to a Reuters witness. "I asked them: 'Why? When our activist has died, when the government has been accused, why aggravate the situation with arrests?'"
Russia must to punish firms that arm Georgia
Russia will impose sanctions on US firms or any others that provide weapons to Georgia, Moscow's NATO envoy said Friday, after Washington reaffirmed its military support for the ex-Soviet republic."We have a presidential decree that has come out saying that Russia will impose sanctions on those foreign enterprises which continue to participate in the militarisation of Georgia," envoy Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio.

"This decree has no exceptions, and if it is proven that some manufacturer, whether in the Arctic or in America, is involved in the supply of offensive arms, this decree will apply to them."Rogozin did not specify which document he was referring to. Last January however, President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree ordering the Russian government to take "special economic measures" against foreign firms delivering arms to Georgia.
Russian cargo ship blasts off for International Space Station
I am Captain Vlad T. Most Bad! I go where no man has gone before!

Putin promises to help Russia's struggling steel makers
I am Glorious Vlad of Steel!

Russia May Restrict Internet Phone Companies
A Russian business lobby and members of Parliament are in the early stages of drafting legislation that could limit or even ban the use of voice over Internet phone companies like Skype. The measure stems from concern that landline and cellular phone companies are losing revenue to foreign operators of the Web-based services.
Gazprom rides the wave
Naturally dude, there is no bigger Kahuna in whole GlowBall than Mad Vlad the Glorious Bad!

Gazprom Eurobonds net total of USD 2.4 billion

Nabucco lies
Ahhh someone in Turkey is half hip to Vlad's opera.

With the agreement, it became clear that those who give a polish to Nabucco in Turkey are spinning a yarn. Here are some particulars not covered in the intergovernmental Agreement signed last week: There are no articles about where the gas will come from...
Hizb ut-Tahrir: KGB-FSB Connection?
I am not insane, most excellent Festus:
Apart from the fact that HT has adopted much of the Marxist-Leninist lexicon and dialectically synthesized an Islamo-Leninist ideology and rhetoric, there is good reason to assume that, at least in the Central Asia "republics" of the former Soviet Union, HT has been co-opted by the security services (successors of the renamed KGB) or was created outright as a "false flag" operation to provide controlled opposition.

TAJIKISTAN: ALL WORK AND NO PAY
Makes Achmed an angry boy.

Three suspected islamists detained in Tajikistan

Turkmenistan to sue Azerbaijan over Caspian fields

Turkmenistan seeks international arbitration on energy dispute

Turkmenistan & USA To Create Intergovernmental Commission
The U.S. administration and the Government of Turkmenistan agreed to create a new bilateral forum or commission, so that they can meet regularly and systematically on the whole range of issues, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns told journalists in Ashgabat. He said this can make progress in economic cooperation, in energy cooperation, and working together against the spread of narcotics and terrorism, in contribution to stability in Afghanistan and across the region, and also in creating a systematic dialogue about issues related to civil society, education, cultural exchanges and human rights.

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Fall Off Corruption Watchdog's Blacklist
How very convenient!
“The fact that Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan were not included in the report shows that investors and other business categories are not interested in these states,” Miklos Marschall, Transparency International's regional director for Europe and Central Asia, told the Uzbek service of RFR/RL service. “That is bad news for these countries.”.

Last year, Transparency International listed Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan among the 20 most corrupt countries in the world, which also included Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Local observers say that the authoritarian regimes in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan do nothing about corruption because there is no public opinion or civil society to hold them to account.

“In an environment where information is closed off… a pyramid of the state corruption builds up,” commented one journalist in Uzbekistan. Nor are these governments moved by the poor ratings they get from international studies to reform their economic systems, in which corruption is endemic. Some analysts fear that the authorities in both countries will try to exploit their omission from the Transparency International report.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see an article in the official press explaining that Uzbekistan was not listed in 2009 Global Corruption Barometer because there is no corruption in the country,” said an observer in Tashkent, adding that the government may claim recent anti-corruption legislation has been effective. A media-watcher in northern Turkmenistan added, “Turkmenistan, where corruption has affected all areas of life, will not be upset, either.” He said it was common for businesses to use bribery to obtain positive decisions from government officials in Turkmenistan.
US ally Kyrgyzstan holds Soviet-style election

European Observers Sharply Criticize Kyrgyzstan Vote

Belarus strives for fruitful partnership with Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan-Russian command-staff exercises Air Forces
The active phase of joint Kazakhstan-Russian operational and tactical command-staff exercises Air Forces - 2009 is being carried out today at the the range Gvardeysky in the educational centre of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, "Kazakhstan Today" agency reports citing the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan.

According to the press service, an overall objective of the exercises Air Forces - 2009 - practical training of joint operations of Air Control and Military-Air Forces Divisions of Kazakhstan and Russia directed at maintenance of collective security in the Central-Asian region that demands from the Armed Forces of the adjoining countries of organization of high level cooperation in all directions.

During the exercises, its participants had trainings of preparation and joint application of aviation groupings of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation and joint operations of the Air Forces Divisions of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan in the Central-Asian region of collective security. The Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan, Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, arrived at the range to supervise the course of the exercises.

Kazakh Uighurs React to Xinjiang Violence

Kazakh bank BTA projects big creditor losses

FACTBOX-Major loans and creditors of Kazakh bank BTA

UAE's Planet to promote travel into Uzbekistan from GCC countries
The UAE has a whole freakin' planet? WOWZA!
Zahid Khakimov, minister of tourism of the Republic of Uzbekistan, announced at the recent Arabian Travel Market in the United Arab Emirates that the UAE-based Planet Travel & Tours has been appointed as the general sales agent to promote travel into Uzbekistan from GCC countries.
Uzbekistan tortured dissident poet in jail
Jumayev, also known as Juma, was sentenced to five years of domestic exile in 2008 for insulting the authorities after he had called President Islam Karimov a dictator and urged him to resign. HRW said he was then moved to a high-security prison. An Uzbek foreign ministry spokesman refused to comment.
Beware of the MAC
Lewis testified that when BofA became aware of significant, accelerating losses at Merrill, it contemplated declaring a material adverse change....
Bankrate: A New Model For Private Equity Deals
These are a form of back-door material adverse change (MAC) clauses that can substitute as a form of reverse termination fee without the fee itself..
Bernanke: A Facetious Answer For A Facetious Question

Secretary Geithner's Testimony to the Financial Services Committee


Iceland to Take Step Toward EU, Edging Past Balkan Countries

President's Presser Is Deja Vou Clinton
Meet the new Black White man, same as the old White Black man

Missouri: Protestors Clash Over Health Care at McCaskill's Office
Poor dude has now committed serious mind crimes and must to be listed as domestic terrorist!
Jim Botts believes public option health care will only lead to bigger government and nationalize another industry which should remain private. "I'm a small government guy and I don't like nationalization, I didn't like TARP, I didn't like the nationalization of GM and Chrysler," says Botts.
Obama's Health Expert Gets Political
At a March hearing, when Mr. Grassley raised concerns about the impact of cuts, Mr. Orszag responded: "I very firmly believe that capitalism is not founded on excessively high subsidies to private firms. That is what this system delivers right now."

Sen. Grassley shot back: "Well, you're going to take half of my time lecturing me on capitalism." He later asked for extra time "because I was lectured on capitalism, and I studied that in economics." "No more lectures," Mr. Orszag promised.

UK: Government's Olympic security strategy launched
The PROTECT programme: Designed to deliver protective measures for people, venues and infrastructure involved in the Games.
The PREPARE programme: Preparation will ensure that capabilities and contingencies are in place to manage events which may “significantly disrupt or compromise the safety and security of the Games”.
The IDENTIFY and DISRUPT programme: Any threats to the Games must be quickly and effectively identified and, where possible, disrupted. This programme will fulfill this through the “proportionate and lawful” use of overt and covert law enforcement and security and intelligence agency resources.
The COMMAND, CONTROL, PLAN and RESOURCE programme: This will ensure sufficient resources are available, including delivering any necessary training.
The ENGAGE programme: Linking up with the Prevent strand of the counter-terrorism strategy CONTEST, the objective of this is to deter communities from supporting or participating in terrorism.
UK: Police given powers to enter homes and tear down anti-Olympics posters during 2012 Games
Nice fuckin' strategy ya got there...
Police have been handed 'Chinese-style' powers to enter private homes and seize political posters during the London 2012 Olympics.Little-noticed measures passed by the Government will allow officers and Olympics officials to enter homes and shops near official venues to confiscate any protest material.Breaking the rules could land offenders with a fine of up to £20,000.Civil liberties groups compared the powers to those used by the Communist Chinese government to stop political protest during the 2008 Beijing Games.

Havana puts on new face for pope
Castro just hearts Comrade Popeski to death. All pope protesting has been banned.

NSA Names Its First Director of Compliance
His job is to direct you to comply, tovarich!

The director of the National Security Agency, the country's largest intelligence body, has for the first time named a director of compliance to monitor adherence to rules governing the surveillance of phone calls and e-mails, as well as other agency activities. Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander named John DeLong to the position created this month.

Independent commission plans second report on cybersecurity

The commission that provided the Obama administration with widely lauded recommendations for cybersecurity policies will develop recommendations for how the government can address possible issues such as privacy protection that could hinder the implementation of a plan to protect federal computer networks, commission members and industry representatives said on Thursday.

The Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency submitted 25 recommendations to the White House in December for improving protection of federal networks, many of which were included in the White House's cybersecurity plan announced May 29.

The commission, which was created by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in October 2007, plans to develop a second set of recommendations by the end of the year to guide implementation of the cybersecurity plan, the commission's four co-chairs told the press and Hill representatives.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg joins Cubic
Cubic offers a wide array of training and simulation equipment and services, such as combat training centers, tactical engagement simulation equipment, virtual small arms trainers, and weapon and urban warfare simulations.
Miscrosoft/ESRI app boosts GIS data sharing at Mass. fusion center

The Homeland Security Department launched a project to help state and local organization develop fusion centers, designed to let organizations share information within their jurisdictions and with the federal government. The “Fusion Center Guidelines,” developed by DHS and the Justice Department, define a fusion center as “a collaborative effort of two or more agencies that provide resources, expertise, and/or information to the center with the goal of maximizing the ability to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to criminal and terrorist activity.”

As of early this year, there were 58 fusion centers across the country, 27 of them connected to the Homeland Security Data Network, which allows the federal government and states to share data at the Secret level, DHS has said. But fusion centers have also run into problems and, at times, drawn criticism from Congress. A Congressional Research Service report two years ago concluded that centers weren’t coming up with enough useful information, at least partly because of technical problems.

One problem they’ve faced is how to create a system that correlates data from geographic information systems, analyzes it and gets it into the hands of those who need to take action.

“We tried a year and a half ago to integrate ArcGIS with Microsoft SharePoint but failed,” said Brian Egnitz, GIS program manager for the Massachusetts State Police, which hosts Massachusetts' Commonwealth Fusion Center.

DHS consolidates software licenses
The Homeland Security Department is moving to enterprisewide software licenses for Microsoft Office and Oracle, and expects to save millions of dollars over the next few years. DHS today announces it will consolidate 487,000 licenses for Microsoft software and support under one contract, which could help the department avoid paying more than $87 million over the next six years. One component, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement directorate, changed its agreement with Oracle for its software. ICE now will have unlimited access instead of paying for 200 licenses each year. ICE expects to see about $1.5 million in cost avoidance of the next year.

Their headline, not mine:
Raytheon's rise in profits reflects new world order
Reports on second-quarter earnings reveal defense contractors that are focused heavily on high-tech capabilities needed for fighting insurgencies are doing better than those more heavily invested in conventional warfare. Raytheon Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. reported divergent earnings for the second quarter this week, a development that reflects key changes in the Defense Department’s weapons buying strategies, report Stephen Manning and Stephen Singer of the Associated Press. Raytheon’s second-quarter earnings rose 15 percent, while Northrop Grumman’s quarterly profits dropped 20 percent.
Open Government — or 'Transparency Theater'?

Two events in particular have struck advocates of more open government as disingenuous. The first was Obama’s refusal to release records of White House visits this spring by coal industry executives — the same position Bush took on records about visits by energy industry lobbyists at the outset of his administration.

The second was Obama’s threat that he would veto a bill reauthorizing U.S. intelligence-gathering activities if it set any curbs on the sort of limited, cryptic congressional briefings on intelligence matters that the Bush administration favored. Obama said he wouldn’t accept the bill if it required his administration to brief the full membership of the House and Senate Select Intelligence committees instead of just the so-called Gang of Eight — the chairmen and ranking minority members of the Intelligence panels and the top Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate.

“There is no question that there has been a very disturbing trend of adopting many of the same anti-transparency policies of the Bush administration,” said Anne L. Weismann, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which promotes government openness. “The president’s statements all would suggest that they would be transparent in a number of ways that they are refusing to be.”

David Sobel, senior counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which studies and advocates on electronic privacy issues, says he has been struck by how closely Obama is hewing to Bush-era objections to increased disclosure.

Victory – An Obsolete Concept?
by Daniel Pipes

"Victory" has nearly dropped out of the minds and vocabularies of modern Westerners, replaced by compromise, mediation, and slogans such as "There is no military solution" and "War never solved anything." In contrast, I agree with that bracing t-shirt counter-slogan, "Except for ending slavery, Fascism, Nazism, Communism and Baathism, war has never solved anything."

Actually, it did not end any of that, as is evidenced all around us. But Pipes is still right.

US Senate Nunn-Lugar amendment included in Defense authorization bill
The two whoremen of the Putinpocalypse ride again:
“Over the last 16 years, Nunn-Lugar has made tremendous progress on the destruction and dismantlement of massive Soviet weapons systems and the facilities that developed them. In the future, the program will be asked to address much more complex and diverse security threats in a larger number of countries,” Lugar said.
McCain to consider support of nuclear test ban
Well koom bah yah, mah lawd. Koom bah yah!

BEWARE THE C-SMURF:
Response Force a 'serious Capability' in a Crisis
... consequence-management response force (CCMRF) or "C-Smurf" would be called in to assist civil authorities, DoD officials said today. ...
Tanzania to develop uranium deposits

'Time out” taken on new uranium mining at Grand Canyon

Huge telescope opens in Spain's Canary Islands

Expats describe 'volcano of fire'
Hundreds of British expatriates have been evacuated from homes and hotels in south-east Spain as wildfires cut a swathe through the countryside.
US man dies on Japan's Mt Fuji, second body found
Tokyo-based Yu and a work colleague, 27-year old Takeshi Nakamura, went missing near the summit Sunday after starting the climb overnight. Police said Friday they found a second man, his heart stopped and his face to the ground, several hundred metres downhill from Yu, but they could not immediately confirm his identity.

Calif. Cops Destroy Over 40,000 Pot Plants
NOOOooOOOooo! Rat Bastids! Free the Holy Leaf!

Amazon CEO apologizes for deleting Orwell books

Bill Maher Punks Out, Gives Janet Napolitano a Free Ride on Real Time

6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes off Papua New Guinea


He led you through the vast and dreadful desert,
that thirsty and waterless land,
with its venomous snakes and scorpions.
He brought you water out of hard rock.
~ Deuteronomy 8:15

Friday, July 24, 2009

WFRL: Girl




Paintings by Gustav Klimt

Floatin' Powa News Service: All The World's a Stooge...




Israel circulates Hitler photo to battle critics
Israel has ordered its diplomats to use an old photograph of a former Palestinian religious leader meeting Adolf Hitler to counter world criticism of a Jewish building plan for East Jerusalem. Israeli officials said on Wednesday Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli ambassadors to circulate the 1941 shot in Berlin of the Nazi leader seated next to Haj Amin al-Husseini, the late mufti or top Muslim religious leader in Jerusalem.

Turkish PM meets Syria's Assad to revive Mideast peace talks
Glow Ball Peace Through Shariah and Dead Jews My Friends!

Turkish leader presses Israel to return Golan
Dig the language... "return" it.

Casey said the U.S. and the Vatican share many common goals, with peace in the Middle East and the halting of nuclear proliferation being just two examples
Glow Ball Unity Through Dead Juden, Mine Proples!

Senior Fatah official: We won't recognize Israel
Don't worry, soon enough no one will recognize it ....

Hamas surrounds hideout of suspects in wedding attack


FOX: Hamas Police End Standoff With Muslim Extremists
Wait a minute... Hamas are now "police" battling "Muslim Extremists"?

NYT: Hamas Shifts From Rockets to Public Relations
REBRAND!

PM delays discussion on Temple Mount project

Israel: Brazil can help halt Iran's nuke program
Perhaps they can, Avi, but certainly they will not.

Sadr pushes bilateral ties in Syria
Dude is 5 years past his expiration date and gaining in power every second. Thank you GWB!

Syria-Saudi ties improve

US envoy George Mitchell heads to Syria for talks

U.S., Israel Abort Missile Test
Israeli and U.S. military officials this week aborted a test of a missile-defense shield under development by the two countries, raising questions about the reliability of Israel's defenses against a potential Iranian attack.

Clinton says Iran unable to respond to overtures
Iran is indisposed at present, so she will patiently and politely wait, like a good dhimmi.

Clinton: Nuclear Iran would face US 'umbrella'
Listen, lady, you can stick the umbrella up my ass.. but please, don't open it.

Mousavi's Wife Says Brother Jailed In Iran Crackdown

Religious Cleansing in Iran

Every aspect of a non-Muslim is unclean," proclaimed Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. He explained that non-Muslims rank between "feces" and "the sweat of a camel that has consumed impure food." Other prominent ayatollahs, including Ahmad Jannati, the current chairman of the Guardian Council, have made similar utterances.

Thus Iran's Zoroastrians, Jews, Mandeans, Christians, and Bahais are subordinated and indeed treated as a fifth column by the revolutionary Islamic Republic. No matter that most of these religious groups were established in Iran before Islam arrived there; none are accepted by Iran's Shiite rulers as fully Iranian. With the recent controversial presidential election, the scapegoating of non-Muslims as agents of the United States, Israel, Britain, and the deposed monarchy reached new heights. Seven Bahai leaders and two Christian converts are in prison and will soon be put on trial for their lives, while other non-Muslims are suffering intensified government repression.

Tarek Fatah: Confronting Tehran's vicious misogyny

When the Prague Spring failed in 1968, few people believed that the seeds of dissent that had been crushed under the weight of Soviet tanks would blossom 20 years later to bring about the demise of the U. S. S. R. itself. A similar summer of discontent and rebellion has blossomed in Tehran in 2009, and I would venture to say that, this time around, it will not take two decades for the ossified state structure to come crashing down.

The reason: This time, it is the mothers and daughters of Iran who have rebelled against the Islamic Republic of Iran and have come out in the streets to lead the men.

For 30 years, an entire nation has been subjected to imprisonment, torture, murder and -- unnoticed by the world -- the institutional rape of its daughters, all in the name of Islam. No other dictatorial society, not even the Saudis, have used rape as a tool of subjugation as the Iranian ruling ayatollahs have. Perversely, it has been dressed up as an act of piety and religiosity.

OIC member states meet in Jeddah regarding events in Xinjiang
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states held a meeting in response to an invitation from the General Secretariat at the OIC headquarter in Jeddah on July 22nd. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mr. Adnan Al-Hamawi, representative of the Arab Syrian Republic, current chair of the OIC Ministerial Conference.
Lebanon: Al-Qaeda cells in region granted 'full independence'
Al-Qaeda adopted a new organizational approach by granting its cells in Lebanon and the region “full independence” in decision-making and setting targets, according to a report published by As-Safir newspaper on Thursday. The new approach has also given the Al-Qaeda cells sufficient financing independence and freedom of decision with no need to be connected to other arms of the organization. On Tuesday, the Lebanese Army said it had arrested 10 people suspected of belonging to a “terrorist network” plotting attacks abroad and against UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon.

Hundreds of rightists to attempt Tisha Be'Av Temple Mt. ascent
They call them "Rightists". Anyone who loves GOD now is a "rightist"...
The Temple Mount Faithful is planning to conduct its annual march to the Temple Mount next week to protest the US demand to cease construction in east Jerusalem, its leader announced Thursday.

Gershon Salomon said that he hoped that this year hundreds would turn out for the Tisha Be'av event to protest US pressure to stop settlement activity, as well as building in eastern Jerusalem. In the past, the gatherings have attracted only a dozen or so participants. The march by the fringe group, which is pending police approval, has been thwarted by police in years past, when Judaism's holiest site was closed off to non-Muslims on the fast day due to concerns of possible violence at the holy site.

"We're concerned that in the end, the Temple Mount will be part of a Palestinian state, with US backing," Salomon said. "We will say to [US President Barack] Obama, 'Get your hands off Jerusalem and the land of Israel!"
Alliance of Civilizations, Bulgarian Division

Islamists Denounce Capitalism, Call for Global Caliphate
Naturally, Hizb ut Tahrir insists that it is completely peaceful. In an interview with CBS, HT spokesman Reza Imam disputed the labels of "extremist" and "radical" that have been used to describe the group and reiterated the group's claim that it does not advocate or support violence.
Baghdad Bishop Sees Anarchy Ahead for Iraqi Christians
Iraq is sliding into anarchy, with religious minorities especially at risk when the state loses its ability to function properly, the Catholic archbishop of Baghdad said in a German radio interview Wednesday. Christians inhabited Iraq even before Islam, but today there are only an estimated 800,000 left, mainly grouped in the independent Church of the East and the Chaldean Church, which is affiliated with the Catholic Church.

"I worry that they want to systematically intimidate the Christians and drive them out of Iraq," said Jean Sleiman in an interview on the national public radio station Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Iraq meets BP, CNPC over oil field

Water Crisis in Iraq: The Growing Danger of Desertification

Pakistan's nuclear weapons and the doomsday scenario
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the possibility in April of Islamist militants taking over Pakistan and its nuclear weapons, her words were dismissed as alarmist - and perhaps deliberately so as a way of putting pressure on Islamabad to act.

The problem with Pakistan is that it is almost impossible to come up with a view that is not either alarmist or complacent. It is such a complex country that nobody can agree a frame of reference for assessing the risk. It is the base for a bewildering array of militants including Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda and anti-India groups, yet also has a powerful and professional army which would be expected to defend to the last its Punjab heartland and nuclear weapons against a jihadi takeover. Its potent mix of poverty and Islamist sympathies among a significant section of the population make it ripe for revolution, yet it also has a strong and secular-minded civil society which was willing to go out into the streets earlier this year to demand an independent judiciary.

Minerals firms 'fuel Congo bloodbath'
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 22 (UPI) -- The 13-year-old war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being fueled by foreign mining and trading companies that are buying minerals from suppliers linked to the various armies plundering the Central African treasure house, according to a watchdog group.

Global Witness, a London-based non-governmental organization, identified several of the companies in a report issued Tuesday as Thailand Smelting and Refining Co., the fifth-largest tin producer in the world and Bangkok-based subsidiary of Britain's metals giant Amalgamated Metal Corp.; Afrimex of the United Kingdom; and Tradmet of Belgium.

The group's 100-page report detailed how these and other companies regularly acquire minerals from the warring faction. It claimed that the Congolese National Army and rival rebel groups, often backed by neighboring states, "regularly cooperate with each other, carving up territory and occasionally sharing the spoils of illegal mining."

Congo needs foreign intruders to leave, says church head
Foreign armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo must leave if the country is to lift itself from its current quagmire, a church leader in the mineral-rich central African nation has said. "We would like to make sure that all armed groups return to their countries," said Bishop Pierre Marini, national president of the Church of Christ in Congo (Eglise du Christ au Congo).

Marini's view on foreign interference in what some commentators call Africa's most troubled country is supported by a report from an advocacy group called Global Witness. The document says, "The militarisation of mining in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is prolonging the armed conflict, which has been tearing the country apart for more than 12 years."

On its Web site, Global Witness says it, "exposes the corrupt exploitation of natural resources and international trade systems". It is funded by grants from trusts, foundations, development organizations and governments, as well as by Trocaire, the official development agency of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland.
Ban Set on Mining Claims Adjacent to Grand Canyon

Federal support on WA uranium


Swaps Adjoining USA Uranium Lode Mineral Claims


Japan Encourages Australia Uranium Venture Investment

BHP Billiton Says Uranium Sales to China to Start Within a Year

Russia offers to work with NATO in pirate patrols
All your NATO are belong to Vlad.

Russia proposes anti-piracy cooperation with NATO

Also the pretense for their base in Syria

Russia's crafty weapons cuts
Vlad is most crafty in all Glow Ball!
In chess, a player will sometimes sacrifice some pawns as part of a grand strategy to compromise an opponent's defenses. Pawns are relatively unimportant pieces, so it's a good way to get something for virtually nothing. Russia's leaders are, apparently, skilled chess players.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama visited Moscow and signed a preliminary agreement aimed at getting both countries to reduce their nuclear and conventional weapons systems. But the Russians are playing a clever game. The "cuts" they propose wouldn't actually affect their defenses at all.

Obama has promised that the U.S. will reduce its number of strategic force launchers -- the systems that deliver both nuclear and conventional weapons -- to between 500 and 1,100 (the United States is permitted 1,600 launchers under a current treaty). Moscow matched that commitment, but that's not saying much, since the number of Russian weapons is going to plummet with or without a treaty.

"By 2017-2018 Russia will likely have fewer than half of the approximately 680 operational launchers it has today," arms control expert Keith Payne recently testified before Congress. "With a gross domestic product less than that of California, Russia is confronting the dilemma of how to maintain parity with the U.S. while retiring its many aged strategic forces." One way, of course, is to sacrifice some pawns -- the non-existent or inoperable weapons -- to take out vital American weapons.

In short, the Russians agreed to "cut" weapons they were going to have to retire anyway.
Russia-China war games battle extremists, separatists

Russian activist dead, colleague suspects murder

Yet another case of Sudden Putin Death Syndrome.
A Russian human rights activist has been found dead in a sand pit weeks after he went missing, according to police and a colleague who said Wednesday that he suspects the prisoners' rights advocate was murdered. The news of Andrei Kulagin's death came a week after the abduction and killing of Natalya Estemirova, a well-respected human rights activist and critic of the Kremlin-backed leader of Russia's war-scarred Chechnya region. Her killing sparked international outrage and underscored the dangers faced by Russians who challenge authorities. Kulagin was head the Karelia regional branch of the rights organization Spravedlivost, which means Justice.
Russia Closes Loophole in Gambling Ban
In Soviet Russia Loophole Close You!

Gazprom raises $2.5 billion in bond issue

Authorities have no money for paying debts to Gazprom

GAZPROM Helicopter crash in south Russia kills 6
A helicopter belonging to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom crashed in southern Russia on Wednesday, killing five employees of the Lukoil oil company and a crewmember and critically injuring two pilots, officials said.The helicopter, a Russian-built Mi-8, slammed into a field in the Volgograd region and burst into flames, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Marat Prokopenkov said. He said the crash was caused by engine failure.

60 new vessels for Gazprom
Gazprom will need more than 60 new specialized ships, 23 LNG tankers and more than ten drilling rigs by year 2020, the company’s deputy leader highlighted in a meeting with subsidiary companies yesterday. A number of contracts will be signed with Russian shipyards in the course of the year, the company confirms.
Russia's GAZ to receive $180 mln state aid

Putin Directs Sberbank to Lend

Russian steel seen asking Putin for support

Russia warns Georgia as Biden visits

Biden says US ties to Russia won't hurt Georgia

Moscow Warns on Arming Georgia

ISFD approves $15m for microfinance projects in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan votes in election as Russia, US watch
Kyrgyzstan, pivotal to U.S. military efforts in nearby Afghanistan, votes on Thursday in a presidential election which will be watched closely for any signs of unrest that could disturb peace in Central Asia.
A Primer On Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Election

For Strategic Goals, US Is Quiet on Rights in Kyrgyzstan
Dear Kyrgic Proples:
You are cordially invited to strategically drop dead.
Yours,
The Obamanable Bushman
“You know what this is for,” Emilbek Kaptagaev recalled being told by the police officers who snatched him off the street. No other words, just blows to the head, then all went black. Mr. Kaptagaev, an opponent of Kyrgyzstan’s president, who is a vital American ally in the war in nearby Afghanistan, was found later in a field with a concussion, broken ribs and a face swollen into a mosaic of bruises.
Battle for influence benefits Kyrgyzstan
Yeah? Tell it to Emilbek Kaptagaev.

Opposition Leader Drops Out of Kyrgyz Election

Kyrgyzstan’s incumbent president appeared Friday to have won a landslide victory, gaining more than 80 percent of the vote in a contest that local and Western monitors said was marred by major violations of election laws.
Opposition promises mass protests in Kyrgyzstan

Opposition of Kyrgyzstan says mass protest acts will sweep the country after the presidential election are held with severe irregularities, Azimbek Beknazarov, leader of the Joint People’s Movement told reporters Thursday.

Police raid seizes 307 firearms in Kyrgyzstan

US mum on abuses in Kyrgyzstan


Tajikistan to tighten security ahead of Afghan vote

Tajikistan Will Reinforce Border With Afghanistan

Tajikistan Moves to Ban Russian Language

TAJIKISTAN: NUKE WASTE PLANT BOSS ARRESTED ON ESPIONAGE CHARGE

The head of Tajikistan’s plant for processing nuclear waste, Shavkat Bobojon, is in custody on charges of spying for Uzbekistan. Bobojon is the fourth executive at Vostokredmet to be accused of spying for Uzbekistan since May. Bobojon was arrested on July 16 and is being held in prison in Khujand, a source told the CA-News.org news agency on July 22. Bobojon is also facing an "abuse of office" charge, the report adds.

Romania, Turkmenistan agree to cooperate on energy

Turkmenistan president carries out cancer surgery
Watch in rapt amazement as Glorious Turkmen Leader removes unsightly tumor from ear of suffering proletariat!

UZBEKISTAN: TAJIK DELEGATION VISITS TASHKENT FOR SECURITY TALKS

Uzbekistan Tortured Jailed Dissident

Leading rights watchdog Human Rights Watch Friday accused authorities in Uzbekistan of torturing a prominent dissident and poet who had been jailed since 2007 for insulting the country's president.
Uzbekistan Controlling Civil Society With 'GoNGOs'
BEWARE THE DREADED GONGOS!

Uzbekistan: Journalist Sayid can be sentenced to 14.5 years of jail
Journalist and human rights activist Dilmurod Sayid was arrested on February 22 of this year. The legal process started off this June. Dilmurod Sayid was covering the investigation process in the area of human rights violations. He is the leader of Tashkent Oblast department of Ezgulik human rights society. In 2007-2008 he was the member of Fast response human rights group for prevention of tortures in Uzbekistan.
Richard Morningstar: “US want to help Caspian and Central Asian Countries"
Very Good, Dickski. You just continue to cooperate, and all will be well my friend.
~ Vlad
“Some people have portrayed our energy policy and Russia’s as the next round in the Great Game in Central Asia. I reject this analogy. Energy security should not be a zero sum game. Zero sum games are too expensive and we need to find areas where we try to cooperate with Russia”.
Iran inaugurates first oil platform in Caspian Sea
Iran inaugurated its first offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea on Thursday in its latest push for a bigger territorial stake in the wealth of natural resources beneath the seabed, state television reported.

Iran has pushed the other countries that border the Caspian Sea - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan - to divide the resources evenly. But most of the others would prefer a division based on amount of shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share.

Oil minister: Iran locates 46 oil fields in Caspian Sea

Goldman Sachs Alum Decries Second Banking Crisis
The second banking crisis unfolds with the realization that “reckless banking practices” translated into $65 trillion in global wealth lost since September 2007, says Nomi Prins, a former Goldman Sachs managing director, who is publishing a book on the financial debacle titled “It Takes A Pillage.” This meltdown will continue to pummel Western economies for years if not decades.
Buffett's Paper Profit on Goldman Sachs Surpasses $2 Billion

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Goldman Sachs and the coming economic collapse
I believe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he says he’s not depressed about the state’s present financial predicament, as he did in The New York Times Magazine earlier this month. He’s not depressed. He’s scared shitless, or he ought to be. Someone’s done pulled the plug on the Jacuzzi, and the entire global economy is swirling down the drain, with California leading the way.
Goldman Sachs Pays $1.1B to Buy Back Federal Ownership Stakes
A mere bag of shells!

Are Geithner and Summers Too Close to Wall Street?
Is fire hot?

There Will Be Bailouts

Just when the word "bailout" seemed to be phased out from our lexicon, last week CIT Group was mentioned as a possible recipient of government funds. Though the economy is turning around, we're likely not done floating funds to failing firms. Dick Bove, senior vice president of equity research at Rochdale Securities, points out that thousands of banks are still in trouble and need more funding. This could mean more bank takeovers by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., he says.

Dodd Says US Shouldn't Rule Out Helping CIT Avoid Bankruptcy

Obama sends Congress plan to "unwind problem institutions"
Facing opposition to key parts of its bank regulatory reform package, the Obama administration on Thursday submitted a detailed proposal to Congress for unwinding systemically significant financial institutions so their collapse does not cause collateral damage to the financial system.

The proposal, which also included more details about the White House's plan to subsume the Office of Thrift Supervision into a larger national bank regulator, would give the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to administer the resolution of a large financial institution that operates a broker-dealer within it.

US Treasury Sending Resolution Authority Bill To Congress

Hong Kong Strikes Minibond Deal
Financial regulators in Hong Kong struck a deal with major banks for the lenders to buy back Lehman Brothers Holdings' minibond products from retail investors, aiming to put an end to the controversy over the selling practices of the complex financial derivatives.
Ukraine PM backs down on bank nationalisation
My friends we are officially more socialist than the Ukraine!

Obama: You're going to destroy my presidency
Well, one can only hope.
"Let's just lay everything on the table," Grassley said. "A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn't going to pass if there weren't some changes made ... and the president says, 'You're going to destroy my presidency.'
Bush & Condi As Witch Doctors: Good... Obama As Witch Doctor: Bad

Obama says he prays 'all the time now' because he has a lot on his plate
To who?
President Barack Obama says he’s gone from praying nightly before going to bed to praying all the time because he has a “lot of stuff” on his plate and needs “guidance all the time.” Obama made the comments in an interview to air Thursday on ABC’s “Nightline.”
Freethinking for Your Child

Danny Postel at New Humanist frets over his kids, with their theistic mom, freethinking their way to possibly religious conclusions. I suppose it is the sort of thing that the more passionately atheist would worry about--which might have been a reason not to reproduce with a theist, from their perspective. He goes on to talk about some "humanism for kids" books that he seems justly ambivalent about, and does ultimately admit his kids can and will ultimately believe what they decide to believe.

But his article made me wonder. His kids are 6 and 10; how many educated adults have the same beliefs and attitudes about religion as they did at that age? My knee-jerk thought based on introspection and looking at my peer group says, not many. Not sure if there's any research on this specific topic that's thought to be bulletproof and authoritative, but I'm skeptical how much hand-wringing over your kids intellectual attitudes at age 6 and 10 is warranted.
The world in active nuclear weapons
Which country has the most nukes? How many missiles could the US launch? How many bombs does Russia have? These are the latest figures.
The U.S. Department of State updated Travel Warnings, which are issued to describe long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable.


A Travel Warning is also issued when the U.S. Government's ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.

The following countries meet those criteria: Nigeria, Haiti, Iran, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Mali, Chad, Nepal, Lebanon, Georgia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Algeria, Eritrea, Syria, Congo, Philippines, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, Kenya, Afghanistan.

The Department of State warned U.S. citizens that the potential for a terrorist attack or localized civil disturbance still exists in Uzbekistan. The Department of State urged Americans in Uzbekistan to exercise caution when traveling in the region.
Castro embraces visit of pope, prohibits 'any sign of protest'

HAVANA - Putting his prestige on the line, President Fidel Castro admitted Saturday that socialists made errors in Pope John Paul II's native Poland but insisted the papal visit this week poses no threat to Cuba's revolution. In a live television appearance broadcast nationwide, Castro urged his followers, long trained in atheism, to attend Mass with the pope and warned them not to protest papal statements.

"We should all participate in the Masses," Castro said, calling for "a great reception" throughout Cuba from the moment the pope lands at the airport here Wednesday. "We will show that a socialist, communist revolution is capable of respecting all believers and all non-believers," Castro said during his nearly six-hour appearance, which ended shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday.

Almost all of his comments about the pope came after midnight. Castro's exhortation virtually guarantees massive turnouts at the pope's Masses, which climax with a Jan. 25 gathering in the vast Plaza of the Revolution. "I myself will be at that Mass," Castro said.

The NSA is still listening to you
This summer, on a remote stretch of desert in central Utah, the National Security Agency will begin work on a massive, 1 million-square-foot data warehouse. Costing more than $1.5 billion, the highly secret facility is designed to house upward of trillions of intercepted phone calls, e-mail messages, Internet searches and other communications intercepted by the agency as part of its expansive eavesdropping operations. The NSA is also completing work on another data warehouse, this one in San Antonio, Texas, which will be nearly the size of the Alamodome.
Wanted: Cyber Warriors and Media Sanitizers

Defense and intelligence contractor Raytheon is moving into the lucrative realm of cyber warfare, and wants to hire hundreds of “cyber warriors” to “play offense and defense,” according to an advertisement on the company’s web site.

“President Obama recently announced that cyber security is one of our country’s most urgent national security priorities,” reads the ad. “Raytheon is answering that call by hiring more cyber warriors this year to help fight the digital cyber war.”

The ad says the company has 250 positions available in its Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) division. The jobs are for, among others, reverse engineers, kernel developers, and vulnerability and intrusion detection engineers. Raytheon also has positions available for something called “media sanitation specialists.”

The latter probably refers to workers skilled at erasing data from hard drives and other storage, rather than to workers capable of spinning the company’s message to journalists. But Raytheon did not respond to a call seeking clarification.

Obama Claims Immunity, As New Spy Case Takes Center Stage

In court filings, the administration says the suit (.pdf) “would require or risk the disclosure of information that is properly subject to the state secrets privilege and related statutory privileges.” The administration claims it’s shielded by sovereign immunity, in addition to citing the controversial state secrets privilege.

All the while, the EFF maintains the dragnet surveillance (.pdf) continues unabated under Obama.

“Using this shadow network of surveillance devices, defendants have acquired and continue to acquire the content of a significant portion of the phone calls, e-mails, instant messages, text messages, web communications and other communications, both international and domestic, of practically every American who uses the phone system or the internet,” the EFF wrote in its lawsuit. The civil liberties group told Judge Walker the spying is as an “unprecedented, suspicionless general search through the nation’s communications.”

New Study Finds Constitutional Violations by ICE in Home Raids
A new study by the Immigration Justice Clinic of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University finds that the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has been consistently violating constitutional rights in raiding private residences without a warrant to search for undocumented immigrants.
Gun amendment shot down in close vote
What's remarkable about the vote is that it wasn't Democrats who stopped it two votes short of passage -- virtually every pro-gun Democrat voted for this proposal -- but two Republicans, George Voinovich of Ohio and Dick Lugar of Indiana both voted no. If those two would have voted yes it would have hit the 60 required to pass.
DHS Releases Progress Report on 9-11 Commission Recommendations
The Department of Homeland Security released a progress report today outlining how it has successfully met many of the 9-11 Commission's recommendations for protecting the country from terrorism and other hazards.
DHS launches YouTube channel and redesigns DHS.gov
Rebrand!

DHS Secretary to give public counterterrorism address at CFR in NY


Bill Maher Hosts Janet Napolitano This Friday
Just learned that scathing political humorist Bill Maher will have Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, which airs this Friday, July 24 at 10 p.m. The confirmation of this is up on HBO's page for Maher. And Kate Baker, my contact at HBO, tells me that Napolitano's segment will be taped live with the rest of the episode that same day.
Homeland Security Gets Web 2.0 Overhaul

Sotomayor pledges an 'open mind' on same-sex marriage lawsuits

Children Raping Children
Is the victims family Muslim?
Phoenix -- Authorities said Thursday that four boys ages 9 to 14 took turns raping an 8-year-old girl for more than 10 minutes after luring her into a shed with chewing gum, and now her family has rejected her for bringing shame on them.

"The father told the case worker and an officer in her presence that he didn't want her back," Phoenix Police Sgt. Andy Hill said. "He said, 'Take her, I don't want her.'
The victim is in the care of Child Protective Services, authorities said.

The 14-year-old boy was charged Wednesday as an adult with two counts of sexual assault and kidnapping, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said. He is being held without bond. The other boys -- ages 9, 10 and 13 -- were charged as juveniles with sexual assault. The 10- and 13-year-old boys also were charged with kidnapping, the county attorney's office said.

Phoenix investigators said the boys lured the girl to an empty shed July 16 under the pretense of offering her gum. The boys held her down while they took turns assaulting her, police said. "She was brutally sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes," Hill said.

Officers responded to an emergency call about hysterical screams. They found the girl partially clothed and the boys running from the scene. "This is a deeply disturbing case that has gripped our community," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Thursday. "Our office will seek justice for the young victim in this heart-rending situation."

Hill cited the family's background as the reason it shunned the girl. All five children are refugees from the West African nation of Liberia. In some parts of Africa, women often are blamed for being raped for enticing men or for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Victims are often shunned by their families.
NYPD Probes Beheading of Statue of Liberty Replica

Police in New York City are scrambling to locate the producers of a YouTube video that depicts a stolen replica of the Statue of Liberty blindfolded, beheaded and smashed into pieces — a display that one terror expert says is intended to "instill fear" in everyday Americans.

The 59-second video shows the 8-foot, 200-pound replica statue, which was stolen from a Brooklyn coffee shop last month, being decapitated and pulverized — accompanied by the words "We don't want your freedom" and "Death to America."

Kosher Nostra & Dirty Jersey
Everything was for sale ~ from politicians to kidneys...
I'll take a pancreas & a spleen please.....

Arabic teacher at SC school held over immigration

Federal immigration officials were holding a Syrian woman for overstaying her visa while she taught Arabic at Clemson University on a Fulbright program, and her husband says he is fighting to allow her to stay with him in America.

Tharwat Alasadi, 29, was taken in handcuffs from their apartment Monday and jailed in North Carolina, her husband Taiyo Davis said Wednesday. She was sent to the Mecklenburg County jail in Charlotte, N.C., a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.Davis, an American citizen and a Clemson graduate student in history, said his wife had been in the country about two years on a Fulbright program that required her to return to Syria when her visa expired in May.

Armenian Genocide protesters target Chevron
They were responding to a call by the Armenian Youth Federation for U.S. Congress to pass a resolution recognizing "the Armenian Genocide," over the killing of more than 1 million Armenians in the early part of the last century in the territory that is now Turkey, a U.S. Middle East ally. They stood at the corner of Lee Road and Wymore Road in Winter Park, holding signs with messages such as: "Pumping your dollars into genocide denial" and "Fueling genocide denial."
Magnitude 4.5 - CENTRAL TURKEY

Magnitude 4.9 - KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, RUSSIA

Venezuela shaken by 4.6 earthquake

Magnitude 4.8 - NEAR THE COAST OF NORTHERN PERU

5.7 shakes remote area of Tibet

Occidental Oil Find Is California's Biggest in 35 Years

Did an Ancient Volcano Freeze Earth?

Earthquake brings New Zealand a foot closer to Australia