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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
MONDAY JANUARY 30, 2012
News
Alert: Pentagon
Seeks Mightier Bomb vs.
Iran
WASHINGTON -- Pentagon war planners have concluded that their
largest conventional bomb isn't yet capable of destroying Iran's
most heavily fortified underground facilities, and are stepping
up efforts to make it more powerful, according to U.S. officials
briefed on the plan.
The 30,000-pound "bunker-buster" bomb, known as the Massive
Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), was specifically designed to take out
the hardened fortifications built by Iran and North Korea to
cloak their nuclear programs.
But initial tests indicated that the bomb, as currently
configured, wouldn't be capable of destroying some of Iran's
facilities, either because of their depth or because Tehran has
added new fortifications to protect them.
Doubts about the MOP's effectiveness prompted the Pentagon this
month to secretly submit a request to Congress for funding to
enhance the bomb's ability to penetrate deeper into rock,
concrete and steel before exploding, the officials said.
The push to boost the power of the MOP is part of stepped-up
contingency planning for a possible strike against Iran's
nuclear program, say U.S. officials.
The Defense Department has spent about $330 million so far to
develop about 20 of the bombs, which are built by Boeing. The
Pentagon is seeking about $82 million more to make the bomb more
effective, according to government officials briefed on the
plan.
Some experts question if any kind of conventional explosives are
capable of reaching facilities such as those built deep
underground in Iran. But U.S. defense officials say they believe
the MOP could already do damage sufficient to set back the
program . . . .
According to Air Force officials, the 20.5 foot-long MOP carries
over 5,300 pounds of explosive material. It is designed to
penetrate up to 200 feet underground before exploding. The
mountain above the Iranian enrichment site at Fordow is
estimated to be at least 200 feet tall.
Source: wsj.com MORE
U.S. sets
May as tentative date for
clash with Iran ... Floating SEALs
base for Gulf
A hurried decision not to de-commission the USS Ponce helicopter
marine carrier after duty in Libya - but to refit it for
deployment by May in the Persian Gulf as a floating base for
commando teams - was confirmed by the US Pentagon and Navy
Sunday, [January] 29. This transportable floating base will
expand the commandos' range in coastal areas, [supporting]
counter-measures against mines which Iran has threatened to
plant in the Strait of Hormuz in reprisal for the US-EU oil
embargo. The [Navy] SEALs will also take on Iran's menacing
fleet of military speedboats. DEBKAfile reports Tehran
operates four different kinds of these craft in the Persian
Gulf:
(1) Small, fast vessels, each armed with a small missile for
striking tankers and coastal oil targets around the Gulf region,
such as export terminals. Earlier this month, Tehran claimed to
have developed stealth cruise missiles capable of disabling
aircraft carriers with a single shot.
(2) Small, extra-fast boats armed with torpedoes. Iranian
publications claim several such boats are capable of stealing up
on US aircraft carriers and large warships from several
directions without being detected and cause serious damage.
(3) Floating bombs for kamikaze missions. These fast boats
cannot be deflected after locking in on target, whether on sea
or shore, and explode on contact . . . .
(4) Boats carrying teams of Iranian marine frogmen trained for
secret suicide underwater missions: One member of the boat's
three-man crew dives close to the targeted ship and attaches a
magnetic bomb to its hull.
Iran has scattered hundreds of speedboats of different types
around uninhabited islands off the Iranian mainland, tucking
them out of sight in well-hidden inlets and bays. The US
commando teams based on the Ponce platform will have the task of
ferreting out and destroying this fleet.
The US Defense Department aims to get the Ponce ready for its
new mission as a floating commando base with all possible speed.
To save time, the US military published one no-bid contract for
the engineering work, waiving normal procurement rules on the
grounds that any delay presented a "national security risk."
The contract carries pointers to the timeline expected in
Washington for a military confrontation to erupt between the
United States and Iran, as well as the form it may take, say
DEBKAfile's military sources.
The target date for deploying the commando platform in the
Persian Gulf in four or five months indicates Washington is
preparing for military clashes to blow up with Iran in the late
spring or early summer.
But according to DEBKAfile's Iranian and military
sources, the Iranian administration has expressed its
determination to respond instantly to any diplomatic or military
move or action of an offensive nature against the Islamic
Republic. And so confrontation may come earlier than
anticipated.
Sunday, the Iranian parliament was due to vote on a motion to
cut off oil supplies to Europe in response to the EU embargo
declared last week. Tehran has made it clear it has no intention
of standing idle until US and European oil sanctions go fully
into effect on July 1 and is fully aware that EU nations are not
set up to forego 400,000 barrels of oil a day right now.
Saudi Arabia, which pledged to make up the shortfall arising
from oil sanctions against Iran, will not have the missing
quantities on stream until around May – at about the same time
as the Ponce and its complement of SEAL commandoes are due to
take up position in the Persian Gulf. Tehran may decide not to
wait until then and opt for letting its speedboats loose to try
and pre-empt American and European plans.
Source:
debka.com
MORE
Note: see these related items:
Navy Wants Commando 'Mothership'
In Middle East - The documents posted by the Military
Sealift Command in December specify that the mothership will be
rebuilt so that it can also serve as a docking station for
several small high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by
Navy SEAL teams
LINK
Commentary: Iran War: The EU Oil
Embargo: Setting The Stage For Military Escalation? -
"Tehran has repeatedly said that it would close Hormuz only if -
and we should repeat - only if Iran is blocked from exporting
its oil," Asia Times warned
LINK
Assad contains Syrian
uprising for now … with credits for Russia and Iran
Ten months after the Syrian people launched an uprising against
its ruler, Bashar Assad, if not yet safe in the saddle, has
recovered the bulk of his army's support and his grip on most
parts of the country
Protesters have mostly been pushed into tight corners in the
flashpoint towns and villages, especially in the north, hemmed
in by troops and security forces loyal to the president.
Monday, January 30, Syrian forces were close to purging the
suburbs and villages around Damascus of rebel fighters. The
operation began Sunday with 2,000 troops backed by tanks and
armored personnel carriers. Six soldiers were killed when their
vehicle blew up on a roadside bomb near Sahnaya, east of the
capital.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) and opposition groups continue
to report heavy fighting in the Damascus area, and especially
the international airport where they claim to have prevented
Assad's wife and children from fleeing the country. However,
military watchers do not confirm either the fighting or the
Assad family's attempted flight.
While both sides spin propaganda, the extreme hyperbole of
opposition claims attests to their hard straits and the Syrian
president's success in weathering their efforts and the huge
sacrifices in blood paid by the people (estimated at 8,000 dead
and tens of thousands injured) to oust him.
Having got rid of the Arab League monitoring mission, which gave
up in despair of halting the savage bloodbath, Assad will shrug
off the Arab-Western backed motion put before the UN Security
Council calling on him to step down and hand power to his vice
president Farouk a-Shara. He will treat it as yet another failed
effort by the combined Arab-Western effort to topple his regime.
The conflict is not over. More ups and downs may still be to
come and there are signs of sectarian war evolving. But for now,
Assad's survival is of crucial relevance in seven Middle East
arenas:
(1) The Tehran-Damascus-Hizballah bloc is strengthened, joined
most recently by Iraq.
(2) Iran chalks up a first-class strategic achievement for
counteracting the US and the Saudi-led Gulf Arab emirates'
presentation of the Islamic regime as seriously weighed down
under by the crushing burden of crushing international sanctions
imposed to halt its drive for a nuclear bomb.
(3) Hizballah has won a chance to recover from the steep slide
of its fortunes in Lebanon . . . .
(4) It is hard to calculate the enormous extent of the damage
Saudi Arabia and Turkey have suffered from their colossal
failure in Syria. The Palestinians too have not emerged
unscathed.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and their security agencies, which invested
huge sums in the Syrian rebellion's removal of the Assad regime,
were trounced by Syria's security and intelligence services and
the resources Iran provided to keep Bashar Assad afloat.
The Arab League, which for the first time tried its hand at
intervening in an Arab uprising by sending observers into Syrian
trouble spots to cut down the violence, watched impotently as
those observers ran for their lives. Assad for his part first
accepted than ignored the League's peace plan.
Turkey, too, after indicating its military would step across the
border to support the Syrian resistance and giving the FSA bases
of operation, backed off for the sake of staying on good terms
with Iran.
(5) Russia and China have gained credibility in the Middle East
and points against the United States by standing up for Assad
and pledging their veto votes against any strong UN Security
Council motions against him. Moscow's arms sales and naval
support for the Assad regime and China's new military and
economic accords with Persian Gulf emirates have had the effect
of pushing the United States from center stage of the Arab
Revolt, held in the Egyptian and Libyan revolutions, to the
sidelines of Middle East action.
(6) The Syrian ruler has confounded predictions by Israel's
Defense Minister Ehud Barak that he can't last more than a few
weeks. His survival and the cohesion of his armed forces have
contributed to the tightening of the Iranian military noose
around Israel.
The Syrian army was in sustained operation for almost a year
without breaking and suffered only marginal defections. It is
still in working shape with valuable experience under its belt
in rapid deployment between battlefronts. Syria, Iran and
Hizballah have streamlined the cooperation among their armies
and their intelligence arms.
(7) The Palestinian rivals, Fatah and Hamas, have again put the
brakes on the on-again, off-again reconciliation after it was
galvanized by Hamas' decision to create some distance between
Iran and the embattled Syrian regime. Seeing Assad still in
place, Hamas' Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh will visit
Tehran this week and Meshaal may delay his departure from the
Syrian capital.
Source: debka.com
MORE
Americans will be
transferred to foreign prisons under Indefinite Detention act
If you’re upset that congressional approval of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 can send you away
to military prisons and be tortured in America, don’t worry - it
could be worse.
The US could send you somewhere else.
No, really. They could. And they can. Anywhere else, too.
Really.
While the bill that left Capitol Hill last week and awaits
authorization from US President Barack Obama [Note: It was
signed on December 31. -Ed.] allows for the United States to
indefinitely detain and torture American citizens suspected of
aiding enemy forces, one provision in the bill specifies that
that detention doesn’t necessarily have to occur domestically -
nor does it have to be in a foreign prison run by the US.
The ongoing detention of foreign terror suspects at the US base
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been a hot topic since the War on
Terror began, with American military authorities torturing
could-be criminals without ever bringing them to trial. An
exposé years earlier on the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq revealed
how American troops were subjecting detainees to disgusting,
inhumane conditions; conditions which left some dead without
ever going to trial. While Abu Ghraib has since been shut down,
Guantanamo Bay continues to hold suspected criminals despite a
promise [by] Obama to shut it down.
When the commander-in-chief inks his name to NDAA FY2012,
Americans can be on their way to the same torture cells that
have kept al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked terrorists for the last
decade. It’s now been revealed, however, that US citizens and
anyone suspected of a crime against America can be sent all over
the world.
Under the legislation, the president has the power to transfer
suspected terrorists "to the custody or control of the person's
country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other
foreign entity."
China? Sure. Iran? Why not! North Korea? That’s a possibility
too. David Glazier, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los
Angeles, tells Mother Jones that this was an authority that the
president has had before, but only under the new NDAA is the
legislation endorsed and insured that it could be applied to
Americans.
"If the president could lawfully transfer a German prisoner of
war to a foreign country, then in theory he could do the same
thing with an American prisoner of war," Glazier says.
Under the Feinstein Amendment imposed under NDAA FY2012, the
Democratic senator from California proposed a law which would
not change “existing law” with regards to detaining Americans.
As Mother Jones notes, however, the jury is still out on what
exactly “existing law” is when it comes to the topic, with those
suspected of hostilities against America already being
imprisoned without trial - citizen and otherwise . . .
US-born Bradley Manning has been under military watch, isolation
and torture for nearly two years, and the same has applied to a
countless number of suspected terrorists at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib.
Source: rt.com (12-21-11)
MORE
________________________________
NEWS BRIEFS
________________________________
Iran
hits back at EU with own oil embargo threat
TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Fighting sanctions with sanctions in a test
of strength with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran
warned on Friday it may halt oil exports to Europe next week in
a move calculated to hurt ailing European economies.
MORE
Note: see also News Update:
Iran Delays EU Oil Ban As Suppliers Eye Turkey
LINK
Iran moving closer to stage where it
will be too late to destroy nuclear facilities, Israel warns
Reviving Western concerns that his government is still
contemplating unilateral military action against Iran, Ehud
Barak gave one of the clearest signs yet that Israel's support
for new US and EU sanctions remains strictly limited. "We are
determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear," he told the
World Economic Forum in Davos. "And even the American president
and opinion leaders have said that no option should be removed
from the table. "It seems to us to be urgent, because the
Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity
zone where practically no surgical operation could block them."
Although Israeli intelligence and military officials have
privately spoken of Iran's nuclear programme entering a
"framework of immunity", it is the first time that a senior
figure in Benjamin Netanyahu's government has done so in public.
Israel's fears that it might soon be too late to launch military
action were bolstered earlier this month when Iran announced
that it had begun to enrich uranium at its Fordow plant, which
is buried so deep within a mountain it may be impossible for
Israeli warplanes or missiles to destroy.
MORE
U.N. nuclear team arrives in Iran
TEHRAN, IRAN -- A U.N. nuclear team arrived in Tehran early
Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt
to develop nuclear weapons . . . During their three-day
visit, the IAEA team will be looking for permission to talk to
key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons
program, inspect documents related to such suspected work and
secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future
visits to sites linked to such allegations. But even a decision
to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major
departure from Iran's frequent simple refusal to talk about
them.
MORE
Arabs suspend observer mission ...
Syria deaths spike
DAMASCUS -- The Arab League suspended its controversial observer
mission in Syria on Saturday as the bloodshed in a crackdown on
anti-regime protests spiked and the death toll in four days
topped 210. The announcement came as the opposition Syrian
National Council (SNC) said its leader would travel to New York
to press the UN Security Council for protection from President
Bashar al-Assad's regime. SNC chief Burhan Ghaliun's trip comes
amid a new bid by Arab and European states for UN action,
opposed by staunch Syria ally Russia, over the nearly
11-month-old deadly crackdown on dissent. It also comes as Gulf
states and Turkey called in Istanbul for global efforts to bring
the bloodshed to an "immediate end" and pave the way for a
political transition. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said "the
decision to suspend the observer mission was taken after a
series of consultations with Arab foreign ministers because of
the upsurge of violence whose victims are innocent civilians."
He said it also came "after the Syrian government chose the
option of escalation, which increased the number of victims."
MORE
Israeli paratroopers prepare for
airborne strikes
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (UPI) -- The Israeli military has conducted its
first full-scale parachute exercise for its airborne brigade in
15 years as part of military preparations for "any possible
scenario" and "potential regional changes," including long-range
assaults. Amid the tensions sweeping the Middle East, and the
possibility of a war involving Israel against Iran and Syria
plus their allies Hezbollah and Hamas, that suggests the
Israelis could be thinking of using paratroopers to hit key
targets, such as missile launch sites and depots, inside hostile
territory. At least 1,000 paratroopers took part in the drop in
the Jan. 17 Negev Desert in southern Israel, the army said.
"We're restoring a capability that we once had," the airborne
brigade commander, Col. Amir Baram, declared ahead of the mass
jump from U.S.-built C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. "We
can't know what will happen in the changing Middle East and
every Western military which respects itself needs to know how
to parachute large forces, bring them together and then launch
an attack." The last time the paratroop brigade had a
full-strength training drop was in 1997. The last time the
brigade went into combat in force by air was in the 1956 Sinai
Campaign against Egypt, when paratroopers seized the Mitla Pass
on the western side of the peninsula ahead of ground forces .
. . Underlining the urgency of military preparations to deal
with this onslaught, the mass parachute drop was conducted at
night, giving weight to the supposition that a surprise air
assault by hundreds of elite troops may be under consideration.
MORE
Pentagon Unable to Account for Missing
Iraqi Millions
The Pentagon doesn’t know what happened to more than $100
million in cash held at Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad
during the Iraq war, according to a new report by the Special
Inspector General for Iraq. What’s more, the Pentagon can’t find
documents to explain what it spent as much as $1.7 billion on
from funds held on behalf of the Iraqi government by the New
York Federal Reserve, the report says. The missing records raise
new questions about how the US government handled billions of
dollars in Iraqi funds during the war.
MORE
LAPD And Special Forces
Conduct Military Maneuvers In The Skies Above Downtown Los
Angeles
LOS ANGELES (CBS) -- The Los Angeles Police Department teamed
with military special operation forces Wednesday evening to
conduct multi-agency tactical exercises in the skies above
downtown LA. Many questioned what was going on Wednesday night
as a Black Hawk helicopter and four OH-6 choppers – or “Little
Birds” – flew over the city, at one point hovering just above
the US Bank building downtown and later flying low over the
Staples Center as the Lakers played inside.
MORE
New Jersey Assembly Committee To
Consider Ammo Ban In The Name Of Police Safety
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY (Ammoland.com) -- Common hunting, target,
and self-defense ammunition would be subject to ban under A588,
along with BB’s, airgun pellets, and plastic airsoft pellets!
Additional legislation being considered (A1013) could land gun
owners in jail for refinished or damaged firearms that might be
deemed “defaced” On Monday, January 30 at 2:00 p.m. the New
Jersey Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee is scheduled to
consider A588, legislation that would enable the Attorney
General to ban all handgun and most rifle ammunition if he
unilaterally determines that it “poses a threat to the safety
and well being of law enforcement officers.” Cleverly disguised
as police safety legislation aimed at armor piercing ammunition
(which is already prohibited under federal and state law), the
measure actually opens the door to a sweeping ammunition ban by
an unelected public official by executive fiat. Common hunting,
target, and self-defense ammunition would be subject to ban,
along with BB’s, airgun pellets, and non-metallic ammunition
like plastic airsoft pellets, if the Attorney General decides
that they pose a threat to the safety and well being of law
enforcement. Although the bill only mentions handgun ammunition,
it is in fact not limited to handgun ammunition, and would apply
to all rifle ammunition for which a handgun if ever made. As an
increasing number of gun manufacturers make handgun models that
shoot rifle caliber ammunition, the line between “handgun” vs.
“rifle” ammunition has become blurred, and the New Jersey State
Police have already begun treating rifle ammunition in this
category as if it were handgun ammunition for regulatory
purposes.
MORE
Arresting Christians costs U.S. city
$100,000 (Michigan)
Judge orders officials to pay up in stunning dispute
A judge in Detroit has ruled that the decision by police in
neighboring Dearborn to arrest a Christian pastor who wanted to
hand out Christian tracts at the city’s Arab fest in 2009 will
cost the city some $100,000. That’s the decision following a
request from the pastor’s attorneys that the losing side in the
First Amendment argument over expressing religious perspectives
on city streets be required to pay them for their work on behalf
of Christian Pastor George Saieg. Magistrate Judge R. Steven
Whalen said his recommendation for fees and costs totaling
$103,401.96 be awarded in the case that was handled by attorney
Robert J. Muise . . . “The award of attorney fees in this
case,” [Muise] said, “is critical in the lawfare against
civilization jihad and dhimmitization, or subjugation, of an
entire municipality in Michigan. Dearborn has a long record of
this kind of illegal, heavy-handed treatment of Christians as an
attempt to placate Dearborn’s Shariah-faithful [Muslims]. The
court’s ruling today demonstrates that this kind of behavior
will come at great cost.”
MORE
Pope: Some U.S. Cultural Trends 'A
Threat Not Just to Christian Faith, But Also to Humanity Itself'
(CNS News) -- Pope Benedict XVI warned a group of Catholic
bishops from the United States in a speech at the Vatican last
week that some cultural trends in the U.S. are “a threat not
just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself.” . . .
“For her part, the Church in the United States is called, in
season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only
proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as
the key to human happiness and social prospering,” the pope
said. “To the extent that some current cultural trends contain
elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths,
whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific
rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or
majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian
faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth
about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God,”
said the pope. “When a culture attempts to suppress the
dimension of ultimate mystery, and to close the doors to
transcendent truth," the pope said, "it inevitably becomes
impoverished and falls prey, as the late Pope John Paul II so
clearly saw, to reductionist and totalitarian readings of the
human person and the nature of society.” In the same address,
the pope noted that: “Of particular concern are certain attempts
being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms,
the freedom of religion.”
MORE
________________________________
MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
________________________________
Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.
Commentary:
Return of the Gold Standard Imminent (Anthony Migchels)
Excerpt:
What has been in the cards for decades is now fully on the
agenda: the return of the Gold Standard. Gold as currency is a
weapon. It is a wealth transfer to those holding Gold, which is
not the 99%, and will precipitate a massive deflation. The
ensuing chaos will help usher in their coveted New World Order
and World Currency.
Numerous stories pertaining to Gold as currency have appeared
recently. Last week alone, it was reported that India will pay
Iran in gold for their oil imports. In another development,
China, Japan, Russia, France and a number of Arab states will
pay each other with a basket of currencies, including Gold.
Source:
henrymakow.com
MORE
Commentary:
INTERNET FREEDOM ... ACTA: Worse
Than SOPA and PIPA (Stephen Lendman)
ACTA tramples on national sovereignty and personal freedoms
Excerpt:
Internet freedom's on the line. SOPA and PIPA threatened Net
Neutrality and free expression. So does ACTA. More on it below.
For now, the largest online protest in Internet history got
Congress to abandon SOPA and PIPA for now but not permanently.
Expect resurrection in modified form. Language may change but
not intent. ACTA's worse.
Launched on October 23, 2007, America, the EU, Switzerland and
Japan began secretly negotiating a new intellectual property
enforcement treaty - the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Other nations got involved, including Canada, Australia, South
Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore, and the UAE.
Ostensibly for counterfeit goods protection, it's about
fast-tracking Internet distribution and information technology
rules at the expense of Net Neutrality, privacy, and personal
freedoms . . . .
On April 22, 2010, Electronic Frontier Foundation writer Gwen
Hinze headlined, "Preliminary Analysis of the Officially
Released ACTA Text," saying:
"The text (leaves no doubt) that ACTA is not just about
counterfeiting." It's far more. It covers copyrights, patents,
and other intellectual property forms, including the Internet.
It's also about the ability of users to "communicate,
collaborate and create" freely. In addition, it imposes
obligations (on) Internet intermediaries (and, requires) them to
police" cyberspace and its users. As a result, it raises serious
questions about open affordable access, free expression,
personal privacy, and "fair use rights."
Source:
globalresearch.ca
MORE
Note: see also Commentary:
ACTA: 'Usurps Congressional Authority', 'Threatens Numerous
Public Interests', 'Backroom Special Interest Deal', A
'Masquerade' - As awful as ACTA is, there are other
horrible bills such as the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement
waiting in the wings … which may be even worse than ACTA
LINK
Commentary:
Nigeria: Thrown into Chaos and a State
of Civil War: The Role of the IMF (F. William
Engdahl)
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and its largest oil
producer, is from all evidence being systematically thrown into
chaos and a state of civil war. The recent surprise decision by
the government of Goodluck Jonathan to abruptly lift subsidies
on imported gasoline and other fuel has a far more sinister
background than mere corruption, and the Washington-based
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is playing a key role. China
appears to be the likely loser along with Nigeria’s population
. . . .
Nigeria today is one of the world’s most important producers of
light, sweet crude oil - the same high quality crude oil that
Libya and the British North Sea produce . . . .
Ironically, despite the fact that Nigeria has abundant oil to
earn dollar export revenue to build its domestic infrastructure,
government policy has deliberately let its domestic oil refining
capacity fall into ruin. The consequence has been that most of
the gasoline and other refined petroleum products used to drive
transportation and industry, has to be imported, despite the
country’s abundant oil. In order to shield the population from
the high import costs of gasoline and other refined fuels, the
central government has subsidized prices.
Until January 1, 2012, that is . . . .
What has been buried from international accounts of the unrest
is the explicit role the US-dominated International Monetary
Fund (IMF) played in the situation. With suspicious timing IMF
Managing Director Christine Lagarde was in Nigeria days before
the abrupt subsidy decision of President Jonathan. By all
accounts, the IMF and the Nigerian government have been careful
this time not to be blatant about openly announcing demands to
ends subsidies as they were in Tunisia before food protests
became the trigger for that country’s Twitter putsch in 2011
. . . .
The IMF knows well that the elimination of subsidies will do
nothing about corruption in high places.
Were the IMF and World Bank genuinely concerned with the health
of the domestic Nigerian economy, they would have provided
support for rebuilding and expanding a domestic oil refinery
industry that has been let to rot so that the country need no
longer import refined fuels using precious state budget
resources to do so. The easiest way to do that would be to
expedite a two-year-old deal between China and the Nigerian
government to invest some $28 billion in massive expansion of
the oil refinery sector to eliminate need for importing foreign
gasoline and other refined products.
Quite the opposite - the criminal cabal inside NNPC and the
Government making huge profits on the old subsidy system are
suddenly making double and potentially triple more to maintain
the old corrupt import system, and, of course, to sabotage
Chinese refinery construction that could put an end to their
gravy train.
Rather than benefit ordinary Nigerians as the IMF proclaims to
want, the elimination of the subsidies has further pauperized
the 90 per cent living on less than $2 a day, according to
Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Nigerian Central Bank governor.
An estimated 40 million Nigerians are unemployed in the country
of 148 million.
Because transport costs are a significant factor in delivery of
food to the cities, food price inflation has soared along with
costs of public transportation for the majority of poorer
Nigerians. According to the Nigerian Leadership Sunday, “prices
of commodities which shot up as a fallout of the fuel pump price
increase have refused to come down.” Everything from street
vegetable sellers to carwashes to roadside photographers are
feeling the shock of the rise in fuel prices. Unemployment is
rising as small businesses fold.
The argument of the IMF and the Jonathan Administration is that
by freeing fuel prices, funds would be available to [provide]
more social services and rebuild Nigeria’s “infrastructure.”
Both the IMF and the Government know it would have been far more
economically viable to replace the current corrupt system of
importing refined gasoline and fuels with investing in
rebuilding Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity . . . .
One major geopolitical factor that is generally ignored in
recent discussion of Nigerian oil politics is the growing role
of China in the country. In May 2010 only days after President
Jonathan was sworn in, China signed an impressive $28.5 billion
deal with his government to build three new refineries,
something that in no way fit into the plans of either the IMF or
of Washington or of the Anglo-American oil majors . . . .
The IMF and Washington pressure to lift subsidies on imported
fuels is at this point in question as is the future of China in
Nigeria’s energy industry. Clear is that lifting subsidies in no
way will benefit Nigerians. More alarming in this context is the
orchestration of a major new wave of terror killings and
bombings by the mysterious and suspiciously well-armed Boko
Haram.
Source: globalresearch.ca
MORE
________________________________
ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
________________________________
Syrian forces battle to retake Damascus suburbs
LINK
Syrian forces tighten grip on Damascus outskirts
LINK
'Assad's family attempts to escape Syria'
LINK
[analysis]: Proxy War in Syria Threatens Catastrophe for the
Middle East
LINK
Bahrain Detained Protesters to Begin Hunger Strike
LINK
Yemen's Saleh heads for U.S.
LINK
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is due
to step down next month, headed for medical treatment in the
United States on Saturday after a stopover in Britain, Yemeni
and British officials said
___________
OBAMA ELIGIBILITY COURT CASE … BLOW BY BLOW
LINK
Georgia judge considered 'default' against Obama
LINK
Ruling could have brought immediate recommendation
to remove name from ballot
Results Of Obama's Eligibility Hearing In
Georgia
LINK
[analysis]: FULL ANALYSIS OF OBAMA ELIGIBILITY HEARING
LINK
Video Of Entire Georgia Obama Eligibility Hearing
LINK
[Unfortunately, the audio is
terrible. -Ed.]
___________
Postponed
Israel-U.S. Drill to be Held in October
LINK
High-tech Israeli drone crashes on test flight
LINK
Iran would consider Russian proposal aimed at ending nuclear
dispute
LINK
[analysis]: IRAN OIL EMBARGO: Asia challenges U.S., Europe over
Sanctions
LINK
China and India reiterate their determination not
to support the embargo ... Europe might face quite a headache as
its oil refineries were designed to refine Iranian oil and,
what’s more, a particular brand of it
Turkey, Russia converge on Syria and Iran
crisis
LINK
They held the second meeting of the Joint
Strategic Planning Group on Wednesday, saying Russia and Turkey
were holding such meetings to converge on their positions
[analysis]: U.S., Europe choose risky strategy with sanctions on
Iran
LINK
[analysis]: Israel 'master of puppets' in U.S. Iran onslaught
LINK
Philippines studying U.S. offer to deploy spy planes
LINK
Thousands back Putin in 'Russian workers' protest
LINK
Boko Haram rejects talks, threatens fresh attacks
(Nigeria)
LINK
[South Florida] Police roll out video
surveillance truck called 'The Peacemaker'
(Video)
LINK
Warning: You are under video surveillance," reads the
bold message on the side of the truck ... From the front bumper
of the menacing vehicle, another sign taunts: "Whatcha gonna do
when we come for you?" ... The truck is a new weapon for the
Fort Lauderdale Police Department in the fight against drugs and
neighborhood nuisances, and it looks like a Winnebago on
steroids
[analysis]: War for Total Control: Planning
the Ultimate 'Big Brother' Surveillance Society
LINK
Pigs At The Trough Alert:
Congress tries to police itself on insider
trading
LINK
A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll of registered
voters found 56 percent of them favor replacing the entire
535-member Congress ... Other polls this year have given
Congress an approval rating between 11 percent and 13 percent,
while disapproval percentages have ranged from 79 percent to 86
percent
Harassment Alert:
Legal team tells Census Bureau to back off
LINK
Accusing the U.S. Census Bureau of “stalking” and
“harassment” against dozens of Americans, officials with the
Rutherford Institute have asked the federal agency to explain
how its “American Community Survey” questions related to
information the government is authorized to request
U.S. crackdown against Occupy
protesters leads to another 400 arrests
LINK
New U.S. home sales in 2011 called the worst in history
LINK
Obama-backed car battery maker goes bankrupt
LINK
Ener1 subsidiary EnerDel received a $118 million
stimulus grant from the Energy Department in 2009
[analysis]: China And Japan Currency Swap:
Nail In U.S. Dollar's Coffin LINK
[analysis]: Greece - Between Iran and a Hard Place
LINK
Smallest U.S. cattle herd in 60 years warned may raise beef
prices
LINK
60 lightly injured in [magnitude 6.3] Peru earthquake
LINK
Starbucks: Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage 'Is Core to Who
We Are and What We Value'
LINK
HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts LINK
________________________________
"It does not require a majority to prevail but rather an irate, tireless
minority keen to set bush fires in people's minds."
Samuel Adams, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers
________________________________
CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
TUESDAY JANUARY 31, 2012
- no news edition -
CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2012
U.S., allies urge
U.N. action to end violence in Syria
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Vowing to avoid "another Libya," the U.S.
and its allies challenged Russia on Tuesday to overcome its
opposition to a U.N. draft resolution demanding that Syrian
President Bashar Assad yield power and end the violence that has
killed thousands.
"It is time for the international community to put aside our own
differences and send a clear message of support to the people of
Syria," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the U.N.
Security Council in backing an Arab League plan for the country.
Russia, one of Assad's strongest allies, has signaled it would
veto any U.N. action against Damascus, fearing it could open the
door to eventual international military involvement, the way an
Arab-backed U.N. resolution led to NATO airstrikes in Libya.
But Clinton said U.N. action in Syria would not involve military
intervention, unlike the NATO-led efforts that resulted in the
ouster of Moammar Gadhafi.
"I know that some members here may be concerned that the
Security Council is headed toward another Libya," Clinton said.
"That is a false analogy."
The top diplomats from Britain, France and [the] Arab League
pressed the same point: The objective of the draft resolution
was not military involvement and a continued delay would come at
the cost of the lives of innocent civilians.
"We all have a choice: Stand with the people of Syria and the
region or become complicit in the continuing violence there,"
Clinton told council members.
"Despite its ruthless tactics, the Assad regime's reign of
terror will end and the people of Syria will have the chance to
chart their own destiny," she said. "The question for us is: How
many more innocent civilians will die before this country is
able to move forward toward the kind of future it deserves?"
. . . .
Russia has stood by Assad as he tries to crush the uprising. In
October, Moscow vetoed the first Security Council attempt to
condemn Syria's crackdown and has shown little sign of budging
in its opposition.
Moscow's stance is motivated in part by its strategic and
defense ties, including weapons sales, with Syria. Russia also
rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Australian
Broadcasting Corp. that Moscow "would never allow the Security
Council to authorize anything similar to what happened in
Libya."
Saying the U.N. should not choose sides, Lavrov told the ABC
that all parties should cease violence and engage in dialogue.
Russia "would not support anything that would be imposed on
Syria," he said.
Source:
Associated Press / myway.com
MORE
Note: see also UN Urged To Endorse Syria Transition
Plan - Western diplomats are hoping for a vote this week
but negotiators will have to weigh whether to risk a Russian
veto or agree to dilute the current text
LINK
[Note: Also see several related stories
on Syria at the top of today's News Briefs section.]
Iran, perceiving
threat from West, willing to attack on U.S. soil, U.S.
intelligence report finds
U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran is prepared to
launch terrorist attacks inside the United States in response to
perceived threats from America and its allies, the U.S. spy
chief said Tuesday.
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said in
prepared testimony that an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate
the Saudi ambassador in Washington that was uncovered last year
reflects an aggressive new willingness within the upper ranks of
the Islamist republic to authorize attacks against the United
States.
That plot “shows that some Iranian officials - probably
including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei - have changed their
calculus and are now more willing to conduct an attack in the
United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that
threaten the regime,” Clapper said in the testimony, which was
submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee in advance of a
threat assessment hearing Tuesday. “We are also concerned about
Iranian plotting against U.S. or allied interests overseas.”
The assessment signals a potentially dire new direction in the
adversarial relationship between the United States and Iran, at
a time when there are indications that a covert campaign is
already underway to thwart Iran’s alleged ambition to develop a
nuclear weapon.
Clapper’s warning about Iran was delivered as part of the U.S.
intelligence community’s annual overview of the nation’s most
serious national security concerns. As the hearing got underway,
Clapper signaled that the United States is seeking to avoid a
violent confrontation with Iran, instead pushing for more and
more sanctions while also monitoring the possibility of a
preemptive strike by Israel.
“Our hope is that the sanctions ... would have the effect of
inducing a change in Iranian policy toward their apparent
pursuit of a nuclear capability,” Clapper said. “Obviously this
is a very sensitive issue right now. We’re doing a lot with the
Israelis.”
Clapper’s testimony also calls attention to a heightened concern
over cyber-related threats, as well as the diminished but
persistent danger to the United States posed by al-Qaeda . .
. .
. . . Clapper said in the testimony, the United States is
entering a “critical transitional phase for the terrorist
threat,” in which smaller-bore strikes from regional nodes are
more likely than elaborate, mass-casualty plots.
Source:
washingtonpost.com
MORE
Note: see these related items:
Intelligence Chief: Growing Risk Of Iran Attacking U.S.
Targets
LINK
Commentary: Iranian Aircraft
Carriers In The Gulf Of Mexico: It Can't Happen Here
LINK
U.S. officials: Still
chance for diplomacy with Iran
WASHINGTON -- Sanctions and diplomacy may yet persuade Iran to
give up its nuclear program, as its leaders have shown a
rational "cost-benefit approach" in their calculations, senior
US officials said.
The top intelligence officials suggested Tuesday that military
conflict with Iran was not inevitable, despite soaring tensions
with Tehran and a war of nerves over the strategic Strait of
Hormuz, a key oil trade choke point.
"We judge Iran's nuclear decision-making is guided by a
cost-benefit approach, which offers the international community
opportunities to influence Tehran," Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper told the US Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence.
"Iranian leaders undoubtedly consider Iran's security, prestige,
and influence, as well as the international political and
security environment, when making decisions about its nuclear
program," he said.
He said economic sanctions were taking a toll and described a
worsening rift between Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The overriding goal of Iran's leaders remained "regime
survival," and it was too early to say how economic strains
triggered by tougher sanctions would affect their decisions, CIA
Director David Petraeus told the same hearing.
With a run on the Iranian currency, inflationary pressures and
unemployment, the sanctions were "biting" more now than ever
before, Petraeus said.
"I think what we have to see now is how does that play out. What
is the level of popular discontent inside Iran? Does that
influence the strategic decision-making of the supreme leader
and the regime?" he said.
The comments by senior intelligence officials echoed President
Barack Obama's assessment in his State of the Union address last
week, when he said "a peaceful resolution" remains possible with
Iran . . . .
The head of the Defence Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General
Ronald Burgess, told senators Iran had "the capability, we
assess, to temporarily close" the channel, but he did not
elaborate.
The US intelligence chiefs made clear their view of Iran's
nuclear program had not changed since an assessment last year by
all 16 spy agencies that concluded Iran's leaders are divided
over whether to build nuclear weapons and have yet to take a
decision to press ahead.
Asked what would be a signal that Iran had decided to build a
bomb, Clapper suggested that highly enriched weapons-grade
uranium would be one clear sign.
With protests and unrest sweeping Syria, Petraeus said Iran was
worried about its ally and was working to prop up the embattled
regime.
The fall of President Bashar al-Assad would deliver a major blow
to Tehran, which relies on Syria as a logistics link to
Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, said the CIA director.
"Clearly, the loss of Syria as a logistics platform, a line of
communication into Lebanon to support Hezbollah, would be a
substantial setback for Iran in its effort to use Hezbollah as a
proxy," he said.
"That's indeed why the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guard is so
engaged in trying to prop up Bashar al-Assad right now."
Source: AFP / channelnewsasia.com
MORE
Official: Gulf Arabs
have plans against Hormuz closure
ABU DHABI (Reuters) -- Coastguards and naval forces of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) group of Arab countries have
contingency plans for a possible attempt by Iran to shut the
Strait of Hormuz, a Kuwaiti maritime official said on Monday.
Five of the six GCC members - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait - rely on the world's most
important energy shipping lane being open to export most of
their oil or gas.
Tehran has threatened to close the narrow shipping lane between
Oman, the only GCC member which does not depend on Hormuz, and
Iran if Western sanctions aimed at starving Iran's disputed
nuclear program of funds stop it from selling oil.
The GCC members, which also rely on the four-mile-wide (6.4
kilometer) channel being open to import food for their growing
populations, has now drawn up a contingency plan in case Iran
acts on its threats.
"Exporting oil or importing goods and cargo through Hormuz is a
main concern for the GCC," Commander Mubarak Ali al-Sabah chief
of maritime operations at Kuwait's Coast Guard told Reuters in
an interview.
"The GCC has a plan as a body - not just Kuwait separately or
Bahrain or Saudi Arabia - we have a plan we just hope that
everything stays safe," al-Sabah said, without giving details of
the plans.
"Awareness and understanding of the consequences of it has
increased," he said.
"We have plans how to deal with this but didn't do field
exercises on it."
Al-Sabah said the planning included coordinating both between
coastguards and navies of GCC countries and with Western naval
forces patrolling the area - including U.S., Australian and
French navies.
Kuwaiti and Iranian coastguards hold regular meetings on how to
manage their shared maritime border, with the next one scheduled
for next month.
"We don't go into politics or speak about other issues just what
concerns the coastguards and how we can work it out," he said.
Oil tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz are estimated at
around 16 million barrels per day (bpd), or just under a fifth
of global oil supplies.
A new pipeline from the UAE's oilfields to the Gulf of Oman
could carry most of the Gulf OPEC oil producer's exports if
Hormuz were to be blocked.
But even a brief disruption to shipping could stop most of the
oil exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and Iraq from
leaving the Gulf, along with liquefied natural gas (LNG) from
leading supplier Qatar.
In December, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said it would not tolerate any
disruption of traffic in Hormuz but analysts say Iran might be
able to hinder traffic transiting the Strait by scattering mines
in it.
"In any navy plan that exists there would be plans for swift
coordination to de-mine areas that might have been mined ... Or
act in coordination preemptively or reactively to prevent
Iranian small vessels disrupting shipping," Christian Le Miere,
research fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies said.
Source: Reuters / yahoo.com
MORE
________________________________
NEWS BRIEFS
________________________________
Russia
resists U.N. drive to halt Syria 'killing machine'
UNITED NATIONS -- Western powers and the Arab League on Tuesday
demanded immediate United Nations action to stop Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's "killing machine," but Russia
refused to give its support . . . US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, backed by her French and British counterparts
as well as Qatar's prime minister, led the charge for a tough UN
resolution that would call on Assad to end the bloodshed and
hand over power. "We all know that change is coming to Syria.
Despite its ruthless tactics, the Assad regime's reign of terror
will end," Clinton told the UN Security Council. "The question
for us is: how many more innocent civilians will die before this
country is able to move forward?" Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh
Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, speaking on behalf of the Arab
League, said Assad's regime had "failed to make any sincere
effort" to end the crisis and believed the only solution was "to
kill its own people." "Bloodshed continued and the killing
machine is still at work," he said. But Russia, a long-standing
ally of Assad and one of the regime's top suppliers of weapons,
declared that the UN body did not have the authority to impose
such a resolution. China voiced support for Russia's position.
Moscow's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, argued that Syria
should "be able to decide for itself" and said the Council
"cannot impose the parameters for an internal settlement. It
simply does not have the mandate to do so."
MORE
Note: see also Russia, West Face Off On Syria At U.N.
LINK
Clinton Accuses Assad of Setting Syrian
Minorities Against Each Other
(CNS News) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday
accused the Syrian regime of a “divide-and-conquer strategy”
aimed at setting the country’s religious and ethnic groups
against each other. Addressing the U.N. Security Council,
Clinton acknowledged the fears of minorities in Syria about what
the future may hold, and laid the blame squarely at the feet of
President Bashar Assad and “his cronies.” “Now, fears about what
follows Assad, especially among Syria’s minority communities,
are understandable,” she said. “Indeed, it appears as though
Assad and his cronies are working hard to pit Syria’s ethnic and
religious groups against each other, risking greater sectarian
violence and even descent into civil war.” Many Mideast experts
would agree that Assad – like the departed Libyan and Egyptian
regimes – has stoked fear among religious and ethnic minorities
about what will confront them if he is toppled, convincing them
that he is the only alternative to chaos.
MORE
Gulf
sources: Assad may start regional war if U.N. tells him to step
down
In confidential conversations with his advisers, Syrian
President Bashar Assad is reported by Persian Gulf sources
Tuesday, January 31 to have threatened to start up armed
hostilities in the region if the UN Security Council Tuesday
night endorses the Arab League proposal for him to step down and
hand power to his deputy. Those sources told DEBKAfile
that the heads of the Syrian armed forces and intelligence have
been given their orders and some units are on the ready. Other
Middle East sources reported that the Lebanese Hizballah has
also shown signs of military preparations in the last few hours.
And the Russian flotilla berthed at the Syrian port of Tartus,
led by the Admiral Kutznetsov aircraft carrier, also appears to
be on the alert for ructions in the wake of the Security Council
Syria session.
MORE
Assad masses loyal troops in Damascus
after he was warned of a military coup
According to exclusive reports reaching DEBKAfile,
President Bashar Assad Sunday, January 30, pulled in the Syrian
Republican Guard and the 4th armored divisions commanded by his
brother Maher Assad from the northern rebel centers and over to
Damascus. He ordered them into battle positions in the capital
for the first time in the ten month uprising after receiving an
intelligence tipoff that western powers had won over one of the
armored division commanders posted in the capital and persuaded
him to stage a coup d'etat to topple him. The renegade general,
whose identity is unknown, was reported to be planning to take
advantage of the absence of the most trusted regime troops in
trouble spots across the country to lead 300 tanks into the
capital and seize power. The conspirators were planning to make
their move on the night of Monday January 30 or early Tuesday
January 31, just before the UN Security Council was to convene
in New York and air plans for him to step down. The putsch would
have presented its members with the accomplished fact of Assad's
overthrow by the military . . . Forewarned, the Syrian
ruler is making every effort to ward off the threatened coup.
MORE
IAEA inspector says still 'a lot
of work' to do with Iran
VIENNA -- The chief UN nuclear inspector returned from a visit
to Tehran on Wednesday saying there was still "a lot of work" to
do, with Iran's foreign minister saying the team did not visit
any atomic sites. "We had three days of intensive discussions
about all our priorities. We are committed to resolving all the
outstanding issues and the Iranians said they are committed
too," Herman Nackaerts told reporters at Vienna airport. "But of
course there is still a lot of work to be done, and so we have
planned another trip in the very near future," said Nackaerts,
one of six-person International Atomic Energy Agency team.
MORE
Mossad chief holds secret U.S.
meetings on Iran nuclear threat, Senate panel reveals
Mossad chief Tamir Pardo held secret talks with top U.S.
officials in recent days, cursory comments made during a public
Senate hearing indicated on Tuesday. he clandestine Washington
visit was exposed during a hearing of the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence, which was participated by CIA
Director David Petraeus, Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper, and Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate panel.
During the meeting, Feinstein asked Clapper whether or not
Israel intended to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, with the
top U.S. intelligence official answering that he would rather
discuss the issue behind closed doors. Feinstein then indicated
that she had met Mossad chief Pardo earlier in the week in
Washington, with Petraeus adding that he too met Pardo and cited
what he called Israel's growing concern over Iran's nuclear
ambitions. The CIA chief also said that it was important to note
that Israel considered a nuclear Iran as an existential threat.
MORE
Islamists block Egypt protest march
CAIRO -- Thousands of protesters marched on Egypt’s parliament
Tuesday demanding a swift end to army rule, and some turned
their anger on the leading Islamist movement they accused of
doing the military’s bidding. Inside, army-backed Prime Minister
Kamal Ganzouri, 78, who served ousted President Hosni Mubarak in
the 1990s, addressed the new parliament for the first time but
faced tough criticism by Islamist and other deputies for the
slow pace of reform. Some youth members of the Muslim
Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party won nearly half the
seats in the recent parliamentary election, formed a cordon in
the street leading to parliament to prevent protesters from
approaching the building. “The people want the fall of the
Brotherhood,” protesters chanted, twisting a chant normally used
against the army council that has held power since Mubarak was
toppled in February. They also chanted against the army.
MORE
Eligibility Alert:
'Green light' to see Obama's Hawaii
files
'When somebody submits a copy … the other party has a right
to examine the original'
An attorney who presented evidence to a Georgia judge last week
on Barack Obama’s eligibility for the state’s 2012 presidential
ballot believes she now has a right to demand to see his
original Hawaii documents . . . California attorney Orly Taitz,
who has brought a number of major legal challenges to Obama’s
eligibility in various courts up to the U.S. Supreme Court, has
told World Net Daily that when Obama and his lawyer wrote a
letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp last week
refusing to attend the hearing on Obama’s eligibility status,
they included a copy of the image that the White House released
last April. They also sent a copy to the court of Judge Michael
Malihi, the hearing officer, whose ruling is expected to be made
available in the next few days. That act, Taitz explained,
effectively gave the court a copy of the White House
documentation, and under ordinary rules of evidence the
opposing side is supposed to have access to the original to
verify the authenticity of the purported copy. “They
submitted a copy and said this is a copy of the original birth
certificate. Now the other party has a right to examine the
original,” she said. Her next step was to ask Malihi for a
letter to the courts in Hawaii seeking a subpoena for the
records. When the judge responded that the issue probably was
outside his jurisdiction as an administrative law judge, she
received permission to take her request to the Fulton County
Superior Court. [emphasis added]
MORE
Note: see also
Obama
Eligibility Challenges Spread To 6 States -
Decision in Georgia case expected soon, but ballot concerns
going viral ... Whatever the outcome in Georgia, the issue is
gaining traction in other states, too, including Alabama,
Tennessee, Arizona, New Hampshire, and even Illinois, Obama’s
home political base
LINK
Darrell Issa threatens Eric Holder with
contempt
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-California)
threatened Tuesday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in
contempt of Congress if the Justice Department did not provide
certain documents in response to the committee’s subpoena. In a
letter to Holder, Issa wrote that “this committee will have no
alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in
contempt of Congress” if Holder and the DOJ didn’t produce
documents they demanded relating to the Fast and Furious
gun-walking scandal. Holder has until Thursday, February 9, to
comply, according to Issa. Issa accused the Justice Department
of trying to “obstruct our investigation and deceive the public”
by withholding documents. “Your actions lead us to conclude that
the department is actively engaged in a cover-up,” he said in a
four-page letter.
MORE
Report: Four in 10 Illegal Aliens
Caught by Border Patrol Did Not Face 'Enforcement With
Consequences' in 2010
(CNS News) -- Around six out of every 10 illegals apprehended by
U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) in 2010 faced “enforcement with
consequences,” according to the Congressional Research Service
(CRS). While a a significant improvement over the situation a
decade earlier, this still means that about four in ten illegal
aliens caught by USBP did not. “The ratio of aliens facing
enforcement with consequences relative to USBP apprehensions
increased from 1% in 1999 to 58% in 2010,” stated a January 2012
CRS report, entitled Border Security: Immigration Enforcement
Between Ports of Entry.” “The number of immigration-related
criminal cases more than tripled between 1999 and 2010 (from
28,764 to 84,388 cases), and USBP removals increased
fourteen-fold from 12,867 to 189,653,” the CRS reported. The
report said that “enforcement with consequences” has been “an
additional component of DHS’ approach to border control over the
last several years.” “Unauthorized aliens apprehended at the
border may face federal immigration charges, but historically,
most have not been charged with a crime,” it explained.
“Historically,” the report said, unauthorized Mexican aliens
apprehended at the southwest border were returned with “minimal
processing.” In the case of non-Mexicans, apprehended authorized
aliens were “allowed to remain at large in the United States
pending a formal deportation or removal hearing.” . . .
“Historically, most non-Mexicans apprehended at the border were
placed in formal deportation or removal proceedings prior to
being returned to their country of origin by airplane,”
explained the CRS. “[B]ut backlogs in the immigration court
system meant that most such aliens were released on bail or on
their own recognizance with an order to reappear at a later
date, and many failed to show up for their hearings.”
MORE
FBI Director Says Cyber-threat
Will Surpass Threat From Terrorists
Threats from cyber-espionage, computer crime, and attacks on
critical infrastructure will surpass terrorism as the number one
threat facing the United States, FBI Director Robert Mueller
testified today. Mueller and National Intelligence Director
James Clapper, addressing the annual Worldwide Threat hearing
before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, cited their
concerns about cyber-security and noted that China and Russia
run robust intrusion operations against key U.S. industries and
the government. “I do not think today it is necessarily [the]
number one threat, but it will be tomorrow,” Mueller said.
“Counterterrorism - stopping terrorist attacks - with the FBI is
the present number one priority. But down the road, the
cyber-threat, which cuts across all [FBI] programs, will be the
number one threat to the country.” A report released in November
by the National Counterintelligence Executive singled out Russia
and China for their aggressive efforts to steal American
intellectual property, trade secrets and national security
information. “The cyber-threat is one of the most challenging
ones we face,” Clapper said. “Among state actors, we’re
particularly concerned about entities within China and Russia
conducting intrusions into U.S. computer networks and stealing
U.S. data. And the growing role that non-state actors are
playing in cyberspace is a great example of the easy access to
potentially disruptive and even lethal technology and know-how
by such groups.” “We foresee a cyber-environment in which
emerging technologies are developed and implemented before
security responses can be put in place,” Clapper said. U.S.
officials estimate that there are 60,000 new malicious computer
programs identified each day.
MORE
Pythons apparently wiping out
Everglades mammals
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA (AP) -- A burgeoning population of huge
pythons - many of them pets that were turned loose by their
owners when they got too big - appears to be wiping out large
numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the
Everglades, a study says. The study, published Monday in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that
sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically - as much
as 99 percent, in some cases - in areas where pythons and other
large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.
Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and
upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to
predict . . . Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which
are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the
Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While
many were apparently released by their owners, others may have
escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have
been reproducing ever since. Burmese pythons can grow to be 26
feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to
swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other
constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and
suffocating it.
MORE
U.S. Military Archbishop: Far Fewer
Christians in Iraq Since U.S. 2003 Invasion
(CNS News) -- U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio said that
the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has resulted in the
persecution and widespread elimination of Iraq’s native
Christian populations, a view that was affirmed by international
human rights lawyer Nina Shea, who serves on the U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom. “Yes, you can say in a
certain sense that the invasion of Iraq did provoke this
tremendous diminution of the Christian population in that
country. And what the future holds, that still remains to be
seen,” Broglio told the Catholic News Agency (CNA) on January 16
in Rome. Broglio said that before the invasion Iraqi Christians
were a protected minority. Now, they are unprotected by the new
Iraqi government . . . In an e-mail to CNS News, [Human
rights lawyer Nina Shea, who serves on the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)] said: “Yes,
absolutely. They are the victims of a religious cleansing
campaign and no longer viewed as ‘protected’ people. There’s
only about a third of the pre-invasion Christian population
remaining. This is why USCIRF has recommended that Iraq be
designated a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ under the
International Religious Freedom Act” The USCIRF warned in an
October 2011 report that Iraq was the home of “systematic,
ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.” The USCIRF
report on the state of religious freedom around the world found
that Iraqi Christians were the victims of targeted, violent
attacks, threat, and insufficient government protection.
“Members of the country’s smallest religious minorities still
suffer from targeted violence, threats, and intimidation,
against which they receive insufficient government protection.
Perpetrators of such attacks are rarely identified,
investigated, or punished, creating a climate of impunity,”
USCIRF report said.
MORE
Asked About Plight of Syrian
Christians, State Department Erroneously Blames Regime
(CNS News) -- Christians are under threat in Syria, but the
Obama administration appears unaware of, or unwilling to
acknowledge, the source of the danger facing the minority. Asked
several times during a press briefing Monday about violence and
threats facing Syrian Christians, State Department spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland appeared to blame the government – although
Christians reportedly are at risk from elements among the
anti-regime forces . . . A commonly repeated refrain is
that Syrian Christians could soon face the same plight as their
co-religionists in Iraq, where large numbers of Christians fled
– many of them to Syria – in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion
and toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. After the head
of Barnabas Fund . . . visited Syria and met with church
leaders last month he explained that since Christians were
well-treated under Assad, they are perceived by anti-Assad
elements to be supporters of the regime. “And, as in other
countries affected by the ‘Arab Spring,’ radical Islamists in
Syria – with backing from Saudi Arabia – have seized the
opportunity created by the unrest to pursue their agenda,
increasing the danger for Christians,” said Patrick Sookhdeo.
MORE
News of Christian imprisonment in Saudi
only now reaching U.S.
Thirty-five Christians have been jailed in Saudi Arabia for
worshiping in their own homes according to a recent report. The
news only surfaced this week that the Christians have been
imprisoned for over a month. Jonathan Racho of International
Christian Concern says it is no wonder that Christians there
worship in their homes because of the danger they face. "In
Saudi Arabia there is no church," says the ICC spokesman. "There
is no other place of worship other than mosques - so the
Christians in Saudi Arabia only gather at their private homes to
worship. And when they worship, as you can see in this
particular example, they could also be arrested." Racho was able
to talk with one of the female prisoners by phone and explains
that prisoners are suffering because of lack of proper medical
attention. "They told me that especially the male prisoners have
been assaulted by the Saudi officials," he shares. One of the
prisoners told Racho that a Saudi official insulted them by
telling them they are non-believers, animals, and supporters of
America. He adds the Christians are waiting for justice, which
to them means their release from prison and the ability to
worship freely. [no further content]
LINK
________________________________
MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
________________________________
Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.
NATO: Pakistan
helping Afghan Taliban
The Taliban in Afghanistan are being directly assisted by
Pakistani security services, according to a secret NATO report
seen by the BBC.
The leaked report, derived from thousands of interrogations,
claims the Taliban remain defiant and have wide support among
the Afghan people.
A BBC correspondent says the report is painful reading for
international forces and the Afghan government.
A Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman called the accusations
"ridiculous".
"We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan and expect
all other states to strictly adhere to this principle," Abdul
Basit told the BBC.
"A stable and peaceful Afghanistan is in our own interests. We
cannot indulge in any activity which takes us away from
achieving that objective," he added.
The report alleges that Pakistan knows the locations of senior
Taliban leaders.
"We have long been concerned about ties between elements of the
ISI [Pakistan's intelligence service] and some extremist
networks," said US Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby, adding
that the US Defence Department had not yet seen the report .
. . .
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says the report - on the
state of the Taliban - fully exposes for the first time the
relationship between the ISI and the Taliban.
The report is based on material from 27,000 interrogations with
more than 4,000 captured Taliban, al-Qaeda and other foreign
fighters and civilians.
It notes: "Pakistan's manipulation of the Taliban senior
leadership continues unabatedly".
It says that Pakistan is aware of the locations of senior
Taliban leaders.
"Senior Taliban representatives, such as Nasiruddin Haqqani,
maintain residences in the immediate vicinity of ISI
headquarters in Islamabad," it said.
It quotes a senior al-Qaeda detainee as saying: "Pakistan knows
everything. They control everything. I can't [expletive] on a
tree in Kunar without them watching."
"The Taliban are not Islam. The Taliban are Islamabad."
Our correspondent says the report seems to suggest that the
Taliban feel trapped by ISI control and fear they will never
escape its influence.
However, it states: "As this document is derived directly from
insurgents it should be considered informational and not
necessarily analytical."
Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of
Staff, has explained Pakistan's closeness to the Afghan Taliban
by pointing to infiltration of its army by the religious right,
but he also says it is part of a grand strategy to increase
leverage in the region via "proxies" . . . .
In a damning conclusion, the document says that in the last year
there has been unprecedented interest, even from members of the
Afghan government, in joining the Taliban cause.
It adds: "Afghan civilians frequently prefer Taliban governance
over the Afghan government, usually as a result of government
corruption."
The report has evidence that the Taliban are purposely hastening
NATO's withdrawal by deliberately reducing their attacks in some
areas and then initiating a comprehensive hearts-and-minds
campaign.
It says that in areas where ISAF has withdrawn, Taliban
influence has increased, often with little or no resistance from
government security forces. And in many cases, with the active
help of the Afghan police and army.
Source:
bbc.co.uk
MORE
Note: see also Pakistan Minister: Leaked Document Can
Be 'Disregarded'
LINK
Commentary:
TIM TEBOW EXPOSES HOW SHALLOW
CHRISTIANITY HAS BECOME (Coach Dave Daubenmire)
"America! America! God shed His grace on thee; and crown thy
good, with brotherhood …” [America The Beautiful]
. . . . Christian Tim Tebow has been causing quite a stir
across the football world with his unashamed living out of the
Gospel. His I-love-Jesus-more-than-anything approach to life has
proved to be quite unsettling to those who are uncomfortable
with his bold proclamation of Romans 1:16.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek.
In my lifetime I cannot name a single public figure, apart from
those who make a living off of the Gospel, who has been as bold
of a witness as Number 15 for the Denver Broncos . . . .
Former Super Bowl [quarterback] Kurt Warner of the St. Louis
Rams claims Christ, yet he recently advised Tebow that he would
be better off if he removed Jesus from his sleeve … or at least
put a sweatshirt over the top of his arms.
[Warner said:] “But I’d tell him, ‘Put down the boldness in
regards to the words, and keep living the way you’re living. Let
your teammates do the talking for you. Let them cheer on your
testimony.’
Yeah right Kurt. Hide that light under a bushel. That
I’ll-show-them-Christ-by-the-way-I-live approach hasn’t gotten
us very far in spreading the Gospel. America is a vast moral
wasteland because we have hidden the light . . . .
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are
bold as a lion. [Proverbs 28:1] . . . .
Tim Tebow is a mirror. He exposes how shallow most of our
Christianity is. That’s what makes us so uncomfortable … "I am a
Christian, but I am not as fanatical about it as Tebow is."
No kidding. I wonder which one is more like Jesus … you or Tim
Tebow? Would Jesus tell Tim to “tone it down?” Would Jesus tell
you to?
No. He doesn’t have to. You’ve already toned it down yourself.
That’s why Christianity is so under assault in the culture. We
are ashamed of the Gospel. We are ashamed to speak up for what
is right . . . .
Silence isn’t golden … it is yellow. Our Christian-laryngitis
has resulted in no prayer in schools; no Ten Commandments;
sodomite-“marriage;” legalized baby-murder . . . .
In this age of self-centered narcissism Tebow carries a
different message. The answer to America’s problems is not
government. The problems in America are spiritual. Turn to Jesus
and not to politics.
We must return to an America where good is crowned . . . .
. . . Tim Tebow has revealed something about us. For
those who have eyes to see, God has used him to reveal a hunger
for righteousness in the hearts of Americans . . . .
That’s Tim’s message, you know. Believe, not in yourself or your
abilities, but in the One who makes all things possible.
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have
not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
[Romans 10:14]
Source: newswithviews.com
MORE
________________________________
ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
________________________________
Syria troops push back rebels as U.N. fight looms
LINK
Libya says it will investigate torture claims against former
rebels
LINK
___________
IAEA
to wrap up Iran visit ... U.S. eyes more sanctions
LINK
U.S. lawmakers to take up new Iran sanctions
LINK
CIA chief says appears Saudi oil 'ramping up'
LINK
Air raids on Qaeda bases in Yemen kill 15
LINK
The four raids appeared to have been carried out
by US planes, one tribal official told AFP
Latest Congressional Budget Outlook For 2012-2022 Released, Says
Real Unemployment Rate Is 10%
LINK
Homeownership rates fall to 66%
LINK
CBO: Taxes Will 'Shoot Up by More Than 30 Percent' Over
Next 2 Years
LINK
[analysis]: Why Are the Chinese Buying Record Quantities of
Gold?
LINK
[analysis]: How Google knows everything about you
LINK
[12-year old] Home-schooler is repeat Spelling Bee winner
LINK
At the end, winning word was 'precipice'
Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian
mummy
LINK
This indicates the disease was caused by genetics,
not environment
Pro-Life Groups Hail 'A Major Victory for
Life'
LINK
Commending the "brave decision" of the Susan G.
Komen Foundation to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood
[analysis]: Aborting reason
LINK
[analysis]: Was Lou Gehrig's ALS Caused by Drinking
Water?
LINK
A toxic molecule found in pond scum may trigger
neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Parkinson's ... A
group of scientists could hold the key to a cure
HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts LINK
________________________________
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things!
Romans 10:14-15 KJV
________________________________
CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 2, 2012
- no news edition -
CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2012
Israel: Iran's
nuclear arms program is complete … its missiles can reach U.S.
Iran has completed the development of a nuclear weapon and
awaits nothing more than a sign from Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei to start assembling its first nuclear bomb, said
Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi
on Thursday, February 2. Assembling a bomb would take up to a
year, Kochavi estimated. With 100 kilograms of uranium enriched
to 20 percent grade and another 4 tons of uranium enriched to
3.5 percent already in stock, Iran would need another two years
to make four nuclear bombs.
Therefore, by the end of 2012 or early 2013 Iran may have a
single nuclear bomb, but by 2015 the figure would jump to four
or five.
The officer was essentially amplifying the words of his
predecessor, Major General (reserve) Amos Yadlin, who said on
January 26 that as long ago as 2007 or 2008, Iran had already
passed the point of no return in developing nuclear weapons.
Kochavi agreed with him that none of the sanctions imposed thus
far had persuaded Iran to slow down, [let alone] shut down, its
drive for a nuclear weapon.
His comments coincided with the findings published Thursday by
the Enterprise Institute, an American think tank, that Iran
would be able to manufacture a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb as soon
as August of this year, just seven months from now.
Also Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon disclosed that
the big blast at the Iranian missile base near Tehran last
November blew up a new missile system with a range of 10,000
kilometers, capable of targeting the United States.
Commenting on Iran's underground bunkers for nuclear facilities,
the minister stressed that any facility built by man can be
destroyed by man. "Speaking as a former chief of staff, I say
none of Iran's installations are immune to attack," he said.
Major General Kochavi went on to say that if Iran had attained a
nuclear capability, this meant that the US and Israel had failed
to pre-empt this outcome . . . .
The various assessments of Iran's nuclear capabilities have
faced serious credibility problems over the years, DEBKAfile's
intelligence sources note.
Today, thanks to Kochavi and Yadlin, we know that the US
National Intelligence Estimate of 2007 accepted by the Bush
administration was wrong. Its main finding was that Iran had
discontinued its military nuclear program in 2003. For five
years, Western intelligence officials have given out misleading
estimates to save their governments having to pursue direct
action for pre-empting a nuclear Iran.
One school of thought claimed that Iran would not build a bomb
until it had the resources to create an arsenal; another, that
Tehran lacked the technology for weaponizing enriched uranium.
Does the latest evaluation that the manufacture of a bomb awaits
the decision of one man, the Iranian Supreme Ruler, fall into
the same category as the others? Or is it another gambit to fend
off a military strike against Iran for five more years?
How do the US and Israel know for sure that Khamenei has not
given the order and that Iranian teams are not already busy
assembling a bomb in some bunker?
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has maintained more than once
that America has the resources for finding out about a decision
by the Supreme Leader, but no American or Israeli intelligence
officer can endorse this certainty.
It should be remembered, DEBKAfile's military and
intelligence sources note, that when Western intelligence
announced the discovery of the Fordo underground facility near
Qom in mid-2009, construction had begun undiscovered at least
eighteen months earlier.
Source: debka.com
MORE
Note: see these related stories:
Iran Has Material For Four Nuclear Bombs, Says Israeli General LINK
Israel, U.S. Divided Over Timing Of Potential Military Strike Against Iran LINK
Israel sets up elite
command unit to strike behind 'enemy' lines
Israel has set up a specialist commando unit designed to carry
out missions deep inside enemy territory amid growing consensus
in government circles that military strikes must be contemplated
if economic sanctions do not halt Iran's nuclear programme.
The "Depth Corps" has been organised with the aim of
coordinating deep penetration operations in other countries at a
time when the defence ministry acknowledges that the number of
covert Israeli operations abroad has increased significantly in
the last year.
The unit, headed by Major General Shai Avital, a former head of
an elite reconnaissance squad, was ordered by the head of
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to focus on undercover work.
Defence ministry officials in Tel Aviv insisted that it was not
"Iran specific" and is needed to coordinate a range of duties.
The Tehran regime has repeatedly claimed that Israeli, US and
British agents are responsible for the assassination of six
scientists involved in the country's nuclear programme – a
charge refuted by London and Washington. Officials in Tel Aviv
in general refuse to comment on covert action.
"Of course I see about the killings in the media. I see it
happens", said Dan Meridor, the Minister for Intelligence and
Nuclear Affairs. "Are they natural, are they unnatural? There
are many stories coming from there."
"About these deaths of scientists, I don't know what to tell
you. I do not know the effects of that. The fact that they
continue to work on this programme despite sanctions means they
want to get nuclear and are prepared to pay a heavy price," he
said.
Mr Meridor stated that Israel will monitor the effects of the
sanctions, including an oil embargo, imposed on Iran by the
European Union as well as punitive measures taken by the US.
"Pressure is important here, to leave them in a state where they
are on the threshold of getting nuclear weapons would be a
mistake," he said.
While Israeli officials publicly say they are prepared to wait
and see the effectiveness of the sanctions, many hold privately
that they lack the bite to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear
ambitions. The decision by India and China to continue importing
Iranian oil, around 35 per cent of the country's total sales,
will seriously hinder the attempt to choke off the revenue
stream of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime.
"It's definitely a blow," said David Hartwell, senior Middle
East analyst at IHS Jane's, adding that Iran may have discounted
prices to keep the Chinese and Indians on their side.
Israeli officials say that any military action must take
place by the end of summer to prevent Iran moving more of its
nuclear capabilities underground. They also point out
that the Western powers which have imposed them are now fully
aware of the dangers posed by the regime. Yesterday in
Washington, James Clapper, the Director of National
Intelligence, told a Congressional panel that Iran may launch
terrorist attacks in response to a perceived threat. [no
further content, emphasis added]
Source: independent.co.uk
LINK
Former DEA
Chief Says Hezbollah Terrorists Eyeing Southwest Border
(CNS News) -- The Iranian-supported Shi’ite terrorist group
Hezbollah has spread its influence all the way to the U.S.
border with Mexico, a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on
Iran’s influence in the Western Hemisphere heard on Thursday.
Michael Braun, a former chief of operations at the Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA), said Hezbollah had developed
relationships with the powerful Mexican drug cartels to “move
their agenda forward.” He cited a plot, recently uncovered by
the DEA, involving an Iranian operative in Mexico allegedly
planning to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C.
“Hezbollah are absolute masters at forming close relationships
with existing organized crime groups around the world that helps
them facilitate what they need to do to move their agendas
forward,” Braun told CNS News following the hearing. “And if
anyone thinks for a moment that they don’t have their eye on the
southwest border and all of our country, then they couldn’t be
more wrong.”
In his prepared remarks Braun, who also served as interim
director of the Department of Justice’s Drug Intelligence Fusion
Center, said Hezbollah and other terrorist groups understand
that the Mexican cartels are already operating successfully
inside the United States.
“If anyone thinks for one moment that these terrorist
organizations do not understand that the Mexican drug
trafficking cartels now dominate drug trafficking in our country
– reportedly in more than 250 cities – [then] they are very
stupid or very naive,” he said.
“And these groups most assuredly recognize the strategic value
of exploiting that activity, and all that has been built to
support it, for moving their vision forward in this part of the
world.”
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), chairwoman of the
committee, cited Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds
Force and its connections to the Zeta drug cartel in the foiled
assassination attempt on U.S. soil.
She asked Braun whether he believed Iran had “strategic
interests” in Central America and the southwest border.
Braun said Quds Force and Hezbollah work “very, very hard” to
develop relationships with criminal groups that already have in
place systems for illegal activities, including drug and human
trafficking, money laundering and forged document operations.
“And by developing those relations it provides them with the
ability to operate far from home in our neighborhood and – as I
said earlier – on our doorstep,” he replied . . . .
Ros-Lehtinen recalled what Director of National Intelligence
James Clapper said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, focused on
global threats to the U.S.
“[Clapper] stated this week, ‘Iranian officials – probably
including supreme leader Ali Khamenei – have changed their
calculus and are now willing to conduct an attack in the United
States.’”
Ros-Lehtinen said Iran’s alliances in Latin America
provide it with “a platform in the region to carry out attacks
against the United States, our interests, and allies.” [emphasis
added]
Source: cnsnews.com
MORE
[Report]: Is Israel
preparing to attack Iran?
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days,
from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S.
forces in Afghanistan. But his biggest worry is the growing
possibility that Israel will attack Iran over the next few
months.
Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel
will strike Iran in April, May or June - before Iran
enters what Israelis described as a “zone of immunity” to
commence building a nuclear bomb. Very soon, the Israelis fear,
the Iranians will have stored enough enriched uranium in deep
underground facilities to make a weapon - and only the United
States could then stop them militarily.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want to leave
the fate of Israel dependent on American action, which would be
triggered by intelligence that Iran is building a bomb, which it
hasn’t done yet.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak may have signaled the
prospect of an Israeli attack soon when he asked last month to
postpone a planned U.S.-Israel military exercise that would
culminate in a live-fire phase in May. Barak apologized that
Israel couldn’t devote the resources to the annual exercise this
spring.
President Obama and Panetta are said to have cautioned the
Israelis that the United States opposes an attack, believing
that it would derail an increasingly successful international
economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to
stop Iran from crossing the threshold. But the White House
hasn’t yet decided precisely how the United States would respond
if the Israelis do attack.
The Obama administration is conducting intense discussions about
what an Israeli attack would mean for the United States: whether
Iran would target U.S. ships in the region or try to close the
Strait of Hormuz; and what effect the conflict and a likely
spike in oil prices would have on the fragile global economy.
The administration appears to favor staying out of the conflict
unless Iran hits U.S. assets, which would trigger a strong U.S.
response.
This U.S. policy - signaling that Israel is acting on its own -
might open a breach like the one in 1956, when President Dwight
Eisenhower condemned an Israeli-European attack on the Suez
Canal. Complicating matters is the 2012 presidential campaign,
which has Republicans candidates clamoring for stronger U.S.
support of Israel.
Administration officials caution that Tehran shouldn’t
misunderstand: The United States has a 60-year commitment to
Israeli security, and if Israel’s population centers were hit,
the United States could feel obligated to come to Israel’s
defense.
Israelis are said to believe that a military strike could be
limited and contained. They would bomb the uranium-enrichment
facility at Natanz and other targets; an attack on the buried
enrichment facility at Qom would be harder from the air.
Iranians would retaliate, but Israelis doubt that the action
would be an overwhelming barrage, with rockets from Hezbollah
forces in Lebanon. One Israeli estimate is that the Jewish state
might have to absorb 500 casualties.
Israelis point to Syria’s lack of response to an Israeli attack
on a nuclear reactor there in 2007. Iranians might show similar
restraint, because of fear the regime would be endangered by
all-out war. Some Israelis have also likened a strike on Iran to
the 1976 hostage-rescue raid on Entebbe, Uganda, which was
followed by a change of regime in that country.
Israeli leaders are said to accept, and even welcome, the
prospect of going it alone and demonstrating their resolve at a
time when their security is undermined by the Arab Spring.
“You stay to the side, and let us do it,” one Israeli official
is said to have advised the United States. A “short-war”
scenario assumes five days or so of limited Israeli strikes,
followed by a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. The Israelis are said to
recognize that damage to the nuclear program might be modest,
requiring another strike in a few years.
U.S. officials see two possible ways to dissuade the Israelis
from such an attack: Tehran could finally open serious
negotiations for a formula to verifiably guarantee that its
nuclear program will remain a civilian one; or the United States
could step up its covert actions to degrade the program so much
that Israelis would decide that military action wasn’t
necessary.
U.S. officials don’t think that Netanyahu has made a final
decision to attack, and they note that top Israeli intelligence
officials remain skeptical of the project. But senior Americans
doubt that the Israelis are bluffing. They’re worrying about the
guns of spring - and the unintended consequences. [no further
content, emphasis added]
Source: washingtonpost.com LINK
Note: see these related
stories:
US Defence Secretary Says Israel Could Strike Iran In Spring
LINK
Israel Vice PM: Military Strike Can Hit All Of Iran's Nuclear
Facilities
LINK
________________________________
NEWS BRIEFS
________________________________
[Missile
coverage of Israel is complete]
[Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi]
painted a grim picture of 200,000 rockets and missiles of
assorted types pointing at Israel. Wednesday, February 1, Chief
of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz stressed that there is
no longer any point on the Israeli map that is outside the range
of enemy missiles. According to General Kochavi, Iran, Syria,
Hizballah and Hamas are dispersing their missiles and rockets to
sites deep inland and integrated in urban environments to
minimize their vulnerability to IDF attack. He warned "the
enemy" had prepared increasing numbers of its missiles for
"depth strikes against Israeli population centers, their
warheads more lethal than ever." "Every tenth residential house
in Lebanon," he said, "harbors a missile arsenal or launching
position. Their sheer volume has reached a strategic dimension
with which Israel will have to deal." Tuesday, January 31, the
IDF practiced mobilizing an armored division under war
conditions, DEBKAfile's military sources report. The
drill simulated moving the troops to conscription bases, arming
them with equipment and weapons and getting them to battle lines
– all under the heavy missile bombardment of military
facilities, national highways and railway lines.
MORE
U.N.
members mull new draft resolution on Syria
UNITED NATIONS -- UN Security Council members on Friday were
considering a draft resolution condemning the bloody Syria
crackdown that was amended in a bid to overcome Russian-led
opposition. The latest draft does not explicitly call on Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad to step down or mention an arms
embargo or sanctions, though it "fully supports" an Arab League
plan to facilitate a democratic transition. Diplomats said
Thursday that the new draft would be sent back to their
governments for deliberations. It was not immediately clear
whether it would be approved and sent back to the 15-member
council for a vote. "Everyone will seek instructions from their
capitals and we hope to be able to vote as soon as possible,"
Britain's UN ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, said. The latest
attempt at consensus emerged after hours of talks stalled in the
UN Security Council, with Russia leading the opposition to a
tougher draft resolution authored by Western powers and the Arab
League. The new draft "fully supports" the January 22 Arab
League request that Assad transfer power to a deputy and a
government of national unity within two months but does not call
on him to step down, according to a copy obtained by AFP.
Instead, it calls for a "Syrian-led political transition to a
democratic, plural political system ... including through
commencing a serious political dialogue between the Syrian
government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition under
the League of Arab States' auspices, in accordance with the
timetable set out by the League of Arab States." Like previous
versions, the draft "condemns all violence, irrespective of
where it comes from."
MORE
Note: see also U.S., Allies Drop Syria Sanctions
Demand, Seek Deal With Russia At U.N.
LINK
Egypt
marches planned as anger mounts against military
CAIRO -- Egyptian activists called for mass protests in Cairo on
Friday to demand the ouster of the ruling military council,
target of raging anger over the deaths of 74 people in
football-related violence. Demonstrators were to stage marches
from mosques across Cairo after noon prayer towards parliament,
28 pro-democracy groups said in statements on the Internet. They
will demand that the military council, which took power when an
uprising toppled veteran president Hosni Mubarak last year, step
down, the statement said. The activists accuse the military of
mismanagement of the fragile transition, and blame it for the
deadly violence on Wednesday in the northern city of Port Said
following a football match. The tragedy sparked protests in
several cities overnight which deteriorated into violent clashes
with police.
MORE
Arab Upheavals Leave Hamas Looking for
New Home, Sponsors, Strategy
(CNS News) -- Hamas’ Gaza-based leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is due
to visit Iran on Friday, further fueling some of the heaviest
speculation in years about shifts in the terrorist group’s
alliances and strategies resulting from the political upheavals
in the Arab world. The Sunni group, a Palestinian offshoot of
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, has found its loyalties tested as
the violence in Syria worsens. On the one hand, Hamas sees
fellow Sunnis in Syria, including members of the Muslim
Brotherhood, embroiled in deadly conflict with the regime of
President Bashar Assad; On the other hand, the Assad regime and
its closest ally, Shi’ite Iran, have sponsored Hamas for years,
with Damascus hosting the group’s political bureau and its
overall leader, Khaled Meshaal. Angered by Hamas’ failure to
support Assad more actively, Iran has reportedly cut off regular
funding the group has enjoyed for years. Recent weeks have
brought a stepped-up diplomatic drive, with both Haniyeh and
Meshaal paying visits to Arab and neighboring countries.
MORE
Panetta: U.S., NATO will seek to
end Afghan combat mission next year
BRUSSELS -- The United States hopes to end its combat mission in
Afghanistan by the middle of next year, more than a year earlier
than scheduled, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.
His remarks reflected a growing sentiment within the Obama
administration that its approach to Iraq, where the official end
of U.S. combat operations came 16 months before the final U.S.
troop withdrawal in December, may provide a useful model for
winding down operations in Afghanistan. Current NATO strategy,
agreed to at a summit in Lisbon in November 2010, calls for
coalition forces to gradually shift to a training, advisory and
assistance role with the Afghan military on the way to
withdrawing all combat troops by the end of 2014. The alliance
has yet to agree on the pace of that process, however, and
Panetta went further than what some in the administration were
prepared to say publicly about their own deliberations. “Our
goal is to complete all of that transition in 2013,” Panetta
told reporters en route to a meeting of NATO defense ministers
in Brussels. “Hopefully by mid- to the latter part of 2013 we’ll
be able to make a transition from a combat role.”
MORE
Do You Like Online Privacy? ... You May
Be a Terrorist
A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to
promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists
basic tools used for online privacy as potential signs of
terrorist activity. The document, part of a program called
“Communities Against Terrorism”, lists the use of “anonymizers,
portals, or other means to shield IP address” as a sign that a
person could be engaged in or supporting terrorist activity. The
use of encryption is also listed as a suspicious activity along
with steganography, the practice of using “software to hide
encrypted data in digital photos” or other media. In fact, the
flyer recommends that anyone “overly concerned about privacy” or
attempting to “shield the screen from view of others” should be
considered suspicious and potentially engaged in terrorist
activities. Logging into an account associated with a
residential internet service provider (such as Comcast or AOL),
an activity that could simply indicate that you are on a trip,
is also considered a suspicious activity. Viewing any content
related to “military tactics” including manuals or
“revolutionary literature” is also considered a potential
indicator of terrorist activity. This would mean that viewing a
number of websites, including the one you are on right now (PublicIntelligence.net),
could be construed by a hapless employee as an highly suspicious
activity potentially linking you to terrorism. The “Potential
Indicators of Terrorist Activities” contained in the flyer are
not to be construed alone as a sign of terrorist activity and
the document notes that “just because someone’s speech, actions,
beliefs, appearance, or way of life is different; it does not
mean that he or she is suspicious.” However, many of the
activities described in the document are basic practices of any
individual concerned with security or privacy online. The use of
PGP, VPNs, Tor or any of the many other technologies for
anonymity and privacy online are directly targeted by the flyer,
which is distributed to businesses in an effort to promote the
reporting of these activities. [no further content]
LINK
Note: see also Internet Cafe Flyer: 'Potential
Indicators of Terrorist Activities'
LINK
[pdf format]
Whistleblowers Expose FDA's
Illegal Surveillance of Employees
As reported in today's Washington Post, six current and former
employees of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have filed a
complaint against the FDA in U.S. District Court. The employees
are seeking an injunction to stop the agency from illegally
spying on employees' private communications to Congress and
other oversight agencies. Linked here are key documents related
to this lawsuit and the FDA's spying program. The complaint
details how the FDA targeted its employees with a covert spying
campaign that lasted for two years. The FDA began the program
after learning that the employees wrote a letter to
President-Elect Obama and his transition team in early 2009
detailing government misconduct in approving unsafe medical
devices. The Agency installed (or activated) spyware on their
workplace computers and used other technology that to monitor
their password-protected Gmail-to-Gmail communications. In
addition to reading the whistleblowers' emails, the FDA took
contemporaneous screen shots of the employees’ computer screens.
Managers used the collected information to learn the identities
of confidential whistleblowers and to obtain the details of the
public health and safety concerns the whistleblowers intended to
disclose to the Office of Special Counsel, Congress and the
Agency's own Inspector General. The FDA also intercepted email
communications to and from staff members of the House Committee
on Energy and Commerce and the Ranking Member of the Senate
Finance Committee.
MORE
Note: see also FDA Staffers Sue Agency Over
Surveillance Of Personal E-Mail
LINK
Concerns grow over volcanic eruptions
Scientists have known for decades that hidden under those
impressive vistas at sites such as Death Valley and Yellowstone
National Park are magma pools that under the right conditions
can trigger explosive eruptions. Now, new research is changing
scientists' understanding of the timing of those eruptions, and
prompting them to call for greater monitoring of sites to help
save lives when the next big volcano explodes. Two recent papers
highlight the shift. One looked at a Death Valley volcano
thought to be 10,000 years old and found it last erupted just
800 years ago, and is still an eruption danger. The other found
that large caldera volcanoes, such as the one under Crater Lake
in Oregon, can recharge in a matter of decades, rather than the
thousands of years previously thought. "The understanding of the
timing of eruptions and the timing of the building up to
eruptions is changing," says Margaret Mangan, the scientist in
charge of volcano monitoring in California for the U.S.
Geological Survey. "These two papers are very nice examples of
good scientific work." One thing that's coming to light is that
eruptions are often clustered, with "long stretches of
inactivity punctuated by periods of activity that can go on for
years," Mangan says . . . [Scientists] are calling for
greater monitoring, including satellite surveillance, to detect
ground swelling. There are several large and still active
calderas in the United States, including the one under
Yellowstone National Park. All are closely monitored. What
worries the researchers are other unmonitored calderas around
the world with the potential to send huge clouds of ash into the
atmosphere, causing massive ecological and climate damage.
MORE
Farm State Outrage Intensifies Over
Labor Department Proposal to Ban Children From Doing Some Chores
on Farms
(CNS News) -- Farmers and congressmen from farm states continue
to slam proposed U.S. Department of Labor farm regulations,
which would bar farm children under 16 from operating tractors
and other machinery and working with livestock. “This is what
happens when big city bureaucrats try to craft policies for
rural America,” Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Montana) said of the
proposals. Rehberg, who has become of the proposal’s most ardent
opponents, criticized the Labor Department for drafting
regulations that he says are unnecessary. “(The) most effective
way to become a safe and effective operator of farm implements
is to learn at a young age under the guidance of a knowledgeable
and careful instructor,” he said.
MORE
Sandia Labs' bullet doesn't miss
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) -- Engineers at Sandia National Laboratories
have invented a bullet that guides itself to the target. Sandia
has wide expertise at miniature technology, and the bullet works
like a tiny guided missile. The patented design doesn't shoot
straight. Instead of a spiral rotation, the bullet twists and
turns to guide itself towards a laser directed point. It can
make up to thirty corrections per second while in the air. Jim
Jones, distinguished member of technical staff, and his team of
engineers at Sandia Labs think the .50-caliber bullets would
work well with military machine guns so soldiers could hit their
mark faster and with precision. "We've tested gunpowders to see
if we can get muzzle velocity for military interest," Jones
said. "We've tested various electronic components to see if they
would survive the launch." The team needs a sponsor to take the
prototype and manufacture it on a commercial scale. Research and
development grants have taken the project this far. Jones says
it's about halfway through being fully developed for commercial
use. [no further content]
LINK
________________________________
MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY
________________________________
Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.
Commentary:
Currency Warfare: What are the
Real Targets of the EU Oil Embargo against Iran? (Mahdi
Darius Nazemroaya)
. . . . Tehran has . . . warned the leaders of the
EU countries that the new sanctions are foolish and against
their national and bloc interests. But is this correct? At the
end of the day, who will benefit from the chain of events that
are being set into motion? . . . .
Iran can replace oil sales to the European Union via new buyers
or by increasing sales to existing customers like China and
India . . . Thus, the oil embargo against Iran will have
minimal direct effects on Iran . . . .
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both the
U.S. dollar and the euro together constitute 84.4% of the
world’s currency exchange reserves (end of 2011 date). The U.S.
dollar alone, was the largest share of the world’s currency
exchange reserves in 2011, namely 61.7%.
Energy sales are an important part of this equation, because the
American dollar is tied to the oil trade.
Thus, oil trade, through what is called the petro-dollar, is
helping sustain the American dollar’s international standing.
Countries around the world have been virtually forced to use the
U.S. dollar to maintain their energy and trade needs and
transactions . . . .
Instead of military confrontation, Tehran is fighting back
economically in several ways. The first step, which started
before 2012, was Iranian international oil sales and trade were
diversified in regards to their currency transactions . . . .
. . . Iran has [now] broadened its move away from the use
of the U.S. dollar and the euro as policy in bilateral trade
relations. Iran and India are talking about gold payments for
Iranian oil. Iranian and Russian trade is conducted in Iranian
rials and Russian roubles, while Iranian trade with China and
other Asian countries is conducted using the Chinese renminbi,
Iranian rial, Japanese yen, and other non-dollar and non-euro
currencies . . . .
The end of Iranian oil exports to the European Union and the
decline of the euro will directly benefit the United States and
the U.S. dollar. What the European Union is doing is merely
weakening itself and giving the U.S. dollar the upper hand in
its currency rivalry against the euro. Moreover, should the euro
collapse, the American dollar will quickly fill much of the void
. . . .
[But] the rise in everyday prices, ranging from food to
transportation, will not be limited to the European Union, but
will have global ramifications. As prices rise on a global
scale, the economies in Latin American, Caribbean, African,
Middle Eastern, Asian, and Pacific countries will face new
hardship, which the financial sector in the U.S. and several of
its partners – including members of the European Union – could
capitalize on by taking over certain sectors and markets. The
IMF and World Bank, as the Bretton Woods proxies of Wall Street,
could get into the mix and impose more privatization programs
benefiting the financial sectors of the U.S. and its main
partners . . . .
Much of the power of the U.S. is psychological and tied to fear.
Like the geography of the Persian Gulf, time is on Iran’s side
and working against the United States.
If Iran continues on its present course and is undeterred by
sanctions, this will help break a critical psychological
threshold, which around the world tends to discourage countries
from confronting and opposing the United States.
Should many countries continue to refuse to bow down to the
Obama Administration pertaining to the imposition of sanctions
against Iran, this will also be a blow to the prestige and power
of the U.S., which would also have economic and financial
implications.
Source: strategic-culture.org
MORE
________________________________
ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
________________________________
'Some progress' in U.N. talks on Syria resolution
LINK
U.S., allies exploring prospects for Assad exile
LINK
Egypt's army, police blamed for deadly soccer riot
LINK
In Clashes With Police, Egyptians Unleash Fury Over Soccer Riot
Deaths
LINK
___________
Cite Obama with contempt, lawyers urge
LINK
Refusal to follow subpoena 'no less than
declaration of total dictatorial authority' ... "Failure to
respond to the defendant’s contumacious conduct would amount to
an admission that this court and the judicial branch as a whole
do not have the authority granted to them under articles III and
IV of the Constitution”
___________
[analysis]: Fukushima - What Really Happened
LINK
As a hypothesis, Stuxnet explains why the
generators failed ... It explains how the valves in the passive
cooling systems got shut off
[analysis]: Why a Likely Natural Event
Could Cause Nuclear Reactors to Melt Down and Our Grid to Crash
LINK
___________
[analysis]: Obama's Drift Toward War With Iran
LINK
[analysis]: U.S. encouraged to up the military ante against Iran
LINK
[analysis]: Middle East war on horizon?
LINK
A proxy war between Sunni and Shia Muslims, which
could dramatically further destabilize the Middle East, may be
about to erupt ... It would pit Iran, Syria’s regime and
Hezbollah on one side and Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, other
Arab states and Syrian rebel forces on the other
Terror leader with $5 million U.S. bounty
on his head reported slain in Philippines
LINK
Kuwait vote hands Islamist-led opposition more seats
LINK
Royal Navy sends HMS Dauntless to Falkland Islands
in warning to Argentina
LINK
Holder: No cover-up in 'Fast and Furious' ... no effort
to hide details of the operation
LINK
Holder Admits There's 'Public Safety and National Security
Crisis Along Our Southwest Border'
LINK
[analysis]: Is Obama Deceiving Us About Drone Strikes?
LINK
[analysis]: What was motivation for Fast and Furious?
LINK
How U.S. was made liable for Mexican drug-war
violence
Paul: Immigration not solved by barbed
wire, guns
LINK
U.S. No-Fly list doubles in 1 year
LINK
Jumped from about 10,000 known or suspected
terrorists one year ago to about 21,000 ... About 500 are
Americans
FBI Uses Chainsaw In Raid On Wrong
apartment (Massachusetts)
LINK
U.N. panel says retool world economy for
sustainability
LINK
U.S. airline giant American to cut 13,000 jobs
LINK
Banking giant accused of laundering billions
LINK
Ex-employee in New York has 1,000 pages of
customer account records
[analysis]: The Top Ten U.S. Corporate Tax
Avoiders
LINK
Home-schooling: Why Urban, Educated Parents Are Turning to
DIY Education
LINK
They raise chickens ... They grow vegetables ...
They knit ... Now a new generation of urban parents is even
teaching their own kids
Australia kills 24,000 ducks in bid to stop
bird flu outbreak
LINK
[analysis]: Diet Drinks: America's Passion for Poison
LINK
Aspartame does indeed convert to formaldehyde in
the bodies of aspartame consumers, and many of the symptoms
reported by victims of aspartame toxicity are indeed those
associated with the poisonous and cumulative effects of
formaldehyde
[analysis]: Male birth control: stopping
sperm with ultrasound?
LINK
Among the 78 research projects to receive $100,000
grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this
week is an effort by researchers at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, to develop a non-invasive, reversible
form of birth control for men - using ultrasound
HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts LINK
________________________________
"We are fast approaching the stage in the ultimate inversion: the stage where
the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act
only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest period of human history;
the stage of rule by brute force."
Ayn Rand, Russian-American novelist, philosopher
________________________________
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Worldwatch was edited this week by Editor Robert Ellis with help from Claire
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