Iranian woman's sentence commuted from stoning to hanging

Allah is most merciful, isn't he?

(The Guardian) The Iranian woman whose sentence of death by stoning was commuted to hanging after an international campaign, today sent a message from inside Tabriz prison calling for further support so that she might be reunited with her children.

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Saudi Arabia and Syria Try to Avert Lebanese Civil War

Will they be successful?

(TIME) Every summer, Lebanon welcomes Arabs from all over the Middle East to its seashore and mountain resorts as they seek relief from the overbearing heat in their desert home countries. But this year, the local economy got a boost from the arrival of two unlikely Arab visitors: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who arrived together on Friday. Until recently, the two heads of state were the leading figures in a regional rivalry played out in Lebanon — that between groups allied to Iran on the one hand and those backed by the U.S. on the other. The purpose of Assad and Abdullah's day trip was to meet with Lebanese leaders and discuss the implications of the potentially explosive upcoming report on the investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But while that report, due in September, is expected to dramatically raise the political temperature in Lebanon, the joint mission of the two regional heavyweights, whose allies have previously turned Beirut into a battlefield, was taken by many Lebanese as a sign that there will be no new Lebanese civil war. At least for now.

Rumors have spread recently that the U.N. investigation into the car-bomb murder of former Saudi ally Hariri will result in indictments for members of Hizballah, the anti-Israel militia and Lebanon's largest Shi'ite Muslim political party, which is backed by Iran and Syria. Hizballah has dismissed the suggestion that its members could be charged as yet another plot against the organization. But bringing to book Hariri's killer, who like all of Lebanon's prime ministers are Sunni Muslim by law, has been a cause célèbre for Lebanon's Sunni Muslims.

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Photo of the day

Supporters of Shabab-e-Milli, a youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, shout slogans and burn an effigy of British Prime Minister David Cameron during a protest in Karachi July 31, 2010. Pakistan's spy chief has called off a trip to Britain in protest at Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks on its militant ties, as Islamabad is hit by a barrage of criticism of its alleged links to terror groups. (Reuters Photos)

Good news: Only 30 million Pakistanis like Al Qaeda and only 60% view America as the enemy

Good news: Only 30 million Pakistanis like Al Qaeda and only 60% view America as the enemy.

News Flash: Source of Iranian nuclear material found

(Tehran) In a dramatic breakthrough that could help explain the positive readings that have placed the West and Iran at loggerheads over its so called nuclear weapons program, Mohammad Reza Madani, the head of the Iranian Society for Fighting Smoking, has claimed that the West have been contaminating contraband Marlboros with pig hemoglobin and unspecified nuclear material.

So what he's saying is that the reason why Iran couldn't explain the positive counts of nuclear material is because somebody was having a crafty smoke when he shouldn't been.

I wonder if that is why cigarettes now carry a health warning?

Obama looking for ways for bypass Congress in granting amnesty to illegals

So what if it's unconstitutional? When has it ever stopped him?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration, unable to push an immigration overhaul through Congress, is considering ways it could go around lawmakers to let undocumented immigrants stay in the United States, according to an agency memo.

The internal draft written by officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services outlines ways the government could provide "relief" to illegal immigrants—including delaying deportation for some, perhaps indefinitely, or granting green cards to others—in the absence of legislation revamping the system.

It's emerging as chances fade in this election year for a measure President Barack Obama favors to put the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants on a path to legal status, and as debate rages over an Arizona law targeting people suspected of being in the country illegally.

The 11-page internal memo, written in April to the agency's director, says: "This memorandum offers administrative relief options to promote family unity, foster economic growth, achieve significant process improvements and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization."

It goes on: "In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals or groups."

The memo drew a backlash by Republicans who called it evidence that Obama is looking for ways of relaxing immigration policies without political consensus to enact a new law.

"The document provides an additional basis for our concerns that the administration will go to great lengths to circumvent Congress and unilaterally execute a backdoor amnesty plan," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who obtained and circulated the memo. "The problem remains that if you reward illegality, you get more of it."

Grassley led a group of conservative GOP senators who wrote to Obama in June asking him to promise that the administration wouldn't use its authority to "change the current position of a large group of illegal aliens already in the United States."

The Iowan's staff said the group has not received a response.

"Now we find out the truth: While saying one thing to the public, the Obama administration is scheming to ensure that immigration laws are not enforced," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

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Terry the Taliban (part deux)

(Ireland) Last Nov I aired the tale of Irishman Terry Kelly who found 'Allah' while locked up inside a Saudi prison. Changing his name to Khalid and professing that he wanted to die fighting either the British or Americans in Afghanistan, Khalid left his wife and son behind in which to live out his dream.

Well, -- surprise, surprise -- Khalid has returned from his adventures in which to follow a new dream, that of seeing “the black flag of Islam over Dáil Éireann." (Dáil Éireann is the Irish Parliament.)

When asked about wanting to die for 'Allah', Khalid, who now goes by the name of Abu Osama, told a tale of how he felt he was being followed by the security services and how having white skin he stuck out like a sore thumb and, fearing for his safety, he returned to Ireland. (I thought the last thing he was bothered about was his safety.) However, when asked about the real reason why he returned, Terry, Khalid Abu muttered something about his passport being “lost or stolen” in eastern Europe and mentioned being deported somewhere along the way.

Yup, another wannabe zero who thinks that subscribing to Allah allows him to lie with impunity. It seems Abu changes his story (and his dreams) as often as he changes his name.

Pedophilia Epidemic in Muslim Pakistan.........and Britain

TheOPINIONATOR: Pedophilia Epidemic in Muslim Pakistan.........and Britain.

British troops launch Operation Tor Shezada in Afghanistan

In this image made available by the Ministry of Defence in London, Friday July 30, 2010, A British soldier of the 1st Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, keeps watch with a General Purpose Machine Gun, from a newly-occupied compound in Sayedebad, Afghanistan. British and Afghan troops launched a new offensive in the Sayedebad area of Helmand to try to deny insurgents a base from which to launch attacks in Nad Ali and Marjah, accordinmg to an announcement by the British military. Coalition and Afghan troops have been seeking to solidify control of Marjah after overrunning the poppy-farming community five months ago. (AP Photo)

(BBC) Hundreds of British soldiers have launched an operation against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Operation Tor Shezada began early on Friday morning in Helmand province in the south of the country.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment are trying to clear the Taliban from an important stronghold in the Nad Ali district.

The Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) was among the first wave of troops.

Under cover of darkness, this small elite unit launched an airborne assault deep into insurgent-held territory.

Operation Tor Shezada, which means black prince, is a mission to seize a Taliban-controlled town in central Helmand and try to restore government rule.

Hundreds of British and Afghan forces are moving by land and air towards the town of Saidabad.

It is one of the areas that UK forces were unable to clear during Operation Moshtarak earlier this year.

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Video: All you need to know about the anti-Israel "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions" movement

Al-Qaeda plants flag, burns bodies in Iraq attack

Meanwhile, Obama is hellbent on leaving Iraq by the end of 2011 no matter what.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants flew an al-Qaida flag over a Baghdad neighborhood Thursday after killing 16 security officials and burning some of their bodies in a brazen afternoon attack that served as a grim reminder of continued insurgent strength in Iraq's capital.

It was the bloodiest attack in a day that included the deaths of 23 Iraqi soldiers, policemen and other security forces across the country who were targeted by shootings and roadside bombs.

The mayhem serves as a stark warning that insurgents are trying to make a comeback three months after their two top leaders were killed in an airstrike on their safehouse, and as the U.S. military presence decreases day by day.

The complex attack began when militants struck a checkpoint in the largely Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah, once a stronghold of insurgents that in recent years has become more peaceful. Then the militants set it on fire, burning several of the soldiers' bodies, according to an army officer who was on patrol in the neighborhood. Minutes later, attackers detonated three roadside bombs nearby.

Hospital, police and military officials all confirmed the death toll.

A large pool of blood and what appeared to be char marks could be seen on the ground near an Iraqi army truck. Authorities immediately sealed off the area. Police and army officials said between 16 and 20 assailants took part in the highly orchestrated attack; all appeared to have escaped.

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Persian comedy hour: Iranian official says cigarettes smuggled into Iran have been tainted with pig blood and nuclear material

And, of course, Zionists are behind this Western conspiracy against Iran.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian official says cigarettes smuggled into Iran have been tainted with pig blood and nuclear material as part of a Western conspiracy.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad Reza Madani from the Society for Fighting Smoking as saying contraband Marlboros have been contaminated with pig hemoglobin and unspecified nuclear material.

Madani claims Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro outside the U.S., is "led by Zionists" and deliberately exports tainted cigarettes.

He provided no evidence or information about the confiscated cigarettes. Friday's report also gave no details on how the contamination was discovered.

Tehran, which often alleges Western conspiracies, says 20 billion cigarettes are smuggled into Iran every year.

New Latma video: "Crime and Punishment?"

An Arab-Israeli MK serenades the Supreme Court; and the media hail tragic events -- even before they unfold.

Egyptian Journalist Describes 'Absolute Prosperity' in Gaza

I'll bet you'd never expected to hear anything like that.

(INN) With Hamas telling tales of deprivation and suffering in Gaza, Egyptian journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl has added his report to others who were surprised to discover a “prosperous” Gaza in which prices are low and luxury businesses are booming. Al-Houl's story of his trip to Gaza and his realization that “in actual terms, Gaza is not under siege” was written up in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

"A sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the site of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me,” he reported.

Concerned that his initial impression of prosperity may have been misleading, “I toured the new resorts, most of which are quite grand, as well as the commercial markets, to verify my hypothesis. The resorts and markets have come to symbolize prosperity, and to prove that the siege is formal or political, not economic,” Al-Houl said.

Gaza's markets are filled with a “plethora of goods,” he wrote. Prices on many items, particularly food, are much lower than they are in Egypt, he said. With goods entering Gaza from both smuggling tunnels to Egypt and humanitarian aid shipments coming in via Israeli crossings, “supply is much greater than demand,” he stated.

The evident prosperity is not enjoyed by all, or even most, of Gaza's residents, according to Al-Houl. The problem is the vast differences in the distribution of wealth. The luxury resorts and wide range of consumer goods are enjoyed by “only a few groups,” he said, primarily those who own smuggling tunnels to Egypt and those who work for international organizations such as the United Nations' UNRWA and who do not include or aid the rest of the population.

Most of the new resorts “are owned by members, or associates, of Hamas,” he reported. “In addition, the Hamas municipalities charge high fees, in Gaza terms, for the use of public beaches,” he added.

Al-Houl quoted political activist Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that while Gaza's rich invest in the leisure industry, 80% of residents rely on UNRWA, and unemployment is approximately 45%. “This creates a distorted picture,” Ibrahim explained.

The Flotilla Farce

An excellent WSJ op-ed by Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs Danny Ayalon:

Whether they are from Turkey, Ireland or Cyprus, those that participate reek of hypocrisy.

A couple of years ago, a Palestinian refugee camp was encircled and laid siege to by an army of tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers. Attacks initiated by Palestinian militants triggered an overwhelming response from the army that took the life of almost 500 people, including many civilians. International organizations struggled to send aid to the refugee camps, where the inhabitants were left without basic amenities like electricity and running water. During the conflict, six U.N. personnel were killed when their car was bombed.

Government ministers and spokesmen tried to explain to the international community that the Palestinian militants were backed by Syria and global jihadist elements. Al Qaeda condemned the government and the army, declaring that the attack was part of a "crusade" against their Palestinian brothers.

While most will assume that the events described above took place in the West Bank or Gaza, they actually took place in Lebanon in the summer of 2007, when Palestinian terrorists attacked the Lebanese Army, which struck back with deadly force. The scene of most of the fighting was the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Northern Lebanon, which was home to the Islamist Fatah al-Islam, a group that has links with al Qaeda.

At the time, there was little international outcry. No world leader decried the "prison camps" in Lebanon. No demonstrations took place around the world; no U.N. investigation panels were created and little media attention was attracted. In fact, the plight of the Palestinians in Lebanon garners very little attention internationally.

Today, there are more than 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who are deprived of their most basic rights. The Lebanese government has a list of tens of professions that a Palestinian is forbidden from being engaged in, including professions such as medicine, law and engineering. Palestinians are forbidden from owning property and need a special permit to leave their towns. Unlike all other foreign nationals in Lebanon, they are denied access to the health-care system. According to Amnesty international, the Palestinians in Lebanon suffer from "discrimination and marginalization" and are treated like "second class citizens" and "denied their full range of human rights."

Amnesty also states that most Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have little choice but to live in overcrowded and deteriorating camps and informal gatherings that lack basic infrastructure.

In view of the worsening plight of the Palestinians in Lebanon, it is the height of irony that a Lebanese flotilla is organizing to leave the port of Tripoli in the next few days to bring aid to Palestinians in Gaza. According to one of the organizers, the participants are "united by a feeling of stark injustice."

This attitude exposes the dishonesty of the whole flotilla exercise. Whether it is from Turkey, Ireland or Cyprus, those that participate in these flotillas reek of hypocrisy. There are currently 100 armed conflicts and dozens of territorial disputes around the world. There have been millions of people killed and hundreds of millions live in abject poverty without access to basic staples. And yet hundreds of high-minded "humanitarian activists" are spending millions of dollars to reach Gaza and hand money to Hamas that will never reach the innocent civilians of Gaza.

This is the same Gaza that just opened a sparkling new shopping mall that would not look out of place in any capital in Europe. Gaza, where a new Olympic-sized swimming pool was recently inaugurated and five-star hotels and restaurants offer luxurious fare.

Markets brimming with all manner of foods dot the landscape of Gaza, where Lauren Booth, journalist and "human rights activist," was pictured buying chocolate and luxurious items from a well-stocked supermarket before stating with a straight face that the "situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis on the scale of Darfur."

No one claims that the situation in Gaza is perfect. Since the bloody coup and occupation by Hamas of Gaza in 2007, in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed, Israel has had no choice but to ensure that Hamas is not able to build up an Iranian port on the shores of the Mediterranean. Until Hamas meets the three standards laid out by the international community, namely renouncing violence, recognizing Israel's right to exist and abiding by previously signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Hamas will continue to be shunned by the international community.

While Israel's policy is to continue to see that all civilian needs are addressed, it can not allow Hamas to rearm and use Gaza as a base to attack Israel and beyond. For this reason, Israel initiated a blockade, fully legal under international law, to ensure that no items can be appropriated by Hamas to attack innocent civilians. Organizations that wish to join the U.N. and the Red Cross to deliver goods or aid to Gaza are welcome to do so through the Kerem Shalom crossing or even through Egyptian ports. Those that refuse and seek to break the legal blockade to boost Hamas are interested in provocation. If Israel allows these confrontational flotillas to successfully open up a shipping lane for arms smuggling for an Iranian proxy, then the region will suffer from continuous conflict. Actions that embolden the extremists will be at the cost of the moderates and this will pose a grave danger to moving the peace process forward.

The latest flotilla preparing to leave from Lebanon fully exposes not only the hypocrisy but the danger of these provocative vigilante flotillas. The Lebanese flotilla, whose organizers claim injustice while ignoring the dire human rights situation of the Palestinians in Lebanon, amply demonstrate that these flotillas have nothing to do with humanitarian concerns and everything to do with delegitimizing Israel.

Video: Soldier reunites with Afghan dog who saved his life

What an incredible story.

Panel hits Rangel (D-irty Rotten Scoundrel) with 13 ethics charges

(AP) House investigators accused veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel of 13 violations of congressional ethics standards on Thursday, throwing a cloud over his four-decade political career and raising worries for fellow Democrats about the fall elections.

The allegations include failure to report rental income from vacation property in the Dominican Republic and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income and assets on his financial disclosure statements.

Other charges focused on Rangel's use of congressional staff and stationery to raise money for a college center in New York named after him; accepting favors and benefits from the donors that may have influenced his congressional actions; use of a subsidized New York apartment as a campaign office instead of a residence; and misuse of the congressional free mail privilege.

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Top Mexican Drug Lord Killed in Clash With Army

Good. Now, if we could secure our southern border, that would be even better. Too bad Obama is doing everything he can for it not to happen.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- One of the top three leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel," was killed Thursday in a gunbattle with soldiers, the Mexican army announced.

The death of Coronel, 56, is the biggest strike yet against Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman -- Mexico's top drug lord -- since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug traffickers in late 2006.

According to the FBI, which offered a $5 million reward for Coronel, he was believed to be "the forerunner in producing massive amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Mexico, then smuggling it into the U.S."

Gen. Edgar Ruiz Villegas said an army raid was closing in one of Coronel's safehouses in an upscale suburb of the western city of Guadalajara, when the drug lord opened fire on soldiers.

"Nacho Coronel tried to escape, and fired on military personnel, killing one soldier and wounding another," Ruiz Villegas said at a news conference in Mexico City. "Responding to the attack, this 'capo' died."

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Muslims in Indonesia attack mosque

Indonesians, it seems, don't have enough on their hands with trying to prevent Christians from following their faith, and burning churches down. So they have started attacking Ahmadiya Muslims in which to fill in the spare time.

Around 200 innocent Sunni Muslims just happened to find themselves outside an Ahmadiya mosque and, according to witnesses, the mosque offended their honour, so the peaceful Sunni Muslims threw stones at it and then were forced to defend themselves as the evil police tried to prevent them from regaining their honour.

How Muslims use 'Islamophobia' to get their way

(UK) I've a younger sister (coloured and a Muslim), and boy is she a pain. So much so I haven't bothered speaking to her since 2001 (and we all know what happened in 2001). Anyway, before we fell out, she rang in which to inform me that she was in trouble at work (she works for the Inland Revenue), that a customer had complained that she had been rude to her and that she had to attend a disciplinary hearing. When asked to explain herself, she claimed that the customer was racist and that ladies and gentlemen was that. The hearing closed and everybody went away happy... Not. I went ballistic. I informed her that she was a rude person and all she had accomplished by using the race card as a get out of jail card was make people who had no problem with people of a different colour and faith into racists.

Which brings me to this story. Last week, the media went into overdrive over how 2 young Muslim girls were kicked off a bus for wearing the hijab. Even the so called Muslim Council of Britain got in on the act by claiming that:

"Such incidents are sadly becoming more common, they have been fuelled against the climate of increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric and hostility, in particular on the part of sensationalised stories by the media, demonising Muslims in the eyes of the wider public."

The bus company Metroline launched an investigation into this so called rising trend of hate crimes against Muslims, and the first thing they did was check the on-board video on the bus which showed that rather than the young Muslim girls getting abused by the bus driver, it seems that it was actually the young girls who were throwing the abuse not only at the bus driver but also at the rest of the passengers.

Funny enough, that part of the story hasn't been as widely disseminated by the liberal media as the initial story was.

As SB1070 takes effect, Mexicans say 'Adios, Arizona'

I'm sure that broke California, who was boycotting Arizona because of SB1070, would absolutely love to host scores of illegal Mexicans.

(CSM) Arizona immigration law targeting immigrants has already encouraged Mexicans to begin returning home, even as a US judge halted key portions of SB1070 from taking effect. The Mexico government is boosting legal services in Arizona, and shelters in Sonora state are preparing for an influx.

Abbas Rejects Direct Talks With Israel, Seeks Total Halt to Building, Withdrawal to 1967 Lines

As was expected, as soon as Israel showed willingness to start direct negotiations, Abbas immediately pulled the break and set preconditions he knows Israel will not accept -- complete building freeze and return to the 1967 pre-war borders.

He refuses to engage in direct talks with Israel, despite pressure from both the United States and the European Union.

Participating at an Arab League summit in Cairo, Abbas said Thursday he wants Israel to completely halt all building of homes in the West Bank and to agree, before negotiations begin, to a pullback to the 1967 armistice lines.

"When I receive written assurances (about) accepting the 1967 border and halting the settlement (building), I will go immediately to the direct talks," Abbas was quoted as saying in remarks reported by Egypt's state-owned news agency Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

This deals a blow to the Obama administration, which has been trying for months to cajole Abbas back to the negotiating table.

Of course, Israel has already offered the 1967 lines, with modifications, the basis of a peace agreement that pundits insist on telling us "everyone agrees to."

Nevertheless, expect the blame for collapsing talks be put solely on Israel, and expect the Obama administration to intensify pressure on Israel to make unilateral concessions.

Saudi medical news: A clinic that treats people possessed by demons

MAKKAH: A clinic in the Eastern Province that provides treatment to people possessed by jinns has volunteered to help Turki, a 29-year-old Saudi from Makkah who according to his father is possessed by a female jinn and has, as a result, been chained to a bed for more than six years.

Looks like dude is in some serious trouble:

[His father says] that all of the sheikhs who have seen Turki are unanimous that he is possessed by a female jinn who refuses to leave him. “She’s supposedly very powerful and said she is of royal stock and will not leave Turki until he dies,” he said.

Muhammad Al-Suhaili, professor of Shariah at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, confirmed that Turki has been possessed by a female jinn who talked to him and refused to leave him.

In modern civilizations, this is known as schizophrenia, but we're talking about a 7th century desert culture(?) which lives according to the Koran.

Video: Obama's 186K Presidential Sandwich

NYC Community Board 1 sides with the advancement of Islam initiative, recommends no landmark status for Ground Zero mosque

NEW YORK (CBS) ― A community board is recommending no landmark designation for a building that would be used for a mosque near the former World Trade Center site.

Community Board 1 voted 24-11 Tuesday to recommend that the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission deny historic designation to the building. The designation would complicate the mosque's construction.

Opponents of the mosque favored the designation.

The mosque is a project of the nonprofit Cordoba Initiative, which says it promotes cross-cultural understanding between Islam and the West. Cordoba purchased the property for $4 million. It plans to build a $100 million Islamic center.

The board voted overwhelmingly last spring to back the project even as it drew emotional opposition from some local residents and relatives of 9/11 victims.

Emotions ran high earlier this month at a meeting of the Landmarks Commission. The vote, however, won't be held until later this summer.

"It's called Islama-phobia pure and simple and do not allow … Now, you see, if this is the voice, if this is the voice of reason then we've got a lot to contend with," said Zead Ramadan of the Council on Islamic-American Relations New York.

"It would be a travesty to permit this building to be removed. It would be like removing the sunken ships from Pearl Harbor to erect a memorial for the Japanese kamikazes killed in the attack," said Sam Nunberg of the Center for Law and Justice.

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Related: Photo report from the protest against the Ground Zero mosque in NYC

German Nazi death camp guard charged over 430,000 deaths

A woman about to be executed in Belzec concentration camp. (1941-1942)

(Germany) A FORMER Nazi death camp guard has been charged with participating in the murder of almost half-a-million Jews and other crimes during the Third Reich.

Samuel Kunz, 90, was informed last week of the charges against him including involvement in the extermination of 430,000 Jews at the Belzec death camp in occupied Poland.

Kunz admits to being based there between 1942-1943 but denies “personal responsibility”.

He is also charged with shooting 10 so-called “work Jews” who the Nazis kept alive to assist in the process of killing new arrivals.

Kunz, Number 3 on the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s list of most-wanted Nazi suspects, lives near the German city of Bonn and yesterday refused to comment on the allegations.

The case has been sent to the state court in the city where officials were checking whether and when to hold a trial – a standard procedural step.

Efraim Zuroff, top Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, said Kunz participated in “Operation Reinhard” to eliminate Polish Jews.

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Illegal immigration photos of the day

Deportees cross the tarmac after arriving on an immigration flight from the United States in Guatemala City July 28, 2010. A judge on Wednesday blocked key parts of Arizona's tough new immigration law hours before it was to take effect, handing a victory to the Obama administration as it tries to take control over the issue. (Reuters Pictures)

Obama doesn't realize it of course but this is a Pyrrhic victory for him and the Democrats.

And here is what the judge's decision stimulates:

Honduran migrants play cards at a shelter in Lecheria, Tultitlan, state of Mexico on their way to the border with the United States July 28, 2010. A U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked key parts of Arizona's tough new immigration law hours before it was to take effect, handing a victory to the Obama administration as it tries to take control of the issue. (Reuters Pictures)

From the Islamic paradise of Gaza: Hamas bans lingerie displays in clothes shops

GAZA (Reuters) - The Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip have ordered lingerie shops to display more modesty.

A week after banning women from smoking water pipes in public places, the Hamas-run police force has told stores selling women's underwear to remove scantily-clad mannequins and any posters of racy undergarments.

"These measures have stemmed from complaints and pressure by ordinary people. They have to do with upholding our traditions," police spokesman Ayman Al-Batniji said on Wednesday.

Hamas leaders have repeatedly denied any intention to impose Islamic law on the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

But Hamas police have broken up a hip-hop concert in the territory and tried -- unsuccessfully -- to force women lawyers in court and female school students to wear traditional Muslim clothing, a step that drew a public backlash.

Hamas's modesty moves were widely seen by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as attempts to mollify more conservative Islamic factions that have accused the movement of failing to uphold Islamic Sharia law.

On a side note, they say Gaza is the world's largest concentration camp, with all its luxurious malls, restaurants and lingerie stores.

Afghanistan: Bus hits bomb and kills 'at least 25'

Since it was a [common] act of Muslim-on-Muslim violence, expect no outrage over these civilian deaths.

Kabul, 28 July (AKI) - At least 25 people were killed and around 20 wounded when a bus hit a roadside bomb on Tuesday in western Afghanistan, Dawn News reported, citing a provincial governor.

“Afghanistan once again saw a day of bloodshed of innocent civilian lives,” Ghulam Dastgir Azaad, the governor of Nimroz where the incident occurred, said in the report.

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House Republicans Giving Green Light for Israeli Strike on Iran

Now we're talking.

(INN) Nearly one third of the Republican congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a resolution that would support Israel's right to use “all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by Iran”, including military force.

The resolution was introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert [R-Texas] and 46 co-sponsors.

House Resolution 1553 “condemns the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its threats of ‘annihilating’ the United States and the State of Israel, for its continued support of international terrorism, and for its incitement of genocide of the Israeli people.”

It “supports using all means of persuading the Government of Iran to stop building and acquiring nuclear weapons” and pledges that the U.S. will ensure that Israel “continues to receive critical economic and military assistance, including missile defense capabilities, needed to address the threat of Iran.”

In addition, it “expresses support for Israel’s right to use all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by Iran, defend Israeli sovereignty, and protect the lives and safety of the Israeli people, including the use of military force if no other peaceful solution can be found within a reasonable time.”

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Federal Judge Blocks Part of Arizona Immigration Law

FOX News:Federal Judge Blocks Part of Arizona Immigration Law

Video: CBO warns of fiscal crisis if debt is not reined in

Iraq: Shiite pilgrimage ends with blasts, 12 dead

Another bloodshed, with 12 killed and 46 wounded, marks the birthday of the Mahdi. Typical.

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) – A series of attacks in Baghdad and a holy Iraqi city killed 12 people, while five others died in a helicopter crash, as major religious ceremonies came to a close, officials said on Wednesday.

In the deadliest attack, mortars killed seven people and wounded 46 in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, as pilgrims gathered late on Tuesday to mark the birthday of the Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam.

"Several mortars landed at 11:00 pm (2000 GMT on Tuesday), killing seven pilgrims and injuring 46, in a neighbourhood located four kilometres (2.3 miles) northwest of the centre of the city," a Karbala police officer said.

"The pilgrims were coming from around the city to participate in the ceremony," the officer said, adding several houses were damaged.

Shiites -- the majority of Iraq's population -- believe the imam will return to Earth on the Day of Judgment.

Tuesday's attack came a day after twin car bombings in Karbala killed 21 people and wounded at least 47 others.

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Video: Minnesota Town Passes English-Only Law

So what else does Obama have up his sleeve for us

How Pakistani Muslims abuse the laws on blasphemy in which to oppress non-Muslims

(Pakistan) Last week, two brothers who were accused of blasphemy by a Muslim were murdered as they left court after the judge let them free when he declared there was no case against them. What isn't been widely reported is that knowing the two brothers were going to be released, Islamists called on all righteous Muslims to be outside the mosque in which to protest about how Christians who abuse their god are allowed to go free. Which is where and when the two innocent brothers were murdered for the sin of being Christians.

In Pakistan, blasphemy laws are used time and again by Muslims in which to get one over Christians. This was brought to the world's attention in 1998 when Bishop John Joseph of Faisalabad listening to yet another case of blasphemy against a Christian (The boy's crime was that he allegedly kicked a stone which bounced and hit a sign which had the word Allah written on it; only one person witnessed the supposed crime, and for that the boy was sentenced to death) protested the only way he could in which to shout out to the world just how Muslims treat others when they are in the majority. So, walking out of the court, he pulled out a gun and shot himself dead.

That was in 1998, and 12 years later things haven't gotten any better for Christians in Pakistan. Which probably explains why Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities, has also been accused of blasphemy by branding the recently murdered Christian brothers as victims of Pakistan blasphemy laws. Wow, what a way to silence your critics -- accuse them of the slightest provocation against Islam and rest assured that somebody will remove them from this plane of existence, be it the law or some angry Muslim who feels he has to regain his honour.

Muslims in US defend WTC mosque. Meanwhile in Indonesia, churches get burnt down.

(Indonesia) While the faithful wail away about how only in the West are they oppressed (no minarets, no hijab, no extra holidays, etc.), a glance at how minorities fair in Islamic countries reveals that when it comes to equality when Islam is the majority religion, well, you had best be a Muslim.

So while the defenders of the Religion of Peace™ in New York wax lyrical how this mosque of theirs will be a community centre (has anybody here with a mosque nearby ever seen it being used for the whole community?), that it will cater for the whole community, that it isn't really going to be a mosque but something along the lines of the YMCA (don't mention the Village people) and that this is the perfect opportunity to build bridges.

Even I have to admit, how could anybody object? I mean, with a resume like that, who cannot fail to be impressed? But hang on. How do Muslims treat their minorities when they wish to follow their faith? Well, if you are a Christian in Indonesia (isn't there a famous American who has ties to Indonesia?), then you risk your life on trying to pray, never mind building a church.

In the first 6 months of this year there were 28 serious incidents of Christians getting attacked in the province of Jakarta alone. These range from forced closure of churches, revocation and delays in issuing building permits, and attacks such as torching and damaging churches. Isn't life great for non-Muslims when the surrounding population all pray to Allah, and yet the people who want to build a mosque in New York keep on telling everybody they are a Religion of Peace™?

Video: Why Are Israeli Arabs Happy in Israel?

Pandering to Muslims at Taxpayer Expense

Right Side News: Pandering to Muslims at Taxpayer Expense.

First Female Arab Combat Soldier in IDF is Proud to Serve Israel

And she's an eye candy, too.

“Look at the beret,” says Elinor, smiling from ear to ear, showing off the bright green beret that she earned after completing the trek which is part of her combat training in the Karakal Battalion. Her excitement is accompanied by a new historical precedent, since Elinor is the first Arab female combat soldier in IDF history.

Cpl. Elinor Joseph was born and raised in an integrated neighborhood of Jews and Arabs in Haifa, but attended a school in which all her classmates were Arab. She later moved to Wadi Nisnas, an Arab neighborhood where she currently lives. Despite the fact that she would always wear her father’s IDF dog-tag around her neck from when he served in the Paratrooper’s Unit, she never thought she would enlist. “I wanted to go abroad to study medicine and never come back,” she said. To her father it was clear that she would enlist in the IDF, as most citizens in Israel do. This was something that worried her very much. “I was scared to lose my friends because they objected to it. They told me they wouldn’t speak to me. I was left alone.”

Despite their opposition, she decided to move forward and enlist. She explained her motive: “I decided to go head-to-head, to check who my true friends are, to do something in life that I have never done before. I understood that it was most important to defend my friends, family, and country. I was born here.” At the end of the day, she says she realized it was the right thing to do, “With time, when you do things from the heart, you begin to understand their importance.”

[...]

After her basic training, Elinor went to a training base for a medic’s training course, where she was selected as the outstanding soldier of the course and received her commander’s personal pin. After the course, she was assigned to be a medic within the military police at the Qalqilya crossing. “I enjoyed it there. I liked the people and thanks to my blue beret (that of military police) nobody wanted to sit next to me in the bus so I always had a large place to sleep”, she laughs. The difficult dilemma she felt in serving at a border crossing was not easy for her but she said during moments of difficulty and misgiving she would remember, “there was a Katyusha [rocket] that fell near my house and also hurt Arabs. If someone would tell me that serving in the IDF means killing Arabs, I remind them that Arabs also kill Arabs.”

Read the whole story.

H/t: Elder of Ziyon

Poll: Obama is losing Hispanic support

The group was key for the president in his 2008 victory.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's once solid support among Hispanics is showing a few cracks, a troubling sign for Democrats desperate to get this critical constituency excited about helping the party hold onto Congress this fall.

Hispanics still overwhelmingly favor the Democratic Party over the GOP, and a majority still think Obama is doing a good job, according to an Associated Press-Univision poll of more than 1,500 Hispanics.

But the survey, also sponsored by The Nielsen Company and Stanford University, shows Obama gets only lukewarm ratings on issues important to Hispanics — and that could bode poorly for the president and his party.

For a group that supported Obama so heavily in 2008 and in his first year in office, only 43 percent of Hispanics surveyed said Obama is adequately addressing their needs, with the economy a major concern. Another 32 percent were uncertain, while 21 percent said he'd done a poor job.

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We The People

Cameron pledges to support Turkish EU membership

What the hell is wrong with him?

Ankara, 27 July (AKI) - UK prime minister David Cameron on Tuesday pledged that that he would give strong support for Turkey 's membership in the European Union.

"It makes me angry that your progress can be frustrated in the way that it has been," Cameron said in a speech on a visit to Ankara. "My view is clear. I believe that it's just wrong to say that Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit inside the tent."

"I will remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership and for greater influence at the top table of European diplomacy," Cameron said.

England has supported Turkey's membership even as other European countries have spoken out against the country's EU ascension.

Turkey's drive for membership has been received coldly by some of the bloc's biggest economic and political powers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Turkey should have a "privileged partnership" rather than EU membership, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy also opposes Turkey joining the group.

Obummer - the new 2011 GM car

The New GM (Government Motors) Proudly Introduces The 2011 Obummer.

This car runs on hot air, bullshit, and broken promises.

It has three wheels that speed the vehicle through tight left turns.

It comes complete with two Teleprompters programmed to help the occupants talk their way out of any violations.

The transparent canopy reveals the plastic smiles still on the faces of all the happy owners.

Comes in S, M, L, XL and 2XL.

It won't get you to work but hey, there aren't any jobs here anyway!

The new, improved Obama

Caroline Glick: The new, improved Obama.

Somali Islamic group cracks down on TV sets

TVs are un-Islamic.

MOGADISHU, July 26 (Reuters) - Somali Islamist rebels have ordered residents in areas they control to hand over televisions and satellite dishes, warning that anyone who did not would be considered a spy, residents said on Monday.

The affected region is largely controlled by the al Shabaab group, a rebel militia linked to al Qaeda which enforces a harsh version of sharia law that includes banning school bells, ringtones on cell phones and music on radios.

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Iraq:Twin car bombs kill 25, wound 68 during religious festival in Karbala

Muslim religious festivals are famous for their bloodiest Muslim-on-Muslim violence.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Two car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims during a religious festival in the holy city of Karbala killed 25 people on Monday, Iraqi police and hospital officials said. Sunni extremists are suspected.

Militants detonated two parked cars filled with explosives about two miles (three kilometers) apart as crowds of pilgrims passed by. Police and medical officials in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, said 68 people were injured in the attacks.

The pilgrims were on their way to Karbala to take part in an important religious holiday, known as Shabaniyah, that attracts devout Shiites from around the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Monday bombings, but the method is the hallmark of Sunni extremists.

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NBC's Matthews Makes Freudian Slip: Will Dems Run Away From "President O'Carter"?

Real Clear Politics: NBC's Matthews Makes Freudian Slip: Will Dems Run Away From "President O'Carter"?

Russia turns on "irresponsible Iran"

(JPost) Russia turned on Iran, accusing it of "fruitless and irresponsible rhetoric" and adding its voice to a diplomatic assault Monday which included unilateral sanctions from both the EU and Canada, as well as warnings from Iran's opposition party that Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah.

The Russian remark came after criticism from Tehran over Moscow's support for UN sanctions last month. In the past, Iran had depended on allies Russia and China — and their veto power at the Security Council — to block tough penalties, but Russia sided with the US and its allies and endorsed the sanctions, levied in a bid to force Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions.

Now, here's why Obama is a stupid lightweight. It is well known that at a time of crisis, Russia always acts against US interests in order to squeeze concessions from the US, but at the end, when push comes to shove, always drops the act and joins in. Obama, being a dunce, went out of his way to make enormous concessions to Russia without getting anything in return.

Russians are not suicidal, they understand the danger Iran poses to the region, especially given their close proximity to Iran. And now that they've gotten everything they wanted from the US, without given anything in return, they join in against Iran.

Obama’s Race War Backfires

(FPM) Whenever race is mentioned, it hurts Barack Obama’s presidency. The very basis of his presidency is that he is the post-racial president. Now he finds himself knee-deep into racial politics.

Some is of his own doing. In suing Arizona over immigration reform, he takes a step that alienates the three-quarters of Anglo voters who back the law. In refusing to prosecute the New Black Panthers for their blatant intimidation of white voters in 2008, he alienates fair-thinking people of both races. But in firing Shirley Sherrod, he showed African-Americans that he was caving in to pressure from Fox News and the conservatives. Then, by reversing field and reinstating her, the president and his agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, show whites and Republicans-independent voters that he is caving in to pressure from the African-American community.

There are two common denominators to this equation: race and weakness. Any involvement in racial politics has to hurt Obama at his core. It goes to his fundamental selling point: that he is post racial. By dealing with race repeatedly, he is vulnerable just as Bill Clinton was when he always had to deal with sexual scandal.

It is not his strength but can ultimately destroy his credibility.

And then there is weakness. By caving in first to the right and then to the left, Obama acts and looks indecisive and weak. He comes across as out of control and projects the same image of incapacity and chaos that he so amply demonstrated when the oil was gushing in the gulf. He reminds one of the opening days of the Clinton adminsitration, when it tied itself in knots over the issue of gays in the military. It looks like amateur hour at the White House.

Obama has two conflicting goals: He wants to expand his base among whites and heighten enthusiasm of blacks. Good goals, both. But if he uses racial issues to accomplish either objective — as he appears to do in the Sherrod controversy — he alienates one group in order to win the other. Not a good strategy.

Al-Qaeda executed 78-year-old French aid worker in Africa

A 78-year-old French aid worker kidnapped by al-Qaeda was executed in the Sahara after a failed attempt to free him left six militants dead, President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

(Telegraph) Mr Sarkozy condemned the killing of Michel Germaneau, and said his killers "will not go unpunished." He said the killing illustrated the need to keep up the fight against terrorism.

The leader of al-Qaeda's North African branch, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghbreb, said in a message broadcast on Sunday that the Frenchman was killed in retaliation for the deaths of six al-Qaeda members in a military operation in the Sahara last week.

Mr Sarkozy defended France's decision to take part in that operation with troops from Mauritania as a last-ditch effort to free Mr Germaneau.

"Convinced he was condemned to a certain death, we had the duty to make this effort to pull him free from his captors," Mr Sarkozy said in a public address after an emergency government meeting in Paris on Monday.

That effort failed and Mr Germaneau was killed "in cold blood," Mr Sarkozy said, without specifying when or where.

Mr Germaneau was abducted April 22 in Niger, and officials later said he was taken to Mali.

Amid increasing concerns about terrorism and trafficking in northwest Africa, four countries – Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger – in April opened a joint military headquarters deep in the desert. The goal has been to establish a collective response to threats from traffickers and the al-Qaeda offshoot.

The al-Qaeda branch is also holding two Spanish aid workers, Roque Pascual and Albert Vilalta, who were taken hostage in Mauritania in November.

Teenage Suicide Bomber Kills 7, wounds 21 Near Pakistani Minister's Home

PABBI: Search operation has begun in Pabbi after receiving reports of presence of two more suicide bombers near the house of Mian Iftikhar, CCPO Peshawar Liaquat Ali said this while talking to media here.

CCPO Peshawar said suicide bomber was a teenage boy carrying 8 to 10 kilograms of explosives. He was stopped at the first checkpoint where he detonated himself. Police officials sacrifice their lives to avert the massive destruction.

According to CCPO, a search operation has been launched in the area and appealed the local residents to remain stay at their homes so that policemen conduct search operation.

Replying to a question, he said apparently the target of the blast were the people present in the mosque.

Suicide bomber kills 6, wounds 16 at Baghdad office of Arabic channel

BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide bomber driving a minibus blew himself up in front of the Baghdad office of a popular Arabic news station early Monday, killing six people, and burying a lawmaker alive under the rubble of his collapsed home, police and hospital said.

The bomber was apparently waved through two checkpoints leading to the Al-Arabiya television station after security guards checked his identification, said Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi. He said the explosion occurred about 10 minutes after the bomber cleared the second checkpoint.

"This has the clear fingerprints of al-Qaida," al-Moussawi told the channel, adding that an investigation had been launched to determine how the bomber was cleared through two checkpoints.

Two police officials and a hospital official said three guards, a driver, a passer-by and a 50-year-old cleaner were killed in the massive blast that hurled around cars and collapsed nearby buildings. The attack also wounded 16 people, including former deputy prime minister Salam al-Zubaie, who lives nearby.

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Israel: If Hezbollah strikes, we hit Lebanon

Israel's Defense Minister Barak issues warning against resuming rocket attacks from North.

Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government, so any attack by Hezbollah will be rightfully considered an act of war by the state of Lebanon against the state of Israel.

(JPost) The IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions if Israel is again subjected to rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday.

He told the newspaper that since the Lebanese goverment is allowing Hizbullah to rearm, "we will not run after each Hizbullah terrorist or launcher. . . . We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hizbullah."

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Brain-dead Oliver Stone[d]: 'Jewish-Dominated Media' Prevents Hitler from Being Portrayed 'in Context'

NewsBusters: Oliver Stone: 'Jewish-Dominated Media' Prevents Hitler from Being Portrayed 'in Context'.

WWTDD: Oliver Stone says Hitler and Stalin weren’t really so bad.

Illegals sell up and flee Arizona ahead of crackdown

Some of them heading to Mexico or whatever country they came from, some of them to other states like Pennsylvania and such.

(Reuters) - Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block.

A few paces up the street, her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."

The two women are among scores of illegal immigrant families across Phoenix hauling the contents of their homes into the yard this weekend as they rush to sell up and get out before the state law takes effect on Thursday.

The law, the toughest imposed by any U.S. state to curb illegal immigration, seeks to drive more than 400,000 undocumented day laborers, landscapers, house cleaners, chambermaids and other workers out of Arizona, which borders Mexico.

It makes being an illegal immigrant a state crime and requires state and local police, during lawful contact, to investigate the status of anyone they reasonably suspect of being an illegal immigrant.

The U.S. government estimates 100,000 unauthorized migrants left Arizona after the state passed an employer sanctions law three years ago requiring companies to verify workers' status using a federal computer system. There are no figures for the number who have left since the new law passed in April.

Some are heading back to Mexico or to neighboring states. Others are staying put and taking their chances.

In a sign of a gathering exodus, Mexican businesses from grocers and butcher shops to diners and beauty salons have shut their doors in recent weeks as their owners and clients leave.

On Saturday and Sunday, Reuters counted dozens of impromptu yard sales in Latino neighborhoods in central and west Phoenix.

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A Yemeni family brought into enslavement decades ago fights the stigma of their status as 'slaves' in impoverished Yemen

The year is 2001, and there are about 500 slaves in Yemen. But who cares about it? Certainly not the UN.

SANAA (AFP) Officially, slavery was abolished back in 1962 but a judge's decision to pass on the title deed of a "slave" from one master to another has blown the lid off the hidden bondage of hundreds of Yemenis.

The judge in the town of Hajja, which is home to some 300 slaves, according to residents, said he had certified the transfer only because the new owner planned to free the slave.

But his decision has triggered a campaign by local human right activists.

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Netherlands: Paintings with pigs preemptively removed from hospitals so as not to offend Muslims

"Bastards! They killed Porky!"

LEERDAM, 23/07/10 - Three paintings depicting pigs have been pre-emptively removed from a hospital in Leerdam because they might offend Muslims.

One patient, not actually himself a Muslim, made a complaint about the paintings because he wanted to avoid Muslims having confrontations with the pigs. The leadership of the healthcare institution, the Linge Polyclinic, thereupon decided to remove the paintings immediately, Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reports.

The artist, Sylvia Bosch, is astounded. "One week earlier, I had an e-mail from the clinic saying that they were getting nice reactions. After a single complaint, they had to be taken away immediately."

The Linge Polyclinic has stated that the pictures were removed because "all visitors must feel comfortable in the institution".

Saudis go high tech in keeping the slaves at home

Saudi technology guards against women escaping. Air flight will trigger SMS to 'guardian.'

(JPost) When women’s rights activist Wajiha Al-Huwaidar flew out of Saudi Arabia last week for a holiday in Italy with her family, she was hoping for a brief respite from what she describes as the ‘gender apartheid kingdom.’

She wasn’t so lucky.

As she left, her husband received an automated SMS text message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informing him that his wife, legally considered his ‘dependant’ under Saudi Arabia’s strict gendered guardianship system, had left the country.

Al-Huwaidar’s husband received the same text, she learned last week, when she had left Saudi Arabia on another recent trip to Germany.

“It is sad how Saudis use technology in a way not intended to be used for,” she told The Media Line. “In Saudi Arabia, technology brings more restrictions and misery! They use it to have more control over people’s lives, especially women.”

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Chavez: "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me"

(Venezuela) President Hugo Chavez, fearing for his life and an invasion from Columbia, cancelled a trip to Cuba and threatened on Sunday to cut oil supplies to the United States in case of a military attack from Colombia as a spat escalated over charges his country harbours Colombian rebels. Speaking to a crowd of his supporters, Hugo opined:

"If there was any armed aggression against Venezuela from Colombian territory or from anywhere else, promoted by the Yankee empire, we would suspend oil shipments to the United States even if we have to eat stones here,"

The thing is, while Columbia has the means to launch a quick raid against terrorists, it's ability to launch a full scale invasion would be limited due to the fact it has no heavy armour. In fact, Venezuela has almost 200 tanks, compared to Columbia's none. You'd think an ex paratrooper who now runs his country would know that fact.

Secondly, why would the current president of Columbia wish to invade his neighbour, seeing as he hands over power in 13 days to the new president. You'd think the president of the neighbouring country would know that.

Finally, with Columbia taking the issue about FARC terrorists to the Organisation of American States, the last thing that Columbia is going to do is upset the apple cart by invading Venezuela (even if she had the tanks to do so). You'd think the president of the neighbouring country would know that.

Instead of seeing sense, all Hugo sees is the plot from Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar'. But instead of acting like an emperor, he acts more like Kenneth Williams.

Jordan, Dr. Peace and Mr. Apartheid

Nobody gives a flying falafel about Jordan's official apartheid policy, no different than that formerly adopted in South Africa, towards its majority Palestinian citizens.

(JPost) Last January, Faisal al-Fayez, a Jordanian senator and former prime minister, threatened Israel on national Jordanian television with “6 million Jordanian suicide bombers.” Fayez is considered one of the closest Jordanian officials to King Abdullah II; he is also a leader of the Bani Sakher tribe which has historically dominated the most important positions in the Hashemite kingdom.

Another member of the tribe, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Nayef al-Qadi, defended an official policy of stripping Jordanians of Palestinian heritage of their citizenship, a policy that has resulted in the denaturalization of more than 2,700 so far according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch. In an interview with a London-based Arab newspaper, Qadi said that “Jordan should be thanked for standing up against Israeli ambitions of unloading of the Palestinian land of its people” which he described as “the secret Israeli aim to impose a solution of Palestinian refugees at the expense of Jordan.”

Furthermore, King Abdullah, in a clear gesture of carelessness to Israel, has extended his condolences to the family and followers of Muhammad Hussein Fadallah, Hizbullah’s spiritual leader who passed away recently.

THE CAUSES of Jordan’s recent line of official hostility toward Israel are deep-rooted in the makeup of the Jordanian state itself. Jordan is a country with a Palestinian majority which allows them little or no involvement in any political or executive bodies or parliament.

This lack of political and legislative representation of Jordanians of Palestinian heritage has been enforced by decades of systematic exclusion in all aspects of life expanding into their disenfranchisement in education, employment, housing, state benefits and even business potential, all developing into an existing apartheid no different than that formerly adopted in South Africa, except for the official acknowledgement of it.

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Grisly mass graves in Mexico yield 50 casualties of drug war

The area where at least 51 corpses have been found in two days of digging by investigators is seen in a field near a trash dump on the outskirts of the northern city of Monterrey, Mexico, Friday July 23, 2010. Excavations continue at one of the largest clandestine body dumping grounds in Mexico's drug war. (AP Photo)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The number of bodies pulled from mass graves in a rocky field outside the northern city of Monterrey rose to 50 Saturday, authorities said, marking one of the largest dumping grounds ever found for casualties of Mexico's drug war.

Forensic experts used earthmoving machinery to dig up several new graves beyond the nine pits already excavated.

Unnamed military sources told the semi-official Notimex news agency that workers uncovered 12 new bodies early in the day, bringing to 50 the bodies dug up in a landfill in the township of Benito Juarez east of Monterrey.

Some of the bodies appeared to have been incinerated, while others had bullet wounds, the Milenio news network reported on its website. It said the victims appeared to have been killed within the past two weeks.

"The majority (of the victims) are men between 20 and 50 years old, and most of them have tattoos," said Nuevo Leon State Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza, adding that forensic experts would conduct genetic tests to identify the victims.

The mass graves are the largest discovery of a drug war killing field since May, when authorities found 55 bodies in a deep shaft in Taxco de Alarcon in Guerrero state.

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Meanwhile, the Obama administration is suing Arizona simply because Arizona wants to enforce the federal immigration law that the Obama administration refuses to enforce.

Abbas resists direct talks with Israel despite the pressure from the "entire world"

(AP) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that despite intense international pressure from the "entire world," he is still not willing to start direct negotiations with Israel.

Abbas told the Voice of Palestine radio that talks would be doomed without a clear framework.

The Palestinians are wary of entering open-ended negotiations with Israel's hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. They want Israel to first accept the principle of a Palestinian state within the territory captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, with some border modifications.

And yet they are not willing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Not to mention that they know Israel will never agree to go back to the suicidal pre-Six-Day War borders over which Arabs went to war against Israel in 1967.

Netanyahu has endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state but refuses to be pinned down on the details before direct talks begin. Since May, U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell has been shuttling between Abbas and Netanyahu to try to narrow the gaps, so far in vain.

Abbas aides said he has received phone calls in recent days from the leaders of Germany, Britain and Italy, among others, urging him to go to direct talks.

"The entire world is asking us to go for direct negotiations, but going to negotiations without a clear reference might make them collapse from the first moment," Abbas told the radio from Uganda, where he was visiting.

"We are not against meetings, whether in Ramallah or Tel Aviv," Abbas added. "The issue is to set the ... reference for negotiations. After that, we are ready to go anywhere."

Direct talks between Abbas and Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, broke down in late 2008. Abbas wants talks to pick up where they left off. Netanyahu has refused to do so.

Arab League foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Cairo on Thursday to decide whether to back the move to direct negotiations.

Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians would ask the Arab world to recommend continuing with indirect talks until they are slated to end Sept. 8, at which point the Palestinians will decide how to proceed. However, U.S. President Barack Obama is pushing for direct talks to start as quickly as possible, and it's unclear how much longer Abbas can withstand the mounting pressure.

The new Battle of Britain

Cameron and Clegg have started a revolution to revive a battered economy and restore debauched finances.

Contrast that with what Obama is doing to America.

(Toronto Sun) The more we see of Britain’s new leadership team of PM David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg, the more they impress. At last, some real, red-blooded conservatives.

Cameron went to Washington this week to meet U.S. President Barack Obama and reaffirm the hallowed U.S.-U.K. “special relationship.” As this column reported from Europe in May, Cameron made it clear Britain remains a loyal ally, but will no longer slavishly follow America’s lead, as did former PM Tony Blair.

Contrast Cameron’s policies and those of Obama. Cameron and Clegg have begun a second Battle of Britain, the biggest political revolution since 1832 to revive Britain’s battered economy and restore its debauched finances.

They plan to slash government spending 25% over five years, shrink Britain’s bloated government, which consumes half the national income, and fire large numbers of bureaucrats. No more “nanny” state. The era of savage austerity has dawned.

Under Blair and Brown, Britain’s debt exploded from $540 billion to $1.3 trillion, 90% of GDP. “Borrow Britannia” became the national anthem. Cameron and Clegg vow to halve the debt. By contrast, Obama has increased government spending and debt. Instead of austerity, Americans will get more war.

The Labour government became highly intrusive over its 13-year rule, and occasionally verged on a police state. One of Cameron’s first acts was to order the removal of tens of thousands of street cameras spying on Britons.

The Tory-Liberal Dem alliance is to make the House of Lords an elected body. Hello Canada!

Britain will begin withdrawing from Afghanistan. The Cameron-Clegg duumverate considers it a failed war and a waste of British lives.

Compare this British conservative revolution to Obama’s borrow more/spend more policies that will keep the U.S. mired in recession and debt.

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Ex-CIA chief: U.S. strike on Iran likelier than ever

Now that's what I call progressive thinking.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former CIA director says military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program.

Michael Hayden, a CIA chief under President George W. Bush, says that during his tenure a strike was "way down the list" of options. But he tells CNN's "State of the Union" that such action now "seems inexorable."

He predicts Iran will build its program to the point where it's just below having an actual weapon. Hayden says that would be as destabilizing to the region as the real thing.

U.S. officials have said military action remains an option if sanctions fail to deter Iran.

US drone attack kills 5 terrorists in Pakistan

The drone strikes appear to be so effective that the Taliban says they are "temporarily" hindering the insurgency.

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A U.S. drone strike killed four suspected militants in Pakistan's tribal region Sunday morning, officials told CNN.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said the drone fired at least four missiles at the militants who were traveling inside a vehicle in Shaktai Algat, a village in South Waziristan. South Waziristan is in Pakistan's mostly ungoverned tribal region along the Afghan border.

Five people inside a nearby house were injured, the officials said.

This is the second day in a row U.S. drone strikes have attacked suspected militants in South Waziristan.

Based on a count by the CNN Islamabad bureau, there have been 42 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal region this year.

The intelligence officials asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media on the record.

Taliban claim capture of US sailor, killing of 2nd

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a U.S. Navy sailor they said was killed in an ambush two days ago in exchange for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said Sunday.

U.S. and NATO officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area.

In a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pair drove into an area under insurgent control, prompting a brief gunfight in which one American was killed and the other was captured. He said both were taken to a "safe area" and "are in the hands of the Taliban."

Mujahid did not mention any offer to exchange the pair for Taliban prisoners. A local Afghan official said the Taliban sent a message through intermediaries offering to hand over the body in exchange for jailed insurgents.

Abdul Wali, the deputy head of the provincial governing council, said local authorities responded by saying, "Let's talk about the one that is still alive." The insurgents said they would have to talk to superiors before making any deal.

Hundreds of posters of the two missing sailors have been hung at checkpoints throughout Logar province where NATO troops are stopping vehicles, searching people, peering inside windows and searching trunks.

The posters, with photographs of the missing sailors, state: "This American troop is missing. He was last seen in a white Land Cruiser vehicle. If you have any information about this solider, kindly contact the Logar Joint Coordination Center," run by coalition and Afghan forces. A phone number is listed along with information about a $20,000 reward being offered for information leading to their location.

The photographs show one clean-shaven sailor wearing a soft cap and another with short-cropped hair, wearing a blue civilian shirt and a white undershirt.

"Our latest, accurate information reports are that they are still in the area," said Din Mohammed Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor of Logar.

He said the governor's office was upset because the two Americans left their base without notifying Afghan security forces in Logar.

"This was an abnormal situation," Darwesh said.

NATO officials have offered no clear explanation why the sailors were in Logar. The two left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Friday afternoon but never returned, NATO said in a statement.

The visiting chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told reporters Sunday that he didn't have all the details, but "from what I know right now, this is an unusual circumstance."

Mullen said he could not comment on the Taliban claim that one American was killed and the other was captured. He says the U.S. is doing all it can to "return to American hands anybody who has been captured or killed."

"There's a tremendous amount of effort going on to find them, to search, and beyond that I can't discuss any additional details at this time. "It serves to remind of the challenges that we have and also the service and sacrifice that so many make, but that's really all I can talk about."

Earlier Sunday, Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, told the AP that he had no information about U.S. sailors in Taliban hands. He said he would look into the reports. He claimed responsibility in a subsequent conversation.

That suggested that the Friday attack was a spur-of-the-moment move and that the militants are trying to figure out what to do about it.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the event, confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardizing search operations.

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