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First lady Michelle Obama delivered a powerful character witness on behalf...
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Great achievements often follow periods of darkness and disappointment
The city wants to keep the Ontario Human Rights Commission out of a faceoff with a group home for troubled teens.
Representatives from the city, the Lynwood Charlton Centre and the province's human rights watchdog met Tuesday morning at an Ontario Municipal Board pretrial conference. The purpose of the meeting was to lay the groundwork for the hearing, scheduled to begin March 25, 2013.
The city's lawyer, Michal Minkowski, argued that the human rights commissioner's office should be kept out of the proceedings because it was overstepping its legislative mandate.
However, lawyer Raj Dhir argued that not only has the commission participated in other OMB cases, it meets all the tests for participating laid out in the planning act.
"We think we have a role to play here," Dhir said.
Jan Seaborn, vice-president of the board and the presiding member at Tuesday's conference, will release her decision about whether the commission can participate in the hearing next week.
Lynwood Charlton staff appealed to the OMB after the city denied its relocation of an overnight program for eight teenage girls from Charlton Avenue to a building that already houses some day programs on Augusta Street.
EDITORIAL: Fight with girls' group home hits new low
Councillors initially based their opposition to the move on the city's controversial radial separation bylaw, which requires residential care facilities to be at least 300 metres apart.
However, several weeks ago, city staff announced that the building on Augusta should be classified as a "comprehensive institution" — similar to a hospital — rather than a "residential care facility" because it would house both day and overnight programs. This classification denotes an even greater effect on the neighbourhood.
At the pretrial conference Tuesday, the city tried to argue that the radial separation bylaw shouldn't be considered an issue at the hearing in March.
"We're no longer dealing with separation distance," Minkowski said.
But Seaborn said she's not going to pre-emptively take any arguments off the table.
"I can't just go ahead and remove an issue that someone thinks is important to the hearing," she said. "You're asking me to put the cart before the horse today."
Alex Thomson, executive director of the Lynwood Charlton Centre, said the city has become more insistent that the Augusta building is being used institutionally rather than as a residential care facility.
"This is the first time that they seem more firm on that issue," he said. "It's curious that they've done so since the human rights commission has indicated they would like to see party status."
Several community residents also asked to participate in the March hearing. Some, such as Anne Wilson, a member of the city's food and shelter advisory committee, came in support of the Lynwood Charlton Centre.
"I think my biggest objection is the way these vulnerable girls have to read this in the paper and have to feel this so personally — to be called names in the paper and names by their city council," she said.
The food and shelter advisory committee, whose mandate is to give feedback to council, made a motion in support of the human rights commission's letter to council prior to the denial of Lynwood Charlton's move. Wilson said she felt "betrayed" that councillors didn't heed the advice of a committee put in place to give guidance to council.
Other community members were Corktown residents opposed to Lynwood Charlton moving into their neighbourhood, though several declined to speak to The Spectator. The only Corktown resident to comment said he was undecided about the move.
"I'm looking at it from both sides, so I'm not one way or the other," said Brent Livingstone.
905-526-2452 | @EmmaatTheSpec
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Hurricane latest news updated in real-time by RSS feeds.
Hurricane – Google News
Google News
Tropical storms in East Pacific could become hurricanes this weekend – Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Tropical storms in East Pacific could become hurricanes this weekend
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Two more tropical cyclones are gaining strength in the East Pacific and could become hurricanes, while former Tropical Storm Estelle weakened to a post-tropical cyclone today. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center expect Georgette, the seventh …
and more »
Posted on 23 July 2016 | 5:17 am
Tropical Storm Frank Expected to Become a Hurricane | The Weather Channel – The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
Tropical Storm Frank Expected to Become a Hurricane | The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
Frank is moving northwest well off the coast of Mexico and is no direct threat to land. The storm could become a hurricane this weekend. Tropical Storm Frank is moving northwestward well off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Frank marks the sixth tropical …
Tropical Storm Darby update: 'Direct impact' on Hawaii a possibilityAL.com
Six things to know about hurricane season in HawaiiHawaiimagazine.com
Hurricane Darby weakens on approach to Central Pacific Ocean NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterEurekAlert (press release)
Honolulu Star-Advertiser –Nantucket Island Inquirer –AccuWeather.com
all 172 news articles »
Posted on 23 July 2016 | 12:19 am
Hurricane woman to represent Southern Utah at Democratic National Convention – St. George Daily Spectrum
St. George Daily Spectrum
Hurricane woman to represent Southern Utah at Democratic National Convention
St. George Daily Spectrum
Hurricane's Jill Stevens will be the only delegate representing Southern Utah at the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday in Philadelphia. She had to earn the trip, too. The Democratic Party doesn't provide help with funding, meaning …
and more »
Posted on 22 July 2016 | 11:30 pm
Government Tower hurricane upgrades to be funded by FEMA – Houma Courier
Government Tower hurricane upgrades to be funded by FEMA
Houma Courier
A little over half a million dollars has been routed to the strengthening of the windows of the Government Tower to better withstand hurricane force winds as per federal requirements. As the parish footed the $515,000 bill for the Ashland North Pump …
and more »
Posted on 22 July 2016 | 9:26 pm
Surf Never-Before-Seen Wedge Footage from Hurricane Marie – TheInertia.com
Surf Never-Before-Seen Wedge Footage from Hurricane Marie
If you live in California, Hurricane Marie is burned in your brain. For me, there's one spot in particular: it was a spot called (ha ha! Yeah right!), which really only works properly on a big south, and I'd never really seen it doing what it was …
Posted on 22 July 2016 | 8:30 pm
Seminar focuses on hurricane threat to NH – The Union Leader
The Union Leader
Seminar focuses on hurricane threat to NH
The Union Leader
"We've just been too busy responding to severe weather; it's been that chaotic these days and we aren't even into prime-time hurricane season yet,'' Jensenius told reporters during a media briefing at the state's Incident Planning and Operations Center …
Posted on 22 July 2016 | 6:42 am
With the eye of hurricane season fast approaching, time to check your plan – Alabama NewsCenter
Alabama NewsCenter
With the eye of hurricane season fast approaching, time to check your plan
Alabama NewsCenter
Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, but the really hot period for storms fires up with high temperatures in the middle of August. With that in mind, the time is now to review hurricane preparation. Before a hurricane strikes, you should: Map …
and more »
Posted on 21 July 2016 | 7:03 pm
Gulf of Mexico 'Hot Tub' Could Fuel Hurricane Season Toward Peak | The Weather Channel – The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
Gulf of Mexico 'Hot Tub' Could Fuel Hurricane Season Toward Peak | The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
Sea surface temperatures so far this hurricane season have busted records in the Gulf of Mexico, running just under 2 degrees Fahrenheit above average, and that could mean more fuel for tropical storms and hurricanes if the season becomes more active.
and more »
Posted on 20 July 2016 | 6:16 pm
After weird, busy start, hurricane season now quiet – Tallahassee.com
After weird, busy start, hurricane season now quiet
Tropical weather never ceases to amaze, as part of the "chaos theory" in physics, always in constant change, turmoil, breaking records, inconsistencies, etc. The tropical Atlantic hurricane season is normally June through November, but 2016 began …
and more »
Posted on 17 July 2016 | 12:05 am
US experiencing record hurricane drought, just 4 strikes in 7 years – USA TODAY
US experiencing record hurricane drought, just 4 strikes in 7 years
The U.S. is experiencing a remarkable, record drought from hurricane hits, with only four strikes in the past seven years. That's the fewest in any 7-year stretch since records began a few years before Abraham Lincoln was elected president. One of the …
2016 Atlantic hurricane season still a force to be reckoned withWVTM13
Why Tropical Waves Are Important During Hurricane Season | The Weather ChannelThe Weather Channel
Hurricane Celia expected to weaken, Tropical Depression 5-e forms right behindKHON2
Honolulu Star-Advertiser –Phys.Org –Hawaii News Now
all 47 news articles »
Posted on 12 July 2016 | 8:29 pm
Hurricanes and Cyclones News — ScienceDaily
Tropical cyclones on track to grow more intense as temperatures rise
Powerful tropical cyclones like the super typhoon that lashed Taiwan with 150-mile-per-hour winds last week and then flooded parts of China are expected to become even stronger as the planet warms. That trend hasn't become evident yet, but it will, scientists say.
Posted on 14 July 2016 | 7:18 pm
Should I stay or should I go?
Researchers have been studying evacuation data and have published two new papers that may help to improve prediction models used by emergency planners, leading to more efficient evacuations and possibly saving lives.
Posted on 24 June 2016 | 2:10 pm
Average 'dead zone' predicted for Gulf of Mexico in 2016
Scientists forecast that this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone — an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and marine life — will be approximately 5,898 square miles or about the size of Connecticut, the same range as it has averaged over the last several years.
Posted on 10 June 2016 | 1:47 pm
Storm fingerprints show past and future
Researchers are using "fingerprints" left by strong storms on the ocean floor to better understand storms that have already happened and to model and predict how future storms will behave.
Posted on 7 June 2016 | 7:17 pm
Scientists explain the art of creating digital hurricanes
A team of scientists spends its days incorporating millions of atmospheric observations, sophisticated graphic tools and lines of computer code to create computer models simulating the weather and climate conditions responsible for hurricanes.
Posted on 26 May 2016 | 2:05 am
Early use of 'hurricane hunter' data improves hurricane intensity predictions
Data collected via airplane when a hurricane is developing can improve hurricane intensity predictions by up to 15 percent, according to researchers who have been working to put the new technique into practice.
Posted on 25 May 2016 | 5:26 pm
Hurricanes key to carbon uptake by forests
New research reveals that the increase in forest photosynthesis and growth made possible by tropical cyclones in the southeastern United States captures hundreds of times more carbon than is released by all vehicles in the US in a given year.
Posted on 2 May 2016 | 8:18 pm
Cutting-edge telepresence technology helped investigators find the El Faro
Federal investigators found the "black box'' that could reveal why the El Faro cargo ship sank off the Bahamas in a hurricane last fall.
Posted on 27 April 2016 | 12:19 pm
Threat of climate change found to be key psychological and emotional stressor
Climate change is a significant threat to the health of Americans, creating unprecedented health problems in areas where they might not have previously occurred, according to a report released April 4 by the White House.
Posted on 5 April 2016 | 1:42 pm
GOES-R satellite could provide better data for hurricane prediction
The launch of the GOES-R geostationary satellite in Oct. 2016 could herald a new era for predicting hurricanes, according to researchers. The wealth of information from this new satellite, at time and space scales not previously possible, combined with advanced statistical hurricane prediction models, could enable more accurate predictions in the future.
Posted on 24 March 2016 | 11:24 pm

subset: commoncrawl


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On Second Thought is a one-hour, daily news talk show that airs at 9 a.m. ET weekdays.
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Silver Lake Resources Hits 500,000 Ounces Of Gold Bullion Production 0 commentsNov 19, 2013 1:13 AM
Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR) is one of Australia's premier gold producers, with the company hitting the 500,000 ounce production milestone from its operations since the maiden gold pour in April 2008.
Silver Lake has processed 4.4 million ore tonnes at a blended grade of 3.8g/t gold from multiple underground and open pit feed sources at an average (blended) metallurgical recovery of 94%.
Production was sourced from the company's three processing facilities, being Mount Monger/Lakewood (80%), Randalls (13%) and from the Murchison (7%).
Highlighting the success of Silver Lake at Mount Monger, the company purchased the project in November 2007 when it was on care and maintenance with a resource base of 235,000 ounces of gold and limited mine life.
Les Davis, managing director, commented: "In December 2007, we commenced production from a single ore source at Daisy Milano.
"We have now poured our first 500,000 ounces of gold, grown the resource base to 6.4 million ounces inclusive of 1.7 million ounces of reserve and have 3 mining operations and 3 operating processing facilities with total milling capacity of >3.0Mt of ore per annum.
"We have had a solid start to FY14 producing 96,400 ounces year to date."
Silver Lake's portfolio is extensive in Western Australia, and covers 5000 square kilometres of highly prospective under explored tenements containing gold, silver, copper and zinc.
The company's projects currently host: 6.4 million ounces of gold inclusive of 1.7 million ounces of reserve, 10.5 million ounces of silver and 134,000 tonnes of copper.
This is a milestone for Silver Lake, having grown the resource base to 6.4 million ounces inclusive of 1.7 million ounces of reserves. It has also made a solid start to reaching FY14 production guidance as well.
Due to its sustained and increased gold production profile, Silver Lake has attracted large institutional shareholders to its register.
These include Van Eck with 30.4 million (7.0%), Baker Steel with 20.8 million (4.8%), and Sprott Asset Management with 11.1 million (2.5%).
Directors hold 27.9 million shares, or 6.4%.
Silver Lake delivered record production in the September 2013 quarter, with 59,902 ounces produced and group sales totalling 60,910 ounces.
The company's group guidance for the period ending 30 June 2014 is 180,000 to 200,000 ounces of gold.
Proactive Investors Australia is the market leader in producing news, articles and research reports on ASX "Small and Mid-cap" stocks with distribution in Australia, UK, North America and Hong Kong / China.Back To Proactive Investor's Instablog HomePage »
Instablogs are blogs which are instantly set up and networked within the Seeking Alpha community. Instablog posts are not selected, edited or screened by Seeking Alpha editors, in contrast to contributors' articles.Full index of posts »
Copper North Closes Oversubscribed Flow Through Portion Of Financing, Raises Almost $0.6mln $CPNVF http://seekingalpha.com/p/24uzt Dec 24, 2014
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You have searched for: Prince Fushimi Sadanaru
- Prince online Museum launches
A detailed internet archive showcasing many of Prince's official websites over the years has been launched.
- Crown prince of heritage headgear
Vadodara: Avantilal Chavla, 72, has perhaps India's largest collection of turbans. He has more than 200 turbans of various sizes and origin, some of which were made by him. Chavla, a retired senior reader of the MS University's department of dramatics, is preparing for a week long exhibition-cum-workshop on turbans being organized in New Delhi next month by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He needs a whole truck to carry his collection. Chavla said each turban has a history. "The way a turban is tied changes every 12 km in this vast country," he said. Chavla, who is a native of Ratlam, is now a 'pucca' Gujarati. In 1989, he became the first person in the country to earn a PhD on turbans. The Sangeet Natak Akademi recently gave Chavla a grant of Rs 1 lakh under a scheme to conserve India's heritage. He has been making and collecting 'pagris' for the past 27 years. Former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and PM Narendra Modi are among the notables who have worn Chavla's creations. The Western Zone Culture Centre in Udaipur houses the world's biggest `pagri' -a 151-inch turban that has a circumference of 11 ft, weighs 30 kg and is seven inches thick.Chavla created this marvel and it figures in the Limca Book of Records as the world's largest turban. In Chavla's collection are also the turbans that were worn by the Gaekwad rulers of the erstwhile Baroda state; Maharaja Khengraj Sawai Bahadur of Kutch; and 'Thakore sahebs' of the princely states of Dhrangadhra, Limbdi, Jamnagar, Morbi, Wadhvan among others. Incidentally , the former Maharaja of Baroda, Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, had a similar passion for turbans. He used to call Chavla 'guru'. In Chavla's collection are some "original" headgear, such as the 200-yearold turban of the Muslim Dawoodi Bohra community. "Turbans indicated caste, occupation, religion and social status," he said. "For instance, Rajputs and Brahmins of Saurashtra used to wear only white and red turbans, while members of royal families could wear turbans of any colour." Chavla began making turbans and collecting them after Ashokraje Gaekwad, the grandson of Baroda's erstwhile ruler, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad, asked him to turn his hobby into a mission.
- Prince 'fought for his life'
Prince 'fought for his life' after he took an overdose, according to his friend and collaborator Judith Hill, who says she was with him in the plane which made an emergency landing just six days before his death.
- 'Prince of Wales' to be 100 soon
he red sandstone structure was built around 1920 during the rule of Begum Sultan Jehan.
- An autopsy to find the reason of Prince's death
An autopsy was performed to determine the reason of death of music legend Prince, but authorities say that it could take weeks before the results are made public
- Prince was HIV positive: Reports
Speculation on the reason behind Prince's sudden demise is rife and as a new angle to it, a recent report says he was living with AIDS.
- 'Goodnight, Sweet Prince'
Prakash Belawadi mourns Prince's death
- Obama hosts powerful Saudi prince
US President Barack Obama on Friday hosted Saudi Arabia's deputy Crown Prince and defence minister Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. The 30-year-old is considered as the future leader of Saudi Arabia. He met the top leadership of the Obama administration including John Kerry and Ashton Carter.
- By George, Prince learns Braille!
Prince William tried his hand at a Formula E racing car simulator and learnt to type 'George' in Braille as he and his wife wrapped up the first leg of their India visit.


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Even though we ARE Nikon lovers,we are NOT affiliated with Nikon Corp. in any way.
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"RE: Display only NEFs on playback?"
Migs,Note there is a difference between playback and image review. Your question mentions playback, but I think you are referring to the image review function that shows each image automatically after each shot. I tested image review on my D800 set exactly like you have yours, and it does the same thing - both are displayed. Since it is either on or off with no other functional options, I don't see a way around it to check imagaes as you shoot. But you can use the playback function as a workaround since that pulls from one folder at a time allowing you to scroll through just the NEF files on your CF card - you just have to push the playback button to get there. I hope this helps.Dave


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Obama "leads" from way behind 1
A rebel group in Syria cut off the head of a poor, emaciated, hungry, sick boy named Abdullah Issa, aged between eleven and thirteen.
They claimed he was a "spy", but they most likely seized him in order to make their gleeful snuff-film (which you can watch here if you have the stomach for it).
The group has been lavishly supported by Obama.
When questioned about the official reaction to the atrocity, the State Department spokesman expressed indignation that such groups (in that chaotic bloodbath!) were "not obeying the laws of armed conflict".
From the (pacifist) New American, by Alex Newman:
As if Americans needed another reason to rein in the out-of-control government in Washington, D.C., jihadist Syrian "rebels" backed and "vetted" by the Obama administration and neocons in Congress beheaded a 12-year-old boy. The barbaric beheading of the impoverished child was perpetrated on video that surfaced this week, with smiling jihadists funded and armed by the U.S. government shouting "Allahu Akbar" as they sever the child's head. According to the Obama-backed terror group behind the horror, the boy was suspected of being a "spy" for the government. The group, which received heavy military equipment and funding from Obama, claimed it was "investigating" the gruesome child beheading.
The latest atrocity perpetrated by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Obama's allegedly "moderate" Syrian rebels, one faction in the globalist-fueled civil war, follows years of similar horrors. … Obama-backed jihadists have engaged in … a seemingly never-ending stream of horrific war crimes. …
The specific group behind the latest beheading of a child, which sparked a global outcry and headlines worldwide, is known as Nour al-Din al-Zenki. … The U.S. government supplied the terror group with American tax dollars and even BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles … As many as 1,000 Zenki jihadists were reportedly on the payroll of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency …
The writer points out that the group was approved as "part of the 'well-vetted' jihadist alliance" by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
The terror group also worked closely with the self-styled "Free Syrian Army", the jihadist umbrella group loudly promoted by Obama … It was also reportedly a regular ally of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, known as Jabhat al-Nusra. …
According to the terrorist group, the 12-year-old boy from a poor family was originally arrested near Aleppo for serving as an alleged "spy" for al-Quds, a group that supports the Syrian regime. The accusation led the jihadist group to decapitate the boy using a small knife on the back of a pick-up truck. The video of the murder, which was posted online, has caused a worldwide uproar. It shows the apparently prepubescent boy laying down in the truck surrounded by five adult jihadists with huge smiles on their faces. In the beheading footage, one of the men can be seen severing boy's head … [and then] holding the head up in triumph. …
As the beheading of the child and the Obama administration's links to it became a global scandal, the John Kerry-led State Department was forced to respond. "We strongly condemn this type of barbaric action, no matter what group is responsible," the State Department was quoted as saying. "We do not comment on which groups are funded by the United States. We do, however, routinely vet the groups we work with and support and their human rights record figures prominently in that. We do not support groups that condone this sort of barbarity, period."
State Department spokesperson John Kirby noted that "al-Zenki has identified some of its own members as being responsible for this appalling act". He also said that, according to a statement, the terror group had supposedly arrested those allegedly responsible for the beheading. "We encourage al-Zenki to investigate the incident and expect all parties to comply with their obligations under the law of armed conflict," Kirby was quoted as saying by the far-left Daily Beast. "Regardless of who may be culpable, we strongly condemn what appears to be the brutal murder of a minor." Other reports suggested that Obama had recently stopped funding the terror group, reportedly less than a year ago.
As The New American has documented extensively, however, the Obama administration has been lawlessly showering funds and weapons on practically every faction involved in the conflict — including the Shia militias out of Iraq fighting alongside Assad's forces … Other factions benefiting from American largess include multiple terror groups officially designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department. … There appears to be no warring faction that has not at some point been receiving U.S. government aid — a major violation of federal law, which does not provide exceptions for government officials in criminalizing support for terror groups.
An insoluble mystery – or an unutterable solution? 1
What can explain the zeal with which Obama has empowered Iran, against all reason, against all opposition and difficulty – including the truculent and obstreperous behavior of Iran itself?
Obama ardently wants Iran to be a power in the world. Why?
Bret Stephens's report yesterday at the Wall Street Journal on the progress of Iran towards nuclear arms under Obama's patronage only deepens the mystery of the motive.
What diplomats call the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—known to the rest of us as the Disastrous Iran Deal—was agreed in Vienna a year ago this week. Now comes a status update, courtesy of our friends at the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, or BfV.
In its fascinating 2015 annual report, published late last month … there's this:
The illegal proliferation-sensitive procurement activities [by Iran] in Germany registered by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution persisted in 2015 at what is, even by international standards, a quantitatively high level. This holds true in particular with regard to items which can be used in the field of nuclear technology.
The report also notes …
… a further increase in the already considerable procurement efforts in connection with Iran's ambitious missile technology program which could among other things potentially serve to deliver nuclear weapons. Against this backdrop it is safe to expect that Iran will continue its intensive procurement activities in Germany using clandestine methods to achieve its objectives.
The BfV report arrived days before Germany arrested a Pakistani national, identified as Syed Mustufa H., accused of spying for Iran. It also corroborates another German intelligence report, this one from the intelligence service of North Rhine-Westphalia, that Iran's nuclear procurement efforts have increased dramatically in recent years, from 48 known attempts in 2010 to 141 in 2015. Seven other German states have reported similar Iranian procurement efforts.
This violates Iran's explicit commitment to go through an official "procurement channel" to purchase nuclear- and missile-related materials.
There is such a channel open to Iran?
All this was enough to prompt Angela Merkel to warn the Bundestag last week that Iran "continued to develop its rocket program in conflict with relevant provisions of the U.N. Security Council". Don't expect German sanctions, but at least the chancellor is living in the reality zone.
As for the Obama administration, not so much. For the past year it has developed a narrative — spoon-fed to the reporters and editorial writers Ben Rhodes publicly mocks as dopes and dupes — that Iran has met all its obligations under the deal, and now deserves extra cookies in the form of access to U.S. dollars, Boeing jets, U.S. purchases of Iranian heavy water (thereby subsidizing its nuclear program), and other concessions the administration last year promised Congress it would never grant.
"We still have sanctions on Iran for its violations of human rights, for its support for terrorism, and for its ballistic-missile program, and we will continue to enforce those sanctions vigorously," Mr. Obama said in January. Whatever.
The administration is now weighing whether to support Iran's membership in the World Trade Organization. That would neutralize a future president's ability to impose sanctions on Iran, since WTO rules would allow Tehran to sue Washington for interfering with trade.
The administration has also pushed the Financial Action Task Force, an international body that enforces anti-money-laundering standards, to ease pressure on Iran, which FATF did last month by suspending some restrictions for the next year.
And then there's the Boeing deal to sell $17.6 billion worth of jets to Iran, which congressional Republicans led by Illinois's Pete Roskam are trying to stop. Iran uses its civilian fleet to ferry weapons and fighters to its terrorist clients in Syria and Lebanon.
"The administration is trying to lock in the Iran deal and prevent a future president from doing anything, including pushing back on Iran's malign behavior," says the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Mark Dubowitz, who knows more about Iran sanctions than anyone in Washington. "Instead of curbing Iran's worst behavior, the administration effectively facilitates it."
One last detail: In June, the Journal's Jay Solomon reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency had discovered "traces of man-made uranium" at Iran's military facility at Parchin. The agency reported this finding in a footnote to a report in December, but the administration made no comment then and now dismisses it as old news. The IAEA is no longer allowed to inspect Parchin, or any other military installation, under the deal.
So let's recap. Mr. Obama says Iran is honoring the nuclear deal, but German intelligence tells us Tehran is violating it more aggressively than ever. He promised "snapback" sanctions in the event of such violations, but the U.S. is operating as Iran's trade-promotion agent. He promised "unprecedented" inspections, but we're not permitted to inspect sites where uranium was found. He promised an eight-year ban on Iran's testing of ballistic missiles, but Tehran violated that ban immediately and repeatedly with only mild pushback from the West. He promised that the nuclear deal was not about "normalizing" relations with a rogue regime. But he wants it in the WTO.
Is Mr. Obama rationalizing a failed agreement or did he mean to mislead the American public? Either way, truth is catching up with the Iran deal.
Plainly Obama has misled the American public. What is the truth?
Iran has declared that it desires the annihilation of Israel. It has inscribed that aim on its missiles.
Is it illogical, or too far-fetched, to ascribe the same desire to the American commander-in-chief who is helping Iran become powerful enough to achieve its aim?
Aiding the enemy 7
Donald Trump has said that South Korea, Germany, and Japan should pay for the US troops stationed on their soil.
Bad enough that Americans pay for the defense of allies.
But America also gives money to its enemies; most notably to Pakistan, which, though classed as an ally, is in fact an enemy.
As far back as 2011, Americans were informed that Pakistan was helping the Taliban, the Islamic terrorist organization in Afghanistan with which they had been at war since October 2001.
Reuters reported:
Pakistan's security service provides weapons and training to Taliban insurgents fighting U.S. and British troops in Afghanistan, despite official denials, Taliban commanders say, in allegations that could worsen tensions between Pakistan and the United States.
A number of middle-ranking Taliban commanders revealed the extent of Pakistani support in interviews for a BBC Two documentary series, Secret Pakistan …
A former head of Afghan intelligence also told the program that Afghanistan gave Pakistan's former president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, information in 2006 that Osama bin Laden was hiding in northern Pakistan close to where the former al Qaeda leader was eventually killed by U.S. special forces in May.
Admiral Mike Mullen, then the top U.S. military officer, accused Pakistani intelligence last month of backing violence against U.S. targets including the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. He said the Haqqani network, an Afghan militant group blamed for the September 13 embassy attack, was a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).
Pakistan denies the U.S. allegations.
One Taliban commander, Mullah Qaseem, told the BBC the important things for a fighter were supplies and a hiding place.
"Pakistan plays a significant role. First they support us by providing a place to hide which is really important. Secondly they provide us with weapons," he said …
Other Taliban commanders described how they and their fighters were, and are, trained in a network of camps on Pakistani soil.
According to a commander using the name Mullah Azizullah, the experts running the training are either members of the ISI or have close links to it.
"They are all the ISI's men. They are the ones who run the training. First they train us about bombs; then they give us practical guidance," he said.
Another Taliban fighter, known as Commander Najib, said al Qaeda trainers also operated in the camps, talent spotting possible suicide bombers.
"I was in the camp for a month … They were giving us practical training in whatever weapons we specialized in … Suicide bombers were taken to a different section and were kept apart from us. Those who were taught to be suicide bombers were there," he said.
And, of course, Pakistan was hiding Osama bin Laden from American revenge for 9/11 – though of course the Pakistani government denied it.
A former head of Afghan intelligence told the BBC Afghan officials gave Musharraf information in 2006 suggesting bin Laden was hiding in Mansehra, a town just 12 miles from Abbottabad, where bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in May, but that the information was not acted upon.
Amrullah Saleh, head of Afghan intelligence from 2004 to 2010, said Syed Akbar, a Pakistani believed to be smuggling guns to the Taliban, told Afghan intelligence he had escorted bin Laden from one location to another.
"The information we had was suggesting Mansehra was the town where bin Laden was hiding … It happens after so many years that bin Laden was about 12 miles from that location," he said.
Saleh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai took the evidence to Musharraf who, according to Saleh, reacted angrily.
"He (Musharraf) banged the table and looked at President Karzai and said, 'Am I president of a banana republic? If not, then how can you tell me bin Laden is hiding in a settled area of Pakistan'. I said 'Well, this is the information so you can go and check it.'," said Saleh …
Nothing has changed. Pakistan continues to train, equip, and protect the Taliban.
But, we learn from an article by Joe Pappalardo at Townhall, the Republican dominated US Senate intends to give that treacherous Muslim state yet more aid – to "compensate" it for "helping" the US in the war against the Taliban:
A proposal for a new fund to pay Pakistan for its assistance in the war on terror has received approval from the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senator John McCain, committee chairman, introduced the funding bid as part of the Senate's 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which was passed on May 18. If Pakistan can meet all of the bill's conditions, the new fund will grant the nation $800 million in compensation.
This new fund replaces the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) from 2013, and solely focuses on Pakistan. The CSF paid Pakistan for its support of the U.S. and Coalition forces in Afghanistan. To date, Pakistan has received $3.1 billion, but the old fund will expire at the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
The reimbursement fund will still require Pakistan to maintain communication lines to Afghanistan, and if Pakistan does not act against the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani network, the U.S. will withhold $300 million.
Committee members noted that removing Afghanistan operations from the fund's objectives was timely because U.S. involvement in Afghanistan had decreased. Most U.S. troops in Afghanistan have been withdrawn, and the coalition forces will soon do the same, lawmakers said.
The House of Representatives, which also has a Republican majority, is just as keen to reward Pakistan:
The House of Representatives passed a bill last week that also aims to reimburse Pakistan. However, it does not replace the CSF and offers $900 million with $450 million tied to acting against the Haqqani network.
The new bill marks a shift to a focus on Pakistan's national security, which has become a major interest for America's own national security.
Q: How exactly does America's national security depend on the security of Pakistan?
The committee said continuing to use the CSF would hinder any U.S. support of Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts.
Q: What "anti-terrorism efforts" by Pakistan would those be?
If the recklessness with which the US gives aid to Pakistan looks to you like insanity, you will find your suspicions confirmed when you know that your tax money also goes to aid the extremely wealthy Islamic tyranny of Saudi Arabia, which works night and day to impose Islam upon America and the whole of the Western world.
And the insanity doesn't stop there.
In the years when the US was supposed to have no ties whatsoever with Communist Cuba – yes! Your tax dollars were going there too.
And while you are still gaping in disbelief, there's one more enemy you need to know you were aiding – Iran.
You will find Cuba and Iran listed as recipients of US aid here. The list makes interesting reading.
The story-teller who threw the world into turmoil 3
Has there ever been a president of the United States – or of a middle school debating club – who knew as little, and cared as little to know anything, as President Barack Hussein Obama?
He employed an immature would-be novelist to make up stories about the world and international affairs, then acted on the fiction.
The result is that the Middle East is in flames, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, millions have been displaced, Europe is being overrun by Muslim "refugees", and the savagely belligerent regime that rules the Islamic state of Iran is freely developing nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them – and getting more than a billion dollars from the United States to help them do it.
We quote from an article at PJ Media by the excellent Claudia Rosett (who has revealed much about Evil's HQ, the United Nations):
It's a good bet that by now the entire foreign policy cosmos … has read the York Times Magazineprofile of Deputy National Security Advisor Benjamin Rhodes, "The Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama's Foreign-Policy Guru". The reporter, David Samuels, had extraordinary access to the White House, multiple well-placed sources and in his 9,500 word piece he provides plenty of attribution, including quotes from Rhodes himself. We get a detailed look, behind the White House facade, at Rhodes, "master shaper and retailer of Obama's foreign policy narratives," complete with his contempt for Congress, the press and the public; his manipulation of the media; and a case study of his "narrative" of liesconcocted to grease a path for Obama's signature foreign policy achievement – the unpopular, murky, amorphous and deeply dangerous Iran nuclear deal.
Freighted with the far-reaching effects of a major treaty, the Iran deal was never submitted by Obama to the Senate for ratification as a treaty. Framed as an agreement with Iran, it was never signed by Iran. Sold by the administration as a transparent deal, it is turning out to be a slush heap of secrets. The real blob in this drama is the rolling sludge of presidential over-reach, White House fictions and raw abuse of public trust that has brought us everything from the indigestible "Affordable Care Act" to the Benghazi "video" narrative, to the Iran deal. …
Leading members of Congress are calling on President Obama to fire Rhodes "over accusations the White House intentionally misled lawmakers and the American public about the contents of last summer's comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran".
In a letter to Obama, Senators Mark Kirk, John Cornyn and John Barrasso cite Rhodes's statement to the New York Times that the White House peddled a phony narrative to sell the Iran deal because he considered it "impossible" for elected lawmakers to have "a sober, reasoned public debate, after which the members of Congress reflect and take a vote'. They note, if Rhodes "had conducted himself this way in a typical place of business outside Washington, where American taxpayers work, he surely would have been already fired or asked to resign".
So, why does Ben Rhodes still have his job?
The broad answer involves the moral vertigo of modern Washington, the Instagram attention span of too many members of a Twitter-driven press corps, and the self-abasements of a culture in which the old American spirit of individual responsibility and free enterprise has been devolving — with many a prompt from President You-Didn't-Build-That — into a selfie-snapping contest for "safe spaces" and "free stuff".
In that context, dude, what difference does it make if Boy Wonder Ben Rhodes, speechwriter and "strategic communicator", mind-melded with the president, carries on manufacturing and marketing the "narrative" that passes these days for foreign policy? Once you dispense with the baggage of reality, and its knock-on effects for those multitudes of lesser mortals who have never flown on Air Force One, what's left is former White House staffer Tommy Vietor ("Dude, this was like two years ago"), buddy of Ben Rhodes, techno-chatting to one of Washington's best reporters, Eli Lake (who knows plenty), that he's sure most folks outside of Washington think the Rhodes profile was just a "fascinating profile of a brilliant guy with a really cool job".
All these things matter. But there's a far more direct answer to the question of why Rhodes still has his job.
Under the old rules of American politics, a top White House staffer getting caught betraying the public trust (and then gloating over it) would have been a firing offense. Not anymore. For this president, with his pen, phone and proclivity for executive diktat, the priority is not the rights of the American people, or their elected lawmakers in Congress, or fidelity to the truth. What matters is loyalty to Obama and his agenda – however radical that becomes, and whatever it might require in terms of lies, manipulation and disregard for democratic process.
The real story here is not Rhodes. It's his boss. Rhodes is no rogue element on Obama's staff. We've heard no protest from the White House over Rhodes's statement in the Samuels profile that "I don't know anymore where I begin and Obama ends".
What's come out of the White House instead is an article by Rhodes on "How We Advocated for the Iran Deal"; now coupled with a rejection by the White House of an invitation from Congress for Rhodes to come testify on that very topic, at a hearing held earlier today. A prime distinction between these two poles is that Rhodes, when writing an article, controls the narrative from his keyboard (dispensing with assorted inconvenient truths on grounds that "I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to respond to those topics in the weeks and months to come"). In front of the likes of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, there's the awkward chance that Rhodes might lose control of his narrative.
The White House argued that the invitation for Rhodes to testify "raises significant constitutional concerns rooted in the separation of powers". That would be more persuasive had the president shown any such concern for the Constitution while ramming through the Iran deal. That was not solely a matter of peddling the Rhodes-Obama narrative. Obama also raced to get United Nations Security Council approval for the deal before Congress had a chance to delve into it. Recall Obama's lead negotiator, Wendy Sherman, ridiculing the idea that the administration should take the position "Well, excuse me, the world, you should wait for the United States Congress". (Yes, Wendy, this being America, that is exactly how it should have worked).
The White House further argues that "the appearance of a senior presidential adviser before Congress threatens the independence and autonomy of the President, as well as his ability to receive candid advice and counsel in the discharge of his constitutional duties". Fine, if the White House is dealing with Congress and the public in good faith. But when the candid advice and counsel consists of concocting and packaging lies – excuse me, "narratives" – designed to neuter Congress and mislead the public, where does that take us? …
When an administration is caught deliberately spinning lies, when a White House official paid to uphold the public trust is exposed as deriding and manipulating that same public, the response needed for the healthy working of democracy is apology, contrition and a real remedy. If the official does not have conscience enough to resign, the president should do the honors, by firing him. Or her.
But nothing can undo the harm that the Rhodes-Obama twin-headed monster has done.
Under Obama, it has become standard procedure that such firings do not take place. Obama shrugs off the news, doubles down on the narrative and bulldozes ahead. Once the scandal is consigned to last week's news cycle, for purposes of this administration it is down the Memory Hole. Obamacare, with its partisan vote, indecipherable text, soaring costs and disastrous web site rollout; an American economy choking under regulations; the disintegration of Libya, the vanishing red line in Syria, the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the rise of ISIS, North Korea's nuclear tests, Iran's ballistic missile tests, China's military buildup, Russia's turf grabs – the Obama narrative says it is all under control. Nothing much to see here, move along. Or, to quote Obama's first secretary of State, "What difference, at this point, does it make?"
In the resulting vacuum, absent ethical or responsible leadership at the very top, we're left to amuse ourselves with the chatter of the echo chamber – home to the infinitely malleable narratives of Rhodes and his boss. Last Wednesday, seeking to mollify the reporters so roundly insulted by Rhodes, White House spokesman Josh Earnest and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough brought a box of donuts to the White House press corps, calling their visit "press appreciation day". Earnest assured reporters that Rhodes would revise the contemptuous statements about the press, "given a chance". Does that mean Rhodes will now disavow, in the White House inner chambers, that "candid advice and counsel" so prized by the president? …
We wouldn't be at all surprised if the White House press corps was bought off with a box of donuts.
Why would Obama fire Rhodes? If nothing else comes clear from this saga, it is that Rhodes has served for years as one of the chief ideological bag men of Obama's presidency. If, under their ministrations the possibilities of free and open discourse are vanishing in Washington, replaced by bully pulpit narratives bouncing around the echo chamber, wasn't that the reason Obama gave Rhodes all that power in the first place?
Obama and Kerry shame America 2
Being skeptical by nature, principle, and habit, we don't look for conspiracy theories, much preferring the "cock-up theory" of history and politics.
But when it comes to what happened last January to two US boats and their crews in the Persian Gulf – their capture by the Iranian enemy – our suspicions are aroused by a very strong smell of rat.
Here's why.
Ari Lieberman sums up what is known and unknown about the episode, writing at Front Page:
On January 12, at approximately 9:23 a.m., a pair American navy riverine command boats or RCBs, set sail south from Kuwait to Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. 5 Fleet.
At 2:10 p.m., the navy received a report that the RCBs had been intercepted by the Iranians. At 2:45 p.m., the military reported that all communication with the RCB flotilla was severed.
At 6:15 p.m., the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Anzio received a communication from the Iranians that the sailors were being detained. Coincidentally, their detention coincided with Obama's scheduled State of the Union Address, which predictably, made absolutely no mention of the event.
The Pentagon claimed that the RCBs strayed into Iranian territorial waters as a result of a "navigation error" and thereafter, one of the RCBs experienced engine trouble. They were then greeted by a pair of Iranian speed boats. Photos and video of the incident released by the Iranians show that the Iranian boats were armed with nothing more than forward-mounted Russian 14.5mm DShK machine guns of Korean War vintage.
At gunpoint, the Iranians transferred the boats and their crew to Farsi Island where they maintain a military base.
The boats and crew members were released some 16 hours later. … The Iranians thoroughly inspected the RCBs. Two satellite phone sim cards were stolen by the Iranians and the Pentagon has not divulged what, if any, information they contained.
The groveling John Kerry thanked his Iranian counterpart profusely for releasing the illegally detained sailors.
Aside from these bare facts, the Pentagon has not released any new information concerning the embarrassing incident, a humiliation unparalleled in modern U. S. naval history. …
Troubling questions remain unanswered.
First, how did an experienced naval crew, equipped with sophisticated navigational equipment and traveling a well-charted, straight forward path, encounter a "navigational error" that led them into the territorial waters of an extremely hostile entity? In the absence of additional information, the Pentagon's explanation makes absolutely no sense. There has been speculation that the Iranians employed a device that spoofed or tricked the RCB's on-board GPS devices with fake signals, leading the sailors into believing that they were on a correct course when they had in fact, substantially deviated. If the Iranians had in fact employed such a device, it would not have been the first time. In 2011, they reportedly misdirected a U.S. drone operating in Afghanistan by hacking into its GPS. The drone and all of its technology fell into Iranian hands relatively intact. The Pentagon has not issued any comment on this theory and notably, has not issued any denial of this troublesome scenario.
Second, and even more troubling, is how did 10 American sailors surrender their heavily armed and armored RCBs to a vastly inferior Iranian force without firing a single shot?
Why weren't readily available military assets immediately deployed and dispatched after the military was notified of the hostile encounter?
Who gave the commander the order to surrender and was the decision to surrender influenced by political considerations, notably Obama's State of the Union Address?
While the Pentagon continues to remain mute on these and other crucial issues surrounding the seizure of the RCBs, the Iranians have been extremely talkative, missing no opportunity to humiliate the "Great Satan".
The list of outrages includes the following:
The sailors were forced to kneel at gunpoint with their hands interlocked behind their heads. The display was videotaped.
The commander was forced to apologize and acknowledge his "navigational error" and the graciousness of his Iranian captors on Iranian TV.
The Iranians re-enacted the surrender spectacle during one of their annual "Death to America" demonstrations.
The sailors were subjected to rather intense interrogation. Iranian TV aired footage purporting to show an American sailor crying. A female sailor endured further humiliation and was forced into Sharia compliance by being made to wear a head covering.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, publicly issued the Iranians responsible for capturing the RCB sailors with "medals of conquest".
Approximately two weeks after the sailors were freed, Iran released footage of one its drones shadowing the U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman … on the very day the sailors were captured. A U.S. Navy spokesman called the flyover "abnormal and unprofessional".
As noted, two satellite phone sim cards, likely containing classified information, were stolen by the Iranians. In mid-March, naval commander Gen. Ali Razmjou of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced that Iran had retrieved thousands of pages of information from laptops, GPS devices and maps used by U.S. Navy sailors.
It is likely that we have not heard the last from the Iranians on this humiliating saga. In fact, Razmjou said that the IRG will publish a book about the incident.
The Iranian bombast stands in marked contrast to the Pentagon's almost docile stance. The reasons for the Pentagon's silence are not hard to fathom. Something happened in the Arabian Gulf on January 12 that if revealed, would likely cause considerable embarrassment to the Obama administration. …
Obama will continue to order the Pentagon to obfuscate and remain silent on the circumstances surrounding the seizure of U.S. personnel in the Arabian Gulf, because it will likely embarrass the administration and add to further congressional calls to toughen sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The order to the "experienced naval crew" to "surrender their heavily armed and armored RCBs to a vastly inferior Iranian force without firing a single shot", MUST have come down the line from the highest authority.
We have frequently argued that Obama wants Iran to become a nuclear armed power, which is why he went to such great lengths, making every possible concession, to get his dubious "deal" agreed with the Iranian regime. Furthermore, Obama has shown consistently that he loves Islam, holding it in far higher esteem than the country he was so improbably elected to lead.
Looked at in the light of those suppositions, the incident of the captured RCBs can be seen as highly congenial to Obama's agenda. So did Obama have anything personally to do with its occurrence?
Even if the story of the Iranian trick is true – their amazingly expert use of some technological marvel, the modern equivalent of the Sirens who lured Odysseus into their clutches – it does not explain why nothing was done immediately to recover the boats and the crews. Nothing, that is, other than Secretary of State John Kerry getting down on his knees and begging the Ayatollahs to return them. Which he did – though the groveling was called "diplomacy", for the "success" of which Kerry expressed personal pride.
So how was it done? Why was it done? Was there a secret agreement between the White House and the Dark Tower to have it happen? If so, when was it brewed?
Thing is, the only beneficiary of it is the Islamic regime of Iran. So was the boost to the prestige of those evil men allowed for want of any other choice, or was it planned and intended?
Did the incident come about regrettably because of a series of cock-ups? Or was there a conspiracy over which the conspirers are crowing, one side openly, the other side secretly?
The fact that those questions can plausibly be asked, must cause American patriots to shudder.
Europe reaps what Europe sowed 3
Today, in Belgium, at least 31 people were killed and over a hundred injured by Muslim jihadis. There were two attacks on Zaventem airport at 07:00 GMT, in which 11 people were killed and 81 injured. A third attack, in which 20 people were killed, was carried out an hour later in Brussels on the Maelbeek metro station, near the European Parliament.
Muslims had threatened that there would be attacks when Salah Abdeslam, the plotter of the jihadi attacks in Paris last November, was found in Brussels and taken into custody four days ago.
The attacks will no doubt be put down as usual by stupid politicians to Muslims who have embraced a "brand" or "interpretation" of Islam, commonly called "Islamism", which they say is not anything like the "real" Islam. But in fact there is not a sliver of difference between Islam and "Islamism", only between active jihadis and non-active jihadis. Jihad – "holy war" – is commanded by Islam and all Muslims are obliged to pursue it, either actively themselves or in support of others who who pursue it actively.
Islam itself is an intolerable totalitarian ideology. It must be treated with the contempt and loathing accorded by most people to Nazism, Stalinism, Maoism. There is no good Islam.
On Fox News "good" Muslims – absurdly chosen advisers to this or that US administration – are saying that in Brussels it is a problem of non-assimilation of the Muslim immigrants; of the young Muslim men who are killing people with nail-filled bombs because they are unemployed.
Is there anyone left who will swallow that story?
We quote below, in part, from our post, It's not terrorism, it's war, November 12 2014, in which we argue that terrorism is the method the jihadis are using, but their aim is to conquer, subjugate and kill. And that is what Western governments, which have insisted, and continue to insist, on importing millions of Muslims from the Third World, refuse to accept.
Jihad means Holy War. Jihad must be recognized as a war waged everywhere.
Even if European governments found a way to stop and punish jihadi violence in their own countries, the war would go on. At present they are all acting ineffectively. Instead of joyfully letting all Muslim citizens who want to go and fight with IS/ISIS/ISIL go, and refuse them re-entry, and deprive them of their citizenship (as Geert Wilders so rightly recommends), they try to persuade them not to go, and if they return they give them "therapy", as if Islam were nothing but a nervous breakdown in a few gullible individuals.
It is foolish and dangerous to go on calling every Muslim "holy" warrior a terrorist. It is even more foolish and self-deceiving to call IS/ISIS/ISIL a "terrorist organization". ISIS is one of the armies of Islam.
Islam is an ideology of world conquest. It is fighting a war against the non-Muslim world.
At the same time there are battles within Islam. Sunni versus Shia is a perpetual conflict. IS/ISIS/ISIL – the Islamic State – is Sunni. When Shia Iran becomes a nuclear power – which will be quite soon with Obama's help – there will be a second Islamic force against the rest of the world, competing with the Islamic State for the victor's crown.
Of course the Iranian force with its nuclear weapons will be a thousand times stronger than the Islamic State.
Even if the Islamic State were to be defeated by American or Western forces, the war would not stop.
The war will continue on the streets of Western cities in Sweden, Britain, France, Spain, Belgium – and America.
The EU "High Representative for Foreign Affairs", Federica Mogherini – a life-long Communist, and one of the European leaders who acquiesced in Obama's "deal" with Iran – brought herself to tears while publicly addressing the Muslim terror attacks in Brussels. She was visiting Jordan at the time.
Like almost all European political leaders, she has been ardently in favor of bringing millions of Muslims into Europe.
She has been consistently unsympathetic – positively antagonistic – to the people of Israel, who have been under terrorist attack by Muslims for decades.
Europe reaps what Europe sowed.
Political gestures 1
A social worker named Wendy Sherman was employed by President Clinton to negotiate the 1999 non-proliferation nuclear arms deal between the US and the hereditary dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-il.
The Obama administration was so pleased with her achievement that they got her to negotiate a similar deal between the US and Iran in 2015.
Neither the Iranian rulers nor the present North Korean hereditary dictator Kim Jong-un have any intention of abiding by the terms of their respective "deals".
CNN reports:
North Korea has successfully launched a satellite into space, its state-run TV said …
Carrier rocket Kwangmyongsong blasted off from the Sohae Space Center at 9 a.m Sunday local time …
U.S. officials have said the same type of rocket used to launch today's satellite could deliver a nuclear warhead. …
According to multiple experts, North Korea has at least a dozen and perhaps as many as 100 nuclear weapons, though at present it lacks sophisticated delivery mechanisms.
Or did, until now.
The Daily Beast reports:
Nuclear nonproliferation experts agree: Obama, they claim, is responsible for the failure of America to prevent North Korea from expanding its nuclear program. …
The Obama administration concept of 'strategic patience' emerged early on in the administration after the scathing experience of North Korea's 2009 nuclear test. The strategy essentially demanded that North Koreans recommit to concrete steps towards denuclearization — such as allowing inspectors and freezing fissile material production — as a precondition of any future talks. …
It is a strategy that has proven to be a failure, given the most recent nuclear test. North Korea has simply accepted sanctions and international isolation as the cost of a slow and steady expansion of its nuclear weapons program. …
By demanding that North Koreans take denuclearization steps before talks that would focus on denuclearization, it put the onus for talks on the authoritarian state, thereby buying them time to creep towards strengthening its nuclear arsenal.
"Given that North Korea equates its nuclear weapons with the survivability of its regime, it is extremely unlikely that Pyongyang will take steps toward denuclearization absent assurances of the state's security," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. "The overthrow of Qadhafi, several years after Libya gave up its nuclear program, likely increased North Korea's concerns that absent a nuclear deterrent, its regime would be at risk." …
So when presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio says that "North Korea is run by a lunatic who has been expanding his nuclear arsenal while President Obama stood idly by", and Jeb Bush blamed the "Obama Clinton foreign policy", they're on the mark. …
One thing is for sure: North Korea's nuclear program has dramatically expanded over the past decade — during the course of the Obama administration — and the threat is now greater than it has ever been.
Well meaning, good-doing ladies like Wendy Sherman are indispensable to modern politics, especially to a sentimental foreign policy.
They are Mistresses of the Empty Gesture.
Islamic terrorism 3
In this excellent video published by the Clarion Project in December 2015, Raheel Raza, president of Muslims Facing Tomorrow, talks truthfully about radical Islam.
(Hat-tip to our Facebook commenter, Darryl Kerney)
A hell-hag as leader and role model? 2
Who is the woman whom millions of Americans would vote for to become the first woman president of the United States? What sort of woman is she? What has she done? What does she stand for? What sort of model would she be for rising generations of Americans?
Is she a person of model character? No. She is an habitual liar (see here and here), a conniver and plotter; arrogant, corrupt, and vicious and cruel.
Is she a person who has achieved great things? No. Her only achievements have been catastrophes, bringing incalculable suffering upon millions of people who live their precarious lives in frail societies, most notably in Libya, where she brought unending chaos; in Nigeria, where she actively encouraged Boko Haram, the butchers of untold numbers of defenseless Christians; in Egypt, where she did all she could (but fortunately failed) to keep the tyrannical Muslim Brotherhood in power; in Iran, where she has helped Obama strengthen the oppressive dictatorship of the Ayatollahs.
Is she a woman of ideas? Does she at least associate herself with a political philosophy that promotes freedom, openness, tolerance? No. She has not articulated a single original political idea. And far from promoting freedom, openness and tolerance, she has actively worked with Islamic enemies of America to shut down free speech.
Is she clever? No. Cunning, yes, she is. But she lives in a sort of mental glass house in which she is forever throwing stones. Apparently oblivious to the facts of her own life, she denounces the very people and activities that support her political existence. It is a kind of blind, blundering stupidity.
Or call it "cognitive dissonance". Examples of it are given by Victor Davis Hanson, who writes at Townhall:
Hillary Clinton recently said she would go after offshore tax "schemes" in the Caribbean. …
Yet her husband, Bill Clinton, reportedly made $10 million as an advisor and an occasional partner in the Yucaipa Global Partnership, a fund registered in the Cayman Islands.
Is Ms. Clinton's implicit argument that she knows offshore tax dodging is unethical because her family has benefitted from it? Does she plan to return millions of dollars of her family's offshore-generated income?
Clinton is calling for "huge campaign finance reform," apparently to end the excessive and often pernicious role of big money in politics. But no candidate, Republican or Democrat, raised more than the $112 million that Clinton collected in 2015 for her primary campaign.
In 2013, Clinton earned nearly $1.6 million in speaking fees from Wall Street banks. She raked in $675,000 from Goldman Sachs, and $225,000 apiece from Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and UBS Wealth Management. Did that profiteering finally make Clinton sour on Wall Street's pay-for-play ethics?
Clinton has also vowed to raise taxes on hedge fund managers. Is that a way of expressing displeasure with her son-in-law, Marc Mezvinsky, who operates a $400 million hedge fund?
For that matter, how did Clinton's daughter, Chelsea – who worked for a consulting firm and a hedge fund despite having no background in finance – reportedly become worth an estimated $15 million?
Hillary Clinton recently proposed a new $350 billion government plan to make college more affordable. Certainly, universities spike tuition costs, and student-loan debt has surpassed $1 trillion. Colleges spend money indiscriminately, mostly because they know that the federal government will always back student loans.
Yet, since she left office, Clinton routinely has charged universities $200,000 or more for her brief 30-minute chats. Her half-hour fee is roughly equal to the annual public-university tuition cost for eight students.
It's been said that Clinton is trying to rekindle President Obama's 2012 allegations of a Republican "war on women". That charge and the war against the "1 percent" helped deliver key states to Obama. Renewing that theme, Clinton recently declared on Twitter, "Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported."
Does Clinton's spirited advocacy of "every" survivor include the array of women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct? In other words, does Hillary now trust the testimonies of survivors such as Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Paula Jones, whose allegations must be "believed and supported"?
Ms. Clinton has also called for more financial transparency and greater accountability in general – something needed after scandals at government agencies such as the IRS, VA and GSA. But Clinton's use of a private email server probably violated several federal laws. Her laxity with confidential communications was arguably more egregious than that of Gen. David Petraeus, a national icon who pleaded guilty to mishandling classified materials.
Perhaps Clinton assumes that the electorate is still in the ethical world of the 1990s. Back then, it was somewhat easier to dampen scandals – at least the ones that didn't involve sex in the White House. But in the age of social media, 24-hour cable TV, instantaneous blogging and a different public attitude toward political corruption and sexual assault, Hillary Clinton now appears to be caught in the wrong century.
Womanizing and sexual coercion can no longer be so easily dismissed. The financial antics of the Clinton Foundation don't past muster …
Ms. Clinton at times tries to offset scandals by pointing to her record as secretary of state. But few believe that her handling of Russia, Iran, China, Benghazi or Islamic terrorism made the world calmer or America more secure.
There is a brazenness, an audacity, a shameless impudence in her hypocrisy that has no match even among politicians. In this, one would have to look back to medieval Popes to find her equal.
Yet there are tens of millions of voters who would put enormous power into her hands. For no better reason than that she is a woman. Such people deserve their doom, of course. But what of the rest?
America must not fall into the talons of this hell-hag!
The weakening of America 1
Something fishy in the Arabian Gulf:
There is something fishy about how such a high-tech U.S. craft can "stray accidentally into Iranian waters due to a navigation error", as Defense Secretary Ash Carter described it on Thursday to Univision. The Pentagon had previously claimed engine trouble for an incident that's humiliated the U.S., as Iranian video showed to the world 10 American sailors on their knees at gunpoint.
From Investor's Business Daily:
How can an advanced, ultra-agile U.S. combat boat suffer a "navigation error" that leads to a terrorist state capturing its sailors? Tehran just revealed military ineptitude warranting a congressional probe.
The Swedish-designed Combat Boat 90 can make the sharpest of turns at high speed, stop nearly on a dime, maneuver like magic and, with its Rolls-Royce jet-propulsion system, can speed along at over 45 miles an hour in rivers and shallow coastlines while transporting 18 amphibious troops.
But what good is any of that if it falls into enemy hands? …
A retired operations commander for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, Christopher Harmer, told CNN the capture constituted "a severe failure", charging that "either the naval leadership put these sailors in an impossible situation, or the sailors are professionally incompetent". Harmer has researched the increased lethality of Iran's submarine fleet for the Institute for the Study of War.
That one of the sailors would appear in an Iranian video apologizing may have actually violated the military's Code of Conduct, which requires that a detainee give name, rank, serial number and age, but "evade answering further questions" and "make no oral or written statements disloyal" to his country "and its allies or harmful to their cause".
Harmer told the Washington Times, "The U.S. Navy looks extraordinarily incompetent. … In its ability to transit boats without violating Iranian waters, they look incompetent to know how to deal with a mechanical malfunction, and now that they've been taken into custody, they're apologizing."
Harmer told CNN there was "no reason for a small vessel to be out that far and especially without escorting ships around it", and "the Navy has to explain why you have small ships transiting 300 miles of open ocean".
Iran claims its Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the CB90's GPS gear and that it revealed U.S. espionage. As reported in Defense News, House Armed Services Committee member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Marine who served in the Iraq War, claimed there was no way the Iran military "didn't reverse engineer, or look at and copy everything that they possibly could" of the two commandeered boats' high-tech equipment.
In the midst of this disaster did Secretary of State John Kerry make another bad deal with Tehran, following last year's nuclear pact, to get the sailors released swiftly?
All of this warrants a high-profile congressional investigation. Sailors and valuable equipment get captured, are humiliated on video, and finally one ends up making a statement that serves terrorist propaganda purposes.
"Semper Fortis" — always strong [an unofficial motto of the US Navy] — hardly describes what this incident reveals about the U.S. Navy after seven years of Barack Obama.
When the captured crews were released the next morning, the two boats sailed away with no sign of "mechanical failure". Had both boats been afflicted with it? Had it been hard or easy to repair? Who repaired it?
Here is more editorial comment from IBD:
Ten U.S. sailors kneel at gunpoint before Iran's military, then actually apologize, and while held captive, merit no mention in the president's speech to Congress. It's American weakness illustrated.
We don't yet have the full facts on how a U.S. naval vessel was allowed to be seized by the world's foremost terrorist state. But as Desert Storm infantry commander Gen. Barry McCaffrey (ret.) warned in an NBC News interview, "this is an affront to our military presence in the Gulf and will unsettle our allies in the region." …
Images can hurt a global power profoundly. … For Iran, images of U.S. sailors kneeling in submission, and video of one apologizing on behalf of the rest — and, by extension, on behalf of the U.S. — are priceless.
"It was our fault," the sailor said on camera. "And we apologize for our mistake."
What a comparison with the tortured crew of the U.S.S. Pueblo, captured by North Korea in 1968, who during their captivity discreetly extended their middle fingers when posing for propaganda photos.
Today, Secretary of State John Kerry says, "I want to express my gratitude to Iranian authorities. …"
As Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said, "Before we thank the Iranian naval forces and attempt to defend and normalize their behavior, as Vice President Biden and Secretaries Kerry and Carter appear inclined to do, we should demand answers" to questions that include:
"Where exactly were the sailors intercepted? Why were they detained instead of being merely escorted into international waters? What was the nature of the technical malfunctions on both vessels? … Was sensitive equipment compromised? (and) Why were the sailors not permitted to contact U.S. higher headquarters in the region for the 16 hours they were detained?"
Cotton also noted that the administration presumes that Iran conducted a rescue mission, "when Iran has characterized the incident as U.S. ships trespassing into its waters and 'snooping'."
He added: "Our sailors never should have been detained in the first place, and blithely accepting such action will only embolden the ayatollahs who wish to do harm to Americans and our allies in the Arabian Gulf."
This humiliation of the U.S. comes less than a week before we lift sanctions unfreezing $150 billion for new terrorist activities, as promised in Obama and Kerry's Iran nuclear deal — a pact that Tehran has not even been required to sign.
Our sailors were held as Obama stood before Congress on Tuesday night, but they weren't deemed worthy of mention in the president's [State of the Union] address.
He could have included among his otherwise untrue boasts one that is outrageously true: that he has achieved something he always said he wanted to achieve – the weakening of America.


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2 items from 2009
14 July 2009 4:57 PM, PDT | Monsters and Critics | See recent Monsters and Critics news »
.The Big Valley. is headed to a much bigger screen.According to Variety, the 1960s television Western that starred Barbara Stanwyck is being adapted into an independent feature by Kate Edelman Johnson and Daniel Adams through their Panther Entertainment banner.Adams will direct the film from his own script, whose storyline was developed with series creators Louis F. Edelman and A.I. Bezzerides. Plot borrows elements from the show.s pilot and several episodes.Roles have not yet been cast.In the show, Stanwyck played the widowed matriarch of the wealthy Barkley family living in 19th-century Stockton, Calif.The series, which ran from 1964-69 on ABC, also starred Richard Long, Peter Breck and Charles Briles, and launched the careers of Linda Evans and Lee Majors.Pre-production on .The »
- Adnan Tezer
4 June 2009 1:36 AM, PDT | DreadCentral.com | See recent Dread Central news »
As any horror fan worth their salt knows, back in 1974, a little film was released (or unleashed) upon the public with the off-putting yet intriguing title, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Most horror folks have heard all the stories about the film including The Dinner Scene shoot and about the deal with Bryanston, which led to years of legal wrangling. The cast has, to one degree or another, stayed in the public eye and director Tobe Hooper, Dp Daniel Pearl and Production Manager Ron Bozman all moved on to other films, even an Oscar win.
But one cast member has remained mysteriously quiet. And she is the most iconic of them all – Pam, the girl on the hook. Every TCM poster has her image along with Gunnar Hansen's Leatherface, but no one really knew what happened to her once the film was wrapped. Now, Teri McMinn, who so memorably played Pam, »
- thebellefromhell
2 items from 2009
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Home > News > NanoZone promotes the scientist in every kid
April 2nd, 2004
NanoZone promotes the scientist in every kid
Visitors to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, Calif., this summer will be able to learn more about Tejal Desai's formative years as a shy, inquisitive child who grew up to become a rising star in the field of biomedical engineering. Desai, an ENG associate professor of biomedical engineering, is one of several researchers featured in an upcoming exhibition on nanotechnology at Lawrence Hall, a public science center on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, that promotes science education in prekindergarten through high school.
B. U. Bridge
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