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(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read item. Law enforcement authorities and many in the news media are going to great lengths to assert that there is no “connection” between the three recent terrorist plots uncovered in New York, Dallas and Springfield, Illinois.
This, once again, reveals how unprepared America’s political, law enforcement, and media leadership is to combat the threat of jihadist, radical Islam. The need to really understand this threat has never been more important.)
A Denver airport shuttle driver from Afghanistan who plotted to blow up subway trains in New York City. A Jordanian who tried to destroy one of Dallas' tallest skyscrapers. An American who thought he was detonating a truck bomb aimed at a federal courthouse in Springfield, Illinois.
Law enforcement authorities who successfully stymied these alleged attacks have been at pains to emphasize that there are no connections between the three.
Of course there are.
Maybe it will prove to be the case that the three men at the heart of these interrupted plots - Najibullah Zazi, Hosam Maher Husein Smadi and Michael Finton (also known as Talib Islam) - had no connection in a tactical or operational sense.
Still, it is absurd, and extremely dangerous, to insist that they are not connected in at least one way: What apparently animated all three of these suspects (and perhaps a number of others believed to have been involved in the New York plot who are still at large) is the seditious, supremacist theo-political-legal program authoritative Islam calls "Shariah."
Shariah requires its adherents to engage in jihad - the struggle to bring about the triumph of Islam worldwide through whatever means are available. Shariah explicitly calls for the use of violent techniques designed to instill terror in those who stand in the way of a global Muslim theocracy.
Lethal truck-bombs, pellet-laced explosive vests and backpacks and bombs or hijackers aboard aircraft have already been used for this purpose. It is a matter of time before vastly more destructive weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear) become available to jihadists who believe that, pursuant to Shariah, they are fulfilling Allah's will when they kill "infidels" or otherwise force them to submit to Islam.
Even more insidious, though, is what Robert Spencer calls "Stealth Jihad." This practice involves using myriad non-violent measures to insinuate Shariah into non-Muslim societies. Adherents demand such concessions as special treatment for them and their faith in public spaces, private corporations, schools, communities and government at every level.
The prime-mover behind these demands is the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that shares the violent jihadists' commitment to advance Shariah's end-state of a global caliphate, but seek (for the moment, at least) to do so non-violently. The successful prosecution last year of one Brotherhood front, the Holy Land Foundation, established that the organization's mission is "to destroy Western civilization from within...by its own miserable hand." (In the course of the trial, the government also identified virtually every prominent Muslim-American group as Brotherhood affiliates or "friendly" to its purposes.)
What happens as tolerant democratic societies try to accommodate themselves to the stealthy form of jihad, backed by the persistent threat of the violent form - if not its actual occurrence, can be seen in much of Western Europe. For example, France now has 751 zones urbaines sensibles - Muslim-only areas that amount to "no-go" zones for French authorities. In these zones, Shariah rules instead of the laws of the host government, at the expense most notably of women's rights, due process and public order (especially for Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims).
To be sure, accommodations to date to Shariah have not metastasized in the United States to nearly this extent. There are, however, numerous worrisome examples of concessions that have been made here, too. To cite a few: taxpayer-financed footbaths for Muslims installed at state universities; corporations providing Muslim-only prayer rooms and time off for prayers; government-sanctioned discrimination by taxi drivers against passengers deemed "impure" (haram) because they have alcohol or dogs; unhygenic practices in food plants to accommodate the preferences of Muslim workers; government-offered Shariah-compliant mortgages; Islamic proselytizing in public school curricula; etc.
The failure by U.S. and other governments' officials to recognize the connection between Shariah and jihad (of either the violent or stealthy kind) is like refusing to acknowledge that there is a common virus causing an outbreak of swine flu. How could the medical community hope to identify appropriate prophylactic measures (for instance: Keep kids in school or shut the schools down? Take antibiotics or not?) if it were not permitted to understand the nature of the virus. There would certainly be little chance of developing effective vaccines under those circumstances.
We face approximately the same problem if we require our law enforcement, intelligence, homeland security and military personnel to behave as though there is no toxic virus - think of it as the "anti-swine flu," since pork is the ultimate in haram under Shariah - animating those seeking to destroy us, our government and our freedom-loving way of life. At best, we will be able to stop some of the attacks the jihadists are plotting against us. We certainly will not be able to defeat the disease and thereby protect Western civilization from its potential for truly pandemic virulence.
Our natural allies in taking such a stance against Shariah are the many millions of Muslims around the world whose practice of their faith does not involve adherence to this medieval, barbaric and totalitarian program. Indeed, most Muslim immigrants in America came here to get away from Shariah in their native lands. Only by differentiating such Muslims from the carriers of this lethal virus can we hope to inoculate them against the spread of the disease - and enlist their help in protecting the rest of us by keeping American Shariah-free.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Muslim 'apostates' in U.S. ask for protection Group says Shariah law poses threat
Co-Founder, Wafa Sultan
Five ex-Muslims who founded a group called Former Muslims United put out a public appeal Thursday to the U.S. government for protection, saying the lives of thousands of "apostates from Islam" are in peril. "We are going to have a lot more Rifqa Barys in America because the kids are rebelling," said Nonie Darwish, the Egyptian-born director of the group.
Five ex-Muslims who founded a group called Former Muslims United put out a public appeal Thursday to the U.S. government for protection, saying the lives of thousands of "apostates from Islam" are in peril. "We are going to have a lot more Rifqa Barys in America because the kids are rebelling," said Nonie Darwish, the Egyptian-born director of the group.
Is ‘Consumer Reports’ Engaging in Healthcare Fraud?
Peter Gadiel
In addition to the mainstream media, another “neutral observer” has become a propagandist for a particular political philosophy.
In addition to the mainstream media, another “neutral observer” has become a propagandist for a particular political philosophy.
McChrystal’s War Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal believes he can win in Afghanistan. It's the rest of the world that needs convincing.
By Evan Thomas
In Kabul, the entrance to the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force—the coalition of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan—is easy to miss. Ever since the Taliban blew up the main gate a month ago, visitors have been required to pass through a small metal door and down winding, dingy passageways topped with barbed wire. Inside the ISAF compound, grimy trailers, used to provide office space, are stacked up around a seedy, once grand building that was long ago a social club for officers of the British Empire. There was a bar, but a couple of weeks ago, Gen. Stanley McChrystal outlawed alcohol on the base, and he has indicated that he wants to turn a small, pretty garden, a tiny oasis of green, into a rifle range.
McChrystal, 55, is a purebred warrior, the son of a two-star general, West Point class of '76, a former commander of the elite Rangers Regiment, and, from 2003 to 2008, the head of hunter-killer black ops in Special Operations. He eats one meal a day, works out obsessively every morning at 5, and is so free of body fat that he looks gaunt. Lately, as commander of the war in Afghanistan, he has become a kind of Zen warrior, preaching that often "the shot you don't fire is more important than the one you do." He is a student of what he calls "counterinsurgency math." If you encounter 10 Taliban members and kill two, he says, you don't have eight remaining enemies. You have more like 20: the friends and relatives of the two you killed. ....
In Kabul, the entrance to the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force—the coalition of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan—is easy to miss. Ever since the Taliban blew up the main gate a month ago, visitors have been required to pass through a small metal door and down winding, dingy passageways topped with barbed wire. Inside the ISAF compound, grimy trailers, used to provide office space, are stacked up around a seedy, once grand building that was long ago a social club for officers of the British Empire. There was a bar, but a couple of weeks ago, Gen. Stanley McChrystal outlawed alcohol on the base, and he has indicated that he wants to turn a small, pretty garden, a tiny oasis of green, into a rifle range.
McChrystal, 55, is a purebred warrior, the son of a two-star general, West Point class of '76, a former commander of the elite Rangers Regiment, and, from 2003 to 2008, the head of hunter-killer black ops in Special Operations. He eats one meal a day, works out obsessively every morning at 5, and is so free of body fat that he looks gaunt. Lately, as commander of the war in Afghanistan, he has become a kind of Zen warrior, preaching that often "the shot you don't fire is more important than the one you do." He is a student of what he calls "counterinsurgency math." If you encounter 10 Taliban members and kill two, he says, you don't have eight remaining enemies. You have more like 20: the friends and relatives of the two you killed. ....
U.S. Says Taliban Has A New Haven in Pakistan
By Pamela Constable
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- As American troops move deeper into southern Afghanistan to fight Taliban insurgents, U.S. officials are expressing new concerns about the role of fugitive Taliban leader Mohammad Omar and his council of lieutenants, who reportedly plan and launch cross-border strikes from safe havens around the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta.
But U.S. officials acknowledge they know relatively little about the remote and arid Pakistani border region, have no capacity to strike there, and have few windows into the turbulent mix of Pashtun tribal and religious politics that has turned the area into a sanctuary for the Taliban leaders, who are known collectively as the Quetta Shura.
As a result, Pakistani and foreign analysts here said, Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, has suddenly emerged as an urgent but elusive new target as Washington grapples with the Taliban's rapidly spreading arc of influence and terror across Afghanistan. ....
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- As American troops move deeper into southern Afghanistan to fight Taliban insurgents, U.S. officials are expressing new concerns about the role of fugitive Taliban leader Mohammad Omar and his council of lieutenants, who reportedly plan and launch cross-border strikes from safe havens around the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta.
But U.S. officials acknowledge they know relatively little about the remote and arid Pakistani border region, have no capacity to strike there, and have few windows into the turbulent mix of Pashtun tribal and religious politics that has turned the area into a sanctuary for the Taliban leaders, who are known collectively as the Quetta Shura.
Pakistani officials, in turn, have been accused of allowing the Taliban movement to regroup in the Quetta area, viewing it as a strategic asset rather than a domestic threat, while the army has been heavily focused on curbing violent Islamist extremists in the northwest border region hundreds of miles away.
As a result, Pakistani and foreign analysts here said, Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, has suddenly emerged as an urgent but elusive new target as Washington grapples with the Taliban's rapidly spreading arc of influence and terror across Afghanistan. ....
Terror Arrests a Reminder of Patriot Act’s Importance
By: Ernest Istook
Federal agents have done something very good. They’ve thwarted three terrorist bombing plots in one week.
Yet the tools used to thwart plots that might have killed thousands may be taken away by Congress. The arrests came just as congressional committees are debating whether to renew the Patriot Act, which expanded America’s ability to detect and deter domestic terrorism.
It’s impossible to overstate the lives evidently saved by the FBI’s recent arrests in New York City, Dallas, and Springfield, Ill. The events re-affirmed the reality of danger from radical Islamic jihadists just as some Americans were de-emphasizing them. ....
Federal agents have done something very good. They’ve thwarted three terrorist bombing plots in one week.
Yet the tools used to thwart plots that might have killed thousands may be taken away by Congress. The arrests came just as congressional committees are debating whether to renew the Patriot Act, which expanded America’s ability to detect and deter domestic terrorism.
It’s impossible to overstate the lives evidently saved by the FBI’s recent arrests in New York City, Dallas, and Springfield, Ill. The events re-affirmed the reality of danger from radical Islamic jihadists just as some Americans were de-emphasizing them. ....
2 Canadian Men Killed Execution-Style at Mexican Beach Resort
from FoxNews
Witnesses told police that a gunman approached Gordon Douglas Kendall and Jeffrey Ronald Ivans outside the building they were staying in and shot Kendall, according to Jalisco state prosecutor Guillermo Diaz.
The gunman then chased Ivans to the pool area and shot him. Witnesses said two other gunmen arrived minutes later and repeatedly shot the dead or dying Canadians, Diaz said. The men fled and no arrests have been made. ....
Witnesses told police that a gunman approached Gordon Douglas Kendall and Jeffrey Ronald Ivans outside the building they were staying in and shot Kendall, according to Jalisco state prosecutor Guillermo Diaz.
The gunman then chased Ivans to the pool area and shot him. Witnesses said two other gunmen arrived minutes later and repeatedly shot the dead or dying Canadians, Diaz said. The men fled and no arrests have been made. ....
Health Care for ILLEGALS
If we ID ILLEGALS for insurance purposes - why not ID them and "boot" them out of the country?
World Bank Head Sees Dollar’s Role Diminishing
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
WASHINGTON — The president of the World Bank said on Monday that America’s days as an unchallenged economic superpower might be numbered and that the dollar was likely to lose its favored position as the euro and the Chinese renminbi assume bigger roles.
“The United States would be mistaken to take for granted the dollar’s place as the world’s predominant reserve currency,” the World Bank president, Robert B. Zoellick, said in a speech at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins. “Looking forward, there will increasingly be other options to the dollar.”
WASHINGTON — The president of the World Bank said on Monday that America’s days as an unchallenged economic superpower might be numbered and that the dollar was likely to lose its favored position as the euro and the Chinese renminbi assume bigger roles.
“The United States would be mistaken to take for granted the dollar’s place as the world’s predominant reserve currency,” the World Bank president, Robert B. Zoellick, said in a speech at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins. “Looking forward, there will increasingly be other options to the dollar.”
Nuclear Debate Brews: Is Iran Designing Warheads?
by William J. Broad, Mark Mazzetti and David E. Sanger.
WASHINGTON — When President Obama stood last week with the leaders of Britain and France to denounce Iran’s construction of a secret nuclear plant, the Western powers all appeared to be on the same page.
The Israelis, who have delivered veiled threats of a military strike, say they believe that Iran has restarted these “weaponization” efforts, which would mark a final step in building a nuclear weapon. The Germans say they believe that the weapons work was never halted. The French have strongly suggested that independent international inspectors have more information about the weapons work than they have made public.
Meanwhile, in closed-door discussions, American spy agencies have stood firm in their conclusion that while Iran may ultimately want a bomb, the country halted work on weapons design in 2003 and probably has not restarted that effort — a judgment first made public in a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate.
WASHINGTON — When President Obama stood last week with the leaders of Britain and France to denounce Iran’s construction of a secret nuclear plant, the Western powers all appeared to be on the same page.
Behind their show of unity about Iran’s clandestine efforts to manufacture nuclear fuel, however, is a continuing debate among American, European and Israeli spies about a separate component of Iran’s nuclear program: its clandestine efforts to design a nuclear warhead.
The Israelis, who have delivered veiled threats of a military strike, say they believe that Iran has restarted these “weaponization” efforts, which would mark a final step in building a nuclear weapon. The Germans say they believe that the weapons work was never halted. The French have strongly suggested that independent international inspectors have more information about the weapons work than they have made public.
Meanwhile, in closed-door discussions, American spy agencies have stood firm in their conclusion that while Iran may ultimately want a bomb, the country halted work on weapons design in 2003 and probably has not restarted that effort — a judgment first made public in a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate.
2 US soldiers killed in Philippines blast
MANILA, Philippines – Two U.S. Navy construction troops and a Philippines marine were killed Tuesday in a roadside blast in the southern Philippines that officials said was likely an attack by suspected al-Qaida-linked militants.
It was believed to be just the second time U.S. soldiers have been killed in the southern Philippines in violence blamed on the Abu Sayyaf group since American counterterrorism troops were deployed to the region in 2002, and the first fatalities in seven years.
One Philippine marine also was killed and two others were wounded in the blast on Jolo island, a poor, predominantly Muslim region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to Filipino troops battling the Abu Sayyaf. ....
It was believed to be just the second time U.S. soldiers have been killed in the southern Philippines in violence blamed on the Abu Sayyaf group since American counterterrorism troops were deployed to the region in 2002, and the first fatalities in seven years.
One Philippine marine also was killed and two others were wounded in the blast on Jolo island, a poor, predominantly Muslim region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to Filipino troops battling the Abu Sayyaf. ....
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/09/28/milk-and-cookies-for-war-criminals-the-obama-recipe-for-diplomatic-success/
by Erick Erickson
There is one country on earth led by a war criminal — Sudan. On the campaign trail, Barack Obama condemned the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. In Washington, on a near daily basis, there is a vigil outside the Embassy of Sudan to call attention to the genocide.
But never mind the past and the rhetoric. Barack Obama has a new strategy in the Sudan — give the Sudanese genocidal dictator milk and cookies.
Seriously.
The Washington Post reports, “U.S. diplomacy has remained mostly in the hands of one man, Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, who is pushing for normalizing relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted for war crimes.”
Gration’s money quote: “We’ve got to think about giving out cookies,” said Gration, who was appointed in March. “Kids, countries, they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement.”
With diplomatic skills and rhetoric like this, we can only expect that the genocide in Sudan will spread.
I must ask again: how many Americans are going to die because of the foreign policy and national security incompetence of the Obama administration?
There is one country on earth led by a war criminal — Sudan. On the campaign trail, Barack Obama condemned the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. In Washington, on a near daily basis, there is a vigil outside the Embassy of Sudan to call attention to the genocide.
But never mind the past and the rhetoric. Barack Obama has a new strategy in the Sudan — give the Sudanese genocidal dictator milk and cookies.
Seriously.
The Washington Post reports, “U.S. diplomacy has remained mostly in the hands of one man, Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, who is pushing for normalizing relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted for war crimes.”
Gration’s money quote: “We’ve got to think about giving out cookies,” said Gration, who was appointed in March. “Kids, countries, they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement.”
With diplomatic skills and rhetoric like this, we can only expect that the genocide in Sudan will spread.
I must ask again: how many Americans are going to die because of the foreign policy and national security incompetence of the Obama administration?
What’s Hiding in the Health-Care Bill?
By Mark Hemingway
Congressional Democrats are proposing a sweeping overhaul of the American health-care system, which represents about 17 percent of the U.S. economy. You might think they would feel a responsibility to explain the precise implications of this legislation to the American people before it comes to a vote.
But after one week of hearings in the Senate Finance Committee — presided over by the legislation’s principal author, committee chair Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) — it’s become obvious that Senate Democrats want to pass this bill in a hurry, and that hiding the contents from the American people is an instrumental part of their attempt to do so.
The lack of transparency is stunning. Let us count the ways. ....
Congressional Democrats are proposing a sweeping overhaul of the American health-care system, which represents about 17 percent of the U.S. economy. You might think they would feel a responsibility to explain the precise implications of this legislation to the American people before it comes to a vote.
But after one week of hearings in the Senate Finance Committee — presided over by the legislation’s principal author, committee chair Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) — it’s become obvious that Senate Democrats want to pass this bill in a hurry, and that hiding the contents from the American people is an instrumental part of their attempt to do so.
The lack of transparency is stunning. Let us count the ways. ....
VIDEO -- U.S. May Hit Iran in the Pocket
Video from FoxNews
Sanctions MUST absolutely be enforced to be effective. Go for Iran's banking system to bring their economy to a hold within two weeks .... do we really have an alternative?
Sanctions MUST absolutely be enforced to be effective. Go for Iran's banking system to bring their economy to a hold within two weeks .... do we really have an alternative?
Gov't Forces Elders to Medicare Now sees Medicare as a "piggy bank"
Medicare is looking like a big fat piggy bank for health care overhaul.
President Barack Obama and the Democrats want to pay for much of their plan to cover the uninsured by cutting hundreds of billions from the Medicare budget over the next 10 years.
From its inception, the health plan for seniors has been kept afloat by taxes out of workers' paychecks. Now, Medicare savings would count toward helping uninsured working-age children and grandchildren afford their own coverage. ....
ons and answers on how the health care overhaul would affect Medicare beneficiaries: ....
Oklahoma City bomb tapes appear edited
OKLAHOMA CITY – Long-secret security tapes showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building are blank in the minutes before the blast and appear to have been edited, an attorney who obtained the recordings said Sunday.
"The real story is what's missing," said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who obtained the recordings through the federal Freedom of Information Act as part of an unofficial inquiry he is conducting into the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.
Trentadue gave copies of the tapes to The Oklahoman newspaper, which posted them online and provided copies to The Associated Press.
The tapes turned over by the FBI came from security cameras various companies had mounted outside office buildings near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. They are blank at points before 9:02 a.m., when a truck bomb carrying a 4,000 pound fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb detonated in front of the building, Trentadue said.
"Four cameras in four different locations going blank at basically the same time on the morning of April 19, 1995. There ain't no such thing as a coincidence," Trentadue said. ....
...
"The real story is what's missing," said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who obtained the recordings through the federal Freedom of Information Act as part of an unofficial inquiry he is conducting into the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.
Trentadue gave copies of the tapes to The Oklahoman newspaper, which posted them online and provided copies to The Associated Press.
The tapes turned over by the FBI came from security cameras various companies had mounted outside office buildings near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. They are blank at points before 9:02 a.m., when a truck bomb carrying a 4,000 pound fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb detonated in front of the building, Trentadue said.
...
Training scholars or breeding terrorists? Egypt suspects European students studying Arabic linked to terrorism
from ABC News
Young men with downy beards, caps, kneelength a traditional Arab galabeyas and sandals sat chatting in a McDonalds' restaurant in Nasr City, a large middle class district in the eastern part of Cairo. Women wearing concealing black garments and veils over their faces scurried around the small dusty streets between their apartments and the neighborhood shops. They were not from here and they barely spoke any Arabic. Asking around revealed that every one of them came from Europe and most of them have North African roots.
In the neighborhood Egyptians, the European Salafists - Sunni religious fundamentalists - are outsiders. Ashraf, a 26-year-old Dutchman of Moroccan descent, came to Cairo a year ago. "To learn Arabic," he says, "the language of my religion." He had just visited the mosque, where many kindred spirits go to pray five times a day. A not-so-secret agent of the security service stood outside the mosque. The house of prayer is under surveillance. "We aren't hurting anyone," says Ashraf, whose apartment was recently searched. "We only come to study and pray."
Young men with downy beards, caps, kneelength a traditional Arab galabeyas and sandals sat chatting in a McDonalds' restaurant in Nasr City, a large middle class district in the eastern part of Cairo. Women wearing concealing black garments and veils over their faces scurried around the small dusty streets between their apartments and the neighborhood shops. They were not from here and they barely spoke any Arabic. Asking around revealed that every one of them came from Europe and most of them have North African roots.
Muslim students study the Koran in the Fatimid 10th century Mosque of al-Azhar, one of the oldest universities and which is considered the foremost center of theology in the Islamic world, in this file photo in Cairo, Egypt.
(David Silverman/Getty Images)In the neighborhood Egyptians, the European Salafists - Sunni religious fundamentalists - are outsiders. Ashraf, a 26-year-old Dutchman of Moroccan descent, came to Cairo a year ago. "To learn Arabic," he says, "the language of my religion." He had just visited the mosque, where many kindred spirits go to pray five times a day. A not-so-secret agent of the security service stood outside the mosque. The house of prayer is under surveillance. "We aren't hurting anyone," says Ashraf, whose apartment was recently searched. "We only come to study and pray."
Slippery tactics: Obama declares war on oil Calls to end 'fossil-fuel' subsidies, impose new tax
from Jerome Corsi
President Obama declared war on oil and natural gas at the United Nations global warming summit, and he made the same pitch to the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
"I will work with my colleagues at the G20 to phase out fossil fuel subsidies so that we can better address our climate challenge," he told the U.N.
In the draft final communiqué, the G20 nations agreed to phase out government subsidies to such fuels in the "medium term," without specifying target dates, according to a report published by Bloomberg.
The G20 draft document also asked the finance ministers to keep working on the "climate finance" issue as part of the preparation for the global climate summit scheduled for Copenhagen in December.
The Environmental Law Institute estimated that in the U.S., the biggest fuel subsidies are tax breaks, the foreign tax credit and the credit for production of nonconventional fuels that added up to $72 billion over the seven year period studied, 2002 to 2008.
"Should Obama succeed, the end result will be tantamount to imposing a new tax on oil and natural gas production, with the outcome being that U.S. energy consumers will see energy price increases," Corsi warned.
"The Obama administration's budget request would strip essential capital from new American natural gas and oil investment by radically raising taxes on American production," Buddy Kleemeier, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the chief executive of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Company, told the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 10.
Corsi wrote, "Obama's actions are based on what Red Alert believes amounts to nothing more than 'junk science,' arguing that manmade carbon-dioxide emissions from the burning of oil and natural gas cause global warming."
He continued, "Unilaterally ending U.S. fossil fuel tax subsidies would have a seriously negative impact on the U.S. economy."
"Simply put, why the Obama administration would shut down 20 percent of our nation's oil production and 12 percent of its natural gas is unfathomable," wrote Barry Russell, president and chief executive of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
"Why it would seek to take away 25 to 40 percent of the capital that finds and produces American natural gas – half of which comes from wells developed in the last four years – is undecipherable," Russell continued. "Why it would choose to hand the nation's energy future to foreign leaders like Hugo Chavez, whose hatred for our country is as clear as the glistening spittle he spews in his anti-American speeches, is clearly a tragic miscalculation."
Yet International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol claimed an agreement by the G20 to eliminate subsidies on such fuels to fight climate change would be good news and should not take long to implement.
"This will improve energy efficiency and therefore energy security, lifting the burden on government budgets and reducing carbon dioxide emissions," Birol told the press.
"Yet, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies as part of a global-warming ideological agenda seems a particularly strange way to stimulate the economy out of a recession," he wrote. "Eliminating tax provisions that encourage U.S. investment in oil and gas technology, exploration and production will certainly increase U.S. dependence on foreign oil, with the resultant negative impact on our already negative balance of international trade." ....
President Obama declared war on oil and natural gas at the United Nations global warming summit, and he made the same pitch to the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
"I will work with my colleagues at the G20 to phase out fossil fuel subsidies so that we can better address our climate challenge," he told the U.N.
In the draft final communiqué, the G20 nations agreed to phase out government subsidies to such fuels in the "medium term," without specifying target dates, according to a report published by Bloomberg.
The Environmental Law Institute estimated that in the U.S., the biggest fuel subsidies are tax breaks, the foreign tax credit and the credit for production of nonconventional fuels that added up to $72 billion over the seven year period studied, 2002 to 2008.
"Should Obama succeed, the end result will be tantamount to imposing a new tax on oil and natural gas production, with the outcome being that U.S. energy consumers will see energy price increases," Corsi warned.
"The Obama administration's budget request would strip essential capital from new American natural gas and oil investment by radically raising taxes on American production," Buddy Kleemeier, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the chief executive of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Company, told the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 10.
Corsi wrote, "Obama's actions are based on what Red Alert believes amounts to nothing more than 'junk science,' arguing that manmade carbon-dioxide emissions from the burning of oil and natural gas cause global warming."
He continued, "Unilaterally ending U.S. fossil fuel tax subsidies would have a seriously negative impact on the U.S. economy."
Approximately 85 percent of the energy that drives the U.S. economy still comes from oil and natural gas.
"Simply put, why the Obama administration would shut down 20 percent of our nation's oil production and 12 percent of its natural gas is unfathomable," wrote Barry Russell, president and chief executive of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
"Why it would seek to take away 25 to 40 percent of the capital that finds and produces American natural gas – half of which comes from wells developed in the last four years – is undecipherable," Russell continued. "Why it would choose to hand the nation's energy future to foreign leaders like Hugo Chavez, whose hatred for our country is as clear as the glistening spittle he spews in his anti-American speeches, is clearly a tragic miscalculation."
Yet International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol claimed an agreement by the G20 to eliminate subsidies on such fuels to fight climate change would be good news and should not take long to implement.
"This will improve energy efficiency and therefore energy security, lifting the burden on government budgets and reducing carbon dioxide emissions," Birol told the press.
Corsi said he believes Obama may be desperate for tax revenue to cover the projected trillion-dollar federal budget deficits the administration is planning to incur in the foreseeable future.
"Yet, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies as part of a global-warming ideological agenda seems a particularly strange way to stimulate the economy out of a recession," he wrote. "Eliminating tax provisions that encourage U.S. investment in oil and gas technology, exploration and production will certainly increase U.S. dependence on foreign oil, with the resultant negative impact on our already negative balance of international trade." ....
'WHY ISRAEL CAN'T WAIT' -- Excerpt: 'Iran threatens our survival' Jewish state reluctantly preparing military strike – with or without U.S.
from Jerome R. Corsi's
"For us, a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat," Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon told the author in a private audio-recorded interview in his Jerusalem office on June 14, 2009. "We have to be ready to defend ourselves."
What I was next told by Yaalon was confirmed to me by virtually all Israeli officials in the Netanyahu government that I interviewed: Iran's nuclear weapons program is an existential threat to the survival of Israel, to the extent that Israel is reluctantly prepared to launch a pre-emptive military strike on Iran, with or without the approval of the United States, as early as the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, if the United States and the world community fail to stop Iran. ....
"For us, a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat," Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon told the author in a private audio-recorded interview in his Jerusalem office on June 14, 2009. "We have to be ready to defend ourselves."
What I was next told by Yaalon was confirmed to me by virtually all Israeli officials in the Netanyahu government that I interviewed: Iran's nuclear weapons program is an existential threat to the survival of Israel, to the extent that Israel is reluctantly prepared to launch a pre-emptive military strike on Iran, with or without the approval of the United States, as early as the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, if the United States and the world community fail to stop Iran. ....
5 more nuke plants spotted in Iran Intel agents describe guarded operations buried in mountains
(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read report.)
from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin
LONDON – Deep-cover MI6 agents who have described the workings of the once-secret underground uranium enrichment plant near the Iranian city of Qom now have discovered a staggering five more similar operations, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
They, like the Qom facility, are buried deep inside the mountains of north Iran and are guarded by divisions of Revolutionary Guards. ....
The MI6 agents have established that, like Qom, the new plants are staffed by nuclear scientists from Iran's main weaponization program. It is known by the acronym Metfaz, and is headquartered at 180 Western Avenue in the Pars district of eastern Tehran.
The highly unusual indication of the source material is seen as a deliberate attempt by Western intelligence to rattle the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a further vital part of his nuclear plan has been discovered. ....
from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin
LONDON – Deep-cover MI6 agents who have described the workings of the once-secret underground uranium enrichment plant near the Iranian city of Qom now have discovered a staggering five more similar operations, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
They, like the Qom facility, are buried deep inside the mountains of north Iran and are guarded by divisions of Revolutionary Guards. ....
The MI6 agents have established that, like Qom, the new plants are staffed by nuclear scientists from Iran's main weaponization program. It is known by the acronym Metfaz, and is headquartered at 180 Western Avenue in the Pars district of eastern Tehran.
Details of the MI6 discovery were hand-delivered to Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, over the weekend by Sir John Scarlett. They contained a detailed picture of what was being built at the five new plants.
A senior intelligence source said the data came from "an Iranian nuclear scientist's smuggled laptop, defectors and satellite imagery."
The highly unusual indication of the source material is seen as a deliberate attempt by Western intelligence to rattle the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a further vital part of his nuclear plan has been discovered. ....
Congressman: Obama has something to hide It's not citizenship, but 'there's some other issue there'
By Bob Unruh
A congressman who once considered a lawsuit over Barack Obama's eligibility to be president says he's convinced the president doesn't have a problem with that issue. But there is something else Obama desperately wants to keep concealed, according to Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., ,,,,
 Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. |
A congressman who once considered a lawsuit over Barack Obama's eligibility to be president says he's convinced the president doesn't have a problem with that issue. But there is something else Obama desperately wants to keep concealed, according to Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., ,,,,
NYC police covering up assault by Iran official? Member of Ahmadinejad's entourage at U.N. allegedly attacked protester
....
A WND request for comment from the U.S. Secret Service generated a "no comment." The New York City Police Department did not reply to requests for comment.
But a reporter with Washington International Network, an English-Farsi language news service, was on the scene and immediately captured video images, interviewing people in both languages:
The reporter, Rod Baharloo, identified the woman as Persian.
A WND request for comment from the U.S. Secret Service generated a "no comment." The New York City Police Department did not reply to requests for comment.
But a reporter with Washington International Network, an English-Farsi language news service, was on the scene and immediately captured video images, interviewing people in both languages:
The reporter, Rod Baharloo, identified the woman as Persian.
U.S. Northeast May Have Coldest Winter in a Decade (Update2)
By Todd Zeranski and Erik Schatzker
The U.S. Northeast may have the coldest winter in a decade because of a weak El Nino, a warming current in the Pacific Ocean, according to Matt Rogers, a forecaster at Commodity Weather Group.
“Weak El Ninos are notorious for cold and snowy weather on the Eastern seaboard,” Rogers said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Washington. “About 70 percent to 75 percent of the time a weak El Nino will deliver the goods in terms of above-normal heating demand and cold weather. It’s pretty good odds.” ....
The U.S. Northeast may have the coldest winter in a decade because of a weak El Nino, a warming current in the Pacific Ocean, according to Matt Rogers, a forecaster at Commodity Weather Group.
“Weak El Ninos are notorious for cold and snowy weather on the Eastern seaboard,” Rogers said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Washington. “About 70 percent to 75 percent of the time a weak El Nino will deliver the goods in terms of above-normal heating demand and cold weather. It’s pretty good odds.” ....
Federal Agents Identify Terror Accomplices
MYFOXNY.COM/AP - Investigators believe they know possible accomplices of Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi, who is accused of plotting a terrorist attack against New York City, according to an Associated Press report, which cites a law enforcement source.
A federal indictment mentions at least three people helping Zazi buy peroxide and acetone in suburban Denver from beauty supply stores. According to security experts, those chemicals can be used to make explosives. ....
A federal indictment mentions at least three people helping Zazi buy peroxide and acetone in suburban Denver from beauty supply stores. According to security experts, those chemicals can be used to make explosives. ....
The DHS QHSR is nearly finished – Participate in the National Dialogue
Your participation in the two previous dialogues has helped inform the goals, objectives, and outcomes DHS has developed for the four mission areas, and DHS now wants your feedback on the final proposals.
In this final phase of the dialogue you can:
In this final phase of the dialogue you can:
- Read and review the final goals, objectives and outcomes developed by DHS for each of the four mission areas.
- Submit your feedback on the final products of each mission area.
- Rate, comment and tag other’s responses to ensure the best ideas “rise to the top”.
U.S. Attorney Charges 12 In NY With Colombian Terrorism Link
from National Terror Alert
Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Michael J. Folmar, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Miami Division of the FBI, announced today the unsealing of two indictments charging a total of 12 members and associates of the 57th Front of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a Colombian terrorist group, with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and taking a U.S. citizen hostage. ....
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics Trafficking Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca M. Ricigliano and Jeffrey A. Brown are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the indictments are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Michael J. Folmar, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Miami Division of the FBI, announced today the unsealing of two indictments charging a total of 12 members and associates of the 57th Front of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a Colombian terrorist group, with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and taking a U.S. citizen hostage. ....
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics Trafficking Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca M. Ricigliano and Jeffrey A. Brown are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the indictments are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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