D.C. subway braces for Inauguration Day crush

(Compiler's note: This describes a "target rich" environment.)

By Thomas Frank and Kevin Johnson

WASHINGTON — Lisa Farbstein was blunt when she described the suffocating conditions expected in Washington subways on Inauguration Day.

"We call it crush load," said Farbstein, a spokeswoman for Washington's transit authority. "It's going to be very uncomfortable."

Security officials and experts are voicing concern not only about the comfort level, but also about protecting the system from terrorists Jan. 20.

"Given the historic nature of this election and the number of people who are going to be here, the eyes of the world will be focused on D.C." — including those of possible terrorists, said Brian Jackson, an analyst at RAND Corp., a think tank.

More than 1 million riders are likely to cram into Washington's subway cars on Inauguration Day, shattering the single-day record of 850,000 set this past July 4, said Jim Graham, a member of Washington's City Council. The system averages 750,000 riders on weekdays and is the USA's second-busiest, behind New York City's.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: White House | Barack Obama | Virginia | Boston | London | Maryland | New York City | Utah | Sacramento | Madrid | Transportation Security Administration | City Council | Mumbai | Amtrak | National Mall | Rand Corp | Pennsylvania Avenue | Union Station | Inauguration Day | Reagan National Airport | San Jose State University | Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport | Office of Emergency Management | John O'Connor | Brian Jenkins | Brian Jackson | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | Inaugural Parade | Jim Graham | Jerome Hauer | Steven Taubenkibel

Because rail cars and public buses are likely to be full all day, mass transit will get "special attention," said John Perren, who heads the FBI's counterterrorism division in Washington. "Those areas of high concern are in those enclosed areas."

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which runs a regional subway and bus system, has asked transit police from other cities to send officers, the first time such help has been sought for an inauguration, authority spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.

Roughly 150 police officers and bomb-sniffing dogs will come from 12 transit authorities, ranging from New York City and Boston to Sacramento and Utah. The Transportation Security Administration will provide 10 dog teams.

"We're doing everything we can," Graham said.

Terrorists have attacked mass transit systems more than any other transportation venue, said Brian Jenkins, director of the National Transportation Security Center at San Jose State University. A study by Jenkins in 2007 found there were an average 30 attacks a year on rail systems from 1998 to 2003.

Since then, terrorists have staged high-profile attacks on rail systems in Madrid, London and Mumbai, where an attack in 2006 killed more than 200 people.

Subway security has been increased for past major events, most notably the 2004 Democratic and Republican conventions, held in Boston and New York City. Police in those cities searched subway riders at random and focused on people who had large bags or appeared suspicious, perhaps by wearing a heavy coat in the hot weather.

Cold weather is likely at Barack Obama's inauguration, so a terrorist hiding a suicide vest under a heavy coat would blend in with the crowd, said security consultant Jerome Hauer, former head of New York City's Office of Emergency Management.

Another concern is that the Washington transit authority, known as Metro, is not putting any special restrictions on what subway riders can carry on cars Jan. 20. "Passengers may be going to other places and need to carry briefcases to work," Taubenkibel said.

Suitcases are a common sight on two of the system's five subway lines that run through downtown Washington on their way to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

"You certainly could put a size limitation (on bags) for one day," Jenkins said. Size restrictions might not stop a bombing but could limit its lethality, Jenkins said.

The subway system has 86 stations in Washington, Maryland and Virginia, 106 miles of track and 420 police. Each rail car can hold about 150 people.

Trains go throughout downtown Washington and run within a couple of blocks of the White House and the Capitol but do not travel underneath those buildings.

Subways pass under Pennsylvania Avenue, site of the Inaugural Parade, and the National Mall, where more than 1 million spectators are likely to watch the inauguration.

Amtrak authorities are preparing for a single-day record number of travelers on inauguration morning in Washington's Union Station, an iconic 101-year-old marble structure. Dogs will sweep the station, and police will be ubiquitous.

"You won't be able to go 20, 30 feet without seeing someone in authority," said John O'Connor, Amtrak police chief.

New York Police Learn from Mumbai Attacks

by Mickey McCarter

Officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) traveled to Mumbai last month to examine the methods used by terrorists in the attacks there on Nov. 26, 2008, and have incorporated lessons learned from the attacks into the department's training, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the US Senate Thursday.

Police recruits first received training in three types of heavy weapons last month, based on the department's observations of the kinds of weapons used by terrorists in the Mumbai attacks, Kelly said. Earlier that month, the department conducted a tactical drill for its Emergency Service Unit and a tabletop exercise based on the attacks.

"In the exercise with our command staff, we raised the possibility that we might have to deploy our Emergency Service officers too thinly in the event of multiple simultaneous attacks such as those in Mumbai," Kelly testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "We also recognized that if the attacks continued over many hours, we would need to relieve our special units with rested officers. In response to both challenges, we have decided to provide heavy weapons training to experienced officers in our Organized Crime Control Bureau."

The officers visiting Mumbai toured the crime scenes and quizzed police authorities in India, Kelly explained. They realized that the terrorists, suspected to be part of Islamic group Lashkar-e-Taiba, had trained well and sometimes new the layout of buildings they targeted better than police forces did. In response to that observation, New York City police offices have been touring hotels and other major facilities in the city to improve their familiarity with buildings that could be targets of terrorist attacks.

Kelly raised concerns that the Mumbai attacks marked a shift in strategy for a major terrorist attack.

"From the perspective of the New York City Police Department, one of the most important aspects of this attack was the shift in tactics from suicide bombs to a commando-style military assault with small teams of highly trained, heavily armed operatives launching simultaneous, sustained attacks," he stated. "They fanned out across the city in groups of two and four. They carried AK-56 assault rifles, a Chinese manufactured copy of the Russian AK-47."

The highly coordinated assault killed six Americans, including two New Yorkers. Mindful that the attackers entered Mumbai via small boats, Kelly emphasized that the city's harbor police have weapons training and sends divers to inspect vessels.

New York police also keep updated on security developments in their city through special partnerships, including NYPD Shield, an alliance between the department and private security managers in New York City; Operation Nexus, which includes businesses that terrorists might attempt to exploit; and Security our Cities, a Department of Homeland Security initiative to place radiation monitors around the city's perimeter.

Obama Admin to Inherit Southern Border Nightmare

by Anthony L. Kimery

‘Mexico is ... fighting for survival against narco-terrorism’

Barack Obama shortly will inherit a war an ocean away in the Middle East that potentially could spiral out of control dragging the US into it, but he immediately faces a far more deadly war that’s raging on his own back doorstep on the US-Mexican border. It's a war fast becoming America’s most serious and direct homeland security threat as described in the January HSToday cover report, Savage Struggle on the Border.

Ground zero of America’s war on drugs is in Mexico, where President Bush recently told the Washington Times Obama faces a looming war with drug cartels where "the front line of the fight will be Mexico."

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff acknowledged this past week that he told Obama’s choice to succeed him, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, that he had had to put the border security problem at the top of his list of immediate national security concerns. ....

Cutting Off Rogue Nukes

by Phil Leggiere

Senator Bayh urges Obama administration to champion nuclear fuel bank concept.

Over the past few years significant progress has been made in addressing the threat of nuclear terror through technological improvements in detecting potentially smuggled nuclear materials, and better operational intelligence and forensics to identify and disrupt black market distribution networks of ‘loose” nuclear materials.

Despite this progress, however, relatively little progress has been made in cutting off the potential supply chain of rogue nukes at its most likely origin, rogue nations using the legal cover of legitimate civilian nuclear energy programs as a pretext to acquire nuclear bomb making capability.

In a Memo to the President”, published by the Progressive Policy Institute, Senator Evan Bayh (D-IND), makes the case that preventing that kind of duplicitous access needs to become a top strategic counter-terror priority for the incoming Obama administration.

“The 21st century has ushered in unprecedented demand for energy around the world,” Bayh writes in his memo. “Given the rapid rates of growth in such developing countries as China and India, prices for traditional sources of energy are likely to remain high. Supplies of oil, gas, and coal are finite, so countries increasingly are looking elsewhere for affordable and clean sources of energy. Nuclear energy, which generates tremendous power with no greenhouse-gas emissions, is an obvious place to look.”

The problem with this, the memo points out, is that, “As nuclear generating plants sprout up around the world over the coming decades, many new states will get their hands on nuclear technology and materials. This will exponentially raise the risk of fissile or bomb-making material being acquired by rogue nations or terrorist groups.”

Current global regulation and oversight of this process, which is based on the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (often referred to as the Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT), negotiated back in mid-1970s is currently woefully inaccurate, Bayh argues.

In particular, Bayh explains, the NPT recognizes the “inalienable right of all Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.” This provision, which was exploited by North Korea in its drive to develop nuclear weapons capacity, is also being abused by Iran.

“Once this genie gets out of the bottle, there is no putting it back,” Bayh says. ‘At a minimum, allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear warhead would be a regionally destabilizing event certain to spark a Middle East arms race. At worst, it would be a global security catastrophe in which Tehran obtains the means to blackmail its European neighbors and threaten Israel’s destruction."

The threshold question, according to the memo is: How do we respond to valid and growing demands for civilian nuclear energy worldwide without permitting more countries to acquire nuclear weapons?

The answer, in Bayh’s view, is to set up an international nuclear-fuel bank that would supply fuel to any country that agrees not to develop its own enriching and reprocessing facilities.

The proposed fuel bank would allow developing nations seeking civilian nuclear power for peaceful purposes to gain access to a reliable and affordable supply of nuclear fuel. In return they would need to agree to forgo enriching uranium themselves and also submit to rigorous inspections of their civilian reactors to guard against North Korean and Iranian-style cheating. It would allow countries to draw fuel for use in their own civilian nuclear reactors and then return the spent fuel for safe reprocessing under the oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Countries, on the other hand, that refuse fuel-bank services would come under immediate suspicion about their weapons intentions.

The economic advantages of this approach over indigenous fuel cycle development would be significant to developing nations, according to Bayh.

“Due to bigger economies of scale,” he writes,“it is now much cheaper for countries lacking enrichment capacity to purchase fuel. Even a small enrichment facility would cost at least $1 billion to build and more than $100 million to operate each year. But an international nuclear-fuel bank could supply the same amount of fuel at market prices for roughly $15 million a year.”

Bayh’s newest push for the formation of a global, multi-nationally administered nuclear fuel bank, revives an effort he and Senate collegues initiated two years ago.

In 2007 Bayh along with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced legislation that would facilitate create the multinational supply regime outlined in the memo. The bill, titled The Lugar-Bayh Nuclear Safeguards and Supply Act, S. 1138 and strongly supported by then Senator and now Vice-President Joe Biden, would make it US policy to discourage the development of enrichment and reprocessing capabilities in additional countries, to encourage the creation of bilateral and multilateral assurances of nuclear fuel supply, and ensure that all supply mechanisms operate in strict accordance with the IAEA safeguards system and do not result in any additional unmet verification burdens for the system.

In August 2008 the US Department of Energy has announced a $50 million donation to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the purpose of establishing an International Nuclear Fuel Bank.

Watch Obama commercial they don't want you to see

Fox, CNN, MSNBC refuse ads questioning Barack's eligibility

from WorldNetDaily

"With the date for congressional approval (of the Electoral College today), we wanted them to have access to the facts," she told WND. "Congress is sworn to uphold the Constitution."

She said the donors who contributed the funding that was to be used for the ads were being contacted to find out whether they wanted to reach another direction in the media.

The ad to be broadcast already is available on YouTube, and also is embedded here:

"Heard rumors about Barack Obama's citizenship? These are the facts," the ad states.

It cites a statement from the president-elect's paternal grandmother that she was present at his birth in Kenya, his refusal to release his original birth certificate, his attendance at school in Indonesia "as Barry Soetoro when only Indonesia citizens were permitted to attend," and Obama's travel to Pakistan in 1981 "when it was illegal to enter as a U.S. citizen."

Join the campaign to urge the Supreme Court to take the eligibility question seriously by FedExing the justices.

It concludes, "Our Constitution still matters."

Congress officially declares Obama next president

Rayyan Trained His Kids to Die

by Maayana Miskin

(IsraelNN.com) When Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan was assassinated in an IAF strike last week, his four wives and 11 of his children died with him. According to his surviving children, the death of the Rayyan family children was not an accident: Rayyan had trained his wives and children to die with him as "martyrs."

Surviving family members spoke to local Arab media and said that in the days before his death, Rayyan had repeatedly asked his children, "Who wants to die with me as a martyr?" The children would respond, "Yes, daddy, we all want to be with you alive or dead."

Rayyan's adult daughter, Wala, said even the younger children wished to die with their father. "If you had asked my four-year-old sister Aisha, who died in the attack, she would have told you that she preferred to die as a martyr," Wala told Ma'an news.

One of Rayyan's daughter-in-laws said she was offered the chance to die with the family. She stopped by the family's large home in Jabaliya and was asked by Rayyan if she wished to die with him, his wives and their children. She agreed to die, but later left the building, shortly before the IAF strike.

As it turned out, when Rayyan offered his daughter-in-law the "opportunity" to die he had already received a phone call from the IDF warning him to evacuate his house due to an impending airstrike.

The 11 children who died with Nizar Rayyan ranged in age from one year old to 16. Another son died years earlier when Rayyan sent him to carry out a suicide bombing in Gaza. Two Israelis were murdered in that attack. %ad%

Rayyan was one of Hamas' extremist preachers, and believed that those who die fighting Israel die as "martyrs" and go directly to paradise. He encouraged his followers to have several wives and as many children as possible, in order to provide future soldiers in the fight against Israel. He also encouraged Hamas to take over Judea and Samaria and carry out suicide attacks targeting Jews.

Passengers pounce on man who made threats aboard L.A.-bound flight

Musician Chris Llewellyn was among those who sprang into action after a man shoved a flight attendant and tried to open an exit door.

Group That Funded Rep. Ellison's Pilgrimage to Mecca Called a Front for Extremism

Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison -- America's only Muslim in Congress -- took a trip to Mecca in December that was funded by a group terrorism experts say is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement.

Press Release from Dr. Orly Taitz, ESQ

(Compiler's note: Must read -- if you read nothing else, read this one!)

01.07.09.
Good news,

Chief Justice John Roberts agreed to hear my case Lightfoot v Bowen, challenging eligibility for presidency of Barack Hussein Obama. He distributed the case to the full conference
of the Supreme Court. The timing of this decision by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, is absolutely remarkable. On January 7, one day before the January 8 vote by Congress and Senate, whether to approve or object to the electoral vote of Barack Hussein
Obama, aka Barry Soetoro, as president of the United States, Chief Justice Roberts is sending a message to them: “Hold on, not so fast, there is value in this case, read it. Hawaiian statue 338 allows Foreign Born children of Hawaiian Residents to obtain Hawaiian Birth Certificates,
it allows one to get Hawaiian Certification of Life birth based on a statement of one relative only, without any corroborating evidence. You need to investigate, you need corroborating evidence.

If only one Congressman or one Senator presents a written objection, then there has to be a formal investigation by the joint session of Congress and Senate. During this investigation original birth certificate from Hawaii will be subpoenaed. All other pertinent documents will be subpoenaed: Obama’s immigration records, any and all passports from Indonesia, Kenya and Great Britain; University enrollment records, showing if he was enrolled in US schools and universities and received financial aid as a foreign exchange student from Indonesia or Kenya.

All of it can be subpoenaed and obtained within a day or two.

Each and every member of US Congress and Senate owes it to 320 million American citizens to do his due diligence and demand all necessary records. When American servicemen are told to risk their lives defending Constitution of this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic, each and every Congressman and each and every Senator can spend a day or two of their time defending this Constitution, reviewing necessary documents, in order to see if Barack Hussein Obama is a Natural Born Citizen, if he is a citizen at all.”

This is the message that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is sending to them, and if they are not listening, there has to be a massive petition drive to recall them. Truth will come out, no matter how many millions Obama is spending to hide it.

Dr.Orly Taitz, ESQ
drorly.blogspot.com

No. 08A524
Title: Gail Lightfoot, et al., Applicants
v.
Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State

Docketed:
Lower Ct: Supreme Court of California
Case Nos.: (S168690)

~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dec
12 2008 Application (08A524) for a stay pending the filing and
disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, submitted to
Justice Kennedy.
Dec 17 2008 Application (08A524) denied by Justice Kennedy.
Dec 29 2008 Application (08A524) refiled and submitted to The Chief Justice.
Jan 7 2009 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 23, 2009.

Also see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=85595

Woman fools Japan's airport security fingerprint system

A South Korean woman barred from entering Japan last year has reportedly passed through its immigration screening system by using tape on her fingers to fool a fingerprint reading machine.

The biometric system was installed in 30 airports in 2007 to improve security and prevent terrorists from entering into Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said.

The woman, who has a deportation record, told investigators that she placed special tapes on her fingers to pass through a fingerprint reader, according to Kyodo News.

Japan spent more than Y4 billion ($A64 million) to install the system, which reads the index fingerprints of visitors and instantly cross-checks them with a database of international fugitives and foreigners with deportation records, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The South Korean woman was deported in July 2007 for illegally staying in Japan after she worked as a bar hostess in Nagano in central Japan, Kyodo said, citing justice ministry sources.

She was not allowed to re-enter Japan for five years after deportation but the Tokyo immigration bureau found her in August 2008 again in Nagano, Kyodo said.

A South Korean broker is believed to have supplied her with the tapes and a fake passport, the Yomiuri said, adding that officials believe many more foreigners might have entered Japan using the same technique.

Read more at http://travel.asiaone.com/Travel/News/Story/A1Story20090101-111750.html

The Face of Militant Islam

Source: ACT for America

Our courageous friend Tom Trento ventured to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida last Tuesday to videotape a pro-Hamas demonstration. When you click on the link below to this must-see video, keep in mind, this didn’t happen in the Gaza Strip – it took place right here in America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Xl68kP4wo

When you watch the video you’ll see and hear things that are offensive, deeply disturbing, and, frankly, frightening.

You’ll see signs that say “Nuke Israel.” You’ll hear a woman yell at pro-Israel demonstrators, “Go back to the ovens!!” You’ll hear vulgar profanities.

In the midst of all of this you will see a Muslim leader at the demonstration being interviewed exclaiming that once people really understand Islam they will have “no choice” but to accept it.

And remember that this latest round of violence began with Hamas breaking the cease-fire and launching hundreds of rockets into residential areas of Israel. That’s not very clear from many of the news reports of the past week. Israel has responded to defend itself, as it has every right to do.

AUDIO INTERVIEW: Inauguration Security

Could the battle between Israel and Hamas spill over into the United States? In his weekly interview with Federal News Radio, HSToday Editor David Silverberg discusses how violence in the Mideast may impact security issues for the Inauguration—and how any terrorist violence anywhere requires greater vigilance, alertness and preparedness here at home.

Click here to listen to the interview

"Taking Chance" film scheduled to air Feb 21

Source: from a friend

"Taking Chance" film scheduled to air Feb 21.

Secretary of the AF and the Chief of Staff of the AF.

The HBO film "Taking Chance," starring Kevin Bacon, will have

a world premier Jan. 16 at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City,
UT.


The Air Force and USMC assisted HBO Films

HBO will broadcast the movie Sat., Feb. 21 at 8 p.m

1:53 preview clip of the movie below.


Here's the clip:   http://www.hbo.com/events/takingchance/ 

Terrorists could use 'insect-based' biological weapon

By Stephen Adams

Terrorists would find it "relatively easy" to launch a devastating attack using swarms of insects to spread a deadly disease, an academic has warned.....

He said it would "probably be much easier" than developing a nuclear or chemical weapon, arguing: "The raw material is in the back yard."

He continued: "It would be a relatively easy and simple process.

"A few hundred dollars and a plane ticket and you could have a pretty good stab at it."

Governments, he advised, needed to have robust "pest management infrastructure that's able to absorb and respond to an introduction" of infected insects, he said.

Trying to stop everything coming in at the border would not work, he said.

Rift Valley Fever is an east African disease which "can cause severe disease in both animals and humans, leading to high rates of disease and death" according to the World Health Organisation.

However, WHO says that "the vast majority of human infections result from direct or indirect contact with the blood or organs of infected animals."....

Hamas moves on Fatah 'collaborators'

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip.

The move came amid reports that the Fatah leadership in the West Bank has instructed its followers to be ready to assume power over the Gaza Strip when and if Israel's military operation results in the removal of Hamas rule.

Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.

Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.

"Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing," a senior Fatah official said. "They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip."

Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.

The sources quoted Hamas officials as saying that the decision to kill the suspected collaborators was taken out of fear that Israel might try to rescue them during a ground offensive. The officials claimed that at least half of the victims were killed by relatives of Palestinian militiamen who were killed as a result of information passed on to Israel by the "collaborators."

Justifying the latest crackdown on Fatah, a Hamas official in Gaza City said that his government had received information according to which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had instructed his loyalists in the Strip to start moving toward undermining Hamas.

"We will kill them all if they try to help Israel bring down our government," the official said. "We will hang Mahmoud Abbas and [former Fatah security chief] Muhammad Dahlan in the public square if they try to enter the Gaza Strip aboard Israeli tanks."

The Hamas official said that his security forces had launched a massive "preemptive" campaign aimed at thwarting Fatah's attempts to "spread anarchy and chaos." He confirmed that many Fatah operatives had been shot in the legs over the past few days by Hamas "to make sure that they don't help Israel."

Fahmi Za'arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, accused Hamas of "executing" a number of Fatah detainees. He said the Fatah leadership knew of at least two Fatah men who were shot dead by Hamas after being released from prison. He named them as Nasser Muhana and Saher al-Silawi.

Za'arir said that several Fatah members who attended funerals of victims of the IAF strikes were severely beaten by Hamas militiamen who accused them of collaboration with Israel.

It was "shameful" that Hamas was directing its weapons and energies against its own people instead of fighting against Israel, the spokesman said.

The decision to place Fatah operatives under house arrest was issued by the much-feared "Internal Security Apparatus," which reports to the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza.

The order, which was delivered to the Fatah activists on Thursday, reads: "You are forbidden from leaving your home for 48 hours unless you want to attend Friday prayers. Anyone who violates the order will be punished."

Son of Hamas Leader Gives Glimpse Into Terror Organization

from Fox News

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders try to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, one former member of the militant Islamic organization said there will never be lasting peace between the two groups.

"There is no chance. Is there any chance for fire to co-exist with the water?" said Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the group's founding members.

Yousef added: "It's not about Israel, it's not about Hamas: it's about both ideologies."

Yousef, son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the most influential leaders of the militant group, said the organization betrays the Palestinian cause and tortures its own members.

• Video: Click here for more on FOX News' special Escape from Hamas.

Hamas, formed in the late 1980's as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, is considered a terror organization by the U.S. government. Hamas seized power in the Gaza strip in 2007 in a violent coup against the more moderate Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas.

Yousef said he was indoctrinated at an early age to use violence to challenge Israeli control in the region. As a teenager he moved up within the organization and became the leader of the radical Islamic Youth Movement that fought Israeli tanks and troops in the streets, celebrated suicide bombings and recruited young men to the cause.

Yousef, 30, said he realized the true nature of Hamas and radical Islam during a stint in an Israeli prison. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and converted to Christianity.

"Islam is not the word of God," said Yousef. "If you want to be offended it's your problem. But you know something? Go study. Think for a second that I might be right. So wake up, look at your path, see where you're going. Are you really going to heaven with 72 virgins after you kill yourself and kill another 20 people?"

Yousef has sought asylum in the United States and now attends an evangelical Christian church in San Diego, Calif.

"The Hamas leadership, including my father, they're responsible; they're responsible for all the violence that happened from the organization. I know they describe it as reaction to Israeli aggression, but still, they are part of it and they had to make decisions in those operations against Israel (for) which there was the killing of many civilians."

Yousef talks more about his extraordinary story of faith, courage, violence and betrayal in a FOX News documentary, "Escape From Hamas," hosted by Bill Hemmer.

Escape from Hamas airs Saturday at 9 p.m., with repeats at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. EST, and Sunday at 9 p.m., with repeats at 12 midnight, 2 a.m., EST.

• Click here to view video of Mosab Hassan Yousef speaking out.

Roseanne Barr blasts Israel as 'Nazi state'

(Compiler's note: She is one sick woman. And will someone explain to me one more time exactly what her qualifications are -- other than being a "TV Star" -- on the subject she is discussing?)

Iranians urge kids to fight 'evil' Israel

from WorldNetDaily

Amid Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza to stop rocket attacks against its civilian population, an Iranian children's TV show taught toddlers to embrace "martyrdom" and hate their Jewish "enemies."

The TV host asked the Iranian children what they would do if they were in the place of the Palestinian children, "Would we surrender, or would we fight back?"

The children replied in unison: "Fight back."

A child chimed in: "We would all get together so we could fight. ..."

The TV host finished the child's sentence: " ... the enemies and the bad people. That's right, we would struggle against them and fight them."

The host declared she is willing to be a martyr for Islam.

"I am willing to sacrifice myself. I am willing to sacrifice my arms, my legs, and all my limbs, my family, and my property, in order to achieve my goals," she said.....

Muslim 'preachers of hate' hunted

LONDON -- Thousands of Britain's local government employees will return to work in 2009 to find they have been recruited to help MI5 identify Muslim "preachers of hate."

Refuse collectors, parking wardens and postmen will be among those who will be told to watch out for anyone they think "skirts the fringes of the law" under the Counter-Terrorism Local Profiles Campaign, which Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced.

"It will enable us to more quickly identify extremists and preachers of hate in our midst," MI5 director Jonathan Evans has told his officers.....

“Wall Street’s Next Big Trade…”

(Compiler's note: "Follow the money" still holds true for the coming bailouts)

by Larry Johnson

Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson has become a household name over the course of 2008. Paulson has been roundly criticized for his mixed messages and inconsistent use of funds from the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Repurchase Program).

While most of us have seen more of Henry than we would have ever cared, allow me to introduce you to another Paulson. John Paulson (no relation to Henry) is one of, if not, the most highly acclaimed and profitable hedge fund managers on Wall Street. While investment banks, hedge fund managers, and most asset managers were investing in and promoting sub-prime mortgages and the like, John Paulson was “going the other way.” In 2006, he started shorting sub-prime originators, the ABX (the CDS index that tracked the sub-prime market) and the investment banks that most heavily trafficked in this sector. He personally and the investors in his fund made tidy fortunes in the process.

The reason for my introducing you to John Paulson at this juncture is because he wants to enter the world of community banking. One may wonder why a titan from Wall Street would want to enter into the world of regional and community banking.

This past summer, the first large bank to fail was Indymac Bank located in Pasadena, CA. Since then there have been another 24 banks that have failed with another 200 on the FDIC “watch list.”

Enter John Paulson, along with J.C Flowers of private equity shop J.C Flowers and Co., and Steve Mnuchin from hedge fund Dune Capital. Paulson, Flowers, and Mnuchin are about to purchase Indymac. Flowers already took a controlling stake in a small community bank in Missouri. By the end of Friday, none other than George Soros and Michael Dell were also part of the consortium purchasing Indymac. With a group as high profile and diverse as this, do you think they are getting a fabulous deal?

What do these transactions give them? Well, what does any hedge fund or private equity shop want? Cheap funding, a strong backer that will absorb losses, a bigger balance sheet, and a source of cheap assets. Indymac Bank provides cheap funding from the consumer deposit base (savings and checking accounts paying very little and CDs paying 2-3%). Indymac Bank has a strong backer in the form of the U.S. government that will agree to underwrite a significant percentage of non-performing assets. This loss sharing technique was widely utilized in the S&L meltdown in the late ’80s and will very likely be used again. Indymac Bank has cheap assets currently on its books but also can utilize its balance sheet to buy more cheap assets as it lays off unwanted assets onto ………the U.S. government!!

What do these hedge fund and private equity fund managers bring to the equation? Capital and an expanded balance sheet, both of which are desperately needed by our banking system currently.

Why have banking regulators, the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, been reluctant to engage these companies and others like them in the purchase of failed institutions? I mean, this is the essence of capitalism and risk taking, correct? Shouldn’t these purchases be promoted? Even our highly respected analyst Meredith Whitney has been recommending that federal funds be directed toward smaller regional and community banks. Won’t these transactions help accomplish that? Not necessarily!!

My concern, and it has been shared by the regulators to this point, is that these hedge fund and private equity managers will not promote the core mission of community lending at these banks.

Hedge fund managers and private equity investors are primarily focused on return on capital without the obligations of traditional banking. How do they most effectively achieve that? Cut expenses and overhead as aggressively as possible. In my estimation, they would just as soon have an online bank with little to no infrastructure. Utilize adverse selection in terms of assets at these banks that they will retain. Adverse selection is simply the process of cherry-picking the existing portfolio. The government will certainly end up with the dregs. Grow the portfolio not through lending but via the purchase of illiquid assets already in the marketplace which have expected returns higher than those on traditional lending.

Another concern is the potential conflict of interest in the bank activities versus the ongoing investment activities at the hedge fund and private equity fund. If there is ever a situation screaming out for aggressive regulatory oversight it is the entry of these buyers into the banking business.

Again, I am a strong and steady proponent of free and open markets in which private capital has an opportunity to take risk to generate returns. I welcome and applaud the government for the willingness to deal with “new money” but I hope that strong and demanding regulators are reviewing this operation regularly. We need to make sure these new buyers know how to “play nice in the local sandbox.”

Read more about this deal and how the rough and tumble world of hedge funds and private equity wants to “come to a town near you”….

SEE: WSJ article

I thought that it may also be helpful to provide a link which highlights all of the banks in our country. This list comes from the FDIC and ranks, in descending order, the risk embedded in these banks as measured by their troubled credits utilizing the Texas Ratio, which is determined as follows:

100 * ((non-performing assets - U.S. gtd loans) + other REO (real estate owned)) / (equity + loss reserves)

The 95 banks with a ratio higher than 100 are considered to be in very serious danger of collapse. Well worth a look!! Additionally those banks with very low ratios may be a great place to start for those looking to make equity investments.

LewRockwell.com

I have to believe that Messrs. Paulson, Flowers, Mnuchin, Soros, and other hedge fund and private equity managers are already booking travel plans!!!

Trying to stay ahead of the curve for you here at NQ!!!

LD

Hizballah, MAS at Israeli Embassy in Washington

from Jihad Watch

Hizballah flag at left

Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation

These photos come from the Muslim American Society-sponsored protest Friday at the Israel Embassy in Washington.

A bit of background: you can see Mahdi Bray in this video from 2000, openly expressing support for the jihad terrorist groups Hamas and Hizballah:

In 2007 Bray put this lame spin on that video:

Bray said his gestures weren’t in support of Hamas and Hezbollah.

“You saw me pumping my fists. You didn’t see me raising my hands. If they had shown the audience, you would have seen people in the audience raising their hands and falling out laughing,” he said. “For him to come and make these kinds of radical rants, no one took him seriously.”

Bray said he does not support violence, and would have been more judicious in his reaction had the event happened after Sept. 11, 2001.

And now here's a chance for Bray to issue some new disavowals!

Mahdi Bray is the Executive Director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation.

In a lengthy expose of Muslim Brotherhood activity in the US, the Chicago Tribune published this in 2004: "In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nation's major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members."

And what is the Muslim Brotherhood's agenda?

The Muslim Brotherhood "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." -- "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America," by Mohamed Akram, May 19, 1991.

Islamic Sharia Law for Beginners

Dave Gaubatz

There have been many outstanding articles written by counterterrorism (CT) specialists for other counterterrorism specialists. As an example, one need only read articles produced by David Yerushalmi, Director, SANE. Yerushalmi is light years ahead of others in the field of Sharia law, and thus his articles dissect Sharia in great depth and breadth. What is needed for families that want to understand the complexities of Islamic Sharia Law, however, and the impact Sharia has on our society – which includes people of all religions and all races – is an explanation they can understand at a novice level.

After gathering such information it is important, subsequently, for the novice CT individual to be able to explain it to other concerned neighbors, friends, and relatives. Therefore the following is a basic explanation designed for the novice; and it explains how the dangers of Sharia law creep into any society, including our own:

#1: An ideology/religion is formed. We can name it anything our hearts desire. We will call this one “New Religionism” (NR).

#2: The founders of NR will say they have five basic beliefs/pillars to which they all must adhere in order to be a true member/worshipper of NR.

#3: The five pillars of this new religion are:

3a: You must believe in God

3b: You must attend every NR service

3c: You must pray to the NR God eight times a day

3d: You must associate only with other NR worshippers

3e: You must pay 25% of your salary to the minister of NR

No matter how ridiculous some of the above pillars may seem to others, in America we have freedom of religion, and so we would not condemn the people who willingly want to observe a particular religion. Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam have factors in their respective religions that, although everyone may not agree on them all, the basic pillars cause no harm to others who do not wish to observe them, so all of these religions are observed in America.

However, if NR were to add to their pillars a #4 which advocates mandatory punishments - such as death - for worshippers and even non-worshippers who do not observe NR’s five basic pillars, this could cause disastrous results for NR members and non-NR members. If the NR scholars also were to advocate killing anyone who leaves the NR group, or who criticizes NR, or who insists only NR laws should be observed (rather than the laws of any country), this would be very dangerous and a grave threat to individuals and countries. If the NR scholars then encourage their members to go to war and use such tactics as suicide bombings, kidnappings, decapitating hostages, economic chaos and more, the host society as it has been known would be changed.

This is an example of what happens to a country that allows Sharia Law to be observed. Review the following equation from the list of numbers above in our hypothetical NR religion:

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3e = No real threat to NR members or non-members.

But if you add to the mandatory beliefs number 4 (Sharia Law) as advocated by the scholars, you then have a threat to any country’s national security and a grave threat to individuals (be they NR or non-NR worshippers).

Sharia law encompasses all aspects of a Muslim’s life. It dictates how to pray, when to pray, how to conduct business activities and how to conduct one’s everyday affairs. These are for the most part peaceful practices. The area of concern is the violent ideology that considers all non-Muslims as enemies of Islam, and the mandatory “Huddud” (Islamic criminal law) punishments such as stoning and flogging young girls. In addition, there is the aspect of Sharia that entails raising an army of Muslims always to be prepared to fight the enemy if Islam or the Muslim people are assumed to be oppressed. Under Sharia law, a Muslim must (if not capable of physically fighting) support the Mujahedeen (fighters) financially; further, they must attempt to use the pen and tongue to fight the enemy.

The majority of the basic beliefs of Islam are indeed peaceful, and the majority of Muslims do not want to observe all aspects of Sharia law. Many Muslim parents want security for their families, they want medical care, they want education, and they want to be happy. Most importantly, many Muslim parents love Islam, but want to adhere only to the peaceful aspects of Sharia law. Unfortunately for them, Sharia law is an all or nothing requirement. One can’t push aside one area and accept the others. To do so is to be an apostate of Islam. Terrorist members and their supporters believe themselves to follow “Pure Islam.” A follower of “Pure Islam”, essentially, is not required to follow any particular school of thought (currently there are four recognized Sunni schools of thought and one Shiite school of thought). “Pure Islam” worshippers believe anyone who does not follow all aspects of Sharia law is not a Muslim and he or she is also an enemy of Islam.

How should we deal with Sharia in America?

• In America we should allow any person to observe numbers 1, 2, or 3. However,
• No element of any religion in America should be authorized to fund and raise armies to be used against Americans and our country in combat (physical Jihad).
• No element of any religion should be allowed to have scholars from other countries come to our country and teach violence to the children in Islamic schools throughout America.
• No element of any religion should be allowed to purchase land in rural areas throughout America in order to have isolated communities prepare for physical Jihad against America.

The observance of Sharia law in its entirety is extremely dangerous. The Muslim people know this, their Islamic scholars know this, and people who have studied Sharia law know this. The only people who do not know or otherwise ignore this are the vast majority of our elected officials and our citizenry.

As Americans, we need to support the Muslims who do not want to observe the violent aspects of Sharia law. They need to know they will have the support of our nation’s resources to eliminate from America the violent ideological aspects of Sharia law. Muslims who want only the peaceful aspects of Sharia will tell you that America could increase its level of security by returning any foreign-born, Saudi- or Pakistani-trained Islamic scholar to his respective country. Additionally, many Muslims do advocate imprisoning such scholars. These scholars are conspiring to commit treason against America and advocate this daily to their worshippers. Of course after 9/11, they no longer stand at their podium and say this: they simply provide Jihadist manuals promoting the violence. They leave it to the individual to do what any “Pure Muslim” would do. One need only follow the Lashkar e- Taiba and al Qaeda to understand “Pure Islam.”

The photo accompanying this article shows just a sampling of material endorsing violence that our researchers have retrieved from 100 Islamic centers – from the east coast of America to the west coast – that we have visited during the last few months. The material includes discs, tapes, DVDs, books, and manuals that call for killing America’s brave young men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The materials also call for killing Jewish people throughout the world, killing Muslims who do not conform to all aspects of Sharia law and turning America into an Islamic state.

Our researchers - a team comprised of Christians, Jews and Muslims - still have over 2,000 Islamic Centers to visit and conduct first-hand research. As you can see, we have our work cut out for us.

6 out of 10 servicemen wary of Obama in charge

Survey: 'Nobody has confidence in this guy as commander in chief'

U.S. governors seek $1 trillion federal assistance

(Compiler's note: Bailout mania continues)

By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Governors of five U.S. states urged the federal government to provide $1 trillion in aid to the country's 50 states to help pay for education, welfare and infrastructure as states struggle with steep budget deficits amid a deepening recession.

The governors of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and Wisconsin -- all Democrats -- said the initiative for the two-year aid package was backed by other governors and follows a meeting in December where governors called on President-elect Barack Obama to help them maintain services in the face of slumping revenues.

Gov. David Paterson of New York said 43 states now have budget deficits totaling some $100 billion as tax revenues plunge. ....

Terrorists use online gambling to launder money

LONDON, England -- As reported by The Daily Telegraph: "The security services have been warned that the internet is increasingly being used to train terrorists, raise money and as the main form of media to promote radical Islam.

"Computer experts in al-Qaeda have created an "online University of Jihad" that is recruiting and training potential terrorists in Britain without them having to risk travelling to camps in Pakistan.

"...Terry Prattar, a specialist in counter-terrorism with Jane's Strategic Advisory Services, said the internet had been used to raise funds for terrorists in Afghanistan including the use of on-line gambling sites to launder cash.

"...The terror groups in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to use Google maps as an information resource for targeting..."

Defense firms getting into computer-network security business

By Gopal Ratnam

BOSTON — Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. are deploying forces and resources to a new battlefield: cyberspace.

As the U.S. government increases spending for protection against computer attacks, new units of these military contractors are aiming to capture a share of a market that may reach almost $11 billion by 2013.

President George W. Bush announced a national cybersecurity plan in January 2008 to be supervised by the Department of Homeland Security, after an increasing number of attacks on U.S. government and private sector networks by groups linked to foreign governments, organized crime gangs and hackers. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to appoint a "chief technology officer" to oversee the effort.

"The whole area of cyber is probably one of the faster-growing areas of the U.S. budget," said Linda Gooden, executive vice president of Lockheed's Information Systems & Global Services unit, which includes a cyber-defense operation launched in October. "It's something that we're very focused on. I expect there will be a significant focus under Obama."

U.S. government spending to secure military, intelligence and other agency computer networks is forecast to rise 44 percent to $10.7 billion in 2013 from $7.4 billion this year, according to a report by market forecaster Input.

The number of security breaches of U.S. and private-computer networks reported to the Computer Emergency Readiness Team of the Homeland Security Department almost doubled to 72,000 in the fiscal year ended in October from about 37,000 the previous year, agency spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said in an interview.

Boeing, which bases its Integrated Defense Systems unit in St. Louis, set up its Cyber Solutions division in August because of a realization by the company that it's a very serious threat, Barbara Fast, vice president of the unit, said. "It's not a question of if we'll be attacked but when and how will we be prepared."

The possibility that the Obama administration may devote more resources to securing the nation's networks is attracting defense contractors to compete with established providers like McAfee Inc. and Symantec Corp.

New York-based L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., and San Diego-based SAIC Inc., also have created special cybersecurity units. Their spokesmen declined to comment.

U.S. government agencies received an overall grade of C on computer security in fiscal 2007, according to a May report by the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Pentagon's D-minus was an improvement over its failing grade in 2006, while the Treasury Department, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission each scored an F. The Justice Department earned an A.

Many of the government agencies also were found lacking a crisis-response plan if their networks were to suffer a series of breaches, based on the outcome of a cybersecurity game organized Dec. 17 and 18 in Washington by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and the non-partisan Business Executives for National Security.

In the game, players were told that university students received free portable computer drives and compact discs at a sports event. When the discs were plugged into computers, malicious software embedded on the devices spread, causing shutdowns of computer networks in the U.S. government, financial institutions, and the transportation sector.

"We need to have a plan tailored for a cyber crisis," Michael Chertoff, secretary of homeland security, said at the end of the simulated exercise.

"If the U.S. computer networks are attacked by a terrorist group or a foreign government, is this an act of war? How do we respond?" he said. "We haven't put together that strategy yet."

President-elect Obama must assert that the cyber-infrastructure of the United States is a vital asset for national security and the economy, according to a Dec. 8 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

That's just what Obama said he will do.

"I'll declare our cyber-infrastructure a strategic asset, and appoint a National Cyber Adviser who will report directly to me," he said in a July address at Purdue. "We'll coordinate efforts across the federal government, implement a truly national cyber-security policy, and tighten standards to secure information."

Congress, too, will examine U.S. antitrust laws that may restrict companies from sharing information on cyber attacks in a crisis, said Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., and chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.

"It's going to be a multiyear, multibillion-dollar project to get the right cybersecurity mechanisms in place," he said.

Shadow of Iran Looms Large Over Gaza

Dr. Walid Phares

The Israeli air raids on Hamas’ infrastructure, along with troop movements around Gaza’s enclave and the shelling of Israel by the Jihadist organization, are both troubling developments in the Middle East but they are certainly neither new nor surprising. Dramatic images of bloody Palestinian civilians fleeing from attacks and pictures of Israelis rushing to the shelters while under fire will always bring chills to observers and depress the entire international community.

Sadly, it’s hardly the first time we’ve seen these images and tragically, seven years after 9/11, they seem to connect with similar bloodshed in Mosul, Kabul and Mumbai. Even if both sides in the current Gaza conflict insist that their confrontation is at the center of the world, in reality it isn’t anymore. Car bombs and missiles in Beirut, Baghdad and Islamabad are all horrifying. There is no “top horror” anymore, even in the never-ending cycle of Gaza’s turmoil. It has all become part of the so-called “War on Terror” even though the Palestinian-Israeli quarrel is a conflict all its own. Still, why is this escalation so dramatic, why did it happen, who triggered it at this particular moment – and what can we expect going forward? It’s too grandiose to claim that anyone has all the answers, but here is my take: ....

What Is In The Hamas Arsenal?

9 Muslim Passengers Removed From Jet - Reagan Intl. Airport

Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.

Members of the party, all but one of them U.S.-born citizens who were headed to a religious retreat in Florida, were subsequently cleared for travel by FBI agents who characterized the incident as a misunderstanding, an airport official said. But the passengers said AirTran refused to rebook them, and they had to pay for seats on another carrier secured with help from the FBI.

Kashif Irfan, one of the removed passengers, said the incident began about 1 p.m. after his brother, Atif, and his brother’s wife wondered aloud about the safest place to sit on an airplane.

A source close to the investigation says Sobia was overheard talking about the safest place to sit on a plane if a bomb was on board. An Airtran spokesman says what was allegedly heard by other passengers was enough to remove the entire Irfan family from the plane.

Obama faces a difficult test in the Department of Homeland Security

by Marsha Mercer

.... Created five years ago by combining 22 federal agencies, Homeland Security is a giant nobody loves, not even its 216,000 employees. The department routinely has the worst morale in the federal government -- a shame since the work is so vital.

Among its parts: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Coast Guard. Its gargantuan mission ranges from preventing terrorist attacks and responding to disasters to policing the borders and deporting illegal immigrants.

Despite the department's problems, current Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says rushing reform is a bad idea.

"There's a presumption in my mind against any massive changes," Chertoff told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday. "At a minimum, you ought to take a couple of years and make sure you're using existing structures as well as you can."

Obama and Napolitano face pressure to make changes immediately. But Chertoff, who gave up a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge to lead Homeland Security, warned that reorganizing is a recipe for federal inaction.

"Each time you reorganize, you freeze everything. People become uncertain what their future is. All actual, substantive work becomes impeded, and then you lose time," he said.

And, time -- as the attacks in Mumbai and the report on biological and nuclear threats reminded everybody this week -- is not on our side.

"We know that our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing," said the report by the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. It predicted that without U.S. government leadership, a biological or nuclear terrorist attack will occur somewhere in the world by the end of 2013.

The blue-ribbon panel, which was formed by Congress, singled out Pakistan as a potential "unwitting source of a terrorist attack on the United States."

The sobering reality, the report said, is that "the risks are growing faster than our multi-layered defenses."

This is not a news flash. But many will find the commission a more reliable source than the Bush administration, which has been criticized for "crying wolf."

So, as Obama sets his priorities, homeland security necessarily will be near or at the top. The sick economy dominates the news, but, if people aren't safe and secure in their daily lives, the queasy stock market hardly matters.

What Homeland Security lacks is credibility. Its earnest advice in 2003 that Americans stock duct tape and plastic sheeting so they could shelter in place during a terrorist attack was ridiculed, and the color-coded threat levels never really made sense. What should we do differently when the threat level is Orange that we don't do when it's Yellow?

The change the new administration could start on is restoring the people's faith in the government. Obama is likely to make high-profile appointments on specific areas of concern, such as WMD and cyber security. These czars would report directly to him, bypassing the Department of Homeland Security. Also under review is whether to remove FEMA from the department.

For what it's worth, Chertoff doesn't think much of those ideas either. What, he asks, would more czars add? And he said that having the agency that responds to disasters as part of the larger prevention effort makes sense.

The WMD commission recommended that the government do more to make information available that helps people understand the terrorist threats, what specifically they can do to help prevent them and steps they can take if an attack occurs. That could go far toward creating real Homeland Security.

Uncle Jay Explains: Dec. 22, 2008

(Compiler's note: Click on the title above for access to a real classic)

Wall Street's Final '08 Toll: $6.9 Trillion Wiped Out

AOL: Growing majority worried over Obama's eligibility

An unscientific poll being conducted by America Online reveals more and more people are having second thoughts about Barack Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office.

Those who raised questions about his vague history before the election largely drew scorn from the mainstream media, which cited an online image from Obama's campaign that purportedly proved his U.S. citizenship with a Hawaiian "Certification of Live Birth."

But the latest results from the America Online poll reveal that nationwide only 41 percent of the participants now believe there is no issue to be investigated.

Fifty-three percent nationwide, and majorities in 45 states individually, say "yes" when asked if there is "any merit" to the controversy surrounding his citizenship. Even in Obama's own state, Illinois, the opinion is split 47-47 percent on the issue.

WND has reported on nearly 20 lawsuits that have been filed in various courts around the nation, including several that have reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

They all in various ways allege Obama does not meet the "natural born citizen" clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, which reads, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Some of the legal challenges have alleged Obama was not born in Hawaii, as he insists, but in Kenya. Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 200,000 others and sign up now!

Other challenges also have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. Such cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Several details of Obama's past have added twists to the question of his eligibility and citizenship, including his family's move to Indonesia when he was a child, his travel to Pakistan in the '80s when such travel was forbidden to American citizens and conflicting reports from Obama's family about his place of birth.

His campaign posted the image of a "Certification of Live Birth" online when the questions first arose, but critics have dismissed that as irrelevant, since at the time Hawaii granted such documents to parents whose children were born outside the state.

The America Online poll shows in South Dakota and Wyoming both, the opinion runs 65-40 that Obama's eligibility needs to be investigated, but those figures are topped in Mississippi, where fully two-thirds of the people believe the truths need to be revealed.

Of the more than 102,000 votes nationwide, the split is 53 percent believing there is an issue to investigate, 41 percent saying no, and six percent undecided.

Even left-leaning Washington state came in at 53-42-5 confirming there's merit to the issue, and in California it was 50-45-5. North Dakota and Texas both turned in 61 percent of the votes citing an issue to review.

The only states where majorities believed there was no issue were Connecticut (42-50-7), Vermont (44-46-10), Rhode Island (42-52-6) and New York (45-49-6). Participants from the rarified air of the District of Columbia agreed with the minority 29-68-3. However, that was down from 71 percent in D.C. who believed, only days earlier, that there was no merit.

Among the comments posted on the America Online poll site was this warning: "If Mr. Obama were to become president, yet not respect the Constitution and customs of this country, then he is not my president. Without legitimacy, his rule will be resisted, damaged and impaired. This can only cause harm to this country."

The poll linked to a commentary that said, "There is virtually no chance that the USSC actually wants to look at this case for real. The best case scenario for the plaintiffs here is that Obama was born out of the country and is somehow covering it up. But even in that case, what you'll find is that the key stipulated fact is that Obama's mother is an American citizen.

"IF he was born out of country and IF some court wants to make an issue of it, then it might just simply enable the fastest constitutional amendment in American history. There is no chance the election will be overturned over it. Again, mom was a citizen," said the commentary.

Critics, however, say that Obama's mother was too young to automatically pass citizenship to her son at his birth.

Another commenter at the poll site said, "In his oath of office, the president must swear 'to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States.' How can Mr. Obama satisfy this requirement, yet violate the 'Natural Born' requirement?"

Said another, "All of this controversy would go away if Obama would just produce a birth certificate. He is fueling this by refusing to do so, and by fighting the issue in court. That refusal alone should make people suspicious."

On a similar note, a recent WND poll asked readers, "Are you satisfied Obama is constitutionally eligible to assume the presidency?" A full 97 percent of nearly 7,200 voters said "no."

The top three answers were:

• No, if I can't get a driver's license without an original birth certificate, how can Obama become president without one?

• No, and Americans should continue to dog him about it through his term

• No, there's a reason why he's unwilling to disclose his original birth certificate

The next hearing before the justices at the U.S. Supreme Court on the dispute is scheduled Jan. 9, when a conference will be held on a case raised by attorney Philip Berg.

"I am determined, on behalf of the 320 million citizens in the United States, to see that 'our U.S. Constitution' is followed. Specifically, in the case of Soetoro a/k/a Obama, does he meet the constitutional qualifications for president?" Berg said in a statement on his website.

"I am appalled that the main stream media continues to ignore this issue as we are headed to a 'Constitutional Crisis.' There is nothing more important than our U.S. Constitution and it must be enforced," he said.

A partial listing and status update for several of the cases surrounding Obama's eligibility to serve as president is below:

• Philip J. Berg, a Pennsylvania Democrat, demanded that the courts verify Obama's original birth certificate and other documents proving his American citizenship. Supreme Court conferences on the case and its motions are scheduled Jan. 9 and 16.
  


• Leo Donofrio of New Jersey filed a lawsuit claiming Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court but denied a full hearing.


• Cort Wrotnowski filed suit against Connecticut's secretary of state, making a similar argument to Donofrio. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court, but was denied a full hearing.


• Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes headlines a list of people filing a suit in California, in a case on which the United States Justice Foundation is working, that asks the secretary of state to refuse to allow the state's 55 Electoral College votes to be cast in the 2008 presidential election until Obama verifies his eligibility to hold the office. The case is pending, and lawyers are seeking the public's support.


• Chicago's Andy Martin sought legal action requiring Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle to release Obama's vital statistics record. The case was dismissed by Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Bert Ayabe.
  
  
• Lt. Col. Donald Sullivan sought a temporary restraining order to stop the Electoral College vote in North Carolina until Barack Obama's eligibility could be confirmed, alleging doubt about Obama's citizenship. His case was denied.
  
  
• In Ohio, David M. Neal sued to force the secretary of state to request documents from the Federal Elections Commission, the Democratic National Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and Obama to show the presidential candidate was born in Hawaii. The case was denied.
  
  
• In Washington state, Steven Marquis sued the secretary of state seeking a determination on Obama's citizenship. The case was denied.
  
  
• In Georgia, Rev. Tom Terry asked the state Supreme Court to authenticate Obama's birth certificate. His request for an injuction against Georgia's secretary of state was denied by Georgia Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter.


• California attorney Orly Taitz also has brought a complaint alleging Obama is not a "natural born" citizen and has written an open letter to the Supreme Court asking for the issue to be resolved.


• Pennsylvania attorney James D. Schneller is suing Pennsylvania's secretary of state, Pedro A. Cortes., to prevent transmittal of the certified electoral vote, claiming severe moral consequences and infringement upon even freedom of religion if Obama's eligibility is not established. His case is active before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.


• In Washington state, attorney Stephen Pidgeon is representing 12 plaintiffs in a case that claims to have standing under a unique Washington statute that allows any registered voter to challenge the election of someone who, at the time of the election, was ineligible to hold the office. The suit intends to include a subpoena of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate. The case is scheduled for argument before the Washington Supreme Court on Jan. 8.

Last month, WND reported on the potential complications an ineligible president could create.

"Should Senator Obama be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the Office of President of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void," argues the Alan Keyes case pending in California, "Americans will suffer irreparable harm in that (a) usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal."

With such high stakes potentially at risk, WND earlier launched a letter campaign to contact Electoral College members and urge them to review the controversy.

That followed a campaign that sent more than 60,000 letters by overnight delivery to the U.S. Supreme Court when one case contesting Obama's eligibility for the Oval Office was pending.

A separate petition, already signed by more than 200,000 also is ongoing asking authorities in the election to seek proof Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution.

WND senior reporter Jerome Corsi had gone to both Kenya and Hawaii prior to the election to investigate issues surrounding Obama's birth. But his research and discoveries only raised more questions.

The biggest question was why, if a Hawaii birth certificate exists as his campaign has stated, Obama hasn't simply ordered it made available to settle the rumors

The governor's office in Hawaii said there is a valid certificate but rejected requests for access and left ambiguous its origin: Does the certificate on file with the Department of Health indicate a Hawaii birth or was it generated after the Obama family registered a Kenyan birth in Hawaii?

Gaza: Hamas gunmen hide in hospitals

Shin Bet chief briefs cabinet on day five of Gaza offensive, says terror operatives hide in hospitals, mosques. IDF: Hamas increases use of densely populated areas for launching pads ....

Obama And That Other Ponzi Scheme

President-elect's name may emerge in Norman Hsu fraud trial.

As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme (no, the other massive Ponzi scheme). In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme.

According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the "extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 letter, a copy of which you'll find by clicking on the title above, Cohen also noted that Hsu was already "notorious for his political activities" and that it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--will be introduced at trial."

Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws. Unswayed by Cohen's argument, Marrero declined to delay the trial, which will begin a week before Obama's inauguration. ....

Another One Bites The Dust: Top Hamas Thug Killed in Air Strike

* Thousands of Hamas combatants have begun infiltrating Gaza City after shedding their uniforms and are taking over civilian apartments.

Nizar Rayyan is one of the most senior Hamas leaders killed by Israel

Hamas spiritual leader forced his kids to die with him

In addition, the IAF bombed the homes of three senior Gaza terrorists.

A senior Hamas leader has been killed by an Israeli air strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, Hamas officials say.

BBC

Nizar Rayyan, the most senior Hamas figure to be killed since 2004, had urged suicide attacks against Israel.

Palestine Today says that Sheikh Rayyan knew very well that his house was a target:

Over the past two days, Israeli aircraft bombed a number of the homes of Hamas leadersin the Gaza Strip, but most of the houses were empty

While aware of that, our Sheikh Rayyan refused to come out of his house and remained firm there with a number of his children.

News of the strike came on the sixth day of Israeli strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian medical sources say 391 people have been killed. Israel says it is trying to prevent militants from firing rockets into southern Israel.

Mr Rayyan is the most senior Hamas leader to be killed since the death of Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in April 2004.

Long reach of Israel

Since its bombing campaign began last Saturday, Israel has attacked Hamas fighters and commanders.

Sites linked to Hamas have also been hit, including smuggling tunnels under the border to Egypt, government buildings and security compounds.

Hamas considered Mr Rayyan to be a political leader, but he often wore a military uniform and was close to the group’s armed wing.

Until now, political leaders have not been killed.

The BBC’s Mike Sergeant, in Jerusalem, says this may further strengthen the determination of Hamas to resist the Israeli air assault.

But it will also be seen as an indication that the Israeli military can target key members of the Hamas leadership - the people Israel says are responsible for the rockets being fired towards Israeli towns, our correspondent adds.

Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rockets fired into Israel since Saturday.

Humanitarian warning

On Wednesday, Mr Rayyan had promised that Hamas would hit Israel “even deeper” than it has so far.

On the Hamas-run al-Aqsa television channel, he said Hamas militants were preparing for any Israeli ground incursion, saying “we will kill the enemy and take hostages”.

At least four other people, some said to be family members, were also killed in the air raid on Mr Rayyan’s home in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The deaths come as the main UN agency operating in Gaza, Unwra, has resumed food deliveries, but warned of a dire humanitarian situation in the territory.

Israel is refusing entry to Gaza for international journalists and has declared the area around it a “closed military zone”, leading to speculation a ground offensive into the tiny coastal strip could be imminent.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said it was not his country’s aim to return to the Gaza Strip.

“The aim is to stop terror. Our aim, if you ask me, is a positive one - to make peace,” he told the BBC.

He said it was up to Hamas to end the conflict.

“It depends upon them. Today, after all the death and all the blood, they fired 17 rockets today. What for? If they really care about their people, stop it.”

Gaza violence goes into sixth day

UN fails to make progress on Gaza

Israel rejects Gaza truce calls

Gaza rockets hit deep into Israel

Gaza aid boat ‘rammed by Israel’