"intelligence official says that Israel is bent on destroying the US" (Window into Palestine)

That's a Pakistani intelligence official. Anyway, time for some conspiracy gloop, from a website that often features it:

A senior Pakistani intelligence official has claimed that Israel is using the United States of America as a proxy to provoke retaliatory attacks from Muslim countries, especially Pakistan.

While answering this scribe’s question on what the military has to say about the presence of USS Enterprise in Pakistani waters, the official confirmed that the news is true but not something to be astonished about. “These are merely pressure tactics, “pokes”. The US military establishment does not have the audacity to wage overt war. There is something I would like to say here, through your behalf for those who know what I am saying: The US is akin to a dead body which has been penetrated by a virus; in this case, Israel. Have you seen those vivid Hollywood flicks which have zombies roaming around? Exactly the same. You shoot them, hit them, they are not affected at all. This is, hence, not a normal situation. That virus (Israel) can even use the US to carry out a nuclear attack therby triggering a global inferno where millions will be massacred. It does not care that Pakistan will give a proper full-fledged response. Pakistan on the other hand, does not want to engage with a zombie”.

While continuing with the conversation, the official recounted how Israel attacked the USS Liberty to teach their American proxies a lesson who were eavesdropping through telecommunication networks into Israel’s systems. He said that the US is being subjected to mass friction by NATO also, which has caused much human and financial loss to the US armed forces.

“You cannot estimate the damage which the US is bearing because of NATO”, added the official, “During the last diplomatic meetings between American, Pakistani and Afghan Taliban representatives, the Taliban reiterated that they can burn alive each and every American soldier in Afghanistan but the Pakistani military does not want to put Israel’s plans into implementation by directly engaging with the US. In case of a Pak-US war, the only benefactor will be Israel“.

Sinister laughter . . .

"Palestine refugees in Lebanon do not enjoy several basic human rights, for example, they do not have the right to work in as many as 20 professions" (AFP)

I assume most of the "refugees" the article refers to were born in Lebanon. That would make them native Lebanese of Palestinian extraction.

[...] "The Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are considered the worst of the region’s refugee camps in terms of poverty, health, education and living conditions," said the American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) in a report released on World Refugee Day.

ANERA cites discrimination, isolation, poverty, joblessness, poor housing and a lack of proper schools, clinics, hospitals and sewage systems as problems affecting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon . . .

"Palestine refugees in Lebanon do not enjoy several basic human rights, for example, they do not have the right to work in as many as 20 professions," UNRWA adds, noting that most refugees rely on UN assistance for survival. [...]

This is all not news, of course. A 2008 Daily Star article described the Palestinians as barred from 70 professions. According to the Wikipedia article "Palestinians in Lebanon":

In 2005, Lebanon eliminated a ban on Palestinians holding most clerical and technical positions, provided they obtain a temporary work permit from the Labor Ministry, but more than 20 high-level professions remain off-limits to Palestinians. Few Palestinians have benefited from the 2005 reform, though. In 2009, only 261 of more than 145,679 permits issued to non-Lebanese were for Palestinians.

So they are still formally banned from the 20 positions? It is not easy to find clear information on this topic, which is odd, considering that the left often seems to have made a fetish of the Palestinians.

"Kim Jong Il, Genius of Literature and Arts" (Korean News)

I love stuff like this:

It has been 48 years since leader Kim Jong Il started his work at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on June 19, 1964.

In the period he energetically led all sectors of the literature and arts in the country, thus bringing the era of the Renaissance in the 20th century.

He authored a lot of celebrated works to give perfect answers to the theoretical and practical issues arising in the development of the Juche-based literature and arts. Typical of them are "Theory of Cinematic Art", "On the Art of Opera", "Theory of Dancing Art", "On the Theatrical Arts" and "Theory of Musical Art".

Under his energetic guidance masterpieces were adapted for films, operas, dramas and novels, including "The Sea of Blood" and "The Fate of a Self-Defence Corps Man" created by President Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle. In this course the DPRK witnessed the emergence of "The Sea of Blood"-style operas and "The Mountain Shrine"-style dramas.

Multi-part feature film "The Nation and Destiny", which represents the Juche-based literature and arts in the 20th century, was also produced along with other multi-part feature films "Star of Korea" and "The Sun of the Nation".

In recent years grand gymnastic and artistic performance "Arirang", light comedy "Echo of Mountain" and drama "We Will Recollect Today" were created and performed to encourage the army and people in the dynamic drive for building a thriving country.

Famous art works of other countries were also created as operas and drama in the DPRK. They are "A Dream of Red Mansions," "A Sentry under a Neon Lamp" and "Evgeni Onegin".

The immortal feats of Kim Jong Il, a genius of the literature and arts, will go down forever.

Along with those of other artistic geniuses, like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi.

"Iran, Russia, China, Syria to Stage Biggest Joint Wargames in Middle-East" (Fars News-Iran)

This is the top story right now at Drudge. I wonder if it is true.

The Iranian, Russian, Chinese and Syrian armies are due to stage joint amphibious exercises along the Syrian costs in coming weeks, informed sources revealed on Monday.

According to informed sources, 90,000 forces from the four countries will take part in the land and sea wargames due to be held in Syria.

Ground, air and sea forces as well as air defense and missile units of the four countries will take part in the exercises.

Sources also said that Egypt has acceded to grant passage to 12 Chinese warships to sail through the Suez Canal, adding that the military convoy is due to dock at the Syrian harbors in the next two weeks.

Russian atomic submarines and warships, aircraft carriers and mine-clearing destroyers as well as Iranian battleships and submarines will also arrive in Syria at around the same date.

Syria plans to test its coast-to-sea and air defense missiles in the wargames.

A sum of 400 warplanes and 1,000 tanks will also be used in the exercises.

A Syrian official, who asked to remain anonymous, had informed two weeks ago that the drills would be conducted in Syria soon.

Unofficial sources also said the four countries are now busy with taking swift preparatory measures for these biggest-ever wargames in the Middle-East.

Sham Life reported that the maneuvers will be stage in less than one month from now, that is early June.

"Brotherhood claims victory in Egypt president vote" (AP)

It probably is not just a claim.

The Muslim Brotherhood declared early Monday that its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won Egypt's presidential election, even as the military handed themselves the lion's share of power over the new president, enshrining their hold on the state and sharpening the possibility of confrontation with the Islamists. [...]

The Arab Winter is getting colder, but the dead of Winter is not quite here. Not yet.

Was my comment blocked at Loonwatch?

A recent post at Loonwatch appears with the following title and subtitle before you click on the link to "Continue Reading":

Annual Report: Zero Civilians in U.S. Killed by Islamic Terrorism… Just Like Every Year Since 9/11

You're more likely to be crushed to death by your T.V. than killed by terrorists.

I quoted the part beginning "You're more likely . . ." and commented as follows:

You can’t compare an event brought about by deliberate human action to a random event such as a freak accident. Let’s say the Rolling Blokes haven’t released a new album for 2 years. That doesn’t mean the likelihood of a future album is leas than that of a freak accident happening to a Loonwatch reader.

My comment appears to have been blocked. It appeared on my computer for a number of days with the message "Your comment is awaiting moderation," and now I don't see it at all. I might as well refine the comment a bit. I suppose you actually can compare the probability of any two events. But you can't assume that the probabilities of the two events are calculated the same way if one is brought about by human planning (and against the efforts of someone trying to thwart the planning) while the other possible event is the result of other factors, generally unplanned ones. The example of the possibly upcoming Rolling Blokes album still stands. I am not going to comment further on the possibility that I was censored. That speaks for itself.

"Venezuela builds 1st drone with Iran help" (IRIB-Iran)

Great news!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his country manufactured its first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), dubbed Arpia-001 (Harpy-001), in cooperation with Iranian experts in order to strengthen the South American state’s defensive power.

Venezuela is manufacturing drones and seeks to increase its defensive and military powers, which has nothing to do against anyone, Chavez said late on Wednesday.

He added that the drone has both military and civilian applications, noting that the UAV has been produced in a way that could be used for non-military operations.

Venezuela is an independent and free country, and is promoting its plans to mount the defensive capabilities in collaboration with Iran, Russia and China, Chavez pointed out.

The UAV has a 100-kilometer (60 mile) sweep and can fly solo for some 90 minutes and reach an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,000 feet).

Venezuela has already manufactured three of the aerial vehicles.[...]

"Nasrallah Says Hizbullah Missiles Can Hit All Vital Sites in Israel" (Naharnet)

In the third paragraph he thanks Iran:

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday that the party’s missiles are now “capable of reaching vital targets inside Israel,” pointing out that the “Israelis themselves acknowledge Hizbullah’s missile power.”

In an interview with the Iranian television, Nasrallah added that the military capabilities of his group “cannot be compared to the previous phase,” describing Israel’s threats to attack Iran as “propaganda to blackmail the international community.”

According to the transcript of the interview published on the website of Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam satellite TV network, Nasrallah added: “We should thank Iran because it supported us in reaching our objectives,” warning of the “attempts of the United States to conspire against the revolutions and Islamic renaissance in the region.”

He also said that “Israel, the U.S. and some other Western countries along with certain Arab nations are seeking to topple Bashar Assad’s regime with the help of al-Qaida,” adding that such actions “prove that they are not seeking reforms in Syria.”

"Some Southern California 'nonprofit' pot shops make big money" (LA Times)

The subtitle of this article reads as follows: "Documents show a cash-infused retail world bearing little resemblance to the one pitched to voters for the 1996 Compassionate Use Act for 'seriously ill Californians.'" Naah, its not possible!

In the first raid, Orange County sheriff's detectives hit a Dana Point marijuana storefront, the San Clemente home of its director and a "stash house" he allegedly maintained nearby.

In the two homes, they found cash stuffed everywhere: in buckets in the garage and attic, in an Igloo cooler in a bedroom, under a mattress, on an ironing board, in a dresser. According to a search warrant affidavit filed in November, they recovered more than $700,000.

At the shop, investigators found spreadsheets showing sales over 10 months totaled $3.17 million, according to the affidavit, with $2.47 million "cash on hand." Paperwork indicated that a silent partner, a convicted drug dealer named John M. Walker, controlled the shop and six others in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

A subsequent raid of one of Walker's properties recovered a Beretta handgun, a shotgun, a Chinese AK-47 with a bayonet and grocery bags filled with four dozen rubber-banded bundles of cash; one of the bags contained a note with calculations totaling $99,324.

The discoveries and many others like them across California are starkly at odds with the image presented by medical marijuana providers, who label themselves as "compassionate caregivers" and say they work on slim margins, give away cannabis to the poor and comply with the law.

Many medical marijuana dispensaries have been making huge sums of money even as they claim to be nonprofit, according to court and law enforcement records, industry insiders, police and federal agents. The Times found a cash-infused retail world unlike the one pitched to voters who passed the Compassionate Use Act for "seriously ill Californians" in 1996. [...]

Shocking!

"Annihilation of Zionist regime needs constant resistance: President" (IRIB-Iran)

So many English headlines from the Iranian press have referred to the "annihilation" of Israel that I am starting to lose count. Here's another one:

IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the only way for destruction of the Zionist regime is continuing the path of resistance by Palestinians.

President Ahmadinejad made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Jibril late Sunday in Tehran.

“Today the resistance groups and freedom seekers should be ready more than any other time before. The only way to disrupt the enemy’s plots is continuing the resistance,” the President added.

He noted that this fake regime (Israel) is actually the symbol of the Western countries and the US.

“In other words the Zionist regime is the entrance gate of the Western countries and the US to the Middle East region,” President Ahmadinejad added.

Secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Jibril for his part presented a report on the situation in the Middle East.

“Today, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has immensely influenced the people of the region. We have seen the progress of the Islamic Republic of Iran in all areas which is a great achievement for Muslim Umma,” Jibril added.

Angry Arab channels Helen Thomas

Failure to notice that Israel is home to most of the descendants of the Mizrachi Jews--about half of its population--is rampant in the Arab world, where the popular imagination has all Israelis stemming ultimately from Germany and Poland--I call it "Helen Thomas Syndrome." Angry Arab, who seems to be a walking illustration of the various syndromes, gives us a classic example today. This is actually a meme by itself: the "Israel stole felafel" meme. His post is called "terrorists and thieves" and here is the text:

I mean, they stole Palestine why would they not steal the region's cuisine and claim it as "Israeli"?

The word "Israeli" includes a link to this article about an Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia. Hmm, let's see, about half the ancestors of the present Israelis lived in the Middle East until a few generations ago. Among the big concentrations of Jews in the world, why would Israelis have the most Middle Eastern cuisine? Why, they must be "thieves"! Hatred, as I've observed before, is the functional equivalent of stupidity. (By the way, Angry Arab has mentioned "Arab Jews" on his blog. I guess they were obligated to leave their cuisine behind along with all their property when they fled their formerly native lands.)

"Jibril Terms Iran 'Palestinian Nation's Strategic Hope'" (Fars News-Iran)

What happens to all this once there is a sort-of Sunni Khomeinism ruling Egypt? Who knows:

Secretary General of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ahmad Jibril in a meeting with Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili praised Tehran's spiritual and material support for Palestine, and described Iran as a strategic hope for the Palestinian nation.

"Iran is the Palestinian nation's strategic hope," Jibril said during the meeting in Tehran on Sunday.

He pointed to the Zionist regime's concerns about the increasing power and potentials of the Muslim world, and said, "Certain powers' pressures against the Islamic Republic of Iran indicate that regional developments and the spreading domain of the Islamic Awakening have increased the Islamic Republic of Iran's capabilities against the US and the Zionist regime."

Jalili, for his part, referred to the regional developments and Islamic Awakening in the region, and said popular uprisings in the region and the collapse of such dictatorial regimes as Hosni Mubarak in Egypt have pushed the Zionist regime to its weakest position now.

Jalili in relevant remarks in January had stressed that the Islamic Awakening sweeping the Middle-East and North Africa has changed the balance of power in favor of the Muslim world.

Jalili made the remarks, referring to revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and popular uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

He also noted that the Islamic Awakening in the region must be used against the hegemonic policies of the United States and Israel.

"CIA, MI6 agents direct massacres in Syria: American analyst" (PressTV-Iran)

Chock full o'nuts:

An American author says agents of the CIA and MI6 are directing armed groups to carry out massacres inside Syria, Press TV reports.

Stephen Lendman, writer and radio host from Chicago, said the CIA and MI6 “special forces” are in Syria now, directing massacres.

“They go after pro-Assad loyalists,” Lendman stated in an interview with Press TV on Saturday.

“There is no question this is a Washington-orchestrated war.”

“It is a low-level war to the extent that NATO has not gotten directly involved. But it is exactly what happened in Libya last year. An insurgency began. Washington orchestrated it. Insurgents were recruited. They were funded. They were armed.”

The American author stated that Syria has been “targeted for regime change for years, at least a decade.”

Lendman also referred to the six-point peace plan presented by the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, in March.

“His so-called peace plan puts the onus on a side. He barely mentions these insurgents, these death squads, these killers.”

“I have written about Kofi Annan. I have written several times about him. During his tenure as UN secretary general, a decade, a solid decade, he never did a thing to stop imperial wars,” Lendman added. [...]

What can you do against Imperialism, anyway?

"Expert warns of UFO activity during London Olympics" (PressTV-Iran)

Why is this story appearing at the Iranian news site most geared for Western readers? I don't know, but it doesn't surprise me:

A UK UFO expert has warned about the possibility of sudden alien appearance in London skies during the upcoming Olympic Games in the British capital.

“With the summer of mass events we are all on high alert for terrorism. But we must also cast our eyes further afield and be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable,” said Nick Pope, who has worked with the Ministry of Defense for more than two decades.

Pope who investigated UFO reports between 1991 and 1994, says his studies convinced him that the sightings raised important defense for national security and air safety issues.

“It has been a widely held belief in Ministry of Defense circles that "aliens" have been able to detect us for decades via TV and radio broadcasts,” he said adding that mass summer events would be a prime time for alien crafts to present themselves to mankind.

“If aliens have studied our psychology, they may choose to appear in our skies on a significant date - the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games is one date being widely circulated by conspiracy groups.”

Pope said aliens would come in a spirit of warmth, friendship and shared learning, but the government was also prepared for the worst scenarios such as alien attack and invasion.

“If UFOs came into our atmosphere, RAF jets such as the Eurofighter Typhoons, and missiles such as the Rapiers guarding the Olympic Games would be well equipped to enter the fray,” he said.

Pope is known as the person “working on the X-Files of the UK,” and has given lectures and TV interviews about his views on the existence of UFOs since he left MoD in 2006

The souls of the folks at PressTV have obviously been touched by the great Art Bell.

"KCU Delegates Visit National House of Class Education" (Korean News)

In which we learn that the delegates "strongly asked the Korean People's Army to shower deadly fire of revenge upon [South Korea] at once." This touches on a number of North Korean propaganda themes:

Delegates to the celebrations of the 66th birthday of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) have visited the National House of Class Education.

The house exhibits historical data and materials showing brutal atrocities committed by the U.S. and Japanese imperialists as well as the class enemies against the Korean people.

The visitors hardly repress their surging indignation at the brutalities and vowed revenge upon the enemies.

Hong Sok Song (12), a delegate from Yangsi Secondary School in Ryongchon County, North Phyongan Province, told KCNA:

"I could understand more clearly about the crime-woven history made by the U.S. and Japanese imperialists.

They and the Lee Myung Bak group of south Korea are now carrying on anti-DPRK war drills.

I will join the army in the future to become a-match-for-a hundred soldier."

Kim Chong Hyang (13), a delegate from Sinhung Secondary School in Sinchon County, South Hwanghae Province, said:

"I heard many stories about atrocities committed by the U.S. invaders during their temporary occupation of my hometown in the period of the Korean War (1950-1953).

The visit to this house hardens my determination to wreak revenge upon them on all accounts."

O Hyon Mi, KCU instructor at Namha Primary School in Sinuiju City, North Phyongan Province, said:

"The visit reminds me of the truth that struggle will continue as long as the class enemies are left alive.

The Lee group defamed the KCU celebrations as "charade intentionally orchestrated" and "event for winning public favor" and furthermore insulted the dignity of our supreme leadership, likening it to the Nazis.

All the KCU delegates are now seized with surging resentment toward the provokers. We delegates strongly asked the Korean People's Army to shower deadly fire of revenge upon them at once, as was declared in the ultimatum released by the KPA General Staff.

The Lee Myung Bak group of traitors will never escape from stern punishment."

They seem to be weathering all the violent rhetoric with no problems.

"West even fears unarmed Iran" (PressTV-Iran)

I don't think anyone serious doubts that Iran is working on nuclear weapons anymore. And no, Juan Cole does not count as serious. So here is the latest wrinkle in the endless parade of Iranian denials of the obvious:

Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader says Islam has empowered Iran in such a way that even if the country had no weapons, the West would still fear it.

“It was Islam that gave Iran national glory, authority and helped the country achieve independence,” Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani said.

The senior Iranian cleric further said Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program have proven to be an opportunity for Iran and pave the way for its progress.

The West, led by the United States, has imposed sanctions against Iran, accusing Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed the Western allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's nuclear energy program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.

Speaking of the IAEA, Iran evidently recently destroyed some buildings that it was not allowing the IAEA to inspect.

"Larijani warns Zionist regime not to play with ball of fire" (IRNA-Iran)

The beginning of this is quite vague, and then it gradually dawns on the reader that Israel is being warned about Syria and that Larijani is quite off the deep-end in considering oppositon to Assad to be a Zionist plot:

Occupying Zionist regime and its allies should care not to play with a ball of fire by provoking anti-resistance unrests, Iran's Majlis Speaker, Ali Larijani, said here on Wednesday.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Qom people who have elected him for a second term as Majlis deputy.

“Enemies are playing with a ball of fire by planning various plots against the line of resistance in region and it will absolutely hurt themselves and the occupying force of Zionist regime.”

Larijani pointed to the fact that enemies are seeking new adventures in region after being severely hurt as a result of ongoing regional revolutions, noting that US and UK recent efforts against Syria will not make a result and they themselves would be harmed.

The Speaker warned enemies about anti-Iranian plots, underlining that economic pressures will not affect Tehran’s desire to continue its progress forward.

It should be noted that, the Islamic Awakening is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Muslim world.

Since 18 December 2010, there have been revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen; a civil war in Libya resulting in the fall of its regime; major protests in occupied Palestine against the Zionist regime, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco and Oman, and minor protests in Kuwait, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Western Sahara.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

In October, calm was eventually restored to Syira after President Bashar al-Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but plots by the US and the Zionist regime could spark some new unrest in certain parts of the country.

Hmm, calm unless there's a Zionist plot. Maybe there is some other Syria we don't know about?

"Iran, Syria, Hezbollah to Unite against Israel in Case of Attack on Syria" (Fars News-Iran)

Even if Israel is not the hypothetical attacker?

Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement will open a united front against the Zionist regime of Israel in case of any foreign military intervention in Syria, an influential Lebanese figure warned on Wednesday.

Addressing a group of Tunisian youths, Nasser Qandil, a former lawmaker, dismissed foreign military strike on Syria as impossible.

"Direct or indirect intervention in Syria is impossible since Iranian and Syrian leaders as well as the leaders of Hezbollah have decided to open a front against the Zionist regime (in case of any military intervention in Syria)," Qandil stated.

He described Syria as a key to the revival of the West's lost role in those Arab states of the region which have experienced a revolution in the last two years, saying that the US-led West can take back power and control in such regional Arab states if only it succeeds in toppling Bashar al-Assad's government.

In October 2011, a member of the Hezbollah fraction at the Lebanese parliament lauded Syria's role in the resistance front against Imperialism, and cautioned that Hezbollah has all options on the table to respond to any possible threat to Syria.

Speaking to FNA, MP Hassan Hoballah described Syria as a "stronghold" and a main pillar of resistance against imperialism in the region.

He said that developments in Syria affect the whole region, and stressed that the Lebanese resistance movement (Hezbollah) cannot sit silent if Syria comes under attack by enemy states.

"In case this member of the resistance front is given a blow, all contingencies and options will be on the table," Hoballah stated.

Somehow I don't think that Syria is the big issue between Israel and Iran.

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)

I can't help noting the passing of a Science Fiction giant who was also a beautiful prose-stylist. His stories even show up in Composition textbooks as models to emulate. Try The Martian Chronicles.

"A politically incorrect wave of labyrinthine madness is casting its heavy shadow over Syria as the country is being surrounded left and right by Zionist plots thickening beyond control" (PressTV-Iran)

Get a load of this swill:

A politically incorrect wave of labyrinthine madness is casting its heavy shadow over Syria as the country is being surrounded left and right by Zionist plots thickening beyond control.

The complicated situation in Syria is ever more obfuscated by myriad forces at work to destroy the friend of Iran and the foe of Israel.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned on Sunday that Syria has become the target of imperialist foreign conspiracy and that the country is facing a real war waged from the outside.

In an address to the new parliament in Damascus, Assad said, “We are not facing a political problem because if we were this party would put forth a political program. What we are facing is (an attempt) to sow sectarian strife and the tool of this is terrorism."

The Syrian leader also slammed the perpetrators of the Houla massacre as "monsters". The carnage claimed the lives of 108 people, including 49 children and 34 women.

"What happened in Houla and elsewhere (in Syria) are brutal massacres which even monsters would not have carried out," Assad said.

As an act of character assassination and in order to portray Assad as an illogical person, the media only broadcast a select part of his speech, cutting his speech only to those parts which could be easily misinterpreted or interpreted out of context instead of giving every listener or viewer the chance to judge everything in its proper context.

In his speech, Assad defended Syria’s right to fight the terrorists who “dominate the scene” and “decapitate the Syrians”, a right seen by the international community as violence against protesters.

“Much has been said about the political solution since the beginning of the crisis and there are those who talk of a political solution and other points or details related to it but until now, not one of them has suggested what is the relationship between a political solution and the terrorism which has dominated [the scene] since the beginning of the crisis…Will dialogue and a political solution stop the terrorist from doing what he has been doing until now? And did this terrorist decapitate heads and commit all kinds of heinous terror because there are two sides in Syria who are in a disagreement with each other? And does this mean that once we engage dialogue and agree on a political solution, the terrorist will say the reasons [for the terrorism] are now gone and I will abandon my terrorism?…this is illogical” (Select parts of Assad’s speech translated by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb).

To a world contaminated by the lies and deception the media help promote, Assad seems to be seen the main culprit in the massacre although unspeakable reports from eyewitnesses at the scene of the crime testify to realities, which could be painful to the ears and the hearts.

A witness to the May 25 carnage in Houla says armed groups raped women before killing them and the children.

“They (armed groups) burned houses and killed people by the families because they were loyal to the (Syrian) government. [They] raped the women and killed the children” (Global Research, June 1, 2012).

Another witness said the armed groups “used the women and children as human shields and continued firing” at Syrian forces.

In a statement issued on May 29, Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said a “substantial part” of the Houla killings was “summary executions of civilians, women and children.”

Unfortunately, Arab puppet regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fanning the flames of crisis in Syria and playing in the hands of Washington to serve the interests of Israel. For instance, Saudi Arabia is brutally critical of Syria and ironically talks of democracy and popular uprising in Syria while at the same time, the regime supports the Bahraini dictatorship and even sends men to crush the popular uprising there. Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, called on the international community in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, to provide arms to Syrian rebels. These two countries and some other Persian Gulf nations also made a promise of millions of dollars in aid and equipment to the rebels in order to step up the fight against the regime of Bashar Assad (The National, April 2, 2012).

In the intricate grand scheme taking shape in Syria, Israel certainly plays a furtively guileful role. Influential Zionist parties are instrumental in steering the unrest into a direction most debilitating to the government of Bashar Assad. Prominent among these Zionists is Haim Saban, an Egyptian born Israeli-American media mogul who serves as a political power broker. Saban, who is self-described as “a one-issue man” with Israel being “his issue”, plays a pivotal role in the Syrian unrest. At a conference in Israel, he said, “Three ways to be influential in American politics are to make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets.” In 2002, he contributed thirteen million dollars for the construction of a new building for the Democratic National Committee. The same year, he founded the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, D.C. which is affiliated to the powerful Zionist lobby in America notoriously known as AIPAC.

The current director of the institute is the pro-Israel lobbyist Martin Indyk, who had earlier founded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an AIPAC spinoff, to counter the Brooking Institution which was criticized for not being pro-Israel enough.

A former US ambassador to Israel, Australian-born Jew, Martin Indyk used to be an assistant secretary of state. In an interview with ABC, he clearly enunciated that Washington was working closely with Turkey and Saudi Arabia against Syria, “The leverage really comes from the sanctions that we are imposing, the isolation that we're organizing and the coordination with Turkey and Saudi Arabia” (abc.net.au October 25, 2011).

The operations of the Saban Center were extended to Doha in Qatar, a regime which vehemently supports the removal of Assad and has offered generous military and financial support to that effect. Known as the Brookings Doha Center, the Qatar-based center was established by the pro-Zionist Martin Indyk who is emphatically financed by the Qatari regime.

The Zionist labyrinthine corridors are so numerous that their footprints and their agents are scattered everywhere. The continuation of this Zionist influence is Shadi Hamid who currently serves as the director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and Fellow at the Zionist Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. In fact, these centers are secretly tasked with formulating strategies and exploring effective ways to destabilize any regime in the Middle East which proves hostile or detrimental to the interests of Israel.

To sum up, Israel is following a tripartite plot in order to topple Bashar Assad and destroy Syria under the guidance of Haim Saban: 1. make donations to political parties (e.g. funding and arming rebels and Wahhabi terrorists in Syria) 2. establish think tanks (e.g. setting up centers such as the Zionist Saban centers in Washington and Doha and formulating effective strategies to bring down the Assad government) and 3. control media (blacking out Arab and Western media from delivering honest and unbiased reports on the Syrian situation).

That there will be an all-out war in Syria, one cannot say with surety.

However, it is evident that the Zionist plot has been craftily devised to involve a military intervention in Syria and turn the country into chaos and ruins. A politically incorrect wave of labyrinthine madness is casting its heavy shadow over Syria as the country is being surrounded left and right by Zionist plots thickening beyond control.

The complicated situation in Syria is ever more obfuscated by myriad forces at work to destroy the friend of Iran and the foe of Israel.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned on Sunday that Syria has become the target of imperialist foreign conspiracy and that the country is facing a real war waged from the outside.

In an address to the new parliament in Damascus, Assad said, “We are not facing a political problem because if we were this party would put forth a political program. What we are facing is (an attempt) to sow sectarian strife and the tool of this is terrorism." The Syrian leader also slammed the perpetrators of the Houla massacre as "monsters". The carnage claimed the lives of 108 people, including 49 children and 34 women.

"What happened in Houla and elsewhere (in Syria) are brutal massacres which even monsters would not have carried out," Assad said.

As an act of character assassination and in order to portray Assad as an illogical person, the media only broadcast a select part of his speech, cutting his speech only to those parts which could be easily misinterpreted or interpreted out of context instead of giving every listener or viewer the chance to judge everything in its proper context.

In his speech, Assad defended Syria’s right to fight the terrorists who “dominate the scene” and “decapitate the Syrians”, a right seen by the international community as violence against protesters.

“Much has been said about the political solution since the beginning of the crisis and there are those who talk of a political solution and other points or details related to it but until now, not one of them has suggested what is the relationship between a political solution and the terrorism which has dominated [the scene] since the beginning of the crisis…Will dialogue and a political solution stop the terrorist from doing what he has been doing until now? And did this terrorist decapitate heads and commit all kinds of heinous terror because there are two sides in Syria who are in a disagreement with each other? And does this mean that once we engage dialogue and agree on a political solution, the terrorist will say the reasons [for the terrorism] are now gone and I will abandon my terrorism?…this is illogical” (Select parts of Assad’s speech translated by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb).

To a world contaminated by the lies and deception the media help promote, Assad seems to be seen the main culprit in the massacre although unspeakable reports from eyewitnesses at the scene of the crime testify to realities, which could be painful to the ears and the hearts.

A witness to the May 25 carnage in Houla says armed groups raped women before killing them and the children.

“They (armed groups) burned houses and killed people by the families because they were loyal to the (Syrian) government. [They] raped the women and killed the children” (Global Research, June 1, 2012).

Another witness said the armed groups “used the women and children as human shields and continued firing” at Syrian forces.

In a statement issued on May 29, Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said a “substantial part” of the Houla killings was “summary executions of civilians, women and children.”

Unfortunately, Arab puppet regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fanning the flames of crisis in Syria and playing in the hands of Washington to serve the interests of Israel. For instance, Saudi Arabia is brutally critical of Syria and ironically talks of democracy and popular uprising in Syria while at the same time, the regime supports the Bahraini dictatorship and even sends men to crush the popular uprising there. Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, called on the international community in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, to provide arms to Syrian rebels. These two countries and some other Persian Gulf nations also made a promise of millions of dollars in aid and equipment to the rebels in order to step up the fight against the regime of Bashar Assad (The National, April 2, 2012).

In the intricate grand scheme taking shape in Syria, Israel certainly plays a furtively guileful role. Influential Zionist parties are instrumental in steering the unrest into a direction most debilitating to the government of Bashar Assad. Prominent among these Zionists is Haim Saban, an Egyptian born Israeli-American media mogul who serves as a political power broker. Saban, who is self-described as “a one-issue man” with Israel being “his issue”, plays a pivotal role in the Syrian unrest. At a conference in Israel, he said, “Three ways to be influential in American politics are to make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets.” In 2002, he contributed thirteen million dollars for the construction of a new building for the Democratic National Committee. The same year, he founded the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, D.C. which is affiliated to the powerful Zionist lobby in America notoriously known as AIPAC.

The current director of the institute is the pro-Israel lobbyist Martin Indyk, who had earlier founded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an AIPAC spinoff, to counter the Brooking Institution which was criticized for not being pro-Israel enough.

A former US ambassador to Israel, Australian-born Jew, Martin Indyk used to be an assistant secretary of state. In an interview with ABC, he clearly enunciated that Washington was working closely with Turkey and Saudi Arabia against Syria, “The leverage really comes from the sanctions that we are imposing, the isolation that we're organizing and the coordination with Turkey and Saudi Arabia” (abc.net.au October 25, 2011).

The operations of the Saban Center were extended to Doha in Qatar, a regime which vehemently supports the removal of Assad and has offered generous military and financial support to that effect. Known as the Brookings Doha Center, the Qatar-based center was established by the pro-Zionist Martin Indyk who is emphatically financed by the Qatari regime.

The Zionist labyrinthine corridors are so numerous that their footprints and their agents are scattered everywhere. The continuation of this Zionist influence is Shadi Hamid who currently serves as the director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and Fellow at the Zionist Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. In fact, these centers are secretly tasked with formulating strategies and exploring effective ways to destabilize any regime in the Middle East which proves hostile or detrimental to the interests of Israel.

To sum up, Israel is following a tripartite plot in order to topple Bashar Assad and destroy Syria under the guidance of Haim Saban: 1. make donations to political parties (e.g. funding and arming rebels and Wahhabi terrorists in Syria) 2. establish think tanks (e.g. setting up centers such as the Zionist Saban centers in Washington and Doha and formulating effective strategies to bring down the Assad government) and 3. control media (blacking out Arab and Western media from delivering honest and unbiased reports on the Syrian situation).

That there will be an all-out war in Syria, one cannot say with surety.

However, it is evident that the Zionist plot has been craftily devised to involve a military intervention in Syria and turn the country into chaos and ruins.

And you read it here first.

"the Queen . . . has the supreme authority in Britain and her vast powers can never be challenged . . ." (PressTV-Iran)

In which we learn that Gaddafi could have avoided his fate if only he had been "clever enough to portray himself as a symbolic figure and exercise powers by holding confidential meetings with a prime minister." Now you tell us, PressTV! Where were you when Gaddafi needed you?

Celebrations marking the British Queen’s 60th year on the throne have officially begun in Britain while republican activists say this show cannot hide Britain’s “highly questionable constitutional arrangement.”

Anti-monarchy activists in Britain say the royal festivities are “a neat way of distracting” the public from the bitter reality that this is the Queen who has the supreme authority in Britain and her vast powers can never be challenged “in a court of law.

This is the British monarch who calls the shots in Britain as the country’s unwritten constitution gives her the power to appoint ministers, sign treaties, change the law, and even declare wars. And she does exercise those powers on the instruction of her Prime Minister as the two meet on a weekly basis, with the meetings remaining strictly confidential.

This comes as the Republican movement in Britain which rejects inherited power and privilege and seeks democratic reforms not only gets almost no media coverage but also is somehow banned under the Treason Felony Act.

The act which was passed by the British parliament in 1848 and is still in force says punishment for advocacy of republicanism could be life imprisonment.

Even former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi referred to the vast powers of the British Queen in order to justify his own crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Libya last year.

“Why did no one question (the UK's) Queen Elizabeth for invading Iraq?” Gaddafi asked at a time reports said he had killed hundreds of protesters in Libya.

However, Gaddafi faced a very different fate. He was not clever enough to portray himself as a symbolic figure and exercise powers by holding confidential meetings with a prime minister, changing the law through a Privy Council, and at the same time remaining immune from any challenge at a court of law.

Clever is as clever does . . .

Angry Arab: "Look at this absurd headline: the Israeli lost but he was declared a winner"

What was the headline that provoked this reaction? An AP story: "Despite loss, Israeli chess grandmaster wins fans." Maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't sound so "absurd" to me. I've heard of greater absurdities. In another recent post, Angry Arab has this to say about the returned dead Palestinian terrorists: "To our enemy, Israel, those are numbers. To us, they are names, faces, and still brimming with life." Some of them are not so "faceless" to Israel's supporters, AA. When can I expect to see the names and faces of some of their victims in your blog?

"Kaesong City, Seized with Festive Mood" (Korean News)

Who knew that such heights of human happiness were possible?

Kaesong City, adjacent to the Military Demarcation Line, has been put in an ecstasy of joy with appointments of delegates to the celebrations of the 66th anniversary of the Korean Children's Union. Hwangbo Su Hyon (43), father of Hwangbo Song (11), a delegate to the celebrations, told KCNA:

"I am a special-class disabled soldier. My family has enjoyed benefits from the Party and the State.

And, this time my daughter, Song, was appointed a KCU delegate. I can hardly express my feelings now. Such loving care will become a memory to be shared by my family through generations."

Kim Myong Gwang (13), a student at Koryo Secondary School, said in tears:

"I am not an orphan for I regard the dear respected Kim Jong Un as my own father."

An officer of the Korean People's Army, Kim Chol Ung, father of Kim Ung (10), a pupil at Manwol Primary School, said:

"Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un inspected the military outpost in Panmunjom I was standing guard in March this year and showed deep trust in our service personnel.

And, my son is to go to Pyongyang as a KCU delegate to the celebrations. Now I feel my family has got all blessings."

Farmers Ri Wan Song and Kim Pong Sil, father and mother of Ri Jin Du (11), a student at Panmunjom Secondary School, said that they would work harder to boost grain output, inspired by their son's appointment as a delegate.

Any maybe be allowed to eat a little of the grain . . .

"Anti-Capitalism, Islamic Awakening Inspired by Imam Khomeini's Thoughts" (Fars News-Iran)

This is reminiscent of North Korean claims that "all progressive people" are impressed by the Juche idea:

The thoughts and notions of the Late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, is the source of inspiration for the growing tides of Islamic awakening in the region and the anti-capitalist moves in the western society, the Iranian Armed Forces said in a statement on Saturday.

In a statement released on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the demise of the Founder of the Islamic Republic, the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces stated said that revolutions in the Middle-East followed by the collapse of the West-backed dictatorial regimes in the region was a materialization of the events forecasted by the Late Imam Khomeini.

"23 years after the painful demise of the great architect of the Islamic Revolution, the emergence of Islamic Awakening in the region and anti-Capitalism movement in the western bloc indicates the effects of the Revolution and the influence of Imam Khomeini's pure thoughts beyond the Islamic Iran's geographical boundaries," the statement said.

In relevant remarks in February, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei had also described the Islamic Revolution as a source of inspiration for the revolutions and popular uprisings which have swept the Middle-East and North Africa.

Addressing Iranian Air Force personnel here in Tehran at the time, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran did not claim that the Islamic Awakening in the region had been initiated by Iran, but, no one could neglect the fact that the waves of Islamic Awakening had been inspired by the victory of Islamic Revolution.

The leader underlined that the latest developments in the region and the Islamic Awakening proved that the Iranian nation was moving in the right path and that the Islamic Revolution had flourished and was dynamically moving forward towards its goals 33 years after its victory.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that slogans of the Iranian nation had prevailed over the region and the nations following global arrogance had now stood by Iran pursuing the same goals.

Sounds like that refers to "arrogance," doesn't it?

"Syria: Armed groups carried out Houla massacre" (PressTV-Iran)

We all know that Assad wouldn't do anything like that:

A Syrian government investigation into the massacre that recently killed more than 100 people in the western Syria village of Houla has blamed anti-Damascus armed groups for the killings. The head of the inquiry, Brigadier General Qassem Jamal Suleiman said during a news conference in the Syrian capital on Thursday that between 600 and 800 armed terrorists used heavy machinery to carry out the attacks on the village on May 25. The fatalities included dozens of women and children. "It appears that all the victims came from peaceful families who refused to rise up against the government or take up arms, but had rows with armed groups," Jamaleddine stated, adding that facts and evidence showed the victims had been killed at close range.

There were no traces of burns or other evidence that could indicate that artillery bombing by Syrian forces had led to the massive loss of life, he further noted.

The general went on to say that the grizzly massacre had been carried out in an attempt to “eliminate the presence of the government [in the area] totally and turn it into a region out of government control."

"Killing children does not meet any goal of the government but those of the armed groups," he pointed out, insisting that Syrian troops did not enter the area before or after the incident.

The head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Major General Robert Mood said in a briefing via video from Damascus to an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on May 27 that the UN observers in Houla had estimated the fatalities at 108, including 49 children and 34 women.

However, the Security Council condemned the violence at the meeting, saying it “involved a series of government artillery and tank shelling on a residential neighborhood.”

Damascus has strongly denied any involvement in the bloodshed and blamed armed terrorist groups for violence across the country as part of a plan to ignite a civil war.

Syrian authorities continue their investigation into the massacre.

Let's hope they get to the bottom of it.

"Leader's Aide: Israel Lacks Courage to Wage War on Iran" (Fars News-Iran)

Variations of this headline occur constantly in the Iranian press. Are they nervous?

A top advisor of Iran's Supreme Leader challenged the Zionist regime's intensified war rhetoric against Tehran, saying that the arch-foe of the Islamic Republic does not dare to stage a military attack against Iran.

The comments were made by Supreme Leader's Advisor for International Affairs Ali Akbar Velayati in a meeting with a group of Egyptian journalists here in Tehran on Wednesday.

Asked about Israel's growing saber-rattling and threat of military attack against Iran, Velayati said, "The Zionist regime has neither the power nor the courage and venture to do so for it knows that if it embarks on doing such a thing, it won't exist any more."

Iranian officials and commanders have warned that any enemy move, even the slightest aggressions, against the Islamic Republic would be reciprocated with a destructive response and will endanger enemies' interests all around the world.

In March, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed Tehran's military preparedness to give a crushing response to any possible aggression against the country.

"We do not possess a nuclear weapon and we will not build one, but we will defend ourselves against any aggression, whether by the US or the Zionist regime, with the same level (of force)," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing thousands of Iranian people in the holy city of Mashhad, the provincial capital city of Iran's Northeastern province of Khorassan Razavi.

The Leader said Washington and its allies are well aware that Iran is neither in possession nor in pursuit of nuclear weapons and the real reason behind their enmity against Iran is their thirst for the nation's oil.

Is oil good for quenching one's thirst?

"Syria carnage funded, fueled by US-led Zio-Wahhabis: Analyst" (PressTV-Iran)

The title is better than the article:

An “unholy alliance” of US-led Zionists and Wahhabis is funding and fuelling the deadly unrest in Syria, trying to “bring the Syrian government to its knees”, a political analyst says.

“Syria is bracing for more political chaos as all antagonistic forces appear to have entered into an unholy alliance to bring the government to its knees by ingeniously choreographing massacres and attributing them to Syrian government, thereby turning the country into fertile soil for US-led invasion,” wrote Dr. Ismail Salami in an article published on the Global Research website on Tuesday.

Pointing to the deadly clashes in the township of Houla in the Western Syrian city of Homs, which, according to the UN observer mission in Syria, left 108 people dead, he added that “What deserves due attention in the carnage that happened in Houla is that many were shot dead at close range, many were Shia Muslims and many were women and children.”

“In other words, these atrocities are conjectured to have been carried out at the hands of the extremist Wahhabis and al-Qaeda elements who are notorious for targeting women and children in their terrorist operations,” the political analyst further elaborated.

The analyst also explained that the fact that those murdered in Houla were mainly Shia Muslims reinforces the conjecture that the massacre was perpetrated by the “Wahhabis” who “nurse inveterate loathing” toward Shia Muslims.

Salami pointed out the role of Washington in sponsoring Syrian rebels, referring to a recent report by The Washington Post that they “have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States’”. [...]

Juan Cole adopts Muslim Brotherhood view of Israel-Egypt peace treaty

Cole throws land-for-peace under the flag-bus of Caliphate Buslines:

The American political elite, very attentive to big money in politics and to the Israel lobbies, almost certainly is pulling for Shafiq to win. Mursi and the Brotherhood have a long history of hostility to Israel, and talk about revising the Camp David Peace Accord of 1979. (Camp David was supposed to lead to a resolution of the Palestinians’ problems but instead became a separate peace for Egypt and a means whereby the Israelis could further displace and expropriate the Palestinians, denying them any citizenship in a state and keeping them as riffraff who can be victimized at will. In this respect, a Brotherhood government in Egypt that stood up for the Palestinians would be a positive step).

If the government of Egypt and Hamas in the Gaza Strip become one giant blob of Islamoplasm, then the post-Palestinianism of Hamas will have triumphed over both land-for-peace and Fatah. The MB-Hamas government of Egypt-Gaza won't exactly be "standing up for the Palestinians"--one Palestinian recently complained that Hamas is "erasing Palestinian culture"--but a Sunni version of Khomeinism should certainly find its fortunes on the rise. And that's Juan's kind of development!

"It is the unanimous aspiration and desire of mankind at present to study and disseminate the Juche idea"

If "mankind" is "unanimous," how can there still be "imperialists"?

The International Alliance of Societies for the Study of the Juche Idea and Songun Policy in East European and Central Asian Regions on May 18 posted on its Internet homepage an article titled "Ranks of world progressive people regarding the Juche idea, Songun idea as a banner for life and struggle are on the increase".

Today the scientific accuracy, truth and validity of the Juche idea and the Songun idea have been more clearly proved in the practical struggle of the Korean people as the triumphant banners of the human cause of independence, the article said.

The Juche idea, the Songun idea founded by President Kim Il Sung and developed in depth by leader Kim Jong Il has been widely disseminated in many countries and regions of the world over the last decades, it noted.

The article gave a detailed account of the fact that the work for studying and disseminating the revolutionary idea of the peerlessly great persons is brisk in various parts of the world and study organizations grouping prominent personages have been formed to conduct energetic activities.

It is the unanimous aspiration and desire of mankind at present to study and disseminate the Juche idea, the Songun idea at a time when the imperialists have become more undisguised in their high-handed and arbitrary practices.

The article cited facts that political parties, organizations and publishing houses of many countries are bringing out works of the President and Kim Jong Il and books introducing the originality, truth and vitality of the Juche idea, the Songun idea.

The "Juche idea" basically means starve everybody to feed the army, or at least the elite units, by the way.

Turkey "approves" its own "indictment of Israeli commanders" (PressTV-Iran)

What could be more meaningful than an indictment from a Turkish court?

A court in Turkey has approved an indictment seeking multiple life sentences for four Israeli military commanders over their role in the 2010 killing of nine Turkish activists on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

The indictment, which was arranged by Istanbul state prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci, was presented to the court last week and its approval means the start of a trial in absentia against the Israelis, Reuters reported.

The Israeli military attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the international waters on May 31, 2010, killing nine Turkish activists on board the Mavi Marmara, which was part of the six-ship aid convoy.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since Israel's deadly assault on the humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkey kicked out Israel's ambassador and halted all military cooperation with Tel Aviv after a United Nations report into the atrocity released in September 2011 didn’t condemn the Israeli regime forcefully.

The 144-page indictment called for nine life sentences to be given to each of the four Israeli commanders, among them Israel's former Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

Another milestone for the world community.

Happy Shavuos!

Sunday and Monday, starting sundown Saturday night, will be the holiday of Shavuos (or Shavuot if you like), commemorating the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. One custom involves staying up the whole first night reading something called Tikkun Leil Shavuos, which contains selections from the various parts of the Torah--something from every parshah, something from every tractate of the Mishnah, the Book of Ruth, some mysticism, etc. The idea is that the Jewish people fell asleep the first time, but we can make up for it every year by staying up since a holiday is a spiritual repeat of the original event. Sometimes I make it all the way through without falling asleep, sometimes I don't.

We also eat dairy foods for the festive meal of the first day, such as the blintzes and sour cream pictured above. There are numerous explanations for this practice, but it is worth noting that blintzes and cheesecake taste good. More info here and not just about blintzes. See you Monday night (or Tuesday). Chag Sameach!

Juan Cole is worried about the safety of Tel Aviv

And the big threat is Global Warming!

Some of Israel’s Mediterranean coast is sufficiently low-lying, including the city of Tel Aviv, that the rising ocean levels that will be caused by global warming will submerge them over time. In past eras, an increase of 1 degree celsius translated into 10 to 20 meters increase in sea level. Even if we can hold our present increase to 3 degrees celsius through a crash global green energy program, that would be an increase of as much as 60 meters or 180 feet. Tel Aviv will certainly end up under water if humanity goes on spewing carbon dioxide into the air at this rate–not in this century, but over time. A majority of Israeli Jews live in and around Tel Aviv. Climate change is the real existential threat, not bluster from Iran.

I don't know about you, but I think the threat from Iran is a bit more pressing.

"Supreme Leader: Collapse of Arrogant Powers Imminent" (Fars News-Iran)

Some Supreme Leader blather to start your morning:

Developments in the West display that the world's arrogant powers are definitely on the verge of collapse, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday.

"The front of oppression, arrogance and bullying is weakening and on the verge of demise despite its apparent hue and cry," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a number of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) cadets in Tehran on Wednesday.

He meantime underlined that despite the arrogant powers' decline, "the pioneering Iranian nation continues its speedy move towards more progress and materialization of justice in the decade of progress and justice".

Noting that the Iranian nation is hopeful of its future, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the country's youths to continue Iran's glorious path in the future so that the nation will reach its real eminence. [...]

Good thing he said that. They were considering deviation from the glorious path . . .

"Israel is fast becoming a Talmudic state, or a state guided by the pornographically racist Talmudic principles" (Khalid Amayreh)

Here are the first three paragraphs of his latest rant:

By now, and given Israel's brazen lebensraum policies in the West Bank, along with its Shamelessly bellicose regional behavior, it should be amply clear that reaching a stable, durable and genuine peace with the Jewish state is out of question, at least for the foreseeable future.

Israel is fast becoming a Talmudic state, or a state guided by the pornographically racist Talmudic principles, whereby non-Jews, including billions of Christians and Muslims, are viewed as non-human beings.

Don't be beguiled by the Zionist hasbara, which morphs the black into white and the big lie into a "truth." Pay more attention to what Israel does, not what Israel says, because Israel is intrinsically mendacious. Israel after all is itself a big lie, a gigantic war crime, and a scandalous aberration in the history of humanity. [...]

Good for a few laughs, right? Also at the Palestinian Information Center site, the usual blather that follows peaceful visits by Israelis to the Temple Mount: "Change and Reform bloc: the storming of the Aqsa Mosque sets off alarm bells":

The Change and Reform bloc held the occupation fully responsible for allowing and protecting Zionist settlers during storming Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The bloc said in a statement, on Sunday, that the Zionist occupation continues committing crimes against the Palestinian people, lands, and holy places. Zionist settles stormed today Al-Aqsa's courtyards in Jerusalem under IOF protection as an attempt to strengthen what they claimed to be the status of the temple. These repeated Jewish attacks on the Aqsa Mosque reveal the malicious intents to demolish it to establish an alleged temple on its ruins, the statement stated.

It added that the continuing settlers’ attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque set off alarm bells for Zionist Plots against Masjid Al-Aqsa. [...]

Yeah, let's establish an alleged temple . . .

"Bin Laden died of narutal causes - ex CIA agent" (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting)

That's "natural causes." More conspiracy theories from Iran:

A former agent of the CIA has revealed that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has died of natural causes five years before the US announced his death.

In an interview with Russia’s Channel One, Berkan Yashar, who is also a Turkish politician, said the US has not killed the al-Qaeda leader.

“In September of 1992, I was in Chechnya, that’s when I first met the man whose name was Bin Laden. This meeting took place in a two-story house in the city of Grozny; on the top floor was a family of Gamsakhurdia, the Georgian president, who then was kicked out of his country. We met on the bottom floor; Osama lived in the same building,” Yashar said.

According to the former CIA agent, he personally knew Bin Laden’s three Chechen bodyguards, who had protected him until his death and witnessed his death on June 26, 2006.

“Even if the entire world believed, I could not possibly believe it,” Yashar said. “I personally know the Chechens who protected him, they are Sami, Mahmood, and Ayub, and they were with him until the very end.”

“Only three Chechens buried him, according to his will” in the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghan border, he said.

Yashar added that the CIA abducted one of the bodyguards, Sami, before the announced killing of Bin Laden last year.

He says the bodyguard disclosed to the US the exact place of burial in the mountains.

“There was no assault. I know the American operations from the inside: they find the grave, dig out bin Laden and tell everyone about this. They need to show how technologically the security services worked, how each step was controlled, and then present it as a great victory to show that taxpayers are not paying taxes for nothing,” he said.

Washington announced on May 2, 2011 that Bin Laden was killed by US forces in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The lack of transparency over bin Laden's death has cast further doubt over the announcement.

And you read it here first . . .

"Top Commander Reiterates Iran's Commitment to Full Annihilation of Israel" (Fars News-Iran)

If only Juan Cole were here to tell us what this headline means:

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said threats and pressures cannot deter Iran from its revolutionary causes and ideals, and stressed that the Iranian nation will remain committed to the full annihilation of the Zionist regime of Israel to the end.

Addressing a defense gathering here in Tehran on Sunday, General Firouzabadi said that nations should realize the threats and dangers posed by the Zionist regime of Israel.

He reiterated the Iranian nation and Supreme Leader's emphasis on the necessity of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and its causes, and noted, "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel."

The top military official reminded that the Iranian Supreme Leader considers defending Palestine as a full religious duty and believes that any kind of governance and rule by anyone other than the Palestinians as an instance of usurpation.

Earlier this year, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed in explicit remarks Iran's direct involvement in the Palestinian and Lebanese confrontation with Israel, including the Lebanese Summer 2006 33-day resistance against the Zionist regime.

"Wherever Iran interferes, it announces it in a very straightforward manner. For instance, we interfered in confrontations against Israel, which resulted in the (Lebanese) victory in the 33-day war and (Palestinians' victory in) the 22-day (Gaza) war," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing millions of Friday Prayers worshippers on Tehran University Campus in February.

"In future too, we will support and help everyone who opposes the Zionist regime," the Leader underscored.

"The Zionist regime is a real cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut, God Willing," Ayatollah Khamenei underscored.

I would say that authorizes Israel or the Great Satan (the object of similar and closely related hatred), or both, to take the necessary action. A pinpoint strike on the nuclear program is not the only option.

Advice for Hasbarists 1: Don't trivialize or understate the Jewish connection with the Land of Israel

Advice for Hasbarists seems to be the rage currently. So I thought I would try my hand in a multi-part series, mainly as an opportunity to write down things I often write in comment threads on other people's blogs but not necessarily here, where I often let the things I post speak for themselves. The most obvious place to start is something that often strikes me in the statements of both anti-Zionists and defenders of Israel: a rather lame-sounding account of what the actual connection is between Jews and the land of Israel. The anti-Zionists, of course, often begin sentences something like this: "Just because your ancestors lived somewhere 2000 years ago, that doesn't give you the right to blah blah blah . . ." What makes things worse is that well-meaning supporters of Israel will write that Jews "Yearned to return to Israel for 2000 years." That may be true, but it hardly captures the significance of Israel to Jews and the Jewish part of Israel's significance to the world at large.

To cut to the heart of the matter, the connection between Jews and Israel is Divine in origin and essential to G-d's intent in creating the world. That says it all for me, but I understand the impulse to express the Jewish connection to Israel in secular term, especially since there is a whole raft of secular lies out there that should be countered. The would-be secular hasbarist who wants to tackle the subject of the Jewish connection to Israel should realize he has a subject which is hard to describe adequately in a short space.

The importance to civilization at large of the connection between Jews and Israel is impossible to overstate. The two religions in the world with largest numbers of followers, Xianity and Islam, are both spin-offs of Judiasm. Both claim to be the true religion of Moses, David, Solomon, and not surprisingly, both revere Jerusalem. You may remember those diagrams printed in many editions of Dante's Divine Comedy with Jerusalem as the center of the universe. You may recall that Blake wrote of building "Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land." Neither of those giants of world literature were thinking of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as I once jokingly remarked, although the reverence shown by Muslims for the Al-Aqsa Mosque does derive from the same thing that inspired Dante and Blake

Another problem with stating that "Jews yearned for Israel for 2000 years" and leaving it at that is the implication that Israel was off the Jewish map for 2000 years and was not the site of any actual Jewish history during that time. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Ba'alei Mesorah (or Masoretes) were still living in Tiberias and preserving the biblical text for most of the first 1000 years of that 2000 years. At the end of the 13th century, the Ramban (Nachmanides) was living in Israel, rebuilding the Jewish community in Jerusalem, and composing one of the two or three most famous Biblical commentaries in the Jewish tradition. He wrote his commentary in the world's only surviving uniquely Palestinian language: Hebrew. There was an eager audience of diaspora Jews equipped to read this Palestinian commentary since they were mostly putting more emphasis on Hebrew education than on education in the languages of the lands they inhabited. Some of these Jews were in Egypt, just across the border from Israel. Many were in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the author of the Lecha Dodi prayer, the author of the Shulchan Aruch (the primary modern code of Jewish law), and Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the Arizal, the most famous Jewish Kabbalist of the post-ancient world) all lived in Safed. Safed was repeatedly destroyed afterwards by natural disasters and various Arab raids, but the Jews kept returning there. And it took more than yearning to return. Jews gave Palestine its first printing press. Jews have been the majority population in Jerusalem, the crown jewel of Israel's towns and cities, since about 1840, i.e. from many decades before the first Zionist olim arrived until the present, since before the time we describe as "in living memory" you could say, since nobody from that time is still alive.

I could go on for a long time and I still have not touched on matters that will be familiar to many readers: the constant mention of Israel in the Jewish liturgy and scripture, the halachic distinction between chutz la'aretz (outside of Israel) and Israel and the many precepts of the Jewish religion that are only operative in the land of Israel. Israel may presently have the largest concentration of Jews in the world and quite likely, the largest concentration of Jewish children in the world. I will stop here, however. Stay tuned for Part 2.

A metaphor for thinking "land-for-peace" is a good idea

"Israel becomes a target in Egypt's presidential vote" (Reuters)

Here is the first paragraph:

Israel has become a punchbag for politicians vying for votes in Egypt's presidential race, playing on popular antipathy in Egypt towards its neighbor, but the realities of office are likely to ensure a 33-year-old peace treaty is not jeopardized.

And who knows better than Reuters? However, I think the Islamists will dispose of whatever is left of the treaty. Now that the gas pipeline has been taken care of, they will be able to turn their attention to border raids and so forth. Israel's inevitable acts of self-defense will be construed as "aggression," relations will deteriorate, and the seven or eight Palestinians who actually want a two-state solution will be shafted.

"Mossad agents brain washed me" (Fars News-Iran)

Nice title:

Majid Jamal Fashi, a Mossad operative and assassin of IRI nuclear scientist revealed Sunday that Zionists had brain washed him by offers of money and post in such a way that he thought he was savior of world before his murderous act.

Fashi who assassinated top Iranian nuclear physicist, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi in January 2011 told IRIB minutes before execution Tuesday that the path he took ended up in frustration.

Fashi said his mind "was deviated by foreign media's empty words" which made him a dissident of the Islamic Republic and prompted him to leaver the country. He said Zionist agents, having found him as an avid seeker of money and reputation, built on his weak points and gradually turned him into a murderer and traitor.

Asked about his trainings in Israel, Fashi said the Zionists replicated the scene of assassination for him in 'Israel' as if it was a verified copy of the original. He said even the color of house door and mosaics of alleway floor were the same as in Iran.

"They only told me he (Ali-Mohammadi) was making atomic bomb and stands a threat to humanity," Fashi said, adding that they brain washed him to the extent he thought he was a savior of the Earth.

"They even called the highly strong bomb by which to kill Ali-Mohamadi a technological advance," the assassin said.

Fashi revealed that the one who first absorbed him and had him join Mossad was later killed by Mossad as his mission was over.

Fashi said following his murderous act he felt proud until reaching home however when he saw in television whom he had assassinated, he realized that all Israeli claims were false.

If only he had been reading MondoWeiss!

"Foreign Adherents to Juche Idea Laud Juche Idea, Songun Idea" (Korean News)

Great news for World Progressive People!

The adherents to the Juche idea who visited the DPRK said that the Juche idea, Songun idea is the great idea in the present times whose validity and vitality have been proved in practice.

Edmond Jouve, director-general of the European Society for the Study of the Juche Idea, said that the Juche idea indicates the road for the popular masses to independently shape their destiny.

He noted that the idea is stirring up the progressive mankind including the Korean people for its scientific accuracy and truth.

The world progressive people are highly praising President Kim Il Sung, founder of the idea, as the eternal sun, he noted.

Ivan Draksler, chairman of the Slovak Association for Supporting the Juche Idea, noted that the idea is being widely disseminated worldwide, proving its vitality.

The Korean people have registered shining achievements by applying the idea, he said.

The Juche idea is the source of the Korean people's faith in independence and their tremendous strength.

The people could defend socialism while smashing the moves of the imperialist allied forces to stifle the DPRK as they have firmly maintained the independent stand in the revolution and construction, he noted.

He continued to say that the Juche idea, Songun idea is important guidelines to be followed by the countries and nations desirous of independence and progress.

Anarbek Usupbaev, chief of the Group for the Study of the Juche Idea of Kyrgyzstan, said that the Juche idea, Songun idea is the great guiding idea indicating the road ahead of mankind in accomplishing the cause of independence.

Omar Lopez, chairman of the Venezuelan National Society for the Study of the Juche Idea, expressed the will to more thoroughly arm themselves with Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism to fulfill the noble mission and duty as the pioneer of the times disseminating the progressive idea.

Not Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism-Kimjongunism? Reeducation camp for you, Omar!

Angry Arab: "In how many ways have Arabs have to express their opposition to any peace with Israel before the White Man gets it?"

The actual post is about Egyptian hostility to Israel. It's ironic--most of what he means by the "White Man" consists of people who have "gotten it"--in America, anyway. The ones least likely to have gotten it are his political allies.

"Ahmadinejad: Zionists Fighting Goodness, Tormenting Entire Humanity" (Fars News-Iran)

Ahmadinejad's rhetoric goes through a cycle of sorts. Sometimes he belittles the Zionist entity. Sometimes he attributes fantastic powers to it:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the Zionist regime and its affiliates as a source of torment for the entire humankind, specially the oppressed Palestinian people.

"The Zionists' existence is against goodness and is a source of evil, suffering torment" for all humanity, Ahmadinejad said, addressing a large group of people in Khorassan Razavi province, Northeastern Iran, on Sunday. [...]

And who could be more tormented than Ahmadinejad himself?

And then what happened to Safed?

Anyone who is Jewishly literate has heard of the Safed Kabbalists. In the 16th and 17th centuries Safed became, perhaps, the intellectual capital of the Jewish world and was able to boast of Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch; Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, the author of Lecha Dodi; the Arizal, and other Torah-greats. We might ask, however, what happened then? Why didn't the Torah greats of the 18th century live in Safed/Tsfas? Here is part of the Wikipedia account of the subsequent history of Safed:

[...] Over the course of the seventeenth century, Jewish settlements of Galilee had declined economically and demographically, with Safed being no exception. In around 1625, Quaresmius spoke of the town being inhabited "chiefly by Hebrews, who had their synagogues and schools, and for whose sustenance contributions were made by the Jews in other parts of the world." [19] In 1628, the city fell to the Druze and five years later was retaken by Ottomans. In 1660, in the turmoil following the death of Mulhim Ma'an, the Druze destroyed Safed and Tiberias, with only a few of the former Jewish residents returning to Safed by 1662. As nearby Tiberias remained desolate for several decades, Safed gained the key position among Galilean Jewish communities. In 1665, the Sabbatai Sevi movement is said to have arrived to the town.

An outbreak of plague decimated the population in 1742 and the Near East earthquake of 1759 left the city in ruins, killing 200 town residents.[20] An influx Russian Jews in 1776 and 1781, and of Lithuanian Jews of the Perushim in 1809 and 1810, reinvigorated the community.[21]

In 1812, another plague killed 80% of the Jewish population, and in 1819 the remaining Jewish residents were held for ransom by Abdullah Pasha, the governor of Acre.[citation needed] During the period of Egyptian domination, the city experienced a severe decline, with the Jewish community hit particularly hard. In the 1834 Safed Great Plunder, much of the Jewish quarter was destroyed by rebel Arabs, who plundered the city for many weeks.

In 1837 there were around 4,000 Jews in Safed.[22] The Galilee earthquake of 1837 was particularly catastrophic for the Jewish population, as the Jewish quarter was located on the hillside. About half their number perished, resulting in around 2,000 deaths.[22] Of the 2,158 inhabitants killed, 1507 were Ottoman subjects. The southern, Moslem section of the town suffered far less damage.[23]

In 1838, the Druze rebels robbed the city over the course of 3 days, killing many among the Jews.

Starting to notice a pattern here?

"Catfish-Jowl Aspic Enjoys Popularity" (Korean News)

I don't think most Americans are too worried about having to eat North Korean food, but I find it comforting that it isn't kosher:

Conspicuous among the dishes, presented to the 17th April Holiday Food Festival at the People's Palace of Culture, was the aspic made of catfish jowl.

Sliced aspic garnished with carrot and celery became the focus of the people's attention.

The dish was presented by Ju Suk Hui at Tongchonho Restaurant.

Noting that many people like to take the dish, she told KCNA:

"The catfish jowl can also be steamed, roasted and fried.

But, the people, including those with dull appetite, chose to take the aspic, because it contains all of catfish's nutrients and is well digestive as well."

Yum.

Pesach Sheni

From Chabad.org:

A year after the Exodus, G‑d instructed the people of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nissan, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done the previous year just before they left Egypt. “There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron . . . and they said: ‘. . . Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G‑d’s offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?’” (Numbers 9:6–7).

In response to their plea, G‑d established the 14th of Iyar as a “Second Passover” (Pesach Sheni) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month. The day thus represents the “second chance” achieved by teshuvah, the power of repentance and “return.” In the words of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, “The Second Passover means that it’s never a ‘lost case.’”

It is customary to mark this day by eating matzah, shmurah matzah if possible.

And skipping tachanun. Now go eat some shmurah matzah! Also, follow the link to Chabad.org for various elaborations on the homiletic message of Pesach Sheni: "There is always a second chance."

Angry Arab on NY Times article on Israeli Jazz: "They stole Falafil, and now Jazz is Israeli"

This is an example of what I call "Helen Thomas Syndrome"--inability to see Israelis as anyhing other than European. About half of Israeli ancestry is from the Middle East. Why wouldn't Israelis eat felafel? Anyway, I particularly enjoy the way AA makes up his own transliterations for Arabic words and names that already have standard transliterations in English. Right, AA, we know you're a native speaker of Arabic.

"Anglo-Zionist financial conspiracy" (Press TV-Iran)

More conspiracies than you can shake a stick at, courtesy of one "Peter Eyre - Middle East Consultant":

We are currently listening to the Bank of England chief Sir Mervyn King telling us that more should have been done to avert the current crisis!

Well, Mr. King you certainly hit the nail on the head considering that it was you that allowed our ex-PM Gordon Brown to empty the gold bullion out of the vaults of the Bank of England and send it over to the EU.

It is you Mr. King that knows all about the fraud in this country starting with our current Prime Minister, David Cameron, and its cancerous growth that has now spread amongst many senior MPs and Members of the House of Lords.

It is you Mr. King that represents the financial arm of the New World Order in Britain and you alone that allows trillions to slip in and out of this country utterly and totally unchecked.

What I find astonishing is the fact that this man has been with the Bank of England since 1990 and still has the audacity to keep saying we could have done more.

One would assume that with his knowledge base and his academic qualifications that this man would be capable of not only seeing pending collapses on the horizon but also have the ability to resolve such issues as and when they arrive.

Well, Mr. King lets just put you in the picture as to what is really happening in the world and what is happening here in the UK and why you are not doing anything about it!

Massive fraud and corruption is taking place each and everyday here in the UK and you know about it because you are part of the rot and continue to allow it to happen!

$15 trillion (equivalent to the total US debt), was transferred from the US Reserve Bank into the HSBC Bank in London and then passed on to the Royal Bank of Scotland. No one appears to know what happened to it after that but who cares. “What’s $15 trillion when shared amongst friends?”! I would also add that the total US debt is well above this amount and could be as high as three times that amount…and just to think 46 million Americans are living on US Food Coupons!

I am led to believe that another $6 trillion was given to Italy which as we all know is now under the rule of the New World Order (NWO)…otherwise known as the IMF!

What I find so frustrating is the arrogant open way that all the maggots from the NWO operate within government ranks, the banks and in the corporate sector. Gordon Bowden and I have named and shamed many of them in my previous articles with our dear Prime Minister David Cameron right up there with the best of them. However when you uncover a giant spiders web of fraud and corruption one must always try to find the spider and needless to say that spider is none other than the Rothschild’s…the big fat maggots that feed on the flesh of the British people.

One cannot put all the blame in one basket when you had such maggots as Alan Greenspan, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke and the other pile of maggots called the Rothschild’s who added more fuel to the fire. Can you even imagine they were talking about moving 750,000 tonnes of gold bullion when only 1507 tonnes had only been mined at the time!

Am I getting through to you all and do you fully understand what this is all about?

Can’t you see how evil this NWO is and how they fund themselves by way of their many giant ponzi schemes that operate from the thousands of boiler rooms in almost every country in the world.

Let’s just step outside of this country for one moment and reflect on one such fraud: We all know that 9/11 was an inside job involving not only Mossad, the CIA and many people in high office but were you aware what was actually going on in the Pentagon just prior to it being hit with a cruise missile (not a Boeing)? [...] I took part in a radio debate on Monday morning at The Voice of Russia, 12 St James Square, London. The topic was “one year on after the death of Bin Laden” and the current state of Al Qaeda. The Panel was Dr. Christina Hellmich, from the University of Reading, Valentina Soria from the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies and two other guests that were outside of the studio, Lorenzo Vidino from Center for Security Studies, Zurich, Switzerland and Robert Crowley from the Risk Advisory Group.

After the initial introduction it came my turn to discuss this very controversial topic. I started by saying that Al Qaeda does not and has not ever existed and that it was all a part of the existing “Islamaphobia” to keep terrorism alive.

I thought at first that I was the thorn between two roses when it came to Christina and Valentina but it then became obvious I was listening to a sort of Zionist ideology on a ratio of 4 against 1 and that no matter what my opinion it was not going to draw any acknowledgement or acceptance from the other side, especially when I said that Bin Laden was not killed one year ago but actually died in the Military Hospital in Rawalpindi on or around the 14th of December 2001. I also went on to say that 9/11 and 7/7 were both inside jobs and also gave reference to the Madrid Train Bombing which allowed Lorenzo to go on the attack with the full support of the other three. However, having been put in a box time did not allow me to explain further on this all import issue and so I decided not to get into a slinging match and let it pass. [...]

And we'll let the rest of this article pass . . .

"Iranian Students Urge OIC to Show Swift Reaction to Quran Burning in US" (Fars News-Iran)

Iranian news sites never sound so happy as when they report on Koran-burnings:

Iranian students strongly condemned desecration of the Muslims' Holy Book by a US pastor, and called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to show decisive reaction to the provocative move.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, students of the University of Quranic Sciences and Studies said that the burning of copies of the Holy Quran by US pastor Terry Joins in the state of Florida was a "plot hatched by leaders of the US and the occupying Zionist regime (of Israel)".

They said that the sacrilege of the Holy Quran was a move aimed at assessing the reaction of the Muslim world.

The statement further called on the OIC and the Iranian foreign ministry to react strongly and decisively to Jones' provocative move in a bid to stop further desecration of Islamic sanctities by others.

On Sunday, Iran condemned the Quran burning by the US pastor as an "insulting and provocative" act, and urged the United States to apologize to the Muslim World.

The Pentagon had asked Jones to refrain from burning the Qurans out of concern for the safety of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Quran burning and sacrilege of Islamic values has become a commonplace move by Americans in recent years, while the opposite has never happened and Muslims have never desecrated values of Judaism, Christianity and other divine religions.

Well, hardly ever . . .