Pakistan Taliban say will review ceasefire in Swat

MINGORA, Pakistan-Taliban fighters said on Saturday they would review their unilateral 10-day ceasefire in Pakistan's northwestern valley of Swat when it runs out next week, casting doubt over government talk of a permanent truce."We heard that the government announced a permanent ceasefire, but we have announced a 10-day ceasefire and we will consider an extension when it ends," Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah told illegal FM radio.The current ceasefire ends on Wednesday.
Reporting by Junaid Khan; Writing by Kamran Haider; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Jon Boyle
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE51K1DQ20090221?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

As in the days of Noah....

US, China agenda focus on economy, climate change

BEIJING-Relegating human rights, U.S. and Chinese officials on Saturday emphasized the economy, security and climate change as priorities for cooperation. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed Beijing's continued investment in U.S. government securities and hoped the Chinese would avoid the kind of environmental "mistakes" that accompanied development in Western countries.After a day of talks on her first visit to China as America's top diplomat, Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said a regular dialogue between their countries on economic issues would now include troubling security issues. Details will be finalized by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao at an economic summit in London in April.With the export-heavy Chinese economy reeling from the U.S. downturn, Clinton sought in meetings with Hu, Yang and Premier Wen Jiabao to reassure Beijing that its massive holdings of U.S. Treasury notes and other government debt would remain a solid investment."I appreciate greatly the Chinese government's continuing confidence in United States treasuries. I think that's a well-grounded confidence," Clinton told reporters at a news conference with Yang. "We have every reason to believe that the United States and China will recover and together we will help lead the world recovery," she said.Yang said China wants its foreign exchange reserves—the world's largest at $1.95 trillion—invested safely, with good value and liquidity. He said future decisions on using them would be based on those principles, but added that China wanted to continue work with the U.S."I want to emphasize here that the facts speak louder than words. The fact is that China and the United States have conducted good cooperation, and we are ready to continue to talk with the U.S. side," Yang said.Beijing is the last and perhaps most important stop on Clinton's weeklong visit to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China that she was to conclude Sunday by attending church services and meeting with women who are leaders in civil society.China last year surpassed the United States as the world's leading producer of greenhouse gases. Clinton said she and Chinese officials had agreed to develop clean energy technology that would use renewable sources and safely store the dirty emissions from burning coal.Visiting a new gas-fueled power plant in Beijing, Clinton urged China not to repeat the "same mistakes" that Western countries had made when they developed."When we were industrializing and growing we didn't know any better," she said. "Neither did Europe. Now we are smart enough to figure out how to have the right kind of growth, sustainable growth, clean-energy driven growth. This plant could be a model."Along with cooperating on the financial crisis and climate change, the U.S. wants China to step up efforts to address threats from nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, and the tenuous security situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.In addition, Clinton said the U.S. would like to see China play a positive role in Myanmar and Sudan, which receive large Chinese investments but whose governments are at odds with Washington.The emphasis on the global economy, climate change and security highlight the growing importance of U.S.-China relations, which have often soured over disagreements on human rights.Authorities in Beijing are facing a difficult year on the rights front as they deal with politically sensitive anniversaries. It has been 20 years since the crushing of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement and 50 years since the failed Tibetan uprising that forced the Dalai Lama to flee into exile.Activists complained Saturday that Chinese police were monitoring dissidents and had confined some to their homes during Clinton's two-day visit. Several of those targeted had signed "Charter 08," an unusually open call for civil rights and political reforms that circulated in December, according to the China Human Rights Defenders.But ahead of her talks, Clinton signaled that China's poor human rights record, while still of deep concern to the United States, would not be at the top of her agenda.She noted that both sides already knew the other's positions on the matter and said that human rights concerns "can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises."Her comments drew immediate fire from rights groups, which said they sent the wrong message, undermined efforts to promote basic freedoms in China and squandered Washington's leverage with Beijing.Asked to respond to the criticism, Clinton said "the promotion of human rights is an essential aspect of our global foreign policy," noting in particular the issues of Tibet, religious freedom and freedom of expression."Human rights are part of our comprehensive agenda," she said.But she added that the work of civic groups and private advocates that she has highlighted is "at least as important in building respect for and making progress on human rights" as government-to-government contact.Yang appeared pleased by Clinton's reply, saying China was happy to engage on human rights with the United States but only "on the basis of equality and noninterference in each other's internal affairs."

By MATTHEW LEE--Associated Press Writer

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96G3IRG0&show_article=1&catnum=0

As in the days of Noah....

Up to 100,000 protest Irish austerity plan

Dublin city centre was brought to a standstill on Saturday as up to 100,000 workers staged a protest march against the government's credit crunch austerity measures, police said.The demonstration, organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and featuring teachers, police, civil servants and others, is the "first step in a rolling campaign of action," ICTU general secretary David Begg said.Marchers are particularly opposed to a pension levy on some 350,000 public servants which is designed to save about 1.4 billion euros (1.8 billion dollars) this year.Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is bringing in an initial two billion euro package of cuts designed to stabilise the one-time Celtic Tiger economy, which entered recession in the first half of 2008.Cowen has said the economy will shrink by up to 10 percent by 2010 and warned of total savings of 15 billion euros needed over five years in a bid to stabilise Irish finances.In a statement to coincide with the demonstration, the government said it recognised that the measures it was taking "are difficult and, in some cases, painful" but they were also "necessary and fair."They are necessary because it is essential that we show a credible start on the correction of an emerging unsustainability in our public finances," it said."Failure to show that credible start means that we impact directly and severely on our international reputation among investors and, in particular, on our capacity to raise funds, and on the direct cost of servicing the borrowing which we are able to undertake."The ICTU describes the government's measures as "lacking in fairness and focussing only on 'stabilising' the public finances at the expense of economic renewal and job protection."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.ef1358d7955320b89b550b84243b901f.ab1&show_article=1&catnum=0

As in the days of Noah...

OBAMA'S ECONOMIC STIMULUS WATCH

--SOROS: ECONOMIC TURBULENCE WORSE THAN GREAT DEPRESSION...

--Fears for BofA and CITI rattle markets...

--AP: Obama plans eclipsing New Deal spending...

--President tries to halt talk of bank nationalization...

--Choice between full or part takeover...

--Senator Says May Be Needed in Short-Term...

--WALL STREET SINCE INAUGURATION DAY...

--'Stock Market Gives Obama's First Month An 'F''...

--Gold tops $1K as investors seek shelter...

--GM shares hit 74-year low...

As in the days of Noah...

What recession? Members of Congress "throwing lavish events"

WASHINGTON-The deepening economic recession hasn't stopped members of Congress from throwing lavish events to raise campaign money for the 2010 election.This weekend, donors to a political action committee run by Rep. Jeb Hensarling(picture left) are invited to the Snake River Lodge & Spa near Jackson Hole, Wyo., for a ski outing hosted by the Texas Republican. The minimum donation: $2,500, according to the invitation, which touts opportunities to take sleigh rides to an elk refuge and snowmobile excursions to the Continental Divide.Skiing also is on the agenda at a fundraiser this weekend in Vail, Colo., for Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Donations range from $2,400 for an individual to $5,000 for a political action committee.Donors seeking warmer climes could have joined veteran Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii for a "Weekend of Aloha" fundraiser at a resort on Honolulu's Waikiki Beach. Inouye's event, held last weekend, started two days after lawmakers passed President Obama's $787 billion plan aimed at jump-starting the economy. Lawmakers are on a week-long break and return Monday."Everyone is tightening their belts, but lawmakers are doing what they have always done: holding fundraisers in exotic locales," said Nancy Watzman, who tracks political fundraising events for the watchdog group Sunlight Foundation. "This is the kind of thing that's out of reach to most people, and it's pretty much hidden from the public."Aides to the lawmakers said the events are driven by the need to raise growing amounts of campaign money. House and Senate candidates raised nearly $1.4 billion to fund campaigns in 2008, up from roughly $1 billion eight years earlier, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics."Almost every member of Congress is fundraising all the time," said Julie DeWoody, the finance director of Perlmutter's campaign. "It's the reality of running for office and how expensive campaigns are."Perlmutter, a Colorado congressman in his second term, opted to host the ski weekend to give "supporters a different way to interact with him and have fun," DeWoody said. She would not say who planned to attend.

By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

To read more go to:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-19-fundraising_N.htm

As in the days of Noah...

Obama Still Owes Chicago $1.74M For Victory Bash

Chicago has yet to recoup the $1.74 million cost of President Obama's victory celebration in Grant Park-despite a burgeoning $50.5 million budget shortfall that threatens more layoffs and union concessions."The Democratic National Committee has not yet paid us,'' Peter Scales, a spokesman for the city's Office of Budget and Management, said Thursday after questions from the Chicago Sun-Times."We're reaching out to them this week."
THE BILL

The bill for Barack Obama's election night rally at Grant Park Police $1 million

Emergency Management and Communications Office $121,578

Fire Department $85,965

Streets and Sanitation $71,694

Transportation $49,659

Cultural Affairs $2,567

Environment $2,309

CTA $201,500

Chicago Park District $202,440

(Park District breakdown):

Giant video boards $68,900

Electrical $37,185

Sound $37,500

Stagehands $29,850

Portable toilets $12,500

Security $7,505

Stage rental $6,000

Bike racks, barricades $2,000

Heavy equipment $1,000

Total bill $1,737,712

Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for the Obama-controlled DNC, explained the reimbursement delay by saying, "We are still looking at various costs and bills.'' She would not say whether parts of the bill are disputed.The city spent $1 million on police protection for the rally. The Office of Emergency Management and Communications racked up more than $120,000 in expenses, including $19,500 paid to police official Neil Sullivan to quarterback election night logistics.In late October, Mayor Daley assured that the cash-flush Obama campaign would reimburse the city for every penny spent on the rally."We have a financial crisis," he said at the time. "The City of Chicago could not afford $2 million on this because we're gonna be laying off people, cutting back. That cost would really be unfortunate...It's a huge cost to the City of Chicago."This is not a presidential visit...This is a political event, and they've agreed to pay for all those services-all the expenses of that...It's costly, but they raised quite a bit of money. There's no shortage of money in that campaign."The day after the Nov. 4 election, Daley was asked again whether the Obama campaign would pay up. "Yeah. I don't know why you're so negative....What is this? He just won for president, and you say, 'He's not gonna pay his bills,'"the mayor said then.On Dec. 9, the day the Sun-Times disclosed the $1.74 million tab, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt referred questions to the DNC.Paxton confirmed then that the rally was a "DNC-sponsored event" and that the party was discussing the itemized bill with the city.

BY FRAN SPIELMAN--City Hall Reporter

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1441157,CST-NWS-rally20.article

As in the days of Noah...

EXECUTIVE ORDER: Obama Creates White House Office of Urban Affairs...

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF URBAN AFFAIRS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to take a coordinated and comprehensive approach to developing and implementing an effective strategy concerning urban America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1.Policy.About 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, and the economic health and social vitality of our urban communities are critically important to the prosperity and quality of life for Americans.Vibrant cities spawn innovation, economic growth, and cultural enrichment through the businesses, universities, and civic, cultural, religious, and nonprofit institutions they attract....

To read more go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Executive-Order-Establishment-of-the-White-House-Office-of-Urban-Affairs/

As in the days of Noah...

NWO WATCH:THE NAKED TRUTH: Passengers try out TSA's full-body scanners...

David Gustafson of Tulsa is scanned by an imaging machine Thursday at Tulsa International Airport, where some passengers are skipping metal detectors. People are instead being screened in a 9-foot-high portal with glass shields that rotate to produce vivid pictures of what is underneath passengers' clothing.(By Adam Wisneski for USA TODAY)

TULSA-Here's a glimpse at the future of aviation security: Airline passenger Natalie Miller steps into a glass booth at a checkpoint. She raises her arms. Within moments, a screener asks what is in her back pocket.Miller is puzzled because she dumped all of her possessions into a plastic bin before entering the booth. Or so she thought. When she reaches into her back pocket, she finds a credit card she left there."That's pretty cool," Miller says of the incident Thursday at Tulsa International Airport, shortly after the screener waved her through. "I thought the machines just detected metal."Not anymore. The 35-year reign of airport metal detectors began its slow descent this week in Tulsa, where for the first time some passengers are skipping metal detectors. People are instead being screened in a 9-foot-high portal with glass shields that rotate to produce vivid pictures of what is underneath passengers' clothing.The machines use electromagnetic waves to create pictures of energy reflected off people. The metallic-looking images show outlines of private body parts and blur passengers' faces. Two Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners in a closed room near the checkpoint view the images on computer monitors and relay information on radio headsets to checkpoint screeners.The $170,000 body scanners could be installed at airports around the USA and would close a major security loophole by detecting non-metallic weapons such as plastic and liquid explosives. TSA testing shows the body scanners excel at finding hidden items as small as a plastic button, agency spokesman Christopher White said.Now the TSA has more questions: How quickly do the scanners operate, and do passengers like them? And will they evoke more privacy concerns from critics who say the machines take security too far, because they can show the outlines of private body parts?As the TSA expands its test for airports in San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque in coming weeks, it will be listening to passengers' reactions.Miller, 34, a sales representative from St. Louis, had no concerns. "It makes me feel a little safer," she said, taking "maybe a few seconds longer — not a big deal."Tulsa Airport Director Jeff Mulder watched Wednesday when the body scanner was first used and saw little passenger objection or slowdown. "It looked like a relatively normal flow," Mulder said.But passenger Jim Lesterhold said the body scanner took twice as long as a metal detector takes. "If you were in a crowded airport, it would really slow things up," said Lesterhold, 50, a Houston engineer.That worries travel advocates. "If you're going to have something that is going to significantly increase the time it takes to go through an airport, that is a real challenge," said Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "I'm glad the TSA is testing it."On Thursday, only two passengers of the 1,039 who were screened before noon in Lane 2 at Tulsa's three-lane checkpoint declined to go through the body scanner, White said."It's a little too revealing," said Deborah Newell, who had seen images created by the scanner on local TV news Wednesday. When Newell, 29, a software-project manager from Charlotte, declined to go through the scanner, a female screener gave her a traditional pat-down search.Kerry Holden, 48, of Miami also opted for a pat-down. She said the machine's electronics might weaken her pacemaker battery.The images are not sensitive, screeners said."They are not pornographic at all," Tulsa screener Debbie Shacklett said. "I don't look at them as people. I look at them as a thing that could have something on it."Some passengers Thursday said they wished the TSA had posted signs near the body scanner with a reproduction of the image. "I might not have wanted to go through if I had seen that," said Susanne Nicklas of Grove, Okla. "I'm 72, and I don't have the figure I used to."Signs at the Tulsa checkpoint explain that "use of this technology is optional." White, the TSA spokesman, said the signage emphasizes that passengers can skip the scanners because the agency wants to gauge passenger preference. "We're not trying to hide anything," White said. Images from the body scanners are on the TSA website, http://www.tsa.gov.for/ passengers with metallic hips or knees, the scanners were a relief from metal detectors, which invariably sound alarms that lead to pat-downs. "I walked through, raised my arms and was done," said a beaming Larry Brenden, 43, of Albuquerque. "I was like, what, no pat-down?"

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-02-19-airport-scanners_N.htm

As in the days of Noah...

BIG BROTHER WATCH:Chicago Mayor Vows:"THERE WILL BE A SURVEILLANCE CAMERA ON EVERY STREET CORNER IN CITY"

Mayor Daley has argued that security and terrorism won’t be an issue if his Olympic dreams come true because, by 2016, there will be a surveillance camera on every street corner in Chicago.But even before that blanket coverage begins, the “Big Brother’’ network is being put to better use.Call takers and dispatchers now see real-time video if there is a surveillance cameras within 150 feet of a 911 call, thanks to a $6 million upgrade to the city’s “computer-aided dispatch” system.When live video appears, call takers can pan, tilt and zoom those cameras to get the best possible view of a crime or disaster scene.“As a first responder, I can’t tell you how important it is to have a set of eyes on an emergency scene prior to your arrival.The valuable information they provide from the camera network can ultimately mean the difference between life and death,” said Ray Orozco, executive director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. “Whether you send one ambulance or three, two squad cars or four, it all depends upon the information we are able to gather from the 911 caller,” said Orozco, a former fire commissioner. During a December test, live video was used to catch a petty thief in the act of sticking his hand in a Salvation Army kettle outside Macy’s on State Street.But, the crime-fighting potential is “limitless,” said Police Superintendent Jody Weis.“You know what the suspect’s vehicle might be.It can give us instant leads...We may get some information from that where we may not even respond to that location. We could actually get ahead of it and go to a place where that vehicle maybe was last seen or the individual might be running to,” Weis said.And, “If we can warn our officers of any dangers they’re facing ahead of time, it’s a tremendous advantage.”Although the city’s vast surveillance network includes cameras installed at private businesses, universities and homes, Orozco said civil libertarians have nothing to fear.“We do not and we will not take access to any camera inside of a building,’’ he said. When the city accesses private cameras, workers only see “what you would see if you were sitting on a park bench in front of that building,” he said.In 2004, City Hall used a $5.1 million federal homeland security grant to install 250 cameras at locations thought to be at high risk of a terrorist attack and link them and 2,000 existing city cameras to the 911 center.Chicago then launched “Operation Virtual Shield,’’ by linking 1,000 miles of fiber cable to a unified “homeland security grid’’-complete with hundreds of additional cameras and sensors to monitor the city’s water supply and detect chemical and biological weapons.On Thursday, Orozco refused to say how many cameras are currently linked to the 911 center. But, he reiterated Daley’s earlier promise.“We’re going to grow the system until we eventually cover one end of the city to the other,” he said.

BY FRAN SPIELMAN--City Hall Reporter

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1440402,mayor-daley-emergency-surveillance-cameras.article

As in the days of Noah...

TAX YOU BY THE MILE...

WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama will not adopt a policy to tax motorists based on how many miles they drive instead of how much gasoline they buy, his chief spokesman said Friday. Press secretary Robert Gibbs commented after Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told The Associated Press that he wants to consider the idea, which has been proposed in some states but has angered many drivers."It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration," Gibbs told reporters, when asked for the president's thoughts about the policy and LaHood's remarks.Gasoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation's transportation system moving, LaHood told the AP in an interview Thursday."We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled," the former Illinois Republican lawmaker said Thursday.LaHood spokeswoman Lori Irving said Friday that the secretary was speaking of the idea only in general terms, not as something being implemented as administration policy.Most transportation experts see a vehicle miles traveled tax as a long-term solution, but Congress is being urged to move in that direction now by funding pilot projects.The idea also is gaining ground in several states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island are talking about such programs, and a North Carolina panel suggested in December the state start charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax.A tentative plan in Massachusetts to use GPS chips in vehicles to charge motorists by the mile has drawn complaints from drivers who say it's an Orwellian intrusion by government into the lives of citizens. Other motorists say it eliminates an incentive to drive more fuel-efficient cars since gas guzzlers will be taxed at the same rate as fuel sippers.Besides a VMT tax, more tolls for highways and bridges and more government partnerships with business to finance transportation projects are other funding options, LaHood, one of two Republicans in Obama's Cabinet, said in the interview Thursday."What I see this administration doing is this — thinking outside the box on how we fund our infrastructure in America," he said.LaHood said he firmly opposes raising the federal gasoline tax in the current recession.The program that funds the federal share of highway projects is part of a surface transportation law that expires Sept. 30. Last fall, Congress made an emergency infusion of $8 billion to make up for a shortfall between gas tax revenues and the amount of money promised to states for their projects. The gap between money raised by the gas tax and the cost of maintaining the nation's highway system and expanding it to accommodate population growth is forecast to continue to widen.Among the reasons for the gap is a switch to more fuel-efficient cars and a decrease in driving that many transportation experts believe is related to the economic downturn. Electric cars and alternative-fuel vehicles that don't use gasoline are expected to start penetrating the market in greater numbers.A blue-ribbon national transportation commission is expected to release a report next week recommending a VMT.The system would require all cars and trucks be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours.The device would tally how much tax motorists owed depending upon their road use. Motorists would pay the amount owed when it was downloaded, probably at gas stations at first, but an alternative eventually would be needed.Rob Atkinson, chairman of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, the blue-ribbon group that is developing future transportation funding options, said moving to a national VMT would take about a decade.Privacy concerns are based more on perception than any actual risk, Atkinson said. The satellite information would be beamed one way to the car and driving information would be contained within the device on the car, with the amount of the tax due the only information that's downloaded, he said.

On the Net:

National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission: http://financecommission.dot.gov/

By JOAN LOWY
Associated Press Writer

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lahood-vehicle-mileage-tax,0,6754105,print.story

As in the days of Noah...

Bishop who denied Holocaust ordered to leave Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Bishop Richard Williamson, who last month denied the existence of the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television, was ordered Thursday to leave Argentina within 10 days, the Ministry of Interior said."The bishop has repeatedly forged the true motive for his stay in the country, having declared that he is an employee of 'La Tradicion' Civil Society when, in reality, his true activity was as priest and seminary director of the Society of Saint Pius X in the neighborhood of Moreno," Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said in a written statement.Williamson and three other bishops who belong to the Society of Saint Pius X were excommunicated in 1988.The society was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve, who rebelled against the Vatican's modernizing reforms in the 1960s, and who consecrated the men in unsanctioned ceremonies."Williamson has had public notoriety following his anti-Semitic statements to Swedish media in which he questioned whether Jewish people were victims of the Holocaust," Randazzo continued."For these reasons, along with the strong condemnation from the Argentine government of how statements like these harm Argentine society, the Jewish community, and all of humanity by trying to deny a historic truth, the national government has decided to demand that the Bishop leave the country or be expelled."In the interview with Swedish television, Williamson said, "I believe that the historical evidence is strongly against-is hugely against-6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler"."I believe there were no gas chambers," he stated.Williamson, who had already been removed from his seminary post in Argentina, made headlines in January when he and three other ultra-conservative bishops were welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church, more than 20 years after Pope John Paul II excommunicated them on a theological question unrelated to the Holocaust.The rehabilitation of Williamson sparked condemnation from Israel, American Jewish leaders and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others.The Vatican pointed to several statements by Pope Benedict XVI condemning the destruction of European Jewry. The pope said he did not know of Williamson's views on the Holocaust when he lifted the excommunication.The Vatican said Williamson will not be allowed to perform priestly functions until he recants his Holocaust denial.Williamson apologized for "distress" his remarks caused the pope, but has not retracted them.Last week, a German court refused to intervene on behalf of Williamson, who is facing prosecution for denying the Holocaust-a crime in Germany
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/02/19/argentina.bishop/index.html
As in the days of Noah...

Netanyahu Gets Nod to Form New Israeli Gov't

Israeli President Shimon Peres chose hard-line Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to form a new Israeli government, giving Netanyahu six weeks to cobble together a coalition...

'Star of David Doormats' Sales Rise in Syria

(IsraelNN.com) Syrians snapped up doormats featuring the Star of David to demonstrate anger at Israel during Operation Cast Lead, the Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News reported. The doormats began to surface in Beirut several years ago and are a continuing sale item in both countries.Similar doormats with the Israel flag previously have been sold in other countries, including the United States where they have been popular with white supremacists.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/161061

As in the days of Noah...

White House Responds to CNBC Editor’s Rant:"Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About"

"It's important for people who rant on cable television to be responsible and understand what it is they are talking about. I feel assured Mr. Santelli doesn't know what he's talking about."

Dennis Miller Tells Leno Why He Likes Obama:‘He Knows Biden’s an Idiot’

"The first time Biden is out of the country, he's ripping him a new one at the press conference."

Miller time
by luvnews

Obama warns mayors not to waste stimulus money

WASHINGTON-Invoking his own name-and-shame policy, President Barack Obama warned the nation's mayors on Friday that he will "call them out" if they waste the money from his massive economic stimulus plan."The American people are watching,"Obama told a gathering of mayors at the White House."They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they've earned-they've worked so hard to earn-spent in its intended purposes without waste, without inefficiency, without fraud."In the days since the White House and Congress came to terms on the $787 billion economic package, the political focus has shifted to how it will work. Obama has staked his reputation not just on the promise of 3.5 million jobs saved or created, but also on a pledge to let the public see where the money goes.His budget chief this week released a 25,000-word document that details exactly how Cabinet and executive agencies, states and local organizations must report spending. It is a system meant to streamline reports so they can be displayed on the administration's new Web site, Recovery.gov.Using his presidential pulpit, Obama demanded accountability, from his friends in local government as well as his own agencies. He said the new legislation gives him tools to "watch the taxpayers' money with more rigor and transparency than ever," and that he will use them."If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it, and put a stop to it," he said. "I want everyone here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it, and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it."Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who leads the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he welcomed Obama's warning."Absolutely.We get called out every day at the local level," Diaz said, drawing laughs from other mayors in a gathering with reporters on the White House driveway. "We have plenty of constituents who will be doing that before the president does." Mayors of both parties said they appreciated the invitation to meet with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a handful of Cabinet secretaries. They cautioned, though, that the stimulus plan will only work if leaders at the state level direct the money to their cities in a clear, timely way.The economic plan will inject a sudden boost of cash into transportation, education, energy and health care. Beyond new spending, it aims to aid people through a package of tax cuts, extended unemployment benefits and short-term health insurance help. The cost will be added to a growing budget deficit.Obama said government leaders have asked for the "unprecedented trust of the American people.""With that comes unprecedented obligations to spend that money wisely, free from politics and free from personal agendas," he said.The president did not specify how, exactly, he would call out one of his own agencies or a local government about wasteful projects.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_mayors

As in the days of Noah...

Panetta Sworn-in As CIA Chief

Leon Panetta is settling in as the CIA's new director after telling Vice President Biden and a crowd of 200 people at the agency's headquarters Thursday that honesty will be a watchword in his tenure as spy chief...

China sentences 2 nuns over Tibet protests

BEIJING-A court in western China has sentenced two Tibetan nuns to lengthy prison terms for taking part in anti-government demonstrations last year, amid reports of more clashes between Tibetans and security forces, advocacy groups reported Friday.The news came ahead of the March 14 anniversary of protests staged across a huge swath of Tibetan-populated areas in western China following deadly rioting in Tibet's capital Lhasa last year.The sometimes violent demonstrations-which prompted a swift and sustained crackdown by security forces-was the largest Tibetan protest against Chinese rule since the failed March 10, 1959 uprising against communist authorities who fought their way into the Himalayan region in 1950.The upcoming anniversaries have prompted authorities-who are wary of unrest during this sensitive period-to declare Tibetan areas off-limits to foreigners and to reportedly crack down violently on demonstrators.The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy said the two nuns were among a group of 55 detained after a peaceful protest on May 14 outside government offices in Garze, a prefecture in Sichuan province.The center identified them as Soe Lhatso, 35, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and 36-year-old Bhumo, who was sentenced to nine years. Both were nuns at the local Pangri Na Buddhist convent, it said.The center did not say what they had been charged with or give an exact date for when the sentences were handed down.Separately, the center said two 18-year-olds, Ngawang Tashi and Dorjee Tashi, were sentenced By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN,AP Writer

To read more go to:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet_1

As in the days of Noah...

Activists 'shocked' at Clinton stance on China rights

WASHINGTON-Amnesty International and a pro-Tibet group voiced shock Friday after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed not to let human rights concerns hinder cooperation with China.Paying her first visit to Asia as the top US diplomat, Clinton said the United States would continue to press China on long-standing US concerns over human rights such as its rule over Tibet."But our pressing on those issues can't interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis," Clinton told reporters in Seoul just before leaving for Beijing.T. Kumar of Amnesty International USA said the global rights lobby was "shocked and extremely disappointed" by Clinton's remarks."The United States is one of the only countries that can meaningfully stand up to China on human rights issues," he said."But by commenting that human rights will not interfere with other priorities, Secretary Clinton damages future US initiatives to protect those rights in China," he said. Students for a Free Tibet said Clinton's remarks sent the wrong signal to China at a sensitive time."The US government cannot afford to let Beijing set the agenda," said Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director of the New York-based advocacy group.China has been pouring troops into the Himalayan territory ahead of next month's 50th anniversary of the uprising that sent Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama into exile in India."Leaders really need to step up and pressure China. It's often easy to wonder whether pressure makes a difference. It may not make a difference in one day or one month, but it would be visible after some years," Dorjee said.Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had sent a letter to Clinton before her maiden Asia visit urging her to raise human rights concerns with Chinese leaders.Before she left, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said human rights would be "an important issue" for Clinton and that she would "raise the issue when appropriate."China has greeted President Barack Obama's administration nervously, believing he would press Beijing harder on human rights and trade issues than former president George W. Bush.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090220/pl_afp/usdiplomacyasiachinarights_20090220183018

As in the days of Noah...

CLINTON in ASIA...

Clinton Queries Utility of China Rights Debate

BEIJING-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the debate with China over human rights, Taiwan and Tibet cannot be allowed to interfere with attempts to reach consensus on other broader issues.Shortly before arriving in Beijing on the last leg of her inaugural trip abroad as America's top diplomat, Clinton told reporters accompanying her that she would raise those contentious issues, but noted that neither side is likely to give ground on them.Instead, she said it might be better to agree to disagree on long-standing positions and focus instead on U.S.-Chinese engagement on climate change, the global financial crisis and security threats.Her comments drew immediate negative reaction from human rights advocates who were hoping for a repeat of the stance she took nearly 15 years ago when she was first lady and publicly took on and angered the Chinese government in a tough speech on this issue.But in surprisingly candid remarks, she said each side already knows the other's long-standing divergent positions on those matters and progress might be more achievable by concentrating on other areas where Washington and Beijing can work together."There is a certain logic to that," Clinton said in Seoul, South Korea, immediately before leaving for Beijing."That doesn't mean that questions of Taiwan, Tibet, human rights, the whole range of challenges that we often engage on with the Chinese, are not part of the agenda," she said. "But we pretty much know what they're going to say.""We know we're going to press them to reconsider their position about Tibetan religious and cultural freedom and autonomy for the Tibetans and some kind of recognition or acknowledgment of the Dalai Lama and we know what they're going to say," Clinton said."I have had those conversations for more than a decade with Chinese leaders and we know what they're going to say about Taiwan and military sales and they know what we're going to say," she said."We have to continue to press them," she said. "But our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises. We have to have a dialogue that leads to an understanding and cooperation on each of those."Human rights groups, some of whom had written to Clinton last week urging her to make the matter a priority, immediately denounced the remarks."Amnesty International is shocked and extremely disappointed by (Clinton's) comments that human rights will not be a priority in her diplomatic engagement with China," the organization said in statement."The United States is one of the only countries that can meaningfully stand up to China on human rights issues," it said. "By commenting that human rights will not interfere with other priorities, Secretary Clinton damages future U.S. initiatives to protect those rights in China."Human Rights Watch said Clinton had "made a strategic mistake in appearing to concede that she expects no meeting of the minds on human rights issues."In her remarks, Clinton stressed she had never shied away from bringing up human rights issues with China, recalling her 1995 speech to the U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing that so angered authorities that they pulled the plug on live television coverage of it."I made a speech about women's rights and human rights," she said. "I have had firsthand experience with some of the reactions" to criticism. Clinton will be in Beijing for two days of meetings with senior Chinese officials with a focus on climate change, the financial crisis and efforts to bring North Korea back to disarmament talks. She said that she wanted to find a way to best achieve results with the Chinese.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_clinton_china
PS:Well...well...THANKS BHO for appointing Hellary as Sec.of State...Since she's being in Asia she's being messing up things pretty bad and benn walking around with her foot in her big mouth each step of the way....I thought Biden was bad....Goodness....!
Well there you go--democrats at work in Human Rights Issues--IT is not a shocker,since they dont care about the lives of the unborn and they dont protect it,why in the world they would care about a tiny individual --who is ALIVE--in a prison in China,whose name is difficult to pronounce and whose only crime was to try and speak out against the oppresion of government in China,right.....?Why should BHO's government care about christians and other minorities unlawfully imprisoned and tortured in China....?
Why should she care about those "minute issues"...?
Hellary...a SORRY PICK as Sec of State....and I thought Madeleine Albright was bad....SIGH....
As in the days of Noah...

Clinton Fears Power Struggle

RANGE FINDER:Reach of New North Korean Missile

Clinton Contradicts Intel in North Korea:"Nobody Knows Whether North Korea Had Uranium Program"

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told FOX News that nobody knows whether North Korea ever tried to produce highly enriched uranium, despite claims seemingly to the contrary from intelligence officials.In an interview in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, Clinton said she's certain the regime in North Korea would try to produce the substance if it could to further its "nuclear ambition," but that the U.S. does not have solid evidence that any program exists or ever existed."I don't have any doubt that they would try whatever they possibly could. Have they? I don't know that, and nobody else does, either," Clinton told FOX News. "Clearly, there was some reason to believe that something having to do with highly enriched uranium-whether it was happening in North Korea, whether it had been imported into North Korea-was part of the information derived once we got inspectors into North Korea," she said.Clinton said nobody can point to "any specific location" or "any specific outcome of whatever might have gone on, if anything did."Top U.S. intelligence officials have said they have high confidence that North Korea was running an enrichment program and moderate confidence the program could still exist.But Clinton has stirred doubt about the threat posed by any such enrichment program during her four-country tour of Asia, her first trip abroad as secretary of state.She has urged those focused on it to remember that it was the reprocessing of plutonium that enabled the North to become a nuclear state. The North detonated a low-yield nuclear device in October 2006. That device, and the arsenal of six to 10 nuclear bombs the North is believed to possess, was developed through the reprocessing of plutonium.One of Clinton's chief aims this week is to reinvigorate the stalled Six-Party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear programs.Late last year, in exchange for a verbal pledge by North Korea to allow tough inspections of its nuclear facilities-on which the North later reneged-the Bush administration removed the country from Washington's list of nations that sponsor terrorism.Clinton suggested the "de-listing" of the country could be reversed as they try to jump-start the talks."This is still an open effort on our part to get the North Koreans back to the Six-Party talks. The role that that decision did play and might play in trying to engage them once again is of, you know, paramount concern to me right now," she told FOX News.Clinton's last stop-after visiting Japan, Indonesia and South Korea-is China.On another front, the war in Afghanistan, Clinton seemed unconcerned that the recent gathering of NATO defense ministers in Krakow, Poland, ended with America's allies agreeing to send only an additional 1,400 troops to the country."We are only at the beginning of that process," she said. "I think a number of countries are waiting to see more specifically what our plan is, why we think their contribution of troops would be helpful." She said the U.S. wants "civilian help" from other countries as well."We want their help training the Afghan army; we want their help training the Afghan police. So there's going to be a number of ways people can contribute," she said.
FOX News' James Rosen contributed to this report. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/20/clinton-knows-north-korea-uranium-program/
As in the days of Noah...

Dealing with North Korea

Iran hails military ties with Russia

MOSCOW-Iran's defense minister said Friday he hopes to obtain new weapons from Russia to upgrade the nation's arsenals.Iran has relied on Russian military assistance in the past and hopes to continue doing so, Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said."Russia has advanced military technologies, we have used them and plan to keep using them," he said at a news conference.Najjar wouldn't elaborate on what specific weapons Iran was seeking. He met with his Russian counterpart and toured some Russians weapons plants during his five-day visit that began Monday.Moscow has developed close ties with Tehran and is building its first nuclear power plant.Russia also has supplied weapons to Iran, including Tor-M1 air-defense missiles, despite U.S. and Israeli complaints. However, Russian officials have rejected claims that they have provided Iran with more powerful, long-range S-300 air defense missile systems.Supplying the S-300s to Iran would markedly change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense speculation and diplomatic wrangling for months.Israel and the U.S. fear that, were Iran to possess S-300 missiles, it would use them to protect its nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country's first atomic power plant now under construction at Bushehr by Russian contractors. That would make any potential military strike on the Iranian facilities much more difficult. Anatoly Isaikin, head of the Russian Rosoboronexport state arms-selling monopoly, was quoted in an interview published earlier this month as saying that it had not supplied S-300s to Iran yet but was ready to do so if ordered by the government.Russia's daily Kommersant has said earlier this week that Moscow had frozen the sale of S-300s, pending the first meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.Russia hopes that Obama could reverse course on the previous administration's plan to deploy missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, and NATO's eastward expansion.But Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned this week that Russia has no intention to toughen its policy toward Iran regarding its nuclear program. The statement sounded like a signal that Russia had no intention to offer any immediate trade-offs on Iran.Israel, the U.S. and much of the international community believe Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its uranium enrichment program is intended solely for civilian energy needs.Russia has sizable economic ties with Iran, including the $1 billion contract to build the nuclear power plant at Bushehr which is expected to go online this year. Moscow has supported limited U.N. sanctions on Iran, but worked to blunt efforts by the U.S. and others to impose tougher measures.
Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this report.

By MANSUR MIROVALEV--Associated Press Writer

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96FD6000&show_article=1

As in the days of Noah...

HATE CULT WATCH:‘God Hates Australia’: Westboro Baptist Offers Thanks for ‘Fiery Deaths of Hundreds’

PS:Ive said it many times before,while blogging about this hateful bunch of nuts,that THEY ARE NOT BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS...They may call themselves whatever they want,but they are not christians biblically.I think they are a plant group to make people think that christians are this crazy and hateful. There is much that can be said,but just look at them and see how much of "God"they have on them....Ive seen them personally a sunday morning while driving to church,the nuts,were picketting a local church near ours and they caused a stir.They even had lil children holding signs that said things that are not even in the Bible...I wonder IF some of them are personally struggling with homosexual feelings and that is why they are so aggresive against homosexuals.I dont know why they have picked on that...IF they would take an honest look unto themselves they would find that hatred has no place in heaven and that hating your brother is considered in the Bible as homicide...Just a thought...

TRUTH IS---God loves Australia and He loves the people in Victoria...IF God would execute Judgement according to their twisted"theology"they better watch out...A lightning may strike their sick church and burn it to a crisp...

They are the ones that truly need repentance and a personal encounter with the God of the Bible,that also said that He wants NONE TO PERISH but that ALL would come to REPENTANCE...The only thing they talk all the time is HATE....The Bible says God is Love.You tell me whom they serve....You do the math...It is not much complicated...

With nuts like these...no wonder people dont want to even think about going to church....!!!!!!!!!!!

As in the days of Noah...

Conservative Group Counters Stimulus Bill With ‘Every Single Day’ Since Jesus TV Ad

Politico: After watching liberal allies of President Barack Obama flood the airwaves in support of the stimulus bill, a conservative third-party group is countering with a provocative new commercial using Jesus Christ to emphasize the scale of the $787 billion package....

BIG BROTHER WATCH:Parking Goes High-Tech

PS:They are placing these sensors and others absolutely everywhere,under the pretext that "will guide to the right spot where to park".Well in the near future it will be very easy to track anybody,at anytime....nowhere to hide with the antichrist....!!!!!!

As in the days of Noah...

Oklahoma City police pull man over for anti-Obama sign on vehicle

The police officers who stopped Oklahoma City motorist Chip Harrison and confiscated a sign from his car told him he has a right to his beliefs, but the Secret Service "could construe this as a threat against President Obama," according to the incident report released this morning. Capt. Steve McCool of the Oklahoma City Police Department is seen in this NewsOK.com video frame grab. McCool says an officer who wrongly pulled a man over last week and confiscated an anti-Barack Obama sign from his vehicle misinterpreted the sign as threatening.The sign, which read "Abort Obama Not the Unborn," was returned to Harrison later that day, the report said.Police spokesman Steve McCool (picture left)said this morning that the sign was taken in error, and Oklahoma City residents should not be worried that their First Amendment rights will be violated.Harrison told the officers that in his opinion the words "Abort Obama" meant to impeach him. He told the officers he does not believe in abortion because he is a Christian. Harrison was stopped on westbound Interstate 240 at 8:45 a.m. on Feb. 12, according to the police report.Harrison said he later received a call from a person who said he was a lieutenant supervisor for the Internal Investigations Department and wanted to know his location and return his sign to him.According to Harrison, the supervisor said the Secret Service had been contacted on the matter and had told them the sign was not a threat to the president.Harrison was asked if he would like to file a complaint. He said he was not sure but would take the paperwork, just in case.But his run-in with the law wasn't over yet.''The Secret Service called and said they were at my house," Harrison said.After talking to his attorney, Harrison went home where he met the Secret Service.''When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren't going to ransack my house or anything ... they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn't a part of any hate groups."Harrison said he invited the Secret Service agents into the house and they were "very cordial."''We walked through the house and my wife and 2-year-old were in the house," Harrison said.He said they interviewed him for about 30 minutes and then left, not finding any evidence Harrison was a threat to the president.''I'm still in contact with a lawyer right now," Harrison said. "I don't know what I'm going to do."Harrison said he feels his First Amendment rights were violated.McCool said the officer who pulled over Harrison misinterpreted the sign.''We had an officer that his interpretation of the sign was different than what was meant," McCool said. "You've got an officer who had a different thought on what the word 'abort' meant."McCool said the sign basically meant Obama should be impeached and it was not a threat.''(The officer) shouldn't have taken the sign," McCool said. "That was (Harrison's) First Amendment right to voice his concern."McCool said although the sign should not have been confiscated, the situation was made right in the end.''We always try to do the right thing and in the end we believe we did the right thing by returning the sign," McCool said.

By Johnny Johnson - Staff Writer

http://www.newsok.com/okc-officer-pulls-man-over-for-anti-obama-sign-on-vehicle/article/3347038?custom_click=headlines_widget

As in the days of Noah...

Obama Cheered on First Foreign Trip to Canada

Cheering crowds greeted President Obama in Canada, the first foreign stop of his presidency. The president was diplomatic on issues like trade and Afghanistan.

Will NATO Join Afghan Troop Surge?

U.N. launches talks to expand Security Council

UNITED NATIONS-After a decade and a half of backroom argument, the world's nations launched full negotiations on Thursday to expand the powerful 15-nation U.N. Security Council to reflect present-day realities.Diplomats said the negotiations among the 192 U.N. member states were likely to stretch at least into next year and might not come up with a definitive solution even then.The council, authorized by the U.N. charter to impose sanctions and dispatch peacekeeping forces, currently has five permanent veto-holding members-the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China.It also has 10 members with no veto power who are elected on a regional basis for two-year terms before being replaced by others. The number was set in 1965, after standing at six since the United Nations was founded after World War Two. Developing countries have long resented the clout of the veto-holders on the council, whose composition stems from the post-war balance of power. Most nations agree the body needs to be enlarged, but there is no consensus on how.The negotiations, chaired by Afghan Ambassador Zahir Tanin, got off to a low-key start with a closed meeting at which member state ambassadors discussed procedural issues. Substantive negotiations will begin in March, officials said.A world summit in 2005 said reform of the Security Council would make it "more broadly representative, efficient and transparent and thus...further enhance its effectiveness and the legitimacy and implementation of its decisions."But regional rivalries and a concern by the big powers that their preeminence should not be diluted are likely to drag out the talks on key details of how to achieve that goal.Numerous plans have been put forward in the past, differing over how many new seats should be added, who should have them, whether they should be permanent, semipermanent or time-limited and which, if any, new states should get the veto.

By Patrick Worsnip

To read more go to:

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51I71V20090219

As in the days of Noah...

North Africa Qaeda posts photos of Western hostages

DUBAI-Al Qaeda's wing in North Africa published photographs on the Internet on Thursday of four of six Western hostages it says it has in its custody.Earlier this week al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed in an audio tape aired on Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera that it had a Canadian U.N. envoy and his aide and four Western tourists who were kidnapped in the West African Sahara in December.A posting on Islamist websites on Thursday showed three separate images of what it said were a Swiss couple, a German woman and a British man, surrounded by men bearing rifles.In the photographs the women's faces have been blurred.An accompanying statement reiterated comments by a spokesman in the audio tape saying they "reserved the right to deal with the six captives under Islamic sharia (law)"an apparent threat they might be killed if demands are not met-and would issue conditions soon for the release of the hostages. Niger's President Mamadou Tandja said last month investigations indicated "terrorists" had kidnapped Canadian U.N. envoy Robert Fowler and his aide Louis Guay who went missing in the country in December.A senior Malian military source involved in investigating the kidnapping of the four tourists in northern Mali said the al Qaeda-linked group was most likely to be holding them.Malian officials initially blamed Tuareg rebels for abducting the two Swiss nationals, one German and one Briton near Mali's border with Niger in January.Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has claimed a series of attacks in the region in recent years, including the kidnapping last year of two Austrian tourists abducted in Tunisia who were later freed in Mali.
(Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Louise Ireland)

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51I1HS20090219

As in the days of Noah...

ALIYA WATCH:Yemenite family makes aliya in secret op

Stepping off their plane and into the bright lights of Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday afternoon, the Ben-Yisrael family was on the final leg of its journey from one world to the next.The latest immigrants from the Yemenite community of Raida - a town fraught with tension between its Jewish and Muslim residents in recent months - the Ben-Yisraels, accompanied by another young man from their community, arrived in a special aliya operation, shrouded in secrecy, organized by the Jewish Agency and Yemenite Jewish Federation of America.As they stepped into the arrivals hall, the Ben-Yisraels looked as if they had walked through a time warp. "Thank God, I'm happy to be here," said family patriarch Said Ben-Yisrael, clad in a felt yarmulke and long black side curls as he stood in front of his wife and seven children.Greeted by a Yemenite rabbi who lives in Israel, Ben-Yisrael recited the "Sheheheyanu" prayer, which is said upon arriving at a particularly festive or joyous occasion. The crowd of reporters and cameramen who swarmed around the family as they entered the arrival terminal answered "Amen!"But the transition from old-world Yemen to the modern and fast-paced Israel proved to be daunting for the family, even in their first moments on the ground.The plane ride had been the family's first, and the shiny marble floors and bright fluorescent lights of the airport were no doubt a stark contrast to their former life in the developing Muslim country.Ben-Yisrael's wife and young children - the girls clad in traditional Islamic clothing and the boys in suits and ties - milled around, smiling nervously as reporters attempted to speak to them in Arabic."We just locked up our house and left," said one of Ben-Yisrael's daughters, Esther, as she marveled at the flashing cameras and jostling news crews in front of her.Several weeks ago, Islamic extremists threw a hand grenade into the Ben-Yisraels' courtyard, which exploded but caused no injuries. Said hurriedly took his family and went to live in the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a, before departing the country for Israel. "I don't have much to say," Ben-Yisrael said, smiling. "We're tired, but it's good to finally be here, it's good to be home."When the family left the airport - bound for Beit Shemesh, accompanied by a Jewish Agency team - the young children sat outside on a bench as their parents loaded luggage into a waiting taxi van.
By Abe Selig

To read more go to:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304830717&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

As in the days of Noah....

Freed Egyptian dissident says he'll return to politics

One day after his unexpected release from prison, leading Egyptian dissident Ayman Nour announced that he would not return to lead the opposition Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party in Egypt. "I shall not be the head of the party. There is another chief of the party right now," Nour told a news conference on Thursday, according to Reuters. Nour, who was jailed after challenging Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 elections, said that he would continue his political activity as a member of the party.He told reporters that he would be responsible for overseeing the membership committee, and added that "our main battle now is to rebuild the party."Nour's imprisonment had been a source of contention between the United States and Egypt in recent years. He was convicted on December 24, 2005, for forging signatures on petitions to register the party in 2004. While only 50 signatures were required, he submitted around 2,000.Nour, today 44, and his supporters say his arrest was meant to remove him from politics.He was released due to medical reasons, according to the Egyptian prosecutor's office. He had complained of eye and heart problems, and his wife Gamila had petitioned Egyptian courts for his release on health grounds.Nour, who headed the Al-Ghad party during the 2005 elections, finished a distant second in balloting criticized as flawed and in which most voters stayed away.Nour told The Associated Press from his Cairo home on Wednesday that he learned he was going to be freed only when a car arrived at the prison to take him home."Why they did this is unknown," he said."I am coming out with an open heart and am ready to work, and nothing has changed. A lot of things have been put on hold over the past years... I am ready to make a change in this country."He later told reporters gathered at his home: "I will definitely resume my political activity."His release came after years of pressure from the United States and many see the timing of the sudden move, at least in part, as a gesture to new US President Barack Obama."America, from the beginning, was against arresting Ayman Nour.President Bush thought that it was an anti-democratic act," said Zvi Mazel, former Israeli ambassador to Egypt and a research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs."By releasing him, they can show Obama that Egypt is nice and not so harsh against the opposition," he said.In addition, Mubarak would like to begin his relationship with Obama in a positive atmosphere,he said. Nour's imprisonment came as the administration of then-president George W. Bush was pressing for democratic reforms in the Middle East. Bush specifically named Nour among several dissidents from other countries - including Cuba and Myanmar - during a speech in June 2007 in the Czech Republic that lauded democracy's progress around the globe."There are many other dissidents who could not join us because they are being unjustly imprisoned or held under house arrest. I look forward to the day when conferences like this one include... Ayman Nour of Egypt," Bush said at the time.Other say that in addition to his deteriorating health, it was likely a way for Egypt to signal to the United States and other countries that it does things on its own terms - and not because of pressure, which had eased in recent months."There was a tremendous pressure to have him released by many Western powers, and even Arab countries," said Moheb Zaki, senior adviser at the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies."No country likes to show that it has submitted to pressure. So what happened, I think, is that after the thing quieted down, they released him."But experts also note that the power of his party had seriously diminished while Nour was in prison, and is considered to no longer pose a threat to the regime."It was a party that gained prominence at a certain moment. It was going to be a powerful liberal party but it has split into two now," Zaki said."This is one of the consequences of the imprisonment of Ayman Nour. The party split and it is now a weak party."Nour's lawyer, Amir Salem, told the AP there had been no deal between Nour and the government for him to avoid politics in return for his release."He told me he will reorganize the party, resume his activities and return to politics," said Salem.Egyptian political analyst Diaa Rashwan said he was skeptical of claims that no deal had been struck with the government to keep Nour out of politics, or at least tone down his opposition."I cannot believe they would release him to leave him to do whatever he wants. I can't imagine his release would be without some sort of arrangement or agreement, perhaps related to the succession issue... perhaps that he won't run for president," Rashwan said.Many believe that the 80-year-old Mubarak, who has been president for more than 28 years, plans to install his son Gamal as Egypt's next president - an idea opposed by government critics.
By Brenda Gazzar ,AP
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304832134&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
As in the days of Noah...