Obama's half brother arrested on charge of marijuana possession

George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday.

Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said.

He is being held at Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi.

CNN Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations.

"They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me."

George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met before. George Obama was one of the president's few close relatives who did not go to the inauguration in Washington last week.

In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known. More

ACLU tests Obama with request for secret Bush-era memos

The ACLU has asked the Obama administration to turn over the Bush administration's memos and legal opinions supporting torture, war crimes, eavesdropping, and other illegal acts.

The Bush administration, of course, refused to allow anyone to see such things, so now we'll see how the Obama administration really feels about open and honest government. Basically, if the answer is yes, there's a glimmer of hope that the high crimes of the Bush-Cheney era might be prosecuted and proven. And if the answer is no then all hope of justice from any entity within American borders is effectively extinguished.

Dozens of secret documents justifying the Bush administration's spying and interrogation programs could see the light of day because of a new presidential directive.

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Obama administration on Wednesday to release Justice Department memos that provided the legal underpinning for harsh interrogations, eavesdropping and secret prisons.

For years, the Bush administration refused to release them, citing national security, attorney-client privilege and the need to protect the government's deliberative process.

The ACLU's request, however, comes after President Barack Obama last week rescinded a 2001 Justice Department memo that gave agencies broad legal cover to reject public disclosure requests. Obama also urged agencies to be more transparent when deciding what documents to release under the Freedom of Information Act.

The ACLU now sees a new opening. More

Governments across Europe tremble as angry people take to the streets

France paralysed by a wave of strike action, the boulevards of Paris resembling a debris-strewn battlefield. The Hungarian currency sinks to its lowest level ever against the euro, as the unemployment figure rises. Greek farmers block the road into Bulgaria in protest at low prices for their produce. New figures from the biggest bank in the Baltic show that the three post-Soviet states there face the biggest recessions in Europe.

It's a snapshot of a single day – yesterday – in a Europe sinking into the bleakest of times. But while the outlook may be dark in the big wealthy democracies of western Europe, it is in the young, poor, vulnerable states of central and eastern Europe that the trauma of crash, slump and meltdown looks graver.

Exactly 20 years ago, in serial revolutionary rejoicing, they ditched communism to put their faith in a capitalism now in crisis and by which they feel betrayed. The result has been the biggest protests across the former communist bloc since the days of people power.

Europe's time of troubles is gathering depth and scale. Governments are trembling. Revolt is in the air. More

Is Europe in "Pre revolutionary" Mode?

Israeli Ambassador slips up

The Israeli Ambassador in Australia asks for the media to stop filming after letting slip plans concerning Iran.

Palestinians abandoned in legal limbo

Israel must no longer be afforded immunity and impunity if peace is ever to reign in this region. As long as it continues to literally get away with murder without any accountability, it will remain drugged with its own sense of power and invincibility.

Why should Israel relinquish land for peace when it can bomb, shell and incinerate the other side without any repercussions from the international community at large? This is why it is crucial that Israel be investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted for breaching international humanitarian law in Gaza.

Israel’s response to the homemade rockets of Hamas has not only been disproportionate, there is prima facie evidence that it has failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets and utilized weapons that when unleashed in densely populated areas are considered illegal.

There are also first-hand accounts of Israeli troops opening fire on children, driving tanks over dead bodies, willfully destroying civilian infrastructure and preventing ambulances and rescue workers from helping the injured. In fact, its ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip is collective punishment, forbidden under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Although there is no lack of witnesses to Israel’s utter disregard for human life and welfare along with mountains of video and pictorial evidence, it cannot be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is because Israel does not accept its jurisdiction while the stateless Palestinian nation was not entitled to be a signatory to the Rome Statute under which the ICC was formed.

The UN Security Council could step into this void by either referring Israel to the ICC or setting up a special UN war crimes tribunal similar to that which tried individuals for crimes against humanity committed within the former Yugoslavia. But let’s get real. This isn’t going to happen because Israel has a big daddy called America, which adores its wild child no matter what and will use its veto to prevent the establishment of any such tribunal. More

For Palestinians, Obama’s message is crystal clear

We can be fooled again:

Jew York Times: Putting Torture Behind Us

President Obama is resisting calls for an investigation into torture and other abuses during the Bush years, so the chance to learn from our mistakes is slipping away.

Mr. Obama understandably wants to focus on economic recovery rather than a dissection of the past. Why fritter political capital on an inquest that would antagonize Republicans and imperil our economy and his agenda?

But as George Santayana, the eminent Harvard philosopher wrote: “Those who forget history are destined to repeat it.” Rather than lose forever the chance to grow from our missteps, here’s a two-step proposal for confronting the past without distracting from the work on the economic crisis.

The first step is to appoint a high-level commission — perhaps a McCain-Scowcroft Commission? — to investigate torture, secret detention and wiretapping during the Bush years, as well as to look ahead and offer recommendations for balancing national security and individual rights in the future.

This wouldn’t be a bipartisan commission, with Democrats and Republicans offsetting each other in seething distrust. Rather, it would be nonpartisan, dominated by military and security experts.

It could be co-chaired by Brent Scowcroft and John McCain, with its conclusions written by Philip Zelikow, a former aide to Condoleezza Rice who wrote the best-selling report of the 9/11 commission.

If the three most prominent members were all Republicans, no one on the right could denounce it as a witch hunt — and its criticisms would have far more credibility. The commission could be rounded out by former generals, top intelligence officials and outside experts without a strong partisan cast: people like Richard Haass, Anthony Zinni, Joseph Nye, James Dobbins and William Cohen. More

Israel Wins PR Battle in Jew-Infested Congress

Hillary Clinton Constitutionally Ineligible to Serve as Secretary of State

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against newly sworn-in Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on behalf of U.S. Foreign Service Officer and State Department employee David C. Rodearmel, (Rodearmel v. Clinton, et al., (D. District of Columbia)).

The lawsuit maintains that Mrs. Clinton is constitutionally ineligible to serve as Secretary of State and that Mr. Rodearmel cannot be forced to serve under the former U.S. Senator, as it would violate the oath he took as a Foreign Service Officer in 1991 to "support and defend" and "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution of the United States.

Under the "Emoluments" or "Ineligibility" clause of the U.S. Constitution, no member of Congress can be appointed to a civilian position within the U.S. government if the "emoluments" of the position, such as the salary or benefits paid to whoever occupies the office, increased during the term for which the Senator or Representative was elected.

Specifically, article I, section 6 of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time." The text of the provision is an absolute prohibition and does not allow for any exceptions.

According to Judicial Watch's lawsuit, the "emoluments" of the office of U.S. Secretary of State increased three times during Mrs. Clinton's most recent U.S. Senate term. That term, which began on January 4, 2007, does not expire until January 2013, regardless of Mrs. Clinton's recent resignation. The lawsuit notes that Congress attempted to evade this clear constitutional prohibition with a so-called "Saxbe fix" last month, reducing the Secretary of State's salary to the level in effect on January 1, 2007. This maneuver, first used in the Taft Administration, has been more frequently used in recent years by both parties, allowing notably Republican Senator William Saxbe to become U.S. Attorney General in 1973 and Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen to become Treasury Secretary in 1993. A similar "fix" has been enacted for Senator Ken Salazar to join the Obama Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. More

Palestinian Abdul Bari Atwan and George Galloway on Gaza

Founder of Al-Quds British newspaper and former Palestinian Gazan refugee Abdul Bari Atwan talks openly with George Galloway on Press T.V.

Zionism is nobody's friend

Spanish FM: We'll act to prevent war crimes probes against Israel

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos informed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday of Spain's plan to amend legislation that granted a Spanish judge the authority to launch a much-publicized war crimes investigation against senior Israeli officials.

Judge Fernando Andreu launched an investigation Thursday into seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed a top Hamas militant, Salah Shehadeh, and 14 other people, including nine children.

The judge acted under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain, and other European countries, to reach far beyond national borders in cases of torture or war crimes. The universal jurisdiction ruling sparked outrage in Israel and elsewhere.

Spanish state television TVE quoted government sources as saying the possibility of a legal "adjustment or modification" would not be retroactive and would not affect the case before the courts.

"I just heard from the Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos, that Spain has decided to change its legislation in connection with universal jurisdiction and this can prevent the abuse of the Spanish legal system," Livni told the Associated Press. "I think this is very important news and I hope that other states in Europe will do the same."

"Legal systems around the world have been exploited by cynics whose sole purpose is to hurt Israel," Livni went on to say. "It's good that Spain decided to put an end to this phenomenon." More

US War Crimes

The U.S. Is Required To Bring George W Bush & Donald Rumsfeld Before A Court! U.N. War Crimes

Pakistan envoy suggests India faked Mumbai transcripts

Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attacks has found that they were not planned from Pakistani territory, the country's high commissioner to London said today in an interview that is certain to infuriate India.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner in Britain, also suggested that India had fabricated transcripts of telephone calls between the Mumbai attackers and their handlers in Pakistan.

His comments gave the first indication of the results of Pakistan's investigation into the attack, which were supposed to be announced on Tuesday, but now appear to have been indefinitely delayed.

"Pakistani territory was not used so far as the investigators have made their conclusions," Mr Hasan told India's NDTV channel in an interview.

"They categorically informed me that [the] UK was not involved. Pak [Pakistan] was not involved. Its territories were not used for planning this operation," he said.

"We are not doing any whitewashing business. We believe in going about facts. Our findings will be acceptable to the world."

His remarks are bound to anger India, which blames the attacks on Pakistani militants who it says must have had support from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. More

North and South Korea stand on 'the brink of war'

The confrontaion between North and South Korea has escalated with Kim Jong-il's regime claiming it was on the 'brink of war' after tearing up a non-aggression pact signed in 1991.

In a significant escalation of tensions, North Korea cancelled all military and political agreements after accusing Seoul of aggressive posturing.

Pyongyang's decision to nullify all accords increases the prospect of an armed confrontation on the Peninsula, where over a million soldiers face each other across the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two Koreas.

North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea blamed the South for pushing the two countries "to the brink of a war".

Pyongyang said it now regarded the maritime border between the two states as "void". The last time the two countries clashed militarily was at the disputed frontier in the Yellow Sea, when their navies fought a deadly gun battle in June 2002.

In comments reported by state media in North Korea, the Committee, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs, claimed that the relationship between the two sides had sunk to a new low.

"There is neither way to improve (relations) nor hope to bring them on track," the committee was quoted as saying. It described the agreements as "dead documents" and warned the South that its policies would result in its "shameful destruction". More

SKorea downplays NKorea's vow to drop peace pact

Hero's welcome for Turkish PM after he denounces Israel's attack on Gaza

There are two words why Ignatius should have never been permitted to moderate a panel with the President of Israel and the Prime Minister of Turkey: Ignatius is an Armenian Jew.

Jewish control of Turkey?

Thousands of Turks gave their prime minister a hero's welcome as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos having denounced Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of "killing children on the beach" during a discussion on Thursday with Shimon Peres, the Israeli president. The Turkish leader then clashed with the panel's American moderator, who tried to cut him off.

As Mr Erdogan quoted the opinions of academics that Israel had become a "raider state", the chairman sought to silence him. Visibly infuriated by this interruption, the prime minister walked off the stage, saying: "I will not come to Davos again". As he left, Mr Erdogan received a congratulatory hug from a beaming Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, who was also on the panel.

Mr Erdogan's central complaint was that he received only 12 minutes to speak, compared with the 25 minutes allowed to Mr Peres. He stressed that this "unfairness" lay behind his decision to leave, not the argument with the Israeli leader.

Mr Peres had reminded the audience that Israel's attack on Gaza was preceded by years of rocket barrages against its southern cities launched by Palestinian fighters. Turning to the Turkish leader, Mr Peres asked: "How would you have reacted to 100 rockets a day landing on Istanbul? What would you have done?"

Mr Erdogan replied: "President Peres you are older than me and your voice is very loud. The reason for you raising your voice is the psychology of guilt. I will not raise my voice that much, you should know that. When it comes to killing you know very well how to kill. I know very well how you hit and killed children on the beaches." More

Gilad Atzmon speaks to Hesham Tillawi about Israel's identity

Hesham Tillawi and Gilad Atzmon discuss the latest Israeli attack on the Palestinians in Gaza and analyzed the Israel psych in order to understand the mentality behind the brutality of the Israeli society

CIA plans to split India by 2015

In a shocking revelation, an army officer, one of the 452 witnesses in the September 29 Malegaon blast case, has revealed in his statement that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had a grand design to split India into smaller independent countries by 2015.

According the statement, the officer had attended one of the meetings held by the Malegaon blast accused on April 12, 2008 at the Ram temple in Bhopal. The officer from the Army Education Corps said that he was shocked by the proceedings.

He added that an ex-Raw personnel, who was present in the meeting, divulged these sinister plans of splitting the nation, based on a similar operation in the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).

The witness added that the ex-Raw official also revealed that the CIA had managed to penetrate several departments in India. The officer cautioned the witness that the meeting was being observed by the Intelligence Bureau.

Sinister plans

The officer met Lt Col Shrikant Purohit in an official dinner at the Officers’ Mess of AEC training college and centre in the second week of December 2007 at Deolali. He told Purohit about a plan to take premature retirement to develop his village, and establish an old age home.

On January 26, 2008, Purohit asked him to come to Faridabad and meet a few people for his project. There he was introduced to Sameer Kulkarni and the other accused in the Malegaon blast case. Then on April 12, 2008, Purohit called him for a meeting at Ram Mandir. He met all the Malegaon accused and another 20 people, along with the ex-Raw officer and the IB source.

The former RAW officer spoke about the USSR and Purohit spoke about his plans to bring Abhinav Bharat to the fore. Purohit also spoke about Hindu fundamentals and his contacts in Israel and Thailand. Source

Swiss lawmakers: Israel destroyed man, stone, and tree in Gaza

Members of a Swiss parliamentary delegation visiting the devastated Gaza Strip have expressed shock over the level of destruction the Israeli occupation government inflicted on the Strip, asserting that Israel killed everything in Gaza.

Furthermore, the delegation that comprised four Swiss lawmakers have also urged their government, being the sponsor of the Geneva convention to immediately mobilize to help the beleaguered Strip, and to identify and prosecute Israeli war generals responsible for Gaza massacre.

They also called on their government to halt all military cooperation with Israel after the war on Gaza proved it was the aggressor.

The delegation inspected part of the huge destruction in Gaza, saying that there was no safe place for civilians in Gaza to hide because the Israeli occupation army was bombing the people in the streets and inside their homes.

One of the members, MP Carlo Samaroga, affirmed that the Swiss government should arrest and prosecute any Israeli official involved in the carnage in Gaza if he stepped on Swiss soil.

"This was not a battle fighter to fighter, but rather it was a war between a regular army (the IOF troops), and civilians (The Palestinian people in Gaza). This is unacceptable crime, and the international community should punish the perpetrators", said MP Joseph Zisyadis.

They finally stressed the Palestinian people" rights to resist the occupation on their lands till they liberate them as France did when the Germans occupied it, underlining that the Israeli economic blockade on Gaza must be lifted immediately.

In the same context, Moroccan MPs visiting Gaza Strip blamed the international community for the Israeli massacre in Gaza for not doing anything to stop the killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip at the hands of the IOF troops.

They vowed to cooperate with their Palestinian counterparts to file lawsuits against Israeli war criminals involved in the horrible carnage. Source

French delegation confirms Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza

'Jewish money' controls U.S.: African diplomat

Johannesburg - South Africa’s deputy foreign minister has been taken before the national human rights body for allegedly saying that "Jewish money" controls the United States, officials said Thursday.

Fatima Hajaig allegedly told a political rally two weeks ago in Johannesburg that Jews "control America, no matter which government comes into power, whether Republican or Democratic, whether Barack Obama or George Bush."

"Their control of America, just like the control of most western countries, is in the hands of Jewish money," she allegedly said.

Outraged by the remarks, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies — a civil rights group — said it filed a complaint Wednesday against Hajaig at the human rights commission.

"We submitted yesterday our formal complaint on the minister’s outrageous statement to the South African Human Rights Commission," the head of the group, Zev Krengel, told AFP.

"That minister’s statement is incorrect, inflammatory and outrageous. We feel in our young democracy and in the 21st century, we should learn to respect each other and refrain from such anti-Semitic statements," Krengel said.

The rights commission’s spokesman Vincent Moaga confirmed that the body had received the complaint, but could not give a timeline for processing it.

Foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa declined to give details on the case, but told AFP that the South African government "has committed itself to fighting against all forms of racism, in all their ramifications, including anti-Semitism."

First evidence of damage to Gaza’s cultural sites emerges

Antiquities museum hit; fears grow for excavated archaeology

With the fragile ceasefire still in force, The Art Newspaper has learned that Gaza’s only museum has been damaged and other heritage sites and buildings may also be at risk.

The Antiquities Museum of Gaza, privately founded and run by Gazan contractor and collector Jawdat Khoudary, was badly damaged during Israel’s 22 days of air and land strikes. The glass doors and windows have been shattered and the roof and walls have been damaged. Roman and Byzantine pottery, Islamic bronze objects and many amphorae have been destroyed, initially during shooting 20m to 200m away, and later because of nearby shelling, with one direct hit to the museum’s conference hall, Mr Khoudary said. Amphorae, clay and ceramic vessels with two looped handles, were created in Gaza and the region during the fourth to seventh centuries for storing wine, olive oil and food and trading perishable commodities.

“I am very concerned: the entire Gaza Strip is an archaeological site,” said Palestinian archaeologist Professor Moain Sadeq, who founded the Palestinian Antiquities Department of Gaza in 1994, and is currently a visiting lecturer at the University of Toronto while in contact daily with Gaza.

“Historical sites and buildings in Gaza are adjacent to urban areas, so any location that was hit as a target also put the nearby historical sites and buildings in danger,” he said. More

Gaza's ancient treasures revealed

Archaeology Under Fire: Damage and Continued Threats to Antiquities in Gaza

Museum in Gaza to display area's rich cultural history

Turkish PM Erdogan storms out of Davos over Gaza

Rothschild's 'Arab League' shamed

A star is born.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan quotes Avi Shlaim, reminds Shimon Peres of the sixth commandment (Thou shalt not kill), tells him ‘You are killing people’, and tells Davos he’s never coming again before storming off the stage.

So first it was Venezuela, then Bolivia, and now Turkey. Have the Arab states any shame?

Norman Finkelstein doesn’t think so. Here is what he told an audience in Bahrain: ‘The reaction from the Arab world was a total disgrace, a disgrace to the whole region and its people…What you showed in the last massacre in Gaza is that you have no shame at all…The most powerful reactions in the world came from Bolivia, Venezuela, Mauritania, Turkey and Qatar…There was more solidarity in South America than here’.

Stormy debate in Davos over Gaza

More

Israeli bloggers join Israel's media propaganda blitz.

Some 1,000 new immigrants and foreign-language-speaking Jews volunteer to army of bloggers set up by Absorption Ministry and Foreign Ministry with the stated objective of flooding blogs with pro-Israel opinions

Arye Sharuz-Shalicar, 31, whose parents emigrated from Iran to Germany, is a one-man PR show. He speaks Persian, German, English, French, and Spanish and can also get by in Russian, Turkish, Arabic, and Italian.


Sharuz-Shalicar is one of the front-line soldiers in the Ministry of Absorption's new "army of bloggers" that was recently established in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry's public relations department following Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

The Absorption Ministry is recruiting new immigrants and Jews living abroad who have access to a computer and who speak a second language to a volunteer effort to improve public relations for Israel on the internet. The campaign was launched last week.

In the cross hairs are problematic blogs, talkbacks, online social networks, online polls, Youtube videos, and more.

The ministry was amazed by the massive response to the effort. More than 1,000 interested applicants contacted them, of which 350 are Russian speakers, 250 English speakers, 150 Spanish speakers, 100 French speakers, and 50 German speakers. More

Judeo-fascist Israeli rabbi chaplain called for Israeli troops in Gaza to show "no mercy."Rabbi Avichai Rontzki holds rank of Brigadier General in Israeli Defense Force.

U.S. professors call for economic and academic boycott of Israel.

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead, a group of American university professors has for the first time launched a national campaign calling for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

While Israeli academics have grown used to such news from Great Britain, where anti-Israel groups several times attempted to establish academic boycotts, the formation of the United States movement marks the first time that a national academic boycott movement has come out of America. Israeli professors are not sure yet how big of an impact the one-week-old movement will have, but started discussing the significance of and possible counteractions against the campaign.

"As educators of conscience, we have been unable to stand by and watch in silence Israel's indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip and its educational institutions," the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel stated in its inaugural press release last Thursday. Speaking in its mission statement of the "censorship and silencing of the Palestine question in U.S. universities, as well as U.S. society at large," the group follows the usual pattern of such boycotts, calling for "non-violent punitive measures" against Israel, such as the implementation of divestment initiatives, "similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era."

The campaign was founded by a group of 15 academics, mostly from California, but is, "currently expanding to create a network that embraces the United States as a whole," according to David Lloyd, a professor of English at the University of Southern California who responded on behalf of the group to a Haaretz query. "The initiative was in the first place impelled by Israel's latest brutal assault on Gaza and by our determination to say enough is enough."

"The response has been remarkable given the extraordinary hold that lobbying organizations like AIPAC exert over U.S. politics and over the U.S. media, and in particular given the campaign of intimidation that has been leveled at academics who dare to criticize Israel's policies," Lloyd wrote in an e-mail to Haaretz Monday. "Within a short weekend since the posting of the press release, more than 80 academics from all over the country have endorsed the action and the numbers continue to grow." More

Ex-Mossad agent said among suspects in 420m pound fraud

The Spanish police announced Wednesday that they had arrested six people suspected of a £420 million fraud in a public company traded on the AIM exchange in London. No names were released, but the newspaper El Pais reported that among those arrested is a former Mossad agent, Avraham Hochman, whom the newspaper described as the one of the "brains" behind the fraud.

The suspects are accused of false reporting and forging company documents, for the purpose of boosting the share price of Langbar, a Bermuda-registered company traded on the AIM.

Langbar, formerly called Crown Corp., was a shell company on the AIM, floated in 2003 with reported assets of £202 million.

In July 2005, Langbar announced a number of financial transactions, including a deposit of £70 million in ABN Amro and Banco Di Brasil, causing its own share price to soar. After the firm's market cap doubled, some directors hurried to sell their shares at a hefty profit.

The British police began an investigation of Langbar in 2005, and trade of its shares on the AIM was halted after the company was unable to prove that the deposits had indeed been made.

Langbar explained that the company itself had fallen victim to a fraud. Haaretz

Quoting Napoleon, judge okays holding Taliban cook at Gitmo

Perhaps frying pans and spatulas will now need to be registered as potentially lethal weapons.

"A federal judge says being a cook for the Taliban is reason enough for the U.S. military to hold a Yemen man as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay," the Associated Press reports.

"U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on Wednesday denied Ghaleb Nassar Al Bihani's request to be released from the military prison," the story continues. "Al Bihani, a citizen of Yemen, has been held for more than seven years. He says he never fired a weapon while serving with Taliban forces in Afghanistan and worked as an assistant in the kitchen."

The AP adds, "Leon said that Al Bihani's work supported the Taliban, nevertheless, and that the U.S. government has appropriately classified him as an enemy combatant. In his ruling, Leon quoted Napoleon as saying: 'An army marches on its stomach.'" Raw Story

More Disturbing Legislation Emanating From Congress

It has become increasingly clear over the past several years -- it's just become more blatantly obvious since the appointment of the Bush administration to the White House -- that the U.S. Congress that is supposed to protect and speak for the people they're elected to represent has been doing quite the opposite, once again introducing potentially unconstitutional legislation that tramples rights and liberties.

After the attacks of 9/11 -- that could and should have been prevented by the Bush administration, but weren't -- the American public was repeatedly served with illegal, unconstitutional 'legislation' by a corrupt, complicit Congress designed to destroy Democracy, rights and freedoms. The Bush administration is finally gone, although it will take years to rid the government of the leftover trash, the illegal, unconstitutional legislation isn't. It's not surprising when you consider the fact that many in Congress were bought off by large corporations and lobbyists years ago.

Almost a year ago, The San Francisco Chronicle had a report entitled "Rule by fear or rule by law?" that detailed how, since 9/11, seemingly without the notice of most Americans, the federal government has assumed the authority to institute martial law, arrest a wide swath of dissidents (citizen and noncitizen alike), and detain people without legal or constitutional recourse in the event of "an emergency influx of immigrants in the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs."

One has to wonder what kind of 'new programs' require the construction and refurbishment of detention facilities in nearly every state of the union with the capacity to house millions of people. More

Soleful tribute: Bush shoe-throwing now a work of art

A statue of a giant shoe has been unveiled in Saddam Hussein's hometown in honour of the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at the former US president George Bush.

The statue also features a poem honouring Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who shot to international fame last month when he hurled his shoes at Bush during a farewell press conference.

The shoes narrowly missed the then president and Zaidi was quickly bundled to the ground by security staff.

The public artwork went on display in Tikrit, 90 miles north-west of Baghdad.

The Baghdad-based artist, Laith al-Amari, said his fibreglass-and-copper work was a homage to the pride of the Iraqi people.

Zaidi, who has since been dubbed by some as the Baghdad Clogger, was charged with assaulting a foreign leader and is in detention awaiting trial. Guardian

Revealed: the letter Obama team hope will heal Iran rift

Symbolic gesture gives assurances that US does not want to topple Islamic regime

Officials of Barack Obama's administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned.

The US state department has been working on drafts of the letter since Obama was elected on 4 November last year. It is in reply to a lengthy letter of congratulations sent by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on 6 November.

Diplomats said Obama's letter would be a symbolic gesture to mark a change in tone from the hostile one adopted by the Bush administration, which portrayed Iran as part of an "axis of evil".

It would be intended to allay the ­suspicions of Iran's leaders and pave the way for Obama to engage them directly, a break with past policy.

State department officials have composed at least three drafts of the letter, which gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Islamic regime, but merely seeks a change in its behaviour. The letter would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter. More

Mullen: Using force against Iran still an option

American military force against Iran remains an option, though it would be a "last resort," US Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in response to a question from The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

Jewish MP: Israel was born out of Jewish Terrorism

CIA agent accused of drugging, raping two women in Algeria

Officials are worried of an international crisis as a CIA station chief faces allegations that he drugged and raped at least two Muslim women, ABC News reports.

"It has the potential to be quite explosive if it's not handled well by the United States government," Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Isobel Coleman said. "This isn't the type of thing that's going to be easily pushed under the carpet."

The two known complaints against 41-year-old Andrew Warren, identified in an affidavit for a federal search warrant, were lodged independently of one another in sworn statements to federal prosecutors, prompting U.S. Ambassador David Pearce to order him to return home.

"The U.S. takes very seriously any accusations of misconduct involving any U.S. personnel abroad," acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "The individual is question has returned to Washington and the U.S. Government is looking into the matter."

The woman in the first complaint said that she was raped in September 2007 after being invited to Warren's residence by embassy employees. After being served a mixed drink, she felt the "violent onset of nausea" and was invited to stay the night by Warren. She awoke nude, realizing that she had had sex, but had no memory of it. More

Iran could have ability to build nuclear bomb by 2010, study warns

Iran will amass enough low-enriched uranium this year to have the ability to build a nuclear bomb by the end of 2010, a 'respected think tank' has predicted.

The same respected Zionist think thank: 2002 - 'Saddam Has Nukes' Says IISS

We know who's got the Nukes

The International Institute for Strategic Studies has said Iran is months away from crossing a vital threshold which could put it on course to build a weapon.

Mark Fitzpatrick, the senior fellow for non-proliferation at the IISS, said: "This year, it's very likely that Iran will have produced enough low-enriched uranium which, if further enriched, could constitute enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon, if that is the route Iran so desires."

Further enrichment to produce weapons-grade uranium would take at least 12 months after the threshold that Iran is likely to reach at the end of this year. Iran's scientists will have to overcome numerous technical hurdles and fully master the enrichment of uranium before this can happen.

Iran is defying five United Nations Resolutions by enriching uranium inside an underground plant at Natanz. This process is highly sensitive because it amounts to "dual use" technology.

If uranium is enriched to four per cent purity – which Iran says is the only intention – it can be used to run nuclear power stations. If enriched above 87.5 per cent, however, the uranium reaches weapons-grade and becomes the essential material for a nuclear bomb. More


The real threat is from israel not Iran:

Israeli Professor: 'We Could Destroy All European Capitals'

Flashback: Ex-AIPAC staffers say Condi leaked them classified info

Obama 'accessory' to war crimes if no prosecution

A few weeks ago, George Washington University Constitutional Law professor Jonathan Turley, while appearing on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, essentially said that the Obama administration would "own" any war crimes -- such as the reported waterboarding of 9/11 suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- if it chose to look the other way. On Monday's show Turley went a little further and suggested that if Obama impedes investigations or prosecution that he wouldn't just be an "apologist," but also an "accessory."

Olbermann started the segment by reading a statement released by the Obama administration in response to last week's allegations from a former NSA analyst that President Bush's national security agency targeted news organizations for surveillance and even pried into personal records like finance and travel."

The response stated, "As the president made clear [last week] his administration is ensuring that all programs are conducted in accordance with our values and the rule of law. There will be no exceptions."

Olbermann noted that that was similar to claims made by Bush the last few years, insisting that "all programs were conducted consistent with our values and rule of law," even though most experts have pointed out that methods such as waterboarding are considered torture, inhumane and against the law. More

Netanyahu plans to destroy Jesus Christ's burial site

Netanyahu, the master of terror is favorite to win the upcoming ZioNazi election. Benjamin Netanyahu plans to destroy Jesus Christ's burial site during his second reign of terror, rid Jerusalem of its Arab population, start the building of the temple and cause the 'Clash of Civilization'

Netanyahu, the"War on Terror" Architect who planned and executed the terror attack on the World Trade Center eight years ago is now eying the Church of the Holy Sepulchre also known as the Church of the Resurrection - Christianity's holiest site as a possible false flag terror attack in order to kick start a "Clash of Civilisation".

The church located in Jerusalem (al-Quds) -- which Christians believe is the site of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus -- attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims every year and is considered a spiritual focal point, is now considered an ideal Zionist False Flag

The evil racist extremist Judaics who daily spit on Christians and burn their books, are ready and willing to commit such an atrocity by attacking the symbolic heart of the Christian religion and blame it on Arabs/Muslims.

The Zionist Nazis have been working hard for decades to cause an escalation of religious conflicts above and beyond the regional conflict we have now. The Zionist Jihad against Muslims known as the"War on Terror" was only the beginning.

The Holy Sepulcher is in such bad repair that it may at any moment fall through the roof and destroy the entire church. What an ideal opportunity for Zionists to step in just like they did with the aging asbestos-laden Twin Towers or the attack on the part of the pentagon that needed repairing.

This evil act is just one of the many on preparation to generate a chain reaction neither we nor they can even envision.

USSA Mideast envoy refuses Hamas talks

The US envoy to the Middle East will not meet with Hamas officials despite the movement's goodwill gesture towards the Obama administration.

A piece of the Mideast

Newly-appointed US peace envoy George Mitchell, who kicked off a Middle East tour on Tuesday, is expected to hold talks with Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Thursday. He, however, has no plans to meet with the leaders of Hamas -- which the European Union, Israel and its closest ally, the US, brand as a "terrorist" group.

Mitchell's refusal to talk to Hamas comes while on Wednesday, senior Hamas official Ismail Haniya congratulated Obama on his inauguration, expressing the movement's willingness to work closely with the new US administration.

"Today we join you in the march toward change, change that will bring justice for all," the letter read in a reference to the 44th US president's most famous campaign slogan.

It also warned Obama against making the same mistake his predecessor had made saying "we hope that you will rectify the errors of the previous administration."

Despite the friendly approach by Hamas, Mitchell's refusal to meet with the movement's leaders hints that the 'change' administration is only rebranding the failed Bush administration's policies.

The move suggests that the US is not open to hearing all sides and is siding with Mahmoud Abbas whose term expired on January 9 and therefore his rule, according to Hamas, is no longer legal under the Palestinian constitution.

Hamas won the parliamentary elections in 2006 but Abbas sacked Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya's unity government in 2007 and formed his own cabinet. Following the move Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in mid-June the same year. Source

Israel resumes airstrikes: 9 Gazans wounded

Israel bombs Rafah

Israeli jets hit Gaza Rafah border

Zionist BBC and Sky Jews Won't Play This Gaza Aid Appeal

The BBC has been joined by Sky News in their boycott of this aid appeal for the children of Gaza. But you can watch it on YouTube, as the Disasters Emergency Committee has posted the ad;

Barack Obama should apologise for 60 years of 'crimes'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded on Wednesday that US President Barack Obama apologise for the "crimes" committed by the United States against Iran over the past 60 years.

The hardline leader also called on Washington to withdraw its troops from across the world as a proof of Mr Obama's commitment to change.

"You were standing against the Iranian people in the past 60 years," Mr Ahmadinejad said during an address in the western region of Khermenshah that was broadcast by state television.

"Those who speak of change must apologise to the Iranian people and try to repair their past bad acts and the crimes they committed against Iran."

As to the troops, he said he expected two kinds of "deep and fundamental" change.

"Meet people, talk to them with respect and put an end to the expansionist policies. If you talk about change it must put an end to the US military presence in the world, withdraw your troops and take them back inside your borders."

Mr Ahmadinejad said the advocates of change must "stop supporting the Zionists, outlaws and criminals".

He called on the United States to "stop interfering in other people's affairs".

He also said the US government should "let the American people decide their own future ... Stop pressuring them," he added, without saying what he was referring to.

Mr Ahmadinejad said he welcomed change but the "change has to be fundamental". More

Top Military Rabbi tells Stormtroopers to show no mercy to the innocent in Gaza

Rights Group Complains After Troops Told That Gaza’s Civilian Population Was Not Innocent

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din is calling for the ouster of the military’s top rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki over his messages to soldiers during the 22-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The primary concern was a booklet which, among other things, contained a rabbinical edict against showing mercy.

The booklet contains quotes from a nationalist rabbi which declares that showing mercy during the battle would be “terribly immoral” and quotes a medieval sage who cautioned Jews not to “be enticed by the folly of the Gentiles who have mercy for the cruel.” Yesh Din says the booklet could have been seen by soldiers as official encouragement to act in violation of international law… an important issue as the Israeli government scrambles to defend itself against accusations of massive war crimes during the war.

Another pamphlet told troops that the civilian population of the Gaza Strip was not innocent, and urges them to “spare your lives and the lives of your friends and not to show concern for a population that surrounds us and harms us.” Over 1,400 Palestinians were killing during the war, a large number of them civilians.

The Satanic Verses

Obama’s World

As President Barack Obama takes the reigns of power in Washington, the world that awaits him and his administration poses significant challenges.

The Obama administration faces the daunting task of tackling the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression. By borrowing trillions of dollars against America’s future, the current strategy of averting current disaster is an “all-in” move. If it fails, U.S. power will be severely damaged for at least a couple of generations.

In fact, with the diminishing of the U.S.’ economic strength, the balance of power will shift for the first time since the end of the Cold War. China has surpassed Germany to become the world’s third largest economy and is closing in on Japan for second spot behind the U.S. Although China still has far to go in supplanting the U.S. economically, the fact that China owns so much of the U.S. dollar gives them incredible leverage in determining the future of the U.S. economy. If China pulls the plug on the greenback, particularly in response to the dollar’s expected inflationary spike due to the unprecedented printing of extra U.S. currency to pay for the various and continuing bailouts, China could determine the rise of its economic power vis-à-vis the U.S. on its own terms.

Thus, with diminishing economic clout, the Obama administration faces daunting geopolitical concerns. More

Bashing Venezuelan Democracy

In November/December 2006, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's (FAIR) Steve Rendall explained that "Hugo Chavez never had a chance with the US press." It's been a constant since his December 1998 election, and hasn't let up to this day, with language all too familiar:

-- a "would-be-dictator;

-- an autocratic demagogue;

-- a modern caudillo;

-- a divisive and demagogic leader;

-- a communist;

-- (his) increasingly authoritarian tilt;

-- (his) militariz(ing) the government;

-- (his) terrible human rights record;

-- (his) consolidated one-party rule;

-- emasculat(ing) the country's courts;

-- intimidat(ing) the media;

-- hollow(ing) out Venezuela's once-democratic institutions;

-- erod(ing) confidence in (its) economy;" and

-- the latest accusations in the run-up to a constitutional referendum to let presidents, National Assembly representatives, governors, mayors, and state legislators run indefinitely for re-election.

Under Article 230 of Venezuela's Constitution: "The presidential term is six years. The President of the Republic can be re-elected, immediately and only once, to an additional term." Currently, Chavez can't run again when his term expires in 2012. More

Gaza Zoo And Its Animals Destroyed By Kike Stormtroopers

A month ago, it was attracting families - he says the zoo drew up to 1,000 visitors each day. He points at the foot-long hole in the camel in one of the enclosures.

We're victims of holocaaaaaust

'This camel was pregnant, a missile went into her back,' he tells us. 'Look, look at her face. She was in pain when she died.'

Around every corner, inside almost every cage are dead animals, who have been lying in their cages since the Israeli incursion.

Qasim doesn't understand why they chose to destroy his zoo. And it's difficult to disagree with him. Most of them have been shot at point blank range.

'The first thing the Israelis did was shoot at the lions - the animals ran out of their cage and into the office building. Actually they hid there.'

The two lions are back in their enclosure. The female is pregnant, and lies heavily on the ground, occasionally swishing her tail. Qasim stands unusually close to them, but they don't seem bothered by his presence.

As he takes us around, he is obviously appalled at the state of the animals. The few animals that have survived appear weak and disturbed.
'The foxes ate each other because we couldn't get to them in time. We had many here.' There are carcasses everywhere and the last surviving fox is quivering in the corner.

The zoo opened in late 2005, with money from local and international NGOs. There were 40 types of animals, a children's library, a playground and cultural centre housed at the facility.

Inside the main building, soldiers defaced the walls, ripped out one of the toilets and removed all of the hard drives from the office computers. We asked him why they targeted the zoo. He laughs. 'I don't know. You have to go and ask the Israelis. This is a place where people come to relax and enjoy themselves. It's not a place of politics.'

Israel has accused Hamas of firing rockets from civilian areas. Qasim reacts angrily when we raise the subject.

'Let me answer that with a question. We are under attack. There was not a single person in this zoo. Just the animals. We all fled before they came. What purpose does it serve to walk around shooting animals and destroying the place?'
Inside one cage lie three dead monkeys and another two in the cage beside them. Two more escaped and have yet to return. He points to a clay pot. 'They tried to hide', he says of a mother and baby half-tucked inside.

Qasim says that his main two priorities at the moment are rebuilding the zoo and taking the Israeli army to court. For the first, he says he will need close to $200,000 to return the zoo to its former state - and he wants the Israelis to cover the costs. 'They have to pay me for all this damage.'

We ask him why it's so important for Gaza to have a zoo. 'During the past four years it was the most popular place for kids. They came from all over the Gaza Strip. There was nowhere else for people to go.' Source

Mongolian Khazar Arab Hater nightclub bouncer holds power in Nazi Israel

A former nightclub bouncer viewed as an anti-Arab extremist is the main political beneficiary of the Gaza war and could hold the balance of power in a new parliament after elections.

We're victims of holocaaaaaust

When the Israeli public roared approval for the assault on Gaza, it was expected that the direct political beneficiaries would be the leaders of the ruling centrist Kadima Party.

But opinion polls published on Monday indicated that the Right-wing Avigdor Lieberman, who emigrated to Israel from Moldova in 1978, is poised to win 16 seats for his Yisrael Beitanu (literally “our Israel”) party in the general election on Feb 10.

The result, when combined with the 28 seats forecast for the Right-wing Likud Party headed by terrorist Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who is nicknamed "Bibi", would put a Right-wing coalition ahead of the current centrist government.

Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, would be relegated to opposition.

"Whereas until today the polls were predicting a Bibi government, from now on we must say: a Bibi-Lieberman government," said the daily newspaper Ma'ariv.

The prospects for US President Barack Obama, and his new Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, are worrying.Not only does Mr Netanyahu dismiss the peace efforts of the international community, but he might depend on a man viewed as an extremist for his parliamentary majority.

Mr Lieberman, 50, has a long history of verbal attacks on Arabs - not just Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, but his fellow citizens in Israel. In 2003, he was reported to have suggested that Palestinian prisoners being released from Israeli jails should be bussed to the Dead Sea and drowned. More

Americans waking up to the impostor

After less than a week in office, Barack Obama's approval rating plunges 15 points

Barack Obama might have been in office for less than a week, but the euphoria is beginning to wane.

The new President's approval ratings have fallen from a stratospheric 83 per cent to a more modest - although still impressive - 68 per cent.

Washington analysts said the scale of the drop in the Gallup poll underlines the immense challenges Mr Obama faces in trying to turn round the U.S.'s battered fortunes.

He still remains vastly more popular than his predecessor George Bush - who left office with around 25 per cent approval. More

ASSHOLE OF THE MONTH: Barack Obama

Davos delegates gather to 'shape new world'

The head of the World Economic Forum has urged delegates to respond to the global economic crisis by shaping a "new world" as they braved Global Warming snowstorms, icy roads and subzero temperatures Tuesday to gather for the five-day annual brainstorm in the Swiss Alps.

Speaking to CNN, WEF founder Klaus Schwab said the world was in the midst of a "transformational crisis" and admitted that Davos 2009 would be "more concerned, more austere and more modest" than previous events.

"The whole atmosphere is going to be different," said Schwab. "Above all else this is a crisis of confidence. To re-store confidence you have to establish signposts that the world after the crisis will be different. We have to create a new world and that is what Davos 2009 will be all about -- serving society."

Davos has traditionally attracted the cream of the global business community, eager to bring a boardroom mentality to bear on a smorgasbord of international issues from climate change to developing world aid to weapons proliferation.

But the spotlight this time is likely to fall squarely on political leaders as newly humbled industries from banking to car manufacturing seek government assistance to help them survive a deepening recession that has devastated stock markets and threatens millions of jobs.

Peter Levene, Chairman of the London-based insurers Lloyd's, admitted the mood among corporate representatives would need to be more reflective and self-critical than usual. More

U.N. crime chief says drug money flowed into banks

The United Nations’ crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Vienna-based UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in an interview released by Austrian weekly Profil that drug money often became the only available capital when the crisis spiralled out of control last year.

“In many instances, drug money is currently the only liquid investment capital,” Costa was quoted as saying by Profil. “In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system’s main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had found evidence that "interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities," Costa was quoted as saying. There were "signs that some banks were rescued in that way."

Profil said Costa declined to identify countries or banks which may have received drug money and gave no indication how much cash might be involved. He only said Austria was not on top of his list, Profil said.

Dennis Kucinich discusses taking back the FED from Zionists