You Can Call Him Al ... But Al Won't Call You Back

You can't expect the great Al Gore , to speak the truth about Global warming , not when he has these kind of thoughts on his mind ...

at the IBM Pulse Conference in Las Vegas, Gore commented on how the environment was a fantastic business opportunity.

Yes money , that is all it comes down to ! Our money in big Al Gore's pocket , he does not really love the environment he loves the money he gets from scaring the hell out of everyone .


Foxnews
Al Gore won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar for his film, An Inconvenient Truth. But in the last three months, as global warming has gone from a scientific near-certitude to the subject of satire, Gore -- the public face of global warming -- has been silent on the topic.

The former vice president apparently finds it inconvenient even to answer calls to testify before the U.S. Senate. You can call him Al . . . but he won't call back.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe -- a prominent skeptic of global warming theory and the Republican leader of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee -- issued a request for Gore to come testify on global warming. In an interview with FoxNews.com, Inhofe said he wants Gore to appear because "it will be interesting to ask him on what science he based his movie," a film the senator considers "science fiction."

Gore has yet to respond, but that didn't prevent him from causing a stir at Apple's shareholder meeting Thursday. According to CNET, Gore was seated in the first row while several stockholders bashed his high-profile views on climate change. One reportedly said Gore "has become a laughingstock. The glaciers have not melted."

Gore did not reply, and he has not commented on his blog or Twitter feed.

Inhofe says he hopes Gore will address the recent Climate-gate scandals that have besmirched the science, scientists and politicians who back the theory of manmade climate change. Last fall, news outlets in the United Kingdom exposed a scandal in which leading global warming scientists conspired in e-mails to hide data that contradicted "proof" of manmade global warming. Then the world's leaders failed to reach a deal on climate change policy in Copenhagen. And the U.N.'s climate change research body admitted flaws in its report that concluded that the Himalayan glaciers were melting, the Arctic ice cap was fading away, and the Amazon rainforest was in imminent danger.

Since his appearance at the Copenhagen climate summit in December, Gore has been reluctant to talk to the media, making only a handful of public appearances.

On Jan. 16, he spoke at the American Library Association conference at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, and he signed copies of his newest book, Our Choice: How We Can Solve the Climate Crisis.On Feb. 22, at the IBM Pulse Conference in Las Vegas, Gore commented on how the environment was a fantastic business opportunity.

Curfew in north Liberia after religious clashes

More ignorant clashes between two opposing religions , Christians and Muslims .
That is BOTH sides are Ignorant !


MONROVIA (Reuters) - Liberia's government has imposed a curfew in the northern county of Lofa after religious clashes killed four there on Friday.

The fighting near the Guinean border was the third outbreak of violence between Muslim and Christian communities in West Africa this year.

"The Liberia National Police, the Emergency Response Unit and United Nations Military Mission in Liberia have since been deployed in the affected areas, and a dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed," the government said in a statement.

The violence erupted in the town of Vionjama after the body of a child "with body parts extracted" was found near a mosque, the statement said.

The statement said the ensuing clashes had led to some deaths, but did not specify how many.

A doctor at the Talawayon hospital in Vionjama said four people had died of bullet wounds and that another 18 people were being treated for injuries.

Witnesses told Reuters on Friday that rioters had burned down the Catholic, Baptist and Episcopal churches in the area.

Earlier in February at least three people were killed in clashes between Christians and Muslims in southeastern Guinea. In January, more than 400 people died in religious violence in the Nigerian town of Jos.

Human rights observers say violence that is triggered by religious incidents in the first instance often becomes politicized, and can involve disputes over land or property.

Congressman Derided for Laughing at Suggestion to Recite the Pledge of Allegiance

Foxnews
If the Pledge of Allegiance is a laughing matter, then the joke may be on a California congressman.

A Republican candidate for Congress in California is calling on U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra to "clarify his reaction" after the Democrat was caught on a YouTube video laughing at a suggestion that the Pledge of Allegiance be recited prior to a union meeting in Los Angeles.

The 46-second video was captured by an unidentified staffer who accompanied candidate Ari David to a Service Employees International Union meeting on Saturday. By early Tuesday, the video had been viewed roughly 10,000 times.

David will not be opposing Becerra in November; he is running to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman in a neighboring district. He said he attended the meeting in Becerra's district in hopes of meeting with Waxman, who he said was an invited guest.

On the video, a man off camera can be heard saying: "I'm here for Ari David for Congress. Can we start this meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Hilarity ensues, most notably on behalf of an unidentified woman standing behind a lectern. Becerra, seated on stage, can be seen smiling and stifling his laughter as he bends slightly forward in his chair.

"No, I'm serious," David's staffer continues. "Congressman, shouldn't we say the Pledge of Allegiance if we all want to be citizens? Wouldn't that be appropriate to say the Pledge of Allegiance?"

"Sure, of course," the woman on stage replies. "OK, let's go for it -- you lead."

The pledge is then recited by everyone in the room, followed by raucous applause.

David told Fox News he found Becerra's reaction "completely inappropriate," adding: "I was stunned as an American that one of our members of Congress would act that way.

"Considering these people want immigration reform, shouldn't they say the national anthem before a public meeting with their elected official there?"

If Becerra thought the situation was comical, it was the congressman's "prerogative" to laugh, David said.

"Is it that offensive of a notion to be asked to say the Pledge of Allegiance?" the candidate continued.

Becerra defended the reaction in a statement to Fox News, saying:

"On the morning of February 20th, I was invited to address some 500 people gathered to discuss the human tragedy of a broken immigration system and the need to fix it. At some point during that meeting, a political operative for a congressional campaign asked if we could recite the pledge of allegiance. The meeting was already under way and the question was unexpected. It took us all by surprise. When the speaker explained that he was serious and asked me specifically if we could say the pledge, I said yes and gestured to the moderator, who then led the entire gathering in reciting the pledge."

Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Kabir 'seized in Pakistan'

And yet another top Taliban monkey gets his ass arrested .
For a total of 5 top monkeys so far .
And of course the Taliban deny this arrest also .

BBC
A senior leader of the Afghan Taliban has reportedly been detained in Pakistan, US media reports say.

Mullah Abdul Kabir is widely believed to be a senior member of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban leadership council allegedly based in Pakistan.

He was reported to have been picked up in the city of Nowshera in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

But local police and a spokesman for Pakistan's army chief told the BBC that no such arrest had taken place.

Mullah Abdul Kabir is said to have been arrested last week, unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials told US media.

He was the governor of eastern Nangarhar Province during the Taliban government. But Taliban spokesmen have denied the arrest.

Iran picks sites for 10 uranium enrichment plants

Iran must know that if they build these sites they will be Attacked , that would be why they are trying to Strategically place them out of harms way .

Little do they know .


TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has identified potential sites for 10 new nuclear enrichment plants and construction of two of them could begin this year, a nuclear energy official said on Monday.

"We have earmarked close to 20 sites and have passed the report on those to the president, however, these sites are only potential," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization, was quoted as saying on news agency ISNA.

"We should begin the construction of two enrichment sites next year ... In the two new sites, we plan to use new centrifuges." The next Iranian year begins on March 21.

Salehi said the proposed sites had been chosen in remote mountainous areas around the country to help protect from attack. "These sites will be built in a way that will keep them safe from any attack," he said.

US hockey upsets Canada

Team USA delivers a nice little 5 to 3 spanking to team Canada right before the Medal rounds begin ,
Neither team out for the count , so there still could be a rematch .


ESPN
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Happy anniversary, U.S. Olympic hockey team.

The goaltending couldn't haven't been better in the U.S. defeat of much-hyped Canada. The timing couldn't be more perfect, either.

Now, the latest hockey team to capture the American public imagination's needs only to write a happy ending to this success story in the making, just like the 1960 and 1980 teams did.

Winning the game they supposedly couldn't against a virtual NHL all-star team that Canadians believed was ordained for gold, the Americans' unexpected 5-3 victory Sunday advanced them to Wednesday's quarterfinals as the top-seeded team.

This game wasn't for a medal. Canada wasn't eliminated; the Americans are assured of nothing but a bye before they play the Switzerland-Belarus winner. Even so, this was a magical moment for U.S. hockey that, at least in the Olympics, hasn't been matched since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

"You just can't beat it. It was fun," Paul Stastny said. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime atmosphere."

Fittingly, Monday is the 30th anniversary of the United States' monumental upset against the Soviet Union's supposedly unbeatable all-world team in Lake Placid.

Taliban resistance fading in Marjah

it is just a matter of time and the Taliban will either commit mass suicide or be captured , I'd prefer they just fight to the death !
Running out of Ammo looks to be a Priceless end for the Taliban in Marjah !



Al Jazeera
Taliban resistance to a military offensive in the Afghan town of Marjah has begun to ease amid reports that the group's fighters are running out of ammunition.

About 15,000 US, Nato and Afghan troops have been battling Taliban fighters in an attempt to take Marjah and the surrounding areas, but after a week of fighting Afghan sources said the firing had died down.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, speaking from Lashkar Gah in Helmand, said that there were "only small-arms engagements taking place" on Sunday.

"What we are hearing from Afghan sources is that they believe that the Taliban who have been fighting and putting up their heavy resistance in the north and east of Marjah, are running low on ammunition," he said.

"The heaviest battles took place on Thursday. That's the day the Nato forces lost their largest number of troops - six killed on Thursday alone. Since then the battles seem to have died down a little.

"They are still getting return fire from the Taliban, but they believe they may be running low. They say that that's because they intercepted some of the Taliban's internal radio messages calling for more ammunition."

Taliban denial

A Taliban spokesman told Al Jazeera that the radio intercepts were propaganda put out by Afghan forces.

Major Taliban Operative Captured

Excellent , another top Taliban lacky captured .
Mullah Baradar is singing like a little Bitch , and that is good for everyone involved , except for Baradar himself , he is Calling for his own Death by giving up his buddies .
Maybe we can help him out by Putting him in the same prison as his Boyfriends .



Foxnews
Mulvi Kabir, the former Taliban governor in Afghanistan's Nangahar Province, and a key figure in the Taliban regime was recently captured in Pakistan, two senior US officials tell Fox News. Kabir, considered to be among the top ten most wanted Taliban leaders, was apprehended in the Naw Shera district of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province by Pakistani police forces.

A senior U.S. military official in Afghanistan called Kabir a “significant detention”.

The intelligence that led to Kabir's capture was gathered from Mullah Baradar, the Taliban’s second in command, who was picked up roughly two weeks ago in Karachi, Pakistan by a joint CIA and Pakistani intelligence operation.

Baradar’s capture has been followed by a series of major detentions within the Taliban’s ranks in recent days, individuals U.S. officials are describing as “shadow governors” who operate from the safety of Pakistan’s frontier and tribal regions. Aside from Kabir, Mullah Salam of Afghanistan’s Kunduz province and Mullah Mohammad, who reportedly controlled the Baghlan province, are two of the most notable captures since Baradar was detained.

Feds have evidence ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick took bribes

it is so nice to see in print , what many people in the Detroit area have known for years , Kwame Kilpatrick is nothing but a criminal , a wannabe mob boss , a bitch ass Gangsta , All for his profit and not for the City of Detroit .

I personally hope they put his dumb fat ass in prison .

For decades Detroit has been raped by thugs like the city council , the Union's , and big money contractors , and now with evidence pointing right to kwame's hot hands , it gets even more involved .

maybe after a Good Cleansing by the new Mayor (Bing), Detroit can turn around and be an awesome city again

The Freep
A contractor who pleaded guilty in an ongoing corruption probe in Detroit has told investigators that he handed as much as $100,000 in bribes to then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in 2002, according to interviews and sworn documents reviewed by the Free Press.

The contractor, Karl Kado of West Bloomfield, also told the FBI he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the mayor's father, and thousands more to a close mayoral aide, according to the records and interviews.

Kado told authorities he paid Kwame Kilpatrick in four or five installments of about $20,000 each. Kado, who is awaiting sentencing for paying bribes to protect multimillion-dollar Cobo Center contracts, said he sometimes delivered the money in envelopes to Kilpatrick's office on the 11th floor at City Hall, and sometimes Kilpatrick dropped by Cobo to get the cash.

The allegations are significant because they show, for the first time, that the government has secured the cooperation of someone who says he gave payoffs directly to Kilpatrick.

Authorities obtained the information as part of a years-long, complex and wide-ranging investigation in Detroit and Southfield that has produced a series of public corruption charges and 10 guilty pleas.

• Related story: Who's charged so far in U.S. corruption investigation

In pursuing Kilpatrick, investigators tracked cash moving in and out of bank accounts and wiretapped the phone of his father, among others, while slowly trying to build a case.

FBI agents also contend in sworn statements that they have grounds to believe Kilpatrick and his associates used the mayor's office to run a criminal enterprise, a term the FBI reserves for organized crime and racketeering cases.

It remains to be seen whether Kilpatrick or his father ever face federal charges.

....

Pakistan kills 30 militants in air strike

We never really know if Pakistan is serious or not about taking out the Taliban and their little bitches Al Qaida .
But then they go and take out thirty of the Rejects with a nice little airstrike .

Dead Taliban is good Taliban .




ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani jet fighters killed 30 militants in remote, forested mountains on the Afghan border on Saturday, the military said, as U.S. forces spearhead one of NATO's biggest offensives against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pakistani security forces launched a major offensive against the al Qaeda-backed Pakistani Taliban in their main bastion of South Waziristan in October and the military has captured most militant bases in the region.

The Saturday air raid was in Shawal, a militant sanctuary near the border of the South and North Waziristan regions, where many militants are believed to have sought refuge from the October offensive.

Al Qaeda militants are also known to operate in the area.

The security forces, as well as attacking indigenous Taliban who are trying to bring down the U.S.-backed government, have also stepped up action against Afghan Taliban on its soil, arresting at least three senior members, including their number two man, this month.

"The hideout in Shawal was targeted after we were tipped off that terrorists were hiding in the mountains," a military spokesman said, adding 30 of them had been killed.

There was no independent verification of the toll.

EPA, Countering Critics of Greenhouse Gas Findings, Says 'Science Is Settled'

Science is supposed to be founded on Fact .
When a set "theory" is said to be fact without really studying it , it should never be taken as fact .
When evidence is uncovered disproving any theory set before whether fact or not , it should be scientifically Studied .
Having tree hugging hippie douchbags tell everyone that their supposed theory is fact , is not the way to handle this ,

In science you MUST BE IMPARTIAL !

Sometimes in science a proven fact is legitimately proven wrong , it happens all the time .
So for the EPA to just say poo on you about the recent revelations that global warming Has been founded on lies , and knowing that the scientists who are in the EPA are tree hugging hippie douchbags , just goes to show that another government money pit of a organization is working against us innocent people , all so they can justify their existence , and further rape us of our tax dollars .


Foxnews
The Environmental Protection Agency, responding complaints about its December findings about the threat of greenhouse gases, issued a statement Friday saying that the "science is settled" and "greenhouse gases pose a real threat to the American people."

The statement comes after after Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed a petition with the EPA and a challenge in federal appeals court over the EPA's conclusions.

With climate scientists in the hot seat recently over an e-mail scandal and mistakes in a prominent U.N. report, Cuccinelli argues the EPA should "restart the process and this time use rigorous, defensible science."

He says the EPA is expected to announces measures to cap carbon emissions, based on its climate change findings, and that will put a "staggering burden" on Virginia residents and businesses.

The EPA says it is going forward with "common sense measures that are helping to protect Americans from this threat" and said its critics are trying to "stall progress."

Some who support the EPA's efforts to enact carbon caps on vehicle emissions say Cuccinelli is just playing politics.

"It's very clear this is coming from lawyers, not scientists, and there's really no new science that needs to be resolved," said Brendan Bell, Washington representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a leading nonprofit environmental group.

But the science that climatologists have been using has come under fire. Recently, some parts of the 2007 United Nations Panel Report on Climate Change were found to contain mistakes, including a claim that the Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035.

And one of the lead scientists in the Climate-gate scandal last year, Phil Jones, acknowledged that there has been no statistically significant global warming since 1995. But he also claims most of the climate warning since 1950 is "due to human activity."

Moroccan mosque minaret collapses, kills 38

Islam , If we don't Kill you through our Many ways of Jihad , or have you trampled to death on a Holy Pilgrimage , We also can drop Very old Phallic symbols on the Mosque you worship in !



RABAT (Reuters) - A four centuries-old mosque minaret collapsed in Morocco Friday, killing at least 38 people and injuring more than 70 worshippers, hospital officials and witnesses said.

"The number of dead reached at least 38. I have this death toll from rescuers and doctors and officials at the hospital," parliamentarian Abdallah Bouanou, who is also a doctor, told Reuters from the scene.

"I counted myself 13 dead. Their corpses were pulled out of the rubble by rescuers," he added.

Local civil defense commander Alaoui Ismaili said the rescue operation was slow because of the narrow streets in the old city medina district where the collapsed mosque minaret is located.

"We are using only manpower, not equipment as we cannot bring heavy equipment through these streets," he said.

"We are moving with great cautiousness also because the walls of houses and shops adjacent to the mosque are fragile especially after the heavy rains of the past days," said Ismaili.

The state news agency MAP, citing an official provisional toll, said 36 were killed and 71 more injured in the incident.

"About 300 worshippers gathered inside the mosque for the Friday afternoon mass prayers. When the imam (preacher) was about to start his sermon, the minaret went down," Khaled Rahmouni, whose home is near the mosque, told Reuters by telephone.

Maybe it was a Sign From A higher power

U.S. Strike Kills Taliban Leader's Brother

Notice how there is no mention of the Innocence of the Associates of Siraj Haqqani .
Maybe because they were not so Innocent .




Foxnews
ISLAMABAD — The brother of senior Afghan Taliban commander Siraj Haqqani has been killed in a U.S. missile strike in northwestern Pakistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said Friday.

The death was the latest in a string of blows to militants operating in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, including the capture in recent weeks of the Taliban's No. 2 leader, that together are seen as the most significant strike against the insurgents in years.

Mohammed Haqqani and three other close associates of Siraj Haqqani were killed when missiles struck a house on Thursday night in the Dande Darpa Khel area of North Waziristan, near the border with Afghanistan, two Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

The officials said the attack was apparently aimed at Siraj Haqqani, a top Taliban commander with suspected close ties to Al Qaeda who is accused of masterminding ambushes of American troops in Afghanistan. It was not known if Siraj Haqqani was hurt in the strike.

The Haqqani network is an autonomous militant group that nonetheless has ties to Al Qaeda and technically pledges allegiance to Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar. The group also has a history of links to Pakistani intelligence that some suspect continue today.

Two Chinese Schools Said to Be Tied to Online Attacks

So why is it that even under constant Cyber attacks from China ( Along with the many other threats ) Does the United States still insist on dealing with the Communist led Country ?
The whole thought of it is purely Mind Numbing .


The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — A series of online attacks on Google and dozens of other American corporations have been traced to computers at two educational institutions in China, including one with close ties to the Chinese military, say people involved in the investigation.

They also said the attacks, aimed at stealing trade secrets and computer codes and capturing e-mail of Chinese human rights activists, may have begun as early as April, months earlier than previously believed. Google announced on Jan. 12 that it and other companies had been subjected to sophisticated attacks that probably came from China.

Computer security experts, including investigators from the National Security Agency, have been working since then to pinpoint the source of the attacks. Until recently, the trail had led only to servers in Taiwan.

If supported by further investigation, the findings raise as many questions as they answer, including the possibility that some of the attacks came from China but not necessarily from the Chinese government, or even from Chinese sources.

Tracing the attacks further back, to an elite Chinese university and a vocational school, is a breakthrough in a difficult task. Evidence acquired by a United States military contractor that faced the same attacks as Google has even led investigators to suspect a link to a specific computer science class, taught by a Ukrainian professor at the vocational school.

IAEA fears Iran working now on nuclear warhead

Really ! What a surprise .
Has the IAEA finally woke up to what Iran has been working towards this whole time


VIENNA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it fears Iran may be working now to develop a nuclear-armed missile, as Washington warned Tehran of "consequences" for ignoring international demands to stop its atomic program.
r
In unusually blunt language, an International Atomic Energy Agency report for the first time suggested Iran was actively pursuing nuclear weapons capability, throwing independent weight behind similar Western suspicions.

The IAEA seemed to be cautiously going public with concerns arising from a classified agency analysis leaked in part last year which concluded that Iran has already honed explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon.

The report also confirmed Iran had produced its first small batch of uranium enriched to a higher purity -- 20 percent.

Both developments will intensify pressure on Iran to prove it is not covertly bent on "weaponizing" enrichment by allowing unfettered access for IAEA inspectors and investigators, something it rejects in protest at U.N. sanctions.

The United States is already leading a push for the U.N. Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran because of suspicions it may be developing nuclear weapons and has received declarations of support from Russia, which has until now been reluctant to expand sanctions.

"We always said that if Iran failed to live up to those international obligations, that there would be consequences," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Barack Obama flew to a political event.

A senior Obama administration official said the IAEA report showed an "increasing pattern of non-cooperation" by Iran with the U.N. watchdog. The report also documented "significant technical problems" that Iran continues to have with its nuclear program, the official told reporters.

Pakistan arrests 2 senior Afghan Taliban

A little coordinated effort is all it takes .
With the arrest of two more Taliban leaders in Pakistan , the rest of the leadership must be pooping themselves right now .



KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Pakistan has captured two "shadow governors" belonging to Afghanistan's Taliban movement, an Afghan official said on Thursday.

The timing of the reported arrests coincides with the capture of Taliban's second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Pakistan's Karachi by Pakistani and U.S. agents this month.

Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Mohammad, respectively the shadow governors of the northern Afghan provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan happened in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, the Afghan governor for Kunduz said.

"My information about their capture, which occurred nearly a week ago, is based on national intelligence sources," Mohammad Omar told Reuters.

Pakistan has yet to comment about the report on the arrest of the two men, who both reported to Baradar.

Since their ouster from power by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, the Taliban have appointed shadow governors whose primary responsibility is organizing Taliban military activities.

The reported detentions come after mounting criticism by some U.S. officials who say Islamabad is not tackling Afghan Taliban based on it soil, using it as a base for carrying out attacks on Afghan and foreign troops across the border.

Washington has hailed Pakistan for the capture of Baradar, the seniormost Taliban leader to be held since the movement's ouster from power in Afghanistan more than eight years ago

Obama pledges $8 billion for nuclear power plant

Wow , what a shock !
The Obama has spoken some of the first common sense words yet ( IMO )
Regardless of the The tree hugging hippie rejects problem with Nuclear power , it is still Overall the cleanest source of energy yet .
what do the Hippie rejects have to Offer ?

My only problem is that Obama Should have went a step Farther , How about a new Nuclear Power plant in Each State that is Capable of supporting one .
Thousands of jobs everywhere would be a major boost to the Economy !

Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington - Seeking common ground with Republicans on energy and climate issues, President Obama on Tuesday pledged $8 billion in loan guarantees needed to build the first U.S. nuclear reactors in nearly three decades.

The move, along with a tripling of nuclear loan guarantees in the president's budget, represents a new federal commitment to the low-carbon-emitting, but highly controversial, nuclear power sector long championed by the GOP.

Industry groups and Republican leaders praised the announcement, which has been expected for months, but some environmentalists and free-market think tanks protested.

Speaking at a training center at the Lanham, Md., headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26, the president spoke favorably of nuclear power as part of a mix of energy alternatives to oil.

"In order to truly harness our potential in clean energy, we'll have to do more," Obama said. "In the near term, as we transition to cleaner energy sources, we'll have to make tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. We'll need to make continued investments in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies, even as we build greater capacity in renewables like wind and solar.

"And we'll have to build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in America," he said.

Obama said his administration would supply about $8 billion in loan guarantees to build two new reactors at an existing nuclear power plant in Burke, Ga., providing thousands of construction jobs in the next few years and about 800 permanent jobs in the years to come.

Free-market groups complained that the loan guarantees could leave taxpayers on the hook for projects too risky for the private sector to finance.

Many environmentalists echoed the concerns and warned that the administration had not mapped a strategy for safe, long-term storage of radioactive waste.

Ahmadinejad Warns World Against Further Sanctions

Well we have been Warned , So I guess we better watch out !
What the hell could these nimrods do to the U.S. or any other country for that matter ?
What Are they going to do , Scold whoever dares to defy The little Mullah Monkey ?

Iran is just a joke of a country , Their leaders only have power because the Military Backs them , And they shoot , run down or Imprison whoever they can !

And Obviously the civilians don't have Guns !

VOA
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki began the day with bluster, attacking the United States and Secretary of State Clinton for calling Tehran a "military dictatorship," and complaining about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

On Monday, France, Russia and the United States denied a statement by Iran's Atomic Energy Agency head Ali Akbar Salehi that the three Western powers had given Iran a new nuclear proposal.

But Foreign Minister Muttaki insisted Iran had indeed received a letter from France, Britain and Russia, and interpreted, according to his translation of the letter, that a new offer was being made.

Later, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent out more conflicting signals as he fielded questions from journalists. "If anybody seeks to create problems for Iran," he said, "our response will not be like before." He said something will be done that will "make them regret" their move.

Taliban commander held in Pakistan: U.S. officials

A joint raid in Pakistan ?
Either way getting a Taliban leader out of the loop is a good thing ,it may not stop or slow the Taliban down much , but it drives em crazy .
Every time a leader is captured or killed the shake up within the ranks result in a power struggle that is at the least distracting .

WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban's top military commander has been captured in Pakistan in a joint raid by Pakistani and U.S. spy agencies, a U.S. official said, but the Taliban said he was still at work.

Washington hopes the capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will at least temporarily weaken the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, where U.S. Marines are leading one of NATO's biggest offensives in the southern militant stronghold of Marjah.

"I would call it significant," another U.S. official said of Mullah Baradar's capture. "But even when you get their leaders, they've shown an amazing resilience to bounce back. It's an adaptive organization."

Both U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kamran Bokhari, regional director of global intelligence group STRATFOR, said Mullah Baradar was a key deputy of Taliban leader Mullah Omar and a senior figure in the movement's leadership council.

"It's not clear though that arrest will have a major impact on the battlefield," he said. "I suspect the Taliban gave up this guy to the Pakistanis who then gave him to the Americans in exchange for some concessions on Afghanistan and India."

The Taliban denied the capture, which The New York Times said took place in the southern city of Karachi.

A Taliban spokesman said Mullah Baradar was still in Afghanistan actively organizing the group's military and political activities.

"He has not been captured. They want to spread this rumor just to divert the attention of people from their defeats in Marjah and confuse the public," Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters, referring to a U.S.-led NATO offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

Police and government officials in Karachi said they knew nothing of Baradar's capture. "I am not aware of any such thing," said Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed.

Pakistan government and military spokesmen were not available for comment.

....

Al Qaeda Looking to Recruit English Speakers, Women

So , Knowing that some in our Government are willing to sit and do nothing about the root cause of Terrorism , Because they are scared to Offend Muslims ...
WTF , are we supposed to do ?
I guess they will not be Happy until The Jihadi's come rollin down the streets of America with their suicide belts on .



Foxnews
Al Qaeda in Yemen is actively recruiting English-speaking individuals, intelligence officials told Fox News on Monday, saying that investigators are looking for people who are more like Americans, having been born in the United States or Canada.

"Anyone who can fit in and not attract suspicion" is desirable to the terror network right now, said one official.

An investigative source also said that among those attracting attention by the intelligence community are women recruits. The next wave of terrorists may include Western women, possibly Canadian, with forged documents. The use of women would be seen an evolution in Al Qaeda's strategy from the failed Christmas Day attack by accused "underpants bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is considered the top "talent spotter." He is tied to three of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, the Fort Hood shooting and Flight 253, which carried Abdulmutallab.

A former senior intelligence official who first identified Awlaki as a threat in 2008 said he believes Awlaki has hundreds of followers in the United States, so the focus of the intelligence community is not solely on overseas operatives but on people inside the United States.

Abdulmutallab, who is educated and born into a wealthy Nigerian family, told investigators that about 20 or 30 more people like him were training in Yemen. Yemen is also where English-speaking, Muslim converts go to learn Arabic, so one U.S. official said Abdulmutallab's information will be vetted thoroughly.

However, that official said just because someone is studying Arabic in Yemen doesn't mean he or she has made the leap to terrorism.

So true , But it is an awesome place to start looking

British Defense Unveils Special Goo to Protect Soldiers

Amazing what can be done when you put your Mind to it .
Special Goo ? Just sounds odd though .


Foxnews
Britain's Ministry of Defense unveiled a robot hand that could defuse bombs and a luminous goo that flows around soldiers’ moving bodies but hardens to protect them if they are hit and a uniform that conducts electricity.

The innovations were among the first fruits of the initiative that aims to harness scientific innovation for rapid use on the battlefield. They are being funded by grants from the MoD's Center for Defense Enterprise, which encourages private companies to bring their products straight to the government for development. Officials say that 15 in every 100 applications are tested and about two are then developed.

But, the event held in Oxford on Friday looked more like a convention for dreadlocked and ponytailed Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts than a Ministry of Defence event.

Among the companies to have received funding is d3o Lab, which has developed an "intelligent" liquid polymer that is easily malleable when moved slowly but whose molecules lock together and absorb force when hit by a projectile.

To demonstrate its properties, which have uses in a new generation of helmets and types of body armor, members of the d3o team wrapped the luminous orange goo round their hands and then struck them repeatedly with hammers. "The way that the material responds to your body movements, you get a duality of flexibility and protection," Floria Antolini said.

Other innovations on show included the "Little Owl", a lightweight drone that its developers hope will carry 20kg of surveillance equipment and power itself on solar energy for up to three months. The project has received £44,000 of funding for development.

Intelligent Textiles received £49,500 to help it to develop an army uniform that conducts electricity and computer data through internally woven "conductive yarns". It allows troops to attach electrical equipment to powerpoints on their uniform, and to run internal heaters to keep them warm. The uniform runs off a central battery pack.

Just a Comparison .

Earlier this week Kyros Over at Report on Arrakis ran a post about " The only cure for Radical Islam Which had this Picture ...



Well me being the souvenir hound that I am , I Dug out a couple of nice trinkets I found...



As for the Comparison , I believe these are the Somewhere between the 190 and 210 Category .
The actual Bullet " Tip " is as big as my Pinky Finger .
I could be wrong But I believe These are 50 Cal rounds , yes they are Live , Yes I am probably stupid for having them but , you Know ...

One of these through your Head , it's gonna be ugly out the other side .
Perfect for members of Radical Islam .
"

Clashes reported as Iran marks Revolution Day

Ahmadinejad told a vast, flag-waving crowd of government supporters that Iran was now able to enrich uranium to more than 80 percent purity, coming close to levels experts say would be needed for a nuclear bomb, although he again denied it had any such intention.


Nothing happening in Iran today , Ahmadinejad says so !
He also says they have enriched Uranium to 80% , something I find a little strange seeing as how before Tuesday they supposedly could barely enrich it to 20% , that is quite a jump in technology in a couple of days ! .
Move along people , nothing to see here , no Bombs ( Yet ) , no protests ( Yeah right ) and also No more Google E mail ! everything is just fine !




TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian opposition websites said security forces clashed with protesters and arrested at least 30 as huge crowds flocked to central Tehran on Thursday to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Official media made no mention of clashes or arrests and state television said "tens of millions of people" attended rallies in support of the revolution across the country of 70 million.

The Islamic state is facing its worst domestic crisis in three decades as opposition supporters have rallied round the reformists who lost to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a disputed election last June.

Ahmadinejad told a vast, flag-waving crowd of government supporters that Iran was now able to enrich uranium to more than 80 percent purity, coming close to levels experts say would be needed for a nuclear bomb, although he again denied it had any such intention.

"The Iranian nation is brave enough that if one day we wanted to build nuclear bombs we would announce it publicly without being afraid of you," Ahmadinejad said, addressing Iran's Western enemies.

But he told the crowd in Azadi (Freedom) Square: "When we say that we don't build nuclear bombs, it means that we won't do that because we don't believe in having it."

German Mosque Minaret Raises Fears of Islamic Quest for Power

Although Germany has about 170 mosques, a further 200 are said to be under construction

That is an incredible increase in the Amount of Mosques in Germany .
200 Mosques under construction at one time , that is unheard of for any type of Construction projects Anywhere !



Foxnews
An unassuming former cinema opposite a giant steelworks on the banks of the Saar river is at the center of a stand-off over plans for a minaret to mark its new role as a mosque.

The row highlights concerns about the spread of Islam in Germany’s traditionally conservative rust belt.

In a confrontation reminiscent of the debate in Switzerland, which led to a national referendum verdict banning new minarets, the 40,000-strong town of Völklingen has become divided over plans by the Selimiye mosque for three domes and an 26-foot spire.

It would be the first minaret in Saarland, which has fallen on hard times since the heyday of steel production in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving many of the Turks who arrived to work in the smelters unemployed.

Although Germany has about 170 mosques, a further 200 are said to be under construction and tensions are beginning to show in communities such as Völklingen, where about 5 per cent of the population are Muslim.

“We are being quietly infiltrated by the Turks,” said one resident at a meeting called last month, according to Die Tageszeitung. The audience of 250 was asked to fill in forms, with one stating: “Minarets have nothing to do with Gemany.”

The council rejected the first proposal for twin minarets as out of keeping with the area and Klaus Lörig, the Mayor, appealed to the mosque to withdraw the plan. The mosque committee said that there were no legal grounds to reject its plan and warned that it was prepared to go to court.

Taliban confirm Hakeemullah's death

Hell yeah ! what good news .
Hakeemullah has been dispatched to receive his 72 male goat virgins !




Dawn.com
KARACHI: The Taliban based in Orakzai Agency confirmed on Tuesday that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead.

However, Alam Tariq the offiicial Taliban spokesman has not yet made a statement.

Sources said that Maulvi Noor Jamal has been nominated as Mehsud's succesor.

Government officials too have confirmed his death and have said that he was killed in a Shaktoi drone strike last month.

American and Pakistani officials had been saying Mehsud was dead since the past few weeks.

North Korea's Kim pledges to remove nuclear weapons

And this should be believed this time Because ...?



SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's leader pledged again to remove nuclear weapons from the peninsula, a news report said Tuesday, and also sent his top nuclear envoy to Beijing in a move that could bode well for stalled disarmament talks.

While Kim Jong-il has made, and broken, similar pledges before, analysts said pressure has been mounting through U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test last year, as well as a botched currency reform that the South said sparked inflation and rare civil unrest.

China's Xinhua news agency said Kim reiterated his country's "persistent stance to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" during a meeting Monday with senior Chinese official Wang Jiarui.

North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, arrived in Beijing Tuesday, suggesting a possible resumption of stalled discussions hosted by China and including Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

"Dispatching Kim Kye-gwan indicates that some sort of understanding is being worked out between China and North Korea on restarting the nuclear talks," said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul.

Yemen al Qaeda urges jihad, wants Red Sea blocked

"The Christians, the Jews, and the treacherous apostate rulers have pounced on you ... you have no other way out from this plight other than to wage jihad,"


Oh this is going to get good !
Yemeni Al Qaida , Is threatening "Jihad" Against U.S. Shipments of goods if they come into the Red Sea .
I think the U.S. Navy may have a little something to say to that !


SANAA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The Yemen-based wing of al Qaeda called for a regional Muslim holy war and a blockade of the Red Sea to cut off U.S. shipments to Israel, a further sign of the group's ambitions to mount new strikes outside its base.

Yemen is in the throes of a major crackdown on the global militant network's regional off-shoot, which grabbed the world's attention when it claimed a failed bomb attack on U.S.-bound plane in December.

Western powers and neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, fear that Yemen's growing instability as it struggles with northern Shi'ite rebels and southern secessionists, may allow al Qaeda to strengthen its operations.

"The Christians, the Jews, and the treacherous apostate rulers have pounced on you ... you have no other way out from this plight other than to wage jihad," the wing's deputy leader, Saeed al-Shehri, said in an audio tape posted on a website often used by Islamist groups.

Shehri, a former inmate of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay from Saudi Arabia, was one of 30 al Qaeda members that Yemen claimed to have killed in an air strike in December but this was later denied by the global militant network.

Shehri also said the Yemen-based wing's failed bomb attack on the plane to Detroit on December 25 had been carried out in coordination with network leader Osama bin Laden.

China seizes more melamine-tainted milk powder

Here they go Again !
Not only did it happen once , which would be bad enough , but now a second time with the Melamine laced milk !
Some coming from the batches of Milk products they removed the last time , it was re-labled and re-distributed right back to the people !



BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese inspectors tracing new cases of contaminated milk have shut dairy firms in the northwest and seized 72 metric tons of milk powder tainted with melamine, an industrial compound that killed at least six children in 2008.

Nearly 100 metric tons of tainted milk powder may still be on shop shelves, the China Daily reported Monday in detailing the closure of a Ningxia firm that sold the product.

A number of cases of melamine in milk have surfaced in the past few months, some of which appear to have come from old batches of contaminated powder that was never destroyed despite a scandal that damaged the reputation of the Chinese dairy industry.

Tiantian Dairy Co Ltd in Ningxia was closed after it was found to have repackaged and sold 170 metric tons of melamine-tainted milk powder that it received as a debt payment, the China Daily said, citing the local government.

The paper did not say where the milk had come from. Last week, three people at a dairy firm in neighboring Shaanxi province were arrested for manufacturing or dealing in products laced with melamine, a compound commonly used in plastics or fertilizer but which can also be added to foods to show high protein levels in tests.

Another dairy firm, Ningxia Panda, was shut because of its ties to Shanghai Panda Dairy Co, which was closed late last year for selling products tainted with melamine.

There have been no reported deaths or illnesses from the latest batches of tainted milk. About 300,000 children sought medical treatment, many with kidney stones, in the 2008 scandal.

China executed two people in November for their role in the 2008 scandal that further sullied the made-in-China brand after a string of health and product-safety scares.

Iran's police vow no tolerance towards protesters

"Police will act firmly to defend the society's security and those who break the law will be dealt with severely,"

Sounds like the Pro reform movement in Iran is being told to mind their P's and Q's for next Thursday !

If 8 Deaths was just a little pushing and shoving , How many will it be for "Dealt with severely ?


TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police will show no more tolerance toward anti-government protesters, the force's chief was quoted as saying on Saturday, in a warning to the opposition before possible new demonstrations next week.

Iran has been rocked by street unrest since its disputed presidential election last June. Internet messages have circulated about new protests on February 11, when Iran marks the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Supporters of the pro-reform opposition have used such official occasions to stage new rallies in recent months, despite many arrests in a continuing crackdown by authorities.

Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have called on supporters to attend next week's rally. An opposition website, Jaras, on Saturday said a youth group backing Mousavi also urged people to take part.

Government officials have rejected opposition charges that the June vote was rigged to secure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They portrayed the election protests as a Western-backed bid to undermine the Islamic establishment.

"Now that the different dimensions of the sedition are clear, we won't show any more tolerance," police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, the ILNA news agency reported.

"Police will act firmly to defend the society's security and those who break the law will be dealt with severely," he said.

He said hundreds of people were arrested in connection with protests that erupted on Ashura -- a ritual Shi'ite day of mourning that fell on December 27 -- with the help of tip-offs from the public after police published photographs of them. He said more such photographs of demonstrators would be issued soon.

Eight people were killed in clashes between security forces and opposition supporters on that day, in the most serious violence since the aftermath of the June 12 disputed election.

Moghaddam also reiterated a warning against the use of emails and phone text messages to spread the word of new protests, making clear police were monitoring such means of communication.

"The new technologies allow us to identify conspirators and those who are violating the law, without having to control all people individually," he said.

China hits out at US at 'Security Davos'

Give me a Break , China is now going to speak out against the U.S. for an arms deal with Taiwan , One of our Allies ?
Like China has never Had any arms deals with countries we have Questions about , How about all of the Arms going to IranSince the 80's ?
And what about that Hamas Deal ?
And then their is Darfur !


AFP
MUNICH, Germany — China's foreign minister used his maiden visit to a security conference in Europe Friday to issue a broadside against US arms sales to Taiwan and to resist US pressure to get tough on Iran.

The 6.4-billion-dollar deal unveiled last month to sell arms to Taiwan, which China views as part of its territory, is "obviously a violation of the code of conduct between nations," Yang Jiechi said.

"We approached the US side and made a representation very seriously, on many occasions, yet the US still went ahead with the sale."

"Of course the Chinese government and the people have to react. It is within its sovereign right to do what is necessary... I think the Chinese people and the government of every region should feel indignant about this thing."

The spat is one of several issues to have contributed to a worsening of relations in recent weeks, together with the upcoming White House visit by the Dalai Lama and cyber attacks on US firms such as Google.

Yang's comments came on the first day of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, a 46-year-old gathering dubbed the "Davos of security policy" after the World Economic Forum held last month at the Swiss ski resort.

The forum brings together some 300 top military, diplomatic and political figures, traditionally from members of the NATO military alliance but increasingly from further afield.

Obama Tells Dems: Turn off CNN, Turn off Fox

Obama makes a bit of a point here ,

"Just turn off the TV -- MSNBC, blogs -- and just go talk to folks out there, instead of being in this echo chamber where the topic is constantly politics.

Yes , all politicians should get out amongst the people , That is where they are going to hear what is really going on in the Country (Providing they talk to the real people )
But it is funny how on one hand he says to turn off CNN , FOX and MSNBC and to also not read Blogs !
And on the other hand he tells them what news to listen to ,( Liberal Friendly , And Not listed )
It just goes to show how the Dumocrats , really don't want to hear what the reality of how things really are , and that they look at the U.S. as something they believe they are the Owners of !




Foxnews
At today's question and answer session between President Obama and his former Democratic colleagues in the Senate, members got a bit of unexpected TV-viewing advice from the Commander in Chief: stop watching politics on TV.

Perhaps he’d prefer they tune into WhiteHouse.gov?

The president’s advice came in answer to a question from Sen. Mike Bennet, D-CO, who is facing a difficult re-election fight back home and wanted to know what Democrats and Republicans can do "to fix this institution so that our democracy can actually withstand the test that we're facing right now."

"You know what I think would actually make a difference, Michael? I think if everybody here -- excuse all the members of the press who are here -- if everybody here turned off your CNN, your Fox, your blogs," Obama said, before being interrupted by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, who piped up, "And MSNBC!"

Obama, appropriately reminded of the network with shows more friendly to liberals, continued, "Just turn off the TV -- MSNBC, blogs -- and just go talk to folks out there, instead of being in this echo chamber where the topic is constantly politics. ... It is much more difficult to get a conversation focused on how are we going to help people than a conversation about how is this going to help or hurt somebody politically."

Anger over US 'Lady Qaeda' verdict

"this verdict will only confirm what many already believe, that it is impossible for Muslim terrorism suspects to receive a fair trial in the US."

You had to figure that this was coming .
yes of course she is innocent she is a Muslim , she was arrested in Afghanistan with some type of Chemicals and maps and drawings of U.S. landmarks , including the Statue of Liberty .
While under arrest she muscled a rifle away from a U.S. serviceman and started shooting !
She is lucky she was just not shot dead on the spot , But innocent she is not !


Al Jazeera
Relatives of a US-educated Pakistani scientist branded "Lady Qaeda" by some in the US press and found guilty of trying to kill American servicemen in Afghanistan, have condemned the verdict.

The judgement, reached by a court in New York, also fuelled growing anger in Pakistan on Thursday where many believe that Affia Siddiqui, who disappeared for five years before her arrest in Afghanistan, was innocent.

Fauzia Siddiqui, her sister, said the verdict had "rejuvenated" the family.

"And we're proud to be related to her," she said, speaking from the Pakistani city of Karachi.

"America's justice system, the establishment, the war on terror, the fraud of the war on terror, all of those things have shown their own ugly faces."

The AFP news agency quoted Ismat Siddiqui, Afia's mother, who lives in Karachi, as saying the family had been braced for the verdict but would continue to work for her release.

"I did not expect anything better from an American court. We were ready for the shock and will continue our struggle to get her released," she was quoted as saying.

Intel Chief: U.S. at Risk of Crippling Cyber Attack

He said one critical "factor" is that more and more foreign companies are supplying software and hardware for government and private sector networks.

"This increases the potential for subversion of the information in ... those systems," Blair said.


Like Maybe China ?

Just three words " Deaf , Dumb ,Blind " !

Foxnews
The United States is at risk of a crippling cyber attack that could "wreak havoc" on the country because the "technological balance" makes it much easier to launch a cyber strike than defend against it, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said Tuesday.

Blair, speaking to the House Intelligence Committee, said U.S. tools are not yet up to the task to fully protect against such an attack.

"What we don't quite understand as seriously as we should is the extent of malicious cyberactivity that grows, that is growing now at unprecedented rates, extraordinary sophistication," Blair said. "And the dynamic of cyberspace, when you look at the technological balance, right now it favors those who want to use the Internet for malicious purposes over those who want to use it for legal and lawful purposes."

Blair said the United States must "deal with that reality," and warned of the catastrophic consequences of a major attack.

"Attacks against networks that control the critical infrastructure in this country ... could wreak havoc," Blair said. "Cyber defenders right now, it's simply the facts of the matter, have to spend more and work harder than the attackers do, and our efforts frankly are not strong enough to recognize, deal with that reality."

He said one critical "factor" is that more and more foreign companies are supplying software and hardware for government and private sector networks.

"This increases the potential for subversion of the information in ... those systems," Blair said.

Blair also told Congress Tuesday that the Internet is providing the fuel for the growing problem of "homegrown radicalization."

"That ... has been one of the most dangerous uses of the Internet," Blair said, explaining that foreign groups are using the Internet to organize attacks, give instructions and arrange financing.

Intelligence Officials Warn Attempted Al Qaeda Attack Months Away

And I'm Sure "Profiling" is still out of the Question .

Foxnews
WASHINGTON -- Al Qaeda can be expected to attempt an attack on the United States in the next three to six months, senior U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday.

The terrorist organization is deploying operatives to the United States to carry out new attacks from inside the country, including "clean" recruits with a negligible trail of terrorist contacts, CIA Director Leon Panetta said. Al Qaeda is also inspiring homegrown extremists to trigger violence on their own, Panetta added.

The annual assessment of the nation's terror threats provided no startling new terror trends, but amplified growing concerns since the Christmas Day airline attack in Detroit that militants are growing harder to detect and moving more quickly in their plots.

"The biggest threat is not so much that we face an attack like 9/11. It is that Al Qaeda is adapting its methods in ways that oftentimes make it difficult to detect," Panetta told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Al Qaeda is increasingly relying on new recruits with minimal training and simple devices to carry out attacks, the CIA chief said as part of the annual assessment of national threats provided to Congress by the top five U.S. intelligence officials.

Panetta also warned of the danger of extremists acting alone: "It's the lone-wolf strategy that I think we have to pay attention to as the main threat to this country," he said.

North Koreans starving after currency move

The currency revaluation was aimed at wiping out the cash holdings of a burgeoning merchant class, who risked exposure for illegal activities outside the centrally planned economy if they exchanged their old cash or deposited their wealth in banks.

Ahhh Communism !
This is what it ultimately leads to .
So we should expect a Missile launch and or Nuclear test any day now !


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Koreans are starving to death and unrest is growing due to a currency revaluation last year that crippled markets and led to the sacking of a senior cadre, reports said on Wednesday.

The news comes as the destitute North is under growing pressure to end its boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks, where it can win aid for reducing the security threat it poses in economically vital North Asia.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said after meeting officials in Seoul that North Korea must return to the six-country talks and live up to pledges it made to take apart its nuclear weapons programme.

"Sanctions will not come off before that," he told reporters.

North Korea last year announced a revaluation of its currency where old notes of its won currency would be changed for new ones at a rate of 100 to one.

The move was a further blow to the North's wobbly economy, already hit by U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test last year to halt its lucrative arms sales.

North Korean Workers' Party finance director Pak Nam-gi, who led the currency revaluation aimed at breaking up markets in the socialist state, has been removed from his post, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said quoting diplomatic sources in Beijing.

"Markets have come to a grinding halt following the currency revaluation and prices have soared," the source said.

After the currency moves, fewer goods were available for an already impoverished public and prices rose sharply.

U.S. Drones Kill at Least 10 With Missiles in Northwest Pakistan

The Largest Barrage of missiles ever fired in a drone Attack , 16 to 18 .

Let's hope that with that many Hellfire missiles being fired that some body in the top levels of either Al qaida or the Taliban , are taking a long Dirt Nap !



The Wall Street Journal
A barrage of missiles from U.S. drone aircraft ripped into an area of northwest Pakistan where the Taliban and al Qaeda dominate, killing at least 10 people hours after the Pakistani Taliban again denied rumors of its leader's demise.

The sheer number of missiles fired in Tuesday's strike—a Pakistani intelligence official and witnesses estimated 16 to 18 were launched—appeared to be the most employed in a single attack since the U.S. first began using drone aircraft to target militants in Pakistan six years ago.

The attack was the latest salvo in what has become a torrent of U.S. missile strikes in and around the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan in the weeks since an al Qaeda double agent killed seven agents and contractors of the Central Intelligence Agency in a suicide bombing at a U.S. base in a neighboring region of Afghanistan.

U.S. and Pakistani officials say they believe the Dec. 30 suicide attack was plotted from North Waziristan, a hub for the Afghan Taliban and its Pakistani offshoot. Al Qaeda is also active in the region, these officials say. The Afghan-Pakistan border is porous, and militants often move freely between the countries.

Tuesday's attack targeted a number of compounds and bunkers used by Taliban fighters in a North Waziristan village near the Afghan border. Two people who live in the village said vehicles were also destroyed, although they differed on whether the cars belonged to the militants or area residents.

The Pakistani intelligence official said at least 10 people died; the residents put the death toll as high as 20 and said the missile strike had set fires that were still smoldering in the village.

Suicide bomber kills 41 Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq

What are you supposed to do with a country full of People that just want to kill everyone ?

I thought a Pilgrimage was supposed to be a religious Experience , Not an occasion to blow the hell out of your neighbors .

Islam , WTF ?



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew herself up on Monday among Shi'ite pilgrims on the outskirts of Iraq's capital, killing at least 41 people in the latest attack in a violent run-up to next month's election.

Iraq is trying to leave behind years of warfare set off by the 2003 U.S. invasion as it moves to cement security gains made in the last two years, prepare for a U.S. withdrawal and revamp an oil sector that gives Iraq nearly all of its revenues.

But Shi'ite gatherings remain a frequent target for Sunni Islamists such as al Qaeda, seeking to reignite the sectarian slaughter that peaked in 2006-07, while recent months have also seen major coordinated assaults by suicide bombers on Baghdad.

An interior ministry source and a police official said 41 people had been killed and 106 wounded in Monday's attack in a tent where pilgrims on an arduous religious trek are provided with food and drink.

"People were serving food to the pilgrims. A woman wrapped in an explosives belt went inside the tent and killed and wounded (many people) and children," said pilgrim Sahib, who was near the tent.

The office of Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said that the bombing occurred in a crowd and that 19 people were killed, with 80 wounded.

Several hours later a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad wounded 12 pilgrims, an interior ministry source said.

The attacks took place as the nation gears up for a March election when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is expected to run on improved security and on oil deals that may vault Iraq into the world's top three crude exporters, from 11th currently.

Thousands of Shi'ites have flooded the streets for the start of a long walk to the southern city of Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, for the religious rite of Arbain.

Report due in imam's death; protest planned

the Michigan Emergency Coalition against War and Injustice ?

"We want to let people know we won't tolerate this type of vicious assault on citizens," Ron Scott, with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said Sunday. "An assault on Muslims is an assault on everyone."

An assault on Muslims is an assault on everyone ?
How about the thought of Islam Anywhere within the United States is an Assault on Everyone .

DEARBORN
Freep.com
A protest is planned for this morning outside the Dearborn Police Department during a news conference to release the autopsy report of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the Muslim leader who died in a shootout with FBI agents.

"We want to let people know we won't tolerate this type of vicious assault on citizens," Ron Scott, with the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said Sunday. "An assault on Muslims is an assault on everyone."

Scott's coalition is holding the rally along with the Michigan Emergency Coalition against War and Injustice, a Detroit-based group.

The FBI has said that Abdullah was an Islamic extremist who was dealing in stolen goods. Federal officials said that Abdullah opened fire during an Oct. 28 raid in a Dearborn warehouse by FBI agents seeking to arrest him and 10 others on suspicion of buying and selling stolen items provided by an undercover informant.

Andrew Arena, special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI office, said last week that although the case ended tragically, his agents acted appropriately in the two-year investigation of Abdullah and during the raids.

The FBI has portrayed Abdullah as a Sunni Islamic extremist who spoke against law enforcement and followed Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the Muslim leader formerly known as H. Rap Brown, in prison for killing a police officer.

The rally is set for about 10:15 a.m. across the street from the Police Department, 16099 Michigan Ave.

Female suicide bomber kills 13 pilgrims in Iraq

Yes even the ladies want to get into the Action .
Or she was forced to restore the Honor to her Family .


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A female suicide bomber blew herself up, killing 13 Shi'ite pilgrims in northeastern Baghdad on Monday and wounding 38 others, the office of Baghdad security spokesman said.

The attack took place as thousands of Shi'ite Muslims flooded the streets at the start of an arduous trek to the southern city of Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, for the religious rite of Arbain.