Will the Only Government Leader Who HASN'T Been Offended by Obama Raise His Hand??

Obama: Differences Remain Between U.S., Israel Over Peace Process

DEVELOPING ...

President Obama said Friday that differences remain between the United States and Israel over the Middle East peace process, after he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House.

ORIGINAL STORY ...

The frosty relationship between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endured another test Friday, as the two met in the Oval Office following a bombshell policy shift by the U.S. on terms for Mideast peace.

Obama, in a sweeping address tackling the uprisings in the Middle East and the stalled peace process, stunned Washington and Jerusalem Thursday by endorsing Palestinians' demand for their own state based on the pre-1967 borders. The break with U.S. policy appeared to immediately aggravate the Israelis, who want the borders of any future Palestinian state determined through negotiations.

In a statement released late Thursday, Netanyahu said such a withdrawal would put at risk Israel's security. He effectively called on Obama to recant his latest demand.

"Israel appreciates President Obama's commitment to peace," the statement said. "Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state. That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004. ... Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines."

According to a report in the Israeli newspaper YNet, the prime minister was prepared for a confrontation with Obama Friday. Obama and Netanyahu have worked through a string of diplomatic challenges over the past two and a half years, but the president's Mideast speech presents a new hurdle. The U.S. had previously endorsed the concept of a Palestinian state, but not the demand for permanent pre-1967 borders, with mutually agreed land swaps.

The immediate concern among pro-Israel lawmakers and advocates was that Obama's speech will give Palestinians a new starting point in negotiations, rather than something to work toward over the course of talks.

Josh Block, former spokesman for The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, told FoxNews.com that Obama "repeats the error" made when his White House pressed the Israelis on settlement construction, granting the Palestinians more leverage in talks.

The talks have since stalled and Obama's Middle East envoy has resigned. Block said Obama's new position will not help matters.

"This strategic error is manifold, and undermines, not advances, the prospects for peace talks," he said in an email.

Obama is set to address the AIPAC conference on Sunday. Other Jewish advocacy groups, though, said Obama's position merely puts the U.S. on record in support of a plan that had a good chance of being the basis for a compromise anyway.

The Arab World Poll

Look! Another poll for my visitors to ignore,....

What's Next for Egypt?

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Steps Down

Published February 11, 2011

| FoxNews.com

CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and handed control of the country to the military, Vice President Omar Suleiman said Friday in an address on state television.

The announcement touched off a wave of jubilation throughout Cairo's Tehrir Square, where tens of thousands of anti-government protesters had gathered demanding Mubarak's ouster hours after he failed to announce his resignation in an address on Thursday.

"In these difficult circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave the position of the presidency," Suleiman said. He has commissioned the armed forces council to direct the issues of the state."

Hours later, President Obama said "Egypt will never be the same."

Yes, what shape WILL Egypt take in the future? In the days of Bush's "With us or against us," approach to foreign affairs, the very fear of an angry and well-armed America would say Egypt's new face will be an open hand and a peaceful eye looking Westward.

But we live in the days post-Obama World Apologia Tour. The Muslim Brotherhood has already destroyed any vestiges of a secular Muslim-majority Turkey under his watch and are clearly working the scenes in Cairo as well.

Just as the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania and the USS Cole pre-saged the 9/11 massacre, the repeated attacks on Syriac Catholics in Iraq and the absence of Coptic Christians in the Egyptian uprising should pre-sage a potentially seismic shift in the Islamic and Arabic world if we're not careful!

I don't hold out much hope,....

News Day Slowed by Tryptophan OD As Well?

THIS is a major news story??

Princeton students vote on alternate hummus brands

PRINCETON, N.J. – Princeton University students voted Monday in a referendum by a pro-Palestine student group on whether to expand the school's hummus offerings.

The student group Princeton Committee for Palestine wants university-run stores to offer alternative brands of the Middle Eastern chickpea dip because they say the only brand available is linked to human rights violations.

The brand, Sabra, is owned by PepsiCo and Strauss Group, and Strauss' website says it supports members of the Israeli military.

The group has been pushing for the university to boycott and get rid of its investments in companies that make donations to parts of the Israeli military that it says violate human rights.

Ilya Welfeld, a spokeswoman for Sabra, which has headquarters in Queens, N.Y., and Richmond, Va., said Sabra only makes donations in North America — and none of them are political.

But the Strauss Group, an Israeli food conglomerate, says on its website that it makes contributions for the "welfare, cultural and educational activities" of members of the Israeli military.

Students seeking the referendum made it happen by collecting 200 signatures. If the effort is successful, it would mean the student government would make a formal request to the Ivy League school's administration to provide additional brands of hummus.

The pro-Israel student group Tigers of Israel opposes the referendum. The group says the allegations raised by the other side are sketchy.

The results of the vote are scheduled to be released Friday.

The referendum was originally scheduled for last week but was canceled then because of a goof: The wording called for Sabra hummus not to be offered at university stores rather than for additional products to be sold, too.

WTF?  I got nothing!  I can't comment on a story this stupid!

Helen Thomas Succumbs to Absorbine Jr Overdose,....

"I'll get you my pretty! And your little dog, too! Eh-heh-heh-heh"

Helen Thomas Retires Amid Fracas
White House correspondent done-in by comments on Israeli Jews

White House correspondent Helen Thomas retired today amid a brouhaha surrounding her comments that Israeli Jews should "go home," reports USA Today. The 89-year-old Hearst columnist had covered every administration since JFK's, but succumbed to intense scrutiny that included a White House admonition, being dropped by her speaking agency, and being asked not to give a high school commencement address. Thomas, the author of several books, missed this morning's White House press conference.

Funny, but Stupid,...

Saudi Family Sues Genie for Harassment
CNN
posted: 3 HOURS 18 MINUTES AGO

(July 15) -- A family in Saudi Arabia has taken a genie to court, alleging theft and harassment, according to local media.
The lawsuit filed in Shariah court accuses the genie of leaving them threatening voicemails, stealing their cell phones and hurling rocks at them when they leave their house at night, said Al-Watan newspaper.

An investigation was under way, local court officials said.
"We have to verify the truthfulness of this case despite the difficulty of doing so," Sheikh Amr Al Salmi, the head of the court, told Al-Watan. "What makes this case and complaint more interesting is that it wasn't filed by just one person. Every member of the family is part of this case."
The family, which has lived in the same house near the holy city of Medina for 15 years, said it became aware of the spirit in the past two years.

"We began hearing strange noises," the head of the family, who requested anonymity, told Al-Watan. "In the beginning, we didn't take it seriously, but after that, stranger things started happening and the children got really scared when the genie began throwing stones."
A local charity has moved the family to a temporary residence while a court investigates, the newspaper said.
In Islamic cultures, a belief in genies, or jinns, is common.
Genies not only appear in pre-Islamic fiction such as "Arabian Nights," but are also mentioned in the Quran.
Many Saudis believe invisible genies live among them and are capable of demonic possession and revenge.

The MSM Missed Another One,....

No anti-Semitism or anti-Israel on the left, huh?

Jews Denounce Desecration Of Joseph's Tomb

By David Bedein, Middle East Correspondent
Friday, April 24, 2009

Jerusalem — On Thursday, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, decried Arab desecrations of Joseph’s Tomb in the town of Nablus.

Reports Thursday morning of a group of Israelis who went to worship at the tomb of this Jewish patriarch state that the tomb was covered in bootprints and swastikas.

In response, Nathan J. Diament, director of public policy of the Orthodox Union, issued the following statement:

“The Orthodox Union decries the desecrations of the holy site of Joseph’s Tomb and we call upon all people of goodwill to join us in condemning such acts of desecration of holy sites.”

Mr. Diament also warned this could serve as a precedent for what could happen if Israel relinquishes sovereignty over other Jewish holy sites, most notably in Jerusalem.

During the 1948-1967 Arab rule over the Old City of Jerusalem, 57 synagogues in the Old City were torched, and Jews were not even allowed to visit the Old City.

Trouble On the Horizon,....and Quivers for McCain's Arsenal

Let's see the MSM turn a blind eye to this WMD report:

Mysterious Cargo Aboard Iranian Ship Seized by Pirates Raises WMD Concerns
Tuesday, September 30, 2008

By Joseph Abrams

As Somali pirates brazenly maintain their standoff with American warships off the coast of Africa, the cargo aboard one Iranian ship they commandeered is raising concerns that it may contain materials that can be used for chemical or biological weapons.

Some local officials suspect that instead of finding riches, the pirates encountered deadly chemical agents aboard the Iranian vessel.

On Aug. 21, the pirates, armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, stole onto the decks of the merchant vessel Iran Deyanat.

They ransacked the ship and searched the containers. But in the days following the hijacking, a number of them fell ill and died, suffering skin burns and hair loss, according to reports.

The pirates were sickened because of their contact with the seized cargo, according to Hassan Osman, the Somali minister of Minerals and Oil, who met with the pirates to facilitate negotiations.

"That ship is unusual," Osman told the Long War Journal, an online news source that covers the War on Terror. "It is not carrying a normal shipment."

The pirates reportedly were in talks to sell the ship back to Iran, but the deal fell through when the pirates were poisoned by the cargo, according to Andrew Mwangura, director of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program.
"Yes, some of them have died," he told the Long War Journal. "Our sources say [the ship] contains chemicals, dangerous chemicals."

Iran has called the allegations a "sheer lie," and said that the ship "had no dangerous consignment on board," according to Iranian news source Press TV. Iran says the merchant vessel was shipping iron ore from a port in China to Amsterdam.

The ship's contents are still unclear, but the reported deaths and skin abrasions have raised concerns that it could be more than meets the eye.

The massive shipping company that controls the vessel, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL), was recently designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury over nuclear proliferation concerns. IRISL, which is accused of falsifying documents to facilitate the shipment of weapons and chemicals for use in Iran's missile program, is blocked from moving money through U.S. banks as well as from carrying food and medical supplies as part of U.S. trade sanctions against Iran.

"IRISL's actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile programs," said Stuart Levey, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

The U.S. government has made no accusation against IRISL regarding the Iran Denayat; the State Department would not comment on reports of its suspicious cargo.

"I don't have any information on that case," said State Department spokesman Curtis Cooper. "We're aware that there are currently 12 other hijacked ships off the Somali coast. This is obviously something that is disturbing."

Experts on Somalia are dubious of claims made by the country's provisional government, whose president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, reportedly has family ties to the pirates.

"I'm not saying it's impossible that this has happened, but I'd take anything they say with a great deal of salt," said J. Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University. "They have made fanciful claims before in the hopes of attracting U.S. and other international attention."

Pham said that the 14 provisional governments that have ruled Somalia since 1991 have all relied on foreign aid for support and profit and could be trying to attract attention by inflating the current crisis.

"Would it be beyond them to raise the specter of WMDs in order to attract resources and international assistance? The only source of revenue for this government is foreign aid," he told FOXNews.com.

Chemical experts say the reports sound inconsistent with chemical poisoning, but may reflect the effects of exposure to radiation.

"It's baffling," said Jonathan Tucker, a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. "I'm not aware of any chemical agent that produces loss of hair within a few days. That's more suggestive of high levels of radioactive waste."

Tucker, a chemical and biological weapons expert, said that Chinese companies have been implicated in selling Iran so-called dual-use chemicals, legal ingredients that can be processed into chemical weapons.

The U.S. government says that Iran maintains facilities to process those chemicals as part of a chemical and biological weapons program. "Iran continues to seek dual-use technologies that could be used for biological warfare," said Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell in testimony before Congress in February.

But while Iran has purchased and shipped such chemicals in the past, it remains unclear whether the Iran Deyanat contains any illegal chemicals or harmful agents.

"A number of Chinese companies have been implicated in this illicit trade, but I've never heard of extremely toxic chemicals being shipped," Tucker told FOXNews.com. "It's very rare it's very unlikely that a country would ship manufactured weapons from one country to another."

Click here to read more on this story from the Long War Journal.

Bomb Iran,..Bomb-Bomb-Iran,...

Ahmadinejad: Israel's Destruction Getting Close
Sunday, June 03, 2007

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah showed for the first time that the "hegemony of the occupier regime [Israel] had collapsed, and the Lebanese nation pushed the button to begin counting the days until the destruction of the Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying.

"God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying during a speech to foreign guests who attended ceremonies marking the 18th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who is known as the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has lost public support after Israel failed to achieve its goals during last summer's 34-day war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon — freeing two captured soldiers and crushing the militant group.

he war was sparked after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah militants in a cross-border raid. The fighting ended with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that called for deployment of U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.

Ahmadinejad has made anti-Israel comments in the past.

In October 2005, he caused outrage in the West when he said in a speech that Israel's "Zionist regime should be wiped off the map."

His supporters have argued Ahmadinejad's words were mistranslated and should have been better translated as "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would vanish on its own rather be destroyed.


The TrekMedic seethes:

Y'know,...we talk,..and talk,..and talk,...! We threaten to bore these third-world dictators with repeated visits by Hans Blix. We sanction them by the Useless Nations. We twiddle our thumbs until - BLAM! - Israel is nothing more than a glowing cinder along the Mediterranean coast. Then we react with justifiable might and get s**t on by the world community! Just stop it now. This loser needs to go - NOW!! How he goes is no care of mine,...just get rid of him with extreme prejudice!