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US Envoy To Israel: US Ready To Strike Iran
From Associated Press via FoxNews.com | On May 17, 2012
JERUSALEM – The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington’s envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran.
Dan Shapiro’s message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington’s resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program.
Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.
“But that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it’s ready,” he said. “The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready.”
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, like energy production. The U.S. and Israel suspect Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, but differences have emerged in how to persuade Tehran to curb its program.
Washington says diplomacy and economic sanctions must be given a chance to run its course, and is taking the lead in the ongoing talks between six global powers and Iran.
Israel, while saying it would prefer a diplomatic solution, has expressed skepticism about these talks and says time is running out for military action to be effective.
President Barack Obama has assured Israel that the U.S. is prepared to take military action if necessary, and it is standard procedure for armies to draw up plans for a broad range of possible scenarios. But Shapiro’s comments were the most explicit sign yet that preparations have been stepped up.
In his speech, Shapiro acknowledged the clock is ticking.
“We do believe there is time. Some time, not an unlimited amount of time,” Shapiro said. “But at a certain point, we may have to make a judgment that the diplomacy will not work.”
The U.S. envoy spoke on Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained a recording of his remarks on Thursday.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are gearing up to for a May 23 meeting with Iran in Baghdad. Shortly after the meeting, the U.N. atomic agency is to release its latest report card on Iran’s nuclear efforts.
In Tehran on Thursday, top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili warned against Western pressure at next week’s talks, which are a follow-up to negotiations in Istanbul last month that all sides praised as positive.
“Cooperation is what we can talk about in Baghdad,” Jalili said in comments broadcast on Iranian state TV.
“Some say time is running out for the talks,” he added. “I say time for the (West’s) pressure strategy is running out.”
Four rounds of U.N. sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment, a process that has civilian uses but is also key to bomb-making. But recent U.S. and European measures, including an oil embargo and financial and banking sanctions, have bludgeoned Iran’s economy by curtailing its ability to carry on economic transactions with the international community.
Israel says a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran would threaten the Jewish state’s survival and has waged a fierce diplomatic campaign against the Iranian nuclear program for years. Israel cites Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction, Iran’s arsenal of missiles, and its support for anti-Israel militant groups.
Senior officials have expressed skepticism about the sanctions’ effectiveness, and believe Tehran is using the talks to stall the international community as Iran moves ever closer to a nuclear bomb.
The United States has urged Israel to refrain from attacking, at least at this point. Tough new economic sanctions are to go into effect over the summer, and American officials fear an Israeli strike could set off a regional war without significantly setting back the Iranian program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues the negotiations will fail unless Iran agrees to halt all uranium enrichment, ship its current stockpile of enriched uranium out of the country and dismantle an underground enrichment facility near the city of Qom.
Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, who until a few days ago commanded Israel’s air force, said in a Jerusalem Post interview Thursday that the air force is prepared for any scenario, including striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israel’s military chief told the Associated Press last month that other countries as well as Israel have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear sites.
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This article was originally posted at http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/17/us-envoy-to-israel-us-ready-to-strike-iran/
Sixteen Spanish Banks Have Credit Ratings Cut…
From BBC News | On May 17th, 2012
Bankia shares have fallen 50% in May
Ratings agency Moody’s has cut the credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks, a further blow to a country that is struggling to deal with the bad debts of its banking sector.
It also cut the debt rating on Santander UK, a subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant.
It comes after shares in struggling lender Bankia fell another 14%. They have almost halved in value this month.
Fears about losses at Spanish banks has hit shares across Europe.
The banks include Banco Santander and BBVA, the biggest banks in Spain. Ten of the 17 banks were also put on negative credit watch, meaning that further downgrades are possible.
“The change to Moody’s credit rating of Santander UK plc has no impact on our businesses in the UK or our plans for future growth,” Andy Smith, a spokesman at Santander said about the downgrade.
“Santander UK plc is an autonomous subsidiary of the Santander Group, with more than 90% of its total assets held in the UK and a eurozone sovereign exposure of less than 1% of assets.”
In cutting the ratings, Moody’s cited the “adverse operating conditions, characterised by the renewed recession, the ongoing real-estate crisis and persistent high levels of unemployment”.
It also said that the Spanish government, due to its borrowing difficulties, has had its ability to provide support to the banks “reduced”.
The Spanish government also had to pay higher rates of interest to borrow money on the markets, which leads some to believe it will need a bailout.
Moody’s also cut the ratings of four of Spain’s regions – Catalonia, Murcia, Andalucia and Extremadura – of whom it said there is only a “low probability that the regional governments will be able to meet the 2012 deficit target”.
‘Basically normal’
Bankia was forced to deny a report customers had taken 1bn euros ($1.3bn; £800m) out of the bank, which is set to be part-nationalised, in the past week.
Spain’s economy minister denied reports of a surge in withdrawals from Bankia in recent days.
“It’s not true that there is an exit of deposits at this moment from Bankia,” said Fernando Jimenez Latorre.
Later, the bank’s chief executive said volumes had been “basically normal”.
Bankia, which holds 32bn euros (£25.7bn) in distressed property assets, was partly nationalised this month. On Wednesday, it said it was delaying the release of its first-quarter results.
It has the industry’s largest exposure to the property market, which burst spectacularly and has saddled its banks with bad debt.
“Markets are worried about eurozone bank deposit runs and an escalating banking crisis,” said VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon.
Alberto Gallo, head of credit research at Royal Bank of Scotland, told the BBC: “The problem is Spanish banks are too large for the government to bear all of their weight.
“You [the Spanish government] need to make a choice and just protect stronger banks, otherwise Spain will go the way of Ireland – having to do a lot of austerity and potentially incurring losses for bank bondholders.”
Earlier, the Spanish government raised 2.5bn euros through issuing a number of different types of bonds.
On bonds due to be paid back in January 2015, it had to pay an interest rate of 4.373%, up from 2.89% in April. Governments have to pay higher returns to investors, or yields, as lenders become more concerned about a country’s ability to pay the money back.
On Wednesday, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that borrowing costs could become “astronomical” as fears about the weakness of its banks persist.
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This article was originally posted at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18100049
Greek Bank Withdrawls Fuel Fears Of Bank Run
By Brian Blackstone & David Enrich | From WSJ.com | On Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
Greek depositors withdrew €700 million ($898 million) from the country’s banks on Monday, fueling fears of a bank run amid the growing political disarray.
With deposits falling, Greek banks become even more dependent on the European Central Bank to meet their funding needs, exposing the central bank to potentially huge losses if Greece leaves the euro area.
Greek President Karolos Papoulias told the country’s political leaders that bank withdrawals plus buy orders received by Greek banks for German bunds totaled some €800 million on Monday, a transcript of his comments said. A central bank official confirmed the figures.
The original article was posted at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303505504577406310678151998.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories#articleTabs%3Darticle
Fitch Cuts Greece To ‘CCC’ On Possible EMU Exit
By Sue Chang | From MarketWatch.com | On Thursday, May 17th, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Fitch Ratings on Thursday downgraded Greece’s sovereign rating to CCC from B- due to heightened risk that Greece may have to exit the Economic and Monetary Union. The strong showing of political parties opposing austerity in the recent election and the failure of the parties to form a government underscores the lack of national support for the E.U.-IMF bailout program, Fitch said. “In the event that the new general elections scheduled for June 17 fail to produce a government with a mandate to continue with the E.U.-IMF program of fiscal austerity and structural reform, an exit of Greece from EMU would be probable,” said Fitch in a statement. A Greek exit from the EMU is likely to result in defaults in the private sector as well as sovereign euro-denominated obligations, the ratings agency said. Triple-C grade is categorized as “poor quality” with possibility of default.
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The original article was posted at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitch-cuts-greece-to-ccc-on-possible-emu-exit-2012-05-17
EDITOR’S NOTE: According to Wikipedia, A CCC bond rating means: An obligor is CURRENTLY VULNERABLE, and is dependent upon favourable business, financial, and economic conditions to meet its financial commitments. According to Fitch, anything below a B/B- has reached junk bond status.
RUMOR: Chinese Troops Reportedly Amassing Near US-Mexico Border
By Brandon Turbeville | From ActivistPost.com | On Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
Chinese Troops
If recent accounts coming from some in the alternative media are to be believed, then Operation Fast & Furious may soon give way to an even bigger story surrounding the U.S./Mexico border. Indeed, even the notorious Mexican drug cartels might find themselves taking a back seat.
This is because claims are now being made suggesting the major presence of Chinese troops stationed inside Mexico, both along the U.S. border and the port areas.
The first question, of course, is whether or not this information is accurate. If it is, the second question immediately becomes, “why?”
Unfortunately, however, all the information we have currently comes from anonymous sources who have yet to be verified in terms of their reliability.
The reports currently garnering the most attention are those coming from Steve Quayle of the Q-Files Radio Show who recently interviewed a cross-border trucker who claims to have actually seen a major Chinese military base inside Mexico.
The trucker claims he was delivering a trailer load of food to a military camp 60 miles south of Laredo, Texas. As he was entering Mexico, he says he was escorted into the country by the Mexican Federal Police to protect the truck from hijackings and robbery.
The camp itself, according to the trucker, was about 2 miles wide and 3 miles long and was staffed by Chinese soldiers complete with armored vehicles and living quarters constructed from refurbished shipping containers. As his truck was being unloaded by the soldiers, he claims he was able to count the armored vehicles parked neatly in rows. According to the trucker, there were 10,000 armored vehicles located in this facility. He also claims that there were water tanks, generators, and communications complexes.
After this report and based upon the information given by the trucker as well as the geographical knowledge available to him through other individuals, Quayle claims he enlisted his own source which he refers to as “Cross Border Eyes,” to go to the area which was the most likely location for the Chinese base. This area was determined to be in the triangle between Sabinas Hidalgo, Lampazos de Naranjos, and Arroyo Blanco.
Upon entering the area, “Cross Border Eyes” claims he immediately noticed large numbers of Mexican Federal Police in many different types of vehicles, including some that were painted “that odd green characteristic of Red Chinese vehicles.” “Cross Border Eyes” then claims that he tried numerous other entrances to the triangular region by other roads, tracks, etc. but, at each location, there were massive levels of Federal Police on patrol. He is quoted as saying, “it was like you stuck a firecracker into a red ant hole and blew it, and you know how all the red ants come up out of the hole . . .”
Quayle also reported on the same day that High Frequency communications were being broadcast on U.S. military frequencies carrying with them “heavily oriental accented operators speaking broken English in direct communications with Conus [Continental United States] Military Comm Stations . . . . . . . . the accent was not Japanese either, but Chinese.”
Alongside these reports, there are still the unsubstantiated claims (or just rumors at this point) of Chinese soldiers involved in a shooting incident with American Border Patrol agents and the Mexican army. The incident occurred on October 24, 2000 with the Mexican army making an incursion onto the American side of the border. When the Border Patrol identified themselves and told the soldiers to return to their side of the border, the soldiers opened fire on the agents.
Janice Manning, of YOWUSA, writes:
The incident, which occurred on October 24 near the Otay Mesa border-crossing southeast of San Diego, has received little attention in the mainstream media but local law enforcement circles are a buzz at reports that Mexican soldiers were not the only ones in the area.
Several eyewitness accounts stated soldiers of Asian and Caucasian origin were also firing from Mexico on the Border Patrol agents in the unprovoked attack.
A Border Patrol agent, speaking to the Strategic Jungle Syndicate on the condition of anonymity, stated the attack was more than Mexican soldiers firing upon what they thought might be drug dealers. ‘Everything happened so fast but I know not all of them were Mexican nationals,’ the agent said. ‘More than two of us saw what appeared to be an Asian soldier. I didn’t get a real clean look at his eyes but he certainly looked Asian to me. The bottom line here is this was planned and not some random event. The government might not want to admit that but it’s the damn truth.’
The agent also stated several Mexican nationals, attempting to cross the border illegally, also told of ‘chinos,’ a slang term in Spanish for Chinese, soldiers dressed in fatigues. ‘There were a few people in the brush trying to get into the United States and after the shooting ended, they were apprehended and being processed to return to Mexico,’ the Border Patrol agent said.
‘Two or three of them were close enough and said they heard men speaking what they described as Chinese. They were scared and said they had seen the men before, including some white men driving military type vehicles.’
Local law enforcement officials have also confirmed the movement of unidentified military vehicles. A deputy with the San Diego County Sheriff’s office confirmed officers have encountered unknown vehicles in and near the border area. ‘We’re all law enforcement officers and we talk a lot about what we see,’ the deputy with nine years in the department said. ‘There’s been strange things going on. Even homeowners have been calling about automatic weapons fire in the canyons near Otay Mesa. I know my friends with the San Diego Police Department also hear about it. There’s something going on and most of us feel like we’re not being told everything.’
Of course, these types of reports have never been corroborated by official sources nor by any hard evidence gained from on the ground reporting. For that reason, it would advisable not to put too much stock in them as of yet.
However, considering the fact that the world seems to be quickly marching toward a third world war in which the United States and China will undoubtedly play a major role, it might also be wise not to completely ignore such information.
After all, China does have a strategic interest in Mexico. Its shipping ports have long been used as an end-run around “free trade” restrictions between the U.S. and China, taking advantage of the signing of the disastrous NAFTA agreement which opened the floodgates of goods and jobs between the two nations and Canada. Both China and the U.S. are taking advantage of this initial agreement as a way to flood the U.S. market with Chinese goods, as China would offload its products at the Mexican ports and where they head straight for the United States market via the Mexican trucks.
It may very well be that there are Chinese troops in Mexico in an effort to protect their investments and ensure that their products make it to market. It is also possible that China is using this reasoning merely as cover for a more militaristic strategic purpose than simply guarding trinkets from drug traffickers. We must keep in mind that plans have been discussed to use foreign troops in the event of mass dislocation and Martial Law inside the United States. Of course, these reports of Chinese troops in Mexico may be false. The war machine loves to induce fear whether real or imagined and they have remained silent.
Many of the claims that are circulating regarding sightings of Chinese helicopters and stationing of Chinese troops at American bases, however, are more likely the result of overactive imaginations. For instance, there are detachments of Asian troops inside the United States – in Texas, Idaho, and Arizona – where many of these sightings have occurred. However, these troops proved to be Singaporean not Chinese, as Singapore has two helicopter and fighter jet detachments inside the United States as part of a program between the two governments for training the RSAF (Royal Singaporean Air Force) because the Singaporean airspace is too restrictive to provide adequate training.
Whatever one thinks of this program, it is certainly not a secretive one. Indeed, Singapore has worked very close with the United States and Israel for years. But it is still foreign troops o U.S. soil.
Regardless of what ones initial reactions may be, the claims being made regarding real Chinese troops in Mexico, particularly in such large numbers, obviously bear watching. At this stage of the game, we cannot afford to become complacent or to write anything off in a knee-jerk reaction.
If anyone has any legitimate information or tips regarding Chinese soldiers inside Mexico (or the United States), please send them to activistpost@gmail.com.
Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, and Five Sense Solutions. Turbeville has published over one hundred articles dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville is available for podcast, radio, and TV interviews.
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This article was originally posted at http://www.activistpost.com/2012/04/chinese-troops-reportedly-amassing-near.html
Dow Declines 8th Day In 9
By Kate Gibson | From MarketWatch.com | On May 14, 2012
U.S. stocks drop to 3-month lows on Europe fears.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed at more than three-month lows Monday, and the Dow industrials slid for the eighth session in nine, as investors worried about Greece’s potential exit from the euro zone.
“The market appears to be discounting a Greek exit from the euro,” said Linda Duessel, senior equity strategist at Federated Investors Inc.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 125.25 points, or 1%, at 12,695.35, its lowest close since Jan. 31, after Greek politicians over the weekend failed to reach an agreement on a unity government, raising the likelihood of new elections and the risk of halted international aid payments.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. led decliners on the Dow, with a drop of 3.2%, followed by a 2.6% drop in Bank of America Corp. shares.
Europe facing a ‘Lehman’ moment?One of Poland’s top bankers said the euro-zone crisis was could head in a direction that may be as bad as the start of the 2008 financial crisis.
Ina Drew became the first high-ranking casualty of the scandal that has put a dent in J.P. Morgan’s reputation, with the bank saying that the chief investment officer is resigning after more than 30 years with the bank. Read more about Drew’s exit from J.P. Morgan after trading losses.
J.P. Morgan’s $2 billion trading loss sharpens the battle over financial regulation, with presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney favoring the repeal of the Dodd-Frank law, which is supported by President Barack Obama. It also prompted Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat running for U.S. Senate, to call on J.P. Morgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon to resign from the board of the New York Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 Index slid 19.64 points, or 1.5%, to 1,338.35, its lowest close since Feb. 2. Financials led the slide among its 10 sectors, all of which ended lower.
With the S&P 500 starting off the day about 5% from recent highs, not much “damage” has been done, according to Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC. Declines of 7% are perfectly normal, and would not be all that worrisome, he said.
In executive shake-ups, electronics retailer Best Buy Co. said founder Richard Schulze would step down as chairman following a board probe that concluded he failed to report allegations of personal misconduct by former chief Brian Dunn to its audit committee. Shares rose 1.5%.
Stocks down at closing bell
The latest news from Steve Orr, including the closing numbers and J.P. Morgan Chase’s executive departure in the wake of a massive trading loss.
Scott Thompson on Sunday stepped down as Yahoo Inc.’s chief executive, with the resignation coming 10 days after hedge-fund activist Daniel Loeb accused him of faking a computer-science degree. Ross Levinsohn has been named interim chief. Shares rose 2%.
Shares of Groupon Inc. rallied more than 18% ahead of first-quarter results after the close from the daily-deal company.
The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 31.24 points, or 1.1%, to 2,902.58, its lowest close since Feb. 6.
For every stock rising five fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where 803 million shares traded. NYSE composite volume topped 3.6 billion.
Gold futures closed at a 2012 low, with the contract for June delivery losing $23, or 1.5%, to end at $1,561 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices also ended their floor session at their lowest level so far this year, with the crude contract for June delivery down $1.35 to finish at $94.78 a barrel.
In Greece, a political stalemate entered a second week with no agreement on a unity government. Greek, Spanish and Italian bond yields spiked, and European stocks dropped. German government yields, like U.S. Treasurys, fell as investors sought the two countries’ debt as relative safe havens.
“No region has done more to insulate itself from a Greek exit than Germany, where banks’ consolidated risk exposure to Greece fell from $34 billion at the end of 2010 to $13 billion at the end of 2011,” said Duessel of Federated Investors. “U.S. banks had less than $4.5 billion of exposure to Greek debt at the end of 2011.”As for the debt crisis engulfing Spain, also in the lower Mediterranean, “the cost of ensuring against a Spanish default is now more expensive than for Hungary,” Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, noted in an email.
Boockvar also noted that shares of London-traded shares of De La Rue hit a 52-week high on Monday, with the analyst calling it another indication of what the market thinks of the chances of Greece remaining in the euro. De La Rue makes physical currency, and if Greece exits the euro, “a lot of drachma will have to be created and De La Rue would be the likely maker of it.”
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
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This article was originally posted at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-begin-down-on-europe-woes-2012-05-14?dist=afterbell
Flags Of Our Forefathers: The Continental Flag
The Continental Flag
The Continental Flag is derived from a version of the British Red Ensign or Meteor Flag, but with a depiction of a green New England Pine tree over a white background substituted for the Union Flag in the canton.
On the nights of June 16th and 17th, 1775, the Americans fortified Breed and Bunker Hills which overlooked Boston Harbor. Although they had not yet officially declared their independence, a fight for control of the hills became necessary. When the British advanced up the slope the next day, according to legend they saw a red flag, but we have no concrete knowledge of which American Flag was actually flown in this battle. John Trumbull, whose paintings of Revolutionary War scenes are quite famous, talked to eye-witnesses and his subsequent painting depicting the battle featured the Continental flag as shown here.
Many historians think the flag flown by the Americans during the Battle of Bunker Hill was the more common First New England Naval Ensign which featured red, white and blue horizontal stripes in place of the solid red field.
The Continental Flag was the third flag of New England, and is presently the civic flag of Lincoln County, Maine.
Bank J.P. Morgan Downgraded Yet Again
By Carla Mozee | From MarketWatch.com | On May 11th,2012
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. fell Friday evening, with losses accelerating after a ratings downgrade, adding to sharp dayside losses in the wake of the bank’s revelation of a $2 billion trading loss.
Late-traded J.P. Morgan shares fell 0.8% to $36.68 in heavy volume. The losses slightly deepened after Fitch Ratings downgraded its long-term issuer default rating on J.P. Morgan to A+ from AA-, and its short-term IDR to F1 from F1+.
All parent and subsidiary long-term ratings may faces further downgrades, said Fitch.
J.P. Morgan’s shares finished the day session down 9.3%, their steepest decline since August after the company said it was facing a $2 billion trading loss related to a failed hedging strategy.
Fitch said it views the size of the loss as manageable. “That said, the magnitude of the loss and ongoing nature of these positions implies a lack of liquidity. It also raises questions regarding JPM’s risk appetite, risk management framework, practices and oversight,” all of which are key credit factors, said Fitch.
The “potential reputational risk and risk governance issues raised at JPM are no longer consistent with an AA- rating,” Fitch said in a statement.
Dimon: Still a Wall Street hero?
On Mean Street, can J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon ever regain his hero-like status? Also, what is the single most important rule J.P. Morgan broke? Plus, it’s time to save the Rose Bowl.
The unexpected announcement from J.P. Morgan came just weeks after its chief executive dismissed concerns about the unit responsible for the trading loss. Read more about J.P. Morgan’s unexpected trading loss.
Other financial stocks late Friday swung between gains and losses following their dayside declines. Morgan Stanley shares rose 0.2% to $14.98 in evening trade,. Goldman Sachs rose 0.4% to $102.58 while Bank of America shed 0.4% to $7.52. Read about Friday’s losses among financial stocks.
J.P. Morgan shares weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial, which finished Friday’s session down 34 points, or 0.3%, to 12,820.60. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.3% to 1,353.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged higher by less than 1 point at 2,933.82.
Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles.
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This article was originally posted at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-falls-after-hours-bank-downgraded-2012-05-11?link=MW_home_latest_news
Occupier Thanks Former Soviet Citizen for “Converting” Him…
By Joe Schoffstall | From MRCTV.org
This is just downright amazing and frankly I’m surprised this video slipped under the radar.
Here, a man who was born and lived for decades in the Soviet Union successfully converts an Occupier to Capitalism, to understand Israel’s side of the Middle East conflict, and to pro-American ideals all within a 15 minute time frame. He even thanks the man afterwards.
Give props where they’re due, at least the Occupier was willing to hear the man out without screaming in his face, unlike almost every single one of them.
The video was shot during the May Day protests in New York City on May 1, 2012, but is definitely worth posting now for people to view.
Now, this isn’t the first time this man has taken on Occupiers. He did so before back in October 2011, which is equally as great as he schools the socialists he confronts at Zuccotti Park in NYC.
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The original article was posted at http://www.mrctv.org/videos/occupier-thanks-former-soviet-citizen-converting-him-capitalism-pro-israel-pro-usa
Judge Suggests Stripping 10 Commandments Down to 6…
By Billy Hallowell | From TheBlaze.com | On May 8th, 2012
The Ten Commandments is at the center of yet another heated debate. This time, the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is taking a local school district to task over the display of the Commandments inside of Narrows High School in Narrows, Virginia.
ACLU Sues Over 10 Commandments Display at Narrows High School in Virginia
Similar to the case over a prayer mural in Cranston, Rhode Island, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of a student (who, along with his or her family will remain anonymous, as per a judge’s order) who wants to see the display removed. The basis of the complaint is familiar: The presence, those opposed to it contend, illustrates a government endorsement of religion and is, thus, unconstitutional.
The Giles County School District, of which Narrows High School is a part, is being represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian non-profit law group that is claiming that the presence of the display is, in fact, perfectly legal. The debate over the presence of the Ten Commandments began back in 2010 when the Freedom From Religion Foundation first received complaints about it. Inevitably, the ACLU got involved.
After the initial complaints surrounding the Ten Commandments, the list of moral elements to follow was apparently removed and re-posted a number of times. In the end, it was made part of a larger display of historical documents that have shaped American history, the ACLU claims.
“This action flies in the face of both strong legal precedents and our fundamental notions of what religious equality means in the United States,” the ACLU said in a national statement. ”When the government promotes one faith, whether it is through the Ten Commandments or other religious documents, it automatically diminishes all other faiths.”
But Mathew Staver, who serves as dean of Liberty University School of Law and the chairman of the Liberty Counsel, counters this argument by claiming that the Ten Commandments has every right to be displayed. Staver says that it is perfectly protected as a portion of a grander historical setting alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
On Monday, federal Judge Michael Urbanski ordered all parties to discuss the future of the Ten Commandments in mediation. If, indeed, a solution cannot be reached, then the case will return to court. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph has more:
A federal court judge ordered mediation Monday for the parties involved in a lawsuit about whether the Ten Commandments can be displayed at a Giles County high school.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael F. Urbanski with the U.S. District Court in Roanoke ordered the Giles County School Board and the unnamed student and parent into mediation to see if a compromise can be reached over the display of the biblical texts.
The Liberty Counsel, which is representing the Giles County School Board, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, which is representing the unidentified student and parents, will meet with a magistrate judge during the mediation period. If no decision is made during mediation, the case will return to court.
But Urbanski also made a curious recommendation to help alleviate tensions and to find a potential middle ground. Rather than keeping all 10 commandments, he suggested removing the first four and simply leaving the remaining six. Why, you ask? Well, the first few codes are religious in nature, whereas the final six are far more secular.
“If indeed this issue is not about God, why wouldn’t it make sense for Giles County to say, ‘Let’s go back and just post the bottom six?’” Urbanski asked during the proceedings. ”But if it’s really about God, then they wouldn’t be willing to do that.”
We’ll have to wait and see what solution the two parties come to in the coming weeks.
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The original article was posted at http://www.theblaze.com/stories/judge-suggests-stripping-10-commandments-down-to-6-to-remove-religious-elements-in-aclu-led-lawsuit/