Seems to be going well so far (see this story from earlier today: Iran says Obama's offer to talk shows US failure)…..

US President Barack Obama has already used experts within the last few months to hold high-level but discreet talks with both Iran and Syria, organizers of the meetings told AFP.

In an interview broadcast Monday, Obama said the United States would offer arch-foe Iran an extended hand of diplomacy if the Islamic Republic's leaders "unclenched their fist."

Meanwhile, his secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned that the Israeli-Syrian track of the Middle East peace negotiations took a back seat to the Israeli-Palestinian track, especially because of the recent war in Gaza.

However, even before winning the November 4 election, Obama unofficially used what experts call "track two" discussions to approach America's two foes in the region.

Nuclear non-proliferation experts had several "very, very high-level" contacts in the last few months with Iranian leaders, said Jeffrey Boutwell, executive director for the US branch of the Pugwash group, an international organization of scientists which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

Former defense secretary William Perry, who served in Obama's election campaign, participated in some of these meetings focused on "a wide range of issues that separate Iran from the West: not only their nuclear program but the Middle East peace process, Persian Gulf issues," Boutwell told AFP.

The Pugwash official declined to name the other participants, except to say they had considerable clout.

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Arabs fear Netanyahu…and fear in the Arab world is respect….

Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports Cairo trying to convince Palestinian group to relax conditions for agreement with Israel before right-wing government rises to power with more radical stances. Deal meant to include lifting of Gaza siege, opening crossings, securing Gilad Shalit's release.

Egypt is monitoring the public opinion polls in Israel ahead of the February 10 general elections and is trying to convince Hamas to relax its demands for a deal with the Jewish state before the end of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's tenure, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Monday, quoting Israeli sources.

According to the report, Egypt warned Hamas that the next Israeli government, which according to the polls will be headed by Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu – will take more radical stances. Therefore, they said, the Palestinian movement must take advantage of the opportunity as long as the Olmert government is still in power, for fear of "losing everything".

The sources quoted by the paper estimated that Cairo understand the next two weeks will be crucial and will be seen as Hamas' "last opportunity for a good deal".  

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A love for the ganga….

Barack Obama's Kenyan half-brother, George, has been arrested by police in Nairobi on suspicion of possessing marijuana- Telegraph

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H/T: Fresak

Don't they?…..

A resident greets a U.S. marine providing security to international election observers in Sinjar, 390 km (240 miles) northwest of Baghdad, January 31, 2009. Iraqis held their most peaceful election since the fall of Saddam Hussein on Saturday, and voting for provincial councils ended without a single major attack reported anywhere in the country.REUTERS/Erik de Castro (IRAQ)

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As much as the MSM and the left piss and moan about Iraq, it's over, we won, and these people have their freedom…thanks to America…..

An Iraqi man holds up an ink-stained finger after casting his vote in the country's provincial elections in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Now it's up to them on how they use it…..

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Note: They're not imported from other Islamic shitholes but are in fact members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PRC etc. who can't stand to stop killing Jews during these supposed hudnas and want endless holy war in the name of Allah….

Thousands of global Jihad supporters, mostly concentrated in southern Gaza, are currently active in the Strip according to a Ynet inquiry with various Palestinian sources.

According to Ynet's inquiry, the overwhelming majority of Qaeda supporters are in fact Hamas or Popular Resistance Commiittees (PRC) members who were unimipressed with Hamas' decision to join the political establishment and run in the Palestinian elections. These members claimed that this prompted Hamas to abandon the path of Jihad, which they felt is the only way to liberate Palestinian lands from Israel's control.

A source in an Islamic group in Gaza told Ynet that "these thousands of activists were educated that the war with the Jews must continue with no comprises or shortcuts, until judgment day arrives."

"Once Hamas chose the political path alongside the path of resistance, thousands of people sought an alternative framework," the source said, adding that the jihadists received the blessing of Sheikhs and religious clerics.

Another source in a Gaza group told Ynet that the Qaeda activists are not necessarily Palestinians who left Hamas or the PRC, "but rather, people who chose not to blindly abide by the decision to take part in the elections and the lull, and continued the path of war."

According to the source, joining global Jihad gave Hamas members an opportunity to carry out attacks under a different umbrella, while Hamas seemingly remained committed to the lull.

Fundamentalist Islam features a sometimes deep theological and ideological disagreement between the Islamic Brotherhood's perception, represented in Gaza by Hamas, and the Global Jihad perception, represented by al-Qaeda. While the Islamic Brotherhood espouses resistance alongside tactical moves such as lulls, Global Jihad groups believe there is no room for tactics, but rather, only for a ceaseless holy war. PRC spokesman and senior figure Abu Abir is considered to be one of the most prominent representatives of the latter camp.

Yet despite the disagreements, the two camps usually operate in Gaza in complete coordination, with the exception of a few clashes. One such prominent dispute pitted the Army of Islam against Hamas. The two groups collaborated on the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, yet later on Army of Islam members said Hamas was oppressing them because of their commitment to armed struggle and rejection of the lull. Meanwhile, Hamas said most Army of Islam members were in fact Fatah members who chose the cover of Global Jihad in order to destabilize Hamas' Gaza rule.

However, the Gaza War improved the relationship between al-Qaeda and Hamas. During the war, senior Qaeda figures, including Osama Bin Laden himself, expressed solidarity with and support for Hamas in the wake of the group's struggle against the Gaza siege and its decision not to renew the lull in the Strip.

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Judeo-Christian values…c-ya. Multicultural mess…here we come……

Sandhurst military academy has dropped the Church of England Creed from services over fears that it may offend religious minorities.

The move has outraged worshippers who say centuries of religious tradition have been sacrificed for the sake of political correctness.

Senior chaplain Reverend Jonathan Gough dropped the Christian declaration of faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when he took office earlier this month.

Mr Gough – nicknamed the ‘Right On Rev’ by some of his flock – says he wants avoid offending non-believers.

But Christian cadets and civilians were furious when the traditional Anglican service abruptly ended without the Creed being read last Sunday.

Last night the Ministry of Defence confirmed the Creed, which also refutes heresy, had been withdrawn from services at the Royal Memorial Chapel to make the church more inclusive.

The Creed, found in the book of Common Prayer, begins: ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried’.

Theologian, Dr Richard Bell, from Nottingham University, said it was ‘something that unites most Christians and for the vast majority it is the act of stating who you are’.

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This is how I was taught to say the Apostles or Apostolic Creed…..

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And why should we have? Hamas' founding charter explicitly calls for the destruction of the Jewish state…..

Erdogan blames world for not "giving Hamas a chance"- M&C

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You show any weakness to these fuckheads and this is what you get…we've been saying it since the minute Obama pledged to meet unconditionally with Iran……

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed,"Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

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Sean Pen was not found for response. Chavez still a "great man" in his book.

"We don't want Jews here" and "Jews get out" were the slogans daubed on a Caracas synagogue's walls Saturday.

 …

"We found the guard on the floor, he had been threatened with a
gun," Bitan said. "Until 3 am they destroyed the offices, opened the
Ark of the Covenant, and threw the Torah books on the floor."

He said the Jewish community had filed an official complaint
with the police. "This is a very complicated situation for the Jews in
Venezuela. The slogans were not against Israel but against the Jews,"
he said.

Bitan added that the community has been troubled by numerous
anti-Semitic acts over recent years, and a spokesman for the Federation
of Jewish Communities in Venezuela, Daniel Ben-Naim, said the incident
testified to the increasing hatred of Jews in the country.

"We've never had such an incident. It looks well-planned," he
said. "We were afraid something like this would happen. The official
press was becoming more and more anti-Israeli and anti-Jews. There are
hundreds of anti-Semitic articles, ads, and fliers."

An Israeli residing in Caracas said images from the ravaged
synagogue had been displayed in the local media. He said he had seen
that another slogan, "Death to the Jews", was also sprayed in the
synagogue.
Rest Here…

In case you are wondering if this has anything to do with Islam – Venezuella is a close ally of Iran and a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah. They have recently cut off ties with Israel. They have a growing Lebanese Shiite community in the country encouraged by the deranged communist in charge. Sean Penn still not found for response on his "Chavez is a great man" comment.

Cross Posted on Shawarma Mayor

UN and world to condemn in 3, 2, 1 … chirp – chirp. Hmm… crickets again.

The 41-year-old farmer had simply been queuing for foreign food aid
at a shabby distribution point in Zeitoun, a crowded refugee township
south of Gaza City.

But as a member of Fatah, the rival
Palestinian faction which is supported by the West, he was regarded by
the Hamas men as an enemy.

More than a month after Israel
launched Operation Cast Lead to end rocket attacks from Gaza on its
southern cities, Hamas is reasserting itself as the dominant force in
the Palestinian enclave.

The radical Islamic movement is now back in control over the streets and doing everything possible to entrench its influence.

Mr
Rafiah was one of its victims: the Hamas men set upon him with sticks
and rifle butts, battering him until he was driven away, bleeding from
long, broken weals on his chest and legs.

“Those people are very
clear, you are either with us or against us,” he said. “They use
religion for politics and the end result is that neither is any good
for the people.

“I am from Fatah, I’ll say it loud and clear. We will get nothing from Hamas but aggression and attacks.”

…

Others – including diplomats as well as officials of the Fatah-run
Palestinian Authority – are just as infuriated by Israel’s ban on
moving cash in from outside.

It means aid organisations are
almost unable to pay either their staff, or the tens of thousands of
Gazans engaged in special employment schemes, unless they can follow
the lead of Hamas and smuggle dollar bills into the territory.

“We’ve
had to try every trick in the book,” said one aid worker, “including
carrying vast amounts of money secreted about ourselves when we enter
on foot.” [SM: It's Israel's fault - good Dhimmis]

It also means greater influence on Gaza from Iran, which claimed last week to be supporting Hamas financially.

…

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In other “great news”, Hamas fired a rocket today – and no media outlet including Israeli except for one reported:

Hamas continued to break its own truce on the Sabbath, firing a long-range Grad rocket at the southern edge of Ashkelon in the morning while terrorists in Samaria, controlled by the rival Fatah faction, shot at a soldier. The bullet ripped a hole in the soldier’s clothing, but he miraculously escaped injury.

The rocket was at least the third, not including mortar shells, that hit southern Israel since Hamas announced a ceasefire after the IDF ended Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Residents took cover seconds before the strike as the Code Red siren warned of the incoming missile.
Rest Here…

Shawarma Mayor

I must have missed the part in the Bible where Jesus instructs the twelve disciples to slice the throats of the Romans…..

Peshawar, Jan 31 : Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat chief Maulana Fazlullah has said Islam recommends slitting the throat of a man if he is charged with espionage, adding that this is also the Sunnat of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his companions acted upon this.

Fazlullah was replying to allegations that the Taliban slits throats of people and even digs up dead bodies of men from graves and then hangs them.

"I am also ready for a debate with the Ulema on this issue," he added.

Talking to the BBC, Fazlullah said he has given permission for girls' education up to the fourth class, and hinted at lifting a ban on female education in the Swat Valley.

"We will shape up a new strategy which will send a good message to the world," he said.

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I'll keep it short – the title, and a tiny excerpt from a long article in "Alsharq-El-Awsat" (the Middle East)

Gaza’s Blood and the Vampires

…
I believe that the new party to invest in the
Palestinian blood stock exchange this time is the Muslim Brotherhood in
Egypt and elsewhere
…

I guess Erdugan didn't get the memo. He seems to be well invested in the "Palestinian blood stock exchange".

Almost missed out on the details about the author:

Mshari Al-Zaydi
A Saudi journalist and expert on Islamic movements and Islamic fundamentalism as well as Saudi affairs. Mshari is Asharq Al-Awsat’s opinion page Editor, where he also contributes a weekly column. Has worked for the local Saudi press occupying several posts at Al -Madina newspaper amongst others. He has been a guest on numerous news and current affairs programs as an expert on Islamic extremism.

Saudi-Hamas love affair seem to be very much over… I'd be looking over my shoulder if I wrote that and lived in Sadi-hell-hole.

Shawarma Mayor

BRAINS……

HAVANA: Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro demanded on Thursday that President Barack Obama return the US naval base at Guantanamo to Cuba without conditions, and he accused the new US leader of supporting “Israeli genocide” against Palestinians.

Castro, who had recently praised Obama as “honest” and “noble”, lashed out at his administration for stating that Washington will not return Guantanamo if it has any military use for the United States and without concessions in return. “Maintaining a military base in Cuba against the will of the people violates the most elemental principles of international law,” Castro wrote in a column posted on the government-run website www.cubadebate.cu.

Earlier on Thursday, Washington’s loudest critic in Latin America, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also urged Obama to return the Guantanamo base, after applauding his decision to close the prison camp for terrorism suspects there. “Now he should return Guantanamo and Guantanamo Bay to the Cubans because that is Cuban territory,” Chavez, Cuba’s closest ally, said in a speech in Brazil.

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I like it, Steele's not a RINO and he's the new blood we desperately need. Note: I hesitate to even mention that he's black because I honestly don't give a fuck. I judge a person by their character, take my wife for example, she's Asian and to be honest, I hardly ever notice that we're different races (but I'm still a racist because I'm a white male and vote Republican). It's the left that puts so much emphasis on race and that's what wrong with this country…..

Michael Steele became the first African American to lead the Republican Party, two months after Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States.

"As a little boy growing up in this town, this is awesome," Steele said. "It is with a great deal of humility and sense of service that I thank all of you … to serve as the next chairman of our proud … strong … and very, very hardworking Republican National Committee. …

"It's time for something completely different, and we're going to bring it to them. We are going to bring this party to every corner, board room, community….

"For those who want to obstruct," he warned, "get ready to be knocked over."

He vowed to expand the party like never before seen and that he will take the fight to all parts of the country.

"To my friends in the Northeast," he said, "get ready baby, it's time to turn it on. We're going to win in the Northeast, continue to win in the South, win with a new storm in the midwest, and when we get to the west, we're going to win there."

He called this "a new opportunity. I cannot do this by myself."

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Heh….

A large group of Palestinians has signed a petition calling to ban the BBC from operating in the Gaza Strip because of the broadcaster's refusal to air a charity appeal for the victims of Operation Cast Lead.

This was the first time that Palestinians called for boycotting the BBC – a station which they had regularly considered to be biased in favor of the Palestinians and Arabs.

The group, which consists of some 200 academics, journalists, human rights activists and prominent political figures, called on the Hamas government to expel all BBC representatives from the Strip.

On Thursday, the group organized a demonstration in Gaza City where they accused the station of being based in favor of Israel.

The protesters threatened to expel the BBC's three foreign correspondents in the Gaza Strip "with the shoes of the victims of the Israeli war."

They also raised slogans that read: "BBC out of Gaza," "Boycott BBC" and "BBC biased to Israel and complicit in Israeli war crimes."

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No shame……

Damascus – A delegation from the US Congress arrived in Damascus late Friday for talks with the Syrian officials, a US Embassy spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The congressional delegation, chaired by Democrat Representative Adam Smith, will discuss with Syrian officials US-Syrian relations and security cooperation.

This is the first US delegation to visit the Syrian capital after US president Barack Obama was sworn in on January 20.

Syrian observers expect the visit, and other visits expected to take place in February, aim at breaking the ice between Damascus and Washington.

Smith, who has served for 12 years in the House of Representatives, is joined by other six other Democrat representatives: Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), Ted Poe (R-Texas), Glenn Nye (D-Virginia), Representative Frank Kratovil (D-Maryland), Susan Davis (D-California), and C.A. Ruppersberger (D-Maryland).

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If you're British and this report doesn't scare the fuck out of you then you don't have a pulse…..

The Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years, according to official research collated for The Times.

The population multiplied 10 times faster than the rest of society, the research by the Office for National Statistics reveals. In the same period the number of Christians in the country fell by more than 2 million.

Experts said that the increase was attributable to immigration, a higher birthrate and conversions to Islam during the period of 2004-2008, when the data was gathered. They said that it also suggested a growing willingness among believers to describe themselves as Muslims because the western reaction to war and terrorism had strengthened their sense of identity.

Muslim leaders have welcomed the growing population of their communities as academics highlighted the implications for British society, integration and government resources.

….There are more than 42.6 million Christians in Britain, according to the Office for National Statistics, whose figures were obtained through the quarterly Labour Force Survey of around 53,000 homes. But while the biggest Christian population is among over-70s bracket, for Muslims it is the under-4s.

Growing numbers

The total number of Muslims in Great Britain:

2004: 1,087,000

2005: 2,017,000

2006: 2,142,000

2007: 2,327,000

2008: 2,422,000

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Copts have it rough, and it's only getting worse….

Following a brutal raid on six Christian brothers and their café because they had opened for business during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, a judge on Jan. 22 sentenced them to three years in prison with hard labor for resisting arrest and assaulting authorities. Last September, 13 police officers raided the café in Port Sa’id, a city in Egypt’s Nile delta, overturning tables, breaking chairs and smashing glasses and hookah pipes, according to the Coptic Christians’ lawyer. They beat the brothers with sticks, leaving two with broken arms and a third needing 11 stitches for a head wound.

“The police attacked these people and assaulted them unjustifiably,” said Ramses el-Nagar, the Christians’ lawyer. “Police did not want to see people eating during Ramadan. This is unfair, because whatever people’s beliefs are, the law is something else and they should not be mixed."

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Where else are they going to get the blood of Christian children to make their matzah soup?….

Cairo, 30 Jan. (AKI) - An Egyptian firm based in the city of al-Sadat is alleged to have supplied Israeli soldiers with provisions during the recent Gaza military offensive despite restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid for Palestinians, according to an Egyptian magazine.

"While Egyptians were pained by what was happening in Gaza, and the imams launched appeals to God to save the innocent in the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers fed on Egyptian delicacies," said the article published by Egyptian magazine al-Usbua.

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Bravo….

Former commander of attacked US war ship slams Obama over Guantánamo- Guardian

….."We shouldn't make policy decisions based on human rights and legal advocacy groups," retired US navy Commander Kurt Lippold said in a telephone interview.

"We should consider what is best for the American people, which is not to jeopardise those who are fighting the war on terror – or even more adversely impact the families who have already suffered losses as a result of the war."

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Ehh.. What?!

Nice to get full admission from ElBaradei regarding where he stands – where he comes from – and where to shove the Qassam (up his ass)

With people like that in charge of preventing Nuke proliferation, no wonder the world is about to explode.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency
has cancelled interviews with the BBC over its decision not to
broadcast a charity appeal for Gaza.

Mohamed ElBaradei believed that the BBC’s decision broke “the rules of basic human decency”, his spokeswoman said.

BBC director general Mark Thompson had said airing the appeal would compromise the BBC’s impartiality.

In a statement, the BBC said that it regretted Mr ElBaradei’s move.

The IAEA chief had been due to take part in interviews with the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

But Mr ElBaradei cancelled them over the corporation’s decision
not to broadcast a three-minute appeal by the Disasters Emergency
Committee (DEC) – an umbrella group for major UK charities – for
humanitarian aid funding for Gaza.

“He believes this decision violates the rules of basic human
decency which are there to help vulnerable people irrespective of who
is right or wrong,” his spokeswoman said.

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Cross Posted On Shawarma Mayor

These boycotts have been going on in the Europe (especially the UK) for years, this is the first time we've seen this in the US. To all the people of Israel, the vast majority of people here do not feel like the bottom-dwellers in academia do…..

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

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

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

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

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