Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Qaradawi advocates establishing a "United Muslim Nations" as a contemporary form of the caliphate
Qaradawi advocates establishing a "United Muslim Nations" as a contemporary form of the caliphate.
The Voice of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Iran Calls For a Unified Muslim World Coalition
Iran has called for a Unified Muslim World Coalition, or a Caliphate.
The term caliphate "dominion of a caliph ('successor,')," (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa, Turkish: Halife ) refers to the first system of government established in Islam, and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah (nation).
10th-12th Centuries, Shia Caliphate
New York Stock Exchange: Shah Calls Deutsche Boerse-NYSE Accord a `Great Deal'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUqzpA6ZF_0
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sachin Shah, a special situations and merger arbitrage strategist at Capstone Global Markets LLC, talks about Deutsche Boerse AG's agreement to buy New York Stock Exchange parent NYSE Euronext in a $9.53 billion all-stock deal. Shah, speaking with Betty Liu, Jon Erlichman and Sheila Dharmarajan on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop," also discusses the prospects for more consolidation of exchanges. (Source: Bloomberg)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Ilzetzki Says U.S. Budget Must Address Long-Term Costs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Ei9YFGBP0
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Ethan Ilzetzki, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, talks about the proposed fiscal 2012 budget that Barack Obama will present today as his administration and Congress negotiate boosting the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. He speaks with Maryam Nemazee on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse".
Spending Restraint, Part I: Lessons from Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton
Spending Restraint, Part I: Lessons from Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, 6:58
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both reduced the relative burden of government, largely because they were able to restrain the growth of domestic spending. The mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity uses data from the Historical Tables of the Budget to show how Reagan and Clinton succeeded and compares their record to the fiscal profligacy of the Bush-Obama years.
Harvard's Niall Ferguson Schools Her on Muslim Brotherhood and Caliphate
Harvard's Niall Ferguson Schools Her on Muslim Brotherhood and Caliphate
Egypt: How Obama Blew It, Niall Ferguson, Newsweek
An army in control is not a democratic, liberal, revolution. Moreover, Obama was taken completely by surprise. The only organized organization is the Muslim Brotherhood advocating sharia law and the restoration of the Caliphate. Any appearance of a liberal, peaceful, democratic revolution is extremely unlikely. The Egyptian revolution is most similar to the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. Almost all revolutions are characterized by internal chaos and foreign aggression.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmr1uUZae6Q
Obama's FY2012 Budget
Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes
Tax hike lowlights include:
* Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%. This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike
* Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%
* Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million. This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike
* Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike
* New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years
* New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years
* New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years
* Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years
* Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years
* Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income. This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years
* A giveaway to the trial lawyers—not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement. This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years
* Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing. This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.
Add it all together, and this budget is a ten-year, $1.5 trillion tax hike over present law. That’s $1.5 trillion taken out of the economy and spent on government instead of being used to create jobs.
The “tax relief” in the budget is mostly just an extension of present law, and also some refundable credit outlay spending in the tax code. There is virtually no new tax relief relative to present law in Obama's budget.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Investigative Project on Terrorism
Wikipedia
The Global Mufti: The Phenomenon of Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Bettina Graf, Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen (Editor), Columbia University Press
An outstanding legal scholar, an Islamist activist and a renowned host of al-Jazeera's most popular religious program, 'Sharia and Life', Yusuf al-Qaradawi is one of the best-known and most controversial figures of contemporary Islamism. Indeed, it is difficult to think of another Muslim scholar-activist whose global influence matches, let alone exceeds, that of Qaradawi Born in 1926 in a poor village in the Egyptian Delta, as a young man he attended a lecture by Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and immediately joined the organisation's youth wing. In the late 1940s, Qaradawi studied at al-Azhar University in Cairo, excelling in theology, while running the Brotherhood's student wing. When in 1954 Nasser cracked down on the Brotherhood, Qaradawi was gaoled twice, but was released in time to obtain his degree from al-Azhar. In 1961 Qaradawi settled in the Gulf state of Qatar where he played a pivotal role establishing its Islamic higher education system. He eschewed any formal position in the Muslim Brotherhood when the movement was forced underground and instead developed into a major writer and ideologist of contemporary Islamist thought. From the mid-1970s Qaradawi became one of a handful of Islamist ulama (Muslim scholars) that became accepted as authorities on doctrinal and political matters, both by Islamists and within the wider Islamic resurgence. Since the 1990s Qaradawi has reached a global audience by cleverly exploiting new media: he was one of the first Sunni scholars to launch his own website, is involved with Islam Online and just celebrated ten years hosting his weekly religious affairs programme on al-Jazeera. Qaradawi's standing - among ulama, Islamists and the Arab (if not the Muslim) public at large - is such that he is undeniably considered the most important Sunni religious figure in the world today. This volume is the first book-length treatment of Yusuf al-Qaradawi in any European language.
Wikipedia
The Global Mufti: The Phenomenon of Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Bettina Graf, Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen (Editor), Columbia University Press
An outstanding legal scholar, an Islamist activist and a renowned host of al-Jazeera's most popular religious program, 'Sharia and Life', Yusuf al-Qaradawi is one of the best-known and most controversial figures of contemporary Islamism. Indeed, it is difficult to think of another Muslim scholar-activist whose global influence matches, let alone exceeds, that of Qaradawi Born in 1926 in a poor village in the Egyptian Delta, as a young man he attended a lecture by Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and immediately joined the organisation's youth wing. In the late 1940s, Qaradawi studied at al-Azhar University in Cairo, excelling in theology, while running the Brotherhood's student wing. When in 1954 Nasser cracked down on the Brotherhood, Qaradawi was gaoled twice, but was released in time to obtain his degree from al-Azhar. In 1961 Qaradawi settled in the Gulf state of Qatar where he played a pivotal role establishing its Islamic higher education system. He eschewed any formal position in the Muslim Brotherhood when the movement was forced underground and instead developed into a major writer and ideologist of contemporary Islamist thought. From the mid-1970s Qaradawi became one of a handful of Islamist ulama (Muslim scholars) that became accepted as authorities on doctrinal and political matters, both by Islamists and within the wider Islamic resurgence. Since the 1990s Qaradawi has reached a global audience by cleverly exploiting new media: he was one of the first Sunni scholars to launch his own website, is involved with Islam Online and just celebrated ten years hosting his weekly religious affairs programme on al-Jazeera. Qaradawi's standing - among ulama, Islamists and the Arab (if not the Muslim) public at large - is such that he is undeniably considered the most important Sunni religious figure in the world today. This volume is the first book-length treatment of Yusuf al-Qaradawi in any European language.
Friday, February 11, 2011
San Diego WMD
Reporter: Do you ever find things that are dangerous like a chemical agent or a weaponised device?
Mr Hallor: At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year, but our partner agencies have found those things.
Reporter: So, specifically, you're looking for the dirty bomb? You're looking for the nuclear device?
Mr Hallor: Correct. Weapons of mass effect.
Reporter: You ever found one?
Mr Hallor: Not at this location.
Reporter: But they have found them?
Mr Hallor: Yes.
Reporter: You never found one in San Diego though?
Mr Hallor: I would say at the port of San Diego we have not.
Official Suggests WMD Intercepted at U.S. Entry Point Glo
Federal agencies have intercepted a "weapon of mass effect" entering the United States, San Diego's 10News last week quoted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official as saying.
Asked if authorities have intercepted chemical agents or other weapons at U.S. ports, San Diego Assistant Port Director Al Hallor said: "At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year, but our partner agencies have found those things."
Asked if authorities look for radiological "dirty bombs" or nuclear weapons, he said: "Correct. Weapons of mass effect." Hallor then appeared to again confirm that such a device had been located at a U.S. point of entry.
The interview was brought to a halt before Hallor could elaborate. Customs and Border Protection later said in a statement it had "not specifically had any incidents with nuclear devices or nuclear materials at our ports of entry."
Hallor could likely have had undisclosed knowledge of an intercepted weapon, former Secret Service agent and airline security head Glen Winn said (10News, Feb. 9).
Daily Mail has this: 'A weapon of mass destruction was found in the U.S.': Shock confession of Customs officer
A port official has admitted that a 'weapon of mass effect' has been found by 'partner agencies' in the U.S., raising major questions over a possible government cover-up.
The disturbing revelation came in an interview with San Diego's assistant port director screened by a television channel in the city.
The Customs and Border Protection Department tried to dampen speculation over his remarks, but doubts remained over whether he had inadvertently revealed a dirty bomb plot to attack the U.S. mainland.
Concern over a secret WMD bust came after U.S. cables made public by the Wikileaks whistleblower website revealed terror groups were plotting a 'nuclear 911.'
In the interview screened by San Diego’s 10News, Al Hallor, assistant San Diego port director, said ‘weapons of mass effect’ had been found, although he did not specify exactly where or what they were.
Reporter Mitch Blacher asked Mr Hallor: ‘Do you ever find things that are dangerous like a chemical agent or a weaponised device?’
‘At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year, but our partner agencies have found those things,’ the customs official replied.
‘So, specifically, you're looking for the dirty bomb? You're looking for the nuclear device?’ asked Mr Blacher.
‘Correct. Weapons of mass effect,’ said Mr Hallor.
‘You ever found one?’ asked Mr Blacher.
‘Not at this location,’ Mr Hallor said.
‘But they have found them?’ asked Mr Blacher.
‘Yes,’ said Mr Hallor.
‘You never found one in San Diego though?’ Mr Blacher asked.
‘I would say at the port of San Diego we have not,’ Mr Hallor said.
‘Have you found one in San Diego?’ Mr Blacher asked.
The interview was then interrupted and cut short by a public relations official before Mr Hallor was able to answer the question.
San Diego's Customs and Border Protection agency was unavailable for comment today.
Earlier, Mr Hallor told Mr Blacher: ‘Potentially every city in America is a target. Given the waterways and the access to the Navy fleet here, I’d say, absolutely, San Diego is a target.
He was explaining how the port checks cargo ships arriving at the port. He suggested the customs ‘partner agencies’ may have found the 'weapons of mass effect.'
Former Secret Service agent and airline security director Glen Winn told 10News Mr Hallor’s comments appeared to be credible.
‘This person was, I believe, knowledgeable, has a very important position with the port and the government and as such has that knowledge,’ he said.
‘You posed some very serious questions as to security gaps and discoveries that perhaps have taken place in this area.
'I want to know how many and where did you find them so if I'm in that area, driving around and I see something that is out of place, I make a phone call,’ he added.
But 10News said a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told them Mr Hallor was 'just nervous' in the interview and 'mis-spoke'.
The spokesman denied officials said weapons of mass destruction had never been found in the U.S.- but would not answer questions about dirty bombs or chemical weapons.
After the interview, the Customs and Border Protection department in San Diego issued a statement denying it had dealt with any nuclear-related smuggling attempts.
‘CBP has not specifically had any incidents with nuclear devices or nuclear materials at our ports of entry,’ it said.
‘CBP is an all-threats agency. The purpose of many security measures is to prevent threats from ever materializing by being prepared for them.
'And, we must be prepared to stop threats in whatever form they do materialise at the border, whether it’s an individual or cargo arriving by land, air, or sea.
'Regardless of what the contraband or threat is, we’re being smart, evaluating, and focusing in on anything or anyone that is potentially high-risk.’
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Almost Done Smoking Obama
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Obama declared himself “95 percent cured“ so he is almost a non-smoker.
MSNBC Host Demands GOP Congressman ‘Show Me Your Christian Papers’
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
DNI James Clapper: Muslim Brotherhood "Largely Secular," "Has Eschewed Violence"
Yusuf al-Qaradawi Praises Hitler and the Holocaust
"The term Muslim Brotherhood is an umbrella term for a variety of movements. In the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a congressional hearing today.
UPDATE: Jamie Smith, director of the office of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence later said in a statement to ABC News: “To clarify Director Clapper’s point - in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood makes efforts to work through a political system that has been, under Mubarak’s rule, one that is largely secular in its orientation – he is well aware that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular organization.”
"The term Muslim Brotherhood is an umbrella term for a variety of movements. In the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a congressional hearing today.
UPDATE: Jamie Smith, director of the office of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence later said in a statement to ABC News: “To clarify Director Clapper’s point - in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood makes efforts to work through a political system that has been, under Mubarak’s rule, one that is largely secular in its orientation – he is well aware that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular organization.”
Obamacare To Reduce Employment by 800,000 Workers
CBO Director Says Obamacare Would Reduce Employment by 800,000 Workers
Chairman [Paul] Ryan: “[I]t’s been argued...that the new health care law will create jobs and increase labor force participation. But if I recall from your analysis, it was quite the opposite. Is that not the case?”
Director [Douglas] Elmendorf : “Yes.”...
[…]
Rep. [John] Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, we'll -- and Dr. Elmendorf -- and we'll continue this conversation right now. First on health care, before I get to -- before I get to broader issues, you just mentioned that you believe -- or that in your estimate, that the health care law would reduce the labor used in the economy by about 1/2 of 1 percent, given that, I believe you say, there's 160 million full-time people working in '20-'21. That means that, in your estimation, the health care law would reduce employment by 800,000 in '20-'21. Is that correct?
Director Elmendorf: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that...employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade. Half a percent of that is 800,000.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
New drilling method opens vast oil fields in US
The agency studied use of the process in shallower drilling operations in 2004 and found that it was safe.
These new oil fields would make them the fifth- and sixth-biggest oil fields ever discovered in the United States.
The fields are attracting billions of dollars of investment from foreign oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Norway's Statoil, and also from the smaller U.S. drillers who developed the new techniques like Chesapeake, EOG Resources and Occidental Petroleum.
Last month China's state-owned oil company CNOOC agreed to pay Chesapeake $570 million for a one-third stake in a drilling project in the Niobrara. This followed a $1 billion deal in October between the two companies on a project in the Eagle Ford.
Drillers have unlocked decades' worth of natural gas, an abundance of supply that may keep prices low for years.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Muslim Brotherhood text reveals scope of radical creed
A translation of a book by the Muslim Brotherood’s leader sheds light on just how Egypt’s Brotherhood views itself and its mission. Jihad is the Way is the last of a five-volume work, The Laws of Da’wa by Mustafa Mashhur.
Hassan al-Banna, the movement’s founder, “felt the grave danger overshadowing the Muslims and the urgent need and obligation which Islam places on every Muslim, man and woman, to act in order to restore the Islamic Caliphate and to reestablish the Islamic state on strong foundations.”
Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming To Some Texas Schools;
The school district wanted students at selected schools to take Arabic language and culture classes as part of a federally funded grant. Parents say they were caught off-guard by the program and only just found out. Some parents had concerns over religion. “The school doesn’t teach Christianity, so I don’t want them teaching Islam,” said parent Baron Kane.
At issue is Mansfield Independent School District's decision to force students at a few of its schools to learn Arabic. It's not an elective; Arabic will be a required language. Parents are also upset at the way the district notified them of the new requirement. The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was awarded to Mansfield ISD last summer by the U.S. Department of Education.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Zuckerman Says Obama Aims to Repair Business Relations
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Mortimer Zuckerman, chief executive officer of Boston Properties Inc., talks about Obama's economic policies. Zuckerman, speaking with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness," also discusses AOL Inc.'s agreement to buy the Huffington Post for $315 million. (Source: Bloomberg)
David Cameron - Islamic Extremists and Multiculturalism
David Cameron - Islamic Extremists and Multiculturalism
Obama Redistribution Plan: Profits "Have To Be Shared By American Workers"
Cf. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/02/07/obama_corporate_profits_have_to_be_shared_by_american_workers.html
"If we're fighting to reform the tax code and increase exports, the benefits cannot just translate into greater profits and bonuses for those at the top. They have to be shared by American workers, who need to know that opening markets will lift their standard of living as well as your bottom line," Obama told the Chamber of Commerce on Monday morning.
The good news for Obama: the Chamber of Commerce broke into applause twice during his speech Monday morning to welcome his ideas.
The bad news: they clapped just twice, in a 35-minute address.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Super Bowl virtually a national holiday, says UCLA economist
UCLA professor Lee Ohanian discusses the economics of the Super Bowl.
Has Revelation's 'pale rider' shown up in Egypt?
A mysterious, pale green figure seen in televised news coverage of the Egyptian riots has prompted some viewers to ask, "Could this be the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse?"
The footage, provided by Euronews and subsequently seen on MSNBC, CNN and uploaded over a dozen times to the popular video sharing site YouTube, captures the fiery, violent protests in Cairo this past week … and something else.
Between the crowds of protesters and barricades, the video shows a flowing, pale green image that resembles an erect rider atop a horse in Medieval-like barding. The ethereal figure remains for a few moments before floating over protesters' heads and off the screen.
The last of the biblical Book of Revelation's Four Horseman of the Apocalyse, the "pale rider" is said to be the bringer of death and the forerunner of "hell" on earth.
The Book of Revelation refers to a time when "the Lamb" – usually understood to be the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ – opens the seven seals of a scroll of judgment. Each of the first four seals is accompanied by a horseman of a different color, each bringing a separate calamity.
When the fourth seal is opened, Revelation 6:8 records, "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."
Is the image from Egypt a fulfillment of Revelation's prophecy?
Comments from the tens of thousands of viewers who have watched the video on YouTube express a wide array of opinion.
Some claim the video's "pale rider" is a sign and the greenish tint is somehow symbolic of Islam, while others insist the image has been added to the footage by editing technology. Still others point to three, trailing points of light in the footage that move away from the crowds at the same time and speed as the "horseman," indicating that both the "rider" and the lights are merely smudges or reflections cast on the lens of a moving camera.
Islamism in Obama's U.S.
Hidden Jihad: The War in America - CBN.com, Robert Spencer
"Islamist-supporters infiltrate Obama Admin to subvert US security," reveals ex-CIA'er, Clare Lopez
Islamist-allied operatives appointed by Obama are undermining U.S. security policy - explains counter-Intelligence expert, Prof. Clare Lopez. Aimed at co-opting Americas foreign policy in the Middle East, a network including well-known American diplomats, congressional representatives, figures from academia and the think tank world - with ties to the clerical regime in Tehran - is directing the Obama Administration's policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Middle East.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Racist, Jew-hating Video of Islamist Lawyer for Brooklyn Mega Mosque
SHOCKING Racist, Jew-hating Video of Lamis Deek, the Extremist Muslim Lawyer for the Sheepshead Bay Mega Mosque
Am I missing something here?
The Jews are welcome to stay contingent upon "full dismantlement of all Zionist structures, all Zionist laws, all Zionist institutions." She speaks of Jewish supremacy in a country (Israel) where all people of all races and religions live free in the only democratic society in the Middle East. Islamic law in the 56 Muslim countries in the world is the most extreme racist, misogynistic and intolerant legal system in the world.
'What Is the Internet' 1994 "Today" show clip
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Cameron Calls for Respect of British Values
Cameron calls for immigrants to respect British core values.
State multiculturalism has failed, says David Cameron.
"Let's properly judge these organisations: Do they believe in universal human rights - including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?"
Modern Communist Racist Politics Bans Mummy
Mystery of the mummy's Chinese travel ban
The Caucasian features of the "Beauty of Xiaohe" raised the prospect that the region's inhabitants were European settlers.
It raises the question about who first settled in Xinjiang and for how long the oil-rich region has been part of China. The questions are important – most notably for the Chinese authorities who face an intermittent separatist movement of nationalist Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people who number nine million in Xinjiang.
The government-approved story of China's first contact with the West dates back to 200BC when China's emperor Wu Di wanted to establish an alliance with the West against the marauding Huns, then based in Mongolia. However, the discovery of the mummies suggests that Caucasians were settled in a part of China thousands of years before Wu Di: the notion that they arrived in Xinjiang before the first East Asians is truly explosive.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Son of Hamas Thug Tells It Like It Is
Live debate on MEMRI, in Arabic, though spliced.
The Canadian ends the interview when it gets too intense for him.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Leftist Rhetoric: Lynch, Send 'Em Back Overseas, Violent, Profane
Essentially, at the "Uncloaking the Kochs" rally in Palm Springs,demonstrators called for Clarence Thomas to be hanged, stringed up,tortured, sent back to the fields, and so on. It was sponsored by somehefty left-wing groups such as Greenpeace and Code Pink.
Obama Fumbles Cairo
In Israel, many view Obama as a political naif whose pressure on a stalwart ally to hand over power is liable to backfire.
Three decades ago, President Jimmy Carter urged another staunch American ally - the shah of Iran - to loosen his grip on power, only to see his autocratic regime replaced by the Islamic Republic. More recently, U.S.-supported elections have strengthened such groups as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories and anti-American radicals in Iran.
"Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as 'the president who lost Iran,'" the analyst Aluf Benn wrote in the daily Haaretz this week. "Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who 'lost' Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled," Benn wrote.
Raphael Israeli, a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, echoed a widely felt perception that before the unrest erupted, the Obama administration paid only lip service to the lack of human rights in Mubarak's authoritarian regime.
"If Obama were genuinely concerned with what is going on in Egypt, he should have made the same demands two years ago (when he addressed the Muslim world in Cairo) and eight years and 20 years ago. Mubarak didn't come to power yesterday."
"As long as there are no problems, the oppression works," Israeli said. "If the oppression doesn't work, suddenly it becomes urgent. That's unacceptable."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Gibbs: Some Things "Have To Be Done Away From TV Cameras"
Gibbs: Some Things "Have To Be Done Away From TV Cameras"
"We will continue to keep you up-to-date as best as we can on what goes on, knowing quite honestly that some things in foreign policy have to be done away from TV cameras."
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain: move along folks, nothing to see here.
Richard Norton Smith on Ronald Reagan
Richard Norton Smith on Ronald Reagan
Richard Norton Smith and former Reagan Political Director, Bill Lacy, as they reminisce about Ronald Reagan, our 40th president as his 100th birthday approaches.
Richard Norton Smith, presidential historian and first permanent director of the Dole Institute, will discuss during the series his four presidential picks from the last century to place on Mt. Rushmore.
The recession and recovery in perspective: Minnesota
The recession and recovery in perspective: Reagan vs. BushObama, 4:15
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota has an interesting interactive web page that allows readers to compare economic downturns and recoveries, both on the basis of output and employment.
The results are remarkable. Reagan focused on reducing the burden of government and the economy responded. "BushObama" tried the opposite approach, but spending, bailouts, and intervention have not worked.
The first chart shows economic output.
The employment chart provides an equally stark comparison. If anything, this second chart is even more revealing since employment has not bounced back from the trough. But that shouldn’t be too surprising. The federal government is subsidizing unemployment and penalizing production. And we already know the so-called stimulus has been a flop.
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