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(A1NewsPage.com) Bernanke in his report to Congress said there is a concern for inflation and the health of the economy if oil prices remained high for a long period. Bernanke insisted that inflation is still not high but said there is weak job growth therefore the Fed’s monetary policy should remain the same. The Fed has been buying bonds in an attempt to push the economy up with low interest rates and easy money that can result in inflation.
Oil hit $100 dollars a barrel as worries about the Middle East continue to threaten oil supplies. Reports that Saudi Arabia sent tanks to support Bahrain allies as opposition protests; and fear of the unrest spreading there sent Saudi Arabia’s market down 7%. Unrest continues or grows in many Middle East countries. Higher oil prices make fuel and food more expensive and threatening to anger more people and riots spreading.
Inflation worries of the high oil price and the Middle East violence helped push gold to a record high of $1434 an ounce. Silver reached a 31 year high reaching $34.72. Concern about how inflation will effect the U.S. dollar has led to higher precious metal prices as a hedge or to speculate and profit from rising prices. Gold and silver are increasingly becoming the store of wealth where investors buy to protect their money while the U.S. dollar loses it’s safe haven status it had for decades.
Posted by admin as Business, News, Politics, War on Terror at 7:03 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) Gasoline prices at the pump rose about 20 cents per gallon during the last week. Motorists saw prices spike as the higher crude oil prices made their way to the refined gasoline. Oil prices have risen due to unrest in the Middle East that may disrupt supplies coming out of oil producing countries.
The greatest worry now is Libya which produces 1.6 million barrels a day. Libya supplies Europe of high grade crude that effects the price more than lower grade crude would. Qaddafi and his son Saif al Islam, are increasingly isolated in the nations capital of Tripoli while opposition forces have taken a large part of the eastern part of the country and oil producing areas. Qaddafi’s supporters have attacked protesters and becoming armed. As Libya descends into a civil war, it’s oil supplies are likely to be sharply reduced and some of the oil infrastructure including oil wells and pipelines can be damaged. Oil supplies can very well be disrupted from Libya for many years.
Unrest has spread to other Middle East nations such as Bahrain threatening more oil supply disruptions. The biggest fear is if violence spreads to Saudi Arabia that produces near 9 million barrels of oil a day. With civil war in Libya and possible disruptions of oil supplies from more countries as well as the weak US dollar it is expected that gasoline prices to reach $4 by the end of the year or in the summer. Prices are currently averaging over $3.25 nationally but in some higher taxed states like Chicago and other cities prices are already near $4 a gallon.
Posted by admin as Business, News, Politics, War on Terror at 5:55 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) Today’s Saturday, the beginning of the weekend. Some are shoveling snow, some are doing laundry, others cleaning house. That’s what people do on weekends, right? And not once did we remember the importance of February 26, 1993.
It was the morning of February 26, 1993, when Eyad Ismoil drove a rented Ryder Ford F350 Econoline truck packed with 1,500 pounds of fertilizer-based explosives into level B-2 of the underground garage beneath the World Trade Center. He then left, leaving a timing device to detonate the explosives a little while later.
When the clock struck 12:18 pm, an explosion filled the air, killing six people and creating a huge crater 150 feet in diameter, evidence of a huge hole that went through five floors of the parking garage below.
The victims were John DiGiovanni, Robert Kirkpatrick, Stephen Knapp, William Macko, Wilfredo Mercado and Monica Smith.
But no one’s stopping and pausing, remembering those six people that were killed by terrorists 18 years ago today.
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, War on Terror at 6:28 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) Information leaks have virtually stopped coming out of Libya but the devastating information that Qaddafi is wanting the oil pipe lines has seeped out.
Time’s Robert Baer:
“There’s been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya’s rebellious tribes: It’s either me or chaos.”
Many countries, including the United States, have been concerned about a possible shut down of the Libyan reserves, which spiked the stock market downwards today and watched the price of oil shoot upward as well.
Baer’s source said the reason for Qaddafi’s drastic measures is due to his deperation over losing many men he thought were loyal to him but now have deserted. He also knows he has no chance at retaking Libya with the remaining forces he has but he can make those who deserted him regret their disloyalty. Qaddafi feels he can turn Libya into another Somalia.
Qaddafi has started his Somalian reformation by emptying the prisons of the Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they would partake of the chaos he plans on enacting. And the next stage of his plan is blowing up the oil fields, which could send the Middle East into turmoil as well as the financial markets.
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, War on Terror at 8:54 PM GMT+5
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(A1PageNews.com) Barack Obama had no difficulty in letting Egypt and the world know where he stood as the Egyptians demonstrated against Mubarak and his government. He was quick to make his voice known.
“The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association. The right to free speech and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights.”
In his remarks, he constantly reminded Mubarak that he had to reform his government and to do it quickly. Obama was constantly on the air showing his support reform, yet trying to look like he wasn’t taking sides.
But for the past few days, we’ve not heard a word from Obama on the demonstrations in Libya.
He’s had no problems giving his opinions concerning the union demonstrations in Wisconsin, but with Libya, he remaines silent.
The Libyan ambassador to the US is begging for a stronger statement from Obama:
“I want the U.S. to tell the world and to work with the countries who love peace…they have to stop this,” Ambassador Ali Ojli said, suggesting that he had resigned his post, in an interview with Al Jazeera English. “I would never ask us to intervene physically in Libya,” he said, but called on the Obama Administration to “take a strong position that what’s happening in libya must be stopped now…and to avoid giving the impression to the Arab world that the West “has only a materialist mind — they don’t care about human rights…except when it comes to their own interest.”
“You see them raising their voices about iran … because they have some interest in in Iran…. When it comes to other countries they don’t raise their voice,” he said, adding that the Arab and Muslim world won’t “trust america or the west if they behave that way.”
President Obama urged restraint in a written statement Friday on Libya and two other countries, but he hasn’t appeared on television to talk about the crisis
Obama was shown to be supporting the demonstrators in Egypt and throwing our long-time ally, Hosni Mubarack under the bus, but now how will he handle Gadaffi? Obama walks a tight rope here. On one hand, if he shows support for the dictator, it shows support for everything the dictator has done including the involvement in the Lockerbie incident. But to side with the demonstrators, would essentially shut down the pipelines of oil to the US. As of this writing, oil prices have shot up and the DOW has been on the plunge all day.
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, Politics, War on Terror at 3:24 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) That was the response when a representative from CAIR tried telling Senator Allen West that Islam wasn’t violent. Nazar Hamze, the executive director of Council for Islamic American Relations (CAIR) brought a Quran to the Pompano Beach, FL townhall meeting and asked the Senator “where in the Quran does it give marching orders to Muslims “to carry out attacks against Americans and innocent people.” West quickly pointed out that the Koran was written long before America even existed and that it does indeed tell believers to kill infidels, and then proceeded to chronicle a lengthy list of historical Muslim acts of aggression.
Congressman West closed his retort by referencing the Fort Hood shootings and 9-11 attacks, saying that his first hand experiences on the battlefield has given him insight into the tactics that Islamists use before telling Hamze not to “try to blow sunshine up my butt” with his criticism of him. West took offense to Hamze’s amateurish criticism of his stance on radical Islam and concluded by telling Mr. Hamze to “put the microphone down and go home.”
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, Politics, War on Terror at 11:40 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) According to Dr. Clare Lopez, professor at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, there’s been systematic appointments of Sharia-friendly advocates within the State Department and other government agencies.
The ex-CIA agent and counter-intelligence expert, Dr. Lopez cited three examples of such appointments:
Dr. Clare Lopez wrote a paper in 2009 where she elaborated on her concerns. It is entitled, ”RISE OF THE IRAN LOBBY, Tehran’s Front Groups Moves On –And Into the Obama Administration.” In it she stated that CAIR is a defacto group of the Muslim Brotherhood and that there is an unholy alliance between them and NIAC, the American-Iranian Council (AIC) which are nothing but apologists for the Iranian regime which are Jihadist entities that are hostile to American interests.
The Obama Administration is manned by Sharia-friendly appointees who help steer American foreign policy in the Middle East
According to reports issued by NewsRealBlog, RedState, and LaborUnionReport, secret documents released by Wikileaks indicate that the United States government has been in the process of planning social and political upheaval in the Middle East for at least 2 years–beginning during the waning days of the Bush Administration and continuing under Obama. The goal was to push moderate Muslim dictators out the door in countries such as Egypt, while advocating so-called ‘democracy’ which would then insure the rise of Muslim Brotherhood-supported Islamists to fill the power-gap.
The reports expose a consortium of Leftwing organizations, Islamic groups, labor unions, and Obama-friendly corporations which would organize and fund a ‘youth movement’ in certain areas around the Middle East which would then take to the streets in protest against current governments. (Examiner)
How could this be done? According to Dr. Clare Lopez, it’s because our counterintelligence policy is actually being formulated under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood. In spite of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s claim that the Muslim Brotherhood is a secular thus benign group, “the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood coincide exactly with those of al Qaeda and every other Islamic jihadist organization in the world today: re-establishment of the caliphate/imamate and imposition of Shari’a (Islamic law) over the entire world.”(C Lopez)
But why would this be done? Why would Barack Obama want to seek an upheavel in the Middle East? Why is he looking for something that could only be described as an armegeddon? Or could it be described as seeking the re-establishment of the caliphate?
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, Politics, War on Terror at 11:39 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) For several years now and especially the past few weeks, the happenings of the Middle East have been on center stage concerning news. But Obama’s Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Julliette Kayyem, thinks Americans aren’t getting all the news. She laments that the American public is not getting news from Al Jazeera English. She stated in a op-ed in the Boston Globe:
AJE’s battle with the cable carriers is major news in the Middle East. Not carrying the network sends a message to the Arab world about America’s willingness to accept information, unfiltered, from the very region we spend so much time talking about. These television wars began not in Tunisia or Egypt, but in Iraq.
What Kayyem denies or is not aware of is that Al-Jazeera is not the unbiased network she would like it to be. Al-Jazeera has repeatedly lied about what has gone on in the Middle East. In fact, the network has been the mouth piece for many Islamic extremists. It must be remembered that anytime Bin Laden surfaces, he has used Al Jazeera to promote his messages of hate and violence against the US.
The same network has even lied about such things as the Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia:
Al jizz video here:
Al-Jazeera TV Reports on Fairfax, Virginia, Islamic Saudi Academy Controversy, Says U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Persecuting U.S. Muslims MEMRI Here
Following are excerpts from a report on the Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on June 17, 2008:
Reporter: We are at the Islamic Saudi Academy in the state of Virginia – the largest institution teaching the Arabic language and Islamic education on the East Coast of the U.S. However, this institution faces mounting pressure, and this is a nightmare for the families of the students enrolled in the academy. This pressure is exerted by several Congressmen, known for their great hostility towards Arabs and Muslims.
This child recites verses from the Koran with perfect diction, even though he is only six years old. These flowers, which have just begun to bloom, have sprouted on American soil. Their parents decided to help them find their roots in a supervised environment. This goal has been achieved at the Islamic Saudi Academy. However, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which was established by Congress, has recommended that the academy be shut down, alleging that its religious curricula, which are taught in Saudi Arabia as well, included material inciting to racism and intolerance towards other religions. [The commission] did not even talk to those in charge of the academy, let alone visit it.
Abd Al-Rahman Al-Ghufayli, Principal of the Boy’s School: We have nothing to hide. That’s why we invited them there and tried to discuss things with them, but I’m sad to say, they did not accept our invitation. This suggests that the commission has a certain agenda, which it is trying to implement.
Reporter: The local authority of Fairfax County, where the academy is located, has challenged the threats of closure. It determined that the allegations are invalid, and it approved the religious curricula after examining them. The non-Muslim teachers also expressed disgust and frustration at the allegations.
Kate Schneider, English teacher: The thing that frustrates me so much about these accusations is that first, they are not true, and second, it is so completely opposite from the truth. This school teaches faith, and the same basic values we want all our children to have.
Reporter: The academy’s students participate in community activities, which differ from other American schools. The U.S. President even sent letters of appreciation to the students.
Fardia Turkestani, Principal of the Girls’ School: We are very proud that a student of ours won this award three years in a row.
Reporter: “I will become the slave of he who teaches me a single letter.” So what should be said about those who teach an entire language? What should be said about a commission that some say is unconstitutional and contradicts the very meaning of its name? This commission calls upon all countries of the world to respect freedom of religion there, while the commission itself violates this freedom on its own land
Al Jazeera made no mention of the vile hate taught in the textbooks, the arrest of the director or the child molestation or that the valedictorian of the school was involved in a jihadi assassination plot against President Bush.. No mention was made of the fact that the Virginia school is teaching anti-Semitism and Islamic supremicism or that the school promised to revise those textbooks.
But it would also seem that Kayyem is not aware that NPR already carried al-Jazeera and it can be seen on Dish TV. So it’s up to the consumer if they want to watch it on other systems like Dish or even on the Internet.
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, Politics, War on Terror at 6:08 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed Curveball, apparently used the US in order to bring down Saddam Hussein. This Janaibi finally admitted to the British
“Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right,” he said. “They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy.
I had a problem with the Saddam regime,” he said. “I wanted to get rid of him and now I had this chance.
“Believe me, there was no other way to bring about freedom to Iraq. There were no other possibilities.”
So the Iraq war was indeed based upon lies, but not lies from the US government. We were duped because of a defector’s abhorance for Saddam Hussein.
The question comes to mind, if we had to do it over again, knowing what we know now, would we still have wanted to go into Iraq. Are there any reqrets giving the Iraqis their freedom, their democracy. Was the cost of lives still worth it?
Posted by Sandy Adams as News, War on Terror at 5:24 PM GMT+5
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(A1NewsPage.com) Under pressure from thousands of protesters and a paralyzed country that resulted from 18 days of turmoil, President Mubarak resigned. Who will take over and if free and fair elections take place in September as Mubarak called for is being speculated. Many Middle East experts and political pundits have raised concerns that a radical Islamic group may take power and turn Egypt into a terrorist supporting Islamic nation without the freedom and democracy the people protested for.
Obama seemed to take differing positions on Egypt as events changed. At one point calling for a change in government then a slow transition and also a transition to take place immediately. The Obama administration tried to appear on to of the situation but may not have much influence beyond some in the Egyptian military that receives over a billion dollars in aid each year for the US government. Obama was visibly happy that America ally Egypian leader Mubarak resigned. Obama said we are witnessing history and that Egypt will not be the same. It’s unknown if Obama will try to prevent anti-American and anti-Israel Islamic radicals from taking power or if the US backed Egyptian military can prevent such a take over.
Egypt will have long term ramifications for the war on terror and the governments of the rest of the Middle East including important allies in the war and oil giants like Saudi Arabia.
Posted by admin as News, Politics, War on Terror at 5:32 PM GMT+5
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