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And they laugh at us Southerners!
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This is what the PC'ers are doing to Paula Deen: "COLIN THE ABORIGINE A rich man living in Darwin decided that he wanted to throw a party and invited all of his buddies and neighbours. He also invited Colin, the only aborigine in the neighbourhood.. He held the party around the pool in the backyard of his mansion. Everyone was having a good time drinking, dancing, eating prawns, oysters, from the BBQ, and flirting. At the height of the party, the host said, 'I have a 15ft man-eating crocodile in my pool and I'll give a million dollars to anyone who has the balls to jump in.' The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a loud splash and everyone turned around and saw Colin in the pool fighting the croc, jabbing the croc in the eyes with his thumbs, throwing punches, doing all kinds of stuff like head butts and chokeholds, biting the croc on the tail and flipping the croc through the air like some kind of Judo Instructor. The water was churning and splashing everywhere. Both Colin and the croc were screaming and raising hell. Finally Colin strangled the croc and let it float to the top like a dead goldfish. Colin then slowly climbed out of the pool. Everybody was just staring at him in disbelief. The host says, 'Well, Colin, I reckon I owe you a million dollars.' 'Nah, you all right boss, I don't want it,' said Colin. The rich man said, 'Man, I have to give you something. You won the bet. How about half a million bucks then?' 'No thanks... I don't want it,' answered Colin. The host said, 'Come on, I insist on giving you something. That was amazing. How about a new Porsche and a Rolex and some stock options?' Again, Colin said "No." Confused, the rich man asked, 'Well Colin, then what do you want? Colin said, 'I want the bastard who pushed me in.'
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Op Ed writer, Caroline Annin, has a very long reach and blames Israel for the Palestinian's current plight.
Could she possibly consider corrupt Arab leadership and their radical religion is to blame for their plight?
Is it possible Arabs love to hate and have taught generation after generation to do so?
Why Anning, are you fanning a false message?
Must be because you work for The Washington Post!(See 1 below.)
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Sowell offers some random thoughts. (See 2 below.)
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IRS 'look list' has been abandoned and reveals that a wider group of citizen groups, including some progressives, were being hounded and for longer than thought.
The New York Times is bending over backwards to take the heat off the White House and IRS to show unwarranted intrusions were widespread.
OK lets assume such was the case. Then is this Administration not to be held liable or will the press continue to shield OBama from that 'Buck' that stopped on Harry's desk?
Are the Obama Sanctions simply a fig leaf to cover up the fact he does not have the b---- to do what needs to be done? You decide.
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Lately, Obama has become the world's punching bag.
By his own policies he has made himself irrelevant on the world scene.(See 3,3a and 3b,3c below.)
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My bright friend, Avi, continues to reveal money flows to Iran also continue. (See 4 below.)
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We need legal immigrants with all kinds of skills.
Read about this one. (See 5 and 5a below.)
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Dick
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LIBELS ISRAEL ON PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
By Leo Rennert
The Washington Post, in its June 22 edition, runs an article by correspondent Caroline Anning about thousands of Palestinian refugees who after fleeing to Syria in the 1940s, now again have fled – this time to Lebanon to escape the fighting in Syria. (“No respite for Palestinian refugees – Families that settled in Syria after creation of Israel now fleeing to squalid camps in Lebanon” page A7.”
The article, at its very core, paints a false picture of how these Palestinian refugees and their descendants came to be displaced in the first place.
Here’s how Anning puts it: “To date, an estimated 55,000 Palestinians have sought sanctuary in Lebanon from the war in Syria, according to the United Nations, most of them descendants of families displaced by the creation of Israel in 1948.”
Not so. The founding of Israel did not create the Palestinian refugee problem. In 1948, Israeli leaders pleaded with Arabs in Palestine to stay put and live in a democratic state that would fully protect their basic rights. Instead, Arab leaders urged them to get out of the way of half a dozen Arab armies intent on annihilating the Jewish state at its infancy. Had Arabs not declared war on Israel but instead accepted the UN’s two-state mandate – an Arab state and a Jewish state – there would be no refugee problem today.
The Palestinian refugee problem is an affliction imposed on Palestinians by the Arab world. To blame Israel is nothing short of libelous.
Since the founding of Israel, Palestinian leaders and leaders of Arab regimes have indulged in historical revisionism, memorializing each year an alleged Israeli-imposed “naqba” – catastrophe -- in 1948. There indeed was a “naqba,” but it was entirely self-imposed by the Arabs. The notion that the Palestinian refugee problem is the creation of Israel – not the 1948 Arab war to destroy it – is a canard of the first order -- and now gets perpetuated by the Washington Post.
Anning’s article also is flawed – and biased into the bargain – by its failure to point out that Arabs were not the only ones displaced by the 1948 war. Some 850,000 Jews from Arab lands where they had lived for several millennia were persecuted and dispossessed by Arab authorities, forced to flee from their ancestral homes, leaving behind almost all their possession.
These Jewish refugees deserve as much attention as the Palestinian refugees – an egregious omission by the Post.
Also lacking in the article is the sharp contrast between Israeli treatment of Jewish refugees and the Arab world’s treatment of Palestinian refugees.
Hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab countries were resettled, absorbed and integrated into Israeli society. They and their descendants, whose numbers now total several millions, now comprise about half of Israel’s population. In contrast, Arab rulers have kept Palestinian refugees bottled up in camps and denied them full absorption so as to use them as political pawns in their efforts to delegitimize Israel and ultimately remove it from the Mideast map.
Anning again fails to give readers this important historical context, except a bare hint that Arabs who fled to Syria “lacked citizenship.” This doesn’t begin to convey the betrayal of Arab refugees in Arab countries, whose rulers were intent on keeping them as stateless refugees.
The latest chapter of that betrayal can be found in the current so-called Arab League peace plan, which contains a provision that any settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not impinge on the right of Arab nations to continue to deny citizenship to Palestinians.
The “naqba” continues, but as always a direct result of the Arab world’s disregard of Palestinian interests.
To spin a fictional tale that the Palestinian refugee problem was spawned “by the creation of Israel’’ is utter bunk – a disservice to history and to Post readers.
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2)Random Thoughts
By Thomas Sowell
Random thoughts on the passing scene:
Edmund Burke said, "There is no safety for honest men, but by believing all possible evil of evil men." Evil men do not always snarl. Some smile charmingly. Those are the most dangerous. If you don't think the mainstream media slants the news, keep track of how often they tell you that the Arctic ice pack is shrinking and how seldom they tell you that the Antarctic ice pack is expanding. The latter news would not fit the "global warming" scenario that so many in the media are promoting.
Someone has referred to Vice President Biden as President Obama's "impeachment insurance." Even critics who are totally opposed to Barack Obama's policies do not want anything to cut short his presidency, with Joe Biden as his successor.
People who refuse to accept unpleasant truths have no right to complain about politicians who lie to them. What other kind of candidates would such people elect?
Given the shortage of articulate Republican leaders, it will be a real loss -- to the country, not just to the Republicans -- if Senator Marco Rubio discredits himself, early in his career, by supporting "comprehensive" immigration reform that amounts to just another amnesty, with false promises to secure the border.
Ever since I learned, as a teenager, that the "Saturday Evening Post" magazine was actually published on Wednesday mornings, I have been very skeptical about words. "Gun control" laws do not control guns, "rent control" laws do not control rent and government "stimulus" spending does not stimulate the economy.
It is hard to think of two people with more different personalities than New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama. But they are soul mates when it comes to thinking that they ought to take a whole spectrum of decisions out of citizens' hands, and impose the government's decisions on them.
Maybe the reason for the New York Yankees' low batting averages has something to do with the fact that so many of their batters seem to be swinging for the fences, even when a single would score the winning run.
President Obama's denial of knowledge about the various scandals in his administration that are starting to come to light suggests that his titles should now include Innocent-Bystander-in-Chief.
It has long been my belief that the sight of a good-looking woman lowers a man's IQ by at least 20 points. A man who doesn't happen to have 20 points he can spare can be in big trouble.
When Attorney General Eric Holder argued that a "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants was a "civil right" and a "human right," that epitomized the contempt for the public's intelligence which has characterized so much of what has been said and done by the Obama administration.
You know you are old when waitresses call you "dear."
Although many people have been surprised and disappointed by Barack Obama, it is hard to think of a president whose policies were more predictable from his history, however radically different those policies are from his rhetoric.
When any two groups have different behavior or performance, that plain fact can be turned upside down and twisted to say that whatever criterion revealed those differences has had a "disparate impact" on one of the groups. In other words, the criterion is blamed for an injustice to those who failed to meet the standard.
Have you heard any gun control advocate even try to produce hard evidence that tighter gun control laws reduce murder rates? Does anyone seriously believe that people who are prepared to defy the laws against murder are going to obey laws against owning guns or large capacity magazines?
I may be among the few people who want Attorney General Eric Holder to keep his job -- at least until the 2014 elections. Holder epitomizes what is wrong with the Obama administration. He is essentially Barack Obama without the charm, so it should be easier for the voters to see through his lies and corruption.
Despite political differences, it is hard not to feel sorry for White House press secretary Jay Carney, for all the absurdities his job requires him to say with a straight face. What is he going to do when this administration is over? Wear a disguise, change his name or be put into a witness protection program?
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3) Documents Show Liberals in I.R.S. Dragnet
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
The instructions that Internal Revenue Service officials used to look for applicants seeking tax-exempt status with “Tea Party” and “Patriots” in their titles also included groups whose names included the words “Progressive” and “Occupy,” according to I.R.S. documents released Monday.
The documents appeared to back up contentions by I.R.S. officials and some Democrats that the agency did not intend to single out conservative groups for special scrutiny. Instead, the documents say, officials were trying to use “key word” shortcuts to find overtly political organizations — both liberal and conservative — that were after tax favors by saying they were social welfare organizations.
But the practice appeared to go much farther than that. One such “be on the lookout” list included medical marijuana groups, organizations that were promoting President Obama’s health care law, and applications that dealt “with disputed territories in the Middle East.”
Taken together, the documents seem to change the terms of a scandal that exploded over accusations that the I.R.S. had tried to stifle a nascent conservative political movement. Instead, the dispute now revolves around questionable sorting tactics used by I.R.S. application screeners.
The acting I.R.S. commissioner, Daniel I. Werfel, formally ordered an end to all such “lookout” lists on Monday when he issued an assessment of the controversy that has led to harsh criticism of the nation’s tax collector.
Such lists were in use as recently as this month, when Mr. Werfel took over the agency, far longer than initially thought. I.R.S. officials said Monday that the more recent lists did not include the terms aimed at conservative groups.
Mr. Werfel on Monday also created an expedited process for groups to attain the tax-exempt status known as 501(c)(4). To qualify, groups must agree that no more than 40 percent of their expenditures and time can be spent on campaigns for candidates seeking public office. At least 60 percent of the groups’ time and expenses must be dedicated to social welfare activities.
The new I.R.S. documents raise questions about how the controversy has been portrayed. They confirm that the applications of “various local organizations in the Tea Party movement” were given special scrutiny. But so were “progressives.”
“Common thread is the word ‘progressive,’ ” a lookout list instructs. “Activities appear to lean toward a new political party. Activities are partisan and appear as anti-Republican.”
But groups with no political inclinations were also examined. “Open source software” organizations seeking nonprofit status “are usually for-profit business or for-profit support technicians of the software,” a lookout list warns. “If you see a case, elevate it to your manager.”
“Regional health information organizations” seeking nonprofit tax exemptions for their electronic health care data-collection efforts were sent to the same I.R.S. group sorting through the Tea Party applications.
Groups involved more generally in carrying out the Affordable Care Act were also sent to the I.R.S. for “secondary screening.”
And “occupied territory advocacy” seemed subject to the most scrutiny of all.
“Applications may be inflammatory, advocate a one-sided point of view, and promotional materials may signify propaganda,” according to instructions with a lookout list.
House Democrats seized on the documents to question why the Treasury inspector general, in the audit that began the scandal, omitted any mention of scrutiny that did not focus on conservatives. Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee demanded a second hearing with the inspector general, J. Russell George, to allow him to “explain the glaring omission in his audit report.”
“The audit served as the basis and impetus for a wide range of Congressional investigations, and this new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way,” said Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan, the committee’s ranking Democrat.
Republicans said that I.R.S. scrutiny of conservatives went beyond delayed tax-exemption applications to other abuses, like the leaking of confidential information and inappropriate and intrusive questions.
3a)Portrait in Respect
Our friends in Hong Kong, China, Russia and Ecuador.
'One of the things I intend to do as President is restore America's standing in the world. We are less respected now than we were eight years ago or even four years ago."
— Barack Obama, first presidential debate, September 26, 2008.
The Obama Administration wants the world to know that it cares very deeply about bringing self-admitted national-security leaker Edward Snowden back to the U.S. to stand trial. If only the world seemed to care as much about what the U.S. thinks.
Last week the U.S. announced that it had indicted Mr. Snowden on espionage and other charges and asked Hong Kong, where he'd been hiding out and giving interviews, to detain and extradite him. On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder called Hong Kong Secretary of Justice Rimsky Yuen to ask the government "to honor our request for Snowden's arrest," according to an official cited in the Washington Post.
Tom Donilon, the White House national security adviser, added his own rare public demarche on Saturday, saying, "Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case."
On Sunday, Hong Kong let Mr. Snowden board a plane to Moscow.
Hong Kong's government offered a transparently lame excuse, claiming the documents provided by the U.S. to justify arrest "did not fully comply" with their laws. Yet under terms of the territory's bilateral 1996 extradition treaty with the U.S., Hong Kong was obliged to detain anyone wanted on criminal charges in America.
Several news outlets are reporting that Chinese officials in Beijing pressed Hong Kong's leaders to let Mr. Snowden go. Only two weeks ago Mr. Obama hosted new Chinese President Xi Jinping at a "shirt-sleeve summit" designed to build personal goodwill. On Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that "We are just not buying that this was a technical decision by a Hong Kong immigration official."
On Monday night the drama moved to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where Mr. Snowden bought a seat on an Aeroflot flight to Havana but didn't turn up for departure. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Russia to send Mr. Snowden to the U.S., saying, "I would urge them to live by the standards of the law" and "there would be without any question some effect and impact on the relationship" with the U.S. if the Kremlin knew about and facilitated Mr. Snowden's flight to Russia.
As we write these words, it isn't clear where Mr. Snowden is, but Russian media are reporting that Russian authorities are saying there are no legal grounds to arrest him. The Kremlin has said nothing in public, so perhaps the FSB (the new KGB) is interrogating him or downloading the secret NSA data he brought with him. A "reset" of U.S.-Russian relations has been one of Mr. Obama's foreign policy priorities.
Mr. Snowden's many legal escorts are saying he may next go to Cuba, or Venezuela, or Ecuador, which has already granted asylum in its London embassy to WikiLeaker Julian Assange. Asked about "repercussions" for countries that defy the U.S., Mr. Carney, the White House spokesman, refused to speculate.
3b)The Age of American Impotence
As the Edward Snowden saga illustrates, the Obama administration is running out of foreign influence.
By Bret Stephens
At this writing, Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive National Security Agency contractor indicted on espionage charges, is in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin's spokesman insists his government is powerless to detain him. "We have nothing to do with this story," says Dmitri Peskov. "I don't approve or disapprove plane tickets."
Funny how Mr. Putin always seems to discover his inner civil libertarian when it's an opportunity to humiliate the United States. When the Russian government wants someone off Russian soil, it either removes him from it or puts him under it. Just ask investor Bill Browder, who was declared persona non grata when he tried to land in Moscow in November 2005. Or think of Mr. Browder's lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, murdered by Russian prison officials four years later.
Mr. Snowden arrived in Moscow from Hong Kong, where local officials refused a U.S. arrest request, supposedly on grounds it "did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." That's funny, too, since Mr. Snowden had been staying in a Chinese government safe house before Beijing gave the order to ignore the U.S. request and let him go.
"The Hong Kong government didn't have much of a role," Albert Ho, a Hong Kong legislator, told Reuters. "Its role was to receive instructions to not stop him at the airport."
Now Mr. Snowden may be on his way to Havana, or Caracas, or Quito. It's been said often enough that this so-called transparency crusader remains free thanks to the cheek and indulgence of dictatorships and strongmen. It's also been said that his case illustrates how little has been achieved by President Obama's "reset" with Moscow, or with his California schmoozing of China's Xi Jinping earlier this month.
But however the Snowden episode turns out (and don't be surprised if the Russians wind up handing him over in exchange for an unspecified American favor), what it mainly illustrates is that we are living in an age of American impotence. The Obama administration has decided it wants out from nettlesome foreign entanglements, and now finds itself surprised that it's running out of foreign influence.
That is the larger significance of last week's Afghan diplomatic debacle, in which the Taliban opened an office in Doha for the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan"—the name Mullah Omar grandiloquently gave his regime in Kabul before its 2001 downfall. Afghan President Hamid Karzai responded by shutting down negotiations with the U.S. over post-2014 security cooperation.
Now the U.S. finds itself in an amazing position. Merely to get the Taliban to the table for a bogus peace process, the administration agreed at Pakistan's urging to let Mullah Omar come to the table on his owns terms: no acceptance of the Afghan Constitution, no cease-fire with international forces, not even a formal pledge to never again allow Afghanistan to become a haven for international terrorism. The U.S. also agreed, according to Pakistani sources, to allow the terrorist Haqqani network—whose exploits include the 2011 siege of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul—a seat at the table.
Yet having legitimized Haqqani and given the Taliban everything it wanted in exchange for nothing, the U.S. finds itself being dumped by its own client government in Kabul, which can always turn to Iran as a substitute patron. Incredible: no peace, no peace process, no ally, no leverage and no moral standing, all in a single stroke. John Kerry is off to quite a start.
What's happening in Afghanistan is of a piece with the larger pattern of U.S. diplomacy. Iraq? The administration made the complete withdrawal of our troops a cornerstone of its first-term foreign policy, and now finds itself surprised that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won't lift a finger to prevent Iranian cargo planes from overflying his airspace en route to resupplying Bashar Assad's military. Syria? President Obama spent two years giving the country's civil war the widest berth, creating the power vacuum in which Iran, Hezbollah and Russia may soon achieve their strategic goals.
And Iran: In 2003, Tehran briefly halted its secret nuclear-weapons work and agreed to suspend its enrichment activities, at least for a few months. Yet since then, every U.S. effort to persuade Iran to alter its nuclear course has failed. Is it because the Obama administration was insufficiently solicitous, patient, or eager for a deal? Or is it that Tehran believes that treating this administration with contempt carries little cost?
"America can't do a damn thing against us" was a maxim of the Iranian revolution in its early days when America meant Jimmy Carter. Under President Obama, the new maxim could well be "America won't do a damn thing."
Which brings us back to the Snowden file. Speaking from India, Mr. Kerry offered a view on what it would mean for Russia to allow him to flee. "Disappointing," said our 68th secretary of state. He added "there would be without any question some effect and impact on the relationship and consequences."
Moscow must be trembling
3c)Russia angrily rejects Obama admin Snowden demands
Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday bluntly rejected U.S. demands to extradite National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, who has apparently stopped in Moscow while trying to evade U.S. justice, saying that Snowden hasn't crossed the Russian border.
Sergey Lavrov insisted that Russia has nothing to do with him or his travel plans. Lavrov wouldn't say where Snowden is, but he angrily lashed out at the U.S. for demanding his extradition and warnings of negative consequences if Moscow fails to comply.
"We consider the attempts to accuse Russia of violation of U.S. laws and even some sort of conspiracy, which on top of all that are accompanied by threats, as absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable," Lavrov said. "There are no legal grounds for such conduct of U.S. officials, and we proceed from that."
U.S and Ecuadorean officials said they believed Snowden was still in Russia, where he fled Sunday after weeks of hiding out in Hong Kong following his disclosure of the broad scope of two highly classified counterterror surveillance programs to two newspapers. The programs collect vast amounts of Americans' phone records and worldwide online data in the name of national security.
Lavrov claimed that the Russian government has only found out about Snowden's flight from Hong Kong from news reports.
"We have no relation to Mr. Snowden, his relations with the American justice or his travel around the world," Lavrov said. "He chooses his route himself, and we have learned about it from the media."
Snowden booked a seat on a Havana-bound flight from Moscow Monday en route to Venezuela and then possible asylum in Ecuador, but he didn't show up on the plane. Russian news reports said he has remained at a transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, but he hasn't been seen there by the media.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has embraced Snowden and WikiLeaks experts are believed to be assisting him in arranging asylum.
Assange on Monday declined to discuss where Snowden was but said he was only passing through Russia and had applied for asylum in Ecuador, Iceland and possibly other countries.
Ecuador's foreign minister hailed Snowden on Monday as "a man attempting to bring light and transparency to facts that affect everyone's fundamental liberties."
The decision whether to grant Snowden the asylum he has requested is a choice between "betraying the citizens of the world or betraying certain powerful elites in a specific country," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters while visiting Vietnam. He said Tuesday that he didn't know Snowden's exact whereabouts.
A high-ranking Ecuadorean official told The Associated Press that Russia and Ecuador were discussing where Snowden could go, and the process could take days. He also said Ecuador's ambassador to Moscow had not seen or spoken to Snowden. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the U.S. had made demands to "a series of governments," including Ecuador, that Snowden be barred from any international travel other than to be returned to the U.S. The U.S. has revoked Snowden's passport.
Secretary of State John Kerry urged Moscow to "do the right thing" and turn over Snowden.
"We're following all the appropriate legal channels and working with various other countries to make sure that the rule of law is observed," President Barack Obama told reporters when asked if he was confident that Russia would expel Snowden.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. was expecting the Russians "to look at the options available to them to expel Mr. Snowden back to the United States to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged."
Some experts said it was likely the Russian spy agencies were questioning Snowden on what he knew about U.S. electronic espionage against Moscow.
"If Russian special services hadn't shown interest in Snowden, they would have been utterly unprofessional," Igor Korotchenko, a former colonel in Russia's top military command turned security analyst, said on state Rossiya 24 television.
The Kremlin has previously said Russia would be ready to consider Snowden's request for asylum.
Snowden is a former CIA employee who later was hired as a contractor for the NSA. In that job, he gained access to documents that he gave to The Guardian and The Washington Post to expose what he contends are privacy violations by an authoritarian government.
Snowden also told the South China Morning Post that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data." He is believed to have more than 200 additional sensitive documents in laptops he is carrying.
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4)Despite Sanctions, Iran's Money Flow Continues
It's time for the Swift global financial network to cut off service to all of Iran's banks, not just 14.
by Avi Jorisch
The United States and Europe are failing to use a tool already in their possession that would deliver a knockout blow to Iran's nuclear program. It isn't a new piece of computer malware or a bomb. The group that would accomplish the mission isn't the Pentagon or the European Union—it's the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or Swift.
From its headquarters in La Hulpe, Belgium, near Brussels, Swift facilitates about a million global financial transactions per day by serving as an interbank messaging system for crediting and debiting accounts. Iranian financial institutions, like nearly every bank in the world, are reliant on Swift to move funds globally.
The EU has blacklisted 14 of Iran's 30 banks for facilitating illicit activity, including terrorism. The U.S. has designatedthe 14 banks named by the EU as well as another six Iranian banks for supporting Iran's nuclear program and sponsorship of terrorism. Critically, the U.S. has also blacklisted all 30 Iranian banks for deficiencies present in the anti-money-laundering systems of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Swift, however, has barred only the 14 banks blacklisted by the EU, leaving the other Iranian banks free to work within the global financial system. This is a clear violation of Swift's own corporate rules, which state that services "should not be used to facilitate illegal activities." Moreover, given Swift's large physical presence in New York and its business dealings in the U.S., there are strong legal grounds to argue that it is subject to U.S. law, which would mean it is violating that as well.
U.S. banking regulators and Treasury officials have an obligation to make Swift stop its dealings with Iranian banks or cease business operations in the United States. If Swift continues to service banks that the U.S. Treasury has designated as engaged in "specified unlawful activities," the U.S. government can take immediate legal action—under the Patriot Act of 2001 and the Laundering Control Act of 1986—and freeze its U.S.-based assets.
In Europe, Swift is adhering to the letter of the law by cutting off service to the 14 Iranian financial institutions on the EU blacklist. But the impact is blunted because those Iranian banks not on the list retain access to the Swift network and provide their blacklisted counterparts entree to the international financial system through correspondent services. The symbiotic relationship of the Iranian government and its banking sector enables the regime to maintain access to foreign currencies and markets by exploiting the banks that continue to use Swift.
Swift has maintained that it is a "neutral global financial communication network." But by any reasonable standard, Iran has forfeited its right to move money through the international financial system. It has done so by forcing its banks to sponsor terrorism, support Tehran's dangerous nuclear objectives, and facilitate criminal activity.
In February, Swift CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt said that if Swift completely stopped servicing Iranian banks, the Islamic Republic would be forced to reconcile its fund transfers using email or telephone, and that such alternatives are "not as secure as Swift and [lack] the convenience factor." In laymen's terms, Iran would effectively be shut out of the formal banking sector.
To make the existing sanctions more effective, European lawmakers should urge the European Central Bank to issue a banking advisory, as the U.S. did in 2008 and 2010, highlighting the fact that all Iranian banks are engaging in money laundering and other illicit behavior. This should provide Swift with the necessary justification for cutting off business with all 30 Iranian banks, not just those on the EU blacklist.
The Islamic Republic uses banks to support its quest for nuclear weapons, a quest that international sanctions are designed to foil. For this reason, the European Central Bank and U.S. Treasury should demand that Swift cease doing business with the Iranian-owned and operated banks and take action to ensure its compliance. Their failure to make this demand enables Iran to flout the will of the international community and thumb its nose at the sanctions so lengthily and laboriously negotiated.
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5)This is something everyone in America should read.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------VIETNAMESE IMMIGRANTIt looks like we did some good after all! On Saturday, July 24th, 2010 the town of Prescott Valley, AZ, hosted a Freedom Rally. Quang Nguyen was asked to speak on his experience of coming to America and what it means. He spoke the following in dedication to all Vietnam Veterans. Thought you might enjoy hearing what he had to say:
35 years ago, if you were to tell me that I am going to stand up here speaking to a couple thousand patriots, in English, I'd laugh at you. Man, every morning I wake up thanking God for putting me and my family in the greatest country on earth.
I just want you all to know that the American dream does exist and I am living the American dream. I was asked to speak to you about my experience as a first generation Vietnamese-American, but I'd rather speak to you as an American.
If you hadn't noticed, I am not white and I feel pretty comfortable with my people.
I am a proud US citizen and here is my proof. It took me 8 years to get it, waiting in endless lines, but I got it, and I am very proud of it.
I still remember the images of the Tet offensive in 1968, I was six years old. Now you might want to question how a 6-year-old boy could remember anything. Trust me, those images can never be erased. I can't even imagine what it was like for young American soldiers, 10,000 miles away from home, fighting on my behalf.
35 years ago, I left South Vietnam for political asylum. The war had ended. At the age of 13, I left with the understanding that I may or may not ever get to see my siblings or parents again. I was one of the first lucky 100,000 Vietnamese allowed to come to the US . Somehow, my family and I were reunited 5 months later, amazingly, in California . It was a miracle from God.
If you haven't heard lately that this is the greatest country on earth, I am telling you that right now. It was the freedom and the opportunities presented to me that put me here with all of you tonight. I also remember the barriers that I had to overcome every step of the way. My high school counselor told me that I cannot make it to college due to my poor communication skills. I proved him wrong. I finished college. You see, all you have to do is to give this little boy an opportunity and encourage him to take and run with it. Well, I took the opportunity and here I am.
This person standing tonight in front of you could not exist under a socialist/communist environment. By the way, if you think socialism is the way to go, I am sure many people here will chip in to get you a one-way ticket out of here. And if you didn't know, the only difference between socialism and communism is an AK-47 aimed at your head. That was my experience.
In 1982, I stood with a thousand new immigrants, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and listening to the National Anthem for the first time as an American. To this day, I can't remember anything sweeter and more patriotic than that moment in my life.
Fast forwarding, somehow I finished high school, finished college, and like any other goofball 21 year old kid, I was having a great time with my life. I had a nice job and a nice apartment in Southern California . In some way and somehow, I had forgotten how I got here and why I was here.
One day I was at a gas station, I saw a veteran pumping gas on the other side of the island. I don't know what made me do it, but I walked over and asked if he had served in Vietnam . He smiled and said yes. I shook and held his hand. The grown man began to well up. I walked away as fast as I could and at that very moment, I was emotionally rocked. This was a profound moment in my life. I knew something had to change in my life. It was time for me to learn how to be a good citizen. It was time for me to give back.
You see, America is not just a place on the map, it isn't just a physical location. It is an ideal, a concept. And if you are an American, you must understand the concept, you must accept this concept, and most importantly, you have to fight and defend this concept. This is about Freedom and not free stuff. And that is why I am standing up here.
Brothers and sisters, to be a real American, the very least you must do is to learn English and understand it well. In my humble opinion, you cannot be a faithful patriotic citizen if you can't speak the language of the country you live in. Take this document of 46 pages - last I looked on the Internet, there wasn't a Vietnamese translation of the US Constitution. It took me a long time to get to the point of being able to converse and until this day, I still struggle to come up with the right words. It's not easy, but if it's too easy, it's not worth doing.
Before I knew this 46-page document, I learned of the 500,000 Americans who fought for this little boy. I learned of the 58,000 names scribed on the black wall at the Vietnam Memorial. You are my heroes. You are my founders.
At this time, I would like to ask all the Vietnam veterans to please stand. I thank you for my life. I thank you for your sacrifices, and I thank you for giving me the freedom and liberty I have today. I now ask all veterans, firefighters, and police officers, to please stand. On behalf of all first generation immigrants, I thank you for your services and may God bless you all.Quang Nguyen
Creative Director/Founder
Caddis Advertising, LLC"God Bless America ""One Flag, One Language, One Nation Under God"For those who understand, no explanation is needed.For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
5) This is something everyone in America should read.
VIETNAMESE IMMIGRANTIt looks like we did some good after all! On Saturday, July 24th, 2010 the town of Prescott Valley, AZ, hosted a Freedom Rally. Quang Nguyen was asked to speak on his experience of coming to America and what it means. He spoke the following in dedication to all Vietnam Veterans. Thought you might enjoy hearing what he had to say:
35 years ago, if you were to tell me that I am going to stand up here speaking to a couple thousand patriots, in English, I'd laugh at you. Man, every morning I wake up thanking God for putting me and my family in the greatest country on earth.
I just want you all to know that the American dream does exist and I am living the American dream. I was asked to speak to you about my experience as a first generation Vietnamese-American, but I'd rather speak to you as an American.
If you hadn't noticed, I am not white and I feel pretty comfortable with my people.
I am a proud US citizen and here is my proof. It took me 8 years to get it, waiting in endless lines, but I got it, and I am very proud of it.
I still remember the images of the Tet offensive in 1968, I was six years old. Now you might want to question how a 6-year-old boy could remember anything. Trust me, those images can never be erased. I can't even imagine what it was like for young American soldiers, 10,000 miles away from home, fighting on my behalf.
35 years ago, I left South Vietnam for political asylum. The war had ended. At the age of 13, I left with the understanding that I may or may not ever get to see my siblings or parents again. I was one of the first lucky 100,000 Vietnamese allowed to come to the US . Somehow, my family and I were reunited 5 months later, amazingly, in California . It was a miracle from God.
If you haven't heard lately that this is the greatest country on earth, I am telling you that right now. It was the freedom and the opportunities presented to me that put me here with all of you tonight. I also remember the barriers that I had to overcome every step of the way. My high school counselor told me that I cannot make it to college due to my poor communication skills. I proved him wrong. I finished college. You see, all you have to do is to give this little boy an opportunity and encourage him to take and run with it. Well, I took the opportunity and here I am.
This person standing tonight in front of you could not exist under a socialist/communist environment. By the way, if you think socialism is the way to go, I am sure many people here will chip in to get you a one-way ticket out of here. And if you didn't know, the only difference between socialism and communism is an AK-47 aimed at your head. That was my experience.
In 1982, I stood with a thousand new immigrants, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and listening to the National Anthem for the first time as an American. To this day, I can't remember anything sweeter and more patriotic than that moment in my life.
Fast forwarding, somehow I finished high school, finished college, and like any other goofball 21 year old kid, I was having a great time with my life. I had a nice job and a nice apartment in Southern California . In some way and somehow, I had forgotten how I got here and why I was here.
One day I was at a gas station, I saw a veteran pumping gas on the other side of the island. I don't know what made me do it, but I walked over and asked if he had served in Vietnam . He smiled and said yes. I shook and held his hand. The grown man began to well up. I walked away as fast as I could and at that very moment, I was emotionally rocked. This was a profound moment in my life. I knew something had to change in my life. It was time for me to learn how to be a good citizen. It was time for me to give back.
You see, America is not just a place on the map, it isn't just a physical location. It is an ideal, a concept. And if you are an American, you must understand the concept, you must accept this concept, and most importantly, you have to fight and defend this concept. This is about Freedom and not free stuff. And that is why I am standing up here.
Brothers and sisters, to be a real American, the very least you must do is to learn English and understand it well. In my humble opinion, you cannot be a faithful patriotic citizen if you can't speak the language of the country you live in. Take this document of 46 pages - last I looked on the Internet, there wasn't a Vietnamese translation of the US Constitution. It took me a long time to get to the point of being able to converse and until this day, I still struggle to come up with the right words. It's not easy, but if it's too easy, it's not worth doing.
Before I knew this 46-page document, I learned of the 500,000 Americans who fought for this little boy. I learned of the 58,000 names scribed on the black wall at the Vietnam Memorial. You are my heroes. You are my founders.
At this time, I would like to ask all the Vietnam veterans to please stand. I thank you for my life. I thank you for your sacrifices, and I thank you for giving me the freedom and liberty I have today. I now ask all veterans, firefighters, and police officers, to please stand. On behalf of all first generation immigrants, I thank you for your services and may God bless you all.Quang Nguyen
Creative Director/Founder
Caddis Advertising, LLC"God Bless America ""One Flag, One Language, One Nation Under God"For those who understand, no explanation is needed.For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
5a) The year is 1907, one hundred and 3 years ago. (Actually, 106 years ago, if the date is important)
'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
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