President Obama announced Thursday that he has asked his administration to prepare the “full range of options” in confronting Libyan despot Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi, presently slaughtering his citizens as a civil war grips his nation.There are ample U.S. military resources in the Middle East and the Mediterranean for a strike against Qaddafi’s army, built with petro bucks but divided by the same ethnic and regional divisions that are now rending the nation
care to maintain balance in his pronouncements over the uprisings in Egypt. By contrast, this statement was unequivocal in its criticism of Gaddafi’s actions. Obama promised that the Libyan leader would be held accountable.
The more muscular U.S. stance emerged as diplomats met at the United Nations Security Council trying to hammer out a resolution that would impose sanctions on Qadhafi’s regime in response to reports that thousands of anti-government protesters have been killed by mercenaries and security forces.
We have always said that the Qadhafi government’s future is a matter for the Libyan people to decide, and they have made themselves clear. When a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now. ]]>
Ratcheting up the pressure, President Barack Obama on Saturday said Moammar Gadhafi has lost his legitimacy to rule and urged the Libyan leader to leave power immediately.It was the first time Obama has called for Gadhafi to step down, coming after days of bloodshed in Libya. Gadhafi has vowed to fight to the end to maintain his four-decade grip on power in the North African country.
The US president took care to maintain balance in his pronouncements over the uprisings in Egypt. By contrast, this statement was unequivocal in its criticism of Gaddafi’s actions. Obama promised that the Libyan leader would be held accountable.
The more muscular U.S. stance emerged as diplomats met at the United Nations Security Council trying to hammer out a resolution that would impose sanctions on Qadhafi’s regime in response to reports that thousands of anti-government protesters have been killed by mercenaries and security forces.
We have always said that the Qadhafi government’s future is a matter for the Libyan people to decide, and they have made themselves clear. When a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now.
Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has said in a speech on Libyan state television that al-Qaeda is responsible for the uprising in Libya.
“It is obvious now that this issue is run by al-Qaeda,” he said, speaking by phone from an unspecified location on Thursday.Gadhafi urged Libyans to take weapons away from protesters who have assumed control of large parts of the country.
“The constitution is very clear: take the weapons from them,” Gadhafi said. “I only have moral authority,” said the leader, who has traditionally sought to present himself as a leader of a revolution that is led by the people, rather than a traditional executive head of state.
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”Obama returns Gibbs’ tie at last White House briefing”
Outgoing White House press secretary Robert Gibbs got quite the departing gift from President Obama today on his last day: his old tie back.
As President Barack Obama took the podium to begin the farewell, Obama joked, Obviously, Gibbs’ departure is not the biggest one today, referring to the resignation of Egypt’s president, which was announced hours before.
Obama said that Gibbs has “not only has been an extraordinary press secretary but has been a great friend.
Gibbs, in response, said “it is a tremendous honor and privilege to do this every day, to serve and to take part in days like today that are so momentous.
Obama presented Gibbs with a gift – a large, framed necktie with accompanying snapshots of the two of them.
Mr. Obama appeared in the briefing room shortly after he delivered his formal statement on the departure of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and he left without taking any questions on the situation there. ]]>
Is Oliver Stone some sort of Soviet sleeper whom the Reds forgot to de-programme when the USSR collapsed, or simply the most politically naïve baby-boomer alive?
Just as some people stop listening to new music at some point in their lives and are forever stuck in a musical time warp, so it is for some politically – and Stone’s political development seems to have arrested some time around May 1968.
The director has previously expressed kind words for Hugo Chavez and made a grovelling documentary about murderous commie gasbag Fidel Castro, as well as promoting the ludicrous idea that John F Kennedy was killed by some Right-wing conspiracy.
But in an interview with Camilla Long of the Sunday Times (no link, unless you’ve signed up) yesterday Stone excelled himself by saying:
“Hitler was a Frankenstein but there was also a Dr Frankenstein. German industrialists, the Americans and the British. He had a lot of support …
“Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than [to] the Jewish people, 25 or 30 [million killed].”
And the reason why this is not well known?
“The Jewish domination of the media… There’s a major lobby in the United States. They are hard workers. They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f***** up United States foreign policy for years.”
The first claim is an outright lie invented by the Soviet Union’s propaganda machine, which promoted the idea that Hitler was a capitalist tool, rather than an ultra-conservative anti-capitalist who preyed on people’s fears of the Bolsheviks. They did this to present the German Federal Republic as a continuation of Nazi Germany, rather than a legitimate, democratic state, and to downplay the indirect role of the German Communists in the rise of Hitler.
The second idea, again, is Soviet-made. Far more Russians died in World War 2 than people from any other nation, but no individual group was targeted specifically for destruction like the Jews, and no group suffered as much proportionately to their size. More than half of Europe’s Jews were systematically slaughtered, not in the battlefield or as a result of starvation, as many Russians and Germans died, but as civilians rounded up for deliberate murder. Unlike the Russian or German victims, their leaders had done nothing to bring about this destruction. I dare anyone to visit Auschwitz and not come away thinking this was a unique act of human evil. You don’t have to be Jewish to feel extremely disturbed and upset by industrialised murder, just human.
Besides which, even if it was a question of sheer numbers, that does not change a thing – three times as many people died in the Spanish Flu epidemic as the Holocaust, but does that make it more significant or worthy of film time? Of course not.
source:telegraph.co.uk ]]>
North Korea has a message for its neighbor to the south: Hold friendly naval drills with the U.S., and you can expect a nuclear response.
The communist country said on Saturday that the drills between the U.S. and South Korea would prompt a “retaliatory sacred war,” and that they’d respond with “powerful nuclear deterrence.”
In the past, North Korea has threatened war when the two countries have held joint military drills. 
But the newest warning comes as Asian leaders met in Vietnam this past week for a regional security forum.
The meeting focused largely on North Korea’s alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in March. The incident, which killed 46 sailors, has been an increasing source of tension between the two Koreas.
Pyongyang has denied any involvement.
The North’s National Defense Commission, headed by Kim Jong Il, called the joint exercises “unpardonable.”
“The army and people of the (North) will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises,” the commission said in a prepared statement.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who attended the security forum, said on Friday it was “distressing” that North Korea keeps issuing threats. She said the joint naval maneuvers would take place as planned.
On Wednesday, Clinton said the U.S. would impose new sanctions on North Korea to penalize the country for the Cheonan sinking and suppress any nuclear plans the country might have
source:nydailynews.com ]]>
CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez severed Venezuela’s diplomatic relations with Colombia on Thursday over claims he harbors guerrillas, and he charged that his neighbor’s leader could attempt to provoke a war.
Chavez said he was forced to break off all relations because Colombian officials claim he has failed to move against leftist rebels who allegedly have taken shelter in Venezuelan territory.
Chavez acted moments after Colombian Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos presented a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington with photos, videos, witness testimony and maps of what he said were rebel camps inside Venezuela and challenged Venezuelan officials to let independent observers visit them.
Neither Chavez nor his OAS ambassador directly responded to the Colombian challenge to let people visit the alleged site of the camps.
In Washington, Hoyos said that roughly 1,500 rebels are hiding out in Venezuela and he showed fellow diplomats numerous aerial photographs of what he identified as rebel camps on Venezuelan territory.
Hoyos said that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s government has repeatedly asked for Venezuela’s cooperation to prevent guerrillas from slipping over the 1,400-mile (2,300-kilometer) border that separates the two countries. He insisted that several rebel leaders are hiding out in Venezuela.
“We have the right to demand that Venezuela doesn’t hide those wanted by Colombia,” Hoyos said, urging the OAS to investigate Colombia’s claims.
OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza told reporters after the four-hour session that his organization couldn’t mount an inspection mission without Venezuela’s consent.
(AP) ]]>
Former Nev. Gov. Kenny Guinn dies in Las VegasLAS VEGAS — Former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, a two-term moderate Republican whose tenure marked a prosperous era in a state now facing severe budget problems, died Thursday after falling from the roof of his Las Vegas home while making repairs. He was 73.
The predecessor to current Gov. Jim Gibbons was pronounced dead at University Medical Center, where he was taken after the fall, Coroner Mike Murphy said. Authorities were investigating whether the death was from natural causes or an accident.
Billy Vassiliadis, a friend and spokesman for the Guinn family at the hospital, said Guinn had been on the roof making repairs. He said Guinn’s wife, Dema Guinn, found him and called 911 . Police received the call just after 10:30 a.m.
“She lost her best friend this morning,” Vassiliadis said.
Gibbons ordered flags at state buildings to be lowered to half-staff and issued a statement saying, “On behalf of all Nevadans, I extend our deepest sympathy to his family and friends.”
The state Senate minority leader, Bill Raggio, R-Nev., called Guinn “undoubtedly one of the best public servants who has ever served and one of the best governors we’ve every had.”
“He was an example of someone who was committed to working with other across the party lines,” Raggio said, choking on his emotions during a telephone interview. “He still had so much to offer.”
Guinn, a former Clark County school superintendent and millionaire bank chairman, was a Democrat-turned-moderate Republican who served two terms as governor from 1998 to 2007. His tenure marked a prosperous era in a state now facing huge tax deficits, the highest unemployment rate, at 14.2 percent, and the most foreclosures per capita in the nation.
“He was the right guy for the times, and he had the guts to stand up and do what was best for the citizens of Nevada,” said Greg Bortolin, a former spokesman for Guinn.
Guinn was elected in his first bid for statewide office, defeating Democrat Jan Jones with 52 percent of the vote while drawing criticism that he was the hand-picked candidate of powerful special interests. He departed ranked by Time magazine as one of the nation’s best governors.
During his tenure in Carson City, he overhauled government agency operations, revamped budgeting and tax collections, pushed for a major student scholarship program, fought federal plans to bury nuclear waste in the desert outside Las Vegas and sought to diversify Nevada’s casino-dependent economy.
Guinn also spearheaded the biggest tax increase in state history, then returned to residents $300 million in excess revenues.
In 1999, during his first term as governor, he pushed the Legislature to approve his Millennium Scholarship program that uses tobacco company settlement funds to help Nevada students pay for their college costs at state schools.
With the state past an economic slump that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he pushed for a broader tax base and sought more funding for social services and education in the 2003 legislative session.
(AP) ]]>
Sarah Palin “Refudiate” Twitter Post, What Is Refudiate?Sarah Palin is always giving people something to talk about. Today the term “refudiate” became of the highest searches on the Web after she included it in a Twitter post asking Muslims to withdraw their support for a mosque near Ground Zero.
Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.” Said Palin in her Twitter account.
She later removed the post, but then decided to include it again and defend her creative use of language:
“Refudiate,” “misunderestimate,” “wee-wee’d up.” English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!”
The Toronto Sun notes this is not the first time Palin has used this strange term: “She first used the term on July 14 on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, when she asked Michelle Obama to “refudiate” claims that the Tea Party movement is racist.
source:toppayingideas.com ]]>
USS George Washington to Visit Republic of KoreaUSS George Washington, the U.S. Navy’s only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier will visit the Korean port of Busan July 21 to 25, U.S. Forces Korea officials announced today.
In addition to USS George Washington, three destroyers from its strike group will also visit
Korean ports. USS McCampbell and USS John S. McCain will visit Busan, and USS Lassen will visit Chinhae.
“The U.S. Navy maintains a robust forward presence in the Asia-Pacific region and the people of the Republic of Korea are our good friends and allies,” said George Washington commanding officer Capt. David Lausman. “Our presence here is a testament to the strength of our alliance and our constant readiness to defend the Republic of Korea.”
While in Busan, the George Washington will host a reception for distinguished members of the community, and will conduct a number of guided tours of the 97,000-ton aircraft carrier.
“For more than 60 years, we have maintained a strong alliance with the Republic of Korea,” Lausman said. “My crew is thrilled with the opportunity to interact with the Korean people and show them their incredible level of pride and professionalism.”
While in port, about 300 George Washington sailors will volunteer their time to landscape a home for the elderly, visit an orphanage and help make repairs at a local school.
“These deeds are a small token of goodwill on our part towards Korea and lets them know we care,” said George Washington Chaplain Cmdr. Brian Haley. “This is also character building for our sailors, so I think this is really a win-win opportunity for them and us.”
source:globalsecurity.org ]]>