Secretary of State John Kerry's 'Background' demonstrates why Huma Abedin’s background mattered

Secretary of State John Kerry's 'Background' demonstrates why Huma Abedin’s background mattered

From Will at THE OTHER NEWS:

Secretary of State John Kerry's 'Background' demonstrates why Huma Abedin’s background mattered.HT: Shoebat.

When folks like Andrew McCarthy articulated why our findings about then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s close adviser Huma Abedin were important, his camp was smeared as being discriminatory.His argument had nothing to do with discrimination or Islamophobia. It had everything to do with Abedin’s familial ties compromising her judgment and allegiances to the U.S. Constitution.

Here we have an example that demonstrates this reality further and it comes via Kenneth Timmerman, who has picked up on the fact that the new Secretary of State – John Kerry – has a son-in-law with family still living in Iran. This reality could conceivably affect how Kerry deals with the Iranians.

Via the Daily Caller:

In a greeting to the Iranian people on the occasion of the traditional New Year (Nowruz) holiday last week, Secretary of State John Kerry exposed a secret that journalists and academics have been agonizing over for the past six weeks: the fact that his daughter has married an Iranian-American who has extensive family ties to Iran.

“I am proud of the Iranian-Americans in my own family, and grateful for how they have enriched my life,” Kerry said in the official statement. Kerry also said he was “strongly committed to resolving” the differences between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, “to the mutual benefit of both of our people.”

Politicians like to keep their families off-limits to the press, a decorum enforced vigorously when it comes to politicians who are in favor with the national media but ruthlessly discarded for others. But in Kerry’s case, there could be larger ramifications.

Since its inception, the FBI has vetted U.S. government officials involved in national security issues, and it generally won’t grant clearances to individuals who are married to nationals of an enemy nation or have family members living in that country, for fear of divided loyalties or, more simply, blackmail.

There it is. Certainly, even leftists can comprehend this concept without inserting race into their thought processes (oh, wait). Imagine a scenario in which a representative of Iran’s mullahs approaches the State Department with a list of demands that, if not met, could have serious consequences for Kerry’s in-laws living in Iran.

In the current political construct, such demands could conceivably involve the U.S. withholding money, weapons, or aid earmarked for a country like Egypt as tensions in the Middle East escalate. While that may not sound like a bad idea to those of us who understand the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood,shouldn’t our Secretary of State’s sole interest be in lockstep with the interests of the United States?

Last year, Abedin’s familial ties to the Brotherhood prompted calls to see her Form 86, which she would have had to fill out in order to gain a security clearance. If she did not, we have a problem. Similarly, if Kerry did not, we also have a problem.

Who would have thought that two consecutive Secretaries of State would have to deal with such controversy?

Then again, enough people have to care in order for it to actually be a controversy.Hmmm.......Kerry: I Will Implement 'President Obama's Vision For The World'. Read the full story here.

Professor Says, Turks in Germany are a Time Bomb

From Vlad Tepes Blog:

“The Turks in Germany are a time bomb, at least the majority of them”. This is the statement with which Peter Cohen, an American visiting professor at Munich University, concludes his recent study in Germany. 

Three million Turks live already in Germany already, while 2.5 million of them have German nationality, and the majority of them are conservative Muslims.
Are they integrated in the German society? Not really. 

The majority of them speak broken German, especially the elderly. 

“They don’t want to integrate in the German society,” says Hartmut, who doesn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals by violent Turks. “They even hate to be called ‘migrants’. They feel very Turkish. They happen to be in Germany as the elderly generation in the 1960s had been recruited to work in the car and coal industries. Now, culturally the majority of Turks, even the young, here in Germany feel very Turkish. ” Adds Hartmut, who is a social scientist at a German university. 

Professor Cohen subscribes to what Hartmut says about Turkish migration, “In the USA, for instance, migrants usually integrate in the American society, latest when the second generation is there. My survey indicate that the majority of Turks insist on keeping their Turkish identity and their cultural heritage. They feel at home in the Turkish culture.” 

Very few Turks in Germany have a regular job; about 20%. The other 80% live on the so-called Hartz IV (state social benefits). 70% of their children have no GCSE; they left school before they finished their basic education.

Click to continue:

The Rich Are The Problem After All - TAX THE GOVERNMENT

From Sultan Knish:

The top 10 wealthiest men and women in America barely have 250 billion dollars between them. That sounds like a lot of money, until you look at annual Federal budgets which run into the trillions of dollars, and the country's national debt which approaches 15 trillion dollars. And that's not taking into account state budgets. Even Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union, with a population of barely a million, has a multi-billion dollar budget.

As the 10th richest man in America, Michael Bloomberg wields a personal fortune of a mere 18 billion dollars, but as the Mayor of the City of New York, he disposes of an annual budget of 63 billion dollars. In a single year, he disposes of three times his own net worth. A sum that would wipe out the net worth of any billionaire in America. That is the difference between the wealth wielded by the 10th wealthiest man in America, and the mayor of a single city. And that is the real concentration of wealth. Not in the hands of individuals, but at every level of government, from the municipal to the state houses to the White House.


While liberal pundits pop on their stovepipe hats, fix their diamond stickpins and cravats, and trade in 19th century rhetoric about the dangers of trusts and monopolies-- the power in 20th century America lies not in the hands of a few industrialists, but with massive monopolistic trust of government, and its network of unions, non-profits, lobbyists and PAC's. The railroads are broken up, offshore drilling is banned, coal mining is in trouble and Ma Bell has a thousand quarreling stepchildren-- now government is the real big business. 

How big?

The 2008 presidential campaign cost 5.3 billion dollars. Another 1.5 billion for the House and the Senate. And that's not counting another half a billion from the 527's and even shadier fundraising by shadowy political organizations. But that's a small investment when you realize that they were spending billions of dollars to get their hands on trillions of dollars.

Do you know of any company in America where for a mere few billion, you could become the CEO of a company whose shareholders would be forced to sit back and watch for four years while you run up trillion dollar deficits and parcel out billions to your friends? 

Without going to jail or being marched out in handcuffs. A company that will allow you to indulge yourself, travel anywhere at company expense, live the good life, and only work when you feel like it. That will legally indemnify you against all shareholder lawsuits, while allowing you to dispose not only of their investments, but of their personal property in any way you see fit.

There is only one such company. It's called the United States Government.

It wasn't always this way. There used to be limitations on executive and legislative power. But those limitations are gone along with the top hat and the diamond stickpin. Under an ideological cloak of darkness, politicians act as if they can do anything they want. Public outrage is met with alarmist news stories about the dangers of violence, as if this were the reign of the Bourbon kings,  not a democratic republic whose right of protest is as sacrosanct as its flag and its seal. Instead the republic is dominated by political trusts, party machines, media cartels, public sector unions and a million vermin who have sucked the cow dry and are starting in on its tender meat.

Consider that in 2008, Obama pulled in 20 million from the health care industry. (McCain only 7 million). Afterward, he conspired to pass a law which mandated that every American be forced to buy health insurance from the industry. There is no definite figure for how much money the industry will make from this, but it will be a whole lot more than the mere 20 million they invested in him. During the days of the robber barons, the government never mandated that everyone must buy a product from them. Private companies might have contrived such control over the marketplace, but the IRS was never enlisted to collect their bills for them.

Every New York Times columnist who summons up the ghost of T.R. to mewl about the "concentration of wealth" should hang his head in shame. If Theodore Roosevelt were to come to life and behold such a connivance between the government and the industries it created, at the expense of the people, whether it is HMO's or the mortgage market, is there any real doubt that he would seize his big stick and bust some trusts.

How much money has flowed from the Obama Administration to its friends in the private sector in just the last year alone? And how much of that money was used to secure jobs for its allied unions, money which is then kicked back to liberal politicians running for office? Entire states are going bankrupt because of political trusts formed by politicians and public sector unions which pass money back and forth to each other in the plain sight of God and the American taxpayer.

This is not the mere concentration of wealth, but the ruthless concentration of power. The real money isn't coming from that top 1 percent, it's coming from unions, lobbies and companies which use political power to extract public money. And that money goes to the party which is so determined to keep on extracting that money no matter what it takes.

The big government left keeps playing the class warfare card, but for all their murmuring, it is not the top 1 percent that robs the middle-class blind and then sends them the bill. Even the worst company in the world isn't as larcenously extortionate as the politicians who spend and kick back, and then cry poverty and raise taxes. They shout that we need to raise taxes on the rich, and supposing that we do, where will that money go? Even if we strip that 1 percent of all their wealth and dress them up in barrels, is there anyone who does not believe that those in power will still contrive to spend it all and run up huge deficits anyway?

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

Mike Stern, Didier Lockwood, Dave Weckl & Tom Kennedy

"KT"

Islamists Turn Holy Mosque Into Christian Torture Chamber

From Gateway Pundit:

Muslims turn holy mosque into Christian torture chamber.

Amir Ayad lies in a hospital bed after he was allegedly beaten by Islamic hardliners who stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo. (MidEast Christian News)

Muslim hardliners stormed a mosque near Cairo and transformed it into a Christian house of torture.

CLICK ON THE TITLE TO READ THE WHOLE STORY.

Pawn Shop

What has been sold, it's not made of stone,
Just remember that it's flesh and bone

Four Enclosed Walls

Public Image Ltd.

Cyprus Border Guards Seizing Money From Suitcases

GOVERNMENT IS THEFT

From Ace of Spades:

Customs officials said border guards at the counrtry’s air and sea ports have been instructed to check baggage and monitor whether travelers are taking more than €10,000 (about $13,000) out of the country. Any amount above that €10,000 threshold can be confiscated.

And it is coming to America. Have no doubt.

What I find most interesting about this story are the repeated assurances - often delivered with a sneer at doomsday prepper hysteria - that nothing of the sort could ever happen in the United States. But every article pooh-poohing the "hysterics" mentions something our government is doing, or has done, that echoes the crisis in Cyprus. They talked about raiding pension funds and stuffing them with government I.O.U.s; American liberals are salivating at the thought of doing the same to our 401k accounts.... 

It all boils down to governments making promises they can't keep... and insisting those promises are still valid, long past the point of no return, unto the point of systemic collapse.

Cyprus A Frightening Foreshadowing Of Thefts To Come?

It's Tuesday and the banks are closed. No one can get their to their money. "Their money".

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has struck a deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund that will seize up to 40% of uninsured funds from wealthier depositors with over 100,000 euros and will not siphon funds from those below that amount. 

The 10 billion euros ($13 billion) bailout plan calls for the Cyprus Popular Bank to be dissolved and all its viable assets transferred to the country’s biggest bank, Bank of Cyprus. 

Presently, Cypriot banks have imposed a 100 euros ATM withdraw limit, and Cyprus border officials at air and sea ports have been ordered to confiscate the funds of any traveler attempting to leave with over 10,000 euros. 

Russian depositors stand to lose out big from the deal, as an estimated 20 billion euros of the 68 billion euros in Cypriot banks belong to Russians. 

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev blasted the Cyprus bailout and said, “In my view, the stealing of what has already been stolen continues.” 

The newly announced terms of the Cyprus-EU bailout deal are far worse for wealthy investors than previously reported and far better for smaller investors.  Initially, the deal would take a one-time “tax” of 9.9% for bank customers with more than 100,000 euros, not the up to 40% brokered in the deal.  Investors under the 100,000 euros mark initially would have 6.75% of their holdings seized, but now they will have no funds taken.

NKOREA PUTS ARTILLERY FORCES AT TOP COMBAT POSTURE
Prepares for 'strikes against the US mainland'

Georgia Satellites

Keep Your Hands To Yourself

Universal Imprisonment of Women in Saudi Arabia

Rebel with a cause.

Please read and share the following Wall Street Journal article about a woman who dared to drive in Saudi Arabia. Her story illustrates Islamic fundamentals in a low-key and mainstream way — in a way that is shareable with just about anybody.

And her story also demonstrates that the power to keep every woman in Saudi Arabia under house arrest is held in place by oil money. This is something everyone in the free world needs to grasp.

We can undermine the power bestowed on Islamic fundamentalists by oil money and simultaneously strengthen the free world's economy and national security by introducing fuel competition.

The article: The Woman Who Dared to Drive.

Saudis getting special travel benefits

Steve Emerson reports that the country that produced many of the 9-11 hijackers are getting benefits that can enable them to bypass US customs much more easily:

Saudi Arabia, the nation which produced 15 of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks, is about to become one of a handful of countries whose travelers can bypass normal passport controls at major U.S. airports. Sources tell the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) that this will mark the first time that the Saudi government will have a direct role in vetting who is eligible for getting fast-tracked for entry into the United States.

An agreement to accept Saudi Arabian applicants into the Global Entry trusted traveler program drew little notice when it was announced in January. Now, some officials question why the country merits such a benefit – which is similar to a theme park “fast pass” to avoid long lines – when other allies like Germany and France are not yet included. A program for Israeli travelers was reached last May but has not been implemented.

Travelers approved for the program can skip the normal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lines starting next year and enter the country after providing their passports and fingerprints at a kiosk. Only Canada, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands currently enjoy the benefit, although pilot programs could expand it to a handful of others.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the agreement in January after meeting with Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. It “marks another major step forward in our partnership,” Napolitano said at the time. “By enhancing collaboration with the Government of Saudi Arabia, we reaffirm our commitment to more effectively secure our two countries against evolving threats while facilitating legitimate trade and travel.”

Details about how the plan will work with the Saudis have not been released. Nayef’s ministry, however, will be responsible for screening which applicants will be considered when the pilot program begins next year. It’s not known whether the Saudi ministry will share its raw intelligence about applicants with its American counterparts. What is known, based on information provided by a Homeland Security source, is that each individual who makes it into the program will have been vetted by both the CPB and by the Saudi Interior Ministry against various databases.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to make anyone available to answer questions about Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the Global Entry program after repeated requests throughout last week, and after indicating someone would provide more details.

That is cause for concern, given lingering questions about possible Saudi support for some of the 9/11 hijackers and given the Ministry of Interior (MOI)’s inconsistent record on sharing its intelligence on suspected terrorists and terror financiers. Additionally, recent studies by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified significant problems in the way DHS components use computer systems and process intelligence for posting watch list lookouts and overseas screening of foreign nationals.

12 years later, and now weaknesses in policy and security are surfacing again. Heritage Foundation member Jim Phillips says in the article that he wouldn't trust the Saudis to cooperate and provide honest details, and we shouldn't trust them either.

Chris Botti & Yo Yo Ma

Cinema Paradiso

Florida legislation revives bill against sharia

The Florida senate's managed to pass in a panel a previously unsuccessful bill that can help prevent US judges from resorting to sharia:

After it failed last year, lawmakers on Thursday revived a bill that would ban Shariah, or Islamic, law and other foreign laws from Florida courts.

Republican Sen. Alan Hays, who sponsored the bill, said his measure was a "preemptive gesture." There are no reported cases in which a Florida court applied foreign law.

But they ignore any and all of the cases elsewhere in the US that did.

His bill is aimed at divorce and child custody cases and does not mention Shariah, or Islamic law, specifically. The Senate's Governmental Oversight and Accountability committee cleared the bill (SB 58) by a party-line vote of 6-3.

A bill last year passed the House but never was called for a vote before the Senate.

[...] Several Muslims also spoke against the bill, including Moazzam Adnan Raja, a marketing director from Longwood. Raja soon choked up and cried.
"Show some compassion, show us love," he told senators. "We don't want to be called second-class citizens. We want to be accepted."

Well just look at all those cry-babies failing to act like adults. Especially when they happen to be male. All they deserve is serious disapproval and disappointment in their pathetic attitude.

UK's Telegraph: Barack Obama’s Arafat blunder is an embarrassment for the leader of the free world

Obama - Kick Me, I'm Really Fucking Stupid

From the Telegraph:

It is simply astonishing that the leader of the free world would agree to speak against a backdrop of a murderous terrorist with American and Israeli blood on his hands. 

What kind of message does this send to America’s enemies when the president of the United States gives a press conference standing in front of a banner celebrating one of the most brutal terrorists in history? It projects a clear signal that Washington is weak in the face of terrorism, and it is an insult to the memory of those who died at the hands of Arafat’s terror network. 

While the Obama White House prides itself on having an extremely slick campaign operation, its ineptness and insensitivity in government, not least on the world stage, can be staggering. President Obama, for example, could not even pronounce the name of Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi on his recent visit to Rangoon, referring to her several times as Aung YAN Suu Kyi. 

He also famously called the Falkland Islands “the Maldives”, and succeeded in offending the whole of Poland when he referred to a ”Polish death camp” in World War Two.  As I’ve noted in previous pieces, President Obama’s first term was littered with embarrassing gaffes abroad, and it looks like his second term will be more of the same. 

This is in many respects an amateurish presidency, headed by a president who is frequently out of his depth on the world stage, and all too willing to appease America’s adversaries.