Will Dunham: Ron Paul Unimpressed by Limbaugh Apology

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul expressed doubt on Sunday that conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh truly meant it when he apologized for calling a law student a "slut" over her support for President Barack Obama's new policy on insurance coverage of contraceptives. "I don't think he's very apologetic. He's doing it because some people were taking their advertisements off his program. It was his bottom line that he was concerned about," Paul told CBS program "Face the Nation." "Yes, I think he should have apologized. I had said he used very crude language. And I think he gets over the top at times," added Paul, known for his libertarian views. Limbaugh offered his apology to Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, 30, in a written statement on Saturday. "My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to MsFluke for the insulting word choices," Limbaugh said. The controversy prompted Obama to call Fluke on Friday to express his support. Several of Limbaugh's sponsors said they would stop advertising on his program following his remarks. Fluke was caught in an election-year fight between Obama and Republicans over a policy that requires health insurance plans to cover contraception. Religious-affiliated organizations, the Roman Catholic Church and social conservatives have protested the policy as an infringement on religious liberty. Fluke told a Democratic congressional hearing last month that female students in Georgetown, the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the country, suffered financial hardship because contraception was not covered by their health insurance, and some had stopped taking it because of the cost.    

Julian Ryall: Japan Suppressed Key Radiation Report.

Japan's science ministry suppressed a report that predicted the release of radiation from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in March of last year. Four days after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Yoshiaki Takati, the then-science minister, met with senior members of the government and military officials and decided not to release to the public data from the national System for Prediction of Environmental Dose Information (SPEED), according to leaked internal documents. Prediction on the amount of radiation that had already been released from the crippled reactors, as well as further radiation that might escape into the atmosphere "could by no means be released to the public," says the document, according to Kyodo News. Dated March 19, the document predicts that clouds of radioactivity could be released from the plant and spread across northern and central Japan, including Tokyo. In another report released last week, an independent panel revealed that the government was drawing up plans to evacuate the 13 million residents of Tokyo at the same time as it was reassuring the public that there was no reason to worry about the situation at the nuclear facility. The analyses by SPEEDI provided a worst-case scenario in which all four damaged reactors at the plant exploded, triggering explosions at other nearby nuclear facilities. Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, told the investigation that he feared,"If that happens, then Tokyo will be finished." The ministry decided that the SPEEDI data should not be released, but that "more general" information could be prepared for the public. The ministry declined to comment on the report.    

Stewart Vogel: Israel Shelves Iran Military Option

Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations says Jerusalem believes diplomacy is the preferred course to resolve the current nuclear standoff with Iran. "We should really pursue and focus on the sanctions and the diplomatic elements in trying to bring the regime in Tehran to reassess the way they want to go forward," explained the Israeli diplomat. The emphasis on the diplomatic option would appear to be a shift toward the position of the Obama administration, which has stressed stepping up the diplomatic and economic pressure on the regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "We are very keen, very clear in saying there is still a lot to be done on the diplomatic front that is not being done. It is a pity that this has taken so much time. But, I think the sanctions, especially those on the central bank of Iran, can be very effective. We have to pursue that," said Prosor in an exclusive interview Friday. Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to meet and confer on a host of topics this week in Washington. Addressing the conference, Obama said: "A nuclear-armed Iran is completely counter to Israel's security interests. But it is also counter to the national-security interests of the United States." The Obama-Netanyahu meeting comes just ahead of "Super Tuesday" which is expected to narrow down the remaining candidates to challenge Obama's bid for re-election in November. Israel, Iran and Syria are just a few of the topics under debate, and Prosor admitted US presidential politics have impacted on the situation. "Israel is a very vibrant democracy and is completely aware of the constraints of an election year. We know from our own experiences what can or cannot be done, but the US-Israel relationship is so deep and important that it will override anything else."   

Gideon Levy: When Will the US Be Tired of Israel?

An elephant and an ant will meet in Washington for a critical summit. But wait, who here is the elephant and who the ant? Who is the superpower and who the patronage state? A new chapter is being written in the history of nations. Never before has a small country dictated to a superpower. Never before has the chirp of the cricket sounded like a roar. Never has the elephant resembled the ant, and vice verse. No Roman province dared tell Julius Caesar what to do, no tribe ever dreamed of forcing Genghis Khan to act in accordance with its own tribal interests. Only Israel does this. When Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House, it will be hard to tell which one is the real leader of the world. What are your thoughts on this issue? For the past few years the Israeli cricket has been chirping "Iran," and the world responds with a muffled echo. It isn't that Iran is only an Israeli problem, but North Korea could endanger Japan just as much as Iran endangers Israel, and the world has not come running to Japan's side. Netanyahu's Israel has dictated the global agenda as no small state has ever done before, just as its international standing is at its nadir and its independence on the United States at a zenith. To the miracles of the rebirth of the Hebrew language after two millennia, the establishment of a thriving country of immigrants in the Land of Israel in such a short span of time and the invention of the kibbutz, we must now add another, much more deserving of a place on the list of the seven wonders of the world than the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, than the Roman Colosseum or the Great Wall of China! 

The Excavator: Iran, Stop Your Nuclear Weapons Program

"The president had offered a new definition of "aggression" against this country and a new definition of  "aggression" against Iran. He would, he insisted, take the US to war not to stop another nation from attacking us, or even threatening to do so, but simply to stop it from building a nuclear weapon, and he would act even if that country were incapable of targeting the United States. "So why the aggressive posture towards Iran? Why have we heaped the harshest set of economic sanctions in the world on Iran, which Columbia University Professor Gary Sick called "an act of war"? Why do we have Iran militarily encircled with military bases and client states? Why have we supported Israeli proxy terrorism on Iranian soil? Why is it that not a week goes by without an explicit threat of preventative attack on Iran? It can't be for the nuclear weapons program: it doesn't exist." "Just a few days ago I met a well-known American journalist, Mr Seymour Hersh, and he was saying American senior officials know without a doubt that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons, and the issue is Iranian sovereignty. The issue is Iran's independence. So, it's quite clear that the policies of the United States and its European partners are not really directed at Iran's nuclear program. It's directed at Iranian independence and sovereignty. In his speeches, Binyamin Netanyahu likes to fire up his audiences with frequent references to the Holocaust, Jewish destiny and the fate of future generations. In light of this doomsday rhetoric, one wonders if Israel's prime minister can always distinguish between the real dangers confronting the country and shadows of past traumas. This question is crucial, because to confuse one with the other could sentence Israel to relive those echoes and shadows.

THEBLAZE: Karzai At The End Of His Rope?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday he's at the "end of the rope" with US officials over what he sees as a lack of cooperation into an investigation of a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a mass shooting earlier this week: Karzai said during a meeting with the families of the 16 victims that his Afghan investigators have not received proper support or cooperation from their American counterparts, the Associated Press reported. "This has been going on for too long. This is by all means the end of the rope here," Karzai told reporters at the end of the meeting. "This form of activity, this behavior, cannot be tolerated. It's past, past, past the time."Families of the dead have said there must have been more than one shooter, and that they weren't receiving all the information. Afghan authorities have also charged there is a surveillance video being kept from them. According to the AP, Karzai said he wants a good relationship with the US, but that it's becoming increasingly difficult. He has tried to accelerate the transfer of responsibilities from US forces to Afghan soldiers, and said international troops should leave villages in rural areas. "Yesterday, I said clearly that the Americans should leave our villages," Karzai said. "This morning, Obama called regarding this issue. He asked, Did you announce this?' I said,"Yes,, I announced it.""I insist on this issue, Karzai added. "The fight is not in the villages, not in the houses of Afghanistan." The accused soldier has been identified only as a 38-year-old based in Washington state on his fourth combat tour. A US official told the New York Times the soldier had been drinking alcohol and suffering from stress over his deployment at the time of the alleged incident. The soldier's Seattle attorney disputed the account. 

Tom Burghardt: Drugs, Guns and Nukes, Iran as the New "Dope"

As Israel, the United States and their NATO allies set their sights on the "prize,"Iran's vast petrochemical wealth, multiple themes have been floated by corporate media to make the case for war. Since the 1980's, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and now, according to the Treasury Department, Iran's alleged links to global narco-trafficking networks have all been evoked as clarion calls for "regime change". It would serve us well however, to explore the recent history of the secret state's reliance upon the illicit trade, and how such alliances advance America's wider geopolitical goals. In the 1980s, nuclear proliferation, terrorism and now, according to the Treasury Department, Iran's alleged links to global narco-trafficing networks have all been evoked as clarion calls for "regime change."It would serve us well, however, to explore the recent history of the secret state's reliance upon the illicit trade and how such dalliances advance America's wider geopolitical goals. In the 1980s, it was the Sandinistas and "Castro-Communism" who did nicely for the Reagan administration. As money and weapons flowed to "our boys," the Contras, they repaid the favor by massacring Nicaraguans by the tens of thousands for Uncle Sam, while generously providing cocaine by the ton, to party-happy Americans during that "go-go" decade. Indeed, when Columbia drug lords Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar began their profitable partnership, they did so alongside dope-dealing Bolivian fascists and Argentine neo-Nazi generals with long-standing ties to the CIA. As Consortium News revealed: "The putsch, which became known as the Cocaine Coup, installed Luis Meza and other drug-connected military officers who promptly turned Bolivia into South America's first modern narco-state. The secure supply of Bolivian cocaine was important to the development of the Medellin cartel in the early 1980s."  

PRESSTV: Iran Oil Exports Increase Despite Sanctions!

Iran, the second-biggest producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), exported 2.265 million barrels a day in January, its highest monthly figure since December 2008, Bloomberg reported on Monday. This is while the US is mounting pressure on the main consumers of Iranian crude to decrease their imports from the country. On New Year's Eve, the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran, aimed at preventing other countries from importing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with its central bank. European Union foreign ministers also agreed on January 23 to ban oil imports from Iran, and to freeze the assets of the Iranian Central Bank across the EU. The move is aimed at putting pressure on Iran to force the country into abandoning its nuclear energy program. Iran argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.   

Bohemian Dad: Ron Paul is Respected Around the World

It's not every day that you find yourself with an Australian, a Canadian, and an Austrian having an intelligent discussion about American politics. We find ourselves in a quaint guesthouse in Penang, Malaysia, four months in to our world travels. Although the area is home to many expat travelers and tourists alike with high-rise condo-tels, beach resorts and even a Hard Rock Cafe, its certainly not the type of place you'd expect to find people who care about US politics. The lone traveler who is sharing the guesthouse with us is a retired backpacker from Austria. Upon first meeting him, I asked if he spoke English. Yet, after a minute or two of discussion, it's obvious they all speak more than just a "little bit." In fact, most of them should be labeled fluent even though their confidence is lacking. After making small talk, we moved on to larger subjects like the state of the world, the wars, the euro situation and, finally the United States. He revealed that he was a big country music fan and has visited the States a half-dozen times to go to festivals. His handlebar mustache suddenly made more sense. So he wasn't completely unfamiliar with America. When reflecting upon the challenges facing America, he asked if I thought any of our current presidential candidates could make a difference. I told him there's only one guy who's even discussing real issues such as the monetary system, restoring freedom and privacy, and ending the aggressive wars, and before I could mention his name, he blurted out "Ron Paul?" Later that same night, I joined two fellow family travel bloggers for some beers at a local pub. One is a website developer from Australia, and the other is an economist from Canada. Both have been keeping a home base in Malaysia for many months and work remotely. Again, after talking of world events, the topic turned to American politics. Each of my drinking companions displayed a surprising level of understanding of how our system works, the two parties, the Federal Reserve, and so much more. Yet again, I said there's only one guy speaking of the issues we just discussed, and before I could name him, the Canadian chimed in with "Ron Paul?", and the Australian said "who, the Libertarian?"

Bob Unruh: We Won't Probe Eligibility

A new editor for Breitbart.com, reorganized quickly after the sudden death March 1 of founder and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, says the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility simply doesn't matter. "To my knowledge, there's no evidence, I just don't believe it,"Ben Shapiro, newly named editor-at-large for Breitbart.com, told Mark Gillar during an interview on his BlogTalkRadio program. It was Breitbart who told the Conservative Political Action Conference shortly before his sudden death that he had obtained videos and other information about Obama's past. Breitbart said he intended to vet the incumbent president before the 2012 election, because the media didn't do it in 2008. His organization, which had been on the Internet under the Big Government, Big Hollywood and other names, was in a reorganization at the time Breitbart died, and the new consolidated Breitbart.com site was released only days later. Shapiro, author of the bestselling "Brainwashed" as well as "Primetime Propaganda," was named editor-at-large as responsibilities were reassigned. Breitbart.com also announced Stephen K Bannon was named executive chairman and Laurence G Solov president. Solov confirmed he shared Breitbart's vision and promised the "company will pursue it relentlessly."Joel B. Pollak was appointed editor-in-chief, and Alex Marlow was named managing editor.       

Obama Issues Ron Paul "Kill Order" As Russia Preoares For War!

The Federal Security Service (FSB) is reporting today that the "secret letter" sent to Prime Minister Putin by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda contains a warning that United States President Barack Obama has issued an executive-level "kill order" against US Congressman Ron Paul over fears this charismatic politician, who many believe could capture the Republican Presidential 2012 nomination, is about to expose to all Americans what can only be described as the largest mass theft in human history. According to this report, Prime Minister Noda first became aware of this "kill  order"after a private meeting with Obama at last weeks ASEAN Summit meeting in Indonesia when the American President expressed his "unconstrained joy"over the toppling of the Greek and Italian governments in bloodless coups by EU banksters, who installed to run these countries unelected former Goldman Sachs executives. Not known to many Americans is that the giant global investment firm Goldman Sachs put Obama into office by being its top donor and after winning the Presidency put so many of its former executives into the US government it is known as the "Wall Street Cabinet."The reason for Goldman Sachs, and other top American and European banksters, putting Obama into office, this report continues, was to loot the American taxpayers of an estimated $100 Trillion, nearly $30 Trillion of which went directly into the pockets of international bankers around the world and another $70 Trillion in lost home values, stock portfolios and pension funds. The main conduit of this massive theft was the US Federal Reserve System, which during the 2008 Financial Crisis secretly doled out, without the American peoples knowledge, over $16 Trillion to European banks and companies, and another nearly $8 Trillion in "secret loans"to the largest banks in the United States.    

Jim Kirwan: The Life's Blood Of Nations!

National Histories are shaped by the life-blood of nation states. In the United States, which has not had a revolution since the Revolutionary War that gave birth to the fledgling colonies, who fought the English King on American soil to free themselves from tyranny. We supposedly mark that war for Independence on July 4th of every year. But in America, that day is celebrated with picnics parties, parades and sports, without mentioning what that day actually marks, because Americans know nothing about this nation or its founding documents. The huge discounts on car lots are more important to them than the documents that lent their weight to the founding of a nation that as of January 1, 2012 no longer exists constitutionally! By contrast, Israel a "nation without a country" for most of its shadowy existence has chosen to remember its past with events such as Purim. This event falls on a different day each year, because it comes from a different calendar. The other major difference is that Purim celebrates the massacre of 75,000 Persians by the then victorious Israelis, in the biblical days of history, long before there was ever a state for Israel as a nation. Purim is a literal orgy of drunkenness, celebrated with triangular shaped cookies, symbolizing the ears of their dead enemies, but it is far more than that. In the first Iraq war there was one very bloody and shameful massacre which the US carried out but which few remember. It happened to the Iraqi Republican Guard as they were fleeing back to Baghdad from Kuwait. The column was bombed and strafed using tactical mini-nukes to create a massacre that began and ended on Purim of that year. If there was any doubt of Zionist influence in the first Gulf War, that should have ended any questions that might have lingered.

United Nations: Human Rights Council on Human Rights Situation in Palestine!

The Human Rights Council opened its general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories, after hearing High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay present the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the topic. Ms. Pillay said the human rights challenges in the occupied Palestinian territory were intrinsically linked to the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements, including violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and ensure that the perpetrators were held accountable. The High Commissioner urged the Government of Israel to bring its policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory in line with its international humanitarian law obligations as the occupying power. On the Palestinian side, there were concerns of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, especially in Gaza. Palestinian leaders should reinforce safeguards for freedoms of opinion, expression, association and assembly and should demonstrate leadership in securing these freedoms, including for human rights defenders and journalists. Speaking as a concerned country, Israel said agenda item 7 was actually more correctly understood to be the agenda item for targeting Israel. Israel was certainly not perfect, and Israel's vibrant media and civil society pointed out these mistakes regularly. Life for Palestinians had improved. It was time for the Council to get back to the real work. Work for the people of Syria and Iran and in other places where people's lives actually depended on the international community taking action. 

Kawther Salam: Continuous Violations of Human Rights in Palestine

The fourth annual report released Monday March 19 by the UNHR has criticized the involvement of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the de-facto authorities in the Gaza Strip of human rights violations and abuses. The report focused on and exposed the Israeli practices against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The report covers the period from December 1 2010 until November 15 2011. The fourth annual report of the Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories: The number of cases documented by UNHCR indicate that the IDF most often uses live ammunition against unarmed Palestinians. Khawla Mattar, director of the United Nations Information Center in Cairo said during a press conference: "The Israeli Settlers who continuously violate the rights of Palestinians are tried before civilian courts in Israel, while they settle in the Palestinian occupied territories, but the Palestinians are tried before military tribunals for simply protecting their rights. This is a clear violation of Human Rights. It even violates the law in Israel itself." Read part of the report which talks about the violations of the Palestinian Rights quoted below. The full report can be read online at the UN website link. 19 March 2012: The Human Rights Council this morning opened its general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories after hearing High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay present the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the topic: Ms Pillay said the human rights challenges in the occupied Palestinian territory were intrinsically linked to the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements, including violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

Alan R. Adashik: An Open Letter to the United States of America

Presently, this nation is in the midst of the most important election in history, and most Americans have no knowledge of its significance. We truly are at a crossroad and the primary issue on whether or not our Republic will be restored, or if we will remain a nation beholden to and controlled by the "New World Order". Our choice is clear. Vote for Ron Paul, who stands for a government defined by and subservient to our Constitution, or vote for a candidate who secretly swears allegiance to the New World Order! I am sure that most people will take issue with the above paragraph. For the past eighteen years, I have tried to wake-up my fellow Americans to the truth, but without success. Apparently, all I have accomplished is to convince others that I am out of touch with reality. Of late, I have been so frustrated I gave up, and tried to focus my attention on other unimportant pursuits. However, I still found myself pondering what could be done to change things. It finally occurred to me that for others to believe what I believe, they would have to walk down a path similar to mine. With this in mind, I developed a list of questions about events which have shaped the world we live in today: These questions are the key which opens the door to the truth, but they will only have value if people care enough to find the correct answers. Being an American presupposes an obligation to be informed. An informed electorate is an important requisite for both a Republic and a Representative Democracy. The following list of questions hold the keys to understanding where we are and how we got here. A majority of Americans will not be able to readily answer most of these questions.

Jim Kirwan: The Death Of Free Speech

"Free Political Speech" was murdered in Chicago at the Democratic Convention of 1968, by uniformed thugs of the mayor of Chicago. The ensuing riots during which television reporters were beaten on-camera, over the protests that were being held against the Vietnam War, in the streets outside the Convention Center. No officers were punished, and from that day to this, Americans have not had the right to protest at political conventions in the United States. Because the public did not protest this treatment then, or at any time since 1968, we have now lost not just the right to speak freely but the constitution, and the entire Bill of Rights as well! "For five days in August, the nation's Democrats assembled in Chicago to nominate a presidential candidate at a convention that would quickly spiral out of control and reflect the domestic chaos of the Vietnam era. Between 10,000 and 15,000 demonstrators were arrayed against 12,000 police and 6,000 National Guard troops, with an international press contingent of more than 1,000 on hand to record events inside the International Amphitheatre and outside at locations from Lincoln Park to Grant Park. Chants of "the whole world is watching" were broadcast as hippies, Yippies and the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam (Mobe) clashed with police at dozens of locations. Chicago's star turn on the world stage was cut in half Monday after President Barack Obama made a surprise shift of the May G-8 international summit from his hometown to Camp David. The full complement of downtown security concerns remains however. Chicago will keep the NATO meeting, meaning diplomats and protesters will still descend on Chicago by the thousands for a gathering of world leaders May 20-21. The abrupt change of venue came after Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city's host committee spent months pumping up events as an international showcase for the city. Among other things this week the world is nearing the extinction of life in the oceans. 

Drew Zahn: Martial Law In the US?

Drew Zahn is a former pastor who cut his editing teeth as a member of the award-winning staff of "Leadership, Christianity Today's professional journal for church leaders. He is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Basea Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND colur "Popcorn and a world view." The White House's late-week release of an executive order has sent the online community into an uproar, worried that President Obama had secretly provided himself means to institute martial law in America. In the common practice of dumping government documents on a Friday afternoon, just as the news cycle is wrapping up for the week, a move critics say allows the administration to avoid widespread coverage of embarrassing actions, the White House released an executive order on "National Defense Resources Preparedness." Filled with language about "government-owned equipment" and a "defense executive reserve," among other vague statements, rumors began to spread that the executive order expanded the president's power to do everything from seizing whole industries to drafting private armies. A Canada Free Press article titled "Obama Executive Order: Peacetime Martial Law!" spread concerns of gasoline ration cards; while an Examiner article declared the order would "nationalize everything" and "allow for a civilian draft." Facebook, email and Twitter were suddenly abuzz, and even the extremely popular Drudge Report posted a link to the White House release under the title "Martial Law? Obama Issues Executive Order." But are the cries of martial law and expanding executive power justified? No, says William A. Jacobson, associate clinical professor at Cornell Law School. "If someone wants to make the argument that this is an expansion of presidential powers, then do so based on actual language," warns Jacobson. "There is enough that Obama actually does wrong without creating claims which do not hold up to scrutiny." Discover how deep Obama's violation of Constitution really does go with David Limbaugh's "Crimes Against Liberty." Then tell America you've had enough with these shenanigans. Get the AVOID OBAMA TRAUMA magnetic bumper sticker!

Visible Origami: Mr Apocalypse is Banging on the Judgment Drum!

Putin is president of Russia again. Iran just had a legal and successful election. Israel is completely out of control. The American system is entirely corrupt and owned by the central banks and multinational corporations. What does it all mean? It means that this world we live in is being scripted like a Hollywood movie. The big question is, who is the director? It stands to reason, metaphysically, that everything is moving toward a destined conclusion. In a purely material sense, none of it makes any sense. I'm going to go with the concept that those setting us up and tormenting the world for their own sick enjoyments, are being set up themselves and are going to stand as a lasting lesson about what happens when you overstep yourself, when your grasp exceeds your reach. We are seeing and experiencing because the satanic bankers have gotten themselves into big trouble because the fire of their greed has outstripped their good sense. They are desperate to create a world war in order to take the public's attention off the magnitude of their crimes. Mr Apocalypse is banging on the judgment drum and he's pointing his finger at them through the eyes of all awakening souls. It's a contagion of awakening and it will be brimming with payback. It's not as if everyone is as vengeful and violent as they are. What it is, is that there can be no balance or harmony until the bankers have been dealt with one way or another. They are behind all of the chaos and harm of our times. Yes, the boys from "Filthy Lucre LTD" have been very bad: They have maimed, crippled and killed millions. They've poisoned the landscape of both foreign and domestic lands. The magnitude and scope of their crimes is off the charts. 

The Independent: Israel Has a Right to Pre-emptive Attackon Iran.

Taking sharply different stands, President Barack Obama urged pressure and diplomacy to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb while Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasised his nation's right to a pre-emptive attack. Even in proclaiming unity, neither leader gave ground on how to resolve the crisis. Seated together in the Oval Office, Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu at times tried to speak for each other, and other times spoke past one another. The president and prime minister are linked by the history and necessity of their nations' deep alliance, if not much personal warmth, and both sought to steer the Iran agenda on their terms. "I know that both the prime minister and I prefer to resolve this diplomatically," Mr Obama said. "We understand the costs of any military action." If he agreed, Mr Netanyahu said nothing about sanctions or talks with Iran, or Mr Obama's position that there still is time to deter Iran peacefully. Instead, Mr Netanyahu drew attention back to Mr Obama's acknowledgement that Israel is a sovereign land that can protect itself how it sees fit. "I believe that's why you appreciate, Mr President, that Israel must reserve the right to defend itself," Mr Netanyahu said. Israel, he added, must remain "the master of its fate". Israel has not yet decided whether to launch a unilateral strike on Iran, a point underscored in the White House meetings. Across days of comments, speeches and interviews, Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu left no doubt about where they stand on Iran, a point underscored in the White House meetings. Across days of comments, speeches and interviews, Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu left no doubt about where they stand on Iran.

Anne Penketh: Netanyahu Plays Down Rift with Obama!e

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played down a rift with President Barack Obama over the timing of possible military strikes against Iran, suggesting that Israel and the United States are so united that their policies are indistinguishable. "We are you. And you are us," said the Prime Minister in an unexpected remark designed to underscore the closeness of the two allies said Mr Netanyahu. "Iran's leaders know that too. For them you are the Great Satan and we are the Little Satan. For them we are you and you are us. We're together. Israel and America stand together." Echoing comments from his speech on Sunday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), President Obama spoke about the "rock solid" commitment to Israel. "The United States will always Israel's back when it comes to Israel's security," he said. The public show of unity by both leaders is clearly aimed at raising the diplomatic pressure on Iran. They want to convince the Iranian leadership that the United States is not bluffing when Obama says that military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability remains an option. The President specifically mentioned that a "military effort" is part of US contingency planning, in a speech to the pro-Israeli group AIPAC on Sunday. However, the two leaders could not conceal their their policy differences. Netanyahu made it clear that Israel must remain "master of its own fate." He picked up on a reference in President Obama's speech in which he had appeared to accept the possibility of unilateral strikes on Iran by Israel. "It must have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat," Netanyahu stressed. 

Eric Blair: War Criminals Bush and Cheney Can No Longer Travel Outside the US!

Everyone in the world seems to recognize the obvious crimes perpetrated by the Bush/Cheney regime. Their overwhelming negative status in the world has now confined them to personal prisons where they can no longer travel abroad for public events. It appears that they're only welcome in heavily-secured private dragon lairs for the rest of their waking years, but even those locations are shrinking for these torturers and mass murderers. Cheney, scheduled to speak in Toronto with his daughter next month, had to cancel the speaking appearance due to "security concerns stemming from their experiences in Vancouver in September 2011," according to a press release about the event. The September event referred to in the press release was hardly a public event at all. It cost $500 a ticket to attend and took place at the Vancouver Club which the Canadian Press called "one of Vancouver's most exclusive clubs." Still, the public caught wind of the event and staged a rambunctious protest calling for Cheney's arrest. The angry crowd caused Cheney to be locked in the club for seven hours longer than he was scheduled. In February of last year, George W. Bush had to cancel a speaking engagement in Switzerland because human rights groups put pressure on the Swiss government to arrest him for torture allegations if he entered the country. Even though officials claimed Bush had diplomatic immunity because he was a former head of state, they recognized that torture is a legitimate crime under international law. Organizers of the event felt the "atmosphere had become too threatening" and the gala went on without Bush.   

RT.com: Bin Laden Not Buried at Sea, Body Moved to US!

The body of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not buried at sea, according to leaked emails od intelligence firm Stratfor, as revealed by WikiLeaks. Stratfor's vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton, believes the body was "bound for Dover, Delaware, on a CIA plane" and then "onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda Maryland," an email says. The official version is that the body of Al-Qaeda's top man, who was killed by a US raid in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, was buried at an undisclosed location at sea in a proper Muslim ceremony. "If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichmann like. The Tribe did the same thing with the Nazi's ashes," Burton commented in another email. Eichman was one of the masterminds of the Holocaust by Nazi Germany. He was captured by Mossad agents in Argentina and tried in Israel, found guilty, and executed in 1962. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea over the Mediterranean. "Eichmann was seen alive for many months on trial before being sentenced to death and executed. No one wanted a monument to him so they cremated him, but I don't know anyone who claimed he wasn't Eichmann. The US government needs to make body pics available like the MX's do, with OBL's pants pulled down, to shout down the lunatics like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck," Burton says in another message. In another missive Burton says Osama's body "is a crime scene and I don't see the FBI nor DOJ letting that happen." WikiLeaks began publishing Stratfor emails in late February. The archive was obtained by the hacker group "Anonymous, which successfully attacked one of the firm's servers.

Tania Branigan: North Korea Satellite Plan is Highly Provocative.

North Korea has announced its first satellite launch in three years, throwing into doubt a recent deal with the US that had aimed to end years of tension. The US state department said the trial was "highly provocative" and would breach North Korea's international obligations. Many see it as a test of missile technology. The bilateral deal, which involves food aid in exchange for nuclear concessions, was hammered out barely two weeks ago. Washington greeted it as a first step towards reducing regional strains. Relations deteriorated sharply after Pyongyang's last such launch in 2009, which prompted condemnation from the UN security council and a tightening of sanctions. While North Korea said it was engaged in a peaceful space program, others said it had breached resolutions against nuclear and ballistic missile activity. The launch technology for missiles and satellites is near-identical, say experts. Pyongyang announced the satellite would be launched between 12-16 April to mark the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and grandfather of its leader, Kim Jong-un. North Korea has promoted the anniversary as the point at which it emerges as a strong and prosperous country. But strikingly it pledged "maximum transparency" and vowed not to affect neighboring countries, in unusually emollient language. "Legally, Pyongyang is within rights to launch a satellite, but politically this announcement is a slap in the face to the Americans," said John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University. "If Pyongyang is serious about building a new relationship with the United States, they need to take concrete steps to demonstrate this is in fact a satellite launch, and that would include inviting monitors." State news agency KCNA said the launch of the indigenously developed Kwangmyongsong-3 "earth observation satellite" followed research "in line with the government's policy for space development and peaceful use", citing a spokesman for the Korean committee for space technology.