In the news:

In no particular order:

No Way Of Stopping Leak Of Deadly New Flu, Says Terror Chief

The bioterrorism expert responsible for censoring scientific research which could lead to the creation of a devastating pandemic has admitted the information "is going to get out" eventually.

Professor Paul Keim, chairman of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, controversially recommended that researchers be stopped from publishing the precise mutations needed to transform the H5N1 strain of birdflu virus into a human-transmissible version.

“The infrastructure to stop a pandemic in this area is not there. We just don’t have the capabilities. The very first time we knew that the swine flu virus [coming out of Mexico] was there, it was already in 18 countries. I’m not confident at all that we have the surveillance capability to spot an emerging virus in time to stop it,” he said.

“And even if we did spot it early on, I don’t think we have sufficient vaccines. The vaccines aren’t good enough, and the drugs are not good enough to stop this emerging and being a pandemic.”

How Dangerous?

It's now quite clear that Obama is playing chicken with Israel on Iranian nukes. That is why Leon Panetta came out with a statement this week accusing Israel of planning to attack Iran. If that statement is true, it's the worst kind of sabotage, undermining the advantages of surprise. If it's false, it is intended to place Israel at the focus of Iranian rage. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

The goal of Obama's nuclear brinkmanship is to drive Israel into making dangerous territorial compromises. This is a Carteresque policy: blame the victim, and arm her enemy. Jimmy Carter enabled Iranian radicalization starting with Ayatollah Khomeini, heedless of the disastrous and possibly genocidal consequences. Carter recently said that an Iranian nuclear weapon was no big deal, as if a nuke in the hands of a suicide-preaching Khomeinist ideology machine is just fine with him.

Well, the Saudis know their Iranian enemies a great deal better than Jimmy Carter does, and they are sending their money to Switzerland.

That is why Iranian nukes are different from American or Soviet nukes. The left-of-the-left has always lived in denial of that plain and obvious fact: that the war ideology of one's nuclear enemies has everything to do with the lethality of the danger those enemies pose. Every child in Iran is raised with the daily chant Death to America! Death to Israel! Our useful idiots have preached for thirty years that "they don't really mean it," in exactly the way Western appeasers told the world that Hitler didn't really mean Mein Kampf.

The bottom line is that Obama is threatening Israel with nuclear genocide if it doesn't obey his Napoleonic orders, which are to retreat to the 1948 ceasefire lines that make Israel look like a gerrymandered congressional district. Such a "solution" doubles or triples the borders to be defended against lethal enemies, while shrinking Israel's small territory by two-thirds. It is a death sentence.

OWS And The Planned "Endgame" For The U.S.

The paragraphs below represent just the introduction; this one is worth reading:

Are you baffled by the wording, timing and bipartisan support of recent legislation such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Expatriation Act, SOPA, PIPA and ACTA? Are you concerned over the enhancement of domestic security measures that appear to be targeting and incrementally ripping away the rights of law abiding American citizens?

Are you concerned about the evolving DHS “domestic extremist” definitions? Have you wondered about the true origins of the financial crises and what appears to be a quickening of events in all sectors of our lives? How about the origins of the current “Occupy Movement?” When and why everything started? Who and what is to blame? If so, you’re not alone.

We conducted an extensive investigation of the occupy movement to identify the people involved, as well as the money and influence behind it. What we found is that nothing related to the “Occupy Movement” is what it appears. In fact, nothing from Arab Spring, to DHS policy and beyond is what it appears to be. We found unsettling relationships between people, elected and appointed officials, groups, and organizations that extend back many years.

Based on our investigative findings, we have arrived at a very startling and irrefutable conclusion. We are witnessing the orchestrated destruction of America.

Soon, in the streets of the U.S., we will see some of the most violent events in modern history take place, likely to result in the implementation of public curfews, restrictions on travel, and possibly even Martial Law. That appears to be the plan.

It is not a new plan, but one that has been in the works since the early twentieth century. We have created an in-depth report that reveals the individuals and groups behind these events, their motives, tactics and methods. The following is a summary of that report and our investigative findings.

Nine EU Countries Form Splinter Group On Financial Tax

A group of nine euro-countries led by France and Germany on Tuesday (7 February) asked the Danish EU presidency to fast-track plans for a financial transactions tax - a move indicating they will forge ahead on their own in the absence of an EU-wide consensus.

The nine signatories are the finance ministers of France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and the Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, who also holds the finance portfolio.

States Prepare Brakes On Citizen-Detention Option

State and local officials in surging numbers are telling Washington they simply won’t cooperate with any plans to detain Americans the federal government may choose to describe as “belligerents.”

The issue centers on provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, signed by President Obama, for the indefinite and rights-free detention of those Washington cites as belligerents, whether American citizens or not.

“Sources close to the Tenth Amendment Center say as many as 10 states will consider legislation or resolutions in response to the detention provisions in section 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA,” the organization is reporting.

Mike Maharrey, communications director for the TAC, said the fight is shaping up like the conflict in the 1850s when northern states refused to cooperate with fugitive slave laws that required them to capture and return escaping slaves.

“It is clear to me, and I am far from alone in this view, that the detention provisions in the NDAA are vague, overbroad and open to interpretation,” he said. “That leaves me to trust in the good character and moral clarity of Barack Obama, Rick Santorum or whoever happens to reside at the White House, to protect me and my fellow Americans from abuse of this power. No thanks.”

Iran: U.S., Israel Highly Susceptible To Retaliatory Attack

The United States and Israel are in no position to launch a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities because of their high susceptibility to retaliatory attacks from the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian military commander said Tuesday.

Iran Prepping For Hormuz Shutdown?

Recent Iranian naval activity has shown exercises that appear to be aimed more at shutting down the Strait of Hormuz than the defensive preparations that had been identified as the goal.

The maneuvers showed a definite trend of engaging in asymmetrical, or unconventional, warfare by attacking primarily oil tankers. The apparent goal would be to block the Strait prior to any engagement with U.S. and allied naval forces.

In addition, the tactics the Iranians employed showed the use of Special Forces along with the use of surface-to-surface missiles, suggesting surprise strikes. Analysts believe that the focus on the Strait serves as both the first and last “bullet” to fight any U.S. threats against its nuclear program and the sanctions now afflicting the Iranian economy.

CNN: U.S. Preparing Military Contingencies For Syria

The United States has begun an internal review of its military capabilities vis-a-vis Syria despite remaining committed to diplomatic and economic pressure on Damascus, CNN's "Security Clearance" blog reported on Tuesday.

Clinton did not give further details on which nations might band together, or precisely what they might do, but it appeared that the United States might seek to organize a “Friends of Syria” group to act together given the inability to make progress at the United Nations because of Russia and China.