"Our naval forces are so powerful that we have a presence in all the waters of the world and, if needed, we can move to within three miles of New York," The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Tuesday during a speech to the students of the University of Yazd in Iran.Fadavi said dominance over the Persian Gulf is "the only tool for the Americans to rule the world" and that's why "they confront any other power that threatens their status" in the waterway."First, sinking an aircraft carrier is not a complicated task," Hajizadeh said. "Second, an aircraft carrier is equipped with so many advanced, delicate, and sensitive devices … that it could be incapacitated by even the smallest explosion."
IRGC naval commanders said in July 2011 that they would expand their mission into the Atlantic Ocean, and that the country had equipped a number of its vessels with long-range ballistic missiles.
In September, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Iran planned to deploy naval vessels in the Atlantic Ocean. "The Navy has a strong presence in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean and international waters and soon it will be present in the Atlantic Ocean," Vahidi said.
Instead, in Jerusalem, Israel’s opposition parties gathered for the push to corner Netanyahu into announcing an early election.
They got their wish sooner than they expected.
The prime minister, after turning the situation over for 48 hours, assented. He figured that the key weapon adopted by his rivals to knock him over was not in fact in their hands but in his: It is up to him and him alone to decide whether to attack Iran. In fact, if an election was forced on his government, he could defeat their scheme by bringing the attack forward.
So the impression of Netanyahu and Barak fighting with their backs to the wall against a body of generals is totally misleading.
The readiness by President Obama to support Iran’s continuing enrichment of uranium to concentrations of 5 percent is in direct opposition to the position of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who told CNN earlier this month, “They have to stop all enrichment," including even 3 percent grade uranium.The hawkish camp points out that Iran has a history of not keeping its word while conducting a policy of dragging out talks and negotiations in order to buy time for proceeding with development towards nuclear capability.
Such a deal would face formidable obstacles. Iran has shown little willingness to meet international demands. And a shift in the U.S. position that Iran must halt all enrichment activities is likely to prompt strong objections from Israeli leaders; the probable Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney; and many members of Congress.
That position is contrary to the mood of many in Congress. Lawmakers in both houses have begun circulating resolutions, with support from dozens of members, that demand an end to all Iranian enrichment. One senior Senate aide involved in the issue said any deal allowing continued enrichment "would be dead on arrival" in Congress.
In short, the business of marketing drones to law enforcement is booming. Now that Congress has ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to open up U.S. airspace to unmanned vehicles, the aerial surveillance technology first developed in the battle space of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is fueling a burgeoning market in North America. And even though they’re moving from war zones to American markets, the language of combat and conflict remains an important part of their sales pitch — a fact that ought to concern citizens worried about the privacy implications of domestic drones.“As part of the push to increase uses of civilian drones,” the Wall Street Journal reported last week, nearly 50 companies are developing some 150 different systems, ranging from miniature models to those with wingspans comparable to airliners.” Law enforcement and public safety agencies are a prime target of this industry, which some predict will have $6 billion in U.S. sales by 2016.Uniquely among U.S. manufacturers, VDI touts its ability to weaponize drones for local police departments. “If you think weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are still too new to combat zones for law enforcement to consider them for domestic use, think again,” said the editors of Special Weapons for Military and Police in February:
The Kevlar fuel tank mounted beneath the ShadowHawk allows it to stay in the air long enough to provide complete surveillance of an area and engage suspects with buckshot, tear gas, grenades and less-lethal capabilities.
Ever since 2010, when the Transportation Security Administration started requiring that travelers in American airports submit to sexually intrusive gropings based on the apparent anti-terrorism principle that "If we can't feel your nipples, they must be a bomb", the agency's craven apologists have shouted down all constitutional or human rightsobjections with the mantra "If you don't like it, don't fly!"
This callous disregard for travelers' rights merely paraphrases the words of Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano, who shares, with the president, ultimate responsibility for all TSA travesties since 2009. In November 2010, with the groping policy only a few weeks old,Napolitano dismissed complaints by saying "people [who] want to travel by some other means" have that right. (In other words: if you don't like it, don't fly.)
But now TSA is invading travel by other means, too. No surprise, really: as soon as she established groping in airports, Napolitano expressed her desire to expand TSA jurisdiction over all forms of mass transit.In the past year, TSA's snakelike VIPR (Visual Intermodal Prevention and Response) teams have been slithering into more and more bus and train stations – and even running checkpoints on highways – never in response to actual threats, but apparently more in an attempt to live up to the inspirational motto displayed at the TSA's air marshal training center since the agency's inception: "Dominate. Intimidate. Control."Earlier this month, the VIPRs came out again in Virginia and infested the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, also known as the stretch of Interstate 64 connecting the cities of Hampton and Norfolk. Spokesmen admitted again that the exercise was a "routine sweep", not a response to any specific threat. Official news outlets admitted the checkpoint caused a delay (further exacerbated by a couple of accidents), but didn't say for how long. Local commenters at the Travel Underground forums reported delays of 90 minutes.Airports, bus terminals, train stations, highways – what's left? If you don't like it, walk. And remember to be respectfully submissive to any TSA agents or police you encounter in your travels, especially now that theUS supreme court has ruled mass strip-searches are acceptable for anyone arrested for even the most minor offence in America. If you're rude to any TSA agent or cops, you risk being arrested on some vague catch-all charge like "disorderly conduct". Even if the charges are later dropped, you'll still undergo the ritual humiliation of having to strip, squat, spread 'em and show your various orifices to be empty.
Can I call America a police state now, without being accused of hyperbole?
When most people think of the economic decline that is happening in America, most of them think of states like California and cities like Detroit. In both cases, unemployment is rampant, government finances are a mess, and businesses and families are both leaving in droves. So what is causing this? What do California and Detroit have in common? Well, for one thing, both the state of California and the city of Detroit have been run by anti-business socialist control freaks for decades.Once upon a time millions of young Americans that dreamed of a better life flocked to California and Detroit was one of the most vibrant manufacturing cities in the history of the world. But now both of them are in an advanced state of decline, and a lot of the blame can be placed at the feet of the politicians in both cases. Both California and Detroit have become very unfriendly places to businesses and families, so businesses and families have been leaving both California and Detroit in very large numbers. At the same time, the socialist welfare policies in both places have caused them to become magnets for those that enjoy being dependent on the government.At one point, Detroit was one of the greatest cities in the world.
But today, 53.6 percent of all children in Detroit are living in poverty and 47 percent of all people living in the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.
How does something like that happen?
Over the past 50 years, the population of Detroit has lost more than a million people as businesses and families have left in droves. The following is from a recent Economy In Crisis article....
Once the wealthiest city in America, known as the “arsenal of democracy,” Detroit was the fourth largest city in the U.S. in the 1960s with a population of two million. Now a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the American economy, Detroit has become nothing more than a devastated landscape of urban decay with a current population of 713,000.
Visiting Detroit is the closest Americans can come to viewing what appears to be a war torn city without leaving the U.S. This former powerhouse is a barren stretch of land, devastated by looters and and full of run-down, vacant houses. Rows upon rows of dilapidated structures line the streets; empty apartment buildings and factories consume the landscape. Almost a third of Detroit has been abandoned.
Just read the rest of this article. Its too depressing to post more. As they say "Read it and weep" most definitely applies.
On the other hand, Russia has it right and we can expect to see an economic boom to take place there.
From Russia With Love (of oil and gas)
Imagine a president who gets behind drilling, welcomes the cutting-edge technology of companies such as ExxonMobil, and offers generous 15-year tax breaks to ensure that new drilling projects move forward. That's the kind of energy policy America needs in order to achieve energy-independence. Unfortunately, it's not Barack Obama who's behind those positive energy policies; it's Vladimir Putin.
As Russian president-elect, Putin has made it clear that he intends to open his country's arctic and Black Sea regions to drilling. The potential is so great, and the necessaryinvestment so immense, that even Russia's giant state-run oil companies, Rosneft and Gazprom, lack the resources and technology to proceed. So, with Putin's blessing, Rosneft and Gazprom have entered into joint-production agreements with Exxon, Italian major Eni, and other Western companies. The stakes are huge -- not just for these companies, but for the Russian economy.
Instead of permitting delays, EPA harassment, Interior Department exclusions, and environmental lawsuits, drillers in the Russian arctic and Black Sea can expect considerable support from the Russian government.
The same thing and more could be happening in the U.S., but it is not. Because of Obama's hostility toward fossil fuels, America is missing the opportunity of energy-independence and all the blessings that come with it.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S. we see the continual efforts to become a Marxist country:
Are You Ready? This Week Will Be Huge In The World And Here Is Why
As much of the country thaws out and heads into spring and, in some places, early summer, the temptation may be to think major news is packing its bags and headed for its vacation home. It’s not. And this upcoming week will blast you back to reality.
Intrepid financial writer Joe Weisenthal over at Business Insider has put together a list of what’s happening this week and is calling it “one of the biggest weeks that anyone can remember.” That’s a bold statement, but he has the information to back it up. Here’s what he says:
The Arab word "nakba" means catastrophe. Because the Palestinians live in an endless self-inflicted catastrophe, they have now been ordered to make "nakba" their word for Israel's Declaration of Independence.
But Jews living in their land is not a disaster for Arabs. On the contrary, it could be a bonanza if Muslims could ever tolerate Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahá'Ãs, atheists, or each other. Muslim tolerance is on display today in Syria, where Sunnis and Shi'ites are killing each other. No Arab regime in history has been peaceful for long, because Islam means holy war.
Obama has been working with Samantha Power and Code Pink to undermine Israel. In that process, at least 20,000 Arabs have died in what the media call the "Arab Spring." It has turned into an Arab Nightmare. Twenty thousand dead is a lowball estimate from Strategypage.com.
This is Obama's Nakba.
The phony Arab Spring started with the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, our only Arab ally to keep the peace in the Middle East for 30 years. Obama publicly told 80-year-old Mubarak to get out, and now the Muslim Brotherhood is taking over the biggest Arab country. But the Moos killed Anwar Sadat, Mubarak's predecessor, for daring to make the only peace treaty with Israel. The Moos are Muslim fanatics, just like the ones who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001. The day after 9/11, they were dancing in the streets and passing out candy to celebrate.
Obama has surrendered the Middle East to our enemies. That follows his religion of third-world socialism, which grew out of Lenin's war ideology.
Obama had a huge window of opportunity to knock down Iranian nuclear facilities in the last four years, when Iran had no bomb and no long-range missiles. The U.S. had the power to do that. We did it four times in the last twenty years.
But Obama refused.
That window of opportunity has now slammed shut. If we end up fighting Iran, they will be armed to the teeth, because we lost the chance to pre-empt them.
The liberal PR machine is now working overtime to cover up the truth. But don't be taken in, please. The libs are going to announce a phony peace with Iran, just like Bill Clinton announced a phony peace with North Korea. Bill Clinton won his second term with smoke and mirrors, but the Norks went ahead and made nukes and ICBMs anyway. Surprise! Clinton didn't care that they violated promises made to him. He figured they would anyway, and he could sucker the voters. And he did.
So expect an "Obama Made Peace in the Middle East!" headline any day.
Nuclear Experts: Fukushima Crisis May Become a 'global catastrophe'
