Taliban Murder 10 Medical Workers In Afghanistan

It's little wonder that charitable groups are unwilling to go to places like Afghanistan that are so sorely in need of medical services. They're likely to be attacked and killed by the Taliban.

Here, 10 medical workers were murdered, six of them Americans, by the Taliban who claimed that they were proselytizing Christianity.

t least 10 medical personnel, including six Americans, were murdered in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, officials confirmed Saturday. A Taliban spokesman, reached by cellphone, claimed responsibility for the killings.

The bodies from the group, which had been on an expedition to bring eye care and other medical services to remote areas, were found shot to death in a mountainous area of Badakhshan Province, according to the provincial police chief, Aka Noor Kentoz.

The International Assistance Mission, a group that last month had a fund-raiser in Kabul for a medical expedition to Nuristan Province, said six of the dead were Americans, one was German and one was British. Dirk Frans, the executive director of the I.A.M., said the team was headed by Tom Little, an American opthamologist with four decades experience in Afghanistan and a fluent Dari speaker. Mr. Frans said the team numbered 12, including four Afghans, two of whom were killed.

The victims’ bodies were stripped of all belongings, making identification difficult and suggesting robbery as a motive. However, Taliban insurgents are known to be active in the area, and the attackers allowed at least one Afghan to leave the scene unharmed. The survivor, an Afghan driver named Saifullah, told police he was let go because he recited verses from the Koran.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed that the medical team were shot because they ignored an order from the insurgents to stop. Afterwards, he said, they found evidence that the group were American spies and were preaching Christianity. He said they had maps showing their bases, and a Bible in Dari. Although I.A.M. is a Christian-supported group, Mr. Frans said, it does not engage in proselytizing.

Who suffers most when these charitable groups are attacked and deterred from further involvement? The Afghans themselves.

So How Was Convicted Lockerbie Bomber Released?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the release of convicted terrorist Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi finds that there was no grounds on which he should have received the compassionate release.

Megrahi supposedly won a "compassionate release" in August 2009 because of a medical report that predicted that he'd be dead in three months from prostate cancer. So how is it that we've got reports from some of those involved in his case that he may live 10 or more years?

While there was no question that Mr. Megrahi's cancer was terminal, there is no evidence that any of his specialists—two urologists and two oncologists—gave or signed off on a three-month prognosis, a review of the records and interviews with people familiar with the case indicate. According to people familiar with the matter, neither of the urologists offered any prognosis or was asked for one.

Dr. Fraser's report says "no specialist 'would be willing to say'" whether Mr. Megrahi had more or less than three months to live. The report cites the observations of Mr. Megrahi's primary-care physician at Greenock prison, a young doctor who reported that Mr. Megrahi's clinical condition "declined significantly" during a one-week period in late July and early August last year. That clinical decline is not described in detail.

If no one was willing to sign off on the three-month prognosis that was central to his case for a compassionate release under Scottish law, how did he receive it.

This is a galling miscarriage of justice and goes to show that he should never have been released from prison in the first place. The condition and the extent of his cancer appear to have been greatly exaggerated, leading to his release.

Moreover, it doesn't appear that there was any kind of consensus about his actual condition, let alone how much time he had left.

Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber, argued a year ago that he should be freed because his doctors said he was on the brink of death with prostate cancer. "All the personnel are agreed that I have little chance of living into next year," he said last August in a meeting with the Scottish justice minister.

In reality, no such consensus existed among Mr. Megrahi's doctors. Mr. Megrahi remains alive back in his homeland of Libya, freed after a Scottish doctor said a reasonable survival time for him was three months—a key threshold for "compassionate release."

But there is no evidence that any of the four specialists who treated his cancer—two urologists and two oncologists from the U.K.'s National Health Service—assented to the three-month prognosis Mr. Megrahi needed to go free.

One of the oncologists reported that he had 18-24 months to live depending on his response to treatment based on his tumor rating a Gleason score of 9 on a 2-10 point scale.

Hey Ayatollahs! Leave Those Iranians Alone!

That's a video by the Canadian band Blurred Vision. The band is fronted by two Iranian brothers, who got permission by Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters to alter the famous Floyd anthem to reflect the situation in Iran.

The song replaces the teacher reference with "Hey, Ayatollah, leave those kids alone!" It's performed by a Toronto-based rock band fronted by two Iranian brothers called Blurred Vision. It's been seen by more than 160,000 viewers on YouTube.

Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters gave Blurred Vision permission to use the song. Proceeds will go to Amnesty International.

The Blurred Vision version of the song expresses discord between young people and the government of Iran, where it's illegal to play rock music.

Gazans: Explosion Wounding 40 Was Hamas' Fault

Imagine my surprise when Gazans themselves accuse and admit that a massive explosion beneath a Hamas terror-master was the result of a Hamas bomb making operation. The terror group was using the house to prepare bombs for use against Israel:

The Deir el-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was rocked Monday by an explosion centered in an uninhabited house belonging to Alaa al-Danaf, a field commander of Izzadin Kassam, the military wing of Hamas.

Izzadin Kassam blamed the explosion on Israel, claiming it was an assassination attempt on their field commanders.

But speaking on the condition of anonymity, camp residents told The Media Line that Hamas was using the house to store weapons. Neighbors said that in the past they had appealed to Hamas to cease their activities in the camp, but were quickly silenced.

The testimony confirms the IDF’s denial of any Israeli involvement in the explosion.

An IDF representative told The Media Line that the Israel Air Force was not active in Deir el- Balah at the time.

“Usually when such explosions occur the armed groups in Gaza announce it’s Israel’s fault,” Hamdi Shaqqura, deputy director for program affairs at the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, told The Media Line.

“But our investigations often find that this is not the case.”

Shaqqura said armed groups try to hide the existence of bombs in residential areas, because local residents “would not agree to live on a barrel of explosives.”

The part in bold bears repeating: “Usually when such explosions occur the armed groups in Gaza announce it’s Israel’s fault,” Hamdi Shaqqura, deputy director for program affairs at the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, told The Media Line. “But our investigations often find that this is not the case.”

That's right folks. We've got a Palestinian human rights group finding Hamas responsible in preparing weapons and explosive for use against Israel in civilian areas so as to maximize the carnage should Israel attack those facilities. Hamas is also quick to blame Israel when those bombmaking operations blow up in their faces, just as it did earlier this week. It's a win-win for Hamas' propaganda, but the Gazans lose.

The more Hamas gets exposed for these kinds of activities within Gaza, the better. Gazans have to understand that Hamas is responsible for their miserable plight - that their vote to empower and enable Hamas has had dire consequences that could have been averted had they instead sought peace with Israel.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 110

The Port Authority and Durst Organization has entered into a deal enabling the Dursts to handle Freedom Tower marketing/leasing and a 10% ownership stake for $100 million.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved the terms of a partnership deal with the Dursts on Thursday in which the family would pay $100 million for a roughly 10 percent stake in the $3.3 billion building. In the future, the Dursts’ investment could swell to $300 million.

When the deal is complete, the Dursts will take over responsibility for leasing the tower, whose steel superstructure now rises 320 feet above street level, managing the property and dealing with construction of tenants’ spaces.

Earlier this week publishing giant Conde Nast was reported to be interested in 1 million sf at 1WTC/Freedom Tower beginning in 2014 when the tower should be ready and would be the largest tenant at the 1,776 foot skyscraper that has nearly 2.6 million sf of space.

President Obama's Cognitive Dissonance On Auto Bailouts

Ford did not take part in the federal bailouts of automakers - General Motors and Chrysler did as part of their expedited bankruptcy and reorganization.

So, why is President Barack Obama at a Ford factory in Michigan touting the benefits of the bailout there?

Visiting his third auto plant in the last week, Mr. Obama painted his efforts to save the industry as an act of patriotism, and the opposition to them as a fundamental expression of pessimism in the country. Even more than he did during a swing through Michigan last week, he suggested that his adversaries were virtually un-American in standing against his policies.

“I wish they were standing here today and saw what I see,” he told an audience of cheering workers at a Ford Motor Co. plant here in his hometown. “I wish they could see the pride you take in building these great cars, American-made cars. And my message to them is: Don’t bet against the American worker; don’t lose faith in the American people; don’t lose faith in American industry. We are coming back.”

Republicans who criticized the president’s auto industry bailout last year framed their position not as a lack of faith in American workers, but as an aversion to the government intruding aggressively into private sector. The United States government still owns a majority of General Motors shares, and Republicans have said that it should not be the government’s role to tell private industry how to run itself.

On Thursday, Republicans criticized Mr. Obama’s visit here because, unlike G.M. or Chrysler, Ford turned itself around without taking a federal bailout. “Desperate To Claim Economic Victory, Obama Visits Ford Plant To Tout Success He Had Nothing To Do With,” read the headline on a statement from the Republican National Committee.

White House officials countered that Ford benefited from the industry bailout even though it did not accept aid itself, because the federal money kept a network of suppliers in business. They also pointed to the industrywide boost from the government’s cash-for-clunkers program, which used tax credits to encourage consumers to trade in older, more polluting cars for new models last year.

It didn't help Ford.

Ford didn't benefit from the bailouts. In fact, one can argue that it suffered because its competitors got a federal funded assist to fix problems that should have been fixed internally years earlier. While Ford engaged in belt tightening and readjusting its debt and going through the painful exercise of cutting its bloated corporate structure and workforce, GM and Chrysler received tens of billions of dollars to allow both companies to limp along for months until they entered the bankruptcy courts. Ford's balance sheets would look even more spectacular if they received billions in taxpayer funds, but instead they're still looking impressive compared with the other domestic automakers who still have a mess of a balance sheet.

The Administration's claims that Ford benefited from having the supply chain remain intact is also specious given that Ford maintains its own supply chain distinct from GM or Chrysler. Moreover, claiming that a loan is the same is a bailout is absolutely disingenuous. Ford has to pay back loans it took from the federal government, but no one is expecting GM or Chrysler to ever repay the billions in the bailouts.

What this is President Obama trying to regain and energize support among union workers who are dissatisfied with the way the Administration has handled matters - particularly Card Check legislation that has stalled.

Delta Airlines Unveils $1.2 Billion Upgrade To JFK Airport Terminals

Delta Airlines has announced a $1.2 billion upgrade of its terminals at JFK Airport. The project, expected to get underway next month, would consolidate the airline's operations in Terminal 2 and 4 and demolish terminal 3 to make room for parking. An additional nine gates would be created in the process.

The financing includes $900 million in special project bonds, as much as $215 million in passenger facility charges and at least $75 million in equity from Delta, Susan Baer, aviation director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said today at an agency board meeting. The port oversees the airport.

Delta plans to begin work next month and finish by mid- 2013. It uses Terminal 2 and the 1960s-era, saucer-shaped Terminal 3, which will be razed and replaced with parking, two people familiar with the plan said yesterday. Atlanta-based Delta will redo Terminal 4 and link it with Terminal 2.

“Delta’s JFK terminal upgrade is both welcomed and overdue,” said Robert W. Mann, owner of consultant R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York. “Delta should come out of this in 2013 with the best facilities on the New York-New Jersey airport scene.”

The plan will provide nine more gates for Delta, the world’s largest airline. Kennedy is Delta’s biggest base in the region, eclipsing the carrier’s operations at LaGuardia airport in New York and Newark Liberty in New Jersey.

Delta’s main jet fleet accounted for 21 percent of JFK passengers in the 12 months that ended in April, trailing only JetBlue Airways Corp.’s 42 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

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jetBlue recently completed an upgrade of its own terminal facilities by incorporating the historic Terminal 5 designed by Eero Saarinen into its operations. Delta's project would enable the airline to better compete with jetBlue and upgrade facilities that are widely panned.

Hope Where the Waters Meet and Recede

The Dead Sea is one of the great ecological and natural wonders on the planet. It marks the lowest point on the surface of the planet. It straddles the Israel, West Bank, and Jordanian borders, and accessible to all three.

The Palestinian Authority, in conjunction with Israel and the Jordanian government are hoping to increase tourism to the region and get the area listed as one of the great natural wonders of the world.

In another point of convergence, the governments of Israel, Jordan, which lies across the water, and the Palestinian Authority have joined in a bid to promote the Dead Sea in an Internet competition to be voted one of the new seven natural wonders of the world.

With the water level now dropping by more than three feet a year, many here hope that the competition will focus attention on ways to restore the waters.

“We chase after the water with steps,” said Yusef Matari, a lifeguard at the private beach, Neve Midbar, or Desert Oasis. Mr. Matari has been working in the area for 20 years. “It changes every month,” he said. “There is no permanent shore.”

Some of the ultra-Orthodox women kept on long robes, adhering to strict religious codes of modesty, although Mr. Matari, perched in his lifeguard’s hut on a slope high above the current water line, was the only man in sight.

At nearby Kalia beach, the managers have been trying to encourage more young people to come down for parties by renovating the beach bar, and promoting it as the lowest watering hole in the world.

Dahani Utseh, 35, paddled in the salt-thickened water. She had come with her brother-in-law and her small daughter from Nablus, in the northern West Bank. It was her first time.

While the Palestinians claim about 25 miles of shoreline that lie in the West Bank as part of a future state, Aviv Cohen, a site manager who lives at the settlement, said the negotiations were not his business. The settlement, which is a small kibbutz, or communal farm, is investing heavily, with plans to build a restaurant and a visitors center, he said.

Khalil Tufakji, a Palestinian geographer, said the Palestinians also have more distant plans to build hotels and health spas.

But at this place, where heaven and earth are farthest apart, the challenges that pit people against nature are particularly stark.

The water level has been dropping steeply since the 1960s, mainly as a result of Israel, Jordan and Syria diverting almost all the waters of the Jordan River, which used to feed the Dead Sea, for domestic use and agriculture. Potash industries on both the Israeli and Jordanian sides of the lake also play a significant role in depleting the Dead Sea, since the extraction process relies heavily on evaporation ponds. The southern basin, where the industries and the Israeli hotel district are located, was always shallow. Now it would be completely dried out were it not for the industrial evaporation pools, whose water is artificially pumped in from the northern part.

One proposed solution is to construct a water conduit from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, which would generate hydroelectricity and provide desalinated water, primarily to Jordan, which is acutely short of water, and also help refill the Dead Sea. The governments of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority agreed to a World Bank-sponsored feasibility study that has begun.

The waters are receding by three feet every year because of the evaporation and decline in water coming into the Dead Sea from the Jordan River. Increased usage upstream has limited the water entering the Dead Sea, hastening its evaporation.

It's good to see that there can be some agreement on what are truly important issues such as water rights and how to protect vital assets.

The receding waters have created some unusual sights, including docks and signs warning of swimming where there is no water. More dangerous are the sinkholes that develop as the soils dry up and contract. Some are big enough to take out a car.

Iranian Holocaust Denial/Anti Semitism Watch

Iran is notorious for promoting revisionist history on the Holocaust by denying its existence, and its leadership frequently pushes a rabid anti Semitic agenda.

Today is no different, and we've got a two-fer.

An Iranian website calling the Holocaust "the great lie" and depicting an alternative version of events in Jewish history in cartoon form has been launched.

The site is reportedly financed by a cultural foundation, is not government affiliated, and is based mainly on a book of cartoons first published in 2008.

The site's creators say that they intend to show the world that the Holocaust has been entirely fabricated by the Jews, who not only invented it but have used it to their advantage ever since.

The book's preface begins by saying that the its purpose is "to denounce the conspicuous lie of the planned murder of 6 million Jews during the Second World War allegedly called 'Holocaust.'"

It continues, calling the Holocaust: "The lie by which the Palestine occupier Zionists have justified their occupying of Palestine and lots of their crimes for years."

Why does Iran (and other Arab countries for that matter) promote this?

Simple. It's meant to undermine one of the rationales for Israel's very existence. Israel was founded in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust as a refuge from anti Semitism rampant throughout the world and took on the worst form with the Nazi genocide of more than 6 million Jews throughout Europe.

It's also why Arabs and the Palestinians continually expropriate the language of the Nazi Holocaust and claim that Israel is doing unto them what the Nazis did to Israel. They think that they can gain international sympathy and undermine Israel's sovereignty and right to exist.

Lebanese Soldiers: We Were Following Orders

The border skirmish along the Lebanese-Israeli border that left four people dead was initiated by the Lebanese military. That was the finding of UNIFIL, which continues its investigation.

The Lebanese representative to UNIFIL said that it was Lebanon's stated policy to respond to any violation of its sovereignty with force.

So, if that's the case, when will Lebanon's military finally disarm Hizbullah, which has carved out Southern Lebanon as a state-within-a-state where Hizbullah continues stockpiling weapons and turning the place into an armed camp under the nose of UNIFIL and the Lebanese military. Both the Lebanese government and UNIFIL are mandated to disarm all militias operating in Southern Lebanon as part of UN SCR 1701. They've failed miserably to do so. Yet, when Israel is on Israel's side of the border and has informed UNIFIL of their plan to clear brush and trees leaning on Israel's security fence, Lebanese troops opened fire.

Israel has the right to protect its sovereignty with force, and it did so by returning fire on Lebanese forces that attacked its troops.

The greatest threat to Lebanon's sovereignty isn't Israel. It's Hizbullah, which threatens to overturn the apple cart and exert its power and authority by force and all means at its disposal.

Yet, there are still people who think that Israel is somehow to blame for the incident. Juan Cole thinks that Israel should have left the tree-clearing to UNIFIL.

Couldn’t they, like, have called in the UNIFIL United Nations peacekeepers to cut down the trees? That is what UNIFIL is there for. Some trees were worth the lives of Lebanese troops and a journalist and that of an Israeli officer?

One surprising thing is that the Lebanese army showed such spunk in the face of the perceived Israeli affront. They know very well that they are vastly outgunned, and of course the Israeli military hit them with fire from helicopter gunships and artillery pieces. What made them so bold, that they shot and killed an Israeli officer over the tree removal?

Another surprise is that the secretary general of the Hizbullah party and militia, Hasan Nasrullah, called on his people to show restraint. Even so, he threatened to intervene if there was another Israeli provocation.

That's nonsense. Israel informed UNIFIL of the maintenance operation, received approval to do so at a time of UNIFIL's choosing, and yet the Lebanese opened fire on that approved project.

Moreover, it's easy to show spunk when you've set up an ambush to attack the Israelis while they were doing maintenance work. If this was a straight up fight, which it turned into, the Lebanese troops got hammered hard.

Hizbullah realized very quickly that this attack could be blamed on them, and they didn't want any part of the fight because they also know how devastating Israel's response was in the 2006 Hizbullah war. While it didn't result in victory for Israel, Hizbullah got pasted and Israel's military is notable in how it learns from its previous mistakes. Hizbullah isn't quite ready to initiate another conflict with Israel, so it is merely biding its time.

The bottom line is that Lebanon's military has to be held accountable for this incident. They refuse to enforce UN SCR 1701, but are trigger happy to go after Israel when Israel is operating on the Israeli side of the Blue Line.

UPDATE:
Media mendacity continues apace. Various captions on photos showing Israelis working along the border where the skirmish between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers occurred makes it appear that the fighting broke out over a tree.

This from the AP:

Israeli soldiers use a mechanical grabber to cut trees in disputed land, claimed by both Israel and Lebanon near the southern village of Adaisseh, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010. The Israeli military said it would cut more trees Wednesday in the tense border area where Israel and Lebanon fought the most serious battle between the countries in four years, touched off by a dispute over a cypress tree.

That's factually wrong.

It broke out when a Lebanese soldier opened fire on Israelis carrying out planned maintenance along the fence after consultation and notice to UNIFIL. The precipitating event leading to the deaths was the Lebanese opening fire. UNIFIL clearly stated that Israel was working on clearing brush and trees from its side of the border.

Business as Usual

Let's run the numbers for New York's latest budget (and it was indeed late - more than four months late). It calls for $136.5 billion in spending for the fiscal year that began April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011.

That's 2.6% more than the prior year budget (about $3.2 billion).

State legislators are crowing that they found a way to plug the $10 billion deficit, but I'm not buying it. Nor am I buying the fact that this was a fiscally prudent budget.

The state increased taxes and fees by more than $1 billion. That includes a "temporary" elimination of the sales tax exemption on clothing sales under $110. It also includes imposing tax on Internet sales of hotel rooms in New York. Remember that 2.6% spending increase? The $1 billion is about 30% of the increase - and the state is betting that revenues will pick up. If they don't, and that's a distinct possibility with the economy continuing to operate in the doldrums, the state will be saddled with yet another structural deficit problem from which the only escape is truly reducing spending and not increasing taxes around the fringes in the hopes that no one will notice.

Gov. Paterson says that he had to impose the tax hikes. That's nonsense. He could have demanded that the state simply spend less - to reduce the increase in the budget size.

He - and the state Legislature did not. They failed miserably to get an on-time budget, which leads to higher borrowing costs. They failed miserably to act fiscally responsible by promoting a bloated budget that increases spending through tax hikes.

Eliminate the tax hikes and you eliminate the additional spending - and the state would be in better shape. Instead, New Yorkers get higher taxes with nothing to show for it. Should the state be thankful that many other tax and spend proposals didn't make their way into the budget? Hardly. They're not off the table and some may get included in next year's budget.

Why Should Anyone Listen To Supermodels?

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen made waves after giving an interview to Harpers Magazine in which she said that laws should be enacted requiring women should breastfeed their newborn children for six months.

The supermodel, who gave birth to son Benjamin in December, recently told Harper's Bazaar UK that she thinks there should be "a worldwide law" requiring mothers to "breastfeed their babies for six months."

"Some people (in the US) think they don't have to breastfeed, and I think, 'Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?'" Bundchen says in the magazine's September issue.

Soon after Bundchen's remarks were made public, critics slammed the Brazilian beauty for her insensitivity towards other mothers with opposing beliefs.

Bundchen, 30, took to her blog Monday night to clarify her controversial comments.

"My intention in making a comment about the importance of breastfeeding has nothing to do with the law," wrote the model, who is married to NFL star Tom Brady. "Becoming a new mom has brought a lot of questions, I feel like I am in a constant search for answers on what might be the best for my child."

There's a whole lot of scientific evidence that tends to support breastfeeding for improving the health of both the mother and child, but why is anyone listening to a supermodel speak about medical matters? She's not an expert on lactation and it should be an individual's choice as to how to feed and raise their kids.

If I want to learn proper runway attire and etiquette, I'll consider her opinion accordingly. If I want to know about proper medical benefits and whether breastfeeding is appropriate (or should be mandatory), I'll consult the experts. Each woman has to make the decision for themselves whether to breast feed based on their particular situation.

Just because you're beautiful and have a bully pulpit doesn't give you any more insight or knowledge than experts on the matter.

New York Finally Approves Bloated State Budget More Than Four Months Late

New York is required to have a budget in place by April 1. The reality is that anything within two months of that date is considered normal. The state budget this year was finally adopted yesterday. Four months and three days late, The $136.5 billion budget came within days of the all time record for late budgets in New York.

The final party-line vote -- 32 to 28 -- arrived after the sun had set on a dizzying day of last-minute negotiations, one-house bills that have almost no chance of passage in the Assembly, and frenzied efforts to round up two Democratic senators who spent much of the day missing in action.

In other words, it was a fairly typical day in the Senate, which all year has veered between chaos and inertia due to the Democrats' razor-thin 32-to-30-seat majority.

In order to pass the revenue plan that for more than a month has been the remaining piece of the budget puzzle, Democrats needed all 32 votes on deck. Senate Republicans have been rejecting almost all spending measures en masse this summer.

The Democrats' dilemma was put into stark relief early Tuesday when one of their more unpredictable members, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx, announced he would stay away unless the conference took up two of his measures: a farmworkers bill of rights and legislation relating to New York City rent control.

By 2 p.m., Espada had relented and traveled to Albany. But hours into session, it became apparent that another senator, Manhattan's Tom Duane, hadn't appeared in the chamber for key votes.

It turned out he had sequestered himself in his office, holding out for his own housing bill to be taken up.

Eventually, both measures were brought to the floor Tuesday -- presumably in order to get Espada and Duane's votes on the budget.

The two temporary delays came as another human logjam was clearing: Buffalo's William Stachowski, who for a month had been denying his budget vote in exchange for a push to give individual SUNY and CUNY campuses greater autonomy to raise tuition on their own, gave up his holdout.

So, what does this mean for New York taxpayers?

Well, more taxes and fees of course to feed a budget that is 2.4% more than last year's seriously bloated budget - and yet its backers claim that this is a fiscally prudent budget that closed the deficit? It comes with $1 billion in new taxes and fees.

The legislation will eliminate a sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear purchases of less than $110 starting on Oct. 1. That was by far the largest piece of the bill passed Tuesday night; it is expected to raise about $330 million.

The legislation also expands tax breaks for film production companies and requires online travel companies to collect sales taxes on hotel rooms.

The governor, through a spokesman, hailed the passage of the budget.

“Today the state finalized a budget that closes a $9.2 billion budget gap,” said Morgan Hook, Mr. Paterson’s communications director. “This was done primarily through spending cuts and with no borrowing.”

“A fiscally responsible budget,” Mr. Hook added, “will help our state turn the corner on this economic crisis and put us on a path to recovery.”

All that spending without so much as a wink or nod to fiscal responsibility. Consumers are going to be on the hook for paying tax on clothing sales that were previously exempt.

Where are the spending cuts if the budget increased 2.4%? The $1 billion in tax hikes wont cover the 2.4% budget increase. At most the $1 billion covers 7% of the budget or about 30% of the increase in spending over last year. The budget size is irresponsible on its face, and if the projected revenues don't come in as anticipated, the state will find itself in an even bigger hole than last year.

Yet Another Reminder To Stay Off Tracks

How many times do I have to post stories like this? Earlier today, a woman was killed by an oncoming train in Ramsay, New Jersey because she ignored the crossing gates and was struck by a train passing through the station on the other track.

The incident remains under investigation, but it appears the woman walked behind Train 1145, a northbound train, which had just arrived at the station, and was then hit by a southbound train on the express tracks, Stessel said.

Several witnesses said they saw the woman crossing the tracks with her head down and possibly texting on her cell phone.

“She never even looked up,” said Dave Macrie, who saw the accident as he waited for the Hoboken-bound express train. “The collision was as head on as it could be.”

Macrie said several people screamed as the train approached.

“They were yelling, ‘Oh my God’ ... the train was 8 feet away from her,” he said.

Stessel said the conductor sounded his horn to indicate his arrival, and “then, as soon as he saw the woman, he laid on the horn and pulled the emergency brake, but he was unable to stop.”

Trains on the Main, Bergen and Port Jervis lines resumed a normal schedule by 9:30 a.m., after operating with 30-minute delays during the morning rush hour.

Ramsey was one of several stations to have supplemental pedestrian fencing installed a few years ago to prevent passengers from sidestepping the crossing gates.

I'm constantly amazed at the stupidity of people who attempt to cross tracks when the gates are down. They will walk around the crossing gates, walk under the gates, and otherwise generally ignore all caution all to cross ahead of oncoming trains.

If you misjudge the speed of the oncoming train (which is all too possible when there are express trains that cross regularly in between local trains), or you trip and fall on the tracks themselves, you can end up quite and truly dead.

This woman appears to have completely ignored the signage, warning gates and lights, and didn't have a chance with the oncoming train mere feet away.

Now, the engineer of that train will have to live with the knowledge that he was at the controls when his train struck and killed a pedestrian.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 109

The construction of 1WTC (Freedom Tower) got a big boost as it appears that Condé Nast is going to move from Times Square down to the WTC.

On Tuesday, the authority signed a tentative deal to move the Condé Nast headquarters to 1 World Trade Center, the 1,776-foot skyscraper now under construction at ground zero. That would make it the building’s largest private tenant so far and one with trend-setting cachet to boot.

In the cold, mournful aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, it was unclear what companies, if any, would move back to that scarred piece of earth. For a long time, it appeared that government agencies were the only likely tenants.

Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban planning at New York University, said the Condé Nast deal could be a turning point, noting that 1 World Trade Center, which will be the city’s tallest building, sits across West Street from the newly opened Goldman Sachs headquarters.

Think: Anna Wintour, the imperious editor-in-chief of Condé Nast’s Vogue, who inspired the novel and film “The Devil Wears Prada,” and Graydon Carter, the bon vivant editor of Vanity Fair, stepping out of black limousines at ground zero.

“We will have the best-paid bankers and best-dressed editors across the street from each other,” Mr. Moss said. “What young ambitious person would not want to be downtown now?”

Condé Nast is not the only high-profile tenant now considering 1 World Trade Center, expected to be completed in 2013. Bank of New York is also considering it as one of several sites.

The Port Authority declined to comment on any negotiations with tenants. Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the authority, did say, “There is clearly momentum both in the building of the World Trade Center site and the growing interest from potential tenants.”

The publishing giant would become an anchor tenant in the Freedom Tower. Condé Nast's current landlord is the Durst Organization, which is currently working to finalize a deal to market and lease the Freedom Tower along with a stake in the building.

Some employees were looking forward to the move, which couldn't come before 2014 at the earliest (the building is still under construction), but as should be expected, others aren't looking forward to the move.

Meanwhile, the outrageous outrage over the LPC rejection of landmark status for the buildings where the Cordoba House proposes a community center and mosque continues.

A lawsuit is being filed against the LPC claiming that politics steered the decision rather than the architectural merits. Those lawsuits have little chance of success because as the LPC member statements show - they understood both the political and emotional arguments for landmarking, but the process still required looking at the architectural merits for landmarking and the buildings simply didn't merit such status.

The fact is that the lawsuit itself is a political gesture to force the landmarking of a structure that doesn't merit landmarking on the merits. But that wont stop them from trying to derail the project, which still has to get approval at the City Council.

Moreover, even if the LPC was forced to reconsider the decision, it would not derail the project. Instead, the LPC could force the Cordoba House backers to simply redesign the facade and take other measures to maintain the historical integrity of the building. It might cost more to carry out those efforts, but it would not kill the project.

UN Corroborates Israeli Version of Lebanese Border Skirmish

UNIFIL is still conducting its investigation of yesterday's incident, but thus far has corroborated Israel's version of events. Israel was wholly within its rights to carry out maintenance operations on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, which marks the border between Lebanon and Israel. Lebanese forces opened fire and Israel responded with both small arms fire and artillery. After a short lull called by the Lebanese to evacuate their wounded, someone on the Lebanese side opened fire on an Israeli tank with an RPG.

While both Lebanon and Israel traded claims that the other violated UN SCR 1701, it clearly appears that Lebanon was in the wrong and that someone on the Lebanese side initiated the fighting despite Israel having every right to carry out the maintenance of the security fence that was wholly within Israeli territory.

Israeli leaders are mixed on whether this was a planned terror attack or an unplanned unfortunate incident. Defense Minister Ehud Barak thinks it was unplanned, but several ministers from Kadima and other parties suggested it was a planned terror attack.

We also now know that UNIFIL requested that Israel delay its maintenance work until UNIFIL could get its people in to the area and to alert the Lebanese forces.

Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday called the incident on the Lebanon border a "planned terror attack."

In an interview with Army Radio, the former defense minister added that he had no doubt that Hizbullah was involved in the Lebanese army's actions on the border on Tuesday.

Mofaz was very critical of the UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon, stating that their inability to prevent the Lebanese army from firing on IDF soldiers proves their incompetence.

Also Wednesday, a senior official in Jerusalem told Israel Radio that the Lebanese army had taken advantage of the fact that the IDF delayed by several hours maintenance work near the Lebanese border on Tuesday, in order to plan and prepare an ambush on IDF forces.

According to the report, the IDF told UNIFIL at 6 a.m. on Tuesday that they planned to do maintenance work at approximately 9 a.m. UNIFIL responded that their forces needed time to prepare for the IDF presence in the enclave between the Israeli border and the international border and requested that the IDF delay the maintenance work until 11 a.m. UNIFIL relayed to the Lebanese Army forces in the area the IDF's plans and the Lebanese used the extra time to prepare an ambush on the IDF forces and to invite journalists and photographers to the site.

The IDF prepared Wednesday to complete the routine maintenance it was conducting on the Lebanese border Tuesday when Lebanese Armed Forces opened fire. A large security force returned to the area of the clash in armored vehicles in order to finish the tree clearing activities.

It's that latter part that suggests to the Israelis that this was a planned attack where the Lebanese used the extra time to set up the ambush.

In fact, it appears that the ambush was set up locally and planned with precision to hit the local Israeli commanders - one of whom was killed and another seriously injured. The question being asked on both sides of the Blue Line is why attack and why now?

Well, the latter part could be answered by looking at the calendar. Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the 2006 Hizbullah war and while Hizbullah's leadership denied any involvement all while praising the attacks on Israel, Nasrallah wanted to distance himself because he knew that he'd be targeted once again by the Israelis if his group were indeed connected with the attack. The Lebanese, along with the Syrians and other Arabs quick to condemn Israel for carrying out the provocations, quickly had to back down because the facts clearly didn't support them. In fact, it was astonishing how quick the facts outed that Israel did no wrong here and that it was someone on the Lebanese side who initiated the attacks and that UNIFIL confirmed the Israeli position.

UPDATE:
Multiple reports across the media make this incident about Israel attempting to uproot a tree, even if it was wholly located in Israel. This is part and parcel of a larger propaganda effort delegitimizing Israel's claims to its territories. After all, when you consider that Israeli territory is all expropriated from the Palestinians as Hamas, Hizbullah, and Fatah do - then every tree uprooted is propaganda. After all, why else do the Palestinians wail and moan when Israel tears out olive trees in the West Bank for building housing or because those Palestinians are squatters who are not legally entitled to that land under Oslo, etc.

With apologies to Monty Python, this is the mantra of the anti-Israel propagandists:

Every tree is sacred.
Every tree is holy.
If a tree is wasted,
God gets quite irate.

Let the heathens chop theirs
on the dusty plains
Let the heathen chop theirs
On the dusty ground.
God shall make them pay for
Each tree that can't be found.

LPC Unanimously Denies Landmark Status To Cordoba House/Park 51 Property

As was expected, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected a call to landmark 47 Park Place, which is the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of Ground Zero.

The LPC unanimously rejected calls for landmarking the building.

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-0 against granting historic protection to the building at 45-47 Park Place in Lower Manhattan, where the $100 million center would be built.

That decision clears the way for the construction of Park51, a tower of as many as 15 stories that will house a mosque, a 500-seat auditorium, and a pool. Its leaders say it will be modeled on the Y.M.C.A. and Jewish Community Center in Manhattan.

The vote on Tuesday was free of much of the vitriol that had marked previous hearings. One by one, members of the commission debated the aesthetic significance of the building, designed in the Italian Renaissance Palazzo style by an unknown architect.

Christopher Moore, a member of the commission, said the vote was not a matter of religion, though he argued that the building could not be divorced from the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“It is not directly on ground zero, but it is a part of ground zero,” Mr. Moore said.

And even Moore voted against landmarking because the building itself lacked architectural merits worthy of landmarking.

The backers of the project now have to come up with the $100 million+ financing to get construction underway.

Fighting Breaks Out On Lebanon-Israel Border; Multiple Casualties Reported

The earliest reports are frequently wrong or misstate events as they actually occurred, but this much we know for certain. Lebanese forces opened fire on an Israeli patrol and there were casualties on both sides. At least four Lebanese soldiers were killed when the Israelis returned fire with both small arms and artillery called in against Lebanese military positions.

The Israeli military released a statement that indicates that they had not only informed UNIFIL that they would be operating near the border, but that the work was being done on the Israeli side of the border. The IDF is holding the Lebanese military responsible for the incident.

Earlier today during the mid-day hours, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) fired at an IDF position along the Lebanese border in northern Israel. The force was in Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance and was pre-coordinated with UNIFIL. The border area is east of the Israeli town Metula. The incident occurred west of the internationally recognized “Blue Line” (the border between Israel and Lebanon) and east of the security fence, thus lying in Israeli territory.

The IDF force immediately returned fire with light arms at a force of the LAF, and the IDF also made use of artillery fire. Several minutes later an Israel Air Force (IAF) helicopter fired at the LAF Battalion Command Center in Al-Taybeh, damaging several LAF armored combat vehicles.

The IDF holds the LAF responsible for the incident that disrupted the calm in the region, and its consequences.

The IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi arrived at the Israeli-Lebanese border, is following the events closely as they unfold, and is constantly holding situation assessment reports with the OC Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, as well as the Galilee Regional Division commander and additional commanders.

The work involved removing trees that had come down along the fence line. The fence is heavily monitored and rigged with detection equipment to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into Israel via the Lebanese border such that if a tree had come down on the fence, it would interfere with the detection equipment.

UNIFIL has its hands full and is urging both sides to show restraint. If the Israeli military had informed UNIFIL that they would be undertaking the repairs along the fence (and within Israel's border) then someone at UNIFIL failed to pass along that information to the Lebanese military, where someone decided that this was an Israeli attack and opened fire. UNIFIL doesn't come off looking good here (and it never does), but neither does the Lebanese military who opened fire first before inquiring as to what the Israelis were doing.

UPDATE:
Aussie Dave and the Muqata are both liveblogging the situation along the Northern border. The IDF is also updating their statements here.

UPDATE:
Ha'aretz is reporting that an Israeli Lt. Colonel was among those killed in the incident. The paper is further reporting that the attack started when a sniper on the Lebanese side of the border opened fire on the Israelis who were carrying out maintenance along the border fence - but wholly within Israeli territory.

Israel Defense Forces GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot announced Tuesday that two Israeli officers had been very seriously hit during the exchange of fire. Eizenkot said that the incident had been a "deliberate ambush."

Eizenkot told Israeli media that "a routine operation was carried out during the afternoon near Misgav Am – an operation whose purpose was to trim some bushes near the border, in our [Israeli] territory. It was on both sides of the border but still within [Israeli] territory. Officers oversaw the operation from a permanent position. Sniper fire was directed at the officers, and two of them were wounded as a result."

The GOC Northern Command stressed that "this was a pre-planned event, aggression by the Lebanese army who shot at soldiers inside Israeli territory without any provocation. We view this as a very severe incident."

It was a deliberate ambush and now raises questions over what UNIFIL and the Lebanese military knew and when.

UPDATE:
Here's video showing how the incident broke out. There are UNIFIL soldiers from the Indonesian contingent who were shouting towards the Israelis to stop working along the Israeli fence within Israeli territory but then someone among the Lebanese soldiers' contingent opened fire.



UPDATE:
The Lebanese military acted so improperly in this incident that even the UNIFIL was forced to admit that Israel was within its rights to operate along the fence and that the Lebanese acted improperly. Israel can't let its guard down, and Hizbullah is making the most of the incident to whip up anti-Israel sentiment, which also happens to mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the 2006 Hizbullah war that decimated Southern Lebanon following Hizbullah's invasion of Israel to kidnap Israelis.

Two Convictions In JFK Terror Plot

Two of the five plotters in a plan to blow up JFK airport in New York City were convicted today. The two men, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir plotted to use Defreitas' knowledge of JFK airport to blow up the jet fuel tank farm and or the gas pipeline that runs into the airport so as commit a mass casualty attack.

A federal jury found two Guyanese men guilty on Monday of conspiring to attack Kennedy International Airport, concluding a monthlong trial that focused on their plan to blow up fuel tanks and set off a series of explosions along a pipeline that cuts through New York City.

The plot never advanced beyond the conceptual stage, and the planning sessions, some of which were recorded by a confidential informant, were alternately grandiose and absurd. Talk of destroying the American economy mixed with suggestions of a “ninja-style” attack.

As in some other recent terrorism cases, the threat as officials described it at the time of the arrests seemed to exceed the suspects’ capacity. Like most of those cases, though, it resulted in conviction.

The defendants, Russell M. Defreitas and Abdul Kadir, had been monitored from an early stage in the plot by the informant, who posed as a member of the group, which included a number of other participants.

The informant, Steven Francis, had recorded the men at the airport during surveillance missions and on international trips to secure financial and logistical support for the attack.

The recordings were used by federal prosecutors to portray Mr. Defreitas, 67, an immigrant who became a United States citizen and is a former cargo handler at the airport, as the “homegrown extremist” who conceived and drove the plot.

Mr. Kadir, 58, a prominent Guyanese politician who served in Parliament and as mayor of a major city, initially emerged as a secondary figure, one of several conspirators portrayed as facilitating the plot by providing advice and contacts. But in testifying in his own defense, he opened himself to questions about whether he had spied for Iran.

The case, with its international reach, high-profile target and unusual cast of characters, drew headlines when the men were arrested more than three years ago.

The United States attorney in Brooklyn at the time, Roslynn R. Mauskopf, said the planned attack had the potential to cause “unfathomable damage, deaths and destruction.”

But as time went on, more was revealed about the plot and the unlikelihood of its success (the fuel pipeline, for example, had safety mechanisms to prevent cascading explosions), as well as the level of government involvement (the informant had played a somewhat enabling role in pushing forward the plot).

The verdict came after five days of deliberations in a trial before Judge Dora L. Irizarry in United States District Court in Brooklyn. Both men showed no emotion as the decision was read.

Both are to be sentenced in December and each faces up to life in prison.

Two other plotters have previously entered guilty pleas for their role in plotting the attacks. A fifth person Kareem Ibrahim, is awaiting trial, but is apparently in poor health.

Going To Bat For Charlie Rangel

Corrupt Democratic Congressman from Harlem Charles Rangel has come under increasing pressure from various Democrats in Congress since the House Ethics Panel listed 13 charges against him that could possibly lead to his expulsion from Congress. Over the weekend, President Barack Obama weighed in and suggested Rangel resign to avoid taking down his fellow Democrats in tight races in the 2010 midterm elections. Why is New York Governor David Paterson going to bat for Rangel?

Paterson, appearing on Kiss- FM's "The Open Line," said it's wrong to call on someone to step aside who has chosen to fight to clear his name.

The governor did not refer specifically to Obama, who said on Friday that the hopes Rangel ends his career "with dignity."

But New York's first black governor said he is "especially surprised when people from our own community do it because we've been the greatest victim of it for centuries."

It was only last fall when a top Obama aide told a beleaguered Paterson that the White House preferred he not run for election this year.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a loyal friend of the 80-year-old Rangel, was also kinder in her words than Obama, who repeatedly referred to Rangel in the past tense.

"Any personal respect and affection we may have for people makes us sad about the course of events," she said on ABC's "This Week."

But Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the House had to adhere to high standards. "When I came in, we said we'll drain the swamp. And we did," Pelosi said after a week that saw the venerable Harlem Democrat nailed by 13 charges of ethics violations and California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters headed for an ethics trial of her own.

Here's the missing context from Gov. David Paterson's attempts to back embattled corrupt Democrat Charles Rangel.

So, why is Paterson coming out to defend Rangel?

It goes back to the Harlem Gang of Four. The four Harlem politicians, former Mayor David Dinkins, Basil Paterson (David's father), Rangel, and former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, wielded tremendous power in Manhattan politics and their shadow continues to loom large. This is little more than calling in a favor for a fellow member of the elite group.

Rangel bristles at any calls for his resignation and he's quite secure in the belief that his constituents will send him back to Congress (and I think he's right to think so given the way that they voted for him in 2008 when the tax evasion and other legal and ethics woes were first uncovered).

At the same time, it's laughable for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to talk about draining the swamp of corruption when she refused to raise her hand against Rangel's corruption in 2008 on the eve of national elections that swept Obama into the White House. She refused to move against Rangel as the tax evasion charges piled up or any of the other ethics charges lest she incur the wrath of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus. Hers is not a profile in courage, but rather political expediency. She's protected the corrupt Democrats for years - and it's only the overwhelming stench of that corruption that has forced her hand while she's trying to do all she can to retain the majority in the House. Moving against Rangel now is one of the few ways in which she thinks she can retain the House.

Terrorists' Rockets Slam Into Israeli and Jordanian Red Sea Resorts

Terrorists firing Grad rockets hit the Israeli Red Sea resort city of Eilat and Jordan's Aqaba. One person was killed in Aqaba and four others were injured. No injuries were reported in Israel.

One rocket hit in Jordan's Aqaba on a main street in front of the Intercontinental Hotel, killing a taxi driver, Information Minister Ali Ayed told The Associated Press. Four other Jordanians were injured, Ayed said.

"The Grad rocket landed in a public street near a major five-star hotel and caused four injuries, with three persons lightly wounded and the other casualty in serious condition," a Jordanian interior ministry source told Reuters.

Asked where the Aqaba rocket was fired, he said without elaborating: "It came from the west." Experts were investigating the site to find out where the short-range Grad rocket had been launched, he said.

It appears that the rockets were fired from the Egyptian side of the Israel-Egypt border. This isn't the first attack in recent months, and it suggests that terrorist groups are utilizing Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to carry out attacks against the Israelis. That the rocket hit Jordan's Aqaba may have been the result of the unguided rocket being aimed incorrectly - that the target of all the rockets were Israel.

Yet, now that Jordan was hit by those rockets, the Jordanians may pressure Egypt to increase security further to crack down on terrorists using the Sinai to carry out attacks, lest they hit the Jordanians.

A Grad rocket is a larger version of the kassam rockets that Hamas typically uses to carry out attacks from Gaza.

Garbage Island Threatens China's Three Gorges Dam

China seems to be a fountain of never ending environmental nightmares and the recent flooding rains have made a bad situation worse.



The latest is from the Three Gorges Dam, where weeks of flooding rains have washed all manner of debris into rivers that congealed into a huge mass of garbage.

Thousands of tons of garbage washed down by recent torrential rain are threatening to jam the locks of China's massive Three Gorges Dam, and is in places so thick people can stand on it, state media said on Monday.

Chen Lei, a senior official at the China Three Gorges Corporation, told the China Daily that more than 3,000 tons of trash was being collected at the dam every day, but there was still not enough manpower to clean it all up.

"The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam," Chen said, referring to the gates of the locks which allow shipping to pass through the Yangtze River.

The river is a crucial commercial artery for the upstream city of Chongqing and other areas in China's less-developed western interior provinces.

Pictures showed a huge swathe of the waters by the dam crammed full of debris, with cranes brought in to fish out a tangled mess, including shoes, bottles, branches and Styrofoam.

'Decaying'
Some more than half a million square feet had been covered by trash washed down since the start of the rainy season in July, the report said. The trash is around two feet deep, and in some parts so compacted people can walk on it, the Hubei Daily added.

"Such a large amount of debris could damage the propellers and bottoms of passing boats," Chen said. "The decaying garbage could also harm the scenery and the water quality."

The Chinese government has struggled with trying to come up with an environmental cleanup plan to limit debris and garbage entering the rivers upstream from the dam, and the failure to protect the watershed means that the dam, the locks, and the hydroelectric facilities are threatened by the debris that could jam the navigation locks or the turbines that provide power to the region.

Meanwhile, heavy rains have washed all manner of chemicals into the various Chinese rivers, including the Songhua River, which was the scene of a serious benzene spill two years ago. Like that earlier spill, the current situation has meant that authorities have had to turn off the river water intakes for more than 4 million people lest people become sickened from the tainted water.

Palestinian Child Abuse - Summer Camp Edition

Hamas celebrates the summer in a way that only it can. It indoctrinates kids into its terror-loving ways by giving them weapons training.

Hamas' next generation displayed various operational abilities honed during the summer such as security of high profile figures in public places.

As part of the ceremony, the trainees were given graduation certificates.

Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh participated in the event and praised the camp's managers for their "political and morale-based guidance." He further noted that the interior ministry is "working to train its soldiers armed both with weapons and Islam and Koran convictions for the benefit of their people."

After the ceremony a source from the ministry said, "Defense and security are a natural need that is meant to protect the Islamic project we are leading against the enemies of the Palestinian people and its religion."

Hamas is indoctrinating the next generation of terrorists, and if Hamas was interested in a better future for the Palestinian people and Gazans in particular, they'd be providing these kids with educational opportunities in starting businesses, learning marketable skills, and otherwise not engaging in the business of violence. But everyone knows that Hamas has no interest in peace with Israel or improving the life of Gazans. They're interested in maintaining their grip on power. And these kids will be the next generation of terrorist thugs.

Historical Idiocy of the Day

Newt Gingrich has been against the construction of the Cordoba House proposal to build a community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. He continually misrepresents that the mosque would be located at Ground Zero when it is two blocks north.

But then his aide, Rick Tyler, went historically illiterate on everyone. He said

"building a mosque at Ground Zero "would be like putting a statue of Mussolini or Marx at Arlington National Cemetery."

Asked what the 19th century German philosopher had ever done to America, Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler said: "Well let's go with Lenin then." Tyler explained that he was talking about Lenin, who died in 1924, as representative of the Cold War and ideologies opposed to America.

These opponents to the mosque know that the location isn't in Ground Zero - but want to conflate the location. Their opposition doesn't pass muster on legal grounds, so they're left pounding the table in anger.

And Gingrich and other opponents ignore that there were other mosques operating near Ground Zero - and certainly in the shadow of Ground Zero for years. The Warren Street mosque is one block further away, and that group recently lost its lease but are seeking to find another Lower Manhattan location. They're operating under the radar and without the kind of high profile operation as the Cordoba House plan - the wisdom of which appears to have been justified with the overheated outrage over the Cordoba plan.

This local issue - the siting of a community center and mosque near Ground Zero is taking on national importance - as Republicans are inserting the issue into political races around the country. For many people who haven't been following the story, let alone those who don't know the geographical boundaries of Ground Zero and where the proposed center would be located, it's a prime opportunity for demagoguery.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 108

Rosanna Scotto got an unlimited access tour to the World Trade Center site, including the 9/11 memorial, Freedom Tower, and transit hub. The following video helps orient people to where work is ongoing on different portions of the project and updates the progress.



Meanwhile, the 9/11 settlement for Ground Zero workers is in jeopardy because a significant number of those workers are opting out of the plan. If an insufficient number sign on to the settlement, it will not take effect at all.