Rudy Giuliani Said Obama Doesn't Love America - TIME | Mr. Obama’s verbal tactics have become a target for a growing chorus of critics who believe the evasive language is a sign that he is failing to look squarely at the threat from militant Islam. The vague phrasing, they say, projects uncertainty and weakness at a time when extremists claiming to fight for Islam threaten America and its interests around the world... “Self-deception is not a good idea in politics or international affairs. We’re lying to ourselves, and the world knows it”... “You cannot defeat an enemy that you do not admit exists,” Michael T. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014, told a House hearing last week. “I really, really strongly believe that the American public needs and wants moral, intellectual and really strategic clarity and courage on this threat.” - Faulted for Avoiding ‘Islamic’ Labels to Describe Terrorism, White House Cites a Strategic Logic - NYT | Saudi cleric says Earth doesn’t revolve around Sun | Russian Army returns to Latin America
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WASHINGTON — President Obama chooses his words with particular care when he addresses the volatile connections between religion and terrorism. He and his aides have avoided labeling acts of brutal violence by Al Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State and their allies as “Muslim” terrorism or describing their ideology as “Islamic” or “jihadist.”
With remarkable consistency — including at a high-profile White House meeting this week, “Countering Violent Extremism” — they have favored bland, generic terms over anything that explicitly connects attacks or plots to Islam.
Obama aides say there is a strategic logic to his vocabulary: Labeling noxious beliefs and mass murder as “Islamic” would play right into the hands of terrorists who claim that the United States is at war with Islam itself. The last thing the president should do, they say, is imply that the United States lumps the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims with vicious terrorist groups.
But Mr. Obama’s verbal tactics have become a target for a growing chorus of critics who believe the evasive language is a sign that he is failing to look squarely at the threat from militant Islam. The vague phrasing, they say, projects uncertainty and weakness at a time when extremists claiming to fight for Islam threaten America and its interests around the world.
“Part of this is a semantic battle, but it’s a semantic battle that goes to deeper issues,” said Peter Wehner, a veteran of the past three Republican administrations and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. “Self-deception is not a good idea in politics or international affairs. We’re lying to ourselves, and the world knows it.”
While the most vehement criticism has come from Mr. Obama’s political opponents on the right, a few liberals and former security officials have begun to echo the criticism.
“You cannot defeat an enemy that you do not admit exists,” Michael T. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014, told a House hearing last week. “I really, really strongly believe that the American public needs and wants moral, intellectual and really strategic clarity and courage on this threat.”
Akbar Ahmed, chairman of Islamic studies at American University and author of a book on Islam in America, said he supported the Obama administration’s care in avoiding a counterproductive smear of all Muslims. But he said the president sometimes seemed to bring an academic approach to a visceral, highly politicized discussion.
“Obama’s reaching a point where he may have to ditch this almost scholastic position,” Mr. Ahmed said. “He sounds like a distinguished professor in the ivory tower, and he may have to come down into the hurly-burly of politics.”
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Addressing the extremism conference on Wednesday, Mr. Obama acknowledged the complaints and took pains to try to explain his approach.
“Leading up to this summit, there’s been a fair amount of debate in the press and among pundits about the words we use to describe and frame this challenge, so I want to be very clear about how I see it,” the president said. “Al Qaeda and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam.”
But Mr. Obama said that “we must never accept the premise that they put forward, because it is a lie.” The operatives of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, “are not religious leaders — they’re terrorists,” he said.
The president’s comments suggest that the criticism has disturbed him. “You know your talking points are no longer working when you have to talk about your talking points,” said Peter D. Feaver, a political scientist at Duke who was deeply involved in shaping President George W. Bush’s language while he worked at the White House from 2005 to 2007.
Choosing what to say about the enemy during the long campaign against Al Qaeda, and now the Islamic State, was a challenge for Mr. Bush as well as for Mr. Obama, Mr. Feaver said. The nation’s terrorist enemies define themselves as fighters for Islam, lace their propaganda with quotes from the Quran and claim to speak for all Muslims. But an overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide reject the Qaeda ideology and condemn terrorist attacks.
Mr. Bush, too, struggled at times to find the right terms for the fight against Al Qaeda. He used and then quickly dropped the word “crusade” for the American campaign against terrorism, concerned that he was playing into the terrorists’ view of a centuries-long clash of civilizations.
He favored the formula “war on terror,” but was battered by critics inside and outside the government who said that it was impossible to wage war against a tactic, Mr. Feaver recalled. For months before a major speech by the president in 2005, different agencies fought over what, exactly, Mr. Bush should call the enemy.
In the end, he effectively threw up his hands. “Some call this evil Islamic radicalism,” he said in the speech. “Others, militant jihadism. Still, others Islamo-fascism. Whatever it’s called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam.” But he went on to regularly use the term “Islamic radicalism,” which Mr. Obama has shunned.
Many advocates for Muslims appreciate Mr. Obama’s care in keeping their religion separate from the terrorist groups whose claims they reject. “We support the Obama administration and the administration before them for not falling into the Al Qaeda-ISIS trap of saying this is a religious war,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, a national group.
But even Ms. Khera complained that the name of the White House conference on the topic was too vague. While the label was “violent extremism,” the vast majority of speakers spoke only about Islamic extremism, ignoring all other kinds, she said. “If the summit were called ‘Countering ISIS,’ that would be fine,” she said. “But it’s not.”
Daniel Benjamin, who served as the State Department’s top counterterrorism official from 2009 to 2012, said he believed that the dispute was a “pseudocontroversy” driven largely by domestic politics, even if it has produced some clumsy moments in the White House press room. What the debate has missed, he said, is that any American president has to think about how his words are received overseas.
“Our allies against ISIS in the region are out there every day saying, ‘This is not Islam,’ ” said Mr. Benjamin, now at Dartmouth. “We don’t want to undermine them. Any good it would do to trumpet ‘Islamic radicalism’ would be overwhelmed by the damage it would do to those relationships.”
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With remarkable consistency, President Obama and his aides have favored bland, generic terms over anything that explicitly connects attacks or plots to Islam.
 New York Times |
Faulted for Avoiding 'Islamic' Labels, White House Cites a Strategic Logic
New York Times WASHINGTON — President Obama chooses his words with particular care when he addresses the volatile connections between religion and terrorism. He and his aides have avoided labeling acts of brutal violence by Al Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State ... Obama announces initiatives to curb recruitment of terrorist groupsWashington Post Obama calls on Muslims to distance themselves from brutal ideologiesChristian Science Monitor Obama: IS is comprised of terrorists "desperate for legitimacy"Fox News Latino SFGate -Columbus Dispatch -ABC News all 1,199 news articles » |
Dallas Morning News |
Sniper case witnesses detail Routh's angry outbursts
Dallas Morning News Jennifer Weed, testifying Wednesday in the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, told of accepting Routh's marriage proposal one day, only to have him order her to leave the next. By DIANNA HUNT dhunt@dallasnews.com. Staff Writer. Published: 18 February 2015 ... Sister testifies in 'American Sniper' trial that suspect fought 'demons'Las Vegas Review-Journal Ex-girlfriend: Routh joked he had killed before, would againWaxahachie Daily Light Fact-checking American Sniper as the Oscars nearNew Zealand Herald all 217 news articles » |
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European Union and NATO leaders are calling on Russia to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and to adhere to a mediated truce agreed to last week in Belarus. Despite the agreement,...
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 Times LIVE |
US preparing to sue Ferguson police over charges of racial bias
Times LIVE Demonstrators protest to demand justice for the death of Eric Garner, at Grand Central Terminal in the Manhattan borough of New York, December 9, 2014. The death in New York of Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, and the police shooting in Ferguson, ... and more » |
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UN Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Libyaby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Jordan circulated a draft United Nations Security Council resolution late Wednesday that would lift an arms embargo against the Libyan government, work toward halting the flow of weapons to militants and push for Libya's internationally recognized government to return to the capital in Tripoli. The council met earlier for emergency talks on the situation in Libya, where militias and two parallel governments have left the country in a persistent state of instability following the 2011...
Islamic State does not speak for you and ‘we are not at war with Islam’, declares US president at counter-extremism summit
Muslims in the US and around the world have a responsibility to fight the idea that terrorist groups like Islamic State speak for them, Barack Obama has declared in his most direct remarks yet about any link between Islam and violent extremism.
“We are not at war with Islam,” Obama said. “We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.”
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The Russian president has every reason to want the ceasefire to hold, but if the west continues to misread his motives there’s little chance of it happening
Ever since the roadmap for peace in Ukraine was agreed last week, the prevailing mood in western capitals has been pessimism laced with cynicism. In the unlikely event that the ceasefire somehow takes hold, this will be interpreted as proof positive that the terms favoured Russia. Whatever happens, Russia – or, more specifically, President Putin – will be to blame.
Any notion that Moscow might genuinely want peace in Ukraine, and be willing to compromise to achieve that, is excluded from the calculation. And so continues the profound misreading of Kremlin thinking that has dogged the west’s approach to Russia, and militated against any settlement since President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev and Russia snatched Crimea a year ago.
Related: There’ll be no peace while Putin is squatting in Ukraine’s living room | Timothy Garton Ash
Continue reading... Gallup.com |
Alaska Leads US States in Well-Being for First Time
Gallup.com WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Alaska residents had the highest well-being in the nation in 2014, reaching the top spot for the first time since Gallup and Healthways began tracking well-being in 2008. West Virginia and Kentucky rank 50th and 49th, respectively, for ... Alaska, Hawaii Lead the United States in Well-Being in Annual Gallup ...Yahoo Finance UK all 25 news articles » |
 Montana Standard |
Defense to present 3rd day of testimony in 'Sniper' trial
Montana Standard Eddie Ray Routh, left, enters the courtroom with defense attorney J. Warren St. John following a break in his capital murder trial at the Erath County, Donald R. Jones Justice Center in Stephenville, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. Routh is charged with the ... and more » |
Dancer's Death Reveals World of 'Pumping Parties,' Surgery
ABC News An exotic dancer's death at an airport hotel has led Philadelphia police to investigate the strange underworld of "pumping parties" and illegal cosmetic surgery. An aspiring rapper known as "the Black Madam" is accused of killing the 20-year-old dancer ... and more » |
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Russia is "testing NATO" and could target Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia next, Michael Fallon warns.
New American HIV vaccine showing striking resultsby The European Union Times
AIDS Virus under electron microscope
A radical new type of vaccine has shown positive results during tests on HIV-positive patients, bolstering hopes of fully protecting humans from AIDS in the future, researchers say.
A new type of molecule, used in the vaccine, was engineered by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in California, which they claim blocks the HIV virus from attaching to cells, the Independent reported on Wednesday.
Usually HIV vaccination works by provoking a response in the immune system, but the new vaccine has a different approach.
During experiments initially reported in the journal Nature, the researchers discovered that four monkeys injected with the vaccine, which works by altering DNA, were protected for at least 34 weeks from all types of HIV.
Even though the new vaccine still requires human testing, experts have said it represents an “exciting” development in the fight against AIDS.
“We are closer than any other approach to universal protection, but we still have hurdles, primarily with safety for giving it to many, many people,” said lead researcher Professor Michael Farzan.
The researchers said they hoped to proceed to human testing within the year.
The search for a HIV vaccine has been going for over 30 years with only limited success. Scientists’ attempts to develop a significant protective therapy have been thwarted due to the ever-evolving nature of the virus.
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Brent crude price falls $2 per barrel following big rise in US oil inventories and rising output from Saudi Arabia
Oil prices have tumbled in the runup to the release of data expected to show US inventories at record highs. Rising production from the world’s biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, also fuelled worries about global oversupply.
Brent crude fell $2 to $58.53 a barrel on Thursday, after hitting a two-month high of $63 a barrel on Tuesday. US crude for March delivery, which expires on Friday, also lost $2, to $50.05 a barrel.
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De-classified documents reveal details of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's former life as a husband and office worker.
For almost all of its existence, the Islamic State has focused on a spectacular yet singular goal: The creation of a new Islamic caliphate centered around Syria and Iraq. While there were threats and attacks further afield, these attacks were generally made by groups or individuals with relatively weak links to the Islamic State's core.Read full article >>
ONS figures show 6,233 people over 15 killed themselves in 2013, 252 more than in 2012, and that the male suicide rate is three times greater than the female rate
The number of suicides in the UK increased, with the male rate its highest since 2001, according to the latest statistics.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show there was a total of 6,233 people killed over 15 killed themselves in 2013, 252 more than in 2012 and represents a 4% increase.
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ISIS ups the ante on its savagery. Iraq asks U.N. to look into organ-harvesting allegations. And U.S. President Barack Obama wants to deny the group legitimacy.
 The Guardian |
Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands by Richard Sakwa review – an ...
The Guardian When Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine's prime minister, told a German TV station recently that the Soviet Union invaded Germany, was this just blind ignorance? Or a kind of perverted wishful thinking? If the USSR really was the aggressor in 1941, it would suit ... and more » |
 Wall Street Journal |
Oil Prices Fall as US Crude Stockpiles Grow
Wall Street Journal LONDON—Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday extending their losses on expectations that U.S. crude stockpiles will reach a record level. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said late Wednesday its data showed a 14.3 million-barrel increase ... Oil falls sharply as US crude inventories riseReuters Oil price tumble, Greece weigh on US stocksCNBC Brent crude dips below $60 again amid fears of worsening supply shockTelegraph.co.uk Arkansas Online -MarketWatch -The Guardian all 88 news articles » |
Leading PC manufacturer shipped computers containing Superfish software that could leave users permanently open to attack when using public Wi-Fi network
Lenovo, the largest PC manufacturer in world, has been accused of fatally compromising user security by installing an adware application on all its Windows computers as they leave the factory.
The software, called Superfish, purports to offer users a “visual search” experience. In actual fact, it injects third-party advertisements into Google search results and websites, without asking the user.
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Footage of a rare Amur tiger playing with her cubs has been captured in China, showing the endangered big cat making a comeback in the country. Report by Sarah Kerr.
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Russian Army returns to Latin America by The European Union Times
Vladimir Putin said that he would not allow the West to achieve military superiority over Russia. Russia will continue strengthening the nuclear potential, develop space forces, navy and long-range aviation. The Russian Navy plans to commission two new nuclear submarines. However, Russia lacks a developed system of bases that had been lost after the collapse of the USSR. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu tried to fill the gap during his tour of Latin America on February 11-14.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Latin America
Of course, the minister discussed issues of closer cooperation in other military areas, such as arms supplies, personnel training and conducting joint drills to repel possible aggression. Noteworthy, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba are members of the leftist bloc ALBA that considers US imperialism the main threat to overthrow legitimate governments in their countries in order to establish pro-American regimes there.
The results of the visit have not been disclosed. It is possible, though, that Defense Minister Shoigu was sounding out opportunities for Vladimir Putin’s possible visits to the above-mentioned countries to sign adequate agreements. In Nicaragua, an intergovernmental agreement was signed to establish a simplified procedure for vessels of the Russian navy to enter Nicaraguan ports. Another agreement was signed to train military specialists at Russian universities. Venezuela offered its “friendly ports” to Russian ships as well. The country is willing to organize joint drills with Russia, including with the use of multiple rocket launchers. It is possible that aircraft of the Russian Air Force may land in the country someday soon as well.
During the meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro in Havana, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu said that “military relations develop constructively.” Shoigu expressed Russia’s gratitude to the Cuban side for the honors given to Russian military ships and vessels during their call at the port of Havana. It goes about The Victor Leonov electronic intelligence ship that paid a visit to Cuba in January 2015 and a couple of times in 2014.
Russia and Cuba agreed to train Cuban specialists in Russia. This is a very important aspect, as it means the technical and mental attachment of the armed forces of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to Russia. This marks a return to the Soviet system of allied military cooperation between Russia and Latin America.
This long-term strategy imposes obligations on Russia to supply its allies in Latin America with advanced weapons, including air defense systems, aircraft and warships. Such issues were discussed in Nicaragua, Pravda.Ru wrote with reference to defensa.com website. “Moscow will begin shipping patrol gunboats in Managua during the second half of 2016 as part of the package that Russia offered Nicaragua last year.”
Furthermore, if we sell or have plans to sell S-300 and S-400 systems to Beijing and Tehran, why not selling them to Managua, Caracas and Havana? Brazil has recently acquired mobile anti-aircraft Pantsir S-1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) systems, as well as Igla MANPADs totaling 955 million dollars.
The contract for the purchase of Pantsir S1 is to be signed in July 2015, according to the Ministry of Defence of Brazil. The systems will serve to defend the presidential palace, strategic factories, such as Embraer factory of aerospace and defense equipment, a submarine base and Itaguaí Naval Shipyard, where Brazil is building its first-ever nuclear submarine.
Russian forces returning to Latin America
On January 30, Army General Valery Gerasimov said in Moscow that Russia was planning to hold first talks with military authorities of Brazil, Vietnam, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to hold “a number of joint naval and air exercises.”
Brazil is very important for Russia in terms of strategic partnership within the framework of the BRICS organization. Russia is unable to resist the United States in Latin America, but it can do something if the country works within the limits of this bloc.
Alberto López Girondo, a political analyst and columnist at Revista Accion from Argentina, told Pravda.Ru that Russia should cooperate with the countries of Latin America, “to strengthen strong ties between Russia, the countries of Latin America and the BRICS countries in search of new geo-political scenarios.”
The expert, however, does not find it expedient to resume the work of the Cuban base in Lourdes. During the Soviet times, the Cuban base was used as a base of electronic intelligence in light of the talks between Havana and Washington. According to the expert, now is not the time when this can happen, as it is more important for Cuba to get rid of the trade embargo.
Lopez Girondo does not think that one can be optimistic about strengthening Russia’s influence in Latin America.
“I think it goes about a trend of increasing Russia’s influence in the region, but the trend is unfavorable for the United States, – Vladimir Yevseyev, Director of the Center for Public Policy Research told Pravda.Ru. – Latin America is waiting, when Russia comes to the region. Russia is developing relations not only with Brazil, a member of the BRICS, but also with Argentina. Russia works to create an alternative to the US. This is very important for many countries, because if there is an alternative, they feel more confident in the international arena.
“Through the territory of Nicaragua, it is planned to build a new canal parallel to Panama Canal. In this case, vessels of the Russian fleet will be able to enter the Gulf of Mexico, that is exit the Pacific Ocean to enter the Atlantic. This is highly important, because in this case, Russia will be able to ensure so-called nuclear deterrence, because the Russian navy has long-range cruise missiles. If such Russian vessels are deployed somewhere near the territory of Cuba, they will be able to attack the United States. This is our response to the deployment of US military objects near the Russian border. If the United States continues to behave the same way, probably, Russia will make further steps to resume the work of the military facility in Lourdes,” Vladimir Yevseyev told Pravda.Ru.
“The United States is quite vulnerable. One may eventually have to create missile defense from the side of Florida, rather than Alaska. All these issues arise and require huge financial resources. I think it will convince the United States of the short-sightedness of this kind of policy. The Americans thoughts that Cuba would fall into their arms, but the Cubans asked the Americans to withdraw the Guantanamo military base first,” the expert told Pravda.Ru.
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The German army has faced a shortage of equipment for years, but the situation has recently become so precarious that some soldiers took matters into their own hands.On Tuesday, German broadcaster ARD revealed that German soldiers tried to hide the lack of arms by replacing heavy machine guns with broomsticks during a NATO exercise last year. After painting the wooden sticks black, the German soldiers swiftly attached them to the top of armored vehicles, according to a confidential army report which was leaked to ARD.Read full article >>
New York judge proposes bill to overhaul grand jury systemby Nicky Woolf in New York
Judge Jonathan Lippman says events of past year led to a ‘crisis of confidence’ and seeks reforms to system in instances of police violence
New York’s senior judge has proposed a bill for the state legislature that would dramatically reform how grand juries work in instances involving police violence, saying the events of the past year had led to “a crisis of confidence” in the justice system.
Judge Jonathan Lippman, chief judge of the New York court of appeals, the state’s highest judicial body, announced his proposed legislation in his annual State of the Judiciary speech on Tuesday.
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Video has emerged showing NATO fighter jets 'buzzing' a Russian Tu-95 bomber.
Germany has rejected Greece's proposal for a loan extension, calling it "no substantial solution", reports say.
On Monday, Greece was given an ultimatum on extending its bailout and told to take it or leave it. On Thursday, it took it, or rather, it at least said it wouldlike to take it.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who chairs the ‘Eurogroup’ (comprising the Eurozone’s 19 finance ministers), confirmed via his Twitter feed that the group will meet again Friday in Brussels to discuss a request from Athens for a six-month “extension” of the bailout program.
The program was due to expire at the end of the month, after which Greece would have lost access to over €10 billion ($1.15 billion) of aid.
Separately, Reuters reported a Greek official as confirming that Athens had asked to extend to its “Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement” with the euro zone.
In keeping with the frequently surreal semantic quibbling of recent weeks, the official insisted the government was proposing different terms from its current bailout obligations. However, Reuters said that the government, in its request, pledged to abide by all its previous commitments and recognize the bailout as legally binding.
If that’s the case, then Thursday’s developments represent a major de-escalation of the growing crisis and significantly lower the risk of the situation spiralling out of control in the near term.
It’s also a major climbdown for the new government, led by the radical left-wing Syriza party, which swept to power on a pledge to overthrow the bailout agreement in January and subsequently declared it “dead”. According to Reuters, the government Thursday even accepted to continue accepting monitoring visits from the three institutions that have overseen Athens’ implementation of the bailout to date, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
The Greek government’s apparent U-turn came less than a day after the ECB subtly increased the pressure on it by allowing only a minimal increase in the amount of cash it was willing to let Greek banks access.
Greeks have reportedly been pulling deposits out of the banking system in increasing numbers recently, scared at the prospect of their country being forced out of the Eurozone. The increase of only €3.3 billion in the ceiling on Emergency Lending Assistence might have left banks unable to honor requests for withdrawals
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had reported earlier Thursday that the ECB would rather impose capital controls on Greece than allow its banking system to continue being drained of resources. However, the ECB later denied this, saying that: “There was no discussion on capital controls in the Governing Council and any reporting on this is incorrect.”
A deal on Friday would buy time for the new Greek government to validate its promise of cracking down on corruption and collecting more taxes, particularly from the business elite that has successfully avoided them in the past. However, it remains to be seen how Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will reconcile Thursday’s promise to abide by the bailout with his declared intention to introduce new laws rolling back some of its key provisions.
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Saudi cleric says Earth doesn’t revolve around Sunby The European Union Times
A Saudi cleric has appeared in a video rejecting that Earth revolves around the sun, claiming instead that it is “stationary.” His statements have incited a fiery response on social media.
When questioned by a student about whether the Earth was stationary or moving, Sheikh Bandar al-Khaibari responded with “stationary and does not move,” Saudi-owned broadcaster Al-Arabia reported.
He then attempted to support his theory with a strange blend of logic and clerical statements.
“First of all, where are we now? We’re going to Sharjah Airport to travel to China by plane, [is that] clear? Focus with me, this is the Earth,” he said while holding up a sealed water cup.
He proceeded to say that if the plane stopped dead in its tracks in mid-air, “China would be coming towards it in case the Earth rotates in one direction. If the Earth rotates in the opposite direction, the plane would never reach China, because China is also rotating,” he said.
The shaky reasoning incited a torrent of responses on Twitter under a hashtag which roughly translates as #cleric_rejects_rotation_of_Earth.
Saudi cleric Sheikh Bandar al Khaibari trying to explain his theory that the Earth doesn’t revolve around the Sun.
“Check out this hashtag if you feel like watching your IQ plummet,” Twitter user ‘ink’ wrote.
“This is why you don’t give khutbah [a public sermon] after smoking up,”Saijaz wrote.
“No surprise women not allowed 2 drive w cretins like this,” one user commented, referencing the ultra-conservative absolute monarchy’s ban on female drivers.
“Did somebody tell that guy that there are people literally live in space?” another wrote.
Others thought the blunder was a good opportunity to educate the public on issues of science.
The statements, rather ironically, were delivered on the birthday of Galileo Galilei, the 16th century “father of modern observational astronomy” who was persecuted by the Catholic Church for supporting heliocentricism, the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the sun at the center of the solar system.
After being found “vehemently suspect of heresy,” Galileo was forced to spend the last nine years of his life under house arrest.
In 1992, the Vatican formally and publicly cleared Galileo of any wrongdoing.
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The U.K. Defense Secretary said there is a “real and present danger” of Russia trying to destabilize the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Michael Fallon told reporters Wednesday, “I’m worried about Putin. I’m worried about his pressure on the Baltics, the way he is testing Nato,” BBC reports. Fallon said he was concerned that Putin would use the same tactics he’s been testing in Ukraine on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, so Nato must be prepared for more Russian aggression.
The three Baltic states, like Ukraine, were once part of the Soviet Union and have significant Russian-speaking minorities.
Fallon’s statements came the same day as two Russian military aircraft were coas off south-west England. Royal Air Force jets escorted the Russian bombers away from the UK.
WBUR |
Tsarnaev Lawyers To Argue To Move Trial Out Of Mass. Before Federal Appeals ...
WBUR In this courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, third from right, is depicted with his lawyers and U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr., right. (Jane Flavell Collins/AP). By David Boeri. BOSTON The terrorism trial of accused ... and more » |
The leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia agreed in a telephone call to make a new push to impose a tattered cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, a day after Kiev gave up a strategic rail hub to Russia-backed rebels following days of heavy fighting.
The next round of talks between Russia and Georgia on the normalization of bilateral ties will be held on February 26.
 TIME |
Rudy Giuliani Said Obama Doesn't Love America
TIME Speaking at a private dinner for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Manhattan, the former mayor of New York said, “I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,” POLITICO reports. “He doesn't love ... Giuliani: Obama doesn't love AmericaMiamiHerald.com Rudy Giuliani: 'I do not believe that the president loves America'The Week Magazine Your daily 6: 1-hit wonder faces 2 criminal charges, Happy New Year and ...STLtoday.com MarketWatch all 20 news articles » |
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka says his country is ready for a "constructive dialogue" with NATO.
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Greece caved in to pressure from the rest of the Eurozone Thursday and asked for an extension of its bailout program.
But euphoria in financial markets lasted less than two hours before the German finance ministry said the request wasn’t “substantial” and didn’t offer enough guarantees that it would continue to implement reforms.
Berlin’s rejection came barely an hour after Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem hadconfirmed that the Eurogroup’ (comprising the Eurozone’s 19 finance ministers) would meet again Friday in Brussels to discuss the request.
The statement was unusual in that, while Germany has traditionally led the group of creditors driving a hard line at bailout negotiations for six countries over the last five years, it has rarely done anything to pre-empt discussions so thoroughly.
A deal on Friday would buy time for the new Greek government to validate its promise of cracking down on corruption and collecting more taxes, particularly from the business elite that has successfully avoided them in the past. Greece’s government hopes it could then agree a new and less onerous deal with the creditors that would allow it to recover faster.
Greece’s €240 billion program is due to expire at the end of the month, after which it will lose access to over €10 billion ($11.5 billion) of aid. On Monday, the Eurogroup had given Greece an ultimatumon extending the deal, telling finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to either take it or leave it.
A text of the request published by Reuters Thursday indicated that the government pledged to abide by all its previous commitments and recognize the bailout as legally binding. However, the wording of its first point implied that Greece wants to haggle over implementing reforms demanded by the original bailout agreement–an impression reinforced this week as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised to introduce new laws rolling back some of the agreement’s key provisions.
A spokesman for Germany’s finance ministry dismissed it as “not a substantial proposal for a solution. In reality, it aims for a bridging loan without fulfilling the demands of the program.”
Even so, the request is still a major climbdown for the new government, led by Tsipras’ radical left-wing Syriza party, which swept to power on a pledge to overthrow the bailout agreement in January and subsequently declared it “dead”. It pledges to honor all of Greece’s debts and, just as importantly, to continue accepting monitoring visits from the three institutions that have overseen Athens’ implementation of the bailout to date, the hated “troika” of European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
The request comes less than a day after the ECB subtly, but nonetheless significantly, increased the pressure on Greece by voting only a minimal increase in the amount of cash that Greek banks can access from it.
Greeks have reportedly been pulling deposits out of the banking system in increasing numbers recently, scared at the prospect of their country being forced out of the Eurozone. The increase of only €3.3 billion in the ceiling on Emergency Lending Assistence might have left banks unable to honor requests for withdrawals. The banks are already effectively barred from the ECB’s regular lending operations because the ECB no longer considers Greek government debt as good enough collateral.
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had reported earlier Thursday that the ECB would rather impose capital controls on Greece than allow its banking system to continue being drained of resources. However, the ECB later denied this, saying that: “There was no discussion on capital controls in the Governing Council and any reporting on this is incorrect.”
This story updates an earlier version published before the German government issued its statement.
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com.
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