Libya: International group discusses funding for rebels

An international grouping is meeting in Rome to discuss financial aid for Libya's rebels.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Libya Contact Group would also look at ways to put pressure on Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

She said the desired outcome was an end to violence against civilians and a "democratic transition".

Meanwhile, a ship has evacuated people from the besieged port of Misrata to the main rebel city of Benghazi.

The ship, the Red Star One, chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), was hit by shell fire as it docked at Misrata to embark wounded people and foreign workers. Five people were killed.

Amid scenes of panic, families were separated and the ship had to re-dock twice before finally setting sail with 1,300 passengers - mostly wounded people and foreign workers stranded as the city was besieged by Col Gaddafi's forces.

They have now arrived, tired and bedraggled, in Benghazi, says the BBC's John Sudworth.

BBC

MORE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13292852

Osama captured alive and executed, claims 12-yr-old daughter

ISLAMABAD: Osama bin Laden was unarmed at the time of his killing and his 12-year-old daughter saw her father being shot dead, it was revealed on Wednesday, even as the exact circumstances of the al-Qaida chief's death remained unclear and theWhite House changed versions.

An Arabic TV station claimed the child had, in fact, said her father was taken prisoner and then shot, in an execution of sorts.

The girl is now in custody with a Yemeni wife of Osama's, an Inter-Services Intelligence ( ISI) official said. Up to 12 women and children who survived the US raid on their villa were now in custody, he said.

The child, reported to be 12 years old, "was the one who confirmed to us that Osama was dead and shot and taken away", said the official.

An Arabic television station went further, saying, "a source in Pakistani security quoted the daughter of Osama bin Laden that the leader of al-Qaida was not killed inside his house, but had been arrested and was killed later".

Four bodies were retrieved from the daring covert attack, including one of bin Laden's sons, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Up to three women and nine children, including the young Yemeni woman who was shot in the leg and a daughter of the Saudi-born mastermind, were in detention, he said.

"There are a lot of questions we want to ask them," another intelligence official said.

Times of India



hostgator coupon 2011

NDP MP Thomas Mulcair questions Bin Laden pictures

The NDP got its first taste of the perils of prominence Wednesday after being forced to handle two public relations disasters as the newly elected Official Opposition.

While MP-elect Ruth Ellen Brosseau was scrutinized for allegedly filing falsified nomination papers in Quebec, deputy leader of the NDP, Thomas Mulcair, drew gasps when he said he does not believe the United States government has photographs of terrorist Osama bin Laden. He also hinted there may be “more going on,” behind the scenes of his assassination than the U.S. is making known.

“I don’t think, from what I’ve heard, that those pictures exist. And if they do, I’ll leave that up to the American military,” Mr. Mulcair said during an appearance on the CBC TV’s Power and Politics Wednesday.

Asked again whether he thinks the photos exist, Mr. Mulcair said: “No, I don’t think they do. If they’ve got pictures of a cadaver, there’s probably more going on than we suspect in what happened there.”

Twitter immediately flooded with comments about the statement, making the Outremont MP a trending topic on the micro-blogging website. “I almost fell out of my chair when Mulcair said he doubted the existence of Osama bin Laden photos,” tweeted Marc Garneau, the astronaut and Liberal MP for Westmount-Ville-Marie.

In a subsequent tweet, he admonished the deputy NDP leader’s comments. “Sanity check please: Osama bin Laden is dead and photos were taken. To suggest otherwise is a serious lack of judgment.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said that the incoming Conservative government doesn’t share Mr. Mulcair’s skepticism. “The White House made it clear that pictures exist,” he wrote on Twitter. “Absolutely no reason to doubt that.”

The party scrambled to mount a response to questions over Mr. Mulcair’s statement. In a statement, Paul Dewar, the NDP foreign affairs critics, said the incoming opposition party didn’t question the existence of the photos.

“We have no reason to doubt the veracity of President Obama’s statement,” he said. “I understand that the U.S. government has photos, but decided not to release them as they do not want them used as trophies. This is a legitimate concern. We agree these types of photos shouldn’t be used as propaganda tools.”

Mr. Mulcair’s comments were quickly picked up by dozens of U.S. media outlets.

In the same Power and Politics interview, Mr. Mulcair also came to the defence of Ms. Brosseau, the successful Quebec NDP candidate in Berthier-Maskinongé, famous for vacationing in Vegas in the middle of the election campaign and for boasting less than stellar French skills though she now represents a largely francophone riding.

Trois-Rivieres resident Rene Young said he and his wife never signed Ms. Brosseau’s candidacy papers, although their names are clearly listed on the forms submitted to Elections Canada.

“The signature that is supposedly mine is not mine, and neither is my wife’s. There are two signatures on that form that are not us. We don’t understand how they are on that document that allows her to run for MP,” Mr. Young said in French from his home.

Defeated Liberal candidate Francine Gaudet suggested the NDP did not properly represent the nomination form to residents in the riding.

“We’ve found what could be irregularities,” she said in French. “Mr. Rene Young confirms that his wife’s signature on the nomination form is grafitti. So we’re expecting justice to be served in all this.”
National Post

MORE:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/05/04/ndp-mp-thomas-mulcair-questions-bin-laden-kill/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NP_Top_Stories+%28National+Post+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader


hostgator coupon 2011

Whitney Defends Her Prediction of ‘Hundreds of Billions’ in Muni Defaults

Meredith Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc.’s 2008 dividend cut, defended her prediction of “hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth” of municipal-bond defaults.

Whitney, 41, speaking today at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, said local governments in states such as California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida that are dependent on the housing and construction industries for higher tax revenue would continue to struggle financially.

“States have been spending at two-and-a-half times their tax receipts,” she said. “The states then are cutting off aid to their local governments which rely on them for over a third of their monies. The local municipalities have nowhere to go and their bias is to save their constituents before they save their bondholders.”

Whitney, who heads New York-based Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC, told CBS Corp. (CBS)’s “60 Minutes” on Dec. 19 that municipal-bond investors could “see 50 sizable defaults, 50 to 100 sizable defaults, more,” that “will amount to hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of defaults.”

Her prediction accelerated the flight of investors from municipal-bond funds and a decline in bond prices.

“There’s nothing controversial about that call, if you look at the numbers,” she said today, later adding: “This municipal issue, you can criticize me for anything you want, I’m numb to it, because I have more conviction on this than I’ve had on any single thing in my career.”
Solomon Disagrees

David Solomon, co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), speaking on the same panel as Whitney, said he disagreed.

“I don’t think we’re doomed,” he said. “I’d be more balanced on it. Ultimately tax receipts will have to go up and there’s only one way to do that and that’s increase taxes. The U.S. economy is going to perform better over the next year or two than the general consensus.”

Farm Belt states such as Iowa that are benefiting from rising agricultural prices and their logistics and transportation industries will see stronger growth than the rest of the nation, Whitney said.

“There’s myriad ways of playing every industry and each county,” Whitney said, when asked where to invest. “There’s opportunity-rich scenarios in every state and every market.”
hostgator coupon 2011

Syrian soldier did not fire to innocent people Video

hostgator coupon 2011

France, Britain may recognize Palestinian state'

Hours after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with his British counterpart David Cameron and on the eve of his planned meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, foreign sources said that both heads of state have threatened to support the Palestinians' statehood bid in the UN if there is no progress in peace talks.

The Guardian quoted a diplomatic source as saying Cameron told Netanyahu that Britain would consider supporting a unilateral declaration of statehood by the Palestinians if Israel fails to join substantive peace talks to create a two-state solution.

"Britain's clear and absolute preference is for a negotiation to take place between Israel and the Palestinians which leads to a two state solution which everyone endorses. But at this point Britain is not ruling anything out. The more Israel engages seriously in a meaningful peace process the less likely it is that this question of unilateral declaration would arise," the source said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his state would be willing to recognize a Palestinian state if there was no progress in peace talks, L'Express reported on Wednesday.

"If the peace process resumed in the summer, France will say that the main parties much talk without pushing forward the schedule," Sarkozy told the French weekly. "If, conversely, the peace process remains stalled in September, France will take responsibility on the central question of recognizing a Palestinian state."

He added that Europe, the largest donor to the Palestinians, "will not remain a political dwarf in this matter." Peace "will not happen if the US does not get more involved, but the Americans will not succeed alone," Sarkozy explained.

Sarkozy also welcomed reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, saying that "nothing is possible" in the peace process without it.

During a Wednesday-night meeting with Netanyahu, Cameron pledged a commitment to Israeli security – but did not promise to reject the Fatah- Hamas unity deal.

The Israeli leader entered the meeting at 10 Downing Street hoping to hear those words from Cameron.

Netanyahu believes that a Palestinian government that is aligned with Hamas, an organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction, is a threat to Israel’s security.

Although Fatah and Hamas signed a unity agreement in Cairo on Wednesday, Cameron did not even mention it at the start of their meeting.


“Britain is a good friend of Israel, and our support for Israel and Israel’s security is unshakable. We are strong friends of Israel,” he said.
Jerusalem Post

MORE:
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=219281


hostgator coupon 2011

An Expanded Explanation of obama's Deceit

An Expanded Explanation of Deceit

The Birth Certificate is a deception.  Many of “us” that are watching such things already realize this.  However many folks out there do not realize this.  Many folks do not regularly watch You Tube videos.  So in Jesus Name, I am going to take a “quick shot” at demonstrating the fact that the Obama birth certificate is not only a fake but a flat out lie.

And what’s worse, is that it’s a darn “bad one“.

Industry Experience

It’s one thing to watch a You Tube video and say “Hey wow that’s pretty strange, maybe it’s true”.  It’s another thing to be a 20 year plus computer professional and know beyond a shadow of a doubt the document is an electronic forgery.

Indeed I started working with PCs from the “get go”.  I was painfully familiar with the earliest inceptions of “IBM PCs” from the early ’8o’s”.  In fact in 1985 I remember sitting on the floor of my apartment bedroom with my friend Tony on the telephone trying to do a “low level format” of a new 40 Megabyte “half height” MiniScribe hard drive using debug from DOS.

For those of you who do not understand what that means, all I have to say is AMEN!!  Most people alive today have no idea what that means.  Most so called computer professionals today do not know what that means.  I could add that the hard drive was an MFM drive, but it would add no meaning to the point.

The issue here is that we have been “electronically duped“.

How the Tool Works

The tool used for the fake employs graphic “layers” to create the new document.  It does not matter if it is a photo of your mother swimming with the kids, or a birth certificate.  Each “object” on the final image is represented by what is referred to as a “layer”.

Soooooo.

If you create these really believable image “layers” and superimpose them upon one another, you come up with this highly credible “image” of what appears to be an unimpeachable document or “picture”.

This technique can be used to move people around on a picture so they appear to be friends holding hands, or it can be used to create a new picture of what appears to be a “genuine document”.  It’s really quite an amazing technology.  In fact, the government paid “counter-intelligence” workers often say that UFO images are “photoshopped” images, which is almost always a lie.

But indeed the technology does exist and it is nothing less than impressive.

Let’s See the Evidence

Let’s begin with the original document downloaded from the White House web site. Here below I show you a graphic image of that document as displayed on anyone’s computer.

The Original Download

Here you see a “birth certificate”.   Fair enough.  No big deal really.  And quite frankly this would show up as a perfectly legitimate document on anyone’s standard computer.  You bet.  The very fact that we are able to see this deception opens up a vast number of questions, which we will explore in just a minute.

Surprising Adobe Illustrator Layers

Here below, you see the document displayed in a product known as Adobe Illustrator.

Normally when an Adobe PDF file is opened on a computer, you don’t see this “layering” section.  At least not like this.  The truth is that you might see the product attempt to show some kind of layer window, but quite frankly it will be useless.  You will not be able to manipulate the layers (e.g. turn them on or off).

The point being that in this peculiar document, you not only can see the “layers” shown in the layer window, but you IN FACT, can turn the layers “on and off” which clearly indicates the document was created using the Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop functionalities.

This is “jaw dropping” and unbelievably obvious to anyone who works in the “computer industry”.  Like me.  Amen?

A Major “Layer” Removed

Okay, fair enough.  So let’s see what happens to the document should the Adobe Illustrator “user” uncheck one of the embedded “layers” using the layer control windows.

Here you see what happened to the document when a major “layer” is unchecked in the layer control window.  The vast majority of the text simply disappears and is left with a “shadow” of its existence.  This is a feature of the product to show you what “was there” before the layer was removed by “unchecking” the layer.  When you “check” and “uncheck” the box, you can see how OBVIOUS the “layering” is.

Anyone with any computer experience knows instantly this document was created with Adobe layering technologies.  It is simply Un-Flipping-Believable!

Another Example of Forgery

Turned Off

Here you see a “zoomed in” image of the document in both states.  The first state is with the layer TURNED OFF.

Here you see this “zoomed in” image of the document, showing the date and a number of other key legal information with the “layer” turned off.

Turned On

And here is what happens when  you “check the layer box”.

And again, here is the same image with the “layer” button turned on.  Notice the number one in the date of Aug – 8 1961.  See how different it appears to the other numbering?  Notice it is not part of the same “layer”.   No indeed.

Please Note:

I pray soon that our Web Master Greg can show me how to embed a video directly into this web page using Word Press.  This is important for us to accomplish, otherwise any time Google deletes a video it will not be available for you to watch.  Tribulation-Now.org hopes to make these videos available to you locally without any dependency on You Tube.

Quid Bono

Quid Bono means “who benefits”?  The truth is that it simply doesn’t make sense that the creator of this Adobe Illustrator fake would have forgotten to “flatten” the document and remove the “layers” when they created it.  Right?  If they were smart enough to create the thing, they were surely smart enough to know they had to “flatten” it to remove the evidence.

But they didn’t.

This means that either A) They were good with the product but simply forgot the most important part of constructing the forgery or B) knew they were creating a forgery,disapproved, and intentionally left the “layers” there so the world could see the thing was a forgery.

I elect “B”

I suspect the person creating the forgery would know those who were forcing “he or she” to do so, would not have the “smarts” to know any better and by “omission” could play dumb and publish the forgery in this manner to alert the world that we are all being lied too.

This is known a “plausible deniability”.

If I am correct … GOD BLESS THIS PERSON.

hostgator coupon 2011