Khalid Amayreh

Palestinians push a garbage bin containing a fire to block
a road during clashes with Israeli security forces at a pro-
test against the closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians,
in Hebron. (Intro/Photo/Caption: Al-Ahram Weekly)

Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attempts to Judaise Jerusalem are risking the outbreak of violence across the region, writes Khalid Amayreh in the occupied Palestinian territories

Undeterred by the Arab world's reactions to repeated Israeli provocations in Jerusalem, particularly the recurrent encroachments by Jewish millenarians, the Israeli government has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of "inciting Muslims against Israel".

Israeli criticisms of the PA were stepped up this week following a one-day conference in Qatar that discussed Israeli measures to Judaise occupied East Jerusalem and obliterate its traditional Arab-Islamic identity.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lashed out at PA President Mahmoud Abbas, describing him as a "threat to Israelis and Israel" and claiming that the Palestinian leader was adopting "extremist attitudes that are harmful to peace".

In Doha, Abbas had reiterated the longstanding Palestinian position that the PA would never sign a peace treaty with Israel that did not include full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied city.

Abbas also warned that the Israeli policy of allowing Jewish fanatics to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque and hold rituals there amounted to playing with fire, saying that this behaviour was creating a time bomb that could go off at any moment.

Many of the Jewish individuals concerned are affiliated with Jewish terrorist groups, such as Gush Emunim and Kahana, which hold that the existence of Israel is incomplete without the temple. The building of the latter could herald the appearance of the Jewish messiah or redeemer, they believe.

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Philip Giraldi

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) Factsheet

If you are a Muslim American who is appalled by U.S. foreign policy, most specifically its penchant for invading Islamic countries in a bid to change their regimes, and you make the mistake of saying something to that effect on the phone or writing about your concerns in an email, there is a good chance that the FBI will come after you. You will in short order find yourself with a new friend who is a Muslim just like you and who shares your frustration with American foreign policy. At a certain point he will reveal his affiliation with a certain overseas group that is interested in obtaining revenge for all the Muslims who have been killed or injured by the United States. He will suggest that doing something about the problem would be neither sinful nor really wrong, and he will hint that he has access to the weapons or bombs that could be used for a revenge attack. You take the bait. The bomb or gun is a dud and the new friend turns out to be an FBI informant. Another “terrorist” is arrested and sent to jail for 20 years. End of story.

Americans who are not Muslim should be concerned by the repeated entrapment of so-called terrorists, first of all because the process reveals that our private communications are no longer very private. Second, the law enforcement use of a planted informant to encourage and enable someone to commit a crime used to be illegal. It is not so anymore.

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William Happer

Easily spotted by their honeycomb shape, open-cell clouds
are one of the most common cloud formations, found on the
backside of low pressure systems and skirting the edges of
every continent. (Photo/Caption: B. Keim/Wired Science)

Supposed ill effects of more CO2 are from flawed computer models in which water vapour and clouds multiply the modest direct warming by factors of up to 10.

Did the world have just the right concentration of carbon dioxide at the pre-industrial level of 270 parts per million? Reading breathless media reports about CO2 "pollution" and about minimising our "carbon footprints", one might think that the earth cannot have too little CO2. Humans and most other animals would do fine in a world with no atmospheric CO2 - but most plants stop growing if CO2 levels drop much below 150 ppm, so we would starve to death without at least this minimal amount. We are probably better off with our current 390 ppm than with the preindustrial 270 ppm, and we would be better off with still more CO2. For example, there is evidence that California orange groves are about 30 percent more productive today than they were 150 years ago because of the increase of atmospheric CO2.

What atmospheric levels of CO2 would be a direct threat to health? Both the United States Navy and NASA have performed extensive studies of human tolerance to CO2. As a result of these studies, the navy recommends an upper limit of about 8,000 ppm for cruises of 90 days and NASA recommends an upper limit of 5,000 ppm for missions of 1,000 days. We conclude that atmospheric CO2 levels should be above about 150 ppm to avoid harming green plants and below about 5,000 ppm to avoid harming people.

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Stephen Lendman

Poverty in the United States Gulf coast area.

Years ago, who could have imagined the appalling growing poverty level in the world's richest country?

Various reports confirm it, including a new one by the University of Michigan's National Poverty Center (NPC), titled “Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1996 to 2011”.

NPC promotes multidisciplinary research on poverty and policy. It mentors and trains poverty researchers. It analyzes causes and consequences, and addresses pressing policy questions at both federal and state levels.

How is poverty calculated, it asked? The Census Bureau issues annual thresholds. They represent minimal income levels required to support various family sizes.

Its methodology dates from the mid-1960s and hasn't changed. Inflation's taken into account annually. Families are judged poor based on pretax income. Non-cash benefits aren't counted, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

In 2010, singles under 65 with incomes of $11,344 or less were designated poor. For those over 65, it was $10,458.

For single parents with one child, it's $15,030. With two children, it's $17,568. For two adults with no children, it's $14,602. With one child, it's $17,552. With two children, it's $22,113. With three children, it's $26,023.

Adjusted for inflation, current thresholds are slightly higher, but bear no relation to reality. Individuals and families need double or more these levels to avoid poverty. Moreover, jerry-rigged inflation numbers further distort cost of living effects on all households.

The Department of Health and Human Services has its own federal aid eligibility guidelines. They differ slightly from Census numbers, and reflect marginally higher Alaska and Hawaii thresholds.

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